THE 2021 SKINCARMA PRODUCT OF THE YEAR: HERBAL FACE FOOD’S THE SERUM I RADICAL YOUTH CONCENTRATE – BEST ORGANIC FACE SERUM
Throughout the year, I must experience more than 500 skincare products from brands the world over. Indie brands, established brands, natural and organic brands — and my personal favorite, clinical brands based on real science.
Among my favorite clinical skincare brands are Paula’s Choice, Deciem’s NIOD brand and Supergoop! (Psst…the Supergoop! Daily Dose Vitamin C + SPF 40 Sunscreen Serum PA+++ was a finalist for the 2021 Skincarma Product of the Year!)
Of course, I appreciate nothing more than a well-formulated Niacinamide serum or what’s touted as the best exfoliating toner with Lactic Acid on the market. But I’m always on the hunt for true innovation.
Only about a third of the products I try, less than 200, make it to the Skincarma Blog; the rest fall by the wayside, often gifted to friends and family. That’s not to say I only share products that don’t impress me (or that I don’t like!) with the people that I love. The people around me seem to appreciate all the complimentary skincare that comes their way.
It’s just that I’ve been at this a while and it takes a lot to impress me. It’s a big deal for me to recommend a product to people I both know and don’t — and, most tellingly, to actually incorporate a particular serum, cream, cleanser or toner into my own daily skincare routine.
In general, my daily skincare routine is relatively set in stone. And, it may surprise you to hear, relatively uncomplicated. Like any pro-skin health regimen, it consists of a cleanser, hydrating toner, Niacinamide and Vitamin C serums, moisturizer and sunscreen in the morning. From time to time, I reach for a Retinol treatment and a few times a week, I’ll use a toner or treatment AHA’s like Lactic Acid or Glycolic Acid. There are no crazy treatments or devices to speak of.
People ask me all the time what my favorite skincare product is and which is my favorite skincare brand. It just so happens that my favorite product comes from my favorite brand. It’s no secret that I’m infatuated with the Paula’s Choice 10% Niacinamide Booster. I consider it indispensable in my own skincare routine. And not only do I consider it the best Niacinamide serum, but I believe it to be the best anti-aging serum on the planet.
PAULA’S CHOICE 10% NIACINAMIDE BOOSTER – BEST NIACINAMIDE SERUM, BEST ANTI-AGING SERUM
It’s funny, though, the Paula’s Choice 10% Niacinamide Booster has never been designated as the Skincarma Product of the Year. It was first introduced to the market more than five years ago now and my inaugural Skincarma Product of the Year was in 2018. So let’s just say, retroactively, it would have received my top honors the year prior! You are welcome to read my review of the 10% Niacinamide Booster on the blog here.
So yeah, my first-ever Skincarma Product of the Year was three years ago, when I designated The Ordinary’s 100% L-Ascorbic Acid Powder my favorite product of 2018. It’s one of the best Vitamin C serums for brightening the complexion. And, one of the most difficult to use. You can catch my full review of it here.
THE 2018 SKINCARMA PRODUCT OF THE YEAR: THE ORDINARY 100% L-ASCORBIC ACID POWDER
I followed that up in 2019 with what I considered to be at the time one of the best anti-aging serums with Bakuchiol, Herbivore’s Bakuchiol Retinol Alternative Serum. It’s clean, natural and remains a tremendous pleasure to use. I’ve shared about it several times on the blog; it initially appeared in my article on the best Bakuchiol serums titled, Bakuchiol Retinol Alternative Anti-Aging Serums from The Inkey List, Herbivore & More! Today there are literally hundreds of Bakuchiol serums and products with the Retinol-alternative. You can catch my review of the Herbivore Bakuchiol Retinol Alternative Serum on the blog here.
And, last year, I designated the Balm Labs 3-Step System to be the most uniquely effective acne regimen I’d every come across. It was far and away the most innovative product or, in this case, skincare product routine of the year and it was certainly deserving of the Skincarma Product of the Year for 2020.
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Which brings me to the 2021 Skincarma Product of the Year, Herbal Face Food’s The Serum I Radical Youth Concentrate — the most innovative and exciting skincare product I came across over the last 12 months.
I often joke about seemingly inexplicable alien technology in skincare. And I pride myself on having the unique ability to uncover alien skincare when I see it. The first product I ever suspected to be from another planet was the cult Japanese sunscreen Skin Aqua Super Moisture Milk SPF 50+ PA++++. It remains one of the coolest sunscreens in my sun protection arsenal. You can catch my review of the Skin Aqua Super Moisture Milk in a previous blog article here.
So I pride myself on my keen sense for truly exceptional “alien technology.” When I come across a product made from otherworldly stuff that’s actually found right here on Earth, it’s a whole other level of extra-ordinary.
PRODUCT REVIEW: SKIN AQUA SUPER MOISTURE MILK SPF 50 – ONE OF THE BEST SUNSCREENS FOR OILY SKIN
Let me introduce you to Herbal Face Food, made from extraordinary stuff found here on Earth.
I was fortunate to chat with the founder of this unusual (and yes, otherworldly!) skincare brand in my initial review back in the summer of 2021. Herbal Face Food’s creator Michael Zenn is a published author whose book The Self Health Revolution is the only one ever to be endorsed by the pioneer in natural, organic foods, Whole Foods Markets.
I spend a lot of time (and money!) at Whole Foods. There’s a slimmed-down version of the organic grocer called Whole Foods 365 just a short five-minute walk from my apartment in Brooklyn. In fact, during the pandemic, Whole Foods was one of only three or four places I dared to go when venturing out of the apartment. It brought me much needed comfort and joy.
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To this day, three or four times a week, I pop into Whole Foods for my organic and vegan food supplies and a couple dozen fresh-cut roses. Roses happen to be my favorite flowers — and one of the most common flowers that are safe for cats. When I’m not looking, Orpheus loves to gnaw on the petals and leaves of any flowers I bring into the apartment. I have a feline child, so the flowers have to be safe.
I’m fascinated by plants and flowers and it’s that curiosity that drew me to Herbal Face Food’s organic, wild-harvested skincare to begin with.
Similar to the founding story of many skincare brands, Michael created Herbal Face Food to treat a personal skin condition for which the broader market had no solution. Cult favorite Creme de la Mer was developed by its founder, aerospace physicist Dr. Max Huber, to treat his own facial burns suffered in a lab accident (or so the story goes!).
And among the best probiotic acne skincare, Australia-based Amperna found its footing by addressing the perioral dermatitis and skin sensitivity of its entrepreneurial founder, Kiri Yanchenko. Nothing was working to treat her conditions, so Kiri made it herself. Today, her skin is in perfect balance.
Herbal Face Food and its founder have intrigued me from the start. Michael’s story and the founding of his brand began with his own futile attempts to undo self-afflicted skin damage. I think that’s something most of us can relate to!
Excerpt from Herbal Face Food founder Michael Zenn’s personal skin story:
I truly know what it's like to see my face and skin go from youthful, unblemished radiance to something much less than perfect. It was extremely painful to experience. My face had become severely damaged.
I spent 15 years exposing my skin to the harsh conditions of tanning beds, unwittingly causing extreme hyper-pigmentation on my face. I was told by numerous skincare professionals that the damage was permanent. While a quick fix of bleaching and laser surgery might help, it would never be cured and the hyperpigmentation would come back. I was shocked and dismayed that modern science and the world’s most advanced skincare laboratories did not have a long-term solution for me.
So I had to take my skin into my own hands, and look for the answer outside the lab. That’s when I began to discover plant-based intelligence and science. I knew that plants existed millions of years before humans, but what I found was that plant intelligence and plant-chemicals are indeed far more complex and powerful than their synthetic counterparts.
Collaborating with leading herbalists and botanists, over a decade we sought-out and identified the world’s most powerful antioxidant plants and phytochemicals. Harnessing super-concentrated, whole-plant chemicals, we created the most potent anti-aging serum ever formulated.
Now I finally had a product that could heal my skin. I began to use the newly minted serum to treat my skin issues, and within just four weeks all of the “permanent” hyper-pigmentation had disappeared.”
My own experience with two of the Herbal Face Food serums has been exceptional. To be honest, there has never been anything comparable in my daily skincare routine. They’re that unique.
Several nights a week, either Herbal Face Food’s The Serum I or the highly concentrated Herbal Face Food The Cure X are a part of my PM skincare routine. Both feel like nothing I’ve ever experienced on my skin before.
Are they made with alien technology?
I’ve pressed Michael for a straight answer and he always leaves me with just enough doubt. Like that recently released U.S. Government report on UFOs!
From the New York Times article titled, U.S. Finds No Evidence of Alien Technology in Flying Objects, but Can’t Rule It Out, Either: “American intelligence officials have found no evidence that aerial phenomena witnessed by Navy pilots in recent years are alien spacecraft, but they still cannot explain the unusual movements that have mystified scientists and the military, according to senior administration officials briefed on the findings of a highly anticipated government report.”
Read that again: “But they still cannot explain the unusual movements that have mystified scientists and the military.” That’s what the experience of Herbal Face Food has been like for me. It’s virtually inexplicable!
If it’s unclear whether Herbal Face Food formulas are made from alien technology, what do we actually know?
Well, we know that each of the Herbal Face Food serums is made from organic and wild-harvested ingredients — and 100% made from plants. The brand is careful to make the distinction that the formulas are themselves plants, not plant-based. In fact, each serum is formulated with up to 50 organic botanicals, many of which have rather potent anti-aging, anti-inflammatory benefits.
Of course, that begs the question over whether organic ingredients are actually better for the skin. And just as I always reach for the organic grapes at Whole Foods, I would prefer as much organic content in my skincare as possible.
What Is Organic Skincare and Is Organic Skin Care Better?
I think about this often. Should I only be eating organic fruits and vegetables? The answer to that seems obvious. Yes, when given the choice, opt for organic. But what about skincare? Is there a real benefit to organic products and ingredients? I found an insightful piece that takes a deep-dive into all-things-organic in Elle magazine titled, Everything You Need To Know About Organic Skincare According To May Lindstrom.
Excerpts from the piece:
Organic skincare - it's always been on our 'if we were being better people' to do list we've never quite got around to. But, if we're going by the theory that organic produce is better for our diets, surely organic skincare is just as beneficial for our complexions? Or is it
Clearing up the confusion is natural beauty expert, brand founder and proud owner of the best skin we've ever encountered in real life, May Lindstrom.
What are the benefits of organic skincare?
“Just like with food, organically grown ingredients often have higher nutrient levels, and are missing chemical residues that can irritate skin or potentially cause long term harm in the body.
“Your skin absorbs whatever you put on it, so I follow the same philosophy for skincare as I would in my diet. There is simply no place for pesticides or unnecessary synthetics. It's not about being an "organic" brand as much as it is creating the highest possible quality skin treats that I am capable of.”
Each of the Herbal Face Food serums possesses elevated ORAC-rated antioxidant activity on the skin. If you’re unfamiliar with the ORAC scale, there’s an excellent piece on the Scientific American website titled, What Are ORAC Values?
From the article: “ORAC stands for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity. It's a lab test that attempts to quantify the ‘total antioxidant capacity’ (TAC) of a food by placing a sample of the food in a test tube, along with certain molecules that generate free radical activity and certain other molecules that are vulnerable to oxidation.”
Notably, both the Herbal Face Food The Serum I and The Cure X are vegan, sustainably and ethically sourced and, perhaps my favorite characteristic of the two formulas, they’re 100% edible. (For the record, I have yet to taste them.)
Photo credit: ©2021 Antonio Jefferson, Antonio Jefferson Studios
“I’m humbled by Mother Nature, and this work is profoundly exciting to me. I love seeing amazing raw plant materials come to life in our products and demonstrating that true luxury, efficacy and health consciousness can coexist. Now more than ever, plant-chemicals can offer real power, and I’d love to show you how.”
- Michael Zenn, founder Herbal Face Food
It is actually difficult to explain the experience when using Herbal Face Food’s serums. Without meaning to sound hyperbolic, they feel like the essence of plant life on your skin. There’s a characteristic tingling that I’ve not experienced prior. Sure, I’ve felt the irritation that essential oils like peppermint and lavender oil cause. And, I certainly recognize the sensation of 20% Glycolic Acid on my skin.
The Herbal Face Food experience is unlike either of those.
With that, let’s have a closer look at Herbal Face Food’s The Serum I Radical Youth Concentrate — the 2021 Skincarma Product of the Year. It’s an extraordinarily otherworldly facial serum made (or not?!) with alien technology from organic, natural ingredients found right here on Earth…
The 2020 Skincarma Product of the Year: Herbal Face Food’s The Serum I Radical Youth Concentrate
Of the four Herbal Face Food serums the brand offers, The Serum I Radical Youth Concentrate is “level one” in the routine and considered the opening act of the skin repair regimen. It’s the daily go-to serum and I’ve used it morning and evening as either the last step of my routine or just before a heavier moisturizer or facial oil during these colder months at the end of the year.
Consisting of 25 of what the brand characterizes as “the world’s most powerful botanicals including the top 5 rarest, most expensive plant concentrates on the planet,” Herbal Face Food’s The Serum I feels like life on your face. It’s as if the plants hibernating in the bottle come alive again on your skin. I imagine that’s what alien technology is supposed to do!
Upon application, you become immediately aware that something weirdly invigorating is occurring on the surface of your skin.
As I mentioned, it’s not an off-putting burning sensation; it’s more of an intense sensation — a bizarre feeling I’ve never experienced before. It’s as if your skin is being jolted back to life. And the results in your complexion speak for themselves.
Herbal Face Food is…
“the most potent Anti-Oxidant, Anti-Aging skincare product on the market. Period. Contains 50 of the world’s most powerful botanicals including the top 20 rarest, most expensive plant concentrates on the planet. For when you need something seriously powerful.”
- Herbal Face Food
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The potent blend of plant-derived enzymes and antioxidants are activated as they are absorbed into the skin’s surface layers. Within 10 minutes, that initial, jarring intensity recedes, though there’s a discernible underlying sensation for about an hour afterwards.
At no time does my skin ever become red or appear irritated — as is my experience with essential oils and harsh acids. In fact, there is only a single fragrant plant oil in the formula, about mid-way down the 25-ingredient-deep INCI. Within about two hours, my complexion seems to become more reflective and alive. I look and feel refreshed.
Herbal Face Food describes The Serum I concoction this way: “Our powerful, potent serum is packed with Anti-Oxidants and Anti-aging phytonutrients that heal your skin at the cellular level and address the top signs of aging in 3 days or less (no kidding). Start with Serum I and power your way up through the Serum Series.”
I’ve really put the stuff to the test, wanting to assure myself that what my skin was reacting to wasn’t just irritation from fragrant plant oils. Though given the fact that there is but a lone plant oil in the formula in the form of Cananga Odorata Leaf Oil (aka Ylang Ylang), I was pretty confident something else was indeed going on.
So I applied it to my face right after I shaved!
On my freshly shaven skin, I experienced the same unusual lively sensation as I have on the rest of my face whenever using it. No irritation, no burning, no redness. Just that invigorating jolt.
The Serum I formula is a healthy blend of numerous antioxidant botanicals with nary a drop of water in the INCI. The first ingredient, in fact, is common Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, proven to effectively soothe and nourish the skin. Notably, the entire top ten consists of one botanical extract after another. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that before; it’s certainly rare. The first ten ingredients are all plant extracts! And the texture is a reflection of that. It’s super lightweight, with a slightly pulpy consistency.
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Herbal Face Food says that The Serum I is suitable for even sensitive skin types. While I sometimes experience sensitivity on my forehead, I wouldn’t characterize my skin as sensitive. That said, I haven’t experienced any signs of irritation or sensitivity on my forehead or anywhere else for that matter. Just healthy, refreshed skin that appears to come alive!
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That’s it guys! I hope you’ve enjoyed my product and brand insights throughout 2021. And I hope you’ll have the opportunity to try Herbal Face Food and The Serum I to see why I feel it’s so exceptional.
Hey, it’s not every day you get the chance to experience alien technology…
💟 SKINCARMA
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The Ingredient List of the Herbal Face Food The Serum I:
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Extract, Haematococcus Pluvialis Extract, Helichrysum Stoechas Flower Extract, Lavandula Angustipolia Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract, Origanum Vulgaris Flower Extract, Eugenia Caryophyllus, Thymus Vulgaris Flower/Leaf Extract, Commiphora Myrrha Leaf/Cell Extract, Jasminum Officinale Flower/Leaf Extract, Vetiveria Zizanioides Root Extract, Cananga Odorata Leaf Oil, Pogostemon Cablin Leaf Extract, Santalum Album Extract, Elettaria Cardamomum Seed Extract, Citrus Nobilis, Citrus Medica Limonum Leaf Peal Stem, Cymbopogon Flexuosus Leaf Oil, Boswellia Carterii, Croton Lechleri, Daucus Carota Sativa (Carrot) Seed Oil, Ormenis Mixta, Rose Damenscena, Leptospermum Scoparium Leaf Extract, Callitris Intratropica, Vanilla Planifolia Bean Extract.
