Latest / Skin Anarchy / Allyson Brennan, CEO and Founder of Emogene & Co.

Transcript

Allyson Brennan, CEO and Founder of Emogene & Co. · Skin Anarchy

0:01
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0:34
SPEAKER_01: Hi guys, welcome back to Spotify Hedarchy.
0:37
SPEAKER_01: This is Epca.
0:38
SPEAKER_01: Today I want to introduce you guys to the CEO and founder of the Speaker Line Imaging and Co.
0:44
SPEAKER_01: It's a beautiful line that is crafted by a pharmacist.
0:47
SPEAKER_01: She has a doctorate in pharmacology and has over a decade's worth of experience in neurology and neurosurgery, and also works currently in the clinical pharmacology field as a full-time job.
1:00
SPEAKER_01: So without further ado, I want to introduce you guys to Alison Brennan.
1:07
SPEAKER_01: Alison, welcome to the show.
1:09
SPEAKER_01: I am so so happy to have you here.
1:11
SPEAKER_01: I would love for you to tell us all about your education, your brand journey, just really what inspired you and what continues to inspire you.
1:23
SPEAKER_02: Gosh, okay, I'm long-winded.
1:25
SPEAKER_02: So let me see how I can like not draw this part out.
1:29
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
1:30
SPEAKER_02: So um I am um I've been a pharmacist for 13 years.
1:35
SPEAKER_02: I have experience in neurology, like you mentioned, in neurosciences, uh, neurosurgery.
1:41
SPEAKER_02: Um, that was my specialty.
1:43
SPEAKER_02: And when I went to pharmacy school, I did not originally intend to go to pharmacy school.
1:49
SPEAKER_02: Um, I am from Mississippi originally, hence the accent, did an undergrad degree on uh at a small private liberal arts college in Mississippi, um, where my high school had more people than my college.
2:01
SPEAKER_02: I mean, it was very small, but I ended up getting my BS in um psychology and fo and basically the minors ended up being all biology and chemistry and human services.
2:12
SPEAKER_02: Um, but that was with the intention to go to vet school.
2:15
SPEAKER_02: I uh rode horses competitively for about 11 years.
2:19
SPEAKER_02: And so my dream was to be get this, it was an equine leg surgeon, racetracks with the horses and fix their legs.
2:26
SPEAKER_02: And long story short, I ended up shadowing a vet who was like, You you will end up hating your job with the amount of time you have to put in to the schooling.
2:36
SPEAKER_02: And she really just set me kind of in a different direction of where I was, you know, I was in college to do this, but got the got my um BS in psychology because I just love people and connecting with people, and it's a strength.
2:49
SPEAKER_02: And I think that we all are built for connection anyway.
2:52
SPEAKER_02: Um, and it came, you know, it came easy to me.
2:55
SPEAKER_02: It was just something that naturally was part of who I was.
2:57
SPEAKER_02: But after I decided not to go to vet school, I'm like, well, what do I do?
3:01
SPEAKER_02: I am a chemistry nerd, I love medicinal chemistry.
3:05
SPEAKER_01: You're the person I hated in organic chemistry.
3:08
SPEAKER_01: That's that's what you're saying, basically.
3:10
SPEAKER_02: Well, you know what's crazy is there's times where it was easy for me and there's times where it wasn't, but it just was fascinating to me.
3:18
SPEAKER_02: I don't know why.
3:20
SPEAKER_01: You get chemistry.
3:21
SPEAKER_01: That's my point.
3:22
SPEAKER_01: It's like I have so much respect for people who genuinely just get physics and chemistry.
3:27
SPEAKER_02: Like you're yeah, uh, that's a that's a whole other brand of people.
3:31
SPEAKER_02: And I'm so grateful for them.
3:33
SPEAKER_02: I can't, I can't even no, no, I do not compute physics.
3:36
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, um, so basically, um, I started thinking, what would I what else would I like to do?
3:43
SPEAKER_02: And at that point in my life, pharmacy was something that was a very different career path than it is now.
3:50
SPEAKER_02: Now it's a very saturated career path.
3:52
SPEAKER_02: Back then there was a shortage of pharmacists everywhere.
3:55
SPEAKER_02: And honestly, I did not know the difference between the different facets of pharmacy.
3:59
SPEAKER_02: There's retail, there's there's hospital, which is what I have been since I finished my doctorate.
4:04
SPEAKER_02: Um, there's radiology.
4:05
SPEAKER_02: I mean, there's ambulatory care, there's all sorts of places for a pharmacist to go.
4:10
SPEAKER_02: And they are one of the most successful pieces of the healthcare industry in whatever facet they're in.
4:17
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
4:17
SPEAKER_02: Especially retail, because you can go and really die, do a deep dive on your medications.
4:22
SPEAKER_02: And a lot of people need that.
4:24
SPEAKER_02: They have several practitioners or providers that are treating them and they need someone that they can sit down and go through medications with.
4:30
SPEAKER_02: And so um, I decided to go into pharmacy because I love chemistry and because it was a a career choice that was going to allow me to do what I love to help people, but also like I was fascinated with chemistry and how molecules work in your body.
4:45
SPEAKER_02: But also, I wanted to be able to eventually probably have a family, and it seemed like a great choice.
4:51
SPEAKER_01: So I mean it's like the that's the Achilles heel for all of us women in science, isn't it?
4:56
SPEAKER_01: Like it's like, you know, we we just no matter what, that biological clock sets in at some point.
5:01
SPEAKER_01: And I never thought mine would set in, but I know it does.
5:05
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and that's the thing.
5:06
SPEAKER_02: Like, I am a total we've talked about this offline, but a go-getter, I'm an achiever, like I am, I'm not the typical Southern Belle in the way of um I'm the middle child and the baby girl of my family.
5:24
SPEAKER_02: And so hell hath no fury like me on a path.
5:28
SPEAKER_02: But um, but but it's so true.
5:30
SPEAKER_02: Like it doesn't matter what region you're from.
5:32
SPEAKER_02: Like if you want to find that quality of life and that balance, you know pretty early on, I think I'm eventually gonna want to find a balance.
5:40
SPEAKER_02: So I ended up going to pharmacy school at University of Mississippi, um, which is Ole Miss, um, got my another degree there at BS in pharmaceutical sciences, and then went on to complete my doctorate in pharmacy.
5:53
SPEAKER_02: Um, from there, I went straight into um hospital pharmacy, and that's where I got a specialty and a lot of training in neurology and orthopedics.
6:04
SPEAKER_02: Neurology is something that it actually runs in my family.
6:07
SPEAKER_02: My my grandfather's a retired neurosurgeon and a neurologist, you know what I mean?
6:12
SPEAKER_02: Um and for some reason it just came easy to me.
6:16
SPEAKER_02: And I just loved it, like I'm fascinated by it.
6:19
SPEAKER_02: So I focused on neurology, and so for 13 years, that's been my focus.
6:24
SPEAKER_02: Um, and then I became a mother.
6:28
SPEAKER_02: And after I became a mother and you really long hours at a hospital, and I had really reached a lot of the goals I had clinically within neurology, and I had some really wonderful uh physicians that I, you know, basically just partnered with on anything from formulary approvals, um, order set um development process improvements within a hospital.
6:51
SPEAKER_02: That the next step for me was I need something that gives me a little more flexibility, but also being that achiever, what is something that I'm interested in?
7:00
SPEAKER_02: And I never thought I'd be interested in hospital administration.
7:03
SPEAKER_02: And so I actually had an opportunity at a sister hospital of the one I uh was working at as uh a neurology pharmacy specialist.
7:11
SPEAKER_02: And um, the director of pharmacy is someone who actually was a resident under me years before, and he's wonderful and we get along great.
7:20
SPEAKER_02: And he said, I need you to come be my clinical manager.
7:22
SPEAKER_02: I need you to manage, come manage our group of pharmacists.
7:25
SPEAKER_02: He knows my personality, he knows that I can handle that.
7:28
SPEAKER_02: And so two years ago, I took that position.
7:31
SPEAKER_02: So I'm a clinical pharmacy manager at a sister facility.
7:35
SPEAKER_02: Now, where the skin care came in is um interestingly enough, it's so funny people ask me now, did you plan on this?
7:45
SPEAKER_02: You know, and and you and I have talked about this.
7:47
SPEAKER_02: I never ever ever thought on being an entrepreneur.
7:50
SPEAKER_02: It was not something I like organically thought about.
7:53
SPEAKER_02: It was not that ultimate goal.
7:55
SPEAKER_02: And now I've found myself in this and thriving and enjoying every single piece of it.
8:02
SPEAKER_02: I feel like what I've done.
8:04
SPEAKER_01: It's an interesting point though.
8:05
SPEAKER_01: It's interesting because I think women in science don't naturally get we don't incline towards entrepreneurship.
8:12
SPEAKER_01: You know what I'm saying?
8:13
SPEAKER_01: So when we do embark on it, I feel like it's a very unique journey that we go through because of I think the way that we're programmed to think about things.
8:20
SPEAKER_01: You know, I I was talking to Dr.
8:22
SPEAKER_01: Dave Gun, we were talking about the scientific method and how it really needs to come into the business um industry as a whole, because um you know, you cannot there needs to be a protocol, basically, right?
8:33
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's how all of us think.
8:35
SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, when it comes to business, we're approaching it like the same way.
8:39
SPEAKER_01: And unfortunately, you know, there it just doesn't work like that right now.
8:42
SPEAKER_01: So you know it's wild.
8:44
SPEAKER_02: Like if I I think I'd really just identified this maybe a couple of months ago, but um, when I was very little, I mean like four to five, I remember I was super creative.
8:54
SPEAKER_02: I love now creativity, everybody creativity means something different to everybody.
8:58
SPEAKER_02: And for me, it meant like drawing art, you know, painting, those type of things when you're very young.
9:05
SPEAKER_02: Um, I was super creative.
9:07
SPEAKER_02: I loved everything art related.
9:09
SPEAKER_02: And then somewhere in my young brain, I don't remember when I started to just, it's like a light switch, and I became very math and science, black and white based in my thinking.
9:20
SPEAKER_02: And you know what I mean?
9:21
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
9:22
SPEAKER_02: So I feel like this is I'm so grateful to be so passionate about this company I've created because it's come full circle.
9:29
SPEAKER_02: It's like I've married the creative edge that I feel like I lost as a child with the scientific background that I'm so grateful comes into play.
9:39
SPEAKER_02: So it's almost like I'm at this new place in my life where it's combined these two things and it's playing out in a very different way than I ever originally thought creativity would.
9:51
SPEAKER_02: And so I created Imaging and Co.
9:54
SPEAKER_02: Um January was was when I formed the company.
9:58
SPEAKER_02: Um, a lot of things have been into play, and honestly, it's because like if I can truly identify when this came to be in my mind as the maybe I should look into this.
10:09
SPEAKER_02: Um I was 38, so uh two years ago, and I started wanting to take better care of my skin.
10:16
SPEAKER_02: Like I was a sun worshipper growing up, southern girl, yeah, and I wanted to start to take better care of my skin.
10:23
SPEAKER_02: And I went and bought a very expensive vitamin C serum.
10:27
SPEAKER_02: And um, just being that chemistry, like that total nerd, I turned it on the back and I looked at the ingredient level.
10:33
SPEAKER_02: I was like, what am what what's in this?
10:35
SPEAKER_02: Right.
10:35
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
10:35
SPEAKER_02: And I never saw in this particular product, I never saw ascorbic acid.
10:40
SPEAKER_02: I saw something that was gonna be a synthetic version of it.
10:43
SPEAKER_02: And the majority of you know, vitamin C serums actually do use synthetics because they're more shelf stable.
10:48
SPEAKER_02: Pure vitamin C is this extremely unstable, unstable to light and air.
10:52
SPEAKER_02: And um, it's a wonderful product, but I saw it was a synthetic vitamin C product.
10:58
SPEAKER_02: And you know, there wasn't many other things in there, but I just started to do this deep dive on ingredients.
11:04
SPEAKER_02: It's really where it started.
11:05
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
11:06
SPEAKER_02: Um and I started to look at this in this chemical um chemistry background as I can make this for myself.
11:16
SPEAKER_02: Right, right.
11:17
SPEAKER_02: Really, it was so true.
11:19
SPEAKER_02: I feel like where where I started with this, and I think it was really driven by the passion I had, but understanding ingredients and what works together, what doesn't.
11:27
SPEAKER_02: And this goes further than just simple chemical concepts of oil soluble, water-soluble, um, degradation, uh, you know, the pH levels of things.
11:36
SPEAKER_02: Those are the things that come easy to me because it's just part of my schooling, but it's understanding what are the the principal pieces of what needs to be in something we apply to our skin to improve the health of our skin.
11:49
SPEAKER_02: Like that is the ultimate goal when I created Imogene Co.
11:53
SPEAKER_02: I want to first of all create a line that is non-fussy, that is effective, that is accessible from a price point, because I don't think it should be a luxury for people to actually improve the quality of their skin.
12:06
SPEAKER_02: I mean, our skin, and you know this, is our largest organ.
12:09
SPEAKER_02: And we take it for granted.
12:11
SPEAKER_02: And I don't think that you should not be able to be ex have access to price points and really wonderful active ingredients that are great for your skin.
12:22
SPEAKER_02: So those were my goals.
12:24
SPEAKER_02: And then the other piece of that is into improve the health of your skin.
12:29
SPEAKER_02: So when I focus on ingredients, I focus on and it's a natural line, you know, and I think that that is a very interesting take as a pharmacist.
12:37
SPEAKER_02: I know what synthetic ingredients do, and I know what natural ingredients do.
12:43
SPEAKER_02: And being a pharmacist, there is a time and a place for medications, for synthetics.
12:47
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I'm the first to say that and appreciate that.
12:51
SPEAKER_02: But I wanted to focus on natural ingredients and speak to the science and the chemistry behind natural ingredients.
12:57
SPEAKER_02: I mean, there's a lot of things that do not work, and there's a lot of things that do.
13:01
SPEAKER_02: And I think that that came from me becoming a mother.
13:05
SPEAKER_02: When I became a mother and I started to pay attention to what I was putting on my daughter's skin, I'm like, well, why would I not do this for myself?
13:11
SPEAKER_02: You know?
13:12
SPEAKER_02: And so all of these ideas and all of these kind of passions and understandings and science backgrounds all came together in one big moment for me.
13:23
SPEAKER_02: And I just started to go down rabbit holes of creations and experiments and what works, what doesn't.
13:32
SPEAKER_02: And I have a really great group of um, I've got a couple of neurologists, I've got um four dermatology nurse practitioners, three dermatology nurses that are more in laser anaesthetics.
13:43
SPEAKER_02: Um I've got um, and then I've got a really great group of people that I need true honest feedback when I'm putting things out there.
13:53
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
13:54
SPEAKER_02: Um, I usually have about a six to eight month process.
13:57
SPEAKER_02: And again, with natural ingredients, you know, there will be things I will not be able to make.
14:01
SPEAKER_02: Um, I will not be able to make the retinal um option.
14:05
SPEAKER_02: However, the cutiol is a retinoid alternative that is extremely effective.
14:11
SPEAKER_02: It's it's actually outperformed retinal in a couple of studies.
14:14
SPEAKER_02: So I've got those options.
14:16
SPEAKER_02: So I've got a good group to run these things past that will give me honest feedback.
14:21
SPEAKER_02: And I think once I had all of that structured, I'm like, this is pretty much an opportunity that I need to take and let's just put some things out there and see how it goes.
14:32
SPEAKER_02: Now that was January, and I started creating all this two years ago.
14:36
SPEAKER_02: And then when I started to put out, I have 21 products, but I started with five.
14:41
SPEAKER_02: And it's everything from face to body, but again, the focus is on natural ingredients, um, but also things that'll improve the health.
14:50
SPEAKER_02: Like, for instance, my facial oils.
14:52
SPEAKER_02: I think I might have sent you one of the facial oils that we have.
14:55
SPEAKER_01: And it's it's it's absolutely beautiful.
14:57
SPEAKER_01: But one thing I want to back up for a minute because you made a really, really great point.
15:01
SPEAKER_01: And I want to highlight this for the entire skincare industry.
15:05
SPEAKER_01: Um, we have to understand that in science and it's not just medicine.
15:11
SPEAKER_01: In medicine, for example, you get a case, right?
15:13
SPEAKER_01: And there's an entire medical team that's developed around that patient.
15:17
SPEAKER_01: Um, and most of the time the physicians are in you know in collaboration with each other, they know each other, they respect each other's feedback.
15:24
SPEAKER_01: It's not a cookie cutter team, you know what I mean, that you hire.
15:29
SPEAKER_01: So one my point is is that simply going to a lab and saying, in the lab, there were you know formulators and there were dermatologists and all that, you don't know any of those people scientifically, okay?
15:43
SPEAKER_01: So they can sell you the biggest hunk of crap and you're never gonna know that they're doing it, right?
15:49
SPEAKER_01: So it's very, very important um that we understand that because we, you know, skincare has to become a more collaborative effort, and I think you're you're really, really hitting the nail on the head with that.
16:02
SPEAKER_01: Also, I think you're muted because I can't hear you.
16:05
SPEAKER_02: Can you hear me now?
16:06
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I can hear you.
16:07
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
16:08
SPEAKER_02: No, I 100% you're preaching to the choir, and I completely stand by everything you said.
16:14
SPEAKER_02: And it's a very important point to make because there's a couple of different pieces in that collaboration that need to happen in the skincare industry that I am learning, even just this far in this journey.
16:25
SPEAKER_02: Is you don't just go into a lab and have a chemist and have money to back up a project.
16:30
SPEAKER_02: You have to have the complete understanding of the pros and cons.
16:34
SPEAKER_02: And that goes with your ingredient profile, that goes with what um the different types of skin that are out there.
16:41
SPEAKER_02: And and think from a complete, you know, basically just a complete human being, like what are all the things that you need for something?
16:48
SPEAKER_02: The other piece of this that I think is so important, and I have to honestly say this is one of the biggest things that has been so beneficial for my growth in this year.
17:00
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I started this and and I've got 12 locations that carry it, which you know, I'm also still a full-time pharmacy manager.
17:08
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I'm still managing people all day in administration, and then I come home and and I create the skincare and everything a small batch.
17:16
SPEAKER_01: Well, that's just your personality.
17:18
SPEAKER_01: You're a workaholic like me.
17:20
SPEAKER_02: I'm a workaholic, but but all of those pieces of you know, I'm not doing this full time yet, but the growth I'm so grateful for.
17:28
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's all happened, Ecta, because of relationships with people and investing in people.
17:34
SPEAKER_02: Like that's the other piece of the pie when it comes to this.
17:38
SPEAKER_02: So, you know, I in in my products, I don't have parabens and sulfates and and phthalates and um fillers.
17:45
SPEAKER_02: Like I don't have that.
17:46
SPEAKER_02: And the more that I have started to turn on the back of ingredient levels and know what I'm looking at, and you can pick out what preservatives, you can pick out what emulsifiers, you can pick out um what thickeners, you, you know, you can pick out the actives.
17:58
SPEAKER_02: When you start to know those things, people are sold a lot of items and not outside of skincare and in-skin care that are pretty packaging or smell wonderful, but they do not add anything to the quality of your skin.
18:14
SPEAKER_02: Now, that is what my goal ultimately was from the very beginning.
18:17
SPEAKER_02: I want women to feel good about their skin.
18:19
SPEAKER_02: I have a lot of men that use my things, but it's I don't want to ever sell them anything that is dishonest and I want it to improve the health of their largest organ.
18:28
SPEAKER_02: So a lot, I think honestly a big piece of this throughout that has been the honesty factor, but also building relationships with people.
18:37
SPEAKER_02: I think that when you build honesty and truthfully honest relationships and trust, that is what takes anything, any business, especially skincare, to the next level because people then trust you.
18:53
SPEAKER_02: And you also are not creating something that is this fussy situation.
18:57
SPEAKER_02: Like, and and that's the thing.
18:59
SPEAKER_02: I'll have people just prior to this podcast, I had a girl.
19:02
SPEAKER_02: I've got this really kind girl that honestly I've been following in social media, and for no reason other than that, I just really enjoy her.
19:11
SPEAKER_02: And she has really horrible cystic hormonal acne, and she's been to dermatologist after dermatologist, but no one has ever explained to her the science and the chemical background of your skin when you have hormonal acne, which is crazy to me.
19:25
SPEAKER_02: They just throw, they just throw prescriptions at her.
19:28
SPEAKER_02: And so I basically don't even know her.
19:30
SPEAKER_02: I reached out to her and I said, I know I don't know you, and please don't think I'm crazy.
19:34
SPEAKER_02: I'm not trying to sell you anything.
19:35
SPEAKER_02: Can I just send you some things?
19:36
SPEAKER_02: I want to help you.
19:37
SPEAKER_02: Like, let me just help you.
19:39
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and she was hesitant at first, and then turns out how crazy is this?
19:45
SPEAKER_02: Again, the power of relationships and connection.
19:47
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, her sister, and she's in she's not even in Nashville, Tennessee, where I am.
19:52
SPEAKER_02: She's not even in the state of Tennessee.
19:54
SPEAKER_02: Her sister and I have connected on a virtual women in business meeting who is in Nashville, like months prior.
19:59
SPEAKER_02: And I had no idea they were even sister-in-law.
20:01
SPEAKER_01: It's a small world, it's a small world, dude.
20:04
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
20:05
SPEAKER_02: And so she was like, oh my gosh, let's do it.
20:07
SPEAKER_02: And so I went to one of the dermatology clinics that carries my items in their dermatology clinic, bought some things for her, and sent her things that were very specific for what I think would help her, just send them to her, and created a regimen for her.
20:20
SPEAKER_02: And in three days, she said, My skin has never felt like this, and I've battled this since I was in fifth grade.
20:25
SPEAKER_02: Now I am grateful for that response.
20:28
SPEAKER_02: That's amazing.
20:29
SPEAKER_02: But I'm also more grateful that I created a relationship with her, yeah, that she fully trusts that.
20:36
SPEAKER_02: And she she was able to push that out to so many people, and I'm so grateful for that.
20:40
SPEAKER_02: But at the same time, I've had a lot of people that have reached out to me just seeing her story and her honesty and her transparency and me take the time with her.
20:49
SPEAKER_02: And they're like, Oh my God, what can you do for me?
20:52
SPEAKER_02: So, right before this podcast, a girl reached out and she sent me an order that was just it just came through, and it's a huge order.
21:00
SPEAKER_02: And I told her, I said, I want you to know something, I want you to start slow.
21:05
SPEAKER_02: Like, I want you honestly to feel good about your skin.
21:07
SPEAKER_02: And if you throw too many things at your skin and start a whole new regimen, you're gonna have the opposite effect.
21:13
SPEAKER_02: And so we started with the conversation of what is best for you.
21:17
SPEAKER_02: This is what I want you to try.
21:19
SPEAKER_02: And if this works, then you will come back and you can invest in your skin.
21:23
SPEAKER_02: And I'm investing in you.
21:25
SPEAKER_02: So honestly, long-winded way to say relationships are one of the most important things that we can do this day and age.
21:31
SPEAKER_02: And a lot of people are now connecting more with the care of their skin, the care of their body.
21:35
SPEAKER_02: This is where pharmacy comes in as being an accessible health care, you know, provider for them.
21:41
SPEAKER_02: They are focusing more on can I form a relationship with someone and trust trust what they're telling me and selling me.
21:48
SPEAKER_01: You know, it's okay.
21:49
SPEAKER_01: You know, what's interesting, I and I really think that this is like at the heart of both pharmacy and medicine is that there needs to be a plan of care for every patient, and every clients and every client.
22:00
SPEAKER_01: Customer, you know, because um the the truth of the matter is that we have way too many products in the market.
22:06
SPEAKER_01: Uh nobody really knows what anything does.
22:08
SPEAKER_01: There's not the research there to back it up.
22:10
SPEAKER_01: As I'm sure you're aware, um, PubMed is not nearly where it needs to be.
22:14
SPEAKER_01: You know, we don't have the articles yet.
22:16
SPEAKER_01: So my biggest thing is that I think the responsibility does fall onto the person who is formulating and coming up with these um, you know, the innovations in skincare right now, because we have to have this ethical, you know, platform on which we're standing.
22:32
SPEAKER_01: It has to comply with everything we learn as actual professionals in science, right?
22:38
SPEAKER_01: You you were told in graduate school that there's a level of professionalism, there's a ethical standard you have to maintain.
22:45
SPEAKER_01: I was told the same thing in medical school.
22:47
SPEAKER_01: Now, why is that any different, regardless of if you have a science background or not?
22:52
SPEAKER_01: Every skincare company has to do that.
22:54
SPEAKER_01: We it's it's literally, I think at this point, mandatory because you know, you can't have 59 products and then be like, oh, okay, well, you know, just pick.
23:04
SPEAKER_02: There's no way.
23:06
SPEAKER_02: Right.
23:06
SPEAKER_01: Pick what?
23:07
SPEAKER_02: Like, oh my gosh.
23:08
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
23:09
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
23:10
SPEAKER_02: You you are you're you're literally speaking to my heart right now, and basically my business heart, because everything you just said, okay.
23:20
SPEAKER_02: My goal with my company is never to put out products that are just not needed merely and purely for a financial basis.
23:29
SPEAKER_02: That that's just not for me.
23:30
SPEAKER_02: Now, I do think, and everything that you said, I completely agree with.
23:34
SPEAKER_02: I do think as companies are created, let's talk about skincare because that's what we are focusing on here.
23:40
SPEAKER_02: And there's missions put out by your by this comp by company.
23:44
SPEAKER_02: If you put out a mission but you do not truly live your mission, that is where there's a lot of contradiction in today's society in the skincare world that I've noticed as a consumer and now as a business owner, because you put out a mission and you have a mission for what you are doing with your company, but everything eventually turns to a different priority and perspective.
24:04
SPEAKER_02: Usually it's going to be a financial priority.
24:08
SPEAKER_02: I think that if you don't truly keep at the heart of why you start a company to create something, it's all a creation to create something that is helping someone else, then you're setting yourself up for failure.
24:21
SPEAKER_02: And it might not be that financially you fail, but you fail in the mission of what you created your company around.
24:28
SPEAKER_02: So when you're talking about the ethical background of that, you and I are taught that very early on in our schooling.
24:33
SPEAKER_02: It's not as we're being handed our doctorates.
24:36
SPEAKER_02: It's one of the first things they preach to us.
24:39
SPEAKER_02: And I think that in that your daily life, you kind of get in the rut of seeing patients or creating things or process improvements or whatever.
24:49
SPEAKER_02: But if you're truly not going back to the heart of why you start something, then eventually you just become not inspired by what you're doing.
24:58
SPEAKER_02: And that is a very important thing to me.
25:00
SPEAKER_02: And I think what I was saying earlier about, you know, creating something and having these ethical uh conversations, but ethical priorities and perspectives of what you're doing, it all comes back to humanity and human connection.
25:14
SPEAKER_02: And we are here to help each other and it gets lost on a lot of people.
25:18
SPEAKER_02: And what my goal is is to do that through skincare and not to put out 59 products and then not not have someone know what direction they can take.
25:28
SPEAKER_02: So I really think the growth of this company, it really started obviously as word of mouth, and then people trying things and being like, oh my gosh, I am my skin is responding in a way I've never done before.
25:40
SPEAKER_02: And they used to spend gobs of money on skincare.
25:43
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
25:43
SPEAKER_02: And they then trust me to come back.
25:45
SPEAKER_02: It's because I started that discussion with them in a trust, but also creating things that they truly feel good about rather than just merely for a financial basis for myself.
25:54
SPEAKER_02: Does that make sense?
25:55
SPEAKER_01: Of course, of course.
25:56
SPEAKER_01: And that is a I love that.
25:58
SPEAKER_01: I think that, you know, your priorities are so much so in the right place that, you know, I just hearing your your vision and hearing your brand journey itself is enough for me.
26:09
SPEAKER_01: I can I can speak from the consumer side because I'm not gonna lie, I've been a skincare addict forever.
26:13
SPEAKER_01: So, like, you know, if I were to not even know you and I and I heard your mission, that enough is enough to convince me that what you did is, you know, it's done the right way.
26:24
SPEAKER_01: You were meticulous, you were, you know, you were well researched, completely thorough in your approach.
26:30
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that is something, you know, we have to value that.
26:33
SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
26:34
SPEAKER_01: At the end of the day, it's not just about skincare.
26:36
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, my this podcast is skincare anarchy, but there's so many things that go into you know creating a business and a product, and you know what I'm saying?
26:45
SPEAKER_01: Like it's there's a lot, there's a lot of building blocks there, man.
26:48
SPEAKER_01: And you know, you if people don't focus on, you know, what is this company about?
26:53
SPEAKER_01: What is the founder about?
26:55
SPEAKER_01: You know, like what do they believe in?
26:57
SPEAKER_01: Do they think that they can really help me?
26:59
SPEAKER_01: Or are they trying to just sell me some crap?
27:01
SPEAKER_01: If we don't ask those questions, then we're gonna continue to be in an industry that's super saturated, and no one is going to make money.
27:09
SPEAKER_01: The people who should be making money are not gonna make money, and the people who are not putting any effort or thought into anything they're doing, and it's literally like a machine, or you know what I mean?
27:17
SPEAKER_01: Like a um just a it they're turning out products for the sake of it, they're just gonna keep, you know, it's like redundancy again and again.
27:27
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna keep having redundancy.
27:28
SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, I mean, I'm I'm totally ranting, but I mean, I just want to commend you on just being so level-headed with the business approach for your for your line.
27:39
SPEAKER_01: That's that's I think so.
27:40
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, thank you.
27:41
SPEAKER_02: And and I feel like you and I could go on and on about this for hours.
27:45
SPEAKER_02: And I I truly know that you and I are aligned in in how we feel about this.
27:50
SPEAKER_02: And you know, I will say this, and I don't think you and I have talked about this.
27:53
SPEAKER_02: So the my line is called or the company is called Imogene and Co.
27:58
SPEAKER_02: And Imogene, this really speaks to the honesty and and what we're talking about here about emission and and standing for something and not not really trailing off into anything other than what you stand for.
28:10
SPEAKER_02: Um my grandmother's name was Imogene.
28:14
SPEAKER_02: Oh it's E-M-O-G-E-N, and a lot of people um are used to imagine spelled with I-M-O-G-E-N, and it was just you know a different spelling of their times.
28:23
SPEAKER_02: But my grandmother, who I am named after, Alice and Jean, and my daughter, Parker Imogene.
28:29
SPEAKER_02: So Imogene's a very important name, but here's the reason.
28:32
SPEAKER_02: So everything you just said about a mission and what the founder stands for, I believe at this point in our society, I think we're at a place where people are starting to ask more questions and wanting a connection with a value, a connection with a mission that goes deeper than skincare that could be in anything.
28:51
SPEAKER_02: Um, other people are, you know, I'm a consumer too of a lot of different things.
28:55
SPEAKER_02: I mean, there are things that we buy and we're like, I need this.
28:57
SPEAKER_02: This is this is futile in my life to, you know, do my daily life.
29:04
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
29:04
SPEAKER_02: But there are things that are important to certain people that they want to really focus on knowing and feeling that connection with the honesty of what a brand is.
29:14
SPEAKER_02: My grandmother, Imogene, was a woman who could make something out of absolutely nothing.
29:20
SPEAKER_02: She stood for complete honesty.
29:24
SPEAKER_02: She came from nothing herself and made herself into something amazing.
29:28
SPEAKER_02: She had the most beautiful skin and the most beautiful nails, I remember.
29:32
SPEAKER_02: Oh, and and she was one of those hardworking women who had a garden who would make, I mean, her breakfastes were from absolute scratch every morning.
29:42
SPEAKER_02: You know, of course.
29:43
SPEAKER_02: Of course, it was just it's just this dying breed of just this honest approach at living that is not fussy, number one.
29:52
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's effective.
29:53
SPEAKER_02: Whatever she did was effective, and it was honest.
29:57
SPEAKER_02: And she instilled that in all of our family members and in me.
30:01
SPEAKER_02: And so when I created skin care that was effective, I mean, when I was started a vitamin C serum and I have a nice cinnamon serum that's medical grade, I started to create these and I was I wasn't telling anyone about it.
30:13
SPEAKER_02: I was just doing it for myself.
30:14
SPEAKER_02: And people started to ask, what are you doing to your skin?
30:17
SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, it's amazing.
30:20
SPEAKER_02: I'm making a boot, a bootleg version of vitamin C.
30:23
SPEAKER_02: And they're like, Well, can I can you make me some?
30:26
SPEAKER_02: And um, I think that when it starts like that, you know, it's so honest.
30:31
SPEAKER_02: But when I thought about creating the company and when I set out to actually do it, it was a no-brainer for me what I would name it because she stood for everything I want the company to stand for.
30:43
SPEAKER_02: Um, so, so not fussy, effective, uh and and it's approachable, and it is something that you can have access to and put into like anyone could use it, you know.
30:56
SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's a very streamlined regiment.
30:58
SPEAKER_01: It's a beautiful packaging concept too.
31:00
SPEAKER_01: I want to actually address that because when I first received the products and I and I was just opening them, it gave me that beautiful apothecary vibe, that really wonderful, like you know, when you just like discover a new apothecary and it's just like the most awesome thing to go through and like explore all the products.
31:17
SPEAKER_01: That's the same feeling I had.
31:18
SPEAKER_01: And I really appreciated that because I think apothecaries, you know, they appeal to like people who love chemistry and we love, you know, the science and the cool stuff.
31:27
SPEAKER_01: Like I don't know, it just it was it was awesome.
31:29
SPEAKER_01: So I just want to say to everyone listening out there that wait till you see the packaging because it's very um, it's very classy and it's very, you know, it gives a certain vibe.
31:38
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I I really like that.
31:40
SPEAKER_02: That means a lot to me because I really everything you said is exactly what I wanted to communicate.
31:46
SPEAKER_02: Um and it's almost like as a scientist, okay.
31:50
SPEAKER_02: So this is what's very important, and it's important to you being um a woman in science and medicine, it makes you reminiscent of something.
32:00
SPEAKER_02: It you reminisce to this feeling of apothecary that you appreciate as someone in science or chemistry.
32:07
SPEAKER_02: And then I wanted the colors are something that are just very aesthetically pleasing, but even everything down to the font, when you're picking, you know, skincare is one thing and you're creating, and you obviously need to have products that are effective and good, but you want them to have a certain, you know, you want a response to them.
32:29
SPEAKER_02: And the response that I wanted was exactly what you were mentioning.
32:32
SPEAKER_02: So thank you for that.
32:33
SPEAKER_02: Um, but also I wanted, I was very sure of even down to the font I was using, I wanted it to be a luxurious feel, but an approachable line.
32:43
SPEAKER_02: And everything down to how I will package the face mask.
32:47
SPEAKER_02: I mean, my focus is on the ingredient profile to not need, you know, 75 ingredients in one thing, and 69 or yeah, 69 of those don't even have a purpose for your actual skin.
33:03
SPEAKER_02: So for instance, you know, an example is the face masks are are sent as a powder.
33:10
SPEAKER_02: And the reason for that, and everyone gets an application brush.
33:13
SPEAKER_02: I don't think that someone should mix a very effective face mask with their finger in a bowl.
33:17
SPEAKER_02: I think that you should be able to have the feel and you should have the access, like I was saying, to do what's best for your skin.
33:27
SPEAKER_01: So do it the right way, give them all the tools, yeah.
33:29
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
33:30
SPEAKER_02: And so I dispense it as a as a powder because number one, the shelf stability of that is much longer than if you incorporated water and an opportunity for bacterial growth, but um, no preservatives are needed, and then it allows the consumer to feel like exactly what you were saying, a little chemist to mix what they need.
33:48
SPEAKER_02: That's a very important concept for me.
33:51
SPEAKER_02: It gives um empowerment to the person who has that.
33:56
SPEAKER_02: Another approach of that is with the Fortify Cleansing Balm.
34:00
SPEAKER_02: You get a little spatula and I love it.
34:04
SPEAKER_01: Oh my god, I love it.
34:05
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
34:05
SPEAKER_02: And you get to choose, so it's empowerment.
34:09
SPEAKER_02: And I think an empowerment's a very important thing this day and age.
34:12
SPEAKER_02: And then the Glow Vitamin C serum is again, it's packaged to keep pure vitamin C stable.
34:18
SPEAKER_02: It's a 15%, um, which it which is a medical grade percentage.
34:22
SPEAKER_02: But the other the other piece of the pie that's important is there's a lot of vitamin C serums on the market that are not even strong enough to be effective to penetrate your stratum cornea.
34:31
SPEAKER_02: So 15% is it's it's not it's not enough to be highly irritating to a lot of people unless you have very sensitive skin.
34:41
SPEAKER_02: But I package it so that someone gets to be a chemist.
34:44
SPEAKER_02: You get two um like 15 ml or half ounce of the serums, the liquid ingredients, and then it has everything from um from a plum extract that's extremely high in vitamin C all the way to hyaluronic acid and vitamin E and phyllic acid.
35:00
SPEAKER_02: But then you also have your powder ingredients in vials, and you get a little funnel, and you get to mix your own vitamin C, use the whole thing, and then you get to mix your other ones, so then you have a full.
35:14
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
35:15
SPEAKER_02: So, so what you're saying is really important to me.
35:18
SPEAKER_02: I love that you get that concept of empowerment, but also the chemical, I mean the chemistry and the apothecary vibe.
35:24
SPEAKER_02: So thank you.
35:25
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, no.
35:26
SPEAKER_01: I I think that it's beautifully done, and I think that you, you know, it's very well thought out.
35:31
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I think that's important.
35:33
SPEAKER_01: I I do want to ask you though, because I want to focus on your formulas, because um, you know, I mentioned the milk cleanser earlier, and I the reason I I want you to really go into this with me because that product, um, you know, and I've tried a lot of cleansers, I know there's like jelly cleansers out there and all sorts of stuff, right?
35:52
SPEAKER_01: But where did you why did you want to go with that consistency for a cleanser?
35:56
SPEAKER_01: Like what's the real benefit of that?
35:58
SPEAKER_01: Because it feels so good on my skin.
36:00
SPEAKER_01: Everyone listening, I'm not joking, my skin felt like a literal baby's skin.
36:06
SPEAKER_01: Like it was so soft, so it just felt wonderful.
36:09
SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, tell me the chemistry.
36:10
SPEAKER_01: I want to know the chemistry.
36:12
SPEAKER_02: Okay, so so for the ritual foaming milk cleanser.
36:15
SPEAKER_02: So, number one, um, the concept of a foaming cleanser is based off the surfactant consistency and the concentration.
36:23
SPEAKER_02: Surfactants are the main cleansers.
36:25
SPEAKER_02: We know that you and I do.
36:26
SPEAKER_02: Um, a lot of foaming um cleansers, the higher the foam, technically speaking, the more drying they can be to your skin.
36:33
SPEAKER_02: A lot of us, a lot of people, men and women, have a lot of their skin problems because they have a skin barrier that has been compromised.
36:43
SPEAKER_02: Um, I know you've spoken very in depth in in the past about skin barrier.
36:47
SPEAKER_02: I think I listened to one of your podcasters, and I was like, yes, yes, yes.
36:52
SPEAKER_02: And it it really comes from us using a lot of things that are too harsh for our skin or that we have basically stripped away the protective layer.
37:00
SPEAKER_02: Um so my goal is to have something that's foamy because it follows in a dual cleansing system with the Fortify Cleansing Balm, it cleans to the poor, right?
37:10
SPEAKER_02: So you've you've dissolved your oil, you've dissolved your impurity sunscreen makeup, and now you have prepared your skin to be able to clean to the poor.
37:18
SPEAKER_02: So then your treatment serums, your oils, your moisturizers can actually reach the poor, which is where they they give their benefit.
37:25
SPEAKER_02: So for that particular product, my goals were a couple of different things as I started to research and really decide what direction I was going for a foaming cleanser.
37:36
SPEAKER_02: I wanted low foam.
37:37
SPEAKER_02: Okay, so that's number one.
37:39
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, number two, I wanted antioxidant protection or antioxidant benefits.
37:44
SPEAKER_02: It has blueberry oil, strawberry oil, and rose hip oil in it.
37:49
SPEAKER_02: And those are very, very high antioxidant oils.
37:53
SPEAKER_02: Now, when you use those oils with a water or you know, surfactant, you you emulsify.
38:00
SPEAKER_02: And so everything, this is what you'll find interesting.
38:03
SPEAKER_02: Everything in that product is plant-based.
38:08
SPEAKER_02: So the surfactants are completely plant-based.
38:11
SPEAKER_02: So there's um amino acids that are derived from oats, um, there's amino acids derived from apples, and there's amino acids derived from coconuts.
38:19
SPEAKER_02: Now, that's different than coconut oil, which is very cometogenic for your skin.
38:23
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
38:23
SPEAKER_02: So all of your surfactants are gentle, gentle surfactants that give you the foam, but they also are gentle enough in their plant-based.
38:31
SPEAKER_02: So that was number one.
38:32
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
38:33
SPEAKER_02: Number two, with those oils, I wanted there to be a benefit of your essential fatty acid concentrations.
38:40
SPEAKER_02: And those are higher in linoleic acid.
38:42
SPEAKER_02: Um, and not to go really in depth of linoleic versus oleic acid, but I wanted it to be a pretty gentle cleanser for all skin types.
38:48
SPEAKER_02: So acne prone, um, dry, and normal.
38:52
SPEAKER_02: So I focused more on linoleic acid concentration rather than oleic acid.
38:56
SPEAKER_02: All three of those are very beneficial with antioxidant concentration, but linoleic uh fatty acid concentration as well.
39:03
SPEAKER_02: To combine those, you emulsify those and the emulsification process, and there's a lot of different options out there.
39:10
SPEAKER_02: I chose plant-based emulsifiers.
39:14
SPEAKER_02: So it is derived from olives.
39:17
SPEAKER_02: Um, and it all works so well that you know, the first couple of prototypes of that uh of the milk cleanser were not the consistency that it is now.
39:28
SPEAKER_02: Now, they they were a little higher foaming.
39:31
SPEAKER_02: I started to to tweak certain concentrations of each ingredient.
39:35
SPEAKER_02: And once I got to exactly the consistency that you have experienced, I was like, this is it.
39:41
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
39:42
SPEAKER_02: And the reason why is it's a very interesting consistency, it's different than what a lot of people have experienced.
39:48
SPEAKER_02: And a lot of people feel that their skin has calmed down.
39:52
SPEAKER_01: Allison, I've never had a cleanser like that before.
39:54
SPEAKER_01: I'm not joking.
39:55
SPEAKER_01: I've never no, seriously, like it's it's beautiful, it's a very like it's a luxurious feeling to it almost.
40:02
SPEAKER_01: Um, not even almost, it is.
40:04
SPEAKER_01: It's a very luxurious feeling.
40:06
SPEAKER_01: And um, I don't know.
40:07
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you're talking about the foaming, but I didn't feel like it was foaming a lot.
40:11
SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
40:11
SPEAKER_01: It was very like subtle, and but you clean everything off beautifully, but you're not dried out, your skin is not ripped, stripped of anything.
40:20
SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, please continue.
40:21
SPEAKER_02: But yeah, I yeah, no, I love, I love that you appreciate the science behind those things.
40:28
SPEAKER_02: And so, I mean, we could nerd out about this, you know, all time.
40:31
SPEAKER_02: So that's why I'm going into very deep detail about the specific ingredient profile of that particular product because you appreciate those pieces of the pie.
40:40
SPEAKER_02: So um, everything down to choosing what my surfactants would be, uh, which is what gives you your foaming um consistency.
40:48
SPEAKER_02: Um, it used to be higher foaming.
40:50
SPEAKER_02: I dialed it down a little as I started to tweak the different, you know, ingredient profiles.
40:55
SPEAKER_02: Um, the crazy thing is, is that like for instance, I've washed my hands with the foamy milk cleanser, you know, just to see.
41:02
SPEAKER_02: I wanted to see what it's like on my hands versus my face.
41:05
SPEAKER_02: The the foaming is so minimal, but the effect, like I was speaking earlier, the effectiveness of the ingredient.
41:12
SPEAKER_02: I want every ingredient to have a purpose.
41:14
SPEAKER_02: I want no ingredients that don't have a purpose in a in any formulation that I am able to put out.
41:19
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no fluff.
41:21
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, the effectiveness is it's it's just enough foaming to actually cleanse what it is supposed to cleanse, but it will not overdry.
41:30
SPEAKER_02: So yeah, it's it's just a it's a beautiful consistency, and I'm super proud of that product.
41:36
SPEAKER_02: And and it's a really well-rounded product for all skin types, and I'm very proud of that.
41:41
SPEAKER_02: So I'm really glad that you love it.
41:42
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
41:43
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, the whole routine is actually beautiful.
41:45
SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, for everyone listening, um, Allison actually handpicked out my routine because you asked me what my skin type was and what my concerns are, and I really, really appreciated you doing that.
41:55
SPEAKER_01: First of all, thank you for actually putting thought into that and you know what I mean, like really wanting to know what I needed.
42:02
SPEAKER_01: So um, when she designed um the the regimen for me, it was a three-step process, and then you explained to me as soon as I got it how to use it.
42:11
SPEAKER_01: So I was using the uh the balm uh cleansing balm and I loved it because um when I washed it off or I cleaned it off with a washcloth, I still had that beautiful like oil feel where it's like my skin is super hydrated and it was very soft.
42:26
SPEAKER_01: And then I used that next step, which is the milk cleanser.
42:30
SPEAKER_01: That I didn't want that feeling to go away, you know what I mean?
42:32
SPEAKER_01: When I felt that like really like soft skin, I was like, I hope it doesn't go away after I like a double cleanse.
42:38
SPEAKER_01: And then when I cleansed with a milk cleanser, it was like perfect, like the that feeling was there, but no greasiness, not you know what I mean.
42:44
SPEAKER_01: It was clean.
42:45
SPEAKER_01: I don't know how to describe this, I'm terrible at describing things.
42:48
SPEAKER_01: Um, but so it was a beautiful, um, synergistic, you know, experience.
42:54
SPEAKER_01: Um, I I really enjoyed it.
42:56
SPEAKER_01: And then when you put the oil on as the last step, it's like your skin is totally happy, it's all it needed.
43:02
SPEAKER_01: My skin was not craving anything else, is my point.
43:05
SPEAKER_01: Right.
43:06
SPEAKER_03: Right.
43:06
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, yeah, I it shows the amount of thought that you put into this really shows in the actual experience of using the products.
43:14
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
43:14
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
43:15
SPEAKER_02: I I really I mean, Ecta, you're so sweet.
43:18
SPEAKER_02: You are speaking to the work that goes into creating a formulation, and you appreciate that.
43:25
SPEAKER_02: Um, speaking about the cleansing balm, it that was such an interesting concept.
43:29
SPEAKER_02: I I've tried to decide between an actual oil cleanser, a liquid oil cleanser for double cleansing.
43:34
SPEAKER_02: And I put uh, you know, I think I put together um 13 to 14 different formulations and used all of those.
43:40
SPEAKER_02: Um and then I was like, I think I want a balm because number one, it's less messy, but number two, I had a very specific idea that I wanted to put into a cleansing balm, and that is a couple of antibacterial oils, and all of my oils are cold pressed, which actually will um will preserve about up to 400% of the action.
44:00
SPEAKER_02: Medicinal effectiveness of an oil versus heat, kind of a degradation process to extract an oil from a root, a berry, you know, um whatever it may be.
44:13
SPEAKER_02: And so I focus on very high quality cold pressed oils.
44:17
SPEAKER_02: And I wanted to put a couple of antibacterial oils, things that are really wonderful for acne-prone skin.
44:23
SPEAKER_02: And when I have a lot of people that will ask me, and they're acne prone, they're oily, um, their their tendency is oily.
44:32
SPEAKER_02: They have been taught through society, I'm the same.
44:34
SPEAKER_02: I happen to be an oily to normal to oily skin that we strip the oil out, strip the oil out, strip the oil out.
44:41
SPEAKER_02: Well, what we do to our actual skin is number one, we compromise our skin barrier, like I was speaking about earlier.
44:46
SPEAKER_02: The other thing we'll do is that our our oil production in our body is a protective mechanism, but it's also a feedback loop.
44:54
SPEAKER_02: And you and I understand the feedback loop.
44:56
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
44:56
SPEAKER_02: So when you start to strip oil out, your skin freaks out and it's like, oh gosh, I need to protect it.
45:03
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
45:03
SPEAKER_02: The kind of skin isn't working.
45:05
SPEAKER_01: So if we're farming, positive feedback.
45:07
SPEAKER_02: Positive feedback.
45:08
SPEAKER_02: So it upregulates the oil production.
45:10
SPEAKER_02: And what happens is this is why people tend to be over-oily and then they don't know how to cleanse to the pore.
45:16
SPEAKER_02: And so dirt sits in the pores and then they have acne, they're acne prone or blemish-prone.
45:21
SPEAKER_02: So when you can get someone who has that skin type to trust you enough to say, let me tell you, I need you to really trust me on the facial oils that I offer, but also on this oil to put on your face to cleanse before you foam cleanse.
45:35
SPEAKER_02: The minute that they see that and they start to see a benefit in their skin, they are on the train.
45:40
SPEAKER_02: They understand, they trust you and they trust their product.
45:44
SPEAKER_02: So for a bomb, for me, I wanted it to have really high um uh high quality cold repressed oils that had an antibacterial um approach to them, more than tea tree.
45:57
SPEAKER_02: We all, you know, know about tea tree.
45:59
SPEAKER_02: I wanted it to be uh Manuka is one that's in there.
46:02
SPEAKER_02: Manuka is actually a cousin of tea tree and it's 20 times more antibacterial than tea tree.
46:06
SPEAKER_03: Oh, wow.
46:08
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, blue tainsy is in it.
46:09
SPEAKER_02: Blue tainsy is just chopped full of of so much nutrition for your skin and for blemish and acne-prone skin.
46:16
SPEAKER_02: The other piece of this is that I wanted it to have, I don't truly um believe in physical exfoliation.
46:21
SPEAKER_02: I think that that is how we break down our our barrier.
46:23
SPEAKER_02: I actually use enzyme exfoliation in one of my masks.
46:27
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
46:27
SPEAKER_02: Enzymes are unbelievable at digesting dead skin cells and doing the job that we need for exfoliation, but that's for another another talk.
46:36
SPEAKER_02: Um but one of the things that I wanted was something that gave nutrition back to the skin.
46:41
SPEAKER_02: So I focused on spirulina.
46:43
SPEAKER_02: Spirulina is such a superfood, and that's why it's a green color, but also it looks like war paint going on.
46:50
SPEAKER_02: But there's a clay, there's a gentle clay in it because that absorbs the oil from your skin.
46:56
SPEAKER_02: But the other piece of this was spirulina, the actual consistency of spirulina gives the tiniest, most gentle piece of physical exfoliation that is not harsh enough to ever strip uh your skin or be harsh to your skin, or cause any kind of micro-tearing or anything.
47:14
SPEAKER_01: No micro-tears.
47:15
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it absolutely cannot do that.
47:17
SPEAKER_02: So not only are you getting that feel that society has taught us that we need to physically exfoliate.
47:23
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, please don't do that.
47:24
SPEAKER_02: Don't go take any salt or or sugar and put it on your face.
47:28
SPEAKER_02: But it gives you that, but at the same time, you are giving your skin iron, really, really high concentrations of uh there's some vitamin A.
47:37
SPEAKER_02: And you know, that's the natural vitamin where retinol is derived from.
47:41
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, there's vitamin K, and there's there's serious minerals in that.
47:45
SPEAKER_02: So you're giving that to your skin while you're also cleaning the oil, cleaning impurities, and it takes makeup off like no other.
47:53
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
47:53
SPEAKER_02: So that is what gives you that nice bright glow that then you will follow with a foaming cleanser, and you've not stripped anything out of your face.
48:00
SPEAKER_02: You've cleansed it without stripping any of that protective bearness.
48:03
SPEAKER_01: You've nourished it, if anything.
48:05
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's nourishing because that's how it feels.
48:08
SPEAKER_01: I'm I mean, I'm not even just exaggerating.
48:10
SPEAKER_01: When I use it, I know exactly what you're talking about.
48:12
SPEAKER_01: There's like a little bead effect to it, but it's almost not noticeable at all, actually.
48:17
SPEAKER_01: It's it's there, you know it's there, but yeah, there's no feeling of what a typical uh physical exfoliator feels like.
48:23
SPEAKER_01: So exactly, yeah.
48:25
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so again, you know, that goes into someone who really wants to make sure there is a purpose behind every ingredient.
48:31
SPEAKER_02: So that was that's the purpose behind that balm, and and it's a great product.
48:35
SPEAKER_02: I'm really proud of that.
48:36
SPEAKER_02: So I'm I'm glad that you appreciate the synergistic feel because that was the purpose.
48:41
SPEAKER_02: I I created the milk cleanser after the balm, and it the purpose was for them to work synergistically together.
48:47
SPEAKER_01: So well, I love that, and I love that that you know it was like once again, scientific process.
48:53
SPEAKER_01: We can't get it, you know, that's how we are, that's how we're wired, that's how we create things, you know what I mean?
48:59
SPEAKER_01: So I mean, you've done such a beautiful job, Alison.
49:02
SPEAKER_01: I could, I mean, obviously, you and I are can talk for hours, you know, and I want to actually do a series with you at one point.
49:09
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'm I'll tell you more about this, but because the chemistry and the beautiful way that you're describing this is exactly what need people need.
49:17
SPEAKER_01: And I, you know, and I urge everyone listening out there, you know, do your homework and then realize that people like Allison, people professionals, you know, they are the people that really know what's going on on a molecular level.
49:31
SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, and that is a real it's education.
49:34
SPEAKER_01: That is years and years of education.
49:37
SPEAKER_01: So please trust that, you know.
49:39
SPEAKER_01: Um, it there's nothing wrong.
49:40
SPEAKER_01: You know, again, Dr.
49:41
SPEAKER_01: Daven made a great point.
49:42
SPEAKER_01: There's nothing wrong with using um, you know, something that feels good to you.
49:47
SPEAKER_01: You you know, you like the smell of it or you like the packaging of it.
49:50
SPEAKER_01: That's that's a beautiful thing.
49:51
SPEAKER_01: I love that too.
49:52
SPEAKER_01: But please give the appreciation that is um, you know, required for medical grade skincare, such as your so you guys, I just want to urge you to please go check out Imogene and Co.
50:05
SPEAKER_01: Um, it's a beautiful, beautiful line.
50:07
SPEAKER_01: Um, as you've heard here directly from Allison Um and myself, it is um something that I think every skincare line should kind of be striving to do, which is make a more um personalized approach to skincare and skin health for all the customers that they have.
50:23
SPEAKER_01: But um, you know, I just I hope you check it out and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.
50:27
SPEAKER_01: Um I really love supporting small businesses, and um I think indie skincare is really kind of the next, you know, the next wave in um taking skin health further and and making new discoveries.
50:38
SPEAKER_01: So I want to start ranting, but um go check them out.
50:42
SPEAKER_01: Leave us some comments in the cover art for this episode.
50:44
SPEAKER_01: If you have any questions for Allison, please uh share them in the comments and I will definitely pass them along.
50:49
SPEAKER_01: Um I hope you enjoyed another episode.
50:52
SPEAKER_01: We are really, really thrilled um to be bringing you guys this content.
50:56
SPEAKER_01: So we would appreciate it if you could rate us on Spotify, iTunes, wherever it is that you listen to us on.
51:02
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, um, if you guys ever have any questions or ideas, uh shoot us an email.
51:08
SPEAKER_01: We're open to pretty much everything in terms of skin health and taking this conversation further.
51:14
SPEAKER_01: Anyways, thank you so much, guys.
51:15
SPEAKER_01: I'll be back next time with an awesome guest.
51:22
SPEAKER_01: Hey guys, so I hope you love that episode.
51:25
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52:30
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