Helena Oseguera Abrahamsson’s story is one deeply inspired by her Texan, Mexican, and Swedish roots, and one that has taken her all over the world. But for Helena, Texas has always been her true home. It’s also the inspiration behind Plantéa Skincare, an idea she bootstrapped from conception to a flourishing skincare brand, all grown from Texas soil.
Born in San Antonio, Helena comes from a fifth-generation ranching family with longstanding agricultural ties to Texas and Mexico. She was raised on her grandmother’s ranch in Mexico until the age of 12, and her grandmother had a profound impact on her. “I inherited her curious spirit, and she instilled in me the belief that you should always be learning, always asking questions,” recalls Helena.
When the family returned to Texas and settled into their ranch in Castroville, just west of San Antonio, Helena fed her curiosity by pouring all her energies into learning ballet. “Ballet took me all over the world. By the age of 15, I was a professional ballet dancer performing across Europe. When I decided to go to university, I was scouted by SMU for their dance program.”
At SMU, her grandmother’s mantra of being a lifelong learner took on a whole new meaning for Helena. “SMU opened my eyes to a completely different world—a world of education, a world of everything. If I wanted to study art history, I could. If I wanted to study economics, I could. It was a complete 180 for me after being so laser-focused on ballet.”
It was also during this time that Helena’s mother developed rosacea and struggled with ineffective treatments. “Her dermatologist kept suggesting steroid creams, but my mom is a very natural woman, and she has always been all about using nature to heal any symptoms, to heal her skin. I was close to finishing my degree, and I was in that space of what to do next. I decided to study up on rosacea and create something myself.”
While home on break, Helena hit the trail on horseback, and as she ruminated over a possible solution for her mother, she dropped her phone. When she circled back to retrieve it, she found it sitting right next to a prickly pear cactus—a staple from her upbringing, and the official state plant of Texas. Was the answer right at her feet, growing in abundance on the ranch? “I cut some of the cactus and took it home. I boiled it and made a basic extract. My mom tried it, and within a couple days, the redness in her skin had significantly decreased.”
What began as a homegrown experiment turned into years of research. With no background in chemistry, Helena partnered with a top skincare chemist and spent years of trial and error developing the product, guided by her mother’s feedback and her own relentless curiosity. As Helena pursued her master’s degree in Stockholm, where she has extended family, she continued her pursuit. “When I was close to finishing my master’s degree, we officially launched Plantéa Skincare.” It’s a brand inspired by the rustic landscapes where Helena was raised, and influenced by the Swedish concept of “lagom,” meaning “just right”—the end result is a cactus-based, Texas-made skincare line with ingredients sourced straight from the Texas wild.
After launching her brand and earning her master’s degree, Helena returned to Dallas eager to reconnect with Texas nature and like-minded people who shared her love of it. She found Stewards of the Wild to be a natural fit, despite one small hesitation. “When I joined Stewards, it was great and the events were very fun, but I felt like there was a little bit of a gap because a lot of the activities revolved around hunting.” Though she grew up with family members who hunted, and she understands and respects its role in conservation, she wondered if there could be a space within Stewards that focused more on nonconsumptive activities and conservation in a broader sense.
Motivated by her curiosity, Helena met with TPWF Executive Director Anne Brown over coffee, where the idea for what has since become Stewards’ Statewide Conservation Committee was hatched. The newly formed committee was co-chaired by Helena and Channing Boone, the very first friend she met through Stewards. The volunteer-driven committee is made up of five subcommittees that cover the full range of Texas conservation issues—legislative, game species, private lands, coastal, and native habitats. The new initiative provides an entirely new avenue of outreach and education offerings for Steward members while complimenting existing programming.
Helena’s story is a testament to the power of curiosity, determination, and innovation. Her advice to our next generation of aspiring conservation leaders is simple but powerful: “Protect what’s around you, keep learning, and stay connected. With a desire to learn and grow, meaningful change is always possible.”
