January 16, 2024 • 47 mins
Have you ever felt the pull of the mountains, whispering a promise of a quieter, more intentional life? Ariane Noji did, and she's here to share her extraordinary shift from the Los Angeles frenzy to a serene, sustainable existence. With her at the helm of the eco-conscious beauty brand Contemplation, we traverse the landscape of cosmetics through an artistic lens, examining how minimalism can not only declutter our spaces but also preserve our planet. Join us as we discuss Ariane's journey from her rural roots to her education in fashion, culminating in the creation of a brand that embodies her dedication to environmental stewardship and the artistry of beauty.
Navigating the world of consumerism can feel like charting a course through a stormy sea, especially when it comes to eco-friendly shopping. During our conversation, we unearth the importance of using what we already own and the skill of discerning genuine commitment to sustainability amidst a myriad of marketing tactics. Ariane and I share anecdotes on dodging the allure of anti-aging claims and the powerful act of restraint in purchasing. This episode is a treasure chest of insights on how to shop with our planet in mind, and how choosing not to buy can be the most profound statement of respect for our Earth.
As we wind down, the episode takes a serene turn, reflecting on the peaceful embrace of nature's grandeur. Destinations like Joshua Tree and the Grand Canyon serve as backdrops for introspection on our minuscule, yet significant place in the world. Ariane opens up about the evolution of Contemplation and the intricacies of nurturing a business while staying true to eco-friendly principles. It's a tale of personal growth amid the beauty of entrepreneurship, a reminder of the delicate dance between expanding aspirations and honoring the core values of minimalism and sustainability.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hi, I'm Ariane Noji.
I hope, when you look back onlife, I hope you do something
that inspires you, because youonly go once.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Hello, hello, hello, welcome back everybody.
I am here with my fantasticco-host, Eileen Grimes, and this
is the you Only Go Once podcast, where we explore stories
around the limited time we haveon this earth to create a fully
layered life.
Eileen and I have a wonderfulguest.
Eileen, kick us off.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Thanks, cheryl.
It's so good to see you.
I miss you, my friend, so I amso excited to introduce our
guest tonight.
So, after working in the beautyindustry for 13 years and
living a busy LA lifestyle,ariane Noji was ready for a
change.
She felt a strong personalresponsibility to adopt a more
sustainable lifestyle anddecided to move to the mountains
(00:56):
to become more connected withnature and living more mindfully
.
She wanted to contribute to thebeauty industry in a positive
way, combining her two passionsof self-care and planet care.
Her desire for minimalism hasbeen key in her message that you
can do more with less.
Ariane took the leap of faithto start her own eco-conscious
brand contemplation and her hopeis to encourage conscious
(01:19):
consumerism in the face ofextreme materialism, so that
everyone can benefit in the longrun.
Ariane, welcome, welcome to you.
Only Go Once.
We are so excited to have youhere with us tonight.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
I'm excited to be here, yeah so, my goodness, 13
years in LA.
What was that like?
Speaker 1 (01:42):
You know what I really loved living in LA?
It's great.
You have the beaches, you havethe city like tons of art
museums.
I loved it.
It was a great part of my life.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Yeah, and did you grow up there?
Was that sort of home for you,or how did you come to be in LA?
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Yeah, so I actually grew up in Central California in
a really small town and hatedit.
I hated living in a small townand I was like I want to live in
the city.
So like as soon as I graduatedfrom high school I moved to LA
and then it just like it feltlike home.
(02:24):
I loved it so much.
But I moved there for college.
So I went to the FashionInstitute in LA and was there
for a couple of years andstudied the beauty program that
they had.
I knew I wanted to be in thebeauty industry and they had a
very specific program for thatat the Fashion Institute for
some reason.
Yeah, and so yeah, that's kindof what led me there.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Very cool.
So what was it about the beautyindustry that just intrigued
you?
What drew you into thatindustry in general?
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Yeah, well, I think growing up I was always
interested in cosmetics justbecause I love the look of them.
They're very colorful.
I'm very artistic and I thinkmaybe that had something to do
with it of seeing color palettesand I love to paint, and so
around the time I was in highschool, it was like my face is a
(03:20):
canvas.
I like to use a lot of makeupand experiment with it, and it
was honestly more so about theproducts, not so much about like
using them, but I just I lovejust seeing them and seeing the
colors.
And, yeah, I just always knew Iwanted to somehow be involved
in that some way.
(03:40):
Whether it was like be a makeupartist or have my own beauty
brand.
It was just something that Iwas always interested in.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Yeah, so I have my.
We were talking before wekicked off.
We were talking about how wehave kids.
So I have my six year olddaughter.
Honestly, it's so much funhaving a very young daughter
that loves makeup because thethe ability for us to play in
color, especially at that age,is so much more accepted.
(04:09):
I mean, I think I think there'sa little bit more acceptance
now of really like bold colorsand like glitter and like really
just having fun with that.
And I have the best time whenshe and I get together.
She loves to put my makeup on meand all the colors and like
it's just so fun and like thedraw to it because of that makes
(04:33):
so much sense and I'm havingmore fun with it now than I ever
, because I wasn't allowed towear makeup growing up, like
that just wasn't something, butI always found it fascinating.
And the first time I got towear blue mascara oh boy, I was
so excited.
Maybe look like I was freezingto death, but that's fine, but
(04:55):
totally get it on that colorpalette right.
There's so much and the waythat can look and hit your skin
and then also match with whatyou're wearing or whatever.
Like it's just it's a lot offun, so I completely get that.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Yeah, for sure it's.
There's definitely like acreative aspect to it.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
Definitely, and when you know how to do it.
Well, that's so fun, yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
I've been finding the world of makeup and everything
very fascinating ever since I'vegone down the rabbit hole of
TikTok.
Because there are so many peoplethere now that have embraced, I
mean similarly to what you bothhave been talking about.
I mean, I know there's YouTube,youtube tutorials and things
like that, but I'm amazed at howcreative people are with it,
(05:44):
you know.
So your face is literally acanvas that you just embrace all
that color and that's wonderful.
And you know there's somethingto be said too, because you are
looking at sustainable, what'sresponsible, all that too, and I
applaud you for that, becauseI'm a bit of a plain Jane when
it comes to makeup.
I also like to look at theproducts and kind of make sure
(06:05):
that you know there's no harmdone to other creatures and
stuff like that.
So you know, I would imagineyou've seen the gamut working
for 13 years in the skincareindustry.
What was there a particularevent that sparked your?
I'm switching and going tobreak out on my own, or what did
(06:29):
that look like?
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Yeah, so it's interesting.
So, like you know, like where Istarted out of, like what I was
interested in, what I wanted,has drastically changed when I
moved to LA until like where Iam now.
Because you know, like Imentioned, like the idea of like
the products and like the colorand all of that stuff is very
(06:52):
interesting to me.
But I personally am aminimalist, like I don't wear a
makeup, I don't use a ton ofproducts, and what I found was,
you know, like I'm working forthese brands where I'm like
spitting out like one productafter another, but I myself am
(07:15):
not actually using them all thetime and I just I don't feel
like you need that many products.
So it's interesting and it'salso like ironic.
It's like I'm very interestedin the products themselves, but
I think like the idea of meetingso many of them is kind of
(07:35):
disheartening to me, that youwould need that many products,
and so it kind of moved me in adirection of like how do I like
make this like something thatI'm more passionate about?
That actually is intriguing tome, where it's a much more of
like a less approach, if thatmakes sense.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
Yeah, absolutely no one can see it right now, but I
would, I would venture to say,if anyone were to look at the
three of us currently on video.
Minimalism is certainly theroute.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
For sure yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Which, and everyone you know, everyone has their own
unique way of approaching that,but I definitely, like I do,
I'd like to play in it.
Sure, do I typically go thatroute?
No, I mean, I well, anyway, Itinted my eyelashes and had them
permed, so I don't have to doanything.
Awesome, I know not wearing anymakeup, so, anyway, I still
(08:39):
love it when I can, but for me,it's just not something that I
want to have to do every singleday with a whole lot of stuff
like it's I, I want to spend mytime doing other things, and
that's just my own perspectiveon it, right?
Yeah, what I love and one ofthe pieces that we talk, I feel
(09:00):
like comes up quite often in ourin this podcast is self care,
and you know that you have thesekind of combined passions of
self care and planet care.
What does, what does self caremean to you?
Speaker 1 (09:16):
Yeah.
So I think to me it meanstaking care of yourself in
whichever way you find is thebest way, because it means
something different to so manydifferent people like to one
person, self care could mean afull face of makeup and looking
their best and filling theirbest.
To me, self care is just how doI protect my self in a way that
(09:42):
makes me feel good?
So when I speak about it interms of like combining self
care and planet care, I think ofit in a way of like everything
needs protection.
You know, like I don't thinkyou can just not use products in
general.
I think you need sunscreen, forexample, if you're going to go
(10:06):
out in the sun.
That's just my opinion.
One example, or you know,nature doesn't need to like have
trash thrown all over it.
That's not protecting nature,so it's it's kind of like all
you know, like full circle interms of like caring for
yourself, caring for the planet,and in terms of like the brand
perspective.
(10:26):
I wanted to create somethingwhere it's using something like
that takes care of you with avery minimal impact on the
environment.
So if you see a lot of brandsout there, even like sustainable
brands and I put that in quotesbecause you see a lot of brands
(10:47):
that claim sustainability butthen they have like 1012
products in their lineup, and tome that's not sustainable,
because what is that doing?
It's taking tons of ingredientsfrom all parts of the world,
shipping them.
You're having to growingredients.
You're having to use like land,water, all of that stuff that
goes into it that people don'tsee, and then they end up in
(11:08):
plastic bottles and thoseplastic bottles end up in the
ocean and it's just like thischain reaction that I don't
think a lot of peoplenecessarily think about.
They just think like, oh, I'mgoing to buy this product
because the internet told me to,or the internet told me I
needed it, and so for me, it waslike well, I don't think we
need to get rid of products.
(11:28):
I don't think that.
I think we still need productsto take care of ourselves.
But how do we do it so thatit's very minimal impact?
So, looking at ingredients oflike well, how are these
ingredients grown?
Where are they shipped from?
How?
Like, what was the process ofthem, from the seed until it
turned into an actual ingredientthat's in your bottle?
(11:50):
Like?
There's so many different steps.
I've possibly sourced all thesedifferent things and trying to
put all of those things into oneproduct that then can take care
of you from head to toe.
So I only launched with oneproduct.
It's a.
It's an oil that you can use onyour face, your body and your
(12:11):
hair, and the idea was that youdon't need a ton of things.
You can still get the sameeffect as a 10 step skincare
routine, but using one product,and it's a lot less wasteful,
it's a lot more resourceful,you're not spending as much
money, you're not spending asmuch time on yourself.
(12:31):
There's all these differentthings that play into it.
That goes into like taking careof yourself with the self care
and also being mindful of ourplanet in the process of it.
I know that was a lot A lot ofwork on it.
No, hopefully it makes sense.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
No, not at all, it absolutely does.
And, oh gosh, this is so partof what you were saying reminds
me.
I don't know if you've everwatched the Good Place.
It's one of my favorite showswith Kristen Bell, it's so good.
And so there's a part well,anyway, there's a part where,
like, they're just, you know,when they figure out who goes to
(13:08):
the Good Place or the Bad Place, right, and some of that
determination is like thechoices that you make in life
and you get points based on thetype of things that happen, and
this conversation is like apiece of that.
Like, how can people even makethese decisions when there's
like 50 things that happenbefore that?
Like, is it ethically sourced?
(13:30):
It's like, who's actually doingthe farming of the different
things?
Are they being taken care of?
Like there's so many decisionsand pieces that come into
creating this one product thatyou might have and you don't
know all of the pieces behindthat, right, and so, anyway, no
(13:52):
one was going to the Good Placebecause of that, basically.
But it's so fascinating when youstart really thinking about it
and what that looks like from aconsumer's point of view, and
then the overwhelm that can comein to be like, oh my gosh, like
how do I even, how do I evenchoose at this point, so yeah.
(14:16):
And then you look at marketingand branding of things and
they're like, oh no, we're super, you know, eco-conscious and
all of those things.
It's like, okay, well, they putit on there.
So that's gotta mean that'strue, right?
So I don't like, do you haveany recommendations for people
who want to shop in a way thatis with care of the planet in
(14:38):
mind, to like what are thingsthat people can look at and look
for when they're trying to beintentional about this kind of
thing?
And obviously your brand, butyou know, are there other things
that people can kind ofconsider when they're out
shopping?
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Yeah, I think to me the biggest thing is just like
how much you're actually buying.
Like I know this is probablynot the greatest business advice
for myself even but I'm like ifyou have a cabinet full of
products, you don't need to buymy product.
Like use what you have first,right.
Like you have stuff already.
(15:17):
So I'm sure tons of people likethey have a ton of products
that they don't even use.
So that's the other thing.
Like we're constantly bombardedwith advertisements like on the
daily of like you need this, buythis, like you can't just have
one, you need all of these otherthings, and so I think that's
(15:38):
it's really confusing for theconsumer because they're
constantly told that they needproducts.
So I think if somebody's reallyinterested in like changing that
behavior, it's kind of tryingto like cancel some of that
noise out.
Like you kind of just have tocancel some of that advertising
(15:58):
noise out and be like okay, if Iwant to shop mindfully for any
product, not just like skincare,but like what food am I eating,
what clothes am I buying?
All of that kind of stuff, likeit just starts like very simply
, it doesn't have to becomplicated.
You just, you know, kind of doyour own research by less.
And then if you find you canlook up, like you know, ethical
(16:22):
brands or responsible brands,and you'll get a ton of
different ones.
But you know just like kind oflooking into it and making sure,
like you look at theingredients, if there's a
product that has like 25ingredients in there, like a
skincare product, that's goingto be a little bit difficult to
go to that that brand and belike, hey, where did all these
ingredients come from?
(16:42):
First of all, they're not goingto tell you.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
But absolutely no.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
No, they're not going to tell you.
But if you, you know, startresearching just more like
ingredients and seeing like, ohhey, there's only like a couple
ingredients in this.
I know what those ingredientsare.
So, just like making smallsteps.
And I think the biggest adviceis just like doing your own
research.
It's really not that hard.
It sounds complicated, but Idon't.
(17:07):
I don't think like if you takean hour or so to do like a
little bit of research, you, youcould be fine, yeah.
That's just my it is hardbecause I think people, you know
they see something and thenthey're like, oh, that's cool, I
want that, you know.
But if you stop before youclick the purchase button and
(17:30):
you're like, wait a second, do Iactually need this?
Do I already have this at home?
And if I really do need it,like, let me just do a quick
little.
Like what's this brand allabout?
Like, what is their messaging?
What kind of steps are theytaking?
Like are they giving back toany like nonprofits or are they
supporting any likeenvironmental causes?
(17:51):
It's all there on the website.
I'm sure If they want to betransparent about it, brands
will be transparent.
It's when brands are very vagueand just use like greenwashing
terms, like you said earlier,like sustainable, or just these
quick little catchphrases.
It's like but how, how are youat?
Speaker 2 (18:11):
And I've seen, too, like I think there are states
now that are starting, you know,a long the vein of you know,
making sure we're doing right bythe planet.
I've seen that there are somestates that are enacting laws
that are saying like don't throwout clothes, like get them to
like a thrift store or somethingelse, but don't throw them out
because of the what it's doingto landfills and things like
that.
(18:31):
I will fully admit that I camefrom the generation where we
used either sun in or baby oilto tan.
So you know, if there was onething that I could do in reverse
back time, it would be to takecare, better care, of my skin
and with all the marketingthat's happening about like
(18:54):
fighting ageism and stuff likethat, I just saw a makeup brand
and you know the marketing isvery convincing.
I mean because I I my hand, mybutton, my finger was there on
the clicker and I'm like, nope,I'm going to behave where they
were erasing what I call the 11s, so those two furrowed brow
(19:15):
lines between your eyebrows.
Whatever this makeup was, iterased it and I was like, oh,
give that to me, but I don'tknow what's in it.
I don't know if I'm causingmore damage than good.
So it's just been with theworld that we live in right now,
it's very confusing to figureout what's good while looking
good, while feeling good.
(19:36):
You know, and I love that yourbrand focuses on all of that,
and I actually think it's, Ithink it's really admirable that
you say, like, don't buy ourproduct if you've got, or you've
got stuff in your medicinecabinet, you know, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Yeah, it is really confusing and I think it's Okay.
Great people who really want tomake the change they have to
start with their own self, whichis my journey, is.
I had to stop and take a lookat myself.
It was like why don't I use allthese products?
(20:12):
To me, it was like, well, I'mwearing a lot of products if I
have a business meeting or ifI'm going out on a date or if
I'm trying to impress somebody.
For me, it was like I need toscale that back and be like I've
got to be comfortable in my ownskin.
Honestly, the pandemic helpedwith that.
(20:35):
I feel like a lot of people gotcomfortable in their own skin
because they stopped wearingmakeup.
They weren't going out as much.
I think people got used totheir own natural faces and not
having to use a ton of products.
It is very complicated.
I think using more productsactually over complicates your
(20:55):
skin.
You have more reactions whenyou use more products because
think about it you're justputting all these different
things on your face on the daily.
It's just too much.
Your skin needs to rebalanceitself.
Less is definitely more.
I think we're just so living inthis world where we're
(21:16):
constantly told we need, need,need, and we really don't.
It's even like, for example,with the food.
I could go off on a tangent butsimply eating an apple, that's
one simple ingredient versus,let's just say, an apple pie,
where there's a ton ofingredients.
It's more complicated, it'sjust like a basic.
(21:40):
Just narrow down all thedifferent things and things
become a lot more simplified.
We totally just overcomplicatethings as humans.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
I feel like We'll definitely enjoy that.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Well, it's more fancy than special.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
Yes, it is.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Yes, it is, but I think when it's also like it
doesn't seem as special, whenit's in everything, when
everything is over-complicated,it's not as special.
If I can eat apple pie everysingle day, it's not as special
as getting it once a year.
That's kind of what I think of,of like let me scale back my
(22:22):
daily life and be very simpleand conscious and mindful with
my daily routine and save thoseextra special things for once in
a while to make it more specialand exciting.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
No, I totally agree.
I was being silly on that.
All the steps to go into makingthese things I don't even know
that.
I want to take the time to doall of that, if I'm being really
honest.
Yeah, no, I agree completely.
I mean, that's your message todo more with less.
(22:58):
It makes me really think about,because for me, it really is
the time when I have less if I'mnot making up, let's say, the
pie, if I'm not making the pie,if I'm not doing the 15-step
skincare routine and the45-minute full face makeup,
(23:21):
whatever.
That means I have more time andI can do more with less.
It's where are you looking?
What are you prioritizing toput first in all of that?
I mean, look, some people lovemaking themselves gourmet
dinners and their families andstuff.
(23:42):
Don't get me wrong, I'm notknocking that.
Wonderful, and that's how youshare and show love.
Amazing, right, everyone'sdifferent.
I can completely understandwhere that more with less really
hits home, at least for me.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
Yeah, I think, as also we were talking about
earlier, we're both moms and ourtime is precious.
I would rather spend a quick 10minutes on myself so that I
could spend the extra time doingsomething fun with my family.
Or do I even have 10 minutesfor myself?
(24:19):
I really don't.
But yeah, I think, also livingin LA, everything is so fast
paced.
You're going, going, going.
You have everything at yourfingertips, it's everything that
you want, all there.
And then when I moved to themountains, there's nothing, it's
(24:40):
like stripped away, it's justnature and I think part of that
slowing down your life.
You realize, whoa, what was Idoing all that time?
I'm just going, going, going,never stopping to just reflect
on my life, and I think thepandemic really did that for a
(25:01):
lot of us.
We were literally forced topause and reflect on life and
what is happening in our livesright now, and what do we
actually want, what's important?
And so me, moving to themountains, I was completely
engulfed in nature and I wasjust like I looked at life so
(25:22):
differently of moving at thepace of nature, being one with
nature, protecting what we haveand honestly, just being super
grateful for things that wedon't typically notice, like you
know, the trees, like giving usfresh air, like that was just a
simple thing.
But it's like life changing.
When you really sit down andjust look at it on a deeper
(25:45):
level, it can really change yourlife.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
Yeah, I mean so I don't know what you can see
behind me.
I made the inside, my outside,yeah, and then I also have my
picture or my painting of Gaia,right, like there's.
I very much.
You're speaking my languagevery certainly, so I get that
(26:10):
completely.
And for you, was there acalling to nature, or did you
find nature's calling once youwent into the mountains?
Speaker 1 (26:21):
Yeah, a little bit of both.
So my husband and I we alwayshave the dream of, oh, let's
have a cabin in the woods oneday.
Like that was just like a veryfar off dream.
We both worked in LA.
That was a reality for us, tojust go off and live in the
mountains.
But so it really was kind oflike a blessing in disguise when
(26:46):
we had the opportunity of likehey, like well, we are both
working from home right now.
Like we've always wanted tolike make that move.
We don't know what's happeningin the world right now, like we
don't know how much time we have.
Like it literally felt liketime stopped and it's like I
need to do something.
I need to like live my life.
So, and we had actually gottenmarried in Lake Arrowhead, so we
(27:10):
were very familiar with thearea.
It's only like an hour and ahalf from LA.
And we're like why don't wejust like go?
Look, you know and I mean LA isextremely expensive to live.
Like so anywhere outside of LAless expensive than LA, yeah.
And so we just kind of madelike a quick decision of like
(27:32):
let's just do it, this is ouropportunity.
And we found something within acouple of months and just fell
in love with it.
Like I there's I know thissounds like corny, but there's
literally something in the air,the mountain air, that just like
is so refreshing and you'rejust like I don't want to leave.
(27:53):
And even when I do go off themountain, like if I need to make
a quick trip to LA or if I goback to visit my family, I'm
always like I gotta go back.
That fresh air, like it's justthere's something so peaceful
and calm about living amongstthe trees.
I don't know what it is.
But yeah, it's just it.
Once I was there, I just likeslowly started morphing into
(28:17):
like a different person and Iliterally think nature changed
me.
Speaker 3 (28:23):
I don't doubt that at all, I really don't.
And I mean I've told Cherylknows so my a lot of my
childhood was in the foothillsof the Rocky Mountains and there
is something for me that when Iget to see the mountains and
just take them in.
I actually got to go to Denverthis past summer for something,
for a conference, and I just, Idon't know, that's like I can
(28:45):
breathe again and there's justthis, this relaxation.
And it was funny because when Ilived in Philadelphia I was
told that I should go visit themountains out in out in Philly,
over on the Poconos.
So I go over and I was likewhen did the mountains start?
So these are hills, people,they're beautiful.
(29:11):
I'm sorry, the Poconos arewonderful and beautiful.
It's just when you've grown upin like the Rocky Mountains and
seeing that that range isincredible.
But yeah, I feel that verydeeply in just what the
mountains are and what theybring.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
You know, I was just thinking about what you said
about LA and working in Phillyfor several years, and Eileen
knows this like we're.
You know it's just very rushed,it's very rushed, Everything's
rushed.
If that light turns from red togreen and you haven't moved
like, people will be on theirhorns.
It's you know it's a culturalthing.
I do it in the suburbs andpeople are like, what are you
(29:54):
doing?
And I'm like, oh yeah, that'sright, I'm not in the city.
It's fine Like we have to move,you know we have to move a
little bit slower and that'sokay, and but that taking time
and taking that time foryourself is really important.
And you know, there are times,too, where I think getting away
from it all is also a wonderfulthing.
It's a very good thing of selfcare.
Friends of mine are actuallytalking about seeing if we can
(30:16):
go see the breakers, which is inNewport, rhode Island I'm
terrible with geography, sothat's why I'm saying it out
loud and to go see the all thedifferent mansions that are
dressed up for the holidays andjust doing a long weekend there.
For you, is there a place Imean like Arrowhead sounds
amazing and idyllic and all thegood things but is there a place
(30:37):
that you go like on vacationwith kids or to get away or
anything like that, where you'relike, yeah, this is my happy
place.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
Yeah, so one of like the places that we like to go a
lot is Joshua Tree.
Are you guys familiar with thatJoshua?
Speaker 2 (30:57):
Tree.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
Yeah, it's just kind of.
It's really close.
Actually, it's probably like atwo hour drive from like
Arrowhead.
It's the desert, but that islike my second favorite place.
Like I just I love being outthere because, again, it's all
nature, it's all like empty,it's quiet and I think like any
(31:21):
any like place in nature is cool.
But I think when there's like alack of people or there's just
like a huge space for you tolike wander around, there's just
something very like calming andrefreshing about that of just
like kind of just being one withthe earth and just like being
like wow, like I am just a smalllittle human, like surrounded
(31:46):
by like so much of this likeplanet.
And I think like there's somany cool places like that.
My husband and I just like wentto Olympic National Park, which
was amazing.
I highly recommend it for anyone.
There was a section that haslike a, I think it's like called
(32:09):
the Ho Rainforest or somethinglike that, and it is just like
breathtaking and you just kindof you get the feeling of like
like I mentioned earlier likeyou just feel very small but in
a great way of like wow, there'sso much beyond my small little
(32:29):
ego or what I feel like Like Iprobably have like a big ego at
times where I'm like everythingis like falling apart or but
it's, it's not, it's all.
A lot of stuff lives in our head, right Like we get stressed, we
get anxious, we get like angry,but so much of that lives in
our head and I feel like whenyou're in a quiet place like
(32:50):
Joshua Tree or Olympic NationalPark or something like just some
like wide open space of nature,it just kind of like calms your
thoughts and you're like OK,what I was mad about or what I
was frustrated about or anxiousabout or stressed or whatever,
it's really not as big as Ithink it is, because I'm really
just a small little human inthis huge world where there is
(33:12):
so much more to be like gratefulfor and thankful for you know.
Speaker 3 (33:17):
Yeah, I live in the Pacific Northwest and totally
feel all of that.
I also love going down toRedwood Forest.
I definitely get that feelingthere just seeing how big those
trees are.
And I think I show were wetalking about Grand Canyon last
week?
I think we were talking aboutthat in our conversation last
week, but that is one where thatfeeling I guess felt it in,
(33:40):
like the Redwoods and differentthings like that.
That place for me is the likeOK, I'm not, I am so small, I'm
so small in all of this and inthe best absolute way possible,
where right I'm, I don't, Idon't matter, but like it's,
(34:04):
there's so many bigger thingsand my problems aren't really
that big and things that I canget through, and it just puts so
much of it in perspective.
I completely agree, yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
Yeah, it's funny that you mentioned that, because I
think there's a question aboutlike.
Where is like one place thatlike has changed me, and it is
definitely the Grand Canyon.
Like that experience is, it'slife changing, like you can go
there and look out and you getso many different feelings, like
(34:39):
it feels unreal, almost like itfeels like you're looking at a
painting because it's so unrealand it's it's kind of scary,
almost like to feel that, likelittle you know.
But I think, like you said,like your feelings, like it's
not that they don't like matter,because they do, but I think it
(34:59):
puts it in to perspective oflike we're all here, like
together, like there's like likethe whole world is here
together, you know, and likewe're all sharing this one earth
together.
So I think that's kind of like,where the idea of like self-care
and planet care and people careis like you got to take care of
(35:21):
yourself, you got to take careof the planet and you got to
take care of humanity, like wegot to take care of each other,
like we're all in this together,like we all live here, we all
share this one place.
So obviously people are goingto have differences of opinion
on so many different things,surface level things, but at the
end of the day, we're just likeone big human race, all trying
(35:44):
to like survive this one earth,you know, just trying to do our
best, and I think that's whatputs it in perspective for me,
like we're just humans tryingour best and we're sharing in
this experience together.
We all have shared feelings,whether they like are different
or the same.
Speaker 3 (36:03):
So, yeah, yeah, no, I agree, and it's.
I mean, I've said it many times, but in 2020, I went and wrote
my own eulogy and there'ssomething about the approaching
of our own mortality, right,like I whether it's seeing the
Grand Canyon and how big that islike I am just a small part of
(36:26):
this very large story, right,yeah, and even my own story is
so small and truly goes by soquickly and kind of
understanding that and not beingafraid of what that means
anymore changed my entireapproach to who I am and the
(36:46):
life that I wanna lead and thevalue sets that I have and I
know you said it before too itis that taking time to be quiet
for a minute and to just breatheand think and reflect, and how
much that can change your lifewhen you really take a minute to
do that, is truly, trulyincredible.
(37:07):
So I mean, there's somethingabout that I think we've, like,
when we talk to all the peoplewe have on this podcast, it
feels like everyone's had sortof that moment or maybe it's
been a few different moments,right, where it feels like
people who are living on purposeor finding ways to really live
out their one true self in thisworld.
(37:29):
There've been a moment or a fewdifferent ones that have really
they've taken the time andopportunity to reflect on what
it really means to be here, andit sounds like you definitely
have gone down that path as well.
Yeah, definitely, yeah.
So tell us a little bit aboutcontemplation, just a little bit
(37:50):
more.
What does that look like?
What is the?
You've started with one product.
Where are you at now and whereare things kind of going with it
?
Speaker 1 (38:01):
Yeah, so it started really as kind of like a passion
project, like I think likemoving from LA to the mountains
was my first big leap, just oflife in general, of like let me
just do this Like I neverthought I would like go move in
the mountains and like have ahouse there or whatever.
(38:21):
But so I think taking that leapmade things less scary, because
it's like, okay, I can do it andwhat's the worst, that's gonna
happen, right.
And then it was kind of like,okay, I've always wanted to
start a brand.
What's the worst that canhappen, Like you know?
And so, just like taking thatleap, and so it really started
with like I just wanna do this.
(38:42):
It's like something that'simportant to me and I was really
looking at it in that way ofnot like what does it mean?
Like like I'm not trying toimpress anybody by like doing
this, I'm just doing it for me.
So it really was just like apassion project and what I've
found is like a couple pros andcons to that One, like when you
(39:05):
do that, like you're reallyfocused on the passion and not
so much of like the strategicbusiness angle Totally, and so
and I think that's hard whenyou're a creative person to
actually focus on like hey, likeis this actually gonna make
money?
Like does it make sense?
Like is it feasible, Is itsustainable for me as a person,
(39:27):
and I've learned a lot of thosethings, but I've also like grown
in so many ways, because I'vehad to force myself to learn
about things that I like like Ididn't know about, Like I don't
know about marketing and salesand handling finances and all
that stuff and like I'm sure alot of entrepreneurs don't know.
They just have this cool ideaand they wanna bring it to life.
(39:48):
So a lot of that has been likechallenging you know, this first
year and a half that I've beenin business.
But I've also realized that it'smade me grow as a person and
kind of just reflect on like hey, like I went into this with
this idea, Is it like itconstantly morphs?
(40:11):
Like that's what kind of youlearn, like when you're starting
something and then you go intoit, like it constantly changes
from what you originally thoughtit was gonna be right, which is
kind of special in a way.
And so I started with oneproduct and in my mind I was
(40:31):
like okay, I'm gonna start withone product and then I'm like
gonna launch some other products.
But now it's kind of like beenlike wait, I started this
because like the whole purposewas to be minimal, and like, if
I just keep wanting moreproducts, it's kind of like
counterintuitive to what Ioriginally wanted in the first
place, you know.
And so I'm really just kind oftaking a step back and looking
(40:54):
at the business in general andbeing like let me focus on like
what I've built so far and letme like build upon that instead
of just trying to jump into thenext thing, you know.
And so I'm really trying totake a slower approach, because
that's what fits for me in mylife in general, Like I want to
(41:15):
take a slower, organic approach.
I don't want to just likesnowball this into something
huge.
That like goes too fast for mepersonally if any of that makes
sense, but so I don't know.
We'll see, like what happens.
Right now I'm just reallytrying to get a little bit more
brand exposure and my biggestlike message with the brand is
(41:38):
to just teach people that youknow, you don't need a ton of
products like even though we'reliving in this like extreme
consumeristic mindset of a world, like we can just like calm
some of that noise down, we canjust still take care of
ourselves very mindfully with alot less products.
(41:59):
You can do your research, youcan be more conscious in general
about what you buy and just tryto get that messaging out with
like a small community and growthat messaging to people.
Speaker 3 (42:16):
I love it.
Have you thought about apodcast?
Speaker 2 (42:19):
Seriously, I know, right.
Speaker 1 (42:21):
You know what's interesting?
I just recently startedlistening to podcasts, probably
like maybe like a year ago, likeI, I didn't even realize like
what podcasts were.
I know that sounds so silly,but like now I'm like obsessed.
I love listening to podcastsand I have like their life
(42:42):
changing, like people.
You hear stories of people andyou're like, oh my gosh, like
you feel so inspired.
You feel like you can, likealso do different things with
your life and like not be afraid, like.
But the one like thing that I'vegotten from listening to so
many podcasts is that, like,everybody's afraid of things,
right, like, and it's not, it'syou just like, you have to just
(43:05):
force yourself to do it and, atthe end of the day, like nobody
cares, like, what you're doing,you got to do it for yourself,
like, if you're not happy doingit, like, what is the, what is
the point, what is the point ofanything if you're not happy?
You know yourself.
If you're just doing it forsomeone else, like it doesn't
matter, like how much work orhow much effort you put into it,
(43:27):
if it's not fulfilling for you,it's not, it's not worth it.
Speaker 2 (43:32):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (43:34):
I am.
Speaker 2 (43:35):
Yeah, exactly I am.
One of the reasons why I lovedoing this podcast is because
there's a simplicity in how wedo this, like, ours is really
just a conversation, and I knowI've referenced this.
This other podcast I'm going tomention at least a bajillion
times, but there's one calledthis is Love, and this is Love
(43:57):
is one of my favorites becauseit takes stories that are so
simplistic and you arecompletely invested in them.
Like there was a story about howI tell the story, because it's
one of my favorites about and Iforget if it was I think it was
a town in Italy where they wereretuning a certain instrument
(44:19):
and they had to tell everybodyin the town to be quiet, so
nobody, for like, I don't knowhow long it was, but nobody
could speak above a certaindecibel because they wanted to
make sure they got this thinglike so perfectly tuned, and
when I listen to what you'redoing, I feel like you're taking
out the noise, so you're sayingeverybody shush, because I want
(44:42):
to make this as simplistic andas beautiful as possible, so I
need to take out all of thatnoise and stuff like that.
I think what you have is awonderful product.
I need to look at it because,quite frankly, I'm out of makeup
and I would like to actuallyget something where I'll send
you one.
Yeah, okay, I won't say no to afreebie.
Speaker 3 (45:04):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (45:05):
So that's awesome.
So, Ariam, we're coming up onthe time of our hour here.
How do people connect with you?
Speaker 1 (45:13):
Yeah, so you can go to my website, which is
mycontemplationcom, or myInstagram, which is
contemplationofficial, and onthere I kind of just share
videos, not necessarily justabout the product, but kind of
like what we've been talkingabout here, just like trying to
(45:35):
be more mindful, conscious andliving more sustainably.
But, yeah, those are my twomain places where you can find
more information about the brand.
Speaker 3 (45:48):
We'll go to Joshua Tree at some point, yeah we'll
go to Joshua Tree, yes.
Stop by and visit.
Speaker 2 (45:55):
Yes, and we'll make sure to include the resources
and the connection points thatyou mentioned.
We do a lot with social media,so we usually post resources, so
we'll make sure that we spreadthe word that way as well, and
we usually spread that stuff onFacebook, instagram and LinkedIn
.
So awesome.
Yeah and TikTok.
No, I'm trying to figure it out,yes, the famous TikTok, the
(46:20):
TikTok, as I've been saying, yes, the TikTok, oh my goodness.
All right.
Well, ariam, thank you so muchfor this.
This was wonderful talking toyou, and I have to get on your
Instagram now to see all thepretty pictures and videos and
everything like that, and Iencourage others to do that as
(46:42):
well.
So, on behalf of Island Grimesand myself, this concludes our
episode with Ariane Noji.
Everyone, thanks again forlistening into you.
Only Go Once and we'll see younext time.
Take care Bye.
Hi, I'm Ariane Noji.
I hope, when you look back onlife, I hope you do something
that inspires you, because youonly go once.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Hello, hello, hello, welcome back everybody.
I am here with my fantasticco-host, Eileen Grimes, and this
is the you Only Go Once podcast, where we explore stories
around the limited time we haveon this earth to create a fully
layered life.
Eileen and I have a wonderfulguest.
Eileen, kick us off.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Thanks, cheryl.
It's so good to see you.
I miss you, my friend, so I amso excited to introduce our
guest tonight.
So, after working in the beautyindustry for 13 years and
living a busy LA lifestyle,ariane Noji was ready for a
change.
She felt a strong personalresponsibility to adopt a more
sustainable lifestyle anddecided to move to the mountains
(00:56):
to become more connected withnature and living more mindfully
.
She wanted to contribute to thebeauty industry in a positive
way, combining her two passionsof self-care and planet care.
Her desire for minimalism hasbeen key in her message that you
can do more with less.
Ariane took the leap of faithto start her own eco-conscious
brand contemplation and her hopeis to encourage conscious
(01:19):
consumerism in the face ofextreme materialism, so that
everyone can benefit in the longrun.
Ariane, welcome, welcome to you.
Only Go Once.
We are so excited to have youhere with us tonight.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
I'm excited to be here, yeah so, my goodness, 13
years in LA.
What was that like?
Speaker 1 (01:42):
You know what I really loved living in LA?
It's great.
You have the beaches, you havethe city like tons of art
museums.
I loved it.
It was a great part of my life.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Yeah, and did you grow up there?
Was that sort of home for you,or how did you come to be in LA?
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Yeah, so I actually grew up in Central California in
a really small town and hatedit.
I hated living in a small townand I was like I want to live in
the city.
So like as soon as I graduatedfrom high school I moved to LA
and then it just like it feltlike home.
(02:24):
I loved it so much.
But I moved there for college.
So I went to the FashionInstitute in LA and was there
for a couple of years andstudied the beauty program that
they had.
I knew I wanted to be in thebeauty industry and they had a
very specific program for thatat the Fashion Institute for
some reason.
Yeah, and so yeah, that's kindof what led me there.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Very cool.
So what was it about the beautyindustry that just intrigued
you?
What drew you into thatindustry in general?
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Yeah, well, I think growing up I was always
interested in cosmetics justbecause I love the look of them.
They're very colorful.
I'm very artistic and I thinkmaybe that had something to do
with it of seeing color palettesand I love to paint, and so
around the time I was in highschool, it was like my face is a
(03:20):
canvas.
I like to use a lot of makeupand experiment with it, and it
was honestly more so about theproducts, not so much about like
using them, but I just I lovejust seeing them and seeing the
colors.
And, yeah, I just always knew Iwanted to somehow be involved
in that some way.
(03:40):
Whether it was like be a makeupartist or have my own beauty
brand.
It was just something that Iwas always interested in.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Yeah, so I have my.
We were talking before wekicked off.
We were talking about how wehave kids.
So I have my six year olddaughter.
Honestly, it's so much funhaving a very young daughter
that loves makeup because thethe ability for us to play in
color, especially at that age,is so much more accepted.
(04:09):
I mean, I think I think there'sa little bit more acceptance
now of really like bold colorsand like glitter and like really
just having fun with that.
And I have the best time whenshe and I get together.
She loves to put my makeup on meand all the colors and like
it's just so fun and like thedraw to it because of that makes
(04:33):
so much sense and I'm havingmore fun with it now than I ever
, because I wasn't allowed towear makeup growing up, like
that just wasn't something, butI always found it fascinating.
And the first time I got towear blue mascara oh boy, I was
so excited.
Maybe look like I was freezingto death, but that's fine, but
(04:55):
totally get it on that colorpalette right.
There's so much and the waythat can look and hit your skin
and then also match with whatyou're wearing or whatever.
Like it's just it's a lot offun, so I completely get that.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Yeah, for sure it's.
There's definitely like acreative aspect to it.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
Definitely, and when you know how to do it.
Well, that's so fun, yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
I've been finding the world of makeup and everything
very fascinating ever since I'vegone down the rabbit hole of
TikTok.
Because there are so many peoplethere now that have embraced, I
mean similarly to what you bothhave been talking about.
I mean, I know there's YouTube,youtube tutorials and things
like that, but I'm amazed at howcreative people are with it,
(05:44):
you know.
So your face is literally acanvas that you just embrace all
that color and that's wonderful.
And you know there's somethingto be said too, because you are
looking at sustainable, what'sresponsible, all that too, and I
applaud you for that, becauseI'm a bit of a plain Jane when
it comes to makeup.
I also like to look at theproducts and kind of make sure
(06:05):
that you know there's no harmdone to other creatures and
stuff like that.
So you know, I would imagineyou've seen the gamut working
for 13 years in the skincareindustry.
What was there a particularevent that sparked your?
I'm switching and going tobreak out on my own, or what did
(06:29):
that look like?
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Yeah, so it's interesting.
So, like you know, like where Istarted out of, like what I was
interested in, what I wanted,has drastically changed when I
moved to LA until like where Iam now.
Because you know, like Imentioned, like the idea of like
the products and like the colorand all of that stuff is very
(06:52):
interesting to me.
But I personally am aminimalist, like I don't wear a
makeup, I don't use a ton ofproducts, and what I found was,
you know, like I'm working forthese brands where I'm like
spitting out like one productafter another, but I myself am
(07:15):
not actually using them all thetime and I just I don't feel
like you need that many products.
So it's interesting and it'salso like ironic.
It's like I'm very interestedin the products themselves, but
I think like the idea of meetingso many of them is kind of
(07:35):
disheartening to me, that youwould need that many products,
and so it kind of moved me in adirection of like how do I like
make this like something thatI'm more passionate about?
That actually is intriguing tome, where it's a much more of
like a less approach, if thatmakes sense.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
Yeah, absolutely no one can see it right now, but I
would, I would venture to say,if anyone were to look at the
three of us currently on video.
Minimalism is certainly theroute.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
For sure yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Which, and everyone you know, everyone has their own
unique way of approaching that,but I definitely, like I do,
I'd like to play in it.
Sure, do I typically go thatroute?
No, I mean, I well, anyway, Itinted my eyelashes and had them
permed, so I don't have to doanything.
Awesome, I know not wearing anymakeup, so, anyway, I still
(08:39):
love it when I can, but for me,it's just not something that I
want to have to do every singleday with a whole lot of stuff
like it's I, I want to spend mytime doing other things, and
that's just my own perspectiveon it, right?
Yeah, what I love and one ofthe pieces that we talk, I feel
(09:00):
like comes up quite often in ourin this podcast is self care,
and you know that you have thesekind of combined passions of
self care and planet care.
What does, what does self caremean to you?
Speaker 1 (09:16):
Yeah.
So I think to me it meanstaking care of yourself in
whichever way you find is thebest way, because it means
something different to so manydifferent people like to one
person, self care could mean afull face of makeup and looking
their best and filling theirbest.
To me, self care is just how doI protect my self in a way that
(09:42):
makes me feel good?
So when I speak about it interms of like combining self
care and planet care, I think ofit in a way of like everything
needs protection.
You know, like I don't thinkyou can just not use products in
general.
I think you need sunscreen, forexample, if you're going to go
(10:06):
out in the sun.
That's just my opinion.
One example, or you know,nature doesn't need to like have
trash thrown all over it.
That's not protecting nature,so it's it's kind of like all
you know, like full circle interms of like caring for
yourself, caring for the planet,and in terms of like the brand
perspective.
(10:26):
I wanted to create somethingwhere it's using something like
that takes care of you with avery minimal impact on the
environment.
So if you see a lot of brandsout there, even like sustainable
brands and I put that in quotesbecause you see a lot of brands
(10:47):
that claim sustainability butthen they have like 1012
products in their lineup, and tome that's not sustainable,
because what is that doing?
It's taking tons of ingredientsfrom all parts of the world,
shipping them.
You're having to growingredients.
You're having to use like land,water, all of that stuff that
goes into it that people don'tsee, and then they end up in
(11:08):
plastic bottles and thoseplastic bottles end up in the
ocean and it's just like thischain reaction that I don't
think a lot of peoplenecessarily think about.
They just think like, oh, I'mgoing to buy this product
because the internet told me to,or the internet told me I
needed it, and so for me, it waslike well, I don't think we
need to get rid of products.
(11:28):
I don't think that.
I think we still need productsto take care of ourselves.
But how do we do it so thatit's very minimal impact?
So, looking at ingredients oflike well, how are these
ingredients grown?
Where are they shipped from?
How?
Like, what was the process ofthem, from the seed until it
turned into an actual ingredientthat's in your bottle?
(11:50):
Like?
There's so many different steps.
I've possibly sourced all thesedifferent things and trying to
put all of those things into oneproduct that then can take care
of you from head to toe.
So I only launched with oneproduct.
It's a.
It's an oil that you can use onyour face, your body and your
(12:11):
hair, and the idea was that youdon't need a ton of things.
You can still get the sameeffect as a 10 step skincare
routine, but using one product,and it's a lot less wasteful,
it's a lot more resourceful,you're not spending as much
money, you're not spending asmuch time on yourself.
(12:31):
There's all these differentthings that play into it.
That goes into like taking careof yourself with the self care
and also being mindful of ourplanet in the process of it.
I know that was a lot A lot ofwork on it.
No, hopefully it makes sense.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
No, not at all, it absolutely does.
And, oh gosh, this is so partof what you were saying reminds
me.
I don't know if you've everwatched the Good Place.
It's one of my favorite showswith Kristen Bell, it's so good.
And so there's a part well,anyway, there's a part where,
like, they're just, you know,when they figure out who goes to
(13:08):
the Good Place or the Bad Place, right, and some of that
determination is like thechoices that you make in life
and you get points based on thetype of things that happen, and
this conversation is like apiece of that.
Like, how can people even makethese decisions when there's
like 50 things that happenbefore that?
Like, is it ethically sourced?
(13:30):
It's like, who's actually doingthe farming of the different
things?
Are they being taken care of?
Like there's so many decisionsand pieces that come into
creating this one product thatyou might have and you don't
know all of the pieces behindthat, right, and so, anyway, no
(13:52):
one was going to the Good Placebecause of that, basically.
But it's so fascinating when youstart really thinking about it
and what that looks like from aconsumer's point of view, and
then the overwhelm that can comein to be like, oh my gosh, like
how do I even, how do I evenchoose at this point, so yeah.
(14:16):
And then you look at marketingand branding of things and
they're like, oh no, we're super, you know, eco-conscious and
all of those things.
It's like, okay, well, they putit on there.
So that's gotta mean that'strue, right?
So I don't like, do you haveany recommendations for people
who want to shop in a way thatis with care of the planet in
(14:38):
mind, to like what are thingsthat people can look at and look
for when they're trying to beintentional about this kind of
thing?
And obviously your brand, butyou know, are there other things
that people can kind ofconsider when they're out
shopping?
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Yeah, I think to me the biggest thing is just like
how much you're actually buying.
Like I know this is probablynot the greatest business advice
for myself even but I'm like ifyou have a cabinet full of
products, you don't need to buymy product.
Like use what you have first,right.
Like you have stuff already.
(15:17):
So I'm sure tons of people likethey have a ton of products
that they don't even use.
So that's the other thing.
Like we're constantly bombardedwith advertisements like on the
daily of like you need this, buythis, like you can't just have
one, you need all of these otherthings, and so I think that's
(15:38):
it's really confusing for theconsumer because they're
constantly told that they needproducts.
So I think if somebody's reallyinterested in like changing that
behavior, it's kind of tryingto like cancel some of that
noise out.
Like you kind of just have tocancel some of that advertising
(15:58):
noise out and be like okay, if Iwant to shop mindfully for any
product, not just like skincare,but like what food am I eating,
what clothes am I buying?
All of that kind of stuff, likeit just starts like very simply
, it doesn't have to becomplicated.
You just, you know, kind of doyour own research by less.
And then if you find you canlook up, like you know, ethical
(16:22):
brands or responsible brands,and you'll get a ton of
different ones.
But you know just like kind oflooking into it and making sure,
like you look at theingredients, if there's a
product that has like 25ingredients in there, like a
skincare product, that's goingto be a little bit difficult to
go to that that brand and belike, hey, where did all these
ingredients come from?
(16:42):
First of all, they're not goingto tell you.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
But absolutely no.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
No, they're not going to tell you.
But if you, you know, startresearching just more like
ingredients and seeing like, ohhey, there's only like a couple
ingredients in this.
I know what those ingredientsare.
So, just like making smallsteps.
And I think the biggest adviceis just like doing your own
research.
It's really not that hard.
It sounds complicated, but Idon't.
(17:07):
I don't think like if you takean hour or so to do like a
little bit of research, you, youcould be fine, yeah.
That's just my it is hardbecause I think people, you know
they see something and thenthey're like, oh, that's cool, I
want that, you know.
But if you stop before youclick the purchase button and
(17:30):
you're like, wait a second, do Iactually need this?
Do I already have this at home?
And if I really do need it,like, let me just do a quick
little.
Like what's this brand allabout?
Like, what is their messaging?
What kind of steps are theytaking?
Like are they giving back toany like nonprofits or are they
supporting any likeenvironmental causes?
(17:51):
It's all there on the website.
I'm sure If they want to betransparent about it, brands
will be transparent.
It's when brands are very vagueand just use like greenwashing
terms, like you said earlier,like sustainable, or just these
quick little catchphrases.
It's like but how, how are youat?
Speaker 2 (18:11):
And I've seen, too, like I think there are states
now that are starting, you know,a long the vein of you know,
making sure we're doing right bythe planet.
I've seen that there are somestates that are enacting laws
that are saying like don't throwout clothes, like get them to
like a thrift store or somethingelse, but don't throw them out
because of the what it's doingto landfills and things like
that.
(18:31):
I will fully admit that I camefrom the generation where we
used either sun in or baby oilto tan.
So you know, if there was onething that I could do in reverse
back time, it would be to takecare, better care, of my skin
and with all the marketingthat's happening about like
(18:54):
fighting ageism and stuff likethat, I just saw a makeup brand
and you know the marketing isvery convincing.
I mean because I I my hand, mybutton, my finger was there on
the clicker and I'm like, nope,I'm going to behave where they
were erasing what I call the 11s, so those two furrowed brow
(19:15):
lines between your eyebrows.
Whatever this makeup was, iterased it and I was like, oh,
give that to me, but I don'tknow what's in it.
I don't know if I'm causingmore damage than good.
So it's just been with theworld that we live in right now,
it's very confusing to figureout what's good while looking
good, while feeling good.
(19:36):
You know, and I love that yourbrand focuses on all of that,
and I actually think it's, Ithink it's really admirable that
you say, like, don't buy ourproduct if you've got, or you've
got stuff in your medicinecabinet, you know, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Yeah, it is really confusing and I think it's Okay.
Great people who really want tomake the change they have to
start with their own self, whichis my journey, is.
I had to stop and take a lookat myself.
It was like why don't I use allthese products?
(20:12):
To me, it was like, well, I'mwearing a lot of products if I
have a business meeting or ifI'm going out on a date or if
I'm trying to impress somebody.
For me, it was like I need toscale that back and be like I've
got to be comfortable in my ownskin.
Honestly, the pandemic helpedwith that.
(20:35):
I feel like a lot of people gotcomfortable in their own skin
because they stopped wearingmakeup.
They weren't going out as much.
I think people got used totheir own natural faces and not
having to use a ton of products.
It is very complicated.
I think using more productsactually over complicates your
(20:55):
skin.
You have more reactions whenyou use more products because
think about it you're justputting all these different
things on your face on the daily.
It's just too much.
Your skin needs to rebalanceitself.
Less is definitely more.
I think we're just so living inthis world where we're
(21:16):
constantly told we need, need,need, and we really don't.
It's even like, for example,with the food.
I could go off on a tangent butsimply eating an apple, that's
one simple ingredient versus,let's just say, an apple pie,
where there's a ton ofingredients.
It's more complicated, it'sjust like a basic.
(21:40):
Just narrow down all thedifferent things and things
become a lot more simplified.
We totally just overcomplicatethings as humans.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
I feel like We'll definitely enjoy that.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Well, it's more fancy than special.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
Yes, it is.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Yes, it is, but I think when it's also like it
doesn't seem as special, whenit's in everything, when
everything is over-complicated,it's not as special.
If I can eat apple pie everysingle day, it's not as special
as getting it once a year.
That's kind of what I think of,of like let me scale back my
(22:22):
daily life and be very simpleand conscious and mindful with
my daily routine and save thoseextra special things for once in
a while to make it more specialand exciting.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
No, I totally agree.
I was being silly on that.
All the steps to go into makingthese things I don't even know
that.
I want to take the time to doall of that, if I'm being really
honest.
Yeah, no, I agree completely.
I mean, that's your message todo more with less.
(22:58):
It makes me really think about,because for me, it really is
the time when I have less if I'mnot making up, let's say, the
pie, if I'm not making the pie,if I'm not doing the 15-step
skincare routine and the45-minute full face makeup,
(23:21):
whatever.
That means I have more time andI can do more with less.
It's where are you looking?
What are you prioritizing toput first in all of that?
I mean, look, some people lovemaking themselves gourmet
dinners and their families andstuff.
(23:42):
Don't get me wrong, I'm notknocking that.
Wonderful, and that's how youshare and show love.
Amazing, right, everyone'sdifferent.
I can completely understandwhere that more with less really
hits home, at least for me.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
Yeah, I think, as also we were talking about
earlier, we're both moms and ourtime is precious.
I would rather spend a quick 10minutes on myself so that I
could spend the extra time doingsomething fun with my family.
Or do I even have 10 minutesfor myself?
(24:19):
I really don't.
But yeah, I think, also livingin LA, everything is so fast
paced.
You're going, going, going.
You have everything at yourfingertips, it's everything that
you want, all there.
And then when I moved to themountains, there's nothing, it's
(24:40):
like stripped away, it's justnature and I think part of that
slowing down your life.
You realize, whoa, what was Idoing all that time?
I'm just going, going, going,never stopping to just reflect
on my life, and I think thepandemic really did that for a
(25:01):
lot of us.
We were literally forced topause and reflect on life and
what is happening in our livesright now, and what do we
actually want, what's important?
And so me, moving to themountains, I was completely
engulfed in nature and I wasjust like I looked at life so
(25:22):
differently of moving at thepace of nature, being one with
nature, protecting what we haveand honestly, just being super
grateful for things that wedon't typically notice, like you
know, the trees, like giving usfresh air, like that was just a
simple thing.
But it's like life changing.
When you really sit down andjust look at it on a deeper
(25:45):
level, it can really change yourlife.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
Yeah, I mean so I don't know what you can see
behind me.
I made the inside, my outside,yeah, and then I also have my
picture or my painting of Gaia,right, like there's.
I very much.
You're speaking my languagevery certainly, so I get that
(26:10):
completely.
And for you, was there acalling to nature, or did you
find nature's calling once youwent into the mountains?
Speaker 1 (26:21):
Yeah, a little bit of both.
So my husband and I we alwayshave the dream of, oh, let's
have a cabin in the woods oneday.
Like that was just like a veryfar off dream.
We both worked in LA.
That was a reality for us, tojust go off and live in the
mountains.
But so it really was kind oflike a blessing in disguise when
(26:46):
we had the opportunity of likehey, like well, we are both
working from home right now.
Like we've always wanted tolike make that move.
We don't know what's happeningin the world right now, like we
don't know how much time we have.
Like it literally felt liketime stopped and it's like I
need to do something.
I need to like live my life.
So, and we had actually gottenmarried in Lake Arrowhead, so we
(27:10):
were very familiar with thearea.
It's only like an hour and ahalf from LA.
And we're like why don't wejust like go?
Look, you know and I mean LA isextremely expensive to live.
Like so anywhere outside of LAless expensive than LA, yeah.
And so we just kind of madelike a quick decision of like
(27:32):
let's just do it, this is ouropportunity.
And we found something within acouple of months and just fell
in love with it.
Like I there's I know thissounds like corny, but there's
literally something in the air,the mountain air, that just like
is so refreshing and you'rejust like I don't want to leave.
(27:53):
And even when I do go off themountain, like if I need to make
a quick trip to LA or if I goback to visit my family, I'm
always like I gotta go back.
That fresh air, like it's justthere's something so peaceful
and calm about living amongstthe trees.
I don't know what it is.
But yeah, it's just it.
Once I was there, I just likeslowly started morphing into
(28:17):
like a different person and Iliterally think nature changed
me.
Speaker 3 (28:23):
I don't doubt that at all, I really don't.
And I mean I've told Cherylknows so my a lot of my
childhood was in the foothillsof the Rocky Mountains and there
is something for me that when Iget to see the mountains and
just take them in.
I actually got to go to Denverthis past summer for something,
for a conference, and I just, Idon't know, that's like I can
(28:45):
breathe again and there's justthis, this relaxation.
And it was funny because when Ilived in Philadelphia I was
told that I should go visit themountains out in out in Philly,
over on the Poconos.
So I go over and I was likewhen did the mountains start?
So these are hills, people,they're beautiful.
(29:11):
I'm sorry, the Poconos arewonderful and beautiful.
It's just when you've grown upin like the Rocky Mountains and
seeing that that range isincredible.
But yeah, I feel that verydeeply in just what the
mountains are and what theybring.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
You know, I was just thinking about what you said
about LA and working in Phillyfor several years, and Eileen
knows this like we're.
You know it's just very rushed,it's very rushed, Everything's
rushed.
If that light turns from red togreen and you haven't moved
like, people will be on theirhorns.
It's you know it's a culturalthing.
I do it in the suburbs andpeople are like, what are you
(29:54):
doing?
And I'm like, oh yeah, that'sright, I'm not in the city.
It's fine Like we have to move,you know we have to move a
little bit slower and that'sokay, and but that taking time
and taking that time foryourself is really important.
And you know, there are times,too, where I think getting away
from it all is also a wonderfulthing.
It's a very good thing of selfcare.
Friends of mine are actuallytalking about seeing if we can
(30:16):
go see the breakers, which is inNewport, rhode Island I'm
terrible with geography, sothat's why I'm saying it out
loud and to go see the all thedifferent mansions that are
dressed up for the holidays andjust doing a long weekend there.
For you, is there a place Imean like Arrowhead sounds
amazing and idyllic and all thegood things but is there a place
(30:37):
that you go like on vacationwith kids or to get away or
anything like that, where you'relike, yeah, this is my happy
place.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
Yeah, so one of like the places that we like to go a
lot is Joshua Tree.
Are you guys familiar with thatJoshua?
Speaker 2 (30:57):
Tree.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
Yeah, it's just kind of.
It's really close.
Actually, it's probably like atwo hour drive from like
Arrowhead.
It's the desert, but that islike my second favorite place.
Like I just I love being outthere because, again, it's all
nature, it's all like empty,it's quiet and I think like any
(31:21):
any like place in nature is cool.
But I think when there's like alack of people or there's just
like a huge space for you tolike wander around, there's just
something very like calming andrefreshing about that of just
like kind of just being one withthe earth and just like being
like wow, like I am just a smalllittle human, like surrounded
(31:46):
by like so much of this likeplanet.
And I think like there's somany cool places like that.
My husband and I just like wentto Olympic National Park, which
was amazing.
I highly recommend it for anyone.
There was a section that haslike a, I think it's like called
(32:09):
the Ho Rainforest or somethinglike that, and it is just like
breathtaking and you just kindof you get the feeling of like
like I mentioned earlier likeyou just feel very small but in
a great way of like wow, there'sso much beyond my small little
(32:29):
ego or what I feel like Like Iprobably have like a big ego at
times where I'm like everythingis like falling apart or but
it's, it's not, it's all.
A lot of stuff lives in our head, right Like we get stressed, we
get anxious, we get like angry,but so much of that lives in
our head and I feel like whenyou're in a quiet place like
(32:50):
Joshua Tree or Olympic NationalPark or something like just some
like wide open space of nature,it just kind of like calms your
thoughts and you're like OK,what I was mad about or what I
was frustrated about or anxiousabout or stressed or whatever,
it's really not as big as Ithink it is, because I'm really
just a small little human inthis huge world where there is
(33:12):
so much more to be like gratefulfor and thankful for you know.
Speaker 3 (33:17):
Yeah, I live in the Pacific Northwest and totally
feel all of that.
I also love going down toRedwood Forest.
I definitely get that feelingthere just seeing how big those
trees are.
And I think I show were wetalking about Grand Canyon last
week?
I think we were talking aboutthat in our conversation last
week, but that is one where thatfeeling I guess felt it in,
(33:40):
like the Redwoods and differentthings like that.
That place for me is the likeOK, I'm not, I am so small, I'm
so small in all of this and inthe best absolute way possible,
where right I'm, I don't, Idon't matter, but like it's,
(34:04):
there's so many bigger thingsand my problems aren't really
that big and things that I canget through, and it just puts so
much of it in perspective.
I completely agree, yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
Yeah, it's funny that you mentioned that, because I
think there's a question aboutlike.
Where is like one place thatlike has changed me, and it is
definitely the Grand Canyon.
Like that experience is, it'slife changing, like you can go
there and look out and you getso many different feelings, like
(34:39):
it feels unreal, almost like itfeels like you're looking at a
painting because it's so unrealand it's it's kind of scary,
almost like to feel that, likelittle you know.
But I think, like you said,like your feelings, like it's
not that they don't like matter,because they do, but I think it
(34:59):
puts it in to perspective oflike we're all here, like
together, like there's like likethe whole world is here
together, you know, and likewe're all sharing this one earth
together.
So I think that's kind of like,where the idea of like self-care
and planet care and people careis like you got to take care of
(35:21):
yourself, you got to take careof the planet and you got to
take care of humanity, like wegot to take care of each other,
like we're all in this together,like we all live here, we all
share this one place.
So obviously people are goingto have differences of opinion
on so many different things,surface level things, but at the
end of the day, we're just likeone big human race, all trying
(35:44):
to like survive this one earth,you know, just trying to do our
best, and I think that's whatputs it in perspective for me,
like we're just humans tryingour best and we're sharing in
this experience together.
We all have shared feelings,whether they like are different
or the same.
Speaker 3 (36:03):
So, yeah, yeah, no, I agree, and it's.
I mean, I've said it many times, but in 2020, I went and wrote
my own eulogy and there'ssomething about the approaching
of our own mortality, right,like I whether it's seeing the
Grand Canyon and how big that islike I am just a small part of
(36:26):
this very large story, right,yeah, and even my own story is
so small and truly goes by soquickly and kind of
understanding that and not beingafraid of what that means
anymore changed my entireapproach to who I am and the
(36:46):
life that I wanna lead and thevalue sets that I have and I
know you said it before too itis that taking time to be quiet
for a minute and to just breatheand think and reflect, and how
much that can change your lifewhen you really take a minute to
do that, is truly, trulyincredible.
(37:07):
So I mean, there's somethingabout that I think we've, like,
when we talk to all the peoplewe have on this podcast, it
feels like everyone's had sortof that moment or maybe it's
been a few different moments,right, where it feels like
people who are living on purposeor finding ways to really live
out their one true self in thisworld.
(37:29):
There've been a moment or a fewdifferent ones that have really
they've taken the time andopportunity to reflect on what
it really means to be here, andit sounds like you definitely
have gone down that path as well.
Yeah, definitely, yeah.
So tell us a little bit aboutcontemplation, just a little bit
(37:50):
more.
What does that look like?
What is the?
You've started with one product.
Where are you at now and whereare things kind of going with it
?
Speaker 1 (38:01):
Yeah, so it started really as kind of like a passion
project, like I think likemoving from LA to the mountains
was my first big leap, just oflife in general, of like let me
just do this Like I neverthought I would like go move in
the mountains and like have ahouse there or whatever.
(38:21):
But so I think taking that leapmade things less scary, because
it's like, okay, I can do it andwhat's the worst, that's gonna
happen, right.
And then it was kind of like,okay, I've always wanted to
start a brand.
What's the worst that canhappen, Like you know?
And so, just like taking thatleap, and so it really started
with like I just wanna do this.
(38:42):
It's like something that'simportant to me and I was really
looking at it in that way ofnot like what does it mean?
Like like I'm not trying toimpress anybody by like doing
this, I'm just doing it for me.
So it really was just like apassion project and what I've
found is like a couple pros andcons to that One, like when you
(39:05):
do that, like you're reallyfocused on the passion and not
so much of like the strategicbusiness angle Totally, and so
and I think that's hard whenyou're a creative person to
actually focus on like hey, likeis this actually gonna make
money?
Like does it make sense?
Like is it feasible, Is itsustainable for me as a person,
(39:27):
and I've learned a lot of thosethings, but I've also like grown
in so many ways, because I'vehad to force myself to learn
about things that I like like Ididn't know about, Like I don't
know about marketing and salesand handling finances and all
that stuff and like I'm sure alot of entrepreneurs don't know.
They just have this cool ideaand they wanna bring it to life.
(39:48):
So a lot of that has been likechallenging you know, this first
year and a half that I've beenin business.
But I've also realized that it'smade me grow as a person and
kind of just reflect on like hey, like I went into this with
this idea, Is it like itconstantly morphs?
(40:11):
Like that's what kind of youlearn, like when you're starting
something and then you go intoit, like it constantly changes
from what you originally thoughtit was gonna be right, which is
kind of special in a way.
And so I started with oneproduct and in my mind I was
(40:31):
like okay, I'm gonna start withone product and then I'm like
gonna launch some other products.
But now it's kind of like beenlike wait, I started this
because like the whole purposewas to be minimal, and like, if
I just keep wanting moreproducts, it's kind of like
counterintuitive to what Ioriginally wanted in the first
place, you know.
And so I'm really just kind oftaking a step back and looking
(40:54):
at the business in general andbeing like let me focus on like
what I've built so far and letme like build upon that instead
of just trying to jump into thenext thing, you know.
And so I'm really trying totake a slower approach, because
that's what fits for me in mylife in general, Like I want to
(41:15):
take a slower, organic approach.
I don't want to just likesnowball this into something
huge.
That like goes too fast for mepersonally if any of that makes
sense, but so I don't know.
We'll see, like what happens.
Right now I'm just reallytrying to get a little bit more
brand exposure and my biggestlike message with the brand is
(41:38):
to just teach people that youknow, you don't need a ton of
products like even though we'reliving in this like extreme
consumeristic mindset of a world, like we can just like calm
some of that noise down, we canjust still take care of
ourselves very mindfully with alot less products.
(41:59):
You can do your research, youcan be more conscious in general
about what you buy and just tryto get that messaging out with
like a small community and growthat messaging to people.
Speaker 3 (42:16):
I love it.
Have you thought about apodcast?
Speaker 2 (42:19):
Seriously, I know, right.
Speaker 1 (42:21):
You know what's interesting?
I just recently startedlistening to podcasts, probably
like maybe like a year ago, likeI, I didn't even realize like
what podcasts were.
I know that sounds so silly,but like now I'm like obsessed.
I love listening to podcastsand I have like their life
(42:42):
changing, like people.
You hear stories of people andyou're like, oh my gosh, like
you feel so inspired.
You feel like you can, likealso do different things with
your life and like not be afraid, like.
But the one like thing that I'vegotten from listening to so
many podcasts is that, like,everybody's afraid of things,
right, like, and it's not, it'syou just like, you have to just
(43:05):
force yourself to do it and, atthe end of the day, like nobody
cares, like, what you're doing,you got to do it for yourself,
like, if you're not happy doingit, like, what is the, what is
the point, what is the point ofanything if you're not happy?
You know yourself.
If you're just doing it forsomeone else, like it doesn't
matter, like how much work orhow much effort you put into it,
(43:27):
if it's not fulfilling for you,it's not, it's not worth it.
Speaker 2 (43:32):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (43:34):
I am.
Speaker 2 (43:35):
Yeah, exactly I am.
One of the reasons why I lovedoing this podcast is because
there's a simplicity in how wedo this, like, ours is really
just a conversation, and I knowI've referenced this.
This other podcast I'm going tomention at least a bajillion
times, but there's one calledthis is Love, and this is Love
(43:57):
is one of my favorites becauseit takes stories that are so
simplistic and you arecompletely invested in them.
Like there was a story about howI tell the story, because it's
one of my favorites about and Iforget if it was I think it was
a town in Italy where they wereretuning a certain instrument
(44:19):
and they had to tell everybodyin the town to be quiet, so
nobody, for like, I don't knowhow long it was, but nobody
could speak above a certaindecibel because they wanted to
make sure they got this thinglike so perfectly tuned, and
when I listen to what you'redoing, I feel like you're taking
out the noise, so you're sayingeverybody shush, because I want
(44:42):
to make this as simplistic andas beautiful as possible, so I
need to take out all of thatnoise and stuff like that.
I think what you have is awonderful product.
I need to look at it because,quite frankly, I'm out of makeup
and I would like to actuallyget something where I'll send
you one.
Yeah, okay, I won't say no to afreebie.
Speaker 3 (45:04):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (45:05):
So that's awesome.
So, Ariam, we're coming up onthe time of our hour here.
How do people connect with you?
Speaker 1 (45:13):
Yeah, so you can go to my website, which is
mycontemplationcom, or myInstagram, which is
contemplationofficial, and onthere I kind of just share
videos, not necessarily justabout the product, but kind of
like what we've been talkingabout here, just like trying to
(45:35):
be more mindful, conscious andliving more sustainably.
But, yeah, those are my twomain places where you can find
more information about the brand.
Speaker 3 (45:48):
We'll go to Joshua Tree at some point, yeah we'll
go to Joshua Tree, yes.
Stop by and visit.
Speaker 2 (45:55):
Yes, and we'll make sure to include the resources
and the connection points thatyou mentioned.
We do a lot with social media,so we usually post resources, so
we'll make sure that we spreadthe word that way as well, and
we usually spread that stuff onFacebook, instagram and LinkedIn
.
So awesome.
Yeah and TikTok.
No, I'm trying to figure it out,yes, the famous TikTok, the
(46:20):
TikTok, as I've been saying, yes, the TikTok, oh my goodness.
All right.
Well, ariam, thank you so muchfor this.
This was wonderful talking toyou, and I have to get on your
Instagram now to see all thepretty pictures and videos and
everything like that, and Iencourage others to do that as
(46:42):
well.
So, on behalf of Island Grimesand myself, this concludes our
episode with Ariane Noji.
Everyone, thanks again forlistening into you.
Only Go Once and we'll see younext time.
Take care Bye.
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