Meet the Founder
Dr Lai Choon Sheen
founder & formulator
"The idea of starting Sheen’s Botanicals comes from my desire to make postpartum self-care easier."
"I recall when I had my babies, the process of preparing herbal baths was just so cumbersome and labourious, there was no way I could do it all on my own. I was blessed to have my mother and mother-in-law to help me out. Many of my friends who had babies would just skip herbal baths altogether to forgo the trouble.”
My background
My interest in herbal botanicals started when I was just a little child. My mother would prepare herbal blends from time to time to supplement our diet and healthcare routine. I was always full of curiosity, wondering what all of those interesting herbs were and what they did. Even back then, I loved experiencing their different tastes and flavours.
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Twenty years later, my curiosity about herbs inspired me to study Natural Products Chemistry. After graduating with a doctorate degree, I spent years, as both a university lecturer and researcher, investigating bioactive chemical constituents from traditional herbal medicine. Eventually, I joined the corporate sector where I was put in charge of quality control and the R&D of Traditional Chinese Medicine. I also hold a Diploma qualification in Traditional Chinese Medicine Health Management Practice.
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My involvement in Traditional Chinese Medicine studies provided me with new knowledge and insight into how medicinal plants can be processed and paired to achieve maximum efficacy and safety. The way plant chemicals evolve under different conditions and how they impact the human body just continues to marvel me and keeps me busy!
How I got started
After giving birth to my first and second child, I struggled to find personal care products that catered specifically to postpartum needs. As postpartum confinement is unique to the Asian culture, and not as customary in other cultures across the world, I was unable to find anything suitable on supermarket shelves, in pharmacies and even in maternity stores. Every space I visited was dominated by international brands.
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So, the only way I could meaningfully engage with Traditional Chinese Medicine practices was to purchase the raw herbs from Chinese medical halls and prepare them at home. This process was rather cumbersome and laborious, especially as it had to be repeated daily throughout the confinement month. I definitely could not have done it without the generous help of both my mother and mother-in-law. But I soon thought to myself, "things should be much easier than this and cater to the women in today's world."
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Thus, I started researching how herbs could be incorporated into personal care products for postpartum care and use. I developed the best strategies for extracting herbs from the ground up as most are either unavailable in the market in extract form or do not meet the desired quality standard. Following many, many months of intense and dedicated research and development, I finally had a range of personal care products in ready-to-use format that were gentle and nourishing and would actually cater to the needs of modern new mothers.
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Changing the way we practice tradition
Here at Sheen's Botanicals, I set out to create a range of products to empower new mothers to take charge of their wellness and beauty with ease and confidence. Practicing self-care after childbirth following traditional healthcare principles is now much more accessible and there is no more need to deal with all the hassle.
I hope to share with you my knowledge and passion for self-care using herbs and botanicals built on traditional wisdom and supported by science.
As a mother of two children, I empathize with what it takes to go through the childbearing process, the postpartum period and the nurturing of children. It is, of course, very important for mothers to take good care of their health and well-being from the very beginning of the motherhood journey, so that they can offer the best to their families.
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May nature's goodness captured in these little bottles and jars bring you smiles and sweetness as you embark on this new and exciting journey of being a mother.