In the millennial generation, where cosmetics and makeup have become as important as their physical appearance. Just as dressing style is essential for boys, so is makeup and getting set in a suitable way for women.
As the old saying goes, “First impressions are lasting impressions!”
The way we present ourselves says a lot about our personalities and has an impact on our characters as individuals as well. When the makeup era began, the products were prepared with plenty of chemicals, making them difficult to use for a long time. Thus, introducing makeup products was integrally vital.
With the idea of making clean products, Missy MacKintosh launched her brand, MisMacK Clean Cosmetics. As the name goes, Missy MacKintosh, the CEO and Founder, emphasizes representing sustainable, clean, and ethically sourced products, accompanied by Peta Vegan and Peta Cruelty-Free products. It is a revolutionary, pure beauty brand that combines professional-quality applications with environmentally friendly manufacturing.
MacKintosh Clean Cosmetics brings a variety ranging from mascara to foundation, from blushes to setting powder, various pastel colors, and much more. It has a range of Professional Makeup Artist Services like Bridal Makeup Applications, Headshot events with several teaching lessons like Private one-on-one Make-up lessons, and Men’s Grooming sessions with Complimentary Pampering sessions for all.
Let’s dive into this colorful and clean story and learn more about it through the highlights of the interview below:
Kindly brief our readers about yourself and your professional journey so far.
My name is Missy MacKintosh. I am the Founder/CEO of Canada’s Most Revolutionary Clean Beauty Brand – MisMacK Clean Cosmetics. I have been a professional Makeup Artist for over 16 years. I studied at Blanche McDonald and Make Up Ever Academy in Paris for airbrushing and worked in management for companies such as Make-up for Ever, Nars, and Shoppers Beauty Boutique.
My work has been featured in Huffington Post, Daily Mail, Cosmopolitan, and much more. In 2016 I was introduced to Clean Beauty. I fell head over heels in love with the integrity of Clean but could not find products that held up to my precise professional standards.
So, I took matters into my own hands and created MisMacK Clean Cosmetics from the ground up in my small-town basement in Canoe, BC, while working alongside two female Canadian Chemists. I grew out of my basement and into two storefronts during a Global Pandemic.
Please tell us about your company, its mission, and its vision. What role did you play in furthering its development and outreach?
MisMacK Clean Cosmetics is Canada’s #1 Clean Beauty Brand. Leading the Clean Beauty revolution with innovative, award-winning products that are not simply good for clean but perform better than mainstream. We are Made right here in Canada, Peta Cruelty-Free, Peta Vegan, and small batched. From Clean Skincare to multi-tasking makeup, MisMacK has a home in every stage of your self-care routine.
MisMacK goes beyond products and into empowering services. Now with an online store and two storefronts (Salmon Arm, Victoria BC), we offer Free Pampering Sessions all day, every day, one on one private makeup lessons, makeup applications, hair styling for events, headshot events, Zoom Consultations, Zoom Lessons and so much more.
MisMacK is the only clean cosmetic line that outperforms conventional cosmetics. Through a cocktail of innovative products and empowering education, MisMacK is making makeup and skincare approachable to all humans all around the globe.
Our Mission is to educate and empower humans everywhere that makeup does not define you; it’s merely a tool of empowerment.
Our Vision is to have MisMacK stores across the globe.
MisMacK is me. I am MisMacK. I developed every aspect of the brand, from branding, package design, and formulations with my chemists, to developing our brand concepts stores and empowering services and training.
What was your inspiration to step into the industry that you are now serving?
I have been obsessed with Make-up since I was three years old. The funny thing was that there was not a stitch of makeup in my house growing up except for one lip tint that my mom wore. You would always find me playing in my friend’s mom’s makeup bag, playing pretend photoshoots in my backyard.
When I was 14 years old, my mom joined Mary Kay. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I was her right-hand woman for 4 years until I turned 18 and was able to sign up myself. My mom took me to all the Conventions in Toronto, and I remember sitting there thinking, “Man, I do not want to just work for Mary Kay; I want to BE Mary Kay. The founder, the person building the brand, the formulas, and empowering others.” But how does that? So, I put it into the back of my head as a dream that would never aspire to anything, but I knew I wanted to be in the makeup industry.
Fast forward to a few years later, and I was in Dallas at a Mary Kay retreat, where I met someone from Vancouver. She told me she was going to school to become a Makeup Artist (insert hair flip). I was like, “Shut Up! You can do that!” This was way before YouTube/Facebook/social media. I had never heard of this as a career. As soon as I got home, I looked up Makeup Artistry Schools in Canada, found Blanche McDonald, and the following summer, I graduated with Honors.
Please tell us about the products, services, and solutions offered by your company. And how do they stand out in the industry?
MisMacK offers a fully complete, inclusive line from award-winning Skin/Sun care to the #1 selling 9 ingredient Foundation, Lashes, Brushes, Biodegradable Glitter, Eye’s/Cheeks/Lip – we got you covered.
We are small but mighty and the master of Multi-Use Products. Our award-winning products are like nothing else on the market. I designed Each one to have multiple uses, so we are eliminating wasteful packaging, and the guilts you get when you open up an overfilled makeup bag.
MisMacK performs better than mainstream. Meaning we hold up to professional performances but is also extremely easy to use for the beauty newbie. High Pigment Concentration, revolutionary Clean Technology, Toxic Free, Canadian Made, Peta Cruelty-Free, Peta Vegan, we check all the boxes.
Makeup is not a passive sale. It takes the power of education to utterly understand how to use our products. Therefore, I created our Signature Service – MisMacK’s Free Pampering Sessions at our Brand Concept Stores. It is an amazing way to feel, try, and understand how to use each product and learn some new techniques as we go.
From there, we teach private one-on-one makeup lessons, which is the most amazing way to learn how to bring out your most beautiful features without trying to cover them up or change who you are. Giving you the tools to open your makeup bag, knowing you have the confidence and understanding of how to use each product.
We also offer professional makeup applications and hair styling for weddings and events and Makeup Artistry Training Program. Everything Makeup under one roof.
We make you feel good from the inside and outside with clean products that respect your body and empower you to use makeup on your terms. And empower you to embrace your beautiful self. At MisMacK, you are welcome as you are, and we celebrate you.
According to you, what sets your company apart from other companies within your industry?
Every aspect of MisMacK is changing the game. From our Revolutionary formulas to our empowering educational services at our Brand Concept Stores. There is no other Brand doing what we’re doing. We are raw and real, Brand consumers can truly trust.
Makeup is a very vulnerable thing to talk about, especially when you are a no-makeup wearer but want to learn how to bring out your beautiful natural features. We seek to educate and empower humans everywhere to ignite their creativity, have fun with makeup/self-care, and be unapologetically themselves by providing a safe, inclusive, educational, non-judgmental atmosphere along with safe products that are good for you and the environment.
How do you think advanced technology will enhance the operations of your industry in the near future? And how is your company preparing for that change?
There’s technology now that you can virtually try on lipstick from your phone. However, I believe you can never replace in-person human connection or the feel of a product, for that matter. That connection builds the trust of a brand.
Look at movies; for instance, CGI (computer-generated imaging) came in and replaced SFX (special effects makeup) artist for a bit. Now seeing shows going back to traditional SFX artistry, you can feel the magic behind it. It brings out the character far better than a computer-generated image.
There’s magic in real life, human connection. It builds confidence and trust in many ways. I love that technology thus far has opened the world to us by being able to offer virtual human connection through our online Zoom Lessons and Zoom Consultations. I look forward to modern technology to come that builds further connections.
Tell our readers about the major challenges in your career. And how they aided you in developing your leadership skills.
I am from a small town where I never thought I would be able to do makeup full-time, let alone build a makeup brand out of my basement. I have never gone to school for business or entrepreneurship. I had to figure every aspect out, from package sourcing to design to formulating, then launching, shipping, selling, and growing.
It forced me to figure it out and never give up. When you are doing something you have never done before, every step is a challenge. Each micro and major step has developed my solution skills which I can now lead my team.
As an experienced leader, what advice would you like to give to aspiring entrepreneurs and enthusiasts who wish to venture into the industry that you are in?
Being a full-time makeup artist is a hard journey, let alone building a brand from the ground up. Do not just quit your day job. Side hustle and slowly cut back your full-time job until you can go full-time.
It took me 6 years to get to that place, plus another 5 years to get to where MisMacK is currently. Rome was not built in a day. It takes drive, determination, and failure. You must fail into your flow as an entrepreneur. If you are not failing, you are not growing.
Where do you see yourself in the future? Also, how do you envision scaling your company’s operations and outreach in the coming years?
I plan to franchise our MisMacK stores and have them across Canada. Then work out way into the US and Europe. I love that this will be given the opportunity to other entrepreneurs the opportunity to build something that they love and are enthusiastic about making other people feel amazing from the inside out.
Give us a few testimonials from your students or parents and awards or recognition that accurately highlight your company’s position in the market. (If available/permissible)
Anna Marsh – MisMacK Student/Retailer
“I took the Level 1 Makeup Artistry course at MisMack and have fallen in love with the amazing products! I am so happy that I have had the opportunity to connect with Missy MacIntosh! Not only did she offer a fun and value-packed program, but she has also continued to be a support for me as I retail the products. I have also had referrals for wedding hair and makeup clients for the upcoming season from her. My connection with Missy has been empowering for me. As another woman in this extremely competitive industry, I find her to be super welcoming and inclusive!”
Alan Harrison – Mayor of Salmon Arm
“What sets Missy apart from others is her mission to empower others. I witnessed this firsthand when Missy was a guest presenter at a youth-organized online seminar. Missy shared her story. Youth participants were absorbed in her message. They asked many questions and left with the feeling, “I can do this.”
5 Star Google Review
“I honestly do not know how to put into words how much MisMacK has helped me. I’m 36 years old and have dealt with chronic acne my whole life. I have always been ashamed to go out in public without a thick layer of foundation covering my blemishes and scars left over from high school. I have tried everything; I am sure many had heard this before, “tried everything.” From Accutane and other prescriptions growing up, to the most recommended dermatologist products, to seeing specialists. I currently live in New York, Brooklyn… my parents live in the Interior of BC… This past March, I walked into MisMacK in Salmon Arm and chatted with Missy. I had my doubts, thinking, “how could MisMacK be any different.” I went on a limb and purchased the cleanser and facial oil. I used the cleanser every day, twice a day – in the morning and at night to remove my makeup. Weeks went by, and I started to notice that I was using less and less foundation to cover my scars. By mid-May, I visited my parents again… showed up for the first time, not wearing any makeup at all. I booked a Pampering session with Missy, and it was phenomenal. Not only showing me how to continue to treat my skin but teaching me how to use makeup. I was in tears, am in tears thinking about it… this is truly the first time in my life that I have found a line that has helped give me the confidence and self-esteem to show my real face in public. That is what MisMacK has given me, and I will forever be grateful.”
