12 years ago, Gina Caruso was working in a salon in Charleston, South Carolina. Caruso, a professional skin care expert and esthetician with an impressive client roster and top referrals from dermatologists and plastic surgeons, was becoming more and more frustrated with the skin care products she was using and offering to her clients. She felt their overall performance could be better.

Throughout her career, Caruso came to understand a lot about active ingredients, their benefits and limitations and product formulations. Preservatives and other ingredients minimized product performance, formulations didn’t seep into skin, and claims were not upheld by the products’ actual results. Almost all when used over time were actually contributing to the number-one problem most associated with skin—lack of moisture. 

The salon she worked at was owned by celebrity hairstylist Maurice Tidy. He also saw that there was a need in the marketplace for products that were simple, natural formulations and did what they said they would.

“Gina and I went to one of the big professional beauty trade shows and started playing with different ingredients from different companies to develop our own line,” Tidy says. “Our initial product development we tried on ourselves, our friends and close clients—both her skin care clients and my hair clients.”

While researching a plethora of ingredients, snail mucin, in particular, impressed Caruso.

“This trusted slime, produced by snails to heal cuts on their soft bodies is a miracle ingredient firming and restoring skin, replenishing needed moisture and supporting cell regeneration,” Caruso says. “The benefits of the gel can be traced back to the ancient Greeks and later by farmers and snail breeders who noticed their hands were softer after touching snail secretion and nicks, scrapes and cuts would heal rapidly and scar-free.”

Snail secretion contains natural acids and elastin proven to improve skin’s appearance while protecting it from future damage according to a study published in the Journal of Drugs and Dermatology. Daily application of topical products containing snail mucin have been shown to significantly reduce fine lines and deep wrinkles, restore skin’s elasticity, and provide positive effects on acne scarring, acne prevention, dryness and hyperpigmentation.

There were visible differences in the clients’ skin at the salon—resulting in a fresh, dewy complexion. When Tidy saw this, he knew he and Caruso needed to produce a retail line.

“Seeing a client not only in love with their hair but to hold their head up high and love their glowing skin made me very happy and I saw the synergy between the two, realizing that both hair and skincare clients were potential consumers,” he says. “I began the process of looking for a chemist who also believed in the concept and who could help us develop a few key products to support the theory.”

And so AllGlamR was born. 

AllGlamR is an all-natural, anti-aging product line developed by Caruso and Tidy with a philosophy to keep skin clean, hydrated and protected with a simple-to-use, easy-to-understand daily skincare regimen for all ages and skin types. Each product is jam packed with vitamins and restoratives, and natural anti-aging elements formulated to nourish skin cells, help the skin retain moisture, and increase collagen and elasticity while reducing visible signs of aging.

“I believe strongly in Gina’s theory—water retention in the skin is the key to real beauty,” Tidy says. “Now our clients are glowing; we have helped so many with acne and anti-aging who now have beautiful, healthy, glowing skins of all ages. I embrace this: love the hair and the skin you wear.”

Snail mucin is still used in AllGlamR’s products. It is collected from lab-bred snails and process and manufacturer it safely into AllGlamR’s skin care products—with no harm to the snails or the user.

The collection is based on four key products; Rose Petal Cleanser, Skin TightenR, Tinted Sunscreen (in two moisturizing shades), and LipServis, a defining lip treatment.

 Available at salons, spas and specialty stores nationwide and at www.allglamr.com