Finally I can dedicate some time in my blog to a project that I´ve been working on behind the scenes for a year. Some of you might have heard about this project in my interview with Minttu Vesala Fashion Show in Radio Helsinki about a year ago. I´ve kept pretty quiet about this project, save a couple random Instagram posts because I´ve wanted to wait for everything to be ready.
What´s been brewing up behind the scenes is a product development project for Anne Kukkohovi´s Supermood natural cosmetics brand. When the project was still just words on paper I was sharing my thoughts and ideas with Anne and to my delight little over a year ago she asked me if I would be willing to commit to developing an anti-age product family for her line. With my love for product development and exploring with raw materials you can imagine she did not have to ask me twice!
Sometimes it feels like the endless flow of ideas in my head poses a juxtaposition – you just cannot bring all ideas to life at the same time within one project. This is why I want to keep my path open to be able to share my views and ideas with several brands.
Supermood Youth Glo is the most effective product family of the line. The first two products and a vitamin supplement have just been launched. The next three products should see daylight before Christmas, but for now, I´m keeping a lid on them and bringing to center of your attention the fruit acid peel and the babyface mask – this fall´s must have skin care purchases.
Both products turned out to be pure magic and I can whole heartedly stand behind them. Everything you could wish for is right in these products: the design, the price, the ingredients, their effectiveness and texture, they are long lasting and absolutely delightful to use. Not a thing too much and nothing more to hope for. The products are simple and effective and the active ingredients are to die for! We started out to design products that work instantly and are gentle, and surely that is what we did.
Now I have the opportunity for the first time to recommend an AHA acid peel for sensitive skin. A friend of mine Mariko´s (who has been a test bunny in my blog for eczema skin care ) skin is so sensitive that it seems to react to the stars being in an odd angle, and I must admit that I was mildly horrified to let her try out these products. Mariko actually had to really persuade me to let her try the peel for her skin. The next day however she sent me a detailed message describing how wonderful her skin felt after the peel. The same evening I saw her and I just had to touch her face to verify that her skin truly did feel as wonderful as it looked.
This said the Youth Glo Luxury Peel is a fruit acid peel where the effectiveness is just right. When I got the first version of the peel to test, I´d had it on for fifteen seconds and had to wash it off – it had more fervor than Juice Beauty´s most powerful peel. The second version was too mild. But third time was the charm, the peel gave a nice little tingle on the skin and brought up a slight redness. We wanted to have mint in the product to give it a nice cooling effect and make the product pleasurable to use. I really love the combination of the gentle tingle and the cooling effect of mint.
For the key ingredient in Youth Glo products I chose moth bean-extract, because it is a natural replacement for retinol, one of the most efficient forms of vitamin A. I have rarely come across this ingredient, but all products which contain it have proven to be very effective. I wanted the products to have plenty of vitamin C and fruit acids, preferably derived from natural source and spiked up with lactic acid.
Moth bean-extract does not irritate skin the same way that retinol may. Moth bean activates cell renewal, improves the production of collagen and brightens and smoothens the skin. On top of this it has phenol compounds that protect against free radicals.
Lactic acid is a AHA-acid which naturally occurs in the skin sebum. It regulates and maintains the pH of skin and makes skin more tolerable to disturbances as acne, rosacea or impurities. It also allows beneficial substances to penetrate the skin. Lactic acid speeds up cell renewal, peels the skin and gives a glow and smooth surface to new skin. The amount of lactic acid in this product is small, making up for a peel suitable for the most sensitive skin types.
Apple extract is a fruit acid as well helping with cell renewal and it has a gently peeling effect. Apple extract has plenty of anti-oxidants which are beneficial in protecting the skin from free radicals (the number one skin dullers ). There is more apple extract than lactic acid in this product.
The vitamin C splash in this peel comes from sea buckthorn juice and grapefruit extract. Vitamin C rich grapefruit contains also lycopene and salicylic acid which help in gently clearing up clogged pores and smoothing the skin.
I´m confident in recommending this peel to all skin types. If your skin is very sensitive, I recommend starting with leaving the peel on for 1 to 5 minutes, for other skin types I recommend leaving the peel on for 15 minutes. I like to spread a thin layer of the peel on for a while and then add another layer to boost up the effect. I recommend using the peel once a week. If you are using it to treat skin problems you can do two peels a week for a month.
For me the Youth Glo Babyface Mask has all the qualities of a ideal mask because it does everything: It instantly cools and calms the skin after the fruit acid peel, on top of that it clarifies, refines pores, smoothens, firms and moistures and gives the skin a beautiful glow. You can use the mask as a quick beautifier without the peel as well.
The mask suits for all skin types and works wonders for rosacea, couperosa and acne as well. I recommend using the mask every time after using the peel and maybe a second time during the week without the peel.
For raw ingredients I wanted have moth bean extract, a good splash of mint and maybe the most intriguing raw ingredient of them all, ginkgo biloba.
Ginkgo biloba is an ancient tree which has existed since the days of dinosaurs, long before we humans ever came along. It´s leaves resemble a maidens hair flowing in the breeze therefore it also goes by the name maidenhair tree. Ginkgo biloba is one of the best sources for antioxidants and is one of the oldest medical plants. Ginkgo biloba effectively soothes the skin, increases microcirculation, removes residue and helps the skin preserve moisture. It is a wonderful ingredient in treating aging skin, rosacea, sensitive, irritated or sun damaged skin. Ginkgo biloba was my number one choice in choosing ingredients for a mask which should work for all skin types.
Green tea extract contains loads of antioxidants that help in repairing the damage of free radicals. It calms irritated skin and is good for treating rosacea for example. It prevents collagen breakage and helps repair sun damaged skin and with changes in the pigmentation. Elderflower extract contains natural fruit acids and plenty of antioxidants. It increases skin metabolism, relieves irritation, redness and inflammation, refines pores and cleanses the skin.
The mask has Grapefruit extract with vitamin C that boosts collagen renewal and the carotenoids in sea buckthorn juice give a radiant glow to the skin. Vitamin E protects the cells from free radicals and firms the skin.
Rosehip oil is my favorite oil and thus wanted to use it in the mask. It contains plenty of vitamin A and C, lycopene and beta carotene. Rosehip oil helps in repairing sun damaged skin and scars, evens out fine lines and softens and clarifies the skin.
A nice splash of mint feels cooling and invigorating after the fruit acid peel. The mask has a fresh scent of mint, which might divide opinions, but in choosing the active ingredients for these two products their abilities in working wonders for the skin was more relevant than the scent. With the next products in the Youth Glo line we will dive deeper into the scents of the products.
Even though Supermood is not my line and I have just been a part of the product development, it still makes me super excited to know how you like the products. There´s a buzz going on around the line on the other side of the rainbow and that triples the butterflies in my stomach.These products that I have devoted my time whole heartedly to might just end up in stores in New York and Los Angeles – yikes, super exciting! Still more important than that is to know what you think of these two beauties!
Have you had the chance to try out the Supermood newbies? What do you think of the mask and peel?
Bowl from Proloque shop
The links are affiliate links
Photos Katja Kokko
Translated by Mariko Pajalahti
