Beauty Boss: Katina Mountanos Founded Olive Oil-Based Skincare and Lifestyle Brand Kosterina Inspired by the Best Parts of the Mediterranean Lifestyle
Katerina (Katina) Mountanos.
Our latest Beauty Boss is Katerina (Katina) Mountanos, Founder of Kosterina—an olive oil-based skincare and lifestyle line that is inspired by the best parts of the Mediterranean lifestyle. Their signature extra virgin olive oils and specialty vinegars are available at retailers nationwide including Bloomingdales, Crate & Barrel, Target, and Whole Foods, in addition to select restaurants and specialty grocers.
Indulge in an Olive Oil Treatment at JW Marriott Venice Resort & Spa
Alongside its food offerings, Kosterina’s olive oil-based skincare line features body oils, face oils, moisturizing balms, and deodorant. Their skincare products are powered by the brand’s award-winning Original Extra Virgin Olive Oil, which is cold pressed from intentionally early harvested olives from southern Greece.
This results in a high concentration of polyphenols, which are powerful antioxidants that leave skin glowing and hydrated. The clean line is also free of parabens, phthalates, petroleum, sulfates and synthetic fragrances, and emulsifiers.
Many celebrities and beauty influencers including Kate Hudson and Ella Mcfadin are fans of the brand, which offers restorative and nourishing benefits on the inside and outside. We chatted with Mountanos who shared her favorite beauty and wellness tips, secrets for success, best advice, and much more.
When was Kosterina founded and what does the name mean?
Kosterina was founded in early 2020. The name is a combination of my husband’s name (Kostas) and my full name (Katerina). Remember when #brangelina started a trend and everyone was combining their names for wedding hashtags? Well, Kosterina was our wedding hashtag and all our friends started calling us Kosterina. When I wanted to start a company centered around love and family with a name that sounded Greek, Kosterina was the natural choice. Plus, I already owned the URL.
What inspired the creation of your brand?
The inspiration was twofold. My first a-ha moment was around taste and the second was around health.
Raised in a Greek family, I grew up in a Mediterranean culture, and was fortunate enough to enjoy olive oil pressed from my family’s olive oil trees in Southern Greece. As I started a family and started cooking more at home, I was disappointed to find that the “Greek extra virgin olive oil” in the supermarket tasted nothing like what my family produced in Greece and I knew I wanted to bring the good stuff to the U.S.
Out of interest, I took an olive oil sommelier course and learned just how healthy olive oil can be when it is harvested early and milled properly. The natural polyphenols (or antioxidants) that you get from early harvest EVOO are so powerful—they have been proven by hundreds of studies to reduce the risk of all chronic disease. In fact, a Harvard Medical School study from 2022 showed that two teaspoons a day of EVOO reduced all-cause mortality risk by up to 33%. If this came in pill form, people would be paying thousands of dollars for it.
I loved that something so delicious could also be incredibly healthy and got excited about helping inspire many people to take up the Modern Mediterranean diet and way of life. There are so many categories of products that can be improved through the use of extra virgin olive oil.
Kosterina’s Head-to-Toe Glow Set ($50) hydrates and nourishes skin with a fast-absorbing Body Oil and Hydrating Face Oil.
Do you have a hero product?
Our Original Extra Virgin Olive Oil is our hero product and original inspiration for the brand. It is early-harvest and cold-pressed, made with 100% Koroneiki olives, considered some of the best olives in the world.
Sourced from farmers in the Peloponnese region of southern Greece, near where my family is from, we intentionally harvest our olives early, while they’re still green, which allows for a higher concentration of polyphenols: powerful antioxidants that are known to protect against the development of chronic diseases when consumed, and leave skin glowing and hydrating when applied topically.
Our signature EVOO powers our skincare line as well. We leverage our signature EVOO for its hydration and antioxidant benefits. EVOO has been prescribed for skin health in the Mediterranean for literally thousands of years because of its healing and protective properties for skin. Our Extra Virgin Body Oil is the hero product in our skincare lineup.
What are your favorite products from your brand?
Aside from the ultimate hero product in the Kosterina line—our signature Original Extra Virgin Olive Oil—my favorite Kosterina products are our Extra Virgin Face Moisturizer and our Extra Virgin Oil Balm. The moisturizer is a basic moisturizer for day or night that has been formulated ultra-clean and without emulsifiers. I love the way it hydrates my skin without feeling greasy and it smells amazing. It’s been the skincare highlight of my life.
Our Oil Balm is also a daily necessity. It’s essentially olive oil in stick form and glides smoothly over lips and face. I use our balm on my lips, under my eyes, and even on the back of my hands throughout the day—I probably have about 10 strewn about my house and in every purse at any given time.
Where are your products sold?
Our full product line including our EVOO-powered skincare is sold on our website. You can also find our Mediterranean food products in Whole Foods Market and Target nationally.
Kosterina’s lifestyle brand includes a line of extra virgin olive oils that are made from 100% Koroneiki olives and cold pressed in southern Greece.
Future plans for the brand?
Kosterina is a Mediterranean lifestyle brand centered around premium extra virgin olive oil. We plan to expand into all things Mediterranean diet and lifestyle. On the skincare side, there is lots more to come. Think: olive oil-powered products for body, face, and hair.
Who inspires you?
My inspiration is twofold these days. On the one hand, I am highly inspired by many female entrepreneurs in the beauty space like Elizabeth Stein of Purely Elizabeth, Sheena Zadeh-Daly of Kosas, Katlin Smith of Simple Mills, and many more.
I’m also constantly blown away by many doctors and influencers in the health and wellness space namely Dr. Mark Hyman, Dr. Peter Attia, Dr. William Li, Max Lugavere, Kelly LeVeque and Vani Hari, to name a few.
Secret to success?
Planning and goal setting.
Beauty secrets?
Clean eating, eliminating inflammatory foods, and of course, extra virgin olive oil-based skin care.
Kosterina’s clean skincare line harnesses the antioxidant properties of extra virgin olive oil.
Wellness tips?
Follow the Modern Mediterranean way of eating and living. From a diet perspective, consider starting with the traditional plant-forward Mediterranean diet—adding more clean protein and eliminating gluten. This is an incredible way to eat for health and longevity.
From a lifestyle perspective, consider the Mediterranean way of life that is centered around family dinners (however you define family), long coffees with friends, good wine, staying out late, and dancing on tables from time to time.
Best advice?
When work becomes play, you’ll never work another day for the rest of your life.
How do you like to relax?
My favorite way to relax is to meditate in front of my panel of red lights with my morning coffee in hand. Three birds, one stone.
For more information about Kosterina, visit the website and follow on Instagram: @kosterina
[Images courtesy of Kosterina]
Kamala Kirk is a University of Southern California graduate and has been an editor/writer for more than a decade. She has written for E! Online, Total Beauty, TravelAge West, Malibu Times Magazine, and many more. She resides in Los Angeles and is a proud pug mom. Follow her on Instagram: @kamalakirk