When it comes to skincare, how often are we disappointed?
Over the last four years, I have tested thousands upon thousands of products while curating for Peach & Lily. Super-compelling copy and claims -- and of course, beautiful, chic packaging -- used to get my hopes up.
99% of the time, I'm disappointed despite the pretty bottles and convincing words.
For me, skincare isn't about having pretty products on my #shelfie. I'm OK with amazing skincare coming in less-than-presentable packaging (that's why we have drawers and cabinets!) if it gives me unbelievably amazing skin. I'll leave prettying up my space to paintings, wall color, and the tiles I choose for the bathroom.
I've found little correlation between packaging and formulas after testing thousands of products, so if I have to pick, it's the goop that counts.
This past Spring, I got excited about Saturday Skin before even testing the goop. Here's why:
I was at the Anti-aging Life Center, CHAUM, in Korea with my friend, Jamie Rosen, the immensely discerning Beauty Director at Town & Country. We were exploring what the Korean 1% do to keep radiant skin. We had to stop by CHAUM. Their network of 15 hospitals and clinics and 27 research institutions in Korea are approaching wellness in a totally different way. Chaum Wellness Center. Image c/o Chaum. The CHAUM approach: for women, it's all about the connection between our biorhythms and the aging process
Through multiple interviews with the head doctor at the wellness center, I learned that our internal rhythm changes throughout the time of the month and year, and also as we age. CHAUM discovered that there's a unique phase in our internal rhythm that actually promotes external radiance, vitality and youth, through the way our cells divide and differentiate. They call this the "Golden Phase." CHAUM created Saturday Skin to nurture and promote this Golden Phase.
A patented cutting-edge ingredient that suspends skin in that optimal internal biorhythm
After extensive research, CHAUM developed a proprietary formula, the Cha-7 es complex™, which activates our skin's natural regeneration process so that Golden Phase is continuously extended. In short, skin is suspended in its optimal stage. What does this mean? The Cha-7 es complex™ doesn't fight aging -- it preserves youth. Essentially, it's easier to work with how your body is already working when it's naturally at its best than to go against the grain and fight the inevitable. How brilliant is it to harness the power of your natural biorhythm and suspend skin in this stage?
Everything else about this futuristic wellness centerCelebrities and royal families flock to this seven-story peach-scented medical center that feels more like a country club. When you become a member, the first thing you do is go into a room shaped like a hive-like-pod, where you get a whole body checkup using both Western and Eastern medicinal practices. It takes hours, but it's easy. All the x-ray machines, ultrasounds, doctors, etc. come to your pod. You just relax.Chaum Anti-aging Center. c/o CHAUM
Then, the entire center develops a personalized program for you. Everything from working out with personal trainers/holistic healers; to chefs who create tailored menus just for you - including my favorite "Firm skin salad'; to IVF treatment combined with an Eastern approach to fertility; to stem cell banking; to massages that feel like a hybrid between a spa treatment and bone realignment -- all developed based on a deep understanding of how the human body works at a holistic level. The Meditation Steps at Chaum Wellness Center. Image c/o CHAUM
It's this center, using a powerful mix of Western and Eastern scientific principles, that developed Saturday Skin.
Not just pretty pink bottles
I'm not surprised that Saturday Skin already won Teen Vogue's Beauty Game Changers award so soon after launch. It wasn't the beautiful packaging and whimsical copy that got me excited about the launch of Saturday Skin. It was my visit to CHAUM, my interviews with the experts there, and my exposure to the radiant and glow-y center members. And then I tested their line-up with the Cha-7 es complex™ combined with all sorts of healthful natural ingredients...and Saturday Skin took my breath away.
I know you'll see why when you try this new revolutionary brand.xo,Alicia