Greetings! My name is Merritt Knize, and I am a Licensed Esthetician in Austin, Texas and owner of Merritt Skincare. I provide holistic facials and sugaring hair removal services, and I offer a beautifully curated collection of eco-friendly, natural skincare products for your at-home care. I am a certified Nefeli Gua Sha Facial practitioner, and I am additionally certified in other advanced, traditional healing and rejuvenating methods, including Gua Sha Facial Fusion (TCM), Vodder Manual Lymphatic Drainage (MLD), astecc Connective Tissue Manipulation (CTM), Thai Herbal Poultice Facial Massage (TTM), and Ayurvedic Kansa massage. I have been certified in further gua sha studies and acupressure through renowned esthetician Britta Plug’s Green Beauty Academy. I received my Board Certification as a Holistic Health Practitioner from the AADP in April of 2020.
My efforts are to reduce as much waste as possible, as well as purchasing environmentally friendly products with recyclable and compostable packaging, as much as possible keeping in mind some current limitations that still exist in packaging. I will work with brands that uphold my standards, from ingredient sourcing, to a lighter footprint, to final product, to packaging, and even to shipping materials. If a service I provide presents itself as not being environmentally sound, I will make adjustments or get rid of it altogether. I want to always choose companies to partner with that are transparent about their sourcing and production, as well as their positive environmental efforts. These goals are not limited to my business. They are part of my personal life, home life, and everything and everywhere I have the power to make a change. If I see a limitation, I will reach out to a company and offer my opinion and possible solutions.
I have removed waxing hair removal services from my menu. I offer sugaring hair removal, which only requires disposable gloves for sanitary purposes and the sugar paste itself. I am transitioning to compostable gloves as often as I can get them considering the limitations from the pandemic. The many disposable items needed for waxing services seemed highly wasteful. As well, the sugaring paste consists of only sugar, lemon, and water. Most, if not everything, that I use for sugaring can be returned to earth safely.
For facials and retailing products, I have partnered with brands that use strict sustainable practices and sourcing. From the farms to the natural (usually organic and biodynamic) ingredients, to the packaging (including how they are packed for shipment to me), to the people and environmental non-profits that part of the proceeds from sales go to, every step in the production process is important to me.
When I sell products to ship to customers/clients, I use products from Eco Enclose for packaging. I use compostable bags for my trash bin. I use washable utensils to scoop products from jars, rather than toss-away sticks. I have switched all linens to organic from brands like Coyuchi, who disclose all efforts and benefits for each product purchased from them. Environmentally informed and informing companies have become a requirement for all products used in my practice.
The list of my achievements will continue to grow. As I look at each product and every item I use for every service, the light bulbs keeping going off as to what adjustments I can make for the better. I also support companies that support indigenous peoples and their efforts to protect their land and its crops, and when ingredients are sourced, they are sourced from multiple farms so not to risk wiping out the crops.