Skin Talk, a Tradition we can get behind: | Irvine Moms

Our brand name Phenic, is derived from the term Phoenician which describes the ancient Mediterranean people of Lebanon. Co-founder Sophia El-Hayek, the daughter of Lebanese immigrants, is a first generation Lebanese-American with strong ties to her family’s homeland. With the majority of her family still in Lebanon, she travels frequently to the region to appreciate the local landscape, traditions, and culture. On these trips she’s come to learn about the power of olive oil beyond its culinary uses. Her family has a grove of olive trees which are picked and pressed each year. With this olive grove as our muse, we created Phenic Skincare out of the desire for effective yet pure, natural skincare. Our story starts with Mediterranean olive oil; liquid gold that is filled with skin healing nutrients and antioxidants, and an age old family recipe that was passed down through generations. This fascination with the skin healing benefits of olive oil has inspired us to find other remarkable ingredients born from nature.The recipe we use for our Oil Cream Moisturizer is an adaptation of one that was passed down in the family for generations. Sophia’s grandmother Marta passed down a recipe during one of her recent summer visits to Lebanon. She was one of the last in the family to still have this recipe. We adapted it with great care to preserve authenticity, but also increase its efficacy and sustainability.

 

 

 

 

 

Each ingredient on our labels is thoughtfully chosen for a specific purpose. We‘ve selected ingredients that are real power players such as rosehip seed, vitamin E, olive oil, honey, shea butter, jasmine, and rose. We wanted ingredients that multitask and offer the skin multiple benefits at once. The base ingredient of the majority of our products is olive squalane oil. Squalane oil is a clear lightweight oil that is highly nourishing for our skin because it is very close in composition to our skin’s natural oils. Squalane oil is very similar to squalene oil, which our bodies naturally produce until our mid-twenties. This oil is what keeps our skin and face firm and youthful. This makes it an amazing moisturizer and we love that it also provides anti-aging benefits such as fine line reduction. Our squalane oil is sustainably derived from olives, yet other known sources include shark liver and sugar cane. When Squalane oil is applied topically, our bodies know exactly what to do with it so it absorbs quickly and does not sit on the skin like other oils on the market. Most skincare companies use water as their product base which is merely a filler ingredient because it increases product volume and reduces cost. Water does not add any benefits to the skin itself. Additionally, when water is used in a lotion or cream without a chemical preservative, the entire formula will go bad quickly due to bacteria. Oil is naturally stable so we do not need to add any preservatives to our products. We are able to have a 1 year shelf life on our products without any chemicals that may be harmful to skin.

 

 

Our mission at Phenic is to bring insight and appreciation of nature as skincare to those seeking an enlightened and pure lifestyle. The current skincare market is pretty tough to navigate with so many products masquerading as clean and natural when in fact they have ingredients that are far from it. We seek to provide products that are completely natural, effective, and affordable. Our ingredients are minimal and include no useless fillers. Each ingredient on our label is thoughtfully chosen and has a specific purpose. Transparency is an issue in today’s marketplace and doing things as simply as possible will make it easier for our customers. We are very passionate about the cleanliness of the things we put on our bodies. Skin is the human body’s largest organ and, quite simply, it “eats” whatever we put on it. Many skin care products, especially in the United States, contain unhealthy and even potentially toxic ingredients. This is terrifying, because we do not know the long term effects of using these toxic ingredients every day. We wanted to become skincare entrepreneurs because it bothered us that so many products on the market are hard to read, and difficult to tell if they actually help your skin. We wanted to create a line that was backed by science but also didn’t utilize any potentially harmful chemicals. 

 

 

 

 

 www.phenicskincare.com

www.instagram.com/phenicskincare

 

 

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