Meet The Maker - Clean cosmetic pioneer Cindy Luken of Lük Beautifood

What do you get when you mix a chef, product designer, food scientist, entrepreneur and mother of two? Cindy Luken, founder of Lük Beautifood, a range of food-active, toxic -free natural lip nourishing lipsticks (called Lip Nourish).

Cindy got her first taste of entrepreneurial success with her business Luken & May, a wildly successful artesian biscuit company.

A life-long adopter of the"we are what we eat"philosophy, it was the experience of running a "natural body care' business for a friend where she witnessed first hand how mainstream beauty products are made. She became very alarmed about what consumers were actually piling on their skin - synthetic chemicals.

Along with the way these products were being created, Cindy also was concerned about the lack of consumer knowledge and connection with "what goes on our skin, also goes in (our bodies)".

"I quickly realised there was no point eating well if you still slathered on body care products and painted your face with a toxic cocktail of fragrances, synthetic dyes, chemical preservatives and petroleum (aka plastic) ingredients when evidence was starting to show that they were known endocrine disrupters, carcinogenic or linked to cancer or caused allergies and skin sensitivities."

Following this encounter, armed with a desire to create another business and her food science qualification, Cindy got to work developing new products in her kitchen.

 " It was a ‘no-brainer’ that lippies could be made from food instead of synthetics. I scoped out my first product range, found packaging, an eco-designer and world-class manufacturer in Melbourne…a path that took 4+ years from concept to launch. With lük beautifood I entered into new territory – creating makeup made from food, sharing my food, cooking, and nutrition knowledge.  giving fresh hope to beauty, and pioneering a healthier way to live that encompassed a woman’s whole body. I want to empower women….I want to give women the confidence and courage to highlight not hide their natural beauty with simple, beautiful and multipurpose products that feed skin outside in and inside out."

In 2011 lük soft launched to market and today has a full team dedicated to expanding the range as well as educating and inspiring the use of toxin-free, cruelty-free cosmetics that are truly natural. The lük lip nourish range has 12 shades that offer sheer natural tones as well as vibrant shades.

Both LüK Beautifood, Cindy and her family (her husband and two young children) are based in Sydney Australia, with the product proudly manufactured in Melbourne.

HER MISSION:

I am on a quest to prove that food is the essence of a beautiful woman. It powers and transforms how you look, feel, your action and attitudes.

I hope to:

Inspire you to make better choices with the products you apply and eat.
Motivate you to nourish your whole body.
See your natural beauty glow.