Summarized from a consultation originally recorded on November 13th, 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: Alright. I did look over the surveys that you submitted and it looks like for the most part, the skin concerns for the group are fairly similar, most of you mentioned mature skin, fine lines, wrinkles, sagging, and dark spots. One person did mention retinol. So we can talk about that, about our Activated Night Serum. We'll touch on all of that.
As far as the line goes, we do have a pretty wide selection of products. We have a standard four-step routine that we recommend, so that's kind of what we'll focus on. That's what we recommend pretty much for everybody and you would do that four-step routine both morning and evening. That routine consists of cleansing, toning, using a serum, and then a facial oil or a moisturizer. All of our facial moisturizers are oils. So that's kind of the basic routine that we recommend for everybody. Like I said, you would do that morning and evening, but I do feel like there's some flexibility there.
Maybe you're somebody who just wants a very simple, pared-down routine. In that case, you would want to start with just a cleanser and a facial oil. You need at least a cleanser and moisturizer, and then you could add and build from there if you wanted to.
Or maybe you're somebody who loves skin care, maybe you love a full routine and you want to have, you know, the eye cream and the exfoliant and the boosting elixirs and all the things. So we've got that too.
So basically what I'm saying is that you can kind of make it whatever works best for you, what works best for your lifestyle, your skin, etc. Everyone is different.
But that's the general routine that we will focus on. And then also within the line, before we jump into concerns and products I'll talk about collections quickly because we do have a few different collections within the line.
So the two main collections that we have are the Signature Collection and the Wild Alchemy Collection.
In the Signature Collection, all of those products have tan labeling. And these products, a lot of them are our best selling products. A lot of them are products that have been around since we first got started.
And then we also have our Wild Alchemy Collection. So the Wild Alchemy Collection, all of these products have the black and gold labeling. This is our luxury line and what makes it our luxury line, is a couple of different things. First of all, the products in this collection contain higher levels of activated ingredients. By activated ingredients, I mean things like our bioactive A complex, which is our retinol alternative. Our pure vitamin C, our THDA. So those types of ingredients.
This collection also contains more exotic ingredients, more globally sourced ingredients, and then the crafting process, too, the way these products are made is a little bit more laborious than with the Signature Collection products. So those are the main differences and the main collections that we'll focus on.
We do have some other smaller collections. We can see where the group is at, how things go, whether or not we're going to dive into them or not. We've got the Essentials Collection which is just two products. It's the Renew Facial Cream Cleanser and the Radiate Facial Oil.
This collection, those two products are offered at a lower price point than any of our other products. And the reason for that is because they don't contain our herb infusions. But they're still great products. They can be great for somebody who is just getting started on a routine and wants something really simple. They also can be great choices for more sensitive skin types. Grace and I both like the Radiate Oil and use it often.
And then also we've got our Estate Blend Collection. Right now in our Estate Blend Collection, we only have one product, the Divine Woman Elixir. It's a limited-edition facial oil. Sometimes I do mention it just because I'm obsessed with it. I love it. It feels amazing. It smells amazing. But that collection, the thing that kind of sets it apart, the thing that makes it special is that the herbs used in the products in that collection are grown on Moss Creek Farm, which is Kevin and Annmarie’s farmlet on their property. So Kevin and Annmarie are growing the herbs themselves. They're harvesting the herbs themselves. So that's kind of what's special about that collection, that product. But like I said, the two main collections are The Signature and the Wild Alchemy. So that's what we'll mostly focus on today.
Okay, great. So let's see.
Hmm, it looks like we've got like six on, but maybe we still will kind of try and personalize a little bit. It just kinda makes it more fun I feel like versus me just talking at you so much. So maybe we'll try that. And usually, a lot of people have similar concerns and their questions get answered as we go.
Did anybody want to share a little bit about their skin, any questions you have, or what you were hoping to learn on the call today? Or if not, that's okay too.
Customer: I’ll share. I was super excited to join. I actually think I heard of Annmarie Skin Care probably 15 years ago. There was a young woman who was diagnosed with a crazy rare form of cancer, and she started promoting your products as a means of basically moving to a clean lifestyle with everything, not just what she was eating, but everything she was putting on her skin, you know, anything that could potentially disrupt her health. And so that was kind of the first time I heard about you guys, but I had already started with another natural skin care line. But more recently I did order your, like your test kit. Because the one I've been using forever is very similar, but my concerns around that are not just their process, because you went into great detail about your process, but also the ingredients they use, because I am a two-time cancer survivor. So I'm very aware of what I'm putting on my skin. So that was one of the things that kind of made me want to look further into Annmarie products because you verify everything is organic, you verify everything is sustainable. You verify all the things that keep, you know, people like me in a better headspace when it comes to the products that we’re buying.
So, my main reason for wanting to join was to basically just get a better understanding of the process. You know, how things are sourced, etc. And I know that a lot of times that lends itself to higher cost, but in my opinion, you get what you pay for. So you know, that's something that I was really focused on. So I am interested in learning more about that type of thing, because I know my skin's also changed from all the treatment I've had within that time frame. So it's also being aware of that and where, you know, hormonally things are at and all the different things. So I kind of have a multipurpose reason, I guess, for being on the call today.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Great. Thank you for sharing. That's funny, actually I first heard about Annmarie Skin Care years and years ago, and it was similar. My mom battled cancer and I found out about Annmarie through Kris Carr.
Customer: Mmhmm. That's who it was.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah, I love Kris Carr. I thought my mom should just do everything she did. And I think I purchased one of the starter kits through her too at the time, but I didn't start using the products consistently until years later when I started working for the company. But like I said, we've been around for quite a while now and we've been pretty present in the health and wellness space. I feel like we kind of walk the line between the world of beauty and the health and wellness space because that is such a big focus of ours. We have a lot of affiliates and people that we work with in that space. And yes, we definitely have a very strong focus on creating clean products and being fully transparent with our sourcing and our ingredients and all of that. And yeah, I feel the same. At the time I thought, well, if Kris Carr is promoting these products then they must be clean.
Did anybody else want to share any questions they had about their skin or their routine or anything like that, that we can focus on?
Customer: Yeah, I will. I'm Janet and I apologize for being late. I had a roofing guy show up late. So, you know, I’m so glad to be here. I was going to share that I just learned about Annmarie through Emily Fletcher and the Ziva meditation tribe and I’m so excited to learn more. So I'm working with, well, I'm doing the moving into mastery course with Emily right now. And so we're focusing on all areas of our life in terms of cleaning them up. So she had highly recommended Annmarie's products and I’m also a cancer survivor and have, you know, rapidly maturing skin. So my skin has changed as Cynthia had said, and I'm right now noticing the dark spots, like, especially on my left cheek and down here. And that discoloration seems to me more pronounced recently. And of course, fine lines, wrinkles, and sagging.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Ok awesome. Well it sounds like, anybody jump in if I'm incorrect, but like I said, it sounds like mostly the focus is on mature skin and dark spots and fine lines and signs of aging and all of that. So we could jump in a little bit there to get started.
And then if you guys have other questions, let me know. I love, love, love questions. So put your questions in the chat, raise a hand, shout out whatever works. It's more fun when there are questions. All right. So we'll kind of start out with the basic routine and we'll start out with the basic routine for those concerns.
So who was it? Cynthia mentioned the Clean Beauty Trial. Well, I'm assuming it was the Clean Beauty Trial, Cynthia, with the Aloe Herb Cleanser, Anti-Aging Serum, and Oil. So that's a popular starter kit of ours that a lot of people begin with.
So, like I said, it’s got the Aloe Herb Cleanser. This cleanser is great for all skin types really, including dry and mature skin, kind of what we're going to focus on here.
You really have three different cleanser options for this group. The Aloe Herb Cleanser is very popular. It's our best-selling cleanser. As I mentioned, it's great for all skin types. A lot of times I tell people if you're feeling confused or overwhelmed or not sure where to start, this can be a great place to start because it's really good for everybody.
This one of course has aloe vera, which 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. It’s got some lemon essential oil, so purifying and brightening. It gives it that really nice uplifting citrusy scent. I think part of why that one's so popular is because it smells so lovely. People love the way it smells. What else is in that one?
Some calendula, which is soothing and calming, great for minimizing any kind of temporary redness in the skin.
Customer: Hey, Emily.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yes?
Customer: It’s Brie. Hi ladies. Thank you for sharing your stories. I'm a new cancer survivor of breast cancer this past year. I had the BRCA2 gene, had a bilateral mastectomy, and had ovaries and tubes taken out laparoscopically because I have a chance of getting ovarian cancer. I also have a chance of getting pancreatic cancer, but I am cancer-free right now. And thanks to you ladies for sharing your journey as well. I have been using Annmarie for quite a while. I had been using Jafra. I don't know if you've heard of that company, but when I look at their ingredients the list is like, you know, two miles long. And it is a bunch of stuff that you can't pronounce, you know? So I changed, and I love the Aloe Vera cleanser. It just makes my, I'm 72, you know, and it just makes my face feel so good. And you know, I had chemo too, but it just feels so wonderful. I use the toning mist and citrus serum too. So good. I've been on the automatic renewal program, which is great. So yeah, I love products.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Oh, good. Yeah, the subscription is so convenient.
So, the Aloe Herb Cleanser has coconut oil in it too, so it feels nice and moisturizing. And yeah, like you were saying, it leaves the skin feeling very nourished. It doesn't ever leave you feeling tight or dry or like your skin is stripped at all.
Actually, all of our cleansers are pH balanced, which I usually like to mention because I do think that's important to choose a pH balanced cleanser. Your skin's pH is a 4. 5 to a 5. 5 on the pH scale and all of our cleansers are 5. 5 to 5. 6 which is always printed on our packaging here. So that's just going to ensure that you're not stripping your skin, you're not drying out your skin, you're not disrupting your skin's natural protective barrier, your acid mantle.
So that's really important. And then we also don't use any harsh sulfates or surfactants in our cleansers. A lot of traditional cleansers that have high foaming properties tend to be more alkaline and a lot of them have things like lauryl sulfates in them.
The surfactant that we use is sodium lauryl glucose carboxylate. So that sounds very fancy, but it's really just saponified oils and plant starches and sugars. So it has an excellent cleansing profile but it’s a completely safe option.
And then the other couple of options that I'll mention as far as cleansers go are the Phytonutrient Cleanser, which is in the Wild Alchemy Collection. That one I love too. Honestly, I love all three of the cleansers that I’ll mention. I use and alternate between the 3 of them.
I love all three of them. So the Phytonutrient it's similar to the Aloe Herb in that it is a cream cleanser as well. It is a little bit richer, it has a little bit of an almost fattier texture to it because it has mango seed butter in it. So it gives it that rich, fatty texture. So it’s great for dry skin. That one also is great for brightening the look of skin, brightening the look of dark spots. So someone did mention dark spots as a concern and this cleanser has an apple extract in it, which is rich in vitamin C and malic acid to help to brighten the look of those darkened areas.
What else does it have in there? Some acai in there. It's got our signature serum blend in it. There's some coconut oil in there as well. I'm trying to think if I'm forgetting anything else important with that one.
And really with any cleanser, I always encourage people to really, you know, take their time as they're cleansing, focus on massaging the product into the skin and including often missed areas, but especially with something like that Phytonutrient Cleanser with the apple extract in there you want to let it be on the skin for a minute as you massage it in versus just quickly putting it on and then rinsing it down the drain.
So yeah, that Phytonutrient is another great option.
And then one more that I'll just mention is the Restorative Cleansing Oil. This one is also in the Wild Alchemy Collection and it's just a little bit different than the others.
So both of the other ones are traditional cream cleansers. So you dampen your skin, pump your cleanser into your hands, massage it into the skin, rinse it clean, and pat dry. This one's a little bit different because it is an oil. So you apply it to dry skin with dry hands. And then massage it in. I like to really massage this one in and then you can just rinse it clean and that can be it.
Some people like to remove it with a warm cloth or a warm towel. You can also use this as the first step in a double-cleanse routine. And if you wanted to do that, you would just apply it to dry skin, massage it in, rinse it off, and then follow with your second cleanser. So Aloe Herb, Phytonutrient, whatever you like.
I'm actually a huge fan of oil cleansing. I’m a big fan of double cleansing as well. It really is great for all skin types. For dry and mature skin, this feels very nourishing because it is an oil.
Yes, you apply it on top of makeup if you're wearing makeup, Mindy. This is excellent for removing makeup. Anytime, I am wearing makeup, this is what I'm using. It's great too for removing mascara, even waterproof mascara.
And yeah, so what was I saying? You can use it on its own or as the first step in a double cleanse. If you use it on its own. It's gonna feel, like I said, very nourishing. It actually leaves a bit of an oil on the skin which some people like, some people don’t. But if you remove it with a warm towel, you have a little bit less of that oil left on the skin. And then the same with if you're using it to do a double-cleanse, following it with a second cleanser, then you have less of that oil left on the skin than if you just use it on its own.
But this one, it's a golden jojoba oil base. So jojoba very closely mimics the texture of your skin's natural sebum. So it's a great choice for dry and mature skin. I always say it's a great choice for anybody because I love jojoba oil. Even when I was struggling quite a bit with my skin and congestion I still would gravitate toward jojoba.
And then this one also has I believe some castor oil in there. There's tea tree oil, which is purifying. There's manuka. I’m also obsessed with Manuka. Manuka is very deep cleansing and calming to the skin. So this is a great one as well.
So those are the three cleansers that we'll talk about. Any questions about any of those cleansers or anything else?
Customer: Do you recommend using those little microfiber washcloths? Or just using your hands to cleanse?
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: I think it's fine either way. I do have, I don't know if it's the same as what you're talking about, but I have these little sponges that I use sometimes that will remove your makeup just with water. I will use them to remove my mascara sometimes. Or they can be handy for camping. Is that what you mean?
Customer: Yeah, that's what I'm talking about.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Okay. Yeah. I mean, I think that's really just personal preference to be honest. Usually, I don't use any kind of cloth or anything when I'm removing my cleanser, but you absolutely can. I think it's really just personal preference.
Customer: Okay.
Customer: I have a question. I wasn’t sure if the Phytonutrient Cleanser helps with dark spots, if you're fair-skinned like I am? It looks like you probably are as well.
Would it brighten light skin, would it make you even lighter?
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: The apple extract and those brightening ingredients are great for overall brightening as well as helping to brighten the look of dark spots. As far as cleansers go, I would say, the Phytonutrient definitely is going to be the best choice if one of your main concerns is brightening. Is that what you are asking?
Customer: Does it make you look fairer though? I don't like how fair I look, so would it make you look more fair?
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Oh ok, I see what you are saying. No, it is helpful for brightening as in increasing radiance and luminosity in the skin. It is not going to change the shade of your skin. I mean, I feel like you, I don't even know, I feel like you'd need something pretty potent for it to have that effect.
Good question though! I haven’t gotten that one before. Any other cleanser questions?
Okay, cool. So those are the three cleansers that I would probably recommend for the group.
And then the next step in your routine would be your toner. We have three different toning mists in the line. The Neroli Toning Mist, the Rosemary Toning Mist, and the Botanical Hydration Mist With Immortelle. This one is in the Wild Alchemy Collection.
So for the most part for this group, you would probably choose either the Neroli or the Botanical. The Neroli Toning Mist is just, it's good for pretty much any skin type, it's good for dry, mature, a little bit of sensitivity. The Rosemary is more purifying, so I don't think anybody in this group would choose that one.
The Neroli is our most popular toning mist. It's a very simple formula. It's the aloe vera juice base. It's got some aspen bark extract in it, which acts as a natural source of salicins. It also acts as a natural preservative. And then the neroli. So neroli is derived from fresh orange blossoms, so it has a really lovely scent to it. So I think that is another reason why this one is very popular.
To use your toning mist, after you cleanse, you just rinse your cleanser, pat skin dry and then mist your toning mist over your face and neck. Your toning mist in general is just providing a dose of hydration and providing a dose of skin supporting nutrients. All of our toning mists, it says on the packaging to mist, let it dry, and then apply your serum, followed by your oil.
I actually don't love that recommendation. I would mist your toning mist. And then while it's still slightly damp apply your serum and your oil. For me, I feel like that just helps it to absorb better. Your skin's kind of like a sponge, so it's going to absorb better when it's a little bit damp. So that's always my recommendation.
So that’s the Neroli. And then the other one we will talk about is the Botanical Hydration Mist With Immortelle. This one is in the Wild Alchemy Collection. This one is excellent for sensitive skin. It's got a blend of four different types of chamomile in it, so it's very soothing. It's also got some rose in there. Again, soothing, nurturing. This one has some frankincense, which is known to tone, tighten, and rejuvenate. And then the immortelle as well, which is a very potent antioxidant. The size is larger, too. Just a side note, the botanical is twice the size of the neroli and the scent profile is much different.
As I said, the neroli has that almost sweet scent profile and then the botanical is much more herbal. For the most part, I think that for this group, most of you could choose either of these two toning mists and be happy with them.
Customer: Yeah, I like the Neroli. I use it even if I've been outside and my face feels kind of warm, I just come in and spray it on there. And it is light, you know, it makes your face feel so good.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah. I feel like toners are kind of you know, a product that gets skipped over a lot. People feel like it is a product that they don’t really need. And, while you don’t have to have a toner, I do feel like it does really enhance your routine. I am sort of toner-obsessed, just constantly spritzing.
Toners are so versatile too. You can of course, after you cleanse, mist your toner, and then apply your serum. You can also use it throughout the day if you just want a boost of hydration or a little refresh. You can mist it right over makeup if you're wearing makeup and it's not going to disrupt your makeup or anything. So that can be kind of nice. On days that I am really in a rush in the morning I will often just mist my toning mist, apply my eye cream, and go.
Okay and then the next step, oh, do we have any toner questions? I feel like they're kind of straightforward.
The next step in your routine would be your serum. So serums in general are excellent hydrators. There is the difference between dehydrated skin, which is skin that lacks water, and then dry skin, which is skin that lacks oil.
Most people have a little bit of both. They have a little bit of dehydration and a little bit of dryness. So we always recommend using a combination of both hydrating products and moisturizing products to address both.
So your hydrators are your toning mist and your serum. And then your moisturizer is your facial oil.
Also, serums in general are made up of a smaller molecule than a facial oil. So they're able to penetrate more deeply. They contain high levels of activated ingredients. So they allow you to kind of target and treat whatever your specific concerns are. And then with that smaller molecule size, getting those activated ingredients deeper into the skin.
So that's kind of a little bit about serums in general. We have several different ones.
Let's start with the Anti-Aging Serum. So this one is very popular. This is probably our best-selling product. People love this one. Again, this does come in the Clean Beauty Trial Kit, so you might've tried it. This one's great for all skin types, sort of like with the Aloe Herb Cleanser.
Like with the Aloe Herb, sometimes I'll tell people if you're really confused and overwhelmed and you don't know where to start, you could choose the Anti-Aging Serum and you probably won't go wrong.
This one, I like to refer to it as just a daily dose of overall skin nutrition because it is very antioxidant-rich. It's got life everlasting flowers, it's got buddleia extract. It’s soothing as well, there's some rose in there, and then it's very hydrating.
So this one has hyaluronic acid in it. Our hyaluronic acid comes from a non-GMO vegetable source. 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. Deeply hydrating the skin is going to have a plumping effect on the skin, whereas if your skin is dehydrated, it's going to emphasize the appearance of fine lines. I would say the scent profile on this one is definitely more floral. You can also smell the vetiver in it.
And then let's see, the other two in the Signature Collection…We’ve got the Probiotic Serum With Tremella. This one's excellent for sensitive skin or skin that's sort of out of balance. I probably won't go into this one too deeply because it doesn't sound like that's our main focus
The other, the last one in the Signature Collection, is the Citrus Stem Cell Serum. This is a great one for brightening the look of darkened areas. So we will talk about that one because that was concern in the group.
It's good really for all skin types, but it's especially good for skin that has had a lot of exposure to the elements. It's got kind of two parts to it. There's the citrus-derived stem cells in there. So we use plant-derived stem cells in our products. You will find stem cells used in a lot of different skin care products. Sometimes they're derived from animals or even humans. We use plant-derived stem cells, and these stem cells are providing proteins and peptides and amino acids and all these things that are really strengthening the skin. And then the other part of this serum is the brightening component. So there's a trio in here, a brightening trio, that is licorice root, uva ursi, and amla berry. Amla berry is very rich in vitamin C and then licorice root and uva ursi are both lightening and brightening ingredients. A lot of times you'll find licorice root used in natural products as an alternative to using hydroquinone, which is kind of a nasty ingredient that’s banned pretty much everywhere but in the US. So that is the Citrus Stem Cell and those are the three in the Signature Collection.
And then we do have some in the Wild Alchemy Collection as well. So the Wild Fruit Serum is my personal favorite. Part of why I love it so much I think is because I am a scent person and I like the scent profile (it is sort of fruity smelling, hence the name).
This serum I like to refer to as our do-it-all serum because it is very all-encompassing. It addresses several skin concerns with just one product. It’s hydrating, it's brightening, it's anti-aging, it kind of does all the things.
It's got copper-infused water in it. It's got apple extract, so it's the same apple extract that's in the Phytonutrient Cleanser. So again, rich in vitamin C and malic acid which is great for brightening the look of skin.
It's got knotweed, which is rich in resveratrol. The plant cells, this one has Madonna lily plant cells in it and it's got a really dense infusion of those plant cells. And then what else? This one also has kakadu plum in it. Kakadu plum is another very potent source of vitamin C. It also contains phenolic acid, and phenolic acid behaves on the skin similar to an alpha hydroxy acid. Alpha hydroxy acids, you’ve probably heard of. They kind of dissolve the “glue” that holds the top layer of skin cells. So they have an exfoliating effect. So great for improving texture, improving tone, again, brightening the look of skin, all of those things.
So that is the Wild Fruit. Like I said, my personal favorite. I’m trying to think about what else we should cover.
We do also have our CBD serum, but I probably, I mean, I love the CBD. It is lovely, but usually, I go into that one more again, if very sensitive skin is a main concern. Though it is wonderful for addressing signs of aging as well. It is very antioxidant-rich. Another very all-encompassing product.
But let’s go ahead and move on to our Activated Night Serum.
So the Activated Night Serum, this one is in our Wild Alchemy Collection as well. This is a newer product. This product is our alternative to retinol. So retinol you've probably heard of, somebody mentioned it on their survey. It’s kind of like the gold standard in terms of anti-aging ingredients. But it's not great for your health. It can be harmful to reproductive health. Even for skin health, if you're using a traditional retinol or retin-A etc. over an extended period of time, it can start to thin the skin, which is not what we want as we age. We don't want to thin our skin. We want to have really healthy, resilient skin. We want to support our skin's natural barrier by nourishing the skin versus stripping it. So anyways, we wanted to have an alternative to retinol, that offered similar results, and similar benefits, but that was safe for your health and your skin so that is why we created this product. It contains our bioactive A-Complex, which is derived from algae, so it is a completely safe ingredient. It is a Made Safe-approved ingredient. It's a really nice blend, too. We’ve blended that activated bioactive A with soothing ingredients like lavender and blue chamomile. This also has a little bit thicker, richer texture than some of our other serums. So it's very hydrating. It feels very hydrating on the skin. Smells lovely. This one, you do want to be sure that you are using this at night and that you use it with an SPF during the day because it can make you a little bit more sensitive to the sun because of the bioactive A in there. Usually, any skin type can use it, even more sensitive skin types. Grace has extremely sensitive skin and she still is able to use this product. Whereas, you know, a lot of times people with sensitive skin, a traditional retinol or retin-A product, they're not able to use. So that is great as well. You can play around with it and kind of find what works best for your skin. So you could use it every night if you want to. You could use it every other night. You could use it every third night. Some people like to use it every night for two weeks and then take a week off. So you can kind of play around with it and just see how your skin feels, what works best for you, that kind of thing.
The scent profile, good question.
Gosh, I don't know. It's very light. I don't feel like it has a strong scent. It's very light. It's very lovely. I feel like you can smell the lavender just a little bit in there. It smells so good. It's not super strong or overpowering at all.
And so if you were going to incorporate this one, like I said you would use it only at night. So you would use the Wild Fruit Serum or the Anti-Aging Serum or whichever serum you prefer in the morning. And then you would use this at night. Or if you were alternating, like I was saying how you could use it for two weeks and then take a week off, you could use your Anti-Aging Serum morning and night for your week off. And then you could use this every night. When you're doing your two weeks on. Hopefully, that makes sense.
Customer: Hey, Emily, when you say activated, what does that pertain to?
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: So when I'm talking about activated ingredients I’m talking about ingredients that are designed to directly affect the skin, by exfoliating, brightening, hydrating etc. So ingredients like hyaluronic acid, our bioactive A complex, our pure vitamin C (THDA), etc.
Hopefully, that makes sense.
Customer: It does. Thank you.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Great. So I'm trying to think if I missed any serums that I wanted to cover. I think we will stop there with serums. That feels pretty complete.
So do we have serum questions? Other than that, that was a great one. Any other serum questions?
Okay. Perfect, so let's see. Oh, Mindy, did you have a question?
Customer: Can they be mixed together and applied or should you apply one by one?
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Excellent question. Yeah, a lot of people want to use more than one serum because we do have so many. We don't usually recommend mixing. Like you wouldn't do a pump of Citrus Stem Cell Serum and a pump of Anti-Aging Serum and mix them together, and apply them.
If you wanted to use more than one, I would say use one in the morning and one in the evening or use them on alternate days, like use one on Monday, and one on Tuesday kind of thing.
Okay, so those are serums. Let's go ahead and move into elixirs really quickly because I do want to talk about the Brighten Elixir.
So the Concentrated Boosting Elixirs. These kind of fall into the serum category. These are not really a necessary product. They're just kind of a fun extra. If you're somebody who wants that boosted routine with the highest levels of activated ingredients that you can get, then these are for you.
So the Concentrated Boosting Elixirs are sold in this set of three. And kind of the thought behind them was that our COO wanted to offer a clean alternative for those very popular activated ingredients that people are often looking for, like the hyaluronic acid, the vitamin C, and the retinol. So that is why she created these or why we created these.
The set contains the Hydrate Elixir, the Brighten Elixir, and the Revitalize Elixir. But now you are able to buy the Hydrate Elixir on its own in the larger size. You can also get the Brighten Elixir on its own in the larger size. We don't have the Revitalize Elixir sold on its own, but we have the Activated Night Serum that we just talked about and it contains the same activated ingredient as the Revitalize, the bioactive A complex.
The way that you use these elixirs is that you never apply them directly to your skin because they are very concentrated. They're always to be mixed. So you ideally would mix with your serum, like your Anti-Aging Serum or your Wild Fruit Serum or whichever serum you are using. Or if for some reason you were not using a serum, you could mix with your oil, with your facial oil.
So you would pump your serum, usually one pump of serum is enough, maybe two, then drop 3 drops of the elixir into your serum, mix it, and apply. Or if you purchased a full-size Hydrate or Brighthen you would mix one pump of the elixir into the serum. You could probably even do a half-pump. Just play around with it to find what feels good for your skin. But that's how you use them. And the Hydrate Elixir, this one is a hyaluronic acid with vegan collagen pre peptides. So we already talked about hyaluronic acid. It's that humectant that holds one thousand times its weight in water. So it's just really deeply hydrating the skin, having that plumping effect on the skin. And then the vegan collagen pre peptides are strengthening the skin, increasing resilience.
The Brighten Elixir, this one here. This is a pure vitamin C with seabuckthorn. The type of vitamin C that we chose for this elixir is tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate or THDA, which is a mouthful. But the reason that we chose that particular type of vitamin C is because it's a very stable form of vitamin C.
A lot of times you go buy a vitamin C product and you open it up and if it contains a form of vitamin C that is not stable it can go rancid really quickly and then it's not effective. So this is a very stable form of vitamin C. It's also a very nonirritating form of vitamin C. A lot of times if you have more sensitive skin, a vitamin C, a pure vitamin C can be irritating. This one is great for sensitive skin. It has a pH of seven, which is the same as water. It's also oil soluble, so that's important too. So it's that pure vitamin C, that THDA paired with seabuckthorn, which is rich in vitamins and omegas. So this is excellent for brightening the look of skin, excellent for lightening the look of dark spots and pigmentation.
And then lastly, the Revitalize Elixir. This one is the bioactive A complex that we already talked about with astaxanthin, which is a very powerful antioxidant. It is also what gives flamingos their pink color, fun fact.
And you can kind of play around with those elixirs. Like, if you were to purchase the set, you could add, in the morning, maybe just three drops of hydrate with your serum. Or maybe you want to add two drops of Hydrate and one drop of Brighten. You can play around with it. You just want to be sure that you always use the Revitalize only at night and with an SPF during the day because it contains the bioactive A complex. You also would not want to mix the Brighten with the Revitalize in the same application. You would use the Brighten in the morning and the Revitalize at night. But the Hydrate you can use anytime, morning or night.
Okay, so those are serums and elixirs. What questions do we have? Are you staying with me? Or are you thinking what is she talking about? Ha. It's a lot of information, I know. But like I said, it's just kind of personal preference and finding what works best for you, you know? You can start with just two products if you want to, and that can be perfect too.
Okay, so the last step in your four-step routine that we recommend would be your moisturizer. As I said, all of our facial moisturizers are oils. The reason for that is that oils are more pure. They don't require any fillers or waxes to be used. Your skin's natural form of moisture is oil, so they are readily absorbed by the skin. If you, I feel like I always mention this because it's an easy thing for people to look for when they don't know what to look for, if you go to a drug store or department store and you get a face cream or face lotion, usually, if you look at the back, water is one of the first ingredients. Oftentimes water will be at the top of the list and whatever activated ingredient the company is marketing will be at the bottom. Usually, ingredients are listed by level of concentration, so you don’t want water to be at the top of the list because it is not an ingredient that is really doing anything for you. The other issue is, that if a product contains water then it has to contain more preservatives because it can grow bacteria more quickly. So with pure oils, you don't have that issue.
So again, we have several different facial oils. We'll just choose a few to focus on. The Anti-Aging Facial Oil. If you have the Clean Beauty Trial kit, you get a very teeny, tiny sample of the Anti-Aging Facial Oil. I always laugh because it's so small. I'm like, what are people supposed to do with this? But that one is very popular. One of our best selling products. People love it. It's great for dry and mature skin. It's just a very nourishing, very restorative facial moisturizer. It's that jojoba oil base. It's got a bunch of different seed oils in it. So there is broccoli seed oil, carrot seed oil, and chia seed oil. Chia, for example, is rich in vitamin B and zinc. That one's also got Plantago in it, which helps to soothe dryness and is purifying as well. The scent profile is similar to the Anti-Aging Serum that more floral scent profile with the vetiver. I feel like I'm forgetting something with that one. I think there's some goji in there as well, which is a potent antioxidant. So that's a very popular choice.
Then in the Wild Alchemy Collection, we have our Rejuvenating Facial Oil. This one is another popular choice for more mature skin types. It really is suitable for all skin types, except very sensitive.
This one is our most potent facial oil. So our other facial oils, like the Anti-Aging, there are, like I said, a bunch of different herbs in the herb infusion and it includes several different seed oils. In the Rejuvenating Oil, we included far fewer. There's just one herb in the herb infusion, it's the butterfly pea flower. And then there are also far fewer of the seed oils and the cO2 extracts. The reason for that is that we wanted to include those fewer ingredients at higher concentrations, at higher percentages. So it makes it more active, more potent. So this one is not the best choice if you have very sensitive skin, but if you're not sensitive, it's a great choice.
I really don't know how to describe the way it smells. Some people like it. Some people don't. It does have a stronger scent to it, but it's much different than the Anti-Aging Oil. I actually do like this one, but it took me a minute to get used to the scent profile on this one. It’s sort of herbaceous smelling.
So it's got the butterfly pea flower, which is rich in antioxidants, polyphenols, and flavonoids. This one's got baobab oil in it, which is helpful for brightening the look of skin. It's got mongongo oil, so it feels very moisturizing, very softening. Marula oil is rich in antioxidants. I do love this one, it’s an excellent choice. It definitely feels, I think because of the mongongo or something, it feels so nourishing, it really feels like a luxury product, you know?
And then like I mentioned earlier, I also love the Divine Woman Elixir. I'm kind of obsessed with it. It is also a jojoba oil base and in comparison to the Rejuvenating Oil, it’s a more traditional herb blend. The Rejuvenating Facial Oil has all of these exotic, globally sourced ingredients. The Divine Woman Elixir is the more traditional, like, lavender, and chamomile, and St. John's wort. The scent profile of the Divine Woman is very lovely, it's very light. It's a little bit citrusy, but so light.
So really any of these 3 oils are excellent for more dry and mature skin types.
Okay, those are the facial oils. Any questions about anything? Facial oils or anything else?
Customer: Was there something that stood out with the Divine Woman oil? Like why you like it so much? Is there something in there that just stands out?
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: I think a lot of it honestly is just that I love the scent profile of the Divine Woman. I also love all of the love and intention that Annmarie put into that product. It’s sort of magical.
Customer: I have a question. Is using the oil cleanser and following with a facial oil too much oil?
I think that's just personal preference because when using the oil cleanser, it does, like I said, leave that bit of oil on the skin. It also kind of depends on how you use it, like I was saying earlier, if you use it on its own and just rinse to remove you will have more of the oil left on your skin than if you remove it with a cloth or follow it with a second cleanser. So for some people, the oil that is left on the skin after removing the oil cleanser feels like enough and they don’t use a facial oil after. But others like to finish with the facial oil. Honestly, I do both. Sometimes I will use the cleansing oil, rinse, and just mist my toning mist. Other times I will finish with my facial oil. I really think it's personal preference, and it's just feeling how your skin feels. Like, does it feel moisturized enough? Do you feel like you need the extra oil? I don't think it's too much oil to use with a facial oil.
As far as transition period, I assume you mean like if you're switching from a conventional skin care line to ours. It really just depends on your skin. Everyone is so different. Our products do have really high levels of antioxidants so for some there can be a bit of a transition period. Usually, I tell people that if they are having any sort of reaction, if it lasts more than a few weeks, then you should probably consider choosing different products because there may be some ingredient that is not working well for your skin.
Sometimes it can be helpful to start simple, with just a few products vs say 6 new products. It can make it easier to determine which product, if any, is causing a reaction. If you are using 6 new products at once and you have a reaction it might be hard to determine which product or ingredient is causing the issue.
The Aloe Herb Cleanser and the Radiate Facial Oil can be a really nice, simple combination to start with. Hopefully, that answers that question.
Okay, cool. So those are oils. Where are we at? Gosh, it's 12:15 already. We are cruising. Let's stop there and you guys let me know, do you have other questions that we want to talk about? Are there other specific products that you want me to talk about?
Customer: Yeah. I just need a quick overview. So if my number one concern right now is eliminating or lessening the dark spots, what would you go for?
Like, cleanser, toner, serum, moisturizer, kind of bam, bam, bam.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yes, sure.
Phytonutrient cleanser. For toner, you really could go either way, Neroli or Botanical Hydration Mist. And then your serum, I would go Wild Fruit Serum. If you wanted to, you could also incorporate the Activated Night Serum. And then the facial oil I would probably do the Rejuvenating because it's got that baobab oil in it.
Customer: That's great. Thank you very much.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah, of course. Perfect.
Customer: And if you wanted to skip a product, just to keep cost down, I guess the toner would be the one you would skip?
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah, if you were trying to do a little bit more pared down routine, I would do the Phytonutrient Cleanser, the Wild Fruit Serum, and the Rejuvenating oil.
And then, down the road, you could add in the Activated Night Serum. You could add in a toning mist.
Customer: Okay. Thank you.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah, of course. And I do usually tell people if you're not using a toning mist, I would still apply your serum when your skin is just a little bit damp from cleansing. Cleanse your skin, pat it dry, but it doesn't have to be like bone dry, and then apply your serum. Like I said, I just feel like that really helps with absorption.
And then another product that you might want to look into down the road would be the eye cream, the Anti-Aging Eye Cream since you did mention puffiness as a concern. We do have two eye products. We have the Fruit Ceramide Eye Serum and the Anti-Aging Eye Cream. Both are excellent. I tend to recommend that if people are going to choose one or the other that they choose the eye cream. I love our eye cream. The serum is a true serum, so it's that thinner consistency, that smaller molecule, really hydrating. For me, my eye area is always really dry, so it's not enough for me, that hydration. I need the moisture of the eye cream. Sometimes I tell people that if your eye area is your main concern, maybe you want to use both products together, you can layer them. You can layer the Fruit Ceramide Eye Serum underneath the eye cream. You can alternate them. You could use the Fruit Ceramide Eye Serum in the morning and use the Anti-Aging Eye Cream at night. But this could be something to incorporate too.
And with the Fruit Ceramide Eye Serum and the Anti-Aging Eye Cream, these are products with higher concentrations of activated ingredients so you could always use this, of course, around your eyes, but also for lines around your mouth or in other areas.
The eye cream has a cucumber distillate, which is great for puffiness and damas rose plant cells, which can help to minimize the appearance of fine lines and crow’s feet.
Okay. Great. Any other questions or routine recommendations? We only have a couple of minutes left here.
If you guys do think of other questions that you didn't get answered or you want a routine recommendation and we didn't get to it or anything like that you can always reach out via email.
Well, thank you guys so much for hanging out and listening to me chat about skin care for an hour and a half. I hope that it was helpful, I hope that you learned something and enjoyed it a little bit. I hope everybody has an awesome afternoon.
Customer: Thank you.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: You’re so welcome. Bye, guys.
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