Artivist Series - Arielle Moody
Founder nontoxic sunscreen company Mama Sol
Arielle Moody worked in the beauty industry for more than 15 years, before she started her own company. Mama Sol was a collaboration between three women who wanted to protect themselves, their children, and the planet from the harmful petrochemicals found in many commercially available sunscreens. Mama Sol’s tagline is: “For all mamas, Mother Earth included.” In addition to protecting the skin from the harmful rays of the sun, the sunscreens are also less harmful to coral reefs. Important because it has been estimated, that roughly one fifth of the world’s coral have died in the past three years.
Video conversation with Arielle … click here
What Arielle talks about …
She grew up playing sports and was always outside. She recognizes that she spent too much time in the sun. When Arielle was five months pregnant with her first son, she began researching sunscreen ingredients that she should avoid during pregnancy and nursing. The list was long. Oxybenzone and octinoxate were at the top of the list. She started buying dozens of mineral sunscreens and couldn’t find one that she loved. She hired a chemist to create something she would want to use, feel safe using and look forward to using.
Arielle talks about how she got into the cosmetics industry, the unspoken hazards in cosmetic products, and clean cosmetics. Her company’s tagline is: “For all mamas, Mother Earth included.” She also talks about the negative impacts of chemical sunscreens on coral reefs.
Show Notes
00:00:00 Pam Ferris-Olson Today on the Wo(men) Mind the Water Artivist Series podcast on womenmindthewater.com, I'm speaking with Arielle Moody. Arielle worked in the beauty industry for more than 15 years, before she started her own company. She wanted to create sunscreens without toxic ingredients. Mama Sol’s tagline is: “For all mamas, Mother Earth included.”
00:00:25 The Wo(men) Mind the Water Artivist Series podcast on womenmindthewater.com engages artists in conversation about their work and explores their connection with the ocean. Through their stories Wo(men) Mind the Water hopes to inspire and encourage action to protect the ocean and her creatures.
00:00:45 On this podcast, I'm speaking with Arielle Moody. Arielle is cofounder of Mama Sol, a company started by three women who wanted to protect themselves, their children, and the planet from the harmful petrochemicals found in many commercially available sunscreens. In addition to protecting the skin from the harmful rays of the sun, these sunscreens do it without chemicals like oxybenzone. These sunscreens are also less harmful to coral reefs. Any reduction in toxic chemicals is valuable, as it has been estimated, that roughly one fifth of the world’s coral have died in the past three years.
00:01:30 Arielle I am pleased to welcome you to the Wo(men) Mind the Water Artivist Series podcast. I am interested to hear from someone who can talk knowledgably about the cosmetic industry. The industry in the past has received negative publicity for practices, that range from excessive packaging waste, unsustainable sourcing, and use of chemicals that contribute to water pollution.
00:01:58 So let's begin by learning something about you. Was being outdoors an important part of your childhood?
00:02:06 Arielle Moody Well first I just want to say: Thank you so much for having me. I’m really excited to be here. I think this is a really important topic and I hope your listeners are excited to learn more.
00:02:17 Being outside for me was everything for me in my childhood. I grew up playing sports my entire life. I was always outside. I was a beachgoer in the summer. I spent too much time in the sun if you ask my mom, who is an eye surgeon and one of the founders of our company.
00:02:33 I used to put baby oil on my face when I was young and so now obviously that has changed quite drastically and I'm excited to talk all about the ways in which to protect yourself from the sun and still have fun outdoors.
00:02:48 Pam Ferris-Olson Very good. So what led you to work on focusing both the skin damage from the sun and at the same time avoid contributing to the demise of coral reefs.
00:03:02 Arielle Moody So when I was five months pregnant with my first son, I started researching ingredients to avoid when you're pregnant or nursing and the list was so long.
And oxybenzone and octinoxate were one of the top on the list. I didn't realize at the time how toxic sunscreen was for everybody who was using it. And so I started buying dozens of mineral sunscreens and I could not find one that I loved. And being when you're pregnant, for example, you're even more sensitive to the sun, so that was even more reason why I got so interested at the time in the topic. But everybody should be protecting their skin.
00:03:36 So when I couldn't find what I was looking for, being that I have over 15 years of beauty and industry experience, I decided to hire a chemist. I said: I'm ready to create something that I want to use, that I feel safe using and that I look forward to using. Because there's so many reasons why I think people don't use sunscreen and I wanted to change that and end the excuses.
00:04:04 Pam Ferris-Olson Very interesting. So explain for us the term cosmetic industry. I just threw that word out. But what exactly does the term encompass?
00:04:11 Arielle Moody Yeah. So it really refers to the development and the production and the marketing and the sale of personal care products that are designed to enhance your appearance or improve your hygiene or maintain skin or hair health.
00:04:27 Pam Ferris-Olson So when did you become interested in the cosmetic industry? Was it something that you always dreamed about being involved in, or did you like fall into a summer job?
00:04:38 Arielle Moody No. So you can ask my mom? She went when I was nine years old. I used to, on Friday nights. Friday night was make up night. and I would get all her makeup bags and I would just sit in her bathroom with her and apply makeup every Friday night. It was what I looked forward to. She knew from when I was that young that I loved the beauty industry. And I never strayed from it.
00:05:01 My first job out of college was working for Smashbox cosmetics. And I never strayed from there. From there on I never left the beauty industry. I never wanted to leave the beauty industry. I love it, but I think there could be a lot of improvements made and I learned that with, you know, all the years that I was working in it, which lead me to create Mama Sol.
00:05:26 Pam Ferris-Olson So tell us a little bit about the work you've done in the cosmetic industry. What aspect of the industry did you work in?
00:05:35 Arielle Moody So I've done everything from working on starting on the sales floor, you know working for Nordstrom and Fred Siegel in Santa Monica, CA to working my way up to becoming head of product development for the number one skin Care brand sold on HSN called Skin Cosmetics. And then from there I became VP of Sales for the leading, several leading beauty packaging and formulation suppliers. So I would work directly with really large brands. So my experience definitely is in formula, packaging, sales trainings. I do it all.
00:06:17 Pam Ferris-Olson So when you were working on those products were you aware of; did the company in any way let the employees know or the public know that there might be negative outcomes from the production of or the sales of the products?
00:06:32 Arielle Moody No, I was never told anything that; about the detrimental effects of the ingredients that were being used and honestly, I didn't even think to look into it 'cause I was so young, you know. I was just having fun doing my thing and following my passion. And then when I started working for a company called Bite Beauty, which was bought out by LVMH Louis Vuitton. That's where I first got my start in clean beauty because it was all about the lip products that were so clean. You could eat, essentially you could ingest them.
00:07:09 And I started being like: wait, why isn't everybody making products this clean? And so then I started really doing a deep dive into what I was using and that's what led me to get so passionate about sustainability and clean, clean, non-toxic ingredients.
00:07:28 Pam Ferris-Olson So that's really interesting and at the same time shocking that there isn't a requirement or ethics that would let us know what we might be doing to ourselves or in our environment.
00:07:42 Arielle Moody Yeah, I agree.
00:07:43 Pam Ferris-Olson I've interviewed a number of women entrepreneurs and I'm always interested to learn more about the work that goes into taking a creative idea and making it a reality. So what was the main reason you decided to start Mama's Sol?
00:08:01 Arielle Moody
Yeah, I mean, I mentioned this a bit earlier and it's really, you know. Sunscreen for me when I was younger, just wasn't a priority. And when I was pregnant it really it became one because I was protecting me, I was protecting another life.
00:08:19 You know also, I'm getting older. I just turned 40 and I want to make sure you know I'm protecting my skin from damaging rays that can cause aging. Being that there was so much
misinformation out there about sunscreen, I really wanted to do my part. And I also really selfishly wanted to create something that I wanted to use, you know, because I couldn't find it.
00:08:41 Sunscreen is never something that I don't think people look forward to using. I think it's a more of like a chore. It’s an afterthought. And for those that, you know are using it religiously, I think they deserve to use something luxurious, something that they're excited to use.
00:09:01 We've actually made our sunscreen smell, actually, they all smell like a subtle hint of lavender essential oil. So it really encourages whoever's using it to take a deep breath with each.
So we're really trying to create a mental health moment for every time you use it. And to really feel your skin and touch your skin. And I think that helps you connect with yourself and connect with Mother Earth. Really too, 'cause we're using really natural ingredients.
00:09:26 Pam Ferris-Olson Nice idea. Which has been more difficult: starting up a company or developing the product?
00:09:33 Arielle Moody Definitely developing the product. I'm a builder. I love building. That's probably one of my biggest passions. It has been building this company and, of course, product development is also a huge one for me as well.
00:09:51 OTC, which is sunscreen, is extremely challenging and there is so many parts that go into it. And if I, I will just say that anyone who's looking to launch a sunscreen, you better know what you're getting into because it's a lot of work. It costs a lot of money. And if you don’t have the passion behind it, I don't think it would be worth it for somebody to do. I mean, I just see so much value in what we're doing. I feel like what we're doing is profound. We're not just protecting. We're not just launching like another oil or serum or protecting people from getting cancer.
00:10:28 Pam Ferris-Olson So who is the target audience for Mama Sol?
00:10:31 Arielle Moody Everything's a treatment and multitasking to save you time. So I'd say busy moms, working moms, educated about ingredients is who our target market is.
00:10:42 Pam Ferris-Olson It sounds amazing. I know when I use non-toxic mineral sunscreen it does leave a white cast. When you rub and rub and rub, it still seems to be there. And if it's something that also nourishes my skin. That's wonderful. So is this something that's available nationwide or just online?
00:11:03 Arielle Moody We're available in the US and we're sold on DSC and you can find us at the Four Seasons. We're in the Fairmont Hotel. We’re at the Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo and Carmel Valley Ranch and all these, you know, high end spas and hotels right now. And we are in the works of potentially launching soon in a clean beauty retailer. So TBD on that.
00:11:29 Pam Ferris-Olson So what evidence did you have that you'd be able to create a successful non-toxic sunscreen business when there are so many sunscreens out there.
00:11:40 Arielle Moody I always say there's room for everybody. So for anybody who's listening who thinks they've come up with this idea, but it's so saturated. There's room for you.
First, the market growth is there for non-toxic sunscreens. The global non-toxic sunscreen market is valued around $2.5 billion in 2023 and it's projected to grow to 4.28 billion by 2032. So I also think just more people are becoming more aware about the harmful effects of chemical sunscreen based ingredients. And there's just more, especially when the reports came out about the destruction of the coral reefs from using oxybenzone and octinoxate and those types of ingredients, that really brought an awareness to a really big problem.
00:12:25 Pam Ferris-Olson So do you believe there's sufficient evidence that shows that sunscreens like the ones you're saying have oxybenzone? Is there sufficient evidence to show that they're harmful to people in the environment?
00:12:38 Arielle Moody There's so many studies that have come out and they've found oxybenzone in urine, in blood, in breast milk, and that's, that was the study that really caught my attention. 'cause I'm like, just like I'm feeding my baby. It's supposed to be the purest of pure and here we have oxybenzone being fed to my child. It's an endocrine disruptor, a hormone disruptor. It can cause low birth weight. Causes cell damage and skin allergies and aquatic toxicity that can cause developmental and reproductive life issues for fish, destruction of coral reefs. The studies are there and you just have to do a quick Google search and you'll find it.
00:13:21 Pam Ferris-Olson So give us a quick primer on how to identify safe sunscreens.
00:13:26 Arielle Moody Just for the audience that doesn't know the difference between mineral chemicals sun screen and then I'll explain what's a quick identifier is. The difference is a physical sunscreen, which is mineral, sits on top of your skin and it protects you like a physical shield. And it's much less likely to be absorbed into the bloodstream than chemical sunscreen. So chemical sunscreen, its job is to absorb into your skin, thereby going into the bloodstream. But it takes, you know, 20 minutes to work. Physical sunscreen works immediately.
00:13:56 We asked a world renown dermatologist Doctor Kilgore just recently what he preferred. “Do you prefer mineral or chemical sunscreen?”
And he said, “Mineral.”
And I said, “Why?”
And he said because UV filters in the US, the chemical UV filter. Sorry, chemical filters degrade much more quickly when exposed to UV rays, whereas zinc is much more stable and it's less likely to degrade and protect you from those harmful UVA rays.
00:14:26 So the quick identifier is. If it doesn't say zinc oxide or titanium oxide, it is a chemical sunscreen. Even if it says zinc oxide and then it also has, for example, avabenzone. That one is a UVA filter and that's the one that he was referring to that degrades quickly. But even if it's a mix, it's still chemical. So you just want to look at the active ingredient and look for those two, and then you'll know really quickly which one it is.
00:14:55 Pam Ferris-Olson So it's heartening to know that there are people like you who care about the health and that of the planet. So what advice can you offer listeners regarding how they can maintain their own well-being and at the same time support the ocean?
00:15:11 Arielle Moody I think that's such a great question. I think using less plastic is one of the number one things you can. We know that the oceans are completely polluted with our plastic consumption and so not only that, but the reason we chose to package our formulas in glass was because micro plastics are getting into the formula that you don't even realize when they're sitting in plastic. It can leach into your formula which thereby is going on to your skin.
So microplastics are the number one hormone disruptor. So this is a way where you can take care of yourself. You know, use less plastic or use, you know, materials like sugar cane so that you're not putting, you know, petrochemicals on to your skin when you can help it. And then also, of course less, this is a thing that people don't realize and I've worked in the beauty industry for a long time. And that’s why I specialize in sustainability. Most of what we use ends up in the landfill, OK.
00:16:11 It doesn't matter even if even some of our glass products end up. But what's the difference is: if a glass is ending up in the landfill versus plastic ending up in the landfill?
The plastic is leaching into the soil. So the less plastic, in my opinion, is a better option and there's a lot of people who, you know, they go back and forth. That's my take on it. So that would be my number one suggestion: Just use less plastic.
00:16:40 Pam Ferris-Olson That's very wise advice. So I wish you much success with Mama Sol and your efforts to protect people and the environment and your dog from harmful chemicals like oxybenzone.
00:16:54 I’d like to remind listeners that I've been speaking with Arielle Moody, a California-based cosmetics entrepreneur, whose Mama Sol line of sunscreens aims to protect our bodies from the harmful rays of the sun without jeopardizing the health of the ocean.
00:17:12 Arielle Moody is the latest guest on the Wo(men) Mind the Water Artivist Series podcast. This series can be viewed on Wo(men) Mind the Water, the Museum on Main Street and YouTube. An audio only version of this podcast is available on womenmindthewater.com, on iTunes and Spotify.
00:17:30 Wo(men) Mind the Water is grateful to Jaine Rice for the use of her song Women of Water. All rights for the Wo(men) Mind the Water name and logo belong to Pam Ferris-Olson. This is Pam Ferris-Olson.
00:17:45 Arielle Moody Thank you so much. I also want to offer your listeners a discount if they want to try our product. If you visit shopmamasol.com, you get 15% off by watermama15. I promise you will love it and I can’t wait for you to try it.