Exclusive: MIO launches today

Any brand that has the motto 'Fit Skin For Life' is OK by me. I know from the emails I receive that many of you will have used Mama Mio products. Originally designed for use during and post pregnancy, the brand quickly gained notoriety for being fun and fabulous while delivering results without the usual BS and women-hating marketing that is all too prevalent in the beauty industry. 

Today sees an expansion for Mama Mio. MIO is their brand new range for 2014 and promises to shake things up in the industry, just as its predecessor did for pregnant women years ago. 

Launching with 3 core groups: Moisturing Miracles, Aqua Actives and Firming Faves, Mio has the same life-affirming philosophy while encouraging you to be the best YOU that you can be. This is no place for guilt or negativity. The messages across the products range from 'Strong is the new skinny' to 'because lipo sucks'. 

The products are insanely beautiful, hi-tech formulas for affordable prices and they actually work. Each product comes with its own leaflet, instructions, and quick exercises that correspond with whatever product you have purchased. If you are someone for whom healthy living is a way of life or simply someone that has decided you WILL get fit for 2014, there is something here for you.

I asked Sian Sutherland, one of the founders of Mama Mio and now Mio, for her reasons for the new range and how she feels about the industry and the way it markets to women.

You have a hugely successful brand with Mama Mio.
What inspired you to launch Mio?

Us four women behind Mama Mio have never wanted to just make more for the sake of it. We create everything very differently - probably because we don't come from big beauty brand background - so we don't know any other way than creating from gut instinct. 

We focus on women's needs rather than trends. We are probably the most selfish skincare company in the world. We make the skincare that WE need, products that fit into our lives and actually do what we want them to. Our skincare has always been a reflection of our own life stages, and right now we are obsessed with feeling as good as we possibly can by living well - eating right, exercising often and having as much fun as possible. 

So many people we meet are working towards their own optimum fitness - we all think about fit bodies, fit muscles, fit minds even. And yet it struck us that no-one talks about the fitness of your skin. Fit skin is strong, smooth, firm, glowing with health and energy.  Fit skin is your own skin in peak condition, not some airbrushed Hollywood ideal; so we love how positive and real and achievable it is. 

 8 years ago, we launched the first skincare range to care for your through pregnancy.  And now in January 2014, we are the first to create a range totally focused on skin fitness.  The new Mio range covers incredible strength building moisturisers like our firming oil The Activist, firming and toning faves like our pimped Boob Tube + and Shrink To Fit, smoothers and cleansers like Liquid Yoga, our gorgeous restorative bath treatment and our brand new muscle motivating gel that is like an energy shot to your muscles, Workout Wonder.  

And just as you find Mama Mio in pregnancy stores, you will also find Mio in fitness studios and premium gyms around the world. 

What does this mean for Mama Mio?

 Nothing but good news! We have taken this year to not only develop Mio but also REdevelop Mama Mio. Mama Mio is now even better; 8 new formulations bringing our cult faves bang up to 2014 date, new packaging and we have even raised the bar on our original No Nasties promise - our formulas are now not just free of parabens, petrolatum, mineral oil, SLS, artificial colourants and fragrances but are now PEG and glycol free too.  So if you are looking for pregnancy or new mama skincare, you can trust our years of experience with our Tummy Rubs, new Pregnancy Boob Tube, Keep Calm Nipple Balm and the first of our pregnancy face care line, Gorgeous Glow Balancing Facial Wash. 

We decided that if we are going to be the choice of royalty, we'd better look like royalty!

As a brand you've been very 'pro-women' and haven't marketed to women's insecurities.
How important is a healthy mind and body to Mio?

Hugely important. We believe that confidence is not so much how you look, but how you feel about how you look. Women are living longer now and we need to redefine our beauty language. As a beauty brand, we feel very responsible for the 'voice' we use in everything we do. Too much skincare makes you feel bad about how you look - and we are meant to be in the feel-good business! So whether we are helping you with cellulite, super-dry skin or saggy boobs, we want to always do so with warmth and wit.

What are you most excited about for the brand in 2014?

Well of course we are very thrilled to be launching in Space NK and Selfridges this January. They have really embraced the whole new skin fitness niche and are creating windows all around fitness and wellness with Mio at the centre. I am really looking forward to our Mio Workout Wonders series - monthly fit skin events in London and New York, the coolest workout classes with fitness gurus combined with some know how on skin fitness from ourselves. 

 I'm also super excited to have some new products within our Mama Mio range as it has been 3 years since we have created anything new specific to pregnancy. 

What are your Top 3 tips for a healthy 2014?

1. Move your body, it doesn't need to be structured exercise; just walk, dance, ride whenever you can. No one ever finished a workout saying "I wish I hadn't done that". Getting your muscles working, exerting yourself, boosting that circulation and those endorphins is the key to glowing skin that is vibrant with health and energy. Love that word 'energy' - just find yours every day because it is seriously addictive. 
2. Think inside outside. We all know the truth - eat more protein than carbs, lots of antioxidant rich green and brightly coloured veg, drink water (plain as poss), and max out on Omegas - crucial for skin health and bounce.   
3. And finally - make this the year you think beautiful. I am so bored of the anti-aging conversation. We banned that word years ago in our company. Nothing is more negative and impossible - you age from the minute you are born. Here's my answer to the continual age/beauty debate: STOP TALKING ABOUT IT AND EVEN BETTER STOP THINKING ABOUT IT. Let's get on with LIVING instead!! So much more fun. So this year, love what you see in the mirror and focus on what really matters in life - love and laughter and making other people happy. 

Huge thanks to Sian for talking to me - and massive thanks to Mama Mio for being a positive force in an industry that sometimes forgets itself and goes for bucks whatever the cost.

#fitskinforlife

MIO is available now on mioskincare.com and www.SpaceNK.com

For more information on 

Mio: 
US -  www.mioskincare.com
UK - www.mioskincare.co.uk
         

Mama Mio - www.mioskincare.co.uk/mama-mio