“It’s a “just right” product.”

– Celestyna Brozek, moss/AMBAR founder

EXPERT TIPS FROM THE FOUNDER:

• ​Pump 1-3 pumps of product onto fingertips.
  
  
• Gently dot fingertips on to left cheek, right cheek, chin and forehead, evenly dividing product between the 4 quadrants of the face.
  
  
• ​Massage into the skin, working to cover the entire facial area. Wait 1-2 minutes before applying next product.
  
  
• Very dry skin types are recommended to supplement with an additional moisturizer.
  
  
• TOP TIP! For a beautiful dewy effect, layer Potentci over a facial oil as the last step in your skincare ritual.

DIPALMITOYL HYDROXYPROLINE (antioxidant) helps firm and restore plumpness to skin by stimulating collagen. More effective and stable than natural antioxidants like Vitamin C and E

DIMETHYLMETHOXY CHROMANOL (antioxidant) provides broad spectrum protection capabilities against free radicals, the primary source of aging

NIACINAMIDE/GLUCOSAMINE COMPLEX aids with reducing hyperpigmentation and acne scars

POMEGRANATE PHYTOSTEROLS help prevent transepidermal water loss

PEPTIDES helps to improve skin tone, elasticity, and smoothness with continued use

MURU MURU, ABYSSINIAN, MORINGA + SACHI INCHI are superfood oils + butters that provide anti-inflammatory Omega 3s

Q + A with Celestyna Brozek, Founder of moss/AMBAR

When/how do you love to use the product?
If there is one skincare product I’m using consistently, it is Potentci – it just has a little bit of everything and goes on nice and light – it’s a “just right” product. It has anti-acne components and anti-aging components, hydrating and healing and and antioxidant so on. If I’m wearing Potentci, I know all my bases are covered. I personally love to reverse the traditional application of moisturizer first, then oil. So I like to do a facial oil first, not last, and layer Potentci over it – I find that helps the “dewify” the oil and draw it into the skin for a nicer finish.

What inspired the product/ingredients?
When I first started moss, it was JUST face oils. The ways products got added was by customer request. Someone would ask for a product for a particular issue and I would create it. And the line ballooned! And it became hard for people to pick a routine – there were too many choices. I wanted to make it very simple. So with moss 2.0, there was 4 steps: cleanse, treat-serum, treat-hydrate, boost. Potentci is the “hydrate step” and is very multi-correctional, so there is a lot of “treat” as well.

How long has it been part of the line?
I created Potentci at the beginning of 2017, one of the first two products (the other is Illumina) of moss 2.0.

Can you give us some insight on the ingredient formulation process?
Most skincare products come in a water base, but we use a mostly hydrosol base – this really potentiates the whole formula. Potentci has an in-house extract that we make composed of five really unique herbs – Watermelon rind, known for its UV protective properties and high levels of antioxidants, Horse Chestnut, which helps with redness and broken capillaries, Rhodiola Sacra which is a gorgeous herb that grows high in the Himalayas and is powerfully adaptogenic and healing. This herb is very high in antioxidants and helps to fight aging and oxidation. Lion’s Mane Mushroom is another adaptogen we use, it is a medicinal mushroom that helps boost collagen and dermal protein integrity. Lastly, wild green oat extract provides high levels of moisturizing beta glucans.

There are a lot of really beautiful components in Potentci, including skin barrier repair with niacinamide, ceramides (synthetic, bio identical), pomegranate sterols (plant version of cholesterol), and n-acetyl glucosamine (derived from shells). NAG is a really amazing ingredient, helping with wound healing, stimulating hyaluronic acid production, and erasing hyperpigmentation, especially when combined with niacinamide as in Potentci. It helps normalize exfoliation of the skin, which is something that acne-prone skins very often can benefit from.

The last part of Potentci is the incredibly powerful antioxidant complex it contains. Antioxidants may not be very sexy, but they are truly key for reducing aging damage. Antioxidants themselves can be unstable and oxidize, especially if exposed to heat or air. One of the antioxidants we use is a synthetic analog of vitamin E, and is very stable and very comprehensive. A lot of antioxidants can only neutralize oxygen free radicals semi-efficiently, but oxygen only makes up a fifth of the atmosphere while nitrogen is close to 80%. So this antioxidant can also neutralize nitrogen radicals and is very efficient with oxygen radicals. It also addresses lipid peroxidation, one of the exacerbators of acne.

What is the star ingredient in the product and why?
Potentci is so multi-correctional that there is no one star ingredient – it’s an all-star cast.