In The Saturated Facial Oil Category, Mila Believes Farm-Fresh Ingredients Make It Stand Out

Before couple Kelly Steffey and Hamilton Trimm began developing their brand Mila’s first product, The Clarity Oil, more than four years ago, Trimm’s exposure to skincare didn’t go further than occasionally slapping Dr. Bronner’s on his face. It was their shared passion for sustainable agriculture and herbalism that drew them to the skincare arena, where they felt they could showcase the beauty of the ingredients—nettle, violet leaf, calendula and spilanthes among them—they cultivate on the 20-acre property they live on in Trussville, Ala.

“We’re so excited for the chance to utilize our small family farm, plants and collective backgrounds in sustainable farming and herbalism to create something new,” says Steffey, adding, “Everything is centered around our farm, freshness and clarity. The Clarity Oil is the completion of our vision: transparency and clear, effective results. Clarity is our key ingredient from start to finish.”

Technically, the product starts in the spring when Steffey and Trimm sow the seeds for the plants they incorporate in The Clarity Oil’s formula. They harvest the plants in late summer and dry them. Extraction and filtration can take days and, after that’s done, it takes a matter of hours to bottle some 100 facial oils. Steffey and Trimm don’t exceed a couple hundred bottles in a batch. In total, they estimate it takes seven to eight months from sowing seeds to finalizing The Clarity Oil.

“What sets Mila apart is our connection to our ingredients. We are a part of every step of the process from the planting of our own Mila farm ingredients to the cold-pressing of our oils fresh for every batch to the extraction process, bottling and shipping,” says Steffey. “This allows us to know the ins and outs of every ingredient, the process behind it, and allows us to have complete control of the quality and freshness. It allows us to have the very best raw materials from the very beginning instead of being beholden to suppliers.”

Not all the ingredients in The Clarity Oil are grown on Steffey’s and Trimm’s farm. Around a quarter of them are. For the rest, the Mila co-founders teamed up with a cosmetic chemist in France to identify premier active ingredients. Steffey and Trimm pair ingredients from their farm with the active compounds such as bakuchiol and vitamin C in The Clarity Oil. Cucumber seed oil, which is subject to a six-step filtration procedure, is the product’s hero ingredient.

“What sets Mila apart is our connection to our ingredients. We are a part of every step of the process.”

“We had the most difficult time finding one that didn’t have fragrance. Most of them have a fruity cucumber smell that didn’t seem right to us,” says Steffey. “We got an oil press and started pressing our own oils and, then, the results were amazing. Having a fresh-pressed oil versus one you get from a supplier that’s typically at least a year old, that changed everything for us.”

The cucumber seed oil gives The Clarity Oil a liquid balm texture with a greater viscosity than many of the thin oils on the market, but Steffey and Trimm emphasize it absorbs into the skin within 10 minutes. Steffey has dry skin, and Trimm has oily skin—and The Clarity Oil is helpful for either. Steffey and Trimm were particularly interested in The Clarity Oil steering clear of synthetic fragrances and essential oils to be suitable for people with sensitive skin. “We specifically optimized it for acne-prone skin, but it benefits and works wonderfully for all skin types,” says Steffey.

Steffey and Trimm are well aware the facial oil category is exceedingly crowded, but they believe Mila’s fresh ingredients and their knowledge of what goes into it distinguishes the brand. For example, they challenge the clean beauty industry’s stance that unrefined oils are superior. “We have found that’s not always the case,” says Steffey. “Our hemp seed oil has so much chlorophyll that it almost appears black, and it acts as a pro-oxidant. We spent a while on techniques to gently remove the chlorophyll and make the best finished product that it can be.” The chlorophyll-removal techniques involve food-grade activated carbon and coconut shells.

The Clarity Oil is priced at $145 for a 30-ml. size due to Steffey’s and Trimm’s judicious guardianship of the supply chain, production and packaging. They estimate they invested $200,000 to get Mila off the ground, with the bulk of the money put toward equipment and testing. About $20,000 of the amount was dedicated to microbe tests conducted on ingredients to verify their purity.

“The freshness factor can’t be overlooked. It’s just like fresh food. The quality is unparalleled.”

For ingredient extraction, Steffey and Trimm depend on an ultrasonic method that harnesses sound wave pulses to break down the cell walls of botanicals. The method ensures the botanicals aren’t damaged by heat. “You may think of us as farm-based skin care, but we’re surprisingly high-tech,” says Steffey.

The Clarity Oil is housed in a black glass bottle to protect the formula from ultraviolet rays. It’s constructed partially from glass cullet or waste glass and isn’t cluttered with copy. “We wanted it to look almost like a classic perfume bottle on your vanity,” says Steffey. The bottle has an orifice reducer made from recyclable high-density polyethylene to render The Clarity Oil spill-proof. The product’s exterior carton is recyclable paper, and Mila avoids plastic in its shipping materials. The brand has partnered with Carbon Offsets to Alleviate Poverty (COTAP) to offset the carbon emissions from its operations. Steffey and Trimm commit a portion of the brand’s proceeds to environmental organizations, and they reserve space on their farm to grow food for the local food bank.

Steffey and Trimm gravitated to the name “Mila” for their brand because it’s simple, memorable and has meanings that resonates with them. In several languages, they say “mil” means “grace,” “gracious” and “industrious.” At the outset, the industrious brand is sticking to direct-to-consumer distribution to closely engage with customers. However, Steffey and Trimm foresee Mila entering retailers such as The Detox Market featuring assortments teeming with emerging brands. In the brand’s initial year on the market, they’re hoping to sell 4,000 units.

In the future, Steffey and Trimm plan to employ byproducts from the processes they’ve honed for The Clarity Oil in other products. Steffey points out that the antioxidant silymarin left over following the pressing of milk thistle is valuable for the skin. She also mentions forthcoming products could include mulberry leaf and peach blossom she and Trimm grow on their farm, but haven’t used yet. “They both have the potential to be powerful antioxidants if extracted carefully,” says Steffey. Trimm concludes, “The freshness factor can’t be overlooked. It’s just like fresh food. The quality is unparalleled.”