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Breaking Beauty Podcast
Before Beef Tallow, There Was Sheep-Derived Lanolin. Everything To Know About The Lowkey Skincare Ingredient Adored By Margot Robbie, Ancient Egyptians – and Us
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- [00:01]
Carlene Higgins
The following podcast is a dear media production. Welcome to Breaking Beauty the Podcast, all about the breakthrough people, products and moments in beauty.
- [00:14]
Jill Dunn
We're your hosts, Jill Dunn and Carlene Higgins.
- [00:22]
Carlene Higgins
Hello and welcome back to Breaking Beauty Podcast. I'm Carlene. I'm here with my friend Jill. Hi, Jill.
- [00:28]
Jill Dunn
Hey, Carlene.
- [00:29]
Carlene Higgins
And we are two beauty editors turn beauty podcast sisters talking about the breakthrough people, products and moments in beauty every single Wednesday.
- [00:37]
Jill Dunn
Maybe you're on a dock right now or on in the Hamptons enjoying a lovely cocktail, but whatever you were up to, we are pleased to share this chat with you today. It's a founder story. We're kind of going back to our roots and we have a VIP sponsor for the episode today. And that's our friends Atlanto, the Australian beauty brand formerly known as Lana Lips. And I still very fondly call it Lana Lips. I think it's one of those brands. It's always going to have the OG name attached to it, you know.
- [01:04]
Carlene Higgins
Yes. And a lot of you might recognize the little pink tubes with Lano in the retro writing on it. And today we'll be diving into the backstory behind what I would consider to be a beauty editor darling of a brand with the founder herself, Kirsten Cariol.
- [01:21]
Jill Dunn
And she is the daughter of a DNA professor. And Kirsten spent her childhood on her grandparents sheep farm in Lucendale, South Australia. Australia is on my bucket list, by the way. I want to go there so badly.
- [01:34]
Carlene Higgins
I'll go with you, Joe.
- [01:37]
Jill Dunn
It just seems so far flung. Like in Australia right now, it's the winter. Like that is mind boggling to me. Do you know what I mean? It's just like another planet. So I absolutely need to go there and check everything out. But it was there in Australia that Kirsten discovered the magic of lanolin, the natural substance taken from freshly shorn sheep's wool. And it's the key hero ingredient of the brand Lano.
- [02:01]
Carlene Higgins
Yes. And Kirsten created Lano after working in beauty PR for over 15 years with the world's biggest brands. And so just ahead, she's going to chat with us about why the ingredient lanolin has stood the test of time over centuries, of being used in many cultures, and why she feels that it's still superior to many of the expensive high tech formulas that were being peddled today.
- [02:23]
Jill Dunn
Kirsten also addresses why she believes that lanolin is ethical. It's sustainable and good for the economy. And we talk about medicinal uses, we talk about how the ointment compares to petrolatum. And I will Just say on the record, Carlene, that this brand, I have had so many people ask me where can I get it? Where can I get it? Because the lanolin is so incredible for keeping your lips protected and hydrated. It really is second to none. But my opinion, that's why so many.
- [02:52]
Carlene Higgins
People love Lano's 101 ointment. It's called 101 cuz they say it has 101 uses. That's kind of the cult favorite or the entree into the brand. It's a do all for chapped lips, elbows, cuticles. And so Kirsten is going to give us a hack for how she likes to use it in her own skincare routine as well.
- [03:13]
Jill Dunn
And drum roll. We get the scoop on the brand's first foray into SPF4 for the lips with its new Lana lips Sun Bomb SPF 30 Tropical. And it has a hint of shimmer. It's really pretty. I've been really liking it. Smells like pineapple. Like a beach vacation. So she's gonna share that news with us just ahead as well. And exciting news, we have a special promo code just for Breaking Beauty listeners and this is for a limited time only. So you want to jump on this, you can use code beauty atlanta. Com at checkout for 20% off your first purchase. That's L I P S.com and use code BEAUTY at checkout to save 20% off your first purchase. Welcome to the show. Kirsten.
- [04:06]
Carlene Higgins
Sat foreign.
- [04:19]
Jill Dunn
Hey there. I'm Brittany Xavier.
- [04:21]
Kirsten Cariol
And I'm Anthony Xavier.
- [04:22]
Jill Dunn
And this is the Long game. I'm Brittany, a mom of three and content creator, passionate about wellness and living life to the fullest. And this is my husband Anthony, who's been my partner in life and everything we do.
- [04:32]
Kirsten Cariol
If you're looking for inspiration to live intentionally, nurture meaningful relationships and embrace a.
- [04:37]
Carlene Higgins
Lifestyle that promotes well being, you've come to the right place.
- [04:40]
Jill Dunn
Each week we'll bring you conversations with experts in health, wellness and personal development. We'll also be sharing our own stories like how we navigate the ups and downs of family life and our journey towards a more mindful, fulfilling lifestyle.
- [04:51]
Kirsten Cariol
Expect some fun, laughter and honest moments from us along the way.
- [04:55]
Jill Dunn
New episodes will be released every Thursday and you can find us wherever you listen to podcasts. Mara is supporting our show this week. When I hear that a cleanser is celebrity loved, I am immediately trying it. And that's the case with Mara's best selling award winning algae enzyme cleansing oil. It's the only way to wash your face. And I can see why it is beloved by celebrities because it really gets rid of the grime, the dirt, the makeup in one simple step. It's powered by fruit enzymes like pineapple and pumpkin to gently exfoliate the skin. There's no beads in it, there's no gritty parts. It's just really gently exfoliating thanks to that enzymatic action. It's gentle on skin and eyes, tough on makeup and grime and leaves behind super hydrated, clean skin that's never dry or stripped. And it's multi use. And Mara's whole ethos is about transformative algae infused skincare designed to minimize your routine into three steps or less, which is music to my ears. And their whole mo is see the glow sea see what they did there since it's all about algae and capturing the power of that. So if you want to see the glow yourself. Exclusively for breaking beauty Listeners, Mara is offering 20 off the entire Mara website with the code Breaking beauty. Visit themara beauty.com for more information. That's www.t h e m a r a b a u t y dot com. That's themara beauty.com to save 20 off the entire Mara website. We'll link to this offer in our show notes and on our website. Now back to the show. We're really excited to be chatting with you today, Kirsten. So welcome to Breaking Beauty Podcast. Officially. We're going to take it way back to the beginning of your story because you grew up on a sheep farm in Lucendale, Australia. So we need to know everything about that and what that was like. So maybe you can share that with us.
- [06:57]
Kirsten Cariol
Yeah, it was my grandparents sheep farm, which was my mother's parents. So I wasn't there 100% of the time. I was there every school holidays for 15 years. We, we actually never went away on holiday. We always just went to the farm. So I'd spend about three or four months of the year on the farm and I guess my mornings would consist of getting up early like a kid does and I would walk with my grandfather down every morning. They have to milk the cows, otherwise it's like breastfeeding mother. Like they get uncomfortable if you don't. So you have to go through this beautiful process of rounding up the cows. You milk the cows and then the milk will go through like a, this manual separation machine and I'd watch the separation of the milk and the cream, milk going into one, cream into the other and then walking with the buckets of cream and milk back to the house, and on the way you'd pick up the eggs from the chicken coop. And it was just this absolutely beautiful morning routine, which you had to do every day, whether it was Christmas, whether it was a Saturday or a Sunday, you'd still have to do that same routine every day. So that was a really beautiful way. And the eggs were still warm and they smell like chickens. It was really cute, actually. So that was like the daily things. And then my grandmother would get the cream and make the butter. So there's a lot of that. And then in between, you just had to kind of make time pass. So you'd build a treehouse, Just create little magical worlds. We would put on plays. It was really amazing. And then every summertime would come the shearing season. And in Australia at the time, the shearers would be like these traveling guys with swags and they would just walk from farm to farm. And once in any annual year, the shearers would just turn up and they would like, sleep on the floor of the shearing shed and they would just go through this process for a couple of weeks of just sharing every single sheep that existed on the farm. So there were hundreds of probably thousands of sheep. And I remember every summer when the sheep shearing season would happen, my grandfather, at the end of the day, I mean, first of all, the smell of lanolin in the shearing shed and the stickiness on the floor. But I remembered his big, thick hands. They were like super, like really hard working hands. But after the shearing season, he would have these beautiful soft hands and it was just that lanolin that it would absorb and it would be in there for, like days. He would still have this sort of waxiness and hydration from the lanolin. So the smell and that feel of lanolin is like a core memory from my childhood.
- [09:12]
Carlene Higgins
That's amazing.
- [09:13]
Jill Dunn
What does it smell like exactly? Can you describe it?
- [09:17]
Kirsten Cariol
It basically smells like a farm. It's sort of a little bit sour, a little bit musky. It smells, you know, a little bit like a bush or like where an animal's been for too long. Yeah, like a sweaty animal, basically. And for me, it's a core memory. It's not an unpleasant smell, but if you were to smell it, I've got a jar here of like raw lanolin and wow. I open it and people are just like, yeah, that's the farm. It just smells like farm, basically.
- [09:44]
Carlene Higgins
Well, we're going to dive so far into the topic of lanolin today, which of course inspired you to create this whole line Originally Called lanolips, now called lano. So do you have any memories of like how would you kind of like jar that up and use it in your own household as part of your own grooming routine or for any purposes when you were young?
- [10:10]
Kirsten Cariol
So growing up, I mean I had my mother's side of the family that was the farming side. So I definitely just used lanolin there and then also my mother used to spin the wool and make jumpers out of it and it would still smell like lanolin. It's almost impossible to get out of wool unless you're using industrial machinery. And then on my dad's side he was a scientist and he was a molecular. He still is a molecular DNA scientist in molecular genetics. And he believed in lanolin because he knew that the molecular structure of lanolin was almost identical or pretty much identical to human oils. And he was a very no nonsense man. He used sunflower oil to avoid saturated fats. In the 70s he avoided aluminium under his armpits. He used zinc instead of aluminium. Like he just knew the science really early. And on our skin it was just always lanolin skin, lips, lips everywhere. It was hugely. All we used growing up was lanolin. My mum had a moisturizer which I don't know if you guys remember that was oil of. It's all of Olay now. It used to be called all of you learn which is an acronym for lanolin.
- [11:09]
Carlene Higgins
Oh yeah.
- [11:10]
Kirsten Cariol
So that was Lenin based and a beautiful. Yeah, I've just had memories of just that one cream my mum would use and Lana and that's it. That's the only thing that existed in our house.
- [11:19]
Carlene Higgins
Yeah, amazing.
- [11:20]
Kirsten Cariol
And in particular like in summer, in winter when you get a cold and you get that dry crusty lips. So I just remember my parents coming in and just putting lanolin on before bed and we'd wake up and our lips were like magically healed.
- [11:30]
Carlene Higgins
Yeah, I mean it's, it's truly been used since ancient times and I'm sure you've gone into a rabbit hole.
- [11:37]
Jill Dunn
Right.
- [11:37]
Carlene Higgins
You know I really learning about the history. So are there any fun historical uses that you've come across? Like did Cleopatra use lanolin or what?
- [11:46]
Kirsten Cariol
Yes, absolutely. I've got a few like quirky stories that have stuck with me over the years. For example, I mean they. You can go into an old, an ancient museum and see a 2000 year old carpet from the Egyptian Times or 3000 years old and they still glisten from the dyes are preserved in the wool. In the wool because of the lanolin, they still kind of had that lanolin, even thousands of years later. It's still survived and it's preserved the dyes in the wool. The other interesting story is they found lanolin in a pot in Amelia Earhart's. Is it Earhart, that first pilot? First female pilot. They found lanolin in her plane or whatever.
- [12:23]
Carlene Higgins
Yeah.
- [12:24]
Kirsten Cariol
When they found her final resting place, Marilyn Monroe was famously apparently using lanolin as well.
- [12:30]
Carlene Higgins
Okay. All right. Quite a history.
- [12:33]
Kirsten Cariol
Yeah. It really has been around for generations. Like me. A millennia.
- [12:37]
Carlene Higgins
Yes, of course.
- [12:39]
Jill Dunn
And I know that your journey from sheep farm to founding an internationally beloved beauty brand is really. It's incredible, really. So tell us about your career in public relations. I mean, there's always so many glamorous stories. And what was sort of like your moment where you said, you know what, I'm going to leave sort of this behind and go into the founder journey.
- [13:00]
Kirsten Cariol
So I left South Australia and when I was 21 and I finished uni and I went traveling and it was the early days of Space NK in the uk and I just love beauty. I've. Even when I was in Adelaide, I was reading all the Beauty magazine. All the beauty was what I loved in the magazine. It's not the fashion. In fact, I remember when I was about 22 or 23 back in Australia, I wrote Kiehl's. I was like, you got to bring this brand to Australia. I was like, it wasn't in Australia yet. I. But long story short, I ended up working in BDPR because I was pretty. It was at the time a fairly good entry point for a 23 year old. And I was total beauty junkie. I was very good at it because I just love talking about, you know, things that I was really passionate about. And then I did that and then I ended up starting my own agency, which I did for quite some time. And then I had worked with all the beauty brands, all the best beauty brands in Australia. I'd worked with like Lancome, Juicy Tubes and Clinic and Clarence and all those guys. And then I was on my way on to a long haul flight. I remember I was in Paris and we'd just been on our honeymoon. I've just been married and I was dreading the long haul flight home because the long haul flights to Australia are like literally the longest you can fly. And I remember the moment of going to the airport, just kind of daydreaming. And I was like, why am I dreading these? The dryness. I've got all the beauty products I could want at my fingertips, yet nothing has actually properly worked like the lanolin I grew up with. And that really was, it was like, it sounds really cliche, but at the time it was like, lanolin is coming back, it's going to be called lanolips. And it was just all came to me and I can remember exactly the moment it happened. So that was like the beginning of a long process of the development and digging into the ingredient and making it beautiful again and all of that stuff that came in between.
- [14:45]
Carlene Higgins
Yeah. And I want to ask you because you mentioned your dad's a DNA professor and it's like we know anecdotally that lanolin is great for the skin because it has been passed through generations. But did you have him study it or do you have an idea of like what goes on at the molecular level that makes it better than a regular skin butter or balm?
- [15:07]
Kirsten Cariol
Yeah, so I did, I did get a lot of scientific papers through that and I got some old dermatologist papers through that. A lot of stuff that you can only access through the scientific community. So I did get, and in particular on the dermatological side that really helped. But what was actually fairly freely available knowledge was the way lanolin worked and what made it great. And number one was that molecular structure piece, but more so how it works. So something like a petroleum jelly, for example, or a plant butter, they, they can often feel really nice and they're a great barrier. So they feel nice in the skin, they can protect your skin. But because the molecular structure is not compatible with your skin, generally a lot of them, most of them won't absorb, they'll sit on top of the skin because they're just not compatible with your skin. So what makes lanolin very special is it does absorb because it mimics your oils. Then once it's down there, it's got this amazing ability to hold onto moisture. Also helps keep hydration into the skin really deep down. Like it's really proven to. I mean, we did a study and 48 hours later it was still hydrating. So if you don't wash yourself, the lanolin will still be there hydrating you two days later. And then, and it's a moisture reservoir, so it really just holds that moisture down. But it also has the barrier qualities, but it's a breathable barrier. So your skin kind of will have the room to do what it does best, which is whatever it needs to do, whether it's self heal, soothe, whatever your skin needs to do to get better. Your lanolin will just give it this beautiful environment. In the science term, they call it a moist wound healing environment. So it just keeps your skin super healthy and happy and moist for your skin to do, like, the magical work that skin can do if you let it do its thing.
- [16:50]
Carlene Higgins
Yeah. And I remember when you were in Toronto and you told this story about how lanolin traditionally has been used in hospitals as well. You were talking about wound healing and it. And it was one of the things that they would give to breastfeeding mothers. You know, when you get those really cracked nipples, which really kind of made me think, because I realized, oh, like a newborn baby is actually going to be suckling. And just the fact that, you know, it's safe for that. That really. I'll never forget that anecdote that you shared.
- [17:21]
Kirsten Cariol
Yeah. Oh, good memory.
- [17:23]
Jill Dunn
Yeah.
- [17:23]
Kirsten Cariol
I mean, and that's what. When I, to be honest, when I was looking into lanolin and why it hadn't been around, and then I came across this grade of lanolin that already existed called medical grade. And I showed it to my sister. My sister's a doctor. And I said, what? Why, what makes this medical. Why is this medical grade? And she just looked at it and was just like, it's in every surgical ward of every hospital that I've ever been in. It's used in burns healing because it mimics that moist wound healing environment. It's used after surgical operations where the area needs to remain supple. Like if you have a hair lip operation, like a facial correction surgery. And like you've just said, it's used. It's the only ingredient they safely use on nipples because it creates that. That healthy environment that is safe for babies to ingest. And you can't, you can't say that about any skincare ingredients, really. So that, that was the point where I realized that lanolin wasn't the problem. Lanolin was the solution. The problem was a communication problem and a marketing problem.
- [18:31]
Jill Dunn
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- [18:33]
Carlene Higgins
Going.
- [18:33]
Jill Dunn
Going to be officially summer, everyone, in a couple of days. And I'm having that familiar urge to refresh my closet. But I don't want to waste money on pieces that I'll only just wear once or one season. And really, Quint changes all of that because their clothes are timeless, they're lightweight, and they're far more elevated than anything else. At this price point, it finally feels like my wardrobe matches my standards. So they have essentials like 100% European linen shorts. I'm on their website right now looking at them, those start at just $30. They also have the perfect linen dresses. Once again, 100% European linen dresses that are buttoned down. They just look easy, breezy, like you would wear them every day with flat sandals. They look so timeless and effortless. They have luxe swimwear. They have Italian leather platform sandals. And what's in my cart right now is the Italian leather hand woven tote. It's $149. I swear it looks designer. That would cost a lot more. So they really have those essential timeless pieces on lock for a great price. And everything with Quint is half the cost of similar brands. And they're able to do that because they work directly with top artisans and they cut out the middleman. So Quint gives you luxury without the markup and they only work with factories that use safe, ethical and responsible manufacturing practices and premium fabrics and finishes. So give your summer closet and upgrade with quint. Go to quince.com breaking beauty for free shipping on your order and 300 returns. That's Q-U-I-N c e.com breaking beauty to get free shipping and 365 day returns. Once again, quints.com breaking beauty will link to this offer in our show notes and on our website.
- [20:21]
Kirsten Cariol
Hi Zoe Saldana.
- [20:22]
Carlene Higgins
Welcome to T Mobile. Here's your new iPhone 16 Pro on us.
- [20:26]
Jill Dunn
Thanks.
- [20:26]
Kirsten Cariol
And here's my old phone to trade in. You don't need to trade in. When you switch to T mobile, we'll.
- [20:30]
Jill Dunn
Give you a new new iPhone 16 Pro.
- [20:32]
Carlene Higgins
Plus we'll help you pay off your.
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Jill Dunn
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Carlene Higgins
There's always a trade in.
- [20:38]
Jill Dunn
Not right now. @ T Mobile. I feel like I have to give you something in return for karma.
- [20:42]
Kirsten Cariol
That's okay. I don't really have much in my purse. Oh, let's see.
- [20:45]
Jill Dunn
Hand sanitizer.
- [20:46]
Kirsten Cariol
It's lavender.
- [20:47]
Jill Dunn
I'm good. Seriously. Let me check this pocket.
- [20:50]
Carlene Higgins
Oh, mints.
- [20:51]
Jill Dunn
Really, I'm fine. Oh, I have raisins.
- [20:53]
Kirsten Cariol
I'm a mom.
- [20:54]
Carlene Higgins
Wait, wait one sec.
- [20:55]
Kirsten Cariol
I've got cupcakes in the car.
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Carlene Higgins
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Jill Dunn
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Carlene Higgins
Experience beyond finance agreement 9.9999 and qualifying ported for well qualified plus tax and $10 connection charge. Payout via virtual prepaid card allow 15 days credits and balance due if you pay off early or cancel see t mobile.com this episode is brought to you in part by Nutrafol. So the summer is here, which means updo season. Oh I love a good updo. Recently I was trying the really slicked back versions. You know you see them on so many of the celebrities. It looks so chic but I really could see the gappiness on the sides of my head toward the front. So I'm extra motivated to be taking my Nutrafol non stop. You may have heard of Nutrafol's hair growth supplements and wonder, do they actually work? It's a fair question. A lot of hair supplements over promise and under deliver but Neutral is different. As the number one dermatologist recommended hair growth supplement brand, it's trusted by over one and a half million people and it's clinically tested to deliver real results in just three to six months. And let me tell you what the differentiating factor is. While a lot of supplements rely solely on ingredient studies, Nutrafol clinically tests its final formulations using advanced hair measurement tools like hair counts and pull tests to track real improvements in growth, quality, shedding and texture. And it's not just backed by studies. Their research is published in peer reviewed journals and vetted by doctors, ensuring scientific rigor and reliable results. And listen, everybody's root causes of hair thinning is different. I'm in perimenopause right now, so I really appreciate that. It's not a one size fits all approach to hair growth. Neutral has multiple formulas designed to give your body what it needs to grow and support your hair's unique needs. So whether you're navigating postpartum menopause, a plant based lifestyle, or simply looking to see less hair shedding, Neutrophil has you covered. I personally use the Women's Balance this summer. Stop worrying about your hair and start making memories. For a limited time, Neutral is offering our listeners $10 off your first month's subscription and free shipping. When you go to neutrophil.com and enter the promo code breaking find out why Neutrophil is the best selling hair growth supplement brand@nutrafol.com spelled n u t r a f o l.com promo code breaking that's nutrifal.com promo code breaking.
- [23:35]
Jill Dunn
So the cult favorite product that most people know Lano for is the Lano original one on one ointment. So what was the inspo for this product and why do you think it Became such a hit with people.
- [23:48]
Kirsten Cariol
So the 101 which I have here came from me speaking to my dad and saying when I was formulating, saying if I was to add something to lanolin to make it even better, what would it be like? Why would you add anything? Because anything would water it down and make it worse.
- [24:07]
Carlene Higgins
Right.
- [24:07]
Kirsten Cariol
So or less effective. Which is why at the time it was like this crazy thing to do is make a one ingredient product. But that's where that came from. And also because it was a one ingredient medical grade product, it made. It meant that I could do the 101 uses confidently and safely. That you can use it on a cut, you can use it on open wound, and it's safe to say all those things. So I guess that became the cornerstone of the brand. And now everything you make is kind of derived from the one on one. And I think that really it works because it is, in my eyes, the most hydrating lip balm you can possibly use is 100% lanolin. But also we use this amazing, beautiful medical grade which has no color, has no flavor, has no scent, it's really silky. It's not offensive in any way. It's just like almost so great. It's basic, but so basic. It's great.
- [24:58]
Carlene Higgins
Yeah.
- [24:59]
Kirsten Cariol
So I think that's the trick. And I think in fundamentally people come back to simplicity and convenience and ease and performance. So I would probably say that in hindsight that's the magic behind it.
- [25:10]
Carlene Higgins
Yeah, it's true. One of the things that I notice about it is it can get a bit stiff, hard. Do you have a hack for like warming it up? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [25:20]
Kirsten Cariol
So I mean, much like human oils, like it behaves at best at human body temperature. So the best hack would be to keep it in your pocket, close to you. If you're wearing it out and about. Like if you're outside and it's freezing cold, keep it in your jean pocket. Don't give in your outside pocket.
- [25:34]
Carlene Higgins
Right.
- [25:35]
Kirsten Cariol
But if it's gone hard, just hold it with your hand in your hands for a couple of minutes. It'll soften up with body. Basically, body temperature is its friend.
- [25:42]
Carlene Higgins
Yeah, yeah, exactly. No, I love this product and I agree. It's kind of like almost like a petrolatum alternative to me. And it's interesting. I want to do a story at some point on like the best oncology skin care, because I have people really close to me who are going through oncology and anybody who is going through oncology, speak to your doctor. I'm not a doctor, but I did pass on the, the 101 ointment, the Lano original 101 ointment, because I just felt like this is something I'm confident is not going to irritate. And anecdotally I can say it has not irritated and she's been loving it.
- [26:22]
Kirsten Cariol
Oh, that's nice.
- [26:23]
Carlene Higgins
Yeah. So there are, you know, it's, it's. There are only very few skin care ingredients that I would trust or skincare products, you know, that are going to be effective.
- [26:35]
Jill Dunn
One of the 101 uses that I do is I used to put Vaseline up my nose. And in a pinch I will before a flight or in the winter. And I have used Lano for that as well. Because the truth is, when you do put Vaseline up your nose, it does smell like petroleum. People don't really talk about that, but it actually does. So this is like that alternative and you're not getting that odor as well. And it's just, you know, more natural. All of those things.
- [27:01]
Kirsten Cariol
Yeah, that's my favorite hack. Jill. I will say whenever someone says, what's your best off label use? I'm like, when I go flying, because, you know, your mucous membrane is your body's natural barrier to absorbing germs and catching something. And when you're flying, the air conditioning, as you would know, completely strips that away. So that's why you're more likely to get sick when you're traveling. So whenever I fly, I'm like exactly the same, Jill. I put it up my nose.
- [27:28]
Jill Dunn
Yeah, I know it's not the sexiest thing to talk about, but it works.
- [27:31]
Carlene Higgins
Do you have any other hacks for how, like any off label ways you like to use the 101 ointment? Kirsten?
- [27:38]
Kirsten Cariol
Every day I'm using it in a different way. I find I like to supercharge my creams when I'm traveling with it. So if I travel, I generally travel with just one cream. It's called out everywhere cream. But sometimes if you're like a super cold or super air conditioning, it can get a bit dry. So I just add a dollop to whatever cream you have to supercharge it. It is my savior when I'm transitioning from day to night in like when you haven't actually had your pedicure done. But yeah, spring, and you're wearing sandals for the first time and your feet is like, oh, they're like white, like the white skin and the cuticles. So if I'm caught like that I'll just put some one on one all around my heels, all around my cuticles and everything that sort of dry goes nice and glossy and nice. And it looks like I've had a pedicure, basically.
- [28:25]
Carlene Higgins
Yeah.
- [28:26]
Kirsten Cariol
And the nose hacks, one of my favorites as well.
- [28:28]
Carlene Higgins
Pedicure in a bottle. Love it. Or in a tube, I should say.
- [28:32]
Jill Dunn
Yeah. And the 101 ointment, I'm guessing that it went through some iterations to perfect it, or was it literally just the one and done? Like, tell us about the journey to get the formula exactly right or even to Carlene's point, figuring out that the tube was the best method or like, what was that journey like?
- [28:48]
Kirsten Cariol
It is. We did go through a few iterations because to get the right texture, you can mix a really solid lanolin with a lanolin oil. Like, it's still pure lanolin, but it's getting that sort of the right viscosity. So there was some work on the viscosity, which took a lot longer than you would expect. And also to get that, it had to be dense enough that it was like, really dense, but not so dense it didn't come out. And then I also, at the same time developed. At the same time, I developed a one on one plus also a one on one spf. And up until very close to launch, we were doing them both at the same time because I'm believer in spf. But then at the very last minute, I pulled the SPF because I didn't like what the SPF ingredients did to the texture of the lanolin. It kind of made it much more soft, bit yellow. I didn't make it taste good. So that was like a last minute pull from the range. And up until, like, literally what I'm here in New York for right now, we haven't launched an SPF balm in North America at all. So we finally. I finally got a formulation. I was happy to put SPF in only recently. It was actually really quite hard to get SPF and lanolin to a format that I was happy with.
- [29:54]
Carlene Higgins
Yeah, well, we're here. You're holding it, so tell us all about it. All right, what do we have here?
- [30:00]
Kirsten Cariol
Sunbalm is the lip balm text you love with the SPF that you made. So as you would know, your lips are the most delicate skin on your whole body because it's got no oil glands on your lips, and it's basically the same skin as inside your mouth. And it's very easy to not put sunscreen on your Lips because you don't want the flavor or you want to put a lip stick on. But generally, it's a really great idea to have SPF on your lips most of the time, especially in down at the beach. I formulated with a really, really beautiful, simple, natural lanolin base with a SPF 30, which is globally compliant, which is. I wanted a global formula, which was really hard because of all the regulations, as you would know, are very different. Even in Canada, they're different. Us, Europe, Australia. So this is a compliant formula for the whole world. And then the decision was about, like, do I do SPF 15, 30, or 50? And I think a lot of people are trained to think 50 in technically is best. But I found when. When I've tasted 50 lip balms or when I've tried them in my own formulas, they just taste so chemically to me that you end up not actually using it. So. And the exponential difference between 30 and 50 isn't an extra 20% coverage. It's, you know, it's like 2 or 3% negligible.
- [31:18]
Jill Dunn
Yeah.
- [31:19]
Kirsten Cariol
It's really not worthwhile. Having a lip balm that tastes that bad was my decision. So I got to a point where I got the SPF 30. I was happy with. With a taste that was. You can definitely still taste the spf. You can't get around that. SPF requires certain chemicals, but it's nice, it's beautiful. And I put a little bit of shimmer in it just to make it really pretty. And then what I love most about this, I love the feel of it, but I also love the color. Beautiful golden look. But the smell, for me, I love it's just beige. It's sunscreen, it's pineapple, it's coconut oil. It's. For me, it just smells like summer. So it was really fun kind of putting that together. And I mean, fundamentally, I just wanted to make an SPF that you would want to use all day, every day, not avoid using because it smelled really bad or taste. But it also hydrates lips. SPF ingredients can be very drying as well, so the lanolin counteracts that really nicely.
- [32:16]
Jill Dunn
Curious what filter you use. Is it ever an option to use a zinc or titanium? Like, I'm curious what that process was like.
- [32:25]
Kirsten Cariol
Yeah, so sometimes we use titaniums in the titanium dioxide is like, has obviously got the white cast. So we do use that. That what you classify as a mineral filter by default in some of our colors to give it opacity. But in a clear balm, you can't get around the whiteness. It creates and creates a pastiness that's really ugly. So we do use an SPF system of about five different chemical filters. They've been used for decades safely across the world. So that's why I chose the system I did because it was basically generally approved to be safe in every single market. So generally approved to be the safest ingredients in the world.
- [33:03]
Carlene Higgins
Great, I can't wait to try that because I love just like a soft shelf sheen versus a sparkle. But I think it's so pretty just with a lip liner. So I, I have it and I cannot wait to try it. This episode is brought to you in part by Boulevard. So recently Jill and I were in New York and I was booking in at a facialist and I realized I was using the Boulevard system, which is now a sponsor of our show. And I thought, cool, this is like a real life scenario where a a highly esthetician is using this system. She's always working with beauty editors and some celebrities. So I was like, it's very nice to know that she trusts Boulevard. So if you're in the self care business and offer high end personal experiences, you and your clients deserve a modern, easy to use client experience platform that works just as efficiently as you do. Enter Boulevard. Boulevard is the number one client experience platform built specifically for appointment based self care businesses. Because salon, spas, barber shops, med spas and other self care businesses are so personal, the platform powering your business should feel the same. And it's not just software. It's a smarter, more personal and organized way to manage all of your businesses locations in one place. So whether it's online bookings, payments, appointment reminders, client profiles and more, Boulevard makes every interaction seamless and every part of your business look polished and professional. No more no shows, scheduling headaches or chaos behind the counter. Just smoother operations and happier clients to like moi. Plus, Boulevard helps you elevate your marketing. Generates custom reports, manages memberships, taking your business as far as you want to go. See why top beauty and wellness brands choose Boulevard to empower their team and grow their business. And right now Boulevard is offering new customers 10 off your first year subscription when you go to join blvd.com beauty and book a demo. That's J-O-I-N B L V-D.com beauty book a demo and get 10 off your first year subscription. Join join blvd.com beauty I want to ask you though you mentioned this earlier coming from the PR side, it's like you, you mentioned that you knew that you loved lanolin, but it had basically a PR problem. It wasn't being communicated properly. And I read in the Dermatologist Times that in 2023, Lanolin was named allergen of. And I wondered, you know, where your PR crisis alarms going and how do you respond to that?
- [35:50]
Kirsten Cariol
Yeah, that cut me deep in my soul. No, look, I think I accepted many years ago there's a certain teachings the dermatological community have and that the lanolin is an allergen. And I, no matter how much I speak to them, until I'm blue in the face and say, but it's safe for newborn babies to ingest. How do you explain that? I've literally had one of the top derms in Australia say, I don't know. I think the meta community and the derm community, they're taught different ways. And there are many things that are allergens. I mean, soy, I mean, there's so many things lanolin is. Anyone can be allergic to anything. So in, in short, I don't think you're more likely to be allergic to lanolin than anyone can be allergic to anything else. It's. And mostly it's of great benefit. Not, not the other way around.
- [36:35]
Carlene Higgins
Yeah, I mean, and you can always do a patch test, right?
- [36:38]
Kirsten Cariol
Yeah, I mean, like, I, I mean, I don't think it doesn't exist. I just don't think it's like absolutely, absolutely prolific thing. And in particular with the newborn baby safety piece, it doesn't make sense to me.
- [36:51]
Carlene Higgins
Yeah, I agree with you. I think there's, there's a lot of it, ingredients, like natural, you know, even essential oils, I think get a bad rap. But you can always patch test and kind of take responsibility for your own whether something's right for you or not. Right.
- [37:08]
Kirsten Cariol
Well, the, the EU have a very, very strict law book on listing allergens. So when you look at our ingredients list in the eu, there's probably usually about four or five things you have to list as a potential allergen. Lalan is never one of them, but what is often one of them are the fragrance components. You're much more likely to be allergic to a fragrance, whether it's natural or non natural in a product because you know, they're stronger. There could be essential oils, there could be many things, but that is considered far more of a scary allergen than lanolin itself. We don't have to list lanolin as an allergen.
- [37:40]
Carlene Higgins
Yeah, but people who are allergic to wool, should they stay away from Lanolin.
- [37:44]
Kirsten Cariol
Do, you know, definitely patch tested?
- [37:46]
Carlene Higgins
Yeah.
- [37:47]
Kirsten Cariol
So it just depends what part of the wool they're allergic to. They could be allergic. You know, if you look at wool under a microscope, it's kind of like quite spiky. So they could be allergic to the texture of it or they could be allergic to the lanolin alcohols in it, in which case, yes, they are allergic to lanolin. So definitely, if they're allergic to wool, I would definitely patch test.
- [38:05]
Jill Dunn
Yeah. And if you could please clarify because some people may not know exactly how you're sourcing from the sheep. We're talking about sheep sharing for the lanolin. Like, can you just walk us through how that works and how the sheep are involved and if, you know, people may wonder if, if it's safe for them. Let me, let us know.
- [38:23]
Kirsten Cariol
Yeah, of course. So Australia is the biggest producer of merino wool in the world. As a result, our farming practices are super controlled and there's very strict rules in place for, to protect animal safety. So the general wool industry in Australia is, lives under that umbrella. So if you go to the Australian Wool Council of Australia, you'll see there's a whole code of conduct and a space and what you're allowed to use in terms of pesticides. So there's a whole wool like, animal cruelty policy which has always been in place. Australia has always been wonderful with their animals and we have a policy that we only buy from Australia and new zeal wool. So that kind of ensures that, that conduct that they live and work under extends to the lanolin that we get. So the way it works is the farms shear the sheep, the wool goes into big bales, they go to market. And the wool industry is the first, the first user of the wool is the wool industry. And then in the process of refining that wool and making, putting it into your jumpers and your rugs and your curtains and your, you know, your upholstery, everything, everything's got wool in it. They wash it and you boil the wool and then lanolin comes out. Like, it rises to the top as like an oil and that gets skimmed off and that's like the raw wool grease, they call it. And then the wool grease can be put to use in many ways. It can be used industrially on the bottom of boats to keep them waterproof. It could be used to lubricate machinery or it can be purified to different levels of quality for pharmaceutical use, for medical use in various ways, like an attraction technology, like a filtering technology. There's a lot of different ways that you refine lanolin to get it to this grade where it's really considered very, very pure and safe to use for skincare.
- [40:14]
Carlene Higgins
Okay. And then the medical grade, like, do you. Do you believe that in the cosmetic industry that most brands that are using lanolin are using medical grade, or is there something we need to look for.
- [40:28]
Kirsten Cariol
On a label using a cosmetic grade or a pharmaceutical grade? Okay. You don't have to list it on your label either. You can use whatever grade you want. It doesn't. But I think most companies who are using lanolin will just buy basic cosmetic grade, which I think is probably perfectly fine. You wouldn't want to use it as a raw material. Like, it'd probably be the snow getting a bit stinky and a bit sticky.
- [40:50]
Carlene Higgins
Right.
- [40:50]
Kirsten Cariol
Once you put it in the formula. I mean, it's. There's lanolin and Creme de la Mer and Arden Eight Hour Cream. It's sort of. It is around. So my. My guess is that's what they're doing. And I think, to be honest, that's perfect. Probably perfectly fine for 98 of the population.
- [41:04]
Carlene Higgins
Right?
- [41:04]
Jill Dunn
Yeah. Love it.
- [41:05]
Carlene Higgins
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So the quality of the lanolin does matter. And then we've interviewed a lot of folks in biotechnology lately, and some of them might say that we don't actually need extract lanolin from sheep anymore, that they can actually duplicate whatever is the molecular magic that's in the lanolin in a lab and never have to touch a sheep again. So where do you see the future of lanolin heading and what impact will that serve?
- [41:37]
Kirsten Cariol
So, like, sheep will be touched for the wool industry no matter what. Unless you suddenly eliminate wool fibers from your fabric supply chain, which you really shouldn't because it's. It's biodegradable. It's far more biodegradable than a synthetic fiber. I think wool's a wonderful circular ingredient in the world. If you have wool, you will have lanolin as a byproduct. So it's always going to be there. So, number one, I don't imagine why you wouldn't want to use it. It's a very beautiful circular ingredient. It's part of the supply chain. It's natural and it's biodegradable. But if you did prefer that, if you didn't like the idea of an animal product and you wanted the feel of it, I have yet to try a synthetic alternative that genuinely feels the same. From all of my reading, the context, the structure is quite so complex, it can't be replicated. I've tried like over the years when the whole vegan thing was really big. I don't think it is anymore. But when it was really big, I did look at potentially doing a vegan 101 and I tried and I couldn't get there, man. I did. And that's why I didn't launch it. It just wasn't there. Yeah, yeah. And why do something that's taken so much energy to create and synthetics and God knows what, when lanolin is. It's there, it's natural, it's going to exist anyway. It's circular, it's biodegradable. That's my honest take.
- [42:52]
Carlene Higgins
I want to ask you a bit about Australian beauty because I feel like lanolin comes to mind. Of course, you know, your area of the world is known for wool and that just makes so much sense. What else is like popping? If we were to go to Australia, what else do we need to go and get there? If we went into Mecca or something like that?
- [43:13]
Kirsten Cariol
SPFs in general are very much having a moment. The Aussie SPFs are really good. What else do I think from the Aussie? Some really beautiful, like rosehip oils, eucalyptus oil products which have been around for generations, which are very loved. The paw pork ointment look, it's to me, I mean it says very petroleum heavy product but it's perfectly nice and it's cheap and it's. Everyone's kind of got it. It's a nice, just easy thing to have in your cupboard. So that's a really nice one. But I think probably more so. I would say our SPFs. Yeah, our sunscreens are great.
- [43:47]
Carlene Higgins
Yeah.
- [43:48]
Kirsten Cariol
We're really, you know, because we've had to balance, you know, not only are the stringent regulations. We have.
- [43:53]
Jill Dunn
Yeah.
- [43:53]
Kirsten Cariol
Sun like proper.
- [43:54]
Jill Dunn
Yeah.
- [43:55]
Kirsten Cariol
And we have skin cancer, a lot of skin cancer. So, yeah, it's taken very seriously.
- [44:00]
Carlene Higgins
Yeah. What's the sunscreen you've got at the beach? You've got your llano lips with, you know, the new tropical SPF for your lips. What else are you putting on?
- [44:08]
Kirsten Cariol
You know, last time I was in America, in la, I bought the vacation one.
- [44:12]
Jill Dunn
Oh, yeah.
- [44:13]
Kirsten Cariol
I love the. I love the retro advertising. So I know at the moment I've got the vacation one and I don't know, it's really simple and basic. I like it, it's great. Oh, Neca in Australia, it's like a Sephora.
- [44:26]
Carlene Higgins
Yes, yes.
- [44:27]
Kirsten Cariol
Aussie Mecca have their own in house sunscreen that they've had for about 10 years and it Is fantastic.
- [44:37]
Carlene Higgins
I've heard this.
- [44:38]
Kirsten Cariol
Yeah. And in fact, the people who used to work on that, they're the ones that started ultraviolet. So. But the Mecca original one is the one that's I use on my. Probably the one I would choose to use on my face.
- [44:50]
Carlene Higgins
You've worked in beauty PR. You did work in beauty PR for over 15 years. And you've seen countless brands and trends. What self care or skin care trends do you think are here to stay versus which ones do you think are just noise?
- [45:03]
Kirsten Cariol
I'm not a big fan of sheet masks at all. I just don't think that having a sheet on your face makes it go in any better. I think you can just put a cream on and it goes in the same way.
- [45:17]
Carlene Higgins
Yeah.
- [45:18]
Kirsten Cariol
I think actives are here to stay. I think really simple active like the single ingredient app dues. I think they're really nice. I've always thought that with the ordinary. I thought that was really smart. I think any ingredient that says it's anti aging or wrinkle reducing. I think I don't believe any of that. I believe in ingredients that kind of can slightly micro surface or like a vitamin C which resurfaces a little bit and can maybe fade dug like. I believe that that's based on knowing legally the percentage of active ingredients you're allowed to put in a product generally isn't what does the job.
- [45:54]
Carlene Higgins
Yeah.
- [45:55]
Kirsten Cariol
So there's a lot of active ingredients I just wouldn't bother with. Yeah. But I think. I think vitamin C is really nice for me. I keep it. I just can't be bothered using for anything to get a good effect. You have to use it religiously every day for months on end. And I just can't be bothered. So this has been my face cream for 10 years. This Lana everywhere cream. I just believe in keeping my skin really, really hydrated. The lanolin does protect my skin. Keeping it really happy and hydrated is the best skincare I can do. That's just me. But I know that's my philosophy is more.
- [46:27]
Jill Dunn
Yeah. And it's completely non comedogenic. Right. We didn't really cover that.
- [46:31]
Kirsten Cariol
Yeah. So we have vitamin E in all of our creams, which is an antioxidant which should stop any creams oxidizing in your pores, which is what causes, you know, the blockages. I wouldn't if. If my son has had acne, I wouldn't probably put lanolin on him. Well if he was going through, you know, a breakout because your skin's producing A lot of its own oils already. Yeah. And that's when I would probably use a cerave or something really simple and really like super, super, super light, like a smell or something like that, you know. Lanolin fundamentally is for normal to dry skin, but if your skin's going through that, you know, deep acne or something like that, it's probably not the right cream for you.
- [47:12]
Carlene Higgins
Yeah. And so how many years of lano have you had now and where do you see the brand going next?
- [47:19]
Kirsten Cariol
So we, this is our 16th year.
- [47:23]
Carlene Higgins
Amazing.
- [47:23]
Kirsten Cariol
I feel like we've lived a lifetime. You know, I'm really proud to have established what is what I now consider to be, you know, a forever brand. A brand that could live beyond me. And for us next, we are going to continue to keep our core really present like our 101 range and keep, keep introducing those to a whole new generation, a whole new gen Alphas and Gen Z is. And just keep recruiting from our core range coupled with launching really fun new products which have the lanolin benefits and have the serious treatment nature. But people can have a bit of fun with like. Have you got lip oils as well? Yes. Yeah, yes. They're great. I mean, so it took me a while to formulate because I was like, does the world need another lip oil? Right. Working with this liquid lanolin and I was mixing with the hyaluronic acid and I coming up with this beautiful, kind of cushiony, puffy, beautiful formula that would stay on for hours. So you get the benefit of something that felt lighter but it still your lips felt amazing hours later. So I love these. They're great fun. So we'll continue to do innovation and fun limited editions and things like that.
- [48:26]
Carlene Higgins
Yeah, yeah. My vote is that we have the 101 ointment on air Australia, at least in the business class. The little kits in Qantas.
- [48:36]
Kirsten Cariol
I know that would be so cute. We've spoken to them a few times is. It's very like they, you know, wow. Their price points are low for buying that stuff, but we'd like to if we can get there at some point.
- [48:47]
Carlene Higgins
Yeah.
- [48:47]
Jill Dunn
That's so fun. So fun. Well, thank you so much. Kirsten and I just want to offer a friendly reminder to our Breaking Beauty listeners that we have an exclusive promo code with lanolips. If you want to try anything that we talked about today, you can go to lips.com and use code BEAUTY at checkout for 20 off your first purchase. Once again, that's use code BEAUTY atlantips.com at checkout for 20 OFF your first purchase. We'll link to this offer in our show notes and on our website.
- [49:19]
Kirsten Cariol
Thank you Colleen and Jill.
- [49:21]
Carlene Higgins
Thank you.
- [49:21]
Jill Dunn
This was a delight.
- [49:23]
Kirsten Cariol
Thanks guys.
- [49:25]
Carlene Higgins
Thanks for listening. You can find details on every product mentioned in today's episode along with our exclusive promo codes on our blog @breaking beauty podcast.com While you're there, be sure.
- [49:35]
Jill Dunn
To sign up for our newsletter every Every episode will be delivered directly to your inbox so you won't miss a.
- [49:41]
Carlene Higgins
Single thing and get social with us. Let us know what you think of the episode. You can follow us on Instagram at Breaking Beauty Podcast and did you know.
- [49:49]
Jill Dunn
We also have a private Facebook group? Just search Breaking Beauty Podcast chat room.
- [49:53]
Carlene Higgins
You can even leave us a voicemail at any time with questions or feedback at 1-844-227-0302.
- [50:00]
Jill Dunn
And don't forget to subscribe to us wherever you you get your podcast fix Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts and Apple Podcasts where you can show us some love by writing a review.
- [50:11]
Carlene Higgins
See you next Wednesday.
- [50:29]
Kirsten Cariol
Please note that this episode may contain.
- [50:31]
Carlene Higgins
Paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services.
- [50:34]
Kirsten Cariol
Individuals on the show may have a.
- [50:36]
Carlene Higgins
Direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.