Meet the founder of the revolutionary plant-based skincare brand In Fiore, Julie Elliott, as we discuss scientific breakthroughs, skin’s lesser known credentials and the life-changing properties of plants.

Julie Elliot knows the power of plants, she’s just been waiting for the rest of the world to catch up. Since launching her industry-disrupting apothecary-style skincare brand In Fiore twenty years ago, she’s remained continually ahead of the curve with unique hi-tech extraction processes and delivery systems able to achieve unrivalled strength and efficacy. Elliot’s scientific strides in engineering natural ingredients and world-first formulations have seen In Fiore awarded prestigious industry accolades, amassing countless Hollywood A-List devotees in the process. Now, she’s ready to push the conversation to the next level once more; this time, with the LYMA Laser.

At In Fiore, we match ancient botany with the height of cutting-edge technology. Like LYMA, we’re not interested in placebos or false promises, we ensure that what we’re taking from the plant is of profound benefit to the human body. To do this we utilise a full-spectrum process that recovers the entire plant, called "native extract." Unlike standard macerates that capture a little of several actives but never the same level of strength, our process captures and retains the full integrity of all the active molecules, as well as all of the organoleptic qualities of the plant i.e. colour, taste, touch, smell.”

Again, much like LYMA, we prioritise effective delivery systems and measured bioavailability. We’ve identified several strategies to improve topical nutrient bioavailability, such as penetration enhancers for nutrient uptake. Then we take it to the next level; what we call "supersaturation." The solubility and strength we achieve through titration of the native extract are unsurpassed. Period. Our breakthrough product with this technology is in Fleur Vibrante Serum Cerate.

As kids, my mother really impressed bathing rituals upon us and some of my earliest memories are of growing up surrounded by cabinets always full of mysterious oils, tinctures and balms. That's what set me on the path of studying plants and exploring the symbiosis between plants and the skin and how when you apply an ingredient, it will metamorphose on the skin. I am a student of anthroposophical medicine, which is really the study of processes. When you ingest a plant or apply it topically, we look at it as a source of information and how it might have a bioenergetic impact.

Skin is remarkable, it is truly how we interact with the world. It‘s our largest organ, one of detoxification and temperature control, it’s also our greatest protector from external aggressors. Most people don’t know that the same olfactory receptors that we have in the nose, also thrive in our skin. So our skin is a sense organ and a perceiving organ, just like our eyes and our nose and our mouth are all perceiving organs. They're all taking in information and the skin is no different.

The skin’s preferred method of nutrition always comes from the inside. That's its priority. But our food supply has vastly been depleted of nutrients, now making supplementation essential. When you ingest a plant, your body mines it for the phytonutrients that it needs. Likewise, when you ingest a supplement it goes into the gut which is the body’s sorting facility. As I say, bioavailability is as fundamental to supplementation as it is to skincare because some supplements don’t stand up to this sorting process and at most your body's absorbing 10-15% of what it’s been given. That’s what intrigues me about the science and engineering behind the LYMA Supplement; the advanced delivery system, the microencapsulation techniques, and the LipiSperse® technology that’s been designed as a carrier. LYMA’s using cutting-edge science to augment natural ingredients and offer up the body the highest possible volume of nutrients - that’s impressive.

It was the 90s. I was living in New York City and I had a corporate job working in the luxury sector. I was shopping at Barneys and as always, I was on the cosmetic floor. But as I walked around, I just felt like there was a category that was completely missing from the space. As a society, we were continuously getting further and further away from nature; not only living away from it but our increasing disconnect with natural ingredients. It certainly wasn't my mission to start the green and the clean movement but somehow that’s what In Fiore did. My In Fiore mission was to modernise the apothecary and bring it into the luxury market by taking it back to where it all started, with plants. Honestly, I can't think of anything more couture-like than working with a plant that has been ground in exquisite conditions and handled impeccably from seed all the way to the finished product. That's true luxury.

Stop looking for miracles and connect the dots instead. As a brand, I'm mindful of educating people on the ingredients and why you would use them because there's just no silver bullet. It’s so essential to manage our wellbeing and our health because we want to feel good and when we're not feeling good, we see it manifest in the skin. Dryness, rashes and inflammation are all information being communicated through the skin, telling you something is amiss. Our skin has a nervous system and an immune system, so a lot of these manifestations that we see in the skin such as psoriasis and eczema are largely nervous system-related and indicative of major mineral imbalances. I think this is where the biggest disconnect is - people tend to view the human organism as individual units, instead of a cohesive network of all the organs and systems and tissues in the body. They all work together in direct correlation. Everything is connected.

Calendula is an incredible natural ingredient but getting it into the skin effectively and consistently requires some serious green chemistry. That's why we decided to work with this one laboratory in France, on a breakthrough new texture because I wanted to overcome all the traditional challenges in natural formulary - complications of stability, saturation, efficacy and skin permeability. We addressed all of that with our serum. It took us years to perfect and get the formulation down because we wanted to be able to control and offer exact uniformity in saturation and strength of the carotenoids in the calendula extract. This new technology allows us to titrate the calendula before it goes into the product, so we know exactly how much beta-carotene is in every tube.

This fall we're set to launch our second product with a titrated component through this new technology formulated in France. It’s something you really don't see when working with naturals in skincare, so it’s a feat that I'm very proud of. It was definitely a dream of mine once we hit our 20-year mark; I wanted to challenge myself and see what I could do to push things even further forward. I will always keep innovating because I love science and I love technology. Armed with them, there are endless possibilities to explore.

LYMA are thrilled to announce that Julie Elliott has designed a world-first, entirely unique protocol combining the In Fiore skincare with the LYMA Laser that not only enhances The LYMA Laser experience but also achieves even more impressive skin results.