Meet Anna Mitsios Founder of Edible Beauty Australia
Once we understand that beauty is more than skin deep we can make changes to the way we treat our bodies and our fellow humans and planet which allows us to reach a higher level of health and vibration.
At Cloth & Co. we love to connect people in our community with other like minded brands and for our skin care one of our absolute favourites is Edible Beauty Australia. It is so natural, you could literally eat it! But that’s not to say it isn’t powerful in it’s effectiveness…
Meet the amazing Anna Mitsios Founder of Edible Beauty Australia as she shares insights into an “inside-out” approach to beauty and radiance, addressing what we put on and inside our bodies as part of our overall skin health and vitality.
Anna has also offered the Cloth & Co. community an exclusive $20 Voucher to help get you started on trying out these beautiful products!
Use EBXCLOTHANDCO20 at checkout.
We hope you enjoy reading this as much as we have!
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Hi Anna, firstly, we would love to know more about you, and what inspired you to start your own business?
The Edible Beauty range was created five years ago whilst I was working at a natural fertility clinic. I was recommending that in addition to changes to their food and lifestyle routines, my patients make changes to their personal care products. I was shocked to find that there were very few options available for skincare products that were "edible" and that were luxurious and therapeutic. As a result, I embarked on creating my own range of skincare products. I was literally whipping shea butter, coco butter and rose water in my mother’s cake mixer and started sharing my creations with friends and family. After much research, courses, cosmetic chemist meetings, Edible Beauty Australia skincare range was born.
Given your expertise and experience as a qualified naturopath and nutritionist, what are your views on sustainability in the beauty industry?
My naturopath/nutritionist root definitely provide me with a deep appreciation for our environment, nature and our entire eco-system. When creating Edible Beauty, I was wanting to create a range of products that not only addresses the need for us as women to enjoy pure and beautiful products but I was wanting to also ensure that absolutely nothing was harmed in the process. We have definitely lived through an era of heavy consumerism where there has not been much regard to the impact our beauty products and practices have on our environment. This is now changing with many consumers so aware of how harmful animal testing, plastic packaging and toxic ingredients.
Anna, we would love to know how largely your personal experiences impacted the creation of Edible Beauty’s philosophy?
My personal experience has definitely heavily impacted Edible Beauty’s philosophy. I was not always in the field of natural therapies, about seven years ago I transitioned from a career in finance to naturopathy. This was triggered by my diagnosis as a Type 1 diabetic at the age of 18. I became very passionate about the incredible ability of natural herbs, diet and supplements to manage my health condition. I also became increasingly conscious of endocrine disrupting toxins in the beauty products I was using. This has been a very important factor in me staying true to the promise of very pure and “food grade” ingredients in the range. It has also triggered my mission to address beauty in a holistic way and hence the brand was launch with a range of inner and outer beauty supplements. My expertise in understanding the power of natural herbs has given me the ability to create “inner” beauty supplements which address skincare concerns from the “inside”.
We understand that Edible beauty recognises the importance of ‘inner’ and ‘outer beauty’, can you please tell us more about this approach?
Looking after our “inside” beauty is just as important when it comes to clear and radiant skin as the external beauty products we are applying. There is an intricate link between the health of our gut and liver and our skin.
Having a gut which is out of balance can play havoc with clearance of hormones, promote insulin resistance and create free radicals which zap your body of beautifying nutrients, accelerate ageing and promote excess sebum production which leads to acne and break outs.
Likewise, a sluggish liver can mean a slow clearance of hormones from your body, which often leads to excess oil production from sebum producing cells. Then comes clogged and breakout prone skin, as well as feeling tired, bloated and even experiencing unbearable premenstrual syndrome.
Dairy, sugar and highly processed foods can also create inflammation in the body, leading to high blood sugar levels which in turn increases sebum production often resulting in acne breakouts and oily skin. It is interesting to see the incredible transformation when these foods are eliminated from our diet and when we increase consumption of greens, fibre, antioxidants and hydrating foods.
Ingestible “beauty” products can address internal imbalances affecting our skin, by improving our gut health, boosting collagen production and improving our body’s detoxification processes. The result is clear and youthful skin with the added bonus of improved energy, mood and vitality.
Edible beauty products are pure and wildcrafted with Australian ingredients, we would love to know more about these ingredients and why you have chosen them.
We use many Australian natives and wildcrafted botanicals in our skincare formulas and these are ingredients I get incredibly excited about. I am always learning more and more about their therapeutic benefits and superior antioxidant profiles. These plants are special in that they are found growing in their natural habitat in arid parts of Australia. This provides them with a very strong antioxidant profile developed to protect themselves against the harsh environment and potent sun that they are growing in.
This protective system is transferred across to our skin providing us with incredible skin protective and anti-ageing qualities which is why we choose to use them in our skincare formulas.
As an example, the Snowflower Seed, a supercharged Australian botanical has been shown to have 50 times the antioxidant activity of Vitamin E and 100 times that of Vitamin C. This means it provides effective support for healthy collagen production and skin cell renewal and it also assists in brightening the skin. It has potent anti-inflammatory properties which makes it helpful in reducing skin redness and sensitivity. This extract features in a few of our products including our Snowflower Illuminating Face Oil and Sleeping Beauty Purifying Mousse. Kakadu Plum, whilst having received quite a lot of attention over the past few years is still a standout botanical. Containing the world’s highest plant-based source of vitamin C along with an ability to fast track skin healing and provide anti-acne support, this ingredient is truly a superstar. It can be found in our Basking Beauty Natural Sunscreen SPF50 along with our No.3 Exotic Goddess Ageless Serum.
At Cloth & Co. supporting Artisans is part of our commitment to the key principles of ethical production methods; the preservation of traditional craft skills, being authentic, ensuring a positive impact on people, and our environment. We love that Edible Beauty aligns with our ethical values by providing vegan and cruelty-free products with a focus on environmental sustainability. Could you please tell us how important this aspect was in developing Edible Beauty?
I have such incredible respect and admiration for you and your team for creating such an incredibly ethical and sustainable business which not only preserves traditional craft ethos but also the environment. I am a firm believer that our beauty practices should not harm ourselves, our planet, eco-system or our beautiful animals. I am also a firm believer that vegan and cruelty-free products and ingredients do not compromise the efficacy of beauty products in any way which has made it even more important for me to be a conscious beauty brand. This has been so important to me from Day 1 – being conscious of all of our business actions on the environment and our planet has been something I have taken into account at every step of our product development process.
From our recyclable Miron glass bottles to our recyclable and sustainably sourced packaging, partnership with Terracycle, reef friendly sunscreen and use of natural ingredients that do not harm our planet or our bodies. As a business we are truly committed to becoming more sustainable the more we grow and believe that taking care of the environment is everyone's responsibility, including all of our staff and our customer.
As Cloth & Co. was founded on the principles of a chemical-free life, using organic cotton and low impact dyes for our garments we believe it makes sense to use the most natural skincare products. Having incorporated a chemical-free standard within your Edible Beauty products, how common are these products within the beauty industry and have you noticed any change in trend for more natural and pure beauty products?
Chemicals are definitely still very prominent in our beauty products. There are studies which estimate as many as 500 chemicals being applied to our bodies every day. One of the pivotal moments which triggered me to create the company was reading a study which involved an analysis of umbilical cords of babies. I was stunned to find that there were over 250 chemicals found in these umbilical cords which are known neurotoxins and growth retardants and these all relate to the personal products that we have been using on a daily basis. Many consumers and companies are becoming more aware of the impact of these toxins with the removal of some of the more common nasties such as sulfates and parabens. There are so many nasties still being used however so I really do encourage people to become aware of what they are putting on their bodies and become familiar with sites like the EWG / Thinkdirty App which help to score common ingredients found in skincare and cosmetics.
You must have some favourite products that you can't live without in your range, what are they and why?
I definitely cannot live without a product called our Sleeping Beauty Purifying Mousse. This a pink clay mask which really does show how effective and quick natural skincare can work. This is a sleep mask and what I love most about it is it provides a brilliant quick fix for the skin literally overnight. The mask contains pink clay, zeolite, avocado oil and snow flower seed and unlike most clay masks it is hydrating and purifying rather than peeling and drying so you can allow it to work its magic whilst you sleep. This product is a must-have product to prevent morning face puffiness or dull skin after an indulgent night out eating and drinking. It is also works to correct an oily T-zone or hormonal acne break
The other ingestible product which I absolutely love and recommend that everyone uses is our Beauty Detox Shot. This is a herbal elixir that I take daily to support liver function. I always feel better when I am taking a bitter herbal supplement as this reassures me that I am doing the best I can do to support digestion and liver clearance of toxins. This specific liver formula is a naturopathic formula I have created with liver-loving nutrients such as Choline along with digestion supportive herbs such as Burdock Root and Globe Artichoke, and antioxidant-rich Turmeric. It is designed to give a sluggish liver a boost whilst enhancing digestion and the body’s detoxification process.
GIVEAWAY!
This week we are running a giveaway on our instagram @clothandco where you could win one of our gorgeous Organic Cotton Waffle Sweat and Track Pants along with a "Core Four" Edible Beauty products with a total value of over $430!
Go over to our instagram and follow, like and tag for your chance to win! Giveaway ends Sunday 9th August!
