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A Natural Beauty Founder On Acne Scars, Eye Oil & Her Favorite DIY Facemask

F.Miller is the luxury skincare brand every beauty-obsessed person already knows about.

Studio Visit
A Natural Beauty Founder On Acne Scars, Eye Oil & Her Favorite DIY Facemask
Renée Rodenkirchen

While oils can be some of the most effective products in a skincare routine, it can be tough to choose which one to add to your vanity. You could say the market has become a little bit oversaturated—which is why it’s important to find the right brand. One of our personal faves is F.Miller, a Canadian line of all-natural skincare products, created by Fran Miller. Not only has she created some of the most luxurious feeling oils (for both your face and body), she also did it in a way that she uses 100% natural, pure, harm-free ingredients, which is very important when you’re slathering it all over your face.

Miller's brand was founded out of her frustration; she couldn’t find a single product in the market that worked well with her sensitive skin. Nothing that doctors recommended worked, so she took matters into her own hands, and the F.Miller Face Oil was born. After passing around samples to friends and family, Miller realized she was onto something, so she left the fashion industry and created her brand, as she describes it, “effortless, classic, and pure”. Five years later, the brand is going strong with a newly designed studio space in the Toronto West End. When we paid her a visit a few weeks ago, we learned all about her new eye oil, why she loves putting yogurt in her face masks, and how makeup is on the horizon for F.Miller.

 


At the beginning, she was surprised natural ingredients were the answer:

“I started playing around with natural oils [for my skin issues] and got immediate results—much to my surprise, it came from very simple ingredients and formulations. At the time I felt that there was a lack of natural products or lines that were super high in efficiency and efficacy but also looked nice and were more comparable to a luxury skincare product that you would buy at a department store or Sephora. I really wanted to meld the two worlds together. The first product I ever really nailed down was the Face Oil. [In 2014] we launched with the face, the hair, the body, the beard and the shave oil—a tight collection of five oils, each of which were very much catered towards a specific body part or area. The lip balm came shortly after.”

The biggest misconception with skincare is that oils will make you oily:

“Oil has nothing to do with oily skin. If anything, it actually helps to balance out your oil production. Certain oils are a bit richer and maybe too heavy for certain people which is why I really wanted to come up with a formula that was really catered to all different skin types. It’s the ultimate base to your skincare routine, giving you amazing nutrients and vitamins that you can’t really find anywhere else.”

 

She’s a big fan of tamanu, an oil that is great for acne scars:

“There’s an oil that I’ve used in the Face Oil; tamanu oil. It’s derived from a nut—a Polynesian nut plant—and it’s dark, dark green. It’s really thick and has a crazy, intense aroma that’s almost like a cross between molasses and marijuana. It smells like weed basically, and it’s amazing. It’s been used for years to heal wounds and scars. It’s amazing for acne scarring.”

Her newest product, the eye oil, is multipurpose:

“The eye area is such a sensitive part of our face [and] not all oils are super great for the area so I really wanted to come up with something that was super sensitive, really deeply hydrating, and a really nice base so you could literally apply it and then put makeup on three minutes later. It’s called an eye cream and oil, but I definitely think (as with most of my products) that it can be a multi product for any sensitive areas. It’s really nice around the lip area—I blend it in as a little moisturizing oil treatment at night actually now, and it’s good for cuticles.”

 

She’ll never say no to a good DIY facemask:

“I really believe in yogurt and making super natural, minimal face masks. You would be surprised at what yogurt can do for your skin, it’s pretty amazing. I take kefir, I’ll throw some honey in there. It depends what I’m in the mood for but avocado is really nice if you’re feeling a bit dry in the winter time [and] apple cider vinegar balances out the yogurt so sometimes I’ll add that for a bit more of an astringent feel.”

What’s next for F.Miller:

“There’s a million things that I would love to do, it’s just figuring out what makes sense to do first. Some sort of product using clay perhaps. For my own selfish reason, I’m interested in starting to play around with pigments and actual makeup. Not that I think it’s going to be a full blown beauty line any time soon [laughs]. I’m finding myself getting lazier and lazier and I want to use the same thing for my cheeks, my lips, my eyes, and just go. I think that would be something cool to experiment with.”

 

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