Summarized from a consultation originally recorded on September 4th, 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 the basic routine, the kind of general recommendation, is a four step routine morning and evening that consists of cleansing, toning, using a serum, and then an oil or a facial moisturizer. And that's just kind of the general recommendation. I usually tell people I think it's best to kind of customize as much as possible and really find what works best for your skin and what works best for your lifestyle. Maybe you are somebody who currently has no routine. So then you probably are not going to jump into a six step routine that takes you 30 minutes morning and night and be really consistent with it. And that's totally fine. I would say the most basic routine that you would want to start with, the most pared down routine would be at least a cleanser and a facial oil and then you could kind of add and build from there.
So that is kind of the general recommendation. You would do that morning and evening. And no matter what your routine looks like, if you have seven steps in your routine, or if you have two steps in your routine you're going to start with cleansing. So we'll start with cleansers. And actually before we even jump into cleansers, let's just touch on collections really quickly.
Within our line, we have a few different collections. The two main collections that we have that we will kind of focus on are the Signature Collection and the Wild Alchemy Collection. The Signature Collection, all of these products have the tan labeling.
And then the Wild Alchemy Collection, all of these products have the black and gold labeling. The difference is the Signature Collection. A lot of these products are products that have been around since we first got started. A lot of these products are our best selling products.
And then the Wild Alchemy Collection, this is our luxury line. So the products in this collection contain higher levels of activated ingredients. Things like our bioactive A-Complex and our THDA, which is our pure vitamin C. And then they also contain more exotic ingredients like ingredients that are sourced globally. So things like baobab oil and mongongo oil. And then also the crafting process, the way these products are made is usually just a little bit more laborious than with the Signature Collection products.
So those are the two main collections and then aside from that we do have some smaller collections, the Essentials Collection. This collection contains just two products. It's the Renew Facial Cream Cleanser and the Radiate facial oil. Those two products in that collection are offered at a lower price point than any of our other products. And the reason for that is just that they don't contain our herb infusions. So they're just really simple formulas and the way that they're made is more simple but they're still great products. They can be a great choice for somebody who has more sensitive skin. They can be a great choice for somebody who maybe is just kind of getting started with a routine. Grace and I both really love the Radiate Oil.
And then lastly, we do have our Estate Blend Collection, which right now, the only product in this collection is our new Divine Woman Elixir. And the kind of special thing, the thing that sets this collection apart is that the products in this collection are made with herbs and ingredients that are grown on Moss Creek Farm which is Kevin and Annmarie's farmlet. So they are actually growing the herbs that are used in these products themselves.
But anyways, back to cleansers. So we have four cleansers in the line. Cleansing in general is just removing makeup and impurities from the skin. A thorough cleanse is going to prep the skin to ensure that your treatment products that you're using after cleansing are being absorbed properly. All of our cleansers are pH balanced, which I like to mention. I think it's important. You want to choose a pH balanced cleanser to ensure that you're not disrupting your skin's natural protective barrier, your acid mantle. Your skin's pH is 4. 5 to 5. 5 on the pH scale. All of our cleansers are 5. 5 to a 5. 6, which is actually printed on our packaging. We also don't use any harsh sulfates or surfactants in our cleansers. A lot of cleansers, traditional cleansers that have high foaming properties tend to be more alkaline. They tend to use things like lauryl sulfates. So the surfactant that we use in our cleansers is a sodium lauryl glucose carboxylate, which sounds very fancy, but it's really just saponified oils, plant starches and sugars.
So the first cleanser that we'll talk about I think I left it in my shower, but it's the Aloe Herb Cleanser. So this one is very popular. People love this one. If you have ever gotten one of our starter kits or our trial sets, you might have tried it. This one is great for all skin types. So I like to tell people that if they are feeling overwhelmed or confused, or you don't know where to start this can be a good choice because you really just can't go wrong with it. Like I said, it's great for all skin types. It's a creamy nourishing cleanser. It's an aloe vera base of course. Aloe is rich in vitamins and minerals, phytonutrients and enzymes. Aloe also contains some naturally occurring saponins that act as mild cleansing agents on the skin. This one has got coconut oil in it, so that helps to contribute to that nice creamy texture. It's got some lemon essential oil, which is purifying and brightening. It also gives it a really lovely scent. I think that's part of why it's so popular is because people love the way this one smells. It's got some calendula in there, so it's soothing and helpful for minimizing the appearance of temporary redness in the skin.
The other one in the Signature Collection is the Citrus Mint Cleanser and from the surveys I don't know that this would be the choice for anybody in this group. This is a purifying gel cleanser, so it’s good for more oily skin types. It feels very cool and refreshing on the skin. There's some rosemary in there, a witch hazel distillate, some neem, so just that more purifying herb blend.
And then we have two cleansers in the Wild Alchemy Collection. They are the Restorative Cleansing Oil and the Phytonutrient Cleanser. The Restorative Cleansing Oil, this one is a little bit different because it is an oil cleanser as the name suggests. All of our other cleansers you use just like you would a traditional cleanser. You dampen your skin, pump your cleanser into the palm of your hands, massage it into the skin, and then rinse clean. This one's a little bit different because it is an oil. You apply it to dry skin. So dry skin, dry hands, massage it in. And then you can rinse it off, rinse clean, and that can be it. Some people like to remove this one with a warm cloth. You also can use this as the first step in a double cleanse routine. And if you want to do that then you would just follow this with whichever cleanser you like as your second cleanser. That is going to just really ensure a thorough cleanse. The Restorative Cleansing Oil, this is great for all skin types. For dry and mature skin, it feels very nourishing. It leaves almost a bit of an oil on the skin especially if you're using it on its own and you're just rinsing to remove. But even for congested skin, enlarged pores, etc. this can be a great option as well because “like attracts like” so the oil is going to help to remove oil based impurities in the skin. It's going to help to kind of soften and break down excess oil and congestion. I'm a huge fan of oil cleansing. I love this product. And this one, it's a jojoba oil base. Jojoba very closely resembles the texture of your skin's natural sebum. It's also got some castor oil in there. This one has tea tree oil, which is purifying. It's got manuka oil. I love manuka. Manuka is very deep cleansing and calming to the skin. So that is the Restorative Cleansing Oil.
And then the last one, the last cleanser we will talk about is the Phytonutrient Cleanser. That one is also in the Wild Alchemy Collection. Again, it's good for all skin types. It's especially good for mature skin. It's really great if brightening is a concern of yours. I would say this is our most rich cleanser and our most activated cleanser. This one, it's a cream cleanser, so similar to the Aloe Herb in texture, but it's a little bit of a thicker, almost fattier texture because it's got that mango seed butter in there. And then this one also has the apple extract in it. So apple extract is going to be rich in vitamin C and also malic acid. So great for brightening the look of dark spots or just brightening the overall look of skin. This one's got some acai in it as well. So giving it an antioxidant component, it's got some coconut oil in there. So that's the Phytonutrient.
Any questions about cleansing, cleansers, any of that? No?
Customer: I guess I do. Have had really sensitive skin for years. I don't know how many products I have gone through just to find one that my skin could tolerate and most products would make my skin feel like it was being burned. I finally found a product made with argan oil, created for burn victims, and I used that for years and then they stopped making it. So I just really haven't found anything that is working for me. And I'm wondering if that oil based cleanser might be similar, because the argan oil cleanser was kind of like a thick balmy texture.
And then to complicate things for two and a half years since I was in a pretty major head on collision, my skin has been peeling layer after layer. When I see the dermatologist, he says, you look like you've had a chemical peel. And it's constant. Nothing has stopped it from happening. So I have that going on too.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Okay. So I'll probably refer to Grace a little bit because she is our sensitive skin poster child here at Annmarie Skin Care. I know that her go to cleanser is the Aloe Herb Cleanser and so that would maybe be what I would lean towards.
Grace, I don’t remember, what is your experience with the Restorative Cleansing Oil? Does that work well for you?
Also, another option that I really like is honey cleansing. Especially cleansing with Manuka honey. It obviously is not going to remove makeup if you wear makeup, but I used to struggle quite a bit with congested skin and cleansing with manuka honey is kind of what I gravitated towards when my skin was really out of balance. And so you would just dampen your face with water and then massage the honey in and then rinse it clean. It sounds like it would be really sticky and messy, but it's actually not.
So that could be a good option too. But Grace, what's your experience with the cleansing oil?
Grace Murray – Annmarie Skin Care Marketing Assistant: So I have a sensitivity to tea tree oil and there is tea tree in the Restorative Cleansing Oil. So I personally can't use it. But just due to that sensitivity. I would recommend the Aloe Herb Cleanser for sure. But I'm kind of on the same track as Emily. I think honey is going to be the best bet for you because it's so incredibly healing. But I can use the Aloe Herb Cleanser on my face all day long and my skin will be a happy camper. If you're feeling up to it, I would give the Restorative Cleansing Oil a try. I just have that allergy, so I can't do it. But, I think you could go either way. Also, I'm so sorry to hear all that is happening. That's not fun.
Customer: Yeah. It's frustrating, you know, to feel that irritation constantly on my skin.
Grace Murray – Annmarie Skin Care Marketing Assistant: Yeah, I had the same thing, well not the same thing, but I had a very similar experience where I couldn't put on, I couldn't find a cleanser or really any skin care that my skin would tolerate. It would flare up and get insanely red with bumps and it was itchy and awful. So I understand. It is not fun. Every time I hear anybody else who has had a similar experience, I'm like, no! I don't want anybody to have to experience it.
Customer: I don't either. I wouldn't wish it on anybody. So that's why I'm here. I'm trying to find something that I can safely use. So honey? I've never tried that. That's interesting.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah, I mean, I feel like when I was really struggling with my skin sticking to the most basic routine was helpful. I would use honey as my cleanser and pure jojoba oil as my moisturizer. So you could always try something like that and just see how it does. But if you wanted to incorporate some of our products, I would probably say the Aloe Herb Cleanser would be a good one to try. And then, yeah, you could also try the Restorative Cleansing Oil if you wanted to. I think in general, this one should be fine for sensitive skin based on the ingredients. I personally don't have extremely sensitive skin, but I haven't had anybody with sensitive skin say that they reacted poorly to this one.
Customer: Okay, thanks. Sorry you guys for taking up so much time.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Not at all. That is why we do this. That is why we are here, to answer your questions and help to guide you to find what will work best for you.
All right, cool. Any other cleanser questions?
Alright, well let's move on to toning mist. So we have three toners in the line. They are the Rosemary Toning Mist, the Neroli Toning Mist, and the Botanical Hydration Mist With Immortelle. Toning is going to just help to complete the cleansing process, offer a dose of skin supporting nutrients, and provide hydration to the skin. None of our toners are astringent or harsh or stripping at all.
The Rosemary Toning Mist is my personal favorite. This is good for normal, combination and oily skin types. But oily t-zone and enlarged pores were mentioned on your guys’ surveys so it could be a good option for some of you. It's a very simple formula. It's the aloe vera juice base. It's got the rosemary, which is stimulating, cleansing, and clarifying and then this one has white willow bark in it which is a natural source of salicins.
And then the Neroli Toning Mist. This is the other one in the Signature Collection. This is our most popular toning mist. People love this one. I think, again, partly because of the scent. The neroli is derived from fresh orange blossoms, so it has a really lovely scent. And again, a really simple formula. The aloe vera juice base, the neroli and some aspen bark extract, which acts as a natural preservative and again, is a natural source of salicins to condition and soothe skin.
And then lastly, the Botanical Hydration Mist With Immortelle. This one is the mist in our Wild Alchemy Collection. I do usually mention that it is quite a bit larger. The bottle is twice the size of the others. This one is good for all skin types, but this one is especially good for sensitive skin. This is one of Grace's holy grail products that she can't live without. This one, like I said, is good for all skin types. It's got a blend of four different types of chamomile in it. It's also got the immortelle or the life everlasting flowers, so a potent antioxidant. This has some frankincense in there. There's some rose, which is going to be soothing and nurturing.
Okay. So those are the toners. So after you cleanse, you're going to just rinse your cleanser and then pat your skin dry and then mist your toning mist over your face and neck. You can also mist your toning mist throughout the day if you just want that little boost of hydration or a little refresh. And I would recommend that you mist your toning mist and then while your skin is still a little bit damp, then apply your serum and oil. And that's just going to help with absorption so that the serum and oil is absorbed really nicely into the skin. It doesn't ever feel like it's just kind of sitting on the skin or feel heavy or greasy at all.
Any toning mist questions? They are kind of straightforward.
So then the next step in your routine would be your serum. And we do have several serums. I feel like serums are where things get a little bit confusing for people sometimes. So serums in general are excellent hydrators. There is the difference between dehydrated skin, which is skin that is lacking water, and dry skin, which is skin that's lacking oil. Most people have a little bit of both. a little bit of dryness, a little bit of dehydration. So that's why we recommend the combination of both types of products, hydrating products and moisturizing products to help to just achieve that optimal healthy balance in the skin.
Your hydrators are your toning mist and then your moisturizer is your facial oil.
Also, serums, in general, are usually made up of a smaller molecule than a facial oil. So they're able to penetrate more deeply into the skin to get activated ingredients deep into the skin. They usually are concentrated, so they contain high levels of those activated ingredients. And they kind of allow you to just customize your routine to kind of target and treat whatever your specific concerns are. So in the Signature Collection, we have the Anti-Aging Serum. This one is our best selling serum. It's very popular. People love this one. Again, if you've ever gotten a starter kit or a trial kit, you might've tried it. This one's great for all skin types. This is kind of similar to the Aloe Herb Cleanser in that if you're kind of unsure where to start, this is usually a good start for most people. You kind of just can't go wrong with it. I like to refer to it as a daily dose of overall skin nutrition. It's very hydrating, it's very antioxidant rich, it's got Buddleja extract, it's got life everlasting flowers. And then it's got hyaluronic acid. So, hyaluronic acid is a humectant that 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's really deeply hydrating the skin, which is going to have kind of a plumping effect on the skin.
Whereas if your skin is dehydrated, it's going to kind of emphasize the appearance of those fine lines and wrinkles. So that is the Anti-Aging. Again, very popular. This one's also got some rose in it, so soothing and nurturing as well if you tend to be a little bit more sensitive.
The Citrus Stem Cell Serum, I actually don't have that one here, but that one, also is in the Signature Collection. That one is good, again, for all skin types, but especially for skin that's had a lot of exposure to the elements, sun damage, etc. It’s a great choice for those with thicker textured skin, that almost like leathery skin. That one, there's kind of two components to it. There's the citrus derived stem cells. So we use plant derived stem cells in a lot of our products. A lot of skin care lines use stem cells in their products. And sometimes they can be derived from animals. Sometimes they can even be derived from humans. Ours are always plant derived stem cells. So in the Citrus Stem Cell Serum, they are citrus derived stem cells. And stem cells are going to provide proteins and peptides and amino acids that really help to strengthen the skin to support healthy, resilient skin.
And then the other component to that serum is the brightening component. It contains a trio of amla berry, which is very rich in vitamin C. Licorice root and uva or ursi. So licorice root and uva ursi are both ingredients that help to lighten and brighten the look of skin. Licorice root is often used in natural skin care products as an alternative to using hydroquinone which is kind of a nasty ingredient that you'll find in a lot of traditional products geared towards lightening and brightening. So that's the Citrus Stem Cell. And then the last one in the Signature Collection is the Probiotic Serum With Tremella.
The probiotic again, can be used for all skin types, but it is especially good for sensitive skin or skin that's out of balance. This one contains a probiotic ferment that can help to eliminate impurities on the surface of the skin. It can also help to balance the skin's pH. This one's got olive leaf extract. It's got astaxanthin, which is a really powerful antioxidant. And then the tremella mushroom extract, of course. So tremella mushroom is going to act really similar to hyaluronic acid. Very deeply hydrating the skin.
So those are the three serums in the Signature Collection. And then we do have a few in the Wild Alchemy Collection as well.
The Wild Fruit Serum, this one is in the Wild Alchemy Collection. This one is probably my favorite. I love the Wild Fruit Serum, though I just have this little tiny guy right here. This is just the travel size. But this one is great for all skin types. This one I like to refer to as our “do it all” serum. It's like a very all encompassing, kind of overarching serum. It's hydrating, it's brightening, it's anti-aging. This one has a copper infused water in it. It's got apple extract, so it's that same apple extract that's in the Phytonutrient Cleanser. So that's going to be great for brightening the look of skin with that vitamin C and malic acid. And this one has got knotweed extract, which is really rich in resveratrol. It's got kakadu plum extract. So in addition to the apple extract, kakadu plum extract is very rich in vitamin C to help with brightening the look of skin. Kakadu plum also contains phenolic acid. Phenolic acid behaves on the skin similar to an alpha hydroxy acid. So alpha hydroxy acids are kind of dissolving the “glue” that holds the top layer of skin cells. So they have an exfoliating effect on the skin. So that for me is something that kind of sets this one apart.
This one also has a very dense infusion of plant cells. This one has Madonna lily plant cells in it. And there's about 1. 5 million active plant stem cells in each bottle of this serum. Not this small trial size bottle, but the full size bottle. So that is the Wild Fruit Serum. Oh, and I forgot to talk about scent profiles. So the scent profile on this one, if you're a scent person, this one's more fruity. The Probiotic Serum, that one's more earthy. Some people say that it smells like dirt. Some people don't love the way it smells. I personally like the way it smells. If you have a strong aversion to mushrooms, don't choose that one.
The Citrus Stem Cell is more citrusy, of course. And then the Anti-Aging Serum, that one's a little bit more floral, kind of vetiver heavy.
And then what else? We have a couple more that are in the Wild Alchemy Collection. So, the Activated Night Serum, this one is in the Wild Alchemy Collection, this is our most recent serum launch, it's fantastic. This one is good for all skin types, like, even more sensitive skin types usually can use this. This contains our bioactive A-Complex. Our bioactive A-Complex is our retinol alternative. So retinoids are obviously very popular in skin care products. They are kind of the gold standard and the anti-aging, you know, they offer that resurfacing, renewing effect on the skin. But they are not great for your health. They're not good for reproductive health. For skin health, if you're using a retinol or a retin A or something like that over an extended period of time, it's going to start to thin the skin, which really isn't what you want. As we age, we want to create healthy, resilient skin and support our skin's natural barrier versus thinning the skin.
So that's why we came out with this product because we wanted to offer something that had those similar benefits but without any of the negative effects on your health or skin or any of that. So the bioactive A-Complex that's in here, it's a completely safe ingredient. It's a Made Safe approved ingredient. It's derived from algae. But like I said, it has that. similar kind of resurfacing, renewing effect on the skin that you get with a traditional retinol. We've paired that activated ingredient in this serum with some really nice, soothing, calming ingredients like lavender and the blue chamomile, so it makes it so that more sensitive skin types can usually use it. Grace is able to use this one. She doesn't use it every night, but she is able to incorporate it without an issue. So that's the Activated Night Serum. It's got a little bit of a thicker, creamier texture than some of our signature serums. So it's very hydrating, which is really nice. And it smells lovely. I don't really know how to describe the scent profile on this one, but it smells very good. It's a light scent. It's not heavy or overpowering or anything like that.
This one you do want to make sure that you're using it only at night, as the name suggests. And that you're using it with an SPF during the day, just because it does have that bioactive A-Complex that can make you a little bit more sensitive to the sun.
And then lastly, the last serum that we'll talk about is the Activated CBD Serum. So this one is kind of an offshoot of our Wild Alchemy Collection. It's sold in its own little boutique on our site, which is just because of the legality of selling a CBD product. This one is great for all skin types. It's especially good for sensitive skin types. So this serum or the Probiotic Serum would probably be the ones that are best for more sensitive skin. This one again, it's that kind of thicker, richer texture. It's very, very hydrating. It has hyaluronic in it and the tremella mushroom extract. It's very antioxidant rich. It's got the astaxanthin and superoxide dismutase. It's got some mangosteen oil. There’s some black cumin seed oil in this one. It feels pretty nourishing on the skin. And then it's got the CBD of course.
So when we decided to make this product, we of course wanted to source The best. So we partnered with Ojai Energetics to source our CBD. They're really a leader and a pioneer in the CBD space. It's a little hard to say exactly what CBD does for the skin because it works with your body's natural endocannabinoid system to kind of go where it's needed to go and do what it's needed to do, but it has a very soothing, very calming effect.
So if you have sensitive skin, if you're prone to temporary redness, etc. it can be a very good choice. This is unique because it contains both a water soluble CBD and a fat soluble CBD. So the water soluble CBD is absorbed more quickly to have a more instant effect and the fat soluble CBD is absorbed more slowly, so then it has more of that cumulative effect. The scent of this one I'm never really sure how to describe. Grace says it smells like fresh cut grass, but I don't know. Grace loves this serum. I'll let her talk about it really quickly.
Grace Murray – Annmarie Skin Care Marketing Assistant: I think it smells like fresh cut grass, with like a mix of fresh linen, maybe. Just a lovely, clean smell. I actually haven't used this one in a little bit simply because I've been not needing as much hydration due to it being summer, but I use this serum every single day during the fall and winter months because my skin just needs all the hydration and moisture I can give it. But this CBD serum is amazing for lessening redness. You can kind of see, pretty immediately after application, that the redness in your skin almost washes away. I like to use this one at night and when I do I just wake up with my skin feeling good and hydrated and healthy. Like I said, I haven't used it in a bit, but it's amazing. It is definitely one of my must-have products.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Perfect. Thanks Grace.
So those are the serums. Let's stop there and take serum questions. Do you guys have questions about serums or anything else? Really
Customer: I hate to be the one that's always asking the questions. But the one is called the night serum. So would you not use any of the others at night? Right?
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Oh no. You can use any of the other serums both morning and night, but the Activated Night Serum specifically, you only use at night because it contains the bioactive A-Complex, which can make you more sensitive to the sun.
Great question.
Customer: I have a question. Can you hear me? Yes, hi. I'm curious about the little bottles that Annmarie sends out of both the oils and the serums, how do you recommend people use that and what kind of quantity? Like I try to stick my finger on top of there and use like a little bit, but what's your recommendation on that?
And then also I've got another meeting I've got to attend, so I will have to mute this one, but I can stay and watch the chat. But I have these very fine milia, little white dots. I'm curious if you have any specific products that would work for those? I've heard of exfoliating to help but I've been trying that for multiple years now and nothing. Some of them disappear, you know, exfoliate off, but there's just always new ones.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah, I mean that is kind of the general recommendation is exfoliating. And sometimes a chemical exfoliant versus a physical exfoliant might be more helpful. So something like the Activated Night Serum could be an excellent option. Or even the Wild Fruit Serum with the phenolic acid in it. Also, our Resurfacing Facial Exfoliant. That one contains a honey-derived lactic acid. So again, that chemical exfoliation. I feel like if you're not seeing any result and you've been consistent with exfoliation for years, depending on where you're located, if you go to a dermatologist or an esthetician, they may be able to extract them for you.
Customer: I've never tried extraction, but I feel like they just keep popping up. So why would extraction help? You know? Like that they would just come back.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah. I mean, if you can find products that are helpful, it would probably be a more long term solution than having them extracted.
Have you already tried incorporating a chemical exfoliant?
Customer: I have tried some kinds of masks that have glycolic acid.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Okay. And it wasn't helpful?
Customer: I mean, not really. It's hard to say. It's hard to say if there was some minor benefit, but it didn’t solve the issue.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Hmm, I mean that is kind of the general recommendation. Incorporating exfoliation and possibly extraction. I would just be sure that you are being really consistent with the exfoliation in order to see if it is helping. Also, incorporating gua sha into your routine could be helpful. You may want to look into that. We do have two gua sha stones.
And then as far as the little serums and getting them out, that is tricky. I mean, they are fairly small bottles. If it doesn't have the dropper top, I would just kind of like, hit the top on my hand a little bit so that you can dispense some of the product and then apply it.
I mean if you wanted to you could put a clean q-tip in there or something, but I feel like just kind of shaking it out onto your hand is probably the best way to do it. And as far as how much to use, it kind of depends on the product. Like with a serum, you really don't need that much. I tend to really overuse my products in general, but with a serum, especially if you are applying to skin while it’s still damp from your toning mist, I feel like one pump would probably be enough. So maybe a pea size amount.
I tend to be more generous with my facial oil because I like to really massage it into my skin, but again, you really don’t need a whole lot. Maybe two pumps, like a dime size amount.
Customer: Great. Thanks so much.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah, of course.
Oh, I do see another question in the chat. Thinning, sun damage, postmenopausal, olive complexion. So a full routine?
So for your cleanser, you could maybe do the Phytonutrient Cleanser. Like I mentioned earlier, this one is great for brightening the look of skin and it's very nourishing. It's kind of that rich, buttery texture.
And then for your toning mist, I would do either the Neroli Toning Mist or the Botanical Hydration Mist. You probably could go either way for that.
And then your serum, you would want to do either the Citrus Stem Cell Serum or the Wild Fruit Serum. Like I said, the Wild Fruit Serum is my personal favorite.
And then for your facial oil. Does your skin tend to be more dry?
Customer: Sorry, I was on mute. Hold on. So as a teen, I definitely had a very prominent oily T zone. The rest of my skin, my body is dry. I still have kind of a remnant of an oily T zone with some larger pores kind of around the nostrils.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Okay. So maybe then actually I might recommend the Rosemary Toning Mist instead of the Neroli or the Botanical. Like I said, the Rosemary is actually my favorite toning mist. I love it because it's providing that dose of hydration, but it’s also got the purifying herb blend, which is beneficial for the oily t-zone and enlarged pores you are mentioning.
And then, you probably could do the Citrus Stem Cell or the Wild Fruit Serum. I personally am such a huge fan of the Wild Fruit, I would go with that one.
And then for your facial oil, it sounds like you might want to do the Herbal Facial Oil for Normal and Combination Skin. Since you have that more oily T zone and you could try that one and see if it feels like enough for you. If you felt like you needed more moisture then you could go towards the Anti-Aging Facial Oil or the Rejuvenating. But it sounds like that would probably be the best choice since it's kind of a balancing facial moisturizer.
Customer: Okay. Thank you.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah, you're welcome. Any other questions?
Okay. So where were we at? We did serums. Gosh, I feel like this is going quickly. It's already after noon. Maybe we'll just kind of skip over elixirs unless, is there anybody who really wants me to talk about elixirs? We can.
Customer: I would, just briefly.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Okay, perfect. Let’s do it. We'll cover elixirs and then we'll move into exfoliants.
So these are the Concentrated Boosting Elixirs. These sort of fall into the serum category. They're kind of just a fun, unique product. Like I said, I've worked with a lot of different skin care lines and I definitely feel like these are unique. They're just kind of a fun extra product. They're not completely necessary in a routine. They allow you to really boost the level of activated ingredients in your routine, in your product. And they allow you to kind of customize your routine a little bit more. They come in a set of three. So they come with the Hydrate, the Brighten, and the Revitalize. The way that you use them, you never apply them directly to your skin. They are always to be mixed because they are very concentrated.
So ideally, you would mix it with a serum. So you would take your serum, let's see, here's like the probiotic, And you would pump your serum into the palm of your hand, one pump, two pumps, whatever you like, and then these have like this little dropper top and you can just drop about three drops of elixir in with your serum and then mix it up and apply.
You can either dot it on and rub it in or press it into the skin, whatever you like. And like I said, the three that are in here are the Hydrate, which is a hyaluronic acid with vegan collagen peptides. So that hyaluronic acid, we already talked about, is really deeply hydrating the skin, plumping the skin, and the vegan collagen pre peptides are strengthening the skin.
The Brighten elixir, this one is a pure vitamin C with sea buckthorn. So the vitamin C that we use in this elixir, it's a THDA or tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate. And the reason that we've chosen that particular vitamin C is because there are a lot of different types of vitamin C out there. This one is a very 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 you open the product and it goes rancid really quickly. And then it's not effective. So that's why we've chosen this particular vitamin C.
It's also a very non-irritating form of vitamin C. Sometimes people with more sensitive skin have trouble using a vitamin C product because they can be irritating. This one is a pH of seven. So that's the same pH as water, so very non-irritating.
And then the Revitalize is the last one that comes in the set. The Revitalize elixir, this is our bioactive A complex with astaxanthin. So we already talked about the bioactive A-complex. This is our retinol alternative and it's paired with astaxanthin, which is that very powerful antioxidant that I mentioned earlier.
And so this one, you want to make sure that you're only using it at night and with an SPF during the day, just like with the Activated Night Serum. And you can kind of play around with these elixirs. You can kind of mix and match them. So the Hydrate, you can mix with any of them. So you can pump your serum into your hand and then add maybe two drops of Hydrate and one drop of Brighten or just 3 drops of Brighten or maybe at night you want to mix 1 drop of Hydrate and 2 drops of Revitalize. You can mix and match.
The only exceptions are that you want to use the Revitalize only at night. And you don't really want to mix the Brighten and the Revitalize together in the same application. You would use one in the morning, one at night. And then what else with these…so we recommend mixing with a serum. If for some reason you're not using a serum, you can mix it with a facial oil. You can even play around with mixing it with a mask or something. I know our COO likes to mix the Brighten with our Illuminating Pearl Mask.
So those are the Concentrated Boosting Elixirs. So they're kind of a fun product.
And then from there, let's go ahead and move into exfoliants just because we are getting low on time and I do want to touch on our new Radiant C.
So exfoliation in general is important in a skin care routine because you want to remove buildup and debris from the surface of the skin. Exfoliation really is going to help to improve texture, improve tone. It's kind of a fine line because you want to make sure that you're not over exfoliating, you don't want to cause any inflammation or irritation in the skin. But if you don't incorporate any type of exfoliation, you can get that kind of layer of buildup and then your treatment products aren't able to really be absorbed properly and then they aren't going to work effectively. Or at least they're not going to work as well as they could.
So we have several different exfoliants in the line. The Radiant C Mask & Polish is our newest one. This is a really fun product again because it's a multitasker. I love a multitasking product! This one you can use as a treatment mask. You can use it as an exfoliant. You can use it as both.
It’s a dry powder. So you can just shake a bit into the palm of your hand and mix with water to create sort of a paste. Then after cleansing, massage it into skin in circular motions and rinse. You can also just mix it directly into your cleanser, which is great because it saves a step. It is lovely mixed with either of the cream cleansers.
You can also use it as a treatment mask. So you can mix it with water, apply it, leave it on the skin for like 15 minutes and then rinse to remove. You can mix it with different things if you want to use it as a mask. You can mix it with yogurt. You can mix it with honey. You can mix it with Manuka honey. You can mix it with our Illuminating Pearl Mask. It mixes really nicely with the pearl mask. And this one, it's like this beautiful fuchsia color from the hibiscus that's in it.
It's got a bunch of different fruit extracts in it as well. So this is going to give it a bit of a chemical exfoliating property. It’s got acerola cherry, kakadu plum, camu camu, goji berry, amla berry, strawberry, seabuckthorn fruit, and lemon peel powder. So the fruit acids and enzymes make it a bit of a chemical exfoliant. It also has bamboo stem powder in it, which gives it a bit of grit. So it’s a physical exfoliant as well. It’s pretty fine. It feels gentle.
So yeah, it's a really fun product because you can use it in so many different ways and it smells amazing. This one is really good for all skin types. I'm pretty sure on our website, I probably should verify this because I keep saying it. I'm pretty sure on our website it says it's not for sensitive skin types, but I know that Grace uses it and has no issue with it, so I think for most people it's probably fine. And you could use this two or three times a week for most people. So that's the Radiant C.
And then the other exfoliants that we've got, the Ayurvedic Facial Scrub. This is sort of similar in that it's a dry powder as well. Again, you're shaking it into the palm of your hand. You can mix it with water. You can mix it with a cleanser. This one is a dry herbal exfoliant. It's very, very gentle. So even very sensitive skin types usually can use this one. This one's so gentle that you could use it three, four times a week. Some people could probably use it every day if you have more resilient skin. Like say you mix it with your Aloe Herb Cleanser and you love mixing it and you want to use it every day when you cleanse, most people could.
And then we also have our Kaolin Micro Exfoliant. That's this one here in the tube. This is very popular. People love this one. I find that I use this one often just because it's really easy to incorporate into my routine. I just keep it in my shower. This one is a cream exfoliating scrub. This one is just a physical exfoliant. It has the crushed bamboo powder as well, like the Radiant C. So that pretty fine grit. It's still pretty mild, I would say. It’s the kaolin clay base, so purifying and mineral rich. There's some lavender in there. This one you could use like three times a week, two or three times a week.
And then lastly is our Resurfacing Facial Exfoliant. That is this one. I did mention it earlier. This is a chemical exfoliant, just a chemical exfoliant. There's no scrub or grit to this. It's a smooth gel texture. The exfoliating component in this one is a honey derived lactic acid. So lactic acid is a very mild alpha hydroxy acid. This one you apply to clean skin. After you cleanse, pat your skin dry, apply this exfoliant. You leave it on for like two or three minutes to start. So not very long. And then you can work your way up to leaving it on longer, up to 10 minutes, just kind of depending on your skin type and how sensitive you are.
For some people, this one can feel pretty active on the skin, like pretty tingly. Other people say they feel nothing. I don't feel like I am very sensitive at all. And I do feel the tingle with this one. What else with this one? There's cucumber in there. There's some blue tansy. So it's kind of similar to the Activated Night Serum in that you have the activated ingredient paired with soothing, calming ingredients such as cucumber and blue tansy. You do want to make sure that you're using this one in the evening and with an SPF during the day as well. So those are the exfoliants.
Okay. Let’s see. We have 10 minutes left. Are there any questions that I can answer for anyone? Or are there any specific products that you want me to talk about that I didn't talk about yet?
Customer: So if I'm trying to put together a good collection for myself, my biggest problem, I'm, you know, in my late 60s, and I've got some lines around my mouth and my chin area. So, I guess you could mix and match things from different collections because you don't have one that's just for mature skin?
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: So with the collections, the Signature or the Wild Alchemy, you can absolutely mix and match. You don’t have to choose one or the other. We do have the option on our site to shop by skin type. There you can choose to shop the Restore collection, which is for dry and mature skin, but it only shows products from the Signature Collection.
The Phytonutrient Cleanser is great for mature skin. I think you could do either the Neroli or the Botanical Mist and be good with either of those two. The Wild Fruits Serum is a great choice and I love the Activated Night Serum, for addressing signs of aging. Those would be great choices for you.
And then for your facial oil, Grace just reminded me we didn't even talk about facial oils yet. So we do have several different facial oils. In the Signature Collection we have the Herbal Facial Oils. These I tend to not go into too deeply because they're kind of named for the skin type they're designed for, so they're sort of self explanatory. There's the Herbal Facial Oil for Normal & Combination Skin, Herbal Facial Oil for Oily Skin, and Herbal Facial Oil for Sensitive Skin. All three of those are a grapeseed oil base and then they just have an herb blend tailored to the skin type they are designed for.
And then we also have the Anti-Aging Facial Oil. That one's the other one in the Signature Collection. This is very popular. People love this one. This is a nourishing, restorative facial oil for dry and mature skin types.
We also have the Rejuvenating Facial Oil, which is the one that is in our Wild Alchemy Collection. This one is our most potent, our most active facial oil, and kind of the reason for that is the way that it's made.
So all of our other facial oils, there's like a really dense herb infusion. There's a lot of different herbs in the herb infusion. I think there's maybe 20 different herbs in the anti-aging facial oil. And then that one also has a bunch of different seed oils in it, like carrot seed oil, broccoli seed oil, chia seed oil, etc.
The Rejuvenating Facial Oil just has one herb. It's the butterfly pea flower, and it has fewer of the seed oils and the CO2 extracts. But the reason that we included fewer was because then we were able to include them at higher concentrations, at higher percentages. So it makes it more active. It makes it more potent. So you could choose either the Anti-Aging Facial Oil, or the Rejuvenating.
Customer: So then you would use a serum followed by the facial oil which is considered the moisturizer. Is that correct?
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yes, that is correct. The moisturizer is the facial oil. As of right now, all of our facial moisturizers are oils. Oils are more pure. They don't require any fillers or waxes to be used. They're easily absorbed by the skin. Your skin's natural form of moisture is oil.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Alright. I do see another question in the chat. Tightening products for sagging neck and jaw.
So pretty much all of the products that are focused on anti-aging are what you would want to choose to address this concern. We don't have any product made specifically for the neck area, but any of the facial products can be used on the neck and decollete. Usually when I am applying my products I just kind of pull it down to this area when I am applying to my face. I know that some people do like to use the Radiant Skin Silk on their neck and decollete. That's actually our body lotion. It's one of our body products. Some people do like to use that on their neck and decollete. That's a popular option.
And then we didn't talk about our Sun Love yet. I do like to just mention our Sun Love, which is our everyday sheer sunscreen. It is currently out of stock, but it's supposed to be back in stock this month. And I just like to mention it because we do talk about, you know, the night serum and the Revitalize Elixir and these other products that you want to wear an SPF with.
So it's an SPF 20. It's a non nano zinc oxide. It's reef safe. It's broad spectrum, providing both UVA and UVB protection. Really good for all skin types. It's got pumpkin seed oil and buriti fruit oil in it. So it's pretty nourishing. So you can choose if you want to use it on its own, as your daytime moisturizer, or if you want to use it over top of a facial oil, you can do either.
But that's the Sun Love and it looks like we're about at time. So we'll kind of wrap up. Does anybody have any other questions that I can answer quickly before we hop off?
Customer: Okay. I just don't know. I think all these things sound great, but I don't know how to start. I got one of those little things that have three serum types in it and I don't know when I should use them or if I should use them or whatever.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah. So like I was saying, if you're feeling kind of confused or overwhelmed or anything like that, I would get the Aloe Herb Cleanser.
Customer: Now just go slowly, please.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Okay. The Aloe Herb Cleanser. You can't really go wrong with that one. And then you've got the three serums there. So that's great. What I would probably do is after you cleanse, I would choose one of the serums, apply your serum after you cleanse, and for me, you can do it however you would like, but I would choose one and go through it, like use it morning and evening, and then that way you can see which of the three serums you like the best. That way if you want to choose to invest in a full size serum, you know which one you like the best. So the cleanser, the serum, and then you would want a facial oil. So is your main concern dryness and aging? Or…
Customer: Oh, it's, it's just that I'm old. I'm not complaining about how I look. I think I look pretty good for my age. But, you know, it seems to me I should probably go with the Anti-Aging Facial Oil as a moisturizer simply because I'm aging.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah, that one's a great choice. I mean, like I said, it's so popular. People love that one. I think you probably could not go wrong with it. So I would just get the Aloe Herb Cleanser and the Anti-Aging Facial Oil. And then you've got the serums there and that's an excellent place to start.
Customer: Okay. Thank you.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Of course. Any other questions?
Customer: Thank you for your help.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician:You are so welcome. Thank you for hanging out with us and chatting about skin for an hour and a half. I hope that you learned something. I hope that it felt helpful. If you guys do have other questions, you can always email us. The email address is [email protected]
I hope everybody has an awesome afternoon.
Customer: Thanks so much. It was wonderful.
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