I’ve been going through this text chain where we are always telling each other about “Skin Food is on sale again at Whole Foods.” I read about the green bottle of skin salve, which is meant to cure anything, and then became a lifelong user. I never left the medical office once it finds permanent land there.
“If Victoria Beckham uses it, it’s good enough for me,” one of my friends texted me after consuming the stuff for over a year. A litany of praises was fired by another: “The scent is amazing, fresh and fruity, almost addictive. It’s kind of doubles as a perfume. I love that it has all clean ingredients — no scary chemicals in it!” This scent issue among chronic users is divisive. I then ordered the fragrance of Rob Keen, CEO, North American Weleda. He pauses and responds: “That’s the hardest question I’ve ever been asked.”
In recent years this citrus magician, also referred to as Weleda’s Skin Products, has had huge success. “It’s a little gem. When I was first introduced to Skin Food, it was explained to me as the best-kept secret in the industry,” Keen says to Teen Vogue.
Nonetheless, Keen says a lot about the achievements of Skin Food, and the whole business is connected to greenwashing, a sort of marketing approach which was used to reassure consumers about the environmental friendliness of a company and its policies.
It can also be difficult to know whether something is environmentally sustainable when its meaning depends simply on how many influencers claim it is to you. Nevertheless, the success of Skin Food in recent years has reached new heights: “You know, when you see somebody like Gwyneth Paltrow — who we love! — or like a Rihanna or, you know, some of these makeup artists…Katie Jane Hughes…they say that this is a ‘must carry’ in their bag. It just blows us away.”
The cream consists of a few key components: “viola tricolor, calendula, and chamomile, in a rich, thick base of oils and beeswax,” as per the product listing on the web of the client. Keen says the cream will mimic whatever the skin needs when it is out of balance; the drug guarantees a hydrated, healthy glow to the skin. “People are just searching for products that they can trust. Once they find it, it becomes almost [vital],” Keen tells.
