Skincare with a blend of gold, natural ingredients and luxurious gemstones seem to be one of the trendiest things in beauty—but are all those precious stones and metals really making any difference in your complexion? Kristin Petrovich of Själ Skincare spent some time with us explaining the ins and outs of her beauty products, well-being and just what makes those gems in your skincare so worth it.
The mother-daughter team at Själ Skincare, Karen and Kristin Petrovich, have long been fans of skincare and after years of searching for the right regimen decided to create one instead. “I always had a strong interest in Eastern or preventative medicine and my mother and I decided to go start a company to get into beauty because we loved doing that. We were especially passionate about skincare,” Petrovich explains. They wanted a simple routine that focused on a few key, multi-tasking products rather than a slew of confusing, time-wasting (and space-consuming) items. They believed with the right ingredients from both Western and Eastern medicine they could create a line that would be perfect for today’s women—simple, straightforward and effective. “Multitasking, nutritionally complete—we wanted something lifestyle-result oriented, but also with our own personal philosophy of Eastern and Western—more of an integrated concept,” she said.
Consulting with experts in each field, the founding duo combined the best of holistic medicine and biochemistry into a skincare line consisting of only nine products—yes, you read correctly—only nine. The focus of the brand is to improve upon what they’ve created, to make the perfect skincare. “It’s very streamlined for as long as it’s been around and we do continue to update our existing products, so it’s not just about launching a new [product] every other year. It’s really about perfecting the ones that we have or re-looking at them or repositioning them—making sure that they’re current with everything that’s going on today—from looking at different kinds of degenerative aging diseases to environmental concerns to aging concerns and pushing the limits as much as possible,” Petrovich explained.
While it might seem like a pipe dream for a skincare line, Petrovich assures us that that is the goal they set out to achieve—to better the skin, body and even the mind. She recalls when she was a young woman in New York working in the fashion industry. The stress and pressure caught up to her and after seeing numerous healers, doctors and acupuncturists realized that it was a common problem amongst today’s modern women. “Being overworked and overstretched, pushing yourself way too much—how do you find that balance? How do you start taking care of yourself so you’re not, like, completely falling apart?” she asks. Valid questions—and she’s hoping her holistic skincare will make a positive impact. “You know your skin, you know your body, start making good decisions that feel good for you. This is about you,” she said.
With such a simplistic skincare system and so few products you might find yourself wondering if it will take care of all your skin concerns. The biotech in conjunction with precious gems and minerals might sound good, but how much can a few stones really help? “Gemstones and minerals can really only that much more enhance the biotech,” she explains. “It’s as simple as having your trace minerals supporting your vitamins or antioxidants. It’s not that much different of a concept, really, if you think about it, but it’s just always the two schools were so separate.”
Using ingredients from all over the world allows Själ Skincare to bring the best of holistic remedies and biotechnology into one solution. “Most are indigenous, pharmaceutical grade” she says of her ingredient lists. “Some are organic when we can do it—the biotech is primarily from Europe, some is from Japan. Stones like blue sapphire would be from Burma…” As she began to list off stones, minerals and gems she explained what exactly their purpose was—and surprise—it isn’t just to make them sound fancy. “An amethyst that’s typically known for rebalancing energy is considered to have more of a healing aspect to it. Diamond is considered a master stone—people tend to use it more for a brightening aspect or clarity or anti-aging. Rose quartz—people use that for calming.”
Suddenly, oils with diamonds, masks with amethysts and serums with copper seem less of a luxury and more of a necessity. “Precious minerals, things like gold, silver, platinum… they’re natural antimicrobials, natural antibacterial, copper and silver are still used today in hospitals to treat burn victims so they’re wound healing. They’re also catalysts for your antioxidants and vitamins,” she explains.
And all those minerals and gems have more than just a direct effect. “It starts off as simple as saying that precious minerals and gemstones actually physically vibrate at a higher frequency—and what that means is all matter on the planet has an energy,” she explains. While it’s all starting to sound a lot more scientific than we’d like to deal with in our beauty routine, she assures us it’s chock-full of good-for-you benefits. With the high frequency vibrations on our skin, we absorb some of that positive energy. “The gemstones themselves actually help to work on microcirculation and clarity so they do give the skin a glow or luminosity," she adds.
While Själ can’t promise a total change in skin and health, they’re moving beauty in the right direction, incorporating wellness and traditional medicines to care for your body. The products that they do have, though few, are meant to improve not only your skin, but also your well-being. “We’ve spent the last 12 years developing nine products and we’re only tweaking them, adjusting them and bettering them, but making sure that every product is beneficial and worthwhile," Petrovich says.
Själ Skincare is available online at Själ and priced from $70-$255.
