-Tell us about Amazonian Skinfood. What is it and why/how did you start it?
Amazonian Skinfood is a clean skincare brand that uses the highest quality and most nutritious fruits, nuts, and seeds from the Amazon Rainforest to create safe and effective skincare products. Our products not only help to restore the health of your skin but also the health of the forest.
I met my husband in San Francisco in 2019 while volunteering on a social project. Since we first started discussing the idea of creating a company, one thing has always been clear, we wanted to create a business that goes beyond the product and has a bigger purpose, one that gives back to the earth and people and raises awareness to causes that are important to us. My sensitivities to harmful and ineffective skincare and my ancestral connection to the Amazon Rainforest are the foundation for what would become Amazonian SkinFood.
Problem 1: When it comes to personal care products, many are unaware of the synthetic chemicals we’re putting on our skin. The ugly truth is that not all ingredients are safe. Some are slowly poisoning our bodies, speeding up the aging process, and causing more harm than good to our health and the environment.
Problem 2: The Amazon Rainforest forest has been exploited for decades and is losing ground to cattle farming, mining, and logging. Trees, animals, water, and soil constantly suffer new damage to advance economic "development" over its borders.
We need real alternatives that save our planet and ensure we can live in dignity. The opportunity for genuine, sustainable trade is crucial to fight deforestation in the Amazon and addressing the current climate crisis. The environmental challenges are already impacting communities and endangering the sustainability of the livelihoods of producers. Yes, we are all affected, but the Indigenous communities that are the least responsible for the climate problem suffer the most. Our mission is to create a responsible supply chain and sustainable economy in the Amazon rainforest. One that moves away from the destruction and rampant extraction of forest resources caused by cattle farming, mining, and logging to one that uses renewable resources and non-timber forest products that produce economic value while keeping the forest standing.
We exist to provide a win-win solution that helps protect the Amazon Rainforest, its biodiversity, and its people while supporting the consumers' overall skin health and wellness.
Each time someone purchases an Amazonian SkinFood product, they can feel good knowing they are supporting a mission to preserve and protect the Amazon Rainforest and helping its people while restoring the health of their skin with the most nutritious superfoods on the planet.
If we can show the beauty industry that we can be successful while also helping the people and the planet, everybody wins.
-Can you explain a bit more about your efforts to help preserve the Amazon Rainforest with a 10% donation from each purchase? Crunchy Mama Box believes profoundly in giving back so we applaud your mission and would love to share further details.
- During our last trip to Brazil, we met the Ni Shunpin project of the Indigenous Leader Ixã Huni Kuin, from Altamira Village-Acre where almost 170 people live. We were able to listen to his vision and his call to build alliances with people of all colors, from all directions. We immediately connected to his idea of creating a sacred and protected place where knowledge could be practiced for the next generations yet to come.
We felt helping one specific village would be the most beneficial use of our resources right now. As we grow, we would like to expand our reach and help as many initiatives in the Amazon as we can.
Being involved in creating a culture of forest life preservation, strengthening ancestral traditions and the socio-economic autonomy of its people is our biggest motivation.We hope to use our products as a bridge between the nawas (non-indigenous) and a living and standing forest.
A few months ago, in a collective effort, we helped to build the Keneya School in the Village. We are now raising funds for the second phase of the school and donations will support investments in lighting, electricity, plumbing, furniture and teaching materials that are necessary to receive the children and enable their full development. This is a calling to invest in the present of the forest’s future. You invite everyone to participate with any amount of donation you can. Every little bit helps. Help spread the message and share with friends.
You can donate directly to them through this link: https://forms.gle/Rt3whE1VnSM8GAC17
We also contribute to fighting deforestation by supporting fair trade in a sustainable supply chain: Our suppliers work closely with local communities and co-ops that provide training to ensure that ethical agroforestry forest management practices are in place. This leads to job opportunities that economically support the traditional peoples of the Amazon like Quilombolas, River Side and Indigenous Communities. We also formulate prioritizing wild-harvest ingredients so that more families can be involved.
2. We are a proud member of the Origens Brasil®, a network formed by indigenous peoples, traditional populations, support institutions, and companies, which works to conserve the Amazon, generating value for the standing forest and for the people who live off it. We are talking about the preservation of 52.3 million hectares of standing forest within protected areas. As part of this work, we have a new product coming out next year that uses Copaiba in its formula. A QR code on the product will show consumers the exact village and family that harvested the copaiba resin oil. We want to tell more about how our ingredients are produced and show the families involved in the process.
-How are the Brazilian people and/or the local communities in that country involved in the brand?
We source raw ingredients from the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest with accredited traders based on their sustainability credentials, fair trade practices, and socio-environmental activities that aim to reverse climate change and help combat traditional peoples' poverty and inequality. Our supply chain involves traditional and indigenous communities in the Amazon, encouraging the extraction of goods by those who live, respect, and know the region. We strongly believe that trading goods and services can generate significant economic value by helping reduce poverty and, most importantly, preserve and reuse environmental resources. The opportunity for genuine, sustainable trade is crucial to fight deforestation in the Amazon and addressing the current climate crisis.
Here are a couple of examples:
One of the areas where we source our Açaí comes from the Santana Community, a small riverside village in Para, a state in Northern Brazil. The community is in reserve with over 4,000 hectares of protected land where 75 families live. Most families have a native açaizal area where they collect the fruits sold to the intermediaries that pass through the island. The sale of açaí and fishing are the primary sources of income and consumption for the families living there.
Our Buriti comes from the Alto Jurua Extractive Reserve, an Extractive Reserve (protected area) in the state of Acre, Brazil, in the Amazon Rainforest. The land is publicly owned, but the local and traditional people and communities have the right to traditional extractive practices such as hunting, fishing, and harvesting wild plants. It has an area of 1,329,294.7 acres. These reserves serve as an obstacle to deforestation, mining, and large-scale agriculture. They were created to protect traditional people's livelihoods and cultures and ensure the sustainable use of natural resources.
-How do your extensive global travels impact the packaging design and product offerings?
Over the last few years our family has been traveling and learning about new ways of living. We have been focused on learning more about off-grid communities, eco-villages, gardening, permaculture, herbalism, shamanic traditions, creative/resource based economies and other thoughtful and sustainable ways of living. Traveling and immersing yourself in other cultures makes your world more colorful and fulfilling. You begin to see the world from different perspectives and feel a deeper connection to the people and places you go. When you look at all the old ancient teachings, they are simple. Life should be enjoyed; life should be about creating, dancing, playing, giving , and most of all, loving.
Our packaging reflects the beauty and vast biodiversity of the Forest. We’ve noticed in beauty packaging that most of it looks the same, from the logos to the designs, it isn’t very colorful and doesn’t have much personality. When you walk through Ulta or Sephora you see mostly minimalist designs with fancy fonts. It all blends together.
When people see our packaging, they always make a comment about it. They simply love it and connect. It stands out and speaks to people. It draws them in, and they want to learn more about it. The Rainforest is the most biodiverse biome on the planet. That was one thing we wanted to capture with our logo and packaging design, the essence and biodiversity of the Rainforest. When we created our logo, we wanted to capture as much of that as possible. When you look deep into our logo, you can see a seed, a cell, and an eye. Our logo represents life in all forms and colors. The spiral of life and indigenous lines bring ancestral knowledge and our inherent connection to nature all around us. It represents all people and communities from all directions and brings us together through all the twists, turns, and spirals of life. I love how deep you can go as you start to look within it. We want to create a world where everyone feels seen, heard, and valued and our products try to embody that.
-What is your best-selling product?
Our best-selling product is the Skinimalism Starter Kit which includes our Sacha Inchi Firming Peptide Face Cream and our Superfruit Facial Oil. Over 90% of our sales have been the kit. The Face cream goes on silky smooth and feels incredible. Putting a few drops of the oil on top of the cream helps to lock in the moisture and all the goodness of the cream and gives you this amazing glow. Your skin feels healthy and you feel like you’re really taking care of yourself.
Sacha Inchi Firming Peptide Face Cream: Our unique blend of Amazonia’s most nutrient-dense superfoods with Sacha Inchi - an ancient Inca seed renowned for its wellness, Organic Cacay oil, Organic Green Coffee Oil, Organic Açaí Berry, and Organic Ucuuba is a dream come true for your skin.
Loaded with powerful antioxidants and vitamins, this multifaceted vegan and fragrance-free moisturizer helps the skin retain long-lasting moisture, reduces the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and decreases roughness for smoother younger looking skin. The end result is an immediate improvement in skin’s tone, texture, and firmness.
Superfruit Facial Oil: Our award-winning Superfruit Facial Oil (2nd place 2022 Clean Beauty Awards) is a gentle, plant-based retinol alternative that is great for all skin types, even the most sensitive. It has a minimalist 5-ingredient formulation naturally high in Vitamin A (Retinol), Vitamin C,, and Omega 6 and 9 that work in harmony to balance, even skin tone, brighten and smooth the complexion, nourish the skin to feel soft to the touch, and moisturized all day long.
Made with 5 Superfood Ingredients: Passion Fruit, Acai, Cacay, Buriti, and Vitamin E.
Our Superfruit facial oil is a premium, deeply moisturizing oil that can be applied to the face, body, and hair. It will moisturize the skin and works well to diminish the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, and other signs of aging due to its rich antioxidant ingredients and essential fatty acids. This multifunctional product can also be used on the hands and neck as a part of your daily skincare ritual, as a make-up primer and make-up remover, and be applied to the ends of hair to tame flyaways frizz and bring the shape back to curls. Men can use beards after the shower to keep them soft, hydrated, and healthy.
-What is “conscious commerce” in your own words and how can an everyday consumer become involved in it?
Conscious Commerce is about empowering consumers to use their dollars with purpose and supporting businesses and organizations that are creating a better world for both people and the planet. The responsibility lies with the consumer to make conscious commerce decisions. We vote with our dollars, and if we want real change to occur, we need to stop supporting the businesses that destroy the planet and exploit people to line their pockets further and maximize profits for an elite few. A conscious consumer is aware of all this. Consumers are willing to spend more if product mission and sustainability initiatives align with their views. They read ingredient lists and look for more organic and better-for-you products that give back. If a product doesn't align with their values, they won't buy it. Conscious consumers have the opportunity to change the world with every dollar they spend. If these companies bottom lines start to be impacted, they will have no choice but to change. The power is in our hands. We need more of us to wake up and start voting with our dollars for the future we want to create.
-Describe your brand in three words or less.
Amazon Rainforest Biocosmetics
-A little fun game for readers now…when we give a word prompt, share the first thought that comes to mind…here we go! BEAUTY. EARTH. GREEN. MONEY. TRAVEL.
Beauty: Nature
Earth: Mother
Green: Rainforest
Money: Impactful tool
Travel: Consciousness Expansion
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At Crunchy Mama Box we offer health & wellness resources to help you and your family on your journey to living a healthy and sustainable lifestyle. If you are looking for a safe place to vent, find love and support, join our private Facebook group Crunchy Mama Strong.
Lots of Crunchy Love,
Wanda
