Annmarie Skin Care Launched salt+blue and Why the Brand Is Attracting Attention
Annmarie Gianni and Kevin Gianni are the founders of natural skin care brand Annmarie Skin Care. Now the brand is expanding into sun care: salt+blue is a reef-friendly sunscreen and a recent addition to the clean beauty market.
Annmarie Skin Care is a natural skin care brand with an established product range and a detailed formulation philosophy. Founded by husband-and-wife duo Annmarie and Kevin Gianni, Annmarie Skin Care has operated in the natural skin care market for more than 15 years and expanded into sun care with sister brand salt+blue approximately a year ago. This release has received renewed attention.
How Annmarie and Kevin Gianni Developed Annmarie Skin Care
The origin story behind Annmarie Skin Care is one of the brand’s notable products. Before the brand or the products, Annmarie and Kevin were health and lifestyle content creators who packed up everything and spent two and a half years living and traveling the United States in an RV. During that journey, Annmarie stumbled into a tiny spa in Patagonia, Arizona, and discovered a line of botanical skincare products so alive and different from anything she had felt on her skin that she tracked down the formulator on the spot. That formulator agreed to help bring her vision to the wider world, and in 2010, Annmarie Skin Care was born.
Since then, the brand has become a fast-growing name in transparent-ingredient skincare, earning Inc. 500 recognition and building a highly engaged customer community.
Inside Annmarie Skin Care’s Ingredients and Botanical Process
Annmarie Skin Care distinguishes its approach through its ingredient selection and botanical formulation process. Every formula begins with the brand’s proprietary Energized Botanical Infusion Process, where wildcrafted ingredients and organic herbs are hand-selected from rigorously audited sources, infused into organic aloe vera and skin-nourishing oils at low heat, and left to steep for up to 30 days. Crystals and sacred geometry are intentionally placed throughout the infusion space, not as a claim about what they do to your skin, but as part of a holistic ritual the founders believe in, a way of treating the work as something more than a manufacturing step.
One of the brand’s most talked-about innovations is its plant-based alternative to conventional retinol, derived from algae. It is a considered choice: although bakuchiol is commonly marketed as a plant-derived alternative to retinol, Annmarie Skin Care says it chose not to use the ingredient because of concerns it had about its potential hormonal activity, opting instead for a cleaner, algae-derived extract that is designed to support the same smoothing, skin-renewing results in harmony with the body. It is the kind of decision that captures how the brand thinks: less about chasing the trend, more about getting the ingredient right.
That same care shows up across the rest of the lineup, which happens to read like a checklist of the ingredients the industry is currently obsessed with, only here many of them have been part of the process for a while. Peptides, prized for supporting firmness and the skin’s own collagen, appear throughout the range. Apple-derived exosomes in the Restorative Facial Cream act as tiny delivery vehicles, carrying beneficial compounds deeper into the skin to support a smoother, firmer look. Pineapple-derived ceramides turn up in both that cream and the Fruit Ceramide Eye Serum to help reinforce the skin’s barrier. And vitamin C appears in several thoughtful forms: citrus stem cells in the Citrus Stem Cell Serum, kakadu plum and stable sodium ascorbate in the Wild Fruit Serum, and an oil-soluble, deeply penetrating form in the Brighten Elixir, each selected for its intended role in the formula.
All of it is handcrafted in the USA from paraben-free formulas loaded with plant-based actives, spanning rich facial oils to a natural hydrating face moisturizer range. Add in a free skin quiz, a free skin consultation with a licensed esthetician and a Skin Transformation Course on their website, and the brand positions education and customer guidance as part of its approach.
salt+blue’s Approach to Reef-Conscious Sun Care
About a year ago, Annmarie Skin Care extended its universe into sun care with salt+blue, a standalone brand built entirely around the idea that mineral sun protection should not come at the expense of your skin, your hormones or the ocean. The phrase ‘Chase the Sun. Cherish the Sea’ reflects the brand’s emphasis on sun protection and marine-conscious ingredient choices.
This is not a brand that demonizes the sun or sells you fear alongside your SPF. The message emphasizes an appreciation of time outdoors alongside responsible sun protection, and because melanin moderates that process, lighter skin tones tend to make what they need in a shorter window than deeper skin tones, which generally benefit from a bit longer. The goal was never to block the sun entirely, but to protect smartly while letting your body do what it was designed to do.
Why salt+blue Uses Zinc Oxide in Its Ocean-Conscious Sunscreen Formula
The salt+blue BODY Sunscreen SPF 30 is built around non-nano zinc oxide as its sole active ingredient, and understanding how zinc oxide sunscreen works explains exactly why that matters, as the brand says this may make the formula suitable for sensitive skin and a lower-impact sunscreen option, as mineral filters are designed to remain on the skin rather than dissolve into waterways.
There is also a practical advantage that often gets overlooked. Some organic UV filters, including avobenzone, may be formulated with photostabilizing ingredients to help maintain their performance under UV exposure. For ongoing protection, sunscreen is generally reapplied at least every two hours outdoors and after swimming, sweating, or towel-drying.
Even within the “clean” aisle, not everything is what it seems. Some mineral sunscreen formulas combine zinc oxide with titanium dioxide, which may offer different levels of UVA coverage depending on the overall formulation. The brand instead relies on zinc oxide alone and does not use newer organic UV filters such as bemotrizinol, consistent with its mineral-based approach to sun protection.
What you do get alongside the zinc is a blend of nourishing plant oils, essential oils and wildcrafted botanicals including seabuckthorn, raspberry seed oil, karanja and aloe, combining ocean-conscious ingredient choices with a formula designed to offer a pleasant application experience. No remaining white cast, no residue and a MADE SAFE Certified designation confirming every ingredient has been evaluated for human and environmental safety.
The Broader Vision Behind Annmarie Skin Care and salt+blue
Both brands present their products as part of a broader approach to skin care and outdoor living. Annmarie Skin Care says it reviews its ingredient sources and considers each stage of its formulation process. And salt+blue, as the newest brand within that family, carries all of those same values out into the sun and the sea. Options in this range include a hydrating face moisturizer, a serum formulated with wildcrafted ingredients for the appearance of fine lines, a ceramide treatment designed to support the skin barrier and a sunscreen formulated with reef-conscious ingredients. Annmarie Skin Care has spent 15 years developing natural skin care products intended to combine its ingredient standards with a luxurious feel.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not substitute for professional medical advice. If you are seeking medical advice, diagnosis or treatment, please consult a medical professional or healthcare provider.