MILO Multifunctional Talks About a Regenerative Model for Beauty
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Katrina De Angelis and Lisa Hillyard, founders of MILO Multifunctional, are redefining beauty as an intuitive, internal experience with their all-in-one skincare brand. Designed to combat beauty burnout, MILO Multifunctional offers just three multifunctional products that minimize clutter while maximizing benefits for skin, scalp, and hair. Recognizing that your skin is your largest organâand a reflection of your inner healthâMILO Multifunctional emphasizes holistic care, empowering you to adapt your routine to your bodyâs unique needs. By prioritizing sustainability and simplicity, Katrina and Lisa challenge the beauty industryâs overconsumption while fostering a deeper connection to self-care. In this interview, they share their vision for regenerative beauty, their innovative approach to skincare, and how theyâre building a brand that cares for both people and the planet.

Katrina De Angelis and Lisa Hillyard, co-founders of MILO Multifunctional
RENEE: Thank you both for being here. Iâve had a brand crush on you since we met. I'm dying to ask: how did MILO Multifunctional get started? Where did the spark come from?
KATRINA: Thank you so much, Renee! Weâre thrilled to talk with you. Itâs funnyâwhen we first connected, I felt the same kind of âbrand crush.â I loved your passion for reclaiming our power from the beauty, self-care, and wellness industries. These are huge markets, and with that comes a lot of responsibility. Part of what excites me about launching a beauty brand is that we get to hold that responsibility and shape it into something we want to see in the world.
A bit about me: I wasnât in the beauty industry before this. My background was in corporate culture, leadership consulting, and designing regenerative business practices. Personally, I struggled with my own skin health for yearsâalong with the impact that had on my mental healthâand that really inspired me to start mixing products in my kitchen. As I experimented, I realized many skincare formulas could do more than one job. Why buy six different things if one product can cover a handful of needs? Eventually, that kitchen tinkering turned into something bigger, and I knew I wanted to fuse it with my passion for regenerative business.
RENEE: Iâm picturing you in goggles and mitts, mixing concoctions at your momâs house. Thatâs so fun! Lisa, what about you?
LISA: I came from what I like to call âBeauty Adjacent.â I worked on corporate innovation for a bunch of big consumer brandsâsome in the beauty space, some not. Meanwhile, I was a total beauty junkie. Iâm talking a ten-step, hundreds-of-dollars-a-month habit. When Katrina called me with this ideaâconsolidating an entire skincare routine into just a few productsâshe asked if Iâd try it. My immediate reaction was, âYes! If you can really replicate the effect of my ten steps in just three, Iâm in.â
And from a business perspective, Iâd seen firsthand how difficult it is for large legacy companies to innovate in truly transformative ways. Most are built on an extractive model thatâs all about lowering costs, selling more product, and not about creating meaningful, sustainable impact. Katrinaâs idea felt like a chance to prove a new kind of business could thrive.
RENEE: You both talk a lot about regeneration. Can you explain what that means for you?
KATRINA: At its core, regeneration is about renewal: working with nature and the cycles around us so that weâre nurturing and replenishing rather than just taking. Instead of pulling resources from the earth or from communities without regard for the consequences, we look for ways to ensure everything we do is supporting and renewing the system it comes from.
Practically, that could mean looking at our supply chain and choosing partners that protect their local ecosystems. It might mean recognizing that, for skin health, we should prioritize products that help your skin function at its best rather than stripping it down with harsh ingredients just to force-feed it moisture afterward. On a larger level, itâs a mindset. It affects how we operate as individuals and as a business. If something isnât working or feels extractive, we ask how to evolve toward a more regenerative approach.
RENEE: It sounds like you want to flip the traditional capitalist model on its headâwhere companies focus on selling more and people keep buying more. How does âregenerative capitalismâ work?
LISA: Exactly. Weâre living in late-stage capitalism, especially in North America. We see obvious problems: the pressure to buy, buy, buy, the ways public companies must maximize shareholder value by constantly cutting costs, and the manipulative marketing that goes with it. We donât think capitalism itself is the problem; itâs the extractive mindset behind it. Our approach is to accept capitalism as the frameworkâbecause changing that overnight is unrealisticâbut then bake regeneration into every stage.
For instance, a set percentage of our top-line revenue goes to regenerative causes. Period. We donât wait to see âwhatâs leftâ in the budget. We also create products that address real skin needs without fueling overconsumption. And we have zero interest in tricking people into using more than they need. All these things are rolled into the structure of the company. Our hope is that others feel inspired to build or remodel their businesses in a similar way.
RENEE: I love the idea of a âhuman care cooperative,â where each business lifts the other. Letâs talk specifically about the products. How does your line reflect this idea of human care?
KATRINA: From the start, we wanted to avoid fueling misinformation or the idea that you need thirty products to feel beautiful. We focus on the six fundamentals of skin healthâmoisture, hydration, essential nutrients, antioxidants, proper cell turnover, and barrier protection. We realized that one well-crafted formula could do several of those at once, rather than different products for each. Thatâs how we ended up with three main products: the Everything Oil, the Hydrating Tonic, and the Activating Powder.
Instead of releasing endless lines and âsolutionsâ for each micro concern, we designed multi-functional products that work individually and in tandem. They cover all the essentials, cut down on waste, and invite people to use them intuitivelyâmaybe you need a bit more hydration this week, maybe a bit more exfoliation next week.
RENEE: Iâm curious, how do each of you personally approach self-care? Any specific rituals you canât live without?
LISA: I used to be a 10-steps, twice-a-day person, but that felt unsustainable for me. Now I focus on inner well-beingâlots of baths, sound healing, meditationâand I keep my beauty routine simple. My typical day: cleanse with the Everything Oil, spritz with the Tonic, and put on another light layer of the Everything Oil. If I wear makeup, Iâll set it with the Activating Powder. And as a self-professed non-hair-washer, I rely on that Powder as a dry shampoo, too. Thatâs it. Itâs streamlined, itâs quick, and Iâm not weighed down by all these extra products.
KATRINA: Iâm also a big fan of weekly masksâusing the Activating Powder plus the Tonic to create a super nourishing, exfoliating blend. I love turning that into a little ritual with my husband. He gets a face massage, I get a moment of connectionâitâs awesome. If Iâm noticing changes in my skin, like the lines on my forehead that bug me, I ask, âWhat can I do that feels good, gentle, and proactive?â A lot of times, the answer is something as simple as more hydration. I might do an extra mask, sleep on my heated mat, or just give myself a solid rest day. The beauty of an intuitive routine is giving yourself permission to pause and ask, âWhat do I really need today?â
RENEE: So the last question: whatâs the grand vision for MILO Multifunctional?
LISA: Ultimately, we want to be a vertically integrated house of brands. Think of the scale of a huge conglomerate like LâOrĂ©al or P&G, but in a fully regenerative model. If we can do thatâif we can stand up a massive, profitable organization built on giving back and not exploitingâthen that funnels a huge amount of money, innovation, and cultural power into real, systemic change. Itâs ambitious, but weâre determined to keep evolving and proving that yes, regeneration can be the new normal.
KATRINA: And part of that is staying responsive. If something isnât working or feels misaligned with our regenerative goals, weâre not afraid to pivot. We hope to keep fueling conversations about how business can be a force for good, and continue refining our formulas and our model as new information comes in. Itâs a living, breathing systemâjust like the skin weâre here to support.
What struck me most about Katrina and Lisa is how deeply they believe in moving beyond self-care as merely a buzzword. Their vision for MILO Multifunctional is big, but itâs also intensely personal, grounded in the idea that taking care of our skin can be a gateway to a much larger conversation about taking care of each other and of our world. Listening to them, itâs hard not to feel a spark of excitementâwhat if this is the future of beauty?
Iâll be keeping an eye on MILO Multifunctional (and stocking my shelf with their set of three), waiting to see just how far these two can push the idea of a regenerative beauty revolution. If they have their way, we might all start seeing our skincare routine as one small step toward something kinder, more sustainable, and undeniably more human.
Learn more about the MILO Multifunctional Trio Travel Kit on Here I Am.
Learn more about Katrina and Lisa on their website, MILO Multifunctional.Â
This interview has been edited and condensed from my conversation with Katrina and Lisa. To hear the full interview, find it and follow Here I Am on our YouTube channel.