The skin thrives on the consistency of your daily regimen and the little extras in your weekly and monthly rituals that keep you on the spiral path. But, for those who seek more, the Earth cycle, which follows the seasons, is the time and place for transitional practices, the small challenges for maintaining vibrancy and stimulating youthfulness, or the powerful products that are best saved for special occasions.
The Supportive Skincare Regimen Follows Nature’s Calendar
Beautiful, healthy skin thrives with a daily hygienic plan (The Sun Cycle), weekly and monthly rituals that boost you forward and keep you heading in the right direction (The Moon Cycle), and the unique challenges from seasonal transitions and special occasions that keep your skin vibrant while increasing resiliency (The Earth Cycle). At Brooklyn Herborium, we give the skin what it needs in relation to these three natural cycles but always leave room to allow the skin the agency to function well on its own. We call this the Supportive Skincare Regimen.
Brooklyn Herborium’s Supportive Skincare Regimen focuses on when you use certain types of products. You can have a supportive regimen with a wide variety of products, so long as you use each product type at the right time.
- The Sun Cycle is the 24-hour pattern of day and night that is created by the Earth’s rotation. This cycle guides our daily rhythm and gives us cues for hygiene and habitual self-care.
- The movement of the Moon around the Earth creates the Moon Cycle. It is the basis for the waxing and waning phases of the moon and the appearance of the New Moon or the Full Moon. Our regimen for weekly and monthly rituals follows this cycle. These practices are not appropriate for every day but can be beneficial when used judiciously and at the right times. These are your intelligent intermittent practices.
- The Earth Cycle is created by the movement of the Earth around the sun and the tilt of its axis. It is what gives us the seasons that create the year. Within our regimen, this earth cycle allows for both transitional practices as well as special occasions, such as “holidays."
Transitional Products for Moving Through Seasonal Shifts
Vita-C Ten-Minute Dry Serum
When the skin shows signs of stagnation, such as a feeling parched, a mottled texture just under the surface of the skin, or areas that appear chapped, it is useful to assist your skin’s oil/water barrier with the Vita-C 10-Minute Dry Serum. While stagnation is a usual occurrence during the cold, dry month, it could also happen any time of year–particularly if you have been over-moisturizing or using oils without emulsifying them with Mineral Mists)
TO USE: Scoop 1/8th-¼ tsp of the Dry Serum into a small bowl. Mix in a similar amount of room temperature to warm water, forming a wet paste. Apply this paste to your skin with a “press and roll” motion, covering all areas of your face and concentrating on where there is stagnation. It should tingle pretty intensely in those areas. Keep dipping your fingertips in water and pressing into the treatment to keep it moist. You can also use a facial steamer to keep it moist. Continue wetting, pressing, and rolling for up to ten minutes before removing completely with a steamy hot washcloth.
Depending on your depth of stagnation, it may continue to feel itchy for a few minutes. This is not harmful, but feel free to flush your skin with cool water to get it to move out faster if you don’t want to feel uncomfortable. If your stagnation is related to the over-use of oils, we recommend that you do not use any products that contain oils for at least 12 hours (preferably more!) after completing this process. Consider it your “natural consequence.”
If you are using the Vita-C 10-Minute Dry Serum for seasonal upkeep and don’t have much stagnation, you won’t feel it as much but you will still get great benefits. Perhaps plan for one treatment between the end of November and the star of the New Year, one treatment around Groundhog Day (Imbolc) or as a pre-Valentines Treat, and one treatment towards the beginning of Spring.
Integrity Biome Mask
While the Integrity Biome Mask is appropriate as part of the Moon Cycle Regimen for many people, it can also be helpful to those who don’t use it all year long to use it in a mask to help them transition from a dry season to a wetter season or a dry climate to a more humid one. In Brooklyn, this usually means adding this mask to your clay mask a couple of times a month from May to July.
TO USE: For best results, do not apply oil under this mask mixture, although many find it helpful to oil cleanse with Cow Fart Juice first. Put 1 tsp Integrity Biome Mask and 1 tsp of your preferred clay mask (Sense & Sensitivity Clay, Pore Refining Clay, or Clear Complexion Clay) into a small non-metallic bowl and mix together well. Add 1 Tbsp of hot water and gently stir with your fingertips. Dip your fingertips into a little more hot water if you need to moisten it further. When you have reached a smooth, thick consistency, apply a think leyer to your face in long, sweeping motions. Try to keep it moist (perhaps a hot towel?) for 8-10 minutes and then remove it completely with your towel.
Seasonal Challenges for Stimulating Youthfulness
The Earth Cycle is also where we focus on maintaining vibrancy and stimulating youthfulness.
Brooklyn Herborium’s method of achieving and maintaining vibrancy at every age uses periodic hormetic stressors to offer challenges to the skin, encouraging it to clean up its old messes and increase its overall resiliency. When the skin is functioning as it should, we introduce a more intense treatment for a short amount of time.
For best results, follow one of our Supportive Skincare Regimens (Sense & Sensitivity, Pore Refining, Clear Complexion, Integrity, or Vita-C) on a daily basis with the appropriate herbal and clay masks or action-packed “boosters” added in on a weekly to a monthly cycle. By doing this, you are giving the skin what it needs when it needs it so that it functions optimally. Then, offer the skin intermittent challenges throughout the seasons in order to keep it fresh and lively. For best results, choose ONE of these methods at a time and follow through completely.
Seeds of Change
100% Nature-made and suitable for sensitive skin and as well as looking for gradual renewal. Simple, effective, and suitable for any season. Challenge your skin with Seeds of Change up to four times per year. Maybe with the change of each season!
TO USE: Replace N&R Oil in your morning Moisture Duo and NO EVIL for your nightly oil cleanse (1-5 times per week) for up to 3 weeks.
Vita-C Ten-Day Wildberry Treatment
Our most potent Vitamin C Treatment is optimal for those looking to erase the signs of past damage such as scars, dark spots, and sun damage.
TO USE: Apply a thin layer in the evening before bed for up to 10 days. If your skin is very sensitive, remove it after 10-15 minutes or use it every other night. Otherwise, let it remain on the skin and splash off with water and a washcloth in the morning. Stop when you start to see signs of peeling or when you get to 10 days. The important part is to let the skin respond and recover. We recommend using this in conjunction with our Vita-C Supportive Skincare Regimen, as it works best when you are not using products that contain higher amounts of daily vitamin C.
Rose Renewal Mask
Brooklyn Herborium’s Springtime “AHA Peel” can be used 1-2 times per week for up to a month as your seasonal challenge or 2-5 days to exfoliate and freshen up the skin before special occasions such as prom, graduation, a reunion, a wedding. This could mean four to six times between the end of winter and the beginning of autumn. While using this product, it is best to limit your direct sun exposure and use a physical blocker such as a hat as part of your sun protection plan.
TO USE: In the evening, apply a thin layer of Rose Renewal Masque to your clean skin using long, upward strokes. Allow the masque to work, dissolving any hardened skin for up to 15 minutes. Rinse with warm water and a gentle cloth. Follow with a splash of cool water and a few pumps of your mineral mist.
Pumpkin Enzyme Peel
Our Fall to Winter “Enzyme + Acid Peel” can be used once per week for anywhere from one month to three months (be smart about what your skin can handle!) as your seasonal challenge during the cool, dark months. Alternatively, use once, one week before a special occasion, to give your skin a lovely glow.
TO USE: In the evening, apply a thick layer to your clean skin and either remove with a warm, wet washcloth after 3 minutes (sensitive skin) or leave for 7 minutes (hardened skin). If your skin begins to tingle uncomfortably, remove it sooner and rinse with cool water. Don’t push through if it doesn’t feel good.
Cinderella Magic
The Earth Cycle is also where we categorize those super-potent specialty products that should only be used once-in-while and for special occasions. These products are used as an instant and immediate pick-me-up for when you are looking for an extra bit of magic. Don’t put them on and go to bed–use these products before the ball, a photo school, or a big day!
DMAE Firming Eye Gel
Pat this botanical-based gel under your eyes to feel refreshed and look awake all day! Made with organic aloe to soothe and calm puffiness, witch hazel to reduce dark circles, real distilled cucumber Juice (yes, the scent is real) to hydrate the outer layers of your skin (reducing the look of fine lines), and highly antioxidant cranberry seed oil. In addition to nature's bounty, this firming eye gel packs in Vitamin B5 and, of course, DMAE.
TO USE: In the morning (after your moisturizer and before make-up), Use your clean ring finger to pat 3 small dabs of DMAE Firming Eye Gel on the bone under each eye. Gently smooth along the ridge from the inner eye to the outer corner.
Silk Serum: Décolletage & Neck
Silk proteins have the remarkable effect of holding moisture, repairing & smoothing while firming the skin. This serum is especially useful on skin with sun damage, inflammation, and signs of aging. It is lovely when liberally applied daily and massaged in with firm, circular, upward strokes.
TO USE: Morning or evening before going out: After splashing with water or water with Dew Drops, spray directly on the neck, décolletage, and around the bust—massage in upward circular motions with a firm touch of the fingertips. Leave to absorb. Follow with Moisture Duo, your favorite moisturizer, and/or sunscreen as desired.
Magick Potion Lotion
This unique and naturally-based treatment is loaded with powerful active ingredients of hyaluronic acid, DMAE, vitamins A, B, C, and E, CoQ10, and alpha lipoic acid while incorporating the use of multi-fruit acids and the “wonder-oil” that comes from the meadowfoam plant, all in a pure rosewater distillate base.
TO USE: When you want to give your skin a boost, like before a big event, for example, Add 1-2 pumps of Magick Potion Lotion to your fingertips and apply all over your face and neck. Mist with Hydrosol and massage in upward circular motions, creating a light “foam.” Allow to set for a few minutes, and it will soak in completely before moisturizing and applying make-up (if you even need it!).
So, save your fancy products that peel, lift, brighten, or otherwise “do something” for special occasions, as they are best used on an “as needed” schedule. Putting them on more often than recommended could lead to irritation or, sadly, eventually make the product stop doing that amazing thing it once did because your body got too used to it and then it was no longer a special boost, but a controlling relationship.
