Episode 168 - Natasha Brinkman- SHE’S BACK -"From Tretinoin to Growth Factors: The Future of Skincare with Beauty Junkie Monkey (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 168

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here or view our podcast episode guide.

SPEAKER_01:

Welcome to Nirvana Sisters podcast, where we take the intimidation out of wellbeing and beauty to help you achieve your highest state, your nirvana. We are sisters-in-law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman. And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation.

SPEAKER_00:

Welcome back to the show Nirvana Sisters family. We are back. with Natasha Brinkman, aka Beauty Junkie Monkey on TikTok and Instagram. We did an episode with Natasha a while back. I was looking, it was like episode 96 and 97. We did a two-parter because we had so much info, but she is back. Natasha, master esthetician, skincare consultant, educator. Welcome back to the show. We love having you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02:

This is amazing. Always a pleasure to be part of your guys' podcast. So thank you again for having me. Yeah. I just love skincare.

SPEAKER_00:

And your videos just continue to educate. I'm always like, how does she have all these ideas? But then every Every time I watch a video or piece of content that you make, I'm like, oh, that's such a good tip. Oh, that's such a good idea. Like, I just love it so much. I know our community does too. So thanks for being on. And I was saying before that you look fabulous. Your skin is glowing. Your eyes are stunning. Your whole vibe is just

SPEAKER_02:

Thank you. I really went for, like I said, the international look. I wanted to kind of go... Plus I came from the gym and I didn't have time to do my hair. So I'm like... I love it.

SPEAKER_00:

I know. I was like threw my hair back today too. So what's been going on with you? Tell us everything. I know I've seen like tons of growth on your Instagram and TikTok and your brand partnerships and all these fun things, but would love to hear what's happening with you.

SPEAKER_02:

Thank you. Well, yeah, life just gets crazy and crazier. I thought last a couple of years were fantastic and then this year kind of popped up and I'm like oh my gosh. So last year I started taking my master's medical aesthetics because again I have my full esthetician which a lot of people don't understand in the business is that you have people that will either train in one thing like just waxing or just nails or just like one thing but when I took my aesthetics I did all of it. Okay. aestheticians, right? So I was completely full of aesthetics back then. But going from that career to policing now back to, you know, online skincare consultant, kind of a bit of a pivot again in my career. And I felt a little bit out of touch. So what I wanted to do is I went back to school, and I took my master's medical aesthetics. So this is all the advanced techniques. So I could work with a dermatologist or an RN and I could be either their assistant or basically I don't I don't inject, but I can use what they've pulled out of you. So if you wanted to do like a vampire facial, PRP, I could administer that after the fact. So laser treatments, any type of microneedling and so forth. So I went and I did that. On top of that, I did my 30 day skincare challenge, which I love to do every January. Yes, that was amazing. I followed that. Every single day I put out a lesson plan. So it is literally every day I'm trying to teach you to help you build your own skincare routine, because this is what's not taught. Right? So the biggest thing is everybody tells you, oh, this is the best product. This is the best product. Everybody will say that. But the problem is nobody tells you how to use it. So then that way you maximize the results. And there's some ingredients that are really awesome, but they're really active. And you don't want to start pairing them immediately right after you started another active ingredient because it can cause irritation. Some people can get away with it. Most cannot.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. So for our listeners, they could go back on, is it on your Instagram and TikTok, like the 30 days? Yeah. And it's just like step-by-step. So every day you can kind of like start fresh. Because I find that too, even though I have a million products and always trying things, sometimes you forget how to use them or in which order or like what pairs with what. It's complicated.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, it can be. It can be. I have to say, and honestly, all these new brands and all these brands that have been coming out, I love testing them and I play with them. So that's the other thing that I'm really adamant about is I make sure that I test everything before I bring it forward on my page. And there's a lot of products that I've tested, especially last year, that fell completely flat. And everybody's like, these are the best. And I'm like, no, it's not. It's average at best. But I don't like to poo-poo other companies because, again, that's not my That's not my angle, right? My angle is to stay positive and tell you what works. There's plenty of people out there that tell you what doesn't work. So I would like to be the other side of the coin. I'm going, this is what works. This is a good place.

SPEAKER_00:

You're like, if I'm not talking about it, that means I don't like it. I'm not a fan. So I recently got, so there was a product that you talked about a while back that I really wanted to try and there was like a, it was sold out for a while and I just got it a couple of weeks ago, the Maylove Peptide Squad, which I love because I was also using your recommendation for like probably the last year or so, the Matrixil and the Agera line, and I would use them both, but this seems like it has both plus more and it's a one-step. Correct.

SPEAKER_02:

So this is the best part about evolving and a lot of my followers and even clients, they're all like, okay, well, why is this not good? It's like, no, no, no, it's still amazing. It's just, this company was working on this product for two years. So Mela, I had the awesome opportunity to talk to their doctor who actually created that formula. Because this is unique. You typically don't use a vitamin C, especially L-ascorbic, with any type of copper because it can have some counterindications. So you can use it with different forms of vitamin C, but L-ascorbic or ascorbic, typically you don't touch with peptides, you don't do it with everything. So I was emailing them and sending them messages left, right, and center, and I know they knew who I was. I love their brand. So they're like, do you want to talk to the formulator? I'm like, yes. Amazing. So I had the awesome opportunity to talk with them. We decided to do a live event. So I was a guest and got a chance to talk and pick her brain and help my viewers understand the peptide squad. But the peptide squad is truly unique because it has your Agera line, which is your neuropeptide, tells the muscles not to move so much. Everybody calls that the Botox in a bottle. Then they have Metrixel. So there's four different versions of Metrixel. So they have your traditional Metrixel 3000. So that's the hardy one. That one is a signaling peptide. So everybody's concerned it doesn't go in. No, no, no, it's not meant to go in. It's a signaling peptide. It sits on tops and sends signals. Tell your skin, help me, I need more collagen. So that's the nice thing about what that product will do. Plus niacinamide, if you ever, as long as you don't have an allergy to it, niacinamide is next to godliness. I call her sporty spice because she shrinks down your pores. She tightens up your pores. She helps balance out the oil and hydration. So if you're dry or if you're oily, she's just amazing. She lightens and brightens. She's an antioxidant. Like I could go on and on and on. So love niacinamide. Then what she did is she added copper peptides. Now, copper, again, if you use it too much in your skin, it can actually have an adverse reaction. It can break it down. But they used a really nice copper blend, and they bound their copper, which maybe for most of us, we're like, well, what does that mean? It means it's not free-floating. You can use it with an L-ascorbic vitamin C, and you can use it with any type of retinoid. So, tretinoin, retinal, or retinol. And so I was just like, oh my god, I can use this both day and night and get all these amazing results. And I forgot to mention, sorry, last ingredient was rice peptides. Rice peptides help to prevent the breakdown of collagen. And the best part is I call this peptide squad like the steel magnolia. of peptides because every single actress in there is. Yes. You get the best thing for you.

SPEAKER_00:

It's just a one stop shop. So like now I'm not putting on like five different layers. I just use that. Now, do you use that before or after a vitamin C or retinol or all those things?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, typically, whenever you're doing any type of layering, the laws of layering are always the same. Thinnest to thickest, water-based first, then creamy, or it's a water-based, kind of serum-y based, then you want to do anything kind of a creamy serum-y, and then creams, and then oils. There's always rules to the exception and you can see which certain one's in. But if your oil is more like that kind of, or sorry, the vitamin C is more in an oil base, that one's going to go on after everything else. So then that way it has time to do its magic. So you don't put it on right out of the gate, you put it on a little bit further on. So whenever you're looking at your skincare product, if you ever get confused, go thinnest to thickest, water-based, cream-based, oil-based.

SPEAKER_00:

And water-based, I know this is a dumb question, but like water-based, so like the Peptide Squad, which is like a blue, ceramic, is that water-based? Yeah, that's a little more water.

SPEAKER_02:

It's more serum-y-esque. I would say that's more of a serum. So if you're using like L-ascorbic acid, vitamin C, like SkinCeutical seems to be a popular one. So if you use that one, you would use that one first, then you would use the Peptide Squad, and then you'd use Moisturizer SPF if you did it during the day.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, it makes sense. And then at night, same philosophy applies. Correct. So I just wanted to shout you out for recommending that product because it saved me a lot of time and thought. I don't have to think about it now. Before, I'm like, wait, let me put all my metrics on. and then my Agera line, and then my vitamins. And now it's just like, I don't have to think about it. I put it on and it's fabulous so far. I'm loving it. I've had it for like a few weeks, so it's so good.

SPEAKER_02:

Wait, it just gets better and better. That peptide squad is just sensational. And like I said, I'm able to build any skincare routine with it. And people who want to do the peptide squad, you want to make sure that you're using it when you need it. So if you're in your 20s, you're not going to need it, my friend. You're really not. But if you're like your mid-30s and up, definitely put it into your skincare routine. It will not

SPEAKER_00:

And it's fine. And is it safe to use every day?

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, absolutely. Day and night. Absolutely. Totally safe.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. And then I've been hearing you talk about, which I don't know anything about, just I've seen your videos on the anti-age or is that how you say it? That new entourage. What is this and what do we need to know about it?

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, that's a whole new level of awesome. That's a whole No, when I went back to school during my practicum in their studio, in their course, they had the entourage and I remember looking at it going, I remember this. I've used this before in my earlier 40s. So this company's been around for over 12 years. And I had some concerns because it has growth factors and cytokines and this is extracted from human bone marrow stem cells. And as soon as you say that, you get all these crazy images of back alley stuff being sold, which of course was not the case at all. And what I really liked is that my instructor, she was so good, talked me through it and how it was done and went on the website and read more about it. What I really want to point out is that this is ethically sourced and they only get it from Sorry, 18 to 24 year olds because you want to have that. That is the peak time where you pull out those communicators and that's what they're doing. They're taking it out of the bone marrow. And by the way, these people are well compensated, so this is a long process. This isn't just some quick thing, just to be clear. And then what they do is they extract the cytokines and the stem cells or the growth factors, pardon me. Those are communicators. That's all they are. So there's no DNA transfer, there's nothing that's going to freak you out. It isn't oncology approved, so this was really important to me. I had skin cancer, I don't want to have anything. Not to mention my husband's been through cancer, so anybody who's been touched by that, we get really nervous when we hear things like that. has been oncology approved. It is also breastfeeding and pregnancy approved. Now I will say the caveat always bring it forward to your doctor. Everybody is different. But before you start it, but I like that they had the approval from the oncology and pregnancy safe. So that was like, So what they did with the entourage, so this is where I would say, this is where skincare will be eventually going. So just to kind of break it down, when you have basic skincare products that you can purchase, you can purchase all of them, you know, through, you know, local drugstores, Sephora, you know, your spas and so forth. But they're the key components, vitamin C, peptides, retinols, and exfoliants. Those are kind of like the pillars, the base. Then what you do is you go up a step if you wanted to do things like treatments where you had PRP plasma-rich platelets, you know, things like that. That's kind of the next level, but that's Not always convenient for people. Not everybody likes needles. Not everybody wants to use that as a procedure. So that one's kind of fallen off to the wayside. It was really big. I think when Kim Kardashian brought that out, I don't know how it was effective, but it's only effective because it's based on how healthy you are. So if you're not great, you're not going to get great results, which again, another limitation. Well, here comes growth factors and cytokines. If you have a human, human to human, they speak. Human and plants, they don't speak. It's like trying to talk to your husband when he's watching the game. There's no communication. I love my husband. But that's what I mean. So when people are like, oh, well, I get mine from plants. then it's just an antioxidant, meaning it's not going to change your skin the same way. So with ATIAGE, they took all your serums that you typically would find in a skincare routine, all your retinoids and your vitamin C that you would see in a two-part system, and then they loaded it up with stem cells and cytokines. And it has been a game changer. What can people expect? Maybe that's the best way to describe it. Um, volume back in the skin. So for people who have had the face dump, this typically happens when you kind of start hitting perimenopause menopause, we lose 30% of our collagen. There was no, you can't control that. It's going to bite. Right. So when that happens, this is an option for you. We also lose the fat pads in our face, so unless you want to gain weight, and who wants to gain weight? Most people do not. So that's what this does, is it tells your skin, it's a communicator, and it tells your stem cells and your cytokines to behave like they did when they were 18 to 24 years old. So that's where the healing comes back in. So your skin is constantly healing, so your skin will get thicker, you'll have more volume. It's actually the nasolabia and the marionette lines, that's the biggest part where the jowls start popping up. As soon as you start noticing that, you might want to start considering the entourage because it's going to pop those right back up. Or maybe do it before. Well, I don't know if you'll see the same results. That's the problem. I did try it in my early 40s and it was like, you know, I didn't appreciate it because I wasn't there. Right.

SPEAKER_00:

And now you can actually see the difference.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Huge difference. And what I like about this product is because it's speaking to your skin differently, your results are sensational. The longer you're on it, the better it gets.

SPEAKER_00:

Is it a, um, is it something you do? Is it a night treatment, a morning treatment? Like, is that a cream? Like what's okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

It's simple. You cleanse the one part, the two parts, you put a moisturizer on in the morning SPF at night, you cleanse one, two moisturizer, go to bed.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, wow. And you don't need to put on anything else that that's like we're talking about the peptide squad and all that, like this, like takes all that away and you just take.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, you can add little boosters in there, as I like to call it. So if you wanted a little extra peptides, you can. It doesn't have the copper or like if you're nitpicking and you want to, you know, some people like to do more than just the base. But I would say use it in its purest form at least for three months. Because the results for me, when I was using it, I used it solid.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, you look amazing. Your skin looks incredible. But it always does. But it does have that extra, like, it does have a little plumper and more, I don't know, just lifted.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. That's the entourage. So I was on it for three months. I had a really, really hard time. I tried a different skincare line. I promised them I'd try it. I'm a woman of my word. And within about three weeks, my skin started to regress.

SPEAKER_00:

And I'm like,

SPEAKER_02:

Nope. Can't use this. I don't want to sacrifice myself. So we'll see how that goes now. But yeah, it's a game changer. And then of course, a level up from that, which is coming out from stem cells and cytokines will be

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, eczema. So what is that?

SPEAKER_02:

That's a hybrid of growth factors and cytokines. So again, it's communicating to your skin, telling your skin to behave differently, to heal differently. In fairness, I haven't done too much research in that just yet. I'm still getting my hands and my feet under the whole growth factors. And for me, I find the best way to really appreciate a product is to use it, and to feel it. And then I bought a whole bunch, and I gave one to my 77-year-old mom, one to my girlfriend, who's got different skin than me, and then one to my sister, who has more oily, aphnetic skin. And every single one of them, their skin improved, and it looked sensational. So I was shocked. I took a photo of my mom's skin. I also posted it on my Instagram. on all my website, or not website, pardon me, on my Instagram and Facebook and TikTok so people could see. And that's my mom. That's real results from 77-year-old skin. Oh, I can't wait to see it.

SPEAKER_00:

So you've been using it for three months and you're still using it, right? Is it something you just... Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

I stopped for, like I said, about three weeks because I needed another brand. So I'm catching back up again. Right. And you're like, oh, I got to go back to it. Yeah. Like, I was just like, I'm so sorry. Like, I even told them, I said, you're up against stem cells and cytokines. Are you sure you want me to tell you?

SPEAKER_00:

Right. Because that's like, it sounds like to your point, like what's starting to happen next, like this trend of like, I don't know what the category is. It seems like it's stronger, but it's not really stronger. It's just like more close to your... More advanced.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, more advanced. I would like to call it more advanced. Now, I want to say the caveat is you cannot get it off of Amazon. You're not going to see social influencers promoting it because you have to be a professional to have access to this. So myself, because of my my training, my business is I do skin care consultations online. And so my my shop, if you will, is unauthorized distributorship.

SPEAKER_00:

OK, so people can buy it from the link off of your socials on your website.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, exactly. Or off my website. Yeah, my website or my shop myself is where I have all my favorites in there. And or if they have a MediSpa in their location that carries the entourage, they can get that one as well. But do not buy it off at Amazon at a complete fakes. And this is not cheap stuff. So I think in the States, it's 220 for both bottles. And in Canada, it's gonna be 300 bucks. So yeah, Right? Yeah. So you have to put into consideration what your budget is. Um, how, you know, are you there yet? I always tell people, you know, use it when you need it, not beforehand because once you start it, it will be very, very, very hard to get off of it.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. And it's like, I'm starting to notice this, which I never had before. Like when I wake up in the morning, cause I must be like pursing my lips at night or something. And then I'm like, what are these lines? Why is it starting to happen?

SPEAKER_02:

But that's the whole thing, right? And I mean, it's not going to make you a 20-year-old. I mean, I think we're all pretty, right? But at the same time, again, my goal is to help you achieve your results, whatever those may be. I have some people, the most important thing to them is melasma. Other people, it's aging. Sometimes it's all three. It's like, well, that limits us because what you do for melasma, that routine is going to be different from aging. You can kind of mix them together, but it can be, I don't want to give them like 16 steps.

SPEAKER_00:

That's ridiculous. Right. You want to make it easy. So Trenton Owen is an example. It's a different category, I guess. How does that compare to something like entourage, if someone's just doing tretinoin at night? I do tretinoin, but I don't know.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, tretinoin is a retinoid, right? So it's the retinoid family. So tretinoin, retinal, retinol. That's how I kind of do it. And then bakuchiol is a nice derivative of it. And basically what they're doing, and if I can simplify it, it's called apoptosis of the cell. It's telling the cell to die off faster. and produce better skin. So it's that stimulation that we're looking for within your skin, because our skin slows down as we age, right? So our skin cycle is typically 28 to 31 days. And when we start aging, it could slow down to 45 days. So when people say, hey, I don't I've used it for two weeks and I see nothing. I'm like, that's not even a skin cycle. You've got to give your skin time to absorb that ingredient, change, and then change together. So what a tretinoid is doing is it's basically killing off the top layer of your skin, forcing the bottom layer to reproduce faster. That's where the irritation, the flakiness, the dryness, it's basically you're killing it off too fast. So that's why people have such a hard issue. And it's so strong. Tretinoin, it's not encapsulated. There's no buffers. It's bazooka-based skin. If you have thick, hardy skin, you can handle it. If you're somebody like me, thin and dry, I tell you, retinals are better. That's where you want to go. But that's one component of how to change your skin. Vitamin C is another component to change your skin. Peptides, another component on how to change your skin. Now we have stem cells and cytokines, another communicator that is very robust. So, all you're doing is you're just taking your pillars and then you're adding an additional boost. Right. So, I guess that's the best way to put it because a lot of people can do tretinoin and they do great with it, but other people cannot. And tretinoin is not going to fill up the marionette lines.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. That's what I was going to ask. So, I'm fine doing tretinoin. It doesn't bother me. I mean, I don't do it every night, so maybe that's why. But sometimes I get a little dry flakiness. I feel like sometimes like you would put out a video like do you feel like it's plateaued and I don't know if it's plateaued like I feel like I need something else to like judge the skin to like to your point like give it more volume because it's starting to like come to you know so like what can make it more to your point, like more volume, thicker, etc. And I feel like the no one is more of just like wrinkle kind of, I mean, I don't know.

SPEAKER_02:

It does actually help with the collagen production. So one thing that happens when we age as well, it just really sucks, is that the top layer of our skin gets thicker, but it's like the dead, dehydrated, dry stuff. And then bottom layer, actually, we lose that collagen. So yeah, underneath it, and that's where the volume, we lose that volume loss, right? So that's when it comes in, we're like, oh, that's not what I want to see. So when we're using, like I said, the tretinoin, we're stimulating that collagen to reproduce faster. And if you introduce it nice and slow into your routine, it's like learning how to run. If you go too fast, too much too fast, it's like, hey guys, wait up, I'm not there yet. Your body hasn't trained to turn over that with. So if you're finding that you're using tretinoin every single night and you can slather it on and nothing's changing, then I would recommend going up to the entourage. Got it.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. That's helpful because I think a lot of our listeners probably do some form of retinol or tretinoin or something. And this sounds like it's like the next level up, which is really good to think about and exciting. I love all these advancements in skincare. It's just like seems to be evolving. Just exponentially.

SPEAKER_02:

It's sensational. I'm honored to be alive in this time where we have these options, right? And it's exciting. I've had so many different things now because of the way that things are moving. You know, I even had PRP done on my knee. So if anybody has that in their knee or any injuries.

SPEAKER_00:

That's interesting.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, they pulled it out of my arm, they spun it, and they put the plasma-rich platelets, and they just injected into my knee, and I have no knee issues right now. Wow. So medically, we're really evolving, and if you can kind of get over the ick factor of it, you know, kind of make your peace with it. They're injecting hyaluronic acid into joints now. My father had to have a hip replacement, but while he's waiting, it was just bone on bone. So what they did to try to alleviate that is they take hyaluronic acid and put it in there just to help that cushion. It's incredible what is available nowadays, but it's also making sure that you're purchasing what you need when you need it.

SPEAKER_00:

And from the right people, because I know there's so many bad things on Amazon. I don't buy a lot of skincare on Amazon because it makes me nervous.

SPEAKER_02:

I don't buy any hair off Amazon. That's a hard no for me because I have no clue where it's coming from.

SPEAKER_00:

I know. It's scary. It's scary. And is there any side effects from the entourage? Like do you get dry or anything like you would get with a retinol? Like what could people expect from that?

SPEAKER_02:

So if you are prone to acne or breaking out, you definitely will have a bit of a breakout. It usually subsides within two weeks. So again, my sister was acne prone and so forth. She broke out first couple of times, looked at me sideways and said, just push through it, just push through it. And then after her, her pores were so tight, I was shocked. Wow. I was shocked. I'm like, holy crap, you look like a porcelain doll. And she's 55 to put things in perspective. So if you are prone to breakout, you will breakout. It is rosacea safe. But again, rosacea is a green wiener. So just be mindful of that, that you probably won't have an issue. But if you're nervous, just go nice and slow. And then of course, everybody else from aging to dry skin, there is a healthy amount of Bacupyl in it, which is a retinoid derivative. So yes, you can dry down a little bit, especially if you try to pair your retinoid with it. Because I know a lot of people have asked me this, can I use my retinoid or my tretinoin with it? Yes, you can. I don't know if you actually need it. Right. Because the product is, like I said, the longer you use it, the more skin cycle you have of that ingredient. Right. It's almost duplicative. Yeah. It's almost like you don't need extra. Have I tried a retinol with it? Yes. Did it Bonus, I think so. I thought I looked sensational. But now this go around, I'm going to do it without it and just see how she rolls. Because again, it's something I can always add in. Exactly. But she can be a little bit dry. And it's really important if you do suffer from dry skin, always use a little bit of oil in your routine somewhere. Just because it's going to help keep you plump and juicy. And you can use a little light oil during the day and you can use a heavier oil at night. I love skin glazing.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I was going to say, what kind of oil do you like? Do you have any brands that you recommend? Oh God, I love so many.

SPEAKER_02:

That's the problem. I've tried so many. I love a good blend, like in its simpler form, it's nice. So for one, I like putting just a hint, like one drop underneath my makeup. It'll make your skin look flawless. You want to use a nice light oil. I love Diana Madison. She's very like, she's got the prickly pear in her formulations. She has not only the nicest oil to use that for, but also the best masks I've ever used. And there's another one. Oh gosh, what's it called? It's a purple bottle. It'll come to me in a minute, but that one was sensational under makeup as well. If you're more on a budget kind of idea, oh, Kiehl's. Kiehl's recovery, sensational. Nighttime, for me, I need something really heavy, so I'll do the Herbivore Phoenix Oil. That's my holy grail. Another really good one is the Pharmacy. I believe it's Honey Halo Glow something or other. That one's really rich. I love that one. It just sucks everything in and it keeps the skin really, really healthy.

SPEAKER_00:

We just put that on at the end to give it a nice

SPEAKER_02:

And you pat it on. You don't want to rub your oils because it can break down. Well, not break down, but yeah. No, I would say it breaks down some of the other products, especially depending on how they're formulated. So I always say, if you have oil, just pat it on your skin. And a good trick that I want to tell everybody out there, I know the nighttime is the hardest time to do your skincare routine. And I just want to put this out there. Do your skincare routine when you're done for the day. If you're done at three o'clock and you're like, it's going to be zombie day, pajamas, bras off, let's go. Just get it over with. Exactly. Just do it. And then that way when you're, you know, you sit on the couch, you're like, I am done. Perfect. Then you can go to bed. You don't have to worry about your skincare. So even if you use an oil or any of these other products, it's kind of taking care of that. Well, is it going to go on my pillow? Well, yeah, if you do it right before bed, as long as you sleep on your back, you're going to get some on your pillow. But yeah, when you're home for the night, just do it early. My little two cents. Do it as soon as you get home.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, good idea. Exactly. When you put on the sweats, it's time to do your routine and then you're done and you can have your glass of wine. But she gears, what are your thoughts on, because I've been testing a couple like toners, like Korean skincare type stuff. Have you been in, have you tested that world of all of those brands or what are your thoughts there?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, lots. I get lots. Well, Depology is Korean. I don't know if you guys realize that, but it's Korean. They're one of my absolute favorites because, again, they're independent, so they have really great companies. I did a video on Body, and there's one, I can't even remember the name, I'm so sorry, but it's a really good exfoliant, especially if you have ingrowns. I don't know about you guys, but I shave my bikini line. I don't have And sometimes I get ingrowns or, you know, and that little peel was so good because you could put it in your bikini line. It was so gentle. It didn't, and then that way I didn't get any bumps. So there's lots of amazing products from the Korean line, but I will say this, the caveat is still the same as any other products out there. There's a lot of okay products. You know, so just kind of keep that into consideration just because it's Korean doesn't mean it's the holiness of holy. It's just a different format and they have different techniques. They have different ingredients. But at the end of the day, does it change your skin any differently than another brand? I don't know. It would depend.

SPEAKER_00:

Everybody's different. It probably goes into the four pillars that you were talking about. It's just another brands, but yeah. Correct. Another formulation.

SPEAKER_02:

But if I find something I love damn straight, I'm going to talk about it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

I got to share it with my friends. Yes, we need to know all the things. And then what are you seeing? I know you do a lot of private skin care consultations or people obviously DM you and stuff. What are people asking about? I know the trend of these growth factors and all of that is coming out, but what are people asking? What do they want to see? What are they having issues with? Yeah, how to build a routine.

SPEAKER_02:

I think that's the biggest mistake that we're seeing in my industry, in the aesthetic industry. We're not teaching people how to build a skincare routine. And just to kind of pull the curtain back and share a little bit, when I grew in my aesthetics, all my online, my skincare routines and so forth was all from the company. So, you know, you work at a spa, the company rep comes and tells you all about their product, how absolutely amazing it is. And then, you know, when you work with different companies, they carry different brands. And then when you're recommending these products to your clients and they're coming back and they're giving you feedback, that's the best information you can get because now you're knowing, well, that's not working. So first you have to flush out if they're using it right, because 9 out of 10 times there is a bit of a user that we have to kind of make sure that people are using it properly. But the second component is not every skincare product will work for that person. The active ingredients in there are not in there for that person and that skin type and that issue. And we're not teaching that. Right. And that's where I think a lot of people are getting frustrated because you go to a company, yeah, they'll build you a skincare routine. They know nothing about you. They don't look at your skin. They don't know your history. They ask no questions. It's very basic. So for some, that works. People with normal skin can pretty much get away with almost anything. But if you're like me, dry, dehydrated, you have rosacea, you have oily skin, completely different story. Right. Everyone's different. I think what's coming down the pipeline, especially on TikTok, you have a lot of formulators, and they're telling you, actually, no, you can pair all these things together. I get nervous when they say that because you're going to have somebody that's going to pair an exfoliate with an acidic form of vitamin C and burn the lips. And I really want to say, just because one person can do it does not mean you can do it. And so what I would like to do is I would like to see the dermatologists, the estheticians, and the formulators come together and provide information. I feel we're missing that key component. I consider myself a bridge between the dermatologist and uh the the formulators because what I do for myself is I research every product and then if I have an opportunity I will talk to the actual formulators at that company right and I talk to them about how do you formulate because one formulator will say no you can do this and another formulator will say no you can do it that way it's very interesting yeah it's there's a lot of where we there's a lot of stuff in between that we're not agreeing on so and then it's based on experience bias opinion

SPEAKER_00:

It's a lot. It's what's trending. Yeah. Well, that's why we're lucky. We have people like you that can give us all the correct information and then can come on podcasts like Nirvana Sisters and give us all the things we need to know because you're very trusted and we appreciate it. Okay, I could go on all day but I want to give you time back, but I have a last question for you and this is a beauty question because of course we always have to do a beauty question. I saw you had a video and I've noticed your lashes are gorgeous and you've been using method lashes I saw, which I hadn't heard of. I played around with lashes for a while. I'm not wearing them now, but sometimes I'll throw them on again and then I saw the method and I was like, oh, I want to hear about those.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh my God. I'm using them 99.999 percent of the time. I was actually ordering them before we- Oh, that's so funny. Because I ran out. So method lashes, actually my girlfriend, I can't take any credit for it. She was the one wearing them. I'm like, God, your lashes look so good. Did you get them done? And she's like, no method lashes. You actually put them on underneath your lashes. Yeah. What? Like, no way. And I mean, again, when I did my aesthetic training, I actually learned how to put every single individual last moment. I hated it.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it takes forever.

SPEAKER_02:

I did not like that and paying $200 every two weeks to get them redone. Yeah, I used to do it. It's a nightmare. I did that for like two or three months and I'm like, what am I doing? This is ridiculous. Yeah. But I like the convenience of them, right? So when she got me on method lashes, they're broken up into four or five different sections. And what you do is you just put the glue underneath your clean lashes. And then you put like a little bit of glue on there's like a little A little edge, I guess it is. And then what you do is you don't put it on the actual waterline, just above the waterline and then type it in and then you put all three or four or five versions. You just kind of work from the outside in and then they give you a sealant. And what I like to do is I like to take the tweezers and I put the sealant between the tweezers and then I squish it. Okay. Those will last me seven to 10 days.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Okay. So they're similar. I used to use, or I still have them, but I haven't used them in a while, like Lashify or Headcandy is another brand. Similar. But I want to try those because they look like really good ones and they can last seven to 10 days. That's good. I always have a hard time washing my face when I have lashes on because I feel like around the eyes, it's hard to do eyeshadow and stuff because you feel like it's hard to get off. You have to be very careful. That's the only thing that bugs me about wearing lashes. But I was just thinking to myself, I'm like, I got to put them on again because sometimes when I don't want to put on makeup, if you just have those lashes on, you look ready to go. It's amazing.

SPEAKER_02:

You can go to the gym. You don't care. I know. little SPF and tinted SPF in your lashes.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and you're light like me so I have lashes but you can never see them because they're so light so I always have to put on mascara or I look so washed out and I was just thinking to myself I'm like I gotta do this again because it's like getting annoying.

SPEAKER_02:

It's so worth it. I'll tell you the first time you do it it's gonna be a hot mess you know you don't want to be doing it the first day when you have like something really big you're not you know it's like everything else.

SPEAKER_00:

It's a learning curve.

SPEAKER_02:

A little bit of a learning curve, but oh my god, I love them. I'm kind of obsessed with them. Because again, I can wear them for a week. I can sweat in them. I can do everything that I need to do with them. They don't blow off. Sometimes if I use too much oil close to my eye, it will break down the glue. But the glue is more like a rubber base, so it doesn't hurt your lashes at all. It's very flexible. So I just tell everybody, when you're washing your face, I hope you're using a face cloth, because that little face cloth, if you wrap it around your finger and you just kind of glide it, it won't touch them. You'll be just fine because remember they're attached underneath. Right. You just kind of glide them over top and then you can just do like a little either a q-tip or a gentle gentle rub on top to make sure if you've got any like eye shadow on top of the lashes just to gently get those off. Yeah. And they're affordable. You get three lashes for 30 bucks. Yeah, that's good. Three sets. So you buy the box and you get three sets of lashes. So like that's three weeks worth of lashes for 30 bucks. Yeah, that's good.

SPEAKER_00:

I love them.

SPEAKER_02:

I also have them on Shop My Shelf as well. Okay, good. We'll check that out. Anytime I love something, it goes on the Shop My Shelf because, I mean, I had When I start doing my online skincare routines, my clients usually ask me, hey, I'm done this moisturizer, what's next for my skin type? And when you have a hundred people asking you the same question, you're like, I need to design something for that. That's what Shop My Shelf is. It's basically a hub where all my links are, including the online shopping method last year and all your traditional stuff that you can find, Saravay. A lot of people like to use Shop My Shelf as their guide.

SPEAKER_00:

I know. I was just going to say that because everything's vetted by you, so you don't have to wonder. It's like, okay, we know it's all good. It's just a matter of what we need and what's going to work best for us.

SPEAKER_02:

and what's affordable, because I have different affordabilities on there. It's curated based on skin type. So if you kind of like, oh, I'm dry, then you go into the dry and you'll see all the different cleansers, all the moisturizers, all the oils, all the things that can work for you or skin type, and you can build your own routine based off of it.

SPEAKER_00:

I love that. Okay. We'll link to it for sure.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, that's for everybody. Initially, that was just going to be for my clients, but then I had so many people ask, and I'm like, well, here, build your own routine. If that helps you, great. Quick thing, if you do shop off my shelf, I do get a small commission. As you should. Want to be honest, you know, I appreciate people that you do take it, but I also go to the manufacturers and try to get discount codes for you guys. I do my best to help. So everybody, everybody wins in that, in that scenario, but you don't have to, you can use it as a reference. If you want to run to Sephora, the shopper's drug mart and pick up what you need. Yeah, by all means, go right ahead. And then I also, what I did new this year, which I was working on last year is I have now online skincare routines available for purchase.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, that's new.

SPEAKER_02:

That is very new. I worked my butt off. So what I have is advanced aging skincare routines for oily skin, dry skin, rosacea, delicate skin, oily skin, acnetic skin, and I'm putting out the entourage. So if you want to get into the entourage and you want to know what you can pair with it and what you how to build it into your routine. I actually built a specific routine for it. It also includes microneedling. So if you want to get some extra microneedling. I also did an advanced peptide solution. So that would be one for people who don't need the anti-age yet, but they want to do as many peptides as they can. And I give you examples, my top three, so you can pick some of your best choices. So you get not only the program, but exactly how to build it. And if you have ever any questions about your routine, all you have to do is email me and I can answer any questions for people who've built their own. And they just have like, can I do this and this? Yeah, absolutely. You're good to go.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. So where can people find this? Is this on your website?

SPEAKER_02:

That's on my website, www.beautyjm.com. Thank you, Amy.

SPEAKER_00:

Love it. A little self-promotion there. And it's good too, because I know it's really hard to get an appointment with you. So like this is like a nice alternative and then that's great that you can answer questions if there are questions that come up.

SPEAKER_02:

Absolutely. Once you purchase the routine, if you have a question, I am happy to answer them because I understand there's only one of me. So I've opened up as much as I humanly can, but I'm trying to do education routines, answer questions. It's a lot of work. So a lot.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, thank you for your time and for being on the show again. We want to have you back as many times as you want to come, because every time I learn something new and you're just so just Your knowledge is so deep, but it's so helpful for people like me and our community who is like, you know, they know a little bit, but to be able to get deep into it and to really understand it and to know what works and doesn't work and to, you know, do things slowly and carefully is really important. So appreciate you being here as always.

SPEAKER_02:

Love it and I appreciate you giving me an opportunity to tell people like there are you can afford to skin at any age don't worry about that and just know that you have options and just be very mindful of what are you trying to do with your skincare routine and then purchase based on that. Yeah. So the influence of influencers and I know I'm technically one of them now but ask yourself what does this product do for me if this is all about like lightening and brightening your skin and that's not your concern, don't get that product. You don't need it. Exactly. Is it just a moisturizer? A really nice moisturizer? Is there any actives in there? If there's no actives, then it's just an expensive moisturizer. There's nothing in it that's going to change your skin.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. I always joke around like all these younger people, like in their 20s, like I feel like skin care has gotten so big over the last five years or so that like all these young people now, by the time they're older and in our age arena, they're going to look amazing because when I was young, I had no routine, didn't even think about it. And now there's so much education that all these people are really taking care of their skin. By the time they get to be older, they're going to look amazing. Yeah. Because they've been doing it all along versus me who was in the sun and damaging my skin for however long I was doing that for. Didn't we all do that?

SPEAKER_02:

Maybe oil on a redhead, bad idea, I regret it.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I'm like, did I wear SPF every day? No, it didn't even occur to me.

SPEAKER_02:

It wasn't a thing. No, we didn't realize that. We knew it wasn't great, but we didn't care. I don't know why I wanted that LA glow. I never got the glow. I just got freckles and then eventually skin cancer.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, me too. I've had a lot of basal cells, so I'm in the shade and sunblock every day, but that doesn't happen until you're older. In my 20s, I wasn't. Exactly. We didn't know that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

So much has changed. And that's the best part is that the education is out now and it's exciting. It's really, really exciting. I'm I'm loving this. It's great time to be in the field.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Thank you, Natasha, for being on the show, as always. And we'll see you soon. Thanks for listening to Nirvana Sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes, please subscribe and leave us a review. Also find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would, please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana Sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 155 - Product Junkies - May: Summer Here We Come (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 155.

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here or view our podcast episode guide.

SPEAKER_01:

Welcome to Nirvana Sisters Podcast, where we take the intimidation out of well-being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state, your nirvana. We are sisters-in-law and your hosts.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm Amy Sherman. And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation. Welcome back to the show, Nirvana Sisters family. Today, we are kicking off our May product junkies. We didn't have product junkies in April, so it is good to send it out to you. Good to be back. Yeah, early this month. So, Amy, why don't you start? What's your first product today?

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. First product is random, and I've been wanting to talk about it because it's really good. Have you seen these headache hat things on Amazon? and telling you, it's so good. So I got a two pack, one pink, one black, one for me, one for Stu. And like, I don't even know if I can put it on because it's so embarrassing, but like, it's so cool inside. I'll just give you an example. Hold on. Should I show you what this looks like? You literally like put it on. But it feels so good.

SPEAKER_00:

Hold on, I can't hear you. What does it feel like? What does it do?

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, so basically, if you have a headache or migraine, it holds, it's very cold inside, you keep it in the refrigerator, or even if it's not in the fridge, it somehow is cold inside, and it's tight, but not too tight, where it can give you a headache, and it's just snug around your head, and it just relaxes you, and it's over your eyes, so it's totally black. So if you just lay in bed with that on, it really has relieved my headaches. And I sometimes put it on at night when I can't sleep. Like if I get up in the middle of the night and then I can't fall back asleep, I'll put it on. Sometimes I don't put it over my eyes. I'll just put it above my head. But the coolness of it and the tightness of it relaxes your head and your face. And it just brings your temperature down. I don't know what it is, but it's really good. It really, it really helps. It's really good for migraines. I don't know what it's called. Well, this brand is Only Care, but we'll put the link. It's it's on Amazon, but it really works. It's it's. a great solve for a headache. Nice.

SPEAKER_00:

I just don't want to try it, but whatever. I know I've seen them on probably TikTok or something. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's really good. Has Jackson or Amy's? I don't know if you want to talk about it on the air, but Amy's son has concussion. Has he is he can he use it?

SPEAKER_01:

You know, I thought about that and I wonder if it would help him, but I'm not sure. I was going to ask the doctor. I don't I can't imagine it would be damaging, but I don't know if you should. I don't know. Yeah, question. Yeah, I should ask the doctor. Maybe maybe it would help relieve his headache.

SPEAKER_00:

Nice. All right. Well, that's a fun one. Mine is a perfume. You know how we're always. looking for perfumes that don't give us headaches, which so many do these days. I don't know. I don't know where I even stumbled across it, but I had read about it or heard about it. The brand is called AERIN. I hope I'm saying it right. A-E-R-I-N. They're a luxury brand. They have everything from furniture and clothes and lighting to beauty across the board. Okay. And the scent is called Rose de Grasse. It is so beautiful. I just ordered a sample because it's... Let me see the logo.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I've seen that brand.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. I might have seen that brand. Maybe I saw it on Instagram or something, but... It's a commitment perfume. It's an investment. One bottle is almost $300. Oh my god. Okay. So of course I needed to test first to see if I liked it and if I could even tolerate it. And I can tolerate it. I really love the smell. It's obviously the smell of roses on their website it says, the rose is a timeless symbol of beauty and femininity. This one is meticulously crafted with an artisanal attention to detail. At its heart is a fusion of roses including the hundred-petaled rose centifolia, hand-picked in grass. It says it scents our rich floral rose, amarette seeds, rose centifolia, rose auto bulgarian, rose absolute, ambroxan musk. When I think of rose and florals, I get really turned off. Me too. Florals really give me a headache. Crush me, yeah. Crush me. For whatever reason, this one doesn't and it is almost a little herbaceous and it's very bright and get ready for a laugh, but it smells like It reminds me of the part of Sauvignon Blanc that I really like the smell of. Like the brightness. I know what you're talking about. Yeah. And like the crispness. It has those notes to it, too. And then it has the rose. It's really pretty. It's a beautiful scent. And it's also kind of like a signature. You recognize that scent. A client of mine just randomly was also wearing it. And as soon as I smelled it on her, I knew it. Oh, that's so funny.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, so Erin, and what is the name of the scent called? Rose de Grasse. Rose de Grasse. Okay, great. I have to try it.

SPEAKER_00:

It's so nice. The only thing is, one day I was wearing a body lotion that I now know that I can't wear during the day. I can only use it at night because it has a little bit of a scent to it, and it did not complement it. So that day, I had a headache all day from that. But yeah, as long as I do it with my you know, scent-free lotions. It's all good.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. So speaking of scents, I don't know if I reviewed this brand before, but I really like it. I have one of their perfumes, which I can also talk about, but I bought this guy during the Sephora sale. It's the Skylar Hair and Body Mist. Nice. And this, this one is called, well, it says Pure Vanilla Cotton Candy Coconut Milk. So it's like really sweet. They describe it as, they describe it, the fragrance family, they say, is warm and spicy and the scent type is warm and sweet gourmand. And I've decided that's kind of what I like because another perfume I got, which is the same brand, is in the same category. But anyway, it's a hair and body mist. And sometimes when I don't want to wear perfume, perfume, I just spray this on. It smells so good. Just like a lovely, light, sweet, but not too sweet scent. And you could just like spray it in your hair, spray it on your body, like walk through it kind of deal. And I love it. It's great.

SPEAKER_00:

I really like it. I made a lot of a hair and body mist. I like that.

SPEAKER_01:

Hair and body mist. And this specific one's called Boardwalk Delight. They have other ones too, but I really like this one. It kind of smells like summer, beach, like it's really, really, really good. So I love this. And speaking of, so Skylar is this new brand I found, it's Clean Beauty, and they also have a perfume that I've been wearing, which I don't think I've talked about, but I've been wearing it for months. The flavor that I have, I think it's called Vanilla Sky, and it's, they have it in a eau de, how do you say, how do you say?

SPEAKER_00:

Eau de Parfum. Eau de Parfum.

SPEAKER_01:

Eau de Parfum. So they have it in that, but I actually have it in the roller. So they sell it like in the tube rollers. You know how they have that at Sephora? And I like it on the roller just because like it's just easier and you can travel with it. But that's a really, really good one. And again, it doesn't give me a headache. And now that I'm looking, it's in the same scent type and fragrance, fragrance family of warm and spicy and warm and sweet gourmand. And the keynotes to that, to the perfume is Cappuccino Pure Vanilla Caramelized Cedar.

SPEAKER_00:

Cappuccino, say those again?

SPEAKER_01:

Pure vanilla. Cappuccino, pure vanilla, and caramelized cedar. It says, vanilla sky is the smell of comfort in a super sensual gourmand fragrance. Rich warm vanilla notes blend with delicious hints of cappuccino. Caramelized cedarwood lies at the base of the fragrance, why can't I say that word, to give a rich golden warmth to remind you of stunning golden hour skies.

SPEAKER_00:

Nice. Does the gourmand part mean like it has scents that you find in food? I don't know.

SPEAKER_01:

I'm not sure. To me, that just means kind of sweet or like, yeah. But anyway, it's like I wear that with another perfume that I'll review at another time that I also found that's clean and doesn't give me a headache. And I layer it with that and it works really well. Or sometimes I'll just do this hair and body mist because this hair and body mist is in the same family. I'll do this and then I'll do the perfume just to give it like more of a scent for like nighttime or something. And also the way that they describe this hair and body mist, just because I love the description. I said it was warm and spicy, warm and sweet, but the key notes are pure vanilla, cotton candy, and coconut milk. And the fragrance description says, Sandy toast, sweet treats and smiles on the shore are brought to life with notes of sweet cotton candy, raspberries, sorbet and creamy coconut milk balanced by pure vanilla in the base. The scent is meant to inspire you to relieve and recreate the memories of your youth with the power of fragrance. So anyway, it's kind of like that beat. That's what I was kind of saying before. But anyway, really nice brand Skylar Clean Beauty. I love it.

SPEAKER_00:

I haven't heard of it. I got to check it out. OK. Yeah. My next one is Pixi On The Glow Blush. Did you review this? Oh, I didn't, but I've seen it. OK, so I was just I was at Ulta with Madeline recently, who is asking me to buy her Sol de Janeiro or some skincare product daily. Oh, yeah, of course.

SPEAKER_01:

Constantly, which I have that I can give it to her. I have the sold as you narrow.

SPEAKER_00:

She has them all now. It's like absurd. It's ridiculous. But like the skin care piece, I'm I'm trying to stay really firm on because I don't I feel strongly that a 10 year old does not need anything besides hydration and SPF. Totally agree. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And I listen and read a lot of articles about this that like younger kids skin is getting messed up because they're using all these things because they see them online, like all the drunk elephant or whatever. And it's so bad for their skin.

SPEAKER_00:

The drunk elephant is so bad for their skin. And the marketing on that is so that's the only reason why they want it is because it's such good like packaging and everything. It's and all of their friends have it. So anyway, I was rewarding her with some Sol de Janeiro for how hard she worked on her play. And yeah, but Alta and I found this pixie and it's just a really cute color. It's a nice it's tinted moisture stick. This color in particular is floor. But it's like, oh, sorry. It's a it's a very fun, like punchy pink. Good for spring. And it looks so easy to apply, too. It is. Yeah, that's what I really like about it.

SPEAKER_01:

And it almost has like a pretty highlighter to it. It's really pretty. Is it like is the consistency like a bomb? It looks like it would be like a bomb.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. And I've actually when I wear it on my cheek, sometimes I put it on my lips, too. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So on your nose, too, for a little color.

SPEAKER_00:

it has a really nice feeling when you put it on like especially if your skin is maybe a little dry it's going to give really a little bit a little bit of moisture so anyway so that's a good one that's a good one i've seen that but i've never tried it okay they have they have hold on really quick one two three they have four shades

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, Gore shades. Nice. OK, next one. Another one that I got from the Sephora sale that I'm really liking is the Fenty Beauty. It's called Invisimat. And I just want to see if this is a specific color, but it's just Invisimat Instant Setting Blotting Powder. This one's called Universal. First of all, I like it because it's like little, just like a little palette and I can bring it with me. So, you know, in my bag for touch-ups and I never like I feel like my face usually doesn't get shiny but like sometimes you know if you're out a long time you get like a little greasy and this is just a really nice mattifying powder but not not matte matte but it's just you could just take a little bit and just kind of, you know, blot. Mm-hmm. And it's great.

SPEAKER_00:

So what's the brand again? I miss that part. Fenty. Oh, nice. Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

And I like it because see it has this little tiny pad you can put inside. And a nice mirror. And a nice mirror and it's like perfect. So I literally bought it to just have in my bag when I need a little touch up. So I don't have anything like this. It's called Fenty Beauty Invisimat Instant Setting and Blotting Powder. And it's a matte finish, long-wearing. It says, a refillable universal finishing powder that blurs the look of pores, absorbs shine, and extends makeup wear all day. Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

So it's not necessarily translucent. It's a finishing powder.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it's a finishing powder. I don't know the difference between a powder and a finishing powder, but it's called universal. So it's just kind of like white, but it's not really a color.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_01:

So then it is translucent. Yeah, I guess. I mean, here, look, I'll show you. It's like a whitish pinkish.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. It's versus like when you put it on, if it had like a tint to it, like a concealer tint. No, no, no, no, no, no. Yeah. So that's that's a translucent powder.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. So I think it's like you just put it on at the end just for a little whatever or you just keep it with you if you need like a little touch up. Yeah, like, yeah, it's nice. It's really nice. Thirty seven dollars. I need something like that because I don't probably last like for 20 years. You know, I'm sure like those things just stay around. They like never they never get lower. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, 100 percent. All right, my next one is a new ride-or-die holy grail, and it is the, it's kind of silly, but it's toothpaste, the TOMS of Maine Original Sensitive and Whitening Toothpaste. It's for sensitive teeth, and specifically, the reason why I started using it is because it's fluoride-free. So I was getting this, and listen closely, listener, because if this is happening to you and you don't know why, This is it. I was getting these like red bumps around my mouth and like sometimes like a little bit of a rash and I could cover it up with concealer, but sometimes it would be really bad. And if I didn't have makeup on, you could really see it. And sometimes it would kind of go away. And it was off and on for, I don't know, like maybe a year. And I finally, I was doing some digging and I found out that it was perioral dermatitis, which can be caused by multiple things, but most often caused by fluoride. So fluoride in your toothpaste, fluoride it can be in your mouthwash. But it's not internal, it's external, like it's on your skin? It's external, like it was, I don't have it anymore, but it was all through here and that like red rashy through here and then like lots of little bumps around here. And it's from fluoride toothpaste? You can get it from fluoride toothpaste, you can get it from steroid inhalers, like Flonase, that can cause it too. Interesting. So apparently it's pretty common and some people get it really bad. Like there's an image online that I'm looking with this website and it's really, really bad. Mine was never that bad. But as soon as I started using fluoride-free products, even your floss can have fluoride on it. Oh, interesting. Yeah, I started using fluoride-free products and it went away. But what I love even more about this toothpaste is this is the best whitening toothpaste I've ever used in my life. I my teeth are getting really white and I have I have I ran out of my Guru Nanda whitening strips. I haven't been using those. This is all I've been using and it's really Legit. This is legit whitening toothpaste.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. And it's Tom's, which is good because that's organic or clean or whatever.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it's natural. So it's completely natural.

SPEAKER_01:

I use like Sensodyne, but I wonder if that has fluoride in it. I have no idea.

SPEAKER_00:

It probably does. You have to really look for fluoride-free toothpaste. It's like most of them have fluoride in it. Good to know. Yeah. But this one also for sensitive teeth, which is nice. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. Awesome. Yeah. Okay. So the last thing I have, like I feel like a lot of our things are kind of like edging into spring summer, is a new self-tanner that I've been testing. Oh, nice. I know. It's the Saint-Tropez, which I think I've reviewed, like they have a face one that I might have reviewed in the past. I can't remember which I really like. But this one is for a natural deep olive tan, St. Tropez Self Tan Supreme Violet Bronzing Mousse. It's really good. It makes you really dark and so far so good. It doesn't have that smell that I hate. So I've only used it a couple of times. I'm going to use this this weekend because I have an event and it's a good one. So I'm always on the hunt, as you know, for good self tanners. And I really like this one.

SPEAKER_00:

What kind of application is it? Is it a spray? It's a mousse. It's a mousse. Okay. Do you use something to apply it or do you just use your hands?

SPEAKER_01:

I use the mitts. I could probably use my hands and then wash them, but I just use the mitt because I just feel like it spreads better. But yeah, so so far so good. I mean, I just think Saint-Tropez has like the best self-tanner. There's another brand that I reviewed that I got on Amazon. I can't remember the name of it. I reviewed it last year, which I still use, but I ran out of it. So I just bought this one to try it. And it's a really good one because I like the color because it's it's just like a dark color instead of like an orangey like, you know, sometimes you could do a self-tanner and it's like a brown, but it's not like dark. This one's super dark. Does it come out violet? No, I don't know why they call it violet. Maybe it's just the line, but it's just like a deep olive tan. I don't know why they call it violet. I have no idea. But maybe it's just, I don't know, the line. But it's great.

SPEAKER_00:

I wonder, I'm just out of curiosity, the level of like if clean beauty is at all in tanning products, self-tanner. Is Centrepay? Centrepay is not necessarily clean beauty brand.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't think so. But the one that I reviewed last year, I think it was called

SPEAKER_00:

tan be or be tan like be tan yeah that one is clean i'm pretty sure that one was clean yeah that one's really good i just ran out of it or yeah expired or whatever it was i mean pretty sure that one is clean it's not like every product that we use is clean like wherever we can use it whenever we can great and it's just super realistic to have everything clean in your life those there are people that do it and more power to you but that's a lot of yeah a lot of tanning stuff i feel like it's hard i actually have a

SPEAKER_01:

person like when I really want a good tan that's like a spray tanner person and all her stuff her spray is clean it's made out of like beets and like all this like plant based. That's cool. Yeah it's fabulous but it's like you have to go there and get a whole thing done that's for like when I really I'm like going on vacation or something.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah you just reminded me of a funny story I had it before we went to Mexico for Adams birthday last year I had a woman come to do my spray tan and I don't know why I was expecting just like any woman this woman walked in she looked like she stepped off the cover of like a men's magazine but like still classy like she was stunning oh my god as insane she was like a little uh like like exotic looking. And meanwhile, you know, when you do yourself tan, like you're naked. You put on so vulnerable. I hate it. So vulnerable. And she's right. And I'm just thinking if my husband walked in right now, this. Wait, was she like a bodybuilder type? No, she was like curvy, probably like Brazilian or something, just like really beautiful.

SPEAKER_01:

And it was just so funny. How'd she do it in your house? Did she have a bubble or did you do it outside?

SPEAKER_00:

She didn't even use a bubble. We went into my gym, of course, I closed the lines and everything, and I stood on a towel and there was no residue. There was nothing. Oh, interesting. Was it a good tan? It was good. It was good. I could have gone darker, but I'm always so nervous that I'm going to look crazy. So I always go conservative.

SPEAKER_01:

But yeah, the color was good. I find that different parts of my body tan in different ways when I do those spray tans or even just like a self tan. the lower half of my legs like the front like my shin for some reason that area doesn't get as tan so I do like a double layer and when I was telling the self-tanner woman that she's like oh yeah that happens to a lot of people I'm like really she's like yeah it's just the way I don't know I'm like oh interesting

SPEAKER_00:

Huh. I've never paid enough attention to it. All right. So here's my last one. And, you know, not every product is a five star review. This is more of like I'm sharing my opinion. De-influencing. Yeah. So I've been trying to find a good setting mist because when I go to work, I'm like pulling on and off my face all day. Like my makeup wipes off so easily. And I ran out of my last one, which was the NYX. And I actually really liked it. And I picked up the Elf Stay All Night Microfine Setting Mist. Uh-huh. Not performing. It's really it's not performing. I maybe if I didn't have things like rubbing my makeup Constantly, but the Knicks really would hold up right that one.

SPEAKER_01:

I remember I think you reviewed and you liked it Yeah, you reviewed you said you didn't like and then you went back and you said you liked it because you were like doing It wrong. Was it the Knicks?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, that was the next. So I have educated myself completely on how to use these things now, and it's still, it's just not, it's not bringing the magic. But I am testing the, I just ordered it, the one size setting. Oh, I have that too. I just ordered it on the Sephora sale, the trial. Yeah, same. So I've heard it is really good.

SPEAKER_01:

I've heard it's good and I like the applicator. I haven't used it yet, but it seems like it's one of those continuous sprays, like it's like a mist versus like a pump. So I think that makes a difference. I actually have, I was going to tell you to try because this one's fantastic. I don't know if I reviewed it before, but it's the Morphe setting spray. Lauren Miller actually used that on me, and I bought it after she used it. And again, it's like a mist that is like that continuous mist. You just, it's great.

SPEAKER_00:

I just ran out of it. And does it work? Does it, like, keeps the makeup on?

SPEAKER_01:

Makeup does not move. It's fantastic. So the Morphe, I think they sell it in Ulta and on Amazon. I've seen it before. But I ran out of it, so I got the one size because I wanted to try that. Yep.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm hoping mine's going to come in a couple weeks. I actually ordered mine off of TikTok shop. I forgot that that's where I got it.

SPEAKER_01:

Never order off TikTok shop. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00:

I understand that some people think it could be sketch, but they have deals that are insane. I know.

SPEAKER_01:

I think everybody orders from there. I've ordered like once or twice, and when I get stuff, I feel like it comes from a rando place. It's not like Amazon and Amazon packaging. It's not like a TikTok.

SPEAKER_00:

You're right. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, you're right.

SPEAKER_01:

It's hard to know if it's legit.

SPEAKER_00:

I don't know.

SPEAKER_01:

It's probably fine, but it's hard to know if it's legit.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Yep. I ordered my Beauty of Josene.

SPEAKER_01:

from there. Right. Oh, you got the moisturizer. I got it still.

SPEAKER_00:

It has the retinol cream. Yeah, the eye cream. But like it could be counterfeit, apparently. I know I've felt the buzz.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, you have to be careful. I mean, if you bought it from a legitimate person, if you read their reviews, it usually should be fine in TikTok shop. That's what I've heard. But like beauty interesting, especially like I bought one on Amazon and it was fine. But then I ended up finding a website that sells a lot of Korean beauty and I buy it from there now because you just never know. But yeah, I mean, I feel like I'm into TikTok shop, but I'm like a little bit it like doesn't come quickly. I don't know. We're just so used to Amazon or like it's there the next day. So but yeah, I know they have really good deals.

SPEAKER_00:

And also maybe not the best place for me to be getting my skin care, but like they I bought this really cute. It's not a caddy. I don't know what you describe, but it's like it's on a pedestal. It's round and you put all of your products in it and it can spin and it's like a turntable kind of thing. Yeah. And Lazy Susan. Yeah, exactly. I got that for one for Adam and myself. That's five dollars. Yeah, I know. That's a good fine.

SPEAKER_01:

Amazing. Totally. All right. Well, that will do it for. May product junkies. It was good to be back and doing some reviews and hope everyone is well and see you next time.

SPEAKER_00:

And also, guys, don't forget our Amazon storefront is where you can find most of these products. And we have some really exciting guests coming up. So I'm super psyched for them.

SPEAKER_01:

But all the links in the show notes. Thanks for listening to Nirvana Sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes, please subscribe and leave us a review. Also find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would, please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana Sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 153 - Amy’s & Katie’s Mastered Evening Skincare Routines (Full Transcript)

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here or view our podcast episode guide.

SPEAKER_01:

Welcome to Nirvana Sisters Podcast, where we take the intimidation out of well-being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state, your nirvana. We are sisters-in-law and your hosts.

SPEAKER_01:

Welcome to Nirvana Sisters podcast, where we take the intimidation out of well-being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state, your nirvana. We are sisters-in-law and your hosts.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm Amy Sherman. And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation.

SPEAKER_01:

Welcome back to the show, everyone. It's Amy and Katie, and this is a bit of a part two because we did our AM routine and now we're going to do our PM routine quick run through because I want to hear what Katie has been using lately because her skin is looking fab. So let's get into it. Katie, give us the rundown.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I'm going to start because mine is like pretty light and tight. So I've been using A313 from the French pharmacy since probably January. And I am definitely giving this a lot of credit for my skin transformation. This has made my skin really like tight and plump and it's reduced fine lines and wrinkles.

SPEAKER_01:

Do you put that on first? What's the order? Do you do cleanser first, then that? What's the order?

SPEAKER_00:

I do cleanser, and then depending on how my skin feels, if it feels a little dry, I will sandwich this with one of my moisturizers, either my La Roche-Posay Double Repair face moisturizer or my L'aneige water bank. And so I will do a moisturizer, a pea-sized bit of this, spread it around. And if I feel like I still need, I'll do another moisturizer. If my skin isn't dry, then I can just use the A313 on its own. So it just kind of depends on how my skin's feeling.

SPEAKER_01:

And I can't use it every night. Is that like a retinol?

SPEAKER_00:

It is. It's retina A, so it's the most mild. I have learned that my skin responds to the most mild and I don't need to go stronger. And I use it probably maybe four or five nights a week. Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

So that's equivalent to my tretinoin that I use.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And then my new favorite eye cream that I am testing was actually a suggestion from Karen Martell and it is an estrogen cream by Est. Estrogen cream. Under your eyes? I've been using it under my eyes and anywhere where I feel like I have wrinkles. Interesting. I use it on my laugh lines and up on my forehead and around my eyes. And I have noticed a difference. It is a little premature to really speak to it, so I'm testing and I will report back. Okay. But I've been doing it for maybe a month, so I need to report back. But my skin feels very bouncy since I've been using it.

SPEAKER_01:

And what's the brand? Is that Karen Martell's brand?

SPEAKER_00:

No, this I actually get from... I've had this for a little while and it is from my personal integrative doctor. Oh, okay. So she's who I get my progesterone cream from. But as we've talked about before, I wear my estrogen patch and then this I just use for my skin on my face.

SPEAKER_01:

And it's estrogen cream?

SPEAKER_00:

It's estrogen cream. What's the strength? It's biased 5.0 and it has estradiol and estrone in it. And I tried to use this instead of my estrogen patch as my hormone replacement, but I didn't respond very well to it. Okay. So I'm better on the patch for actual hormone balance. And there has been studies out recently that I've seen from Dr. Mary Claire Haver, I think her name is. She's a major hormone doctor in the country. And she was talking about a study that estrogen cream is really good for face, for premature wrinkles, for building collagen and everything. So yeah, I'll report back. Um, and then lastly, I do my lineage lip mask before I go to bed, have it on a little bit right now. And this is a new one that I'm going to talk more about when we do our April product junkies. Okay. I do this a couple of days a week. It is the topology deep care serum infused micro dart eye patches formulated with our gear line peptide to target wrinkles. And it's basically their eye patches that you wear under your eyes and you have to wear them for a minimum of two hours. I like to sleep on them. Wow. Okay. And yeah, I'll report back. But I like them so far. I've used I think I've used maybe four or five of them.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. Yeah, I've seen those. I haven't tried this yet. Amazing.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. So that's, that's my whole routine. It's like pretty simple. And I've been really pleased with it. What is your routine?

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, so here's my routine lately. So I double cleanse. I always double cleanse. So I use the Beauty Shaman's Cleansing Beauty Oil and the Sea Silk Wash. I do that every single night for the most part. But if I'm wearing a lot of makeup, I actually use, and I'm not sure if I've talked about this product before, but I use the e.l.f. Makeup Melting Cleansing Balm, Holy Hydration. I love it. This is such a good cleansing balm. I actually have tried some other ones that I don't like the smell, they don't work as well. This one smells so good and it's great and it gets off all my makeup and I don't even need to double cleanse. I literally just use this and then everything comes off. What I also use after I cleanse my face, and I don't think we've talked about this before, I use the Clean Skin Club towels, like individual towels. You see those like on Amazon or whatever. These, I think, have significantly helped my skin because obviously, you know, they're a one use. So I use those after I cleanse my face. So that's great. And then I like leave it and I use it just like for the rest of like, you know, just like washing my hands and stuff afterwards and cleaning around my sink. But so I always do those things, either the cleansing balm, the oil and the double cleanse. Then, to your point, I use an equivalent, well, I use a strong tretinoin, like just a prescription tretinoin, and I either do it on dry, depending on how my skin is, or I put on a moisturizer first and then do it, or I'll put on Matrixel first and then I'll put the tretinoin on. But I try to do it just on my dry skin because I think it works best there. Again, I only do it a few times a week. My skin has tolerated it fine. I've been using it. I think I've been using forms of retinol over the last, I don't know, four years maybe, three or four years. I don't know. It's probably the lowest prescription strength of tretinoin, but it's still tretinoin. But I think it's fine. I put it on my face and my neck. And then after the tretinoin, I do the Metrixyl, tried and true, so good.

SPEAKER_00:

And that's topology?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it's the topology matrixel. This one we've used, I think you've used another matrixel like the other brands, right?

SPEAKER_00:

I've used the Ordinary's matrixel, and I liked it.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. This one, again, this is a Natasha Beauty Junkie Monkey special, but love, love, love. Then after that, I'll do, again, depending on the night, usually the Skin Fix, which I just talked about on the Sephora sale show, but the Skin Fix Barrier Triple Lipid Collagen Activating Serum. So good. I use this day and night. It's such a good product. Peptides, makes your skin plump. Then I use The Kosas toner, like I just spray that, like it's a toner serum. And again, it all depends on how dry my skin is, but usually if I'm using tretinoin, I'll use snail mucin after that. I'll do a toner, I'll use snail mucin, just kind of like sucks everything in.

SPEAKER_00:

What brand?

SPEAKER_01:

What snail mucin are you using? I'm using the one Kosar X. Okay. We have it in our Amazon store. Yes, that one's fabulous. So I use that and then I use a moisturizer and currently I'm going in between two moisturizers and I love, I think I don't remember if we've talked about this one, the Extremely Rich Moisturizer by Wise Beauty. So good. It's like the kind of thing I got the sample for it. And as soon as I put it on my skin, I was like, oh, I just love the way it felt.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, I love that feeling.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. I was like immediate purchase. Like, I just love the way I feel. It's so buttery and creamy and like it just feels so good. Yeah. But it's not like super thick, but it's just like buttery and it's just feels so good. So I'm currently using that. But I also switch it up with the Hatcha Dewy Skin Cream because I was testing this one. I don't have a conclusion on this one yet. I'm still testing it. I sometimes use this in the morning instead. I think it's better under makeup. But the Extremely Rich Cream is great. But again, it depends. If my skin isn't that dry, I'll just keep the Snail Mucin on and that's it. And then for under the eyes, I will do either the Beauty of Jose Revive Eye Serum Ginseng and Retinol, which is really good. I'll kind of use this a couple times a week, or I'll use the Depology Peptide Complex Wrinkle Defense Eye Cream. Again, depending on what I'm in the mood for. So I rotate between those. And then what else do I use? Oh, and then I'll top it off with my Terezin Honor Eyelash and Brow Serum. Throw that on the top. Now that's for a night where I have a lot of time. Now sometimes there are days where I don't have any makeup on or like I haven't put on makeup that day and whatever, and I literally do nothing like last night, which was all I did was spray my face with this SkinSmart Antimicrobial Facial Cleanser. It's almost like the Tower 21, you know the Tower 21 spray, antibacterial spray that a lot of people use on their face. It's called like SOS spray. This is like a similar... Tower 28? What did I say? Tower 21? Tower 21. It's Tower 21. It's like an orange bottle, and it's a spray bottle, and it's called SOS. A lot of people use that. This is similar, just has more product in it. This one's from Amazon, and I just spray that on my face if I just feel like I don't even feel like washing my face, I'm tired, and I do that. So I either do like very minimal, a spray, or like a micellar, that's it, or full on board, and then my husband's like, what the hell are you doing in there? Like, it's been an hour. That's the rundown and I just got the red light at the Sephora sale. So I'm going to throw that into the mix, but I don't know if I'm going to use that morning or night. When do you use yours?

SPEAKER_00:

I have to admit I haven't been very good about it, but if I do use it, I use it at night and Adam has been using it at night. He's been using it more.

SPEAKER_01:

Do you know, do you put it on with anything on your face?

SPEAKER_00:

I put it on after my routine if I'm going to use it. Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. I'm going to have to try that and report back. But anyway, that's the that's the treatment. That's the rundown.

SPEAKER_00:

And I feel like we should both show our skin because our skin is looking good. Like this is proof is in the pudding. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Good stuff. All right. That was like a super quickie, but I felt like we needed to continue that p.m. routine. And I also think that, too, I really like switching up products every few months because I feel like sometimes you use a product for too long and it like doesn't work anymore. It doesn't feel like it works. And I feel like switching it up and then going back to it sometimes like regurgitates the product.

SPEAKER_00:

I don't know if that's in my head, but that's so I mean, I different strokes for different folks. Like I if I find something I like, I stick with it for a long time, like for free. probably a decade. I didn't change my skincare routine until I started having problems.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, maybe that's why. No, I'm just kidding. Maybe that's why you started having problems. Well, like this Matrixel, for example, I've probably used this for a year. So like there's some tried and trues I feel like that I'm always going to use, but I feel like the moisturizers, the eye creams, the stuff like that, I like to mix and match.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, maybe it depends on how sensitive your skin is, too. Maybe your skin's not that sensitive, so you can do that.

SPEAKER_01:

It's weird. It used to be sensitive, but now, who knows? But anyway, all good things. Put everything in the Amazon store. Put all the links in. Have a good week, everyone. Thanks for listening to Nirvana Sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes, please subscribe, and leave us a review. Also, find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would, please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana Sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 152 - Amy's Sephora Sale Favorites: 30 Tried-and-True Beauty Picks- Solo Episode

: Welcome to Nirvana Sisters podcast, where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state, your nirvana. We are sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman. And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation.

Hi, and welcome back to the show. This week is a quickie, and it's a quick cookie on the Sephora sale. I know, random, and I figure I would hop on and give you my rundown on what I think is worth purchasing. The things that I'm going to recommend are basically things that I use over and over again, and I have a lot of empties of, and so I find that the best time to stock up on those things is during the Sephora sale because you know that you like it. I also, of course, have ordered some things that are new that I want to try, but I thought going through some of my favorites might help you in deciding what you should get. So this is kind of going to go through randomly a bunch of different things. Skincare, makeup, hair care tools. Just a bunch of things that are kind of tried and true. Okay, starting with skin prep. So there's a few products by say that I really like. The first one is the super gel lightweight dewy highlighter, which we've talked about before. I have Starglow, and I know Katie has that one, too. And what I do is I mix that in with my vitamin C and put on my face, and it's just as like a glowy do. So that's just a really good, kind of, like, skin prep product. You can kind of mix it in with anything. It looks great. I actually ordered a refill of this, but I also am trying the bronze one because I want to see how that one works as well. So highly recommend that one the next day. Product is the slip tint, and that is another product we've talked about a lot. It's the lightweight tinted moisturizer with mineral SPF. Really, really good product. Again, this is like a no makeup, makeup, makeup every day, throw it on. I kind of use it as a foundation, but it's really just like a tinted moisturizer. But it's a really beautiful sheen on the skin, and it looks very natural, and it just covers up some of the redness. So again, I really like the, say, super gel, and I really like the, say, tinted moisturizer. In terms of other skin prep products, I really like two products by Skin Fix. One is the barrier and triple Liquid and collagen niacinamide activating serum. Say that ten times times long as a name ever. And this serum is a beautiful serum. I use it morning and night. It's really helped with plumping my skin. It really helps with Barrier Recovery. It's an excellent product. I believe Natasha, Beauty Junkie Monkey, recommended this product, and I've been using it ever since. The other product that is also very good is the skin fix barrier and strengthening plumping triple lipid peptide moisturizer. And this is a heavier moisturizer. I use this at night. I was using this for a while. I repurchased it a few times, and it's a good one to mix in. I've started trying some other nighttime moisturizers, but this is kind of like my tried and true holy grail, so I always stuck up on that. So those two skin fix products I really like. Another skin prep item is the kosas plump and juicy vegan, collagen, and probiotic spray on serum. Again, this is just kind of like a toner spray. And I've been using this a lot lately because my skin has felt very dry. And sometimes what I do is I put this on before my makeup. I put this on during my makeup, and it just kind of keeps things moisturized, hydrated, and glowy. So it's a really nice spray. It's $48. It's definitely not worth $48, because there's a lot of other spray kind of, you know, serums, but it's a really pretty bottle. I like looking at it. It has, like, a really good feel, and it lasts a really long time. I've only bought it once, and I'm, like, halfway done with it, and I use it all the time, so that's a good spray on serum. Okay, these next two things are kind of skin prep, but kind of not. One is totally not, and that is the necessary deodorant gel. Rando. I know, but I had been looking for a natural deodorant for years, and I tested so many of them, and this one is the only one that I've repurchased, probably ten times. And again, it's necessary. I buy the eucalyptus scented one, which I really like. It feels really fresh, and I love that smell. But they also have unscented. They used to just have eucalyptus, but now they also have unscented. So that is a tried and true, really good natural deodorant that actually works. And the last skin prep is more of a tool and definitely a splurge, but I've been talking about getting a red light mask forever. You've heard us talk about it on the show. I know Katie has one. A lot of people recommended different ones over the year, and I've always wanted the doctor Dennis gross one. I've had it saved in my favorites at Sephora forever. So I finally bought it during the sale, and I'm excited to report back. But again, that's a splurge. But again, if you're thinking of buying a tool and it's been on your list, it's a good time to buy it because the sale only happens twice a year. Okay, that's skin prep. Next, blush. Couple of blushes I wanted to highlight. So the merit flush bomb, such a good everyday blush. You, it's buildable. It's really nice. I have a few colors, but some of the colors I like are cheeky. That kind of works well on everyone. And that's kind of just like a movie rosy color. Really, really pretty. It's kind of a cool pink. And then I also like one called Stockholm, which is a baby pink. So it's kind of that brighter pink rate. These are good things to travel with, good things to put in your bag. Really nice product and clean. Most of the products I've actually mentioned, I think, so far, are all clean. Says clean. Skin fixes clean. Kosis is clean, so I guess most of the stuff is clean, which is great. Back to say, I also like the do blush blendable liquid blush. I have it in Chile, and I've had that color for a really long time. It's really beautiful. I also bought during the sale a baby pink color, which is kind of like a bright pink, pretty for spring. Those are kind of like, you can't mess them up. Throw it on buildable. You can wear it during the day, you can build it up at night. Really good blush. Really, really easy to work with. And I love that one. So that's a liquid blush. Again, the flush bomb is it's a cream blush. Another one, which is also a liquid blush that I do want to recommend is the nars afterglow liquid blush. And again, this is like in the color orgasm, which looks good on everyone. And it's really nice for the cheeks. And I actually put this on my lips, too. So just another color, not that I would buy all three, but if you're thinking about different ones, the say one's great, the merit one's great, the nars one is great. And the last one, I'll say is one that I've recommended in a previous product. Junkies a little bit more high end westminutelier. And that one in the color pop, it is a really bright pink and really pretty and just gives a pop to the face and to the cheeks. There's also a few other blushes that Westminutelier have that are really pretty colors. I don't remember the names of them now, but that whole line is just gorgeous. Again, that's a cream. It's kind of in a stick, last forever. Really, really nice. Okay, next we've got. And, yes, I made a PowerPoint of all the products that I like, because that's the way that I organized myself. So if you hear me clicking my mouse, yes, that is what I did. Okay, bronzer. So this category is kind of like bronzer. Bronzer drops, highlighter. They're sort of all in the same category. So for bronzer, we have rare beauty. The bronzing stick, I use it every single day. It's so good. It's actually called. Let's see exactly what it's called. It's the warm wishes, effortless bronzer sticks. There's a million different colors. The one that I like is called happy soul. It's like a light brown with cool undertones, but all their colors are really, really nice. Again, this is, like, pretty foolproof. You throw it on, you could use it for contour. You could use it for bronze. I use it for bronze. I love it. I use it daily. I travel with it. It's kind of a one stop. The other one by rare beauty that I really like is the positive light liquid luminizer highlight in deep bronze. So I have this as a highlighter, but in deep bronze, you can use it as a bronzer. But the cool thing about this, and this is an Erica Taylor special, is that you put this on, it's almost like a highlighter, but also a bronzer at the same time. And it almost looks like a blush. So you could literally just use this. And it kind of counts for all three, I can't expect, but it's just this really beautiful formula, and it does, it makes you look bronze. It also gives you a little bit of color, and it gives you a highlight. So that's kind of a good one stop shop. And that's a fun one. So those two bronzers I like, I will also talk about the hourglass ambient lighting palettes. The one I have is the snake one. I got that, I think, during the holiday sale. And it's a great palette. There's six different shades. And again, it's. It's blushes. It's highlight. It's bronzer. And that's another good thing that you could travel with or just really have this, because the hourglass formula is so pretty, and it, it's a powder, but it's almost like a highlight. And it really makes the face kind of glowy and dewy. So if you're just kind of looking for something that's kind of an all in one, I would highly recommend these palettes. They're really, really pretty, and I don't know. No, no. They just make me happy. I just love looking at the outside packaging. It's so pretty. But, no, I use this one a lot, and I use it a lot of times over, kind of at the end, after. After I do bronzer and blush, I kind of just use that to finish off the face. So the, that palette is really beautiful. Other tried and true highlighter is the rare beauty highlighters, and they are called positive light, silky touch highlighter. I have it in two colors. I have it in champagne, which is really pretty to put, like, on the eyes or on the cheeks. And I also love rose bronze. I think that's called. What is it? Mesmerize. You could use it as an eyeshadow, but you could also use it as a highlighter. So those two are great. Just different options depending on what you like. Okay. And now we'll move on to the bronzer drops. So I use the drunk elephant, a Bronze age bronzing jobs. Every single day. I mix it in with my moisturizer, and it makes my face have color, and I love them. However, sometimes I switch it up because I get sick of that. And I have two other ones that I really, really like too. One of them is the Westminutelier liquid, super loaded all over illuminator drops with vitamin C. The color that I have is called pew de soleil, and it's really, really pretty bronze. I will use this more at night because it's definitely has a little bit more color. It's a little bit thicker. It just has a thicker consistency. It's a little bit more dewy, and it looks really, really nice with makeup. So I'll use that one at night more, and the drunk elephant ones during the day. And then a new one that I just learned about and I bought a couple months ago. I haven't reviewed it yet. The brand, iconic London, and it's the instant sunshine bronzing drops. And those are kind of a good substitute for the drunk elephant. If you don't like those, it's. It's actually a little bit more golden bronzy than the drunk elephant ones, but all three of these are great. So I would use the iconic London or drunk elephant for the day, and I'd use the Westman at night. Again, they're all interchangeable. And just some other options for bronzer drops. Next, eyes. Okay, I have two mascaras that I'm going to talk about. One is the Ilia fullest volumizing mascara in black. I've talked about this one a lot. I love it. To me, it is the best mascara. It's thick, it makes your eyes. I really like volume, so it really makes my eyelashes look thick and voluminous. And I love this mascara so much. The other one, that's a newcomer that I've been liking over the last few months is the lash clash by East Saint Laurent. Similar to the ilia one. A little bit different. I have the brown color, and it's like a rich brown color. So what I'll do is I'll put on the black, and then instead of doing two black layers, I'll do a black and a brown, which I think is really pretty, especially for during the day. So again, the YSL one's really good. They have it in brown, they have it in black, and I think they might have it in a blue or red or another fun color, but I have it in the brown. So those are my two favorite mascaras. Okay. And moving on to eyebrows, the two face fluff and hold laminating brow box. It's amazing. I've repurchased this many times. One side is a clear gel that goes on really nicely and has a really firm hold. And then the other side is a brush. It's two different kind of brushes on each side, and one kind of, like, has that laminate look, and the other one just kind of, like, brushes them out and makes them look a little fluffier. So that is like an awesome, awesome brow wax. Next, concealer. So I've tried so many concealers. You know, I'm always on the hunt for a concealer. And honestly, my favorite one is the lawless conceal. The deal, lightweight concealer. The color that I have a shell, they have a lot of different colors, but I really like this concealer because it does feel like skincare. It doesn't feel like a thick concealer. It's very thin. It's very hydrating. It feels really good on the skin. On me, it does not crack. It's just, I find this lawless consistency the best for me. I know a lot of people like the kosas one and all these other ones, none of those work for me. This lawless conceal the deal, I'm telling you. Try it. It is so, so nice and really hydrating. Okay. And lastly on the eyes, the noni glow radiant eye oil by quora organic. So this is the one that Erica Taylor recommended. I've had it for probably over a year. I've had the same bottle. It's small, it's only like 10 ML, but it lasts forever. It's on a roller, so you could roll it underneath your eyes or just put it on your hands and kind of pat it on your eyes. This is so good to use at the end of the day. Like, if you're going out and you don't want to redo your makeup, you kind of put this on under your eyes and it refreshes that area. And then you put on concealer again or just really evens out that area and makes it really soft and supple and moisturized. I also sometimes put it on at night before I go to bed just to kind of moisturize that area because it's always dry. I can't recommend it enough. The noni glow radiant eye oil. Just get it. Do yourself a favor. You'll be really happy. It is so good. Okay, next. We're almost there. Lip. Okay, two things. First of all, the lineage lip sleeping mask and the lineage lip glowy balm. These have replaced my aquaphor. I used to use aquaphor forever, and I know it's not great for you. So the lineage lip sleeping mask, such good hydration. I use it every single night. I like the original flavor. I have the cotton candy flavor. I love it. And also the lip glow bomb I use all throughout the day. I have all different flavors. I have mango, I have peach, grapefruit, all of them. And again, I have these in like different purses and like different work bags and whatnot. But those two things are kind of definitely tried and true. I know they're all over the place and it's not original, but I have to say, if you haven't tried any of the laneige lip products, you should. Okay, moving along. Okay, so I love this Tom Ford lip combination again. Holy grail. It's a lipstick and a lip gloss. The lipstick, the one that I have is called nude, but I don't see that one anymore. But they have something that's called spanish pink, which looks exactly like my other one. So I'm assuming that was the one that replaced it. So I use that and I use this Tom Ford gloss luxe lip gloss in the color, in the buff, which is like a nude with like a pearl. And this nude combination is so pretty. Every time I wear it, I get compliments. It's my go to. Like, I always buy new stuff, but this is the one I always go back to, and I always have, like, for travel in my bag, et cetera. And the Tom Ford lipsticks and lip glosses are not cheap. So, like, again, good time to buy it. Highly recommend. And then the latest lipstick that I've been loving is the Patrick ta. Major volume plumping lip gloss. Gloss. So I got the color called say less. It's like a, like a baby pink. It's so pretty, it's hydrating, and it doesn't hurt your lips, like a lot of the other plumping lip glosses do. Like, you can feel a little bit, but it doesn't, it's not painful, and it's very moisturizing. And that's a new one. So sometimes I'll just put on that, the Tom Ford lipstick and put the plumping lip gloss over it, or I'll just wear the lip gloss by itself. But I highly recommend that. That just came out recently. I probably bought it a month or so ago, and I'm really enjoying that. And then another one, again, not original, but the summer Friday's lip butter bomb. It kind of goes along with the lineage. They're just excellent bombs. I just wear them every day on and off. They are different than the lineage because laneige is more just like a bomb. It doesn't really have color. It's just kind of like a gloss, but it's clear and it smells good and it's moisturizing. But the summer Fridays have a little bit of color. So I have the pink sugar and the brown sugar. They smell so good. They have a little bit of color, and they're great. Just a good one to have on hand and a good one to buy during the sale. Okay. And lastly, we have hair. So how could I do this without talking about hair? I just have a few products for hair. So one is the color. Wow. Dream coat super natural spray anti frizz treatment. This is something you use after you shampoo and condition your hair. Use it on wet hair, and it's a really good treatment to use before you blow out your hair. So it protects your hair from the heat. It's anti frizz. It makes your hair really shiny and soft. It's beautiful. I definitely noticed a difference when I use this and when I don't use this. So on days that I wash my hair and blow it out, I'll always use the color. Well, dream coat, highly recommend it. I had the little sample and then I bought the big one. And I'm almost finished with the big one, so I probably should stock up on this one. I also love the Kerastase nutritive eight hour magic night serum hydrating treatment for dry hair. So this is a treatment. It's like a hair serum. You just put it on every night. And again, it just keeps your hair moisturized, it keeps your hair shiny. It just keeps it healthy. And I also had, there's a version of this for highlighted hair. It's like a purple bottle, which I've also tried. I don't like the smell as much on that one and I don't, I didn't find that one as effective as just the eight hour magic night serum. So I went back to the magic night serum. So again, tried and true. I feel like that product along with the color, well, product, both of those, you can't go wrong. And lastly, again, if you want to splurge, so is a good time to look at the Dyson. So the airwrap or the air straight, either of those are really amazing tools. I have them both. The air rep I've had for years. I mean, it just does wonders, gives you that blowout, wavy, curly, however you want to do your hair look. It's such a great tool. And if you were thinking about buying, it might be a good time to buy it now. And the straightener I got more recently and I like that too, as a substitute for just a classic flat iron because this is healthier for your hair. It's hot air instead of those hot plates. So I find that when I use use this, my hair doesn't feel like burnt or like crispy. It just feels nicer. So when I want to kind of straighten my hair and not have any curling it, I use the air straight straightener. But if I had to choose one, I'd probably say get the air wrap if you haven't tried that, if you want to buy something in the sale. So that is the end of my solo episode. Thank you for listening. Hope it was helpful. And I'll be posting all these products on Instagram and on our show notes and blogs so you can always reference them there. And hope this was helpful. Happy shopping or not shopping. Bye.

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Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here or view our podcast episode guide.

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Episode 150 - Amy’s & Katie’s Mastered Morning Skincare Routines (Full Transcript)

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here or view our podcast episode guide.

SPEAKER_01:

Welcome to Nirvana Sisters Podcast, where we take the intimidation out of well-being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state, your nirvana. We are sisters-in-law and your hosts.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm Amy Sherman. And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation.

SPEAKER_01:

Hi, welcome back to Nirvana Sisters. It's Amy and Katie, or at this point we may be calling our podcast Wellness Junkies, which is our new name, or we think it's going to be our new name. So either works. But Katie and I were talking this week because her skin has been skinning and mine has too. And so we just thought we wanted to share our AM and PM routines really quickly for a quickie episode. So I'm going to kick it off to Katie because she was saying she has perfected her AM routine and I would like to hear it.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I think I have finally gotten it down and I have had like really wax skin off and on for a few years. I don't before I don't know when we met Natasha Brinkman it was sometime last year. Yeah, yeah. When I started listening to her content I learned that I was doing something very very wrong with my routine at the time and I was constantly dealing with breakouts and then super sensitive skin with like patchy dry flakes and what I realized I was doing is I was using an exfoliant every single day when I'm not supposed to. Yes. I was also using a strong retinol that's too strong for my skin. I wasn't using sunscreen. So there you go. It took me months of like simplifying my routine. Right. Pairing it back. Yep. Getting it like all repaired, getting my skin barrier repaired. And I did that by using literally like one, maybe two products. I used La Roche-Posay Tolerane Double Repair Face Moisturizer because it's really, really good for sensitive skin and it is very hydrating. Okay. And then I would occasionally use like a Matrixel or an Argiline as well, but that was like, I wasn't using any actives for a really long time. Okay. And I'm still using very few actives. So my, not only is my skincare routine like locked in, but it's simple and it's affordable. So. Okay. First thing I do, of course, is wash my face and I use a La Roche cleanser for that one. We'll link everything in the show notes. We will, yep. And then I have my Caudalie Vinopure toner that I just like dab on my face. Okay, so that's the first thing after you wash. Yep, very first thing because I've read that it's good to have like a little bit of moisture on your face for when you're starting to apply your steps depending on like you can't do that with retinol. So it's the morning, I'm not using retinol. So my next step is my vitamin C. And I was on the hunt for a really good vitamin C with ferulic acid for a long time that was affordable because SkinCeuticals is amazing. It has so many great views. We know so many people who love it. Right, but it's like $150. It's so expensive. I don't have it in me to do it. So I tried Skendeva, who I think we got from Natasha. Natasha B recommended, yep. And it's great. It really like it tightens my skin and it gives me this very glowy finish. And it's also for sure helped with like pigmentation and evening out my skin tone. This has been clutch. And I only introduced this like maybe two months ago. OK. All right. So there's that. And then. So it is cleanse.

SPEAKER_01:

It is toner. It is vitamin C. Vitamin C.

SPEAKER_00:

Then I use my moisturizer and right now I'm bouncing between two. I've got the La Roche-Posay Tolerane Double Repair. I'm still like, this is always going to be, it's very good. It's very hydrating. Does it have SPF in it? It does not. Okay. So I'll get there. Got it. And then occasionally I'm like a little too, like a little more dry probably from my retinol use or just not being hydrated. So I've gotten into Laneige Water Bank. Oh, I've seen that. It is incredibly moisturizing, and it's really good on sensitive skin. Because I do, I for sure have sensitive skin. When you say that, is that on a pot? Well, I just have a sample. Oh, a sample. Okay. I've been working with samples. I haven't. That's smart. I have not tested this for like longer than a month. And also I'm not using it every day, but I'm using it a couple of times a week. and my skin is tolerating it as well as it tolerates the La Roche. Okay. It's just a little bit more hydrating.

SPEAKER_01:

So it just kind of depends like winter, summer or like how your skin's feeling.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, exactly. And then I finish with my La Roche-Posay Anthelios Tinted Mineral 50 SPF, and I do it with a mix of my C'est Glowy Drops. And this I love because it just instantly evens out any skin tone. It'll hide little blemishes if I have them. It even hides circles under my eyes. And then the Glowy C'est Drops, it's like Yeah, so good. You are glowy.

SPEAKER_01:

And is that sunscreen? That's a tinted moisturizer, too.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it's a tinted moisturizer. So you don't even have to... That's great. Exactly. So the nice thing is that between my moisturizers, I use very little bit of each, so they both last me a long time. Yeah. And then I, so then a couple of days a week, I cycle in my exfoliant and I use Paula's Choice 2% BHA liquid exfoliant with the salicylic acid. I'm really like this one, my favorite is Dr. Dennis Gross, the pads, but again, they're like $100 for a month.

SPEAKER_01:

And you do that in the morning or at night? I do that in the morning, actually. Interesting. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I guess that makes sense. And it gives really, really, really glowy, fresh skin.

SPEAKER_01:

It's amazing. You can tell when you've exfoliated.

SPEAKER_00:

I love it. I don't think my camera has a filter on it right now. My skin is doing really, really well. I do have makeup on. It's been, you know, it's made it through the battle.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, no, I've noticed it. What about you? What do you do? So I do different things too. Now it depends if I'm rushing or if I'm not rushing. Okay. So If I'm just doing a quick and dirty, I wake up, I put micellar water on or splash my face with water, usually just some micellar water, like rinse off, whatever. Then I do, again, depending on the day, I have the, you know, Wise Beauty, Your Favorite Ex exfoliating pads that I've talked about on the show before. So those, actually you can use them every day. I don't use them every day. I probably use them maybe like five days out of the week, maybe four, just depends. But if I'm rushing, I may or may not use those. And then after that, I'm talking about I'm rushing, I'm doing the vitamin C from Wise Beauty. So I used to use a vitamin C for like you, but the vitamin C from Wise Beauty also has, it's like vitamin C, niacinamide, maybe squalene, like a few things. So it's like an all-in-one. So that's kind of like, I could just do that and be fine. So I actually mix that with the Say Super Dewy Glowy. So I had that. I like forgot about it. I hadn't used it in so long. And then you recently mentioned it again. I was like, oh yeah, I'm going to bust that out again. And I had heard Molly Sims talk about that on her podcast that she mixes that with her vitamin C. And I was like, I'm going to try that. It's so good. So I mix the vitamin C with the Say Super Dewy Glow, whatever that's called. And then if I'm rushing, I just put on a moisturizer sunscreen. It's actually a sunscreen, but it feels like a moisturizer. The beauty of Jose and one, you know, the Korean skincare because it's thin and it doesn't feel like sunscreen at all. And I do that sunscreen and I mix it with the. The drunk elephant bronzy drops done, OK? Yeah. So that's like when I'm rushing, like that's what I did today. On a day where I'm not rushing, I will definitely do the exfoliating pad, which takes two seconds. Then I do the vitamin C. Then I do a Giroline, which is always great because that like helps your like wrinkles not move. It's almost like Natasha B. calls it like Botox in a bottle. It really does like help your face be a little bit more rested looking. Then I do the Skin Fix Barrier Triple Liquid Oh yeah. SkinFix Barrier Triple Liquid Collagen and Niacinamide Activating Serum. So this I use, I actually use it morning and night, but again, it just depends on the morning and night, but I do that. And then I do the moisturizer and the bronzing drops. I also sometimes will use that Aveeno Calming Serum, depending on how my skin is, if it's winter. And then if it's winter, and I'm really feeling dry, I'll put on the... I actually just got this. I haven't fully reviewed it yet. I'm still testing it, but I like it so far. The Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream Plumping and Hydrating Moisturizer. I'll do that in the morning because it's really hydrating, and then I'll put the sunscreen and the whatever. But the sunscreen, the Beauty of Jose, and I've been using it all winter, and it's been fine. And I think it's because I put so many other serums on that it feels hydrated. Yeah. So that's been my routine, which has been working really well.

SPEAKER_00:

And you don't use a tinted. It's not tinted sunscreen. The beauty of dressing.

SPEAKER_01:

That's why you know, I'll do a tinted sun. I'll do a tinted like I'll use the say skin tint, which is my favorite. I'll use that afterwards. So that's just like an extra because it's a it's a. I wouldn't use the Say Skin Tint as like my moisturizer because it's more of like a... It's more like a concealer, kind of. Yeah, it's like a tinted... They call it a tinted moisturizer, but it is a little thick for that. It feels to me like makeup, even though it's not really makeup. I mean, it's so sheer. So I guess you could do that in the summer, but my skin's so dry that I couldn't use that just as moisturizer. So I will do all that, my skin set, and then I'll use the Say um skin tint or slip tint i think that's what it calls just for like a tinted moisturizer and that has spf 40 i think in it so it's just an extra layer which is good and do you have an eye cream yes I have a few, again, depending on the day. The main thing I use is, and I believe I reviewed it on the show, but again, all these links will be in the show notes because we're like coming to you with so many products. And by the way, we have an Amazon store, which I don't remember if we've talked about, but all of this will be, if it's on Amazon, in the store. I have that stick. It's... The roller? The roller stick. I can't remember the name of it, but I reviewed it. And it has, it's just like a caffeine gel. Yeah, that's what I use most mornings. At night, I sometimes use that peptide cream that is a topology, but I rarely use that in the morning unless my eyes feel very dry. When I use that gel, that's all I seem to need with then just like a color corrector or, you know, color corrector concealer. Yeah. And then I also kind of put those serums and stuff under my eyes. Oh, and then once a week, I do do a heavier exfoliator, like a gritty one. I know they say the gritty ones aren't good, but I have one from Shelly Marshall, like a seaweed gritty exfoliator. You know what it's called? Like something goddess. And it's so good. And I use that in the shower, like maybe once a week. And that's the kind of exfoliator when I use it, my skin is so bright and glowy, but you can't use it all the time. I feel like the Molly Sims one, it's very, very gentle, which is why you can use it every day. And it does give your skin like it exfoliates and it makes your skin look good. But again, that's like gentle and every day. But the one from Shelly, it's not actually harsh at all, but I don't think I would use it every day just because it's like that gritty, whatever. But when I use that, my skin's like, bam, or sometimes I use it at night before I go out and my skin's like, glowing.

SPEAKER_00:

Glowing. Yeah, I mean everybody's skin is different and so that's why it's super important if you're listening and you want to try some of these products that you like slowly introduce things into your skincare routine because like you can exfoliate with Molly Simms product every day and you say it's super gentle maybe it is super gentle but I might not be able to use it every day. Exactly. It's all trial and error. It's all trial and error, without a shadow of a doubt. So I highly recommend, like, if you want to mix up your routine, add something in and just do that for a month. And then, like, add in the next thing and see how it goes.

SPEAKER_01:

And usually less is more. That's what, from all the people we've interviewed, like, that's what everybody says, right? And it also really depends on how you're feeling and how your skin is feeling, because it's not the same every day. And I also think it's good, too, to switch products around and not use the same thing all the time. You know, like after a couple months, like you, like your moisturizer, just change it up after a couple months.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. You try and try new things and you do it slowly. You see how your skin reacts. Sometimes it's, I mean, what's working for us might not work for you, but it's really if you, if you pay attention to how your skin feels and looks after introducing one product at a time, then you can make an educated decision if it's working for you. I mean, I would like, sometimes I think like, should I add in an Argiline and Matrixel or something? But right now it's so simple. And like every product I use is under $40. It's just nice. It's like very streamlined. It's working.

SPEAKER_01:

You don't need it. And I also find too, like in the morning, I I do less than I do at night. I feel like the night is when you can put on like the serums and the thicker things because they settle in while you sleep.

SPEAKER_00:

That's so funny. I do so much less at night. But I but I have like like one killer product that I feel like does all the work. So we'll have to talk about that next time.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, that's going to come in the p.m. episode. So this was just a quickie hopping on to say hello to you guys. And we'll do a p.m. routine in the next one. See you next time. Thanks, guys. Bye. Thanks for listening to Nirvana Sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes, please subscribe, and leave us a review. Also, find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would, please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana Sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 147 - Insider Tips For Natural Skincare & Haircare With Ayurvedic Therapist, Kirti Tewani (Full Transcript)

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here.

SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to Nirvana Sisters Podcast, where we take the intimidation out of well-being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state, your nirvana. We are sisters-in-law and your hosts.

SPEAKER_01:

I'm Amy Sherman. And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation. Welcome back to the show, Nirvana Sisters family. Today we are sitting down with Kirti Tejwani. Kirti, a cross-cultural individual born in India, raised in Spain, and currently residing in New York, is a dedicated Ayurvedic therapist, speaker, and founder of Better Green Health. Her mission is to inspire individuals to seize control of their health and well-being and lead a life of balance and fulfillment. Kirti's commitment to holistic living also extends to her approach to skincare and beauty. She integrates 14 years of experience in beauty with Ayurvedic principles and modern techniques to find non-toxic and efficacious beauty products. In her view, authentic beauty originates from within, and we can radiate beauty and vitality by nourishing the body and mind with wholesome foods, herbs, and self-care practices in addition to maintaining good skincare. So I feel like you could not possibly be more aligned with all of the things we think and feel as well. So welcome to the show, Kirti. Thanks for being here.

SPEAKER_02:

Thank you so much. Thank you for having me, ladies.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, we'd like to kick it off with our Nirvana of the week. So I'm going to let you, Amy, you go first. What was your Nirvana? Get the ball rolling.

SPEAKER_00:

I would say that my mother-in-law's in town, which is really nice because She doesn't come up that much and she doesn't come up without her husband and dog usually. So she's just here by herself, which is nice just to get some quality time one-on-one. So she came in last night and is here for the weekend. So I'm enjoying my time with her so far and just looking forward to just having good conversations and spending time with her and the kids and everything. So I would say that's my nirvana. What about you, Katie?

SPEAKER_01:

Nice. We love Judy. I think mine was yesterday. I had one of those great days of balance. I was able to spend my morning volunteering at school for my oldest daughter. And then I went into the city and did my work there and had a great afternoon. And then I came home and prepped a little bit for this podcast and had some family time. And it was just one of those days where I was like, oh, I checked like all the boxes. Got to check today.

SPEAKER_00:

You're like, can't every day just be like this?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it was so nice and like nothing was overly crazy. It was like, you know, everything was like, it was like just the right amounts of things. So I was able to manage it all. So it was it was really nice. What about you, T? What was your nirvana this week?

SPEAKER_02:

Oh my God, so many things. But if I have to pick one, I actually socialized yesterday. We had like a little mom's night out. Not once I checked my phone. And that was such a big accomplishment because usually I'm worried if the kids are by themselves, but because my husband was home, so I wasn't worried about the kids. I wasn't worried about work. It was late night and not late night, but like more into the evening and yes, it was nice to like completely disconnect and be present in the moment. And I feel like in the world that we're living in, we're spending less and less time in the present and we're always like distracted by so many things around us. It was nice to actually connect with people who were also not on their phones. So everyone in that room was fully present or as present as they could be.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, that's fantastic. Doesn't that time just fill your cup so much, that time with friends, right? Yeah, for sure. All right, well, let's get into it. First, really quickly, let's just touch on Better Green Health. It's your blog, is that correct? Correct.

SPEAKER_02:

It's my blog. On and off, I've had it for two years, but then I worked on it for a little bit and I wanted other Ayurvedic practitioners and doctors to kind of be a part of it. But it's really hard to find good quality writers all the time. So it went back on the back burner because life kept happening. And then I revived it again in January. So we've been posting pretty consistently, updating new blogs about self-care practices, Ayurvedic practices, basically practical things that will improve your life. A lot of us are living in this thing, I need supplements. You don't need supplements. Sometimes you just need sleep. And even understand that from the inside and listen to yourself and listen to what your body wants can actually solve so many problems, but we often just ignore that inner voice. So the blog is mostly a reflection of if you want supplements, there's an option, but let's choose what else we can do in life to make our life easy, which is completely in our control.

SPEAKER_01:

I was looking through it earlier, and it is such a great resource. And I feel like for our listeners, most of the things, if not everything that we talk about today, they can probably find something tied back to on your blog if they want a resource to dive deeper. So we've had someone on before, an Ayurvedic specialist, a couple of years ago. Justine Lemos, and she was the first person that gave us a really deep dive understanding of what it is. And for our listeners, go if you want to go back and listen so that you better understand Ayurvedic practices. But what we would love to talk to you about today is because you have the most amazing content on your Instagram channel, with all of your skincare practices, and your hair practices, and all of these great things that we can do at home DIY things. So we would love to get into that with you. Does that sound good? Oh, it sounds amazing. Okay, great. All right. So Amy, do you want to kick it off since I'm doing so much talk?

SPEAKER_00:

Sure. No, no, no. So first topic, and I feel like this has been so prominent over the last few years, hearing more and more about it. So firstly, hair loss, hair growth, that category I feel like is just booming for women post-COVID. So we'd love to hear about that and hair oiling because I started doing that actually in January as part of my mood board for the year. I'm going to take better care of my hair and I started doing a bit, but I actually don't know if I'm doing it right. I'm just experimenting. So I would love to hear more about that practice and actually how to do it right and how that may or may not contribute to hair growth.

SPEAKER_02:

Everything starts from the inside, right? Hair oiling is an amazing practice. And I am obsessed. If you guys haven't seen my channel, I'm sure you have seen my channel, but I am obsessed with hair oiling because a lot of us just focus hair oiling equals to hair health. But if you think about it in the deeper sense, in the Ayurvedic sense, yes, it does benefit your hair. But at the same time, when you are massaging your hair, you're also getting psychosomatic benefits because you are relaxing your mind, your nervous system is decompressing, your body is decompressing, you are forced to be in the moment. And just that movement is not only helping your hair thrive, but also your inner body heal. And that is one thing that a lot of people don't understand. And when it comes to hair oiling, You know, it is great for your shaft. It is great for your scalp. Ayurveda has recommended hair oiling as a part of your hair care routine. It's like a pre-wash regimen that I also recommend to people to do. But at the same time, it is some you time, you know, even if it's five minutes or 10 minutes that you're giving to yourself to nourish your own body, your own mind, and that self-care practice. In addition to having great hair, does hair oiling prevent hair loss? Absolutely. Because one of the biggest reasons of hair loss is stress. So when you're doing hair oiling, you're not just protecting your hair from the outside, but you're actually having those psychosomatic benefits, which is helping you decompress. So you are reducing hair loss and not just for the nourishment. Because a lot of people are like, well, you know, it's going to clog my pores. I'm like, no, it's not. Your skin, it's the same skin that is on your body, your face, and your scalp. It's skin. So if you're moisturizing your body, your face, and you're not moisturizing your scalp, it doesn't make sense. So no, it won't. If you correctly hair oil, you warm up your oil, you massage it all over your head, and there are certain marma points that are more beneficial to massage, you will see benefits on the long run. To shampoo it correctly, I've posted multiple videos on like, a lot of people are like, well, I have to shampoo four or five times. I'm like, because you're not shampooing correctly. You do not need to shampoo even twice if you shampoo correctly. The two ways to get oil out of your hair in one shot. First one is flip your hair upside down. and then shampoo it and add a little bit of water and keep massaging your scalp with the same amount of shampoo that you took. And the second, if you have curly hair, you know, that's going to be a little bit difficult. But if you have that situation, you can section your hair. You know how you go to a hair salon, when they blow dry your hair, they section your hair. And when you section your hair and shampoo your hair, you're actually thoroughly cleaning your scalp. Bajing gave you benefits, but now we need to get rid of that oil in order to refresh. Same way we clean our body, now we need to clean our scalp. pore cloggings and all those problems only come if that oil is sitting for ages and ages in your head and you're not able to clean it properly. So if you do things properly, you know, there's so many benefits that it just doesn't stop at one thing.

SPEAKER_01:

And what type of oil do you use for hair oiling? Does it matter?

SPEAKER_02:

In Ayurveda, we call it different doshas have different hair types, and those different hair types could benefit from different hair oils. Like people who have vata dosha, for example, which is excess air element in the body will benefit more from something that's warming. you know, a warm oil. So something like sesame oil, which has warming qualities. Now somebody who has spitta dosha, they will benefit because they already have excess fire element in their body, they're going to benefit more with cooling oils. So jasmine, amla, almond, all of those have cooling properties. And then somebody kasa dosha, now they again want to increase the fire because they are too grounded. So again, something heated, is going to be more beneficial. So depending on what hair you have, what type of hair you have, certain oils can benefit you more. But at the same time, there are certain oils and certain herbs that are particularly focused on your hair that can benefit everyone. Brinjal is a great herb for your hair that can benefit anyone. Hibiscus. Jasmine, amla, one of my favorite things that I speak a lot about is amla. And again, the benefits are way beyond just hair and not just externally, but even consuming some of these herbs internally can help you have amazing hair.

SPEAKER_00:

What was the first one you said? It cut out a little bit on me. I just wanted to make sure I heard it. Sorry, the reception's bad right now. What did you say? It's called Bhringraj. Bhringraj. Okay. Yeah. The reason why I was asking is because I think the majority of our listeners, or some of them, may not know their dosha like me. And so if there's certain oils that kind of like work for everyone, I think that's great feedback. So we know kind of like if we use that, we'll be okay if we don't know our dosha and haven't gone that far into Ayurvedic. So that's great.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I mean, Amla oil works great for most people. Just make sure when you're buying your Amla, it actually is Amla oil and it's not, you know, mineral oil infused with 5% Amla.

SPEAKER_00:

You want to make sure, is it like 100% that we're looking for?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, so Amla oil, you can either get Amla seed oil or you can get Amla extract. infused into a carrier oil. So those would be the two different things. But then there are certain universal hair oils from certain companies that work for a lot of hair, all hair types. And everything you buy mostly would work for all hair types, unless you are very highly, extremely imbalanced in your doshas, then you should try to opt for something that is more dosha prominent. And if you want to take a dosage test, it is available to take on the Better Green Health site.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, perfect. I will do that then. Question. So, okay. Once you've picked your oil, then what do you do? Like break it down and like, if our listeners want to, you know, hair oil in 101.

SPEAKER_02:

So once you have your oil, warm it up. The first step, warm your oil with a double oiling method. And then one of the easiest way to find your crown chakra, which is right here, anterior fontanel. You know, when the babies are born, they have this jelly belly spot, like a really soft spot on their forehead. That's the spot we're going to start hair oiling with. Okay. And the reason we started here is because this is in the Vedic world, they believe once you have achieved wisdom, there's a Lotus that's going to open up and you're going to connect yourself to the divine. So this is where all your energy is coming in from. And then there are important marma points here that is connecting your entire body as well. So you start the massage from here, then you go on this next point, which is If you see people balding, this is the first spot they're going to start losing hair. If you need a high ponytail, that's going to be another way to kind of recognize that spot. That's the next spot. And then the third one is in the back of your hair. So like, let's say about three inches from your hairline above. That's the Krikatika Marma. And that's another very important point to massage your hair. And then you can slowly massage it all over your hair. So the first step would be to take your head, hand, sorry, your fingers, and you go up and down in the movement. And you do it on your entire hair, just like a wave. You know how a wave moves up and down and you do it and you repeat that process three times. The second movement is a round movement and I call it my special chumpy way. So you do the round movement again, all over your hair. You start from front to back, all over your head, taking sections and going all the way in the back and then the middle of your hair. And again, you repeat this three times. And now how does a spider move? Like up and down. And you go all the way up and all the way down. And you again, repeat the entire process three times. If you want, now you can repeat this entire process again to kind of extend the time. But if you even do it once, you're immediately going to feel like And that is one of the goals with the Chumpy because again, I know that people are extremely focused when it comes to hair oiling on their hair health, but the benefits go way beyond just the hair health.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, so I have a silly question. So how much oil, I'm very specific, how much oil do you actually put in those areas before you do the massage?

SPEAKER_02:

So again, it depends. If you are someone who has extremely oily hair, you don't need to put a lot of oil. You can also work with your existing oil on the hair, so you need a little bit. But if you have extremely dry scalp, you know, irritated scalp, somebody with scalp psoriasis or problems, you can perhaps use a little bit more oil.

SPEAKER_00:

And is that like when you say a little bit more, is that like a full like droppers worth or like? Oh, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02:

You can use at least like five to six droppers. Oh, okay. Wow. It depends how much oil you want to use. But if like there are moments where I would completely drench my hair in oil. But I don't recommend doing that all the time. Because again, too much of anything is not good. But once in a while, if you want to do that for a full experience where your hands can just completely move without your hair blocking anything, you know, the more you oil your hair strands and everything, and it's an amazing experience. And it's extremely beneficial if you have access to steaming. after hair oiling, because then you go in the shower or even like a steam room, then the pores open up and that oil gets an opportunity to penetrate inside even deeper. So that's where you're going to find tons and tons of benefits. And Ayurveda is big about steaming, especially after body massage or hair massage.

SPEAKER_01:

Nice. I have a steam shower. I'm going to have to try it. I've never done any of this before. Just practicing what you were doing, trying to do it, was relaxing. I can only imagine how much of a relaxing practice it can be. Do you also believe you use rosemary oil as well for hair growth? Yes, you can.

SPEAKER_02:

And I've spoken to a bunch of people regarding what has worked and what has not worked for them. Using just rosemary oil doesn't work for everybody else. And I have posted tons of recipes where you have fenugreek, curry leaves, rosemary, aloe vera, you know, a mix of everything, because I would always believe in a balance. Every ingredient has its own potency. It's either hot or cold. But if you make a combination, then you have certain heated herbs and certain cooling herbs. And that's just kind of a good balance. So now you have this mixture of compound, but you need And every ingredient has its own benefit for your hair, but at the same time, it also has other benefits. The smell and all of those, a combination of all of those is so beneficial. So rather than focusing on maybe just one single ingredient, sometimes it's beneficial to go and get something that has multiple ingredients in, or if you want to make your own, you can do that too. Again, there is nothing wrong with just using plain coconut oil either. Like if there are some people who swear, like my hair, amazing, they feel amazing after using just plain, simple coconut oil. But then all of those depends how damaged are your hair. Does it need a little bit more? Overall, your head likes a cooling environment. And that is going to be beneficial. And not even just for your hair, but even your brain inside, you know, it's always go, go, go, go, go, go, go. So something cooling is more appreciative for your hair. So herbs like hibiscus, herbs like amla that have cooling properties, even coconut oil has cooling properties. All of those can be very beneficial for your hair.

SPEAKER_00:

And how often do you recommend doing it? Like once a week or?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, it depends how many times. It's like a pre-wash regimen, right? Okay. Before you wash your hair.

SPEAKER_00:

So for me, that'd be once a week because I don't wash my hair that much because I have dry hair. But for others who wash their hair a couple of times a week, like you could do it a couple of times a week. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

All right, let's dig into some skincare tips. You have so many great pieces of advice on your IG content, on your feed.

SPEAKER_00:

And your skin is glowing as I'm looking at it, Alice, of like the glow.

SPEAKER_01:

Glowing, absolutely gorgeous skin. And plump. I also saw on your Instagram how all of these people are asking you your age. And this was like a whole thing going on and on about your age.

SPEAKER_00:

And I was wondering that myself.

SPEAKER_01:

From like 23 and up, right? Totally.

SPEAKER_02:

It was funny. Every time, at least once a week, I get like these weird comments. Like, why do you look 25 and 55 at the same time? Like, somewhere around that. Why do you look 23 and 53 at the same time? Like, it's always in between 20s and 50s that people start guessing my age. And I was like, all right, you know, if you guess my age correctly, um, you know, you're gonna win something. And I did pick some winners and I sent them a little something but it was really fun to do that to see I think over 4,000 people tried to guess my age, and it was fascinating to see that, and how much people were interested in just guessing a random person's age they saw online, or maybe they follow me, I don't know that. But the reason I did that was, first, it was fun, and second, just to kind of see how people would act and react. And there were a lot of comments would say like, I would give like, you know, 28, but I'm giving you 41 because I follow you and I see how much you know and like those kind of comments or people would be like I would give you 32 but then you have gray hair so maybe I'll give you 52 like that was the assumption like generally people just associate gray hair with age. people don't understand the concept of premature graying, or they don't understand some people get premature graying in their 20s, but they color it. So you don't see it.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. I know someone that went premature gray when they were 16. That's a thing. All right. Well, give us all the tips. All the tips on glowing, gorgeous skin.

SPEAKER_02:

So I think one of the simplest thing is to get plenty of sleep. And we all underestimate the power of sleep, but you know, beauty sleep is not just a cliche word. It's actually a real thing. The more you sleep, the more your skin is going to glow. There is no doubts. And even for hair, like you could be doing all the hair oiling in the world, but if you're not sleeping enough hours, your hair loss and your hair fall might not stop. So sleep is one of the most important factors when it comes to your health. Number two is your gut health. And people, again, underestimate that so much. Well, I'm going to eat whatever I want. Well, then skin is the visual representation of your gut. Like whatever is going in your mouth, reaching your gut is what is going to show up on your skin. So find that balance. You don't have to eat salads every single day, but you don't have to eat a bunch of candy every single day. You have to find a balance of how much good food I am feeding my body because that's eventually going to show up on my skin. Number three, one of the most underrated or underestimated things is emotions. Nobody understands how emotions have an impact on your skin. And I always tell people when somebody is like, well, you know, I keep breaking out. And one of the first questions I'm like, how many hours do you sleep? Okay. Eight hours. That's almost good. How much stress do you have? Oh my God. I live on like the top of the edge all the time. I'm like, try doing some incorporating some practices and you might see a big difference in how you will have these internal hormonal shift towards having good skin just by reducing your stress levels. And I believe now science also agrees to that. high levels of stress, high levels of anger, and all of those things can lead to inflammation in the body, which will result in bad skin and even toxic relationships. Sometimes people are like, well, everything is fine, but they constantly have issues with their partner, with their parents, or one or the other relationship that they're carrying that baggage with them. So even those toxic relationships can have a huge impact on how your skin looks. And then yes, of course, the skincare that you're using needs to be as clean as possible, good quality. But I think that is the last factor that plays a very important role on how your skin looks. There's so many other factors. I actually was looking into this company that claims that their supplements can help people reverse aging. And when I took the test, it literally says 90% still depends on your lifestyle and your diet. Amlas are only working 10% here. And it's just a fact. It's just a fact. You can take all the amla in the world, but if you are constantly living on the edge, you are still going to age really quickly. You can eat all the pomegranate because now, you know, modern science confirms the pomegranate extract helps to produce more urolithin A, which is a gut microbiota that helps to really reverse aging. There is scientific proof now. And what's funny to me is, Both research that goes with Urolithin A incorporates pomegranate and amla, but I'd rather recognize this 5,000 years ago without the research. Very fascinating to see how Ayurveda has categorized amla as one of the biggest rasayana, and now modern science is catching up with it. Sometimes I see this research and I laugh. I'm like, okay, so you kind of agree with what Ayurveda has to say, but in a different way. The language is different, right? And I think it's easier, it's never been easier to actually take care of yourself with the amount of awareness we have. We have so much awareness. And if someone comes to me and be like, well, my acne is not going away. I'm like, all right, let's start here. Let's figure out what could be the problem. Even if hormones are the problem, then something is off in your lifestyle. Something is off in, you know, your diet. There are people who are like, well, I constantly like, have you done any A-B testing with your food? Maybe you're eating something that your body's not able to digest well. You're not celiac, but maybe your body has a very hard time digesting gluten and just try to cut it out for a few days or minimize the consumption of gluten and see how your skin reacts to that. So there's so many simple ways, but you just have to, again, listen to your body. Like, I ate this today. Did I go to the bathroom the next day? I ate this today. How do I feel? Do I feel bloated after a salad or do I feel great after a salad? So those are, I think, really simple things that are directly connected, again, to your skin.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, there is such a strong disconnect. I feel like in the Western world, and we've talked about this many times about people wanting to accept that what you put into your body is such a huge factor of what is happening to your body. You know, it's really, it's like a part of our culture. There's a disbelief in it. Right? And these practices have been going on for so many years. There's so much efficacy behind it. It's really amazing. I mean, my husband has psoriasis, and he used to travel all the time, constantly, and his psoriasis would be horrible. And now his stress levels are down dramatically because his travel is down drastically, and his psoriasis is completely gone. So, you know, something as simple, he's not taking any medication. He hasn't changed much of anything else. He does take good care of himself. But it's, you know, it's an example right there.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. Of lower stress. I was also going to say, even for like teenagers, like a lot of teenagers obviously like go through puberty and have bad skin, but they also don't eat well. Most teenagers are like sugar and like crappy food. And I was talking to a friend of mine's daughter recently, and she was saying that she had really bad skin, but she was able to clear it up. And I was like, oh, how did you clear it up? And she's like, I cut back on sugar. And I was like, smart. But to have awareness as a teenager and be able to do that, I thought was really impressive. But Yes, it's so true that we're so focused and even we always talk about different products and all these things, but if you're not doing those basic things like you're never going to get anywhere and then the products only help, but they're not going to make or break you. It's really like how you take care of your gut and what you're putting in your mouth, which is so true.

SPEAKER_02:

I mean, especially for young kids, you know, when they're at that sensitive age of puberty and they start feeling less confident because, you know, their friends start judging them and it's just a normal thing. Kids do that at that age. You know, but I think we as parents should have the ability to just not go to Sephora and buy them products, but actually make them understand that, you know, your skin is it is what it is because something is off in your gut. A dermatologist is going to give you and I'm not saying don't go to the dermatologist you should probably go to the dermatologist and get a quick fix on the top so your confidence level as a teenager you know doesn't disappear but at the same time while you're doing that you should also start focusing on your inner body because that's where everything is going wrong. The topical products will help you suppress it but it will not help you from not coming back. It will keep coming back and you'll get addicted eventually at a very young age to these topical ointments. But so you have to take care of your body from the inside. And I think that's why like, with the awareness that we have right now, I think we should constantly encourage our kids, okay, you want an ice cream? How about we eat vegetables this entire week, you know, and towards the end of the week, we can go have an ice cream. And there's nothing wrong with that, instead of giving them an ice cream option every single day. But I think we as parents need to have a little bit of accountability on that.

SPEAKER_00:

I also try to explain to my kids, which they don't fully get, but at least I put it in their head and maybe they'll think about it one day, is just the ingredient list. Because even if they are having chips, if the chips have five ingredients instead of 30, they're going to be in a better place. So I try to just, because they don't equate it to gut health and skin health. They equate it to like, oh, I can eat whatever I want. What does it matter? And I'm like, no, it's not healthy, right? And it's, it's hard, I think, especially for like young boys to understand that, but at least trying to put it out there, like less ingredients, the better, because, you know, just looking at these ingredient lists and like, you know, Doritos and all this stuff, it's so nasty that, you know, just getting that awareness out there, I think in general, which I think is out there, like just, you know, on TikTok and all the social media platforms, I think there, there's a lot more to your point awareness of this stuff than there was, you know, when we were younger. So I think it's positive. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

I think most of our listeners, I would assume, probably are aligned with, you know, working on the inside out. So I would love to, because you have some fantastic tips for natural skin care that I've seen. You create masks at home, you use rose water, I think you used honey. So give us a couple of those because I'm sure our listeners would love to hear and be able to do something like that at home themselves.

SPEAKER_02:

I mean, I've always said honey is one of, one of my favorite cleansers. It leaves your skin like with the feeling of a baby, you're going to literally feel like a baby skin with honey. But again, it's not a makeup cleanser, right? It is not, it will not remove your sunscreens because you need oil-based cleansers to remove sunscreen. But if you are, you know, somewhere you're not using makeup, you're not using sunscreen, you're indoors all day. then I would highly recommend just use honey for cleaning your skin. Clay masks. There are tons of clay masks that are available in the market, but something as simple as a little bit of a pinch of turmeric in Greek yogurt, that's an amazing mask. Wow. One of my favorite go-to masks. You will get instant brightening. The lactic acid from the yogurt and the anti-inflammatory and brightening properties of saffron, you are going to see your skin, whoa, I just had. And a lot of people are like, well, you know, turmeric is gonna stain. No, it's not gonna because of an addition of the yogurt, it is not going to stain your skin. And if it is staining your skin, it's probably because you're putting too much of turmeric in there. You just need like a little pinch of it. And like, there's so many simple things. You can make your own rose water. I posted a video about how it's very simple. It takes literally 20 minutes to make your own rose water. If you're not confident in the brand, you know, for the most part, people don't do that because it's still time consuming, but there's so many of these simple tips. Don't aggressively exfoliate your skin. You know, if you really want like one of the simplest exfoliator, Coffee, you made coffee, you had coffee, you have now grinds that you don't know what to do. You can use that as an exfoliator on your skin. Coffee is amazing for brightening your skin, for aging, for signs of aging, so many things. So not necessarily you need to spend a lot of money in order to have good skin. You can have everything in your home. I've also posted like an affordable skincare hack where you can take jojoba oil because the sebum off your skin is very natural compared to the chemical aspect of the jojoba oil. So it absorbs into the skin really quickly and add a few drops of frankincense to it, an essential oil. So now you take a $10 carrier oil, you know, buy from a good company, and then you add this essential oil that is going to last you forever. The ratio is for every ounce, you add four drops of essential oils or five drops of essential oils maximum, and you're going to see your skin thriving. And if you have a few strands of saffron at home, infuse it. Now you have your own saffron oil, which is amazing for depigmentation, skin repair. Saffron actually has the ability to repair your skin's barrier. So there's so many DIY things. If people are like, I don't want to go spend a lot of money, you don't have to. But again, you make the commitment to consistently do things. If you have the budget, then there are plenty of good companies that sell good saffron oil. Everybody has their own favorites, but you have the options of getting things if you don't want to make them at home. But if you want to make that at home, again, you have plenty of options to do that.

SPEAKER_00:

Wait, how do you wash your face with honey? Is it really sticky or do you mix it with something?

SPEAKER_02:

No, you just wet your face, just rinse your face with water, take a little teaspoon of honey, just rub it on your palm, your hands are still wet, and then just start cleansing your face with honey. That's it. That's so cool.

SPEAKER_01:

You can do that first thing in the morning, right? Because if it's first thing in the morning, you're not rinsing off your makeup and your skin, you can start your day with it. You may not have to try it.

SPEAKER_00:

I know. It sounds lovely.

SPEAKER_01:

All right, well, let's get into oh, you know what I really want to talk about is tongue scraping because I saw we we have talked a little bit about this Amy, but I don't think we've ever been able to do too much of a deep dive on it. We did with Oh, I will edit this out. I can't think of her name. But tell us a little bit about tongue scraping. And maybe if you could just break down into like the two or three things that you see the most when you look at someone's tongue, what does that mean? And then why do we scrape our tongue?

SPEAKER_02:

So in Ayurveda, tongue scraping is recommended because when you sleep at nighttime and you wake up in the morning, all the metabolic waste, it basically goes up because your oral health and your gut health is connected. It just goes back and sits on your tongue. So when you wake up in the morning, we have this white coating on the tongue. Majority of the people have it. I think everybody has it. Some have it more, some have it less. And that is a sign of the metabolic waste. So if you clean that out, not only you're increasing the perception of taste in your body, but you're also enhancing your oral microbiome. Some people, and again, your tongue, even according to Ayurveda and Chinese medicine can actually talk a lot about your internal health. But focusing on Ayurveda, if your tongue is extremely highly red, you have a pitta imbalance. If it's extremely pale, then you have an extreme mata imbalance. So when you go to an Ayurvedic doctor, the first thing they do is like, show me your tongue.

SPEAKER_00:

That's what my acupuncturist used to do every time I went in there. Yep.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. They really want to see the tongue because it can literally translate what's going inside your body. The cracks, the shapes, everything can be connected. Something's off in the body. Let's see the tongue.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. And so when you scrape your tongue in the morning, is it, you're kind of like giving it a fresh start almost so that the, what did you say? The metabolic waste? Is that what you said? The metabolic waste doesn't just build up essentially. Exactly. And then that in turn affects your microbiome positively.

SPEAKER_00:

I've actually been doing tongue scraping for years and I probably haven't talked about on the show, Katie, but it's made a huge difference I feel like in my oral health and just like I can't even if I don't do it I feel gross like I can't even drink anything because I just feel like I'm taking germs and like you know um I love once you start scraping you're never going back to not you can't and it's not like with you it's just for our listeners we don't mean tongue scraping with like a toothbrush we mean with an actual tool that you just do it for a second and it like I also think it helps with, and I don't know if this is right, but immunity. I feel like it keeps you healthy. I mean, not to jinx, but I haven't gotten a lot of colds and stuff.

SPEAKER_02:

So again, internally, your entire body is connected, right? And even modern science agrees with it. Your good oral health is connected to your gut health. Your gut health is connected to your brain health. Your cognitive health increases your immunity. And all of those things again are interrelated. So a good oral microbiome, a healthy oral microbiome is again, is going to help your body internally function really, really well.

SPEAKER_01:

I have a tongue scraper and I tried to use it and I don't know if I was like too aggressive or something, but I couldn't do it. I couldn't get into it. Maybe I'm just being too aggressive.

SPEAKER_00:

That's what happened with my husband and he was like, Joey. I'm like, no, you don't have to do it that hard, right?

SPEAKER_01:

It can be a little bit more superficial than that. You don't have to like

SPEAKER_02:

No, no, you don't have to be aggressive on your tongue. Definitely not ideal to be aggressive with your tongue. I just do it quickly. I don't know. Well, your gag reflex sometimes, it's a muscle. Your gag reflex is a muscle, right? And it can be trained over time because sometimes people go like with the tongue sweeper all the way inside. I'm like, yeah, you need to go that back. And if it's not trained very well, you know, you start and then you slowly train yourself in your muscle to work. And the more you do it, the better you're going to get just like oil pulling or anything else.

SPEAKER_01:

Sure. Okay, great.

SPEAKER_00:

I want to hear about oil pulling because that I haven't done and I feel like I've seen things about that and I don't know much about it.

SPEAKER_02:

So oil pulling, Ayurveda sees it as a preventative practice. But as you might have seen on TikTok, now everybody, especially this one company, and I work with them, it's very interesting how they have literally changed the scope of oil pulling because It's not easy to swish oil in your mouth. If you take traditional sesame oil, which even I can't do because I don't like the taste of sesame oil, or traditional coconut oil, because then you have to go melt it. And so they created this fractionated coconut oil, added menthol and some essential oils, which are beneficial like cardamom and fennel are very effective for bad breath, clove oil, which is very effective for your gums as well as your teeth. So they've added all of these tea tree oregano essential oils to it and made it palatable, basically, for people to do it. And because you have all of these essential oils, and even traditionally, Ayurveda never said to oil pull for 20 minutes or 30 minutes like people were doing. I'm like, you're going to have a TMJ if you do it for that long. No, two to five minutes is more than enough. But I feel like what the company has done very successfully is made the oil more palatable for people. And that's why people have been able to sustain their practice. So a lot of people were like, well, my teeth are not whiter. I don't have bad breath anymore. And some people are like, my gums are regrowing. I'm like, your gums cannot regrow. That's just not how it works. What probably happened, because their gums were inflamed, now because of oil pulling and all these essential oils added to it, the inflammation has gone down. So now the gums are becoming normal. And because they're normal, and they're not swollen, you know, they feel like they're growing back. And I'm like, because your gums are not going to grow back. That's just not how it works. Some of the claims do not make sense to me at all. But because I know the practice, I'm kind of able to put a little bit of logic behind it. And I always tell people, well, I don't think your gums are growing back. I think the inflammation is going down. What are the benefits of it? So bad breath, again, a good oral microbiome, especially if you're a mouth breather, you are going to have dry mouth. It's going to help you with that. And a lot of people, when they sleep, they put retainers in and, you know, you tend to have this biofilm covering your teeth. So it's able to get into those deeper corners and help you clean your mouth even more than just traditional brushing and flossing.

SPEAKER_00:

Does it help with whitening teeth or it doesn't? Because I feel like I've seen. Doesn't help.

SPEAKER_02:

So traditional oil pulling doesn't help with whitening your teeth, but it can help to, if you're someone who drinks a lot of coffee, coffee is going to stain your teeth, right? So it's going to help with the decoloration because you're swishing it in your mouth. It is kind of cleaning your teeth a little bit. So it's not like it's whitening your teeth, but it's doing a better job in cleaning your teeth, which makes it feel like, oh, my teeth are whiter. But your teeth are not. It's not whitening. It's not doing the job of whitening your teeth. It cannot whiten your teeth.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. So what was the brand you were talking about? This brand is Gurunatha. So I have to tell you something funny about this brand. So Katie had recently recommended this brand. They sell a teeth whitener, which Katie has found really helpful. But I was in my son's room, which is so funny, and he had that oil on his sink. And I don't really go in there that much. And I was like, where? Wait, which one? Jackson? Yeah, Jackson, my 17-year-old. I was like, where did you get this oil? He's like, oh, I bought it online. I was like, oh my God, he saw that video on TikTok that everybody's seen. I was like, well, why did you get it? Have you tried it? He's like, I haven't tried it that much, but I don't know. I think it's going to make my teeth whiter. I'm like, okay. I just thought it was hilarious because you know, teenagers are finding this stuff and using it, which is great, right? Holistic, it's good for you. But like, I was like, it's so not like him to have something like that. I'm like, is this yours? Is this your girlfriend's? Like, how do you have an oil pull? I'm like, I got to try that.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, that's so funny. And it's good to know to like, you know, the younger kids are also doing. It's a practice once you get into it. Again, it's like tongue scraping. Once you start oil pulling and then you stop oil pulling, you're going to be like, something's missing. I won't feel clean enough.

SPEAKER_01:

What is the order in which we do all of these oral practices? Do you brush your teeth, tongue scrape, oil pull or back?

SPEAKER_02:

Tongue scraping first, always, first thing in the morning. And then traditionally, according to Ayurveda, you're supposed to brush first and then oil pull. Then rinse your mouth with salt water or modern salt. But out of convenience, people clean their tongue, they oil pull, and then they brush their teeth. because then whatever toxins are sitting, you know, you collect a lot of bacteria with that oil and it's going to sit in your mouth. But if you brush after, then you're able to remove everything and clean the oil that is sitting in your mouth better because you do not want that oil to reach your gut. Right. Neither is doing it even before brushing. It's not wrong. In fact, it's just a little bit more practical. And then you just thoroughly rinse your mouth with warm water.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. I'm going to try it. I was hesitant on the oil pulling. I don't know why. I guess it just seemed unappealing to me. But you don't have to do it for that long. How many minutes did you do? Two to five minutes.

SPEAKER_02:

More than enough. Okay. No, absolutely. Don't do it for ten. No. Even those two to five minutes are going to give you a nice, nice jawline.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, seriously. It's like exercising. Exactly. Exercising that jawline.

SPEAKER_01:

Alright, great. I'm trying it. Guru Ananda, I love their whitening strips. They work really, really well. I saw you use them as well.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I use them and I like the fact that it's the only whitening strip that doesn't leave my teeth extremely sensitive.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, same. That's exactly why I like them.

SPEAKER_00:

I need to try that. I know you recommended it.

SPEAKER_01:

So before we let you go, this can be such a vast, broad question because I can only imagine the amount of herbs and everything that can be in one's Ayurveda practice. But what are some of your favorites? What is in your routine that you use and why or that you suggest the most?

SPEAKER_02:

I take amla every day versus vitamin C, high in antioxidants. You're going to get sick less. And one of the most important things that people don't kind of relate with each other, vitamin C helps to synthesize collagen naturally in your body. And collagen, the more collagen, the less you age. And that is not just for your skin, but pretty much your entire body, right? Collagen is good for your bones, your hair, your skin, your nails, everything. I always tell people, like, if there's one supplement that I recommend people to consume is Amla. And get your herbs from a reputated company. Don't buy your herbs from a random Amazon company. I always say that. Make sure you know where their sourcing is coming from and then get your herbs. And one practice that I live by and I absolutely love is just massaging your feet for two minutes before going to bed, especially if you have sleeping issues or, you know, insomnia or whatever, like that one practice is going to be insanely benefit for people.

SPEAKER_01:

I love that. And massage your feet with lotion, oil?

SPEAKER_02:

Oil, preferably warm oil. Just massage your feet for like two minutes, you know, like reflexology, basically giving it to yourself. You're going to sleep like a baby after that.

SPEAKER_01:

Nice. Okay. All right. So where can our listeners find you? Your Instagram is?

SPEAKER_02:

kirtitawani, just my name. And TikTok is also kirtitawani, just my name. And my YouTube is also just my name, Kirstie Tuani.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. Well, let's do our wrap session. You might've just given away some of your secrets, but let's do it just in case there's some more, which I'm sure there probably is. So what is your favorite wellness or beauty hack?

SPEAKER_02:

Hack? I think saffron. It is the key to, it has so many benefits for your skin. Consuming saffron also enhances like, you know, saffron tea or saffron milk. also enhances your cognitive health, because your brain health is really important. It's not just how I look, it's also about where my brain is functioning, right? And then saffron also has immense amount of benefits for your skin.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, the next one we call our five minute flow. You've just got it in the shower and Uber pings you. They're five minutes away. What is your quick, you know, what are your quick things that you do to get right off and get ready and get out the door in five minutes? Like what do you put in your face, your hair, et cetera?

SPEAKER_02:

I think my hair, I would just leave as is unless I washed it. Even then I would just leave it as is. I might put a little bit of oil if it's just too frizzy or depending on if it's raining outside or something like that. But I would just take any oil that I have available on my counter. I would put it from head to toe and grab a multi-stick and run. like a multi-step for your eyes, cheeks, blush, whatever you can use. Oil will give you all the glow you need. You're moisturized. That's one of the most important things. A hair tie. If my hair is looking messy, just put it in a bun and just get going.

SPEAKER_00:

Love it.

SPEAKER_01:

How many oils do you have on your counter?

SPEAKER_02:

More than I can count some days. I have a lot of oils. I mean, everybody who knows me knows that I'm absolutely obsessed with oils for face, oils for body. And again, my kids, I drench them every day after the shower. Now they know, they come out of their own shower. My son is now old enough. he puts oil on his own body and then he gets stressed and just use regular olive oil. In the summertime, we use regular coconut oil, sometimes sesame oil, and then I give them oil massages and they get very excited for their weekly full body massage. Again, a body oil. One of my favorite body oils is from this Ayurvedic company, called Sahajan. They have this beautiful, gorgeous body oil that smells divine. It's just amazing. And it absorbs into the body really well. And I think the base does have a little bit of sesame oil, which traditionally Ayurveda recommends.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I'm going to get that. I need a new body oil. What's your favorite face oil now that you're on the body oil topic?

SPEAKER_02:

Ranava, saffron serum. 100%. Like one of my all the way at the top.

SPEAKER_00:

What's the brand? Ranavath. Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

We'll have to get the spelling.

SPEAKER_02:

We have that in Sephora too now.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. Sephora sells it. Great. Ranavath, face oil. Okay. Love it.

SPEAKER_01:

All right. And then our last question is how do you maintain your daily nirvana?

SPEAKER_02:

By taking small breaks. So everything, I'm trying not to just go back to back to back to back all the time, because that is what causes a lot of stress, a lot of anxiety. So I make sure sometimes I even block like those five-minute things. I put, you know, do some inversions because the head needs a little bit of more blood flow. It's also good for premature gray hair. And just take those tiny little breaks, just for my brain health, my soul health, myself. and get back to work. And I think that has definitely increased productivity. That has definitely changed the way I react to certain situations. So yeah, I think Everybody should have these tiny little me time breaks where you're doing nothing. You're not on your phone. Taking a break doesn't mean I'm going to scroll on Instagram or TikTok. Taking a break means I'm just catching up with my own breath, just being conscious in the moment and letting everything go.

SPEAKER_00:

That's a good reminder. And before you leave, and you can say pass if you don't want to answer, but now I'm curious. I need to know how old you are. If you don't want to say it, just say pass. That's fine too. I'm 38.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, beautiful. Yeah. You could be 22.

SPEAKER_00:

I know. I was like, I'm like, she has kids. So she's not in her twenties. I was thinking like somewhere between like 30 and 35, but okay. Yeah. But I'm 38. You look amazing.

SPEAKER_02:

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01:

All right, well, Kirti, thank you so much for being with us today. I feel like we've got so much great, fun information from you and our listeners are going to love it. So we appreciate it. Thank you. Of course.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you for having me. Thanks for listening to Nirvana Sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes, please subscribe and leave us a review. Also, find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would, please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana Sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 143 - Product Junkies - February: A Quick Round Up To Start Your Month Off Right (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 143.

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here.

Speaker A: Welcome to Nirvana Sisters podcast, where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state, your nirvana. We are sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman.

Speaker B: And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation. Welcome to the show, Nirvana sisters family. It is Katie and Amy here. And today we are bringing you another product junkies. It's our first product junkies of February, and I think we have some fun products for you. So let's just dive right in. Amy, I'm going to kick it to you. What do you have today?

Speaker A: Diving right in for February. Well, I'm starting off with kind of a tool that's not new, but it's new to me because I never used it before. Really? So I got an eyelash curler. And it's funny because I had one literally for probably 20 years that sat in my makeup bag somewhere that I used occasionally, and I could never use it. Right. And then when I was at Sephora, one of my many trips to Sephora, I found a new one. The brand is.

Speaker B: Here we go again. I can't see it.

Speaker A: The brand is, I believe it's, like, on the thing, and it's so hard to read. Tweezer.

Speaker B: What's it called?

Speaker A: Tweezer man. It's like an old school brand.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker A: Tweezer man.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: And it's funny because when I was looking at them, I was like, oh, let me just grab a new one, maybe my old one's just kind of, like, old and raggedy. So I got this one, and it's funny, there was two different ones, one for round eyes and one for almond shaped eyes. And I was like, I don't even know what kind of eye shape I have, but I'll try the almond shape, and this one's so much better. So my old one must have been more like, I noticed when I would use it, it wouldn't fit on my eye comfortably. I didn't even know there was, like, two different kinds of eyelash curlers. So this one's almond shape, and it fits so much better. It just fits across my eye. Like, see how ends lay, you know what I mean? My other one was shorter and more rounds for round eyes. So I was like, oh, that's why this one works better. So now I've been using it, if I just did that correctly, but I've been using it, and it's made such a nice difference because it just lifts my eyelashes instead of them down, they just lift up a little.

Speaker B: Bit.

Speaker A: It gives it, like, a little facelift. So I've been using this, and it makes my eyelashes look longer, and I just like it. It gives a little pop to the eyes. So kind of like an old school device, but new version of it. And then, FYi, I looked up the difference between round eyes and almond shaped eyes. Apparently, round eyes are like, if you. The whites at the top and bottom of your eyes. So, you know, some people have very distinct round eyes. I was like, so I guess I have almond shaped eyes. So anyway, this one lays much better on my face. So love it.

Speaker B: That's really interesting because I've never been able to use that tool myself, and it's for the exact reason why you described, like, it never laid properly. And then it would, like, pinch. Yeah, exactly.

Speaker A: This one doesn't do that. So I'm telling you, get an almond shaped one. I just happened to notice, I was like, what's the difference between these two? And I saw one said round eyes, one said almond eyes. I'm like, oh, and this doesn't pinch. That's exactly what happened to me.

Speaker B: That's revolutionary. Now everyone is going to find their.

Speaker A: Breaking news around here, but little optimization.

Speaker B: Yeah. That's a good utility tool. Okay. All right, well, my first one. Do you see how I look very glowy today?

Speaker A: Yes, you do look glowy.

Speaker B: So I am using the, say, glowy super gel today. And what I did, I did my normal routine, obviously washed my face. I used some toner, my moisturizer, and then I mixed a couple of pumps in with my tinted SPF and a.

Speaker A: Couple of pumps of the, say, with.

Speaker B: Your tinted SPF and then just used a touch of. I mean, I didn't really want to put on a lot of makeup today, so I just have on a touch of concealer and a little bit of blush. But super glowy, no filter. I turned on all of my lights so that we could really see. Amazing. Yeah. Wow. Great one. It's their glowy super Gel, illuminated, primed, dewy skin is what it promises. And I agree that it does. And it was editorial list 2021 best clean highlighter. So you can use it as a highlighter, too.

Speaker A: Yeah, I have that. I just never use it because I've never mixed it with anything. And that's a good idea. I think I've used it before. It's just like a base coat, but I never mixed it.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: Like, a little.

Speaker B: When I first got it, I was using it only as a highlighter, and it works for that. But my skin has felt really dry and matte lately from, obviously, the cold. So this is really helping with the winter skin. But it has vitamin C in it. It's anti inflammatory from papaya seed oil. It has nourishing rosa canina fruit oil and squalane oil. So it does feel nice on the skin. Oh, nice.

Speaker A: All right, I'm going to bust mine back out and try again. Is there a certain color, or is it? Just one question.

Speaker B: They have two colors. There's universal champagne, which is the one I have, and then warm golden bronze. So the golden bronze is definitely tinted, kind of like those drunk elephant tint drops. But who knows? It might be for more pigmented skin. That's what I'm guessing the warm golden bronze one is. But this is nice. It's very lightweight, and it just brightens up your skin. Yeah, it's really pretty.

Speaker A: I think that's the color I have. I'm going to try it again. So you just mix it with your SPF as, like, the last.

Speaker B: My skin looks very hydrated today. Right.

Speaker A: It really does. It looks really glowy. It looks like when I see other people wear it. That's what it looks like.

Speaker B: It just doesn't look.

Speaker A: Try it again.

Speaker B: Okay. What do you have next, love?

Speaker A: Okay, well, I'll stick with eyes. I've been really into brown mascara lately. So this one is the YSL. It's just their brown. It's the YSL lash clash. And this one, I mean, it's their only brown one. I don't know if it has a specific name, but it's lash clash brown. I have another brown mascara that I bought from too faced, I think, which I don't like as much because I don't see the brown. But this is good for just, like, every day when you don't feel like wearing black. Sometimes black is too harsh, and you just kind of want a natural little.

Speaker B: Yeah, I've been wanting to try that one specifically. I think I saw it on TikTok.

Speaker A: Yeah. First of all, yeah, the mascara is really good just in general. Like, I would get this in black, too, just because it's, like, a nice, thick wand, and it's, like, volumizing and really pretty. But I just put on brown without anything on, without a mirror, so it's, like, hard to see. But sometimes I'll just put this on with nothing, and at least it's, like, something, because I have no. My lashes are so blonde that if I wear nothing, I'm, like, look like a psycho. So anyway, I put this on just by itself. But a lot of times what I do is I'll do a black wash of mascara and then brown so it's not as harsh. So that's been my favorite lately, just for, like, the day. One coat of black, one coat of brown, good to go. And it's just, like, a little bit of a softer look than the harsh black mascara. Or I'll just put on, like, two layers of brown. It just depends, but it's great. I love it, and I like the packaging. It's, like, thick and feels good. It's just, like, a good packaging, too. It just feels good to the hand, but it's really nice mascara. And when I'm done with this, I'll probably try the black, too. It's very volumizing.

Speaker B: It reminds me the brown. It's like a minky brown color. Jlo I mean, years ago, probably within ten years, she was at an event, an awards event, and she had fake eyelashes that were, like, beautiful, soft mink brown, and it was stunning. And I've always tried to find something to kind of replicate that, and I feel like this would really do it. Yeah, it was good.

Speaker A: Yeah, it's true. Because sometimes black is so harsh. I haven't been wearing any fake eyelashes for a long time, like, all the ones I diy, but I do have brown fake eyelashes that I'll sometimes put on with the same brand that I do. The black ones. Head candy, I think, is the brand, but they have brown ones. And sometimes when I was doing my lashes a lot, which I haven't done in, like, I don't know, a long time, I would do the brown ones, and it was like that same idea. It was like, just a little bit more natural, more light. It didn't feel as heavy. I'm into it.

Speaker B: All right, well, my next one very much complements my last one. And it is. You probably have seen it because it's gone viral recently. It's the one size pink blurring powder. Have you seen this?

Speaker A: Oh, yeah. I haven't tried this out, but I like it.

Speaker B: Is very cool, and it does exactly what it's claiming to. So the brand is one size. It's the blurring setting powder, finely milled blurring powder for all day wear, 24 hours, shine control, and a soft matte finish. It is available in multiple shades, rather for different skin tones, but the pink really gives you that filter finish, like, blurred effect. And I think great for when you're very dewy like this, because there's parts of your skin that you don't want dewy, even when you want the rest of it dewy, like the tzone and then down by your laugh lines and under here. So it's amazing how much it really works. I need to get one of those powder puff triangles. I think that's probably the best.

Speaker A: Think that. I think your brush is actually better, according to Erica. I think so. I think Erica Taylor goes for the brush, like just the tip and a light. Yeah, that's nice.

Speaker B: Okay, so now I'm like, I have glow. I could stand for a little more glow on my cheek with some actual highlighter, but it really.

Speaker A: Yeah, that really works nicely. And is it a loose color?

Speaker B: It's loose, right. I don't see my laugh lines instantly. Right. They just disappeared.

Speaker A: I wish I can get rid of.

Speaker B: Great. This little amazing smile line here. And it's like when you can see it in the really your pores. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker A: That's really am. I have the pink powder that Erica Taylor always recommends, the Westminute delier pink powder. But it's pressed and I feel like it doesn't. I don't know. I want to try a loose powder. I feel like it might go on better. I feel like the pressed. I'm always like trying to get more on the. It works. But I don't know, I just want to.

Speaker B: I mean, this, you can really pick up a lot with the brush really easily, which is good because then you can tap it off, but you don't.

Speaker A: Want too much on because if you put too much on, does it get.

Speaker B: But I never put too much on because then if I get too much, I just tap it off like that. But it really does what it says it's supposed to do. And it's a good price. It's $34. We don't always mention prices, but this price point, I can't not mention it. There's a lot in here.

Speaker A: Price and that's a lot. Yeah. I wonder if they have a travel size.

Speaker B: That would be nice because I want to. Travel size would be nice also just because I want to use it for touch ups. And I'm not going to lug this thing around. But it's supposed to last 24 hours. I haven't paid too close of attention. Whether or not it's really holding up all day long. But I will and I'll report back.

Speaker A: You'll report back? Well, yeah, I have a little actually, like the hourglass loose powder, like setting powder, I guess, but it's not pink. It's kind of like just translucent, I guess. And that's pretty good, but it doesn't give that blurring effect. It just kind of, like, makes you less shiny, and it's nice. And I have, like, a little travel size of it, but I wonder if I can get a travel size of that and test it out. But that looks really good on you.

Speaker B: That's really pretty.

Speaker A: That combination right there is, like, perfect.

Speaker B: Matte where you want to be matte.

Speaker A: And where did you put concealer? Just under your eyes.

Speaker B: I always do a little bit of concealer under my eyes, and I'm usually, like, a little red around here, so I do it there. Yeah, I've been doing. I don't really have any other makeup on, but if I did some blush and some highlighter, I'd be good to go.

Speaker A: Next one is this elf?

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: We love our elf. Elf lip oil. We're always testing lip oils over here. I really love this lip oil. I've tested so many. This one was, like, the only one I could find because I've been looking for it because I feel like they've, like, I don't know, sold out everywhere. But I happened to see this one. This was the only color I could find. I think this color is. This one is called honey.

Speaker B: It's like a brownie.

Speaker A: Yeah, it's, like a brown beige, but it's really, like, barely any color. I mean, the good thing about this is it's, like, very nourishing and hydrating. Like, I really notice. See, it doesn't really have a color, so it doesn't really matter.

Speaker B: No, I think it does color.

Speaker A: You get.

Speaker B: Yeah, a little bit.

Speaker A: A little bit pretty, but it's very pretty. I've been obsessed with this because when I say it's hydrating, it doesn't feel sticky at all. You know, some lip oils can get a little. They're, like, thin and maybe a little bit sticky. This one is very hydrating. It almost feels like a balm, but not as thick as a balm. And it's very shiny. I feel like it's not sticky, and it's just, like, that sheer tint of color. And they say on their website, a glass, like, shine. So I've been doing it plain, just, like, without any lipstick. But then last night, we went out to dinner, and I had, like, a pretty lipstick on underneath and put this on top, and it just made it chime. But it's really beautiful product, and it's, like, $8. And if they had more colors, I would get more. Just, like, put them in bags, because it's just like a good thing to throw on, but it just feels really good because I'm always putting on. I don't use aquaphor as much anymore, but, like, my lineage mask, which I love. I feel like I'm always putting that on because my lips are so dry. But this really has helped with the hydration. So I really just need to put this on during the day instead of doing some sort of balm or whatever. So anyway, love it. Glow revivor lip oil again, this one was called honey brown or something like that.

Speaker B: But there's like a. I'm going to see if I can color one today at CVS. I really like it.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: Honey top.

Speaker A: Honey top.

Speaker B: It's pretty.

Speaker A: I like it, too, because it's small, just like.

Speaker B: And it's exactly on with our 2024 trends. The brown lip. Yeah.

Speaker A: So the brown lip with the brown mascara. There you go.

Speaker B: That's funny. I was on Instagram for a few minutes this morning, and there was a picture of Gwyneth Paltrow at front row fashion week in the. She was complete. Like, she could have been walking down the street today with how she looked.

Speaker A: Really.

Speaker B: She had, like, the brown under lipstick and the eyebrows weren't overdone. And then she was wearing all black with black squared off boots that weren't chunky. She looks so chic for even today because it's so spot on with the 90s coming back in trend. That's hilarious.

Speaker A: So funny. Oh, by the way, in our last trend episode, we were talking about those two lipsticks I was trying to think of.

Speaker B: I remember if I talked about it.

Speaker A: Okay, so here are the lipsticks. Because one was zinc pink, if anybody remembers. And then a friend of mine who listens to this show often, she texted me this week. She's like, yes, zinc pink. She's like, it's actually from the 80s. I'm like, oh, yeah, you're right. You might not know zinc pink because you're a baby, but zinc pink was huge. And then the other one, she was like, I know the one you were talking about. I'm like, what was it?

Speaker B: Frosted brownie.

Speaker A: Do you remember that color? It was like a brown frosty. It was so pretty. But think pink frosted brownie. Those were like, remember the brand?

Speaker B: Frosted brownie brand.

Speaker A: I think they were like, revlon, if.

Speaker B: We could find it, get it today.

Speaker A: So funny.

Speaker B: Nice.

Speaker A: Yeah, no, it's like, right. Doesn't exist anymore. It's like, who knows? But it was like everyone wore those colors. So funny.

Speaker B: All right. My last one is, I'm completely obsessed with this. It's insane. It works so well. It's so cheap compared to products like it on the market. And I am freaking out that I found it because I desperately needed it. So it is the guru Nanda signature whitening strips for your teeth. So I have bonding on my teeth, and I've had them done at different stages in life, so it's really hard to get bonding completely. Like, perfect matching color to other bonding. So they are Uneven, which I hate. It's one of my biggest insecurities. And then my teeth stain so easily. I drink too much coffee, blah, blah, blah. And they're sensitive. So the whitening strips are really hard on my teeth because it's so sensitive, so I have a hard time doing it. These are great because they are for sensitive teeth. They're enamel safe, and the main ingredient is coconut oil. So, yeah, it's very easy to use. This pack alone comes with seven treatments. I did one every. Like, this is my second order. I did it seven days in a row. I noticed a difference on day two.

Speaker A: Really?

Speaker B: They go on really easily. After you've worn them for a little bit, they do start to get like, yeah, it's kind of gross. Like, you don't want to talk to anybody, but if you wear them for 30 minutes, they're effective. If you wear them for 60 minutes, it's like a super treatment. It speeds up. It obviously just works so much faster. When you first take them off, you can see, like, white dots on your teeth. And at first I was kind of thinking, what's going on there? But by the next morning, all of my teeth were whiter. It works really well. And they're $10 for this box.

Speaker A: Wait, what are these called?

Speaker B: The brand is guru Nanda, and it's their guru nanda. It's their signature whitening strips. And they also make, like, an oil pool thing. Oil pooling. So there's a lot of different things that the brand makes, but I can't get over that. It's $10. Like a crest whitening strips pack at CVS is much more than that. So it's seven treatments. It works really well. And I will probably just keep buying these and keep buying them because they're effective.

Speaker A: That's great. Yeah. It's funny that you say that. I've been using a new brand, too. I forgot the name of it. Maybe I'll talk about it next time. And I haven't been consistent. I've done it, like, twice, but I want to do it for a week and actually see the difference. But they're really good, too, for sensitive teeth. And I forget what the brand is.

Speaker B: Called, but I'm obsessed since I've been doing it so much. I do feel like the occasional zap. You know that zap that you get in your teeth when it's hitting the sensitivity piece a little bit.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: It's worth it. And then if it's, like, bothering me, I just take them off and I skip a day.

Speaker A: Or you could just do it every day.

Speaker B: I've been a little aggressive because I've really been. Yeah. The color of my teeth have been driving me crazy for a long time, so I was happy I found them. Yeah.

Speaker A: Nice.

Speaker B: What's your one?

Speaker A: Good one. And where did you get first I.

Speaker B: Ordered through a TikTok shop and then I found them on Amazon. Yeah.

Speaker A: Oh, perfect.

Speaker B: Yep.

Speaker A: Awesome.

Speaker B: So that's it, folks.

Speaker A: That's all we got here today. We just got a quickie. Really good.

Speaker B: I am going to go jump on that elf lip oil. I think it'll be great for my upcoming trip to Disney that I'm doing in a couple of days with the kiddos.

Speaker A: Yes, it's good to be throwing your daily.

Speaker B: I need to get. Where did you find Sephora?

Speaker A: Sephora? Yeah. And just remember, get the one that's shaped like it's okay.

Speaker B: But remember, guys, we have links to all of these products as we do for every product junkies in our show notes on our blog. So check it out and thanks for listening. We will see you next time. Bye.

Speaker A: Thanks for listening to Nirvana sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes. Please subscribe and leave us a review. Also find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters, if you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would, please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana Sisters will continue to watch out for all things wellness. So you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 142 - Taking Big Bites with Kat Ashmore (@katcancook) - Easy Week Night Recipes, Her Full Skincare Routine, Life, And All The Things (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 142, Taking Big Bites with Kat Ashmore (@katcancook) - Easy Week Night Recipes, Her Full Skincare Routine, Life, And All The Things Write Out The Title.

Amy Sherman 0:06

Welcome to Nirvana sisters podcast where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state your nirvana. We are sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman.

Katie Chandler 0:18

And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation

Amy Sherman 0:27

Welcome back to the show Nirvana sisters family. It's Amy and Katie and we're so excited to have Kat Ashmore back with us. Yay. It's been years. So just for the history. So cat came on our show a couple of years ago, I looked back it was episode 38. Now we're like on 150 or something which is crazy. You were not just starting but like somewhat new to the space now you've obviously evolved and we're so excited to catch up with you and hear more but let me give our listeners because we have so many more listeners. Now. The scoop on cat Ashmore aka cat can cook so, cat Ashmore is the chef recipe developer and digital creator behind cat Ken cook graduated from the award winning Institute of Culinary Education in New York and went on to work for Martha Stewart developing retail recipes and producing cooking segment segments. On the eight time Emmy award winning the Martha Stewart show Kat lives in Fairfield County, Connecticut with her husband Michael and their family. Welcome back to the show. We are so excited to have you here. We've been following you are so proud of everything you've done. We can't wait to hear everything. So welcome. Welcome. Oh,

Kat Ashmore 1:30

so so great to be here. I can't believe it was it was what, two years ago?

Amy Sherman 1:35

Yeah, it was like 2022 I looked back. I can't remember what month but yeah, I was looking back and I'm like God, Episode 38. That's crazy.

Kat Ashmore 1:42

So Oh, wow. So long ago. I know. Time is such a funny thing. I don't even know half the time like what was last month what was five years ago. It's I know it all together. Now. It's so it's so great to be back here with you. Yeah, thanks. So good to be here.

Katie Chandler 2:01

We start with our nirvana. Before we get into it. We're so excited

Amy Sherman 2:04

to catch up. And let's let's start off with we haven't done this in a while. Katie,

Katie Chandler 2:08

I know what was your Nirvana this week, baby? Did you?

Amy Sherman 2:12

I did. So Katie knows I love I get crazy sometimes with organizing. And so I went to the container service like my favorite place. And I got these like new closet organizers for all my sweaters. Because all my sweaters and how like they pile up. And I've been trying to figure out for years, like, how do I do my sweaters needs they don't fall over. So anyway, I got these like, closet organizers for my sweater. And now they're all like neat and organized. So when I walk in, I feel so good. So I did that organizing. And then I also did organizing, like all my makeup and skincare. So I move stuff that stuff out of my bathroom and put it like I have like a little vanity, which I never used. And I'm like actually using it and I organized it and everything's like has a home. And it just feels clean and organized and lovely. And I just love that feeling. And I don't do it enough. But sometimes I get crazy and I start organizing and then I don't do it for like months, but it just feels good to have that organization. Does my Nirvana this week. What about you, Katie? I

Katie Chandler 3:10

would say mine was I found my favorite game that I used to play. It sounds so nerdy, but I use my friends and I used to play this game until like, midnight all the time on like Friday nights. Instead of going to the club. We would play rummy cube. And I first got it all these years. I forgot about that game. Yeah. Oh, fun. My My kids are old enough to play now. So I found the game. And we've been playing it after some weekends. So we did it a couple times this weekend was it's fun. I love it. I'm obsessed. That's so fun. That was mind blowing. What about your cat?

Kat Ashmore 3:43

My Nirvana was probably. So we recently moved into a new home and we have a hot tub. And we've been going in the hot tub, like every couple of nights, I would say. And we had a big snow here in Connecticut. We're not big. But it was our first one of the seasons, which is always really pretty, right? Because it's not gray. And yeah, it's all just really white and beautiful. And there was one night where it was snowing and we were out in the hot tub and I was with the kids who are five and seven now. So even my seven year old and I wasn't expecting this but he's he doesn't want to be with me as much. You know, he's got like, the video games and these things that I'm not really a part of. So when we have an opportunity to just all get on the same level and just enjoy something together and there's no distractions and we're like catching snowflakes on our tongue. And it was one of those moments, you know, where you kind of like hover above your life and you're like, This is joy. Like these are the good old days, like snapshot. Yeah, it was very powerful, you know? And then I was like, Yeah, Looking at them, like 30 minutes. Right? It was pure bliss. And I just think it's so important to recognize those moments of like, this is happiness. This is happiness. tuck it away somewhere, you know, tuck it away and take this

Katie Chandler 5:17

opportunity. And I feel like as they get older, a gray.

Amy Sherman 5:22

Yeah, that's so good. And it's crazy, because last time you were here, your kids were like really? Little, little little. Yeah,

Kat Ashmore 5:27

yeah. While Okay,

Katie Chandler 5:29

that's when you had just gotten back to work. So that's yes. Certainly back to your work you when we talk to you, you just kind of been in was it maybe a few months that you had done the transition into Captain Cook and really diving into to your tick tock following and everything. And now here we are huge fans, tell

Amy Sherman 5:47

us tell us all things tell us.

Kat Ashmore 5:51

I mean, everything's, everything's great. It's like, everything's good. Everything is really great. Yeah, it'll be four years this summer, since I started creating on, cat can cook. But really, you know, I would say 2021 is, I mean, that's the first year that I was able to monetize it all. It was the first year you know, I switched my website over from Squarespace to WordPress, like I could started to, like, actually make it a real business. Yeah. And so it hasn't been a long time. But so much has happened. And I feel like when you put when you place yourself in the right position, sometimes the universe just kind of like, does works really quickly. And it's like, okay, she's, she's here. She's ready. Like, yeah, let's go. Yeah, it's

Amy Sherman 6:45

amazing. And it's so fun to just have watched you grow over these last few years. And like, tada, hello, cookbook. I mean, amazing. Congratulations. You I remember, because it was so impactful. I remember when you filmed yourself, getting the call about doing the book, or like the deal had closed, or whatever it was that it was like so much. No, I remember that. And now it's like, it's here. And you have this beautiful, incredible book. As I just said, like just going through the last few days, I'm obsessed. Thank

Kat Ashmore 7:25

you. It, it feels to me like the book I would want to have. Yeah, the book that, you know, I waited a while to do a cookbook, having been in the industry, having gone to culinary school and working for Martha and I have had a couple of opportunities to do cookbooks in the past. But it didn't feel like I needed to do a cookbook until until now. All right, until it felt right, because it's out of immense respect, and appreciation for the cookbook industry, that I just didn't want to do a book unless it was going to be something really different. And it was really adding to the conversation, changing the conversation. And it feels like this book is that it

Amy Sherman 8:13

really is I mean, I am not a good cook by any stretch Katie's much better than me. And I'm always looking for like really simple, easy. And I was going through this and I have like a few cookbooks that I sometimes like out but like, this is just so user friendly. When I was I was saying to Katie, what I really enjoyed is that in the beginning of the book, you have the pantry staples, which I think it's so helpful. So for our listeners, there's like little section on salt and pepper and oils and what kind of milk and gluten free and just all these staples so that way when you go to the recipes, it's all like you have all the answers you need. And then when I was looking at these recipes, I was like, Oh, this recipe is three steps. This just these four steps. Perfect. So that's that's like amazing for someone like me who really doesn't cook a lot but like I just told my son, my younger one who's now in eighth grade, but he's like in the phase where he is eating non stop. I can't keep up with him. And I wish I'm always like I wish he was like a good cook so I could just make all this stuff so he would just have stuff so I told him I was like go through the book I just got this weekend, pick out recipes that you want me to make for you and I'll have these ready to go but like I don't know exactly what you like your your tastes are changing all the time. So like pick some recipes, so he's been

Kat Ashmore 9:27

phenomenal. If he likes if he likes meatballs, the chimichurri meatballs are a great one because you can you can form them and freeze them or you can just make like a double or triple batch and then freeze them and they're just ready to go. You put them on green bowls, you tuck them into Pietas you you know just eat with your fingers, which is usually what I do. Yeah, so that kind of thing. But these recipes are really it's what I make at home. Yeah, like I don't make multiple meals for dinner idea. I know people are like, how do you do that? It doesn't mean that my kids eat every single thing on the plate, I make sure that there's a safe food on the plate that I know they're going to eat, or to usually that I know that they're going to eat. Sometimes they'll take a little bite and be like, No, but like the turkey feta burgers that I just made them a few days ago, and my kids ate them two nights in a row. And it's like, they have kale in them. I mean, they wouldn't eat kale on its own, but they will eat them. Now, they wouldn't eat them last year, but things change. Those kinds of recipes, I think are just so helpful. And it's really familiar concepts, right? It's just taken in a modern kind of unique direction, like the meatloaf, for instance. You know, like, everybody knows Mila, but like, this is just the amazing meatloaf with caramelized onions and horseradish, and it just like keeps up the flavor. And it's familiar, but it's different at the same time. It's not intimidating at all. Which is why I like it. I find most cookbooks just like out of my reach. Like they're just too complicated or just feels too like, yeah,

Amy Sherman 11:11

it's very approachable. Very, like I said before, like very user friendly, not intimidating. Like it's, it's fabulous. So what is your I mean, there's like, how many recipes in here over 100? I think, like whichever one? Well, I have like two questions on this. Like, what's your favorite one? And then like, give our listeners three. easy and quick weekdays like weekday meals, you can make them every week?

Kat Ashmore 11:31

Week? Yeah. Yep. And so look, so the first recipe that always comes to mind when people ask about this is the most complicated recipe in the book. Now, when I say that, it's not complicated. It was very complicated for me to develop it because it took me three years, but it's the three year gluten free bread. And it literally took me three years to perfect this recipe, okay, 1000s of hours of iterations. By the end, I was like asking my husband like, what do you think about the crust on this? And he was just like, I don't know, like, always the same thing, you know? So my new but I'm obsessive. And this is a bread that it's gluten free. So yes, you buy some of the ingredients that maybe you don't have on hand, but like you buy them, you have them. You can mix the dough, you can bake it, and you can eat it in the same day. There's no overnight rest. So if you wake up on a Sunday, I make it every single Sunday, wake up on a Sunday morning, you're like I want fresh bread for dinner. You can have that. So that is a recipe that I'm really, really proud of. And people have been chomping at the bit to get this recipe and it was the one recipe I knew I had to save. Yes. Yeah. Well, I was like, this has to be in the cookbook. The beaks good. All of the baked good recipes are fantastic. It's like my husband is often like, I don't know why people are so crazy about your salads, like it's your baked goods. They're like crazy good and a lot of them are gluten and dairy free or just have less sugar. I'm always looking at how to make how to keep the integrity of a recipe. So that it tastes like you know it is a brownie it is a piece of cake it is those things. It's just like how much can I cut back on the sugar without it affecting the integrity of the recipe and how can I be importing flavor another way? What is the role that this ingredient so I a lot of things go into account. But the New York style Crumb Cake is fantastic. And it basically mimics those, like big squares of crumb cake that every New York corner store sells in cellophane that like vanilla cake with like the bolder size crumb topping. Yeah. Yeah. looks phenomenal.

Katie Chandler 14:02

That's for sure. Yeah.

Kat Ashmore 14:04

I mean, it's just phenomenal. But I really think as you said that dinner is really the Achilles heel for a lot of people. A lot of kills me, right? It's just like, and it's often not very fun to make dinner with your family. I mean, even for me, and I love to cook but usually it's just like I have to cook something because I'm their parent, and that's part of the deal and like, supposed to feed them. I wish they would intermittent fast, but I haven't been successful with that yet. So when it comes to dinner recipes, so I've got two different chapters. There's the Sunday suppers, and then there's the weeknights, chapter. And one of the most popular recipes with my kids aside from the chimichurri meatballs, that kill and betta turkey burgers, like they love the miso teriyaki pork tenderloin, Wine. And it's a really quick thing to make because pork tenderloin, it's, you know, it's lean, it's not expensive, it is quick to make. And you just have this beautiful miso teriyaki glaze that is literally I mean how many ingredients the I think it's five ingredients, and it's fantastic. So stuff like that, where you're able to all enjoy the same protein, maybe your kids won't eat the vegetable or you know, something like that. But at least you're not making completely separate meals all the time. Yeah,

Katie Chandler 15:35

that's what I feel like I'm doing with my youngest and she's my oldest has come around and she'll eat just about anything. I've been in front of her. But your tip, you told us this when you're on the first time of having a safe food that they you know, without a doubt, they're both going to eat. I've been using that ever since and it really does work. But you know, then I end up cooking like an extra protein just to get that in her as well. But I feel like the weeknight thing. It's the time crunch, right? That's why ball so it's not super fun to cook when your bedtime routine is in half an hour. They have to get up early. So blah, blah, blah. You know, it's a totally different story when it's on the weekend. Coming

Amy Sherman 16:13

up with what you're gonna make it That's the worst part. Like every night, like, what are we going to eat? I mean, yesterday. Yeah, when I think about it, like yesterday, I marinated chicken and I did like slip over all day, just throw it in there. And I like forgot I did it. And then at five o'clock, I was like, Ah,

Kat Ashmore 16:27

I forgot I already put that in. So like that was like I don't think about it every day. But like the thinking about it is the worst part, right? You're like, oh, like, plastic problem, right? And everyone says the same thing about it. It's nice to think about it in the morning. Yes. When you're sharper. Ideally, plan out your meals on a Sunday, that's when I like to do it. I do my grocery shop on the weekend. And then I plan out my meals on a Sunday where I'm rested, because nobody's going to be innovative or creative or, you know, even that mindful when they're in a rush, right? Make it enjoyable. But even in the morning, okay, even in the morning, get up out your protein, take a quick look at it, it'll take you five minutes, just like wrap your head around. This is what's happening, even if you do nothing with it, right? It's, it's the mental shift of like, Oh, now I have to think about this. Yeah, in the morning, when you've got the most motivation, the most energy. So

Katie Chandler 17:30

true. Well, and that's what I love about in your book that you hear at Staples, because if everyone has these in their pantry at all times, and you know when they're running low, that's an easy thing to add to the grocery list. And then you pick out a couple of things to add to the grocery list the proteins, vegetables in your set. I mean, sometimes the meal planning through the week, what I need to make those meals happen is overwhelming. So to be able to have something to have your book where it's it's people don't use cookbooks as much as I feel like they used to. And it's all like Google and searching online and Pinterest. It's there's something so refreshing about having a book in my hand, I can open it up and I can say oh, I need 12345 ingredients. And I've got my pantry staples. It's it just simplifies the whole thing. I really thought What is one of your favorite meals to cook when you have like all the time, and you're on it?

Kat Ashmore 18:21

Yeah, when I have all the time. I mean, that's more project cooking. So I love to do things that are just like slow cooked that can kind of like bubble away. I love soups and stews because there's so many different directions you can take them in. They're all about building flavor, which is something I'm really big on. Like the whole soups and stews chapter is. I mean, I hope it's obvious that they're like knock out of the park. Good. But one of the things that my kids actually love are these slow cooked indoor ribs because and they could not when I tell you they are the one of the easiest recipes in the entire book really they cook they literally cook themselves. Okay, so you are doing a combination. I've got spices here I add a little bit of dark brown sugar, you've got paprika, oregano, garlic, onion, coriander, but you can use whatever spice blend you want to. You don't need you I'm not dogmatic about what spices you use. And then the key is just cooking them low and slow. We're talking like 250 degrees for like three and a half to four hours and just forget about them. You take off the tinfoil you Yeah, yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, just so simple. So on a Sunday and the nice thing about that is that when you've got something that you can just forget about, you've got mental energy and physical energy and time to maybe be a little bit more creative and make your own salad dressing. You know, pair it with something else. instead of like, I just have to like steam up some broccoli because I'm supposed to have a vegetable, right?

Amy Sherman 20:06

recipe actually, like doesn't look intimidating at all like this looks like oh, wait, I could make this. Maybe I'll make

Kat Ashmore 20:12

your hiring imitating Yeah, it's not intimidating at all. I

Katie Chandler 20:17

feel I feel like all of your recipes are really approachable. I mean, as I'm flipping through, they're like, five steps, six steps, right, again, five steps.

Amy Sherman 20:27

I mean, it's really figuring out how long

Katie Chandler 20:29

you could do it.

Kat Ashmore 20:30

I think kids. Yeah, that is, that is a huge, a huge part of the recipe development process for me is that much like Coco Chanel says, like, a woman should accessorize and then take one thing off before leaving the house. I am. A lot of my editing is removing things, removing ingredients, removing steps, like how much does this really needs to be done in two bowls? Can it be done in one bowl? Like, maybe I'll add the baking soda at this stage instead. So it activates more. So a lot goes into a recipe being simple, and spirit

Amy Sherman 21:05

thoughtful, almost like harder to make it simple. I would think hard enough to iterate constantly to get it.

Kat Ashmore 21:11

They're harder. I wanted the recipes to almost all be on one page. I I'm always eliminating steps like how much does this really need to chill on the refrigerator? Like, can I get away with it? Maybe I need to replace it with a different ingredient. So I'm always looking at how can I make this? easier, less time consuming? And really just take up less mental energy, you know, and love? Yeah, one

Katie Chandler 21:37

of many reasons why you have three plus million followers on? Is that right? 3 million plus?

Kat Ashmore 21:46

It's not quite it's, I mean, between Instagram and Tiktok on like just under 3 million. Yeah, yeah.

Amy Sherman 21:56

And speaking of the 3,000,001 of the big things that made you go viral was your hungry lady salads, which I know we talked about last time, which we're still obsessed with. And for our listeners, there's a huge section in the cookbook with all the hungry lady salad recipes, which is incredible. Because to have all that in one place. They're so good. If they

Kat Ashmore 22:16

are just chapter, it's the largest chapter in the book. And it's not actually all of the hungry lady salads. Oh, it's just like, your favorite. I mean, I have like 46

Amy Sherman 22:28

Oh my god seven.

Kat Ashmore 22:30

Second book, like just salad. I mean, there are gonna need to be factored in I did actually just redid just signed to do book to Oh, my

Amy Sherman 22:39

God, hey.

Kat Ashmore 22:41

Yeah, that's actually just fine to do both two and three of my

Amy Sherman 22:46

gosh.

Kat Ashmore 22:49

Oh, it's good. I mean, yes, the orders have been so strong. And the enthusiasm has been so strong that it's the way that the community has shown up. It's really our book. And I always say that, like, I am the voice. But you all are the microphone, I don't exist with that. I mean, you get the message out, you get excited about it. Or else I would just be like sitting in my kitchen, like dancing to my food without anybody there. So like that's not quite as effective. But yes, so the hungry lady salad section. So the entire book is about 90% new new recipes. And then 10% fan favorite recipes. Great hungry lady salad section is 18 recipes. So 14 of them are brand new, and four of them are fan favorite. Amazing.

Amy Sherman 23:37

Great. Yeah. Those salads, like I know, we talked about this last time, like you can make them and just have them for like how like a couple of days for the mom with your

Kat Ashmore 23:46

daughter and have them for a long time, even up to a week. I mean, it's yeah, that's I mean, that's what I'm always I'm always wanting to give back that gift of time. You know, one of the things we just never have enough of so taking advantage of when you have some time, make this salad have it in the fridge so that like you have something to look forward to for lunch every day. You know, it doesn't just get the job done. It's like and then you have more mental energy to think about dinner like it's all this all plays into each other. Like I don't want you waking up being like, what am I going to have for breakfast? What am I going to have for lunch? What am I going to have for dinner? You're not going to you're not going to do your best work that way.

Amy Sherman 24:28

It's, it's all laid out. Okay, so this book is truly gorgeous and stunning, like just the photos and the layout and all that stuff. What was your favorite part of like putting this together? I imagine it's such a creative and fun process and I'm sure very, very grueling as well but like what was your favorite part of the whole experience?

Kat Ashmore 24:48

I think my favorite part of the experience was crafting the story around the book. I'm very much a storyteller at heart that is at like the core of All of the content I do, and it has been the most common thread through my whole career, whether it was you know, telling stories on television with Martha or then on corporate side, or as a gourmet foods buyer telling the story on a retail level, and I love to write. So really creating the recipes. I mean, if I had my way I would be in my kitchen, listening to music, just creating recipes, writing recipes, editing recipes, from morning to night, that yeah, like it, there's nothing I love more. And I look at every recipe, like a story, like there are different characters that you need that round out the story. And they bring out certain things in each other. And it creates this like holistic, rich story. So creating the recipes. And then also just like writing the head notes about each recipe because it my communication style is very personal. I want people to feel like they are at home with me cooking with me. And I always love to read that in a cookbook. I want that. That personal element, you know, because it's in there are my favorite stories to read even even now. Yeah,

Amy Sherman 26:15

it's so true.

Katie Chandler 26:16

You do an excellent job with that. Feeling like someone is in in the kitchen cooking with you and

Amy Sherman 26:22

like a friend. Yeah,

Katie Chandler 26:23

it's definitely a piece of huge factor of your fan following and everything you just make. It's like you talk you're talking to your girlfriends or your friends about how to make something or, and that reminds me, we were speaking about it earlier, before we got on that you are fans that your followers are constantly asking you other questions about your life, not just about the food, because they feel like they know you so well. Right? I mean, you guys are very connected. So we were just talking about absolutely stunning your skin is so what skin is scanning all the things that are that's, you know, other things going on in your life like that gorgeous, glowing skin. How are you getting at? What are you doing?

Kat Ashmore 27:03

Thank you. You know, it's still so I'm so grateful and humbled by it. And I really receive all the compliments that I get around my skin now, because I wasn't historically someone that was complimented on their skin like not that it was like horrific at certain points. It just like wasn't that, you know, it wasn't notable. And so it's really amazing. I do work at it. I mean, there's a lot that I do, right? So some people are kind of like, Oh, that's too much. And it might be I mean, for me, I really

Amy Sherman 27:40

we need to hear the whole breakdown because we love this. We need to

Kat Ashmore 27:44

be entire everybody listening? Yes, I mean, take notes. So there's the topical stuff that I use the products and then there's the stuff that I use that I use and just lifestyle choices that help right like, I don't drink alcohol anymore. That helps. Yeah, that absolutely helps. Okay, so I'm just more hydrated on a regular basis, I eat a lot of whole foods that helps I drink a lot of water, that helps I do a cold blast at the end of my shower for 60 seconds. So like as cold as I can stand it. That helps, right? Like I do Transcendental Meditation every day. That helps, right like stress is all of it is reflected in your skin and in the way that you look and the way that you feel is also reflected right. So all of those lifestyle things matter. And then as far as like my skin routine, on a daily basis, how much like into the weeds Do you want me to go we want the weeds like the weeds. Amazing. Okay, so yeah, because it's like a non negotiable for me to do these things. So in the morning, I do my first skincare related thing I do is I do guasha every morning with a base oil. I am very like regimented with my mornings I wake up very early, usually around 434 45 I do like my workout in the mornings. I first thing I have is three two ounces of warm water with lemon and salt. Like those types of things. I do my guasha that's the first skincare related thing. And then I go upstairs before I get in the shower. And literally thinking of everything I did this morning. Before I get in the shower. I love it. I use an oil based cleanser. So I've been using is it better skin for better skin. I think that that's the name of it. Just some kind of an oil based cleanser. Yep. So I will just put that on. I hop in the shower, rinse it off. Like especially in the winter time I'm doing a lot of stuff that is hydrating even when it's cleansing. Yeah. So I will use that. I get out the net First thing I do is I put my toner on, I just like tap it all over my face my Declan Tay, my neck, my hands and then I will put on my red light therapy mask. Which do you guys use a red light therapy mask? Yeah,

Katie Chandler 30:14

fun. Yeah, I don't use it religiously. But I have one anytime you

Amy Sherman 30:17

have the Dr. Dennis gross one er, which one do you have?

Kat Ashmore 30:20

No, I have the current body one. Okay. And I have used it every day for four months. And it's made a really big difference in the, like, tone of my skin. I see brown spots have faded. That's like the biggest difference that I wow. That's how long do you wear it for? 10 minutes. Okay, so what I always do is I put on my robe, I put on the neck one and the face one. And then I do stuff like I pack the kids lunches. I'm never just like sitting hanging out, right? Like I'm always doing multiple things at once. So then I do that. I take that off. And then I use a serum I usually use so my friend Jenna launched a company called bios. And so I don't know if you see it and B Y O F stands for free. You have to look it up. It's like a pink. It's like a pink container. And it's basically like vitamin C and bakuchiol Is it bakuchiol gradient tavas li butchering it, but it's fantastic. It's, it's kind of touted as like a retinol alternative. I still use tret every few days at night, but it's just you know, I use some kind of serum. So I do my serum. And then after that I will do my moisturizer. So I've been loving the Dermalogica moisturizer lately. Fantastic. And then I spray the like a tanning spray. You know Santro PE spray. Oh yeah. So that gives you a really nice glow. And that's my morning is that like a crazy lot and then I take liquid collagen like when I go downstairs which is like completely changed my skin. But that has mostly just changed the skin from like, it's almost like a balloon was blown up in my skin. Yeah, when you plump? Very much so. Okay, it's time at

Amy Sherman 32:27

the gym because I want to shoot. Okay, so what's the nighttime routine?

Kat Ashmore 32:30

nighttime routine is I will do so I take off my makeup with either LMS or again, like an oil base. And I've been using the Dermalogica precleanse lately that I love. I love Dermalogica products, they sent me a bunch of stuff to try. And so I've been using the pre cleanse and I absolutely love it. It's really light. So I take that off. And then I do a second cleanse with just like a set of fill or something like gentle but like a proper cleanse, right? A double cleanse. Yep, yep, yep. And then every I switch it up a little bit where every few days I will use the P 50. By biology reshare shorts is like, great. It's strong. Yeah, I do that. Why is that? Yeah, every few nights, I would say I don't use that if I'm using Tretton Now when that night. I do try it like every third night as well. But one of the things that I swear by is it's called aisle lucette. And it's a French name.

Katie Chandler 33:30

I just ordered it. What is that? I

Kat Ashmore 33:34

use it every single night. It's unbelievable. Do you know how to use it? No.

Katie Chandler 33:37

I was gonna do my research before I came. I ordered it like yesterday.

Kat Ashmore 33:42

Yeah, it is very potent ironic acid cream. Okay, the treatment so it, it won't like burn your skin or anything. I mean, it's like a very nourishing treatment. But you basically put it on damp skin. So I will do that. Like right after I have the toner, I'll just put a little bit of water on my skin. Take like a good sized amount. It's not expensive, which is part of why I like it, because sometimes they'd be like, if something's too expensive. I don't want to use a lot of it. So it's like you can use a good amount. And I just put it all over my face to the point where it looks pretty white still. And then I will just take a little bit of a thick moisturizer like Egyptian magic or something like that. And then I just like Pat, I kind of slug it in in that sense. And you wake up with the most moisturized glowy Oh, yeah. So now I have like French pharmacy

Amy Sherman 34:44

same caterers just talking about that. Yeah, I need to order that. It sounds amazing. So do you do that when you put retinol on because I use Trent known as well. Like is it that you do that on top of the Trent Nolan?

Kat Ashmore 34:54

I do. Okay, some people say not to me You know, you hear different things, whatever. I think you have to be your own physician to play with your cover. What? Yes, exactly. I, I do I find it very, very nourishing. And I'll do a face mask like, maybe once a week. Yeah. Nothing crazy. But that. Yeah, that's one of my favorite products. And that's

Katie Chandler 35:22

what I read about that product is that it pulls moisture into your skin from wherever you're adding the moisture. So like you said, Your face has to be damp before and then you're putting on like a heavy slugging cream afterwards. It's really helping that moisture seep into your skin. So if you read if you use it while your face is dry, and then you don't follow up with a moisturizer, it will actually dehydrate your skin because it'll pull the moisture out.

Kat Ashmore 35:48

And that makes sense. Yeah, so a lot of sense. I like to know the why behind things. So I Yeah, hearing that, because I wasn't aware of that. I just knew you needed to use it on damp skin. Yeah, it's really, it's really fantastic. And then I use that canopy humidifier. Yeah, yeah. So I use that every night. And so I love that you just gave us the whole like, nitty gritty detail because we Yeah, I love that I am like the opposite of a gatekeeper like I want, I will share everything I know it

Amy Sherman 36:24

or not. So I ordered the college and because I had seen you talk about it so many times. And I was like, I need to order this and obviously your skin looks amazing. So I just started at like, I haven't been super disciplined. But lately I have been but I got it maybe like a month ago, so I don't Okay. You know, I know you said it has to you have to do for like a few months for you to like start here for a month. Yeah, we'd

Kat Ashmore 36:43

say yeah, I mean, it worked for me quickly. It was like within the first five weeks, I would say Okay, everybody started commenting on it to me. Wow. My followers like I wasn't planning on even sharing it for three months. Yeah, people are like, what are you you know, asking all these questions and now

Amy Sherman 37:03

you do like the two teaspoons in the morning or two tables table. Every morning.

Kat Ashmore 37:07

My husband takes it now my mom takes a deep dive on me. It's been this it's Modere Okay, and if you see like my the before and afters my college and highlight it's like comical.

Amy Sherman 37:22

No, I watch I was like, before I bought it, I watched it. I'm like, this is incredible. I mean, it's what year the plane was like, I got the one that you recommended, like the plane one it kind of tastes like here. It's like a Yeah, like part. Oh, yes. It's not bad. But there's also flavored ones. Do they kind of work the same? Yes.

Kat Ashmore 37:41

So they're all the same amount of collagen? Yeah. But like it also has hyaluronic acid in it too. Right? So it's like you see a lot of these same ingredients. It's just like I mean, the college is expensive but you can you get what you pay for like I use less Botox now. And I don't use any like eyelash serum anymore.

Amy Sherman 38:03

Oh, really? So it's affecting like your hair grow?

Kat Ashmore 38:06

Yes.

Amy Sherman 38:07

Wow.

Katie Chandler 38:08

What a good for nails also right like the

Kat Ashmore 38:10

the strain our joints? If you I mean, I have been takes it because of his joints. Like he has no shoulder pain for the first time in like 15 years. Wow. It's great. Yeah, it's really good. I mean, I know I get offers. I get like brand deal offers from different supplement companies and stuff like that constantly. You know, I'm going to be very selective with who I work with. Because I don't want to be doing a million different things. Like I want to be doing stuff that works.

Amy Sherman 38:40

And we trust you. I also bought the walking desk, like not the walking desk, the treadmill from you. And it's so funny, because you just I had been researching for a while and then I like forgot about it. And then I saw yours. I'm like, I'm just getting on and she recommends because I know it's good. And that's been so nice. Just not be sitting all day and just like walking during the day. So that's great, because I've noticed, like, obviously, you have so much content around cooking, but now you have a lot of like great lifestyle content. Like I'm wondering, I'm like staring at your sweater slash sweatshirt. I'm like, is that an Amazon or is it here? You

Kat Ashmore 39:13

get it? Like I love it isn't deadly, Steven? Okay. Yeah, it's, you know, it's the kind of thing where I think very much like Martha in a way, like she started out in catering. You know, she became a firebrand. And I just, I've always operated in the sense where I am going to listen to what people want from me. And I'm not going to I'm not going to sit here and think I know what people should want to see from me. I'm going to talk about I mean, like, I am a like, I'm very passionate about the things that I believe in and like creating a life that I'm excited to wake up to every morning. So I talk about it all. I love it and

Katie Chandler 39:56

it's working for you obviously.

Kat Ashmore 39:58

There are so Many food creators and there's so many websites Food Network New York Times cookie, if you just want recipes, go there like, yeah, the only thing that's really different about what I do is that I'm doing it. So I my content is very personality forward like, people better than me, people are taking better photos than me people are putting together better outfits than me. But like, I'm the only unique thing about my brand.

Amy Sherman 40:28

That's right. That's right. And you know what, I always like to follow people like you that have a specialty, right? But then you start seeing their lifestyle, and you get to know them more personally, because that's when you like, can really connect and start trusting and like it just it makes just for better overall content and like, whatever. So we love it all. And you are going on a book tour. I'm read so let's hear about that. Like where where's it starting? Because I was just saying to Katie, I think you're like your first stop is near her. I was like, Katie, you gotta go. Yes.

Kat Ashmore 41:02

So the first event is going to be the 23rd in Madison at RJ Giulia And then third, okay. And then it rolls out where I'm going to be in Danbury of Barnes and Noble there, I'm going to be at the Del Mar in Greenwich for a really fun event. And the kitchen Atlas scowl is going to be making a few of my recipes for the appetizers from the book. So it's really fun. And then I'll be traveling a bit where I'll be in, you know, I'll be in Rhode Island at the William Sonoma in New York at Columbus Circle Boston, Dallas, Texas, I'm going to be hosting an event with my friend Alex from the Define dish. And we're going to be hosting an event together and then Houston and more stops may be added. But I have the full list on both my website and my Instagram. Okay, yeah, you need to come. I know, I'm actually surprised that we haven't prioritized DC yet. I mean, a lot of it is just based on analytics. Right. And we're on the ground. shoveler Yeah, most people are, but I know that I've got we've got a lot of people in DC for sure. Because if you can let me know, as well. Yeah, no, definitely.

Amy Sherman 42:21

I can interview live, we could do an ironic live q&a from the audience. You see what I'm saying? I got it. I got. Um, one other thing I wanted to mention, I know we talked about it last time, and you mentioned it reasonably somewhere. But and I again, always think of you about this, like, what can I add to my plate like that philosophy? So like, if I'm making a salad or I'm making like yogurt in the morning, I think to myself, like, what can I add? That's like healthy that's gonna see shaped me. Like, can I add that? Can I add whatever and like, that has stuck with me. I think it's such a good tip. Yeah, I'm

Kat Ashmore 42:51

so glad it's been huge. For me. It's really been huge for me, because I don't snack that often. Now, and I don't even realize that I don't really snack until people are like, knows that. Like, it's crazy to some people, but my meals are really satiating. So I just, I don't snack that much. And

Amy Sherman 43:12

I need to make I saw in the cookbook, and then I noticed it on your feed when I looked because I totally missed this one over the holidays. Like I love peppermint cookies or anything like peppermint around the holidays. And I saw those peppermint cookies. I was like, You know what I really need to make that they look

Kat Ashmore 43:26

No, they're so good. Yeah, my seven year old said that those are the best cookies he's had in his life so far. Like, well, I mean, that is the ultimate review. Yeah, absolutely. Like, you'll note that there's granulated sugar, and there's butter. Yeah, there. Yeah, I am not afraid of classic baking ingredients and not afraid of any ingredients. I want. A cookie tastes like a really good cookie. So

Amy Sherman 43:57

if you're gonna have it, you might as well. Yeah, we're just

Kat Ashmore 44:00

like, how much do we actually need? And by cutting back on this, what changes do I need to make so that we still get the texture we want? We still get the Browning we want. You know all of that. That's just that's my way. But

Katie Chandler 44:14

we're still letting a cookie be a cookie. Yeah,

Kat Ashmore 44:16

very much. And again, that way you aren't feeling like, Oh, I'm going to this place. Do I need to make like, healthy cookies that I'm going to want to eat? Or do I need to make like totally indulgent cookies that I can't eat but other people will enjoy? It's like, No, you can you can do both.

Amy Sherman 44:33

You can do both. Okay, like we could literally talk to you all day. We love you. We love like so fun. I just like and we need to meet in person. So Katie, and I need your book tours like this is

Kat Ashmore 44:45

great. We have to make that happen. Email me and we'll we'll chat about

Amy Sherman 44:49

that. Well, we'll figure out something. So let's get into our little rap session. I know we did this last time but I'm sure well, we basically like the first question what's your favorite wellness or beauty hack? I feel like we went through your whole routine. So we Love it. But just give us one thing like your favorite hack.

Kat Ashmore 45:02

Yeah, I'm okay. My favorite wellness hack, I will say because this is a mental wellness and we haven't talked about it but yeah complimenting a stranger a day. I do it every day. Oh, I love

Katie Chandler 45:13

that. I think I saw that on your content at some point. Did you talk about it at some point?

Kat Ashmore 45:17

Yeah, I have I've talked about until that's why I compliment one stranger a day. And I will also like, anytime I go to the grocery store, I get an extra bouquet of flowers, and then I will give it to someone in the parking lot. Sometimes they have to, like be a little bit creepy and like, follow people to their car. Because there aren't a lot of people here today. But I do it for myself. I love that when I'm having a bad day. It's this storyline of like, I'm not any good. I'm not enough. That's usually what is at the heart of it. So like, the best way for me to get back in touch with my goodness is by doing a good deed. And so instantly, I feel like I'm a good person. So it's not completely all altruistic. And

Amy Sherman 46:05

yeah, it makes you feel good. And it makes make someone's day.

Kat Ashmore 46:09

That's completely. Yeah, I swear by.

Katie Chandler 46:14

It shuts down those automatic negative thoughts that we all have. Right. It's like,

Kat Ashmore 46:19

quiet outside yourself. Yeah. That's great.

Katie Chandler 46:24

All right. So you gave us the play by play of the routine. What's the five minute flow? How you get out the door quickly? Uber's right around the corner.

Kat Ashmore 46:34

That was this morning for me literally before I had to jump on to something. So the one so I have I've been under painting, which I swear by doing, you know, the contour or bronzer and the blush, whatever underneath, whatever kind of foundation you're wearing. Or tinted sunscreen, but I have been using this slip tent by

Amy Sherman 46:59

Oh, I use that. So good. I'm obsessed with

Kat Ashmore 47:03

that. So I'm obsessed with it. I love the Ilia Skin Tint too, but like this is my newest obsession. And this concealer by Natasha de Nonna. Oh, I've heard of Yeah, I've heard of Taylor I've ever used really filler of every list. Yes. Yes. You can like bring it down. If you're not wearing anything else. You can bring it down a bit and just spot treat and treat that as like you're on vacation. Yeah, so that is like, huge. And then I will be like very much like a multiuse person where if I'm putting a little bit on my lip, I'll just like that, you know, dab it on making you and then Thrive mascara is my jam. I use that with a CoverGirl primer. Perfect. I don't know. Yeah. Just quick out the door. Yeah, but you know what it is? Don't Don't you feel like it's the high maintenance to be low maintenance thing, because I do so much with my skincare. I don't 100% do that much.

Amy Sherman 48:04

I don't need to do that. Yeah, I also find and Katie, and I've talked about this before, like the older you get, the less makeup, you need to if you're taking care of your skin like yeah, makeup doesn't look as good as like because your texture is different. So like, the less you can wear the better. But to your point, you got to do a lot of stuff to make it where your skin looks dead. So you don't really have to wear much, but just like a little thing here or there.

Katie Chandler 48:25

That's right. Yeah. Yeah, too much makeup. The older you get. I feel like is ages,

Amy Sherman 48:30

people who didn't do it totally does it totally. The

Katie Chandler 48:33

base has to be in shape. The skins got to be Yeah, on point. All right. So I know what your how you maintain your daily nirvana. Remember what you said last time? I'm curious what it is this time if it's same or not? How do you maintain that?

Kat Ashmore 48:48

Meditation is huge for me. That's like, oh, that's one of the big I mean, it's a non negotiable, it has totally changed my life where I'm just so much less reactive to external circumstances. It grounds me in something really solid. So that's huge. And also daily movement exercises. Like some kind of daily movement, whether it's, you know, walking, doing an incline walk in the morning, going to a, you know, a bar class, just like working my body out.

Amy Sherman 49:20

It just like something. You got it. Yeah.

Katie Chandler 49:23

You've been practicing Transcendental Meditation for years, right?

Kat Ashmore 49:26

I have. Yeah.

Amy Sherman 49:27

Anyway, you're doing that at some point. You inspired

Katie Chandler 49:30

me to find the Westport or the, you know, the Fairfield County representative here and I started working with her. Like a year ago, I hung up with her for a while I've fallen off I need to go to one of them. You know, like, refresher.

Kat Ashmore 49:45

Yeah. Just to get you back then. Yeah, yeah, of course. And, you know, meditation is one of those things where people always feel like I'm not good at it. And it's just like, nobody's good at it. Right? Right. was against everything in us as a human to like, it's hard, or water.

Amy Sherman 50:05

I appreciate it when I do it. I really don't do it a lot. But when I do it, I appreciate it so much. And I have to I feel like at least for me, because I'm not I don't do TM or anything like that I'll just do like a, Melissa would help like just someone guiding me and that helps. But I really need to force myself to do it more because you're right, like every time I do it, I feel so much more grounded. I just like don't worry, you know, put it in your calendar. If you do that's the way that I implement a new habit is I put it Yeah, calendar I put it in my phone. Repeat every day. Well, I have my I put this on our Instagram, but I have my like, my yearly mood board on my screensaver as my phone and it literally the best tip like we're kidding are building your year to doing this. It takes two seconds you like do it on your Well, this one, I think I made this one make a mood board. You basically you could do it a super easy way. Or you could make it more complicated. But the super easy way to do it is you take nine photos from your phone like you could just find inspo anywhere like, quote on Instagram, it's something from patients wherever you just take those last nine photos in your phone, you screenshot it and you put it as a screensaver. It's like the easiest thing. This I think I made in like Canva, which took me two seconds. But I just took a bunch of things. I literally downloaded it and now it's on my screen. And so it's like my reminders of are my things that I want to do that. I'm ready to go fast. Because I've been every year I always have these things. And it's like I write it down. And then I never look at it. And this was like, I started doing the nine photos. But then I was like We don't want to add more things. So then I of course like wanted to make a fun collage. But the easiest way is just like take a screenshot of this last name photos, or 12 manifest

Kat Ashmore 51:51

whatever it is. I just wrote it down. Yeah.

Amy Sherman 51:53

I love that. Yeah, we want to hear. So it's been it's fabulous. Yeah, I I love it. And I actually there's this quote on here that I had last year and I carried it over to the shirt. And my husband was like, will you sent me that quote, which was so cute. And the quote is, and it's by this person, Judy Haller, who's actually just like, she's like a keynote speaker. I've just been following her for years. And the quote is, assume the best will happen. Which I love. Because how many times are we always like, oh, like you always think negative. You're like, Oh, what if this happens? What if my husband's like, very skeptical about everything? So like, he saw that quote, and he was like, Oh, can I have that? And I was like, Yeah, I mean,

Kat Ashmore 52:34

that too.

Amy Sherman 52:36

I mean, yeah, that's so it's like, such a good thing to think about, because there's so many times right, where you're like, thinking through something, and then sometimes I'll just change my mindset will be like, but what if this happens instead? You know, even even with my kids like, a basketball game, well, what if I do that or whatever? But what if you don't? What if this happens, right? Like, right, he might spend

Kat Ashmore 52:58

time projecting the future you might as well do it positively.

Katie Chandler 53:01

Or just for what you want. Yeah, I

Kat Ashmore 53:05

love that. Yeah.

Amy Sherman 53:06

Anyway, well, like I said, we could talk all day, but this is nice. Thank you for your time was so good. Everybody, check out cash, Moore's book, big bites, and of course, she's on Instagram and Tiktok and all the things. We love it. We love you. Thank you so much for coming back. Congratulations on everything and we will chat soon. Can't wait. Thank

Kat Ashmore 53:27

you so much for having me.

Amy Sherman 53:30

Thanks for listening to Nirvana sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes. Please subscribe and leave us a review. also find us on Instagram at Nirvana sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana sisters will continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to buy

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here or view our podcast episode guide.

Episode 140 - Refine Your Year: We Dive Into 10ish Wellness Trends In and Out for 2024. (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 140.

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here.

Speaker A: Welcome to Nirvana Sisters podcast, where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state, your nirvana. We are sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman.

Speaker B: And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation.

Speaker A: You welcome back to the show Nirvana Sisters fam. It's Amy and Katie. And we are back. I was thinking, Katie, this is the third year in a row that we are doing our 20, our wellness trends. So this year is 2024. But it's crazy that we're in our third year of doing this. And it's funny because I feel like a lot of the things that we talk about in these wellness episodes end up that we start seeing that through the year or we've already interviewed someone about it. And so every year when I'm researching this, it's so fun to me.

Speaker B: 100%. I totally agree. And beauty trends also, not just wellness fun, forecasting it and then seeing the buz on it and everything. So it's exciting. I love it.

Speaker A: Yeah. Okay, so I'll kick it to you. We're just going to bang through these really quickly and high level it for you all.

Speaker B: Yeah. I think a big trend that we are going to see, that we've started to see. And it's really, I feel like just scratching the tip of the iceberg. Is that a saying? Scratching the tip of the iceberg?

Speaker A: I know what you mean. Scratching the surface.

Speaker B: Surface is the more exposure and more open conversation to women's health. Circling menopause and perimenopause. There's a lot of celebrities that have started brands or products targeted towards menopause. There is more discussion about it. It's becoming less taboo, as we have discussed over the last couple of years, we've had many guests about, I think, you know, pop culturally, seeing a lot of celebs like Naomi Watts, she started her brand stripes. That's a women's products for dry skin and vaginal dryness and things like that. And then ever now, telehealth medicine for menopause is a company that is getting started by Drew Barrymore and going to be, it's supposed to be online menopause treatment and personalized care based on real science. That's what it says on their website. And it's telehealth that is going to be widely available. And then Judy Greer. Yeah, it's very cool. Judy Greer, she's the founder of wild supplements and those are menopause and perimenopause supplements. So I think it's just a matter of time before this thing that has always been kind of like hush hush. It's definitely getting more and more out there. I think it's going to be even more so. And we're going to see a lot of that in 2024, which is great.

Speaker A: That's a great, yeah.

Speaker B: Speaking of, I had, like, full blown perry yesterday, like vertigo, like you. And I was thinking I needed to text you, but I was having a migraine. I couldn't even look at my phone.

Speaker A: Oh, my God.

Speaker B: Thank God for all of this stuff.

Speaker A: I know. I'm really happy to see there's more visibility because I think, again, it used to be like a dirty word. Nobody wanted to talk about it. And you're seeing more and more people starting to talk about it to normalize it, because to your point, perimenopause can go on for ten years. People just don't like, they don't realize what it is. So I think the more education, more awareness, the better.

Speaker B: So what is your first trend? What's your buz. That you've been hearing?

Speaker A: So when I was doing some research, I saw something that caught my attention from forbes, and it was vagus nerve stimulation, which I know we've talked about many times, which is amazing, but to actually see it written in, like, a mainstream magazine, and basically there was a woman interviewed and she said, I'm seeing a huge increase in interest from the wellness community in the vagus nerve, and how simple stimulation of this cranial nerve can counteract the fight or flight response in our body. And we have a few episodes regarding the vagus nerve, but I think, again, that is like a term we probably didn't even think about, hear of a couple of years ago, a year ago, and now I think that's becoming more into the forefront. So whether that vagus nerve stimulation is through deep breathing, mindfulness, and then it was funny because I read that it also said, even humming or laughing has been shown to calm the body after the flight or flight response is triggered. And so I know when we spoke with Steph Magenta, and we recently did that replay, she was talking about humming. And I've noticed that I've been adding that in, like, when I'm feeling a little anxious, just doing a little hum, for some reason, that helps. So anyway, that whole idea of vagus nerve stimulation and different tools you can do, whether that's like, through an external tool or just using something in your body to calm yourself, is in the forefront. And I think it's really important. And a great tool for our listeners.

Speaker B: I saw that article, and that was on my list for today because I. It's really interesting. It's so becoming so prevalent that in that article, it said the vagus nerve stimulation has been viewed over 55 million times on TikTok. Oh, wow. So there is definitely something to be said for people are taking notice. And you have a friend that had a tool that was a Vegas nerve stimulator that we used, and it was so cool after we used it, we were really relaxed and mellow. Do you remember that?

Speaker A: Yes. It was like a tool that you put on your neck, and it makes your lip kind of move a little bit.

Speaker B: Yeah. And it stimulates your vagus nerve.

Speaker A: Yeah, I forgot what it's called. Like, true Vega or something like that.

Speaker B: Yeah. We need to find out and we'll put it in the show notes because it really is very cool. I want to get one and then just one other vague stimulator that is so easy to do is sighing. Did you know that?

Speaker A: No.

Speaker B: You think about it. You do it when you're stressed. People sigh when they're tired or stressed. If you're stressed, like, that's so true.

Speaker A: I feel like when I get in the car, I just do that. I'm so funny. You know another thing that Steph Magenta told us, which I do all the time now and again, I don't know if this is Vegas nerve or what it is, but a breathing technique is just, like, in for four and out for, like, I feel like I was always doing the breathing in, but the breathing out for four helps because then it's, like, balance instead of just breathing in and then just shortly breathing out. Just that long breath. Do that a couple of times is really helpful.

Speaker B: Yeah. All right, fake nerve.

Speaker A: What do you have next?

Speaker B: So my next one is a beauty trend that I think we're going to see a lot of hearing a lot about the 90s makeup coming back. So to be, like, a little bit more specific, I think we're going to see less of the laminated, thick eyebrows and more of the natural, maybe even too thin, which I don't love eyebrows coming in, and then less of the super dramatic mascaras and lashes. A little bit more natural there. But this was one that I'm really excited to try is lipsticks that have kind of, like, a brown undertone to them. Yeah. Elf has come out with a few. Nyx has come out. Merit dior, like, really beautiful brown, burgundy ish, pretty colors.

Speaker A: There was this one brown lipstick I wore in the course I can't remember the name of it. I'll have to think of it. But you know what I'm talking about. There was like two lipsticks that everyone wore. There was one kind of frosted pink one.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker A: Do you know what I'm talking about? Of course. I can't remember the name. It was like maybelline lean or something. And then there was a brown one like that, too. I have to research and try to figure out those.

Speaker B: You should try to find, you know.

Speaker A: What I'm talking about, though.

Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, colors in my head, I.

Speaker A: Remember that frosty pink and I remember that brown. It was like a late color. I can't remember, but I've got to look it up.

Speaker B: Latte brown. It's pretty.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: I remember there was ones that smelled like lattes and things like that. They're still like lip gloss like that. So the 90s makeup. Yeah, I've heard as well. Blue, which I'm not really into, like blue eyeshadows and things like that frosted look. So we'll see which way that goes.

Speaker A: Yes. Well, on the note of blue. Well, I'll tell you my next one, then I'll go back to blue because I had some other fun things about blue. But I have something very funny, which you probably read it, because I have a feeling we're looking at the same sources, but we're always talking about our favorite category of self care, which is bedrotting. I found a new name for it. Okay, you ready, everybody? It's called, and I will probably butcher this name, but Dolce Farniente, a wellness trend we're seeing and certainly encouraging in 2024, is what we Italians call Dolce Farniente, or the sweetness of doing nothing, said Andrea Quadro Carizo, co founder of QG Spa of Wonders, which offers twelve destination spas and seven wellness resorts around the world. As a society, we're overstressed, over scheduled and overtired, leaving little room for joy and wonder or open ended self care. But we've begun seeing the pendulum swing in the other direction. We now aspire to achieve work life balance that Italians are famous for and practicing doing nothing, clearing your brain and schedule, is the first step on the road to true wonder in relaxation. So, of course, this resonated with me immediately. And then I laughed because I was like, I can't wait to talk about this with Katie, because that one just sounds very much more, I don't know what I'm saying. Much more.

Speaker B: It's way more glamorous than glamour. That's rotting. Yeah.

Speaker A: Dolce farniente.

Speaker B: Dolce Farnie and day.

Speaker A: That's going to be doing all year long. It's literally when I go to my calendar on a Saturday and I have no plans. It's the best day ever for me. I could do nothing or I could do something. It's up to me.

Speaker B: Exactly.

Speaker A: Anyway, we'll see more of that this year, which I'm very happy to see.

Speaker B: Dolce Fernie and day. Did I say it right?

Speaker A: I think so. I don't know.

Speaker B: All right, perfect.

Speaker A: We need someone italian to tell us.

Speaker B: Yeah, we do. We need Italian. All right, my next one is called skin streaming. And I saw this, inStyle.com, it's their big forecast, 2024 trends skin streaming, which is essentially just streamlining one's skincare. People are going away from the ten step process with all of the different things and trying to streamline and get more of your actives and hydrators and everything into maybe three or four products instead of ten. And just to simplify so that they can have more dolce foundiente.

Speaker A: Nice. I like the tie back.

Speaker B: I am for sure in that camp because I have gotten down to, like, I think, two or three products, and I'm pretty pleased with it. Right now. There's only one product that I want to get into my skincare routine, and once I do, I'm going to be set.

Speaker A: So is that morning and night you only have a few products.

Speaker B: Morning I have two products. Night I have three products. And I would like to add in. I need an active. I need a vitamin C. So I'm going to throw a vitamin C into my morning and then I feel like I'm going to be solid. I'm good.

Speaker A: Well, it's funny that you say that. So I've noticed that, too, with products. And I think we talked with this at one point of just like brands now, instead of just like having a niacinamide and having all these separate ingredients, they're combining more. So to your point about vitamin C, you might want to try the one that I've reviewed before, the wise beauty. Vitamin C, because it has vitamin C, niacinamide and hyaluronic acid, I believe, and maybe some, and maybe some ceramides. I can't remember exactly what's in it, but it's a couple of things. So when you're using it, it's not like you have to use four different things. It's all together and it's really nice. So that might be a good one for you. To try and it's not irritating. You want a good vitamin.

Speaker B: Exactly. I need to try it because that's like the point, right? Get your actives and your peptides into one, right?

Speaker A: You don't need like ten different individual products? No, I like that idea a lot.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Okay, my next one still on the Forbes article. And it's funny because I've heard this term a few times lately, and I didn't know what it was literally until yesterday because I was listening to another podcast that was talking about this as part of a different subject, but rucking. R-U-T-K-I-N-G. Not to be confused with the other word, but that would be good too.

Speaker B: That's good too.

Speaker A: But rucking is literally walking with a weighted backpack. So I guess this was something that a lot of, like, I don't know if it was bodybuilders or weightlifters type.

Speaker B: People did, but military also.

Speaker A: Oh, is that what it is? That's probably what it's from. I think it's like a nod to back in the hunter gatherer days when people would carry their materials and food and using your body to carry weights, especially for women, as you grow older and your muscle gets weaker. This other podcast I was listening to was talking about how you should obviously be lifting weights, but rucking is a really good way to kind of do that when you're walking. So I have not tried this yet, but it says that it will be a top wellness trend in 2024 as people look to build endurance, improve heart health, burn calories, and strengthen bones. And it does say to. We're saying. While rucking has traditionally been seen as a high intensity and suitable only for the uber fit, new fitness brands will make wrecking more accessible and mainstream with weighted packs designed with different bodies in mind and a load starting at a lower, more accessible weight. So I'm hoping that some of these cute brands, like Bala or something, comes up with cute weighted backpacks. So it's just like ten pounds or five pounds instead of like these crazy ones. Anyway, I thought that was cool because you go on a walk anyway, you might as well throw something on your back and try it out.

Speaker B: Yeah, in the military, they call it your rucksack. Rucksack.

Speaker A: Okay.

Speaker B: I think it's literally like they're carrying their backpack with all of their things that are going to get them through whatever the job is for the day. So it's weighted. It's heavy, right? Yeah.

Speaker A: That's like what backpackers. I mean, when I was in college and I backpacked around Europe, like, you had your backpack on your back. I mean, that's how you're getting around. So it's a kind of, like, old school practice, but more visibility on it.

Speaker B: Yeah, I like that.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: Nice. All right, well, my next one, and this is really my next few, are things that we saw a lot of in 2023 that I don't think are going anywhere that we're going to see a lot more of. And cold plunge, for sure. Cold plunge, sauna, red light, that category, that's a trifecta. The three of those people. I mean, of course, it's people that are a little bit more well to do. They're able to have these things in their home. It's not the most accessible thing, but there are a lot of people that are getting saunas and cold plunges and red light therapies, and then there's great places that you can go to, like restore hyper wellness and other med spas that are offering all of these things. And I think it's just going to be more and more popular. There's so much science behind how beneficial.

Speaker A: There's also accessible, like the higher dose blanket that I've been seeing that's much more accessible. There's red lights just that you could put on your desktop again, that are much more accessible. And then for cold plunge, I just. At the end of my shower, when I'm feeling brave, I don't know, maybe most of the week, I do like, or I try to do a minute of cold, it probably ends up being ten to 15 seconds, but it does help wake me up. I didn't do it today. I forgot. But, yeah, see, there you go.

Speaker B: You just broke it down. Totally accessible ways to do it.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: Or jump in a lake.

Speaker A: Jump in a lake.

Speaker B: Exactly where it's cold.

Speaker A: Jump in the east river. I'm just kidding. So back to the blue. Aquamarine makeup is back and bolder than ever. 2024. Gen Z and millennials will find new ways to incorporate this 60s staple into their modern beauty routines. And I agree, like, the little much to do the whole eyeshadow thing. But Michaela, who's massive makeup artist on TikTok, she just came out. She had created a line with P. Louise that it's all, like, blue and beautiful. So she must have known that this blue eyeshadow is coming or just maybe predicted it. But I have a couple stats, which I thought were fun. So blue eyeshadow aesthetic was that. This is. According to Pinterest predicts, blue eyeshadow aesthetic was up 65% last year, fun blue nails were up 260%, light blue prom makeup up 70%.

Speaker B: Oh, my.

Speaker A: Aqua makeup look up 100%. And blue quince or blue quince makeup up 85%. I don't know what that is, but the only one that resonated with me was fun blue nails, because I do tend to get blue nails occasionally, and I have seen some really cute. Mine are, like, kind of greenish right now, but I have seen some really cute, bright, kind of, like, royal blues, which I would definitely try. That's fun cute.

Speaker B: What's quince? Kensey Quince.

Speaker A: I don't know why I wrote it. Kense. Q-U-I-N-C-E-I don't know what it means. I'll look it up while you're telling me your next trend.

Speaker B: Yeah, that's interesting. The blue prom. That's so funny.

Speaker A: I know. How funny is that?

Speaker B: I'm literally seeing pictures of my mom when she went to prom.

Speaker A: I know. I do love that 60s blue eye. Not for me, but I do love that look.

Speaker B: That would look. So the next trend that I am reading a lot about are bracket sports, and pickleball was all the rage in 2023. Right. I knew people that were all of a sudden playing pickleball like crazy, and I thought it was for, like, I don't know, 80 year olds.

Speaker A: I know.

Speaker B: It's a very fun sport. People are really getting into it, which I think is great. It's a less intense version of tennis or racquetball, and it's supposed to be a very social sport. Have you played pickleball?

Speaker A: I have played a few times, yeah. I've played with the boys.

Speaker B: It's fun.

Speaker A: Yeah. I don't know all the rules, but it's fun.

Speaker B: So pickleball was big in 2023. Badminton is on the rise for 2024. Dr. Daniel. Amen. I was listening to a podcast with him, and he is a leading neuroscientist. He was saying that people that do racket sports, they have, like, brain longevity. So badminton is a racket sport played using rackets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger items, the most common forms of the game are singles and doubles, and it's the one that has the white thing that looks.

Speaker A: It has, like, a ball on the end and then.

Speaker B: Yeah, exactly.

Speaker A: Waffley thing.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: There's also something called, I want to say not pickleball, but paddleball, and I don't know what that is either.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: But apparently that's a big thing, too.

Speaker B: That paddleball racquetball, tennis, badminton, even ping pong. Those are all considered racket sports that are really good for your brain health, apparently. So I don't know if that's why it's on the rise or it's just a new social activity, but.

Speaker A: New social activity, yeah. And it's maybe more. It's your point. Like, pickleball is a little bit easier than tennis because you're not, like, running across the big thing. But pickleball can be intense if you watch people play. And I also. Who was it? I feel like I saw or read or heard somewhere that there's been so many more cases of knee injuries in the last few years because of pickleball, because so many people play and will stop short and hurt their knee, which makes sense. I could see that. So just be careful. But I like that. And I think that is a good way to. I mean, think about ping pong, right? When you're playing, you're like, yeah, it's so fast. It's so fast. So I can see that that's a good brain exercise. Okay, next one I have is in the beauty realm. Sticking with that. By the way, I looked up kinsei makeup while you were talking, and I'm not sure, but I think it might have to do with, like, quinceignera.

Speaker B: Oh, okay.

Speaker A: Something like that.

Speaker B: That's what I very initially thought when you.

Speaker A: Okay, next one. Head to glow. So body care will have a major moment in 2024. Boomers and Gen Z will double down on luxury lotions and in home spa experiences. So a couple fun search deaths. So sunscreen was up 75% last year. Body lotion aesthetic was up 245%. Spa aesthetic, I guess, to design your home, was up 60%. Body skincare routine up 1025%. And body care was up 845%. So it's interesting, what we're seeing now is people, like, they've got their skincare routines down. They're, like, in a rhythm, but now they're like, wait, what about the rest of my body? What's a good routine for that? So I think that was a good one. We don't really talk about that too much.

Speaker B: No, it's true. And I was just teaching Madeline this, by the way. Sidebar. Maddie asked me to teach her how to shave her legs, my ten year old. So we did that with a real razor or electric. With a real razor.

Speaker A: Oh, wow.

Speaker B: Yeah. Went through the whole thing. But that reminds me, because I am trying to get her to understand that she should put lotion on her body every day. And I don't know what point in my life I started doing it, but I've been doing it for decades. And it's something that unless someone, I think, tells you to do it as you're growing up, it's not like first nature to just put lotion all over your body. Right.

Speaker A: When you have a baby, you're doing every night, you do your bath time routine and you put your lotion on and everything.

Speaker B: Exactly. So I like it. Body care, body lotion.

Speaker A: Good one. I'm still using my body oil that I've been using for a long time that I think I've talked about several times on the show. And now I just do it like, I keep it in my shower now. So I just tell off of my shower and do it there. And it's so good because it just stays on better. It keeps my skin moisturized.

Speaker B: I love it. Yeah, I need to get some of that. I want to try it. But it is true.

Speaker A: If you think about just really quickly, like how you're exfoliating your face, how often are we exfoliating our body? Right. And things like that.

Speaker B: Yeah, I just bought a great. When we were in Montreal. It's kind of like a mitt that is an exfoliant. It's really thin, but it's really, really nice. I got it from this beautiful store. I should reference it because her store was gorgeous, but I use that from time to time, and it's just my skin feels, like, so good afterwards.

Speaker A: Yeah, that's nice.

Speaker B: Nice. All right, well, my last one is a continuation of seeing adaptogens and nootropics. Mushrooms. I mean, when we had Julia Marar on the show a few years ago, talking about psilocybin and mushrooms, having psychedelic experience as therapy, I feel like that was so early in this revolution of what's happening with psilocybin and mushrooms. That's the one extreme. And then the adaptogens and the nootropics and things like that is the other. And you're just seeing it more and more like you're seeing lion's mane in gorilla and mushroom coffee and adaptogens everywhere. So I think it's great. More products are readily available with these things where I go to get my coffee in the morning before I hop on the train. They make the most amazing overnight oats. Dairy free overnight oats. And she makes her own granola that has lion's mane and reishi in it and a few other things. And it is so good. I love it. I'm obsessed that's good. Yeah.

Speaker A: I have a coffee that think it's. I think the brand's four sigmatic. We'll put the link up, and it also has mushrooms in it, in the beans, and it's supposed to help you focus more and yada, yada. So I love it. Okay, well, I have two more, and they're kind of related. They're still both in beauty. So the first one, which is not surprising, is just like hair longevity. So basically, talking about not only trying to, how a lot of people were losing hair during the pandemic, and it's become like a bigger challenge with women losing their hair. So there's that piece which we've talked about a lot, or it's becoming more visible, but there's also just, like, the skin, scalp health, and being proactive about your scalp. So the fun fact that I found was the skin on your scalp ages faster than the skin anywhere else on your body, and the effects are written all over your strands. So while multistep skincare routines prioritize longevity by smoothing, brightening, and tightening, such as, sorry, such a focus hasn't extended to the hair on our head. So in 2024, this was an article in well and good. It was saying, prepare to rethink your hair care routine with longevity in mind. And there's tons of new product launches that help with that. I see a lot now about, like, hair oiling and just different things for the scalp. And it's funny because we talked about this a few years ago with Eris, the founder of Scene and CEO or founder of the company. And she was really into the scalp health because she's a dermatologist. And so she obviously got this before it became a little bit more mainstream. But we're going to see a lot of products that helps to address that. I thought that was relevant because I started, I'm trying to be better with taking care of my hair, with doing some sort of weekly oil massage and deep mass conditioner on my ends or something like that. So when I do my big wash, I do that before. I've been trying to do that just to get my hair in a better place, because I just feel like it's been frizzy and not as healthy. So, yeah, more products coming out about hair longevity.

Speaker B: Love that. Yeah.

Speaker A: And then the last one that is sort of similar but not really, is skin barrier health, which I also saw popping on well and good, and basically, like, strength training, your skin, it says, will become the most single most important part of your beauty routine in 24 and it's basically saying that a strong skin barrier is crucial for overall skin health, protecting against external elements and retaining moisture. So everyday habits like improper use of actives can compromise the skin barrier, leading to dryness, irritation, acne. It's also talked about how niacinamide, which we've talked about a million times, has gained popularity for its gentle yet effective properties in brightening skin and addressing various concerns without irritation. And then traditional barrier building ingredients like ceramides, glycerin, fatty acids, often complemented by calming ingredients like, I've never heard of this, Cantella Asiatica and colodial oatmeal, which is funny because I just talked about that oatmeal serum. And then it also said that body care is following the trend with barrier friendly products from different brands that help with the barrier of your actual skin, not just your face. So it says there's drugstore luxury brands all introducing products for severe barrier concerns. I know when Natasha B. Was on our show, she recommended a couple face moisturizers that were good for barrier, but for skin barrier. But this was saying there's a few brands for body care called Marie Veronica Spyclart, which I haven't heard of, Ren and Pericone, MD, which have barrier friendly skin products. I thought that was interesting.

Speaker B: Yeah, I like that. And it's funny as we're going through, like, I'm noticing a trend within our trends, and I feel like this is something that we're seeing a lot of is longevity. Longevity in every category, instead of products and activities and things that are like, instant gratification. I do feel like there's a little bit more of a focus on what can I do now to just keep this going and improve and longevity, long lasting.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: I think it's great. Brain health, skin, hair.

Speaker A: Right. What can I do now? The proactive things, not trying to react to like, oh, I'm losing hair, but to prevent it from happening in the first place. Just like you eat clean because you want to have healthy gut and all of that. It's catching up to all of these things. To your point, the rucking that helps to build strong muscles so you don't.

Speaker B: Lose muscle mass. Exactly. Longevity. All right, 2024, here we come. Longevity.

Speaker A: And the year of Dolce Farniente.

Speaker B: Dolce Farniente.

Speaker A: I love it. Hope you all enjoyed this, and I'm sure we'll be talking about many of these trends in future episodes as well. And see you next week. Bye bye. Thanks for listening to Nirvana sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes. Please subscribe and leave us a review. Also, find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters if you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would, please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana Sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 1 - Product Junkies: January - Wake Up Your Winter Skin With These Glowing Faves (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode .

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here.

Speaker A: Welcome to Nirvana Sisters podcast, where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state, your nirvana. We are sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman.

Speaker B: And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation.

Speaker A: You. Welcome back to Nirvana Sisters. Nirvana Sisters fam. Happy 2024. Back in the saddle with Katie. Hi. We haven't even caught up, so we'll do a full catch up offline. But how was it was good.

Speaker B: It was super chill. And I had my parents here, which was really nice. They haven't been here in a while. And it was good. It was just very relaxing. It was like, we did a lot of cooking and played a lot of games, hung out with the kids. We took the kids, the girls to the Rockets. Radio city, second row. We had epic seats. It was great.

Speaker A: Oh, my God.

Speaker B: What about you? You guys did an impromptu little trip?

Speaker A: We did, like, literally a last minute trip. We weren't doing anything. But the kids, who are still off from school, have the longest break this year for some reason. So I was, like, just looking for some last minute deals. So, yeah, we went last minute to Arizona, to a couple of different places, and it was amazing. It was just nice to be in good weather. And the best part, I put a reel up about it, but the best part was having meals together uninterrupted, relaxed, not rushing and just connecting with the kids because that's why I wanted to go away. Because when you're home, even if you're on break, you're not, like, connecting because everyone's kind of doing their own thing, but on vacation, you're all together all the time. So it's so nice. You never just get that quality time together.

Speaker B: It was great. I love it. It looked great.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: I had no idea you were there until.

Speaker A: I know. It was like, we planned it a couple weeks before the most, I think.

Speaker B: Which was actually good.

Speaker A: A little sponsor.

Speaker B: Let's dive in.

Speaker A: Okay. We're diving into a little product junkies. January. What we're loving right now, Katie. I'm kicking.

Speaker B: I am so psyched about this product. I have been eagerly awaiting this moment. I'm sure you've seen it on TikTok, the a three. One three. Have you seen that?

Speaker A: I have seen it. Is that a retinoin?

Speaker B: It's a retinoin. It's a vitamin a. And I saw it on TikTok. It's from the french pharmacy in Europe. You can go to the pharmacies and get the most amazing products right there at the pharmacy. You don't have to go to Sephora or something, so everything is so readily available. So there's this website called french pharmacy, and this is all over TikTok, at least in my feed. And I have had the hardest time finding the right kind of retinol. I've been trying all of these different retinols for years, and for a while it was making my skin so crazy, so I just completely stopped. And then I saw TikTok talking about how this is just a really gentle one. It's really nice. It's called a three one three vitamin a pomade. So it's kind of a consistency of aquaphor. I want to say it's a little bit like that, only it's a little moisturizing. So it's very soothing. And I'm tolerating it wonderfully. I'm able to do it three or four nights a week if I put my moisturizer on first. And I have been doing it for a month. And I have noticed a difference already without a shadow of a doubt. It's definitely helping. This is no filter, and I just have this crappy light here. But my pores are smaller, my skin is a little bit plumper, and it's definitely more hydrated, for sure. But I want to do a repeat review on this. I want to check back in.

Speaker A: Yeah, maybe how it's working because it's supposed to only get better.

Speaker B: I want to say I've been on it for, like, four to six weeks, so I'm going to review it again when I'm at maybe like three months and then maybe six months. Six months.

Speaker A: Okay. That's good to know. And so you put moisturizer on first, then you put that on, and then. Do you put on anything after that?

Speaker B: Obviously, you only do it at night. So I cleanse, I do my very calming Larouche moisturizer and then this, and that's it. And I wake up and my skin is, like, so soft, it's crazy. It's fixed. My texture, too. My texture is, like, softened up. So it's really good.

Speaker A: That's great. I've seen that online. I wanted to try it. I mean, I use a trentinoin, which, I don't know, trentinoin stronger, but I'm not positive. And my skin tolerates it fine because I've been doing retinol for so long, on and off. But the tretinoin is, the consistency is a little. It's almost a little pasty. So when you put it on, it doesn't easily spread.

Speaker B: You kind of have to work it in.

Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, if I do moisturizer first, it helps. And it also does make my skin more dry. I can't use it every night, so that might be a nice.

Speaker B: Yeah, see, that's the opposite to what any retinol has ever done to me. This is the opposite to what usually retinols dry me out. And I feel like I'm so dry to begin with. I mean, it's dead of winter, and this is hydrating me for sure. And actually, I just pulled it up. The reason why it is so mild, it is the mildest form of vitamin A. It's called retinol esters. So it is just super gentle. And then if you do try it, it's suggested to just start slow. Maybe start with, like, one day a week, and then add two. I kind of ramped up pretty quickly. I kind of know what my skin can go through. So I did, like, two or three days, and then I pulled back, and now I'm doing it, like, three or four nights a week. Nice.

Speaker A: Love that. Okay, well, on the skincare topic, I have two skincare things to review. So this one is new, and it's more of a drugstore find. It's aveno calm and restore triple oat serum. And this is really good if you have red, irritated skin or, like, inflammation. So I don't have any serums that have oat in it. Like, I didn't really think about it, but I was getting a facial, I don't know, I guess before the holiday day, and she put a serum on, and she was like, oh, your redness. Because I have this one red patch that I'm trying to get rid of. It's, like, texture and red. And I've been trying to get rid of it for a while. And she put, like, a serum that they had made in house with oat in it. And she said the redness went down. And then I looked, and it really had gone down. So I was like, oh, where do I get an oat serum? I've never even heard of that. And she's, like, the only one I can think of because they made in house is, like, the savino. So I bought this, and it's actually really nice. It's very thin, and I put it on first thing in the morning. Sometimes I do it at night, just depending on how I feel. But it really does kind of calm that redness and inflammation, especially for the winter. So I'm really enjoying it.

Speaker B: Sounds like it's soothing.

Speaker A: Yeah, sometimes. What I also have been doing is putting a little bit in my hand and then mixing it with, like, a liquid bronzer. Like, either the Westminutelier dewdra or the westminutelier. They're like some sort of tanning or bronzer drop kind of things, or, like, the drunk elephant ones. And mix it together and then kind of put it on with a brush, and it's just like a light. Just kind of thins it out and makes it, like, glowy.

Speaker B: So nice.

Speaker A: I really like it. I've only been using it for, like, a month, but it's a good serum.

Speaker B: To pair with other serums and easy to get. It's a vino. You can get that at any drugstore for the most part.

Speaker A: Exactly. I think I bought it on Amazon, but, yeah, I'm sure they have it at the drugstore, too.

Speaker B: Kids, too. I wonder. Maddie might like it, like, if it's gentle for sensitive skin and everything.

Speaker A: Yeah, very gentle. I mean, the first ingredient is water.

Speaker B: Okay. I think another reason why. I don't know. This is just conjecture, but I have a theory. The other reason why I'm tolerating the a three one three so well is because, I am embarrassed to say, but I wasn't wearing sunscreen every day, and now I am.

Speaker A: Where have you been?

Speaker B: Shame on me.

Speaker A: That's all we talk about.

Speaker B: On me.

Speaker A: What's that phrase, that cobbler? Like the shoe. Do you know what I'm talking about, though? That phrase? It's like the cobbler about a shoe. I don't know. I have to look it up online. But it basically says, like, you tell.

Speaker B: People you don't do it for yourself.

Speaker A: Yeah, but there's, like, a famous phrase that I'm forgetting. But we'll cut this entire thing out.

Speaker B: No, it's hilarious. You're just getting your idiom mixed up. That's all it is. Okay, so I'm using the tinted sunscreen by LaRouche. It's the tinted mineral anthelios light liquid sunscreen. And this is an SPF 50, and it's great. I mean, it's just such a good one. It's almost like a too sheer to just do it as I think it's during the warmer months. And I was actually getting a little bit of color on my face from the sun then I probably could, but it's a little too sheer for that. I'm just so pale right now. I don't know. I definitely need a little bit of a build up. If I'm going to work, if I'm just like, hanging around the house or running errands, then I'll just wear.

Speaker A: You'll just wear that?

Speaker B: But that's one thing I like about it, is that it's very thin and sheer and it just doesn't feel like some sunscreens, they leave film or they pill a little or something. And this one's really nice. So La Roche always has such great products.

Speaker A: Yeah, you always find good La Roche stuff. And my local cvs doesn't have that many La Roche things, I feel like, because I've never seen that.

Speaker B: Our cvs is really familiar. I've noticed that when I visit my parents, they don't have a whole lot of La Roche products at theirs either.

Speaker A: Yeah, there's like some stuff. But I have to look for that mineral. Yeah. Because I still am using the beauty of Josene, one that I reviewed, which I still love. Very thin SPF 50. I don't know, I think it's mineral. I'm not sure, but, yeah, it's great. Well, congrats on wearing sunscreen every day. Do you wear it as your first or your last?

Speaker B: I wear it as my last. And it's like before, I was doing these retinols at night and then I wasn't. Sometimes I would have sunscreen on, but sometimes I wasn't. And now I'm being really religious about it because the retinols make your skin sensitive to sun. So, yeah, I put it on very last and I think.

Speaker A: Do you use that in place of.

Speaker B: Your moisturizer in addition to in the winter? Yeah, for sure. But it's the mineral. I feel like the mineral piece is what makes it so nice on your skin. Right. Don't you think?

Speaker A: Well, some mineral sunscreens are. That's why I asked. I don't like the texture, but they're getting better.

Speaker B: This one's.

Speaker A: That's good.

Speaker B: That's very lightweight and it doesn't leave like greasy filmy or anything. It's very nice.

Speaker A: Okay.

Speaker B: Yeah, love that.

Speaker A: Okay, my next one is something I've been wanting to try. I've been using it for, I don't know, a month or two. It's a recommendation by our friend Natasha B. Beauty junkie monkey. It's the topology. Peptide complex eye cream.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker A: I was looking for a night eye cream because I didn't really have a good one. I think I was telling you I used that beauty of Josene like retinol eye cream, which is good, but it's thin and it's like a different consistency. This one's very thick, which I like for the winter, so it just feels really soothing. I don't know about results yet. My under eyes definitely look good, but.

Speaker B: I don't know what's your under eyes look great. Let me think.

Speaker A: I have a little bit of my favorite, that color corrector that I wear, the Milani one. I mean, that's like every day, but that's all I have on. Yeah. So I really like this a lot. It's just like a nice thick, it's really nice for the winter and I've been testing it out, so morticon. But I think it's good. There's no scent. It's just like a nice feel. Sometimes I use it in the morning, but I mostly use it at night because I felt like in the morning I have stuff, but at night I didn't have a good one to sleep with.

Speaker B: She loves her topology and actually she's the first person that I ever heard that brand reference from. But I mean, she goes on and on and on about it. It's supposed to be so great.

Speaker A: Yeah, I would like, well, I have their matrixal and I have their.

Speaker B: What's the other one?

Speaker A: The matrixal and the arguraline that I use. And so I think the combination of those with this has improved my skin because they're all peptides.

Speaker B: It's like all different types of try.

Speaker A: I'm into it.

Speaker B: Okay, well, back to skin. My last one is Charlote Tilbury's flawless filter. I mean, this thing has been around, but we have never reviewed it and I don't use it a lot. But I started using it in the last, I want to say just like few weeks. I feel like the first time I used it was like Adam's holiday party or something. But when I first bought it, I thought that it was going to be more of like a concealer coverage situation. And it's not. It is. Yeah. It's like a, it's just like a base to have really glowy, healthy skin and to help your makeup sit on your face as it should and stay. And that's exactly what it does. It really gives you, especially like in the winter when your skin is so dry and I'm more fair, it just gave me a nice base to have dewy fresh face instead of dewy.

Speaker A: Yeah. I have one that I've had for years that I never used. I maybe used it once or twice. I have to try it again.

Speaker B: Is it not thick? No, it's actually really thin. And I feel like the first time I got it, I was disappointed because I didn't know how to use it properly. But I think the idea is that you really do have to layer your coverage with it. So I'll put coverage on, and then I feel like, oh, look, I'm a little too shiny or greasy, but then you have to set it with the powder. And if you do all of those steps, it leaves you with beautiful, flawless, photo finish looking skin.

Speaker A: So do you put it everywhere or you just kind of put it.

Speaker B: No, I put it everywhere. I take dots of it, and then I blend it with my brush.

Speaker A: With your finger brush.

Speaker B: And then I do my concealer on top of it. I don't ever do foundation. A lot of people do the foundation stuff. I don't do that.

Speaker A: I know I never do.

Speaker B: And then I go through everything else, and then I finish with the translucent setting powder. And under all of that, I still look like I have glowy, shiny, healthy skin. But you're matte in the right places. Like your tzone. You've got your powder and your concealer.

Speaker A: And you're still using the powder. Like the twisty one.

Speaker B: I use that one, and then I use the kosis.

Speaker A: I still have to try that kosis.

Speaker B: Finishing powder as well.

Speaker A: Pro tip on the flawless filter. There's a dupe for it. Elf halo glow, which a lot of people use and like it better or like it the same. I haven't tried it yet because every time I go to get it, it's always sold out. But that's another good one to try, because some people buy, they'll buy either the Charlote Tilbury one or the elf one, but they'll buy, like, a different color. So a lot of people will buy them in a bronze color, so they'll use it as, like, a bronzer instead.

Speaker B: Of a skin, which you can definitely do that consistency. I could see how that would work.

Speaker A: Right. Okay, so speaking of makeup, my last product, which I'm in love with, I just discovered it. I don't know if it's new or not, but it's the makeup by Mario. It's called the soft pop plumping blush veil. Soft pop. This is like a tongue twister soft pop plumping blush veil. And this color is called perfect pink. There's other colors too. It's just like a soft.

Speaker B: Is it powder or cream?

Speaker A: It's cream. Very light. And I just apply it with, like, it's all you need is just, like.

Speaker B: A little bit, like, look, it's pretty.

Speaker A: And then it's just pretty little.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: See what I'm saying? See how bright it is?

Speaker B: It really so nice pigment. It's like heavily pigmented.

Speaker A: And a lot of times I'll use, I'm like putting on a lot right now just for the drama of it all, but a lot of times I'll use my finger for blush and I've decided that sometimes my fingers almost rub in the blush too much and then I have no color. So I started using a brush with this because I saw someone using this and I was like, well, I'm going to try it. And it works so well. You literally need like a couple of dots and you're good. It's such a pretty color and such a nice formula. Really thin, not greasy, just like really nice for the winter. So that's what I've been using. I brought this on vacation with me and wore it every day.

Speaker B: It is a really pretty color. Nice.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: All right. Well, is that our quick.

Speaker A: Well, that's it.

Speaker B: It's just a quick one today.

Speaker A: But we'll be back with more of these. So hope everyone had a great new year and we will see you next week.

Speaker B: Happy New year.

Speaker A: Bye. Thanks for listening to Nirvana Sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes. Please subscribe and leave us a review. Also find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would, please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana Sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness. So you don't have video. Bye.

Episode 134 - Product Junkies December: Holiday Gift Guide (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 134.

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here.

Speaker A: Welcome to Nirvana Sisters podcast, where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state, your nirvana. We are sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman.

Speaker B: And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation.

Speaker C: Hello, Nirvana Sisters family. It's Amy and Katie. And we are here with a holiday gift guide from product junkies. And happy early holidays. Happy post Thanksgiving. We have some fun things to share with you today. And also, just a reminder that everything that we always mention is in our show notes and on our website, so feel free to check them out there. But I am really excited to get in all of these things because I am doing shopping and I don't know what to get, and I keep looking at gift guides and I'm very excited to hear what you have, Katie. So I'm going to start off with you and tell us what you got. What's your first holiday gift idea?

Speaker B: When I was thinking this through, I feel like it's always good to give people gift ideas, things that someone wouldn't necessarily want to buy for themselves. Right. Those are the best gifts sometimes. Or something that maybe one wouldn't necessarily try because it's maybe out of their comfort zone, like something like that. Those are great gifts. So my first one is under the beauty product category, and it is the luxury end of a product that one might not buy for themselves because it's kind of outrageously priced for what it is. But it's an amazing gift. And it is the Mason Pearson hairbrush. So Mason Pearson is an English brand and they make the most amazing hairbrushes. And I've bought one, I sprung for it actually, not a few years ago, many years ago when I was at a friend's wedding in London. And the mini brush that I keep in my handbag, it's small. It's called their pocket brush. This alone is $120.

Speaker C: What? I had no idea they were that expensive. That's crazy.

Speaker B: Crazy.

Speaker C: But I don't brush my hair, though. I just brush it with my hands because it's curly, so I don't really yeah, and I guess when I wear it straight, I do brush it, but yeah, I just use kind of like a comb. See, I've never been like a big brush girl. You're a big brush girl.

Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. I brush my hair. You always have your yeah, 100 times a day. Unless it's like up in a bun all day. But this brush, I'm pretty sure I bought this in, I want to say, like, 2018, and it's still in phenomenal shape and I use it a gazillion times a day. And the wonderful thing about the Mason Pearson hairbrushes and this type of brush is that it is really great for redistributing the oils in your hair, so it gives your hair a beautiful shine. I mean, it's a great brush. It does great things for your hair. This is the bristle and nylon hairbrush. It's the combination. And that's what I love so much, because I have thick hair, but they have different options. They have just the nylon. They have just the boar bristle. The combo I really like, though, they also have a child's bristle hairbrush, which is really kind of cool. So it's kind of like a bougie hairbrush, but I love that.

Speaker C: That is a great gift.

Speaker B: Yeah. I bought this for myself. I was on vacation. When you're on vacation, you might treat yourself with something. It was that kind of like, on a whim thing. So it's a good gift. I wouldn't do this if I was in my right mind at a store looking for a hairbrush. I wouldn't spend that kind of money on a hairbrush.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: What do you have?

Speaker C: Okay, so my next one is a comfort gift, and I feel like it's such a good gift to buy someone, because, again, you're probably not going to buy them for yourself. And it is ugg slippers. I know that's kind of, like, generic or chewy, as the young kids say. However.

Speaker B: Oh, my God.

Speaker C: Chewy.

Speaker B: Wait, hold on. Pause. What is chewgi?

Speaker C: You've never heard that word? Oh, it's kind of old now. I think it's passe. It means, like, basic not cool anymore. I don't know. I don't even know if people are even saying that anymore. But there's always a debate about Uggs, whether they're chewy or not. I've seen that online. However, I love them, and I just got these new ones. They're the tasman slipper, and they come in, like, all different colors, but they're great for men or women. I actually got a pair for Jewels for Hanukkah, because he wanted them, because he saw mine. And I don't know, I just feel like it's a good husband present. It's a good wife present. It's a good friend present. Mom, dad, it's, like, easy and cozy and comfy, and you might not buy yourself, like, a nice pair of Ugg slippers. So big fan of these. I've been literally wearing them every day since I got them, so that's my first gift recommendation.

Speaker B: Yeah, that's a good one. Maddie loves her Ugg slippers that she got for her gift.

Speaker C: Yeah, they're so cozy.

Speaker B: They're so cozy.

Speaker C: And if you work from home, just, like, wearing them around the house. So good. They do have, like, a bottom, so it's not like you're sliding, know?

Speaker B: Yep, totally. All right, so my next one is for the person that wants a Mason Pearson hairbrush but doesn't want to spend quite that much money. So I went to the salon this morning and got my hair did, and you couldn't tell because I have it thrown up in a bun, but I needed a haircut.

Speaker C: What'd you get done?

Speaker B: I just got a okay. And she when my hair was soaking wet and crazy knots, because they do such a good scalp massage and everything. She used this brush that was blowing my mind, and it was like the feeling of the Mason Pearson, which I never use on my hair when it's wet. First of all, because it's many, it's miniature, and I have too much hair for this wet head. But also because I don't know, I think that's probably the main reason I feel like it wouldn't get my tangles out. This hairbrush is similar in the feel and the design and the bristles to the Mason Pearson. It's called YS Park, and the miniature size of the Mason Pearson is $120. The regular size of the Mason Pearson is, like, $240. This YS Park is not super on the cheap, but $79 for the regular size. And it worked beautifully in my knotted, wet hair. I didn't feel any pulling anything. I'm ordering this for my girls.

Speaker C: What kind of bristles are they?

Speaker B: So boar bristles, like the Mason Pearson, I believe. Or maybe it's something similar to a boar bristle, but it has the exact same feel, and it has a nice wooden handle. It feels exactly like don't. There's no better way to say it. And then also, I think there's different heights on the bristles as well.

Speaker C: It's great.

Speaker B: I'm obsessed with that.

Speaker C: I'm getting one that actually just reminded me when my hair is wet and I do want to brush it out. It's like a comb brush. It's like a wet brush or wet dry brush or something. It's like a vented know, those kind of brushes. Like the back is open. That's actually what I use when I want to brush my hair. But it's very infrequently to brush my hair. But you just reminded me that I do have that. But that's good. So that's almost like, similar to the Mason Pearson, but just a little bit less expensive.

Speaker B: A little less expensive. You can get the regular size one for $79 versus the Mason Pearson regular size for, like, 252 40. Yeah.

Speaker C: Nice.

Speaker B: Okay, what's your next one?

Speaker C: So my next one relates to the segment we have called Five Minute Flow. And again, getting out of your comfort zone or getting something that someone may not buy for themselves is like, the Merit set. Oh, yeah, the Merit beauty set. So we've talked about Merit a bunch on our show, and we've reviewed I remember Katie, you're the one who introduced me to the brand, and we've reviewed the different products. But if you go on their website, they have a lot of different sets. I think the weekday set is the one that I think is the best one, because, again, it's like total five minute flow. It's literally like the bronzer, the blush, the highlighter concealer. It comes with a little brush and a mascara. It's like, all you need. And I've seen it online too. I don't see it on their website. But you can buy this. And it comes in like, this little cute bag.

Speaker B: Yeah, the bag is cute.

Speaker C: More giftsy. Anyway, I just thought that was, like, a good set for someone who wants to get ready quickly, easy, and all the products are fabulous, as we know, and all the colors are great and so easy and so minimal, and I just thought that'd be a fun gift for someone 100%.

Speaker B: I love that mirror beauty stuff is really good. It has so many great reviews, too. So, you know the chrome nail trend that you've gotten me into? See, look. Yeah.

Speaker C: Wearing my chrome now. Did you get some?

Speaker B: I got them. And they didn't have exactly, like, what yours was that I really liked, but I thought it was like a rose.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: So if you don't want to go and get a gel manicure also, not to mention it was an upcharge for this chrome dip. Was yours an upcharge?

Speaker C: No, mine isn't a dip. Mine's, like, they do it on top of the gel. It's just like a powder.

Speaker B: Powder. That's what I meant.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: She charged me, like, 15 extra dollars for it on top of what I know.

Speaker C: Correct. It's ridiculous.

Speaker B: So I found a great set of nail polish colors by OPI that I feel like are a really good knockoff. And you could get somebody this set. It's kind of a fun gift for the holidays.

Speaker C: That is fun.

Speaker B: They might want to wear it on Year's Eve or something. And it's great. Different colors. They have, like, a nice chromy silver, a nice gold, a nice champagne, a nice copper color. The ones that I really liked were the OPI Glow the extra mile. That one is, like, a nice light gold, and then the other one I mica be dreaming. And that one is more of a really strong, bright gold metallic composition is kind of like this coppery rose goldie pink color. And then take a night on bourbon, which is, like, the most no, take a right on bourbon. Such a random name is like a silver, which I have on my toes. So you could get somebody those, what, one, two, three?

Speaker C: Do they come in a set or those?

Speaker B: It doesn't come in a set, but you could just order the four colors and make a little gift set out of it. It's a really cute gift for a lady in your life.

Speaker C: I love that.

Speaker B: And, like, reasonably priced. It's not going to be outrageous. It's OPI nail polish. Yeah.

Speaker C: That's fun because I never buy nail polish for myself, but I'd be excited to get that as a gift.

Speaker B: Yeah, for sure.

Speaker C: Okay, so next I have another beauty gift, which is I think I've talked about this brand before on the show, but it's Skin and Senses body oil. I'm, like, obsessed with this body oil. It's all I use. I don't even use moisturizer anymore. I always use this body oil. This one's called The Skin and Senses Shine Revitalizing and Smoothing Body Oil. And the scent in this one is vanilla bean. Yuzo. And it smells so good. It's not a strong scent because I don't love a strong scent, but it's like a hints of vanilla. It's a clean brand, and I thought a gift set would be cute because they also have this body lotion called Love Yourself.

Speaker B: Oh, nice.

Speaker C: And so I feel like these two things are a cute gift to give someone, like a body oil and a body lotion. And this brand is a really nice brand. All the ingredients are clean. It also looks pretty on your countertop. And the oil is just a beautiful oil. And the lotion is really good too. I just got this recently and it's also really good. So cute little gift set.

Speaker B: Do you know the price point?

Speaker C: Yes. So the Shine body oil is $42 and the body lotion is $29. So depending on your budget, you could do both as a set or you could do one or the other. And another thing, I know I mentioned these are clean, but they're also nontoxic, which I guess would be considered clean, but that's how they specify it phthalate free, cruelty free, and vegan. So really nice.

Speaker B: Has that oil lasted you a long time?

Speaker C: Yeah, it lasts me a really long time. They were just having a Black Friday sale, so I got another one to keep in my shower because that's also an easier way sometimes when you're already in the shower, just to put it on when your skin is a little bit wet and then it just sinks in and it's also faster. You just kind of, like, throw it on in the shower. It spreads quickly and you're done.

Speaker B: Are those glass bottles?

Speaker C: They're glass.

Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, it's nice. It feels a little bit more luxury.

Speaker C: Yeah, and it smells so good, it's almost like I was saying this vanilla bean flavor, but it just gives you, like, a little nice scent.

Speaker B: Nice scent, yeah. Okay.

Speaker C: It also does come in unsensitive if you want unsensitive. I've had both, and they're both great.

Speaker B: All right, well, my next one would pair lovely, like, wonderfully if you put a little bit of that oil on your feet and then slipped these fabulous, cozy, earth, plush lounge socks on. I was gifted these a year ago, and I am obsessed. Anytime I'm at home, they're on my feet. I don't really wear them out. I wear the white ones out sometimes with sneakers if I have, like, leggings on, like the scrunch sock look. But they are so soft and so warm and so comfortable. And I was gifted them a year ago, and like I said, it was a set of three, which, by the way, jump on it because they are on sale right now from 55, marked down to $38.50 for the set? For the set of three. I don't know how long that's going to last, but that's great. Yeah. And they hold up like they launder beautifully. They've lasted.

Speaker C: Yeah, they're really good.

Speaker B: They're so good, they almost look like they're brand new.

Speaker C: I have them too. I got them as a gift. I actually wear them to sleep a lot.

Speaker B: I feel like we both got them as a gift from your mom, maybe. Did you?

Speaker C: I can't remember. Probably.

Speaker B: I love them. I'm obsessed.

Speaker C: That's a great gift.

Speaker B: Yeah, really good one. I mean, who wants to go spend money on luxury socks? Exactly. No, I barely spend money on socks that I'm running around in every single day. I'm, like, the last thing on my mind to spend my money on. I haven't bought them yet, but I felt them at the store I need to buy. Some are the ugg plush socks. They were. Oh, I didn't know they were so soft. Yeah. So I might have to buy those and test them out. I feel like they would be a really good gift too.

Speaker C: Oh, that is gift. That is a good gift. And I also love cozy earth pajamas, sheets, comforters. Like, all their stuff is so soft and so good.

Speaker B: Yep, all good gifts.

Speaker C: Next on my list in the clothing category is my new favorite brand, Perfect White Tea.

Speaker B: Oh, yeah.

Speaker C: So good. So one of the things I think would be a good gift, because, again, it's, like, not something you would probably buy for yourself. Although I did buy it for myself, but most people probably wouldn't. They have these bundles on their website. So you can buy, like, three T shirts or three tank tops or three vnecks. And I bought the T shirts. They're called the Harley T shirt. And it's just, like, a soft, thin, perfectly cropped, good tee, like, good fit, simple, good fit, great material. So they have a bundle pack of, like, white, gray, and, like, a black. It's like a charcoal, but it's like a vintage black.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker C: It's not like, super know. It's almost like yeah, like a charcoal vintage black. But anyway, I think that would be such a good gift to give, like, a good friend, like, nice T shirts. Or, like, the tank tops are also really cute. Same colors and then the V neck, depending on what they like. But I just thought that was, like, a good gift to have as a set. So I love this brand. I feel like I've been buying so much of their stuff lately because they have the best sweatpants, sweatshirts, T shirts, like, all kind of basics, but, like, really good quality. Made in California. Love it. Perfect white tea.

Speaker B: And the brand is perfect. White tea or perfect tea? Perfect white tea.

Speaker C: Perfect white tea.

Speaker B: Okay. Yeah, I have, I want to say, like, one or two of their shirts, and it is a good gift because it's not cheap. But if you want a good T shirt that's really soft and not thick and drapes nice and fits, really. It's it gets expensive, so it is good.

Speaker C: And they have really nice sweatsuit sets and good loungewear. I love it. Really good brand love.

Speaker B: All right, well, staying in the clothing category, sam or Sam NYC, they make coats, park goods. Best.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: I just bought adam bought me one of their coats when we were in Montreal. We saw it, and it wasn't on my radar, but it's this white, vegan leather, kind of like bomber style coat, almost. And we didn't buy it there because I didn't feel like I needed it. And then when we got home, I looked for it on the website and it was, like, half the price of what that boutique in Madre.

Speaker C: Oh, my gosh.

Speaker B: So we ordered it, and I cannot tell you, it is the warmest jacket. It's insane how warm this jacket is. I was not expecting it to be so warm. So I wear it into the city when it's freezing out and the rest of my body is ice cold. And anywhere the jacket is, is, like, perfect. It stays perfect temperature. And does it have a hood? It's super chic. Yeah, it has a hood. I'll have to take a picture and post it when this goes live because it is very chic looking. And it has, like, the built in gloves. Not with fingerless. Like the built in with the thumb out as well. Yeah, but I'm looking on their website right now, and they have so many cute, different styles. They have, like, sherpa and park.

Speaker C: I'm wondering if that's the so I went shopping a couple of weeks ago with my mom, and I saw a Sam jacket that was vegan leather, but it was like a cognac color, and I loved it.

Speaker B: I'm looking at it right now on their site.

Speaker C: I'm obsessed.

Speaker B: It's, like, so pretty.

Speaker C: Yes. It's so funny that, of course, we like the same thing. I wanted to get it. I didn't get it because they didn't have my size, and I was still thinking about it, but then randomly, I got a gift card for Aloe Yoga for my birthday. And Aloe Yoga has a similar jacket to that in the cognac color. And so I got it at Aloe.

Speaker B: Nice.

Speaker C: But it's similar. So I forget what the price of the Sam one is compared to the Aloe one, but I got the Aloe one on, like, a Black Friday sale again or something like that. And it's similar. So two versions, same thing.

Speaker B: Yeah. My jacket, I didn't see it in white, though. It's white and white.

Speaker C: I just saw it in the cognac or maybe black.

Speaker B: They don't have it. The website doesn't show it in white anymore either, and I think that's why wow. It's probably sold out, but I got it on sale. Like, I got it for half the price.

Speaker C: So it's do you have it behind you?

Speaker B: Yeah, it is. It's right behind me. I could put it on. Hold on. I'm not wearing the right sweater for it, but hold on.

Speaker C: Oh, I can already tell. It's so pretty.

Speaker B: See, it's, like, so warm and so cute.

Speaker C: That's adorable.

Speaker B: Loves. And then the hood is like I love that.

Speaker C: That's so pretty. Oh, I love it. Looks great. It's beautiful. I said I love it. It's great. It looks beautiful on you.

Speaker B: Thanks.

Speaker C: Really pretty jacket.

Speaker B: It's insane how warm it is.

Speaker C: I love the zipper that the hood goes into it. Yeah, that's a little bit different than the one I saw, because I don't think it had that zipper. I love that.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: Sometimes that hood is, like, annoying.

Speaker B: Sometimes a hood is annoying. But look at how high this comes up when it's cold. This is, like, clutch right here.

Speaker C: Yeah. Oh, I love it.

Speaker B: Yeah. And I love that it's vegan leather, because it looks leathery. It looks very cool.

Speaker C: Yeah, but it's, like, soft. I side note to erase this, but I want to send you a picture of the one that I got from Aloe, because I want to see if you like it. Do you thought it looked too big, but I think that's, like, the style of it. I'm keeping it, but I just want to see what you think of it. That's a great gift. I love it. Okay, so I've reviewed this before, but I'm adding to it because I'm just, like, obsessed with all the balms and all the glosses. I just can't get enough of all these balms. So I think I've reviewed the lineage lip mask before, and then last product junkies, I reviewed the balm, but even this is, like, a cute set, because this is like a nighttime sleeping mask. Although I wear it sometimes in the morning, too, and then this is, like it all day. So, like, a cute little set like this. I actually am going away with my mom, and my mom starts spending her daughter this weekend. Stephanie and Christine. And I bought them all the bomb for a little fun gift. And then I recently also got these summer Friday balms, which I'm sure you've seen, but these are so good, too. The lip butter bombs. I have the which one is this? This is the pink one, which I can't remember the name of it. I think it's called, like, oh, pink sugar. And then I have the brown one, brown sugar. But again, cute set or individually just I can't get enough of lip things. I have a problem. All I do is buy lip balms. Lip glosses. I just love it because you just can put them in all different bags, and I don't know. Yeah, so anyway, that's just, like, a fun gift.

Speaker B: Do you keep a lip something, like, on your bedside table and in your robe pocket? And I have it in my car bedside table.

Speaker C: I should. I am always worried, though, the dogs are going to grab it the only reason I don't have it. But I should put in the drawer.

Speaker B: But yeah, I like to have them everywhere. Everywhere? Yeah. All right. My last one is a fun gift that I don't know. Give it to the girl that likes her beauty products or likes to get glamorous or give it to the girl that maybe she should step out of her comfort zone and try it and have some fun with it and wear it on, like, New Year's Eve or to a holiday party or something. So it's the Fenty diamond balm all over diamond veil.

Speaker C: Dying to try this.

Speaker B: It is so much like it's like glitter and sparkle and makes it look like it's wet, but it's like a little bit of everything. It's very kind of powerful. Like, you don't need a lot. And I don't know if you're going to be able to see it on here. I feel like you're not going to be able to see it's going to.

Speaker C: Be too hard picture. But I've seen that and it's so pretty.

Speaker B: Yeah, it really is beautiful. I should put it on. Part of the problem is that I have no light in my office. That's really the problem.

Speaker C: Hold it up to the camera again. I just want to take a picture.

Speaker B: I just want to see.

Speaker C: Okay. So pretty.

Speaker B: It's so pretty. It's $42 and you can do it on your lids. You can do it as, like, a little bit of a highlighter on your cheekbone. I mean, you can really play around with it. I see a girl, even on their website that looks like she has a little bit of it, like, on top of her lip gloss. It's really beautiful. I'm kind of obsessed with it, but for me, it's not an everyday wear.

Speaker C: Right. It's like if you're going out at night, going to a party yeah, exactly. Gives a little umph you can even.

Speaker B: Just like you don't have to put it over your whole lid. Like, it would be nice if you just finished right in the middle of your lid with it too.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: Just like a little pop.

Speaker C: So pretty.

Speaker B: It's a beautiful one. All right.

Speaker C: That is a really fun gift. Okay, so my last gift might be the best one of all. And you know what it is, Katie? It's nirvana, Merch.

Speaker B: Hey now.

Speaker C: Hey now.

Speaker B: It wasn't fun.

Speaker C: Just a little plug for our Nirvana Sisters shop. If you go on our website, Nirvana Sisters.com, and click on Shop, we have all our fun merch there. We haven't really talked about it that much. I don't know why. We launched it earlier this year and it's just there. But, like, great sweatshirts. We have the crop sweatshirts that say keep glowing or hustle on doses. We have the Nirvana Sisters tie dye, black heavier champion sweatshirt. We've got tumblers that say Nirvana in a bottle. All the fun things. I actually just posted a reel on our shop today. But one thing I wanted to mention is we are doing a 20% discount through the month of December. So if you do want to get a fun Nirvana gift for a friend or your mom or your sister or anyone else, it's 20% off. Just use the code Nirvana 2023 and it'll be 20% off for all of December. So thought that would be a fun one to add into the mix.

Speaker B: Katie, I love it. Yeah, they are great gifts. Cute little teas and everything. Lots of stuff about the teas. Nice. All right, happy holidays.

Speaker C: Happy holidays, everyone. That is our product junkies December and it's our holiday gift guide. Thanking you all, as always, for being Nirvana Sister fans and listening and following us and giving us feedback. And have a good holiday season. Bye bye.

Speaker A: Thanks for listening to Nirvana Sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes. Please subscribe and leave us a review. Also, find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would, please share it and tag us.

Speaker C: Tune in next week for a fresh.

Speaker A: New episode of Nirvana Sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness, so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 132 - Product Junkies November Edition - When You Want The Nitty Gritty On The AIRSTRAIT Plus Other Fall Product Recos (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 132 .

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here.

[00:07] Amy Sherman: Welcome to Nirvana Sisters podcast where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state, your nirvana. We are sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman.

[00:18] Katie Chandler: And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation. Welcome back to the show, Narvana Sisters family. It's Amy and Katie and we are coming at you with our November product junkies. But before we dive in, we have to say Happy birthday to Amy. Happy birthday to you.

[00:46] Amy Sherman: I'm like, oh yeah, that happened. But actually what I have to say to you is Happy Nirvana sister's anniversary.

[00:52] Katie Chandler: I know, I thought about that because.

[00:54] Amy Sherman: I thought about it and I forgot to even text you. But November 5, my birthday was also our birthday of Nirvana sisters. So it's been three years. We launched November 2020, which I literally can't believe. It's so crazy.

[01:07] Katie Chandler: It's insane.

[01:09] Amy Sherman: So much has happened in the last three years. So yeah, congrats.

[01:12] Katie Chandler: Me too. Congrats and Happy birthday. Before we get into it, I want to catch up. How was your birthday? What'd you do?

[01:18] Amy Sherman: My birthday? You know what this time of year I feel like is always so hectic. Well, I feel like the end of the year is always hectic, but right around end of October or October, November is crazy because it's like Stu's birthday is early October. Jules's birthday is October 20 eigth. Then it's Halloween, then it's my birthday. So it's like I feel like I'm doing all this stuff and then by the time it comes to my birthday, I don't really care. I mean, I care, but I'm like doing all this stuff for Jules and Stu and whatever. But my birthday was great. Actually, Stu was away for the weekend, which I already knew he was going to be away and I was happy for him. He went on a guy's golf trip, so super fun. And I was like, ooh, I'm going to have a self care weekend. So I did a lot of really fun stuff over the weekend. So like on Friday night I did a massage which I can't remember if I told you about. So I scheduled a 90 minutes massage and I'm so tight. Like my right side has been hurting me for some unknown reason. So I went into the massage place for 90 minutes and the woman touched my back, literally touched it, and the whole thing cracked. She's like, you need serious help. I'm like, yeah, I know. So she's like, let me do 2 hours. I'm like, okay. Never had a two hour before. It was amazing. I found this place that's like around the corner for me. Not expensive, like one of those kind of places. So I was like, okay, you have time to. 2 hours? She's like, yeah. I'm like, done. So that was great. And that was Friday night. And then I just came home, was so relaxed. And what did I do? Oh, I had a glass of wine. But then of course, because Stu was away, the smoke alarm was chirping.

[02:53] Katie Chandler: So annoying.

[02:55] Amy Sherman: And I don't know how to do it. It's like the one I'm like, I don't know how to do it. So I had my dad come over and help me and then we kind of fixed it. And then it still was going on all weekend. But then at the end of the weekend, I did figure out how to do it myself.

[03:06] Katie Chandler: Wait, which room was it in? Because that's.

[03:09] Amy Sherman: It was in the basement. So it wasn't like super loud, but like had to fix it. It was like driving me nuts. So anyway, I figured out how to do it by watching YouTube videos. I'm very proud of myself. And then Saturday I went shopping with my mom.

[03:21] Katie Chandler: Where'd you guys shop? Or what'd you shop for? Clothes and stuff. Fun stuff.

[03:25] Amy Sherman: Yeah, just like fun clothes. Like I needed boots. We never go shopping together. I don't even go shopping anymore. I was saying to my mom, I feel like everything I do is online. I never actually go to the stores, but it's so nice to go to the store sometimes and just feel everything and see everything. Just hard to shop online. So that was fun. We just might. Oh, and then Sunday, my friends Courtney and I went to get facial and then we did like a long girls lunch with some of my other friends. So we sat outside at this French restaurant and probably sat outside for at least 2 hours and had like a long lunch.

[04:03] Katie Chandler: That's so fun.

[04:04] Amy Sherman: That was super nice. And then the kids got me cards and Stu had left me cards before he left. And then he got home Sunday night and then we celebrated. Anyway, it was really nice and I liked that it was like a full weekend of self care and girly and fun stuff and just like, yeah, that's the best.

[04:18] Katie Chandler: It sounds amazing. I get the award for Worst Sister in law and partner in the world. Because I texted you on Saturday. I was like, or on Friday. Your birthday was on Sunday. It's on Sunday. I texted you on Saturday, what are you doing for your birthday? And then of course we were going to call with the kids the next day, and then we were at a friend's house all day and space. So sorry we missed. Yeah.

[04:43] Amy Sherman: It's so funny because every time my birthday comes, like, it's fun and whatever, but the older you get, you're kind of like, fine. Like, the big birthdays are fun, but after. And it's like, ever since Jules was born, he has taken over that priority. So it's just I wanted to make sure his birthday was good and, like, did he get his birthday?

[05:04] Katie Chandler: Yes. It came in, right? His birthday present from us came. Yes.

[05:08] Amy Sherman: Did he text you to say thank you, call you?

[05:11] Katie Chandler: He might have said he was going.

[05:12] Amy Sherman: To, but I don't know if he did. Thank you. He was very excited, so thank you. Very generous. And what have you been up to? We talked about your trip.

[05:20] Katie Chandler: Or did we talk about. I don't remember the trip.

[05:23] Amy Sherman: Right, because I taped. Yeah, I recorded with Taylor Rose while you were away on your much needed girls trip, which I mentioned. I don't think you told us about it.

[05:30] Katie Chandler: No, it was amazing. It was ten years in the making. It was with my girlfriends that I grew up with that we haven't traveled together since pre kids. And it was just great that we went to the Dominican. It was beautiful. The hotel was gorgeous. We did an all inclusive just to keep it safe and simple and easy. We were at the Sanctuary Pepcana, and it was beautiful. And the crowd was perfect. It was like a lot of girls groups. It's a very feminine, gorgeous hotel. So the vibe was more tailored, I think, to women. So there weren't like a bunch of. I dIdn't have to worry about bachelor parties or just like, annoying men throwing out, which was nice. And then there was a bunch of couples and it was like our age and up, so it was appropriate. We just had fun. We honestly didn't talk to a single other person in the hotel until our last day there, just because we were so wrapped up in each other. And then we made friends. Like, the last day we were there, which was fun, but how many people? Just. There was four of us. Four of us. It was so fun. Yeah, it was like the best all day in the sun and having a couple of drinks one day. We had a torrential downpour the entire day. But they had, you know what a palapa is like, the open air, but covered. It's like, covered with open air. So they had one out on the ocean and we were sitting out there.

[06:55] Amy Sherman: So you could just watch the weather, but, like, be outside.

[06:58] Katie Chandler: Yeah, we played cards. It was fun. It was so fun.

[07:01] Amy Sherman: I love that. That reminds me when I was in Miami with my girlfriends. This is like a million years ago. I remember we were at a restaurant that was like that at the hotel, and it was like that kind of roof. And it started raining, and it was like a downpour. But we were inside, and we just drank wine all day and literally sat in the same space for, like, 8 hours.

[07:20] Katie Chandler: You're, like, inside, outside. It feels like it would have been depressing if we sat in our room all day, but we sat out there all day. We were on the ocean. It was so cool. It was great. Yeah.

[07:29] Amy Sherman: So you must have felt rejuvenated when you got back.

[07:31] Katie Chandler: So much so. And then I had a crazy work week, and all of a sudden, the month caught up with me. And today's, like, the first day that I felt like myself in, like, a week. So I'm very grateful. I'm feeling good today. But the last week was brutal. I don't know. It's been a crazy month. It's been a crazy month for all of us.

[07:48] Amy Sherman: I feel the same way. I've been really out of it. Really. Like. I don't know. It was, like, fun moments, like my birthday and Jules's birthday. But in between, I feel like I've been a little bit, like, down because the daylight saving time is killing me.

[08:05] Katie Chandler: 100% same.

[08:06] Amy Sherman: It's, like, getting colder. I know in a few weeks, I'll feel fine, but I just feel like it's kind of like that weird time where it's getting cold and it's getting darker.

[08:17] Katie Chandler: For sure.

[08:18] Amy Sherman: Yeah. I've been trying to shake the mindset, but I haven't really been able for that exact reason.

[08:23] Katie Chandler: And I can't wait to review this on product junkies. Maybe, like, in a month or so. I ordered yesterday an sad lamp, which is. I think they call it sad because maybe it's prescribed for people with seasonal affective disorder. But it's like. It mimics. It doesn't have UV, but it mimics the sun.

[08:41] Amy Sherman: Yeah. It's like a lamp, right?

[08:43] Katie Chandler: It's a lamp. I ordered it yesterday. You're supposed to sit with it for, like, 30 minutes a day because. Same. This daylight savings is, like, knocking me out this week. I was on the train yesterday. I looked around, and everybody was asleep yesterday morning. Everybody. So it's the daylight savings. I don't even know why we do it. It's obnoxious.

[09:02] Amy Sherman: Well, that's interesting. All right, so let's get into product junkies.

[09:06] Katie Chandler: November.

[09:07] Amy Sherman: So last month we did snacks, which was fun. This month, back to regularly scheduled products, I would say. Yeah, right. I want to hear yours.

[09:21] Katie Chandler: Okay. All right, well, let's see. I'm going to start with. This was recommended to me by one of my girlfriends on our trip, who we actually all know, Dr. Erin Cooper, who's been on the show before.

[09:34] Amy Sherman: That's right.

[09:35] Katie Chandler: This was her find. It is Maybelline's cheek heat. And it's so good. It's basically like a creamy consistency for your, you know, it's kind of similar to maybe the consistency of the merit cheek kind of stick. But this is more in a balm tube, if you will. And it's really good color. The pigment is nice. It blends beautifully. Like, it blends really nicely.

[10:08] Amy Sherman: It looks like nice creamy. Exactly.

[10:11] Katie Chandler: It is. It's creamy. And it stays so nicely because I was admiring her cheek color, like, our whole trip, and then towards the end, I said, what is so pretty? So I bought it and I've been using iT, and it's good. They have 123456 different shades. I mean, it's Maybelline. It's, like $8. So it's a good one. Gel cream blush face makeup is what they're calling it.

[10:36] Amy Sherman: And that also looks like you could put on your lips.

[10:38] Katie Chandler: I have done that. Yeah, I did. It's a little drying on the lips, but it's kind of good in a pinch. I did do that the other day.

[10:46] Amy Sherman: I love that. And I haven't seen that. And that's a good one.

[10:48] Katie Chandler: Good find.

[10:49] Amy Sherman: Looks like it's a good one, too, to keep in your bag because it's tiny. It's got a cap, so it's, like, small. And it almost looks like a lip gloss.

[10:57] Katie Chandler: Exactly like a lip gloss too. Almost. Yeah. Okay, what do you have?

[11:01] Amy Sherman: I'm going to start out with a whammy.

[11:03] Katie Chandler: Oh, nice.

[11:03] Amy Sherman: That was so nerdy to say. I don't know why that word just came out of my mouth. Let's start off with a big one, because recently talked about it with Taylor Rose. Recently talked about it with Taylor Rose. You all know the trichologist that was just on. This is something I've been wanting to try for a very long time. I was waiting for the Sephora sale, and bam, here we go. The Dyson air string. Epic. So epic. So I bought it during the Sephora sale. So I did get 20% off, even though it is expensive. But it was like a birthday present to myself. There were, like, a few things that I wanted to buy. And this was one of them. Love it. Okay, first of all, these are my early impressions. I've used it once. I used it because I just got it. I used it a week ago. My hair. I haven't washed my hair in over a week, and it's still, like, looks like I got a blowout right?

[11:53] Katie Chandler: 100%.

[11:55] Amy Sherman: And this is, like, I haven't washed it. I'm sorry. I haven't even touched it today.

[12:01] Katie Chandler: Like, no touch up.

[12:02] Amy Sherman: I haven't done anything to straighten. This is, like, no touch up. Nothing. I haven't touched up with a straightener since I did it. So I did it, like, I don't know, a week or so ago, and it was, like, straight and nice and looked blown out. And then the next day, I took my air wrap, curled it a little bit. The next day, I didn't do anything. Whatever. It just gave me a good basE. But, like, today, I literally didn't do anything. And my hair is still good, so I love it. So far, I have been able to keep this for, like, a week. I mean, it's, like, getting a little bit whatever underneath. But what I'll do is, like, yesterday, I did a dry shampoo, quick dry shampoo, and then just put in something else, which I'll show you as part of my next review. And it's. It's. It's really. So. So Taylor was saying this on the show, which is exactly right. It's really good because it doesn't flatten your don't. I don't like pin straight hair. I just like a good base to work from where I could wear my hair straight, but it has some body. Or I could still do it curly with my air wrap or with the curling iron, but it gets out that initial kind of frizz and whatever. So that's why I like it, because it's straight. But it definitely saw some body. You know what I mean? It's not like a flat stuck to your head kind of look. So it's great. It's super easy to use.

[13:23] Katie Chandler: I would love it if you would show us.

[13:25] Amy Sherman: Well, I don't know if I could plug it. Maybe I can plug it in. I know this might be a little loud, but let's see what I can do. Hold on. So, basically, you just run it through your hair, kind of like a straightener. Okay. I'm sure there's a lot of different ways to use it. I just kind of did it on my own, but I'm sure there's, like. Because you know how with that. Oh, sorry, I'm not in the mic. You know how with a straightening iron, you can kind of use it as a curler to curl your hair? I bet you you could do that with this. I haven't gone that way, but let me just show it to you. Okay. I've plugged it in. It has a really nice hold, too. It's, like, sturdy. So when you turn it on, it says, like, dry. See how it says dry hair? I'm going to turn it off just so it's not loud. It gives you an option of whether your hair is dry or wet. So it's like a little bit of a different setting. So I did it last week. My hair was wet, and I just used that setting. But I'll use the dry setting and I'll show you. But just before I Turn it back on, there's like a blue, like a cold shot, and then there's red just for the heat. And then there's airflow, like low, high, whatever. And then this is the dry and wet. So it's, like, super user friendly. So I'm going to turn it on and I'll just show you really quickly how to use it. Just, like, cleans it when it first starts. So I'm just going to put it on the middle setting and then make sure it's on the dry. And then you just take it. I'll show you. Kind of like the straightening iron.

[14:59] Katie Chandler: Yeah, you use it exactly like a straightening iron. But you know how the air wrap sucks your hair in? Does it do anything like that?

[15:09] Amy Sherman: It's a different kind of technology. What it is, is, see how there's, like, vents here, so it's vented, and so the air kind of. It's hard to explain without playing with it, but the air comes out right here. So actually, what you can do is close it like this and blow dry your hair a little bit if it's wet, and then you can open it up and use the plate. It's not plates. So that's why it's supposed to be really healthy. Like, it doesn't damage your hair because it's not hot plates. So when you use a straightener, it's hot plates. And your hair is right on the hot plate. This is just warm in here, but it's not like a steel hot plate. It's just plastic, I guess. And then the air comes out of this. So it's like the air is just going kind of, like on your hair as you're doing it. So you just kind of go like this. And I mean, it took ten minutes to straighten my whole hair. I mean, it's unbelievable. So I love it. And it's like a really nice complement to the air wrap. And for me, having curly hair or wavy hair or frizzy hair, like all the things, it's so helpful just to get that base. And I can also dry it with the air wrap, but the air wrap doesn't. I don't know, I feel like you have to do more work because it has the brushes and the big, like the round brush and that works good, too. This is faster because it's just straightening. You know what I mean? It's just, you can pass it through. And what I was just showing it was just one pass or whatever, but you do like one or two passes and it's good for you. Since you have straight hair, you would dry your hair in like 2 seconds. But I don't even know if you would need something like this because, well, I guess if you wanted just more of a straight style.

[16:52] Katie Chandler: No, my hair has a natural wave to it, so I do like to straighten it, but it's never worked with a straightening iron because, I don't know, it takes too long. I feel like I can't get the full wave out. It fries it and then it's like super slick and flat and it's just not very flattering.

[17:05] Amy Sherman: Exactly. And what about the air wrap? Do you straighten your hair?

[17:08] Katie Chandler: I don't. I've never been good at using a round brush, like, the actual technique of it. And I think it's because I have a lot of hair. So I always use my barrels, which I love. I use it like almost every day.

[17:22] Amy Sherman: Yeah, air wrap is still, like my number one go to, but this is like, I'm going to play with it more and I'll report out more once I learn all the tricks of the trade. But just for like a quick straight blow dry, like, amazing. And the fact that it's lasted so long is insane.

[17:36] Katie Chandler: Yeah.

[17:37] Amy Sherman: And I haven't really touched it up at all other than using the air wrap to curl it and give it a little bit more body. But it's great. So highly recommend. Very excited about it.

[17:46] Katie Chandler: I'm going to try it next time.

[17:48] Amy Sherman: Yeah, definitely try it. And it's fabulous. Love it. Love the Dyson product.

[17:53] Katie Chandler: Which, by the way, how good was that tip from Taylor Rose, which, you guys, if you haven't listened to our episode yet, you should. The tip of not blow drying your hair until it's maybe like 80% dry.

[18:06] Amy Sherman: 80% dry.

[18:07] Katie Chandler: Smart.

[18:07] Amy Sherman: I know, because that was good.

[18:09] Katie Chandler: I try to do that in general, or I just air dry and then style the next day. But that's so good because it's going to keep your hair healthier longer. And the Dyson. The Dyson products tell you to do that when you're using their products? Yeah.

[18:22] Amy Sherman: And even with this one, the straightening one, it has the wet setting, but I closed it like I was showing you, like this. And I just use this as a hairdryer. So I rough dried my hair, basically, to, like, 70, 80%, and then I use the wet button on here just to do the rest. So I'm sure she probably does the same thing. That was my big review of.

[18:46] Katie Chandler: All right, well, my next review, I think we talked about this with Erica Taylor, because I'm pretty sure she's the reason why I bought it. And it's a face powder. It's the Kosis cloud setting powder I was using for years. I was using a Laura Mercier compact, like the kind of compact that you keep in your handbag just to do touchups and everything. And I don't know, for whatever reason, it wasn't working for me anymore. So I tried this, and the claim is that it reduces your pores and that it gives you that nice blurring effect. And it really does. And I'm kind of obsessed with it. So I've decided, listeners, I'm not going to use a filter when we record anymore. Unless it's a particularly rough day.

[19:36] Amy Sherman: You do not need to filter. The fact that you're not wearing a filter and you look like that, maybe.

[19:41] Katie Chandler: I think it's good stuff. I'm just having a good day. I got a lot of sleep last night, but I'm trying to get up close so you can see how much it blurs, because right here, I feel like is always, like a heavy pore area.

[19:55] Amy Sherman: Oh, is that one of the anitza brushes?

[19:58] Katie Chandler: Exactly. But it even blurred my laugh line just now.

[20:04] Amy Sherman: Yeah, that's really pretty. Is that a loose.

[20:10] Katie Chandler: Compact? I wish.

[20:12] Amy Sherman: That reminds me a little bit of the pink one that we also talked about with Erica the Westman.

[20:17] Katie Chandler: Exactly. That's kind of what I was looking for, was something with that similar effect. But it's really nice. If I could have any critique, I wish that it came with a little powder puff or something on the bottom. So if it's in my handbag, I don't have to have a brush with me. But it's a small size, so it's easy to keep. But it's really nice. Yeah, that's great.

[20:38] Amy Sherman: I love that.

[20:40] Katie Chandler: Yeah.

[20:40] Amy Sherman: I've been trying to use my pink powder more, too. I'm not good with the powders.

[20:43] Katie Chandler: The pink powder, I feel like is so easy to use because it just blurs and. Right. Yeah.

[20:49] Amy Sherman: My technique just isn't good with the powder.

[20:52] Katie Chandler: Remember what Erica always says?

[20:53] Amy Sherman: I like that one.

[20:54] Katie Chandler: Just the tip.

[20:55] Amy Sherman: Just the tip, yeah.

[20:57] Katie Chandler: So kosis cloud setting powder, they've got like, I don't know, ten shades or something here. It's good stuff. What's yours?

[21:06] Amy Sherman: And I'm sure that's cheaper than the Westman.

[21:08] Katie Chandler: For sure. I was going to buy the Westman one and it's a little pricey.

[21:13] Amy Sherman: Yeah. Okay. So my next one is something that I use in tandem with the airstripe. But I've had this now for a couple of months and I haven't reviewed it.

[21:23] Katie Chandler: Oh, I've heard about that.

[21:24] Amy Sherman: The verb ghost dry oil spray. I'm not sure if I have the oil, too. I don't know if I've reviewed that in the past. I don't think I have. But I feel like I've reviewed several oils, but this one is a dry oil spray. It says smooth and frizz, control and soften. This has become one of my holy grails because like I was saying, I wash my hair, like blow it out or do whatever once a week ish. Maybe sometimes I can even go longer. My hair is so dry, it doesn't matter. This is so good. You literally just spray it in there. And it's nice because you know how sometimes with an oil you have to put it in your hands, put your hair and then wash. This is almost like you just kind of use it as a hairspray, but it's an oil, so it doesn't have a hairspray feel. It literally has an oil feel, but it's just in a spray.

[22:15] Katie Chandler: Do you use it as like a finishing thing to sleek in and moisturize and keep fizz away?

[22:20] Amy Sherman: Yeah, it says to spray. I'm just saying if it. I actually don't. Yeah, because I know it says extends a blowout, which is how I've been using it. Refreshes a three day, sorry, I can't read it because of course, I have my glasses on. Refreshes a two to three day old style conditions ends and pairs perfectly with your favorite dry shampoo. So I don't use it as like an oil to put on before I blow dry. I feel like I use a heat protectant cream or oil for that. But this is more of a touch up. So I use it after I blow dry my hair. But I've mostly been using it just like exactly what the bottle says, which I didn't even read that before, which is really to just judge and freshen up your hair every day or every other day. I just throw this on and it just gives it a sheen and it kind of like makes it fall nicer. And then in conjunction with dry shampoo, it's really good, too. So I'm obsessed with it. It's so good. It's the verb goes dry.

[23:14] Katie Chandler: It's a big bottle, too. I feel like it's going to last you.

[23:16] Amy Sherman: It's a nice size bottle. Yeah. It'll last forever. It's 250 MLS. I can't remember how much this was, but you look it up.

[23:23] Katie Chandler: Yeah. What kind of price point is verb?

[23:25] Amy Sherman: Yeah, I think I might have bought it at Ulta or on Amazon. I don't remember. But it's $20.

[23:30] Katie Chandler: Yeah, that's price point.

[23:31] Amy Sherman: Very reasonable. And I think it'll last forever. And like I said, with the dry oil, it's good, too. So I highly recommend it's so good. Like, the application of it's good. And I've been using this now more than my regular oil and really good.

[23:42] Katie Chandler: Going into winter because I feel like everybody's hair gets so dry in the winter. Right, right.

[23:47] Amy Sherman: You can just keep putting this on and it feels so good. It just literally feels like an oil. It's amazing. I absolutely love it.

[23:53] Katie Chandler: I'm going to order that. I need it. My hair gets so dry in the winter. All right, well, this next one, it's funny, I bought this a while ago and I just wasn't using it. It wasn't the right shade on me at the time, but I guess I got a little bit of color while I was in the Dominican, so I started using it. It's the Charlote Tilbury collagen lip bath gloss in pillow top color.

[24:16] Amy Sherman: So pretty.

[24:17] Katie Chandler: It's a very pretty color. And it's a nice thin lip gloss consistency. But it's one of those plumpers. It's a plumper, so, like, it kind of tingles. It's like a little, feels like it's a little minty when you get it on, it's supposed to make your lips fuller. It says high shine sheer lip gloss in her iconic nude pink shade for fuller looking lips. I mean, everything Charlote Tilbury does is great, but yeah, it's they have like six different shades. It's a good one. It's not super tingly.

[24:51] Amy Sherman: It's a plumper. Yeah. I was going to say, does it hurt? Because I found with some of those. It hurts my lips. I don't know, it depends what's in it.

[24:58] Katie Chandler: I don't feel like it is. I've had some that are really strong.

[25:02] Amy Sherman: Yeah. That feels like spice or something burning.

[25:05] Katie Chandler: This one is a little bit like a little minty feeling like pepperminty feeling like a little tingly and cooling kind of. It's not that extreme, but yeah. I'm trying to see if I can figure out if I can find what is in it. It has lip peptides, lip pump effect is mustard sprout extract, marine collagen, vitamin A, coconut oil. Oh, peppermint oil. There you go. Oh, peppermint oil.

[25:35] Amy Sherman: I like that.

[25:37] Katie Chandler: It's nice.

[25:37] Amy Sherman: Really pretty. Looks good on you. Yeah.

[25:41] Katie Chandler: A lot of different shades. It's cute. It's good stuff.

[25:43] Amy Sherman: Yeah, it's funny. I got to find a good lip plumper. I tried the too faced one. I should give it to you because I literally used it one time and it hurt my lips. It might not hurt you. I don't know. I put it on and it's like one of those ones that gets really like your lips. They don't feel minty, but they feel like irritated. They almost change colors. They get really red. It's almost like you're burning your lips. I know you're not. And then I feel like my lips get dry and red and yeah, maybe they look a little bigger, but it's not comfortable. So I want to try to find one that's more moisturizing and that one looks like that. I actually ordered one online that I read about. So more to come on that I haven't gotten it yet, but I'm testing that one next. And it's supposed to not hurt your lips, but be plumping. So we'll see. But I'm going to try that one.

[26:29] Katie Chandler: Yeah, I mean, this is definitely like a little tingly, but it's very tolerable and it's moisturized.

[26:36] Amy Sherman: You're right. I think it depends on the ingredients that's in there. Like, the peppermint is good, but when it's like a chili, sometimes they have like a chili, then that's when it gets really uncomfortable. Okay, so on the subject of lip products, I have a lip product too that I was going to recommend, Which I've been using for months, which I love. So this is the lineage lip glowy balm. You've seen this? So I think I've reviewed this before on the show, but I have the Laneige pot, which is, like, the sleeping mask, which I use all the time. It's, like, a thicker. I put it on every night. It's, like, replaced my aquaphor. I put it on every night, every morning. It feels so good. But this one is, like, a little bit of a thinner consistency. And I just keep this one in my bag, and I have it in the first one I got. Yeah. Was Berry, and I loved it. And I'm like, oh, this is perfect because it's like sleep mask, but it's a better applicator because you can just bring it with you. It's easier to apply. So the berry was the first one I got, by the way, it's $18, and it lasts a really long time. So then I found another one, because when I was in Sephora last time, I saw this peppermint, and I love a peppermint balm. Like, speaking of peppermint, I love the way that that feels. It's, like, cooling, and it just feels, like, so good. So I love this peppermint one. I think they also have it in the sleeping mask, but I just have it in the balm. But these bombs come in a lot of different colors. Like I said, I have peppermint. I've had berry before, but the other flavors or colors, I guess, are gummy bear, which is, like, a purple one, grapefruit peach. So they're all, like, really good flavors and yummy. So I bring this up because we're heading into the holidays and all that, and this, I feel like, is such a good gift for girlfriends or just, like, to throw in as, like, I don't know, just a fun little gift, and it just feels so good. So I love it. Highly recommend.

[28:18] Katie Chandler: I need to get that lineagetime lip mask, because every night I use my aquaphor. Not the aquaphor that's in the tub. I use the actual aquaphor chapstick. But I feel like that night mask is probably really soothing.

[28:34] Amy Sherman: Nice consider done. There you go. There's your gift.

[28:39] Katie Chandler: All right. Well, speaking of more lips and lip plumping, I feel like, like, not even on purpose Bought the Charlotte Tilbury Dupe. It's the Milani. Keep it full, Max.

[28:56] Amy Sherman: That looks like the last one.

[28:58] Katie Chandler: Exactly. Yeah.

[29:00] Amy Sherman: Okay.

[29:01] Katie Chandler: It is a lip plumper. And it's funny because I kind of want to take this off. I haven't compared them back to back to see if one's spicier than the other. Yeah, but this one's not as sheer. Granted, they have, like, twelve or so colors, and I'm sure there's ones that are more sheer. This is definitely a little bit more.

[29:18] Amy Sherman: I like when it has mark.

[29:19] Katie Chandler: Yeah, it's very pigmented, this one, but.

[29:25] Amy Sherman: Very similar.

[29:26] Katie Chandler: Very similar.

[29:27] Amy Sherman: And the color looks very similar. How does it feel?

[29:31] Katie Chandler: This is very soft and smooth, whereas the other one's a little bit more shiny and tacky almost. And so far, I'm not feeling as much burn as I did with the Charlote Tilbury, but it's coming. It's interesting. It takes a second or two to start to feel it, to kick in. I think it's the same. It's like the same tolerance level. Yeah, it is.

[29:59] Amy Sherman: And that's Milani.

[30:00] Katie Chandler: Milani. The Charlote Tilbury is $35, and the Milani is 1099.

[30:09] Amy Sherman: There you go.

[30:10] Katie Chandler: High low. It is a good dupe. Yeah, I'm getting the same effect. So it's the same.

[30:15] Amy Sherman: That's funny. Yeah, that one looks a little bit more. You're right. It has a little bit more color. It's a little shinier. Like a little bit more. But it's very similar. I mean, if you want. That seems like the Milani one's the way.

[30:27] Katie Chandler: I know it's funny, I didn't even realize how similar they were. But like I said, this one's been sitting in my drawer for a while, and, yeah, they're good. So there you go. It says, America's number one lip plumper on their website. I don't know who's giving them that award.

[30:45] Amy Sherman: It doesn't say. Okay, my last one, moving off of lips, going to eyes, is called. Hold on. Literally can't see. Okay, this is from Sephora collection. Again, I bought it during the sale. It's a shadow and a liner, and it's called Rose Gold. And I saw it. There's this makeup artist that I follow on TikTok. Her name is Maj M-A-J. She's great, and she has a lot of really good recommendations. And she had found this from somebody else. I think it's not even $10. Maybe it's $8. And what I use for, I haven't used as an eyeshadow yet. I just got it and I just started using it. But you know how I love to do the corner of my eyes. This.

[31:31] Katie Chandler: Yeah, that's pretty.

[31:32] Amy Sherman: Throw that on. It's like a really pretty shade. And you just kind of, like, throw it on, like, under there. And then what I also do. I did this yesterday. I just put it on the top, too, like, a little bit in here. Oh, pretty. I did this yesterday. I had, like, a neutral eyeshadow on, and then it just kind of, like, brightens.

[31:53] Katie Chandler: Yeah, it's really pretty. It's a good tone.

[31:55] Amy Sherman: So good.

[31:55] Katie Chandler: Kind of, like, a little bit, like, more of a natural skin tone than, like, a white one would be that people put in the corner.

[32:04] Amy Sherman: Well, you can't really see.

[32:05] Katie Chandler: Yeah, you can kind of. It's pretty.

[32:06] Amy Sherman: Yeah, it's basically like a highlighter. It looks like I'm wearing highlighter, but I'm not. And I bet you you could do it right here, up on the top here, like this kind of deal. So I'm just playing around with it, but immediately I put it on yesterday. I'm like, immediately. Yes, it's so good. And probably has a lot of different uses, but, yeah, it's kind of like a highlighter. Just a easier to apply because you don't need to get a brush. You just throw it on, and it just kind of, like, pops the eyes out. Once you have. Of course, I'm wearing no makeup today, so I have no mascara, no eye makeup, anything, but it just gives that extra pop. Love it. It's so.

[32:42] Katie Chandler: I need to get one. You always do that, that inner corner kind of, like, highlighting, and it's really pretty.

[32:49] Amy Sherman: Yeah.

[32:50] Katie Chandler: Nice. Sephora. That's that one. I have to report now that we're about 30 seconds in on the Milani. It is definitely a little bit more tingly than the Charlote Tilbury.

[33:00] Amy Sherman: Okay.

[33:00] Katie Chandler: FYI. Starting to get a little strong, but it's all good.

[33:06] Amy Sherman: It looks good then.

[33:07] Katie Chandler: Thanks. And also, I want to tell everybody what I'm drinking because I think that this could be made at home, and it's really, really good. We have this place here called Granola Bar. I mean, I don't know. They're probably in the general area of the New York area, but it's their Turkish late. Make this at home, make yourself a late. Or go to Starbucks and get your latte and have them put a little bit of vanilla in it and cinnamon and cardamom. And it is so good. Yeah.

[33:32] Amy Sherman: So vanilla late with cinnamon.

[33:34] Katie Chandler: What's cardamom? Is a spice that I feel like, I want to say. Maybe you would have cardamom in, like, a chai tea. Like a similar.

[33:41] Amy Sherman: Okay.

[33:42] Katie Chandler: But, yeah, it's a spice. I think I actually have cardamom in my spice cabinet so you could make.

[33:47] Amy Sherman: Yeah, I was going to say you could probably just make it at home.

[33:49] Katie Chandler: Really yummy.

[33:50] Amy Sherman: Sounds yummy. It sounds like. Yeah, mixed with cinnamon.

[33:55] Katie Chandler: It's very warming.

[33:56] Amy Sherman: I don't know. Sweet warming. Yeah. Good for the season.

[34:00] Katie Chandler: Exactly.

[34:01] Amy Sherman: Okay, cool. Well, that is it for our November product junkies. I feel like there's so many more things to review so I'm excited for next month and hope everyone is doing well and see you next time. Thanks for listening to Nirvana Sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes. Please subscribe and leave us a review. Also find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would, please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana Sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 129 - Aging Gracefully, Anti-Beauty Beauty, and The “Influencer” Paradox - A Candid Conversation With Beauty & Wellness Writer, Christine Morrison (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 129.

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here.

Speaker A: Welcome to Nirvana Sisters podcast where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state, your nirvana. We are sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman.

Speaker B: And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation.

Speaker A: Welcome to Nirvana, sisters. Nirvana Sisters family. Hope everyone is doing well. We have a special guest today. We are talking to Christine Morrison. And let me tell you a little bit about Christine and I'll also tell you how we met. But Christine is a seasoned freelance writer whose work centers around her achievements and passions often is seen through the lens of aging, the business of fashion, beauty and a devotion to wellness and fitness. Her writing has appeared in print and online vehicles including the Boston Globe, the Washington Post and The Quality Edit, as well as advertising campaigns for fashion and beauty brands. She was recently featured in an anthology and is currently writing a fashion essay collection, reflecting on the meaning behinds and the humor in what she wore while forming her identity, navigating her way to true love and discovering her authentic self. That sounds so fun. I can't wait to hear about that. So welcome to the show, Christine. So, funny story. We had posted something about a new trend called bedrotting. And I wrote on the Instagram post, I feel seen because it's like literally what I do every weekend and I always felt guilty about it. And then it was named and I was like, this is amazing. I feel seen like bedrotting. It's like a thing now. And then Christine and I started talking about all things beauty and really anti beauty beauty. So welcome to the show, Christine. We're so excited to have you and just have like a deeper conversation about beauty and what it means today.

Speaker C: Thank you so much for having me. And yes, bedrotting. That was so funny. I had never heard the word before but I was so excited that that.

Speaker A: Was becoming A-I-I Katie and I talk all the time and to go, I'm going to be in my bed all morning bed rotting, so I'll talk to you later today.

Speaker C: I think my husband and little boys would be like, what's that? They would be freaked out by that word. But I feel like there is a time and a place for this. At this point, I looked it up because I wanted to know what the actual definition was because I'm not a TikTok person. But it said basically this is a new form of self care and it's spending all day or all weekend in bed and it said like doom scrolling. Now I can go without the doom scrolling but just the laying in bed, binging the show or reading a book. My whole thing would be reading a book. But after all the eras of the girl boss and the hustle culture and leaning in, I feel like aren't we kind of do a little bit of relaxation. I would say yes for sure right now.

Speaker B: I hate to break it to both of you, but I've been bedrotting for years. Me too.

Speaker A: Now it actually has a name.

Speaker C: But it is I had twins and I haven't been bedrotting candidly.

Speaker B: So yeah, for me bedrotting is a way of preventing my autoimmune from flaring up. So it's like prescription bedrotting which is.

Speaker C: I love that it's almost like gave you and then sad that you needed the word, but it gives you permission to take care of yourself and you don't need permission. I'm giving you permission today. I know exactly what you mean. We all live in we need it. Yeah. And that's why we've gotten too caught up in it. And I'm so glad more and more that whether you have to have a name for it or not, that wellness and taking care of yourself is not just a beauty ritual but a lifestyle and something you have to do for your well being.

Speaker A: Yeah, I totally agree. And I also think that the idea around bedrouting which we need to change the routing. I don't want to make it feel like we got to think of another one. Maybe it's rooting, I don't know. But I do feel, and I've always done this too and again, it's funny to have a term around it, but just like having that time to yourself, whether it's like an hour or two in bed. To your point. Binging shows doom scrolling or laying with your animals like I do and my pets and whatever. Just that time to yourself and having that regroup whenever you can have it is so crucial because then you just feel revitalized afterwards. You feel rested, you feel good.

Speaker C: 100%.

Speaker A: But I realized we forgot to do our weekly nirvana and we should take a step back and do that quickly because it's been a week. We're recording the week of all of the mideast crisis that's happening and we're not going to go deep into been I was thinking about this this morning been a really hard week for all of us and it's kind of hard to think about what a weekly nirvana could be or would be in this kind of dark time right now. But I can start. I actually had two this morning which I thought were really a nice end to my week. So someone in my other job texted me this morning and just said, hey, thinking of you, just wanted to share my support and love and it was like someone I didn't really know, someone that I work with but don't work with closely or know. And I just thought it was really sweet just that she reached out and said something was really touching because not that many people do that. So I thought that was really nice. And then the other nice thing that happened this morning was my older son is having a friend sleepover all weekend because his parents are away for the weekend and it's Homecoming weekend here, and it's all this stuff. And anyway, his friend's sleeping over, but the mom sent our family, like, this really beautiful bouquet of flowers and it was, like, such a good week to get it. First of all, it was so nice to do that and so unnecessary but it was just so sweet and nice. It was just nice to get some beautiful flowers into my home just because it's been such a kind of obviously depressing week. But what about you Katie?

Speaker B: Yeah, it has been an incredibly difficult week. I think last night on the train when I was coming back from the city where I think my headspace for where it's been this week, I found myself instead of just ripping by the train stations and not paying attention to my surroundings, I was watching people and their humanity and just seeing a father pick up a son and seeing a woman that looked like she had had a long day and heading home for the day and just kind of paying attention and thinking about we are all human. The world is going to be. I think I think that was mine. Instead of just like the usual just seeing people and not thinking anything.

Speaker A: When you see these rushing through.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker B: What about you Christine?

Speaker C: Well, it's funny that you say that about people, the humanity of people just showing up and stepping up in ways that you can't believe. I don't know these two women but I saw that they were having this beauty sale in New York City and I'm obviously not there anymore but they're having it on Saturday to support the Israeli Red Cross and Israel Aid. And I reached out and I said do you need more products? Because I don't know what they need or whatever. And she's like sure. And I was like, I don't know what you need. And she said oh sure, anything. And I reached out to a handful of brands and a lot of these brands are startups so they have very little still and they are still fighting for funding and everything. 99% of them were like, oh I'll ship whatever you need. And they shipped product and donations. And it was like people just are showing up for one another. And that does give you faith in people and humanity that while our country is not experiencing what they are just to witness people that don't know each other, that are getting obviously nothing out of it, that have very little, but know that they have so much in comparison to what is happening across the world. I just thought that was an incredible yeah.

Speaker A: Yeah. That's really nice. Puts things into perspective. Let's talk about anti beauty, beauty and what that means and kind of get your thoughts about that. Christine.

Speaker C: So one of the things when we were talking about it over Instagram. I was trying to find a way to sort of define it. Like, how does someone define it? Okay, so anti beauty beauty the way that people define it. And so funny to me is when people go online and write about brands that don't work. And it's really led by what's her name? The housewife. Oh, my goodness.

Speaker B: Bethany.

Speaker A: Oh, Bethany.

Speaker C: Bethany Frankel. Right. She and then she's got all these other people on TikTok and people are up in arms. And so that's what they say as, like, that's anti beauty beauty. And I'm constantly like, no, I think of it as beauty that doesn't require so much money or so many steps and more about how it's impacted by our health and our wellness and how that affects our aesthetic. And that's how I think about it because there's so much that you can do that's not like a moisturizer whatever. And that does impact what you look like, how you feel about what you look like. And that's especially as you age because there's only so many things that you want to do or should be doing because it's pushing water uphill at some point because gravity is setting in. I'm sorry.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: But that's how I think of it. I don't think of it as negating what products define themselves as or anything like that. I just think it's like stepping away from the need to have an incessant 17 step program or constantly be getting and no judgment. I'm all about taking care of your skin and injectables are fine or whatever you want to do. But when it kind of takes over your world or is something that is like it's almost like what's your intention when you're doing it? Is it to fight gravity or fight what you look like rather than be like a contentment or feeling good in your skin? Things like that? I think it just depends on how you're approaching it, in my opinion.

Speaker B: I agree with that. Are we doing it so that we feel confident and happy in our skin and we can know ourselves or are we doing it because we've had something to prove or we're fighting? Yeah. And there's a lot of truth to what we put in our bodies. Can really do volumes to external and a lot of people don't, I think. I really do believe that a lot of people don't know that.

Speaker C: Yes. And I don't understand why there's been so much and I don't know. Is it because they haven't seen the proof or something or they're not willing to try it? I don't know.

Speaker B: Right. Yeah.

Speaker A: And just going back to Bethany quickly when she first came out in the game doing all of that stuff and a lot of people will call it like de influencing or whatever, but I actually appreciate it and still do appreciate her candor. And I think people trust her because she could buy anything she wants in the world, but she's practical. And so she's like, here are the expensive things that if you want to treat yourself great, here are the things that are crappy and here are the things in the drugstore that you can have and have a two step skincare routine and you're good to go. And I think people just really trust her because she is practical and she's trust. What's the word I'm looking for?

Speaker C: Well, she's really honest.

Speaker B: Yeah, she's giving it to you.

Speaker A: She's honest. She's relatable in the sense she's going to the TJ. Maxx and whatever and finding stuff, and she's doing the high end and she's doing the low end, and she mixes high and low, and she's just relatable in that way and very honest. And I think she's always been that way, which is why people trust her.

Speaker B: It kind of goes back to having nothing to prove. And I'm sure that there's a million people that would say, oh, Bethany Frankel always acts like she has something to prove because she speaks up on literally everything.

Speaker C: But I think that's a great point.

Speaker B: Yeah, but this specific piece, I think she doesn't have anything to prove in her beauty regimen. Like, she doesn't care about a 16 step process and if that makes her cool, et cetera. Right.

Speaker A: And it's funny because which we do at the end of every show is like our five minute flow, which is exactly that. It's like strip away everything. What are those core things that make you feel good? And we were talking about that before, around the intention behind it. And I think we always talk on the show about you're doing these things because they make you feel better, because they make you more confident. Yes, there are systemic reasons, but it's really like at the end of the day, so you feel good, whatever that.

Speaker C: May be, whatever it is.

Speaker A: You get a blowout, you get whatever. You have your bed rotting in the morning, and then you feel good the rest of the day and you feel confident, like you've had that time to yourself. So it's to your point, I totally agree. The intention behind it versus the opposite, where you see people and if you do want to do a 20 step skin care routine, great. But then you see the people doing that just to do it.

Speaker C: Because it's like up with people. Right.

Speaker A: Up with and that's what we don't love.

Speaker C: Exactly. I hate that. Exactly.

Speaker B: And also, it's not totally necessary. Let's call it what it is and.

Speaker C: In fact, achieve results. It's almost like setting you backward. I just did this incredible article on a brand that has proven this woman that's a former beauty writer and editor, her sister is the director of oh, gosh, I'm going to scare this up. It's like she's the director of the Human Microbiome Institute at Cedars Sinai, and together she was able to come up with a brand called Editrix, and I wrote this piece for the quality edit on it. And at the end of the day, all the things that we are doing is obviously damaging the microbiome. So their whole point is let your skin act the way it needs to act. And if you stop damaging it so much, it will actually repair itself. It will do things itself, it will act the way it's naturally supposed to act. The reason why you're having so much eczema sensitive skin issues along the way, aging so much faster, is because of all the retinols and everything that we're doing anyway, right. Less is always more.

Speaker B: And the inside out piece, what you're putting on is affecting you internally, which is then coming out externally, and it's kind of like this vicious cycle, right? So I'm going to put this topical on it, but it can ultimately, they're saying, hurt you internally, microbiome effects and everything. I would love to read that piece.

Speaker C: And I'll send it to you because you're right, because the microbiome is your skin health and there's a language between your gut health and your skin health, and it's through the microbiome language or something. Read the article. It was like taking science class. I met with her for hours and hours and hours.

Speaker A: Wow.

Speaker C: And I am not well versed in it at this very moment. It took a lot of me to do that because I really wanted to understand it. And I think, to your point, I don't think that people want to go that deep to find out when they find there's a quick fix if you use these five products, right?

Speaker A: Yeah, totally.

Speaker B: That's true.

Speaker A: Let's move to another topic, which is really around wellness and aging and normalizing it. And I think just the media and people on social media and podcasts are getting better at this. But I just can't stand when I listen to podcasts of people in our age bracket and they're like, oh, I can't talk about menopause, or oh, no, that's never going to happen to us. And I'm like, I find that so irritating and so unrelatable. I'm like, this is happening. Talk about it, right? Oprah did a really good job recently, or I think it was in the last year, she did some whole conference around menopause, and she got all these celebrities involved, and it brought a lot of awareness to it. But that drives me nuts when people just can't age gracefully and embrace their age versus trying to find that fountain of youth or, like, go backwards, seem.

Speaker B: Like they're shaming menopause, we can't talk, right? This is happening. It's inevitable without shame.

Speaker C: And the beauty is, you're right. So many people still think it's a little taboo. But thank God for Naomi Watts'company. The stripes. And sadly, another company just went, and my doctor's name is Dr. Taz. She just wrote a book and she did A-Q-A with Gwyneth Paltrow, who is obviously big about talking about taboo topics and getting the noise at a level where people are like, oh, wait, we should have pay attention to this. But you're absolutely right. We need to realize that it's going to happen. There's physical, mental, emotional, all of this health. We have to listen to what's happening because I'm 54 and I'm just at the tail end of menopause. And if I had had that Susan Dominus New York Times article that has, I swear, been spread to everybody I've ever met eight years ago, I think the headline was women have been Misled about Menopause. It's in the New York Times. If you haven't read it, please go and read it. It breaks down all of the things, all of the myths and misconceptions that have been going on all this time because of that one NIH study. All that women's health initiative. Yeah, exactly. And why women were scared to take hormones. And it's so wonderful and about what's now happening in the world of menopause and all the brands and all the people that are trying to get out there and try to talk about it. But we are just this is the tip of the iceberg, right?

Speaker B: For sure, we're scratching the surface.

Speaker C: Exactly.

Speaker A: Yeah. But it's good that it's starting the conversation. And I also find, too, women around our age just offline when you're talking to other moms or whomever, once you start talking about hormones and all these things, everyone bonds around it because everyone's going through the same thing. So now you're having deeper conversations about health and well being and how to take care of yourself and everyone's sharing things. And that's half the reason we have the show, right? To share and to talk about our experiences. And I just find it so nice when I meet people and we can just connect on something that we can all relate to and share those tips and tricks and learn from one another.

Speaker B: Interesting, this Women's Healthy Initiative affected generations of women that were not allowed to be given hormones and just went through the most brutal menopausal transition. I talked to my mom about it. Like, my mom is now, she's 70, and she's going to go talk to her doctor about starting hormones. There's nothing wrong with that. And so it is getting the conversation started, making it like saying menopause in a public restaurant out loud without being worrying that the table next to you is going to look at you like you're old crazy. And you're right. These celebrities have definitely helped bring up the noise level, which is fantastic. I mean, we've got to get all the stigma out.

Speaker C: All of it's got to unfortunately, one of the stigmas I just started to read about is in the workplace because there's a bit of an ageism issue. Anyway, you feel like you have to keep it hush hush, because then they're like, oh, she's so old, because it's still equated with being an old lady and hot flashes and all the things are like, oh, is she old and crazy? And in menopause it's like, oh my gosh, it's funny.

Speaker A: I just read something, it was like a little I think it was on I don't know if it was on LinkedIn or Instagram, but do you know Shelley Zallas?

Speaker C: No.

Speaker A: She's like she's the founder of something called let's see if I have this right, the Female Quotient. And it's all about yeah, yeah, I've met her before. She's incredible. And it's all about women's leadership and power in the workplace and speaking up and all of those things. And she had an antidote, I think it was, again on LinkedIn or something. And she was talking about how she was in a meeting years ago, like a big executive meeting and it was like her and actually a bunch of women around the table and in the middle of the meeting or whatever it was, she was going through a half less. So she fanned herself and then the other one were like, oh, thank God. And they all started fanning themselves. And it was such a moment of bonding, of like, oh my God, we don't have to be so corporate and buttoned up. We can all fan ourselves because we're going through the same thing. And she's like, it was such a funny experience just to be in sort of an uptight boardroom situation. But then all the women as soon as she did that were like, oh, that's really funny. So I just thought that was really funny.

Speaker C: The only other thing that does come out of both that article and everything that's been talked about is the medical community just doesn't have enough education in it. Like doctors, I guess it's something like something like 2 hours or something. In medical school you get trained on menopause versus fertility is obviously it's shocking, right?

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: The OBGYNs, like the traditional, they don't talk about it. They're like, oh yeah, your menopause take this, there's no that's it. Unless you go to someone who knows what they're doing and is really versed or is more the and we might.

Speaker B: Have talked about this before, but it's good for our listeners to know. If you go to the North American National Menopause Society, there is a list of obgens in your area that are certified in menopausal training. And they will give you hormones and they will treat you like this is all normal, which it is.

Speaker C: That is a fantastic resource. I'm so glad you mentioned it. And if I can mention, she just published her book. The book that she talked about with Gwyneth is Dr. Taz Bhatia wrote a book called The Hormonal Shift. And you can be in pre perimenopause, but it will start to give you the education of how do I know that I'm even starting this right? It'll step you step by step because there's so many. If you don't have women around you and you don't have a doctor that listens, it's hard to know what to even ask the doctor without what you don't know. Right.

Speaker B: And it's hard to know what's happening to you when it slowly starts.

Speaker C: When perimenopause symptoms scary.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: So I was just thinking just a funny story or not story, but just thought when we were talking before about wellness and aging and aging gracefully. I don't know if anybody's watching the Golden Bachelor. I've only seen one episode. It's really good. I have to catch up. Okay, but point being, all these women are like in their late 60s, early 70s.

Speaker C: Fantastic.

Speaker A: They all look amazing. And you can tell they've aged gracefully. Right? I mean, of course there's some women that are a little overboard with the face, but most of them are like just natural beauties. They're all like gorgeous women but they've taken care of themselves so well. You can tell some of them are in their 70s. I'm like I mean they look incredible.

Speaker C: Awesome.

Speaker A: But they have wrinkles and they have this and they have that, but they just look incredible. So like the days of people being in their seventy s and looking like the golden girl, old and gray, that's just not the world we live. Not it anymore. People are like it's kind of like in the Barbie movie when she looks over I posted this the other day. That's why in the top of my head where she looks over at the old woman in the bus stop and she's like, you're so beautiful.

Speaker C: It's so true. And I love it when it's just.

Speaker A: Nice to see that. Yeah, I know. It's great. Anyway, I just thought of that because it's just that the world now is very different when it comes to aging. But yes, the conversations need to keep happening and the embracing of it and stop trying to beat the clock. Just embrace it. Age gracefully and enhance what you have to make you feel better and be.

Speaker B: Proud and be proud of the age experience and the stripes that we wear from all of our life experience. Absolutely. Say your age with shout it.

Speaker C: Absolutely.

Speaker A: Let's talk about I know we want to kind of talk about the pitfalls of beauty currently and sort of this disingenuous information that's out there and spreading false info which is everywhere. It's really scary and it's very hard to know who to trust. Love to get your thoughts on that.

Speaker C: Well, that's really funny. So that's another reason I had contacted you is so I have a substac and the most recent one that I wrote was called Coming Clean about the beauty industry. And it was saying, I'm putting a stake in the ground. I'm not writing any more beauty editorial because while I do a lot of research and interview founders and do as much as I can to get truth out there, the pitches and the desperation of both some brands and just the noise of TikTok and everything. And influencers. To me, I'm probably going to get canned for this. But influencers are like a four letter word in my opinion. Because especially when it comes to skincare, there's so many myths and so much misinformation that are leading women down the wrong road. And Sunscreen is just one good example of that. They don't know what they're saying and they're telling them brands to use. And then I have this one derm that I used for an article and she's like, do you know? And I'm like, I know I didn't write it. I don't know. It's really hard to know because there's more influencers than ever. They make like 4 billion or more in sales. Right. There's celeb brands and they use white label products a lot of times. So they just put their labels on it and then they look amazing. And then people want to look like that. I feel like it goes back to doing wellness and health types of things and then knowing who to trust. Trust people who have been schooled in these things. Trust your dermatologist, trust your surgeon that gives you the injections that might say, you know what? You should use this brand and only use these products. Don't fall into the trap of all the links and the sales and trying something new every month and all of the time that there's something that's a trend is not good for you or your skin.

Speaker B: Right, yeah. It doesn't even give you time to make traction. If you're doing you're constantly changing it.

Speaker C: Yeah, exactly. And then you might think it doesn't work because then you have had a reaction to it. Well, that could have been two times ago product, right?

Speaker A: Could be from something. Exactly.

Speaker C: So I always say stay away from influencers and TikTok trends and all of with. And if you are going to read stories, make sure these people are talking to legitimate sources. Sometimes even great like L or whoever, they might just be saying, here are brands that we like. But make sure that they've talked, not just editors, but make sure those editors have talked to people and all of that. It's always about someone that's been schooled in this and has done their homework. That's all.

Speaker A: Yeah, I agree. And I think it's really difficult. I can imagine for the younger generation and sussing out what's real and what's not. Katie has two daughters. As they get older, you can just get sucked in without knowing. I think when you're older you sort of can look around and try to figure out if it's legitimate and make your own choices. But all these kids with the filters and the this, it's really, really scary. So that's why I appreciate people like Bethany, actually. People like Alex Earl.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker A: She has bad skin and she shows it all the time and she talks about all. Her issues with her skin or this or that. And I think, yeah, look for those.

Speaker C: Exactly. There are people out there, they're few and far between, but those are the people to see what their journey is. Absolutely.

Speaker A: And I think that's why she's become so popular, because of that honesty. I also would say, when you were talking about the legitimate sources, I listen to the podcast a lot, breaking Beauty, you know that podcast? And they're two former beauty editors, so I trust everything that they say. Like, if I really want to learn about products, I'll listen to them because I know that they've interviewed the people. They're very reputable versus, like, somebody else is just recommending. I mean, Katie and I recommend products all the time, but it's just stuff we personally like. We're not saying that's very different. We're just saying this is fun. Check it out.

Speaker C: Because you used it and that's different. And you know what's fun about that is like, I've used it. You're not saying, here's a link. You have to try this to have a good life.

Speaker B: Right?

Speaker C: That's what some of these influence are like. I feel that they're like, you know what? Look at me. Look at my great life. I wear this. How you achieve this is how you achieve it. Exactly. It goes back to intention. To what is their intention? Their intentions to make money. Right. Their intentions not to help you. They're not friends with you.

Speaker A: It's so true. It's so true. That all being said, I mean, we go talk about this for still have fun. How do we still have fun with Beauty? Because we all love it.

Speaker C: I love that question. I love it. Yeah, we still want to have fun. Okay, well, there's so many fun things. So the first thing is, everybody knows and loves Jenna Lyons because she's on Real Housewives. But before she was on Real Housewives, and she was an icon, saya icon because of J. Crew. And she started love scene eyelashes. Have you guys tried these?

Speaker A: I have not.

Speaker C: Okay. Fake eyelashes are so fun, and Love Scene is super easy to put on. And if you just want to like it's kind of like the bedriding idea. If you want, on a random Wednesday to go have lunch with a friend and you put on these love seeing eyelashes. Now they have some that know real severe, and then they have some. And I did that like Kim Kardashian.

Speaker A: I know exactly what you're saying.

Speaker C: Or some that just look like you had on a good, healthy coat of mascara. But it's so fun that's something you can play with doesn't harm anybody. You might love it. It's just playful fun. It's just like, I love it and I do it.

Speaker A: I am so glad you said that. I need to try it. So we did a whole episode. We did an episode, what was it? A couple of months ago called? The eye edition because I used to have extensions for a while, and then I started trying all the ones that you could do yourself. And I've become a master at all these different ones and how to use them and whatever. Are those just for the day, or do they last?

Speaker C: I think you need to take them off. I've worn them overnight, but you need to take them off. But you can reuse them. Okay, great.

Speaker A: I need to try those. And that's one of those things that kind of tying back to what we were talking about earlier, because I was wearing them for a while. When I put those on, I feel like a million dollars. I don't have to wear makeup. It brightens your face. You feel like it's the best.

Speaker C: Right? You can go to carpool, and you win. Carpool. I don't know. There's, like, about the way you I totally agree. Also, I'm all about a good lip oil because my hair is too short now to fall into my face. So the really fun thing that I got recently was St. Jane is a good skincare brand. It's very florally, so I don't wear a lot of it on my face necessarily, but I do like the brand. But they did a partnership with Favorite Daughter, and I think those girls are hilarious. And they did a lip oil one's called Calm, one's called Chaos. I don't know which sister is Calm and which is Chaos because they're both kind of both, and there are two different colors, and it's just a fun I don't know. I just thought it was fun. That's awesome.

Speaker A: Oh, I love that. Play with to try that.

Speaker C: And also, I'm a big fan of I don't need pink or blue hair or anything like that, but I cut my hair all the time, and I play around with, like, going a little darker, going a little lighter with biolu. I don't know. Just playing around with hair, because hair.

Speaker B: Grows, hair grows, color changes. I have true clients. Recently, she has, like, grayish blonde hair, but then she changes her roots to a fun, funky, great different color every few like, every other month.

Speaker A: Who does this?

Speaker B: One of my clients. She's great.

Speaker A: Oh, my God.

Speaker B: He has one. Having fun with beauty.

Speaker C: And for women that want to go gray, go for it.

Speaker B: Go for it.

Speaker C: The grow out is hard. I know. But you know what? Do it. I had to break up with my colorist about seven years ago. I was super blonde, and he's like, what are you doing? And I go, I need to stop pretending I'm 40. And that's fine if you want to be super blunt. He's like, but you with high gray. I'm like, I don't have any gray. I want to be a brunette, like, the way God intended me to be. And it's been fun. And then I cut all my Sarah Jessica Parker curls up I have the shortest bob in the world, right? Like, you can play. And again, it's all for me. It has nothing to do with anybody.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: So stuff like that. Right?

Speaker A: That's so true. I actually just cut my hair shorter recently. Never. My hair was always long forever. And then over the last few years, I've grown it, cut it short, grown it, cut it short and played around with it. But I was just saying to Katie, when I got my hair highlighted a couple of weeks ago, I changed it to be more textured because I found that it was too blonde. And I was like I said to my colorist, who I love, I was like, I had, like, a whole briefing with her for a half an hour. I'm like, let me show you pictures. This is what I mean. I just don't want my highlights to make my hair all look blonde. I want, like, texture. I want it to be, like, dark in places. And she's like, yeah, same thing. But I hide your gray. I'm like, I don't have that much gray. And I don't care. I just don't want it to feel like not I don't know.

Speaker C: I just wanted to goes back to intent. I didn't want to act like I was trying to look younger. And I was like I just also.

Speaker A: Felt like it was like washing me.

Speaker C: Out because my skin and my eyebrows and everything. And I did MICROBLADE my eyebrows so that they would be nice old and thick because they were getting a little sparse. And I'm like, that is part of my face, and it's important. And then the last thing was glasses. I obviously have to wear readers now, and so you can play around with this is like a Tom Ford.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: Those are so cool.

Speaker C: Reader. And these are lookup. Oh, I have.

Speaker B: Lookup.

Speaker A: Tea.

Speaker C: I love them. They're really light. I can wear them all day, and I don't feel like I have, like, an indentation on my face. But just being able to play around because it's inevitable people are going to get readers and just being able to play with glasses and stuff. I don't know.

Speaker B: Super fun tips of things that we can do that I believe are helping age gracefully and keeping it fun and light and yeah, I love it.

Speaker C: Totally.

Speaker B: All right, we need to dive.

Speaker A: We only have a few minutes.

Speaker B: Let's dive into our wrap session stat, because I'm really excited to hear Christine's answers to these questions. So, Christine, what is your favorite wellness or beauty hack?

Speaker C: Okay, this is going to be very hard to narrow this down. I will be honest. I have a lot. But one of my all time favorites is have you ever used the higher dose sauna blanket?

Speaker B: No.

Speaker C: Okay. I did write a piece about this, and so I'm going to send you links to some of these articles.

Speaker A: But please yeah, we'll post because I'm.

Speaker C: A big fan of listening to I mean, you have to have like, a notebook in 2 hours and a pen. Maybe you bedrot during it. I don't know. Huberman's lab podcast.

Speaker A: Oh, I love it.

Speaker C: Oh, my God. It's a college education, but he did some things. We have a sauna in our house, but because of menopause, I cannot sit in that thing. So I found the higher dose sauna blanket. And you get inside and you don't get all of the same benefits as you would sitting in a sauna because you don't get the same temperature. But hey, the menopause thing, I couldn't sit in a temperature like that. But in this sauna blanket, my head is out. You don't go as high in the temps, but you detoxify the body. You burn about 400 calories, which is like a light job. And it is the most relaxing thing. At the end of the day, you sleep like a baby. But I CrossFit, and so I ache a lot often, so I get out of it. I feel like my muscles are soothed. It is a great way to end my day. I only get to do it a couple of times a week.

Speaker A: How long do you do it for?

Speaker C: Well, it'll click off and I'm trying to find out. I don't know. I stay in it like 2030 minutes sometimes. It is just sounds so good in the winter, too, when you're like, cold.

Speaker B: Sounds really nice.

Speaker C: And I put it up to eight, which is like the highest as it goes. But that's one of my favorite favorite things. But I have to tell you one other the other one, I hate every single green juice. I have a low tolerance for ****, like, even quality good I cannot taste. But the sakara, I think it's called greens and protein and greens superpower.

Speaker A: I haven't tried that one.

Speaker C: It has a hint of vanilla that I swear takes away the disgusting flavor.

Speaker B: Yeah, it's good.

Speaker C: It's so good because now I'm able to use I just put it with malk, which is almonds and water and after CrossFit. And I'm like, oh, good. I want to get those nutrients, but I could never get them in it's. My two favorite things.

Speaker A: I love those. Those are great recommendations. I've seen the higher dose online, but I just have never tried it. And it looks like such a good detox. You must feel, like, so refreshed afterwards.

Speaker C: Yeah, you have to wear clothes inside because socks, pants. But I'm getting ready to buy the insert so that you can be, as my kids say, nay nay. Okay. Go inside without anything on, which is how you really want a sauna. Okay.

Speaker A: Five minute flow. You just got out of the shower. Dried off. Uber just alerted you. They're five minutes away. What's your quick beauty routine? What do you put on? What are your Holy Grails to get out the door and get in that car on time.

Speaker C: Okay. I've washed my face in the shower. Ideally, I did. About how to cleanse your face. Don't put your face right up in the shower because you've broken capillaries if you have that, like, pounding water on your face. I learned that Kylie Kavako rec from Knockout Beauty, but I put on usually like Vitner's daughter and a good lulu, which is lula, which is a moisturizer I love. Or the editrix. I'm trying that still. And then an SPF. And then I am very minimal. I love the merit makeup stuff. I mean, I don't know if you guys use the minimalist. Yeah. Love flush bomb. Love. Or this one, the Jones Road in the Miracle in this color.

Speaker A: Oh, I'm dying to try this.

Speaker C: I got it in the Jones road.

Speaker A: Send us some, please.

Speaker C: This is in the pink. This is sort of a pinkish color, but in the summer, I was using more of the bronzy, but I use on the cheeks.

Speaker A: Just like, rub it all over on.

Speaker C: The cheeks and on my lips. And then I'm doing my one last article for beauty I'm doing is for Vegan for Vegan Day. But I found this, and I keep this in my car, so if it's Uber, I wouldn't. But this is on the way to carpool. It's called axiology. It's a teeny little crayon. And I keep it in my pocket sometimes if I go to an event or whatever, and it's the same idea.

Speaker B: Oh, nice. Yeah.

Speaker C: Cheeks. And you could probably put it on.

Speaker B: Your eyelids eyelash, but yeah, I was.

Speaker C: Thinking that, and that is it.

Speaker A: I never heard of that brand.

Speaker C: And then there's a teen skincare brand called Ryle R-I-L-E that I did. I love these teen skincare brands that just came out because I have these boys that are 14. They needed their own skin products. They have a lip balm that they don't like because it's too spicy. I love it. It's a spice chai.

Speaker B: Oh, yum.

Speaker C: Put that on my lips because I don't wear a lot of lipstick, except for I've used that lip oil recently.

Speaker B: Nice. Asking me for skincare products. Madeline, my ten year old, she's all in.

Speaker C: Send you that article. There are several. And you know what they're doing? These brands are doing such a good job of trying to say it's simple so you'll do it. It's not filled with all the harsh chemicals, like clean and clear that we grew up with, and so it's not getting their skin already on that kick of over producing oil and everything. It's great.

Speaker B: That's great. All right, last one before we head out. How do you maintain your daily nirvana?

Speaker C: Oh, gosh, well, I get so much quality sleep. Number one thing. Yeah, I learned the hard way, I have to have good sleep. And I think the higher dose bag in a combination with some calm magnesium before I go to bed really makes for a good sleep. And then I CrossFit several days a week, and that really helps.

Speaker A: Amazing sleep.

Speaker C: And then just make me feel good. And then my family.

Speaker A: Yeah. Thank you so much for coming on the show.

Speaker C: Thank you so much to have you back.

Speaker A: I feel like there's so many more conversations we can have about this, but it's so nice to meet you. I'm so glad we got to connect. We'll continue to talk. We'll be DMing and talking on Instagram.

Speaker B: We'll be in touch.

Speaker A: Yeah. Thanks for listening to Nirvana Sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes. Please subscribe and leave us a review. Also, find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would, please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana Sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 127 - Laugh Lines and Lip Liner: Beauty Banter with TikTok Star and Makeup Artist, Erica Taylor - Part 2 (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 127

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here.

Speaker A: Welcome to Nirvana Sisters podcast, where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state, your nirvana. We are sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman.

Speaker B: And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation.

Speaker C: Okay.

Speaker D: Bronzer and blush.

Speaker C: Bronzer blush. Favorite bronzer stick for blending rare beauty.

Speaker D: Yeah.

Speaker C: Have it on because they blend like butt up.

Speaker B: Does it?

Speaker C: Okay.

Speaker D: So good. Yeah.

Speaker C: That's what I have on fade. Right?

Speaker D: It's like I just, like, throw it on and do this, and it's done.

Speaker C: Yeah. So that's my favorite. And then blush. I've been digging. The new makeup by Mario has these new cream that makes the skin just, like, really okay. Oh, powder blush. I love the House labs.

Speaker B: House Labs. I haven't tried any House labs yet. The makeup by Mario, I use the contour his contour stick.

Speaker C: I like that.

Speaker B: I love that that melts and blends. So haven't I don't know what's happening to that light. I haven't tried rare, and I haven't tried House labs.

Speaker C: If you think that Mario melts beautifully, the rare is even easier. So I feel like I love the Mario as a makeup artist, but I feel like a client that doesn't really know what they're doing is easier to f that up than the rare. Beauty.

Speaker B: It can be kind of heavy if you don't blend it the right way. Okay, so the rare is a little bit more blendable, but is it equally as long lasting as the makeup by Mario?

Speaker C: No.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker C: So I'm going out makeup by Mario every day. Rare.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker D: And the blush the makeup by Mario blush that you were just talking about, it's a cream blush.

Speaker C: You like a it's this size. I don't have it with me. So this is the bronzer version.

Speaker D: Okay. I think I know what you're talking about.

Speaker C: Watch this, though. You want to see me turn into JLo?

Speaker D: Yeah, let's do it. We know you love a JLo moment.

Speaker C: I do. Not my body, though. I got Delola. I haven't tried it yet. Doing?

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker D: All right, let's see. Here she goes. Here she goes.

Speaker C: What this is this is a cream, and I want to get into my light. So this you put on, and I'm just using a big brush. And when you put this over your skin look at that glow.

Speaker B: Oh, yeah.

Speaker C: It's beautifully gives a sheen to the skin. Denser brush, just whatever's in front of me. I'm lazy.

Speaker B: It's a sheen, and it's a little bronzy, and it's giving you a little color.

Speaker D: Oh, that's so pretty.

Speaker B: Yes. That's beautiful.

Speaker C: So if that's another one that I'll put on in a pinch just to give a little more.

Speaker D: Like a cream that's a cream or a powder.

Speaker C: I can't tell. Like, a hybrid, and it gives, like, a so pretty.

Speaker D: Yeah, that's okay. So this is the makeup by Mario bronzer.

Speaker B: You can see the sheen.

Speaker D: A lot.

Speaker B: Gorgeous. Beautiful.

Speaker D: So pretty.

Speaker C: I also did your blush or just like that.

Speaker D: Oh, the blush is just like that. Okay. Yeah. I did the hack that you showed a while ago. The rare beauty, I think it's a highlighter, but it's like the dark color. And then you do it yes.

Speaker C: Reflect.

Speaker D: Yes. And you use it, and it almost looks like a bronzer and a blush together.

Speaker C: I love that.

Speaker D: Okay.

Speaker C: Highlight, though, that went viral and it hasn't been back since.

Speaker D: Yeah, like I said, I saw it and I got it right.

Speaker C: Like, what you do?

Speaker D: Yeah. Katie knows I'm a crazy person, so yeah. And I was using that for a while. I forgot about it. I'm going to use that again. Yeah. Because it's like I don't show it.

Speaker C: Though, because it's never in stock.

Speaker D: Yeah, but it's a good one. You just put it on, it almost looks like highlighter, and it looks like blush and bronzer. You don't need anything else.

Speaker C: Bronze highlighter in one.

Speaker D: Yeah.

Speaker B: Back in stock.

Speaker D: Yeah. Like, I have the light one as a highlighter, and then I never thought to use the darker one as, like, a different way to use it. Okay.

Speaker C: Highlighter.

Speaker D: My favorite top highlighters are tough.

Speaker B: I'm really curious about this one.

Speaker C: I don't like a sparkly highlighter as much as I like a dewy, so I love, like, the Merit Kava stick or Westminton Atelier Brulee. And they have another stick, something that's more dewy.

Speaker D: Yeah.

Speaker C: I would rather watch this. I'd rather take my lip gloss.

Speaker B: Oh, smart.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: And it just sheen picks up the light right away.

Speaker C: Love that sparkle situation. You see what that just did, right?

Speaker B: That is such a glass.

Speaker C: If you're in a pinch, you got some lines on your eyes. You want to the cheeks. Boom.

Speaker B: What a genius.

Speaker D: That's amazing.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: Highlighter is tough because of the I think finding the right color for your skin tone, because if it's too light, you can tell you've got it on. If it's too dark, it can make your skin tone. Yeah. Or, I don't know, changes your you can make you orange. It's hard to find the right tone.

Speaker D: My favorite is doing the highlighter right in here.

Speaker B: Yeah. That looks great on you. When I do that a little crazy.

Speaker C: I like it with a little eyeshadow.

Speaker D: Yeah, it just, like, brightens the eyes.

Speaker C: A little bit, but definitely I like an easy one that will work on anybody is the Merit Kaba. It's just like because it's a clear highlight, you take it with your hand, pat it on.

Speaker D: Is that in the stick? Yes, I have the one that we have. I have that too. Yeah.

Speaker B: I haven't used it that much. I need to use it more.

Speaker D: It's in a white, like, container. Yeah, it's a little bit more dewy.

Speaker B: They have a couple of shades. I don't know if I have I might have, like, champagne or something.

Speaker C: That might be almost, like, clear.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker D: Oh, I don't have that one. Okay, good to know. Good to know. Talk about powder quickly, because I can't do it. And Katie has been into the powder.

Speaker B: That you love, your Makeup Forever powder the Twist. I love it.

Speaker C: I love it.

Speaker B: Explain to us the genius behind this, because it has three different powders. What does each of them do?

Speaker C: Basically, I think it's just show because they just cancel each other. Because you got your basic translucent right. You have your orange and blue.

Speaker D: Okay.

Speaker C: But you know what orange and blue do? They cancel each other out.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker C: So I think it's just for the mesmerized, but for the experience.

Speaker B: But isn't the orange powder kind of like the pink powder that blurs a little?

Speaker C: It'll even out a little bit.

Speaker B: And then does the blue reflect the light? Is that right?

Speaker C: Once they mix each other, they kind of cancel. So it just kind of makes a little bit of a blur screen.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: It's beautiful.

Speaker D: And then do you just do it lightly over the top with, like, a brush?

Speaker C: This is it. Oh, I just tried their brush, which I didn't even know I had. You see this? It's very fine. The reason I say just the tip is not because.

Speaker D: The best.

Speaker C: It's because if you're using your products with just the tip, you will always have an airbrushed look.

Speaker D: Oh, okay.

Speaker C: So what I do my eyes are still so puffy from Take Benadryl this morning, my eyes were, like, swollen.

Speaker D: Oh, my gosh.

Speaker C: Okay. So you go in the middle and, like, buff out. I buff around, and then on the eyes, I'll touch it really lightly, but I will never put a puff to my eye.

Speaker D: Okay.

Speaker B: Yeah, I've been doing that. I need to stop. Okay.

Speaker D: So it's just and you do that at the ends of the hole here.

Speaker C: Very end, and then just a T zone around. And what it does is when you get those areas, we have this it's life. Someone said recently, I don't like the way you look with your new fillers. I'm like, I gained ten pounds.

Speaker D: Oh, I saw that video. I was laughing so hard when people say that.

Speaker C: I'm so mad. I'm like, I gained ten pounds.

Speaker D: You're like, there goes that's the filler.

Speaker C: Let's see.

Speaker D: It just kind of like yeah, wipes it away.

Speaker B: That's amazing.

Speaker D: Yeah. And it's just, like, a really light touch. It seems like it's a practice.

Speaker B: Just the tip.

Speaker C: The tip is powders will last me years.

Speaker D: Yeah, because you don't need a lot. I have the pink powder from Westman and Tallier that you recommended, so that's more pressed. But you could do the same thing, essentially, right?

Speaker C: You just absolutely.

Speaker D: Yeah.

Speaker C: But this one's more glowy. So I like different powders for different reasons.

Speaker D: Right.

Speaker C: So when people say to me, like, you use a lot of stuff. Yeah, and I also have a lot of shoes.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker D: It's like, depending on the vibe of.

Speaker C: The day, I don't wear the same jacket every day.

Speaker D: Right.

Speaker C: So. I love the west metalier. I love it for under eye. It's the only one that will not crease under my eyes and my and.

Speaker D: How do you apply it? With a brush. Right.

Speaker C: A small brush.

Speaker D: I don't use the big one. Yeah.

Speaker C: I use a highlighter brush or something like a small version of this. Right. And again, I just gently press lightly.

Speaker D: Yeah. Here's what I don't know. I don't know.

Speaker B: When do I use translucent powder? When do I use the compact powder that has a little bit of the skin tone to it? What are the differences between those two? When am I using what?

Speaker C: Good question. Okay, so translucent powder will lock in your makeup.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker C: If you happy with your coverage, if you like a little more coverage, you might want to lock in someone with Rosacea might want to lock in their makeup with something with a little more coverage.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker C: Now, take with you is a compact. Everyone says, Why does my makeup break up throughout the day? Well, because we have skin. We're not statues. So the pressed powder compacts go in your bag, never comes out of your bag. And when you apply because I was just thinking about doing a video on this, too, because this is common. I don't have the powder here, but I'll just show you. So when you apply it with the sponge, instead of rubbing powder, say, you're throughout the day, and what breaks up? This breaks up here, get a little red here, get a little breakthrough spots. So you take it, and you just gently repress the areas that need to be corrected without disrupting the whole situation.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker D: And does this look like a matte powder?

Speaker C: I like to use a few. The fenty powder foundation. I don't use them as powder foundations. The L'Oreal 24 hours when it's hot out is great for this and the makeup forever. The one the powder foundation, too, and I just use it, and it locks your makeup back in, and it looks brand new.

Speaker B: Yeah. I have a Laura Mercier compact powder that always stays in my handbag, and that's what if I start to, like if I'm sweating and this is starting to melt away, and I'm getting a little red here, but I've been wiping.

Speaker C: I haven't been putting a hole. And then you get, like, a weird kind of texture.

Speaker B: Yeah, I need to roll.

Speaker C: Take it and just kind of roll it right over. And you kind of like this.

Speaker B: And do I need to replace that sponge that came with my compact that.

Speaker C: I've been using for a mean I'm bad too. Somebody brushless dirty. I said, you just missed the part where I licked it. But yeah, just watch it.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker D: So how do you come up with all these topics and first of all, you have all these hilarious sayings, like, just a tip and so funny abracadabra. And how do you come up with these things? You just are talking to people and you're like, oh, I should do a video on this. Or is it just kind of like.

Speaker C: Just whatever I think is useful. A tip of the day. And honestly, the things just fly out of my face. I don't even know. Next. That's why sometimes you see me laughing because I can't even believe what I just said. I remember I said, foundation so expensive, it should come with dentures.

Speaker B: It's great. That's amazing.

Speaker C: My husband is like, you are so crazy. Like, the abracadabra just came out over the river and through the hood. I've always said okay.

Speaker D: I always think of that when I'm putting on my eyeshadow.

Speaker C: Yeah, well, that's because I went to school to be a teacher first. Yeah, you will remember, like, what I say with the lashes under the lashes is like wiggle. It like a push up bra. Get under and lift. Right? So there's certain things that you'll remember. The apples falling from the tree. So that's why I do that. When I was training makeup artists, I've been saying it for years and teaching clients, I would write these things down to remember. I'd say, Lift the eye like a sunrise. So I just think it makes you remember.

Speaker D: Yeah, it totally does. Yeah, you're right. That's like the teaching part. You said something the other day in one of your videos when you went really close and it brought me back. Get a little closer. Remember that commercial? I was like I was like, oh, my God, that is such a retro throwback. I love it. So funny, right? They just live and they come out in random. Yeah, that's so funny.

Speaker C: One time I said something, I go I just focus on the face because my body, it's all like flowers in the attic. I don't know where that came from either.

Speaker B: That movie. Oh, my God, that's so funny.

Speaker D: So funny.

Speaker B: I remember watching that movie as a kid and then it's like, so creepy. Totally.

Speaker D: Oh, my God, I haven't heard that in so long.

Speaker C: Jokes I say and the things I say, just we would get right?

Speaker D: Which is why it's so funny and so relatable. I love it. So, what is your family like? What does your husband and kids think of all of your TikTok TikTok social media success?

Speaker C: My husband's so supportive. He's proud. He loves what I make. People laugh. Like, the biggest thing when we met and his parents met me, we were laughing so much. He goes, that's how I know this was the girl for you know he's so proud. I went away when I hit my million. I had an event with L'Oreal and I came back and made a big sign on the like, he's always been very supportive of my career. He's a teacher, so he is always because he's home and has a stable schedule, it's always provided me to be able to travel and do my thing, even in retail when I was a digital director.

Speaker D: Right. You're running around babies.

Speaker C: He had to pick up the pieces. So he's always been, like, a major supporter. And my kids are funny.

Speaker D: Yeah. Your daughter, I see her cameo on some of your vids when you go to Sephora and stuff.

Speaker C: It's so planning her career. He's going to keep making cameos on mine until she branches off.

Speaker D: They must think you're the coolest thing ever, by the way.

Speaker C: They do. They think I'm pretty cool. And even before all of this, I'm always funny and I behave like a child in my house. I'm called the fourth child. They're like, can you help with homework? I'm like, oh, no, not it.

Speaker B: Call dad.

Speaker D: Yeah, girl math. Girl math.

Speaker B: I mean, he is a teacher.

Speaker D: Yeah, exactly. I'd be like, It's on you. Okay. And what is your favorite part of all of this? Like, being the beauty queen that you are. What do you love about it? I mean, it's obvious, but what's your favorite part?

Speaker C: I've spent all this time away from my family, and I missed out on a lot in my life because I chose a life of retail. And even as a regional manager director, I worked every weekend with my teams because I felt like I can't lead if I don't do it myself. And I missed out on birthdays. I missed out. I was the mom that was never there. I was never the class mom, never the PTA mom. So I love that this has allowed me to have that, but I love that it makes my sacrifice worth.

Speaker D: Yeah.

Speaker C: Now, I used to do classes and I would teach clients, but I can teach a million people how to do their eyeliner. And it feels like everything I've learned over these close to 30 years, I'm actually using.

Speaker D: Yeah, for sure. It all worked out. At the end of the day, it's all for a reason.

Speaker C: You guys say, like, my husband said I look beautiful, and not that that matter. It matters to us. It's not that someone else thinking we're beautiful, but everybody stopped and asked me if I got my face worked up. People, the girls, the young girls at work are telling me how beautiful I look. And it's just these stories that I keep hearing that you made me love makeup again. I'm not scared to try it. Of course I get the trolls and the people that say, like, stupid stuff, but I've been one piece something years in retail. You think I haven't been yelled at by better?

Speaker D: Yeah, exactly.

Speaker B: Those trolls you're like, yeah, trolls are everywhere.

Speaker C: Screamed at in person. Bosses torture me.

Speaker B: You're like, this?

Speaker C: You're just shot.

Speaker B: I can just delete you. Yeah.

Speaker C: I'm like, fine, girl, I'm going to unfollow you. I was like, what? I'm going to block you first.

Speaker D: Yeah, exactly. Like, who cares? Go do it. Let them. Let them.

Speaker C: And this is just a sidebar of that. I do collapse and people are like, oh, you got paid for this, and how dare you? And I'm like, you know what? I am an industry professional, right? For almost 30 years. You should be happy it's me endorsing. Because I know what the f I'm talking about.

Speaker D: Exactly.

Speaker C: Absolutely. Person that married some rich guy that looks gorgeous, likes a new eye cream, and you all buy it.

Speaker B: Why are they ****** that you're having these collabs and making money and sharing this with the world?

Speaker C: God bless my experience, right?

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: An experienced doctor is going to get something different than somebody who's just still in school.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: If I decide to start pulling people's teeth and I'm getting real good at you want me to pull you more Insurer? I'd be paid for that. I've been practicing vaginal rejuvenation. Real good at it.

Speaker B: Oh, my God.

Speaker D: Hilarious. Okay, so before we get into our rap session, where can people find you? What's your socials? Give us the deets.

Speaker C: Erica Taylor, 23 47. On pretty much all the platforms. TikTok is my biggest platform. I have a healthy base on Instagram. I have a little do, a little bit on Facebook. Not a ton. Yeah, it was always Erica Taylor, 23 47 and some YouTube.

Speaker D: All right, nice.

Speaker C: Good to know 23 47 means nothing. Yeah.

Speaker D: I was going to ask you, does that have significance?

Speaker C: 2016. And I didn't know what I was doing. And there were other Erica Taylor's and they just designated me that number.

Speaker D: So that's you now. That's good numbers for you. Good luck. And you just had your birthday, right? Didn't you just turn 47?

Speaker B: There you go.

Speaker D: Happy birthday. Okay, getting into our wrap session. What is your favorite wellness or beauty hack?

Speaker C: Exfoliate.

Speaker B: Okay. How often?

Speaker C: Whenever your face tells you when you.

Speaker D: Look crusty, when you're looking Aberra Cadaver.

Speaker C: Skincare, you don't want to be abracadabra. How many women will stop me and say, what foundation should I get? And I'm like, do you want me to when's the last time you exfoliated your skin? And I know when I look at someone if they exfoliate or not, and I'll never make somebody feel bad.

Speaker D: Yeah.

Speaker C: So I ask and when they pause, I'm like, yeah, you can wear any foundation if you exfoliate.

Speaker B: Do you have a favorite exfoliant? What do you use?

Speaker C: Yeah, I love the first aid beauty pads. They're one and done. I'm super lazy.

Speaker D: Oh, yeah.

Speaker C: And they're gentle. The reason when I recommend something like that, I don't just get a new one and say, this is awesome. I know that tons of my clients use it and they're also very sensitive.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker D: And that's you just use that in the morning. Right. That's like the kind or you could use it, I guess, at night, too, depending.

Speaker C: Yeah, anytime. Just if you feel your face and touch it, touch your forehead. If it feels textural or it feels sandy, you got to exfoliate. Yeah, it doesn't tip.

Speaker D: I feel like every time I put on Exfoliate, I do exfoliator a lot, but I feel like when I do it and my makeup, everything looks better. And people say to me, oh, you look like glowy today. And I'm like thinking to myself because I exfoliated.

Speaker C: True story.

Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker D: Okay. Five minute flow. You say the five minute flow.

Speaker C: Oh, yeah.

Speaker B: All right, Erica, we call it our five minute flow. You just got out of the shower, dried off. An Uber has pinged you. They're five minutes away. What are you going to put on? What are you going to do to get out the door and into that Uber in five.

Speaker C: On? I'm going to put my hair, I'm going to shake my hair, put some dry shampoo and shove it into a situation like this. Then I'm going to use Sunday Riley after glow cream because it always makes me glowy. I'm going to put on the CC. It cosmetics, nude glow because it's got skincare coverage and SPF. Plus it's glowy. All right, I'm going to take the rare beauty contour stick and eyeliner. That's it.

Speaker B: And you're set.

Speaker C: I'll take the eyeliner in the car. I'll do the eyeliner in the car.

Speaker B: That's impressive because you can do that cat eye in the car while it's moving.

Speaker D: What about mascara? Do you throw on mascara or you just do the eyeliner?

Speaker C: If I'm an emergency, I'm doing eyeliner.

Speaker D: Wow. Okay.

Speaker B: Do you have a favorite dry shampoo?

Speaker C: Yes, for different reasons. Just for, like, really oily days. Living proof, but for days that I want texture and volume. The fakai volume. It's right here because I don't have it makes my hair look fuller. The fakai full blown volume.

Speaker D: Oh, nice.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker C: Complimentary with a hair gift with purchase.

Speaker B: I love that. When you do your videos and you're like, oh, wait a second, I've got this. Wait, there's something right here. And it's always right there. I mean, you are sitting at, I assume, your table.

Speaker C: I'll show you guys.

Speaker B: Yeah, let's see it. This is behind the scenes.

Speaker D: Behind the scenes, BTS.

Speaker B: Oh, nice. All your things.

Speaker C: My skincare situation, the ones I use the most.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker C: Random hairbrush because I threw it in. Then I have like, over here, like a lot of my just everyday basis.

Speaker D: Your go to, you got it all.

Speaker B: It's all there.

Speaker D: But it looks like you have a nice little vanity light set up. So it's like yeah.

Speaker C: And then I have a little desk set up here. I had this once, my social I was doing when I started all I was in my bedroom.

Speaker D: Right. I remember that.

Speaker C: On a little thing like this. I love those days. I love those. But eventually I needed more space. So we redid the basement and I have a little studio.

Speaker B: That's nice.

Speaker D: I love it. Okay.

Speaker C: Plus my clothes are crazy.

Speaker D: I love it.

Speaker B: Oh, my God, tons of shoes.

Speaker C: I love sneakers.

Speaker D: Me too. You do?

Speaker C: What kind of sneakers do you like?

Speaker D: I mean, you name mean Nikes. I love New Balance, Golden Goose. What else do I have? I don't know. Adidas. I have everything. I'm like, obsessed with, like, a fun shoe.

Speaker C: Me too. I don't care if it's expensive. If it's cheap, I see it. I love it. I like the real crazy, like, Dunks, I think.

Speaker D: Oh, yeah, I love the Dunks. My kids love the Dunks.

Speaker C: So good.

Speaker D: And I love Sweatshirts. Noticing that you're wearing a sweatshirt. I love a good sweatshirt. We'll send you one of our good Nirvana sweatshirts.

Speaker B: Yeah, we need to send you one of ours.

Speaker D: Yes. We'll give you a good sweatshirt. Okay.

Speaker C: Rock it.

Speaker D: Okay. I love it. How do you maintain and last question, how do you maintain your daily Nirvana?

Speaker C: That's a good question. I just think that you can't waste time on the negativity because it derails you. So I shake it off and I try to keep laughing and find joy in everything.

Speaker D: I love it.

Speaker C: I do with my kids, my husband. I think it's so easy to get wrapped up into the negativity. But what I always say, and even when my husband gets stressed or anyone, I go, you can't control the situation you're in, but you can control how you handle it.

Speaker D: That's right.

Speaker C: Your situation is your situation. Right. No matter what. But how you handle it, that's up to you. And that's how you take your control back.

Speaker B: That's so true.

Speaker D: And then you always got the wine.

Speaker C: Oh, please, girlfriend. The other day, she goes, I thought you weren't drinking during the week. How's that going? I was like, oh, no, I'm drinking.

Speaker D: What's your favorite wine? You like a red, a white, over a day or at week?

Speaker C: And I'm still half the same weight, so no, I like white. I like a Pinot Grigio.

Speaker B: Okay, all right. I'm a white girl, too. Sauvignon blanc.

Speaker D: Yeah. Sauvignon blanc. I like But I like red, too, and I like it all, too.

Speaker C: Like, if I don't have a white, I'll drink the red.

Speaker D: Right?

Speaker C: If I'm there with you and you're like, I only have red, I'm like.

Speaker D: All right, yeah, let's go.

Speaker B: Not saying no, exactly.

Speaker D: Anyway, so I'm so glad that we got to meet you. This has been such a highlight of our day, and you spent so much time with us, and we really appreciate it, and we're so happy to have you part of the Nirvana Sisters family. And thank you. Thank you. Thank you for being on.

Speaker C: Thank you for everything that you guys do. And you're spreading joy, and you just bring happiness, and you're real. And that's why I wanted to do this with you.

Speaker D: You're so sweet.

Speaker C: Thank you. How your attitude and your energy and I totally dug it.

Speaker D: I love it. Thank you so much.

Speaker C: Full I'm a babbler.

Speaker D: US too.

Speaker B: We babble.

Speaker A: Thanks for listening to Nirvana Sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes. Please subscribe and leave us a review. Also, find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would, please share it and tag us.

Speaker D: Tune in next week for a fresh.

Speaker A: New episode of Nirvana Sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness, so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 126 - Laugh Lines and Lip Liner: Beauty Banter with TikTok Star and Makeup Artist, Erica Taylor - Part 1 (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 126.

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here or view our podcast episode guide.

[00:07] Amy Sherman: Welcome to Nirvana Sisters podcast, where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state, your Nirvana. We are sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman.

[00:18] Katie Chandler: And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation.

[00:28] Amy Sherman: Welcome back to the show nirvana Sisters Family. It's Amy and Katie, and we are so excited about today's episode. You will hear who we are talking with very shortly, but if you want a no BS makeup recommendations tricks the real deal for mature women or mature women, as our guest says, with a side of comedy, relief and entertainment, erica Taylor is your girl. We have mentioned you, Erica, so many times on our show, I can't even tell you. Like, you've been on our blog. We've talked about you. We've recommended a million things that you've recommended that we've tried. So let me give everybody a background on Erica before we do our chitchat. Erica Taylor has been in the cosmetic industry for over 25 years, working with top brands mac, Laura, Mercier Benefit Cosmetics, and Trish McEvoy. She is a professional makeup artist and a mom of three living in New York. Erica majored in art education in college, initially aspiring to be an art teacher, but instead decided to search for a career that would allow her to be more creative. She was always the unofficial makeup artist to her friends and family, and an interview at the Matte Counter at Macy's became the official start of her professional career in makeup. In 2021, she started sharing her makeup tick sorry, wrong word. She started sharing her makeup tips and techniques for any age on her social media and has quickly become a trusted expert to her more than 1.4 million engaged followers. If you don't follow her on TikTok, you need to be following her. She is the best. In 2023, she was named L'Oreal Paris League of Experts and continues to be a major authoritative figure in the beauty and Skincare me. Welcome to the show, Erica. We are so happy to have you been I've been stalking her. Just so everybody knows. I've like, DM'd her. I went on her TikTok live. I'm like, you got to come on the pod. You got to come on the pod. We want to talk to you and pick your brains. So welcome to the show, Erica. Thank you so much for joining us today.

[02:20] Erica Taylor: I'm so excited to be here and thank you so much for all the support.

[02:23] Amy Sherman: Yes, of course. So we always kick off the show, take a step back, and we do our Nirvana of the Week, which is just something that brought us joy, big or small, something that put a smile on our face and made us feel good. So I'm going to kick it off to you, Katie. What is your Nirvana this week?

[02:36] Katie Chandler: I think my Nirvana this week is being here. Amy and I are recording together live we are not on two separate screens. I'm not in Connecticut. We are together. So I'm home from Rosh Hashanah. And aside from right now, this moment getting in last night and know my in laws, my mother and father in law, my nephews Amy and her husband Stu, and all of us just sitting around the table having dinner, that was mine.

[03:01] Erica Taylor: What about you?

[03:03] Amy Sherman: So mine. I had a really cute moment with my older son. So I have two boys, Erica. One's an 11th grader in high school and I have another son who's in 8th grade. And my 11th grader has been really into cooking lately, which is unusual because he never really cooked before. But all of a sudden he has been seeing these recipes on TikTok and he wanted to make some. So we got all these ingredients and we cooked together twice last weekend. And one was like some buffalo chicken, blah blah blah recipe he wanted to make. Another one is the calzones. And we made like handmade dough and homemade dough and all of that, so it was so fun. So I was his sous chef and he was like the main chef, but it was so fun just bonding and collaborating and chatting and just having kind of tactile hands on activities. So it was a really fun bonding moment. I don't get a lot of time with him, so that was good. What about you, Erica?

[03:47] Erica Taylor: That's awesome. I had a nice moment this morning when we missed the bus with the kids and I had a neighbor's kid with me too, and took them for some fun breakfast. Got a lot of laughs on the way to sometimes, you know, just starting your day, like, just I was like, all right, I'm in my pajamas, like, I guess. Breakfast time. Let's go.

[04:06] Amy Sherman: I love it.

[04:07] Katie Chandler: That's great. You took a negative. Oh, ****, we missed the bus until let's go have some fun. I love that. That's a fun mom right there. I don't know a lot of moms that would do that. That's great.

[04:17] Amy Sherman: Yeah. Cool mom.

[04:17] Erica Taylor: I wasn't always like that. I used to be like a super psycho in the mornings and when I had to get to work and run meetings and I decided a couple of years ago that I wanted to make them laugh and go to school happy every morning. So I put everything aside and I said, nobody can reach out to me until my kids are on the bus.

[04:36] Amy Sherman: Smart.

[04:37] Katie Chandler: I love that. That's great.

[04:39] Amy Sherman: That's good. That was the opposite of me this morning, trying to get my kids to school. I was, like, telling Katie, I just woke up on the wrong side of bed this morning. And I was like, so mean this morning. And normally I'm, like, try to be positive in the morning, but I was.

[04:51] Erica Taylor: Just like, feel so bad.

[04:52] Katie Chandler: All know? Yes, I know it's true. Sending them off when you're so i.

[04:57] Amy Sherman: Like, hadn't had my coffee. I was a little cranky. But hopefully it happens. It happens.

[05:01] Erica Taylor: It happens to me, too.

[05:02] Amy Sherman: It happens. It happens. Okay, so, Erica, tell us about you. Give us your know, we just know you from watching all of your hilarious and educational videos on TikTok, but tell us how it all started. I mean, obviously you've been in the business a really long time, but give us your story for everyone who doesn't know you.

[05:20] Erica Taylor: Well, I was in school, like you said. You gave me a great, true story. I was in school to be an art teacher, and I was like, that 90s, kind of, like, really goth looking kid, so nobody would hire me. It's probably circa, like, 97, right? So I was looking for a job, and I couldn't find one. And someone said to me, you do such beautiful makeup. Why don't you just work in cosmetics? I said okay. I marched to Macy's. So actually, I did end up at Mac relatively quickly, but my first was prescriptive color matching.

[05:51] Katie Chandler: Okay.

[05:52] Erica Taylor: And then I spent a little time in Elizabeth Arden. I never want to smell Fifth Avenue or Red Door again. So relatively quickly, I got recruited to the Mac store in Roosevelt Field in Long Island, and that was, like, the place to be around 1920 years old. That this was super exciting. I wasn't as good as the rest of them, but I just worked really hard. I did every late shift, every schedule. They asked me to stay, and then they kept me on full time. And I, six months later, applied to be a senior trainer for Mac. I was not even close to ready. I tanked the interview. Embarrassing, crazy, making up the answers, all sorts of crazy. But then I learned what everything I did wrong. And a few months after that, I tried out for a low level trainer, like a store trainer. I got it, and I could have folded and been embarrassed. And I think what has always pushed me in this industry is I'm not afraid of embarrassing myself. I take it as a challenge. I don't just tuck my tail in and shut down. And that has been every other place I went to. I was once recruited to different companies. I met great people. I've worked with so many great people. I got to do, like, runway, fashion shows, all of this. This was not my passion. First of all, I'm five foot one. I was tired of seeing all these false emails. Why does it look like this on me? But I love training in store teams, building teams, and I'm very social, so I really liked I work harder for someone else than I do for myself, which is my biggest challenge now.

[07:41] Amy Sherman: Yeah, I get it.

[07:42] Erica Taylor: And so I was just to say, I'm institutionalized. So then what I did for a lot of companies is I would train the makeup artists and build their sales teams.

[07:51] Amy Sherman: Yeah. I mean, it makes sense that you're saying you like the training part because you wanted to be a teacher.

[07:55] Erica Taylor: Right?

[07:56] Amy Sherman: So it's like, the same, like, educating, which is what you're doing now on TikTok. So when did you you only started TikTok, what, a few years ago? Because I remember watching you when you were still working full time and doing TikTok, and I remember the transition. So tell us about that a little.

[08:10] Erica Taylor: I during the pandemic, I learned a little more on social media, and I was always one of the trend shows. You know, when you go like, a Nordstrom trend show and there's someone presenting and to be master classes, and that was me. So I'm very comfortable in front of a crowd.

[08:22] Amy Sherman: Yeah.

[08:22] Erica Taylor: And again, because I don't mind embarrassing myself, if I trip, if I say something wrong, I just laugh at myself. I'm like, you got to own it. Yeah. So I started just doing lives. I was furloughed. We were all furloughed. There was no work.

[08:37] Amy Sherman: Yeah, same.

[08:38] Erica Taylor: So I started doing lives with the companies. And I'd rather say the freestanding, independent stores that still could function were doing curbside service. They were still selling, and we're having trouble keeping the doors open. So I'm not talking about, like, your Nordstrom's, your Bloomingdale's, these big doors. I'm talking about there's a great little store, beauty in Maine, in Massachusetts, and there's a great mirror mirror in Vermont. So I started doing lives with them for no other reason, just to help them keep their business going. Yeah, there was really nothing in it for me, but I loved doing it because it was social. So I was like everyone was like, you're really freaking funny. Like, you should be doing this more. So then I stopped for a while when I went back to work, and a friend of mine was having some success on TikTok, and I was like, I did a couple of videos, but they were just, like, super losers. She was like, what do you want to find? I said, I don't need to be major. I just want to find my tribe. Because she was like, I've never seen my age because I don't want to pinhole myself. And I was like, I want my girls. I want my over 40s crowd, my funny moms, drink some wine, have some laughs, put some makeup on. I want that tribe.

[10:00] Katie Chandler: Yeah, we found you.

[10:02] Erica Taylor: Yeah.

[10:02] Amy Sherman: Here we are. We're the exact same age. Erica yeah. And Katie's a little younger, but yeah, we always talk about that when you wake up and you're like, I drank too much of the wine last night, and I'm puffy. I was so and that's why we love you so much, and we know our audience will because you're so relatable, and it's not exactly like you're saying your age. You're saying you drink. It's like, this is how we all are.

[10:27] Erica Taylor: Like one of those pretend social media lives, right?

[10:29] Amy Sherman: Exactly.

[10:30] Erica Taylor: People are like, how do you organize your makeup? I'm like, It was a disaster. And I just think that so many people try to live up to these expectations of what they think this social media life is. And, like, I drink wine, I got to get my kids on the bus, I wake up banked up, but I still want to look good, too. Right?

[10:48] Amy Sherman: We have a good question for you later to figure out how you do that. And it's very similar with us in our show. We have this relatable point of view on well being. So it's like, we're mom, same as you. We try to break things down when we talk to different people because there's so many beauty wellness, makeup people out there that it just feels intimidating, and it feels like, well, I can't be like that, so I'm just not going to do anything. And it's like, no, here's some bite sized things you can do. Here's the concealer hack, the whatever. Well, that's an amazing story. And then what happened? You just kept making videos, and then it just built from there.

[11:26] Erica Taylor: My first viral, and I won't say names, but the company I worked for, it was kind of this underlying pressure of we have to do it our way, their way. But I don't live that way. And you can have me when I'm on the clock, but when I'm home, I'm home. I'm not fluffing my pillows. I'm not wearing beautiful white pajamas. I'm wearing a hoodie that I've worn for the last three nights. My hair looks nuts, and my bed is not made behind me. So I did this video. I just said, you know what effort. I don't ask for permission. I just beg for forgiveness.

[12:04] Amy Sherman: Right?

[12:04] Erica Taylor: So I just did an eyeliding video that I was, like, joking around, and I was like, Listen. I was like, Grab your eyeliner and a glass of wine and a great attitude. I was like, I'm just kidding. Forget about the great attitude. And I just taught some eyeliner. I go to sleep, and the next morning, it had, like, 500,000 views.

[12:22] Amy Sherman: Oh, my God.

[12:23] Erica Taylor: And my followers went from 3000 to 10,000 to 20,000. And I hate saying followers, to be honest, too. I think that's so creepy.

[12:32] Amy Sherman: Yeah.

[12:32] Erica Taylor: I always say, like, my community. Because you're not no, it's my follower. You could follow everyone, but I always say the people that want to learn, my community. And then I was like, People want to learn and they want to laugh, right?

[12:46] Katie Chandler: Yes.

[12:47] Erica Taylor: There was no one else doing it. And I was like, It doesn't have to be perfect. We're not winning a Cat Eye award. Try to look a little freaking normal, right?

[12:54] Amy Sherman: Try to be put together and feel like a human. Right?

[12:59] Erica Taylor: I think that's what people resonated with. Like, oh, I can do that. I can do yeah, yeah.

[13:04] Amy Sherman: And Erica has these great things where when you do like, half the face of something and half the face of the other, it's incredible.

[13:10] Katie Chandler: It's amazing.

[13:10] Amy Sherman: Like, just the little tweaks you can make that make such a huge difference. It's amazing.

[13:14] Katie Chandler: Yeah. You can really see it through TikTok, through the camera. The difference that you do from one side of the face to the other, it's amazing how well it shows. It's very cool. I mean, the tricks and the techniques, that's what we need to get into.

[13:28] Erica Taylor: Because yeah, well, if you think, sorry, I'm an interrupter.

[13:32] Amy Sherman: No, please, it's all good.

[13:34] Erica Taylor: Family interrupter. But I was in sales, so in sales, you have to train people. You have to make big impact quick. So I would learn the tips and tricks that made a major difference quickly, but were useful. And I would do it on a client and she'd be like, okay, give me that, give me this.

[13:57] Amy Sherman: Right?

[13:58] Erica Taylor: So that's the same thing. I think, on social media, you've got to show the impact quickly. I think I started a trend because everyone and their sisters, aunts, everyone is doing the same exact thing and I'm like, at least say, like, thank you, right?

[14:16] Katie Chandler: Give credit where credits do.

[14:18] Erica Taylor: I know, but you know what? It's hard. Don't get me wrong. Certain days I see people recreating my videos all over and I'm just like, but it's wasted energy, right?

[14:29] Amy Sherman: And they're not you, so it doesn't matter. And then how did you decide what was the tipping point on when you left your other job to do this full time?

[14:39] Erica Taylor: So I never thought this was even a career, right? When people used to say to me that they were bloggers, I was like, Get a job, right?

[14:47] Amy Sherman: You're like rolling your eyes like, okay.

[14:49] Erica Taylor: Or I used to have to do these influencer events where I would have to entertain the influencer. And I'm like, they don't even buy anything. Everybody comes in and drinks the booze, they bring their friends and family and they leave. I was like, I don't want to do it.

[14:59] Katie Chandler: Right?

[14:59] Erica Taylor: One I just kept growing my base and I could only show one brand. And in order I was getting all these brands reaching out to me and all these people saying, can you show something else? I can't afford that brand, or, I just want to see a clean beauty of this. A that. And there came a point where I could no longer juggle both. I either would stay as a regional manager for the rest of my life and retire there, still pacing hard floors of the malls and running chasing clients down like little **** of OG for Hug or I take a chance on myself.

[15:40] Katie Chandler: So I took a chance and it's paid off. 1.4 million. That's right. Is that what you said earlier?

[15:47] Amy Sherman: 1.4 million? But I mean, millions, I'm sure, and millions more videos. Because on TikTok, everyone. I mean, like, when I first saw you, it's not like I was following you at that point. I just saw your content. So, I mean, it's just such a great story. So thank you for sharing that piece of your story. Congratulations on all your success. So let's get into still very surreal.

[16:09] Erica Taylor: I'm sure it is mega impostor syndrome, because I've always been the makeup person at the event. I've never been the guest of the event.

[16:18] Amy Sherman: Right, and now I'm sure you're getting invited to all the things.

[16:21] Erica Taylor: Yes. And I still would rather hang out with people that work there. I'm still definitely institutionalized.

[16:27] Amy Sherman: Well, I remember you talking about you went to a rare beauty event or something, and it was all the young influencer people.

[16:35] Erica Taylor: I'm usually, like, at least 20 years older than the Red. We're not talking just, like, five to ten. It's like, I could be their mothers.

[16:43] Katie Chandler: I'm so curious what these events are. Like, what are these younger influencers doing at these events?

[16:51] Amy Sherman: Drinking the drinks.

[16:53] Erica Taylor: I mean, some that I met are lovely, and others are just walking around trying to be cooler than the next.

[16:58] Katie Chandler: Yeah, right.

[17:00] Erica Taylor: But it reminds me when I used to go to these cosmetics conferences and the trainer events for Mac and who was wearing what and walking around trying to be the coolest. So I don't sweat it because I get it. I probably was there 20 years ago too.

[17:14] Amy Sherman: Yeah, exactly.

[17:15] Erica Taylor: I do sometimes just walk around laughing, like, where am I?

[17:18] Amy Sherman: I know, I'm sure it's so surreal. Okay, so let's get into some of your favorites, because there's so many things and so many products you talk about, but for the basics.

[17:29] Katie Chandler: Right?

[17:31] Amy Sherman: Want to talk about some of your favorites? Okay, so let's go, as you would say, concealer.

[17:37] Erica Taylor: Okay, let's go. My number one is the Dior Backstage, hands down. But if you're into the clean beauty, the.

[17:46] Katie Chandler: I love the on. I do COSIS, because of you. Is the Dior Backstage as creamy and moisturizing as the kosis?

[17:56] Erica Taylor: It's not creamier.

[17:57] Katie Chandler: Okay.

[17:58] Erica Taylor: And I will say it has a better color range.

[18:02] Katie Chandler: Okay.

[18:03] Erica Taylor: But it doesn't have that skincare element.

[18:05] Amy Sherman: And COSIS has more the skincare element, more skincare.

[18:08] Erica Taylor: So that's why those are more my everyday. So going out, I have different I do something heavier, but, like, just for everyday life. Dior backstage coset.

[18:17] Katie Chandler: And to be clear, one of the biggest reasons why you like it, for mature skin, it does increase the creamy. It melts into your skin a little bit better. Right?

[18:28] Erica Taylor: Yeah. When I look for a concealer, I don't care what the hottest trend is, because that's irrelevant to me. And most of my clients or people that watch me don't care either. Right. So I feel on my hand textures. Okay, you go into a store and you put a concealer on your hand, and it gets dry on your hand. Forget it.

[18:46] Amy Sherman: Yeah.

[18:47] Erica Taylor: So they're creamy, they're hydrating, and they just have, like, a medium natural coverage. Not like a theatrical situation.

[18:55] Katie Chandler: Yeah, that's I think a thing is concealers that are too heavy sometimes. Like, for every day, they look worse. They look worse. Can get cakey.

[19:04] Erica Taylor: Yeah.

[19:04] Katie Chandler: All right.

[19:06] Erica Taylor: Not real life.

[19:07] Katie Chandler: It's not natural.

[19:09] Amy Sherman: Yeah. You did a video, and for our Nirvana Sisters family, check this out. It was so helpful the other day on concealer and how to actually apply it correctly so it doesn't crease regardless of what concealer you use. Where you put on. I think it was like the oil or something. I can't remember.

[19:25] Erica Taylor: I have to eye oil or an eyeball you have to do something hydrating. So there are concealers that will cleave less than others.

[19:33] Amy Sherman: Right.

[19:34] Erica Taylor: But if you're not prepped the right way, those are going to freeze, too.

[19:36] Amy Sherman: Exactly. So the eye oil is a freaking game changer for me. When I saw that video early on what's the brand?

[19:45] Erica Taylor: A little cora.

[19:47] Amy Sherman: Cora, right. I went out and got it probably before it got sold out, and I was like, this is the biggest, and I reviewed it. We do a show called Product Junkies. We review stuff. And that was one of the things I talked about and talked about you, because that is the biggest game changer to put on before mascara, but also later at night when you just want to fix your eyes up and they're dry. It's amazing.

[20:08] Katie Chandler: You mean before concealer? Putting it on before concealer?

[20:10] Amy Sherman: Yeah, or just like a reapplication. If you have, like, old concealer and you just kind of, like, throw that on and then throw more concealer on top, it's beautiful. It's a game changer. But anyway, yes, that's what you were talking about the other day, but so that was super helpful. The application, I take that with me.

[20:22] Erica Taylor: Everywhere because I look in the mirror somewhere and I'm like, oh, no, I take a little bit, I put it on, I'm like, boom.

[20:31] Katie Chandler: After you put it on, do you put more concealer on it, or you feel like it just kind of rehydrates the concealer that you already have on?

[20:37] Erica Taylor: It usually rehydrates what I have on.

[20:38] Katie Chandler: Okay.

[20:39] Erica Taylor: If you're like looking to reapply without taking your whole face off, you can use it that way as well. But usually what I do is I'll roll it on my hand so I don't disrupt the coverage, and then just pat over and it just releases the creases.

[20:52] Katie Chandler: Okay. Yeah, that's a great trick. That's a great one. All right, let's go.

[20:56] Amy Sherman: I have to ask Erica if she likes my favorite other. It's not even concealer. It's a color corrector. The Milani. Have you tried that?

[21:03] Erica Taylor: Yes. The mean for me, there's the peach and the rose.

[21:08] Amy Sherman: Yeah. So I use the peach every day. I'm like, that is almost I use that sometimes instead of concealer. I mean, it's like a color corrector. But it's kind of a skincare concealer, too.

[21:16] Erica Taylor: I think it's sheer and hydrating.

[21:17] Amy Sherman: Incredible.

[21:18] Erica Taylor: Agreed.

[21:19] Amy Sherman: Okay. I'm glad you like it, too. Okay.

[21:21] Katie Chandler: Mascara and a good drugstore find by.

[21:23] Amy Sherman: The good price point.

[21:26] Katie Chandler: Yeah.

[21:26] Amy Sherman: So cheap. Okay, mascara.

[21:28] Katie Chandler: What's your fave?

[21:29] Erica Taylor: The OG Telescopic.

[21:31] Amy Sherman: Okay.

[21:32] Katie Chandler: Telescope. Who's that by?

[21:34] Erica Taylor: L'Oreal.

[21:35] Amy Sherman: L'Oreal.

[21:36] Katie Chandler: Okay.

[21:36] Amy Sherman: This one, I think I have that another drugstore find. Oh, that's the one with the two sides, right?

[21:42] Erica Taylor: No, this is the original.

[21:43] Amy Sherman: The original.

[21:44] Erica Taylor: So you don't have to navigate which side you're using, because sometimes that's a lot, too.

[21:49] Katie Chandler: Yeah.

[21:50] Erica Taylor: So this one is tiny, so as we mature, our lashes get thinner. So you always think, bigger brush, bigger lash? No, because a bigger brush could not get to the root of the problem. So when you go under and wiggle at the base and lift, you're actually catching every little baby hair that a big brush can't.

[22:11] Amy Sherman: Right, that makes sense.

[22:13] Katie Chandler: And then wait, what color was that? That wasn't black mascara.

[22:16] Erica Taylor: Was that was that clear? It's almost like an off black.

[22:20] Katie Chandler: Okay. So is there any reason why you choose a specific color off black or no reason, right?

[22:27] Erica Taylor: No, just whichever one I find.

[22:28] Amy Sherman: Okay. All right. Yeah. I find that with mascara, I have to use two different ones because I have one like that. That's like a lengthening, which is great, but then I need volume. I like it more thick looking. And so I find that I have to use two. One for lengthening and one for fullness. That's just me, though, for the volume.

[22:47] Erica Taylor: Oh, yeah. No, I agree. I did that, too, when I want more. And then another one I really love is the Clinique a new one? Oh, I have very sensitive eyes, and I can't use a lot of mascaras. And I remember when I was younger, I wouldn't be like, my eyes are so sensitive. And I was always like, yes, sure. Okay, now that's me.

[23:09] Amy Sherman: So the clinique. Okay. What is it? Just clinique mascara.

[23:12] Erica Taylor: The new one. That's like this is a brown oh, yeah. By accident. But I dig it, and it just gives really nice volume and doesn't irritate my eyes. They also make an awesome tubing, one that I let my preteens wear because I know it won't run down their face when they're in school.

[23:31] Amy Sherman: What is the difference? I always hear tubing. I don't know the difference. Can you tell us what that means? Tubing.

[23:36] Erica Taylor: Absolutely. So I learned about the tubing mascara when I started working with Trish probably, I don't know, twelve, whatever, years ago. And Trish McEvoy was, like, the OG of the tubing mascara. It's a polymer that wraps the lash like a 360 tube. So instead of really sitting on it, it actually encapsulates the lash.

[23:58] Amy Sherman: Okay.

[23:59] Erica Taylor: Then you can build it up, but it doesn't run, it doesn't smudge. Even if you jump in cold water, it won't come off. But you remove it by holding it to warm water, and it washes off like little tubes. So it's like a waterproof, but better because it actually protects the lash.

[24:17] Amy Sherman: Oh, that's interesting. Does it have to do with the brush?

[24:21] Erica Taylor: Not so much the brush, but the polymer formula. It's a special polymer that wraps the lash.

[24:28] Amy Sherman: Okay. Because I always thought it was like the kind of brush, whether it's like kind of the brush you just showed us.

[24:35] Erica Taylor: Some of them have that, but it's not the brush, it's the formula.

[24:38] Katie Chandler: Will it say tubing mascara on it? I've never seen it. I've never heard of it. I don't know anything about it.

[24:43] Erica Taylor: And that's what it's been a big question that a lot of people don't even know about this. It's been around for years, but usually it will say tubing. But what you do is you just put in just look up tubing mascara, and a bunch will pop up.

[24:54] Amy Sherman: Yeah, you probably have some you don't even realize. I think I've had some and that have come off that way, that they just kind of come off whole. But yeah, I just never know. I always hear people say tubing and bristle, and I'm like, I don't know the difference. So, yeah, that's a good explanation.

[25:09] Erica Taylor: If you go to remove a tubing mascara with makeup remover, it'll get like, gummy.

[25:14] Amy Sherman: Okay. So you really just remove it with water. That'd be good for me because I hate removing mascara. So I did a whole episode on eyes and mascara and fake eyelashes because for a while I was wearing them because I can't stand taking off mascara and putting on mascara. So I had the extensions for a while, which I loved, and then I learned how to do them myself, and so whatever, but I've been taking a break for a while. But do you wear extensions at all, or do you just wear them when you go out and want to look.

[25:46] Erica Taylor: More when I go out, and that goes back to my eyes are so sensitive, right, that I don't even like the glues on my eyes.

[25:53] Amy Sherman: Yeah, I know.

[25:54] Erica Taylor: I've always really focused on the eyeliner rather than the mascara, so it's like.

[26:02] Katie Chandler: Yeah, your eyeliner, my eyes.

[26:04] Amy Sherman: Yeah, I know. I had been playing with that. And you're wearing eyeliner, aren't you? I always wear a little yeah, I just started doing that. But does it make your eyes look I feel like it makes my eyes look smaller, but maybe that's just me. Does it depend on the incorrectly?

[26:17] Erica Taylor: Absolutely.

[26:18] Amy Sherman: Oh, so I've been doing it. What's the trick for putting on eyeliner?

[26:22] Erica Taylor: So depends on the shape of the eye, and not everyone can cat. My eyes are still puffy from my mascara reaction, but if you see, I have kind of a flat surface, a little hooding here, so I kind of go through the hood, keeping it very fine on the actual lash and a little inner corner so you get elongate. If your liner is too thick across the whole way, it'll close your eye.

[26:46] Katie Chandler: Yeah.

[26:47] Erica Taylor: Or just doing outer corner, inner corner, mascara.

[26:51] Amy Sherman: And what about under the eye?

[26:54] Erica Taylor: I'm not really a big advocate, but it does work on some there's exceptions to every rule, but typically, when we start doing stuff under the eye, we start bringing attention under the eye.

[27:05] Katie Chandler: Right. Which is not where we want.

[27:07] Erica Taylor: No, we want I don't want attention on my waist.

[27:10] Katie Chandler: Yeah.

[27:10] Erica Taylor: Lift it up.

[27:11] Amy Sherman: Lift it up, baby.

[27:13] Katie Chandler: I used to use black eyeliner, and for whatever reason, I don't know, it just started to look too harsh on me. So I use, like, a darker brown eyeliner. And anytime I do under the eye, which I really never do, it just feels too heavy, like, too dramatic. Like I'm trying too hard.

[27:28] Amy Sherman: That's what I was meaning before. Where when I do it makes my eyes look small.

[27:31] Erica Taylor: When you do it under it especially, it will make the eyes look small.

[27:34] Amy Sherman: Yeah, that's what I found.

[27:35] Erica Taylor: Cages them in.

[27:36] Amy Sherman: Yeah, exactly. And then on the top yeah. If I do it right, it looks good, but I'm not always good at doing it.

[27:41] Katie Chandler: You should try brown.

[27:42] Amy Sherman: I'll try brown. Yeah, I do have a brown. I'll try that.

[27:44] Erica Taylor: They're more forgiving.

[27:45] Amy Sherman: Yeah. I feel like and then I've been seeing this because I feel like Michaela always says this on TikTok. What is this called? The tight line.

[27:54] Erica Taylor: Yeah.

[27:54] Amy Sherman: I've been playing around with that, which I like.

[27:57] Katie Chandler: When you're underneath your eyelash line on.

[27:59] Erica Taylor: The inside was the originator of that. Laura Mercier. I worked for Laura Mercier 20 years ago in Sachs, New York, and that's how I learned the tight line. So it was lining under for the invisible liner who's been around from actual makeup artists. It makes me laugh when people find these new makeup artists are finding all these new things.

[28:19] Katie Chandler: Right.

[28:20] Amy Sherman: You're like, that's been around for a million years. Right? I just learned about it. I was like, oh, let me try that tight lining. Okay. Lipstick.

[28:28] Erica Taylor: Favorite lipsticks? I would say probably the makeup by Mario. They're like lipstick meets balm meets gloss. I love these, but I am not lipstick loyal.

[28:40] Amy Sherman: Yeah.

[28:40] Katie Chandler: Okay.

[28:41] Erica Taylor: What about the color?

[28:42] Katie Chandler: What do you have on today? It's gorgeous. What's that?

[28:44] Erica Taylor: This is Huda longwear with so I take a beige, but what I do is I put a pinker gloss over it to give it life so I don't look abracadabra. And then I put the gloss a little on top so it catches the light.

[29:04] Amy Sherman: Yeah, it's beautiful.

[29:06] Erica Taylor: It's so nude that if it runs, nobody will see it.

[29:09] Amy Sherman: Right. So is that the huda one? Is that more of a I'm very progressive.

[29:13] Erica Taylor: Hold on. This is me. This is me.

[29:16] Amy Sherman: Every time I look at a product, I can't see anything.

[29:20] Erica Taylor: Wifey, huda.

[29:22] Katie Chandler: Wifey.

[29:22] Erica Taylor: Wifey longwear.

[29:24] Katie Chandler: Nice.

[29:24] Erica Taylor: And the lawless gloss. Okay. No, this color, whatever that is we'll find it.

[29:32] Amy Sherman: I like the Lawless concealer actually, too. That's a nice one.

[29:36] Erica Taylor: Speaking of Lawless, love that shade ballet because it has that perfect pink. Yeah, I like that, too.

[29:41] Amy Sherman: So is that huda beauty? Is that a gloss or just kind of like a more matted, long, wear matte lip. Okay. So it's kind of like the Kylie one. I just reviewed a Kylie Cosmetics nude that's matte. And then I'll put a gloss over it, and then it's kind of the same.

[29:55] Erica Taylor: Yeah, it looks, like, very dry. Unless you have, like, 19 year old lips or lip and or lips like.

[30:03] Amy Sherman: Katie, because she's got perfect lips.

[30:05] Erica Taylor: Yeah, some people have perfect lips, but typically it gets, like, frothy in the middle. Yeah, that happens to me.

[30:11] Amy Sherman: All that's not a good look.

[30:12] Katie Chandler: It is the worst thing. I'll come out from being with a client, and I look in the mirror, and I see this line on the inside. It's horrible.

[30:19] Amy Sherman: So you need to gloss up.

[30:21] Katie Chandler: It's so gross.

[30:22] Erica Taylor: Okay, looks like we got the rabies.

[30:26] Amy Sherman: Thanks for listening to Nirvana Sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes. Please subscribe and leave us a review. Also, find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would, please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana Sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 125 - Exploring Strip Makeup’s Skin Cleansing Revolution With Co-Founders Riley Egan & Shaun O’Hollaren (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 125.

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here or view our podcast episode guide.

Speaker A: Welcome to Nirvana Sisters podcast, where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state, your Nirvana. We are sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman.

Speaker B: And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation. You.

Speaker C: Welcome back to the show Nirvana Sisters family. It's Amy and Katie. And we are here with Sean O'hollerin and Riley Egan, co founders of the recently launched brand Strip, which is a better for you skin cleanser brand. We are very excited to get the 101 on how to effectively clean our face. So a bit about Sean and Riley. Sean is a seasoned expert on the beauty consumer. He co founded the Brow Gal in 2012 and grew the company domestically and scaling to 40 international markets. Following the Brow Gal, sean spearheaded sales and expansion at other successful brands such as Makeup Eraser, Malley's Cosmetics, and Sugar Bear Hair. I know all of those brands. Passionate about the beauty industry and an entrepreneurial spirit at heart, sean's knowledge of the makeup removal space paired with years of successfully bringing brands to the market is invaluable to strip's mission. Riley is a tech savvy entrepreneur with a film industry background. After graduating from UCLA, Riley pursued a career in tech while simultaneously working on passion projects in film and television industry. Very interesting. After multiple successful exits in getting a feature film made, riley transitioned into small business consulting in 2016. Combining his passion for the film industry and extensive background in startups, riley maintains a wealth of knowledge in raising capital and scaling operations and logistics for the business. So really cool backgrounds. Excited to hear more. Before we start though, we always like to start our show to talk about our Nirvana of the week. Something that brought us joy, a smile to the face, big or smile just to set the stage. So Katie, I'll pass it to you. Sure.

Speaker B: Okay, well, thanks for being here, Riley and Sean. We're excited to chat. I think my Nirvana this week, I had a spare like hour earlier, the week after I finished work and I went to the beach by myself. I've literally never done this since. I've lived here near the beach for the last almost two years. And I just went by myself and sat and caught a moment of peace, staring at the water, breathing, taking it all in, letting my thoughts process. And that was a very nice Nirvana. I don't think it was an hour, it's probably like 30 minutes, but either way, it was fantastic. What about you, Amy?

Speaker C: That's awesome. Well, I think this week has been hectic because last week I was on vacation, which was amazing and a Nirvana, but being back, just catching up on all the things has been a little bit busy and crazy. But anyway, this morning when I was making my coffee, I had to refill the beans and I just refilled them and then took a second and smelled them and they smelled like so good, that fresh coffee scent. So I was just like that was my ten little seconds of meditation this morning. So I'll go for that one. What about you? I'll pass it to who am I going to pass it to? Riley.

Speaker D: Absolutely. And thank you both so much for having us on here. So I have a few nirvanas, I'll share them pretty quickly. One was this morning getting to wake up in my own bed again after traveling for work for a week. We've been at a convention in Las Vegas all week and there's just something so special about being home. Another for me was actually at the convention and really having a lot of people come up to me and talk to us about how much they loved the brand was a very cool thing. Because being a really remote work team and a D to C brand, it isn't super often that we get to interact with people in person. So that was just a really lovely experience. And then the other thing was that prior to that convention, I was spending a few days with my parents and my mom was having a bit of a health scare and everything is okay.

Speaker C: Good. Thank God.

Speaker D: That's good. Yeah, elderly parents are health is their primary concern these days.

Speaker C: Yeah, that and congrats on the praise at the conference. That's super exciting. Okay. What about you, Sean?

Speaker E: Yeah, for me, Riley's referencing, we just got back from Cause and profit beauty trade show in Las Vegas and for me it was just seeing so many people from all over the world that I hadn't seen in years, probably since before COVID And just actually getting to give them a big hug know, touch and feel somebody that you work with for so many years. So that was my nirvana this week.

Speaker C: Yeah. That's good. The connection is so important. OK, so let's kick off. I want to know how you all met and is this your first business together?

Speaker D: Absolutely. And yes, it is our first business together. Sean and I have known each other for, I want to say a decade or a little bit more now. So it's been quite a while that we've known each other and that was mutual friends introducing us back when we both worked in film and television. And it was actually a client of Sean's who just thought we'd get along famously and thankfully for both of us, he was right and we've been friends ever since.

Speaker C: I love it.

Speaker E: Yeah, it is our first business. We've been probably discussing it for two or three years before it finally came to fruition.

Speaker C: That's so cool. And tell us about the cleanser category of beauty. It's one we haven't really covered. We've covered it generally, but we haven't covered in detail. So I'd love to kind of get a sense of why you chose this category and what the inspiration behind your brand is.

Speaker E: Yeah, we both have different attachments and stories that brought us together in this category. For me, I was more in color cosmetics and some hair care before I got into business with Makeup Eraser, which was kind of the original reusable makeup wipes, and fell in love with it. Fell in love with the category and just realized that there wasn't a whole lot of innovation or education around this crucial step, being the first step in your skincare routine. And it was always something I wanted to do, was create a brand that only focused on makeup removal and cleansing and tried to be the go to experts and not just another brand that has a single product or two tacked onto a very long range of skincare. So Riley has a different story, but that's how we started discussing and I'm.

Speaker D: Not a makeup user myself, but my history in film and television, I've had my makeup done hundreds or thousands of times, potentially, and I've had my skin really badly damaged by very harsh cleansing products. And I'd always thought that was maybe just a me problem or potentially just the nature of heavier makeups on set and harsher products to remove those. And so when Sean came to me and know, I've had this idea for years, and I'd really love to do something in cleansing and makeup removal, I was like, that can't be a problem for everybody. And he assured me that it was. So I started talking to just every woman I could in my life. And it was really shocking to me that as I spoke to these gals, I'd say maybe one in ten really loved the product they had for this step, and the rest fell somewhere between being kind of ambivalent of like, it does the job, but I don't love it. To actively disliking it, but not knowing what else to do. And on the extreme end of the spectrum, potentially having just abandoned the category to use like a grocery store variety coconut oil. And so as I kind of was like, that is very strange to me what's going on here. I started studying cleansing more and really looking at the science behind how it affects skin. And we can get into this more probably later in the podcast, but the kind of unfortunate truth is, it's certainly better than sleeping in your makeup, but cleansers actually can do some pretty significant harm to your skin. And so as I looked at this, I was like, it seems very unacceptable to me that an entire product category that every makeup user, really, every person should be doing every single day is actively taking away from your skin's health.

Speaker B: Yeah, it's interesting because we've talked to a lot of women on the podcast, and we often ask them what their routine is and everything, and we hear a lot of different responses when it comes to makeup removal. That piece. So what is it about strip that is, what did you guys do? How did you innovate that's?

Speaker D: Okay. I get really excited about this because I kind of geek out on the science behind skincare. And really what this came from was us looking at Cleansing as a whole category and saying, what is it doing that isn't serving users? And how can we make a product that does? And so we really identified three main ways that traditional cleansers aren't as skin friendly as we'd love them to be and at a high level. The first is it removes a ton of moisture from your skin, so it dehydrates your skin. The second is that it disrupts your skin's PH. And this is a really big issue and really has a lot of skincare effects, but it elevates your skin's PH to a really alkaline level, which is very unhealthy. And then the third and this is where the name came from, it strips your skin of a lot of the essential nutrients your skin just needs to be healthy. So we actually have been in product development for three years, and it's been a very unique challenge to figure out how to have the Cleansing efficacy that people demand.

Speaker C: Wow.

Speaker D: As a side note, something that was very OD to me when I got involved in this category was people seem to be so impressed by a product that just removed their makeup. And I was like, shouldn't that be the absolute bare minimum that this product is doing for you? So, obviously, the Cleansing efficacy is very important to us. And then we had to solve for how do we, in the same jar, in the same step, rehydrate balance your PH and restore those nutrients. And it was a very fun journey, thankfully. And Sean kind of doesn't mention this, but he actually is a chemist. We worked with some really formulators. He oversaw a lot of that product development, and we came out with what I think are really incredible cleansers. And this is a category that people don't really expect skincare benefits from. So we did go have third party clinical testing done. So all of these claims are independently verified. Everything we say about the brand is actually from independent testing.

Speaker C: Yeah, I was going to ask you about that. I saw that you have all your clinical results on your website, which is super important. I've been paying a lot of attention to brands that are doing that because it's just like, to your point, you don't really know what you're putting in your face, even if it says tested. Like, the clinical test know the gold star of knowing that the product's safe and a good product. But I'd love to hear a little bit more about the clinical results and the chemist side of it. Sean, that's super cool.

Speaker E: Yeah, it was something I actually never thought I would graduate with a degree in biology and chemistry but once I got into beauty, it was something that became applicable. So I haven't done product development with every single one of my brands, but with strip, just building this from the ground up, it was very important. And I know what I don't know. We did bring in some other great formulators as well and really studied the market. What are other brands doing, what are consumers really comfortable using and using on a daily basis? So that's kind of how we backed into it. But as Riley said, we wanted to create products that had never really been seen before and really solved a lot of the issues looking at even makeup Eraser did back in the day. I really love to use just water to remove your makeup rather than pre soaked wipes that sit in chemicals. That was something really important to us as well as the environmental approach, wanted all of our wipes not to sit in landfills for years on end and not break down. What we did with the clinicals was really tried to break down each of our products to look at how well they hydrated the skin, any antiaging benefits, obviously how much makeup they removed. And then we also wanted to compare them to traditional cleansers that you could find at local drugstores or premium beauty stores that were popular and really show the point of difference in what we created. So it was phenomenal. Riley, you might have off the top of your head some of the actual numbers and stats about how much more it removed your makeup and hydrated you. I'm running on little sleep, so I.

Speaker D: Don'T I do have so the one that I love to start with and I'd like to start I actually thought it was a mistake when the lab sent this back to us. The whipped coconut makeup remover that we have compared to your drugstore variety Neutrogena wipe leaves your skin with 500% more moisture in it.

Speaker B: Oh, my God.

Speaker D: This illustrates point of how traditional cleansers negatively impact your skin. And we know these drugstore wipes are kind of like the most egregious offender and everyone knows that they are really bad for your face and they're terrible for the environment. They're cheap, they're convenient, and they're fast. So unfortunately, people still use them. But whereas a product like that can remove almost 65% of the moisture from your skin, r two products are clinically proven to instantly increase hydration by 75% and 73%. That's the Cabiar jelly is 75% and the whipped coconut is 73%.

Speaker B: Wow, that's very impressive.

Speaker C: If you think about it, when you cleanse your face, then at least at night, right? Or in the morning. But when you cleanse your face, then you put back on a hyaluronic acid or something to then hydrate your face. And I have very dry skin, so I'm doing that all the time. So I got to figure out what I'm doing, but I have to try your products, and then maybe I don't need those things.

Speaker E: A lot of these close off your pores when you're using a micellar water or a chemical soaked wipe. It really shuts that down. So your skincare that you're using after is not as effective.

Speaker B: Yeah, right.

Speaker C: It doesn't give it the thing in again.

Speaker B: Right as we're talking, I'm thinking about the cleansers that I use, and I've never committed to a cleanser. I think I have three different cleansers in my shower by my sink, because I'm literally just at best, like you said earlier, I need something to take off my makeup and not make my skin worse. So it should be more than that.

Speaker D: That's what you rewind. A moment you asked how strip came about. It was really saying, how do we make a really integral product that actually is first concerned with the health and wellness of the people that are using the product. And so everything we talked about all of these ways that traditional cleansers damage your skin. Essentially every cleanser is the same, and people really choose them based on, like, do I prefer the feel of a micellar water, a balm, an oil, a wipe? But they're all doing the same kind of damage to people's skin. And it's really crazy when you think about it, how much of your beauty routine is actually undoing the damage you just did with pulling out that moisture, disrupting your PH, and stripping your skin of those nutrients.

Speaker C: So true.

Speaker D: I'm sure you're all familiar with, because we all are that dry, tight, irritated, postcleans skin. That's your skin's way of screaming, something's wrong. Please help me. And that desire, like, I need to reach for my toner, I need to reach for my moisturizer the second I get my makeup off so I can start. And this was something that Sean really saw as a great opportunity for people, is to change the way we look at cleansing. It's not this thing that we need to do before we start our skincare. It's not, Let me get my makeup off so I can start my skincare. Your skincare starts the moment you begin cleansing. And this is because you're either, like Sean said, really setting yourself up for success with the rest of your routine, or you're giving the rest of your routine a lot of extra work to do.

Speaker C: Yeah, I was just going to say it sounds like it could shorten your routine if you're doing it right. So on that point, give us the breakdown from, like, an am and A-P-M in terms of cleansing, because I hear different things.

Speaker D: Nighttime routine is generally more important because you have been potentially wearing makeup all day and your skin has been accumulating different impurities, dirt, oil, grime, different environmental factors throughout the day that don't have as much of a chance to impact your skin while you're asleep. But the real thing that's going on here and this is a lot of that PH issue we talked about earlier is cleansing twice a day can actually be pretty harmful to your skin. So your skin's natural PH, or the healthy PH I should say, is about 4.5. This is pretty acidic. Base is seven. And most cleansers, your general soap can have a PH as high as nine or ten. So this really raises your PH. And what this does is it actually causes your skin's acid mantle to break down. This is the primary component of your skin barrier, which is what helps keep all that moisture in it's what helps your skin to regulate itself and keep itself healthy, to bring in the nutrients it needs to stop those environmental factors from getting in and negatively impacting your skin. And when you've disrupted your PH like this, it can actually take eight to 10 hours for your skin to repair itself on its own. So if you're cleansing morning and night with a product that is disrupting your PH, your skin essentially never has a chance to recover. And you're going through life with your skin's primary, your first defense not working for you. So it can really cause big issues. And there's other ways around this, right? This isn't a given. So there's products that balance PH. There's certain cleansers that balance PH, but not everyone's aware of that. So not everyone's taking it into account.

Speaker E: And oftentimes a double cleanse is only needed because the first product you're using isn't working. Holistically. So we do like to say you can use a single topical or one of our topicals on their own, but taking off that first layer of makeup with a reusable wipe with just water, especially that heavy eye makeup that's a little harder to get off, and then going in with a topical cleanser is a great way to do it. And then I still just cleanse generally in the morning as well as I think, a lot of us.

Speaker B: So tell us the different products that you have and why one would choose. Absolutely.

Speaker D: I actually have a few jars with me right here, I can show you. I'll start with this one that's in my hand. And this is our caviar jelly makeup remover. Caviar is just a name, by the way. Our entire brand is completely vegan, cruelty free, clean by EU standards. But we have these cool little bubbles, which is part of the technology. And it kind of looks a little bit, maybe a bit hard to see here, but looks like Caviar, which I can get into.

Speaker C: I haven't seen this online, by the way.

Speaker D: Both balance PH and then the real difference is in what skincare issue that is of concern to you. And what's really great about the Caviar specifically is that it's about replenishing the lipids in your skin. So this addresses all the visible signs of aging, from fine lines to wrinkles skin elasticity, skin texture, skin evenness. And we have some really awesome actives in there hyaluronic acid, there's collagen peptides. There's vitamin C. There's retinoic acid, which is a form of retinol. There's a ton of antioxidants in there. So if you're concerned with either preventing signs of aging or minimizing signs of aging, that caviar jelly is an awesome product for you. Whipped coconut, again, rehydrates balances PH. But this is really focused on long term skin health and general skin wellness. So this is about that skin barrier that we talked about earlier. And a lot of the actives are focused on the fatty acids and the healthy fats that primarily compromise the acid mantle and the skin barrier. And then a lot of the micronutrients that your skin, again, needs to keep that functioning well and keep that balanced. So there's things like mango seed butter, shea butter, ginseng root, which stimulates a ton of circulation to bring those micronutrients back into the skin. And again, tons of antioxidants in there. Coconut oil, which hydrates the skin. And something very cool about this product, specifically coconut oil. Generally, it's a great product, but it really clogs pores, which obviously is an issue. And then you basically need to cleanse again to open your pores back up. And one of the kind of miracle things about this is that we've figured out how to have all of those benefits from coconut oil, and it be a non clogging product.

Speaker E: Oh, nice. And a common misperception. People will say skincare ingredients in a cleanser, aren't you just washing it off? How does that actually work? And if you have the right product, the right ingredients to actually remove your makeup, open up your pores, and cleansing correctly for 60 seconds or more, they really do work. It's not just a marketing gimmick that you see out there of collagen based cleanser.

Speaker D: People very rightly. So should be asking that how does the cleanser not cancel out the skincare benefits and wash them right out? And the answer is, that's something we spent three years developing. So I can't tell you how it works. But we did that clinical testing so we could say, look, this really is happening. It really does work.

Speaker B: The caviar looks like it would be very soothing. It looks like it's like a nice gel. Is it kind of like a gel? Is that the feeling of it? And does it have exfoliation to it or do those little it does not. Okay, yeah, it looks like it would be so soothing. This is kind of just a random question, but do you have to splash your face with water first?

Speaker D: You can go through the entire cleansing step without water. For me, I prefer both with water. So I'll take the product, I'll put it on my skin, work it into the skin a little bit, especially with that caviar. You want to give those little bubbles time to dissolve into your skin. That's where all the skin care is. And then I'll dampen it. I think dampening it for me gets a nice little lather going. I think the efficacy has a bit improved and it just feels nice. And then wipe and rinse and you're done.

Speaker B: Not having to use water, though, is cool sometimes.

Speaker C: You're I know I tend to use, to your point, the brands you formerly worked at, the Makeup Eraser, I have those. And sometimes I'll do cleaning and then I'll use that to just take it off with a little bit of water instead of splashing my face.

Speaker D: And there are a handful of people that have found their own type of double cleanse with these. And primarily it's that they use the whipped coconut to remove makeup and then they do the second part of that double cleanse with the caviar jelly.

Speaker B: I'm curious, how many men do you think are cleansing their face? Because I don't think my husband does. But he will then, because he has crows, right?

Speaker E: Yeah, there's a lot, but definitely not properly. I mean, at least men's skincare category has certainly gotten bigger, but I still recommend all my male friends is use a skincare or use a cleanser that you typically wouldn't associate as a men's cleanser. But there has been brands like Jack Black, obviously, over the years, and Anthony that have come out with some good ones. But yeah, I think a lot of guys are still using just your typical soap in the.

Speaker C: Mean. My routine at night is so long. My husband's always like, what are you know? But I think he literally splashes his face or does nothing unless he's showering.

Speaker B: Strip is targeted to women, but it's unisex you're using it yourself.

Speaker D: Riley quite a few of the husbands of women that have bought in the products have reached out to us and say that they steal them from their wives, which is always pretty funny to hear, but so know, I think a lot of the gals out there understand the importance of cleansing and already see it as an integral step in their routine. So it kind of is a better fit for that market. And like Sean said, men's skincare is certainly growing, but a lot of men still don't want to take the time, don't see the importance. So there's, I think, a different process there with it starts with education and it starts with helping people understand why they'd want to do this and what the benefit they're going to receive from it is.

Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker C: What about teens? A lot of teens use your products.

Speaker E: Oh, sorry, what was that?

Speaker C: Sorry, I was just going to ask if your products are good for teens. I have two teens.

Speaker E: They definitely are. I mean, what we've seen is there's just a lot of complacency around this step and it's whatever is easiest to grab at your local store, drugstore, beauty store. It really is. I mean, we see teenagers, I mean, 13 up to gals in their 60s using the product. And something that I noticed too, was that a lot of especially gals that have skincare issues, especially struggling with acne, when they would go into even a dermatologist and try to look at how to clear that up, it was never a question that was asked was, well, what type of cleanser are you using? And a lot of times when you do change that step out, especially when you're going through those, your hormones are starting to change in your teens oftentimes that can really make the difference, and you might not have to get on Accutane or another.

Speaker D: There's a really good reason for that.

Speaker E: Major drug to clear up those issues.

Speaker D: Which, again, goes back to that PH. And our products certainly do not solve hormonal acne. However, if you have acne prone skin, again, your skin's natural PH is 4.5, which is acidic, the main bacteria that cause acne and that acne thrives on and lives on. It loves an alkaline PH. So if your skin's PH is constantly alkaline, the bacteria that primarily causes acne is thriving on your skin. So for a lot of those teens out there struggling with potentially non hormonal acne issues, the right cleanser and really keeping in mind balancing that PH is actually a very helpful step.

Speaker C: Yeah, I have two teenage boys, and so I'm sure if they just their acne isn't terrible, but I'm sure if they just wash their face better, their skin would clear up. They just need to take the time. But I can just tell them this will take them a minute and they don't need anything else. So, hey, that's good. Okay, so you mentioned it before, men not taking care of themselves as much as women do in terms of cleansing skin and stuff. So just in general, how do you feel about being men in this beauty business, this women dominated beauty business, which is just quite the opposite of most other industries. So definitely more of an anomaly. I'd love to get your thoughts on that.

Speaker E: Yeah, it's really interesting. You see, obviously from the manufacturing side of beauty, you do see a lot of men, but on the product development side, brand owners and obviously creating a product that is targeted towards women, it's really interesting, but we really try everything. I mean, my bathroom is filled with makeup. Anytime somebody comes over, are you sure you're not married? Or if somebody else is living here. But I try everything before I use it. I have so many female friends in the industry and out that we really test everything with. And to me, though, it really comes down to being passionate about it, creating a great product that you can stand behind and put your integrity into. And there's nothing more exciting than creating something that gals or people use every day that lives in their bathroom and that they can come back and buy that really makes them feel better. Look. Better. It's certainly interesting.

Speaker D: It's actually very helpful in two interesting ways. And the first is that as kind of an outsider to the beauty world, I felt like I was willing to ask the dumb questions that no one else seemed to be asking. And primarily that was why does it seem like so many women have just accepted that every day they need to use a product that is actively detracting from their skin's health? That just seemed crazy to me, but it seemed like there was a lot of complacency there and no one was really questioning it. And so asking that question was a big part of how this brand got started and why we developed products the way we did. And then the second part is I came in assuming that people would probably question my intentions. What is this guy doing in beauty? Are these two guys just trying to cash in on women and take advantage of women? And what it caused us to do is, I think, really care about the integrity of the brand and the integrity of the product and go as far as we possibly could in every single facet of the brand from the cleansing efficacy to the skincare, to the sustainability, to the products being clean, to the point where these products sean and I try and be as in the background as possible as founders. We're not a founder forward brand because we think the products should and can speak for themselves and that as people use them, they will feel like really viscerally feel instantly, but also over time how different of a product this is and the integrity that we built this with.

Speaker B: Yeah, I love that your passion for it definitely comes through and it's very impressive. Everything that you've done, the testing and finding, the efficacy, it sounds like they're both great products. I really want to get my hands on them. So you have to tell us where we can buy them. Where are you selling them, by the way? Are they online?

Speaker E: Yeah, we're selling them. So on our website stripmakeup.com on Amazon we are with Urban Outfitters going into Nordstrom soon as available there too and growing every yeah, we're a newer brand and want to keep the goal is to round out the line with a lot more products as well. So we can really offer every consumer a different product that suits them, suits their skin, suits their profile and just the feel of what they like out of a cleanser or makeup remover.

Speaker C: Yeah, I was going to ask you what products are coming down the pipeline or you can't say yet.

Speaker E: There's some really fun ones we're doing a lot of we think on the go too is a big opportunity for anyone that travels a lot because oftentimes your routine can get disrupted. We've got more products both for in and out of shower, oil based, gel based, water based, so a lot more in the next several months.

Speaker B: And are you going to be offering more than just face? Are we talking potentially body washes coming?

Speaker D: We don't have body coming at the moment. Really, our focus is staying, again, just on the face and in the cleansing, and we don't have any plans to expand outside of cleansing anytime soon. And again, this is because while we do want to cater to every kind of removal routine preference, right now, a lot of people out there select their cleanser just based on product weight, product texture, product feel, because they all do the same thing. And our long term goal is to really redefine the way people look at this category. And they say, this is a crucial step in my skincare routine. What element of my skin or what skin concern do I want to be addressing? And so they all have their own skincare benefits. And it's like, do I care about the visible signs of aging? Do I care about my skin barrier? Do I have acne prone skin? So a lot of the products we're developing are for very interesting and differentiated skincare issues.

Speaker B: Yeah. That's brilliant. Nice. Good for you. Well, congratulations on all the success. It's exciting.

Speaker C: So I have a question before we wrap. So as best friends and business partners, which we can relate to, we're sister in laws and best friends. What is the best and worst parts of working together? And be honest.

Speaker E: Riley.

Speaker D: I love working with Sean and I.

Speaker C: Let me listen to this.

Speaker D: Sometimes it can be difficult because there is a different component to the relationship. And frankly, with Sean and I, I think that's been a huge plus for us because we have really great communication. Neither of us take anything personally. And because we have a very close connection, it's very easy to call each other and say, what in the world were you thinking with that? Or what's going on? And, hey, I need you here. And I think that the way we're able to communicate is super helpful for us as a brand. I think the hardest thing and I don't know this is so much about us being friends is that we're completely remote, so we don't live in the same city. And building a brand with somebody and not being able to be next to them every day while you're doing it has a ton of its own very unique challenges.

Speaker B: Yes, we relate to that also.

Speaker C: Yes, we can. Absolutely. Where are you all based?

Speaker E: I'm in Los Angeles and Riley's in Texas. And then our team spread out all over the yeah, too far. I hate to be that person, but I honestly can't say there's much, many bad things about working with Riley. I said years ago I would never work with a friend again. And Riley is the only one I could ever see myself working with. I'm so happy. We both have such different ways of thinking we take on different roles and positions in the company and really just balance each other. Well, I would say, yeah, being remote is a little tougher, but Riley, you make it easy. You're a great partner. That's nice.

Speaker C: Yeah. I mean, I was going to say, it seems like you guys have different skill sets, but together it works perfectly. It's like you complement each other, which is great. So congrats on all your success and where can everybody find you?

Speaker E: Yeah. On our website. Stripmakeup.com. Amazon Urban Outfitters.

Speaker C: Oh, right, you already said Instagram. I don't know if you said Instagram.

Speaker E: Yeah, on Instagram, we're at Strip Makeup TikTok as well, and also YouTube Strip Makeup, so we constantly also try to put out a lot of education just around cleansing, certainly around our products. And our team's always there to answer any questions, too, about a specific issue or what product is right or wrong for something nice.

Speaker C: Well, thank you again. It was so nice to meet you all. And, yeah, we look forward to seeing.

Speaker B: Congrats on all the success.

Speaker E: Thank you both so much.

Speaker A: Thanks for listening to Nirvana Sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes, please subscribe and.

Speaker C: Leave us a review.

Speaker A: Also, find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would, please.

Speaker C: Share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh.

Speaker A: New episode of Nirvana Sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 115 - Product Junkies: July - Hot Summer Edition (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 115.

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here.

Amy 0:06

Welcome to Nirvana sisters podcast where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state your nirvana. We are sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman.

Speaker 2 0:18

And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation

Amy 0:29

Welcome back to Nirvana sisters Nirvana sisters, fam. It's Amy and Katie and it is the summer and it is product junkies time and we're coming to you with the short, hot summer edition of Product junkies. We have some products that we're loving right now that we want to share with you and let's kick it off. Katie, what do you got for us in our Summer Edition? Oh,

Speaker 2 0:55

well, it is peak summer and I'm finally feeling it here on the northeast coast. It's like we actually are having 8090 degree days. I feel like we've been awaiting this with bated breath and getting to use our pool super psyched. So that's fun. And in the meantime, I have a couple products that are just going to help you keep looking fresh all summer long. My favorite one right now it's makeup and it is makeup by Mario it is there is a soft sculpt shaping stick Have you used it yet? Do you know this one.

Amy 1:30

I've seen it. I have tested it like at the store but I have actually never tried it. I'm obsessed

Speaker 2 1:35

with it. But I've been using it I bought it before we went to Mexico. So I've been using it for a few months now and it's really good is for contouring and it's really creamy EZ like blendable contour stick on one side and then on the other side is their blender brush, which I actually don't use. I don't love it. It's a little too dense. For me. It

Amy 2:00

looks dense.

Speaker 2 2:00

It's very dense. I like to use my Nisa contour brush.

Amy 2:07

Okay, let me see the other like it looks like it's big.

Speaker 2 2:11

So I've been using this for months and it it really last and this tone is light medium. And it's great because it has worked with my skin tone as I like was fairer in the spring and I'm tan because I'm in the sun where and it's still like holds up and it works. And it also so do

Amy 2:32

you can use it as a bronzer instead of a contour.

Speaker 2 2:35

I don't know that you would want to because it's a creamy texture and really melts into your skin. I guess you could but like, I use this to really contour and then I use my Laguna powder, bronzer.

Amy 2:48

The narcs Yeah.

Speaker 2 2:50

It just melts so beautifully into your skin and at last it will last all day long.

Amy 2:56

Yeah, Katie's just doing it with her fingers and it just just went in right?

Speaker 2 2:59

Yep, it'll last all day long. I have a little bit of it on my face right now and you can go heavier or lighter depending on you know, like, how snatched you want to look. So it's a good one there. Yeah, I love it. Best of beauty out of law 2022 as well just so you know. So highly recommend.

Amy 3:18

Yeah. Nice. What do you have? Okay. Okay, so speaking of the makeup I'll start then with a new product that I've been testing right here, which is the NARS afterglow liquid blush. This is orgasms so you know orgasm is like a classic NARS color looks good on everyone. They also have some other colors. I love this one. And so speaking of it like you could do your makeup by Mario contour and then you could just use this I love this I just took this on a trip with me it was like one of the only things I brought said no, yeah. And you literally can just throw it on. It's like a really pretty, it's such a good color. I mean it looks like orgasm, but like you can just throw it on and see how it just pumps

Speaker 2 3:59

and is it just really blinged out so it looks seems like

Amy 4:03

it's very blendable you can just throw it on your cheek you blend it with your finger it's like a one two second thing and I just it just melts in it's super easy and it's just really easy also to travel with and it gives you a nice color and nice yeah, that's pretty organism is so I've been liking this liquid. Yeah, I've been liking this liquid blush better than some of my sticks just because it's super light and really easy to work with and it's built a ball so highly recommend this is again after cola liquid blush in orgasm, and it's this is $32

Speaker 2 4:36

It's a great shave a little goes along, really and I didn't mention the cost makeup Norio is $30 which I think is a fantastic price for a contour store that's lasted me this long and still going nice so

Amy 4:49

really good summer one and I think this is like probably year round but like right now I'm just like yeah,

Speaker 2 4:53

that's the orgasm is such a great color. It really is flattering on so many skin tones. It's Beautiful. Yeah.

Amy 5:02

Yeah. And it's funny because I have another one that I may I can't remember if I talked about this on another product junkies but I have another nurse or orgasm. It's not a liquid blush like this with an applicator. It's like it's liquid, but you you pump it out, it's like a little bit of a different formulation. And that looks good too. But it's a little messy and it has a cap so it's like two pieces and it's kind of annoying and this is like a good replacement for that because it's just like a little bit of an easier applicator and easier to kind of work with and travel with

Speaker 2 5:38

All right, well my next one is we're switching to hair. I haven't invested too much time and energy in my hair probably ever in my life. I always just kind of like let it air dry and I would use my T three and then my amazing sister in law you and my in laws and my husband got me the Dyson air wrap for my birthday and obsessed use it all the time and I started to realize that the heat was damaging my hair and because I was like a newbie to products and products so often I didn't even think to get like the heat sprays or the blowout sprays or anything like that. I think you were the homie.

Amy 6:17

Oh yeah spray that is mandatory. So

Speaker 2 6:19

yes, though or eBay or EB my saying you're right, do you think or may think they're royal blow out heat styling spray has been a life saver for my hair like total game changer over the winter my hair was like getting strongly like kind of dry and everything. And this has helped a lot. Yeah, so I'm obsessed with it.

Amy 6:39

So you just spray that on after you shampoo and drag it

Speaker 2 6:43

on or when my hair is still damp right before I use either the Dyson or hairdryer, whatever. And it really does give you like beautiful smooth shiny hair and it keeps your hair healthy. I mean my hair is nothing today because I just let it air dry last night and I haven't done anything to it but when I do it, this is the way to go. Now on eBay, I think personally it's a little steep in price point. This one is their travel size that I get at CVS for $24 it has lasted me a long time but like the regular size is $69 so it just seems a little high I mean they have shampoos that are like $150 I'm sure they're amazing

Amy 7:27

yeah always expensive but the product and there's other heat sprays too that are probably like I feel like there's a few that are comparable that are probably less legendary for you to

Speaker 2 7:39

introduce us to one some time that's like a better price point because

Amy 7:43

yes, I have a few that I use and one off the top of my head which I may have reviewed and I can't remember it's all blending together is a

Unknown Speaker 7:52

wasn't the WoW brand.

Amy 7:54

Yes Well there's two brands the well brands which I did think I reviewed once in the show it was like that it's for heat but it's also like a Styling Spray which is great. And then there's another one

Unknown Speaker 8:06

Oh yes.

Amy 8:07

The Olaplex number eight oil that's also a good one I kind of interchange with those. Yeah, there's a bunch I feel like there's a lot of good ones but or basically can't go wrong. It's such a good brand like all of their products are good. I have a texturizing spray that I've had from them and it's like lasted me years and it's so good.

Speaker 2 8:23

It's funny that you mentioned this orb a texturizing spray because that is my next one actually. This is my like ultimate new favorite product. It's the orb a dry texturizing spray. I use it every single day. I use it a lot on my bangs you know like in the winter I did the curtain bang and it was a bit too much the person that cut it didn't really cut it right so I've been trying to kind of grow that out and and get it back to my normal hair. And this is very much helping me do that and just like having the manageable every day. And it's also really nice because it gives you like it can give you good volume. And you know,

Amy 8:59

I know I love it. It's so good. So it smells smells great. What

Speaker 2 9:03

I love it for as I put a little bit on my fingertips, and I can like bend and mold my bangs to go in the direction that I want them to go into and it was just like stealing that.

Amy 9:13

That's nice. Is that the travel? Yes, this

Speaker 2 9:16

is the travel size and it's $24 and I just I buy the travel size because that's what CBS has. I don't carry the full size or if they do it. I don't see it right the full size is $49 also elite Yeah, elite Beauty Awards. 2022. So it's it's a great product. I love Warby.

Amy 9:33

And by the way, just back to Dyson. I would love to know if anyone from our Nirvana sisters found family has tried the new Dyson flat iron technology. I forgot what the tool is called. Oh air air straight because I'm dying to try it. I've emailed Dyson PR so if you're listening please nice to try. But I'm obsessed and I want to see how that works. I did see it in Sephora and I was able to like play with it, but I didn't use it in my hair, but I'm really dying to see how that works because again, it's supposed to be a good way to straighten your hair without the damage. So it's like another genius Dyson investment, genius Dyson invention and assessment

Unknown Speaker 10:14

because they are not cheap.

Amy 10:16

And investment. Yes. So if somebody has tried it in in our audience, let us know I'm dying to know how it is. I haven't heard any like, I've seen some reviews but I want to hear more

I mentioned this on stories a couple of weeks ago, but I have been trying the wise beauty products and I really, really have been enjoying these two products

Unknown Speaker 10:42

specifically heard of this.

Amy 10:43

So wise. Okay, so wise beauty. For those who don't know, this is Molly Sims brand that she just launched a couple months ago, I listened to lipstick on the right, which is Molly's podcast, shout out to Molly. And she launched this brand a couple months ago, but she's been working on it for years actually, she said before she started even started her podcast. And the reason well, a couple things and I'll talk about it but there's a lot of research around these products and a lot of her own history has sort of been the story of the brand because she went through a time where she had really really bad skin and she's you know, tried everything done everything to try to fix her skin and yada yada there's a whole story behind it. So she really knows a lot about this, about the industry and how efficacious products are etc. So anyway, this launch one of the other reasons why I like this is all of our products are clinically tested, which is a much deeper testing than most products so when when anything's clinically tested, I think it's like you should double pay attention because that means it's a really good product because it's actually like gone through the studies and that's why it takes so long to come to market. So the two products that I've been trying but I'm probably going to try more because I've been really impressed so far. The first one is it's called it's cute your favorite acts exfoliating pads. And so these are daily exfoliating pads that are very, very gentle. So it's a leave on exfoliant and can block combines glycolic acid PHAs and eka Toyne I don't know what that's the right word to retexturize brighten and refresh for optimum skin renewal. You know I've just been exfoliating a couple of times a week at night with like a heavier exfoliator like this Sunday Riley one we always talk about and others but for the summer I kind of like wanted to switch it up and these are great because first of all, they're just like individual pads. So I'm opening the drawer right now. And they're just if you can see they're just individual pads. And so you can just take them out and the cute thing about them also which makes it nice and convenient is they have this little

Speaker 2 12:41

oh that's cool. See how it was on tip of your fingers a little pocket? Yeah, so

Amy 12:45

you can just like do it easily. But anyway it's a very light exfoliator and it makes my skin for really clean and soft because I was noticing lately like my skin has been feeling really texture free. And I've been wanting to exfoliate it more so these are nice because again they're super gentle you can use them every morning or at night whatever. And then like right after my skin is super soft and the products just feel like they sink in better. So I've been using this every morning and I love it. Really really good. Again really gentle great ingredients. And then the next one that I've been using and again loving is called Morning cocktail. It's their vitamin C serum. And this I really like because I always do vitamin C but the reason why I like this is because it not it It not only has vitamin C but it also has niacin, amide squalene and hyaluronic acid. So it combines everything so what I was doing before this is I was putting on high alert because my skin is so dry is putting on hyaluronic acid and I was putting on by vitamin C then sometimes I would put on nice nice cinnamon I'd put them all separately. This is all together. It's so good. It feels great on the skin, no smell, no nothing. It's just very soothing, brightens up your skin right away again it's like such a good product. So I've been really happy with these two so this has kind of been my morning go to so all I do is I do the exfoliator pads, the vitamin C morning cocktail Vitamin C Serum. And then I'll just do like you know like a moisturizer with SPF and that's it instead of like five different steps so it's really cut down my routine and it's really really really good products. So the vitamin C serum is for 30 MLS is $85 and the exfoliating Platt pads for 45 pads is 72 so it's not inexpensive but it's not so expensive. It's kind of in the middle. She tried to make them you know, at a good price range for people and it lasts pretty long. I mean I've been using it for probably the less I don't know maybe month and really really good so you can read more on their website about wise beauty and Molly's story but I've been really impressed so packaging is also needs beautiful packaging the packaging is beautiful. She did a really nice job with that packaging and I love the name and just the logo. It's just Yeah, it's beautiful. There's it also shows on their website all the before and afters and all the clinical trials and all that stuff, which is great and one To the other things is they just got a 2023 installed SPD buys for the exfoliating pads. So, I am in love with these. So

Speaker 2 15:09

I have to try. Um, yeah, I would love like a gentle exfoliant that I can use every day I think I need might need to switch to that.

Amy 15:16

Exactly. That's great. Well, I remember last summer I did a self tanner review and I still use that self tanner that was called like the beach tan, whatever. And I love that one. It's a moose. But I have found something that I'm starting to like better which is the Santro pay gradual tan classic, it says daily firming lotion, medium dark. This I just randomly found at Alta when I was looking for something else because I'm always looking for a good self tanner. And my problem is they all have a scent even if it's a light scent, I can't stand it. This one does not have that self tanner scent. The reason why I like this First of all, it's $29. So pretty good price point. And it's just an everyday kind of moisturizing lotion with the self tanner built in. So it's just like you know, a built up one. And I like this one just because it's a little bit easier to apply than like a moose where you have to do the mitten, everything that you don't need to do a mitt, you just do the lotion, wash your hands and you're done. So I just do like a little bit of this. Sometimes I mix it with my body oil. So just like easier to, to um spread. But it's a great one I've gotten like a really nice color. You can see just from using this on a daily basis, it doesn't it's not orange, it doesn't like streak. It's a really pretty color and super easy to use and no smell, which is most important. So anyway, st your pay gradual tan classic. And with that there's another one that's from Santra pay, which I've also been trying I haven't been using this one as much but I have used it a little bit. It's called the bronze and waterbus I have that and this one you have this one yeah and so I've been using this sometimes just on my arms at night I'll just kind of like spray it on and wipe it real quick just to like enhance a chance so I think this is good I have seen online and I'm haven't tried it yet, but I really want you have ever seen these people online using this like on a like a makeup sponge and using it as like a highlighter on their face. I really want to try it because then their face looks so tan and contoured like naturally. It's amazing, but I'm like scared to try it out. But that's next on my list to experiment with.

Unknown Speaker 17:09

That's fine, they said.

Amy 17:10

So those are my two

Speaker 2 17:11

EntroPay brand. self tanners have been around for a really really long time and they're really good and their price point has improved. I remember it's a funny story. But like when I first moved to New York City, I was like 19 And I walked into a super high end cosmetic store in SoHo and I walked in it was like I really want a self tanner and and I picked up the bottle and I was like this St. Tropez one looks really good. Should I try the sun? The guy is just like, laughed at me like he doesn't know what she's talking about. But it was a lot more expensive. Like so either that or it was just broken seemed more expensive. I don't know.

Amy 17:48

Well it's funny because the the firming lotion is a good price. It's $20 Yeah, I think the water spray is a little bit more expensive but I don't think you use it as much it's more to me it's like more of an enhancer but again, that one doesn't smell either. If you have it to you it's like good. So anyway, those are some of the fun summer products we're testing out right now and loving hope you enjoyed our quick summer session of product junkies and let us know if you have other things you want us to review and what you're loving right now. Thanks Nirvana sisters family and hope you're having a great summer. Thanks for listening to Nirvana sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes please subscribe and leave us a review. also find us on Instagram at Nirvana sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 109 - Natural Glow Revolution and the Battle Against the Double Chin with Shelly Marshall of Beauty Shamans. (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 109

[00:07] Amy Sherman: Welcome to Nirvana Sisters podcast, where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state, your Nirvana. We are Sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman. And I'm Katie Chandler.

[00:20] Shelly Marshall: So let's get into some real conversation. You. Um.

[00:29] Amy Sherman: Welcome back to the show. Nirvana Citrus Family. It's Amy. Today solo episodeing with Shelley Marshall from Beauty Shamans, our amazing esthetician friend, gorgeous skinned lover of all things goasha skin, face yoga, all the things. So, Shelley, it's funny, I was looking back to when we first started talking to you, which was when we first launched, and I was looking at our previous episode. So for all of our new listeners, we've had Shelley on the show two other times. So your first episode was in April of 2021, and it was episode 15, and then we had you on in October later that year, october 21, episode 29. And this will be episode we're right now on episode 106. This will probably be like episode 108 or 109, 110, something like that. So it's just so crazy how much you have grown, how much we have grown, and I was just like, that's so cool. And by the way, thank you for being on our early shows when we were just starting. It's just incredible that you've been around and been with us for so long, and we're just so happy to have you as a friend and a family of Nirvana sisters in the show. So thanks for coming back and thanks for being with us back in the day.

[01:44] Shelly Marshall: Well, thank you guys so much. I mean, it's been really exciting, like you said, to watch both of us grow so much, and our conversations are always so fun and full of information. So this is, like, perfect for me because I love talking about this stuff with friendly people.

[02:00] Amy Sherman: Yes, and we love hearing it too. And for our new listeners, definitely check out those former episodes 15 and 29. And check out Shelley's Instagram because she has all of these incredible pieces of content about how to take care of your skin and your face and all the amazing things. So before we get started, we do want to jump in. Let's talk about our Nirvana of the week. It's been a crazy week. It's right before a holiday weekend. I can jump in and say my Nirvana this week was I have to think about this for a second. I guess what was good this week? Don't you sometimes feel like, oh, my God, I have to just reflect for a second, which is why I'm glad I do this, because if I don't, then I don't actually think about it. I would say, okay, here's mine for this week. I had a friend of mine happened to be in my neighborhood earlier this week, and it was a beautiful day, and she was doing something with her kids, and she had, like, an hour. And she's like, what are you doing? I said, actually, nothing. Why don't you pop by? And we did like, a quick walk around my neighborhood for an hour, which was so nice and so unexpected, and we got to catch up. I hadn't seen her in a while and we got to catch up. The weather was so nice and we just did a quick power walk, walked a couple of miles, and it was just so nice to do a quick, not planned, spontaneous walk. So that was my highlight of this week.

[03:16] Shelly Marshall: What about you? Impromptu walks are always yeah, I would say the last like, ten days, twelve days. I've been dealing heavily with allergies so much that it has been affecting my work. I haven't been able to do any work. A lot of my content is online. I'm showing my face, I'm talking, and so if I'm constantly sneezing or sniffling or if I look really, like, just itchy watery eyes. It's just impossible to make any content. So I was forced to take a break and I was forced to just be and just to relax and not do anything. And it was actually really good for me to sort of be forced to just sit back and chill and not always put all this pressure on myself, like, okay, today I'm going to have to do this video, answer these questions, post about this or that, or contribute to my studio or whatever. It was kind of nice to just be given the gift of time to just read, sit, listen to music, do whatever, do whatever I want to do that's not work related. So that was really, actually very special.

[04:25] Amy Sherman: Yeah, it sounds like your body needed it. Isn't it funny how your body kind of tells you, like, all right, you.

[04:32] Shelly Marshall: Need to chill out, you need to take it back. Yeah.

[04:34] Amy Sherman: And I know it's interesting that you talk about the allergy stuff and we'll get into it a little bit. I want to hear kind of how you're taking care of that, because I've noticed my allergies have been not terrible, but more noticeable. And my younger son has allergies too, and he's been, like, sneezing and watering eyes and nose. So it's just really bad this season. I've been hearing from a lot of people, so I definitely want to hear about how you're getting through that. But before we do that, let's just talk about you and what's going on. What's the latest in the skincare world? I know our initial few conversations were really it was like the 101 on Guaca, and then we talked about face yoga and all this stuff, and I just feel like so much has grown and there's so much more even going on with this topic. So I just kind of want to hear what's going on in your world. I know you launched the skincare studio, which you hadn't launched, or you were just about to launch last time to talk. So give us your update.

[05:28] Shelly Marshall: Well, I think a lot of what we discussed in previous episodes, it's just kind of expanded and grown from there in terms of the skincare world, because I'm seeing more and more celebrities and whatever. People in media dissolving their fillers. Stop doing Botox, like even going so far as taking out their implants or just going more natural. I've seen that a lot. And so obviously that has an impact on everyone else because a lot of people like to follow what celebrities are doing. And so I think there's become this subtle sort of gradual movement towards going more natural. And so I'm getting even more inquiries about how to perform face yoga, how to do Guaca, what the benefits of facial massage are. And so it was kind of perfect that I launched my skin within studio right around that time because it was right about the time when people are starting to become interested in how to take care of their self. At home. How to get similar results as these injectables and cosmetic procedures without having to go under the knife or have needles injected into your face. So that's kind of what I've been seeing a lot. It's just that slow movement towards self empowerment and just taking care of yourself and feeling really good about what you see in the mirror. And in my mind and in my world, it's never about deleting all of your wrinkles and making yourself look like you were 16 or 18 years old. It's about making your wrinkles look healthy. It's about making your face look lovely and to delete or erase the stress, but not necessarily all of the lines that we've gained through the wisdom experiencing life.

[07:22] Amy Sherman: Yeah, I totally agree with that. And I have seen a lot of what you're saying as well. Just I actually just finished a podcast episode yesterday. I was listening to a podcast where it was all about explans and I have heard about that a little bit. But this was really interesting to hear about why people are doing it and like the experience of this one person. So it's interesting that you say that. And I have seen about definitely about the fillers, about people dissolving their fillers because I've read and I've seen that these fillers can stay in your face for much longer than they're anticipating or they, I guess, expected.

[08:01] Shelly Marshall: I think when we first started talking, I was still doing you were doing.

[08:05] Amy Sherman: Filler and beltox, but you were sort of like alternating.

[08:09] Shelly Marshall: I was starting to get out of that business, but I was still performing it for clients and I stopped.

[08:17] Amy Sherman: Okay, so you stopped and started feeling.

[08:19] Shelly Marshall: Yeah, I started feeling, first of all, very uncomfortable with the fillers. That was the first thing I cut out of my practice was the injectable fillers because what you said was correct. A lot of times these fillers don't actually end up dissolving all the way. And so if they're misplaced or if they migrate within the skin tissue, then you're going to end up with a disfigured part of your face and then it becomes even more difficult to deal with. And then you're sort of chasing these little imperfections. Well, this looks like this now on this side, so I have to fix this side. And then it's just like never ending cycle. And then the other thing was I was just learning more and more and hearing more and more about the dangers of fillers long term. And we started to grow apart. Yes, it was just like we were in this relationship and then I started realizing that it's not you, it's me. I'm changing and I'm evolving and this isn't really for me anymore. And then the Botox stuff, because I stopped doing Botox myself just because I simply didn't really like the way it was looking on me anymore. I started doing and performing all these other exercises and techniques on myself. And I started teaching a lot of my clients and my patients that, and they also started gravitating more towards the more natural route. And so then I started thinking like, is this even worth doing anymore? Again, is this really aligned with who I am? So I have since deleted those services from my practice. And I think it's totally fine if people want to still do that. I think there's definitely a place for them. But just going kind of with what I feel is the new trend of going more natural, that is kind of where I'm headed as well. And so I just felt like I just needed to embrace that.

[10:17] Amy Sherman: Yeah, no, it totally makes sense. And we had spoken to someone recently that we had on our show, Natasha B, who does a lot of skincare online. And she was saying she used to do Botox and filler. And I think she dissolved all her filler and doesn't use Botox anymore and really just uses all of the skincare products that she recommends to be able to really test them. And a lot of them really work well. And now it's like she was hearing feedback from her community, well, like, you have Botox, so how can you know if they really work? And she was like, you know what, you're right. And so she stopped doing it and is able to really see the benefits of the skincare. So yeah, there's definitely that trend. But yeah, I mean, I still jabbling botox. I do have to tell everybody. Let's not I try to really space it though. But I do still love a little lift. But I do. It's funny. I talk to my Durham all the time who does it. She's super, super natural, and she really tries to do it as least as possible in the most natural way as possible, just to give a little bit of that brightness to the face, but I would love to not do it, that is for sure. And it's funny because I'll go on your page and I'll follow you do all of your things, and I'm like, I just need to be more consistent. And then I can stop doing Botox because you're right, it becomes like this wheel of, like, oh, chasing it. And so I also find that microneedling Guaca massage, like, all that stuff provides a lot of benefit if consistent. And it's funny. I know we'll get into some of the new products that you have, but honestly, ever since I met you and have been using your face oil, those are my Holy Grails. Like your face oil and the green I forget what it's called. The wash the sea so far, yeah. I mean, those are my two morning I mean, especially at night routine, the double cleansing. And those two products are my Holy Grails. Like, my skin has changed significantly since.

[12:15] Shelly Marshall: Using I know, I tell everyone, like, just use those two products.

[12:19] Amy Sherman: Those two products. And then I also use your daily moisturizer. It's my favorite. Those three are my holy girls. And then I have obviously a million of your other products and use those two. But those three are like, amazing. Anyone who's listening. And I have the travel set because I'm like, I have to travel with these products and I'm like, running out, so I actually have to get more. But anyway, those products are so they work really well, and I just feel like they're simple. And even with the moisturizer every day, I love how it smells. Just so you know. I don't know if I told you this when we've talked, but it's so hard to find a moisturizer or sunblock that has like, the right consistency and that doesn't smell and doesn't have that feel. And it feels like a moisturizer. And the smell is just like every morning I smell it, I'm like, just smells good. And I put it on and smells happy. Yeah, it smells so good and it just feels good. But anyway, that's just like a plug for your products just because I love them so much. But just like that double cleanse of the face is such a huge makes such a big difference on my face. Speaking of what is the latest so it sounds like your clients, a lot of them, are embracing face yoga. Are you seeing more people doing a lot of this face yoga than even Guaca? Or is that kind of what are you saying?

[13:31] Shelly Marshall: I think when Guaca first became a big trend, it was like, everybody wash. I'd say it's a pretty good mix. Now I think it's because there's been a lot more education about what our faces need because Guaca doesn't do everything. It's going to help with Lymphatic drainage, so it's going to help to depuff. It's going to help reduce inflammation, which can help to sculpt the face because you're allowing those facial features to become more pronounced. You're brightening your eyes because you're getting rid of any morning puffiness, but it's not going to necessarily lift the muscles of the face, which is what can lead to sagging skin, jowls, nasal labial folds, things like that. And that's where practices like face yoga come in, because it's more like an exercise, right? So I like to just always sort of compare it with your normal workouts that you do for the body, right? So you see people who go to the gym and they're lifting weights, they're going to have a certain body type, right? They're going to be more muscular, they're going to be very lifted. You go to a yoga studio and see people who only do yoga, they're going to be very lean, they're going to be relatively thin, probably not a lot of roundness because their Lymphatic systems are working very efficiently. And then you see a runner. Everyone has this body type. But really, in my opinion, and I've always felt this way as a former athlete as well, having that mix of your workouts where you do a little bit of lifting, you do a little cardio, you do some stretching, you do some yoga, you do some Pilates, some toning, or this or that. It kind of, to me, gives that best overall effect. And so I think about that in terms of the face as well.

[15:18] Amy Sherman: So true.

[15:18] Shelly Marshall: Yeah. All of these different techniques, face yoga, massage, guacaw reflexology, which I've recently been getting really into, all of these things are like different workouts for the face that contribute in different ways to do different things, right.

[15:33] Amy Sherman: To build those muscles, which yeah, you don't really think about, but it's true. How long do you I mean, I know on your website you have probably different lengths of quote workouts for the face, but if for the average person who's listening, who hasn't seen a lot of your content, what would? You suggest is like a good amount of time and maybe talk about a few different exercises, face yoga exercises they could do to strengthen those muscles on a daily basis.

[16:07] Shelly Marshall: I think a good amount of time when you're first starting is five to ten minutes. You know, if that it's more just it's building the consistency and coming back to it, that's really key. And then once you have that practice of coming back to it, then you can start building upon it and do like 20 minutes. You can combine things like face yoga, massage, which is really beneficial. Some exercises. It's going to be hard to explain it to any listeners. But the idea is, with face yoga is you are essentially relaxing certain muscles using certain facial poses, and you're relaxing those muscles that get too much exercise throughout the day. Like between the brows, for example, those muscles get a lot of stress and exercise because we're always using them. When we're looking at a computer, we're really focused. So there are certain face yoga poses that are going to help to relax that. But there are also some muscles of the face that don't get enough exercise, like the cheeks. And so for those muscles, you actually want to do more lifting poses. So just like in your regular yoga practice, there's this contraction and relaxation sort of dance constantly going on when you're performing these poses. Some of the poses are going to be more stretching and relaxing poses, while others are going to be more lifting, a little bit more strenuous, like an exercise for the muscles of the face. So one of the easiest stretching poses that you can do for the whole face, it's really beneficial to the entire front side of the face is something I call the big O. And to me I think of it as like the downward dog of face yoga because it's one of those poses that you can come back to all day. You can come back to in between some of your more strenuous poses. And it's always going to make you feel really good. It's going to help to reset your mind and all you're going to do is sort of make a low o with your lips. Like a loose low o. You don't want to have purse lips. You just try to relax the jaw, drop the jaw, and you're stretching the whole front side of the face. You're making sure that the area around your eyes and your forehead are still very relaxed and you just kind of hold it like that and you're going to feel a lot of circulation and a lot of blood flow coming to the skin. Also, anytime you are stretching or exercising the muscles of the face, that's going to actually stimulate the lymphatic system as well. So you're moving some of your Lymphatic system. You're helping to depuff, but you're also relieving tension in the muscles. You're increasing circulation. So that's good for collagen and for skin health. So just a lot of benefits there. And then for a lifting pose, I think one of the easiest ones to explain would be just to place the tip of your tongue to your upper lip and then smile.

[19:15] Amy Sherman: Yeah, I've seen this on your partners of your mouth.

[19:17] Shelly Marshall: Yeah. And you're lifting from the apples of your cheeks. But you obviously want to make sure that you're not wrinkling around the eyes or around the forehead. These are things that they're harder to explain and best to do when you're watching someone one on one. And that's what I do in my studio a lot. I walk people through, okay, do this and now do that, and then make sure let's check this part. Make sure you're doing this right or that right. But if we're going to do like a quick video, I'll just show you the it would look like this.

[19:51] Amy Sherman: You got it?

[19:53] Shelly Marshall: It looks silly. But once you see, once you get.

[19:56] Amy Sherman: Used to it yes.

[19:57] Shelly Marshall: And once you start seeing the benefits, it doesn't even matter anymore. Yeah, it's really great for dark undereye circles because it detoxifies this entire near. Yeah, I do this one all day long, and by the end of the day, I'm like, oh, looks like that.

[20:10] Amy Sherman: Must be like good for your jaw, too. I would imagine.

[20:15] Shelly Marshall: As long as you're not holding tension in your jaw when you do it. Yeah, it kind of helps to release that a little bit.

[20:20] Amy Sherman: All right, let me do it again. I don't want to see you do it again. I'm watching. Okay. And you just hold it. Okay.

[20:28] Shelly Marshall: And then the other one is the one I explained where you're lifting from here. You just place your tongue to your lip and you just lift from the cheek.

[20:39] Amy Sherman: Yeah.

[20:39] Shelly Marshall: And so when you engage the tongue, anytime you engage the tongue, you're actually engaging the area right underneath the chin. So it's good for double chin, that area, but also really good for lifting the cheeks. And the face is the only area of the body where the skin and the muscles are attached to one another. So when you start exercising your muscles and lifting your muscles, then your skin is going to start going with it, too.

[21:03] Amy Sherman: Yeah, I was going to say because I feel like the older I get, the skinnier my face gets, like, not in a good way. And I'm just like I'm thinking if I do these exercises more, it'll plump my skin a little bit because I just feel like the older people get. You lose that collagen in your face.

[21:23] Shelly Marshall: Yeah. You lose the collagen. And it's harder to maintain your muscle mass. It's really important after you do like well, not just after a face yoga routine, but it's really important to get adequate amount of protein, an adequate amount of vitamin C, zinc, because you need those muscles to maintain their muscle mass after exercising them. I also think that using infrared Led is a really great thing to use if you're going to be doing a face yoga practice, because that is something that can also help to repair muscle tissue. It can help to build muscle tissue. NASA used to use it in their space shuttles to prevent muscle atrophy the astronauts.

[22:02] Amy Sherman: Interesting.

[22:02] Shelly Marshall: It makes sense that if you're going to be doing this face yoga practice, you want to make sure that you're taking care of all the other components of maintaining muscle mass at the same time.

[22:11] Amy Sherman: So you would do that afterwards. The red light, if people have you.

[22:15] Shelly Marshall: Could do it before and after.

[22:18] Amy Sherman: Okay, that's a good tip. Okay. The other thing I wanted to ask you about, you were mentioning your allergies, which a lot of people are dealing with now. And I know you mentioned reflexology, and I have that tool which I use all the time by the way, when I get a headache, I'm always kind of putting it in areas to make you feel better. But are there certain things you can do if people are experiencing these seasonal allergies right now, like certain pressure points or face yoga or what do you recommend for that? I mean, what are you doing for yourself? I know you've been under the weather.

[22:49] Shelly Marshall: It's tough because with allergies it's like you get real stuffy and then you can relieve them and then an hour later and it comes back. But what I've been doing mostly is I'm using my reflexology tool mostly on the sinus pressure point. So that's like right on the inner part of the brow right here, just to open that up. And then all along the side of the nose, I'm coming down the nasal passageways just to open that up quite a bit. And then all the way down to the nostril. So just in these small little lines. And that just kind of helps to open up the nasal passageways a little bit. I hold the big o, that face movement that I just showed you that actually really helps to get some airflowing. Yeah, just to kind of stretch everything out and get things moving again. It's helping to stimulate your lymphatic system. It's getting all the fluids moving along. So I do that and then I am in my room choosing different essential oils all day, diffusing different ones throughout the day just to kind of keep everything open and helping me to breathe. I find that steaming in a bath is also really beneficial. I've done the netty pot. I'm not a fan. I feel like I'm dying with the feeling. I'm like, what's going on?

[24:15] Amy Sherman: I know it's a very strange feeling.

[24:17] Shelly Marshall: As well as it works. I just can't do that.

[24:21] Amy Sherman: Yeah.

[24:21] Shelly Marshall: So that's kind of what I do. Very minimal basic things, but it's helping.

[24:29] Amy Sherman: Yeah. Good. Well, and I was also going to say before with the with the face yoga and these pressure points and all the stuff, I think the reason why it is so great is you can do it in the car. You can do it while you're sitting working, doing emails, like walking around the neighborhood. It's like you can just do these exercises. These go to few exercises throughout the day and you don't need to allocate time for it. You can just multitask. So that's also why I love it, because I find myself too, like I have the other toy of everything that you sell because I'm obsessed. But I have that other tool that's one of my favorites with the two onyx balls and the obsidian roller. I use that all the time and I have it at my it's so easy, you don't even have to think about it. Just for those listening, if you don't know how to guacaw, this is kind of like a hack. I just feel like you can just do that around your skin, it almost feels the same. I bring that with me every time I travel because I feel like it really helps with just like inflammation and everything. But anyway, I'll sometimes have that at my desk at work and just do it while I'm on a call or whatever, just to kind of get things moving. But yeah. So big fan. So let's talk about moving over. We were talking about the Botox. So if you were to say, you know what, I don't want to be on this botox hamster wheel anymore, what kind of massage techniques would you recommend to sort of get the skin in the same feeling fresh or looking fresh like it does when you get Botox?

[25:56] Shelly Marshall: So you have to understand if you're going to start transitioning from using botox to, okay, I want to try to wean myself off. It's really important to understand what is causing the wrinkles, what is creating them, and what's creating them. A few different things. Repetitive muscle movement. So the frontalis muscle, it moves up and down. So that means when it moves up and down the lines, the horizontal lines develop much like rings in a curtain, right? You're going to see those lines across the muscles repetitively moving up and down. And then what happens is the layer right on top of the muscles, the fascia, right? That is your mesh, like, connective tissue, and that is connected to the skin. It's interwoven within the muscles, like everything within this entire structure. So when you are constantly moving that muscle up and down, the fascia is going to start to remember that movement, and it's going to start becoming tighter and tighter, and pretty soon it's going to start holding the skin in the form of a wrinkle. So if you keep that in mind, there's a few different exercises that you can do. Number one, the first one that I always do is I take something like the reflexology tool. You can even use, like a guaca tool, anything. You can even use your knuckle if you want. But I find something like this works really well. And you're going to break up those fascia adhesions, right? You're going to break up those areas of tightness where the fascia has started to hold the skin in that crease. So what I do is I'll just go directly into those lines and just relieve some of the tightness that's being held around that crease. This is going to help to oxygenate the whole area. It's going to remodel the collagen. It's going to allow that wrinkle to relax a little bit more. So I will do this, and my skin will turn a little bit pink. I have quite a few forehead wrinkles, so it takes me about five minutes to get through the whole forehead. And you just work directly into the wrinkles, and they'll be a little bit sensitive. And that's because your fascia holds onto a lot of. Tension, it holds onto emotion, it holds onto stress. So when you feel that that's okay, that's completely normal. Every day is going to feel a little bit different. But in general, the more you do it, the better it's going to feel. Anyway. So that's the first thing I would do is I would start to massage little circles with your tool directly into the lines. The next thing I would do is just take my fingertips. And again, now we're filling in where those creases, where that depth has been lost in the skin, and you're just sort of filling that in. It works with when you have almost no product on the skin. I have some oil on, so it's a little hard. My fingers are slipping. Just hold it like that. And what that's going to do is it's going to push blood flow into that crease, and that's going to help to sort of remodel that whole area. And then you want to think about how can I prevent the muscle from moving like that? So then that's where phase yoga comes in, right? So there's exercise that you can do where you can activate the ring like muscle around the eyes while keeping the forehead muscle relaxed. Because a lot of times it's these two muscles because they're connected, it's these two muscles that get activated together when we're in a state of surprise or we're happy or shocked or whatever, a lot of times this is what happens, right? We open the eyes, the forehead goes with it. But is there a way to open the eyes without wrinkling the forehead? Yes, there is. You just have to train yourself to do that. So what I like to do, to train myself to do that, and it takes practice, but eventually when you practice it enough, you'll be able to apply it to your everyday life. When you're having an elated moment or whatever, is you just place your fingers up here and you practice opening up the eyes as wide as you can. But your fingers are up here on the forehead, just telling it, hey, just chill out, relax, right? You don't also need to get excited. And then pretty soon you'll be able to take your hands away and you'll be able to see, oh, I can make that movement, right? Do that.

[30:29] Amy Sherman: Interesting. And that probably because I feel like you're right. You get the wrinkles up here. I mean, I don't have them as much on my forehead. It's always more kind of like around the eyes, but to your point, they're connected. So anytime you make some sort of expression, it's going up into your eyes and around there too. So would you do that same method that you were showing.

[30:52] Shelly Marshall: With the tool.

[30:53] Amy Sherman: With the tool into that area around your eyes too?

[30:56] Shelly Marshall: Yeah. So then this area right here has a thicker muscle. So what you could do is use the tool to kind of make little lines or circles into those lines. But really with this area, what happens is when we're squinting a lot and everyone's anatomy is a little bit different, some people have it a little bit worse than others. Same with all parts of the face. For me, I find that massaging this area out is really the best thing because the muscle tends to get really, how can I say it, it's almost like crunched together. It's like contracting.

[31:32] Amy Sherman: Right.

[31:33] Shelly Marshall: And it stays in that contracted state. So if you just can just sort of spread out the fascia fibers and spread out the muscle and just kind of relax this area, it's just going to start to soften the lines a little bit. Still, when you make expression, you'll probably see them. But again, with these techniques, it's not about erasing lines, it's about making them look healthy.

[31:54] Amy Sherman: Right. And the third place I feel like, which affects a lot of people, and I haven't noticed it on me, but I've started to notice it lately, which is interesting when I wake up, not during the day, but just like when I wake up is like the nasal labial folds. Is that what this is called right here?

[32:10] Shelly Marshall: Yeah.

[32:10] Amy Sherman: And it was funny because I'm noticing I wake up and I have like a line here because I think I must be pursing my lips or doing something when I sleep. But I know that this is like a big one for everyone. So is it the same thing there like just getting in there or just massaging that?

[32:26] Shelly Marshall: Yeah, massaging will help that area just to soften the lines. But I will say that when you start seeing nasolebial folds, what's actually happening is there is fallen tissue from the cheeks. So the tissue up here is starting to degrade. The muscles are starting to become lax. And so when that falls, the nasalabial folds are essentially ligaments that are holding everything up. So when this tissue falls here, that's why you start to see that the droopiness. That droopiness. Right. So it's all about lifting the cheeks to start seeing more of an indirect smoothness on the nasolibial folds. The other thing, and I'm very aware of this because this happens to me a lot, especially with allergies, if I am eating salty food, went out late, had like a late night out drinking or allergies, whatever, and my face is holding extra fluid, my nasalabial folds will be more pronounced. I will be holding more inflammation right here in this area, right in between the cheeks and the lines, the nasal libial fold lines. If you carry inflammation here, you're going to start to see deeper folds. So that's where guaca comes in. That's where lymphatic drainage comes in. Because the more you can relieve any of this fluid from the mid face, then these folds are not going to look as deep either.

[33:48] Amy Sherman: Right, okay, that makes sense. It totally makes sense. So it's really about working the upper cheek area which then affects the lower versus getting right in the lower. Okay, that makes sense. Now, what about chest and neck? So a couple of things, like are there different massage techniques for the neck and chest, especially for people that are like, the skin on your neck starts to get thinner and creepy and that kind of thing.

[34:19] Shelly Marshall: So neck stretching has become like something I do every single day. It has helped not only my skin because it stimulates so much lymphatic movement, but it helps to sculpt the jawline. It helps me to think more clearly because I'm releasing a lot of tension. And I find that if you have a regular practice of stretching, moving, massaging your neck, you're naturally going to start to see that your skin is firmer, that you have less lines, that your neck actually becomes longer and just everything just becomes a lot more defined. So I don't think there's one stretch. Everyone's neck is very sensitive area for a lot of people. But moving the neck and making sure you're not holding any tension there, if you're feeling your neck and you feel knots, you got to work on that. You got to get rid of that because your neck is the bridge between your body and your face. So if you have stagnation and tension there, the blood is coming from your heart. It can't get through to the face oxygen fully to your face and to your brain without that passageway of your neck being nice and clear.

[35:35] Amy Sherman: Right. And I remember last time when you were talking about guaca, you were saying to do the neck first, to open that up and then do the rest of the face. And I remember last time I feel like we did a neck stretch. I forgot what you called it.

[35:48] Shelly Marshall: We probably did, yeah.

[35:49] Amy Sherman: Like the dolphin or something like that.

[35:52] Shelly Marshall: Yeah, swan neck or either swan neck or it's just like a reverse tech neck movement. Really?

[35:59] Amy Sherman: Yeah. That's a good one. It feels so good, too. I do that all the time. That's a good one.

[36:04] Shelly Marshall: And then the same kind of applies for the chest, too. This area, we have muscles, we have fascia here. When it gets tight from looking at our computer, we're hunched over our posture. It's getting worse and worse every day that we go into work and we don't work on our bodies. So when you have poor posture and you're not exercising and stretching and moving, then the skin here is going to become creased. It's going to become wrinkled. The quality of the skin and the integrity starts to degrade a little bit because it's not getting that oxygen and blood flow. So I find that if people start to see changes in their chest like lines, wrinkles, dullness, whatever, the first thing you want to do is massage the fascia. Make sure that you're stretching quite a bit, just pulling your hands behind your back and that opens your chest immediately. And then you can just use your knuckles and just massage out the fascia. This may even, it can be a little bit uncomfortable for people the next day and they don't realize, oh wow, I was holding a lot of tension in my chest because you're constantly hunched over totally on your computer screen or on your phone. So just stretching this area right here can just bring a lot of movement, hydration, blood flow to the whole area and just really improve the overall look of the chest. Yeah.

[37:29] Amy Sherman: And then in terms of products for neck and chest, are there certain products you would use for that or just like continuation of what you use in your face? Like if you're using the cleansing oil or serums, would you just carry that down or what do you suggest there?

[37:46] Shelly Marshall: Yeah, I really just use like when I'm washing my face, I use the cleansing oil mostly on my face, but I get the neck and I get the chest a little bit too. So nothing different there. And then same with my moisturizers. I apply everything to the face. There's always going to be a little leftover in my hands that goes directly to the neck and chest.

[38:05] Amy Sherman: Right.

[38:06] Shelly Marshall: So they always get a little bit of love. And my nighttime moisturizer, my plankton peptide cream, when you apply peptides, peptides are going to help to signal new collagen, maintain what you already have. So it's also important that you're using something that's going to maintain your moisture levels and also be giving your skin the nutrients it needs to maintain itself.

[38:29] Amy Sherman: Yeah, okay. And so before we close out as we're heading into summer, give us some summer tips to keep our skin healthy.

[38:39] Shelly Marshall: So I always tell people that getting a facial is probably actually one of the best things you can do during the summer because a lot of people will say, oh, I'm going to be in the sun for the next three, four months, I'll come for my facial later, afterwards, and that's fine. But every single day you're applying sunscreen, every single day you're out in the sun, you're sweating, your pores are expanding more and more, filling up with more and more gunk. So I always tell people really, during the summer, spring and summertime, come in and get your facials, get the extractions, let us keep your pores nice and clean so that you can reapply your sunscreen without feeling like you're filling them up constantly. In the fall and the wintertime, that's when we're going to do our chemical peels. If you're going to get into lasers, that's the time we're going to do that micro needling. Yeah, microneedling is when you want to do that. So I usually tell people in the summer, get your facials. And then the other thing that I think is really important aside from wearing sunscreen is oil cleansing. Because when you are out in the sun. Your skin's natural defense mechanism, along with producing melanin, is to thicken and harden. When it's in a sunny climate or environment, your skin cells are going to start to get a little bit rough. That's where you get that flakiness and.

[40:05] Amy Sherman: Dehydration that dry skin.

[40:07] Shelly Marshall: Yeah. And it just feels really rough. After a couple of days in the sun, your skin has hardened. So when you turn in for the night, if you do a nice oil cleanse, the oil is going to help to soften some of that surface dead skin. And so then when you want your face, it just kind of takes off a little bit of a layer. It's not like an exfoliation really. It just kind of softens the surface dead skin that's been building up so that your moisturizers are going to be more effective. Because if your skin cells are hard, it creates a barrier. Nothing keeping in. Yeah. And so I just feel like oil cleansing is during the summer, although it seems like, oh, put oil on my skin in the summer, it's the best time to do it. Yeah, it's going to help to just keep your skin looking glowy and dewy and hydrated because you're kind of taking off that barrier that your skin has built up.

[41:04] Amy Sherman: Do you do oil cleansing in the morning too, or just at night?

[41:07] Shelly Marshall: Mostly just at night. Yeah, I try to just do it once a day. And so for me, I like to do it at nighttime, take off the day, that's kind of when have time to do my ritual. But some people do it in the morning and it works better for them that way. I say do it when it feels right for you.

[41:23] Amy Sherman: Yeah. One other thing I was thinking about in the summer, because this has been happening to me lately, and I don't know if it's allergies or just the weather, but the redness around the nose, I just constantly have that either from blowing my nose or just I'm just always irritated right there and it's always red anything there. Is it massaging? Is it some sort of putting a.

[41:44] Shelly Marshall: Cream on and leaving it alone? Yeah, because I have the same thing right now because of allergies. So I just use either my plankton cream or I have a new product, my vitamin C serum.

[41:55] Amy Sherman: Oh, I didn't see that yet.

[41:56] Shelly Marshall: Yeah, and it just takes care of that. It just kind of moisturizes, but it's really light and then it just kind of repairs the skin. But yeah, if the skin is broken, you want to just let it heal. Yeah, Led can help with that a little bit.

[42:10] Amy Sherman: That's good. Yeah, I've just been noticing that lately it's been so irritated. Okay, so let's do a quick wrap session. I know we did this a couple of years ago, but I'm sure things have changed as we're always changing things up in this world. So what is your latest favorite wellness or beauty hack?

[42:29] Shelly Marshall: We already talked about neck stretching. I would have said that for sure. Drinking electrolytes.

[42:37] Amy Sherman: Oh, yeah.

[42:39] Shelly Marshall: It sounds so simple and silly, but I have noticed that since I started drinking Electrolytes, ever since I started drinking Electrolytes, I've noticed that my skin is a lot more hydrated, more supple. It's so simple to do. Just put a little electrolyte powder in your water and it tastes great.

[42:58] Amy Sherman: Do you have a favorite brand?

[43:00] Shelly Marshall: So I've been using this brand called Redmond.

[43:03] Amy Sherman: Okay.

[43:03] Shelly Marshall: And it's called relight. And I love it. It's amazing. And it tastes so good that it forces me to drink even more water, too.

[43:13] Amy Sherman: Yeah, that's a good one.

[43:15] Shelly Marshall: And drinking water is just there's nothing that compares to drinking water. You can use all the creams, you can do all the things, but if you are dehydrated from the inside, it's only going to go so far.

[43:28] Amy Sherman: No, I love I am a big electrolyte person. You try different ones all the time, and especially when I'm traveling. That's a good tip for the summer. Make sure you're bringing that with you because I just find you get so dehydrated when you're on a plane. Okay. And five minute flow. So you could do the summer version right. You just got out of the shower, dried off. Uber alerted you. They're five minutes away. What's your quick beauty routine, your go to? What are you putting on to be ready in time?

[43:56] Shelly Marshall: This is probably not too far off from what I normally do, actually. Yeah, quickly get out of the shower. I may spray my face with one of my toners. I always put on my nori gel and then a light layer, two to three drops of an oil. And then I'll probably get dressed, dry shampoo, put a little chapstick, and then right before I'm out the door, I apply my sunscreen and that's it. And that's not too far off from a normal day anyway. Yeah, that's good.

[44:27] Amy Sherman: Keep it simple. Simple, natural, easy. Love it. And how do you maintain your daily nirvana?

[44:37] Shelly Marshall: Lately, I've had to think about that. And I feel that as long as I express love in some way to the people in my family, whether that's my husband and I hugging in the kitchen or I'm cuddling with my cat or I'm making my stepson's favorite meal. As long as I am expressing love and showing love to the people that I love on a daily basis, that just makes me feel so good and it helps with my nirvana.

[45:13] Amy Sherman: I agree with you.

[45:14] Shelly Marshall: On a daily basis, I agree with you.

[45:16] Amy Sherman: Well, thank you so much for coming back and giving us so much great information. Our listeners are going to love it. I know I loved it. And we just appreciate you and all your wisdom and as I like to say, come back anytime. We love having you. And for our listeners, feel free to check out Shelley at beautyshamans on Instagram. And what is your website again? Beautyshamans.com, right?

[45:39] Shelly Marshall: Yes, beautyshamans.com.

[45:40] Amy Sherman: Yeah. So much valuable info. And you'll see me always following along with all of your Instagram content, doing all of the face yoga exercises with you because it's just easier to do it with you than on my own.

[45:53] Shelly Marshall: Awesome.

[45:54] Amy Sherman: Yeah. Anyway, so good to have you.

[45:57] Shelly Marshall: Thanks so much.

[46:00] Amy Sherman: Thanks for listening to Nirvana Sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes. Please subscribe and leave us a review. Also, find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would, please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana Sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness, so you don't have to. Bye.

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here or view our podcast episode guide.

Episode 108 - Product Junkies: June - The Eye Edition (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 108

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here or view our podcast episode guide.

Unknown Speaker 0:06

Welcome to Nirvana sisters podcast where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state your nirvana. We are sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman. And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation

Unknown Speaker 0:27

Welcome back to the show Nirvana sisters family. It is Katie and Amy. This episode is exciting. So we're going to give you a product junkies episode. But it's very specific. And it's something that Amy's been talking about for a long time. And she's been testing these products for a year. So we have some really good reviews and feedback. And this is our special i Episode. We are going to be she's covering lash serums fake eyelashes. Just a lot of things for the eyes. So I'm super excited to hear about it. It's all her today she's going to educate me as we educate yo. So what's up, Amy? Hi. Hey, thank you. I feel like I am you are weird. So yeah, I've mentioned it in a couple of our shows that I wanted to do an episode because I've been testing a lot of different eyelash extensions over the last year and other eye products that I wanted to talk about that I think would be helpful for our listeners. And it all started about a year ago, I went to a wedding. And I've always wanted to do eyelash extensions. And I had never tried them before. And a friend of mine had really good ones. I was like Where'd you go, I got them done, I immediately was obsessed. I like they looked so much better, especially for me because I have, I'm fair and I have very light eyelashes. So I can't go out of the house without wearing mascara, or I'll say look totally washed out. So anyway, I got these extensions on. And they only last like two weeks. But they made such a big difference. And I didn't feel like I had to wear any makeup practically because at least it looked like I had mascara on all the time. I didn't have to take off my mascara, which you've talked about a million times, which I hate doing because I'm constantly rubbing my eyes and it's irritating. And I just loves it like give me more confidence. I really just loves it. So for like, I don't know, six months or so I was going to get eyelash extensions every two weeks, such a pain. And then what happens is if you if you don't get them filled every two weeks, like they start falling out. And then it looks crazy. And like you can't really put mascara on and I was like there's gotta be a better way to do this. This is just so annoying. And I don't have time because the thing is, is when you do get them done, you're sitting in the chair for like an hour or two. And you can't I mean, I listen to podcasts, but you're just sitting there and it can be relaxing. But every two weeks, it's just not realistic. Like, no one has the time to do this. So I started seeing all these things online about eyelash extensions that you can do at home. The only ones I had done at home before were the ones that we've done, where it's just like, you know, the band on top with like the glue that you just do, which I've done a million times in the past and they last like a night and they're fine. I just never think they look as good. So I don't know if our audience has heard but there's all these lashes now that go under the eyes. So those were those are what I have tested over the last year. So I started with the extensions. And then I was like there's gotta be a weather way. And then I started experimenting with all of these at home DIY eyelashes. So I have a few different versions. I have kind of a high, medium low and they're all good for different ways. And the first one I'm going to review and just a heads up for listeners I'm getting into the minutia. So if you're into this stuff, I think you're really going to like it. But the first one is called lash five. And I have this box because I bought their kind of starter kit, which I've used and then I've bought the refills and Lasha phi is the originator of this I think they have the patent on this type of technology which is its little lashes. So it's not a Full Lash like if you were going to do you know the band on top that you always see people doing like makeup artists and you just take off the whole thing. These are individual lashes. So I'll show you. I mean these are all like practically gone. I'll show you this one. So see how it's kind of circle. The whole circle was full. Okay, but it's I'm not going to take this one. I'll take this one on their individual plans. So there's like four and a clump. Yeah. Yeah, like there's one little lash. Okay. The cool thing is so you probably need depending on your eye like four or five of these little

Unknown Speaker 4:29

pieces of lash. But the cool thing is is you can kind of customize it so some people just want to put a little lash like at the end of their eye just to kind of give it a little pop. You can do that or you can do your whole lie which I do. There's a lot of different ways to use but this makes it more flexible. So lash if I specifically comes with you can either buy just the lashes if you have your own glue and things like that. I would recommend if you're doing it for your first time at home just buying the kit because the kit comes with the bonder so this is called

Unknown Speaker 5:00

WhisperLite flexible bond and it's basically like a mascara, and it's black and you put it on and it's kind of like glue. It's kind of like tacky. And then you wait like a minute, okay. And then you put on the lash. And there's definitely a learning curve, it took me a couple of times to perfect it. But now I can do it really easily. But you do have to be pretty committed. But I'm committed because it makes my life easier when I have these on. And if I can like to go to the office, I'm just gonna make up like, it's great. So you put the glue on like mascara, and then you literally take they have this kind of tweezer thing. And I'll talk about the tweezers too, because another brand I like that tweezers better. But they have this little tweezer thing. See this. And then you just put it I'm not doing it now. But you just put it under your lash. And it stays under it just on the lash line, but under your eyelashes as opposed to on top, which is what the traditional ones have always been correct. And that's why it looks more natural. Because those ones on the top. Yeah, we see that little black band. It looks like you're wearing eyeliner. This just goes right under your eyelash, but it doesn't hit that like water line. Okay, what does that it doesn't Yeah, right where your eyelash meets your eye, it doesn't actually hit that.

Unknown Speaker 6:12

Now it just you just place it at the bottom of your eyelash. Yeah, so I don't know if you can see I have ones on now. But see how it's just here. And you're literally in it stays, it works. Because of the mascara glue just sticks, mascara glue is genius.

Unknown Speaker 6:34

The mascara glue, and this whole invention is genius. Because like and I don't

Unknown Speaker 6:39

I think only these kind of lashes work this way. I don't think you could take any lash and do this. Like sometimes, you know, you see those recipes that you can buy and just glue at the end. I don't think those would work. I think there's like something on the bottom of these like wisps that somehow are like sticky and connect to the glue.

Unknown Speaker 6:58

So that's the step you basically put on the glue, you put on the lash, again, it takes some practice, you need to use the tweezer. And then you kind of just move them over, you know, you do like four or five. And that's it, then you give it like a minute. And then you put on what they call this one specifically is called a. This one's called Glass. But there's another one from another brand I'll tell you about. And it's just like,

Unknown Speaker 7:22

kind of like a clear it's not mascara, but it's kind of like a serum and you just kind of put it on over just to kind of seal it in and and do you have to wait a one one to put the sealer on? Or do you do it right after you apply them.

Unknown Speaker 7:36

I usually wait a little bit, just to kind of like let it dry. I forgot the main step. Or one of the steps. You do the glue. You do the lash and then you take this tweezer This is specifically for lash five. But you could do this for any of these kind of lashes. And you know, together. I was wondering about that together. Yeah, sorry, I forgot that important piece. So you clip it together. So that kind of like makes the lash and the glue like sticks together. You could also just do with your fingers. And you just kind of do that for one second and then it then it and then it like stays. It's crazy. And it looks so good. And then you can put on that CRM, you know, a little bit after once to try sometimes I put on right away, sometimes they wait a half an hour just depends. And depending on how you take care of it, it could last anywhere from like two days to like, oh, wow, it really just depends. Yeah, so if you clean them every day, so lash fi also has other things like they have a cleanser that you could just put on like a spoolie and go like this every day with it, you know, just comb through your lashes, and it just keeps them clean, and that tends to make it last longer. If you don't take care of it that much, I'll probably fall off easier, it just kind of depends. But they do last a couple of days. I mean, I've had them lasts up to a week.

Unknown Speaker 8:44

The reason why I like lash Rifai is because they have so many different types of lashes. And once you sort of get into it, you start understanding which ones you'd like better, but like I don't know if you can see these like this is one version, it's like the extreme level blonde, they're a little bit like a little more longer a little bit, a little bit more dramatic, or you can have like ones like this, which I don't know if you can see but they're a little lighter with spear so you can go more natural or more glam. Pretty much depending on exactly. And then the other things are like the different lengths like this is a really short one. This is 10 Select, I tend to use the more natural lengths which are like 1011 12 Like anything in that range just for our listeners, like super natural looking anything above that once you get into like 12 is okay, that's like pretty much as long as I go but you could do 1314 Then it sucks super long, but I don't have like huge eyes so it doesn't look as good. So the cool thing about lash Fi is that they all come in these like little, you know, oval type things with there's probably like, I don't know, maybe two sets or something in each of these and there these are $25 And the reason why like these, like I was saying is the quality is very nice. They they look very natural. They feel like good. They're made really well and there's

Unknown Speaker 10:00

All these different styles all these different lengths so you can mix and match and I'm not an expert in this at all. But if you look online and this is how I learned to do it, there's a million videos to show you exactly how to do it. Like ranging from beginner to advanced, the some of the advanced videos are like people are taking lashes and then they're putting like another lash, they call it like stalking and they put another lash on top of it. So it's super like thick and dramatic. So there's all these like really cool looks you can do if you're into it. I mean, I'm just doing it for like basic. But there's a lot of different looks you can do. And you can customize it. And so sometimes I'll put like something dramatic on the end, but then something more natural over here. So you just can kind of play with it once you got comfortable. So that's lash fi like I said the lashes are $25 and then the kit, the starter kit was $125. But it comes with like the one that clamps the lashes that comes with lashes. It comes with all the stuff you need, like the the glue, the CRM, the Yeah, all this stuff. So do you can you reuse them? Or when? Or do you just have to throw them away after you've worn them? I throw them away. You can reuse them. I've seen people online who take those out and they clean them with alcohol and they reuse them. I just don't because I don't know. I should try. I think I tried it once and I couldn't get it to work. There's probably definitely a way to reuse them. And I probably should do that. But I don't know if I wear them enough because I haven't I have a couple other brands too that I've been experimenting with. But yeah, I would definitely be more economical to just reuse them. And there's definitely when it comes to a lot of cool things. It looks like there's a Yeah, it comes with a lot. And the cool thing about lash fi too is there's so many videos and so much education. There's like a million YouTube shorts and like a great Instagram channel. And like if you're into it, like I am, like I said you get into the minutia of all this stuff. You can like figure out how to do it and teach yourself how to do it. So. So that's lash fi and I really like it a lot. And Ben Yeah, wearing a lot of these. So I'll like usually save these if like, I don't know I have an event or these are like my nicer ones. Then I have another brands, which I don't know if you've seen online but this one's called Head candy. And these are more affordable option. And this I saw all of our tic toc. But this is a little bit different. It's actually the same technique, which is great. I don't know if you can see these dashes. But it comes in a different way. So it comes in a big palette and this one I got has size 1012 and 14 or something so you can mix and match within the palette which makes it nice. And you can kind of make your own looks. So this one is $43 for the whole set. And the cool thing about this is they have this you really don't have to think about I think the last refi one can be a little bit intimidating because there's all these different styles and all these different locks and it's hard to know like what you want what looks good. This head candy brand is like a lash system. And essentially they have let's see 12345 They basically have like five or six versions and this one I believe Yeah, this one's called smoke shows Ilana and it's just it's more of like

Unknown Speaker 13:14

it's not dramatic, I'd say more of like a volume look but then they have another one called everyday le I have those two I haven't tried them yet and the lashes a little bit less thick, a little bit smaller, more natural looking. And so you it kind of takes the guesswork out of it. So you just buy those and then you just use the different sizes based on where you're putting it on your eye and you're good to go. And the same thing here. So this one comes with three. I mean you have to buy these separately but like the three things that you need. I forgot to mention in lash fi which has this too there's also a remover. So if you want to take them off and you don't want them to just naturally fall off you can just use a remover which is basically like an oil and you put it on and it just comes off with like a washcloth super easy. So with this cluster cluster lash system, you can also get this set which is $12 and it has the glue, it has the serum and it has the remover. The funny thing is is I've used this a lot with the lash of eyelashes because this glue sometimes is a little bit better, it's a little bit stronger. So I tend to like this glue better but I kind of mix and match and play with it. The lash fi also

Unknown Speaker 14:21

not overcomplicated but they have the glue that you put on your eye they also have another thing that came with my kit so I've been using it but you certainly don't need it. It's like another glue that's like a lighter glue that's like a white and you can put that directly underneath your lashes to give you like a guide which is helpful especially in the beginning. But that also comes with the lashes I kept that this one I think these are just as good and I've been using these to like mix and match just depending on and what's the name of that one. That's the end so you like to head candies lose the most with the lash of eyelashes so far. Yeah, but again, I mix and match. The other thing that I found that makes the lashes stay longer is if you clean

Unknown Speaker 15:00

Your lashes before you put these on. So you use, I liked the lash like cleaner, actually, you just clean your eyes, make sure they're dry after you clean them, and then you do the glue. So both good options, I think the lash Nephi, you can make a look a little bit more natural because they have all the different styles for as the head candy, it's like you pick one style, and you sort of just can style it up based on the different sizes. I mean, you could mix and match if you've got different palettes, which I have. But I haven't really tried that yet. So those are really good. And the most affordable and like easy to travel with. And you just throw them on. And those are the first ones I tried before I tried the last Nephi. And I was like, oh my god, this is amazing. And as like soon as I put them on, they were so easy. And I was like this is great. And then I wanted to try the lash fi just to like, you know, just shut up. But the last reply is like a little bit more complex, I would say. But once you get used to it, it's fine. So that's those two love those. And then the third option is

Unknown Speaker 16:01

what I tried, because I saw it online and I ended up not really loving it. But it's it's kind of a fun option if you need lashes for the night. So these are these are the kiss brand and they're called impress press on falsies eyelash clusters. So this takes it even an easier step. And these are literally like stickers. You don't need glue. You don't need the tweezer you know, anything. They're just here. This one's off the thing. So I'll just show you. They're just the clusters and you can just stick them underneath your eye. Like I was showing you before. Oh my God this day, and you just got sick. I know they're they last for very long. Yeah. They left for the night. That's like that's that's my my alley. I feel like I could get into Yeah, it's super easy. I think they look good. The problem with these is there only one length, you can't. And I don't even know what length these are. But they're the ones that I bought about two different styles. So again, they have two different styles like this one's probably a little bit more Oh yeah. Matic and maybe this one's more natural, but they're long, they're not, you can't really customize the size. And for like my eyes, I can't wear these long lashes. Like they look really bad. So I put them on and they're fine. They're good for like a night event when you know, you want to do a dramatic look. But I wouldn't wear these during the day. But they're super easy. And like, you know, last for the night. And they're fun. I'm sure they'll start coming out with more maybe shorter sizes. But yeah, they're all the same length. They just have a few different sizes. And that actually, I think they're 20 Let me say yeah, these are 90 Literally like so yeah, onto your eyelashes. And yeah, like it says on the box, just pressing that you just put it's the same method you just stick them on and then it comes with this little tweezer which is such a you know knockoff of the nice one. And you put them on and you just do this and like press them in.

Unknown Speaker 17:50

So those are great. If you don't want the mass if you don't want to deal it takes like two seconds and you're done. The other ones take a little bit more time but they once you really learn how to do it it probably five minutes. That's how long it takes me now but used to take me longer when I don't know how to do it. The other thing I forgot to mention is this head candy one comes with tweezers that I happen to like better they're more of like traditional regular tweezers. So you don't necessarily have to buy it but I didn't have any just regular tweezers. And for me I find these easier to work with so I just do the lash. You know do this you need a close up mirror and just do it. And to me this is easier than like that other one the other one just is like too big for my hands, but it's really just preference and learning what you like but anyway, I think you should experiment it also really I'm gonna try the sun the sun ones just because I feel like flick for a night out. Yeah, my lashes have grown so much on that serum that I people asked me if I have fake eyelashes now.

Unknown Speaker 18:47

Yeah, wow. Oh my God, that's incredible. The other thing about the head candy ones which they recently came out with, which I also bought and I'm wearing today, they have brown ones. So I've been wearing the brown ones a lot because they're again more natural like these are black and they're really pretty. But you know when you're fair sometimes when you wear the black so dramatic the brown just kind of like looks even more natural. It really doesn't look like I'm wearing like these you can kind of tell I'm wearing a lash extension who cares, but the brown ones I think are pretty like yeah, it looks very natural. But it's it's like very nice. Speaking of Brown, I just liked a sidebar. I only use brown eyeliner for that exact reason because the black is like too harsh and doesn't look natural. So I'm obsessed with you brown eyeliner that maybe i'll reveal in next product junkies. Yeah, okay, good. So those are the glue type extensions that go under the eye that I highly recommend supernatural really easy, pretty and you don't have to wear mascara so I haven't worn mascara and forever. I do take them off sometimes and I have a break for a few weeks and then I wear mascara and it's fine, but it's just good to have the option. So

Unknown Speaker 20:00

Speaking of serums because you were just talking about CRMs in when I wear the the lashes or even when I'm not wearing the lashes I started doing because I noticed when I did the real extensions that my eyelashes once I got them off they were much shorter than they used to be. Which is another reason I wanted to stop doing the lashes these do not damage your lashes I have used them for like I don't know 678 months and my eyelashes have been fine. The other ones I think are just like you know they're really glued in so I think that you can lose eyelashes from it so I got a friend that told me her lashes were falling Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 20:34

Yeah but these lash Rifai etc. They do not do any of that which is fabulous. But what I've been doing while I'm using these lashes at night is I put on the lash serum and I tested a few different versions that I know you have one that you love, but the one that I love is called Torres and honor enhancing eyelash and brow serum is from Amazon. It's supposedly on natural it's $22 The reason why I like this is because it doesn't contain an ingredient con pro stag Dilantin. I don't know if I'm even saying it right PPro sta je la n di N I had read that that specific ingredient which is in most lash serums can make the under eye darkness sting if you're using these lash serums a lot so I was using grande lash which you know everybody uses and loves and I I did like it I used it for probably a month and it did grow my eyelashes but then I started reading or maybe seeing on tick tock about this ingredient pro lag press dangling pan whatever this is that it can do that to under your eyes and I was like okay, I definitely don't want that and then I had seen that this term was an honor was one that didn't have and I read the ingredients and it didn't have it and it says it doesn't have anything Vega more is another one that doesn't have that. So I tried this one and ever since I tried this one like I've loved it my eyelashes have gotten so long and my eyebrows have grown like crazy. And so I've been really happy with this one and it's funny when I'm not wearing my lashes and I put on mascara there's so long and like people have said to me the same thing like oh, I didn't realize you because I asked my mom I was like does it look like I'm wearing lashes? I go Yeah, I thought you were I go no, that's my lashes I've been using the serum so it's actually really cool. Yeah, look it's probably in yours because it's in most of them and I don't know if you've seen that because if you haven't seen it then it's probably you know, it's probably fine for you but I just didn't want to right now so I'm very curious deal with that if I did yeah, I mean Yeah, yours is cool. You score last when you scolaro law it says it's a vegan eyelash serum. That's like the first thing that comes out Oh,

Unknown Speaker 22:41

okay so that I highly recommend I use that with my lashes and it's like it's so good. It's really grown my eyelashes and my eyebrows a ton. Okay, so I have two more products and these are more just like I treatment type thing. So this again is like another going into my okay so what is it is it it starts with a P How do you say yeah, process Dag lanton pr O S TA G la de not in squirrel ash. Oh excellent. Yeah, great. So score lash veg amour. And this Terrebonne are none of them have it which is good. But if you guys have lash serums you should look for that ingredient because it's not sensitivity right now talking about eye treatment. So this one that I've been trying over the last month or so it's going into my holy grail category. So remember how in our last product junkies I talked about that i Yeah, well that's good. Like if you just kind of want to fresh in your eyes. Yeah. So this product is something you put on before you do anything else and this is called the The brand is cor ace K O R R E S is called the Greek yogurt wide awake Igel so it's like an eye gel serum. And it has caffeine in it. I think that's the only ingredients and it's for you know D puffing your eyes. It's so good see that? Like has this silver ball you know I love a roller literally feels amazing. And you just kind of do this around your eyes. I Mikayla you know on tick tock review this one and as soon as I saw it, I was like I have to try that. It feels so good. And it really works well in the morning so I just lather it up in the morning first of all it feels really good especially now with like Yeah, looks like it would be relaxing. Yeah so you could just use this on there on your own just to deep off the eyes but we could also do is put this on and then put on one of those like you know eye patches or whatever if you're really puffy and then it like it's like a double and it just sinks in but anyway this is so good. So I've been using this in the morning and then I'll put on you know one of my favorites like I do that color correct or something over it and it just like it also is good too because it's almost like a serum so it's not as like slippery as cream so it just kind of like make sure under I moisturize too. So I love this and it's really cold and what is so good. It's really good for makeup prep. It's called cor cor s i think is the brand Kay

Unknown Speaker 25:00

O R R E S and it's called the Greek yogurt wide awake Eye Gel. I bought it on Alta it's $29 so yeah so I think like between this and the oil from last time it's like such good i products I'm loving it and then the last thing is found a new concealer, which is really good. It's called lawless and of naturalness. This is called Lawlis. The brand is spelled L A. W Eliot, l e s s lawless and this one's called conceal the deal. Lightweight full coverage concealer with caffeine there we go caffeine again, the reason why I like this is like I never wear a full coverage concealer because it's always too sick. It doesn't feel good, like even that elfin that you reviewed I have that and I like it but it gets cakey on me but maybe with some of these gels that wouldn't it just doesn't work for me this one's great because it really does feel like skincare and like they said it's lightweight but it's full coverage so it's like really clearly and really moisturizing like it doesn't feel like a concealer and it's so good under the eyes like you literally need like the tiniest dot and then you can just kind of like you know rub it rub it out like he's like

Unknown Speaker 26:15

he's Kosis concealer

Unknown Speaker 26:17

you know I tried Kosis ones and I returned it because I didn't I thought it was very dry. I wonder if you've maybe had a different one than I don't know and I have the ones that I have are very very lenient moisturizing I know and everybody says that about the closest ones but I tried it and for some reason it like didn't react well with my skin it like it like I put it on and it got like interesting you know those dry patches but that was also before I was using like these like serums under my eyes so maybe it's different now. But anyway, I love this one this lawless and it has like tons of different tons of different colors is $26 a great one I have a really quick little I hack that you just reminded me of for those those of my girls out there that use the LaRoche posay Toller rain face cream, it says on there that it's safe for eyes and I have been out of ice cream and I there's one that I really liked that I wanted to get and it's just been it's been like on backorder it's it's an old eight Hendrickson one so I been using my LaRoche around my eyes and it's honestly it is just as nice as a nice eye cream and moisturizing. Oh, it's very

Unknown Speaker 27:28

it's like it's just like the right finish and the right texture for around your eyes. So it's it's a good thing to have. That's yeah, it's moisturizer and you just use it around your eyes if you need to, which is good in a pinch. Nice great I love that. So I think that's all I could go on and other eye products but that's that doesn't matter reviews for the day just the the eyelash extensions were a big one because I had been testing it for so long. And then the other ones are really good. Yeah. And so hope this was helpful for all of our listeners going into the summer and wanting to have a natural new Omega Tamale and I like that you're not doing eyelash extensions anymore because I feel like you were gonna like kill your eyelashes which I think if people do that repeatedly over and over and over again it'll do that. So this these are great alternative options. I love it. I can't wait to try them. Nice. All right, well, that was a great eye episode and I loved like interviewing you. sigh Thanks, Katie. Thanks for listening to Nirvana sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes please subscribe and leave us a review. also find us on Instagram at Nirvana sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana sisters will continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 106 - The A-List Approach: Makeup Tips For Every Occasion With Celebrity Makeup Artist, Christina Flach (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 106 .

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here.

Amy 0:06

Welcome to Nirvana sisters podcast where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state your nirvana. We are sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman.

Speaker 2 0:18

And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation

Amy 0:31

Welcome back to the show Nirvana sisters family. It's Amy and Katie and we are joined by Christina flax, celebrity makeup artists. We're so excited that she is here. Let me tell you a little bit about her before we get started because this is pretty incredible. Christina flax is a makeup artist and the CEO and founder of pretty girl makeup. Her celebrity clientele includes Condoleezza Rice, Hilary Swank, Isaiah Washington, Melissa McCartney, Rita Moreno, Renee Zellweger, Tyler, Florence and more. She has worked with high end brands such as Gucci and Louie Vuitton has been featured in campaigns for Macy's, Neiman Marcus Saks Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdale's, and has been featured in magazines, including Vogue time, people, and Elle. In addition, Christina also writes articles about the best tips, tricks and hacks in makeup, which we're so excited to hear about, and is featured as a beauty expert on California live on NBC amongst a lot of philanthropy and a lot of other things. So, welcome to the show. Christina. We're so happy to have you here.

Unknown Speaker 1:29

Well, thank you for having me today. Excited?

Amy 1:33

Yes. So we always start out the show with our nirvana of the week, which is like, take a step back, take a breath. Think about something that brought us joy this week. And I'm gonna hand it over to Katie, as I think about mine, because it's been quite the week.

Unknown Speaker 1:51

minutes and think about something right.

Amy 1:53

I know, right? Sometimes that comes easily. And sometimes I'm like, wait, I really got to, I really got to think through my week.

Speaker 2 1:59

Yeah, I think we're all in that boat. This week. The first half of my week was kind of nuts. And then yesterday, I tried to wake up and reset the day and I did a little morning manifestation while I was having my coffee. I just thought, Alright, this is the way I want the rest of the month to go. The first day of the month did not start out the way I wanted. So let's try a little reset. And I manifested some things with my work. And I have to tell you, it's really insane. All of a sudden, yesterday, I was hit with like a lot of work, things that I wanted, coming at me some great opportunities. It was kind of wild. So I think that was my nirvana. I had a just like a flux of opportunity yesterday. So it's my gosh,

Amy 2:36

that's awesome. Congrats. Thanks.

Speaker 2 2:40

Everyone should have, right yeah. What about you, Amy?

Amy 2:43

This is you're gonna laugh. So this is good and bad. So my husband came down with like the virus that's going around this week, and he's totally fine. It was like one of those one day viruses. Anyway, he slept in the other room one of the nights to that night, my two dogs slept with me. They normally don't sleep in our bed. So it was my Nirvana because it was just so sweet. Because they were cuddling with me all night. And it's like the best feeling having their like, coziness, just like against you. And like that heavy feeling. So anyway, that was like super sweet. So I would say that was my Nirvana this week. But what about you, Christina?

Speaker 3 3:15

My Nirvana this week is was I was down in Makita watching my son Nikolai played in a golf tournament. That time with him watching him do what he does, and going out to dinner with he and his teammates. And it was the first two days were nice, warm and sunny, and I'm walking this golf course. And I just thought, wow, I am so blessed that I get to be down here watching my my love my big love, son. You know, play golf.

Amy 3:42

Oh my gosh, how old is your son? That one is 22 Wow, is does he play in like a with a group or like, what kind of tournament team? So cool. Yeah, that sounds

Unknown Speaker 3:56

like a really good yeah. Jealous. Beautiful day too, I'm sure.

Speaker 3 3:59

Yes. And then the last thing which wasn't so Nirvana ish, was walking the golf course in the pouring rain with an umbrella.

Unknown Speaker 4:07

Oh, no. It's still

Unknown Speaker 4:09

fine, but it was just a little

Amy 4:11

old. So let's get started. First of all, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself and we want to hear about your makeup line. Pretty cool makeup.

Speaker 3 4:19

Well, I am celebrity makeup artist and I am the creator and founder and CEO of pretty girl makeup and actually creating a new line with my partner Jordan. We are creating a new line called I'm too busy, which I am. I am also a sepsis awareness advocate. I am a philanthropist. I have started two educational funds at the Northern Light school in Oakland, California for underprivileged children. And I also helped start the bo Friedman outdoor classroom with Ed McGuire school in Mill Valley, California.

Unknown Speaker 4:56

Sounds like you're too busy.

Speaker 3 4:59

I'm a mother. Five and wow oh my gosh

Unknown Speaker 5:03

pretty cool. Is it is it a lip line? Pretty girl makeup

Speaker 3 5:07

right now it is it has. I've had it for over 15 years that I've had shadows eyeliners mascaras, but I've shrunk it down right now to a lip line. And we are going to be expanding I'm too busy into a full line of skincare and makeup products but just the products that one needs. You know, we don't I can't tell you how many times women tell me Oh, I went to the department store and I went and they sold me all this stuff and it seemed good at the time but I don't use any of it and I don't know how to use any of it and I don't need it. But I really want it to be what you need. Mascara, eyeliner, Shadow concealer, blush bronzer, some lip products, the end that's it? I know, you know, you're trying to the problem is that when people go to department store they think they're dealing with just a makeup artist and you have to keep in mind they are salespeople and what they need what they're trying to do is sell

Amy 6:02

and they do Yeah, it's that's so smart

Speaker 3 6:06

client and then they're just I think that people start resenting companies because they're buying products that they don't need and don't use and then they don't trust you because they're you know, you're they're buying things that are not using so the next time they go they're not really going to be quite I don't think is inclined to buy something if they didn't use it.

Speaker 2 6:27

Yeah, and it's good to know as a celebrity makeup artist that you have these like these holy grail items that you feel confidently this is all one really needs. You just said let's let's list those again. You said mascara,

Speaker 3 6:41

mascara, eyeshadows eyeliner, lip liner, blush, some foundation, concealer, sunscreen Scarah needs to be swapped out I would say every two to three months. kind of starts drying out. And foundation. I cannot tell you the funny stories people tell me about how they match their foundation to their skin. I have heard the inside of their arm. I've heard their face. I have their hand in their face. I have heard like their thigh. i You've heard everything. And if you think about it, like look at the difference of color of my face and my

Amy 7:21

Yeah, so how do you do because I actually never know.

Speaker 3 7:24

Okay, so here's the deal, you go in there and you do I mean, the best thing would be to have like natural lighting, right? But you want the foundation to disappear. It doesn't need to be to light it doesn't need to be dark. It needs to literally disappear and that's the right color.

Amy 7:42

Okay, that's a lot and so many people buy online now obviously and so it's impossible. Yeah, it's easy, I

Speaker 3 7:49

think okay, I think you can reorder but I think it's really hard to tell the true shade of the foundation I mean, I know they have all these different apps and ways to help but I think personally I need to see it and see what it does is my skin in my light it's it's very it's too complicated to do online I think

Amy 8:09

ya know, it's really hard foundation here because

Speaker 3 8:13

I mean think about it how much wasted product you know if it's not the right color, are you gonna ship it back? Are you going to like I don't know. I just think it's better to try some of these things in person.

Speaker 2 8:25

Yeah, I agree. And I have ordered makeup online and it was kind of a fail. So if concealer sorry rather if foundation needs to disappear. How do you pick your concealer color Is it meant to be a little bit brighter.

Speaker 3 8:39

Okay, so I do so I would put down eye cream first super important to keep that area hydrated and not dry. I don't use powder under the eyes it shows fine lines and wrinkles. So with concealer, I just genetically have dark circles under my eyes and my eyes are just colored my lids are just colored everyone so I do like one lighter, like probably two or three shades lighter. I have one that's pretty much matches the foundation so I'll do the light one under on the whole lid and kind of blend it in. Then I'll put on the foundation super light and then I'll do another round of concealer on top of that so I have probably two or three layers of concealer but it's super light and blended in. You don't want to put a big glob of it because it just it doesn't look well so it's important to you know use your makeup brushes or your hand and kind of pat it in and eat that area

Amy 9:36

light and what's the best way to keep concealer from creasing?

Speaker 3 9:41

Having the eye cream underneath and not putting powder on top? Yeah, want to keep that area moist. You know and using a concealer that you know has good you know a little bit of cream you want it a little bit not oily but you do want it to have some moisture and the It won't show as many lines

Amy 10:08

speaking of concealer and eye cream, we would love to know what is your favorite concealer and what is your favorite ice cream? Or a few of your favorites.

Speaker 3 10:15

Okay, so I am quite fond right now of the Bobby Brown. I like ours, I like pixie knee elastin has a really great eye cream. I also keep one of those roller things, you know those like Rose Quartz. Oh, yeah. I keep that in my freezer. And first thing in the morning. I have I put this is my whole routine. It's so cuckoo. I wake up I put a tablespoon of coconut oil in my mouth. You know I do that pulling thing. And then I get roller and I just take away any swelling and inflammation under my eyes and my lids. And then I you know, go from there. Water, lemon and vitamins and tea.

Unknown Speaker 11:01

Nice. Sounds like a good morning.

Unknown Speaker 11:04

It's a lot to be me. I gotta tell you.

Amy 11:07

That's not too bad, actually, ya know? Sometimes, I mean, sometimes we hear morning routines that are like super super long, so I don't think that sounds bad at all.

Speaker 2 11:16

Yeah, Oil Pulling thing too I need to get into I know

Amy 11:19

I read about that. What is that supposed to do? It takes away

Speaker 3 11:23

toxins out of your mouth. It's supposed to keep your teeth white. But I also just takes out any you know, bad stuff that any bacteria in your mouth but so after you do what they say to do it like 10 to 20 minutes, spit it out and brush your teeth. You've got to brush out all the yuck that pulled out so

Amy 11:41

we get gargle it for 10 to 20 minutes. And you just keep it in your mouth for

Speaker 3 11:45

like 10 to 20 minutes. Oh, interesting. Yes. And then spit it out and go brush your teeth and then continue on. Okay, your routine. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 11:58

Amy, could you do that? I'm looking at your face. I'm thinking you're like

Amy 12:01

I don't know if I could do that for 20 minutes. I feel like I would get grossed out.

Speaker 3 12:04

It takes practice some days I will do it for you know one or two minutes sometimes I do tend to it just depends. I don't I don't judge myself. Some days it's longer sometimes it's not. Yes. Nabil

Amy 12:16

noticed a difference your teeth are white.

Speaker 3 12:19

Well, I hope I try but again, you gotta just keep doing everything. See what works.

Speaker 2 12:26

So nice. All right. So what are some of your favorite some other products let's get into different categories here like favorite brands of bronzers and blushes. And then I would also love to hear your tips and tricks for choosing the right colors and you know applying bronzer the right way etcetera.

Speaker 3 12:45

So I have a my friend nanny page or our friend who's our nanny, she great trick called the strap and she uses bronzer right down under here. If you have any loose skin, eat that a little bit dark. I put a little bit of bronzer underneath the brow bone, you know I'm not underneath the cheekbone. And just give yourself a little bit of like Cabo color like you've been in Cabo for a few days without having that and I try to keep all that when I if you look at my portfolio and Christina flack.com all the faces you'll see you don't really I mean unless it's a crazy fashion shoot but I like people to look like they have fresh dewy skin and pretty eyes and just really clean and fresh. And so I like to keep the eye colors just kind of in the palate of your hair. You know your skin in your hair and your eyes. Though it's typically like an egg Nagi color on the whole lid. I fill in brows whether it be with a shadow or a pencil. Eyebrows being filled in is it monster thing to me like it has to everyone needs their brows filled in. It's it makes such a difference it frames the face, it just looks polished, I love that look. With with the liner, I will I'd like to make a thin line on the top and the bottom. So I will pull up the the brow and put the liner as close into the lash line as possible and I keep it thin if it's thick, it's going to make the eyes look smaller and our goal always is to make our eyes look larger. And with liquid liner, that to me is a nighttime thing. I do not like seeing it in the day, especially with people that have fair skin and blonde hair and black liquid liner. I think it looks atrocious. You do like with a shot with eyeliner. I will put a shadow on top and so it'll soften the look but it will you know take away any mistakes that that we make and we all make them I make them but it's a good way even with a liquid liner. But you know you put it on you make a little mistake if you put a shadow a line of shadow on top. It will soften the look and you know that's a good idea.

Amy 14:58

I never thought to do that you're right because they need Do that liquid liner. If you don't have a

Speaker 3 15:03

commitment, you've made a commitment to the right liner. So

Amy 15:06

you just put some shadow on top. I like that. So here's my question because I always struggle with this for eyeshadow. How do you find the right colors? And like, what's your I don't have a template for like an easy application of it, because I just feel like again, that's a commitment and you're What if you put on the wrong color and it's a whole thing and I never know the right colors?

Speaker 3 15:30

Okay, so I would like with you, I would probably use like an egg Nagi color on the whole lid, fill in your brows. And then what color your eyes green, green. Okay, so are mine. So plum looks beautiful with green eyes. Hmm, well, I would do sometimes I will do a thin brown liner, and then put a plum shadow on top. That makes them stick out a little more. And then I will add the mascara you want the mascara to go, you know extended out of the corners. And then also I would probably do a thin another thin line of black liner. Not liquid but just black liner on top. So you don't really see it. It's kind of almost in the lashes. But it it makes them pop and they stick out a little bit more. We are seeing the plum.

Amy 16:14

And when you say plum, would you put plum all over do you put it just on the lid, you put it on the crease. Okay,

Speaker 3 16:21

so the whole lid is like an egg unagi color or maybe like you know, a sheer like just some straw. And then I'll put the liner and the shadow on the bottom and the top lids then and if I want to add a little bit more drama to the corners, I will add like a soft brown or the plum but just in the crease a little bit and blend, blend, blend. Yeah, make there's no mistakes like just remember, this is a one time deal you put on this shadow. And if you make a mistake, you use your finger or get a Q tip and blend it out or your makeup brush. Yeah, there's no I don't like people this there's no mistakes. It's just you have to try things sometimes. And it's always better to do a little do it in stages and do it a little less. Right and like a big, you know, a huge amount on your brush and then blend it in. It's you that's you can control things a little bit better if you do it in right a little

Amy 17:17

bit at a time. Yeah, exactly. Okay, well, that's helpful, because that's like the one thing I always struggle with. It's like it and it is true. You really do have to experiment because I think I end up just going back to what I always do just because I'm like, Oh, I don't want to experiment. But now it is a good thing to experiment with. And what about blush and bronzer like how do you find the right color? Is it trial and error is there like again, like a certain rule because I always get confused when I'm looking at a bronzer that says like, warm or cool or like, I don't know what any of these things mean. So I'm just like, how do you find the right bronzer for you?

Speaker 3 17:52

Okay, I would get something that's not too dark. You just want it to be a little bit. Give yourself a little bit of color. So something not too strong. Still a little bit darker than what you have. You just want to have you just want it to be a little bit of you don't want it to be so dark that your face looks dirty.

Amy 18:12

Right? You just want like you said before, I'd like to be say Cabo something.

Unknown Speaker 18:16

Cabo color,

Amy 18:18

color. That's what we all strive for. Oh, yeah. I love that. Okay, the What about the lush? What's the rule there?

Speaker 3 18:29

Okay, there's no rules. I just think with makeup. It's like what's pleasing to your eye, but I think you know what, blush looks great on everybody orgasm by NARS. That was kind of pretty much looks good on every skin tone. But you know, when you go you can I think I don't know my eyes trained differently than most people. So it's kind of unfair to say but I think you can put different blushes next to your skin and some will just kind of flow with what your color is. And others will go okay, that's a total No. So find one that's a no and then go from there and look for the opposite I do you see what I'm saying? Like you just kind of have to try it and see and just keeping things kind of neutral and not going too extreme. You don't want purple. Okay, you just to give you a little bit of a hue, a little bit of color.

Amy 19:21

Yeah, and where's the best place to put blush? Like do you put it kind of higher ups you put it in the apples?

Speaker 3 19:29

Oh, I typically will put a little bit of bronzer like right here to contour. I don't like this contour and it's like so excessive. It's just a little bit under here, a little under the strap. And then I will get you know some blush and just put it kind of like right in here up a tiny bit. And they also like to put a little bit of, you know, highlighter, like right above here. I think it's just nice and it just gives a pretty look and then I can put some you know, contouring on each side of the nose and a Little bit of highlighter, straight down. But I just tried to sample like this morning I was up at, I don't know 330 At a photoshoot for Bloomberg and I am you know, I can't see this is the thing about my job. I can't go to work looking too terrible. I have to look relatively presentable.

Amy 20:20

Okay, right. You have to be done up.

Speaker 3 20:22

Yeah. Because if I can't keep myself together, how am I going to? How's anyone gonna trust me? So my sister was here this morning and she's like, it's 330 What are you putting makeup on? I'm like, because do you think anyone is going to want to like deal with me when I can't deal with myself. So it's a little bit of, you know, the concealer, the eyeshadow and some mascara and just a little bit of cheek and lip. And that's it. It's just simple. So I don't frighten people.

Amy 20:53

doubt that

Speaker 2 20:55

what was the AMI the other day we were saying we were talking about highlighters. And she Amy was the first person that introduced me to highlighters years ago. And she had this like pearly white highlighter. And then I have some that have more of a gold undertone. And we were saying how we know which color highlighter we should be using our skin tones because we have very different skin tones. I'm more of like an all of them, she's more fair.

Amy 21:18

And there's so many highlighters now, and so many different colors,

Speaker 3 21:21

like so many, but I think you just kind of have to pick the one that feels good and looks good to you. Because that is the big thing. I speak about beauty from the inside out. When someone feels good on the, you know, when you feel good about yourself, you're going to be happy, you're going to have just a much more pleasant demeanor. And so, you know, keeping things kind of neutral, you just don't want anything too extreme, even with the highlighters, like, you know, I think a little bit of a gold hue would look. You know, obviously, it's probably better on an olive skin, but both of them would work. Okay. All right, because you just want them there. You want it to be a hint of it. It's not going to be a big,

Amy 22:03

right.

Speaker 3 22:06

Here's the thing. I don't ever want to look at a face and go oh, highlighter, huh? Blush you got, like, I don't really want to know like, oh, okay, there's like 17 products going on right there. I just want to go Oh, she looks fresh and doing pretty. And that's that I don't want anything to stick out too much. And I threw that in mind to just keep things kind of just natural and pretty and fresh. You'll look fantastic.

Amy 22:37

Back to I just had a question about the bronzers and the blushes. What do you prefer cream or powder? What are your thoughts? They're

Speaker 3 22:45

either good. I think if you you know the, you know, the cream one sometimes if you feel like your skin is dry, then that's kind of nice. It gives a nice little moisture there but you know, you're there. They're both there. They're both good. There's not one that's better than the other.

Amy 23:05

I've been really into creams lately probably because I have dry skin so you're right it like feels good. And I just feel like it looks better. Sometimes the powder I feel like sometimes sets but yeah, because I'm dry so that makes sense.

Speaker 2 23:15

Okay, so then the glowing dewy look we all love it's kind of helps you with the no makeup makeup luck as well. So you obviously drinking and staying hydrated. Do you have some products that you'd love to start the base of the face with to get to achieve that?

Speaker 3 23:30

Well, Vitamin C Serum is really good. I love hacia I like new elastin. I love these products. They're really there's so many great products out there. Sunscreen is huge, huge, huge, and you need to put it on your hands. It's so funny. I was in the desert and I was speaking to someone I think it was my son's golf coach. And he said yeah, women can hide their age in their face but as soon Oh knows with my agent was it my agent was in the desert. We were having coffee and he said you can really tell someone's age by their hand because people don't typically put sunscreen on their hands so their hands really show their age so it is really important to put sunscreen on your hands as well as your face your neck and your chest.

Amy 24:15

Yeah, that's a good tip to remember to put it on the hands I definitely sometimes forget that super important specially when you're driving right because like lay on your hand.

Speaker 3 24:23

How much time our hands are being exposed to heat. I would get a stick one so it's not you know for the car just Just remember to put that in. But it you know, investing in a good sunscreen is really important. Winter as well. I say to my clients, sunscreen is 365 days of the year. I don't care if it's snowing, raining Sunny.

Amy 24:46

Totally agree. Yeah,

Unknown Speaker 24:47

we only need to protect you can't protect your skin enough.

Amy 24:50

What's your favorite sunscreen?

Unknown Speaker 24:52

SkinCeuticals I think is one I like

Amy 24:54

yeah, a lot of people say that a lot of people say Elta MD we've got we've got

Speaker 3 24:59

that one too. So yeah, when it's like a little bit tinted and that's what's nice about a tinted moisturizer, and it gives you a little bit of sunscreen, but, you know, like, the found the foundations like Bobby Brown and Nars, they all have a little bit of sunscreen. So you know having that sunscreen and then putting on that foundation that has since you're getting protected, but you do need to reapply we forget. We think oh, I put it on the morning. Well, you're gonna need to put it on and like especially I was walking on this golf course and I didn't have any with me. I broke my own rule. Or my son said Oh, Mom, you broke your own law. I did break my own law. I didn't have to reapply and I could tell my skin got a little bit color which I do not want it to have. I want to control the color on my face. I don't want the sun Yes, it ages you and I'm

Amy 25:48

yeah it's funny Katie and I both love this product reviewed it on one of our shows the some balm. It's like a sunscreen spray like a spread so and it's great because it's a good I ever since I got that product, I bring it with me because it's so much better to like refresh your face with it. Because it's like, I don't know. It's like cooling and moisturizing and it feels good. But then you don't feel like you're rubbing stuff on your face after you have makeup on. So it's like good to just spray. So it's got about that product. But yeah, that's a good one.

Speaker 3 26:18

Many great products out there. You know? And what's really cool about like going somewhere like Sephora, they have all those little sample areas or like small set travel size. Yeah, that's a great way to try a new product to see if you like it. That way you're not investing a ton of money.

Amy 26:35

Yes, I'm big into the trial sizes. I just and I it's funny because a lot of the trial sizes I end up buying the big size like it's so smart that Sephora also the all starting to do that because then you're not wasting products and you end up you know, really getting what you want.

Speaker 3 26:49

It's really great. And I you know, I even though I have my own company, and I'm really blessed. It's kind of funny. I'm kind of like two things. I'm a makeup artist, and then I own a company. So brands still send me products, which I love. It's like Christmas I love Yeah. And I love going into Sephora and looking at all the new products. It inspires me it helps me create new products and think of things that I like, you know that I want to try for my own brand.

Amy 27:18

Okay, let's talk about lipstick and gloss. Katie was saying to me the other day she can never find a flattering red. I don't want to read that much. I guess I would if I found one that I liked but it just seems so like, dramatic to me because it's so bright. But once again like no you said there's no rules but like what tends to look good on certain like skin types in terms of lipstick and gloss. Like I always love a neutral vibe. But sometimes I put on color and I like it too. But I just never know like what looks right.

Speaker 3 27:47

Well, I think you know, again, it's the for has little tester, lip pencils. So I'd start with that matte lipstick typically makes your you know drying and makes your lips look smaller. If you want your lips to appear fuller. liner, lipstick gloss gloss help make your lips appear fuller. As for a red, you know, reds are interesting. They either look great or horrible. There's no middle. Oh, I think I a nice blue red looks good. You have to just kind of mix with the colors, like just mix with different colors. And just try it and see what feels good to you what feels comfortable. If that, you know it's one of those things where it may feel really good to you. Like a like a deep burgundy red looks so great on some people and then some people orangey red, I don't really love an orangey red. But some people it looks nice. Sometimes a shear will look better. So it's not such a commitment. You know, sometimes just a big red lip. That's great. I have never worked like I never feel

Speaker 2 28:55

good when I put it on. So that should just be enough to say,

Amy 28:59

No, I know but that luck is so pretty. When I see people do that. I just feel like I can pull it out. You could pull it off Katie because you have like big lips.

Speaker 3 29:06

I agree. I think it's lovely. But you know, here's another thing that I'll do sometimes I will put the lips the liner on the lipstick and then I will get a Q tip and wipe it all off. And it's just stained enough and then I'll put a lip gloss on top and that's like the perfect little amount of red like Nyquil. Too much your lips a bit stained. And the gloss is giving the illusion of your lips appearing fuller. Not too bold and because it's you know when you put in that the red, if you're outside if you make a mistake, again the Q tips good you can get your foundation and kind of clean it up with a brush. But it's no it's kind of a thing. It's a commitment. Commitment, right. All right and doesn't work and that's when you just get some you know makeup oil or wipe a wipe and just wipe it off. Start over. Yeah, there's no reason to get comfortable with how you're looking right? I don't think you have to. You know, you want to love how you look. And then I don't know sometimes it's just in some days, it looks better than other days, just, you know, depends on your mood and what you're wearing. And

Amy 30:17

I know sometimes I have this one. It's like I've had it forever because I never would have this one hot pink lipstick. And the only time I wear is if I'm like getting dressed to like, go out at night to like an event and I'm wearing like all black because for some reason, I just feel like it looks better. And I just looked so different when I wear it. It's funny, but like, occasionally I'll throw it out. But yeah, I never felt comfortable. I just feel like it's so bold. Okay, so we've been talking about all this makeup and putting on makeup.

Speaker 3 30:41

Think about that though. Like I know what you were just saying about that lipstick. But think about if you just put it on your lip and then wiped it off with a Q tip. You still have like a hint of it. Yeah, so it's version of it.

Amy 30:53

I'm gonna try that. I love that idea. That hat. Okay, so we've been talking about putting on makeup and what types of makeup and colors and all that How about taking it off? What's the best way to take it off? What Kind Of Products Do you like to clean your skin?

Speaker 3 31:08

Okay, so I don't care what you use to take your makeup off with. I love almond oil. I have Bobbi Brown told me that once like is this jar like this? She gets it on Amazon. It's like $10.08 or $10 and almond oil. Though I just have that on my counter. I will put like a quarter size on my face. I wipe it all over my face and then I get a makeup white. Remove everything. I can't stress enough how important it is to get the mascara eyeshadow, everything off your face at the end of the day. I cannot tell you how many people come up to me and brag. I'm the last person that you should tell this to rag that you don't take your mascara off. Katie I'm like

Unknown Speaker 31:52

why is it so bad?

Speaker 3 31:54

Well first of all your your lashes need to breathe. If they've got like a you know a chemical on them, you know they're gonna fall out it's just not good for your lashes or your skin. And you can't get like the lashes the mascara on the next day when it's already like thick and goopy. It's really just a really bad habit for your eyelashes.

Speaker 2 32:18

Do you have a favorite eye makeup remover then because Amy was saying she always has a problem with the oiliness that gets in the eye when you're with some of those remembers Do you have one that's not so oily?

Speaker 3 32:28

I like oil so I mean I'm hardcore like I put all you know coconut oil I love I put apricot oil and then I get up why I will do the makeup wise or toilet paper just get off the the you know, major part of it but I always I get these black wash claws at Target like stacks of them and I get wet with warm water or cold and then I washed my face with that every night

Amy 32:56

yeah, I was I use like like a cleansing oil to wash my face that the mascara like never comes off even with oil and then it gets my eyes and whatever but I was saying to Haiti I've been like in the last year on and off trying fake eyelashes or DIY eyelashes because then I don't have to wear mascara and I hate wearing mascara because I hate taking it off because I'm rubbing my eyes and I feel like it's like putting wrinkles on my eyes because I'm constantly like rubbing it rubbing and rubbing it to get it all off. So I've been experimenting but I don't have them

Speaker 3 33:25

I wish like I love how fake eyelashes look and I had like I'm obsessed. But I like my oil on my face and that you can't have both

Amy 33:36

right? Right so with the with the lashes that's what I find like to clean like if I'm wearing eyeshadow I have to like really be careful around that area. It's annoying, but it really makes a huge difference. Yeah, I've been Katie knows I've been practicing eight we're going to do like a whole eyes episode because I have like all these new eye products but I've been trying the ones that are not strips but you put them underneath your eye, which you have to practice but they look really good. Okay, so we're gonna get into our wrap session. Thank you for all these awesome hacks and tips and tricks. I love it. Let's get into our quick wrap session. So what is your favorite wellness or beauty hack?

Unknown Speaker 34:12

Green Juice

Amy 34:14

good land. Okay, it's funny because we were kind of talking about this earlier on and you were saying with your pretty girl makeup line this is kind of what it's intended to do. But we call this our five minute flow so you just got out of the shower and dried up Uber just alerted you there five minutes away like what's your quick beauty routine? To get dressed get you know, get your clothes on put your makeup on and get out the door like what are those? The holy grails Okay, so you out on time?

Speaker 3 34:37

Um, Vitamin C Serum eye cream sunscreen concealer. I can I can do my face really pretty fast. I could probably do the whole thing in five minutes. So fill in the brows, some liner Datto mascara, I'm out of there.

Amy 34:52

And how do you maintain your daily nirvana?

Speaker 3 34:55

Well, I just make sure that I I love my life. Okay, let's just start with that. So I live in Nirvana pretty much most of the day. I did you think like, I love to work out I love to my family I you know, I like everything. I'm I'm Disneyland I like everything

Amy 35:10

we did to take some of that I love that.

Speaker 3 35:13

I try to have fun with everything I'm doing and stuff that I'm not too thrilled about. I'll just pretend I do until it's done.

Amy 35:19

Yeah. That's great. I love that and where can our listeners find you give us all your details?

Speaker 3 35:25

Okay, so you can go to Christina flack.com To see what I'm doing on NBC on California live or different photoshoots and pretty girl makeup.com And then pretty soon you will see I'm too busy.com and on Instagram Christina flax makeup and PR e TT YG IRL MK up pretty girl makeup and I'm too busy. We're not up there yet. But I know of my assistant.

Amy 35:50

reserved it. Nice. Yes. So

Unknown Speaker 35:53

and we're on Facebook and Twitter and

Amy 35:56

the things love it.

Unknown Speaker 35:57

Yeah, and tick tock yo.

Amy 35:59

Oh tick tock wants to check out your tick tock page. Well, thank you so much, Christina. This was very enlightening, and I'm gonna go mess around with all my makeup this weekend and experiment and not be scared to do it. So before we close, Katy has a mantra or quote that she is going to close this out with.

Speaker 2 36:16

Yes, I do. So speaking of beauty and feeling good. This is just a little something. Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself. I love

Unknown Speaker 36:27

that quote. I think that's great. All right. Well, thank

Amy 36:29

you again,

Unknown Speaker 36:31

you so much fun.

Amy 36:35

Thanks for listening to Nirvana sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes please subscribe and leave us a review. also find us on Instagram at Nirvana sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana sisters will continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.