Summarized from a consultation originally recorded on May 21, 2024.
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Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Before we even talk about the cleansers, I want to talk about the difference between these two lines. We've got these tan label products here. We call this our Signature Collection. And this black label we call this one the Wild Alchemy CollectionCollection. The primary difference is between the Wild Alchemy Collection And the Signature. The Wild Alchemy Collection Tends to include more exotic ingredients. So oftentimes more tropical or slightly harder to source ingredients. The Wild Alchemy Collection Also will have a more laborious craft process. So, like with this cleanser for example, we include in that cleanser our signature serum blend, which is a pre, kind of steeped aloe variation that we include in here.
So there's just a little bit more involved in building the ingredients for a lot of the Wild Alchemy. We've got hydrosol and a copper infused water, just ingredients that have a few more steps. And then finally, the bottles are usually larger. This is our cleanser. The aloe herb does come in two, but this is a smaller one of it.
So, the Wild Alchemy Collection Is typically a larger bottle. They're not necessarily better. That's a really common question I get with the Wild Alchemy, but it is more pointed in terms of very directly addressing signs of aging. And we will speak to those products as we go throughout. So, but I wanted to highlight that these are different and you'll see that as we go along here.The first cleanser I want to mention is this one. This is the Aloe Herb Cleanser, and of course you'll see we've got the two size options here, the 50 and the 100 milliliter. The Aloe Herb Cleanser is a very tried and true cleanser, so it generally leaves skin feeling quite balanced. The blend of this includes aloe vera juice and coconut oil, as well as kind of this really bright and soothing herb blend. So Lemon Balm, Plantago Yeah, the aloe is a big factor in this too. Even though it has coconut oil, it is still a ratio that's such that it's a very light amount. So when you use this and then rinse the skin, there isn't a residue left behind. Coconut oil is a pretty rich oil, but it's a small enough amount in here that the skin still feels really, really balanced. This is a really good cleanser for skin that's starting to experience signs of aging, so tightening and starting to see a weakening or some loss of fullness to the face. that concern. This is also a really good one for sensitive skin. So if you're someone who is experiencing redness, irritation, or you know, reactivity, something like that, this is a good one for you.
It's helpful and soothing. No, I think someone had mentioned in their survey that they had tried this 1 and it was maybe too rich for them.
Customer: That was that was me. I tried it and the other 2 products in the trial were fine, but the cleanser gave me clogged pores.
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Gotcha, I think the next 1, I suggest might be a better fit for you. Unless your skin is super, super prone to temporary redness. This, this next one's also really good and a little bit less creamy. And this is the Phytonutrient Cleanser. So the Aloe Herb Cleanser, it is really soft and like almost lotiony feel. The phytonutrient cleansers, it's still pretty rich, but it's not quite as moisturizing. There's a lot of richness to it, but it's still kind of formulated in a way that a little bit more seems to rinse off. Then the aloe herb cleanser. So for someone who's experienced you know, oily skin or they're feeling like the aloe herb cleanser is just more than they need. This is a good next step. This is still good for dry skin types, it's just not quite as smooth, creamy as the Aloe Herb Cleanser. This one is really, really good, though, for signs of aging.
So, more pronounced signs of aging, loss of elasticity and temporary redness. It's a good one for temporary redness. They, what we include here are apple extract, and that's really helpful for This looks very, very gentle, kind of loosening of the skin here. We included in this one also our Signature Serum Blend, and the Signature Serum Blend is this anchor that we start all of our serums with that's super helpful for softening the appearance of fine lines.
That blend is really, really kind of a soothing, plumping good one for the appearance of fine lines. Let's see, what else about the Phyto? Yeah, I think just aging, you know, dry to aging, even normal to dry and dark spots. This is a good one for. The last one I'll mention, actually, I might mention one more. We'll see where we are, where we land.
This one is our Restorative Cleansing Oil. And I wanted to mention this one because at least one person, maybe a couple, had mentioned their skin being really dry, as their aging skin just really feeling dry, looking dry, looking like, you know, dull. This is an oil blend, so it's, it's a, it's a true blend of oils.
We don't have any ingredients in it that would, like, act as a soap, or like, what am I trying to say? So some oil cleansers on the market will include a couple additional ingredients, so when you rinse it, it doesn't have any oil residue left behind, which is how they are doing their business. We don't, so this is a blend of oils.
So when you rinse this, a good amount of that moisturizing feeling is left behind on the skin. And if you're someone who is quite dry, yeah, super dry clients really, really love this one. That feels really good. With the other two, we recommend doing wet fingers on a damp face. You know, you splash a little bit of water and then your cleanser and then massage it.
With this one, we recommend dry fingers on a dry face. and that's a super, super big distinction between the two. You can do it with a damp face but it is not going to be quite as moisturizing. It also doesn't break up makeup or sweat or debris generally on the face the same way if the skin's a little bit damp.
So dry fingers, dry face. And then if you are someone who is really dry, and that's the primary reason you've selected this one, leaving it on the skin for anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute is a really, really, really great way to moisturize that skin. And then from there, you can rinse like normal, so just like warm water.
You can also use a washcloth. So a warm, wet washcloth and kind of dab it off. That's another way to go if you are not wanting quite as much residue left behind. Finally, you can also use another cleanser. So let's say you did this one and you just feel like you really want to rinse it a little bit more clean, using a second cleanser to follow up with that. You still leave a good amount of the moisture behind, but it's not quite as much. So there is that one there. And then as far as Milia, I want to mention this one just briefly. Milia is really interesting because it's this buildup of skin cells that happens, but it's not happening inside a pore. So you can't extract it out the same way you could with something that's already in a pore. So with that one, if it's close to the surface, regular exfoliation, really controlling your oil production it'll move off in time, anywhere from two to four, maybe five or six, but two to four weeks would be approximately what I would expect. If it's really deep in the skin, it might be something that a professional esthetician or skin professional would actually might need to extract. So Wanted to just offer that info about milia since someone mentioned they have it. But if you're feeling like it's close to the surface your skin's normal to dry. That citrus mint cleanser is a good one to incorporate. So so let's pause here for Cleansers what questions have come up about those if if any have come up
awesome You never tell if i'm very thorough or if you're very shy But we'll go with thorough today
Customer: Well, I'll, I'll ask the question if that's all right. So what if you have combination skin? like the Phytonutrient Cleanser one that sounded good and the citrus mint cleanser, which one would you recommend? I mean,
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah, if you're not truly oily, you know, if you're normal or normal to oily, I think the Phytonutrient Cleanser is still going to feel really good.
The Phytonutrient Cleanser nutrient also has kind of this next level in terms of addressing signs of aging. So for that reason, I would still opt for that instead of the citrus mint. My skin, for example, is fairly normal, normal to dry, but fairly normal. And in the summertime, my skin, it changes. It's just a little bit dewier.
And so I'll typically use the aloe herb cleanser in the cooler months and the Phytonutrient Cleanser in the warmer months.
Customer: Midwest too. So I get, I get it dry and then you're not,
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: you're so sweaty. Totally. Yep. You know, the
Customer: citrus mint is for the milia.
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: It can, it can be helpful with milia. Thank you. Yes, yes, yes.
Okay, let's talk about toning mists. So I have three toning mist options and before I talk about the differences between them, let's get into the function of the toning mists. So all of our cleansers are pH balanced. They're already balanced to the natural pH of the skin. So We don't need the toning mist to balance the skin out. Sometimes toning mists are recommended for pH balance, and ours are fine. Likewise, none of our toning mists will have any sort of alcohol or like a benzoyl peroxide or anything like that. So it's not cutting through and breaking down the skin and oil like an oil controlling toner would. So it's not going to do anything for your skin either.
Ours are acting as this burst of kind of soothing nutrition to the skin. Depending on the formulation, it might be a little more hydrating. It might be controlling oil. It might be helping to add some moisture and soothe, soothe the skin, depending on which one you're going with. So it's this burst of soothing, this burst of nutrition.
It also is a great kind of primer for our serums. So all of our serums contain a variation of a humectant, and which one will kind of depend on which serum, but a humectant essentially seeks out moisture and pulls it to it and then plumps up. And so you get a really nice plumped full look to the skin very quickly.
Just using a product that has a humectant and when you've already added this moisture, you've added this burst of hydration and whichever formulation you've gone with, then you're kind of that much more ahead. So it's this great bridge between the cleanser and the serum and then also is working on the skin in a particular way.
We have two that are part of the signature collection. These two here. We'll start with the neroli toning mist.
So the Neroli Toning Mist is a very commonly purchased one. There's a common repurchase rate with this one. It's kind of good for anyone. The blend is very, very simple. So we've got aloe vera juice, neroli essential oil, and then a little bit of aspen bark in this.
And so we've got this very light, very soothing mist for the skin. The neroli is also helpful in strengthening, softening the appearance of fine lines, strengthening the skin to stave off the appearance of fine lines. It's got this really unique kind of anti-aging angle to it as well. But essentially you've got this very light mist for the skin. The scent of this one is very, very primarily neroli. It just smells a lot like this very light orange blossom, orange floral. This is very, very good. So again, this is for normal skin types, normal to dry aging, normal aging, dry aging, that whole kind of skin combo. This one, it can be fine for sensitive skin. There's another one that I like a little bit better for sensitive skin, but this one wouldn't have anything that would exacerbate that.
The other one will just actively soothe it, so it's okay for sensitive skin. The next one is the other one in the Signature Collection. This is the Rosemary Toning Mist. Now this one is designed to control oil, and I mention this because even if you describe your skin as dry, oftentimes you can still experience kind of this like shininess later in the day. And that might be desired, that might not be desired. So, I like to mention this one because this can act as a really great oil control product to have around. Instead of using blotting powder or a blotting paper, you can mist your skin with this. This is aloe vera juice, rosemary, Neem, white willow bark, these ingredients that are kind of gobbling up excess oil and then of course the light, lightness of the aloe vera. All of this is to say it acts as a very natural looking Oil absorber matte paper, mattifying powder, they can leave the skin really flat.
And so this is a really great one to have either in your gym bag or, you know, somewhere where you're out midday where you might be shiny just to mist the skin and help to gobble up some of that excess oil. So that's that one here. If you are someone who is truly oily, someone who, you know, you, you have an overproduction of oil, then this would be the one that I would recommend for you.
The last one, this one, is the Botanical Hydration Mist with Immortelle. And again, being part of the Wild Alchemy, you can see it's got that bigger bottle. It only comes in this large size. This one starts with a blend of hydrosols. So whereas the other two started with a very simple aloe vera juice, this has two hydrosols. And a hydrosol is this like watery runoff that happens when you create an essential oil via steam, so steam distillation. So the texture of a hydrosol is like a very thin Very smooth, almost buttery feeling liquid. It's not so rich as to be an oil, right? Like it just doesn't have that much oil to it but it's also a little bit more moisturizing than just aloe vera juice or just water.
So this already is a really, really good one for super dry skin. Now the two hydrosols that we've chosen, we went with a rose and an immortelle. So we're just going to put Immortal, also known as Halicrysum. Halicrysum, it gets the name Immortal from this, like, legend of being immortal, the immortal flower. But of course, with both of those, the Immortal and the Rose, these are very potent anti-aging Florals. So very helpful for soothing and softening the appearance of fine lines. Also really, really helpful for keeping the skin nice and strong. So this very strong lifted look to the skin. Now, all of that is great for dry skin, great for aging skin, but then to go even further, this one is blended with four different types of chamomile. And so you've got this Awesome blend for sensitive skin four different types of chamomile and then frankincense. Frankincense is also really good for soothing skin. So this one is really, really great for sensitive skin. Awesome for temporary redness. Grace, this is your go to. Yeah. Grace is usually my spokesperson for temporary redness questions because she experiences that and I do not, but I've heard her talk about this one and it's a very classic, you know, she can't live without it kind of a vibe. So, Sensitive skin. I've suggested this for customers when they have a really reactive sunburn. Anything that you really have discomfort with, this can be helpful to soothe that irritation. Irritation, redness, all of that, this can be good for. So, again, dry skin, aging skin sensitive skin, all three of those.
Very much like the toning mist. How you use it. So you've cleansed your skin, you pat your skin dry, and then you simply must put it onto the face. You don't have to wipe it off, so you don't need like a cotton round. You also don't really need to spritz it into a cotton round. Occasionally I'll see that. If that's your preferred application, I will trust you to do what is best, but you do use a lot of extra product when you spritz it into your hand versus onto your face.
Now, whether you let it dry fully and then apply your serum or whether you leave it a little bit damp and then apply your serum is really going to come down to your preference. I personally like to mist my skin and then I will leave it pretty damp as I apply my serum and as I apply my oil. And for me, that combo is just a really great way to get that all to drive into the skin very, very evenly and very fully. But I definitely have customers who prefer to mist the skin and let it dry. So offering both options. You can feel out what feels best there. Yeah. Okay. I think that's complete with those. Are there questions about our toning mist?
These ones are pretty straightforward. Usually grace chat looks good. Okay, cool.
Grace – Annmarie Skin Care Marketing Assistant: Yes! It's just like we're just hyping up the botanical hydration mist.
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Nice. I love that. The hype team over here. That's great. Cool. Well, let's get into the serums.
I feel like I always hit this part and I'm like, are we going to talk about all of them? And likely we are going to talk about all of them.
We've got quite a few.
Okay, cool. So I'm going to start with our most popular one, the Anti-Aging Serum. Now the Anti-Aging Serum was one of our first, I think it was actually the first serum we ever launched. It's been around for quite a while and it really hasn't seen too many major formula changes. We launched it in a bigger size.
This one versus this one, because we were observing with this one that it had a high purchase rate, but also a really high repurchase rate. And so we were seeing that customers were investing in this time and time again. And so we wanted this, you know, Sustainable option. I just am realizing I didn't even get into our sustainability at the beginning of the call. That's okay. We're very sustainable. But the sustainability of a larger bottle is also a little bit higher than the smaller one. And then the price points a little better to do the bigger one, too. But The Anti-Aging Serum, this starts with an olive air juice blend and then a big key ingredient here is hyaluronic acid.
So if you are someone who experiences skin feeling really, like, dry, really crepey, crepey is usually a good indicator that you are experiencing a lack of hydration, and hyaluronic acid can be a really direct agent. Support for that concerns five lines. Also, all of that hyaluronic acid can make a big difference, and I think a lot of the popularity of this product comes back to the hyaluronic acid because it's a big impact, and it's a quick impact.
You usually see a difference in your skin pretty quickly here. We also have this steeped with a floral blend, this really unique floral blend with rose and idle weiss and life everlasting. A few other florals that are also designed to maintain this very kind of strength resiliency to the skin. So this is another really good one for Good product for the appearance of fine lines, supporting the appearance of fine lines, staving off the appearance of fine lines.
Yeah. Now the next one, the Citrus Stem Cell Serum. This is a really good one for evening out and brightens the appearance of the skin.. This is also a really good one for skin that's starting to lose its fullness or droop. The blend of this one key ingredient, as the name suggests, Is the stem cells that we use. Well, I will always use plant derived. This one has an orange derived citrus stem cell in it, but any stem cell you would see in our products will be derived from plants. The stem cells are really helpful because they're helping to maintain this kind of lifted fullness to the skin. And so for signs of aging, especially this kind of sagging or drooping that can happen, incorporating stem cells into your routine is a really quick way to kind of give you that more lifted, more full look to the skin. Now as far as the skin brightening, this includes uva ursi, licorice root, and almaberry, and all three of these are very pointed in addressing sun damage. They're slightly different from vitamin c for brightening the skin because these ingredients are working to target darkened areas of the face versus providing this overall brightening, which is helpful, and vitamin c is a really good one for that, but a very targeted Skin brightening that happens with these ingredients.
Now, for both the stem cells and the skin licorice root, so on and so forth, these do require a little bit of time and consistency and commitment to notice a difference. I'll typically give the time frame anywhere around four weeks for you to notice the difference. It could be eight, it could be twelve weeks before someone else might notice the difference. So like a co-worker or you know, family or something that doesn't see you daily but sees you every once in a while. They might, it might take a little bit longer to see a difference. So that's just to set a realistic expectation. I've worked with customers who will use this and after a week, they're super discouraged that their skin's not, you know, instantly brighter. And so I just want to create the expectation that this one is very effective, especially when used in conjunction with the Brighten, which I can speak to these boosting elixirs here shortly, but the brighten with this one makes a really, really nice skin brightening combo. Yeah, what else about this one?
This one, it has the least amount of hyaluronic acid of our serums. It still has some, so it's still a good one. It's an okay one for dry skin, but for really, really parched skin, I would either incorporate again, the boosting elixir. This is a hydrate. Or maybe alternate this one in the morning and then in the evening, use a different serum that's a little bit more hydrating or something like that.
So. Cool. The next one, this is the Probiotic Serum with Tremella, and this is a really good one for temporary redness. The blend of this one has an aloe vera juice base, of course. We've got a probiotic complex and an olive leaf ferment that we use in this, and both of those are designed to really fight Feed the good bacteria of the skin and give this kind of proper nutrition to the good bacteria to rebalance skin. So this is a really good one for any concern where the skin flora is kind of thrown off and that can feel different, that can look different, that could be you know regularly breaking out, that could be Experiencing temporary redness or another sensitivity, irritation, patchy scaliness, any of that. This can be supported for this also has the tremella mushroom and the tremella mushroom is as hydrating if not more so than hyaluronic acid. And so this is another good one that's really good for skin that's really dry or especially sensitive and dry. This is a good one to help with that. That there.
Now the next three are part of the Wild Alchemy Collection. This one is the Wild Fruit Serum. And this is another one that's got a really high repurchase rate. We don't have, I don't have it yet, but we're getting ready to launch a big one. A bigger size of this too. Cause we are noticing that. People like it. This is a really good one as far as addressing several different angles of aging. We have uber ursi in here, just like we do in the citrus stem cell. So we're working to brighten specific spots on the face. We have hyaluronic acid, just like the Anti-Aging Serum, and so we're working to provide a good amount of hydration and just plumpness to the skin. We also have stem cells in here, which again we have in the citrus stem cell serum. But then additionally we have several other ingredients, of course, one of them being kakadu plum, and kakadu plum is this very vitamin C rich Brute, and so you get this very brightened, very kind of like radiant look to the skin while using the Wild Fruit Serum. So the Wild Fruit Serum is a really good one for more pronounced signs of aging with the stem cells with the uva ursi. This is good for providing this lifted look to the skin as well as brightening the skin with the Cocotte plum in this one that's helpful for this overall brightening of the texture of the tone of the skin. And then I think that's all that I had mentioned so far. So signs of aging, dry skin, dark spots, or, or just wanting to even the complexion in general, all of those, the Wild Fruit Serum is a really, a really great one for.
This is our Activated CBD serum. And it is lovely. We use two types of CBD in here. We use a water soluble and a fat soluble. Now the water soluble is interesting because as you apply it, it absorbs pretty quickly and then the fat soluble is great because it's kind of mixing with this upper layer of the skin to provide the slower release of the CBD.
And CBD is a really interesting skin care ingredient. I could spend so much time talking about it, but in short, When you are applying CBD topically, or even ingesting it orally, it works with your body's own endocannabinoid system to essentially seek out and triage areas of the body that are starting to slow down, break down, or have any kind of, you know, reaction or concern. So it's like this internal triage system. And when you're applying it to the skin, it will tend to seek out areas that are starting to slow down. So the CBD and the way it's kind of sensing it is like, oh, this, this part of the system is breaking down a little bit. And so it's going in and helping to kind of bolster that.
It's also really, really helpful for sensitive or reactive skin. So skin that is, you know, might be experiencing a flare up or a reaction or is red or is dry. All of that, the activated CBD serum, the CBD is super helpful for. Now the texture of this one is slightly different from the others. The others have a little bit of a thinness to them.
This one's got a little bit more body, so it's a little creamier, a little richer. Which makes it really nice for skin that is dry or on the dry side. Again, my skin's normal, normal to dry. I use this one way more often in the winter. Now that it's starting to heat up a little bit, I feel like I'm not reaching for it quite as often.
But if you're someone who's dry or normal to dry like me, this is one that you can likely find a place that is supportive for you and your routine here. What else about that one? Yeah, we have both types of hydrators, tremella mushroom and hyaluronic acid. We've got very potent antioxidants. We used superoxide dismutase, astaxanthin, and then this really carefully crafted herbal blend that's designed to be addressing signs of aging.
Black cumin seed, a lot of skin soothes. So this is a great one for dry skin. Sensitive skin, sensitive or easily red, you know, interchangeable there dry skin, normal to dry skin yeah, aging, that kind of realm here.
Now, everything that I've mentioned so far is for morning, is for evening.You can use it in the morning or evening, either one. You can alternate them. So you could do one in the morning and one in the evening. Or you might do one seasonally, you know, with it changing seasons here.
This last one is for nighttime use only. So this one is the Activated Night Serum. And I'm a huge fan of this. I do quite love it. We launched it probably about seven months ago, right, Grace? It was like the end of last year. Yeah. So we've had it a little bit now. I feel like we've got a pretty good feel of how it feels and how to use it and all of that. This one is a night serum for a couple of reasons. The first and primary reason is that the active ingredient in here, bioactive A, is a retinol alternative. And because it's a retinol alternative, it does increase the photosensitivity of the skin. And so with this product, we definitely want to be mindful of our sun exposure around the time we use it. Definitely don't recommend using it during the day. I also don't recommend using this one if you're going to be, like, camping the next day, like just being conscious of how much direct sun exposure you're getting when using this product. Now, like I mentioned, the bioactive A in here is a retinol alternative. So when we were crafting this one, we wanted a night serum that kind of gave you that really smooth, very taut, very lifted look to the skin just like retinol can do without the side effects. So an ingredient that was working with the body versus really breaking the body down like retinol tends to do. And we came across, we actually were turned onto this Bioactive A. And so this is still giving you that very smoothed feel to the skin, very taut, very lifted, almost glassy look to the skin. It's just working in a more kind of cohesive way with your body. Then a traditional retinol. But because of that, you are, you know, we want this to stay out of the sun. It is still an exfoliating product, so you could find that a day later, maybe a day or two later, you're slightly drier than normal. Having said that though, this was formulated in such a way to exfoliate. with the bioactive A and then to immediately nourish the skin. So the blend of this one, the feel of this one is really rich, really creamy.
We have both hydrators in this one again, and then this beautiful bevy of anti agers. So even though we wanted to be offering this retinol experience, we wanted it to not, not be one that you had to really work for, right? So with a lot of the time you'll have dry skin, skin mites. Peel skin might flake. You might have to start it really slowly. This one, we kind of blended this in such a way that the nourishment is already there. So I have yet to work with somebody who experienced flaking or extreme dryness, like you can sometimes get with a. regular retinol. But what I will say about this one is that different customers can use this, you know, different routines in the week. So again, coming back to my skin, I have normal skin, normal to dry. I can use this about three nights in a row and then my cheeks start to get just really lightly pink. My skin doesn't feel bad. It's not irritating. It's not red. You know, uncomfortable, but I know that my skin is just a little bit thin from having used it, you know, a couple of days.
So I'll do about half a week on and about half a week off. And that's awesome for my skin type. But I've got coworkers who use this every evening. They absolutely adore it and they have no issues. So you've got a little bit of an opportunity to play with it and see what feels best for your skin type.
But again, it might be a little bit less. Might be a little bit longer. Yeah, so that's that one there. So let's pause and answer some questions because that's so much information. I know that there are a lot. What questions have come up?
Grace – Annmarie Skin Care Marketing Assistant: We have a few questions in chat. One of them I'm going to start with because it bounces back a little bit back to the toners, but I thought it'd be good for kind of the whole group to hear, but what is the purpose of using a toning mist?
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah, so our toning mists are built into the routine to act as this kind of go between, this middle step between the cleanser and the serum. Again, they're providing a burst of hydration and then some type of intention. It might be controlling oil, might be lightly hydrating, might be soothing or moisturizing the skin, depending on which one.
It also is a great prime step. For the serum. So it preps the skin. It's got this nice aqueous texture for the hyaluronic acid or tremella mushroom. And essentially is designed to support that serum. And then support the overall routine with whatever intention, whether again, it's hydrating the skin, whether it's soothing like the botanical hydration, hydration mist or controlling oil like the rosemary tonic mist.
So hopefully that helps.
Grace – Annmarie Skin Care Marketing Assistant: And then if you could elaborate kind of piggybacking off of that, if you could go in a little bit detail of like the purpose of each step that we recommend.
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Okay, the purpose of each step, so I'll start at the top here. Your cleanser is designed to basically wipe off the day or prep the skin for products to come.
So if you're cleansing in the morning, you're likely kind of washing away sweat from over the day. You know, overnight from sleeping. If you applied products the night before, you're also removing any excess of those still. In the evening, your cleanser is, of course, removing makeup. So if you wear makeup, your cleanser step is quite important.
But if you don't wear makeup, you still are exposed to the world, to dirt, Your skin has been kind of releasing via sweat via oil throughout the day. And that is kind of amped up if you're somebody who's in a climate that is sweaty or humid or has moisture in it. And so using your cleanser in the evening is helping to remove what has happened during the day. And again, prep the skin so that the products that come after can absorb really evenly into the skin. Now the toning mist we just went into, so I won't go too elaborate on that, but that one is designed to be this kind of like go between step. This burst of nutrition, this burst of hydration, and then this intention, whether oil control, hydration, or soothing skin. Your serum is designed to add hydration to the skin, and we differentiate hydration versus moisturization, because hydration will speak to the amount of water in your skin, meaning lower layers, how plumped up the lower layers of the skin are, right? Typically again, if you kind of touch the side of your cheek and lift it, and it looks really crepey, that's a good indicator that you're lacking water, not just moisture. And so we're providing this hydration. We're also typically doing our most targeted you know, not treatment, but the direction here in the serum. So the serum, because it's closest to the skin, right? It's right after that toning mist. So it's right against the skin. The ingredient formulation is designed to be addressing a specific issue, whether that's sun damage, whether that's drooping skin, whether it's irritation, all of those the serums are working to address specific concerns.
The oil, which you know we haven't quite talked about yet, the oil is your moisturizing step. And at this point, we do only have oil options. However, a little insider info, we actually are formulating a cream, an anti-aging cream. We aren't expecting that to launch until later in the year, so you've got time before that's released, but the oils are used to essentially create a cream. Moisturize the layer of the skin that's towards the top. And we really love using oil because your skin already produces oil. And so there's this kind of bio recognizability using an oil, a clean oil like we do as your moisturizing step. A couple of the oils that we have will use jojoba and jojoba mimics skin's natural oil very closely and like weight and size and all of that. And so your body, especially if you're a dryer, absolutely loves using an ingredient like that, like jojoba. But the oils are your moisturizing step. And so supporting these upper layers of the skin, this is where you'll really see softening and tightening. And this kind of youthful radiant appearance will come from using the oils. We've obviously got more steps, but since those are the four we're talking about here, I'm gonna stop there and hope that that is clear for that question.
Grace – Annmarie Skin Care Marketing Assistant: and then the last one in the chat that I think we could, I'll bring it up to you. So you have it on your radar, but we may dive a little bit more into this a little later in the call. We're talking about the citrus stem cell serum. We had a question saying, is this good for the neck area? That is where I'm sagging.
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Oh yeah, I can answer that now. I can speak to that now. I think for the neck specifically, I typically focus on just carrying all of my products down to my neck. But if you've got a concern area where you're starting to see drooping and sagging, yes, using an ingredient like a stem cell, such as Citrus Stem Cell Serum or Wild Fruit Serum.
Also using peptides, which We've got a booster here. Our hydrate is hyaluronic acid and peptides, and that's it. I think there's one other ingredient that's like, keeps it nice and suspended, but otherwise it's hyaluronic acid and peptides. This is a good one that can help with the neck. But then as far as the I sometimes will use the anti-aging, but a lot of times I'll use the coconut body oil. It's a lot less expensive. It's definitely a different texture, so I don't feel like it wears on the face quite as nicely. The neck, the skin on the neck is a different consistency and like, Thickness and all of that. And so I like the coconut body oil here. And then finally for the neck, doing a very just quick gua sha in the morning as you're getting ready is a great way to very like easily without too much extra kind of shift it.
So We have two Gua Sha options. We've got this kind of square one. And then we've got this like fancy with the comb one. Both of them are great. So either one you would do a little neck routine. And if you want like a more specific routine, you could definitely shoot us an email. We can get you the length or, you know, longer length routine and all of that. But yes, you can bring any of the facial products down onto the neck and the stem cell ones are specifically helpful for..
Awesome. Okay, cool. So because I mentioned the Concentrated Boosting Elixirs, I'm going to speak to them just real, real quickly and then get into the oils just to not leave you kind of hanging on what these are. These are a set of three boosters for your products. One is called hydrate. and it is hyaluronic acid and peptides.
One is called Brighten and it's a shelf stable vitamin C and C, BAC4, and Berry. Very antioxidant rich. This is so helpful for brightening the skin. And then the last one is called Revitalize, and it's a very concentrated dose of the BioActive A, so like a concentrated retinol alternative. These do require that you mix them into something, so we recommend that you do like a pump of your serum and then two to three pumps of your booster.
Kind of mix it and apply it. You can do the same with your oil. So pump of your oil two to three pumps apply it They they just they are quite Concentrated and so they aren't come it's not great to put them directly on the skin. We don't recommend it. It is not gonna feel like the best for you. So Wanted to make sure to call those out.
Now let's get into facial oils. I mentioned briefly that we do use oil as our moisturizer. We don't use cream, we don't use balms, anything like that at this point. It's actually taken us this long to craft a cream, which technically hasn't launched yet, but is pretty cool. Further in the works because it's really kind of complicated to make a cream that stays stable That upholds all of our brand values, you know 8 000 toxins We will not include in the product and that actually has a long enough shelf life that we could realistically Get this to our customers. So we've dabbled definitely but it's just taken us this long to really land on The blend that we're working on. But again, we have found largely anecdotally that skin just looks very radiant using oil as a moisturizer and making sure that you're selecting the right oil for your skin is a great way to make sure that you are not too oily, that you're not on the dry side, that it's just like right, right there for giving you healthy, full, full skin.
Now, the first one I'll call out, and I am not going to speak to all of them, but I will call out this one. This is the Anti-Aging Facial Oil. This is the richest facial oil. So it is a jojoba oil base. Got a very rich golden jojoba. The feel is very full. I feel like skin just looks so radiant using the anti-aging facial oil.
I almost never work with anyone who is not moisturizing enough for. Sometimes I'll work with people that it's too moisturizing, but, but not the other way around. It's just a really rich blend. And the way we craft our oils is we start with this anchor oil, in this case jojoba, and then we steep it at a low heat with herbs, plants, seeds, yeah, extracts, things like that, and then it gets strained, and then it gets bottled.
So we used in this blend different types of plants to really strengthen the skin. We've got broccoli seed, chia seed, goji berry, all of these are designed to be this like really kind of skin training to strengthen the skin. It's very like, you know, a stronger feeling with time. And in turn, that can be helpful for keeping skin, staving off the appearance of fine lines.
It can be helpful for staving off more of a pronounced loss of elasticity, all of that. The scent profile of this one's pretty herbal, I don't necessarily know exactly how to describe it other than it's just more herbal and some people love it. I wish it was a candle. I absolutely love it. Sometimes I'll use it even when I don't really need that much moisture just because I like the smell of it. Some people don't. So it's one of those that's like you love it or you don't love it kind of a thing.
The next one I want to call out is Rejuvenating Facial Oil. Now this one is top tier. This one, we did the same process. So we started with a jojoba, we steeped it, strained it, but then what we did was we added directly into this blend certain active ingredients. So black cumin seed black blue tansy, butterfly pea flower, these more potent anti agers. We've kind of got this bevy that's been added into the blend directly. And the intention behind that is giving you this product that has essentially the maxed out amount of anti agers that you could put into a product while still being a product that's comfortable to wear morning and evening. So the consistency of this one's a little bit thinner than the anti-aging because we've got those ingredients added directly. It just is a little bit thinned out, but it still is very moisturizing. So this is a great one. For dry skin and skin that is starting to see signs of aging. This is a really, really profound one. This can also be helpful for pigmentation. This can be helpful for kind of Helping that to lift and kind of release from the skin pigmentation. And so it's helpful for aging skin in that way too. So dry skin, aging skin normal skin, aging skin, it is on the more moisturizing side. And so if you are oily, you may not love it. Or it could be one that you alternate, depending on how oily your skin, skin kind of feels.
The last one I'll mention is this one. This is the Herbal Facial Oil for Sensitive Skin. Now this one is awesome for skin that is reactive, for skin that gets really red..
This is a really good one to help to kind of calm that irritation down. It's a gentle blend. We start with grapeseed oil. We've stepped into it with sacha inchi and camellia seed. These herbs that are designed to really, really soothe the skin, really calm down skin. It's a little bit lighter than the anti-aging and the rejuvenating, either one of those, but, but not too, too much. So if your skin is normal, maybe normal to dry and sensitive, this is a really good one for your skin type here. Actually one more, and then I think we can pause for questions, and then I do want to call out an exfoliant, and then, and then we can stop for more questions here.
This is our Sun Love and this time of year especially, but always, it's awesome to have this just available. I am absolutely the kind of person that Protects my skin from the sun. So I've got one in my bag. I've got one in my purse. I've got one and my dresser. I've got this one in here. Like I just make sure that I have access to it quickly. This is our everyday sheer sunscreen. So it does actually sheer out quite nicely on the face. It gives you this very kind of dewy look to the skin, but I like to mention it with the facial oils because if your skin can handle it, which my skin is able to, again, normal to dry you can use this as your moisturizer in the morning. And not do your oil in the morning, which is a great way to ensure that you are putting sunscreen on every morning. And also that you're getting a little bit more life out of your facial oils here. My skin type again, normal to dry. I can get away with this in the summer. In the wintertime, I do still use a facial oil and then sunscreen over the top of it, but this one is zinc oxide. It's a zinc oxide sun protectant. We use a non nano zinc oxide, which means that there's not a risk of this getting into the body. And the blend of this is also a reef safe sunscreen blend. So, that is this one here. I think that's it as far as that one. Yeah. Okay, one exfoliant and then we'll pause for questions. I want to call this one out because this is a particularly helpful exfoliant for milia.
This is the Kaolin Micro Exfoliant. And it's great for more than just milia. It's a facial exfoliant. So essentially, if somebody said like, think of a skin scrub, probably the texture of this is what comes to mind. It's like a little bit of this creamy, gritty scrubby product and for milia specifically, this can be really helpful in kind of moving that milia up and off, exfoliating the skin to move that milia up and off. But just for general exfoliation, it's a nice one to have in your routine. For more sensitive skin, I typically will recommend maybe once a week maybe every 10 days or so for someone who's got normal, you know, or normal varying skin, likely once a week to twice a week if your skin can handle it. So it's a pretty big package. The price point's not insane. I can't remember what it is, but I think it's in the 60s, Grace. Do you know the price of the Kaolin? It's okay. We're probably approximately close. Yeah? I was looking. Okay. 66 to be exact. 66. One day I will have them all memorized, but not today's not the day.
This is also good for the body. The last point I wanted to make about it. So if you are anyone who experiences KP, so like bumpies on the back of the arms or generally just want to have an exfoliant in your routine, the kaolin micro exfoliant is a, is a nice one to have. And I am almost done, I promise.
One more product. This is the Lip and Cheek Tint. I wanted to call this out because it's a super new product. We launched this two weeks ago, really, really recently. And it looks super brown, but it's actually really ruby. It's not super brown, it's just this light. Kind of like, yeah, pinky red color. It's a cardboard tube, so you push up from the bottom, and then I just kind of press it on my lips to press it down. But it's so, it's just a very, very quick way to kind of get extra ready. I will put out my cheeks sometimes. I just, it's not my mood today, so I'm not gonna do it today, but I'll keep one in my bag. I love having this because it's a very, very clean lip color. And it's super buildable too, so I've got a really sheer layer on, but you can go really dark with that one, which I think is nice to have as an option.
So, okay, I am, I think, complete with products unless there's more that we want to get into. Let's see what questions have come up, and then in a few moments I'll have Grace share the coupon code with us all here.
Grace – Annmarie Skin Care Marketing Assistant: There's one question in the chat just kind of referencing how this person feels like the oil and serum kind of sit on the skin and not absorb.
And I know that you have quite a few tips and tricks. So, it's been a game changer for me when you recommended it to me. So I think the whole group would be beneficial to hear.
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Awesome. Yeah. So my number one tip for that. This is usually the first place I start when somebody is saying that they just feel like it's sitting on the skin.
It's not absorbing your skin that feels really oily, but you, you look really taught or you feel really taught and you look really oily. Like it just is not really working. And the number one tip that I have. found for myself and for many is to mist skin and then leave your skin damp. So leave it pretty damp. You don't want it so damp that it's like dripping off the face, but damp enough that it's like damp to the touch and then apply the serum and the oil while skin is still damp. What happens is the aqueous part of it, whether it's the hydrosol or the aloe vera juice. As it absorbs into the skin. It will pull in the oil or richer, richer consistency products in with it. And so you get this more even application. Another tip that you can do is to mist your skin and still leave it damp, but to mix in the palm of your hand a pump of the serum and a pump of the oil. Or maybe two pumps of serum and half a pump of the oil. You'll kind of figure out what ratio is the best. Is ideal for your skin and then gently mix them and then apply them again that can kind of cut through that rich oiliness of it. And so it's absorbing a little bit more evenly. Then. it might otherwise. Another tip with that is to make sure that skin is being kind of consistently exfoliated, whether that's a very light exfoliation whether that's the kale and micro exfoliant, whether you're just using like a brush, we've got this little lotus brush with a more gentle cleanser, just really making sure that you have skin nice and primed so that there is actually the availability for something to absorb into the skin. So one of those tips likely will be supportive, but if not, you can definitely contact us at customer care, and we'll get that email to you shortly here, and we can work with you to get that figured out.
Cool. Any other questions? Grace chat. Any questions in the chat? Chat's good. Okay, cool.
Customer: What about, I know you said the night serum not to use if you're going in the sun, are there any other products that we need to be aware of if we're going into the sun? And how do they work if you're using a normal zinc oxide sunblock?
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: How do the oils work if you're using a normal zinc oxide?
Customer: Yeah. Yeah. Would you use all the, let 'em all dry and then put on your zinc oxide?
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: So the blend of the sunscreen, it actually has a good amount of like oil to it. It's not as oily as our oils, but it doesn't, like the oil doesn't break it down. If that's kind of the concern there.
Customer: I, I'm, I'm thinking of the regular white zinc oxide. 'cause I'm like in the sun on the water, so I need something heavy duty. Mm mm-Hmm. . So, you know, and I Go ahead. I just think the one thing that some of you have probably isn't heavy duty enough, you know,
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: yeah It may not be. So a couple things with this one.
It is an SPF 20 and SPF 20. It does still prevent and block 95 percent of UV rays when you get up to SPF 30. It's 97 percent UV rays. SPF 50 is like 98 to 99. And then anything over SPF 50 is just like They're taking your money, in my opinion, but we did do a lower SPF to keep it nice and sheer. So it still has this kind of whiteness to it.
It is a zinc oxide that is the sun protectant. But because we have the SPF 20 and not a higher SPF, it sheers out really nicely. So it is really, really nice for kind of like, Daily activities, gardening, walking, being in the sun, but I feel like if you are doing something that is prolonged sun exposure, or if you're doing something where you're sweating or submerging yourself, because this one, it does not stay on if you are.
Completely wet. We just didn't have any and couldn't find an ingredient that would keep it bound to the skin. So an activity like that. I would recommend looking into a different sunscreen because I think that this one you might lose the coverage of that. If you that one
Customer: would be good in the winter time when you're Just for your normal sunscreen, but
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: yeah, I so for like going to the beach, you know, get two kids and we'll go to like a pool a couple times a week during the summer.
And that's plenty of coverage for that activity. And we also go later in the day. So we go after 4 PM, but I feel like. Plenty blocked doing that. Now if I was running, so if I was doing something like a half marathon or something, I know how much I sweat and I know that that would break up so much of that product.
And I wouldn't get that much coverage. So I'll make sure to use a different sunscreen for that. So for me, it's less seasonal and more activity based. Yeah, going to the, Like, unless you were doing a lot of underwater, in which case you might lose some coverage, or you're really sweaty, it is still blocking 95 percent of UV rays, so that's a roundabout way to say potentially, especially if your activity is prolonged, and especially if it's in the water, that you might find that a different sunscreen is a better fit for you or just like, you like this one better for like daily activities, like, You're driving in your car or going for a walk or something like that where's the more Intense or athletic you use a difference on screen.
Customer: Thank you.
I wanted to ask what about like if you wanted to even out your skin tone but you have skin that gets red easily?
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: That's such an interesting combo. So I would likely do the Wild Fruit Serum. That one, because it's still suspended in that aloe vera juice, is very, very helpful for keeping skin kind of soothed. But that does still have the uva ursi in it. I, the concentrated boosting elixirs are kind of a good way to go versus the activated night serum, because you can customize the amount of a, either of a brightened, Or which is helpful for brightening skin or the revitalize which is lightly exfoliating to just really customize how much you're using so that you can feel what feels good for your skin type I actually have so many like sensitive sensitive skin customers who like the concentrated boosting elixirs Because they can do like half a drop of the revitalize and it still feels like they're getting that effect, but it's not Like too much their skin, their skin can handle it.
But otherwise I would focus on keeping the skin kind of soothed. So yeah, the Wild Fruit Serum I think would be good. And then likely the herbal facial oil for sensitive skin. I think that one would be good too. Probably still aloe herb cleanser. Probably still all Or cleanser and botanical. Yeah.
Yeah.
Customer: I have dry skin too, to top it off. .
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah. You've got this trifecta. Yeah. .
Customer: That's the problem. If I wanna target like pigmentations, then it'll irritate my skin. If I use. Anything to target it, and then it gets irritated and then I'm back to square one. So, yeah. Yeah, I gotta be careful. Oh, and then sunblock.
The sunblock, like for me specifically, since I, I get a lot of freckles, uh huh, even if I'm not in the sun, like I said, driving or park, if I don't use it, like, I mean, I wanna use something like natural, non-toxic, but if I don't use like something a little bit stronger, even with stronger, I still get pigmentation.
I don't know. Mm-Hmm. what it is.
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah for your skin type, I definitely would recommend having like a hat regularly available because I, certain skin types could, I can't remember what it's called, but it's like, you can, you can have visible pigment just from your skin being hot. It's not even that you're exposed directly to the UV.
It's like the way your body reacts to temperature can exacerbate melanin. Making sure to have the skin protected and hat and all of that. Yeah. I think it's really good. Really wise way to go there.
Customer: Oh, yeah. I'm wearing a hat. I'm with a hat and umbrella all the time. I still get it. Yeah, I'm like a magnet.
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah, gotcha. Gotcha. Gotcha. Yep. Well, I think the Wild Fruit Serum would be a pretty good one for, for what you're working with here. Yep.
Customer: Okay. Thanks.
Kate – Annmarie Skin Care In-House Esthetician: Yeah. All right. So we are on time here, so I am gonna close us out, but you do have our email, have a great rest of your week!
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