You may not know Janna Ronert’s name—but if you’ve ever had a facial, chances are you’ve used her products. She’s the founder of Image Skincare, a clean clinical range of products that’s considered the number-one spa brand in America.
Today, Image’s products are stocked in over 25,000 spas across the country, but back in 2003, Ronert, a licensed esthetician, started the brand in hopes of helping herself. “I suffered from really severe rosacea for many years and worked with many other professional brands and just truly couldn’t find a brand that could solve my own skin-care issues,” she tells Glamour. She explains that she always loved beauty and skin care but never thought she would end up with a career in the industry.
“I actually went to college; I have a degree in business,” she says. “I worked with many Fortune 100 companies in sales and marketing. But because of my skin issues, I just wanted to become an esthetician. I kind of did it silently; I was a closet esthetician for many years. I think my family and my friends would’ve thought I was totally crazy, but I just was driven to love skin and learn more about it.
“I grew up rummaging through my mom and my four sisters’ drawers of makeup and skin care,” she continues. “I think that at a really early age, really pretty skin gave me a lot of confidence and happiness, and it still does.” The road to “pretty skin” hasn’t been easy though, and she’s not afraid to put in the work.
“My rosacea, I’ve gotten down. I’m in good shape now,” she says. “But I think at my age, my biggest concern is really the prevention of lines and wrinkles. So I’m kind of the master exfoliator. I’m a huge fan of exfoliation. Now, especially since this year with COVID and so many Zooms, I’m really into illumination and glowing skin. So the program that I thought I’d share with you today is really how to get the glow.”
Below, Ronert shares the products she can’t live without. Read on as she drops her routine.
My cleansers
I use a couple of different tools to help in the cleansing process. I love the Michael Todd Beauty Soniclair Elite Brush. It’s an electric brush that really cleanses the skin. I like to mix that with our Ageless Total Facial Cleanser. That’s an exfoliator with glycolic acid, AHAs, and BHAs, so that gets my skin going. Then I like to use our Iluma Brightening Exfoliating Cleanser. This is a brand-new product that we just brought out; it has bamboo spheres mixed with enzymes, called smart-sensing beads, that burst on your skin. They have natural extracts of white peony, licorice, green tea, and natural rice water. So this is a really good double cleanse. Don’t forget I’m an esthetician, and I have the means to do a lot, so I do a lot to my skin. I work it out pretty good.
At night I use that same Total Facial Cleanser because I love to exfoliate. But then the second cleanse is what I do for my rosacea. I use the Vital C Hydrating Cleanser because that tends to really calm my skin down. It handles all of the free radicals that were going on from my stress during the day.
My serums
I like to cocktail three things together. I love vitamin C; I’m a big fan of that for antiaging and brightening. Our number-one product is our Vital C Hydrating Anti-Aging Serum, and I mix that with the Total Anti-Aging Serum, which has more AHAs, BHAs, and peptides.
When you think about a balanced skin-care diet, I’m getting everything that the skin needs for aging, brightening, firming, and antioxidants in one shot. I put two pumps of the vitamin C serum with two pumps of the antiaging serum, and I cocktail those together. I’m kind of shaking my skin up when I mix different products. You can layer, but these two are good to mix together. Not only to give your skin that jolt that it needs, but it’s also a beautiful experience on the skin. It smells good. It’s luminous. It’s really, really nice.
The third product, where I get my glow, is our new Intense Facial Illuminator. This is a new illuminator that has an acid called tranexamic acid. It’s nonirritating, and it helps with dark spots—it has a brightening complex with natural extracts.
My eye creams
For my eye cream during the day, I love to use our Wrinkle Smoother. This is a cool product that has thousands and thousands of what we called microbursts—we fill these little bubbles full of peptides and vitamin C and hyaluronic acid. When you move them across the eye area, it bursts into the skin, which is so cool.
For my nighttime eye, I use the MD Recovery Eye Gel. It’s full of collagen and antioxidants, and there’s also some retinol in there.
My SPF
During the day I moisturize with our SPF. It’s called the Prevention+ Daily Hydrating Moisturizer, and it’s an SPF 30. And then I put on my makeup and go through my day. I’ve been wearing sunscreen since I can remember. My mom was such a good beauty influence on me. At 89, she stills looks fantastic.
My retinol
At night I mix the same Hydrating Anti-Aging Serum, but then I give my skin a punch. There’s a product in our Image MD line called the Restoring Retinol Booster; it’s a very cool time-release retinol that’s an oil. When I turned 50, I realized that I do love serums and creams at night, but I have such dehydrated skin. So I love this oil that’s bursting with retinol and peptides. I try to use that almost every night, and I don’t get any irritation. It’s great for my skin. And then I’ll mist with our Vitamin C Facial Mist.
My bath products
I love dry brushes. I think they’re so great to have an at-home rejuvenation. I also try to take a bath every night. I have a busy schedule, and that’s something that relaxes me. I love those Kneipp oils; they’re from Germany—my husband’s German, and he showed me these oils many years ago. They’re super natural and totally take the edge off. I love to use a dry brush and then soak in that oil. My skin is dry and dehydrated, so it’s just amazing.
My masks
I’ll put a mask on in the bath. I love to multi-mask. I love our Vital C Masque. We have a blue algae Transformation Masque, and then I’ll put a probiotic mask on. So I’ll put three different types of masks on and soak in that oil.
My devices
There’s a friend of mine that has this cleansing mitt she’s called The Skin Nerd. It’s an organic microfiber mitt that I love on my face and body. I also sometimes use those jewel rollers to roll serums and that retinol oil in at night. I love those. I think they’re really effective at pushing that product as deep into the skin as you can.
When I travel, I have a little mini steamer that I take with me. I’ll lie there and put this little steamer with those masks on. I think adding steam with the mask also helps loosen up any dead skin. And then when you exfoliate, it feels amazing.
My treatments
Try to do as many things at home as you can, and get any in-clinic treatment that you can. There’s no comparison. I mean, you have to get those professional peels with your esthetician or your doctor—that’s the real personal trainer for your skin.
I have been getting chemical peels every month for literally 20 years. Even in the hot or winter months, I get a peel every month. It might be a light one, but I do something to go deep every month. That’s kind of my secret sauce to success with my skin and how I kept it looking good. My mom too has been getting chemical peels since I started this company, every month, and she’s 89 now. I highly recommend it. You don’t have to even do a heavy duty one; it’s kind of like working out your skin. You have to move to be healthy. For a peel, you have to do an in-professional peel that gets things moving again. It gets that skin back on that treadmill.
Bella Cacciatore is the beauty writer at Glamour. Follow her on Instagram @bellacacciatore_.
