Amy Reynolds, part of UP! Natural Products LLC, passionately advocates for informed skincare choices that prioritize health and sustainability. Grounded in a deep respect for nature cultivated from her experiences in Peru’s Sacred Valley, Amy’s dedication to respecting the environment and promoting inner balance shapes UP!’s philosophy. The biome Super Cell™ line reflects this ethos, nourishing the skin while honoring the body’s microbiome and the Earth’s natural biome. Amy’s commitment to clean, transparent products underscores UP!’s mission: to offer genuinely pure skincare that supports healthy living and aligns with conscious consumer choices. MysticMag finds out more.
What inspired the creation of UP! Natural Products, and how do your values influence the formulation of your skincare products?
I am a Nutritionist by education and profession, as well as, a Chef for many years. The skin is the second largest organ of the body and absorbs about 30 percent of what is put on it. I gain the deepest fulfilment of working with plants, herbs, oils and extracts. I love nature! I wanted to make a skin care line that is actually real and not full of fillers and water and emulsifiers, all of which do nothing to help the skin. It only confuses it! Biome Super Cell™ Products are truly all natural and even more than that, each ingredient does something positive to heal, moisturize or buffer your skin in some way. It’s real life, a very few steps away from the actual living plants.
I would say that my personal values include integrity, authenticity and transparency. In relation to my product formulation, I believe they translate almost literally. What you see on the label is what you get. I use glass, tin or paperboard as much as possible to respect Mother Earth. Each formula is a result not only of lengthy research, but also meditation on the ultimate purpose and intent of the product. My intention is to provide a super solid value for the money. Something that really works.
Could you explain the significance of biome Super Cell™ in supporting both the human microbiome and the Earth’s natural biome? How do these products benefit the skin?
One profound thought is that we ARE the Earth’s biome. We ARE the bacteria and virus who live on the surface of the Earth. So, whatever we put on our skin, we are putting on the Earth.
The skin is our first line of defense. It is made up of many very intelligent layers, each with its own purpose, working in harmony with the other layers and the rest of the body’s organisms.
It’s not about how the products benefit the skin per se, but how they are not creating a dysfunction in the skin. For example, a top selling cream on Amazon contains these ingredients:
Aqua (Water). Paraffinum Liquidum. Stearic Acid. Palmitic Acid. Glyceryl Stearate Se. Triethanolamine. Cera Alba (Beeswax). Cetyl Palmitate. Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter. 1,2-Hexanediol. Caprylyl Glycol. Steareth-10. Polyacrylamide. C13-14 Isoparaffin. Parfum (Fragrance). Laureth-7. Propylene Glycol. Tropolone. Hydrolyzed Soy Protein. Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract.
As you can see the first ingredient is water and the second mineral oil. If you’ve ever eaten a salad with dressing, you know that water and oil don’t mix! So, in order to create a white, creamy cream, emulsifiers must be added. Also, because water harbors bacteria and microbes, preservatives and other chemicals must be added. And lastly, because the skin is water proof, penetration enhancers must be added or the fat and water-based cream would never absorb. (NOTE: This best-selling product is rated a 6 out of 10 on EWG.org for toxicity.) These penetration enhancers stop the skin’s natural barrier mechanism and therefore things that should never be absorbed are permitted.
The point being is that this product does nothing healthy for the skin except create a desired user experience of a nice, creamy white cream that absorbs. Over time the skin become more and more dysfunctional by having to continually detox and push out the chemicals that are harmful. This breaks down collagen and dehydrates from the inside. This process creates aging.
The way that truly natural products (not containing water), such as biome Super Cell™,
help or aid the skin is by offering ingredients that the skin accepts naturally for nourishment. Essential oils are naturally penetrating with their terpenes, natural alcohols and generally whole plant components. Base oils with smaller molecules are taken into the skin and used as a beneficial oil. The skin then just works better. It’s being fed as much as it can be, with plant nutrients.
You mention the importance of clean ingredients in skincare. What distinguishes your products from others in terms of being completely clean and free from synthetic chemicals and preservatives?
The most basic answer is that we don’t use water as a filler.
Water is almost always the first ingredient in skincare, not because it has a magical effect for the skin, but because it’s practically free and is used to make a high margin product (but not high quality.) But water harbors germs and also contains chlorine, fluoride and other additives. The subsequent usual suspects in a water-based formula will be some kind of oil, glycerin or mineral oil, bactericides and then emulsifiers. This is the formal recipe for 99% of all moisturizers on the market—whether they call themselves natural or not.
Essential oils are naturally preserving. Beeswax never goes rancid-it’s a natural preservative. So, preservatives aren’t in essence bad, it’s just a matter of what it is.
UP! Natural Products LLC never uses water in our moisturizers. Therefore, we never have to use chemicals, chemical preservatives, penetration enhancers or emulsifiers. All of the biome™ and biome Super Cell™ products have ingredients that enhance the skin’s purpose and mechanisms naturally. Our products are food for the skin and therefore need to be used within six months, the lifespan of the base oils. We do use distilled water in our facial toner and deodorant, but not in creams or lotions.
Your Luxury Peru offerings support native Quechua partners. Could you share more about this initiative and how it aligns with UP!’s mission?
UP!’s mission is to provide high quality, natural and biodegradable products to consumers around the world. We want every part of our mission to be sustainable, respectful and forward thinking for all involved.
I am a resident of Peru and lived there for several years before moving back to the US. I met and then partnered with a native Quechua woman, Sixta Jordan. She helped me source, negotiate and purchase the 950 silver, alpaca blankets and the Seminario Ceramics currently on the website. I am able to directly deposit thirty percent of the profits into her bank account. There are no admin fees or third parties taking a percentage. Sixta and her husband Pepe are farmers in the Sacred Valley of Peru, Cusco Region. This money helps feed their family as well as send their son to school in Cusco. Making a living in Peru isn’t as easy as it is here in the US. Sixta’s work ethic, honesty and wonderful personality have been an asset to my life and I am very grateful for the relationship.
In a market filled with skincare options, what do you believe sets UP! Natural Products apart in terms of sustainable, healthy living, and how do you aim to educate consumers about these values?
The number one component that sets us apart is that we’re not diluting our product with water (and then subsequent fillers.)
Education isn’t super easy. People are romanced by pretty packaging and slick marketing, but if they really took a look at the ingredients, they’d see they are all made of the same things. Because the cosmetic industry is not regulated, companies routinely use the terms all-natural, Vitamin C, Vitamin A, etc. but these terms have no official meaning in regards to skin care. A vitamin is defined as a molecule that is ingested and has proven research to provide a biological change in the body. There is no research that putting vitamins on your skin offer the same benefits. To be called a vitamin, it must be ingested.
Also, citrus products are phototoxic as is retinol and acid products. They hurt the skin by burning the second layer and cause low grade scarring. That’s what makes the face look smooth. Over time it’s non-optimal.
We take every opportunity to educate, educate, educate. I believe that if people have the correct information they will make the best choices for themselves. I also deeply respect how hard folks work for their money. I feel sad when I think of people spending their hard-earned money on a product that is 90% water. I let customers know that our products are 100% active ingredients. They are super concentrated. A little goes a long way and they are getting real value for their money. And we are grateful for every customer. Thank you!
If you would like to find out more about Amy Reynolds, please visit https://www.theupcorp.com/
