Kim Walls, CEO and founded of Episencial is coming to The Baby Grocery Store July 26 and 27 to speak to our customers about safe skin care! Kim will be joining us for our Healthy Child, Healthy World Book Club meeting July 26 at 6:30 p.m. Kim will discuss their role with Healthy Child and safe skin care with the benefits of skin-to-skin from birth and beyond as well as safe skin care at any age! Kim will also join us July 27 at 10 a.m. for breakfast and coffee where she will be giving away 5 VIP giftbaskets!
We had a chance to interview Kim and thought we’d share before the meet and greet so you can learn more about her and Episencial! See you the 26th & 27th!
Q. How did Episencial begin?
A. I’ve had a lifelong passion for skincare that began as a child in my father’s lab at Epicuren. That passion came into sharp focus when I was pregnant with my first son and I – like every other mom on the planet - searched for products to care for newborn skin and found myself in a confounding sea of chemically-laden choices that I knew were not safe or healthy…for anybody. My disappointment turned to frustration when I found that natural skincare was either not truly natural or was unappealing at best to use. Inspired to solve the problem of pervasive use of unhealthy ingredients in skincare and leverage the spa experience I knew could be found in all natural products, I started Episencial to make the best skincare for the health babies everywhere.
Q. What is your main philosophy?
A. I believe in supporting women and families. Parenting is an amazing journey and I’ve learned that it’s often the smallest moments…changing a diaper, massaging a belly at bedtime or applying sunscreen to a wriggly kiddo… that can be the most special. I want to be able to provide parents with easy, healthy and reliable skincare choices for those special moments. With my strong personal commitment to organic and environmentally responsible living stemming from my experience growing up on ranches in the Pacific Northwest, combined with my birthright in luxury skincare with post-graduate work as a nutritionist, I am confident that I can deliver on the promise to provide parents with he highest quality skincare products for their babies and kids.
Q. Where are your products manufactured?
A. Babytime! By Episencial products are manufactured in the USA in a solar powered facility. All our packaging is recyclable and much of it is recycled too! Also, our formulas are biodegradable, so they wont cause harm when they wash down the drain.
Q. Explain your 3-step signature skincare system.
A. Our 3-Step system is the most simple and direct path to healthy skin for baby. The first step is to cleanse with a gentle, eye-safe and effective organic cleanser like Playful Wash. Next, Nourish the skin with a hydrating lotion (Soothing Cream is a great choice). Finally, Defend babies skin with one of our many products made to help deal with today’s environmental challenges like heavily chlorinated city tap water, air pollution and excessive UVA rays coming through a depleted ozone. Sunny Sunscreen, for example, is perfect to help keep our little ones sunburn-free. The products in our signature 3-Step Systems are designed to work together to optimize ultimate skin health.
Q. What personally drew you to skin care/botany?
A. My family founded Epicuren, so skincare, botany and chemistry have always been an important part of my life!
Q. What led you to live an organic/environmentally-friendly lifestyle?
A. I grew up on ranches throughout the Pacific Northwest and California and that experience really shaped my understanding and relationship to the land and how we humans can live peacefully within its gifts. I literally spent hours every day going from fruit tree to fruit tree collecting goodies, stopped to pick blackberries and strawberries while riding my pony to a friends house for a playdate, fought off the nasty rooster every morning to collect eggs for the day, canned fruit and made jams with my mom to last through the winter. It was a lifestyle that tought me to appreciate our resources immensely, and one that instilled a deep respect and even awe of the reciprocity that exists within the balance of sustenance and survival.
Q. Why is organic and natural skincare important, especially for pregnant moms and babies?
A. The use of primarily (if not exclusively) natural, organic and plant-based ingredients is the minimum bar. This is literally the bottom rung that I believe any responsible manufacturer should meet when making personal care products – for babies or anyone else. The skin is the largest organ of the body and has the potential to take skincare ingredients in through the barrier and into the blood stream. Skincare is healthcare, and more akin to food supplements than household cleaning products.
I also think it is important to note that many products that are natural, are not ideal for baby skin for a whole variety of other reasons having nothing to do with their level of naturalness. There seems to be a bubbling belief that just because something is natural or organic, it is good for you (and baby). That simply isn’t true. Parents should also be making sure that their baby products are free from protein (like hydrolyzed quinoa protein), and that they have a pH of 5.5 (not neutral like water - with a pH of 7- and not even higher like castile soaps with a pH of 8.5-9), and also that they are not using pharmacologically active ingredients like Pansy or Yucca extracts. “Made with Organics” is a term regulated by the USDA. This term means a baby skincare product must have at least 70% organic ingredients. That’s us! Our Babytime! products are made with at least 70% organic ingredients. Working within these criteria, we are able to make completely safe, highly effective formulas exclusively with plant-based, natural or naturally derived, and predominantly organic ingredients. Babytime! products are verified by the USDA as at least 70% organic. This means that you can trust that your babies and kids are not being bathed in harmful chemicals, but rather ingredients from our own lovely earth.
Q. What are the top 5 chemical offenders found in baby personal care products?
A. Fragrance-fragrance-fragrance! The use of synthetic fragrance in baby personal care products is inexcusable in my opinion. The term fragrance – it’s an industry term agreed to by government regulators that allow manufacturers to include a combination of up to 4,000 chemicals to either mask or create the scent of a product. Unacceptable. After that, parabens, phthalates, phenoxyethanol and 1-4 dioxane are at the top of my list. These are primarily harsh synthetic preservatives that have carcinogenic or hormone-disrupting properties or they are likely to be contaminated by toxins.
That said, those are the typical ‘offenders’ and hopefully at this point most people are already aware of the value of avoiding those ingredients. There are other equally important ingredients for parents of new babies to avoid. Baby skincare products should NOT contain proteins, for example. Check your labels for ingredients like Hydrolyzed quinoa protein. Proteins could be high-risk ingredients in baby skincare products as it is proteins that specifically create the potential for an allergic reaction. Grain proteins are becoming more and more prevalent in baby skincare products, despite the fact that allergies and grain sensitivities are on the rise.
Q. What does Vivid Green Generation mean?
A. We are on the front line of the value choices in our homes – moving us toward a new Vivid Green Generation. Knowing that our choices matter and serving as a role model to our children is important. Through everyday activities and conversations – turning off water while they are soaping-up their hands and brushing their teeth, turning off the lights, and using products that are free from harsh chemicals – we are ensuring a positive future for our babies. So involve your children in your efforts – both large (buying a hybrid, installing solar panels) and small (turning off the computer at night) to improve the future health of our children, because every decision you make for your baby can support great health and a strong future.
Q. What are the importance of the Babytime product graphics? I know they were previously Eric Carle and now they are Sugar Plum Industries.
A. To put it simply, I love art – and so do children. We’ve worked with several artists over the years to add to the sensory experience and educational aspects of our products. It is important that our products look as good on the outside as they are on the inside – because that is how families first experience us – through sight. We chose art that makes a connection to families with young children and provides a visual element to the teachable moments skin care and personal care provide.
Q. How did Episencial get teamed up with Healthy Child Healthy World?
A. We believe in their mission and are proud to be the first skincare company to ever have worked with them – I even helped form their standards for healthy skincare. Today, a percentage of sales of Babytime! by Episencial products goes to HCHW to help advance their work.
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