Beauty Boss: Patricia Walker, Founder of Farm to Skin
Patricia Walker with her daughter Sarah.
Our latest Beauty Boss is Patricia Walker, Founder of Farm to Skin—a family-owned and operated bioactive skincare line that is formulated with raw, unrefined plant oils and the purest ingredients found in nature. Inspired by the beautiful landscape and simplicity of life on the 600-acre family farm in Florida, their farm-fresh products are safe for skin and free from harmful chemicals. Walker works with her four children and four sisters, who also help name the different products to reflect the brand’s fun philosophy toward clean living.
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Each Farm to Skin product is formulated with specifically chosen botanicals that capture the active, skin-nourishing properties of different plants. The therapeutic essential oils and plant essences are blended with advanced formulation to work together and restore skin, and also feature the fresh colors and scents of the oils for the ultimate sensory experience.
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We chatted with Walker who shared the inspiration behind the brand, secrets for success, beauty tips, and much more.
When was Farm to Skin founded and what does the name mean?
Farm to Skin was founded in 2012 and was inspired by our family farm in Central Florida. The brand was created as a way to apply the whole-food, plant-based philosophy to skincare. We offer high nutrition skincare that provides the vitamins and nutrients your skin needs to be healthy. Similar to the farm-to-table movement, Farm to Skin takes nature’s best and freshest ingredients and brings them to your skincare routine.
What inspired the creation of the brand?
I have always been health conscious in terms of skincare and diet, but thought buying products labeled “all-natural” was good enough. It wasn’t until I was diagnosed with thyroid disease in 2004 that I began to pay close attention to skincare ingredients. I learned that so much of what we put on our bodies is absorbed into our bloodstream and can lead to hair loss, headaches, hormone imbalance, and so many other long-term effects.
This launched me into a search for better skincare that ended in me creating my own line. Plant oils—which originate from seeds, leaves, and flowers—contain incredibly nourishing vitamins and antioxidants, which makes them nature’s most potent healer for many skin ailments. Farm to Skin was born out of a personal need for healthier skincare options, but it has grown into what it is today because others have seen the powerful effects all-natural, farm fresh products can have on your skin.
Farm to Skin is a family-owned and operated bioactive skincare line that is formulated with raw, unrefined plant oils and the purest ingredients from nature.
Does Farm to Skin have a hero product?
While every product at Farm to Skin was created with purpose and intention for drastic results, the Seeds of Today Facial Serum is our most potent blend. This serum is our number one seller and definitely something I can’t go without. This bioactive blend of whole plant oils contains nutrients in the purest form, which means your body can easily recognize and absorb the nutrients in this facial serum for lasting results.
What are your favorite products from your brand?
My favorite products will switch depending on the season. I like to rotate the products in my routine every three months or so. Currently, my favorites are the Organic Retinoic Oil Cleanser, Calming Essence, and Seeds of Today. These three products are all packed with powerful botanicals that can fight a wide range of skin issues.
The Retinoic Oil Cleanser cleanses without stripping and has naturally occurring retinoic acid to promote healthy skin rejuvenation at the cellular level.
The Calming Essence is made from 100% organic plant material from botanicals that were specifically grown and harvested for Farm to Skin. It’s gentle enough to be used throughout the day, but potent enough to ease inflammation due to acne, rosacea, eczema, sunburn, or post-shave irradiation.
The Seeds of Today Facial Serum is my go-to moisturizer because of its powerful plant ingredients like sea buckthorn, grapeseed oil, pomegranate, rose, and other plants that naturally fight UV damage, calm inflammation, prevent flare-ups, fade scars, and give you a brighter and smoother complexion.
Farm to Skin Minimalist Balm ($54) cleanses and hydrates skin with raw coconut and restoring extracts for a nourished complexion.
Where are your products sold?
We sell our products on our website, but we also partner with boutique beauty retailers across the U.S.
Future plans for the brand?
We want to continue to make the best decisions for our customers, our suppliers, and our planet. We love our small farmers that we work with, and as we grow and develop new products, it is also our priority to identify small U.S.-based farmers we can partner with to help us develop the best possible skincare products available on the market.
At Farm to Skin we are always coming up with new concoctions, testing new plant materials, and even playing around with sun protective fabrics. I like to look at health holistically and there are a lot of factors that come into play when talking about the health of our skin, which is exciting because it opens a lot of doors in terms of where Farm to Skin can go from here.
Living in Florida, sun protection is always in the forefront of my mind. I love working in our studio to come up with products that are naturally sun protective or that naturally remove sun damage. We are in constant communication with our customers and know the struggles they face and the many factors they consider when addressing health concerns. We create products that our customers can trust, will love, and will really make a difference for them.
Inspired by the beautiful landscape and simplicity of life on the family farm in Florida, the brand’s farm-fresh products are safe for skin and free from harmful chemicals.
Who inspires you?
Nothing makes me happier than hearing from Farm to Skin customers who have experienced dramatic results from using our products. They are the reason I do what I do and continue to experiment and create products that really make a difference. Farm to Skin is truly a labor of love and a collaboration of creativity. Every product has a story behind it involving creative minds mixed with a lot of research. Our customers are the inspiration for every product we make and they are the reason we are in business.
Secret to success?
I believe in my product; when you love and believe in what you are creating, it never feels like work and you have faith in the backbone of your company. There are always ups and downs in the business world, but knowing that our products change people’s lives for the better is something that is irreplaceable to our success.
Beauty secrets?
The skincare industry today can be confusing and overwhelming, but healthy skin shouldn’t be complicated. By having high quality all-natural skincare, a healthy diet, a good workout routine, and stress-relieving practices, we should all be able to get in touch with the healthy skin we were meant to have.
Wellness tips?
Taking care of yourself is the best way to ensure a long and healthy life. Self-care practices put you in the best position to be in your best physical and mental shape. I recommend a holistic approach to wellness by focusing on eating a clean and healthy diet, a good skincare routine, exercising daily, drinking plenty of water, and surrounding yourself with encouraging people. There are other types of self-care that may vary between each individual such as gratitude journaling, meditation, prayer, fasting, long walks, limited screen time, fresh air, and many more! Take the time to find out what your body needs and what helps you decompress, then make sure to create a habit of doing those things. Once self-care becomes part of your habit, mental health and overall wellness will come more easily.
Best advice?
The best advice I have been given is the same piece of wisdom I try to pass on. It’s reflected in one of my favorite quotes from Theodore Roosevelt when he said, “It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”
Favorite way to relax?
Oddly enough I find my greatest sense of peace and rest when my body is in motion. When I go for a long run, horseback ride, or paddleboard on the lake, my body is able to get into a rhythm of movement that allows my mind to drift off. Daily movement keeps my body and mind healthy, and is a great stress relief. Daily movement not only helps me be in better shape, but also to have better sleep, more energy throughout the day, be more mentally alert, reduce anxiety, improve cognitive function, and so much more!
For more information about Farm to Skin, visit their website and follow on Instagram: @farmtoskin
[Images courtesy of Farm to Skin]
Kamala Kirk is a University of Southern California graduate and has been an editor/writer for more than a decade. She has written for E! Online, Total Beauty, TravelAge West, Malibu Times Magazine, and many more. She resides in Los Angeles and is a proud pug mom. Follow her on Instagram: @kamalakirk