The Lineup is a monthly series where we’re giving you an inside peek at the beauty lineups of cool fashion people, editors, makeup artists, hairstylists, and aestheticians—all the people we trust the most. Get ready for a behind-the-scenes look at all the can’t-live-without products that make their worlds go ’round.
This may come as a shock to all of my fellow Gen Zers out there, but I do not have that entrepreneurial spirit that our generation is always applauded for. Don’t get me wrong—I still get a ton of light-bulb moments, which I save in my Notes app, and I follow tons of entrepreneurs on every social media platform. But unlike the people with thriving businesses on my Explore page, I’m not so great at the execution. (Maybe there’s a little more to it than that, but let’s save that conversation for another day.) When I discover people who take a light-bulb moment and transform it into a successful and effective business model, I have no choice but to extensively research them and tell all of my friends. And recently, one person has caught my attention: Hope Smith, the founder and CEO of Mutha.
Eight years ago, Smith was on the hunt for the best products to help prevent stretch marks during her pregnancy, but to no avail, so she took matters into her own hands. “I turned my kitchen into a science lab and started experimenting with my mixer, only using ingredients that fit the EU’s standards, which has banned over 1000 chemicals from beauty products while the U.S. has only banned 11,” she says. After logging hundreds of hours of intense research and five years spent developing body butter batch by batch, Smith created what is now the award-winning Mutha Body Butter. “What was born in a kitchen in 2014 was more than a stretch-mark cream. It was a desire to honor women, parenthood, and our bodies in a brand new way,” she says. Since the long days of formulating in her kitchen, Mutha has become a celeb-loved brand that beauty fanatics all over can’t stop recommending. So it’s only right that I chatted with Smith about the beauty products that she swears by. And after hearing her top beauty picks, I can confirm that Mutha knows best. If you want an insider look at what this badass mother, esthetician, social media personality, and entrepreneur is loving right now, just keep scrolling.