The founder of Take My Face off, Amanda McIntosh, was born into a large family in small-town Texas. By the age of 12 she decided she would be a classical musician and was always inventing and designing new things- she even worked for a year building a typewriter from scratch, because she didn’t like writing by hand. Talk about a “go-getter.”
Amanda eventually left Texas for school and studied music, aesthetics, history, and learned several languages. She then went to Chicago for grad school, but left before completing her master’s degree to take a job in music and join an orchestra in Spain. She knew, for herself job experience was far more valuable than a degree.
Music is also how she met her husband. Together they played with orchestras all over the world before he got a job with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In that time, Amanda was working as a business process consultant for her family’s consulting practice and that’s where she learned that business can be just as creative as music.
Amanda was working with an orchestra in LA when she got the idea to create the Take My Face Off Mitty. It was late and she needed to remove her heavy performance makeup. She had already discovered the heaven that is, oil cleansing but HATED traditional washcloths- they were gross, cheaply made, coarse, and truly ugly. It was when she ran out of clean washcloths AGAIN, Amanda thought to herself:
“With all the money and time we put into skincare, why are we cleaning our skin with coarse terry cloth? Isn’t there a better answer?”
The gap in the washcloth market seemed huge to her. Microfiber clothes claimed that cleansing with rubbing and water only (no cleanser) is okay and effective when it’s definetly not. And while some reusable bamboo and cotton rounds can be green, those materials don’t last very long and they don’t work very well for skincare. Let’s not even mention the amount of chemicals and waste that comes with any disposable face wipe.
It was another “typewriter moment”, shortly thereafter Amanda tested every fabric she could get her hands on. She came up with an entirely new way to make a pattern that was easier to sew with fewer errors. Factories didn’t like her small orders, so she bought sewing machines like theirs and learned to make her Mitty’s herself.
She invented a hand powered, non-electric cutting machine and pays an adorable Grandpa to cut Mittys on his days off. Packaging companies didn’t want to work with her small company either, so she bought bulk lots of snack packages that are reusable for months of food storage (or years of storage for your Mitty itself).
Almost everything Take My Face Off does has been engineered to have a low impact. They believe in doing things right from the start, but recognize there will always be room to improve. Along with their low impact manufacturing process, their mailers are recyclable or compostable and they use an extremely low-volume of product, packaging, and shipping materials. Since the pandemic, all production has moved to small, home-based workshops so their elderly sewers stay safe. Additionally, Take My Face Off is currently working on a Mitty recycling program for customers, but they haven’t needed it yet because Mittys take so many years to wear out.
In the past, the beauty industry was built on so many wasteful practices and traditions. While it’s slowly improving, it’s imperative to Amanda to NOT buy into its conventional ideas. Just because everyone else does it- doesn’t mean it’s right and doesn’t mean you can’t do something different. Amanda wants to question every aspect of beauty that isn’t in line with better values and find an alternative.
Take My Face Off isn’t just reinventing personal care staples, they’re reinventing so many ways people manage marketing, sales, shipping, and manufacturing. For them, Everything is up for reinvention and improvement and thats pretty rad.
Speed up your bedtime skincare routine (without polluting the planet) with these fuzzy droplets of cleansing power. I’ve been absolutely obsessed with my Mini Mitty for the last two years, you’ll never use a washcloth on your beautiful face again. I hand wash mine with a mild soap and water every night after use, and hang dry to use for the next night.
Check out all the colors and sizes at TakeMyFaceOff.com and be sure to follow them on instagram @TakeMyFaceOff . They also have a Take My Face Off Organic Apricot Kernel Oil I cannot wait to get my hands (and face) on!
If you like natural skincare you’ll love Thrive Natural Care SPF and scrubs for everyone.
Until next time…
Erin
xoxo
