When Leah Rae Yawn was first introduced to Bare It All during an appearance on Bravo’s "Watch What Happens Live," she had no idea she was embarking on a life-changing journey that would fulfill her dream of developing skincare products.
Yawn, a seasoned medical esthetician with over 30 years of skincare experience, lived and worked in Orange County, California and Denver before moving to North Florida. She spent time as a celebrity makeup artist and skin care specialist while touring as a gospel singer. She recorded over five albums as a professional recording artist, and eventually met her wife, Captain Sandy Yawn from the popular Bravo series “Below Deck Mediterranean”.
Yawn was guest bartender on the Andy Cohen-hosted “Watch What Happens Live” alongside Captain Sandy when Priscilla Distasio, the show’s makeup artist, used the Golden Hour Body Creme from Bare It All on her chest, neck and arms.
“As an esthetician and a woman in her 40s, I had an ‘a-ha’ moment. I’d been looking for something like this for myself and for my skincare clients. I hadn’t seen anything else like this in the market,” said Yawn.
After Yawn got in touch with Ingram and the two established a skincare kinship, she approached her fellow entrepreneur about creating a similar treatment/cosmetic-based face product.
“I’ve always been passionate about skincare and routines,” said Ingram, who began research and development on her products after noticing a gap in the market for body-based skincare. “I wanted to create a signature method and add-on products that would target the body.”
“It was perfect timing and a perfect fit,” said Yawn. “We’re two confident, good women who are passionate about what we do. It’s a perfect collaboration and partnership.”
Ingram and Yawn worked with their chemist for over a year to formulate Bare Skin Tint: Face, Neck & Chest Crème, a multipurpose product that’s packed with vitamin C, hyaluronic acids, peptides and niacinamide, leaving skin with a glass-like finish and glow. The product is meant to hydrate, brighten, and correct redness while leaving skin with a hint of sheer color.
Bare Skin Tint is meant to encourage users to feel comfortable “baring it all,” no makeup necessary, but the product can still be worn under makeup for an added glow. It’s meant for all skin types, all ages.
One of the new product’s first and biggest fans is Captain Sandy Yawn, who typically eschews makeup but wears Bare Skin Tint on and off screen. Last year, Yawn and Captain Sandy settled in Northeast Florida. In August, Yawn opened Skin By Leah in Ponte Vedra Beach, a skin studio where she puts her passion for skincare and years of experience into treatments and regimens for clients.
Three decades into her skincare journey, Yawn stands as a powerful example that it’s never too late to achieve your dreams. She hopes her success story inspires other female entrepreneurs to take bold, “bare” steps no matter where they are in life.
“The Bare Skin Tint is an exclusive collaboration with Leah and an exciting addition to the line as our first skincare product for the face, neck and chest,” Ingram said. “It’s a first-of-its-kind in a new category: a daily-use, tinted, serum-moisturizer hybrid formula. It’s made for the woman on the go who wants to look glowing and gorgeous without a full face of make-up.”
The two trailblazing women say their business partnership has been an unbeatable pairing, with Yawn putting a face to the brand and Ingram using her experience in marketing to spread word of the product.
Bare Skin Tint: Face, Neck & Chest Crème recently launched on the Bare It All and Skin By Leah websites, but is also available for purchase at SKINBYLEAH.com and BiaSkin.com. Skin by Leah is located within Prim Salon in Sawgrass Village.
