2020 Trends In Ingredient Transparency For Clean Beauty

In every segment of beauty and ingestible supplements, there is a lot of white label formula production where a brand can not connect their ingredients to the source like the farm their star botanical comes from. As more consumers are turning their product around to read the label before they purchase, I think the next level of ingredient transparency consumers will or at least should want now that they are becoming aware of the safety profile of an ingredient is a level of being able to trace ingredient sources.

It can be hard to be truly transparent across the supply chain when you don’t have access to be able to ask questions like how is it grown, where is it originating from, and what are the conditions for the workers? I think being able to provide that level of transparency is going to be a point of difference clean beauty brands can compete on as the category gains in popularity and barriers to entry lower to launching a clean beauty brand.

Part of sustainability in skincare and ingestible products that uses raw materials like Moringa is sourcing responsibly. On a larger scale, I love the idea of brands sourcing from cooperatives in low-income areas where they are fairly compensated for their labor and the consumers have access to sustainably sourced ingredients. Now this doesn’t mean a brand has to share which farm they are sourcing from if they don’t own land of their own like Tata Harper or Juice Beauty. (Brand goals)!

If that information is shared, good luck being able to still get your favorite product once 20 more brands start sourcing from the same farm and depleting the supply. However, if members of the brand team are going to do a site visit, I’d like to see them take customers on that journey by providing them a peek behind the curtain on Instagram or Instagram Stories. White labeling aside, a brand will most likely be working with a manufacturer on some level and should be asking questions to get a greater understanding of their ingredient sources. As a consumer, you should be able to trust the brand did their due diligence because 99% of us aren’t going to have time to investigate the source of every product we use.

I saw part of this first hand when looking to make a CBD product two years ago, I ended up connecting suppliers with labs because I actually didn’t like where they were sourcing from or preferred an alternative extraction technique. The CBD source that I preferred actually needed to take control of the process further by purchasing their own farm as they said the product quality varied so much that they couldn’t always guarantee the same consistency in the oil they shipped to product development labs. After doing a site visit, I was impressed with their quality, but growing pains of sourcing from their own farm coupled with the rising demand in more brands wanting to start CBD lines led to there being a period of time when the supply had almost vanished so I moved on without adding CBD to stay on launch deadlines.

Ultimately I think there is a trend for consumer products where we are realizing a lot of the things we thought were good, aren’t, but I’d love to know at what level you are paying attention to ingredients. Do you read the labels of your skincare and supplements? Is it important for them to be Vegan? Organic? Clean? Do you care about where the ingredients are sourced from or ultimately trust the brand you are purchasing from?

DM me on Instagram at @JasminePennamma. I’d love to know your thoughts!

MLK Day Beach Clean Up

The kids spent part of their day off from school picking up plastic and other trash at the beach as part of the community service project we chose to honor and remember the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

I’ve been talking with the kids about small changes we can make in our daily actions since I came back from India as part of my commitment to look beyond resolutions to the legacy I want to leave behind for future generations. It’s easy to dismiss small things like starting to bring my own reusable bottles with me, but when you add them up over a lifetime, they make an impact.

As far as the beach goes, 48 hours ago my kids didn’t have any interest in cleaning up trash at anyone’s beach!! My daughter let me know that sounded like the most boring way to spend her day off with me and my son huffed and puffed about not cleaning instead of playing. I figured it was easier to show than tell so I looked up a few videos on YouTube from clean ups where they saw other kids around their age which worked way better than anything I had to say on the subject. I was actually surprised at how much they wanted to do when we got to the beach and even turned it into a competition between the two of them to see who could find the most to clean up in between finding sea creatures and sea shells.

While we were there yesterday, a surfer came up to us and said he does a “5 minute clean up” before he gets out into the ocean and he helped explain to also be on the lookout for smaller plastics (microplastic) when they are playing in the sand during the summer because they are more easily eaten by fish and other animals we may consume later. Apparently we eat a the amount of plastic equal to a credit card a week from microplastics in our food and water. 😬😳 Who knew?!

6 switches to make sustainable more attainable

I’m currently almost two weeks into my trip to India where I welcomed the new decade with a daily habit detox to recharge and then hopefully reset. I tried to set myself up to embrace the opportunity to incorporate more wellness habits into my routine by making my visit with family feel more like a wellness retreat, but more on that in a later post. I came here feeling drained and hoping to feel a sense of renewal before I left, but I didn’t think part of that process would be in a renewed sense of environmental responsibility.

When leaving the airport, my sister and I noticed billboards about the state of Kerela banned single-use plastics as of January 1, 2020 right as we arrived.  I had no idea before traveling to India in December that the Prime Minister announced an initiative in 2019 on Ghandi’s birthday to phase out single-use plastics “

““We have to build an andolan (movement) to induce behavioral change which was at the heart of Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy.” - Prime Minister Narendra Modi”

We noticed non-woven bags when we shopped, paper straws when we dined, and paper bags when I went to pick up medicine after catching a really bad cold in Los Angeles right before I came. When talking to a shop owner about what he thought about the new movement given that the new bags do cost him a little more, he said:

“Our ancestors gave us beautiful nature and now, we are destroying it day by day. What kind of environment are we going to leave our children if we don’t cut pollution now? People throw leftover vegetable garbage and food items in the plastic bag and throw in the street where animals like cows are dying because they eat the plastic bag along with the food. Most people burn our garbage, but the burning of plastic bags releases toxic chemicals into the air. Change is our responsibility.”

While I’ve been here, images of the wildfires in Australia have been heartbreaking. Couple this with seeing Kerala putting plans in action that could help make such a huge impact, it left me wondering what are things I could do to detox my lifestyle and take steps to live more sustainably as part of the impact I want to leave on this Earth for my children. When the shop owner said “Change is our responsibility”, I fulll-heartedly agreed but if you are anything like me - big changes also feel overwhelming so I put together a list of a few simple switches I’ve been making while I’m here to make sustainable also feel ‘attainable’ when I get back home to share with you all.

Single-Use Plastic Cups: I’ve got a bad habit of pulling out plastic cups at home all the time when the kids or myself want something to drink so I can just throw it away when it’s done instead of having to wash more dishes, but switching out plastic cups will cut down a lot of plastic use in my house.

Starbucks Coffee Cups: I started drinking my coffee, matcha, or however I like to start my day much more frequently at home last year. However, there are periods where I’m on the run where I’m stopping for my daily caffeine habit at Starbucks. I like stopping in for convenience, but will try and take in my own reusable drinking container.

Toxic Products (Home + Body): I obsessively looked for cleaner solutions when I was first pregnant. The Honest Company launches while I was pregnant with Alaia and the delivery service was not only great so I didn’t have to drive with a newborn for minor shopping, but it also made me feel like I was making better cleaning solutions when I had young kids who still mouthed things that fell out of their mouth and onto the floor. As someone who used all medical grade skincare, I even went all natural or bust for a while because I didn’t want to snuggle up on them with a face full of retinol, not knowing if that could be a source of some of the excema and skincare issues they both went through. As they grew out of that and as they also grew old enough not to mouth things that touch the floor, I relaxed on a lot of my household goods but want to spend this year making a more conscious effort to reduce the chemicals used in my house and on our bodies using resources like the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep cosmetic database. I also pretty much rejected fully natural skincare once I got my first wrinkle, but after turning to more ayurvedic items in India after my toiletry bag got poached by the TSA I want to develop more of a clean clinical blend into my daily beauty routines.

Plastic Bags: Most grocery stores around Los Angeles have alternatives to plastic bags, but I probably use mine for everything but the grocery store. Sometimes I even make it all the way to the store with it in my trunk and forget until checkout.

Fast-Fashion: This is the area I feel like I may struggle the most in. Fast fashion has been criticized at making a huge environmental impact as estimates have shown more than half of fast fashion items are thrown out within a year of purchase. The last time I was here, I started off the trip with a shopping day to get clothes that are more appropriate for the more conservative areas we would be visiting which I also enjoyed because I love to shop and find fun things to wear. I’m going to have to start to dig in on what changes I can make at home, but while I’ve been here I just wore my mother’s clothing instead of coming and purchasing traditional clothes to wear while I’m here that I never wore again after returning home.

Meat Centric Meals: So if you read my post you’ll see that one thing I didn’t know before is that the the single biggest impact I can make to fight climate change might be with my diet….by cutting animal products. (😬 Not exactly a fact I went digging for since I wanted to celebrate my birthday when I got home with a dinner date at Mastros)! In fact, my sister told me that going one year without paper saves 8.5 trees, but going without beef saves 3,432 trees. 😳 So while I’m not sure if I’m ready to give it all up and go vegan like my sister, I did promise her I’d participate in #veganuary while I’m here and continue at home for the rest of the month. I have been vegan for a period after having both children because of elimination diets I was doing to see what was causing their excema and blood in their stool which my doctor said is a result of food sensitivities, but I’ve gone back to eating normally now that I’m done with breastfeeding. We’ll see if I make it through this vegan month and from there I’ll figure out how far I want to take it.

Now that you’ve read some of mine, what would you add to this list? DM me on Instagram at @JASMINEPENNAMMA to let me know!

How “Clean" Is Your Clean Beauty routine?

When I look at anything from skincare to hair to makeup - "clean" is the beauty buzzword of the moment. At a beauty summit last month, a takeaway was that all beauty should be clean beauty when looking forward at trends in 2020, but from experience in formulating a line, going to labs and getting a product made that is still considered to be "clean," can be frustrating when there are still no clear rules of how to define this and the word itself is unregulated. This means that I would have to work backward thinking about what retailer I'd want to position it for using that specific retailer's standard of "clean" to create my own definition of clean beauty in order to maintain the strictest standards of clean and sustainability practices I would want to uphold as a brand.

You may have noticed this variance in clean standards yourself when trying to shop for cleaner products because the definition of clean beauty changes depending on the retailer you purchase from. . . or what brand is putting its marketing spin on the message. For example, purchasing a product that is marked as "Clean at Sephora" doesn't exactly mean that it meets "The Credo Clean Standard" because they each have come up with their own guidelines since there aren't regulations about what makes a brand be able to label itself as clean. In fact, U.S. laws for cosmetics safety are virtually unchanged since they were created back in 1938 so if you want to really be more stringent with your brand, you search for labs that have experience in formulating products that are sold in the EU because the EU seems to be more ahead of the game since they ban thousands of more ingredients in products than we do in the US.

After having experience developing a skincare line, I've been keeping a close eye on the beauty industry, testing various clean products, learning more about natural brands, and expanding my knowledge on the topic as a whole. By 2024, the global “natural beauty” industry is predicted to reach $22 billion, with indie companies representing a sizable piece of the pie. Clean beauty, in particular, is becoming crowded, but if there is anything I know from being in the room with dozens of industry vets is that not many look like me which could be why products I think are the most obvious still haven't been made.

Being a newer category, education around clean beauty is still lacking. However, I see it as an incredible opportunity to be able to help you all understand why clean beauty and all it’s nuances down to ingredient transparency including the ingredient comes from and how it’s sourced. Bringing in a new decade is as good excuse as any to detoxing my beauty routine as I run out of products so I’m looking forward to exploring new clean beauty items in 2020.

Have you started to switch to clean beauty brands? I’d love to hear which ones as I’m testing new items. DM me on Instagram @jasminepennamma and let me know!

5 Tips For Aspiring Business Owners on Women's Entrepreneurship Day

Female entrepreneurship is on the rise! In celebration of Women's Entrepreneurship Day, here are 5 tips for aspiring business owners. 

1. Become an expert.

You can put your expertise on display through microblogging on Instagram, creating a newsletter, videos for multiple platforms, speaking engagements, and even with the help of public relations. Whatever your business is, you will want to be as visible as possible. Starting a podcast is the new blog so if you think you are short on time for everything else on this list, start there and just talk because it's another great way to gain exposure.

2. Don't let your ego takeover

We've all been there. It's hard to give up control of processes in your business as it grows, but it's so necessary for you to succeed. Make a list of what you are the most skilled in and then hire a team qualified to handle the rest. 

3. Stick to your vision and stay in your lane

When you first start your business, you are going to have your own point of view, but avoid the temptation to keep peeking over your shoulder to see what competitors are doing. It's really easy to lose sight of your original vision this way and morph into a carbon copy of someone else. 

4. Get online and leverage the power of social media

Who would I be if I didn't add in a social media tip? Building a platform for yourself in addition to your business on social media is not only a great way to give your brand a competitive edge, but I'd argue it's a non-negotiable these days. Sometimes, building your personal platform can even be the catalyst that gives birth to your brand! 

5. Don't be afraid to fail

Most of us are taught as a child to view failure as a negative experience. In truth, you have to get outside of your comfort zone when running your own business and failures may be part of your journey once you've taken enough risks. Failing can be a lesson in what isn't working, but you can't figure that out without trying. It's always better to fail trying something you love than to be successful in doing something you hate! 

Having your own business is an adventure, so embrace the challenges and rewards it offers. Do you have your own business or considering it? DM me on Instagram at @JasminePennamma and let me know what it is you are working on. I’d love to hear. CHEERS!

The Future of Diversity in Beauty Is Funding

A discussion at The Wing on Diversity in Beauty had me reflect with a guest on how major companies throw around the terms “diversity and inclusion” to drive sales and attention to their brands. In beauty, Fenty set off a foundation war with companies trying to outdo themselves and come out with the most shades who had more limited ranges prior to Fenty’s launch. Beyond that, @_foundla pointed out venture capitalist statistics yesterday that show we could have taken this conversation a step further because diversity and inclusion in venture capital might even matter most of all because the VCs that control where the money flows determines the diversity of entrepreneurs and ideas that get funded. Changing the dynamic of who sits at the investment table can have a long-term impact on the brands that have the privilege of entering our homes in the future.

As a woman of color, the statistics can sound defeating. An article I just read stated that in 2018, out of $85 Billion in VC funding, only 2.2% went to female founders with WOC getting less than 1% of total funding. 🤯 I believe a key to help close the gap is to have women not only “supporting” other women but FUNDING other women, but would love to hear your thoughts or experiences. #foodforthought

Fall Bucket List - Cider, Doughnuts, and Apples

Taste an apple cider doughnut and the universe will immediately open to tell you all its secrets. That's the exact impression that I remember from childhood so I like bringing a piece of that to my own children . . . plus a trip to Oak Glen is about as "fall" as you can get in Southern California.

Apple season in Oak Glen starts in September, but who is thinking about apples when school just got back in session and I'm trying to get my life back in order from the lazy days of summer? By October I'm usually thinking about how can I knock out pumpkin patchin' and apple picking so a trip to Oak Glen knocks everything out at once. 

Pro Tip: You may think you will get the perfect fall photo while you are our there, but it's still very Cali which means unpredictable weather! It may be cool and crisp or hot AF, so I bring an extra pair of shorts as well as hoodies for the kids because it can go from really warm to cool between midday and sunset. 

Now let's get back to what to expect while you've ventured almost two hours away from Los Angeles. Pick an orchard you want to start at Snowline Orchard and plug it in because I always lose service once I get there and just kind of drive around after we hit up the first place. The places I've gone to are all off Oak Glen Road which is a scenic loop of apple orchards and farms. I try and stop at the one that also has a wine tasting rooms because it makes the rest of the day more enjoyable. You can't actually pick apples here, but you could always just grab apples pre-bagged and hang around for food, doughnuts, and u-pick raspberries. 

The next three places are a toss up of where to go next. The first place I had ever looked up in Oak Glen was Riley's, but it's a little confusing as they own more than one property. Last time we went to Riley's Apple Farm without knowing to check out Riley's Los Rios Rancho across the street. This year we hung out at Riley's Los Rios Rancho for the better part of the day and it could have been the whole trip because there is that much for the kids to do.

The activity the kids liked the most was the U-Press Cider activity, but I will say it was exhausting since I didn't go with my husband this year. Somehow we got lucky because we did this at the end of the day, but at one point there was a huge line and almost gave up on doing this. This place had nature trails the kids "hiked", had a petting zoo with wagon rides, and all the BBQ and hot dogs you could eat with plenty of space for the kids to run around and get out all their cider sugar energy out. I heard there was also a corn maze, but I just watched a horror story on Netflix about one the night before so we skipped this one!

To actually pick apples, you may have to go across to Riley's Apple Farm depending on the day, but they were available when we went on Sunday. The one place we didn't get to go to this year was this place another mom today me about while we were in line for doughnuts at Snowline Orchard. Stone Soup Farm & Heritage Orchard has apple picking, but also kids crafts and gemstone panning. Both kids have really been into gemstone books so I really wanted to do that activity, but I couldn't find it since I didn't have a signal once I was out on the Oak Glen Road loop. I guess this will be the first stop on the agenda next trip and I'll just BYOB wine in case I can't find my way back to Snowline's Wine Tasting room!

5 tips to help you transition to working out of office

Most of my career before children was in sales so I never really worked from an office in a traditional sense outside of corporate internships. I’ve pretty much always had a home office even though I still had to take outside meetings daily, and I think a few key habits that started early for me made it an easy switch when I started working on my own projects full time. When I first took the leap to start a company of my own in 2009, there weren’t a lot of people to look at and there were really only two other people I knew who didn’t work a traditional Corporate America job at a Fortune 500 type of company that I could talk too about what to expect. Now it almost seems to be in fashion to be an entrepreneur. I was only working from home for a few months before I got scared of being 100% on my own and went back into sales while continuing to work weekends and evenings on my own company and didn’t transition until fully stopping working in sales another 2 years later after needing more flexibility in when I was working as a mother. If you are working for yourself of freelancing in any capacity there are five things I think can help you transition into being more productive when working on your own.

Set Up An Office Or Work Area

I feel like I always see these glamorized posts of people working from their bed or the beach, but it’s important to create a designated work space in your home where you can not only remove distractions (hellooooo pile of laundry), but also be able to shut a door and walk away from work at the end of the day to focus on your family or anything that isn’t your business around the clock. I am guilty of being the person who would get in the zone of a project and not come out of my hole until I was done which would make these vicious cycles of non-stop work, burnout, and recovery. Once I had kids, I had no choice but to try and learn how to set a time to stop (even if it meant I would pick back up for an hour or two in the evening) because it’s not like you can just skip picking your kids up from school because you are on a roll!

If there isn’t a spare room that you can use for an office, finding a designated space you can set up and make enjoyable to work in away from tv or your bed will help you get more done in a day. For anyone that has to take Skype calls or any type of video calls often, keep the background for calls in mind as you set your space up.

Schedules Are Life

In sales I would have to have my ‘routing’ planned for the week. This was a list of who I was going to see for the week written out by day and I would have to spend time before each meeting looking up my notes from the last meeting so I could plan out what my objective was going to be for going in. This set up a mentality where I would look at my week and figure out what I needed to do to drive objectives in my business forward and I’d time-block what needed to get done in a day to meet that objective so I never spent too much wasted time on things that didn’t matter. There were very few days for me from jump where I would look up and it would be the end of the day, but I hadn’t actually gotten anything accomplished.

I don’t care if I’m opening up a planner to write on paper or opening up a note application in my phone, but the first thing I’m doing for the day is create some kind of to-do list so that even if I get sucked down the rabbit hole (ugh. . . Instagram), I can always take a peek at my list to get back on track. I try and set timers to go off on my phone if I know I want to devote a solid chunk of time on something that requires deep thinking, but I’ve heard of friends who swear using productivity cubes like this to help them stay on track for the day. Schedule your day how you need to around your lifestyle and best times for productivity, but get that ish scheduled!

Limit Yourself From Constantly Checking Your Email

I started working before everyone had a Blackberry so at one point in my life, you couldn’t check your email unless it was early in the morning or late in the evening because you were expected to be in the field between 8am - 5pm. While on internship at Pfizer I remember hearing a few executives talk about the Blackberry they were all getting and everyone questioning if this was going to mean they had to answer emails around the clock now. Fast forward to now and it’s so hard to get out of the mentality of constantly scanning my email to see if I’m out of the loop about something as if I’m not working unless I’m responding back as fast as someone sent an email. While it’s important to stay connected, spending too much time on e-mail might distract you from more important tasks to drive your business forward.

Being A Founder/ Freelancer/ Entrepreneur Can Be Lonely So Find Your Circle

I’ve always been used to just talking to people on the phone during long car rides because I was pretty much always working on my own. That’s actually probably one reason why I jumped to get an iPhone when it first came out because I could check-in on Facebook and talk to my friends who were online at their desk all day. For anyone who came from more of a traditional office environment, they always talk about life as an entrepreneur being more of a major adjustment because they are used to being able to interact with their co-workers more often to bounce ideas off of or just to chat about whatever was on tv the night before. I missed out on that boat, but joining groups for entrepreneurs and setting out to attend events where I could also connect with other people in my industry were where I’ve met some of the people who really helped push me forward as my ‘business BFFs’ as they became people I could bounce ideas off of even though we may not have been working together. You may notice that you may start to hire, refer, and partner heavily based on the company you keep in your entrepreneurship circle.

 Self-Care is Healthcare

I used to think if you had time for self care, it was because you weren’t working enough. I thrived on a project I was working on being all-consuming and losing track of time because of whatever I was working on. I still do this sometimes, but the last piece of the puzzle that is sometimes the easiest for others is carving out time for self care. For me it means not working through lunch so I set an alarm at 1pm to make sure it’s not 3pm and I am starving. I’ve been working on it being more of a priority to stop to walk or even take a fitness class or else I’ll always say that’s an hour I’ll put off because ‘I don’t have time’. Rest was also one of the last things I would do and have finally started putting boundaries on how late I stay up working on things so I have time to reset to start again the next day without feeling like I’m at the brink of burn out. Some weeks I’m better at this then others, but I do attempt to make these three things priority that I will even schedule into my calendar. My husband may laugh when my iPhone does the lullaby ring so I know it’s getting close to when I need to lay down to get at least 7 hours of sleep, but I need that reminder to tell myself to slow down.

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Working at home can be lonely, require a lot more time than you expect, and it may not provide the stability or resources that comes with working for someone else in an office setting. While it may appear glamorous on Instagram, many of the people I know who go off to start something on their own are working far more hours than they even did from an office, so know there may be sacrifices you make to be able to have the flexibility of working from home. I hope these tips are helpful if you are exploring becoming an entrepreneur in any capacity. There will be ups and down, but remember to enjoy the ride!

Is there a tip you think I missed? DM it to me on Instagram @JasminePennamma. I’d love to hear it!

Mermaid Off Duty

Orange County. The OC. Whatever you call it, it’s pretty far from me so i don’t find myself talking adventures there often, but when my friend mentioned there was a place we could take the kids where the girls could be mermaids, it was worth exploring. Alaia and her best friend were getting ready to graduate and we were looking for something special to do for the girls. Having a son I was kind of worried there wouldn’t be anything fun for him to do, but they also had a pirate experience so he could join in the fun. Since we had littles, we did the cheapest package for them in case they weren’t actually that interested and opted for the full package for our 5 year olds.

Honestly, everyone was entertained. I actually thought my son was entertained the most once he was transformed into a pirate and got to run around with a sword after the pirate from Once Upon An Island. While everyone loved the experience inside and getting transformed, getting to go outside and into the ocean with a fish tail. . . . yeah. They are both still talking about this one!

Four Face Oil Hacks

Wait did I just say face oil? As in putting oil on my face?

Yup sure did.

If you are looking at me like I lost my mind right now because you’ve always heard to avoid oil, same girl, same. I was traveling to Paris for a skincare brand I was working with and they included a gift of a face oil from one of their French brands. I picked it up, and instantly thought. . . WTF am I supposed to do with this? Not put it on my face right?!?

My dear friend and eventually my co-founder of Aesthetic Influencer, Nicole, was on that trip with me and assured me that it was a fantastic product and that I basically had everything I thought I knew about oil for my face wrong. Imagine the look on my face when she told me that oil they gave me wouldn’t break me out, but instead change my life and my skin because even people with oily skin can use oil. Adding the oil on my face would tell my body to overproducing sebum which could help controlling oily skin. Mind Blown. However, as fast as that oil absorbed into my skin, she told me it wasn’t a replacement to my moisturizer because it oil kind of coats my skin so I still needed to layer something that pulls water into my skin and hydrates it. The oil is just the last step and seals it all it to keep moisture from escaping. Here’s a little brand secret for you too . . . Nicole is also an aesthetician and biochemist who I pulled in to help source the right private label skincare lab for the perfect blend. Pravada Private Label in Florida had this delicious blend of Black Current, Jojoba, Grape Seed, and Primrose that was great for an oily girl like me.

Ok, now that we cleared that up and your at least curious if not already a fan, let’s go over a few hacks for your newfound love, Face Oil.

#1 Use Face Oil For A Dewy Look

I’ve been using this highlighter in Golden Bronze from Mac for the past 10 years if not longer…..shhh. So many products I’ve loved have been discontinued, but this one has stood the test of time. Now that highlighting is having it’s 15 minutes of fame, and has taken over the beauty scene, everyone wants that coveted dewy look.  One of the best ways to get it, is to start with a dewy base. Enter: face oil!

You can either apply it to your skin before your makeup as a primer (being sure to let it soak in) or mix it in with your foundation. You can also use the face oil to highlight key areas like your cheekbones or apply it to your beauty blender or brush before blending in your foundation. Either way the results are a beautiful, healthy glow.

#2 Use Face Oil To Remove Makeup

The same oil you mixed in with your foundation can also help take it all off later! Are you double cleansing? Using an oil as your first cleanse uses the theory that ‘like attracts like.’ Using an oil based cleanser will melt off your makeup, and remove all oil based dirt from the skin. You should then rinse the oil off with lukewarm water, and follow with your normal cleanser. 

#3 Use Face Oil To On Your Cuticles

A lightweight oil that absorbs fast is perfect for your cuticles, especially in the winter months! I’m always washing my hands between being in and out of medical buildings to see clients or my kid’s schools which are overrun with germs. Between the constant washing and drier, cool air, they can get pretty dehydrated since cuticles have less oil glands to keep them moisturized. If mine stay dry too long, they peel and crack . . . and my nail girl starts cracking jokes. A little goes a long way so I try to rub a few drops in after using it on my face.

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What is microinfusion the $16 Amazon hack my skin is obsessed with

I was first introduced to microinfusions close to two years ago through a plastic surgeon I was friends with. It was starting to pop up in offices in Los Angeles my agency Aesthetic Influencer worked with, but there are so many treatments that I come in contact with that new ones don’t always hold my attention especially since I’m cautious of many peels and lasers as a women of color.

So WTF is microinfusion and why is my skin obsessed? It’s a combination of microneedling by stamping and infusing the skin with serums simultaneously. In a clinic, a microinfusion facial may include a cocktail of what a provider may typically inject into a client’s face like Botox and Filler, but microinfusions are not meant to erase wrinkles, only soften them. It’s usually a treatment done as an addition to injectables to concentrate on the skin because it leads to instant gratification with the least amount of downtime. The typical results are eliminating fine lines and tightening of the skin for a “Glass Skin” effect. Here in Los Angeles, it’s usually a treatment recommended to Hollywood clients before a major event because it leaves a radiant glow with minimal downtime. The device used is called AquaGold which the company sells to professionals and then another version A.S.A.P Microinfusion System for use at home. I had one professional treatment with Botox, Hyaluronic Acid, and PRP from a dermatologist that was a client and was hooked! Naturally I told all of my friends about it.

How much does a professional treatment cost? Like most treatments, you should be going in for a series, but being anywhere from $600 - $900 per treatment, most of us didn’t seek out a professional treatment as often as was recommended. Even at the lower price end, $600 is a lot to drop for a sprinkle of Botox labeled as a facial on a regular basis, but just like Botox injected with a needle. . . the effects won’t last forever. While at-home therapies can never replace the multitude of benefits professional services have, just like you still need to brush your teeth everyday after going to see the dentist, microinfusing your skin at home can help enhance the results you get in a professional setting. Now just to keep it all the way real, $600 is a lot of money for tiny droplets of Botox and the promise of better skin. Luckily, if you are curious to see if it makes an immediate difference for you, most offices in the States do some form of this with Aquagold so the price has been driven down to as low as $250 with Botox plus a blend of other serums in some areas.

Can I get this done cheaper?! You can try the treatment at home for $225 for Dew & Go Microneedling Infusion Stamp, but $59 will get you the same thing called TokStick from Korea made by the same parent company, Beuon. They sell this cute version without ampules for $59 so you are able to infuse your skin with serums of your choice or get the device plus a set of four serum ampules for $89.

What may my results be like at home versus professional treatment mixing Botox in the serum? While some aestheticians are now doing a microinfusion facial with a mix of different serums, most microinfusion facials are done by medical professionals because they mix Botox and Filler into the vile. Home results are going to be closer to using a microneedle product like Banish ($69 for microneedle) since you won’t even get to add in Botox of Filler in your mix! Since you aren’t able to actually infuse a mixture into your skin at home that’s similar to what a doctor would use with Vitamin C, glutathione, hyaluronic acid filler, and Botox, the real magic is coming from having tiny needles stamping into the skin which stimulates your own natural collagen production.

I can’t use Botox at home so what are some options to needle with? One suggestion you could use at home that’s a steal at $23 and easily accessed at a Drug Store is this dermatologist-grade, oil-free serum from Vichy with 15% vitamin C and hyaluronic acid. Expect it to reduce fine lines, firm skin, even skin tone with continued use. I get a lot of products free since I work with many skincare brands or dermatologists that gift me products, but as an insider tip, I love this brightening serum with kojic acid, hyaluronic acid, and licorice root that you can order a sample of from Pravada Private Label for $4. If you love it enough to start your own skincare line, you can private label it from then at minimums as low as 12 units around $10 each under your own ‘brand,’

Germaphobe update. There is a $16 version of Aquagold sold on Amazon (Hydra Micro 20) that I know some clinics have purchased to do their microinfusion treatments since they can purchase it far cheaper than Aquagold’s wholesale price. After testing it, this one is now hands down the winner for me. At $16, I can economically replace the device after each treatment just like a doctor would which would be a better option for anyone who is now a germaphobe post-COVID and not wanting to risk infection because they are reusing needles. In clinics, the Aquagold device is never saved for reuse. You always get a fresh one with each treatment.

Does it hurt?! You ARE poking your face with needles. Everyone has a different threshold for pain, but since you are not using anything to numb your face like a doctor would, it’s not pleasant. As a tip, remember you are going to tap lightly. The needles do all the work for you so don’t press hard.

So what should you expect after a treatment at home? If you do this at home, I would recommend this as an evening ritual after you’ve cleaned your face and then started stamping in a serum. In the morning, you’'ll rinse your face off with a gentle cleanser. Since microinfusion can make your skin more sensitive to the sun, while I recommend sun protection EVERY DAY OF YOUR LIFE, be sure not to “forget” in the days following this treatment.

So what do you think of this treatment? Would you give this a try at home?

How to use microneedling infusion stamp

Summer Road tripping with the littles

This wasn't the first and won't be the last time I take the kids out of town solo. It's never easy, but it's always worth it. A lot of times we just call it sleepovers because it centers around me picking a nice hotel where we swim, make s’mores, and stay up late playing games with room service. Our trips haven't been particularly adventurous until this past year now that they are getting bigger. They've mostly been a way for us to really bond. I'm not on a crazy schedule so we take our time, we color, someone else cleans up after us and brings dinner to the room, and I just really use that time to give them my total undivided attention. It's usually around when my husband is already out of town so it ends up being easier for us both to be in a new environment.

Our trip to South Lake Tahoe was super spontaneous. I talked myself out of driving out of town with the kids on my own at least 3x in 24 hours because I do spend the night out of town with just us, but more like pick an easy resort and two hours or so away and go swimming. At most, we maybe leave the place once or twice and just hang out on the property. It’s also never been a destination that felt so “very middle of nowhere” on my own.

I would have loved to rent a kayak or boat because the water is so beautiful and crystal clear, but I stuck to activities this round that I thought I could manage on my own easily. We stuck to hiking and exploring the lake. I picked out hiking trails and beaches that were pretty popular so there was pretty much always a lot of people around even if the areas we were at looked desolate in photographs. I didn't geotag where we were while I was gone because as much as I love chatting online, there are still too many people out there that could use that information to target a woman who is traveling on her own. Actually, I exercise that same bit of caution online as I never mention my kid's school or camps or post a photo with them wearing any school tees.

I thought I was going to chat more about what we did while we were gone (Mostly Eagle Falls, Sand Harbor Beach, and exploring the city to eat), but I got so many DMs and questions from friends about traveling on my own with the kids that I decided to make this post about that.

Here are a few of my tips if you are going to attempt a few nights away like this yourself before the summer is out:

Be Alert: I'm an optimistic person, but my father has instilled street smarts into me from day one. I'm never going to be the person who just leaves their purse on a chair during a birthday party, and when traveling, I'm always going to remain on high alert especially if I'm traveling solo without my husband because there are crazy people out there who target women and women who may be alone with children. I make it very clear to my children that not all people are good people and I'm here to protect them, but I need their help sticking close to me and listening so I can keep us all safe.

Let Someone Know Where You Are: We planned really last minute, but my husband had our hotel information and we just got our daughter a Gizmo which also acts as a location tracker so we had that with us and activated so he could stay on top of where we were in case we had any issues.

Hotels/Resorts > Airbnb: So everyone may not agree with me here, but I felt 110% more secure staying in a hotel with multiple other guests, kid-friendly, with and someone we could check in with more than I did trying to be in contact with a homeowner and then being off in the woods somewhere on our own. For all that we may as well went camping somewhere on our own. . . . which wasn't something I felt comfortable doing on my own.

Talk Through What Happens If You Get Separated: I just got my daughter a Gizmo which is like an Apple Watch for kids that you can program up to 10 numbers of people they can contact by calling or texting. I felt much more at ease knowing she could call me if we got separated (when we weren't in areas with no cell service while hiking!). For both children, I've always told them to look for a mommy and yell out my full name instead of "mommy" if they ever got lost. In a mommy and me class, they explained that teaching this to young children can help so you can identify them in a crowd where there may be a ton of other kids saying mommy and to specifically tell them to look for a woman for help because women will most likely commit to helping a young child while a man may be hesitant of looking like he was trying to run off with them. My kids are of an age that they can remember my phone number, but there are companies who make tattoos of your name and number you can put on a child's wrist for the day that I've ordered for things like days at Disneyland when they were too young for basic conversation.

Are you heading anywhere with the littles this summer? DM me @jasminepennamma and let me know. I’d love to hear!

Summer School - Learning A New Skill For The Summer

School is out this week and although both kids will be enrolled in camps while my husband and I are working, it still feels like we will have some downtime because we will be light of the sports and extra activities. With my oldest being an early reader and my youngest starting, I’m going to do my best to go to the library each week so they can pick a new book for us to read together. I remember being part of summer book clubs like Book It (free pizza at Pizza Hut!) and 600 Minutes (Free ticket to six flags!) which I loved, but while I think these programs helped me start an early love of devouring books, I wanted to try my own twist to it.

In college, I never really had a summer “off”, but whether I was taking summer classes or working at an internship, while it felt great to have a break from the demands of the school year, that didn’t mean I needed to take a break from learning. For me, the best part about the slow days of summer is that you have a chance to learn on your own terms. So while in school I would pick a class I was really interested in that had nothing to do with my major, and even while away on internship I would enroll in something that excited me like a commercial acting class or art class.

For myself and my kids, I want us to each pick a skill that we want to learn and use books that we check out at the library, YouTube videos, and a lot of trial and error to work on it to continuously get better over the summer. For me it will probably center around shooting and editing video and for my daughter around art. I’m not sure what my son will pick, but I know he’s always been into helping in the kitchen so I may start him out with snacks and smoothies he can make after school. We haven’t picked it out exactly, but we have a few days together at a hotel when school is out to try and figure it out!

Dirty 30

30th birthdays are known to be huge milestones, but I couldn’t exactly put my finger on WHAT this milestone was because the closer I got to 30, the less of a milestone it looked like. I still have friends who are in the Dirty Thirty Club who are out every night, drinking until the dawn breaks, or running out of town for every excuse of a college reunion type party. So I can’t really say that 30 feels ‘old‘ like it did when I was younger. Everyone is still out and about living their life! So for me, thirty became a time to cherish my loved ones and to learn to age well instead of a year to be afraid of.

My 20's were met with exciting firsts like my first NY apartment (29th and 5th), my first paid ‘corporate internship’ (Neiman Marcus), my first helicopter ride (and engagement!), and of course the first day of the rest of my married life (in Hawaii). With the 20's behind me, I look forward to the 30's and other firsts like first born, first word, and family first. And what better way to start that off than my last day of my 20's in Vegas with my friends, and the first day of my 30th in Maui at the Four Seasons with my husband? I could get used to 30!

And I’ll leave you with that sunscreen speech from ’99. From NY to LA, can you tell I was paying attention?! (Minus the part about not reading beauty magazines. The nerve!). Not planning a move from Cali anytime soon though, I’m starting to really dig my soft side.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts. Don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don’t waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind. The race is long and, in the end, it’s only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You’ll miss them when they’re gone.

Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll have children, maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else’s.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don’t be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they’ll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They’re your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live inCalifornia once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you’ll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you’ll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair or by the time you’re 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.