BeautyTalks with Marialena Baklatzi, Founder of DermaMD MIELEV

How did MIELĒV Skincare come to be?

Creating a skincare line has been a childhood dream of mine. My family has kept a rose garden for years and I remember my mother, who’s an avid nature lover, formulating rose extracts and creating lotions for her personal use. The fragrances as well as her own love for skincare products were imprinted on me and filled me with the idea of creating my own skincare brand, inspired by that rose garden.

What inspired the name MIELĒV?

I wanted my company’s name to inspire, to evoke emotions, and to embody everything women desire for themselves. The name MIELĒV was inspired by the French verb “Je m' .l.ve” which means to rise, to elevate oneself. MIELĒV describes an empowered woman filled with self-love and self-respect, who seeks internal advancement and selfcare, and who contributes to a better world with her attitude toward life.

How important is being clean and cruelty-free to MIELĒV?

These may be the two most important goals that the company strives to achieve. There are so many chemicals and synthetic ingredients crowding the cosmetics industry, that there’s an urgent need for the use of safer, organic and plant-based ingredients so consumers know what they are applying on their skin and can feel safe both for themselves and the environment. As far as our cruelty-free policy is concerned, we were recently awarded with the Leaping Bunny logo making us officially a certified cruelty-free brand. And the reality is that I wouldn’t have it any other way since I’ve been a vegetarian for the last 17 years due to my love for animals. This was one of the most important milestones for MIELĒV!

Tell us more about prebiotic skincare!

Our goal at MIELĒV is to offer a holistic skincare approach. We realized in the lab, to offer that scientifically we needed to protect the skin’s microbiome by adding prebiotics. Since the microbiome (a group of microorganisms that live on our skin) shields and protects our skin, we have added prebiotics to all our products in order to help it maintain its balance. Prebiotics are nutrients that feed and reinforce the good bacteria against the harmful ones. By adding prebiotics, we manage to offer products that are ideal for sensitive skin, providing protection against dryness and the harsh environment (UV rays, pollution, aggressive cosmetics, etc.).

“By adding prebiotics, we manage to offer products that are ideal for sensitive skin, providing protection against dryness and the harsh environment”

What are MIELĒV’s key ingredients?

We persistently seek out the purest and most active ingredients nature has to offer. Each formula has its own unique active ingredients that target specific skin conditions, and even though we’re just starting out, we enhance and improve our formulas whenever possible. We recently did this with our antioxidant face cream, la Roseraie, which we enriched with a stabilized Tetra-Vitamin C compound and 3 types of hyaluronic acid of 3 different molecular weights.

“Each formula has its own unique active ingredients that target specific skin conditions, and even though we’re just starting out, we enhance and improve our formulas whenever possible.”

Run us through your night-time routine!

My night-time routine couldn’t be other than MIELĒV’s Circle of Care! I start by using our face cleanser, La pluie, which cleanses my skin from even the toughest make-up residue without drying it out. I then use our face serum, L.claircie and apply 2-3 drops to the entire face, including my eyes. I use it as an eye serum to prep and deeply nourish the under-eye area. I continue with our eye cream, Le p.tale, applying a thick layer, and I finish off with our face cream, La roseraie, which soothes and hydrates my skin allowing me to wake up all plump and completely refreshed!

What goes into creating a MIELĒV product?

Drawing from my experience so far, the research and development of a product is the most painstaking but simultaneously most creative part of my job. It takes hundreds of tries to reach the exact formula we want. From a packaging perspective, we are required to tap into our creativity in order to present the product in its best light and achieve a truly unique result.

“From a packaging perspective, we are required to tap into our creativity in order to present the product in its best light and achieve a truly unique result.”

What is your staple MIELĒV product?

It’s extremely difficult for me to single out one product, but if I really had to pick one of the four, based on customer preferences, I’d have to go with our face serum L’.claircie as our staple product. The texture and the immediate, visible results are what make it stand out among other serums. Try it and you’ll understand what I mean!

What is your most memorable moment with MIELĒV?

There have been so many unique moments for MIELĒV from the very beginning, but I have to say that the most memorable was an article in VOGUE Italia which ranked la pluie among the 21 best face cleansers, in a list that included well-known and established brands!

What does the future look like for MIELĒV?

The company’s future seems bright! I’m hoping to add new products to our existing line and I’m also hoping we can expand our product range to include other categories.

Besides MIELĒV, what are you passionate about?

I love nature and animals, and I’m an active member in many animal-friendly organizations. I have always been involved with sports, from a very young age, I play tennis as often as I can, and I must also admit my immense love for fashion and jewelry!