Our skin is the largest organ of our bodies. In fact, the average person has twenty-two square feet of skin acting as a protective barrier between all that happens in the outside world and the complex systems working inside our bodies. Skin also helps to regulate temperature, aid in immune defense, and even make crucially required vitamins. Perhaps most importantly, skin is the preliminary layer of sensation, containing over 1000 nerve endings in every square inch.
While skin offers obvious physical necessities and benefits to our overall system, its appearance can also be the root of issues with self-esteem and confidence. A clear complexion conveys health, beauty, and youthful energy, and acne breakouts, visible oil imbalances, and inconsistent coloring can contribute to nagging battles in self-confidence.
This Face the Current Health Feature is published in Issue 31. Order PRINT here, read the full digital edition here, or continue reading this article below.
A skin care routine is a very personal experience usually involving several steps and multiple products. Most people have a daily routine that differs from the one they implement at night, and the combined products and ingredients can quickly add up. In fact, according to the Environmental Working Group, the average American woman uses twelve personal care products and/ or cosmetics a day, for a total of 168 unique chemicals. Of the top seven carcinogenic impurities commonly found in personal care products, the chemical most often involved in exposure is hydroquinone—a potential contaminant in products used daily by ninety-four percent of women and sixty-nine percent of men. Yikes!
Aside from the buzzwords on the front of the bottles and jars, do you actually know what is in the products you apply to your skin? And, if you hold eco-conscious and holistic standards for other products in your life such as household cleaners, hand-soaps, and laundry detergent, why not apply that same level of rigorous scrutiny to the scrubs, serums, and lotions that you apply to your skin?
Healthy-living bloggers Annmarie and Kevin Gianni asked themselves this very question.
In 2008, they powered up a vegetable oil-powered RV, left Connecticut, and began a two-and-a-half-year journey across North and South America to track down the best natural-care products and protocols they could find. With a legion of viewers on their popular YouTube videocast, The Renegade Health Show, Annmarie and Kevin wanted to share their findings on their platform. As they met with healthcare experts, manufacturers, growers, and healers, more and more of Annmarie and Kevin’s viewers were asking them the same question: “What products do you use for your skin?”
After pausing their quest to raid their cupboards, Annmarie and Kevin were horrified to discover that nothing they were using met their own high standards. So, with a quick agenda recalibration, they decided to find a specific product line that they could recommend with confidence.
In talking with skin care company owners, Annmarie and Kevin weren’t always impressed with the ingredients or even the results of the products. After speaking with formulators about how to actually develop a holistic and healthy skin care line, they were deeply disappointed by the number of responses that essentially said: “Just omit toxic ingredients if they appear in minute amounts!” Apparently common industry practice is to simply not list any toxic ingredients on the label if they are present in amounts too small to be covered by federal labeling regulations. This was most definitely not what Annmarie and Kevin were looking for, as their products would have to be completely free of toxic chemicals.
If you can’t eat it, you shouldn’t be putting it on your skin.
After a string of dead ends, Annmarie visited a small spa in Patagonia, Arizona, and the esthetician there introduced her to a line of skin care unlike anything Annmarie had ever experienced. The products
felt different—palpably alive with an energetic vibration—and their aroma was unique and invigorating. After one application of the face oil, Annmarie saw immediate results, and she and Kevin felt confident they had found a product line they could wholeheartedly recommend.
Bunnie, the owner of the skin care line, is an herbalist and chemist, and she has been formulating organic skin care products for over thirty years. Bunnie only uses herbs and extracts sourced straight from nature in their purest forms, however, her products are only sold in spas. With help from Bunnie, Annmarie and Kevin were able to formulate a natural skincare line for both men and women that would be available to the wider public, and in 2009, Annmarie Skin Care was launched as a natural, sustainable, and conscious unisex skincare line.
Through their research into industry practices, the team at Annmarie Skin Care has uncovered hidden processes in ingredient production, chemical derivatives in so-called “natural ingredients”, and other manufacturing shortcuts and oversights. These investigations have helped Annmarie Skin Care to establish their own processes to ensure high-quality products that will deliver dependable and honest results.
This starts with organic and wildcrafted ingredients, and as Annmarie Skin Care’s philosophy goes, if you can’t eat it, you shouldn’t be putting it on your skin. That means that all products are free from alcohols, synthetic chemicals, harsh preservatives, and synthetic fragrances. Using organics sourced from farmers that use little to no pesticides and only natural fertilizers also ensures that the environment and its precious ecosystems remain intact.
In fact, in 2019, Annmarie Skin Care officially used zero pounds of pesticides on their ingredients!
Also, all organic ingredients are marked with an asterisk on product bottles, and any asterisk-free ingredients were either selected from uncertified organic sources or they were wildcrafted. Otherwise known as foraging, wildcrafting is the practice of harvesting plants in their natural state from their natural habitat.
Each Annmarie Skin Care product is made with intention using their three-step Energized Botanical Infusion Process. All ingredients are hand-selected and then infused into base oils and organic aloe vera. From there they are crafted using additional plant extracts and ingredients to increase their efficacy, and the result is beautiful, glowing skin. All Annmarie Skin Care products go through the most minimal amount of processing possible (if any!) to ensure that the alive and active ingredients are not compromised.
The first step in the Energized Botanical Infusion Process is Curation. Organic and wildcrafted ingredients including herbs (like milk thistle, calendula, and echinacea) and high-vibration plant extracts are curated to meet the highest standards of quality and effectiveness for the skin and body. Annmarie Skin Care forges relationships with farmers and tirelessly audits their sources in order to maintain their stringent standards of purity and sustainability.
The second step in production is Infusion. Annmarie Skin Care products are handmade in the Colorado mountains in micro batches, and the curated herbs— ranging from goji berries and lotus to comfrey and plantain—are infused into a combination of organic aloe vera from Texas and skin-nutritive oils, including organic golden jojoba.. This combination is softly heated, never exceeding ninety-five degrees Fahrenheit. These botanical infusions are left to steep for up to thirty days and are energized by crystals during and after this process before becoming the potent base for all product formulas.
Finally, the products enter the Creation phase. This is where high- performance seed oils (including broccoli, pomegranate, and black cumin) join antioxidant-rich botanicals, such as buriti and sea buckthorn berry, and synergistic plant stem-cells derived from lingonberries and citrus to deliver skin-supporting nutrients and luxurious aromatherapy. All Annmarie Skin Care products are then dispensed into deeply colored biophotonic Miron violet glass bottles. More than just containers, these unique bottles energize the organic molecules of the product inside by filtering in a small amount of light while simultaneously protecting it from damaging light rays. This can enhance the quality of the formula while preserving it for maximum freshness without the use of any artificial preservatives.
At a wind-powered facility, the products are then carefully packaged using sustainable materials that are either recyclable or made from post-consumer waste. Annmarie Skin Care uses only petrochemical- free bio-based adhesive labels on all bottles and containers, ensuring they stay recyclable after their lifespan. With several packaging updates made in 2019, including the complete elimination of plastic use in their Travel Kits, moving to aluminum bottles for the Rosemary Peppermint Body Wash, and altering the tea packaging to include compostable teabags and tamper seals, Annmarie Skin Care is proving that no detail is too small when it comes to our environment.
In fact, online shopping shipments contribute to a substantial amount of global waste, and that’s why Annmarie Skin Care shipped over 135,000 packages in 2019 that was free of plastics and Styrofoam filler.
The final result is active, supernaturally-effective skincare that upholds Annmarie Skin Care’s initial commitment to clean beauty and environmental protection.
Because of Annmarie Skin Care’s natural ingredients and manufacturing process, they have earned the MADE SAFE® stamp of approval. MADE SAFE® is a non-profit organization that provides America’s first comprehensive human health- focused certification for nontoxic products. The MADE SAFE® seal literally means that a product is made with safe ingredients and is free of toxic chemicals known to harm our health. In order to verify this, MADE SAFE® screens ingredients against their Ingredient Database of known harmful chemicals. This list contains thousands of chemicals found on scientific lists from organizations and agencies around the world. Then, MADE SAFE® examines all product ingredients for bioaccumulation, persistence, and general and aquatic toxicity. This means that products will not contain known harmful ingredients, nor will they release vapors, gases, or by-products that could negatively impact human health.
Not only has Annmarie Skin Care rightfully earned this coveted badge of eco-honor, but they are also Leaping Bunny certified (no animal tests were used in the development of any product), non-GMO, and cruelty-free.
So, nourish your skin with the wildcrafted and organic natural elements of Annmarie Skin Care, give your body a boost, and rest easy knowing the planet hasn’t had to sacrifice any of Her beauty in order to enhance yours.
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