Episode 8 - Natural Skin Care Products Organic & Healthy Cosmetics with Gina Garrubbo & Patricia Bazan Garrubbo

Natural Skin Care Products Organic & Healthy Cosmetics - Beauty Now Podcast

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Teri Struck:  I'm Teri Struck, host of Beauty Now, a weekly podcast that brings you the latest dish on surgery, skincare, hormones, lasers and more.  Today we are going to talk with Gina Garrubbo and Patricia Bazan Garrubbo.  They are going to tell us about Natural Skin Care.  They are cofounders of Terralina.

Gina Garrubbo:  People are not conscious from day to day about what goes on to their skin, which is the biggest pore.  It goes right into their bloodstream.

Patricia Bazan Garrubbo:  What we don't have in our product are some controversial ingredients like parabens, acrylates, silicones, artificial fragrance, glycols and PEGs.  So the best part about it is that you can feel great about what you're putting on to your body when you use Terralina.

Gina Garrubbo:  If I were to share our credo, it would be ‘Be good to your self.  Be good to each other.  And be good to the planet’.

Teri Struck:  Welcome.

Gina Garrubbo:  Thanks Teri.  It's great to be here.  We really appreciate the opportunity to come and talk to you about Terralina today.  Terralina is a brand-new line of luxurious and healthy skincare.  Our products are highly moisturizing, rich in antioxidants and don't contain any harsh or harmful ingredients.  Our unique formulations blend olive oil and white tea with soy-based ceramide and other ingredients, to fight the damage of free radicals and restore the skin’s natural barrier function.

Teri Struck:  Well, I was lucky enough to get a sample and it's really yummy.  Why did you create Terralina?

Gina Garrubbo:  Patricia and I created our products with a mission to bring luxurious and effective skin care without harsh or harmful ingredients to consumers, reminding them, Teri that what you put on your skin, goes into your body. 

When we were pregnant, almost at the same time - our kids are two months apart - we were separately and simultaneously obsessed with everything that we were putting in our bodies.  This is how pregnant women are, right?  And at that time we learned that the FDA doesn’t regulate skin care products, personal care, and beauty.  It is therefore up to consumers to educate themselves, and that can really be a challenge.

So when we founded Natural Beauty Innovations in 2005, we spent 2 years formulating a luxurious, effective and safe product.  We are really up front about ingredients, providing a glossary of terms on our website which help define for consumers what is in TERRALINA as well as other commonly used ingredients.  It's interesting because some of the natural names sound like they are chemicals and some of the chemical names sound like they are natural.  So it can be really tough for consumers and we are really proud to have this glossary.

We do not believe that a product has to be all natural or highly synthetic to be effective.  We believe that you can use the power of natural ingredients blended with new technology to create great skincare that is healthy for you.  We want everyone to make an informed choice about what they are putting in their body through their skin.   

Teri Struck:  The choice is very confusing because I like so many different products that have maybe some ingredients in that that I don't know that are harmful to us.  You made a point earlier that when you're pregnant, you're not allowed to put certain ingredients on your body.  But why would you be able to do it when you're not pregnant?

Gina Garrubbo:  Exactly.

Teri Struck:  So, that's a pretty good point although I am an advocate of all these different products.  So Patricia, could you tell us what makes Terralina unique?

Patricia Bazan Garrubbo:  Well like Gina was saying earlier, our ingredients are what make Terralina unique, not only what is in it but also what is not in it, what is not in our products, what is not in our moisturizers.  What we have in them is all good.  It is mostly natural and what is not natural is good for you.  What is not natural for instance is the hyaluronic acid because that is something that is naturally found in the skin and we are not going to cut out the skin to produce it.  So we have a hyaluronic acid that replicates what hyaluronic acid does naturally in the skin, which is hydrate it.  It gives wonderful hydration to the skin.

We also have a soy-based ceramide, which is used to protect the skin’s barrier function.  We have a wonderful emulsifier,
an emulsification system that is totally based on olive oil and olive leaf.  We worked for three years with a company in Italy to incorporate it into our products. We also have white tea that further boosts the antioxidants which fight the free radicals which, as you know, are the key contributors to wrinkles.

So it's wonderfully moisturizing, silky to the touch, luxurious product.  Like other natural products, there are a lot of good ingredients in it.  But unlike a lot of other natural products on the market, it is also luxurious.  It is thick.  It is a wonderfully thrilling product.

Teri Struck:  It does smell yummy.  It really does smell yummy.  I really, really like the feel of it.

Patricia Bazan Garrubbo:  Thank you. What we don't have in our product are some controversial ingredients like parabens, acrylates, silicones, artificial fragrance, glycols and PEGs.  So the best part about it is that you can feel great about what you're putting on to your body when you use Terralina.

Teri Struck:  So you both personally did research and found out which antioxidants and ingredients would be best for this product?

Gina Garrubbo:  Yeah.  We worked with a formulator Teri.  Vitamin E and vitamin A, as you probably know, are terrific antioxidants.  They are found in some wonderful products out there.  As it turns out, this Italian company has pioneered in the way to extract the best from an olive tree, including the leaves, including the olives.  You know, this is ancient wisdom that olive oil and anti-oxidants are good for you, blended with white tea, which is a powerful new antioxidant.  It is just really a ‘wow’ in terms of fighting free radical damage, which Patricia and I didn't really understand until we started formulating how it is free radicals that contribute mostly to wrinkles.  And free radicals are caused by, as you know, stress, sun, exercise, diet, environment and even just living. 

So you need them.  And they are the best natural way to accomplish that.

Teri Struck:  So do you guys see a difference in your skin?  Patricia, have you seen a difference in your skin since you have been using this?

Patricia Bazan Garrubbo:  Oh, absolutely.  We definitely have seen a difference in our skin.  You know, the really nice thing about Terralina is that it penetrates really well into the skin.  And it doesn't leave any kind of –

Gina Garrubbo:  Residue.

Patricia Bazan Garrubbo:  Coating.  So it doesn't give you the sense –

Teri Struck:  That’s what I found.  I did really like it.

Patricia Bazan Garrubbo:  Oh, thank you.  We are so glad you liked it.

Teri Struck:  I do, I like that it does absorb into your skin.  I can attest to that.

Patricia Bazan Garrubbo:  Exactly, and it doesn't leave you with just a coat of something that just sits there to give you the illusion that you're hydrated because your skin drinks it in.  So it is really in there from the inside.

Teri Struck:  That’s why it's important to understand the ingredients.  When I understand the ingredients better than I realize, “Wow, this is really great for me.”  I like it.

Gina Garrubbo:  Well, we worked for two years on our first signature product and a lot more going to be coming now that trial and error, and we spend a lot of time with our formulator to make sure we got it right.

Teri Struck:  What about women with adult acne?

Gina Garrubbo:  Well, if you were to ask me, who our ideal customer is, I would tell you it is a woman who takes care of her body.  She eats organic.  She exercises.  But she wants luxury products. In addition to that pregnant women, women with sensitive skin, and adult acne seem to be gravitating to our product.

We sent 500 facial moisturizers out to our family, friends and friends of friends.  This has been critically important for us because we have gotten a lot of feedback.  Again, this is anecdotal.  We don't have clinical studies done yet for adult acne but a number of women with adult acne have said,  “Oh my God.  It is so soothing and calming..”

And I said to Patricia that it is interesting.  It might not be adult acne, they might be having an allergic reaction to the chemicals in their current product.  And our product is giving them a reprieve from that.

Teri Struck:  It could be.  Tea tree oil is used to treat acne.  So maybe there is something in the tree, with olives.

Gina Garrubbo:  Well, I have to tell you the most wonderful thing Teri is that there is so much ancient wisdom that can now go into products because the technology has improved so much.

Teri Struck:  I agree.  And I think with the planet the way it is I think it is so great that you guys are educating everybody on what really goes on our bodies because that's the most important thing to me.

Gina Garrubbo:  We did this for our children and for everybody's children because people are not conscious from day to day that what goes on to their skin, which is the biggest pore, goes right into their bloodstream.  So it is interesting.  Another audience for us is a bunch of women buying this product for their infant children.

Teri Struck:  That makes sense.  That makes sense.

Gina Garrubbo:  I know a group of moms and it is a whole wave of women saying, “I don't know what causes allergies.  I don't know what causes ailments.  Let me put less chemicals into the body of my child.”  They are the gatekeeper.  Another constituency we have is a number of men who have used the product after shaving.  I had one or two come to me and say, “Why are you just targeting women?”  And I said, “We’re not just targeting women, but we had women in mind really when we created our facial moisturizer and body lotion.”  They said, “Well, my skin is very sensitive after I shave.  And I love your fragrance free body lotion.”  And some also love the facial moisturizer which has very little fragrance and it is a natural fragrance.

Teri Struck:  That makes perfect sense.  That makes perfect sense.

Gina Garrubbo:  I don't think people realize how strong the chemicals in fragrance can be.

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Teri Struck:  Exactly, and I'm sure a lot of people find that they get irritated when they just freshly shave or anything even on their legs.

We need to take a break.  This is so interesting and thank you so much for sharing all this with us.  We are going to take a break and thank our sponsors.  We will be right back with Beauty Now and Terralina.

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Teri Struck:  I am Teri Struck, host of Beauty Now.  We are back to talking to Gina Garrubbo and Patricia Garrubbo, cousins and cofounders of Natural Beauty Innovations.

We were just talking about natural products and the skin lotion.  Welcome back.

Gina Garrubbo:  Thank you.  It's nice to be here.

Teri Struck:  I noticed when I received Terralina, it came packaged with a corn-based foam rather than a Styrofoam.  Can you tell me about that?

Patricia Bazan Garrubbo:  Oh sure.  Well, we decided early on, and a lot of companies are doing this nowadays, that we would try to do our part for the environment.  We are trying to be environmentally friendly.  So we actually went on a long search for environmentally friendly packaging for our products, which is the reason that our facial moisturizer is not boxed, the reason why it is in a glass jar and the reason why we send it with a candle to encourage people to use it.  It is a very pretty translucent container as a votive candleholder.

Teri Struck:  I love the idea of a candle.  That is really a cute idea.

Patricia Bazan Garrubbo:  Oh, thank you.  We know that not everybody will do this but if someone is inclined, it is really pretty.  It is not printed on the side.  It is just a very pretty frosted glass.

And in our quest we came across our corn-based foam, which is biodegradable.  We have made it to specifications for us to go into our boxes and that is how we package our products when we ship them.  We under package.  Like I was saying, we don't use a box for our moisturizer.  And we also use postconsumer recycled materials.  In some of our new products coming out we are going to be using 100% postconsumer plastic.

Teri Struck:  That’s great.  It's very needed.  Be a better person and recycle more.  That's great.

Patricia Bazan Garrubbo:  Yes, recycle more.

Teri Struck:  So you are also coming out with a toner.

Patricia Bazan Garrubbo:  We are.  We're coming out with a toner and a cleanser.

Teri Struck:  That sounds great.

Patricia Bazan Garrubbo:  Yes.  We are currently working on them, so hopefully we will have them ready in a month or two.  They are going to be products that will be in line with our current products.  They are going to feature the same base of olive oil, olive oil leaf extract, and white tea.  They are going to be light in fragrance, gentle and moisturizing and hydrating.

Teri Struck:  And what about the price points?  How expensive is Terralina?

Patricia Bazan Garrubbo:  Terralina is probably upper middle.

Teri Struck:  So, upper middle, what is that?  Give us a ballpark.

Particia Bazan Garrubbo:  I'm sorry?

Teri Struck:  A ballpark.  A ballpark price.

Patricia Bazan Garrubbo: A ballpark.  OK, so we have a facial moisturizer, a 30 day plus supply for $42.  That is our 1.5 ounce jar.  And then our really, really big body lotion, which is an 8 ounce body lotion, it's bigger than most in the market, retails for $20. 

Teri Struck:  Well that's pretty good considering it's all natural and all the packaging and all that stuff.  I don't think that's a really bad price.

Patricia Bazan Garrubbo:  Our ingredients are very expensive ingredients.  People who have been involved with the manufacture of our product have remarked as to how our ingredients come from Italy and from France and from Germany.  They are really top-notch ingredients.

Gina Garrubbo:  And Teri, just to correct you a little bit.  We are mostly natural, all good.

Teri Struck:  Right.

Gina Garrubbo:  We have a preservative that is synthetic and safe.  It is not paraben or formaldehyde-based.  And we have sodium hyaluronate and ceramide.  So those are effective and gentle synthetics.

But like I said earlier, we don't believe something has to be all natural or highly synthetic.  It's rather a blend.  And to that note, it is interesting because it's a wonderful thing that naturals are being used more so than ever.  But naturals can be very harsh to the body.

Teri Struck:  They can be the same.

Gina Garrubbo:  Excuse me?

Teri Struck:  They can be the same.

Gina Garrubbo:  Yes.

Teri Struck:  That’s the thing.  We are discovering the world of the unknown here.  We don't know.

Patricia Bazan Garrubbo:  Correct.  People have allergic reactions all the time to certain natural ingredients.

Teri Struck:  Has anybody been allergic to your products yet?

Both:  Oh,no.

Teri Struck:  [laughing]  That’s good.  It's good for you. 

Patricia Bazan Garrubbo:  No, we have done a lot of the testing that I guess most companies should be encouraged to do, but not all do.  And there is zero irritation with our products.

Teri Struck  That’s great.  That's great.  So you seem to have a mission beyond selling lots of Terralina.

Gina Garrubbo:  We do, we are totally committed to being part of a bigger movement for a more informed consumer.  And if I were to share our credo it would be: “Be good to yourself….Be good to each other….Be good to the planet”  Take care of yourself by understanding what you are ingesting in your body through you skin.

Take care of each other and just share what you learn about any ingredients and any products. What could be harmful?  What is good?  If your child’s acne medicine is bleaching your towels take the time to ask yourself what might be going into their bloodstream and go online and do a little research.

Take care of the planet.  As Patricia mentioned earlier, we believe that every company needs to do something to lessen their impact on the environment and make it easier for consumers to be more eco-friendly.  And we never test our products on animals.  And we believe that there are going to be a number of people who embrace the bigger ideals that we possess and promote.

The nice thing about being two women consumer cofounders is that we are our target audience.  We made this for ourselves.  We made this for our friends.  We made this for future generations who don't want chemicals in their bodies that may not be necessary and may be harmful.

Teri Struck:  Well, it sounds so interesting.  I'm going to continue using your products.  I really, really enjoy them.  And I do think that you're educating our listeners about being more pro-planet and thinking about what goes on your skin.  We are going to link Terralina's website.  So everybody can go to our website and then they will click onto the Terralina link.  And they will be able to buy your product and get a free sample.  Is that correct?

Gina Garrubbo:  Yes.

Teri Struck:  That’s great.

Gina Garrubbo:  Yeah, we really wanted to sell Terralina online for a few different reasons.  We wanted direct feedback from our consumers, which they can give us.  We also had a fairly complicated story to tell versus ‘buy this, you're going to look gorgeous!’

Buy this because it is good for your body.  You may not know that not everything is good for your body.  We think that our target audience is a consumer who is online looking for the best products and looking for information about a healthy lifestyle.  And again, we are giving free samples from the Net because we want to get as many people trying Terralina as possible.

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Teri Struck:  And again, go to personallifemedia.com.  You can also e-mail me at [email protected]
And I will send you the link to Terralina as well.

Thank you so much for being with us today.  We really appreciate it.  We love your product.  We hope to have you back and do a follow-up.

Gina Garrubbo:  Thank you Teri.

Patricia Bazan Garrubbo:  Thank you.

Teri Struck:  Well, thanks to both of you.  And great success.

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