Jennifer Villegas Sanford brings a rare, integrative perspective to the world of beauty and wellness. A graduate of the Natural Gourmet Institute and a licensed esthetician, she draws on her deep knowledge of plant-based superfoods to support skin health from within. Her journey began in the health-supportive kitchens of Provenance Meals, where she explored how living, nutrient-dense foods can heal and transform both body and skin. This passion evolved into Shimmer Chef, her skincare line of living, fermented formulations designed to nourish the skin’s microbiome. Informed by her training in yoga, meditation, and Ayurveda, as well as the healing recipes passed down by her Mexican grandmother, Jennifer blends ancestral wisdom with modern science. The result is a sensory-rich approach to skincare—where food-grade botanicals and fermentation come together to revitalize the skin and honor its innate intelligence.
Shimmer Chef is deeply personal for you. Can you share the moment it all began—and how your daughters played a role in sparking the brand?
I’ve always been very conscious of my total health—fitness, diet, environment, emotional, and mental wellbeing—the integration of all of it. But Shimmer Chef didn’t come about until I discovered my teenage daughters experimenting with beauty products they found on social media that were full of toxic ingredients. That moment sparked a mission to create living, nutrient-rich skincare rooted in my Mexican heritage and guided by a promise that everything we make is safe and effective for them and the planet. My daughters sparked the urgency, but the science about the skin microbiome drove the solution.
Your grandmother’s salve helped heal your teenage cystic acne. How did her approach to healing influence the way you formulate products today?
Yes, a skin salve my grandmother Juanita Villegas created was the original inspiration for our Honey, Lime, Polenta Face & Neck Plaster. This product is one of our hero products and transforms deeply troubled skin. It was my saving grace as a teen. Mexico has a rich and ancient healing system that is not as well-known as many others like Ayurveda or Traditional Chinese Medicine. Mexican Folk Medicine sees illness or disease as a disruption of harmony, so its focus is on bringing balance back to the systems of the body that are designed to heal. This of course includes the skin. My grandmother, like many women of her generation, relied on herbal medicine with native plants found on her farm and in her garden to promote healing. At Shimmer Chef, we are doing the same—we are reclaiming this ancestral knowledge and incorporating modern science and everything we know about the skin microbiome to create products that are designed to be powerfully effective without relying on chemicals and ingredients foreign to our bodies. We also believe in embracing interconnected living. You can’t treat just your external skin surface and neglect or mistreat the other bodily systems. Everything works in harmony.
You’re a chef, an esthetician, and a yoga instructor—how do these three disciplines come together in your brand?
I think all three of those disciplines rely heavily on sensory intelligence and require presence and precision. Also nourishment. The chef nourishes the body, the esthetician the skin, and the yoga instructor, also the body, but in different ways. Shimmer Chef is designed to nourish and heal. Each ingredient and every product is formulated to be restorative and transformative.
“At Shimmer Chef, we are reclaiming ancestral knowledge . . .”
What does “feeding your skin” truly mean to you—and how is that concept reflected in your formulations?
I feel that statement is often misused. In the context of providing fuel or sustenance, feeding also implies nourishment. For me, the best comparison is consuming processed foods versus whole foods. One is full of chemicals, additives, preservatives, nothing helpful for our bodies and often quite harmful. Whereas whole foods don’t contain added sugars, refined components or any of that. They retain their original structure, nutrients, and fiber so they are more nutritious and bioavailable. They feed us because they provide our bodies with what they need to function optimally. The same with Shimmer Chef formulas. They contain the pre, post ,and probiotics that our skin microbiome feeds on so that it functions optimally and stays in balance.
Shimmer Chef products must be refrigerated. Why is that important, and how does it set your brand apart in a shelf-stable world?
All Shimmer Chef products contain only ingredients that are beneficial to the skin, scalp, and hair. There are zero fillers, preservatives, or stabilizers—you won’t even find water. They are also raw, living formulas so for that reason the products require cold storage (refrigeration) to preserve their integrity and longevity. I always say if it has a preservative or other chemicals in it, then it’s compromising your microbiome, and throwing off your acid mantle.
You describe your formulations as “living.” What goes into crafting a living formulation—and why is fermentation essential to your approach?
Shimmer Chef formulas are biologically active. Unlike conventional beauty products, living formulas are made with ingredients that retain metabolic or enzymatic activity. Ours are created through fermentation. We have a nine-day proprietary Vitamin C Infusion process that breaks down raw ingredients into more bioavailable nutrients and produces beneficial byproducts like amino acids and probiotics. This is the cornerstone of our brand because our living formulas help balance the skin’s natural flora, reducing inflammation and increasing immunity and improving our skin barrier function.
How does fermentation enhance ingredient bioavailability and support the skin’s microbiome?
Fermentation enhances the potency, bioavailability, and effectiveness of ingredients by breaking them down into smaller, more skin-friendly molecules and making them more effective in our skincare formulations. This process is typically driven by beneficial bacteria, yeasts, or enzymes which metabolize complex compounds into simpler, more active forms.
At Shimmer Chef we use a rotation citrus peels, and fermentation helps break down the peels’ tough cellular structure, releasing beneficial compounds like vitamin C, polyphenols, and amino acids in a more absorbable form. The process can amplify antioxidant levels, which help combat free-radicals and protect against environmental damage.
Fermentation generates natural alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) and beta hydroxy acids (BHAs), which gently exfoliate the skin, brighten the complexion, and improve texture. The fermentation process fosters beneficial bacteria that support the skin microbiome, helping maintain a balanced, resilient skin barrier.
From maize and lime to raw honey and aloe—how do you decide which ingredients from traditional Mexican folk medicine to modernize?
Each Shimmer Chef ingredient is classified as a “superfood”—meaning it was intentionally selected for its nutrient profile and high concentration of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and/or bioactive compounds. In the same way, Mexican Folk Medicine draws on indigenous knowledge of herbal tradition, using plants, roots, fruits, and flowers. At Shimmer Chef we employ our “Root-to-Stem” culinary approach, using the whole plant and upcycling many parts, like our citrus peels. We have access to many more ingredients now, but we do use many of the same ingredients such as lime and papaya.
Shimmer Chef leans into neurocosmetics. What does that term mean to you, and how are you approaching the skin-brain connection?
One of the things I love most about using our products, beyond their ability to transform the skin, scalp, and hair, is how they make you feel. I think most people are not aware that the skin and the brain share the same neural pathways. We are embracing the idea that our products can interact with the nervous system or sensory pathways to influence how we feel both physically and emotionally. This goes beyond aromatherapy, although there is that component, too. But the products you apply topically can influence mood or stress response. It’s an emerging field and one to watch.
In today’s stressed-out world, how can skincare help support emotional as well as physical wellbeing?
I think in a couple of ways. First of all, through ritual which supports our emotional and physical wellbeing by creating space to care for ourselves through grounding and healing practices. We never feel good when we neglect ourselves. Also self-massage when applying a body balm can activate the parasympathetic nervous system, lowering cortisol, improving immunity, and promoting deeper sleep and better recovery.
Your grandmother Juanita was clearly a guiding force. How does Mexican folk medicine continue to inform your innovation?
At its heart, Mexican Folk Medicine is a healing practice designed to return balance to the body. This is the lense through which we view product development at Shimmer Chef. We draw on ancient wisdom to inform our healing protocols and believe the body is magnificently designed to do the work. We are just an instrument to help guide the body and skin, fortifying the microbiome to heal and regenerate.
What does honoring cultural wisdom look like in a modern skincare lab?
Great question. Honor is the right word choice because that is how we approach preserving the cultural wisdom that has been passed down to us. We remember the source and acknowledge the people and the culture that created it. We carry their contributions forward with care, accuracy, and intention while also putting healing over “beauty” at the core of what we are working to accomplish.
How do you ensure Shimmer Chef remains rooted in authenticity, even as it evolves?
At Shimmer Chef we have several important touchstones that ensure we remain authentic in all that we do. Purity and performance are essential. I want each product not just to work, but to be transformative. To be the solution to that nagging issue you could never resolve but now you can because you’ve gotten to the root of it through healing. Purity is tantamount, this ensures our potency and that our customers are getting the full spectrum of benefits from the ingredients because they are unadulterated. And safety is one of our core beliefs. We utilize clean, mostly organic ingredients that are safe for both our customers and the planet.
Can you share more about the “For Sanford Sisters” pledge—and how it shapes every decision you make?
Our “For Sanford Sisters” is a pledge on each of our products that serves as a promise to each of our customers that every single Shimmer Chef product meets the high standard of safety and purity I sought for my own daughters (the Sanford Sisters) when formulating the line. Product purity and safety was the catalyst for creating Shimmer Chef, but it also serves as a prominent touchstone in all that we do—from our shipping materials to our packaging and everything in between.
Clean beauty has become a buzzword. How do you define it, and how does Shimmer Chef go beyond?
Clean beauty has been around for a while and has certainly evolved. But without proper oversight or legislation that leaves the category open to wild interpretation. For Shimmer Chef, clean means clean in the purest sense of the word. Our products use only plants, with the exception of honey. There are zero fillers, stabilizers, chemicals, or preservatives. We use only the highest quality, certified organic produce sourced from purveyors who stand by the integrity of their products.
Why was it important to become Made Safe® certified, and what does that process entail?
Obtaining the Made Safe® certification was vitally important to me. And every Shimmer Chef product passed the comprehensive screening and certification process which is a scientifically rigorous, third party review to ensure no harmful product or process is used and also ensures all is made from sustainable and responsible sourcing methods.
Products are screened against their banned/restricted list ensuring that over 6,500 substances like carcinogens, endocrine disruptors, toxins, heavy metals, endangered species, etcetera, have been avoided. It also involves manufacturing transparency, as well as disclosure of each substance and process involved in formulation, going far beyond basic ingredient list reviews to assess for broader impact. This level of diligence allows Made Safe to analyze potential sources of pollution, as well as harmful impacts on soil, sediment, air, water, and human, aquatic and/or terrestrial life. It is the most comprehensive testing that I am aware of. Made Safe also takes inspiration from the Native American philosophy that it’s our responsibility to consider potential impacts on many generations into the future.
You describe Shimmer Chef as a “next-generation beauty brand.” What does that mean to you?
Yes, that’s true, Shimmer Chef is a next generation brand. Anytime you do something that is radical or breaks with convention, I think that defines Next Gen. Also building with a greater purpose beyond profit. Shimmer Chef was born out of a desire to radically rethink how we care for our outer bodies.
What has surprised you most in building a brand from scratch?
It’s a constant evolution of needs to build a brand, from the beginning concept seeds to scaling up to large production. The to do now and to do next list just keeps growing. Once we got started, it seems like the mission to reach as many people as possible takes on a life of its own. Sometimes it’s just as important to pull in the reins as it is to loosen them.
What’s next for Shimmer Chef—any new formulations or categories on the horizon?
Yes! We are of course focused on our existing core line since we are so new, but we are working on something special in the lip category, as well as a hybrid makeup product.
What’s one lesson you hope every customer takes with them after using Shimmer Chef?
I want every customer to understand what true skin nutrition means and that their skin doesn’t need a lot of interference to function optimally. We offer only nine topical products—Root to Stem creations—hat give your external body all it needs to thrive.
Mary Bemis
Mary Bemis is Founder & Editorial Director of InsidersGuidetoSpas.com. An advocate for all things spa, Mary forged a vocabulary for spa reportage that is widely used by those who cover the issues today. Recently honored as a Top 30 Influential Voice Transforming Wellness by Medika Life, Mary is an inaugural honoree of Folio’s Top Women in Media Award. Her spa media roots run deep—in 1997, she launched American Spa magazine, in 2007, she co-founded Organic Spa magazine, and in between serving on the ISPA and NYSPA Board of Directors, she was on the launch teams of Luxury SpaFinder and New Beauty magazines. Named a "Wonder Woman of Wellness" by American Spa magazine, Mary was honored by the International Spa Association with the distinguished ISPA Dedicated Contributor Award. She is a special advisor to the non-profit Global Wellness Day.
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