Wintertime has so many wonderful qualities – the holidays, the beautiful sight of lightly falling snowflakes, the chance to bundle up with loved ones under blankets and enjoy some hot cocoa together – but it also can take a major toll on your skin. To help you stay on top of your skin care regime, or maybe even start a brand new one, we’ve been visiting local skincare boutiques to get their best tips, tricks, and product recommendations.
Read on to learn all about our first stop at Pure Eco Spa & Boutique, and keep scrolling for the owner’s best suggestions to keep your skin healthy and glowing!
Rose Maloney of Pure Eco Spa & Boutique has been working as a skincare specialist for almost two decades and just opened up her new location on Franklin Street in August.
Where the spa and boutique stand now actually used to be a dental office that Rose herself went to as a child, and she’s been very mindful about trying to repurpose what she can from the previous office and use eco-friendly and repurposed furniture as well. The drawers she keeps her business cards in is salvaged from the dentist’s office, and the wall right behind that is made of old fencing materials.
The decor also includes a beautiful blue barn door with new glass panels and shelving made of pipes, alongside some furniture and artwork that Rose has brought back from India, making for a beautifully eclectic interior that still creates a calming atmosphere.
Most of the work has been done by Rose’s brother, who is a woodworker, or by her husband Mike, who was putting the finishing touches on an infrared spa when we dropped by, complete with light and sound therapy for a multi-sensory experience that will be relax and restore.
Pure Eco Spa and Boutique is fully handicapped accessible and offers facials, body treatments, massage therapy, and a sodium bicarbonate based microderm abrasion which is less irritating and helps to feed the skin with oxygen. The boutique also features beautiful items like jewelry and knitted baby cats from local artists, and the majority of Rose’s products are made in the US.
Rose is also a big believer in the power of light therapy, which can help deal with wrinkles, acne, and pain. She recommends a device called My Skin Buddy, which which handles all of these aforementioned issues through the administration of positively charged ions, ultrasonic vibrations, and heat to enhance product penetration, reduce redness and inflammation, stimulate collagen, cleanse and exfoliate, reduce the appearance of wrinkles, and kill the bacteria that leads to acne.
Prior to becoming a licensed esthetician and organic skincare specialist, Rose worked as a banker and says she was a smoker who had a very poor diet. After developing dermatitis and going through a life changing event, she decided to start focusing on her health and began researching different options. “It’s been a great journey,” she reflected.
She believes in beauty from the inside out, which is why her approach to skincare is results-focused but holistic and tailored to the individuals’ unique needs. Her holistic method also extends to offering her clients a special space to relax even after their facial or body treatment has ended, and giving them the time to do so as well, rather than rushing everyone out the door and back into the harsh winter air.
Whether you’re going to come for regularly scheduled facials, request a gift certificate as a special treat, or stock up on products to use at home, Rose believes that skin care is not only important but should also be fun.
“You can kind of be your own chemist with a lot of these products,” she said, explaining the process of emulsifying. “The bottom line is that no one is going to tell you that you need to come get a facial or that you need to get a massage; you need to prioritize your health and say it to yourself. Say ‘I need it, and I’m worth it.'”
Rose Maloney’s Best Winter Skin Care Tips
- Buy a humidifier – Rose says that once we turn the heat on in our homes, we start to lose a lot of moisture in our skin, so you need to add humidity back into the air.
- Don’t over exfoliate – when your skin is dry, it’s easy to think that smoother skin is just waiting below the surface, but Rose suggests exfoliating only twice a week during the winter. Any more frequently and you could risk irritating the skin and bringing all sorts of other issues to the surface.
- Cleanse regularly but not too much – you don’t remove too many of the oils your skin produces naturally.
- Always use sunscreen – even in the winter, even when it’s cloudy, and even when you think you’ll just be indoors all day. Rose recommends Suntegrity, a broad-spectrum tinted sunscreen which also acts as a primer, foundation, and moisturizer.
- Use a heavy-duty moisturizer to protect from the cold and other wintery elements, and consider adding a serum to your routine, especially one with hyaluronic acid.
- Bring out your heavy-hitting products at night to help improve cell turnover.
- Essentially, don’t overdo or under-do anything – skin care, like life, is all about finding balance.
Rose was also kind enough to give me some wonderful samples to try at home. Kypris’ Glow Philtre mask has a lovely citrus smell and gel-like texture, which turns white as you massage it into skin, while their Clearing Serum includes zinc to promote healing and botanicals such as lilac and willow bark to help relax.
Kypris’ Antioxidant Dew can be combined with Beauty Elixir 1 – 1000 Roses to treat your skin with a soothing and healthy blend of antioxidants, essential oils, and vitamins C and E. Personally, I’m extremely prone to breakouts so testing new products is always a risky endeavor for me, but everything Rose recommended worked beautifully for me. I had no negative reactions or breakouts or unexpected dryness, just extra soft and supple skin that was a joy to feel.
