Kiss The Moon at The Treatment Rooms, Middleton Lodge, was names Best UK Spa recently at the Women's Health magazine Beauty Awards. Jenny Needham talks to the founder of the beauty sleep brand

Jo Foster is founder of beauty sleep brand Kiss the Moon. She grew up in Richmond, North Yorkshire, where she lives now with husband Mark and three very lucky dogs. After university, she moved to London to pursue a career in advertising but came back up North in 2008 to set up her own marketing business.

How did Kiss the Moon come about?

I always say that the idea for Kiss the Moon was born at 35,000ft on a long-haul flight, when the penny dropped that I needed to find a way to get my sleep back on track. As director of a global innovation agency in London, my job was to help some of the biggest companies in the world develop their brands. I was zipping around the world like a mad thing. It was full on and great fun, but the lifestyle played havoc with my ability to get a good night’s sleep and had a negative impact on my health and well-being

How did you take the first steps?

I started researching the topic and found out early on that sleep and our sense of smell are very closely linked. They are both controlled by the same ancient part of our brain – the bit that manages all the most essential things that keep us alive. So, aromatherapy became the natural place to start finding a sleep solution. I started by making face and bath oils for myself, then for family and friends, and everything grew from there. I’m not a big fan of lavender so was thrilled to learn that there was more to life than that when it came to sleep-inducing essential oils. In fact, nature gives us a whole raft of things that help calm the mind and work well at bedtime. I worked on creating four different signature blends so that everyone can find the right one for their sleep and night-time skin needs.

What is concept behind your business?

Kiss the Moon is all about natural products that help you sleep beautifully and wake up looking gorgeous. Skin repairs itself overnight so our products help you get your zzz’s and also nourish skin through the night.

The name was my husband’s idea. As everything we make is designed for night-time it was always going to be something to do with moon. Then he added the kiss bit – the big softie!

Everything we create is made in the UK using the best natural ingredients we can get our hands on. And nothing is tested on animals of course.

Can you tell me a bit about the four blends – their essential ingredients and how you created them?

We have four night-time aromatherapy blends so you can find the perfect one for your sleep and skin:

• LOVE – with rose, frankincense, palmarosa and ylang ylang to rejuvenate the soul and keep skin looking young

• GLOW – with orange, geranium, myrrh and litsea to restore the spirit, chase away the blues and nourish dry and dehydrated skin

• CALM – with jasmine, sandalwood, chamomile and ylang ylang to rebalance the mind and settle upset skin

• DREAM – with lavender, bergamot, cedarwood and chamomile to soothe the skin and the soul at bedtime

We have created a fun Matchmaker Test so people can find their perfect match http://try.kissthemoon.com/

How did you come to be working with The Treatment Rooms at Middleton Lodge?

We first bumped into owners Rebecca and James at the Mr & Mrs Smith Hotel Awards in London, just a couple of months after Kiss the Moon. When we realised we were practically neighbours and that we both wanted to create beautiful experiences for people, it made sense to work together. When the Treatment Rooms at the Coach House opened, we were thrilled to be invited to sell our products in the gorgeous store and to work with team to develop some tailor-made treatments. We don’t do the treatments ourselves – we’re happy to leave that to the fab team of experts there. The two brands seem like such a natural fit and it’s great that two local Richmond companies can work together to support one another.

We’re also available in the newly opened No 19 Millgate gift and homewear store in Richmond marketplace. And further afield in North Yorkshire, we’re in Covet in Harrogate and Ilkley.

What plans do you have for the future?

It’s all about the festivities at the moment. This is our busiest time of the year as we do various pop-ups and are working on getting all the orders out on time. We’ve created a Kiss the Moon Gift Finder to help people find just the right pressie for everyone on their Christmas list http://gifts.kissthemoon.com/

Looking forward, we’re always on the look-out for gorgeous new retailers and are keen to extend our presence around the rest of the region. And we have two new products in the pipeline for 2018. So, lots to do!

Have you found your new lifestyle healing?

Well, I definitely invest in my own sleep routine. It’s hard not to once you know about how much of a cornerstone it is to how well you look and feel. When we get feedback from customers who tell us how we have transformed their sleep or their skin issues then everything feels very worthwhile.

I also feel really lucky to be able to live in such a gorgeous part of the world, running a business I passionately care about. If I need to clear my head, a walk in the woods with the dogs works wonders. Being surrounded by nature and a gang of happy dogs is very good for the soul.

W: kissthemoon.com; @kissthemoonxx on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook