In a recent interview with CanadianSME Small Business Magazine, Mia Fiona Kut, the visionary founder of Luna Nectar, shared her transformative journey from the film realm to pioneering sustainable beauty solutions. Driven by personal experiences and a passion for natural alternatives, Mia crafted Luna Nectar’s groundbreaking waterless formulas. These products not only prioritize safety and potency but also champion sustainable practices. Her brand, infused with adaptogens inspired by Traditional Chinese Medicine, has seamlessly blended innovation with responsibility. Mia’s commitment to holistic beauty and sustainable practices shines brightly in an industry on the cusp of change.
Mia Fiona Kut is the founder of Luna Nectar, a Canadian sustainable adaptogenic haircare company with the mission to kick the stigma of women’s hair loss. Growing up on Eastern traditional medicinal herbs to ease her health issues, she aims to share the power of adaptogens with the world.
During an 8 years stint in the film industry as a director of multiple award-
winning short films (including a nomination for Best Canadian Short Film at the Vancouver Asian Film Festival), Mia launched Luna Nectar, and earned the 2019
BC Business 30 Under 30 Award. Her all-natural, waterless innovation (an alternative to harmful chemical-based,hormone-disrupting lash enhancers), the Moon Boost Lash & Brow Enhancing Serum has been named as ‘Best Vegan Lash Serum’ in Vogue and ‘Top 10 Lash Serums’ in Women’s Health Magazine, and has garnered a ‘Best Hair Treatment’ nomination for the CertClean Awards, and ‘Best Haircare Innovation Award’ from BeautyMatter’s Next Awards.
Can you walk us through your entrepreneurial journey that led to the inception of Luna Nectar? What were some of the key challenges and milestones in the clean/natural haircare industry?
I was in the film industry for 6 years as a director and screenwriter, but always harboured a love of mixing up my own natural skin and haircare potions. I was particularly struck was when my sister came home one day with long eyelashes that had doubled their length overnight! She had been using a chemical, hormone-based lash serum which worked, however it gave her adverse side effects including chemical burns, eczema on her eyelids, and her lashes would fall out in clumps. Horrified, I did more research and saw that women of all ages were using lash products like this (that contained the ingredient bimatoprost, that was originally meant for treating glaucoma).
I spent about a year and a half experimenting with an all-natural lash and brow density alternative, and finally launched our first product, the Moon Boost Lash & Brow Enhancing Serum, in 2017. Following that, we came out with a hair density version, the Atmosphere Hair Density & Scalp Serum. This expanded into a line of haircare which are formulated with hair-boosting adaptogens and peptides, and are also waterless as to save precious global resources, and not dilute the formulas – for more potent, powerful, quicker results.
The key challenges and milestones in the clean/natural haircare industry is getting education and knowledge to our consumers. Historically, traditional haircare formulas haven’t changed in decades – for example, shampoo is mostly 80-90% water and only 10% of less of active ingredients, and dry shampoo still came in aerosol cans and contain benzene. Our mission is to innovate the next generation of haircare where formulas are more sustainable and all-natural, but this will take time before this is the ‘norm’ in the haircare industry. A huge milestone is the new regulations for the cosmetic industry, in particular FDA approval for cosmetics. There is a higher standard now for lab testing and clean ingredients, and we see this as a win for personal care as a whole.
Luna Nectar is known for raising standards in the beauty industry. What sets your brand apart, and what advice would you offer to emerging startups aiming to make a positive impact in this sector?
Our brand follows UN’s Sustainable Goal of Responsible Consumption and Production. The majority of our formulas, including our bestsellers Moon Boost Lash & Brow Enhancing Serum, and Atmosphere Hair Density & Scalp Serum, are waterless. In fact, we are grateful to announce that Moon Boost was recently nominated for the ‘Best Haircare Innovation Award’ by Beauty Matter’s Next Awards for its waterless formulation! Our Mars Sand Volumizing Dry Shampoo has also been nominated for Best Breakthrough Haircare Product by Beauty Independent’s Beacon Awards.
We are Plastic Neutral+, and use recyclable packaging. We also are partnered with Pact, who upcycles hard-to-recycle packaging bits into other products. Our formulas are dermatologist-tested, and trichologist approved.
Our advice to emerging startups aiming to make a positive impact in this sector is to create products that can actually make a difference. There are already many face serums, mists, and toners out there – how will yours differ and contribute to a better industry as a whole?
As an Asian woman in business, how have your personal experiences shaped the philosophy of Luna Nectar? What initiatives or practices has the company adopted to advocate for diversity and inclusion within the industry?
I blend a lot of my Asian background into our formulas – they take from the adaptogen theory used Traditional Chinese Medicine. Minimalism and resourcefulness is also part of my culture, we take a less-is-more approach, with multi-purpose products that create beauty routines that requires as few steps as possible. We also emphasize balance – creating homeostasis within your scalp and skin with our formulas. We also practice balance within our workplace. Our team is 80% PoC and 80% women, and we encourage work-life balance, in which our team can come in on their own hours for their shifts.
Luna Nectar products incorporate a distinctive blend of adaptogens and draw inspiration from Eastern beauty rituals. Can you share the benefits of these elements in haircare, and how have they been received by consumers?
We use hair-boosting adaptogens such as He Shou Wu, Skullcap, Angelica, Gotu Kola, Horsetail, and Red Clover that encourage scalp circulation, prolong the growth phase of the hair cycle, strengthen hair follicles, and reduce scalp inflammation.
Consumers are used to taking adaptogens internally to balance out their health, and with us flipping that idea to be applied topically, this has been well received by consumers. We hear from many consumers that they do have difficulty finding haircare that doesn’t strip their hair, or create more shedding, and they find that our all-natural formulations do work for them.
