Behind the Brand: One on One Interview with Emma Hyland
By Merri Kuyumjian
Owner and founder of MuMe, Emma Hyland, has always had a creative side. After graduating university, Hyland found a love for aromatherapy and natural product making, and in 2005 she set up her first business to make skincare products for her massage clients. In 2008, Emma began to work as a lecturer at Blackrock Institute in Dublin and saw a need for an affordable makeup cleanser that would be easy to carry around for makeup students.
“I had been making natural skincare products and soaps so I had a good idea of what ingredients could work to clean the student’s brushes. With an initial idea and a lot of research, I designed a solid makeup brush cleanser full of natural ingredients and in a tin for easy use.”
MuMe was officially born in the summer of 2017 and in 2018 the product went into retail. The brand is inspired after a Japanese fable about the first form of makeup. Meaning “plum blossom” in Japanese, MuMe tells the story of a Japanese princess falling asleep under a plum tree, and when she awoke the fallen blossoms on her face made her look so beautiful that the local women started painting blossom motifs around their eyes and this, according in legend, was the first form of makeup.
After many awards, certifications, and high remarks by various makeup artists, Emma Hyland and MuMe have taken Ireland by storm. MuMe is made of only the best locally sourced ingredients and is convenient for makeup users around the world to buy and use.
“A quality product with a moral heart” is how Emma Hyland describes her masterpiece, and she hopes each one of her customers feels the same.
The future of the brand is looking bright. Recently, Hyland split her business into two and established CreateWithMuMe.ie. On this site, consumers can purchase creative kits and make their own bath bombs, candles, soaps etc in a virtual environment. Amid a global pandemic, Emma Hyland wants to engage her customers in fun ways to get creative and inventive while staying safe at home.
With high quality makeup cleansers and creative work kits, Emma Hyland is unstoppable. She is passionate about her brand and the world can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.