Skincare Essentials from MUTI: Living simplicity from A to Z
Not everything in life has to be complicated, especially not one's own skincare routine. "Skin minimalism", i.e. a reduced skin care routine, is a beauty trend that has been boosted by the pandemic, among other things. The Munich-based brand MUTI is also following this trend with simple but effective skincare essentials. The brand name MUTI is an acronym and stands for Modern, Unique, True, Intelligent. Started seven years ago, the young cosmetics brand now employs 8 people in Munich. We met founder and CEO Alexander Scholz for an interview about brand values, the beauty industry itself and the lifestyle of simplicity.
How long has MUTI been around and how did the company come about?
Alexander Scholz: "It really started at the end of 2014. I founded the company because I couldn't find my way around the oversupply of cosmetic products. Neither in terms of the brand nor the products themselves. Basically, we live in a time where everything is getting faster and more complicated. I have always been a friend of minimalism and asked myself: What can be made simpler? MUTI was born out of this combination of my personal life mottos - simplicity and simplicity - and the desire to counteract the oversupply in everyday life, which is becoming ever faster and more complicated. I wanted to create a brand that follows this idea of simplicity on all levels. In addition, I have always had a passion for clean design and aesthetics."
When it comes to beauty, there are many terms floating around: clean beauty, green beauty, natural cosmetics, "normal cosmetics". Where does MUTI position itself and why?
Alexander Scholz: "We definitely see ourselves in Clean Beauty. In product development, we have concentrated on the question of which ingredients can be dispensed with. You often read that in the industry as "free from". It was important to us to include modern formulations and to leave out controversial ingredients - such as silicones or mineral oils - which are actually unnecessary. This was also our guideline during development: we then developed this "free from" in the "clean" direction. The overriding idea of the brand was always simplicity. At the time of product development, the topic of natural cosmetics or near-natural cosmetics was becoming increasingly important, and we asked ourselves the question: How do I create a product that makes everyday beauty routines easier by being very well tolerated, very effective but also easy to use? At that time, we looked at the parameters and decided that this is more difficult to achieve with natural cosmetics. We don't want to limit ourselves between natural and synthetically produced ingredients. An example: When it comes to beauty routines, the topic of sun protection is set for us - this is a must that has to be offered and should be part of the brand. In natural cosmetics, mineral filters are used for this, chemical filters simply don't work. According to our three product parameters (note: very good tolerance, high efficacy and easy application), I think we are already out with mineral filters. Moreover, they are not necessarily pleasant on the skin. And there are other issues. That's why we see ourselves in "clean beauty" and not necessarily in natural cosmetics, because we don't want to limit ourselves in the choice of ingredients, which we combine so ideally that they meet our three criteria."
How exactly do you define simple applicability?
Alexander Scholz: "The product should be pleasant in consistency, should be absorbed quickly, should not whiten - this is an issue especially with sunscreen - and should leave a pleasant feeling on the skin. Ultimately, everything to simplify the daily beauty routine. If I have a product that is insanely complicated to use because I have to follow certain steps, that's not following the concept for us as a Simplicity brand. This triad of compatibility, effect and user-friendliness is the most important criterion for us. We have decided that we can implement this best with the combination of natural and synthetic ingredients."
Which target group do you want to address with MUTI?
Alexander Scholz: "The target group is those who are looking for a minimalist or simple lifestyle, but who also value quality. For this, we simply offer good products that are easy to integrate into everyday life and ideally also look nice in the bathroom. Part of the simplicity of use for us is also that you have simple product names and recognition with colours, both for repurchase and for the daily routine."
Simplicity is the buzzword par excellence when you Google the MUTI brand. This is also revealed by the slogan "True Beauty. Made Simple". The motto "less is more" often applies, and somehow it is true in many areas of life - would you subscribe to this?
Alexander Scholz: "Yes, definitely for us with the idea behind the brand, but from my point of view, the following applies to the beauty market in general: It is not a given that a beauty product with three ingredients is better than a product with six or seven ingredients. Our point is: less is more, as long as you leave out the unnecessary. Because we talked about active ingredients: Today, there are ingredients in very many products that don't actually offer any added value. A fragrance per se is very nice and of course also an emotional topic, but if you take it quite correctly, it offers no added value in the product itself. It can also be an issue when it comes to intolerances. You can of course have different fragrances, perfume in beauty products is always bad, but people can also get allergies from essential oils. So we leave out any fragrances, just to make our products as compatible as possible."
How is this reflected in the MUTI product portfolio?
Alexander Scholz: "When we developed the product portfolio, the overriding idea was to focus on beauty essentials. MUTI currently has a total of 4 lines: Clean, Add, Face and Sun. In each product category, we leave out the unnecessary substances. But that is of course from MUTI's point of view, others may well see it differently. But to come back to the original question: If the unnecessary is left out, then less is definitely more. Thoughtful omission is what I call it now."
MUTI products are unisex. But advertising has always told us that women's skin has different needs from men's. What is your opinion on this?
Alexander Scholz: "Basically, the skin of men and women is naturally different. It starts with the fact that men's skin is somewhat thicker. Men's skin also starts to age later, but then sometimes more violently. Men's skin is also often oilier, so men are less prone to dry skin. But the skin of both men and women loses its ability to store moisture at some point, which I can of course compensate for with squalane or hyaluron. And: both men's and women's skin is exposed to environmental influences, for example free radicals. Collagen synthesis also decreases at some point - in both sexes! This means that products for both men and women basically contain the same active ingredients to combat skin ageing. In principle, products for men and women usually differ in three factors: consistency, packaging, fragrance. We are fragrance-free anyway. In line with our simplicity strategy, we also believe that our packaging with its clean design is neutral or unisex anyway. The last thing is consistency: men tend to prefer gels. Very rich products, like our Night Cream Plus, are not the classic men's product now, but there are also men who use them. What I mean to say is that the issue of consistency is ultimately up to everyone. Generally, gender doesn't matter to us because we work with the same ingredients to fight natural skin ageing and environmental influences."
Unisex also strikes a chord with the gender debate...
Alexander Scholz: "Definitely! We notice that the topic of unisex is becoming more- and generally in the gender debate that we no longer want to see the big difference between men and women and that the boundaries between men and women are being aligned."
MUTI does without trendy active ingredients and "unnecessary" things like fragrances - instead, highly effective ingredients are used that mostly come from Germany or Europe. Has regionality also arrived as a buzzword in the beauty sector?
Alexander Scholz: "From my point of view, the topic has not yet arrived in the cosmetics/ beauty mass market. But you notice that customers are increasingly asking for it or that it is important to them that it is a German brand if they live in Germany themselves. We are also Made in Munich, in the true sense of the word, because we produce and design our products here. In addition, almost all of our suppliers are here - so it's very regional. The idea of regionality also played a role in the founding. I actually have all the partners I need here - so why go anywhere else? Made in Munich was always very important to us!"
And what about the issue of sustainability?
Alexander Scholz: "The design idea for our boxes comes from the former Kelloggs packaging. The inside of the Kelloggs packaging always had two different colours. One neutral and one coloured. Our cartons are of course recyclable. The add line is in bottles, as for jars, we have been very busy with the topic of sustainability in order to be able to offer sustainable primary packaging. Unfortunately, however, we haven't yet found a solution that is really convincing for us. We have looked at Ocean Waste packaging and also at new thinner jars that are made of less plastic. In many cases, however, these are produced in China so that they are competitive in terms of price. Then they would have to be shipped across the world, which is not so sustainable either. For us, the issue is hugely important, we may not highlight it as much in communication as others do but the thought behind it has always been important to us!"
Something you hear over and over again is "over-care" of the skin- that is, when too many products are applied, which in turn leads to skin problems and irritation. What does the right skincare routine à la MUTI look like?
Alexander Scholz: "Of course, this is always very individual, as it strongly depends on the respective skin needs - does one have oily skin, dry skin, combination skin? Of our four lines, we always recommend starting with the Clean line. Whether it's a cleansing milk, gel or even a micelle, there are very individual preferences when it comes to consistency. Ideally, you use a serum from the Add line. We often recommend the Hydrating Serum, but if I'm prone to redness, for example, then the Calm Down Serum is highly recommended. If we're talking about the ideal routine, it would then include an eye cream, a day cream and a night cream if needed. In terms of night cream, we have two different ones: A very rich one, the Night Cream Plus, and a normal one. Depending on the season and your needs, you can basically pick the combination that your skin needs at the moment."
Which are your personal favourites from MUTI's product range and why?
Alexander Scholz: "From the Clean line, it's the cleansing gel. I have combination skin - for me, the gel is simply super. I also love the smell, even though it is fragrance-free, but it still has such an incredibly pleasant smell for me and I love the consistency. It's my start to the day, so to speak. The Hydrating Serum is super nice after shaving because it soothes the skin and also leaves it feeling nice. The eye cream is a mega pick-me-up. You can put it in the fridge and immediately feel a little more awake. The sun cream is perfect for sunny days. Those are my daily favourites, which I add to depending on the season."
"The idea of regionality also played a role in the foundation. I actually have all the partners I need here - so why go anywhere else? Made in Munich was always very important to us!" - Alexander Scholz, MUTI founder
One thing that immediately catches the eye is the great, clean packaging design of the products. There is also a sophisticated colour system behind it that does more than just look pretty. Could you explain this briefly?
Alexander Scholz: "The graphic design was done by a Munich graphic designer called Mirko Borsche. He has already worked for many brands like Rimowa or Nike. He also likes this very structured, clean design. When it came to product design, we asked ourselves: How can we improve what is currently in packaging on the cosmetics market, which gives me no orientation at all, neither in terms of product names nor the packaging itself? First of all, we wanted very simple product names that even a layman could understand and not, from our point of view, complicated descriptions in some strange language that even a German or English speaker would not understand. We wanted packaging that makes each product individual. As an example: If you now have a day cream and a night cream on the shelf and you look at the shelf, you can tell right away which product you want in the first place. And the same applies to repurchases. How do we create orientation? How do we make the brand easy and recognisable from A to Z in application, purchase, etc.? That's why we have different colours for the different lines. This also has this simplicity idea of being able to orientate oneself quickly within the MUTI range."
What does the future hold for MUTI?
Alexander Scholz: "We still have a lot of plans. At the end of the year, we will celebrate our 7th anniversary, which is still relatively young for a cosmetics brand. We would like to expand the four lines Clean, Add, Face and Sun and offer beauty essentials in each area in the long term. And we want to do it in the way we define essentials, with the MUTI criteria, so to speak. We are already online but also stationary, still relatively weak in Austria, but we are working on that. The topic of internationalisation is definitely on the agenda. As a long-term vision, we want to have our own shops at some point and create an MUTI environment. But that will take a few more years, because our product range is still too small. But the medium to long-term goal is definitely to build up an international brand."
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