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YOUR SKINCARE SHOULD BE SIMPLE
We've taken Organic Maracuja Oil and infused it with Organic Calendula Flowers to harness the powers of both plants without any superfluous ingredients that can clog and irritate reactive skin.
Recently, we added Tamanu Oil to our line. After experiencing its rather miraculous effects on rosacea acne, we felt it was an essential and want others to benefit from it's remarkable skin healing properties. Happily, customers are loving it as much as we do!
Why Face Oils?
WHY OIL?
Face oils have been getting a lot of attention over the past few years, and for good reason. Lotions and creams contain water and oil soluble ingredients, requiring emulsifiers to keep them from separating. The emulsifiers are not active ingredients—they don't do anything for your skin and often work against your skin goals. Lotions and creams also contain other inactive ingredients such as fillers, waxes and preservatives used to create consistency and extend shelf life. Even natural waxes and preservatives can clog and irritate highly sensitive skin. Lastly, they usually contain perfumes which, despite how seductive and nostalgic those scents can be, are known irritants.
Essentially, lotions and creams have a lot of ingredients that create a nice aesthetic experience, but don't do much for your skin and can actually make it worse. If you get rid of those ingredients, you are left with those that actually do the moisturizing - oils. Oils contain a spectrum of essential fatty acids that can moisturize, balance sebum and control acne. They also contain other incredible skin conditioners such as anti-oxidants, vitamins that keep skin supple and bright, and actives that lower inflammation and repair damage.
But many face oils can still be bad for your skin. They often contain oils and wax esters (like jojoba) that are too heavy for sensitive or acne prone skin. Most have essential oils, and some kind of preservative like rosemary extract, all of which, however natural, can irritate skin. They can also have so many ingredients that it remains difficult to troubleshoot skin complications or reactions.
That's why we've made an oil with only two ingredients. We narrowed it down to two power packed plants that we fell in love with—Maracuja and Calendula—and left everything else out.
What Is Calendula Oil?
WHAT IS CALENDULA OIL?
Calendula oil is actually any oil in which Calendula Flowers have been soaked for a length of time. This process is called "infusion" because the oil becomes infused with the compounds of the plant. Most Calendula oil on the market is made with olive, soybean, or sunflower oil. Unfortunately, olive oil can be problematic for many skin types as it is quite heavy. While soybean and sunflower oils are relatively innocuous, they are widely produced and often genetically modified to adjust essential fatty acid ratios, making it difficult to know specifically what you're getting.
Calendula has long been used in skin treatments because of its wound healing, anti-inflammatory, anti-mircrobial and anti-fungal properties. Since our founder has struggled with rosacea, she wanted all of the long touted skin healing benefits of Calendula, but in an unadulterated, undiluted base of her oil of choice: Maracuja. So she decided to do a direct infusion.
Why Marcuja
WHY MARCUJA?
These little seeds are the source of a magnificent vine plant that bears fruit and flowers — the maracuja plant. The delicious fruits, commonly known as passion fruit, are loaded with Potassium, Magnesium, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron and Fiber. They are high in antioxidants, improving blood flow to the brain and nervous system and reducing cellular stress and inflammation. The flowers are used by herbalists to help with anxiety, stress, restlessness and disturbed sleep, often as a tea. After the fruits and flowers are harvested, the seeds are dried and pressed for their equally potent oil.
Of all the oils low on the comedogenic scale (those that are least pore clogging), we found that Maracuja oil has the best absorption rate and skin feel. It balanced our skin, cleared it up and gave it a kind of radiant glow that we haven't experienced with any other oil we've tried, and we've tried a lot.
Maracuja actually penetrates the epidermis, rather than sitting on top of the skin like heavier oils do. It is good for both oily and dry skin because it absorbs quickly and balances oil production. Skin will feel moisturized without being greasy. Remarkably high in antioxidants, it is an excellent free-radical scavenger. It contains soothing minerals as well as Vitamin A, Vitamin C and lycopene, all of which work together to boost collagen production, help heal sun damage and brighten skin. Maracuja has a very high level of linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid that is often lacking in acne prone skin, as well as anti-inflammatory compounds, making it a great option for skin that is irritated, inflamed, broken out or damaged.
Why Tamanu Oil?
WHY TAMANU OIL?
Tamanu was the last puzzle piece to completely clearing my rosacea breakouts. While the Maracuja + Calendula Oil kept my skin well moisturized and calm, it seemed to have no effect on a very tenacious and elusive case of rosacea acne that was festering around my mouth and nose for years — it neither made it worse, nor better.
In my extensive research on oils, I began reading about Tamanu Oil. Tamanu has many affectionate nicknames: "Beauty Leaf Oil" (because of the tree's gorgeous green leaves), "Forgotten Medicinal Miracle", "First Aid Oil" and "Green Gold" to name a few. Hailing from the South Pacific, it was the Polynesian go-to remedy for anything skin related. It is commonly used for wound healing and for treating acne.
After having had no luck with dermatological treatments and an endless array of other "natural" topicals over the course of two years, I decided to follow my hunch and try Tamanu. I slathered it on the red spots all around my mouth and went to bed. By the next morning my face was about 65% clear. Within 5 days all of the blemishes were gone and they have never returned. This is why I've dubbed Tamanu Oil my "Green Miracle". (You can see my before and after photos on the product page).
Tamanu demonstrates significant antimicrobial activity which helps destroy acne and other bacterial skin diseases. It contains powerful anti-inflammatories, including
calophyllolide (4-phenylcoumarin) and several xanthones, which help heal rashes and sores. It also contains calophyllic acid, which minimizes the appearance of old and new scars. While Tamanu is rather thick in feel, it absorbs very quickly, penetrating all three layers of the skin. It provides excellent moisture without ever feeling greasy. Tamanu can help reduce wrinkles, strengthen the skin barrier, sooth symptoms of psoriasis and, in many cases, eradicate certain types of rosacea acne.
Tamanu Oil should only be used externally as the plant is actually toxic to ingest. It is a beautiful, dark bluish-green color, thick but not greasy, and has a nutty, slightly smokey smell. (Some Tamanu Oils actually smell like burnt rubber! Mercifully, ours does not).
More and more brands and consumers are becoming aware of this incredible oil. I see it popping up in new formulas with greater frequency. I personally prefer not to dilute it. That being said, it works in great harmony with our Maracuja + Calendula Oil. They can be layered, or combined and applied together. Some like to use Tamanu Oil in the evening and Maracuja + Calendula Oil in the morning.
I always recommend that anyone with rosacea try Tamanu Oil above all else.
TIPS FOR HIGHLY SENSITIVE SKIN
TIPS FOR HIGHLY SENSITIVE SKIN
If you are bouncing around between lots of products, CEASE AND DESIST. It's very important to pair down to the simplest of ingredients so that you can troubleshoot what is working for you and what isn't. Chances are the products you're using are causing more problems.
Less is more. Plants are full of powerful actives. Many single, essential ingredients, like Maracuja Oil and Tamanu Oil, will do everything you want your skincare to do. It's not a good idea and not necessary to overload your skin with redundant ingredients.
Just because something is "natural" or plant based doesn't mean it won't do any harm. Avoid putting products on your face that contain waxes, wax esthers, heavy oils, shea butter, witch hazel, essential oils or rosemary extract (a common preservative in natural skincare products).
Be wary of excessive exfoliation, and never use "physical exfoliators". Physical exfoliators are those that contain abrasive materials like beads, bran, sugar, salt, ground nut shells (the worst!), etc... They physically slough off dry, dead skin in the same manner as sand paper. "Chemical exfoliators" on other other hand, use enzymes and/or acids to dissolve dead skin away. The latter is preferable for highly sensitive skin, but should still be done sparingly and only with a fruit enzyme formula. Very often, irritated skin is already in over-drive and over exfoliating itself! So, take it easy with this stuff and refrain from doing it at all when skin is irritated.
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