EP326. Have we been wrong all along about "natural" vs "synthetic"?

The Green Beauty Conversations podcast is ending. After more than 330 episodes and eight and a half years, Lorraine Dallmeier has finally said it out loud. Or has she? 😱 In this episode of Green Beauty Conversations, Lorraine explains what is actually happening to the podcast, what Season 2 will look like, and why the biggest change coming has been a long time in the making. Free ResourcesFree formulation course | Green Beauty Conversations Podcast | Blog | YouTube Socials: Formula Botanica on Instagram | Lorraine Dallmeier on Instagram

If you're thinking about starting your own organic skincare brand but you're scared it won't work out, this episode is for you. In this episode of Green Beauty Conversations, Formula Botanica CEO and podcast host Lorraine Dallmeier talks to Khulan Davaadorj, founder of Lhamour — Mongolia's first organic skincare brand, built from her kitchen after severe eczema sent her searching for products that actually worked. Khulan shares the full story: quitting a prestigious career, surviving a robbery two weeks after opening her first office, making her first sales from her personal social media, and growing the brand over 12 years to three flagship stores, airport duty-free, and revenues heading towards $1.2 million this year. If you've ever wondered whether someone like you could actually build something like this, Khulan's answer is clear. Free Resources Free formulation course | Green Beauty Conversations Podcast | Blog | YouTube Socials: Formula Botanica on Instagram | Lorraine Dallmeier on Instagram

Every indie beauty brand founder wants to wake up to orders. Most of them launch a website, post on Instagram, and wait. Nothing happens. Meanwhile, a brand they've never heard of is selling a million jars. In this episode of Green Beauty Conversations, Formula Botanica CEO and podcast host Lorraine Dallmeier goes behind the scenes of the direct-to-consumer beauty model — the ad testing, the retargeting sequences, the quiz funnels, the guarantee mechanisms that double as content machines, and the subscription models that keep customers buying without making a new decision each time. If you have a beauty brand and you're wondering why your online sales aren't where you want them to be, this episode makes the system visible. Free ResourcesFree formulation course | Green Beauty Conversations Podcast | Blog | YouTube Socials: Formula Botanica on Instagram | Lorraine Dallmeier on Instagram

Most indie beauty brands launch with a Shopify store, post a few times on Instagram, and wait for the sales to come. They don't. In this episode of Green Beauty Conversations, Formula Botanica CEO and podcast host Lorraine Dallmeier talks to Line Pevik, Head of Brand at Frøya Organics, a Norwegian skincare brand built on Arctic botanicals that has sold over a million jars directly to customers worldwide. Line walks through the retargeting strategy, the 60-day guarantee system that doubles as a before-and-after content machine, and what it actually takes to scale production when demand goes global. If you are building a beauty brand and wondering why your online sales are not where you want them to be, this episode shows you exactly what the gap looks like. Use code GREENBEAUTY15 for 15% off your first order at froyaorganics.com. Free Resources Free formulation course | Green Beauty Conversations Podcast | Blog | YouTube Socials: Formula Botanica on Instagram | Lorraine Dallmeier on Instagram

The beauty industry has always invented new problems for you to solve. What's changed is how fast it can now name them, package them, and sell them back to you. In this episode of Green Beauty Conversations, Formula Botanica CEO and podcast host Lorraine Dallmeier runs through the full list of trending skincare terms, from skin cycling to skin flooding to overstimulated skin, separates the ones with real clinical backing from the ones built purely to shift product, and asks what any of us can actually do about it. If you have ever bought something because a term on TikTok made you feel like your skin had a problem you did not know about, this episode is for you. Free Resources Free formulation course | Green Beauty Conversations Podcast | Blog | YouTube Socials: Formula Botanica on Instagram | Lorraine Dallmeier on Instagram

What if the problem with your skincare routine has nothing to do with the products you're using, and everything to do with how many ingredients your skin is being asked to process at once? In this episode of Green Beauty Conversations, Formula Botanica CEO and podcast host Lorraine Dallmeier talks to Nicole Spangenberg, founder and formulator behind waterless skincare brand TSORI, about the concept of overstimulated skin and the formulation philosophy she has built around reducing total ingredient input. If your skin has become reactive and you cannot work out why, this episode is worth your time. Free Resources Free formulation course | Green Beauty Conversations Podcast | Blog | YouTube Socials: Formula Botanica on Instagram | Lorraine Dallmeier on Instagram

The beauty industry has spent decades arguing about natural versus synthetic ingredients. Most of that argument, Lorraine Dallmeier has long suspected, is about marketing rather than science. A carbon atom doesn't remember where it came from. But in this episode of Green Beauty Conversations, something shifts. Following her recent interview with Vikram Pandit of Phycus Biotechnologies, Lorraine asks whether published irritation data on fermentation-derived glycolic acid might finally give the natural versus synthetic debate a scientific footing it has never had before. If you listened to episode 325 and want to know what Lorraine actually made of it, start here. Free Resources Free formulation course | Green Beauty Conversations Podcast | Blog | YouTube Socials: Formula Botanica on Instagram | Lorraine Dallmeier on Instagram

Glycolic acid has been made the same way since the 1930s. The process starts with formaldehyde. Most formulators have never questioned it, and most beauty shoppers have never heard about it. In this episode of Green Beauty Conversations, Formula Botanica CEO and podcast host Lorraine Dallmeier sits down with Vikram Pandit, co-founder and CEO of Phycus Biotechnologies, to discuss the world's first commercially available fermentation-derived glycolic acid, and what published irritation data might mean for every formulator working with alpha-hydroxy acids. If you've ever used a glycolic product and assumed the source didn't matter, this episode is worth your time. Free Resources Free formulation course | Green Beauty Conversations Podcast | Blog | YouTube Socials: Formula Botanica on Instagram | Lorraine Dallmeier on Instagram

Beauty packaging is one of the most expensive mistakes an indie brand founder can make. And yet most brands still treat it as an afterthought. In this episode of Green Beauty Conversations, Formula Botanica CEO and podcast host Lorraine Dallmeier unpicks why leaving packaging decisions to the last minute costs brands far more than money, and why some of the most well-intentioned choices, from dark violet glass to biopolymers made from sugarcane, may not be as lower-impact as they appear. If you've ever chosen your packaging based on how it looks rather than what happens to it when it's empty, this episode is for you. Free Resources Free formulation course | Green Beauty Conversations Podcast | Blog | YouTube Socials: Formula Botanica on Instagram | Lorraine Dallmeier on Instagram

Picture this: you've chosen your materials, researched your options and invested in what you believe is eco packaging for your beauty products. But what if it's not as sustainable as it seems? In this episode of Green Beauty Conversations, Formula Botanica CEO Lorraine Dallmeier is joined by Jerome Fraillon, founder and CEO of Alder Packaging, to unpack the hidden realities behind packaging decisions in the beauty industry and so-called "sustainable" packaging materials. What Jerome says will probably shock you, and you'll never see eco packaging in the same light again. Tune in now to find out more!   Free Resources Free formulation course | Green Beauty Conversations Podcast | Blog | YouTube Socials: Formula Botanica on Instagram | Lorraine Dallmeier on Instagram