Stripped back health traced to source with Jules Miller

Take two capsules in the morning. That small line on the Pre + Probiotic jar carries much of The Nue Co. idea, a daily routine made from a short list of ingredients with stated doses, batch records behind it and no extra fillers to pad the capsule.

Two capsules in the morning, taken daily for the long term. That is the instruction printed on the jar of Pre + Probiotic, 60 capsules for 75 dollars, and it is a useful place to start with Jules Miller. The dose is plain, the count is plain, the intended rhythm is plain.

Miller founded The Nue Co. in 2017 after years managing IBS in her early twenties. She describes trying natural and pharmaceutical products that left her feeling worse, then building her own routine around diet and a small set of supplements. The brand name comes from nue, meaning stripped back or naked, and the early premise was simple. As a rule, she found about half the contents of market supplements were synthetic fillers and bulking agents, and she wanted formulas without them.

What the brand is now is broader than gut capsules. The range spans ingestibles, topical magnesium, hair formulas and a large functional fragrance business developed with perfumer Frank Voelkl and houses including Givaudan and Firmenich. By 2024, after a rebrand around mood states, fragrance accounted for 65 percent of revenue. What others often miss is how much of that shift was about delivery. Capsules and powders could not give immediacy, so Miller turned to smell, which she describes as a direct route to awareness, memory and mood.

You launched The Nue Co. in 2017 after developing IBS in your early twenties and finding that market supplements left you feeling worse. What did those early labels teach you about fillers and formulation quality.

Health has always felt intuitive to me. I grew up in a Colombian family rooted in plant based healing, I went to the herbalist with my mother, and I learned about vitamin B12 from my grandfather, who was a chemist. When I developed IBS, I spent a lot of time and money trying products that made me feel worse. As a rule, I found that 50 percent of ingredients were synthetic fillers and bulking agents. My grandfather had introduced me to probiotic supplements and taught me that formulation and ingredient quality make all the difference. I had worked in the supplement industry and I saw the lack of transparency and effectiveness. I feel like I had spent my whole life gathering insights for The Nue Co. There was no job that really spoke to me, so I decided to create one. Nue means stripped back or naked. That was the brief. Pure efficacious ingredients at proven dosages, nothing extra to bulk out the capsule.

You say nue means stripped back or naked, centered on pure efficacious ingredients. How does that idea show up in the other ingredients line on a jar like Pre + Probiotic.

At The Nue Co. our founding principle is to create supplements that do not harm people or the planet. Sustainability is at the heart of what we do, because we see health as one interconnected ecosystem. We combine science and nature by using sustainable and clinically proven ingredients to create health products that are good for people and the planet. On the label that means we refuse artificial colors, flavors, fillers, GMO ingredients, refined sugars and preservatives in ingestibles. We also refuse toxic preservatives, additives, flavourings and sweeteners, and we hold a list of over 200 banned ingredients. Pre + Probiotic was one of our first products and it is still a bestseller. It pairs a prebiotic with spore bacteria, which stay dormant until they reach the small intestine where they activate. Take two capsules daily in the morning for long term gut health. That is what the label shows, and the paperwork behind the batch is what lets us stand behind it.

Your brief states that over half of ingredients are organic or community sourced and that formulas are tested for efficacy, purity and potency. Where exactly does the Pre + Probiotic material begin, and what happens between harvest and encapsulation.

We use clinically studied and ethically sourced ingredients at proven dosages, and over half are organic or community sourced. Every lot is tested for efficacy, purity and potency. For probiotics, the chain matters because living organisms are sensitive to heat, moisture and shear. Our probiotic blending uses a special slow blender to protect bacteria stability. That sounds small, but it decides whether the fill weight in the capsule matches the count on the Supplement Facts panel at the time you take it. The plant portion starts on farms we can name in our sourcing files, then it is dried to a set moisture specification, milled, and extracted where an extract is required. Extract ratio and standardisation are recorded on the certificate of analysis. Then the material is blended, encapsulated, and finished jars are held until the third party lab results return for heavy metals and microbes. I would rather use clean and clinically proven ingredients than synthetic fillers and additives. Clean, for us, has to mean a document behind the word.

You describe probiotic blending with a special slow blender to protect stability. Why does blending speed matter for a two capsule morning dose.

Because the capsule has to deliver what the label states at the time you take it. High shear creates heat and breaks particles in ways that can reduce viability. A slow blender protects bacteria stability through the blending step, then we control moisture and fill weight at encapsulation so each capsule holds the intended amount. This is part of what my grandfather meant when he said formulation and ingredient quality make all the difference. A formula can look right on paper and still lose potency in the plant if the process is too aggressive. We test for purity and potency and we keep batch records, so if a customer asks what is in jar 60 capsules, we can point to the lot and the lab sheet. Our products are designed to exist in each part of your day and every room of your house. They are created to feel like a pleasure to use, never a chore. The morning dose is the clearest example. Two capsules, same time, same glass of water, no complicated stack.

In 2019 you launched Functional Fragrance direct to consumer with perfumer Frank Voelkl, expected it to do nothing, and watched a tiny order sell out before Black Friday. What did that teach you about smell as a delivery system.

The first time we launched functional fragrance, I expected it to do absolutely nothing. It was 2019. We were direct to consumer. A lot of my mentors and investors told me it makes no sense to talk about stress or mental health because they had nothing to do with wellness. Capsules, powders and tinctures could not deliver the immediacy we were looking for. That is when we turned to the olfactory system, which is essentially the highway to your brain. The original scent was warm, smoky, fresh and spicy, made with Frank Voelkl, designed to calm the nervous system. You spritz on pulse points before stressful moments with slow breathing. It sold out. That told us people wanted tools for stress and sleep and mood that fit into a day, not another routine to manage. Even though our fragrances are function first, I wanted them to stand the test of time as icons. Fragrance later grew to 65 percent of revenue after our 2024 rebrand around six mood states and eight fragrances, and in 2025 we partnered with Ulta Beauty as exclusive retailer focused on fragrance.

Capsules, powders and tinctures could not deliver the immediacy we were looking for.

Jules Miller

You work with Givaudan and Firmenich and you refuse phthalates, nitromusks, polycyclic musks, parabens and synthetic fixatives in fragrance. What does that refuse list change at the compounding bench.

It changes the palette and the paperwork. We develop fragrances with Givaudan and Firmenich and world class perfumers, and we refuse phthalates, nitromusks, polycyclic musks, parabens and synthetic fixatives. Those materials are often used for tenacity and lift, so without them the perfumer has to rebuild structure with other aroma materials and test for stability in the 50 ml and 10 ml formats. Functional Fragrance is 125 dollars for 50 ml and 38 dollars for 10 ml. First Milk, Us, Good Spirits and the others follow the same sizes. Each version holds a stated mood intention on its page, and the ingredient listing follows cosmetic rules. I started The Nue Co. to share that perspective, helping people connect with their bodies through products and rituals that are both beautiful and effective. For fragrance that means a scent you want to wear, with a named perfumer, a named house, and a formula file that records what was refused as well as what was used.

Your Magnesium Ease spray pairs magnesium chloride with lavender oil and arnica oil for use on joints and stomach before bed. What can you trace in that bottle, and what remains harder to show.

Magnesium Ease is a topical spray, 60 ml for 45 dollars, and it is a bestseller that bridges fragrance customers to ingestibles and body care. The label shows magnesium chloride with lavender oil and arnica oil. You spray on joints and stomach before bed as a nightly ritual. What we can trace is the mineral source, the lot, the essential oil supplier and the heavy metals testing on the finished batch. Lavender and arnica come from plant supply chains with harvest dates and distillation or extraction records. What is harder to show, honestly, is full field traceability for every minor aroma component at all times, because fragrance and botanical markets blend lots to meet specification. I would rather translate niche rituals for the masses than keep wellness exclusive, and I would rather acquire customers through fragrance than through supplements alone. But the standard stays. If we cannot name the grower or show the test, we say so, and we keep working toward the document.

You closed a 25 million dollar fundraise in 2021, launched in Sephora that year, launched Forest Lungs after COVID and sold three months of stock in a week. How did scale test your testing and lot discipline.

I think my superpower during our first year was my naivety and lack of experience. At that time, and for a while later, nothing else in my life mattered. Then scale arrived quickly. We launched in Sephora in 2021, we closed a 25 million dollar fundraise, and we launched Forest Lungs after COVID and sold three months of stock in a week. When volumes jump, the discipline has to hold. That means locked specifications, reserved raw lots, retained samples and release only after lab results. It also means saying no to a shortcut that would let you ship faster. I would rather not over engineer health in a way that creates anxiety. Our products are designed to exist in each part of your day. That only works if each batch matches the last. Forest Lungs was inspired by the Japanese practice of forest bathing and built through olfactory chemistry. The demand spike tested planning, not principle. We kept the same sequence. Source, make, test, release, document.

You often repeat that health is an ecosystem and you talk about whole body health. For a careful buyer reading Supplement Facts, what should they look for on your labels to judge that claim.

Look at the Supplement Facts panel first, then the other ingredients line. Look for the dose of each active, the number of capsules, and the directions. Pre + Probiotic shows two capsules daily in the morning for long term gut health. Debloat Plus shows 60 capsules for 55 dollars with digestive enzymes and stated actives. Growth Phase shows 90 capsules for 65 dollars with daily use for 90 days as part of a 360 hair approach. Then read what is not there. We refuse artificial colors, flavors, fillers, GMO ingredients, refined sugars and preservatives in ingestibles, plus over 200 banned ingredients across the line. I believe we should bridge science and sensibility with products that support the physical and emotional body. Support is the right word. The label shows what is in the capsule, how much, how to take it, and what we refused. The rest is routine, sleep, food, movement. Health is an ecosystem. Take great care. That is our code, The Nue Co.de, and the art of feeling well, in plain terms.

Closing note from the desk

What stays after this conversation is Miller ease with specifics. She names a dose, a count, a perfumer, a house, a blender speed choice, a refuse list. The supply chain is not abstract. It is farms and distillation dates, extract ratios on a certificate, a slow blender protecting viability, a lab hold before release, a lot code that links it all.

The Nue Co. set out to redefine the relationship with health by removing what was not needed and stating what remained. Stripped back or naked, in her words. The capsule, the spray, the scent, each is asked to prove its place on the label.

Product spotlight

Pre + Probiotic, 75 dollars for 60 capsules in a jar. A prebiotic plus probiotic with spore bacteria, one of the first formulas and a current bestseller. Take two capsules daily in the morning for long term gut support as part of a steady routine.

Functional Fragrance, 125 dollars for 50 ml and 38 dollars for 10 ml. A warm, smoky, fresh and spicy unisex scent made with Frank Voelkl and designed around stressful moments. Spritz on pulse points and pair with slow breathing.