I am delighted, humbled, and incredibly honored to be able to share my May Lindstrom interview!  Known as the skin chef, May Lindstrom has been creating her fresh, natural, and decadent skincare delights since 2011, though her informal experimentation as a formulator began as a young girl in the outdoors.  She is a beauty alchemist who uses pure, potent ingredients to create skin treats that offer both high-performance results and an incredible experience for the senses.

May Lindstrom is a true green beauty pioneer who has and continues to elevate the industry in terms of purity and luxury, to inspire countless individuals to examine their choices, and to set the bar for skincare rituals as self-care.  Anyone who thinks that natural skincare means giving up a degree of indulgence and pleasure has not tried May Lindstrom Skin.  Her skin treats are addictive, and they have a cult-like following for a reason!  May Lindstrom’s treasures restore natural balance to the skin and offer a decadent, sensual experience that invites the user to slow down, to notice, and to take self-care to new levels of tenderness and self-compassion.  Her line is truly one of a kind.  Moreover, May Lindstrom herself is a person who embodies the term “natural beauty,” inside and out.  Her graciousness is remarkable.  In fact, I can hardly think of May without “She Walks in Beauty” by Lord Byron popping into my head.  See for yourself.

Without further ado, the May Lindstrom interview!

Photography Courtesy of May Lindstrom Skin, www.maylindstrom.com

May Lindstrom Interview:

A Candid Conversation on Sensitivity & Healing with Green Beauty’s Most Beloved Pioneer + Alchemist

The Beauty Librarian (BL): I read an interview in which you said, “My skin was a battleground from birth.”  This is very humanizing to hear, especially in light of your renowned physical beauty and successful modeling career.  How have skin challenges helped shape your approach to beauty?

May Lindstrom: It’s important to remember that we usually only see the highlight reel of people’s lives. In this time of highly filtered, sparkly social media accounts, it can be easy to lose perspective or forget that we are all human. While my skin has finally found its balance at thirty-four, it took me a lifetime to get here.

I have the kind of complexion that is so sensitive and reactive, that one application of the wrong product will leave me covered in blisters and rashes or a terrible breakout. My skin physically hurts when I do not treat it well. And the emotional toll of self-consciousness and shame that rears up far too easily – that’s no joke either.

Finding my voice and the strength to stand up and use it was quite the feat. I’m an introvert and a pleaser and that has a cost. Not having a voice to say No to the products used on me as a model was one of the big reasons I ultimately happily closed that career door. At the end of the day, I believe in making choices that resonate to my very core – and that certainly includes supporting the health and integrity of my skin and my whole self.

Photography Courtesy of May Lindstrom Skin, www.maylindstrom.com

BL:  What are the most important lessons you learned – as a formulator and human being– due to or through your experience with sensitive, reactive skin?

May Lindstrom: I believe in simplicity and know that this is what works for me on pretty much every level. While I have given an incredible amount of attention to designing products for this collection that create a feeling of decadence and celebration, my very core is as basic and grounded as it gets. Beauty truly does come from within and I know that without a healthy body and spirit, our skin suffers.

I also learned pretty early on that using even the simplest of common products (even basic soap or lotion) just wasn’t an option for my own personal body. In order to not have constant pain in my skin, I had to learn an entirely new language of care. Ultimately, this is what led to my becoming a formulator.

I believe our skin has the ability to heal itself if we let it. Sometimes our role is to get out of the way! It is our responsibility to provide abundant nutrition and hydration and to be gentle in our care. By limiting our exposure to harsh chemicals and extreme treatments, we open up to gentler methods. I build each of my products on the same philosophy and ingredients that have been treasured and shared by women all over the world since the beginning of time. I trust in earth’s bounty and the wisdom of those who came before me.

Photography Courtesy of May Lindstrom Skin, www.maylindstrom.com

BL: Which of your delicious products — in addition to heavenly Blue Cocoon– are particularly helpful for redness and inflammation and how so?   

May Lindstrom: The entire collection is formulated to work in synergy to restore balance, ultimately reviving the skin’s integrity and natural rhythm. This leads to lessened redness and inflammation no matter where your starting point was.

The Blue Cocoon is the obvious hero to address inflammatory conditions specifically, but since you prompted, I’ll share details on one more.

The Honey Mud is incredibly gentle and nourishing and helps bring relief to stressed skin. It is formulated to be true skin food.  On days you are using The Honey Mud as a cleanser, massage a plump pea-sized dollop into wet skin to emulsify into a gorgeous and silky cleansing milk. Rinse thoroughly, while massaging with the pads of your fingertips. Your skin will feel plump, hydrated and thoroughly fed.  As a deeply beneficial alternative, The Honey Mud makes the most nourishing raw enzyme treatment masque. Smooth thickly over clean and dry skin to give it a warm hug. The Honey Mud will maintain its pudding-like texture, rather than turning to a milky emulsion with the addition of water. Allow to penetrate and feed your skin for 10-60 minutes, as desired.  In periods of heightened dehydration or sensitivity, wear The Honey Mud into the shower to protect the delicate natural oils of your skin from evaporation in the heat and water, rinsing as your last step.

While I’m here, you should know about The Jasmine Garden as well – this is our gorgeously ethereal botanical mist. This formula adds just a touch of light moisture, and also provides refreshing cleansing action throughout the day with the powerfully soothing combination of witch hazel and colloidal silver. This is particularly wonderful to bring calm and relief to acne and irritation prone skin, as well as to work as a penetration enhancer for The Youth Dew and The Blue Cocoon. The Jasmine Garden infuses skin with antioxidant protection, restoring elasticity and freeing delicate complexions of redness and inflammation.

The romantic aromatic experience of The Jasmine Garden is truly a dream. Soft, sweet, fresh – like a garden of lush flowers in the tropics, somewhere near a field of cocoa beans drenched in rain. This is beautiful after cleansing and before oils, again after oils, to set makeup, and to spritz throughout the day to refresh, cool, calm and heal. I even love to mist lightly on my pillow before sleep, grounding me for perfect rest.

Photography Courtesy of May Lindstrom Skin, www.maylindstrom.com

BL:  How would you advise someone who is in a bout of self-criticism over “skin issues” to get in touch with and celebrate her/his individual beauty?

May Lindstrom:  With my collection, I make a very conscious effort to always draw attention to how amazing we already are, and how deserving we are of self-love and truly beautiful care that feeds both our skin and soul. I cringe at mainstream marketing and the stories it tells us, and mourn for the women who hear and believe these falsities about themselves.

You are not broken. You are whole, heard, and treasured. And you deserve care and touch, your own primarily.

We’ve been taught that self-care Is self-ish, and that is one of the most unfortunate messages we could be proliferating. I want every woman to know that she matters, that this time is hers, and that love that starts from the romance within and ripples out into the world, offering transformation far beyond ourselves.

My brand is an invitation for you to create the time and space for the personal connection you deserve with yourself. This action alone will transform you. What I want to is to get this message out there, to start a shift in how we care for ourselves, starting with the most basic and intimate of rituals  – how we cleanse.

Photography Courtesy of May Lindstrom Skin, www.maylindstrom.com

BL:  You have two adorable children and a lovely family. How has your conception of beauty been informed by motherhood?  How has motherhood informed your work as a beauty alchemist?

May Lindstrom:  The birth of my children reaffirmed a lot of my core beliefs, philosophies and dreams – alongside my enhanced desire to bring ritual and connection to our skin back to the lives of women (and equally deserving men!). It also resurged my hope for a cleaner, happier planet for us all to live on together. This has always been a concern for me, but bringing new life onto this Earth shines a very acute personal spotlight on the urgency of this matter. I will always operate both my business and my personal life in a way that honors and celebrates our earth mama.

Photography Courtesy of May Lindstrom Skin, www.maylindstrom.com

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Uliv Skincare Golden Chai Facial Soufflé: Glowing, Anti-Inflammatory, Antioxidant, Skin-Healing Organic Goodness

              I first heard about Uliv Golden Chai Facial Soufflé through buzz it generated at the Indie Beauty Expo.  My interest was immediately piqued when I read that the ingredients included turmeric and Manuka honey, two of nature’s most healing anti-inflammatories. As I found out more about the ingredients, I discovered that Uliv Golden Chai Facial Soufflé also incorporates essential oils of nutmeg, clove, ginger, and cinnamon (a fantastic antioxidant blend), sea buckthorn oil (rich in fatty acids and carotenes to repair and heal), carrot seed oil (for  gentle yet effective option (for repairing photodamage and sagging), hand-made infused oils of chamomile, comfrey, lavender, rose and calendula (perhaps the ultimate blend I have seen for soothing nourishment), macadamia oil (it mimic skin’s natural moisturizing factors), and sea ferment and CoQ10 to increase collagen renewal and minimize wrinkles—and those are just some of the many highlights!  Others include green tea extract, frankincense essential oil, aloe, raspberry leaf—see the complete ingredient list below. I had never seen an ingredient list this delicious before I knew immediately that Golden Chai’s formulator had an intimate understanding of skin and an awareness of the toll unchecked inflammation.  This synergistic blend of natural antioxidants, anti-inflammatories, and anti-aging ingredients in one product is perhaps the perfect recipe for gently tackling inflammaging.

Uliv Golden Chai Facial Souffle raw ingredients

After falling in love with the mere thought of it, I had the lucky opportunity to try Uliv Golden Chai Facial Soufflé.  It turns out that Uliv founder and creator Lishawn Lalonde herself struggled for years with an autoimmune disease before finding balance through a healthy, anti-inflammatory lifestyle that has deeply informed her work as a formulator (more about Lishawn later in a separate post).  No wonder Ms. Lalonde crafted the exact product I hoped to find!  Upon receiving Uliv Golden Chai Facial Soufflé, I was not disappointed.  First, the Facial Soufflé smells so delicious and is—without a doubt—the freshest-smelling skincare product I have ever had the pleasure of inhaling.  Imagine the scent of a delicious turmeric chai if all the spices and ingredients had just been freshly plucked from a blooming garden, and you will get some idea of the aromatic glory.  Applying it is a full sensory experience and a momentary escape from regular life.

Uliv delicious and nourishing ingredients

Uliv Golden Chai Soufflé is a buttercup yellow, and its consistency is like a balmy cream.  Though it might seem quite rich, it spreads generously and easily so that a little goes a long way.  It is also a dynamic, multitasking product in what it provides for the skin. I am someone who tends to layer products often to the point of absurdity (I mean, really, how much of layer upon layer can skin actually absorb?), but with Golden Chai, I often or wear it alone, because Golden Chai is so nourishing, hydrating, and healing on its own.  Better yet, it really delivers benefits.  This is not just a formulation that looks great on paper only to sit inertly on skin.  Golden Chai Facial Soufflé actively calms and heals and rejuvenates. My skin runs the gamut of “issues” (e.g., dehydration, aging, hormonal acne, sensitivity, and redness, etc.) and Uliv Golden Chai helped to bring things into balance and settle my skin down, all while providing luxurious, lasting hydration.  While it does contain anti-aging ingredients, it is not meant to be a quick fix, but rather a long-term solution with results that get better and better over time. Golden Chai leaves skin looking healthier, gives an instant golden glow (really!), and prevents and minimizes signs of aging with consistent use.  Uliv Golden Chai Facial Soufflé is a product that does not force skin, but rather respects skin and treats it with healing tenderness.  As stated on Refinery29.com, Golden Chai Facial Soufflé is “a $200 face cream in disguise — the luxurious, non-greasy formula is not only saving our winter-parched skin (which we were convinced was dead inside), it somehow evokes glow on par with much pricier formulations.” Amen to that.  This is one of the best beauty buys I have encountered, ever.  Indeed, when I had the opportunity to interview Uliv Skincare Founder and Formulator Ms. Lalonde, one of the first things I asked her was whether she planned to keep her price point attainable as Uliv Skincare continues to gain acclaim.  (Read her answer here.)

Uliv Golden Chai Facial Souffle

CONCLUSION: I am delighted to highly recommend Uliv Skincare and Golden Chai Facial Soufflé.  I have no reservations whatsoever. This is a product that checks nearly every box: organic, non-GMO, gluten free, skin-healing, cruelty free, antioxidant, allergy tested, clinically tested, anti-inflammatory, hydrating, and anti-aging. The golden glow it gives would improve even perfect skin, yet I think Uliv Golden Chai Facial Soufflé’s plant-powered, multi-tasking goodness is especially beneficial for those of us grappling with “problem skin,” sensitivity, and/or chronic inflammation.  This is a Must-Try.

The post Uliv Skincare Golden Chai Facial Soufflé: Meet the Delicious $39 Organic Face Cream Refinery29 named “a $200 face cream in disguise” appeared first on The Beauty Librarian.

1 Plant Stem Cell Antioxidant
2 Algae Bioactives
3 Certified Organic
4 Antioxidant Intellimune Super Seed Oil Complex
5 Active Aroma/Flavor Oils: Cananga Odorata (Ylang Ylang) Flower Oil,3 Citrus Aurantium Bergamia (Bergamot) Fruit Oil,3 Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Oil,3 Styrax Benzoin Gum,3 Pogostemon Cablin (Patchouli) Oil,3 Eugenia Caryophyllus (Clove) Flower Oil,3 Myristica Fragrans (Nutmeg) Kernel Oil,3 Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil,3 Santalum Spicata (Sandalwood) Oil,3 Flavor (Nectar Type),3 Ocimum Basilicum (Basil) Oil3
6 Naturally Occurring Component Of Organic Essential Oil Blend

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