Behind the Bluff
Uncover best practices to participate in life on your terms. Every week, hosts Jeff Ford and Kendra Till guide listeners with short conversations on trending wellness topics and share interviews with passionate wellness professionals, our private club leaders, and additional subject matter experts offering valuable tips. Each episode conclusion includes Healthy Momentum, five minutes of inspiration to help you reflect and live differently. Subscribe now and discover the keys to living your greatest active lifestyle.
Behind the Bluff
How to Build a Skincare Ritual That Works for You | Amandine
Amandine, founder of Amandine Soul Botanicals, shares her journey from almost attending law school to creating a natural skincare line that focuses on simplicity, intention, and nervous system support. Her products combine multiple beneficial ingredients into fewer formulations, transforming skincare from an obligatory routine into a ritual people look forward to.
• Abandoned law school after an emotional realization that skincare was her true passion
• Created a farm-inspired brand after her family unexpectedly moved to an 80-acre property
• Formulated products that address both skin health and emotional wellbeing through essential oils
• Developed Inner Glow, a face oil with 17 natural ingredients that absorbs quickly and "plays well with others"
• Her products are used by celebrity makeup artists on clients like Travis Kelce, Pedro Pascal, and Anne Hathaway
• Recommends identifying skin concerns first, then ingredients that address them, then products with multiple benefits
• Explains the differences between physical and chemical sunscreens and their appropriate uses
• Suggests Korean sunscreen formulations for advanced technology not yet approved in North America
• Emphasizes skincare as creating protective barriers against environmental stressors
• Defines wellness as finding peace and happiness, not just following external practices
"Whether you're a skincare enthusiast or just beginning your wellness journey, I hope you find insight, inspiration and practical wisdom in today's conversation."
Are you ready to live an active lifestyle? Welcome to Behind the Bluff, where we believe every moment of your life is an opportunity to pursue wellness on your terms. I'm your host, jeff Ford, and today's podcast is right in your wheelhouse if you're ready to reconnect with your skin, your senses and your well-being. Today I'm joined by Amandine, founder of Amandine Soul Botanicals, a skincare line born from her own healing journey and a deep reverence for nature. Amandine's approach is rooted on simplicity, intention and the belief that skincare is more than just surface deep. It's a ritual of restoration for the body and the nervous system. In today's episode, we explore the story behind our brand, the power of plant-based ingredients and the importance of mindful sun protection. We'll also get into how both women and men can benefit from rethinking how they care for their skin. I know I probably will after our time together. Whether you're a skincare enthusiast or just beginning your wellness journey, you'll find insight, inspiration and practical wisdom in today's conversation. Amandine, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2:Thank you, I'm so excited to be here today.
Speaker 1:It is such a pleasure to have you and I don't want to waste any time. Let's start at the beginning. Your journey into skincare and wellness is deeply personal. Can you take us back to where it all began and what led you to creating Amandine Soul Botanicals?
Speaker 2:I would love that. Yeah, there's no time to waste when it comes to glowing skin. We've got to get right into it.
Speaker 2:I would say honestly, it started at the beginning. I've always been obsessed with fashion and beauty and skincare, and growing up with problematic skin made me especially interested in it because I was always trying to find remedies with my mom. It was kind of something we always did together, you know. She always leaned more natural and trying to find an herbal remedy for what might be happening on our skin, but she was also always taking us to experts, my brother and I, but I was the one with the problematic skin. So it was, I'd say, something that really was always a part of my life.
Speaker 2:But I never felt like you know, especially once I got to high school and university, that I could make a career out of fashion and beauty and these things that I loved. It felt like I was really pushed towards stable career, you know, become something that you can get to study, get a great job, secondary education, all of that. And it's not something for my parents, my family they're all entrepreneurs. My dad works in beauty, my mom, my brother, everyone does so, if anything, I was more born into the entrepreneurial life, but I didn't feel like that was a super stable thing for me. You know, the life of the entrepreneur is not not easy. It's not for the week. You know, there's no weekends.
Speaker 2:I spent all of our you know summer vacations, spring break, all of that at my dad's hair salon.
Speaker 2:I wasn't traveling with my family, because when you have a business, you're there, you're all in on it. So I was like I'm going to do the easy thing. I'm going to go to law school, study, get a great job, pick up a paycheck, have a really good, steady life. But towards the end of university, as that started to become a reality and I'd actually gotten into a really great law school in Canada, which is not a super easy feat I started to have this kind of pit in my stomach of doubt, if I'm just not sure this is what I love and want to do. You know, I even worked at a law firm for three years and I felt like the law school part of it would be great, but the being a lawyer part gave me a lot of hesitation. And around the same time that this was all happening, my parents called me up and they said hey, we sold our family home that we all live in and we bought a farm. It's two hours outside of the city 80 acres.
Speaker 1:Did they tell you that that was going to happen?
Speaker 2:No, I had no idea and in my mind I was kind of checked out. I was like, well, I'm going to law school anyway, so I'm not really going to be around that much. So if that's what you want to do, great, you know, it'll be a nice place to come visit. But we're not farmers, we're all from the city, we're all again in fashion and beauty. None of us are equipped for this. I didn't even like summer camp, but I was like, hey, it's your retirement, you do you. So we move out to the farm. At first I was like, what are we doing here?
Speaker 2:I've seen the show Schitt's Creek. That's literally what we looked like. My dad even looks like Eugene Levy with the big bushy brows. It was you know. My brother was calling me Alexis. Everything I saw I was like ew, what are we doing here? But as we started to move in and lean into the lifestyle, I realized it was a really special place and I'd never lived in the country again. I never even went to summer camp. It was this return to nature, return, return to simplicity. I felt so good there. But I had law school coming up and so my mom and I go to visit the school. I'd never even been there before. I had my deposit down. We were going to look at apartments and talk to the bank about loans and all of that stuff. As soon as we got there, I just started sobbing Could not stop At the bank.
Speaker 2:No, thankfully not in the bank, but outside the law school. I cried everywhere. Actually I cried all over the city. I cried, in the restaurant, in outside the school, in the hotel, everywhere. I just it was like my tears could not stop.
Speaker 1:Big stake in the ground moment for you.
Speaker 2:Yes, but I couldn't. I didn't have a voice, I couldn't say anything. My mom was just like, looking at me, freaked out. I was freaked out, I didn't have any like, I couldn't say, like I'm scared, I'm freaked out, I don't know if I want to do this. Like there were just no words, I was mute and literally in the middle of the night, my mom looks at me and she goes you know you don't have to do this. And if you could do anything in the world, what would you do? And out of nowhere I said I would start a skincare line with a beat.
Speaker 2:She was like let's go, let's do it, why not? And so that was really the moment that we started. We started working on it that morning, you know, I think it was like midnight. We had this conversation by like 6am. I was texting and DMing anyone that I knew who had done this, who was from Toronto, who had created a skincare line or a beauty line or any brand. I was, you know, was on the hunt to connect with and share my idea with and see if they thought it was feasible and just kind of reach out to everyone, called the next day and canceled my spot at the law school and we drove back to the farm and that was really the beginning of it.
Speaker 1:Incredible. It's wild to hear the vulnerability that you've expressed in the decision-making to follow your passion and to decide that skincare and helping people heal was more what you wanted to do with the rest of your life and and the challenge that it took to to take that step. So I appreciate you sharing. I think we all have those moments where it's like am I moving in the right direction? And I find often when folks have a personal experience with something that impacted them from a health perspective and then they pursue that and encourage others to make changes along the lines that you have with your business game changer for not only building momentum from a business perspective but impacting people's lives.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I think it forces you and it allows you to move from a place of passion and creativity and insight. You know you are your customer. You know what this person is looking for. You're creating something out of love and passion and desire for a better solution versus okay, well, this is probably what the markets would say and what a banker would say. You should be moving from a place of numbers and bottom line and who are your investors and what's your market share and all of those things. Those were not things that even crossed my mind. I was like I have a problem, I know the solution, let's run.
Speaker 1:Boom Now. Your formulations are rooted in botanicals and nervous system support. Natural is a big word that I know is important to your brand and whatever you put in your products. How do you approach blending beauty with deeper wellness in your products?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I like to think of our products as part of your wellness ritual. It's not really a routine. A routine is regimented and it's something you have to stick to. I like to think of it as something you look forward to. When we formulated these products, the natural products on the market kind of smelled bad. They were often very earthy, they were very crunchy. They weren't something you looked forward to using. And still a lot of products on the market today don't smell that great. Or we're really leaning into this fear-mongering of unscented fragrance-free. Fragrance is bad for you, which it can be, of course but it can also be really good for you and that's where we leaned into natural essential oils like lavender, bergamot, lemon peel. These are all scientifically proven to calm the nervous system, have incredible impacts on the skin. So we're blending that ritual with skincare and skin benefits.
Speaker 2:And I have so many customers and I didn't even realize this from formulation who told me that when they use our products it is the most calming moment of their day. They keep it at their desk, they keep it next to their bed, they use it in a panic attack before a big meeting. I've had people tell me they've gotten off of anxiety medication because they now have something else they can reach for. I think that's something really common is we want to reach for something to help us. Often it's a prescription, and if that's what it needs to be and that's what gets you somewhere, there's no shame in that, I think, whatever it takes. But if we can also have this other thing to reach for and maybe one day replace it or use it as a supplement, even better, because it's proven, like lavender really works to calm the nervous system and it's something that can give you a moment to take a few deep breaths that are once again proven to help calm the nervous system, why not?
Speaker 1:Yeah, many people today are looking for products that are aligned with Not only emotional regulation, as you're describing, but say for our hormonal regulation. We have so often been in this period of time where it's just bring something in that solves the problem without thinking about the consequences that it can have long term, and I've never thought about this from a skin health perspective, but we know skin is the largest organ on the body.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:So treating it in a way that we would treat any other part of the body as naturally as possible makes a ton of sense to me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think you know we talk about treating the skin from the inside out with food, and I think that's a huge element. Of course, you know, the more processed foods we eat, the worse results we see in our skin. But also when we're stressed, that is a huge impact on our skin, and that was really a huge realization for me is that stress is one of the biggest things and the hardest things to control, but it is also the most controlling thing. It really controls our feelings, our how we handle situations. It really controls our skin too. I started getting perioral dermatitis from using too many active ingredients, and that's one thing that I want to define that term real quick.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's really common and it's something that looks like another thing and we treat it that way and then we're not really getting to it. So it's essentially these little red or white bumps that you'll notice around your eyes or your mouth, your nose. You know, perioral it's around our mouth typically and it can have many causes and dermatologists will never be able to say this caused it. Necessarily it can be from steroid use. You know, you put a steroid on your hand, you touch your face, you can develop peri-oral dermatitis. I think that's how I got it.
Speaker 2:I was getting eczema on my arm working at the law firm. I would literally get stressed and then a patch would come up and then so I'd go to the dermatologist. They gave me a steroid cream, put it on my arm and then I'm sure it transferred to my face. But also I was dabbling in way too many actives to try and treat other skin problems like acne and breakouts. So my skin was just raw and I would get these red, really painful, itchy, irritated bumps all over my face, to the point. You know, typically you'll see it around the mouth and eyes, but when it gets bad it really spreads like a mean rash. I go to the dermatologist and they said, oh, it's eczema. And within 30 seconds, like I, was out of the office.
Speaker 1:Here was the prescription. Here's the script, exactly.
Speaker 2:And I was like, okay, sure, you know, I go for a full year treating it as eczema and she's like it's perioral dermatitis, and she gives me the treatment and it worked right away. And I remember just crying in the car Cause I was like finally someone took the time to look at my skin and properly diagnose it and I just felt so free, I felt so happy that like, okay, there's a solution, someone heard me and so now to be able to help people find the solutions to their skin problems is the dream to be able to help people find the solutions to their skin problems is the dream, amandine.
Speaker 1:so, as I understand it, you've been in business six years, and that's not a long time for business. How have you been able to get your product out there?
Speaker 2:It's been a really organic process. You know, when you don't have venture capital or major money backing you, it's really grassroots. And one of the special ways that we've gotten our foot in the door from day one has been gifting our products to makeup artists and working really closely with experts in skin, and makeup artists see skin all day, every day, and they know what works and what doesn't. And it's naturally found its way onto the faces of a lot of celebrities, especially male celebrities Travis Kelsey, pedro Pascal, ashton Kutcher, even younger guys like Vinnie Hacker, just like really cool guys who are in the media. They're in front of cameras, they're in front of audiences. And when I asked the makeup artist what made you choose Inner Glow and Dew Dream to be on their skin for that shoot that day, you know there's heavy lighting, there's a little bit of makeup, there's not a lot of retouching or they're really high def cameras.
Speaker 2:What made you select our products? They say because they are so easy and they are instantly effective. They don't have a lot of time, especially with men in the makeup chair. You know, with some of our other clients, like Anne Hathaway, they've got more time allotted for them to sit in the makeup chair and get a full skincare routine and makeup done. But their makeup artists are reaching for products that are instantly effective, that look beautiful with makeup and look beautiful on camera, and with lighting or without loading lighting it kind of depends on the situation. But that's what's cool about the products is they are really adaptable. So whether they're shooting in high def on film, studio lighting, natural lighting, they adapt and work really beautifully on the skin in all of those situations. So I've worked with a ton of celebrity makeup artists who use them even on red carpets and runways to get their A-list clients glowing.
Speaker 1:I told you there was one rule in having you come over here for the podcast. I wanted to talk about sunblock. I've been learning more and more about sunblock and there's debate around ingredients and effectiveness. These days, the leading cancer out there that I believe it's in the ballpark of like one in three people will get skin cancer at some point in their life. So I take this pretty seriously from a standpoint of educating and just inspiring people to make sure they're staying aware of keeping their skin healthy, especially in this South Carolina sunny part of the country Hard to avoid.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what should people understand when choosing sun protect protection, and how do you approach this in your product line?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think when it comes to sun protection, if you use it, I am so happy. That is step one. I hear so many people who just don't even use sunscreen and that is highly concerning. So, whether you're on team zinc or chemical, it's better that you're doing something than nothing. Um, when it comes to which one is better, it is very personal, because there's there's factors and benefits and cons to both of them, like most things. You know I yeah, we'd get more clicks and more views if I had a polarizing view on just about anything. I kind of sit in the middle.
Speaker 2:Where zinc is a physical block to the skin, so you are physically blocking the sun from your skin. It can be better for sensitive skin types. Someone like me might do better with a physical block. It is more reef, safe. So if you're spending time in the ocean, in lakes, you know it's better to go with a physical block like a zinc.
Speaker 2:The downside is it is chalky and it's really white and there's no avoiding that. You know, if you have a deeper skin tone, you are going to see a white cast. Even if you're quite fair, you're going to see a white cast. So that really just comes down to preference and then chemical just processes differently. It absorbs the UVs and releases them as heat, so it is chemically blocking the sun from hurting your skin. There's a new debate that's happening where a lot there's been so many new skincare brands launching sun care that's like a huge thing and they're very trendy and they're very beautiful bottles. Sun care that's like a huge thing and they're very trendy and they're very beautiful bottles. But they're testing them and they're independently testing them and finding that if they're saying they're a 30 block, they're actually coming in lower than that.
Speaker 1:Oh, so the SPFs aren't as accurate as they're being portrayed.
Speaker 2:Some of them not across the board not saying like every brand is doing that but some of them are being independently tested and found to not actually be up to the standard tested and found to not actually be up to the standard.
Speaker 1:This feels similar to FDA and supplementation regulation, where you don't have the complete view of what is actually in the product. There's trust behind the brand that you have to build, I think.
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely, and it's not like you're at home able to test the UPF or the SPF Unless you're just extremely scientific and know how to do that.
Speaker 1:There's probably a listener who is yeah Me not so much Us, I don't know.
Speaker 2:So when it comes to deciding which one you want to go with, my recommendation is whichever one kind of meets your needs. If you're surfing, if you're spending a lot of time in the ocean, I would go for a zinc. I would go for that physical block, like have that surfer's nose, where it's like a chalk white nose. And if you are a more day-to-day person, you're going to the office, you know you want to put makeup on top, you want to have a glowy complexion, then I would lean towards the chemical block and there are tons on the market that are very good and I would lean towards a higher one. So instead of going for 30, go 50. So, even if it actually isn't blocking you, at 50, it's it's at least going to be at that, at that 30.
Speaker 2:Yeah exactly Worst case, reapply. That's another one that we're not really doing is we often put it on, do our makeup, or, you know, go out for the day and you're not necessarily going to start putting more sunscreen on top. So opt for like a mist and go heavy on the mist. Okay, when it comes to tinted sunscreens, you know we think like, oh, it's like also my makeup. Like no, you've got to put so much on. You have to put like a good teaspoon to tablespoon size of sunscreen into your hand.
Speaker 1:So we want to be generous with it. Be generous how often? Reapply.
Speaker 2:I think they say like every three hours um, I just got a missed one from sun bum. Which, sun bum, you can sponsor us? Love your products and it was really nice to reapply, but I really like douse myself in it because, again, if you're using it in any way, that's not the typical application where, like you're squeezing a tube into your hand and massaging it into your face, you really have to go heavy on those spray type ones on the spray type ones for sure, and then, if you're in the water, obviously reapply more often.
Speaker 2:All of those things are key, and another thing that I try to do myself and I encourage others is to wear sun protective clothing. Go for the big hat, go for gloves. Like you know, sometimes you look a little crazy, like we don't want to be scared of the sun.
Speaker 2:There's like a fine line we have to dance on where we don't want to. We don't want to be avoiding it. We want to get our vitamin D, but the sun is stronger than ever and we need to be aware of that, especially in environments like South Carolina, where it is always sunny pretty much and there's no avoiding it. So you're getting your vitamin D. Protect yourself and get skin checks.
Speaker 1:Excellent. All these recommendations are super helpful and if we're looking at these products just to be entirely clear, we can look at the ingredients on the back zinc versus more. The other products are going to be more chemical based.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you're going to see like mineral sunscreen, chemical sunscreen. They're usually their packaging's pretty clear on that and also play around. I mean test them out, see which one works for you. You might hear, like your favorite influencer tell you like this is the best sunscreen, but once you start using it maybe it's not the right one for you and go for trusted brands. Um, another kind of hot take on sunscreen is the U? S has a very old school method. North America is a very old school method on approving sunscreens and they use.
Speaker 1:I'm glad you included Canada there.
Speaker 2:Canada is included in this?
Speaker 1:I don't want to call out America, nor the.
Speaker 2:America. It's very antiquated. It is the same ingredients that we've been using forever. So you're not going to see a ton of innovation on the sunscreen market, and guys and girls are both going to notice this. It's not going to be something that's super unique to women, but when you put it on and it's tacky feeling, it's maybe greasy feeling, it has a white cast. Those are very typical of sunscreen and why a lot of people don't want to wear sunscreen because it's not always the nicest experience on the face. On your body maybe you don't notice it quite as much, but on your face it can leave a white cast. It can pill under your makeup or as you apply other products, like the I'm sure you felt kind of like on a linen or a sweater, a lint ball. It can happen on your face too, where you're like applying your moisturizer and your serum and then your sunscreen, as you're rubbing it in, it starts to peel off in like chunks.
Speaker 2:Very common of sunscreen and one of the reasons why a lot of people don't like using them. But Korea has really incredible formulations. You can order them online. They are much more advanced than us when it comes to regulating sunscreens and accepting new ingredients that are scientifically backed, clinically backed and, honestly, a pleasure to use.
Speaker 1:Yeah, wow, that's some insider expert tips right there. We can all start go looking for Korean sunblock.
Speaker 2:I'm game.
Speaker 1:I like that kind of research to find things that no one else is doing or wearing. Like footwear is a big thing for me.
Speaker 2:with that, where you're just staying ahead of what could be even more beneficial for your skin in this case, yeah, and there's so much of the same same out there when it comes to diet, culture, clothing, shoes, you know hairstyle. Everything feels like we're all on rinse and repeat because we're all watching the same TikToks.
Speaker 1:So I can definitely.
Speaker 2:I can definitely agree where I like to find what no one else is wearing, doing, trying and seeing if there's something better that's out there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. Well, let's go ahead, switch gears into more about your skincare line and before we get into talking about men versus women I think that's important because, as a male, I don't tend to think about my skincare and I feel like I want to think about my skincare a little bit more. I want you to think about your skincare Before we get there. Could you tell us a bit more about your products and maybe give us the hero product, how it works and the benefits from a wellness perspective?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So the moment that aha moment that I had with my mom where we said let's start our skincare line, we knew in our six hour drive from law school back to the farm exactly what we wanted to create. It didn't take much thinking, because there is so much over complication on the skincare market, and at the time it was the height of the single ingredient product. I'm not sure if you were watching what was happening in skincare news in 2019, but it was like everything was broken down into a single product. So it's like just your niacinamide, just your hyaluronic acid, just your glycerin, just you know. And then all of a sudden, yeah, okay, each product's like $12 or $6, but you've got 30 products on your counter and the customer was becoming the chemist.
Speaker 2:And even as someone who grew up doing skincare, loving skincare, researching beauty, I was so overwhelmed and my skin was overwhelmed. That brings us back to the perioral dermatitis, where we were using just way too many products on our skin and our skin was not happy. So it was not the situation of like more is better. More can actually be really harmful for our skin. So our moment was let's create something that combines as many ingredients and benefits into as few products as possible.
Speaker 1:Simplicity, simplicity yeah. Always what the answer is I remember having acne and it was like a three-step treatment, every time A little proactive in there. Yes, that's what it was, and now I link it back to my food and probably some stress.
Speaker 2:A little mixture of all of those things.
Speaker 1:You wanted to get rid of so many steps in taking care of the skin and do it in a way that smelled good and also was natural.
Speaker 2:Yes, I wanted it to feel good. I wanted the experience to be more than just slapping products on your face that you kind of feel forced to do. It's a ritual, something you're looking forward to. I wanted it to be simple and I wanted it to be for everyone. That doesn't just mean genders, it means ages as well. So my mom and I, of course, we're very different ages I'm in my 30s, she's in her 60s but I wanted something we could both use. I felt we were both really targeted from. You know, she was Estee Lauder and I was getting Glossier and I didn't love either product. You know we'd swap and compare and do our routines together and we'd both kind of go eh, like I didn't really notice anything.
Speaker 1:It wasn't really clicking.
Speaker 2:No, it was not. And I didn't really feel like, oh, I identify with this brand. I want this brand to represent me, like I don't really want, you know, a venture capital fund to represent my skincare routine and like how I feel every day and how I wind down from, you know, a stressful day of life.
Speaker 2:I wanted to feel like I was escaping with my skincare routine, like I was enjoying it, like it's something I could do with my mom and we can talk and catch up, and something we can share and feel represented what we were looking for and was a ritual and experience. And the farm felt like well, it changed our lives. So if we could bring this experience to other people through skincare, that could be pretty special. So it was more than just okay, let's make a product. Let's make a product that means something yeah, that's powerful.
Speaker 1:It's almost like trying to put an experience into the bottle, where it's more than just taking care of your skin. It's all about connecting with someone, maybe in your life.
Speaker 2:Yes, it's about connection and relaxation and ritual, and so that's really that's how our first product, inner glow, was born. We launched with one product which was different from what most brands were doing. Most brands launch with a full line, so you've got your cleanser, your toner, your serum, and they're calling that simple and it's like, okay, you just met us.
Speaker 1:You lost me at the word serum. We'll get there.
Speaker 2:You're launching a line of like seven products. You've never heard of this brand before. They're going to market you like crazy until you buy the entire line and maybe you don't love it and you've just invested your time, effort, energy, money into something that's not really doing anything for you. So we put all of our energy and all of our eggs into this one product. It's called Interglow Multi-Correctional Face Oil. It's 17 all natural plants and essential oils.
Speaker 1:Wow, so you packed a lot of different essential oils in there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we went to the lab that specializes in natural skincare. I told them my idea and I told them all the ingredients I wanted in it that I'd researched that were clinically backed, and they said that's not possible Really. So you got some walls put up right. No one's going to buy this product. To put all of these ingredients into one product is just not possible. I said please think about it. I've bet my entire life on it. Please think about it. And you know, just take your time, there's no rush. Get back to me A week later. She called me and she said I've got it no-transcript, all the vitamins that we need and might be lacking, and it absorbs quickly into the skin.
Speaker 2:I know a lot of people, a lot of men especially, feel like ooh, oil, I'm going to be oily, I don't want to feel greasy, I don't want to break out. We use molecules in it that are small, so they really absorb into the skin quickly that are skin similar Again. So the skin recognizes it and attracts it and just like it just plumps up your skin, it just soaks into into the skin so quickly. That's like one of the first feedbacks I get from anyone is that, oh my, my skin just drank it up like it's so plump and juicy right away users are quite surprised by the speed of the the oil soaking up yeah, yeah, because typically oils can sit on the surface of the skin.
Speaker 2:They kind of pool, they feel greasy. They don't work well with makeup or other products. Again, like I was saying, with saying with sunscreen, if you're going to put a sunscreen on top of an oil, it can often pill, not this one. It just absorbs so quickly into the skin and it plays well with others. I wanted it to be able to be used.
Speaker 1:Plays well with others.
Speaker 2:I like that I wanted my oil to have friends, so I wanted it to seamlessly adapt to any skincare routine. So we've got the skincare minimalists, who want one product. They're like I don't want to mess around, I'm busy, I have kids, I have a job, I work out, I do all these things. Like I don't have time for a long skincare routine. Boom, one product. And then I've got my maximalists who are like I use everything, I've tried it all. Like I just want more, I want better. And they slide it into their routine and it actually makes other products work better.
Speaker 1:It feels like inner glow definitely solved a lot of different problems at the same time by bringing a lot of ingredients into one bottle, making it more friendly for all different types of people and just quick and easy.
Speaker 1:I mean in health and wellness in general. We have to make it easy or we're not going to do it, and especially for someone out there who might want to start a skincare routine. Let's jump into that and then we'll circle back to how guys can think about their skin differently. What would you recommend? Maybe inner glow is the example here, but how can someone who doesn't want to spend a lot of time and take care of their skin, how would you advise they set up their routine?
Speaker 2:I would start from the top, so similar to your fitness journey. What are your goals? What are we trying to achieve with our skincare routine? When you look in the mirror, are you like? This bothers me. Is it fine lines and wrinkles? Is it dehydration? Is it dark spots? Is it all of those things which it can be? There's no shame in like I want to fix it all and so we scale back from there. Then look at ingredients. What ingredients are going to help tackle those concerns? We know niacinamide really helps with bright spots. We know vitamin c really helps with, you know, brightening dark spots. We know glycerin and hyaluronic acid really help with hydration.
Speaker 2:So you know, looking at the ingredients that do that fix the concerns that we're seeing and getting really specific with those concerns based off the product you're going to choose exactly yeah, so I want to look at ingredients before I even look at a product.
Speaker 1:Wow, I like that approach.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I want to look at my skin concern before I look at ingredients. So start at the top. What are your skin concerns? What are the ingredients that are proven to tackle that? What products have multiple of those ingredients?
Speaker 2:So if you're finding, let's just say, fine lines and wrinkles, one of the best ways to treat that is hydrating the skin. If our skin isn't hydrated, it's not nourished, we're not going to tackle those fine lines, they're just going to get worse. You know, if you're using a drying product but someone told you oh, this is the best exfoliant, it gets rid of fine lines, maybe not, because if your skin's dry and you're drying it more, you're kind of combating. So that's why I like to start at the top and I like to use products that have multiple of those ingredients and ingredients that tackle multiple skin concerns. So, for example, hyaluronic acid is going to help hydrate the skin.
Speaker 2:Hydrated skin is brighter, it's firmer, it's plumper, so that's going to help with brightness, it's going to help with dark spots and it's going to help with aging. So that's kind of the approach I like to take. And then skincare routines are overcomplicated. They're really simple Start with the water-based products and work your way up to oil-based products, or start with the thinnest consistency and work up to the thickest consistency. So the first product you put on your skin should be quite thin, be water-based, you know, like a serum.
Speaker 1:your favorite, so serums are going to be thin.
Speaker 2:Serums are going to be thin, they're going to most likely be water-based, so start with that and then move into your face oil and sunscreen, and that's really those are the three steps. Yeah, yeah, if you want to, if you're super dry, like, my skincare routine is serum um, face cream, face oil during the day, sunscreen.
Speaker 1:So yours is just slightly fancier than the average duck because you're in the industry.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I've got dry skin. And if you find you have dry skin, then that's something that you can really. You can, you know, add a face cream in if you feel you need it but you know you can also do so much leg work with serums and then, um, face oil is going to be like the most nourishing thing your skin has ever seen. I struggled with eczema and really dry, flaky skin, especially in Canada where the winters are so dry.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, and cold, cold dries out my skin like crazy.
Speaker 2:Yes, even down here where it's really humid, um, I still get dry skin. So I find that a face oil again cause. Our skin recognizes oil the most, it's the most. Not your skin doesn't produce cream, it produces oil, so it's going to recognize it and absorb it the best. The way that it healed my dry, flaky, unbeatably dry skin was really special.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, amandine it's. It's powerful to understand the process and to match up our skin with what it naturally wants, and then to simplify it. Yeah, let's go back to males and how they can think about their skincare. So for me, it's not a routine. It's not something I even think about doing. Yeah, what would be the approach there?
Speaker 2:I would take exactly what we said. I'd say what are your skin concerns? Is bothering you?
Speaker 1:what is bothering me. Let's do this mid-air yeah, let's do it. Um, when you look in the mirror, what do you? I feel pretty good about myself in the mirror, yeah, I'm pretty confident. Um, but maybe I I do need to look a little closer. I would say yeah, I would say a little dry and maybe some wrinkles like to the left and right of the the eyes at this period of time yeah, this is exact juncture yeah, well, it's because you're smiling so much.
Speaker 2:So it's healthy, it's good for you. I would say you want to tackle some hydration then, because hydration is going to help with both of those things. Um, you want to start at the top. So we've. We've tackled, okay, what you're looking for, ingredients that are going to help with that glycerin, glycerin, super hydrating, plumping to the skin. Hyaluronic acid, similarly hydrating and plumping. Um, you can start dabbling in retinoids when you're ready. Those are great, um what's a retinoid?
Speaker 2:a retinoid is like retinol or trent no one. These are typically prescribed by your doctor, your dermatologist. I love them. Although they're not an all-natural ingredient. I think they are multi-correctional, they're scientifically backed, they're safe when used properly and they do a lot of things at once. So I think it's a great addition to your skincare routine when you're noticing acne or aging or dark spots.
Speaker 2:Gotcha or all of those things Because there are times in our lives, especially like for women around their 30s, where all of those three things might be happening at once. You've got aging and a resurgence of acne because our hormones have changed Interesting. So, yeah, it's a lovely treat that you get to discover at some point. Maybe, Maybe not you, some people, a lot of people, discover around their 30s that a resurgence of acne because it changes our hormones. So retinols tretinoin are really incredible to increase cellular turnover and it polishes the skin. It leaves your skin baby soft.
Speaker 2:They're really safe to use with a lot of different skincare products, but you want to stay away from actives when you're using tretinoin. So I'd say, if you are looking to incorporate tretinoin into your skincare routine which I would highly recommend but talk to your dermatologist. Is you know, use a serum like I. We have one called do dream and it's a serum and essence and a toner and one that was our second product we launched because I found so many people, like we're discussing, we're confused about the steps of the skincare routine. They're like what's a serum step?
Speaker 1:serum and step one what's an essence?
Speaker 2:How do I use it? Are we still using toners? Is it drying out my skin? And I found, hey, we can actually combine all three of these products into one. And brands aren't doing that because, of course, they want to sell you three products instead of one. Understandable.
Speaker 2:Once again, the bank says sell more products, but I wanted to solve that problem, so we combined the three of them into this really beautiful mist that is all natural. It has a natural exfoliant that really gently exfoliates the skin so you can use it every day. And what it does is it softens the dead skin on our face so that when we go and wash our skin later, we're sloughing off that dead skin and you're left with like a baby facial. Okay, it's like a little facial in a bottle.
Speaker 1:I can get on board with that.
Speaker 2:Right, it has honey, so it's really great for acne. Honey is also really amazing for anti-aging, increasing cellular turnover. Pearl powder, which is an incredible ingestible but also great on the skin. It gives the skin luminosity and it is a natural peptide. And then a ton of other really great ingredients like witch hazel and rose and smells and feels like such a dream. And then after that I would go in, depending how sensitive your skin is. So my skin is quite sensitive, so I use a face cream and then I put trentonone on top and then I finish with our face oil and that is like the dream evening skincare routine okay, now you're gonna do the spray first, then you go to the face the oil.
Speaker 2:Then I go to a cream.
Speaker 1:You go to the cream and you finish it off with the oil.
Speaker 2:Yes, you always want to finish with the oil, because nothing's going to penetrate that oil, which is a really great thing. It essentially creates a protective barrier on the skin and so I love it because during the day it is, you know, keeping dirt and debris and makeup and sunscreen not directly on our skin. So it's like a cushion layer between all of these exterior stressors.
Speaker 1:Wow, yeah, that makes a ton of sense. So that that layer, those layers, are there before you go the makeup route, right, yes, yes exactly so.
Speaker 2:The face oil is creating a barrier to the skin, almost like a little shield to these exterior stressors. And then at night, similarly, I finish with the face oil because it locks everything in. So if you're using a serum, a toner, an essence, you know, a cream, whatever you're using under it, or you're using nothing under it, it's sealing the skin and things like air conditioning are really stressful to our skin. It actually pulls moisture out of our skin, leaving us really dry. Same with heat. You know if you've got your heater running, it's pulling moisture out of the skin and when you use a face oil, it creates an occlusive block and it retains more moisture. So you're going to wake up with really plump and bouncy skin.
Speaker 1:Plump and bouncy skin.
Speaker 2:That's what we want. That's what we want, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm tracking and I've just enjoyed hearing kind of the relationship between how we go about it so that we are protecting our skin. So it's more than just the conversation on sunblock. It's the conversation on what are we doing to create these healthy boundaries between the outside world and our skin.
Speaker 2:Absolutely On a daily basis. Yeah, there's a lot of external stressors, whether they're self-imposed or environmentally imposed, and we're really looking at how we can protect our skin and make it perform at its optimal level and be preventative about it, similar with our health and our diets. What can we do to prevent these known concerns?
Speaker 1:That's right Known. Concerns prevention, it is crucial. Amandine, we are coming to the end of our time together today. Where can our listeners learn more about you and your products?
Speaker 2:Yeah, you can find us amandinesolobotanicalscom. I try to peel back as many layers as I can through social media on our Instagram and TikTok amandinesol Sol Botanicals and just really be transparent about what it looks like to build this business and what skincare means to us.
Speaker 1:Love it, m&d, and it's also fair to say we'll have some collaborations coming up here at Palmetto Bluff and some of your products in our small retail shop.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you can come try them for yourself. There's samples, there's testers. Get glowing get glowing.
Speaker 1:Well, Amandine, it's been an absolute pleasure. What does wellness mean to you?
Speaker 2:Oh, that's a loaded one. Do we have another hour? Um, I think wellness, you know, for me personally is very intertwined with happiness. I think we can be doing all of the things that look like wellness. We can go to Pilates, we can have our special diets, we can consume all the protein on planet Earth, but if you are unhappy and stressed inside, then it doesn't really have that effect that we're looking for. It's kind of like we discussed with skincare and stress. So I think wellness is finding peace and happiness and working from a place of purpose wherever you are, whatever you're doing.
Speaker 1:Wow, well-defined Amandine Listeners. That brings us to the end of the main segment. Feel free to hang out with me for a few more minutes and get some healthy momentum for the rest of your week. For me, this episode conversation with Amandine this week triggered a lot of thoughts around self-care and asking the question am I really taking enough care of myself? Am I slowing down to the point to even pay attention to my skin? You know it's funny on air I couldn't even share one thing that I wanted to necessarily work on and I find that that could just be a lack of awareness when it comes to skin health. But I want to relate this to the high performers who are listening today, and I'd say that everyone who listens to Behind the Bluff I'd classify you as a high performer and that's a message to even pay attention to right there.
Speaker 1:If we're always going through life trying to perform, when are we taking the time to relax and to create more rituals versus routines in our life that make us feel good, that bring us energy and improvements internally? We all walk a thin line between trying to be an excellent human versus overextending, and what I've realized lately, especially talking with a few folks this week lately, especially talking with a few folks this week. There's a difference between taking care of things and caring too much. I think we're all wired a certain way, and there's many of us I'd put myself into this category who care too much, to a detriment sometimes to their selves, but to a benefit to others, and it isn't always what we do. We have to take a step back and ask ourselves the why behind our actions and how we go about things, because one question that I am terrible at asking myself, especially as stress comes into my life, or another ask occurs, I don't stop and ask the question do I have the energy and attention to do this well? And if I give this my energy and my intention, will I be able to stay well? Too often we strive for responsibility to the detriment of our health, and over-caring is one of those things that we do to ourselves. And so when we think about our tasks or our asks that are about to occur in the week ahead For this week's Healthy Momentum, I want you, before you say yes to anything or step into anything new, I want you to pause and ask am I doing this because it truly matters or because I'm afraid of what might happen if I don't.
Speaker 1:Overextension often comes from these stories that we tell ourselves. For me it's a fear of letting people down. For you it might be a feeling of losing control. I think when we can recognize why we're saying yes to things and how those answers impact our health and us staying well, then we can not only handle stress better when it comes, but we can build our lives in a way where we do create more rituals versus routines that serve us, that allow us to fill our cups up. So for this week, give yourself those two questions Ask do I have the energy and intention to do this well and stay well myself? And then, second, understand why you're saying yes to those things that cause stress in your life and ask am I doing this because it truly matters or because I'm afraid of what might happen if I don't? That's a wrap on this week's episode. We hope you enjoyed the conversation and remember to actively participate in life on your terms.
