Susie Wang, founder of 100% Pure, joins me to discuss her innovative company, which creates outstanding bath, beauty, and hair care products based on pure food-grade ingredients. We ll discuss truth in cosmetics, harmful chemicals, and the alternative.
00:04:23.180Well, in college, I invented a way to stabilize natural ingredients from oxidizing.
00:04:30.380So what that means is, you know, when you would buy a cream and they would put, let's say, for example, an active ingredient like vitamin C in a cream.
00:04:39.180By the time it was made and by the time you brought it home, the benefit of the vitamin C or the active ingredient actually goes away.
00:04:48.080It's like oxidation, which means that it's just no longer potent.
00:04:56.340So whatever you're putting on your skin, it just loses its benefit, its potency.
00:05:01.180So in college, I actually found a way to stabilize natural ingredients from oxidizing to keep the active ingredients strong, to keep it potent.
00:05:13.740And so what I did was I actually filed patents for it.
00:05:17.500And when I did that, these big companies, they actually reached out to me and said, you know, we are interested in licensing your patent.
00:05:26.400We're interested in working with you on developing formulas.
00:05:57.440One of the things that I learned is, you know, when I was formulating for these big companies, I actually had a whole bunch of vials of chemicals.
00:06:05.900It's just like when you're at home cooking, you have, you know, your ingredients on the kitchen table when you're making a dish.
00:06:12.920So I had a whole bunch of ingredients on the lab table, and I knocked over a vial.
00:06:17.860And this vial that we were using in an eye cream knocked over into the lab table.
00:06:23.120And within a few minutes, I noticed that the lab table started to degrade, disintegrate.
00:11:42.900But it's more expensive to actually plant those herbs rather than, whereas it's cheaper to make chemical substitutions that work just the same.
00:11:58.420I think that it's more expensive to use the real ingredient.
00:12:26.440So tell me also, I mean, we've covered many times the crookedness of the FDA, who declares all sorts of harmful toxins as safe.
00:12:33.640Simultaneously, they don't approve natural products.
00:12:35.680What has been your interaction with the FDA in order to create and sell cosmetics?
00:12:40.900Well, I know that the FDA, they actually came to our facility, and they actually were very proud of us.
00:12:48.940You know, they ended up giving us a big hug and thanked us because they actually, they were proud that we're U.S. manufacturers, and they're very happy with what we did.
00:12:59.820And what they told us was that, you know, like, so the FDA, they allow certain colorants.
00:13:10.200For example, the FDA will allow the use of FD&C dyes, like, for example, red dye number 40, blue dye number 6, yellow dye number 2, or they will allow minerals to be, minerals are iron oxide, so oxidized iron.
00:13:31.300So basically, they will either allow synthetic dyes, FD&C colors, or minerals to be used as colorants.
00:13:38.440What they had an issue with that they said they were concerned with is that we are using, rather than using dyes or minerals, we actually use fruit and vegetable pigments.
00:13:52.100So rather than using red dye number 40, or iron oxide, 100% pure is using strawberry pigments, pomegranate pigments, raspberry pigments to color the skin.
00:14:04.360So they said that, you know, because it's not approved, it's not an FDA-approved colorant, although that's the only issue is that we're using fruit dyes rather than chemical dyes.
00:14:18.960And that was one, that was, like, an issue.
00:14:50.240So that's, the dyes in fruits and vegetables, the colorants, the pigments in fruits and vegetables is the dyes that we use to color 100% pure cosmetics.
00:15:02.700And that's the only thing that the FDA said is that, well, those fruit pigments aren't approved by the FDA.
00:15:10.580But because, you know, but honestly, they're not, it's obviously fruit and vegetable pigments are not dangerous, so they're kind of not bothering us about it.
00:15:23.800I think it's because no one else uses it, and it's not big enough of a market, I think.
00:15:29.760And I'm not really sure why they're not approving it, but we are, we, that's all that we use is fruit and vegetable dyes in our color cosmetics.
00:15:38.100Yeah, I have to say, your foundation is amazing.
00:15:41.440The foundation makeup, it feels better than anything I've ever used, and it has a nice glow to it.
00:16:08.620Our mission is to create the absolute most healthy, the most pure line of skincare, bath and body products, and fruit pigmented makeup in the world.
00:16:20.560I got to ask, where do your ingredients, where do your ingredients come from?
00:16:25.540So our ingredients come from mostly the U.S., but there are certain indigenous ingredients.
00:16:33.200Like, for example, acai berries, they are only grown in Brazil.
00:16:38.600And so they're freeze-dried and then sent over.
00:16:43.140And then our shea butter is from Africa.
00:16:46.820But we actually are very particular about where we get certain ingredients.
00:16:52.360So, for example, we make sure that there's no slave labor, there's no child labor, and that it's helping a village to help the women in Africa to sustain themselves.
00:17:21.860And so we source the absolute best ingredients in the world.
00:17:27.420And the one thing is, you know, our standards of purity and our standards of quality is actually by far the most, let's say, they're so strict.
00:17:45.020Because, for example, when we get an ingredient in, so, for example, if we buy green tea, organic green tea, we actually send out the organic green tea leaves to a lab just to make sure that there are no chemical fertilizers or any kind of pesticides on them.
00:18:05.440And then we also, of course, get the organic certificates.
00:18:10.420But we just make sure that every raw ingredient does not have any pesticides, any kind of chemical fertilizer.
00:18:18.440And then we test every raw ingredient.
00:18:21.760We also test the raw ingredients together in the formula.
00:18:24.760Because did you know that certain ingredients, mixed with certain ingredients, they can create toxins?
00:18:32.940So, for example, like, if you're in the kitchen and you're cleaning your kitchen with Windex, you're cleaning the windows with Windex, and you're cleaning the sink with Clorox,
00:18:43.600well, the fumes from the Clorox and the fumes from the Windex, they can actually mix together and make you faint because that creates, like, a very, very toxic chemical in airborne toxins that can actually kill you.
00:19:20.400And, you know, the thing is, once toxins enter your body, it's really hard on your liver and really hard on your kidneys to help clean out all these toxins from your body.
00:19:34.660So, you do have to, so you have to be careful with all the amount of pollution and radiation and all these toxins that we're exposed to.
00:19:43.920And I have to wonder, you know, why are so many people getting affected with cancer and so many different illnesses?
00:19:51.560You know, like, you know, when you fly in the air, when you're flying in the airplane, I even recommend for everyone, don't ever get into one of those body scanners, you know, where they're scanning your whole body all around.
00:20:09.040And because that emits so much radiation, because you're already getting so much radiation on the plane, so don't let anyone, you know, don't let them scan your body with that entire body radiation scanner.
00:20:25.380And when you're going to the dentist, I never get the x-rays, you know, the ones where you bite down.
00:20:30.860Yeah, yeah, you need to opt out of all those things.
00:20:33.920Yeah, opt out of the x-rays for your teeth because the dentist, they can actually physically check.
00:20:47.020He never, ever, when you go to the dentist, don't ever get, like, the x-rays because it emits so much radiation.
00:20:53.560Yeah, people put too much faith in their doctors.
00:20:57.180They just do whatever the doctor tells them.
00:21:00.220Yeah, I mean, like, we're exposed to so much radiation, so much pollutants, so much toxins already through day-to-day life, but try to stay away from any more than you have to.
00:21:15.140So, what I was telling you about the 100% Pure is that not only do we test our ingredients for purity, and we test every ingredient together just to make sure that this ingredient with this ingredient is synergistic rather than fighting each other and causing some caustic, you know, just like how Clorox and Windex can cause something very toxic.
00:21:41.920We also test the packaging because we want to make sure there's no folate or BPA, which can be in, you know, toxins can even be in packaging.
00:21:52.200Certain ingredients can actually make the packaging leak out chemicals, so we test for that, and we also test for, you know, just like, so we test a lot for, so what I'm trying to tell you is, like, 100% Pure
00:22:09.000Standard of Purity and Standard of Quality, I think is far above a typical cosmetic brand.
00:22:17.940And your prices are not high, so the thing is, these big companies keep saying, oh, bottom line, bottom line, but really, what is the price difference that we're talking about?
00:22:26.920It can't be that much, you know, oh, it's cheaper to use a chemical, but then here you are using real plants.
00:22:31.560Actually, Lana, it's a huge difference.
00:22:36.980Like, for example, if it costs, let's say, for example, for us to use, I'm just going to use an example, like a dollar for chocolate, real pure dark gel gin chocolate.
00:22:51.280It could cost two cents to use polyethylene glycol.
00:23:03.440I wanted to ask you also about getting the organic seal.
00:23:07.020What kind of process do you have to go through?
00:23:10.020We're actually in the process of going through that right now, and it seems very straightforward and very easy.
00:23:17.760All they're going to do is, because we have on record all our certified organic certificates, and so we just collect them, and I think that all they're going to do is just come over and check our facilities and watch us make it.
00:23:33.140And I think that's how they're going to issue it.
00:23:36.820Someone's currently working on getting USC certified organic for everything, for our skincare at first to start off with.
00:23:45.820Some of our things are certified organic, and then we're just working on trying to get more.
00:23:51.960Yeah, and there's also a lot of phony organic products out there.
00:23:54.940They're really hitting the market pretty hard right now with the trendy green movement.
00:24:41.160You can do so many things with nature.
00:24:44.120I, you know, we have a well at our house, and the well emits so much calcium, and so we had a lot of calcium buildup in our shower heads.
00:24:52.980You know what I did is I just, I went to my yard, and I picked a lemon, and I used the lemon and just kind of rubbed over my, like, my faucet and all my hardware in my kitchen and in my bathroom.
00:25:07.140And it just made it shiny, like brand new.
00:25:09.820You can do so much with things in your garden.
00:25:12.880I go into my yard, and I pick strawberries, and I'm mashing them up, and I mix it with yogurt and honey, and I make my own scrub.
00:25:22.980You know, nature is the best thing that you can do.
00:25:26.080The only thing is, is that it's just harder to preserve.
00:25:30.340For example, our preservative, we use Japanese honeysuckle, and it's a powerfully antibacterial plant-based preservative, but it's a lot more expensive than, for example, paraben.
00:27:26.120I mean, the, some of the things that's happening in China, it just makes me disgusted.
00:27:31.380Like, you know, in China, they actually, they would actually go to private homes and catch dogs and cats, you know, private residences and kidnap people, dogs and cats.
00:27:48.320And they would actually rip out their fur, and they would use the fur for makeup brushes.
00:27:55.040That's why 100% pure makeup brushes are all vegan because people don't realize when I'm wearing, when I'm, when I'm using my blush brush, people don't realize that they're actually using squirrel or mink or fox.
00:28:08.080You know, an animal has to go through so much suffering.
00:28:10.620And, um, the way that fur is extracted from animals is so inhumane.
00:28:23.600They don't even, they do not even, Lana, um, they do not even have the decency to actually, um, put the animal out of its misery before ripping out the fur.
00:28:42.060Yeah, they actually would, uh, rip out the fur from an animal while it's alive, and the animals are just screaming.
00:28:49.140So these, in China, like, what these farmers, these fur farmers would do is they would actually drive around and go into private residences and pick up, um, you know, catch, like, uh, people's pets.
00:29:06.600And I saw these pictures of, like, dogs, their nose being cut by the cage because they're pushed into the cage so far and so, with, it's so packed in there.
00:29:21.360So think about that, ladies, when you're using your makeup brushes.
00:29:24.080So please always, like, please ban fur, um, please do not support fur, and even when you're buying makeup brushes, please do not use fur.
00:29:35.140Do not buy fur makeup brushes or fur coats or just know that, like, um, the animals, they're crying out in pain.
00:29:42.120And they're actually, there's a lot of videos out there, Lana, like, um, where the, they would actually, um, hit the animal, like, the baby fox.
00:29:50.260They would hit the baby fox or, or baby dog, um, with a bat and then just rip up the fur.