When clients come to you looking for help with their stressed skin, sometimes combining more than one product can take their results to the next level. After all, there are a lot of ingredients that can be mixed and matched to complement each other and enhance the effects beyond what each can achieve individually. Read on to learn more about how to combine and harness adaptogenic ingredients to enhance the mind-body connection, transform the complexion and calm the visible effects of stress.
What Is Skin Care Mixology?
Skin care mixology or “cocktailing” is about layering skin care products in a way that maximizes their benefits. Combining products can enhance the efficacy, absorption, results (or all of the above) for healthy and glowing skin. The process is easy and customizable based on your clients’ needs.
We have created some skin care combinations featuring our Pure Forest Collection to address stressed skin. Tailored to different desired outcomes, these custom treatments strategically combine products to enhance their effectiveness and achieve personalized results. Read on to find out more.
Why You Should Mix Products in a Spa Treatment
Clients visit a spa because they appreciate the results that come from targeted treatments tailored to their specific skin. The deep knowledge and expertise that an esthetician provides benefits spa-goers in a number of ways.
First of all, the product selection you have access to far exceeds what even the most skin care-obsessed client would have in their collection at home. Being able to choose exactly which products to use to achieve the best results is a luxury that only a spa can offer. Beyond that, your education about each of the products, how to use them and which ingredients work well together elevates both the experience and the results.
Skin care product pairing in a spa treatment is a way to amp up the benefits by enhancing the absorption of ingredients, a smoother application, synergistic effects, personalization and efficiency.
Mixologies & The Pure Forest Collection
Mixing, cocktailing or layering skin care products is not a new concept but it’s becoming more popular as multi-step routines, active ingredients and customized treatments saturate social media. According to the Eminence Organic Skin Care Product Support Team: “Mixologies during a spa treatment allow the practitioner to customize the treatment to target various skin concerns, maximizing the benefits.” There’s an art to the process, as certain ingredients complement each other, while others amplify results. That said, some ingredients should never be combined as they have the potential to increase irritation, reduce the other’s effectiveness or compromise the skin barrier.
When it comes to stressed skin, there are some product combos that can really boost effectiveness versus using the products on their own. We asked our Product Support Team to share skin care cocktail ideas for treatments that can help your clients move into autumn with pairings designed to destress, revitalize, replenish and renew the skin.
Best Mixologies for Clients With Different Skin Types
When life gets busy, the complexion can lose luster, resulting in irritation, redness, breakouts and dullness. And this can be especially noticeable come fall. The sunny days and carefree evenings may be over, but the remnants of UV rays, salt water and one too many cocktails are not. The skin is stressed and probably in need of some major TLC.
Mixologies For Dry Skin
Ashwagandha Ultra-Rich Restorative Cream + Rosehip Triple C+E Firming Oil
Skin that feels tight and dry is probably not thriving as summer turns to fall. Not only has it seen the drying effects of salt water, it may have been over-exposed to sun (despite your clients’ best intentions).
Help them replenish and hydrate dry skin with the dynamic duo of Ashwagandha Ultra-Rich Restorative Cream and Rosehip Triple C+E Firming Oil. The cream is packed with adaptogenic ingredients to help undo the visible signs of damage and restore hydration. And the oil smooths, firms, plumps and hydrates the complexion while protecting dry skin from environmental stressors. Mixed together (via a few drops of oil into the cream), this skin care power couple can help restore and revitalize dry skin after a summer of outside.
Mixologies For Oily Skin
Birch Water Purifying Essence + Turmeric Energizing Treatment
Shiny skin and visible pores are probably peaking right about now. After a season of hot, sticky weather, sweat and SPF, oily skin this time of year may be in need of some serious help.
This is where we shine. Our Turmeric Energizing Treatment is full of skin-loving ingredients like antioxidants that brighten the look of skin while reducing the appearance of puffiness. It also contains deeply exfoliating zeolite, plus kaolin clay that cleans the skin and draws out impurities.
A mixology hack that we love is to activate the transformative warming powder with Birch Water Purifying Essence instead of water. As well as purifying the skin, it contains botanical collagen, restores the look of elasticity and improves barrier function. Adaptogenic ingredients like snow mushroom and reishi mushroom add to this antioxidant cocktail, leaving the complexion looking and feeling rejuvenated, radiant and replenished.
Product Picks
Lightweight essence that restores…
Mixologies For Sensitive Skin
Ashwagandha Ultra-Rich Restorative Cream + Facial Recovery Oil
Sensitive skin is perhaps the type that is most susceptible to stress. Easily irritated and prone to redness, this type of skin can be particularly reactive when weather changes happen.
Enter: two skin care heavyweights. The Ashwagandha Ultra-Rich Restorative Cream lives up to its name by comforting stressed skin with the nurturing powers of ashwagandha and snow mushroom. When combined with the luxurious, nourishing Facial Recovery Oil, infused with calming and balancing clary sage oil, ylang ylang and rejuvenating sage leaf extract, the resulting mixture is a powerhouse formula for sensitive skin. A couple of drops of this “liquid gold” takes the cream to the next level and helps calm the appearance of even the most sensitive skin.
Mixologies For Combination Skin
Tulsi & Snow Mushroom Cleansing Milk + Strawberry Rhubarb Dermafoliant
For skin that is both dry and oily, it can be a bit of a balancing act to get skin care right. Cleansing combo skin can be particularly tricky because an ingredient that might dry out one part of the face (like the cheeks) could be exactly what an oilier area like the T-zone needs.
The Tulsi & Snow Mushroom Cleansing Milk is a great option for this type of skin because it offers a deep, replenishing cleanse without overstripping the skin. It gently removes impurities while providing light hydration, giving combination skin the best of both worlds. A few shakes of the Strawberry Rhubarb Dermfoliant is a perfect complement to the milky cleanser for combination skin. It contains gentle exfoliants in the form of lactic acid, flours and strawberry, as well as hydrating ingredients like Botanical Hyaluronic Acid Complex to help preserve moisture in the complexion.
Mixologies For Aging Skin
Snow Mushroom & Reishi Masque + Firm Skin Acai Booster-Serum
Aging skin has seen its fair share of seasonal shifts and they don’t get any easier as the years go on. When summer turns to fall or fall turns to winter, the change in humidity levels and temperature can cause issues for mature skin. Naturally less resilient with reduced moisture, elasticity and slower cell renewal, aging complexions can become more sensitive, appear dull and show even more fine lines and wrinkles when the seasons shift.
The Firm Skin Acai Booster-Serum can be used on its own but this extra strength serum was designed to enhance masks and moisturizers. Packed with antioxidants from vitamin C and acai berry, this potent powerhouse helps reduce the visible signs of aging, hydrates, revitalizes and plumps the look of skin. Adding a few drops to the Snow Mushroom & Reishi Masque takes both products to the next level. The combination helps to contour and depuff the face, enhance elasticity and hydrate sometimes-delicate mature skin.
Mixologies For Problem Skin
Tulsi & Snow Mushroom Cleansing Milk + Stone Crop Oxygenating Fizzofoliant
Problem skin hates to see fall coming. Changing seasons can wreak havoc on any skin type, but problem skin can become especially, well, problematic. The stress of this transition can show up on the complexion in a number of ways, from acne and inflammation to flakes or redness.
Cleanse, soften and exfoliate problem skin with this complexion power couple. The milky cleanser lathers lightly to sweep away impurities while adaptogenic ingredients like tulsi, reishi mushroom and snow mushroom help minimize the look of redness and the drying effects of environmental pollutants on the skin. And when combined with a few sprinkles of the Stone Crop Oxygenating Fizzofoliant, this revitalizing combo gently invigorates the skin and removes impurities to reveal a beautiful, brighter-looking complexion.
Mixologies For Normal Skin
Ashwagandha Ultra-Rich Restorative Cream + Superfood Booster-Powder
Even the most well-balanced skin can get stressed out, especially as the seasons change. And while normal skin can be considered a little bit easier to manage, it still needs some love.
The Ashwagandha Ultra-Rich Restorative Cream is suitable for all skin types and really shines here for a few reasons. First of all, it’s full of adaptogenic ingredients that result in deep, nourishing hydration and skin barrier protection. Second, it addresses everything from lack of firmness and signs of aging to sun damage and redness. But what can really take this versatile cream to the next level is adding a few sprinkles of the vitamin-rich, ultra-fine Superfood Booster-Powder.
Full of superfood ingredients like Kakadu plum, coix seed, spirulina and sweet potato, Superfood Booster-Powder amps up almost any moisturizer it’s mixed with. As well as helping to brighten and even out the look of the skin, it reduces the appearance of dark spots and supercharges the Ashwagandha Ultra-Rich Restorative Cream with a blend of vitamins C, K and B3 to help promote a healthy-looking complexion.
Product Picks
Facial massage tool
Product Mixologies to Avoid
SPF + Anything
It’s a skin care staple every day of the year but sunscreen should be considered a free agent. Mixing it with other skin care can dilute the formula, potentially lowering the SPF protection and compromising the product’s stability and efficiency. Instead, SPF should be layered on clean, dry skin. If your clients want to skip a step and give their skin a little glow, the Daily Defense Tinted SPF is a great all-mineral option that adds a nice tint to the skin while offering blue light, broad-spectrum protection.
For another SPF option that does double duty, try the Sun Defense Minerals. This easy-to-use powder sunscreen is available in multiple shades and layers over top for effortless SPF reapplication throughout the day. It also works as a mattifying powder, which is especially helpful on those hot days when applying anything else might be too much.
How to Enhance Product Mixologies
The Cryo-Thermal Sculpting Tool is a fantastic way to elevate in-spa treatments, according to our Product Support Team. When used warm, it can help boost absorption of skin care products, amplifying these product combinations even more!
When used cold, the tool can improve the look of water retention and puffiness (think undereye bags or puffy cheeks) by helping to tone and contour the look of the face and reduce swelling. It can also help reduce the appearance of redness from acne, allergies, sunburn and other irritations.
The Cryo-Thermal Sculpting Tool is also available for retail purchase for clients to use at home, which is great way for them to maintain their spa results between treatments.
What skin care products do you like to combine? Let us know in the comments or on social media.
