Beauty Vlogger SunKiss Alba Shares How Her Son's Autism Diagnosis Prompted Her to Live a Toxic-Free Lifestyle

To her one million YouTube subscribers, she's known as SunKissAlba. However, when the camera is off, Alba Ramos is a devoted wife and mom-of-two who is passionate about living her best life. With dreams of becoming a fashion designer, Ramos’ life pivoted dramatically when she met her husband and quickly started a family. She became a stay-at-home mom whose mission was to cultivate a toxic-free lifestyle to help her autistic son thrive. Ramos shares her enthusiasm for clean living with her followers as she breaks through the clutter of beauty brands claiming to be natural and/or organic. Her authentic approach to beauty and clean living has made her YouTube channel grow with subscribers who find her content inspiring and relatable. We had the opportunity to chat with Ramos on. motherhood, her career journey, and what inspires her.

How did you get started as a YouTube beauty vlogger? What has been the biggest challenge in your journey?

My YouTube channel began as a hobby in 2010. I was a new stay-at-home mom and took a break from school to devote full-time to my son. At the time, I had no idea what YouTube could become for me or that it could lead to a career. My realization arrived when I started my healthy hair journey in hopes of recovering my naturally curly hair from severe damage to fully natural healthy curls. I received the most attention ever on that first video and realized how relatable this topic is. To be honest, my biggest challenge is probably the question I ask myself constantly: what's next? Now that I have recovered my hair, I want to create a bigger recovery impact from the inside out and inspire positively the best I can. 

Who were your personal role models growing up?

Since my earliest memory at four years old, I remember looking up to Selena and Gloria Trevi. They were both singers whom I admired and was inspired by. My mom was and is my role model today because she created the biggest influence in my life that I have a better understanding of today as a mother.

What is one thing you've accomplished that you are most proud of?

As of right now, I am most proud to have accomplished being happily married. This is huge for me because I was never that young girl dreaming of marriage or having children. That was never a goal of mine and I didn't know I'd be happy having it because I didn't grow up believing in marriage or true love and happily ever afters. Today I am happy to say I am super proud to experience the type of love that completely changed my views on life and my future.

What propelled you to advocate for toxic-free products and live a clean lifestyle?

My son being diagnosed with autism at the age of three opened up my mind to a whole new way of seeing the food and product industry and what's considered healthy and not. I became aware that the many things slowing down my son's progress is also what affects us neurological humans on a long-term level. My son's autism symptoms decreased the moment we switched his diet, his water, and his living environment. The fact that we gained what we lost by simply switching our habits, implementing detox and nutrition in his life made me a believer and a researcher. My child went from no eye contact, not speaking, and not communicating to improving in all of those areas. This experience is what caused me to clean up my beauty and promote only what I truly believe is safe and effective.

You were born in the Dominican Republic and raised in New York. What do you think the beauty industry gets wrong about Latinas? 

I think we still need to diversify our representation of Latinos on television and print. Latinos are the most diverse looking group of people but until this day, I don't see a lot of self-representation from the media and movies on what a Latino person looks like, so most people assume Latinos have one standard look. Latinos come from South America and the Caribbean which is a huge blend of Indian, Spaniard, African and more. That is what gives us the advantage of being all shades of beautiful, all types of hair textures, and all eye colors. Latinos can be born blond, curly, brown, black, or white but in my opinion, this is not widely represented in our beauty industry.

If you could trade places with one person for a day, who would it be and why?

I am highly appreciative of my life with all the ups and downs, but if I have to choose one person, I could only choose my son. Being that he is autistic and not expressive like a neurotypical kid, I'd love to know what it's like to be him. What he feels, how he thinks, and how he views himself as a person. These are all unanswered questions that could help me help him. If only it were possible. 

What does a typical day look like for you?

Even though every day is different for me there are some things I do daily that never change. Typically I wake up at 7am, enjoy tea or coffee with my husband, start preparing breakfast for my children and give my son his daily dose of supplements and remedies. I sit with my kids for a few hours doing workbooks and homeschooling. Then I work on answering emails and possibly editing a video or working on content. Sometimes I take a late afternoon walk with my kids and we learn things about the outdoors and then get back home for a meal. If I'm not filming, I may be cleaning or working on my computer until I get too tired to continue and my husband takes over the parenting while I work. Every weekend we make time for movie night as a couple and go to sleep later than usual. 

What is one thing you want to put on your bucket list?

I have many things in my bucket list, but I'd like to add learning how to dance several genres. I admire dancers so much and I think it'd be really cool to be able to dance practically anything with confidence. 

What is a quote that gets you through hard times?

“Trade your expectations for appreciation” from Tony Robbins.

What are some Clean beauty products you can't live without?

• Concealer (100% Pure Long Last Concealer) because it makes me look more awake and less flawed even without a full face of makeup.

• My Tata Harper lip/cheek tint (Color: Very Naughty) because it looks so good on bare skin giving me a healthy flush of color to my cheeks and lips while still looking like I'm wearing nothing at all!

• I have to have some type of moisturizing leave-in conditioner in my hair always in order to rock my curls confidently without frizz or dryness. I currently love the Qhemet Biologics hair balm as a leave-in.

• Jojoba Oil because it's a guaranteed no fail moisturizer for my skin after cleansing

• And mascara because it instantly adds a boost of confidence even with the most minimal amount of makeup

  
  Quick Fire Questions:

Flats or Heels? 

Flats

Rihanna or Beyoncé? 

Rihanna

Morning or Night Person? 

Night

Nude or Red Lips? 

Red

3 things you love about yourself

• My patience

• My height (5'7)

• My eye color (hazel)

3 things you'd like to improve about yourself

• Getting more done in one day.

• Being more disciplined and strict with high intensity workouts.

• Not being afraid to try the things that scare me or that are hard for me to do. 

Check out @SunKissAlba in one of our favorite videos as she recreates the iconic Frida Kahlo look below:  

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