Summarized from a consultation originally recorded on July 17th, 2024.
Annmarie Skin Care Skin Consultations are FREE, virtual group sessions, hosted live by our in-house skin experts, to provide personalized recommendations and directly answer any skin care related questions. Learn more about our skin consultations.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: So from there, we can jump into the product line, skin concerns, all that good stuff. So we'll start out maybe with collections. So we have a few different collections within our line. The main collection is our Signature Collection, all of these products have the tan labeling and our Signature Collection products are a lot of our best sellers. A lot of them have been around since we first got started.
Then we also have our Wild Alchemy Collection. All of these products have the black and gold labeling. This 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—so things like our bioactive A-Complex and our pure vitamin C, our THDA, they also contain more exotic ingredients like baobab oil and mongongo oil and different things like that. And then the crafting process too, the way that they're made is usually just a little bit more laborious. So that's kind of what makes that our luxury collection.
We have a couple other smaller collections. I usually don't go into them too deeply. We do have the Essentials Collection. That collection is just two products. It's the Renew Facial Cream Cleanser and the Radiate Facial Oil. And those two 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 really simple formulas. But they still can be great products. Grace and I both really like that oil, the Radiate Oil. They can be good products if you're somebody who's just getting started on a routine, or maybe if you're somebody who just wants a super simple routine and they also can be good if you have more sensitive skin.
![essentials collection](https://www.annmariegianni.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Essentials-.jpeg)
So those are the main collections that we have. And the basic four step routine that we recommend for pretty much everybody morning and evening is cleanse, tone, serum, and moisturize. All of our facial moisturizers are oils—so cleanse, tone, serum, and oil. Those four steps are your basic routine, that is our general recommendation. I always tell people that it is best to customize your routine to what works best for your skin and what works best for your lifestyle. If you're somebody who currently has no routine, you're probably not going to jump into a six step routine that takes you 30 minutes morning and evening and be really consistent with it. And that's totally fine. But the most simple routine, the most pared down routine that you would probably want to start with would be a cleanser and a facial oil. And then you could kind of build your routine from there.
Whether your routine has 2 steps in it or 10 steps in it, you're going to start with cleansing. So we'll start with cleansers. Cleansing is just the process of removing makeup and impurities from the skin. A thorough cleanse helps your skin care products to absorb better so that they can work more effectively. We have four different cleansers in the line. In the Signature Collection we have the Aloe Herb Cleanser. This is our best selling cleanser. People love this one. If you feel unsure of what to choose or where to start this is a good choice because it's really great for all skin types. It's a creamy cleanser. It's got some coconut oil that contributes to that creamy texture. This one has some calendula in it. So really soothing to the skin. It's got some lemon essential oil. So lemon is going to be purifying and brightening. And then the aloe of course. Aloe is rich in vitamins and minerals, phytonutrients and enzymes to nourish the skin. So that's the Aloe Herb Cleanser. It's a pH balanced cleanser. All of our cleansers are pH balanced. So your skin's pH is a 4. 5 to 5. 5 on the pH scale. All of our cleansers are 5. 5 to 5. 6 which is actually printed on our packaging. But that's important because you want to choose a pH balanced cleanser so that it's not stripping your skin. You're not drying out your skin. You're not disrupting your skin's natural protective barrier, your acid mantle. We also don't use any harsh sulfates or surfactants in our cleansers. The surfactant that we use is a safe, low foaming surfactant. It's a sodium lauryl glucose carboxylate, which sounds very fancy, but it's really just saponified oils and plant starches and sugars.
Then the other cleanser in the Signature Collection is the Citrus Mint Cleanser. So this one is our Purifying Gel Cleanser. So somebody mentioned being oily. So this would be a good choice for oilier skin types. And this again, it's the aloe vera base and then it's just a more purifying herb blend. It's got a witch hazel distillate in it. It's got some neem in there, which can be helpful for skin clarity, cleanliness, and detoxification. It’s also rich in vitamin E. This one feels very cool and refreshing on the skin. So that's the Citrus Mint.
And then in our Wild Alchemy Collection, we have two cleansers as well. We have the Phytonutrient Cleanser and the Restorative Cleansing Oil. The Phytonutrient Cleanser, this one is also good for all skin types. It's a cream cleanser, so just like the Aloe Herb is a cream cleanser. This one is a little bit thicker, it’s got a little bit of almost a fattier texture than the Aloe Herb Cleanser. It's got a mango seed butter in it, so it gives it kind of that thicker texture. This one has apple extract in it, so that apple extract is really great for helping with brightening the look of skin, lightening and brightening the appearance of darkened areas. It's rich in vitamin C and malic acid. This one also has coconut oil in it, and then it's got some acai as well, which is a potent antioxidant. So that's the Phytonutrient Cleanser
And then last, but certainly not least is the Restorative Cleansing Oil. So this one's a little bit different. All of the other ones are traditional cleansers. So you're going to dampen your skin, pump your cleanser, massage your cleanser, rinse it off, pat your skin dry. This one's a little bit different because it's a cleansing oil. So this one, you're going to apply to dry skin. So dry face, dry hands, massage it in, really taking your time as you massage, thoroughly cleansing. And then you can just rinse clean and that can be it. You can also use this as the first step in a double cleanse routine. So if you wanted to do that, you would cleanse with this, rinse it, and then follow with a second cleanse with whichever cleanser you like.
This one, I love this one. It's really great for all skin types. So for dry and mature skin, this feels very nourishing. It actually leaves a bit of oil on the skin. But it can be really beneficial for oily skin or congestion prone skin as well because “like attracts like” so the oil is going to help to kind of soften up and break down excess oil and congestion in the skin. This one is a jojoba oil base. Jojoba very closely resembles the texture of your skin's natural sebum. And then it's got castor oil in it. It's got Manuka. Manuka is really deep cleansing and calming to the skin. It’s also got tea tree in it. So that is purifying as well.
Those are the cleansers. Do you guys have questions about any of the cleansers or cleansing? Or anything else?
No? All right, well moving on.
So the next step in your routine would be toning. We have three toning mists in our line. They are the Rosemary Toning Mist, the Neroli Toning Mist, and the Botanical Hydration Mist With Immortelle. So toning is going to just complete the cleansing process. It's going to offer a dose of hydration and skin supporting nutrients. None of our toners are harsh or stripping at all, like some conventional toners can be.
![toners](https://www.annmariegianni.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/annmarie-skin-care-toner-guide.jpeg)
The Neroli Toning Mist. This one is our most popular. It's in our Signature Collection. People love this one. This one is an aloe vera juice base. And then it's got the neroli essential oil in there which is derived from fresh orange blossoms, so it has a really lovely scent to it. Another reason I think this one is so popular, similar to the Aloe Herb Cleanser with the lemon/citrus scent. And then what else? Some aspen bark extract in there. So that's just going to act as a natural preservative and also a natural source of salicins. So again, this one's very popular. Really any skin type can use it. It's especially good for normal to dry skin, maybe even a little bit of sensitivity. And so after you cleanse and pat your skin dry, you're just going to mist your toning mist over your face and neck.
The next one is the Rosemary Toning Mist. This is the other one in the Signature Collection. This one's good for normal, combination, and oily skin types. It's again that aloe vera juice base, but then the more purifying herbs. It's got the rosemary in there, of course. And then it's got white willow bark, which again is a natural source of salicins.
And then lastly, the Botanical Hydration Mist With Immortelle, this one's the one in our Wild Alchemy Collection. This one is a bigger size bottle as well. But this one is good for all skin types. This one's excellent for sensitive skin. It has a blend of four different types of chamomile in it. So very soothing. This one also has the immortelle or the life everlasting flowers, which are a potent antioxidant. This one has frankincense in it. So frankincense is known to tone, tighten, and rejuvenate the skin. So kind of more of that anti-aging property. So that's the Botanical. Like I said, this is a great choice for sensitive skin. Somebody on their survey mentioned sensitive skin. Grace is our sensitive skin poster child here at Annmarie Skin Care. And this is one of her “holy grail” products, she says. She loves this one, so great choice if you have some sensitivity. But those are all the toning mists. I feel like toning mists are kind of straightforward, but any questions about toning mists?
No? Okay. All right, then the next step would be your serum. So we have several different serums. I feel like serums and oils are where things can start to get a little bit confusing just because we have so many of them.
So serums in general are excellent hydrators.There's the difference between dehydrated skin, which is skin that's lacking water and then dry skin, which is skin that's lacking oil. Most people have a little bit of both. A little bit of dehydration, a little bit of dryness. So that's why we recommend using both a hydrating product and a moisturizing product. So your toning mist and your serum, those are your hydrators and then your facial oil that is your moisturizer. So serums, like I said, excellent hydrators. They also usually are very concentrated, so they contain high levels of activated ingredients. So they allow you to really kind of target and treat whatever your specific skin concerns are. They also are made up of a smaller molecule than a facial oil, so they're able to penetrate more deeply, getting those activated ingredients deeper into the skin.
And in our Signature Collection, we have three, we have the Anti-Aging Serum, the Probiotic Serum With Tremella and the Citrus Stem Cell Serum, which I don't have here, but the Anti-Aging Serum, we'll start with this one. This is our most popular serum. This is quite possibly our most popular product. People love this one. This one, sort of similar to the Aloe Herb Cleanser, I tell people, if you're confused, if you're overwhelmed, if you're not sure where to start, this can be a good choice because you just can't really go wrong with it. It's good for all skin types. I like to refer to it as a daily dose of overall skin nutrition. So it's very antioxidant rich. It's got buddleja extract in it. It's got the life everlasting flowers in it. It's soothing, it's got some rose in there. And then this one is very deeply hydrating. So it's got hyaluronic acid, we use a non GMO vegetable sourced hyaluronic acid, and hyaluronic acid is a humectant. It binds water to the skin. Hyaluronic in particular holds 1,000 times its weight in water. So it's considered a super hydrator. So it really deeply hydrates the skin, which kind of has a plumping effect on the skin. Whereas if your skin is dehydrated then it's going to emphasize the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, you know? But so that's the Anti-Aging. This one the scent profile is a little bit more floral. You can kind of smell the vetiver and rose a bit in there.
![anti-aging serum](https://www.annmariegianni.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/newsletter_1200x800_anti-aging_serum_30ml.jpg)
Then the Probiotic Serum With Tremella is also in the Signature Collection. This one is good for all skin types, but especially for sensitive skin or skin that's out of balance. This one has got a probiotic ferment in it. So the probiotic ferment is going to help to eliminate impurities on the surface of the skin. It can also help to rebalance the skin's pH. This one also has tremella mushroom extract in it, which acts very similar to hyaluronic acid. This one has olive leaf extract. It's got astaxanthin, which is a really powerful antioxidant. This one the scent profile is more earthy. Some people don't like the way it smells. Some people say that it smells like dirt. I personally like the way it smells. But if you don't like mushrooms, this might not be your best choice. I don't know. I feel like Grace doesn't like the way this one smells and she hates mushrooms.
Okay, and then lastly in the Signature Collection is the Citrus Stem Cell Serum. The Citrus Stem Cell Serum, it's again, good for any skin type but it's especially good for thicker textured skin, skin that's had a lot of exposure to the elements, a lot of sun exposure. And there's kind of two components to that one. So there's the citrus derived stem cells. We use plant derived stem cells in a lot of our products. A lot of skin care lines out there use stem cells in their products. And where they come from can vary. Sometimes they come from animals. Sometimes they even can even come from humans. All of ours that we use, like I said, are plant derived. So that serum in particular, they're citrus derived. And the stem cells are going to just provide the skin with proteins and peptides and amino acids. So they're really strengthening. They're helping to increase resilience. And then the other kind of aspect of that one is the brightening component. So that one has amla berry, which is very rich in vitamin C, and then it also has licorice root and uva ursi. So licorice root is often used as an alternative to hydroquinone in natural products. And the uva ursi helps to lighten and brighten the look of dark spots as well. So that's the citrus. So those are the three serums in the Signature Collection. Any questions about those serums or just serums in general?
Customer: So you have to choose between them, right? That's the tricky part.
Emily Haupt Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: So yes, sort of. I mean, sometimes people do want to use more than one because we do have so many options. We don't usually recommend mixing the serums, but you could alternate. So you could use one in the morning and a different one in the evening or you could alternate days. We do have a travel size set of the three Signature Serums that you can purchase. So if you wanted to do something like that so that you could try the three and see what you like you can. I tend to think of the Signature Collection serums as a little bit more kind of targeted and then the Wild Alchemy Collection serums, like the Wild Fruit Serum and the Activated CBD Serum as a little bit more all encompassing.
And then we do, because again, there are so many options people are often not sure which one to choose. We do have a pretty generous return and exchange policy. So say that you try the Anti-Aging Serum and you just don’t love it, if it’s within 30 days you can return or exchange it.
Customer: I have the Anti-Aging and the Citrus Stem Cell. I wasn't sure how to use them both.
Emily Haupt Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Gotcha. Yeah. It's perfect to just alternate. You could use the Citrus Stem Cell in the morning and then the Anti-Aging Serum in the evening or something like that. Good question. Any other questions?
Customer: So I'm trying to understand the difference between the serum and the facial oil because I purchased the Anti-Aging Facial Oil. That is different from the serum, right?
Emily Haupt Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yes, they are different. So kind of like I was saying earlier in the call, the serum is your hydrator, and then the oil is your moisturizer. So I always tell people if you're going to just choose one or the other, if you want to have a really simple routine, then you would choose the oil. Most people, I mean unless you're extremely oily, usually a serum is not going to be enough for you. Like to use just the serum without using an oil as well. And even if you're oily, I still would recommend a lighter facial oil, like our Herbal Facial Oil for Oily Skin. So yeah, that's kind of the difference. The serum is your hydrator. The oil is your moisturizer. If you're choosing one or the other, go with the oil. The serum, like I was saying too, is the smaller molecule size and they have those higher levels of activated ingredients, getting them deep into the skin. Does that make sense?
Customer: Yeah, it does. And the difference between the Anti-Aging and the Citrus Stem Cell, you said one is more for sensitive skin? And you said the citrus is more for brightening and for dark spots?
And what is different in the Anti-Aging Serum? What does it do? Like, what's the purpose? What's in there that makes it anti-aging versus the Citrus Stem Cell?
Emily Haupt Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah, so the Citrus Stem Cell is definitely a great one for the brightening component. The Anti-Aging Serum, like I said, it's really deeply hydrating with that hyaluronic acid in it. So hydrating and plumping the skin. As far as the anti-aging component, it's such a dense infusion in the herb infusion, so a lot of those really potent antioxidants. Like the buddleja extract and the life everlasting flowers.
Customer: Okay. I was just trying to see which one I would select based on what I'm desiring in terms of preventing more signs of aging versus wanting the brightening and minimizing the dark spots. So I'm just trying to decide which one would be a better choice.
Emily Haupt Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah, I would probably go with the Citrus Stem Cell because you're still getting anti-aging benefits with that, especially with the citrus-derived stem cells. And then you're also addressing the dark spots and pigmentation.
Customer: Okay, got it.
Emily Haupt Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: And then we haven't got to the Wild Fruit Serum yet, but that could be another good option. That is another one that is excellent for brightening the look of skin.
Okay, so then we do have a couple of other serums in the Wild Alchemy Collection. So, we have the Wild Fruit Serum. This one I love. Like I said, I tend to think of it as a very all encompassing serum. I call it our “do it all” serum. It's hydrating, it's brightening, it's anti-aging, all the things. The scent profile is, as you might guess, more fruity smelling. But that one is great for all skin types. It's got a copper infused water in it. That one has Madonna lily plant cells. So we talked about the plant stem cells. That one has the Madonna lily stem cells. There's about 1. 5 million active plant stem cells in each bottle. So it's a really dense infusion of those cells. And then that one's got apple extract. So it's the same apple extract that's in the Phytonutrient Cleanser. So rich in vitamin C and malic acid which helps with brightening. That one also has knotweed extract in it, which is really rich in resveratrol. And then it's got kakadu plum extract. So kakadu plum is another very potent source of vitamin C. So you're getting both the apple extract and the kakadu plum. So the vitamin C from both of those. And then kakadu plum also contains phenolic acid. Phenolic acid behaves on the skin sort of similar to an alpha hydroxy acid. Alpha hydroxy acids kind of dissolve the “glue” that holds the top layer of skin cells. So they have kind of an exfoliating effect on the skin, like a resurfacing effect. So again, that can be beneficial for improving texture, improving tone, etc. So that is the Wild Fruit. I'm trying to think if I'm forgetting anything in that one. I don’t think so. I love that one. And so again, that could be a good choice too for anyone who is concerned with brightening the look of skin, brightening the look of dark spots. So you could choose either the Citrus Stem Cell Serum or the Wild Fruit Serum. And then let's see. I will talk about the Activated CBD Serum. Is the person on this call who was concerned about sensitivity?
Customer: I have a quick question. You said the Wild Fruit Serum does everything that the other serums do?
Emily Haupt Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah. I mean, I tend to think of it that way, like, because as I said, it's got that really dense infusion of the plant cells. It's very hydrating. It's got the vitamin C from both the apple and the kakadu plum. And for me too, I don't know. I feel like that kakadu plum with the phenolic acid, it kind of sets that one apart for me a little bit. Like I said, it's my favorite. Not that the other ones aren't great, that's just kind of my go to. Okay, so I might skip over CBD if the person who was concerned about sensitivity is not on this call. Just because I know it's a lot of serums, it's overwhelming, so we probably don't need to go over that one. But that one is an excellent choice if you do have very sensitive skin. That is Grace’s other “holy grail” product.
Okay. So then the other serum that we will touch on really quickly is the Activated Night Serum. So this one is also in our Wild Alchemy Collection. This is our most recent serum launch and this one is our alternative to a retinol product.
![Activated Night Serum](https://www.annmariegianni.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/newsletter_1200x800_activated-night-serum_3.jpg)
This contains our bioactive A-Complex, which is our retinol alternative. Vitamin A derivatives and retinol are kind of considered the gold standard in anti-aging, but they really are not great for your health. They can be harmful to reproductive health. Even for skin health, if you're using it over an extended period of time, it can start to kind of thin your skin. And we don't really want to thin our skin as we age. We want to have really healthy, resilient skin. We want to support our skin's natural barrier. So that is why we created this serum. And it contains that bioactive A-Complex, which is our retinol alternative. It is derived from algae.So it's a completely safe ingredient. It's a Made Safe approved ingredient. But it has a similar effect on the skin. So that resurfacing, renewing effect that you get with a traditional retinol. And then this one is nice because we've paired that active bioactive A-Complex with some really nice soothing and calming ingredients. So it's a nice balance. It's got some lavender in there and some blue chamomile. So even if you are on the more sensitive side, most of the time you can still use this one.
This one is only to be used at night and it is to be used with an SPF during the day. Because it can make you more sensitive to the sun. Any questions about the night serum?
Customer: So, you would use that as your serum instead of the citrus or the anti-aging that would be the serum that you would use, but only at night?
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yes, you, you still would only use this at night, even if you're using SPF in the day, you would never use it in the morning. So you could choose a different serum to use in the morning, whether it's Anti-Aging, Wild Fruit, whatever your preference is.
To be totally honest, I am not always great about wearing SPF during the day. Confessions of an esthetician, ha. But I have used this serum and not worn SPF the next day and it was not the best choice. I would definitely recommend using it when using the night serum. If you are not going to wear SPF then I would just choose a different serum.
Okay. Then, let's see. So those are all the serums. We also have our Concentrated Boosting Elixirs, which fall into the serum category. So I guess I will touch on these really quickly. I don't want to overwhelm you. I know it's confusing. Okay. So the elixirs are these three little guys right here. People often are like, do I need the elixirs? You don't necessarily need the elixirs. These are just kind of a fun extra product. They really just allow you to boost the level of activated ingredients in your routine. And they can allow you to customize your routine a little bit more. You never use these directly on your skin. They are always to be mixed. So you mix them with a serum or if you were not using a serum, you could mix them with a facial oil. Like I said, they come in a set of three. They have this little dropper top. They're a pretty liquid consistency. So the way you would use them, you would pump your serum into the palm of your hand. You would drop one to three drops of the elixir. Mix it up, apply your serum or mix it up, apply your oil if you were mixing with an oil. The three in the set are the Hydrate. So this is a hyaluronic acid with vegan collagen pre peptides. We already talked about hyaluronic being really deeply hydrating and plumping up the skin. The collagen prepeptides are strengthening.
And then the Brighten, this one is a pure vitamin C with seabuckthorn. So obviously good for brightening the look of skin. The vitamin C that we use is tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate or THDA. The reason that we chose that particular vitamin C is because it's a really stable form of vitamin C. A lot of vitamin C products on the market, the vitamin C that they use is not stable. So then when you open the product it goes rancid really quickly, and then it's not effective. So that's why we chose that vitamin C. It's very stable. It's also a very non irritating form of vitamin C. Sometimes vitamin C products can be really irritating if you're more sensitive. This one has a pH of 7, so non-irritating. It's the same pH as water. So that's the Brighten Elixir.
And then the Revitalize is the last one. This is the Bioactive A-Complex with astaxanthin. So this is the exact same ingredient that is in the Activated Night Serum. And then it's got astaxanthin, which is that powerful antioxidant I mentioned earlier. So this one is also only to be used at night and with an SPF during the day. So those are the elixirs. Like I said they are just kind of a fun extra product, not totally necessary. Okay. So those are all the serums and elixirs. Any other serum questions or questions about elixirs? I know it's a lot of information.
Okay. So then the next step in your routine would be your moisturizer or your oil. So again, we have several different ones. We have the herbal facial oils in our Signature Collection. So I tend to not go into these too deeply because they are sort of self explanatory because they're named for the skin type they're designed for.
We have the Herbal Facial Oil for Normal and Combination Skin, the Herbal Facial Oil for Oily Skin, and the Herbal Facial Oil for Sensitive Skin. All three of these are a grapeseed oil base which is a light textured skin balancing oil.
The Herbal Facial Oil for Normal and Combination Skin. This one, like I said, is the balancing facial moisturizer. It's the grapeseed oil. And then this one has got some echinacea in there. I believe there's some goji in here, and tamanu oil.
The Herbal Facial Oil for Oily Skin. This one is a more purifying herb blend with the grapeseed oil. So again, the neem and the black cumin seed oil.
![herbal facial oil for oily skin](https://www.annmariegianni.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/herbal-facial-oil-for-oily-skin.jpg)
And then the Herbal Facial Oil for Sensitive Skin. That one has no added essential oils. It's just a bunch of omega rich oils. There's like sacha inchi oil in it, camellia seed oil. So a great choice for sensitive skin, obviously.
Then the other one in our Signature Collection is the Anti-Aging Facial Oil. So this one is very popular again, one of our best selling products. This one is a very nourishing, restorative facial moisturizer for dry and mature skin. It's a jojoba oil base. So again, jojoba very closely resembles the texture of your skin's natural sebum. And then this one has a really dense herb infusion. It's got a bunch of different seed oils in it. So there's carrot seed oil, chia seed oil, broccoli seed oil. Chia, for example, is rich in vitamin B and zinc. So that is the anti-aging. This one's also got some goji in there too giving it that antioxidant component. This one has some plantago in it as well, but it’s a very popular one like I was saying for dry and mature skin.
And then in the Wild Alchemy Collection, there's just one. This one is the Rejuvenating Facial Oil. So this one is our most potent, our most active of the facial oils. And the reason is because our other facial oils contain more of the seed oils and the CO2 extracts. And there's more of the herbs in the herb infusion. I think there's like 20 herbs in the herb infusion or something in the Anti-Aging Facial Oil, the Rejuvenating Facial Oil. It just has one herb. It's the butterfly pea flower. And then it has far fewer of the seed oils and the CO2 extracts. And the reason for that is that by including fewer of them, we were able to include them at higher concentrations. So at higher percentages, which makes it more active, more potent. So this one is excellent really for all skin types except for very sensitive skin. Like this one's a little too much for Gracie.
But that's the Rejuvenating. This one, like I said, it's got the butterfly pea flower. This one has mongongo oil, which is really softening. It makes your skin feel very soft. It's got the baobab oil, the brightening baobab oil. It's got marula oil, which is really antioxidant rich, so I love this one. I always laugh because I feel like this and the Radiate Oil are kind of my two favorites and they're on completely opposite ends of the spectrum, but I also have been using this Herbal Facial Oil for Oily lately, just because I really like the way it smells. It's sort of citrusy. I love it. But anyways, so those are the facial oils.
And so the way that you're going to use them, after you mist your toning mist over your face and neck, I believe on our toning mist, the packaging says to mist it, let it dry, and then apply your serum and your facial oil. I don't really love that recommendation. I would mist it, and then while your skin is still slightly damp from your toning mist, then I would apply your serum and your oil. Applying when your skin is still a little bit damp is just going to help with absorption. So it doesn't ever feel like your products are kind of sitting on your skin. It feels like they're being absorbed really nicely. I always mist my toning mist after I apply my facial oil as well, which you totally do not have to do but I just feel like it helps to kind of dilute the oil a little bit further and just gives it a really nice finish.
So those are the oils, questions about oils. or anything? I know it's a lot, but that covers the basic four step routine.
Customer: I had a question. On two products. One is the Sun Love Sheer Sunscreen. How to incorporate that best after you do your routine? Because I notice that you really have to rub it in, otherwise it leaves like this white film. You have to rub it in and it can be a little oily. So what, what's the best place to put that in your routine? And then and then I had a question about the mask.
![Hand holding Annmarie Sun Love Everyday Sheer Sunscreen - broad spectrum SPF 20, antioxidant-rich and reef-friendly.](https://www.annmariegianni.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/hand-holding-annmarie-sun-love-everyday-sheer-sunscreen.jpg)
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah. So yes, we should talk about Sun Love. So this is our everyday sheer sunscreen. It's an SPF 20. It's reef safe. It's made with non-nano zinc oxide. It's broad spectrum, so both UVA and UVB protection. And so it's really just personal preference with that product if you want to use it on top of a facial oil or if you want to use it just as your daytime moisturizer because it does have the pumpkin seed oil in it and the buriti fruit oil, so it is still nourishing enough so that you could use it just as your daytime moisturizer on its own. So that's really just personal preference. I find that if I am going to use it over a facial oil, I tend to like to use a lighter facial oil. Like I said, I was using the one for oily skin more often lately. But I know Grace uses the Radiate Oil for her facial oil and you use the Sun Love every day, don't you? You're good about it.
Grace Murray – Annmarie Skin Care Marketing Assistant: Yeah, so I use the Radiate facial oil and I use probably just one pump and then I really massage it in. And I feel like that helps with the absorption, but also like not having the Sun Love feel too heavy on my face. Because I feel like if I put it on really quickly, it kind of just sits there and then I put my Sun Love on and then that just like adds on top of it. So, really taking your time, rubbing it in, really getting it into the skin, and then the same thing with the Sun Love too, that also helps that white cast not be as white it helps it kind of sheer out faster, and then the combination of the two, it just makes it very light and it helps you not feel like you have sunscreen on your face, you know? And maybe the Radiate is a little lighter than some of the other facial oils, I'm not completely sure. Emily might have a little more information on that, but those two in combination are fantastic.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah. I wouldn't say that the radiate is super lightweight. At least when I use it, it feels very moisturizing to me. But yeah, that's just kind of personal preference and you can play around with it and see if you like the way it feels better if you use it on its own or with your oil first. But yes, like Grace was saying, it could be helpful to make sure that you're really fully massaging in your facial oil before you're applying the Sun Love if you're going to use it with the oil.
Customer: So did you mention the Radiate Oil? Was that one of the facial oils that you went through? It didn't seem like it was.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: No, so I did mention quickly at the beginning the Essentials Collection, which is just those two products and those are the two products that are that lower price point. So those two products that Radiate Oil and the Renew Cleanser, do not contain our herb infusions. So, you know, like I was saying, with the Anti-Aging Facial Oil, for example there's a really dense infusion of herbs in there that's delivering those really potent antioxidants. Whereas the Radiate Oil is a very simple formula that does not have that herb infusion. But like I said, it can be a good choice for more sensitive skin. Again, Grace has very sensitive skin. I don't really have sensitive skin, so I don't know why I kind of gravitated towards that one. I feel like it has a really nice mild scent and I like that, so I think that's part of why I started out with that one and loved it.
Customer: I have a question. Can you hear me? Okay. I'm still working this out. I took all these notes. I haven't tried your stuff yet. So here's my question. I'm almost 70 and the skin on my legs kind of looks like crepe paper. So would I do one of every one of these or I don't know what to do or even how to ask, but what would you recommend?
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: So all the products that we've talked about so far are just facial products. We do have body products as well. And so for the creepy skin, I would probably recommend our Radiant Skin Silk Body Lotion. We have a few different body oils and then we have the Radiant Skin Silk, which is our body lotion. And usually that's the recommendation for what you're mentioning. That one I would say is very nourishing, very moisturizing. If you wanted to, you could even use both a body oil and the Radiant Skin Silk.
Customer: Okay, thanks.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah, of course. Awesome. Good questions. Any other questions?
Customer: Yeah, I had another question. So I purchased a couple of products and I wanted to kind of get on here just to understand the process and which product is best as I do my routine. And so I have the Aloe Herb Cleanser. I have the Citrus Stem Cell Serum and I have the Anti-Aging Facial Oil. So what I'm understanding is that I don't have a toner. So my question is, is that one of the steps that if I'm just starting out, it's okay to skip until I get settled and then select the toner? Like, how does that work?
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I feel like toners a lot of times for people are a step that kind of gets skipped over because they're like, why do I need a toner? I don't need a toner. I personally love having a toning mist and like I said, it's just providing that dose of hydration and skin supporting nutrients. It can also help with the absorption of your serums and oils as well. But totally not like a hundred percent necessary. If you are just getting started, what you've got there is a perfect start. Like I was saying, the most basic routine you would want to do would be the cleanser and oil. And then you could add from there. So if you want to, if down the road you feel like you want to add a toning mist you absolutely can. It's not detrimental that you don't have one right now.
Customer: Ok. And I don't know if you're going to get into like the masks next, because that was another product that I purchased. And if you could talk a little bit about the purpose of a mask, how it's used? And I have this Illuminating Pearl Mask, and what's the advantage of that?
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah, absolutely. So we have a few different masks. The Purifying Mud Mask, the Illuminating Pearl Mask, and then we have the Coconut Honey and the Charcoal Cacao as well. So masking can be nice to add this ritual component to your skin care routine. The process of masking can be really nice. Also, masks are just another way to incorporate more of those activated ingredients into your routine. And kind of customize your routine to address your specific skin concerns.
So the Coconut Honey Mask, that one is very good for dry and mature skin. It's like that rich, balmy texture. A lot of people like that one in the dry winter months. It's good for sensitive skin too. It's a very simple formula.
The Charcoal Cacao, this one is very antioxidant rich with the cacao and the turmeric, and then it's also very purifying and detoxifying as well. It's got the activated coconut charcoal in it.
And then the Purifying Mud Mask, this one obviously is purifying. This one's gonna be best for more normal to oily skin types. I, however, love this mask. This is actually a dry powdered mask. And so if you wanted to use this one but you were not oily, what I do with it is mix it with honey. I like to mix it with Manuka honey, but you could use any honey. And that's so nice because then you're getting the humectant properties of the honey, like drawing moisture to the skin, but also the purifying benefits of the mud.
![10 Unexpected Uses for Your Skin Care Products 2](https://www.annmariegianni.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/purifyingmudmask_1200x800.png)
Then last but certainly not least the Illuminating Pearl Mask. This one is excellent. People love this one. This is a favorite among customers as well as the team. This one is a hydrating, brightening treatment mask. So this one has honey in it. So again, honey is a humectant drawing moisture to the skin. This one also has crushed pearl powder in it, which is a really unique ingredient. It has this luminosity that it imparts on the skin. And then this one also has the licorice root and the uva ursi. So the same two lightening and brightening ingredients that are in the Citrus Stem Cell Serum are in this mask. So incorporating this into your routine is just giving you another kind of dose of those ingredients. This mask in particular, you really can’t overdo it with this one. You could use this every day if you wanted to and it's not going to hurt. Or you can use it once a week or like whatever works for you. This one feels so nice. It's kind of like this creamy, jelly texture. So it feels really cooling on the skin. So I like to use it in the morning when my skin is kind of tired and puffy. But that's the pearl mask. Love this one. Good choice.
Customer: So where do you put that in your routine? Let's say if I chose to do it like twice a week. In that four step process, where would I put that?
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah. So you would cleanse with your cleanser, rinse that off, and then you would apply your mask and you can leave this one on for 10 minutes. You could leave it on for 30 minutes. Again, it's not really going to hurt. Like some people on our team will leave this on overnight. And then you would just rinse it clean and then mist your toning mist, if you're using a mist and then apply your serum and your oil.
Customer: So if you apply that, it is just a longer process because you have to sit and wait for it, right?
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah, I mean, I tend to feel like with my masks, it’s actually a little bit easier for me to incorporate because I'll just put it on and work for a while or you know, do whatever you're doing. So you're not just sitting at the bathroom sink waiting for 20 minutes or whatever.
Customer: Okay, got it. So you just start your routine earlier and then you go about your day and then you can complete the steps. And if you choose to wear it at night. Then what do you do? You just cleanse and then you put your mask on and then in the morning you do the rest of the steps.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah, exactly. I haven't actually done that myself, but I know that some people on the team will do that. So after you cleanse, you would apply it and just do kind of a thin layer and then you can just sleep in it. In the morning just rinse it and then apply your toner, serum, and oil. Have you ever tried that Grace?
Grace Murray – Annmarie Skin Care Marketing Assistant: No, I'm a tosser and turner when I sleep, so I can't really have anything on my face because it just will fall right off.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah. I think it's so funny. I'm pretty sure Andrea said, doesn't she wear this mask when she's taking her kids to school? I mean, it is pretty sheer. You might not be able to tell.
Anyways, So those are the masks. We do have exfoliants. We didn't really touch on exfoliants yet.
We have three different ones. Exfoliating is important in your routine because if you don't exfoliate, you can kind of get this layer of buildup and then your treatment products don't penetrate. They're not absorbed as effectively. So exfoliation can be helpful for that. It's also going to help to refine the skin to improve texture. If enlarged pores or congestion are a concern exfoliation can be helpful.
We have two physical exfoliants, the Ayurvedic Facial Scrub and the Kaolin Micro Exfoliant.
So these are both physical exfoliants. They have that scrubby, gritty texture so they're physically polishing the skin. The Ayurvedic, the fenugreek in here is what is the exfoliating property. And then in this one, the Kaolin it's a crushed bamboo powder. The Ayurvedic facial scrub. This one's great for all skin types, even very sensitive skin. It's a dry herbal exfoliant. So it's a powder. You just shake it into the palm of your hand, mix some water, massage it in, rinse. You also can mix this right in with your cleanser. If you want to shake a little bit into your Aloe Herb Cleanser or your Phytonutrient Cleanser, it's a really nice combination.
Then Kaolin Micro Exfoliant, this is a cream facial scrub. It's that kaolin clay base. So very purifying and mineral rich. It's got lavender in it. So that's the scent profile on this one. It’s got the crushed bamboo powder. So it's a little bit richer. The crushed bamboo powder is kind of like a step up as far as grit.
The Ayurvedic is so gentle that most people could use it even everyday if you wanted to. The Kaolin would be more like twice a week, maybe 3 times a week. And you could even mix the Kaolin with your cleanser too, if you wanted it to be more gentle. It mixes really nicely with the Aloe Herb cCleanser, because then it smells like lemon-lavender, which is so nice.
And then lastly, the Resurfacing Facial Exfoliant. This one's a little bit different. This one is a chemical exfoliant, so it does not have a scrubby, gritty texture like the others. It's a smooth gel texture. So you use it the way that you would a mask. It's got a honey-derived lactic acid. That is the exfoliating property in this one. And lactic acid is a very mild alpha hydroxy acid. And again, alpha hydroxy acids are kind of dissolving that glue that holds the top layer of skin cells. This one, you would only want to use once a week. You apply it to clean skin. You leave it on for like two to three minutes to start. So not very long. Depending on how sensitive your skin is, this one can feel pretty like tingly, pretty active. And then you want to just rinse thoroughly to remove. This one you only want to use in the evening with an SPF during the day. You can work your way up to leaving this on for like 10 minutes. If your skin is kind of more resilient, we just usually say to start with the lower lower time to see how your skin does with it. So those are the exfoliants.
Then eye products. We have the Fruit Ceramide Eye Serum and the Anti-Aging Eye Cream. Both are excellent. I usually tell people if you're going to choose just one or the other, I tend to lean towards the eye cream. For me, my eye area is just always really dry and that one feels very nourishing.
The Fruit Ceramide Eye Serum, that one is a thinner, true serum consistency. So like we talked about, the serums are the thinner consistency. They're the smaller molecule. They're good for hydrating.
And they can be used together as well. So I tell people if your eye area is your main concern, you might want to use both of them together. And to do that, you can either alternate, you could do the Fruit Ceramide Eye Serum in the morning and the Anti-Aging Eye Cream at night, or you could layer them. You could layer the Fruit Ceramide Eye Serum underneath the eye cream. With the Fruit Ceramide Eye Serum, you want to make sure that you're only using a very tiny, tiny bit. You don't want to overuse that one, cause then it just doesn't apply nicely. It's very concentrated. You only need a little bit. That one has pineapple ceramides in it. It's got sake peptides. The sake peptides can be really beneficial for kind of like retexturizing the under eye area to help to kind of brighten that area. The Anti-Aging Eye Cream, that one has damas rose plant cells. It's got cucumber in it, so it's really cooling and rich in silica. So those are the two eye products that we have.
I think that's pretty much it. Did I forget anything?
So I know that's a lot of information. It's a lot of products. Any other questions about any of the products or anything else? You can always reach out to us if you need to. Our customer care email is [email protected]
Customer: I have one more question. I just bought this butter. The Palo Santo but it came more melted because it's so hot, you know.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Right. I think we do actually have something on our site in our FAQs about that. Let me check . I know that can happen sometimes with that product. It should be pretty simple. It says open, mix it slowly and then put it near an air conditioner or in a cool place. It says don't refrigerate it, and then it should just re solidify.
Customer: Ok, thank you.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Of course. Any other questions? We have a couple more minutes.
Customer: For the exfoliant, would I expect to see, like, sloughing off, or would it just be so mild I wouldn't notice it? Like for the chemical one?
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: For most people I would say no, you probably wouldn’t see “sloughing off”. I personally have not had that experience. Though it is a chemical exfoliant it is still fairly mild. Good question.
Customer: Well, it's been very helpful. Thank you so much.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Good. Thank you guys. I'm glad that it was helpful. As I mentioned if you guys think of any other questions that you didn't get to ask you always send an email. I hope you all have a great rest of your day.
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