Why You Only Need 3 Skincare Essentials: Simplifying Beauty with Slow Botanicals

Skincare can be incredibly confusing and overwhelming when you’re browsing beauty shelves at the store or you're bombarded with ads online, and especially for us eco-minded mamas! We’re trying to make sure we’re not being greenwashed by companies who seem like they’re good for us, good for the planet, but it turns out they're not actually… 

I’m Katie, a mom, coach & podcaster focused on helping mamas to navigate all the aspects of living sustainably, and I’m here today with Chwynyn, founder of Slow Botanicals. We're going to unpack why you only need 3 essential skincare products and what they are exactly. Let's get into it! 

Resources Mentioned in the Episode: 

• Shop Slow Botanicals Here and use the code ECOMAMA to receive 15% off a single purchase before May 13th, 2024 (just in time for Mother's Day!)
• The blog post Chwynyn mentioned in the podcast: Love the Fragrance in Your Skin Care Products? https://www.slowbotanicals.com/post/love-the-fragrance-in-your-skin-care-products
• Another blog post connected to today's episode: https://www.slowbotanicals.com/post/the-best-skincare-has-to-be-sustainable-skincare 

WANT ONGOING DISCOUNTS FROM SLOW BOTANICALS AND 20+ MORE SUSTAINABLE BRANDS??  ⬇️⬇️ 

• Join us inside The Eco-Minded Mama Collective: our online membership program with several perks, including an exclusive digital coupon bundle -- currently valued at over $300 worth of savings! You'll also gain instant access to our vibrant online community, monthly challenges, giveaways, Q&As, and more!

Chwynyn's Social Media Links:
 
Instagram: @slow.botanicals  https://www.instagram.com/slow.botanicals/

Linkedin: Chwynyn Vaughan https://www.linkedin.com/in/chwynyn-vaughan-slow-botanicals2171a1281/

Facebook: Slow Botanicals  https://www.facebook.com/Chwynyn

Pinterest:  Slow Botanicals  https://www.pinterest.com/slowbotanicals/

Transcript

Katie Kurpanek: 0:00

So skincare can be incredibly confusing and overwhelming when you are browsing the shelves at the store or you are bombarded with ads online. And especially for us eco minded mamas who are doing our best to make sure that we're not being greenwashed. You know, we're not being sold something by a company who claims to be a specific way, whether it's ethically made or good for your skin, non toxic and all these things. And then it's actually not, so that can be super overwhelming. I'm Katie, I'm a mama, coach and a podcaster focused on helping mamas like you to navigate all these aspects of living sustainably. And I'm here today for a fun bonus episode with Chwynyn with Slow Botanicals. So welcome to the show Chwynyn. I'm so glad to have you here. Will you tell us a bit about yourself and the story behind slow botanicals.

Chwynyn, Slow Botanicals: 0:50

Sure, and thanks for having me. Um, so I'm Chwynyn and I've always loved plants and herbs and botanicals, plants, of course, stay put in one place while I on the other hand, has spent pretty much my entire adult life moving around and renting. So I had to be creative about how I could include plants in my life even without being rigid myself. So I always found ways to work with plants and to learn more about botanicals. And then finally, seven years ago, my husband and I bought a home with a yard on a peninsula in the Pacific Northwest. And that was like a dream come true. And the garden went in the first spring. But even before that, I was out with my kids behind me harvesting wild botanicals to start making skin or to continue making a skincare products that I've made for years. And since I was a teenager, sustainability has been a top priority for me. And back then it was called environmentalism. So that's been the most important theme of my life, I would say I've also worked in healthcare. And so my mission has been to create healing pure products that do no harm. And, as you say, are not greenwashed, honestly, that are sustainable. And so that's how slow botanicals came to be.

Katie Kurpanek: 2:03

Hmm, that's so exciting. I love hearing that story. Like I love hearing everybody's origin story who comes on to this show, and what an exciting thing that your kids are also involved in this with you. That's really something beautiful for them to experience. I'm curious on your website, and I'll have all of that linked in the show notes, you have said that we really only need three products to sustain beautiful, healthy skin. So that caught my attention right away. And I'm sure it would for most of our listeners, I would love if you could tell us more about those three products.

Chwynyn, Slow Botanicals: 2:36

So those three products are just a really moisturizing soap and a day cream and a night cream. And yes, you have to keep it simple if you want beautiful and healthy skin. And we're constantly told you need serums and face masks and you know, scrubs. And really most of them are a tough love or they're like junk food. So either they damage your skin along with the good that they do. Or they're pretty and they smell great or well, they many people think they smell great. And they are all beautiful with bright colors. And so it's kind of like junk food. So if you want to have healthy skin, you need to nourish your skin and nurture it. And you need to use whole ingredients just like you need whole foods for your body, you need whole ingredients for your skin, and your skin is the largest organ of your body and everything you put on your skin feeds into your skin. And so the most important thing for having healthy skin is to nurture what's called your skin barrier. And your skin barrier is both your bridge and it's your boundary to the world. And the most important thing for your skin barrier is to keep it hydrated. And so if your skin barrier if your skin is dry, then that leads to having eczema and red skin, all of your skin problems, rosacea, your sensitive skin infections, allergic reactions, etc. At the same time. If you have any of those reactions on you those skin issues, they make your skin dry. And so it's a positive feedback loop. The more dry your skin is, the more it's going to choose you have the more skin issues you have, the more dry your skin becomes. And so it's really important to keep your skin hydrated. And so if you use a really moisturizing soap, the oil sink down into your skin where they can stay there all day and most soaps aren't very moisturizing. And then if you have botanicals in your soap, they actually within all that extra oil it sinks into your skin and it stays there all day. And there are botanicals that do amazing things for your skin and I can get into those. You also want to have the soap the reason for the soap too, is that air pollution lands on your skin all day and you want to get that off. You also have old dead skin cells that are clogging your pores and oils that are clogging your pores. So you need to get those off so that your skin can do what it does best and that's stay hydrated and rejuvenate and grow new skins cells. So that is the reason for soap. And then a day cream you are again, it's the boundary. It's the bridge to the outside world. And you want to keep it hydrated, but you want something calming. And so you want a botanical that really calms your skin throughout the day, because you're meeting all this pollution and sun damage. And the stress of our lives also actually impacts the health of our skin, you have a direct link between your skin cells or the nervous system, basically, your skin cells like goes straight to your brain. So if your skin cells are not doing well, they actually release cortisol. So all these things are intermediated in our bodies, it's really quite amazing. The skin creams that I make, I also mix them with beeswax and so beeswax again, it's a really great barrier. It's keeps everything held in it's totally natural. And it has antimicrobial properties. And again, it's great for your skin barrier. And it holds in the botanicals. And so it's a really wonderful thing to use. At night, our circadian rhythms are in charge of our skin care. And so the circadian rhythms are those cycles of hormones that our body releases all day and all night. And that's why it's great to be able to sleep at night. Now I know that I had years of not sleeping at night. I understand if somebody will say, Well, that sounds really great. But obviously my circadian rhythms are out of whack and not doing what they're supposed to do. But at midnight, your skin naturally is at its peak for creating new skin cells and fixing the damaged skin cells. And so you want to if you can be asleep and then if you put a skin cream on again, that keeps your skin hydrated, has botanicals that actually help your skin rejuvenate quicker. And deal with all the damage that happens during the day. There. There's there are botanicals that do that. And those are the ones that I include in my products. And then as far as the damage I think we always think of damage is mostly aging. But aging is actually the tiniest part of what damages your skin. It's only about 10% is from from aging and the rest of the 90% as of all of the environmental issues, the sun, the pollution, hormones changing cortisol for not getting enough sleep, all of these things. And so you can fix those you can't fix aging that just happens but you can fix all those other things that are happening. And you can do that while you sleep. And again a an oil based product like what I use that's best because the water based products are filled with other chemicals to keep mold from accumulating. And so at 4am with your circadian rhythms, your skin actually absorbs the most. And so if you've put an oil based skin cream on at night before you go to bed with the beeswax to hold it in at 4am Your body will still be able to absorb all of that and that's another really great reason to use something totally pure. Because of your go to bed you put on a skin cream that smells great, looks great, but it's full of chemicals. You're extra absorbing that all the time when you sleep and if you put them on your kids same thing they're absorbing all of those chemicals. And so you don't really want that. And then those botanicals they're documented to prevent and decrease dark circles make your skin more elastic repair UV damage and pollution damage. They slow down wrinkles and reverse them and they excuse crease your natural ability to exfoliate that keeps your skin soft and smooth. They brighten your skin they reduce acne so yes all botanicals are amazing and they do all of these things.

Katie Kurpanek: 8:57

Wow, And then so the products that you create, is it pretty universal for you know anybody who has like dry skin versus oily skin struggling with acne like would you say that? These you know the moisturizing face so the day cream and the night cream? Are they pretty universally applicable?

Chwynyn, Slow Botanicals: 9:18

They are and they aren't so everybody benefits from say the the day cream. If you're still really young and I'm not really young I'm 52 I had my kids really late so I have older skin so I definitely have to use the heavier Night Cream. If you're really young still you can get away with just using the day cream at night and during the day. I think once you hit around 40 You should switch to the night cream for sure. But the great thing about this one is is a night cream is also incredible for eczema for spot treating it so if you have kids with eczema or you have eczema it works like wonders on a theme I have customers who have been looking at their whole lives for something and it works Wow, all of my products are the same. I have different soaps, like you mentioned, there's shower soaps that are really moisturizing, but won't hold the shape in a soap dish at your sink where you're all washing your hands all day, especially if you have kids, they want to dip their fingers into them. So I have salt soaps that are full of different sea salts. And some of them also have botanicals in them. And so that's an amazing space soap. Also great for hand soaps. And then you can also get in the shower and suds up and leave that on and all the oils really, really sink into your skin extra. They're gently exfoliating, and they help prevent infections because they're disinfecting and great and hot weather. You don't have air conditioning because they hold your shape. And yeah, at a really high volume sink while your kids are there, hopefully washing their hands. Even when you're not nagging them to, they can't do things like you know, love. Kids love to stick their fingers at the soap and like rub ruts into them. They can't do that it will stay hard. So okay, that's awesome. Yeah. And then I have some anti inflammatory creams too. Again, completely pure. My anti inflammatory cream has to botanicals and beeswax and olive oil. And that's it. And it gets rid of the itch of mosquito bites takes down the sting of wasp stings, any allergic reactions like that sinus pain. And so it's not in the category of the day cream or night cream. But you can use it, you know, at night, and during the day, I just wouldn't be the only one that I use every day.

Katie Kurpanek: 11:34

Yeah, yeah, it sounds like you have your three main products that are, you know what you're saying this is really all you need to sustain your beautiful healthy skin on a regular basis. And then, and then the inflammatory like that's, you know, if somebody needs that, then then it's there for them.

Chwynyn, Slow Botanicals: 11:51

And it's good for rosacea. And it's good for psoriasis. And it's good for first aid kits, really

Katie Kurpanek: 11:56

Yeah, amazing. And I know, we only have a okay. couple minutes left. But I wonder if you could dive into a little bit like, what sets your products apart, you've talked about the botanicals and like you grow these in your own home. And so and you're handcrafting everything. So I know your website talks about all the things that your products are free from, like they're fragrance free and dye free, cruelty free. But what in a nutshell, really makes like slow botanicals standout?

Chwynyn, Slow Botanicals: 12:26

I think what makes slow botanicals stand out is that they are meant to be healing and beautiful. So they're good for your skin, they're good for your spirit. They are good for your physical health, everything. And I've been against the environment and natural health since I was 20. And so to me, I could ever find a product that did what it was supposed to do. And then I also felt good about the ingredients label. And so these are just really guilt free products. And they are good for the creator. They're not using dyes that I'm inhaling into my lungs, and they're fragrance free and essential oil free, which is also important, meaning that you're not causing skin damage as you use them, which accumulates over time until eventually, you can barely use any skin products.

Katie Kurpanek: 13:16

yeah, wow. That's amazing. I'll, I feel like I definitely need to have you back on the show at some point to even just talk about those points, because that's like a whole other thing that we could dive into. Yeah,

Chwynyn, Slow Botanicals: 13:27

and I have a blog post on the fragrance and essential oils, why, How they're damaging, which gets because everything that I do so I work with what I call Wise Woman wisdom and sound science. So I combined the information that people have passed on for generations and generations about with both botanicals, with all of the great research they have have now have out there. And so that's also what makes me different, just coming from that viewpoint of a really, truly holistic way of living. Yeah,

Katie Kurpanek: 13:56

that's amazing. And I know so many of our listeners just really love supporting small business in general, and especially when they know that these small businesses are doing everything they can to be sustainable and environmentally focused. So I know that you know, at the time of this recording, we're releasing this episode, it'll be coming up on Mother's Day. So if any listeners are tuning in and thinking, hey, this would make a gorgeous, you know, wonderful Mother's Day gift. Maybe give your family a little hint hint and direct them to Slow Botanicals. I'll have that linked in the show notes. And then Chwynyn is offering something really exciting for our listeners. So also in the show notes, you will find the coupon code ECOMAMA all one word, and you can use that at checkout on her site for 15% off one entire order before May 13. So just in time for Mother's Day. And then for anybody who is interested. Maybe you're listening to this beyond Mother's Day, if anyone is interested in you know, long term like buying from Slow Botanicals and you would like a discount, then Chwynyn has now joined our 20 Plus partners that are offering exclusive discounts to the members of the Eco Minded Mama Collective. So we have a digital coupon bundle if you didn't know that is offered to our members in the online membership, and that bundle is currently valued at over $300 worth of savings. So that is amazing. All the business partners are like Chwynyn, very sustainable and you know, small, incredible businesses. So you can also join our collective at ecomindedmama.com that's linked below and you will gain access to this amazing coupon bundle as well as all the other perks like our vibrant online community monthly challenges, giveaways, Q&As, all the support you could possibly need to be an eco minded mama. But thank you Chwynyn so much for being on this show. I'm so thankful that you shared your time and expertise with us.

Chwynyn, Slow Botanicals: 15:58

Thank you so much for having me and Happy Mother's Day early!

Katie Kurpanek: 16:02

Thank you Happy Mother's Day to you too!