Megan: Ries makes the only refillable, reusable travel-size bottle designed for beauty. We’re all about the freedom to take care - of yourself and the environment. Ries is the thoughtful way to be on the move with your beauty routine.

ML: Ries is disrupting the way we prioritize beauty-on-the-road by allowing us (especially POC) to take more of their products along with them. What inspired you to start the brand? 

Megan: I spent years traveling the world, working for brands like Vogue and Allure. But every time I'd pack my suitcase, I'd face the same issue: low quality bottles made of virgin plastic that were impossible to reuse or the haircare products I was using not available in a convenient travel size. 

Ries was born out of a need to travel with curly hair care products in a less wasteful, more functional way. But Ries isn’t just for hair care - it’s for everything from your body lotions to face cleansers.  

Megan: For me, the process of creating a more sustainable product was answering the question of, “How do we do the most good?”

The beauty industry is responsible for 151 Billion pieces of single use plastic being produced every single year. It’s an incomprehensible number. When you realize that a third of all waste in landfills comes from the beauty industry, it’s both incomprehensible and really quite depressing. 

Megan: I’ve always been a bit of an urban hippie at heart, but a bit of a hypocritical one at that. Airline travel is not the most sustainable practice and I cringe sometimes at thinking at how many miles I’ve logged in my career. 

But it’s very important to remember that most climate issues are caused by large corporations and the oil and gas industries. Amazon’s carbon footprint alone is larger than the entire global airline industry combined. 

When I do travel, I prefer to stay in places for at least 7-10 days in order to integrate into my surroundings as much as possible. I tend to eschew AirBnbs and hotel chains, opting for payment-free home exchanges with like-minded travelers. It helps get a better sense of what inhabiting a city or town is really like and I tend to meet great neighbors and connect with more local vendors than I would otherwise.

ML: The definition of self-care is, at its core, a well-rounded practice of replenishing the self. When you strip it all back, what do you consider essential acts of self-care? 

Megan: When I’m really taking care of myself, I’m starting my day with meditation (15 minutes is a sweet spot), spending time in nature (usually a daily walk) and taking an hour to immerse myself in whatever book I’m reading (currently Ashley Ford’s memoir Somebody’s Daughter.) 

Lately, and as an entrepreneur, it’s been a miracle if just one of those things happens during my day. 

Megan: White lilies and red anthuriums are typically always in bloom somewhere around my house. The anthurium has become a bit of a recurring theme for Ries. 

ML: Most subversive thing you've done lately? 

Megan: There are so many ways in which starting a company in a capitalistic society is the least subversive thing possible ha!  But there is subversion in calling out the beauty industry for its contribution to climate change and wasteful practices while working to be a small part of the solution to those issues.