a.k.a mikiro: SPOTLIGHT

It's been over 6 months since my sister, Mikka turned her bedroom into a laboratory-slash-factory-slash-office for her business Raw byRoque. It's a hot mess up there, sticky floors and all, but it always smells really good! I was curious to find out more about the vegan artisanal body products she's always busy brewing up in her little cave. If you're curious too, read on to find out more about Raw byRoque! ♥

Are you vegan or vegetarian?

Mikka: I started out vegan, but recently have been EATING vegetarian since it’s tough cooking my food from scratch every day. Being vegan is more of a lifestyle than just for the health purposes. It doesn’t only pertain to the food I eat but also they way I live, like using cruelty free make up, other beauty products, clothes, basically everything I use doesn’t have ANY animal by-products (like pasta noodles, that uses egg in the process of making them, egg coming from an animal). My eating habits changed not because I wanted to lose weight, but because I believe taking another’s life for my benefit isn’t justifiable, especially because there are a lot of alternatives in this modern day. Aside from this, there are also a lot more benefits from being vegan, aside from our health, this lifestyle is important in achieving a sustainable environment. For instance it takes 600 gallons of water to make one burger, which is equivalent to two months worth of showers. And it also takes millions of pounds of grain to feed these animals we are eating, when instead these pounds of grain can be made into food to feed the starving people. However, being completely vegan is a bit tough for me because my business requires a lot of hand work on my part. I start and end my day making and experimenting on products, and having to cook my food literally from scratch is probably going to make my hands fall off some day. If I wanted to eat pasta, I would have to make my own noodles JUST to replace the egg with a vegan alternative. So, I do live a vegan lifestyle, however every now and then when I have no other choice, I switch to being vegetarian when it comes to my food. But, this is too complicated to explain briefly to a person when they ask me, and I also believe there aren’t any strict rules when it comes to this. For as long as you are compassionate about the lives of these animals and do all you can to support their lives, then you are vegan, plain and simple.

What made you change your lifestyle?

Mikka: Animals. Not many know this about me since this is something I kept to myself for the longest time. People just see what’s on the outside and that I could eat a lot. But for a while, especially since college, I always wanted to change my lifestyle, but I never found the right inspiration to change my way of thinking. So, I would try eating less meat but in my head, it was to lose weight. I never felt too good about how I ate because I felt like it was very selfish. Just because I had the money to buy myself a meal, didn’t mean that I would buy more than I really should have eaten and then forced myself to finish everything since it would be a waste not to. But when I finally started working, I did a lot of research about these veganism and vegetarianism, and it was just perfect for me and my beliefs. Since I was working already, I could really make decisions on my own, like what food to eat and what ingredients I could buy and was able to finance these ingredients. But I still didn’t make the drastic change.
Then one day in January 2015, Papa got us a cute little puppy. And this just brought back so much love for the animals. So, I started re-watching documentaries, like Food Inc., Forks Over Knives, and Earthlings, about the process our food goes through from the very start of it when they slaughter the animals. I bawled my eyes out. So, there on February 8 I decided to stop eating animals and stopped supporting their death.

How did Raw byRoque start? What made you decide to rebrand your online store?

Mikka: As a part of my lifestyle change, I needed to also change the bath products I was using. I found a local brand for the beginning but to be honest it got boring. You know how girls like to go shopping for different beauty and bath products? Well, I still like to do that but there aren’t many choices, so I made my own. And of course I had to keep the name Raw by Roque since selling online has been something close to me since I was in college and wasn’t sure of what I really wanted for myself. Changing the name and working on a whole new thing would be like abandoning a little child of mine just because it hasn’t grown.

What inspired the scents, shapes and names of the products in your line?

Mikka: At first it was really a competition of making vegan food or sweets and making bath products. Although I don’t enjoy sweets so much, their presentation and smell just makes me happy. Then I figured, why not combine the two and not accidentally poison people nor unnecessarily make them gain weight. That’s why I decided to make them look like sweets. A lot of people ask me why doughnuts or why they are so cute that it would make them not want to use them. To be honest I can make these soaps in the shape of a normal bar and they would still cost the same, so why not make them look like something that could bring us joy, I mean we do deserve to be happy anyway.
For the scents, hmmm, basically my favorite things, some people and events in my life are the inspiration to the scents. For example, Bob’s Your Uncle, which my future husband, Bobby is an inspiration to. That is made up of a number of base, heart and head scents. It has scents of musk for his manliness, talc is because he is also like my little baby boy, warm vanilla and cream because well that’s how he makes me feel, you know when you smell warm vanilla, that feeling you get? It has a bit of jasmine because he is like my life’s F5 button where he’s like a refresh button and a breath of fresh air and of course the coconut smell, because of the feelings I get when I’m lying under the umbrella by the shore, relaxing and enjoying our tropical climate. The descriptions for each product can go onnn and onnn because there really are stories behind each one. Other products are named after our pets, like my little baby girl (Shih Tzu) Muffin, and our beagle Mr. Bean’s imaginary wife, Mrs. Bean.

What are the main ingredients of your products and where are they from?

Mikka: The main ingredients are shea butter, cocoa butter, grapeseed oil and olive oil, and for the sea salt scrubs they have the salt from the Dead Sea. Most of these are from a supplier who imports the Shea from Ghana, Africa, the grapeseed oil from Australia, cocoa butter and olive oil from Cebu! And the Dead Sea salt from the dead sea!

What are your personal favorite products in the line?

Mikka: My favorite soap would have to be Pixie Dream. I like that so much that I just stand in the shower incessantly smelling the doughnut.For the Dead Sea Salt Scrubs my new favorite would be the Birthday Cake because who doesn’t love the smell of birthday cake! I feel like I’ve had my dessert after using this in the shower.
For the Whipped Body Butter I loooove Muffin Kisses since I feel like I’m rubbing cookie batter all over my skin. This one is really nice to use before getting in bed.
And for my newest favorite product, I love the Mrs. Bean Coffee Sugar Scrub cupcakes, they really have lightened my stretch marks on my butt area, plus the cupcakes are really convenient to use since you just grab the cupcake, rub it on the area with stretch marks, once you see there’s enough product that the area turns brownish, just rub this area in circular motions for like 30 seconds to a minute. Then you’re done! I do this every day and it’s almost been a month and the cupcake isn’t even half its size yet! The Mrs. Bean in a jar is good for people who don’t like leaving their products out in the open and it also comes with a spoon to scoop out the product.

Why is the tag line for Raw byRoque "LOVE YOURSELF"?

Mikka: I decided on “Love yourself” because I feel many people forget this and its deeper meaning. When I was too busy chasing shallow dreams I did forget to truly love myself and the Mikka I was born to be.
I want people to remember that even when you are alone with yourself, like in the shower, you still deserve the best. It isn’t insane to spend for something as beautiful as your own skin. For something so natural and exquisite, it not deserves only the best of nature, molded together into one thing for your use. It isn’t wrong to treat yourself, and only yourself without having to tell the whole world about it. I believe we should cherish the body given to us because it is the home of our soul and is only ours to borrow.

Tell us more about your partnership with the Island Rescue Organization (IRO)?

Mikka: I’ve always wanted to help IRO, even when I was in college, but I never got to it. When I started Raw, it was already in my long term plan to partner with a non-profit org to help animals. It was only when I joined the Junior Jaycees International (JCI) when I really felt the push to do this. So came up with the project called Raw for Paw, proposed it, and contacted IRO about it. They were very glad to have Raw and JCI help them out on their cause to rescue homeless, abandoned, neglected and abused dogs and cats.Raw for Paw is a fundraising campaign and will raise its funds through giving 100% of our Raw for Paw items’ profit to IRO’s food subsidiary. So far, I have Raw for Paw soaps and Dead Sea salt scrubs. For other items, like Raw’s Tinted Lip Butters and Scrub, 25% of the proceeds go to IRO. This is just Raw’s first step in helping IRO. Raw, together with JCI, plans on coming up with more events that can raise funds for IRO.

Who would you recommend your product line to?

Mikka: EVERYONE! I would of course recommend this to all the people who share the same compassion with animals. Vegans. Organic buffs. Ladies (and even men) who would rather use natural ingredients than those that can strip your skin of its natural oils. For those who would not want to over-cleanse their skin using detergent-like products. For people with sensitive skin or who care enough not to support companies that can do harm to their bodies in the long run, to animals or to the environment. For the ages, there’s really no limit to who can use this, whether you are a baby or a grandparent, since these are made from all natural ingredients, it shouldn’t harm your skin at all, unless you are allergic to cocoa or nuts.

Needless to say, I'm one proud big sister right here! And I'm not just saying this because I'm supposed to, but Raw by Roque has some pretty awesome stuff, I wish you could smell them off your screens! Haha ♥

Here's a peek at her growing line of body treats. ♥

TOP (L-R): Insomnia Sea Salt Scrub, Pumpkin Spice Doughnut Soap, Razz Beary Sea Salt Scrub, The Dreamer Bath Bomb

MIDDLE (L-R): Coffee Pistachio Doughnut Soap, Honey-glazed sea salt cookie, Razz Beary Doughnut Soap, Mrs. Bean Coffee Sugar Scrub

BOTTOM (L-R): Bob's Your Uncle Sea Salt Scrub, Choco Doughnut, Cinnamon Roll Soap, Muffin Kisses Whipped Body butter, Pixie Dream Whipped Body Butter, Bob's Your Uncle Whipped Body Butter

Raw byRoque products are available at www.rawbyroque.com and at bazaars in Cebu.

Check out Raw byRoque's Facebook page HERE for news and updates on where you can catch her next!