Summarized from a consultation originally recorded on September 11th, 2024.
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Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: …So that's a little bit about how we got started and kind of what sets us apart. From there we can move into products and routines and all of that. We pretty much recommend a general four-step routine for everybody to do both morning and evening.
And that routine consists of cleansing, toning, using a serum, and then a moisturizer. All of our facial moisturizers are oils, so cleanse, tone, serum, and oil. And that's the recommendation that you would do in the morning and evening. I tend to tell people I think it's best to just kind of really customize your routine, find what works best for you, for your skin, for your lifestyle.
Maybe you're somebody who right now has no routine, then you're probably not going to jump into a six step routine and be really consistent with it and that's totally fine. I would say the most basic routine that you would want to have, the most pared-down routine that you would want to have would be at least a cleanser and a facial oil. And then you could always add and build from there if you wanted to. So whether your routine has 10 steps or two steps you're going to start with cleansing. So we will start with cleansing and cleansers. Before we even jump into cleansers, I do want to touch on collections quickly. We have a few different collections in the line.
The two main collections that we have are the Signature Collection. So all of the Signature Collection products have the tan labeling. These products, a lot of them, are our best sellers. A lot of them have been around since we first got started.
And then the other collection that we have is our Wild Alchemy Collection. This collection, all of the products have black and gold labeling. And the difference is just that this is our luxury line. What makes it our luxury line is that the products in this collection contain higher levels of activated ingredients. So things like our bioactive A-Complex, our pure vitamin C, our THDA and then they contain more exotic ingredients. So these globally sourced ingredients- things like mongongo oil and Baobab oil. So that's kind of the difference between the two collections. Those are the two main collections that we'll focus on today. We do have some other smaller collections. I will go ahead and quickly mention the Essentials Collection, just because somebody on their survey did mention that they wanted something really simple that they were looking to not spend a lot of money on their skin care routine.
So the Essentials Collection can be a good option sometimes. That collection is just two products. It's the Renew Facial Cream Cleanser and the Radiate Oil. Those two products are offered at a lower price point than any of our other products. And the reason for that is just that they don't contain our herb infusions. So they're just really simple formulas. The way that they're made is really simple. The crafting process. But they're still great products. Grace and I both really like the Radiate Oil. So I just like to mention that, but the two we'll focus on are the Signature and the Wild Alchemy.
So let’s start with cleansers. Cleansing is just going to help to remove makeup and impurities from the skin. A thorough cleanse is going to prep the skin so that all of your treatment products that you're using can be absorbed properly and work effectively. I always really like to encourage people to kind of take their time as they cleanse. I feel like it's a step that gets rushed through often. It's nice to kind of take your time, really massaging the cleanser into your skin, kind of making sure you don't miss any of those areas that often get missed, like kind of back around the ears or down around the jaw sometimes, or near the hairline.
And we have four cleansers in the line. In our Signature Collection, we have the Aloe Herb Cleanser and the Citrus Mint Cleanser.
The Aloe Herb Cleanser is our most popular. People love this one. If you've ever gotten one of our starter kits or our trial kits, you might've tried it. I like to tell people if they are feeling confused or overwhelmed or not sure where to start this can be a good choice because you really just can't go wrong with this one.
It's great for all skin types. It's a creamy, nourishing cleanser. It's the aloe vera base, of course. Aloe is rich in vitamins and minerals, phytonutrients and enzymes. There are a lot of nutrients for the skin in aloe. It's also got some naturally occurring saponins that act as mild cleansing agents on the skin. That one's got some calendula in it, so a soothing herb rich in antioxidants and carotenoids. There's coconut oil, which helps to kind of contribute to that creamy texture. There's some lemon essential oil, which helps to brighten, clear, and refine skin. And it also gives it its nice citrusy scent. I feel like that's part of why this one is so popular because it smells really lovely. So that's the Aloe Herb.
The other one in the Signature Collection is the Citrus Mint Cleanser. This one is our purifying gel cleanser, so for more normal, combination, and oily skin types. It's also that aloe vera base. But this one is a gel, like I said. And it feels really cooling and refreshing on the skin. It's got that more purifying herb blend. There's like the neem, the witch hazel distillate, and the rosemary in that one.
And then in the Wild Alchemy Collection, we have two: the Restorative Cleansing Oil and the Phytonutrient Cleanser. So the Phytonutrient Cleanser, this one is good for all skin types. It's especially great for dry or mature skin types. It's also really great if brightening the look of skin or brightening the look of dark spots is something that you're working on. The Phytonutrient Cleanser is a cream cleanser, so similar to the Aloe Herb in texture, but it's a little bit thicker, a little bit richer, almost fattier texture because it has a mango seed butter in it. And then it's also got apple extract. So that apple extract is rich in vitamin C and malic acid. So great for brightening the look of skin. This one has some acai in it, giving it an antioxidant component. It's got our signature serum blend. This one has some coconut oil as well. So that's the Phytonutrient. Definitely one of my go-to’s.
And then the last one that's also in the Wild Alchemy Collection is the Restorative Cleansing Oil. This one is a little bit different. So all of the other cleansers you would use like a typical cleanser. You wet your face, you massage the cleanser into your skin and you rinse it clean. The Restorative Cleansing Oil is an oil as the name suggests. So you apply it to dry skin with dry hands. I'm a huge fan of oil cleansing. I love this product. So this is going to be good for all skin types as well. For dry and mature skin it feels very nourishing. It leaves a bit of an oil on the skin, especially if you're just rinsing it to remove.
But it's great also for oily skin or congestion-prone skin. It sounds a little bit counterintuitive, but like attracts like. So the oil is going to bind to oil-based impurities to help to remove them. So it helps to kind of soften up and break down excess oil and congestion in the skin. So I like to tell people, especially if you're using this to address that concern, the congestion, it's nice to really focus your massage on those areas that get congested. So like a lot of times around the nose or down around the chin and mouth area. Just as you're massaging the product in, really focusing on those areas and then you can just rinse it to remove and that can be it. Some people like to remove this one with a warm cloth or a warm towel. You can also use this as a first step in a double-cleanse routine. And if you wanted to do that, you just would massage it in, rinse it off, and then follow it with a second cleanser, whichever one you like.
And this one, it's a jojoba oil base. So jojoba very closely resembles the texture of your skin's natural sebum. It's also got castor oil in there. This one has tea tree oil, so it is very purifying. It's got manuka oil as well, which is really deep cleansing and calming to the skin. So that is the Restorative Cleansing Oil.
So those are the four cleansers. I did forget to mention that all of our cleansers are pH-balanced, which is important. A pH-balanced cleanser is 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. A lot of times more conventional cleansers that have high foaming properties contain harsh surfactants, like lauryl sulfates. that tend to be more alkaline, which can disrupt your skin's natural barrier. So all of our cleansers are pH-balanced. It's actually printed on our packaging. Your skin's pH is a 4. 5 to a 5. 5 and all of our cleansers are a 5. 5 to a 5. 6 on the pH scale. We also don't use any harsh surfactants in our cleansers. We use a sodium lauryl glucose carboxylate. That is the surfactant that we use. It is a safe, low-foaming surfactant. It sounds fancy, but it is really just saponified oils, plant starches, and sugars.
Okay. So those are cleansers. Questions about cleansing or cleansers at all?
If you guys have questions, you can just raise a hand, you can shout out, you can put your questions into the chat, whatever you feel comfortable with.
Customer: I know it's probably not recommended, but I find that I have a hard time feeling like my skin is really cleansed with a lot of cleansers. I've used Cetaphil and it just doesn't pull the oil out. My children have had some Clean and Clear leftover with benzoyl peroxide in it and that seems to work. But I know that's probably not a recommended product.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah, I mean, that would not be my choice. Benzoyl peroxide can be very drying.
Another concern is that it produces free radicals. Free radicals are damaging molecules that cause sun damage and premature aging. We use antioxidants to fight against free radical damage. So we don’t want to add something to the skin that actually encourages the formation of free radicals.
Free radicals can also slow wound healing, which can affect how long your skin takes to heal over acne scars, redness, and other irritations. This is another reason why continued use of benzoyl peroxide can, in the end, make your skin look worse than before.
Is it a foaming cleanser? A gel?
Customer: No, it's not. Not foaming. I don't know that it's a gel, it’s more of a creamy texture.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Ok. Well, I would say there are a few different things that you could try to see if you get that deeper clean feeling that you are looking for.
First, you could try a gel cleanser like our Citrus Mint Cleanser. Sometimes a gel provides more of that “clean” feeling. This one like I mentioned before also feels nice and cool on the skin.
Another option would be to mix an exfoliant with one of the cream cleansers if you like a cream. You could mix a few shakes of our Ayurvedic Facial Scrub or a bit of our Kaolin Micro Exfoliant into your Aloe Herb Cleanser. Having that bit of grit can provide that deep clean feeling.
We also have our Lotus Wood Brush, which can be used for cleansing. You can pump the cleanser onto the brush or massage the cleanser into the skin and then manipulate it with the brush.
Customer: I do want to ensure also that I am not just getting the feeling of my skin being clean I want to be sure that it is actually clean.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Well any of our cleansers are going to cleanse sufficiently. So it shouldn't be an issue that any of the cleansers are not fully cleaning your skin as long as you’re thoroughly cleansing as I mentioned before, taking your time to massage your cleanser into the skin and ensuring that you are cleansing all areas of the face before rinsing.
It also could be an option if you wanted to do the double cleanse routine, like I mentioned with the Restorative Cleansing Oil followed by a second cleanser. This leaves skin thoroughly cleansed. The idea is cleansing with an oil-based cleanser and then a water-based cleanser. We don't have any water-based cleansers. All of our cleansers are aloe vera juice-based which is also important because any product, any cleanser or facial moisturizing cream, or anything that has water as an ingredient, has to include more preservatives because bacteria can grow more quickly.
So we don't have that. With our products, which is nice. But doing that double cleanse routine could help to leave skin feeling very clean. The Restorative Cleansing Oil can be especially great for makeup removal if you wear makeup.
Hopefully, that was helpful. That’s kind of a lot of different options, but you could just kind of play around with it and see what gives you that feeling that you're looking for and find what you like best.
Customer: Is there anything wrong with using a washcloth to remove your cleanser? I always feel more clean when I remove it with a cloth.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Oh, I think that's totally fine. I mean, you want to be gentle if you're removing or cleansing with a washcloth, but I don't think there's any problem with that.
Customer: Is there anything wrong with just using plain aloe vera juice on your face for cleansing?
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: I think that is fine if you're not trying to remove makeup, of course. It doesn’t have a surfactant in it like a traditional cleanser does.
I’m actually a big fan of honey cleansing. I haven't done the aloe cleansing myself, but honey cleansing I have done quite a bit in the past. This can be a good choice for skin that is sort of out of balance.
Customer: Ok, thank you.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Absolutely. Good question.
Customer: I’ve recently been using witch hazel as a toner, and I find after cleansing that using the witch hazel with a cotton ball I seem to be able to pull more dirt, oil, whatever it is out of my skin, even after cleansing. Is witch hazel a good product to be using on your face?
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Of course, I would recommend using one of our toning mists. But in the past I have used witch hazel. I think I used the Thayer’s brand. So I'm not totally opposed to it.
If you are looking for a toner that's going to be more purifying, have more purifying properties. I would of course recommend our Rosemary Toning Mist. But I have used witch hazel in the past. I don't think it's a bad thing to use.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Awesome. Good questions guys.
Okay, cool. So those are the cleansers. So let's go ahead and move on to toners. So we have three toners in the line. After you cleanse, then of course you're going to pat your skin dry. And then you're going to mist your toner over your face and neck. None of our toners are harsh or stripping at all. They’re all going to just complete the cleansing process and offer a dose of hydration and skin-supporting nutrients.
The three that we have are the Neroli Toning Mist and the Rosemary Toning Mist. These are the two in the Signature Collection, and then we also have the Botanical Hydration Mist With Immortelle in the Wild Alchemy Collection.
The Neroli Toning Mist is our most popular. People love this one. I think part of why people love this one so much is because of the way it smells. The Neroli is derived from fresh orange blossoms, so it has a really nice scent. It's a very simple formula. It's that neroli, the aspen bark extract, which is a natural source of salicins, and then the aloe vera juice base.
And then we have the Rosemary Mist. So this one is actually my personal favorite.
This again is an aloe vera juice base. It's got the rosemary, of course, and then it's got some white willow bark which is another natural source of salicins.
So the Neroli is good for normal, combination, and dry skin. Maybe even a little bit of sensitivity. And then the Rosemary, this one's going to be more purifying. So a good choice for normal, combination, and oily skin types.
And then lastly is the Botanical Hydration Mist, which is in the Wild Alchemy Collection. This one is good for all skin types. It's very good for sensitive skin. This has a blend of four different types of chamomile in there. It's also got some rose in it, which is soothing and nurturing. And then this one also has some lovely anti-aging ingredients like the Immortelle, which is a potent antioxidant. And the frankincense which is known to tone, tighten, and rejuvenate. This one, the scent profile is definitely a little bit more herbal, whereas this one of course smells like rosemary. And this one, like I said, is kind of that sweeter smell from the neroli.
Those are the toning mists. So again, after you pat your skin dry, you just mist your toning mist over your face and neck before applying your serum and oil. You can mist your toning mist throughout the day if you just want a boost of hydration or if you're somebody who is looking for more of that purifying effect. Maybe you get oily throughout the day and you want to mist the Rosemary Mist throughout the day you could.
And then I believe all of our packaging says to mist your toning mist, allow it to dry, and then apply your serum and oil. I actually don’t love that recommendation. I would mist your toning mist and then while skin is still damp, apply your serum and oil. That's just going to help with absorption so that it's being absorbed really nicely into the skin, so that it doesn't ever feel like it's just kind of sitting on top of the skin.
So those are the toners, kind of straightforward, but any toner questions?
Customer: Are the toners the product that would help with the look of enlarged pores? Does it help close them down?
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: It's definitely one of the products that can be helpful for enlarged pores. I would say the Rosemary Mist would be the one that you would want to choose to help address that concern.
Exfoliation can also be really helpful for helping to address the look of enlarged pores.
As we talked about, I am also a big fan of oil cleansing. And that can be helpful as well.
So it's kind of a combination of things, but the Rosemary Mist would be great for that.
Any other toner questions?
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Okay. So after your toner, then the next step in your routine is your serum. So we have all different serums. So I feel like serums can get a little confusing sometimes, but serums in general are excellent hydrators. There's the difference between dehydrated skin, which is water-dry skin, and then dry skin, which is oil-dry skin.
Most people have a little bit of both. They have a little bit of dehydration, a little bit of dryness, and that's why we recommend using a combination of hydrating and moisturizing products.
So, your hydrators are your toning mist and your serum, and then your moisturizer is your facial oil. So, in general, serums are excellent hydrators.
They also usually contain high levels of activated ingredients so they allow you to target and treat whatever your skin concerns are. They also are made up of a smaller molecule than facial oil. So they're able to penetrate more deeply. They're also sitting closest to the skin because you apply your serum before you apply your oil. So that's kind of a little bit about serums in general.
As I said, we have several. The first one that we will talk about is our Anti-Aging Serum. This one is in the Signature Collection. This one is our most popular. It's one of our best-selling products. Always people love this one. I tend to tell people kind of like with the Aloe Herb Cleanser, if you're feeling confused or overwhelmed or not sure where to start, this often can be a good place to start because you kind of can't go wrong with it.
It's good for all skin types. I like to refer to this one as just a daily dose of overall skin nutrition. This one, it's very antioxidant-rich. It's got life-everlasting flowers. It's got buddleia extract. There's some rose in there and then it's got hyaluronic acid in it.
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. And deeply hydrating the skin is going to have kind of a plumping effect on the skin. Whereas if your skin is dehydrated, then it's going to emphasize the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. We use a vegetable source, non-GMO hyaluronic acid in our products. The scent profile on this one is a little bit floral, a little bit vetiver-heavy. Which can be good to know if you're a scent person.
Then we have the Probiotic Serum With Tremella, this one is also in the Signature Collection. This one is again good for all skin types, but especially for sensitive skin or skin that’s sort of out of balance. So this one has tremella mushroom extract in it which acts kind of similar to hyaluronic acid on the skin, very deeply hydrating. This one has astaxanthin, which is a really powerful antioxidant. And then this one has a probiotic ferment and that probiotic ferment can help to eliminate impurities on the surface of the skin. It can also help to balance the skin's pH. The scent profile of this one is very earthy. Some people do not like the way this one smells. Some people say it smells like dirt. I think it smells nice, but earthy. If you have a strong aversion to mushrooms, I would maybe not choose this one.
And then the last one in the Signature Collection is the Citrus Stem Cell Serum. So the Citrus Stem Cell Serum, this one is, again, good for all skin types, but especially for skin that's had a lot of exposure to the elements, a lot of sun damage, that thicker textured skin, almost like a leathery kind of skin. It can be good for that. It's good for brightening the look of skin, especially for targeted brightening. So if you have like one or two dark spots that you're really looking to lighten and brighten the look of, it can be helpful.
There's kind of two components to this serum. There's the citrus derived stem cells. So we use plant-derived stem cells in our products.
You'll find stem cells in a lot of skin care products out there. Sometimes they can be derived from animals. Sometimes they can be derived from humans. So all of the stem cells that we use in our products are plant-derived. This serum in particular, they're citrus-derived. And these stem cells are going to just provide proteins and peptides and amino acids. All of these things there that are really strengthening the skin to increase resilience.
The other kind of component of this one, the other side of this one is the brightening aspect of it. So it's a trio. You've got amla berry, which is very rich in vitamin C. You've also got licorice root and uva ursi, which are both lightening and brightening ingredients. Licorice root, a lot of times you'll find in natural products used as an alternative to using hydroquinone, which is kind of a nasty ingredient that's pretty much banned everywhere, but the United States.
So that's the Citrus Stem Cell. And those are the three in the Signature Collection.
Then in the Wild Alchemy Collection, we also have a few. We have the Wild Fruit Serum. This is my personal favorite. I love this one. I would say this is a very like, overarching, all-encompassing serum. It's hydrating, it's anti-aging, it's brightening. This one's scent profile is more fruity, which is probably part of why I like it. It's got copper-infused water in it, which is a really kind of cool, unique ingredient. This one has apple extract, so it's the same apple extract that's in the Phytonutrient Cleanser, so rich in vitamin C and malic acid to help with brightening the look of skin. This one has knotweed extract, which is really rich in resveratrol. And then it's also got kakadu plum extract. Kakadu plum is another potent source of vitamin C. It also contains phenolic acid. Phenolic acid behaves on the skin similar to an alpha hydroxy acid. Alpha hydroxy acids, you've probably heard of. They help to kind of dissolve the “glue” that holds the top layer of skin cells, so they have an exfoliating effect on the skin. So that's another thing for me that kind of sets this one apart. This one also has the Madonna Lily plant cells in it. So it's got a really dense infusion of those plant cells. There are about 1.5 million active plant stem cells in each bottle of the Wild Fruit Serum. And this one's good for all types.
We will probably skip over CBD unless anybody wants me to talk about that one. I just try not to overwhelm people because there are so many.
Does anybody really want me to talk about CBD or should we skip that one?
Okay, we'll move on then.
We are going to talk about one more serum though. The Activated Night Serum.
This is our newest serum launch. It's fantastic. This is kind of our alternative to a retinol product. So retinol is kind of considered to be the gold standard in anti-aging, but traditional retinol and vitamin A derivatives often are not great for your health. They can be harmful to reproductive health and for skin health if you're using a retinol product over an extended period of time, it can start to thin the skin a bit which isn't really what we want as we age. We don't want to thin the skin. We want to have really strong, healthy, resilient skin and we want to support our skin's natural barrier.
Also, traditional retinol can be irritating to the skin. So if you have more sensitive skin you may not be able to use it.
So that's why we came out with this product because we wanted to offer something that had similar benefits, but without any of the negative aspects that go along with a conventional retinol.
So this contains our bioactive A-Complex, which is our retinol alternative. It is a completely safe ingredient. It's a Made Safe approved ingredient. It is derived from algae. And it has a similar effect on the skin. So it has that sort of resurfacing, renewing effect that you get with a retinol product. And I can have Grace link it in the chat, but we do have a really excellent blog about the bioactive A-Complex that our COO wrote. I always like to mention it because if you are interested in knowing more about this ingredient it is very helpful.
But this serum is good for all skin types. Even sensitive skin types can use this. Grace, who has extremely sensitive skin, can use this one. It is, as the name suggests, only to be used at night and you use it with an SPF during the day because it still can make you a little bit more sensitive to the sun.
It's very hydrating. It's got a little bit of a thicker, richer consistency to it than some of our other serums. So it is very hydrating. And then we've paired that bioactive A Complex, that activated ingredient with some really nice, soothing and calming ingredients like lavender and blue chamomile.
So it gives it kind of this nice balance. So that's the Activated Night.
Okay, those are all the serums that we'll talk about. Questions about serums?
No? Okay.
So then we have the Concentrated Boosting Elixirs. Do we want to talk about elixirs or do we want to skip elixirs?
Customer: What are they for?
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: So they kind of fall into our serum category. And they're kind of just a fun, unique product. You don't really need the elixirs. People often ask if they need the elixirs. You don't need them. They're just kind of a fun extra product. So if you're somebody who's really into skin care and you have that full routine and you just want more of those activated ingredients, this may be a good choice for you.
They come in this set of three. They have this little dropper top. They're like a very liquidy consistency. You never apply them directly to the skin because they are very concentrated. They are always to be mixed. So you mix them with a serum, or if for some reason you're not using a serum then you could mix it with your facial oil. And they come, like I said, with a dropper top. So you would just pump your serum into the palm of your hand, and then you would drop about three drops of the elixir into the serum, mix it up, and apply it. The three that come in the set are the Hydrate elixir, which is a hyaluronic acid with vegan collagen pre-peptides. We already talked about hyaluronic acid really deeply hydrating the skin and having a plumping effect on the skin. And then the vegan collagen prepeptides are strengthening.
We have the Brighten elixir, which we actually just launched today to be sold on its own in a larger size. But the Brighten Elixir, this one is a pure vitamin C with seabuckthorn. The vitamin C that we use in this elixir is tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate. Which is a mouthful, but the reason that we've chosen that particular form of vitamin C is because it's a really stable form of vitamin C. So a lot of times if you buy a vitamin C product at the drugstore or something, depending on the type of vitamin C used, when you open it, it can go rancid really quickly if it's not a stable form of vitamin C. And then it's not effective.
So THDA is a very stable form of vitamin C. It's also a very non-irritating form of vitamin C. The pH is 7, the same as water. It’s also an oil-soluble form of vitamin C.
And then the last one in the set is the Revitalize elixir. The Revitalize is astaxanthin, which is a really powerful antioxidant paired with the bio A-Complex. The bioactive A-complex is what we just talked about. It is the activated ingredient in the Activated Night Serum, it is our retinol alternative.
You can kind of mix and match the elixirs, so the Hydrate and the Brighten you can use morning or night.
Maybe one day you just want to do three drops of Hydrate or maybe one day you want to do two drops of Brighten and one drop of Hydrate, so you can kind of play around with it.
The Revitalize Elixir, this one you only use at night and with an SPF during the day because it has the bioactive A-complex in there. And then the only other thing with these is that you would not mix the Revitalize and the Brighten in the same application. You wouldn't mix them up together and apply them, you would use the Brighten Elixir in the morning and the Revitalize Elixir at night.
Okay, so those are all of the serums and the elixirs.
The next step in your routine is your moisturizer or your facial oil. And again, we have several. So as of now, all of our facial moisturizers are oils. The reason that we've chosen oils is because oils are more pure. They don't require any fillers or waxes to be used. Kind of like we mentioned earlier in the call, if you get a traditional lotion or a cream at the drugstore, a lot of times water is one of the first ingredients and then it's got to have those other preservatives in it. That's not an issue if you're using pure oil. The oils are also easily absorbed by the skin because your skin's natural form of moisture is oil.
In the Signature Collection, we have the Herbal Facial Oils. That's what we'll start with. We have three of them. I tend to not go into these too deeply because they're kind of named for the skin type they're designed for. There's the Herbal Facial Oil for Normal and Combination Skin, the Herbal Facial Oil for Oily Skin, and the Herbal Facial Oil for Sensitive Skin.
All three of these are a grape seed oil base. Grape seed oil is a very light-textured oil. It's a skin-balancing oil. It's quickly absorbed. And then they all just contain an herb blend designed for the skin type they are designed for. So the Herbal Facial Oil for Oily Skin, that one's got neem and black cumin seed. The Herbal Facial Oil for Normal and Combination Skin is a skin-balancing facial moisturizer. It's got Echinacea. It's got Tamanu. I think there's some Goji in this one.
And then the Herbal Facial Oil for Sensitive Skin. That one contains no added essential oils. It's got a bunch of different Omega-rich oils in it. It's got Camellia seed oil, and sacha Inchi oil. There is also Squalane in that one.
So those are the herbal facial oils. And then the last one in the Signature Collection is the Anti-Aging Facial Oil. This one is very popular. Again, this is one of our top-selling products. People love this one. This one is a jojoba oil base. It is a great choice for dry and mature skin. It's just a very nourishing, restorative facial moisturizer. It's got a bunch of different seed oils in it. So there’s carrot seed oil, broccoli seed oil, chia seed oil. Chia, for example, is rich in vitamin B and zinc to enhance plumpness and resilience in the skin. So that is the Anti-Aging Facial Oil.
And with your facial oil, you're going to mist your toning mist, apply your serum while your skin is still a little bit damp. If you want to, you can mist again and then apply your facial oil, or you could just apply it right over the serum. I actually like to mist my toning mist after I apply my facial oil. I feel like it just kind of helps to dilute oil a little bit further and gives it a really nice finish on the skin. I tend to overuse my facial oil because I like to really massage it into my skin, but you actually don't need very much, especially if you're somebody who's kind of just getting used to using an oil as a moisturizer, then I would definitely recommend using less. The facial oils are pretty concentrated, so you don't need a whole lot.
The last facial oil that we'll talk about is the one in our Wild Alchemy Collection. It is the Rejuvenating Facial Oil. This one is our most potent. It's our most active facial oil. What makes it our most potent and our most active facial oil is the way it's made. So this one contains fewer of the seed oils, and the CO2 extracts, and the herb infusions. Our Anti-Aging Facial Oil, this one has a really dense herb infusion. There are probably like 20 different herbs in the herb infusion.
The Rejuvenating Oil has just one herb in the herb infusion, the butterfly pea flower. It also has fewer seed oils, CO2 extracts, etc. The reason that we included fewer of these things in this one is 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 this one's really good for all skin types except for very sensitive.
And this one it's that jojoba oil base again. So very nourishing, very moisturizing. It's also got brightening baobob oil, it's got antioxidant-rich marula oil, it's got mongongo oil, which is really softening to the skin. It's got the butterfly pea flower, it's got blue tansy. So that's the Rejuvenating Oil.
Those are all of the facial oils. So that would complete your basic four-step routine.
Let’s stop here to see what questions we have because we have covered a lot of products so far.
Customer: So we would choose one of the oils to use after the serum, correct? The toner, then the serum, and then one of these oils?
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yes, that's correct.
Let's go ahead and talk about our exfoliants now. We actually kind of already touched on a couple of our exfoliants. Exfoliating in general, is going to help to refine the skin's texture, it's going to help to prevent buildup and congestion in the skin. It can also help to improve skin tone.
The ones that we already talked about were the Ayurvedic Facial Scrub. This is a dry herbal exfoliant. It is essentially a tea and it is very gentle, so even very sensitive skin types can usually use this one.
If you want to use it on its own, just shake it into the palm of your hand, mix some water to create a paste, massage it into the skin, and then rinse. Or you can mix it into your cleanser like we talked about as well. This one's got fenugreek in it. That's the exfoliating property. This one's very mineral rich. It's got horsetail and nettle.
Then the other physical exfoliant that we have is the Kaolin Micro Exfoliant. So we already talked about this one as well. I love this one. I feel like it's just really easy to incorporate. I just keep it in my shower. It's very popular. It's that kaolin clay base. It's a creamy texture. It's got lavender in it. So that's the scent profile. Again, this one is very mineral-rich and purifying. It's got crushed bamboo, the bamboo stem powder. That's the exfoliating component in this one. It's still fairly gentle. Most people would use this two or three times a week. This one also could be mixed with your cleanser if you want it to be a little bit more gentle.
And so these two are both just strictly physical exfoliants. They have that bit of scrub or grit to them, so they're just physically polishing the skin.
Then we've got two others, the Resurfacing Facial Exfoliant. This one is in the Wild Alchemy Collection. This is sort of like a little “mini peel”. This is a chemical exfoliant. So chemical, in the way that it works on the skin, not that it contains a bunch of chemicals. This one is a smooth gel texture. There's no scrub or grit to it. You use it like you would a mask. You apply it to clean skin, leave it on for just two or three minutes to start. You can work your way up to leaving it on for 10 minutes. It just kind of depends on how it feels for you. For some people, this one feels really active, really tingly on the skin for others they say they don’t feel any activity. But leave it on and then just rinse to remove it. Be sure to remove this one thoroughly and use it in the evening with sunscreen during the day. The exfoliating component in this one is a honey-derived lactic acid. Lactic acid is a very mild alpha hydroxy acid. And then this one, it's got some cucumber in there as well and blue tansy. So again, kind of that nice combination of the activated ingredient paired with the soothing, calming ingredients.
And then last but certainly not least is our new Radiant C Mask & Polish.
So this is our newest exfoliant. We just launched it pretty recently. This one is also a powder. So similar to the Ayurvedic. It's this really beautiful fuchsia color because it has hibiscus in it. It's very vitamin C rich. It's got a bunch of different fruit powders in it. So there's lemon peel extract, acerola cherry, strawberry, I think there's kakadu plum, and goji as well. So this one, it's an exfoliant, so you can use it the same way that you would the Ayurvedic scrub. Shake it into the palm of your hand, mix some water, massage it in, and rinse it clean.
You can also mix it in with a cleanser if you would like. You can also use it as a mask. So you can mix it with water, apply it, and leave it on for about 10-15 minutes before you remove it. You can mix it with different things. You can mix it with yogurt. You can mix it with honey. It mixes really nicely with our Illuminating Pearl Mask. So it's kind of a really fun one to play around with. And like I said, it's got those fruit powders in there. But then it's also got the bamboo stem powder. So the same grit as the Kaolin Micro Exfoliant. It’s great because it is both a physical exfoliant and a chemical exfoliant in one. So you're getting the physical, like scrubby, grittiness from the bamboo stem powder. And then it also has a little bit of that chemical exfoliant. It's not strong, but there is a bit of an exfoliating quality that comes from the acids and enzymes from all of the fruit powders that are in it. And like I said, it is very rich in vitamin C. So helping to brighten the look of skin. This one smells lovely. And it is good for all skin types. On our website it says that it is not for sensitive skin. However, Grace uses this product and has no problem with it and she has very sensitive skin.
This one you could probably use about three times a week, for most people.
Okay. So that covers a lot of things. We still have a little bit of time left so we can talk about more products.
We can talk about eye products. We can talk about masks. If you guys want to, I'm happy to answer more questions. If you still have questions or if you want personalized routines, we can kind of go through that for each of you, whatever you guys want to do.
Does anybody have any input or you want me to just keep on cruising?
Customer: I'd like to hear a little bit more about masks and is charcoal mostly the ingredient in all masks? Or is that something specialized?
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah, we can definitely go over the masks.
I would say that charcoal is not an ingredient that's in a lot of masks. We do have our Charcoal Cacao Mask, which does contain the activated coconut charcoal. That's the only mask of ours that contains charcoal. So this is a deeply purifying treatment mask. And then this mask is also very antioxidant-rich. It's got both cacao and turmeric in it. This one, you would probably just want to use once a week. You don’t want to over-do it with this one. And again, you just would apply it to clean skin, leave it on probably for 10 minutes, and then you could rinse to remove it. Some people do like to remove this one with a cloth because it can be a bit tricky to remove. Just note that it can stain if you are using a light-colored towel.
And then we have a few other masks.
The Illuminating Pearl Mask. This one is very popular. Amongst both the team and with our customers. It is a hydrating, brightening treatment mask. So, it's really good for all skin types. It's, got mountain wildflower honey, which acts as a humectant to draw moisture to the skin.
It's got crushed pearl powder. So that pearl powder kind of gives it this like radiance and this luminosity that it imparts onto the skin. And then it's also got licorice root and uva ursi. So those are the same two lightening and brightening ingredients that are in the Citrus Stem Cell Serum. This mask is a great choice for really anybody, but it's especially great if brighteningthe look of skin is a goal of yours.
It's kind of this creamy, jelly texture. It feels nice and cool on the skin. So that one can be great to use in the morning when your skin looks kind of tired and puffy.
If you're not sensitive in that area, you can even use that one as an under eye treatment mask.
Then the Coconut Honey Mask that one's sort of a thick, rich, balmy texture. It's a pretty simple formula. It's good for really dry skin types or more sensitive skin types. A lot of people like that one, in the dry winter months since it is so moisturizing.
And then the Purifying Mud Mask is the last one. This one, I actually really love. This one is a dry powder. And so you can just mix it with water and apply it to the skin, leave it on for 10 minutes, rinse it clean.
I actually really love to mix this one with honey. I specifically like to mix it with Manuka honey. I'm sort of Manuka obsessed, but I get a Manuka Honey UMF 15 and I mix it with that. Manuka Honey has all these really great properties that are beneficial to the skin. And it's nice to mix with the mud mask because that honey is acting as a humectant, so it's drawing moisture to the skin, but then you're also getting the purifying benefits of the mud.
So, you know, if you're using this and just mixing it with water, It can be a little bit more drying than if you were mixing it with honey. I also have mixed this mask with our Illuminating Pearl Mask. I have mixed it with my cleanser for a more purifying cleanse. I just love to mix!
Those are the treatment masks. Questions about masks at all. Or any other questions?
Customer: I had ordered the special that was offered for the three different serums in a small sample bottle. Are any other products available in a sample size?
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: We do have a section on our website for trials and samples. Not every product is available in the smaller size, but some are.
Alright, you guys I think that pretty much covers it. I'm trying to think the only thing we didn't really talk about was eye care. We do have two eye products, the Anti-Aging Eye Cream, and the Fruit Ceramide Eye Serum.
Both of them are excellent. I tend to recommend if you're going to choose one or the other, I prefer the eye cream. It's just my personal preference. I feel like for me, my eye area always feels dry. And so this is nice because it feels very nourishing, very moisturizing. But they're both excellent.
The Fruit Ceramide Eye Serum. This one is more of a true serum consistency. So it's that hydration. It's that thinner consistency, that smaller molecule.
So those are the two eye products. The eye cream, this one's got damas rose plant cells, it's got cucumber in it and then the Fruit Ceramide Eye Serum, this one's got sake peptides and pineapple ceramides. They can be used together. If your eye area is your main concern, you could choose to use them both together. If you wanted to use them together, you could layer them. So you would layer the eye serum underneath the eye cream or you could alternate them. You could use the eye serum in the morning and the eye cream at night if you wanted to.
But those are the two eye products that we have. And I think that's about it. That covers a lot of stuff. So if you guys do have any other questions that you think of after the call, you're welcome to reach out to customer care. That email address is in the chat. It's just [email protected]
Like Grace said, they're fantastic and they're happy to help out with anything that you need. And I think that's it. Unless anybody has any other questions before we hop off.
Customer: Well, I do an annual chemical peel once a year. My dermatologist recommends it. Do you have any feedback on the chemical peel?
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Ultimately, I think that is up to you. In my opinion, any of those harsh treatments or extreme exfoliants are kind of creating some inflammation in the skin which is something that we want to avoid as it can lead to signs of aging in the long run. I really believe it's more beneficial to support skin’s natural barrier and maintain its balance as well as nourish the skin. But again it is a personal choice. I am on the very natural side of things and I'm sure that your dermatologist would have a completely different opinion.
Customer: Okay.
Customer: How about the microneedling process?
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: You know, I'm not positive about that because I think that would kind of be a similar thing. You're wounding the skin and then that healing process is kind of what's delivering that result. So, I don't know I don't really have a specific strong opinion on it, but I think it would be kind of similar to the chemical peel as far as creating inflammation.
Customer: Ok. Thank you.
Emily Haupt – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Of course. You could also check out our blog to see if there is more information there on those things. It is such a great resource.
All right you guys, well I hope that everybody has an awesome afternoon and a great rest of your week. Thank you so much for hanging out with us and for chatting about skin care and listening to me chat about skin care for an hour and a half. I hope you all got something out of it and enjoyed it.
Customer: Thank you. Bye.
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