If there’s one thing I love trying out, it’s beauty products. Much to Drew’s chagrin since our counter is often overcrowded with the latest and greatest. But today’s post, and the brand behind it, have inspired me to downsize my routine and focus on just a handful of products that I depend on daily.

m/f was started by the founder of Alternative Apparel, Greg Alterman. In 2015, he suffered a brain hemorrhage and had to spend six month at home recovering. The hemorrhage made him highly sensitive to visual noise – so vibrant colors and clutter affected his recovery. I can’t relate to the brain hemorrhage, obviously, but I can totally understand being affected by clutter. I feel like I am constantly picking up around my house, my mind can’t rest until I’ve put things away and clutter is constantly bugging me.  

Anyways… so to help with his recovery, Alterman decluttered his house. With a family of six (yes, that’s four kids – guessing there was a lot of clutter), that was no easy task but they paired down to the essentials. The whole decluttering process and the serenity that came with it pushed him to create a brand founded on the principles he applied in his home. And so, m/f was born.

The brand – which includes clothing, the hoodies look so comfy – focuses on quality over quantity with high quality materials, ingredients and simple branding that blend into their surroundings. The proof of that was evident when I opened up the package of skin care items they sent to try out.

The packaging and branding is sleek, simple and did blend perfectly into my counter. But obviously this post isn’t about branding, it’s about the products so here’s my thoughts.

They sent over the Super Scrub Face, Charcoal Mask and Hyaluronic Face Cream. I tried out all three together, as recommended, but I would probably only do the scrub + mask combo once or twice a week.

First off, I was really impressed with the texture. I am a big weirdo when it comes to moisturizers and the consistency. I like it to be thick but not heavy, moisturizing but obviously not greasy and obviously something that works. This one fits that Goldilocks standard. It goes on cool (thanks to the squalene for extra hydration) and you can almost feel it plumping up your skin.

After trying all three together my face had that post-facial glow. Super clean, moisturized and flush. I especially loved the Charcoal Mask because it didn’t have the super tight and dry feeling that you can get with some masks. I could feel it working but without the sensation that my face had a vacuum on it. Not surprised to find out these are three of their top sellers.

All of their products are made with formulas that are cruelty-free, vegan, non-gmo and made without parabens. They are also made with minimal packaging which I particularly like since I find so much of the packaging with beauty products excessive and wasteful. I blame all the recent 60 Minutes stories on plastic consumption for my new found annoyance with it all.

Most of the time when I read about a brand like this, I’m worried that everything is going to cost a fortune. That’s not the case with m/f. It has a luxury-brand feel without the accompanying sticker shock.

Lastly, their products are all unisex which I find pretty cool. Doubt I can get Drew to try out the full routine but thinking about ordering their face wash for him to try out.

All in all, I really loved what I tried from the brand. My favorite was definitely the moisturizer but I like how I can use the full system a couple times a week to reset my skin and, of course, give myself a 15 – 20 minute spa break from the daily madness.

Photos by Tabitha Booth

 

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Thanks so much to m/f for sponsoring this post. All opinions, thoughts and random ramblings are my own.