Beauty is seriously big business these days, and Maya Christensen has launched a toxic free, natural beauty company that focuses on skincare with a conscience, it’s called; cut.le.crap. And, oh how we love the name of this fantastic skincare and hair care biz.
The brand cut.le.crap. was started by Maya and her husband Ben to give people the option of buying beauty and hair care products that aren’t filled with nasties that hurt the environment. There are no harmful chemicals or hazardous ingredients anywhere in the cut.le.crap products.
Let’s get under the skin of Maya Christensen to find out more about cut.le.crap and Maya’s background.
HOC. What career were you working in when you first realised something had to change with beauty products and the environment?
Maya. I’ve done many things, I like challenges and learning new skills. I worked for 4 years in the wine industry, which is my other passion in life. I then became a French teacher in secondary school and did that for 3 years. And here I am today, working full time for cut.le.crap. Being taken out of my comfort zone each day but learning so much along the way. I love it.
HOC. When you set up cut.le.crap did you have one specific skincare product in mind that you wanted to get off the ground first, before embarking on the full collection you have today?
Maya. I do love oils, so I wanted to focus on a serum and a body oil, the two things I cannot live without. Oils are just amazing! They enhance the quality of the skin and – opposite to what some people might think – they do not cause breakouts or make your skin greasy. It’s just a matter of knowing which one to choose.
HOC. How long have you been running cut.le.crap?
Maya. The whole project started about two years ago but we started trading in August
2018 only. We’re still very young.
HOC. Do you have a ‘hero’ product that is a best selling product from cut.le.crap, and do you use it yourself?
Maya. Both the Marula Serum and the Body Oil are our top products. They are very efficient and they smell lovely, people that try them usually come back for more. Yes, I do use them both and the rest of the range too. My husband, our son and I are totally addicted to our own products and our bathroom is filled with them. I guess this is the perks of having your own unisex beauty care brand!
HOC. Do you have any plans to release any new skincare products in the coming months?
Maya. We have so many plans. We have two products that hopefully will be out shortly, we like keeping things exciting. We just won the Best Buy label by the Ethical Consumer Magazine and we want to keep improving our products. The aim is to revamp our existing products so they are also Cosmos certified as well as Fair Trade. We value and promote transparency and for us, this is the best way to prove to our customers that we mean business and that we have nothing to hide.
HOC. Being a skincare producer isn’t something that everyone can do – did you take any special courses or go to college to learn about cosmetics?
Maya. It all started as a passion. Four years ago we started to question the products we were using and started to look into things more carefully. What we found out was quite scary, many mainstream brands put some very toxic materials in their products and the side effects of these can be terrible. I did a lot of research myself and started to make my own products at home – I loved it. So I took a diploma in haircare and skincare formulation in order to turn my passion into a business.
HOC. From a business perspective did you come across any obstacles that you had to overcome before being able to launch cut.le.crap?
Maya. Every day is a challenge. The Green beauty market is booming but it is very competitive too. Every day we need to make sure that we stand out from the crowd. I am very passionate about the environment, I consider myself as an eco-warrior and for me, it was extremely important to offer toxin-free products in sustainable packaging. You wouldn’t realise how hard it is to find labels that are water and oil proof but also biodegradable! In the end, it took much longer than expected to launch the brand but at least I was 100% satisfied and proud of my range.
HOC. Did anyone offer you any business advice before launching, something that you still follow to this day?
Maya. We had plenty of advice from different people. But the one that I value the most is “follow your instinct and stay true to your values, never change anything about your business in order to please someone”. Being stubborn and passionate means that I totally embrace it.
HOC. Have you made any mistakes that turned into a great learning curve since starting your business?
Maya. We’ve made many “mistakes” and I am sure we’ll make plenty more. But the important thing is to bounce back and learn from them. It’s impossible to launch a business flawlessly, I mean I never ran a business before. From our packaging to the design of our website as well as how we reinject our money into the business is not that easy but that way we know there is always room for improvement. We get a clearer vision each day of what we want to achieve and we won’t stop until we reach excellence!
HOC. If you were to offer one piece of advice to someone who wants to get into the beauty industry what would it be?
Maya. Go for it! I firmly believe that it is important to follow your dreams. Just be ready to enter a very competitive market, so bring something new. I also think that in 2019 it is our duty as a business to offer sustainable and eco-friendly products. We need to lead the way and act responsibly.
Thank you for taking the time to answer all our Girl Bosses of Great Britain questions for House of Coco Magazine. #GBOGB #WomenWorldwide #GirlBossesOfGreatBritain
Visit cut.le.crap for more information.
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