Meet Ye Olde Biddy
At Moon + Arrow, we’re always drawn to makers who challenge the narratives we’ve been handed, especially the ones that feel quietly suffocating. The idea that beauty is something to preserve, correct, or chase has never quite sat right with us.
When we first encountered Ye Olde Biddy, it felt like a natural alignment. Thoughtful, deeply considered, and refreshingly honest, the line centers high-performance botanical skincare designed to support the skin without urgency or fear.
In this conversation, we talk about building a brand that speaks to women in midlife with intelligence and humor, the importance of freshness and small-batch production, and what it means to create products that feel as good as they function. It’s a perspective that honors the full spectrum of living in your skin. Meet Mary of Ye Olde Biddy and shop the collection in April at Moon+Arrow.
What is your mission?
My mission with Ye Olde Biddy is to create high-performance botanical skincare that supports visible vitality without fear-based correction or empty optimism. Our formulas are designed to work together, allowing people to build routines that respond to their lives rather than dictate them. I’m interested in bringing grounded skin physiology together with sensorial richness and intentional design, because how something looks and feels matters just as much as what it does. This is beauty that respects experience not by muting it, but by amplifying it.
Was there a moment when you realized the beauty industry’s obsession with youth no longer spoke to you?
It wasn’t a single moment so much as a long-standing discomfort with the messaging I was seeing. Even when I was younger, the idea that women should start “preserving” themselves before they’d really begun living never made much sense to me. Over time that tension grew stronger, and when I began developing Ye Olde Biddy it felt important to create something that reflects a more expansive view of beauty — one that makes room for curiosity, change, and the reality of actually living in your skin.
Why was it important for you to build a skincare brand specifically for women over 40?
I believe midlife deserves more than symptom management and more than anti-aging panic — it deserves a beautiful, coherent experience that delivers exceptional results with a little humor along the way. In skincare, women over 40 are often given two options: sterile authority or upbeat reassurance. One treats you like a problem to solve; the other treats you like a demographic to soothe. Neither really captures the texture of midlife — the intelligence, the fatigue, the humor, the shifting identity, and the desire for a skincare routine that feels energizing, and real.
Why was making products in small, fresh batches a non-negotiable for you?
Botanical ingredients are alive in a way that synthetic systems often aren’t. Freshness affects both their sensory qualities and their effectiveness. Because I formulate and produce everything myself, the products are naturally made in small batches, which allows me to maintain close control over ingredient quality, formulation integrity, and the overall experience of the product. It also ensures customers receive the formulas at their best.
Sustainability and ethics are core to your brand. How do those values show up in everyday decisions?
For me, sustainability is less about making grand claims and more about thoughtful daily choices. That includes prioritizing responsibly produced ingredients and choosing certified materials where possible, selecting packaging that balances product protection with environmental impact, and producing only what I can reasonably sell so products don’t sit unused. The goal is to operate in a way that respects both the skin and the ecosystems these ingredients come from.
If someone is new to Ye Olde Biddy, what do you hope they feel the first time they use your products?
First, I hope they notice how beautiful the textures and scent profiles are. The products are designed to be a sensory experience — something grounding and enjoyable to use. Beyond that, I hope they notice how good their skin feels: soft, hydrated, responsive, and supported rather than overloaded. Ideally it becomes a small daily ritual that helps them reconnect with themselves.