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.

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