Facials
We’ve stumbled upon something brilliant, the newest addition to the Aviary product family, Preserve Skincare. We can give it to you in one word too. Simplicity. Because that’s what we’re all in need of, right?
Preserve Skincare serves up one thing only, the cleansing pad. It’s not your lazy day, drugstore run kinda cleansing pad though. Developed by two experienced estheticians in sunny San Fran, Preserve’s cleansing pads are all natural, ph-balanced pads made from purifying herbs and botanicals. And after two years in development, they’re ready for us (and we’re definitely ready for them).
The idea behind Preserve Skincare is as simple as the pads themselves. You know those nights when you come in late, kick of your shoes, and the absolute last thing you want to do is hang your sleepy head over the sink only to watch water and makeup remnants splatter everywhere? You can kiss those nights goodbye. The pads clean, tone, gently exfoliate, and remove that tired makeup with an easy, effective wipe. They can also be rinsed and reused for extra cleansing.
Remember, it’s important to keep that pretty skin of yours healthy and available in two soothing scents, Orange Blossom (all skin types) and Geranium Leaf (combination/oily skin), our new friends at Preserve have you covered. We know that it almost sounds too good to be true but publications like Style.com, Wallpaper, and SF Chronicle are even behind us on this one.
We figured it’s about time that you get to know the birds here at the Aviary and who better to start with than owner herself, Amy Leavell Bransford. A “PR girl-in-recovery”, Amy found refuge and true love in opening Aviary in 2009. By bringing her history, personality, and (awesome) style with her, Amy created a place I don’t know what we’d do without. Here are a few of her thoughts on it (what she’s thinking while treating that pretty face of yours included).
Amy (right) with her sister, Ashley Leavell, and pops, Chuck Leavell, at his 60th birthday in New Orleans.
You went from PR to skincare, what inspired you to open Aviary?
After spending my 20s in a haze of smoky bars and nightclubs, I felt the need to counterbalance with something a little healthier, for mind and body. Plus I have an intense need to fuel my beauty product dependency and because I am also a PR girl-in-recovery, I still think the things that I love you should love, too.
What’s your favorite thing about it? Besides the energy, I love the aesthetic you’ve created (and there has to be a little of you in that).
My parents are preservationists and the wood used inside the Aviary was reclaimed from my parents’ tree farm. So there are little hints of my childhood home. There is a piece of wood that faces the kitchen in the salon where obvious years of layers of paint are on it. One of the deepest layers is a mint green that had to only be available in the 50’s. My great-grandmother had her living room (now my parents’ living room) painted that color and the wood was a baseboard there. I like being reminded of that history when I walk by.
This cool, relaxing aesthetic carries over into your treatment room. What do you think about while saving our skin?
I am usually planning out what I am going to make for dinner. All kidding set aside, I am constantly thinking about what new products we need to carry (back to the product dependency issue) and services that we should offer and how I can perfect what I am doing in the treatment room. I’ve recently been focusing more on adult acne. Treating and understanding what causes it to occur to women in their 20s, 30s and beyond.
When you’re not working at Aviary (and when you are), you’re a full time wife and mom (to two cuties). What are your favorite Atlanta adventure spots?
We live in Inman Park so lately we are on the Beltline every weekend, either by foot or bike. My kids love going the Isamu Noguchi Playscape in Piedmont Park. Outside of town, we like hiking at Arabia Mountain and Sweetwater Creek.
And of course, if you were a bird, what kind of bird would you be?
A White-Winged Dove.
Last week’s post about dream product Lavish inspired us to start exploring the natural ingredients that actually make up our favorite products. After all, it is the inside that counts. By going into the bottle, we’ll start seeing what makes our beloved products tick, what our skin responds to oh, so well, and even more importantly, why. We’re opening up one of those nine essential oils in Lavish that we also used (think back) in our very own Oh, Honey! Purifying Cleansing Oil. We introduce to you her majesty, grapeseed oil.
With its fine, non-greasy texture, grapeseed oil is one of the best natural moisturizers around. Emma Stone even uses it exclusively as hers. The trick is how it has the ability to moisturize without clogging pores. It actually helps regulate oil production making it a supreme fit for all skin types. Yes, even oily and acne-prone. But where grapeseed oil really shines is when we hit those dry patches (from winter curses to all-nighters). Partly due to its abundance of omega-6 (brings balance) and vitamin E (all powerful antioxidant powers), grapeseed oil is just a master of nourishing the driest of skin without irritation. Applied directly, it even offers a soft and satiny finish.
What makes grapeseed oil even cooler is that it’s eco-friendly. As a by-product of wine making (yum), grapeseeds are found, of course, in the vineyards. They’re also typically thrown away. But with 50 kg of grapeseeds being required to obtain one liter of oil, that’s a lot of grapeseed saving. And with its long list of benefits, we are more than happy to do so.