This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 15 Become Your Own Beauty Shaman With Shelly Marshall, Founder Of BeautyShamans Skincare.

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

Amy: 0:07

Welcome to Nirvana sisters, where we discuss all things health and well being to help you achieve your highest state your nirvana. Hi, I'm Amy Sherman, a marketing exec with a passion for wellness and beauty.

Katie: 0:19

Hi, I'm Katie Chandler, a former fit model that has a passion for health and fitness. We are

Amy: 0:25

sisters in law who share the same love for well being ready to sift through all the self care noise and bring you a splash of what we think is fun. So let's get started.

Katie: 0:36

In today's episode, we interview Shelly Marshall the founder of beauty shamans, she is a nurse Aesthetician and an aroma therapist. Her approach to skincare is clinical clean and holistic. I really

Amy: 0:49

loved this episode, Shelly taught us so much about guasha, face reflexology, and so much more. I have used a lot of the stuff she told us specifically the guasha around the neck, which you'll find out about in this episode. She did show us guasha over our video call. And we are going to put that up on our Instagram for our listeners because I think it's really helpful to watch her do it as she's explaining it, so we'll be sure to get that up. With that said enjoy the show. Hello Nirvana sisters family welcome to the show. Today we are so excited to talk to Shelly Marshall who is the founder of Beauty Shamans. She is a skin expert on a mission to raise the vibration of people's skin using non toxic products, rituals and tools. She is a nurse, an aesthetician and aroma therapist and her approach to skincare is clinical clean and holistic, which we love. She believes beauty is a mindset and a way of life. And that skin is a reflection of our daily habits of consumption both internally and externally. Her vision is to unite ancient beauty wisdom with modern science to help people fall in love with the skin, their end, and this end their skin within. So all that being said, welcome to the show. Shelly we are so excited to have you here. Katie and I have been talking about you and talking about this episode for a week. So we're glad it's finally here. And I watch your videos all the time. And they relax me and I try to you know mimic what you're doing in your Instagram videos. So thank you for being on the show.

Shelly: 2:26

Thank you guys so much for having me. I'm really excited to be here. Yay. So

Amy: 2:31

we are going to start with our nirvana of the week. And for our new listeners. This is just something in our week that brought us joy made us feel good and made us feel grateful. So mine this week was I did an outdoor yoga class, which I haven't done in a really long time. It was a beautiful day yesterday, it actually started out a little bit rainy, then the sun came out and just with 10 other women, we were outside doing yoga and I was just nice to be in nature breathing, doing yoga, stretching my body. It just felt so good. So that was my that was my moment of the week. What about you, Katie?

Katie: 3:02

That sounds great. Well, first of all, hi, Shelly. Thanks for being here. So my nirvana of the week, I think was coming home from traveling. We just had the kids on spring break. And I actually just had it right before we started, I went into my meditation space for the first time since I got back and was able to meditate and just kind of center myself and ground myself and just be in my very, like sacred private space again, after a week of being gone was really, really, really nice. So yeah, happy to be home. What about usually what was yours?

Shelly: 3:33

Wow, that's a good question. I was actually just home visiting family. And I don't know if this is a strength or a weakness, but for some reason, whenever I am on a vacation or seeing family, I completely forget about my phone, I forget about my emails, I forget about everything going on in my professional world. Sometimes even in my social world. It's really just a way for me to detach and come back to me. And and then it kind of just like, I feel very refreshed anytime I come back from a vacation because it's like a reset. Okay, this is this is how I actually want to live. Let's, you know, let's unwind a little bit more and detach a little bit more from electronics and the virtual world. So that was definitely my joyful Nirvana moment.

Katie: 4:20

Nice. It's so healthy is going off the grid. Essentially it Yeah, I love that. I need to try it. Well, let's get into it. I want to start with our quickfire questions, because we have so much to ask you. You are an aesthetician, you're also a nurse. Is it? Is it a nurse institution or is it two separate careers?

Shelly: 4:41

Well, it's both actually I work one day a week as a nurse at a hospital. I work in a radiology department. So we do a lot of procedural cases for cancer patients or people who need something less than surgery but they need some kind of intervention of some kind. So, so I do work. In that very medical setting, however, I am also and I started out this way I became a nurse later, but then you know, kind of went back to skincare. I started out as an Aesthetician doing skincare facials, you know, I dabbled with like laser stuff and like laser hair removal, waxing all the things. And so now I kind of combine the two, I still work at a hospital one day a week, I still work at a spa, you know, a couple days a week as well. But I also do a little bit of a, you know, combination. I'm a nurse injector as well. So for ladies who like to have their holistic skincare as well as their Botox or fillers, I kind of cater to their needs or guide them in which way however, however, they want to address their skincare, I can help them to sort of go one way or another. So it's kind of separate, but also combined at the same

Katie: 5:51

to that, yeah, very dynamic. So then how long when did you start your skincare line

Shelly: 5:57

that I started when I first became a nurse, and I started realizing just how all of the the manifestations that you see in a very ill person is the result of just years and years of your lifestyle adding up and you know, the ingredients that you have in your food, the ingredients that you have in your skincare, all of the forms of consumption that you are surrounding yourself with on a daily basis is sort of coming together. And for sadly, for a lot of people to great create this perfect storm of an illness or manifestation of some sort of disease. And so I you know, my first love is skincare. And I was realizing, you know, looking at patients, labs and stuff, how much the little micronutrients really mattered. So like we look at the labs, and that kind of tells us that something's off, or, you know, this, you know, their sodium is high, their potassium is down, like, and stuff like that. And so I discovered the powers of using seaweed, you know, internally, because it has so many minerals that has so many trace elements and vitamins and things that our cells need to sustain life and to regenerate optimally. And then kind of teamed up with a chemist and we came up with a seaweed skincare line, obviously, I totally believe in eating your seaweed and eating your algae because it's so powerful. In fact, I know you guys recently did a podcast with someone on that and I want to listen to that. Because I'm so I'm so convinced that that is the key to a healthy life and a healthy you know, being so anyway, because of that, it just kind of motivated me to create a skincare line so that people could be feeding their skin from the outside in, in hopes that it just kind of creates more balance for them on a on a more systemic as well as you know, topical and superficial level as well.

Katie: 7:55

Yeah, it's so science driven, though, which is really impressive.

Amy: 7:58

Just to about your background, like how did you get into this in the first place?

Shelly: 8:02

Yeah, sure. I mean, I started out really being obsessed with skincare from a really young age like nine or 10 Because I had very bad acne. And like none of my friends had it. I mean, eventually some of my friends had it but like I was really the first one and it was pretty bad I had it all over my face, my chest, my arms, my back, it looked like it looked like a disease it was very like it consumed my life. You know, when you have acne that yes, that is all your world is your world is you know looking in the mirror and seeing something that you're just not happy with. And so I was very self conscious I was you know, always shying away from pictures I felt very you feel very like unlovable when you have something that's so you know, quote unquote, ugly on your skin. And so and when you feel unlovable by other people it kind of makes you feel like you can't love yourself. And so I became really really obsessed with skincare and you know, through the years I just kind of went through a lot of internal trauma like self hate self, you know, trying to destroy myself in different ways subconsciously and consciously to it to a degree but you know, it is sometimes I feel like you have to hit rock bottom before you can kind of realize you know, the only way is up and there's so much really the the only choice that you really have to get through it is to think positively and to find the best and everything. So I really started you know, I had like why am magazines you guys remember flipping through I would cut out all the things about skincare I made like a little skincare Bible I you know, because we didn't have the internet those days and dermatologists were just Oh use nazima or Clara cell or whatever. There was no instruction. So I really had to figure it out all on my own. So I had all these resources. And then as I got older I started really looking into the internal you know the internal environment and how that plays such a huge role, building your skin from within and Not only with your food, but with your thoughts, with your emotions, with the things that you're reading with the things that you're watching on television, anything that you are subconsciously absorbing, or anything that you are physically absorbing, is going to have an impact on you on a cellular level, as well as how you manifest to the world and to yourself. And so it really just like it kind of just, there was no like, Aha moment, really, it just kind of kept piling on as the more and more I learned, the more I realized, I didn't know. And so I was just kept pulling at that thread, you know, and I'm still trying to unravel the sweater, so to speak, like, I'm still, you know, I'm still trying to get at it and, and improve, you know, my skin every single day. Because, you know, we look at ourselves and we still see flaws, I still see, you know, quote, unquote, flaws, but I work at it, and I'm happy with my skin now, you know, so it brought me to a place where I now love myself very much. And I want to help other people to find that process or whatever that looks like for them. So that they can also feel really great in the skin that they're in.

Katie: 11:03

Yeah, that's so powerful. And thank you for sharing that. Because that is really such a strong message for our listeners. It's so important. Yeah, that's,

Amy: 11:12

especially for the listeners with young daughters, who, especially nowadays with the internet, and all of these things, and filters. And yeah, I've been seeing so much backlash against filters lately, just speaking of that, because it's these kids that have no context for the broader what is real, for what is real and seeing these things. It's just like magnifies it. So imagine, like how you felt then with none of that. And now these kids, so it's like a really important message, just make sure these young girls are growing up with outside sort of inspiration and gratitude. And anyway, so thank you for sharing that. Definitely. Okay, so let's get into guasha. Because I discovered guasha, probably like, a year ago, but I don't really know what I'm doing. So if you can break down kind of what it is, why it's good, and all and

Katie: 12:03

how did you find it to like, Where Where does it come from?

Shelly: 12:06

Well, it's an ancient Chinese tradition. So really, acupuncturist have all the claim to fame for this technique. And, and I am not claiming to be a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner or an acupuncturist, but I have worked with a lot of them, and I learned specifically from an acupuncturist. So, so it is an ancient Chinese tradition. Gua means to scrape and SHA is like the blood or the sort of the energy that comes to the surface. And so traditionally, it was used for the body, and you know, sort of scraping across the skin to bring some blood flow, which helps to release any negative energy and you know, brings more circulation and healing to an area of injured or damaged tissue or stagnation. Now, for the face, it's become more of a, from what I see. And from what I know, it's become more of a trendy skincare thing. However, there's so much, there's so much to benefit from it that I don't really see it going anywhere, anytime soon. I'm very grateful that it has become so popular because it's such an amazing technique to use for the face primarily for lymphatic drainage. That is essentially what what we are trying to do when we're when we're using guasha. Yes, it's contouring the face. It's shaping the face, it feels good. It's a great self care ritual. It helps you connect with yourself and sort of just get in a more Zen state. But at its core, what we're actually really trying to do is promote lymphatic drainage, which helps to boost immunity. It helps to de Puff the skin. It helps you to re circulate your blood and your limp a little bit more. I mean, did you guys want like a quick little demo? I can walk you through? Yeah. Anyway. Yeah. So my, one of my tools here, okay. So with your guasha This is one of my one of my stones here. This is the medicine woman tool. This one is made out of nephrite jade, and sometimes it does matter what the what the tool is made out of. But it really it's just it's more of a preference. Like the nephrite jade is more of an ancient Jade, it is very cooling on the skin. This is more of the traditional royal type of stone, but there are like by on stones, Rose Quartz, there's a new Jade, it's really just a preference of what you want, but I'm going to use this one. So so the idea and I know for your listeners, they can't see that. So I'm going to try to you know, describe it as best as I can. You have major lymph nodes in certain areas of the body, the underarms. You have them all around the chest, the neck, the back of the ears, around the groin area behind the knees, as well as on the feet you have like a and then you have like sort of sort of these extensions from the lymph nodes and they kind of come up to the head they kind of go out all through your body. And what they're doing is they carry white blood cells, they carry all of the fluid in your body, that then sort of collects all the waste from cellular metabolism. And it goes into that system into the lymphatic system those those vessels and collects back at those major lymph nodes that I just talked about. So the major lymph nodes that help with detoxifying the face are located right on the sides of the neck, the behind the ear, the chest area, and down to the underarm. So that's what you're really focusing on when you're doing guasha for the face is you are opening up and stimulating those lymph nodes, think of them as ports and they're closed. Most of the time without movement, when you're just kind of being stagnant sedentary lifestyle sitting around just doing office work, they're not really getting any movement, they need skeletal muscle activity, or they need manual manipulation, to open up to become stimulated. So things like jumping, things like stretching, moving will help to activate them. But if you're not doing that, if you can literally manually open up those ports just by massaging them with the stone. So right now I'm just kind of doing like up and down motions on the neck. And just that alone is going to help to open up those ports so that all of the vessels that are up by the face, and the and the head area can then be activated, they're like, oh, we have some more to drain now and they start coming down. And then once they collect in those nodes in those filters, then they get recirculated into the, into your vascular system. And then from your vascular system, they kind of get filtered out through your kidneys, and then through your urine. So the idea in a nutshell, is to activate the lymph nodes, so that all of the cell waste and all of the toxins that are circulating in your lymphatic system kind of come out and down, and then they're recirculated out of the body. Drinking Water helps that process even more,

Katie: 17:01

is that when you when we speak about inflammation, and you can kind of almost see sometimes when you're inflamed Is that is that the system that is experiencing the inflammation from the toxins and everything you're ingesting and all of that.

Shelly: 17:15

Correct. So every single day, your cells are metabolizing. And they you know, that's, that's just a natural part of life. If you don't have cell, your cellular metabolism going on at all times, you are probably very ill or almost, you know, sadly, almost deceased, like you're constantly, our bodies are constantly turning over cells, a natural byproduct of cellular metabolism is to create these toxic metabolites. That's just a natural part of you know, cell metabolism and Cell Life. What happens is when there's when there's a lot of toxins in your system, say from alcohol, fried food, or stress, stuff like that, more toxins are going to come out because your body can't handle all of that at one time. And so that kind of gets expelled from the cells into the fluid surrounding the cells. And it kind of creates that fluid retention. And that. So if you ever notice, if you drink a lot at night, the next morning, most of the time, you're going to be puffier on that morning versus, you know a night that you just had a regular dinner at 6pm and went to sleep and drink water, you're going to be healthier after drinking that alcohol because your body your liver has to has to try to metabolize it. But every single cell in your body is also trying to metabolize those toxins. And when it's too much for the body to handle it, you know, it takes in the nutrients that it can in any toxins or anything that it can't or does not want to use gets expelled back into the interstitial fluid. And that is the swelling that you see in your face in the

Katie: 18:55

morning. Oh, interesting. Yeah. Wow. So

Amy: 18:58

this is so informative, because I've like I said, kind of, you know, saw it online and started messing around with it. But I didn't really know. I knew it was good for you. But I didn't really know all of the science behind it. And that's so helpful. So when you do your neck does your face when you when you do your face, is it the same drain the lymph nodes in the same way that you're describing.

Shelly: 19:22

So yes, so if you if you just do the face without opening up the neck first, most of the time it's all that fluid that you're moving around is just going to get stuck after. So think about think about like your lymph nodes here as when they're closed up. There's a traffic jam. So you have to clear out the traffic jam before any of the rest of you know the car is coming through which is you know the fluid that's in your face before that can actually go through. So so once you unclog and on and open up this area on the neck, those are open So the traffic jam is now you know, sort of cleaned up. Now all the rest of the quote unquote cars, the rest of the fluid that's being held in your face as inflammation and swelling and where to go, and where to go. And so after you do the neck, then you go in and do the face and assist that process even more

Katie: 20:19

interesting.

Amy: 20:20

And how often should people do this ritual?

Shelly: 20:25

Well, I mean, ideally, you want to do some form of lymphatic drainage every day, I mean, not only is it going to help to just make your face look a lot brighter. But if you suffer from acne, it's really going to help to keep you know things going. Because a lot of times acne is just stagnation. It's, it's, it's, you're holding on to stress and so it just gets stuck. So ideally, a little bit every day. But even if you can't do that, you know, even just like a simple neck massage every day, we'll do enough to just open open stuff up so that then when you're drinking water, and you're moving around, stuff is still moving.

Katie: 21:01

Now, how does the so this is the medicine woman tool that you just used? Right, right. And then you also have the Venus. And they're both guasha tools, are they how are they different and also from the Jade roller? Does that do they all do different things or similar things?

Shelly: 21:19

So Jade rollers are, they're really I think they're really fun to use. And they feel really good for pressing products and, and they do a little bit of lymphatic drainage. But the issue with Jade rollers is because they roll so easily over the skin, sometimes you're not getting enough of that friction, enough of that catch of fluid. And so instead of it, you know gliding across the skin and sort of pulling or pushing that fluid out, it just kind of it just kind of brushes the surface of the skin. So I personally don't use a jade roller just because I get so much more use out of using a flat stone that it the ability for this to catch more fluid, it's just so much, it's just as so much of a better job. And the difference between my two tools. This first one is the medicine woman tool. This was the first one that I designed. And I really wanted it to be sort of a combination of a lot of different tools that I've used. And I wanted to like just create one that was going to be like, okay, it kind of does a little bit of everything. So I have like a, a larger comb here that you can use on the scalp because the scalp holds a lot of stress. We got you know, headaches can be relieved by just a simple scalp massage. And we also have some lymph nodes here on the back of the head, as well as sort of the lymph channels that kind of carry all throughout the head. So scalp massage is really underrated but can make such a huge difference. And love scalp massage. Immediately like relaxes your central nervous system. And that right there just kind of stimulates your vagus nerve, and then you get into that rest and digest sort of phase. So so I really wanted something with a large comb. And then the you know, the long side that I have on that one is really just ideal for lymphatic drainage, because it's so easy to use, and it's long, so you don't Yeah, it's a nice size. Yeah, so you so for someone who's a beginner or doesn't have a lot of time, this is probably the best tool, because you don't you don't need to spend, you know, hours, hours in the mirror doing this, you could just do it, you know, like 10 swipes and that's pretty good. You know if you can get that in a day. And then like, you know, the shallow groove here, that's good for like contouring. So this one is really intuitive to use, I feel like anyone can pick this up and just kind of figure out, okay, obviously this is you know, that sides gonna go on the scalp, this sides gonna go on the cheeks, it's pretty straightforward. The venous tool is a little more complex. And I would say that's more for people who are like Avid guasha users, and, you know, they have been practicing it and they want something a little bit more advanced. That one has a couple different. Let me grab it real quick, a couple different sides. And they're all different. They're all slightly uneven. And I really this tool, actually, the shape of this tool came to me in a dream. I woke up one morning and I saw it and I was like, Oh my gosh, I have to start drawing it out. And I started drawing out like how it was going to look and then you know started working with the developers and figuring out how was gonna you know, feel in the hands and how it was gonna shape the face and it was just like, perfect. So she had your tools are beautiful. Thank you. Yeah, this one is like I love her I think a little bit more just because like it I feel like I feel like one of my spirit guides you can even like my friend. Yes, sorry. Yeah. And I also just like that she's shaped like a woman because part of guasha is the ritual stick out aspect of it. And I feel like a lot of times, you know, maybe it's different for everyone, but I like connecting with like feminine energy, especially when I'm doing like my face washing and like my application of moisturizers and stuff, like I like to feel like a beautiful woman. So I love that she's shaped like a woman because I feel like it really helps women to connect with their divine feminine energy. And I made her pink so that she kind of like when you're holding her the, the energy of Rose Quartz already just sort of sort of amplifies your feelings of self love and connection and internal healing so it's really just like when I'm using her I just automatically like my vape my vibration, I feel like it just sort of like amplifies just by holding her and then when you use her, you know, it's just she's so smooth on the skin. And, and really she just contours and hugs the face in so many different ways. And so I've really been enjoying using her

Amy: 26:05

a lot. That's beautiful. I need to buy both I saw that the the medicine woman the first one that you were showing us is sold out on your beauty shaman websites. Now I need to know when you're getting that one back end because that's a great one for beginner like us, but I might have to buy both because they're both so beautiful.

Shelly: 26:22

I'm hoping I'm hoping that it will come soon. I've been we've been having issues with shipping because of it. But yeah, but I'm hoping it will be in soon.

Amy: 26:32

Okay, so here's another question I always have a back wash ah, what do you put on your skin before you do it? Like do you put oil on you but nothing on.

Shelly: 26:41

So it depends, I usually put a light layer of oil, but some people if their skin is naturally a little bit oily, you can get away with nothing you can you know you can, you can sort of especially if it's a smooth stone like the rose quartz or something you could get away with not putting anything on your skin. If you're using something like like a really drying facewash then it may not work because then you sort of stripped all the oils from your skin but if you're using a gentle cleanser, you could totally just use like a smooth stone because the idea is to sort of allow the stone to catch some of the fluid so if you put on too much oil, then you're gonna miss too easy to it's too then you're literally just wiping the stone on your face, you know it's I mean it's not going to make any difference at all. So you do need a little bit of a catch and so that's why I use like very light layer while I'm talking like three to four drops in my hands. Spread that all around, it just creates the right amount of slip so that this will still be effective. But you know I also like to press the oils into the skin as well. So it kind of has that added benefit

Katie: 27:51

Are you cleaning the tool after each use also,

Shelly: 27:55

yes, I wash it with gentle soap and water just like you would a delicate dish and then dry it off and then I have like a little spot in my bathroom that I just put her and then and then the next time I'm ready to use her she's already clean.

Amy: 28:09

And you you you do guasha in the morning or at night or when's the best time to do it.

Shelly: 28:15

It really depends I have more time to do it in the evening. So my so I do it in the evening. And it's also the evening is when I have more time to just really bring myself you know into a more relaxed sort of like let go of everything state however in the morning is also really great to do if you have the time for it because that's when you're going to be your poppiest so that's when you're going to want to really get things going on the neck open that up because then once it's open and then you know if you have time to do the face as well. Then the whole rest of the day your your skin's gonna be sort of draining because all that is open so I mean I ideally I guess it would be morning but I find that nighttime also works just as well and it helps me to sort of wind down wind down and just like sort of you know look in the mirror and like ask myself how is your day you know, and sort of like on that too? Yeah,

Amy: 29:12

and do you this is sorry I have so many questions but it's like I love this stuff is a great I love it. It morning like if you were to do it in the morning do you do it you wash your face like put your do your skincare routine and then do it or do you do it first and then your skincare routine.

Shelly: 29:28

Also completely flexible you can do whatever you like I would probably say that when I when I do have time to do it in the morning. I do a really quick oil cleanse first and then I can't I wipe that off and then I'll put on an oil light layer of oil. I'll do my wash ah, and then if I feel like I want to put on like a moisturizer right after that. I'll just put my moisturizer on right away. If I'm going to be going somewhere and I don't want to be wearing oil, then what I'll do is sort of wipe off a little bit of oil And then put on like, you know, spray some toner, my Sarah my moisturizer, SPF or something like that

Amy: 30:06

and you probably don't wear makeup because you're

Katie: 30:09

gorgeous, perfect. You're perfect.

Shelly: 30:12

I don't I mean I do I will wear mascara. But I noticed you know, I put on a tinted moisturizer not too long ago just because I wanted to try cuz I was like, let me try this makeup thing. And I put it on and then I put my mask on. And then when I took my mask off, I saw all the makeup and I got gross. I got really, I was like I can't I can't look at that. Yeah, it looks like dirt to me. So I'm done with that for now.

Katie: 30:40

Masks. Yeah.

Amy: 30:43

So we want to talk about all your skincare as well. But one last question about all of this stuff. So what is the difference between Glasha and face real reflexology? Because I see that you also have that tool that's more of it's just different. So I don't we're your claim. Yeah, absolutely.

Shelly: 31:00

So facial reflexology is another technique from you know, that ancient Asian sort of cultures. And it is, it's a way of balancing the body as well as bringing more health and vitality to the skin. And when you are there, there are points on the face, everywhere all over the face that are associated with some kind with, with an organ in your body, or an area of your body or a component of yourself energetically or emotionally. So all of these points energetically correspond with and are associated with these different areas of the body. So by the reason why I call my tool the storyteller is because when you're using it, and going over certain areas of the face, you may feel that certain parts of the skin feel a little sour or zingy. And just a little bit more sensitive. And that is an indication according to where that is corresponding with on your body where you may have an imbalance. So, so for example, I was working on a client a couple days ago. And you know, I was like, Okay, let's just do like a whole balancing routine where I work on the entire face. And it's supposed to hit every single organ, it's supposed to hit every single part of your body and emotional sort of aura. So it kind of just balances you on a very holistic and unwholesome way. So I'm going around on her face, and I said, just let me know if there are any areas that are feeling like zingy, or any areas that are feeling a little bit more sensitive to you. So I'm going around and I got to one point up by her by her hairline. And she said that kind of hurts. And I said, Okay, well, that area is associated with your, you know, lower back, and she's like, I hurt my lower back a week ago. So then we keep we keep going. And then I hit two points. There's one between the brows and one like on the side of the face here. And she said those two points are, you know, really, those two points are sensitive. And I said, have you gone through like a recent heart ache, you know, like, it has something like Has something happened, where, you know, you've been, you've been impacted, you know, your heart has been like, you know, whatever. And she said, Well, my grandfather died yesterday. Oh, like,

Amy: 33:16

oh my god, okay, so that yeah, like little things

Shelly: 33:19

like that, like, it's a really powerful way of understanding what's going on in your body and at the same time, you can treat it at the same time, you can understand what's happening with you, and then you can go in and treat it so I focused on those spots for her. She also had a liver spot that was that was sensitive, and she said that a year ago her liver enzymes were like all messed up. So we worked on those specific points. And and I you know, gave her the homework and I said go home get like a tool like this or some kind of blunt, blunt tip and work on these specific points. And you know, do that every day and it will start to bring balance to your body it will start to energetically heal those areas of your body and you can see a major difference in someone's face if they've been, you know, really consistent with with doing the reflexology I do a little bit every night and I've noticed so much more of a lift and way less pop Enos around my eyes because of that and that the puffiness around the eyes is usually usually has to do with your kidneys or are out of balance and your kidneys and Chinese medicine are very associated with your overall energy. So I've been feeling stressed lately so that shows up as puffiness around my eyes so I hit those certain points and the pop Enos after a couple days just really goes away.

Katie: 34:42

And is this it's the storyteller tool is that's what is this the one that's like the long needle like thing? Yes, it's Oh, yeah, like, almost like yeah, let pin.

Shelly: 34:55

Okay, yeah. And there's different kinds. There's like really skinny ones as well. I personally like this one, because it's heavy. And the weight of the tool means that I can, I can detect a little bit better what's going on, like, I have some bumpiness right about here. And that's like my back area. And I do have back, you know, pain from, you know, here and there. So, so the weight of the tool really helps as well. And then I like to use this other side the the backside, and just really get into like any like knots in the neck. So I use this, like, every night, for some water

Katie: 35:28

that, yeah, it looks like the perfect tool for me,

Amy: 35:31

that looks so good just to like sit in bed and kind of, you know, yeah,

Shelly: 35:34

and you know, even if you don't know what you're doing, even if you don't like, oh, I have no idea what this is doing, but I feel somebody feel scared or something, just, you know, work on that area for 20 seconds. And the added benefit, you know, the more skin care benefit for it is when you use this, you're breaking up some and loosening some of the connective tissue that is holding your muscles, your skin, your collagen, and that becomes calcified and tighter and tighter, the more we age, and the less flexible our skin is. So you're breaking up some of the connective tissue and that creates more movement and flexibility within your skin. And that brings more circulation that can increase lymphatic flow that can you know, help with wrinkles, because you're pumping more collagen or some sorry, pumping more oxygenated blood flow to the collagen so it can repair. So even if you have no idea what you're doing, you're still getting something out of it. That's what I love so much about this.

Amy: 36:34

So I suffer from headaches, and I have vestibular migraines, which are basically like Dizzy vertigo kind of episodes that I have to work on every day. So I always, you know, sort of have tension and jaw tightness and all of those things. So is that tool like a good is there are there things to do for headaches and jaw tightness that you would use that tool with or guasha or both, or you could

Shelly: 36:57

definitely do both. I feel like with a headache, this one would be better, the storyteller would be better because you can because you can use both ends. You can use this more, the thicker tip here and just get into that jaw tension. Hmm, sort of relax your jaw a little bit. And then you know, loosen that up. And if you needed to in a pinch, open it up with this open up the neck using this side. And then there's certain areas that you can hit for a headache right in between the brows in this area. The whole forehead really is great for headache. For Did you say vertigo? Mm hmm. Okay, so like vertigo, there's a point right here above the upper lip that can help with that as well. So but yeah, I mean, like it. It's funny

Amy: 37:44

that you say that because I will sit sometimes just on the couch watching TV. And I'll like kind of massage my face right here just because it feels good. And it's funny because that's it's probably just intuitive that like, okay, maybe this is like helping with, you know, stress up here and whatever. Exactly,

Shelly: 37:59

exactly. Mm hmm. Yeah. So doing like the actual temples. I mean, there's a reason why when we're like, stressed, we always hit the temples here, right? Yeah, your body knows, you know, on a very subconscious and energetic level, you know, where to where to go to heal. So and that's really what this does is that it, it puts your body in the state where you can then heal yourself. Mm hmm. So this is not necessarily doing the healing, it's helping you get into that rest and digest parasympathetic nervous system state where your body starts to heal itself.

Katie: 38:37

Yeah, that's, I love that. That's the parasympathetic nervous system I've learned about recently, because of one of my autoimmune diseases, it's, I'm highly affected by stress, because I don't make cortisol. So I I know how to shift myself into that rest and digest. I have like, found all of these little tools that helped me do that. And I can literally feel myself recovering and healing and coming out of the stressful moment attacking my body. But it's a really cool tool.

Amy: 39:06

The rest and digest piece I learned about a few years ago when I was doing all this research about my headaches and like these vertigo episodes. And one of these integrative doctors I spoke with is like you are in you know, fight or flight and you're not resting and digesting. And like, just the simple things. I'm sure Katie has a lot of tools to, like, you know, breathing on one side of your nostril. Like, if you like doing something like that can calm me down. And it's so it makes such a big difference to Katie's point. And I just never thought about it before. Because it's like, a lot of times you're holding your breath. You don't even realize it. Yeah. So all of these things, I think, just contribute to that bigger, you know, holistic healing and deal with it.

Shelly: 39:44

Mm hmm. Yeah, it's very powerful.

Katie: 39:47

Your energy one this I saw this recently and it looks so cool. So it's a vibrating tool.

Shelly: 39:53

Yes. Let me grab that one. So this one is this one's really it's, it's fun. You know, you can use it in different ways. But I like to use this it, you turn it on, and it vibrates 6000 times per minute. So, so Amy for your headaches, that you may love this as well, because the vibrations even though they're so, so fast, and so energizing, it is somehow very calming your nervous system. And so you turn it on and you can just hold it in place. I don't know if you guys can hear the vibration a little bit. Yeah. And it just kind of revives the cells, it. I mean, immediately, I'm just like, oh my life. But you know, depending on how you use it, it can be used for lymphatic drainage as well. Like, if you're, you know, bringing it from the center of the face to the outside, you're carrying some of the lymph away from your face, and then you can kind of just bring it down or if you just need it for circulation. Because of the vibration, it's sort of waking everything up bringing more circulation and healing to any area where you have where you have skin damage. So wrinkles. If you have like, you know, areas where you have like pigmentation or breakouts and stuff, it can help with that as well.

Katie: 41:07

Nice. Yeah, I think I've gotten a facial with something not exactly that but where it was like a constant vibration. I'd love to Yeah,

Amy: 41:15

yeah. Okay, so now we know how to do all of these things to get our that the lymph nodes and the toxins out and all of that stuff. So from a skincare standpoint, like tell us about beauty shaman skincare line and what you recommend for a skincare routine?

Shelly: 41:32

Well, I mean, your skincare routine can be as simple or as you know, complicated as you as you wish it to be. I think the most important thing is to use clean quality ingredients and do what works for your skin. I you know, so many people say what is you know, what is your exact routine, I want to follow it but your, your skin is different than mine, you know. So you really have to figure out what's going to be best for your skin. One thing that I would stress is how you clean your face. That is the most important thing I think in a skincare routine is how you wash your face for how long? What products you're using, you know, all of the serums oils and moisturizers. They could be cheap, they could be expensive. If you're not cleaning your face properly, none of it will matter.

Amy: 42:26

So how do you clean your face properly.

Shelly: 42:29

So I'm like, again, there's different techniques and you know, different things work for people. But I personally believe very strongly in oil cleansing, it's an ancient technique. It helps to emulsify makeup, it helps to emulsify any dirt, pollution, anything that is getting stuck in your pores throughout the day, because your pores are you know, little, I guess like little crevices in your skin. And they're sticky. Because they're made of lipids, they're made of, you know, skin cells, so they're sticky. So when you're walking around throughout the day, when there's dirt and pollution and stuff in the air, all of that is getting sort of stuck in those pores. And then if you use just like a commercial face, wash over it and use it for like 30 seconds, you're just sort of like washing the top and none of the stuff that's in the pores is getting cleaned out. And that can lead to collagen breakdown, clog pores, acne, you know, a whole host of different you know, skin things that you just don't want. So oil cleansing because oil removes oil and it melts into oil, it sort of encapsulates all of that dirt, anything that's stuck in the poor. And if you're doing it for at least a minute, I prefer two to three minutes but at least a minute. The warmth from your hands will help to melt those oils together. And then when you take a hot or warm washcloth and wipe it off, it brings all that with it. It literally picks it up like as if it's like encapsulated in like a little bubble and it takes it away but it leaves all of your natural oils intact. Then I like to follow up with a regular facewash but again needs to be gentle if it has like sodium lauryl sulfate, which is an industrial strength cleaning agent, they use that and like dishwashing soap and laundry detergent but it's also found in commercial face washes. So that is going to strip all of the oil from your skin, your skin is going to try to overcompensate by producing more oil or it leaves the lipid barrier completely vulnerable to irritation, redness, all sorts of just things that cause you know flakiness and dryness on the skin. So my personal way of doing it is to oil cleanse first and then I follow up with my regular face wash that contains no harsh chemicals. And I find it sometimes even just by doing that, I'll be done and I'll look in the mirror and I'll feel my skin and I'll be like okay, do I even need anything on my skin now my skin Feels so good, just not. So I would say anyone who has never tried it, just give it a try for a week. And you'll notice that your skin is softer, your products are going to go on better, you're going to have way less redness in the skin, and all the dehydration lines are going to start to fade expression lines are a little different dehydration lines, you will see those immediately start to go away. Yeah, I

Amy: 45:23

started oil cleansing recently. I did it this morning. I haven't been consistent and I do it. I also wasn't sure if you do it morning and night. It's it's I mean, I've been doing morning at night, but I wasn't sure like if you're supposed to use something different during the night, but I do enjoy it. And I do feel that my face is much softer and it does feel cleaner. Yeah.

Katie: 45:45

How important is the washcloth aspect of it because I do like the splashing the water on my face and then it does that make a difference? Should you use a washcloth when you're trying to take everything off.

Shelly: 45:57

Um, it for oil cleansing, I think it's probably best if you're going to do the oil cleansing component because without using the washcloth like that stuff will just kind of stay on the skin. You need the you need the cloth to kind of you know take all of that off, it kind of removes all of that. The cleansing oil, as well as anything that's like any dirt or anything that's stuck in the pores. In terms of just like a regular face wash, I think that just depends on what you like to do. I personally use a washcloth for both because I don't like water all over my bathroom. And whenever I wash my face with just the water, it's like water works everywhere. And I'm pretty messy with that. So so for me the washcloth is cleaner for my environment. And I also feel like I also feel like I get when I get everything off the skin. My skin is just a little bit softer. So I think for the oil cleansing component, a washcloth is probably pretty necessary. But for just regular face washing it's really just whatever suits you. I don't think there's a right or wrong.

Amy: 47:03

Yeah, we talked about this. In one of our last episodes we talked about the Makeup Eraser. I don't know if you've tried that, but how it's it's like a washcloth to take off your makeup. I use it for oil cleansing but I like it because it's very, very soft because sometimes I find wash pots are so harsh so I use that and I think it it like feels really good when you're you don't feel like you're ripping your skin you know it just feels like soft and it takes makeup off. And it also of course you can use it for oil cleansing and other things. So it is to call them out. It's called the Makeup Eraser makeup erase and they say it's clean and there's nothing in it. That's harmful. Check it out. Let us know what you Yeah,

Shelly: 47:44

absolutely. Check it out. One thing that you could also do if you know if that doesn't work and you have you know, extra cloth diapers.

Katie: 47:51

Really? Wow. Yeah, interesting. Good one,

Shelly: 47:55

cloth diapers are really soft on the skin. We use those at the spa sometimes. And they're, they don't last that long. Because you know, once you use them a couple times they start to get a little raggedy and thin but, but those work really well as well for the skin.

Katie: 48:09

That's a great hack right there. Nice. Well, I feel like we could talk for hours and hours. I've so many more questions. So I have to do it again. But how how can our listeners get in touch with you? Or or if you're, you're doing like you said you're doing injectables for some people and then also

Unknown: 48:28

so I work yeah, so I work at a med spa. It's called sacred skincare and the owner is one of my best friends. So it's a really great partnership that we have going on. So for all of my facials as well as injecting that is all done through sacred skincare that sacredskinyc.com. And then in terms of my products, you can just find me you know on my website beautyshamans.com or my Instagram, which is @beautyShamans.

Amy: 48:56

I love that name, by the way. I know. Yeah, like do I have a beauty shaman now? Do you like everyday like me? Shelly, what do I do? Very specific instruction. Well, the

Unknown: 49:07

idea is for everyone to become their own beauty shaman.

Amy: 49:11

Yes. True. Become your own beauty healer, so yeah.

Katie: 49:17

Love it. Well, let's hit our rap session. If you have a few more minutes.

Shelly: 49:20

Yeah, absolutely. Okay.

Katie: 49:23

So what would be your favorite beauty or wellness hack? I mean, I feel like you just gave us so many. But do you have one? Go to? Well,

Shelly: 49:31

I mean, it would have been oil cleansing actually. That is definitely so now I have to think of another one another beauty hack. Let me think. Let me think on that for a second because I was going to do the oil cleansing because that is such an important one.

Amy: 49:49

That can be your hack. That could be my hack. Yeah,

Shelly: 49:52

I mean, that is I mean, every client I get on oil cleansing. They all come back and they're like wow, I I can't believe it took me this long to, to get around to this or to try it or to believe in it when in fact, it's been around for centuries. You know, does your website

Amy: 50:10

have oil cleansers on? Yeah, do you create that

Shelly: 50:14

I saw one that I make. And it's, I formulated it, it's three different viscosities of oil. So there's a thin one, which is the argan oil, that one penetrates into the skin a little bit deeper, so it adds some moisture to the skin. And then the Hoba is the most like our own sebum. So that kind of sits on the surface and kind of gets into the pores. And then hemp seed oil I use, and that's a thicker oil, and that is what does sort of the emulsifying. So those three together are nourishing the skin oil, cleansing the skin and removing all the dirt at the same time. And then I fragrance it naturally with essential oils sit mostly citrus essential oils, because citrus essential oils are most of them are classified as monoterpenes and monoterpenes are really great for killing any bacteria in promoting white blood cell stimulation, as well as pushing other products into the skin. So they're really good for helping to drive other ingredients into the skin. So all that together creates my cleansing oil. Super product, it

Katie: 51:24

sounds like yeah, okay, so

Amy: 51:27

this question we call our five minute flow. So you just got out of the shower, just straight off. Uber just alerted you, there are five minutes away, like what's your quick beauty routine? Like what do you put on what are your favorite go to is to just get in the car or, you know, get out of the house on time and Uber,

Shelly: 51:44

okay, if I want to because I do this all the time actually.

Amy: 51:50

Being in New York, it's very relevant. My

Shelly: 51:51

husband be like, we have five minutes and we have to be out the door. I'm like, Okay, go. I do is like I get completely naked. And I have I have a bunch of different oils that I make. Because you know, I love essential oils and aromatherapy. So I have a bunch of different oil sort of roll ons that I have or bombs that I make. So what I do, I'll rub all the oils all over my like all over my body all over my arms and really hit the lymph node areas and just work those in as much as I can. And I'll use the bombs on like my legs and stuff like that. So I will just be a complete oily goddess mess, body. And then you know, I'll just wipe off my hands real quick. So there's still a little bit of that oil on my hands. I'll you know, spray on a hydrating mist. I'll put on a serum, I'll put on an oil and massage that in and then get down into my neck again. So that literally from head to toe. I am like covered in products. And then I'll put on my sunscreen. And then I'll put on my clothes, a little bit of dry shampoo. And that's it. And maybe one necklace and then that's it doesn't matter what else I'm wearing. I feel complete.

Katie: 53:01

That's great. That's so great. Perfect five minute flow get you. Yeah, nice. So what do you do to maintain your daily Nirvana's are the one thing that keeps you balanced and happy?

Shelly: 53:13

I would say well, meditation, I've gotten much, much better at my meditation practice. And also playing with my cat. Ah, yeah, really, she really just like brings my blood pressure down, you know, just like petting her. So I find that animals are just so they're really powerful and spiritual beings in our and they come to us for a reason. I feel so totally agree. So I think she came to me as also one of my Spirit Guides, and I actually will, I'll bounce off ideas off of her. And I'll ask her things. And it's really me asking my higher self because I already know the answer. And yeah, yeah. And so she and then she, you know, I feel like she answers me and then I feel better about my day. That's great.

Katie: 54:03

That's so sweet.

Amy: 54:04

So we are going to pass it to Shelly today to do a product review and we're excited to hear about what she's loving lately.

Shelly: 54:12

Great. Well, I mean, as you just heard in the whole podcast, I'm really obsessed with cleansing the skin and doing it properly. So my favorite product in my entire line is my face wash. It is organic. There's no harsh chemicals in it. It has no SLS or any sort of synthetic parabens or fragrances. Everything is naturally fragrance with essential oils. So you're getting some of that antibacterial action and stimulating action but it also has detoxifying, spirulina, chlorella, and it's really it's really geared for all skin types. It does so much for moisturizing the skin and balancing the pH but also getting that really nice, beautiful clean,

Amy: 54:58

so Okay,

Shelly: 54:59

thanks Wash is really, I have to say, like no other. I don't think I've ever used another one that I love as much as mine. I

Amy: 55:07

haven't How much does it sell for?

Shelly: 55:10

It's 58.

Amy: 55:11

Okay,

Katie: 55:12

it's filtering algae, which, you know, I love now.

Shelly: 55:15

Yeah, it's yeah, it's filled with algae and the beautiful green color that you see is completely natural that is not colored with anything that is the seaweed and the spirulina and algae. And it's in a package that is an airless pump. So you actually get to use every single ounce of the product, as you use the product, the bottom of the package comes up. And so you never have to sort of try to squeeze anything out or, or, you know, cry over that last little bit that you just can't get to the bottom yet, right. You get you get every single, little tiny, microscopic ounce of that product on your

Katie: 55:55

face. And you can get it out of that beautyshamans.com

Unknown: 55:58

Right beautyshamans.com

Katie: 56:00

and also through Instagram. I'm sure your bio will link you to everything as well, right?

Amy: 56:05

Yes, absolutely. And also, I just have to do a plug for Shelly, because I was I was mentioning in the beginning of the episode, if you go into her Instagram, she's got tons of videos and reels of her doing all the things we talked about today. guasha and reflexology. And I've learned a lot just by watching your videos. And I've tried to kind of mimic them but they're also just super relaxing to watch you I have to say like just watching you kind of do your routine is super relaxing. So for anyone listening, definitely check out her Instagram because it's fabulous and filled with so much good content.

Shelly: 56:34

Yeah, and thank you. And to that note, I am working on a secret project right now, that may be giving some instructional videos for people if they like as well. So stay tuned for that it should be coming hopefully within the next year or two. I'm gonna try to

Amy: 56:52

well, we can't wait to hear we definitely have to have you on for part two because I have like another set of questions about injectables and NuFACE and all these other things, but we will definitely have to have you back in a part two because this has been so so I don't know just all the things so good. So like I just I'm so happy. This is so my jam and so Katie's jam, so we loved it. And we thank you for being on Katie is going to close out with a mantra.

Katie: 57:18

Yeah, I am. I just want to say thank you to Shelly that was so great and insightful. So many great tips. So we'd love it. Our closing mantra, every cell of my body is vibrating with love and self being and just tell that to yourself over and over and remember it. So thanks again, Shelly. We really appreciate it. Love that. Thank

Shelly: 57:40

you guys so much for having me. I

Amy: 57:42

appreciate Thank you, Shelly

Katie: 57:43

bakes.

Amy: 57:45

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.