How to Use Active Treatment Essence

It is no secret that I love Vintner’s Daughter. The serum is one of my (and my clients’s) all time favorites, so when I found out that they were coming out with an Active Treatment Essence, I knew I had to have it.

I have known about this product for a long time, and was lucky enough to test it while it was being developed.  I am excited to share some behind the scenes information that founder April Gargiulo shared with me.

Why did you decide to create this product? Was something missing in your skincare routine?

I created Active Treatment Essence to complete the nutritional skincare circle we began with Active Botanical Serum. To be its most healthy, skin needs complete and optimal nutrition alongside, hydration and moisture. In nature, nutrients are either water or oil soluble and Active Botanical Serum delivers all the most beneficial oil-soluble, moisturizing nutrition to skin. Conversely, Active Treatment Essence captures all the most skin beneficial, hydrating water-soluble nutrition alongside some of the very best plant actives, including hyaluronic, plant stem cells, marine micro algae, gentle micro exfoliators and stabilized Vitamin C. These two products are the yin to the other’s yang. They complete one another and in two simple, yet powerful steps you have fed your skin everything its needs to be its most healthy, balanced and radiant.

Did you feel like your Serum could be even better with the addition of something else?

The Essence and the Serum are strong enough to stand on their own, but when used together, amplify the effects of one another. Active Treatment Essence delivers a full suite of over 70 water-soluble nutrients like collagen-stimulating vitamin C and stem cells, strengthening amino acids, and the full family of B vitamins. Synergistically, Active Botanical Serum delivers over 60 of the very finest and most efficacious oil-soluble nutrients like vitamins A, E, and K, magnesium, calcium, and all four omega fatty acids.

You are meticulous with formulations and really take your time perfecting them. How long did it take you to formulate this new product? How many iterations did you make until you landed on the perfect one?

It took 4 years to develop Active Treatment Essence and countless iterations. We never take shortcuts in anything we do, whether it be ingredient-sourcing, formulating or new product development. We lovingly say that we move at the “Speed of Quality” and that takes the time it takes. With Active Treatment Essence, there are several different stages of formulation and each stage had a specific team of formulators working on it. There were days when I was not sure we were going to pull off the complexity, but we made it. There is nothing else in the world as finely tuned and performance-driven as Active Treatment Essence. I am proud of our dedication to quality and craftsmanship, the product we created and its ability to transform the skin.

What is the main purpose of this product? 

Active Treatment Essence is the ultimate multi-corrective hydration step. The unprecedented formula delivers optimal nutrition, micro-exfoliation, brightening, firming, and multi-level hydration to noticeably improve the overall appearance of skin. At the heart of Active Treatment Essence is our Phyto Radiance Infusion, made from 13 of the world’s most nutrient-rich botanicals, coupled with a unique fermentation component to amplify absorption. Elevating the formula even further are advancements in natural science including stabilized, natural vitamin C, micro and mini hyaluronic acid, probiotics, plant stem cells, marine microalgae, and micro-exfoliating acids and enzymes. Together, these elements create a matrix on the skin to deliver powerful hydration, optimal nutrition, and daily repair and protection for your skin. Remarkably, skin appears more even toned, hydrated, radiant and youthful after even the first application.

What are the main ingredients? 

Below is a snapshot at some of Active Treatment Essence’s powerhouse ingredients and their main functions:

• Natural, stabilized vitamin C, licorice, acerola, helichrysum, dandelion,
• green tea to ​brighten
• Mini/micro hyaluronic acid, coconut, soy, apple, to ​hydrate
• Papaya, pineapple, lactic acid, and phytic acid to ​renew
• Microalgae, moringa, alfalfa, chlorella, mullein, microalgae, tuberose to nourish
• Pre/probiotics, plant stem cells, marjoram leaf, fermented nutrients to strengthen
• Aloe, marshmallow, oat, gotu kola, niacinamide to ​calm
• Four o' clock flower, Kakadu plum, Mexican poppy, moringa, nettle to ​firm Astragalus, fermented nutrients, pre/probiotics, 70+ nutrients to ​balance

What differentiates it from anything else on the market?

What sets Active Treatment Essence apart is our commitment to quality and the time it takes to produce products that offer truly transformational results. Incredibly, every bottle of Active Treatment Essence takes 5 weeks to make and that does not include the months of sourcing and testing we do to ensure efficacy and safety. Most skincare is made in hours. It is why we sell out somewhat frequently, but we would never rush through or compromise our protocols in order to capture sales. We are skin driven, not revenue driven.

If you are a devotee of a product like Biologique Recherche’s P50, can you use this with it? Would it replace it?

The two products are so different but you would never use them together. Active Treatment Essence may replace P50. With Active Treatment Essence you are receiving the wonderful micro exfoliation that P50 delivers plus so much more including 3 plant stem cell complexes, over 70 optimal nutrients, two sizes of hyaluronic, pre/probiotics, marine microalgae and stabilized natural vitamin C. It delivers incredible plant actives in a single step.

Tell me a secret about this product, something that no one else knows.

Once you use Active Treatment Essence this is no longer a secret, but it was something that was even a secret to me before I used it. Our Essence forms a matrix on the skin as it dries to maintain hydration, plumpness and also attract additional hydration from the atmosphere. This part I knew. What was a surprise was that the matrix also creates a blurring effect on the skin that virtually removes discolorations and redness. Your skin appears as though it has a radiance, blurring filter over it. It is the most amazing thing.