Summarized from a consultation originally recorded on May 29, 2024.
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Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: And then we can jump into products and routines and skin concerns. So the basic routine that we recommend for pretty much everyone morning and evening is cleanse, tone, use a serum, and then a moisturizer or facial oil.
All of our facial moisturizers are oils. And like I said, this is the basic four step routine that we recommend for everybody. But I like to tell people, you know, just kind of customize your routine, find what works best for you, what works best for your lifestyle, what works best for your skin. So if you are somebody who currently has no skin care routine, you're probably not going to jump into using six products morning and evening and do it really consistently, and that's totally fine. You can start out with maybe just two products. And if you want to start with the most simple routine, I would say you would want to have at least a cleanser and a facial oil. That would kind of be like your most stripped down routine and then you could always add and build from there. But whether your routine is two steps or 10 steps, you're going to start with cleansing.
So we will start there. But before we even jump into cleansers I do want to just touch on our collections really quickly. So within our line, we have a few different collections. The two main collections that we have that we'll focus on today are the Signature Collection. So all of our Signature Collection products have the tan labeling. These are a lot of our best sellers. A lot of these products have been around since we first got started. And then we have our Wild Alchemy Collection. And all of the products in the Wild Alchemy Collection have the black and gold labeling. And our Wild Alchemy Collection is our luxury collection. And what makes it our luxury collection is just that the products in this collection contain higher levels of activated ingredients. They also contain more exotic ingredients. And a lot of times the way that they're made, the crafting process is just a little bit more laborious as well. But those are the two main collections. We do have some other smaller collections, but we'll just mostly focus on those two.
So jumping into cleansers, so cleansing in general is just going to remove makeup and impurities. A thorough cleanse will help to prep the skin so that it can better absorb your treatment products that you apply so that they can work better.
We have four different cleansers in the line. They are the Aloe Herb Cleanser, the Citrus Mint Cleanser, the Restorative Cleansing Oil, and the Phytonutrient Cleanser. The one that we'll start with is the Aloe Herb Cleanser.
So all of our cleansers are pH balanced. I like to mention that because I think it's important to choose a pH balanced cleanser. Your skin's pH is about a 4. 5 to a 5. 5. And all of our cleansers are a 5. 5 to a 5. 6 on the pH scale, which is actually printed on our packaging. So a pH balance cleanser is just going to ensure that you're not stripping your skin of its natural oils. You're not disrupting your skin's protective barrier, your acid mantle. A lot of conventional cleansers contain things like lauryl sulfates that tend to be more alkaline. And so again, they can kind of strip your skin, dry out your skin. If you've ever cleansed and then you kind of feel like you immediately need to put your moisturizer on because you feel really tight and dry, that can sometimes be a sign that maybe your cleanser is more on the alkaline side.
So we use a safe, low foaming surfactant for all of our cleansers. It's a sodium lauryl glucose carboxylate which sounds very fancy, but it's really just saponified oils and plant starches and sugars. But so our Aloe Herb Cleanser, this one is our best selling cleanser.
People love this one. It's great for all skin types. So I like to tell people that if you're not sure where to start, if you're feeling really confused and overwhelmed, this can be a good choice. Because like I said, it's good for all skin types, so you just really can't go wrong with this one. And this one is a creamy cleanser. It's got aloe in it of course, which is really rich in vitamins and minerals and phytonutrients and enzymes.
This one has also got some calendula in it, so that's going to have a calming effect on the skin, it'll help to alleviate any temporary redness in the skin, so this can be a good choice for sensitive skin. Grace is very sensitive, she has very sensitive skin and this is her favorite. It also has lemon essential oil in it, which is purifying and brightening and it smells fantastic. People love the way this one smells. It smells sort of citrusy. People say it smells like a lemon starburst. What else am I forgetting? Anything in this one? But that's the Aloe Herb. And then the other one on our Signature Collection is the Citrus Mint Cleanser. So this is more of a purifying gel cleanser. This is going to be more for normal to oily skin types. And again, it's the aloe vera base. But then it just contains that more purifying herb blend. It's got like a witch hazel distillate in it. It's got some neem in there. So that's the citrus mint. And then in our Wild Alchemy Collection, we have the Restorative Cleansing Oil.
This one I love. This one is a little bit different than the others. So it is an oil as the name says. And I love oils. I love oil cleansing. So this one you can use on its own just as your cleanser, or you can use it as the first step in a double cleanse routine. And when you use this one, you apply it to dry skin. So dry hands, dry face. Massage it in. I know somebody on their little questionnaire had mentioned blackheads and congestion. This is an excellent choice if that's a concern. It sounds kind of counterintuitive because it's an oil, but actually like attracts like, so it's going to help to kind of soften and break down that excess oil and congestion.
And especially if you're using it for that purpose, just when you're massaging it really focus on those areas of congestion with your massage. So a lot of times like around the nose area or down around the chin and mouth, you know? So like I said, dry hands, dry face, massage it in, and then you can just rinse it off and that can be it, or you can rinse it and then follow it with a second cleanser, your Aloe Herb, your Phytonutrient, whatever you like. So like I said, this one's great for all skin types because for oily skin, it helps to kind of soften and break down that excess oil and congestion in the skin and for dry and mature skin this one feels very nourishing. If you use it on its own, it does leave like a bit of an oil on the skin. It's a jojoba oil base. Jojoba very closely resembles the texture of your skin's natural sebum. I love jojoba oil. It's also got tea tree oil in it, which is purifying. This one has manuka oil.
I also love manuka. And manuka is very deep cleansing and calming to the skin. So that's the Restorative Cleansing Oil. And then last, but certainly not least, even though I don't have it here with me we have the Phytonutrient Cleanser, and that is the other one in the Wild Alchemy Collection.
That one comes in the larger size, so we do have two different sizes, and the Phytonutrient comes in this larger size. That one I love. It's a cream cleanser similar to the Aloe Herb Cleanser. They're both cream cleansers. The Phytonutrient Cleanser is a little bit thicker, a little bit almost fatty texture to it. I'd say it's a very rich cleanser. But that being said, it's a very rich cleanser and I am congestion prone, and I can still use it. It is great for brightening the look of skin. So it's got apple extract in it and that apple extract is going to be rich in vitamin C and malic acid. So that's going to help with brightening the look of skin.
This one also contains our signature serum blend. It has mango seed butter in it. So that's what gives it that rich fatty texture. Acai. I think that one has acai in it as well, giving it an antioxidant component. And so really with any of the cleansers, but especially that one, I like to encourage people to really take your time with your cleanse, thoroughly massage it and like let it be on the skin for a minute. As opposed to just kind of quickly putting it on and rinsing it down the drain. So that way those activated ingredients, like the serum blend and the apple extract can kind of be on your skin for a moment. But those are the cleansers. So questions about cleansing or cleansers or anything
No? I saw one in the chat. The best for sensitive skin. I would say probably the Aloe Herb Cleanser. I can let Grace speak on that one 'cause she's our sensitive girly.
Grace Murray – Annmarie Skin Care Marketing Assistant: I know, there's like a joke internally that I'm like the sensitive skin poster child for our company. Ah, funny. So, yeah, so I have, let me start over. As Emily had mentioned earlier, I have extremely sensitive skin, I also have extremely dry skin. There's usually just a lot going on here. So I use the Aloe Herb Cleanser, every single day, at least once a day. And I, my skin loves it. I've had no issues with it. I think my skin reacts to it the best out of any cleanser I've tried, to be honest with you. It's just so soothing and it smells so lovely. It's so nice. So that's what I use. It works great for my skin.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Awesome. Thank you.
Yeah. So Aloe Herb, I was just checking out the chat here. So why put expensive stuff on your face and wash it off? So, I mean, like I was saying, that's why I do encourage people to kind of let it be on the skin for a minute. Especially with that Phytonutrient Cleanser, sometimes I'll use that one in the morning and I'll even apply it to dry skin. And then I'll just kind of let it be on my skin for, I don't know, a few minutes, like two or three minutes before I rinse it. Also that's really just your choice. Like maybe you feel like you only want to invest in a couple of products or something like that. So maybe you feel like your cleanser is not the product that you want to invest in because it's not the product that is on your skin for the longest amount of time. And I think that's totally fine. So you could even choose to do something like our Renew Cleanser, if you wanted. I didn't go into this collection just because sometimes I just feel like it's so overwhelming because there's so much. So sometimes I leave things out, but I'll talk about it really quickly.
We do have our Essentials Collection. It's another one of our collections. There are just two products in this collection. It's the Renew Cream Cleanser and the Radiate Facial Oil. And both of these products are offered at a lower price point than any of our other products. And the reason for that is just that they don't contain our herb infusions.
So they're just more simple formulas. But they're still great products. Actually, Grace and I both really like the Radiate Oil. I always kind of laugh because I feel like my favorite oils are on complete opposite ends of the spectrum. But the Radiate is a go-to for both of us. So you could choose to purchase a less expensive cleanser, like maybe the Renew, and then maybe you want to spend more on something like your serum or your facial oil, one of the products that's going to stay on your skin for longer.
Anything else? Oh, removing makeup. Yes, the Restorative Cleansing Oil is awesome for removing makeup.
Grace Murray – Annmarie Skin Care Marketing Assistant: There is one question in the chat about if cleansing oils clog pores. And I know you have a fabulous answer for that, so I thought I would bring it up to everyone.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Thank you. Yeah, so sorry, where was I at? Oh, the cleansing oil to remove makeup. Sorry. So that one is great for removing makeup. It is great for removing mascara, even waterproof mascara. It's great for removing sunscreen. But also the Aloe Herb is good for removing makeup too. Like if you're not wearing heavy makeup, the Aloe Herb is good for that. And the Phytonutrient is as well.
And then, yes, so I love oil cleansing and I have struggled quite a bit in the past with congestion. And I'm a huge fan of oil cleansing. Another option that I'm a big fan of is honey cleansing. Both of those are great options but a cleansing oil and really oils in general for congestion prone skin. It's about choosing the right oil. I used to be like, no oils near me at all. Now I just like to cover myself in oil, ha. So like I was saying jojoba oil really closely resembles the texture of your skin's natural oil. So it's a really good choice. As a company, we say jojoba is a good choice for dry and mature skin, but I think it's a really good choice for everyone, even congestion prone skin. And the Restorative Cleansing Oil is a jojoba oil base, but it's also got that tea tree oil in there like I mentioned, that is purifying, and the manuka in there.
So like I said, an alternative option or another option that I like is honey cleansing and specifically Manuka honey and this has Manuka oil in it. I always get a Manuka honey UMF 15, which is just something that I heard from somebody years ago and held on to, but Manuka has a lot of skin benefits.
So anyways, yes, I'm a huge fan of oil cleansing. As I said, like attracts like. So the oil actually helps to kind of soften and break down that excess oil and congestion in the skin. It should not cause congestion at all.
And then, what else? Anything else? Am I missing something? Did I get them all, Grace? Okay. Perfect. Oh yeah. And if you do want to honey cleanse, you just would dampen your skin and then apply the honey and rinse. It sounds like it would be really sticky and awful, but it's actually not. So honey cleansing of course is not going to remove makeup. So that's why the Restorative Cleansing Oil could be a great option if you're wanting to remove makeup or you're somebody that wears makeup.
And then I also love the Manuka honey. We'll talk about this later, but I love it mixed with the Purifying Mud Mask as well. So you can use it as a mask or a cleanser. Awesome. Okay. Anything else? Did I get it all? Awesome. I love the questions. Yay. Good questions. Any other cleanser questions?
So the next step in your routine would be your toning mist. And toning is pretty straightforward, but we have three toning mists in our line. They are the Neroli Toning Mist and the Rosemary Toning Mist. These are the two in our Signature Collection. And then we have the Botanical Hydration Mist With Immortelle.
And this is the one in our Wild Alchemy Collection. This one is the larger size as well. So traditionally toning was meant to rebalance your skin after cleansing and like we talked about, all of our cleansers are pH balanced but it still is nice to rebalance the skin with your toning mist because if you're cleansing with water the pH of water is like a seven. So your toning mist is going to help to complete the cleansing process. It's going to offer a dose of hydration and skin supporting nutrients. I feel like toning is often a step that kind of gets skipped or overlooked. But I personally love toning mists. The Neroli Toning Mist, we'll start with.
This one is in the Signature Collection. It's good for all skin types. It's a very simple formula. It's an aloe vera juice. And then with the Neroli, of course, which is derived from fresh orange blossoms. So it gives it a really lovely scent. Another reason why I feel like this one is so popular, this is our best selling toning mist. And then this one has aspen bark extract in it as well, which acts as a natural preservative and it also is a natural source of salicins.
And then the Rosemary Toning Mist. This is my favorite, but again, I'm prone to congestion. This one, again, very simple formula, the aloe vera juice base. This one has rosemary, of course. And then white willow bark which is another natural source of salicins.
And then the Botanical Hydration Mist With Immortelle. This one is in our Wild Alchemy Collection. This one it's good for all skin types. It's especially good for sensitive skin types. This one's a hydrosol. So a hydrosol is like this kind of watery runoff that you get when you create an essential oil through a steam distillation. So it gives it a really nice, soft texture. And it's got the immortelle, of course, or life everlasting flowers, which are a potent antioxidant.
This one has a blend of four different types of chamomile. So it's very calming. It's also got some rose in there, which is another really soothing, nurturing ingredient. So again, great for sensitive skin. And then this one's got frankincense, which is known to tone, tighten and rejuvenate the skin. This one is definitely the favorite amongst the team, aside from me. I mean, I still like it, but I just love my Rosemary Mist. But this is Grace's favorite. This is one of her holy grail products, she says. The scent profile on this one is definitely more herbal from the frankincense and the essential oils in there.
This one obviously smells like Rosemary and then the neroli, like I said, it's kind of more sweet from the neroli essential oil in there. But your toning mist, so after you cleanse, you're going to rinse, pat your skin dry, and then mist your toning mist over your face and neck. And all of our toning mists on the packaging, it says to mist, let dry, and then apply your serum and your facial oil. I actually don't like that recommendation. I would mist your toning mist, and then while your skin is still damp, you want to apply your serum and your oil. Applying while damp is just going to help the serums and oils to absorb better and kind of leave a nicer finish on the skin as well.
Your toning mist can be misted throughout the day. If you just want a little extra hydration or refresh, you can mist it over makeup. It's not going to disturb your makeup at all. So they're versatile and I actually always mist my toning mist after I apply my facial oil as well. Which is not necessary, but I just like to do that. I feel like it just helps to kind of further dilute the oil to again give it that nice finish. So it doesn't ever look or feel heavy or greasy on the skin. So those are toning mists. Questions about toning mists?
All right. Okay. So then we can move on to serums. So I feel like serums and oils are where things get a little bit confusing. So we have several different serums. I feel like that's why it gets a little confusing because there's so many options. And people are like, how do I know which one to choose? It is very difficult. That's a valid question. Okay. So your serum— in general serums are excellent hydrators. So there is the difference between dehydrated skin, which is skin that is lacking water and dry skin, which is skin that is lacking oil.
Most people have a combination of both. A little bit of dehydration, a little bit of dryness. And so we recommend using a combination of hydrating products. and moisturizing products to help to achieve that optimal moisture balance in your skin. So your toning mist and your serum, those are your hydrators and your facial oil, that is your moisturizer.
What else? Also serums, in addition to being an excellent hydrator, they also usually contain high levels of activated ingredients. They are made up of a smaller molecule than facial oil. So they're able to penetrate more deeply. And like I said, we have several different ones in the Signature Collection.
We have the Anti-Aging Serum, we have the Probiotic Serum and then the Citrus Stem Cell Serum, which I don't have here, but those are the three.
The Anti-Aging Serum. This one is our best selling serum. It's very popular. People love this one. This one is good for all skin types, sort of similar to the Aloe Herb Cleanser, in that, I tell people if you're not sure where to start, if you're feeling overwhelmed, this can be a good choice. I like to refer to this one as just a daily dose of overall skin nutrition. It's very rich in antioxidants. It has life everlasting flowers. It has buddleia extract. This one has some rose in it.
So again, soothing and nurturing. Good for sensitivities. What else? This one it's very hydrating. It has hyaluronic acid. So we use a vegetable sourced, non-GMO hyaluronic acid. Hyaluronic is a humectant that binds water to the skin. Hyaluronic in particular holds 1000 times its weight in water. So it's considered a super hydrator. So really deeply hydrating the skin is going to kind of help to plump the skin. Whereas if your skin is dehydrated, then it's going to kind of emphasize the appearance of fine lines. So this one is very hydrating as well.
Then we have the Probiotic Serum With Tremella. This one, again, is good for all skin types, but especially for sensitive skin or skin that is sort of out of balance. This one, again, it's very deeply hydrating. It's got the tremella mushroom extract in it, which acts similar to a hyaluronic acid. It's got some astaxanthin in there, which is a powerful antioxidant and some olive leaf extract. And then this one has a probiotic ferment and that actually helps to eliminate impurities on the surface of the skin. It can kind of help to rebalance the skin's pH. I really love this one. Some people don't like it because they don't like the way it smells. So the Anti-Aging Serum, the scent profile, I'd say it's very vetiver heavy. And then this one is more like an earthy smell. Some people say it smells like dirt, but I think it smells very nice. So maybe I just like how dirt smells. I don't know.
And then lastly in the Signature Collection is our Citrus Stem Cell Serum, which again, I don't have that one here. But that one can be used for all skin types. It's especially good for skin that's had a lot of exposure to the elements or sun damage. It's good for brightening the look of skin. It's got citrus derived stem cells in it. So you can find stem cells in a lot of different skin care products on the market. And a lot of times they can be derived from questionable sources. So we use plant derived stem cells in all of our products. So in the Citrus Stem Cell Serum, there are citrus derived stem cells. And these plant derived stem cells provide proteins and peptides and amino acids that are going to really help to strengthen the skin. And then along with those stem cells, this serum also contains a brightening trio that is amla berry, which is very rich in vitamin C.
It's got licorice root and Uva Ursi as well. So those are both lightening and brightening ingredients. Licorice root, you can find in a lot of natural products. It's often used as an alternative to using hydroquinone, which is a common conventional ingredient. That is used for lightening dark spots, but it's a yucky ingredient that's banned most other places.
Okay, so those are the Signature Serums. And then in the Wild Alchemy Collection we have a few there as well. I actually don't have the Wild Fruit Serum, I don't have that one here, but that one is great. That one is good for all skin types as well. That one, like I said, I love it. It's got the apple extract in it. So that is the same apple extract that's in the Phytonutrient Cleanser. So with vitamin C and malic acid for brightening the look of skin. It's got knotweed extract in it, which is really rich in resveratrol. It's got copper infused water. And then it's also got kakadu plum extract in it. Which that ingredient kind of sets this one apart a little bit for me. Kakadu plum is very rich in vitamin C but it's also got phenolic acid in it and phenolic acid behaves on the skin similar to an alpha hydroxy acid. Alpha hydroxy acids help to kind of dissolve the glue that holds the top layer of skin cells. So they have a resurfacing effect on the skin. And then this one also has Madonna lily plant cells. So we talked about those plant stem cells. This one has a really dense infusion, 1. 5 million in each little bottle of it.
So that is the Wild Fruit Serum. And then, what else? CBD? In our Wild Alchemy Collection, we also have the CBD serum, the Activated CBD Serum. This one is sort of like an offshoot of the Wild Alchemy Collection. It's sold on its own little site on our website, its own little boutique, which is just because of the legality of selling a CBD product. But this one is good for all skin types. Again this one, it contains of course CBD. So when we created this serum, we wanted to source the best. So we partnered with Ojai Energetics to source our CBD. They are really a pioneer and a leader in the CBD space. CBD, it's like a little bit hard to say exactly what it does for the skin because it works with your body's natural endocannabinoid system to kind of go where it's needed to go and do what it's needed to do. But I will say it has a very gentle, soothing, calming effect. This serum in general is also very hydrating. It's got both tremella mushroom extract in it and hyaluronic acid. So it has a little bit thicker, richer texture than our other serums do. What else about this one? So it's got both a fat soluble and a water soluble CBD in it which I feel like sets it apart a little bit from some of the other CBD products out there, kind of unique. So the water soluble CBD is absorbed more quickly, and it has more of an instant effect. And then the fat soluble CBD is absorbed more slowly over time to have more of a cumulative effect. This one also is very antioxidant rich. It's got that astaxanthin in it. It's got superoxide dismutase. I think this one has some mangosteen in there, some black cumin seed oil. So that is the Activated CBD Serum.
So as far as these serums go, I feel like because again, we have so many and it can feel really confusing and people don't know which one to choose. A lot of times I think of it like the Signature Serums are a little bit more targeted and then the Wild Alchemy Serums, the CBD and the Wild Fruit, those ones are like a little bit more all encompassing, like I tend to refer to that Wild Fruit Serum as the do it all serum. Okay, so we'll stop there for a minute before we do any more serums. Another thing about the serums that is nice if you are not sure which one you wanna go with, well we do have a fabulous return policy. We always want you to be happy with your products.So if you are not happy with your product within 30 days, you can return or exchange. But also all of our serums do come in a trial or travel size that you are able to purchase. And the Signature Serums, the Anti-Aging, the Probiotic, and the Citrus Stem Cell, those you can get a set of all 3 in the travel size, which is a nice option.
Okay. Questions about serums so far?
Nobody? Okay, well then let's move on. Okay, so we do have one more serum. I just figured I'd kind of hold off to check on questions, but our Activated Night Serum. This one is our most recent serum launch and it's pretty fabulous. So the Activated Night Serum, this one contains our bioactive A-Complex. This is like our version of/our alternative to using a retinol. So retinoids are kind of like the gold standard in anti-aging ingredients but they're really not great for your health. They can be harmful to your reproductive health. If you use them over an extended period of time, they're not really great for your skin health either.
They can start to thin the skin, which really isn't what we want as we age. We want to create healthy, strong, resilient skin. We don't want to thin our skin. And what else? They also tend to cause a lot of irritation and inflammation in the skin, which again we want to avoid because that can also lead to signs of aging.
So that is why we use the bioactive A-Complex in this serum. And it is a completely safe ingredient. It's derived from algae. And it has a similar effect, like a similar resurfacing effect on the skin that you get with a traditional retinol. And then this serum is really nice because we have combined that really active bioactive A with lavender and blue chamomile and these really nice calming ingredients, so it gives it a really nice balance and Grace, who is very sensitive, is even able to use this serum. I know you don't use it every night, but she'll do one night on, one night off, or use it a couple of nights a week, and is still able to use it without any issue.
All right, so that's the Activated Night Serum, and this one, as the name says, is only to be used at night, and you do want to use it with an SPF during the day because it can make you a little bit more sensitive to the sun.
Grace Murray – Annmarie Skin Care Marketing Assistant: Then, Emily, there is one question in the chat of what is the sole purpose of using a serum?
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: So like I said, serums are excellent hydrators. So they're gonna provide hydration to the skin, which is like we talked about water dry skin or skin that's lacking water. So that's a big one. And then also like I said, they contain higher levels of activated ingredients. So they allow you to really kind of customize your skin care routine to what your skin concerns are. They, because they're that smaller molecule size, the activated ingredients that are in there are penetrating more deeply. So I feel like somebody before, you know, was saying like the cleanser, you just put it on and rinse it off. Your serum probably has, like, the most effect, I would say, of any product in your routine because they do contain those higher concentrations of activated ingredients, and because of that smaller molecule size.
Does that answer the question? Any other questions in addition to that? Okay, cool.
So in the serum category, we do also have our elixirs, which sometimes I talk about, sometimes I don't, just again trying to avoid overwhelm. But we'll just talk about them really quickly. So, these are the Concentrated Boosting Elixirs.
These are just kind of a fun extra product. So, people are like, do I need to get the elixirs? You don't really need to have the elixirs. They're just kind of a fun extra. They allow you to really customize your skin care routine even further and they allow you to really boost the levels of activated ingredients in your products.
So they come in this set of three, and the set contains the Hydrate, the Brighten, and the Revitalize. And they have this little dropper top, and they're pretty liquidy consistency. They are made to be mixed, so you never want to apply them directly to the skin, because they are very concentrated.
So what you would do is pump your serum into the palm of your hand, and then you would drop one to three drops of your elixir and mix and apply it. For some reason, if you're not using a serum, you could mix it with your facial oil if you wanted to. And so the Hydrate elixir, this is a hyaluronic acid with vegan collagen prepeptides.
So we already talked about the hyaluronic, very deeply hydrating, kind of having that plumping effect on the skin, the peptides again, strengthening the skin. Then the Brighten elixir. This is a pure vitamin C with seabuckthorn. So vitamin Cis of course for brightening the look of skin. The vitamin C that we use in this one, it's a tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate, or THDA.
And the reason that we've chosen that particular vitamin C is because it's a very stable form of vitamin C. So a lot of times if you go get a vitamin C product, you open it and it goes rancid really quickly because it's not a stable vitamin C and then it's not effective. So the THDA that we use as a very stable form of vitamin C, it's also a very non irritating form of vitamin C. It has a pH of 7. Some traditional vitamin C can be irritating, especially for more sensitive skin types. So that is the Brighten Elixir. And then the Revitalize Elixir, that's the last one. That is the bioactive A-Complex with Astaxanthin. So we already talked about the Bioactive A Complex. This is the exact same ingredient that is in the Activated Night Serum, so that algae-derived bioactive A-Complex. Our retinol alternative, and then that's paired with astaxanthin, which is that powerful antioxidant. It is also what gives flamingos their pink color, if you didn't know. And so for these, you can kind of play around with them. You can mix and match.
The Hydrate Elixir you can use both morning and evening. The Brighten you usually want to use this one in the morning and then the Revitalize, this one you want to use just at nighttime because again, with the bioactive A, you want to use that at night and you want to use it with an SPF during the day.
So those are the Concentrated Boosting Elixirs. Questions about those? They're kind of fun. Like say you have been using our products for a while and you love the Anti-Aging Serum. It's your favorite serum. You don't want to give it up. But maybe you have a couple of dark spots that you really want to focus on. So it's kind of nice because then you could add the Brighten Elixir to the Anti-Aging Serum to get those brightening benefits. But you're still using that serum that you love, you know? So they just kind of let you customize a little bit more. Okay, no questions about elixirs or serums or anything?
No? Gosh, you guys are making me talk a lot, ha. Where's all my questions? Let's see what else. So that is serums and elixirs. So next would be your facial oil. So like I said, all of our moisturizers are oils. All of our facial moisturizers are oils. And the reason for that is that oils are more pure. Your skin's natural form of moisture is oil, so oils are easily absorbed by the skin. Oils don't require any fillers or waxes to be used. A lot of times with creams and lotions, I tell people kind of an easy thing that you can check for when you're like at the drugstore or whatever, if you're like, I don't know what ingredients are good or bad or whatever. A lot of times creams and lotions have water listed as one of the first ingredients.
So ingredients are usually listed by concentration. So if water is listed as one of the first ingredients, and then the activated ingredients are listed at the bottom, that's not ideal because water isn't really doing much for your skin. Also, if water is included in a product, then they have to include more preservatives because bacteria can grow more easily. So with oils, you don't have to worry about that. So we'll start out with the Herbal Facial Oils in our Signature Collection. These ones I tend to not go into too deeply because I feel like they're kind of self explanatory because they are named for the skin type that they are designed for. All three of the Herbal Facial Oils are a grapeseed oil base.
Grapeseed oil is a light textured skin balancing oil. It's quick absorbing, it's rich in omega 6, I believe. So there's the Herbal Facial Oil For Normal & Combination Skin, the Herbal Facial Oil for Oily Skin, and then the Herbal Facial Oil for Sensitive Skin, which I don't have here, but the Herbal Facial Oil for Normal & Combination Skin, this is a skin balancing oil. This one has got some goji in there, it's got echinacea. Then the Herbal Facial Oil for Oily Skin. This one, again, it's just more of that purifying herb blend. So the neem and the black cumin seed oil to help with minimizing congestion.
And then the Herbal Facial Oil for Sensitive Skin. That one contains no added essential oils so it makes it a good choice for sensitive skin. That one contains a bunch of omega rich oils, so it's got sacha inchi oil and camellia seed oil, so it's very nourishing as well. And then, the Anti-Aging Facial Oil, this one is also in our Signature Collection and this one is one of our best sellers. This one is a great all around nourishing moisturizer for dry and mature skin. It's got a bunch of different seed oils in it. So it's got carrot seed oil, broccoli seed oil, and chia seed oil. Chia is rich in vitamin B and zinc. This one's got some plantago in it. I think this one has some goji in it as well. But again, just a really nourishing, restorative facial moisturizer for dry and mature skin. A very popular choice. And then in our Wild Alchemy Collection, we have the Rejuvenating Facial Oil. This one is our most potent, most active facial oil.
So our other facial oils contain like a bunch of different seed oils and CO2 extracts in them. This one has far fewer. So it's only got one herb. It's the butterfly pea flower, which is very antioxidant rich. And then this one, like I said, it has far fewer seed oils and CO2 extracts. And the reason that we did that is because then we were able to include those ingredients at much higher concentrations, at higher percentages. So it makes it a little bit more active, a little bit more potent. So I love this one. For some people that are very sensitive, this might not be the best choice. I know this one's a little bit much for Grace, for example. If you're wanting to use it and you tend to be more sensitive, you could try and mix it with Anti-Aging Facial Oil or the Herbal Facial Oil for Sensitive Skin. Like I said, I really love this one. I'm not particularly sensitive though.
So this one has got brightening baobab oil in it. It's got antioxidant rich marula oil in it. It's got mongongo oil in it, which is really softening to the skin. This one feels very soft on the skin. The butterfly pea flower, it's got some blue tansy in there. So that is the Rejuvenating Facial Oil, and that is the facial moisturizer in the Wild Alchemy Collection.
And so for your facial oil you cleanse, you pat dry, you mist your toning mist, you apply your serum. If you want to, you can wait a minute and then apply your facial oil. Some people like to mist again between the serum and oil. Like I said, I mist after my oil. But yeah, those are the facial oils.
Am I missing any? I think that's it. Okay. Questions about facial oils at all?
No. Okay.
So that is it. That's your basic routine. And then we have add ons. So of course, eye products, a lot of people want to use eye cream, an eye care product. We have the Anti-Aging Eye Cream and then we have the Fruit Ceramide Eye Serum as well. So both of these are wonderful. I tend to tell people if you're going to just choose one or the other. I personally like the eye cream. It just feels very nourishing. I tend to be really dry around the eye area. So I really like that one. It's got damas rose plant cells. It's got cucumber, which is rich in silica and of course cooling as well. Good for puffiness.
And then the Fruit Ceramide Eye Serum. This one is more of a thinner consistency because it's more like a serum. And this one, if your eye area is your main concern, then you might want to use both of them, the eye serum and the eye cream. And you could use both together. You would layer them, so you would apply the Fruit Ceramide Eye Serum underneath the eye cream.
Or you could alternate, like I know another gal on the team said she likes to use the Fruit Ceramide Eye Serum in the morning and the Anti-Aging Eye Cream at night. So you could do that as well. The Fruit Ceramide Eye Serum does have pineapple ceramides in it. It's got sake peptides. So this can be a good choice as well for you if dark circles are a big concern of yours, the sake peptides can help to kind of re-texturize the under eye area to lighten and brighten the look of skin there. So those are the eye care products. Questions about those?
Okay. And then usually I touch on exfoliants because I think exfoliation is important. Exfoliation, a lot of times people will say I'm really dry and I'm using all of these hydrating and moisturizing products but I still feel dry. What am I doing wrong?
So I usually ask if they're exfoliating. So if you're not exfoliating, sometimes you can get this kind of layer of buildup on the skin and then your hydrating products, your moisturizing products, they're not able to penetrate deeply to work effectively. So that is where exfoliation can be helpful.
Exfoliation can also really help to improve texture. It can help to improve tone. If brightening the look of skin is a goal of yours. But you do want to be careful with the exfoliating to not over-exfoliate because we don't want to cause any inflammation or irritation in the skin. And we have three different exfoliants in the line, the Ayurvedic Facial Scrub and the Kaolin Micro Exfoliant.
These are our two physical exfoliants. So the Ayurvedic Facial Scrub, this one is very gentle. So even extremely sensitive skin types usually can use this one. It's a dry, herb exfoliant. It's a powder. So you mix it, you shake it into the palm of your hand and then you can mix some water to create like a paste and massage it in and rinse.
You also can just mix it right into your cleanser, which is what I like to do. It mixes really nicely with the cream cleansers, like the Phytonutrient or the Aloe Herb Cleanser and this one's very mineral rich. It's got some fenugreek in it, which is what gives it a bit of gritty texture. Fenugreek also has some naturally occurring saponins that act as mild cleansing agents on the skin. So that's the Ayurvedic. And then the Kaolin Micro Exfoliant, this one is a little bit richer. It's our cream exfoliant. This one, it's good for all skin types as well. If you're very sensitive it can be mixed with your cleanser. Grace likes to mix this one with the Aloe Herb Cleanser which is a really nice combo because then you get that lemon lavender scent, which is so nice, because this one has lavender in it, so that's the scent profile. It's also of course calming. And then the kaolin clay, any clay is going to be really mineral rich and purifying. Then this one has crushed bamboo powder in it. And that is the exfoliating property in this one. That's what gives it its gritty texture.
So like I said, both of those are physical exfoliants. They have that scrubby, gritty texture that is physically polishing the skin. And then our last exfoliant I don't have here, but it is our Resurfacing Facial Exfoliant. That one is a chemical exfoliant. So chemical in the way that it works on the skin, not that it contains a bunch of chemicals.
It's got a honey derived lactic acid in it. And lactic acid is a very mild alpha hydroxy acid. So again, the alpha hydroxy acids are dissolving the glue that holds the top layer of skin cells to have a resurfacing effect on the skin. This one, not ideal if you're super sensitive. Most people, you can use this one once a week. Because it's a chemical exfoliant, there's no scrub or grit. It's a smooth gel, so you use it more like you would a mask. You apply it to clean skin. To start, you want to just leave it on for two or three minutes and then thoroughly remove it.
You can work your way up to leaving it on for ten minutes. But it can feel a little bit active on the skin, a little bit kind of tingly. And that one you want to use only at night and with an SPF during the day. So those are the exfoliants. Woo! We're almost there. Questions about exfoliants? No?
So then masks. Last thing, or, well, almost last thing. So treatment masks, we have a few different ones. The Illuminating Pearl Mask, this one, I tell everybody to just get this one because it's the best one. It's a hydrating, brightening treatment mask. It's great for all skin types. It can be used every day if you want to. You're not really gonna overdo it with this one. It's got some honey in there to act as a humectant. It's got licorice root and uva ursi, which are the same two lightning and brightening ingredients that are in the Citrus Stem Cell Serum. So a great one for brightening the skin, a great one for dark spots, working on dark spots, lightening and brightening the look of dark spots.
It's also got a crushed pearl powder in it, which gives it this kind of radiance and luminosity that it imparts onto the skin. It's nice because it's kind of a creamy, jelly texture. So it feels really nice and cool on the skin. So it's great for depuffing. It's great in the morning. It's great if you're not really sensitive under the eyes, you can just use it as a little under eye treatment, which is really nice. We also have the Coconut Honey Mask. That one's good for very dry skin. It's good for sensitive skin. It's a thicker, balmy texture.
The Charcoal Cacao Mask, this one is a very antioxidant rich, detoxifying treatment mask. This one you would want to use more like once a week. And this one, like I said, is very purifying. It's got the activated coconut charcoal in it and then it's very antioxidant rich as well with the cacao and the turmeric.
And then the Purifying Mud Mask. This one I personally love. Like I said this is actually a dry powder as well. You can just mix this one with water. If you're going to mix it with water, I would say you probably wouldn't want to do it more than once a week. And that would be best for normal to oily skin types.
Like I was saying earlier, I like to mix this one with Manuka honey, and I feel like if you mix it with Manuka honey, you can use it more often, and I would say it's a little more versatile for various skin types because the honey acts as a humectant, again, to draw moisture to the skin, but then you're also getting the purifying benefits of the mud. And if you are using manuka honey, like we talked about earlier, that also has a slew of other skin benefits that you're getting as well.
So those are the masks. And then the only other thing I want to mention is the Sun Love. So our Sun Love is our Everyday Sheer Sunscreen. It is an SPF 20. It's a non-nano zinc oxide. It's a broad spectrum. It's reef safe. It's got pumpkin seed oil in there as well. And buriti fruit oil. So that you can use it on its own as your daytime moisturizer or you can layer it over top of a facial oil.
But that is the Sun Love and I just like to mention that one, especially because we talked about the Revitalize Elixir, the Activated Night Serum and the Resurfacing Facial Exfoliant and with all three of those products, you want to be sure that you're using your Sun Love during the day.
Any questions?
Grace Murray – Annmarie Skin Care Marketing Assistant: So there is one regarding our Sun Love, which I personally love, but so just kind of asking which order in the routines should the Sun Love be used? My goodness, I cannot talk today. I'm so sorry. And if there's a way to make it feel like it's not sitting as much on the skin and actually soaking in. So seeing if you had any tips and tricks there.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah. So the Sun Love, that's going to be the last product that you put on. So, like I said, you can use it on its own, just as your daytime moisturizer, or you could use it over top of a facial oil. As far as it absorbing and being more sheer the only thing with the Sun Love that you want to be careful about is sheering it out too much because you want to be getting that full SPF 20 protection. But for applying, you could mist your skin again with your toning mist and try applying it when your skin is a little bit damp from the toning mist. Because again, that can help with the absorption of the products. So that way it doesn't feel like it's just kind of sitting on the skin. That would probably be my best response to that one. You could also kind of play around with mixing it with a facial oil, but then again, you're going to be diluting it, you know, so then you're not going to get that full SPF 20 protection that you want. But yes, does that answer that? Any other questions on the Sun Love?
Okay, cool. Any other questions?
No? I feel like you guys are so quiet. Aren't you sick of listening to me talk? Ha.
Okay. All right. Well, if there's no other questions, we can wrap it up. If you do think of other questions that you want to ask or that you have and you didn't get a chance to ask you can email our customer care team. The email is [email protected]
Just looking at the chat.
Yes. So your scrub is your exfoliant. Just seeing if there's any other questions. Best for clogged pores.
I mean, it can kind of vary depending on what your skin is like aside from the congestion, but like I said, I tend to be very congestion prone. And I love the Restorative Cleansing Oil. I love the Rosemary toning mist. I actually really love the Radiate Oil. It's funny because my two favorite oils are the Rejuvenating Facial Oil and the Radiate Oil, which are very different. And then the Purifying Mud Mask with the manuka honey is another great one for troubled skin. All right Anything else?
Oh, about the masks. Sure. So are you wondering about how to use them just in general? So your mask, after you cleanse if you were going to exfoliate, you would then exfoliate, and then after you exfoliate, you would apply your mask. How long you leave it on depends on the mask, like the pearl mask, you can leave that one on for 30 minutes if you want to. Some people leave it on overnight. And then rinse it. Same with the Coconut Honey Mask. You really aren't going to overdo it with that one. The Charcoal Cacao mask you probably want to leave on for 10 or 15 minutes. And then the Purifying Mud Mask, again probably for 10 or 15 minutes is good for this one.
And so after you cleanse. If you were going to exfoliate you would do so, then you would apply your mask, leave it on for however long and then rinse to remove. And then you would apply your toning mist, your serum and your facial oil. Does that make sense?
And again, the Pearl Mask, you could use every day if you wanted to. The Purifying Mud Mask you're probably going to use more like once a week if you are mixing it with water. If you are mixing with honey you could use it more like twice a week. The Charcoal Cacao Mask, most people would just do that one once a week. And the Coconut Honey, you can't really overdo that one either.
All right. Okay. Well, thank you guys so much for hanging out with us. We hope that your questions got answered and that you felt like this was helpful for you. Again, if you have any other questions, please feel free to email and let us know. And I think that's it. I hope everybody has an awesome rest of your week.
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