Beauty isn’t just skin deep. The quality, not quantity, of products you choose to put on your face can have a real effect on not only how you look, but the overall health of your skin. St. Louis-based skincare line, Blissoma, takes this health-based philosophy to heart when creating their natural-based products. From moisturizers to facial crèmes, Blissoma founder Julie Longyear creates her natural skincare line with the precision of a chemist and care of a true nature-lover. I recently had the opportunity to catch up with Julie and get some great advice on how to better care for my skin, delve into the humble beginnings of Blissoma, and even got to try her wonderful (and highly recommended) products first-hand.
Tell me about Blissoma. How was it conceived? Why did you decide to start your own business and share your extensive knowledgebase with the public?
I started getting into the natural lifestyle vein in my teens. I was about 15 or 16 when I decided to go vegetarian. At that time it was partly for the nutritional aspects and partly environmental. Once I heard that meat’s really hard on land resources, it just seemed like another sensible decision to me. It was more difficult at that time in St. Louis to go more towards a natural lifestyle because at that point we didn’t have a Whole Foods, the only place around was the Natural Way. So we would run over there and get veggie burgers and things like that. It took about another 10 years before I decided to make a job out of my tendencies towards a natural lifestyle.
I started working with Essential Oils and blending my own scents up for aromatheraputic purposes and really liked the way that they made me feel. In 2003 I decided to quit the school path that I was on. I had already graduated with my bachelors and was taking post-graduate classes, I took about four semesters worth of chemistry classes. I had been trying to figure out what I wanted to do and had still been making things on the side. I had been making candles and the essential oil blends and my dad was like, “Well, do you want to make a business out of this?” And I was like, “Okay, sounds cool.” He had the business experience and I had the creative side so we jumped into it. It’s been 10 years since then, and we went through a lot of different evolutions through that process.
Initially, we were more of an apothecary. It was a little chunk of time into the bath and body stuff that I realized the line had not hit people at that point the way I wanted it to. I was into the serious chemistry and the benefits of the essential oils. People were interpreting it more as fun, smelly stuff. Also, the housing market crashed right around that time, too. So people weren’t buying what they considered to be a luxury or gift item. I thought it would be a perfect time to take a step in a different direction. We really slugged it out for the next two years while I worked on finalizing the pharmaceuticals for the skincare line. I had been working on stuff the whole time behind the scenes. But I really hadn’t been able to take it to the forefront of the business.
Once people’s purchasing behavior changed so drastically, it was either we’re going to do this or we aren’t going to be in existence. And not only that, but I found it much more intellectually stimulating because the possibilities of what you can do with skincare formulations are just limitless. You can figure out all kinds of stuff. Aromatherapy candles are nice, but they’re just a candle. I really like inventing, I really like the creative process. For me, it was a good fit professionally and it made our products something that meant more to people. Skincare is the sort of thing that when people find something they really like, they’ll sacrifice other things in their routine in order to buy that product that they really like. That was always the sort of relationship I wanted with my client base, I wanted to be that thing that made a difference for them, where my product was really useful and meaningful. That was the journey towards where we’ve ended up.
What makes Blissoma different from other skincare lines?
First, I would say the fact that our formulations are from the ground up, totally original, unique to our company (makes us different from other skincare lines). Most lines send off to a co-packer for a base product and then have a couple of other extracts or things thrown in on top of it to customize it, but they don’t actually do the research to create their own base recipe and do everything from scratch. I was almost coming from an outsider’s perspective where I didn’t have jobs in the cosmetics industry before this. Everything that I’m doing is totally from scratch. I’ve looked at other lines and see what’s going on out there and know the chemistry behind it, but I wasn’t industry trained. Over the course of several years of combining and re-combining the ingredients, you come up with some stuff that’s unexpected, that is fundamentally different from what’s available out there because a lot of other people are just building on what already exists. We’re literally remaking from the bottom-up. Most skincare lines are more marketing creations instead of chemistry creations. The concentration is more on “how can we package this” and “how can we give it a pretty label,” rather than understanding from a physiological perspective what this chemical is doing to the person; what are we extracting from this herb and how is it working. Because that’s not where my strength is, I’ve had to learn the marketing. My strength is really in the functionality.
I would have to say the difference in terms of the total effect the product can offer is very different because we’ve really paid close attention to how each of these botanical compounds are effecting people for their optimal performance. When people convert to our line, we tend to have repeat customers. Our biggest hurdle is getting someone to try the product for the first time and getting through all the noise that gets generated by other lines. Once that happens I get letters from people within 12 to 48 hours where they’re like “my skin looks totally different! How did this happen?” and it’s partly because what they’ve been using is either ineffective or has been irritating their skin. Once you get off that and on something that’s specifically formulated to regenerate and heal, the results that that can prompt are really outstanding.
In my opinion, the sort of thing we are doing should be the standard. We shouldn’t be that unique. In a world where companies are caring a lot about how they’re impacting clients, rather than how they’re going to get the client to pay for this, they would be thinking more about how the products are working. The reason I started (Blissoma) is because there wasn’t hardly anything out there. I tried to address the problems I saw from a consumer perspective. My goal has always been to make things approachable, understandable, affective and affordable, as well as natural. Natural, to me, is part of the bundle. And super important, but a small part of the goal I was trying to address. I was trying to make the whole idea of skincare more democratic, more accessible and something that people feel good about doing.
Tell me about Blissoma’s philosophy. What does Blissoma do to ensure every product lives up to its standard?
Philosophy-wise we think beauty should be positive, people should feel good about their skincare routine as well as good about themselves. Whatever we can do to grow that feeling is both what we do in product and in marketing. I tend to concentrate on positive things when writing marketing copy. I don’t market based on fear, which is why I don’t focus on toxins like the way a lot of other natural companies do. I don’t spend a lot of time on those issues because I think it’s more fear mongering and in general, it’s one of those things I just don’t like. I want people to make their choice based on empowerment and make positive healthy choices. Positivity overall is a good thing, and making people feel good in their own bodies. From a skincare perspective that generally means providing a product that is really truly healthy and going to help people deal with the stresses of everyday life. It’s less from a beauty perspective, less from a “how do I look” perspective and more from a “healthy, take care of your body” perspective. The looking good is kind of a bonus. Looking good is a bi-product of having positive philosophies of all areas of your life.
We choose pure botanical compounds. I tend to produce a very small line. Partly because we’re a small company so we can’t have a million products because it’s very expensive to put out new formulations. But we also have a small line because I don’t think customers need to be overwhelmed by 30 different options when a well-crafted product will offer benefits to a variety of skin types. I tend to keep things a little bit simpler so people don’t have as much trouble making decisions when they shop. It’s budget-friendly in that they can choose just a cleanser and moisturizer and it’s still going to provide them a great result. They can go a little more complicated if they want but they don’t have to. We’re not touting the products to do something that we don’t know that it does. That’s all based on the current research that’s based on those ingredients and the actual effects they’re proven to give. I spend a lot of time making sure our statements about what we do are accurate. We like to talk about what our stuff actually can do. I don’t spend a lot of time focusing our marketing copy on being all about fine lines and wrinkles. It’s mentioned for a couple of products. I take care of myself because I want to have a minimum amount of pain and discomfort as I get older. That’s why I eat really healthy and I do my yoga. I don’t want to be strapped to a lot of medications to keep myself in good condition. I want to feel good and enjoy my life. The same can be said about my skin. I don’t want skin cancer from over sun exposure or whatever else. I want to be healthy on every part of me.
I think that overall our clients appreciate the lack of concentration on just physical appearance. They’re here to take care of themselves but not just obsessing over what they look like. They want to look healthy and good and the best versions of themselves possible. We tend to work with very matter-of-fact people. Some don’t wear make up on an everyday basis. We’re transitioning as well as going into other markets. We’re getting other customers who come from the mass-market standpoint and try our line and are impressed by how well it works. It’s interesting to take the message that we have to a new set of people. They’re not as used to the way we sell and the way our stuff works, but they like how the product works. We just try to concentrate on keeping things authentic. We go for authenticity and transparency the whole way through, true statements, representing ourselves in an honest and positive way.
Blissoma can be found at the following:
http://www.iriestar.com/find_us.html
Takeaway Tips:
- Choose only Certified Organic Aloe for real results
- Antioxidants are abundant in plants. Potent sources include Green Tea, Green Coffee, Yerba Mate, Rooibos, Pomegranate, Acai Berry and other berries, Turmeric, Rosehips, and Spirulina.
- Astaxanthin Improves wrinkles, elasticity, skin coloration, texture, and hydration.
- Beta-glucans are anti-cancer, anti-wrinkle, collagen building, and soothing. They can be found in Reishi, Shiitake, or Maitake Mushrooms, Oats, Barley, and Yeast extracts
- Niacinamide is the common name of the active form of vitamin B3 and is dermatologist proven to reduce oiliness and acne, improve hydration, build collagen, and even coloration.
- Proanthocyanidins are polyphenols/flavanols from grape seeds or maritime pine bark. They can strengthen blood vessels and improve circulation, have superior antioxidant action, and reduce skin
