Narelle on miessence’s beginnings (starting with natural beauty care)

Narelle, founder of miessence (ONE Group), give us some insight into her introduction to natural beauty care.

Narelle Chenery
Founding Director of Organic & Natural Enterprise Group (ONE Group)

While completing a Bachelor of Applied Science in Information Management in 1992, a friend introduced me to a new natural skin care range on the market. The company prided itself on producing the best products from "science and nature." They talked a lot about the good ingredients, but didn't say much about the bad ones; in fact they denied have any bad ingredients at all! Even though the products contained ingredients I could not pronounce, because they claimed to be from natural ingredients like coconut and palm, I just presumed they were natural and safe.

One day, soon after I began selling this "natural" skin care range to my friends and family, a cosmetic ingredient dictionary "jumped" out at me while I was browsing through a health food store. The dictionary told me of the dangerous properties of the ingredients in the products I was using. YUCK! I was disillusioned, and quite annoyed! I felt that I had been deceived. Hence began my search for TRULY natural products.

My mother-in-law (God bless her) gave me some books on aromatherapy, herbal remedies, and how to make your own skin care out of natural ingredients. Surprisingly, even these books recommended the use of toxic preservatives, (which I wasn't going to touch!) So I started experimenting with some skin creams and giving them away as gifts.

As I was researching how to prevent my natural concoctions from growing mould, I remembered a little bottle that I had taken on my trip to Thailand a few years before to kill bugs in the water. I tried this, with some other natural extracts I had been researching, and they appeared to do the trick!

How did her original product line develop?
What other areas does she see ONEGroup getting into?

Eighteen months later, Alf Orpen approached me after I had stall at a natural products expo and challenged me to create certified organic products. I had been eating organic food since my first pregnancy in 1994, and I believed wholeheartedly in the organic philosophy. I was up for the challenge! Even within my "Intelligence" range, I used ingredients that I was not entirely happy with. After another eighteen months of research and development, the Miessence Certified Organic product range was born!

However, it does not stop there! Our intention is to create a whole range of certified organic lifestyle products, from cosmetics, to garden products, household cleaners, pet products, as well as a range of healthy food supplements to increase our wellness and vitality! Let there be no doubt that we will revolutionise the health and beauty industry! Stay tuned to this company!

Successful Grant Recipients – $110,000
Miessence Pty Ltd
Miessence Pty Ltd was awarded a grant for a pilot commercialisation project involving the world’s first certified organic cosmetics. The organisation plans to develop certified organic formulas for eight cosmetic products, and do not plan to compete in the cosmetics industry, but to stand alone as a new segment in the organics industry.
Australian Government - Dept. of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry http://www.daff.gov.au/about/annualreport   for 2001-2002

Advice she gives to the consumer to turn the larger companies around

One of my personal objectives is to help level the playing field between multi-national companies, with big marketing budgets, and the consumer. Education is the key here. If we know how to read labels, we can choose to avoid toxins.

We, as consumers, are incredibly powerful; we just need to own it! The cosmetics industry alone is worth something like US$20 billion a year. Most of this turnover supports the use of toxic chemicals. If we tell the big multi-nationals, we will no longer put up with the toxic waste they put into our bodies and the environment through their products (by refusing to buy them) they will have no choice but to make the changes we wish to see!

As Ghandi said, "Non-cooperation with evil is a sacred duty." There are so many candy-coated evils promoted to us by tabloids, women's magazines, and television. We need to look beyond the hype of big-business propaganda, and not believe everything we hear! If we commit to educating ourselves and acting responsibly upon that new knowledge, there is no limit to what we can achieve.

• Be a beacon of light in the sea of ignorance and apathy - stand up and be counted!
• Act to improve your health and wellbeing, daily!
• Support companies that support the ethical use of the earth's resources!
• Educate your colleagues and families about toxins in their environment and food!
• Pray for the enlightenment of our planet's leaders and power brokers. God knows they need it!

Case Study - 2003

The Australian Organic Industry - A Summary published by Commonwealth Of Australia, 2004

see also
The Essence of Organic Branding
‘Made In Australia’ exerpt (pdf)