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Beautiful Voices is our ongoing blog series that highlights inspiring, empowering women, who are also Annmarie Skin Care customers. Our most recent Beautiful Voice is Joni Treadwell. See what she says when we ask her some questions about her own personal journey with beauty, skin care and living her best life.
Joni began working in the alternative health and natural product industry in 1975 and had a 40-year career as a practitioner, educator, author, technical advisor, and consultant. She specialized in natural skin care and integrating alternative modalities into lifestyle and wellness programs. She had a professional skin care practice, and worked in the product development and aromatherapy fields. She is mostly retired now, but continues writing and working on select projects. She has written 6 books, the most recent are second editions of: Practical Aromatherapy for Self-Care, Aromatherapy and Subtle Energy Techniques, and Aromatherapy Anointing Oils. Her professional name is Joni Keim. [email protected].
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
From my paternal grandmother—a statuesque beauty, voted “fairest of the fair” at the 1907 Rose Bowl in Pasadena, lover of dogs, artist, and humanitarian: “Use your best silver with every meal and eat dessert first.” And in tough times, she offered: “This, too, shall pass.” She was a wise and wonderful woman.
Where and when do you feel most at peace?
Being at home, the haven, and puttering in the garden All the natural colors (especially the living green in all its glorious hues), the textures, the aromas, and the angelic-faced flowers fill my senses and calm my soul, as they open the door of grace to another realm. The pace is perfect. The silence is divine. Being close to nature puts the world, and my place in it, into a perspective that is both humbling and enlightening. Peace is a blessed place to land.
What’s your favorite beauty secret or tip?
Most of us wash our hair with sudsy shampoo designed to clean squeaky clean. In the shower, the suds can run down our face and over our body. (Stripping the oils off our skin.) This can undermine our careful, nurturing skin care, especially for our face, neck, and décolleté.
How can we prevent this?
This is what works for me: Before I shower, I gently and thoroughly massage an emollient body oil (not a lotion) over all of my skin, especially my face. This lays down a protective layer of oil. Then, I step into the warm shower. I shampoo and rinse my hair with my head back, trying, as best I can to have all the suds fall backwards away from my face. When rinsing, if I can tilt far enough back, I avoid getting it on my body as well. If a few suds do get on my skin, the oil protects it.
After the shower, my skin does not feel oily. The warm water rinses away excess oil, but a nice film is still left. This is a good skin-conditioning treatment.
Here’s another quick tip with ASC: I use the Rosemary Toning Mist in the morning because it is enlivening and the Neroli Toning Mist in the evening because it is calming.
What do you do when you want to pamper yourself?
When I want to do something for myself that really makes me feel pampered, I get a professional massage with a little extra time spent on my feet. I always feel so good (and another time I feel at peace.)
What was your biggest challenge and how did you overcome it?
I was raised in a loving, benevolent family. My mother and father were sensitive, kind, thoughtful, and caring people. I remember well being told “people are more important than things.” They emotionally acknowledged, tended to, and supported their children (3 of us). I am grateful everyday that this was the beginning of my life, and wonder how my siblings and I got so lucky.
But here is the problem: When your established believe system is that people are kind and caring to each other, and you go out into the world and discover this is not always the case, it is shocking, and tough lessons are learned. My father and I talked about it. He apologized for ill-preparing us for this reality. (Though I would not have had it any other way.) How do we remain sensitive in an insensitive world? It remains a challenge for me. So, I haven’t really overcome it, but I work on it.
How does Annmarie’s mission fit into your lifestyle?
Perfectly and in many ways. I am thrilled that ASC exists. Not just for the unsurpassed quality of the products, but also for the WAY the business is being conducted. The passion, the style of marketing, the different methods of communication, the education, the concern for the planet, the community spirit in the business world (acknowledging other good companies), the community spirit amongst the customers (keeping them engaged and tended to), and the team spirit of the staff (after all, life IS a team sport). The company is definitely a “feel good” in the business world. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if this were the new American business model?
Thank you for featuring my Aunt Joni. She is an amazing woman inside and out. The tip on the way she does her face before showering is one she told me over 25 years ago, amazing she continues to hold true to it – wish I had! That she is pleased with your company says a lot about Annmarie Skin Care. May you continue to carry on your mission with integrity in a world where not many companies do.