TilVee

Tilvee Puts the Sexy Back in Green

A shift is taking place. People are recognizing the need for sustainability, and that the food we eat and the products we use affect our world. Increasingly, people are demanding goods that are naturally produced rather than chemically derived, and smart companies are ready to provide them. Tilvee is one such smart company, filling the niche for quality, healthful, eco-friendly beauty products.

Tilvee is a Morrison-based eco-ethical skincare company, creating beauty products that protect and nourish the skin while adhering to sustainable, fair and green business practices.

Kristie McNamara is the president and chemist behind Tilvee. Her interest in natural beauty products began in her college years, when she worked in a health food store. She listened to customers who were allergic to paraben, or experienced reactions to dermatologist-prescribed medications. She scrutinized available product labels, but found she could not recommend many of them to people with skin sensitivities. When the store owner encouraged her to formulate products at home and in her college lab, Kristie, a botany and organic chemistry major, created soaps and lotions that healed her customer’s ailments.

After developing products without harmful chemicals that were just as effective as their toxic counterparts, Kristie developed a following. Today, she mixes up daily batches of the most luxurious creams, soaps, and lip balms using nature’s finest ingredients, including pure seed oils, essential oils, rich super fruits and organic plants. All of this without cancer-causing petrochemicals, synthetic fragrances, chemicals, parabens, sulfates or phthalates found in most products on the market. And the beauty of it all – they work!

When asked just how “green” Tilvee really is, Kristie replied, “We formulate clean from the ground up.” Tilvee products are produced in the small, eco-friendly lab in Morrison. Ingredients are found all over the world, and are only purchased after organic certification of ingredients, sustainability and fair trade have been verified.

Everything at Tilvee follows green business practices; glass packaging is recyclable, all packaging and literature is made from 100% post-consumer paper, labels are made from quarry stone dust waste (www.terraskin.com) and printed with soy inks, and the Tilvee office is a solar powered. Plus, Tilvee pledges full disclosure of all ingredients in every product and adheres to the highest level of safety and honesty about the ingredients used in their products. More information about cosmetic ingredients can be found at www.cosmeticdatabase.com .

Kristie is also involved in the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, which works to protect consumer health by eliminating the use of chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects and other health problems (www.safecosmetics.org).

To ensure that customers get correct advice from stores selling Tilvee products, Kristie holds retreats for store employees, educating them on skin care, toxic chemical ingredients, and available green remedies. Kristie held such a retreat with Whole Foods employees this summer and the result directly benefits customers. (Any customer testimony to back this up?)

Tilvee is currently working on an argan oil anti-aging cream. By using this special ingredient, Tilvee is helping to support the women who make the oil in southwestern Morroco. The increased industrial value of the argan tree makes it less likely to be cut for fuel, protecting the land from erosion and preserving native flora. Tilvee buys oil from reputable suppliers who work directly with local producers, making certain that the quality is good and that the producers are fairly compensated for the oil.

Kristie chose argan oil for skin care for its rich antioxidants and essential fatty acids, which restore the skin's water-lipid layer and increase nutrient and oxygen levels in skin cells. Argan oil protects the connective tissues in skin, fighting wrinkles by keeping skin firm, elastic and supple. Argan oil is also unique in that it does not irritate oily, acne-prone skin types. Instead, it helps balance sebum production and reduces blemishes and scarring from acne.

See the complete line of Tilvee products at www.coloradolovesgreen.com, www.tilvee.com, and look for them at Vitamin Cottage and Whole Foods.