If you’re not one to embrace a double-digit-step skincare routine, you’re in good company. After a year of stunning achievements, April, founder of Vintner’s Daughter, sits down with Health Hut again to talk about industry expectations and share how she intentionally moves in a world that demands more.
April, we’re so excited to connect with you this spring. Our last conversation was a couple of years ago, and since then Vintner’s Daughter has achieved some important milestones that we’d love to celebrate.
First, congrats on moving through your 10 year anniversary—for a company that thinks in decades, we’re here for your next 10. Vintner’s Daughter also became a certified B Corp, committing to the benefit of all people, communities and the planet. What an incredible achievement. Most recently, you’ve shared the incredible results from your first clinical trial—in short, yes, Vintner’s Daughter works!
HH: Let’s party! All this talk about celebrating has us dreaming up the perfect soiree, and you’re invited. If we’re sitting next to you at a dinner party what conversation are you just dying to have?
APRIL: After a bit of small talk, I would ask what they are grateful for, what hobbies they wish they had more time for and where would they like to travel to next. I would also probably end up talking about cold plunging in natural bodies of water because, I'm obsessed.
HH: Experience is wisdom, after 10 years in the skincare industry, what’s one thing you wish everybody knew about skincare? Psst, any insider tips you’d like to share?
APRIL: From day one we have made it our mission to create products that achieve incredible results in fewer steps. Vintner's Daughter does not believe in an endless cycle of ‘new’, which only serves to create confusion for the customer and their skin.
We believe in products that have such a deep communication with the skin that they become the products you never want to live without. This is a very high standard to live up to and one entirely driven by skin health, balance and ultimately confidence.
So much of the beauty world is built around the idea that more is better and if you aren’t doing a 16 step routine, you aren't “taking care of yourself”. I could go on for days about the industrial beauty complex and all the ways in which it tries to subvert confidence in its consumer, but ultimately using fewer and higher quality products that offer multi-beneficial performance are not only better for the skin, but for the environment too since you are creating less waste. Win/Win.
HH: In an industry that always demands more, Vintner’s Daughter has stayed true to a minimal approach to skincare. In your own life, where do you notice the tension between wanting more and being satisfied with having enough? What practices or beliefs keep you grounded?
APRIL: I have had a daily meditation and a gratitude practice for almost 15 years. It's not very secret, but it is joyfully available to everyone and creates a space for your guiding truths to emerge.
As it pertains to industry demands for more, new and next I am proud of the discipline we have exercised in the face of incredible industry pressure.
We have chosen to stay true to our vision of better and fewer because more, new and next is rarely in service to skin and almost always in service of revenue. And, of course revenue is important, but not why we exist. We exist to have a profoundly positive impact on our community’s skin, life, and our shared world.
HH: In a world saturated with beautiful people, minds, objects and experiences, what or who is influencing you—what has caught your attention, in the very best way?
APRIL: It’s always nature and her incredible elegance and power.
HH: In his meditative gardening dairy, Modern Nature, Alex Jarmen writes, “Apart from the nagging past—film, sex and London—I have never been happier than last week. I look up and see the deep azure sea outside my window in the February sun, and today I saw my first bumble bee. Plated lavender and clumps of red hot poker.”
Jarman’s writing reminds us of the healing qualities that come from tending plants and working with the soil. As someone who is familiar with the seasonal care of vineyards, how would you describe the ways you experience nature’s healing qualities?
APRIL: For me nature is a connection to truth and self. We are nature and anytime spent in it is illuminating for me. So much of our daily lives take us away from nature and her balancing, healing powers.
It's one of the things I love so much about using our products. We begin every batch with whole plants, and every drop is teeming with their nutritional energy. Not only are our formulas benefiting the look and feel of your skin, but our products also benefit the psycho-spiritual connection as well. I don't talk about it a lot but it's there.
HH: We love a little list, what are three things you’re working toward, and three things you’re letting go of?
APRIL: I'm actually quite content in my life. It's not to say that I'm perfect—far from it—but the pressure to always be improving in some way is not productive for me. Instead, I focus on connection and fostering that within myself, my family and my community.
THIS OR THAT WITH APRIL
Oil or cream cleanser? Cream! Oil alone is not enough. You always should follow with an emulsifier which is why we created Active Renewal Cleanser which combines the two steps to give a thorough, plumping and balancing cleanse in a single step.
Bath or shower? Both
Salty or sweet? Sweet for life.
Cook or take out? Cook
Coffee or tea? Tea is my addiction.
Morning or night? Night - I’m naturally a night owl.
City or country? Both
Summer or winter? Summer—I love being amongst the heat and humidity.
WHAT'S YOUR CURRENT FEEL-GOOD WITH APRIL
Binge-worthy show? Sex Education and anything Shonda Rhimes.
Evening snack? Dark chocolate
Song? I love music so just one is nearly impossible.
Ritual when you get home? Hug my kids and find out about their day.
Activity to wind down? Hanging with my family.
Beverage? Oolong tea. Song Tea is one of my favorites in San Francisco.