Episode 37 - Meet Entrepreneur And Drybar Co-Founder Alli Webb, On Keeping It Real And Paying It Forward (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 37 Meet Entrepreneur And Drybar Co-Founder Alli Webb, On Keeping It Real And Paying It Forward.

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: 0:06

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

Katie: 0:18

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

Amy: 0:28

Welcome to the show Nirvana sisters family. So today is a really, really special episode for both of us. But today we're talking to someone who has been so inspirational to me, and really a role model to me whether she knows it or not. But anyone who knows me well knows that I've always looked up to you, Alli. And just from from, from, from a business sense, from personal sense, your honesty and transparency. And also, you have two boys were the same age like we just have a lot of similarities. And so I'm so excited to have you on the show. And just thank you for spending time with us today. We have Alli Webb on the show, who I'm sure most of you know, but if you don't, she is the co founder of dry bar, the founder of dry bar. She's also now the co founder of squeeze, which I'm so excited about because we have an opening up in Bethesda near me. We interviewed Britt on the show a couple months ago, and she was amazing. We loved her. Okay, humans, the future face to face talk therapy, and Beckett and quill. And we also interviewed Meredith Quill a couple weeks ago, and we're always gonna vote because we love our necklaces, we got our earrings. We're all we're all judged. And we're so excited to talk to you. But I think the reason why I have been so inspired by you over all of these years and like I've spoken Katie's ear off about you and your background, all of this stuff is because I think when when Drybar launched I was it was like, I think right before I moved out of New York, and it was the first time it opened my eyes up to like, oh my god, like, if I thought of this idea, I could have opened this, like, this is actually something because I always was into hair because I have curly hair and my whole life. It's like, you know, yep, doing a million things to try to make it look better. Like, there was this. Salon Davishon in New York, I don't know if you remember back in the day that like curly hair, and they had a whole system. And I was like one of the first people there. And I was always talking to people there. So it was like really into hair and beauty and all this stuff. I work in Marketing, but that's a different story. But anyway, I just thought the concept was so simple and groundbreaking to me and the branding and the experience and the whole vibe of it. And, and the bigger meaning of course behind it, which is you walk out you feel confident, you feel happy. And the whole thing, that whole experience does that for you. And so like it sort of opened my eyes to like, wow, like, I could open something one day for myself, I've been in corporate America forever, and it could actually be in business. And it could be something that I'm passionate about and love because they think prior to that you think of opening a business as like, I don't know, like an accountant or a lawyer like nothing that you actually would be interested in. So anyway, it's always opened my eyes and since then I've followed you, and seeing your, your career and all of your ups and downs and just, I've always been so inspired and like you're the one person that everybody knows, I like just have a total girl crush on because you just You mean a lot to me. And so, thank you, thank you again. So yeah, that's

Alli: 3:18

it, say that and it's nice. It's nice to hear. It's always great to hear that kind of stuff. And but mostly like the fact that you know, my story, my journey has resonated with you and inspired you to you know, get the confidence to go out and do your own thing, which is really, I'd say where I am now in my life. You know, I'm I'm starting to write my second book, I just got a book deal, which is like such a big deal adulation, exciting to me, thank you, and, and I'm excited to really, you know, write about that. And like this kind of, like, if I did it, you can do it story because, um, you know, I'm not your typical, I mean, I don't think there is a typical anymore. And I think it's evolved so much. I feel like, you know, we first started dry bar, and, you know, entrepreneurs weren't as accessible as they are now especially, like female entrepreneurs. And just to your point about, you know, companies were like, big conglomerates and nobody knew who ran them and no, you couldn't reach anybody there, you were never talking to the CEO, like nothing like that ever happened. And, you know, I happen to come in, at the, you know, somewhat of the forefront of like entrepreneurs, you know, being accessible and available. And, you know, I've taken it to pretty extreme with, you know, being pretty open and transparent with things that are going on in my life. And you know, that's been an interesting evolution and I I often like kind of ponder why, you know, talk about so much of that stuff, but But hearing what you said and things like that, and the feedback that I do get so much is like, it is this like, you know, you're talking about it. It's relatable to me, whether it's like building a business or how you raise money or going through a divorce, or whatever it is. Yeah, I feel I feel really compelled and drawn and to this, like, you know, be, you know, share what you know, and pay it forward and all of that. So, so it's really nice to hear. So thank you.

Amy: 5:21

Of course, of course, before we get into it, though, I do want to take a step back, because in our show, in the beginning, we always like to do a nirvana of the week or day or whatever. It may be just a little something that sparked joy that made you feel good that you kind of like that put a smile on your face this week. So Katie, I'll flip over to you first to give us your nerve. Okay, great. Well,

Katie: 5:40

thanks. Well, Alli, first of all, you know, I'm so thrilled that you're here. So thank you. My Nirvana, it happened yesterday, it was this weird little moment, I was speaking to this woman that I'm thinking about doing some personal work with. And she is a type of coach and I had to have like full disclosure about my health issues with her. She was the first adult that I've ever spoken to, that grew up with a sick mother that had autoimmune issues and had challenges and was a child and had to have a sick parent, which is what my daughter's go through. And I got emotional talking about it, because I've literally never spoken to someone that was that. And she said to me that she thinks that it made her very resilient and very strong and more empathetic. And like, you know, she's this wildly successful, fabulous woman, and she accredits a lot of that adversity as a young child, to helping her gain those qualities. So that was a little nirvana for me, because I never thought about it from that point. You know, we always think we're screwing up our children all day every day. So yeah. Oh, we are.

Amy: 6:54

So I like that. Yeah. I never thought about

Katie: 6:56

that. It was it was nice to hear. So that Yeah. So Amy, what about you? What was yours?

Amy: 7:01

Well I have two. So the first one was just as Katie knows, I have time to myself on Saturday. No, Alli I saw this on your Instagram stories recently about talking about time to yourself and I treasure that's so much like I love being alone and just having time to myself just to regroup because then you just come back and you feel refreshed. So I've been stuck in the house because of COVID yada, yada. I haven't been anywhere. So I have to like run errands and return things which so I did some shopping, I returned some things, walked around, did a little shopping around some stores. And I'm like, oh my god, this is so amazing to be my I felt like I was on vacation. My final letter. I'm like texting Katie. I'm like, oh my god, this is so amazing depth time to myself. So that was great. But really, more importantly, a really cute moment. Yesterday, I had in the car with my son who's 14, almost 15 I have two boys like you alley. One's 15. And one's almost 15 and one's 12, almost 13. And we were driving in the car is taking him to his girlfriend's house. And he was like, you know, in a good mood. And so like when I catch him in a good mood, it's like amazing, because we'll talk to me. And car time is always the best. So he was just talking to me the whole time in the car and like just telling me a million things and talking about when he's older this and college and just literally talk to me the entire time we're in the car, which is so nice. So usually he's like quiet or says one thing. So that was so sweet. And then the cutest thing was, I'm dropping it off dropping him off at his girlfriend's house. And he looks at me before he opens before he leaves the car. And he goes, Mom, do I look good. And I was like, it's cute. You look great. I love you. But it was he never does stuff like that. So you could tell he was just like, excited to see her. And it was just like, so heartwarming and sweet. And I just drove away with like, the biggest smile on my face. So that was my happy moment of the week. What about you, Alli?

Alli: 8:40

Um, those are such good moments. And I feel like I can I can share in both of those with you guys. I mean, you know, Katie, going back to what you were saying about this woman that you met and how it build resiliency in her, you know, it is interesting, and I was joking that we all mess up our children, but I think we do. And I don't think it's a bad thing. I mean, I think it's like, we just, it's just we're just like we're doing the best we can as parents, our parents did the best they can like I can point to lots of things that my parents did that were like, you know, I wish quote unquote, they had done different Not really, but in the moment, you know, and I remember when I was going through, you know, my divorce and my financial advisor, ironically, of all people at the time was like, you know, because I was so worried like that I was gonna fuck up my kids because I was putting them through a divorce and our divorce wasn't. I mean, it was it was it was really rough internally, but we kept it pretty like smooth on the outside for my boys. And I remember him saying to me, similar to what you just said that it was. It was his parents were divorced when he was young, and it was so character building and it made him so strong and now I'm not advocating for divorce by any means, but I do think that there is like, we're so worried about putting our kids through anything hard because we want us to shelter that, I mean, it's just our natural, like motherly instinct to want to shelter our children and shelter them from bad and evil and harm and all of that stuff. But like, it doesn't really prepare them. And, you know, I mean, I had a fair amount of sheltering. And I had, you know, and I didn't have anything really crazy to happen to happen to me. But I do think that there is like, some resiliency and strength in that. So, I know, I just really relate to what you're saying. And I bet your kids will end up being really strong as a result, you know, and I think mine are too as a result of going through divorce. And, you know, and they and, and, you know, they see me so much happier on the other side of it. So like, while we were in like the mud and trekking through to get to the other side, it seemed like, Oh, God, are we ever coming back from this? And we have, and it's really beautiful now. So anyways, um, but as far as Nirvana moments, I mean, you know, I love that, by the way, and it's a good it's a good reminder to like, talk about the things that, you know, I have this like, Yeah, right here, this like Five Minute Journal thing that I write in pretty regularly. And it asks you really awesome questions, which I like, because it's like an interactive thing, and which I like. But I, you know, this this weekend, Adrian, and I went to where we're going to get married, nice in May. And, um, you know, we were doing a walkthrough and our wedding planner was there. And it was like, everything really, like, is working out and going well, and it's like, in a sea of like, shit that's been going wrong for like, what feels like, for so long. It was just so nice. And I remember feeling like, Oh, my God, like, I'm just such a, like, everything's wrong. We have to fix everything, like, where's the problem, it's just my nature. The fact that it was like, everything was pretty smooth. And we had, you know, a moment where we were standing where we're going to get married, and a moment where, you know, my boys are going to actually walk me down the aisle. And we like sit, we were kind of walking through and we were standing we kind of stood where my boys will like, pick me up and walk me down the aisle. And I got so emotional. And I was like, Oh, my God. Like, some real emotion about the wedding hit me and which is just like a weird place to be. Because, you know, this is my second wedding. And it's like, it is just feel a little weird to be having a wedding again. Even though it's, you know, a natural progression. So anyways, that was like a moment that really hit me. That was really,

Katie: 12:32

that's great. I love that. Yeah. Thanks. Sweet.

Amy: 12:34

Yeah. Yeah, congratulations on your wedding. We're so happy for you. I feel like you know, we watch the journey of everything going on. I feel like I just there were so many raw emotions and like to see you come out with an amazing guy and actually heard the podcast episode when you met those that matchmaking company I remember the episode from raising the bar. And I'm just so happy you found such an amazing guy. He just seems so intuitive, but evolved introspective. Yeah, like introspective. It's very, my husband's like that, too. And it's it's an incredible quality. And it really brings out so much more. So that's awesome. And when you're getting married again,

Alli: 13:13

we're getting married in May. Nice. Yeah. And it's like, it felt like, you know, we had like, no logging is longer than my first marriage anyways, and, or my first engagement, and it was a felt like it was so far away. And I can't believe it's less than five months now. It's like, you know, we have so much going on that these next five months are gonna fly by and yeah, excited. And it's like, you know, it's like, it's a little, it feels like a do over and a lot of ways. And, you know, to really be planning this thing exactly how I want it exactly how we want it and not like, you know, unfortunately, my mom passed away about six years ago. So she's not in it, which is a bummer. But I mean, it's just, it's also like we're paying for it. We're doing everything exactly how we want it. We're making it exactly what we want. I'm you know, it's not

Amy: 14:00

there's some tradition of all the people there you want. Yeah, it's awesome. You know, we're

Alli: 14:03

Yeah, where my first wedding was like, all my parents friends, which is awesome, right? They gave us a lot of money. It's a different, totally different vibe. And, um, you know, and I think also just based on like, how last couple of years have been to be having everybody in one room together. Feels like, you know, super special. So,

Amy: 14:24

yeah, for sure. Special. Um, I see you got to see kind of a preview this weekend and got to like, take it in for a second because you're probably running a mile a minute. And so to have that reflection moment, so nice. So nice. Awesome. Okay, so we're gonna give you some quick fire questions, get into some stuff. So I guess I gave a little bit of your background and I'll probably give some in a pre record. So just speaking about your mentors. I mean, I think a lot of people look to you as their inspiration and like mentorship Who were your mentors. I know you've talked about your brother a lot, but who kind of gave you guidance and still gives you guidance and who you're getting inspiration from lately. Yeah, I

Alli: 15:00

mean, it's really all over the place. I mean, I, you know, I'd say like, first and foremost was largely my parents and my mom, as you know, growing up as like, you know, in, in, in a family where my parents had their own business. And, you know, I mean, going back to her saying about our parents and the things they are doing that we think they should be, like, you my parents worked, I came home from school, my parents were rarely there. And I used to always joke around that I wanted to cookies and milk mom, because like, my dad, you know, and I was like, why aren't you that for me. And when I was little, it really bothered me and I was I got older, I learned at the older and older I got, the more I realized that like, I, I watched my parents work really hard for what we had, which, you know, took a long time. And, and it, you know, I don't even think I was aware of it, it was building such a strong work ethic in me. And I really realized that once I went out into the world, and I, you know, I went out into the world, and I was like, you know, getting my first jobs, and I was treating every job like it was my own. And I was, you know, and I was like, what, like, what, where did this come from, and I realized it was really from what as I got older, and I understood it more was like, from watching my parents and how hard they worked. And, and they just always instilled that in us. And I worked for my parents when I was young, too. And so, you know, my dad and my dad, my parents always had such a great work ethic, they worked really hard, but they also had this like, you know, kind of work hard play hard mentality where I like my parents was like, if you do it, you know, you you're supposed to do in your responsibilities. We, you know, did you can, you can leave when you want or, you know, you know, have a little more freedom, just do your job and do it supposed to be done. And I think always it versus like, people be sitting out at us from here to here, I was like, there was a flow of like, you can kind of as long as you're doing what you need to be done. And that and that, that attitude, I think instills a stronger worth that work ethic of wanting to do something versus having to do something, you know. So I would say, you know, for me, it really started there. And certainly my brother along the way, you know, has been a strong inspiration for me and mentor for me and, and then I think it's like varied over the years, you know, from like, people like Jenna gurwitch, who was is the founder of Laura Mercier, cosmetics. And she, you know, introduced me to some really great people and taught me some really great lessons about building a product line early on. And, you know, like, I don't know if you know, who Wendy zonder is, but she's the founder of Urban Decay cosmetics. And we had, yeah,

Amy: 17:36

I know that name.

Alli: 17:37

Yeah, we had the same financial guys, the same private equity guys. And so, you know, she, she was, like, helpful in like, bridging a gap when we were raising money, and I was learning how to, like, deal with private equity guys, and, you know, I feel like, just like friends and relationships and, you know, mentors, like, they come into your lives in the time where, like, you need them. And it's like, you know, just like anybody else. It's like, sometimes you just need somebody to help you with this thing that you're going through, and then you don't anymore, you know, and I think that's like, kind of the nature of mentors and people who are inspiring to you. And, you know, and then there's been people like, you know, like Whitney Wolfe, who's the, you know, founder of Bumble who has become, you know, a friend of mine who I don't really talk to you all that much anymore, but I did when I was ironically, when I was going through my divorce. She was really there for me, like unexpectedly and really helped me and like, Maria Shriver is someone I've always looked up to, and when I'm not like a big I listen to a lot of books. I like audiobooks now, but I never I can't sit and read I don't have the patience. I get time. But I can listen and walk and I'm very happy. I love you orderly, yeah, that way. But I happen to read a lot of Maria Shriver's books, when I was a kid, I was just really inspired by her and it was very serendipitous for me as I got older, and I, she invited me to, she interviewed me in the early days of dry bar, and she, Catherine, her daughter, like stumbled across dry bar and loved it and told me about it. And Maria called me and was just like this, like love fest, and we became friends. And, you know, and kind of intermittently and then once when I was also going through my divorce, and you know, I didn't have my mom and she just really was like, buried, like, she's very tough love if you know her, she's like, no bullshit, and like, won't do it. And, and I kind of needed that, you know, I mean, I remember being on the phone with her one morning, and she was like, basically, like, get the fuck out of bed. What are you doing? You know, and so, you know, she was helpful for me in that way. And, you know, so I don't know, I could probably go on and on about the different. I've been really fortunate and lucky to have some really amazing women around me in my life that have, you know, inspired me and helped me and guided me through different, you know, phases. And, you know, I think all of my I would, I would say it's safe to say almost all of my friends are founders, entrepreneurs or, you know, running big companies are at the helm of big companies and you know, we all lean on each other from time to time So I feel like I'm I have a pretty big network of women that I can call on when I'm like, need help with something confused about something you'd bounce something off. So, yeah, they come in all shapes and sizes. Yeah.

Amy: 20:11

Yeah, that's so true. And it's really the thing about your parents actually, I was listening to it, because I have always worked as well. And like, barely, I mean, took off maternity leave, but like, have always worked. And I always struggle with that guilt of like, should I stayed home when my kids were younger, and like, I was never the milking cookies, mom. And I've always had, you know, a corporate job. And now I'm starting this and now I'm like, straddling both worlds and really busy but, but the pandemic has actually been like, such a blessing in disguise, because I've been home. Yeah, made me realize, like, oh, I can start my own thing and still work and be with them so much more, but it's your point. I'm also teaching them a work ethic. And they've been to my office and they like see all this stuff and see all these amazing trips I go on. And so it does give them that lens of like, you are card and you do these things. And you know,

Katie: 21:09

as the milk and cookies stay at home mom that doesn't actually make the cookies and put up the milk.

Amy: 21:16

Oh, please, Katie, you're she's an incredible mom.

Katie: 21:18

Yeah, but I can tell you, you know, what I always stress about is oh my gosh, my children aren't seeing me work. They need to I need to show them this great work ethic and all that stuff. So it's, it's just funny, but I love what you're saying about your parents. The work hard play hard thing, because we are household is all about that. And I never thought I never correlated it so much to the passion for for working and getting it done so that you can feel like, alright, I can do whatever I want. I've got it. The world is my oyster. You know, like you said, wanting to do it instead of having to do it is key. It's such a great lesson. Yeah, yeah.

Alli: 21:53

So and I learned that through parenting too, right? It's like, my kids are, you know, a lot like me, I think we're all like this. It's like, if someone's like, forcing you to do it, you're like, fuck that. I don't want to do it. But if someone like allows you to find it, and works, it's like, so true of all the things right? It's like, you can't be forced. It's like, you can't What's the old adage? You can't you can, you know, bring a horse to water, but you can't make a drink. It's like, you can only do so much. And you know, and get resistance. So yeah, it was a good, like, early life lesson for sure. Yeah,

Katie: 22:21

that's great. Now you're alright, so drybar, squeeze, Beckett and Quill, and they've all been like back to back to back to back to back. What have been some of your biggest challenges and like learning curves going through, you know, this journey? I mean, it's a lot starting one after the other after the other? Certainly, there's got to be a couple things that have stood out.

Alli: 22:45

Yeah, I mean, I think it's kind of different for all of them. I mean, with with Drybar, it was like, you know, it was going from, and I'll make this brief, because, you know, it's like 10 years worth of this, but like, going from it being like my baby, my business, me and my brother and like, slowly bringing on more and more people to it becoming this, like massive brand, and needing so much help and not, not being the one making every decision not being at the helm of the company anymore. And, and that transition was really hard for me, you know, and as I look back on it, you know, it was definitely like, a process, you know, that I don't think I was, I could see at the time of like, letting go and learning that, like, you need, I needed really smart people around me who knew lots of things that I didn't know, it's like a very crystal clear lesson, but at the time, it was like, I was a maniac about it, you know, and I and I had a hard time accepting, you know, letting other people do what they were really good at stuff that I didn't know, you know, so it was like, an interesting evolution of, you know, both a personal and professional evolution to like, you know, navigate learning how to be the boss and having to be the person that you, you feel like has to know everything and make every decision to being like, wait a second, I don't have to know everything, and I don't have to make every decision I can use, you know, I can utilize all these people around me and let them you know, feel empowered, and whatever. But then there's like ego, and you're like, No, no, I have to know everything. And no, no, this is my idea. And I have all the answers. And I'm the smartest person in the room, which was never the fucking case. But you you know, you're under this, like, what am I supposed to be doing what people expected me there's, you know, for me, there was no like, you know, there was no guidebook on this, you just kind of made it up as us which, you know, feels very liberating now, but at the time was very stressful. So, you know, I think it was like it was a process and I learned so much as a result and you know, and then I think what was an interesting transition for me was going from like being in the day to day to not being in the day to day to like finding my new role within the company as we grew it and brought on a professional CEO and all these people in the company it expanded so much to them like You know, figuring out where my place was, and then you know, because cam, my ex husband was the creative mastermind, and we had a creative office separate than our, you know, that our we had our main office in Orange County in Irvine. And then we had our creative office in LA. And then once we split, and that was the office I worked out of now I'm like, shit, you know, where do I, what do I do? I'm already not quite as involved as I was, but but not, you know, not completely out. So that was a really hard time for me. And also it was, you know, but it was a really great time, it was such a reinvention. You know, where I were, I was going to divorce and like refi rediscovering myself. And while it seems back to back, I really did have some some time, you know, we were starting to build squeeze, which Brittney who you now know, you know, who, you know, for people listening ran our marketing a dry bar, she, you know, Michael, Michael actually approached me about doing squeeze, when we were still in the, in the thick of it dry bar. And I was like, no, like, I don't have it in me to do that, because I was so burned out by that point. And life was so crazy. And, but Brittany wanted to do it, which we were so grateful for. And she's done a phenomenal job. You know, so I was really grateful I was able to like coast there for a little while, while we were like between and the divorce and then squeeze was happening. And, you know, I did have like a year there where I, you know, I think I led on to it a little bit, but where I was really just like sucking air and just trying to stay above water, while I was like dealing with my personal stuff, which then, you know, on the on the flip side made me a softer person, like probably a better person, you know, a stronger person and all of the things that I, you know, became and then that's kind of when, you know, that was kind of somewhere in the middle of the pandemic, and things were crazy to squeeze. And now we're like, up and running. And we're opening more. And, you know, about a year ago is when I discovered Meredith, and we became friends. And I thought, you know, that there's, there's really something here. And that's been a really fun, like, you know, labor of love kind of project. So they've all happened in this really interesting way. But it's been a lot of like self discovery, and a lot of like, I hate using the term, like lonely at the top. But there is some truth to this, like, I built this business, and we had a lot of success and like, and then and then in like what felt like one fell swoop, my life kind of completely unraveled, and like, what am I doing now? And I've had to like, figure all that out. And I'm grateful for it, you know, and I feel like I've kind of landed on my feet. And I still kind of feel a little like, all over the place, like, what am I doing? And my schedule, and my life is such a mixed bag. It's not it's not. It's not when, you know, I don't do the same thing every day ever. You know, so I'm, you know, and I'm exploring lots of different projects and investments and all sorts of different things now. So I'm, I'm finally at the point where I really like what I'm doing. It just doesn't look like anything like it's ever looked before. So no, I guess it's kind of just rolling with it. And yeah, you know,

Amy: 28:05

you're Yeah. And you're, you're evolving every day. And it's actually I was listening to you. And I was thinking, you know, people that our listeners are entrepreneurs, founders, but also people that work, you know, in corporations or big companies, and a lot of the things you said resonated, because I'm like, kind of on both sides, right? I've had a corporate marketing role for so long, and the things and I've always been very entrepreneurial in the corporate world. And because I've always like come in and had to build something like, build the social media strategy, build the content strategy, because none of that ever existed. So I definitely, there's so many parallels in, you're moving your way and you're navigating, and then you're like, what should I be doing that should not be doing that I don't have as much control as I used to have wait, I used to work on that brand. And they're not doing it the way that I would do it. And, you know, it's there's a lot of comparisons, even though you're in a big company, like Chad, as you grow and evolve and lead. You just learn more and more about yourself what you should be doing, when you shouldn't be doing and like I'm still learning it myself. And I know you're you're starting to impact series, and we're excited to hear about that. I know, that's in a couple of weeks. And I think it sounds like such an amazing experience for people who are starting up if you want to tell us a little bit about that.

Alli: 29:20

Yeah, it is, um, you know, it's so funny. I don't know if I'm just crazy, but I feel like oh, yeah, I forgot about that. That's true. I am doing

Amy: 29:29

that a couple weeks in Nashville.

Alli: 29:32

You're doing too much if you forget about half the things you're doing. I was literally just sending emails about that before this call, anyhow. Yes. So the impact theory was serious was really born out of this, like, you know, a couple of different things like my desire to give back pay it forward. All that stuff is really important to me and and over the years. I mean, that's kind of how, you know, raising the bar started because Michael and I were getting you know, hit up all the time from people who wanting advice about starting a business running and growing and scaling a business. And, and we were that's the podcast was kind of our answer back then to like, get a lot of that information out there. And, you know, since we stopped doing that, you know, and I continue to get, you know, increase from entrepreneurs all the time, we're like, Hey, can we go have coffee? Can we sit down and talk about my business? I'm like, you know, Mike, I don't, my bandwidth is pretty small, like, you know, that's not realistic or scalable. You know, so how do I give back and I've tried, you know, a lot of different ways. And when, when Adrian I met, and he's, you know, he's, he's a founder, he's a coach of like, founders and entrepreneurs and CEOs. And that's like, what he does, like he coaches people like me, you know, so him and I, like, I could have definitely used him like five or six years ago when I was in the throes of it and I've learned so much from him. And there's so many things that I would think about differently now than I did then had, I had someone like that. And ironically, my brother and I used to talk about me getting a coach all the time, which I thought was like, the most ridiculous thing. Now I'm like, oh, it's really I mean, at least a coach, like

Amy: 31:01

I need a coach for work I've been, I needed an executive coach. So I might be calling Adrian Lee,

Alli: 31:06

it's really interesting. I really don't think I understood like what a coach does, and I think there's a lot of people like coaching out there, but he's like, and I always kind of joke around that I'm like, just to kind of tell people like, what they should be doing what to do. And he's like, No, you know, I help them see the things that they are missing, and I help them discover things about themselves. And I'm like, oh, and he certainly done that, for me in a large way on a lot of different things. And anyway, so you know, his his experience with coaching founders, people like me, entrepreneurs, like people that are maniacs and all over the place, and crazy, you know, who are mostly entrepreneurs, you know, putting to bring that together, you know, from his experience and my real world experience into the kind of combine those, you know, that that chocolate and peanut butter combination is seems so great. And so we were like, you know, and we love working together and being together and traveling together. So we're like, how do we combine these two things. And that's kind of how the Impact Theory series was born, like, let's get you let's keep it really small. We only allow up to 20 people in the room, and it's very much a deep dive into whatever's going on. We've done a couple of them now, like what's going on in your business? What's working? What's not working? What are your biggest challenges? What are you struggling with, you know, and, and what's funny is a lot of the people who come tend to come for like, one reason and mandap like dealing with another that they may not have been willing to talk about. And Adrian's just so direct and honest and has this way of like drawing things out of people. So and then I have the experience of like, you know, there's only so many things we go through as entrepreneurs like, you know, staff and scale and raising money. And like all there's like a handful of things that we all kind of deal with. And so I have, you know, I can speak to a lot of that. So and this and this particular impact series, which we're doing for all of them, we're bringing in like other successful entrepreneurs and Jessica Zweig, who has a book simply be I don't know if you guys know her, but she's has a marketing, a personal branding marketing agency, and she actually is doing I've hired her to do stuff for me. And it's been so great. And we've become really good friends. She's kind of CO headlining this with us. This last one, we're doing this next one, we're doing it in Nashville, in February, February 4. And it's just it's super fun to be in a room. It's very vulnerable. It's very honest, if the people are willing to be that way. And usually they are, it's a it's a pretty sizable investment. So it's like it takes you know, you, you really need to want to do the work when you're there. And it's very immersive. And it's super fun. I love it. I feel very connected to the people.

Katie: 33:39

It's really amazing, your, your drive and your desire to give back and to like pay it forward all of these years of grit and hard work that you put in learning as you went along. And you just want to teach it to people. I mean, I think that it's, it's just so admirable. And I mean, obviously that's one of the biggest reasons why, you know, you're one of our role models. It's just really, really cool. Amy and I, we, you know, we are just one day we woke up and like we want to do something, what is it? Okay, let's do a podcast. Alright, so we make this podcast, and it's fine, or we're talking about these really great

Amy: 34:14

people let me interrupt. It wasn't it wasn't "let's do a podcast", okay, it was. I was talking to my husband and I'm like, Katie, and I always have these really great conversations about well being and taking care of herself and she's got an autoimmune and I have vestibular migraines, and she's always researching and people always ask us, like, oh, what should I do for this? And what should I do for this? And like, how do we just talk about it? Like we're talking on the phone and people are listening in so we're like, okay, the podcast is the first way to do that. But that's just the start. And the only reason I'm cutting you off to saying that Katie is because it is it is. There is something special about Katie nice conversations they think and what we've been told is that similar to you, like we have a very real authentic way we're not like editors talking about wellbeing and beauty and all this stuff, like, it's more, we want to make it more approachable and not that intimidating. Sort of like, you know, your business has been right. Like, it's like, the accessible luxury. So we're like the attainable real like we really get into it. We ask all these like, silly questions, we'll have a doctor on the show be like, wait, what does this mean when you get, you know? So my point is, is I was just saying, Katie before we got on is like, my husband was saying, like, you guys go deeper than like, the typical well being and like, Don't you guys don't sell yourself short. And that's why I'm cutting you off. Katie just say like, it's not right that like Katie has, she's, she's a really incredible researcher. And she just knows so much about health and well being that I was like, You need to be telling people and I need to tell people my size. So anyway, sorry.

Katie: 35:53

The whole point is that we you know, we have like this young entrepreneurial spirit and us and we to be able to look to people like yourself to learn the ropes. It's invaluable. I mean, it really, it really is, because here we are, we're like spinning our wheels all the time. What do we do next? How do we get to the next week? They're

Amy: 36:10

like, what? 10,000 ideas and how do we put it all together? And anyway, I digress. Yeah. And your pot, the girlfriends and business. We love to because that I Katie and I said back episodes to each other. Because I'm like, listen to this. This is so helpful. Like the one the other day I forgot it was Lori talking to. I can't remember her name. But she was talking about like the different retailers like what kind of business you are the three R's. And that was so helpful. I was like, Oh, that like really helps us understand, like, where we fit in the Mac. So anyway, how's the podcast going? And all of that, is that

Alli: 36:45

it's yeah, it's good. I mean, it is I definitely, you know, challenged in time. Like, I

Amy: 36:51

know, you guys do a lot. It's like three episodes a week. I don't do all of it.

Alli: 36:55

We do a couple of them. Now I've had to like, you know, I mean, I've had to like pull back a little bit from it, because I just don't have the bandwidth between the you know, the book that I'm writing now in back series, Beckett and Quill, you know, I'm on not only like, still drive our board squeeze, okay, humans, I've joined a couple other boards, there's a company called ideal image, which is like the biggest medical spa in the country. Wow.

Amy: 37:20

Now that company, they they actually recruited me that we can talk about that offline.

Alli: 37:24

Funny. Um, and I joined the board of on site, because on site, you know, out of Nashville was really helpful. And just, you know, you know, Myles, who's the CEO of onside has become a near and dear friend of mine, and I love what they're doing. I mean, they're doing incredible work. And so, you know, I'm just pulling direction, a different direction. So, the podcast was a little bit challenging. So I do a couple of episodes here a month with them. So it's going really well, I'm just not, I'm not doing quite as much as they are. But you know, I'm just trying to figure out, you know, where to put my time, which, like I said, I don't even right, you got to prioritize the other big project that I'm launching soon as, yeah, it just, you know, I can't like sit still, you know, I'm trying all these things. So, I'm even getting into like, the NFT world, which is really, wow, you know, there's just like, fun stuff. So. But I love it.

Katie: 38:22

You mentioned your job, your book. So you have a new book that you're currently working on?

Alli: 38:28

Yes. Um, you know, it's so funny. I did another podcast right before you guys. And I was just thinking to myself, like, I don't think I can do two podcasts in one day, because I don't remember what I said. You're in there. Like, did I tell you guys that? I was like, Nope, I said in the last podcast, I did just get a book deal, which was like a very, very, like, big, you know, exciting thing for me that I something that I've been working on for a long time. And I had been working with the ghostwriter. And basically spent almost all of last year like outlining the book, it's about like, 19 or 20 chapters. And it's been, it's, you know, it's very cathartic going back to your life. And, and the purpose of the book is to be, you know, it is a memoir, but not, I really don't want it to be this, like, self indulgent story about me, you know, I want it to be, you know, kind of what you guys have said, Shawn, like, you know, lessons learned, you know, things that I've picked up and, and again, in that theme of paying it forward of like, here's, you know, what I've learned, here's what's worked for me, here's what hasn't worked for me Take it or leave it, you know, make it your own. Also, like a bit of a resource of like, you know, some of like, the crazy shit I've been through with my son and yeah, all sorts of stuff. So, yeah, I'm in I actually have a call with my new book editor this week to start, you know, mapping out the book, which I'm like, so excited and scared. The first book I wrote was was like a very like hair syndrich it was called the driver Guide to Good Hair for all was like breaking down. You know what I want to know about hair. And this is a much, much more personal endeavor that I'm excited about. And you know, I love obviously sharing and oversharing. So it'll be fun. But yeah, lots of lots of project sounds like that's fine. skills needed. Yeah.

Amy: 40:22

When is this? Yeah, seriously.

Katie: 40:24

Any idea? We'll be out? Do we is there

Alli: 40:28

probably early 2023? Okay, great is what it's looking like now, which just seemed really far, but not when you're writing a book,

Amy: 40:35

you read the Jen Adkin book. I heard that was really good. I started it. Finish it.

Alli: 40:40

Read it. But I love Jen. And I've heard it's amazing. Yeah, I've heard. I've heard really good things. And she's a gem of a person. And I'm sure she's very smart. And so I'm sure it's great.

Amy: 40:52

Yes, like you. I'm listening to it. But I this is what I do. I listen to five things at once. I'm sorry. She repeated herself. I don't know. I actually that one. I started reading on my iPad, like the night when I couldn't sleep. And then I bought the audiobook, but I actually, I don't know if it's her because I've only listened to it a few times. I

Alli: 41:11

mean, I love obviously, we both have a love of audio books. Like I love it when the author reads it. I plan out so much better mine too, because there's emotion and you know, so I'm excited to do that. Yeah,

Amy: 41:23

I think it is harder now than before. Yeah, I have like 10 books open right now. Just like

Alli: 41:31

these kinds of books. And then I have like, just complete like, you know, non, like helpful books at all, just like guilty pleasure books. So

Katie: 41:41

those are something to help shut the brain down that very, very busy brain of yours. Yeah, exactly. All right. Well, you know what else we should touch on really quickly, just because we did have Meredith on recently, and it was right for the holidays when we saw her. How did Meredith How did Beckett and Quill do during the holiday season? She had some some super exciting promotions and everything. It was great.

Alli: 42:02

Yeah. I mean, we it was such a great holiday season. We were you know, blown away really by you know how, you know, the last like two months of the year where our, you know, hands down made our year so that night really exciting. And even we learned a lot about what works and what doesn't work and what to where to put our energy and it set us up for you know, this year to be able to, you know, go do a little bit more so we she had a lot of success when she was in New York with you guys in doing the trunk shows that she did.

Katie: 42:35

That was so fun. So it was a great time.

Alli: 42:38

Because she's so you know she does so well when she goes out and does the trunk. She's so cute. She's so cute. So she's,

Amy: 42:45

yeah, no. Cindy Crawford clone. Yeah, I know what she was on. I was like, did anybody has anybody told you look like Cindy Crawford? Because I can't like she's spitting at it. She's like, Oh my god. Ali says that all the time. I'm like

Alli: 42:58

You You're exactly her was oh, and the thing, the whole thing. Just take a picture of her today because it's her birthday. And I think it's the picture that is a picture of her that really I feel like looks like Cindy Crawford. Yeah. Nice. Yeah, well,

Amy: 43:15

congrats on on a good holiday season. That's exciting. We love love love what you guys are doing with decadent quality.

Alli: 43:21

Thank you so right up our alley for you guys have been awesome.

Amy: 43:24

Yeah, of course. So we have a couple of like fun questions a little rap session and product review. So what is your holy grail? haircare product? Because obviously you're the queen bee here. So we need to know like, what is your favorite thing? Do you have a favorite one or two things that are your go twos.

Alli: 43:40

I mean, they fluctuate so much, you know, it's just kind of depends on like, where I'm at in my hair journey. And I you know, I don't, I mean, I don't really blow dry my hair all that much anymore. I mean, as you can see my hair a little bit dirty right now. I kind of like it i really like undone hair. And I've always sent me to him even in the throes of drybar. But I would say like my the tool, whether the product that I stuck with for as long for very very long time is probably our three day Bender, which is a curling iron, you know, that hasn't been the barrel we I the one inch, like I've used it forever, it's such a great iron, you don't need to make it very hot. And it gives you all sorts of different curls. I would say that's probably like a staple in my hair wardrobe. And then you know, I kind of go back and forth with different like serums you know, we make a great one that's a treatment. It's called that the treatment oil 100 proof and but I really use a lot of brands a lot of different hair products from different brands that I that I love. And gosh, what am I using that I really love right now. Um,

Amy: 44:55

can I tell you a funny hack? So the dry bar dry conditioner which I love smell and I know like smells like you're very sensitive to smell and like, I am too and I love that smell. But I spread. I have a puppy, we got a new puppy recently. And I spray it in her hair every once in a while just to like, I don't know, give it a little bit of life sometimes. You know, she's outside, whatever it makes her smell good. And like my mom, remember the other day she smells so good. I'm like, Oh, I put some dry conditioner. Really good.

Katie: 45:28

My dog particularly smells

Alli: 45:32

that's so funny. And I would say like our dry shampoo is one of I use the brown dry shampoo a lot to cover up like my gray that comes in and that's like one of my favorite go twos.

Amy: 45:42

Oh, I didn't even know they had that. Nice. You.

Katie: 45:44

Nice we do you talk. Yeah, yeah, these are good ones. All right. Well, let's let's wrap into kick it to our rap session, because we have taken up so much of your time. You've been so generous. So you have a favorite wellness or beauty hack.

Alli: 45:59

You know, I would say my my latest beauty hack is I recently discovered there's this company called canopy they make. They're kind of like a revolutionary humidifier. So it's like not the humidifier. Oh, I know that brand. Yeah, it's really cool. Because they figured out this technology. So like your humidifier doesn't get gross and moldy and gross and gookie. And there's some really amazing data on like how good it is for your skin and your scalp. So I'm, I use it, it's on constantly, we never shut it off. And never you know, you have to change the filter once every, I don't know, a month or something. But it's really really easy upkeep and I love it.

Katie: 46:38

Nice. Yeah, I literally don't use humidifiers because of that exact problem. Like after a while they get gross. But you know,

Alli: 46:45

it's fascinating and I've learned a lot about this company because the long story but you know is also like men on humidifiers and use some kind of when you're sick and whatever, they get too gnarly and you throw them away you know? Yeah. However it's like multi billion dollar industry and like how in the world and these guys who started canopy who I've gotten to know which is you know, it's been kind of an interesting evolution. You know, they're like, Yeah, we just real I was like these guys started it who realized like their girlfriends were like, you know, saying that their skin was much better from having a mini humidifier but there were so many issues with them so they are kind of entering this beauty space and I was like I've been using it now for a little over a month and I'm like my skin looks and feels so much better and there's so much technology and like the fact that you know doesn't put it like a big a big water molecule into the air which would be really bad for our hair. So it's it's pretty awesome yeah, there's some really cool technology with it that I've geeked out on a little bit so I'm amused to try

Amy: 47:43

that cuz I same thing same thing didn't I think Lauren Bostic like did like a collab with them? She Yeah, okay, that's how I know the brand. Okay, cool. We got to try that. Yeah. Okay, then the next one is called our five minute flow. So you just got out of the shower your Uber pings you They're downstairs their weight or they're five minutes away. So what is your quick beauty routine? Like what are your go to is what do you throw on what do you put on your face to get like downstairs and in that Uber on time? Well,

Alli: 48:12

I would say the biggest thing is like I am kind of it's because of like my age but like skin is really important to me so I always put on like I'm like very religious with Shawnee garden products and I'll put on like toner first because I've learned that like if you put that on first it helps the other stuff seep in more I always use a serum i You start with Shani I was a serum and then I like always I usually have if I have time I'll put on like blush and lipstick but I always have my I always have eyeliner and mascara on it's like I do not feel like myself if I don't have that on everything else is like kind of like me but it's eyes for me and like a lot of shit on my face I

Amy: 48:56

feel you on that one.

Katie: 48:58

Now that's funny I refuse to leave the house without like liner Yeah, that's yeah,

Alli: 49:03

I always have liner I used to like line the inside of my eyes and then I started realizing that like my eyes like my eyes are very small and that looks much smaller now I just do the top and I I'm embracing it I'm good with it.

Amy: 49:17

Do you get lost in the TIC tock world of like hair and beauty hacks I'm like a really gentle stop oh my god I

Alli: 49:24

get it and if I if I get into if I see something I can get locked into it but I'm honestly like so embarrassing but like you know um, you've probably seen me post about my cat which I'm like such a dog person Yes

Amy: 49:37

cookie but we talked about the air tag the other day Yes.

Alli: 49:40

Oh right you guys I just ordered the collar to her because good our tag on her because that was the most traumatic thing thinking I lost her I was such a fucking wreck. And so I I'm in like, I end up my my I end up watching so many fucking kitten videos. What's wrong with me? It's really fine. I see these like cat and dog videos like where the kitten like runs into the room and like jumps on the dog's face. I'm like, Why doesn't cookie do any of this stuff? A little bit of such an animal person and like it's my dream to have like a farm one day and have tons of dogs and cats and chickens and all of that. But that's, that's coming.

Katie: 50:23

Well, maybe that's a good segue into how you maintain your daily nirvana is it possibly the kitty videos

Alli: 50:33

you know, I mean, I I you know, kind of like the post I posted this weekend of like, I realized I need like alone time and I'm, I definitely think I'm like an introverted extrovert, like, I can really turn it on and be on for the camera, and all that stuff. But then I like, I really like my downtime. I really love my downtime. And I think that's kind of what keeps me like in flow, you know?

Katie: 50:54

Yeah, yeah, totally agreed.

Amy: 50:56

Okay, well, typically, on the show, we end with a quick product review, like what we're loving now and a quick mantra. So we're gonna do that quickly. So and I think you'll like this alli, because it's kind of well kind of related, but not related to something we just talked about. So I don't know if you've heard of this brand, called Vatroovie. These diffusers Oh, no, I haven't seen that. They're air diffusers. And that the reason why I like it is it's stone and it's really beautiful. So when you have it so you can I never was like a diffuser person. But I saw these and I'm like, Oh, they're like pretty and they look nice in your office or your home. And there's I'm going to show my phone if you can see right now. But there's all these amazing colors. I don't know if you can see this, but there's like, why and pink and yeah, I was like like if you go on their website, but they have you. They have eucalyptus color and, and and gray and yellow. Not a buttercup yellow, but like mustard yellow, and they have a teal and like just always wrong with no, nothing I'm saying they have a drive a muster. where's the where's the yellow cup? Buttercup yellow. But anyway, they've cream it. Anyway, they have all these beautiful colors for TV. They're just very like, chic and Luxe. So they look nice in your home. They'll like a piece of decor versus just like an ugly diffuser.

Alli: 52:14

And one of the things I love about canopy is they're like that, too. It's like yeah, so it's so beautiful

Amy: 52:19

body and then I got like three different scents. I love grapefruit. So I put grapefruit in there. And then I also have like this grapefruit eucalyptus kind of mix and then one with lime and juniper and whatever and yummy smells. But anyway, just start using it. And now that I have my smell back after COVID I'm loving it. So it's just a really nice product. If you want a diffuser that like look chic and nice and all types of colors. It's I think it's around $110. But it's a good one. So that's what I'm loving right now. Love it. Love. The fun

Katie: 52:54

one. Yeah. All right. Well, I will wrap with our mantra in honor of Martin Luther King Day. This is a Martin Luther King quote. And it's also very appropriate to your unbelievable entrepreneurialship. So you don't have to see the whole staircase. Just take the first step. And

Alli: 53:15

that one I knew a good one I love that's

Amy: 53:19

true. Say that one more. Thank you so much. I just want to say thank you, I know are getting so busy. And we really appreciate the time you spend with us and we know our audience will love it and we'll have to meet one day in person next time. We're in L.A.

Alli: 53:32

Yeah. Thank you. Yeah.

Katie: 53:35

Thank you. Thanks, Alli.

Amy: 53:36

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

Episode 34 - 8 Well-Being And Beauty Trends To Buzz About In 2022 (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 34 Well-Being And Beauty Trends To Buzz About In 2022.

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: 0:06

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

Katie: 0:18

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

Amy: 0:28

Hello, Nirvana sisters, and welcome to 2022. Katie and I are actually coming to the last week of the new year. We have some extra time this week, because we're both home with COVID Unfortunately, but fortunately for you, we are able to now take a fun 2022 wellness trends episode earlier than expected. So, with that being said, it's been quite a winter break for Katie and I so we're gonna just start with our nirvana of the day week. Katie, I'll hand it to you.

Katie: 1:00

Thanks, Amy. Well, Happy New Year. Family, it's great to be back. We missed producing for you guys and everything. But we needed a little bit of a break. So we're excited to come to you with new and fun content in the new year. So my Nirvana I think, this week, because like Amy said, we have COVID circulating in our entire family, we've all pretty much taken a turn. And it's forced us to quarantine. And as dull and as boring as that can get. It's actually you know, it's done like the same thing that it did when the world shut down a year ago, we've just really been focusing on family togetherness with my kids and my husband, and we're cooking together and we're playing together and we're watching movies together. Just we're really, there's no distractions, essentially. So that has been my nirvana. It's we've we've all been really present and focused with each other. It's been great. What about you, Amy?

Amy: 1:57

Awesome. Yes, I would say that. And I would also say that I've been watching a lot of TV and binging on a lot of shows and like laying in bed with coffee and watching TV on interrupted, which is like amazing. So that's been nice just to like have some downtime, and also some time to myself to just like literally do nothing and space out on TV and shows. So that's been fun. So getting into our 2022 trends. So Katie, and I've been doing some research and over the last few weeks, and there's a lot of new trends. Katie, I'm sure you've read to coming into 2022. I picked a few that I particularly liked and wanted to talk about, and also some ones that I think are appropriate to our show, because we have some guests coming up that tie in with our trends. And so I can start if you want me to do the first one I found Yeah,

Katie: 2:50

that's here. And

Amy: 2:52

okay, so I was reading through the Whelan, goods wellness Trends report. And one of the things that popped not surprising is at home beauty tools and devices. So we talked about this a bunch last year, I know we had our Shelly Marshall episode we have we've had two episodes with her, our resident beauty shaman and we talked about microcurrent devices, specifically the new face. But essentially what I was reading in the well and good report was that led masks might go current devices, they've all you know existed before 2020. But there's just going to be even more higher rates of use of this stuff. Because I think what they're what they were saying is people got used to doing this stuff at home. And we're experimenting this through 2020 20 and 2021, since they couldn't see their facial list and take care of their skin as much as they would prior to so there's going to be more use of this and people. They call it a trend forecaster from wgsn termed it tech septons. So meaning that people are getting more comfortable with these kind of devices and doing it at home and mixing it still in with their esthetician, etc. But just more people are continuing to be using these devices. So I definitely agree with that. I've been trying to use mine more. One of the stats I found two, which I thought was interesting is as of 2020, the global home use beauty device market was valued at approximately 9.5 billion in 2020. And according to this report by a market research firm, PNS intelligence it's expected to grow to nearly 90 billion in the next decades. So this is just a growing category that we'll continue to take a look at. I know one of the things that I have on my list to buy this year is a red light, I guess it's there's this there's this product called Juve that I've been reading about and it's like red light therapy where you can get a small one for your desk or people have large ones in their home. And I think it's something that you can stand in front of for like 510 minutes a day. And it has all the benefits of red light therapy. And it's funny because I remember in the show that we talked about algae with Katherine aaronson. She had has come from doing her red light therapy, which she definitely mentioned as being a trend and something people are gonna be really interested in. So I've been seeing a lot more about that. So I'm excited to research that and just overall more at home stuff. Okay, moving on, what is your number two trend? Katie will

Katie: 5:15

really quickly I think, also in regards to your Trend at home stuff, do you think also that there has been a hole filled in the market where they're making more of these at home items that are just like maybe more readily available, they're not quite as expensive as maybe they were a couple of years ago. It's just more accessible to the consumer.

Amy: 5:36

I think it's more accessible. I think a lot of brands I've seen are like jumping into this space, because it is so popular, but I think you have to be careful because I think there are some that are FDA approved, and some that aren't. So I know that the one the new face that I bought from Shelley is FDA approved. So I feel good about this. I know that Juve is FDA approved. So I think you have to be careful with which ones you buy, to make sure that they're approved. And they work. But yeah, I've seen I feel like more of this stuff on the market over the last year, and I'm sure it will continue to grow.

Katie: 6:03

Yeah, yeah, definitely. Okay, well, I have a couple of trends that I find interesting. And some I use, some I haven't used, but I know people that do. And mine is the use of psychedelics for therapy. I actually have a friend that has done this to get over post traumatic stress. And also she happens to be a doctor. And so she is studying up on it herself, and, and potentially getting certified to be able to administer psychedelics herself as a therapist. So the reason why people are doing it is because these drugs are believed to work by affecting neural circuits that use neurotransmitter serotonin. So it puts you into a very relaxed state, it gives you all of these like senses of improved well being, you feel very introspective. So it makes it easier for someone in the right scenario with a doctor in a very safe environment to open up about things that maybe they've repressed or that they just have a hard time talking about, to process all of it. So drugs, I mean, I shouldn't maybe drugs is not the the best term to use. But when I think of things like MDMA, and ayahuasca, that's what I think of, but those are these are the psychedelics that they're using MDMA, Ayahuasca, they're also using LSD Sylow, psilocybin, better known psilocybin is also magic mushrooms. So I think it's more or less like micro doses that doctors are giving people. Now, it needs to be noted that these are not legal yet. It's all in like, trial studies, or doctors that are, you know, a little bit progressive and willing to go out on a limb. Like it's not necessarily easy to find this right now. But it's coming. It's we're getting very close to to this being more readily available. What is legal, are ketamine clinics, ketamine, is what I was reading about to yeah, there's actually a ketamine clinic in New York City, that is having really great success with treating patients with it. So I don't know, I don't know that something I would ever be interested in doing. It makes me a little nervous. But my friend that did it had massive, massive benefit from it. I mean, she processed an incredibly traumatic event in her life that she wouldn't have been able to handle otherwise. But again, something that you're going to want to be very careful with and talk to doctors about. And it's not something you're gonna just experiment with and do at home on your own. This is like a whole other ballgame than tripping out on, you know, LSD, it's, it's not the same thing. So be very safe. If you are interested in doing it go about it the right way.

Amy: 9:07

Yeah, I am. It's funny, I have that as one of my trends as well. And what I did read also, which I thought was interesting, and you just mentioned it was that ketamine is the only psychedelic legally available that is available for mental health patients, which I keep hearing more about that. And then the other thing that I had read about this movement is that they've shown significant promise and treating certain mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, etc. And then it said, also for some stats here, it said, the US depression rate has tripled since the start of COVID-19, with nearly 33% of adults reporting depression symptoms according to the Lancet, regional health, America's anxiety is on the rise, as well as symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder, particularly among healthcare workers and COVID-19 survivor survivor so I know that we've been trying to get a gasps just to learn more about this, I agree with you, I don't think I would ever do this. This like, totally freaks me out. I don't like to be out of control. But I guess if you did have a traumatic if you had something traumatic that you couldn't get over, I would definitely do this or if someone in my life was having depression and wasn't able to get over it, I would recommend it. I just think that it's I don't know, it's scary, but I see a

Katie: 10:21

thing. It's not go ahead. And you just said being out of control. I understand. I get the fear of that as well. I think the whole point is, is that it's done in an extremely controlled environment.

Amy: 10:33

Right. So a doctor's with you the whole Yes,

Katie: 10:35

yeah. Yeah, but still, but still like freaks me out nonetheless. I mean, you know, it's

Amy: 10:40

totally i There is an episode I think I was mentioning this to Katie, there's an episode there was this some show on Netflix called goop labs or something like that. And they had a series of different new types of treatments. And one of the episodes was all focused on psychedelics it was out a few years ago, and I watched it and they all were all the people that were trying it went I think you watch to to Katie went to this retreat and like Costa Rica somewhere and tried it, and it really helps a lot of people. But anyway, if our listeners if you guys want to learn more about it, there's that episode on Netflix, but just an interesting trend that I'm sure we'll start to read more about. Moving on. Okay. One of the things that I read there is a report from Pinterest every year called Pinterest predicts, which I thought was really interesting and had like tons of different trends. So we'll we'll put the link up, because it's basically based on searches that people are looking for in Pinterest. So one of the trends that they labeled under wellness trends was called level up. And this is basically saying that Gen Z are looking for ways to raise their vibration and searching for spiritual awakening, and even aura colors. So the searches that are trending here are how to raise your vibration, which is up 145%, how to protect your energy, which is up 60% and frequency healing inquiries, which is up 35%. So this is a good segue because Katie and I interviewed someone named Athena Bari, which we're really excited to have that episode, I think it's going to be launching after this one. And she just launched a book called raise your vibration. So it was good to see that this is something that people are interested in. So stay tuned for that. What? What other trends are you seeing Katie?

Katie: 12:19

So this next trend is something that I do that I i actually have to do it for my health. But at one point, I had to go to the hospital for it. And now I can just go to a spa, it's IV therapy. So IV therapy, and also the use of an A D IV therapy is becoming very trendy, it's very readily available. There is a spa near me called Restore hyper wellness there, they have like 100 locations all over the place, they offer it and you essentially just go in and you get IV fluids and they have all of these different boosters. Depending on kind of like what you think you feel what you feel you need. You can get vitamin C boosters, vitamin D boosters, you can get, like collagen and all these things for your skin, your hair, your nails, like things for muscle recovery. I do it just because of my Addison's disease, I go in and get fluids just to rehydrate. But I asked her I said, you know how many people come in here to like get over a hangover. And she said, shockingly, that's not all because she said we get a lot of people that are very health conscious. And they come in they do it once a week because they want to feel great. They want to be hydrated, and they just want to be like starting their week out. Right. So then I find interesting because I literally used to have to go to the emergency room to get that done. Now I don't have to So yay for that. But the other awesome. Yeah. The other really cool thing though, is that they're offering with the IV therapy is an A D IV therapy. And a D is a coenzyme. There's many benefits to it has it's helped people aid in addiction recovery. It's reduces pain, it affects like inflammation and everything. It can improve your cognitive function, it can boost your energy, it can improve your athletic performance, it's good for weight management, it reverses signs of aging, it can also delay or prevent the onset of certain diseases. But it's much more I don't want to use the word invasive. It's just a much bigger process than going in for IV therapy one afternoon like I do, what I do is I go to this place they hook me up to an IV I sit in a massage chair and I look at Instagram for an hour. This you're going in and you're there for the entire day. And you have to do like three or four you know visits with it and it's incredibly expensive. But but the nurse that that did it she told me that people come in, you know, like if someone is if their health is deteriorating, maybe they're like have autoimmunity kicking in or something like that. This is a good way to potentially stop that and like do an overhaul in your body and become healthy again.

Amy: 14:55

Yeah, I think I just heard a podcast about this. I think it was skinny confidential. Lauren and Michael Bostick were talking about this with these doctors. And they said it's I think he had done it and she wanted to do it he said he felt so incredible afterwards I think it was the same thing. So yeah, that's interesting. And I have a restore wellness near me, which I've been meaning to go to. My friend, my friend Sherry goes all the time and I've been wanting to go with her just haven't had a chance, but it's right around the corner for me. So I definitely want to try that and start incorporating that into my wellness this year. Because I think that will really help to kind of keep keep you your immunity up, especially now that we have both of COVID I think it's important to to keep that so that's awesome that it's near you and near me too. So yeah, for that I've only done it once. And it was for a hangover when I was in Nashville.

Katie: 15:40

Yeah, I've done it when I've been hungover too but there it's it's available in a lot of places. When I when I moved out of New York City, it was just then becoming available where you could actually have someone come to your house and do it for you. But now it's like everywhere I mean med spas have it and I feel like it's reasonably priced at this restore hyper wellness, they actually provide memberships so membership now so it's great. It's good. I think we're probably going to see a lot more of it. So yeah, so yeah, I

Amy: 16:09

think I think it those types of med spas or restore on one's like it they have like those hyperbaric chambers Yes. Like the cold therapy and they have those LED light boots and all that stuff. Yeah, that's fun. Yeah. Okay, so moving on. I was reading some nail news in a lor laura.com And here are the eight biggest manicure trends to expect in 2002. So I'm just going to read them off really quickly. Multicolored digits so essentially like all different color nails in one set, which is cute. French versus American manicure. So like the classic versus you know a lot of those American manicures you see and I didn't even know it was called American manicure and I've done it before where you have like fun colors on the tip or different ways to do the manicure not just like the straight line but it's like a diamond or whatever. So that is going to be trending next year. Neutrals neutrals and more neutrals, they said time to DIY DIY sees me which I think definitely got a resurgence over COVID I know that I review the product man me which I still love and use here and there. And I've seen so many nail companies coming out with press on nails, sticker nails, etc. So more of that. 3d decals so fun like pearls and diamonds on like little things to put on your nails to judge them up. Waves work swirls, waves and swirls on nude bases. So really cool designs related to that category. And then the last one they talked about was mixed textures, like you know, a solid on one nail and lines on the other and zigzags on the other and just kind of like playing with fun, different textures. So I'm always looking for new nail fun designs when I go in. So that's what I read on the lore about nails.

Katie: 17:52

My Girls would love that. I'm usually like I either go dark or either go super neutral. I don't like it too funky with it. But I think it's so cool when people do I think it's really cute.

Amy: 18:02

Yeah, I like to go funky with it. Yeah,

Katie: 18:04

I love it. Sometimes it looks great. Yeah, so Did your mom your mom always has like blues and purples and that she gets like yeah, just like playful with it. It's great. Alright, so my next one is something that just kind of popped up. It's funny, I was like inadvertently doing this. And then I stumbled across that this is a trend and we're gonna start to see it more. So we've all heard of veganism. We've all heard of vegetarianism, have you heard of reduce a terian ism, reduce it now. Sounds made up but it is not. So essentially what it is, it's eating less eggs, dairy meat, for the betterment of the planet for your own personal motivations. It's basically you know, people want to push being vegan and vegetarian for you know, the environment and reducing our carbon footprint and, and cleaner water and all of these amazing benefits that eating less meat, dairy eggs would do for the world, but it's very daunting. A vegetarian or vegan diet can really freak people out, right? I mean, who doesn't love a nice ribeye steak I do. So right, this is a way that is really approachable to participate in, you know, trying to improve the environment, reduce your carbon footprint, everything like that without going you know the full monty without totally giving up all the eggs. If you eat eggs for breakfast every day, eat eggs for breakfast once or twice a week. If you put milk in your coffee and your cereal, put almond milk on your cereal, like just like little minimal switches that actually make a huge, huge difference. So this is just a small little way that you can contribute. And also it's good for you. Oh, we all know that eating more plants is really good for you. It fights diabetes, it fights cardiovascular issues. It's good for weight management. So Yeah, I started doing it to help with COVID, I just cut back the amount of meat that I was eating in the last few days just because I feel like I get inflammation when I eat too much of it. And the more plants I eat, you know, the better I'm going to feel sooner rather than later. So that's inadvertently I'm doing reduce at Arianism.

Amy: 20:16

Yeah, it's interesting that you say that because I know we did that episode on plant based diet, which was really educating about if you want to be plant based, here's how to do it. But this is just kind of like a toe in the water. To that it sounds like you're reducing it, which I think you and I probably do intuitively, but you're reducing it instead of not having it at all. So you still get a little bit of it. But you're thinking about ways to reduce it more so for the planet and your health, of course, but I know we talked about in that episode, just egg, which I just wanted to bring up again, because that's a great way to still have eggs, but it's not made from eggs. And so I know that company is kind of exploding right now. I've seen it all over the place since we talked about it. And they're also coming up with new technology. I think, like they have the egg products, but I think they're coming out with chicken. Oh, wow. But I know that they have some new innovations coming out in that space. So it's interesting to see all of these brands and companies coming out to help to embrace the plant based lifestyle and reduce the terian ism. So interesting. Okay, so the next one, I think is relevant for all of us and a lot of women specifically and it is called. This again is from the Pinterest predict study that I read. And it's fin powermat. So managing your money like a boss in 2022 people will take money matters into their own hands as they set out on new journeys towards financial literacy. So millennials are driving the searches behind investment tips, financial education and investment property for beginners. So investment tips was up 195% This year, passive income tips are up 35% financial education was up 155% Financial Planning bullet journal was up 90%. And investment property for beginners was up 45%. So super important. We have someone coming on the show a lot of fun and a couple of episodes that is going to talk all about fin Powerman. But I think it's interesting to see that this is a rising trend. I think obviously this category has always been important. But I think more and more it seems that younger millennials and people just coming into the workforce are not only looking to save money through or 401k. But they're looking for how can I invest and there's all these apps now people aren't using like the traditional banking methods anymore. They're using all of these new apps like Robin Hood, and Katie, you are seeing you're using one name Alibaba, there's all these new ways to manage your money. And I think it's interesting that people are looking now for a lot more ways to not only diversify their income, but even make more money side hustles, etc. So any thoughts on this one? Katie?

Katie: 22:55

Yeah, I mean, I just I think it's great. I think it's so empowering. I know, as a young 20 Something I was never really taught money management from my parents, it was not really my dad's strong suit, like even my brothers and I, we all had to kind of learn that on our own. So I found myself kind of leaning more towards my husband to take the reins on that. And then a couple years ago, I was sick of being in the dark. And I educated myself on all of our finances. And now you know, I can look into our portfolio whenever and I know everything that's going on constantly, and it is so empowering. It makes such a huge difference. I just I think it's I think it's brilliant. I'm, I'm very happy that the world is going in that direction instead of people just kind of flying by the seat of their pants, hoping that their paychecks are gonna make ends meet and everything's gonna be okay. So yeah, I think that's, that's great. I'm excited to talk to this guest this that's coming up about it.

Amy: 23:53

Yeah, it's interesting that you say that I think growing up, we probably I don't think we talked about like financial planning so much. But we did talk about managing money, somewhat. But I think now it's much more open and relevant, because Stu is always talking to the kids about different investments he's doing or different ways were diversifying our money. We both talked about it. And I've been getting more educated as well. I mean, I've always been somewhat, you know, financially savvy, but not in the way that Stu is. And he's taught me a lot. But I've also invested in a few companies myself this year, and just in a way to teach myself how to do investing or how to follow companies or startups and different things. So yeah, I'm excited to learn more about this.

Katie: 24:36

Those are great trends and very exciting. And I am super pleased to say that we have a lot of guests that are going to touch on most of those topics, actually that we just covered. So look forward to that. And yeah, Amy, you have one more

Amy: 24:52

Yeah, I have one last trend just like I did a nail speed round. I'm going to do a beauty speed round. I did some researching here. I'm quoting a website called Pure Wow which talks about nine beauty trends that they're predicting are going to be big next year according to the pros that they interview so the first one is glitter so glitter and shadow and makeup you know that's still I think that's been around but I think more so that they're gonna we're gonna see more of that line lips so this 90 is inspired trend like the welds of my life and it's funny because I've been looking at a lot of, I don't know tiktoks Instagram rails lately of people using like a new liner with a new lipstick and I actually just saw this yesterday and I wanted to get this Tom Ford lipstick because it was so pretty and of course it's sold out but that's definitely starting to trend so like that lined lips with lipstick look, double winged liner which I've seen here and there. It's kind of cool. I don't know how into it I will be but definitely fun to see and really creative looks people are using with double winged liner statement blush. So different ways to use blush, whether using it not just on your cheeks, but using it for contour. I also read about people using purple for blush, so people just playing around with a lot of blush, which I love. Peekaboo highlights, so people doing highlights, but more kind of like under their hair or on the bottoms. Just fun little ways to put highlights in your hair. Modern day mullet which I hate. You're seeing celebrities kind of embrace the mullet look, which I think is yeah, I've seen it like they were showing an example of Rihanna with some like mullet look which I can't stand. But anyway, it was on the list, long layers, which I think have been kind of in style, but like the curtain bangs, then the long layers, so that's a fun one. Another one is textured hair, which is kind of like that look where you have waves, but it looks kind of wet and texturing. So that's another one that I read about. And then the last one I read about was gender fluid beauty. So products being launched that are gender inclusive, which is great. So that is my beauty Speed Round, nice, I guess our trends Nirvana sisters family, like Katie said a lot of this stuff we'll be covering over the year. And I think there are so many more that were exciting. But these were the ones that kind of popped for us and things that we thought were relevant to our audience. But we'll put in all of these links in our show notes, you can read more about all these trends and different sources to find them. So super fun. It was I love doing this and kind of going in and reading about stuff and coming back as a reporter and talking about all these different trends. So so this is our first episode doing trends, but I think it's something that we should probably look to throughout the year to do little short episodes around trends or little, little, you know, topics that our listeners might be interested in. So if there's anything that you all are interested in that you want us to do some reporting on, let us know. And we'll do some research around that. Yeah,

Katie: 27:47

I like that. Some of those quick round trends that you just noted, I some of them sound great. And some of them freak me out like the purple blush. I don't know if I'm going to be. But yeah, I'm sure to look fabulous on someone. All right. So that was a lot of fun. Let's wrap with a mantra as we do. And you know, it's a new year. It's a new start. So how about this? Today is a fresh start, I welcome each positive opportunity with a thankful heart. I set my own pace, always moving forward. Even amongst chaos, I can find my own peace. And that was a few mantras and one but I like it because you know, New Year New Start. Lots going on. So good one to remember.

Amy: 28:33

Yeah, that is a good one. And I think we're recording this week after Christmas right before New Year's and I think that's always a week where I try to write goals and try to think about things I want to do for next year. So that's really relevant and good to remember. And hopefully you all enjoyed this episode, and we look forward to next week's episode. Thanks, everyone. Thanks for listening to Nirvana sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes please subscribe and leave us a review. also find us on Instagram at Nirvana sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana sisters will continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 33 - Gratitude, Self-Care, & Pausing To Be A Better You (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 33 Gratitude, Self-Care, & Pausing To Be A Better You.

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: 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 form of 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. Welcome back to the show, everyone. It's Amy and Katie today. And before we get moving with the show, I think we all should just take a quick breath. So I'm going to do it and you follow me because I know that I need it today. So ready, go. Okay, I really needed that guys, because I am feeling very overwhelmed lately. Katie knows this. It's towards the end of the year. There's so much going on, I feel like so many plans to be made. And I just got a new puppy. And you know, it sounds silly because it is amazing having a new puppy. But I have to say it is like having a newborn again. Except I'm much older. And I feel like I have to keep my eyes on her every second. And I have no time to myself. Because every time I try to go to the bathroom, take a shower, she's either in my room all over me has to go outside. And so I just feel like I've had no time to myself. So I was telling my family last night, I'm feeling very overwhelmed. And I need to take a step back. And I need them to help me do that. Because I've just been all over the place. So our episode this week is really about moving into the new year, taking a pause, looking back on the year and trying to balance and organize ourselves. So we're going to the New Year strongly. And I know Katie and I have been having a lot of these conversations offline because we are loving our podcast. And we love all of our listeners and all of our guests. But we do need time to take a step back and kind of think about next year and who we want on the show and what you guys want and how we want to kind of grow this community that we love so much. So we're taking time over the next few weeks to do that. And in this episode, we're going to talk about kind of balance, we're going to talk about some holiday weight loss things that we've been thinking about just a urine review a little bit, take a moment of gratitude, and just talking about how we can take care of ourselves over this busy season because the holidays are great time. And I'm really excited to move into Thanksgiving and the holidays. But they can also be somewhat stressful because you got to plan things, and you're going out a lot and seeing people which is all great, because we haven't been able to do it. And I think everyone's excited to do it. But it does have this feeling of moving quickly. And I just want to enjoy the moment and be kind of at peace and be in the present. And I'm just trying to do that. So Katie, can you help me with this? What are your thoughts? Yeah, I

Katie: 3:05

mean, also the holidays brings on more fun and partying than we probably any of us really, truly need in our lives, like as fabulous as it is. And as exciting as it is to see our friends. And to do these things, it can just totally throw us out of whack. Like I already feel in the weeds to begin with. I feel unorganized. I feel like you know, there's so much going on, we can't get on top of it. And now we've got to throw the holidays into the mix. And then there's the holiday parties and all of this and then I'm dragging and I just don't feel good. So it's a very difficult time I find for people to tune into themselves and to take care of themselves. And that's kind of what we're here as your reminder to try to do like, we're not saying beat yourself up if you aren't able to do it. But just try to remember to also take care of yourself through the wrap up of the end of this crazy year.

Amy: 3:52

Yeah, I know that I since I got the puppy. I haven't been working out as much. And I think that's why I feel so unbalanced and unorganized. Because I've been taking the time for myself to work out. So that's really getting on my nerves. So I need to start, like ASAP getting back on schedule with working out because I think that will make the rest of my days and weeks better. What about UK? Yeah, it just shows you moved. You were saying

Katie: 4:16

since since we moved, it's like really, really hard to get on in a routine. And it just goes to show like a major shift in anyone's life. Like whether it's a new baby, a new puppy, a new house, a new job, anything. It can really throw you out of whack, and it can be really hard to get back on track. I mean, it's our whole thing. And just so everyone knows, like we struggle with it, too. So yeah, I mean, I have only been able to get my workouts on like maybe twice a week, and I could feel it and I definitely feel like I'm edgier. I have a shorter temper. I am just not like a peace and present and calm as much as I would like to be. So yeah, I agree. I'm really I think us taking this cause is, is is gonna be great on so many levels, not just for Nirvana sisters, but personally also,

Amy: 5:06

yeah, I am feeling good about it. And I just need to set some mini goals for myself like, with working out, I definitely feel like I need to be doing at least five minutes of meditation, I've been totally off that practice and I need to be doing like my five minute meditation, I need to do some gratitude practice. And I feel that when we do get busy, those are the things that fall to the wayside. But then it almost makes it worse because it makes you more stressed out. And we know this because we talk about it all the time. But when you're in a busy time, it's good to just remember so this is our way of remembering and telling our community to remember to do this too, even if it's five minutes of walking five minutes and meditation. So with all this being said, let's do our nirvana of the week. Katie, why don't you start?

Katie: 5:50

So mine is kind of funny. And it's like a little unexpected for me. But do you ever have like, Have you ever had a song where you've heard maybe in a TV show, or you've heard it on the radio? You've heard it in a movie, like over a year's time, and every time you hear a little bit of it, you're like, I love that song? What is that song? Yeah, I had a song like that for I don't know how long like the better part of my life. And I'm always whenever I hear and I'm like, oh, I need to figure out what that is. I figure out what it is. And I never do. Well, the other day, the song came on the radio at like on Sirius. So it had the title and the artist, and it's hard. Oh my god. Do you know Harvest Moon by Neil Young?

Amy: 6:32

I think so. It's really listening to that. No way. Like, I feel like you told me about it or something.

Katie: 6:38

It was after you left? And uh, no, because this was all after you left. And I have probably I want to say this was on Monday because I was going to the grocery store. I have probably listened to it 100 times. It's the only thing I've listened to since I heard it. I'm playing it on repeat like a psychopath. But it's brought a young boy. Yeah. Like, honestly, I should play I'm just gonna play like a second or two of it. Ooh. And you're Yeah, and you'll know it but

Amy: 7:15

don't know if I know the song.

Katie: 7:17

Very like the first line is so good. I'll stop it after that.

Amy: 7:27

Oh, yeah, I know the song. So it reminds me of the Grateful Dead actually, it has that kind of vibe. And I feel like I heard this. Maybe Adam played it when I was there. Because I'm telling you, I heard that song with you when I was there this weekend. And it's a great song. And I'm gonna download it and it's definitely a mellow vibe. I love it.

Katie: 7:44

Yeah. And it's also like, it's about Harvest Moon, which is the fall and I'm of what I really like about it. It's about a couple that have been together for years and years and years and years. And they're still in love. And it's like, huh, like, like they're trying to spark that like young love feeling again, you know, it's good. So anyway, it's probably nirvana. Yeah, it's been like epic. Oh, I

Amy: 8:05

love it. I'm gonna definitely do that. I'm going to add it in. Maybe I'll listen to it when I do a little workout later. Yeah. Meyers, Ana, there's a few things I would say I was visiting Adam and Katie, my brother Adam and Katie obviously, and the girls last weekend, which was fabulous, because a I had like a little time to myself, but be I'm just really happy for you, Katie. And so happy with your move and your new community. I just felt really good being there. And I felt really happy for you and settled and that made me happy and that made me feel Nirvana because you guys really chose the right community to be in and Adam had this vision and he was right and it's such a nice warm community where he moves and I just felt so good for you that you guys were starting out in such a positive way with the girls that are really good age to move. So that brought me a lot of nirvana. We also have a special guests that were booking that I won't say that will probably be into the new year. So that also brought me a lot of Nirvana being that I pretty much manifested this person to come on our show, so I'm really excited about that too. Yeah, let's move on to some holiday eating weight loss. So when Katie and I were together, I had told her that I recently lost about 15 pounds

Katie: 9:23

doing lose my mind because you don't even look like you have 15 pounds to lose ever.

Amy: 9:28

Thank you. I felt that I put on a lot of quarantine weight and it was really I felt like more water retention and inflammation just because I wasn't paying attention I was eating I was I mean for the most part eating clean but definitely probably indulging more and then when I was indulging probably not taking a step back and like trying to eat healthy again. So I was just like off you know how sometimes you just get off and you get into a stage where you just feel bloated and you look at pictures and you're like oh, I don't like the way look and I don't like the way they feel. So I did this thing called Octavia which I was very against actually because I've known about For years, I know people that have done it. And you can lose a lot of weight from it, but I was very against it. Because you know, I actually don't think the ingredients are that bad, but it's packaged. And I was like, it's not organic. It's not fresh. I like to eat everything fresh and whatever. But Nicole, honestly, and Whole Foods Exactly. But honestly, I've been so busy that I was like, let me just do this and see. And I also am not one to make like, meals for myself so much, because I'm always on the run. So I do like to grab things and have more snacks throughout the day. So I was like, You know what, I need to lose a quick way, you know, 10 pounds, let me just try it. So I the way that the program works is you have a coach and my friend Stephanie, when I was visiting her over the summer had been doing it and she told me her coach, and I was like, set me up with her because it was someone I don't know someone that lives in Texas. She's so sweet. I've asked her a million questions. And she's sort of my Coach and Trainer along the way. And the reason why I personally thought that was helpful is because a lot of people this has become like a, I don't know what they call like multi level marketing, or whatever they call it, where people do the program, and then they become coaches. And it's a whole thing. But it is good to have a coach. But I did find that it was really helpful to have a coach that I didn't know, because there are people in my community that sell the products that I know. And I just didn't want to have to like, talk to someone that I knew and tell them my ups and downs and ask them all my silly questions. So it was actually really nice to have a somewhat anonymous person in my life that I could just ask a quick question to like, Hey, am I eating the right this or my eating right that so anyway, though, I'll probably do a full review on the program. And we were actually talking about maybe having one of our nutrition experts or contributors to the show to talk a little bit more about it. Because I know generally speaking, it's not good to lose a lot of weight in a quick manner. But I do have to say I have been on it since probably, I would say August, September, October. So it has been three years. It's not like I lost 10 pounds overnight, so I have lost 15 pounds, I'm looking to lose a few pounds more. So that way, when I gain some holiday weight, it won't be so drastic, but it has really helped because I do feel 1000 times better. I was telling Katie, I do not feel bloated at all, my stomach is flat, I feel so much better. So I think I just my body kind of flushed out all the things that I didn't need and that weren't serving me. And this will be a really good basis moving into the new year. So we'll probably go more in depth on it. But it was just something I wanted to mention because it was definitely one of these things where I was like, I'm not sure if I want to do a program like this, but it has actually been really helpful. Another one that I've used in the past is called proline, which I did a few years ago and I've done it a few times. And it's kind of like a one week almost fast. And it's more like soups and like very minimal food. It's almost like mimicking fasting but you are eating and I've done that too. And that's good for like a quick cleanse, you lose a few pounds and you kind of feel good, but that's just like a quick thing to do over the holidays that I know some people do to kind of get a you know, flush out if you will. But Katie, I know you have some some tips for holiday eating as well.

Katie: 13:08

Yeah, well really fast. I just want to touch on Octavia because, I mean you look great and what's most important is that you feel great. But we also know other people that have had really good success stories on it. It's kind of like this little hidden secret I feel like so, you know, listeners let us know if you want to learn more about it. And you know, next season we could probably do an in depth episode on it like you were saying but I think it could potentially help a lot of people that are you know, like stuck with some stubborn weight. Mine is was so my go to, you know, like I said because of the move I was just like out of whack and not really eating very well not on a great routine. So my reset is Pete's paleo. It's this fantastic, like food ordering service that I found during the pandemic when I was just so sick and tired of cooking and then I would not cook so I would end up just like putting a mishmash of random things together for dinner and it would be just like a really unhealthy dinner and I would feel like garbage the next day. So I ordered this. It's pizza paleo.com And

Amy: 14:14

basically you might have reviewed this or talked about and

Katie: 14:17

we talked I think it was one of my miliar it was one of my Nirvana's because it was it Yeah. My meals are so good. So what you do is you you order by Monday and then they have these weekly menus like here's here's an upcoming menu, white truffle and portabella chicken thighs with chives, mashed potatoes and roasted broccoli, thyme roasted turkey with artichoke and phenyl don't know how to say that word and roasted red rutabagas so on so the they're really really tasty meals that they prepare fresh and then shipped to you fresh within days times. And this is a chef, this is an actual chef This is his company and he he puts it together and the meals are So like savory and delicious, it's not it's not what you would think when you get like something that's pre packaged. They're really, really, really good and satisfying.

Amy: 15:09

And they're How do you meet them? Yeah, get in the microwave anything. It's like literally microwave like how does it come as a come frozen it comes,

Katie: 15:18

it comes fresh, but with like a freezer ice pack that keeps it fresh until you can put it into your refrigerator or freezer. And like these black things that are vacuum sealed. And so I toss mine in the freezer, you can keep them in the refrigerator. And then I just stand to

Amy: 15:35

put them in the microwave like in that the whole data that comes in, you just pop

Katie: 15:39

it in. And it's like it steams inside of the bag and reheat it. And it's really, really like the meat is super moist and juicy and fresh. And the flavors are always great. And so the reason why it works for me is because a it's a perfect portion size. It's a perfect balance of like protein to, to veggies to like starch. And it's paleo which is for those of you that aren't familiar, the Paleolithic diet is it's really geared towards people with autoimmune disease, but it just essentially helps fight inflammation, which is like the bane of my existence. I'm always dealing with inflammation because of my autoimmune stuff. So there's certain foods that are not like there's never any dairy. There's never What about gluten? There's never any gluten. There's never any like this child mashed potato is probably not a white potato. Like there's not you know, like there's certain starches that are not in there. There's never any preservatives, gums fillers, like none of that stuff. It's super so you feel

Amy: 16:46

like when you eat it, you feel you don't feel bloated at all, because that's how I guess thing, right? Not

Katie: 16:52

at all. And it's very filling and satisfying. And it's it's whole foods like so you'll look at the most and it's every single item is a whole food. You know, there's a Yeah, and

Amy: 17:00

is it? Is it just dinners or is it lunches and breakfasts like what's the You Can

Katie: 17:05

Do they do have breakfast they do have I think the lunches are probably just it would just be the same meals like you just use them however you choose to use them. They do offer breakfast, I've never done it. And you can get all different packages you can get like this past two weeks, I've just been getting a delivery of five every week. But I before I've done deliveries of 10 and like Adam eats them and Madeline eats them. So

Amy: 17:27

I think do it eat that too. I'm gonna try that. And it's, it's paleo like you can't order vegan if you're vegan or vegetarian, they

Katie: 17:33

don't have they do have like some food options. But I think it's more like AIP, which is really hardcore, an autoimmune protocol that I've tried to do, it's just been even more restrictive at one time, they did have like ketogenic offerings and things like that, but I don't, I don't think they're doing that anymore.

Amy: 17:49

So it just sounds to your point, like a healthy balanced meal. And honestly, with Octavia, the way that you do it is you eat these, what they call fueling. So basically little meals or snacks, you eat like five of them a day, but one of your meals is a regular meal, which is essentially protein in grains. So they call it like a lean and green, but you basically eat a lean protein and a lot of greens. So this sounds like it would be a nice way so I don't have to make it and I could just heat it up. And it also sounds like it might be a good transition for when I start to eat more like maybe I would have one of those for lunch instead of a salad or, or instead of a snack or whatever.

Katie: 18:26

Absolutely. It's, it's great. It's really good and seasonings always great. And you know what we really like? It's like the perfect amount of salt. Sometimes you get those kind of meals. And it's like they're they can be bland, like these are really well seasoned. They're really good. So I highly recommend no surprise,

Amy: 18:41

you really use that to keep on track and to keep it as an easy way to get healthy meals. So when you're feeling off and you've eaten crappy, like you'll go back to just eating that every day. And you'll feel like it's a good way to get you back on track eating healthy. Yeah, yeah. And I feel really good. It's early for weight loss, but in a way clean. Like is very clean and healthy eating.

Katie: 19:00

Yeah, good cleaning. Like I mean, you know, like I'm more regular when I do it. And I just feel better. And yeah, I don't wake up like puffy or bloated. I don't feel bloated up. Yeah,

Amy: 19:10

it's good. I'm going to try this. I'm going to try this over the holidays and moving into the new year because I think that's really good. I think it's good for Stu too, because especially for lunch, he's always you know, he'll run to Balducci's or Whole Foods or wherever the grocery store and just get something prepared and eat it. But I feel like something like this is probably better because you know what's in it and a bit healthier. So yes, sounds great. All right, awesome. So we'll keep you guys posted on how the how the holiday goes in terms of our eating. But I think if we're incorporating and we're thinking about what we're eating, obviously, like I also think it's healthy, to have fun to drink to eat, and all the and all the fun things because that's the fun part about the holidays. It's about being present with your family and friends. It's about having good food and celebrating and we should be doing all that but then on the days that we're not doing that we should be making sure that we're better liking and like eating healthy again, just to, you know, set it apart. So you're having just certain days where you're not eating as well. And then I think that makes makes for good balance. And so I think being really intuitive about that is helpful as well as you know, meditation and movement. I also I was listening to a podcast this morning, I only got five minutes in, but I'm going to listen to it later, when I go for a ride to do some errands. Brooke Dillard on naked beauty planet, she has her naked beauty podcasts. And I love her. She's awesome. And she was really good content on her shows. And the one that launched it was either, I think it was this week was around organization. And she's doing a bunch of episodes from now to the end of the year that are basically kind of like setting you up for the new year. And as you go into the holiday in the new year, different things to be helpful. So this one's on organization, I think she's gonna have like a bunch of different people come in and talk about different things as they as you move into the new year. But the person that was on her show started talking about Oregon organizing and organizing all your skincare products and all your beauty products because we have like a million and they could cause a mess. And my son is organized, but I call it like organized chaos. Like I know where everything is, but it's not super neat. It's kind of neat, but there's just like a lot of stuff. So anyway, I was listening to her and I'm excited to listen to that episode. Well, we'll post it because it sounds like this woman who's on has a lot of really good tips around not only organizing your beauty staples and your products, but also closets and all that. So I always holidays try to get really organized like Katie knows I do my pantry. And that's like I love doing it. But sometimes in where I had stopped in the podcast, which I listened to later was she's talked about getting in the mindset of organizing, because I think too, you get really overwhelmed with the thought of organizing and then you don't do it because you see all the clutter and you see all the stuff you have to do. And it's just like you don't know where to start. So I'm really interested to hear what she has to say about that. Because you do have to kind of psych yourself up to do organization project. Yeah, it's super organized Katie, like much more organized than I am. Yeah, but still,

Katie: 22:04

I could be better and like, like, you know, I mean, you saw we were saddled with the house except for like my closet. Right? I haven't taken the time to do the thing that is like my thing. And it's a

Amy: 22:15

drain. I'm sure it's overwhelming. Yeah, it is

Katie: 22:17

very overwhelming the thought of getting into it. But yeah, you have to get it's funny. So you'd like to organize around the holidays I like to I always like tend to organize in the spring, like the spring cleaning thing. But I mean, I still need to do it. I like when I when I have

Amy: 22:30

well, like when I have time usually between Christmas and New Year's I'll usually like go to The Container Store and get like fun containers and just try to organize because it's funny, I really actually love organizing. And I like doing it for other people to like I did it in my parents house. Like for my dad's library I've done like I do people's pantries like I love to actually do it once I'm in the mode. But it kind of takes me a little while to get into the mode and to do it myself, like my office is a disaster. And I feel like I need there's so many areas of clutter that I need to organize and clean up. I just haven't done it because I can't get my head around doing it. But that's one of my goals to do over the holidays. But I usually do like want to do organizing projects over the holidays or I try to we shouldn't she's

Katie: 23:13

a picture of your dad's office. It was so good. I want to do that with my office.

Amy: 23:16

Yeah, there's something like cathartic about doing it, because I think you should really good afterwards, and the person feels really good. That's actually what this woman was saying on the podcast this morning that she really she was like he used to be a beauty editor and all these different things. And she got into the organizing space. And she found that when she started doing this for people, they felt like like a weight was lifted off of them. And she loved giving them that feeling. So I need to do some organizing projects, for sure. So yeah, lots of organizing projects. I'm sure Katie, you have a lot of stuff to do around the house that you're excited to. Again, depending on

Katie: 23:46

how you said like you it's really it takes a weight off of you. So this past weekend, when you're at my house and your girlfriend and her kids came over, like the girls totally had the best time with our playroom, but it looked like the absolute bomb exploded afterwards. And it's been like that for the last few days. And every time I look at it, I'm like, Oh, it's so much it's too much. I don't have time for it. And like Frankie walked by it ever a million times. It was on my to do list every single day this week. Finally, this morning, I just did it. I just got up and did it. Reese helped me before she went to school, it did not take nearly as much time as I thought it was going to and now it's like light and airy. I can breathe. I feel like a normal human again. Because that one room isn't haunting me. You know, it really is

Amy: 24:31

so true. And that happens to me all the time. And there's so many things where I will look out for literally a year and be like, I can't get my head around doing it. But um, I know what I was gonna say before what I was gonna say is this woman was also talking about which is so true, is it's easy to be organized once you have a system. So I remember when I first moved to my house I had someone helped me organize my kitchen and she set it up and I've literally use the same system ever since. So it's like once you have that system, even if you're not super organized, you can be organized so I just set up Some stuff in my bathroom, like some ways to have my products out. And now I have a system. So I know where to put my wash at night. I have my wife, like, as long as you have a system, I feel like it really helps with organizing. So yeah, it's good. We'll get to some organizing. And then what about just kind of like, our year, we've had the show for a year. I have, like so many ideas, and so many growth plans. And we're so excited. And just thank you to everyone who has supported us from the beginning and listening and helping us to grow. We're so great. We're so grateful. Katie, what were what have been some of your kind of highs over the last year of launching and sustaining this podcast and brand?

Katie: 25:39

Yeah, it's been. I mean, we're so grateful to everyone that's been on the show. It's been such a highlight of mine. Finally, doing something aside from motherhood, has really given me so much confidence. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love being a mom. It's the most amazing gift in the world. It's also a very hard job. But like I needed something more I was a career woman at one point, and it just feels really good to, to be like mentally stimulated and creative. And it's also so fun talking to these people and learning so much. And also it's funny. It's given me like better people skills, like just moving to a new town. And now I have no problem meeting somebody and chatting it up with them and asking them about it. It's like I'm like, naturally an interviewer now, which is so funny. It's not a byproduct that I expected. But it's been great. I mean, I feel like we've learned so much. And it's been just such a joy, being with you every week and then getting to know these new people. It's brought me a lot of nirvana. I mean, just last week, Amy and I had a meeting when she came in town with Ann fryer who was a guest on our show on the first season. And I was like the coolest day because we sat with an fryer and talked about growth and expansion. And then we went to see another guest, we went to see Meredith Quill from Beckett and Quill and went to her trunk show and I literally felt like a career woman again, which is a feeling I haven't had and I don't know, nine years. So so fun. It's been it's been amazing. What about you?

Amy: 27:09

Yeah, I feel the same. I mean, I, there's so many things, I think being able to launch my own thing has been so amazing for me personally, because I work full time, I have a really busy demanding job, which I love. And it's creative, and it's great. But it's a big company. It's very corporate. And I've been there a long time. And I felt like I needed an outlet, and a way to be entrepreneurial again, because I tried to be entrepreneurial within my organization. But it's hard. It's just big, and it's great. But it's great in different ways. So I it's so nice to have my own thing with you that we can create ourselves, that we can edit ourselves that we can press that button, it goes live globally, we can talk about what we want to talk about, we can do the creative we want to do, it's just nice having my own creative outlet, that's a passion for me and to be able to talk about and be connected to it and talk to all these people and learn so many things that I'm so interested in. And it's just been a really nice outlet for me. And I feel like it's made me so much more well rounded, because it's interesting. And I feel like people want to hear about it. And it just I think it really has rounded me out because I have a really big corporate working marketing background. But now I have sort of this content creation creative side that I still do at work, but some of it has been lacking. So it's just nice to be able to have that outlet for myself and to be able to start building this brand together. And of course doing it with you makes it a bazillion times better. Like it's so funny, even though we're close before now. I feel like we're so bonded. We talk all the time, like I don't even talk to my brother. My parents are always like, Oh, if you talk to Adam and like, Katie, they're like Katie told me this. I'm like, yeah, now she texts me this morning like we're so synched up. Yeah, and it's really rare, because everyone I've talked to is like, Oh my God, that's so amazing. You have a podcast with your sister in law, and you guys are so close. And I was like, Yeah, it really is amazing, because it is unique. Yeah. And it's such a nice way for us to connect, but also to build a business and to like, build this brand and community together is so much fun. And we have all the same interest. So it's just been really meaningful. And I think it's brought me obviously a lot of Nirvana and joy, to keep it going. And I think we also have to give ourselves grace. Because Katie and I have these conversations all the time. We just we have so many ideas for this show that we want to do, which we will do and we have so just so much going on. And we definitely need time to take, take that pause and reflect and move into the new year with a really good plan of action and being rested. And even though this is like a it's an enjoyable thing for us to do. I'm all about momentum as Katie knows, I feel like we have to keep her Do swing and miss moment every week did it. But it's but it's stalling me from really taking a step back and thinking about okay, what guests do we want to have on next year? And who do we want to, you know, go after and, you know, just a shout out to all of our guests too, because everyone that's been on the show has been truly part of our Nirvana sisters family, and I've really an entire aligns with what we're all about, and have inspired us, but also have said, Yes, and there's a lot of people, it takes time to do this. I mean, you know, it takes half an hour, hour, whatever it is out of the day, but I think people say yes, because they look at it as a really good time to connect with people. And the way that we do it is very comfort, conversational and fun. So I don't think it's looked at upon as a chore. I think people actually like to get away from their day to day and talk to new people. So thank you to all of our guests who have been on the show and have been helping us to grow. And thank you for the ones that have come back. And you'll be still coming back and contributing to the show for years to come. So just feeling really grateful that we've now have, this will be I think, Episode 3233.

Katie: 31:04

This is our 33rd Yeah. Which is incredible

Amy: 31:08

over a year. I mean, so many people that I've talked to that knew us when we were first launching this a year ago, and we were trying to come up with the name and we were teaching ourselves how to do everything. They're like, Oh my God, you have all these downloads, and you have this whole show, and you have so much content. It's incredible. And I really loved this episode and this product. So it just brings me a lot of joy. And I feel very well rounded and happy and really in my creative zone when we're doing it. So yeah, long story short,

Katie: 31:35

it's uh, it's amazing how like, we've had a lot of hurdles it hasn't been easy. We do everything soup to nuts. I don't know if people know that. I mean, we do we do all the editing, we do all the bookings, we do the whole nine. And there's been times where it's been so stressful to try to make it work, but I think having each other and this is like something that people should should take on if you're if you're trying to get on do something on your own. Go find a partner because having Amy to like, keep me in the game when I'm not and and to bounce ideas off of advisor. Yeah, like, it's It's crucial. I mean, it's crucial. It's been so uh, Kevin, you know, a partner. And we have, we're very fortunate and blessed. I think we have like a really healthy working relationship, in addition to personal sisterhood. But yes, it's, it's definitely, it hasn't been easy. And the exciting thing is, is that we're now we're like growing and expanding. And so true, you can be so in the weeds, you can be so in it, that it's hard to see outside of it, and what else you have to do to make it bigger. So like Amy said, we're going to step back for a few weeks, I had to twist her arm to get there, but Miss momentum, I gotta agree to it. And we're going to focus on bringing you bigger things, new things, exciting things, and we're just gonna keep keep growing. And we would love to hear from our listeners, like, what do you guys want from us? It would be really exciting, you know, like, let us know. And instead, I think, yeah,

Amy: 33:02

we'd love to hear your ideas. And I just to echo what you were saying, Katie, I 100% agree that having a partner has completely changed the game for me, because yes, we have each other's back, we motivate each other, we keep each other accountable, and props. And, you know, shout outs to my husband, Stu, because he was the one when I was talking to him a year, year and a half ago. And I was like, I definitely want to start something I don't know what it is. And he was like, you know, you really need a partner. Because you have so many ideas that like you, you need someone to bounce them off like another woman who can really connect with you. And obviously Katie was like the first person I thought of like, this would be such a good idea for us to do together because we're always talking about this stuff. But I didn't recognize it myself. I always feel like I have to do everything myself. And then it never happens. Because it's just it's too hard to start. So having a partner for anyone listening that's wanting to start a business wanting to start a whatever it may be. I think having that partner is crucial to talk through things and get in the nitty gritty because you know, your husband and your friends don't want to hear about it all the time that like you'll talk about it with your partner every second and get into the minutiae of everything. And it's just so, so helpful to have and excited and it's fun. Yeah, it makes it more fun. Exactly. 100%. Moving on. As we close out the episode, I think Katie might have a nice mantra for us. But again, just wanted to tell our listeners to have a great holiday season, take care of yourself. We are going to be every day intentionally trying to do that. I definitely feel better after having this conversation. Katie, I've been so stressed and I feel like I can breathe again. I feel a lot more relaxed. So I'm going to take this energy and move it into like the rest of the holiday season. I hope you feel the same way and I hope our audience feels the same way. And yeah, we'll continue to be talking to you all on Instagram and email and however you want to reach us. We're here at Nirvana sisters. Um, we're going to be producing a lot of content over the next few weeks to that will will launch in 2022 at the start of the new year. So we're really excited about that. But definitely keep in touch. And we'll continue to be, you know, putting out a lot of social content and tips and tricks and all of the things.

Katie: 35:15

Yeah, and look out for us one on Instagram, because our past guests, they have a great exciting holiday things going on that we're going to share with you. So yeah, definitely tune in for that. Okay, so

Amy: 35:27

just closing out with some thoughts. I don't know if this is necessarily a mantra, it might just be a quote, but I was on LinkedIn yesterday, and this woman who I don't know, I'm following her, her name is Sarah Kay. She is a creative thinker, brand innovation. She's an author of the book brand new world, which I'm going to try to read. And she put out a really amazing post, which I'll share on our social, but it was really about embracing your uniqueness. And it was a whole paragraph about when you get feedback from people how that can, you know, you take it so seriously, and then you don't defend yourself and you become someone that you're not. And anyway, there was one part of it, which I really liked, which said, your uniqueness is perfect, never apologize for it, on the contrary, dial it up. So I just love that because it just basically is saying, Be yourself and don't apologize for it. And I think it's a good thing for us all to remember because we sometimes hide who we are, depending on the environment that we are. So I think that is so helpful. So that's my kind of words of wisdom. And thank you, Sarah, if you're listening from LinkedIn, I will definitely share this. It's a whole paragraph and I thought it was super empowering.

Katie: 36:38

I love that. Yeah, that's very true. All right. Well, I love what you said, because it's very true. It's yeah, it's like don't dim your light around other people and everything. I mean, I feel like I'm guilty of doing that from time to time. So it's a good reminder. But let's suppose let's close with a little mantra that I think is on par with what we have going on right now. So it is I'm slowing down and creating space to rest replenish and take care of me. And I think we're both going to do that and we're also going to do that for Nirvana sisters. So yeah, deeper 100%

Amy: 37:15

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

Episode 31 - The New Jewelry Brand You Must Add To Your Cart - Beautiful, Affordable Luxuries with Meredith Quill (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 31.

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

Amy: 0:07

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.

Unknown: 0:19

Hi, I'm Katie Chandler, a form of 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. Welcome back to the show Nirvana sisters family. I am so excited to introduce Meredith Quill to everyone today. I have been following Beckett and Quill since you launched so I can't wait to hear all about it I an early adopter to the brand and love it and love everything it stands for so we can't wait to get into that. But before I do it, let me tell our listeners about the fabulous Meredith quell. So at the age of three, Meredith wore her mother's engagement ring to preschool and told the teachers that she had gotten married. This was the start of a lifelong passion for jewelry. As a teenager, she started making her own pieces learning how to solder and set stones using a variety of metals. After getting married and having three kids Meredith saw a hole in the marketplace for reasonably priced beautiful jewelry. She started beating bracelets and necklaces for her family and friends and through word of mouth the business quickly took off. Her line of well priced classic pieces could be seen on celebrities like Dizzy Phillips and also on regular moms like herself and me because I'm wearing my bekende quilt today. She recently joined forces with dry bar founder and entrepreneur ally Webb, who's my girl crush to form Beckett and Quill and affordable luxurious brand of jewelry that brings a little sparkle to everyone. Which is so true. So welcome, Meredith.

Unknown: 1:50

Thank you.

Amy: 1:51

So glad you're on the show.

Unknown: 1:54

Thank you for having me. I'm very happy salutely

Amy: 1:57

Yeah, and we really wanted to have you on the show. Because, of course we love jewelry. But our show is all about beauty and well being and taking care of yourself. And I always feel like when you have a great piece of jewelry on, whether it's a necklace or an earring or bracelet, it just like makes your day better. It just makes you feel good. And you just have that extra sense of joy. So it's really relevant, I think to our audience. Yeah. So that being said, we started the show doing our nirvana of the week or weekly Nirvana, as we like to call it. And this is just something that has brought us joy this week. Just a little spark of nirvana. As we get through all this, these crazy times and stressful times, so I'll hand it to you, Katie to talk tell us about your Nirvana this week.

Unknown: 2:43

Okay, well, thank you all. Meredith, thank you for being here. It's such a thrill to have you. I'm so excited to meet you and chat. So thanks. I think my Nirvana was probably this morning. I have. As I've repeatedly said on this and moved into a house recently in your house, it has been very hectic and I actually I've been in the house for, I want to say like almost three weeks. And this morning was literally the first time that I had my house to myself for longer than maybe 10 minutes. Because we moved in. Our children went into quarantine, my house had asymptomatic COVID. And then my parents came in town for a visit. And a few days before they got here, I was out of the house all day every day preparing for them. And then they got here and they have left to sit in my house, which is honestly that should be the Nirvana that my parents are here. They don't listen to this anyway. So it's fine. It's interesting. I adore my parents, I adore them. I love them so much. But to have some peace and quiet in my house and like clear my hand and have my coffee and my fruit this morning by myself was heavenly. So that's

Amy: 3:49

so amazing. Yeah, so mine was last night, my husband had a get together with some of his work team, which he doesn't really do that much because they're all over the place. And they all came into town. And they had meetings this week. So I was working on like just putting together like appetizers and flowers and doing all this stuff. And the house was quiet. No one was here. It was so nice. And my favorite part of that was I love putting together a flower design. And I had all these flowers on the counter. I put on like music like I put on jazz music or something. And I was just listening to it and like doing my flower designs and vases and everything. And it was just like five minutes of peace. That was so nice. No one was in the house. No one's bothering me. And I just like loved putting it together. So I did that. And then the rest of night was actually crazy because my dog. No, I'm telling everybody this my dog had on the stairs. He's fine, thank God. But literally 10 minutes after that. He got really hurt or we thought we did but he was fine. Thank god he's really old. I've been talking about on the show. Meredith he's 16 and a half. So like every week, there's something that's going on with him. And we're getting a new puppy this weekend. So I'm super excited for that. That'll be my future nirvana. But it was just so funny cuz I was thinking about it today and I'm like, what was my Nirvana this week? And I'm like, it was actually that five minutes where I was like designing flowers and putting them around the house. It was so peaceful to me. Anyway, what about you, Meredith?

Unknown: 5:06

My Nirvana this week was that I got to take a hike alone is just my favorite thing to do. And I don't do it often enough. I used to live right near a hiking trail before we had a bunch of kids. And I used to go every single day with my dog. And then we moved, that dog died. And so I stopped hiking. And then But recently, I tried to go I dropped the kids at school because they're finally back at school full time. And so then I went for a hike this week, and it was heaven.

Amy: 5:42

That sounds so nice, especially in LA. Hiking.

Unknown: 5:45

Exactly.

Amy: 5:46

Do you have a new dog? Are you gonna get a new dog so you can go home?

Unknown: 5:50

No, no more jobs? That you have three kids? I am I am off the dogs until the kids can take care of the dog.

Amy: 5:59

Yeah, good. How are your kids? Meredith?

Unknown: 6:02

Um, I have a 13 year old daughter, a 10 year old daughter and an eight year old son.

Amy: 6:07

Awesome. Yeah.

Unknown: 6:09

Should we go right into our quickfire? Because we want to hear all about beckoning Quill and you and the whole GM so Hey, good. How long have you started creating jewelry when you're a teenager? like Amy said, right? So is that it started that young of an age and you just continued doing it always? Was it always a big hobby? No, it really was I went to I was a dancer back in the old days, I was a ballet dancer, and I went, Yeah, I don't need any of them anymore. Um, and I was really serious about ballet. And I went to an arts camp in Connecticut, I went to a camp called bucks rock. And the only other thing I did at Camp besides ballet was jewelry making. And so if I wasn't dancing, I was like, learning how to put together pieces and set stones and, and I absolutely loved it. And I went to that camp for a couple of years. But then I sort of lost the passion for it, I don't know. And then I went to college and got out of college and whatever. And then it wasn't until I had kids that I needed something to like, occupy myself. And so I started making jewelry again, after I had my son. And I started making just beading, which is how a lot of people start. And it's just very cathartic. I don't know what the word is, it's, it's really like you feel like you can get into a really good place and like four hours could go by and I'm just beating and so I started selling the bracelets and and then it kind of turned into a little business. So it was really just a hobby that escalated. I feel like you could really Zen out on it. Like you were just saying if it's your thing like for me personally, I think it would be tedious because I'm not good with like little things like that. I think I would go berserk yes it yourself. You just completely go in the zone and it's like this peaceful little nirvana for you is what it sounds like. It's so cool. Absolutely. I don't know many people who enjoy the it's very meticulous, it's very detail oriented. I've talked about this with my sister and she's like, I don't know how you sit there and put the things on the chains and the lock and the options like how do you even see it all now one? Thank god yeah, it is it is such a good zen place to go into for me so

Amy: 8:46

and it's it's funny I it's it's so nice to have that outlet because I think that is so crucial for everybody to have to be able to have an outlet where all the stuff that's on your mind kind of goes in the back of your mind and you can just zone out I mean for you it's jewelry for Katie I'm sure it's like your meditation or other things that you do for me it's like doing something creative, whether that's putting together flowers or you know, doing something on the computer where I'm designing but it's so important to have that so that's awesome. Okay, so what is your favorite type of jewelry? Like one thing

Unknown: 9:20

right now it goes I you know, I kind of go in phases. Right now I am obsessed with our necklaces. I just I just don't I can't stop putting more on I think I have four on today. Yeah, I need more. Like Like most like a lot of people right now I'm very into layering and mixing and matching and everything. Yeah. So yeah,

Amy: 9:44

I have to say necklace is my favorite too. I I always love putting on fun necklaces but I need more. I'm only wearing two today but I need to

Unknown: 9:51

get up you have to style you up a little bit more.

Amy: 9:54

I know we definitely do. I love the black heart and I also saw that you have other colors now to turquoise and Think, technically anyone ever tell you that you look like Cindy Crawford?

Unknown: 10:04

Oh, that's the nicest compliment in the entire world. And I I've gotten that a lot in the past. The ally says it to me all the time.

Amy: 10:13

And I get I got your picture. I was like she's literally Cindy Crawford. I'm gorgeous for our listeners. Just Just so you know.

Unknown: 10:22

You know what? I'm going to tell my husband. You guys said that tonight.

Amy: 10:27

Okay, so what is your favorite or newest piece of technical jewelry that you're loving? I know, we just talked about the necklace. Is there anything else that you're loving right now from your collection,

Unknown: 10:37

I'll show you us is coming out in December. So it's ran. This is our if you guys can see it's a Malakai the stone is called Melkite. And it's the most rewarding variegated kind of green, like dark green and light green and all mixed. And it's just set. It's it's in a really simple setting. It's 14 karat gold. And I really love it. I think it'll be a great Christmas gift. So that's coming out of the holidays.

Amy: 11:13

Yeah, I love it. So pretty.

Unknown: 11:15

I want to know, how did you your your your style of jewelry, I think is very specific. Like it's very delicate. And also it looks super, super expensive. But the price point I think is excellent. So and how did you kind of find your way into that into that knock? Um, well, after having three kids, I realized I couldn't afford to buy anyone's jewelry anymore. As much as I love all of the Jennifer Fisher's and the Jennifer Myers of the world, I couldn't even fathom spending 1000 2000 $3,000 on a necklace. It's just way out of the budget. And so I started really designing pieces that I wanted that I liked for myself, which is still what I do. And and I wanted it to be classic, because I don't want these to be throwaway pieces, but I want them to have a little bit of edge. So I like I love modern stuff. And I sort of combined those with using whatever materials are the most cost effective. So like on a lot of our necklaces, like this is our new circle link. It's, um, it's kind of it's a classic Belcher chain, but it's gold fill, and it looks fantastic. But it's, I don't know, 1/100 of the price of that was what 14 karat gold would be. So whatever I can do in 14k, that's not too expensive. I do it that way, like all of our earrings are 14 karat gold, because I have daughters and I only put 14 karat gold and they're yours. And we sell those

Amy: 12:57

earrings. Pretty.

Unknown: 13:01

So we do a lot of kids stuff also because my daughter started coming into my little jewelry closet and stealing all of my jewelry. So certain things we do in 14 karat gold that I think are necessary, but the things that I think are cool and beautiful and that are sort of right now. We can do in goldfill because it looks so good. And I have a really good manufacturer downtown that I work with who helps me with, you know, all of the materials and the metals that we can use and so I just really want everyone to be able to buy it. Yeah, it's genius. There's a hole in the market you filled out without a doubt. Oh,

Amy: 13:40

yeah, absolutely. And I think too, with accessible, you know, luxury type items, especially jewelry. Now, it's like you feel I feel better wearing it because I don't like I just feel like if you have an expensive piece, you're worried about wearing it all the time. So you only wear it when you're going on a special occasion. And with someone like this you can wear it every day and not worry that if something happens to it, you're like going to be devastated. So it's like I just love that category. It's so smart.

Unknown: 14:12

Exactly. And like the other day my son was saying hello and grabbed my necklace and pulled it off and broke the chain. I was like Sorry. It's not gonna break the bank.

Amy: 14:24

Exactly. So tell us about your process because you were just saying about your manufacturer. Like how does that all work? Because I know you're in your jewelry closet and you say that's where you make all of your creations and inspiration and this closet I need to visit because it looks incredible. But how does that work? Like are you making every single piece Do you have someone manufacturing like what's the

Unknown: 14:44

I'm designing work piece. And I source all of this Jones like as you were saying so these earrings we just came out with the Opals this week these little studs, um, I gotta have to get those. And so I I buy all the individuals stones I look at everything and then I have a manufacturer who because he's the best at doing all this he sets all my stones and he solders all the pieces that we need soldering like we have a couple of rings here that we make he makes anything that needs to be soldered. These are our little sort of delicate little petite rings, I can't get enough of them. I'm gonna have them on every finger now. I'm not pretty. So whatever I can't do in my own little jewelry closet, like I put together all the necklaces and stuff, but he will do anything that necessitates you know, he, um, a lot of our pieces are a metal called Vernay, which is mean it which means it's made in sterling silver, but then it's coated in 14 karat gold. So it's a really nice metal underneath, which is silver, and then the gold on top. less expensive than gold, but like sort of a step up from goldfill or goldplated. So he does all that for me downtown. But it's great because I live 15 minutes away from him. So

Amy: 16:04

we find I know that would be such a hard person to find.

Unknown: 16:09

It was in the beginning, I went through a bunch of manufacturers and then found Pedro and Pedro and I are just he's the best

Amy: 16:17

man. He's the

Unknown: 16:18

man. He makes me. I always tell him I said you make my jewelry dreams come true. I mean, if I design it, you know, I sort of told him I really wanted to make this this bead band ring that we have and I like made this little drawing and I don't use the computer for any of the drawings, a lot of like high end sort of designers do that. But I'm like, just draw it all out. And he's like, no problem. So he says a lot. Amazing, a genius partnership. Exactly. Love it. That's yeah, so tell me about your grandmother. And the name. The inspiration behind the company that I'm gonna name is Sophia. Oh, thank you. Um, my grandmother's maiden name was Beckett. So she was Henrietta Beckett and my grandmother absolutely inspired my love of jewelry. She had this giant drawer in one of her dressers and my sister and I would get to her apartment in Philadelphia and the first place we would be lying to this drawer and pull it out and she wore really cool pieces. She wore gigantic, like beautiful cameo rings and she wore giant Jade necklaces. And she really loved the stones that were not the most popular. She She didn't wear a lot of diamonds. She didn't wear rubies. She didn't wear sapphires. She wore Jade and coral, and onyx and all of these sorts of different stones that you think of as like maybe the less expensive sort of stones which they are. But so my sister and I would go to this drawer and just pull it out and wear everything just put on tons of her beaded she had tons of beaded necklaces. And she wore this beautiful chain link bracelet. So I wear a bracelet, this little link bracelet. She had a giant disc attached to it. And it had her initials on it. And I think it might have had either maybe her anniversary or something. But she wore it every day and banged around the house. And it was all like messed up and bent and patina that beautiful. And so she really Beckett was her maiden name. So it was a no brainer. When we were naming the business. And Ally really went for it. My business partner ally web went for the name just loved she loved the name Quill, she was like, let's just call it coil. And unfortunately, there are several businesses called quill. So I was really happy to incorporate my grandma's name into the mix.

Amy: 18:56

That's so nice. You know, you just mentioned something about that disc. Is that where this I'm wearing? I forget what this is called the disc. Is that was that the inspiration for this necklace?

Unknown: 19:05

Exactly. Yeah.

Amy: 19:07

That is so cool. I didn't know that. I mean, I knew about the company and the brands being named after your grandmother. But when you said that about the necklace and the disc I was like, Oh, I wonder if that was the inspiration that makes me feel so good wearing it

Unknown: 19:18

was I say that to everyone who buys it. I'm like my grandma inspired this piece is the first piece I designed. I was like I would love to wear I would never wear it on my wrist because it was just too it's too big for me. And I was like But I'd love to wear it around my neck because I love like I would love a chunky disc necklace. And I was like That's exactly right. The first piece I made so, so amazing. Yeah, you're saying that your love of jewelry can very much be hereditary. It's yeah, I think it's all for sure. Yeah.

Amy: 19:50

That's so fun. I like have this vision of like this big jewelry box. Like in your grandma's part. That's just so cool. My my grandmother um if that resonates with me because my grandmother, my buddy Ruth was very chic and always dressed and always looks good makeup always had a great outfit on. And her closet had so many clothes, but she had like tons of shoes. So that's probably where my love for shoes came from. Because same thing, like these gorgeous, like, just beautiful shoes everywhere. I actually have a couple pairs. But anyway, so I love that your grandmother is kind of, you know, behind the whole inspiration of your company. That's so heartwarming. So, you mentioned Ali, how did you meet Ali and tell us like kind of how that all came about? And then what does she like as a business partner? I mean, I feel like I know her just through Instagram and following her for so many years. But she seems just so creative and full of energy, but love to hear kind of like how that whole thing came together.

Unknown: 20:49

It came together because she got this necklace as a gift from a friend of hers. Um, and then, because ally being ally, she posted about it because she posts about things she loves. She said, Oh, I got this beautiful heart from Meredith Quill jewelry. And I was I'm, I'm, I'm still so new to Instagram. I didn't even I didn't know Ali before we met on Instagram. And I was like, Oh, this woman has so many followers, I should I should message her and say thank you. And so I said, Thank you so much for tagging me and let me send you some jewelry. And she was like, Let me please pay for it. And which was so nice of her because I was just a one woman operation. And so I sent her a bunch of pieces, and she just loved everything. And, um, and then message me one day and said, Look, I love all of your stuff. But your packaging sucks your market. You have no branding, the name sucks, like, she was like, Can I love it? Basically, it was kind of like, Can I help you? Salt and salt. And then very quickly, we realized that we would work very well together. So we went in business together and, um, and it sort of happened really organically. There was no you know, it was just like we every sort of skill set that Ali has, I do not have an all of them. We just have the perfect blend of she is like business, all business brain. And but she also has very good taste in jewelry. So that helps. And so we just really started building the company almost a year ago, and then launched last February. So it hasn't even really been a year yet. But but it's been great.

Amy: 22:46

That's incredible. Yeah, that's right. You launched in February because I bought this necklace for myself for Valentine's Day.

Unknown: 22:52

Yes. I'm sorry, the cat. Oh, please, please got to see this necklace. I'm obsessed obsessed obsessed. She was just love that.

Amy: 23:07

Girl. It's so yeah, I actually because I'm like a brand or and a marketer and so I of course order the necklace right away. And then when I got the packaging, I did a real on Instagram of it. I'll resurface it when we launched this episode so you can see it. But I did a reel of me like opening up the packaging and showing the necklace because I loved Of course all the branding and packaging. And I love this note that you guys send with every with every piece for the audience, it says thanks so much. Enjoy xx, Ellie and Meredith and it's as a thank you on the back. It's just super cute. And I love getting a personalized note. I think it's so important. So this I actually had on my vision board, which you can't see. But I have a vision board to the side of my desk here. And I have this hanging as like my inspo. So yeah, so it was really it was really cool. So that's awesome. And how's the company been doing since you launched? I mean, it hasn't even been any a year. That's incredible.

Unknown: 23:58

It has been great. It is so busy. It is busier than I ever thought it would be. Ali likes to run and says yes to absolutely everything. And I'm more of a person who likes to crawl and say no to everything. So we find a middle ground. So for example, Jesse James Decker had a subscription box come out a couple months ago or maybe even just a month ago. And Allie loved Okay, so this is this turquoise heart that she had gotten. And so cute. And you asked her she said could you guys put 5000 of these in my boxes? And Ali's like, Oh my God. No, I have to make those.

Amy: 24:50

Oh my god.

Unknown: 24:52

What was great though is that I said I'll do I can do 250 And so it ended up being this collaboration that was so great all On we our heart was an add on for her subscription box. And 200 people bought them. And so it's been things like that that sort of come up, you know, on top of running the website, and I still do all the shipping and allow aging. So yeah, so then when things like that come up, it's just it's so busy, because Ali knows everyone. And really, there's not anyone who doesn't adore her and wants to work with her because she is just this very authentic, wonderful person. And she's, so she's Yeah, she's just Yes, yes, yes. So I

Amy: 25:39

think she is very good. And she's smart, because that's such a great partnership and a good opportunity to get in front of a different audience. It's just such a good distribution play, because you're an online, you know, you don't have brick and mortar. So that's such a good way to get in 5000 homes, but you know, soon to come it sounds like Yes.

Unknown: 25:57

Yeah. of scaling, the manufacturing and shipping out and all of that, is that in the works, yes, it's going to have to be I think we're going to see, you know, holidays should be really nice and busy. That's coming up soon. So and we have a couple of collaborations coming up that are going to be that are huge. That will be, um, hopefully take us to the next level. And maybe I won't be you know, in my jewelry closet, doing all the packaging and stuff after that, but we'll see. I mean, it's it's, it's been going great. So far, so better.

Amy: 26:36

Yeah, that's amazing. I just that's Katie get that's a preview for your Hanukkah gift. So just so you know. Let me know what piece you want. As you're talking. I'm like, oh, gifting. I'm like at a great gift for Katy.

Unknown: 26:50

I'll be in Westport for a holiday pop up. So you have to

Amy: 26:54

really? Yes. Oh, that's awesome.

Unknown: 26:57

I will be there in November. And I will let you guys know I will

Amy: 27:02

be I'll come up Katie.

Unknown: 27:04

Yeah, please. Yeah. Love to go out of town. Is that my sister's house? Well, it's really easy.

Amy: 27:10

So your sister lives in Westport? Yes. And that's so great.

Unknown: 27:15

Was the has been my biggest biggest supporter. And not only because she loves jewelry, and she gets it all for nothing now. But she was like just so gung ho about the idea. So she was my earliest and Best Supporter

Amy: 27:32

of this so great. Well, definitely let us know about that date, because I will come up and we can meet you in person. But I'm also a little bit scared about going to a pop up because I know I'll buy everything. And Katie knows like if I like something I go crazy. So I will have you're gonna get a lot of orders that day.

Unknown: 27:49

much merchandise with me. I will not I will not run out. I promise.

Amy: 27:52

Okay, good. I will get there awesome.

Unknown: 27:55

When you start to scale and like, you know, everything's pig, and you're not in your closet anymore doing anymore? Do you think you'll miss it? Do you think you'll still like sneak in there sometimes and just make things and do things because you love it? Or do you feel like you're like, Oh, I love it. And also, I mean, I really it's great because my kids get involved, which is so much fun. My son was even helping me I have like, obviously he loves all of my little tools that I have right here. So he was helping me cut pieces and cut wire the other day. And my daughter my middle one comes in here all the time in the morning. Like what am I wearing today? What necklace do I need for this outfit? It's so fun. So yeah, so I'll always be in here working for how big it gets. Yeah,

Amy: 28:42

that's so great. So what have you What have you learned so far? Like what has been easier than you thought and what has been more challenging than you thought?

Unknown: 28:50

Um, what has been easier I think is that people just really, really fall in love with jewelry when they see it. Um, we haven't you know, we have a bunch of in person even though we're big we're ecommerce we have a lot of in person pop ups and, and there's never a time that someone comes over to our table and is like, Man, I don't really like anything, you know, we really that's been great. It's like,

Amy: 29:19

well, that's a testament to your beautiful jewelry and your taste and your designing

Unknown: 29:23

pricing because I'm really designing for myself mostly. And so I'm like, wow, that's feels really good. Um, and what's been most challenging is packaging. Um, we it's really it was such a it was a struggle to figure out what packaging we wanted and where to get it and how to have it printed and but we have we finally figured that out so I no longer run out of really nice boxes and I really love our packaging. So it's and that was something that that was all ally because I was I was like yeah, we'll just send it in a gauze bag and she was like, What are you talking about? out? No, it has to be in a beautiful presentation. And it has to be like this sort of ceremonial opening. And so we have these little drawer boxes. And so she was 100% right about that.

Amy: 30:11

And she's right, because people like me, I took a video and I put it on Instagram reels because I was like, this is such a great experience. I love this up.

Unknown: 30:19

I love hearing that. I love it. Do you have a favorite piece of yours? Maybe Maybe we touched on it. But out of all of your jewelry Do you have like your most loved piece? I think here I'll get it for you. It's right back here. And my favorite piece is the pearl necklace that we did. It's these are freshwater pearls. I don't know if you can see and they're strung on black silk. And wool, which is such a cool and different way. It was like, I've always liked pearls. But I had my pearls from like my sweet 16. And they look a little old fashioned, like your grandma's pearls. But pearls have been in my family forever. And my grandmother wore a pearl choker. And my mom had she handed it down to my mom and then my mom will obviously give it to me or my sister but um, I needed a sort of a modern way of having a pearl choker. And I think this one just kind of nailed it. So this is my

Amy: 31:16

face. So cool. Yeah, I love that because it's

Unknown: 31:19

and the best part is that it can also be a bracelet so that it's a very useful piece. We wear it like this a lot. So yeah. Does it crash? Or is it rigid? And it just era it's like just the perfect things to wrap. Yep, it has an extender on it, which is really helpful. So and it's on silk. So it just, we sort of made it this perfect length to be a choker. And then it can wrap around twice around. Yeah, so it's a really useful it's a very versatile piece, which I love when jewelry can be other things. And I wear it with my T shirt in the summer with like a white t shirt, and then I wore it to you know, a kid's Bar Mitzvah. So it's very cool.

Amy: 32:06

That's a great piece. And when What's your most popular piece, like what it was what's selling the most right now?

Unknown: 32:12

I hear? You're sure our black enamel heart is. I think it's the perfect price point. It's $60. And it looks a great gift. Yeah. looks so much nicer than it costs. I mean, it looks like a it's a beautiful enamel. It's black on both sides. So you don't ever worry about it turning. And I think it's also people buy it as a gift. I mean, people buy like seven at a time. They're like I want every woman in my office to have this piece. Yeah,

Amy: 32:43

it's so fabulous. I love it. And I this and it's so different.

Unknown: 32:47

It's different. Yeah, I think it's different. I think the heart shape turned out great. It's just the perfect little heart. And I think it's a great size for every day. You could wear it alone you can layer it with 20 necklaces like I do. So I think it's a really it's just a good standard piece. So that's definitely our best seller. Yeah, I love that one. I was Meredith and I have someone in common my my realtor is a friend of hers and she had your necklace on while we were looking at houses one day and I caught I said that Beckett and Quill and I love it and she

Amy: 33:19

was she wearing the black heart in a black heart. Yeah, who is your favorite jewelry designer besides you of course.

Unknown: 33:27

Um, I love Sophie view. Hi. Do you guys know Sophie? Bu Hi. Have you heard of that? Um, her mother is actually a friend of mine and lives on our street but look up Sophie view Hi. She has the most gorgeous, very unique jewelry like no one else is doing what she's doing. And I just love that. It's very chunky stuff. That is so just it's so it's so unique. And it's so like if you see it you're like oh, that's a Sophie view Hi bracelet. So she's by far my favorite because she's just so original. There's nobody designing like her.

Amy: 34:09

Very cool. Well definitely check that out. Yes.

Unknown: 34:13

So what is next? I mean, it sounds like you guys are just growing, growing, growing. Um, what is next holidays. That's our I just waiting, I just want to get to December 10 Because that's a cut off to get all of your gifts by Christmas. So if I can make it to December 10 I will be so happy. So yeah. And then we have a bunch of new pieces coming out soon. We have some new rubies coming out. We have little Ruby studs that are coming out soon. And we have a really great necklace our double horn pendant is coming out. So we have some fun new stuff that will be released soon. And then we have some pieces that we're only doing in person that you guys can see if you come to the Westport pop up. Like this is our newest beaded necklace that I think is just so gorgeous.

Amy: 35:09

Oh, wow, that's so pretty. Yeah, it's a great sport pop up. We'll talk about it just in case anybody's in that area on wants to come.

Unknown: 35:16

It is Friday, November 12, I'm going to say and if at all, it'll be all day that it's just going to be like a big open house. It's at my sister's house in Westport. She lives near the beach. And so yeah, so anyone come by anyone

Amy: 35:33

who is in the New York, Connecticut area should definitely go to that.

Unknown: 35:37

Yes,

Amy: 35:38

we there. That's amazing. Okay, so here's the question. And I think we all struggle with this. So how do you balance everything? Like you're starting this new business? It's so exciting. It's growing so quickly. It sounds like you have three kids, you have a cat, you have a husband and family? Like, how do you I mean, it's hard to balance at all, but like,

Unknown: 35:53

it is I'm very organized, I think I run a really tight ship. I you know, I don't let my kids like they don't stay up too late. I have everyone. Um, you know, I sort of have work time when they're at school. And then when they're home, I really I make dinner every night for the kids and for my husband. So I have like, at that time, then I'm just cooking and making dinner. So I think you just have to have really good time management skills when you have kids. And outsource driving. That's what we do. It especially in LA, you hire people to drive your kids around. So we have a babysitter who helps with the driving, which is the most huge. It's the running is like what can really take you down right. And you know, I ran with, like eight appointments, I felt like you know, most of them were for the kids or the dog or something. And then I was just done. It was like Dr. Maha going, going going going? Yes, good, man. That's a little that's a little hack. If you asked me it is. Yeah, this wonderful babysitter who? I mean, I don't I shouldn't call her a babysitter. She doesn't babysit but she is. gets here. She takes Madeline to my oldest who does club soccer in the valley. So anyone who knows that? Yeah, that's a 45 minute drive. So I'm like, that is time. I do not have to.

Amy: 37:19

Yeah, that's like takes your whole day away. That's my whole evening where

Unknown: 37:23

I'm going to be either sitting in my jewelry closet or returning emails or something. So that's a big that is a good hack. Yeah.

Amy: 37:32

Yeah, an organization that's that's huge. I sometimes fall off the organization wagon,

Unknown: 37:38

people find you and we will our website is Beckett and quill.com. And it's Beckett with one T is how my grandma spelt it. So that's how we spelled it. And my our Instagram is at Beckett and Quill and my Instagram is at Meredith Quill American or what am I Meredith l quill I'm not very good. And, and yeah, and for anyone who message I message everybody back if you get in touch with me about jewelry on my Instagram or my email, any questions about jewelry, anything? I am always here, so

Amy: 38:18

that's awesome. Okay, we're gonna get into our rap session. It's kind of like our quick round of questions that we always ask our guests on the show. So what is your favorite wellness or beauty hack? Because you are gorgeous that you've got to hold something.

Unknown: 38:32

Um, I would say I get I use a moisturizer from whole foods that is $11 and it has saved my skin and I have people ask me about it all the time. They're like, You look dewy and I said go to Whole Foods and get will Lita Baby Face Cream. It's for babies. Okay, it's, it has like, completely rejuvenated my skin. It's the only thing I use. And I like I really only like clean products and um, and the price point is right within my wheelhouse.

Amy: 39:10

This litter box Yeah, that's amazing.

Unknown: 39:13

Um, so that's, I think that's my biggest beauty secret maybe?

Amy: 39:18

That's a great one. Yeah. Okay, so this is what we call our five minute flow. So here's the scenario. You just got out of the shower dried off. We were just alerted you there are five minutes away. So what is your quick beauty routine? What do you do to like put your you know, put yourself together like what are your go to Holy Grails to get to the car in time and out that door clearly is the moisturizer.

Unknown: 39:42

My beauty routine is five minutes anyway so this is very easy. I do my Lolita moisturizer. Obviously I live in LA I wear SPF all the time. I reapply all day. I have one in my bag. I have three in my cabinet and I use this L Elta. and D you can also just get it at a pharmacy. It's the tinted moisturizer. It is the best, you can reapply it all day and your your face still looks good. And then what else do I do? I use fresh lip balm. It's just like a little like, I don't know, I think it's a clean little lip balm thing. And, and that's about it. I don't think I do anything else. That's that's my that's my routine.

Amy: 40:24

That's a good routine. Yeah. Very simple. Simple is best.

Unknown: 40:30

Yes. And you know, in Los Angeles, you don't worry about having wet hair when you go outside. I'm like being on the East Coast. You're not gonna freeze. You're never.

Amy: 40:41

So we had a dermatologist on the show Dr. Nazarian a couple episodes ago, and she recommended that Elta MD sunblock, she says it's the best,

Unknown: 40:50

it's the best. And it's I mean, I like smacking on my kids when they leave the house. Also, I'm like, just use it. You know, it's like, it just is I don't know, it's like a miracle SPF. It just does. It never looks white. I use the tinted one because it just perfectly blends in. But and as long as I have that and use that all day with my little fresh lip balm. I'm set.

Amy: 41:12

That's awesome. Yeah. Okay, and how do you maintain your daily nirvana?

Unknown: 41:17

Well, I walk every single day to miles no matter what, wow, nice. I have a great little route, I walk out my door. And then I'm right on a street that's also a bike Street in LA. So the cars are supposed to go a little slower. And it's just the perfect two miles. I walk West for a mile and then I walk back east for a mile. And that's how I maintain everything. I think walking is just for my head. I don't I try not to bring my phone. And I just try and have like a good 30 minutes of me just you know, breathing heavy and I walk really fast. So it's exercise.

Amy: 41:58

That's great. Yeah, that's, that's that's a great one. And I love to walk to and I don't do it often. But I mean, I do it. I did it this morning, but on my treadmill not outside. But every time I go walking, I feel so much better. And I love being outside and walking. So you're inspiring me to do two miles every day I'll think of you.

Unknown: 42:15

Is I swear I think it keeps me sane. Yeah.

Amy: 42:19

Well, it certainly keeps you looking amazing.

Unknown: 42:21

I love that you do the walkthrough and if I do too, that's like I do all no impact either. Your Pilates working. Okay, so I totally get it. Yep, it does its job. Well, the only thing I do know that I'll tell you guys that has been it's so good for my head. It's only in Los Angeles, although she has a whole online thing is like fit le K fit, which is a bounce thing on a trampoline. And I'm terrible at it. But I absolutely love it. So sounds fun. Find her online. Lauren is the best teacher. So yeah. Well, look at that. That sounds so fun. Oh, it's so good. It's so much fun. The best. Nice. That sounds great. Okay, well, um, do you want to stick around for our product review on our mantra AMI, I think was a fun product review for us. Oh, good. Yes.

Amy: 43:05

Yeah. So here's the deal. So you know, when you're on Instagram, and you're scrolling and you're constantly getting targeted ads that are so catered to you. I kept seeing this brand that kept coming up in my feed. And I was like, okay, whatever. And then after seeing it like five or six times and being in marketing, I know that like all of a sudden I was like, oh, maybe maybe I should try that. I really, I could use that. So what it is, is it's called I don't even know how to pronounce it il macchiato. It's a concealer. And they have so much content online and they show these you know girls women putting this concealer on and like brushing it on and being like, oh my god, it's so amazing. And then when you first see it, you're like yeah, right. But then you keep watching you're like oh I kind of want to try it because it's an online company. And if you don't like it, you can return it so I'm like, oh maybe I should try it so of course I felt I fell for it. I do buy it so it's called El Mekki as this concealer is called the fuck I'm flawless but the you they have an asterix so that's how they brand it f asterik. UK but so cute, the multi use perfecting concealer. So it's a long wear lightweight concealer covers under eye circles, blemishes, dark spots, hyperpigmentation. It's vegan, cruelty free, oil free, paraben free. And it's really inclusive because it is available on 30 diverse shades for all skin tones. It's $31 and you only pay $5 When you order it because you have 30 days to make a decision on whether you like it so the cool thing is, is I clicked on the site and you go through this quiz of all these questions your skin type and what type of concealer you prefer lightweight, heavyweight, full coverage, whatever what kind of consistency like those, I don't know five or 10 questions, which was actually made me think about it a little bit and then they match you and the match that I got the number I got was 2.5 Whatever that means, literally matches my skin perfectly. So it was love at first rash. I was so skeptical and I tried it and it's so nice it's very lightweight. The coverage is really nice and it doesn't crease or cake because I always have to put concealer on so talk about five minute flow like that's my I have to put concealer on under my eyes and just for a fresher look. And I find that by the end of the day like I have the nart one of the Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer is which I love is like one of my other holy girls but sometimes it does like crease and get like yucky underneath your eyes. This lasts all day gets so light doesn't crease doesn't go anywhere. And it's so good and it's 31 bucks. So I've literally paid $5 for it but I'll get charged the rest in a couple of days I guess and I kept it and the other cool thing was Oh and they have a subscription which I did not sign up for but if you do the subscription it's $28 The cool thing also was their packaging was really nice which so I was impressed with that and they bring they send you like a nice envelope to send it back in if you don't like it that you can just put in the mailbox which I think makes it so easy. And lastly I got a free liquid eyeliner with it that is also their brand good marketing. And I love it and so it's just like a nice liquid liner that's like really dark and works perfectly. So it's kind of my new obsession. So Ellen Mackay ash, this concealer again is Facom flawless, and I love it. So that's my recommendation of this week. It's a good one. It's a good staple. was looking for good like quick fixes.

Unknown: 46:22

Yes. Talk about targeting but you know it turned out to be ingenious. It sounds great. I'm gonna get it

Amy: 46:28

exactly. I do fall for a lot of Instagram ads. It's a problem but it's okay.

Unknown: 46:33

I detail it's my there. That's the point. Yeah. So let's wrap this fantastic episode with our mantra and again, Meredith thank you so much for being here. This one was so happy to happy that this one I was inspired by your story when I saw this I thought alright, this is perfect because for you your love of jewelry and then how it all played out and now your partnership with our lab and that's just exploding it's We're so happy for you. So the mantra is, what is meant to be will always find its way. I believe that

Amy: 47:12

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

Episode 29 - How to Mix Face Yoga, Beauty Tools, Botox, and Lasers for a longer lasting Lewk with Shelly Marshall, Founder of BeautyShamans skincare (she's back!) (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 29.

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

Amy: 0:07

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. Welcome back to the show Nirvana Sisters, we are so blessed to have Shelly Marshall aka the beauty shaman or beauty shamans with us today. She is back in season two. If you have listened to season one, she was in Episode 15. And that episode has done so well. She got so many downloads. So we wanted to have her back because I know a lot of the things we talked about. In the first season we had more questions and so we want to round it out and keep the questions going and hear more from from Shelly about all things guasha natural beauty etc. Natural and actually I want to ask you some questions today about injectables and things like that because I know we didn't get to it last time. So for those who didn't hear episode 15 Shelly is the founder of beauty shamans. She is a skin expert on a mission to help people raise the vibration of their skin using non toxic products, tools and rituals. She believes that beauty is rooted in health and mindset and our skin will reflect the things we consume. After years of experience and deep dives into cellular nutrition and aromatherapy, she developed a luxury line of Spa grade products for the skin to eat daily. She also teaches a unique style of facial healing using using a combination of facial massage, reflexology face yoga, and the ancient art of guasha. Her purpose is to help people shine their brightest light through practices of self love, therapeutic touch and healing their skin within. And Shelley's quote that I want to repeat, which I love is my purpose is not to heal you but to teach you how to heal yourself through the lens of skincare and self love, which is so nice. And for those of you that don't follow Shelly on Instagram, she has an incredible feed. It's called at beauty shamans. And I watched it daily, I watch all of your videos, all of your content, it's always changing. It's always new. It's always relaxing for me to watch you you're so beautiful and angelic and just the way you do all of your methods just inspires me every day to take care of myself even more. So thank you for coming back to the show. We're so happy to have you back.

Shelly: 2:41

Thank you so much for having me. I'm really happy to be back if

Amy: 2:45

you guys awesome. So we're gonna start again with our nirvana of the week, which for those of you who are new to the show, it's just something we want to take a step back, think about what brought us joy. I think it's really important as the fall is is is in full effect. And people seem to be busier than ever. It's good to take a step back and think about what was good this week. So I'll turn it to you Katie to tell us what was your Nirvana this week?

Katie: 3:09

Gee, I can't imagine doing now. I moved. Finally, we've only been discussing this move for I don't know how many months Amy's probably so sick of hearing about it. So we finally got and we moved into the house on Monday. And it's so good to be in our home. We've been so transient with the kids. And we've been living like nomads for the last month. And it's just good to be settled. We're getting settled. And I love the house. I love the house more than I would love to it before. You know like when you're in the space you find all the little things. You discover new stuff. So that is for sure it so yeah, yeah, it's like Nirvana of the year. I'm talking about Yeah.

Amy: 3:51

So I was thinking about this this morning, because I have been so stressed this week. I've just had a lot of work, a lot of stuff going on all good, but just really busy and been trying to take step backs and just reground myself. It's been a little hard this week. But last night I went to play golf. So I've been learning over the last year or so, how to play golf. I have done it over the years, but never have been consistent. Nor have I had time, but over quarantine and being home more. I've had a bit more time to take lessons and really work on it. Because I used to hate it. And now I'm turning into really liking it because I can actually hit the ball. So I'm thinking eventually I'll be able to play with my husband and kids and it'll be a nice activity for us but had a lesson last night and I hadn't gone in a couple of weeks and I did really well. So I was just really proud of myself because I hit the ball. Well I putted well, and I was like, Okay, I'm getting there, and I was feeling really good. So I came home kind of on a little Nirvana high. So that was mine of the week. What about you, Shelly?

Shelly: 4:47

Gee, I have a couple but I'll just, I'll touch on one. I had known about this subscription called gaia.com, which I'm sure a lot of people who are listening to this also You know, subscribe to gaia.com. But and it was recommended to me a few years ago. And I finally signed up for the subscription. And it, I've been feeling a lot, very low energy recently and just kind of stuck. And we also moved to new apartment, so you know, lots of new energy going on. And I started watching some of the documentaries and listening to some of the episodes on gaia.com. And it's just been so energizing, because a lot of it is based on spiritual practices, alternative healing techniques, alternative medicine, herbs, and you know, just the supernatural and metaphysical stuff and all this stuff that brings me joy and all the stuff that raises my vibration. So I've been feeling that, you know, being stuck in Instagram and emails, and really the news, my energy level was just totally tanking. And getting the subscription and watching a little bit of it each day has really raised my vibration and like, I just feel, I just feel so much lighter and so much more peaceful. It's like the Netflix of spiritual growth

Amy: 6:07

I heard of it is ga,

Shelly: 6:12

ga i a.com. Yeah, and it and it's like, it's it's set up, basically very similar to like Netflix or something. And you just go in, and you, you know, I want to watch this documentary, I want to watch this series, I want to do this yoga practice, I want to do this meditation, or you know, whatever. And it just, it has something for you, whatever, you're in the mood for that day, but it's always very uplifting, very eye opening, and it just gets my energy moving in the right direction of where I want to be in place. Great. That's

Amy: 6:41

good to know. I gotta try that. Because I think I've been feeling that way too. And you just described it. Well, kind of that low energy kind of stuck in a rut. And so yeah, that's cool. Yeah, I love that. Great. Well, getting into all the things. So one of the things I wanted to ask you about last time you were on the show, I bought it from you afterwards, because I really wanted to try it was this new face? Tool? Can you tell our listeners? Ah, there you go.

Shelly: 7:08

Yeah, what it does, I've

Amy: 7:10

used it I've, it's funny, I got it, and I started using it. But then I don't know, I kind of get out of the routine. So I need to get back in today. But can you tell us what it is and like how to use it and when the best time is to use it?

Shelly: 7:21

Sure. So um, so the new face. And there's a bunch of different kinds of, of microcurrent devices. But this is just the one I use because it's FDA approved. And because it's a professional strength device. But basically what microcurrent is, is it's a low level, energetic current that mimics the ionic currents in our own body, because you know, we are electrical beings. And so it kind of it kind of connects or stimulates that electrical current, which then activates and energizes cells to tone the muscles. So essentially, what microcurrent is doing is it's toning and strengthening the muscles. In this case of the face, they do have, you know, there are microcurrent for the body as well. But the face is so unique and that the muscles are directly connected to the skin. So you use a microcurrent device for lifting the face for improving the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. It can also it's also been FDA approved for I believe it's been FDA approved for increasing the proteins in the skin, collagen and elastin. So it's just a really great at home device that you can use. And this one that I sell is a professional device. So it's it's the strongest of this series. And if you use it consistently and when I say consistently that can be whatever it means to you. Some people use it every day. Some people use it three times a week, I shoot for two or three times a week just to maintain and it basically you don't feel anything at all but what it's basically doing is it's energizing the muscles, thus the muscle cells to then strengthen those muscles. And when the muscles are strengthened and they're lifted, your skin will also follow

Amy: 9:12

and how do you when is the best time to Yeah,

Shelly: 9:15

so, so electric microcurrent you don't feel it but it does need a water soluble medium on the skin in order to conduct that electricity so if there's any oil on the skin, the electrical currents won't work. So the device comes with a kit that's that is a water soluble gel. But sometimes if people just have access to ultrasound gel or simply just water that that you continue to spray on the skin you need water on the skin in order to activate the electrical currents. And then the idea is to go in the direction that the muscles are so you know you have the the zygomatic major up on the cheek area you have the zygomatic major minor also on the cheek but connecting more to the muscle around the eye. You have the resource muscle that kind of comes out to the side that helps us to smile, you have so many muscles in the face that they connect here in the mouth area or the nasal labial fold area, and then kind of connect back on the hairline near your ear. So the idea is to use it in a way that trains the muscles upward. And there is a five second timer in this. And the idea is to move this device slowly because you're activating and stimulating that cellular activity. So you know, it'll go beep, and then you just move it along.

Amy: 10:37

And it seems like the in between the beeps, it's so slow. And I'm like, Am I doing it too slow, it feels so

Shelly: 10:41

odd to do it slow. And sometimes you'll it's even recommended that once you get up to where the muscles attach that you hold it for another five seconds, ah, so you can do you know, five seconds, all the way up the cheek and then hold it for five seconds, it is a slow process, I typically pair this with a deep breathing exercise because there's no getting around the fact that you have to move slowly when using this. So you may as well just slow down everything. And just you know, really oxygenate your lungs, which oxygenates your skin and just make it a somewhat meditative practice at the same time. So there are a lot of different pathways to use this. And you can actually go to the company website or the company Instagram and they do great tutorials. That's all they do all the time is tutorials on how to use this, but the general idea is moving from the center of the face to the outside and upward just to lift and tone the muscles.

Amy: 11:41

Yeah, I was gonna say do you is it better to do it Morning or night? That

Shelly: 11:45

really depends. I don't really think it matters. Okay, I don't think I think it matters more of when is it going to be most useful to you in terms of when you can slow down and relax. So if the mornings are more relaxing for you, then do it in the morning, if it's if it's better to do it in the evening, when you have more time than maybe the evenings. Sometimes what I'll do is in the morning, I'll have like an extra 20 minutes. So what I'll do is after I get out of the shower, I'll apply the gel, I'll use the new face for about, you know, five to eight minutes, wipe off the gel put on all the rest of my skincare products, give myself a nice little massage. And then that's like, you know, that's like a 15 minute thing right there. 1520 minutes, and then I just I feel great. And then I'm like, Okay, I did it for today like tonight, I'm going to work on something else.

Amy: 12:35

Can you use something else? I know you were talking about the gel. Like I've tried it with a serum before, but I don't know if it works just because I don't like the way that that gel feels because then it feels sticky. And I guess I yeah, maybe didn't wipe it off as good. I just would rather use like a thinner kind of, but I don't know,

Shelly: 12:52

you can you just have to be careful that there's not too much of an oil content in the serum. And that's why I use the gel or I just use ultrasound gel because I really because you can't feel it. So the little sparks a little bit. Okay, if you're feeling the sparks, that means you don't have enough jell O, or you don't have enough of the product on

Amy: 13:15

them, then it was working.

Shelly: 13:17

Well, that's how you can feel that it's working. But you want to be careful because it's electricity or electrical currents, it could cause a skin irritation or burn. So if you're feeling that sparking, you want to apply a little bit more gel. And then I agree with you. I don't like the feeling of jello on my face. But I do a really good job of taking like a hot washcloth afterwards and wiping all of it off using a toner getting all of it off completely. I don't like leaving any gel on my face. Yeah. The other way that you can sometimes tell that it's working is it will sometimes in some people stimulate this tastes of metal in their mouth. I don't know if you've experienced that. But if you experience tasting metal in your mouth while you're using it, then you definitely know that it's working.

Katie: 14:04

So is that an okay thing to pay some metal? That's fine. That doesn't mean perfectly. Okay, good.

Shelly: 14:10

Okay, doesn't mean you're overdoing it.

Katie: 14:12

Alright, that's interesting. I think I had a facial at a spa. I don't like how many years ago? And they did they use some kind of tool like that. And it was like little apps, apps, apps apps. It just felt like an electrical current was kind of going through my body. Yeah. Which I guess this is now the home version of that, which is this was I mean, before I moved out of the city, so it's a long time ago. Yeah,

Shelly: 14:31

yeah, this is the ad home version. So it's, you know, safe to use the only contra indications to using a microcurrent pregnancy because of the you know, has like a frequency to it. Epilepsy again, because of the frequency and active cancers in the area. So like if you have thyroid cancer or some sort of mouth or throat cancer, and a pacemaker because again, it is electrical current so you don't want to interfere with that.

Katie: 14:59

I will Make sure my father does not use new face.

Shelly: 15:04

You can't use any microcurrent devices.

Amy: 15:06

That was super helpful. Thank you for going through that, because I'm sure other people have those questions too, when they're novices like me. Okay, now I want to talk to you about like fun, other non natural things like fillers and laser, because we have dermatologists on the show earlier this season. And we were talking to her a little bit about that stuff. But I know the last time you mentioned or I've seen you mentioned on your Instagram that you'll integrate, like people will do, you know, glass shop, but they'll also do sometimes Botox and fillers, and how do you kind of balance it? And what is your recommendation on you know, as you're aging, and kind of like, you know, you don't want to do too much you, you still want to look natural, but what's your sort of recommendation on how you integrate both?

Shelly: 15:50

If somebody wants to integrate both, I obviously always leave it up to my clients, I educate them on the pros and cons of all options before before I may even make any suggestions. So first, you know, someone has to be open to the idea of these advanced procedures like like Botox or fillers or even you know, lasers, which are pretty non invasive. But you know, it all depends on their concern. It depends on their budget, it depends on what their goals are, it depends on what they're willing to sacrifice, it depends on a lot of different things. So for someone who, you know, say comes in and, and they straight UPS said, Tell me I don't want Botox or fillers I but I have these concerns. Well, then I'm going to focus on teaching them home care, and stuff like that, you know, going over treatment plans and whatnot. If someone comes in and they say, I these lines on my forehead are just bothering me, I can't like i It's all I see in the mirror, I can't stand them, please just get rid of them. What can we do? I educate them obviously, on what the pros and cons are of something like Botox to which paralyzes the muscle, which then paralyzes the skin from wrinkling. And there are pros and cons. But then, you know, they're they're like, Well, how, you know, does this mean that I have to, you know, keep coming is there anything I can do to prolong? So what I've found is that when people come in for say like Botox on the on the eye, between the eyebrows, and on the forehead, we'll just take that, for example. The Botox is paralyzing the muscle, so then the skin is no longer creasing, it's no longer wrinkling. At the same time, there's not a lot of blood flow going through that muscle anymore, because we've stopped all activity. So what I usually tell them to do is maybe about an hour, you know, Botox will last anywhere from three and a half to five months. So I tell them at about, you know, a month, so three to four weeks after their treatment, they need to start incorporating these at home practices, massage, reflexology, guasha. And really, you know, mind to muscle like imagining what they are doing, you know, is what's having the effect on the area. And you know, at the same time the because of the Botox, the wrinkle has completely flattened out, right. So they're, they're happy they see it. But you know, the more that they can train their muscles with either face yoga, or with guasha or you know, ironing out like the connective tissue now that it's in that relaxed state, the more they can massage the muscle now that it's in the relaxed state, they may be able to prolong. And so when they start to see the movement come back, they can go to those techniques and do them. And it can help to prolong their need to do more. And they can maybe get to the point where instead of coming in four or five times a year, they're only coming in one or two times a year. It's because they're doing these at home practices and these add home techniques that are enhancing their results. And then they're going to be happier, obviously, because they're paying less they're doing less intervention, and they're taking more control into their own hands of how to care for themselves.

Amy: 19:04

Right and can you do the guasha sooner than a month like if you're used to doing guasha like I've been doing it more and I love it I just find it relaxing as well as you know lifting and all of that. I never know like because I just got botox I don't know two weeks ago like right around my forehead and right here and I'm like afraid to do that. I'm like, can you? Is it bad? She is a guasha right after you get Botox you have to wait a certain amount of time.

Shelly: 19:30

Yes, you do have to wait a certain amount of time as the product takes generally seven to 10 days. I would say in general just to keep it simple two weeks to kick in as you're as you're noticing. Two weeks is usually the peak effect. And then after that, you can go back to your guasha you can use the new face You Can you know go get a massage, you can get a facial, I say rule of thumb I tell people no massage or you know getting facials or treatments for two to three weeks just to be safe. because if you do, let's say you do go get a massage and put your face in a head crate or something. at day two or three, when the Botox hasn't fully kicked in, well, it may be possible that that that injection point, the medication in that injection point is going to spread to other muscles that you may not want to relax. So, you know, and you know, when the muscles relax on the forehead, they are pushing it down. And so you don't want to come out with this sort of like sad truth the way she is. Right? Yeah, yeah. So I always tell I always tell my clients the story, just to really hone in on you need to be careful. The there was a an instructor that I had, who told us the story that, you know, he he had this patient that came in, she was irregular, she came in for her Botox injections all the time. And one time she came back two weeks later, and she was completely, her eyes were almost closed, like completely droopy. And they were trying to figure out what happened. Because, you know, she had been so many times before they did the same treatment plan, Nothing like this had ever happened before. And the receptionist said, Yeah, but when you came in, weren't you wearing a bike helmet. And she said, put the bike helmet on for like, you know, 20 minutes to ride home. But that was enough time to spread the product to other muscles, which then settled into the muscles, and then cause that paralysis, which caused the droopiness in her eyes for five months,

Amy: 21:26

though, that's all my easy. That's so So I tell

Shelly: 21:29

that story to my clients so that they remember it. And you guys have to be really careful there. Yeah, I'll never forget that, ooh, you just have to be a little careful with that. But after two or three weeks, you can go back to doing guasha and facial massage, some people will say that it it wears the product off because you're increasing the metabolism. And that's definitely true. But I just I think that it's such a, it's such a great way to address your concerns is to is to blend you know, sort of the the Western medical approach to it with the sort of self care practices, because it just it flattens out the muscles when you really iron out the the connective tissue and really work on the muscles and bring circulation. And I just have seen the change in myself, I am at the point now where I no longer do Botox for my forehead. I did it for years and years. And I got to I use that practice that I just explained where in between my sessions I would do you know, things like the guasha. And I would you know, work it out with different tools and different techniques. And I'm at the point now where I basically trained my face to not move in that way. And I've trained and sort of broken up and loosened up enough of the muscle tissue and the connective tissue and energized it that when it does crease, I know how to flatten it right back out.

Amy: 22:53

Yeah, you have. And that's the same rule applies like the two to three weeks, I just saw you had your storyteller tool, which I use all the time. Same thing there. You don't want to use that for a couple of weeks, I would imagine to Yeah,

Shelly: 23:04

same thing, nothing on the forehead for like two or three weeks. Now if you have filler, like in the middle of the face or something same you can do? Well, sorry, let me back up. If you have, let's say you have like Botox up on the forehead, you can still do your squash on the bottom half of the face. Okay. But if you have, but if you start to put fillers in, same thing, the fillers can still be somewhat movable for the first two weeks. So you don't want to do any sort of manipulation on the face whatsoever. I just tell people rule of thumb, anytime you get any kind of injection, wait two to three weeks before you do anything.

Amy: 23:40

Okay, what's your thoughts around filler?

Shelly: 23:43

I think it's appropriate in some cases. And and I've done it in the past, I haven't done it in years now. Because you know, I just have figured out other ways to to lift my face. Naturally, cause your a shaman, which is you know, and I studied, I studied it to figure out how to do that. But I think that for some people, again, who are just I need that quick fix, I feel awful, I see myself like on Zoom, I, you know, I don't like the way it's looking what, you know, I, you know, I want to have the discipline, but I don't, I just need that extra lift to get me started. And for some people, that's all it is, is just giving them an extra little lift or a little fill an area to fill the void of where the collagen and the fat has been broken down. And then it it can then well, at least I tried to coach them or teach them to start using some of these practices that will just enhance those results. But I don't think it's a bad thing. I think, you know, everybody's individual and everybody, you know, has different goals and concerns and I'm not against it. I'm not,

Amy: 24:51

you know, I really appreciate that because I think that you're very unique in the sense that you have all you do all of the The guasha and the eastern type is called Eastern. I don't know if that's the right.

Shelly: 25:06

Yeah, just like its natural modality, yeah, the natural

Amy: 25:10

techniques, but then you also do the injectables. And that combination is really unique. Because a lot of times I've asked just to kind of see, I had asked my well, not dermatologist, she's, she's more of a surgeon who does my Botox. I asked one of the nurses there, or maybe her like, Oh, can I do wash after this? And they were like, Yeah, I think it's fine. Like they don't, they're not very educated on it. So the fact that you know, both is really important, because I think this, this meeting of both is like the best of both worlds and to be able to keep it going versus always getting something put in your face. So

Shelly: 25:43

I think the most important thing is how getting these injections, or using these natural modalities make someone feel, because if you look in the mirror, and you are happy with what you see, the chemicals released, when you feel that you love yourself, when you look in the mirror, those chemicals released in your body are so much more powerful, and stronger and more impactful than any neurotoxin, any sort of injectable filler you will ever put in your body. So for me, it's about finding out and helping people figure out what is going to make them feel their absolute best. Because self love and self discovery and just feeling good about yourself is just there's nothing that matches that.

Amy: 26:36

I just think that that's medicine. Yeah, I

Shelly: 26:39

just think I just think that whatever is going to make you feel your most beautiful, is going to make you feel your best. And then you're going to show up and perform everyday better for yourself and for others, you know, and really what we're what what am I really trying to do here, I'm trying to raise the vibration of the whole collective by starting with the individual. And so if we as individuals can feel good about ourselves, then we're doing our part. And you know, it starts with you know, I mean, beauty is very powerful. And it's a part of our everyday lives whether whether you like it or not. Beauty is an you know, health they go hand in hand, but it's a very powerful tool in connecting and and being a part of this world.

Katie: 27:23

Yeah, well, sad and connecting with yourself to write and just staying. Yeah, yeah. So it, it speaks greatly to who you are as a businesswoman because you're telling people how to see you less so that they can self care for themselves. You're teaching them tools to do at home so that they can do these injectables for your environment between so I'm sure your patients really appreciate that too. So I wanted to touch a little bit about I want to go back to fillers and lasers because I am totally green to it. I've done Botox, and I've had some Botox experiences better than others, I have hopped around who I see and I think that's important too. You have to find somebody that knows how to do exactly what you want. But fillers when when is it an appropriate time to use them? And where do you find most people want to use them?

Shelly: 28:13

Most people want to use them for their undereyes

Katie: 28:17

okay, that into a hollowness or to pump up the cheekbones, the same thing.

Shelly: 28:23

So what happens it Well, I would say the two areas that people think that they need the filler is the under eyes and the nasal labial folds, okay, but to get an area that is right, the area that I filled the most is right here in the mid mid face like the mid cheek area. And you know, I mean my instructors and teachers have told me in the past like always treat what they want like you know give them exactly you know, if they come in for nasal labial folds, even though you see the rest of their skin falling, you treat the nasal labial fold, but what I do but what I try to do instead is I talk to them and I show them okay, you're you know you want your under eyes filled you have this like darkness here at the same time. The reason why that's happening is because the cheeks are falling and that's also causing this nasal labial fold to be more prominent. So what's actually happening is you've lost volume and you've lost the elasticity and your skin is starting to fall here where it used to be the skin the muscle the collagen used to be up here on this cheekbone, but now it's fallen and that's where you see the void but where you really need filling is in the most natural looking place which is where you naturally had it before. Okay, naturally had it in the cheek

Amy: 29:42

so I that's literally eye opening because I have gotten filler under my eyes for that exact reason because they're hollow. They're dark and like every time I look in the mirror, I can't stand it. Katie knows I was complained about it. I did fill her once and I actually didn't like it because I thought it made my undereyes look worse it almost like pushed out like the fat pads underneath like it made in like, almost more exaggerated and I didn't want it. And I felt like I could see it. And then it's funny because I asked my doctor about that. And she's like, Yeah, I wouldn't do it there. She said, I would do it in a few other like little places like in the cheeks just because then that will give the overall appearance. And but she didn't explain it the way that you explained it. She just kind of recommended what she would do, which I haven't done. But that's actually a really interesting way to think about it. And I never thought about that. I'm going to I might have to try that. Yeah, I

Shelly: 30:31

mean, like some people, I will feel their undereyes because let's like their cheeks are nice and full. And then they have that fallenness. And it's like, okay, well, that's actually where you need it. But I would say maybe eight times out of 10, it's because they've lost volume in the cheek. And that's really where they need the filling. Because it's going to it's going to like push it up, it's going to push it up a little bit. And what's going to happen is it's going to make this under eye area look less like drab,

Amy: 30:59

I guess we're like less

Shelly: 31:00

droopy. And then at the same time, you know, pushing a little bit of the skin up here is going to have an indirect lift on the nasal labial fold. So it just gives, to me a much more natural looking appearance. And people are usually a lot happier when I do that. Versus like what you said just filling the under eyes because then they always come back. But it's still

Amy: 31:22

right, because it looks nice. Yeah, kind of like we're supposed

Shelly: 31:27

to have a little bit of a depression there. And we're and we're also supposed to have a little bit of a nasal nasal labial fold, like, right, you know, if you're thinking about getting fillers, for those reasons, just remember, you should still have a little bit of it there. Otherwise, you're gonna start, in my opinion looking older

Katie: 31:46

in exams, and so often right people overdo it, and then they people over stretch, and

Shelly: 31:51

then and then they end up looking older. To me. It looks like they're scared person trying to look young. Yeah. And it's, that's really not the point. You're really just trying to look great and rested for

Katie: 32:02

so then. So I know nothing of lasers. I don't Amy, do you do lasers? I

Amy: 32:07

know. But I want to know, I want to learn about Yeah, what it is because I always hear people doing them. And I'm like, What does that even mean? And what does it do?

Katie: 32:13

When do we do it?

Shelly: 32:14

There are different, there are different kinds of lasers. I've used a couple I haven't used anything like a real Fraxel or anything like that. But I do know the science behind it and what it's doing. There are other things that are more way more, you know, invasive like co2 resurfacing, which I don't I you know, I don't have really any experience with that. But the majority of lasers that you see at these med spas, that you go in, and they say yeah, there's like maybe one to three days downtime, or there's no downtime, what those lasers are doing, and the technology has really advanced a lot in the last 20 years. For the most part, a lot of these lasers that are used for collagen rejuvenation, are bypassing the top layer of the skin, and they're heating up or making little micro injuries to the collagen layer. And collagen once it has been stimulated, or once it has been damaged, naturally, will grow back stronger, thicker, newer, and it basically produces new collagen cells. So that's what most lasers, you know, that you would go to a med spa for are doing is they're just basically using heat and using the laser technology to make those micro injuries so that it's so that the collagen can can kind of come back a little bit more, with a little bit more vibrancy with a little bit more cushion. And that helps to fill the fine lines and wrinkles. It can help to detoxify the skin. So you have less redness, it helps to you know, kind of constrict all the blood vessels away from the skin. There are also some lasers that are used for pigmentation. And those kinds of lasers do not work so much on the collagen layer, but more on the top layer of the skin. Now you'll feel those ones more. And they'll hurt more, because you have more of your nerve endings on the top layer of the skin. And so what those are doing is it's attracting or the laser is attracted to the pigment and the damaged pigment. And that brings it up to the surface which then sloughs off after about a week or two. So ah, so probably, yeah, yeah. Okay, and it's different from melasma melasma. You can think of I don't remember if I explained this to you guys in the last episode, but in order to tell the difference between melasma and sun damage, if your pigmentation looks like a continent, it's melasma. And that means it's internal and it's deep, and you should not use laser on it. If your pigmentation looks like little islands, not a continent, but little islands, most likely that sun induced it's on the surface of your skin. It's damaged melanocytes and that can be treated with laser with peels and with you know, internal nutrition sunscreen, and it's

Katie: 34:54

a great way to break it down. I know like melasma I had that with my first pregnancy and a lot of women get one they're pregnant, but then it goes away. But age spots. Yeah, I mean, they're pretty common. And I see them and I have girlfriends that are my age that have them and then you know, my mom has them, it can happen at any time. So a laser is a go to to get rid of the age spot.

Shelly: 35:14

It can be if you have a certain skin type. Also there. There's also that caveat as well is that the lasers for pigment work best on light skin, if you have olive skin or any skin color darker than mine, it's not recommended because the laser is looking for pigment. So if you're you know of, you know, African descent, Indian, Hispanic, you know, dark Asian, you have pigment, and it could actually cause a burn. Okay, because that yeah, so so like you too, would be fine, because you have fair skin. So the laser is not going to, it's going to hone in on the pigmentation and it's not even going to see the rest of your, you know, the rest of your skin cells for someone who's darker that the laser will see all of it and it's going to try to pull all of it up, and that can cause a burn. Wow.

Amy: 36:05

So let me ask you a question. I have done micro needling and PRP is microneedling a laser.

Shelly: 36:11

No. So okay, lasers, lasers mimic what microneedling does on a very low scale. So micro needling is otherwise known as collagen induction therapy. And what it's doing is much like how the lasers bypass the top layer of skin and treat that collagen layer that that layer underneath the skin where collagen and elastin and blood vessels are. The microneedling is using physical, sterile needles to go through the top layer of skin and target that collagen elastin and blood vessel layer to make that make a physical injury. So that the collagen can grow back the benefit of doing microneedling is that because the the needles are going directly through the top layer of skin, you can infuse certain ingredients because you've made microchannels in the skin. So you can infuse vitamin C hyaluronic acid PRP, which is platelet rich plasma which helps the skin to heal faster. And it also helps to stimulate cell renewal, which happens on the top layer happens happens more on the top layer of the skin. That's where we see, you know, the sloughing of dead skin. So micro needling is like laser on steroids. So it's almost better. Okay, I didn't realize that I tell people when they come in, you know, with the with the laser that we have, I tell them if you want to do you know slow and you know, study and just have a maintenance routine, we're going to do laser. If you need a one and done, you know, 123 treatments to treat X concern. We're going to do a bootcamp of three microneedling spaced about four to six weeks apart. And then you can you can go to lasers to maintain

Katie: 38:02

it was a painful, it's funny.

Amy: 38:03

I well, I did it. And I can tell you, I It wasn't painful for me. I mean, because they put numbing, they put numbing? Yeah, so I felt it a little bit. But it was not bad at all was kind of relaxing, just because I was laying there not doing anything. So I was like oh,

Shelly: 38:18

so I've done it with and without I've done it without numbing. And let me tell you, it is

Amy: 38:24

very painful. I can't imagine without an Amen. So so the

Shelly: 38:28

way that they actually discovered how microneedling works is through tattoo artists. And they were noticing that, you know, these tattoo, people were getting tattooed the skin that was being micro that was being injected with ink. That skin and the directly surrounding that skin was healing better and faster, and the skin looked more plump. And it looked you know more beautiful. And so that's how they kind of discovered it was that interested view. If you stimulate this collagen layer, it's going to produce more collagen. So I mean, that's so it's basically when you do it without numbing cream, you're basically tattooing your entire face without

Amy: 39:11

ever doing. So let me ask you a question because I did it a couple years ago and I did three sessions exactly like what you said it made like a huge difference like my business so much more like plump, younger, like just rush. And then they basically said you could do it once a year just to kind of keep it going maintain. Yeah, but I did it another time. I guess more recently, and I didn't really see that big it was okay, but I didn't see that big of a difference like I did the first time. So is it worth continuing to do that? Or should you do one of these different lasers is like upkeep or should you do it again? Like what's the, um,

Shelly: 39:45

I usually tell people you know, to do their boot camp first, you know, like 123 or you know, some people that have really deep acne scars and so they're going to do four to six days four to six weeks apart. And then after that I say you know as maintenance We can do it, you know, every, every turn of the season. So three to four times a year, you just come in, we'll do your microneedling. And then you can do lasers to maintain. And then after a couple years, like if you really need to go through that boot camp again, I would say, you know, depending on your age, depending on your particulars, maybe every three to four years, you do that boot camp again. Because usually it'll do

Amy: 40:24

it you're saying, like three to four times a year after the boot camp?

Shelly: 40:29

Yeah, I think so.

Amy: 40:30

I haven't seen those

Shelly: 40:32

I usually recommend Yeah, I usually recommend to do that. Again, I will say that the very first time you do it is when you're going to see the most dramatic results. And then after that, it's it's never going to be the same dramatic effects. Right.

Katie: 40:46

So I want to touch on what you just said, for people that have acne scars. So bad acne scarring, like does is that what that's good for that will help relieve that for people?

Shelly: 40:57

Yes. So in my opinion, microneedling is one of the best treatments for acne scars. And really, I think micro needling is probably best suited for people with acne scars, more so then people with pigmentation issues, wrinkles, and called general you know, collagen rejuvenation, micro needling is going to help but the people who are going to see the most difference, in my opinion, are those with acne scars. Because what it's doing is it's remodeling, that collagen layer, and it's breaking down some of the scar tissue as well. So I've seen dramatic changes and transformations and people who have, you know, done the micro needling for acne scars. Now, if they have active acne, that's a little bit more difficult, because you really shouldn't be, you know, puncturing into, you know, active blemishes. But as long as you don't have too many breakouts, it can really be transformational for like the texture of your skin. I mean, I had a lot of acne scars. I mean, so many. And I mean, I have photos that I can send to you guys like the transformation that I went through doing micro needling and that's really my opinion, the only thing that really like helped, but I got rid of it. That's

Amy: 42:13

because micro needling help with sunspots, like you were talking about before.

Shelly: 42:18

In not directly it will help to stimulate you know, the new collagen and stimulate new skin cells, which kind of helps to slough off some of the some of the old damage pigment cells, it really helps to, like I said, make those micro channels in the skin so you can get actives in the skin, which can help with lifting off some of that pigment. So you can like, you know, put on like a vitamin C, which is going to help to brighten the skin, you can put on you know, like a hyaluronic acid which is going to hydrate the deeper layers of the skin, which helps with overall healing of the skin. So I wouldn't say like if someone came to me and said I have pigmentation, do you think I should do micro needling, it wouldn't be the first thing that I would that I would recommend for them but it might be an added benefit it

Amy: 43:03

might bonus for them. Maybe one of the other lasers would be better for that.

Shelly: 43:07

One of the other lasers and and honestly, I think chemical peels because then they need to be somewhat light chemical peels, I find that with pigmentation. You always want to treat slow and low because any sort of trauma, any sort of excessive heat or invasive procedure is actually going to trigger more pigmentation. So I always tell people go slow and low we'll start with peels just to kind of lift some of that pigment up. And then you know, maybe we'll you know do some lasers later on. But we'll still keep it very light.

Katie: 43:39

I think the the chemical peels what you're just saying about going slow and low is so important because there's always like the horror story of somebody that does one and they're so shockingly red. I when I was modeling in my early 20s. I went to photographers loft one time and he opened the door and he looked like a burn victim is Oh Honey, don't worry. I just had a chemical peel. It'd be right. You know? It's hilarious. I had to look at that.

Amy: 44:03

You're like but I still remember it and I'm not doing it.

Katie: 44:07

I will never do a chemical peel because you just have the right person do it right and then guide you in the right direction.

Shelly: 44:14

Yeah, exactly. Okay,

Amy: 44:16

so funny. Yeah, no, Shelly, what are your clients asking about now? Like what's on the radar? What's kind of, what are you seeing? Go um,

Shelly: 44:25

you know, a lot of people are seeing themselves on Zoom. And they're really unhappy with like, you know, the nasal labial fold the under eye area but a lot of people the double chin. A lot of people are really like I see this like huge bulge on go. Yeah, yeah, it is. And so a lot of people ask, What can I do for that I have so many people that come in what can I do for you know, for a double chin? And they asked about Kybella and they asked about you know CoolSculpting which I wouldn't recommend now it's Some of the stories that have come out, but you know, liposuction, I mean, I think that this area right here underneath the chin doesn't get enough love, because we're constantly looking down. And we're constantly on our phones, we're constantly on the computer, we're not exercising the muscle. So there's no circulation, there's no lymphatic flow, all the fat is accumulating there, it's not getting any exercise. And so I always show people, you know, I give them homework at the end of their service, and I say, Okay, you're going to start doing this every single day. So that, you know, you can start exercising this muscle, you're going to start doing some guasha underneath the neck to sort of move some of the toxins that are, you know, stuck in the fat there and, and also just stuck under the skin. And you're gonna start to see the difference, you know, after a couple weeks of doing this,

Amy: 45:54

and that you do a lot of these videos on your feet like this face yoga. Yeah.

Shelly: 45:59

Mm hmm. What are the easiest ones, and I'll show you guys one. And I can walk listeners through this is literally just to tilt your head back, like your chin is all the way up. And then you can you can either just kiss the ceiling or kiss, you know, kind of make a motion like you're kissing the moon almost. Or just stick your tongue to your upper lip. And you can feel that muscle. Yeah, you can feel it stretch. Yeah, it feels good. Yeah, feel the muscle underneath your chin activate. Right away, do it right away. And if you just do you know, a couple sets of that couple times a day, so you can really make it's so easy. It's so easy. But we don't do it enough. Because our heads are down. All right, constantly

Amy: 46:44

down. Yeah.

Katie: 46:45

It seems like that's a crime. I love that. It's got to be a prime guasha tool spot to I would imagine, right? Like getting in there with that. I feel like it would help. Yeah, it is yeah,

Shelly: 46:55

definitely you want to you know, kind of you can break it up a little bit, but then always kind of come to the side. Because you always want to come out to those lymph nodes on the

Katie: 47:04

around the year not necessarily down.

Shelly: 47:07

Not necessarily down, you can do that to sort of just massage it and get things moving. But the way that you want to drain it is from the center under the chin to underneath the jawline to the ear, and then down to the collarbone because that's the pathway where it can be your get eliminated.

Katie: 47:24

Yeah. All right, the old double Chen. Well, I just wanted to mention really quickly, I've been looking at your website, it's so beautiful. And you look like Do you have some new exciting products at some skincare stuff? What's this, um, maybe the mermaid I didn't notice it before it what

Shelly: 47:41

I was, Oh, my pet I've had that we are we are sort of about to revamp some of our packaging, upsize some of our packaging so people can get more out of the products, make them a little more convenient for people. And we are also going to be adding a couple new things here in there. On the line. I have some stuff in the works.

Amy: 48:03

Yeah. Well, you did an Instagram poll the other day where you asked people what they wanted. So I was wondering as a coach, probably something in the works.

Shelly: 48:10

Yeah, yeah. And we also have, you know, a couple, like a new tool coming out for the holidays, which is it's, I have a very limited supply. So that will be something around the holidays that people can grab. And I also have a very special project that I'm working on as well on the side that I that can reach more of international or global audience. And you know, people can take what I do in the treatment room and use it in the comfort of their own home, as well.

Katie: 48:41

So congratulations. Oh my gosh, exciting.

Amy: 48:45

Congrats. We're such big fans.

Katie: 48:47

We really are. The other thing that I love on your site is your section about the things that you love, too. There's some great products in there. So yeah, I highly recommend that you're finding that. Yeah, it's so good. It's so good.

Amy: 49:00

And I also love which I know you've had for a while but I bought it after we first talked was the seaweed cleanser. And it's it is my favorite thing. It's like is there like peppermint or something in there? Like

Shelly: 49:11

some there's peppermint Yeah. And it was funny because

Amy: 49:15

I was away with a girlfriend of mine. And I was like, try this. And she's like, Oh, I love this. And I was like, Yeah, I think there's peppermint or something in it.

Shelly: 49:21

Yeah, it's the peppermint but also, you know, we make and formulate our products with pure seaweed or I'm sorry with pure seaweed, but also salt water, sea water, seawater, okay. And that is sort of the special ingredient in pretty much all products. The water based products, at least is the seawater, because the ocean has so many minerals. And what happens is those sort of ions, you know, from the from the different minerals and trace elements, they're, they're electrically charged and they're, you know, biologically are they they are with your own skin because you know that the the minerals in the seaweed are very compatible with your own blood plasma. So what you're feeling is a little bit of that peppermint, but you're also probably feeling sort of the magic from the ocean on your skin.

Katie: 50:12

That's very well, yes,

Amy: 50:14

I love it. Okay, so we did this last time, we're going to do it again, because you might have new answers. What is your favorite wellness or beauty hack lately?

Shelly: 50:22

Face yoga?

Katie: 50:24

Hmm, yep. Yeah. So I need to get into it. Yeah, did you just teach yourself how to do it? Or

Shelly: 50:31

I'm taking a course right now. And I'm nearing the end of it. I'm taking a teacher certification course for face yoga. And it is so amazing. And it's so easy to do. It requires no tools it requires just just you're watching TV. Yeah, yeah, I do it with, you know, walking down the street with a mask on and no one knows. No one even sees it. So face yoga has I just think that the exercising the muscles of the face is so underrated and not utilized enough. And you know, if you don't use it, you lose it.

Katie: 51:07

So sure. Can you show us a little teeny bit of face? Yeah,

Shelly: 51:10

sure. So yeah, so this one, I like to call the happy the happy child. And it's where you stick your bottom lip onto your top, you lift the corners of your mouth, and then press your tongue to the roof of your mouth. And while you're doing that, you activate your cheeks, and you relax the rest of the face. So I'll show you how to do it.

Katie: 51:34

You can say it's kind of hard to do. Ah, oh my gosh, that's great. That is so

Shelly: 51:47

relaxed up here, relax up here and you want to activate here. Stick your tongue on the roof. I'm

Amy: 51:53

putting this on video. This is hilarious.

Shelly: 51:58

And then if you tilt your chin back, you also get that stretch here. So it's like an all

Katie: 52:02

in Nice. I love that. It's so great. Yeah, I love it. Fun, fun, fun. Alright, so the next one, we call five minute flow. I don't know if you remember. But Uber just pinged you. You're just getting out of the shower, got no time to get ready. What are you going to do really quickly to get yourself out the door? And in that Uber on time?

Shelly: 52:22

Oh my gosh, I do remember this question. And I I remember last time I was like, Oh, I'm just I'm completely naked. And I put oil all over my body. And yes, I would still do that. But I want to give a different answer. So I would probably I just got out of the shower. I'm going to I'm going to spray my face with one of my toners I'm going to apply some oil to my face. And as I'm getting dressed, I'm going to be doing some of my face yoga poses. Nice.

Amy: 52:55

Good, nice. Good one. And how are you maintain your daily Nirvana lately? I know you have your fabulous new apartment with all that beautiful natural light coming in. But what were you doing lately? Well,

Shelly: 53:04

yeah, I was actually gonna say now that I have this new apartment with this beautiful East facing balcony, we get the morning sunlight. So what I've been doing is every morning I do about five to 10 minutes of stretching and then I sit silently for five to 10 minutes with my face facing the sun and I just sort of take that in and it just sort of grounds me right you know, before the start of the day before I have any coffee. Anything is that's the first thing I've been doing.

Katie: 53:29

That sounds no magical. Yeah, well, that sounds fantastic. I think I could get up and have a little sun on my face every day and be a much better person. I need that. So thank you for sharing. Amy, you have a product recommendation for us right I'd love to hear what it is.

Amy: 53:46

I do I do so in season one I did a review of the Maybelline sky high mascara which was trending on tick tock and I love it and I still love that because it really makes your lashes long but I found something better. Which is the Ilia i Li a Ilia fullest Volumizing Mascara. Do you know Celli? Yeah, yeah. And I love it. So it's $28 you can get on ilia.com Sephora, etc. And this formulas clean so I feel much better about using it. It's a volume volumizing mascara that wraps each lash in weightless buildable volume without flaking, smudging, irritating even the most sensitive eyes which I can attest to. And I just love it I've been testing it out over the last month and it's just as good if not better than the sky high because I feel like the sky high made my lashes long but didn't really make them thick and this really does both and I just feel like it gives me a fuller like lush look Shelly's you feel the same way.

Shelly: 54:44

Yes I love that mascara I've been using it and I at this point it's now my go to

Amy: 54:49

now totally and I love the branding is just clean and pretty and it's a similar color color to our Nirvana sisters branding, so of course I love it but I also love the tube because it's thick. It's just like kind of feels good in the hand. There's just something about it. It's like a nice wait. So that's my reco of the week. Definitely a great, great mascara. We're still wearing masks. So you gotta have those eyes looking good. So that's my record of the week. And Katie, I think you have a mantra to close this out.

Katie: 55:15

I do. And I think this will definitely hit home for those of us that have had a stressful few weeks, which it seems, is always going on in the fall when everyone's transitioning back to work, or back to school with the kids. And then of course, you know, it's q4, if you're working, you're slammed and you've got crazy things like a move. It's, it's all nuts. So to remind us, my strength is greater than my struggle. And it will always get us through because we are strong and powerful. And any thing that hits us along the way, is just going to make us stronger. So there you

Amy: 55:50

go. Good one.

Katie: 55:52

Yeah. All right. Well, Shelly, thank you so much. It was so good to see you and to have your energy and your vibe. We just We love you so much. And we are so honored and thrilled to have you. Thank you so much. And we can't wait to

Amy: 56:05

see us in the city because we're definitely doing that. But yes, thank you so much for being on the show and being our resident beauty Shaman.

Shelly: 56:14

You guys so much for having me.

Amy: 56:17

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

Episode 28 - Fitness, Self Image + 6 Effective Skincare Products for Men with Model and Personal Trainer, Alon Reitchuk (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 28.

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

Amy: 0:07

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.

Unknown: 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. What's up Nirvana sisters family it's Amy. Before we get into this week's episode, I wanted to thank you all for your support. We are so grateful and we would love for you to please rate and review us wherever you listen to your podcasts. Apple podcasts Stitcher. castbox pod chaser and podcast addict I know all have ratings and reviews. So if you would take the time and do that we would be so so appreciative. I hope you enjoyed this week's episode. It's a good one.

Unknown: 1:05

Welcome back to Nirvana sisters. So this week I'm so excited as as Amy because we have a first happening. We have our first male guest of the entire series ever. So he's going to be our honorary Nirvana brother. And he also just happens to be a very dear longtime friend of mine. He is a model that's how we know each other. And now a very successful personal trainer and influencer and his name is alone, right? Check. Hi, alone. Hello.

Amy: 1:40

So nice to meet you. I've heard so much about Thank you for having me.

Unknown: 1:43

Thank you for having me. So I learned I met in the modeling industry. what seems like forever ago we were in our early 20s and wild and crazy in New York and he's a very successful model. You have walked in fashion shows for Dolce and Gabbana, Valentino, you've been in vogue USA, you've been modeling for magazines, billboards, etc, for years, and then you moved on to your professional personal training career. At some point, this is actually super cool. Adidas sponsored you as one of their professional athletes. And he did the Tel Aviv 2014 Adidas marathon campaign, which is pretty epic. And now your main focus is being a certified personal trainer and Nutrition Advisor. And you are highly specialized across the board. You work with pregnant women post postpartum, you work with women coming out of plastic surgery, and so much more. And at one point, developed your own unique training technique which we will dive into and opened your own hips studio, so I can't wait to hear all about it. We're so happy you're here.

Amy: 2:50

Very impressive.

Unknown: 2:51

Thanks for being here. Bam. Aim. What was your nirvana of the week?

Amy: 2:55

Well, this is sort of a I was telling Katie before we started recording, alone, my dog, my little baby dog is 16 and a half years old. And he's kind of in the last chapter, I would say. And it's kind of a weird time because he was doing well. And then all of a sudden, the last few weeks, it's just been not great. And so and I have two boys, and it's been a little bit emotional. But anyway, he's a great dog. And he just had an episode last night, which was so sad. He like, couldn't get his bearings, and he was off balance. Anyway, I literally slept on the floor with him last night, I created this bed and I slept on the floor with him. And even though it's kind of sad, it was sort of this bittersweet moment because he was like, literally in my womb, He was like, in my belly. He couldn't relax because he was nervous because of all this stuff going on. But I finally was able to relax him and he was like, literally in my stomach. I was holding him and he just like, let our breath out and just like relaxed, and then he ended up going back to sleep. But I laid there with him for hours, which I haven't done probably since he was a puppy and it was just like a sweet, cute moment. One on one with Him, which I never get. And it was an older night, which is why I'm exhausted today. But anyway, it was kind of a it was a Nirvana because it brought me joy because it was just I was making him feel better. And it was just a sweet moment. He's my firstborn. He's 16 and a half of my other boys are 14 and 11. So you know, I feel very,

Unknown: 4:16

very good to just about to. I was just about to ask, I guess you had to put the dog before you had your babies before you educate dad.

Amy: 4:24

So he's my first baby. So it's, it's, yeah, it's an interesting time. But yeah, so that's me. What about you, Katie?

Unknown: 4:31

Yeah, that's I mean, that's really sweet. Has your first baby. I know how that is a teddy on my nirvana of the week happened this morning. I took a kundalini yoga class this morning, which I don't know. Are you you're familiar with Yeah. And Amy, are you familiar? You've heard of it. So I've never taken one before but it was a 90 minute Kundalini class. And basically, it's like a meditation with yoga asanas and you can hold a pose anywhere from two minutes. for five minutes, not like an a yoga pose, but, you know, meditation poses. And I think at one point I even held on for maybe like 20 minutes, but it was just really, really cool. They also did a gong sound bath at the end. And it was a you went to a class. I went to it. Yeah, that's Yeah, yeah, it was really, it was really cool. It was I had like, I feel like I had an emotional release. So it was just, it was really super special. And I'm excited to do it again. So I'm definitely going to sell them on JIRA nirvana. So I'm currently in Paris, I went to my husband, family, brothers and sisters, I met these parents, but it's gonna be it was the first time I met the sisters and brothers. And it was really nice and happy. It's also the Jewish holidays. So Katie, happy Jewish holidays. I woke up this morning, and I felt a bit tired and gloomy outside today. And like yesterday was really sunny and beautiful. And I went to the park and I ran eight miles. And it was beautiful. I sweat it out. All the bad energy. I cleared my body. And I feel I feel way better. Where we've arrived. And yeah, so that's my Nirvana off today.

Amy: 6:13

That's on I have. Yeah,

Unknown: 6:15

I think I have a little moment of Nirvana every day. Something that I really love to do. That really puts me together and makes me feel good with the rest of my day, even if things don't go smoothly. Just this little moment. Always. Always bring me back to, to my conscious and yeah, so today, the 10 kilometer, a eight mile run was the was this Nirvana moment for me. It's green and beautiful in Paris. And it's a gorgeous city. And it's also a way to, to view and explore this beautiful place alone is originally from Tel Aviv, and you've lived in Tel Aviv, New York, London. Now, you did live in Paris at one point. I lived in Paris. I lived in Paris briefly because I've been in and out just on jobs. And also I've lived in Germany, in Hamburg, and in Berlin for a while. I was racing born raised in Tel Aviv. And then when I was 18, I moved to the UK to the US, sorry. And then I moved back to Israel. And then I traveled around Europe working for modeling agencies and doing some major jobs. And now I'm in London, the past two and a half years. Yeah, I moved to London. First, because I basically wrote a trademark, I had a concept of hit fitness, that include boxing, rowing, lifting, and cycling. And I just travel around the world, doing presentations about my concept until I found an investor in the UK. And two years ago, we opened a studio, this beautiful multi million studio, and unfortunately, did not survive. COVID. So I'm back to basics. I'm on my own again. And currently, I'm doing some private trainings, I see some clients and also I train some clients on Zoom. I have couple of clients that I train in Dubai, and in New York. So yeah, I keep myself busy. Yeah. So how when did you start personal training? At what point? Did you transition from modeling into personal training? Basically, I never stopped modeling. I take jobs all the time, but more. Right now I'm more like my own agent. I don't have an agency for modeling because I have quite a big platform on my Instagram. So I get I get modeling jobs, and I started to be a private trainer. I think 10 years ago after I finished my study, I studied in sport Institute in Israel called Wingate. I studied sport and nutrition. I started to be a private trainer. And yeah, since then, that's what I do.

Amy: 9:01

Speaking of Israel, Katie and I, hopefully will be going on a trip next year to Israel and we'll be going to Tel Aviv for my son's my, my youngest son's Bar Mitzvah, we're hopefully planning student Israel so we'll be able to visit your hometown.

Unknown: 9:15

I did not realize you Jewish as well. So happy support to you as well. We've touched on how you started your your modeling career, personal training career and also you have an insane social media following. I mean, obviously, it's because you're absolutely gorgeous. And you're incredible in front of the camera, but how you have like, what over 200k followers on Instagram, is that right? I have I have 200k overall actually on Instagram. I have 150k Currently, but I have another platform, which is Facebook, and I'm starting my YouTube page. So it's altogether 200,000 on Instagram at the moment we have 15 It goes up and down all the time. How did you do you feel like it's just because you're super consistent with posting and sharing and that that has a lot to do with it. Like how did you make that happen. You know what, I've never invested any money on growing my social media platform, I think I was always authentic and true to who I am. And my style, what I believe in, I was always slightly different than others, I always had my opinion about things, and I always lead in my own direction, and ever want to follow me. Great ever not. It's also great, you know, and I was just authentic and honest about who I am. And I also grew and evolved and changed with the years, you know, and it just organically grew. Just just being myself and being honest to who I am sharing my life sharing my journey. Also, like we did deep awareness, this social media is not our real life. And we are choosing choosing to share what we are choosing to share, but it doesn't reflect who we really are for, for you know, 100%. But yeah, I think I think authenticity and honesty about who you are, for me is the key. Absolutely.

Amy: 11:04

I agree. So I have a question for you. So tell us your favorite thing about personal training, your favorite thing about modeling and then to tell us your least favorite thing about both of those things?

Unknown: 11:15

Okay, so first of all, I like I like fashion, but let's start with modeling. I love fashion. And I love climbing up. And I love that people actually make want to make the best of themselves, you know, visually and to look at the best. And I think fitness and, and fashion, they are very much aligned. And they may very much be together. Because for my clients, for example, I always tell them, if you look in the mirror, and you satisfied who you see, and just go out of the shower, look in the mirror, if it makes you smile, that's a good. And I also think that like clothes should not cover who you are, I think you should be happy with who you are. The clothes is just fabrics, you know, to make us happier. But if you are glowing from the inside, and if your aura is positive and good. So that's what's most important about fashion, I have a love and hate relationship with it because I have I have some very bad experience with fashion and some good experience with fashion. You know, I started really early. And I think it shaped my personality in many aspects because I didn't always had a good experience with it. You know, I started as a 717 year old kid, I was thrown in Milan, I did the first show that I did was Dolce Gabbana, everybody was older than me, I was treated like, you know, like an adult, which I wasn't, you know, and the things that will say to me sometimes hurt me, and I think shaped my personality and subconsciously I built walls. And you know, I made me very, very, I don't know, sometimes separate, like, separated from my emotions. And you know, you put up a line how to protect yourself, it can be an ugly industry. Yeah. And it reflects on anything on anything in my life, you know, especially on my relationships because we knew are trying to protect yourself. Sometimes you cannot be very vulnerable and honest and transparent with your feelings and with your emotions, and especially when it comes to love and relationships with any type of relationship on the scale. If it's romantic relationship friendly relationship, family relationship, I think all these boundaries that they subconsciously build harm me in a way. On the other way. You know, I've made a lot of money. I traveled the world executed my love for fashion and for style. It helped me grow my role, my style, and you know, know exactly what I like and what I don't like be involved with people that are very much like me, meet very interesting people along the way, like JT about everything that I've done in all my journey. I don't regret anything because I'm at the end of the day, I'm a happy person and I'm very happy with who I am. What about your love hate for personal training? Do you is there something you love the most about and something you just like the most about it, I cannot say that there is something that I don't like to buy personal training to be honest with you. I just love to take people and show them the way to make a better version of themselves you know and take people as a project start started at some point in the finishing point have this person blog to see them blossom in front of my eyes and you know, be happy with their achievement and be happy with their new lifestyle and the new routine. And see this transformation is just fascinating. Never gets old really. So you told me that you're focusing a lot right now your expertise you're working with a lot of women that are either post pregnancy and post plastic surgery. Let's touch on that a little bit. What what is something for our listener that just had a baby? What would you what would you say to help them get back to where they I'm gonna be so first of all, I train girls that are actually very progressive in a pregnancy, I have two girls that I train now that they are in the eight months, but they're still training. And I must say, like people that have a training routine prior to their to their pregnancy can carry on training. And it's actually very good for the particular cardiovascular and it's very healthy for the baby. On post training. I currently don't train any girls, but I've had a lot of girls that I that I've trained in the past have been after like couple of pregnancies, actually after two or three babies. And you know, it's a process. But some girls can get into a better shape than they were before their pregnancy, and into results that they actually did not believe that they will reach after their pregnancy, girls with pregnancy, after pregnancy, after they give birth. The most important is to get the strength back to their core to midsection, a lot of concentration about the area of the pelvis, about all the core muscle, oblique and abdominal area that needs basically to be refurbished if you can, if you can say that way, because this is the most areas that are being damaged after pregnancy, I can say that you can see very, very good results. And some girls again, get to a better shape and to a better physique than they were before the pregnancy. Basically, I start with them, I start with them from a very, very, very foundation of like really simple aircraft, exercising of even breathing, you bring you know, it's exhale, and inhale to get the strength of the of the core back to the body. And then I start like a little bit more and more and more harder exercises, planks, abs exercises, a lot of bridges of the pelvis, you know, there, I can basically do a Mat Workout for an hour with the girl with bunch of different exercises to basically rehabilitate this area. That makes sense. And then is it kind of somewhat similar for these plastic surgery, post plastic surgery clients that you're working on? It depends what kind of plastic surgery if it's a tummy tuck. So basically girls with a tummy tuck, it's a super, super difficult surgery, you know, it takes like six months to just recover from, from the surgery and to recover from all the wounds and you know, the stitches and all of that. And a lot of girls that do atomic tag, they do a bob boob job at the same time, I guess because they open already. They want to

Amy: 17:40

get a two for one.

Unknown: 17:42

Yeah, yeah. So a lot of girls, I don't know, I think I, I see this in in London, for example, I've trained, I think it's fourth, the fourth person that I trained with tummy tuck and boob job that this procedure done at the same time. So basically, you know, tummy tuck is just like, you know, it takes the skin and stretching it back and put it back on. So you don't really have problem with it with the muscle area there. So it's very individually depends what each person needs some girls, you know, they have a tummy tuck, but they still have access fat in different areas in their body that they need to work on. Some of them have a very bad Cellulite is in the legs. So you need to even out and you know, make the body of the best version of itself. I currently train a 55 year old woman, she had a tummy tuck and a boob job. And you know, this area looks great, but she's very weak, she needs a lot of work on the core area because also if your core is weak, you get that big belly because there is nothing to protect the the, you know, the intestines, the inside part of your body. If you make it stronger than everything stuck in it looks firmer and smaller. So yeah, we work on that. She you know, she has a lot of similarities in her legs. So that needs to be executed and work on very aggressively, you know, but it's really it's really individual because girls after Tomita can do job. Each girls is individual they need different things. So you can't really I can't really give you one solution or one remedy of what I do with them.

Amy: 19:18

What are you doing? What are you doing with that one client about cellulite? Is it more strength training? Is it Pilates like what types of things help to make it look better? I know you can't get rid of it but what things help it help?

Unknown: 19:33

So I'll be honest here satellites if they really did, you cannot entirely 100% Get rid of them. Especially when you're in a progressive age after 50 It's very it's very hard to reverse it but if you make the muscle stronger, you make the skin stretch and then it looks smoother and better. You know, cellulite is usually comes in the hamstring area in the back of your legs. This is the most common area to have cellulite just They do a lot of squats, a lot of lunges, a lot of deadlifts, a lot of bridges on the floor. And you know, like really working specifically on this area, you get some good results, but you cannot get 100% rate of cellulitis, unfortunately, where does cardio come into into play as well? I mean, I would imagine, do you, of course, there's, there's got to be a balance of having both to really achieve results. So yeah, you know, a lot of girls that believe that they want to lose, they believe they want to lose weight, they think the cardio is the answer. But girls don't believe don't understand. Also, guys don't understand that. Like, if you do only cardio, it's actually not good for your muscles. And it doesn't make your body look firm and tight and strong. So what happens is, some girls or guys do five sessions of cardio a week, and then they lose all the fat in the body, but their muscles become very, very soggy. You know, so it's a very, very specific, gentle balance between cardio and strength, which need needs to be executed together. I would imagine just all body types are different. Like there's no, you have to have, essentially, you have to have a balance of building muscle mass, and also cardiovascular exercise. And then what about in regards to like stretching and leaning out and yoga and things like that makes? A question came up when you're talking about say, like, when you use a roller like you rolling out the Maya fascia, does that do anything for cellulite at all? Or not really, I think that like the normal traditional sports are the most helpful for cellulite. So that's what I'm talking about. I'm talking about strength. I'm talking about cardio, and I'm talking about proper stretching every time after workout, and even have like the have half an hour, once a week of proper stretching, because this is very important, very rewarding to your body. Otherwise, if you don't stretch your body accumulate a lot of lactic acid, which is not allowing you free mobility of your muscles. It makes the muscles really tight and stiff. And we don't want that, in my opinion. Muscles should be sorry, my long and Leander Yeah,

Amy: 22:20

exactly. Especially for men, there's they just most men I know can't like touch their feet. Like they're just so much tighter than women who do more like stretching. And so what's your stance on so

Unknown: 22:34

I tell you that a year ago, I'm I'm not a big lover of stretching, but I have to do it. A year ago, I was working out. And I was doing deadlifts with really heavy bar in the gym. And I felt that something cracking in my back and on the way out of the gym, I fell on the floor without the ability of getting up the floor. Oh my god. Luckily, luckily, I didn't you know, I didn't do any river, a river irreversible damage to my body. But I had like, proper muscle spasm in my back that didn't allow me to stand up straight for like two months. Wow. Horrible, horrible, it was super painful is the most excruciating pain I've ever felt in my life. And since then, I realized that even if I don't like it like any other thing that sometimes we don't like in life, and we have to do this is one of them. I don't like it, but I have to stretch otherwise, I will not be able to, you know, to execute the kind of workouts that I do the long runnings that I do. And if I have to do a little something that I don't like in order to execute all these great things that I love to do, that's what it is. Stretching is super important and super, I think crucial to people that are working out on a daily base. And even if you don't like it, you need to give it the time. Otherwise it will retaliate at some point right up to my, my husband, Adam, he, he couldn't touch his toes at all. Like he couldn't even come close. He couldn't even touch like mid Shin almost for a really long time. And then he started boxing. He's going to a boxing studio, where they also box and then they also do hit routines. And then they also stretch. And now he's super flexible. I mean, it's amazing that he's got all of that from one program. But

Amy: 24:27

yeah, I mean probably helps us back to that for sure he

Unknown: 24:31

has he has had a lot of really bad back. Yeah, it's helped him a lot. Today for example, after my run, I really felt shortness in my lower back, you know, because the impact of your foot your feet to the floor. Makes this make this muscle really tight. I guess I'm also in my late 30s now so you know when you're getting older, it's you feel these things more than in the past. So you have to give it attention. I was in the shower. I didn't have time to work to do a proper stretching but that We're standing up in the shower, and forcing myself to stretch myself in these three minutes that I have in the shower. So I don't feel I don't feel my back later on today, if you have to, you have to and you can always find time for it. And to be honest with you people that working out four or five times a week, it's crucial and super important to do yoga. Because yoga, balance it out. The cardio, the heat workouts, the boxing, they're running the strength, whatever you do, you need to do the stretching. Yeah, so we Amy and I both kind of like rotate everything right like I do. reformer Pilates yoga. And then like, like cardio, I don't do intense cardio. But Amy, tell them what you do.

Amy: 25:42

Yeah, I mean, I kind of do whatever feels intuitive that day, I try to move at least 20 minutes a day, sometimes more, sometimes less, I run, I spin, I do a lot of like floor Pilates type work, yoga, just kind of depends. I've just tried to mix it up. Lately, I've been doing more yoga, pilates, because I've been more in that mode. I haven't i i was actually running a couple weeks ago, or actually it was over the summer. And I felt the next day my knee like the outer part of my left knee was hurting. And I was like, it's gonna take a break because it made me a little bit nervous because it's happened to me before. And it's like I could hear it when I was like going up and down the stairs as I'm going to labor. So I haven't really run since then I've just been like, walking, but I'll do a lot of times I'll do a conference call. And I'll just like go on my treadmill and walk the whole time. And it's great. You know, I like burned a lot of calories, they feel good. So just kind of depends on I feel Katie and I talked about this last time, I feel like the older you get, the less like of this intense cardio is appealing because I used to do tons of intense cardio and I like, I just want to do that. Now. Oil is good. When you

Unknown: 26:45

get older, the recovery is very important in order to maintain like good health and good workouts. Also another tip that is important to say, if you do a lot of cardio, and if you go walk on the treadmill, going in incline on the treadmill is much healthier for your joints, especially for your knees than going down. Yeah. All flat or downhill is not very important for your knees. Because I mean, it the movement is invisible. But basically, when you when you're going downhill or you're going flat, the you lock your knee in a way that is not very, it's not very good for it. When you're going uphill, it's actually not happening because you're not blocking your knees entirely. And then you kind of protect them. So the movement is much healthier. If you do incline or one incline, it's very important to keep the gradient because it's really protecting your, your joints. I've done marathons in my life. And you know, if I had a long distance of running downhill, I really felt the impact after on my knees. Yeah, I try to walk always with somewhat of an implant, even if it's just like a one or a two. Just something right.

Amy: 27:59

Yeah. And it helps your hamstrings too.

Unknown: 28:01

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Also, if you do a lot of cardio, it's really good. It's really important to do some strength workouts on your legs because your muscle, if the fibers are strong and firm, they are really protecting your bones and cartilage and it's really important to balance it out if you do only cardio, and you don't actually give some effort on your muscles. You want to feel it on your bones sooner or later. And it's really important to make the muscles around your legs super firm and strong and make the fibers hold your bones you know? So yeah, this doesn't have to be done with strength training. Can you do that? I mean, can you achieve that through Pilates and yoga and things like that? Or do you are you like a firm believer that you can only gain muscle with weights? No, no, you can. Very hard workout you can definitely achieve it but you can also you know you can also do some squats and deadlifts and and you know in some lunges at home and achieved just with your bodyweight. You don't need a lot people can achieve a really really nice healthy, fit body with nothing. That's the thing I want to blow all that meet people can really have a healthy body with nothing just a body weight, and their their ambition. That's it. You know, it's great to do a great workout at home especially for girls. They don't usually don't want to grow, grow muscles. If they are really ambitious about it, you can achieve amazing workouts without nothing just you and your yoga mat in your living room set right

Amy: 29:33

it's I feel like it's just all about commitment and consistency and if you're just absolutely now

Unknown: 29:38

just consistency commitment and you know, believe that you can become a better version of yourself and we all can

Amy: 29:44

just so want to move into nutrition and just want to hear about kind of like what your diet is or what you recommends to your clients like because that's least for me getting older diet has become whereas before I didn't think about it as much diet has become such a bigger Do because they feel like everything you're eating, you can just feel it the next day or you know, it's just harder the older you get, like you eat one thing and you gain like two pounds, and you're like, what I just had like a piece of whatever you know, love to hear your thoughts.

Unknown: 30:14

Okay, so just a general thing about, about nutrition, I recommend to all my clients when they first wake up in the morning to drink at least three or four cups of water. If you have them a minute to boil your water, let them let them cool off for a second, squeeze a lemon into it, clear out your body start fresh today. That's amazing. That's a very simple hack that you should, everyone should execute to be honest with you. Also, you know, when you drink a lot of water in the morning, it makes you feel fuller, it helps you go to the toilet much easier because your body is full of fluid. Everything goes smoother, clears your body, the lemon is acid cleanse your your stomach's cleanse your system. And then you start on a fresh foundation. So this is something that I recommend to all my clients. Second of all, I divided them into two parts. So let's say you're awake for 16 hours a day, okay, on the first eight hours, I would recommend you to eat your carbs to eat your pasta to eat your rice to eat your bread. But on the eighth, the second eight hours, start eating all of that and take and consume protein, which is fish, can be lentils can be meat can be chicken, all of that, okay, and fresh fruit, fresh vegetables made in any way. Stir fried ovan, whatever you like. So, you know, I would suggest to eat your carbs during the first time or the first hours of the day. So you use these carbs as a fuel to function during the day. If you eat your carbs in the second part of the day, your body turn tends to store it and keep it inside, especially when you have heavy dinner, let's say 9pm. And then at midnight, you go to sleep, your body does not use these carbs to fuel as a fuel to function, but your body wants to store it. And then the following day, you're waking up uncomfortable, because you had like a very heavy meal. And you actually heavier than you were the previous day. Yeah, I don't believe I don't believe in not enjoying food. I love food. And I eat from every I eat everything to be honest with you. But you know, yesterday I had a heavy meal. So I will balance it out. And I will go for a run today. So I actually you know, I'm actually in a good place because it balances out. Also like you have to consider how much you burn compared to how much you consume. Because if you eat 1500 calories a day, it's just an example. And you just burn 1000 Of course you're gonna gain weight. It's very simple. But to be honest with you the the hack of dividing your data to and take the first half of the day, and eat carbs and eat everything you like, and let your body use these calories as a fuel. And then the second the second part of the day, just try to eat protein and vegetables and as much less carbs as you can. This is a this is a hack that works for everyone.

Amy: 33:21

Yes, easy to remember.

Unknown: 33:23

Yeah, I I feel like though, it's probably key for a lot of people. For me, especially I have slow digestion. So finding the carbs that I can eat in the first half of the day that aren't going to weigh me down or bloat me all day is crucial. So I typically end up doing the opposite of what you say because yeah, sure, like I want to have some some some bread or some rice or whatever. But if it's going to weigh me down and make me feel bloated and feel lousy, then it's going to make me drag all day. But I have found that if I start my day with a giant bowl of fruit, which is it's carbs, it's carbs and sugar, that it gives me great energy and I feel I feel really good. So and then I do find that I like naturally want to eat less heavier carbs later in the day. But yeah, I don't think like some people just you have to find what works for your body. Right? We are very individual and very different. But I think what you say is very true, but it's all about portions. If you sit and eat like a full bowl of rice Of course it's going to make you bloated and exhausted. But if it's going to be monitored and you're going to have I don't know portion of chicken with the sauce and then two or three spoons of of rice. I don't I'm not sure it will make you feel the same way. Okay, yeah.

Amy: 34:33

Yeah, I think portions is such a big I've been focused on that lately just like not because we just these these meals that especially Americans are used to the rough. It's just it's too much. You just need a little bit.

Unknown: 34:47

You don't need it. You really don't need it. We have as modern people as best in the Western world. We have big eyes, we consume way more than we need. You know. For me Like, you know, I never refill my plate. You know, I eat whatever I want. I enjoyed the food, but I never refilled the plate because I know that if I will refill my plate, afterwards, I'm going to feel heavy and tired. And I will not be able to carry on with my day. Lightly smoothly, you know, because it's going to be there, it's going to be stuck in my stomach, I'm going to be too full. Also, if you eat a lot right away, you feel tired, you want to sleep, so your brain is not functioning properly. So a little trick though, just to say, You know what, I'm not going to refill my plate. That's just a good, that's a good little trick. You know, I like

Amy: 35:39

and what about alcohol? Do you drink alcohol,

Unknown: 35:42

I don't drink during the week, it all I usually have one day in the weekend, not more than one day, because if I pour it when I need a recovery, a full recovery time after I drink alcohol, I drink one night, I would even hate the thought of drinking alcohol The following night. So I will find one day, one night in the weekend, you know, especially usually a day that they don't work the following day, because when I drink alcohol out there, I drink

Amy: 36:10

you're all in.

Unknown: 36:13

So I will find one night that I'm drinking and that will be the only day during the week that I actually drink alcohol. And every six months, I take full months of that I clear my body. I don't drink at all. And you know, it gives about it gives you the energy to to you know, to start again. Also, I you know, I just I think I haven't changed in terms of how I look for I think 10 years at least. And I'm the same way as well. I can say it I mean, I'm sorry if it sounds pretentious, but it's true. You you look at because it's amazing. Because I make sure that I drink and this is the easiest, simplest act so that I can you know, that I can recommend to everyone I drink between 20 to 30 glasses of water every day. You know, and this is like I think this is the only thing that really says definitely rejuvenating keeps your body young and healthy. Yeah. Yeah, I agree with that. So in regards to drinking, too, just to circle back really quickly. Like, we're not even saying, you know, lots of drinks every night. I mean, I know from personal experience, even just like one glass of wine during COVID I would have one glass of wine almost every night. But still, I was like trying to lose the COVID weight afterwards, but still having that one glass of wine and I couldn't lose a pound to save my life. And then finally when I was like, okay, you don't need this one glass every night, chill out. Then I started losing the COVID weight. You know, it's like I put on a few extra pounds. It started to come right off. It's like especially I feel like for women and as we get older, that like one little extra glass Samia block is gonna really screw you over. Right? You know, we? Yes, absolutely. We are very different. You know, each one of us have different needs. And you know, for me, I don't need a glass of wine. You know, I have like a pipe of CBD oil that I take to puffs and I feel great after it relaxes me. It ends my day in a proper way. It fits my brain. You know, it makes me more mellow. And yeah, so for you. It's a glass of wine. It's for me. It's the CBD. It's all

Amy: 38:22

sugar. I know. You don't tell me from that.

Unknown: 38:25

Tell us what that is. What brand are you using? No, really well. So this is the brand that I use. Now someone bought bought it for me. And it's blueberry and raspberry flavor. It tastes amazing. Not harsh. And it's nice and smooth. So yeah. Thanks.

Amy: 38:46

That was definitely a better way to relax. I yeah, definitely had to put in. So before we get into our rap session alone, I gotta hear something about Katie from her younger days, because you know, I hear starting, I hear I don't know if I should open it here. Let's be very careful to X rated but you know, like, we got to hear something juicy. Because let's be real. I didn't know Katie back then. And I have a feeling it was a good time. So

Unknown: 39:15

he and I were actually very close. Very, very close. We were kids in New York, just like trying to figure out our own identities. We did a lot of bad stuff together. Alongside with a lot of good stuff together. We had the time of our lives. Yeah. We had a time of our lives who made amazing people we all we were the most amazing who circle of friends. I have such I have goosebumps just talking about. We lost some amazing people along the way. Our friend dear friend Lisa left us earlier the day she was there she was supposed to but have only good memories from Katie and also also like every time that they seek it at every time I see Katie I feel like the time the time stopped and I see the same girl with the same smile and the same attitude and that's what I love about her nothing changed her nothing touched her. And I hope you feel the same way about Of course I do. Like why is so fast we have so many great memories. Know what go ahead we got some beauty hacks because I prepared my beauty bag.

Amy: 40:32

Oh yeah,

Unknown: 40:33

I love that but first Okay, so just really fast though. How can our listeners find you if they want to work with you? Um, well, they can reach out to me on Instagram and I can leave my phone number with you. I don't have my website right now. It's not an error to be honest with you. I'm working on a new website. So the best way is just go on Facebook on Instagram you'll find me right away alone dude. Right? Definitely. So I prefer I prefer my bag here. Oh my god, I love the shows. I can show you what I what I use you know after all, I'm gay. I'm gay and I'm a model so you know I need to have that tag with

Amy: 41:10

me. It's like a win win of products. I can't wait.

Unknown: 41:14

Let me find just like the the most crucial most important ones and I'm with you in a second okay. Yes, this is your favorite. Okay, beauty. So I must I must say that I don't believe in us is super expensive skincare. I believe in using skincare that have minimum ingredients in it. And each ingredient have like 20 or 30% of the actual product because I find it working way better than product that combining many different ingredients in it. And then it touches many many things but in the end of the day it does nothing. Okay. So I'm gonna start with this. This is company I just I just found out about it. The name of it is the inky list.

Amy: 41:57

Oh I know that brand. Yeah.

Unknown: 41:58

Oh nine caffeine. And this is actually incredible. It well it recommends to use it during the day but I put it at night as well. It is basically just like a caffeine, D puffiness. product. It works amazing. And it's super smooth. It has a lot of moisture in it and it's great for your eyes every time I put it I see the difference right away was the brand what was the first inky

Amy: 42:27

list in the

Unknown: 42:28

list? Nice. Okay. This is the collagen booster of the same brand which is amazing.

Amy: 42:36

Oh, is that like a serum or?

Unknown: 42:39

It's a serum? Okay, it's a very simple product it cost maybe $12 like nine nine in British pounds, but it's amazing. I go to sleep with it at night and I wake up and I literally feel that my skin is smoother

Amy: 42:51

Wow Yeah.

Unknown: 42:54

Now this one is if I want to glam up a little bit or I go out or before photo shoot. The name of the Charlotte Tilbury yeah Charlotte Tilbury and it makes your skin like marble literally.

Amy: 43:12

Is it is it a serum or is it like something you put on top of?

Unknown: 43:18

No no you put it first and then you put your lotion? Okay. Also this all the stuff that I showed you? This is like the foundation you put it first and then you put everything else? Yeah. Okay. No, this is my night. My nighttime mask that I use every like every other day to be honest. Say what it is I slipped at it at a clinic monstrous surge overnight mask of hydration. We are we are facing we are facing the winter now. It gives you a lot of motivation. It's amazing. Super good. Simple, you know cheap product. Nice. And then I have something else I wanted to show you just one moment. Sorry. So there is this brand. I don't know if you ever come to us but it goes face gym. Yes, Jim. I haven't heard of it. Yeah, they have stores. I have this. It looks like clips. Okay, when I put this at night, I take this and I literally massage all the muscles in my face. Yeah. Yeah, like this, my forehead, my cheekbone. All of that. I guess this is like $40 but it's actually very useful. And after you use it for a couple of weeks, you see the difference? For sure. Yeah, we love quassia Nice. Okay. And this is when I'm going out or I want to look super nice for an occasion but it's fashion week now. So I need to play I need to play the game. I find this the best makeup in town girls. This is the best stuff you can ever get. It's amazing. It absorbed into the skin. You cannot see that you wear anything. And it makes your skin look like

Amy: 44:58

marble literally. It It Cosmetics CC cream eight because

Unknown: 45:02

it cosmetics CC cream and then you need to choose your tone. I'm a medium, okay? But it's amazing. And it's also not expensive. It shouldn't cost more than $45.

Amy: 45:13

And it looks like that too, right? Yeah.

Unknown: 45:17

In one drop in one drop, you are covering your whole face you don't need a lot at all. So a tube like this, let's say that you use it twice or three times a week will last for five for four or five months. It's amazing. Honestly, this is the product that I recommend the most. Wow. So yeah, this round of applause

Amy: 45:39

those are all great. We're gonna put them on the show notes for all the listeners.

Unknown: 45:42

Amy's going to turn around and purchase all of them as soon as we can. Because that's a

Amy: 45:49

well since we're talking about products maybe I should give you guys my product review this week. Yeah, let's hear what is your review so my product is called the hot mess ice roller. Okay, I don't know if you can see it. I'm trying to get it close to the camera see? It's by the skinny confidential the skinny confidential is the brands by Lauren Bostick, who's like a fashion lifestyle blogger influencer. She has a podcast her husband Michael owns I think your media Podcast Network. And she this this was her first product that came out and so you put it in the freezer, or the fridge or nothing and it's just a roller and it feels like Yeah, I had it in the freezer overnight and I'm putting it on my skin. It feels amazing. If your face is puffy in the morning, like mine and I know Katie's is all the time like just from it feels so good and it really brings down the swelling in your face so I use it

Unknown: 46:43

look somewhere between like shaver and massager.

Amy: 46:46

Yeah, exactly. It's so it's it's $69 and they say it's a preventative skin tool that uses the power of cold therapy to contour Titan and Depop your skin. The hotness eyebrow is all aluminum roller gets cold fast and stays cold longer than those those are ice roller so I never knew what an ice roller is until this came out. But apparently it's like something that they have like that they sell but they're more like medical, but this one's like more fine. It has a little groove here so you can put your thumb there so it just makes it easy. Oh just kind of go like this and I just

Unknown: 47:21

haven't I need it.

Amy: 47:22

Oh good. I actually do it on my sometimes too. It's my neck is always sore. And I do it on there but it's fabulous. I love it. I do it morning and night so it really helps with the puffiness. So that's tinny, confidential hot mess eye roller and it's it's really fun and I think it just came out recently and I'm looking on their website they just won the 2021 Readers Choice Beauty Awards from InStyle so anyway, yeah good product after you get all your products off and you just do that feels good right in the morning after a night out of of the one day that you drink so

Unknown: 47:56

so now I don't want to skip out on our rap session. I definitely want to hear allowance five minute flow and his Yeah, I mean kind of told us how you maintain your nirvana. But alright, here's what we call our five minute flow. You just got out of the shower. Uber pinged you there five minutes away. What are you going to do to get out the door? Like looking amazing, like you'll always do in that time? Bing bang, boom. I mean, you're a guy so it's so much easier. But what are you okay, so I'll probably well if I'm, if I'm be honest, like in real life, I would probably put you'd sunglasses and a hat. Yeah, I would probably I would probably drink lots of water. Put my vitamin C serum on my face and you woke up? Nice. That's what which Vitamin

Amy: 48:42

C Serum do you use? Was it I use the

Unknown: 48:45

No, no, I don't have it here. Actually, I have it back in London. It's a basically simple. It's a simple clinic drops that I put on my face makes your skin look glowing and refresh. And you know, breasted. Yeah. Plenty guys are working they should be hiring you to do I honestly, I honestly don't. I mean, I change products all the time. Because I believe that your body will your face, get your skin get used to a product, it stop reacting to it. I try things all the time. And also because I'm an influencer, I get I receive a lot of products. So I get to try new things and to see what I like and what I don't like. I also I also must say that like I suffer from a slight rosacea that actually appears in the summer. So yeah, I have to consider that when I choose my product because some some products in really inflame it and make it worse. Yeah, that's I get that from time to time also, so I know exactly what you're saying. Okay, all right. And then how do you maintain your daily nirvana? I mean, you kind of said it earlier. You What do you do you exercise every day?

Amy: 49:51

What's your day so keeps you peaceful? Yeah, yeah,

Unknown: 49:53

I think I think I really like I'm meditating my brain when I run and when I work out And this is the things that I do for my nirvana. I'm usually, I'm usually very calm, I'm not a very stressed person, and I Let life be very politic to my thoughts and to my been, and I don't get too involved. You know, I can think about someone something or something that stresses me out. But I know how to keep it all and don't get too involved with it. And this is what keeps me calm and you know, relaxes me, basically. But, yeah, but basically sports and fitness. And yeah, this is my therapeutic time in my Nirvana time, like this morning that I went for 10 kilometres one, I'm not gonna lie to you. It was a bit hard today, but I've done it. And you know, after I finished it, I'm a whole new person. Yeah, for sure. So yeah. Sorry. It's very simple. Yeah. Yeah, we all kind of do similar things. And it doesn't make such a huge difference. Alright. So before we say goodbye, let's wrap with our mantra. And I thought, since I did this kind of lean D, I'm probably saying it wrong. Yoga this morning, that I would bring the Sanskrit mantra that we used. So nice today, because I had such an emotional moment with it that I almost I had tears rolling down my face at one point. And it's Sat Nam. And what that means is, this truth is my identity. And I mean, I'm just, you know, I'm going through a transitional phase in my life and trying to be really, really true to myself. And like you mentioned, you spoke to it earlier alone, like, knowing who you are and being true to who you are. How important that is. So such nom

Amy: 51:50

Satnaam All right, well, nice to meet you. Oh my

Unknown: 51:57

gosh, yeah, it was so good. Dave. It's so nice. To see you face you to be live soon. Yes. So nice to talking to you girls. And taking part in your show. And we'll speak soon.

Amy: 52:11

Yeah, absolutely. Thank

Unknown: 52:12

you, man. Bye. Bye bye.

Amy: 52:15

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

Episode 23 - 8 Hot Topics in Skin Right Now with Board Certified NYC Dermatologist Dr.Rachel Nazarian - Part 2 (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 23.

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.

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 form of 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. Welcome back to Nirvana sisters, this is part two with Dr. Nazarian, we hope you enjoyed part one all about the skin. This episode really focuses on skin conditions, the face under eye darkness, fillers, Botox surgery, Body Sculpting fat removal and a game changing injectable for cellulite. And Katie also has a great product review at the end. So stay tuned for that and hope you enjoy part two.

Katie:1:10

Well, I would like to touch on a little bit of a personal note. And that is psoriasis. My husband, my mother and now my seven year old daughter habit. And my seven year old has had one large patch on her leg that has now spread to I don't know maybe like 30 or 40 spots. And we're just we're trying to kind of wrap our head around it like my husband, he's had it his whole life. But it comes and goes it's pretty late. And it's completely stress related. When he's low stress. It's gone when you know otherwise. And my mom's has gotten better. I think she's in what they actually call it psoriasis remission. I think I've read somewhere she doesn't have it anywhere. But my seven year old all of a sudden it's popping up all over the place. And I don't I don't know what to do for her aside from the topical steroid cream that was given to her that I don't really love using. So any any thoughts or advice? A

Dr. Nazarian:2:05

lot of thoughts? You're kidding. Tons of thoughts. First of all, your mother and your husband, right? So you have psoriasis, which we know is genetic on your mom's side, on your side, right, the mommy side. And then we have it on Daddy side. So this poor girl like obviously, she was getting the two hits from both sides, right? But it's gonna be fine, it's going to be fine. You know, Psoriasis is a skin condition where essentially the skin is just overreacting to we don't know what so normally the cell cycle is you get your new skin and then it's sloughs and you know it has like however many weeks cycle that takes your skin to renew itself fine. For people that have psoriasis, for whatever reason, this normal timeline is like revved up. So you just keep making more and more with the skin just basically piles up on itself. So it leads to these thick, red scaly plaques. But it is an inflammatory condition we know that involves inflammatory cytokines in the body. And it can also create some issues and other parts of the body with inflammation. So it's not just a skin condition, right, it can affect the joints, we know that it can affect cardiac, you know, so people can get arthritis. And definitely stair flares with stress. But the good news is, is that when I say we've come a long way, I mean, we have come a long way. When it comes to psoriasis. Every few years, there's a more and more and more targeted therapy for psoriasis. So back in the day, what they used to do is just suppress the immune system. Because you know, I'm telling you, this is like basically an overactive immune system in the skin, right, too much skin too much skin. And so you would suppress that, and you would help your psoriasis but it would also leave you a little bit more vulnerable to infection. That's what you need your immune system to fight. And so what they ended up doing is finding what we call biologics that now target closer and closer and closer the pathway to the inflammatory targets that cause psoriasis. So rather than like blocking the whole immune system, you're blocking it less and less and less, right, more and more targeted, which means way less side effects Much, much safer, easy for people to do. I mean, I have patients on biologics that they only have to give themselves the medication four times a year, every few months. Done. And that's nice because regardless of how much skin they have effective, which is obviously really upsetting. You know, I don't have to worry so much about their joints, you know, protected them. Because, God forbid you get really psoriatic arthritis that can be really tough. And so you want to catch those things before they really start to decrease quality of life for patients. Now, steroids which are like the topical creams, typically we don't we don't really do oral steroids for psoriasis, topical creams, and some ways you can think of it as working more locally right? So you're not affecting the whole immune system. All you do is Orbison, but should be fine, you know a little bit here and there when they need it. If you find that a patient is becoming sort of not dependent, but like needs it all the time, in order to keep their psoriasis in check, then we like to actually do vitamin D analogues, maybe you've heard of like hospital trying, those take a little bit longer to work. There's things like vitamin D. And so those take a little bit longer to work. So generally, we'll kind of get them started on the steroid cream, so they just feel like better faster, and then give the vitamin D cream a little bit more time to work. And then they can do that more long term. That's a really great regimen. If somebody you know only has a couple patches, let's say or it's like, it's realistic for them to be able to apply it. We even do topical retinoids if you want to go back to that, because remember, I told you right now it's helped like regulate the cell cycle and get more normalized like get rid of like old skin help healthy new skin take its place. So actually what retinoids will do for psoriasis will also help regulate the way the cells are behaving and act more normal. So retinoids are a wonderful part of some psoriasis regiments. You can even do ultraviolet therapy or phototherapy, even safer than going outside, rather than going outside and baking, which a lot of people used to do for their psoriasis because they got better in the sun and then exposing yourself to all this radiation, which increases your risk of skin cancer. Now we just use specific wavelengths. And that's even safer than being outside for a couple minutes. And so you can do that for your psoriasis and just target the areas that you need. There are so many different ways to treat psoriasis, depending on what area of the body it is. But, you know, my my advice would be don't get, don't get nervous about the medications. I mean, I have family members that are on them. I don't know how I would feel if I had to put my child on medicine, my kids are so young, I made you feel like I probably always be nervous about everything. I mean, I'm a doctor, I still get a little nervous when they get vaccines that tells you what Mom Brain is and what Dr. Brain is, I can't shut it off. They're going back. So of course they're gonna get their vaccine for like, I don't know why my head just goes, Oh, my child's can, you might say something wrong, because it's gonna happen, you know. And with psoriasis, I think would probably be the same, I'd be a little nervous, I understand that. But if she is getting to the point where it's really impacting how she feels about herself and her life and how she looks, oh my gosh, don't be scared, don't be scary. These medications are so safe now. And if you think about it, they're protecting the inside of her body. Right? So let's cardiac issues, less joint issues, you know, the patients that are on some of these biologics actually have better cardiac health, long run less cardiac events, you know, or just healthier patients because of what these medications can do. Now, you know, she's young, you want to see how the creams work for a little bit, I get it, you want to have alternatives to steroids, whether you do the vitamin D, or you do truly the non steroidal creams that work similarly, but are safe. For long term, maybe names you've heard of like Ella del Protopic. Those are other medications you can use. There's a lot of options on the menu, and just be open to them. Let them lay out all the risks and benefits on the table. But you know, for a lot of the stuff that's out there honest to god, I wouldn't hesitate. I really wouldn't for myself, my gosh, no problem. For my family members. Really, I think it's the right choice.

Katie:8:37

That's, that's very

Amy:8:38

encouraging. That sounds really treatable. Like if you're gonna have something at least it's like a treatable thing that she has not something that's not as

Dr. Nazarian:8:46

psoriasis, you know, I

Amy:8:47

mean, that's, that's right.

Katie:8:50

Now, that's very encouraging, because she used steroid creams are just not working out for her. They're not honestly, they're not really helping that much. And she is a little bit more high strung. And I just thought, you know, steroids can seep in, even if it's in little doses. So it's not even helping. So it's good to know that she has she has other options, we're going to look into it. So I appreciate that. Thank you.

Dr. Nazarian:9:12

Of course, reach out if you have more questions. I'm happy to continue talking about it. Okay. Thanks. Thanks.

Amy:9:18

So I have some questions. Because I'm obsessed with this topic. puffy eyes, dark circles, ridges hollowness, like as you get older, and you have that, like I've tried so many different creams different like there's just, I know there's not a miracle cream, but do you have advice for like the puffy the darkness, like all of that lovely stuff that starts happening to your eyes.

Dr. Nazarian:9:41

Alright, so under eyes, there's a couple things that happen in the under eyes, right? So as you get older, your skull changes, right? The skull of an eight year old is not the skull of a 16 year old, like anatomically there's different right. And so one of the things that happens as we get older is the eye sockets. hollowed out. So you ended up getting contour changes, right where the eyes are a little bit more sort of sunken in looking as you get older, and then the tear trough start to cast a shadow to your trough is that sort of like Ridge underneath your eyes, right? So it tends to cast a shadow, as you get older. Some people they're just like, that's just how they look, they're kind of born like that, that's just the shape of their face naturally. Most people even if that's not your natural shape, as you get older, you will notice that sort of happening, that's part of it. Other thing that happens as we get older for many, many, many people is that those wonderful cushions of fat that sit around the eyeball, tend to kind of move and migrate a little bit as things shift, and also puffed out and herniate a little bit as not only as you get older as a skin sort of weakened and thins out as well. Right. It's a very delicate area, a little bit of Cushing. And as a skin weakened, you kind of heard it a little bit. Well, that's where you get like the true puff that real bag. Right? As opposed to I was talking about before, which is like a contour hollow and like shadow being cast, right. Neither one of those issues can be covered with foundation or concealer, whatever it is that people are using these days, you can't you can't cover contour, either a puff or a shadow with color, it's not gonna change anything, right? That's a little test. It's how you know, versus true pigment, whether it is from rubbing allergies, or whatever else or just genetic, some people just have true dark pigment on the skin. So you can like pull the skin down, you'll still see that colors is a different shade, right. And then lastly, the area is very thin. So oftentimes, if you have thin skin in this area, it's almost like translucent. And you can see like purple blood vessels underneath you basically the lights just shining through, right. So you have translucency you have pigment, you have puffiness and you have a true shadow from a hollowing. Okay, all those things play into the on your eye area that isn't even really get into like wrinkles and sagginess. But that we all kind of already know how to identify, all right. All of those things are treated differently. They're not treated the same, right? So you really need to know what's the issue in order to pick the right fix. So, for the hollow, we'll call the tear trough, I do filler, I do a little bit of hyaluronic filler, I've gotten it done. Everyone else has gotten it done. I'm the Kardashians definitely got it done. I've got nothing going on no tear trough so they're definitely filled. And that's how you get rid of that shadow. Easy. The bad that puffiness that's pushing out, that needs to be removed surgically. Not a big deal procedure. But that's the only way to get rid of it. And we do a procedure called a lower blepharoplasty fabulous. Doctors will go in there, take out that little fat pad, close it up, done, done deal. So beautiful procedure for pigment, you can use topical ingredients that literally lightened and get rid of pigment, right so licorice root extract, some people use hydrocodone, some people use Kojic acid, whatever, there's a lot of different ingredients that will literally break up pigment. And then for that translucency, you have to do things that actually thicken the skin and create more collagen. And whether you want to do it in a way that's topical, like you're using peptides and retinoids and things to help stimulate collagen, or you're doing lasers and micro needling and something else to stimulate collagen like a procedure or device. That's the way to do that fix that also will help with some of the tightening and some of the wrinkles and the creepiness because you're stimulating collagen as well. So just like you're just basically improving the type of skin that you have with a whole last bunch of stuff.

Amy:13:38

Yeah, that's really interesting and helpful. I've done various versions of many of those things. I've done micro needling a couple of times, which I love. I'm not sure if it helps under here like a little bit. I've done filler ones but I didn't actually love it because I'll tell you what happened to me if this is weird. So I got filler a couple of years ago in that area because again, it was like dark and not as hollow but just more like that dark look. So I got the filler. And I felt like it made the little puffs that I had underneath my eyes like stick out. So I almost felt like it made it look worse. Although I didn't look as wrinkly I just put the puffiness like I have a picture of it from like, immediately when I got it. It's like it kind of like went out. So I didn't really love it, but I just kind of it looked fine. wasn't great. It wasn't bad. It was just sort of like is what it is but I didn't like how it sort of pumps it out. And then I guess it took about a year and a half two years to like go out of my system but lately so like a month ago I always had for the last couple of months these like dark lines and so I asked my dermatologist and she was like yeah, it's from old filler and it's like casting this like purple whatever so I got it drained and there was actually quite a lot still in there. So once I got it drained it was so interesting because those black lines that were like right here, came out I still have the black on or I mean the dark under here but I don't have that anymore. So it was so interesting. So she was like, you could do filler again, she was like, but it might kind of be the same. So she was telling me about that. Like in the future, she was like, you could do a lower blast, or whatever. And then she also suggested doing that transfer under the tear trough because she said that might be better than doing filler all the time, because it might not like work as well for you. So I always love the questions because I'm like, my husband thinks I'm crazy. So I don't even know what you're talking about. But like I see it every time I look in the mirror, like it's better now that I got it drains, but I still see it. And now I'm like, Oh, now that I got it drained, I can actually see more wrinkles. Like there's never like one. Like it's never like going to even out if I do one thing, the other thing happens. But anyway, I just I wasn't sure if like if you keep doing Miller and things like that, or if it like stretches out your skin, or if it's just better just to do the surgery at once.

Dr. Nazarian:15:51

So it's really interesting to me how many people ask me about the filler, whether it stretches out your skin? No, it doesn't stretch out your skin, you're gonna damage your skin like that you're not going to like the filler is gonna go away and you're like, oh, loose and saggy. Now, if you stripped a balloon too much, absolutely not. You were literally replacing what you had, you were stimulating your own collagen formulation. And you were trying to just sort of give support to the underlying tissue where it used to have that support, you're trying to look like yourself. That's all you're trying to do. So but what does happen as you get older the skin gets so lacks, right? Like people think about anti aging. And all they're thinking about sometimes it's just like, filling, right? But you didn't age by just losing volume, you lot you aged by losing volume. And also losing elasticity like the skin is more lacks, and it's less full, because you've lost a lot of that structure underneath. So when you anti age, you're never going to be happy unless you anti HSM wait. If all you did was fill, you'd look like a big balloon, which is we've seen that by the we've all seen that I know we've seen it it's awful when people look overfilled. And then if all you did was tighten, you would look like you're in a bad facelift, right? Because what they used to do back in the day, they actually tighten it and pull it and sew it back. It's just they're both completely inappropriate if used alone. The right way to do it is a little bit of filler for you church off, it's a little bit of a different story. But you know what I mean, kind of like all over a little bit in the cheeks a little bit the jawline, a little bit in the nasal label, and then a little bit of tightening, which you can do with different lasers. Right. And that's going to help you look like really what you're supposed to look like yourself.

Amy:17:29

Yeah, and it's funny, she was saying that except to do it with a surgery with fat but but use the fat as a filler and then doing laser. And then she said it will look really natural. I don't know if I'm like ready to do that whole thing. I might just try filler again. But do you find that if people have sort of like a ridge or like a little bit of a fat pocket underneath their eyes that when they do filler it like can make it look worse. So or is that just like me being crazy not being crazy

Dr. Nazarian:17:55

at all. First of all, the patient has never generally knows their face really, really, really, really well. Right. So that's really what it comes down to. So when people have both problems, right, meaning you have a ridge and you have a fat pad, the goal is never to put any filler under the fat pad ever. And you never want any filler like around the fat pad where it can kind of push out, what you're trying to do is it's a lot easier if I could show you but imagine this in your face in your head, you really just put the filler only into that deep rich, that's it. And so what you're doing is not touching that pad where you're trying to get that valley below it to be filled in a little bit. So it just masks it in camouflage is it better, right? You know, when you have both problems holding out and that puffiness, you can only do filler for a little bit and you will lose the battle eventually and have to get the bluff. Because ultimately that fat pad continues to push out, you can't keep putting tons of filler in there, right to your point, you only get to try you have that particular and this is why you have to always be evaluated to see if you're a good candidate for something or not. But you can only put a little bit of filler in there to a certain point and then at some point that that that peg gets a little bit too big, you have to say you know what, I can't keep chasing it. Now, you got to have that fat pad taken out as you as it continues to grow up. But you know, I see people with both often I tell them, we can do a little bit but you got to stay far away from that fat pad literally just into that little hollow in that valley. And the goal is not to change the fat pad, but to just blend it into the rest of the face nicely. That's what you're trying to do.

Amy:19:37

And you have to go to someone good because I think that I've only done it once and the first person I went to she was okay. I think I would go to this new person I'm seeing because I think she would be more. I think she would be more like you like really gentle with it because I feel like I could see it a little bit. And I felt like maybe she just put too much in or like didn't do it in the way that's more natural because I felt like when I smiled you could see it a little bit or at least I could Yeah little bit but so interesting like slime could ask you to bore everybody else. But I think that's why my doctor was like, Yeah, at the end of the day, you're gonna want to get this. Like, it's not like you need it right this second, but I know it bothers you if you want to, like just nip it in the bud. She's like, just do that. Because that's eventually what people that have that issue do so yeah.

Dr. Nazarian:20:24

So funny though, to two patients that I see has like this one thing that they just wish they could change about themselves that I'm going to tell you right now is like, a one on a scale of one to 10 You know, in terms of like, really how bad it is, like I have a patient that I saw, just like maybe an hour ago, two hours ago, I guess now. And like, she's been chasing her ugly neck and I put this in quotes because she's like, the most beautiful for like, at least like eight years now. Okay. And she there's nothing wrong with that. But she feels like it's just aging her and it's sagging, and she feels like it's it's a fat pad and whatever it is. And I'm telling you, she has a beautiful neck. But we have spent an awful lot of time trying to tweak it and make it how she feels is perfect. So she's not imagining what she's seeing. It's there. I get it, you know, alright, it's a little lacks. Okay, I see the wrinkle. Alright, I feel a little bit of that fat pad. But really, it's like, it's like her thing. You know what I mean?

Amy:21:19

And like, we're own harshest critic. Right. And that's one thing that

Dr. Nazarian:21:23

we don't know what it is for, you know, for you, Katie. I mean, I guess for Amy, it's gonna be the eyes. But like everyone has this like thing on their body, you know that they just hate and obsess over and you got to remember to your point. I mean, we are definitely our own worst critic. There's no way anybody else in your life notices what you're noticing to the degree that you notice.

Katie:21:46

My puffy face I get the puppy the puppy space deal.

Amy:21:57

Katie was so funny the other day she says to me when she's traveling, she got a really bad headache. And she's like, look at this picture. Doesn't it look like I have? Like I can see the headache. like, Y'all know what I'm talking about. But I gotta go. So there's like so many more things. The last thing I want to ask you about because I think you said you do body sculpting stuff. Yes, that's right. I've been reading about something called velis shape and like, I don't know if the all of these things are all the same. What is like the best one if you want to, you know, there's two things I think there's like our listeners, I'm sure you want to know about these two things like one sort of like the fat removal and then to cellulite.

Dr. Nazarian:22:38

Okay, boy, fat removal and cellulite. Alright, fine. So fat removal can be done surgically, which we know is like liposuction, right, or can be done with lasers. And there are different ways to do with lasers. Some lasers use heat, right like radiofrequency heat, I actually don't do that I do freezing. I do cool sculpting, a lot of cool sculpting. And I have to tell you, I love it. Love it, they had a sort of a second generation version that came out not that long ago. And that's when I started doing it for myself, obviously, but also for my patients. And what it does is it you know, brings the temperature of the fat down to a level where it crystallizes. And we know that that will crystallize at a different temperature than like muscle or skin or other parts of the body or different tissues of the body I should say. And when it's crystallized, which takes generally about 30 to 40 minutes depending on what area you're doing. You massage out those crystals and those crystals break your body comes and they clear it it destroys the fat cell destroys it. And so you have less fat cells there so you will not be able to accumulate as much fat in that area and it really does change or shape. So that is your new shape. At that weight, you can still gain weight, you can still put on weight and the weight will distribute however it wants to distribute a little more fairly. If you're someone who was treating your belly because you had all this fat deposited in the belly, you're not going to pause it the same way but you could still gain weight and you could still gain weight in your belly if you gained enough weight. So I you know I call sculpted and then let's say eight which is a true story and I had kids which is also true story and gained weight and then when you lose the weight I'll get back to my CoolSculpting body when I get back to that same weight but you know I had issues I didn't I didn't want my middle eastern right so I didn't like my hair shape I want like Kendall Jenner legs who doesn't so I wanted my thigh straighter and all I don't want my inner thighs touching whatever all the garbage we have in our heads that what we have to look like but you could do the chin you could do the arms you can do a lot of areas takes a few weeks to see the improvement I recommend everyone does it twice to the same area that to me is considered a true treatment. You do it once you get a lot of complainers you know once a year you sit there and show the before and after seeing you look different see before so yeah I hate that. I hate that. Once you've done it twice. I don't have to show you the before and afters anymore. It's like we're done. You know, like, I'm happy. That makes me happy makes them happy. So I tell everyone twice. You don't have to do it twice because you had a dramatic result after one great good for you. It happens fine. But you're gonna do it, you're gonna do it the right way. You know? Because I do hear a lot of people that say, Oh, I don't know. I don't know. I tried it a couple years ago, but I've actually never say never had like one maybe but she also gained weight. So I wasn't really sure but, you know, it's it's a very dependable way to get rid of those fat cells. Cellulite is a little different. And you're asking me about it at the right time because we do kind of have a little bit of a game changer that came out a few months ago called quot Q w Oh, that's actually an injectable that is used to break up those bands that pull down under the skin and create that like wrinkling. An orange peel luck of cellulite comes a little bit pain comes a little bit of bruising, but is super promising, like super promising. Really now,

Amy:26:07

is it permanent? Or is it something well, you're doing so far,

Dr. Nazarian:26:10

they're seeing some long term, improve improvement. I mean, you're maintaining these results, you know, like, I think up to a year out, and they're still looking. So I think it's, it looks really, really promising. I don't do it yet. I'm sort of sitting on the sidelines a little bit like, had patience to do it, you know, learning about it, getting trained on it, I kind of want to see some people roll out a little bit longer, which is generally how I work with this stuff. But I've had a lot of colleagues that have been using it now for long enough that, you know, I'm I'm happy to support that and recommend that. So

Amy:26:50

that's awesome. I want to look into that because that's another thing I'm always looking for treatments on because that's why I was researching this Bella shape, which I've seen, like, here and there written up in articles and it's specifically for cellulite as well. I don't know if it does just cellulite and or if it does cellulite and like sculpting I'm not sure I don't know too much about it. But I'm going to look into this quote too, because like that thigh area,

Dr. Nazarian:27:12

I gotta tell you, one of my co workers, you know, she was really eager to have it done last month. And I wasn't, wasn't ready to be the one to do it for her yet. And so we had her go to one of my colleagues and have, you know, have her get it done. And aside from some pretty hefty bruising, which is part of the deal. She's actually looking really good. You know, I tried a bunch of other stuff to get rid of that for her over the past couple years. And I wasn't having much success. And this you know, this injection seems to be, and we've been hearing about it for a while now. So I kind of knew it was gonna be a little bit a game changer. But to actually see it in action on people that I know is really exciting.

Katie:27:49

Yeah, that's exciting. That's cool. And

Amy:27:51

there's no downtime. I mean, so there's bruising, obviously, but is there like, is it like painful, it's

Dr. Nazarian:27:57

a little, you know, your muscles feel pretty sore sometimes afterwards, like you got a little like a, like a punch in the leg. And the bruising can be pretty substantial. So sometimes little bit of swelling that comes along with that. So it's not something I would do during bikini season. But you want to wait until the fall winter and

Amy:28:15

winter time activity.

Dr. Nazarian:28:16

Ugly. Exactly.

Amy:28:17

All right. I'm all about it. Okay, so we could literally talk to you forever. So like, we probably need a part two, we might be cool. I

Katie:28:24

think we need to,

Amy:28:25

we should probably start getting into our rap session.

Katie:28:27

All right. So let's do our rap session. So Dr. Nazarian, you've given us so many great tips. But what is your favorite wellness or beauty hack?

Dr. Nazarian:28:37

Oh, my favorite wellness or beauty hack? Just streamline it. Like just you know, my hack is just getting everything into what you're already doing now and just tweak it like, I drink my antioxidant green tea at night because I was going to drink tea anyway. So why don't I drink something that has like tons of antioxidants, it makes my life more easy and helps me in the long run, right? Like when I do my, like I said my stuff in the morning, it's all infused into that one product, I'm not to think about it. Everything that I do is just a part of my day. And it doesn't feel like a chore and it's sort of like, hidden and all the other stuff. And so I just think if you can do that with everything, your diet, your skincare products, you know, your walk to work, whatever it is you just have it streamlined to something where it was all thought out beforehand. And it's good for you, you know, over the course of a lifetime, oh my god. Imagine the cumulative effect of something like that. These little tiny changes add up so much at the end of decades and decades and decades. Just remember that it's gonna happen. It's science, it's happening. You're not gonna get when the body doesn't respond to this kind of thing. You're gonna reap the benefits to have patience with it. And just trust the science just sneaking into your day. And I promise you you're good. it'd be so happy later in life.

Katie:30:02

Yeah, I love that streamlining, simplifying, just kind of making it all a little easier. Right?

Amy:30:09

Exactly. Okay, so this is what we call our five minute flow. So here's the scenario. You just got out of the shower and dried off whoever just alerted you there five minutes away. Like what is your quick beauty routine to like, what are your holy girls would you just put on to get out of the house on time and get into that? Uber? This isn't a morning this is at night. This could be any time you choose, but it's like what's that quick thing that you have to like? You just you got five minutes you got to just throw it on and go obviously we know sunscreen. What else? No. Could be body could be face.

Dr. Nazarian:30:42

Yeah. Eyelash Curler. There you go. Oh, that's good one. That's, that is you know, I put on a fancy shmancy watch. I put on you know, I take my little eyelash curler and I clamp it. And then I'm out the door. You know, I don't I don't do a lot of bling. I don't do a lot of anything. I just like you know, I work so hard on my face all the time. Your skin's

Amy:31:04

Perfect.

Dr. Nazarian:31:06

Perfect, whatever it is what it is. Thank you. But the point is, I don't have to think about it on the daily because I already put in the time. So when I jump out of that shower, a little awkward for maybe to the lips, a little clamp on my lashes. A little watch on my wrist.

Katie:31:19

I'm out the door. Nice. Yeah. Well that we love the article friend.

Amy:31:25

Yeah. And then how do you how do you maintain your daily nirvana? Because you are a busy doctor? You've got three young children, your wife? I mean, how do you kind of keep that daily peace? Well, any any anything, it

Dr. Nazarian:31:38

should be honest with you, it changes depending on my stage in life, I have realized what I could have done a few years ago with maybe even one kid, you know, maybe what I could have done with even two kids. I can't do with three and a husband Right? Like just what I did as a single girl to like really get my calm with it was go for a run or do whatever. Sometimes it just can't happen. Now the only thing that happens daily now with three kids is a shower. Right? Let me tell you, my shower. You know, even though it's not very long, is like my Nirvana it is my happy place I find water always has the ability to just calm and heal and recenter and so I take this shower, I enjoy the water coming, you know, onto my face onto my body. And I have my little products there that I use where I feel like I'm just self it doesn't feel like a chore. Maybe showering is a chore for some people. It doesn't ever feel like a chore to me. You know, I just enjoy that feeling of just like starting fresh. And that's it that's like today now like Rachel in this area now in life at this age. That is my nirvana. I sort of hope in a few years that maybe it changes and it's something else like getting rid of lighting a candle or doing my sage but right now it's just it doesn't shower.

Amy:32:57

Well that's very accessible.

Katie:32:59

And it's you know, it actually triggers your parasympathetic nervous system a nice like long peaceful shower. I mean, it's really it's a very like restful rejuvenating thing I do that to actually come

Dr. Nazarian:33:10

Yeah, yeah. But you're either gonna be that or it's gonna be me attacking myself with a laser and needles which happens in the office down masochistic, so I'm gonna go with a shower. Nice.

Amy:33:25

I love it. So we've kept you like forever but we're just two quick things before we wrap up so Katie so we typically do like a quick what we're loving product review at the end of the episode so Katie has something to share with us and then I have a closing mantra. Yeah, so

Katie:33:39

I am excited. Hey, what

Amy:33:40

do you have a very good product review

Katie:33:42

I'm doing it this time. Usually Amy does it but I found these two new products that I'm obsessed with. It's the Charlotte Tilbury supermodel eyebrow kit. I have like very very sparse eyebrows and I always have to fill them in and it's I've always had a really hard time finding the right product to do it with but these are amazing. The reason why I love it. The tip of the pencil is like angle and very thin and it's it's made from Konoba wax. I think I'm saying that right so it comes on like very, very feather fine. It literally looks like you're putting like another eyebrow Heron and other eyebrow hair and I mean it's really it's just the way that it goes in is so so smooth. This is called the brow lift pencil. It's $25 it comes in eight shades, smudge proof, humidity proof, it's great. And then I finish it with the brow fix sculpting gel and this is $23 and this is a 24 hour lasting clear brow gel that will condition your eyebrows it sets it and it's invisible. It doesn't like flake or anything. When I'm like you know not necessarily going out or just kind of want a casual look I'll go without this but if I really wanted to set and check kind of like pop I added the bra effect so I am absolutely obsessed obsessed with it. It's a really, really good one. You know the whole like, like thick, very full eyebrow that all the supermodels have right now like that's,

Amy:35:09

I love it. Yeah, I love that. So give it to me. Yeah. So you can so it looks so I bought that I haven't used it yet because I wanted to hear Can you talk about it so you just like kind of go against your eyebrow and it kind of just yes it in and you just do

Katie:35:21

like, like roll it up the littlest bit and then you just kind of go like, where where you're sparse in. And then I noticed that actually, if I do it with my left hand on my right eyebrow, it doesn't look right. I have to like switch hands. And because you have to go in the direction of the browser. That's, that's the trick. So and then it has this little while your brows look amazing. So little brush on the end where

Amy:35:44

I'm gonna, I'm gonna try that. It's a good one.

Katie:35:48

What's your mantra? Amen. Amen. We need a good one. You have one for us.

Amy:35:51

Yes. So to close out. And before we close out, just want to say thank you so much, Dr. Nazarian, for giving us so much time, we definitely want to have you back because we have like a million more questions. But we'd love, love, love, love all the information you gave us. I think it'll be so helpful to our listeners. And it was definitely helpful for us. So we really appreciate your time and your energy, we just your whole lighting.

Dr. Nazarian:36:12

You guys are so sweet. It's been such a joy to be on and so much fun talking about everything and love to come back. I think that's the one thing about dermatology, a little bit of a black hole is always something that you want to talk about. There's always more to know. So thank you so much. Yeah, it's been a blast.

Amy:36:27

Oh, thank you. Great. So I'm going to ends with something because we've been talking about, you know, our skin and all the things that we want to fix. And at the end of the day, here's a mantra that I think I need to tell myself and we probably all do, which is become so confident in who you are that no one's opinion, rejection or behavior can rock you. So it's like, don't listen to what anybody else is saying. And even sometimes what you're saying to yourself because I was thinking about it, I'm complaining about this and that but at the end of the day, if you're confident and you like feel good in your skin, nothing else matters. So I think it's really important to remind ourselves and our audience that at the end of the day, you just got to feel good. You got to feel good about yourself. So

Dr. Nazarian:37:08

true. Thank you for that reminder, Amy.

Amy:37:12

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

Episode 22 - 8 Hot Topics in Skin Right Now with Board Certified NYC Dermatologist Dr.Rachel Nazarian - Part 1 (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 22.

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

Amy: 0:07

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. Welcome to Nirvana sisters Nirvana sisters family. We are so excited to have Dr. Rachel Nazarian with us today. Welcome Dr. Nazarian. We have been wanting to have an amazing dermatologist on the show for a long time. So we're so happy that we got in touch with you to be able to spend time with us today and ask all of our crazy questions to you. So welcome to the show. A little background on Dr. Nazarian is she is a board certified dermatologist seeing patients in New York City she practices various aspects of dermatology including cosmetic treatments, lasers and injectables skin cancer screenings, general dermatology, dermatologic surgery and body contouring Dr. Nazarian has written many published articles in medical journals as well as widely respected dermatology textbooks such as treatment of skin disease and bukas emergencies in dermatology. Hopefully, I said that, right. You are a faculty member at Mount Sinai Medical Center's Department of Dermatology and you are written up in tons of different magazines and articles I've seen you quoted in media print TV, I saw you recently in an article and well and good and Vogue, and Harper's Bazaar, and new beauty and Pop Sugar, and so many more. So thank you for being on the show. Very excited to have one introduction and

Dr. Nazarian: 1:54

an intro. Yeah, I was like listening to God, that's why I'm tired. What would I what have I been doing? But you know what, it's it's all so much fun. And I love what I do. And I love talking about what I do. So I'm happy to go through the whole spiel, whatever you want to talk about, please ask me, it's what I do all day long with my patients. And honestly, it very, very, very rarely gets old. That's the great thing about this specialty. There's always new stuff coming out and new things to talk about. And it's just so exciting and fun.

Amy: 2:22

That's so awesome. Well, we can't wait to get into it. But before we do, we want to take a step back and do our nirvana of the week, which is really just when we talk about something positive, something great that brought us joy over the last week that just kind of made us take a step back because we're all so busy and crazy, especially after everything is sort of open now and everyone got back to running around. It's like good to take that step back and think about something little or big that give us joy. So I'll let Katie do her Nirvana, and then I'll know Thanks,

Katie: 2:49

Amy. Well, thank you Dr. Nazarian. For being here. We're really excited. So we appreciate it. But my weekly Nirvana I would say this week happened yesterday. We, for many reasons, my family and I, we haven't had much time to really enjoy the summer yet. So yesterday, we had like our first family fun summer day, we were at the pool all day and the kids were swimming for I think, honestly, eight hours. And don't worry we had on SVF and a lot of it, but it was it was great. It was just a lot of fun. Just to like you know, not think about anything besides fun. We really needed it. So that so that was that was mine. What about you, Amy?

Amy: 3:26

That's good. Oh, I thought you were gonna say putting contract on your house. But I guess that's another episode. We'll have to hear about that. I know. It's been a journey for you. So I have to so my kids actually left her sleepaway camp yesterday, so or not yesterday. What's today? Yeah, they love Saturday. And so that was a little bit bittersweet. I was so happy for them. But also it was kind of this weird feeling. But now we're kind of getting back into the swing and they're having a blast. So that's good. But I guess before they left, we did a night we went to the pool. And it was sort of during that golden hour where the weather's just perfect. And it wasn't planned. We just sort of went last minute and they were swimming and we just like ate there. But not even at a table just at our beach chairs. And it was just one of those casual nights. But one of those that you sort of are like, I'm so appreciative of like my sweet family. It was just a really great moment before they left and then another little one last night, all the fireflies are starting to come out in my neighborhood. So I went outside last night to do something and they just like literally got stopped because I looked up at the trees and they were so dark. But there were all these fireflies like lighting up and it was so beautiful. And all of our cicadas are now gone. So that was great. So that was just like a little spark of Nirvana that happened last night. What about you doctrine is their

Dr. Nazarian: 4:43

mind is really interesting. So the last couple of weeks, I've been thinking he's from Miami, my husband and I've been saying to him, God, you know what movie I want to watch. I want to watch the birdcage. You know, it takes place in South Beach, right? I only want to watch the bird cage. I just really feel like I haven't seen it in years. You know, I've forgotten most of what it's about. But remember the basic premise and And I was flipping through a television, I had a rough day flipping through the TV. And miraculously, it just happened to be on and just happened to have just started like I was like maybe 30 minutes, 30 seconds and a minute in and I called my husband we sat down we watch this movie that had been like begging the universe verse For for weeks now. I have never laughed this hard. I have seen this movie like, years ago, right. But for whatever reason, it was like so appropriate for today for like here and now in the world, politically, whatever. It it just made I think I had like stomach pains from laughing so hard at Robin Williams and like this whole brilliant cast. But I was so grateful for these two hours where I was just absorbed in this movie, and just loving life and laughing at it and just having a really good time. It was like the most therapeutic two hours I've had in a very, very long time. That sounds so good.

Amy: 5:50

Oh, I love Yeah, that's so great. I gotta watch that again. I haven't seen that in years. And that's so cool. I love that that manifested for you and that you enjoyed it. That's so great. Yeah, that's so great. Good. I love it. Okay, so we're gonna get into some quick fire questions before we before we get into it. So tell us a little bit about your background and how long you've been practicing dermatology and what your specialty is sure.

Dr. Nazarian: 6:14

So you kind of touched on it a little bit. I do medical and cosmetic and surgical dermatology. So basically, I do the basic stuff. You know, the skin checks, looking at moles trying to find skin cancers, acne, psoriasis, eczema, all the skin diseases we are trained to do as dermatologist but in medical school, we have MDs, we are physicians, so medicine first. And then of course, you know, you when you have healthy skin, you have beautiful skin. So the cosmetic aspect is so intertwined. And these, you know, these days, I do an awful lot of cosmetics too. And that includes lasers and lights and injectables like the different toxins and fillers, and then surgical. So if I find a skin cancer, we want to take those skin cancers out so we do surgeries to remove them. Sometimes people have things like cysts and little tumors like like pomos, we take those out as well. And it makes me feel like I am a tiny little bit like the rest of my family, which is made up of all surgeons, cardiac surgeons, bariatric surgeons, orthopedic surgeons. And so a little bit of my day is basically dedicated to being my version of a surgeon to dermatologic surgeon, so I enjoy all of it. And and like I said, I feel like every year there's something new that comes out and something else that I have to learn. And so that's a part of my job, too, is just keeping up to date with what's happening in medicine.

Katie: 7:38

Nice. And how long have you been practicing?

Dr. Nazarian: 7:41

Well, a little shy of a decade formally, but actually I was involved in dermatology since I was about 19. I was working in dermatology offices working in the lab grossing slides, Gaussian slides, for people that don't know is when you do a biopsy, and you take that little specimen of tissue, like a mole or whatever else you're looking to examine. It actually has to be processed soy processing, Matt, where I grew up in, outside of Dallas, Texas, and then spent summers also working with dermatologists did a little bit of research into amount of pathology and dermatology. So really, I feel like I've been doing this since I was 19. Because I started that when I was 19. And I still have so much more to learn, which tells you a lot about what's going on in dermatology.

Amy: 8:20

Yeah, it seems like there's always something new every time you turn around. But you don't always know. You know if it's real or not, because there's just so much out there, right?

Dr. Nazarian: 8:28

There is so much out there. Once in a while I'll see an ad or I'll read something in a magazine or see something online. And it's about this like miracle product or this like miracle ingredient, you know, that I've like never heard of. And you have to check yourself a little bit. Because you think how can I how can I not? You know, maybe I do maybe I don't know, maybe I'm not keeping up with it well enough or fast enough. And so if you look in and I will tell you, you know, 99% of the time, it's an awful lot of marketing gimmicks and new hype and clickbait that's out there, which makes me feel so bad for the consumer. Because the uneducated consumer, yeah, frankly, the consumer that's trying to educate themselves can be misled so easily for marketing. And you could walk into a big box beauty store. And even as a dermatologist I go in and I'm kind of wooed by these products, because they're just packaged so beautifully. They promise so much. And I have to remind myself, we just can't look at the label and trust the science. This is not you know, this is not what they're saying it is. But God the urges so strong because they do such a good job of presenting it to the consumer. Yeah, absolutely.

Amy: 9:37

Yeah, we have so many questions about those sorts of things as we get into this.

Katie: 9:41

So let's start off right away then let's get right into it. It's summer. We're right in the middle of it. S P F, tell us why is it important but not only in the summer? I assume you have your patients use it year round. And what's what's the reason for that?

Dr. Nazarian: 9:59

Well, can you say Question. You know, people when they think of sunscreen, they think of just sun. And when they think of sun, they think of summer. And so they assume they don't have to work the rest of the year. The reason that that is really a dangerous way to go through a year is that even though you're not getting as much sun, this is or is not as warm, I should say, this is not a temperature issue, this is a radiation issue. And radiation is present to some degree year round. And when it comes to sun damage, and skin damage, it's cumulative. So even if you're getting a minute a day, or 30 seconds a day, at the end of the year, you're getting hours and hours of exposure to radiation. That is why people look at when they're at, it's because they have 80 years of sun. And so if you can only protect yourself half the year, you're frankly still getting enough radiation that it's going to add up at some point, but you're still leaving yourself vulnerable to free radical damage, maybe not a sunburn, but free radical damage and skin cancer the rest of the year. Also, you know, these days, when people are indoors, they sometimes neglect to put on their sunscreen. And that's also a bad way to go through life. Because although UV B is kind of what people usually think about when they think about protecting themselves from the sun, because that's what prevents the sunburn. UVA actually travels through light and glass. So if you're working in an office space that has windows, you're still getting radiation through. And if the idea of getting a skin cancer doesn't scare you enough, let me remind you UVA is actually what ages you. So that's what's going to give you those wrinkles and those sunspots and those large pores. So for a multitude of reasons, you really need to put that sunscreen as a part of your daily regimen just like brushing your teeth would be just like washing and moisturizing would be so multitask. Right? So rather than have to think about like 10 different things to put on. Just make sure your sunscreen your moisturizer or one or for me, your sunscreen, your moisturizer, your anti aging cream, orange one. And that way, you're always going to feel naked without it I am uncomfortable when I leave the house without protection. So don't think about it too much. Just kind of sneak it into your regimen that will make it easier even if you have a simple regimen. It's got to have SPF in there.

Katie: 12:12

What do you say to people that say, Well, it's a cloudy day, it's raining? I don't see the sun? Do I still need it?

Dr. Nazarian: 12:17

Everybody knows the story of somebody who was outdoors all day, and it wasn't Sunny, and they just didn't put on sunscreen. I mean, how many times have you heard that I heard all day long, right? And they got burned, they didn't realize they got burned. Radiation goes through clouds. So don't be fooled by the temperature or what it looks like just protect yourself. And also sun damage comes in different forms. People are looking for that burn. But some people actually have very low, like many people actually have low levels of sun allergy. So maybe they're not burning, but they just feel a little dry and itchy from the radiation emits radiation, right? So people get when they have breast cancer, it's radiation is the same thing. So you know, look for those subtle signs that you're not doing your skin any favors, that you're not doing a good enough job protecting your skin, it'll it'll remind you. So I think the more you now the more cautious you'll be our job is to educate people. But eventually, maybe we will use your first little wrinkle. That's usually when it starts when you start to notice your ports get a little big, maybe that's when it starts. But there's something that will motivate you, it tends to be more cosmetic than medical and that's fine. I'll use whatever motivation I can. But you will be motivated to put on your sunscreen daily, cloudy or not.

Amy: 13:28

Yeah, and I can relate to that big time because I got my first basil. So when I was like, young, like 30, or something I remember was like, a couple years after I got married, and I was freaking out and I've gotten like 10 Since I mean I've had them everywhere. So ever since my first basal cell, Game Changer sunscreen every day I sit in the shade. Katie knows I'm like a grandma, I will not be in the shade. And I will not be in the sun in the sun always a hat. I'm like, so paranoid about it. Because I've had so many. I don't know, from being fair being in the sun genetics. I mean, my dad is actually dark complected. But he's gotten a bunch of basal cells too. But yeah, so I'm super aware of it. But I feel like even though it's talked about so much still, most people are not thinking about it as much. And it's interesting that you say it's radiation, I never really think of it that way. Just think of it as like bright light and heat, but not the radiation part, which makes you feel like wow, I really need to put it on. So do you recommend putting on SPF before everything else or after because I never know.

Dr. Nazarian: 14:28

That's because it's different depending on what you're using. I think this is a part of the problem too is that there's different ways to protect yourself from the sun. And there's different ingredients and there's different vehicles that they come in meaning. So a vehicle would be like a cream versus a lotion versus a serum versus a spray versus an oil, right. There's just so many different forms of them, and that determines its place in your regimen. Most sunscreens would go on last like let's say you're gonna wash your face, you're gonna pat you know Pat dry, you're gonna moisture eyes, you would put on your sunscreen. And the only thing that would go on after that is maybe a little bit of makeup. That's how most of them work. But you know, there's powder form that you would also just do last even after you do makeup, you would want that to sit on top, the big classifications for sunscreen come in mineral or physical versus chemical write chemical needs to be absorbed into the skin. And it works by changing that radiation into a different form typically heat versus a physical or mineral which acts by shield, you know, it's basically a physical blockers where it gets its name from and reflects the radiation away from your face. They work in different ways. They are both wonderful. But also depending on which one of those you're using, it may change how you apply it. I say when in doubt, just, you know, put it on after your moisturizer and you should be just fine.

Katie: 15:51

Do you have a favorite sunscreen? Okay, that you Yeah, what's your what do you what's your go to?

Dr. Nazarian: 15:56

So for me, I change every few years, you know, I've evolved. So I had to do a starter sunscreen, as I call it, which is just like super lightweight and feels like absolutely nothing and disappears and don't even know you're wearing it. And that's how I started because as somebody who doesn't really wear makeup, I didn't like the feel of anything on my face. I hated it. And so that was Elta MD UV Clear which is like a cult favorite in the dermatology world. Okay, super easy, simpler. As I got older, it actually wasn't motivating enough. Even for me as a dermatologist to just have sunscreen. I just didn't feel like I wanted to put it on during the day. And so I switched to something that is made by a brand called revision. It's revision true physical. I love this. I love this for a number of reasons. One is because actually the base is an anti aging cream that always motivates me to put it on. It has a high SPF and it's a little bit tinted. So it goes on kind of like this beautiful sheer tent, it covers everything, I don't have to do anything else. I put on a vitamin Sam, I put on my sunscreen, I'm out the door, and it is everything in one, I'm like a mama of three, I don't have time to do anything. So it goes on about the door. I'm super, super happy. What I recommend for my patients, it really depends on what they want. I don't think patients realize that this the sunscreen game has evolved so much that there's really cosmetically elegant options out there for everything, whatever you want, you can tell me whatever you want, I will find you essentially that is curated for those issues, redness, dryness, anti aging, wrinkles, you know, discoloration, you want something lightweight, do you want something that has little dewy look, you want something matte, whatever you want, you tell me I know what's out there, I will, you know, point you into the right direction. And I will help you find something you are obsessed with it because that's my goal, I want you to be really motivated to do it. And if anti aging motivates you, which it generally does, this way, you know, for men, if super lightweight, and pretend it's not even they're motivated to let you go. So that's where I am now your physical. That's amazing.

Katie: 18:03

Yeah,

Amy: 18:03

I love that I'm gonna have to follow up with you to get some of those recommendations. And we'll put it in our social media feed for our listeners, because that's such a I never thought about it that way because there's certain ones that I like and certain ones Katie likes, but I never thought about it based on like, if you're dry or for this, you just kind of grabbed the one that feels the best. But it's actually interesting to think about I'm gonna have to check out.

Katie: 18:23

I didn't even know that was off good to know, had sunscreens for XYZ, you know, I just thought it was like one thing kind of across the board. So yeah, that is great to know. Tell us a little bit about Helio care and how does it fit into your daily skincare regimen.

Dr. Nazarian: 18:41

So Helio care is something that I caught on to many years ago. It is a supplement, it can turn it contains Fern extract. This is like a fern that comes out of Costa Rica. And it is really exclusively grown and processed by this company. It's actually patented with this firm block technology, right, and I'll tell you why that's important too. But the purpose of this is to make you really a little bit less sensitive to sunlight. So I used to give it to patients that would get like sun allergies in which a lot or had some sensitive conditions like lupus or melasma, which is discoloration you get in the sun. And it was just part of my treatment regimen. It's actually been around for a very long time published immensely in the medical journals. Most dermatologists know about it, but it also helps neutralize free radical damage because it's just filled with antioxidants, right? And so when you're thinking about your skin aging, that you always think about ultraviolet radiation, but this is completely flawed thinking because we know that your skin will age worse in a city environment than it would in a country environment right. Just due to other free radical damaging agents, whether it's pollution and smoking and all this other stuff like visible light all those things ages. It just colors our skin then it breaks down on collagen, it breaks down the elastin. And it just makes us look saggy and baggy and old with time. And so you actually need more than just sunscreen to protect your skin from aging. Right sunscreen protects us from sun. But like I said, there's so many other things that will cause oxidative stress and free radical damage. So I started taking Helio care for that purpose. I mean, I consider it something that kind of really helps my sunscreen in some way, but also protects me against all the other aspects of what I consider to be aging factors in the environment. And I mean, I just can't speak highly enough about it. You know, I just started working with this company this past year. And, you know, I still don't know why it's not like insanely popular. I don't know, I don't know what it is. You know, I've spoken to a lot of dermatologist about it. We're like, is it the packaging? I guess it's kind of boring. You know, I don't know what it is. But boy, my whole family is on it. My husband's on it. I have like, literally, this is my desk or sitting at the office. It's sitting right here, just in case I actually forget it before I leave the house. I have it here.

Amy: 21:07

Do you just take one a day,

Dr. Nazarian: 21:09

I mean, you actually can take to what I normally do is I'll take one and then if I plan on being out again during the day, like if I'm walking around on the weekends, I'll take another one about an hour later on vacation, I definitely will take two if I'm like, pulled someplace on and I get like forced to go to the beach, I'll always have it there. And then I just take one a day normally when we know before I come to the office, like when I'm dropping the kids off at school, there's like a little bit of a walk there as well. And so now it's just part of my daily routine.

Amy: 21:38

So the recommendation would be to use Helio care, and obviously your SPF. So it's like the internal and the external in a way. And with something like that help with basal cells, like would it be beneficial to take that if you're prone to getting basal cells like I am? Yeah,

Dr. Nazarian: 21:55

so that's a great question. I mean, the closest I can say is free radical damage can cause skin cancers. Here, the oak hair helps neutralize free radical damage. Does that make sense? So in my mind, yeah. Right. So in other words, right. I mean, not only can I not hurt, I do feel like it helps a lot. There's another version of Helio care actually, that contains a form of vitamin B called niacin amide. That actually, we have many studies in the medical literature that shows that does help prevent against skin cancers. And so if I have a patient that is prone and has many skin cancers in the past, or I think has a higher risk of building skin cancers, I'll actually recommend that for them. They have another version called Heliocare Ultra that has extra antioxidants in it, that's really, in some ways, I think of it more as like a anti aging booster supplement. If you think about supplements, though, it's really important to remember that it's not FDA regulated, right? This is not considered like a medication, it's considered an extract a supplement. And so any company can just like, say they're doing the same thing and get that plant and kind of grind it up. But you can't do that when it comes to your own health. So I don't like doing random knock offs, or whatever it is because I don't even know what part of the plant they're using. Right? Like the whole plant doesn't have the same level of actives. The leaves have the important part, that's really what protects it from the sun. And Costa Rica is what allows this plant to stay so viable in really difficult, arid, dry conditions sometimes, right, that's what makes it stay so healthy and strong. If you're gonna grind up the root and put it in a pill, not gonna do the same thing. So I'm really adamant with my patients that, you know, we don't experiment when it comes to extracts and supplements. I only want the stuff that's been studied, I only want the thing that's in the medical journal. So you know, that's that's Helio care. And you know, just one other thing you can do you eat healthy too, you want the right antioxidants in your diet, you want the right anti inflammatory things in your diet, you're going to know if you're treating your body poorly, and your skin is going to show if you're treating it really well and that means from the outside and also means from the inside.

Katie: 24:08

It's so true because I have definitely been not doing my best lately with my diet stress eating a little bit and I can see it I see it like all over my face. I see it in like the little dehydration wrinkles that sometimes I haven't sometimes I don't have and like you know, when your face is like inflamed or so I really can't see it in your face, and then you break out more. And all of that can be linked right back to everything you're consuming. Right?

Dr. Nazarian: 24:35

Absolutely. The skin shows everything. I mean, it really is just a reflection of what's happening on the inside, how you're feeling and how you're treating yourself. Whether you're sleeping, whether you have a good diet, whether you're getting enough water, whether you're giving it the right tools to defend itself, which is a huge part of it. I mean, if you're just going to go eat whenever you wanted and then go to sleep and you never brushed your teeth. Think about what happened. to your teeth, they would literally degrade with cavities, right? You would lose them. Your skin requires the same amount of self care and maintenance otherwise, if you're not giving it what it needs to protect itself, it falls apart. And you know that because when you look at beautiful skin, it looks so healthy, it like glows, doesn't it? And when you're looking at somebody who doesn't take care of themselves, you can see it in their face. There's nobody that doesn't take care of themselves that has this like gorgeous, you know, glowy skin. There's just some things you can't fake. Right? I love that.

Amy: 25:30

Yeah, I totally agree. And I'm so it's like, the older I get, the more I'm noticing people's skin and like obsessed with getting my skin to be clear and even. And that kind of moves on to the next thing we wanted to talk to you about is how to even out skin tone because there's all this talk about Retton on retinoids, and Trent Nolan and all this stuff. And can you break down for us like, what it is the difference is what we should and shouldn't do. I started experimenting with a retinoid but like I don't really know much about it. I just feel like there's so much information, it's hard to know what it is and what it's for and all of that if you could just give us the one on one on that we'd love it. This is the

Dr. Nazarian: 26:10

one of the simplest part of the anti aging regimen is the retinoid. Okay? So retinoids are vitamin A derivatives, that's all they are vitamin A derivatives. And we know that this class of vitamin A derivatives can stimulate collagen, and stimulate cell turnover and help give you fresh, healthy, new skin. So if you think about it, old skin is kind of like damaged skin, new skin is healthy and youthful looking. And so if you can get that cell to turnover faster, create new skin cells stimulate more collagen, replace the old tissue, it's going to look beautiful, and youthful and young, right? Full of bounce less wrinkles, smaller pores, smooth, even off the tone, because you're getting rid of the old skin cells. That's your retinoid. That's just a that is a just umbrella term for everything else that we're going to talk about right now. Got it, Retinol is an active form that you can get over the counter. So you'll find a lot of products at your local drugstore will contain retinol, which is also also a vitamin A derivative, we're still talking about the same class, but has to be converted to retinoic acid in the skin after it's been absorbed. So it's weaker, it takes longer to get to the active form. It's more gentle, right, it's not going to dry you as much. But you're also not going to see the improvement as quickly you will see improvement. It's not that is not going to work, it will work. But because it's inactive, and it's a couple steps away and that that sort of pathway. It's just you know, it's not as dramatic sometimes, that's all Trent know in which you also mentioned, Trent Nolan is actually a prescription retinoid that is closer to the active form. So when you put that on your scan, you actually start to see the improvement sooner, it's a little bit more dramatic, it is closer to the form that actually does something it's a little bit farther down the pathway. The downside to that, of course is that retinoids have an adjustment period where your skin has to get used to them because they're getting the cells to turnover faster and they're doing what they need to do they shut down the oil glands a little bit. And so if you are too aggressive with your retinoid use, your skin's gonna feel a little bit dry, it might even freak out a little bit get red, you could flare an underlying condition like Rosae show if you use it, you know too much too fast. But if used properly, tiny little bit to the whole face couple times a week, maybe mix it with moisturizer, you know ease in like dip your toe in a little bit with the retinol even if it's treading on your skin actually will often adapt beautifully and with time will get used to it and then with time will show its benefit. So, you know, there's really no downside to being on a retinoid you know, we don't really recommend them or prescribe them if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. Although I will tell you the caveat to that if you're really up to date on your literature. Actually, there is a third generation retinoid that is safe in pregnancy and breastfeeding. So I do recommend that and I certainly did that for myself for all three of my babies. So you know, we grow and we evolve and there's something for everyone. But I do think on some level, a retinoid should be somewhere in your regimen there is just literally no reason for it not to be and just like you were saying about sunscreens how to pick the right sunscreen. I can do the same thing with a retinoid you can tell me what your skin issues are in the sense of like, do I have rotation? Do I have eczema? Do I have dry skin I try to write and I freaked out once, whatever. And I will give you the right retinoid to use that will be tolerable. I really have yet to find someone that hasn't been able to tolerate at least one of the retinoids that I recommend.

Amy: 29:54

Yeah, we're definitely gonna follow up with you on that too because so it sounds like you should do Some sort of retinoid, it's a pm treatment, right? You do it at night correct. And then someone would do either a retinol or retinol and they wouldn't do both because essentially, it's the same thing. One's just stronger than the other. Exactly.

Dr. Nazarian: 30:14

So there's no need to do both. You can start retinol if you really want to use it and get used to that and then move on to a prescription strength retinoid like Trent No. And if you want or, you know, actually now they have a prescription strength, retinoid over the counter even right because adapalene is in like proactive MD It's like used to be prescription now it's over the counter. So it's there. But you could ease into it slowly see how your skin does make sure that you don't have an issue don't get too dry. But yes, so what you would do really, if you want to have like this perfect skincare regimen is you start your morning by washing your face, very gently, having dry, and then what you would do is you would put on a vitamin serum of sorts, which would be your antioxidant, right? That's neutralize free radicals damage topically, put on your sunscreen, I take my Heliocare and then in the evening, you wash your face, you pat dry, you put on your retinoid of choice, and maybe a couple other things that hopefully all come in one. One products, you're not putting on 15 different products like the Koreans do, we're American, we want like the multitasker, right, like one or two. And thankfully, we have those products that do everything we want in one. So I put on another product that has you know, antioxidants and peptides and both factors and all these other things that we also no helps with anti aging. I mean, anti aging, to me is kind of the dumbest term ever. Because what does that even mean? Doesn't mean anything when the anti aging was aging mean, right? When you're talking about skin, it's actually broken down on many different levels, right, it's your skin is drying out more, you have discoloration, you have some redness, maybe some browns, you're losing collagen, you know, you've lost elasticity there, like actual pathways that have been taking place in your skin that when you put it all together makes you look old. So when you're anti aging, this is not just like one thing that you're trying to fix, you're trying to fix all those different parts of the skin. This is an organ that have all now shifted as you've gotten older and are reacting to the stressors from the environment. So you want things that help you maintain moisture and hold on to moisture and help stimulate collagen and elastin and help remove the pigment and help smooth the skin and, and there really is no magic bullet for that as close as retinoids come. They don't do everything right. So you really want to make sure you're addressing different aspects of the anti aging picture as we put it.

Amy: 32:39

Yeah, I wish I knew about retinoids earlier I really I like learned about it, I guess over the last six months or so. And I started using this brand called the ordinary you know that brand. And I can't remember how much it is the Sochi point. 5% Yeah, it's super cheap. And it's I heard it was good. But I didn't know there's all these different percentages. And I was just like, I'll just get this one because it seems like a lower percentage. Is it? Is there a cap that like an over the counter versus prescription? How do you know what concentration? Or what percent reality

Dr. Nazarian: 33:15

is, is even forgot even the over the counter, even in the prescription world? Honest to goodness, it doesn't really matter. I mean, the dirty secret with a lot of the stuff is that most of the time the patent is running out on a brand. And they need something else to patent. Right. And so then they go from like, you know, whatever it is point oh, five 2.06. Okay. Does it really, really, really matter? No, of course, it doesn't matter. It doesn't make a huge difference. No, it's literally the same thing. But they have to kind of create these new, proprietary patented percentages in order to stay branded, you know, in order to justify whatever price for something that is exclusive. Right. And so that's where you see all these different numbers popping out in medicine, and even frankly, over the counter. It doesn't really make a difference to me. It's over the counter. And then it's prescription. And I have patients that come in and they said oh, I've been doing like the you know, the point oh, five now for a year. Can I go to the point one, you know, and I'm thinking of, you know, it's like not even worth the argument anymore. Like but to me, it's more like the Joe was a little bit stronger than the cream, like that kind of stuff. Alright, fine, a little bit more no better absorption, or certain classes of retinoids first generation second third,

Amy: 34:36

you know, sometimes work a little bit differently. Yeah, mine's like a serum. Right? That

Dr. Nazarian: 34:39

tends to be So yours is over the counter. Right? This is the ordinary over the comfortable. Yeah, it's like a drop and like serum, they tend to be a little bit more potent. Don't even worry about the percentage. I think it's gonna be really gentle. I love the ordinary. Mostly because you said oh, it's low or something. That's it. Oh, yeah, it's cheap, right. That was like I wasn't even thinking of the percentage I was thinking of the price. Because that's actually the thing I love the most about this company. They make good products. But also they're just, they're just so reasonably priced and like rationally price like there are some things that are worth shelling out for. I shell out for them. There's some things that are expensive, and they're just expired, but they're worth every penny. But then there's some things that are, like expensive, and they're supposed to be cheap. And like, why aren't they cheap, they should be so cheap for people. And these companies just like inflate the price. So I like the ordinary, I've been impressed with their stuff, I'm happy and I'm super happy with their price point because that means everyone should be able, hopefully, to do something like that, or add it to their regimen.

Amy: 35:34

So you could start doing retinoids as young as you want, like theirs is What's the age people should start age

Dr. Nazarian: 35:40

does a lot of people aren't retinoid, really, really young for acne, right? Because we use it to treat acne too. You can even put them on babies. I mean, you know, you could do it for whatever age you want. Now, from an anti aging standpoint, I find if you're old enough to ask about it, you're old enough to use it. Right? You know, I think I'm not I'm not so negotiable with the sunscreen, I think that everyone should be wearing sunscreen, you know, six months older, if you're going to be outdoors, throw a little something on. But I think we've retinoids I don't think 20 is too young. I think you got to preserve what you have, you know, it's a lot harder to repair your skin a lot harder to repair your skin, it is a heck of a lot easier to preserve what you have. Plus it always looks better when you've preserved what you've gotten naturally than trying to recreate the way you were which can't be done. It's just expensive and exhausting, you know, but

Amy: 36:30

Right. It's like, I wish I wish I knew about all the skin stuff that I know now when I was in my 20s like the only thing I was doing them like eye cream. But other than that, that's probably sunscreen here and there. And I think

Katie: 36:41

about a yawn, every single wrinkle on your face. Yeah, it's good to know that you can get these retinas for good price, I definitely overpaid on my serum that I've been using. I'm gonna go find the ordinary,

Dr. Nazarian: 36:55

sometimes honest to god, I have patients that come in and they're using like, la mayor or whatever other like major expensive, you know, skincare company product. And I don't even pull it, pull it away from it. I don't take their toys away, because I do in all tell them. It's really expensive. They don't have to use that we there are other things. And they'll say something Oh, but I like it. And I think you know what? Okay, I like that you're taking care of yourself. And I liked that they have this ritual, and they they're investing in their skin, maybe they're paying too much, but it makes them feel so good. And I think that's ultimately what you're paying for to it's not that they don't work these products, they've, some of them have good ingredients in them for sure. And I think once they've been educated to at least know that they don't have to if they don't want to, but they just like that product. They like seeing that product. They like seeing that label. You know that psychological effect. I'm okay, actually, frankly, I'm okay with that, too. I have people that pay an awful lot for super crazy expensive sunscreen. You know what, if you're gonna put it on every day, you know, we say the best sunscreen is the one you actually wear. So if you love the way it smells, and feels and looks, and you pay 200 bucks for it, and there are sunscreens that cost 200 bucks. Okay, all right with it. As long as they know.

Katie: 38:04

I've definitely had a little bit of a journey with the retinoids and everything that my doctor put me on, how do you say to know in a year ago, because I was having all of this crazy adult acne all the sudden I hadn't had acne since I was a teenager, and then it came on. And then that was too strong. For me it was I think it was like a rosacea situation like a lot of really dry patchiness. So then I've downgraded to the serum. And that's still it. I mean, you have to kind of play play with what works for your skin, don't you think? I mean, I was doing it every night. And I realized that's too much then I did a couple nights a week now I'm doing I do it one night a week. And it seems to not like overdrive me out. But do you think it's fair to say that people if you don't have a dermatologist that's directly telling you how to use it to just kind of like ease yourself in, play around with how many nights how often you should be using it?

Dr. Nazarian: 38:52

I do I think that's totally fine. I think what happened to you is really classic. People will have this underlying rosacea they're not aware of and they're treating their acne and they'll get started on the retinoid and it will flare their rosacea very, very badly, which is super distressing, especially when you came in you already upset about a couple pimples, and then to have a rosacea flare, it can be kind of devastating. Whether you're younger or older. I don't think it matters at that point. So yes, I think you know, if you don't have a dermatologist telling you how to do it, you always start just slow and low. It's not a race, it may feel like you're trying to make up for lost time, but it's not a race. And even if you can only use it once or twice a week. Great and fine with it. You know there are little tricks that you can use to try and make your skin a little more. You know, tolerable tolerable, I guess or you make the retinol a little more tolerable for your skin and that makes your skin as dry when you apply it applying it to wet skin increases absorption. Put on a moisturizer before you put on your retinoid whether it's a retinol or tretinoin mix it diluted down you know and then like I said afford once or twice a week at most. And those things will help you they will. But again, if you're not sure where to look, and you've tried everything, I promise you, there's some retinoids that have been compounded with hyaluronic acid that make it anti inflammatory and hydrating. There are some that are compounded with a whole slew of anti inflammatory antioxidants, which offset the irritation profile. So this is not a new field or new problem. And you better believe that companies have already been on this and looking for a solution for years now. So there's plenty of options out there even for sensitive skin. If you want to get started on a retinoid. That's great.

Katie: 40:37

That's great information

Amy: 40:38

you were mentioning, I want to go back when you were talking about the regimen like in the morning, and you were saying you put on a vitamin serum, what kind of vitamin like a C or what what do you suggest. So

Dr. Nazarian: 40:48

C is the most popular one, the one that I use actually has like a bunch of different types in there, including C and E. So I use this brand called skin better science, there's like a lot of studies on it, you know, we have to we trust the science and medicine always. So as much as you want to like go with a product that says like 70% of people thought they look brighter. You can't this is not the way it works in medicine, it has to be studies and clinical trials, and we need to be able to see what it's actually doing black and white. So most of the most actually, all of the products that I use fall into that category, you know, like science backed. So I use a pump of that in the morning, and it's just chock full of antioxidants, including C and E, the primary ones if we're going to try to keep it simple, and that will basically just try to neutralize free radical garbage they come in contact with during the day live in Manhattan, you know how it is. And also I'm in front of a screen with a laptop or a TV or a phone. You know, we know now that like visible light will actually impact the way your skin looks to by creating more pigment triggering melasma causing aging. Suicide not to scare anyone but so you know, I kind of put that on to think of it as like an invisible shield underneath my sunscreen.

Amy: 42:01

Do you do moisturizer than after the sunscreen? Or you do more?

Dr. Nazarian: 42:04

I actually don't? I don't moisturize because my sunscreen is. Like I said multitasking. You know, so it's it's a moisturizing anti aging tend to sunscreen. And

Amy: 42:16

yeah, the one you told at the end, okay.

Dr. Nazarian: 42:18

So there's a lot there's a lot to this, right. So it's like tinted. So if you're gonna block block visible light, right, which I just told you about how it damaged, right. So if you want to block visible light, you can only block it with something tinted, you cannot block visible light with something invisible. So as of now we have not come up with you know, we've not invented a way to block visible light with just regular invisible sunscreens that like melt into your skin. So really has to be something tinted that does that. So this covers all my bases. Plus it's a physical block or a mineral one, which, you know, it's kind of like less likely to irritate which I, which I like if your skin is a little bit sensitive. But yeah, so it's really like the way I'm deciding what to use is actually very, very well thought out for many, many reasons, even though we kind of make it sound really simple to our patients sometimes. And believe it or not, this isn't even the only sunscreen on the market that does this stuff. Like there's a lot of other options that kind of do the same thing that are tinted, that are higher SPF, their anti aging during westernizing. But one may feel a little different, one may smell a little different. So you get to kind of try and see what you like. But

Amy: 43:27

I feel like there's also conflicting information on a moisturizer with an SPF versus just a separate SPF, because you hear people say, no, just use a moisturizer and then use a separate SPF. And then some people say to combine it. So it's like you never know but I'm going to listen to what you're talking about. But it's like it's there's just so much information out there that for people I'm glad we're talking to you. Because I always was like, Oh, I don't want to get one of those mixes because I don't know if it's as works as well as if you just put regular

Dr. Nazarian: 43:59

does, you just have to make sure you're applying the right amount, right? Like it's the same thing with like your sunscreen and your makeup. That is I don't mind it. But if you're not applying enough to get the SPF on the label, which is like you know, two milligrams per centimeter squared of skin or as we like to say it now just like the two finger length rule, you kind of have to put two strips on your fingers and then use that to rub into your face and neck. And if you're not using that much of whatever you're putting on, you're not going to get the SPF that's label on the bottle and you're going to be selling yourself a little bit short. So for situations like that, if you know you're putting on enough which you should be for the stuff that feels like moisturizer, it's gonna go on like moisturizer, you're gonna be fine. There's no need for anything else. Amy is that yeah,

Katie: 44:44

that's a really good

Dr. Nazarian: 44:45

tip to finger length with two finger links about I should say. So you kind of put the strip on your two fingers here. This is for face and neck right this is for both your face and neck if you're going to be going out with Want to remember that kind of not to neglect this area under the chin, and you rub it, you'd be actually surprised at how well it goes in Rub, rub, rub, rub rub on the neck. That's it.

Katie: 45:10

Nice. That's great. I've definitely

Amy: 45:16

felt like I have either, like using a piece is good to know.

Dr. Nazarian: 45:20

I mean, it's another reason not to use low SPF right you lose, you use a low SPF and you don't play enough, you're getting even less than the SPF, you thought you were right, you're using an SPF 15 And you're applying it just weekly and lightly. What are you getting like an SPF five. But if you use a higher SPF, you know, so keep those things in mind for you.

Amy: 45:40

So what's the minimum SPF you should use like 40 or

Dr. Nazarian: 45:44

I think what you were saying before is like you don't know who to listen to there's like, the other thing that always occurs to me when people say things like this is that there's just an awful lot of people talking right now. And I think a lot of people truly feel like they have the podium and the right to speak and they know about skin but they actually don't know anything about skin. You know, these like skin experts never even studied skin. They just it's all you know, anecdotal evidence that they've tried and use and want to share their experience, but then present themselves as actual experts and it really confuses the consumer because there's so much noise because everyone wants a seat at the table. But at the end of the day honest to god just trust the physicians please just trust the physician. You know, you know, we spent like, absolutely studying this stuff. I mean, it's it's easy to think you know what's going on because you can see the skin and so everyone feels like they have this personal experience with their skin that they want to share. But there is so much going on underneath the surface. You know, it's an organ like anything else. It has its own unique immune system. It has its like what to me one of the most fascinating things in the body skin

Amy: 46:59

we hope you enjoyed part one of Dr. Nazarian this episode we found it to be very insightful. Stay tuned for part two next week where she goes through all things, dark circles under your eyes, fillers, eye surgery, body sculpting and a game changing injectable for cellulite. So stay tuned for part two next week. Bye for now. Thanks for listening to Nirvana sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes please subscribe and leave us a review. also find us on Instagram at Nirvana sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana sisters will continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 15 - Become Your Own Beauty Shaman With Shelly Marshall, Founder Of BeautyShamans Skincare (Full Transcript)

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.

Episode 13 - The Unsexy Side Of Self-Care (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 13 The Unsexy Side Of Self-Care.

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 form of 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: 0:37

Welcome to Nirvana sisters this week, we have a fun episode. It's a little different than usual. We are calling this our Roundup, we decided to pull our listeners on Instagram and ask them some funny questions and get their feedback. This week we're gonna discuss all things unsexy. The unsexy side of self care? What are those silly crazy like wellness tools or hacks or things that you do when no one's looking to keep it together? And we got some really, really funny answers from our listeners. So we're excited. So yeah, why don't we start off with our nirvana of the week? Amy, what's going on?

Amy: 1:15

Katie? Yeah, I'm really excited for this episode. Katie and I have been talking about it for a while. And we also wanted to make sure that in this in our show, we're not just talking about all the beauty things and all the things you can do for your body that makes you feel that there is a site of self care, that's not so cute. And we want to talk about it. Because this shows all about being real, and talking to each other how we would talk normally. So there are things that you do that you don't maybe necessarily share with your husband or something like that, but you do share it with your girlfriends. So anyway, I'm excited to get into this show. But my nirvana of the week was getting my hair cut. My niece came to visit and I always take her to get her hair done. It's our special little bonds. And we always go every time she's here, and we get our hair done. And we get this relaxing treatment on her. It's called to Nino I talked about an episode earlier and gets the frizz out and she lives in Florida. So it's a really good thing for her hair. And she loves doing it. So we did that together. And it was really fun to spend time together. So really, actually, my Nirvana was setting time with Zoey my niece but in the process of that, I got my hair cut about four inches, which for me is a big deal because I've always had my hair long and it's still long, but now it's like a little bit below my collarbone. And I love it. It feels so fresh and so healthy. And I'm glad I did it and just went for it and didn't get scared about cutting my hair. And now I'm like I should have done this so long ago because I love it. And it's so much easier to deal with.

Katie: 2:38

Yeah, and it looks great on you. I think mine are one of the week is probably actually having your parents here. We I just had my inlaws here Aiden Allen, they were here all last week, they just left on Sunday. And they haven't been here a year because the pandemic it was really great to have them here. I feel bad because I was little under the weather while they were here. But they were so sweet about it. And we still made the best of it. And it was just great to see them and great to see Adam, my husband with his parents and getting that special time and the kids with their grandparents. It was just so good to be, you know, a little bit of a Fuller House with more family around.

Amy: 3:15

Oh, I love that. That's so good. Yeah, that's what's most important. Yeah. Okay, so into the unsexy side of self care. So Katie, and I haven't shared our answers. We got different answers through Instagram, as well as our friends through texts and things like that. So we're just going to share them with each other and and talk about it. So why don't you go first, Katie,

Katie: 3:38

I want to start with I will give one admittedly that I do. Do you want to get one admittedly that you do? And then the rest that we got as answers were keeping anonymous? I mean, we told her or listeners that we

Amy: 3:51

weren't sure. Why don't you go first? Okay.

Katie: 3:56

I mean, I was like, I'm sure I probably have a few more than maybe I'm willing to admit, but I have to one. I'm sure we all do it. I have to wear the dreaded mouth guard at night. And that thing is just you know, it's like so unattractive and not cute and it's not a big deal. Adams pretty cool about it for the most part until it's like sexy time and like excuse to take out my mouth guard. So that's a little, you know, that's one and then the other one. And this is a really good hack. I get dry patches on my skin and they get red and irritated. It happens from time to time and I naturally think like, Okay, I need more of my good face cream. So I go to put it on and it burns it and in flames and it makes it worse. So I found out that if I slather that kid's aquifer all over my face, that is like the only thing that's healing and it makes me feel good, but I walk around looking like an absolute oil slick. It's so gross. It's very unattractive. I mean, I

Amy: 4:57

keep it on all night or I keep it during the day.

Katie: 5:00

I wear all day and all night. I mean, I'll let you know before I go to bed or wash my face and put it back on. But I can literally walk around with a paper towel and just like block my face occasionally, like I'm blocking the top of an oily pizza. So funny, but it works.

Amy: 5:12

Well I it's so funny because I use Aquaphor on my lips every single night. And I always when my kids have cuts on their face or anywhere on their body, I always put Aquaphor on it, you know, the movie might greet my wedding, Greek wedding with the Windex, you know, the father uses windex for anything. I literally use Aquaphor for everything. And so my kids always make fun of me because I'm like I have a cup put up before on it like it is kind of my ride or die. So that's so funny. I've never actually put it on my face. Sometimes I put it up my nose, which would be very unsexy, just because my nose gets dry, and I'll put it up there. But I haven't actually tried it on my face. So that's, uh, I'm going to try that.

Katie: 5:48

You know, it's funny that you say that because your mom is the exact same way with Aqua for she like every time they came up with something, she was like, give us walk before.

Amy: 5:56

I think she must have gotten that for me. I mean, it's out of control the amount of Aquaphor we use in our house. So it's funny because I was gonna say that night guard thing too, because I've been wearing that for years. And it's the worst, but I actually stopped wearing it recently because it was I don't know, I had some sort of reaction. I don't know if I told you this, I had some sort of reaction to it. Or like every time I wore it, I would get these cuts and sores inside my mouth. It's almost like not an allergy, but some sort of reaction to it. I don't I don't know, I maybe I just need a new one. So I stopped wearing it. And by the way, I'm sleeping so much better because I was finding that I just wasn't sleeping well with it. It was just bothering me and I don't know. So I stopped wearing it, which is not good because I have like jaw tension every day because of it, but I do sleep better. So I probably have to get a new night guard. But I would say mine would be so I have the saline rinse that I use every morning for you know, sinuses and dry nose and it's I got the brand it's a purple and white bottle. It's called I can't remember the brands but you put it up one side of your nose and then it comes out the other side. It's not a neti pot though. It's kind of like an easier way to do a neti pot. So it goes in one side and out the other and then you do the other side. Honestly, it is the best thing ever because it clears out your whole passages. So you feel like you can breathe in the morning and it like rinses out all the like dryness and sinuses. So yeah, it's not cute, but

Katie: 7:14

I feel like it keeps you healthy too. Right like flushing out your sinuses. Yeah, I mean, it's all

Amy: 7:18

natural. You can do it as much as you want. But I usually do it in the morning and sometimes at night, but I can breathe 100% better with it. It's a game changer. It's so good.

Katie: 7:26

That's a good one. Yeah,

Amy: 7:27

it's a saline rents.

Katie: 7:29

You know, it's funny as we're as we're sharing like these, our listeners are going to get some some good tips and some good hacks on this stuff. I mean, any brand of anything that we can think of like it will shine. We'll share that on Insta.

Amy: 7:39

Yeah, well, we definitely well, yeah. Okay, so let's get into some of these funny, anonymous self care unsexy side of self care things that people gave us. Why don't you share like a few and then we'll kind of go back and forth. Okay, well, I'm dying to hear yours because I know you said you had some really funny ones.

Katie: 7:55

Speaking of awkward for Up the nose. That's actually a girlfriend said to me that she does it to keep germs out of her nose when she's flying. She puts like a giant glob of aquifer up each nostril when she's traveling. And she swears by it and she's she's like it doesn't look you thank God that for masks right now because it kind of hides. Yeah, but it keeps her from I guess inhaling germs and since she's been doing it she hasn't gotten sick after she traveled. And she's been doing it for years, not just since the pandemic so the other half an aquifer Yep. Aquifer before I before that. Another one was instead of getting she was paying a lot of money for eyebrow tinting. And instead of paying for that she now like someone told her to try chapstick on her eyebrows. I guess like the maybe the I don't know, the actual chapstick kind of like looks like it fills it in a little bit. I need to try it because my eyebrows are always sparse. Try

Amy: 8:50

that. So that funny my eyebrows speaking of eyebrows have grown out from the pandemic I haven't been I usually get them threaded, and I haven't done it. And now they're so long and I actually liked them better. Because usually when you get them like waxed or threaded like they get really short and they've grown out so now maybe I could try the chapstick trick

Katie: 9:06

and you know what? It's like, I also feel like fuller like grown on eyebrows is really on trend right now.

Amy: 9:12

Yeah, I was just here. I was just listening to a podcast about I think it's called soap, eyebrows or something like that where there's some method where you can dip or brush an eyebrow brush into soap have your hair stick straight up, but there's a product actually by Anastasia, that it's like a wax that you put on your eyebrows. That's supposed to be an easier way to do this soap eyebrows look but I bet you chapstick is the same thing. Yeah, it's just the idea of like a waxy so it keeps your eyebrows up and looking fuller. Yeah, so

Katie: 9:41

not feeling like that. Alright, I have more but you give me a couple of No. Okay, so

Amy: 9:47

lots of feedback from anonymous sources. So someone said does trimming my nose hairs work? And I said yes, of course. So there are definitely people doing that. Another notch and this one was shaving my face, which I've definitely heard of before. I heard that there's these like razors that are really good for getting those little peach hairs off your face. I've never tried it, but I know people swear by it.

Katie: 10:13

Yeah, I we had one feedback where she has to shave her upper lip almost every single day. And I mean, women have facial hair, and sometimes some women. It's darker than others. Yeah, yeah. I feel like it's probably really fast and effective to do it every day. But I actually noticed when I have, you know, that eyebrow trimmer that we reviewed a while back that you told me about that like shaves your eyebrows.

Amy: 10:38

Well, yeah, it shaves the ones that come in the ones

Katie: 10:41

below. So when I do that I grow back and darker so I had to stop using it because I feel like it couldn't get super close. So I think if you shave your upper lip, maybe that's why you have to do it more often because it maybe grows back in darker or something. So that I

Amy: 10:56

thought I read mine. So of course I haven't done that in a long time. But yeah, mine's blonde blonde so you can't really see it. Okay, that's a good one. So the other one I got in this realm was plucking chin hairs.

Katie: 11:09

That's a good one is speaking of chin. I have one where they're using a contraption to give themselves a neck and a chin left.

Amy: 11:21

What was apically about that

Katie: 11:23

there was a picture of it where it was like literally like her chin was in a hammock and it was wrapped all around her head or something banana it is like lifted up and she's walking around the house like that for like two hours.

Amy: 11:39

I thought you meant like a washer or something. So

Katie: 11:41

no, it's like a it's an actual device that literally is like holding up your neck and your chin and you wear it for hours and it's supposed to help lift it all up and get yeah give you a gender and and then all she said she's only tried it a couple of times.

Amy: 11:58

Wow, that's intense. I've never heard of that. And that's really funny. Yeah.

Katie: 12:02

Oh, back to the shaving someone is saying shaving everything every day. And I so get that. I mean I fortunately like for the most part have blonde hair on my legs, but it comes in fast. So

Amy: 12:15

yeah, same but I don't shave every day to mature

Katie: 12:18

and I know plenty of people that have done like, arm waxing and like laser hair removal. That's not cute. And you know what else isn't cute that no one really talks about? Is bikini waxing like I have. I've never been comfortable enough to go and do it. But I know a lot of people do it but talk about unsexy wax. No, I just saw myself grim.

Amy: 12:42

Oh my gosh. Oh, I hate getting a bikini wax. But I do it because I just don't I mean, I haven't gotten one in a while because the pandemic but I need to go desperately. And yeah, it's not it's very, it's especially if you've not, I mean, I've been doing it for years. So I don't think about it anymore. And these women who do it are like pros. It's not like a big deal. Right? But especially if you get a Brazilian which is like basically everything off. It's like they are all up in there. But I mean, it's great afterwards because you're like free wax. I can't believe you're in a bikini wax. I've never known this fun fact about

Katie: 13:19

I've never done it. I don't know why I'm like too embarrassed or something. It's really like,

Amy: 13:23

yeah, it's it's it hurts. I mean, my biggest thing is not even the embarrassment. It's more it is so freakin painful. I've never been able to do it where it's not painful. It's just I've really sensitive skin. So it's like, torture for me. But the woman told me that if you go more often it doesn't hurt as much but I like dread it so I put it off because I don't want to do it. So now when I go in I like do yoga breathing literally the whole time. But you know, no pain, no gain,

Katie: 13:51

right? That's so true.

Amy: 13:53

Do you have Okay, so the ranking of face and hair staff so someone said, pop my pop my back blackheads. I don't know if this person does that, or has someone else do that for them? Potentially her husband but that's, that's a good one. And this one I thought was actually really good. Someone said they narrow their arm hair. So talk about like, instead of lasering they put Nair that's on their arm hair, which I was like, Oh, that's such a good idea. I like I haven't used narrow since I was a teenager.

Katie: 14:22

It seems like it would be super painful though. Right? Speaking of being paint. I mean,

Amy: 14:27

Because narrow is just it's like a cream isn't it's just a cream you put on and then wipe off.

Katie: 14:32

Oh, I don't Oh, I thought it was a narrow wax. Oh, okay.

Amy: 14:35

Oh, I'm thinking I mean, I'm assuming that's what she meant. I mean, was just a comment, but I think you just literally put it on your arm and wait. And then and then it just didn't wash off or tissue. Yeah, it's almost like you could probably use it for your upper lip for things in your face, too. If that's what I'm thinking of that kind of snare. That's good. I didn't even know it was still around. So I'm trying to think if I have any more hair ones I think, Oh, here's a funny kind of heroine says someone wrote in. What about sitting on my back deck in the sun and tweezing my ingrown hairs from the back of my knee.

Katie: 15:15

That's a good

Amy: 15:17

how hysterical is that?

Katie: 15:19

Oh man ingrown hairs on the back of her knees. That sounds painful.

Amy: 15:24

Painful. I don't get those. But that sounds awful. Yeah,

Katie: 15:27

it does.

Amy: 15:30

And then I also have laser. So someone wrote in laser hair removal on my armpits, bikini area and upper lips. So apparently people are doing that. Oh,

Katie: 15:41

here's another good one. Speaking of armpits, Botox injections in your armpits to stop sweating so much. Some people that are like hyper sweaty, get a little Botox put in there. That's a good one.

Amy: 15:54

I have heard of that randomly. I was listening to CES years ago because it was the first person I heard say this Sebastian manis Galco, the comedian. He was on a talk show. I can't even remember what it was. Maybe he was talking to Howard Stern or something like that. And he was talking about that he used to go on stage and he was sweating so much. You could see his armpit sweat and his T shirts. And he was so paranoid about it. So someone had recommended to do Botox. So he's been doing that. So you can see him sweating on stage. And I was like, Oh my God, that's so genius. I never thought of that. Yep.

Katie: 16:26

And it works. I've never done it. But I know people that have. Yeah,

Amy: 16:29

interesting. That's a good one. Let me see what else I have. So couple people wrote in blue light glasses and readers smart. Someone wrote in sweating overnight, which we can all relate. Oh, yeah. I get major night sweats. And someone said seven said, sweating overnight and then showing my husband in the morning. How sweaty The sheets are. To do that. Yeah, but I do sweat during certain times of the month and it's not

Katie: 17:00

the worst. And I hate that. I have a couple two that are pretty funny. I mean, one is the classic using Hemorrhoid Cream to help with puffy eyes. Have you ever tried it?

Amy: 17:10

I haven't. And I'd love to know if it works. I feel like it

Katie: 17:13

works. It doesn't work as well as walking into Sephora and buying a great bottle of eye cream. But I have done it and it has helped a little bit it kind of stings. I feel like it's like a peppermint tea and thick like you have to just put like a little teeny tiny bit on there. And then this is a really funny one. So she has asthma. And when she sleeps, she drools a lot and apparently your saliva can cause all these cracks and things and your lips like in between, like in the corners of your mouth. So her doctor told her at night before she goes to bed to put on DESA 10 Baby butt cream on like on her mouth. Like literally all around her mouth like chapstick in the quarters. And she said she just I mean I don't know Do you ingest lip gloss? I mean, I guess maybe a little bit, but she said it works like a charm. She hasn't had any cracks in her lips. So she's been using butt cream on her mouth

Amy: 18:17

so far, but okay, that is I've never heard that one. You know what, maybe

Katie: 18:21

we should tell her about aquifer.

Amy: 18:23

Well, you know what? The buck cream works better. So I remember using that when my kids were little so I bet you that's stronger. Yep. Which is probably way set it someone wrote in. Let me look let me pull this one up. They said I use CBD balm on my legs and hands every night and my dog runs when he smells it so that's a good one. I have CBD and I use it sometimes on my temples when I have a headache which I love or all my jawline if there's tension I've never tried it on my legs and hands and that probably is relaxing. I would imagine but it probably is pretty smelly.

Katie: 18:53

I have I had a roller a CBD roller but it wasn't that bad. It smelled like it smelled like mint and I just like my lower back and my legs and everything but like talk about kind of being a little greasy. It can do that but it does help.

Amy: 19:06

Yeah, no, that's that's a good one I that maybe the smell just doesn't appeal to doggies.

Katie: 19:11

You know, another one that I do that I have had to do it for as long as I can remember and it's because of my thyroid when you have hypothyroid you have really dry feet. It's so gross. But like you have to get if you don't get a pedicure every single week you can get really really dry calici feet. Love admitting that on the air. So yes. So every night before I go to bed, I'm like slathering foot lotion on. I mean, I have been doing it forever. And it's so funny. I actually remember it was my you were there. It was my wedding shower that my friend Margaret put on and one of the games was asking all these questions and it was like what what does he do right before he goes to bed? What does she do right before she goes to bed and then you have to guess what the other one does? And I said I put foot lotion on On at bedtime, and I heard one of the girls that was kind of a friend but more of an acquaintance that was there go. Ill

Amy: 20:09

remember that. So

Katie: 20:11

I guess it's probably not the sexiest thing. I mean,

Amy: 20:14

I know that. I've done that before. You know what I've also done. I've put on lotion when my feet feel dry. And then I put on like a thick sock. That's

Katie: 20:22

good. Yeah. Yeah, I've done that in the winter. It's like a paraffin treatment almost.

Amy: 20:26

Yeah, exactly. A lot of people wrote in and talked about hair removal. Like someone said, hair removal all that. Yep. We don't like hair, I guess.

Katie: 20:34

Yeah. And you know what? Neither do boys boys are removing their hair all the time. The gay ones and the straight ones.

Amy: 20:41

Yep, that is true. Okay, I have a couple that are hilarious and so gross. And I can say them now. Or I can say them at the ends. You tell me if you have any more?

Katie: 20:53

No, I think I go for it. Let's hear him. Okay,

Amy: 20:57

so here are two ones that when I saw these, I was literally freaked out. And I couldn't. Okay, so one person said, taking a peek at my poop. When? When I know it was a good one. Makes me feel extra good. literally dying. laughs

Katie: 21:17

I've done that. Absolutely. That's so funny. I love that somebody wrote that. Thank you for that one.

Amy: 21:24

So that is hilarious. And then the last one I'll say which I had never heard of before. Was pH balanced vagina soap. Ah. And I was like, What the heck. And they're, I guess is special. So for your privates that's supposed to be better than regular soap. And this person said, they use that soap and then I asked for the brand because I was interested. And I have the brands, which we can put in the notes but the brand is it's a natural brands called referral R A E L natural filming feminine wash. Nice. And it's supposed to be a natural wash. That's good for your private say that either nice as like, wow. Okay, I'm learning things here. So those were my last two that I wanted to spring, Dave the

Katie: 22:15

best for last. Absolutely. That's great. Well, thank you to all of our listeners and our followers on Insta for sending those in. Because, I mean, those are some great

Amy: 22:28

unsexy, there's some really good ones. And I have to say, I think we should continue this series because I think it's hilarious. And I do think it's important to talk about this stuff, because it's not all about looking good and feeling good. There's also things that we do that are self care to take care of herself that aren't so cute, but everybody does them and everybody can relate. So it's really fun to kind of round it up and hear what people do. And I think we should continue to talk about this unsexy side of self care. Okay, so this week, Katie, you have a product review that I'm super excited to hear about.

Katie: 22:56

I do so speaking of unsexy Ness, this product saved me recently, so we've all been horribly hungover at one time or another. I was recently in Miami for a friend's 40th. And I knew it was going to be a little bit out of control. I was terrified of my hangover, because one day was like an all day into a nighter. So we all know how those can be. This product is called cheers, health. And they claim to help with your hangover. You take this pill, these capsules before you go to bed once you're finished drinking, and they say that you will feel at least 50% better the next morning than you usually do. So if you normally when you're hungover wake up at 50% Feeling you know 50% alive, you take this you'll be 100% it, it works because it reduces GABA rebound, lowers alcohol induced acid to La hide toxicity levels, and it supports the liver when it's been exposed to alcohol. So I kind of dug in and researched what all that means it essentially helps flush out your liver faster and detox. But here's the big one. It metabolizes alcohol faster than your body naturally can. So while you're sleeping, usually it's just like a slower uptake to metabolize it. That's why it's kind of still in that your system the next day but you're not necessarily drunk. You're just feeling horrible and dehydrated. This This helps you metabolize it. And if you do that, I did it in conjunction with some electrolytes before I went to bed, I was not hungover. i And when I say it was a long day. We started at 11am and we ended in the wee hours of the morning. I mean a fun, it was fun. It was fabulous. We were on a boat in Miami. It was the best oh my god, but I was like dreading the next day because we were traveling the next day. So yeah, I'm always smart about it.

Amy: 24:57

Is it natural? Or is it like what kind of stuff isn't? it okay so

Katie: 25:01

it is natural. It has like a lot of vitamins vitamin C E, thymine B six B 12. It has sodium and potassium, Vine tea extract, which is you know, the metabolism to go through it faster. That's 100% Natural. Milk Thistle natural. I've taken milk thistle before to detox my liver. Have you ever done that? Yeah. Prickly Pear. Ginger. So yeah, it's it's completely natural. And is

Amy: 25:27

it just a pill and you just take it you said? Yeah, it's our night of drinking or whatever. Yeah,

Katie: 25:31

you take it. Once you're finished drinking two to four capsules a night. I did. I think I did two capsules. I thought four was gonna be a little strong. I was afraid it was gonna keep me awake. And the whole bottle I want to say it came with like 16 I think it was $30 for a bottle $35 You can get it straight through Cheers health.com or on Amazon. And let me tell you, if you don't want to be hungover, get this stuff. Take it in conjunction with some electrolytes before you go to bed, eat some carbs and you'll feel great

Amy: 25:57

adding to cart as we speak.

Katie: 25:59

Right. Good stuff.

Amy: 26:01

I love that. I have not heard of that. And I definitely want to use that because yeah, those hangovers and also I feel like when you're drinking too you don't sleep well. Did you sleep okay, because you know, sometimes you're like up and kind of feeling like sweaty and yucky.

Katie: 26:15

Yeah, no, I actually did I slept really well. And that what you just said the sweaty like you like you know how you wake up a new pet a little too much to drink. And you are like your heart's racing and you kind of sweaty. I didn't get that at all. I slept great. I woke up feeling fine. I was just tired. I mean, I also was drinking responsibly. You know, for every drink. I had like a glass of water and I drink electrolytes throughout the day. And I was eating well, but but still still I would have without a doubt been hungover without it.

Amy: 26:41

Yeah, tired you can deal with it's the the hangover is the worst. So that's great. I'm definitely trying that one. Yeah. So thanks for that review. Love it.

Katie: 26:51

So yeah, great product, highly recommend it. Amy. You have a bunch of for us. I'd love to hear it.

Amy: 26:56

I do. And I think this one is very appropriate for our conversation today. So the mantra is, start where you are, use what you have and do what you can.

Katie: 27:06

Amen to that.

Amy: 27:07

That's the truth. Absolutely. Yeah. Thanks for listening to this week's episode and let us know what you thought about this format and we will talk to you next week. Thanks everyone.

Katie: 27:18

Bye friends.

Amy: 27:20

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

Episode 6 - A Home That Nurtures Your Well-Being With Zoe Feldman (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 6 - A Home That Nurtures Your Well-Being With Zoe Feldman.

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.

Zoe: 0:00

I'm so impressed that you guys you have this whole thing down. It's so

Katie: 0:04

we're having fun with it

Amy: 0:14

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. Hi,

Katie: 0:26

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

Amy: 0:31

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: 0:43

In today's episode, we chatted with Zoe Feldman of Zoe Feldman design. Zoe is a phenomenal interior designer. She has been at the game for 15 years on the East Coast. She graduated from Parsons in New York City and worked under internationally renowned interior designer Alexa Hampton for the beginning of her career. She's full of great tips.

Amy: 1:09

Yes, she did. Katie and I really loved her advice on giving your home a cozy vibe. And guys make sure to stay tuned until the end because she gave us great insider tips and what city she is currently inspired by. And also listen to find out how she gives back to the environment. Because I was really inspired by that. So here we go. Welcome Zoe to Nirvana sisters, we're so happy you're here. Thanks for joining us.

Zoe: 1:34

Thanks for having really. Hi, Katie. Hi, Amy.

Amy: 1:38

Hi. So good to see you and hear your voice. And we are going to be talking to you about all things, designing a home, but specifically how to design a home that really nurtures your well being and makes you feel really good when you're in your space and makes you feel cozy and balanced and calm. And I know that you're really good at that, which is why we wanted to talk to you on the show all about it.

Zoe: 2:04

Well, you know, and if I'm not, so that's good to hear that I am.

Amy: 2:09

We usually start the shows though with something called a weekly nirvana. And it's really just a way for us to talk about like, what was our high moment of the week, what was something positive that happened little or big, that just brought us a little nirvana or joy or happiness to our week, so I can start, this one is kind of relevant to our theme today. So I got Zoa, you'll be very proud of me. I bought a new rug for my home office, which very well, and you did your decorator I didn't I didn't call you. I made you know, an executive decision. And I bought a sheepskin rug, which is so cozy. And it's my Nirvana the week because I got it not expecting much. It was like I found it on a deal on Overstock. And I got it and it's gorgeous. And it's big. And it's like, every time I walk in my office, my feet when I walk on that carpet or the rug, it's so soft and cozy. I feel like I'm like walking on a cloud is so amazing. So every time I walk in, I'm just like, Ah, I feel so good. And now my dogs like obsessed and napping in it all day long. So that was my Nirvana that week. It was such a fun little thing to have. So love that you'd appreciate that. What about UK?

Katie: 3:20

Mine, we decided mid school year to put my preschool or my three year old into school. We kept her home because of COVID. And now I just feel like you know, vaccines are being administered and the schools are staying pretty healthy. And she has been begging me to go to school. So we're gonna do it. She's gonna go two days a week, but she's just so happy. I mean, it's I'm mine nirvana is because of her happiness with it. And also, I'm super psyched. It's going to open up my schedule to dive more into nirvana sisters, which I'm really excited about. Yeah, so what about yours?

Zoe: 3:51

Well, I thought about mine, briefly. And this was I feel like an unusually tough week for the country. So it was a little harder to think of things but mine is I think a little bit in line with yours, Katie, and that my two and a half year old is starting to successfully potty train. Oh. Free School. She goes two days a week as well. Without a pull up on and she didn't pee in her pants.

Amy: 4:17

Oh my god. Yeah.

Zoe: 4:19

So that was Major. That's mage. Yeah, it's pretty major. We're just I feel like my friends were over last night and one of them was changing their baby's diaper like their Cheerios diaper. And I was like secretly thinking, Oh, I think I don't have to do this much longer. So yeah, that's

Katie: 4:37

great. Nice. Okay.

Amy: 4:38

All right. Well, congrats.

Katie: 4:40

Yeah, congrats. Let's dive into this quickfire because we just want our listener to get to know you a little bit. For starters, you're an amazing interior designer. How long have you been at it?

Zoe: 4:51

And okay, so 22 years, which I hadn't have now allowed and makes me sound like I'm 70 I'm not Yes. already when I was like 12 started very young. And yes, I've been doing it for a really long time. Right?

Katie: 5:07

I didn't ask. So you got into the business, just it was something that you decided you want to do in college, you went to Parsons, is that right?

Zoe: 5:14

I went to Syracuse for undergrad, and no, I didn't, I thought it'd be a journalist. And then I didn't get into I didn't even attempt to get into new house, the traditional way, which would have been which new house is an incredibly good journalism school that I did not qualify for directly out of high school. And I was told that you could get in a bit easier once you get into school. And anyway, I never even bothered to try and get him when I was in college. Kind of really wanted to be a journalist. But anyway, but I took a job in advertising my first year out of school, and was terrible at it, and realized I hated commercials and felt like I needed a new job. And so that's when I went back to school, I thought I'd do fashion. And then my mom reminded me just that I always kind of noticed when she would change something in the house or, and thought, Oh, what about an interior design, which I don't for some reason I never thought of as a career. And so then I looked into a program at Parsons and enrolled in the program. And because it was more of like, a continuing education type program was a certificate program. I had a bunch of free time. So then I so I guess I was about 22. So then I asked my mom's fancy friend who lived in Manhattan, who are like the best interior designers, and she gave me a few names. And one of them was Mark Hampton. And I called and got an internship there.

Katie: 6:30

So amazing. What a great place. Your Career. Yeah. Fantastic. So what what would you say? Is your aesthetic? What's your favorite way to style a home? If you have, you know, one signature aesthetic?

Zoe: 6:44

You know, that's such a hard question. Because I don't think we have a signature aesthetic and the way that some firms or some designers where you can sort of always, like always kind of tell their work, I think that our work is a little bit more evolving. And, but I think that there is a signature and that we tend to do, we tend to use a lot of tension in our work. So we like to create timeless spaces, but also modernize them. So I think that's probably present in all of our work. We also use color in different ways, which I think people notice a lot. I think at the end of the day, we're probably modernists and that we like things to feel irrelevant, but I don't know. That's kind of like, I don't know that we have like a signature look.

Katie: 7:30

Yeah, I mean, I love your style. From what I get exactly what you're saying. It's like it's classic. You're without a doubt classic and chic, but still have a modernity to it. And it's fun. You're it's very like Amy's house is so fun and sexy, but still really laid back and organic. It's beautiful.

Zoe: 7:46

Thank you and a lot of is the client and the building that we're working in. Right. So I think we really pay attention to that. And that excites us, we get excited to be working in like different periods or different types of homes and things so nice.

Amy: 7:59

Nice Zoe, what is your number one tip for making a home feel cozy and warm and uplifting? Because when we talk about kind of feeling happy in your home, like what do you think those elements are?

Zoe: 8:12

I think it's important for it not to feel what would be the word like to static Hmm. So I think that it's important to inject yourself into right so you don't want to walk into space and not understand all who the person is. This is my personal feeling right? I want to walk into space. And as I explore the space have some understanding of who the person is like, whether that's through a book collection or a decorative collection or through it like photos. So I think making sure that you infuse your personality into it is important. I think art helps to warm a space very much. It kind of for me is the finishing touch on any space I think without art it tends to feel pretty sad. I think Amy and I experienced that we're at the end we're like okay, let's get some art up and like get all of that going. I fresh flowers I think make or even like forged flowers right like going or forge branches and things like having greenery like because that's like a lie. I think so probably flowers like right so greenery. Yeah, I think probably really good beds really comfy beds. That's a good one.

Katie: 9:22

The greenery and the flowers. It's such a good tip though because it's so accessible and easy. It can be done at any given point, right?

Zoe: 9:27

Yeah, I mean I go out to my backyard and do it. Nice. Just grab some branches and they get end up getting really sculptural and and it's free.

Amy: 9:38

Yeah. And it brings in that that warmth and to your point. feeling that something alive is in your house and warming it up. What about favorite products are like I'd like to say like a hack for the home like if someone just wants to kind of have a few things to bring into their home that makes it feel cozy. I mean, is it like candles is like what are the things like little objects or pieces that they could bring in. I mean, we sort of talked about it. But is there anything else you can think of that could just, you know, transform the space a bit?

Zoe: 10:09

Yeah. So I think foraging for, for branches and things like that outside is a quick and easy one that everyone is obviously free. Yeah, I think scented candles are nice lighting a candle seasonally. I mean, obviously, having a working fireplace is always going to help. Whether it's gas or wood burning, I guess wood burning gives a little bit more of that cozy smell and feel. But we can all get behind as to, I think making sure that you have large enough runs, you mentioned rugs in the beginning, making certain that your rugs are large and comfy and things like that, that tends to cozy up the space pretty quickly. And also I think window treatments people I know don't really want to spend the money on Window Treatments much because they are they can get pretty expensive though there's a lot of ways now I think that you can do more off the rack, but they do tend to coziest space.

Katie: 10:57

Now, something I noticed about Amy's home is that it's it has that like really natural organic feel. And I think that's also because Amy you spoke to wanting to pull on that like West Coast California style. But what are some textiles or you know, fabrications that they bring in that natural organic feel? Because he has you have a lot of white you have is it? Is it linen that I see like what what are the textiles that the listener could could put on their sofa or, you know, a wood color that they might want to use?

Zoe: 11:27

Yeah, so if you're looking for kind of more of what like a kind of Cali like organic vibe, right thing, you want to stay in a kind of organic palette. And I think that's it's important to understand that, that doesn't mean that at all does have to be white or natural. There's a lot of tones like ochre, which is like a really deep yellow, or russet, which is going to be like a really warm red orange like a kind of like a burnt like cayenne type of color. All of greens, which we actually did use it Amias. So there's a lot of organic tones that are outside of those neutrals. But yeah, I think thinking about more casual and textural fabrics, so linens and like raw linens, and like blue clays and like wovens versus things like silks and velvets, right? So that's going to feel more organic when it comes to woods, I think just like less polished, right? So you're going to want to be using oaks like white oaks or walnut. But not probably like a zebra or a super like high polish finish on a word. Right? You want to keep things a little imperfect. But yeah, so I think it's more just about keep like textural is probably about

Amy: 12:40

what about I know that you and your team have an initiative to be environmentally friendly and using green products. So I'd love to hear about that. And I also read in business of home about your consultation fee idea, which I love. So if you could just kind of talk about the environmental stuff you're doing as a company, I think it would be really interesting to hear.

Zoe: 13:00

Yeah, so a few years ago, I just My father was actually doing it. He was a periodontist. And he wanted to give back to the community. So he figured out a way to get back with a one to one. And I kept thinking, oh, I need to figure out a way to give back because I like many people. Sadly, I wasn't I didn't become aware of it quick enough. But maybe four or five years ago, I realized, oh God, the Earth is burning. And we need to figure out how to make that stop. And then I realized that what we're doing is highly impactful. And that we have an opportunity to help reduce waste just within ourselves like in our own little firm. So we started thinking about it and realize, well, first of all, just sort of simple things we can do that the listener can do as well is rather than constantly be purchasing new product, we started looking a lot toward vintage. This is sort of before we figured out how to do our actual giveback. And so we kind of committed to trying to do about 80% Vintage that year. And also looking at clients existing things to think of how we can use their pieces rather than just get rid of them, how we can re upholster them, refinish them those sorts. So that was kind of like the beginning. And then people started telling me I should charge for my consultation fee as I was getting bigger, because it would weed people out. And that just didn't feel right to me. For some reason, I just kind of didn't also want to have to like give a whole bunch of advice the first hour because I tend to have to marinate on things anyway. And I thought, oh God, if I charge them, they're gonna expect so much more. And I don't really want to deal with that. So I didn't want to do that. But then I did think Well, I am going for free. And I could just charge a small fee and that could be 100 that can be donated, like fully donated, and that could be the way that we get back. So that's where what we launched and so we basically charged 250 I think we're upping it to 275 and the new year. Yeah, it's generally my rate. And so and it's donated to one of four charities that switch yearly. Some we retain if one hasn't done well, we might pivot and pick Have a new charity. But the idea is that the person purchasing the consultation fee goes online and looks at the for charities in an in an effort or in a hope that they might say, Oh, wow, Charity Water, I'd heard about our Sierra Club, whatever it is, I'm going to start giving to that because we tend to be with more high net worth clients who can give way more than 250 or 275? Ultimately. So that's sort of the goal in an effort to spread it. And then if they sign with us, we match it.

Amy: 15:30

That's nice.

Zoe: 15:31

Yeah, yeah, that's sort of our effort. And then we also quarterly plant trees in an effort to offset our carbon footprint. So it's kind of fun, you can go on our site, and there's like a little ticker. This we've planted this ministry has gotten this message, charity. And when there's a major catastrophic event, which has been often lately, we'll pivot like when Australia was burning that month, we gave only to Australia. And now that COVID is happening, we've been giving to children to feed children. So we also look at kind of, it might rotate with what's going on in the world.

Amy: 16:04

So and do you have information on your website?

Zoe: 16:07

Yeah, I'm really effort is to show like small businesses, that we can also make a big impact, you know, and like, I'm not going to make as big of an impact as PwC, or you know, Google, but it all helps. So and I think it's a little more conscious. And I think our whole team has lived more consciously because of that.

Katie: 16:26

That's so inspiring. I think I saw on your site that you've planted a few 1000 trees. Yeah. That's great. Yeah,

Zoe: 16:35

that's, that's fine. It reminds me that we used to plant trees for Israel. Do you remember that? Amy?

Amy: 16:40

I do remember that each other a long time. And so where do you find your inspiration? Like, what sources do you use? What websites like what Instagram feeds? Like? How do you kind of keep reinventing? Because I see all the beautiful work that you have been putting out and all the press you've been getting? And I just, you know, it's always different. And it's always fresh. And just how do you what, what inspires you? And where do you get it from?

Zoe: 17:06

Ah, it's so funny. So I'm inspired, I would say, I get into, like black holes, like I'm currently very inspired by Parisian design. So I'm that I'm in a Parisian moment where I think everything else sucks. And if it's not Paris, it does. It's not even worth it. And I get into the holes in those things. And then I want everything to be this way. But then I look for that. And I move on to the next thing.

Amy: 17:31

You know, I feel like when we work together with Morocco, yeah, exactly.

Zoe: 17:35

So and it's still Morocco, I don't like actually lose them, I just move on, but I hold on to them as like, they'll always live in my inspirational world, they just won't be quite as present or maybe at the forefront. So I think I just, I'm also very inspired by history. So I look back a lot at designers from the past. And also I might look at like historic flooring or historic buildings to inspire how I do work. Art is a big inspiration for me mostly with like color palette. And then I follow some people on Instagram who I think are doing really, really beautiful work, and can be highly influenced by that as well.

Katie: 18:18

Would you say that, like a starting point for someone if they wanted to decorate a room is to what you said with art, if they have a great piece of art, they look there, and they pull colors from that. And that's how they'll get their palette for a room.

Zoe: 18:31

Yeah, I think that's helpful, I think of it as a little more abstract, where like, you could you could look at politics or Rothko's, or something like this, and just be inspired by a palette. And that could set the tone for a room too. So you don't have to actually have the piece of art. Most of us aren't lucky enough to have a Rothko hanging on our wall. But more sort of like that, I think fashion does the same thing. I find myself taking actually find myself taking a lot of photos like I rewatched Mad Men recently, and found a lot of color inspiration in Jones outfits. So I look at things like that too, right? And I'm like, Oh, she's putting orange with the hot pink and I write I need to do this. And it doesn't always translate into interiors. And it translates differently even when it does translate. So you know, you have to consider that but kind of more abstract in that way. And

Amy: 19:22

that that says, Oh, do you just work in the DC area? Or do you work all over?

Zoe: 19:27

All over? So we're currently working on an apartment in New York and in the city. And we have done place in the Hamptons, Florida. I'm working on another place in the north work of New York, of Long Island, Michigan. And then the DMV like Eastern Shore and Annapolis like

Amy: 19:51

have you seen a lot of good momentum in your business since all of this Corona stuff because I feel like so many people are focused on their home and making it better because they're actually having time to spend in it.

Zoe: 20:04

Yeah, so sad. I'm not sad that I felt sort of guilty about because we have seen a spike in business. And that was a little bit hard for me actually, I felt guilty. And then I realized, well, the world would be way worse if there weren't people thriving in this moment. And thriving is the wrong word. But if there weren't if people's business, if some businesses if all businesses were doing poorly, we would be in a much worse experience. So we make an effort, because we feel very blessed in that. Yes, that is true. More people are in their homes, and we tend to work with a less affected population. Which is unfair, I understand. But it's just the reality. And so we've it's actually put us in a position where we work a lot harder to get back because of it. Over the holidays. We did like 500 sandwiches for Martha's Table. And we've done that a few times we've we've donated as a team like groceries and things like this. So we try and use that. But yeah, we have seen a spike in business.

Amy: 21:03

Yeah, and I love all the stuff that you guys are doing, like we talked about before for the environment, but also just giving back in general, because to your point, you are a small business and growing. And it is nice to see that small businesses can also make a difference. It's not just the big businesses and taking inspiration from you people listening can do something in their own home or in their own business to make a difference, because every little thing counts. So I love that.

Zoe: 21:26

And I'll tell you like speaking to the Nirvana thing, which I used to be afraid of things like this, like, Oh, can I afford to get back? Can I you know, all these sorts of things. And what it is shown me as the small bit that we give back, because it's not that much, right? It's it really isn't. Has, it's grown our business so much. It's done so much because it establishes trust on the front end between us and the client where I am like, oh, you're a good person. You're there's people who don't want to do the donation. And I'm like, Okay, well, I don't want to work for you. Right? You're clearly terrible. So are you serious? So it weeds that part out? And then I think for the client, it's like, okay, so she's not also like a terrible person, right? She's doing something. So she's probably going to be pretty fair. And like, she's a conscious person. And so I think that helps and to establish that trust. And I think also probably just karmically or like the whole energy thing, which I guess you guys are pretty into just like giving right you just end up receiving a lot back. You don't hold it so tight. Yeah, it feels so good. Yeah. And so I think, you know, we don't overthink it. And we just give and it seems to work out. So I would encourage people to do that I

Katie: 22:36

I have to say thank you for giving back as much as you guys are, because that's just really cool. It's I mean, it's so inspiring to meet somebody that you are basing your business around such positivity, and just helping the world. It's really if I was to choose, if I had two designers in front of me and I liked both of their aesthetics, I would go with you hands down for that reason alone, but unless your sparkling personality.

Zoe: 23:01

Well, it all has to weave together. But yes, the deciding vote.

Amy: 23:07

So before we get into our quick little wrap session with you, how do people get in touch with you if they want to reach out?

Zoe: 23:15

There is on our website, there's an intake form. So you fill that out. And you tell us a little bit about you and a little bit about your project. And then we assess it to determine if it's a good fit for us. If it's not a good fit. We'll we have other designers that we like and we'll refer the client or the potential clients then. Otherwise, yeah, we come out we do the whole, you have to give money to the charity that would come out and we'd make a plan to come out and see you. But yeah, it's all through the website.

Amy: 23:42

Nice. Okay, so two quick questions before we wrap up. So what is your favorite wellness or beauty hack?

Zoe: 23:50

I was thinking about this. A hack. Wait, so can you give me an example of like a hack? Like do I have to make it myself? Or what does

Amy: 23:59

that mean? I don't know like a shortcut like something

Zoe: 24:04

like Botox. Yeah,

Amy: 24:07

that's a good one.

Zoe: 24:12

Give me an example.

Amy: 24:13

I just actually saw something on tick tock because I get a lot of hacks from there where if you you didn't have there's all these teeth whitening things and whatever. But if you just gargle with hydrogen peroxide, peroxide, and you mix it with water, it does the same thing. And it's like, you know, 10 bucks a bottle. Oh, no way. So I've been doing that. Yeah, so just

Zoe: 24:33

bad thing. Yeah, I didn't know that. beauty hack, because I'm like, kind of a beauty. Like I probably spend too much on beauty products.

Amy: 24:43

And me too. Do you have like a favorite beauty product? Okay,

Zoe: 24:46

brilliant. Using bombs there and I have like 7000 like drunken elephant does it and I think it's called like one love or something. All these different products and I think beauty counter didn't first where they have that. It's like oil base. to your face dry, and then you take it off of the washcloth and it looks like a lot of what balm, a cleansing balm. Oh, I haven't used that before, right. So you have you put it on dry face and then and kind of massage it in

Amy: 25:13

lieu. Sounds so relaxing

Zoe: 25:16

and like super helpful. I also think highlighter is very helpful, which I don't have on right now.

Katie: 25:21

But love a good highlighter.

Zoe: 25:24

I love a good highlighter. I didn't mind bleeding recently. I didn't hate that

Amy: 25:30

micro needling or micro bleeding.

Zoe: 25:33

Micro bleeding, I think right? Or neither. I think it's bleeding to the eyebrows anyway. Oh,

Amy: 25:40

okay.

Zoe: 25:41

I'm here for all of that. I don't know, but I tend to spend too much money on that stuff. So

Amy: 25:47

yeah, now, I feel you on that one.

Unknown: 25:51

I can't do the DIY part. Now is it's more just

Amy: 25:54

like a shortcut or like something you love. Your go to your holy grail product stuff, like,

Zoe: 26:00

get the cleansing balm find it? Yeah,

Amy: 26:02

I'm gonna I'm gonna look for one. And then how do you maintain your daily nirvana? Your daily flow? Like, how do you kind of stay balanced? Yeah.

Zoe: 26:11

Well, I used to do Transcendental Meditation. Wow, I did. I did the whole course. It did the whole thing. I did it for years. And I loved it ever since I had children, that finding the 20 minutes twice a day is like impossible. So I don't do that anymore. Sadly, I will. I think I will take that back at some point. But I get up early earlier than my family. And for me, that's helpful because it gives me an opportunity to their workout, or to drink coffee alone and have no one bother me. Or to take a steam shower. You know, something? Oh, steam shower. That's the joint. Yeah, you guys don't have one. And afford it. I didn't think I'd like it. All right. But something like that, I think grounds me to start my day. Because otherwise I'm a pretty disorganized person in my brain, like meaning I've add and if I don't, I'm not that regimented. And so I think having that little bit in the morning kind of starts my day, and I can think through it. And otherwise, I'll just dive in and Miss like everything I was meant to do and do a whole bunch of shit I didn't need to do so.

Katie: 27:16

Yeah, that's, that's a great one. You're kind of just getting up and like getting your mind straight for the day. I do the same thing. Yeah, love that. Yeah. It's the best. Yeah, it's it's worth every minute of sleep last to wake up a little bit earlier.

Zoe: 27:31

Yeah. And when I miss doing it, I noticed a difference in my day.

Katie: 27:35

Yeah, same.

Amy: 27:36

Yeah, that makes sense. What about you guys? What

Zoe: 27:38

do you do for your nirvana?

Amy: 27:40

I would say like movement every day, at least 20 minutes like something, whether it's walking, working out Pilates, running anything, just some sort of movement makes me have a better day for sure. I'm also breathing exercises and meditation and things like that. What about you, Katie?

Katie: 27:57

I think catching a little bit of alone time throughout my day, if I can, you know if I can get 20 or 30 minutes here or there throughout the day to just kind of reset and you know, process my thoughts and like, decompress. Then I'm, I'm just I'm a better mom. I'm a better friend. I'm a better wife. I'm just a better person, because I'm more in tune to myself in my needs and what I gotta do to get through that day.

Amy: 28:22

Yeah, a lot of time is crucial. Yeah,

Zoe: 28:26

I'm totally with you on that. And no guilt about that.

Amy: 28:30

Exactly. It's self care. You need it. So thank you for coming on the show. We it's just so inspiring listening to you. And it's good to hear you and see you at least virtually for now. It's been a while. But thank you so much for coming on. This was so great. And so cool to hear about all the intricacies of what's happening and congratulations on all the success and well thanks

Zoe: 28:54

for hanging out with me before I had all this great success. So you are you're an early adopter early adapter Exactly.

Amy: 29:04

And you're now an honorary Nirvana sister. Yes.

Katie: 29:07

Amy I am super excited about this review because you know, I'm obsessed with it. So go ahead. What do you have for us this week?

Amy: 29:15

Sozo. I think you'll love this too. So there's a company that does weighted blankets called bear OB and I found them a couple years ago and it is first of all, if you don't if you haven't experienced a weighted blanket before it's just like having a big hug on you. It feels so amazing. And when you put it on you feel it it really calms you down like speaking of add Zoey, it's like and like a lot of people that have ADHD or like focusing issues like put this on them because it really calms you and it's it's just it they say it's like a sensation of being cuddled lowers stress and anxiety because it reduces your cortisol so it makes you feel calm and relaxed. So the reason why I like bearer B though is because it has a beautiful design. And then it looks great in the home. So over a bed over sofa. It's like this big chunky knit. And it's really soft and breathable because most of these blankets are like thick and heavy and make you hot but this is super breathable. It's all natural 100% organic cotton. It's also sourced ethically and sustainably. And the colors are gorgeous. I have a few of them. I have a light gray and charcoal and I have one in my bedroom and one in our guest room. And yeah, I mean it says scientific research shows that sleeping under an evenly distributed weight brings a deeper more natural sleep cycle. And that being cocooned releases serotonin making you feel positively happy. So I love this brand. And I'll let Katie talk about it too, because I know she does too.

Katie: 30:47

Yeah, the the therapy blanket I first used it when I was staying at Amy's house and I slept better than I think I ever have in my entire life. Wow, I got one as soon as we got home and I am like religious about sleeping with it. I think you know we've we've touched on it before I have autoimmunity and it is it affects my hormones. So like you said how it lowers your cortisol, it also releases serotonin and dopamine. And I think that's the reason why I love it so much. Because my hormones are kind of screwed up in that area. And I just I mean, I sleep like a rock. It's, it's, it's amazing. And it's also organic cotton. So it's really breathable, really soft. And loving.

Amy: 31:30

And it's an it's really pretty and like cozy. So that's my my favorite and my product review of the week, but I thought you'd enjoy that. So a maybe you could incorporate it into something you're doing. I actually

Zoe: 31:40

have follow up questions.

Amy: 31:42

Yes. Okay. Ask away.

Zoe: 31:45

So is it like a throw that you incorporate just like on top of you with like a Dubay or something? I was like, how do you sleep with it? I'm now about to buy one. So I'm trying to understand we

Amy: 31:58

have different sizes. So I think they range from like $150 to 250 or so depending on the size. So they have one for kids, they have one that's like they call a Napper. So it's just kind of like if you're napping on the sofa, and then they have a bigger one that you could use in bed. It's not as big as a comforter. I don't even know how big it is. But it's probably good for one person, I would say one ish person. And then I just saw on their website today that they now have a comforter, but it's not the same material. It's just probably like a weighted comforter.

Zoe: 32:26

I'm looking at that now. It's it can be up to 25 pounds. Wow. Yeah,

Amy: 32:30

yeah. So it's like if you if you have the napper and you have it on your sofa, and you just throw it there. It looks good. But then you put it on and watch TV and you're like, Oh, this is so relaxing. It just enhances everything.

Zoe: 32:41

Oh, wow. I like feel like all children should have this. Yeah, yeah, my

Katie: 32:45

kids love it. Yeah, the way that I sleep with mine is I put the sheet on. And then the weighted blanket, which it is the one that I have is just my size, it's for me. And then if I'm still caught, I use the comforter that my husband's using. So it's great because he's a major like, you know, blanket hog all night long. I'm usually wrestling him for the blankets. And now I don't have to. So do you have a 15 or 20 pound? I have the 15 and you have the 20 and I realized that I bought the wrong weight because I love the 20 I even think I would like to 25 If I get another one. I might do the 25

Amy: 33:19

Yeah. Oh, it's great. Your love. It's right up your alley.

Zoe: 33:24

This is exciting.

Amy: 33:28

And then before we close out, we also like to close with a mantra or kind of a saying of the week just to kind of, you know, wrap it up nice. Yeah. So Katie, I think you have one.

Katie: 33:38

I do. I think this one is if you take it in a literal sense. It's really apropos with having Zoey here. So me the space between where I am and where I want to be inspire me. Oh, all right. You can use it, I guess, metaphorically, would that be the right word or literally and I don't know. It just makes me think of us trying to build these beautiful spaces with so he's helped today and living in a place that is peaceful and makes you happy. let it inspire you right. Yes.

Zoe: 34:14

I love everything you guys are doing.

Amy: 34:16

Thank you. So let's talk. Let's talk again, 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 and you do so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 3 - Food Sensitivity Testing… Yay Or Nay? (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 3 - Food Sensitivity Testing… Yay Or Nay?.

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: 0:00

The reason why I really liked this is there's no additives. There's no added sugar, and there's no sulfates. And for me that's great because I love red wine, but I have a hard time drinking it because it gives me headaches for sure. So when I drink this one, I do not get a headache the next day 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: 0:36

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

Amy: 0:41

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: 0:52

This week, we have a lot of fun discussing our experience trying the Everlywell food sensitivity test. I was drawn to it because I seem to be intolerant to almost anything these days. So we gave it a try the results were interesting.

Amy: 1:06

Definitely listen in on this one because I reveal my results to Katie, and it's very surprising. So enjoy the show. Welcome back to Nirvana sisters. Hi, Katie.

Katie: 1:17

So today, we thought we would start things off a little differently kind of just to set the tone and to get us in our groove and have some fun, we want to kick it off with our weekly nirvana. So ame What's your weekly nirvana? How what happened to you this week?

Amy: 1:35

So my weekly nirvana is that I have been helping my dad organize his office because he's got a beautiful home office. And he's got a lot of stuff that he's collected over the years. That's great, but it's kind of all over the place. And every time I walk in there, I just get so cluttered because it's just like these books and all these pictures, and it's great stuff. But it's just so cluttered. I'm like, I don't know how it works in here. So every time I go in there, I'm like, Alright, I want to reorganize this office, because you know, I love organizing and doing all that stuff. So finally, we did it this week. And we pulled out all his books in his bookshelf, there's probably hundreds of books. And so what I did is I put them on my parents kitchen table, and I organized them by color, and by size. And then we did the whole bookshelf. And it's so cool. And it looks so good. I'll I'll show you the picture of the before and after. But it was just fun because my dad loved it because of course he had like one on one time with me. And then he also was telling me about each book. He'd be like, Oh, this book I got 20 years ago when I was doing this job and he was just kind of going through it. And then he was just saying like, all these books represent his whole life and all these books he bought and he's just really proud of his collection. So anyway, it's just fun to spend time with him and organize it. So I would say that was my nirvana of the week. That's so nice. It sounds like Yeah, it's fun. I can't wait for you to see it. What about you?

Katie: 2:55

You know, I was sitting here thinking about it. It's been kind of a rough week we started homeschool this week. And as you know it just really throws a wrench into your whole routine. So I've been kind of digging trying to find my Nirvana just because I felt like I was high stress all week but honestly, I think that the one thing that caused me so much stress actually produced or Nirvana and that was that I didn't have to wake up five days this week at 6am to get out of bed get Madeline ready for school drive her to school the whole thing like that was one little perk to NTI was that we can our mornings were just like a little bit more chill and relaxed and instead of having like a rush breakfast with her we were a little bit more rested and could enjoy breakfast together. starve to death Nice. So yeah, I think I would say that that was it. It was it was much nicer way than our usual like get up and go and out the door.

Amy: 3:47

Right rushing, you know, that's a good one. Yeah, my kids have both been home as well. They're I think they're home until mid January. So same thing or morning's are a bit more relaxed, which is nice. Yeah. So good. So this week, we are going to be talking about a company called everlywell. And for those of you that don't know what it is, I'm gonna have Katie talk about it and I will let you use the reins on this.

Katie: 4:12

So everlywell is a food sensitivity testing company and I was super excited to give it a try What kind of got me in the direction of joining the test. As you know I have digestive issues. I react to a lot of foods I always have and I was doing this insane elimination diet called autoimmune protocol AIP which is like the gold standard for finding out what you're sensitive to. But it's so intense. I barely lasted a week you're supposed to do it for a month. The AIP diet is like no gluten, no dairy, no grains, no legumes, nuts, seeds, coffee, alcohol, seeds, spices, various spices like black pepper and nightshade eggs. I mean, well, so I was trying to do that. And the first week it was great. My stomach felt great and I could tell that I was eliminating issues, but it ended up being just torture. It was the parameters how restrictive it was was way too hard on me. So cue the everlywell test, which just kind of felt like a shortcut. Essentially what it does, it measures your IgG antibody response to certain types of foods. What that is, is your body's immune reaction, the delayed immune reaction to food versus like an immediate reaction, an immediate reaction would be an IgE, which is a food allergy. So there's a difference, right food. People go into anaphylactic shock causes hives, right? food sensitivity is delayed, so you could anywhere from instantly two hours two days later, develop brain fog, bloat, fatigue, joint pain, headaches, acne, digestive issues, migraines. So it can be very, very disruptive to your life, obviously, that people don't necessarily think about it, maybe because it's not an allergic response. It's hard to pinpoint which which food is is giving you the issues.

Amy: 6:13

That's interesting. So is the idea that if you are sensitive to a certain kind of food, you would then eliminate that and see how you feel based on that.

Katie: 6:23

Yeah. But being that these are delayed responses, it's hard to know what you're sensitive to, right. So what would happen with me, for example, I would eat eggs for breakfast. And I always thought, oh, eggs are fine, I don't react to it, I can eat it. And my stomach is still flat, and I feel great. And then in the afternoon, maybe like six hours later, I started having all these digestive issues. And I'm thinking, Wait, that must have been from a snack I just ate or for lunch. Meanwhile, after eliminating eggs while I was doing the the AIP diet, I realized that I was in fact reacting to eggs like six. That's

Amy: 6:55

interesting.

Katie: 6:57

Yeah. So yeah, having said that, the everlywell test, you know, I've done a lot of research on it. And there isn't a ton of efficacy behind the IgG testing. So there are skeptics, but I have talked to people directly that have done the everlywell testing and had great success with it, like, eliminated the foods, got rid of all their digestive complaints, lost 10 pounds, really was the absolute life game changer for them. And then I've talked to people that it wasn't super effective for. So I don't know, with as difficult as the AP test was I just thought alright, this is nuts. Like, let me let's give it a try. Right. Like, let me invest in it and give it a try. It's not cheap. There's two different tests. Right? You did the food sensitivity test that measures 96 foods, and I did the comprehensive food sensitivity test that measures 204 foods. My test was like $259 I think yours was what like

Amy: 7:55

159 159. Yep. Yeah.

Katie: 7:58

But you know, I think it's worth it. What did you think about the experience of like, the actual process of the test?

Amy: 8:06

Yeah. So when you introduced me to this company, I think I had heard of it, but I hadn't really looked at it so much. But I thought it was a cool experience. So just from actually ordering the test, which is really easy to do, the website is clean and super user friendly, easy to do, ordered the test got it a few days later. And the packaging the way that they do it is very simple. You open it up, it has very clear directions on how to do it. It has a few things in there. It has lancets to do your blood, it has gauze pads, it has directions, really simple and easy directions. So I took everything out and followed the directions little by little very simple directions. The only issue I had is Katy nose because I caught her in the middle of myself doing this I had a really hard time getting my blood out. So I use the lancet to prick my finger. But I like could barely get the blood out. I was like pinching my finger to get the blood on like what's going on with me. And they tell you to like move around a little bit and get your blood going before but I couldn't get enough out you basically have to at least for my test, I had to put it on five different circles. And I could only fill like two of the circle. So then I was like trying to do it again. So then I use the other Landsat and I like broke that one. So then I couldn't do it. And so they tell you not to do this. But I did it. My husband came because he's really good with this stuff and helped me do it. And he just put a pin in my finger and that helps it bleed. And then I got the rest. So I know you're not supposed to do that. So don't Don't copy me. But it did work. And I got all the blood. And so essentially, you just put your blood on these things you'd like put it in an envelope and send it back. So it was super easy to do other than actually getting the blood because I'm not good at that. And I called Katie in the middle of going crazy. And then she talked me through it. How was your experience doing it?

Katie: 9:44

It was fine. It wasn't as rough as yours. I had to collect for I think eight spots. I mean, I had to try a few different times and a few different fingers. But I got my blood flowing and they worked out But I thought it was fine. I had the turnover time was a little slow. But I think that has more to do with, you know how things are going with the post office and everything with males just moving slowly right now.

Amy: 10:13

Right? And all the people getting testing done, etc. Yeah, yeah, but they're

Katie: 10:17

there. The company is super cool. They offer so many different types of tests. They have hormonal test and thyroid testing. And now they're even offering a COVID at home at home COVID test. So

Amy: 10:27

that's interesting.

Katie: 10:28

Cool. Yeah,

Amy: 10:29

yeah. So Katie, and I have not shared our results with each other. So we're going to do the big reveal on the podcast to talk about what our results were.

Katie: 10:39

So I want to hear yours first. Okay.

Amy: 10:42

So I get this email. It says your results are in I'm like all psyched. I, I click on my results. And here's what it says I'm just gonna read it to you. It says your tests showed an IgG reactivity above normal to 32 foods. Foods in the high moderate or mild reactivity ranges are good candidates for an elimination diet to help identify your food sensitivities. So I was like shocked because I don't really have any sensitivities to food, at least that I know of. I mean, I've gotten a few things done in the past a few blood tests just with normal blood testing. And doctors have told me different things but nothing major. So I was very surprised, but I do have a theory, but we'll talk about at the end. So I'm gonna go through the things that were my high reactivity, my moderate and my mild so the high reactivity, which is it says here, high reactivity foods are measured as the strongest immune response in your blood sample. Not all high reactivity foods cause symptoms, but they may be the most likely to. So these are good options to target in an elimination diet. So one with cow's milk. One was egg white, and one was yogurt. So I thought that's interesting because I actually don't drink milk a lot. I usually drink almond milk or hemp milk or something like that. But I do have eggs a lot and yogurt I had been eating more recently, but that was a very new thing. So I'll tell you my theory in a second. Okay, so the moderate reactivity says it's moderate moderate reactivity foods class two foods can cause symptoms as well. So these were almond, egg yolk, mustard seed, pineapple, rye and wheat. Interesting. And then the mild reactivity foods were. So these say my own reactivity foods create a smaller immune reaction, but they can be sneaky. They can be a sneaky symptom. causer. So these were banana, barley grain bell pepper, black walnut, Bran, cantaloupe, cashew, chicken, cinnamon, Coco. Coconut, eggplant, garlic, gluten, green, pea, kelp, mozzarella, oats and orange. Oh, wow. Oh, wait, there's a few more I'm sorry. Net, soybean tuna and winter squash. And then it said all the rest were normal. reactivities.

Katie: 13:09

That's wild. First of all, because you eat cheese?

Amy: 13:12

Mm hmm. Right. Yeah. I mean, yeah, not a lot. But I do like you

Katie: 13:16

can without the problem. And what was on the what? You had cheese? I've seen you yogurt.

Amy: 13:24

Yeah, the high reactivity were three things cow's milk, egg white and yogurt. Egg whites.

Katie: 13:30

So I feel like you never have a ton of complaints about your stomach.

Amy: 13:36

Yeah, I don't know. It's so weird. And then the moderates were the Allman egg yolk, mustard seed, pineapple, rye, wheat, and then the mild. There was like a million of them, which was interesting. But

Katie: 13:47

it's also not just stuff. It doesn't just cause stomach symptoms either, though, like you do get headaches and you

Amy: 13:53

do get migraines. Yeah. All right. The thing is, is I've, I've eliminated dairy, probably. I mean, recently, I've been having dairy again, because I've been eating more yogurt like Greek yogurt. But in the past, I've eliminated dairy for like a year. And I don't really think I felt any different. I mean, granted, I didn't like do a journal every day to say how I was feeling. But I don't remember feeling that different by cutting out dairy. That's why I've sort of introduced it again lately, but I don't really have much dairy. It's very limited. It's really just in yogurt. And so yeah, that was interesting. And then also the moderate reactivity for almond because I drink almond milk. So I have this theory, and I don't know if it's true, but my husband says this a lot too, because he's gotten a lot of these food tests done. It feels like sometimes when you're eating a lot of one food. It shows up in these tests as being sensitive. So for example, I had moderate reactivity to pineapple. I never eat pineapple, but in the last few weeks I've been getting it because I've been seeing fresh pineapple at the store and it looks good. And so I've been eating it. So I'm like, is it just showing up in my blood because I've been eating a lot of it and same thing with almonds like an almond milk or eggs, because I've been eating more eggs and yogurt. So I'm like, is it related to that? Is it pulling that? Or is it just random? I don't know it. I just think it's weird.

Katie: 15:08

That's interesting that you say that because that is like the number one reason why there's not a lot of validity to these testing is for that exact reason. Because people, the more exposure you have to something, the more likely you're going to respond to it. So that if you do any research on the IgG test, that's like the one thing that pops up that affects the efficacy of the testing. So yeah, it's totally possible. It blows my mind because I swear, I think I think you got my results and I got your tell me yours. I came back with like nothing, no, a no high reaction, no moderate reaction, all mild. And all it was was black tea, which I never drink clothes, which I don't use but they're like sneaky can be in things. Cow's milk, you know, I don't do dairy. Emmental cheese, dairy again, garlic I eat every day, almost at every single meal. So if that's like low lying, and always there, I could see why can always cause a problem. marjoram which is not something that I eat, but I found that it's in sausages. And sometimes I eat like chicken breakfast sausage, Pacific oyster, processed peas and yogurt. So, you know, the dairy stuff is spot on. I can't handle dairy at all.

Amy: 16:30

Yeah, and you don't, you know,

Katie: 16:32

I don't eat it. Yeah. But the other stuff like I was super shocked that eggs weren't on there. Because from the one week that I did the AIP diet, I without a doubt realized that I was having an issue with eggs, like when I eliminated eliminated eggs, I my acne went away. My stomach inflammation went away, like my digestion got better, but then it didn't show up on the test. So weird. I know. It's tough. You know, I really want to be a huge advocate for this everlywell testing. And maybe it is totally spot on. I haven't gone through and done the full elimination yet. Like I ate garlic this morning. You and

Amy: 17:11

me. That's what I was thinking. I'm like, should I eliminate cow's milk, egg white and yogurt for the next few weeks and see how I feel I just haven't gotten there yet. So I think I think I may do that at some point. And then I think what I do need to do though, is write a little bit of a journal or write something in my phone to say like, I don't know, do I feel bloated? Do I feel this to feel that? Because I do feel bloated? A lot. I do have to say, and I'm not like, quote, as regular as I probably should be. So it could be related. But I don't know. So I may try it. I may try. Like I don't, I don't want to be skeptical in the company, because you said you've heard a lot of people done really well with this. So it is possible. And I did have a test once from another doctor, like an integrative health doctor who said that had a mild sensitivity to dairy and gluten. So I'm sure there is some sort of sensitivity, but I think I really need to do more of an elimination diet and report back on this podcast.

Katie: 18:06

And I think that's exactly what we should do. I say after the holidays, Let's enjoy ourselves. Yeah, exactly. Let's enjoy the food and deal with the digestive discomfort and headaches for a couple more weeks. That was super healthy January and do elimination, and then we should report back.

Amy: 18:25

So would we eliminate just the high reactivity foods or moderate? I guess I could do the high in the moderate and see,

Katie: 18:31

yeah, why don't you do the high and moderate and then I'll do all of the ones that I reacted to. And also I should add a really well does have a disclaimer that if you take steroids, it could affect your testing. And as you know, I take glucocorticoid steroids from disease. So you know, again, like I want to be an advocate for them. So there it could, in fact be that, you know, the steroids are were blocking a lot of my reactions. And that's why I came back with little to no reactivity. But yeah, I still want to give it a go. I'm going to do it in January.

Amy: 19:03

Yeah, though, it'll be fun to report back. And also they do as Katie was mentioning, they do have a lot of other tests, which I think would be interesting to have a hormone test, they have a COVID test they have, there was like a bunch of them. And I think the what the other tests that they have are probably a little bit more, I would guess straightforward. I think food sensitivity is hard, because it's really hard to like eliminate one thing and be like, do I feel this way because of this food? Or is it the weather? Or is it this or it's just more subjective? I feel like unless it's an allergy to your point, but I feel like some of the other tests might be more straightforward because it's more science sciency I don't know that's probably doesn't make sense. But absolutely like the thyroid testing

Katie: 19:40

is is just straight up blood hormonal testing. That will mean you can have your doctor run for the reasons why people would maybe go through everlywell for like thyroid and hormonal testing versus your doctor. I'm not 100% sure either that just maybe convenience. We might not have that great of insurance. Yeah, so yeah. So

Amy: 19:58

yeah, and then and then It's interesting because then so they give you the results. And then after they give you the results, they say, you know, decide what's next. And then they kind of tell you how to do an elimination diet. And they give you steps to do that. And they have a lot of Q and A's. And then the other thing that I thought was nice is they have, I don't know, if it's, I think it's doctors you can speak with that can help you through the process that you can talk to a little bit more. They have it as clinical and lab teams that you can talk to about questions about your specific specific results. And then the other thing I don't know, Katie, if you saw this, I printed this out, I'm gonna show it to you. They you can print out a report like a more kind of clinical report for your doctor. So I actually like the way that they do this for, for regular consumers, they break it out in a really easy way to read, like, they just say, you know, here's your high reactivity, here's your moderate, here's your mild and list out the things like all the foods, but you could also send this to your doctor, and it's printed out like a lab report. So it shows which foods are abnormal and normal. So I think like I could send this to my doctor and talk through it with her, which I think is great. So my review of this is a mixed review. I think it was interesting, and we'll continue talking about it because we're gonna do this fit elimination and see how we feel. Keep our food journals.

Katie: 21:11

Yeah, definitely. Okay, that was great. Now, Amy, let's hear about your review this week. I'm excited to hear it.

Amy: 21:19

Yeah, so I'm doing a review on a company called usual. U S, u a l so usual wine. And I discovered this brand over quarantine. I feel like I discovered so many brands for quarantine. But this is a company that produces wine in California. And they do it by the bottle, but it's a nice large glass by the bottle. So it's for those days when you want to have a glass of wine, but you don't want to open up a whole bottle because you're not going to be drinking the bottle but you just want a nice glass so they sell red Rosae Brut, and they come out with different kinds of types of wine throughout their season. But the reason why I really like this is there's no additives. There's no added sugar, and there's no sulfates, and for me that's great because I love red wine, but I have a hard time drinking it because it gives me headaches, for sure. So when I drink this one, I do not get a headache the next day, which is awesome. And it's really good wine, the red wine actually, they describe it as it having notes of cocoa dark cherry and I don't even know how to pronounce this word, cassis CSSI s, but it's really good. It almost tastes like a like a Cabernet Sauvignon or something but a lighter version, and it's really yummy. And then the rose is delish, and that you can buy as well. So essentially, it comes in a box of either 612 or you can get larger cases of it. But a box of six is $48. And a box of 12 is $96. And what I like to do is I'll buy like six reds and six roses, and I just put them in my fridge. And when I want to have a glass of wine, I do it and I feel really good drinking it because it doesn't have that extra sugar or it doesn't have the sulfates there's no additives. So it's really clean, really well made. And I love it. So I have been recommending it to everyone. I talked to you because it's super yummy. And I love it.

Katie: 23:13

It sounds delicious. And if you break that down, that's like $8 A glass of wine. I mean, that's cheaper than what you would get at a restaurant. Right? You know exactly.

Amy: 23:23

Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah. And I forgot to mention the glass that it comes in is really beautiful. So it's just a very chic experience the whole thing. Yeah, I have to send you some so you can try it. So highly recommends that glass of wine on a cold, chilly night love it and I will be drinking it all winter long.

Katie: 23:47

So something different this week, we wanted to send you off with a mantra to carry through your week and help bring you some nirvana. And to keep us in mind. So you can tune back to the next episode. Take this one, say it to yourself and just you know, push through the next week with a smile on your face. Because here it is, you will get to where you need to be.

Amy: 24:12

Oh, I love that. I like that I'm gonna I'm gonna do that. I'm gonna listen to that this week. I'm gonna say that to myself, and it's very relevant for what we talked about today. Exact so thank you for listening to today's episode. And cheers.

Katie: 24:27

We'll see you next time.

Amy: 24:28

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

Episode 2 - Breathe… Movement Matters (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 2, Breathe… Movement Matters..

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.

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: 0:27

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

Amy: 0:32

are sisters in law who share the same love for well being ready to sift through all this self care noise and bring you a splash of what we think is fun. So let's get started. In today's episode of Nirvana Sisters, we talk about the importance of fitting daily movement and meditation into your routine.

Katie: 0:52

Amy discusses how she mixes it up to keep it fresh, and I talk about my love for reformer Pilates. And at the end, a really new and exciting way to start your morning, Amy has been using a great product to help her wake up. And Enjoy.

Amy: 1:08

Hello, welcome to Nirvana sisters. Hi, Katie, what's going on. Okay, so we are back with another episode. And today we are going to discuss one of our favorite topics for both of us, which is movement and meditation. Then after that, we're going to go into my top three favorite products of the week. And then we'll talk about our weekly nirvana. So let's get started. cating. I think both of us are really passionate about this topic. We have tried so many different things over the years. And we're just going to talk about kind of a few of our favorite things. But I just wanted to start to kind of talk about health movement, as we both know is really important in your life. I mean, I think that some people can get intimidated and think they always have to like workout really hard and be sweating every day. But I think it's really just about moving your body, whether it's five minutes a day, 15 minutes a day, 20 minutes a day, I think, many years ago, I decided I'm not going to make myself crazy, but I am going to make sure that I have some type of movement every day because I was feeling like I had to do something where I was doing cardio and you know, killing myself every day. But then what I realized is as long as you're moving, even if it's walking, you're doing something for your body, you're feeling better your endorphins are going and you have a much better day and feel more balanced. And before we sort of jump into it, I actually saw this article this week. It's written by this woman her name, I just discovered her her name is Kaki, oh Gomorrah if I pronounced that correctly, and she wrote an article called how Japanese people stay fit for life without ever visiting the gym. And then I realized she has a Japanese wellness blog, which is really interesting. Anyway, I Kyoko Mora wrote this article about how Japanese people stay fit for life without ever visiting a gym. And one of the things she says in her blog is that in Japan, people don't really think about exercises working out, they really think about it as just walking in that they don't really think about as exercising, it's just their way of life. So I'm just going to read a couple sentences from this article that she wrote this week, which says what the above results show is not that exercise isn't important to be healthy, but that in Japan's approach to moving perhaps most don't see it as exercise. Japanese adults walk an average of 6500 steps a day, with male adults in their 20s to 50s, walking nearly 8000 steps a day on average, and women in their 20s to 50s, about 7000 steps. Okinawans in particular are well known for their walking culture, being especially mindful about incorporating movement in their daily lifestyle. Nagano overall prefecture in Japan was able to flip their high stroke rate by incorporating over 100 walking routes. And now their citizens enjoy the highest rates of longevity in the country, which I think was really interesting part of the article. So all this being said, I just think that any sort of movement you're doing on a daily basis is super important for your body. I'm going to let Katie talk about what she prefers to do. And we'll kind of talk about what our routines are to keep to keep moving.

Katie: 4:10

Yeah, I mean, I'm just like you I mean that I don't go and hit the gym for an hour every day of the week. I can't do it. I mean, I used to be able to do it when I didn't have to chase after my kids all day and I could sleep in and I can recover. But now it's just a matter of if I think get in a good 20 to 30 minute workout, even if it's just walking like LIS low intensity steady state. It's so good for you. And then also, we're busy moms, right? We're running around in house all day. We're chasing after our kids. We're cleaning our house. We're running errands, I mean just the act of being on your feet all day. A lot of people kind of take that for granted if you if you're not super sedentary. The idea is to just not be sedentary, right? Just sit in a chair all day and if you do have to sit in a chair all day Do you have to be in an office or you have to be behind a computer screen that's when you need to make sure that you're taking the stairs when you can take the stairs that you're you know, just walking, park the car a little bit further and walk to to the to the store entrance.

Amy: 5:13

Yeah or do or do a walking meeting which I do a lot. I'll walk around my neighborhood and be on a call or have a standing desk or make sure you're having stretch breaks or whatever it may be.

Katie: 5:22

Yeah, that's great. And meanwhile, of course, utilizing exercise is ideal and that is what's going to keep us the healthiest and the fittest for the longest in our lives. So having said that, I've tried everything I've tried everything from weightlifting, I've done bar I've done cycling, I used to be a runner when I was in my early 20s for kids, I've run six miles and I loved it. But I just it's some of it's too intense for me now. My main sources of exercise are yoga and pilates. I know what are you doing you're are you still doing the peloton cycling I do treadmill I do a

Amy: 5:57

mix so I do so same I use I've done like everything I've done weight training, strength training, just all sorts of different things. And what I found for me is the most effective is things that I love to do. So yes, I got the peloton years ago and I did because I did cycling forever. I did SoulCycle I did all the cycling classes. Then I got the peloton. Love that I just got the peloton tread a couple years ago and now I've become somewhat of a runner which I'm not a runner. But I think the thing that I like the most is just mixing it up. I can't do the same thing every day I get bored. So lately, what I've been doing is just like a mix between like cycle running, walking, yoga and pilates. And so actually since quarantine be gone, I really leaned into a lot of yoga and pilates because I think it's been really helpful just to de stress and all of that. And I've been doing the Melissa wood health app, which I know we'll probably talk about in a little bit, but it's been great. So I'll do that a few days I'll do peloton a few days I'll do running walking. So I just like to mix it up because it just kind of depends what I'm in the mood for if I feel like I have a lot of energy, maybe I'll do a peloton run and I'll do a Robin orizon ride she's amazing or ride, walk, run whatever it is. She's awesome. She's like so much energy and she's always playing hip hop. And it's super fun. And then on the days, I just want to kind of have a flow I'll do a Melissa would. So it just kind of depends. But I found for me at least that mixing things up really helps and gets me more excited to to move every day. And it just kind of whatever feels intuitive for me that day. I'll do so what about you, I know you're really big into yoga and pilates. So I kind of want to hear what you're doing now.

Katie: 7:25

I am so yoga has has been my mainstay, especially through quarantine because I didn't have to leave my house, I use the Allen moves app. It's fantastic. They have 1000s of classes, all of these different instructors, every different variety for advanced levels or intermediate beginner that I started doing a couple of years ago and I'm the same if I don't mix it up, then I'm not going to stay I'm not going to continue to exercise if I did the same thing, four days a week, every week of my life, I would be so burnt out, I would just not want to exercise ever again. So I also like to do, like I said earlier, low intensity steady state is really good for my autoimmune diseases, because anything that's high impact is not great on people that have cortisol issues, which that's part of my Addison's disease. So I have to do more low impact and you know, I can get on the treadmill while well resist napping and walk on there for an hour and listen to podcasts like ours.

Amy: 8:22

saying about low you said like a word. I don't know what that that's called. It's called lists. So

Katie: 8:28

you've heard of hit right high intensity interval training. So the opposite of that is less low intensity steady state. That's when you're on a treadmill, you're walking at like you know brisk pace for a long length of 45 minutes, an hour, hour and a half. And you want to just kind of keep your heart rate slightly elevated at the same, same elevation is the same rate the entire time.

Amy: 8:52

Oh, that's interesting. Okay, so would yoga and pilates fall in that category? Or is that a different category?

Katie: 8:57

It's a different category. Well, actually, it's not that different because you're, you're not changing your heart rate so much throughout yoga, pilates, maybe a little bit more. You know, I'd love to talk about reformer Pilates. Have you ever done a reformer Pilates class?

Amy: 9:14

You know, I've done it a few times. But I we haven't done it enough that I have an opinion on it, I guess.

Katie: 9:21

Yeah, it's honestly i It's the one thing that I have done consistently through the years I started doing it 10 years ago. I absolutely love it. It's so effective. And it's interesting and it's different every time and it's low impact, but you're still getting a full body workout. First of all, what a reformer is right for those of you that are listening that haven't done it, it's like it's kind of like a bed like carriage and it has springs on it that aid in the resistance and then has all these straps on it and you and it rolls back and forth and you you're using your own bodyweight plus the resistance of the sprays and their swift straps and there's there's arm straps. There's a million different things that you can do it but A fantastic thing about it that I love is every single exercise or move that you're going to do on it. It has to start in the core. It's Pilates is all centered around our core, all core. And the other reason why people have so much success with it to get like the long lean muscles is because it has something called it does. Eccentric muscle contractions, that's when you're lengthening your muscles as your muscles are resisting force. So that's like, you know, the ballerina, the long, lean muscles, which I prefer. You know, people say a lot of people think that when you start weight training that you're going to bulk up, you're gonna turn into Hulk Hogan, like that's not trill. But there is a different look between someone that's going to the gym and lifting 35 4050 pounds women doing squats with 50 pounds versus somebody doing Pilates and yoga, right?

Amy: 10:57

I totally agree. I mean, I have done well, it's funny that you say the long, lean lines thing, because so Melissa would help for those who are listening who don't know who she is, she has an app, I think it's $10 a month, which is really affordable. And she does all of her. Her sort of trademark is long, lean lines and her exercises and her Pilates moves probably have the same principles as a reformer Pilates, you're just not using the reformer. But I found a lot more. My body has changed definitely from doing that versus weight training, because I had a trainer for years and did a lot of weight training. And it was fine. But I did feel a bit bulkier. I mean, I did feel really strong, but I wasn't as defined as I wanted to be. And I feel like her program and probably yours. With Pilates, you get a lot more defined in your arms and your core and your legs. There's just more of that like long lean muscle than it is when you're doing squats and lifting and just doing that heavy weight. I just feel like depending on what your body reacts to, but I just feel like that does not produce that result as much.

Katie: 12:03

She's definitely utilizing like mat Pilates, Pilates moves, and some yoga moves, which is fantastic. I love it. I've done it at home as well, especially when I couldn't get on the reformer during quarantine. But yeah, the, you're still gonna get really strong on the reformer, which is what I like like unless we map out probably the big difference. Yeah, if you're doing mat work unless you have like a heavy ankle weights on and you're using, you know hand weights the entire time and you're varying the, the weight of the weight, you're not going to gain as much muscle it is going to turn you and you're going to lean out. But you're not going to be able to necessarily gain muscle mass like you can when you're using the reformer because the resistance springs are there. But it's it's also phenomenal for posture, and a lot of people use it to recover from injuries. It's great for relaxing. Yeah, back problems. So I know

Amy: 12:56

have you been able to do the reformer during quarantine,

Katie: 12:59

I just I wasn't I I have worked with a personal trainer off and on for years. And then I stopped obviously, because I didn't want to go to a gym anymore. And it was just kind of getting out of control. And it's so expensive. It really can be very expensive. But I found an amazing studio. Locally, they have six reformers in one room. And the only people that are in the entire place are the people that are on the reformers and the trainer. And then they have these huge plastic partitions in between each reformer. Oh, that's perfect. Yeah, it's it's I honestly, I love it. I'll plug it it's couple of Pilates body bar here in Northern Kentucky. And it's been great. I'm back on the reformer again, which I love.

Amy: 13:37

That's so great. I've taken the classes, we don't have I'd like to find a small studio here like that we have some larger Pilates studios. And they do have the partitions. I guess I could try it again. But it just makes me a little bit nervous during this time, but I'd rather go somewhere a little bit smaller. But yeah, I need to try that and mix that into my routines. Okay, so we sort of have reviewed our routines and what we'd like and I think that the general idea just for anyone listening, any sort of movement for your body is great. It is so good for your body for your minds for kind of everything right? I mean, it's

Katie: 14:12

even just stretching even just a day like if you're tight and you want to go and do take 15 minutes, just stretch it out. Like that is also considered movement. Yeah. So

Amy: 14:22

key message here daily movement, and that so I wanted to to move on a bit and talk about meditation. Now, Katie, I don't know if you meditate. I know. We've talked about it a little bit. But I don't remember. If I have a meditation practice, like on and off probably right.

Katie: 14:37

Yeah. And I after you've talked about it, I have a great app to share. But yeah.

Amy: 14:43

So I try. I mean, it kind of depends on what's going on. I've been trying to infuse it and what I found to be the most helpful because I think when people think about meditation, it sounds very intimidating, but it's really not if you think about like, I do it five minutes a day because I love People don't have patience like me. And it's really hard to sit there. So but I can sit there for five minutes. So I have this app that I use, I have a few apps, but one of the apps that I use is called simple habit. And I can't remember where I found out about it. But it's a free app, I think there's a paid version of it as well. But I like simple habit, because they have a section on it, that's called on the go. And you say, like, if you want to do five minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, so I just do five, and then it'll say, different topics, like, you know, can't sleep stressed, need to let go, like, it just has all these different topics, you can just do a quick meditation. So sometimes I'll do one in bed just to relax before bed, sometimes I'll do one in the morning to get energy. But it's five minutes, and you can just kind of breathe and let it go. So that's a really good one. I've been trying to work up to like a little bit longer of a meditation. So speaking of Melissa, what, how, um, she has some meditations on her app, which are really good, but you're like 1020 minutes. So I've been trying those lately, and it's a little bit harder, but it is good. Her meditations are really good because they really focus on the breath work. And then I have some things that I try to do. There's a Dr. Weil, who's like a very famous holistic doctor has a technique called 478, where you breathe in for four, you hold it for seven, and then you breathe out for eight. And you just do that you do that four times, and then you kind of repeat it and the more you practice it, the easier it is to do. But I do that a lot. If I wake up in the middle the night and I can't fall back asleep, I just do 478. And I'm like back to sleep. And like one second. I've been doing it for so many years that it's really easy for me to do. But when you first start doing it, it's a little bit hard. So those that are listening, you can look up 478 technique, and you'll see it online, but that's another great one. So I consider meditation, really anything that's sort of like just taking a step back and just breathing out. So whether you're sitting and doing it or you're doing this breath work in bed, or there's like this nostril breathing technique that I don't know, Katie, if you've seen but you just put one finger on your nostril, and yeah, breathe in. And it really helps to relax you if you're stressed out. So I just kind of tried to do those things every day, as little stressors come up, I need to do it more. I think we all do. But I think it's along with daily movement, having some sort of daily breathwork, or daily meditation is so good for your health. And it really helps to keep your stress levels low. So those are my kind of thoughts about it.

Katie: 17:18

I use Insight Timer. Meditation. Oh, yeah, I've used that before. Yeah, I just did one the other night for decompression, but also for people that maybe I don't know, for whatever reason don't have access to an app or something I learned recently, the simplest form of meditation when you're just starting out. If you can go outside, close your eyes and pick a sound that you want to listen for. Maybe it's a bird chirp. And don't think about anything else. Just wait for that bird chirp. And every time you hear a bird chirp, you think about it. Oh, there's a bird chirping? And then you wait for the next one. Oh, there's another bird chirping? If you do that, that really committed? Yeah, if you're really committed to just waiting for that sound, your thoughts aren't going to creep in. And then it's really cool. Yeah,

Amy: 17:58

I like that idea.

Katie: 17:58

It's just a super simple way of clearing your mind and take it actually

Amy: 18:03

sounds like a great idea to do with kids. Because I always tell my kids like to do like a little meditation with me. And of course, they always roll, roll our eyes and laugh. But I think if we're outside, that's like a good, fun thing to do. I also want to have a hard time paying attention to meditation, even if it's five minutes, sometimes. Some of these instructors will give you a little mantras to say so you're saying something in your mind as you're doing it. So it keeps you focused versus your mind, like wandering off. So I love that I'm going to try that outside idea today. Okay, so two things that I think Katie and I, you know, really live by is this daily movement and daily meditation and making sure that there's balance just to keep you kind of clear headed, ready for your day ready to take on anything and that you think those things are really, really important. And I try to spread the love on all of those all the time. So moving on, I am going to talk about a couple of my favorite things of the week. I have three things that I just want to talk about quickly before we wrap up. And one of them I'm speaking of movement is called a Thai massage, which is nothing new but I had just never done one before. My friend Natasha had always told me about Thai massage. And so I want to do it. I just never did it. And so I had someone come to my house socially distanced outside, like it's not socially distance, but we were both wearing a mask outside. So it was I felt safe. And this was a couple of weeks ago and I got a Thai massage. And it was the most amazing thing. I've never had a massage like this Katie it was like her feet were like on my shoulders. I don't even know what she was doing. And it kind of hurt but felt good at the same time. Because my muscles were so tight and my shoulders and my neck and my hamstrings and I guess she was like walking on me and pulling in different things. But it was really gentle. So it wasn't like jarring by any means but it was also painful because she would like get into the knots and my shoulders and like with her feet and like really kind of push and pull. But it was also really gentle and nice. It was I think I did 90 minutes And I was so relaxed afterwards, I just like laid on the couch and just I wasn't tired. I was just my body felt so relaxed and so rejuvenated I, I didn't realize how much I needed it until I had it. So I like caught everyone on I was like, Oh my God, you have to get a Thai massage. So I still need to make another appointment to get one because it was so good in my body for the next week or two felt so aligned and so balanced. Wow, never have, we just like, for like a week, like my posture felt better. My breathing felt better. I just felt like, really loose and relaxed and nimble. And I've just haven't felt that way before from massage. So that's going to be my new go to

Katie: 20:38

that's love to heaven. And then you got me a time inside. Like I didn't

Amy: 20:41

do it outside. It was so nice. So that was one thing. The next thing that I found on Amazon, which I'll put in the show notes, which is really random, but really good for winter. For those of us on the east coast where it's starting to get cold and dark at night, I found this sunrise alarm clock, which I'd heard about before, but I never really thought about it, but I started reading about it. And it's made a huge difference in waking up in the morning. Because in the morning, you usually have like your alarm clock, and it's loud and annoying. And it's very jarring. But the sunrise alarm clock, you say let's say you want to get up at seven in the morning, you put the timer on. And then what happens from 645 to seven. It's like a gentle sunrise. So you don't you don't wake up you just the room gets a little bit lighter, but it's right next to your head. And it's like not a jarring light. It's really like a muted sort of light and it for 15 minutes just goes a little bit at a time. And then at seven o'clock, you can pick your sound, but I do like birds chirping and it's like a light bird chirp so and I have a hard time getting up and it's I only have it on like volume three, but I hear it I almost sometimes wake up before the bird chirp because I guess feel the light somehow. But it's a very gentle way to get up. I mean,

Katie: 21:49

I have to tell you, it's amazing that you're bringing that up this morning I was reading about the two hormones cortisol and melatonin. Melatonin is what puts us to sleep. Cortisol is what wakes us up in the morning. And these two things are triggered naturally by sunrise and sunset.

Amy: 22:03

Oh, wow. Yeah, there you go. Yeah, that must be while some genius invented this because it seriously has changed my waking up experience because I'm not a morning person. As Katie knows she gets up early. I'm not such an early riser, my husband knows. But this has really helped me to get out kind of in a better mood and more ready for the day because it's just like a gentle nice ease. And especially in the winter when it's really dark in the morning. So I love it. And I got I'll put it in the notes. But I there's some really expensive ones, but the one I got was very reasonably priced and so far so good with it. So highly recommend that. And then my last thing talking about meditation is I have this meditation cushion from a company called Mala collective. I was introduced to them through work last year, and I met the founder and she's amazing. And this question is just around beautiful cushion, but it it's statically beautiful. It's really well made. And it's super comfy. So when you sit on it to meditate, it just has like a really comfortable like the perfect size. So when you sit on it, your sits bones really kind of like sink in and you just can kind of it's a nice way. So you're not like sitting on the floor. Sometimes when you sort of sit on the floor and meditate or do something it's not as comfortable. So this just makes it really comfortable. From meditation standpoint. That would be my fav of the week. So just wanted to share that with you, Katie. Nice. And before we wrap up, let's talk about our weekly nirvana. I'll let you start Katie.

Katie: 23:22

Yeah, mine. It's kind of silly. But my weekly Nirvana this week was my salad. I made the most delicious salad and I eat it every day. This week. It was Oh my god. It was a super simple it was a warm kale and chicken salad and I just saw did some kale and some coconut oil and added some like shredded rotisserie chicken straight out of the fridge so easy. And then I topped it with some scallions and some almonds. I made a plant based coconut milk ranch dressing and it was just like, amazing. You know how in the summertime you want salads, but when it's cold in the winter, you don't want a salad because the salad is cold. Right? This was like my answer the warm I got

Amy: 24:03

I felt so good. It was so good. I need to make that today. Okay, well, my nirvana of the week, which was probably a lot of people's in America is Nirvana was last weekend, celebrating the win of Joe Biden. I just I'm so excited about that. And I think everyone or people that are in the same mindset as Biden, were really happy last weekend, and I think people sort of had that release and breath out last weekend. So I was really excited about that. But I wish I had a food one because that sounds really good. And now I'm really hungry and I need to eat something. Yeah.

Katie: 24:36

Make a salad for lunch. Yeah.

Amy: 24:38

So that's it for this week. Thanks, everyone, friends for tuning in to today's episode. And for more information on this episode, check out our show notes find us on Instagram as always at Nirvana sisters, and if you loved what you listen to or know someone that would please share it but don't forget to check us Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana sisters. We're so excited because we're both doing The food sensitivity test from everlywell, which Katie has been doing a lot of research on, and we'll talk more about it next week, but we're both going to try it this week and share our results on the podcast. So and we'll see you next week. Bye bye

Episode 1 - How To Live A Plant Based Lifestyle & Introducing The Nirvana Sisters - Birth Day (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 1 How To Live A Plant-Based Lifestyle & Introducing The Nirvana Sisters - Birth Day.

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. Hey, welcome to episode one of Nirvana sisters, our first episode so we did it, we're here and we are calling this episode our birth day because it's our first episode. And it's been talking about for ever. So I'm glad we're finally here. And we doing this thing and

Katie: 0:57

it also happens to be your birthday. So happy, happy birthday.

Amy: 1:02

Thank you. So our goal was to get this taped on, get this recorded on my birthday and use that as our launch date. So anyway, let's get to it. So today's episode is talking about plant based diet. It's like the trendiest thing you feel like you hear about it from every person on Instagram, and it's just like, sort of this thing that everyone's doing, but you're like, what is it? Is it? Is it vegan? Is it? Is it

Katie: 1:30

terian, right? And Katie,

Amy: 1:34

always is up on all the health trends. She's always paying attention to her body and her well being. And so she started doing plant based. I've done it, I've been on it, I've been off of it. But I just thought this would be a good time to kind of talk through what it means because I think there's a lot of confusion out there about what it actually means and what it is. And it seems intimidating, but it's really not. So Katie, can you just tell us? Well, you know, tell us why you started. But before that, can you give us like the audience a one on one on what plant based is and what it isn't? Because I think there's just a lot of confusion.

Katie: 2:07

Yeah, sure. So plant based is not quite vegan, and it's not quite vegetarian. And the reason for that is because veganism is drawn really, it's driven mostly by people's morals and values. It's more about protecting animals and the planet. And then vegetarianism is when you still can eat some animal products like dairy or eggs. So plant based is actually the most strict form of eating as you know, plants only and that you don't allow for dairy and you don't allow for eggs. You eat more whole foods. But it's not so much about your moral compass. It's for your health. Okay, the reason why

Amy: 2:53

the fit of being good to the earth.

Katie: 2:57

Yeah, that's a bonus. The reason why it's so super popular and trendy right now is because of obviously, you know, the COVID era that we're in, people are more focused on their health and their immune system being, you know, boosted and super healthy. And the best way to do that is by eating a lot of plants,

Amy: 3:15

right? So when did you start eating plant based and take us through your journey with it.

Katie: 3:20

I started probably, like three months ago, I did it for a solid two months I for me, I was driven mostly because of gut health, I was having a lot of stomach issues from kind of eating, you know, poor diet through COVID, all the stress eating eating junk food, and a totally screwed up my microbiome, my gut, which in turn was starting to affect my immune system, and I was getting sicker and just not feeling well. So I thought it would be a good way to just kind of reset things. And I actually really enjoyed it. But it's not, it can be a little bit. It can be a little intimidating. I think that's why a lot of people don't do it.

Amy: 4:02

But where do I start?

Katie: 4:04

Yeah, and it's easier now and more accessible than it ever has been? The the, you know, the food manufacturers are on to the trend. And they're making more products, more plant based products that are whole food driven, more convenient products. So it's not as unaccessible and difficult as it once was. You don't have to cook every single meal from scratch. But it is yeah,

Amy: 4:32

yeah, no, that makes sense. And so how did you learn to eat plant base? Was it did you research was a trial and error like how did you kind of get on a routine?

Katie: 4:41

I learned to do plant based really on my own trial and error. But I also did work with a nutritionist which is highly suggested if you can because there are certain things that you want to do to keep yourself from almost getting sick before you get healthy right so we When you transition from a plant based from your standard American diet to a plant based diet, it's really important that you kind of do it slowly, maybe change out one meal at a time, so that you are not all of a sudden bombarded with a ton of fiber. Eating a lot of plants comes with an extreme amount of fiber, which is exactly what you want. That's good for you that's going to boost your immune system, it's going to bring prebiotics into your gut, boosting your gut health 70% of your immune system lives in your gut. So eating all of that fiber and prebiotics is is the reason why we are driven to the plant based diet. But if you all of a sudden go from eating very little fiber to a ton of fiber, like 1520 25 grams a day, you are going to get very bad stomach issues like of course bloating, and gas and constipation, all that stuff. So they tell you to slowly introduce it, replace one meal at a time. And then also a few other key factors are eat a huge variety of plants. It sounds daunting, but they suggest 60 varieties of plants a week, or but you have to keep in mind that's not just like vegetables, right? That's fruits, that's lagoons, that's grains. That's nuts, that seeds, tubers, like there's a white there's actually a wide variety when you look at all of the plants, what are tubers. tubers are like root vegetables, things like you know, like parsnips and rutabagas.

Amy: 6:30

Okay, so, so this is a dumb question. But can you eat eggs or you can't eat eggs,

Katie: 6:39

you can't know if you want to be truly plant based. You can't eat eggs, but there's also a great egg substitute one of the best on the market now it's called just eggs. It's made from beans. Best products right now that are on the market are just eggs is phenomenal to me from mung beans to beyond meat products. There's a little bit of like a mixed review in the vegan world on them, but they're actually really pretty clean. They're made from pea protein. So less products are being made from things like soy, which there's nothing wrong with soy, but some people handle it better than others. And there's also great things like you know, almond milk, yogurt, coconut yogurt. Cauliflower based Depp's like one of our favorites in this house is case out but it's made from cauliflower has no dairy and it's so good.

Amy: 7:23

Yeah.

Katie: 7:24

What have you tried,

Amy: 7:25

I've tried all a lot of those things. And I've done the beyond burger, which you know, and I, there's something about it, I just like I've had it. And then every time I have it, it has this taste. And I think it's the soy that I react to. And then I have the same issue with just ag but they recently took their soy out. So now I can have all of the patties and the liquid and all that stuff. And it's great. But the beyond burger for some reason doesn't agree with me, as well as some of the other ones. But I love all the cauliflower made products like cauliflower crust pizza, and all of that stuff is awesome that you're right. There are a lot of alternatives that I'm thinking about if you're going to the store all the almond milk products and coconut milk. And so can you see so the idea is you want to start small, so you want to introduce it one meal a day over what like a week's time,

Katie: 8:14

it really over a few weeks time, the slower you do it, the easier it's going to be on your system. Some people once you have like fully transitioned to eating only plants, you're still without a doubt going to have a bit of discomfort there's going to be a transitional period. Some people it goes away in two weeks. Some people it goes away in three months, I mean your body's detoxifying, right, so you've been eating animal products, you've been eating processed foods, so your body's getting rid of chemicals, hormones, antibiotics, all of these things that are added to our standard American diet. So as you're flushing that out, you're probably going to have a little bit of fatigue and not feel so great. And in the meantime your stomach's also going to be adjusting to all of this extra fiber. The great thing about the fiber though is that it is helping you flush out toxins fiber actually binds on to all those toxins in your body. Like if you have extra estrogen, it's going to flush that out of you every day, every day that you go to the bathroom. If you've eaten an appropriate amount of fiber it's going to pull all of that out which is phenomenal. If you have health issues.

Amy: 9:20

Yeah. And then so you must feel like after doing it for a few months you must feel so good and like clean and help like your skin looks great. I'm looking at you know and you just probably feel really like different.

Katie: 9:34

You do once your body adjust and you're running on what I like to call clean fuel. You feel phenomenal. You have so much energy. You don't go through a lot of the like highs and lows that you get with the standard American diet with like glycemic index jumps and everything blood sugar highs and lows. Your energy is very, very steady and I don't really know why I think my theory I could be wrong. It's a very zen energy. And I think that's because you're filling your body with a lot of like all the minerals and antioxidants and nutrients that your body is supposed to get. It gives you a very just xem, calm, steady state of energy. That was my favorite byproduct of it, besides, of course, it being good for the planet and my immunity.

Amy: 10:24

Yeah, and the thing is to, if you like, really think about it so simple. I mean, it's, it's foods that are coming from the earth, that they're organic. And you know, there's nothing at it. And so it's really going back to basic, which, you know, there's just so many things made nowadays with chemicals and all these extra ingredients that we don't need. And it's really just going back to basics. If you think about it, do you find that you are hungry?

Katie: 10:52

No, no. And that has, again, a lot to do with the fiber fiber is really filling. And actually you can eat, you eat a much bigger up larger portions that are more nutrient dense, but less calorically dense. So you get really full eating buckets of vegetables, it's what it can feel like you're eating, I mean, very small calories. That's why a lot of people that eat plant based diet are pretty lean, too. So if if somebody's trying to lose weight, it's phenomenal for that. It also is phenomenal for people that have diabetes, hypertension, you can literally reverse type two diabetes, within weeks of starting a plant based diet, you can lower your cholesterol levels. It's phenomenal for just kind of doing an overhaul on your body and getting you into your peak performance your peak state.

Amy: 11:47

I love it. You're nirvana. Yeah, exactly. I mean, I think the key is, and I probably didn't do this, well, when I tried to eat plant based, it's really taking your time and doing it for the long haul versus just like all of a sudden being like, I'm gonna be plant based. And I'm going to do this for a couple of weeks. Like, I think it's more about taking your time. Like, if you're trying to lose weight, one would say, you know, you need to do that over months time. It's just like, if you want to go plan pace, it sounds like you need to do it over time. So your body adapts, and you it's like a gentle ease into it versus just like, oh, let me just switch real quick and try to do something. So I think that's an important lesson. I mean, I have done Sokar life, which you know, for, I don't know, probably the last year or so. And I actually love it. I started doing it because I wanted to eat more plant based and I had read about it and might heard amazing things about it. So I tried it and I love it. I just don't get it every week anymore. I used to get it every week for a while. But then it was just I stopped and then all this pandemic stuff and I just kind of took a break and now I kind of get it maybe once or twice a month. But for anyone who's listening who has thought about Sakara life I know Katie, you're probably gonna try it at some point. I mean, you're plant based now. But the thing was Sokar life is, I think if you transition to plant based, it's great, but the thing was Sokar life is the recipes are so amazing. I could never make them at home. And every time I get a meal from them, it's so nutrient dense and rich like to the point you're saying like you know, I'm so full after every meal. It's amazing that I just had like all plant based meal I mean, it's so like, satisfying and so flavorful. I was talking to Katie already our vacation this summer and I was just saying like You're like eating and enjoying it so much because the recipes that they put together are just so flavorful and yummy and like you feel like you're getting really good nutrients and you just feel so good on that like I'm every time I have Sokar I'll do it for a week I'm not bloated, I feel like hype so much energy. So for anyone listening who has wanted to try it, I highly recommend it I it's a great way to kind of start to transition I do it sometimes like three days a week so I'm just like slowly introducing plant base. I just haven't gotten fully plant based yet even though I'd like to just because I don't know I haven't gotten

Katie: 14:09

better at doing it right that's that's the right way to do it as you're slowly kind of

Amy: 14:14

Yeah, I go through phases with it. But anyway Sokar is great. They have like a beautiful website and gorgeous photography. But not only that, the the the product is really really good really fresh. It comes in a like box with frozen ice packets and then you take it out and you just it's really great because everything's labeled for each day based on freshness and like they want you to eat certain things Monday versus Wednesday, and then everything's labeled and all the containers that they're in are nesting so it's really easy to put in your fridge. So anyway the the meals are great, the granola is great. Everything about it is amazing. I'm obsessed. I'm getting

Katie: 14:53

they get really creative with the recipes right like things that you somebody might want to cook at home, it's probably a bit too much because they have so many different ingredients and the way that they pair them. It's really special. The meals are it's like dining at an excellent restaurant. Right, exactly.

Amy: 15:14

That's a good comparison. 100%. And so it's really a treat. And the thing that I also like about it when I first started secara is I was like, oh, what's the calories? what's the, what's the macros, and I was like, all crazy with that. And I called and they're like, we don't really share that. I mean, we can tell you, you know, it has X amount of protein per meal, and whatever, but they're more like, it's more about the nutrients you're getting. And it's really have the mindset of not thinking about that stuff. And not thinking about the macros and the carbs, because it doesn't matter. If you're eating plant based and really good, fresh, organic from the ground, food, Whole Foods, then all of that stuff doesn't matter, because you're going to feel good and feel fit. And Sue the philosophy is a bit different. So highly recommend this plant based idea. Katie is definitely more of an expert than I am. But it's really interesting to hear about it. And I just wanted Katie to kind of talk through it on this episode, because it does feel like a trend. And I don't really think it's a trend. I think it's just something that people have been doing for years is now just more people are talking about it. But I mean, if you think about it, it's very simple. It's probably how our parents ate back in the day when there wasn't all these like crazy, packaged foods. So it's really just like simple Whole Foods, which is really back to basics. So I love it. All right, moving on something that we want to do in every episode, which is oh, you know what, before we do our nirvana of the week, or our favorite moment of the week, I forgot there was something I wanted to share with Katie I was waiting to tell her about it. So I'm a major sweets person, I'm obsessed with candy and all things bleep. And you know, I try not to eat it too much. But I'm always looking for hat. So my favorite hack are two candies that I found that one is plant base, which I will talk about first. So I'm showing Katie it's smart sweets, which is their kind of tagline is kick sugar, keep candy so it only has three grams of sugar. And it's plant based. It says it on the label and it's free from sugar alcohols which it says on the label I mean ingredients. I won't go through all of them there's not many but it's like prebiotic soluble fiber from tapioca rice flour, pectin, sugar word. Is that how you say it? Yeah, chicory root fiber, malic acid, etc, etc. But anyway, it's so yummy. You can have a bunch and it's really not doesn't have a lot of calories. And the one that I'm looking at right now I'm showing Katie is called peach rings. But it's great because if you are doing plant based and you want a little treat or you want to get that something sweet, smart sweets highly recommend love and then the other one, I have actually had the gummies they're delicious. Yeah, like I love it. Now they're coming out with like sweetness fish and all this stuff. So it's like if you're gonna eat candy, right? It's like, it's so much better for you. Totally. And then there's another brand that's new and emerging. I went to brand week a few weeks ago and it's called behave I'm showing Katie I have a little postcard that they sent me they sent me some samples. And it's a really cheap brand. It's called behave with like a slash in between the behave it's eat behave.com You can order it online. And these are gummies I don't think they're plant based yet. I think I was going through the ingredients with Katie earlier and they're not plant based, but they are low sugar. Same idea. With Smart sweets, and I think they're it's made from monkfruit. But there was something in it.

Katie: 18:34

It was a jello. Gelatin is deceiving, but it's made from collagen, which is an animal product.

Amy: 18:40

Yes. So I think this brand is probably working on a plant based version. But it's a new kind of emerging fun brand. And this one tastes a little bit different than smart, sweet, smart sweets. Kind of tastes like regular candy, which is great. And this one is more of like a gourmet type candy like it's made by chefs. So it's a little bit of a different spin. So smartsuite is kind of like your basic candy. But this one's like, really Gourmet and curated by chefs. So the founder partnered with some chef she knew in New York and put together this candy but it really feels like or may and my thought and

Katie: 19:16

what are teas and Oh, candy.

Amy: 19:18

That's exactly right, perfect word and it's really indulgent. So I highly recommend it. I'm gonna get some more of it. Because from a sugar standpoint, it's really low in sugar. So that's my my two favorite product reviews of the week. That was great. Okay, so the last thing we wanted to do before we sign off is just to talk about our nirvana of the week. So our high point of the week. So I'll start and my high point is actually today because it's my birthday, and we got to record our first podcast and I'm so happy about it. We've just been talking about this idea for so long. So I'm finally glad we got to do it and it's on my birthday and it's super fun to spend time with Katie and talk to you every week and I'll pass it off to you Katie. What's What's your no nirvana of the week?

Katie: 20:01

Well, I have to say not to be too unoriginal or anything but it's mine is totally my nirvana. It's so fun to be able to talk to you and to just be creative and express ourselves and it's great and I'm so excited and looking forward to everything that it's going to become and and yeah, and then I have one little other Nirvana which I'm think you'll think is funny was when I was on my way home from dropping my seven year old Madeline off at school this morning, my two year old Reese asked me to put Madonna on the radio. I was pretty impressed with that. And that gave me a little nerve on there.

Amy: 20:38

That's so cute. I love that receipt girl. Anyway, thanks, everyone. Thanks, friends for tuning into today's episode. For more information on this episode, check out our show notes and find us at Instagram at Nirvana sisters, and if you liked what you listened to, or you know someone that you think would like it, please share we are just starting and we're loving all of the feedback that we've already started to get and we just want to break things down and make them real and that's it. So tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana sisters, and we'll continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.