Tammy Fender: Bring Your Skin to Perfect Balance
Her line forms part of a greater ritual of treating our bodies with kindness, and of nurturing our happiness and wellbeing.
Tammy Fender has a deep understanding of every ingredient in her holistic, medicinal beauty line. She studies ancient cultures, follows traditions that lead her to gardens where medieval royalty sourced their medicine. She forms relationships with the plants, asking questions of nature to determine how different species can heal the human body. Her line forms part of a greater ritual of treating our bodies with kindness, and of nurturing our happiness and wellbeing.
What makes the Tammy Fender line so unique?
Back when I started out as an aesthetician some 25 years ago, I searched for high-quality, all-natural products that I could use to treat my clients’ skin. There was nothing to be found. So, having studied plant medicines and holistic healing, I began hand-blending customized formulations to suit their needs right in my kitchen, using only the most potent, pure, and rare ancient plant remedies. While we’ve certainly grown since then, thanks to the success of those formulations and through word-of-mouth, what hasn’t changed is my hands-on every day devotion to treating my clients concerns in this way, working with the powerful healing elements of the plant kingdom. Other brands may have jumped onto the natural band-wagon, but we’ve remained so pure, with an unsurpassed devotion to sourcing each and every ingredient used in my blends.
My experience as a holistic practitioner has shown me that people thrive when their skin is supported with pure, natural formulas…
Tell us about your approach to skincare and how it is different from other brands?
My approach is all-encompassing, with a goal to nurture radiant wellness for those who use the formulations. To me, beauty is something that radiates from within—that unmistakable glow you see in someone who is healthy, balanced, and at ease. Every formulation I create is balanced to support the whole being in body, mind and spirit. People thrive when their skin is supported by pure, natural formulas, and when we eat natural foods, sleep well, exercise and enjoy the wonders of nature and good company.
This month, we have a special theme on beauty and wellness at the workspace. What beauty products do you always bring to your office?
The items that I carry with me change with the seasons, but I always use Quintessential Serum. This is my every day favorite, precious blend that replenishes and protects skin so beautifully with ancient rejuvenating remedies such as frankincense and rose. I’m never without a bottle in my bag and use it throughout the day, especially in the late afternoons for a little pick-me-up. The luminous sheen it brings to the skin feels magical.
What is your beauty regimen during the week (before heading to work, and after)?
In the shower, I mix together a little Epi-Peel, my micro-exfoliator, with a tiny bit of my Purifying Luculent Masque, a detoxifying clay-based face mask, to create a rich clay wash that deeply cleanses the face, neck and décolleté. Afterwards, I use one of my floral tonics—right now I can’t resist Bulgarian Rose Water—then I use a bit of Awakening Eye Gel, blended with soothing elder flower, to support the delicate skin around the eyes, and I finish with either Quintessential Serum or Intensive Repair Balm, to nourish, polish and protect skin throughout the day. I also apply Bulgarian Lavender Body Oil all over—I love the bright, herbal scent and the gentle glow it brings to my skin.
In the evenings, I wash my face with Cleansing Milk, and follow with Bulgarian Rose Water. I use a drop or two of Quintessential Serum, pressing the oils into my skin with my fingertips, then follow with Intensive Repair Balm.
Any tips on how to make your workspace a healthier environment?
It feels so good to surround your workspace with living plants—and especially those with medicinal properties—which can cleanse the air literally and figuratively, too. The plants we are surrounded with in the Spa and in our offices at the moment are eucalyptus, holy basil, and lemon balm.
If our readers had to start with 3 products, what would they be?
The formulas that I love to recommend to those who are new to the collection are Epi-Peel, my micro-exfoliating mask and peel with rosemary and spearmint, which polishes the complexion so beautifully. Then there’s Bulgarian Rose Water, a flower tonic that is so beneficial to every skin type, imparting all the wonderful healing properties of very pure essence of Bulgarian Rose. It reawakens and softens the skin. And, of course, there is our beloved Intensive Repair Balm, which blends anti-inflammatory chamomile with regenerative helichrysum, to stimulate increased elasticity and overall restoration, bringing a very fresh luminosity to the skin’s surface.
Lani Allen is a graduate of Columbia University’s Non-fiction Creative Writing program. After serving as Vice President of her class for two years, she contributed written pieces and illustrations to many on-campus publications. As a writer with a passion for beauty, Lani enjoys capturing the stories of innovative thinkers and risk-takers shaping the industry as we know it.
To me, beauty is something that radiates from within—that unmistakable glow you see in someone who is healthy, balanced, and easeful.
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