Sorrel & Co

Ever wonder how an apple stays crisp for weeks on your counter?

It's the peel. Apples make a thin, natural wax that holds their water in.

Your skin has its own version. It's called your barrier, and its job is the same: keep the water where it belongs.

This time of year, that job gets harder. Dry fall air and furnace heat pull water out of your skin. That's the tight, dull, flaky feeling that shows up every October.

Our Hydration Serum puts water back in. It has four sizes of hyaluronic acid, the ingredient that pulls in water and holds it, each one hydrating at a slightly different depth.

How to use it: apply to damp skin, then seal it in with your moisturizer. The serum adds the water. Your moisturizer helps keep it there, like a peel.

On us this fall: a free Hydration Serum with any purchase of $90 or more, added automatically at checkout. No code needed.

Make your Skin Plan. Free. 30 seconds. No email required.
Http://sorrel.skin

— Kris 🍃

Is “fresh” skincare actually better?

I was standing at a farm stand, looking at peppers, shiitakes, and a sign that said “Do not eat raw. Cook thoroughly before consuming.” And it got me thinking about how often “fresh” gets used to sell skincare.

Fresh makes sense for food. You buy it, you eat it this week. Skincare is different. It sits in a warm bathroom for months, opened every day.

Here’s what’s actually going on:

1. Water is what lets bacteria and mold grow. Fresh, preservative-free formulas need the fridge and short use-by dates.
2. Some brands go water-free to get around it. But hyaluronic acid and niacinamide need water to dissolve, and they’re too good to give up.
3. So preservatives aren’t the bad guy. They’re what keeps a water-based formula safe from the first drop to the last.

Fresh is for peppers. Stable is for skincare.

If you’ve ever second-guessed the preservatives on an ingredient list, save this one. Next time you flip a bottle over, you’ll know what you’re looking at.

Every ingredient in our formulas is chosen with a purpose, and the full list is on the back of the bottle. Nothing hidden.

Make your Skin Plan. Free. 30 seconds. No email required.
https://sorrel.skin

— Kris 🍃

It took me 30 years to figure out my skin. Cleansers that stripped it. Night creams I loved that were quietly working against me. A lot of concealer covering what I didn't understand.

You don't have to wait that long.

Start simple. Cleanse. Activate. Moisturize. One active, chosen for what your skin is actually doing. Then give it a season. Most real changes take a couple of months of steady use to show up, which makes fall a pretty perfect time to begin.

These photos are from my trip back east this week. Leaves just starting to turn. Nothing there changes overnight, either.

Right now, Hydration Serum is on us with a purchase of $90 or more. It's added automatically at checkout.

Make your Skin Plan. Free. 30 seconds. No email required.
https://sorrel.skin

— Kris 🍃

Sitting at a red light in Midtown, I had one thought: what are you waiting for?

Furnace season is coming. When the heat kicks on, indoor air gets dry, and your skin feels it first. Tight by afternoon. A little dull. Makeup that doesn't sit quite right.

That's what our Hydration Serum is for. Four sizes of hyaluronic acid, the ingredient that pulls in water and holds it. One tip: apply it to damp skin right after cleansing, then seal it in with your moisturizer. That last step matters.

Right now, it's on us. Add your free Hydration Serum with a purchase of $90 or more.

Make your Skin Plan. Free. 30 seconds. No email required.

https://sorrel.skin



— Kris 🍃

There’s a moment every fall when the heat kicks on and the air inside turns dry. My skin always notices first. It feels tight by afternoon.

That’s when I reach for our Hydration Serum. It has four sizes of hyaluronic acid, which hold onto water both on the surface of your skin and a little deeper. Pat it onto damp skin right after cleansing, then seal it in with your moisturizer.

Right now, it’s on us. Spend $90 or more and the Hydration Serum ($38 value) comes free. The easiest way there is Daily Cleanser + Dew Cream, which gives you our full Hydration Routine: a $131 routine for $93.

Every order comes with a 30-day full-refund guarantee, and it’s made in the USA, with globally sourced ingredients.

Make your Skin Plan. Free. 30 seconds. No email required.
Link in bio. Sorrel.skin

— Kris 🍃

Face oil doesn't hydrate your skin. That surprises a lot of people.

Hydration means water, and oil has none. Think of the natural wax on an apple's skin. It's what keeps the apple from drying out. A good face oil does the same job for your skin, slowing down the water it's already losing. Wind, furnace heat, and dry plane air all speed that loss up, which is why skin feels tight on those days.

Not all oils are equal. Jojoba is a liquid wax, remarkably similar to the oil your skin makes on its own. Squalane is a lightweight, stable form of squalene, another lipid your skin produces. Our Face Oil uses both, plus magnolia bark extract for antioxidant support.

The order matters: hydrate, moisturize, then a few drops of oil last to seal it all in.

I don't use it every day. It's my add-on for when my skin needs a little more, and an extra layer at night.

Whether you're traveling, the furnace just kicked on, or you've had a windblown day outside, face oil might become your new favorite friend. 🍃

Make your Skin Plan. Free. 30 seconds. No email required.
Sorrel.skin

— Kris 🍃

Travel skincare tips for carry-on only trips.
Between years of work travel for me and a million domestic miles for my husband, we've made just about every travel mistake there is. Here's what stuck.
1. Never check a bag, even on international flights. Carry-on only means you walk off the plane and go.
2. Wear a comfortable dress with tennis shoes or flats. Easy to move in, and you still step off the plane looking put together.
3. Pack extra contact lens cases. One holds a week of moisturizer. I brought Dew Cream and my hair oil. Label the lids.
4. Bring a mini microfiber makeup cloth. Warm water takes makeup off at night, and it's one less liquid in your bag.
5. Wear SPF on the plane, especially in a window seat. UVA comes right through the glass.
6. Cabin air is dry. Face Oil the night you land helps your skin hold on to moisture.
7. Try to stick with your regular routine, and simplify. A trip isn't the time to try something new.
What's your best travel tip? I'd love to steal a few.
Make your Skin Plan. Free. 30 seconds. No email required.
https://sorrel.skin
— Kris 🍃

In October 2019, my son ran the Chicago Marathon.

He had just finished his microbiology degree, and he trained all summer for it. I still remember his 18-mile run in 90-degree heat. I sat anxiously watching my phone the whole time, worried he might need to be picked up with heat exhaustion. That was the same summer he planted my garden in the Finger Lakes.

Race day was windy. He ran it anyway and finished in 3:30:35, right on his goal.

That’s what I found yesterday: his bib, along with the Chicago Tribune results page from the next morning.

Connor still carries that race into almost every part of his life. Discipline. Patience. Perseverance. Preparation. It’s exactly what he brings to Sorrel.

Nobody runs a marathon on day one, and skin doesn’t change overnight either. It takes the right plan, followed faithfully, and the patience to let it work.

Make your Skin Plan. Free. 30 seconds. No email required.
Link in bio.

— Kris 🍃

Do vitamins in your skincare actually make a difference?

I'll admit, I've always been a little skeptical. Some do. Some are mostly label decoration. Here's how to tell the difference. 🥕

If you have a "vitamin" serum on your shelf and you're not sure it's pulling its weight, this one's for you. Save it for the next time you're reading a label.

This is one of the boxes I would pick up every week from my CSA in the Finger Lakes. That same summer, Connor planted me a garden out back. He has almost the same one now in Billings. Carrots, beets, beans, peppers, herbs. Eat all of it. But here's what surprised me when Connor and I started digging into the research: food feeds your whole body, and a serum puts a specific vitamin right where you want it, at a strength you can't eat your way to.

The vitamins with real research behind them on skin:

Vitamin A (retinol). This is the most studied of the four for the look of fine lines and smoother texture. Start slow, use it at night only, and wear SPF every day.
Vitamin B3 (niacinamide). It has strong evidence for supporting your skin barrier and evening out tone, and most skin handles it well.
Vitamin C. It has strong evidence for brightness and antioxidant support, but only when it's formulated to stay stable, because light and air break it down.
Vitamin E. It's modest on its own and much more interesting as C's partner, where the two help each other hold up.

The belief to let go of is "It has vitamins in it, so it's working." The word vitamin on a label tells you almost nothing. What matters is which vitamin, what form, how much, and whether the packaging keeps it stable until it reaches your skin.

That's why we read the research before we choose a formula. Face Serum brings retinol for your evenings. Clarity Serum is 10% niacinamide. Glow Serum pairs C and E, with B3 too, for your mornings. Every ingredient has a job, and the full list is on the back of the bottle.

Make your Skin Plan. Free. 30 seconds. No email required.
Link in bio.

— Kris & Connor 🍃

Peptides in your coffee. Peptides in a supplement. Peptides on your face. So does the one in your serum actually do anything?

It depends on which one. "Peptide" just means a short chain of amino acids, and there are hundreds of them. Most labels never tell you which one is inside.

Ours has a name: Hexapeptide-11.

It was first found in yeast. In lab studies on human skin cells, it switched on the cells' own cleanup systems and antioxidant defenses, and those cells held up better against the stress that speeds up aging. In a small human test, skin elasticity improved.

It's early research, and we'll always tell you when something is early. But it's exciting, and it's why we chose to pair it with retinol in our Face Serum.

Retinol renews. It has the strongest evidence of anything in the bottle, and ours is encapsulated, so it's easier on skin and easier to stay consistent with.
Hexapeptide-11 supports your skin's own upkeep.
Bisabolol keeps things calm.

New to retinol? Start 2 to 3 nights a week and wear SPF every morning.

If you've ever bought a peptide serum and wondered whether it was doing anything, save this for the next time you read a label. Look for the name, not just the word.

Make your Skin Plan. Free. 30 seconds. No email required.
Link in bio.