| Simplify Find January Labs cleanser, lotion, toner, and/or exfoliant on its website or at Laguna Beach’s Aquaterra Spa at Surf & Sand Resort, which also offers treatments using January Labs products – including the Glow and Go peel ($65 for 25 minutes) for skin brightening and refreshing. Any January Labs products can be used in the spa’s Skin Fitness facial ($130 for 50 minutes) upon request. januarylabs.com :: surfandsandresort.com |
Shadows, glosses, cleansers, toners, scrubs… we love them all. And the number of beauty products out there to choose from is really quite endless.
But while we do enjoy the testing and experimenting with all the beauty world has to offer, using eye cream, an anti-aging moisturizer, cleanser, scrub, toner, another moisturizer, a day cream, and a night cream, can get overwhelming. And that’s just skin care for the face. It’s also why Laguna Beach-based January Labs, launched in November 2010, adopted the simple company motto: “Skin care doesn’t have to be complicated. Sometimes less is more.”
To better understand the unique company approach to skin care, we chatted up owner and founder January Olds for some beauty made simple.
What is your background in beauty and skin care?
I am an esthetician. I have over 10 years of experience working with high-end skin care lines… training, education and product development.
What made you want to get into this industry?
I have always loved anything involving beauty. When I was young I would save up my money to buy a Chanel compact. Most 12-year-olds wouldn’t spend $40 on eye shadow so I guess I was a little obsessed even as a youngster.
I [also started out by] making my grandmother beautiful (so I thought) with homemade facial masks I had concocted. She was a great sport. I think I mixed about every type of fruit with avocado. I’m sure the experience wasn’t as enjoyable for her as it was exciting for me.
Are your products for both men and women?
We live in the age of the metrosexual. My line is designed to achieve healthy skin for the long term. This does not mean it is only for women. Men use harsh ingredients and that is not necessary.
What is the vision behind your company?
Skin care should be easy. This doesn’t mean the product is basic, it means the level of quality and effectiveness makes the consumer’s job simple. I don’t believe in having five or more products in your regimen.
How do your products stand apart?
A huge proportion of the line is ingredients that work under the right pH. For example, keeping antioxidants such as vitamin C in an alkaline environment and exfoliating properties like lactic acid in an acidic environment. As simple as this is, many lines do not do this and that’s why you don’t see the results they promise.
Another aspect of January Labs is that we address the top three skin concerns in all the products: aging, hormonal breakouts and hyperpigmentation.
What ingredients do you look for in formulating your products?
All of my products are sulfate- and paraben-free. I also only work with organic essential oils. I search for the cleanest ingredients available.
What can people expect from using your products?
Assiduous use of January Labs products will render the user significantly younger and healthy looking. All of January Labs products have at least four to five anti-aging ingredients that help achieve this.
