Episode Details

What if every ingredient in your skincare had a face, a place, and a story?

Today’s guest is Monique Montoya, a cosmetic formulator, entrepreneur, and founder of LMBK, also pronounced Alambique. After spending more than a decade behind the scenes formulating products for major beauty brands, Monique became increasingly interested in the stories behind the ingredients being used—and the farmers producing them.

Her approach is built around a simple question:

Where does it come from?

In this conversation, we explore:

• Monique’s journey from Albuquerque to different parts of the world
• Why she describes herself as a wanderer
• What eventually led her to build a company around her values
• Her family’s long history of farming in New Mexico
• Why she believes farmers’ stories are often overlooked
• Her philosophy that “every ingredient has a face and a place”
• Why she travels to meet farmers and learn about their traditions
• Her interest in regenerative agriculture, fair-trade initiatives, and women’s cooperatives
• Why she believes supporting small-scale agriculture can have broader community effects
• How raw-material sourcing works in the cosmetics industry
• The distinction she makes between conventional and certified-organic ingredients
• Why she believes cost and speed can influence sourcing decisions
• How she thinks marketing can exploit consumers’ feelings of scarcity and inadequacy
• The relationship between skincare marketing and consumer identity
• Why she questions the idea that people constantly need to “fix” their appearance
• How consumerism can disconnect people from the origins of the products they buy
• Why craftsmanship and agricultural knowledge matter to her
• Her desire to build a business whose impact extends beyond herself
• Why she believes small-scale choices can ripple outward into communities
• Her vision for eventually expanding product availability beyond the United States
• Why she believes consumers should ask better questions about the products they purchase

At the center of Monique’s philosophy is a move away from simply asking “Is this product natural?”

Instead, she encourages consumers to ask:

Where did this ingredient come from, and what am I supporting when I buy it?

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🧴 Monique’s Company

The Alambique / LMBK⁠

Monique explicitly gives her website as:

TheAlambique.com

She says listeners can use the website to:

• Order her products
• Learn about her work
• Find her events

She also says her events take place in Taos, New Mexico, for people who are nearby.

📧 Contact

Monique explicitly says she is happy for people to reach out to her via email and that she reads every comment and review that comes her way.

Important: The actual email address is not spoken in the transcript, so I have not invented one.

🌱 Product Availability

Monique says that her products are currently available only in the United States.

She explains that international sales are something she is working toward, but that global compliance requires additional documentation and regulatory work.