6 Things I Learned From Natural Skin-Care Legend Tata Harper
I was late to skin care. Until I turned 20, I never washed my face—not even in the shower. But 20 came, and I decided I should begin something that resembled a routine. So, I drove to my CVS and approached the skin-care aisle with caution. (After an unfortunate incident in Sephora where a salesperson coerced me into a makeover that left me looking like a sad clown, I stuck to drugstores for all aesthetic endeavors.) When presented with a hundred creams, I quickly opted for one labeled “natural” without much thought and left.
At this point, the beauty market was just becoming goopified, and I knew nothing about natural products aside from the positive connotation that came with the word—that “natural” sounded better. Years later, I know “natural” is a marketing term that is both unregulated and ill-defined. I also know that not all chemicals, particularly those in conventional cosmetics, are actually harmful or toxic. But I enjoy watching the natural beauty market boom, adding more and more options from which a consumer can choose. Some of these products line the shelves at CVS, where inquisitive shoppers like me can stumble upon them. Then of course, there are others, which exist in the upper echelons of beauty.
Case in point: Tata Harper. From a 1,200-acre certified-organic farm in Vermont, the Colombian-born entrepreneur built a large-scale, luxury, natural skin-care empire. Her “farm-to-face” products are made without synthetic chemicals, GMOs, fillers, artificial colors, or artificial fragrances. Harper is a favorite of Gwyneth Paltrow, and her products are often in stock at The Wing, a members-only women’s club and coworking space in downtown Manhattan. They are not available at drugstores, but rather carry heavy price tags aimed at highest-end consumers. Knowing that natural beauty products are more often “crunchy” than sumptuous, Harper makes and markets her products to compete within the luxury market, on both effectiveness and price. She says often in interviews, “Health is the ultimate luxury.”
When The Wing recently offered a skin-care master class with Tata Harper herself, I was immediately intrigued. As someone who has never taken care of her skin because (a) I wasn’t interested and (b) I didn’t really need to, I have always been fascinated by people who do. Some people go through 5 or 10 steps twice daily applying creams and gels and scrubs to their face for one or more of a number of reasons: they have sensitivities and conditions that they must treat, or, alternatively, they really eat this whole thing up. I’m neither of those people. But what if I became one?
I signed up for the master class, and thus began my Great Skin-Care Experiment. Here’s what I learned (and a bit of what I still don’t understand).
1. You should layer your skin-care products in order of consistency, from thinnest to thickest.
Whatever products you’re using, the cardinal rule of skin-care layering (of which I was unaware prior to this master class) doesn’t change. Apply products thinnest to thickest so that the inner layers are sealed in by the outer. (And conversely, so that your thicker products—such as occlusive oils—don’t block thinner products from getting to your skin.) Generally, that means application in the following order: cleanser and/or exfoliant, mask, essence, serum, eye cream, moisturizer, and, finally, an oil. Over the course of the half-hour class, we applied eight products to our faces according to this guideline. (Scroll to the end for the full list of products, in order.)
2. Essence is a thing and it’s not the same as serum.
I closed my eyes as McKenzie Bolt, Tata Harper’s director of global education, aimed a bottle of Concentrated Brightening Essence, $160, at my face. “You just want a little spritz,” Bolt said. “It’s an essence—not Mace.” Her statement meant little to nothing to me, given my vague understanding of Mace (from Law and Order) and even less of an understanding of essence. After the class, I learned that essence is a fluid product used to prep skin to be receptive to serum. What is serum? I had to have that explained to me, too. Serums are thicker than essences but thinner than lotions (see #1), and are typically highly concentrated with active ingredients to address specific needs, like dryness or sun damage. (Here’s a whole story on how to find the right serum for your skin.)
3. Exfoliant + jelly mask = secret sauce for glowy skin.
We were instructed to apply the Tata Harper Regenerating Cleanser, $82, which is a daily chemical and physical exfoliant, and add a jelly mask right on top, without rinsing first. Bolt told me that the award-winning Resurfacing Mask, $62, is Tata Harper’s best-selling product and makes people “literally glow.” Usually, you apply a mask to bare, damp skin, and leave it on for 15 to 30 minutes. But—pro tip!—you can achieve the benefits in a quarter of the time if you pair it with exfoliating cleanser. We let both layers sit for 5 to 10 minutes before rinsing. I was both shocked and pleased by this odd combination. While the mask tingled, I imagined what my face might look like later in the day, excited to “glow.” In truth, I left looking more like I had put my face in an olive oil dish at an Italian restaurant. But that is entirely my fault: I think I went overboard with the oil at the end.
4. Sometimes skin-care can take a really long time.
At the end of the master class, I asked Bolt if this was a routine we could do daily. “Yes,” she told me, “this is definitely a routine you can do every day.” I was shocked. The whole thing took 30 minutes and we were going at a rapid-fire pace. I imagined a slow, beginner-level skin-care class, full of discussion with time for questions. I was very, very wrong—there was barely a second when we were not rubbing, scrubbing, rinsing, or applying. People do this every morning? More power to them.
5. And it can be very expensive.
Tata Harper does not shy away from the fact that her products are expensive. For someone like me, prohibitively so. The least expensive product we used in the class was the jelly mask, which is $62 for 30 milliliters, while the essence and serum will set you back $160 and $233, respectively. A little goes a long way, but still—at this point in my life, luxury skin-care is not in the budget.
6. For me, a skin-care routine is as much mental as it is about my skin.
I was incredibly overwhelmed for the 30 minutes I spent in that chair. There were a seemingly infinite number of Tata Harper employees running in circles around the table, pumping creams and serums into our cupped palms every couple of minutes. I was given a green bandana to hold back my hair and a bowl with a liquid volume capacity of one cup from which I was expected to rinse my face several times without spilling it absolutely everywhere.
My skin-care routine usually takes about four minutes. Post-shower, I apply rosewater spray, moisturizer, and jade roll. At 20, I instituted a skin-care routine because it forced me to put time aside for myself every day. I’m a creature of habit and feel satisfaction from daily rituals and small routines. My four-minute regimen has done the trick; for now, it’s satisfied me just the same as every other one I've taken on, including making coffee in the morning and laying out tomorrow's outfit before I fall asleep (yes, I do that too).
Did I have fun? Of course I did. The products were beautiful, and effective, and felt good on my skin. If I could afford to buy it all, I’m sure I would. And though I learned a lot about fancy skin-care, my biggest takeaway might have been realizing how valuable those four minutes every morning are to me—as it turns out, they are all I need.
Products I used in the Tata Harper master class (in order of application):
Nourishing Oil Cleanser, $76 (amazon.com)
Regenerating Cleanser, $93 (amazon.com)
Resurfacing Mask, $62 (amazon.com)
Concentrated Brightening Essence, $160 (amazon.com)
Concentrated Brightening Serum, $233 (amazon.com)
Restorative Eye Crème, $98 (amazon.com)
Clarifying Moisturizer, $110 (amazon.com)
Retinoic Nutrient Complex, $125 (amazon.com)
