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Hey there, stunning! So, you all know that when I'm whipping up CREAMLY goodies, I ditch those fake fragrances for nothing but pure essential oils. And get this: stick around for a tale about a perfumer at the end of this post.
- First thing, essential oils are all-natural and smell absolutely amazing – once you go natural, those chemical concoctions just don't cut it anymore.
- Secondly, unlike most skincare ingredients that barely skim the surface, essential oils dive deep. So when our formulas are clean and safe, they're perfect for dragging those other goodies deep into your skin.
- Thirdly, they're not just skin deep; they vibe with your whole being, remember? Skin and nerves, buddies since the womb, always keeping it tight.
I always hunt for the coolest oil combos. Plain old vanilla? Yawn. But give me some feminine neroli, bold and sexy ylang-ylang, or sophisticated citrus, and I'm in my element, feeling like a perfumer crafting the scent for our next skincare hit.
The tricky part?
Sensitive skin, because it only tolerates a few essential oils like rose, lavender, sandalwood, amyris, and patchouli. Crafting a universally beloved 'vanilla' scent from that mix? Not so simple.
So, I went rogue with our first sensitive skin cream, giving it a tobacco-woody twist using sandalwood (spoiler: that stuff ain't cheap) and amyris. For me, it was a rich, deep, knockout scent. But hey, not everyone was a fan :) About 30% of our clients raved about the cream's quality but admitted the scent was a tough sell.
At some point, I figured, why keep defending my fave when I could just tweak the scent? But true to my style, if I was changing things up, I was going all in – reformulation, recertification, the whole shebang.
I won't lie, it was a tough and pricey call. The certification alone in the EU, then several months without our CREAM FOR SKIN SENSITIVITY – that's like 40% of our clients. Plus, when you've got a product that already rocks and has helped hundreds, it's kinda scary to mess with success. But heck, I took the risk.
How did I pull it off?
I grabbed all the oils allowed for sensitive skin and started mixing. Started with the classics but needed something fresh. Then, boom, I tried something wild – rose and lavender – and realized even a hint of rose can be overpowering.
The solution? A rose hydrosol base! I crafted a cream with just a touch of lavender oil to keep it chill.
Meanwhile, I stumbled upon a new 'plankton extract' that's a superstar for sensitive skin in clinical trials. Upped the panthenol (Vitamin B5), added urea for moisture (was too chicken to try it in the first batch), and threw in some inulin – a prebiotic that feeds your skin's microbiome and boosts sensitive skin.
Oh, and I switched to a German lab for kicks :) You know the drill. Where haven’t folks slathered my cream? On baby butts, post-sun, post-burns, for healing scrapes, restoring hands, against dermatitis, eczema, you name it.
