OLIVE OIL: From labels to luxury with Kim Walls, co-founder of Furtuna Skin

Trina Renea  0:07  

Hey everyone, welcome to Facially Conscious. I'm Trina Renea – a Medically Trained Master esthetician here in Los Angeles, and I'm sitting with my rockstar co-hosts, Dr. Vicki Rapaport – a Board Certified Dermatologist with practices in Beverly Hills and Culver City, Rebecca Gadberry – our Resident Skincare Scientists and Regulatory and Marketing expert, and Julie Falls – our Educated Consumer who is here to represent you. We are here to help you navigate the sometimes confusing and competitive world of skincare. Our mission is to provide you with insider knowledge on everything from product ingredients to medical procedures, lasers, fillers, and ever-changing trends. With our expert interviews with chemists, doctors, laser reps, and estheticians, you'll be equipped to make informative decisions before investing in potentially expensive treatments. It's the wild-west out there, so let's make it easier for you, one episode at a time. Are you ready to discover the latest and greatest skincare secrets? Tune in and let us be your go to girls for all things Facially Conscious. Let's dive in.

Rebecca Gadberry  1:27  

Hello, I am Rebecca.

Trina Renea  1:29  

Hi, I'm Trina.

Dr. Vicki Rapaport  1:30  

Good morning. I'm Vicki.

Rebecca Gadberry  1:31  

And we're here because we have the next episode in our Founders Series.

Trina Renea  1:40  

I love the series, they are fun.

Rebecca Gadberry  1:41  

I learned so much about why people get involved in a new business, what their hopes and dreams are, and what can go wrong when you have hopes and dreams that doesn't turn out as easy as you thought it would. 

Trina Renea  1:57  

Starting a business is not easy. 

Rebecca Gadberry  2:00  

It is not. And there's a cartoon that I saved off of Facebook about 10-years-ago. And it the first one is a picture of a woman or a person. And it says “What our ideas of the path to success looks like.” And it's a straight line from you to success. And then what it's really like it's a line that squiggles all over the place and looks like it's never going to stop and then it winds up at success. That's what the path to success is. And if you don't realize that you get into a lot of trouble. And I think that's one of the reasons why so many companies eventually go under, but we're talking with people who are successful in this series and find out what it is that makes them successful. Not just because you might want to start a skincare line but because success applies to all areas of our lives. And if you want to learn more about being successful, or even happier with yourself, then listen in and stay tuned.

Trina Renea  3:05  

Who are we talking to today?

Rebecca Gadberry  3:08  

We're talking to Kim Walls who is a Fourth-Generation Entrepreneur. She's a Beauty Formula Pioneer and the Co-Founder and CEO of Furtuna Skin, where she leverages her ethnomedical… ethno means what? Kim, you want to help us out there for just a sec? I had to bring you in expectedly, what does ethno means?

Kim Walls  3:37  

It's about humans, it's about history, there’s ethnobotany, ethnomedicine. It's a reference really to the past I think in its most simple form.

Rebecca Gadberry  3:47  

So, we might call it traditional or even, I've called it the ‘wise woman tradition’ or something like that. So ethnomedical and ethnobotanical expertise to help create the Italian brands award winning five-star regenerative skincare formulas, and leading the product development team, Kim has ensured that Furtuna Skin continues to raise the bar for Clean Beauty, something she's very, very focused on, and the Clean Beauty efficacy by debuting powerful ingredient complexes like their Splendor Anchusa, did I say that right?

Kim Walls  4:27  

Anchusa, or to make it really easy, Italian brew glossa. The common names are so much easier.

Rebecca Gadberry  4:33  

Absolutely. And this is a complex that they have a trademark on. They also optimize delivery methods like Chrono nutrition, which I'm going to ask you about and innovative ingredient processes like the sound bath method to deliver groundbreaking transformative results. And today, Kim's passion is to inspire and educate others to move the Clean Beauty conversation forward and embrace what we call today – regenerative beauty. This is beauty that works to reverse climate change, nurture biodiversity, improve wellness and nutrition, revitalize local economies and create more potent and higher performing products. And Kim is joining us from her home here in Los Angeles where she lives with her family. 

Trina Renea  5:20  

You do? You live in Los Angeles? 

Kim Walls  5:22  

I sure do.

Trina Renea  5:23  

I didn't know that. 

Rebecca Gadberry  5:25  

So, we have a question for you before we get into everything else and we ask everybody this, how did you get into the skincare industry?

Kim Walls  5:35  

I was very lucky in that I was born into this industry. My father started a skincare company when I was very young, that really worked in the spa space. And so, I started sticking labels on jars as early as I had the dexterity that made it possible because he needed workers, it was a garage business in those days. And then I really just stayed in it. I wove around it, to your earlier point, about the winding road I was in technology working in wellness for a while as their skincare expert and all kinds of different aspects, I’ve founded several brands within skincare. But I started in it and I kind of fell in love with it and just never left.

Trina Renea  6:18  

Rebecca, you come from a family that was… Rebecca was also born into it and the behind the scenes because her your mom had a lab.

Rebecca Gadberry  6:27  

My mom had a lab and my family knows Kim's family. Your brother and his wife are really good friends of our family. I knew your dad and your stepmom and when they were still alive. And I grew up in the industry too and my son started like you did, not in in a garage but in the factory playing with little jars like nesting dolls. I'm sure you did that as well. 

Kim Walls  7:03  

Oh, I did, and so did my boys. 

Rebecca Gadberry  7:04  

Yeah, I know. It's funny how we get started. But having that kind of a background, you know everything from what kind of jar to choose, to what kind of ingredients to look for, to what to look for on the skin, how to feel the skin, how to look for subtle changes in the skin. I know you know all of that. 

Trina Renea  7:31  

Also, another little tidbit, Dr. Vicki Rapoport here in the room with us was also born into her family visit. Your daddy was a dermatologist and you used to run around in his office as a little toddler, didn't you?

Dr. Vicki Rapaport  7:47  

Oh, yes. And I remember slapping things on bottles like you said. He started a skincare line years ago. And you know, it was very early on. He was like a pioneer in that respect, and ahead of his time, but it's so cool to hear you describe that because I can just see you as a like a little kid, you know, getting your fingers dirty and learning the business, which is so cool.

Rebecca Gadberry  8:10  

Oh, yeah. And when you get that label on crooked. 

Kim Walls  8:15  

That was his whole position was he conned me into it. Kimberly, you know, you're the only person who will get the eye cream labels and the lip balm labels exactly in the middle. Because those circular labels, when they're even just a millimeter off, you can see it, it's really obvious. I was like, I wanted him to be proud of me. And I'd sit there, very diligently, just right in the middle. There was, I mean, the early days was actually in Hollywood in a storage unit under the 101 freeway. So, I would spend my summers under the freeway like sweltering storage units, putting on eye cream labels.

Trina Renea  8:54  

So, when we were in the pandemic, I was making little kits, facial kits for my clients so that they could do their own facials at home. And I sat at you know, we had a sanitation thing over the table. And my daughter wanted to be in it. So, she put the gloves on and I'm like putting the circle labels on the little sample jars and I'm like writing on them and she's like helping me, we have a picture of it on the website because it was like, you know, everything has to be sanitary. You can't touch anything. 

Rebecca Gadberry  9:24  

So, I think the takeaway here is when you get started be willing to put the labels on by hand, if that’s what it takes. So, how did you move from a sweltering storage unit to becoming a health and wellness expert?

Kim Walls  9:45  

Curiosity, passion, love, like I'm very driven to, I light up when I see people feel better, look better, have more confidence. And skincare has a really special way of doing that for people, whether it's solving melasma, or dealing with acne or helping people in whatever way, their whole lives can be transformed through that confidence. And so, I just really am connected to that. And because I've seen in all these different aspects of life, well back to my dad, he had vitiligo, it's why he started company. He thought maybe he could cure that. And of course, he couldn't, because of course, it's [Inaudible – 10:28] but he really took a medical approach. And I grew up part of the time I was with my mom and a 30-acre ranch in Idaho, and we canned our own food. And I know my chores were to get the eggs out of the chicken coop and all of that. So, I had this really, really natural perspective. And then my dad was over there with his super-super medical perspective and made me get into these incredible conversations about the research and the approach. And as I went into different doctor’s offices, there's not a doctor's office in Beverly Hills I didn't go into train at, and really had the opportunity to listen and hear these perspectives. But also, I was witnessing, through other aspects of work, how food would change people's skin, how good sleep would change people's skin, and started looking at, well, one of my brands was a baby brands, working with NICU babies. And so, we have the opportunity there to see things like blood oxygenation levels, and what happens when a child is being touched to the actual physiological markers in there by all these things. So, to me, ultimately, really, combining that natural, holistic approach with the medical, take the best of all worlds and put it together, became what drove me and it was very early days of organic and natural, [inaudible – 11:48] the word clean. And people would start integrating these more comprehensive approaches into the way they care, they'd start using post op-care after a surgical procedure, what have you instead of just Aquaphor. You know, they'd start integrating full skincare routines and massage and working scar tissue and all these different methods and seeing better outcomes. And then, you know, the doctors would get more patient referrals, and it's kind of this whole ecosystem. So, I would say it's sort of passion and curiosity combined with a really interesting set of dynamics around being in the medical community and medical worlds. And then just hands on experience, just years of doing it.

Trina Renea  12:28  

Do you have other businesses besides your skincare line? Like do you have wellness center or things like that?

Kim Walls  12:35  

I don't, I actually recently started a home kind of goods company with my boyfriend called Providence Made where we're working on things like kitchen knives and regenerative upcycling materials, regenerative living. My bigger goal is connected to all aspects of life, and really trying to help show people the outcomes that are possible when you approach creating products or doing things in a way that's about comprehensive health.

Rebecca Gadberry  13:09  

So, I know that you have a particular fondness towards extra virgin olive oil. And I wanted to know, well, we wanted to know more about that.

Trina Renea  13:20  

It’s quite trending right now this extra virgin, it's in Starbucks coffee. And I find it hard to just swallow a tablespoon of olive oil in my mouth. And I'm like, what's a better way to do it? Just curious.

Kim Walls  13:39  

Dip it in strawberries, put it in coffee. Yeah, anyway, ideally, it's on an empty stomach in the morning. So, you set your body's glycemic index up, essentially just your physiological system up to not have things like glycemic spikes and to reduce appetite and to have a better balance.

Trina Renea  13:57  

Does that go before or after my thyroid medicine? And also, before or after the apple cider vinegar I'm supposed to swallow in the morning?

Rebecca Gadberry  14:10  

Oh, you can mix that together.

Trina Renea  14:12  

Oh, mix the apple cider and olive oil.

Rebecca Gadberry  14:16  

Vinegar and oil. Yeah.

Trina Renea  14:19  

That's actually a good idea. I'll try that.

Dr. Vicki Rapaport  14:21  

But you're advocating eating the olive oil and not putting it, I mean in addition to putting on your skin or also does Furtuna also have products that have it the EVO in the skincare? 

Trina Renea  14:33  

It’s in the skincare and I would love to know your take on olive oil in general for the skin. But I have clients who actually say like – oh, I have extra virgin olive oil that I cook with, like I'll just put that on my skin.

Kim Walls  14:51  

That’s totally different. Okay. So, olive oil as an ingredient, as a raw material is fairly new to me. And you mentioned trends and it is funny how things trend but it's of course good. There's evidence dating back to Cleopatra when it comes to olive oil. So, trends come and they go, but I think the interesting ones and the ones that keep coming back are the ones that have a foundation in health. And when it comes to ingredients, especially in that convergence of medical and natural worlds, the medical ingredients have a lot more data behind them generally. But what's starting to happen with some of these natural ingredients that have kind of been grandfathered in and sort of communally agreed, or we could say ethnomedically agreed or healthy from that cultural perspective, they haven't really had the data. But there's so much happening around olive oil right now with studies, for example, coming out of institutions like Yale and Harvard, really addressing genetic health, when it comes to some of these more natural ingredients, like olive oil, for example, has the ability to increase telomeres length. And these are the coatings over our genetic strands that allow for replication of DNA without losing integrity, essentially. And so, we're now learning that olive oil can enhance or increase the length of telomeres. And it's those genes that are ultimately responsible for things like elasticity and hydration and prevention and even repair of oxidative damage. So, we're getting a lot more information as a scientific community about some of the measured benefits through traditional Western ways of looking at health benefits, connected to some of these ancient healing ingredients. And so, for me, it's a really exciting time because I started off in a world where I could see it, and we had anecdotal evidence coming out of our ears around some of these types of ingredients and how good they could be for skin. But now we're getting to a point where that anecdotal evidence is converging with quantitative research, and that's exciting.

Trina Renea  16:53  

So, putting olive oil on the skin? How is … By the way, I have an old-old 90 something year old Greek friend who swears by olive oil. He's like – drink olive oil every day, and it will save your life forever. And I'm like…

Kim Walls  17:16  

We need to our elders. Yeah, it is true. So not all olive oils are created equal. To get back to your initial question there. There are different grades of olive oil that have different globally established criteria around them. So, for example, extra virgin organic olive oil must be processed picked to press within 24 hours, it must have certain levels of low free acids, high fatty acids, omega, sterols. When it comes to tasting, for example, there are certain levels of cogency, fruitiness, bitterness that these oils must meet. And that's based on their chemical profiles of how those come about. So, extra virgin organic olive oil is quite rare. And when you see in skincare ingredient labels, you might see olive oil. But if it's not extra virgin organic olive oil, it's different. And so, for example, even within the spectrum of extra virgin organic olive oil, just kind of going from tiers here, there are different criteria that individual producers might have. So, for example, the olive oil that I'm most familiar with, is processed within six hours. So, it goes from pick to press within six hours. And the difference, there is a difference in potency. And ultimately, when it comes to these natural ingredients, potency drives performance, we get our skincare outcomes when it comes to those potent ingredients. So, things like poly phenol levels that are 68% higher than other organic, extra virgin organic olive oil. So, you have that same global criteria. But then when you get into who are the suppliers, what's the supply chain and is it transparent? And how do you know the details in there, you can start to see all kinds of chemical markers shoot up and down in ways that are beneficial for skin. So, there's kind of that level and then to go even one level further. You've got different varietals of olive trees that are making fruit. Olive oil is a fruit oil. A lot of people think it's a seed oil, but it's not, it's fruit. It's a juice. These factors of how something is grown. This specific varietals allows for or creates ultimately results in different levels on top of it, so different levels of omegas, different levels of steroids. We want those steroids because they're helping with barrier protection, they're helping the body as a source of collagen to rebuild all these different benefits from sterols. So, when you look at different varietals, you can create that a combination. So, for example, if you were to start with 12 different varietals of olive trees and then scientifically test the fruit from each one each year, you'd find a variety of levels of different ingredients that we want in our skincare products. You can start combining varietals to get something that's even more optimized for skin and skin health because we understand the physiology of the skin and what it needs. So, that's kind of a little.

Trina Renea  20:09  

What about squealing?

Kim Walls  20:13  

That is a component of olive oil, in the same way chlorophyll which has health benefits is and when you get to this conversation around for example, agriculture regenerative beauty, one of the ideas there is your waste. And so, if you are using the fruit from the olive, the oil, then you can also use the pits and you can also extract other components to amplify those, like squealing.

Trina Renea  20:40  

So, squalling comes from which part of the olive, do you know?

Kim Walls  20:46  

I don't actually, if you think of an olive and all the different 1000s of things that breaks down to, I actually don't know which part. 

Trina Renea  20:59  

Do you know, Rebecca?

Rebecca Gadberry  21:00  

Yes, it's the meat of the olive. And as it's extracted, it's not the pit. It's the meat of the olive. And as it's extracted, depending upon the extraction process, you're going to get squalling, sterols, the chlorophyll, which is actually from what I understand a water soluble material. So, we also collect the wastewater of olives as well. And they have a unique chemical profile, if you will, in order to get all the goodness out of the olive. So, my question here is, okay, so you go from pick to process, did you say? Pick to press in six hours? What difference does that make in your end product because that olive oil is obviously going to be older than six hours at that point. So, what happens to the olive in that six-hours that makes it so different?

Kim Walls  22:04  

So, if you think about the growth of molds, and brazing, so after an olive is picked it, and it's actually how it's picked also matters. So, machine picking, which just takes everything versus, and picking, which allows only the most ripe olives to be picked. Also, time of day matters. These plants produce different levels of certain chemicals at different times of day. But just the question of what happens between when it gets picked, when it goes to press is they end up in a basket and if they're large quantities, or if they have to spend a long time or go in a bumpy truck or any different method of getting moved, they’ll bruise, and that bruising reduces the health benefits of what's in it. And then other aspects are that if there's any bad seeds in there. The mold can start to develop different funguses, bacteria. And so, the quality of the material is degraded. So, the speed matters, because it's reducing transportation time, it's reducing opportunity for growth for these different types of pathogenic things that we don't want.

Dr. Vicki Rapaport  23:13  

Yeah. And then once it's in the bottle, let's say it has been picked and pressed within 6 to 24 hours when it's in a bottle, it doesn't degrade, is it's pretty stable?

Kim Walls  23:26  

It's very stable. And we use other things to increase the stability. So, getting back to, and it's not only preservation systems, it's different types of things that prevent oxidation, and it's how things are packaged in dark containers and how they're stored in dark containers.

Rebecca Gadberry  23:50  

You have beautiful packaging by the way. 

Kim Walls  23:51  

Aw, thank you, thank you.

Rebecca Gadberry  23:52  

A long way from hand applied labels and trying to get it straight. It's very gorgeous package.

Trina Renea  23:57  

It looks very, like a lot of passionate love was put into that. So, I appreciate it. 

Kim Walls  24:03  

I think it's teamwork too. Agatha and I founded the business from different walks of life, I had this skincare passion. She was a model and had this incredible aesthetic, really top-notch taste. And when you bring these things together, there's a sort of a partnership and a sense of synergy that I think allows. Certainly, it's allowed me to go far beyond what I could have without that partnership.

Dr. Vicki Rapaport  24:28  

So, is somebody Italian who's involved in this skincare company?

Kim Walls  24:34  

Yeah, so Agatha is Croatian, but her husband Steve is Italian. And he actually Sicilian who's Nona had to move very, very young and miss this place where she had spent her youth and so she will tell him all these incredible stories and he made her promise and Nona someday I'm going to go find that land for you go buy back. And so, when he and Agatha got married and decided to have children they went to keep that promise in Sicily. Pretty cool. 

Rebecca Gadberry  25:01  

That’s so sweet. Is that where the olives are grown?

Kim Walls  25:03  

Yeah, it's an 800-acre estate in Sicily. 

Rebecca Gadberry  25:07  

So, you can control everything from how the plants are fed, and cared for to when they're harvested what time of day, which makes a huge difference. And most people don't understand that when you harvest a plant, or a fruit or a flower, that the time of day depends on what kind of chemistry that plant has at that time. And then the processing of it. So, do you make it in that property? Or is it made in another manufacturing area?

Kim Walls  25:43  

It's made in Milan, in an FDA registered top-notch facility, back to Trina earlier point about meeting a sterile environment. We’re definitely not, we're sourcing. So, we're sourcing the raw materials there. And then there's actually an additional step before they go to the labs in Milan where we provide, we do the sun bath extraction methods. So, we're using olive oil as a solvent, and then olive leaf water, which is another aspect, put wild foraged herbs in specific combinations into those solvents and penetrate them with sound waves, which is what we call our Sound Bath Extraction.

Rebecca Gadberry  26:21  

Can you go into that a little bit more? Because that's a really interesting concept.

Kim Walls  26:26  

Yeah, it's cool. We borrowed it from the pharmaceutical industry. So, I'll go backwards a little bit, and then come back to explaining that when it came to figuring out how to drive clinical reliable performance with these plant-based formulas, we needed to evaluate extraction methods to your point of this sterile is coming from the fat of or from the meat of the olive, which I didn't fully understand the question I thought you meant, like, is it the mitochondria, or is it …

Rebecca Gadberry  26:58  

A little too deep there. Yeah.

Kim Walls  27:01  

My brain went too far. Yeah. So, we're wild forging these different plants. And then we… the extraction method, so you've got all kinds of different methods. And historically, with natural ingredients, what they resulted in these different methods was inconsistent results. So, you might have different levels of poly phenols, different levels of sterols and different end outcomes, because you're working essentially, with materials that are changing in the bottle. So, we wanted to find something that would be very reliable. And because the pharmaceutical industry has much more regulation, we want to end because most medicines originate from plants, we wanted to find out what their methods were, and so found ultrasound extraction, and adopted that and adapted it so that we could work with it within the skincare industry so that we could get rid of some of those age-old problems when it comes to natural products, of not being able to deliver consistent results. So, we worked with a special lab to develop these methods. And so with the sound bath extraction is an ultrasound technique, where we have essentially these giant stainless steel vats, fill it with olive oil or olive water, with the wild foraged herbs in in specific combinations that we know because of clinical testing will result in the right ratios of the things we're after, penetrated with sound, and then essentially, the fibrous walls break apart, the actives come out into the olive oil and olive oil water. And then that becomes a raw material that we use to formulate. And one of the things that I love about this method in particular is that, unlike a lot of what I've seen most of my life, in this industry is inert bases, sort of harmless bases. So maybe it's petroleum or mineral oil, or some sort of oil that doesn't really have a scent that isn't going to harm the skin, but it's not really doing anything for the skin. So, our bases are these incredibly potent Olive oil and olive leaf water, and olive leaf water we haven't really talked about that. But to your point about kind of using the whole plant and zero waste and all of that. The leaves themselves have incredibly high levels of certain antioxidants and phenols that are used medically in disease states and that have magnificent benefits for skin. And so even the bases are actives in and of themselves. And then we're taking those medicinal herbs and adding that to it so that what you get, it's uncharted territory in terms of what's possible. 

Trina Renea  29:38  

Do you share these ingredients with labs and other people or is this specifically for your company?

Kim Walls  29:46  

We developed it for our company. I think there's definitely an opportunity to share in this, it's extremely costly. And I think a lot of companies wouldn't really care to invest in this same way. They don't necessarily need to.

Rebecca Gadberry  30:02  

As you're talking, I'm thinking of all the other types of extraction methods, and almost all of them involve some kind of chemical solvent, that we don't want to go into the oil or into the extracted herbal material. So, with the sound bath method, it's completely clean, more chemical free, you don't have any additional chemicals, other than the plant that you're working with.

Kim Walls  30:28  

Completely true. And beyond that, so we don't use heat, there is very-very low heat.

Rebecca Gadberry  30:33  

Which can alter the chemistry too. Yes.

Kim Walls  30:37  

And then it's very fast. So, unlike some of the more ancient methods, which also have their benefits, but things like fermentation, and some of these things that take a long time, part of what's happening is that time passes is the degradation of materials that we actually really want to keep in there. So, it's fast, it's low heat, it's all about protecting that potency. And then, what we'll call waste product is so clean, it can be used as fertilizer, or you could even consume it.

Dr. Vicki Rapaport  31:05  

When you talk about reversing climate change with beauty, is that kind of what you're talking about? You're using the whole plant and you're putting it back in compost? And can you explain a little bit more about that climate change?

Kim Walls  31:19  

Absolutely. So that really has to do with the soil, and soil health, and the source of the ingredients. So regenerative agriculture is fairly well agreed at this point among the scientific community to be the best hope we have of reversing climate change. And the fundamental principle there is shifting away from do no harm to how do we create radical improvement. And regenerative agriculture is able to accomplish that through the help of soil. And that soil is made healthy by things like permaculture and watering with, for example, on the farm, the entire watering system comes from the natural spring waters, its crop rotation it's actually integrating livestock into fertilization, there's a whole method that's been developed and designed over probably the past 40 years, to as much as possible mimic nature and what used to be what happened. And that process with the soil health itself is pulling carbon out of the atmosphere at a rate that could allow us to reverse climate change. So, the idea behind regenerative beauty is connected absolutely to sourcing and where are we getting these things that we're putting on our face that ultimately mostly get absorbed into our blood in our bodies? And beyond that, what is the fundamental philosophy and principle of Holistic Health looking at the entire ecosystem? So, it's not just kind of that approach from 30 or 40 years ago, almost like your skin to cellophane wrapper, and how do we topically address it? It's what do all of these different benefits and avenues of treating skin? How do they interplay to get the best outcomes and results and it's the same fundamental idea as in regenerative agriculture, where you're looking at the entire ecosystem. There's no more mono cropping,

Rebecca Gadberry  33:12  

So, when we're looking at your olive oil, which I'm not going to call EVOO, I'm going to call it, Evoo, because the organic part that's in there, that automatically sets it apart from everybody else. But when we talk about putting olive oil on the skin, you've got the sterols, squalling, you also have samoleic acid from what I remember, I haven't looked at the chemistry of olive oil in a while. All of those are components of the skins’ barrier. So those would help to renew the skins’ barrier. You've got antioxidants that you were talking about, that would protect the skins’ barrier. What else are we looking to get? Or what other benefits will we get from your type of olive oil as opposed to the extra virgin olive oil that Rachael Ray talks about putting in her recipes, so to speak.

Kim Walls  34:11  

So, there's the presence of those which are referencing, there's also the bioavailability, and the nutrient density. So those are two additional factors. So, the more potent it is, when it comes off the farm, the more nutrients are available, and then the availability of those nutrients to the body are connected to other aspects. So, getting back actually to one of Trina's earlier points about drinking olive oil. So, what happens to the gut when we drink olive oil, is not only things like blood sugar stabilization that I was talking about, but it's also feeding the microbiome and the metabolites within our microbiome are one of the main factors that allow us to use the nutrients that are available through the food we're digesting. So, when we're supporting the microbiome, increasing their metabolized output, essentially, that's then improving our access to nutrients. So, you get this chain effect where everything you're doing starting from how something has grown to then how its consumed, and even how it's digested within the body or absorbed within the skin. There's more there and it's more available.

Rebecca Gadberry  35:22  

When you say metabolite, could you define that for audience?

Kim Walls  35:27  

Yeah, in simplest terms, it's kind of like sweat for bugs.

Rebecca Gadberry  35:39  

And excretions. Yeah, how about it's the chemicals that the microbiome makes as a group that our bodies can then use to run by soap, for instance, our microbiome makes our vitamin K and that's the metabolites. So, don't think of it as Bugs sweat or excretions. They happen to be beneficial to us, we're using all of our chemistry.

Kim Walls  36:12  

Thank you. I'm always thinking in terms of the easiest way to explain this.

Rebecca Gadberry  36:19  

Not the most palatable. So, back to the bug sweat, there's that glycemic index, I had no idea that olive oil helped with glycemic index. That's an amazing aspect of its benefits. Is that your olive oil, or is that EVOO in general, or?

Kim Walls  36:47  

All of these health benefits are connected to the quality of the oil. And so, I would just go back to that point, that not all olive oils are created equal. And ours is very specifically designed to enhance health in these ways that we're talking about. And so, when it comes to, really, it's anti-inflammatory. So, you've got these, we’re working to reduce inflammation in the body. And body inflammation shows up in so many ways from rosacea to eczema to blotchy patches to sensitivity to triggering allergies, all of these different ways that inflammation can hurt us. And so, when you have something like a very, very high quality, high potency, extra virgin organic olive oil, it is absolutely proven at this point to meaningfully reduce inflammation.

Trina Renea  37:38  

That's amazing. And then for the skin, is it the same, it reduces inflammation in the skin surface?

Kim Walls  37:45  

So, I think, you know, as most people know, we can't actually make claims that could be viewed as FDA, or as violations of sort of that put us into the drug class. But if you look at this …

Rebecca Gadberry  38:03  

Well, actually, if you make it for a specific product, then you can't do that, if you make it for your particular product, you can't do that. But you can't say that it has been found too in studies and not related to anything, and that is just general information.

Trina Renea  38:24  

But is that the purpose of putting olive oil on your skin is to I mean, you know, like, I mean, I find that they're squealing in many, many, many, many, many products. And that the skin really accepts that kind of oil. And so, the putting the olive oil on the skin, its main purpose do you feel is to for the barrier repair and also for inflammation? 

Kim Walls  38:53  

No, it's much more comprehensive than that. So definitely, those are meaningful benefits. But there are so many different constituents within that chemical compound like even glycolipids. So that's one of my favorites, because that's deeply connected to hydration. And so, when we, for example, as an industry talk about dehydration, we're talking about what can you put on your skin, what's the difference between water and then making sure there's barrier of protection so you reduce permeability, drink enough or consume enough liquids so that you're not dehydrating from the inside out, there all, but the conversation that we're not having it as an industry, which olive oil allows us to, is genetic health. So, no matter how much you put on or in your body, if your genes aren't functioning properly, you won't hold on to that water, it won't be distributed, it won't be leveraged within our system in a way that results in better outcomes. So, especially around dryness and dehydration. So, to go back to your question. Yes, it's anti-inflammatory. Yes, it is. Great for barrier protection, but it's is not just a layer or a surface, it's actually what's happening at the cellular level that I find most interesting. 

Rebecca Gadberry  40:07  

And so, what is happening at the cellular level? Are certain genes being upregulated or downregulated?

Kim Walls  40:16  

I don't know that, I mean, just full transparency, I'm not the best person to speak about genes at that level. What I can speak to is the research that's being done. I kind of mentioned this earlier, because it's exciting to me that institutions like Harvard and Yale are putting this sort of stuff out. And I do read a lot of the original research as published in National Institutes of Health and the types of things that are happening our immune modulation. So, I don't know if that's upcycling or down cycling, that would be for you to answer. But it is helping to, for example, if the immune systems are over activated with eczema, the use of this topically and internally in studies is helping to regulate and level that out, and people are seeing outcomes that are different and beneficial.

Rebecca Gadberry  41:06  

Oh, excellent. Excellent.

Dr. Vicki Rapaport  41:09  

You know, its undisputed right, that the Mediterranean diet is so healthy and of course, there are many components to it, but olive oil is one of them. But I love that, you know, your product line is touting this ingredient that really is proven versus like some random thing from, you know, an ancient rock from an ancient land, it's going to come and go and this I feel like, you know, you obviously sound like very wise about this ingredient. And it's so nice to just have something simple, that we can all start to internally eat as well as put on the skin. And I feel like people really are looking for something that is going to show some improvement in the skin texture, but also the overall health that you're describing, whether it's a telomere, you know, sort of transformation or whatnot. But I really believe in this, Evoo, and I know, you're not going to look like JLo, that was her whole thing that she said, she looks like this because of olive oil. And that's why it's like a component in her products. The olive oil thing, and the joke was, you know, it's a lot more than olive oil, JLo, like, you have good genes, you're gorgeous. You probably also do other things, but she literally thinks, she tells her …

Trina Renea  42:23  

It’s all from olive oil. I think I'm not going to go there in your mind. But I wanted to say, you know, when my husband had colon cancer eight years ago now, but the one my old boyfriend, he has the grandpa, the old man that says about the olive oil. He's Greek. He said, I want you to go down to the farmer’s market. I'm going to send you to this old Greek guy. I want you to buy the extra virgin olive oil. It comes from Greece, it comes in this big tin. It was like this giant tin. And he's like that he drinks that every single day and it'll cure his cancer. But I mean, he was like, serious about it, because it does bring down the inflammation in your body. And cancer is surrounded with inflammation, right. 

Rebecca Gadberry  43:11  

So, like Kim is saying, we really don't know genetically, everything that olive oil or anything else is doing. We're just getting to that part of research and our capabilities. And if something has come down through the ages as being effective, even though we haven't proven why yet or shown why yet, there's a reason for it. So, it's up to us and research to find out how it's working if we want to go further. And I think that one of the things I'd like to offer as a takeaway here, Kim…

Trina Renea  43:45  

Can I video your takeaway, please?

Rebecca Gadberry  43:48  

Actually, you can if you want to. Tanya, take this part of our discussion out, because we're getting set up. I'm going to come back and ask you some more questions, Kim. But Trina wants to record what I'm saying, because we're going to be putting it on our Instagram page. So, all right. So, the takeaway with talking with Kim Walls at Furtuna is - Respect your ingredients. And you know, I have developed 1000s of different brands over the years, literally 1000s, I've been in this industry for almost 55 years and it's been my primary job to give birth to different brands. And one of the things that bothers me about what a lot of chemists do, is they say ‘Oh, well you want this this and this result. Then we'll toss this, this and this in.’ And they won't look at how the ingredients are treated during the manufacturing process, if it's natural, they will look at how it is harvested. And Kim is talking about all of that here. She respects the ingredient and her company Furtuna is based upon extra virgin, organic olive oil. But it's not just what you'd buy in the store, it's all the other treatment as well. This is your brand, it's your communication, it is your ethics. And it is what makes your brand different than everybody else who is using olive oil. So, when you start a brand, respect the ingredients that you're working with, don't just grab what's off the shelf or in the lab, go into it and look harder at why something's going to be working. Because this is your company and you are going to be developing products to make a difference in people's skin if you do a skincare line. And if you're not doing a skincare line, but you're using products, find out what makes their ingredients different and do they respect the ingredients that are in the product? And that's my take home from our conversation with Kim Walls at Furtuna. 

Okay, how is that? Well, I did have I did have a question for Kim. And that is, so was I correct to say that olive oil, your olive oil is the basis for all of your products. 

Kim Walls  46:30  

Truly. Olive oil and olive leaf water. So, we have our oil-soluble nutrients and our water-soluble nutrients. And our goal is to create whole plant nutrition. To your point, there's a lot we still don't know about how and why we the industry, the world about how and why plants do what they do. What we do know is that there's a genetic and evolutionary process that connects us with plants, and that they have the ability to turn on genes, turn off genes, to create stability, harmony, also dysfunction. And these plants grow in community, they service each other in community. And so, when we're wild foraging, we are working to collect not only those individual siloed ingredients like a pure vitamin C that we know has good benefits for the skin. But also, all of those intangibles that result in a better outcome. But we don't necessarily know why yet and might never because these plants have been around a lot longer than we probably ever will be.

Rebecca Gadberry  47:27  

And we're dealing with the epigenome as well as the genome, and that is really hard to identify. So, we ask one more thing, before you leave, we let you leave and that is - What is your top thing to share, your insight to share with our listeners?

Kim Walls  47:50  

My top insight given sort of like my from my perspective? There would be two, actually. One is directly skincare related and well, they're both a little bit less. There would be two. So, if I have to pick one because I thought about question was making me pick.

Rebecca Gadberry  48:14  

They are not your children, we do not want you to pick between your kids. Please tell us both.

Kim Walls  48:21  

I'm kidding. I'm kidding. We could do one. It's okay. What I've learned through my years in this industry, above and beyond the basics of what sleep and good nutrition and distressing, like those are kind of the three for all things in life. Whether it's colon cancer, headaches or anything else kind of need to nail those three. Beyond that something that I've spent a lot of time witnessing and even trying to shift is that people have lost touch in their lives. Touch is going away. And COVID did a disservice to the human conditions, making people afraid to touch each other. Yeah. So, there are incredible physiologically notable health benefits from touch. So going to get facial treatments, going to see people who care for your body, getting massage, really making a conscious effort to touch and be touched is actually one of the most important things I think that we can do for health after everything that's seen.

Trina Renea  49:22  

I agree. I have a friend growing up who just never had a boyfriend. She was very like, doesn't like to hug, she's very like that. And so, every year on her birthday, I would get her a massage just so she could be touched. And she loved it. She loved it. I mean it's so necessary. I agree. We want to hear other one.

Kim Walls  49:48  

Well, you know it actually I would go off of what you were saying before it respect the ingredients also respect what your body is telling you. I think a lot of people are looking for outside of information and really ignoring the information they have access to every day all day. And so, I think we talked earlier about bathtubs taking time for yourself to actually don't have, I love podcasts. I love listening to them. I love your podcast, but having silence, no podcasts, no TV, even maybe just classical music. But really getting rid of the clutter and listening to your body and understanding what it's telling you. One of the things I learned a long time ago, actually interested if this is really true, I think I learned this during pregnancy that if I was craving sugar, what my body probably needed was actually protein. Is that true?

Dr. Vicki Rapaport  50:41  

Let’s give it a try.

Rebecca Gadberry  50:42  

I think you're right. I've heard that too. I don't know for certain. But yeah, you know what, I think you're right. And I also notice if I have sugar the day before, I'm more hungry the next day, and the protein satisfies that. So, I don't know if causation is correlation here, but sounds good.

Trina Renea  51:02  

That's interesting. I'm going to give that a try.

Kim Walls  51:05  

And that's it. That's a beautiful example of the idea that I'm talking about, which is to learn what your body's telling you, to take the time to do the research and to pay attention. Because if you're really tired, another cup of coffee is going to make you sick, ultimately, if you do it again and again and again, where the nap is going to make you healthy. So, paying attention to what your body is telling you is something I think has made some of the most dramatic differences in the lives I've seen. 

Rebecca Gadberry  51:33  

Well, that's a wonderful way to end this.

Trina Renea  51:37  

It was so lovely having you, such a good information, I think for everybody out there to hear. I mean, super great, like you are great.

Rebecca Gadberry  51:46  

And you really know your stuff. I was very impressed. And I learned a lot from you. I even took notes. So, we'd love to have you contribute some things to our blog. And if you like what Kim has to say here, make sure that you look at the show notes on this podcast. And also visit our blog at www.faciallyconscious.com/blog. And Kim's biography will be there as well with a beautiful picture of her in our ‘About’ section. 

Trina Renea  52:20  

And all of the links to find her. And everything you need. All about Kim to contact with her. 

Rebecca Gadberry  52:30  

Okay, and remember, she is the co-founder and CEO of Furtuna, Furtuna Skin. And you can find that on their website as well. And thank you so much for joining us. We really, really enjoyed our time with you today.

Trina Renea  52:45  

Yes, thank

Kim Walls  52:46  

You’re most welcome, it's an honor to be here. You're welcome. Thank you I love the information you're putting out into the world and your approach to doing it. It's incredibly unique and really valuable. And I appreciate getting to be a part of it.

Rebecca Gadberry  52:59  

Thank you. As a matter of fact, we found out that in the month of April, we were 22 most popular fashion and beauty podcast in New Zealand. So, shout out to all of our listeners on New Zealand. Make sure you keep passing along that information and getting people to listen to us because we're going to be bringing you more wonderful episodes just like the one you just listened to. So, thank you very much.  

Trina Renea  53:33  

We also have a listeners question. Do you want to listen to it, Kim?

Kim Walls  53:38  

Yeah, please, by all means.

Trina Renea  53:41  

Okay, we have a question from a listener that said – I can't keep up with the product trends. As soon as I buy an expensive product and start using it, there is a new trend on the rise and that I feel I need to buy. I have so many products, I am lost, and I don't know which ones to use. Why is it so complicated? And how can I help myself?

Rebecca Gadberry  54:04  

Just say no. You know, and we've talked about this before last year, we talked a lot about it when I first came on and you know, why do we have drawers full and cabinets full of products because nothing satisfies us. When you find the product that you love, you're not going to be tempted by other things. And also, I am one of the people that brings trends into the market. I would advise you if you have this kind of weakness towards trends to let see how things go. Before you jump in on a trend. You don't always have to be the first adopter. You can see how it goes.

Trina Renea  54:52  

People don't do that though. They jump in. I had a friend last night who I was sitting with who told me she's all of a sudden lost in her products like She doesn't know what's happening, her skin is freaking out. And she's like, she goes, I remember when you put me on a skincare routine, and my skin had never been so good. And I was like, it's perfect. I love it. And then she's like, but then I went and bought this. And then I bought that because I'm a sucker for trends. And she said, I just keep buying things. And then I try him. And I'm like, why did I do that? I messed it up. And now I don't know what to do.

Dr. Vicki Rapaport  55:23  

That’s Capitalism, right? It's just too much stuff out there too many choices. And it goes back to our story in our situation about acne. And if somebody's shopping, they're not using the medicine lineup, just use your skincare products, and also use them up before you buy something new. It's overwhelming. It's like clutters your mind as well as your closet.

Rebecca Gadberry  55:41  

Right. And if something's working to what Trina's talking about, don't change it. You know, just because it's a trend doesn't mean it's better. And remember that marketers are really good at making things sound wonderful and better than anything else you've ever used. 

Trina Renea  55:59  

It’s a vitamins for me…Yeah, because they're like, oh my god, this is going to change your entire body. I'm like, oh, my God, I need that. And then I have like 800 vitamins I take every day I'm like…

Rebecca Gadberry  56:09  

But you know, we've just been talking to Kim was at Furtuna Skin. And one of the things that we're learning from her is that not all olive oils are the same. And she has a really good reason for saying that. No, when we first read about your bio and your product line, Kim, I have to say I was one of the first ones here to say ‘Oh, another olive oil’, but it's not another olive oil. And the same thing is true with trend ingredients. ‘Oh, another ceramide, Oh, another alpha hydroxy acid, oh, another retinol.’ What makes it different? You need to find that out and what kind of work has been done, being put into it, it's not an ingredient. It's also a product that we want to see.

Trina Renea  56:56  

Well, I try and tell my clients, but you know, this is one on one with me and a client, but I can put you on a skincare routine because I know your skin and I know what it needs. And if you do what I tell you, your skin's going to be great. And when they do it, it's great. But it's like, if you don't have that guide, or somebody in your hometown who can do that for you. You are on your own, you're listening to marketing, and you're just buying and trying. And the one thing I can say to this listener is if you do buy something that's like fabulous and trendy and you can't just use it a couple times and go, I don't know if it's working, because you really do have to use the whole bottle to really and just don't keep it, and use the way that directed. And it's not like you know a lot of people go I just listened to my skin what it needs that day. And it's like stuff is sitting on the counter they have a whole bunch of hyaluronic acid, there’s a whole bunch of oils, a whole bunch of different kinds of products, and they just pick and choose. But your skin is never going to be great if you do that, because you're mixing different brands, different ingredients, different chemistry. And you never know what is actually working on your skin. Because you're dabbling everyday in different things. That's not the way to go. 

Rebecca Gadberry  58:08  

You need to use a product the way it's recommended. If it's recommended morning and night, there's a reason for it. It means that the performance ingredients were tested, day and night at a certain level in that product. And if you are picking and choosing, you're not getting the exposure from that product to your skin, you're never going to be satisfied. And if you're one of those people that goes from product to product, ask yourself why.

Trina Renea  58:34  

They're probably not satisfied in life.

Rebecca Gadberry  58:41  

If you go from husband to husband, is it the same thing? Going through your wardrobe or shoe collection. And your children, how many children are you swapping?

Trina Renea  58:52  

This is a deeper question.

Rebecca Gadberry  58:54  

It is, it's going a lot deeper than what we planned on. Okay, everybody, thank you for the question. Thank you. Bye-bye.

Trina Renea  59:02  

All right. Bye. Bye, Kim. Thank you 

Kim Walls  59:06  

Thank you, Bye.

Trina Renea  59:14  

Get ready to stay in the know with Facially Conscious - The Ultimate Guide to Navigating the Overwhelming world of Information. We are your trusted co-hosts bringing you the latest and greatest on all things facially conscious. Have a burning question or idea you want to share? Don't hesitate to email us at info@faciallyconscious.com. We'd love to hear from you. And if you're itching to share your own experience with our audience, contact us and we just may feature you on an upcoming episode. Stay tuned for even more insights and inspiration on our website www.faciallyconscious.com, where you can catch up on blog posts and past guest interviews.