Pearl Peptide Glaze Is the 3-in-1 You Didn't Know You Needed

It's an essence, it's a toner, it's a serum... it's a *glaze*

ICYMI, I launched a new product: Algae + Beta-Glucan Pearl Peptide Glaze. I’ve been dreaming up this product since before I even launched MARA, and I’m excited to share a deeper look into the making of this soon-to-be hero.

Shop on MARA: Pearl Peptide Glaze

A little backstory on my obsession with the mist and essence category. When I first decided I was going to create a skincare line back in 2016, I was fresh on the heels of my mist era. This was during the time when I worked as an on-air host at POPSUGAR, wore a full beat of TV makeup every single day, and filmed sometimes up to six to eight videos in a session. My co-worker Kirbie and I came up with the “mist break,” where we would dramatically spray our faces with a very infamous rose-scented spray around 3pm at our desks in the pit to awaken the senses and refresh our makeup… and be obnoxious to everyone else around us, of course. We were the on-air talent afterall 😂. I loved this ritual we created together, and I knew the process of refreshing your skin via a lightweight serum was something I needed in the MARA range.

I began formulating the MARA range in 2016, and had originally had a facial essence / mist hybrid as one of the first three formulas that I wanted to develop. But after carefully refining the vision of what I planned to create, I determined an essence would come later, and needed more thought on my end on how to really make it a “must have” step in your routine. As you know everything in MARA has to fall within a three to four step routine, there is no room for things that are trendy, fleeting, or a waste of your time and $$. Sadly, essences I feel don’t have that must have reputation in a skincare routine… yet. They’ve been relegated to more of a bonus step, a booster, a product enhancer. But when formulated with gentle actives that support key skin concerns, this water-based step can also pack a major punch and totally transform your skin.

Flash forward to 2020 — I found myself staring at my face on Zoom each and every day, like so many of you. Somedays I would roll out of bed and barely even do my skincare before rolidexing non-stop video calls. That is when I knew I needed a product in the MARA range that prepped, plumped, hydrated and refreshed the skin… something I could use first thing in the morning, but would also sink into skin for a midday refresh. Something without tint or mica, but still gave skin that gorgeous, luminous glow. And so, the first iteration of Pearl Peptide Glaze was born!

Initially called “Spray On Algae Serum” during our R&D, I quickly learned that the actives I knew this formula needed to be a must-have were too thick to be housed in a spray-on format. So, we switched to a pump and kept going thru iterations of this formula. It was when we switched to this new component and also landed an out-of-this world pearl powder supplier that I had the idea to take a departure from our signature blue glass and create a luminous, pearly spray with our usual gradation. OBSESSED is an understatement, I am gagged over how gorgeous this bottle came out! The whole rollout: from the bottle to the visuals to the product story… just came together so beautifully. The second I thought of the name Pearl Peptide around February of 2024, I also went deep into mermaid core for inspiration. This is by far my favorite product launch “world” we have created for MARA. The vibes are just vibingggg.

The Inspo:

I was really inspired by the far right mermaid picture for our color palette and the model with the shell behind it for our model portion of the shoot!

The Campaign:

Here is the result — the pearls and shells and mermaid model shots of my dreams!

As with any product, this launch really began taking shape after we received our selects from our first of two campaign shoots. I also love the box artwork for this product, it’s soft and feminine with pinks and greens. Below is a timeline of development from lab samples to final component!

So you’re probably thinking — how exactly do I use Pearl Peptide Glaze and what does it do? So valid. Consider this your essence, toner and serum all in one. It’s hydrating enough to also act as a lightweight moisturizer for oily skin types, and is a killer prep / primer step for makeup. Essences as a category are considered “boosters” to prep your skin for the steps to follow, but this idea never sat well with me. I need my products to work overtime, which is why we infused it with beautiful Pearl Powder for anti-aging, vegan Marine Collagen Peptides to stimulate collagen and firm skin, our proprietary algae for our signature glow, and beta-glucan for hydration.

Multi-use products can also be confusing for people, but the real thing to remember is that there is no wrong way to use it. Right now, I am using it first thing in the morning on clean skin, follow with MARA Sea Vitamin C Serum and SPF.

When I’m going out and doing a makeup lewk, I like to do my full shower routine, then put on Pearl Peptide mixed in with Universal Face Oil as my primer step.

And then at night, right now I am loving Pearl Peptide mixed in with Flower Acid (it curbs the zing!) and also with Sea Dream.

I am so so in love with this product. It’s the perfect display of MARA’s capabilities — a deliciously hydrating multitasker, rooted in algae and marine actives to give you our signature, luminous glow. You can read the reviews yourself on Sephora.com — I hope you decide to try Pearl Peptide Glaze, if you do please tag me so I can see!

Love,

Allison