MYKA

MYKA

By Darcie Duttweiler Friday, 22 August 2008

From paralysis to professional cosmetic designer, the owner of this small shop creates makeup and lotion with all-natural ingredients.

In 1999, Lori Erickson was a healthy personal trainer, but when a bout of depression and muscle pains sidelined her, she began to worry. Eventually Erickson experienced muscle paralysis and had to quit her job. For an entire year, she was confined to a wheelchair, unable to stand long enough to make dinner.

Erickson was diagnosed with multiple chemical sensitivity, or MCS, and discovered she was allergic to synthetic carbons and perfumes, the ingredients found in most household cleaners and beauty products.

“I was being poisoned every day,” Erickson said. “When I found out about the perfumes, I started to research, figured out what was wrong with me and then I immediately got better.”

It is hard to imagine Erickson in a wheelchair. The owner of MYKA on Slaughter Lane bounced around her mineral makeup shop, helping customers find the right shade and plucking samples from behind the counter while quickly rattling off facts about natural ingredients and minerals.

After discovering her allergies, Erickson threw out all her old products and started from scratch. She also decided to open MYKA in June 2007.

“I needed all-natural products, so I had to get creative and make my own stuff,” she said.

Erickson said when she started looking for all-organic beauty products, the market was full of hemp and was too “hippie-ish” for her tastes. She discovered some recipes from the 1800s and began making her own lotions and sugar scrubs.

For Erickson, it was a “natural” progression into makeup.

“After I got better, I was still having trouble with makeup, so I started playing around,” she said.

Erickson’s mineral makeup is made from mica stone, which is an inert, inorganic (meaning not containing carbon or oxygen) mineral that cannot support bacteria. It is not affected by heat or humidity and naturally protects against the sun. The particles will not block or clog pores, allowing skin to breathe. Mica is lightweight and will not cause sagging skin, making skin appear more youthful.

Erickson said she wanted to open the store because she knew what it was like to try natural products and not know where to start. MYKA offers custom-blended mineral makeup that is made in-house rather than being mass-produced. In fact, Erickson’s 8-year-old daughter makes most of the colors.

“The mind of a child can envision more colors,” Erickson said.

Those colors also came in handy when she was decorating the store. Several large, colorful lanterns sprinkle the ceiling, and a mural brightens up Erickson’s office, all painted using MYKA’s mineral makeup.

MYKA sells lotions, sugar scrubs, skin care and vitamins as well as jewelry and cards made by local artisans. Makeup classes, which range from application lessons to special effects makeup, are also offered.

Erickson is in the early stages of developing men’s skin care products, and her hair care line will launch during the holidays. She hopes to start a franchise in the near future.

“I really shoot myself in the foot sometimes with my lofty goals,” she said, laughing.

Smells good enough to eat

All of Lori Erickson’s sugar scrubs are made from food grade ingredients, such as organic sugar and organic virgin coconut oil. Some of her clients have been known to sample the scrubs. One tasted like piña colada without the pineapple. Erickson recommends the Coffee Brisk, which has the most benefits for the skin, including the reduction of cellulite.

Sugar scrubs: $8.50 (5 oz), $2 (1 oz)

Her lip tints are made with cocoa butter, beeswax, organic jojoba oil, vitamin E and colorant.

Lip tint: $5

MYKA, 5800 W. Slaughter Lane, Ste. 330, 706-9557, www.mykastore.com