It's Time for Hotline Skin: The Reboot
ready your faces
Hello and welcome to the official relaunch of Hotline Skin! A lot has happened since we were last together. Most importantly, I graduated with honors from esthetician school and was granted my temporary license by the state. I’ll take my board exams in March, after which I’ll be issued my permanent license. So yeah, I’m an esthetician now!!!
HOUSEKEEPING BEFORE WE GET TO THE GOOD STUFF
If you missed my announcement on Instagram, last month was my last as part of the Gee Thanks, Just Bought It! team. My time at Gee Thanks was so rewarding (and fun as hell) and I can’t thank Caroline enough for bringing me on. My departure also means that this newsletter is now independently produced by me, myself and I, hence this rebrand and relaunch.
I also announced that I will be starting a new full-time role as a product manager at the affiliate platform, Shop My Shelf! I am excited to be joining a team that values my work as an esthetician and will allow me to continue doing that work on the side. I’ll be continuing to offer virtual consults and you’ll be the first to know of any additional offerings, both online and IRL. I’m also hoping to do even more writing, quotes for articles, partnerships etc – please reach out if I could be a fit for anything or to explore ways to work together! (nitty-gritty note: I use Shop My Shelf for affiliate commissions & consults, so when you shop through my links, I may earn affiliate commission, but that work is completely independent from the work I do as a paid employee.)
PROGRAMMING UPDATES
As some have already noticed, I just launched paid subscriptions for Hotline Skin! I remain passionate about making skincare accessible and approachable, but I’ve come to terms with the fact that to continue writing and developing this newsletter how I want it to be, I need some guaranteed income. Free subscribers will still get monthly newsletters filled with answers to your questions, advice, recs & more, but if you are interested in supporting my work financially, here’s what else you’ll get:
Monthly or Annual – $5/month or $50/year
subscriber-only posts and full archive
post comments & participate in discussion threads
exclusive discounts and giveaways
Founding Member – any amount over $50 yearly
all of the above
chance to be a product tester (aka I send you products for free to review)
my undying love and support
You can upgrade or downgrade at any time. The Founding Member option will close eventually, but I’ll give you a heads up beforehand. You can even gift a subscription!
Thank you, thank you, thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
NOW LET’S TALK SKIN
My 2022 wish is for you to stop overthinking skincare.
People tend to forget that our skin has had a very, very, very long time to evolve. It’s evolved to do so much on its own and at the foundation of any skincare routine, we are simply playing a supporting role, helping to maintain basic skin health. Maintaining skin health means cleansing to remove dirt, bacteria, irritants, moisturizing to replenish your skin with essential hydration, lipids and nutrients and protecting your skin from the sun by wearing sunscreen. We cleanse, moisturize and protect to allow our skin to properly function on its own, as it is extremely capable of doing and has been excelling at for millennia.
People also tend to forget that skincare is an industry, and like every other industry, it is constantly evolving. New brands and scientific innovations are being announced everyday and while that’s great and exciting, it’s all ultimately in pursuit of the same goal – to make us consume more. This causes us to constantly rethink our routine and wonder if we even know what we’re doing or if we’re doing it right.
Our skin does not care about the changes in the industry. It has no idea what an essence is and it does not care about the cost of your moisturizer. What it cares about is that you are continuing to support it by cleansing, moisturizing and protecting.
Our brains like organization and categorization. It’s easier to digest information when it’s broken down in parts, in steps, in rules. Any taxonomy is imperfect, often putting things into boxes where they best fit, ignoring nuance and context.
Skincare is no exception! There are basic guidelines you follow to maintain basic health; you fill in the gaps from there however works for you. There are suggestions on how to do this—recommendations as simple or as complex as the Google search you make. Outside of maintaining skin health, there are very few rules in skincare. For the most part, the “rules” you hear are meant to reduce potential irritation and to maximize potential success – and who wouldn’t have those objectives?
Shift the focus away from questioning if you should do something or if it’s the right thing to do. Instead, consider your goals and the reason why you are using or not using something. Do you like the feeling of your thicker serum before a thinner one? Great! Thinnest to thickest is a guideline, not a requirement. Does using a toner daily make your skin look and feel how you want it to? Awesome, keep going! Is Triple Lipid Restore “worth” it? Worth is subjective. I derive joy from testing out products and experiencing advanced technologies. Triple Lipid is an expertly formulated moisturizer with patented technology. My skin loves it. That’s worth it to me. But at the end of the day, it’s a moisturizer that I’m using to fulfill one of my skin’s basic needs and you can do that at any price point.
Don’t overthink it. Ask yourself why you’re doing what you’re doing and notice how your skin is responding. It will tell you if you’ve done something it doesn’t like. Do you like the results you’re seeing? Nice work, keep it up.
NEWS & THINGS ON MY MIND
Chanel debuted a new skincare, fragrance and makeup line centered around a single ingredient: red camellia.
The line’s key ingredient is red camellia, a flower that Chanel scientists have been studying over the last ten years. The use of its extract, oils, seeds and yeasts in its new beauty products “support skin vitality, thereby enabling skin to remain healthy looking for a longer period of time,” according to a release from Chanel. Source: Business of Fashion
Camellia oil is a popular skincare ingredient, perhaps most notably the variety featured in Tatcha’s products. In formulations, it’s a non-greasy emollient that softens, calms, soothes due to its high fatty acid and essential fatty acid content (essential lipids for skin health!), as well as providing antioxidant protection. I don’t doubt that Chanel’s new products will be luxurious, but I would love to hear more about the 10 years (???) Chanel’s scientists spent studying the flower.
Perhaps most interesting to me however, is that Chanel debuted this collection on its website and…ULTA. Yes, Ulta! Previously, Chanel has only been sold at select luxury retailers and I would have expected their move into big beauty retailers would be Sephora, which carries brands like Gucci, Dior, YSL and Tom Ford. I am not a trend forecaster, I don’t know what this decision means, but it is definitely the sign of something.
Speaking of Ulta, the Love Your Skin Event is going strong, with daily 50% off deals through the end of the month. Earlier this week we saw NuFACE and ZitSticka, but there’s more good deals to come. Ulta also has a nifty “Add to Calendar” feature where you can add reminders to the daily deals you don’t want to miss. Some highlights:
Sat 1/8: First Aid Beauty KP Bump Eraser – cult favorite for rough, bumpy skin & KP.
Mon 1/10: StriVectin TL Tightening Neck Cream Plus – you know, the one. This is the neck cream to end all neck creams. Use it for 6 weeks and send me before/afters.
Sun 1/16: OSEA Undaria Algae Body Oil – I have not personally tried this (yet), but someone recommends it to me at least once a month. 50% off, now’s the time to try, right?!
Tues 1/18: Peach & Lily Glass Skin Water Gel Moisturizer – Peach & Lily never misses. This lightweight gel moisturizer will keep you plump, hydrated and glowing.
I am asking you to please stop sending me the article about the hockey coach & his miracle melanoma diagnosis. I need you to trust me that if there is an article in the New York Times about anything remotely skin related, I have already seen it (my dad sent it to me around 6 a.m. EST). I’ve seen it, I’ve internalized it, the question is – have you?! Book your yearly skin check.
That’s all for today! Thanks for reading, sharing, subscribing and just generally being here. Coming up, paying subscribers will get my unfiltered thoughts on a buzzy new product, an exciting giveaway (it starts with D and ends with H) and more. Everyone else, see ya in a month! In the meantime, submit a question and you might just see it answered in a future issue.
Love and good skin health,
Jolie