Gianna De La Torre co-founded Wildling along with Jill Munson and Britta Plug. They each bring different areas of expertise to Wildling but all share a common ethos that in harnessing the wisdom of nature, you can restore the body’s innate beauty and flow.
Wildling has created a series of tools and products to fulfill this ethos and with sustainability at its core. Gianna talked to us about the idea behind the business, why Bian makes the best stone for gua sha and the importance of exercising your face.
How did you meet your business partner’s Britta and Jill? and what are your founding principles?
Jill and Britta met at a facial gua sha workshop that she was leading when she was in CA. Britta had been doing facial gua sha in her treatments for many years and Jill asked if she ever thought about formulating her own products specifically for gua sha, as a product formulator Jill had been creating green beauty products for many years. The rest was history, I joined the team to offer the Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective. I have been doing gua sha for the last 15 years and it is such an effective modality.
How did you come up with the name Wildling?
The definition of “Wildling” is any plant that grows in the wild. Many of our ingredients are wild harvested. We draw from traditional whole plant infusion methods and strive to keep our products WILD.
You are hugely experienced in your practice, can you tell us a bit about your training and your methods, particularly cosmetic acupuncture and Acu Intuit.
I’m a licensed acupuncturist, I’ve been practicing for the last 11 years in Los Angeles. I am also an intuitive healer — my true calling wasn’t realized until I combined acupuncture with intuitive reading. For the past many years I have also practiced cosmetic acupuncture and have created a methodology that I refer to as the Facial Acupuncture Method. Facial acupuncture stimulates all of the meridians in the face to also benefit the entire body. This system stimulates the matrix of Acu points in the face to stimulate collagen and elastin. This helps to lift and tone the skin, it also brightens the complexion and decreases acne. Every facial Acu session that I do ends with Facial Gua Sha, so this really is the take home version of my practice and generates incredible results.
Wildling is known for promoting gua sha – you typically see gua sha stones made of jade or rose quartz. Wildling uses Bian stone, what properties does this have to make it a good tool for gua sha?
Bian Stone is the original gua sha tool. All the Bian stone in the world is in one mountain in China. It was created when a meteor struck that mountain. Because of this cosmic impact, the stone has many healing properties — it has a measurable ultrasound pulsation as well as a measurable infrared wave. This stone has legendary healing properties that even predate acupuncture.
We live in a society where everyone wants quick results -do you have a view on botox and fillers?
We have no judgement should people feel injectables are right for them. We are passionate about offering an alternative that works should people choose to try.
How long would you say you need to practise gua sha before you start to notice a real difference in your face?
You’ll notice a difference immediately, and more profound results are cumulative over time. We recommend practicing the Empress Ritual 2-3 times/week.
We know that you practice yoga, but have you ever practised face yoga?
I have! Facial exercises are such an important component of natural beauty, I’m all for it.
Similarly to Luminous Facial Yoga, you take a holistic approach to face health and know that wellness is a key pillar. What is the best piece of wellness advice you’ve ever been given?
Drink water and sleep! Water hydration is important but so is the hydration we obtain from our food.
What is the most memorable moment you have had in your career to date?
When we launched Wildling and I also had a baby girl in the same week.
What is your guilty pleasure?
Coffee and dark chocolate 🙂
