When creating an anhydrous product there is no water and no filler so every single ingredient has a role to play. It’s all about finding the best proportions of each in the composition, so it’s a very holistic process. I prefer to work with the cleanest ingredients I can find so that means minimally processed and organic wherever possible. I have a strong respect for plants and want to honor them when formulating.
What are a few of your favorite ingredients in Vapour formulas?
Organic Beeswax comes immediately to mind. It has a gorgeous texture and imparts a luxurious skin feel. Supporting healthy bee colonies matters so much, so it’s also an ingredient that has a deeper environmental meaning.
Another category of ingredients I particularly enjoy and am inspired by are essential oils. They are the purest energetic form of the plant. Creating an essential oil scent blend is how I write non-verbal poetry. Scent is a direct connection to the invisible world.
Can you tell us more about the new Lux Tints?
The original organic Lux has such a wonderful moisturizing texture, and its ingredients are so pure. It was a pleasure for me to create tints in that base. Hush and Enchant are so wearable and natural looking yet sophisticated. Nicole has done a wonderful job translating them into versatile, full face looks.
What is your personal favorite Vapour Beauty product?
I can’t function without Luminous foundation. It was the first cosmetic product I ever created and it’s still my favorite.
What are your favorite non-Vapour Beauty products, or brands at AILLEA?
My must haves are Indie Lee’s Daily Vitamin Infusion and for hair, the Hydrating Cream Conditioner and I Create Volume from Innersense. I also have a lot of respect for One Love Organics, Suntegrity, and Osmia.
Can you tell us more about the new branding being featured on the website, “skin-honoring clean color that adapts and transforms to you”?
Yes! Our new branding clarifies what Vapour stands for and how it really works with your skin. First, Vapour is designed to blur the boundaries between skincare and makeup by caring for your skin with organically farmed and naturally derived ingredients. Secondly, our colors celebrate your individual skin tone—not mask it. Vapour creates a soft, semi-translucent veil with light-reflecting, multi-dimensional mineral pigments and this allows your living color to shine through.
What inspirations do you take from being located in Taos, New Mexico?
Taos is a bit of an enigma. The remote location, dramatic landscape, clear light, intense weather, ancient history, and mystical overtones attract eccentrics, creatives and free spirits of all kinds. We who are called to be here live close to Nature and her rhythms. We’re mindful of the desert’s precious resources and craft Vapour with eternal respect for our most precious resources: water, land, human and spirit.
Your Aura Multi Sticks and Bronzing Powder give a portion back to charity – Bronzing Powder for clean water and Aura Multi Stick to support youth in crisis – can you explain why these charities are important to you and Vapour Beauty?
We hold a vision of a positive future where together we respect each other through building community and protect Earth’s natural resources.
In the US alone, housing insecurity affects over half a million youth every year. We have chosen to give a dollar from every Aura Multi Stick sold worldwide to the Dream Tree Project where youth in crisis in our community receive safety, housing, meals and compassionate support services. Dream Tree provides both emergency shelter and longer-term transitional housing where residents live independently while working and going to school. This includes access to resources we believe are basic human rights: healthy food, water, clothing, shelter, hygiene supplies and skills to keep them strong, healthy, resilient and growing. Dream Tree offers a safe environment inclusive of all races, ethnicities, religions, genders and sexual orientations.
Water stress impacts 44% of the world population and for us it’s personal. In our arid, high desert home we recognize water as a precious resource. We donate one dollar from every Bronzing Powder sold worldwide to Amigos Bravos to protect freshwater rivers and streams in New Mexico. Amigos Bravos heads statewide efforts to protect the Rio Grande and its tributaries by restoring watershed health, holding industrial polluters accountable and defending pristine waters from contamination.
What is your personal favorite Vapour Beauty product?
I have so many favorites that I have them on rotation. Right now, I’m loving our Matte Smoothing Primer which in itself is a skin treat with nourishing Jojoba, antioxidant Cranberry and replenishing Celery extract. It’s both pore refining and shine reducing. I wear it alone some days or under our Soft Focus Foundation. Our beloved Soft Focus Foundation gives my skin the signature Vapour glow— that inner luminosity and truly super-natural finish Vapour is known for.
What are your favorite non-Vapour Beauty products or brands at AILLEA
1. Taos Aer Palo Santo Deodorant is my desert island pick. It’s unique texture glides gently on my underarm skin and I can rely on it to keep me feeling fresh and dry all day long.
2. Indie Lee Brightening Cleanser is a must-have in my morning skincare routine. Not everyone knows that it doubles as an exfoliating mask when left on the skin to dry before rinsing – Bonus!
3, Osmia Oh So Detox Soap is a favorite. I was a soap maker for years before Vapour and I love a good cold processed bar soap. This one is unscented, uncomplicated and uncompromising.
