A Night With MIYU: Prettea Little Tea Quartet Review & Interview with the MIYU Founder

MIYU Beauty {pronounced mee-you} is a natural union between tea & beauty.  MIYU combines scientific advancement in skincare with ancient Chinese beauty wisdom. Their collection consist of two unique pairings; Hydrate Mi Pairing and the De-Stress Mi Paring.  Included in each is tea and a beauty essence (part serum, part facial mist). 

MIYU Beauty kindly sent me their Prettea Little Tea Quartet for review. This four piece introductory tea and skincare kit contains the following:

1 Hydrate Mi Beauty Essence (15 ml)
1 De-Stress Mi Beauty Essence (15 ml) 
2 Sachets of Hydrate Mi Beauty Tea
2 Sachets of De-Stress Mi Beauty Tea 

The entire collection is gorgeous. The tea's taste divine, with my personal favorite being the Hydrate Tea as it contains rooibos tea with goji berries, rose petals, snow pear essence and candied pearls. The De-Stress Tea is also beautiful as it has peppermint, licorice root, organic chamomile blossoms, and candied pearls. 

Although the facial mists are not 100% natural, they do contain good holistic ingredients. All ingredients are listed at 4 or under on Cosmetic Database which I can also appreciate. I found the facial mists to be a perfect refresher throughout the day or to use before my daily moisturizer. I love that they are not only a mist but combine the same concentrated, nourishing ingredients that a serum has. 

Here are the list of ingredients for the Beauty Essence: 

Hydrate Mi Beauty Essence: water (aqua), pentylene glycol, glycerin, sodium hyaluronate, hydrolyzed pearl protein, camellia sinensis leaf extract, paeonia albiflora root extract, hydrolyzed viola tricolor extract, rosa centifolia flower extract, lycium chinese fruit extract, garcinia mangostana peel extract, aloe barbadensis leaf juice powder, sodium PCA, panthenol, leuconostoc/radish root ferment filtrate, proline, serine, glycine, glutamic acid, lysine, alanine, arginine, threonine, sorbitol, caprylic/capric triglyceride, phenoxyethanol, betaine, polysorbate 20, disodium EDTA, ethylhexylglycerin

De-Stress Mi Beauty Essence: water (aqua), pentylene glycol, glycerin, sodium hyaluronate, hydrolyzed pearl protein, camellia sinensis leaf extract, paeonia albiflora root extract, saccharomyces/zinc ferment, saccharomyces/iron ferment, saccharomyces/copper ferment, saccharomyces/magnesium ferment, saccharomyces/silicon ferment, mentha piperita (peppermint) leaf extract, glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice) root extract, zingiber officinale (ginger) root extract, lonicera caprifolium (honeysuckle) flower extract, taraxacum officinale (dandelion) rhizome/root extract, aloe barbadensis leaf juice powder, sodium PCA, panthenol, leuconostoc/radish root ferment filtrate, proline, serine, glycine, glutamic acid, lysine, alanine, arginine, threonine, sorbitol, caprylic/capric triglyceride, phenoxyethanol, betaine, polysorbate 20, disodium EDTA, ethylhexylglycerin

Interview with MIYU Beauty Founder Connie Tai 

What inspired you to start MIYU?                                     

When I was living in New York, I began developing skin sensitivities in ways I had never seen before.  At the time, I was doing product development for another beauty brand, so I had access to some of the best products in the industry.  However, nothing seemed to settle my irritations.  I turned to my father for inspiration because he was just in the middle of building his own pharmaceutical company using Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).  I started to take an interest in this field and began reading more about Eastern philosophies and its approach on health.  I quickly came to appreciate that our health and ultimately our skin is affected by so many external factors including diet, sleep, stress, etc, something we don't address enough in Western culture!  For this reason, Eastern medicine teaches us to match what you do on the outside with what you do on the inside.  When I looked around me, I realized that today's beauty products are too narrowly focused.  An ideal beauty ritual should not be limited to just creams and lotions.  Rather, it should also encompass the lifestyle choices that you make, all which may have a material impact on your skin.  I wanted to create a line that would target lifestyle-inflicted skin concerns from the inside out, while marrying Eastern philosophies with the latest in skincare technology.  I wanted to redefine our current idea of "skincare" and expand it to include "self-care".  The result is MIYU - a beautiful line that pairs teas with skincare to nourish the complexions from the inside out.  

Photo Credit: MIYU Beauty

Your products are beautiful! What motivated the elegant design of the MIYU line?

Thank you so much!  I found that many skincare brands that boast some serious science tend to have very clinical-looking packaging.  Although the science behind our formulas are also robust, I wanted the packaging to look different than any other skincare brand.  I wanted the products to look so pretty, that you would want to display them on your vanity.  And what can I say, I'm a sucker for pretty packaging!  As you can probably tell, I love intricate detail and soft pastels.  Much of my influences have been drawn from my trip to London, Paris and Japan several years back, because I was so impressed with the thought and attention they put into their packaging.  

Facial mists & tea pairings are such a unique and creative idea! What inspired this idea?

I wanted to create pairings of beauty essences and teas that address specific lifestyle concerns rather than skin type.  The reason for doing so is because I discovered through my research that more than 80% of skin aging is due to environmental and lifestyle factors, while only 20% is genetic!  I found this statistic extremely empowering because environmental and lifestyle factors are well within our control!  Our beauty essences are a unique hybrid between a serum and a facial mist, delivering the nourishing and treatment benefits of a serum, but dispensing as a convenient and refreshing mist!  The reason why I chose to pair beauty essences with teas as opposed to any type of face cream is because I wanted a product that you can switch out easily as your lifestyle concerns change.  Since our pairings are beauty boosters to your existing regimen, you can swap them out as you please without overhauling your existing routine.

I love the fact that you’re Canadian and originally from the same city as me! What influence (if any) did Canadian and New York culture have on MIYU? 

It's always nice to meet a fellow Edmontonian!  Canada definitely influenced my affinity for tea - we have such a big tea culture here!  I also like to think that we incorporate the friendly, heart-warming Canadian spirit into MIYU, through all our interactions with others - be it customers, suppliers, retailers or partners.  New York has influenced me tremendously in terms of art, design and how to NOT be afraid to push the envelope and embrace innovation.

MIYU Beauty Webpage

As you can tell I'm totally head over heels for this line and it's founder Connie. I think that this is a beautiful line that would be perfect for events like bridal showers. In the future if I ever do open up an brick & mortar store for Nuciya I would love to have this for my customers during a customer appreciation event. What are your thoughts on this unique line?