INSIDE LOOK: JEANNIE JARNOT – FOUNDER OF BEAUTY HEROES

Meet Jeannie Jarnot, Founder of Beauty Heroes®, a healthy beauty discovery service and online beauty store with the strictest ingredient standard in the beauty industry.  Before Beauty Heroes, Jeannie was a long-time spa director and healthy beauty expert and is now on a mission to deliver beauty you can trust, one Hero product at a time. After uncovering the prevalence of toxic ingredients in the spa industry – and how they might have contributed to her own infertility – Jeannie began her quest to make clean beauty the rule rather than the exception.  The complexity of navigating cosmetic ingredients only fueled her passion to make it simple to discover safe, effective, and luxurious skincare. By working only with brands who have an unwavering commitment to ethical sourcing, ingredient purity, and unparalleled quality, she has instituted a new standard of excellence and transparency in the industry, establishing her company as the most trusted source for healthy beauty.  Her vision for Beauty Heroes is to help people discover healthy beauty and shift how they consume beauty, so that it is healthy for their body and the planet.

For some time Jeannie has been tuned in to the realization that we are over-consuming just about everything, including our own energetic resources. While first being inspired to help shed a light on the over-consumption of beauty products, she eventually began looking closely at every part of her life.  She discovered that every time she made a choice to use less, she was making a choice to be more loving to herself, others, and the planet.  Whether it’s looking at how we consume plastic, water, clothes, food, and even toys for for our children, she believes that making the conscious choice to use less is a profound act of love.

How did you get on the path to green beauty and a more sustainable life in general?

I think it all started growing up in Hawaii.  I lived there until I was 18 years old, and I think that when living there, we took the beauty of nature for granted.  It took living in Paris, London, Poland, New York, San Francisco and a few other places in between to appreciate just how incredible life was growing up in the beauty of Hawaii.  I think a love for nature was embossed on me by my childhood.

I first discovered that there were harmful ingredients in beauty products around 2001.  I was the Spa Director at the Four Seasons in San Francisco, and when I learned that this might be the case, I became very curious about ingredients.  It was a no-brainer to me, if an ingredient were known to be harmful; I would never want it to be used by my staff or on our guests.  Over the years I learned more and more about ingredients and started to work with brands who were very invested in ingredient sourcing, and who I could trust to create products that were more than non-toxic, they were good for you, and the earth.  The pursuit of health, wellness and vitality was the reason I was attracted to the spa industry, so I only wanted to use products that would be in alignment with that intention.

Working in the spa industry, I also saw a great deal of over-consumption of products.  Most people have way more in their beauty cabinet than they can ever use; I know I did and still do to a certain extent.  It led me to question how I presented products in the spa environment, and now through Beauty Heroes.  It led me to the path that I am on now, which is to talk about using less and loving more – and how wonderful it is to do so!

What are some of your favorite botanical ingredients? Why do you love them so much?

Honey is my all time favorite ingredient.  It’s not a botanical, per se, but it is my favorite ingredient in skincare because it works so well.  I used to have terrible acne, and honey was one ingredient I could count on to never aggravate my sensitive, acneic skin.  Now, my acne is gone, after having tuned into my hormonal balance, and I still love honey because it brightens and exfoliates every time.  I either use Laurel Whole Skin’s  Honey Berry Mask or mix raw honey into a face mask at least twice a week.

I also love blue chamomile, and Laurel knows that I was so excited when she launched her Blemish Treatment that features this super special botanical superpower.  My esthetician had been using it in a face mask on my skin for the last 15 years, which is how I first discovered it.  It smells so good and it’s amazing how it does calm the senses and inflammation on the skin.  I just love how it has a parallel holistic effect.  I will often mix the Laurel Skins Blemish Treatment in with another face serum or place a few drops into a face mask or in a night cream.  One of my favorite little beauty tricks!

I also really think helichrysum is a special ingredient.  It’s got a really earthy scent and whenever I use it, I feel it deeply repairs my skin. It’s a sacred herb that is used for a lot of purposes and I think the power of it is very under-studied.  I could go on…..

What keeps you mindful and grounded in your busy daily life?

My practice of using less and loving more is what keeps me grounded.  We all want to experience more love – and I have found that every time I make a choice to use less energy, stuff, relationships – you name it – I experience more love.  I have really begun to use this practice to focus on what is really important, and it’s not easy and I am far from perfect at it.  But it is what I use to re-connect to my purpose, direct my energy and stay calm.

I can also be hard on myself, so I practice a lot of compassion. One of my favorite #Truthbombs from Danielle LaPorte is “We all need heaping doses of tenderness.” We forget that.  I forget that.  I have this Truthbomb visible in my office, and it reminds me to soften and go easy.

Describe your perfect day.

It depends where I am.  A perfect Northern California day would begin with a morning run followed directly by some coffee and a shower.  Then a morning drive with my husband or a friend to some good tunes up to Occidental for coffee and scones at WildFlour, which is across the street from Osmosis Day Spa Sanctuary, where we would check in for a Cedar Enzyme Bath and 75 Minute Pagoda Massage. Meditation. Then we’d make our way down to Nick’s Cove to watch the sunset with champagne and local oysters.

Do you have an evening routine that lulls you into a restful slumber?

Stepping away from my computer by 10 PM is optimal, and once I do it takes me about a half hour to wash my face, brush my teeth and take care of my skin.  I am not sure what I do in that half hour, it varies and I allow that time for me to really do whatever my body and skin are calling for.  Then I spend about 5 minutes writing in my calendar for the next day, emptying my thoughts and to do’s.  Then, I read, and within 15 minutes I’m out.

The way forward is all about community. We were honored to sit down with Jeannie and share an inside look into people like her who inspire us every day.