Svn (7) Questions with Loden, Founder, Melissa McFarlin
We sat down with Melissa McFarlin, founder of the new natural skincare line, Loden and asked her a few questions about her new brand and what it’s like being a mom and new small business owner in the world of CBD.
1. You started by making soap, why the transition into CBD products?
Creating products with CBD first started with me experimenting on ways to help ease my mother’s arthritis pain. I had read about CBD’s amazing anti-inflammatory qualities and wanted to see first-hand if it would help. Once I saw the results from my mom I was hooked.
2. Where does the name Loden come from?
Loden is actually a beautiful green wool that reminded me of the color of hemp.
3. Why the interest in natural skincare?
I’m sure you’ve heard it before, but our skin absorbs around 60% of everything we put on it. About 5 years ago I broke out in hives. The doctors were puzzled but the one thing they could all agree on is that it could be the products I was using. This starting me down a path of researching ingredients more and being more aware of what I was putting on my skin and on my children’s skin. It’s why I got started making soaps and natural skincare products.
4. Can you tell us a bit about some of the products you make?
One of the things I’m most proud of is that our products is that we use no fragrances or fragrance oils. Instead, our products smell good because we use herbal infusions and essential oils for their therapeutic benefits. My goal was to look at the hemp plant to find ways to utilize the whole plant. Our Hemp + French Clay mask not only use CBD but also hemp powder and hemp essential oil. I also love products that have multiple uses, maybe it’s my mom's side coming out. This mask is great as a mask but is also gentle enough to use as a daily powder cleanser. It does an excellent job sloughing off dead skin cells and toning the skin. I also can’t NOT talk about my tincture. It’s the perfect tincture and helps relieve my anxiety I struggle with.
5. Your background is in graphic design and creation direction, how has that helped influence Loden?
It definitely has helped because I’ve had a vision of what Loden should look like and feel like for a long time. I wanted my labels and packaging to be really clean and simple, similar to the ingredients they hold. I also didn’t want to come across as too stiff or formal.
6. You are a mom and now a small business owner. Any tips on how to juggle the two?
It’s tough, that’s for sure. I have two amazing kids and they have been with me through it all. I think it’s great for them, especially my daughter to see a woman starting a company on her own from scratch. My tips would be to find ways that they can help. My son, Otto who’s 8, is great at labeling the outside of some containers (I swear they are not child labor) and my daughter, Coco, who’s 5 loves to help me take packages to the post office. Thank goodness for my husband who’s super supportive and help manage the kids when I have my hands full.
7. What are some of your goals for Loden?
My goal is to discover more ways to have Loden become a part of someone’s daily routine. I want to find new ways to better educate my customers about hemp and it’s many benefits. In the end, my CBD tincture and skincare products have helped me tremendously with my anxiety and skin issues so if I can help just one person find similar relief, I’ve done my job.
