The infamous smell of Petal’s cupcakes, a brilliant magenta blazer and a bright smile greeted me the morning I met Australian beauty tycoon Miranda Bond of Inika organic cosmetics…
The infamous smell of Petal’s cupcakes, a brilliant magenta blazer and a bright smile greeted me the morning I met Australian beauty tycoon Miranda Bond. I was excited to sit down, and have a chat.
Having known a bit about her background and battle with endometriosis being the reason for her organic lifestyle, I was intrigued to learn more about how such a personal experience grew to one of my favourite make up brands – INIKA.
What I saw was a woman with more passion and excitement for her job than I’ve ever experienced.
Every question I asked was met with bubbling excitement to teach me everything possible about INIKA and the importance of a natural lifestyle.
INIKA was introduced to our shores this time last year at New Zealand Fashion Week 2010, and has since been a strong and popular brand on our shelves.
Despite having done research about the brand, I still found the idea of organic make-up baffling. When looking at the ingredients of my favourite lipstick it’s surprising how many things I can’t even pronounce, let alone understand. We all know that eating organic, free-range chickens is best, but sometimes they just don’t taste as good as the birds stuffed with more hormones than a 13 year old boy. But the thing that pushes INIKA above all else is the understanding that “quality is the most important”.
Miranda wants her consumers to love her product not because it is organic, but because it is a “stand out beauty product”, then realizing its “added bonus of all-natural ingredients”. INIKA is about spreading a message – organic can (and should) be good quality.
Miranda told me it is“her mission in life” to push organic ideals within the understanding that make up can be and should be sexy. “Nobody is producing this sort of quality make up in an organic nature – globally”.
Despite the way Miranda approached “up hauling” her life to turn organic almost instantly, she recommends taking it slow for others. “Start with a toothpaste – read the ingredients … once you start to think about what’s in things it can freak you out”.
Miranda likes to keep her brainchild close to her heart and is “intimately involved” in each process of her make-up’s creation. Continuing to keep her brand green as she expands her range is “a challenge that we are perfecting through hard work and experience.” A challenge that is best shown through one of Miranda’s latest products – nail polish. Although one “can’t create a certified organic nail polish”, INIKA will soon have the “greenest nail polish in the world” (containing bamboo and Acai) hot from the testing labs (and Miranda’s fingers- each nail one trialing a different colour in the sultry red range).
I’m convinced – but if you aren’t then what INIKA has coming out is a great little starter kit of their best selling most used product – the powder. In INIKA’s new ‘face in a box’ you can try the primer, foundation (Miranda’s personal favourite), concealer, powder and bronzer all applied with INIKA’s famous vegan brushes.
So you can see, as I have, quite how easy it is to take a healthy yet gorgeous step in the right direction.
Interview and photography by Isobel Masters
10 September 2011
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