Summarized from a consultation originally recorded on September 24th, 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.
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: I want to invite anyone to either go off mute, or if you are already off mute, just step in and talk to me about your skin and we'll just. Talk about building a routine, what your needs are, what your best products are. Any willing volunteers to do this? Yay, Kathy. Okay, let's do it. So Kathy, talk to me about your skin.
Customer: Okay. It's nice. And I've ordered the samples. And so I've been using the products a bit, but my concern has been that I went vegetarian and I lost some weight. And so like, like all my wrinkles have shown up and, and in my head, I mean, I go, okay, you know, I still have this young spirit. That doesn't matter. But sometimes I go, My mother lived to be 96 and I think she had less wrinkles. I didn't right now. So that's, you know, it's like a horrible comparison. Because I'm only 74. So it isn't particularly dry. I mean, sometimes my cheeks get dry, but You know, it's more the wrinkles cause my skin is pretty clear. But I have, I have light, I've used some other organic products, but there's something I like about the Anti-Aging Facial Oil. I just, it feels really nourishing and I've really, I've really liked that, but I don't have a whole routine. Exactly.
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Gotcha. Okay. Well, let's get into some suggestions.
So I'm going to offer some, some suggestions, both for our products and then just some other suggestions that might be helpful for you and your goal here. So when we're building a basic routine with Anne Marie skincare, we're looking at four products to have as your staple routine in the morning and in the evening, and this will include your cleanser.
Your toning mist, your serum, and your oil. And they all have a purpose and they all work together and one is not going to serve the purpose of the other.
This is really common with the serum oil conversation. So for your knees, right? It's like wrinkling is a specific concern. You have lost some weight and potentially lost some weight in a quick time frame. And so you're starting to really notice this drooping and wrinkling in the skin. And so let's get into some products that can be helpful. Now, I'm going to suggest both of these. You don't have to go with both of these, but I like to give you a couple options. Also to note, you'll notice that some of the products I'm talking about have this black label. And these products are part of what we call the Wild Alchemy Collection. These tan label products are part of the Signature Collection, and they're, one is better than the other, they're both very supportive. What's unique about the Wild Alchemy Collection is the Wild Alchemy Collection in general is going to be very targeted in terms of addressing specific signs of aging. And that'll vary from product to product within the Wild Alchemy Collection, but it is set apart from the Signature Collection in that it's pretty targeted and pretty active in a way that not all of the signature collection necessarily supports cleansers. One good option for you is this one. This is the Aloe Herb Cleanser.
Customer: I have been using this sample.
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Lovely. So you've got a feel for it. It's that very soft, very smooth cleanser. None of our cleansers will have any surfactants. And so there aren't, nothing's going to bubble up just for someone who may not have tried the cleanser already. Everything is going to have a pretty gentle feel to it. It's still incredibly effective. We use aloe vera as our, one of our cleansing properties here. Aloe when mixed with water takes on this saponification and so it feels like and acts like soap. And so this is moving things up and off the face.
Now the Aloe Herb Cleanser is specifically helpful for skin that's on the dry side. It doesn't have to be super, super dry. Skin that's starting to see signs of aging. This can be wrinkling. This can be dehydration. This can be creasing. This can be some drooping. But the other one's a little bit more direct for drooping. This one's also good for sensitive skin. I know you didn't mention any sensitivity, Kathy, but if anyone's listening and sensitivity is a concern this is a pretty supportive one for that. And the next one is The Phytonutrient Cleanser, this is another one that could be potentially quite good for you. This one, as part of the Wild Alchemy Collection, is a pretty potent and active blend. So we include it here as one of our kind of key ingredients, our signature serum blend. And the signature serum blend is this blend that we start all of our serums with. It's this aloe base where we steep certain herbs and florals into it.
And it's specifically designed to soften the appearance of wrinkling in the face. This is particularly good for when you have wrinkles or creasing from repeated facial expressions, oftentimes on the forehead, sides of the face, things like that, when you are moving your face in a certain way and then you're noticing that some creasing is left behind.
This particular blend is pretty helpful for softening that. It's a pretty hydrating blend. We use mango seed butter here and so the consistency is really kind of full and creamy. So dry skin, this is supportive as well. And then we've got some ingredients that can help uneven skin tone. Now for those concerns, I think this one is a little bit of a better fit, unless you are sensitive. Which, Kathy, you didn't mention, but for everyone else, if you're sensitive the Aloe Herb Cleanser is a little bit more supportive. I also find the Aloe Herb Cleanser to be a little bit more moisturizing than the Phytonutrient. And so if dryness is a really big concern, I would go with this one, potentially over the Phytonutrient Cleanser. Or maybe you use the Phytonutrient Cleanser just in the evening or every couple days. I feel like with my skin type, which is normal, but on the dry side and the sensitive side, that this one, if I use this one only, I really need a different cleanser or I'm really packing on the oil, going with heavier oils to balance that out.
So this, one of those two would be what I would recommend for your cleansing step. Now for your toning mist, I think.
I think Kathy may have dropped. Grace, are you talking? Yes. Can you hear me? Did we lose her? I think we lost Kathy.
Grace – Annmarie Skin Care Marketing Assistant: I can hear you, yeah. I think we lost Kathy, so I just wanted to mention just in case we want to move on to someone else where we can continue talking about what products would be best. But just so you know, it looks like she may have lost her.
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Dang. Okay. Well, she might join us again. So we'll, we'll let her back in. I could keep talking in that specific vein, but I'd love to be speaking to someone specifically. So if there's anybody else who wants to share.
Customer: I'd like to say something. Okay. So I'm, I don't know about the others, but I'm new to Annmarie and was able to get some samples. So I had the Anti-Aging Serum, the Probiotic Serum with Tremella, and the Citrus Stem Cell Serum. So I, my question is layering. Can I layer all three or do I alternate? I have sensitive dry mature skin and I easily can develop You know, white heads and you know, my skin can react to certain things as well.
And so I am just also combining it with my existing moisturizer. I'm using a Japanese cream moisturizer. Over the serums. And so what I've done is I have layered all three, but I sort of feel it feels a little heavy. I put the cream moisturizer on and I wanted to know in terms of staggering it, layering what should come first, or should I only do one or two or?
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah, this is a really good question. So let's talk about that. So what Debra is asking, she has, as part of one of her samples, she has received what we call our serum trio, which is a set that comes with three, there's Much smaller than this, but it's these three serums. So it's the Anti-Aging Serum, the Probiotic Serum with Tremella, and the Citrus Stem Cell Serum. And how do you use all three of these? So layering them is not wrong. What I usually suggest with these is that you start with one, and use that as your single serum, so you really get a feel for it. Mm hmm. So, and you can start with whichever one feels best for you. With what you've described of your skin, I suspect you will like either the Anti-Aging Serum or the Probiotic Serum with Tremella quite a bit. The Anti-Aging Serum, this particular one, it's a very, very hydrating blend. All of these are going to be quite light. So for most of our serums, with the exception of maybe one or two, they've got this kind of thin, almost aqueous consistency to them. And that's by design. And that's true for our serums as it is for a lot of serums that exist. Because what we're doing with this serum is we're using this particular product with that very thin consistency for that to seep into the lower layers of the skin and to work. To support the skin there. So we're working with hydrating such as general dehydration or dryness in the skin. A lot of the potency in addressing these concerns (The appearance of loose skin or dehydrated skin) is going to happen with your serum step. Now of the three that we've got the Anti-Aging Serum this one I think is one that yeah, you probably have enjoyed the feel of this one is very, very hydrating. There's a lot of hyaluronic acid in this particular one. And so. The way that works, hyaluronic acid or any variation of a humectant, it pulls moisture to it and it plumps up. And so when we're using an ingredient like hyaluronic acid, it helps to really soften the appearance of fine lines because we're getting this very quick kind of pulling and plumping. This is another reason why utilizing a good toning mist is helpful because all of the toning mist are gonna prep the skin. For the serums to come to this one. We've got hyaluronic acid. We've also got this really potent floral blend. We have idol wise life everlasting. Rose. There's a lot of roses. You can really smell the rose in this one. All of these are working to stave off the appearance of fine lines and then strengthen the skin, which is helpful because when you've got this kind of resilient, strengthened skin, then as you're making these facial expressions, they aren't staying in the same way they might have before.
The Anti-Aging Serum, this one that I'm speaking to here, I usually recommend this for anybody who's really dry. Anybody who's big concerns are dehydration or you're starting to see, you know, creasing or lines in the face, all of that, this is what I'm going to suggest the anti-aging one here. And this one is a standalone product and is a pretty popular product. We have this one available in this 15 milliliter size. We did also launch it in a larger 30 milliliter size. We were observing that this product had not just a high purchase rate, which of course is exciting news for a business, but it also had a high repurchase rate. So we're seeing that people are investing in the Anti-Aging Serum and then investing in it time and time again. The Citrus Stem Cell Serum, excuse me, is a potent product. It does have the least amount of hyaluronic acid as all All of our serums. And so if dryness is a concern, this one may not be your favorite, but, this one is particularly supporting the appearance of uneven skin tone. We're getting this support for the drooping with the stem cell component. We use an orange peel derived stem cell. And I didn't even get into all of our ingredient standards and everything. Sometimes I start the call with that.
All of our stem cells are plant derived. Any stem cell in any product will be a plant derived stem cell. We don't use any animal or otherwise derived. So this is an orange peel, and this is helpful with the lift of the face. So kind of like retraining those stem cells of your skin cells with those stem cells to have a more taut feel. And then the other side of this is the uva ursi, licorice root, and amla berry. The three of these are working to pinpoint discoloration and to brighten that area. to fade discoloration in that area. Now, you hadn't mentioned discoloration is a big concern. It is. Yes. Is it? Okay.
Customer: Is this comparable to vitamin C? That was another question because you have so many different serums. Yeah. Which one targets or acts like vitamin C to renew skin cells and help with discoloration?
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah. So this actually, it doesn't have a direct vitamin C in it. And there's a difference between two angles of brightening the face. Vitamin C is a super helpful component because vitamin C is working to help aid the overall tone and texture. What we've used in here, there's Uva Ursi, Licorice Root and Amla Berry. These are what are called tyrosinase inhibitors. And so these specific brighteners, what they do is they accumulate on a darkened spot and they help that pigmentation go back to sleep. So they work differently than vitamin C. Now, none of the serums are going to have direct vitamin C, but one that we have has a fruit. This, this one, this is called the wild fruit serum. This one has kakadu plum in it. Okay. And kakadu plum is a very potent form of vitamin C. It offers a very potent form of vitamin C. And so by including that, we are able to receive the benefits of vitamin C without using vitamin C as an ingredient in it. The wild fruit serum does also have uva ursi, and so it's working on brightening the skin from both angles, both from that targeted, targeted. The Wild Fruit Serum, while we're on it, it also has hyaluronic acid, so we're getting this plumping effect. And then it also has stem cells, so we're getting this lifted, taut feel with this one. So this one covers a lot of bases as far as signs of aging, but a new product that we launched and I actually haven't even broken into it yet. This is called Brighten and this is a booster for your serum or your oil.
It is originally, we originally offered it as part of a set. We have this set of, Called our Concentrated Boosting Elixirs Hydrate, Brighten, and Revitalize. The Brighten was pretty popular, and so we did launch it as a stand alone product.
Now this does use a very pure form of vitamin C. We use, I'm gonna try to remember how to say it, T T Tetra Hexyl O C T And we specifically chose this form of vitamin C because it's shelf stable. A lot of vitamin C's are not shelf stable, so they go rancid pretty quickly. And it's not a petroleum derivative. Also, a lot of items that are out there are petroleum derived. And so this one is neither this nor this form, which I might suggest you look at the spelling of it on your own. But this particular form is a shelf stable. Non petroleum derived variation. It does also include some seabuckthorn that's just an antioxidant to support how vitamin C works. So, if you're wanting something, you know, if your primary focus was brightening the skin, investing in this particular product, the Brighten, and then you do a, you know, half a pump to a pump mixed into your serum in the palm of your hand, and then apply it, Then you are receiving the benefits of the vitamin C within whichever other serum and it goes with all of the other serums except our activated night serum And just briefly, I don't want to throw too much information, but the activated night serum contains a retinol alternative. And vitamin C and retinol, how they work in the skin, they kind of cancel each other out. And so for that reason, this would be the only serum that we would say, you know, pick any other booster, but not the Brighton to mix into it. So, it goes great with the citrus stem cell to land the plane of this long variation here.
These two go great together, especially if you're wanting to brighten the skin. Okay.
Customer: Can I just, excuse me Kate, can I just go back? The anti, so if I were to use the brighten and the Anti-Aging Serum, would I use those together and which one would I apply first to my skin?
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: So you actually, with the booster, with the Brighton, you will want to mix it in. You'll take whatever serum, let's say this is the Anti-Aging Serum, do two to three pumps. And then I would say one pump, maybe half a pump. You can kind of feel out what volume feels good. The Brighton is because it's just a pure form of vitamin C. It's too intense to be applied on the skin directly. It needs some sort of a medium, yeah, to dilute it a little bit. So mix it into something, but don't put it right on the face.
Customer: Great. Is it possible to use the Anti-Aging Serum under the eyes?
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah, you can do the eye area. Yes. I don't think it's as potent as an actual eye cream. We have our Anti-Aging Eye Cream. It's a little bit richer and the ingredient selection is a little bit more targeted for specific eye concerns, but you can bring the anti aging eye cream or excuse me Anti-Aging Serum up around the eyes and that's perfectly fine.
Customer: So I guess also I don't want to take up all the time, but I see the anti aging oil to be used as a moisturizer and I have dry skin. And so I'm just wondering if that's enough really. In the past I've used other products and serums, herbal serums and so forth and used the oil just, and it's not your oil, but it was another.
Yeah. Company that it just did not moisturize enough.
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah. Yeah. So let me speak to that a little bit. We do have just oils as our form of moisture at this point. And the reason is there is a couple pronged because we aren't opposed to creams or lotion. We actually are working on a cream, like a facial cream right now. What we've had trouble with in the past is that it's hard to formulate a cream or a lotion that is. Stable on the shelf that we don't have to use a synthetic preservative for and that also maintains its consistency that we don't have to use a synthetic emulsifier for it. I didn't get into this at the beginning, but our brand standards essentially what we hold ourselves to is we make sure that we are. Either eliminating or avoiding upwards of 8, 000 toxins. So anything that could be deemed as a potential carcinogen, anything that could be deemed as toxic in some way, we keep it out of the products, which then lends itself to mean that we don't include synthetic products. Preservatives or emulsifiers. So with the oils, we have, you know, incredibly clean ingredients, but because your skin naturally produces oil, your skin, whether it's quite a bit less than you want or a lot more than you want, it's happening. There's this kind of bio recognizability when we're using an oil as a moisture. And a couple that could be particularly helpful for your skin type all of these start with a jojoba oil.
So one of them is Anti-Aging Facial Oil. This is probably going to be the richest facial oil, but also Rejuvenating Facial Oil or our Divine Woman Elixir here.
All of these start with an organic golden jojoba. And this organic golden jojoba is great for really, really parched, really thirsty skin because it mimics skin's natural oil, like the molecule size, the weight of it pretty closely. And so integrating oil as your form of moisture, there may be a transition period, especially if you're used to using something that does have some synthetic emulsifiers and might feel heavier, but otherwise it tends to absorb pretty evenly and adequately meet the skin where it's at. So for you, I would suggest the Anti-Aging Facial Oil if you're the type of person where dry skin is a big concern. You cannot really get enough moisture. You're constantly looking to add more, utilizing this one. I would definitely make sure that you've got an appropriate serum, but another thing that gets overlooked a lot is making sure that you're using a toning mist with the oil. Something that can happen if you're using an oil as moisture, especially if you haven't for a while, or maybe this is just new for your skin, is that it can kind of sit on the surface and then not really absorb. And so you feel really dry, but you look really shiny, which of course is not what you want. A great tip to change that is using a toning mist. You can even use plain water, but I think the toning mists are light years above that. But you mist your skin generously. You leave it on, which is true in any application.
You use your serum and your oil as your skin is still damp. And then as that's absorbing, do a little extra oil. Because what happens when you've got the skin damp with water or with a toning mist, and then you apply the serum, and then the oil, is as that absorbs, it pulls it all deep into the skin. Which is great, and so you may not even need the extra little bit of oil on the top, but sometimes really dry skin types do. Still experience, like especially in the cheeks, wanting a little bit of extra support. And then I just say, you know, do a little bit on your fingertips and kind of come in, press it in, and that, that tends to do the trick. But yes, we do even super, super dry customers are able to find an oil that is supportive for their needs. And while I'm on the tangent, I wanna offer another product because this is also helpful. This is another cleanser. That I didn't mention with Kathy. This is the Restorative Cleansing Oil. It's a blend of oils. We've got Manuka, we have some there's like a lavender in here. The feel of this is very rich.
But this is typically what I'll suggest when I'm working with a customer who does have the skin type that's really dry, that's just like constantly looking to add moisture or moisturizers. Just like, how heavy can they get? Go to try to support the discomfort of their skin. Because what happens when we're using the oil, we don't have any additional ingredients. There's no soap in here. That's going to then make this like a foam up when you add water. This sometimes happens with other oil cleansers on the market. So when you rinse this, you have quite a bit of residue left behind and that's by design. So if you are super, super dry, using this particular cleanser can just help in the greater routine to have a kind of more adequately supported moisture level to the skin.
Great. Great. Perfect. Any other questions, Debra? What I want to suggest for you?
Customer: No, but you just talk about the eye cream. And the eye cream, does it do anything other than just moisturize? I mean, does it help diminish puffy eyes and wrinkles? Yes.
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Kind of all of the above. The texture's a little bit creamier than, than, well, than anything, and because of that, this will be your last product. So where this falls in your routine is after your facial oil, you'll apply your eye cream. But the ingredient makeup of this, we do include stem cells in here. And so we've got specific stem cells to help with the strength of that really thin tissue around the eye area. We also have squalene, and squalene is particularly helpful in rebuilding the strength of this area. It also is very soft and very fatty, and so it provides a lot of moisture in this area. Not, oh, you know, it's not leaving like a residue, it absorbs perfectly evenly, but it just helps to provide this kind of combat against the crepiness that happens around the eye area. And then another key ingredient in here, we have a good amount of cucumber distillate and cucumber distillate is super helpful for puffiness under the eyes. I tell the story often. So this is a, one of the first products I ever tried with Anne Marie skincare way back in the day, like 2015, I managed a business and we had it. Some skincare products, but then we also had skinceuticals and image skincare. We had kind of more traditional skin care lines.
And I had used this, I think, you know, I had gotten a sample and used it for a while and I was blown away by how this helps with my own puffiness. And still, I feel like I'm oftentimes A little bit older than people might expect and I really attribute a lot of that to how this supports my eye area. A lot of my friends and kind of my peer group.
I noticed that this is starting to change quite a bit for them. And I still feel very taught and very resilient here. And so, even back in the day, when I had access to, you know, full strength retinoids and, you know. A million different blends. Well, not really. I think we probably had like six different eye creams. This was still the one that I would recommend because of how this worked with puffiness specifically. And now, you know, if I go on a camping trip or I'm out of town for a couple days, I don't do my full routine usually when I'm camping and so I usually notice a difference when I come home. I just feel like I start to look a little bit puffier under the eye area. And so I'm pretty diligent with the usage of that one. So that is one that I recommend for most people. Yeah,
Customer: I don't want to hog the time because other women here have questions, but maybe they might be interested to know about the probiotic serum too. And actually that does. And if it helps with redness, I mean, you know, sometimes redness in the skin, getting the skin normalized.
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yes. Yeah. Thank you for swinging that back. I had the intention to come here and then the conversation kind of moved forward with the Probiotic Serum with Tremella. The blend of this 1 is specifically supportive for skin. That's really dry skin. That's just regulated. So, a couple of the ingredients in this 1, we have a probiotic complex like the name suggests. We also have an olive leaf ferment in this one, a shell stable olive leaf ferment here. And the two of these, what they're doing when we're putting them on the face, is they're feeding the good bacteria on the face. So the greater intention with this one is to rebalance, It's the natural flora of the skin. And so this particular serum, the probiotic serum can be helpful if you're someone who experiences rosacea or oh I was working with someone recently who had a specific concern. I can't remember what that was. It was at the moment. But any variation where the skin can get red or the skin can get inflamed or uncomfortable, really irritated in any sort of way, the probiotic serum with Tremella is designed to quell that and to quell that pretty quickly.
It does also include the Tremella mushroom and the Tremella mushrooms Functions very similarly to hyaluronic acid, it's a little bit softer than hyaluronic acid, just a touch, and so for super, super sensitive skin this, we, we went with this one rather than the hyaluronic acid. But the feel of this, yeah, essentially is providing a lot of moisture and a lot of support for skin that's uncomfortable. And so this 1 is also good. If you're somebody who gets red or sensitive, just because you're dry. So your skin is so dry that it just really needs that extra support. The probiotic serum is a really helpful 1 for that particular concern. Thank you. You're welcome. Probiotic serum. Perfect. What other questions? If not, I can just start to talk about some really key products and that's okay too, but I want to invite in anyone who wants the recommendation. Denise. Yeah, I
Customer: Well, I had bought the same as Deborah. I had bought that little sample packet of the probiotic, the tremella and the anti aging and the citrus. So I wasn't really sure how to use it because I had bought this before getting this email to have this, this Zoom. So I wasn't sure how, I haven't really tried it yet. How do I know if I should try it? Can you use it if you're not sure what your skin is? Mine is sort of, I'm 64, so I don't, I'm kind of maybe a combination. I don't have it too dry. My nose is a little bit more oily maybe. But I do notice I have, my skin isn't soft, but like sometimes that night I can see bumpiness on my skin.
And I do break out every now and then. I'm not sure if what I bought would be good for my skin to try.
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah, that's a really good question. So these three serums, the Anti-Aging Serum, Probiotic Serum with Tremella, and Citrus Stem Cell Serum can be used on really any skin type.
So even if someone was really, really oily and they don't need extra moisture and they're clogged pores prone, but they had concerns that were specific to signs of aging or concerns that were specific to, Yes. Sensitivity or something like that. All of these are still going to be supportive. What's really nice about our serums, and this is true for most serums that are out there, their consistency is really thin. They really don't add a lot of extra weight to the skin. They're working to support the strength and the moisture and then whatever targeted concern that happens towards the lower layers of the skin, which is why you usually still need a moisturizer when you have a serum, because the moisture is working kind of underground, the moisturizer or the oil is going to be working on supporting the comfort and appearance of the skin. What's visible, the upper level. So you, you likely can use any of these. And you might find that one feels better than the other. The Anti-Aging Serum has quite a bit more hyaluronic acid. The citrus, Citrus Stem Cell Serum, excuse me, has quite a bit less hyaluronic acid. And so one might feel more, more comfortable for your skin than the other, but I wouldn't expect that any of them would. Any adverse reactions. So no clogged pores. They're likely not going to clog pores. They're a pretty simple blend. So all of that could be likely still going to be supported in some way. There's one product that I think could be helpful specifically for the texture of the face, and I might offer this within a greater routine. So, the product specifically is the activated night serum, but I think if you were just to invest in the activated night serum, there's a potential that it could be a little bit too drying or too intense for you. I think it fits in with the greater Picture here. So I would suggest for you the Aloe Herb Cleanser And then your toning mist I would suggest the Neroli Toning Mist. We haven't spoken about this one yet But this is a pretty light blend that's still supportive for combating signs of aging neroli
Customer: Yeah I'm the type of person, you know, if I have to do too much, it's like, cause I never put anything on my face except, I do, I am an all natural product person, so like to wash my face, I have a bar of soap that's an all natural thing. I don't even wear makeup anymore because I can't find anything that I like. It doesn't feel good on my face and I really don't ever use a moisturizer or anything like that. So I was just curious to see what you had to offer.
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Oh, that's, that might change my suggestions a little bit. So It is a big jump to go from just using bar soap to four products. And so I really appreciate your knowing of that because it's such a bummer to invest in products that you're not going to use for your skin. You might still find the Aloe Herb Cleanser supportive. It's probably going to be a little bit more pH balance than the bar soap that you're using. Most bar soaps are a little bit on the alkaline side. And so what can happen is they kind of are just a little bit drying in some thinner skinned areas. That could be the nose, that could be the sides of the mouth. And it may not, you, the one you have might be perfect, but that's commonly what I see. So, still the Aloe Herb Cleanser. From there, I'd say potentially, It nicks everything except the facial oil. When I'm going with the most bare bones routine, I am almost always going to go with the cleanser and the facial oil. Those two products. And for your skin, you could probably do the lighter one. So, this particular oil is called the herbal facial oil for normal and combination skin. It sounds like your skin is pretty right down the middle. I'm still going to speak to the Activated Night Serum because in a dream world, when, when or if you're ready, we'll come back to that. But as far as the basic routine, the Aloe Herb Cleanser and the herbal facial oil for normal and combination skin, it's a, it's a grapeseed oil base. And so it's got a good amount of weight to it. It's not quite as rich as Anti-Aging Facial Oil. It's like a hair underneath, but it still is packed with ingredients that are going to be supporting, basically staving off signs of aging with the skin. And so I like it for that. It's not too heavy either. So if you aren't somebody who normally puts much on your face it does feel like oil when you apply it, but it tends to absorb pretty quickly. And then it just feels nice and balanced. So that is one that I like. Now, the product that came to mind when you were mentioning texture on the skin, which may not be within the realm of reality for you to integrate now, but just to offer it this is the Activated Night Serum. This particular serum, and it is a serum, includes an ingredient called Bioactive A Complex. And the Bioactive A is essentially a retinol alternative. We weren't going to use a retinol. It's a little bit outside of our brand values. And so we wanted something that still offered this very smooth and taut look to the skin. I have been obsessed with this. Since we launched it, but a lot recently, and I feel like using this, you just get this really almost glossy smooth look to the face. It functions very similarly to a retinol, in that it is still exfoliating the skin. And so, that's one of the major reasons we have this as a night serum. We don't want this to be put on and then gone. Go outside and expose yourself to the sun. That's not supportive. The other reason this is a night serum is because the blend is really creamy. It's this beautiful full blend. So when you sleep, you go into this Well, when you hit REM sleep, you go into this like a repair cycle with your skin where it softens and expands and it's quite receptive. And so the formulation of the activated night serum, we have that, that exfoliant, the bioactive A, but then we have a lot of ingredients. We have hyaluronic acid, we have cucumber distillate, we have Astaxanthin, superoxide dismutase, all of these ingredients are very potent anti agers and they're potent hydrators. And so if texture is a concern, this is a really nice one to incorporate just in the evening to smooth the skin without experiencing the side effects that can come with retinol. The side effects that are like really dry or taut or flaky skin. Yeah, retinol can be pretty intense. I've yet to work with anyone who experiences flakiness with this one. Now, if you are listening and you have sensitive skin, this one can be a little bit tense. Do you intensely use night over night for super sensitive skin? You might incorporate it. You know, a couple nights in a row and then take a couple nights off. You might do it every other night, but for super sensitive skin, just note that it might, your skin might not be ready for every single night. But Denise, when you were mentioning some texture, this is what came up as far as a potential for you at some point there.
Customer: That wouldn't make your skin photosensitive to the sun, would it?
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: No, it does. It does increase photosensitivity. Yeah, which is why we suggest that overnight. And for the most part, you're pretty good to live a, you know, Fairly normal going outside life. If you're going to be, you know, if you're going to have a day of gardening or you're about to go on a beach vacation, something like that, then I would suggest take a couple nights off before you're going to have this full day of sun exposure, but for kind of the, the lighter sun periods, like before 10 a.m. after around 5 p. m. that exposure, I, I haven't experienced needing extra sun protection or anything like that. during those. But if you're going to be, like I said, like directly in the sunlight at the heat of the day, consider some sunscreen for that, for that.
Customer: So the Aloe Herb Cleanser is, that's what you, you're like washing your face with, or you just put that on, let it dry.Then you put the facial, the Herbal Facial Oil for Normal to Combination Skin.
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: So the Aloe Herb Cleanser, you will still rinse it off. So you'll get wet, you'll wet your face. You'll do, I'm not sure, two or three pumps. of the cleanser on the tips of your fingers. You'll find the good amount for your face and what you're using it for. And then I just gently rub it together and come in and massage. It doesn't have to be that elaborate. I usually try to leave it on the skin for at least 30 seconds, and that's kind of a standard for all of our cleansers, just too really seep in the benefits of it. But you can of course go faster. And then I rinse it off. So that when you do rinse off, you can, I have left it on before, like I've tried to explore it like a mask. It doesn't really add that much benefit to have it on quite a bit longer. So just, You know, 30 seconds or so, rinse it off, pat your skin like normal, and then come in with that oil. And that should be, should be pretty good for you.
And then the facial oil. That stays on your skin. You just put a dab and rub it all around. Yeah and how I apply my oil and everyone will find their own, but this works really well for me is I take my facial oil. I usually do about one pump, maybe one to two pumps, depending on how dry I am, depending on if I'm doing full neck, but then I take. My ring and my middle finger, I gently kind of pick some product up and then I will kind of either press or swipe cheeks or head, chin, doing it that way versus trying to pump it onto your fingertips. First of all, with the oil, it often will run in between the fingers. And so having it on the palm of your hand, you just, you're actually using the entirety of that product. But the other thing is you don't use quite as much because you've already distributed it across the face. And so we're pumping it into the hand. We're kind of, you know, applying it all over. And then I come in with upward motions. Again, you don't have to be that extra. You can just rub it on the face. It's pretty good from there. You usually don't need more than two pumps. If you're using more than two pumps, there's probably something else that can be supporting that, because one to two pumps is enough to cover the face and enough to provide that moisture for the skin. So, that's why I do that one.
Customer: Okay, thank you.
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: You're welcome. Susan, I saw you raise your hand, and so I want to get you in. What, what, yeah, how, what's built your routine?
Customer: I'm very much like Denise. I don't, so far I don't even have a bar of soap. Yeah. I had a question about the face brush, and then on the rare occasion I use makeup, I was wondering if you could help.
figure out what might be best. I looked at all the pictures on the website and I have some ideas, but I don't know, maybe you would know better. Yeah, so you, you mentioned the face brush. Are you talking about the lotus brush? I don't remember. I just, I think, was it, so I also have the Trio. Huh. I got the cleanser and maybe it was on the cleanser it talked about using. Yeah, deeper exfoliation I would use the face brush.
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yes, it does and if you're perusing the site, I think even just yesterday we had mistakenly taken it off the site. It's out of stock, but it will return to stock. And I don't have mine? Sometimes I have mine on the desk. I don't have mine on the desk, but what she's referring to is it's probably about this big. Oh, this is impossible. How to show you like that big. And it's a very gentle brush that you use to just have a little bit of extra exfoliation to cleanse with. It's a Lotus brush and the bristles are a natural bristle. I can't remember what those are at the moment. But it's a lotus wood, and it's just a tool to incorporate to provide a little bit of extra exfoliation. And so, for someone who maybe doesn't cleanse every day, you might find that when you do cleanse, it feels good to have something to go a little bit deeper. So a tool like that could be helpful. Or, just for anyone who's listening, if you like to have a little bit of a boost, like it's not as intense as a Clarisonic, but That kind of frame of mind, like just an extra tool with the cleansing. That's what we're referring to. And it should be back on the site. It's not back on the site. I guess Grace, I'll task you with that. She's listening. I know she's listening to make sure that one's back because we just ran out of stock. It's coming back though. And then helping with what your other question was.
I got so down that rabbit hole. Sorry.
Customer: no, that was basically it because I'm trying to find an effective retinol alternative.
And some of the ones I've tried have not done a thing.
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah, so this one (Activated Night Serum), and I'll show you this one, and then I'll show you an option to kind of increase the intensity of it. So the bioactive A is actually an algae derivative. It's not even a vitamin A derivative. It's not a retinol. But it is exfoliating the skin, and so we're still getting kind of this. What is the best phrasing for it? There's a controlled Intensity that's applied to trigger that stem cell turnover to trigger and activate that kind of growth that's happening in the skin. And that's where we're getting a lot of this tautness from. Now, a whole and this is a topic I didn't really get into at the beginning, but many of our products are what's called made safe, certified and made safe as a third party that tests our ingredients and test our final product to verify that we're upwards of Of this again, multitude of toxins. The bioactive a is one that we've got approved through made safe. So we've got the 3rd party confirming that it is a clean safe for the body safe for the body ingredient there now they activated night serum. It smooths the skin. It has this like lifted taut effect for the skin, but I, I would, I advise that sometimes it's not noticeable right at the beginning because you don't experience the dry, like red flaky thing that can happen with retinol because of the way this has been formulated.
It's been formulated with these nourishing ingredients to work with the rest and repair to actively kind of combat that right away. But I work with a lot of customers who have this on. Subscription specifically. Well, the ones I'm thinking of specifically for the appearance of fine lines and the 11th, they just really notice the difference with the usage of that.
Now, there's the option to increase the intensity of this one. We have, again, that set of Concentrated Boosting Elixirs. This is a set of 3. 1 is called hydrate.
This is hyaluronic acid and peptides. One is called Brighton. This is that vitamin C with the C. buckthorn. The last one is not sold on its own. This is called Revitalize, and this is a concentrated amount of the bioactive A. So we originally launched it as part of this set, and then we're finding that there are a lot of cool ways to incorporate that ingredient. And so this is a concentrated amount. So please, please, please don't put this one directly on your face. This one, especially of the three, is pretty intense with, if that error happens. And so making sure to mix it into something else. But the usage is the same. You do maybe A pump or two of the activated night and then these are in little droppers and so I would probably start with two drops of it.
You might be able to go more in time, but see how your skin does, but that's going to kind of expedite the experience of the bioactive a in it. And so. If that's the process you're going to do, just really listen to your skin. Don't overdo it. Maybe take a night or two off the booster. But it does increase the intensity of this quite a bit, doing it that way. That's not sold separately,
Customer: you said, right? It's part of. This is a set of three that is sold separately.
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician:It's sold as the set of three. The activated night serum is sold solo on its own. Yeah. Yep. My skin type, I am fairly normal, sometimes dry, sometimes sensitive skin. I can usually only boost the activated night serum one night. And then from there, if I try to do it more nights, my skin is just really thin and, and Pink, it doesn't get red, but I know that it's my skin just kind of activating a little bit and so I don't, I don't push it and so if you have more sensitive skin or maybe drier skin, just listen to your skin is the end of that. Just let your skin be your guide with something like that product. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. Yeah. Is it Catherine? I think I called you Catherine earlier.
Customer: Hi. Hi. Well, I'm very new to all of this. And one of the questions, and I like a few of you, Received an offer and I bought the trio of serums and I haven't used them. I don't know how And what I've been I I answered that Little little questionnaire you gave us and it made me think about what I've been doing. Yeah, and I've used emu oil and I've used aloe with botanicals and hyaluronic acid in it. I think that's all. And the, what I wash with is various things that are not the foamy stuff. I don't like it's too harsh. And I don't use toner spray or anything else. And so I wonder what I'm thinking about is, well, what this is, this is quite an expensive product. How do you say options I'm looking at and one of the things I'm wondering is, well, what's it gonna do for me? And I'm wondering if people on the call might have used these products before and experienced a result, a difference, a remarkable worth, worth the money kind of experience with them.
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: I suspect, I think everyone I've spoken to so far are, they're fairly new to the line, which is okay, because sometimes we have like repeat customers who could, who could speak to that. So The next best thing I might suggest, Kathleen, is checking out some of the reviews because they're pretty honest. We approve the reviews as long as there's no profanity and they're related to the product because sometimes that gets, you know, People post those the good and the bad. And so you can kind of see what common concerns are and then what common praises and see if it is still good for you. When kind of pursuing the products and wanting to prioritize The retention of as much of your funds as possible. I often will kind of go the route of suggesting again, the cleanser and the oil. So many of our products are incredibly effective. And Anne Marie herself, Anne Marie is a really Actual person.
Her intention when creating this line was not just to have a clean line. It was that it actually was effective. And so when we're preparing to launch something, so the cream I mentioned earlier that there, it goes through a lot of kind of like iterations and trials where we'll send it to you know, certain people on the team or we'll send it to people who maybe this might address their specific concern if we have like a family friend or something, and then we're formulating the product from there. So when we're working with this cream, for example, this is sent to people who have, you know, specific concerns with aging. Also to myself to explore what this might feel like just from an aesthetics perspective, but then they're weighing in, like, I feel like it's not hydrating enough. I feel like I'm dry.
I feel like it didn't do anything. And because these are our friends, like, there's not, they're pretty comfortable telling us. And so we make a great effort to then go back to the drawing board and reformulate from there. So these products have had quite a bit of love and time put into their effectiveness and I definitely understand the concern with the money. A couple things that I will remind myself when I am, because I also will use just like a plain castor oil from time to time. Sometimes in the morning, I'll just splash my face with water as, you know, I have access to all of these, but sometimes it doesn't make the most sense to use it, or I'm curious about other things that we start with this very key ingredient. The oils, for example, we start with the key oil, whether jojoba grapeseed, hazelnut, that'll vary per oil. But then we're stepping into these oils, very intentional herbs. And we're making sure to maintain the heat, right? Everything stays under 90. 91 super specific temperature 91 degrees to make sure it doesn't go bad..
It stays completely sound in its process. And then we're gleaning the benefits of those. And so it's like, there's kind of a boosted experience versus using. You know, in my case, something like just plain castor oil, which is very rich and very effective. Then I've also got these herbs that are working to strengthen my skin, stave off signs of aging to maintain the resiliency and Kind of flexibility of my skin onward. So there's all that. So with a limited budget, again, I would still prioritize the cleanser and the oil as being the two, the two that you prioritize, and With your, with your skin concerns, it sounded like you could go in a lot of different directions, but I do think the anti aging you know, if I had some of my regulars on the call, this would probably be what they would suggest for you and speak to their experiences with it. This is definitely one that you can look at. Thousands of reviews because this is one of our best sellers, if not the best seller, it kind of varies, but this one's usually up in the running. And so that's a key indicator of. Of how, how it's received and how it feels. And so this would probably be the one that I would suggest for you.
And I also has a pretty profound experience to use as 1 of the 1st products you use. I think this 1 is pretty, pretty good so that's a pretty long winded response. Did I answer the questions that you would put out there?
Customer: Yes, thanks. So you held up the anti-aging oil and that's what you mean. And then you, you did talk about a couple of cleansers and I would just, just make a guess.
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Well, I'll get into specifically what I think could be supportive for you. I think one of these two, this is the Aloe Herb Cleanser. This one we've mentioned a couple times, but it's that very soft light cleanser. This one is a blend of aloe vera juice, a touch of coconut oil, and then it is dipped with calendula, lemon balm. There's a little bit of citrus in it. It's pretty light, but it's basically designed to be cleansing the skin and soothing the skin. And so this one I think is a pretty good replacement for bar soap. Even if all you did was change this one, I think it could make a big difference in your routine. Now, if you're, On the drier side, the Restorative Cleansing Oil, which we've mentioned a time or two. This one is a blend of just the oils, and so especially if you aren't going to be following this with the toning mist and the serum and then the oil is the next step. I think this is a good kind of bridge between the cleanser and the oil if you're on the dry side, that one there. So what are those two I think for you would be pretty, pretty ideal?
Customer: Okay, very good. Let's see. Oh, I did have a question. Okay. I use Emu Oil because my sister has diabetes and extremely injured skin so that her legs will bleed if she doesn't use it. Oh, we do beyond your imagination protection. Yeah. And she uses emu oil and she used mink oil as well. And that protection prevented this bleeding, terrible condition because she has very bad diabetes. So, That's why I said, well, gee, if she can use it, I can use it. And now you've. You haven't, it's not in your products, and you did mention temperature and no animal. Huh. And so I'm just asking you about your choices, or, or Annmarie’s, you know, the business, the brand's choices to use Emu oil.
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Pretty early in the brand's inception, we wanted it to be mostly vegan friendly. In the line we have explored not email oil, but we've explored tallow doing a couple of products with tallow, but there's such a great potential of customer loss in transitioning the brand to including animal products.
We do include honey and we do include beeswax. We're pretty transparent about both of those. We also make sure to select suppliers that have certain certifications that verify, you know, humane treatment of bees. Of the bees and all that, but I, I don't know, because I wasn't part of the conversation of the direct decision, but my suspicion would be that it would be within that realm and based on the conversations about tallow and why we haven't offered any tallow, it would probably be the same that we haven't done any emu oil because we, we have such a great foundation of vegan customers that we would want to retain that we might lose if we offered something like that.
So. That's the best answer I have with that information. Yeah.
Customer: Okay. Well, thank you very kindly for your hand.
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah. Susan, I think you might have had your hand up?
Customer: Yeah, I didn't want to stop Kathleen. So I'm going to get an oil and a toner mist because I already have the cleanser and the serum. So the toner mist, you would recommend the neroli, I think. I think for what you've described, the neroli would be pretty good. Okay. Yeah. And then the oil you've recommended is the Anti-Aging Facial Oil, but also the herbal facial oil.
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Mm-Hmm. ,
Customer: which, so. Yeah, which one?
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: I'm going to tell you the differences between them and then from there you might have a little bit more information. So the Anti-Aging Facial Oil is richer. This one starts with a whole jojoba, organic golden jojoba. The Herbal Facial Oil for Normal & Combination Skin is a little bit lighter. It's grapeseed oil. The anti aging is steeped with herbs that are designed to basically support like the restoration and resiliency of the skin. Particularly helpful for the appearance fine lines, particularly helpful for creasing in the face.
The herbal facial oil for normal and combination skin, this one's steeped with herbs that are designed to kind of keep the skin balanced. It provides enough moisture and enough balance that it's perfect for the normal or combo skin type. If you're somebody who doesn't really have many concerns, this is probably, you know, one that would be perfectly fine for you. It also has some herbs that are helping to stave off signs of aging, just not quite as many as the anti aging. Yeah, so those are the big ones and I am curious which one feels like
Customer: it might be a better fit for you. I do still sometimes get pimples, but I'm also getting a lot of wrinkles, so I'll probably go ahead and try the anti aging.
Where does the Brighten come in in all of this?
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: The Brighten is actually a booster. Oh, okay. So, this one you do want to make sure that you're, you're putting this into your serum or your oil. So, let's say your serum's not in the charts today. You could do a pump of the oil and mix a pump, half a pump to a pump and a half. Approximately, I'll let you feel out what feels good in the oil and then apply it from there. And this is just going to help to even out the tone and texture of the feet.
Customer: And then I also noticed on your website you have a shampoo and conditioner. I never use a conditioner, but can you tell me a little bit about that? What do you recommend?
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah. So we have, we have one variation of shampoo and one variation of conditioner. They're incredibly clean. This is a project that we worked on for about four years just to find the ingredient composition. One of the things that I hear time and time again, and I notice is how shiny your skin or not your skin, your hair is using these. A couple of the ingredients we have are horse tail and we have nettle in both of them. And the, what, what that is, is that's like a natural silica basically. So it provides this beautiful glow to the skin or to the hair. I'm so used to doing the skin and I just feel like there's a lot of healthy strength with it.
Another product that we offer that I do have on my desk is our Smoothing Hair Serum. And so, if, if you, if you use the conditioner and it's not for you, or if you're just finding that conditioner in general is not for you, I find that this particular serum, it's like a balm consistency, but it buys me a lot of time in between washes because my, I have, Pretty long hair and the ends get really really frayed and worn and I'll just take a little of this. The way you apply it is you scrape a little bit with your finger and then just heat it and then I'll apply it just to the ends and I feel like that just adds so much strength and life to Back to my hair doing incorporating that. And so I usually only shampoo and condition once a week, sometimes once every 10 days, and use that a lot on my ends in between, and so.
If, you know, you're fighting back conditioners, maybe not for you, but you're wanting something that might support the softness of the hair and braid ends and things like that, the hair serum, smoothing hair serum, I think it's called smoothing hair serum, is a good one for that.
Customer: Yeah. Is that fine to use the shampoo each day or yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Yeah. It's hard to find a good shampoo. Yep.
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yep. We put a lot of love into that one. And not only put a lot of love into it, we launched it and then we had a lot of feedback of a certain ingredient that it wasn't as clean as it could be. And so we pulled it off and we reformulated it. I would really do. Yeah, there's a high priority placed on the ingredient selection and we really do interact with our feedback to make it better. So, yeah. Yes. Yes.
Oh, do you have any other questions, Susan? Okay. I just wanted to confirm. I mean, Susan was trying to confirm in terms of the cleansing oil. So for my dry, sensitive, mature skin, the restorative cleansing oil would be best for me? Dry, sensitive, mature. Correct. Yeah, and especially because you mentioned earlier that you were using moisturizers and moisture is a concern. I do think that this would be a pretty good one. If I was shopping for my budget for you. This would be what I would pick for you. Okay, great.
Customer: And I just wanted to add something to Kathleen. This is just my personal experience. I used to use emu oil also, and I found that it was moisturizing, but then I switched over to more herbal serums and oils. And I just felt that my skin responded so much better that it was not just moisturizing, but really improving my skin.
So that's just my personal experience. Thank you, Debra. Yeah. And I've only used the Anti-Aging Serum. I don't have the oil, but that was part of the trial, the serum. And I've been using it for five days and it just soaks into the skin and it just feels so wonderful. And of course, you know, the natural fragrance from it too is very calming.
This is just my personal experience. And have I seen anything in just five days? Well, you know, we know. As long as we've all lived, nothing, you know, is a miracle in just a few days or, you know, it takes time for these things to work, but I do have to say that it gives my skin sort of luminous. Look, not, not oily, but sort of more luminous.
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: So if you do have further questions, I'm going to invite you to just shoot us an email here at that customer support email. And we'll pick up the conversation from there. Otherwise, I'm going to close it out. Thank you, Kathleen. Thank you, Kate. That was very
Customer: Thank you! So informative.
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