The ABCs of Healthy Skincare and Smooth Skin: Antioxidants, Botanicals, and Clean + Conscious Care
We're sharing the ABCs
of Healthy Skincare and Smooth Skin
A = Antioxidants
B = Botanicals
C = Clean + Conscious Care
It's a Sweet, Skin Suite End of Summer Back-to-School & Back-to-Zoom Sale
Simple ~ Proven ~ Performing
It's fresh, it's safe,
and it's right at your fingertips.
"How do I get smooth skin that looks young and healthy?
This is a question we hear a lot, and it's a question we love to answer. If you're like many guys and gals, we want to get results but we don't want to drown our skin in hundreds of harsh chemicals to get the results.
There isn't a magic 'pill' that can be taken, but there are many little steps that can guide us down the road to internal health, mental clarity, and healthy skin.
Making choices for cleaner ingredients make a difference.
This month we're diving into the bottle ~ the skincare bottle. We're shedding light on what works with our skin and why.
If you're new to our brand, you're in luck! We're sharing a special on our most popular and performing skin celebrities... our Skin Suites. Our Getting Started Facial Kits are part of this special and it's what we recommend our new friends and customers to try at the start. If you're already a Qēt fan, you're in luck, too! Every one of our full sized Skin Suite treatments are also a part of this special, in each of our suites... Balancing, Hydrating, and Restoring.
Here's a quick video to peek at about our Getting Started Facial Kit. There's something for everyone ~ mix and match your full sized Skin Suites, or discover the complete suite in a trial sized kit.
It's time to send the chemicals out and let nature in. 🌱
The connection between healthy skin on the outside ~ and a healthy body on the inside ~ isn't a coincidence.
It's a choice.
The Benefits of our Skin Suite ~ Broken Down and Explained
Proven ingredients, high performing actives, and fresh elements mingled and married to become pure treatments for a purpose... nothing more is needed.
Sticking to authentic ingredients that are freshly batched shortly before sharing is like going to the tree, picking that perfect peach, and loving it! Opening up a can of peaches that has been preserved in added ingredients and preservatives might still be a treat to eat, but the body doesn't receive the same benefits as eating that freshly plucked and washed peach. 🍑
Synthetics, no matter how hard they try, just can't match the hundreds of constituents that naturally occur within each and every plant, flower, and botanical. It's easier and faster to grab a synthetic version, or a can of peaches, but we know that good things take time. Fresher is always better when possible.
It's a slow process. Watching your tree grow to bear fruit, or researching, developing, testing, batching, re-developing, re-re-researching, and finally fulfilling, labeling, wrapping, and sharing our treatments with you ~ it all takes time. We feel that when we get our treatments ready to share with you, it's like preparing a family meal for loved ones. We love to do it, and our bodies (and our skin!) love to eat it.
So... do you have two minutes? 🕰️ Because that's all the time it takes to experience and enjoy the benefits of our Skin Suites.
Skin Suite Step 1: Cleansing with our Cleansing Oil and How it Benefits our Skin
Never underestimate the power of a proper cleanse.
The very first award we received seven years ago was for our Balancing Cleansing Oil... for acne prone skin. They weren't even popular then, and now we see them everywhere and filled with additives. A too harsh of a cleanse will over-strip the skin and harm the microbiome and acid mantle. This often leads to an uneven complexion, bumps, and skin that has been stripped and starts to push more oil to the surface causing potential clogging and outbreaks. No good! Too light of a cleanser will leave traces of impurities on the skin, or the cleanser itself. Also, no good!
A cleansing oil removes oil, impurities, makeup, and pollution... completely and gently. Pollution is a harmful element. Even if you're not a makeup wearer or you feel like your area is free of pollution, always, always, always wash your face before you go to bed. Our very first award ever received seven years ago was for our cleansing oil. Now they're so popular, but they're not always so clean.
Below: Cleansing oils ready to go.
Step 2: Exfoliating and How it Benefits our Skin
Possibly the most overlooked step, and possibly one of the most important steps, is a gentle exfoliation.
The natural glycolic acids, prebiotics, and botanicals that are blended together in our herbal or clay exfoliants help to nudge the skin's collagen production. Dissolving the dead skin cells at the surface allow the toner and serums to penetrate effectively.
Properly exfoliated skin is softer to the touch and smoother to look at... because it is! 😍 The tone can even out, and it appears brighter and more supple.
Below: Exfoliants - Herbal and Clay Options
Step 3: Botanical Toning Water and How it Benefits our Skin
"Can I just use water instead of toning water?" A common question.
With 0% water in our toners and only botanicals and skin-specific probiotics, our toning waters are different than water. Well water, city water, and even filtered water are very different than adding plant antioxidants and elemental protection that we get from our botanical toners.
Our botanical toners not only provide the perfect pH and antioxidant environmental protection, they also help the serums to penetrate and apply evenly on the skin, allowing us to use just a few drops of serum to get the job done.
Below: Restoring Toning Water, Restoring Night Serum, Restoring Day Serum
Steps 4 and 5: Day and Night Serums and How they Benefit our Skin
We don't even formulate creams or lotions... we're all about oils.
Know this! Applying a singular oil is very different than a serum. Serums offer a variety of antioxidants, vitamins, and humectants that a singular oil can't deliver.
Our day serums offer UVA and UVB protection from various oils, and our night serums are richer to help offset the day's stresses and nourish our heal while we sleep.
Below: Restoring Night Serum
Back to the Basics ~ The ABCs of Healthy Skincare and Smooth Skin
Some people are blessed with smooth and clear complexions for years and years. I am not ... you can click here to see the "before."
For my routine, I make sure that every night I take my few moments to clean away the day, gently exfoliate, and then top it off with a mist of toner and a few drops of a night serum and the eye serum. It only takes minutes. Using a mask about 2-3 times a week is beneficial, and it's just an extra 10 minutes. If I get too much gluten, dairy, or use anything with false fragrances, silicones, or synthetics, you can see it pop right up on my skin. Even at 53 I still get those once in a while bumps and skin mishaps!
So why do these three elements, what we call the ABCs of skincare, make the difference in a skincare routine? Here's why.
A is for Antioxidants ❇️
Antioxidants are proteins (enzymes), minerals and vitamins that work on repairing and preventing further damage to our tissues in our body. In simple terms, they fight the free radicals that cause premature aging. Skin cells are compromised when oxidation happens, and antioxidants help prevent oxidation. Slice an apple and you'll see it happen when the skin turns brown. Antioxidants are warriors against free radicals. Vitamins A and C and E are skin-loving antioxidants, and they're naturally occurring in high amounts in our serums. Our Purely Suite offers a boost of these vitamins in their most natural form where and when you need it. We say NO to retinol and other synthetic vitamin serums as many are toxic and are already banned in other countries.
B is for Botanicals 🌸
Plants are vitamin powerhouses. In nature, nature is resilient. What we mean by this is that plants, leaves, flowers, stems, oils, waters... all of the elements that we use from plants contain many different benefits. There are high levels of antioxidants, nutrients, peptides, enzymes, and rich vitamins that help them grow, bloom, and share their benefits with other forms of nature, as well as with all of us. Rather than use a modified version of a synthetic plant part, or a by-product or part of an animal, going right to the source benefits our body, our skin, and all without harm to other living creatures.
C is for Clean + Conscious Care 💦
Clean and conscious are new buzz words in the care product industry. #cleanbeauty #consciousliving #cleanliving #consciousskincare ... these are hashtags that are beginning to really catch on. Full transparency is on the rise ~ yay! Since the pandemic has started, studies show that more people are reading their ingredients, more are becoming aware of the safety of ingredients, and more are taking a real interest in where ingredients come from and how things are made. Since we, at Qēt, are in control of every part of the development and formulating of our products, we know and understand the importance of this step... and the peace of mind it offers. Just like with the food we eat, we don't like secrets when it comes to what we eat and what's on the label. We feel the same about what we're feeding our skin, our hormones, our body, and ultimately our mind.
Talk about full transparency... Surprise! You might be surprised at these ingredients and where they came from.
We don't hide anything in the term "fragrance" or "proprietary formulation." We know what we're including in our formulas... and we believe that you should, too.
We've shared lists of popular animal products found in care products before, but you may not have recognized them to be what they are.
Here's a quick list of common animal parts found in other brands of skincare, makeup, perfumes and colognes, and other cosmetics. You may just be surprised at what you see hidden in labels.
Animal ingredients disclosed. What is it called on the label and where did it come from?
- Feces from whales: Ambergris
- Urine from various animals: Carbamide
- Beetle Shells that are crushed: Carmine
- Fluid from beaver anal glands: Casatoreum
- Fluid from cat or kitten glands: Civet Oil
- Cartilage, skin, and bones from various animals: Collagen
- Cartilage, skin, and bones from various animals: Gelatin
- Bone marrow from animals: Glucosamine
- Slime and liquid from snails: Helix Aspera Muller Glycoconjugates
- Feathers, Horns, and Hooves from animals: Keratin
- Fat and liquid from sheep: Lanolin
- Fluids from deer genitals: Musk
- Proteins from organs mixed together from various animals: Placenta Polypeptide Protein
- Oil extracted from shark livers: Squalene (not Squalane which is from olives)
- Fat from sheep or cows: Tallow
- Urine from animals: Urea
On a lighter, cuter note!
Below are our two pups... Chance and Posie. We're big animal lovers over here, and we're plant-lovers, too. We're cruelty free, vegan, plant based, and proud of it. 🐾
Your September Special
Ingredients matter, and our combination of antioxidants, performing botanicals, and clean ingredients make the difference. Our Skin Suites and facial treatments are for every day, complete care. Various formulas address various needs. Our Skin Suites can be mixed and matched as our skin changes, too!
Each Suite contains a cleansing oil, an herbal exfoliant, a botanical toner with probiotics, and a day and night serum. All are wonderful for sensitive skin, and all are pure and freshly hand made.
Here are the treatments that are a part of this current special:
Clay Exfoliants and Herbal Exfoliants
Full Sized Balancing Skin Suite
Full Sized Hydrating Skin Suite
Full Sized Restoring Skin Suite
Use code QetSkinSuite to SAVE 10% on all of our full sized Skin Suite treatments and on our Getting Started Facial Kits.
Full or sample sizes, it's a sweet deal for smooth and healthy skin!
Chaos
Caffeine
Curse Words
#parentlife
It can be a crazy time, but... we got this! A few moments of me-time and some feel-good self care can go a long way.
Self Care to Take Care
When there is much out of our control, it's nice to take control and enjoy what we can.
We can't say it enough... it's important to add a little fun into the daily routine, watch a good movie, catch the sunrise or a sunset, make a delicious meal, take a brisk walk, and give yourself some care.
We are our best health providers. If we can't care for ourselves, then we rely on our friends and family to help us out. In those moments of self care, let's make it count, let's make it healthy, let's make those good choices, and let's just make it happen. 🌅
Below: A glowing moment captured just a short drive away from our Wisconsin Skin Studio at the Rock of Gibraltar State Natural Area on the Ice Age Trail. Image via Daniel Kouba @driftingphoto
Thank you for being here, and thank you for your continued support.
From our hearts to yours, thank you! 💗
~ Lisa
