High-quality ingredients and high-performance, vegan formulations are probably the most appropriate terms to describe the JACKS beauty line make-up line. Miriam Jacks has put her expertise and many years of experience as a make-up artist and beauty expert into the development of the make-up products. In our interview, she reveals what experiences guided her, what goals she pursued and what was particularly important to her about the products.
You have worked in the beauty industry for over half your life - initially as a make-up artist, then as the owner of your own beauty concept stores. Since 2011 you have been creating handmade make-up brushes with JACKS beauty line, and now the next step is coming: your first make-up line. What prompted you to take this special step?
I did my training in Los Angeles when I was in my early 20s. Since then, I have done makeup for many women and worked with numerous brands. In all these years, I have tried hundreds, if not thousands, of makeup products and experienced first-hand what women want: a fresh glow! The Corona pandemic has allowed us to grow a lot with JACKS beauty line, which made it financially possible for us to develop our own makeup line. It has been a long road to get to this point, but it feels like my entire professional career, with all its ups and downs, has prepared me for the development of my makeup line.
To what extent have you learned through your work as a beauty expert what women are looking for in terms of beauty and makeup?
Over the last few years, through working with many celebrities, models, makeup brands and also through the numerous makeup workshops I have given in my stores, I have gained a deep insight into all aspects of the beauty industry - from formulas to packaging to the needs and desires of individuals. This has influenced many of my decisions when developing the product line.
What did you notice?
Women are often told that they need tons of beauty products to feel beautiful. I find this message terrible! I want to create makeup basics that are powerful, simple and uncomplicated - products that are carefully made, enhance our natural beauty, fit seamlessly into our beauty routine and look great too.
The make-up products were developed in a Berlin laboratory …
Exactly. It was important to me to be able to work closely with the lab. I repeatedly involved our followers in the development and was thus able to pass on the opinions and wishes of our community directly to the lab. You can take another look at the development under our " Production " highlights on Instagram.
We develop our make-up line together with one of the oldest make-up producers, a family business with a long history and tradition as well as a lot of experience. They have even hired new employees for us who only focus on clean and natural ingredients.
Why did you choose a natural cosmetics line?
A lot has happened in natural cosmetics in recent years, but the market is still relatively small. Most women want high-performance makeup that is also good for the skin. Some of our ingredients, such as bisabolol, squalane or niacinamide, would be more likely to be used in skin care products than makeup. We have only developed products that I really believe in and that I can wear every day with a clear conscience.
What were the goals for the products, apart from them being clean and sustainable?
It was important to us to develop a makeup line that is affordable. We couldn't make it super cheap because of the high-quality ingredients, but I think we found a good middle ground. I also wanted to create products that are very easy to understand, without super complicated names. "Back to basics" is my motto when developing. We reach out to customers who wouldn't normally wear makeup because makeup is always too heavy for them and they are totally overwhelmed by the market. We make makeup uncomplicated, natural and sustainable. The packaging is minimalist and is also intended to appeal to a broad audience.
The topic of sustainability also plays an important role in packaging.
That's right! As a small brand, it's not easy. Sustainability is very expensive and unfortunately there is a lot of "greenwashing" in the industry. But we are already doing our best to do as much for the environment as we possibly can and we want to be very transparent about it. The outer packaging of our products, for example, is made of grass paper, wherever possible we already work with recycled PET and as soon as we have larger purchase quantities, we want to switch completely to it and offer refill options. All of our shipping materials are also plastic-free and we ship with DHL Green. Since this year we have also been working with ClimatePartner. This means: We have recorded our greenhouse gas emissions, are continuously reducing them and have offset the unavoidable emissions through climate protection projects.
Why is transparency so important to you?
For me, authenticity and transparency are among my top five values. I have always been very careful to recommend products that deliver the absolute best results. For me, the story and performance behind a product is the most important thing. I would never recommend something that I am not 100% convinced of. Most products are developed just for marketing purposes, not because anyone can really use them. My approach is to create something that I stand for and not to copy products. At JACKS beauty line, we want to be a brand that is transparent so that everyone can trust their ethics as well as the performance of the products.
Describe the make-up series in one sentence!
Never too much, simply timelessly beautiful and always glowy! I love a beautiful, fresh look with an even complexion - that's what you get across the entire make-up range. Even our semi-transparent powder mattifies the skin slightly without taking away its glow.
What are your favorite products from the series?
I love all the products! But I think two products will become our bestsellers. Firstly, our Glow Foundation: I think many women will love it and will start to enjoy wearing make-up. Our Glow Foundation creates a super natural result - without plastering the skin, the skin is intensively cared for and the pores are not clogged.
And then our Pressed Powder. All I can say is: 'Photoshop in a can!' The powder does not contain any skin-drying talc, but rather pure nourishing ingredients such as squalane, which means the skin does not dry out.
And last but not least: What else can we look forward to?
We will expand the range step by step. Next up: a tinted lip oil, a lipstick in my signature red, a highlighter, contouring powder and a more opaque stick foundation. I'm really excited about what's to come. One thing is for sure: there will only be products that I stand behind 100%!
