Story of
Our Founder
& LO
Rosa Polak
The idea for LO started in 2015, I was 28 and had just finished my masters in Social Psychology at the University of Amsterdam. After reading a book on ingredients in food, I realized I also didn’t know any of the ingredients in the products I used on my skin every day.
An extensive research later, I went on experimenting with food grade ingredients in my kitchen. The base for LO’s first lip product was born.
The pursuit of finding the right packaging let me to question why almost all natural skincare products where packed in single-use plastics. It didn’t feel green to me.
The goal of creating a plastic-free product was set and my search for sustainable, durable and beautiful packaging began. Looking back, I could have never imagined I would end-up making make-up in my own lab.
From Kitchen to Lab
Three years it took me to realize our plastic free packaging. The first year I heard ‘no’ from every supplier. All claiming it was impossible to make a thread in wood without using a plastic inlay. After a year I finally found someone who was willing to take a chance on me. After that, it took an additional two years of emailing and sampling.
During that time I apprenticed with a private label producent to get a better understanding of production processes. LO officially launched in 2018 with a collection of different lip balms.
What I love about my story, is that it brought me somewhere unexpected and totally out of my comfort zone: our then small community kept asking for coloured balms.
I had a passion for skincare, not make-up. I never wore lipstick. Not just because I couldn’t find the right colour, but also because I have super sensitive lips that crack by the thought of putting on lipstick.
From their request, I made it my job to create the best clean formula that’s easy to use, with comfortable wear ánd clean pigments. I’ve made over a hundred samples to find this formula. Delightful side-effect, I even found a suitable colour for myself.
This taught me that make-up can be for everyone and doesn’t have to be difficult. Today, LO is skincare and make-up combined. Like myself, I hope you will find in LO a companion for enhancing your beauty, not to change it.
LO Circle
Gradually, since our launch, a community arose that shares the same values. A group of like-minded people who find and inspire each other in more responsible living and buying.
Our logo is inspired by the ripple effect. Like a drop in the water, circles ripple along. Spreading from the center, flowing wider and wider. Like our logo, our circle and our shared values are slowly spreading on and on. Hopefully making and leaving our world a better place for future generations.
