REVIEW: Perianne Skin Care

Attention, skincare lovers!
There's a brand new skin care company on the scene and you're gonna love it ...

'peri' - around; 'anne' - annual: Year Round Skin Care Products

Perianne is an organic skin care line inspired by and responsive to the change in seasons so your skin can adapt to nature's cycles. Each Perianne product is specially formulated with active natural ingredients including botanicals, essential oils, plant and flower extracts, and herbs, to help your skin stay healthy and balanced whether in the heat and humidity of summer, or the cold and dryness of winter.

I had an opportunity to ask Perianne's owner and founder, Cora Michael, about this intriguing line. Per Cora, "Using seasonal ingredients is part of my philosophy, which is in keeping with seasonal awareness in the organic lifestyle movement in general. It's amazing, but nature offers skin what it needs when it needs it!"

Currently, there are three products available, all in the Fall/Winter group. The products are being introduced in phases with the Spring/Summer line coming available in March/April 2008, the Transitional products in September 2008, and the Year-Round product line in December 2008.

So what of the three Perianne Fall/Winter products on the market since December 2007? In a word - superb! These are decidedly high quality, organic products packaged beautifully in glass bottles and jars (I love when companies use glass over plastic), the cleanser sports an easy-to-use pump dispenser. The contents - gorgeous for the skin, heaven for your senses!

• Milky Cleanser - a non-foaming, detergent-free creamy cleanser which smells of sweet oranges, cardamon and begamot essential oils; promotes clarity while stimulating and warming the senses; also contains black fig, sugar cane and milk extracts to soften skin $20
• Gentle Toner - I hardly ever use toner, but I love this! Smells lightly of grapefruit and sweet fennel essential oils, this mild toner eliminates excess cleanser residue and prepares skin for moisturizing, blends extracts of apple, chamomile and aloe to soothe dry, tired skin, but works beautifully on my combo skin as well so don't let the 'typing' dissuade you from trying any of these Fall/Winter items $20
• Rich Face Cream - ever walk down a street lined with jasmine? that's what it smells like opening the jar to this luxurious, velvety moisturizer; this anti-oxidant rich cream boasts ingredients like pumpkin, pomegranate, grape, cranberry, and carrot to nourish normal to dry complexions with vitamins and omega fatty acids. I'm enjoying the scent and hydration of this product so much I actually use it as a body cream as well - may be used day or night. $40

Alright, so having said all that, I cannot wait for the other Perianne products to take the stage.

In the works:

• Year-Round Line - an exfoliator, an eye cream, and an anti-aging serum
• Transitional Treatments - intended for skin that is having a hard time adjusting to changes in temperature, humidity, and seasonal shifts, and will consist primarily of masks: 1) one to hydrate and soothe dry, irritated, or stressed skin; 2) a second to purify and cleanse overactive, impure skin; 3) and a third to help speed cell turnover (e.g., an enzyme mask) and reveal brighter, smoother, renewed skin
• Spring/Summer Line - will include a Foaming Cleanser (with extracts of lemon, orange, bilberry, sugar cane, and lavender); a Purifying Toner (with cucumber water and mint extracts); and a Lightweight Face Lotion (which will feature antioxidant red raspberry seed oil, soothing calendula, fortifying seaweed, and balancing ylang-ylang and sandalwood essential oils, among other delicious ingredients)

Oh my gosh, the Spring/Summer line is the one I'm most looking forward to, well, that and an exfoliator! You can check out information on products, ingredients (Cora even tells you about the properties of her ingredients, WHAT they are good for) and purchase Perianne Skin Care online or by visiting Dharma NYC in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, NY. Expect to see Perianne in other retail locations soon.