Highly educated esthetician (Shelly Todd) offering Facials, Microderm, LED Light, Enzyme Peels, Microneedle, Skin Classic and J Renee Organic Products.
FAQ
(Frequently Asked Questions)
Q. What can I do to prevent in-grown hairs after shaving?
A. Ingrown hairs are usually a problem that is helped by exfoliating ingredients that will unearth the hair without causing scarring from digging at it. Also redness, irritation and infection of the area can be helped by using healing and anti bacterial ingredients like sulfur, witch hazel and tea tree. Our Men’s Aftershave Toner is a fantastic multi-tasker when it comes to releasing the hair, healing the inflammation and soothing the redness and discomfort. This product is labeled as a men’s product but it can also be used by women, especially in the bikini area after shaving and waxing. The Bomb and Calm Toner is my go-to for after electrolysis and other hair removal on my face. I use it immediately after any hair removal treatments to lessen the possibility of getting folliculitis, which are those little pimple like bumps, which are not ingrown hairs but can promote ingrown hairs and pimples if the inflammation from the service isn’t relieved. I never allow the hair removal tech to apply any oils or lotions after my service, or I remove it immediately and apply the Bomb and Calm Toner and my regular serum and lotion. Introducing a new product to your skin after such a trauma can only make the inflammation worse.
Q. I have tried everything for acne, how can you help me?
A. J. Renee Organic skin care products offer a special formula of antioxidants, anti-acne and oil busting ingredients while supporting your natural microbiome and preserving your moisture barrier. Natural salicylic acid from willow bark is anti-inflammatory, exfoliating, and contains polyphenols that hold onto moisture and tannins to aid in toning the skin and making pores appear smaller. Willow bark is just one of our anti-acne ingredients that also plays a role in antiaging. Most of our acne products are also amazing for aging skin; so people with adult acne see very favorable results after using J. Renee Organics Skincare. A few other powerhouse acne and healing ingredients are: MSM (sulfur), borage oil, burdock root, red clover, dandelion and so many more scientifically proven healing ingredients. Using our balanced, well formulated natural products twice daily, provides proven results for acne, acne scarring and the redness and inflammation that accompany acne and other inflammatory skin conditions, without over-drying or using chemicals. If you aren’t sure what’s causing your acne, I highly suggest you to answer our skin type questionnaire and get the right plan to stop and control your ongoing acne. We offer acne sets for your skin type to get you started and then you can order individual products as they run out. We don’t do memberships or automatic purchases, so don’t be afraid of being locked into a plan or having to pay for the whole set when all you need is a toner.
Here are some tips to prevent and control acne:
Wash/change pillow cases at least every week, daily if acne is weepy, your skin is very oily, you share your pillow or you sleep with pets.
Wash or change all scarves, beanies, Covid face masks and anything that rests on your skin daily.
Wash your face with your full skincare routine daily AM and PM no matter what. Be consistent.
Do a peel and immediate acne mask afterward weekly or bi-weekly if your acne is severe and persistent, every other week if it’s not.
DO NOT TOUCH YOUR FACE….unless your washing it.
To remove the “oil slick” that appears later in the day, use the backs of your hands or a clean tissue, never your fingers.
NEVER pick. Most of the time, pimples “pop” backward through the skin and release the infection under the skin only to cause more acne. If you simply have to pop it, make sure it has come to a white head first and only do it after a steamy shower when your skin is more moist. Never pop an “underground” pimple, it will only result in longer healing time, a mess of inflammation and possible long term scarring and pitting.
If you’re seeing, or more likely feeling a cystic zit forming, you can spot treat over-night with the Glow Serum or the Coco Char Mask for as many nights as it takes for it to go away. Most of the time it will go away before forming in to a white head if you catch it in time and don’t touch or pick at it.
While the concept of diet causing acne are still controversial, many studies link sugar and dairy as links to the condition. I have seen numerous clients’ acne improve when they omitted dairy and sugar, or drastically limited it in their diets.
If your child has acne that starts to get worse around the teen years, it’s imperative to tackle the issue before long term skin damage occurs. With proper education and treatment plan, they can most likely avoid acne drugs and stronger treatment, they’ll have better hygiene and skin because of it and they will have better self esteem in a time where it’s in short supply anyway. Not getting cystic acne under control can cause life long scarring, pitting and self esteem issues. Be proactive in getting your child the right routine, not all acne product are right for all skin types. Using OTC acne products that over-dry the skin will only make the problem worse and discourage your child from being consistent. Get your child a skin assessment and on the right routine ASAP to avoid more expensive treatment options in the future.
Q. What is a peel?
A. Many people think of those peel-off masks when they hear “peel”, that’s not what skincare professionals mean when they say peel. A peel is a mask that is applied to the skin to exfoliate dead skin away using fruit acids (enzyme peel) or chemicals (chemical peel). Chemical peels are used for a deeper resurfacing of skin and can be quite painful, numbing cream and anesthesia is usually used for chemical peels and they are legally only supposed to be performed under a doctor’s supervision in most states. J. Renee Peels are all natural and use fruit enzymes from pumpkin, papaya, pomegranate and other fruits as well as natural lactic, glycolic and citric acids. Our exfoliating masks are labeled peels but the actual action of enzymes is to dissolve or digest the dead skin cells, so there is no yanking or peeling action needed, which can damage sensitive skin. Our peels are applied to the skin like a mask in a thin layer and after 10-15 minutes it’s washed off with a cloth, leaving you with soft skin, unclogged pores and a youthful pink in your cheeks. Enzyme peels are the go-to for natural antiaging because they fade hyperpigmentation (age spots, sun damage, melasma, acne scars), they soften skin texture (acne scars, dry skin, bumps), brighten skin tone, dissolve blackheads and help unclog pores to get rid of acne. Peels are MAGIC for your complexion! Our enzyme masks come in 3 levels; level one is gentle enough for people going through cancer treatment and with extremely sensitive skin like Rosacea, eczema and even children benefit from this mask. The level 2 enzyme peel is still safe for sensitive skin but it’s a bit more active (hot) so it may not be appropriate for people with Rosacea. By “active”, I mean that it stimulates blood circulation and can feel warm to the skin as it’s working, which can make Rosacea skin types experience more redness. Our level 3 Peel is more active than level 2 and contains manual exfoliators (particles that scrub) for dual action exfoliation. The level 3 mask is only for robust skin types, as manual scrubs can leave fragile skin red and irritated. I recommend finding your skin type before settling on a home exfoliation plan. Doing too much exfoliating or using too many exfoliating ingredients together in your routine can end up irritating the skin and even thinning it instead of plumping it. For this reason, it’s important to know what products work well together and which ones don’t, as well as what product work well for you specifically. You can consult a professional for a skin analysis and they will go over the best plan for you.
Q. Why don’t you sell eye cream or night cream?
A. Simply put, unless these creams contain medical grade concentrations of retinol or other proven plumping ingredients, they are a waste of money. OTC (over the counter) eye creams and night creams cannot legally contain enough of the proven amount of active ingredient to provide a drastic or even moderate improvement to the skin; if they did, it would be illegal and deemed a prescription by the FDA. Also OTC eye and night creams are usually a thicker viscosity which are comedogenic (pore clogging), which can cause milia (hard plug in pore you can’t push out) and acne. That said, many people can not use higher levels of retinol on their skin because it can cause redness, inflammation, unsightly swelling and for some sensitive skin types, even sores and dermatitis. All J. Renee Organics products’ are formulated to exfoliate, to reverse oxidative damage (pollution that cause premature aging) and to moisturize the skin. The lotion you use on your face will also be used on your eyes, your neck and your décolletage. You only need one moisturizer to do the job. There are a few reasons to use a different moisturizer or change your product all together, like: if you’re traveling or have moved to a different environment, you have a new medication that interferes with your skin’s natural state of health (like cancer treatment) or you are having hormonal changes like menopause, pregnancy, hysterotomy, endocrine disease or puberty. The perfectly formulated lotion that works for your skin type works for all the areas, not just one. This not only saves you time, it saves you money! Our mantra is: Less is more. Our skincare routines are perfect for busy people that can’t or don’t want to spend a ton of time or money on their routine but want to have clear, healthy, youthful looking skin.
Q. I’m vegan, do you offer products without animal based ingredients?
A. Yes! Most of our products are vegan and kosher. Each product will have the ingredients list and below that will be a bulleted list of other information, this is where it will say if it is or is not vegan and what ingredient makes it not vegan. We use beeswax and honey in some products.
Q. What are your thoughts on face wipes?
A. Generally I am not a fan. Most face wipes have ingredients that help them stay moist that are not beneficial and sometimes detrimental to the skin. They also usually contain high amounts of alcohol, which is very drying and strips away your much-needed moisture barrier. I never use them…ever. If I’m tired at night or camping and I didn’t wear makeup or get particularly sweaty or dirty that day, I may use a cotton pad sprayed with my normal daily toner and wipe my face with that before my serum and moisturizer, but I almost never even do that either. Each day we sweat, our sebaceous glands produce oil, we touch our faces, we walk around in a world with pollution and chemical room sprays and we have pets with dander in our dusty homes. It’s not only important for a person with acne prone skin to remove the day’s accumulated bacteria and particles, it’s important for everyone and doing that with a quick wipe of an alcohol laden wipe is not doing the trick. There is also the fact that most face wipes are not biodegradable and they are packaged in plastic and if used frequently it damages our skin as well as the environment. And lastly, there is a reason you have a skin care routine that is specialized to your skin; each product works synergistically to make you glow. Skipping a step upsets the balance that your routine was made to support.
Q. I hear a lot about antioxidants, what makes them so special?
A. Antioxidants reverse and protect against oxidative damage, which among other things, cause the skin to age faster. Our bodies have a system in place to deal with oxidants in our daily lives, but as the industrialized world grew, so did chemical use, pollution and molecular changes to our food sources, so our natural defenses to the damage are constantly overwhelmed. There are studies that show that air pollution, when left on the skin, can accelerate the aging process much like smoking and second hand smoke ages cigarette and marijuana smoker’s skin. When we apply a product with the proper mixture of lipids and antioxidants, it can improve the health of skin and even reverse the effects of oxidative stress from pollution and other extrinsic (outside) factors. Studies show that the topical application of antioxidants can stop and reverse signs of aging…“a topical combination of vitamins C, E, ubiquinone (COQ10) and grape extract showed positive results in a comparative study.” Here at J. Renee Organics we employ these ingredients and many more antioxidants in ALL of our products.
There are also several studies on antioxidants being used to treat acne. It’s amazing that our planet provides what we need to live beautifully. Now that scientific studies have proven substantial results for skin health and beauty, we can say with complete honesty that our products are formulated to to reverse signs of aging, including wrinkles, crepey skin, thin skin, age spots and other hyperpigmentation and put youthful color back into your cheeks.
Q. What is toner and why should I use it?
A. Toner is used for a few different reasons. You can spritz it on a cotton pad and wipe off any left over cleanser or dirt or bacteria you missed while cleansing. More importantly though, it is a piece of the puzzle that is your skincare routine. Some people think of toner as just an acne product, like witch hazel or Sea Breeze used to dry up acne and oil, but in actuality it all depends on the formulation of the product as to what it would be used for. Witch hazel is ok as an ingredient in a toner but used alone, is way too drying to the skin. Sea Breeze and other toners that are drunk on alcohol content are very harsh and can easily over-dry the skin with just one use, much less daily use. We have three toners that we sell here at J. Renee Organics. If I’m being honest, my favorite is the Bomb and Calm Toner because I have aging skin that is acne prone (I’m 41 and female with combo sensitive skin). The Bomb and Calm helps with acne, aging, blackheads and other problems and it has a little kick to it because of the glycolic acid, but its oleic acid helps the skin hold on to water to plump the skin too; it’s my magic elixir. The Citrus Spritz toner is a more gentle toner for all skin types and it helps clean and preps the skin to absorb your moisturizer. The last toner we offer is the Men’s Aftershave Toner, which can be used by anyone. This toner is thick, like a gel and because of its healing sulfur and antibacterial ingredients, it’s fantastic for acne prone skin and after hair removal methods like shaving, plucking, dermaplaning, electrolysis, waxing and threading so you don’t get ingrown hairs or acne. So, as you can see, there are toners for different reasons but they are an integral part of your routine because they prep for moisturizer, cleanse just a bit more and can improve skin problems.
Q. Are plant based skin care products really better for you?
A healthy and functioning skin barrier is there to protect your skin from dehydration, germ penetration, allergens, irritants, & ROS (Reactive Oxygen Species, from the sun that cause cellular damage, age spots & wrinkles). We can adjust the barrier to absorb good things for our complexion too, this is why proper daily skin care can increase skin regeneration, elasticity, smoothness and slow the appearance of aging.
Topically (creams, lotions, etc), there are two ingredient types that are most helpful in slowing skin aging: antioxidants and cell regulators which help cells live longer and healthier. The antioxidants promote healthy collagen (plump skin), while cell regulators like retinol help your skin produce more collagen. Think youthful plump skin (ample, healthy collagen always being produced).
Not all fountain-of-youth cream claims can be proven. MANY ingredients can’t penetrate your skin’s protective shield (barrier function). With massive amounts of money, scientists have been researching smaller molecule ingredients that will absorb into the skin, instead of sit on top and clog your pores. So far, antioxidants are the go-to small molecule ingredients for skin elasticity (skin stretch and snap-back), redness and age spots. One study proved that with a consistent, 3 month - daily application of creams containing antioxidants, people had tighter skin, less redness and better texture and less age spots.
Botanical (plant) ingredients have been proven to be effective cell regulators, “acting directly on collagen metabolism to stimulate collagen production as well as elastin fibers.” Plump, healthy and youthful looking skin from Mother Nature herself!
Of course, there are vitamins and minerals that help slow skin aging from the inside. Studies show that consuming more vitamin C, E, copper, selenium and carotenoids in your diet has been shown to help delay skin aging. Eating a healthy diet rich in vitamins and minerals and using a plant-based skin care routine twice daily consistently will have your skin clean, clear, plump and beautiful! Find the best skin care routine for your skin type by signing up for a skin assessment today.