Farm Fresh Organic Skincare – Giveaway

Imagine placing a call to an organic farm and requesting freshly made skincare, specifically formulated for your needs. Now imagine that skincare is shipped out the day it’s made. If you’re used to packaged and processed beauty products from a drugstore or department store, this sounds like a far-fetched idea. But it’s not. It’s exactly what happens at Lily Organics.

When I heard about a farmer in Colorado who had her own organic farm and her own lab for turning her crop into the freshest skincare available, I had to speak with her. Lily Morgan, Head Farm Hand, as she likes to be known, was completely open to discussing her unique brand.

But then she forgot about our interview. When we did speak, she was incredibly apologetic. She’d gotten caught up in picking chamomile for her latest batch of cleansers and the time had slipped by.

No problem.

I had a list of questions that I was ready to rattle off, sure I’d have a short amount of time to get everything in before she had to hang up, like most of my interviewees. Instead, Lily meanders through funny stories about her childhood on her family’s farm, her love of yoga and how she almost became a lawyer.

This casual discussion is punctuated with passionate outbursts about how organic products aren’t new despite their current “it” status. After all, Lily’s been making her brand of organic skincare for the past 24 years. “When I started my business, I didn’t have any competition,” Lily says. “And the people who shopped healthy and organic were sort of desperate. They wanted something to help with an ailment or problem.”

Lily’s own journey towards organics was brought on by a bad case of teen acne. Trying product after product from stores and even consulting with doctors did not give Lily clear skin. She realized the synthetic ingredients in the products she was buying weren’t delivering on their promises. That’s when she started researching natural remedies. She bought every book on the subject and attended the Colorado Herbal College. Her life’s path became clearer.

Now, two and a half decades later, Lily is happy with the choices she made. And her skin is gorgeous. She shares that she has a few wrinkles, but says that she’s okay with that. It’s part of the cycle of life. She hates that the cosmetics industry tries to sell the “lie that wrinkles are not a natural part of aging.” Lily says she’s traveled to 89 countries and she’s never been to one where old people aren’t wrinkled.

“The promise of ‘forever youthful skin’ is false and it makes women feel like they’re doing something wrong.”  Lily says so much of the cosmetics industry feeds the fear of growing old and dying. Instead, she’d like to see women look their best at whatever stage of life they’re entering.

When I ask Lily what she makes of the new “sexy” status of organic products, she laughs. “I remember when people who were interested in natural or organic products were regular people or sick people looking for a cure. Now you go to Whole Foods and everyone looks like a fashion model.”

She teases me a bit about the models on this website. She comments on how pretty and young they all are. I suppose I’m adding to the “sexy natural/organic image”.

Lily says one of the interesting parts about the new image of organics is that now there is lots of competition out there, when originally there was very little. She sees small brands popping up with the hopes of making easy money, capitalizing on the whole “green” movement. But Lily has news for them. It’s not as easy as it looks. Unless of course, you have a conglomerate with huge capital backing you. She speaks with little love for the big brands who are slapping “organic” labels on their products in order to sell. Or the small brands who sell out to Clorox and other big companies with little true interest in organic or natural products.

One of the ways she differentiates herself is by getting USDA Certified Organic. “The inspector was here for 8 solid hours,” Lily said. “Drilling me on my 200 pages of forms I’d already filled out.” She says it’s a serious ordeal to get the rating, but worth it. “The USDA is food grade,” Lily says. “It doesn’t get any better than that. Not even the European standards that everyone’s always talking about is as rigorous as getting a USDA Organic stamp of approval.”

I ask if people think it’s strange that a farmer is making skincare. “The foundation of “green” or “organic” is farming. My frustration is that people don’t put that together. You can’t get greener than being an organic grower.” She says it’s wonderful that people recycle their beer cans and tires, but really the greenest is an organic grower. She believes people who grew up in cities don’t always make that connection. “People talk about being green like they’re talking about celebrity status. But farmers don’t always have the cache and panache.”

She then reversed the roles in our interview and asked me how I see organic farmers in relation to cosmetics and the green industry. I had to admit I’d bought into the marketing hype of green being a fashion industry invention. Sexy models shopping the cosmetics aisle at Whole Foods was definitely my view of green. Not a sweating woman in a field picking chamomile. Lily appreciated my honesty.

My last question for her: What happens if her brand suddenly becomes “sexy”? How will she continue to keep her ethics and produce the same amazing products?

“We have 15 acres and a lab. We only use a small part of that now. We could expand. We’d do greenhouses, contract with neighboring farmers. We could even get certified organic ingredients from other sources.” Lily pauses for a moment. “Honestly, if necessary we could accommodate ten times what we are doing right now.”

Lily says in light of the boom to organic products, she’s given much thought to the question of growth and demand.  “I am prepared for success,” she shares. I believe her.

Lily wants to give you an opportunity to try her fresh skincare. So, we’re co-sponsoring a giveaway featuring these adorable bags filled with travel sized bottles of her products. You get to choose the one that’s best for your skin type. All products are naturally preserved and have a 12 month self life if stored properly.
How to enter? Please leave a comment about this article (did you enjoy it? Would you like to see more like this, etc.) after this post AND join the friend connect on the home page. I’ll be in NYC for a makeup job until July 29th. I’ll pick a winner on the 30th. Good luck, ladies.