Born and bred in Liverpool, Portia-Valis Volkova (commonly known as Valis) trained as an opera singer at The Royal Northern College of Music from the age of 12. After her studies at the RNCM, she trained in musical theatre at Bill Kenwright’s Elliott-Clarke Theatre School, where she developed her acting and dance skills.

Who is Valis? What is your background?

My background lies in classical music and performance arts. Initially I trained as an opera singer, re-trained as a musical theatre performer and eventually stumbled into the wonderful world of cabaret!

Alongside studying and performing, I started doing some photo shoots as a model. Originally it was only supposed to be a little hobby to help pay college bills, but somehow it turned into a full blown career. That was over 10 years ago now! Within my decade in the industry, I have been internationally published and have done many shoots, shows and educational master-classes with well known beauty brands including: Vidal Sassoon, L’Oreal, Wella, Toni & Guy and Balmain.

Why did you decide to work with Satura UK?

Since going vegan 20 months ago (I made the change-over for the animals!), I have become increasingly aware about my health,deciding to make some huge changes in my life!

Despite my past working for huge corporate companies, these days I’m only interested in promoting sustainability! I now only buy and promote products if they: are cruelty-free (not tested on animals), have vegan ingredients and toxicology certificates*, proving that they are safe to use. Brownie points if they are all natural products, handmade and from an independent business.

I have never told anyone this before, but not only do I have acne prone skin, I suffer from a disorder called Trichotillomania, which causes me to obsessively pull out my hair. This was the only way that I knew how to deal with anxiety during my late teens, up until my early twenties. During this time, I was suffering badly from my mental health. I used to cover it up well by blaming hair modelling for hair loss and scalp damage (to be fair, I was having my hair coloured twice a week, it’s a plausible story!) and fashion trends for the occasional missing eyebrow. I did cause some damage to my hairline, brows and the skin around them, but now that I know how to resist the hair-pulling urges, the skin has healed and even my hairline has grown back! It’s so lovely having the confidence to go au natural now, not having to worry about putting on a full face of makeup all the time.

Most of us take for granted that beauty products we buy are safe to use. This is not always the case and I strongly advise to do your own research, check ingredient lists and ask questions!!

Recently I stumbled across a tanning brand, selling nasal tanning products, using influencers to promote. When I did my own research, I found out that their products contain a lab-made chemical that is not only illegal to sell in the UK, but also comes with many health warnings, including links to skin cancer. There was absolutely no mention of this on the brand’s website and in fact they claimed that their products are “side-effect free”. I now know that ‘side-effect free’ is a pointless label, that does not take into consideration health warnings for long term use.

What products from the Satura range do you depend upon?

For my hair, I have been using Satura Pro Lotion, combined with the Prime Condition Lotion. Every day I put some pro lotion drops all over my roots, focusing particularly on my hairline, followed by spraying Satura Prime Condition Lotion on my ends!

Satura® Pro Lotion
£69.00

Improves the hair structure and stimulates hair growth

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Satura Prime Condition — Satura® Prime Condition
£64.00

Strengthens hair shafts and split ends

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I love these products as a duo: The Satura Pro Lotion stimulates new hair growth, meanwhile the Prime Condition Lotion acts as a conditioning treatment for existing hair: alleviating static electricity and making your hair look and feel healthier. As a bonus, it acts as a anti-frizz serum, so you probably will find that your hair becomes easier to style with continued use!

The Prime Condition Lotion also protects your hair against pollution (and other environmental factors), so as I live in London, this is perfect for me!

Another product that I literally can’t live without, now that I know it exists, is the EOS Ruby Lotion.

FINALLY there is a product on the market designed specifically for porcelain people, who are sick to death of being asked if we’re feeling unwell, every time we leave the house without makeup on. Since using this product, nobody has asked me that and I have found that my skin is looking much more refreshed, with a nice, healthy glow. No more tired skin thank you! I took these photos only the other day, with very minimal editing!