Interview with Melissa Jochim from Juice Beauty

What do you get when you take a team of vibrant, motivated, health-focused women, and couple them with leading edge research into organic skincare? Juice Beauty. Juice Beauty manufactures and markets innovative organic skincare solutions for men and women from around the world. Juice Beauty’s dedication to quality and their obvious commitment to the organic movement have positioned them as leaders in the organic skincare category. Organic Guide recently caught up with Melissa Jochim, Director of Product Development, from Juice Beauty.

Q: Why did you choose to focus on organic as opposed to conventional skincare treatments?

A: Juice Beauty is masterminded by a team of women who are passionate about organic and healthy lifestyles and whose organic products are backed by powerful science. Karen (Head Juicer – 25 years pioneering healthy lifestyles companies) and Melissa (Product Juicer – 15 years pioneering organic beauty formulations) are the organic wellness innovators driving Juice Beauty’s success. These Californian women are on a mission to bring pleasurable organic beauty solutions to people worldwide. They believe that a healthy, organic lifestyle not only applies to what we eat but also, what we put on our faces and bodies. That, in fact, it is fun and satisfying to take care of ourselves and the planet. These passions and beliefs are shared by everyone at Juice Beauty, a company full of people committed to providing effective organic solutions for healthy, radiant skin.

Since our skin absorbs up to 64% of what we place on it, what we feed our skin should be organic, healthy, nutritious and toxin-free. Organic skincare ingredient choices are over 50% higher in nutrients than conventionally grown ingredients. By choosing organic ingredients, Juice Beauty contains NO parabens, pesticides, petroleum, propylene or butylene glycol, sodium lauryl sulfates, no artificial dyes or synthetic fragrances and no phthalates.

Q: How did you develop the concept for a base containing natural fruit extracts?

A: At Juice Beauty our mission is to bring skincare with the highest percentage of certified organic ingredients to customers worldwide. To that end, we have come up with a unique formulation method, our 100% certified organic juice base. Juice Beauty is the only skincare company that uses a juice base and we have filed a patent on our juice formulations.

Some organic skincare uses only a few organic ingredients in a water base, making the total organic content diluted and often less than 5%. Instead of the typical water base that cannot be “organic or pesticide free,” Juice Beauty puts over 60 active organic ingredients (all USDA certified organic) into our 100% organic juice base (made from over 25 different certified organic fruit juices). This brings our total organic content up to 95%.  Our organic juice base is much more nourishing than the typical water base, as science has now shown us that organic juice is up to 50% higher in antioxidants and nutrients than non-organic juice and is beyond comparison to water. Juice Beauty’s pure organic ingredients are packed with age-defying potency…powerful antioxidants and polyphenols, essential vitamins, vital phytonutrients and age-defying hydroxy acids. We knew we were on to something big with our uniquely effective organic juice base formulation, so we filed a patent.
 
Q: Several of the herbal ingredients in your products have been used therapeutically for thousands of years. To what extent can traditional knowledge be applied in contemporary skin care?

A: Juice Beauty’s pure organic botanical ingredients and organic essential oils are packed with age-defying potency that has been proven over the years.…powerful antioxidants and polyphenols, essential vitamins, vital phytonutrients. The traditional uses of many of our ingredients offer key benefits in many Juice Beauty formulations.

Our Exfoliating Cleanser uses the exfoliating properties of organic pineapple juice and jojoba wax. Juice Beauty Hydrating Mist uses the soothing smells of organic ylang-ylang and rose essential oils. Juice Beauty Soothing Serum uses a soothing blend of organic aloe vera, licorice and bearberry extracts and essential fatty acids from plant oils. Don’t forget our Green Apple Peel with a refining blend of organic apple, lemon, grape and raw cane sugar to exfoliate and visibly improve skin tone and texture.

Q: Which of the natural ingredients is most challenging to acquire from organically certified sources?

A: Right now new organic ingredients, such as glycerin and surfactants are in development and not available for commercial use.  Unfortunately, the market for these ingredients (and others) has not grown to level it needs to in order to make these ingredients commercially viable.

Q: Your industry is extremely dynamic in terms of research and product innovation. Can you describe any recent developments which illustrate this point?

A: Juice Beauty’s combination of organic ingredients and potent antioxidant technology creates a powerful synergy that is innovative in today’s marketplace.  The most dynamic innovation would be creating stable and effective organic skincare that uses food-grade preservatives.

Q: Adequate sun protection can be difficult to find in a natural skincare range. Could you comment on the development of your juice based moisturisers with SPF 30?

A: Physical active SPF ingredients are opaque minerals such as titanium dioxide or zinc oxide. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is an inorganic oxide occurring in nature and brilliant white in color. Physical sunscreens reflect the sun’s ultraviolet light. Titanium dioxide protects skin from both UVA and UVB radiation. It is considered to have no risk of skin irritation.
(Reference: Skin Therapy Letter, 1997, volume 2, number 5).
 
Juice Beauty uses micronized titanium dioxide (no nano-technology) in our skin care sunscreens.  Micronized titanium dioxide allows for easy spreading without the “white” look and still provides the ability to protect the skin from of UV rays.

Our chemical-free SPF moisturizers are formulated with antioxidant-rich organic pomegranate and grape juices, vitamins and essential nutrients to replenish as they protect.

Q: What’s your philosophy on the presentation and packaging of organic skin care products?

A: It is important for organic skincare to appeal to all demographics. Organic can be prestigious in how it portrayed. Organic should also be carried through in all areas of packaging. We use recycled board for our cartons, which can be recycled and all of our bottles are recyclable. In addition, our team lives the organic lifestyle!

Q: It’s not uncommon to discover misleading claims about the organic status of various skin care products. From an industry perspective, what types of regulation might be helpful for ensuring quality and protecting the rights of organic consumers?

A: At Juice Beauty we use certified organic ingredients for our skincare formulations that meet both the USDA National Organic Program law (7 CFR Part 205) and the California Organic Products Act of 2003(COPA 2003). This allows us to meet the FDA “truth in labeling” laws.   We have also gone to great lengths to work with many of the certifying experts in the U.S. and California to make sure we are compliant with all organic regulations. By meeting all of the above requirements, specifically the California COPA 2003 requirements, all Juice Beauty “made with organic ingredient” marketing claims are truthful and completely substantiated.
 
Juice Beauty has taken the strict USDA percentage guidelines for food as our standard in making our organic skin care. All of Juice Beauty’s organic ingredients are certified by a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved agency. Juice Beauty uses over 60 active organic ingredients (all USDA certified organic) in our 100% organic juice base (made from over 25 different certified organic fruit juices). This brings our total organic content up to 95% and allows us to achieve a greater than 70% certified organic content and to make “made with certified organic ingredient” claims.

In the State of California, the California Organic Products Act of 2003 (COPA 2003) prohibits the retail sale of any cosmetic product labeled as “organic” unless that product meets the criteria of 70% organic content. This is calculated based on the ACTUAL agricultural organic content. “Waters” and “Extracts” are only allowed to claim that portion of “organic” that remains in the water and they must exclude added water. This means “water” and “extracts” rarely contribute more than 1% of the total organic content. Brands making the marketing claims of “100% organic” are, unfortunately, false and misleading. These brands do not meet California COPA 2003 requirements. Any product that does not meet COPA requirements cannot legally be sold as “organic” in the State of California.
 
We look forward to the day when there are USDA organic skincare regulations similar to the USDA NOP Food Standards. This would include a list of allowable non-organic ingredients for use in skincare products. We participate with a team of organic skincare enthusiasts to help create legislation such as this. We do not believe that the term “organic” should be used as a trendy marketing term on skincare, it should be regulated to the same strict manner that it is on food labeling.

Q: There’s a possibility that men are becoming increasingly interested in natural skin care products. Is this reflected in your market research and product sales?

A: In one of our biggest markets, Hong Kong, we are tracking that 15% of JB customers are men. Juice Beauty skincare is a line that is easy to navigate for a men’s regime. 4 simple steps: cleanse (shave), treat, moisturize and protect. Juice Beauty bestsellers for men: Cleansing Milk, Soothing Serum, Antioxidant Serum, Green Apple Peel, Oil-Free Moisturizer.

Q: What lies ahead for Juice Beauty?

A: Juice Beauty will continue to be the authority and leader in organic skincare. We look forward to becoming an International leader! We have many exciting organic product launches, even products that carry the USDA organic food seal!

Organic Guide wishes to thank Melissa Jochim and the entire Juice Beauty team for sharing their knowledge and passion. To find out more about Juice Beauty and to learn more about the company’s constantly fresh and innovative product range, please visit them at Juice Beauty.