When it comes to healthy living, we all know the importance of a healthy diet, exercise, and sleep. But there’s one area that often doesn’t get as much attention: skincare.
We talked to Jena Joyce, vegan skincare expert and founder of Plant Mother, to find out how to navigate the cluttered skincare landscape and find a healthy routine. The beauty entrepreneur lives in Miami, where the Plant Mother skincare line is manufactured.
Tell us a little about Plant Mother and its products
Plant Mother serums are not only wonderful nutritious treats for your skin, but they also create a feeling of decadence and simplicity at the same time. When you open a bottle, you immediately feel the delight of the scents, colors, textures, and magic of fresh plants straight from nature. These serums are about giving skin what it needs to thrive. That can look different for everyone, but usually, it means supplying the skin with the types of substances that naturally become depleted over time by aging and sun exposure.
Vitamin C is a great example. It’s a naturally abundant antioxidant in the skin, but our levels of vitamin C decline as time goes on. Replenishing the skin with vitamin C and other rich antioxidants topically is a step toward preserving its health. Plant Mother’s Vitamin C serum is 100% organic skin food packed with antioxidants and multivitamins. Its superhero botanical is Kakadu Plum, which has the highest amount of Vitamin C on the planet — 55x more than oranges! It is a powerful anti-inflammatory plant and provides the perfect level of moisturization, brightening, and nutrition. When you apply it in the morning, its sweet, tropical aroma gives the most incredible start to your day and leaves your skin fresh and glowing.
In the evenings, I use Plant Mother’s vegan retinol serum. It is like a luxurious spa vacation for your skin. This serum is the greatest skin savior – it nourishes skin deeply, giving it the energy to self-rejuvenate. And it does that without any skin irritation or sun sensitivity – the most common side-effects of synthetic and harsh retinols. The serum’s superhero ingredients are Bakuchiol and Sea Buckthorn blended with rejuvenating luxurious botanicals – hibiscus, cloudberry, passion fruit, and prickly pear, to name a few.
What’s Plant Mother’s Approach to Clean Beauty?
Plant Mother is dedicated to making the healthiest skincare through meticulous attention to detail and craftsmanship. We don’t take shortcuts. Many of our ingredients are grown locally here in Miami. Every batch of ingredients is harvested fresh, and serums are made in-house . Every single botanical is considered for its quality and nutritional profile.
To me, that is the true definition of luxury. Beginning with the highest-quality raw materials and honoring them through the most thoughtful formulation practices to achieve something even greater than the parts. As a result, our vitamin C and retinol are able to communicate with the skin in a profound way that amplifies the skin’s own powers of rejuvenation, brightening, and radiance.
Our customers truly appreciate this approach. They seek quality, sustainability, and love the fact that the products are made in the US. Living by the ocean in Miami, I am very blessed with incredible access to fresh ingredients year-round. We have the best air quality and growing climate for a large diversity of botanicals that go into Plant Mother’s serums. And none of our products contain any animal components or have ever been tested on animals.
Plant Mother lives and breathes environmentalism and sustainability. I’ve spent months sourcing local packaging suppliers to find biodegradable, zero-waste packaging that is completely reusable. That’s why Plant Mother is beyond clean and beyond green. Focused on the health of people, the planet, and animals.
On the other hand, most of our competitors are manufacturing their products in China. They’re chasing profits by selling low-quality beauty, packed in cheap plastic. To me, that’s unacceptable. Here are some staggering stats – the cosmetic industry contributes 100 billion pieces of plastic to our earth every year. We are in a plastic crisis— there is plastic in our oceans. Plastic pollution in the ocean here in Miami (and, unfortunately, everywhere else in the world) is a huge problem. The average person eats a credit card of plastic a week because it has found its way into everything. That’s why I believe the beauty industry has to eliminate the use of plastic packaging.
What are your thoughts on beauty and health?
The idea of skin health is more relevant than ever, as there has been a cultural shift to more heightened awareness around skincare overall. There has been a skin positivity movement that reflects our craving for authenticity and individualism. I’ve always hated the word“ beauty” as it applies to a person because it is both objectifying and limiting. It is coded with gender, age, and superficial characteristics. Millions of people have acne, scarring, and major skin imperfections. Those people have felt marginalized by the word beauty and felt it could never apply to them.
To me, healthy skin is beautiful skin. Skin health was at the forefront of my mind when I created Plant Mother. Unlike other skincare lines at the time, which were built around the idea of beauty and luxury, my ultimate goal was to create products that helped people achieve their personal best and healthiest skin ever. Consumers are increasingly becoming health-obsessed and ingredient-conscious. That’s why they love the story behind Plant Mother, its authenticity, healthy ingredients, and sustainable packaging.