An Interview With Wanda Malhotra
Be honest. And be open in what you do. On my website I don’t cover up behind a screen. I speak as who I am. And I’m proud of that I do. I’m not corporate and I hope women feel that.
In an era where conscious consumerism is on the rise, the beauty industry is undergoing a significant transformation towards cruelty-free and ethical practices. This series aims to highlight and celebrate the brands and individuals who are at the forefront of this movement, showcasing their commitment to ethical sourcing, animal welfare, and sustainable production in the world of cosmetics. As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Charlotte Fnug. Charlotte is the founder of Organic Make, a Danish colour cosmetic brand for women 40+ with sensitive skin.
Charlotte is on a mission to help women use less makeup, to not cover themselves in heavy makeup looks, for the sake of our planet. She’s worked 30+ years in the beauty industry.
Thank you so much for joining us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’?
I’ve worked 30+ years in the beauty industry and I see how women feel shameful if skin does not live up to what others consider flawless normal skin. Women feel pressure to show up perfect in their lives, their skin, their hair and their looks. Even ageing skin is bad. I’ve met a lot of women, whose life have been affected because they didn’t meet what’s considered normal skin texture.
I’ve seen the dirty game. Women are shamed and convinced, young and old, that they need all these layers of heavy foundations to look beautiful and confident. I question the status quo, why you hide behind thick layers of foundation. First step is to start to love who you are.
Most heavy foundations affect women with sensitive skin, cause irritation, bad breakouts and acne can get worse from bad ingredients. Even adult acne.
Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘takeaways’ you learned from that?
A brave women shared her amazing story with me: “You spend most of your life caking in primers, concealer, foundation, more concealer, contour and the HAIRSPRAY. All due to the continuous fear that me or spot/scarring/cyst/redness or any form of “bad skin” may be visible.”
Bekki was so real and inspiring to me. She used to end her makeup with HAIRSPRAY to make sure her makeup stayed fixed on.
Many women have been misled and it pains me.
I’m on a mission to normalize Real Skin. Real Beauty comes from how you talk to yourself and how you look after yourself. Don’t feel sorry that you are different from other women. Be proud of who you are.
It starts with one change. Then next one. I created my makeup brand for you to overcome that social pressure and feel confident about who you are.
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Serve first:
I know my customers. I do makeup classes and I love it. It’s where I connect with women on deep levels and I learn about their insecurities. I never push stuff on women. I always have their best interest in mind. And I’m honest. I’ll tell you what looks good or not.
In business, I play the long game. I don’t fall for short term tricks and women trust me for that.
I do what I say:
This is important and dear to my heart.
When I promise a customer something, I always deliver. I have never promised a customer something and not delivered on my promise.
This is so important. I can’t emphasize that enough.
Working corporate beauty, I felt terrible. Once I couldn’t give an answer to my most important key-account. She was head buyer. I was waiting on New York lawyers to sort out the new contract.
I felt so embarrassed. I called the head buyer three times “Sorry, I haven’t forgotten you but…”
I realized it was out of my control, and I didn’t want to lose her trust.
Trust and honesty in business and life is about delivering on what you say you do. Never lose it.
Curiosity & Courage:
I wouldn’t be where I am today, if it wasn’t for my curiosity and courage.
My courage made me leave my abusive controlling dad, at 19. I had to get away. I knew there was something better out there.
I ran away from Denmark. Lived abroad for 10 years. I learned so many things. I was open to meet the unknown.
Also how I built my business. I question the status quo. Initially, as a mum, I searched better “green healthy” products for babies and children. I started to talk about parabens in cosmetics and why mothers should avoid. That was my first niche 20 years ago, when I started my company.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that might help people?
I can reveal that sensitive eyes have different needs. Women with sensitive eyes have problems with running red itchy eyes. So I see a gap in that category. That’s all for now.
Ok, thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of our interview. What inspired you to embrace cruelty-free and ethical practices in the cosmetics industry, and how has this commitment shaped your brand’s philosophy?
As beauty brand founder I’m responsible for what I say and do.
I’m not big corporate beauty. I’m not here to please shareholders for shares to go up. I have been in that game working corporate. They’ll do anything to meet end-of-quarter sales.
I speak up. I speak up because I want things to change for the better with less consumption. And I wish more women feel confident in who they are.
I’m here to serve my customers, real women with sensitive skin issues. I help women to use less makeup so skin feels breathable. You don’t need to hide yourself behind mask-like foundations that irritate and feel heavy. And yes, that involves being open about the ingredients I use and those I don’t. And why I do what I do.
I do not make the most makeup I can. I only make loose makeup powders. I say no to anything else. I’ll rather make one good product, than 10 other makeup products you don’t need.
It’s that simple.
Women love the simplicity when I tell them “You need just one foundation pot. It’s all you need. Good for your money and our planet”.
How do you ensure that your products meet both ethical standards and consumer expectations for quality and performance?
I’m the best test person. Once I produced organic mascara (years back). At that time, in health stores, there was no good organic mascara.
I knew I’d done an innovative concept. But once mascara hit my warehouse and I tested the finished product it was not like what I agreed with my manufacturer. They took no responsibility.
I ended up dumping 10.000 mascara. I knew if a woman tried my organic mascara she would think “This is no good”. She would buy once and tell all her girlfriends — not to buy. This you can’t afford in business, then better not launch. Cost me a fortune.
Can you share a challenge you faced while transitioning to or maintaining cruelty-free practices and how you overcame it?
I’ve learned, with my organic mascara project. Some beauty products, especially organic, can’t be done. And you have to live with it. If a product does not live up to promise — you better not launch.
Since the launch my makeup brand I didn’t want to use animal hair, like horse or goat hairs, in my makeup brushes. It’s common in the beauty industry. I was the first to talk about “no animal” hairs in my makeup brushes, because I’ve seen the cruelty taking place and how they rip out hairs.
Initially, I had to contact several manufacturers of makeup brushes. At the time they weren’t offering “no animal hair” brushes. And first samples didn’t work with my makeup either.
I love dogs and Hugo my Maltipoo is my daily enjoyment. I will never use animal hairs in makeup brushes.
In your opinion, what are the biggest misconceptions about cruelty-free and ethical cosmetics, and how do you address these in your marketing and education efforts?
I’m open about what’s in my makeup. And I talk about why I don’t use a particular ingredient in my makeup. I’m transparent and I openly write on my website, please contact me if you need to. And I do reply to my emails.
Words can be fluffy for consumers to understand. Companies say, we reduce our carbon footprint — what does it mean? I think it is confusing and how do you measure it.
I communicate clear — I say: “You don’t need to use 9–11 different makeup products — one pot will do”. And women who respond to this, they like the simplicity. And I know they tell their girlfriends “I use one makeup product”.
Based on your research or experience, can you please share your “5 Things You Need to Create a Succesful Cruelty-Free Brand”?
1 . Be honest. And be open in what you do. On my website I don’t cover up behind a screen. I speak as who I am. And I’m proud of that I do. I’m not corporate and I hope women feel that.
2 . Tell your story. I as founder, have a story too. As a young girl, I wasn’t allowed to wear makeup by my dad. It was very hurtful for me. I had acne, and I was hiding my makeup from my dad — at the same time I experienced lots of breakouts from bad makeup. So I wasn’t feeling very good about myself.
3 . Understand consumer needs. Sensitive skin does not tolerate most abrasive skin care products. When I talk to women what it does to their skin, they’re relieved. Consumers are taught to believe they need so many skincare products, that most ruin their skin barrier with too harsh products. I know the beauty industry want to sell you so “many needs”. Needs sensitive skin react on. Trust your skin instead. Red burning sensations are signs.
4 . Don’t fall for short-term tricks. I’ll rather be narrow and good. Than launching next new marketing gimmick you see on social. Stick to what you do.
5 . Serve, before you ask. I’ll tell a woman up front, if my product is not for her. Honesty is valuable in business. I can afford to do that. And I know I sleep well.
Looking ahead, how do you see the future of the beauty industry in terms of sustainability and ethical practices, and what role do you hope your brand will play in this evolution?
The beauty industry has always been about consumption and next new launch. Novelty speaks. Corporate beauty might start to face problems, if they have to cut back on launches. In recent years we’ve seen so many reinventions of old fragrances. Simply speaking they need “sell-in figures” to meet last year’s figures. Marketing has to come up with plans to meet those figures.
We see at retail dumping of prices happen quickly, so “old stock in new bottle, so to speak”, can fly out again.
When price reduction is your main focus at retail, and big name beauty brands play into that, loyalties among consumers rush out the door. Brands can quickly decline.
I see consumers support smaller brands, like me. I’ll keep doing what I do. I’m here to empower women to use their voice. Women, like us, go against the social norm and do not feel we have to wear 101 makeup to look good, feel safe and proud of ourselves. We are done with layers of heavy foundations and we feel strongly about what we put on our skin. We are proud of who we are, even our age.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Age is a place to come from, not avoid. With age you gain wisdom, there is power in that.
So next time you’re tempted to buy the next new expensive anti-age cream, think whom am I?
I love how midlife women start to show up as who they are. There’s power in that movement. It’s not about covering ourselves in makeup and hide, but use makeup as a tool to show up, as who you are. We don’t want to be held down, no matter.
What is the best way for our readers to continue to follow your work online?
You find me at https://organicmake.com/ and reach out at social @organicmake
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent on this. We wish you only continued success.
About the Interviewer: Wanda Malhotra is a wellness entrepreneur, lifestyle journalist, and the CEO of Crunchy Mama Box, a mission-driven platform promoting conscious living. CMB empowers individuals with educational resources and vetted products to help them make informed choices. Passionate about social causes like environmental preservation and animal welfare, Wanda writes about clean beauty, wellness, nutrition, social impact and sustainability, simplifying wellness with curated resources. Join Wanda and the Crunchy Mama Box community in embracing a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle at CrunchyMamaBox.com.
Beauty Without Cruelty: Charlotte Fnug Of Organic Make On The Future of Ethical Cosmetics was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.