Episode 128 - Product Junkies: October - Snack Edition (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 128 .

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

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

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

Speaker C: Hello, Nirvana Sisters family. We are recording today, but Katie and I are definitely in a Daoic mood. With everything going on in Israel, we're just sending our prayers to the families there. What is happening is truly gruesome and it's really even hard to talk about without breaking up. So we just wanted to acknowledge that we see you, we stand with you, we pray with you, and we just hope something is resolved.

Speaker B: We hope it ends soon.

Speaker C: Yeah. That being said, Katie and I did have plans to record this week, and we are going to record a product junkies episode. It does feel silly to talk about sort of these light topics, but it is a good distraction for us because we had mentioned on our Instagram, but it's just been mentally challenging to do anything all week. So it's actually quite a good distraction to see Katie and just to talk about something that is not what else is happening, because I think we've all been consumed with the news and social media. So, with that being said, we are going to get into our October product junkies episode, and this time it is our Snack edition because we heard from some of you. You wanted to hear about, like, nutrition, snacks, food, things like that. So Katie and I have a little bit of a roundup of some things we've been loving lately. I will let Katie all right, well.

Speaker B: I am going to kick off our Snack edition with the number one thing that is almost always in my handbag when I am going to work. When I leave for the city, there's two things, and this is the first. And I'm obsessed. It's Trader Joe's. Just a handful of olives, pitted, salted manzanilla olive packs. Have you seen these?

Speaker C: Yum. No.

Speaker B: They're these little green packs that you can just peel off the top. And inside are all of these super salty yummy olives. And it's so good because it's very healthy fat. It's satiating. It can very much like if I'm in between appointments and I'm hungry, it can just tie me over and they're mean I'm obsessed. I buy loads of them when I go to Trader Joe's. And since I was traveling this past weekend, I don't have any at home right now, so I need to make a stop. But that is like my new fave. I love olives.

Speaker C: Oh, I love that. I love that.

Speaker B: It's like me too.

Speaker C: And I love that it's in travel packs because I've had some of those packs before, but they're like, bigger, so that's nice that they have travel packs.

Speaker B: It's literally, like, maybe three inches by two and a half inches. The pack. It's very small. You can toss it in your bag.

Speaker C: That's perfect. So you just throw it in. You just definitely want to have a.

Speaker B: Napkin with you when you're eating them. That's the only thing. A little salty, and I guess it's brine or like a little bit of oil on them or something, but it's a good one. What about you?

Speaker C: Okay, so I have a random I guess it's kind of a condiment. And Katie knows I'm obsessed with this because she had it recently at my house, but I literally can't stop eating it. I have severe issues. It's called chili crunch. And the brand I have I forget what the brand name is, but it's at Whole Foods. There's, like, a few at Whole Foods. And the one I have, I'll put it in our show notes, and I'll link to it whatever the brand is. But it's so, like, I literally put it on everything. It's almost like a chili oil with, like, red I don't know, some kind of peppers that make it yummy and spicy, but not too spicy. And so I put it on everything now, like, I've mixed it with eggs. I've mixed it with pasta sauce. I put it on everything. But I was saying to my husband the other day, I was like, I have to stop using it all the time because then I'm going to get sick of it, but I can't stop putting it on everything. Oh, you know what I did yesterday? I mixed it in. I had, like, a tuna like, tuna fish, and I just mixed it in the tuna fish. I sometimes have, like, salmon and mix it in. It goes with everything. It goes with sweet. It goes with everything. Anyway. Big fan of the chili crunch. I got mine at Whole Foods. Again, I'll post the brand, but I heard there is one at Trader Joe's that is also very good, but it's such a good way to top off a bland.

Speaker B: I've had the Trader Joe's one, and I've had the one at your house. And as the Gen Z would say, yours is elite. Whatever that brand is, is elite. So we need to add the brand to the show notes for it's really, really good. I mean, the Trader Joe's one, I'll.

Speaker C: Look it up as you tell me.

Speaker B: Yours is, like, next level. I'm obsessed with it too.

Speaker C: Okay. So I actually have it in my notes here. It says it's just called chili crunch. All natural, crunchy condiment. The brand is Chilicrunch.com, I guess because it says you can go to go for recipes, go to Chilicrunch.com. But I think the brand is just chili crunch. I don't know, but I'll link it. It's red and yellow, and it's yummy. It's also gluten free.

Speaker B: I mean, if the brand if all they do is make Chili Crunch, then it's got to be good.

Speaker C: Exactly. Here's what it says on the label just to give a little bit of description. Crunchy, smoky, and infused with just the right amount of heat, chili Crunch is made in small batches from a savory blend of toasted chilies, garlic, onion, and spices. The perfect partner for steak, chicken, fish, eggs, and roasted veggies. Also great on everything from pizza and pasta to burgers and tacos. Facts, facts.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: Okay.

Speaker B: All right. My next one is the other thing you're always going to find in my handbag, and this is lately, like my favorite brand. It is the new primal turkey jerky. I pretty much always have some kind of turkey jerky. Trader Joe's sells chomps. So does Whole Foods. There's that Vermont brand that I see at your house a lot, but the new Primal, it's lightly peppered turkey stick, zero sugar, 45 calories, 7 grams of protein, raised without added hormones and antibiotics, et cetera. But yeah, it's just a good one. Where did you I get these at Whole Foods. You can get them on Amazon.

Speaker C: And are the sticks like no, they're.

Speaker B: The bigger ones, which is good because I feel like the mini size is never enough. I like that you can see me walking down the city streets eating jerky like a random person at any given time of day.

Speaker A: Jerky and olives.

Speaker B: It's good stuff, though. What's your next one?

Speaker C: My next one, which you can also find in my bag, are and you saw them at my house, bienna chickpea snacks. I had recently been speaking with a nutritionist just to help me with eating and stomach issues and whatever, and she was like, a really good snack is just to have chickpeas at hand all the time because they have fiber, they have protein, and they're filling. So anyway, I found this brand, Vienna, or I knew the brand from other things that they make, but they sell them at Whole Foods and probably other, you know, just crunchy roasted chickpea snacks. And they have 6 grams protein, 6 grams fiber, and they have tons of different flavors, so I like all of them. But Rock and Ranch is my favorite. They also have barbecue. They have everything. They have habanero. I've tried them all. They're all good. The other little hack is they have honey roasted, and the honey roasted ones are sweet. So when I'm craving something sweet, it kind of does the trick because it has, like, sugar on the outside, so they're yummy. So anyway, big fan of the snacks. They are also grain free, vegan, gluten free.

Speaker B: You know who loves another pea snacks is Reese Chandler, my youngest daughter. She is obsessed. She either does the honey roasted, the sea salt, or the everything. She loves them all. Yeah.

Speaker C: So good.

Speaker B: And so good.

Speaker C: So another one good.

Speaker B: Really good bag. Okay, this is one of my latest obsessions, and I think it's become one of your latest obsessions as well. And it's an old fave, but a twist on an old fave. The gimme roasted seaweed snacks, which I know you love them, right? The sea salt, the regular ones are bomb, but the newest one that I'm obsessed with is I don't know how new it is, but it's new for me. The white cheddar flavor, and it's non dairy white cheddar, and it tastes so much like cheddar. It's insane. It's so good.

Speaker C: Yes. You got me into them.

Speaker B: I felt in the I'm obsessed with them. And you know what? They're not going to fill you up. They're not like a go to if you're really hungry. But if you want, like, a salty snacky bite, and especially if you want a salty snacky bite that's, like, almost practically feels, like calorie free, they're just really light. Like, one whole package is 30 calories, 2 grams of fat, two carbs, 1 gram of fiber, 1 gram of protein. So they're just a super light, good for a craving kind of snack. If you don't want to eat something that is calorie dense but you need a good salty bite, they're a go to.

Speaker C: Yeah, agreed. Love it. Okay, so my next one is a really good one too, and I've been having this every morning for breakfast is the Siggy's plant based coconut I always wanted to find because I'm supposed to not be eating dairy. So I've always been trying to find a really good non dairy yogurt, which I've had a really hard time finding. I feel like there's a brand that we've tried in the past. I can't remember the name of it that it's like okay, it's like an almond milk one, but it doesn't taste that good. But this one that I was recommended, sorry. Another thing about the non dairy yogurts is they don't really have a lot of protein, so they're, like, made from coconut milk, but they have, like, 1 gram of protein. I'm like, why am I eating this? It just feels like nothing. So anyway, the Siggy's one that I've been doing recently is called the one that I like, but there's a few different flavors. Is just the sweet and plain and sorry, sweet dogs are going crazy.

Speaker B: Cayet is father of the bride.

Speaker C: No? I don't know. Cayet is, like, isn't that quiet in Spanish? I always say to them, okay, so Siggy's plant based coconut I can't talk. What's wrong with me? Okay, Siggy's plant based coconut blend. I get the sweet and plain. Like I said, I get the big I don't know how many ounces it is. 24 ounce. One, because I use it every morning, and I take, like, a scoop, and it has 11 grams of protein and 4 grams of sugar. So really low in sugar, high in protein for a plant based yogurt. And I just do, like, a scoop, and I mix it with, like, berries and seeds, and it's, like, so filling. It's so yummy. It has, like, a really good texture. It's nice and smooth and thick. Which is another thing I find with some of the non dairy yogurts that are not thick. So I've been really enjoying that. And what I also do with it is when I make a smoothie in the afternoon, I'll throw like a scoop or two in to thicken it up. So anyway, huge fan of the cigarette.

Speaker B: You know what is in that? Because I saw it at the market. It has pea protein, which is what gives it the high protein content, at least the one I saw. Yeah.

Speaker C: Oh, is that what it is? Let me see what it says. It says cultured coconut milk.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker C: Pea protein, coconut oil, macadamia nut, butter, cane sugar, tapioca flour, fruit, pectin, and natural flavor. Yeah. All right.

Speaker B: Well, speaking of being, like, off dairy, you know me, I'm always down to find a great dairy replacement, and I have always pre my dairy issues. I loved creamy salad dressings, like Ranch and Caesar and everything, and I've never, ever found a good non dairy replica until now. So the brand Gotham Greens, I don't know if you've seen they're at Whole Foods, and they have the first yeah, the first I saw of it was they sell greens like, they sell lettuces and things like that.

Speaker C: Yeah, that's right.

Speaker B: Exactly. So now they're doing salad dressings, and their vegan Caesar and vegan Ranch is so spot on. It's insane. It's so good, especially the Caesar. I have probably been eating grilled chicken Caesar salads, like three or four days a week for the last two months. Because I'm obsessed with this.

Speaker C: I have to try what are the ingredients?

Speaker B: Like, what's in it? Well, yeah.

Speaker C: Or is it high in fat? Or I always like to look even on the non dairy, does it have protein? Is it high in fat, high in sugar stuff?

Speaker B: I'll Google that really quickly, but I can tell you what's in it. What's in it is sunflower oil, filtered water, white vinegar, natural flavor, sea salt, seasonings, like garlic powder, chickpea protein, and then a lot of other things are seasonings. So usually these dairy free replacements, a lot of times are tofu or like soy. And that was a great thing about this, is that it doesn't have anything like that. Let me see if I can find the nutrition content really quickly. So it's definitely fat based, which doesn't surprise me because it's very creamy and rich. So it's 16 grams of fat for a serving, but that's not abnormal for a salad dressing, for a Caesar salad dressing, do you know what I mean?

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker B: I wouldn't call them like a diet food or anything like that, but for somebody that can't have dairy, I'm obsessed.

Speaker C: I have to try it. It sounds so good because it is hard to find a good dressing.

Speaker B: I mean, it has good it's one carb. It doesn't have any protein, but that's to be expected as well. But I feel like it's healthy fats.

Speaker C: Yeah, no, that's what I was going to say. It's totally different. Okay, so my last recommendation is a great this is exciting, a fiber powder, but I actually, over the years, have tried many different pills. Fiber, I can never find anything that I stick to or that works for me. And this one brand, again, that this nutritionist that I've been speaking to recommended is called Sun Fiber. I know the brand bite on Amazon. You know it? It's by a company called Tomorrow's Nutrition. And it's so good because there's no grit. There's no it's, like, just dissolves. And I literally just put in my coffee every morning, so I don't even think about it, which is great because I don't never like the ones where you have to do it in water. I'm taking so many supplements now, I'm like, I can't add another supplement. And this has been really great and helpful, and it has 6 grams of fiber in every scoop. It's really stomach friendly. So it was recommended because I'll read what it says on the bottle, like, sensitive, stomach friendly, comfortable, digestion without gas, bloating, and discomfort. And it's low FODMAP certified and 100% gluten free. So I've been trying to kind of help my gut over the last couple of months, and this is one of the things amongst a few other things that have been helping me. So if anybody is in the market for a good fiber, I'm really a.

Speaker B: Fan of no, I can attest to that one. I've had me with my gut issues as well in the past, and I did Sunfiber for a little while. And Sun Fiber is the actual type of fiber. And then the brand that you said, is that the one that your nutritionist suggested? Is it a particularly good brand?

Speaker C: I think the brand is called Tomorrow's Nutrition, and the actual product is Sun Fiber. Sun Fiber. It says invisible fiber visible benefits. That's what it says on it. But we'll link good, but it's a good one. It's like $25 for 7.5oz. It's not bad. And it's been working for me. It's just, like, really dissolved. Like, you don't even taste it. So unflavored, all that. So highly recommend.

Speaker B: All right, well, I love it. Well, that was your October product junkies, folks, with your snacks. Healthy, yummy, delicious snacks. And I feel like we kind of gave a good variety there. We ran the gamut a little bit, so hope you enjoy.

Speaker C: Yeah. So let us know what you thought of this episode. A little bit different for us. I know we're usually doing beauty and skin, and snacks are something that I feel like or snacks and different food items are something that I think we can all relate to and are always finding new things. So we'll continue to do this if you guys don't like it. And I do feel better having a little bit of a distraction to my day. So hope you all are doing well. And thank you for listening to Nirvana Sisters. Talk to you next time. Bye bye.

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

Speaker C: Tune in next week for a fresh.

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

Episode 127 - Laugh Lines and Lip Liner: Beauty Banter with TikTok Star and Makeup Artist, Erica Taylor - Part 2 (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 127

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

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

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

Speaker C: Okay.

Speaker D: Bronzer and blush.

Speaker C: Bronzer blush. Favorite bronzer stick for blending rare beauty.

Speaker D: Yeah.

Speaker C: Have it on because they blend like butt up.

Speaker B: Does it?

Speaker C: Okay.

Speaker D: So good. Yeah.

Speaker C: That's what I have on fade. Right?

Speaker D: It's like I just, like, throw it on and do this, and it's done.

Speaker C: Yeah. So that's my favorite. And then blush. I've been digging. The new makeup by Mario has these new cream that makes the skin just, like, really okay. Oh, powder blush. I love the House labs.

Speaker B: House Labs. I haven't tried any House labs yet. The makeup by Mario, I use the contour his contour stick.

Speaker C: I like that.

Speaker B: I love that that melts and blends. So haven't I don't know what's happening to that light. I haven't tried rare, and I haven't tried House labs.

Speaker C: If you think that Mario melts beautifully, the rare is even easier. So I feel like I love the Mario as a makeup artist, but I feel like a client that doesn't really know what they're doing is easier to f that up than the rare. Beauty.

Speaker B: It can be kind of heavy if you don't blend it the right way. Okay, so the rare is a little bit more blendable, but is it equally as long lasting as the makeup by Mario?

Speaker C: No.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker C: So I'm going out makeup by Mario every day. Rare.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker D: And the blush the makeup by Mario blush that you were just talking about, it's a cream blush.

Speaker C: You like a it's this size. I don't have it with me. So this is the bronzer version.

Speaker D: Okay. I think I know what you're talking about.

Speaker C: Watch this, though. You want to see me turn into JLo?

Speaker D: Yeah, let's do it. We know you love a JLo moment.

Speaker C: I do. Not my body, though. I got Delola. I haven't tried it yet. Doing?

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker D: All right, let's see. Here she goes. Here she goes.

Speaker C: What this is this is a cream, and I want to get into my light. So this you put on, and I'm just using a big brush. And when you put this over your skin look at that glow.

Speaker B: Oh, yeah.

Speaker C: It's beautifully gives a sheen to the skin. Denser brush, just whatever's in front of me. I'm lazy.

Speaker B: It's a sheen, and it's a little bronzy, and it's giving you a little color.

Speaker D: Oh, that's so pretty.

Speaker B: Yes. That's beautiful.

Speaker C: So if that's another one that I'll put on in a pinch just to give a little more.

Speaker D: Like a cream that's a cream or a powder.

Speaker C: I can't tell. Like, a hybrid, and it gives, like, a so pretty.

Speaker D: Yeah, that's okay. So this is the makeup by Mario bronzer.

Speaker B: You can see the sheen.

Speaker D: A lot.

Speaker B: Gorgeous. Beautiful.

Speaker D: So pretty.

Speaker C: I also did your blush or just like that.

Speaker D: Oh, the blush is just like that. Okay. Yeah. I did the hack that you showed a while ago. The rare beauty, I think it's a highlighter, but it's like the dark color. And then you do it yes.

Speaker C: Reflect.

Speaker D: Yes. And you use it, and it almost looks like a bronzer and a blush together.

Speaker C: I love that.

Speaker D: Okay.

Speaker C: Highlight, though, that went viral and it hasn't been back since.

Speaker D: Yeah, like I said, I saw it and I got it right.

Speaker C: Like, what you do?

Speaker D: Yeah. Katie knows I'm a crazy person, so yeah. And I was using that for a while. I forgot about it. I'm going to use that again. Yeah. Because it's like I don't show it.

Speaker C: Though, because it's never in stock.

Speaker D: Yeah, but it's a good one. You just put it on, it almost looks like highlighter, and it looks like blush and bronzer. You don't need anything else.

Speaker C: Bronze highlighter in one.

Speaker D: Yeah.

Speaker B: Back in stock.

Speaker D: Yeah. Like, I have the light one as a highlighter, and then I never thought to use the darker one as, like, a different way to use it. Okay.

Speaker C: Highlighter.

Speaker D: My favorite top highlighters are tough.

Speaker B: I'm really curious about this one.

Speaker C: I don't like a sparkly highlighter as much as I like a dewy, so I love, like, the Merit Kava stick or Westminton Atelier Brulee. And they have another stick, something that's more dewy.

Speaker D: Yeah.

Speaker C: I would rather watch this. I'd rather take my lip gloss.

Speaker B: Oh, smart.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: And it just sheen picks up the light right away.

Speaker C: Love that sparkle situation. You see what that just did, right?

Speaker B: That is such a glass.

Speaker C: If you're in a pinch, you got some lines on your eyes. You want to the cheeks. Boom.

Speaker B: What a genius.

Speaker D: That's amazing.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: Highlighter is tough because of the I think finding the right color for your skin tone, because if it's too light, you can tell you've got it on. If it's too dark, it can make your skin tone. Yeah. Or, I don't know, changes your you can make you orange. It's hard to find the right tone.

Speaker D: My favorite is doing the highlighter right in here.

Speaker B: Yeah. That looks great on you. When I do that a little crazy.

Speaker C: I like it with a little eyeshadow.

Speaker D: Yeah, it just, like, brightens the eyes.

Speaker C: A little bit, but definitely I like an easy one that will work on anybody is the Merit Kaba. It's just like because it's a clear highlight, you take it with your hand, pat it on.

Speaker D: Is that in the stick? Yes, I have the one that we have. I have that too. Yeah.

Speaker B: I haven't used it that much. I need to use it more.

Speaker D: It's in a white, like, container. Yeah, it's a little bit more dewy.

Speaker B: They have a couple of shades. I don't know if I have I might have, like, champagne or something.

Speaker C: That might be almost, like, clear.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker D: Oh, I don't have that one. Okay, good to know. Good to know. Talk about powder quickly, because I can't do it. And Katie has been into the powder.

Speaker B: That you love, your Makeup Forever powder the Twist. I love it.

Speaker C: I love it.

Speaker B: Explain to us the genius behind this, because it has three different powders. What does each of them do?

Speaker C: Basically, I think it's just show because they just cancel each other. Because you got your basic translucent right. You have your orange and blue.

Speaker D: Okay.

Speaker C: But you know what orange and blue do? They cancel each other out.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker C: So I think it's just for the mesmerized, but for the experience.

Speaker B: But isn't the orange powder kind of like the pink powder that blurs a little?

Speaker C: It'll even out a little bit.

Speaker B: And then does the blue reflect the light? Is that right?

Speaker C: Once they mix each other, they kind of cancel. So it just kind of makes a little bit of a blur screen.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: It's beautiful.

Speaker D: And then do you just do it lightly over the top with, like, a brush?

Speaker C: This is it. Oh, I just tried their brush, which I didn't even know I had. You see this? It's very fine. The reason I say just the tip is not because.

Speaker D: The best.

Speaker C: It's because if you're using your products with just the tip, you will always have an airbrushed look.

Speaker D: Oh, okay.

Speaker C: So what I do my eyes are still so puffy from Take Benadryl this morning, my eyes were, like, swollen.

Speaker D: Oh, my gosh.

Speaker C: Okay. So you go in the middle and, like, buff out. I buff around, and then on the eyes, I'll touch it really lightly, but I will never put a puff to my eye.

Speaker D: Okay.

Speaker B: Yeah, I've been doing that. I need to stop. Okay.

Speaker D: So it's just and you do that at the ends of the hole here.

Speaker C: Very end, and then just a T zone around. And what it does is when you get those areas, we have this it's life. Someone said recently, I don't like the way you look with your new fillers. I'm like, I gained ten pounds.

Speaker D: Oh, I saw that video. I was laughing so hard when people say that.

Speaker C: I'm so mad. I'm like, I gained ten pounds.

Speaker D: You're like, there goes that's the filler.

Speaker C: Let's see.

Speaker D: It just kind of like yeah, wipes it away.

Speaker B: That's amazing.

Speaker D: Yeah. And it's just, like, a really light touch. It seems like it's a practice.

Speaker B: Just the tip.

Speaker C: The tip is powders will last me years.

Speaker D: Yeah, because you don't need a lot. I have the pink powder from Westman and Tallier that you recommended, so that's more pressed. But you could do the same thing, essentially, right?

Speaker C: You just absolutely.

Speaker D: Yeah.

Speaker C: But this one's more glowy. So I like different powders for different reasons.

Speaker D: Right.

Speaker C: So when people say to me, like, you use a lot of stuff. Yeah, and I also have a lot of shoes.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker D: It's like, depending on the vibe of.

Speaker C: The day, I don't wear the same jacket every day.

Speaker D: Right.

Speaker C: So. I love the west metalier. I love it for under eye. It's the only one that will not crease under my eyes and my and.

Speaker D: How do you apply it? With a brush. Right.

Speaker C: A small brush.

Speaker D: I don't use the big one. Yeah.

Speaker C: I use a highlighter brush or something like a small version of this. Right. And again, I just gently press lightly.

Speaker D: Yeah. Here's what I don't know. I don't know.

Speaker B: When do I use translucent powder? When do I use the compact powder that has a little bit of the skin tone to it? What are the differences between those two? When am I using what?

Speaker C: Good question. Okay, so translucent powder will lock in your makeup.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker C: If you happy with your coverage, if you like a little more coverage, you might want to lock in someone with Rosacea might want to lock in their makeup with something with a little more coverage.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker C: Now, take with you is a compact. Everyone says, Why does my makeup break up throughout the day? Well, because we have skin. We're not statues. So the pressed powder compacts go in your bag, never comes out of your bag. And when you apply because I was just thinking about doing a video on this, too, because this is common. I don't have the powder here, but I'll just show you. So when you apply it with the sponge, instead of rubbing powder, say, you're throughout the day, and what breaks up? This breaks up here, get a little red here, get a little breakthrough spots. So you take it, and you just gently repress the areas that need to be corrected without disrupting the whole situation.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker D: And does this look like a matte powder?

Speaker C: I like to use a few. The fenty powder foundation. I don't use them as powder foundations. The L'Oreal 24 hours when it's hot out is great for this and the makeup forever. The one the powder foundation, too, and I just use it, and it locks your makeup back in, and it looks brand new.

Speaker B: Yeah. I have a Laura Mercier compact powder that always stays in my handbag, and that's what if I start to, like if I'm sweating and this is starting to melt away, and I'm getting a little red here, but I've been wiping.

Speaker C: I haven't been putting a hole. And then you get, like, a weird kind of texture.

Speaker B: Yeah, I need to roll.

Speaker C: Take it and just kind of roll it right over. And you kind of like this.

Speaker B: And do I need to replace that sponge that came with my compact that.

Speaker C: I've been using for a mean I'm bad too. Somebody brushless dirty. I said, you just missed the part where I licked it. But yeah, just watch it.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker D: So how do you come up with all these topics and first of all, you have all these hilarious sayings, like, just a tip and so funny abracadabra. And how do you come up with these things? You just are talking to people and you're like, oh, I should do a video on this. Or is it just kind of like.

Speaker C: Just whatever I think is useful. A tip of the day. And honestly, the things just fly out of my face. I don't even know. Next. That's why sometimes you see me laughing because I can't even believe what I just said. I remember I said, foundation so expensive, it should come with dentures.

Speaker B: It's great. That's amazing.

Speaker C: My husband is like, you are so crazy. Like, the abracadabra just came out over the river and through the hood. I've always said okay.

Speaker D: I always think of that when I'm putting on my eyeshadow.

Speaker C: Yeah, well, that's because I went to school to be a teacher first. Yeah, you will remember, like, what I say with the lashes under the lashes is like wiggle. It like a push up bra. Get under and lift. Right? So there's certain things that you'll remember. The apples falling from the tree. So that's why I do that. When I was training makeup artists, I've been saying it for years and teaching clients, I would write these things down to remember. I'd say, Lift the eye like a sunrise. So I just think it makes you remember.

Speaker D: Yeah, it totally does. Yeah, you're right. That's like the teaching part. You said something the other day in one of your videos when you went really close and it brought me back. Get a little closer. Remember that commercial? I was like I was like, oh, my God, that is such a retro throwback. I love it. So funny, right? They just live and they come out in random. Yeah, that's so funny.

Speaker C: One time I said something, I go I just focus on the face because my body, it's all like flowers in the attic. I don't know where that came from either.

Speaker B: That movie. Oh, my God, that's so funny.

Speaker D: So funny.

Speaker B: I remember watching that movie as a kid and then it's like, so creepy. Totally.

Speaker D: Oh, my God, I haven't heard that in so long.

Speaker C: Jokes I say and the things I say, just we would get right?

Speaker D: Which is why it's so funny and so relatable. I love it. So, what is your family like? What does your husband and kids think of all of your TikTok TikTok social media success?

Speaker C: My husband's so supportive. He's proud. He loves what I make. People laugh. Like, the biggest thing when we met and his parents met me, we were laughing so much. He goes, that's how I know this was the girl for you know he's so proud. I went away when I hit my million. I had an event with L'Oreal and I came back and made a big sign on the like, he's always been very supportive of my career. He's a teacher, so he is always because he's home and has a stable schedule, it's always provided me to be able to travel and do my thing, even in retail when I was a digital director.

Speaker D: Right. You're running around babies.

Speaker C: He had to pick up the pieces. So he's always been, like, a major supporter. And my kids are funny.

Speaker D: Yeah. Your daughter, I see her cameo on some of your vids when you go to Sephora and stuff.

Speaker C: It's so planning her career. He's going to keep making cameos on mine until she branches off.

Speaker D: They must think you're the coolest thing ever, by the way.

Speaker C: They do. They think I'm pretty cool. And even before all of this, I'm always funny and I behave like a child in my house. I'm called the fourth child. They're like, can you help with homework? I'm like, oh, no, not it.

Speaker B: Call dad.

Speaker D: Yeah, girl math. Girl math.

Speaker B: I mean, he is a teacher.

Speaker D: Yeah, exactly. I'd be like, It's on you. Okay. And what is your favorite part of all of this? Like, being the beauty queen that you are. What do you love about it? I mean, it's obvious, but what's your favorite part?

Speaker C: I've spent all this time away from my family, and I missed out on a lot in my life because I chose a life of retail. And even as a regional manager director, I worked every weekend with my teams because I felt like I can't lead if I don't do it myself. And I missed out on birthdays. I missed out. I was the mom that was never there. I was never the class mom, never the PTA mom. So I love that this has allowed me to have that, but I love that it makes my sacrifice worth.

Speaker D: Yeah.

Speaker C: Now, I used to do classes and I would teach clients, but I can teach a million people how to do their eyeliner. And it feels like everything I've learned over these close to 30 years, I'm actually using.

Speaker D: Yeah, for sure. It all worked out. At the end of the day, it's all for a reason.

Speaker C: You guys say, like, my husband said I look beautiful, and not that that matter. It matters to us. It's not that someone else thinking we're beautiful, but everybody stopped and asked me if I got my face worked up. People, the girls, the young girls at work are telling me how beautiful I look. And it's just these stories that I keep hearing that you made me love makeup again. I'm not scared to try it. Of course I get the trolls and the people that say, like, stupid stuff, but I've been one piece something years in retail. You think I haven't been yelled at by better?

Speaker D: Yeah, exactly.

Speaker B: Those trolls you're like, yeah, trolls are everywhere.

Speaker C: Screamed at in person. Bosses torture me.

Speaker B: You're like, this?

Speaker C: You're just shot.

Speaker B: I can just delete you. Yeah.

Speaker C: I'm like, fine, girl, I'm going to unfollow you. I was like, what? I'm going to block you first.

Speaker D: Yeah, exactly. Like, who cares? Go do it. Let them. Let them.

Speaker C: And this is just a sidebar of that. I do collapse and people are like, oh, you got paid for this, and how dare you? And I'm like, you know what? I am an industry professional, right? For almost 30 years. You should be happy it's me endorsing. Because I know what the f I'm talking about.

Speaker D: Exactly.

Speaker C: Absolutely. Person that married some rich guy that looks gorgeous, likes a new eye cream, and you all buy it.

Speaker B: Why are they ****** that you're having these collabs and making money and sharing this with the world?

Speaker C: God bless my experience, right?

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: An experienced doctor is going to get something different than somebody who's just still in school.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: If I decide to start pulling people's teeth and I'm getting real good at you want me to pull you more Insurer? I'd be paid for that. I've been practicing vaginal rejuvenation. Real good at it.

Speaker B: Oh, my God.

Speaker D: Hilarious. Okay, so before we get into our rap session, where can people find you? What's your socials? Give us the deets.

Speaker C: Erica Taylor, 23 47. On pretty much all the platforms. TikTok is my biggest platform. I have a healthy base on Instagram. I have a little do, a little bit on Facebook. Not a ton. Yeah, it was always Erica Taylor, 23 47 and some YouTube.

Speaker D: All right, nice.

Speaker C: Good to know 23 47 means nothing. Yeah.

Speaker D: I was going to ask you, does that have significance?

Speaker C: 2016. And I didn't know what I was doing. And there were other Erica Taylor's and they just designated me that number.

Speaker D: So that's you now. That's good numbers for you. Good luck. And you just had your birthday, right? Didn't you just turn 47?

Speaker B: There you go.

Speaker D: Happy birthday. Okay, getting into our wrap session. What is your favorite wellness or beauty hack?

Speaker C: Exfoliate.

Speaker B: Okay. How often?

Speaker C: Whenever your face tells you when you.

Speaker D: Look crusty, when you're looking Aberra Cadaver.

Speaker C: Skincare, you don't want to be abracadabra. How many women will stop me and say, what foundation should I get? And I'm like, do you want me to when's the last time you exfoliated your skin? And I know when I look at someone if they exfoliate or not, and I'll never make somebody feel bad.

Speaker D: Yeah.

Speaker C: So I ask and when they pause, I'm like, yeah, you can wear any foundation if you exfoliate.

Speaker B: Do you have a favorite exfoliant? What do you use?

Speaker C: Yeah, I love the first aid beauty pads. They're one and done. I'm super lazy.

Speaker D: Oh, yeah.

Speaker C: And they're gentle. The reason when I recommend something like that, I don't just get a new one and say, this is awesome. I know that tons of my clients use it and they're also very sensitive.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker D: And that's you just use that in the morning. Right. That's like the kind or you could use it, I guess, at night, too, depending.

Speaker C: Yeah, anytime. Just if you feel your face and touch it, touch your forehead. If it feels textural or it feels sandy, you got to exfoliate. Yeah, it doesn't tip.

Speaker D: I feel like every time I put on Exfoliate, I do exfoliator a lot, but I feel like when I do it and my makeup, everything looks better. And people say to me, oh, you look like glowy today. And I'm like thinking to myself because I exfoliated.

Speaker C: True story.

Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker D: Okay. Five minute flow. You say the five minute flow.

Speaker C: Oh, yeah.

Speaker B: All right, Erica, we call it our five minute flow. You just got out of the shower, dried off. An Uber has pinged you. They're five minutes away. What are you going to put on? What are you going to do to get out the door and into that Uber in five.

Speaker C: On? I'm going to put my hair, I'm going to shake my hair, put some dry shampoo and shove it into a situation like this. Then I'm going to use Sunday Riley after glow cream because it always makes me glowy. I'm going to put on the CC. It cosmetics, nude glow because it's got skincare coverage and SPF. Plus it's glowy. All right, I'm going to take the rare beauty contour stick and eyeliner. That's it.

Speaker B: And you're set.

Speaker C: I'll take the eyeliner in the car. I'll do the eyeliner in the car.

Speaker B: That's impressive because you can do that cat eye in the car while it's moving.

Speaker D: What about mascara? Do you throw on mascara or you just do the eyeliner?

Speaker C: If I'm an emergency, I'm doing eyeliner.

Speaker D: Wow. Okay.

Speaker B: Do you have a favorite dry shampoo?

Speaker C: Yes, for different reasons. Just for, like, really oily days. Living proof, but for days that I want texture and volume. The fakai volume. It's right here because I don't have it makes my hair look fuller. The fakai full blown volume.

Speaker D: Oh, nice.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker C: Complimentary with a hair gift with purchase.

Speaker B: I love that. When you do your videos and you're like, oh, wait a second, I've got this. Wait, there's something right here. And it's always right there. I mean, you are sitting at, I assume, your table.

Speaker C: I'll show you guys.

Speaker B: Yeah, let's see it. This is behind the scenes.

Speaker D: Behind the scenes, BTS.

Speaker B: Oh, nice. All your things.

Speaker C: My skincare situation, the ones I use the most.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker C: Random hairbrush because I threw it in. Then I have like, over here, like a lot of my just everyday basis.

Speaker D: Your go to, you got it all.

Speaker B: It's all there.

Speaker D: But it looks like you have a nice little vanity light set up. So it's like yeah.

Speaker C: And then I have a little desk set up here. I had this once, my social I was doing when I started all I was in my bedroom.

Speaker D: Right. I remember that.

Speaker C: On a little thing like this. I love those days. I love those. But eventually I needed more space. So we redid the basement and I have a little studio.

Speaker B: That's nice.

Speaker D: I love it. Okay.

Speaker C: Plus my clothes are crazy.

Speaker D: I love it.

Speaker B: Oh, my God, tons of shoes.

Speaker C: I love sneakers.

Speaker D: Me too. You do?

Speaker C: What kind of sneakers do you like?

Speaker D: I mean, you name mean Nikes. I love New Balance, Golden Goose. What else do I have? I don't know. Adidas. I have everything. I'm like, obsessed with, like, a fun shoe.

Speaker C: Me too. I don't care if it's expensive. If it's cheap, I see it. I love it. I like the real crazy, like, Dunks, I think.

Speaker D: Oh, yeah, I love the Dunks. My kids love the Dunks.

Speaker C: So good.

Speaker D: And I love Sweatshirts. Noticing that you're wearing a sweatshirt. I love a good sweatshirt. We'll send you one of our good Nirvana sweatshirts.

Speaker B: Yeah, we need to send you one of ours.

Speaker D: Yes. We'll give you a good sweatshirt. Okay.

Speaker C: Rock it.

Speaker D: Okay. I love it. How do you maintain and last question, how do you maintain your daily Nirvana?

Speaker C: That's a good question. I just think that you can't waste time on the negativity because it derails you. So I shake it off and I try to keep laughing and find joy in everything.

Speaker D: I love it.

Speaker C: I do with my kids, my husband. I think it's so easy to get wrapped up into the negativity. But what I always say, and even when my husband gets stressed or anyone, I go, you can't control the situation you're in, but you can control how you handle it.

Speaker D: That's right.

Speaker C: Your situation is your situation. Right. No matter what. But how you handle it, that's up to you. And that's how you take your control back.

Speaker B: That's so true.

Speaker D: And then you always got the wine.

Speaker C: Oh, please, girlfriend. The other day, she goes, I thought you weren't drinking during the week. How's that going? I was like, oh, no, I'm drinking.

Speaker D: What's your favorite wine? You like a red, a white, over a day or at week?

Speaker C: And I'm still half the same weight, so no, I like white. I like a Pinot Grigio.

Speaker B: Okay, all right. I'm a white girl, too. Sauvignon blanc.

Speaker D: Yeah. Sauvignon blanc. I like But I like red, too, and I like it all, too.

Speaker C: Like, if I don't have a white, I'll drink the red.

Speaker D: Right?

Speaker C: If I'm there with you and you're like, I only have red, I'm like.

Speaker D: All right, yeah, let's go.

Speaker B: Not saying no, exactly.

Speaker D: Anyway, so I'm so glad that we got to meet you. This has been such a highlight of our day, and you spent so much time with us, and we really appreciate it, and we're so happy to have you part of the Nirvana Sisters family. And thank you. Thank you. Thank you for being on.

Speaker C: Thank you for everything that you guys do. And you're spreading joy, and you just bring happiness, and you're real. And that's why I wanted to do this with you.

Speaker D: You're so sweet.

Speaker C: Thank you. How your attitude and your energy and I totally dug it.

Speaker D: I love it. Thank you so much.

Speaker C: Full I'm a babbler.

Speaker D: US too.

Speaker B: We babble.

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

Speaker D: Tune in next week for a fresh.

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

Episode 126 - Laugh Lines and Lip Liner: Beauty Banter with TikTok Star and Makeup Artist, Erica Taylor - Part 1 (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 126.

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

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

[00:18] Katie Chandler: And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation.

[00:28] Amy Sherman: Welcome back to the show nirvana Sisters Family. It's Amy and Katie, and we are so excited about today's episode. You will hear who we are talking with very shortly, but if you want a no BS makeup recommendations tricks the real deal for mature women or mature women, as our guest says, with a side of comedy, relief and entertainment, erica Taylor is your girl. We have mentioned you, Erica, so many times on our show, I can't even tell you. Like, you've been on our blog. We've talked about you. We've recommended a million things that you've recommended that we've tried. So let me give everybody a background on Erica before we do our chitchat. Erica Taylor has been in the cosmetic industry for over 25 years, working with top brands mac, Laura, Mercier Benefit Cosmetics, and Trish McEvoy. She is a professional makeup artist and a mom of three living in New York. Erica majored in art education in college, initially aspiring to be an art teacher, but instead decided to search for a career that would allow her to be more creative. She was always the unofficial makeup artist to her friends and family, and an interview at the Matte Counter at Macy's became the official start of her professional career in makeup. In 2021, she started sharing her makeup tick sorry, wrong word. She started sharing her makeup tips and techniques for any age on her social media and has quickly become a trusted expert to her more than 1.4 million engaged followers. If you don't follow her on TikTok, you need to be following her. She is the best. In 2023, she was named L'Oreal Paris League of Experts and continues to be a major authoritative figure in the beauty and Skincare me. Welcome to the show, Erica. We are so happy to have you been I've been stalking her. Just so everybody knows. I've like, DM'd her. I went on her TikTok live. I'm like, you got to come on the pod. You got to come on the pod. We want to talk to you and pick your brains. So welcome to the show, Erica. Thank you so much for joining us today.

[02:20] Erica Taylor: I'm so excited to be here and thank you so much for all the support.

[02:23] Amy Sherman: Yes, of course. So we always kick off the show, take a step back, and we do our Nirvana of the Week, which is just something that brought us joy, big or small, something that put a smile on our face and made us feel good. So I'm going to kick it off to you, Katie. What is your Nirvana this week?

[02:36] Katie Chandler: I think my Nirvana this week is being here. Amy and I are recording together live we are not on two separate screens. I'm not in Connecticut. We are together. So I'm home from Rosh Hashanah. And aside from right now, this moment getting in last night and know my in laws, my mother and father in law, my nephews Amy and her husband Stu, and all of us just sitting around the table having dinner, that was mine.

[03:01] Erica Taylor: What about you?

[03:03] Amy Sherman: So mine. I had a really cute moment with my older son. So I have two boys, Erica. One's an 11th grader in high school and I have another son who's in 8th grade. And my 11th grader has been really into cooking lately, which is unusual because he never really cooked before. But all of a sudden he has been seeing these recipes on TikTok and he wanted to make some. So we got all these ingredients and we cooked together twice last weekend. And one was like some buffalo chicken, blah blah blah recipe he wanted to make. Another one is the calzones. And we made like handmade dough and homemade dough and all of that, so it was so fun. So I was his sous chef and he was like the main chef, but it was so fun just bonding and collaborating and chatting and just having kind of tactile hands on activities. So it was a really fun bonding moment. I don't get a lot of time with him, so that was good. What about you, Erica?

[03:47] Erica Taylor: That's awesome. I had a nice moment this morning when we missed the bus with the kids and I had a neighbor's kid with me too, and took them for some fun breakfast. Got a lot of laughs on the way to sometimes, you know, just starting your day, like, just I was like, all right, I'm in my pajamas, like, I guess. Breakfast time. Let's go.

[04:06] Amy Sherman: I love it.

[04:07] Katie Chandler: That's great. You took a negative. Oh, ****, we missed the bus until let's go have some fun. I love that. That's a fun mom right there. I don't know a lot of moms that would do that. That's great.

[04:17] Amy Sherman: Yeah. Cool mom.

[04:17] Erica Taylor: I wasn't always like that. I used to be like a super psycho in the mornings and when I had to get to work and run meetings and I decided a couple of years ago that I wanted to make them laugh and go to school happy every morning. So I put everything aside and I said, nobody can reach out to me until my kids are on the bus.

[04:36] Amy Sherman: Smart.

[04:37] Katie Chandler: I love that. That's great.

[04:39] Amy Sherman: That's good. That was the opposite of me this morning, trying to get my kids to school. I was, like, telling Katie, I just woke up on the wrong side of bed this morning. And I was like, so mean this morning. And normally I'm, like, try to be positive in the morning, but I was.

[04:51] Erica Taylor: Just like, feel so bad.

[04:52] Katie Chandler: All know? Yes, I know it's true. Sending them off when you're so i.

[04:57] Amy Sherman: Like, hadn't had my coffee. I was a little cranky. But hopefully it happens. It happens.

[05:01] Erica Taylor: It happens to me, too.

[05:02] Amy Sherman: It happens. It happens. Okay, so, Erica, tell us about you. Give us your know, we just know you from watching all of your hilarious and educational videos on TikTok, but tell us how it all started. I mean, obviously you've been in the business a really long time, but give us your story for everyone who doesn't know you.

[05:20] Erica Taylor: Well, I was in school, like you said. You gave me a great, true story. I was in school to be an art teacher, and I was like, that 90s, kind of, like, really goth looking kid, so nobody would hire me. It's probably circa, like, 97, right? So I was looking for a job, and I couldn't find one. And someone said to me, you do such beautiful makeup. Why don't you just work in cosmetics? I said okay. I marched to Macy's. So actually, I did end up at Mac relatively quickly, but my first was prescriptive color matching.

[05:51] Katie Chandler: Okay.

[05:52] Erica Taylor: And then I spent a little time in Elizabeth Arden. I never want to smell Fifth Avenue or Red Door again. So relatively quickly, I got recruited to the Mac store in Roosevelt Field in Long Island, and that was, like, the place to be around 1920 years old. That this was super exciting. I wasn't as good as the rest of them, but I just worked really hard. I did every late shift, every schedule. They asked me to stay, and then they kept me on full time. And I, six months later, applied to be a senior trainer for Mac. I was not even close to ready. I tanked the interview. Embarrassing, crazy, making up the answers, all sorts of crazy. But then I learned what everything I did wrong. And a few months after that, I tried out for a low level trainer, like a store trainer. I got it, and I could have folded and been embarrassed. And I think what has always pushed me in this industry is I'm not afraid of embarrassing myself. I take it as a challenge. I don't just tuck my tail in and shut down. And that has been every other place I went to. I was once recruited to different companies. I met great people. I've worked with so many great people. I got to do, like, runway, fashion shows, all of this. This was not my passion. First of all, I'm five foot one. I was tired of seeing all these false emails. Why does it look like this on me? But I love training in store teams, building teams, and I'm very social, so I really liked I work harder for someone else than I do for myself, which is my biggest challenge now.

[07:41] Amy Sherman: Yeah, I get it.

[07:42] Erica Taylor: And so I was just to say, I'm institutionalized. So then what I did for a lot of companies is I would train the makeup artists and build their sales teams.

[07:51] Amy Sherman: Yeah. I mean, it makes sense that you're saying you like the training part because you wanted to be a teacher.

[07:55] Erica Taylor: Right?

[07:56] Amy Sherman: So it's like, the same, like, educating, which is what you're doing now on TikTok. So when did you you only started TikTok, what, a few years ago? Because I remember watching you when you were still working full time and doing TikTok, and I remember the transition. So tell us about that a little.

[08:10] Erica Taylor: I during the pandemic, I learned a little more on social media, and I was always one of the trend shows. You know, when you go like, a Nordstrom trend show and there's someone presenting and to be master classes, and that was me. So I'm very comfortable in front of a crowd.

[08:22] Amy Sherman: Yeah.

[08:22] Erica Taylor: And again, because I don't mind embarrassing myself, if I trip, if I say something wrong, I just laugh at myself. I'm like, you got to own it. Yeah. So I started just doing lives. I was furloughed. We were all furloughed. There was no work.

[08:37] Amy Sherman: Yeah, same.

[08:38] Erica Taylor: So I started doing lives with the companies. And I'd rather say the freestanding, independent stores that still could function were doing curbside service. They were still selling, and we're having trouble keeping the doors open. So I'm not talking about, like, your Nordstrom's, your Bloomingdale's, these big doors. I'm talking about there's a great little store, beauty in Maine, in Massachusetts, and there's a great mirror mirror in Vermont. So I started doing lives with them for no other reason, just to help them keep their business going. Yeah, there was really nothing in it for me, but I loved doing it because it was social. So I was like everyone was like, you're really freaking funny. Like, you should be doing this more. So then I stopped for a while when I went back to work, and a friend of mine was having some success on TikTok, and I was like, I did a couple of videos, but they were just, like, super losers. She was like, what do you want to find? I said, I don't need to be major. I just want to find my tribe. Because she was like, I've never seen my age because I don't want to pinhole myself. And I was like, I want my girls. I want my over 40s crowd, my funny moms, drink some wine, have some laughs, put some makeup on. I want that tribe.

[10:00] Katie Chandler: Yeah, we found you.

[10:02] Erica Taylor: Yeah.

[10:02] Amy Sherman: Here we are. We're the exact same age. Erica yeah. And Katie's a little younger, but yeah, we always talk about that when you wake up and you're like, I drank too much of the wine last night, and I'm puffy. I was so and that's why we love you so much, and we know our audience will because you're so relatable, and it's not exactly like you're saying your age. You're saying you drink. It's like, this is how we all are.

[10:27] Erica Taylor: Like one of those pretend social media lives, right?

[10:29] Amy Sherman: Exactly.

[10:30] Erica Taylor: People are like, how do you organize your makeup? I'm like, It was a disaster. And I just think that so many people try to live up to these expectations of what they think this social media life is. And, like, I drink wine, I got to get my kids on the bus, I wake up banked up, but I still want to look good, too. Right?

[10:48] Amy Sherman: We have a good question for you later to figure out how you do that. And it's very similar with us in our show. We have this relatable point of view on well being. So it's like, we're mom, same as you. We try to break things down when we talk to different people because there's so many beauty wellness, makeup people out there that it just feels intimidating, and it feels like, well, I can't be like that, so I'm just not going to do anything. And it's like, no, here's some bite sized things you can do. Here's the concealer hack, the whatever. Well, that's an amazing story. And then what happened? You just kept making videos, and then it just built from there.

[11:26] Erica Taylor: My first viral, and I won't say names, but the company I worked for, it was kind of this underlying pressure of we have to do it our way, their way. But I don't live that way. And you can have me when I'm on the clock, but when I'm home, I'm home. I'm not fluffing my pillows. I'm not wearing beautiful white pajamas. I'm wearing a hoodie that I've worn for the last three nights. My hair looks nuts, and my bed is not made behind me. So I did this video. I just said, you know what effort. I don't ask for permission. I just beg for forgiveness.

[12:04] Amy Sherman: Right?

[12:04] Erica Taylor: So I just did an eyeliding video that I was, like, joking around, and I was like, Listen. I was like, Grab your eyeliner and a glass of wine and a great attitude. I was like, I'm just kidding. Forget about the great attitude. And I just taught some eyeliner. I go to sleep, and the next morning, it had, like, 500,000 views.

[12:22] Amy Sherman: Oh, my God.

[12:23] Erica Taylor: And my followers went from 3000 to 10,000 to 20,000. And I hate saying followers, to be honest, too. I think that's so creepy.

[12:32] Amy Sherman: Yeah.

[12:32] Erica Taylor: I always say, like, my community. Because you're not no, it's my follower. You could follow everyone, but I always say the people that want to learn, my community. And then I was like, People want to learn and they want to laugh, right?

[12:46] Katie Chandler: Yes.

[12:47] Erica Taylor: There was no one else doing it. And I was like, It doesn't have to be perfect. We're not winning a Cat Eye award. Try to look a little freaking normal, right?

[12:54] Amy Sherman: Try to be put together and feel like a human. Right?

[12:59] Erica Taylor: I think that's what people resonated with. Like, oh, I can do that. I can do yeah, yeah.

[13:04] Amy Sherman: And Erica has these great things where when you do like, half the face of something and half the face of the other, it's incredible.

[13:10] Katie Chandler: It's amazing.

[13:10] Amy Sherman: Like, just the little tweaks you can make that make such a huge difference. It's amazing.

[13:14] Katie Chandler: Yeah. You can really see it through TikTok, through the camera. The difference that you do from one side of the face to the other, it's amazing how well it shows. It's very cool. I mean, the tricks and the techniques, that's what we need to get into.

[13:28] Erica Taylor: Because yeah, well, if you think, sorry, I'm an interrupter.

[13:32] Amy Sherman: No, please, it's all good.

[13:34] Erica Taylor: Family interrupter. But I was in sales, so in sales, you have to train people. You have to make big impact quick. So I would learn the tips and tricks that made a major difference quickly, but were useful. And I would do it on a client and she'd be like, okay, give me that, give me this.

[13:57] Amy Sherman: Right?

[13:58] Erica Taylor: So that's the same thing. I think, on social media, you've got to show the impact quickly. I think I started a trend because everyone and their sisters, aunts, everyone is doing the same exact thing and I'm like, at least say, like, thank you, right?

[14:16] Katie Chandler: Give credit where credits do.

[14:18] Erica Taylor: I know, but you know what? It's hard. Don't get me wrong. Certain days I see people recreating my videos all over and I'm just like, but it's wasted energy, right?

[14:29] Amy Sherman: And they're not you, so it doesn't matter. And then how did you decide what was the tipping point on when you left your other job to do this full time?

[14:39] Erica Taylor: So I never thought this was even a career, right? When people used to say to me that they were bloggers, I was like, Get a job, right?

[14:47] Amy Sherman: You're like rolling your eyes like, okay.

[14:49] Erica Taylor: Or I used to have to do these influencer events where I would have to entertain the influencer. And I'm like, they don't even buy anything. Everybody comes in and drinks the booze, they bring their friends and family and they leave. I was like, I don't want to do it.

[14:59] Katie Chandler: Right?

[14:59] Erica Taylor: One I just kept growing my base and I could only show one brand. And in order I was getting all these brands reaching out to me and all these people saying, can you show something else? I can't afford that brand, or, I just want to see a clean beauty of this. A that. And there came a point where I could no longer juggle both. I either would stay as a regional manager for the rest of my life and retire there, still pacing hard floors of the malls and running chasing clients down like little **** of OG for Hug or I take a chance on myself.

[15:40] Katie Chandler: So I took a chance and it's paid off. 1.4 million. That's right. Is that what you said earlier?

[15:47] Amy Sherman: 1.4 million? But I mean, millions, I'm sure, and millions more videos. Because on TikTok, everyone. I mean, like, when I first saw you, it's not like I was following you at that point. I just saw your content. So, I mean, it's just such a great story. So thank you for sharing that piece of your story. Congratulations on all your success. So let's get into still very surreal.

[16:09] Erica Taylor: I'm sure it is mega impostor syndrome, because I've always been the makeup person at the event. I've never been the guest of the event.

[16:18] Amy Sherman: Right, and now I'm sure you're getting invited to all the things.

[16:21] Erica Taylor: Yes. And I still would rather hang out with people that work there. I'm still definitely institutionalized.

[16:27] Amy Sherman: Well, I remember you talking about you went to a rare beauty event or something, and it was all the young influencer people.

[16:35] Erica Taylor: I'm usually, like, at least 20 years older than the Red. We're not talking just, like, five to ten. It's like, I could be their mothers.

[16:43] Katie Chandler: I'm so curious what these events are. Like, what are these younger influencers doing at these events?

[16:51] Amy Sherman: Drinking the drinks.

[16:53] Erica Taylor: I mean, some that I met are lovely, and others are just walking around trying to be cooler than the next.

[16:58] Katie Chandler: Yeah, right.

[17:00] Erica Taylor: But it reminds me when I used to go to these cosmetics conferences and the trainer events for Mac and who was wearing what and walking around trying to be the coolest. So I don't sweat it because I get it. I probably was there 20 years ago too.

[17:14] Amy Sherman: Yeah, exactly.

[17:15] Erica Taylor: I do sometimes just walk around laughing, like, where am I?

[17:18] Amy Sherman: I know, I'm sure it's so surreal. Okay, so let's get into some of your favorites, because there's so many things and so many products you talk about, but for the basics.

[17:29] Katie Chandler: Right?

[17:31] Amy Sherman: Want to talk about some of your favorites? Okay, so let's go, as you would say, concealer.

[17:37] Erica Taylor: Okay, let's go. My number one is the Dior Backstage, hands down. But if you're into the clean beauty, the.

[17:46] Katie Chandler: I love the on. I do COSIS, because of you. Is the Dior Backstage as creamy and moisturizing as the kosis?

[17:56] Erica Taylor: It's not creamier.

[17:57] Katie Chandler: Okay.

[17:58] Erica Taylor: And I will say it has a better color range.

[18:02] Katie Chandler: Okay.

[18:03] Erica Taylor: But it doesn't have that skincare element.

[18:05] Amy Sherman: And COSIS has more the skincare element, more skincare.

[18:08] Erica Taylor: So that's why those are more my everyday. So going out, I have different I do something heavier, but, like, just for everyday life. Dior backstage coset.

[18:17] Katie Chandler: And to be clear, one of the biggest reasons why you like it, for mature skin, it does increase the creamy. It melts into your skin a little bit better. Right?

[18:28] Erica Taylor: Yeah. When I look for a concealer, I don't care what the hottest trend is, because that's irrelevant to me. And most of my clients or people that watch me don't care either. Right. So I feel on my hand textures. Okay, you go into a store and you put a concealer on your hand, and it gets dry on your hand. Forget it.

[18:46] Amy Sherman: Yeah.

[18:47] Erica Taylor: So they're creamy, they're hydrating, and they just have, like, a medium natural coverage. Not like a theatrical situation.

[18:55] Katie Chandler: Yeah, that's I think a thing is concealers that are too heavy sometimes. Like, for every day, they look worse. They look worse. Can get cakey.

[19:04] Erica Taylor: Yeah.

[19:04] Katie Chandler: All right.

[19:06] Erica Taylor: Not real life.

[19:07] Katie Chandler: It's not natural.

[19:09] Amy Sherman: Yeah. You did a video, and for our Nirvana Sisters family, check this out. It was so helpful the other day on concealer and how to actually apply it correctly so it doesn't crease regardless of what concealer you use. Where you put on. I think it was like the oil or something. I can't remember.

[19:25] Erica Taylor: I have to eye oil or an eyeball you have to do something hydrating. So there are concealers that will cleave less than others.

[19:33] Amy Sherman: Right.

[19:34] Erica Taylor: But if you're not prepped the right way, those are going to freeze, too.

[19:36] Amy Sherman: Exactly. So the eye oil is a freaking game changer for me. When I saw that video early on what's the brand?

[19:45] Erica Taylor: A little cora.

[19:47] Amy Sherman: Cora, right. I went out and got it probably before it got sold out, and I was like, this is the biggest, and I reviewed it. We do a show called Product Junkies. We review stuff. And that was one of the things I talked about and talked about you, because that is the biggest game changer to put on before mascara, but also later at night when you just want to fix your eyes up and they're dry. It's amazing.

[20:08] Katie Chandler: You mean before concealer? Putting it on before concealer?

[20:10] Amy Sherman: Yeah, or just like a reapplication. If you have, like, old concealer and you just kind of, like, throw that on and then throw more concealer on top, it's beautiful. It's a game changer. But anyway, yes, that's what you were talking about the other day, but so that was super helpful. The application, I take that with me.

[20:22] Erica Taylor: Everywhere because I look in the mirror somewhere and I'm like, oh, no, I take a little bit, I put it on, I'm like, boom.

[20:31] Katie Chandler: After you put it on, do you put more concealer on it, or you feel like it just kind of rehydrates the concealer that you already have on?

[20:37] Erica Taylor: It usually rehydrates what I have on.

[20:38] Katie Chandler: Okay.

[20:39] Erica Taylor: If you're like looking to reapply without taking your whole face off, you can use it that way as well. But usually what I do is I'll roll it on my hand so I don't disrupt the coverage, and then just pat over and it just releases the creases.

[20:52] Katie Chandler: Okay. Yeah, that's a great trick. That's a great one. All right, let's go.

[20:56] Amy Sherman: I have to ask Erica if she likes my favorite other. It's not even concealer. It's a color corrector. The Milani. Have you tried that?

[21:03] Erica Taylor: Yes. The mean for me, there's the peach and the rose.

[21:08] Amy Sherman: Yeah. So I use the peach every day. I'm like, that is almost I use that sometimes instead of concealer. I mean, it's like a color corrector. But it's kind of a skincare concealer, too.

[21:16] Erica Taylor: I think it's sheer and hydrating.

[21:17] Amy Sherman: Incredible.

[21:18] Erica Taylor: Agreed.

[21:19] Amy Sherman: Okay. I'm glad you like it, too. Okay.

[21:21] Katie Chandler: Mascara and a good drugstore find by.

[21:23] Amy Sherman: The good price point.

[21:26] Katie Chandler: Yeah.

[21:26] Amy Sherman: So cheap. Okay, mascara.

[21:28] Katie Chandler: What's your fave?

[21:29] Erica Taylor: The OG Telescopic.

[21:31] Amy Sherman: Okay.

[21:32] Katie Chandler: Telescope. Who's that by?

[21:34] Erica Taylor: L'Oreal.

[21:35] Amy Sherman: L'Oreal.

[21:36] Katie Chandler: Okay.

[21:36] Amy Sherman: This one, I think I have that another drugstore find. Oh, that's the one with the two sides, right?

[21:42] Erica Taylor: No, this is the original.

[21:43] Amy Sherman: The original.

[21:44] Erica Taylor: So you don't have to navigate which side you're using, because sometimes that's a lot, too.

[21:49] Katie Chandler: Yeah.

[21:50] Erica Taylor: So this one is tiny, so as we mature, our lashes get thinner. So you always think, bigger brush, bigger lash? No, because a bigger brush could not get to the root of the problem. So when you go under and wiggle at the base and lift, you're actually catching every little baby hair that a big brush can't.

[22:11] Amy Sherman: Right, that makes sense.

[22:13] Katie Chandler: And then wait, what color was that? That wasn't black mascara.

[22:16] Erica Taylor: Was that was that clear? It's almost like an off black.

[22:20] Katie Chandler: Okay. So is there any reason why you choose a specific color off black or no reason, right?

[22:27] Erica Taylor: No, just whichever one I find.

[22:28] Amy Sherman: Okay. All right. Yeah. I find that with mascara, I have to use two different ones because I have one like that. That's like a lengthening, which is great, but then I need volume. I like it more thick looking. And so I find that I have to use two. One for lengthening and one for fullness. That's just me, though, for the volume.

[22:47] Erica Taylor: Oh, yeah. No, I agree. I did that, too, when I want more. And then another one I really love is the Clinique a new one? Oh, I have very sensitive eyes, and I can't use a lot of mascaras. And I remember when I was younger, I wouldn't be like, my eyes are so sensitive. And I was always like, yes, sure. Okay, now that's me.

[23:09] Amy Sherman: So the clinique. Okay. What is it? Just clinique mascara.

[23:12] Erica Taylor: The new one. That's like this is a brown oh, yeah. By accident. But I dig it, and it just gives really nice volume and doesn't irritate my eyes. They also make an awesome tubing, one that I let my preteens wear because I know it won't run down their face when they're in school.

[23:31] Amy Sherman: What is the difference? I always hear tubing. I don't know the difference. Can you tell us what that means? Tubing.

[23:36] Erica Taylor: Absolutely. So I learned about the tubing mascara when I started working with Trish probably, I don't know, twelve, whatever, years ago. And Trish McEvoy was, like, the OG of the tubing mascara. It's a polymer that wraps the lash like a 360 tube. So instead of really sitting on it, it actually encapsulates the lash.

[23:58] Amy Sherman: Okay.

[23:59] Erica Taylor: Then you can build it up, but it doesn't run, it doesn't smudge. Even if you jump in cold water, it won't come off. But you remove it by holding it to warm water, and it washes off like little tubes. So it's like a waterproof, but better because it actually protects the lash.

[24:17] Amy Sherman: Oh, that's interesting. Does it have to do with the brush?

[24:21] Erica Taylor: Not so much the brush, but the polymer formula. It's a special polymer that wraps the lash.

[24:28] Amy Sherman: Okay. Because I always thought it was like the kind of brush, whether it's like kind of the brush you just showed us.

[24:35] Erica Taylor: Some of them have that, but it's not the brush, it's the formula.

[24:38] Katie Chandler: Will it say tubing mascara on it? I've never seen it. I've never heard of it. I don't know anything about it.

[24:43] Erica Taylor: And that's what it's been a big question that a lot of people don't even know about this. It's been around for years, but usually it will say tubing. But what you do is you just put in just look up tubing mascara, and a bunch will pop up.

[24:54] Amy Sherman: Yeah, you probably have some you don't even realize. I think I've had some and that have come off that way, that they just kind of come off whole. But yeah, I just never know. I always hear people say tubing and bristle, and I'm like, I don't know the difference. So, yeah, that's a good explanation.

[25:09] Erica Taylor: If you go to remove a tubing mascara with makeup remover, it'll get like, gummy.

[25:14] Amy Sherman: Okay. So you really just remove it with water. That'd be good for me because I hate removing mascara. So I did a whole episode on eyes and mascara and fake eyelashes because for a while I was wearing them because I can't stand taking off mascara and putting on mascara. So I had the extensions for a while, which I loved, and then I learned how to do them myself, and so whatever, but I've been taking a break for a while. But do you wear extensions at all, or do you just wear them when you go out and want to look.

[25:46] Erica Taylor: More when I go out, and that goes back to my eyes are so sensitive, right, that I don't even like the glues on my eyes.

[25:53] Amy Sherman: Yeah, I know.

[25:54] Erica Taylor: I've always really focused on the eyeliner rather than the mascara, so it's like.

[26:02] Katie Chandler: Yeah, your eyeliner, my eyes.

[26:04] Amy Sherman: Yeah, I know. I had been playing with that. And you're wearing eyeliner, aren't you? I always wear a little yeah, I just started doing that. But does it make your eyes look I feel like it makes my eyes look smaller, but maybe that's just me. Does it depend on the incorrectly?

[26:17] Erica Taylor: Absolutely.

[26:18] Amy Sherman: Oh, so I've been doing it. What's the trick for putting on eyeliner?

[26:22] Erica Taylor: So depends on the shape of the eye, and not everyone can cat. My eyes are still puffy from my mascara reaction, but if you see, I have kind of a flat surface, a little hooding here, so I kind of go through the hood, keeping it very fine on the actual lash and a little inner corner so you get elongate. If your liner is too thick across the whole way, it'll close your eye.

[26:46] Katie Chandler: Yeah.

[26:47] Erica Taylor: Or just doing outer corner, inner corner, mascara.

[26:51] Amy Sherman: And what about under the eye?

[26:54] Erica Taylor: I'm not really a big advocate, but it does work on some there's exceptions to every rule, but typically, when we start doing stuff under the eye, we start bringing attention under the eye.

[27:05] Katie Chandler: Right. Which is not where we want.

[27:07] Erica Taylor: No, we want I don't want attention on my waist.

[27:10] Katie Chandler: Yeah.

[27:10] Erica Taylor: Lift it up.

[27:11] Amy Sherman: Lift it up, baby.

[27:13] Katie Chandler: I used to use black eyeliner, and for whatever reason, I don't know, it just started to look too harsh on me. So I use, like, a darker brown eyeliner. And anytime I do under the eye, which I really never do, it just feels too heavy, like, too dramatic. Like I'm trying too hard.

[27:28] Amy Sherman: That's what I was meaning before. Where when I do it makes my eyes look small.

[27:31] Erica Taylor: When you do it under it especially, it will make the eyes look small.

[27:34] Amy Sherman: Yeah, that's what I found.

[27:35] Erica Taylor: Cages them in.

[27:36] Amy Sherman: Yeah, exactly. And then on the top yeah. If I do it right, it looks good, but I'm not always good at doing it.

[27:41] Katie Chandler: You should try brown.

[27:42] Amy Sherman: I'll try brown. Yeah, I do have a brown. I'll try that.

[27:44] Erica Taylor: They're more forgiving.

[27:45] Amy Sherman: Yeah. I feel like and then I've been seeing this because I feel like Michaela always says this on TikTok. What is this called? The tight line.

[27:54] Erica Taylor: Yeah.

[27:54] Amy Sherman: I've been playing around with that, which I like.

[27:57] Katie Chandler: When you're underneath your eyelash line on.

[27:59] Erica Taylor: The inside was the originator of that. Laura Mercier. I worked for Laura Mercier 20 years ago in Sachs, New York, and that's how I learned the tight line. So it was lining under for the invisible liner who's been around from actual makeup artists. It makes me laugh when people find these new makeup artists are finding all these new things.

[28:19] Katie Chandler: Right.

[28:20] Amy Sherman: You're like, that's been around for a million years. Right? I just learned about it. I was like, oh, let me try that tight lining. Okay. Lipstick.

[28:28] Erica Taylor: Favorite lipsticks? I would say probably the makeup by Mario. They're like lipstick meets balm meets gloss. I love these, but I am not lipstick loyal.

[28:40] Amy Sherman: Yeah.

[28:40] Katie Chandler: Okay.

[28:41] Erica Taylor: What about the color?

[28:42] Katie Chandler: What do you have on today? It's gorgeous. What's that?

[28:44] Erica Taylor: This is Huda longwear with so I take a beige, but what I do is I put a pinker gloss over it to give it life so I don't look abracadabra. And then I put the gloss a little on top so it catches the light.

[29:04] Amy Sherman: Yeah, it's beautiful.

[29:06] Erica Taylor: It's so nude that if it runs, nobody will see it.

[29:09] Amy Sherman: Right. So is that the huda one? Is that more of a I'm very progressive.

[29:13] Erica Taylor: Hold on. This is me. This is me.

[29:16] Amy Sherman: Every time I look at a product, I can't see anything.

[29:20] Erica Taylor: Wifey, huda.

[29:22] Katie Chandler: Wifey.

[29:22] Erica Taylor: Wifey longwear.

[29:24] Katie Chandler: Nice.

[29:24] Erica Taylor: And the lawless gloss. Okay. No, this color, whatever that is we'll find it.

[29:32] Amy Sherman: I like the Lawless concealer actually, too. That's a nice one.

[29:36] Erica Taylor: Speaking of Lawless, love that shade ballet because it has that perfect pink. Yeah, I like that, too.

[29:41] Amy Sherman: So is that huda beauty? Is that a gloss or just kind of like a more matted, long, wear matte lip. Okay. So it's kind of like the Kylie one. I just reviewed a Kylie Cosmetics nude that's matte. And then I'll put a gloss over it, and then it's kind of the same.

[29:55] Erica Taylor: Yeah, it looks, like, very dry. Unless you have, like, 19 year old lips or lip and or lips like.

[30:03] Amy Sherman: Katie, because she's got perfect lips.

[30:05] Erica Taylor: Yeah, some people have perfect lips, but typically it gets, like, frothy in the middle. Yeah, that happens to me.

[30:11] Amy Sherman: All that's not a good look.

[30:12] Katie Chandler: It is the worst thing. I'll come out from being with a client, and I look in the mirror, and I see this line on the inside. It's horrible.

[30:19] Amy Sherman: So you need to gloss up.

[30:21] Katie Chandler: It's so gross.

[30:22] Erica Taylor: Okay, looks like we got the rabies.

[30:26] Amy Sherman: Thanks for listening to Nirvana Sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes. Please subscribe and leave us a review. Also, find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would, please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana Sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 125 - Exploring Strip Makeup’s Skin Cleansing Revolution With Co-Founders Riley Egan & Shaun O’Hollaren (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 125.

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

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

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

Speaker C: Welcome back to the show Nirvana Sisters family. It's Amy and Katie. And we are here with Sean O'hollerin and Riley Egan, co founders of the recently launched brand Strip, which is a better for you skin cleanser brand. We are very excited to get the 101 on how to effectively clean our face. So a bit about Sean and Riley. Sean is a seasoned expert on the beauty consumer. He co founded the Brow Gal in 2012 and grew the company domestically and scaling to 40 international markets. Following the Brow Gal, sean spearheaded sales and expansion at other successful brands such as Makeup Eraser, Malley's Cosmetics, and Sugar Bear Hair. I know all of those brands. Passionate about the beauty industry and an entrepreneurial spirit at heart, sean's knowledge of the makeup removal space paired with years of successfully bringing brands to the market is invaluable to strip's mission. Riley is a tech savvy entrepreneur with a film industry background. After graduating from UCLA, Riley pursued a career in tech while simultaneously working on passion projects in film and television industry. Very interesting. After multiple successful exits in getting a feature film made, riley transitioned into small business consulting in 2016. Combining his passion for the film industry and extensive background in startups, riley maintains a wealth of knowledge in raising capital and scaling operations and logistics for the business. So really cool backgrounds. Excited to hear more. Before we start though, we always like to start our show to talk about our Nirvana of the week. Something that brought us joy, a smile to the face, big or smile just to set the stage. So Katie, I'll pass it to you. Sure.

Speaker B: Okay, well, thanks for being here, Riley and Sean. We're excited to chat. I think my Nirvana this week, I had a spare like hour earlier, the week after I finished work and I went to the beach by myself. I've literally never done this since. I've lived here near the beach for the last almost two years. And I just went by myself and sat and caught a moment of peace, staring at the water, breathing, taking it all in, letting my thoughts process. And that was a very nice Nirvana. I don't think it was an hour, it's probably like 30 minutes, but either way, it was fantastic. What about you, Amy?

Speaker C: That's awesome. Well, I think this week has been hectic because last week I was on vacation, which was amazing and a Nirvana, but being back, just catching up on all the things has been a little bit busy and crazy. But anyway, this morning when I was making my coffee, I had to refill the beans and I just refilled them and then took a second and smelled them and they smelled like so good, that fresh coffee scent. So I was just like that was my ten little seconds of meditation this morning. So I'll go for that one. What about you? I'll pass it to who am I going to pass it to? Riley.

Speaker D: Absolutely. And thank you both so much for having us on here. So I have a few nirvanas, I'll share them pretty quickly. One was this morning getting to wake up in my own bed again after traveling for work for a week. We've been at a convention in Las Vegas all week and there's just something so special about being home. Another for me was actually at the convention and really having a lot of people come up to me and talk to us about how much they loved the brand was a very cool thing. Because being a really remote work team and a D to C brand, it isn't super often that we get to interact with people in person. So that was just a really lovely experience. And then the other thing was that prior to that convention, I was spending a few days with my parents and my mom was having a bit of a health scare and everything is okay.

Speaker C: Good. Thank God.

Speaker D: That's good. Yeah, elderly parents are health is their primary concern these days.

Speaker C: Yeah, that and congrats on the praise at the conference. That's super exciting. Okay. What about you, Sean?

Speaker E: Yeah, for me, Riley's referencing, we just got back from Cause and profit beauty trade show in Las Vegas and for me it was just seeing so many people from all over the world that I hadn't seen in years, probably since before COVID And just actually getting to give them a big hug know, touch and feel somebody that you work with for so many years. So that was my nirvana this week.

Speaker C: Yeah. That's good. The connection is so important. OK, so let's kick off. I want to know how you all met and is this your first business together?

Speaker D: Absolutely. And yes, it is our first business together. Sean and I have known each other for, I want to say a decade or a little bit more now. So it's been quite a while that we've known each other and that was mutual friends introducing us back when we both worked in film and television. And it was actually a client of Sean's who just thought we'd get along famously and thankfully for both of us, he was right and we've been friends ever since.

Speaker C: I love it.

Speaker E: Yeah, it is our first business. We've been probably discussing it for two or three years before it finally came to fruition.

Speaker C: That's so cool. And tell us about the cleanser category of beauty. It's one we haven't really covered. We've covered it generally, but we haven't covered in detail. So I'd love to kind of get a sense of why you chose this category and what the inspiration behind your brand is.

Speaker E: Yeah, we both have different attachments and stories that brought us together in this category. For me, I was more in color cosmetics and some hair care before I got into business with Makeup Eraser, which was kind of the original reusable makeup wipes, and fell in love with it. Fell in love with the category and just realized that there wasn't a whole lot of innovation or education around this crucial step, being the first step in your skincare routine. And it was always something I wanted to do, was create a brand that only focused on makeup removal and cleansing and tried to be the go to experts and not just another brand that has a single product or two tacked onto a very long range of skincare. So Riley has a different story, but that's how we started discussing and I'm.

Speaker D: Not a makeup user myself, but my history in film and television, I've had my makeup done hundreds or thousands of times, potentially, and I've had my skin really badly damaged by very harsh cleansing products. And I'd always thought that was maybe just a me problem or potentially just the nature of heavier makeups on set and harsher products to remove those. And so when Sean came to me and know, I've had this idea for years, and I'd really love to do something in cleansing and makeup removal, I was like, that can't be a problem for everybody. And he assured me that it was. So I started talking to just every woman I could in my life. And it was really shocking to me that as I spoke to these gals, I'd say maybe one in ten really loved the product they had for this step, and the rest fell somewhere between being kind of ambivalent of like, it does the job, but I don't love it. To actively disliking it, but not knowing what else to do. And on the extreme end of the spectrum, potentially having just abandoned the category to use like a grocery store variety coconut oil. And so as I kind of was like, that is very strange to me what's going on here. I started studying cleansing more and really looking at the science behind how it affects skin. And we can get into this more probably later in the podcast, but the kind of unfortunate truth is, it's certainly better than sleeping in your makeup, but cleansers actually can do some pretty significant harm to your skin. And so as I looked at this, I was like, it seems very unacceptable to me that an entire product category that every makeup user, really, every person should be doing every single day is actively taking away from your skin's health.

Speaker B: Yeah, it's interesting because we've talked to a lot of women on the podcast, and we often ask them what their routine is and everything, and we hear a lot of different responses when it comes to makeup removal. That piece. So what is it about strip that is, what did you guys do? How did you innovate that's?

Speaker D: Okay. I get really excited about this because I kind of geek out on the science behind skincare. And really what this came from was us looking at Cleansing as a whole category and saying, what is it doing that isn't serving users? And how can we make a product that does? And so we really identified three main ways that traditional cleansers aren't as skin friendly as we'd love them to be and at a high level. The first is it removes a ton of moisture from your skin, so it dehydrates your skin. The second is that it disrupts your skin's PH. And this is a really big issue and really has a lot of skincare effects, but it elevates your skin's PH to a really alkaline level, which is very unhealthy. And then the third and this is where the name came from, it strips your skin of a lot of the essential nutrients your skin just needs to be healthy. So we actually have been in product development for three years, and it's been a very unique challenge to figure out how to have the Cleansing efficacy that people demand.

Speaker C: Wow.

Speaker D: As a side note, something that was very OD to me when I got involved in this category was people seem to be so impressed by a product that just removed their makeup. And I was like, shouldn't that be the absolute bare minimum that this product is doing for you? So, obviously, the Cleansing efficacy is very important to us. And then we had to solve for how do we, in the same jar, in the same step, rehydrate balance your PH and restore those nutrients. And it was a very fun journey, thankfully. And Sean kind of doesn't mention this, but he actually is a chemist. We worked with some really formulators. He oversaw a lot of that product development, and we came out with what I think are really incredible cleansers. And this is a category that people don't really expect skincare benefits from. So we did go have third party clinical testing done. So all of these claims are independently verified. Everything we say about the brand is actually from independent testing.

Speaker C: Yeah, I was going to ask you about that. I saw that you have all your clinical results on your website, which is super important. I've been paying a lot of attention to brands that are doing that because it's just like, to your point, you don't really know what you're putting in your face, even if it says tested. Like, the clinical test know the gold star of knowing that the product's safe and a good product. But I'd love to hear a little bit more about the clinical results and the chemist side of it. Sean, that's super cool.

Speaker E: Yeah, it was something I actually never thought I would graduate with a degree in biology and chemistry but once I got into beauty, it was something that became applicable. So I haven't done product development with every single one of my brands, but with strip, just building this from the ground up, it was very important. And I know what I don't know. We did bring in some other great formulators as well and really studied the market. What are other brands doing, what are consumers really comfortable using and using on a daily basis? So that's kind of how we backed into it. But as Riley said, we wanted to create products that had never really been seen before and really solved a lot of the issues looking at even makeup Eraser did back in the day. I really love to use just water to remove your makeup rather than pre soaked wipes that sit in chemicals. That was something really important to us as well as the environmental approach, wanted all of our wipes not to sit in landfills for years on end and not break down. What we did with the clinicals was really tried to break down each of our products to look at how well they hydrated the skin, any antiaging benefits, obviously how much makeup they removed. And then we also wanted to compare them to traditional cleansers that you could find at local drugstores or premium beauty stores that were popular and really show the point of difference in what we created. So it was phenomenal. Riley, you might have off the top of your head some of the actual numbers and stats about how much more it removed your makeup and hydrated you. I'm running on little sleep, so I.

Speaker D: Don'T I do have so the one that I love to start with and I'd like to start I actually thought it was a mistake when the lab sent this back to us. The whipped coconut makeup remover that we have compared to your drugstore variety Neutrogena wipe leaves your skin with 500% more moisture in it.

Speaker B: Oh, my God.

Speaker D: This illustrates point of how traditional cleansers negatively impact your skin. And we know these drugstore wipes are kind of like the most egregious offender and everyone knows that they are really bad for your face and they're terrible for the environment. They're cheap, they're convenient, and they're fast. So unfortunately, people still use them. But whereas a product like that can remove almost 65% of the moisture from your skin, r two products are clinically proven to instantly increase hydration by 75% and 73%. That's the Cabiar jelly is 75% and the whipped coconut is 73%.

Speaker B: Wow, that's very impressive.

Speaker C: If you think about it, when you cleanse your face, then at least at night, right? Or in the morning. But when you cleanse your face, then you put back on a hyaluronic acid or something to then hydrate your face. And I have very dry skin, so I'm doing that all the time. So I got to figure out what I'm doing, but I have to try your products, and then maybe I don't need those things.

Speaker E: A lot of these close off your pores when you're using a micellar water or a chemical soaked wipe. It really shuts that down. So your skincare that you're using after is not as effective.

Speaker B: Yeah, right.

Speaker C: It doesn't give it the thing in again.

Speaker B: Right as we're talking, I'm thinking about the cleansers that I use, and I've never committed to a cleanser. I think I have three different cleansers in my shower by my sink, because I'm literally just at best, like you said earlier, I need something to take off my makeup and not make my skin worse. So it should be more than that.

Speaker D: That's what you rewind. A moment you asked how strip came about. It was really saying, how do we make a really integral product that actually is first concerned with the health and wellness of the people that are using the product. And so everything we talked about all of these ways that traditional cleansers damage your skin. Essentially every cleanser is the same, and people really choose them based on, like, do I prefer the feel of a micellar water, a balm, an oil, a wipe? But they're all doing the same kind of damage to people's skin. And it's really crazy when you think about it, how much of your beauty routine is actually undoing the damage you just did with pulling out that moisture, disrupting your PH, and stripping your skin of those nutrients.

Speaker C: So true.

Speaker D: I'm sure you're all familiar with, because we all are that dry, tight, irritated, postcleans skin. That's your skin's way of screaming, something's wrong. Please help me. And that desire, like, I need to reach for my toner, I need to reach for my moisturizer the second I get my makeup off so I can start. And this was something that Sean really saw as a great opportunity for people, is to change the way we look at cleansing. It's not this thing that we need to do before we start our skincare. It's not, Let me get my makeup off so I can start my skincare. Your skincare starts the moment you begin cleansing. And this is because you're either, like Sean said, really setting yourself up for success with the rest of your routine, or you're giving the rest of your routine a lot of extra work to do.

Speaker C: Yeah, I was just going to say it sounds like it could shorten your routine if you're doing it right. So on that point, give us the breakdown from, like, an am and A-P-M in terms of cleansing, because I hear different things.

Speaker D: Nighttime routine is generally more important because you have been potentially wearing makeup all day and your skin has been accumulating different impurities, dirt, oil, grime, different environmental factors throughout the day that don't have as much of a chance to impact your skin while you're asleep. But the real thing that's going on here and this is a lot of that PH issue we talked about earlier is cleansing twice a day can actually be pretty harmful to your skin. So your skin's natural PH, or the healthy PH I should say, is about 4.5. This is pretty acidic. Base is seven. And most cleansers, your general soap can have a PH as high as nine or ten. So this really raises your PH. And what this does is it actually causes your skin's acid mantle to break down. This is the primary component of your skin barrier, which is what helps keep all that moisture in it's what helps your skin to regulate itself and keep itself healthy, to bring in the nutrients it needs to stop those environmental factors from getting in and negatively impacting your skin. And when you've disrupted your PH like this, it can actually take eight to 10 hours for your skin to repair itself on its own. So if you're cleansing morning and night with a product that is disrupting your PH, your skin essentially never has a chance to recover. And you're going through life with your skin's primary, your first defense not working for you. So it can really cause big issues. And there's other ways around this, right? This isn't a given. So there's products that balance PH. There's certain cleansers that balance PH, but not everyone's aware of that. So not everyone's taking it into account.

Speaker E: And oftentimes a double cleanse is only needed because the first product you're using isn't working. Holistically. So we do like to say you can use a single topical or one of our topicals on their own, but taking off that first layer of makeup with a reusable wipe with just water, especially that heavy eye makeup that's a little harder to get off, and then going in with a topical cleanser is a great way to do it. And then I still just cleanse generally in the morning as well as I think, a lot of us.

Speaker B: So tell us the different products that you have and why one would choose. Absolutely.

Speaker D: I actually have a few jars with me right here, I can show you. I'll start with this one that's in my hand. And this is our caviar jelly makeup remover. Caviar is just a name, by the way. Our entire brand is completely vegan, cruelty free, clean by EU standards. But we have these cool little bubbles, which is part of the technology. And it kind of looks a little bit, maybe a bit hard to see here, but looks like Caviar, which I can get into.

Speaker C: I haven't seen this online, by the way.

Speaker D: Both balance PH and then the real difference is in what skincare issue that is of concern to you. And what's really great about the Caviar specifically is that it's about replenishing the lipids in your skin. So this addresses all the visible signs of aging, from fine lines to wrinkles skin elasticity, skin texture, skin evenness. And we have some really awesome actives in there hyaluronic acid, there's collagen peptides. There's vitamin C. There's retinoic acid, which is a form of retinol. There's a ton of antioxidants in there. So if you're concerned with either preventing signs of aging or minimizing signs of aging, that caviar jelly is an awesome product for you. Whipped coconut, again, rehydrates balances PH. But this is really focused on long term skin health and general skin wellness. So this is about that skin barrier that we talked about earlier. And a lot of the actives are focused on the fatty acids and the healthy fats that primarily compromise the acid mantle and the skin barrier. And then a lot of the micronutrients that your skin, again, needs to keep that functioning well and keep that balanced. So there's things like mango seed butter, shea butter, ginseng root, which stimulates a ton of circulation to bring those micronutrients back into the skin. And again, tons of antioxidants in there. Coconut oil, which hydrates the skin. And something very cool about this product, specifically coconut oil. Generally, it's a great product, but it really clogs pores, which obviously is an issue. And then you basically need to cleanse again to open your pores back up. And one of the kind of miracle things about this is that we've figured out how to have all of those benefits from coconut oil, and it be a non clogging product.

Speaker E: Oh, nice. And a common misperception. People will say skincare ingredients in a cleanser, aren't you just washing it off? How does that actually work? And if you have the right product, the right ingredients to actually remove your makeup, open up your pores, and cleansing correctly for 60 seconds or more, they really do work. It's not just a marketing gimmick that you see out there of collagen based cleanser.

Speaker D: People very rightly. So should be asking that how does the cleanser not cancel out the skincare benefits and wash them right out? And the answer is, that's something we spent three years developing. So I can't tell you how it works. But we did that clinical testing so we could say, look, this really is happening. It really does work.

Speaker B: The caviar looks like it would be very soothing. It looks like it's like a nice gel. Is it kind of like a gel? Is that the feeling of it? And does it have exfoliation to it or do those little it does not. Okay, yeah, it looks like it would be so soothing. This is kind of just a random question, but do you have to splash your face with water first?

Speaker D: You can go through the entire cleansing step without water. For me, I prefer both with water. So I'll take the product, I'll put it on my skin, work it into the skin a little bit, especially with that caviar. You want to give those little bubbles time to dissolve into your skin. That's where all the skin care is. And then I'll dampen it. I think dampening it for me gets a nice little lather going. I think the efficacy has a bit improved and it just feels nice. And then wipe and rinse and you're done.

Speaker B: Not having to use water, though, is cool sometimes.

Speaker C: You're I know I tend to use, to your point, the brands you formerly worked at, the Makeup Eraser, I have those. And sometimes I'll do cleaning and then I'll use that to just take it off with a little bit of water instead of splashing my face.

Speaker D: And there are a handful of people that have found their own type of double cleanse with these. And primarily it's that they use the whipped coconut to remove makeup and then they do the second part of that double cleanse with the caviar jelly.

Speaker B: I'm curious, how many men do you think are cleansing their face? Because I don't think my husband does. But he will then, because he has crows, right?

Speaker E: Yeah, there's a lot, but definitely not properly. I mean, at least men's skincare category has certainly gotten bigger, but I still recommend all my male friends is use a skincare or use a cleanser that you typically wouldn't associate as a men's cleanser. But there has been brands like Jack Black, obviously, over the years, and Anthony that have come out with some good ones. But yeah, I think a lot of guys are still using just your typical soap in the.

Speaker C: Mean. My routine at night is so long. My husband's always like, what are you know? But I think he literally splashes his face or does nothing unless he's showering.

Speaker B: Strip is targeted to women, but it's unisex you're using it yourself.

Speaker D: Riley quite a few of the husbands of women that have bought in the products have reached out to us and say that they steal them from their wives, which is always pretty funny to hear, but so know, I think a lot of the gals out there understand the importance of cleansing and already see it as an integral step in their routine. So it kind of is a better fit for that market. And like Sean said, men's skincare is certainly growing, but a lot of men still don't want to take the time, don't see the importance. So there's, I think, a different process there with it starts with education and it starts with helping people understand why they'd want to do this and what the benefit they're going to receive from it is.

Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker C: What about teens? A lot of teens use your products.

Speaker E: Oh, sorry, what was that?

Speaker C: Sorry, I was just going to ask if your products are good for teens. I have two teens.

Speaker E: They definitely are. I mean, what we've seen is there's just a lot of complacency around this step and it's whatever is easiest to grab at your local store, drugstore, beauty store. It really is. I mean, we see teenagers, I mean, 13 up to gals in their 60s using the product. And something that I noticed too, was that a lot of especially gals that have skincare issues, especially struggling with acne, when they would go into even a dermatologist and try to look at how to clear that up, it was never a question that was asked was, well, what type of cleanser are you using? And a lot of times when you do change that step out, especially when you're going through those, your hormones are starting to change in your teens oftentimes that can really make the difference, and you might not have to get on Accutane or another.

Speaker D: There's a really good reason for that.

Speaker E: Major drug to clear up those issues.

Speaker D: Which, again, goes back to that PH. And our products certainly do not solve hormonal acne. However, if you have acne prone skin, again, your skin's natural PH is 4.5, which is acidic, the main bacteria that cause acne and that acne thrives on and lives on. It loves an alkaline PH. So if your skin's PH is constantly alkaline, the bacteria that primarily causes acne is thriving on your skin. So for a lot of those teens out there struggling with potentially non hormonal acne issues, the right cleanser and really keeping in mind balancing that PH is actually a very helpful step.

Speaker C: Yeah, I have two teenage boys, and so I'm sure if they just their acne isn't terrible, but I'm sure if they just wash their face better, their skin would clear up. They just need to take the time. But I can just tell them this will take them a minute and they don't need anything else. So, hey, that's good. Okay, so you mentioned it before, men not taking care of themselves as much as women do in terms of cleansing skin and stuff. So just in general, how do you feel about being men in this beauty business, this women dominated beauty business, which is just quite the opposite of most other industries. So definitely more of an anomaly. I'd love to get your thoughts on that.

Speaker E: Yeah, it's really interesting. You see, obviously from the manufacturing side of beauty, you do see a lot of men, but on the product development side, brand owners and obviously creating a product that is targeted towards women, it's really interesting, but we really try everything. I mean, my bathroom is filled with makeup. Anytime somebody comes over, are you sure you're not married? Or if somebody else is living here. But I try everything before I use it. I have so many female friends in the industry and out that we really test everything with. And to me, though, it really comes down to being passionate about it, creating a great product that you can stand behind and put your integrity into. And there's nothing more exciting than creating something that gals or people use every day that lives in their bathroom and that they can come back and buy that really makes them feel better. Look. Better. It's certainly interesting.

Speaker D: It's actually very helpful in two interesting ways. And the first is that as kind of an outsider to the beauty world, I felt like I was willing to ask the dumb questions that no one else seemed to be asking. And primarily that was why does it seem like so many women have just accepted that every day they need to use a product that is actively detracting from their skin's health? That just seemed crazy to me, but it seemed like there was a lot of complacency there and no one was really questioning it. And so asking that question was a big part of how this brand got started and why we developed products the way we did. And then the second part is I came in assuming that people would probably question my intentions. What is this guy doing in beauty? Are these two guys just trying to cash in on women and take advantage of women? And what it caused us to do is, I think, really care about the integrity of the brand and the integrity of the product and go as far as we possibly could in every single facet of the brand from the cleansing efficacy to the skincare, to the sustainability, to the products being clean, to the point where these products sean and I try and be as in the background as possible as founders. We're not a founder forward brand because we think the products should and can speak for themselves and that as people use them, they will feel like really viscerally feel instantly, but also over time how different of a product this is and the integrity that we built this with.

Speaker B: Yeah, I love that your passion for it definitely comes through and it's very impressive. Everything that you've done, the testing and finding, the efficacy, it sounds like they're both great products. I really want to get my hands on them. So you have to tell us where we can buy them. Where are you selling them, by the way? Are they online?

Speaker E: Yeah, we're selling them. So on our website stripmakeup.com on Amazon we are with Urban Outfitters going into Nordstrom soon as available there too and growing every yeah, we're a newer brand and want to keep the goal is to round out the line with a lot more products as well. So we can really offer every consumer a different product that suits them, suits their skin, suits their profile and just the feel of what they like out of a cleanser or makeup remover.

Speaker C: Yeah, I was going to ask you what products are coming down the pipeline or you can't say yet.

Speaker E: There's some really fun ones we're doing a lot of we think on the go too is a big opportunity for anyone that travels a lot because oftentimes your routine can get disrupted. We've got more products both for in and out of shower, oil based, gel based, water based, so a lot more in the next several months.

Speaker B: And are you going to be offering more than just face? Are we talking potentially body washes coming?

Speaker D: We don't have body coming at the moment. Really, our focus is staying, again, just on the face and in the cleansing, and we don't have any plans to expand outside of cleansing anytime soon. And again, this is because while we do want to cater to every kind of removal routine preference, right now, a lot of people out there select their cleanser just based on product weight, product texture, product feel, because they all do the same thing. And our long term goal is to really redefine the way people look at this category. And they say, this is a crucial step in my skincare routine. What element of my skin or what skin concern do I want to be addressing? And so they all have their own skincare benefits. And it's like, do I care about the visible signs of aging? Do I care about my skin barrier? Do I have acne prone skin? So a lot of the products we're developing are for very interesting and differentiated skincare issues.

Speaker B: Yeah. That's brilliant. Nice. Good for you. Well, congratulations on all the success. It's exciting.

Speaker C: So I have a question before we wrap. So as best friends and business partners, which we can relate to, we're sister in laws and best friends. What is the best and worst parts of working together? And be honest.

Speaker E: Riley.

Speaker D: I love working with Sean and I.

Speaker C: Let me listen to this.

Speaker D: Sometimes it can be difficult because there is a different component to the relationship. And frankly, with Sean and I, I think that's been a huge plus for us because we have really great communication. Neither of us take anything personally. And because we have a very close connection, it's very easy to call each other and say, what in the world were you thinking with that? Or what's going on? And, hey, I need you here. And I think that the way we're able to communicate is super helpful for us as a brand. I think the hardest thing and I don't know this is so much about us being friends is that we're completely remote, so we don't live in the same city. And building a brand with somebody and not being able to be next to them every day while you're doing it has a ton of its own very unique challenges.

Speaker B: Yes, we relate to that also.

Speaker C: Yes, we can. Absolutely. Where are you all based?

Speaker E: I'm in Los Angeles and Riley's in Texas. And then our team spread out all over the yeah, too far. I hate to be that person, but I honestly can't say there's much, many bad things about working with Riley. I said years ago I would never work with a friend again. And Riley is the only one I could ever see myself working with. I'm so happy. We both have such different ways of thinking we take on different roles and positions in the company and really just balance each other. Well, I would say, yeah, being remote is a little tougher, but Riley, you make it easy. You're a great partner. That's nice.

Speaker C: Yeah. I mean, I was going to say, it seems like you guys have different skill sets, but together it works perfectly. It's like you complement each other, which is great. So congrats on all your success and where can everybody find you?

Speaker E: Yeah. On our website. Stripmakeup.com. Amazon Urban Outfitters.

Speaker C: Oh, right, you already said Instagram. I don't know if you said Instagram.

Speaker E: Yeah, on Instagram, we're at Strip Makeup TikTok as well, and also YouTube Strip Makeup, so we constantly also try to put out a lot of education just around cleansing, certainly around our products. And our team's always there to answer any questions, too, about a specific issue or what product is right or wrong for something nice.

Speaker C: Well, thank you again. It was so nice to meet you all. And, yeah, we look forward to seeing.

Speaker B: Congrats on all the success.

Speaker E: Thank you both so much.

Speaker A: Thanks for listening to Nirvana Sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes, please subscribe and.

Speaker C: Leave us a review.

Speaker A: Also, find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would, please.

Speaker C: Share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh.

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

Episode 123 - ProductJunkies - September Edition - When You Want That Glass Skin - Wrinkle Reducers, New SPF And Finishing Touches (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 123.

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

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

Amy Sherman: Welcome back to the show Nirvana Sisters family. It's Amy and Katie, and we are here. We're back with the product junkies to start the back to school season. Not that these are back to school products, but we have been doing a lot of replays this summer because we've both been running around and we've done a few episodes that we've launched some new ones, but we've also been doing a lot of replays, so it's good to be back. It's good to see you, Katie. I feel like we haven't caught up. I know. So we need a major catch up. But I know you were just in Alaska.

Katie Chandler: Yes, alaska was interesting.

Amy Sherman: I asked Katie how it was, and she was like, it was interesting. I'm like, okay, I'm going to have to hear about that. How was your cruise experience?

Katie Chandler: The cruise experience was, I think, the interesting piece. I'm definitely not a cruiser. I think it's a fantastic thing for those that enjoy it. And my father has a handicap, so it's so good for him because it's all accessible and easy in there. But it is not my thing.

Amy Sherman: It would not be my thing.

Katie Chandler: Lesson learned.

Amy Sherman: Did you get nauseous?

Katie Chandler: I actually didn't have any problems with seasickness, but my other sister in law, my brother's wife, she was like it was tough for her. And then Adam had it a little had legitimately. There was days where the boat was rocking. You could visibly see it and feel it, and you'd be like, horrible. Yeah, you would trip almost, like, fall over if you weren't careful.

Amy Sherman: It was kind of crazy. Yeah, it was crazy. Yeah.

Katie Chandler: And then Alaska, that's not even like the whole family passed around, like a stomach virus and the whole was but.

Amy Sherman: How was actual Alaska?

Katie Chandler: Actual Alaska was beautiful. I mean, really, really gorgeous. Like, the water there is so different than the water here. It's such, like a deep marine blue color. I don't even know how to describe it. It just looks so different.

Amy Sherman: Wow.

Katie Chandler: And we saw whales every single day. And we took a train, like, really high up in the mountains, up through a passageway that the original settlers went from Alaska into Canada. Yeah, we just did a lot of cool experiences. Little towns are very quaint and sweet, and it's a cool place. It was not on my bucket list, so I would have never been there otherwise. I have no reason to ever go otherwise, so it's really cool. I've been to Alaska. My kids had an amazing time.

Amy Sherman: The girls loved it.

Katie Chandler: They loved it. They had a great time. And you, you've been everywhere, too. You were just at the everywhere. How was the week at the beach with the family?

Amy Sherman: The beach was good. It was actually, like Stu and I were saying. It was like one of our best weeks. We felt like just because it was chill know, we go with a couple of families and they're great, and we just kind of, like, have our system. We go to the beach every day, but we don't go till later in the day, so it's not like a rush to get out in the morning. And we're all just kind of like hanging out. And the kids have bikes so they can just ride them around the neighborhood and go get breakfast or do whatever. And then, yeah, we are just kind of on the beach the second half of the day every day and hanging out, and the kids are in the water. And then we'd bust out our high noons later in the day and just relax. And then we'd go to some good dinners and go to bed and sometimes early, sometimes late. It was just nice, actually. It was really funny. One of my favorite parts of our trip, which is but like, have you been watching Summer I Turn pretty no.

Katie Chandler: I haven't gotten into it yet.

Amy Sherman: Oh, it's so good. So I watched season one last year and then season two. Was it last year? I guess it was last year. It's on Amazon Prime and season two this year. I mean, every teenager knows this show. I'm like such a teenager. But, like, love these kind of shows. As you know, it's a little cheesy, but it's like you get into it because it's just such a good story. It's a book, so you can kind of understand why it was made into a picture or into a series. So one of the nights we just stayed in and had pizza or whatever, went over to Courtney's house, and she's got two teenage girls who were watching it. And a lot of the family friends were all these girls. They're all well, yeah, it was the finale came out that night. So one of Courtney's daughters was like, oh, do you want to watch it? Because I was talking to them about it because I'd like to get all the teens insights on the show about this and that and what they think about it. So we all sat around and watched the show, and it was so fun watching it with them because hearing their reactions and all the music, a lot of it is Taylor Swift. So it was just so fun to watch a show with teenagers who the show is pretty much made for. And it was just like a fun memory. I loved it. It sounds we're all, like, in our sweats.

Katie Chandler: Yeah, it sounds like such a chill vacation where you were just at ease and relaxed and you're not running anywhere, right?

Amy Sherman: Yeah, exactly.

Katie Chandler: Earlier, were you in a house with multiple families or did you guys have.

Amy Sherman: Your no, we were just like in a kind of a condo.

Katie Chandler: Yeah. And then other people were there in their other you would connect. Yeah. That's so nice.

Amy Sherman: Yeah. And then we would just meet up, which is nice. You kind of have your own space and whatever. So that was good. And then yeah, earlier in the summer was in Utah Resort, which is, again, like, we had an agenda because there were things we wanted to do, but it was very relaxing, very remote, very almost like a retreat, in a way. And we did boating on Lake Powell, and we did hiking and we went into the canyons and it was just stunning. It was like so my vibe, like the whole desert and the heat and the dry air and all the hiking, and I just loved it. We were there for a couple of days and it was just so rejuvenating.

Katie Chandler: And that was just you and Stu? No, kids.

Amy Sherman: Stu and I, because the kids were.

Katie Chandler: Yeah, and all the easier to go and do all of those things when it's just the two of you. That's what it's all about when you're on a trip, just the two of you.

Amy Sherman: I don't think it was probably too chill for them. I don't know. I mean, maybe they would have liked it, but probably not. And yeah, we did like, spa stuff and just chilled. I mean, we went for our 20th anniversary.

Katie Chandler: So nice.

Amy Sherman: It was special.

Katie Chandler: And the sickest celebrity spotting ever. Tell our listeners.

Amy Sherman: Yes, we saw Angelina Jolie, so that was really fun. She was sitting next to us at dinner with her whole family, all very well behaved. They were, like, having such a good time. Nice family. No one was bothering them because it's not that kind of place. It's really small and remote, and everyone's cool about that. So that was amazing. She was stunning in person and not as tall as I thought she was. Probably like maybe my height. A little bit taller.

Katie Chandler: Really?

Amy Sherman: Five, six. I always thought she was super tall. I know she looks tall, but she's not. She's just, like, really thin, has that stature. But yeah, that was really cool. And yeah, it's just a great place just to disconnect. Be out in the mountains, be out in that environment. Really quiet. Very quiet there. Very still, and just yeah, really grounding.

Katie Chandler: Sounds great.

Amy Sherman: It was incredible. It was just so beautiful.

Katie Chandler: The summer flew by.

Amy Sherman: But anyway, back to product cookies. We have a couple of things, just some fun things that we've been wanting to review because we haven't done a show. I don't know. I think we did 1 July, maybe, but we might have missed August. So we are back and here to talk about some products we're loving right now. So I will start with you, Katie.

Katie Chandler: Okay, this first one. All right, so this is actually kind of funny because you're going to have to tell me if either of us have already talked about some of these, because it could be possible. But this first one is from our fave Erica Taylor. Right?

Amy Sherman: Yeah. Found was obviously coming soon. Coming soon.

Katie Chandler: I follow her on TikTok and Insta. And she suggested this makeup forever. HD Skin Twist and Light.

Amy Sherman: Oh, I've seen her talk about that. No, you haven't reviewed this. I must hear it's.

Katie Chandler: Really good. So the coolest thing about it, first.

Amy Sherman: Of all wait, repeat the name so our listeners can hear what's it called.

Katie Chandler: It's a makeup forever. HD skin twist and light. 24 Hours luminous Finishing Powder. And it is in this container that the bottom twists, and you just tap it when you twist it open, and it puts out the perfect little amount of powder that you need at the bottom there. And then you dip your brush in, and your brush isn't, like, drenched with too much powder. It's like the perfect amount. And the interesting thing is the colors. It's pink powder, blue powder, and kind of like a pearlescent color powder. But that's the whole thing. These pink powders are the finishing powders. Right. So it's not just like your usual one that matches your concealer. It's totally different because it's all about reflecting light and everything. And this one exactly, they have four different shades. This is the light shade, 1.0 light, and it's really beautiful. It finishes.

Amy Sherman: What does blue powder do? I've never heard of that. I didn't realize there was I don't know exactly.

Katie Chandler: I think it's all about radiance light reflecting the pink blurs, and I think the blue maybe reflects the light. So when I put it on, can.

Amy Sherman: You mix them together?

Katie Chandler: Yeah, that's the whole point. When you shake it, all three different colors go at the bottom.

Amy Sherman: They all come next. Yeah. Cool.

Katie Chandler: And it really is like I also do my contouring with it, but I really feel like when the light hits my face, it hits all the places that you want. Like, it hits the high cheekbones and the center of the forehead and the bridge of the nose and the cupid's bow on the lips, because I'm finishing with this. When I don't finish with it, I.

Amy Sherman: Don'T feel that as the last thing you put on.

Katie Chandler: It's the last thing I put on before my setting spray. Yeah, exactly.

Amy Sherman: Okay.

Katie Chandler: Yeah, it's really good.

Amy Sherman: Yeah, it's funny. I, on the recommendation of Erica, also got the Westminutelier Pink powder, but it's pressed it's like that little gold, and she raves about that one, too, but it's a little bit different because it's not loose. I always forget about it, but I need to use that more. But yeah, same idea. It just kind of like, blurs everything out, but I'm shy with it. I always get nervous to use too much. I don't know why, but that's good to know about that. Powder because I've seen her talk about that many times and it looks amazing when she does it.

Katie Chandler: I'm obsessed with it. Absolutely.

Amy Sherman: You just need, like a little bit.

Katie Chandler: The littlest bit. This is going to last me a very long time. My only complaint is that it's like clunky. It's not great for travel, but that's it.

Amy Sherman: I wonder if they have a smaller version or something.

Katie Chandler: Yeah, it would be nice. I mean, this is what their website says. A three in one luminous finishing powder that instantly unifies, corrects and revives your complexion while delivering 24 hours radiance and blurring. And I tell you, that's exactly what it does. It also is nice because it kind of like it helps blend my makeup, too, at the end.

Amy Sherman: What brush do you use with it? Because that's the other thing I use.

Katie Chandler: That I big, fat, loose, like, not tightly compact brush.

Amy Sherman: I don't have a brush like that. Yeah, I need to invest in that.

Katie Chandler: I have those triangle, like the triangle makeup powder pads. I know what you're talking about.

Amy Sherman: Yeah, I guess it's a powder powder pad. So I have that. But I didn't use it that much because I feel like I don't know how to use that.

Katie Chandler: Yeah, I feel like those things make it too cakey. It puts it on too heavy, like a big loose brush. You just need a light dusting.

Amy Sherman: A light dust. Yes. Okay, good to know. Well, maybe you'll have to do a video and show our listeners how you use it.

Katie Chandler: Yeah, I will. What do you have?

Amy Sherman: Well, these kind of well, let's see. We're talking about skin. So I'll start with this. Because this is an everyday staple, I wanted to try a new SPF. So this is an SPF 50 plus. It's called Beauty of I don't even know how to pronounce it. Beauty of Joseph Josene. It's like a K beauty brand. Have you seen this?

Katie Chandler: Okay, kind of, yeah. Not really.

Amy Sherman: It's called relief. Sun, rice and probiotics. SPF 50. I've seen it a lot reviewed or just like, here and there. I think you can get on Amazon. But I actually bought it because Natasha B, who we've had on the show Beauty Junkie Monkey, had recommended I believe she recommended this brand, or she recommended a website for other products and they happen to have this. And I just wasn't sure if it was legitimate on Amazon because it's like a K beauty brands and you just don't know if you're getting the right thing. But anyway, needless to say, it's a really nice SPF. It's very thin. It does not feel like SPF. It feels like a moisturizer, like a light moisturizer. No smell at all.

Katie Chandler: Oh, nice.

Amy Sherman: And it's really nice. It gives, like, a little bit of a glow. And so I've been using this almost like, as a moisturizer instead of putting on moisturizer and then SPF, or like I know you could do like, a moisturizer with SPF. I've just almost been using this as a moisturizer and doing it as my last step, and I'll mix it with, like, glow drops or something like that, but it's just like a really nice, thin, inexpensive SPF. It's $18 on their website, and you can get a two pack for 30. And this really lasts a long time. So I've been just using this lately. Like I was just saying, when I was at the beach, I just used this in the morning and at night, it's just so easy, and it's nice. And like I said, thin and radiant. And it's a really nice K beauty product. So that's that I also bought. I'm not reviewing it because I'm still testing. It an eye cream that has a little bit of retinol in it. So I'm testing that out too, from this brand, Beauty of Josine. It's J-O-S-E-O-N. We'll put it in the show notes.

Katie Chandler: I'm excited to hear about that eye cream. Is it something that you only use at night because it is retinol?

Amy Sherman: Yeah.

Katie Chandler: Okay.

Amy Sherman: Yeah.

Katie Chandler: Nice.

Amy Sherman: An eye cream so far. I like it very light.

Katie Chandler: All right, well, speaking of Natasha beauty junkie monkey, I always say it backwards. Beauty monkey junkie. I said it right the first time. I think she was the one that has taught me about matrixal in Argyline or Argaline.

Amy Sherman: Yep.

Katie Chandler: So I picked it up from the Ordinary because I actually saw I was in the city, and they have a store, which I didn't even know, and it's like, you can't beat the prices for the Ordinary. And so this is a two for one. I'll review both of them quickly. The matrixal I use at night and.

Amy Sherman: The I didn't even know the Ordinary had matrixal.

Katie Chandler: Yes, they do. It's matrixal 10% plus hyaluronic acid. And then the argaline. Argoline solution 10%, you use during the day or, like, anytime someone's going to see you. This is literally what the woman said to me. She's like, use this before putting on makeup or going out and being out. She's like, it's instant. The whole idea of the Ardea line is that it's supposed to instantly freeze your face and you're not supposed to see the fine lines and wrinkles as much. And then the matrixal you can also use during the day. But I found it's just a little too heavy under my makeup. I don't like it, so I use it at night. I will say this, my botox has stretched. I haven't had it done since the end of April, and normally by this point, I would be running to get more, and I'm feeling like it's okay. I don't need to hustle in. And these are the two things that I've been doing differently, and I started using them, I want to say three months. I used it all summer. My skin is definitely, like, plumper, it's firmer, and I don't see the fine lines and wrinkles as much as I was before. I really don't.

Amy Sherman: Really? Okay, so you use the matrixal you said at night and use the do you use the Arger line at night or morning?

Katie Chandler: No, it's funny, I was using it at night and the woman at the store said, you're using it wrong. She said you literally just want to use it when you're going to be seen. She's like, when you're going out.

Amy Sherman: So.

Katie Chandler: It'S like an instant acting is the idea.

Amy Sherman: Okay. Because I have it and I use it at night, and I probably am doing it wrong. I thought it was something more like a matrixal where the more you use it, your skin kind of changes from it. Right. So this is just more like a treatment.

Katie Chandler: It's more like a treatment where they're claiming it literally kind of freezes the area.

Amy Sherman: That's what Natasha says. She says she calls it like botox in a bottle.

Katie Chandler: Exactly. And I really feel like, I mean, I need to put a disclaimer out. I think it's only fair I have a filter on right now, so I don't look like I have any fine lines or wrinkles, but I actually do. So this stuff works. I like it. And it's like the prices are phenomenal.

Amy Sherman: Yeah, that's ridiculous because I bought the topology ones.

Katie Chandler: But so cheap.

Amy Sherman: You put it just around your eyes or do you put it everywhere?

Katie Chandler: I put it everywhere. I put both of them everywhere. And I really try to focus on my I always drop the adjourne, like, here on the wrinkle foreheads and the eleven s and around the eyes and around the smile lines.

Amy Sherman: Yeah, that's what I do for the Adira line. And the matrixal I put everywhere. But that's good to know. I'm going to try it now in the morning because I've been just putting it on at night, and that probably does it not doing it. And the matrixal I put on at night, but I'm going to try the adrialine in the morning. Okay, good to know, good to know, good to know. Okay, I'll continue on the skincare route. So I'm sure you've seen this everywhere, and it's something I've been wanting to try forever, but now I can review it because I've been using it for a while. Snail mucin. You've seen this everywhere, I'm sure, right?

Katie Chandler: Oh, snail mucin. Wait, that's so funny. Okay, I'll tell you why in a second, but yes, I've been hearing that all about it. Tell me.

Amy Sherman: Yeah, so it's the COSRX advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power essence, the one that you see, like, on TikTok and everywhere. And I'd been wanting to try it, and I finally tried it and I love it. It is so hydrating. So I have such dry skin. Right? So this is just so much better than a hyaluronic, because a hyaluronic, it's good, but it's not like as serumy. You just kind of put it on, and it's helpful. This is just, like, super hydrating. I use it morning and night. It makes my skin glow, look smooth. I put it on at night, like, after retinol or whatever, just to seal it in. I'll put it on in the morning before my moisturizer. I've been having really good success with it. I mean, my skin hasn't like, a lot of people I've seen reviewing it online has said their skin has changed from it. I don't know if my skin's changed yet, but it's definitely looking better. But I love it. Like, you almost don't need anything else. It's thick, and you kind of just like you put in your hands and kind of rub it and then just tap it on your face, and it just gives a really nice hydration I put on my neck too.

Katie Chandler: Love your skin. Does look like hydrated right now. You know that glass skin situation that people are do you feel like you get that with it?

Amy Sherman: Oh, definitely.

Katie Chandler: Nice.

Amy Sherman: Definitely. It definitely gives you that glass skin. It definitely gives you that glow. And I don't know what it's doing, like, how deep it's going into the skin, but I have heard people saying that people that have used it for a really long time, it has changed their skin and made it a lot smoother. More hydrated, less wrinkles, et cetera. So it's just a really good add on to anything else that you're using.

Katie Chandler: How much is it? I'm going to order it through our show notes, which is what all of our listeners should be doing, too.

Amy Sherman: About $20, depending on where you get it. And I just noticed they have a travel size, if you want to just order it and try it, but I've been really happy with it. I think it's probably better for people with dry skin, but I think this will also be really nice going into the fall and winter. So I'm really excited about it, and I'm glad I finally tried it, along with everybody else who's talking about it online. It's kind of a joke, but it actually does work and is really nice. It's just like a thick serum. You just put it on and you're good to go. I want to hear what you think about it, though, when you try it.

Katie Chandler: Yeah, I'm excited to try it. All right, so my next one, which is my last one, is this is a first. I have a product junkies retraction statement coming. I have talked about a product, and I didn't like it before. And, yeah, I started using it because I needed something like it. Didn't have it didn't have time to shop for it. So I said, Let me give it another shot, and I retract everything I say that was negative. It is a good product, and this product is the Milani Make It Last original natural finish setting spray. All right, now, I think the reason why I didn't like it before was because I didn't have something like my makeup Forever Setting Powder. And also my skin was a little bit oilier at the time, and now my skin is less greasy and I feel like I know how to use it better because if you spray it on and after I spray this on. I then go in with my matte powder puff finishing powder, and I hit the high spots that you don't want to be shiny this first or you do the powder first? No. So I do my makeup forever. Finishing powder. Then I do my then you do setting spray. Then I get out my compact powder that is like normal powder that's like the color of your concealer.

Amy Sherman: Oh, like a matte powder. Yeah.

Katie Chandler: And I go in and I just take away the shine spots where I don't want the shine.

Amy Sherman: Okay.

Katie Chandler: The reason why I am really retracting what I'm saying is because since I've gone back to work, I've been using this every single day, and my makeup is and also, by the way, I'm a fit model. I take clothes on and off all day that wipes my makeup every time I pull a shirt off. I try not to, but it happens a lot. And my makeup is still on and solid by the end of my full day of fittings.

Amy Sherman: So it's good. Yeah, that's good to know. Yeah, it's just so funny with a lot of these products, and it's good that you retry them because a lot of it is user error. I feel like there was something I was trying recently, and then I saw online you're not supposed to use it with vitamin C. Like it doesn't work or something. Maybe it was I don't know if it was matrixal or something, but I was like, oh, who knew? So good to know. I'll have to try it. I have the morphe setting spray, which I like. I don't use setting spray that much, but good to know for when I do want to use.

Katie Chandler: Yeah, I love it because I really like my contour to stay, and that helps.

Amy Sherman: Yeah, you're good at the contour. Okay, so over the summer, if you're following our Instagram page, I put this in my stories. But I was in New York and I saw a vending machine for Kylie Cosmetics.

Katie Chandler: Nice.

Amy Sherman: I don't know if you remember seeing that. And I walked by and I was like, OOH, I love those beauty vending machines. And I only usually see the one for benefit, but Kylie Cosmetics had one. I've never tried Kylie Cosmetics, not really in the demo. But I saw the vending machine, I'm like, oh, that looks so fun. So anyway, she has these lip kits, which is like a lip liner and a gloss. And you know how the Kardashians and Kylie, they're known for that beautiful matte nude lip? So I bought a lip kit, and it's called bear. Okay. So it's a matte lip kit. Okay. So here's the gloss. It's like a matte gloss. And here's the liner. It is so pretty. So I'm going to put it on, but I can't really do it without a mirror. But just to give you a sense. So you do the liner. I think it's how much was this? Let me tell you, it was $35 for both, like, for the kit and then here's, I really like the gloss.

Katie Chandler: Oh, that's pretty.

Amy Sherman: Isn't that pretty?

Katie Chandler: Yeah.

Amy Sherman: I like it because all the glosses I have are glossy. And this is a nice mat.

Katie Chandler: Yeah. And it's interesting that it's, like, a little bit lighter than the liner. So it's a kit. It came together. That's cool.

Amy Sherman: Which is good. No guesswork.

Katie Chandler: Yeah, exactly.

Amy Sherman: I totally butchered this.

Katie Chandler: But it's a good nude, though.

Amy Sherman: It's a really pretty nude. It was like I wore it all summer, like when I traveled. I just brought this, and I have one gloss that I always use from Tom Ford. And sometimes if I wanted a little bit more of a shine, I would just put that over it, but it just enhanced it. But this is such a nice daytime. Nighttime. And it's called the Matte Lip Kit. And this one's in called it says Matte Lip kit Bear. But it explains it as a light pink nude. But it's so funny when you go on the website or you look at this vending machine, there's like a million nudes, so you really have to find the right one for you. So I just took a guess. I'm sure there's other ones that may even look better, but this one's really nice. Just simple nude, beautiful. And I just like that it comes with the pencil, so you don't have to guess. And you just have a set, and it's inexpensive. And there are a bazillion colors. And I like the matte as a nice change because I feel like sometimes nude looks better when it's matte. Just makes your lips look a little nicer. So anyway, that was my two for one last recommendation.

Katie Chandler: Nice.

Amy Sherman: Back to school. This is good for just, like, running out of a house, keeping in your car, keeping it in your bag. It's a good one. So big fan. Kylie Cosmetics.

Katie Chandler: It's so smart that she put those vending machines in all the airports and know it's.

Amy Sherman: I'm surprised I haven't seen it.

Katie Chandler: I've been I've seen it a few times over the last couple of years. I want to say, like, maybe the last two years, I've seen it a couple of times. Really smart. Nice. I'm going to check.

Amy Sherman: And now that I'm on the website and I'm looking, there's so many pretty colors that I want to try. And when you feel it on your lips, it feels like nothing. It's like really light, really lightweight.

Katie Chandler: Nice.

Amy Sherman: Yeah. So that is our product junkies for September. We're excited to be. Back into the swing and hope you all had great summers and let us know what products you want us to review next. We're loving these right now and hope back to school and everyone's summers is great. Bye. Thanks for listening to Nirvana Sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes. Please subscribe and leave us a review. Also, find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would, please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana Sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness, so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 115 - Product Junkies: July - Hot Summer Edition (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 115.

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

Amy 0:06

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

Speaker 2 0:18

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

Amy 0:29

Welcome back to Nirvana sisters Nirvana sisters, fam. It's Amy and Katie and it is the summer and it is product junkies time and we're coming to you with the short, hot summer edition of Product junkies. We have some products that we're loving right now that we want to share with you and let's kick it off. Katie, what do you got for us in our Summer Edition? Oh,

Speaker 2 0:55

well, it is peak summer and I'm finally feeling it here on the northeast coast. It's like we actually are having 8090 degree days. I feel like we've been awaiting this with bated breath and getting to use our pool super psyched. So that's fun. And in the meantime, I have a couple products that are just going to help you keep looking fresh all summer long. My favorite one right now it's makeup and it is makeup by Mario it is there is a soft sculpt shaping stick Have you used it yet? Do you know this one.

Amy 1:30

I've seen it. I have tested it like at the store but I have actually never tried it. I'm obsessed

Speaker 2 1:35

with it. But I've been using it I bought it before we went to Mexico. So I've been using it for a few months now and it's really good is for contouring and it's really creamy EZ like blendable contour stick on one side and then on the other side is their blender brush, which I actually don't use. I don't love it. It's a little too dense. For me. It

Amy 2:00

looks dense.

Speaker 2 2:00

It's very dense. I like to use my Nisa contour brush.

Amy 2:07

Okay, let me see the other like it looks like it's big.

Speaker 2 2:11

So I've been using this for months and it it really last and this tone is light medium. And it's great because it has worked with my skin tone as I like was fairer in the spring and I'm tan because I'm in the sun where and it's still like holds up and it works. And it also so do

Amy 2:32

you can use it as a bronzer instead of a contour.

Speaker 2 2:35

I don't know that you would want to because it's a creamy texture and really melts into your skin. I guess you could but like, I use this to really contour and then I use my Laguna powder, bronzer.

Amy 2:48

The narcs Yeah.

Speaker 2 2:50

It just melts so beautifully into your skin and at last it will last all day long.

Amy 2:56

Yeah, Katie's just doing it with her fingers and it just just went in right?

Speaker 2 2:59

Yep, it'll last all day long. I have a little bit of it on my face right now and you can go heavier or lighter depending on you know, like, how snatched you want to look. So it's a good one there. Yeah, I love it. Best of beauty out of law 2022 as well just so you know. So highly recommend.

Amy 3:18

Yeah. Nice. What do you have? Okay. Okay, so speaking of the makeup I'll start then with a new product that I've been testing right here, which is the NARS afterglow liquid blush. This is orgasms so you know orgasm is like a classic NARS color looks good on everyone. They also have some other colors. I love this one. And so speaking of it like you could do your makeup by Mario contour and then you could just use this I love this I just took this on a trip with me it was like one of the only things I brought said no, yeah. And you literally can just throw it on. It's like a really pretty, it's such a good color. I mean it looks like orgasm, but like you can just throw it on and see how it just pumps

Speaker 2 3:59

and is it just really blinged out so it looks seems like

Amy 4:03

it's very blendable you can just throw it on your cheek you blend it with your finger it's like a one two second thing and I just it just melts in it's super easy and it's just really easy also to travel with and it gives you a nice color and nice yeah, that's pretty organism is so I've been liking this liquid. Yeah, I've been liking this liquid blush better than some of my sticks just because it's super light and really easy to work with and it's built a ball so highly recommend this is again after cola liquid blush in orgasm, and it's this is $32

Speaker 2 4:36

It's a great shave a little goes along, really and I didn't mention the cost makeup Norio is $30 which I think is a fantastic price for a contour store that's lasted me this long and still going nice so

Amy 4:49

really good summer one and I think this is like probably year round but like right now I'm just like yeah,

Speaker 2 4:53

that's the orgasm is such a great color. It really is flattering on so many skin tones. It's Beautiful. Yeah.

Amy 5:02

Yeah. And it's funny because I have another one that I may I can't remember if I talked about this on another product junkies but I have another nurse or orgasm. It's not a liquid blush like this with an applicator. It's like it's liquid, but you you pump it out, it's like a little bit of a different formulation. And that looks good too. But it's a little messy and it has a cap so it's like two pieces and it's kind of annoying and this is like a good replacement for that because it's just like a little bit of an easier applicator and easier to kind of work with and travel with

Speaker 2 5:38

All right, well my next one is we're switching to hair. I haven't invested too much time and energy in my hair probably ever in my life. I always just kind of like let it air dry and I would use my T three and then my amazing sister in law you and my in laws and my husband got me the Dyson air wrap for my birthday and obsessed use it all the time and I started to realize that the heat was damaging my hair and because I was like a newbie to products and products so often I didn't even think to get like the heat sprays or the blowout sprays or anything like that. I think you were the homie.

Amy 6:17

Oh yeah spray that is mandatory. So

Speaker 2 6:19

yes, though or eBay or EB my saying you're right, do you think or may think they're royal blow out heat styling spray has been a life saver for my hair like total game changer over the winter my hair was like getting strongly like kind of dry and everything. And this has helped a lot. Yeah, so I'm obsessed with it.

Amy 6:39

So you just spray that on after you shampoo and drag it

Speaker 2 6:43

on or when my hair is still damp right before I use either the Dyson or hairdryer, whatever. And it really does give you like beautiful smooth shiny hair and it keeps your hair healthy. I mean my hair is nothing today because I just let it air dry last night and I haven't done anything to it but when I do it, this is the way to go. Now on eBay, I think personally it's a little steep in price point. This one is their travel size that I get at CVS for $24 it has lasted me a long time but like the regular size is $69 so it just seems a little high I mean they have shampoos that are like $150 I'm sure they're amazing

Amy 7:27

yeah always expensive but the product and there's other heat sprays too that are probably like I feel like there's a few that are comparable that are probably less legendary for you to

Speaker 2 7:39

introduce us to one some time that's like a better price point because

Amy 7:43

yes, I have a few that I use and one off the top of my head which I may have reviewed and I can't remember it's all blending together is a

Unknown Speaker 7:52

wasn't the WoW brand.

Amy 7:54

Yes Well there's two brands the well brands which I did think I reviewed once in the show it was like that it's for heat but it's also like a Styling Spray which is great. And then there's another one

Unknown Speaker 8:06

Oh yes.

Amy 8:07

The Olaplex number eight oil that's also a good one I kind of interchange with those. Yeah, there's a bunch I feel like there's a lot of good ones but or basically can't go wrong. It's such a good brand like all of their products are good. I have a texturizing spray that I've had from them and it's like lasted me years and it's so good.

Speaker 2 8:23

It's funny that you mentioned this orb a texturizing spray because that is my next one actually. This is my like ultimate new favorite product. It's the orb a dry texturizing spray. I use it every single day. I use it a lot on my bangs you know like in the winter I did the curtain bang and it was a bit too much the person that cut it didn't really cut it right so I've been trying to kind of grow that out and and get it back to my normal hair. And this is very much helping me do that and just like having the manageable every day. And it's also really nice because it gives you like it can give you good volume. And you know,

Amy 8:59

I know I love it. It's so good. So it smells smells great. What

Speaker 2 9:03

I love it for as I put a little bit on my fingertips, and I can like bend and mold my bangs to go in the direction that I want them to go into and it was just like stealing that.

Amy 9:13

That's nice. Is that the travel? Yes, this

Speaker 2 9:16

is the travel size and it's $24 and I just I buy the travel size because that's what CBS has. I don't carry the full size or if they do it. I don't see it right the full size is $49 also elite Yeah, elite Beauty Awards. 2022. So it's it's a great product. I love Warby.

Amy 9:33

And by the way, just back to Dyson. I would love to know if anyone from our Nirvana sisters found family has tried the new Dyson flat iron technology. I forgot what the tool is called. Oh air air straight because I'm dying to try it. I've emailed Dyson PR so if you're listening please nice to try. But I'm obsessed and I want to see how that works. I did see it in Sephora and I was able to like play with it, but I didn't use it in my hair, but I'm really dying to see how that works because again, it's supposed to be a good way to straighten your hair without the damage. So it's like another genius Dyson investment, genius Dyson invention and assessment

Unknown Speaker 10:14

because they are not cheap.

Amy 10:16

And investment. Yes. So if somebody has tried it in in our audience, let us know I'm dying to know how it is. I haven't heard any like, I've seen some reviews but I want to hear more

I mentioned this on stories a couple of weeks ago, but I have been trying the wise beauty products and I really, really have been enjoying these two products

Unknown Speaker 10:42

specifically heard of this.

Amy 10:43

So wise. Okay, so wise beauty. For those who don't know, this is Molly Sims brand that she just launched a couple months ago, I listened to lipstick on the right, which is Molly's podcast, shout out to Molly. And she launched this brand a couple months ago, but she's been working on it for years actually, she said before she started even started her podcast. And the reason well, a couple things and I'll talk about it but there's a lot of research around these products and a lot of her own history has sort of been the story of the brand because she went through a time where she had really really bad skin and she's you know, tried everything done everything to try to fix her skin and yada yada there's a whole story behind it. So she really knows a lot about this, about the industry and how efficacious products are etc. So anyway, this launch one of the other reasons why I like this is all of our products are clinically tested, which is a much deeper testing than most products so when when anything's clinically tested, I think it's like you should double pay attention because that means it's a really good product because it's actually like gone through the studies and that's why it takes so long to come to market. So the two products that I've been trying but I'm probably going to try more because I've been really impressed so far. The first one is it's called it's cute your favorite acts exfoliating pads. And so these are daily exfoliating pads that are very, very gentle. So it's a leave on exfoliant and can block combines glycolic acid PHAs and eka Toyne I don't know what that's the right word to retexturize brighten and refresh for optimum skin renewal. You know I've just been exfoliating a couple of times a week at night with like a heavier exfoliator like this Sunday Riley one we always talk about and others but for the summer I kind of like wanted to switch it up and these are great because first of all, they're just like individual pads. So I'm opening the drawer right now. And they're just if you can see they're just individual pads. And so you can just take them out and the cute thing about them also which makes it nice and convenient is they have this little

Speaker 2 12:41

oh that's cool. See how it was on tip of your fingers a little pocket? Yeah, so

Amy 12:45

you can just like do it easily. But anyway it's a very light exfoliator and it makes my skin for really clean and soft because I was noticing lately like my skin has been feeling really texture free. And I've been wanting to exfoliate it more so these are nice because again they're super gentle you can use them every morning or at night whatever. And then like right after my skin is super soft and the products just feel like they sink in better. So I've been using this every morning and I love it. Really really good. Again really gentle great ingredients. And then the next one that I've been using and again loving is called Morning cocktail. It's their vitamin C serum. And this I really like because I always do vitamin C but the reason why I like this is because it not it It not only has vitamin C but it also has niacin, amide squalene and hyaluronic acid. So it combines everything so what I was doing before this is I was putting on high alert because my skin is so dry is putting on hyaluronic acid and I was putting on by vitamin C then sometimes I would put on nice nice cinnamon I'd put them all separately. This is all together. It's so good. It feels great on the skin, no smell, no nothing. It's just very soothing, brightens up your skin right away again it's like such a good product. So I've been really happy with these two so this has kind of been my morning go to so all I do is I do the exfoliator pads, the vitamin C morning cocktail Vitamin C Serum. And then I'll just do like you know like a moisturizer with SPF and that's it instead of like five different steps so it's really cut down my routine and it's really really really good products. So the vitamin C serum is for 30 MLS is $85 and the exfoliating Platt pads for 45 pads is 72 so it's not inexpensive but it's not so expensive. It's kind of in the middle. She tried to make them you know, at a good price range for people and it lasts pretty long. I mean I've been using it for probably the less I don't know maybe month and really really good so you can read more on their website about wise beauty and Molly's story but I've been really impressed so packaging is also needs beautiful packaging the packaging is beautiful. She did a really nice job with that packaging and I love the name and just the logo. It's just Yeah, it's beautiful. There's it also shows on their website all the before and afters and all the clinical trials and all that stuff, which is great and one To the other things is they just got a 2023 installed SPD buys for the exfoliating pads. So, I am in love with these. So

Speaker 2 15:09

I have to try. Um, yeah, I would love like a gentle exfoliant that I can use every day I think I need might need to switch to that.

Amy 15:16

Exactly. That's great. Well, I remember last summer I did a self tanner review and I still use that self tanner that was called like the beach tan, whatever. And I love that one. It's a moose. But I have found something that I'm starting to like better which is the Santro pay gradual tan classic, it says daily firming lotion, medium dark. This I just randomly found at Alta when I was looking for something else because I'm always looking for a good self tanner. And my problem is they all have a scent even if it's a light scent, I can't stand it. This one does not have that self tanner scent. The reason why I like this First of all, it's $29. So pretty good price point. And it's just an everyday kind of moisturizing lotion with the self tanner built in. So it's just like you know, a built up one. And I like this one just because it's a little bit easier to apply than like a moose where you have to do the mitten, everything that you don't need to do a mitt, you just do the lotion, wash your hands and you're done. So I just do like a little bit of this. Sometimes I mix it with my body oil. So just like easier to, to um spread. But it's a great one I've gotten like a really nice color. You can see just from using this on a daily basis, it doesn't it's not orange, it doesn't like streak. It's a really pretty color and super easy to use and no smell, which is most important. So anyway, st your pay gradual tan classic. And with that there's another one that's from Santra pay, which I've also been trying I haven't been using this one as much but I have used it a little bit. It's called the bronze and waterbus I have that and this one you have this one yeah and so I've been using this sometimes just on my arms at night I'll just kind of like spray it on and wipe it real quick just to like enhance a chance so I think this is good I have seen online and I'm haven't tried it yet, but I really want you have ever seen these people online using this like on a like a makeup sponge and using it as like a highlighter on their face. I really want to try it because then their face looks so tan and contoured like naturally. It's amazing, but I'm like scared to try it out. But that's next on my list to experiment with.

Unknown Speaker 17:09

That's fine, they said.

Amy 17:10

So those are my two

Speaker 2 17:11

EntroPay brand. self tanners have been around for a really really long time and they're really good and their price point has improved. I remember it's a funny story. But like when I first moved to New York City, I was like 19 And I walked into a super high end cosmetic store in SoHo and I walked in it was like I really want a self tanner and and I picked up the bottle and I was like this St. Tropez one looks really good. Should I try the sun? The guy is just like, laughed at me like he doesn't know what she's talking about. But it was a lot more expensive. Like so either that or it was just broken seemed more expensive. I don't know.

Amy 17:48

Well it's funny because the the firming lotion is a good price. It's $20 Yeah, I think the water spray is a little bit more expensive but I don't think you use it as much it's more to me it's like more of an enhancer but again, that one doesn't smell either. If you have it to you it's like good. So anyway, those are some of the fun summer products we're testing out right now and loving hope you enjoyed our quick summer session of product junkies and let us know if you have other things you want us to review and what you're loving right now. Thanks Nirvana sisters family and hope you're having a great summer. Thanks for listening to Nirvana sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes please subscribe and leave us a review. also find us on Instagram at Nirvana sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 111 - Gut Healing for Beginners with Gut Journalist, Sarah K Hoffman, aka A Gutsy Girl (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 111 - Gut Healing for Beginners with Gut Journalist, Sarah K Hoffman, aka A Gutsy Girl

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

[00:18] Katie Chandler: And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation.

[00:24] Amy Sherman: You.

[00:29] Katie Chandler: Welcome back to the show. Today we are sitting down with Sarah K hoffman. She is the founder of a gutsy girl. The Gutsygirl.com. It's an online community geared towards women who are looking for reasonable approaches for healing. IBS IBD, SIBO and all things gut focused. What began for Sarah as an online journal documenting the day to day with one health issue after the next would shortly become less story focused and more research and journalistic based, which I very much understand that Sarah. Today, Sarah seeks out highly detailed information and then condenses it in digestible ways for women worldwide. After years of struggling with her own health issues and considering there must be more to healing than the answer she was given, she went on to study at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, adding a certified health coach to her education. And she continued to devote every spare second to studying, researching, practicing all things gut health and gut healing and has built this amazing community. A gutsy girl. And we are just super excited that you're here. We can't wait to talk to you. We have so many questions for you. So thanks for being here.

[01:36] Sarah Kay Hoffman: Thanks for having me. I'm super excited. I love being able to sit down and talk on the other end of the seat with podcasters and just kind of to be in the hot seat.

[01:47] Amy Sherman: Yeah, that's right, you have your own podcast so we will all have to check that out as well. And yes, thank you for being on. I know Katie is the one who introduced your page to me and she's been following you for a very long time and is a super fan of all your knowledge. So thank you so much for being here.

[02:03] Katie Chandler: Before we get started, we like to do a little Nirvana of the Week. Sarah, it's just something that just brought you a moment of joy. Amy and I will go first so you can get the feeling of it. But Amy, why don't you tell us what was your nirvana this week?

[02:16] Amy Sherman: So I was thinking about this this morning and I had a really cute moment yesterday. I was driving and you know, we're always like rushing and driving, whatever and I was just kind of like rushing through my neighborhood not paying attention. And I was driving on my neighborhood street and I saw this massive deer go across the street like really slowly. So of course I stopped and the person across from me stopped and it was like this massive mama deer walking across the street really slowly. And then like 2 seconds later there was this little baby deer. It was the cutest thing. It was so small. I don't think I've ever seen a deer that small. This little baby deer just like walking across this street, kind of like not even so. Just kind of like bouncing around and like a little toddler or something walking across the street. And the mom was just like, waiting on the other side and then she got to the other side and the mom looked at her like we would do with our kids, just like making sure she was okay and then off they went. But it was just so sweet when you see nature like that. And it's like we all stopped all the cars. Like my car, the car crossed from me. We all just watched them and took that moment. It was just a nice little smile on my face. So I really appreciated seeing that. It was very sweet to see other moms doing their thing. That was mine. What about you, Katie?

[03:26] Katie Chandler: Here in our backyard all the time, which has actually brought me not a ton of nirvana because my dog had a tick yesterday from it. But that's okay.

[03:34] Amy Sherman: Yeah, not in the backyard, but out in nature.

[03:37] Katie Chandler: I think mine was yesterday with Reese. I have two girls, Sarah. I have an almost ten year old and a five year old. And we just had some good snuggles last night. We both had really busy days and I took her to the dentist and I was running all day, she was running all day. And we just got in bed and watched the other half of Et. We watched this weekend and we watched it together. I haven't watched it since I was a kid, so it was kind of fun to watch with her, but it was just some good snuggles. What about you, Sarah?

[04:07] Sarah Kay Hoffman: I love those. Those are so awesome. And I love this question, too. It's such a peaceful and calm question. I have two girls too, about similar in age. We have a seven, eight and nine year old. So I have two girls and a boy. It's busy. I don't have too many nirvana moments with them, but I would say so. I was listening to yours and I'm just taking myself to a really peaceful moment. And it was this morning, actually. So a few years ago, about the time when my dad passed away, I started really getting into succulents and caring for them and keeping them alive because they're always on the list of the easiest plants to take care of, but they're not, especially when you live in Minnesota, because this is not the desert, obviously. I have been spending the last few years really taking care of them and so I have now brought them into my house in the winter and I put them under lights and then in the spring and summer I bring them outside. Well, my collection has just really blossomed. I have so many pots of succulents out on our deck and it was just the most beautiful morning overlooking the lake in Minnesota today. So I went outside and I just sat there and stared at my succulents and watched the water, just like the sun glisten off of the water over my succulents. It was so peaceful that sat there for lovely ten minutes enjoying the fruits of my labor with my succulents and love succulents.

[05:39] Amy Sherman: You'll have to send us a picture. I need to see what they look like so I can get some inspiration. I used to have some, and now they're no longer in as good health as yours, clearly. But that sounds beautiful.

[05:51] Katie Chandler: Very peaceful. Sounds like a great way to start the day. All right, well, let's kick this off because we have a lot of questions for you. I think first, if you could just give our community a little bit of an insight into the gutsy girl community, that would be great.

[06:06] Sarah Kay Hoffman: Yeah. So I actually started the gutsy girl community way back when in I think it was 2012, when I bought a gutsygirl.com. And at the time and there's a reason I'm saying this first, but at the time, I created the brand and the community because I wanted to connect with women who were not only dealing with IBS and or IBD. As I was in 2008, was diagnosed with colitis, and then 2014 was diagnosed with SIBO, and I've been diagnosed with all the things. But also during that time around 2012, I was dealing with another super gutsy issue that many women, also, who have IBS and or IBD deal with, which is infertility. And so it was just this time of my in my life when I thought, you know, I'm going to just be really bold and brave and talk about this and form a community, because I didn't really have one like my offline. There wasn't really one. So I wanted one, and I wanted a space to be able to share and to talk about both the physical and the emotional challenges that I was dealing with. And so I created this community. And over time, it really has shifted and changed, I think partly because that's just the way that websites go typically, but also because I became less focused on the infertility part of it. I would do still talk about it sometimes, just not as often. And I got really hyper focused on IBS and IBD because I do a lot of plays on words. But I noticed that there were these stinky topics that people in general did not want to talk about, but especially women. And so I thought, these are my people, and these are the people that I want to talk to and hang out with online. And then ultimately yeah, I love that.

[08:01] Katie Chandler: It's so true that it's not like it's taboo. It's just like I feel like people are embarrassed to discuss these things, and meanwhile, it's super natural in common, and all of us have it. I've always been the first one to be like, oh, go to the bathroom in four days. I know people that are like, they don't want to talk anything about it, and I understand, but to be able to open up the dialogue and everything is great, and it's incredibly helpful, and obviously, you have a massive following that, and you've helped a lot of people. So that's why you have created it and why your community of people, they're coming to you because you find that they are dealing with similar experiences, having a challenging time, getting a diagnosis, and sorting out how to heal their symptoms. Those are the things that you help them with.

[08:52] Sarah Kay Hoffman: Yes. So I feel like most women come into the community who have gone to Dr. Google and who are asking, why does my stomach hurt? It is the foundational feeling and question that many women have because it's very confusing. And I think the reason is because there are so many factors. And so on any given day, our stomach can feel off for one reason or another, and at some point, people just think, what's causing this? Why does my stomach hurt? Yesterday I was fine. Today I'm not. Last week is miserable. What's triggering it? And then they go down the rabbit hole, and there's all these questions. And so I think that's really the basis of the community and the foundational place that people start.

[09:48] Katie Chandler: Yeah, it makes a lot of sense, because I should be in your community because I experience similar things. My stomach will be great, and then it won't be. And then I try to figure out why, and it's impossible, and then you figure out why, and then it's something else. It's just constantly changing. So let's dive into a little bit more about what your expertise has taught you with all of this. Why is IBS IBD SIBO so prominent with women especially?

[10:21] Sarah Kay Hoffman: Well, I think there's a lot of reasons for this, and to be very clear, okay, so IBS is irritable bowel syndrome. It's a whole bunch of symptoms and things that then fall under this classification of IBS. It's pretty much when you go to your doctor and they're like, well, we're not really sure. So it's IBS. And to me and in my experiences and in different doctors that I've worked with and talked to and research and all the things, it's really just kind of a BS diagnosis. But unfortunately, so many women, that's kind of the place where they start and they stay for a really long time. Then there's IBD, which, of course, is inflammatory bowel disease, which is very severe. It's diagnostic. It's all the things. And I would say I tend to focus a little bit less there because it is so severe. And a lot of women not a lot women who have IBS can also have IBD, but they haven't gotten to that place yet. Right. So it's almost like a futuristic thing that I'm trying to help women get to faster, if that's really what the problem is. And then SIBO just falls underneath the IBS category. So SIBO stands for small Intestinal bacterial overgrowth. And it's a huge I'm sure you guys have seen it online, but it's a huge explosion of conversation because more and more women are being diagnosed with it. It's the diagnosis that you have been to your doctor, your gastroenterologist, whatever, over and over and over, and they said, it's just IBS, and turns out it's really SIBO. There's so many different terms, right? There's so many different things that people fall under. But that's where it's also very confusing, because when we come into any one of these, there are multiple symptoms, and you can have these symptoms on any given day, but that doesn't mean that you have colitis or Crohn's or celiac. Doesn't necessarily mean that, but it can. And so I think that these are the things that I work with every single day. And women are coming into this community because they feel these symptoms, and they know that they are not normal, but they have just learned to live with them, and now they're seeking greater answers. I will say that in my research as well, we talk about women come in into the community, and they're either more on the constipation I can't go to the bathroom spectrum or their diarrhea. And it is about 70% of women fall more on the constipation can't go than on the other end. That would be yes, and that's very common. And there's so many reasons for this. Of course, there can be underlying things. It could be a hormonal thing. It can be an actual medical condition. You could have parasites. You could have scar adhesions that have there's so many actual medical things that they could be. But honestly, what I find more often than not is it's a lifestyle component. So it's the stress. It's the lack of exercise or too much exercise. It is the diet. There are so many factors that play into it. And see right here, I've just described how many different things and this is why it's so confusing, because you're like, oh, my gosh, I don't even know where to start. Okay, now I'm done.

[14:13] Amy Sherman: Yeah. And I would think it's hard too, because it's very different, right, for every single person. Also, I would imagine the regular sort of traditional gastroenterologist type doctor would probably just put you on some sort of medicine and call it a day, which we talk about a lot on the show, of going further and figuring out what else you can do before going on some crazy medicine or doing so. It's also like, who do you even the fact that your community exists is amazing. And then it's like there's got to be other ways to treat other than just, like, taking some hardcore medicine by more integrative type wellness care, I would imagine.

[15:00] Sarah Kay Hoffman: Yeah. And I think that's one reason why I'm able to connect with the community so well is because that was my exact story when I was first diagnosed in 2008. It was through traditional Western medicine and a gastroenterologist, which on the one hand, you're so grateful because they are able to do some of those more invasive procedures and testing and insurance can help get you to those answers. But unfortunately, not once was I ever mentioned anything about the way I was living and the factors in my life. And instead they gave me canasa, which is a suppository, and it made me worse. And it was at that point that I was like, okay, this isn't adding up because I got worse. And I remember a specific day, it will never leave my mind. I was so distended and so bloated. I could not breathe. I was absolutely miserable. And I called my gastroenterologist and he said, okay, yes, come in. I'm going to check you out. Whatever. So he looked at me and he said, oh, wow, you are so distended. The answer is you're going to go down to the Walgreens and you are going to get a bottle of magnesium citrate. It was red, by the way, that big, red, thick, gooey liquid bottle, and you're going to drink the whole bottle.

[16:22] Amy Sherman: Oh, my God.

[16:23] Sarah Kay Hoffman: And it's going to take care of the problem. And lo and behold, I went I did exactly what he said. At this time in my life, I didn't care. I didn't know any and it worked. And everything went through me. And I was like, but I was miserable. I mean, I was miserable. I was sick. Like, you hear about all the jokes about the laxatives? Yeah, that was me. That was me on that day. But I was like, there just has to be more. And I refuse to live the rest of my life like this.

[16:50] Katie Chandler: It's amazing how it can be something so complex and then also but something so simple, like taking magnesium citrate can help you in that moment. But the thing is that these are not long term fixes. So what is it that you did to adjust and to get to where you are now? Because from what I see on your site and what I've heard on your podcast, is that you feel great. You're really healthy, you've gotten your gut under control, and you're helping others do it. For our listeners that are struggling with this, maybe we can just throw out some high level tips that could help them get on their way.

[17:33] Sarah Kay Hoffman: So the way that I break it down is I have after I went through my whole thing, I ultimately got my SIBO diagnosis in 2014, and I healed for good in 2018. And then I'm just laying out the rest of my story before I give you these. So it makes sense.

[17:53] Amy Sherman: Yeah.

[17:54] Sarah Kay Hoffman: So I healed for good in 2018. Between 2014 and 2018, I relapsed from SIBO four times. I have taken all the antibiotics, all the supplements. I've done every last protocol that you can think of from a dietary and medical standpoint. And what ended up happening in 2018 was that I finally figured out how important that stuff was. Important, but the lifestyle component was. And so after I healed, what happened was in 2019, then I just got this let me back up too. My dad was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2017. So the irony though, was not lost on me because I have an entirely renewed energy and passion for people and digestive issues and disease and cancer. And so I got really hyper focused on what actually helped me heal, what was it and what did that mean? And out of that derived my three pillars for ultimate gut healing. And the first two are definitely in order. And the third one is you kind of have to start working on it right away, but it's diagnosis, diet, and lifestyle. So without the appropriate diagnosis, which for me was the SIBO, I went years and years and years of being told it's just IBS and then colitis, and then this, this, yes, those were contributing factors, but what was my bottleneck making me the most miserable was the SIBO. So I had to get to that diagnosis. You have got to have an appropriate diagnosis because if you don't, it's like you're constantly playing the guessing game. You're constantly just going to be analyzing symptoms and trying to figure out which symptoms fall in line with what gut health problem. Right? So diagnosis. The second one is diet. My biggest mistake that I made from a diet standpoint was that I believed that there was a diet, a templated diet out there that was going to heal me. And I believed that if I could so for instance, I would start with the Paleo diet. And if the Paleo diet was working but it wasn't fully working, then I thought I had to paleo harder. And so then I went to the AIP diet, which is the autoimmune protocol, which is just a more stringent version of that. Okay, so then I'm actually eating less and then, well, that's working, but there's still not. So then you just go down this.

[20:43] Katie Chandler: Awful, awful now let's try baby denim diet. And then let's do yes. It just keeps going on and on, right?

[20:51] Sarah Kay Hoffman: And so I had to learn the very hard way that there was no such thing as the perfect diet for me. And the only diet that would work for me, it was the one that I would create based on my diagnosis and what my body was telling me. And I did this through Meticulous Food journaling and listening to my body. We know, you know, inside, we know we don't need anybody to tell us that you can or can't have the white rice. Okay? You know, your body knows. So diet was a second very important thing. And then the last one, the last pillar is lifestyle. And it's so funny because in the beginning of my journey, I rolled my eyes big time at this one. I was like, yeah, right, what's my lifestyle going to do? How am I going to reduce my stress or who cares what supplement? Whatever it was with Lifestyle, I did not believe in it until I started practicing it. And miraculously or not, my life completely changed. It completely changed. I think the first time I ever realized it was so when I was on my healing journey and really stressed and really bloated, for a lot of women, the first thing they think is exercise more. If I go run, it's going to reduce my stress, maybe I'll lose a couple of pounds and we get women especially, really get into this mindset when you're bloated and miserable and maybe hanging on to any extra water weight or whatever. That was really working against me. Every time I would start training again for something new because I thought it was going to help me, I got worse. So the final time that I healed, I said, okay, I'm done, I'm done. I would just walk. I would do different stretches and yoga. I learned how to do all the digestive stretches and I healed. And I'm not saying that's what it is for everyone. What I'm saying is the lifestyle piece is so critical. I also started verbal therapy. I got massages, I did all the things that I always thought were so woo woo and wouldn't work. And I do them to this day. And I think the lifestyle pillar is the hardest one because it's something that you do forever. You don't just get to at some point, we hope we can, wean off of high doses of medicine. Or like in the case of SIBO, I did intense 28 days of refaxmin and Neomycin. Well, ultimately you do stop that, right? But you never get to stop the lifestyle piece. So that happened. I created those. And then I am just so passionate today about continuing to teach and preach my three pillars because in 2019, then my dad passed away from colon cancer. I ever hear that it's just been.

[23:40] Katie Chandler: This roller coaster of and then an awful tragedy like that happens and I mean, I can imagine that it's very hard to maintain the lifestyle that you're supposed to be maintaining. So it's probably a little bit of an up and down. But the fact that you're healed is amazing. And I can only imagine how helpful this is for people. And the lifestyle piece for you, what you needed was to be easier on yourself, it sounded like to be more gentle with your body instead of killing yourself in the gym, going on these walks and everything. We've talked a lot about that on here and how much it can really help on so many things, so many levels with inflammation and just achieving results on multiple layers. I want to circle back a little bit to the SIBO, because I've definitely had an experience with SIBO, and I think for some people that are listening, if that's an unfamiliar term, it's good to just understand that we have all of this bacteria in our gut and it works for us. And then if it gets out of balance, it can work against us. And that's essentially what it is, right? Like I've had candida of the gut overgrowth and that is like it's torture trying to get these things out. But the reason why I bring it up is because I just want to know what helped you get that diagnosis or what type of doctor helped you get to that point. So that our listener, if they're experiencing similar things, knows who to go to.

[25:04] Sarah Kay Hoffman: Yeah, I definitely went the functional route for that. So because I was so miserable and kind of at my wits end, I'm like, I will try anything. At the time we were living in California and a friend of mine said there's this fantastic functional doctor, but it's going to be like an hour and a half away and he specializes in all these things. I was like, it's going to be super expensive. But again, I was desperate and so that's what I did. That's the route that I went as I went more functional. However, I will say that because it's become such a more known issue in the gut space, a lot of traditional doctors are testing for it now. Yes, I think that back then if you went to a western trained doctor, they're definitely going to roll their eyes. And I still believe that there are I know because people tell me a lot of eye rolls still. We're not going to test you for that, especially with people like what happened with me, I gained weight, whereas they're trained that usually you lose a lot of weight and so they might dismiss it, but if you truly think that you have it, do not let them. It's a very simple breath test. I'm not saying it's easy to do, but it is a very simple breath test. However, if you want to know that it's definitely going to be on the table for discussion, immediately, going the alternative.

[26:39] Katie Chandler: Route is probably it's interesting.

[26:41] Amy Sherman: I have a question about SIBO. Is that something you get that can be healed and you don't get it? Again? Because I know colitis is more of like an inflammation that you always have it that can flare up and flare down, but it's like a disease that you have versus is SIBO a disease or is it more just like something that you come down with that you can be healed from?

[27:05] Sarah Kay Hoffman: Yeah, you can be healed from it. It's an overgrowth of bacteria. Okay, so like celiac or colitis those are autoimmune diseases that can be triggered. They can go into remission. But when I hear people say they're cured of it, I'm like, that's not the correct term because you don't get cured from it. There's no cure anyways. You can go into remission. But like with SIBO, so it's an overgrowth and it's not just SIBO is SIBO is SIBO, meaning there's a reason why the SIBO occurred to begin with.

[27:40] Amy Sherman: Right.

[27:41] Sarah Kay Hoffman: And usually you have to understand that to know if it's going to come back or not. For me it was chronic dieting for years and years and years, which led to super low stomach acid, like not even hypochlohydria. I had achlohydria, I had no stomach acid. And so until I figured that out, it did keep relapsing because interesting, also stress reduces stomach acid. So I had all the things anyways. So in that case, if you don't know you have low stomach acid, yes, it's going to come back. You can treat it with your refaxamin, your neomyosin, whatever you want, but it's going to come back. There's other things though, like so I had Doctor Neurology, she's a SIBO expert in Australia, she came on my show and we talked about all of the underlying causes and one of them is like scars or adhesions, like if you have surgery and in that case they heal over time. Yes, but I think it seems like it could reoccur easier because you're never really going to get rid of them. Right. And then sometimes people travel and they pick up a bug and that is actually what refaxamin was originally prescribed for, was travelers diarrhea. And so with a case like that, I feel like that is a little bit easier to overcome because that was like a one time thing. So it really depends on why it occurred to begin with.

[29:13] Amy Sherman: And you found out why it occurred through working with that integrated doctor integrative doctor. Exactly, yeah, because that's, I think such a key piece. I think we all struggle with whether you have stomach issues or migraines like me, et cetera, of like what is the root cause, not like how can I feel better? And yes, I want to feel better, but why am I getting it in the first place? And I think that is like the hardest thing to figure out. And I'm sure to your point, once you did, then you at least could try to figure out then how to resolve it.

[29:41] Sarah Kay Hoffman: Right. So for me it was understanding to the nth degree all about stomach acid and how I was going to increase it. And even to this day I have very adequate, obviously, stomach acid and I'm not relapsing anymore, but I still do things every single day to make sure that I'm always on the up.

[30:02] Katie Chandler: I want to ask a bit about that because I was listening to your most recent episode, which is exactly about the low stomach acid.

[30:08] Sarah Kay Hoffman: Piece.

[30:08] Katie Chandler: And I think that's my problem too. I'm pretty sure that mine stems from having Hypothyroidism and autoimmune stuff, and that's the low stomach acid piece for me. But just curious what you do. Do you do like the betane HCL or digestive enzymes and things like that to help you keep your stomach acid elevated?

[30:29] Sarah Kay Hoffman: Yeah, I do both of those, which are also both in my supplement line because I'm so particular and adamant about them when I was first healing. Yeah, the next episode of the podcast is going to be my eleven natural ways that I increase it because I'm so passionate about it. But like okay, so you can do things that will increase it via supplement. There are also natural ways, like apple cider vinegar, you can do lemon, you can do breathing exercises. There's a lot of natural ways to increase it. My favorite one, honestly though, is just straight any type of added HCL, butane HCL with Pepsin and the enzymes. Because the thing about stomach acid is that we need it to break our food down. So that means we just need help, period, in breaking food down, which is one of the biggest challenges across the board for people. I think there's so many different factors and reasons for that. But the first place that we start breaking our food down is we put food in our mouth and there's all these natural there should be natural digestive enzymes, right? But even there, the digestive process gets off for people. And so having a really high quality digestive enzyme and or mine has the HCL a little bit added right to it. So it's kind of like an all in one will really help the food break down. So that it's easier from a stomach acid standpoint, it's easier for everything to just digest. And for us, ultimately, the goal is to absorb the nutrients, right? 90% of nutrients are absorbed in the small intestine, which is why when you have SIBO, it's a small intestinal issue. You have so many problems with digestion and then also weight, because either you're not absorbing them, you're not doing it right, whatever. There's so many different scenarios. I guess there's a lot of natural ways that you can increase your stomach acid. Something that's really interesting about stomach acid too, is how we've been told forever that we all have too much stomach acid. So we have to be so careful because we have acid reflux, because we have too much stomach acid. And now, of course, research is coming out and people are really being shown, and it's being proven that in fact, a lot of these symptoms are coming because we don't have enough. And then, unfortunately, doctors are putting people with, quote unquote, too much stomach acid on all of these PPIs, these acid reducers, which then is reducing their stomach acid even more, creating even more problems. I'm not saying that everyone is there.

[33:22] Amy Sherman: A test to know you have low stomach acid.

[33:25] Sarah Kay Hoffman: Yeah. So I just talked about that too. So there is a medical one, but it's pretty invasive, so a lot of doctors won't start there. They'll do more of an at home test. The one that I did was with straight HCL and betane HCL and it's a pretty easy process. It's just getting the I think Thorne has a great one on integrative therapeutics. They both have just a great HCL with Pepsin. So the way it goes is you have to be eating protein. That's part of the test. So you eat at least like a whole serving of protein. You take one of the HCL pills, listen to your body, and if there's no burning or anything, then you know that you might not have enough stomach acid. So then the next meal you'd take two with high protein and see what happens. Now when I did this test, I was up to like twelve pills and nothing was happening. And my doctor is like, whoa, whoa, whoa, now we're having too much water with our meals, which also inhibits appropriate digestion. So I was on a protocol for a long, long time where I was doing eight HCL pills until I got it up. So now I'm way down. But that's one of the at home tests. And then you'll see a lot of people talk about like, baking soda challenge and stuff like that. I don't know, I never did that, but I know a lot of functional nutritionists will do that with their clients as well. Interesting, the only test that I know for stomach acid is that one, but it's invasive and it's costly.

[35:03] Katie Chandler: Yeah, you're jogging my memory. I was just going to say when I had SIBO, like peak COVID, I did some of those tests. I did the baking soda one, I don't remember exactly, but I just remember doing these like, at home experiments. It's funny. And also just really quickly, Amy, sorry, I think it was on your social page that I saw a very simple tip for digesting your food, which is chew your food a lot, right? Chew way more than you think you should, and don't drink any water because when you're drinking the water with those meals, you're flushing out those digestive enzymes instead of helping them do their job. So that one's always stuck with me. But anyway Amy, sorry, go ahead.

[35:46] Amy Sherman: Yeah, I know, that's interesting because I feel like I'm always drinking water with my meals, so good note. I wanted to go back to the food journaling because I think that that's interesting. I've never done it and I've always wanted to because it seems overwhelming. But like you were saying, you had a really in depth food Journal. Was there a certain template you followed or how did you track it? Can you just tell us a little bit about that? Because I think for people that are having stomach issues, it might be something worth experimenting with.

[36:12] Sarah Kay Hoffman: Yes. So I have my own journal, actually, because it was one of my top tools, and I perfected the process over a decade. But I remember in the beginning, I have a post on my website, too, that shows kind of what my journals look like in the beginning, because in the beginning, they were really focused on calories, and I stood everything all wrong and then till today. So food journaling, if you do it correctly, can be life changing. And the reason why I love mine so much is because it's broken down into 90 days. And the thing is, a lot of people that use my journal, why they like it so much is because it's almost like this compilation of all the things that they're doing, the symptoms they're seeing in a very structured way that they can then also give to their doctor so that by the time they get to their doctor, their doctor is not like, okay, well, I think it's just IBS. They're like, well, no, because XYZ, I've been tracking So on my journal, you track your bowel movements. And I have the whole Bristol Stool chart in there so that if our bowel movements are off on just a random day randomly, we don't really think much about it. But like, for instance, if you are having diarrhea for seven days in a row and then there's blood in some of it, that's very telling. Your doctor needs to know that, and there's a way that you can track that and to be able to see it over time. But in addition to things like that, I also have women track their cycle days because that's very helpful information for the doctor. I have, obviously, water intake, which is pretty standard and basic, but I also have an entire key. So the way that I created my journal is bullet journal meets regular Food and Lifestyle journaling. So I provide a key and I teach you how to use it from the standpoint of okay, so S equals supplement. And so when I write S, I can write digestive enzymes, and then you write the time, and then there's different symptoms that you can write down, and it's all right there in a really detailed and focused and simplified way for you and for your doctor. Because I can't tell you how many times I would feel okay for a couple of months, and then I'd start feeling miserable again. And I'm like, what did I do these past couple of months? How have I been living? And there's just no way to remember all that stuff. And so this was kind of my answer to that.

[38:52] Katie Chandler: Very smart.

[38:53] Amy Sherman: Yeah, I'm going to check that out.

[38:54] Sarah Kay Hoffman: That's really helpful.

[38:55] Amy Sherman: Yeah, because to your point, it's like the food, but then it's like, what else is happening? And yeah, you're not going to remember how you're feeling on the daily, and.

[39:03] Katie Chandler: That'S a great tool.

[39:04] Amy Sherman: That's amazing that you have that.

[39:05] Katie Chandler: That's a good resource. I feel like we could probably ask you 1 million questions about this and just keep going on and on and on.

[39:12] Sarah Kay Hoffman: I feel like we're like, just I.

[39:13] Amy Sherman: Know we have to go back because I'm like, wait, I have so many.

[39:16] Katie Chandler: More questions, so let's just quickly touch again on your line of supplements. So you have the journal that you just mentioned. You have the digestive enzymes, the betane HCL.

[39:27] Sarah Kay Hoffman: What else do you offer? Yeah, the supplement line is only about a year old now, but the reason I did is because I was spending so much on everyone else's supplements, and I'm like, okay, well, I know exactly what I need and what the community needs, so I'm just going to do it. They're not on a gutsyroll.com. They're on gut healingsupplements.com. And I have a digestive enzyme which is called breakdown. I have herbal bitters because I truly believe in them for naturally increasing stomach acid and helping our bodies to just be able to do it on its own over time. And that's called digest. Plus, I have tummy soothe, which is my immune. It's my IgG immune. I'm obsessed with it. It's actually a powder, so you can add it to anything. It was unflavored. And then we have a brand new we just released last week is Collagen, which is one of my favorite things for all things, but not just gut health, but wellness in general. And then a magnesium, of course, it's called Move now and then just like two more that are they're just kind of like complementary to certain people or lifestyles or routines. One is moromega. It's really the inflammation reducer. It's a one to one ratio of DHA and EPA. So a lot of women love that one too. I don't miss a day with that one because inflammation and then the other one would just be my multivitamin.

[41:00] Katie Chandler: Congratulations. That's amazing to have that line and offer all of it. What is your favorite type of magnesium? What is your magnesium? Is it glycinate citrate? What do you use?

[41:11] Sarah Kay Hoffman: Yes, it's glycinate. I think people are always surprised that I didn't use citrate. But honestly, that's really for emergency uses. It's explosive, and I don't want that. I have magnesium in the glycinet form, and you take it at night because the idea is that it promotes better sleep, which is foundational for my lifestyle pillar, but also more gentle as far as then your ball movements the next day. And I absolutely love that. Our whole family.

[41:44] Katie Chandler: I love magnesium glycinate, by the way.

[41:47] Sarah Kay Hoffman: I will say because this is one of my top questions people ask me all the time, why don't you have a probiotic? And I will tell you why. The reason I don't have a probiotic is because I have always used the just thrive one, and I saw no reason to create one. The reason is because I still believe at the end of the day that probiotics are very subjective and I really educate people on strains and species and understanding what can work for you. For me, to create a probiotic was like I felt like it was doing a disservice to people because I never want people to feel worse. And sometimes I swear by the just thrive one, but it's not for everyone. And I don't believe that there is one probiotic that's just like, for everyone can backfire.

[42:37] Katie Chandler: So you take yours every day, but.

[42:41] Sarah Kay Hoffman: That'S what works for you.

[42:43] Katie Chandler: It doesn't work for everybody.

[42:45] Sarah Kay Hoffman: It's not that a probiotic doesn't work for everybody. It's which one and which strains and species you're using might not. And also, if you have SIBO, when I was in the thick of SIBO and I was in massive flare mode, I didn't take a probiotic either.

[43:00] Katie Chandler: That's a dolphic.

[43:02] Amy Sherman: If you're constipated, should you be taking a probiotic? Does that help with that or does it not? Or is it not related?

[43:08] Sarah Kay Hoffman: Yeah. So again, that's going to go back to the strains in the species and what you choose and also just how it's working with your body. And so, again, it's like working with.

[43:22] Amy Sherman: A doctor, nutritionist, integrative doctor to figure out what's right for you, essentially.

[43:28] Sarah Kay Hoffman: Yeah.

[43:28] Amy Sherman: Which is why that food journal I.

[43:30] Katie Chandler: Think would be so great.

[43:31] Sarah Kay Hoffman: It's called healing blooms within. It's very intentional, too.

[43:35] Amy Sherman: Yeah, I would imagine. You just have to be consistent with it and then you can find out a lot of information. Okay, well, this has been amazing. I feel like we have so many more questions and we'll have to have you back, but thank you so much for joining us and just giving us kind of the one on one on Gut Health, and I'm glad it's become such a big topic. I feel like Gut Health, so many people we've had on the show have talked about, even if they're not experts in gut health, how important gut health is. And I think it's a little bit of such a vague term that sometimes it's hard to know what that means, what you do about it. If you somewhat feel okay, like, what should I be doing? So it's just really great that you're out there educating everybody. And just for our community, make sure you're following at a gutsy girl on Instagram because she has so many good pieces of information on there.

[44:24] Sarah Kay Hoffman: Thank you so much for having me. I will come back on the show.

[44:27] Katie Chandler: Thank you.

[44:28] Amy Sherman: Awesome. Thank you so much. Thanks for listening to Nirvana Sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes. Please subscribe and leave us a review. Also, find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would, please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana Sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

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

Episode 109 - Natural Glow Revolution and the Battle Against the Double Chin with Shelly Marshall of Beauty Shamans. (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 109

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

[00:20] Shelly Marshall: So let's get into some real conversation. You. Um.

[00:29] Amy Sherman: Welcome back to the show. Nirvana Citrus Family. It's Amy. Today solo episodeing with Shelley Marshall from Beauty Shamans, our amazing esthetician friend, gorgeous skinned lover of all things goasha skin, face yoga, all the things. So, Shelley, it's funny, I was looking back to when we first started talking to you, which was when we first launched, and I was looking at our previous episode. So for all of our new listeners, we've had Shelley on the show two other times. So your first episode was in April of 2021, and it was episode 15, and then we had you on in October later that year, october 21, episode 29. And this will be episode we're right now on episode 106. This will probably be like episode 108 or 109, 110, something like that. So it's just so crazy how much you have grown, how much we have grown, and I was just like, that's so cool. And by the way, thank you for being on our early shows when we were just starting. It's just incredible that you've been around and been with us for so long, and we're just so happy to have you as a friend and a family of Nirvana sisters in the show. So thanks for coming back and thanks for being with us back in the day.

[01:44] Shelly Marshall: Well, thank you guys so much. I mean, it's been really exciting, like you said, to watch both of us grow so much, and our conversations are always so fun and full of information. So this is, like, perfect for me because I love talking about this stuff with friendly people.

[02:00] Amy Sherman: Yes, and we love hearing it too. And for our new listeners, definitely check out those former episodes 15 and 29. And check out Shelley's Instagram because she has all of these incredible pieces of content about how to take care of your skin and your face and all the amazing things. So before we get started, we do want to jump in. Let's talk about our Nirvana of the week. It's been a crazy week. It's right before a holiday weekend. I can jump in and say my Nirvana this week was I have to think about this for a second. I guess what was good this week? Don't you sometimes feel like, oh, my God, I have to just reflect for a second, which is why I'm glad I do this, because if I don't, then I don't actually think about it. I would say, okay, here's mine for this week. I had a friend of mine happened to be in my neighborhood earlier this week, and it was a beautiful day, and she was doing something with her kids, and she had, like, an hour. And she's like, what are you doing? I said, actually, nothing. Why don't you pop by? And we did like, a quick walk around my neighborhood for an hour, which was so nice and so unexpected, and we got to catch up. I hadn't seen her in a while and we got to catch up. The weather was so nice and we just did a quick power walk, walked a couple of miles, and it was just so nice to do a quick, not planned, spontaneous walk. So that was my highlight of this week.

[03:16] Shelly Marshall: What about you? Impromptu walks are always yeah, I would say the last like, ten days, twelve days. I've been dealing heavily with allergies so much that it has been affecting my work. I haven't been able to do any work. A lot of my content is online. I'm showing my face, I'm talking, and so if I'm constantly sneezing or sniffling or if I look really, like, just itchy watery eyes. It's just impossible to make any content. So I was forced to take a break and I was forced to just be and just to relax and not do anything. And it was actually really good for me to sort of be forced to just sit back and chill and not always put all this pressure on myself, like, okay, today I'm going to have to do this video, answer these questions, post about this or that, or contribute to my studio or whatever. It was kind of nice to just be given the gift of time to just read, sit, listen to music, do whatever, do whatever I want to do that's not work related. So that was really, actually very special.

[04:25] Amy Sherman: Yeah, it sounds like your body needed it. Isn't it funny how your body kind of tells you, like, all right, you.

[04:32] Shelly Marshall: Need to chill out, you need to take it back. Yeah.

[04:34] Amy Sherman: And I know it's interesting that you talk about the allergy stuff and we'll get into it a little bit. I want to hear kind of how you're taking care of that, because I've noticed my allergies have been not terrible, but more noticeable. And my younger son has allergies too, and he's been, like, sneezing and watering eyes and nose. So it's just really bad this season. I've been hearing from a lot of people, so I definitely want to hear about how you're getting through that. But before we do that, let's just talk about you and what's going on. What's the latest in the skincare world? I know our initial few conversations were really it was like the 101 on Guaca, and then we talked about face yoga and all this stuff, and I just feel like so much has grown and there's so much more even going on with this topic. So I just kind of want to hear what's going on in your world. I know you launched the skincare studio, which you hadn't launched, or you were just about to launch last time to talk. So give us your update.

[05:28] Shelly Marshall: Well, I think a lot of what we discussed in previous episodes, it's just kind of expanded and grown from there in terms of the skincare world, because I'm seeing more and more celebrities and whatever. People in media dissolving their fillers. Stop doing Botox, like even going so far as taking out their implants or just going more natural. I've seen that a lot. And so obviously that has an impact on everyone else because a lot of people like to follow what celebrities are doing. And so I think there's become this subtle sort of gradual movement towards going more natural. And so I'm getting even more inquiries about how to perform face yoga, how to do Guaca, what the benefits of facial massage are. And so it was kind of perfect that I launched my skin within studio right around that time because it was right about the time when people are starting to become interested in how to take care of their self. At home. How to get similar results as these injectables and cosmetic procedures without having to go under the knife or have needles injected into your face. So that's kind of what I've been seeing a lot. It's just that slow movement towards self empowerment and just taking care of yourself and feeling really good about what you see in the mirror. And in my mind and in my world, it's never about deleting all of your wrinkles and making yourself look like you were 16 or 18 years old. It's about making your wrinkles look healthy. It's about making your face look lovely and to delete or erase the stress, but not necessarily all of the lines that we've gained through the wisdom experiencing life.

[07:22] Amy Sherman: Yeah, I totally agree with that. And I have seen a lot of what you're saying as well. Just I actually just finished a podcast episode yesterday. I was listening to a podcast where it was all about explans and I have heard about that a little bit. But this was really interesting to hear about why people are doing it and like the experience of this one person. So it's interesting that you say that. And I have seen about definitely about the fillers, about people dissolving their fillers because I've read and I've seen that these fillers can stay in your face for much longer than they're anticipating or they, I guess, expected.

[08:01] Shelly Marshall: I think when we first started talking, I was still doing you were doing.

[08:05] Amy Sherman: Filler and beltox, but you were sort of like alternating.

[08:09] Shelly Marshall: I was starting to get out of that business, but I was still performing it for clients and I stopped.

[08:17] Amy Sherman: Okay, so you stopped and started feeling.

[08:19] Shelly Marshall: Yeah, I started feeling, first of all, very uncomfortable with the fillers. That was the first thing I cut out of my practice was the injectable fillers because what you said was correct. A lot of times these fillers don't actually end up dissolving all the way. And so if they're misplaced or if they migrate within the skin tissue, then you're going to end up with a disfigured part of your face and then it becomes even more difficult to deal with. And then you're sort of chasing these little imperfections. Well, this looks like this now on this side, so I have to fix this side. And then it's just like never ending cycle. And then the other thing was I was just learning more and more and hearing more and more about the dangers of fillers long term. And we started to grow apart. Yes, it was just like we were in this relationship and then I started realizing that it's not you, it's me. I'm changing and I'm evolving and this isn't really for me anymore. And then the Botox stuff, because I stopped doing Botox myself just because I simply didn't really like the way it was looking on me anymore. I started doing and performing all these other exercises and techniques on myself. And I started teaching a lot of my clients and my patients that, and they also started gravitating more towards the more natural route. And so then I started thinking like, is this even worth doing anymore? Again, is this really aligned with who I am? So I have since deleted those services from my practice. And I think it's totally fine if people want to still do that. I think there's definitely a place for them. But just going kind of with what I feel is the new trend of going more natural, that is kind of where I'm headed as well. And so I just felt like I just needed to embrace that.

[10:17] Amy Sherman: Yeah, no, it totally makes sense. And we had spoken to someone recently that we had on our show, Natasha B, who does a lot of skincare online. And she was saying she used to do Botox and filler. And I think she dissolved all her filler and doesn't use Botox anymore and really just uses all of the skincare products that she recommends to be able to really test them. And a lot of them really work well. And now it's like she was hearing feedback from her community, well, like, you have Botox, so how can you know if they really work? And she was like, you know what, you're right. And so she stopped doing it and is able to really see the benefits of the skincare. So yeah, there's definitely that trend. But yeah, I mean, I still jabbling botox. I do have to tell everybody. Let's not I try to really space it though. But I do still love a little lift. But I do. It's funny. I talk to my Durham all the time who does it. She's super, super natural, and she really tries to do it as least as possible in the most natural way as possible, just to give a little bit of that brightness to the face, but I would love to not do it, that is for sure. And it's funny because I'll go on your page and I'll follow you do all of your things, and I'm like, I just need to be more consistent. And then I can stop doing Botox because you're right, it becomes like this wheel of, like, oh, chasing it. And so I also find that microneedling Guaca massage, like, all that stuff provides a lot of benefit if consistent. And it's funny. I know we'll get into some of the new products that you have, but honestly, ever since I met you and have been using your face oil, those are my Holy Grails. Like your face oil and the green I forget what it's called. The wash the sea so far, yeah. I mean, those are my two morning I mean, especially at night routine, the double cleansing. And those two products are my Holy Grails. Like, my skin has changed significantly since.

[12:15] Shelly Marshall: Using I know, I tell everyone, like, just use those two products.

[12:19] Amy Sherman: Those two products. And then I also use your daily moisturizer. It's my favorite. Those three are my holy girls. And then I have obviously a million of your other products and use those two. But those three are like, amazing. Anyone who's listening. And I have the travel set because I'm like, I have to travel with these products and I'm like, running out, so I actually have to get more. But anyway, those products are so they work really well, and I just feel like they're simple. And even with the moisturizer every day, I love how it smells. Just so you know. I don't know if I told you this when we've talked, but it's so hard to find a moisturizer or sunblock that has like, the right consistency and that doesn't smell and doesn't have that feel. And it feels like a moisturizer. And the smell is just like every morning I smell it, I'm like, just smells good. And I put it on and smells happy. Yeah, it smells so good and it just feels good. But anyway, that's just like a plug for your products just because I love them so much. But just like that double cleanse of the face is such a huge makes such a big difference on my face. Speaking of what is the latest so it sounds like your clients, a lot of them, are embracing face yoga. Are you seeing more people doing a lot of this face yoga than even Guaca? Or is that kind of what are you saying?

[13:31] Shelly Marshall: I think when Guaca first became a big trend, it was like, everybody wash. I'd say it's a pretty good mix. Now I think it's because there's been a lot more education about what our faces need because Guaca doesn't do everything. It's going to help with Lymphatic drainage, so it's going to help to depuff. It's going to help reduce inflammation, which can help to sculpt the face because you're allowing those facial features to become more pronounced. You're brightening your eyes because you're getting rid of any morning puffiness, but it's not going to necessarily lift the muscles of the face, which is what can lead to sagging skin, jowls, nasal labial folds, things like that. And that's where practices like face yoga come in, because it's more like an exercise, right? So I like to just always sort of compare it with your normal workouts that you do for the body, right? So you see people who go to the gym and they're lifting weights, they're going to have a certain body type, right? They're going to be more muscular, they're going to be very lifted. You go to a yoga studio and see people who only do yoga, they're going to be very lean, they're going to be relatively thin, probably not a lot of roundness because their Lymphatic systems are working very efficiently. And then you see a runner. Everyone has this body type. But really, in my opinion, and I've always felt this way as a former athlete as well, having that mix of your workouts where you do a little bit of lifting, you do a little cardio, you do some stretching, you do some yoga, you do some Pilates, some toning, or this or that. It kind of, to me, gives that best overall effect. And so I think about that in terms of the face as well.

[15:18] Amy Sherman: So true.

[15:18] Shelly Marshall: Yeah. All of these different techniques, face yoga, massage, guacaw reflexology, which I've recently been getting really into, all of these things are like different workouts for the face that contribute in different ways to do different things, right.

[15:33] Amy Sherman: To build those muscles, which yeah, you don't really think about, but it's true. How long do you I mean, I know on your website you have probably different lengths of quote workouts for the face, but if for the average person who's listening, who hasn't seen a lot of your content, what would? You suggest is like a good amount of time and maybe talk about a few different exercises, face yoga exercises they could do to strengthen those muscles on a daily basis.

[16:07] Shelly Marshall: I think a good amount of time when you're first starting is five to ten minutes. You know, if that it's more just it's building the consistency and coming back to it, that's really key. And then once you have that practice of coming back to it, then you can start building upon it and do like 20 minutes. You can combine things like face yoga, massage, which is really beneficial. Some exercises. It's going to be hard to explain it to any listeners. But the idea is, with face yoga is you are essentially relaxing certain muscles using certain facial poses, and you're relaxing those muscles that get too much exercise throughout the day. Like between the brows, for example, those muscles get a lot of stress and exercise because we're always using them. When we're looking at a computer, we're really focused. So there are certain face yoga poses that are going to help to relax that. But there are also some muscles of the face that don't get enough exercise, like the cheeks. And so for those muscles, you actually want to do more lifting poses. So just like in your regular yoga practice, there's this contraction and relaxation sort of dance constantly going on when you're performing these poses. Some of the poses are going to be more stretching and relaxing poses, while others are going to be more lifting, a little bit more strenuous, like an exercise for the muscles of the face. So one of the easiest stretching poses that you can do for the whole face, it's really beneficial to the entire front side of the face is something I call the big O. And to me I think of it as like the downward dog of face yoga because it's one of those poses that you can come back to all day. You can come back to in between some of your more strenuous poses. And it's always going to make you feel really good. It's going to help to reset your mind and all you're going to do is sort of make a low o with your lips. Like a loose low o. You don't want to have purse lips. You just try to relax the jaw, drop the jaw, and you're stretching the whole front side of the face. You're making sure that the area around your eyes and your forehead are still very relaxed and you just kind of hold it like that and you're going to feel a lot of circulation and a lot of blood flow coming to the skin. Also, anytime you are stretching or exercising the muscles of the face, that's going to actually stimulate the lymphatic system as well. So you're moving some of your Lymphatic system. You're helping to depuff, but you're also relieving tension in the muscles. You're increasing circulation. So that's good for collagen and for skin health. So just a lot of benefits there. And then for a lifting pose, I think one of the easiest ones to explain would be just to place the tip of your tongue to your upper lip and then smile.

[19:15] Amy Sherman: Yeah, I've seen this on your partners of your mouth.

[19:17] Shelly Marshall: Yeah. And you're lifting from the apples of your cheeks. But you obviously want to make sure that you're not wrinkling around the eyes or around the forehead. These are things that they're harder to explain and best to do when you're watching someone one on one. And that's what I do in my studio a lot. I walk people through, okay, do this and now do that, and then make sure let's check this part. Make sure you're doing this right or that right. But if we're going to do like a quick video, I'll just show you the it would look like this.

[19:51] Amy Sherman: You got it?

[19:53] Shelly Marshall: It looks silly. But once you see, once you get.

[19:56] Amy Sherman: Used to it yes.

[19:57] Shelly Marshall: And once you start seeing the benefits, it doesn't even matter anymore. Yeah, it's really great for dark undereye circles because it detoxifies this entire near. Yeah, I do this one all day long, and by the end of the day, I'm like, oh, looks like that.

[20:10] Amy Sherman: Must be like good for your jaw, too. I would imagine.

[20:15] Shelly Marshall: As long as you're not holding tension in your jaw when you do it. Yeah, it kind of helps to release that a little bit.

[20:20] Amy Sherman: All right, let me do it again. I don't want to see you do it again. I'm watching. Okay. And you just hold it. Okay.

[20:28] Shelly Marshall: And then the other one is the one I explained where you're lifting from here. You just place your tongue to your lip and you just lift from the cheek.

[20:39] Amy Sherman: Yeah.

[20:39] Shelly Marshall: And so when you engage the tongue, anytime you engage the tongue, you're actually engaging the area right underneath the chin. So it's good for double chin, that area, but also really good for lifting the cheeks. And the face is the only area of the body where the skin and the muscles are attached to one another. So when you start exercising your muscles and lifting your muscles, then your skin is going to start going with it, too.

[21:03] Amy Sherman: Yeah, I was going to say because I feel like the older I get, the skinnier my face gets, like, not in a good way. And I'm just like I'm thinking if I do these exercises more, it'll plump my skin a little bit because I just feel like the older people get. You lose that collagen in your face.

[21:23] Shelly Marshall: Yeah. You lose the collagen. And it's harder to maintain your muscle mass. It's really important after you do like well, not just after a face yoga routine, but it's really important to get adequate amount of protein, an adequate amount of vitamin C, zinc, because you need those muscles to maintain their muscle mass after exercising them. I also think that using infrared Led is a really great thing to use if you're going to be doing a face yoga practice, because that is something that can also help to repair muscle tissue. It can help to build muscle tissue. NASA used to use it in their space shuttles to prevent muscle atrophy the astronauts.

[22:02] Amy Sherman: Interesting.

[22:02] Shelly Marshall: It makes sense that if you're going to be doing this face yoga practice, you want to make sure that you're taking care of all the other components of maintaining muscle mass at the same time.

[22:11] Amy Sherman: So you would do that afterwards. The red light, if people have you.

[22:15] Shelly Marshall: Could do it before and after.

[22:18] Amy Sherman: Okay, that's a good tip. Okay. The other thing I wanted to ask you about, you were mentioning your allergies, which a lot of people are dealing with now. And I know you mentioned reflexology, and I have that tool which I use all the time by the way, when I get a headache, I'm always kind of putting it in areas to make you feel better. But are there certain things you can do if people are experiencing these seasonal allergies right now, like certain pressure points or face yoga or what do you recommend for that? I mean, what are you doing for yourself? I know you've been under the weather.

[22:49] Shelly Marshall: It's tough because with allergies it's like you get real stuffy and then you can relieve them and then an hour later and it comes back. But what I've been doing mostly is I'm using my reflexology tool mostly on the sinus pressure point. So that's like right on the inner part of the brow right here, just to open that up. And then all along the side of the nose, I'm coming down the nasal passageways just to open that up quite a bit. And then all the way down to the nostril. So just in these small little lines. And that just kind of helps to open up the nasal passageways a little bit. I hold the big o, that face movement that I just showed you that actually really helps to get some airflowing. Yeah, just to kind of stretch everything out and get things moving again. It's helping to stimulate your lymphatic system. It's getting all the fluids moving along. So I do that and then I am in my room choosing different essential oils all day, diffusing different ones throughout the day just to kind of keep everything open and helping me to breathe. I find that steaming in a bath is also really beneficial. I've done the netty pot. I'm not a fan. I feel like I'm dying with the feeling. I'm like, what's going on?

[24:15] Amy Sherman: I know it's a very strange feeling.

[24:17] Shelly Marshall: As well as it works. I just can't do that.

[24:21] Amy Sherman: Yeah.

[24:21] Shelly Marshall: So that's kind of what I do. Very minimal basic things, but it's helping.

[24:29] Amy Sherman: Yeah. Good. Well, and I was also going to say before with the with the face yoga and these pressure points and all the stuff, I think the reason why it is so great is you can do it in the car. You can do it while you're sitting working, doing emails, like walking around the neighborhood. It's like you can just do these exercises. These go to few exercises throughout the day and you don't need to allocate time for it. You can just multitask. So that's also why I love it, because I find myself too, like I have the other toy of everything that you sell because I'm obsessed. But I have that other tool that's one of my favorites with the two onyx balls and the obsidian roller. I use that all the time and I have it at my it's so easy, you don't even have to think about it. Just for those listening, if you don't know how to guacaw, this is kind of like a hack. I just feel like you can just do that around your skin, it almost feels the same. I bring that with me every time I travel because I feel like it really helps with just like inflammation and everything. But anyway, I'll sometimes have that at my desk at work and just do it while I'm on a call or whatever, just to kind of get things moving. But yeah. So big fan. So let's talk about moving over. We were talking about the Botox. So if you were to say, you know what, I don't want to be on this botox hamster wheel anymore, what kind of massage techniques would you recommend to sort of get the skin in the same feeling fresh or looking fresh like it does when you get Botox?

[25:56] Shelly Marshall: So you have to understand if you're going to start transitioning from using botox to, okay, I want to try to wean myself off. It's really important to understand what is causing the wrinkles, what is creating them, and what's creating them. A few different things. Repetitive muscle movement. So the frontalis muscle, it moves up and down. So that means when it moves up and down the lines, the horizontal lines develop much like rings in a curtain, right? You're going to see those lines across the muscles repetitively moving up and down. And then what happens is the layer right on top of the muscles, the fascia, right? That is your mesh, like, connective tissue, and that is connected to the skin. It's interwoven within the muscles, like everything within this entire structure. So when you are constantly moving that muscle up and down, the fascia is going to start to remember that movement, and it's going to start becoming tighter and tighter, and pretty soon it's going to start holding the skin in the form of a wrinkle. So if you keep that in mind, there's a few different exercises that you can do. Number one, the first one that I always do is I take something like the reflexology tool. You can even use, like a guaca tool, anything. You can even use your knuckle if you want. But I find something like this works really well. And you're going to break up those fascia adhesions, right? You're going to break up those areas of tightness where the fascia has started to hold the skin in that crease. So what I do is I'll just go directly into those lines and just relieve some of the tightness that's being held around that crease. This is going to help to oxygenate the whole area. It's going to remodel the collagen. It's going to allow that wrinkle to relax a little bit more. So I will do this, and my skin will turn a little bit pink. I have quite a few forehead wrinkles, so it takes me about five minutes to get through the whole forehead. And you just work directly into the wrinkles, and they'll be a little bit sensitive. And that's because your fascia holds onto a lot of. Tension, it holds onto emotion, it holds onto stress. So when you feel that that's okay, that's completely normal. Every day is going to feel a little bit different. But in general, the more you do it, the better it's going to feel. Anyway. So that's the first thing I would do is I would start to massage little circles with your tool directly into the lines. The next thing I would do is just take my fingertips. And again, now we're filling in where those creases, where that depth has been lost in the skin, and you're just sort of filling that in. It works with when you have almost no product on the skin. I have some oil on, so it's a little hard. My fingers are slipping. Just hold it like that. And what that's going to do is it's going to push blood flow into that crease, and that's going to help to sort of remodel that whole area. And then you want to think about how can I prevent the muscle from moving like that? So then that's where phase yoga comes in, right? So there's exercise that you can do where you can activate the ring like muscle around the eyes while keeping the forehead muscle relaxed. Because a lot of times it's these two muscles because they're connected, it's these two muscles that get activated together when we're in a state of surprise or we're happy or shocked or whatever, a lot of times this is what happens, right? We open the eyes, the forehead goes with it. But is there a way to open the eyes without wrinkling the forehead? Yes, there is. You just have to train yourself to do that. So what I like to do, to train myself to do that, and it takes practice, but eventually when you practice it enough, you'll be able to apply it to your everyday life. When you're having an elated moment or whatever, is you just place your fingers up here and you practice opening up the eyes as wide as you can. But your fingers are up here on the forehead, just telling it, hey, just chill out, relax, right? You don't also need to get excited. And then pretty soon you'll be able to take your hands away and you'll be able to see, oh, I can make that movement, right? Do that.

[30:29] Amy Sherman: Interesting. And that probably because I feel like you're right. You get the wrinkles up here. I mean, I don't have them as much on my forehead. It's always more kind of like around the eyes, but to your point, they're connected. So anytime you make some sort of expression, it's going up into your eyes and around there too. So would you do that same method that you were showing.

[30:52] Shelly Marshall: With the tool.

[30:53] Amy Sherman: With the tool into that area around your eyes too?

[30:56] Shelly Marshall: Yeah. So then this area right here has a thicker muscle. So what you could do is use the tool to kind of make little lines or circles into those lines. But really with this area, what happens is when we're squinting a lot and everyone's anatomy is a little bit different, some people have it a little bit worse than others. Same with all parts of the face. For me, I find that massaging this area out is really the best thing because the muscle tends to get really, how can I say it, it's almost like crunched together. It's like contracting.

[31:32] Amy Sherman: Right.

[31:33] Shelly Marshall: And it stays in that contracted state. So if you just can just sort of spread out the fascia fibers and spread out the muscle and just kind of relax this area, it's just going to start to soften the lines a little bit. Still, when you make expression, you'll probably see them. But again, with these techniques, it's not about erasing lines, it's about making them look healthy.

[31:54] Amy Sherman: Right. And the third place I feel like, which affects a lot of people, and I haven't noticed it on me, but I've started to notice it lately, which is interesting when I wake up, not during the day, but just like when I wake up is like the nasal labial folds. Is that what this is called right here?

[32:10] Shelly Marshall: Yeah.

[32:10] Amy Sherman: And it was funny because I'm noticing I wake up and I have like a line here because I think I must be pursing my lips or doing something when I sleep. But I know that this is like a big one for everyone. So is it the same thing there like just getting in there or just massaging that?

[32:26] Shelly Marshall: Yeah, massaging will help that area just to soften the lines. But I will say that when you start seeing nasolebial folds, what's actually happening is there is fallen tissue from the cheeks. So the tissue up here is starting to degrade. The muscles are starting to become lax. And so when that falls, the nasalabial folds are essentially ligaments that are holding everything up. So when this tissue falls here, that's why you start to see that the droopiness. That droopiness. Right. So it's all about lifting the cheeks to start seeing more of an indirect smoothness on the nasolibial folds. The other thing, and I'm very aware of this because this happens to me a lot, especially with allergies, if I am eating salty food, went out late, had like a late night out drinking or allergies, whatever, and my face is holding extra fluid, my nasalabial folds will be more pronounced. I will be holding more inflammation right here in this area, right in between the cheeks and the lines, the nasal libial fold lines. If you carry inflammation here, you're going to start to see deeper folds. So that's where guaca comes in. That's where lymphatic drainage comes in. Because the more you can relieve any of this fluid from the mid face, then these folds are not going to look as deep either.

[33:48] Amy Sherman: Right, okay, that makes sense. It totally makes sense. So it's really about working the upper cheek area which then affects the lower versus getting right in the lower. Okay, that makes sense. Now, what about chest and neck? So a couple of things, like are there different massage techniques for the neck and chest, especially for people that are like, the skin on your neck starts to get thinner and creepy and that kind of thing.

[34:19] Shelly Marshall: So neck stretching has become like something I do every single day. It has helped not only my skin because it stimulates so much lymphatic movement, but it helps to sculpt the jawline. It helps me to think more clearly because I'm releasing a lot of tension. And I find that if you have a regular practice of stretching, moving, massaging your neck, you're naturally going to start to see that your skin is firmer, that you have less lines, that your neck actually becomes longer and just everything just becomes a lot more defined. So I don't think there's one stretch. Everyone's neck is very sensitive area for a lot of people. But moving the neck and making sure you're not holding any tension there, if you're feeling your neck and you feel knots, you got to work on that. You got to get rid of that because your neck is the bridge between your body and your face. So if you have stagnation and tension there, the blood is coming from your heart. It can't get through to the face oxygen fully to your face and to your brain without that passageway of your neck being nice and clear.

[35:35] Amy Sherman: Right. And I remember last time when you were talking about guaca, you were saying to do the neck first, to open that up and then do the rest of the face. And I remember last time I feel like we did a neck stretch. I forgot what you called it.

[35:48] Shelly Marshall: We probably did, yeah.

[35:49] Amy Sherman: Like the dolphin or something like that.

[35:52] Shelly Marshall: Yeah, swan neck or either swan neck or it's just like a reverse tech neck movement. Really?

[35:59] Amy Sherman: Yeah. That's a good one. It feels so good, too. I do that all the time. That's a good one.

[36:04] Shelly Marshall: And then the same kind of applies for the chest, too. This area, we have muscles, we have fascia here. When it gets tight from looking at our computer, we're hunched over our posture. It's getting worse and worse every day that we go into work and we don't work on our bodies. So when you have poor posture and you're not exercising and stretching and moving, then the skin here is going to become creased. It's going to become wrinkled. The quality of the skin and the integrity starts to degrade a little bit because it's not getting that oxygen and blood flow. So I find that if people start to see changes in their chest like lines, wrinkles, dullness, whatever, the first thing you want to do is massage the fascia. Make sure that you're stretching quite a bit, just pulling your hands behind your back and that opens your chest immediately. And then you can just use your knuckles and just massage out the fascia. This may even, it can be a little bit uncomfortable for people the next day and they don't realize, oh wow, I was holding a lot of tension in my chest because you're constantly hunched over totally on your computer screen or on your phone. So just stretching this area right here can just bring a lot of movement, hydration, blood flow to the whole area and just really improve the overall look of the chest. Yeah.

[37:29] Amy Sherman: And then in terms of products for neck and chest, are there certain products you would use for that or just like continuation of what you use in your face? Like if you're using the cleansing oil or serums, would you just carry that down or what do you suggest there?

[37:46] Shelly Marshall: Yeah, I really just use like when I'm washing my face, I use the cleansing oil mostly on my face, but I get the neck and I get the chest a little bit too. So nothing different there. And then same with my moisturizers. I apply everything to the face. There's always going to be a little leftover in my hands that goes directly to the neck and chest.

[38:05] Amy Sherman: Right.

[38:06] Shelly Marshall: So they always get a little bit of love. And my nighttime moisturizer, my plankton peptide cream, when you apply peptides, peptides are going to help to signal new collagen, maintain what you already have. So it's also important that you're using something that's going to maintain your moisture levels and also be giving your skin the nutrients it needs to maintain itself.

[38:29] Amy Sherman: Yeah, okay. And so before we close out as we're heading into summer, give us some summer tips to keep our skin healthy.

[38:39] Shelly Marshall: So I always tell people that getting a facial is probably actually one of the best things you can do during the summer because a lot of people will say, oh, I'm going to be in the sun for the next three, four months, I'll come for my facial later, afterwards, and that's fine. But every single day you're applying sunscreen, every single day you're out in the sun, you're sweating, your pores are expanding more and more, filling up with more and more gunk. So I always tell people really, during the summer, spring and summertime, come in and get your facials, get the extractions, let us keep your pores nice and clean so that you can reapply your sunscreen without feeling like you're filling them up constantly. In the fall and the wintertime, that's when we're going to do our chemical peels. If you're going to get into lasers, that's the time we're going to do that micro needling. Yeah, microneedling is when you want to do that. So I usually tell people in the summer, get your facials. And then the other thing that I think is really important aside from wearing sunscreen is oil cleansing. Because when you are out in the sun. Your skin's natural defense mechanism, along with producing melanin, is to thicken and harden. When it's in a sunny climate or environment, your skin cells are going to start to get a little bit rough. That's where you get that flakiness and.

[40:05] Amy Sherman: Dehydration that dry skin.

[40:07] Shelly Marshall: Yeah. And it just feels really rough. After a couple of days in the sun, your skin has hardened. So when you turn in for the night, if you do a nice oil cleanse, the oil is going to help to soften some of that surface dead skin. And so then when you want your face, it just kind of takes off a little bit of a layer. It's not like an exfoliation really. It just kind of softens the surface dead skin that's been building up so that your moisturizers are going to be more effective. Because if your skin cells are hard, it creates a barrier. Nothing keeping in. Yeah. And so I just feel like oil cleansing is during the summer, although it seems like, oh, put oil on my skin in the summer, it's the best time to do it. Yeah, it's going to help to just keep your skin looking glowy and dewy and hydrated because you're kind of taking off that barrier that your skin has built up.

[41:04] Amy Sherman: Do you do oil cleansing in the morning too, or just at night?

[41:07] Shelly Marshall: Mostly just at night. Yeah, I try to just do it once a day. And so for me, I like to do it at nighttime, take off the day, that's kind of when have time to do my ritual. But some people do it in the morning and it works better for them that way. I say do it when it feels right for you.

[41:23] Amy Sherman: Yeah. One other thing I was thinking about in the summer, because this has been happening to me lately, and I don't know if it's allergies or just the weather, but the redness around the nose, I just constantly have that either from blowing my nose or just I'm just always irritated right there and it's always red anything there. Is it massaging? Is it some sort of putting a.

[41:44] Shelly Marshall: Cream on and leaving it alone? Yeah, because I have the same thing right now because of allergies. So I just use either my plankton cream or I have a new product, my vitamin C serum.

[41:55] Amy Sherman: Oh, I didn't see that yet.

[41:56] Shelly Marshall: Yeah, and it just takes care of that. It just kind of moisturizes, but it's really light and then it just kind of repairs the skin. But yeah, if the skin is broken, you want to just let it heal. Yeah, Led can help with that a little bit.

[42:10] Amy Sherman: That's good. Yeah, I've just been noticing that lately it's been so irritated. Okay, so let's do a quick wrap session. I know we did this a couple of years ago, but I'm sure things have changed as we're always changing things up in this world. So what is your latest favorite wellness or beauty hack?

[42:29] Shelly Marshall: We already talked about neck stretching. I would have said that for sure. Drinking electrolytes.

[42:37] Amy Sherman: Oh, yeah.

[42:39] Shelly Marshall: It sounds so simple and silly, but I have noticed that since I started drinking Electrolytes, ever since I started drinking Electrolytes, I've noticed that my skin is a lot more hydrated, more supple. It's so simple to do. Just put a little electrolyte powder in your water and it tastes great.

[42:58] Amy Sherman: Do you have a favorite brand?

[43:00] Shelly Marshall: So I've been using this brand called Redmond.

[43:03] Amy Sherman: Okay.

[43:03] Shelly Marshall: And it's called relight. And I love it. It's amazing. And it tastes so good that it forces me to drink even more water, too.

[43:13] Amy Sherman: Yeah, that's a good one.

[43:15] Shelly Marshall: And drinking water is just there's nothing that compares to drinking water. You can use all the creams, you can do all the things, but if you are dehydrated from the inside, it's only going to go so far.

[43:28] Amy Sherman: No, I love I am a big electrolyte person. You try different ones all the time, and especially when I'm traveling. That's a good tip for the summer. Make sure you're bringing that with you because I just find you get so dehydrated when you're on a plane. Okay. And five minute flow. So you could do the summer version right. You just got out of the shower, dried off. Uber alerted you. They're five minutes away. What's your quick beauty routine, your go to? What are you putting on to be ready in time?

[43:56] Shelly Marshall: This is probably not too far off from what I normally do, actually. Yeah, quickly get out of the shower. I may spray my face with one of my toners. I always put on my nori gel and then a light layer, two to three drops of an oil. And then I'll probably get dressed, dry shampoo, put a little chapstick, and then right before I'm out the door, I apply my sunscreen and that's it. And that's not too far off from a normal day anyway. Yeah, that's good.

[44:27] Amy Sherman: Keep it simple. Simple, natural, easy. Love it. And how do you maintain your daily nirvana?

[44:37] Shelly Marshall: Lately, I've had to think about that. And I feel that as long as I express love in some way to the people in my family, whether that's my husband and I hugging in the kitchen or I'm cuddling with my cat or I'm making my stepson's favorite meal. As long as I am expressing love and showing love to the people that I love on a daily basis, that just makes me feel so good and it helps with my nirvana.

[45:13] Amy Sherman: I agree with you.

[45:14] Shelly Marshall: On a daily basis, I agree with you.

[45:16] Amy Sherman: Well, thank you so much for coming back and giving us so much great information. Our listeners are going to love it. I know I loved it. And we just appreciate you and all your wisdom and as I like to say, come back anytime. We love having you. And for our listeners, feel free to check out Shelley at beautyshamans on Instagram. And what is your website again? Beautyshamans.com, right?

[45:39] Shelly Marshall: Yes, beautyshamans.com.

[45:40] Amy Sherman: Yeah. So much valuable info. And you'll see me always following along with all of your Instagram content, doing all of the face yoga exercises with you because it's just easier to do it with you than on my own.

[45:53] Shelly Marshall: Awesome.

[45:54] Amy Sherman: Yeah. Anyway, so good to have you.

[45:57] Shelly Marshall: Thanks so much.

[46:00] Amy Sherman: Thanks for listening to Nirvana Sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes. Please subscribe and leave us a review. Also, find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would, please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana Sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness, so you don't have to. Bye.

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

Episode 108 - Product Junkies: June - The Eye Edition (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 108

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

Unknown Speaker 0:06

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

Unknown Speaker 0:27

Welcome back to the show Nirvana sisters family. It is Katie and Amy. This episode is exciting. So we're going to give you a product junkies episode. But it's very specific. And it's something that Amy's been talking about for a long time. And she's been testing these products for a year. So we have some really good reviews and feedback. And this is our special i Episode. We are going to be she's covering lash serums fake eyelashes. Just a lot of things for the eyes. So I'm super excited to hear about it. It's all her today she's going to educate me as we educate yo. So what's up, Amy? Hi. Hey, thank you. I feel like I am you are weird. So yeah, I've mentioned it in a couple of our shows that I wanted to do an episode because I've been testing a lot of different eyelash extensions over the last year and other eye products that I wanted to talk about that I think would be helpful for our listeners. And it all started about a year ago, I went to a wedding. And I've always wanted to do eyelash extensions. And I had never tried them before. And a friend of mine had really good ones. I was like Where'd you go, I got them done, I immediately was obsessed. I like they looked so much better, especially for me because I have, I'm fair and I have very light eyelashes. So I can't go out of the house without wearing mascara, or I'll say look totally washed out. So anyway, I got these extensions on. And they only last like two weeks. But they made such a big difference. And I didn't feel like I had to wear any makeup practically because at least it looked like I had mascara on all the time. I didn't have to take off my mascara, which you've talked about a million times, which I hate doing because I'm constantly rubbing my eyes and it's irritating. And I just loves it like give me more confidence. I really just loves it. So for like, I don't know, six months or so I was going to get eyelash extensions every two weeks, such a pain. And then what happens is if you if you don't get them filled every two weeks, like they start falling out. And then it looks crazy. And like you can't really put mascara on and I was like there's gotta be a better way to do this. This is just so annoying. And I don't have time because the thing is, is when you do get them done, you're sitting in the chair for like an hour or two. And you can't I mean, I listen to podcasts, but you're just sitting there and it can be relaxing. But every two weeks, it's just not realistic. Like, no one has the time to do this. So I started seeing all these things online about eyelash extensions that you can do at home. The only ones I had done at home before were the ones that we've done, where it's just like, you know, the band on top with like the glue that you just do, which I've done a million times in the past and they last like a night and they're fine. I just never think they look as good. So I don't know if our audience has heard but there's all these lashes now that go under the eyes. So those were those are what I have tested over the last year. So I started with the extensions. And then I was like there's gotta be a weather way. And then I started experimenting with all of these at home DIY eyelashes. So I have a few different versions. I have kind of a high, medium low and they're all good for different ways. And the first one I'm going to review and just a heads up for listeners I'm getting into the minutia. So if you're into this stuff, I think you're really going to like it. But the first one is called lash five. And I have this box because I bought their kind of starter kit, which I've used and then I've bought the refills and Lasha phi is the originator of this I think they have the patent on this type of technology which is its little lashes. So it's not a Full Lash like if you were going to do you know the band on top that you always see people doing like makeup artists and you just take off the whole thing. These are individual lashes. So I'll show you. I mean these are all like practically gone. I'll show you this one. So see how it's kind of circle. The whole circle was full. Okay, but it's I'm not going to take this one. I'll take this one on their individual plans. So there's like four and a clump. Yeah. Yeah, like there's one little lash. Okay. The cool thing is so you probably need depending on your eye like four or five of these little

Unknown Speaker 4:29

pieces of lash. But the cool thing is is you can kind of customize it so some people just want to put a little lash like at the end of their eye just to kind of give it a little pop. You can do that or you can do your whole lie which I do. There's a lot of different ways to use but this makes it more flexible. So lash if I specifically comes with you can either buy just the lashes if you have your own glue and things like that. I would recommend if you're doing it for your first time at home just buying the kit because the kit comes with the bonder so this is called

Unknown Speaker 5:00

WhisperLite flexible bond and it's basically like a mascara, and it's black and you put it on and it's kind of like glue. It's kind of like tacky. And then you wait like a minute, okay. And then you put on the lash. And there's definitely a learning curve, it took me a couple of times to perfect it. But now I can do it really easily. But you do have to be pretty committed. But I'm committed because it makes my life easier when I have these on. And if I can like to go to the office, I'm just gonna make up like, it's great. So you put the glue on like mascara, and then you literally take they have this kind of tweezer thing. And I'll talk about the tweezers too, because another brand I like that tweezers better. But they have this little tweezer thing. See this. And then you just put it I'm not doing it now. But you just put it under your lash. And it stays under it just on the lash line, but under your eyelashes as opposed to on top, which is what the traditional ones have always been correct. And that's why it looks more natural. Because those ones on the top. Yeah, we see that little black band. It looks like you're wearing eyeliner. This just goes right under your eyelash, but it doesn't hit that like water line. Okay, what does that it doesn't Yeah, right where your eyelash meets your eye, it doesn't actually hit that.

Unknown Speaker 6:12

Now it just you just place it at the bottom of your eyelash. Yeah, so I don't know if you can see I have ones on now. But see how it's just here. And you're literally in it stays, it works. Because of the mascara glue just sticks, mascara glue is genius.

Unknown Speaker 6:34

The mascara glue, and this whole invention is genius. Because like and I don't

Unknown Speaker 6:39

I think only these kind of lashes work this way. I don't think you could take any lash and do this. Like sometimes, you know, you see those recipes that you can buy and just glue at the end. I don't think those would work. I think there's like something on the bottom of these like wisps that somehow are like sticky and connect to the glue.

Unknown Speaker 6:58

So that's the step you basically put on the glue, you put on the lash, again, it takes some practice, you need to use the tweezer. And then you kind of just move them over, you know, you do like four or five. And that's it, then you give it like a minute. And then you put on what they call this one specifically is called a. This one's called Glass. But there's another one from another brand I'll tell you about. And it's just like,

Unknown Speaker 7:22

kind of like a clear it's not mascara, but it's kind of like a serum and you just kind of put it on over just to kind of seal it in and and do you have to wait a one one to put the sealer on? Or do you do it right after you apply them.

Unknown Speaker 7:36

I usually wait a little bit, just to kind of like let it dry. I forgot the main step. Or one of the steps. You do the glue. You do the lash and then you take this tweezer This is specifically for lash five. But you could do this for any of these kind of lashes. And you know, together. I was wondering about that together. Yeah, sorry, I forgot that important piece. So you clip it together. So that kind of like makes the lash and the glue like sticks together. You could also just do with your fingers. And you just kind of do that for one second and then it then it and then it like stays. It's crazy. And it looks so good. And then you can put on that CRM, you know, a little bit after once to try sometimes I put on right away, sometimes they wait a half an hour just depends. And depending on how you take care of it, it could last anywhere from like two days to like, oh, wow, it really just depends. Yeah, so if you clean them every day, so lash fi also has other things like they have a cleanser that you could just put on like a spoolie and go like this every day with it, you know, just comb through your lashes, and it just keeps them clean, and that tends to make it last longer. If you don't take care of it that much, I'll probably fall off easier, it just kind of depends. But they do last a couple of days. I mean, I've had them lasts up to a week.

Unknown Speaker 8:44

The reason why I like lash Rifai is because they have so many different types of lashes. And once you sort of get into it, you start understanding which ones you'd like better, but like I don't know if you can see these like this is one version, it's like the extreme level blonde, they're a little bit like a little more longer a little bit, a little bit more dramatic, or you can have like ones like this, which I don't know if you can see but they're a little lighter with spear so you can go more natural or more glam. Pretty much depending on exactly. And then the other things are like the different lengths like this is a really short one. This is 10 Select, I tend to use the more natural lengths which are like 1011 12 Like anything in that range just for our listeners, like super natural looking anything above that once you get into like 12 is okay, that's like pretty much as long as I go but you could do 1314 Then it sucks super long, but I don't have like huge eyes so it doesn't look as good. So the cool thing about lash Fi is that they all come in these like little, you know, oval type things with there's probably like, I don't know, maybe two sets or something in each of these and there these are $25 And the reason why like these, like I was saying is the quality is very nice. They they look very natural. They feel like good. They're made really well and there's

Unknown Speaker 10:00

All these different styles all these different lengths so you can mix and match and I'm not an expert in this at all. But if you look online and this is how I learned to do it, there's a million videos to show you exactly how to do it. Like ranging from beginner to advanced, the some of the advanced videos are like people are taking lashes and then they're putting like another lash, they call it like stalking and they put another lash on top of it. So it's super like thick and dramatic. So there's all these like really cool looks you can do if you're into it. I mean, I'm just doing it for like basic. But there's a lot of different looks you can do. And you can customize it. And so sometimes I'll put like something dramatic on the end, but then something more natural over here. So you just can kind of play with it once you got comfortable. So that's lash fi like I said the lashes are $25 and then the kit, the starter kit was $125. But it comes with like the one that clamps the lashes that comes with lashes. It comes with all the stuff you need, like the the glue, the CRM, the Yeah, all this stuff. So do you can you reuse them? Or when? Or do you just have to throw them away after you've worn them? I throw them away. You can reuse them. I've seen people online who take those out and they clean them with alcohol and they reuse them. I just don't because I don't know. I should try. I think I tried it once and I couldn't get it to work. There's probably definitely a way to reuse them. And I probably should do that. But I don't know if I wear them enough because I haven't I have a couple other brands too that I've been experimenting with. But yeah, I would definitely be more economical to just reuse them. And there's definitely when it comes to a lot of cool things. It looks like there's a Yeah, it comes with a lot. And the cool thing about lash fi too is there's so many videos and so much education. There's like a million YouTube shorts and like a great Instagram channel. And like if you're into it, like I am, like I said you get into the minutia of all this stuff. You can like figure out how to do it and teach yourself how to do it. So. So that's lash fi and I really like it a lot. And Ben Yeah, wearing a lot of these. So I'll like usually save these if like, I don't know I have an event or these are like my nicer ones. Then I have another brands, which I don't know if you've seen online but this one's called Head candy. And these are more affordable option. And this I saw all of our tic toc. But this is a little bit different. It's actually the same technique, which is great. I don't know if you can see these dashes. But it comes in a different way. So it comes in a big palette and this one I got has size 1012 and 14 or something so you can mix and match within the palette which makes it nice. And you can kind of make your own looks. So this one is $43 for the whole set. And the cool thing about this is they have this you really don't have to think about I think the last refi one can be a little bit intimidating because there's all these different styles and all these different locks and it's hard to know like what you want what looks good. This head candy brand is like a lash system. And essentially they have let's see 12345 They basically have like five or six versions and this one I believe Yeah, this one's called smoke shows Ilana and it's just it's more of like

Unknown Speaker 13:14

it's not dramatic, I'd say more of like a volume look but then they have another one called everyday le I have those two I haven't tried them yet and the lashes a little bit less thick, a little bit smaller, more natural looking. And so you it kind of takes the guesswork out of it. So you just buy those and then you just use the different sizes based on where you're putting it on your eye and you're good to go. And the same thing here. So this one comes with three. I mean you have to buy these separately but like the three things that you need. I forgot to mention in lash fi which has this too there's also a remover. So if you want to take them off and you don't want them to just naturally fall off you can just use a remover which is basically like an oil and you put it on and it just comes off with like a washcloth super easy. So with this cluster cluster lash system, you can also get this set which is $12 and it has the glue, it has the serum and it has the remover. The funny thing is is I've used this a lot with the lash of eyelashes because this glue sometimes is a little bit better, it's a little bit stronger. So I tend to like this glue better but I kind of mix and match and play with it. The lash fi also

Unknown Speaker 14:21

not overcomplicated but they have the glue that you put on your eye they also have another thing that came with my kit so I've been using it but you certainly don't need it. It's like another glue that's like a lighter glue that's like a white and you can put that directly underneath your lashes to give you like a guide which is helpful especially in the beginning. But that also comes with the lashes I kept that this one I think these are just as good and I've been using these to like mix and match just depending on and what's the name of that one. That's the end so you like to head candies lose the most with the lash of eyelashes so far. Yeah, but again, I mix and match. The other thing that I found that makes the lashes stay longer is if you clean

Unknown Speaker 15:00

Your lashes before you put these on. So you use, I liked the lash like cleaner, actually, you just clean your eyes, make sure they're dry after you clean them, and then you do the glue. So both good options, I think the lash Nephi, you can make a look a little bit more natural because they have all the different styles for as the head candy, it's like you pick one style, and you sort of just can style it up based on the different sizes. I mean, you could mix and match if you've got different palettes, which I have. But I haven't really tried that yet. So those are really good. And the most affordable and like easy to travel with. And you just throw them on. And those are the first ones I tried before I tried the last Nephi. And I was like, oh my god, this is amazing. And as like soon as I put them on, they were so easy. And I was like this is great. And then I wanted to try the lash fi just to like, you know, just shut up. But the last reply is like a little bit more complex, I would say. But once you get used to it, it's fine. So that's those two love those. And then the third option is

Unknown Speaker 16:01

what I tried, because I saw it online and I ended up not really loving it. But it's it's kind of a fun option if you need lashes for the night. So these are these are the kiss brand and they're called impress press on falsies eyelash clusters. So this takes it even an easier step. And these are literally like stickers. You don't need glue. You don't need the tweezer you know, anything. They're just here. This one's off the thing. So I'll just show you. They're just the clusters and you can just stick them underneath your eye. Like I was showing you before. Oh my God this day, and you just got sick. I know they're they last for very long. Yeah. They left for the night. That's like that's that's my my alley. I feel like I could get into Yeah, it's super easy. I think they look good. The problem with these is there only one length, you can't. And I don't even know what length these are. But they're the ones that I bought about two different styles. So again, they have two different styles like this one's probably a little bit more Oh yeah. Matic and maybe this one's more natural, but they're long, they're not, you can't really customize the size. And for like my eyes, I can't wear these long lashes. Like they look really bad. So I put them on and they're fine. They're good for like a night event when you know, you want to do a dramatic look. But I wouldn't wear these during the day. But they're super easy. And like, you know, last for the night. And they're fun. I'm sure they'll start coming out with more maybe shorter sizes. But yeah, they're all the same length. They just have a few different sizes. And that actually, I think they're 20 Let me say yeah, these are 90 Literally like so yeah, onto your eyelashes. And yeah, like it says on the box, just pressing that you just put it's the same method you just stick them on and then it comes with this little tweezer which is such a you know knockoff of the nice one. And you put them on and you just do this and like press them in.

Unknown Speaker 17:50

So those are great. If you don't want the mass if you don't want to deal it takes like two seconds and you're done. The other ones take a little bit more time but they once you really learn how to do it it probably five minutes. That's how long it takes me now but used to take me longer when I don't know how to do it. The other thing I forgot to mention is this head candy one comes with tweezers that I happen to like better they're more of like traditional regular tweezers. So you don't necessarily have to buy it but I didn't have any just regular tweezers. And for me I find these easier to work with so I just do the lash. You know do this you need a close up mirror and just do it. And to me this is easier than like that other one the other one just is like too big for my hands, but it's really just preference and learning what you like but anyway, I think you should experiment it also really I'm gonna try the sun the sun ones just because I feel like flick for a night out. Yeah, my lashes have grown so much on that serum that I people asked me if I have fake eyelashes now.

Unknown Speaker 18:47

Yeah, wow. Oh my God, that's incredible. The other thing about the head candy ones which they recently came out with, which I also bought and I'm wearing today, they have brown ones. So I've been wearing the brown ones a lot because they're again more natural like these are black and they're really pretty. But you know when you're fair sometimes when you wear the black so dramatic the brown just kind of like looks even more natural. It really doesn't look like I'm wearing like these you can kind of tell I'm wearing a lash extension who cares, but the brown ones I think are pretty like yeah, it looks very natural. But it's it's like very nice. Speaking of Brown, I just liked a sidebar. I only use brown eyeliner for that exact reason because the black is like too harsh and doesn't look natural. So I'm obsessed with you brown eyeliner that maybe i'll reveal in next product junkies. Yeah, okay, good. So those are the glue type extensions that go under the eye that I highly recommend supernatural really easy, pretty and you don't have to wear mascara so I haven't worn mascara and forever. I do take them off sometimes and I have a break for a few weeks and then I wear mascara and it's fine, but it's just good to have the option. So

Unknown Speaker 20:00

Speaking of serums because you were just talking about CRMs in when I wear the the lashes or even when I'm not wearing the lashes I started doing because I noticed when I did the real extensions that my eyelashes once I got them off they were much shorter than they used to be. Which is another reason I wanted to stop doing the lashes these do not damage your lashes I have used them for like I don't know 678 months and my eyelashes have been fine. The other ones I think are just like you know they're really glued in so I think that you can lose eyelashes from it so I got a friend that told me her lashes were falling Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 20:34

Yeah but these lash Rifai etc. They do not do any of that which is fabulous. But what I've been doing while I'm using these lashes at night is I put on the lash serum and I tested a few different versions that I know you have one that you love, but the one that I love is called Torres and honor enhancing eyelash and brow serum is from Amazon. It's supposedly on natural it's $22 The reason why I like this is because it doesn't contain an ingredient con pro stag Dilantin. I don't know if I'm even saying it right PPro sta je la n di N I had read that that specific ingredient which is in most lash serums can make the under eye darkness sting if you're using these lash serums a lot so I was using grande lash which you know everybody uses and loves and I I did like it I used it for probably a month and it did grow my eyelashes but then I started reading or maybe seeing on tick tock about this ingredient pro lag press dangling pan whatever this is that it can do that to under your eyes and I was like okay, I definitely don't want that and then I had seen that this term was an honor was one that didn't have and I read the ingredients and it didn't have it and it says it doesn't have anything Vega more is another one that doesn't have that. So I tried this one and ever since I tried this one like I've loved it my eyelashes have gotten so long and my eyebrows have grown like crazy. And so I've been really happy with this one and it's funny when I'm not wearing my lashes and I put on mascara there's so long and like people have said to me the same thing like oh, I didn't realize you because I asked my mom I was like does it look like I'm wearing lashes? I go Yeah, I thought you were I go no, that's my lashes I've been using the serum so it's actually really cool. Yeah, look it's probably in yours because it's in most of them and I don't know if you've seen that because if you haven't seen it then it's probably you know, it's probably fine for you but I just didn't want to right now so I'm very curious deal with that if I did yeah, I mean Yeah, yours is cool. You score last when you scolaro law it says it's a vegan eyelash serum. That's like the first thing that comes out Oh,

Unknown Speaker 22:41

okay so that I highly recommend I use that with my lashes and it's like it's so good. It's really grown my eyelashes and my eyebrows a ton. Okay, so I have two more products and these are more just like I treatment type thing. So this again is like another going into my okay so what is it is it it starts with a P How do you say yeah, process Dag lanton pr O S TA G la de not in squirrel ash. Oh excellent. Yeah, great. So score lash veg amour. And this Terrebonne are none of them have it which is good. But if you guys have lash serums you should look for that ingredient because it's not sensitivity right now talking about eye treatment. So this one that I've been trying over the last month or so it's going into my holy grail category. So remember how in our last product junkies I talked about that i Yeah, well that's good. Like if you just kind of want to fresh in your eyes. Yeah. So this product is something you put on before you do anything else and this is called the The brand is cor ace K O R R E S is called the Greek yogurt wide awake Igel so it's like an eye gel serum. And it has caffeine in it. I think that's the only ingredients and it's for you know D puffing your eyes. It's so good see that? Like has this silver ball you know I love a roller literally feels amazing. And you just kind of do this around your eyes. I Mikayla you know on tick tock review this one and as soon as I saw it, I was like I have to try that. It feels so good. And it really works well in the morning so I just lather it up in the morning first of all it feels really good especially now with like Yeah, looks like it would be relaxing. Yeah so you could just use this on there on your own just to deep off the eyes but we could also do is put this on and then put on one of those like you know eye patches or whatever if you're really puffy and then it like it's like a double and it just sinks in but anyway this is so good. So I've been using this in the morning and then I'll put on you know one of my favorites like I do that color correct or something over it and it just like it also is good too because it's almost like a serum so it's not as like slippery as cream so it just kind of like make sure under I moisturize too. So I love this and it's really cold and what is so good. It's really good for makeup prep. It's called cor cor s i think is the brand Kay

Unknown Speaker 25:00

O R R E S and it's called the Greek yogurt wide awake Eye Gel. I bought it on Alta it's $29 so yeah so I think like between this and the oil from last time it's like such good i products I'm loving it and then the last thing is found a new concealer, which is really good. It's called lawless and of naturalness. This is called Lawlis. The brand is spelled L A. W Eliot, l e s s lawless and this one's called conceal the deal. Lightweight full coverage concealer with caffeine there we go caffeine again, the reason why I like this is like I never wear a full coverage concealer because it's always too sick. It doesn't feel good, like even that elfin that you reviewed I have that and I like it but it gets cakey on me but maybe with some of these gels that wouldn't it just doesn't work for me this one's great because it really does feel like skincare and like they said it's lightweight but it's full coverage so it's like really clearly and really moisturizing like it doesn't feel like a concealer and it's so good under the eyes like you literally need like the tiniest dot and then you can just kind of like you know rub it rub it out like he's like

Unknown Speaker 26:15

he's Kosis concealer

Unknown Speaker 26:17

you know I tried Kosis ones and I returned it because I didn't I thought it was very dry. I wonder if you've maybe had a different one than I don't know and I have the ones that I have are very very lenient moisturizing I know and everybody says that about the closest ones but I tried it and for some reason it like didn't react well with my skin it like it like I put it on and it got like interesting you know those dry patches but that was also before I was using like these like serums under my eyes so maybe it's different now. But anyway, I love this one this lawless and it has like tons of different tons of different colors is $26 a great one I have a really quick little I hack that you just reminded me of for those those of my girls out there that use the LaRoche posay Toller rain face cream, it says on there that it's safe for eyes and I have been out of ice cream and I there's one that I really liked that I wanted to get and it's just been it's been like on backorder it's it's an old eight Hendrickson one so I been using my LaRoche around my eyes and it's honestly it is just as nice as a nice eye cream and moisturizing. Oh, it's very

Unknown Speaker 27:28

it's like it's just like the right finish and the right texture for around your eyes. So it's it's a good thing to have. That's yeah, it's moisturizer and you just use it around your eyes if you need to, which is good in a pinch. Nice great I love that. So I think that's all I could go on and other eye products but that's that doesn't matter reviews for the day just the the eyelash extensions were a big one because I had been testing it for so long. And then the other ones are really good. Yeah. And so hope this was helpful for all of our listeners going into the summer and wanting to have a natural new Omega Tamale and I like that you're not doing eyelash extensions anymore because I feel like you were gonna like kill your eyelashes which I think if people do that repeatedly over and over and over again it'll do that. So this these are great alternative options. I love it. I can't wait to try them. Nice. All right, well, that was a great eye episode and I loved like interviewing you. sigh Thanks, Katie. Thanks for listening to Nirvana sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes please subscribe and leave us a review. also find us on Instagram at Nirvana sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana sisters will continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 106 - The A-List Approach: Makeup Tips For Every Occasion With Celebrity Makeup Artist, Christina Flach (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 106 .

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

Amy 0:06

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

Speaker 2 0:18

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

Amy 0:31

Welcome back to the show Nirvana sisters family. It's Amy and Katie and we are joined by Christina flax, celebrity makeup artists. We're so excited that she is here. Let me tell you a little bit about her before we get started because this is pretty incredible. Christina flax is a makeup artist and the CEO and founder of pretty girl makeup. Her celebrity clientele includes Condoleezza Rice, Hilary Swank, Isaiah Washington, Melissa McCartney, Rita Moreno, Renee Zellweger, Tyler, Florence and more. She has worked with high end brands such as Gucci and Louie Vuitton has been featured in campaigns for Macy's, Neiman Marcus Saks Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdale's, and has been featured in magazines, including Vogue time, people, and Elle. In addition, Christina also writes articles about the best tips, tricks and hacks in makeup, which we're so excited to hear about, and is featured as a beauty expert on California live on NBC amongst a lot of philanthropy and a lot of other things. So, welcome to the show. Christina. We're so happy to have you here.

Unknown Speaker 1:29

Well, thank you for having me today. Excited?

Amy 1:33

Yes. So we always start out the show with our nirvana of the week, which is like, take a step back, take a breath. Think about something that brought us joy this week. And I'm gonna hand it over to Katie, as I think about mine, because it's been quite the week.

Unknown Speaker 1:51

minutes and think about something right.

Amy 1:53

I know, right? Sometimes that comes easily. And sometimes I'm like, wait, I really got to, I really got to think through my week.

Speaker 2 1:59

Yeah, I think we're all in that boat. This week. The first half of my week was kind of nuts. And then yesterday, I tried to wake up and reset the day and I did a little morning manifestation while I was having my coffee. I just thought, Alright, this is the way I want the rest of the month to go. The first day of the month did not start out the way I wanted. So let's try a little reset. And I manifested some things with my work. And I have to tell you, it's really insane. All of a sudden, yesterday, I was hit with like a lot of work, things that I wanted, coming at me some great opportunities. It was kind of wild. So I think that was my nirvana. I had a just like a flux of opportunity yesterday. So it's my gosh,

Amy 2:36

that's awesome. Congrats. Thanks.

Speaker 2 2:40

Everyone should have, right yeah. What about you, Amy?

Amy 2:43

This is you're gonna laugh. So this is good and bad. So my husband came down with like the virus that's going around this week, and he's totally fine. It was like one of those one day viruses. Anyway, he slept in the other room one of the nights to that night, my two dogs slept with me. They normally don't sleep in our bed. So it was my Nirvana because it was just so sweet. Because they were cuddling with me all night. And it's like the best feeling having their like, coziness, just like against you. And like that heavy feeling. So anyway, that was like super sweet. So I would say that was my Nirvana this week. But what about you, Christina?

Speaker 3 3:15

My Nirvana this week is was I was down in Makita watching my son Nikolai played in a golf tournament. That time with him watching him do what he does, and going out to dinner with he and his teammates. And it was the first two days were nice, warm and sunny, and I'm walking this golf course. And I just thought, wow, I am so blessed that I get to be down here watching my my love my big love, son. You know, play golf.

Amy 3:42

Oh my gosh, how old is your son? That one is 22 Wow, is does he play in like a with a group or like, what kind of tournament team? So cool. Yeah, that sounds

Unknown Speaker 3:56

like a really good yeah. Jealous. Beautiful day too, I'm sure.

Speaker 3 3:59

Yes. And then the last thing which wasn't so Nirvana ish, was walking the golf course in the pouring rain with an umbrella.

Unknown Speaker 4:07

Oh, no. It's still

Unknown Speaker 4:09

fine, but it was just a little

Amy 4:11

old. So let's get started. First of all, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself and we want to hear about your makeup line. Pretty cool makeup.

Speaker 3 4:19

Well, I am celebrity makeup artist and I am the creator and founder and CEO of pretty girl makeup and actually creating a new line with my partner Jordan. We are creating a new line called I'm too busy, which I am. I am also a sepsis awareness advocate. I am a philanthropist. I have started two educational funds at the Northern Light school in Oakland, California for underprivileged children. And I also helped start the bo Friedman outdoor classroom with Ed McGuire school in Mill Valley, California.

Unknown Speaker 4:56

Sounds like you're too busy.

Speaker 3 4:59

I'm a mother. Five and wow oh my gosh

Unknown Speaker 5:03

pretty cool. Is it is it a lip line? Pretty girl makeup

Speaker 3 5:07

right now it is it has. I've had it for over 15 years that I've had shadows eyeliners mascaras, but I've shrunk it down right now to a lip line. And we are going to be expanding I'm too busy into a full line of skincare and makeup products but just the products that one needs. You know, we don't I can't tell you how many times women tell me Oh, I went to the department store and I went and they sold me all this stuff and it seemed good at the time but I don't use any of it and I don't know how to use any of it and I don't need it. But I really want it to be what you need. Mascara, eyeliner, Shadow concealer, blush bronzer, some lip products, the end that's it? I know, you know, you're trying to the problem is that when people go to department store they think they're dealing with just a makeup artist and you have to keep in mind they are salespeople and what they need what they're trying to do is sell

Amy 6:02

and they do Yeah, it's that's so smart

Speaker 3 6:06

client and then they're just I think that people start resenting companies because they're buying products that they don't need and don't use and then they don't trust you because they're you know, you're they're buying things that are not using so the next time they go they're not really going to be quite I don't think is inclined to buy something if they didn't use it.

Speaker 2 6:27

Yeah, and it's good to know as a celebrity makeup artist that you have these like these holy grail items that you feel confidently this is all one really needs. You just said let's let's list those again. You said mascara,

Speaker 3 6:41

mascara, eyeshadows eyeliner, lip liner, blush, some foundation, concealer, sunscreen Scarah needs to be swapped out I would say every two to three months. kind of starts drying out. And foundation. I cannot tell you the funny stories people tell me about how they match their foundation to their skin. I have heard the inside of their arm. I've heard their face. I have their hand in their face. I have heard like their thigh. i You've heard everything. And if you think about it, like look at the difference of color of my face and my

Amy 7:21

Yeah, so how do you do because I actually never know.

Speaker 3 7:24

Okay, so here's the deal, you go in there and you do I mean, the best thing would be to have like natural lighting, right? But you want the foundation to disappear. It doesn't need to be to light it doesn't need to be dark. It needs to literally disappear and that's the right color.

Amy 7:42

Okay, that's a lot and so many people buy online now obviously and so it's impossible. Yeah, it's easy, I

Speaker 3 7:49

think okay, I think you can reorder but I think it's really hard to tell the true shade of the foundation I mean, I know they have all these different apps and ways to help but I think personally I need to see it and see what it does is my skin in my light it's it's very it's too complicated to do online I think

Amy 8:09

ya know, it's really hard foundation here because

Speaker 3 8:13

I mean think about it how much wasted product you know if it's not the right color, are you gonna ship it back? Are you going to like I don't know. I just think it's better to try some of these things in person.

Speaker 2 8:25

Yeah, I agree. And I have ordered makeup online and it was kind of a fail. So if concealer sorry rather if foundation needs to disappear. How do you pick your concealer color Is it meant to be a little bit brighter.

Speaker 3 8:39

Okay, so I do so I would put down eye cream first super important to keep that area hydrated and not dry. I don't use powder under the eyes it shows fine lines and wrinkles. So with concealer, I just genetically have dark circles under my eyes and my eyes are just colored my lids are just colored everyone so I do like one lighter, like probably two or three shades lighter. I have one that's pretty much matches the foundation so I'll do the light one under on the whole lid and kind of blend it in. Then I'll put on the foundation super light and then I'll do another round of concealer on top of that so I have probably two or three layers of concealer but it's super light and blended in. You don't want to put a big glob of it because it just it doesn't look well so it's important to you know use your makeup brushes or your hand and kind of pat it in and eat that area

Amy 9:36

light and what's the best way to keep concealer from creasing?

Speaker 3 9:41

Having the eye cream underneath and not putting powder on top? Yeah, want to keep that area moist. You know and using a concealer that you know has good you know a little bit of cream you want it a little bit not oily but you do want it to have some moisture and the It won't show as many lines

Amy 10:08

speaking of concealer and eye cream, we would love to know what is your favorite concealer and what is your favorite ice cream? Or a few of your favorites.

Speaker 3 10:15

Okay, so I am quite fond right now of the Bobby Brown. I like ours, I like pixie knee elastin has a really great eye cream. I also keep one of those roller things, you know those like Rose Quartz. Oh, yeah. I keep that in my freezer. And first thing in the morning. I have I put this is my whole routine. It's so cuckoo. I wake up I put a tablespoon of coconut oil in my mouth. You know I do that pulling thing. And then I get roller and I just take away any swelling and inflammation under my eyes and my lids. And then I you know, go from there. Water, lemon and vitamins and tea.

Unknown Speaker 11:01

Nice. Sounds like a good morning.

Unknown Speaker 11:04

It's a lot to be me. I gotta tell you.

Amy 11:07

That's not too bad, actually, ya know? Sometimes, I mean, sometimes we hear morning routines that are like super super long, so I don't think that sounds bad at all.

Speaker 2 11:16

Yeah, Oil Pulling thing too I need to get into I know

Amy 11:19

I read about that. What is that supposed to do? It takes away

Speaker 3 11:23

toxins out of your mouth. It's supposed to keep your teeth white. But I also just takes out any you know, bad stuff that any bacteria in your mouth but so after you do what they say to do it like 10 to 20 minutes, spit it out and brush your teeth. You've got to brush out all the yuck that pulled out so

Amy 11:41

we get gargle it for 10 to 20 minutes. And you just keep it in your mouth for

Speaker 3 11:45

like 10 to 20 minutes. Oh, interesting. Yes. And then spit it out and go brush your teeth and then continue on. Okay, your routine. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 11:58

Amy, could you do that? I'm looking at your face. I'm thinking you're like

Amy 12:01

I don't know if I could do that for 20 minutes. I feel like I would get grossed out.

Speaker 3 12:04

It takes practice some days I will do it for you know one or two minutes sometimes I do tend to it just depends. I don't I don't judge myself. Some days it's longer sometimes it's not. Yes. Nabil

Amy 12:16

noticed a difference your teeth are white.

Speaker 3 12:19

Well, I hope I try but again, you gotta just keep doing everything. See what works.

Speaker 2 12:26

So nice. All right. So what are some of your favorite some other products let's get into different categories here like favorite brands of bronzers and blushes. And then I would also love to hear your tips and tricks for choosing the right colors and you know applying bronzer the right way etcetera.

Speaker 3 12:45

So I have a my friend nanny page or our friend who's our nanny, she great trick called the strap and she uses bronzer right down under here. If you have any loose skin, eat that a little bit dark. I put a little bit of bronzer underneath the brow bone, you know I'm not underneath the cheekbone. And just give yourself a little bit of like Cabo color like you've been in Cabo for a few days without having that and I try to keep all that when I if you look at my portfolio and Christina flack.com all the faces you'll see you don't really I mean unless it's a crazy fashion shoot but I like people to look like they have fresh dewy skin and pretty eyes and just really clean and fresh. And so I like to keep the eye colors just kind of in the palate of your hair. You know your skin in your hair and your eyes. Though it's typically like an egg Nagi color on the whole lid. I fill in brows whether it be with a shadow or a pencil. Eyebrows being filled in is it monster thing to me like it has to everyone needs their brows filled in. It's it makes such a difference it frames the face, it just looks polished, I love that look. With with the liner, I will I'd like to make a thin line on the top and the bottom. So I will pull up the the brow and put the liner as close into the lash line as possible and I keep it thin if it's thick, it's going to make the eyes look smaller and our goal always is to make our eyes look larger. And with liquid liner, that to me is a nighttime thing. I do not like seeing it in the day, especially with people that have fair skin and blonde hair and black liquid liner. I think it looks atrocious. You do like with a shot with eyeliner. I will put a shadow on top and so it'll soften the look but it will you know take away any mistakes that that we make and we all make them I make them but it's a good way even with a liquid liner. But you know you put it on you make a little mistake if you put a shadow a line of shadow on top. It will soften the look and you know that's a good idea.

Amy 14:58

I never thought to do that you're right because they need Do that liquid liner. If you don't have a

Speaker 3 15:03

commitment, you've made a commitment to the right liner. So

Amy 15:06

you just put some shadow on top. I like that. So here's my question because I always struggle with this for eyeshadow. How do you find the right colors? And like, what's your I don't have a template for like an easy application of it, because I just feel like again, that's a commitment and you're What if you put on the wrong color and it's a whole thing and I never know the right colors?

Speaker 3 15:30

Okay, so I would like with you, I would probably use like an egg Nagi color on the whole lid, fill in your brows. And then what color your eyes green, green. Okay, so are mine. So plum looks beautiful with green eyes. Hmm, well, I would do sometimes I will do a thin brown liner, and then put a plum shadow on top. That makes them stick out a little more. And then I will add the mascara you want the mascara to go, you know extended out of the corners. And then also I would probably do a thin another thin line of black liner. Not liquid but just black liner on top. So you don't really see it. It's kind of almost in the lashes. But it it makes them pop and they stick out a little bit more. We are seeing the plum.

Amy 16:14

And when you say plum, would you put plum all over do you put it just on the lid, you put it on the crease. Okay,

Speaker 3 16:21

so the whole lid is like an egg unagi color or maybe like you know, a sheer like just some straw. And then I'll put the liner and the shadow on the bottom and the top lids then and if I want to add a little bit more drama to the corners, I will add like a soft brown or the plum but just in the crease a little bit and blend, blend, blend. Yeah, make there's no mistakes like just remember, this is a one time deal you put on this shadow. And if you make a mistake, you use your finger or get a Q tip and blend it out or your makeup brush. Yeah, there's no I don't like people this there's no mistakes. It's just you have to try things sometimes. And it's always better to do a little do it in stages and do it a little less. Right and like a big, you know, a huge amount on your brush and then blend it in. It's you that's you can control things a little bit better if you do it in right a little

Amy 17:17

bit at a time. Yeah, exactly. Okay, well, that's helpful, because that's like the one thing I always struggle with. It's like it and it is true. You really do have to experiment because I think I end up just going back to what I always do just because I'm like, Oh, I don't want to experiment. But now it is a good thing to experiment with. And what about blush and bronzer like how do you find the right color? Is it trial and error is there like again, like a certain rule because I always get confused when I'm looking at a bronzer that says like, warm or cool or like, I don't know what any of these things mean. So I'm just like, how do you find the right bronzer for you?

Speaker 3 17:52

Okay, I would get something that's not too dark. You just want it to be a little bit. Give yourself a little bit of color. So something not too strong. Still a little bit darker than what you have. You just want to have you just want it to be a little bit of you don't want it to be so dark that your face looks dirty.

Amy 18:12

Right? You just want like you said before, I'd like to be say Cabo something.

Unknown Speaker 18:16

Cabo color,

Amy 18:18

color. That's what we all strive for. Oh, yeah. I love that. Okay, the What about the lush? What's the rule there?

Speaker 3 18:29

Okay, there's no rules. I just think with makeup. It's like what's pleasing to your eye, but I think you know what, blush looks great on everybody orgasm by NARS. That was kind of pretty much looks good on every skin tone. But you know, when you go you can I think I don't know my eyes trained differently than most people. So it's kind of unfair to say but I think you can put different blushes next to your skin and some will just kind of flow with what your color is. And others will go okay, that's a total No. So find one that's a no and then go from there and look for the opposite I do you see what I'm saying? Like you just kind of have to try it and see and just keeping things kind of neutral and not going too extreme. You don't want purple. Okay, you just to give you a little bit of a hue, a little bit of color.

Amy 19:21

Yeah, and where's the best place to put blush? Like do you put it kind of higher ups you put it in the apples?

Speaker 3 19:29

Oh, I typically will put a little bit of bronzer like right here to contour. I don't like this contour and it's like so excessive. It's just a little bit under here, a little under the strap. And then I will get you know some blush and just put it kind of like right in here up a tiny bit. And they also like to put a little bit of, you know, highlighter, like right above here. I think it's just nice and it just gives a pretty look and then I can put some you know, contouring on each side of the nose and a Little bit of highlighter, straight down. But I just tried to sample like this morning I was up at, I don't know 330 At a photoshoot for Bloomberg and I am you know, I can't see this is the thing about my job. I can't go to work looking too terrible. I have to look relatively presentable.

Amy 20:20

Okay, right. You have to be done up.

Speaker 3 20:22

Yeah. Because if I can't keep myself together, how am I going to? How's anyone gonna trust me? So my sister was here this morning and she's like, it's 330 What are you putting makeup on? I'm like, because do you think anyone is going to want to like deal with me when I can't deal with myself. So it's a little bit of, you know, the concealer, the eyeshadow and some mascara and just a little bit of cheek and lip. And that's it. It's just simple. So I don't frighten people.

Amy 20:53

doubt that

Speaker 2 20:55

what was the AMI the other day we were saying we were talking about highlighters. And she Amy was the first person that introduced me to highlighters years ago. And she had this like pearly white highlighter. And then I have some that have more of a gold undertone. And we were saying how we know which color highlighter we should be using our skin tones because we have very different skin tones. I'm more of like an all of them, she's more fair.

Amy 21:18

And there's so many highlighters now, and so many different colors,

Speaker 3 21:21

like so many, but I think you just kind of have to pick the one that feels good and looks good to you. Because that is the big thing. I speak about beauty from the inside out. When someone feels good on the, you know, when you feel good about yourself, you're going to be happy, you're going to have just a much more pleasant demeanor. And so, you know, keeping things kind of neutral, you just don't want anything too extreme, even with the highlighters, like, you know, I think a little bit of a gold hue would look. You know, obviously, it's probably better on an olive skin, but both of them would work. Okay. All right, because you just want them there. You want it to be a hint of it. It's not going to be a big,

Amy 22:03

right.

Speaker 3 22:06

Here's the thing. I don't ever want to look at a face and go oh, highlighter, huh? Blush you got, like, I don't really want to know like, oh, okay, there's like 17 products going on right there. I just want to go Oh, she looks fresh and doing pretty. And that's that I don't want anything to stick out too much. And I threw that in mind to just keep things kind of just natural and pretty and fresh. You'll look fantastic.

Amy 22:37

Back to I just had a question about the bronzers and the blushes. What do you prefer cream or powder? What are your thoughts? They're

Speaker 3 22:45

either good. I think if you you know the, you know, the cream one sometimes if you feel like your skin is dry, then that's kind of nice. It gives a nice little moisture there but you know, you're there. They're both there. They're both good. There's not one that's better than the other.

Amy 23:05

I've been really into creams lately probably because I have dry skin so you're right it like feels good. And I just feel like it looks better. Sometimes the powder I feel like sometimes sets but yeah, because I'm dry so that makes sense.

Speaker 2 23:15

Okay, so then the glowing dewy look we all love it's kind of helps you with the no makeup makeup luck as well. So you obviously drinking and staying hydrated. Do you have some products that you'd love to start the base of the face with to get to achieve that?

Speaker 3 23:30

Well, Vitamin C Serum is really good. I love hacia I like new elastin. I love these products. They're really there's so many great products out there. Sunscreen is huge, huge, huge, and you need to put it on your hands. It's so funny. I was in the desert and I was speaking to someone I think it was my son's golf coach. And he said yeah, women can hide their age in their face but as soon Oh knows with my agent was it my agent was in the desert. We were having coffee and he said you can really tell someone's age by their hand because people don't typically put sunscreen on their hands so their hands really show their age so it is really important to put sunscreen on your hands as well as your face your neck and your chest.

Amy 24:15

Yeah, that's a good tip to remember to put it on the hands I definitely sometimes forget that super important specially when you're driving right because like lay on your hand.

Speaker 3 24:23

How much time our hands are being exposed to heat. I would get a stick one so it's not you know for the car just Just remember to put that in. But it you know, investing in a good sunscreen is really important. Winter as well. I say to my clients, sunscreen is 365 days of the year. I don't care if it's snowing, raining Sunny.

Amy 24:46

Totally agree. Yeah,

Unknown Speaker 24:47

we only need to protect you can't protect your skin enough.

Amy 24:50

What's your favorite sunscreen?

Unknown Speaker 24:52

SkinCeuticals I think is one I like

Amy 24:54

yeah, a lot of people say that a lot of people say Elta MD we've got we've got

Speaker 3 24:59

that one too. So yeah, when it's like a little bit tinted and that's what's nice about a tinted moisturizer, and it gives you a little bit of sunscreen, but, you know, like, the found the foundations like Bobby Brown and Nars, they all have a little bit of sunscreen. So you know having that sunscreen and then putting on that foundation that has since you're getting protected, but you do need to reapply we forget. We think oh, I put it on the morning. Well, you're gonna need to put it on and like especially I was walking on this golf course and I didn't have any with me. I broke my own rule. Or my son said Oh, Mom, you broke your own law. I did break my own law. I didn't have to reapply and I could tell my skin got a little bit color which I do not want it to have. I want to control the color on my face. I don't want the sun Yes, it ages you and I'm

Amy 25:48

yeah it's funny Katie and I both love this product reviewed it on one of our shows the some balm. It's like a sunscreen spray like a spread so and it's great because it's a good I ever since I got that product, I bring it with me because it's so much better to like refresh your face with it. Because it's like, I don't know. It's like cooling and moisturizing and it feels good. But then you don't feel like you're rubbing stuff on your face after you have makeup on. So it's like good to just spray. So it's got about that product. But yeah, that's a good one.

Speaker 3 26:18

Many great products out there. You know? And what's really cool about like going somewhere like Sephora, they have all those little sample areas or like small set travel size. Yeah, that's a great way to try a new product to see if you like it. That way you're not investing a ton of money.

Amy 26:35

Yes, I'm big into the trial sizes. I just and I it's funny because a lot of the trial sizes I end up buying the big size like it's so smart that Sephora also the all starting to do that because then you're not wasting products and you end up you know, really getting what you want.

Speaker 3 26:49

It's really great. And I you know, I even though I have my own company, and I'm really blessed. It's kind of funny. I'm kind of like two things. I'm a makeup artist, and then I own a company. So brands still send me products, which I love. It's like Christmas I love Yeah. And I love going into Sephora and looking at all the new products. It inspires me it helps me create new products and think of things that I like, you know that I want to try for my own brand.

Amy 27:18

Okay, let's talk about lipstick and gloss. Katie was saying to me the other day she can never find a flattering red. I don't want to read that much. I guess I would if I found one that I liked but it just seems so like, dramatic to me because it's so bright. But once again like no you said there's no rules but like what tends to look good on certain like skin types in terms of lipstick and gloss. Like I always love a neutral vibe. But sometimes I put on color and I like it too. But I just never know like what looks right.

Speaker 3 27:47

Well, I think you know, again, it's the for has little tester, lip pencils. So I'd start with that matte lipstick typically makes your you know drying and makes your lips look smaller. If you want your lips to appear fuller. liner, lipstick gloss gloss help make your lips appear fuller. As for a red, you know, reds are interesting. They either look great or horrible. There's no middle. Oh, I think I a nice blue red looks good. You have to just kind of mix with the colors, like just mix with different colors. And just try it and see what feels good to you what feels comfortable. If that, you know it's one of those things where it may feel really good to you. Like a like a deep burgundy red looks so great on some people and then some people orangey red, I don't really love an orangey red. But some people it looks nice. Sometimes a shear will look better. So it's not such a commitment. You know, sometimes just a big red lip. That's great. I have never worked like I never feel

Speaker 2 28:55

good when I put it on. So that should just be enough to say,

Amy 28:59

No, I know but that luck is so pretty. When I see people do that. I just feel like I can pull it out. You could pull it off Katie because you have like big lips.

Speaker 3 29:06

I agree. I think it's lovely. But you know, here's another thing that I'll do sometimes I will put the lips the liner on the lipstick and then I will get a Q tip and wipe it all off. And it's just stained enough and then I'll put a lip gloss on top and that's like the perfect little amount of red like Nyquil. Too much your lips a bit stained. And the gloss is giving the illusion of your lips appearing fuller. Not too bold and because it's you know when you put in that the red, if you're outside if you make a mistake, again the Q tips good you can get your foundation and kind of clean it up with a brush. But it's no it's kind of a thing. It's a commitment. Commitment, right. All right and doesn't work and that's when you just get some you know makeup oil or wipe a wipe and just wipe it off. Start over. Yeah, there's no reason to get comfortable with how you're looking right? I don't think you have to. You know, you want to love how you look. And then I don't know sometimes it's just in some days, it looks better than other days, just, you know, depends on your mood and what you're wearing. And

Amy 30:17

I know sometimes I have this one. It's like I've had it forever because I never would have this one hot pink lipstick. And the only time I wear is if I'm like getting dressed to like, go out at night to like an event and I'm wearing like all black because for some reason, I just feel like it looks better. And I just looked so different when I wear it. It's funny, but like, occasionally I'll throw it out. But yeah, I never felt comfortable. I just feel like it's so bold. Okay, so we've been talking about all this makeup and putting on makeup.

Speaker 3 30:41

Think about that though. Like I know what you were just saying about that lipstick. But think about if you just put it on your lip and then wiped it off with a Q tip. You still have like a hint of it. Yeah, so it's version of it.

Amy 30:53

I'm gonna try that. I love that idea. That hat. Okay, so we've been talking about putting on makeup and what types of makeup and colors and all that How about taking it off? What's the best way to take it off? What Kind Of Products Do you like to clean your skin?

Speaker 3 31:08

Okay, so I don't care what you use to take your makeup off with. I love almond oil. I have Bobbi Brown told me that once like is this jar like this? She gets it on Amazon. It's like $10.08 or $10 and almond oil. Though I just have that on my counter. I will put like a quarter size on my face. I wipe it all over my face and then I get a makeup white. Remove everything. I can't stress enough how important it is to get the mascara eyeshadow, everything off your face at the end of the day. I cannot tell you how many people come up to me and brag. I'm the last person that you should tell this to rag that you don't take your mascara off. Katie I'm like

Unknown Speaker 31:52

why is it so bad?

Speaker 3 31:54

Well first of all your your lashes need to breathe. If they've got like a you know a chemical on them, you know they're gonna fall out it's just not good for your lashes or your skin. And you can't get like the lashes the mascara on the next day when it's already like thick and goopy. It's really just a really bad habit for your eyelashes.

Speaker 2 32:18

Do you have a favorite eye makeup remover then because Amy was saying she always has a problem with the oiliness that gets in the eye when you're with some of those remembers Do you have one that's not so oily?

Speaker 3 32:28

I like oil so I mean I'm hardcore like I put all you know coconut oil I love I put apricot oil and then I get up why I will do the makeup wise or toilet paper just get off the the you know, major part of it but I always I get these black wash claws at Target like stacks of them and I get wet with warm water or cold and then I washed my face with that every night

Amy 32:56

yeah, I was I use like like a cleansing oil to wash my face that the mascara like never comes off even with oil and then it gets my eyes and whatever but I was saying to Haiti I've been like in the last year on and off trying fake eyelashes or DIY eyelashes because then I don't have to wear mascara and I hate wearing mascara because I hate taking it off because I'm rubbing my eyes and I feel like it's like putting wrinkles on my eyes because I'm constantly like rubbing it rubbing and rubbing it to get it all off. So I've been experimenting but I don't have them

Speaker 3 33:25

I wish like I love how fake eyelashes look and I had like I'm obsessed. But I like my oil on my face and that you can't have both

Amy 33:36

right? Right so with the with the lashes that's what I find like to clean like if I'm wearing eyeshadow I have to like really be careful around that area. It's annoying, but it really makes a huge difference. Yeah, I've been Katie knows I've been practicing eight we're going to do like a whole eyes episode because I have like all these new eye products but I've been trying the ones that are not strips but you put them underneath your eye, which you have to practice but they look really good. Okay, so we're gonna get into our wrap session. Thank you for all these awesome hacks and tips and tricks. I love it. Let's get into our quick wrap session. So what is your favorite wellness or beauty hack?

Unknown Speaker 34:12

Green Juice

Amy 34:14

good land. Okay, it's funny because we were kind of talking about this earlier on and you were saying with your pretty girl makeup line this is kind of what it's intended to do. But we call this our five minute flow so you just got out of the shower and dried up Uber just alerted you there five minutes away like what's your quick beauty routine? To get dressed get you know, get your clothes on put your makeup on and get out the door like what are those? The holy grails Okay, so you out on time?

Speaker 3 34:37

Um, Vitamin C Serum eye cream sunscreen concealer. I can I can do my face really pretty fast. I could probably do the whole thing in five minutes. So fill in the brows, some liner Datto mascara, I'm out of there.

Amy 34:52

And how do you maintain your daily nirvana?

Speaker 3 34:55

Well, I just make sure that I I love my life. Okay, let's just start with that. So I live in Nirvana pretty much most of the day. I did you think like, I love to work out I love to my family I you know, I like everything. I'm I'm Disneyland I like everything

Amy 35:10

we did to take some of that I love that.

Speaker 3 35:13

I try to have fun with everything I'm doing and stuff that I'm not too thrilled about. I'll just pretend I do until it's done.

Amy 35:19

Yeah. That's great. I love that and where can our listeners find you give us all your details?

Speaker 3 35:25

Okay, so you can go to Christina flack.com To see what I'm doing on NBC on California live or different photoshoots and pretty girl makeup.com And then pretty soon you will see I'm too busy.com and on Instagram Christina flax makeup and PR e TT YG IRL MK up pretty girl makeup and I'm too busy. We're not up there yet. But I know of my assistant.

Amy 35:50

reserved it. Nice. Yes. So

Unknown Speaker 35:53

and we're on Facebook and Twitter and

Amy 35:56

the things love it.

Unknown Speaker 35:57

Yeah, and tick tock yo.

Amy 35:59

Oh tick tock wants to check out your tick tock page. Well, thank you so much, Christina. This was very enlightening, and I'm gonna go mess around with all my makeup this weekend and experiment and not be scared to do it. So before we close, Katy has a mantra or quote that she is going to close this out with.

Speaker 2 36:16

Yes, I do. So speaking of beauty and feeling good. This is just a little something. Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself. I love

Unknown Speaker 36:27

that quote. I think that's great. All right. Well, thank

Amy 36:29

you again,

Unknown Speaker 36:31

you so much fun.

Amy 36:35

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

Episode 105 - Hormone Havoc: What are Hormone Disrupting Chemicals and What You Can Do About It? A Conversation with a PhD, Founder and CEO, Jenna Hua, of Million Marker (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 105 Hormone Havoc: What are Hormone Disrupting Chemicals and What You Can Do About It? A Conversation with a PhD, Founder and CEO, Jenna Hua, of Million Marker.

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

[00:18] Katie Chandler: And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation.

[00:24] Jenna Hua : You.

[00:28] Amy Sherman: Welcome back to the show Nirvana Sisters family. It's Amy and Katie, and we are joined today with Jenna Hua, who is the founder and chief executive officer of Million Marker. Million marker is the only DTC test for BPA phthalates. I'm saying that correctly. And other EDCs EDCs are endocrine disrupting chemicals, which I just Googled. Jenna's extensive experience as an academic and health advocate led her to founding Million Marker in 2019, shortly after completing a postdoctoral fellowship with Stanford University School of Medicine. Jenna Hua, PhD, is an environmental scientist who started the company when she realized environmental toxins kept causing her fertility problems. More studies show that prenatal exposure to these chemicals can cause neurodevelopment and hormone issues in children. Plus, these chemicals can complicate pregnancy. Throughout her career in academia, jenna has researched and published numerous studies that largely focused on citizen science, general health, and the impact of food consumption on a person's well being. Jenna holds a postdoctoral fellowship in chronic disease prevention from Stanford, an Mph and PhD in Environmental Health Sciences from UC Berkeley, an Rd from Greater Los Angeles Veteran Affairs Healthcare System, and a BS in Nutrition from Berkeley. So welcome to the show, Jenna. We're super excited to talk to you about this topic. It's really fascinating. So thank you for joining us on Nirvana Sisters today.

[02:00] Jenna Hua : Thank you so much for having me. Amy and Katie, I'm very excited. I really like your show, and I think I really appreciate everything you guys do, really advocating for wellness and optimizing health, particularly for ladies.

[02:14] Katie Chandler: Thank you.

[02:15] Amy Sherman: Thank you so much. So before we get into all of our questions and conversations, we just want to start with our Nirvana of the week, which is a moment of joy, something that brought us a smile to our face this week as we reflect on the week. So, Katie, I'll kick it off to you.

[02:30] Katie Chandler: I would say my moment is without a doubt that we launched our 100th episode yesterday. And while that in itself was the moment of joy, we actually recorded that episode just earlier this week. And that was my real Nirvana, because when Amy and I, we don't too often sit down together and reflect and take a moment to just go through the process of all of this. And when we did that, it was really nice and long overdue, and it brought me a lot of Nirvana, the whole thing. It's a great week. It's a big week. What about you, Amy?

[03:04] Amy Sherman: Yeah, I agree.

[03:05] Jenna Hua : Big week.

[03:05] Amy Sherman: And I would say my Nirvana is the same. I'll also mention that along with our 100 episode, we launched Nirvana Sisters Merch, which is really fun. And it's just great to see people's reactions about all of our products that just launched. So really excited. Really full of lots of mini nirvanas. What about you, Jenna?

[03:23] Jenna Hua : Congrats for me. Thank you. It's about getting one of our grant review back. So at Miller Marker, we also apply for a lot of NIH National Institute of Health Research grant because the whole EDC topic and just in general, how your environment impacts your health there's, still require a ton of research. So we continue to submit grant proposals. We just got a review back, and then it was a pretty positive review. So we're hoping that grant will get funded in a few months. So that was my excitement for my Novana for this week.

[04:02] Katie Chandler: That's huge.

[04:03] Jenna Hua : Congrats.

[04:03] Katie Chandler: That's fantastic. That must be very exciting. Speaking of, I mean, we have so much to talk about because this million Marker is really a brilliant concept, and I think we should just start at the beginning. What does Million Marker do and kind of what motivated you to create million Marker?

[04:22] Jenna Hua : Yeah, at Million Marker, we trying to provide a direct to consumer mailing urine testing, allowing people to understand their body burdens of hormone disrupting chemicals. So it's a pretty simple test. You pee in a cup, send it to us. We get that UEP analyzed. Right now, we test for 13 chemical metabolites. That includes BPA, BPA, Alternative, phthalates, parabens, oxybenzone. All of these are hormone disrupting chemicals. We also ask people to complete an exposure journal before they submit their urine samples. That way, we audit your lifestyle, looking into what actually contribute to your exposures, and then pinpoint where you can reduce your exposures so that you can avoid these chemicals. Then we also offer counseling, answering people's questions to making sure that they're on a healthy journey to detox.

[05:14] Amy Sherman: That's really cool. So is the report that you get, like, you see all the details from your urine and what types of chemicals are showing up there?

[05:22] Jenna Hua : Yes. So the report will include the chemicals that we're testing, 13 chemical metabolites. We let you know your levels, how you compare with our existing users, and how you compare with the national average. We'll show you low, medium, or high and trying to pinpoint okay, for example, what kind of product or what kind of behavior that you have kind of committed that potentially lead to this kind of exposure. So then it's very actionable. So to make sure, then you know what to do so you can reduce these exposures.

[05:56] Amy Sherman: That's great, because I feel like you hear about this all over the place now, right. But it's hard to know how it's actually affecting you. So you can clean up all these things in your house, but you don't really know if you're addressing it. So I think that's brilliant.

[06:09] Jenna Hua : Yes. We think it's this personalized approach because it's really important and also for people to understand what's exactly my exposure oftentimes we don't really know because if you and I have different genetics, even if we have the same amount of exposure exposed to the same thing, our body would respond very differently. So unless you test yourself, there's no way of knowing. And oftentimes also, even for myself, I think I have lived a pretty clean life because since I started studying this and I have been paying attention. But once I started testing myself, I realized there were a few things. There are things that I completely didn't even know about. One example was one of the vitamins I was taken, the vitamin capsule was not made, I guess, up to quality. So the capsule was actually made of a ton of phthalates, which is a plasticizer chemical. And if I didn't test my fulself, I would never know. And I actually bought that vitamin from Whole Foods and it was a bit shocking to me. Another example was when I first started Million Market, I was packing all the kits in my garage. It turns out it was the plastic packaging tape. It was also made of phthalates. So I could see my levels completely went off the roof. And once I stopped taking that vitamin, it completely drops down. So just like things like that you think you're doing right. You just don't know until you actually test yourself to figure out, okay, this is where I can't actually make a change. Otherwise you wouldn't know.

[07:52] Amy Sherman: When you got that back and you learned about the pill and the tape, was it you were high in that certain chemical and then you looked at your ingredients of certain things? Or how did you identify it was those two things that's so interesting.

[08:05] Jenna Hua : So I was able to identify because this is the importance of when we ask people to document their exposures throughout the day. I see it's kind of a tedious work, but that's the only way to kind of help you figure out because these chemicals are literally everywhere and oftentimes all we also tell people we don't want to get people super overwhelmed because it is overwhelming. But that's the only way to kind of figuring out where your exposures are. And then you're trying to avoid as much as you can because the bottom line is that these chemicals have no business of being your body. Like they only do harm, there's no good. So you just need to try it as much as you can.

[08:49] Katie Chandler: Yeah, that's what I want to clarify for our listener. What are these chemicals doing to us? When we say they're endocrine disruptors or hormonal disruptors, they're affecting our thyroid, they're affecting fertility, they're affecting your estrogen levels. Is that correct? And so on and so on.

[09:09] Jenna Hua : It's literally everything. We can take a step back thinking about what are hormones like? Hormones are our body signaling molecules. They literally govern every single bodily function we have. Fun, sleep, metabolism, growth, fertility, your mood, everything is governed by hormones. And then your body signaling system, the hormone system, actually work as a symphony. So if you go to orchestra, you listen to a symphony. If your keys are out of sync, this music wouldn't be beautiful. It's the same thing. And these hormones, they kind of work like a lock and key. So the key has to fit in a lock and when you have these hormone disruptor comes in which messes up either the signaling or messes up this whole lock and key function. So then you would have these mismatched things and then you have this whole salute of downstream impact, which could be impacting your mood and your metabolism. So we see people with hormone balance, for example, in female, you would see for example, irregular period fertility issues, same as in men, impact both men and women and weight gains just so many things. And I think the other thing people tend to overlook is that if you expose to these things, you wouldn't experience extreme symptom the next day. Maybe in occupational setting, if you get super high exposure, then you would have feel the symptom the next day. But what we really worried about for these chemicals are like we have these super tiny, like really low dose exposures. You get exposed a little bit, but you get exposed day in and day out. So you just don't know when your cup is going to get full. Eventually down maybe ten years, 20 years from today, you would have a condition that could be contributed by these things. And so that's why we really want people to start pay attention. You do what you can and you want to eliminate these exposures as soon as possible and as early as possible, as much as you can.

[11:27] Katie Chandler: Yeah, I think it's interesting to your point of how you're not just going to wake up the next day and say, oh, I must have been exposed to BPAS too much yesterday. It is a gradual thing that happens over time. And maybe one day you just wake up and you realize like, oh my gosh, I'm not sleeping very well, or this feels off all the time. Or you just slowly start to not feel like yourself anymore. So this is a really great tool. It can be preventative. It can also come in and help someone get things back in order with their life. I find it fascinating. I think a lot of us see things like BPA free and paraben free and so on and so on. I would love to just if you could just quickly list off just a few of those names that we've seen, we've read, we've heard, but we don't know what they are, so that we can now attach them to this and understand.

[12:26] Jenna Hua : Yes. So BPA is pretty much the poster child of hormone disrupting chemicals. A lot of people know because we actually see that BPA free label. But when you ask people like, do you know what BPA is? And people often don't know. They just say, okay, I know it's bad for me because I see BPA free label all the time. But what to pay attention of is that BPA free? Okay, first of all, there's no regulatory agencies actually monitor and check whether a product is BPA free or not. It's completely up to the manufacturer to put that label on, so there's no verification of that, whether that's actually BPA free or not. In Europe, there is regulatory agency to actually check whether this is BPA free or not. And the definition is if a product have less than, say, zero five milligram per kilograms of this molecule in this chemical in the product, it's considering free. It's kind of like the trans fat free labeling. But if you think about an MBPA, often happens on receipts, grocery store receipt, gas station receipts, or the canned linings of canned food or canned drinks. So if you think about it, even if it's regulated at 0.5, that kind of level, if you drink a lot of canned drinks, if you eat a lot of canned food, it's still going to accumulate. So it doesn't mean it's completely free. That's number one. The second is since BPA has been banned for almost more than a decade now in baby products, thanks to conscious mothers. The manufacturers, however, started using BPA alternatives, which is not labeled anywhere. So this could be right now, the most commonly used is Bps and BPF. They can literally swap a molecule and swap, like, a substrate of that molecule, changing the ladder from BPA all the way to BPZ or any combination of that. So it could be Bpaf, BPB, something that all of these alternatives are actually just as toxic as BPA, if not more. So there's just, like, no way of knowing, okay, is this BPA free? Is actually BPA free, or it's involved in other kind of Bps. So our strategy is, okay, just avoid plastics in general, because BPA and phthalates are the major plasticizer chemicals that's using plastic. So if you can't avoid as much plastic as you can, then you kind of just pretty much eliminate this. And trying to avoid canned food, I think in general, in shopping, BPA free label is still better than not having that label. There's a little bit of assurance there. But in general, just try to avoid the whole category if you can. And the shape of the BPA molecule. I think another thing just to kind of ring the bell for people to think about BPA is if you Google the BPA molecule and then you Google the estrogen molecule, they look really, really similar. They look almost identical. So one function of BPA once in getting into your body is it mimics estrogen. So your body will mistaken BPA with estrogen. And if you think about it, if your body mistaken BPA with estrogen, maybe you'll produce less, or maybe it will produce more and they wouldn't fit. So then it's causing other issues and that's why, okay, yeah. Trying to avoid as much as possible.

[16:01] Katie Chandler: You hear a lot about estrogen dominance now, and this is a contributing factor to that, I'm sure. So, yeah, it's very interesting. And go ahead, Amy.

[16:11] Amy Sherman: I was going to say, why are manufacturers using this in the first place? Is it like a preservative? Like what does it actually do? And why if they're not using that, they're using one of these alternative swaps like you said. What's the deal with that?

[16:25] Jenna Hua : A couple of reasons. First is BPA is actually a pretty magical molecule. BPA is a molecule, that the chemical that makes plastic shatter proof. That's brittle plastic and it has property. And the second is, as you mentioned, a preserving function. So by coding that can lining, for example, if you have acidic food in can, it wouldn't react with the rest of the can. And it also preserves food much longer. And it's cheap, it's just really cheap to make. That's why we have been using it, same as thali. So thali is another chemical that we test. It's also a major plasticizer. Thalate is just what make plastic really flexible. So think about your ceram wrap. A lot of time in the past, ceram wrap is kind of like made of phthalates. One tip we often also tell people is never ever microwave plastic. Some people don't know. So heat actually increases the releasing of these chemicals. And before I've seen people like, okay, first of all, they use a plastic tupperware, have their food in there on top of the tupperware, they put on the ceram wrap and stick the whole thing into the microwave. So it's like then you just get a multiple exposures, okay? You get that shadow proof plastic fun BPA, and then you have the CERN wrap fun phthalates. Phthalates are also used in fragrance a lot. So that's another tip that we often tell people, okay, when you purchase your personal care product, your house cleaning product, your laundry detergent, avoid fragrance. Always read your ingredient label. Avoid that because phthalates is a major ingredient that used in fragrance and it's also a hormone disrupting chemical that it actually blocks testosterone. So we've seen a ton of study in both human studies and animal studies that showing phthalates really impact male fertility.

[18:34] Katie Chandler: And will it say on the ingredients list, phthalates?

[18:39] Jenna Hua : So phthalates are usually not labeled on the ingredient list. It's often just fragrance. It's a major ingredient in fragrance. That's why we wanted people to avoid fragrance at all cost, okay? And to be even safer, even if natural fragrance. So we often get questions asking, what about my fragrances made of essential oil? Right? Not saying essential oil is not beneficial, but there's no way of verify whether this essential oil is actually made up to great. And apparently 50% our world supply of plants is only enough to make about 50% of the essential oil on the market today. So a lot of essential oils are actually synthetically made, and there's just like, no guarantee that what's actually in this essential oil. And there's not enough rigorous testing being done in products. So especially, say, if you're pregnant or trying to get pregnant, we always recommend people to avoid fragrance, whether it's natural or synthetic. Just avoid fragrance just to be safe.

[19:53] Katie Chandler: It's crazy that there's no system in place for these things to be monitored. I mean, I realize with the amount of commerce that this country has and it's coming from all over the world, that it would probably be nearly impossible to do. Maybe that's why it is probably impossible to cover it all. But just like with supplements, supplements are not FDA approved. And you have no idea what you're putting in your body with that. When you think it's a trusted source and it's something that's meant to help you, it's not always necessarily the case.

[20:19] Amy Sherman: Yeah, I saw on your Instagram page just around fragrance, that unscented is also a fragrance, which I had no idea until I saw that. And that's really scary because I've been buying unscented forever because I don't like those perfumey smells, and I thought they were bad for you. But now I'm hearing unscented is also a flavor. Can you talk about that a little bit?

[20:41] Jenna Hua : Yes. So unscented is actually a scent wow. To go with fragrance free.

[20:46] Amy Sherman: It's fragrance free. Okay.

[20:49] Jenna Hua : So it's very misleading because I think a consumer have obviously gone smarter because we know we need to protect ourselves because FDA is not doing the job. But manufacturers also got smarter, right? So unscented is one thing, and then they started using wording like aroma instead of like fragrance. So you'll just see like aroma, but it's the same thing. So fragrance free is the best way to go.

[21:18] Amy Sherman: Okay, and what about when it says I was using and I actually just switched all my stuff, but I can't remember a brand? Maybe it's like tied free and clear.

[21:32] Jenna Hua : Interesting one. So free and clear is better than the regular, for sure, because at least less of these ingredients are used. But besides these major kind of could potentially have hormone disrupting chemicals, a lot of the bigger brands, they could also have other problematic ingredients in addition to, say, fragrance. Fragrance is like the number one. We want to people do that. But if you want to go one step further, other things to look for is trying to avoid petroleum based ingredients. Because petroleum based ingredients would have much higher contamination during the manufacturing process that you wouldn't know. Again, without testing, there's no way of knowing. But one really easy way to recognize any petroleum based ingredients is look for these cap letters on your ingredient list. So Peg PPG, like all of these cap letters, are usually made of petroleum based ingredients. So that's something to pay attention off. Another one is we often also flag is to glycerin is usually used many times glycerin is made of petroleum, but vegetarian glycerin is not. So if you have the choice of buying an ingredient with vegetarian glycerin versus the regular, I would go with the vegetarian one because it's less prone to contamination.

[23:04] Katie Chandler: Okay, so this is a stupid question.

[23:06] Amy Sherman: But is petroleum the same thing as petrolatum?

[23:11] Jenna Hua : Similar. They're like a fun source.

[23:16] Amy Sherman: I use every day on my lips which has petrolatum is obviously not good.

[23:21] Jenna Hua : It's the same source I would have choose say if you use a shia butter that's probably better. Say use a little more like coconut oil. I would have choose that, yeah.

[23:33] Katie Chandler: Okay. It's so interesting and I can see how it can be very overwhelming because you can just look around your house and probably see a million. As I'm drinking out of this, I'm wondering is this safe? It can be very overwhelming, but that's the genius behind million marker is that you have this testing and walk us a little bit through the process. If someone sends in their urine, they do the testing, they get the results and then you have the option to do the coaching as well where you will walk through and say let's take this, this and this out of your life, et cetera.

[24:07] Jenna Hua : Yes, in the last three years we have been doing this whole self serve model that people can enter their journal through our app and then submit in the test. We give the people the option if they want to schedule a call after receiving our report, we'll go over the report, we'll answer any questions they have. But what we realized from that model is that people actually want a lot of handholding, even fun just entering their journal items and fun afterwards they want to check in with us. So we're actually changing our service to more of a white glove service that will actually walk you through your journal and then also walk you through your report so people can purchase a kit online in the future. Then you schedule a quick like 30 to 45 minutes zoom call with us. We actually go through your day of your products and your lifestyle with you. Document that, then you submit your urine sample. We take the first morning urine sample because it's the most concentrated kind of urine and then it's also what's being used nationally or kind of a standard. So then we can actually compare your levels with other ascent as well as the national average. Then we get that analyzed. Then we actually audit your lifestyle, audit your products, and when you get your report back, besides what I mentioned before, understanding your levels, we also have a really comprehensive product audit that we point out out of all the products that you're using, actually every single product that you reported that you're using. Is there any problematic ingredients in there? Not just the ones that we test, but any other one that we would usually flag to make sure you pay attention on. Then you will know. So next time you buy a product, then you can buy a better one that avoid these other problematic ingredients. Because we can't possibly test for everything, but anything that have been reported in scientific literature that's potentially harmful, we want to let folks know. So then next time you can vote with your dollars. I mean, ultimately, consumers shouldn't be responsible for these things, but unfortunately, we have to do that. So then we want to let people know. So next time you buy it, avoid these things.

[26:35] Amy Sherman: So do people do this test? Do they repeat it, like on a yearly basis or something? Because I would think you'd want to kind of see, I took this out. Now what am I showing?

[26:45] Jenna Hua : Yes. So we have quite a few, many customers come back for second testing. So then just to confirm what's going on, our goal is we're hoping this could become like a routine test. My dream would be actually see this type of body burden testing, kind of like your biannual dental checkup. You clean your teeth twice a year. And I think this is a really good way to remind people, hey, you need to clean up your lifestyle too. That this is a really nice reminder if you can do this every half a year, just to show, okay, where you are with your body burden and how do you clean up. Because I think this type of testing or asking people to change their lifestyle, it's not only good for your health, good for your body, it's actually really good for the environment too, because, again, you're avoiding plastic, you're avoiding petrochemicals. There's a lot of quite a bit of impact when it comes to sustainability too. So we probably, none of us, and especially people who are trying to conceive and having kids, you don't want to live in a polluted planet, you don't want your kids to live in a polluted environment. Right. So by doing these things, I think it's like many, many wins not only for your health, but also for the environment as well. So I really want to see this become like a biannual kind of test that we can implement in the future. And hopefully this will become something that insurance will cover. Kind of like the biannual dental checkup that everyone will have access to and then start pay attention on.

[28:33] Katie Chandler: Yeah.

[28:33] Amy Sherman: And also just how you would do a yearly blood test or twice a year blood test. It's the same sort of thing that you should be doing every time, right?

[28:41] Jenna Hua : Yes.

[28:42] Katie Chandler: I had a question regarding the test results. You said that you compare them to the national average. So then is there an optimal range of where you want to be with these things or do you want to have zero exposure or is that just impossible?

[28:59] Jenna Hua : Really good question. We want to beat people to be as low as possible. There's actually no safe levels. There are no safe levels for these chemicals. The reason we're comparing with national average is to give you some idea of where you are. So how we compare is based on percentile. And so if you are lower than 25th percentile, we categorize that as low between 25th to 75th, that's medium and above 75th, that we consider that as high. But you should be trying to go below or even non detectable below 25th percentile as much as possible. But talking about the national average, there are limitations with this national average. I actually think we're one of the countries that's actually doing really well when it comes to biomonitoring. So biomonitoring means that we have programs that monitor people's chemical exposure through these biomonitoring program. Right now our national biomonitoring program is set through the CDC, through the National Health Nutrition Examination Survey, where they actually screen for more than 200 chemicals. And the ones that we screen is only part of it. The limitation of enhance of the spinal monitoring program is that the government only screens about 3000 people every other year, not the same people year over year. So you can see the limitation. So 3000 people in the entire US. So if you want to compare, if you think about your gender, your age, your ethnicity, what you have like five people look like you in a database to compare of. Right? So that's a limitation. And then the second is because this is a true kind of snapshot of time, because not all the people are tracked over time. There's no way we can tell the same people with these exposures what happened to them down the road. So another goal for million marker is if we have a lot of people doing testing and doing these continuous testing, we'll be able to see the potential long term impact in humans and then how can we improve and then that could be beneficial for the future generations.

[31:23] Katie Chandler: Yeah, that's amazing. That's really unbelievably profound what you guys are doing. The concept is really brilliant. I know that you are focused a lot on helping those with fertility issues. So I'm just curious what kind of success rates that people are seeing when they are able to remove these toxic chemicals and things from their life.

[31:46] Jenna Hua : We don't have enough data to actually show clinically, like with hard numbers, whether detoxing can actually help people achieve successful pregnancy or live birth. That's obviously the ultimate goal. And I think this is what we're trying to do eventually. But I think fundamentally, even though we know about the impact of these chemical literally for decades, the National Institute of Health work in general through the government, we haven't really invested in any money in terms of looking at the potential causal impact and how to do interventions to track. Clinical outcome. There was no money in this. It's unfortunate. And I think this is also excuse that oftentimes chemical companies that uses like why are we not banning these things? And then the argument is that oh, we don't have any causal studies because we cannot show that these chemical actually causes that miscarriages causes infertility. We cannot say that, we can only say they're associated when in reality it's.

[32:55] Katie Chandler: Just because there's not enough data that shows because there haven't been studies, there hasn't been enough money behind studies to get it done. Yeah, that's interesting. Exactly, it's unfortunate.

[33:05] Jenna Hua : It's unfortunate. The other thing is it's almost impossible to do this type of study to looking at causal study because you cannot expose to a pregnant mother to these chemicals and observe what's going to happen. Right. It's just unethical. You cannot do it. So our thinking is if we can show by detox, by reducing people's exposure that we can actually improve these clinical outcome and track people over time, then that's kind of like almost like a backward reverse way of proving there are causal impact. Then we can use this to push for better policies and better and more testing. So that's what we're hoping to do. And that's actually the grant I mentioned that this week, my nirvana, we got a good score and that's exactly this type of intervention studies are what we're trying to do to demonstrate hey, this works.

[34:06] Katie Chandler: Congratulations on that. I'm like a research geek so I always look at the NIH and everything. So that's really exciting. That's very cool. I'm excited to see where it goes. I'm sure it's going to be a bit of a process to get it all in motion and everything but we'll be following it without a doubt.

[34:21] Amy Sherman: I have a question about the test too. Do people use this for kids? Because as you're talking I'm like I want to test my whole family. Have you seen other people using it for kids?

[34:30] Jenna Hua : We're being asked right now our thinking is if the parents consent, yes, we can test for kids, but on our website we say 18 and above. But we have been asked whether they can test for kids that we definitely need parents consent. I think a lot of researchers worry is it's hard to interpret the results when it comes to kids and others. We even have people asking about like can we test our pets for these chemicals? It's because we don't have enough data. So in an enhanced database for kids, for adults we have about 1800 out of 3000. The rest of them are kids. But kids it's tricky because kids are growing and their growth status, it could be really different, it could really impact their hormone levels. So if you're an infant versus your adolescence, not only your hormones are different but also your growth stage, your detox system is not fully built. And that's also another reason that we really trying to pay attention on the younger, what we call it, developmental timing really matters. That means the younger you get exposed to the potential detrimental impact these chemical will have on you more. So we really want to start in uterine. Even when people planning for pregnancy, really thinking about it starts with the egg, it starts with the sperm. You should try to optimize your egg quality and sperm quality before you're getting pregnant and also start practicing this healthy lifestyle. And then you carry that throughout your pregnancy. And when your kid is born, your kid will already have a head start living a healthy lifestyle. And not only developmental timing matters. So then in uter, exposure really matters and then throughout the growth stage. But it's also we think it's like you literally get the biggest bang for your bucks because you're affecting literally generations. Because another thing we have observed in research is that these chemical can impact your future generations. That means your grandparents exposure will show up in you. Like your exposure will actually show up in your grandkids.

[36:55] Katie Chandler: Wow, that's wild. That's alarming too.

[37:00] Amy Sherman: Yeah, it is alarming. Okay, so before we do our wrap session with you, we want to get a couple tips that you have for detoxifying your life. Just some general things that someone's listening and they're going, well, what can I do right now, I'm going to do the test, but what can I do? What can I start changing in my life? Do you have some tips for that?

[37:19] Jenna Hua : Yes, absolutely. Number one, figured you would obviously avoid fragrance because I think when it comes to products, anything you purchase, this is like the easiest way to change. Just pay attention on eliminate fragrance, find all your personal care products or your household cleaning products. It's the number one. It's also just the easiest. The second is looking to your kitchen because a lot of our exposure besides products is coming from food. So what are you using to store your food? Right, use stainless steel containers or glass containers. Just get rid of all the plastic tupperwares and all these things. Use a b wax wrap instead of like seren wrap and you can use it multiple times. And again, it's also something really good for the environment and then also help you detox and also think about one thing we didn't really talk about is we have this whole other category of chemicals called persistent chemicals, also hormone disruptors, but because they're persistent, they stay in your body for a long time. One of the category a lot of people have heard is the Forever chemical PFAS. Right. And we want people to get rid of your teflon pens, like change to stainless steel, change to cast iron or ceramic. Because this category of chemicals, once you get exposed to it, literally stays in your body for a long time. You can't get rid of it.

[38:51] Amy Sherman: Wow.

[38:52] Jenna Hua : Again, if you change your pots and pants at home in your kitchen. You don't need to change again for many years in the future. Especially if you use a cast iron you can literally pass on to your kids. So you just need to do it once. So this investment is very much worth it. So we want people to, hey, do a kitchen detox that get rid of these things and do it once. Then again, you eliminated a lot of these exposure. And the next thing is try to get a water filter. Any filter is better than no filter. But if you can have your hands on a reverse osmosis water filter, that's sort of a cash at all filter. Because our water is also contaminated, let alone sort of the city water system. Now we're also having a lot of household buildings or even new buildings that changing copper pipe to PVC pipe. PVC is a plastic that's actually not good. There's a lot of argument like why we even have this policy changing it. But I mean, that's worth a whole other chat. But having a water filter is really important because you're drinking water all the time, right? And then the last thing is try to eat out less, eat more at home. Because first of all, you have fully control of what you're cooking, what are your ingredients, try to eat as much organic as you can. I know there is budget reasons for many people, but if you can try to do that because pesticides, many pesticides are also hormone disruptors. So if you can do that, that would be great. And eating out less also helps you eliminate a lot of, for example, less packaged food or eating less at the restaurant also helps you avoid. Because another thing we found out is through some individual testing is if you eat out in restaurant, oftentimes restaurant will cook with gloves. Those rubber gloves are also potential contaminants that can potentially contaminate the food. And you don't know, they will probably put like a hot soup in a plastic container and they will use other things. So you would just get that exposure. Even the takeout container is also a big one. I was just thinking that during the pandemic we literally see people's levels spiking out because people are eating so much takeout. So if you're eating at home, you have full control over that. So I think that's my top tips for detoxing.

[41:34] Katie Chandler: Yeah, those are excellent. That's excellent.

[41:36] Amy Sherman: So helpful. And for our listeners, I saw, we saw in your website you have an approved products list, which I think is really helpful. I actually went on it this morning because I just switched over to branch basics for all of my cleaning and I saw it was on your list. So I was like, okay, yes. So I thought that was really helpful. So for our listeners, all of those things are really helpful tips. And then if you go onto the website, you can also get a sense of what products are recommended by Million Marker. So before we get into our wrap session, where can everybody find you?

[42:07] Jenna Hua : Please find us on our website, www.millionmarker.com. Sign up to our newsletter. We're trying to keep people posted regarding our progress or any new research, any news around these topics. So sign up. We're also pretty active on social media. Instagram just million underscore Marker. Also Twitter. We trying to generate a lot of education content, not just around Detoxing, but anything same as you guys, anything that comes to do with wellness, because you can't just Detox. You literally need everything else in check to help you with Detox and support your healthy lifestyle. So talking about nutrition, talking about physical activity, talking about stress, talking about gut health, everything. So we're pretty active, and we're trying to generate good content to support people for their healthy lifestyle. So definitely check us out.

[43:07] Katie Chandler: Love it. Thank you. Thank you for everything that you're doing. It's such an amazing company and business and everything that you've started. So we're grateful that you're here. So why don't we kick off with our wrap session because we are very curious few things. What is your favorite wellness or beauty hack aside from Detoxing and everything?

[43:30] Jenna Hua : My hack, I guess, is like soup. I make soup almost every day, all kinds of soup, partially because I think it's very soothing. And then the second is water is also really important for Detoxing. So you kind of need a lot of these transient toxins that we test, and then we talk about you literally pee them out. So you need water and also think, like, you have to have enough water for good skin health, too. So it obviously have to do with your health and obviously have to do with beauty.

[44:08] Katie Chandler: Yeah, absolutely.

[44:09] Amy Sherman: That's a great one. What's your favorite soup? What's your favorite soup that you make?

[44:14] Jenna Hua : Any soup is good soup. I make simple vegetable stock or to meat based stock. I do a lot of that, and I try to learn from, I guess, different cultures. I'm Chinese, so there's a big part of Chinese culture is also super into soup. So it could be meat stock. It could be like beef and then like bone broth. A lot of bone broth.

[44:37] Katie Chandler: Love it.

[44:38] Jenna Hua : But I also love Italian soup, veggie, and I love chili, too, so it's not exactly a soup, but I kind of feel like that's kind of like a soup.

[44:49] Amy Sherman: Yeah, it sounds good. You're getting me in the mood to make a good soup, too.

[44:52] Katie Chandler: I know I have. Okay for breakfast.

[44:57] Jenna Hua : Yeah. Savory broth breakfast. I love savory. Breakfast was like one broth.

[45:03] Amy Sherman: Okay. The next one we call our five minute flow. So here's the scenario. You just got out of the shower and dried off. Uber just alerted you. They're five minutes away. What's your quick beauty routine? What do you do? Like, what do you put on. What are your Holy Grails? To get ready and into that car on time.

[45:21] Jenna Hua : I go pretty easy if I don't need to. I don't really use makeup or cosmetic or anything. I just use a face serum. That's it. Like some oil. Really easy. Yeah, one pump, put it on that's, it good to go.

[45:37] Amy Sherman: What kind of oil do you use for dying to know what oil you use?

[45:41] Jenna Hua : So recently I was working with this brand called Hue and Grace. They're pretty cool brand started by Ben and Sarah. They had quite a bit fertility struggle themselves and they trying to provide a hormone save product. Recently I have been using their product. It's quite easy, really, like their face serum and night serum. So I've been using that. And in general, it was also through some of the testing we've done and also just looking into products. Using oil is much better than using lotion because of the simple ingredients. Usually if you get an oil, you can do as simple as very few ingredients. So when you have fewer ingredients, there's less contamination. And the formulation wise, it's a lot harder to formulate, say a lotion versus oil because then it requires more emulsifier, like surfactants and all these other things into lotion. So that's sort of like also my sort of rule of thumb when it comes to products, it's just like as simple as possible and put it on easy and then get going.

[46:56] Amy Sherman: Nice.

[46:56] Katie Chandler: Yeah. I love it. All right, and our last one is how do you maintain your daily nirvana?

[47:03] Jenna Hua : Exercise is pretty important. I think a work is really hectic. I mean, everybody's life is very hectic these days. Being able to do some exercise is really important. I try to do yoga almost every afternoon. That kind of get me relaxed and also really prevents my back pain. Before I started doing yoga, I literally had a really severe back pain episode that I couldn't walk for three days. Like, literally couldn't walk for three days. Wow. And then once I started yoga, it hasn't happened once, and it's just really beneficial, I think, for both mind and body, especially for ladies who are over 35, you start losing muscles, and strength training is quite important. And I felt like yoga is not only you get that Zen, but you're actually training. You actually get this strength training. So it's like very cost effective and very efficient. I also try to do quick run in the morning just to get a little bit sunlight, get a little bit fresh air. That helps with productivity. So these are the two things I try to do. But I have to also say that it's always a struggle. You often feel like you want to be lazy and don't want to get out of bed and don't want to go to your yoga class. It's a struggle. But I think once I'm there and once I do it, I felt like, yes, I need these things to achieve my daily in the mana.

[48:35] Katie Chandler: It's absolutely I know people don't too often go work out, and when they leave, think like, oh, I wish I didn't do that. You always leave, right?

[48:47] Amy Sherman: That's so good. Well, thank you so much, Jenna, for joining us. This was really eye opening and really fascinating. And we might have to have you back for part two because I feel like there are just so many questions that we'll have our listeners will have after hearing this. So thank you again. We're really excited to do this test and to start implementing some of these practices. So we really appreciate it. Thank you for your time.

[49:10] Jenna Hua : Thank you so much for having me.

[49:13] Amy Sherman: Thanks for listening to Nirvana Sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes. Please subscribe and leave us a review. Also, find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would, please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana Sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

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Episode 103 - Product Junkies - Getting Ready For Spring - What We Are Loving Right Now (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 103, Episode 103 - Product Junkies - Getting Ready For Spring - What We Are Loving Right Now

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

[00:18] Katie Chandler: And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation.

[00:24] Amy Sherman: You.

[00:28] : Welcome back to the show. Nirvana Sisters family. It's Amy and Katie, and we're live in the studio together, and we are excited to do a spring product junkie. So we're going to do a quick episode on some new things that we're loving for spring. And let's get started. I'm handing it to you, Katie.

[00:46] Katie Chandler: All right, this is going to kind of be a bit of a speed round. So spring, summer. You're for sure going to need this. And I just recently discovered it, and I'm obsessed. This is for your wellness. It is the body armor super drink. It's a superior hydration drink. I am always partial to the element electrolytes LMNT, because they're so clean, they have nothing in them except for the electrolytes, the sodium, the potassium, the magnesium. This. We are in DC visiting, obviously. I'm here in Maryland with Amy. We were walking around with our kids all day the other day touring DC. And it was maybe 80 degrees, and I was for sure losing my electrolytes and getting dehydrated. And I grabbed one of these without even looking at it. It was just all I could get my hands on in the moment. And after I bought it, I checked it out. It's really clean. It's made from coconut water. It has pure cane sugar, which I think is actually better than, like, erythritol and things like that because it's natural and it's not like I'm drinking it all the time.

[01:49] : Exactly.

[01:50] Katie Chandler: But the great thing about it is that not only does it have electrolytes, but it also has minerals and B vitamins and zinc and all of these other great things. The point is, when I drank it, within, I don't know, 20 minutes, I had better absolute, like, energy burst. And I have one now because I'm drinking one. Yeah.

[02:16] : And that's blue raspberry flavor just to come in other flavors, probably, right?

[02:19] Katie Chandler: Yeah, it does come in a lot of flavors. It's really good, but it definitely cooks me up. I love that.

[02:24] : Yeah, we had them in our house. Jackson had bought them, and I hadn't even tried it yet, so I'm going to try that.

[02:29] Katie Chandler: It's good.

[02:29] : Okay. Speaking of dehydrated, I'm going to talk about my dehydrated under eyes, which have been very dehydrated because that skin is so thin lately. So I bought this quora organics. I can't even read it. What does that say? Katie's? My interpreter.

[02:43] Katie Chandler: Cora Organics. Smallest bottle ever.

[02:49] : Nori nori eye oil.

[02:51] Katie Chandler: Is that what it is?

[02:52] : Noni radiant eye.

[02:53] Katie Chandler: Noni okay.

[02:55] : Cora Noni Radiant Eye oil. And I love it. It's in this small bottle, but it actually lasts a really long time because you barely need any but you just kind of it's a roller ball. Yeah, it's a roller ball. And you put on your eyes. It feels so good. And I don't know, you know how, like, sometimes your eyes just the undereye gets dried out in the middle of the day, and then you want to go out to dinner, but you don't want to redo your eyes. You just kind of throw that on and maybe put some concealer on top of it.

[03:18] Katie Chandler: Yeah, that's so good. Does feel very good. I know exactly what you're talking about. You wear your makeup all day and then it gets a little dry and cracking. The only way to revive it is to start fresh. Yeah. This is a little sex.

[03:30] : It's nice, right? Hydrating. So it's a rollerball, and you could just do this, but it doesn't, like, come out.

[03:36] Katie Chandler: That great.

[03:37] : So I just kind of put on my finger.

[03:39] Katie Chandler: I love this.

[03:39] : It's a good little pick me up. Okay, what do you got?

[03:42] Katie Chandler: Nice.

[03:42] : What's next?

[03:43] Katie Chandler: All right, so my next one speaking of eyes, do you remember you were telling me all about how much you hate eye makeup removers because they're usually oily and it gets in your eyes and it drives you crazy?

[03:52] : Yeah. And it never comes off.

[03:53] Katie Chandler: So I found it's not necessarily made for that, but it is a makeup remover. It's not eyes in particular. It's the bioderma CBM h 20 mistler. Water micellar water. However you say it, it's great at getting rid of your makeup on your face and everything, but it's really nice at taking your eye makeup off. And it's not oily. Anytime I use it, I don't feel like I have oil left in my eyelashes or doesn't take off in the scar.

[04:22] : Good, because I have a Micular water that I use, and it's pretty good for eye makeup. But still, I feel like there's a.

[04:27] Katie Chandler: Little bit left over this one. It works. I mean, you have to do a couple of times it's not just going to work with one wipe, but I'm obsessed with it. So this is now I'm doing the whole double cleanse thing where I use the Mysore water, and then I wash my face. And when I want to take off my eye makeup, which I don't do it every night, but I should, I use that. And it's really good.

[04:46] : And you just put on a cotton pad.

[04:47] Katie Chandler: I just put on a cotton pad. It's great. It's like, not even $20, and it's a big bottle. The Bioderma brand is really nice.

[04:54] : Yeah, that's a nice brand.

[04:55] Katie Chandler: Yeah. Okay, what's next? I want to know what that is.

[04:58] : Okay, so this is the Kosis Glow IV vitamin infuser skin enhancer. And the color that I got is sheer medium tan. So I think I talked about the drunk elephant bronzy drops, like, a long time ago, before it trended on TikTok PS, but I think it was in one of our original product junkies, and I still have that bottle, but it's running low, so I got this, and it's a nice alternative for that. This one's a little bit more maybe a little bit more glowy. It's really nice, and it's a good alternative for the bronze drops, or you might even like it better. It's a little softer. It's a little glowier. You could use it all over your face without anything. You could mix it with moisturizer. You could use it as a highlighter. It has a lot of uses. It's really pretty.

[05:42] Katie Chandler: You know what I like about it? It also reminds me of what's? The CVS, the drugstore dupe of the junk elephant. Is it the L'Oreal glow glocion that we like? Lumi glocion. Yeah, that can be a little oily. And this isn't at all. This gets into the skin really nicely, and it dries, and then it gives you a really great shimmer, and you might not be able to see it on the camera. Yeah, but that's beautiful.

[06:08] : Yeah, it's really, like, almost like a skin sort of like a skin tint. It says on here, Glow all over or whatever. You feel it alone. Mix or layer with foundation, and it's infused with glutathione, vitamin D, and vitamin K. Nice.

[06:24] Katie Chandler: Yeah, this is nice. I'm getting this. Love it.

[06:27] : Yeah, so it's a really good one.

[06:28] Katie Chandler: I'm kind of obsessed with kosis.

[06:30] : I know. They have such good products.

[06:32] Katie Chandler: Love.

[06:33] : Okay, what do you have?

[06:34] Katie Chandler: All right, so this is my last one, elf Acne Fighting Putty Primer. It's a makeup primer, but it helps with your acne, which is fantastic, and it gives a really nice matte finish. And it has salicylic acid in it.

[06:49] : So if you smell starting your day.

[06:51] Katie Chandler: And maybe you've got a little bit of a breakout, you can put it on under your makeup, and it helps keep your makeup in place while also treating your acne.

[07:00] : That's great.

[07:00] Katie Chandler: And I did notice it kind of helped clear up any pimples that I had a little bit faster than maybe if I have makeup on my face.

[07:10] : All day, of course, affecting it.

[07:12] Katie Chandler: Right. And then the other thing that I like about it is, like, last night when we were all having dinner, I didn't have any makeup on, but I don't want to be shiny either, so I just kind of, like, put some around, and it dulled my face. But it was also, like a treatment because of the salicylic acid.

[07:24] : Yeah, it's so nice. I have the putty primer. The elf putty primer.

[07:28] Katie Chandler: Yeah.

[07:29] : It has a similar feel for that, and I love the way that that feels. But this is better because it has whatever it has to fight acne. So that's nice.

[07:36] Katie Chandler: Yeah, it's a salicylic acid, so yeah, it's great. Elf. Elf is always elf for the win. Right. They're kind of crushing it lately.

[07:42] : Yeah.

[07:43] Katie Chandler: What do you have next?

[07:45] : So next I have I love Westminutellier, so I got another stick. And so this one's called Baby Cheeks Blush Stick. And the color is pop it I have two other blushes from this brand, which I love, but they're not as poppy. Like, they're just kind of like a nice muted, like a rosy pinky blow, which are pretty. This is like a really pretty pop.

[08:11] Katie Chandler: Oh, that's fun.

[08:12] : Isn't that fun?

[08:13] Katie Chandler: Yeah.

[08:13] : So I thought this would be good for spring little color, nighttime. So when I put it on, it's really like a new color. I mean, it's natural, but it's just got a little bit more bang. So I love it.

[08:25] Katie Chandler: And it's a stick, which is great. Can I feel it? Yeah, I just want to feel and.

[08:30] : You could either put it directly on your face I see people put it directly on their face, or I see people using a brush. Get it on the brush and then put it on your face.

[08:38] Katie Chandler: Yeah. It's very pigmented, and it melts nicely into the skin.

[08:41] : Yeah, that's pretty. It's really pretty. So it gives a little bit more color than the other sticks that I have. And I also have I think I reviewed it before. Chuchette, I think is one of the colors I have. And then I also have it in the bronzer, like the contour stick, which I love.

[08:59] Katie Chandler: It also looks like it's so pigmented that if you just use a touch, you could do more of a natural vibe. And then if you want that poppy more fun, you just put on a little heavier. Yeah, it's pretty. Exactly.

[09:09] : And it's got the magnetized, which I always love. That's great.

[09:13] Katie Chandler: My next one is not so much a current, it's a review update. I want to loop you guys in on a product that I reviewed maybe two months ago. Scoro lash lash Lengthening Serum.

[09:27] : Yeah.

[09:28] Katie Chandler: My lashes have grown so much, it's ridiculous. They're not thicker.

[09:34] : They're longer.

[09:35] Katie Chandler: They're longer. I don't think I did it before and after last time because honestly, I felt like I knew they were working, but it might be hard to see to someone that doesn't know how short my lashes are. So it wasn't dramatic enough yet. So I'm going to post a before and after now because I've been on it for two or three months. Okay. And I for sure notice the difference. Without a doubt. I need a lot less mascara to get some length, and they're not falling out, too. My lashes used to just fall out and they're keeping them healthy. Interesting. Yeah.

[10:06] : And where'd you get it? Amazon.

[10:08] Katie Chandler: Amazon.

[10:08] : Okay. Scoro Lash. So good to know. I also coming up, have an eye episode. An eyelash episode that I want to do solely on eyelash and eyebrow products. And I have one that I'm going to review in that. So I'm going to save my eyelash review for that episode. But it's a different brand. I want to talk about that one as well.

[10:29] Katie Chandler: And I would like to review you did an eyebrow product that I think you've already reviewed. It the too faced, the one that Browler lifted.

[10:40] : Yeah.

[10:41] Katie Chandler: When I saw you at the end of your work day on Wednesday, it was like eight or 09:00 at night. They were perfectly in place. I'm buying that tomorrow. It's legit.

[10:51] : It's so good.

[10:52] Katie Chandler: Yeah.

[10:53] : I think it's the two faced either the two faced we'll put it in the show notes. It's either the too faced brow wax or brow lift or something like that.

[11:02] Katie Chandler: They had the laminated, like, did they notice up look?

[11:06] : Oh, my God.

[11:06] Katie Chandler: Yeah. And that was what time did you put your makeup on?

[11:09] : In the morning.

[11:10] Katie Chandler: That morning?

[11:10] : Yes. No, that really good. Okay, well, lastly, speaking of eyes, this is the last fun spring update. So I got this really pretty tart eyeshadow palette. It's called Toasted tartlet toasted. Amazonian Clay Palette. And these colors are gorgeous. Look at this. That's so pretty. Yeah, I'm going to show it on screen.

[11:33] Katie Chandler: Beautiful.

[11:34] : Aren't those nice? Really pretty. For spring, let me say they're pretty neutral, but they're like neutrally rose goldie browns. I mean, I think they're flattering on every type of eye color, I feel like, because these colors are just really and I have been testing a lot of eyeshadows because I find that many of them, at least for me, do not stay on, or they're not pigmented enough. And so these are pigmented and really nice. And I also have been using I don't have the brand with me. I'll talk about it next time. An eyeshadow primer. And the eyeshadow primer has actually helped to keep my eyeshadow on and to sort of neutralize that redness so the pigment stays better. But anyway, these are really nice.

[12:15] Katie Chandler: These are beautiful.

[12:16] : And for some reason smell it. It smells really good.

[12:18] Katie Chandler: It does smell good.

[12:19] : It smells like marshmallow or something. And then I was like, oh, it's called Toasted. Maybe it's supposed to, I have no idea. But it smells really good.

[12:27] Katie Chandler: You know what kind of the palette is like that really natural, smoky look? You can achieve that. You see it on, like, Chem K, a lot like it's like the natural browns and neutral browns. It's really beautiful.

[12:41] : That's my new favorite palette I've been using.

[12:43] Katie Chandler: Gorgeous.

[12:43] : Okay, so I think that is it for our quick round of April spring product junkies. We'll be back next month with more products that we're loving. It is.

[12:53] Katie Chandler: But before we go, I just want to really quickly talk about our guest, Erica Tempo, that we had last week. I saw her today. I got a lymphatic drainage massage from her. And how was it? It was phenomenal. She is so incredibly talented. I could feel her literally, like, squeezing the fluid, the inflammation, everything out of me. She took before and afters, which I don't really know if I want to post those on social. They're a little personal, but you can see I stood up and I felt like I was £5 thinner. I mean, you could see she creates definition. She literally creates the definition.

[13:28] : And I felt it before and afters, and you could see, like, you couldn't see your ribs, and then afterwards, you could see your ribs. Like, all that fluid just went away.

[13:35] Katie Chandler: It just went away. My waist got narrower and everything. So she's incredibly talented. If you're in the Bethesda area, you should definitely go see her. Or the Maryland area in general. I mean, she goes to New York for clients.

[13:46] : Yeah, New York clients come here to see her too.

[13:48] Katie Chandler: She goes to New York City Fashion Week to prepare the models for runway shows and everything. So she's incredible. We love her. We love Derek attempt. So, yeah, that was my update. We have somebody that wants to say hi.

[13:59] : Oh, yeah. Really quick special guest.

[14:01] Katie Chandler: She's a special guest. Madeline Chandler. My nine year old is in the house. Just give a quick hello, say hi.

[14:08] : What's your nirvana of the week?

[14:13] Katie Chandler: Probably just, like, getting here and being in DC. And also going to also going to my cousin's house and just, like, raining with my family. Yes, we love being together. Okay.

[14:30] Amy Sherman: All right, see you next time.

[14:32] : Bye.

[14:34] Amy Sherman: Thanks for listening to Nirvana Sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes. Please subscribe and leave us a review. Also, find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would, please share it and tag us.

[14:49] : Tune in next week for a fresh.

[14:50] Amy Sherman: New episode of Nirvana Sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

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

Episode 100 - 100 Episodes! What We Have Learned + Exciting Announcements! (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 100.

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

[00:18] Katie: And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation.

[00:24] Amy: You um, hello and welcome back to the show Nirvana Sisters Family. This is a very, very special episode. We are celebrating 100 episodes today. I cannot believe it, Katie. I'm literally in disbelief. I know, but we're here.

[00:43] Katie: Congrats. Woohoo.

[00:46] Amy: Congrats to you too. I just cannot believe how far we've come. This was a nugget of an idea, what, two years ago? Two ish two and a half years ago, and we've done 100 episodes. So first and foremost, I just want to thank you for being my partner in crime, my sister in law, one of my best friends. I just think so much has changed over the last couple of years for us, and I think we've gotten so much closer because of this podcast, because we're connecting on things more often. We're talking all the time. We're business partners. We've become closer friends. It's just like the whole thing has been so amazing. It's just like thinking about it. We're always so rushed. We were just talking before we started this recording. We're so rushed, we don't really get a chance to reflect. So my first thank you is to you.

[01:36] Katie: That's really sweet. Yeah, I feel the same way. I'm in shock and disbelief that we're at 100 episodes, but at the same time, we've done everything souped to nuts for this thing. So it's also like kind of when you think about the weight of all the work that we've done, you can feel that as well. And it feels like a huge accomplishment. And I want to thank you too. I love you so much. And this was your idea. This is like your little you called me one day. I remember when you said this to me. I was sitting on the corner of my bathtub in my old house, looking out the window, thinking, she's insane. How are we going to do a podcast? Look, here we are. And it has it's been great. Here we are.

[02:16] Amy: Yeah, I know. It's just crazy how if you put your mind to something, you can have a nugget of an idea and you put your mind to something and do it and keep doing it and keep doing it over and over again, and it grows and more people know about it. And all of our listeners have been so incredible. So thank you to everyone listening. Thank you for all your support, all your comments, all your feedback. It's just been so encouraging to hear from you and to hear about what you want to hear about when you like something, when you don't like something. And so, yeah, we're just going to spend the next few minutes just kind of talking through the last 100 episodes and some of the highlights. And we also have some exciting announcements we're going to talk about at the end. So, yeah, just thank you to everyone who has supported and listened to us over the last few years. We're just so excited we've reached this really huge milestone and can't wait for more. So, Katie, what's your takeaway from these last 100 episodes, if you have one?

[03:11] Katie: Oh, my gosh. I mean, it's hard to just have one other than I've learned so much. And a massive thank you to all of our unbelievably talented and intelligent and powerful guests that we've had. We've spoken to some of the most amazing entrepreneurs, some of the most amazing doctors. I've learned so much. I think I could touch on a few of probably the most powerful ones that have resonated with me the most. The most recent one would be Dr. Angela Holiday Bell on sleep hygiene. She just like, tapping into she really helped me kind of understand what I need to be doing to kind of reel my sleep in. And that literally has kind of changed my life. The thing as simple as wearing blue lights when you watch TV before you go to bed helped me fall asleep faster and helping me understand why I need more time to wind down because I have a harder time producing melatonin, like does all of that. And then Jessica McGuire. Remember Jessica McGuire from the Vagus Nerve talking about the nervous system? The Vagus Nerve, I think that was the single most powerful episode out of all of our 100 episodes for me personally, the window of tolerance, understanding what it means to have a dysregulated nervous system, recognizing someone's dysregulated nervous system, and then learning how to co regulate. It's helped me. It's helped my husband, it's helped my kids. That episode was really profound for me. And, I mean, I could say that about so many of them. Natasha Brinkman. It's like a master class on skincare, right?

[04:58] Amy: Oh my God, that was amazing.

[05:00] Katie: Obsessed. What about you? What are some of yours?

[05:05] Amy: Honestly, I'm like sitting here scrolling through all of these 100 episodes, and I think for me, there were pieces of information that I've gotten from every single episode that I've applied to my life. I mean, to your point. Like The Vagus Nerve episode and breathing from Erica Brunozer and talking about parenting tips and how to talk to your kids, that one was really helpful for me. Also, shout out to Zoe Feldman. I was just looking. She was our first official guest on Nirvana Sisters in episode six. So we love Zoe, and so many of our kind of like, people that we knew, friends of friends of Friends kind of started out with us in the beginning and then we sort of grew from there. And I think I've just taken bits and pieces, like whether it be from Cat Can Cook and The Hungry Lady salad to, like you said, skincare with Natasha or hormone stuff with Michelle Aspinwall. Also, of course, one of my favorites was talking to Ellie Webb, which was definitely a dream come true for me, and talking to Brittany Driscoll and talking to some of these business leaders, just getting advice on entrepreneurial stuff and how to balance motherhood and working and all of these things. So I don't know, it's so hard to pick a favorite. I think for me, it's just taking bits and pieces of all of these things and using the ones that work for me. And I think from a listener standpoint, too, it seems like people listen to the episodes that they're interested in and then they take pieces from that. And it's like everyone that we have on is an expert in something, but it doesn't mean that what they're saying works for everyone. And so I think that using some of these bits and pieces across all the episodes helps you in whatever way you want. I also thought I'm just kind of scrolling through and looking like episode 50, the psychedelic therapy with Julia Mirror was just so fascinating. Like, it's so out of our ether and something we don't really talk about and think about, but just learning about that. And I also find now that I'm talking to people or a subject comes up and it's related to any one of our episodes, whether it was chiropractics or psychedelics or vagus nerve or chromal wellness, even, I find that I have this information somehow stuck in the back of my head and I just regurgitate it, not even realizing that I knew it. Yeah, because we're just picking up pieces of information as we go. It's just kind of like sinking in and then you do something differently and you're like, oh, yeah, I learned that in this Chroma episode. Or I learned this from Janelle Kim when we talked to her about traditional Chinese medicine. And I think we've made so many great connections with other women, which I really like, too. When we think about someone like Rachel Johnson, who we did the episode on, it was episode 63 when we talked about Green's Water Move Repeat and her whole company, AMI Health. It's just been great to meet these other women who were doing similar things to us, and we're all sort of this family and everyone supports each other, which I think is so nice about the podcasting world. There's so many podcasts, but in a good way, right? Like, everyone encourages each other and everybody wants to help, and it's just like one big podcast family, I feel like. And when we meet all these women that are in wellness or View Your Skincare, everyone's excited for everyone and everyone celebrates one another. And I really like that about this space.

[08:27] Katie: Yeah, it's incredibly supportive. I think you're exactly right. We've had a few amazing male guests also, that we've learned a lot from I think it's funny, when we first started, we didn't know if we were going to necessarily lean more female centric and it's just kind of been a natural gravitation. But it's all part of that support system and I'm really proud of it, actually. I think it's great. And it's also when you were talking about things that you learned and I was also just thinking about a way that this has kind of shaped me as a person. Doing this with you for the last two years is it's just made me more confident. When I meet new people, I almost find them. Like, I'm like and I'm not interviewing them, but I just have such an easier time meeting new people now because it's what we do. We talk to new people and we interview them pretty much weekly. And then a lot of these people are stuck in my head. They live rent free in my head with some of their amazing quotes like Andrea Marcellus, I just hear her say, like, your afternoon snack should be protein and a healthy fat. And then I hear Dr. Janelle Kim saying things like, stop being drunk on your own thoughts. Or Rachel, you just said Rachel and me greens, water, move, repeat. I can't tell you how many times these things just pop in my head. I'm like, oh yeah, that'll help my day get better. Just follow that. Follow that. So it's amazing. We're really fortunate and grateful to have come across the people that we have and had them on the show.

[09:56] Amy: Yeah, and I also it's funny because I feel like we've done episodes that we aired a long time ago and some of those topics are coming up now, like Fascia or Guaca and all of these things we sort of talked about a couple of years ago that are now coming into the world. And it's just I love learning about things that we see are sort of bubbling up and trending and then all of a sudden you hear them all the time as people's regular vernacular. So I think that's interesting. We also can't forget about our product junkie episodes because I think those have grown and we've gotten a lot of really positive feedback about those. And those are definitely one of my favorites because they're just us talking and chitchatting about what products we like, which we do all the time anyway, which was part of the reason we started this podcast. Like, let's just record our phone conversations and talk about, oh, I tried this, I tried this. So just like, doing all that has been super fun and tapped into the passion that we both had for products and just trying new things and talking about those new things. But I agree with you. When I meet with people, too, I definitely feel more confident and have kind of like, more ways to communicate because I don't think sometimes I'm the best communicator and I think this podcast has helped me to slow down, try and work on not saying as much. I also think it's helped with my public speaking. So from my corporate job, just being confident to go up in front of a room of people and talk, it's like one of those things that everyone's always nervous about no matter how many times you've done it. It's like a scary thing. But I think being able to talk every week on the mic and have it being recorded kind of gives you a lot of practice. So it helps just in general with communication and active listening.

[11:38] Katie: Yeah. Also I've had some just like fun favorite moments. Like nothing is funnier to me than when we're doing product junkies and I hold up a product and you're like, yes, I have that one too. I was going to review it this week. Or how fun is I know, we're like same brain. Exactly. And then seeing our guests in the wild. How wild was that, that you ran into Brittany Driscoll in La a little while ago and then seeing Meredith Quill running into her? Well, we didn't run into her, but going to her event in Westport and those little connections are really special. So yeah, it's all just been a lot of fun.

[12:18] Amy: Yeah, I love it. And it's actually really funny too, because then you start seeing people that we've interviewed connect. Who was it? I think Brittany Driscoll and Katie Whelan, who we just had on recently, talked about all the peptide stuff. They both live in Nashville and I saw that they were on some panel together.

[12:34] Katie: Oh, nice.

[12:34] Amy: And I was just like, oh my God, that's so weird that they happen to be on the same panel. We've had them both on the show, like they're in the same space, so it's just like all these crazy worlds colliding. But I think it's just this was definitely born out of a passion project. It still is. And I wanted to also talk a little bit about the blood, sweat and tears that this has been for us because again, we're busy and running and everyone says to me, and I'm sure they say to you too, like, how are you doing at all? And the answer is, I have no idea. But I think when you have a passion and you enjoy something, it doesn't matter and you just kind of figure out a way to do it. Nothing is perfect. Of course. It's like we always say, we could be doing more, we could be doing this, we could be doing that. But at the end of the day, we make **** happen. And I think it's really hard to do being like having another full time job, being a mom, doing this. We do this on the nights, we do this on the weekends, we do it when we can squeeze it in, but it's ours and we can kind of figure it out as we go. And I think for you, Katie, a lot has evolved in your world, too, from where you were to where you are now. So I kind of want to get your thoughts on how you're balancing it and how you're feeling because I think we don't spend enough time reflecting on that part.

[13:38] Katie: Yeah, no, I think that's really true. It's funny, I have been thinking recently about how happy I am with the balance in my life right now, because when we first started, I was a stay at home mom and I was wanting something more, so we did this. But then there was moments where it was so overwhelming because I hadn't worked in a decade. And then I have just gone back to my other job recently. And while there's a lot going on, I just feel like every box is being ticked right now. Like, I have my family time, I have my passion project, my passion job, which is this that's like, fun and so exciting. I have my work, which is also great, and I'm making my own money. So while the balance of it can be a struggle at times, it's very fulfilling and well rounded. And I've had moments where I thought, how are we going to keep doing this? But I think that happens when there's unnecessary pressure applied. And I think we've both been really smart about making sure we're just continuously enjoying it and not putting so much pressure on ourselves. And as long as we keep doing that, then we just keep plugging away and trucking away. And now we're doing everything that we do. It's like we could do it in our sleep.

[15:04] Amy: Exactly. I mean, looking back when we first started editing a podcast, we were like, wait, how do you do this? And how do you do this? And now we literally do everything, soup to nuts. And it's time consuming, but we know how to do it and we've become experts in it, which is so cool. I just love learning and to be able to learn a new craft and to be able to produce a podcast. And for people who don't do it, it's really hard to envision what goes into it. But there's probably like, I don't know, 250 steps from like A to Z right, to get it launched on a weekly basis. And it's a lot. And I think just being able to learn another skill set as you're moving along your life is so important. We're learning every week. Every time we talk to someone, we're learning new information. I think we're both learners and we love to learn, especially when it comes to something that we're personally passionate about. But just learning a new skill is so rewarding. I mean, just like, this is so technical and so different than what I do in my marketing role of big ideas and all this strategy work. And this is so technical editing and producing, but I really love it, like, getting into the nitty gritty. It's actually like I love producing the episodes and launching sometimes more than other things. I don't know why. And I know for you, Katie, you didn't know much about social media before, and you've learned how to use that tool really well. And I just think it's so cool.

[16:29] Katie: Yeah, I think so, too. I'm incredibly proud of us, and also we keep each other accountable and we keep each other in the game. And if there's a time where you're feeling stressed and crazy and you're not in it, then I try to reel you back in and vice versa. And there's also times where we're perfectly guilty of like, oh, I didn't get that done this week. But it's like we don't beat each other up either. It's like we get the critical stuff done and we keep moving forward. And as we've always said, progress over perfection. And I think that has gotten us very far.

[17:06] Amy: Yeah. And I think especially in the beginning, I think the first probably, I don't know, 2030 episodes were the most challenging because I think you and I struggled a lot and had open communication. Remember, we had some not blowouts, but we definitely had some tough conversations of like, well, who's doing this? And are we doing this every week? And DA DA DA. And, like, until we got our flow, it was like a little, like, tense, right? Like, there were definitely some tense times, looking back, but now I just feel like we're in the flow. And I think, too, I was going to go back to what I was saying about you going back to work. I've actually seen a huge difference because for you, I feel like you're more in a flow than you were before because I feel like it's because you're more structured, right. And, you know, you have to be certain places at certain times. Not that you didn't before, but it's just different. So you almost are more organized and more in the flow. Yeah, I see that. I don't know if you feel that.

[18:03] Katie: But I've definitely noticed that there has been a shift, for sure. And I think also just like, having something else, having my other job, it's released some of the pressure of this and allowed me to enjoy this for what it's always been. It's been our passion and it's fun, and we love doing it together. So I think that has a lot.

[18:27] Amy: To do with it. Yeah, I think you're right. You're totally right. I also think it's given us both more perspective. Like, now that you're back at work, you have a perspective of like, oh, now you sort of know. I know what you go through and you know what I go through when we have other responsibilities that are not just family. Right. And it's like, oh, my God, I have this deadline, or I'm working all day. I'm out and I'm like, okay, I'll do this or you'll do that. I think we bounce off each other really well. So anyway, I'm just trying to think about more fun stories. I think there's like so many random things that have happened throughout the last few years. I mean, I think, again, our guests have been amazing. I think people have been so generous with their time. People have given us so much time and so much of their expertise, and it's just been really gratifying. And again, just want to shout out to all the guests that have been on our show and even some guests more than once.

[19:22] Katie: Yeah, just how generous they have been with sharing their time with not their time, but sharing our podcast with their people and kind of just giving us more exposure and being excited about being on the podcast with us too. I mean, we've had some guests that have a million followers, we've had guests that have 500,000 followers and everything below and in between and above. So we've just been very fortunate. So thank you to all of our amazing guests. And we have amazing guests lined up and more to come, so it's all super exciting.

[20:00] Amy: Yeah, lots more to come. So with that being said, a couple really exciting announcements that Katie and I wanted to share with our amazing listeners. And thank you to our listeners for loving this as much as we do. We love doing it and we do it for you. We do it for us because we love it, but we do it for you more, so because we know you love it too. And you love to get in all the minutiae of the details of health, wellness, beauty like we do. So thank you again.

[20:28] Katie: Yeah, that's exactly what I was just thinking. We have always done this to share with you all because we want you to learn and have access and to have the ability to achieve anything and everything you want for your health and wellness journey. Whether that is just making sure you get in eight cups of water a day or the fact that you do Reiki healing and you work with crystals and you go and do face yoga. Whatever your journey may be, we are just really grateful that we can be a part of it and that we can help you along with it. So thank you.

[21:06] Amy: Yes, good point. And one last thank you before we get to our exciting announcements. Wanted to thank my husband Stu, who really is sort of been my partner in crime behind the scenes in this. He was the one who really gave me the motivation to do this because he knew that I'm an entrepreneur and at heart he knew I love all this stuff. And he's like, you got to do something with it because, yes, you have your other job, but you need to put all this effort into something else. Too, for you. And he kind of gave me a lot of motivation to really even start the idea. And he also came up with the word Nirvana because Katie and I had a list of 50 different titles, which are hilarious, which we should post about one day, but he actually came up with the word Nirvana and he really captured what we were trying to get at, like, what is your Nirvana? What's going to make you feel joyful? So shout out to Stew.

[22:04] Katie: Yeah, thank you still. And thank you to my husband, too. He's been incredibly supportive. Shout out to Adam.

[22:09] Amy: Yes, they've both been super supportive. Okay, a couple big updates.

[22:15] Katie: Big announcements.

[22:16] Amy: Big, I know. So, a few announcements as we close out this episode. So, I don't know if you all know, but we have a website, Nirvanasisters.com, which we've launched kind of in a soft way a couple of months ago. Don't know if any of you have seen it yet, but we've been linking out all of our show notes there and we wanted to just call it out because it's really exciting. We've been working on it behind the scenes for a long time and we're continuing to add to it. And so if you go onto the website now, you'll see every single podcast episode that we've had out, you'll see all the show notes, you'll see all the BIOS, you'll see all the product links. It's all there in the blog. And so we wanted to have a place where you all could go and reference just more content around all of our episodes. So that's really exciting. So we wanted to make sure you checked out Nirvanasisters.com when you get a chance. And Katie. What's next? What else do we have to announce?

[23:02] Katie: Also equally as exciting, the other thing you're going to find on our website is we now have Nirvana Sisters Merch yay. We have great swags, I mean, great sweatshirts and t shirts and tumblers and a hat that I'm obsessed with. Amy has a hat on.

[23:20] Amy: I'm showing everyone the hat. Kind of 1 second. I'm going to do this.

[23:25] Katie: Yeah, the hat's. Super cute.

[23:27] Amy: Everyone check out the hat.

[23:29] Katie: Love the hat. And then check out the sweatshirt and our new logo. My tea. Keep glowing. Nirvana Sisters. Tea. So there's a lot in there and we would love you to just go on there and get whatever you want. You can order it straight from the website. It's so fun. Come straight to your house. Yeah.

[23:47] Amy: That is going to be launching the day that this launches. So our shop will be launching Thursday, April 6, in conjunction with this episode. And like Katie said, there's sweatshirts, hats. We've got a coffee tumbler or coffee mug that says Daily Nirvana. We have a water bottle that says Nirvana in a bottle.

[24:07] Katie: We have a hoodie, a few great hoodies.

[24:11] Amy: Yeah, we've got a really awesome hoodie. We've got shirts that say a few different quotes like keep glowing and hustle and doses and different quotes from a lot of our episodes. And we're going to be continuing to add new products over the next few months. So tell us what you like and we'll keep working on it. We also have our new logo. We're really excited to share with you all, so please check out our website, check out our new store with all of our new merch support us. We are so excited. We've been working in the background on the design of all of our merch. It's really elevated and we're so excited for you all to check it out and let us know what you think. And we'll post some of these products on social throughout the week so you can get a little sneak peek of the shop.

[24:51] Katie: Yeah, exciting. All right. And then here's the last news, and it's very exciting. Amy, do you want to share?

[24:59] Amy: Sure. So we are now joined with Podcast Nation, which is a podcast network, and we are so excited to announce this news. So we're really excited to join the team at Podcast Nation. We started chatting with them a few months ago and they're an incredible group of women. There's about, I think, like 20 or 30 podcasts that are part of this network. And what that means for you is the show is growing, so we'll be connected to more people, more amazing podcasters, we'll have more access to guests. We'll probably be on some more podcasts, and we'll be on the Podcast Nation channel, on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, et cetera. And that's going to be happening over the next couple of weeks. But as of today, we've joined their network and we are super excited to be joining the Podcast Nation family. So thank you to that team for welcoming us with open arms as we start this journey with them. So more to come there, but wanted to make sure we shared all of our exciting updates. And again, thank you all for the last 100 episodes. Looking forward to hundreds more with my partner in crime, Katie. Anything else, Katie, before we close out?

[26:10] Katie: No, other than thank you. Thank you, thank you. We are so grateful. We are filled with gratitude for our listeners and our supporters and our guests. And this 100th episode is my Nirvana of the Week, I think of the year. So I don't know about you.

[26:27] Amy: Yeah, agreed, agreed. Huge milestone, Nirvana of the Day in the week, along with our other launches. It's all good stuff and more to come. So. Thank you. Nirvana Sisters family.

[26:37] Katie: Bye.

[26:38] Amy: Have a good week. 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.

[27:04] Katie: You know.

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

Episode 97 - Lasers, Skin Barrier, Skincare HOLY GRAILS and more - Answering Your Skincare Questions With Natasha B, Beauty Junky Monkey - PART 2 (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast episode 97.

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

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

Natasha Brinkmann: You. Um.

Amy Sherman: Welcome back to the show. Nirvana Sisters Family. So we are here. It is part two with Natasha B beauty junkie monkey. We she promised she'd be back. She's here. If you haven't listened to episode 96, go run and listen to that one. But Natasha B is a trained esthetician skincare expert and educator. You may know her as Beauty Junkie Monkey on TikTok, where she now has over 400,000 followers and lots of helpful skincare advice. She's just growing by the second because I think the last time we talked to you, you at 350, so you are just crushing it. We love all of her advice. The last session was amazing. We talked so much about different products and routines, and we're just going to continue that conversation and get into it. So thank you so much for being back on the show. Natasha, we love having you on.

Natasha Brinkmann: Oh, thank you for having me. This was way too much fun the last time. I'm like, we got to go to number two.

Amy Sherman: Absolutely. I know we still have product questions and different things like that, but we did want to make sure we touch on some of these skin treatments that we're seeing out there because I think there's so many, from micro needling to morpheus aid to the lasers to the this to the that. There's so many things. And we'd love to hear from you what your experience has been, if you recommend anything, who they're best for, all the different things that we're seeing around there.

Natasha Brinkmann: Absolutely. I have some personal experience. I will say out of the gate, I am not a licensed medical esthetician, so I don't do the lasers. I don't do the morpheus eight. Again, I still have a lot of friends in the industry, so I know that. And then, of course, with my clientele who had it done, I get a lot of feedback so I can talk about it based on that information. So I'm happy to provide that for myself. I have done a little bit of laser. I've got a little bit of filler in my lips. That's the only thing I'm really maintaining right now is just a little bit in the lips because I have those little French lips. As I age, they slowly dissipate. So I just put in just a half a syringe just to kind of back up. And I have done PoDoX in the past, Botox in the past, but I stopped it over last year because I was testing out other brands and one of my commentators said, well, how do you know how it really, really works? And I was basing it on how well it held my Botox for longer periods of time. That's how I was basing mine. And I thought, that's a very fair question. So begrudgingly, because I really love the results. I stopped using it. And I have to say, over the past, I'd say eight months, maybe. I think it's about eight months now. I haven't touched it since. And I'm just shocked because 48 years old, and I'm looking at myself going, well, I can live with that. I'm not perfectly wrinkle free, or you can see when face to face. But I don't mind the aging process. I just want to age well. And I think having a good skincare routine and then using medical aesthetics is a great thing to do. But it's really, really important to do it authentically and not to go overboard, because that's when the regret sets in, and that's when people start messing about with their face and they start going, what have I done? One of my personal pet peeves is the lip flip that they do with Botox. I've had a lot of friends get it done. And the problem is that you can't purse your lips anymore. And so eating, drinking, people can't eat properly because the food comes out of their mouth and stuff like that. And I'm like, I understand that the aesthetic part and what they're trying to do, but when you start changing how you look, because it's not natural to have that flip, right? Like most of us, either you have it or you don't. That's when you start changing, really, in my opinion, who you are. A little filler in a place that's already full, no problem. A little bit of filler here and there just to kind of touch it up. A lot of people are surprised I have lip filler. And I'm like, yeah, I only use half a syringe. I don't use a full syringe. I have, in the past, didn't like it. It was a little too much. And not that a lot of people would notice it, but I think for me, it was just like I like the subtlety of it. And that's one thing I've noticed for sure is, like, Botox is fantastic if you have those deep 11th between your eyes. Yeah, do it. Absolutely. Because product can only go so far. But yeah, I just wanted to say that right out of the gate, because I know we've seen some celebrities out there, and I'm just like, oh, no, sweetie, no.

Amy Sherman: I know. When you look like you can't even recognize them, it's so scary.

Katie Chandler: Also, I feel like I think that there can be a slow climb to this. Oh, my gosh, I've gone overboard. And I know one time I did, I think a little bit too much Botox. And I just remember looking at myself, thinking, like, I look a little weird. And it took a while for it to click that. Oh, I probably have a little bit too much Botox. Right now. Next time I should scale back a little bit. Like I would see myself in a phone. I'm like, Why are my eyebrows up to my hairline? What is going on with that crazy smile? So I think it's a good reminder when you are doing bone talks, if you get that feeling that might mean to pump the brakes. And also a really easy trick for that lip flip that is totally natural and easy to do is to just put some highlighter on your top lip line as well. It doesn't really give you the lip flip, but it gives an illusion of it. So don't go putting the Botox in there for that.

Natasha Brinkmann: Yeah, well, when it starts function, like you can't function and you can't chew it's like, nah, I'm horrible. I'm self conscious of that is not working. I want us to dribble it out of my mouth. I'm like, yeah, no, that's not thank you. Do I do that? No, I don't want to do the lip flip. I was just going to say right now, the little chin dimple seems to be a big deal. I'm like, really? This is a big deal? Careful with who you go to, because their job is to make money, and the more you spend, the more they make. And I mean, a good medical aesthetician will have that. Nice, okay, let's not overdo it or kind of talk you down and go, you know what? You look fabulous because you don't want to take away who you are. I have a little French bump here on my nose, and the first thing my husband said when we met is, like, you can never touch your face. You can never touch your nose. And I'm so grateful he said that, because you're right. That's who I am. It's part of me. It's part of what makes me me. And is it the perfect nose? No, but it makes the rest of my face, in my opinion, look perfect because it's me, right? And I want to look in the mirror and look at myself and go, oh, hey, that's still me with some of the procedures. I love laser treatments. They're incredible. And I think they're going to be the new microneedling coming out as they progress and they get better and better and better. Myself, I love to do the IPL laser or photofacial is what it's called, because it does so much, so it zaps out your hyperpigmentation. So if you have some really bad sunspots or freckles or really bad sun damage, it works so well, it just zaps it right out, and it naturally exfoliates out of your skin. It also helps to really stimulate collagen and elastin. So if you find that you're getting some of the deeper lines around the eyes, but you want to kind of treat that, then it's a nice way to slowly get that in there. And then when you pair that with your good products, you're going to have beautiful results. And I love how it tightens down the pores. So it really helps with texture, it helps with scarring. A couple of years ago, I was diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma on the edge of my nose. And that sucked because what people don't realize about skin cancer, the basal cell is it goes down like a trunk, but then it spreads like a tree root. So it's not that that basal cell will kill you, it's going to disfigure you because they have to dig out all around it. And I had a huge hole in my nose, which I kept covered meticulously for six weeks. And I think it's because I kept it covered, I kept it moist. I'm really good at wound care. It really started to progress very well. Even my dermatologist was like, wow, that's healing. And then I did get some laser because I did get a little bit of puckering around the edges, and you could see it. Like if I turned my head a certain way, you'd really see it. So what I ended up doing was I did five laser treatments, and now you can barely see it.

Amy Sherman: Yeah, it looks amazing. I've had actually a lot of basal cells, so on my face, it's genetic, and I've had a ton. So I'm crazy about the sun and stuff, too. But yeah, you can't even tell now when you say you got a laser for that. This is where I get confused, because I've heard about the IPO. I've never done it, but what kind of lasers, from what you know, what you've seen, what kind of lasers do you use? For what? Because you were saying that I imagine there's a laser that's better for healing a wound than explaining your face or whatever.

Natasha Brinkmann: Oh, yeah. No, again, not a laser technician, but what I know from my girl is that what it does is it goes in and it helps to stimulate the collagen underneath it. So it helps to really plump that back up. Then you can do more invasive like fractal. Fractal is a deeper laser. So you do need downtime for that. Because again, working with clients, I have clients that have had facelifts, half facelifts, the morpheus laser treatments. The biggest thing I can tell you from their experience is that you really have to be mindful of your recovery. So if you do not have two weeks where you can really baby your face, do not do it, because then you risk scarring, then you risk complications, then you risk swelling. You're going to have those anyways because that's all part and parcel of doing these more invasive IPL. You don't get that as much. It's not as invasive. But the fractal, you're going to be losing a few layers or when you do any type of acid treatments. My mother in law had that done, and oh my gosh, her face looked like hamburger meat. It was awful. It was awful.

Amy Sherman: Oh my God. Like so red, right?

Natasha Brinkmann: Oh, red. Raw. It started to look like yeah, look like hamburger meat. As it was, the top layers were coming off and she really had to be diligent about her care. I mean, her skin looked great afterwards, but again, it was very limited. She thought it get rid of all her wrinkles. No, it didn't. Right. It got rid of a lot of them, but the deep ones were still very there. So she was upset that she went through all of that and didn't get the results that she was looking for. Right. So that's the thing with these procedures, is we got to A, manage your expectations, and B, listen. Exactly. If they tell you avoid the sun for two weeks, we're talking avoidance. We're not talking, oh, I'll just pop in the car and run to the store. The radiation does penetrate through the window. Your skin is damaged. Putting radiation on damaged skin, bad idea. That's where scoring and pigmentation come into play. So that's one of the best things I can say about any treatment. Follow their advice, listen to them, be honest about what you have done, what you haven't had done. If you've done any type of retinol, they need to know this prior to you going in, because of course, that will affect how the skin responds with everything. Morpheus eight. I've heard mixed results with that. I've heard a lot of people have amazing and that's that deep. It's like a machine where they basically puncture. It's like micro needling, but it has a little bit of a current in there and it works really well at stimulate collagen. It's very good. Problem with that is A, you have to make sure that you have the proper technician that actually knows what they're doing. Because I had another client, she had it done, and she has these hundreds of little bumps all along her entire face and lower jawline.

Amy Sherman: Oh, my God.

Natasha Brinkmann: Yeah. So she went back to her technician, said, WTF what's going on? And her technician's words were, oops, I think I went too deep.

Amy Sherman: My God.

Katie Chandler: So is it permanent right now?

Natasha Brinkmann: It's there. We'll see if it stays there. I don't know if there's a laser that can help break up the scar tissue. I don't know. But that, to me, would be a deal breaker. And that's why when it comes to any type of micro needling, I'm really hesitant. I'm okay with a surface microneedling for just basic stuff, but even then, I'm like the benefits of a laser treatment outweigh the pain and discomfort, in my humble opinion, of doing like micro needling, which is pretty invasive. Right. So I guess it just all depends on what you're going for. But I'm really loving the lasers because they do work so very well.

Amy Sherman: Yeah, I've done. Micro needling. I haven't done lasers. I've done micro needling a bunch of times more surface, not like the morpheus eight where that scares me. But I have a very good person, and I love it, and I think it takes, like, years off of my skin or off of my face, but yes, have to go to someone who knows what they're doing. Like, I've been going to the same person when I first did it. I went a bunch of times, and now I'll do it like, once or twice a year to freshen me up. But yes, it's your point. If you go to the wrong person, forget it, you're done.

Natasha Brinkmann: Yeah, I agree. And that's the hardest part.

Katie Chandler: How often do you suggest lasers? How many times a year should someone, if they want to be on that track and doing lasers frequently? Is it like a twice a year thing? I have no idea.

Natasha Brinkmann: I guess it all depends. I know some technicians suggest doing it all throughout the year. Personally speaking, I like to do it either at the beginning of the year or the end of the year, of the summer months, simply because the damage from the sun is going to happen, whether you protect it as much as you can or not. So for me, it's like, well, I want to make sure that I prevent any for. I'm trying to do the preventative thing. I don't want to get skin cancer again. That was not fun. And I definitely want to prevent having all of that damage and that pigmentation. So for me, generally, I like to do it at the end of the season. So in the fall, because the sun's not as high, it's not as intense, it just seems like I save my money to say that I save my money, right, because it's not cheap. I do my entire face into my neck and my chest, and if she's feeling generous, she'll do the back of my hands. But every area, they charge you, so they're charging you everything. You want a little extra, you want a toe done, they're going to charge you $100.

Amy Sherman: Does it hurt?

Natasha Brinkmann: No. So what it feels like is it feels like a little snap. So if it does hit that pigmentation, you're going to feel that like a rubber band snap. But it's more shocking than anything. It's more of like, okay. And then once you kind of get used to it, then you're okay. If you have a lot of damage or a lot of pigment yeah. Just be aware. It's going to feel awful at first, but again, after a week to ten days, it looks so good, and there is no downtime. You're a little pink for a while. Your pigmentation gets a little bit darker as it comes out, so it looks worse, but then it comes out and the skin underneath looks lovely. The thing that I've noticed from my melasma clientele is not really a great idea. It just does not seem to it helps to pull some of it out, but Melasma has that basically is like a hormonal trigger. So once that switch has been flipped open and the pigmentation has been charged, it doesn't go away. And so it will admin flow. It'll get lighter, it'll get darker, but it'll never go away. So IPL, unfortunately, hit and miss results. A lot of my clients say they take it, they do it for Melasma, but then it comes back. But it is good.

Katie Chandler: It's also good for sunspots and everything, right?

Natasha Brinkmann: Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. So you kind of have to look at the big picture and like I said, what the expectations are on that. I'm really into lasers and PRP. I don't know if you guys have heard of that one yet.

Amy Sherman: I've done it. Yeah, with my microneedling.

Natasha Brinkmann: Oh, you have? Okay. So I have not tried it yet, but I had PRP, so plasma rich platelets. So that's where they take the blood out of your arm for those who don't know, and then they spin it into the device, and then all the rich plasma goes to the top, and they take that and they inject that into your wherever. Right. And I had that done on my knee after I tore my ACL and my meniscus last year. I was a little overzealous in my Zumba class.

Amy Sherman: And it helped, right?

Katie Chandler: I didn't know it did that. That's amazing.

Natasha Brinkmann: It is. It was so cool. Like, I had it done over a month ago, and now I can wear my heels. Like, this is a year long injury, so I can wear my heels again, which I'm obsessed with. I can move, I can dance again, I can twist again. I'm absolutely floored. It worked exceptionally well for me. It was worth the $500. Totally worth it. Yeah.

Amy Sherman: My friend did it for her shoulder, I think.

Natasha Brinkmann: Yeah. And I've heard nothing but good things, but then all of a sudden, they say, well, we can help if you have the deep crevice underneath the eyes, if you're having issues with the marionette lines, I'm like, oh, we can do that too. I know you can do it in the hair to help prevent hair loss. There's so much yeah, I'm going to be doing a little bit more looking into yes.

Amy Sherman: There's so many good things now. I mean, there's so much innovation going on. It's really cool.

Natasha Brinkmann: I was going to say one client did it, and she says I looked sensational. She loved it. And I'm like, well, that sold me.

Katie Chandler: That's all you need to hear.

Natasha Brinkmann: That's all I need. Sold.

Katie Chandler: I'm curious about what your thoughts are on these simple at home tools like our guacAs and our Jade Rollers and also the new face. Is it microelectric?

Natasha Brinkmann: Microcurrent devices.

Katie Chandler: Microcurrent, yes. What are your thoughts on those?

Natasha Brinkmann: So I'll tell you right out of the gate, the microcurrent devices are not strong enough for them to actually invoke a lot of change. You might see maybe 5%, maybe if you're lucky. Most people do not. And the thing with the at home devices is the hardest thing is consistency. That to me, I've had a lot of devices in my past, but I'll tell you, those microcurrent ones are a complete waste of time. Complete. They're just not strong enough. That's why when you go in clinic and they use it in clinic, you see results because it is strong enough. It's got somebody who's licensed. They know what they're doing. There's education behind that. So then that way that machine can be used properly. What they sell is just not strong enough. So you're never going to get the results. Jade rollers massaging tools. All they do is a nice Lymphatic draining. They do not tighten your skin. They do not firm up your skin. They do feel amazing. Like I'm just getting over a cold. And I always use mine over top of my sinus areas because I'm just like, this is bad. But it really does help kind of move everything out a little bit. Or if you're just one of those people, it just makes you feel like it's your time and you like the feel of it on your face while you're putting product in. No problem. Rule of thumb, make sure that your equipment is clean before you use it and clean after you use it. Right. Because you want to make sure that you're not spreading bacteria over your face. And most people don't clean their tools, and then they wonder why they break out the LEED. I am testing two versions out right now. So, like a body one and one for the face. It's still early, but I will say right out of the gate, if you have any type of issues with acne, this worked really, really well. I had three three pimples on the side that popped up, and I was kind of surprised because that doesn't happen for me. I usually don't break out like that. And they weren't going away, and it had been three weeks, and I'm like, I'm pulling out all my big guns. Like, I'm pulling out the salicylic acid. I'm doing all the little extra tricks I know. And it wasn't really like a couple of them would heal, and then they'd reinfect. And I'm like, okay, well, this is ridiculous. So when I got this Led mask to test, I put it on and within two days, they were gone.

Katie Chandler: That's interesting. Yeah, I bought both of those. I have the Led and the new face. And I've been using the new face religiously. The new face, I like it personally, but what I really think it is for me is it's more related to inflammation and lymphatic drainage. I have autoimmune disease, so I'm always inflamed. So I think it's kind of maybe doing a bit of the same action that the rollers or the gouache, like.

Natasha Brinkmann: Deepuffing removing the fluid, right? Absolutely.

Katie Chandler: At the same time, I have to do it pretty much every single day to still see what I'm seeing when I'm doing it. And last week I took a week off, and I was like, all right, I'm starting to look a little more puffy and droopy and blah. So I'm doing it again. But the Led, I have one, and I'm not using it, and I should because I have Acne. It's driving me nuts. So it's good to know that you feel like that's, really. When you were doing it for the Acne, did you do what light did you do? Does yours have the yeah, it's just.

Natasha Brinkmann: Like the red light therapy mask. Yeah, I posted it on. It looks ridiculous. I feel like Silence of the Lounge when I wear it. It covers your entire face, but it's really nice. It's convenient. You can still work with it on. It's got a timer on it. So, so far, my review so far is really good. It does help to tighten it down my pores even more, so I'm really enjoying that. I always want to make sure that the information I'm giving my clients and my audience is always really good, viable information so they can make an informed decision. I think it definitely has value, for sure. For certain skin types, the hardest thing for me is consistency. It's the hardest thing because it has to go on after you wash your face, and you have to let it on before you put on any serums, any lotions. Like, it has to go on clean skin. And for me, I have a routine like everybody else. I get up, I do my morning stuff, answer emails, got to go wash my face, and then I have my routine when I do my face. So to stop, put the mask on and make sure I get my ten minutes every day. Oh, okay. I didn't do it this morning, which I didn't. I have to do it tonight. Well, I was supposed to do it last night, and I just didn't get to it.

Amy Sherman: Yeah.

Katie Chandler: The mask is a hard one to do. I think that's why I can't get in the groove. The new face, I can do it with my morning routine. It's right there. But this mask, it's huge, and if it's not right in front of my.

Amy Sherman: Face, I forget to forget about it.

Natasha Brinkmann: Yeah, that's exactly it. But I'll tell you, when I get a zip, that sucker is going on.

Amy Sherman: It's maybe just a good tool to use when you're totally broken out. So moving in, I have a question about because I hear this word, I feel like it's a buzzword now, and I just want to understand what it actually means. Skin barrier. What does it mean? How do you treat it? What should we be thinking about when it comes to skin barrier? I don't really even understand what it means.

Natasha Brinkmann: Well, basically, it's the top layer of your skin really is what it is, right? So it's the top layer of the skin. And the reason why it's mainly compromised is people are overusing the acids, right? So they're using too many salicylic, glycolic, lactic acids or blends. They're not using the right acids for their skin type. Now, don't get me wrong, there are certain people that can use all different forms of acids, but certain ones work better than others for different skin types. And again, nobody talks about that. So that is why a lot of people, when they're doing or using too much retinol this week I've been featuring nothing but retinol.

Amy Sherman: Yes, I've been watching. Yes. So educational.

Natasha Brinkmann: Oh, thank you. Retinols. What they actually do is they kill off the top layer of your skin is basically what they're doing. That's why you get in the dry down. That's why your wrinkles look worse. The whole goal is because it wants to get the newer cells to hurry up, like to kick back into gear, which they do slow down. Like when we're in our twenty s and thirty s, it takes about 28, 31 days for our new skins from base all the way up. When we age, that can take two to three months of new skin cells. So that really slows everything down. And that's why retinol is so good. But because it's killed especially Tretinoin prescription strength, people just go right to the full monty and it's a horrible process. And some people can never get past a basic retinol, let alone some people can't use retinols. So you know what I mean? It's all about stimulating the skin, stimulating and getting everything up. But then you're compromising that skin barrier, and that's the biggest issue, because once it's compromised, so you're going to have larger pores, everything is going to look way more texture because it's inflamed, right? The pores are inflamed. Then you're going to have open little channels for bacteria and dirt. And if we didn't learn anything from COVID we really live in a very dirty environment 90% of the time, right? I don't want to be like a germaphool, but if you're susceptible to acne, that's not your friend, that's not going to help you. And when you're compromising it by using these too many acids in your cleansers and your toners, and then you're putting on your retinols, well, then it's a hot mess. And then you're going to age faster because your skin is not healed. It's not performing at its maximum capacity. So I know last one you talk about niacinamide. Niacinamide is a component of the skin barrier. It's something that fortifies the cell walls within the skin barrier. The other thing that you really need to be cognizant of is your lipids, your fats. So the lipids are naturally occurring in your skin. They're created by your sebaceous gland, so your oil gland. So have you ever noticed people with really oily skin age, like, incredibly.

Amy Sherman: Barely, like no wrinkles.

Natasha Brinkmann: Yes, it's because of that fattiness that supports. So think of your skin as bricks, like you see on a house, and the fatty acids or the lipids are in between. That's your mortar. So when it comes to skincare, what you want to do is you want to tack it three ways. You want to keep the fatty acids in there so that's your lipids and your ceramides. Then you want to also keep in the hydration, so your hyaluronic acids. And then you want to keep the structural support so that's your niacinamide. So all of a sudden, you have three ingredients that you need in your skincare routine on a daily basis as you're aging, that I just talked about, that you can now do. And Skin Fix just came out with a brand new barrier serum that I'm absolutely obsessed about. I had a commenter, said, how come your marionette lines aren't as deep? Like, are you using a filter? And I'm like, no, this is me. And I was like, I am testing out a new product. And I'm kind of hush hush about stuff because it's so new for me, but my skin is so thin and so dry. I find that products really amplify very quickly for me. So I usually know within about two weeks if something's working or not. And I've been really helping with this.

Amy Sherman: I have to try that. I know we were talking about a bunch of skin fixed products last time, and that's a new one. I got to try that.

Natasha Brinkmann: It's a new one. I just pulled up my list. Here, let me pull. I can save the list. I love my list. Yeah, if it works, it goes on my list. Okay, so it's called the skin fix barrier. Oh, hang on. My apologies. So skin fix barrier triple lipid collagen niacinamide activating serum that sounds like a triple whammy. It is. Now, I didn't go into the full details yet of the ingredients, so I just want to make sure that the collagen or collagen peptides, because if it's basic collagen, collagen molecularly is too big, it's not going to penetrate the skin. I'm assuming these are the lipids. So I have to go back and still do some research on it because, again, I'm still technically testing. But I'm just letting you guys know I'm kind of excited because it's really nice.

Amy Sherman: Yeah, it sounds really nice.

Katie Chandler: Back to the skin barrier thing. Do you find that a lot of people with premature aging and premature wrinkles, it just has a lot to do with that skin barrier is compromised, and they're like dehydration lines, and those things can be fixed relatively easily. Like if you're 36, 40, whatever it may be, and you've got a lot of little fine lines, it's probably that your skin is dehydrated, your skin barrier is compromised, and you can start to just use the right products and the right routine and snap back really quickly, right?

Natasha Brinkmann: Absolutely. As long as you're diligent with it and you're doing it every day. Yeah, absolutely. Keep it plump, keep it plump, keep it hydrated. Yeah. There's a huge difference between oily and hydration. Hydration is inside the skin. Oiliness is outside the skin, which you need because it protects that barrier. Again, it's that nice glossy over. I mean, I know a lot of people who are oily hate it because it's too much. Right. It's too much of the shellac, if you will. But a nice layer is really good because it does protect the skin, and it does give it that nice little barrier. Like, little things can bounce off of it, and it's like, you shall not pass. You're not coming in. It's important. But at the same time, hydration is key. And so if you're starting to see fine lines and wrinkles really quickly, you're probably dehydrated even my wrinkles on my main forehead, like my main line right in here. If I can keep that plump, it looks half as deep just by plumping it back up.

Amy Sherman: I was going to ask you about oil. I have, like, an oil cleanser that I use, which I love. It feels so good, but I also see people use just oils that they don't wash off. Are those good for you? I have very dry skin, too, so to me, it would seem like putting on an oil would be good. I just don't like the only oil I have is a cleanser. But are there certain oils that you would recommend for dry skin that you could keep on the skin that are helpful?

Natasha Brinkmann: Oh, yeah. There's tons of amazing oils. I call it skin glazing. So it's something that I throw in routines when people like you and me, we're really dry skin. That would be something I put at the end of the routine at night. So skin glazing is basically taking so you have all your water based products, right, and you put them over top of the skin, and then as you sleep, all that starts to absorb, but you also do dehydrate throughout the night. It does evaporate. So when you put something over top of it, either like Vaseline or oils, which I prefer because of the texture, it basically creates, like, a little pot, a little lid on the pot, and allows all your products, your water based products, to really absorb into the skin and keeps the top layer really hydrated. So you're getting the best you're sandwiching it in there, and you're making sure.

Amy Sherman: That this is very happy.

Natasha Brinkmann: And my favorite oil in the whole wide world and still to this day, is Herbivore Phoenix Oil.

Amy Sherman: I actually have that. And it's funny, I bought that. I mean, it's probably expired by now, but I remember buying that, and I didn't really know how to use it because it was before I was into all this stuff. Really, it was like I was just starting to experiment, and I didn't know. But now that you're saying to wear it at night, that makes sense. I had no idea how to use it.

Natasha Brinkmann: You just put it over top of your nighttime.

Amy Sherman: It just kind of sinks in at night.

Natasha Brinkmann: Yeah, it stays a little bit more on top, but you just kind of pat it in. And I call it skin glazing because you look like a glazed donut. When I tell people glazed, I want you to look lazy. I don't want you to look like a plain donut. We want full glow.

Amy Sherman: Love a glazed donut. Along with the glazed nails, too. We were talking about should we get into our wrap session, Katie?

Katie Chandler: Well, before we do, I want to hear Natasha's routine.

Natasha Brinkmann: I'm just so curious.

Amy Sherman: We need to know your morning and your night routine.

Natasha Brinkmann: Yeah, that's not fair. I'm testing I'm testing products right now, so I'm always testing. Let me be.

Amy Sherman: Yes. If you weren't testing and you were just like a normal vacation day, something like that, yeah.

Natasha Brinkmann: Okay. Would I have to be on budget? No budget. Whatever you budget. Oh, my God. Okay. No budget. I probably still use the same cleanser that I have, which is the ordinary squealing cleanser, because it's just perfect for my skin. Anything like a richer emollient is really nice on dry skin, so I love that. Or the skin fix. They have a really nice foaming oil cleanser, so any one of those would be fantastic. If I could. For makeup removing, I would do the two botanicals. The turmeric makeup removing balm is sublime. I want to do, like, a downward dog yoga pose while I'm wearing it because it's not so good. It's just amazing. For my serums daytime, there is a new product from Emk Beverly Hills called the Rescue Serum, and it's a proprietary blend, which I'm not a fan of because they usually typically don't work. But when I tried this very high end Beverly Hills, this bottle is, like, $250, and I'm really obsessed with it. I keep going back thinking, I really liked how it firmed up my skin, tightened, brightened my skin. It's just one of those ones where it just stood out from a lot of the other products I've tested. So I love that one. I definitely love the skin fix. The new one I was talking about the activating serum, because that's keeping me juicy and plumpy, so I'd probably keep that in there. And I'd have to see how the chubula would work from True botanicals, because I just ran out, and I'm really missing it. So I would use that.

Amy Sherman: This is all morning.

Natasha Brinkmann: This is all morning.

Amy Sherman: Okay, just clarifying, because we might copy this routine.

Natasha Brinkmann: Yeah. Again, this is based on me and my needs. I know. I'm just trying but with that being said, the moisturizer, I would probably either use the cocoa kind or the skin fix. Because I love both. The cocoa kind really is juicy and plumpy, but right now it's super, super dry here in Alberta. So I'd probably stick with the skin fix until the humidity went up a little bit.

Amy Sherman: The cocoa kind one like, what is cocoa kind?

Natasha Brinkmann: Awesome. It's a smaller company, but they have what's called poly. Let me find the name so I say it properly. You can buy it online.

Amy Sherman: Yeah, it's a brand.

Natasha Brinkmann: I just haven't resurrection polypeptide cream. It's almost like tatcha. So it looks like the Tatcha dewy water cream, but it's more plumpy. You get a lot more plump out of it. It's gorgeous.

Amy Sherman: So is that like, better during the day, not as both day or night. Okay.

Natasha Brinkmann: Or night? Yeah, you could use it both day or night. I love it because even my oily clients love it because it plumps them up, it gives them that fullness, but it doesn't make them feel oily or extra. You know how sometimes you have a moisturizer on, feels oily or not? Yeah, exactly. And it doesn't do that. So I love that one. So that would probably be my day. And then my SPF, of course, would be either my isn't tree SPF or my ilia, which is my tinted moisturizing serum, which I use all the time. And I adore that one. My nighttime would look very much the same as the morning, so except I would so wash my face. Then I would probably use either. Well, I'm waiting for Topology. Their argline solution is incredible, but they've been out of stock because they kind of went viral last year, so they're trying to play catch up. They have the best arguine solution to date that I've tested.

Amy Sherman: I know, I've watched her videos on that. I really want to try it.

Natasha Brinkmann: Oh, it's nice. And I'd even like their stick. Like, I'm digging out my stick right now because they're out of all of it. Come on. And they're matrixal. I love skin divas matrixal synthetic six. I would say neck and neck with topology. Like, it is sensational. And that one, I would use either one of those two. Then I would probably use my Beverly Hills emk serum, rescue serum, then that skin fix serum. And then I'd probably put on my retinol. I'm really in love with mailov right now. They have a retinol, so it's a step up from retinal instead of a retinol. So it's al. So it's a step up higher and it's a bright yellow. And I think it's called moonlight here.

Amy Sherman: You mentioned it last time, and I actually bought it.

Natasha Brinkmann: I haven't tried it yet. So this is something once you've done a retinol for a long time and you're feeling like, okay, I'm not really seeing fine lines. Still don't seem to be kind of progressing as well as I want. Then you would move up to this one. And I love it. I really love it. The longer I use it, the better my skin looks. And I'm obsessed.

Katie Chandler: The matrixel, is that just a nighttime thing? Because I've been using it day and night, so I need to switch to only night.

Natasha Brinkmann: Well, it can be used day. Right? There's lots of options that you can use. It's just it can't be used with vitamin C because it breaks down the bonds. So that's the trick. And if you're using a vitamin C during the day or a niacinamide, then you're covered. Like niacinamide can be used with matrixal, just not vitamin C. So it depends. I would change up my routine, though, because I love putting in certain things at certain times of the year. I also love to do copper peptides because that's a real great way. Like if you have that face dump where your face looks like it just gave up on you and you've lost all of that, and it happens. I think I got it at 46. I noticed the face dump, I'm like, what the hell? I've been loving you. What is going on? So I have to say that was a shocker. And then I got onto the copper peptides from Biosense, which is superior to the ordinary. I just want to say that because most people that try the ordinary don't see results. But with the copper peptides from Biosense, when I do like a whole bottle of that, my skin just plumps right back up and I love it. I always get, oh, you've got filler in your face. No, I'm just plumping it up.

Amy Sherman: The old and you use that at night, the copper peptides, but you can.

Natasha Brinkmann: Use it during the day. Again, in retinol weeks, she goes, Can I do copper peptides during the day and then retinols at night? Yeah, you can, and you know what, that's probably something I should try.

Amy Sherman: So after your retinol, you were talking about the retinol from May Love. Do you do moisturizer on top of that?

Natasha Brinkmann: Always moisturize, and if it's really dry, I put oil over top of that. Or like the topology has the caviar stick, which is really rich. So I'll put that on or I'm still, like I said, digging out the argoline stick that has a nice rich.

Amy Sherman: Hanging on to every last ingredient.

Natasha Brinkmann: Yeah, when you find something you love and you obsess over, that's why I share it, because I'm like, no, I only share what I feel is really good. I do share stuff. That's okay because everybody's budget is very different. But generally speaking, if it works, I talk about it. If it doesn't work, I just don't talk about it.

Amy Sherman: Yeah, no, it's so helpful. Okay, so I think we should get into a wrap session so we don't lose you and lose the answers. Okay, so quick answers. What is your favorite wellness or beauty hack?

Natasha Brinkmann: My favorite or one of your favorites? Definitely laser treatments. That to me is like a solid underscore and a little filler here or there. Like I said, for my lips, that will always be in my routine, for sure. And just the consistency of my routine. That, to me, is like my religion. That's my time. I love doing that.

Katie Chandler: The next one is your five minute flow. You just got out of the shower and dried off Ubers pinged you and they're five minutes away. So you're going to do your skincare routine that you just told us really quickly, and then what are you going to do to get out the door and get in that Uber on time in five minutes? Yeah, put it this way.

Amy Sherman: You don't have time to do that whole skin routine. Like, what are those Holy Grails that you're like, all right, if I don't put on anything else, I got to put on these things to get up.

Katie Chandler: Boom, boom, boom. Yeah, there you go.

Amy Sherman: Isn't that a hard question?

Natasha Brinkmann: That would be really hard because I would probably slap every **** thing I just quickly as I could, throw in my ilia, put my hair in a bun, and then, yeah, throw in some rule of lemons and hope to God I don't have anything sticking out of my pants. I would definitely throw in a couple of serums, probably a couple of my serums if this was the morning I'd put on. So again, one of my serums, or the one that I was talking about, skin fix and then moisturizer and then ilya over top because it's a tinted moisturizing.

Amy Sherman: That's a great one.

Natasha Brinkmann: And it gives me my SPF. It gives me everything all in one. And that would probably be the quickest thing, but I would never be late. That doesn't happen. I need my beauty routine. I have my time set aside so I have enough time to I know.

Amy Sherman: And it is relaxing, I find.

Katie Chandler: So true. All right, and the last one is, how do you maintain your daily nirvana? Maybe it's your beauty routine that maintains your nirvana.

Natasha Brinkmann: Well, you know what? It's funny because my husband and I, we do every night, we do five things we're grateful for every single night. And it's just something that we kind of got into just to stay grounded and stay in the moment, because life can get really crazy. And my husband has been dealing with colon cancer for the last four years, which we finally thank you, but we believe we're at the end of it now. And for us, it helped us keep us grounded. So you didn't get stuck in the fear. It was more for the mental health, but now we don't stop. Like last night, I'm like, do you want to do the five things we're grateful for? He goes, I'm so tired. Let's do it tomorrow. I'm like, okay. And then 2 seconds later, he goes, no, it doesn't feel right not to do it. So now it's our routine, and we just say five things. It could be anything simple, like, I'm just really grateful I had great clients today, or I'm grateful my cold is finally giving up things like that. And it changes. And we try to make sure we don't say the same thing over and over again because then it kind of takes away from the exercise. But that's what I yeah, that's really good.

Amy Sherman: I love that.

Katie Chandler: Yeah, it's a great practice. Wonderful. Well, Natasha, we are so incredibly grateful for your time and honestly, like, pen and paper and notes. So when you're listening to this episode and maybe listen to it a couple.

Amy Sherman: Everything will be in the show notes.

Natasha Brinkmann: Don't worry.

Katie Chandler: I have to hear the details over and over again on when to do this, at what time. And so, yeah, I think our listeners, this episode is going to be downloaded multiple times by lots of people.

Natasha Brinkmann: So thank you for your time.

Amy Sherman: Don't forget to follow Natasha B on TikTok on Instagram. Will you tell us your handles again, just so everybody knows?

Natasha Brinkmann: Yes, I'm on TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram. And Instagram is natasha beauty junkie monkey. Facebook is beauty junkie monkey. And TikTok is Beautyjm zero.

Katie Chandler: Got it. All right, well, before we go, we like to wrap with a little mantra or quote or just friendly reminder. So I think we're talking about all this beauty. So I kind of liked this one. To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don't need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself. Self acceptance, do your little beauty routine to make you feel good.

Natasha Brinkmann: Accept yourself. Exactly.

Amy Sherman: And embrace yourself. Exactly. And just want to say thank you again for all your time. We could literally spend hours talking about.

Natasha Brinkmann: This stuff with you.

Amy Sherman: We just really value your time and I know our listeners will, too, so you can come back anytime. We'd love to have you as much.

Natasha Brinkmann: As you want to.

Amy Sherman: Come on, because this is just so helpful and learning how to take care of our skin and ourselves. So much fun. Thank you again.

Natasha Brinkmann: You're very welcome. And thank you, Katie and Amy, for having me and reaching out to me. This was amazing. I enjoyed it very, very much. And I'd be happy to come back. So maybe we can do a third one. Love it. Absolutely.

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

Episode 96 - Acids & Peptides & Ceramides Oh My! Answering Your Skincare Product Questions With Natasha Brinkmann (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast episode 96.

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 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.

Unknown:0:18

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

Amy:0:27

Welcome back to Nirvana sisters, Nirvana sisters family. It's Amy and Katie, and we are joined by Natasha Brinkman or Natasha b Who is a trained esthetician, skincare expert and educator. You may know her as beauty junkie maki on Tik Tok, where she has over 350,000 followers. That's how we found her so much amazing skincare advice we trust all her recommendations and all of her insight. Natasha is very unique in her field because she's completely independent of any brand. And this provides her with unbiased opinions on all skincare lines. She thrives on finding each diamond product that each brand has and shares it within her community giving others the best bang for their buck. So Natasha is online consultations, business consultation business is worldwide. She designed skincare routines for those around the world. And her success has her completely booked for the next six months. So hopefully the Nirvana sisters family can get in sooner than that. But we are so glad to have you here. Natasha, thank you so much for joining us today.

Unknown:1:28

Oh, thank you, Amy. I sincerely appreciate that.

Amy:1:31

Awesome. Well, we are going to start out we have so many questions. But before we start out, we just want to take a step back and do our nirvana of the week, something that brought us joy, happiness this week that we can reflect upon. And I will hand it over to Katie, to give us her Nirvana the week.

Unknown:1:45

Oh, thanks. So really quickly. Before I do that, I just want to say hi to Natasha and I'm so happy you're here because you single handedly saved my skin. And we'll get into why here shortly. But I think my I have probably like two Nirvana's one that happened, and then a future one for tomorrow. But I am traveling for the first time for work and a few long time not a few years, a long time. And it's just been kind of a Nirvana and it's Oh, and it's fun. It's fun to be like on the road. And I'm working for a great client. And while I miss my family, it's it's it's just been kind of exciting to do all of this stuff again. So that was a nirvana. And then my next one is tomorrow, we're in Baltimore. And I'm in Baltimore for my client, and my kids and my husband are going to come and meet me. And we're going to go to the aquarium here. And I'm so excited because it's really like one of the best aquariums in the country and my girls love and aquarium. So it'll just be a really fun day. I'm excited. What about you, Amy?

Amy:2:39

Oh, that's cute. So I would say my run of the week was last night. So I went out for girlfriend's birthday. It was just four of us, and had a great meal. And it's just so fun when you go out with great friends really close friends, and you just have those different conversations that you don't have with other people. So we laughed, we cried. We just the range of topics we talked about. Were just so funny. And so age appropriate. It was just like a great. It was just a great night. So I really appreciated that because I haven't had a good like connection with girlfriends in a couple weeks. So it was just really, really nice. What about you Natasha

Unknown:3:11

being here. This is very exciting for me, I was pretty, I was pretty stoked. I'm like, No, we gotta do this. So this is definitely my moments.

Amy:3:21

Oh, love to hear that.

Unknown:3:23

Yeah, thank you. All right. Well, before we kick it off, I'm going to just tell you my really quick Natasha B story because like I said, You saved my skin. I was using an exfoliant every day as my face lotion as serum Sunday Riley's good genes, which is a great product, but I didn't know how to use it. I was using it wrong. And I came across your content. And I started watching your videos and you taught me what an exfoliant is and why shouldn't be using it every day. Maybe my skin likes it once a week. So literally, you saved my skin. My skin was an absolute mess for maybe the last year it was dry. It was flaky. It was red. It was watching. It was acne. It was oily and it was everything. Everything. So thank you, Natasha. Oh, I love hearing this. This is this is why I do what I do. It's it's it's there's so much information out there. And they don't teach people how to take care of their skin. They don't teach people that skincare products do different things for different skin and different skin types. You know, like one person can use an acid every single day and have absolutely amazing skin. But that's a small percentage. And my biggest rant right now is I'm sure you saw is all about using Ha's and BH A's, which are acids in your cleanser and in your toners and then using it other active ingredients with it. It's just it turns into a hot mess and then you unbalanced the skin and then you're wondering where what the heck happened to my face was good and then it wasn't good. And then you keep doing the same things over processing and it just becomes a just accumulation of a hot mess as I like to call it. That's exactly

Amy:4:59

yeah, and it's to true because you're right, there's so much information out there and everyone wants to try all these products. But if you don't know how to use them and you don't know how to use them for your skin and you're not working with someone like you or someone that actually like, has expertise, you can totally mess up your skin. Well and

Unknown:5:15

also those products they always say on the bottle use day and night, like they say us once or twice a week, depending on what your skin can handle or any you know, it's like it's so it's very misleading. So having said that, let's break down what some of these products are because we're hearing a lot of buzzwords on nice synonymized exfoliants. Like you said, Ajay BHA, of course, the vitamin C's and the peptides. So give us kind of a 101 on what all those things are. So your Ha's and BHA so your alpha hydroxy acids and your beta hydroxy acids, those are basically your acids, your exfoliant. And right now, what's kind of being pushed in the industry is using that in your cleanser and your toner, specifically, if you have problematic skin, meaning if you have a breakout or two or acne skin, but the problem is, is that I don't know about you guys, but most of the people that I talk to when I say well, I have acne, it's really bad. And they're really bad is like three breakouts on the chin. So there's a there's a bit of a misconception of what acne skin looks like and what how bad a breakout is, might be bad for you, because that's outside your norm. But that's kind of like the biggest kind of people's interpretation of what acne skin or breakout skin can be. It's very broad, very broad. So of course, companies put it out there, oh, well, we use a small amount, we use a small amount. But I always go back to the old saying, Well, if you have a piece of wood, and it just needs a little sanding, and you sand it down just a little bit, then it's perfect. Right? It looks it feels good, it looks good. You can put the oils on it and hydrates, it looks great. But if you keep filing it down, falling down, falling it down, you start getting rough edges and that glow, and you start getting you know what I mean? Like the little pics of the over filing it, it's a kind of a crude way of putting it. But that's kind of how I look at using acids in your skincare. This is definitely has its place. And yes, there's certain skin types that can use acids on a daily basis, but you don't have to use it on a daily basis. Remember, companies want to sell you their product, that is their main goal, right. And very few, very few companies actually design a skincare for people or their routines because in fairness, that's tough to do. Everybody has different needs in that area. So that's where I have an issue with the hspgs being in cleansers and toners because most people don't need it there. They need it as a treatment separately on a different night. So he is nbha. So he has your your glycolic acid, your lactic acid, your Mandelic Acid, your A z like acid, those are your acids, they they take off the surface area of the skin, BHA is your salicylic acid, that's the stuff that actually goes down deep into the pore and cleans it out almost like like a little washing machine just goes in there and cleans it right out. But it doesn't really talk touched the surface area, but it can dry out the surface area. So you when you have a combination of I have really bad blackheads and I have really bad oil production then yes, and ah a slash BHA. So usually it's a blend of lactic acid, glycolic acid is what's going to be beneficial for your skin type. But if you're like me and you're dried, dehydrated skin, lactic acid is your best friend because it's a humectant and pulls moisture to your to itself. So it's not as aggressive as a glycolic, which is a smaller molecule and can really get in there and try it on the skin. So

Amy:8:39

I have a question. So all of those acids you talked about are? Are they in the category of exfoliators? Or is it okay? So are the those are the kind that like, like Katie was mentioning, like good genes where you keep it on? But what about the exfoliators? Like the ones that are textured, you know, that you just put in your face and rinse off? Is that like a different category? Because I never know which you should be using both different like, how does that work?

Unknown:9:04

Well, there's enzymes, right? And then there's a manual exfoliants right. So you manuals are like those microbeads that were really big, like 1020 years ago, remember those and they were like awesome. And then we found out oops, they're not perfectly spherical. And we're causing micro tears in the skin, which can cause pigmentation and you will basically you're opening up the skin for any type of bacteria and breakouts. But we realized that's not great. Not to mention that microbeads weren't exactly being manufactured. Well, there's some cheaper versions, which we found were polluting the environment. So you know, there's a lot of stuff that we've kind of learned throughout the years. Nowadays, I like to stay away from doing a manual abrasion type of peel. I really liked that they were really focused more on the HSBA Chase and there's different levels of course, but I really liked that because again, the other thing I noticed working with people is that people can be very heavy handed. You know when they're exfoliating they would just sit there and grind it into their skin and like oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no no living organism. To Be gentle. I always say touch your face like you're touching a baby how you would How will you press a baby that's that's the kind of pressure you really want to do on your skin. You know legs and arms. That's completely different story but your face you should really touch it like it's a baby. So I personally there it does have its place in certain situations, but I tend to like to go more towards the the acids that you can use, like the ones from the ordinaries. They work really, really great. Polish choice has really good ones out there. formulations. Yeah, well, it's choice. Yeah, Polish choice switched from Sunday Riley's good genes, I think it was just too much. And like the fact that it's serum and you leave it on, I feel like it was kind of stripping my skin. So now I'm using the polished choice, but I only use it twice a week. Well, that's no That's exactly it. You use it less than you probably get better better skin out of it. Yeah. So what are what are let's get into like serum mites and the vitamin serum mites or night. Serum right and a nice and am I the same thing or no? No, not really. So nice cinema. It said I'm sorry, it fortifies the cell walls. So what it's a vitamin B three, I guess is the best way to put it. And and what it does is it helps to fortify those cell walls. So you guys can see me this is what like a poor would do. And whenever anybody is talking to me about texture, like I have a lot of texture, I have a lot of oil production, my skin barrier is compromised, it's not doing so well. What that does is it basically helps to heal those cell walls. And it helps to keep them nice and firm and taut. It's nice, that image should be technically used with everybody. It is so good. Any and every skin type can use it because when you fortify those cell walls, again, you bring down texture, so you stop getting that huge bumpiness in the skin that people find when they have oily skin. It also brings down inflammation. It's a powerful powerful antioxidant. So that works exceptionally well against the elements. Not to mention it does help brighten up the skin as well. And it also it another little superpower it has is it helps to regulate your sebum production, which is your oil glands. So it helps to relax that hyperactive sebaceous secretion that people with oily or oily magnetic skin have and it just calms it down. But the problem with niacin amide is it takes time, it takes time to kick in. And a lot of people they're like, Oh, I've used it for two weeks, I've done nothing. Well, no, it hasn't even done a skin cycle. A skin cycle would be basically from we the general consensus is between 28 to 31 days, but as we age, it slows down. So that means you're probably going to have to wait a little bit longer for your skin products to actually kick in and work. And it can take anywhere between three to six months for nice to the mind to really kick in for certain people. So and things like that are kind of what are going to help rebuild the cell wall. Of course, Sarah might also help to fortify the cell walls within the skin so you're not compromising the barrier and that's how you keep the skin looking nice and juicy and plump and not red. Okay,

Amy:12:48

so for niacin amide. Can you use it morning and night? Absolutely. Absolutely. And what is the difference between nice and amide and hyaluronic so hyaluronic acid so from what I know is like very hydrating but it's not as it's not the same asset as like the AGM BJs we were talking about before. Okay, and so I always I always get confused on the difference between nice and amine and hyaluronic because it feels like those two ingredients are in everything or Yeah,

Unknown:13:17

and for good reason. They work really really well together. Like if you have compromised skin barrier or rosacea skin or acne skin, anything like that thin skin, what hyaluronic acid specifically be five it's really unique because the hyaluronic acid pulls moisture to itself like a like a little sponge. But the B five actually helps to hydrate the cell walls in between. So it's like a little bit extra extra. When you do that you fortify the cell walls with a niacin amide you got a really nice happy little marriage of two really solid ingredients that really help to keep the skin firm, juicy, plump and hydrated. The thing with serums that you really have to remember is they are not your moisturizer, so you cannot put a hyaluronic acid and then a niacin amide and then go out and go, Oh, my skin looks dry and dull and it's it's cracking and it's well yeah, because that's not a hydrator it says it's a serum it is serums are basically like what's the best way to describe that? Your multivitamin, your dose of what you're trying to do for your skin to help get your skin nice and healthy. And then are the are the peptides the what is the Yeah, what are the peptides and what is the skin see in the moisturizer, the next step that we want to protect our skin barrier. So when it comes to peptides, there's like, oh, there's a lot. There's like different forms of peptides. There's hydrating peptides, they're stimulating peptides, they're neuron peptides that help to like the RB line or Carolina some people call it I'm Canadian, so I called it our Dline but but basically like that's kind of a neuron peptidic tells the muscles not to move as much or as deep or as penetrative. Then you have Matrixyl 3000 Which is really exciting again, was not big in the field when it back in the day. I'm glad I'm back in it now, but back in, oh gosh, 20 years ago when there was no metrics, so I don't think it came into play until like early 2000, I believe somewhere like that. So the skincare game has changed considerably. And peptides have really make a comeback. Now, there's a lot of people out there that have different varying opinions about peptides. And I, I read the research on it. So when I look it up, I'm like, it doesn't sound too promising, but what the heck, I'm going to try it. That's why I test everything that I talked about. Because I you know, I'm skeptic like everybody else. And I'm also very curious because I've also known throughout the years that you can't just look at it blindly with one set of eyes, you have to try it from different angles and see what works and what doesn't work. And for me peptides really has changed the game for a lot of women and men out there who are just trying to plump up and juice up their skin and just kind of give it the best bang. So peptides, like Metrix are exciting because they stimulate collagen and elastin production, which slows considerably as you age. And there's different versions of them different formulas, like for instance, if you're in your late 20s, early 30s. And you want like just to get a good all round peptide. The ordinary has there used to be called buffet, but I believe they calling it a polypeptide or something like that. It was an incredible formulation of different types of peptides in there, and it worked exceptionally well. I really, really love that one. But for me, I'm a huge fan of metrics or metrics or synthetic six, which is is that like a CRM, or is it a moisturizer? Yeah, it's a serum. And again, there's a lot of products that will either put it in a serum, so it's almost like your power packed your your major dosing, or they'll put it in your moisturizer, which has, you know, hit Miss results, right? Because when you put the more ingredients you put together, you're not not they don't always work, Senator son, I can't even say it today synergistically. They don't always do that perfectly together. But the same can be said about a syrup, like certain serums are just basic, and they kind of fall flat. Not because the active ingredient isn't good. It's because it's not being supported by the other ingredients that help to enhance it. So that's something I'm still learning like I I'm still doing a lot of research and going in through a whole bunch of different products. But I've been so busy doing consultations that it's kind of slowed that down a little bit. So I'm trying to get back into my you know, my groove,

Amy:17:22

I just I'm, I got a little like trial size of something called I just looked it up. It's a moisturizer, it's, it's by the brand Skinfix and it's called barrier plus and it says triple lipid peptide peptide cream. I've been using it at night, and it's really moisturizing. It feels so good, especially in the winter and I love it I don't know if it's the peptides or whatever it is but like it's just really really like creamy and thick and moisturizing. But that had peptides in it and that's what I was gonna ask you like she doesn't even work in the cream doesn't it's Yeah, it sounds like it's better to put it directly on your skin versus to a moisturizer but it doesn't hurt if it's in a moisturizer, right?

Unknown:17:59

No and there's different forms like there's hundreds of different forms of peptides out there. Right so once in this Skinfix triple lipid peptide cream. Those are really big on the lipids on the fatty acids that are within that skincare so you're not going to see a trixl in that you're going to see different forms of peptides in there. And those are the ones that protect the skin barrier. They're really heavy in the Sara mites so it's really like Skinfix is one of my cult favorites. We love that one. I said I say to all my clients if I was in clinic, I would have a wall of it with that because of the different formulations because it is so effective. So effective, no good and it's hydrating, but it doesn't. What's the best way to put it it's hydrated but it's not oily. And they love the receipt at all you know and for those that are really oily kind of oily econetic Skin their gel formulation is sensational. I absolutely love it. So those are two products and I think that's why I liked the Skinfix so much because it's a little bit more user friendly for the majority of those skin types out there. Yeah, they also have a really good product to have their their cleansers are also a favorite of mine. So they have the basic cleanser which is there my friends might have my list let me pull up my list.

Amy:19:11

Oh we love to have I have

Unknown:19:13

once I've checked once I've tested it and I deem it worthy I know that sounds so sounds so funny. I feel like a little queen in my little realm here but I didn't be worthy it makes my list. Basically basically it means I can recommend this to other people comfortably and say you're probably going to do pretty good with this. Everybody has their different experiences but this is kind of how I do mine but it's called the foaming oil hydrating cleanser which is absolutely sensational. It will not it will not compromise your skin barrier. It's not going to wreck it. It is safe for pretty much every skin type out there. But here's the thing for people with really oily skin and I'm not talking just T zone but those that suffer from really oily skin chronically. They're they're foaming clay cleanser spectacular because the CLAY actually helps absorb all that extra oil and when you pair that with you're using a niacin amide serum which is going to help bring down the hyperactive sebaceous secretion. And then you use perhaps their, I believe it's called their skin barrier nice that it might restoring gel, you're still keeping that hydration level up in the skin so the oil glands don't go crazy. And the nice citta might help to fortify and reduce the extra hyperactive sebaceous secretions. So it's a beautiful I love I love those products.

Amy:20:26

Love it. And then I know we talked I don't know if we asked you this before when we were talking about the H nbha. Is do you have I know we mentioned Polish choice? Do you have other brands that like what else what's on your list for for the exfoliators

Unknown:20:38

I have lots again, and it all depends on the individual and the type. So for me lactic acid 10% The ordinary it's, it's a cheap, awesome trick that works just just works brilliantly. L'Oreal Revitalift 10% glycolic serum. Absolutely awesome. And you can use you can just get it at your local Drug Mart and glad a glycolic acid is really good for normal skin types. You know, not too oily, not too too dry, kind of right in the middle. It's wonderful. And I like it that it's in a serum because it's a little bit more hydrating than your typical glycolic toner that you can get from the ordinary, you know, like that one, I'm not a fan of as much because it's really drying on the skin. So for me, it's kind of like oh, you know that one, I'll tell you a good trick about that. One side note. If you have really bad callus heals, throw on like put a little pouch pad of the glycolic serum, wipe it on your heels and put your moisturizer overtop skin changer. You're gonna have to try that. Yeah, it's a great little trick that it's fantastic of for people with really thick, oily skin, they can come they can get away with it, but it's not my favorite formula because like I said, it's pretty dry. And my my theory is I'd rather keep it a little bit more hydrating. That's why I like the glycolic serum from L'Oreal Revitalift. Because it's a little bit more hydrating, it's a little bit more supportive.

Amy:22:00

And so there's that, that they have like an under eye kind of serum to my thinking of the right one with like this. There's like silver, kind of like balls at the end. I don't know if that's how.

Unknown:22:10

Yeah, that's the hyaluronic acid when you're talking about Yeah, that's the hyaluronic acid you can put around your eyes. That one's Excellent. But ya know that it's generic, you know, hyaluronic acid after a while it's kind of hyaluronic acid, right? It's like, yeah, there's, there's $50 versions, do they work better than five $10 versions a little bit, you know, they're a nicer formula. They go on a little bit nicer, but they kind of technically do the same thing. So different molecular weights, there's always a little extra nuances that can make them just a little bit better, a little bit more luxurious, but I'll be damned if I ever pay 50 bucks for it. I will spend $100 on a cream if I see the value in it, but I am not going to pay $50 for hyaluronic acid. That's where I get cheap. It's so true that you can get such great products at drugstores now as well like therapy, I started using surbeys hyaluronic acid and niacin amide cream or CRM and it is fantastic. I'm I love it. And also I'm really until the Roche Posay now they're a great price point. Very nice. Yeah, very nice sign. So I'm so fascinated by this because you're so insanely educated on all of these details. So how you create these protocols or these routines for your clients. It's just brilliant. So they come to you and they say these are my problems ABCD and you put together a program for them. Yeah, yeah. Basically put together a skincare routine based on their skin type their needs and where they're at in their life because some people they're like, yeah, no, I'm okay with that. I just want this and I'm like okay, you know, for them. I have one client she's like, I know the wrinkles are coming I just My skin's just unbalanced. I just want a basic skincare routine. Nothing fancy just something I can be religious with and just have good skincare and like you got it. I had another client yesterday actually. She was amazing. She's like, I followed your routine and some of the routines that you were kind of putting together and on tick tock and she goes I had a horrible allergic reaction to a type of medication and the only place she didn't peel was the areas where she had taken care of her skin so her face her neck and her chest. But the rest of her body peeled due to this reaction she had to medication. So I just that just goes to show that your diligence you know in your skincare can make such a difference. Where could you

Amy:24:19

sorry, kidding are like 10,000 questions. Do you have a favorite vitamin C brand and question for you on that you put that on first? And then the niacin amide etc. Or like what's the order like I have a heart a lot of people get tripped up on like, what do you put on first and last but

Unknown:24:35

it depends on the vitamin C so the ascorbic acid form of vitamin C from skin deeba is truly my ultimate favorite with but that's that's a hot like that's a you worked your way up to it. If you are brand new and you go right telescopic acid you may or may not enjoy it, you know because it based on your skin type. It is the most potent I call her the diva of all of all, vitamin C. She's highly potent, highly reactive. She is also highly unstable. Oh, so she just she requires a little bit extra love. So she's, she's high maintenance but damn does she does her job like, this is the diva that's gonna sing the opera she's she's going to do it. So that's why I quite love her but I say that lovingly in the fact that your skin has to be dry. So you can technically put your hyaluronic acid and your nice and wide and all your serums on first. But the first rule of skincare is thinnest to thickest waterbased than a creams than oils. So when you're looking at like, for instance, Guindy about this one, it is a more of a water base. So that would go on first on dry skin, then you're going to let it absorb for a good solid minute, then you would put on anything that would be like a serum base, like your hyaluronic acid, you're nice and like any of those, your chebula, which is also a favorite of mine. And what I like to do, because a lot of them are carried in hyaluronic acid is when I apply it on my skin is I'll take a couple of drops and then I'll just kind of wet my fingertips or just give a light spray really far away because I don't want to overwhelm it. I just want to give it a little bit of slip factor. And then I would rub it in all over my face. let that soak in. Then I put on my creams and then my SPF and then ready for the day. That's it another tip of yours that I need to start to use and that is when you put a product on your face. Give it a second to get in there and do its job before you slap the next thing on. I'm like bubble gum, you know,

Amy:26:21

really you're rushing and you're like Yeah, yeah, yeah,

Unknown:26:25

very good tip. It's good to break it up. And you know, just brush your teeth. Go make your bed run after your kid like you know, sometimes it's good to break it up a little bit here and there. Some people ask well do I have to wait a full minute really, honestly give give your vitamin C a minute. Just give that one a full minute let her do her job. The serums are usually pretty pretty quick at absorbing like another good form of vitamin C is ascorbic acid which is not as strong but it's still very potent and that one is better on dry skin as well. Then when you go into like the texture heckled dako, ascorbic acid which is my favorite ultimate fatty acid awesome juiciness. That one works really well but you can actually layer it under your vitamin like under your serums and stuff like that. It doesn't it doesn't start working until it penetrates into the skin and it's a beautiful ingredient. I love that one. What's your view item and see for sensitive skin. Oh sensitive skin. I love herbivore Nova that that that sucker is awesome. And it's so juicy are so juicy and plumping it's got some alpha arbutin which helps to prevent excess melanin production. It does have a little bit of T chebula in there as well which is a very incredible powerful antioxidant. There's so many good turmeric as well which helps to reduce and lighten and brighten the skin like it just evens everything out. It's beautiful. But again, it's long term use you're not going to see results within like five 510 days you're gonna really have to just play the long game on it and some pigmentation just is not going to move. I have this little spot back my hand I've had it lasered I put products on it you name it I've done it ain't going anywhere she's like no you I'm with your girl that's it.

Amy:28:02

We're nasties

Unknown:28:05

so sometimes you just have to understand that there's certain things that are never gonna go away and kind of have to make your peace with that I was having such a hard time with vitamin C but I think it's because I was using the Sunday Riley good genes daily I think that was probably the culprit to all of my problems. So I'm gonna give it an I'm gonna give it another go. I'll try that one. Yeah, to try to try the Nova Yeah, that was fantastic.

Amy:28:27

So I was gonna switch topics because this is another topic that is Katie knows very passionate about which is under eyes. Oh yeah. Like dark circles bags like dry skin hollowness. What do you got? Tell us about brands, moisturizers things.

Unknown:28:48

Absolutely so did apology kind of went viral last year because they had gifted me one of their metrics holes and along with their eye patches and so forth. And although I did like the eye patches and metrics which just blew me out of the water, because what it did is it helped plump up my skin around the Holliness around my eyes as well as it again add some firmness because you're adding hydration you're basically kind of tired you were just talking

Amy:29:12

tricks that under your I got it

Unknown:29:14

oh I put that all over like I bathed in that that goes all over you want neck skin you want chest skin you want everything like I'll be 48 on Tuesday next week and there was literally your skin is gorgeous well I'm lucky because I get to play with a lot of product now that I would have never been would have never been open to in the past right so this is this is the kind of the perk of my of my job now which I'm really appreciative but I also share all my knowledge so everybody else can try different products as well and see which one's work best for their skin but

Amy:29:44

use that yeah, what what else like do you put on favorite eye creams like any tips for

Unknown:29:50

Yeah, so Charlotte Tilbury has really nice eye cream, really nice and it does help. Definitely help firm up my skin. There's another brand that I just finished Testing out and it did sensational. I used to roll my eyes. It wasn't a specific eye cream. It was the whole system itself. It's called EMK. Yeah, en que Beverly Hills. Sorry, I just have the little thing beside me because I'm gonna do a video on that. So that's my my refresher note to do that. That was an incredible system. highly expensive, though. So it is truly a Beverly Hills one, but it worked exceptionally well around my eyes. Apologies caviar stick is a great hydrator it's not going to firm up the skin. Like the Charlotte Tilbury one, but it's a great hydrator. So if you have a really dry, dehydrated one, that caviar stick is seasonal. I'm testing out true botanicals, they have an ice serum. I'm loving it, I put it on this morning, and I'm super super happy with it. So far. So good. I'm just still in the early stages of testing. So

Amy:30:44

love that. And while we're on the under ice subject, any favorite concealers

Unknown:30:49

Lancome Lancome, is it $40 One that that came out? Oh, it's been a couple years now. But that one still is a tried and true.

Amy:30:57

Okay, we're always looking for good eye creams and failure. So thank you for that.

Unknown:31:02

My page, I promise I will always keep you up to date on anything new, I try to go on as much as possible. So then that way people can make an informed decision. And, you know, know that, okay, somebody tested it, they liked it, you know, and they thought there was value to it. And that's what I love about being independent is that although I may work with brands after I like them, I don't do the other. I don't do it the other way. I was just offered a huge contract. Law and I thought was huge. And they're like, Yep, no, we want you to do this within a couple of weeks. I'm like, no, no, no, no, I gotta test it. So they're happy to do this, but I have to test it. See if I like it. And then we can talk and they're like, Oh, well, no, we need to do it. And I'm like, Nah, I'm not interested. Dude, sorry. Good for you. I worked my butt off to to keep my integrity means everything to me. And I worked my butt off to earn that.

Amy:31:47

Trust. Exactly. Yeah, I respect your opinion. So that's good.

Unknown:31:51

Yeah, so I'm not into that. Speaking of opinions, what's your opinion on skin cycling? Do you have any of your clients doing skin cycling? Well, when I put them on a, an actual program, there was a version that we actually do together. So I do put them on a program based on their skin type and their skin needs, which would consult well with the skin cycle, really. But it's not like what you're seeing from one dermatologist, I think they she came out with this, you know, do it this day to do it. They said do it this way that that will work for again, it's not a blanket statement for everybody. And it's not viable for most people, because it's not something that in a busy life schedule, works with people, right? Because when I design skincare routines, I'm like, What's your life like? Like, well, how realistic is this because I don't want you to buy all these products and do this whole thing, only to do it for the first two weeks and then go completely down the wayside. And, you know, I want to try to encourage something that they can do long term. And for certain people, they're very systematic, and they have that calendar in their head and they can do it, I say all the power to you. Just make sure you're using the right products. I don't recommend over exfoliating your skin more than, again, for certain skin types once twice max, max, max, max, some people can do three, but it's not as much as people think it is. And that's why I'm not quite a fan of that version. But again, I'm sure there's plenty of people out there who have had excellent success with it. So I don't want to poopoo anybody's work, but at the same time, I just want to be realistic that it's not going to be for everybody.

Amy:33:15

Yeah, of course. What about yeah, sorry, do you have

Unknown:33:18

a favorite retinol product that you like? I was going

Amy:33:21

to ask the same thing.

Unknown:33:23

Yeah, actually, I do love the one from topology that was sensational, that when you can use every single day, Kiehl's also has a really good they're micro dose one is fantastic. May love or if they have to, they have a retinol and a retinal oops, don't want to give you the thing. So retinal is your basic has to kind of penetrate the skin and convert itself a few times so it's on the lower end but it works very very well and then they also have another one called the retinal which is a higher strength and only has to I think only has to do one or two conversions and it's ready to rock and roll so

Amy:33:56

that one like once or twice a week probably not as much

Unknown:33:59

oh no I use that daily now once you get right now to it Yeah, once you work your way up you can but I hate to do this ladies. I have a consultation to do oh my god oh my god but I would love to come on here and do

Amy:34:12

more. Yeah, let's do have to we'll have you back whenever is convenient for you because I think in the part two we want to talk about like some of these treatments we're seeing out there like Morpheus aid and micro like all the treatments you can do and also want to hear about your routine and more your favorites etc. So we'll make sure to book you so don't worry Nirvana sisters family. We're gonna get her back back. Lady,

Unknown:34:36

they come back Bye bye.

Amy:34:40

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 Well now so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 95 - ProductJunkies - March Edition - Moisturized Lips, Glowing Skin, Hair On Point, We Got You.

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 95.

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

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

[00:18] Katie Chandler: And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation.

[00:28] Amy Sherman: Welcome back to the show nirvana Sisters Family. It's Amy and Katie, and it is March product junkie's time, and we are excited to share with you some of our new finds, our new favorites. I'm going to start with you, Katie. What do you got for us?

[00:41] Katie Chandler: All right, well, this is a new fave, for sure, and it is a very good drugstore find. It's a brand that we all know and have known forever. It's Covergirls clean, fresh, yummy gloss. That's actually the name of it. And it is fresh and yummy. I have it on now, and it's the kind of thing where it's so soft and nice that I just apply it all day long. And it actually lasts. It lasts a while when it comes off, if I'm eating, if I wipe it off, because it whatever, I put it back on as soon as I'm done because it feels great.

[01:19] Amy Sherman: And which color is that one's?

[01:20] Katie Chandler: Good. I have it on now, so it's actually pretty clear, but in the tube, it says coconuts about yo is the color. And there's hyaluronic acid in this, which, of course, is part of the reason why it feels so nice on. And it also has this really thick, soft adapter, which I really like, too.

[01:45] Amy Sherman: Okay, this is hilarious. And you saw that I smiled when you set that product? No, I was looking for it because I saw it. You probably saw the same place that I say I saw Bethany Frankel talking about it on TikTok, and I was like, oh, that looks nice, and she said, it felt really good on the lips. I was like, I need to get that. I looked for it in Target the other day, and it was completely sold out. There was, like, one left and it wasn't a good color, but that was the only one. Every single color was sold out.

[02:08] Katie Chandler: Yeah, my CVS a week ago, there was, like, three tubes left, the whole entire thing.

[02:15] Amy Sherman: And it's like how much is it? Like $10?

[02:16] Katie Chandler: Not even. I mean it's cover Girl. I feel like it is. Oh, maybe. Yeah, $10, which is a very good one.

[02:25] Amy Sherman: Does it smell good?

[02:26] Katie Chandler: It does. Smells like coconut. This one smells like coconut, which is really nice. The other flavors and scents are berry and pineapple, and they have a couple of colors. There's acai goji and black elderberry in it, in addition to the hyaluronic acid. So it is really nice on. I'm obsessed with it. I haven't bought a Covergo product in I don't even know how many years. It's been forever. This is like the brand that I bought when I was a teenager.

[02:51] Amy Sherman: Totally.

[02:51] Katie Chandler: So it's a good one.

[02:53] Amy Sherman: It's so funny because I've been looking for that. I haven't gone to CVS. Maybe CVS will have it, but I've been really wanting to try that because I'm really into tons of glosses lately. Okay, so that's really funny that you say that. We need to try the yummy gloss. So in the same vein, I got these glasses. These are the Nyx fat oil. What is this called? Sorry. Nyx fat oil. Lip Drip. And they're lip oils. Okay. So I saw Mikayla reviewing these on TikTok, and I got my hands on, like, four colors because I was at Target, and they happened to have it. They didn't have many left. So I just bought four colors because, again, they're inexpensive. I think they were, like, maybe $10 or less. And I got kind of like you can see kind of like this pink. I got, like, a golden brown hair.

[03:44] Katie Chandler: When I saw you last weekend.

[03:47] Amy Sherman: Probably. Yeah, I was testing it. All the colors are actually beautiful on. I'll try one on just so you can see it. I'll try on this. This one's called I'll tell you the colors I have. This one's called Follow Back. It's kind of like a bronzy brown. This one's called Mist Call. It's kind of like a pinky Neutral. This one's like a darker brown, and it's called Scrolling. And then this one's more of a red, and this one's called Newsfeed. Fun Names. But anyway, I'll try one on. They feel so good. I've been wearing them all week. I love them so much. I want to get more colors because it's literally the only thing I want to wear. Which is your favorite one?

[04:29] Katie Chandler: Look at the it's pretty.

[04:31] Amy Sherman: It's like, really like a thick applicator. Look at this. I don't know.

[04:36] Katie Chandler: You can see. You just did the full on, like, influencer. Like, this is what it looks like. Thing.

[04:43] Amy Sherman: So obnoxious how pretty it is when I tell you it feels so good on my lips. It's so nourishing and moisturizing and doesn't have that glossy feel because it's an oil. So it just sinks in. I am telling you, it feels so good, and the colors are beautiful, so I love it, love it, love it. I'm going to be wearing this for the next little while, and I'm just going to keep getting new colors because I have a feeling it's like all the colors look good, and they have.

[05:11] Katie Chandler: A wide range of colors.

[05:15] Amy Sherman: I want to say there's, like, maybe eight colors or so. And a lot of people online were saying that it's a dupe for the Dior lip oil, which I've never tried, but I'm in love. So, anyway, nyx Fat oil lip drip. Great product. Target CVS CVS wherever you can find Next.

[05:33] Katie Chandler: I'm going to pick some up next time I'm at CVS. All right, well, here's my next one. And if you have been on the beauty side of social media, you have certainly heard about this lately. It is Paula's choice. BHA. Liquid exfoliant. So we were talking about this at some point, and I can't remember if it was on the air or not, but I switched.

[05:59] Amy Sherman: I think we were talking about yeah, we were talking about this because we were talking about skin cycling, but I don't know if we were talking about this.

[06:07] Katie Chandler: I had been using Sunday Riley's lactic acid as my exfoliant, and I was using it incorrectly. Remember I told you that?

[06:14] Amy Sherman: And I've been using that lately.

[06:15] Katie Chandler: And do you like it?

[06:18] Amy Sherman: I do, but I'm using it only, like, once a week, so not every day. Like, you were crushed.

[06:25] Katie Chandler: My skin was, like, begging Ford's life. But meanwhile, I also have a lot of acne, and this is supposed to be really good for it because it is the BHA, which has, like, the sicilic acid that is the key ingredient for the acne.

[06:41] Amy Sherman: Pro salac.

[06:42] Katie Chandler: Thank you. Salicylic acid. It says it's for all skin types, which is so interesting. And listener, we have a future episode coming up where we really dive into this stuff with an amazing guest that helps us understand that. But for it to say it's for all skin types is wildly inaccurate. Maybe you can use it, but some people would really react to this, myself included. I can only use it once a week. I tried last week to use it twice with a couple of days in between, and I was, like, dry and flaky and actually even more acne because it helps the skin cell turnover. It makes everything kind of come to the surface. Right. It says it unclogs and shrinks enlarged pores, which yes, check. It does do that smooths and evens out skin tone. I agree with that. Lightweight liquid absorbs quickly. It is, but it's intense. If you have acne, though, try it. And then also when you have, like, a pimple that maybe pops up, you could also do what I do, where I just put it on that little spot that day, and it helps. It does help that pimple sooner. Yeah, I like it.

[07:55] Amy Sherman: Do you put that on at night and you just put it all over your face with, like, a cotton ball?

[07:59] Katie Chandler: Yes, I do it one night a week. Cotton ball. And then I follow up with the rest of my regimen and definitely, like, a really good face cream because it can be very drying, but I think it's working for my skin. I like it.

[08:14] Amy Sherman: Does your skin look, like, really kind of glowy the next day?

[08:18] Katie Chandler: Actually, it does. I've noticed that the day after. It's very kind of it's fresh skin almost, it seems like. And then that's when I do my retinol that next day.

[08:31] Amy Sherman: Yeah, I have that in a trial size, and I think I've only used it once. I haven't given it a proper chance, but I bought it, too, because a lot of people have said it's really good. And I also am currently testing the Sunday Riley, which I like so far. But again, I'm only using it like, once or twice a week in the skin cycle routine. And I like it so far, but I can definitely, when I put it on, feel that. It's kind of stingy a little bit.

[08:53] Katie Chandler: Yeah, this stings, too.

[08:56] Amy Sherman: Yeah, I kind of like that feeling.

[08:58] Katie Chandler: I know it's doing its job, I feel like right.

[08:59] Amy Sherman: I know you're like, okay, something's working. Okay, well, speaking of dry skin, here is another so into the trial sizes moisturizer that I tried, which I talked about recently in the show that Katie just mentioned. It's called the skin fix barrier. Plus triple lipid peptide cream. It's this blue tub, and I think the big actually, this is the trial size, and I've been using it for, like, two or three weeks, which is crazy because it really comes with a lot I don't know how many ounces this is. It's 1.5 ML. So it's a really nice trial size. But anyway, I've been trying this over the last couple of weeks. I really like it. It's so good for the winter. It's very nourishing, it just feels really good on the skin, really soothing. And I've been using this every night, and I really, really like it. My skin wakes up like moisturize. It really has been helping. So anyway, I would probably just use this in the winter. I don't know if I'd use it in the summer. We'll have to see. But it's not heavy. It's kind of medium. It's not super heavy, but it's not super light. It's like, leaning more towards heavy, but not heavy heavy, where it feels thick and greasy. Too thick? Yeah, it feels really nice. It spreads nicely. It's just a really, really good texture, like smooth. You know what I'm saying? So I'm definitely going to buy the big one once this is done. So highly recommended.

[10:20] Katie Chandler: And it's filled with peptides, which we learned recently are phenomenal for the skin.

[10:27] Amy Sherman: Exactly. It says Rich Lipid replenishment. I can't read this. Rich lipid. Rich lipid replenishment. And I think this is like, one of those that helps with your skin barrier. So while you're using all of these acids on your face, this is a really good one to use. It nice and moisture skin barrier in.

[10:51] Katie Chandler: The winter especially, too. Like, all of our skin barriers are compromised. All right, well, moving from skin to hair, I have a nice little hair product. You are the person that introduced me to this brand. It's the wow brand, and I think it's out of the UK, actually, but you can get it anywhere here. This is the wow. Extra Large Bombshell. Volumizer. This gives fantastic volume. Like epic volume without a volume.

[11:24] Amy Sherman: Is it like a texture spray?

[11:26] Katie Chandler: No, it's like a moose. You put it in your hair when your hair is damp like a moose. Anywhere that you want volume. Well, before I cut my banks, I would do it in the front, but it delivers for sure. And your hair doesn't get too heavy afterwards. I really do like it. It's a great product. The only thing that I don't like about it is that on day three, my hair is getting a little bit oilier faster when I use it because, you know, I care that I only wash it seemed for you we only wash our hair, like, once or twice a week. The volume will last for a few days, which is impressive, but I don't know, I kind of have to wash my hair sooner, which I don't love that piece to it, but I recommend it if you're looking for, like, really bouncy, luminous, gorgeous, slowly hair. It'll work.

[12:20] Amy Sherman: And do you put it in? Sorry, miss? We said you put in when it's wet or dryer.

[12:23] Katie Chandler: You put it in when your hair is damp? Yes. Okay. And it doesn't dry your hair out. The claim to fame with it is it's first of a kind, non drying, volumizing technology. No alcohol or salt, instantly thickens and lasts for days. So that's great that it doesn't dry your hair out, but it's kind of doing the opposite effect for me, where after a couple of days, it's like, almost making it a little too oily. But if you're one of those people that washes their hair, like, every other day, it wouldn't really matter.

[12:55] Amy Sherman: Right. Or if you use it, like, the day or two before you're going to wash it anyway, then it doesn't matter as much.

[13:00] Katie Chandler: Well, no, because you can't put it in dry hair. You don't want to put it in dry hair.

[13:04] Amy Sherman: I see you do it after you wash it. Good. I'll have to try that next time I'm with you. Yeah, my hair is wet. I just did my wash of the week. Okay. So I don't have a hair product. I have the next two products I have are Face products. So the first one I have is my new favorite. I was going to talk about this last month, but I didn't get to it. And it's the rare beauty bronzer stick. This one is. What color is this? It's called Happy Soul. So L, and it's so good. It's just like a bronzer stick. You literally just, like, go like this takes 2 seconds, and it just could, like, mix it in with your hand. It's such a pretty color. Very natural. It feels like nothing on the skin, and it just gives you a little color.

[13:50] Katie Chandler: It's beautiful.

[13:51] Amy Sherman: So easy. What color is that? I feel like it lasts forever. I've had this for it's called Happy Soul. There's a few of them. They didn't have many of them. I just happened to find it at Sephora maybe like, a month or so ago. And they didn't have that many colors left. And I saw this one and I was thinking maybe it was too dark, but it's actually perfect. I love it. And this is so good for travel too, because this is all you need, just like a bronzer stick like this. I don't know if you could use it for contour. Maybe you could, but I think it's too warm for contour. But you could just bring this and like a blush and you're fine. I mean, it's great. You could put it on your forehead, whatever, but it's such a good product. It's really creamy and nice and it just sinks in the skin in 1 second. It's just so easy to use. I love it. So it's the rare fruity bronze. Rare beauty bronzer. I can't talk today. Rare beauty bronzer stick in Happy Soul. And there's a bunch of different colors, but I love it. It's a great, great product. Super easy to use.

[14:48] Katie Chandler: I need to try it perfect for.

[14:50] Amy Sherman: The five minute flow.

[14:51] Katie Chandler: Totally. I need to try some rare beauty products. I don't think I have any, and I know that they have it.

[14:58] Amy Sherman: They're great.

[14:59] Katie Chandler: Nice.

[15:00] Amy Sherman: I love it.

[15:00] Katie Chandler: All right, so my next one is a supplement for your health that I didn't love. And I'm going to give you what you should do instead. All right, so all of us that are dealing with inflammation, especially people with joint problems, autoimmune disease, if you're older and have arthritis, whatever it may be, you should be taking Turmeric. Any doctor and any functional medicine doctor is going to tell you this. Turmeric, it has curcumin in it and it's just excellent for inflammation. So I tried a new product from nature's nutrition. That's the brand, and it was their Turmeric and ginger with Bioprine. Bioprine, by the way, is black pepper. And your turmeric product has to have bioprene in it for it to be effective. Otherwise it doesn't do what it's supposed to do. So make sure you're always looking for turmeric with bioprene or black pepper in it. But this one with ginger, it has really good reviews on Amazon, but it really bothered my stomach. It was really like the ginger was so strong on my stomach and it was bloating me and it was causing me to have all kinds of cramping and everything. So I was kind of disappointed in it because I think aside from that, it was doing its job. But if you have a sensitive tummy, it's a little tough. So instead I went back to the one that I'd always use that I think maybe at the time just wasn't available. And this is a good one. I've been using it for years. It's by Bioshwart, so you can get it on Amazon. And it is the premium ultra pure Turmeric per Cumin. With bioprene, it's the same thing. It just doesn't have ginger and it works very well. So that's it.

[16:43] Amy Sherman: Okay, that's good to know. I have turmeric like supplement. I never take it. I think I took it. I used it for a little while, and then I stopped. But it's a good reminder. Don't they also have Turmeric where you could drink it?

[16:57] Katie Chandler: Turmeric teas, like big cartes, like Turmeric and ginger tea? Yeah. Which I love. I love Turmeric and ginger tea. I think it's just probably the high dose that was a little Tummy that's in a pill. Yeah, exactly.

[17:14] Amy Sherman: Yeah.

[17:15] Katie Chandler: Okay. Yeah, it's a great supplement, so I highly recommend it. If you have, like, achiness or any inflammation, definitely try it and try try the bioshorts brand. So what do you have next name?

[17:26] Amy Sherman: Okay, so my last product is the same brand as the bronzer stick. It's rare beauty, and this is a good one two punch. It's the enlightened highlighter. It's so pretty. It's gorgeous. So I have a lot of highlighters. I'm obsessed with highlighters, but this one is so pretty. It's actually like a powder highlighter, but it's so glowy. And look at that.

[17:51] Katie Chandler: Yeah, that's beautiful. It's very, like, pearly iridescent.

[17:55] Amy Sherman: Yeah. So I just put it on the high points on my face. I sometimes put it in my eyes, put it in the corner. It's really, really pretty. I love it. And it's a lot in here, so it's going to take a while to get through. So this is my new highlighter that I've been using all the time. So it's like I'll use the bronzer stick. I'll use this highlighter. I'll use some, like, cream blush done.

[18:15] Katie Chandler: Five minutes super fast. And I like that. It's a powder. I've been using the stick, the creamy.

[18:22] Amy Sherman: Like a liquid highlighter.

[18:23] Katie Chandler: I either have a creamy stick highlighter or I use a liquid highlighter. And it never blends right. For me, I need to go with the powder, I think, so I need to try that one.

[18:32] Amy Sherman: Yeah.

[18:32] Katie Chandler: You were the first person that ever, like, I ever found out about highlighter from you. You're the very first person I ever saw wear highlighter.

[18:40] Amy Sherman: Really?

[18:41] Katie Chandler: What's that pretty sparklingess on your cheekbones? Yeah, I love it.

[18:45] Amy Sherman: It's so pretty. I have so many of them, I feel like, and I'm always trying new ones. And you're right. I have powder ones, I have liquid. I go back and forth because I also have the rare beauty liquid highlighter that I used to use all the time, and I still use that sometimes. But this one is the best so far because I feel like it's like the prettiest, like, most shiny. Not shiny, but, like, pearly one.

[19:07] Katie Chandler: It's really pretty. Do they have different shades and tones? Because they do. I always wonder with highlighter, how do you choose what color is right for you? We need to ask a makeup artist that question because you and I have very different skin, right. So I don't know if that one would work on me.

[19:27] Amy Sherman: Yeah, I don't know. This one's kind of like I don't even know it's almost like a goldish pinkish color, but it's fair, right? There's a couple of other colors, but I think, again, this is like the only one they have. So I was like, I'll just try this one. But yeah, it's a good question. The first one I ever tried, I think, was Fenty Beauty Highlighter, and it was almost like a yellowish goldish one. That's probably the one you're talking about because I remember a makeup artist that's a four and put it on me and I was like, what is this? It's so pretty. And that one could almost be like a highlighter or even an eyeshadow, and I still have that and use that. But yeah, it's interesting. There's a lot of ranges. I don't know what the rule is, but I love it.

[20:04] Katie Chandler: I know I have some that are pearly white like that, and then I have some that are more golden and I just never know which way to go. So you know what, folks? We're going to have a makeup artist on. We're going to talk about it.

[20:16] Amy Sherman: Exactly. It also probably depends on the time of year because if your face is tanner, you would use a different one versus the winter. But anyway, I love it. So I think that's all we have for this month. That is it. Quick episode, some quick products we're loving. Hope you can go to your local Target CVS, get some of these fun products, the rare beauty products I got at Sephora, I think the skin fix I got at Sephora. And let us know what else you want us to review next month. Bye bye.

[20:47] Amy Sherman: Thanks for listening to Nirvana Sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes.

[20:52] Amy Sherman: Please subscribe and leave us a review.

[20:54] Amy Sherman: Also, find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know some wood that would, please share it and tag us.

[21:01] Amy Sherman: Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana Sisters.

[21:04] Amy Sherman: We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 94 - A Cup Of Wellness With Founder Of Big Heart Tea Co. Lisa Govro (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 94.

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

Amy: 0:06

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

Unknown: 0:28

Welcome back to the show Nirvana sisters family. It's Amy and Katie and we are here with Lisa Gauvreau, founder and CEO of big heart tea company and we are thrilled that she has joined us today to talk all about her company and her background and how her company started and the benefits of tea and how it affects our well being. So a bit about Lisa, she founded big heart Tea Company in 2012. And the company's mission is to help people feel good through healing herbs and tea. Lisa is trained in Ayurveda and combines her food medicine and culinary knowledge to create a growing line of herbal blends that taste good and make you feel that so Katie and I are drinking our big heart tea. I'm drinking the Rooibos if I'm saying that right. And Katie, what are you drinking? And I'm drinking the cup of sunshine, which is the golden tumeric and ginger and it is divine. Yeah, so we love it. And we love all the packaging. We have our little hearts hanging on our tea mugs. So I love that signature little branding moment. So anyway, welcome to the show. Lisa, thanks for being here.

Lisa: 1:35

Yeah, thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here. Yeah, we're excited to have you. So before we get started, we'd like to take a step back from our week and talk about what brought us joy this week, big or small, what made us happy we put a little smile on our face. So Katie, I will kick it to you to talk about your nirvana of the week. Well, thanks, Amy. I was trying to think about this earlier. And it was a very small moment that just made my heart sing so much and had to do with my five year old daughter she was sick last week she had strep throat and then this week, she started feeling better. And you can kind of really see when that like the sickness goes away, and there's they start to be themselves again. And we're just in the kitchen one day and the way she just asked me for something the way she said Mama and the way you know what I'm saying? Like it was it just kind of like made my heart sing she we have an Au Pair now who is amazing because she is she's like the MPP in this house, I wouldn't be able to go back to work and do all the things I'm doing without her but the kids adore her. That's a good thing. That's a really good thing. I'd much rather have that than the opposite. But so they want to be with her a lot. And they ask for her help a lot. So when I'm around and they come to me and you know, say mama like they did when they were littler. It makes me really happy. So that was my Nirvana this week. What about you, Amy? That's cute. Well, I have one home, one from the week. And then one future one. So the one from the week is similar to yours. My little one, Jules, he's 13. You know, he's like, in the teenage years, you know, like the drama, the school, all this stuff. And he's just not as like, you know, like, not that he's not loving towards me. But you know, he's not like a little kid anymore, where he like, wants to be around me that much. So the other morning he was like, he's like, Mom, can I have my morning hug? It was so small, like, Yes, I'm like you just made my day. So that was really sweet. So that was my little smile moment of the week. But tomorrow night, I'm also going to see Seinfeld and concert and I'm super excited because I've never seen his show. So we're going with friends and during dinner and going to see a show and love Seinfeld. So super excited about that. Yeah, that'd be great. Yeah, Lisa.

Unknown: 3:44

Let's see, um, I have been traveling a lot lately. So just since the year started, I've been at three different shows all over the country. I'm talking about big heart. And so I've been super homesick and missing my family, my little family at home. But I called in to the team here at Big Heart just to check in on things because we just have a lot going on. And the whole production team like shout it out and said hi to me. And it like made me cry a little. I don't. I just like I just felt so like, supported and like loved from afar by our teams like working so hard here in St. Louis. While I'm out. I was thinking I was in New York at the time at a at a show and I just was feeling like overwhelmed with gratitude and thankfulness about having just such an amazing team of humans that I'm lucky to work with every day. So I think that was my Nirvana moment. That's so special. I love that all three of our moments. Were all around, you know, the people that we love in our lives. That's really sweet. That's great. All right, well, let's kick it off. I am so excited to hear about Big Heart tea, and I'm really interested in your background with Ayurveda. We have talked to somebody with that. There's an Ayurvedic specialist before, but it's such a fascinating, huge world. So tell us a little bit about your food. And I'm sorry, your food medicine and culinary journey and everything that got you to where you are today.

Lisa: 5:18

Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, I'm not trained to like clinically evaluated just as a site. Like, just to put that out there. My training is more from a culinary perspective. But I got into it, I didn't even realize that is so funny. So I was studying yoga in Sedona, Arizona.

Unknown: 5:39

Yeah, same. I had just moved, I was in Seattle at the time, I'd been in Seattle for about 10 years, and just was over it like needed. So I just wanted to live someplace where it was sunny. And I moved to Sedona and I just unknowingly enrolled in this yoga teacher training program. And it ended up being absolutely life changing, it was very true and authentic. It was all HOFA a lot of lecture on sort of the esoteric parts of yoga, lots of mantra, and a lot of like our your Vedic cleanses, and the food component to the, the training was all REM Vedic and so every morning, the chef would come out, and she would talk about the medicinal benefits, or just like the health benefits are really just like the reasoning behind why you would eat your meal in a certain way. So we would always start with peeling almonds like soaked almonds, it would peel the skins off, because the skins were harder to digest. And you're just like kick starting your digestive system with your first meal of the day. And we'd always like have freshly made Chai, from fresh ingredients, also to help it's all about the gut and the digestion with that first meal. And anyway, so it was about a month long teacher training. And of course, like me, being me fell in love with the food part of the training more than anything else. So I decided to stay and I just decided to stay and live in Sedona and study under the chef. And so I did an apprenticeship. And that really got my wheels turning coming from Seattle, and just at that time it was 2012 actually was TSM 11, I believe. And health and wellness was like really sort of being held captive by the health and wellness industry like it was seemed like more exclusive sort of network and using like really like language, I feel I felt like that was like creating barriers from everyday people experiencing the healing power of herbs. And so I just started kind of playing with that idea, a little bit of like, how could we make it a little bit more accessible? How can we make it a little bit more fun? Because I originally I'm from the Midwest, where I have since moved back to St. Louis, no Midwest folks are just a little bit more conservative and trying new ideas, especially like we're talking 10 years ago, consumer consciousness has grown so much since we first started the company. But I just started testing some ideas. So I I found a little trailer. And I got it. It's a 1969 camper trailer. And I just started taking that around. And it really was just my way to like sort of like sort of like a venus flytrap in a lot of ways. Like I was attracting people with this like really cute kitschy trailer, they would come inside and then I'd pour them Tumeric tea and talk about healing the the healing power of herbs. And so it really all just started with like, as an art project more or less as a way to like, just talk simply about simple, everyday changes you could make to your lifestyle to improve your quality of health and well being. Yeah, I love that. And that's what then led you to growing your brand. Were you big Hardy at that time as well. No, so we had a name that didn't make any sense of week the name of the company was retailer because we were running out of a trailer. I don't know. That's bad. So we were retailing for about five years. And in 2017 I was sort of debating on if I was going to keep moving forward because we were so hyperlocal then and it was a struggle because the tea market nationally is pretty small. But just in our small community of St. Louis, it wasn't enough to support business or lifestyle. And so it's like man, how can we make this work? Like how could I keep doing this and that's when I just decided to kind of go all in I got a little loan from a family member to bison packaging, and we rebranded as the cart. But the first five years were pretty slow. Pretty quiet. Yeah. Very cool. And so what does direct trade t mean? This was I was reading this about the company. And I think most people probably don't know what that means. If you could explain that a little bit. That'd be great. Yeah, absolutely. So, as I mentioned, I got into the tea industry because of health and wellness and herbal healing. Over time, like we all do, I've changed. And I've learned new things about the industry about how commodities are traded. And so one of the things I learned is that herbs and tea just have a really dark and dusty history when it comes to trading and international importing, exporting. And there's a lot of mystery, a lot of questions couldn't be answered in those early days by the people I was buying herbs from, I decided I needed to like have a little bit more transparency, and the the value chain. So it was like if people are using these herbs to heal themselves, they have to come from a place of health. So rather than on a farm where workers are maybe underpaid or working longer hours working conditions, depending on what tea growing region we're talking about, we started working on our trade on our sourcing model, establish direct relationships with farmers. And that's what direct trade is. And so rather than buying our tea, or an herbs from an auction, or the marketplace, that's very like herbs or interior, and most commodities are sold traditionally at auction. And that dictates the price that the value and the price of the herbs are the tea isn't necessarily what it took to grow that it's what the customer is willing to pay. And so it oftentimes the farmer and the people at the bottom, like at the beginning of the value chain are the ones that are left, short cut short on compensation. And so when you do direct trade, we're paying the farmers what they need for the ingredient, rather than what the market pricing. And so, over market price, we also pay ahead of harvest. And so we'll put in orders, usually you're out before harvest season, and we'll pay for those upfront, they have the funds to do the work that they need to do. And so and then they're you know, we're able to have a better ear to the ground. And like what's happening with the harvest set years are a lot of rain isn't going to change the flavor profile. Because these are all like natural ingredients. So it's not natural for your tea or your herb just tastes the same year over year. And so that's that's what your trade means to us. It's just a way to have a relationship and have a direct line of communication to the people who are doing the hard work on the ground level. That's great. Yeah, let's get into the the organic certified organic herbs that you use and their healing benefits and why I know our listener is going to love your tea for so many reasons. And tell us a bit about the magic of the tea. Why isn't why are they so good? Well, like let's just take it one blend at a time. So our signature blend is the cup of sunshine, which you're drinking right now is tumeric, ginger, peppercorns, cinnamon and Tulsi. So every single ingredient in that tea is anti inflammatory. And it's really great for gut health and digestion. It's energizing, it's naturally energizing. There's no caffeine in the herbs, of course, but because they're so full of like healing power, like Tumeric has a ton of curcumin, which is just like curcumin just has like a that's what lends to the anti inflammatory aspects of tumeric. That's what gives us beautiful golden orange color. And makes it so energizing. And so and just hydrating. I mean tea is 99% water. And so for folks that are constantly trying to figure out how they can get that mandatory or whatever water intake that they need on a daily basis. Tea is a great option for that as well. But I mean, at the end of the day, it's a warm cup of love, like it just is the most nurturing thing you can do for yourself. Making a cup of tea is sort of meditative and a lot of ways because it's not instant. You have to heat your water and then you have to steep your tea and you have to wait. And then just like holding a warm cup of tea is is just so comforting. And so Oh, I mean, there's so many ways in which tea is good for you. I mean, just at a very basic level, it just can literally warm you from the inside out. Yeah, it's so true. I tried your Alright, so tell us how to say it correctly, ROI, ROI boosts ROI boosts. Roi goes and so I actually my pair that I mentioned earlier, she's from South Africa and she was the first person to introduce me to Roy Bose T. And I became obsessed with it. And then I found out we have a new on and use of yours and it's so good. I love it. I drink it every night. It helps me fall asleep. It helps me another really cool thing about I was kind of like digging into my own research and I read that it shuts off your IT HELPS shut down your hunger hormone, which and so like when you wake up in the morning, you're not as hungry maybe so like, for me, you know, like hormonal hunger happens all the time. I'm always hungry. So it's, I love the ribose love and you're drinking it right now. Me Right? Yeah, it's very good. It's very good. I'm definitely like, go in and out of drinking tea. Because I drink a lot of coffee. But I do every time I do have tea. I'm always like, why don't I drink this more? It's so good. Especially drinking this one. I love it. And I agree it does have that ritual feeling. And it is a good way to get water. I never thought about it that way. Because it's most a lot of your teas. It seems like our caffeine free so you can drink it throughout the day with no problem, which is great. You were talking about the preparation of tea and you sell the tea that we're drinking, which is in which are in the sachets, but I know you also sell loose tea, and never know how to make that. So for someone like me who's new to tea drinking to questions like hey, how do you make it and be like, what's the difference between the loose and the kind in the sachet? Yeah, absolutely. Well, loose tea is well, okay, so I have a lot of chips on my shoulder, right, like so I'm like health and wellness industry. And then there's like the specialty coffee industry that like has taught us that we need to have a piece of equipment to do a thing to brew something as simple as coffee or tea. And I do not subscribe to that I think we people have been drinking tea for generations and generations without having fancy bells and whistles. We tend to overcomplicate things anyway. So like, all you really need to make a good cup of loose tea is maybe a mason jar, and a wire mesh strainer. And in many cultures, they don't even have a strainer, they're just using their upper lip to like strain the tea. So it depends on how hard you are. But really, I mean, it could be as basic is that so you would sip your tea in your mason jar, strain it through a wire mesh strainer, and bam, there you go. The difference between the tea bag and like making it loose is generally the amount of space and room that the tea has to expand in the cup. Because essential oils are medicine, but they're also flavor. And that's what's were released when you're adding hot water to this organic substance. And so a tea bag can oftentimes be limiting and like how much flavor and how much medicine you're going to get. Because they're packing so much dry ingredient into this tiny little tea. And so we designed our tea bags extra bag so that the tea could expand and release all of its flavor. So it's kind of like as close to having a loose tea drinking experience you can have without the mess. So I like that and you also your product is 100% plastic free as well, which I found interesting. And I I did see something the other day that the tea cup tea companies that use plastics that can leach into your tea is that I assume that's the motivation behind it right? Yeah, well, there's a couple of motivations one, we're like avid about sustainability here. We reuse as much as we can. And we're always trying to reduce our carbon footprint and the amount of waste that we're putting out into the environment. Like we're moms here too. So we're just trying to create a company that we could sleep at night with. And so because of that we don't use any plastic in our packaging. Definitely our tea bags, so we don't use plastic in our packaging because we don't want to fill landfills with trash. We don't use plastic in our tea bags because it does have that potential to leach micro plastics and and plus it's just like the idea of having a nylon tea bag which is made from plastic. It just kind of in your pouring hot water on it. I mean, it just doesn't really make a ton of sense to us here. So our tea bags are made from non GMO sugarcane. We recently upgraded we weren't they were made from a corn product and we updated upgraded to a non GMO product and so we're even more proud of our tea bags now. But yeah, I just think there's been a lot of awareness and companies maybe portraying, or sustainability or more transparency. And we're actually, you know, showing that there's a reason why like these simple values of like doing the right thing in business are important for us to talk about because other people aren't doing it. So if they're not talking about their packaging, being plastic free, you're right to assume that there's a good deal of some sort of plastic happening in there. Yeah, and it's also really important to the younger generation, I think they are picking brands and you know, everything from food to beauty, etc, that are sustainable, that are doing the right thing for the environment. It's it's, it's impactful that you're doing that and notice that gap. You don't really hear it about a lot to your point around like coffee and tea brands doing that. So I noticed you have this good for you collection, which looks like it's a bunch of different teas that have what some have adaptogen some have anti inflammatory ingredients, which we talked about before calming and digestive effects I wanted to hear about gut health and tea I you sort of mentioned it before, but what ingredients are good for that and which teas you have for that specific condition when we first started so like we use Tulsi as the base of almost all of our teas, Tulsi and India and our Veda is known as holy basil are the queen of herbs. It's a sacred herb. It's a powerful healer. It's also an adaptogen, which is this like super sexy buzzword in health and wellness right now. We shied away from using the word adaptogen until probably about three years ago, when it started to become a little bit more common and consumer consciousness and vocabulary. Now I feel like most people have a general idea of what adaptogens are. But the good for you collection, it's just a way to sort of like highlight a couple health benefits of a few of our teas, so that we can give the drinker sort of a next level interaction with what they're drinking because like as you get our packaging, we don't make health claims on on our packaging. We don't even make health claims on the product page. And there's a reason for that. Mostly because of the FDA but also because we don't want to like confuse people or mislead people into like thinking that we're cure for anything. Like the good for you collection that we have for gut health and digestion. I mean, are you talking about kappa sunshine, but basically anything that's spicy, that's gonna like kick heart kickstart that digestive fire. So and I made it we talk about like the Agni or like the digestive fire, whatever it's like the energy that's helping you digest and process food, thoughts, emotions, like all of those things happen in the gut. And so another one that would be really good for I know you were saying that you're a big coffee drinker, we have our fake coffee. So coffee, like the coffee bean is amazing. It has caffeine, it's like got this beautiful, robust, rich flavor. But it also has a lot of acidity and can be really hard on your digestive track. And so we have a tea that we've blended called fake coffee, which is cherry cacao dandelion root and cinnamon. And not only does that coffee alternative have no acidity and no caffeine so it's easy in the digestive track. It also isn't blended with gluten. Gluten is like really common for coffee alternatives using barley as a blend in the blend for coffee alternative and we are an allergen free facility. So we don't use barley, we don't bring any gluten and anywhere near our facility. And so that's like another tea that's really great for the gut health generally, and like tea drinkers will tell you this an herbalist will tell you this, but like the little particulates that you get at the bottom of your tea cup, just that little dusting that like slips through the mesh of the bag, that is amazing food for your gut bacteria. And it's just like a nice little easy way to just sort of nourish all of the healthy bacteria that you have going on that's helping you process your stuff. I use your lavender mint I love for peppermint. I love that for when my stomach if I need to settle my stomach a little bit. So your lavender Mint is really nice, especially in the evenings as well because of the lavender and the relaxing properties behind it. What is the name of that one? That's our royal treat. Yeah. And we actually blended that tea for adaptogenic health. So each tea is blended for a certain thing. We have a certain thing in mind. In fact, we aligned our original T's to the the chakra system. And so that's something that We could go in totally different podcast and talk about that one that royal treatment was blended for, to help our little poor adrenal system sort of repair and restore. So yeah, it's great. I love it. Well, I want to know, what are your favorites out of your collections and it for someone that's new to tea, where would like what's a good starter kit or, you know, the best one to go for? Yeah, so my, I mean, our number one best selling tea, the first tea I ever blended, the only tea we sold for the first year of business is our cup of sunshine. And that's my go to still to this day, I was just on a business trip. And I drink like, probably four cups of tea that at night, just trying to relax. Just a really nice balance of tumeric and ginger, and it has told CNN, which Tulsi is my very favorite herb. And then my second favorite would be a cup of love, like another original from the collection. It's just two ingredients, is RoHS and Tulsi I say it's just like a hug from your grandma. I love that one at the end of the day with a big big spoon of honey and some milk and sugar. So, so nourishing, nurturing sounds so good. I love tolsey too. I'm definitely gonna try those ones later. So many good ones to try. And I love all the names of your teas. Like, just as a side note, I love all the packaging and the branding and the names because they're so like fun and upbeat. And I think tea feels sometimes to people like it's serious and like, you know, very, I don't know, sophisticated or something. There's no like fun kind of brands. So that was one of the things that we were really attracted to that it's like you're not taking yourself so seriously. And it's just like this great tea but with fun, bright packaging and cute names. So yeah, it's beautiful. The packaging is so great. It's beautiful. Yeah, yeah, it's just very vibrant and nice. So kudos, kudos. taglines is that we don't take ourselves too seriously. But we mean serious. So pretty and intentionality wrapped up in that like cute, funny, funky little package. But yeah, that was Thank you know, and I like I like that part at the ends. And it says you are awesome, which is super cute. Okay. That's just, it's just like a fun little surprise. So yeah, so yeah, we love it. So where can people buy this fabulous tea? Yeah, well, that's a great question. So the best place to buy it is on our website. So just calm. Otherwise, like your local independent specialty retailer on your main street. And we sell a lot a lot to mom and pops, gift retailers, and so much we don't have like a comprehensive list on our site. But if you if you are looking to find it someplace locally, just give us a call or an email and we'll we'll look, we'll look in our five different places where we keep that information and find it for you think just buying online is the best place right now or Amazon. Yeah. Okay. So on Amazon. Yeah, I was gonna say it's, um, it's a great gift. Because obviously the cheese, delicious, but the packaging is cute. It's just like a really nice gift to bring someone if you're going to their house for the first time or you know, something like that. So, and we are very grateful and appreciative of you because big heart T is going to offer our listeners 20% promotion. So listeners use big heart t 20. And get your big heart t as soon as possible because it's fantastic. And we love it. Yes. Thank you for that. That's exciting. All right. So let's get into our rap session. Lisa, what is your favorite wellness or beauty hack? Yes, I started doing this a few years ago, actually a long time ago. Like before, when I was like getting ready for a job interview or something like that. I would force myself to smile for five minutes. Before I would go into an interview or into like sort of a situation where I had a lot of anxiety or stress. And there's something that happens to your brain. When you force yourself to smile. It has to be like five minutes or more like it can't just be like a little bit. Like it has to be like uncomfortable like psycho smile. And I do it when I'm driving. I do it in the morning. And it really like it really puts me in a better mood just like just having a smile on my face. And then after what after a while I'm just authentically naturally smiling. And it's one way that I sort of like trick my brain into like taking me to a different state of mind. That's so cool. I've never heard that before. I need to try it. Yeah, it's funny because I have done something kind of like that where like you know how they say smiles are infectious. So you just like, if I'm ever like in a funk, I just I'll smile but I don't do like the whole five minute thing to try to like you know, shake me out of my phone. kind of thing. So it's true. It does work. It's really That's great. Yeah, I like that idea of zooming in in the car before you get to work. That's a great idea. Okay, the next one we call our five minute flow. So you just got out of the shower and dried off. Uber just alerted you. There are five minutes away. What is your quick beauty routine? Like? What are your go twos? What do you put on to get the car on time? Yeah, well, I mean, there's just a few things that I do. One, I have a rose water spray that I have to spray on my face, like I don't feel like I'm awake until like, I get that. And another thing I like to do is an iron rents. So I have this little iron Cup, where you like, put a little bit of water in it, and then you dip your put, like, throw your head back, and then you blink your eyes in the water. That's a really great way to get those like bright refresh dyes. It's something that we learned when I was doing my area of Vedic training. Just like a nice little I cleanse just was fresh, cold water, but you know, throw on a little mascara and a big heart t hat. And then I'm ready to try that. And then how do you maintain your daily nirvana? Well, gratitude. I'm really big into gratitude. Sometimes I call it procrastination meditation. Like if I don't want to get out of bed in the morning, I'll just lay there and send love and gratitude out. And also, don't forget to be like thankful to yourself for all of the hard work that you're doing every day. And all the things that you're doing that nobody sees that you see. But yeah, I think I think that is the number one thing that I practice every day, and I practice it with my family. My daughter hates it, she doesn't hate it. But one day, she'll love it just sending out love and appreciation to everyone that you can think of. I love that you said, Yeah, and it's so true. And it just puts everything into a positive perspective and fills you with positive light. And it's like Bruce shared that you said that because our closing mantra today happens to be about gratitude. And we'd like to close the show with a little reminder, affirmation mantra, call it whatever you will. But before we say goodbye to you, I'll wrap with this. Gratitude helps you see what is there instead of what isn't. Hmm, that's our wrap for today. So Lisa, thank you so much for being with us. We It was great to meet you. And we love big party. Oh, thank you. Thank you so much for having me and I couldn't have been more perfect. So thank you and thank you for the code. We'll make sure to put it in our show notes for all of our listeners. Definitely. Yes. 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 92 - Our Top Wellness Apps To Support And Elevate Your Routine (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 92.

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

Amy: 0:06

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

Unknown: 0:18

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

Amy: 0:28

Welcome back to the show. It's Amy and Katie Nirvana's sisters family. And today we are doing a quickie episode where we are discussing our favorite wellness apps for the daily meaning ones we use all the time, or go to ones that we're really excited about. And I we have some good ones to share with you. So I'm excited. Katie, do you want to start? You want me to start? Because I've got a good one that I'm so excited to share?

Unknown: 0:49

Yeah, I can start I'll start with Oh, no, you're super excited to share with them and then dive right into that. Go

Amy: 0:54

ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead.

Unknown: 0:55

This is a tried and true app that I have been using for years and years and years, it's pretty common. I think a lot of people know about it. But what I like about it is it's super efficient, and very easy to use, and it's my fitness pal, I don't always track what I'm eating. But I do from time to time, especially when I'm going through like a specific phase. Like right now I'm trying really hard to go through a body recomposition phase where I gain more muscle mass, and they get rid of some of the fat mass. And so I'm tracking, especially like my protein and things like that. And it's a great app. Because a there's multiple versions of it, the free version is just as easy to use as the one that costs money, the premium, you can easily plug in any food item, and it will come up with a gazillion options. It's been used for so many years, I think by so many people that it has all the brands, a lot of restaurant options. Yeah, it has everything. It's it's in there. So you plug it in what you ate and brings up all the macros and then you can track it. And it's just a really easy diary to use. And then in addition to that, they have great recipes. They have a section where you can plug in your own recipes, and it'll calculate the macro and micronutrients for your recipes. You can it helps you create your own custom macros and your goals and everything that you should be getting because of your bodyweight, and etc, so on and so on. So I highly recommend it for that. There's a lot of them out there. I've tried the other ones. I've tried like macro stacks, I've tried a couple others. My Fitness Pal is my go to always I was helping your parents with it last weekend.

Amy: 2:22

Yeah, it's a good one I haven't used in a while but I have it on my phone was funny. I was gonna I was gonna talk about that today as an option. Because I do really like that app. And I haven't used it in a while. But remind me what's the difference? If you pay for it or for it's free? Like what do you get? If you pay for it? You can just like customize more things?

Unknown: 2:37

Great question. So the premium has a really nice barcode scanning option. So you don't even have to like take the two seconds to write in that I just had turkey bacon from Trader Joe's and then you scan and it pops right up. So that's nice. And I'm sure there's some other options. I think there I think it gets more targeted and more specific and how you want to customize your macros and how you see it on, like the face of your diary. So it can just get a little bit more targeted and specific and a little bit more user friendly. But the free version is super user friendly. And it has it really has everything you need. My I mean, your friends, my in laws who are in their 70s are using it. I taught them how to use it. And it's like it's easy. So, I mean, it's definitely yeah, I

Amy: 3:22

hope my dad's been using and I told him he can't rely on my mom to track off his macros. Yeah, you have to do it yourself. So you can learn.

Unknown: 3:29

Yeah, yeah, she was doing his all weekend. It's like God for him healing them, like how many more grams of carbs he's allowed to eat. And so I was trying to,

Amy: 3:39

ya know, he like, wants someone to tell him what to do all the time now yelled at him the other day when I yell at him, but I was like, you have to do it so you can learn what to eat, what not to eat. So like if you're out, you can make a good decision for yourself. Yeah, so hopefully they're doing that. That's, that's great. I am real quick sidebar. What are you doing to you were just saying Re? Yeah, your body compositions? Are you focusing more on protein, like lifting weights? Like what's the I'm focusing

Unknown: 4:06

on, I saw, you have to eat higher protein, you still have to eat a sufficient amount of carbohydrates to fuel your body. And then the other two apps that I'm going to talk about today are helping me do it as well. So it's like, we'd love to hear about that. Yeah, it's a few its metrics and other things that help you get to that. What's your super exciting when

Amy: 4:26

I found out about this app earlier this week, is I've been using it every day. I'm obsessed, and I've gone down the rabbit hole and it's almost dangerous. But when I tell you about it, and when our listeners learned about it, you will be the same way it is called. I don't know how to pronounce it. Yucca yuk. Have you heard of this app? No. It is an immediate download what it does, okay. So you know when you think you're eating healthy and you're just like, Okay, you eat a healthy diet, you pretty much know the right decisions to make. This app tells you everything that you are putting in your body and it tracks your food and your beauty products. So all you do is you scan. So I'm going to show you this at lunchtime to show you on the screen, but you scan whatever you have. And immediately it comes up with. I'll give you an example. Let me find a good one. For example, I scanned my almond butter yesterday, it's the Barney brand and it got a 78 out of 100, which counts is excellent and it gives you the positive. So the reason why that rating it says no additives. So it has no hazardous substances in it. protein, fiber, like excellent amount of fiber, low sugar, no sodium, saturated fat, but low impact and then the negatives are just the calories but it still gives you a 78 out of 100 which is an excellent option. The reason why I did it is because I wanted to see what additives are in things like a lot of the other things you sort of know just by looking at the additives are like impossible to know. So a lot of the things that you think may be good or not. So let me give you an example of one that I was like, bummed out about a poor rating. And this is the organic Italian Romano vinaigrette from Whole Foods. It got a 49 out of 100. Okay, the reason why it says is because it has a lot of sodium, it says it's too salty soy immediately puts it in the poor category. And then it gives you the positives of organic protein, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So the cool thing is a few things. First of all, if they put something in the poor category, they give you recommendations as to what you should eat instead, like so for example, this organic Italian Romain of Vinagrette. By the way, you can also make your own decision of whether you think that's poor if it's too salty, and you're like okay, it's fine. I'll have a little salt eat it. But the reason why I like it is because it had a lot of things that I didn't know that had additives, which I'll explain in a second. But anyway, this gave me like a couple recommendations. So instead of having that I could have this raspberry dressing and merit marinade from Lighthouse or this organic vinegar dressing from brag. So it is so helpful because not only is it telling you what's good and bad, but it's telling you what to eat instead. So it did some beauty products. The thing with the beauty products is it has to have the UPC to scan it so sometimes the boxes have that and the beauty products doesn't have that but you can go to the store and scan it which of course I'd started doing with food when I was at the store. So here's another one which I which I eat a lot okay, you know this super creamer. Have you seen this before in the store? This Yeah, yeah, okay. They sell it at Whole Foods. To creamer, right. Yeah, key to vanilla protein and MCT oil, super Cooper scan that the other day 39 out of 100 Poor. Here's why. It has two additives. Okay. One of them is called e 340. It's a potassium phosphate and it comes up as hazardous. Okay, so they rank the additives between like no risk, moderate risk, low risk, and hazardous. So this one came up as hazardous e 340. Potassium phosphate, and then you can click on it and learn why it's hazardous. It says it's a antioxidant, and it says it slows down the oxidation reaction of food. And then this one says phosphates contain phosphorus a chemical element that's essential to the body However, according to a n CES, our phosphorus intake is now two or three times greater than needed. excess phosphorus may increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases disrupt calcium metabolism and bone mineralization and negatively affect the kidneys, you know, right? Yeah, it's crazy. So I've been learning all about these different foods. And again, you can make your choices like like I put in randomly like mustard, right? And it came up as negative because it had too much sodium. And like this specific one was an organic honey mustard said it has a little bit too much sugar, but it just helps inform your decisions better even if you're eating healthy. I want so Aqua for my favorite thing ever comes up as bad 12 out of 100 because and I've read this before it ranks petrolatum as hazardous which is the Petrolia like Vaseline, Vaseline is simply a petrolatum derivative and belongs to the family of mineral oil. So like it says it's prohibited and food products mineral oils are allowed in cosmetics. These oils contain problematic residues such as mo as in motion. So anyway, it goes all into it. And then it gives you all the sources that the Sian list the FSA, like it's it's the company that creates this, all the information that it's coming from is from public health sources, CEC etc. So it's not like they're making it up. So all the sources, it's almost like crowdfunded in a way because it's a free app. But if you upgrade, you can start like you can't search for products unless you upgrade you can scan all your products. But if you want to search for like, oh, I want to get this, let me see what it has. You can't do that. But if you upgrade you can however, when you upgrade, you can donate as much money as you want. You could donate $1 You could donate $10 And you get the upgrade which is really cool. So it's so incredibly helpful. So like aquifer had this hazardous because of the petrolatum which I know is controversial but whatever but it gives you recommendations of doing. You could do Palmer's natural Vitamin E concentrated cream instead. And that's an excellent product at six out of 100. So the petrolatum or

Unknown: 10:03

petroleum, or is it? Are they the same thing? petrolatum and jelly like kind of like the same thing?

Amy: 10:10

Yeah, whatever's in Vaseline, it's, it's the same thing. So I've known that that's been controversial. I've heard about it, but to actually like, see it, a lot of the things I've noticed too, like, for example, I, I scanned, I had a native deodorant laying around, which I don't really use anymore. But that came back as poor because it has something called ozokerite. It shows us a moderate risk. So you know, take that with however you want it, but it says, you know, it's a mineral oil produced by the oil refining process. It's sort of similar to like this thing that I was saying before with the petrolatum. But it's not hazardous. It says memoirs, it has memoirs, which can act as a genotoxic carcinogen. So anyway, it's very interesting. A lot of things with scents came back really bad, I'm sure. Which was interesting. Um, just to do some of the things that I scanned,

Unknown: 11:00

does it do it? So it does food products and beauty products? Does it do like, like house? Cleaning products or anything like that?

Amy: 11:07

No. Okay, that'd be about doing it doesn't know that yet. But hope? Yeah.

Unknown: 11:13

That's a really Yeah. Especially if you're suddenly like somebody sorry to interrupt you, but to, to not know how to read labels, and a lot of people don't. And then also, just like you said, there was one one of the what the E two, three, whatever it was in that coffee creamer. They put they give like these fancy cover up names for things that we have heard more of that we would recognize. So you look at it, and you have no idea what what it is. So it's I love that, especially the beauty products, too. There's so many things in our food. And in our products that we're using that are endocrine disruptors, it can mess with your hormones and everything when you use them in excess, especially like sense like what you were saying.

Amy: 11:55

Yeah, like I scanned this son VM, three in one leaving hair conditioner, which my kids use, sometimes they just like spray it on their hair, again, you're putting it in your hair and putting it on your body. But hair stuff is a little bit different. Like when I skipped a lot of hair stuff, there was some tricky things in there. And it came back with like 1234, like six ingredients that were flagged, but they're all low risk to moderate risk. But like, again, the least you're informed, the things that I've been looking for a lot of things have like low and moderate risk. Unfortunately, a lot of things come back as excellent, which is great. And then the things that come back as hazardous like that coffee creamer is an example is like I'm not buying that again, because it comes back as hazardous. Like those were the things that scared me and some of the things I was trying to find an example. But I have so many things scan, I can't find it right now. But one of the things that came back, some some of the things I scan came back as hazardous. And it'll say like this has been banned in Europe, you know, by the EU. So you know, you hear about things like that. So, so interesting. So it really does the guests, it really does the guesswork for you because we all eat healthy. But still, there's certain preservatives that are in there that can impact what you're eating. And like at least you should be aware of it.

Unknown: 13:06

I just saw recently, the EU banned like six different types of sparkling water, one of which I use a lot because it has stuff in it that like this product would tell me exactly that. And you don't think something like sparkling water. Water is going to be problematic ever.

Amy: 13:24

Yeah, the I scan Lacroix. And that was great. It was like, Oh, good. Yeah, that's my top one, which was good. So And what was interesting too, is I scan some I was at work the other day and I liked wanted yogurt for lunch, and I grabbed like a trovati, which I normally wouldn't like and and if I want that, but scan is excellent. Like because it says it has protein. It has no additives, no saturated fat, you know. So it's interesting, because some of the brands that you don't always think about are actually good. So it's been very eye opening. The problem is it's dangerous because I've been a psycho all week, like literally scanning everything. Everyone's making fun of me. It's so funny, but it's so educational. I find it so educational and eye opening. And the last thing I'll say the thing that I thought was really interesting as I was showing my kids because they're always like making fun of me because I keep telling them not to eat like the junky cereal and the ramen and whatever. So we scanned all their crap that they eat and it was horrible. Like, yeah, we scanned ROM and it was like zero out of 100 like it came up as bad. literally zero out of 100 it has 12 additives of which three are hazardous. Like so much sodium, yada yada yada, so, and Jackson's like rolling his eyes, but he's like, Oh, let me see that and he starts scanning all his stuff. So like I felt like I got it a little bit into them that like no it's not that you can't have this bad food. It's just look what's inside of it. And then we scan this like fruit bar like this organic fruit bar that the kids like, and that came up as good. Yeah, they were I was like, Okay, eat as much as you want those gogo squeezes. Those came up is really good too. I think they were like 100 out of 100 So then I felt better that because my kids like pound those they've like Five of them at a time because they're crazy. But I was like, Alright, fine, eat them at least they don't have like bad chemicals, which is like my biggest concern. So all this cauliflower snacks that we eat, you know, I scan a lot of those and they all come back as good. The only reason they're flagged as negative is calories and sodium. So that's always interesting and a good flag. But anyway, yeah.

Unknown: 15:19

And that's something that you can you can determine whether or not Matt like you might need salt that day, you know?

Amy: 15:25

Yeah, exactly. And then at the end, it has the history. So it saves everything that you've scanned, and then it like grades, like all the stuff and it has it all broken out. And then you can go into your list and like, look at all the bads as an example. And then it gives you all the recommendations like what to do instead. All right, yeah, I'm getting it What's up, so you go, you're gonna go insane with this thing. It's crazy.

Unknown: 15:45

Good. I went alright, anyway, I'm excited. Check it out. Alright, so my next one, you were asking how I'm doing this, like body composition thing. And I have two more apps that will help you understand that. But the next one I am kind of obsessed with it's more than just an app. It's a scale that comes that that has all of these biometrics that that is also you have to have the app to use the scale properly. Because the scale tracks 17 metrics. And it tells you what you're obviously what your weight is, what your weight without fat, what your weight control is, what your weight control is, like where you should be for your age and your height and things like that. Your your contents of body water, and like how hydrated you are, tells you what your bone mass is, what your fat mass is your body fat percentage, forget all that your visceral fat, all of these things, your muscle mass, your muscle rate, your protein rate, your your basal metabolic rate, and then your metabolic age. Amongst more, there's other metrics as well. And it's from it's like biomechanics. I mean, it's science. I can't really totally explain it. But I've done a lot of research into what's

Amy: 16:56

the brand of the scales.

Unknown: 16:59

It is called Fit track. It's the Fit track scale, it's a little pricey, I got it on sale, I want to say like, I think maybe without the sale, it was like $90. But it's it's super cool. Because it tells you things that you can't just get from standing on a scale or measuring yourself like typically, you would have to go and get a DEXA scan to to learn like how much muscle mass you have. And it's it's a big process. I step on this thing every single day. And it tells you your fluctuations, it tells me if I'm dehydrated, it tells me if I need to drink more water, if my body waters low, I'm standing on the scale, I'm standing on a scale. I mean, listen, it's 2023. Wow, the science behind these things is amazing. So it is Bluetooth connected to the app. And as soon as you step on the scale, the app picks up all of the readings when you first get it, it you have to answer just a couple questions like your age and, and male or female and et cetera. And, and then it picks all of it up. And the app also offers other things like you can do. You can like track your your calories and all that as well. But like I said, I like my fitness pal for that. So how this has helped me get into my body recomposition goals is it has given me the metrics that I need to calculate my macronutrients how much protein I should be eating, how much carbs I should be eating to that day that well, yeah, I mean, it's not like I'm fluctuating that much. And that's the goal when you do body recomp. I'm not trying to lose weight, especially for my work. I can't lose weight. I'm just trying to recomp it. I'm trying to be more muscular, less soft, fatty tissue. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, so yeah. And that's really hard. For me, I've tried to do this before. And it was so hard to tell if I was doing it, right. Because you're not like the scale doesn't tell you anything. Like it's you know, it's just whether or not it's starting to work is hard to kind of gauge. So having these metrics and applying them to my, like macros, calculators and everything that are teaching me how to how to get all those numbers that I need is really effective. And it's an it's working. I can I can tell like, I'm definitely I am a I have the energy to do really intense weightlifting workouts, because I'm eating the right amount of foods. b I'm recovering faster. And see I can I feel more toned. I feel tighter. And the scale is not really changing, which is a good thing for me right now. Yeah, yeah. So it's called

Amy: 19:29

it's the you look at the metrics, essentially. And then it kind of like helps you know what to eat, and then does it you have to tell you anything about your,

Unknown: 19:36

you have to use like macronutrient calculators that you can Google, there's all kinds of resources for that. Yeah. But I know because I have these metric numbers that I know are accurate that I can plug in, then I know that the numbers on the calculator that are coming back are gonna work.

Amy: 19:50

Does it tell you you're like BMI and stuff like that? Yeah. All of that. And you're trying to change that. Is that like, how do you measure this body

Unknown: 19:58

result? I'm trying to get It the it says that it says the BMI is an estimate of someone's health by measuring their body weight against their height and sex taken in isolation, BMI can be misleading, it's important to look at your other metrics alongside. So what I'm actually trying to get down is my body fat percentage, your body fat percentage is the percent of your total body weight that is made up of fat. Your rating is your fat mass relative to your total weight compared to your benchmarks based on your age, sex and height. So it's great because when you click on these things, it gives you all of this explanation. visceral fat index, so your visceral fat is the is like the the deadly fat, the fat that surrounds your organs, people that have like beer bellies, like the their tummies are loaded with several fat like that's what causes heart attacks and things like that. And I have hyperlipidemia it runs in my family. So keeping my visceral fat low is really important to me, so and then it also tells you your muscle mass. So like my muscle mass is 96.3 pounds. And it says muscle mass consists of three types of muscle, your skeletal, smooth and cardiac, your muscle mass value, it includes the total weight of all these muscle types combined. And then it goes into further. So I'm trying to get my muscle mass up my body fat percentage down. Very cool. Yeah. And so it's I am obsessed. It's a variable,

Amy: 21:16

peaceful Tactus brand, obviously, with all these other apps in the show notes. I want to check that out. That's, that's very cool. Yeah. Okay, obsessed. Next. My next app is a bit more of a fitness app, a friend told me about this, and I downloaded it over the summer, and it's called all trails. Okay, I know if you've heard of it all trails. And it's great because it has hikes near you or wherever you are. So a lot of times when I travel, I like to go on a hike somewhere, but you don't know where you are. This will tell you so like right now I open the app, and it gives you the top trails nearby. So it's telling me trails that are near my house, which exes some of them I didn't even know because sometimes you don't even know what's around you. And it'll tell you how far it is from you. And how long estimated the trail will take. So I'm looking at this one trail near my house. And it's it's like three miles away. But it says the estimated take, it'll take you about an hour and 15 minutes to complete. And it gives you like a little bit of description of the route like this one says, you know, generally considered an easy route, it takes an average of an hour and 15 minutes to complete, very popular for hiking, mountain biking and running. It's open your rounds, and dogs are welcome. So it's a really great way to get outdoors. I mean, now it's freezing out. But you know, once the weather gets a little bit warmer, it's really nice. And then here's this other trail that I found that seven miles from me, if I want to go to that one, and this trail is really long, it's 7.3 miles. But again, it's like an easier route a lot of people to walk and run on it open year round. Dogs are welcome things like that. So it's really great because I do like to do a lot of walks. And it's just makes it less intimidating, because you kind of know what to expect. Because I think sometimes you go on a walk somewhere and you're like how long as it like, When should I turn around? So and it gives you like, can you turn around or where it ends up and things like that. So it's really great for your own area. But I also think it's amazing for when you're traveling. Yeah. And when you're want to go on a hike or you want to go on a walk around the neighborhood that you're in, it just gives you a little bit of a estimate and know what to expect type situation. So I love it. I think it's really, really helpful.

Unknown: 23:21

Yeah, I like that you're a big hiker. I'm not so much of a hiker. I'd like to go on walks but like you would hike up massive hills and mountains and thing Yeah,

Amy: 23:30

but I mean a lot of the a lot of this is walking trails, like there's this trail near me that I'm seeing is in here, which is a walking trail. So not only is it like, you can search by like hard hikes, easy hikes. And when they say hikes. I mean, the easy ones are like walkable, nice trails, basically Nice. So yeah, it's a really, really great app, and it has like navigation and all these different things on it. So when you're on the hike, you can actually do you navigation,

Unknown: 23:54

anything like a safety score, anything like that.

Amy: 23:57

There probably is some sort of safety score or like it'll tell you, you know if it's crowded, or if people like this one talks about like, here's a moderately challenging Route near me, takes about 45 minutes to complete, popular trail for birding, hiking, walking, best times to visit March through October dogs welcome must be on leash, and it has tags that you can search by or, but I bet you it has like comments about that. It's all look around. But anyway, if

Unknown: 24:24

something's kid friendly, or stroller friendly, that also kind of helps you understand. I would

Amy: 24:28

write and it'll tell you if the likes are populated. So if it's like a crowded trail, you would know it's popular. So anyway, it's a great resource for anytime you want to take a walk

Unknown: 24:36

nice. I love that. Yeah. All right. Well, this is I have two more but this last one is the final piece to how I'm doing this whole body composition thing. And it's more than an app again, it's a massive piece of tech but I have to talk about it because it's insane. It's tonal, so we we got to tonal a few weeks ago, it's for listeners that you don't know it is basically like this giant thing that you attach to your wall that is all AI, and it has arms that come out of it that are weight controlled. And it this screen is programs like weightlifting programs and trainers. And it offers a massive variety of programs of classes, etc. When it comes to the bench and all these things and the weight on the arms can go all the way up to hundreds and hundreds of pounds. I don't know how it works, because it's just literally on your wall. But I it's the coolest thing. Because part of gaining muscle mass you have to do. It's called progressive overload. It's when you lift weights, but you have to constantly, like make it heavier or make your reps higher, you're basically from from exercise to exercise, you have to put more work on those muscles than you did the last time in order to actually gain the muscle mass. It's so complicated, it's really hard to do a lot of people can just like, sit down, take the time make their own schedule, like write out how many weights they should do, how many reps they should do this day, so on and so on. I don't have time for that. And I've been trying to do this for years total does it for me. It's it's connected to the total app. And you put in you know, it asks you the standard questions in the beginning. And then it also has you do this like introduction program where it tests your your strength, so it knows you and knows what you're capable of. And it's constantly adjusting that. And then they have different programs for if you wanted to lose weight if you wanted to gain muscle if you wanted to do a body recap. So right now I'm doing a four week body recon. And it's just because it knows me and it's artificial intelligence. It's really it knows when to put more muscle load on and it

Amy: 26:46

wow, it's it's really takes the thinking out of it

Unknown: 26:49

takes all of the thinking out of it. And it's a trainer. So she's like keeping you excited and keeping you

Amy: 26:54

so it's a class it's a classic kind of like a is that the one I get that the tunnel confused with mirror where like a person shows up? Like, like a virtual person.

Unknown: 27:04

Yeah, it's similar to mirror but I don't know if mir has the weight capacity? I'm not sure. But no, I

Amy: 27:10

think mirrors just classes. Right?

Unknown: 27:12

This is the there's a person in there showing you exactly how to do the movement on a tonal and they're walking you through everything. And yeah, I mean, it's there's a lot of different programs out I'm starting a different program than I'm doing.

Amy: 27:27

Yeah, it's so cool. Our neighbors, they rave about

Unknown: 27:30

it. I'm Yeah, yeah. And it's i It's accessible. Because it's is like a monthly you can pay like a monthly membership. It's not like you have to buy this thing for like $5,000 It's, it's something that you can so I think that they're starting to like like peloton subtotals. And all these things are starting to try to make more so you buy

Amy: 27:48

mass allotment, how much is the actual equipment?

Unknown: 27:50

I have to ask Adam but it wasn't it wasn't as crazy as I thought it was going to be because you pay you pay, you pay more monthly. It's like paying a monthly gym membership. And that's not got to like have access to the programs that's like to have the thing in your house, essentially. Oh, I

Amy: 28:05

say Oh, cool. And do they come and install it? Yeah. Yeah. That's funny. We we have like a more of a wait like an all in one kind of wait machine in the basement. That's stupid a couple summers ago, because the boys especially Jackson was starting to work out we thought about getting the tonal because our neighbors have it and they love it. But we were worried like the kids don't really like they won't. And it's just like different than just like lifting a weight. You have to kind of I don't know, we just weren't sure if like, I like it.

Unknown: 28:37

I think they would like it. Because it's it's it's like hardcore weightlifting. I mean, yeah, I'm like, I'm doing deadlifts with 50 pounds in each hand. And oh, my God, and like, I need

Amy: 28:48

to try this. I think it's so cool. Yeah, I really, I think that would Yeah, I'm curious to see like your journey with this and like, how it changes your body and like with the weights, because I've been trying to do different weight things too. But I really don't know what I'm doing. I'm just lifting weights, but I don't have any sort of guidance. And to your point, like you kind of lift the same thing all the time, you don't have a good understanding of what you should be doing next. So it sounds like this is such a good trainer and takes all the like guesswork, you just do it instead of having to think through like what am I going to do now? And yeah,

Unknown: 29:18

I mean, when you're doing I've been I've tried everything for years and years and years and don't get me wrong. Like I'm I'm in great shape, and I'm strong and everything, but I'm not achieving these results that I've wanted to achieve. And I know how you have to do it. And it's really complicated if you just do it like freehand or you have to pay to write help you do it. And this machine is helping me do it, which is amazing that I help you with the form to Oh yeah, 100% and even the machine will tell you, it senses if your form is cool, and it tells you like wow, like one step away from tonal. Like it's really it's really an impressive piece of equipment. I could not recommend it more. And it also tells me like on my rest days, it gives me active rest workouts as well. If I don't want to do my one day of my four week program, I go in and it pops up. Well, you should do this today instead.

Amy: 30:11

Sounds amazing. I need to I need to test it out for sure. i That sounds really great. I love it. Okay, so while we're on the exercise routes, I always have to give a plug to em who, Melissa what how my daily go to for all things. Love her so much love the app. I know. She recently upgraded the app. And I don't know if you've seen but like now she's got all these other people that are part of her community that are also teaching. I haven't taken any other classes because I'm biased to Melissa but I will. But she's got all these other people that do pilates and different things. But Melissa is just my go to like five minutes. 10 minutes, 20 minutes, whatever I have time for I love our and always have to talk about that. Because that's one I use on the daily.

Unknown: 30:52

Yeah, for sure. Love him. Wh Alright, well, my last one is a pretty fast one. It's something that I have been using for years I start well, I really started when like the pandemic crazy. It's when I first started to get into meditation. It's Insight Timer, which we've talked about before. And yeah, I have a TM practice that I do. But when I'm not doing my TM practice, I still use Insight Timer. And back in the day, when I first started it, I would use the guided meditations. But now I just I love they have a timer, and they have all of these different sounds that you can put in. It's what I use when I meditate with the girls in the morning. It's just like a very easy free app, you can upgrade it and get more and detailed stuff.

Amy: 31:32

But if you may have quick meditations to write Oh, yeah, yeah,

Unknown: 31:36

they have quick meditations, two minute meditations, 15 minute meditations, 30 minute meditations and everything. Or you could just use the timer, which is what I do. So if you're new to meditating, you don't really know where to start, it is an excellent resource for that. That's how I got into meditating. And then I'm sure people, you know, advanced, people are using it regularly as well. So highly recommend.

Amy: 31:56

Awesome. Okay, well, the last one that I have, since we're talking about all these different things to exercise is for the brain, it's called elevate. And this is a really, really good app for, like cognitive function. And so I have brain fog, like a lot of us do. And I use this tool to help kind of like, keep me sharp. So every day, it has a different brain workout. So it tests or not tests, but it gives you exercises in these different categories writing, speaking, reading, math, memory. And so every day will give you different exercises to do. And like today, I opened it up and it said your workouts ready, I'm just going to press start just so you can get an understanding. So like, the first exercise that it has, for me is a writing exercise. And if I play this game, it comes up and tells you the game. And it'll do like tell you how to do it. And like this one, for example, is called rounds. And so I'm tapping it to continue I'm doing it like it'll this one is it times you like see how this says lesson you put in the s. And so see how this timer goes down. So it's all timed. And it's like how quickly you can do things. So this is just like a simple spelling test where like this has the word for example, Odyssey and the S is left out and you put in the s so you know different little exercises, it has math ones, which are always challenging for me has memory ones. And then so I think it has like, I don't know, three or four exercises a day, it takes like a few minutes, it doesn't take long at all. And you get through it and it scores you and then you know at the end of the week, or whenever you can just go in and check your score. So it's actually a really great way to just exercise your brain on the daily, I haven't been using it, this reminded me I need to start using it and then it'll give you your performance. So like I haven't done it in a while. But for example, like my writing is at the top, I have the most points going into like the advanced stage for writing. So you can see all my bars there. Mine goes writing, then speaking then reading then math and memory. So my memory is like at the novice level. So then it gives you more exercises for that. So it's really good. I think it's good for older people to like I told my parents about it. And it told them they should do it everyday. It's kind of like my grandfather, he used to go downstairs every day and do like a crossword puzzle. Same idea, right? Like just keeping your brain sharp. So it's a really good way to get your brain. You know, like sharpening in the morning. Like if you're drinking your coffee, just do a little brain game. And yeah, highly recommend really good tool.

Unknown: 34:19

It's so like, for idle time, instead of just like sitting and scrolling and consuming and having like, tick tock, someone talk to us and tell us things. It's so much better for you like for your eye. I'm going to download it. I could do it when I'm taking the train when I'm commuting things like that. That's great.

Amy: 34:34

Yeah, and it gives you an A Yeah, and I think it's good too, because it's just a couple quick fun games and some of them are fun, you know, and yeah, it's a good way to pass the time. It's not too long. And I whenever I do this in the morning, I do feel sharper. Like I feel like it's a good way to start the day because it kind of gets your brain like firing and smart

Unknown: 34:52

startup. Yeah, highly

Amy: 34:53

recommend. Nice. Yeah,

Unknown: 34:55

this was fun. I'm glad we did this because i mean i i Adam is like Mr. techie tech. And so I feel like I'm starting to get into his realm of all the apps and all the tech and everything. And I mean, you're pretty techie too. So it's all Yeah,

Amy: 35:11

remedies things. Even, you know, I think some of the things we talked about are really cool, because they have the technology, the deep technology piece, but I think a lot of these apps are just like simple apps that our listeners can use everyday like this Yukka app, right? It's like you just scan your stuff just to get a better sense of how healthy your food is. Or like, if you want to go on a walk, I mean, these are simple apps that you can use on a weekly basis that are really helpful. And then yeah, if you want to go deeper into tech, you get the scales and all these other things. But there's just so many helpful apps out there that are free and so we wanted to make sure we were sharing it with our Nirvana sisters family. So hope everyone has a great week and we'll talk to you soon Bye. Thanks for listening to Nirvana sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes please subscribe and leave us a review. also find us on Instagram at Nirvana sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana sisters will continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 90 - Product Junkies January Edition - What We’re Loving (And Not) Right Now (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 90.

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

Amy: 0:06

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

Unknown: 0:18

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

Amy: 0:28

Welcome back to the show Nirvana sisters family. It's January product junkies time and Katie and I are back to give you our things that we are loving right now and maybe not loving so. So we're gonna get right into it. Katie, what do you got for me?

Unknown: 0:43

All right, I'm gonna kick it off with something that it's possible. We you have reviewed this before? Because I know we've talked about it. But I want to talk about my experience with it. I over the holidays, I ordered the new face Mini. And oh, because you have it, don't you? Do you have the regular one?

Amy: 1:01

Yeah, we haven't reviewed it. We actually talked about it with Shelly Marshall and like member she showed us how to use it and did that tutorial, but I haven't been using mine lately. So yeah, like,

Unknown: 1:10

I'm obsessed. I use it every single day. And I have without a doubt 100% seen results in one week, one week, like I just it just I ordered it like, over the holidays. And it took a while to come in because they were out of stock. I have absolutely seen results. And I will show before and afters on our social to prove it.

Amy: 1:28

Okay, so you that's the that's the new face Mini.

Unknown: 1:32

It's the new face Mini, which I don't understand why you need anything more than this, this little thing, I have the big one. It's so good. It does exactly what it's supposed to it's. So for those of you that don't know, it's a micro current electrical current that sends gentle waves through the skin down to the facial muscles and it mimics and gently re energizes the body's own natural current helping to like tone and lift and contour. And then it also helps reduce fine lines and wrinkles. My thing is, I feel like I always as I've gotten older, I'm starting to see like the sagging and the drooping especially around my eyes or like down in like the jowl area which is super common that happens. And this is lifting me for sure. But I think consistency is an absolute must. I was talking to someone

Amy: 2:18

that's yeah, that's the whole thing. That's what Shelly said, because when I've used it, I've seen results, but you have to use it and be consistent every day. And that's where I fell flat and right to get back into it. It's not so let me ask you a question. Yeah. Because here's what I found with a new face which again, it does work if you consistently use it. The thing that I didn't like is I didn't like putting on like the gel on my skin and then using it and I remember asking Shelley Marshal when she was on the show what else you could use and I can't remember what she said. But she said you do have to use something that kind of like sparks the electric electro currents or whatever else that doesn't work like you can't just use the serum. So what are you using? Are you using the thing that came with it?

Unknown: 2:56

I'm using the new face gel that came with it that has hyaluronic acid in it and I actually my skin has been so painfully dry lately that that was like refreshing for me it felt great and even some days I would like leave it on and not wash my face right away. But I'm kind of annoyed because the gel that came with the product is almost gone. So it's lasted me barely like you know a week probably I might get some use out of it in the next couple of days. But I think I want to say I feel like Shelley told us that you could use petroleum jelly just something like that. And if you don't use it you feel the current and it hurts like if there's an area and you didn't have to use something Yeah, you have

Amy: 3:36

Yeah, so that was my downside and like the consistency of that so it like didn't make it feel like a good experience. But yeah, I guess there are other things to try. So you tell me the process and how long it takes you.

Unknown: 3:49

It takes and also I think speaking of other things I've also heard of people using like hyaluronic acid serums to use it like good thick ones. Okay, by it you turn it on and it you just like slowly dragon in the same place on your face. You repeat that three times and after a couple of seconds it goes beep beep beep and then that means that's when you start over. And you just you do it all throughout your face and it's five minutes it won't let you go longer than five minutes because I don't think it's safe and you're not supposed to even do it more than once a day for that reason. So what areas do

Amy: 4:22

you do it on?

Unknown: 4:22

I do it on my jawline right beneath my jawline, I do it on my cheekbones and up on each side. I do it around my eyes, my crow's feet up and the whole thing is that you always have to work up and then I do it like up on my eyebrow and lift up that way this area through here is where I have noticed the biggest difference Yeah, it

Amy: 4:44

does. look nice. Yeah. Do you do your neck too or no?

Unknown: 4:47

I do like right here like right under like where you would have like a double chin situation and look it is tightening my it is tightening those muscles because I was starting to get like a like a drop down. loss

Amy: 5:02

Oops. Okay, I love that I'm gonna I'm going to start using mine again. I've been lazy and you use it in the morning or at night.

Unknown: 5:07

Whenever Whenever I have time to do it, just squeeze it on.

Amy: 5:10

Okay. Okay, I'm going to use it again. Good reminder of some new face and we'll have to watch to find those videos with Shelley because I feel like she did some demos. I can't remember but we'll look for it. Yeah, for sure. All right, what do you Okay, so I'll start with the face product. So I've been following this new person on Tiktok and Instagram Erica, I can't remember her last name but we'll put it in the show notes and we're going to try to get her on the show. She's amazing. And she does great. Like makeup tutorials and hacks for women over 40 And she just is hilarious and just a great follow but anyway, she recommends it I'll actually a few of my recommendations are from her this month but she recommended which I've heard of before I just never tried it to say slip 10 Oh nice. has SPF 35 And it's just like a tinted moisturizer but I really liked this one because it's very thin. And it just is like a really nice glow but not too glowy where it feels like shiny. So I've been putting this on every day and just as like I mean I guess you could probably just use it as a moisturizer. I haven't done that yet because my skin so dry I'll put on my moisturizer and then put this over it almost like a makeup but it's not even thick so it's almost just like can I just smooths out all the redness and smooths out your face that looks I'll I'll do a video or something for social today show the before and after. But it's such a nice difference from like just putting it on and it just refreshes your skin and just makes it look really awake and nice and glowy and smooth and glassy. So I love it. So it's my new thing. The texture is really nice the color. The color that I bought was three which is like a light color and it's tinted but it doesn't come off on anything. You know how sometimes a tinted moisturizer when you're not wearing makeup you throw on a tinted moisturizer and it can like get on something if you have like like other colored clothing on this doesn't do any of that it's almost just like a moisturizer that sinks into your skin. So I'm also going to try it without moisturizer just to skip that step and see how it goes but I really have been loving loving loving this lately. I've been wearing it every day.

Unknown: 7:07

Do you feel like it like just gives you a little bit of a darker shade? Like I'm getting so pale? I'm getting like the winter

Amy: 7:13

Yeah, no, I mean, I guess you could get a darker shade but it really just like here I'll put on a little bit so you can see I don't know if you'll be able to see through the lens. I don't know my light on but

Unknown: 7:21

it's a nice nice kinda.

Amy: 7:23

It's dewy, it feels really good on the skin and adjust. It just smooths you out. I can't explain it just kind of evens your skin because I've been having like some redness and like uneven looking skin and it just smooths it out very light. Very easy. And you could just put this on and go nice. It's like a good five minute flow.

Unknown: 7:44

Yeah, yeah, I like that one I need I'm looking for a nice tinted moisturizer. Awesome. Great should have asked me

Amy: 7:51

out really great. And it has SPF so that's why you probably don't even need regular moisturizer because my moisturizer has an SPF so that's why I use that. But if your skin's not that dry, you could probably just use this and not even you know put on your serums and then put on this I'll try that too and see how it goes but it's a great I'm loving it.

Unknown: 8:09

Sweet. All right, well that is a great segue into my next product because speaking of like red and uneven I was getting a lot of that especially because my skin was so dry and I was trying to figure out, you know, going on to Tik Tok listening to some of these influencers and by the way I only when it comes to skin products, the only people that I listened to are the ones that are either esthetician or dermatologist like I don't listen to some 30 year old that likes a product and tells right gotten by it. So I was trying to figure out what what is it that I need that's going to smooth me out and I learned that it is niacin amide is good for like clearing up redness and unevenness. So I went to the good old drugstore and Sarah vai This is a new Holy Grail. There's so many products now that have the niacin amide and the hyaluronic acid and you can spend 5080 $150 on a product with those two ingredients. Or you can get this survey which I want to say I spent like maybe I remember like $25 Not even yeah like and it's doing the job it's clearing of the redness really quickly within days I would get a lot of I had like a lot of uneven patchy redness around my nose and my like upper lip area I get that and it started to it's already starting to clear it up so I want to say I've bought this in the beginning of the week. So it's a real it's a survey Hyaluronic I'm sorry Sarah Bay hydrating hyaluronic acid serum with three essential ceramides hyaluronic acid and vitamin B five.

Amy: 9:44

Nice Yeah, so you just put that on as a serum like is that the first thing you put on or you put on your vitamin C and then that something like that

Unknown: 9:50

I haven't been using vitamin C because I was reacting too much to it. So I this is the second product I use a poor refining serum and then I use this and then I use my moisturizer

Amy: 10:00

But and what's the feel of that? Is it tacky? Or is it like smooth?

Unknown: 10:03

Oh, it's a nice smooth. It's like in between a serum and a moisturizer. It's a little thicker than a serum not super heavy as a moisturizer. It's very nice and it in your skin just soaks it right up. And it doesn't it leaves no residue it ends up kind of like almost mattifying and sinks on beautifully.

Amy: 10:24

Next product is the two faced fluff and hauled laminating brow wax.

Unknown: 10:31

Oh, I just heard about Yes, yeah, it says it do the job.

Amy: 10:35

It is so good. I'm going to try to do it again. I don't have my light. So it might be hard to say. really gets your eyebrows like I'm not sure yeah. Oh, yeah,

Unknown: 10:45

I see. Yeah. And does it stick? Oh, that really is doing the job

Amy: 10:49

if you want that laminated look, literally. I mean, you don't have to use it for that. But

Unknown: 10:54

does it stay?

Amy: 10:56

Yeah. Because I used to just use a clear gel. And now I'm using this and my eye brows. Like I did this yesterday. It was and I was in the office and literally it stayed like this all day.

Unknown: 11:06

Up. You just look like you like you just lifted like your whole

Amy: 11:10

now. Yeah, it's insane. Wow. So I'm obsessed again. It's the toothpaste fluff and hold laminating brow wax. And so I've been using this everyday and so instead of a clear, you know, mascara or whatever, it's God, this is so much better. Again, I think Erica or girl might have told us about this and it is so good. It stays all day. It doesn't like stick in there and get hard, you know, when you go to wash it off later. It's just like, super easy. Yeah, so I use it and sometimes I fluffed them up and they sort of have that laminated look or sometimes I'll just kind of like you know, comin back down but it's a really really great nice product.

Unknown: 11:47

Nice. Okay, two faced good old two faced all right, brilliant. All right, well this next one has been a total game changer for me and I think you're gonna want to get it too. I have never had long eyelashes and my eyelashes always are like dry and break off so they're thin also, and it drives me insane and I have to like put pounds of mascara on to get nice lashes. So I tried the score Oh lash eyelash volumizing growth serum. And it is working for sure.

Amy: 12:21

What's the brand score? Oh

Unknown: 12:23

lash, s t o r o l a s h it's definitely legit like I don't have that much mascara on and it's they don't look like massively long but you've got to understand before when I have no mascara on and don't look like I have lashes and I also have a missing eyelash few eyelashes and an area where I had a chickenpox as a kid and they've never grown there and I think they're starting to grow there. So it's it's very good it works

Amy: 12:52

and do you put that on at night just on the top of the lash line?

Unknown: 12:56

No put it on at night at the top of the lash line and it's really important to do it at night at bedtime. I've done it a little bit earlier in the evening and then like my eyes started to get irritated so it's right super low

Amy: 13:08

when your eyes are closed it like goes into yeah yeah it's funny that you say that because I just started use a grande lash I don't have a review for it yet because I haven't been using it long enough because same thing like I feel like my lashes I mean I've been wearing for the last six months eyelash extensions which have been like a game changer I just because my eyelashes are so light that I have to wear mascara every day and frankly I just got so sick of taking off mascara every day and like it just bothers my eyes so much she's like a makeup remover and like rub my eyes every night take it out so when I got the eyelash extensions it's so great not having to wear mascara and like barely having to wear makeup makes such a difference on my face but anyway it the maintenance of it is painful and I can't I'm like taking a break for right now so I was like I when I got them off I'm like oh my god I have no lashes this looks crazy. I look like yeah, that's a little washed out. So I started using the Grande last to try to grow them a little bit longer. I mean they're never going to be dark so I still will always need mascara but at least maybe they can get a little bit more volumous so I bought the sample of like the Grande lash lash and then the Grande lash brow like they come together at Sephora just to try them out. So I'm still using Um So more to come on that but that's uh that's good to know that that one works because if this doesn't work maybe I'll try that

Unknown: 14:21

yeah, I'm sorry did you get that definitely a fan of it. I ordered it online I one of my friends is has also been doing eyelash extensions for so long that she says that she has like literally no eyelashes left. So that's the thing. I mean, I understand the convenience of it when they're on there and it's great but like you said the maintenance and then potentially ruining your lashes is a tough deal.

Amy: 14:44

Yeah, and I think with these serums and stuff the other thing I heard they're great but again, it's consistency like yes, like I started of course I start doing grinding left earlier so we can the last few days of course I forgot before I went to bed, but it's like if you keep doing it your eyelashes will grow. It's just when you up, they won't that's really good to know of that brand. And I'm also in the process of reviewing a few DIY eyelash extensions. So I'll be back in a later episode with that, which is really fun. Okay, great. Okay, so my next product is on the same realm of the eyebrows. And again, two faced for the win. This is called the to face brow wig. And it's a natural brush on hair, fluffy brow gel again, similar to the waxy fluff and hold but this one is different because it has a color. So I guess you could probably I've been using both I've been using the fluff and hold and then I throw in this brow wig because it has a color. So the color that I got the colors natural blonde, and again, since I have such light hair, and this just kind of like fills in the gaps a little bit. So again, like you will probably just do this use this without the wax but I use it on top and it just fills them in a little bit. But to me, I know we've had a couple of pencils that we've reviewed on the show, but to me this is easier. And it just fills in kind of like where my eyebrows are a little sparse. And

Unknown: 16:09

that just a combination of that with a lamp is actually really good. What you just Yeah, so

Amy: 16:13

I've been using these two together and it's been great. It's made such a big difference. So highly recommend two faced brow wagon. There's tons of different colors based on your eyebrow color. So nice big fan base. Alright really that with the say you're good to go? You're sad.

Unknown: 16:28

Okay. All right, fantastic. So this is going to be a holy grail for any of my girls that deal with acne. And it's so wild because I've had the dry skin but also acne and my skin is really dry but I've been having breakouts and I think it's because I was like I was using a product daily that I should not have been that I think was just really breaking down my skin and clogging my pores with like dry skin and everything. So it's hard to find a product that is going to be good for acne when you have dry skin because it'll dry you out really quickly right usually comes along with like oily skin. So this one so the Roche Posay EFA klare it has Adaline gel in it which is at a higher percentage is prescription only so it's very very effective. It's a once daily topical retinoid dermatologist developed and tested product and I use it I started skin cycling we talked about that in our trends episode and I think we're gonna have somebody come on maybe dermatologist to talk us through that more this year, but I started skin cycling so I'm doing my retinal treatments with us twice a week

Amy: 17:37

so that's that that's substance like a retinol treatment. You mean I use it

Unknown: 17:41

in addition to my Sunday Riley Vita retina so I use both on on my retina Oh no. Yeah, it's working. It's 100% working like I had really really bad breakout on both sides of my temples and there are gearing up after using it for about maybe two

Amy: 18:00

okay. Okay, so on your retinol night you're using your Sunday Riley retinol as well as that and then a moisturizer on top

Unknown: 18:08

and then a moisturizer on top. Yeah, I do. So for the skin cycling the first night I do an exfoliant which is like a lactic acid VHA or an AJ or like folic acid. And then the next day I do my retinas moisturize and then the next day I rest and I just do one more stressor and my niacin amide serums and then you do it all over again.

Amy: 18:32

Yeah, so I've been trying that I've tried in the past but I haven't been of course consistent but yeah, I always for the I have dry skin too. So every time I use a retinol same it gets like so dry and then I noticed that like if I put on makeup or like anything with like a brush it gets like dry up here on my forehead so that way, so I did buy a new retina which maybe I'll review next time if I like it that I'm testing so that's good to know about that one too. I'm gonna try that L'Auberge La Roche Posay I feel like there's a lot of really nice products

Unknown: 19:01

they do and what I really love about it is I don't have to go all the way to Sephora to get it I haven't had CVS carries their whole right they sell it at CVS. I know nice. It's a really solid price point for the quality of the product as well. Yeah, what do you have next?

Amy: 19:15

Okay, so once you have your sace Lipton on and your eyebrows done your finishing product is I found a perfume which I am as you know very sensitive to smells and I love perfume but I haven't worn perfume literally for like five years because the scent I get a headache and I don't feel good and I can never find like the right one. That doesn't give me a headache or like whatever. Yeah, but I did find one that I liked. That doesn't bother me and I'm so excited. I got the little trial size at Sephora. It's called Gucci flora. It has pear blossom accord white gardenia, nature print and grandiflorum Jasmine combination,

Unknown: 19:56

Jasmine. I love that smell. Yeah, like normally

Amy: 19:59

I actually They don't like I usually like more of like the pair type sense. But I think the reason why I like this is because it has the Jasmine. But then it also has the pair. So it's sort of like, has this really nice balance. So I've been loving it. And I love the rollerball because it's just like, throw it on. And yeah, and it's not too strong. I mean, I think a lot of people I was reading reviews online, were saying that it doesn't stay on all day, it kind of fades, but I don't care. I don't need it to stay on all day. I feel like once it's on it kind of like is there in the background, and that's fine. But I'm loving it. And so I've been able to wear perfume again. So I'm really excited about it. And they have two versions, they have this pink one. And then they have another one called Gucci Flora gorgeous Jasmine and it's in a really pretty aqua blue bottle. And that one has different ingredients, Mandarin essence, Jasmine and Magnolia. I didn't really like that one as much. But this one, they describe it on the website as delicious, gorgeous and joyful. So anyway, I'm really loving this and I'm so excited. I found a perfume that I can actually wear and enjoy.

Unknown: 20:57

And I love the Sephora with their sample size bottles, I think is genius.

Amy: 21:01

Oh my now it's and they last so long. Besides it's it. Yeah, it's

Unknown: 21:04

like a it's it's grown in

Amy: 21:07

your bag. You can throw it for travel. Like I don't need like the big thing because, uh, you never use the whole thing.

Unknown: 21:12

Yeah, I have. I have large bottles of perfume in my bathroom, like six of them that have been there for years.

Amy: 21:20

Yeah. You don't wanna throw them away, but they get nasty.

Unknown: 21:23

Yeah. All right, so my last review, I do have one after this. That's that that's something I'm not so pleased with. But this is my last one. And this is a holy grail. Game Changer. It is called Hi smile. It is a color correcting serum for your teeth. And

Amy: 21:45

never heard of a color correcting serum for

Unknown: 21:47

me either. It's so the tube is purple. And the toothpaste itself is actually purple. And it seriously well it's toothpaste toothpaste. Oh, but it doesn't take place of toothpaste, you still use regular toothpaste and then you do this afterwards. And I have like I have a lot of bonding work and I have bonding work that I did like 10 years ago and I bonding with it I did three years ago and then I have teeth that don't have it. So it's very my smile has always been very like uneven because it's hard to match the bonding to old bonding. So like the yellowing and everything was driving me absolutely insane. And this has has really corrected a lot of it. It has really started to like balance out the weight of my teeth and my smile and everything and I have before and after pictures too that I can that I can share. So

Amy: 22:32

you brush your teeth and then you put that on. Yep. And how do you apply it

Unknown: 22:37

just with a toothbrush? You just literally like brush your teeth with it.

Amy: 22:40

Oh cool. Did you do it morning and night

Unknown: 22:42

I do it. Yeah, I do it morning at night. I mean, I'll do it as many times if I want if I'm going out and I want my smile to be extra bright I do it you know, it's like you can do it as often as you want. And they have a lot of products so they also the package that I bought also came with this pen that you put on and it's a red gel and the red only is red. It goes on clear and it shows up red where you have staining and you need extra attention and then you use this other toothpaste to clear it so like I got a package with a with multiple items that I'm using.

Amy: 23:17

But where did you find did you buy it online?

Unknown: 23:19

I bought it online. Yeah, of course what's in it it was social media buy you're so influenced. I know Tiktok made me do it. So funny do so I don't know exactly what the active ingredient is says V 34 is best used as a post whitening treatment however it can be used on its own daily or before an event to eliminate unwanted yellow undertones on your teeth. And it has phenomenal reviews across the board. Like that's why I bought it. It just seemed a little too good to be true but it is it is really good. I was going to buy that the snow the snow whitening thing, but it's pretty pricey. So I want to just start with this first. I mean this was a really good price I think like right now you can get it for $23 so great. Yeah, try that. It's legitimate. It really does work fine. Yeah, it's a great find. Alright, so do you have any more?

Amy: 24:08

Yeah, so my last one is is not a beauty product but it is a comfy cozy product and I'm wearing it Oh nice. It's this sweatshirt which I don't know if I showed you when I bought it. Amazon of course influenced by Tiktok it's a dupe for like the Lululemon like scuba hood or something I don't know. But this is the women's hooded pullover sweatshirt have super cropped hoodie. Fleece lines colors up up. Literally they have 10 billion colors. The one I'm wearing right now is light gray. It's $42 super cheap. I got a size medium just so it's like a little bit bigger. But it's great because it's a crop so it doesn't feel like so shitty when you're wearing it. It looks like nice with like jeans or whatever. And they have a million colors. They have like pretty greens. They have hot pink, they have purples, whites, lots, lots of nice colors. I just got the gray but I'm gonna get another one. I love the front pocket. And it's just like a nice A little bit more of an elevated sweatshirt and I love it and it's $42 from Amazon, so I'm wearing it today so I figured I'd share the love. Yeah, great.

Unknown: 25:08

No, I love it. Like super close, right? Like a Lululemon pretty collar. Yeah, a Lululemon sweatshirts probably like, what? One 151 80 Something like that. Like it's a good Yeah. And it has a HUD so like, it's good. It's got

Amy: 25:22

a hood, but it's not like a sloppy hood. It's like nice, cozy, and it looks good.

Unknown: 25:26

Nice. I need to get it. All right. I love that. Well, you know, we'd like to talk about things that we love and we like, but occasionally we need to mention the things that we try that we don't like. And yeah, fortunately, this was a very cheap buy, but I haven't tried to find a makeup setting spray. My journey has only just begun I thought I would start low before going into the high try some of these drugstore brands. So I went and bought the Mulani make it last original natural finish setting spray. And it's uh, won't, won't won't. I don't like it says 16 hour where it's supposed to prime correct set. It's supposed to keep your makeup from like going into your creases and everything. When I spray it on, it makes me overly dewy. So then I have to put a lot of powder on top or wet it's super wet. Makes me overly do I have to put a lot of powder on top and then I kind of feel like a little oily and greasy. And then it doesn't I mean it does keep my makeup on. But I still get like creases from from my makeup and everything. So I don't know I just don't love it. I don't love the way it makes my skin feel. So at first it makes my skin feel oily and greasy. And then as the day progresses I start to feel to dried out. So I just don't think it's it's yeah, you know.

Amy: 26:42

So that's it. That's surprising and I'm glad to hear because I feel like I've heard about that one. Well that is it for January product junkies. Hope you enjoyed all of our recommendations this month and let us know if you have other things you want us to review and have a good

Unknown: 26:58

week. Bye bye.

Amy: 27:02

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 89 - Peptide Therapy and Hormone Optimization with Katy Whalen, Co-Founder + CEO of Joi Women’s Wellness, What are Peptides? (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 89

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

[00:18] Katie Chandler: And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation.

[00:28] Amy Sherman: Welcome back to the show Nirvana Sisters family. We are so excited to meet Katie Whalen who's the co founder and CEO of Joy Women's Wellness which is an innovative peptide and hormone balancing therapy brand. I'm so excited because I just hear so much about peptides and aminos and omegas and there's all these buzzwords going around and we really want to get deep into what this is and how people can benefit from it. Your skin is glowing. So I'm already knowing that this is going to be a helpful therapy for our listeners. But I'm just going to give a little bit about Katie before we get into all of this. Katie started Joy because she knew she wasn't alone. She had a long journey through infertility miscarriages IVF. And finally giving birth to her little boy left her feeling fatigued, hormonal overweight and struggling with brain fog. I think we can all relate to this. She searched for a holistic solution that would help her feel like me again. And that's when she learned about hormone optimization and peptide. Therapies, the only problem is they were so hard to come by. So after both her and her husband began to experience amazing results with both peptide and hormones, he knew she had to share them with women everywhere. So Joy is a place where women can find answers, manage their health, holistically and truly start to feel like themselves again. Looking better too is just an added bonus because you know what? We all deserve to fear our best from the inside out. So welcome to the show, Katie. We're so excited to have you here. Thank you for spending your time with us today.

[01:58] Katy Whalen: Thank you ladies. I'm super excited too.

[02:01] Amy Sherman: Yeah. So let's get into it. Well, actually, before we get into it sorry, I'm just rushing right in because I'm so excited to hear about this. Let's take a step back and talk about our weekly Nirvana now. We are taping this right before the new year so I'm going to kick off with well, actually I'll move it to Katie or Kay. We're going to call her on this episode, Katie Chandler. Katie to talk about her Nirvana of the week.

[02:24] Katie Chandler: Yeah. Thanks, Amy. Well, Katie, we are so excited. I actually was with some friends last night and they know a little bit about this. So I was salivating being able to talk to you and then come back and say, well, I know a little bit about it too, so we're very excited to get into it. But my Nirvana this week I think was work. I've mentioned I've gone back to work, I'm a fit model and I was a little nervous about how that was going to pan out. Being a seasoned model these days, I didn't know if the work was going to roll in, but I have been manifesting work and abundance and it is happening. I worked. I had a full day job all day on Wednesday that just popped up and more work is popping up and go see and all kinds of stuff. So it's just exciting because it's going in the direction that I hoped but wasn't sure if it would. But if I look tired today, that's because I am exhausted at this whole going back to work, being a mommy, being a podcaster juggling situation. Not exactly like hitting it out of the park in all arenas, but it's okay. So that was minor. Van. What about you, Ave?

[03:36] Amy Sherman: That's awesome. Katie, I'm so proud of you. I know we've been chatting on text and it's just like it's so nice to see you kind of back in the game. And Katie, you had taken a break for how long, ten years? Yeah. So I was saying it just must be nice to have something for yourself where you're not having to attend to little people all the time. So I've had a lot of nirvana lately. We recently got back from an amazing international trip to Israel for my son's bar Mitzvah, so we'll talk about that another time. But I would say this week I had a nirvana at work, too. I had this big deadline looming over me and I finally completed that deadline this week. And so it just was such a relief to get this big project off of my brain. So I just feel relieved. And that was just like a nice moment to be like, okay, now I can do these couple more things and then kind of enjoy the holiday for the next two weeks. What about you, Katie?

[04:30] Katy Whalen: You know what? Mine nirvana is actually going to be this afternoon. I had emailed you guys a little while back and asked to move the podcast recording up because my daughter is turning five this month and with a new business and with two little kids, I constantly feel like I'm struggling to have quality time with my kids. So a couple of months back, her grandma Gigi sent her this American Girl doll catalog and she's been dreaming of this doll ever since. So I'm surprising her today. This afternoon took some time off work and we're going to go to the big store, get her a doll, and we're going to do the whole party with cupcakes and tears.

[05:12] Katie Chandler: Oh, that's so fun.

[05:14] Katy Whalen: It's fun. And I obviously feel like the whole week I'm excited. I'm like, I'm 43 and I'm like super excited to go.

[05:21] Amy Sherman: That does sound fun.

[05:22] Katie Chandler: That's great. I have a five year old and we did that with my older daughter when she turned six. That exact experience at the cafe and the whole thing with the doll and they have the little seat for the doll. It's the cutest thing and she's going to have the time of her life and so are you.

[05:36] Katy Whalen: It's really sweet.

[05:37] Amy Sherman: That is so cute. I haven't gotten to experience that because I have two boys, but I'm going to vicariously live through both of you and I need to see pictures because that sounds so fun and right up my alley. Okay, amazing. So let's get into your company Joy, and kind of I have so many questions about peptides. I don't even know what they are really other than I know they're really I hear they're amazing for you, but if you can kind of break it down for us, give us a 101 on what peptide therapy is, what peptides are, and about your amazing company.

[06:08] Katy Whalen: Yeah, so peptides, I didn't know what they were a little over a year ago either, but I used them to help me kind of like after I was done having kids to really help me propel my health and feel better. So now I'm obsessed. But what they technically are short chains of amino acids and they direct ourselves to perform specific functions. So I think of them as like a key to open a door. And of course as we age our levels decline. So peptide therapy is just adding back in some of those keys to open more doors. So you can help maybe with symptoms you have or even if you have no symptoms, there's lots of just benefits and overall vitality you can get from it.

[06:53] Katie Chandler: And amino acids, those are the building blocks to protein and to muscle building, correct? Is that right? Yeah.

[07:01] Katy Whalen: And so when we say short chains, it's literally from like two to 50 chains of these bonded together and a protein is over 100 chains of the amino acids. And that's about the extent of my science knowledge. Yeah, that's exactly right.

[07:21] Amy Sherman: And so are there all different kinds of peptides and do you use different ones for different treatments?

[07:32] Katy Whalen: Yeah, exactly, there's a lot of peptides and I think more peptides will be discovered in the future. I mean we have right now naturally occurring in your body like something like 7000 peptides. So we have probably peptides that we offer right now, I would say a dozen peptides for different things. And there's a peptide for gut health and inflammation. There's a peptide, a couple of peptides for weight loss that are super popular right now. One of my favorites is a growth hormone releasing peptide which tells your body to release more of its own growth hormone. We have peptides for skin health, hair health, basically you name it. I say there's a peptide for that.

[08:19] Katie Chandler: Amazing. So how did Joy tell us how you got started with Joy and what exactly Joy is doing for your clients?

[08:29] Katy Whalen: Yeah, I mean it was all based off my own health experience. I got married when I was 35 and right away, started focusing on a family and before that I was being single in my thirty s. I had time and resources and just took such good care of myself. Looked great, felt great. It was just a great time in my life. When I got married at 35, started on the you know, family train right away. Had a ton of you know, difficulty with my ability journey and really became this like warrior determined to make it through and have my family. I had four miscarriages and IVF and all the things that so many women do but when I finally had my babies I woke up at 41 and going holy moly. At the last six years of my life I haven't really taken care of myself. I was just focused on all the things and now I have two little ones and I'm overweight. I have brain fog, I have who am I and is this the new me or can I get back to some of those self care routines so I can feel good myself and have the energy to take care of these demanding little beings. So I started, the first thing I started actually was getting on testosterone because my phone was super low and I started to see some great change, more motivation at the gym. I started to be able to notice I was getting stronger. It helped me lose some of that fat and gain some muscle which was pretty exciting. And then I learned of peptides and started testing some of those out, did the weight loss peptide which I was amazed to get to my, I had a goal in mind and I was like I'm going to try to get there but in my mind I was like it might not be possible. Got there, actually went past it and I was just like this is insane and other women need to know about.

[10:26] Amy Sherman: Past, I need that ASAP. Okay.

[10:31] Katie Chandler: I have to say did you say you were 43? Is that how old you are? I was floored. Because you look like you are in your early 30s. Without a shadow of a doubt. Right Amy?

[10:43] Amy Sherman: Yeah, I was very shocked too.

[10:47] Katie Chandler: Those are the peptides then. Hard at work.

[10:50] Amy Sherman: Let me ask you a question just backing up to like when you were saying you were taking testosterone, who did you go to and why did they prescribe that? Like was it a regular doctor, a functional doctor? Just because I feel like and Katie and I talk about this all the time. There's this whole world of this more holistic well being that's super popular but there's not a lot of resources and there's functional doctors, there's regular doctors. Sometimes the regular doctors don't really believe in it. Like how did you establish your first step and then from there?

[11:19] Katy Whalen: Yeah, I mean you're so right and it's frustrating that some of these things are so hard to come by and unfortunately so many doctors aren't trained in this, and it's not their thing. And we even have patients that will come to us and be like, well, is my doctor confused or blah, blah, blah. So it is tricky. So for me, there's a little bit more of a backstory because my husband actually went through his own issues first with his hormones. While we were struggling with our fertility, we had a lot of stress and his testosterone tanked, and it was so bad. He had no libido and we didn't know what it was. And I thought, oh, it's me. I'm gaining weight. You're not attracted to me. We found out through his own health journey that it was his four months, so he started getting the help first. So I saw him, his struggles and his change, and then he actually started the men's side of our company first before Joy. That's called blokes. And I was able to then get treatment from the men's side of our company. That's when I was like, we need this for women. I was not planning on starting this. I was totally happy being in the newborn stages and not thinking about what my career would look like. And then I just 40% of our traffic on the men's side was actually women, so we were like, It needs to happen. But so that's how I was able to actually do it. Pretty quickly, my husband went through a couple of years of getting told that he was fine when he wasn't.

[12:56] Amy Sherman: And what doctor did he go to that determined it was his hormones? Because that's also, like, for men, probably even harder to find a doctor that would say that or identify that.

[13:09] Katy Whalen: Yeah, because they work in these ranges, these lab ranges that are the average person that goes in there with something wrong took a test, and that's where you are. And he was on the very low end of the average range of sick people, and it was fine. So it's really what we try to do is say, you know, how you can feel, how you're supposed to feel, and you really need to take control of your own journey, not get discouraged by a doctor that isn't trained in something that it is what it is. You have to take control of that.

[13:45] Katie Chandler: Men, I feel like, women, we've been told over hormonal health. Hormonal health, it's going to be a thing when you get older, it's going to be an issue. And I don't think men have as much of an awareness that they can experience it as well. And it's like they don't know that it's possible that that can happen to them sometimes. I think so. A lot of times, maybe they just go and deal with it and just think, I'm getting older just like so many women do, and that there's nothing that can be done about it. So I think it's amazing that you have this company for men as well.

[14:24] Katy Whalen: I think it's important for women to know that was my experience. My husband was like with no libido, he didn't really care because it wasn't an issue for him. It was me that was like, this is not working. So I think it's important for couples to both feel their best together and both kind of be on the same page with that because I know sex and marriage is a big issue. One of the top reasons people fight. Right?

[14:51] Katie Chandler: Right. Yeah. So true. Interesting. Okay so the peptide therapy, let's do a little bit of a deep dive because who would be a good candidate? I mean are you seeing women in their 30s that are needing peptide therapy as well or is it mostly just.

[15:10] Katy Whalen: As older age groups? I think anyone really interested in their health journey, their own health is a candidate. And certainly I wouldn't say a healthy 18 year old looking at peptides because it is something that levels decline with age. But I do think 30s mid thirty s and up is somewhere where people will really start to see some benefits. But it really depends. I think BPC 157 is like the Swiss army knife of peptides. It has a lot of uses and it's really great for people with autoimmune, people with chronic inflammation, gut health issues. It could be injected into the site if you are healing from some kind of a surgery, wound healing. So there's certain peptides that even younger people could benefit from.

[16:05] Katie Chandler: That one. Kind of like the society knife. Does that also address some of the other issues? Like is it kind of a broader spectrum where it'll hit the hormonal imbalances and do some good for your skin and hair and nails as well or does it get very specific when you start to target those things?

[16:27] Katy Whalen: I think it gets specific but I do think BPC is a great general one because it targets general healing, gut healing and inflammation. So obviously we know everything starts and ends in the gut. So I always thought I had good gut health and I wasn't really one I was interested in. But then just recently I started taking it because I realized that even if you're doing all the right things, all the toxins in the environment and just our basic lifestyle can really affect your gut. So I actually even though I feel like I have a decent gut health, I just started taking it because I feel like in your 40s things get a little wacky and beneficial for just inflammation.

[17:10] Katie Chandler: Sure.

[17:11] Amy Sherman: So I have a question, stupid question probably but how is the peptide ingested? Is it a shot? How does it work?

[17:20] Katy Whalen: Not stupid at all. So there's lots of options. There are definitely peptides that are injected and we use sub queue only. So it's super small needle, super easy to do and then there's peptides. So BPC comes in both actually an injection or a capsule, so you could do either. And there's different methods that probably we would recommend for different things. So if it's just general gut health, I would say take the capsule because it's absorbed better that way. But if it's actually like a wound or a soft tissue injury, then I would inject it. We have nasal sprays as well. There's one for mental clarity. That's a nasal spray. There's a skin cream that's just like a regular skin cream that goes on your skin at night. So there's lots of different ways applications for them.

[18:10] Katie Chandler: Interesting. And tell us about your team. You have a very impressive team of people at Joy. Are these the people that you go to that tell your client, this is the exact one that you're going to benefit from and you should be taking it this way? How does that work when someone wants to start with Joy?

[18:30] Katy Whalen: Yeah, one of our co founders, Dr. JC. Fulkers, he's kind of the petty guru, and he comes from a more functional medicine background and can tell you all the sciency things. So he's kind of the head of our peptide program. And then we have providers that you'll talk to during your Zoom call that a lot of them are on all these peptides and know them too. And then we have some medical advisors as well on our team. Dr. Melissa Loewski has been treating women and men. And then I'm super excited because I've been fan Darling over Dr. Amy Hillen for a while, and she actually just decided to join us as a medical advisor.

[19:16] Amy Sherman: Oh, amazing. Yeah.

[19:18] Katy Whalen: So excited about that one. We do have some great people on our team.

[19:23] Amy Sherman: I know you said you're based in Nashville. Is it a physical location or is it virtual? How does it work?

[19:29] Katy Whalen: Well, virtual right now, I think we've talked about in the future having some stores and some pop ups, which would be super fun. But right now we have our hands full. So, yeah, we're virtual. We do everything, all our visits via Zoom. And yeah, we're licensed in all 50 states, so it makes it easy.

[19:47] Amy Sherman: That's amazing. Okay, so our listeners can actually get a consultation with a doctor you just mentioned and then if they wanted to continue is it prescription or does it work?

[19:58] Katy Whalen: Prescription based?

[19:59] Amy Sherman: All prescription.

[20:00] Katy Whalen: It's a health history. Everyone has to fill out just to cover all the bases and then figure out what's going on with your goals, what's your symptoms, and then your therapy shipped right to your door.

[20:12] Katie Chandler: And what is insurance? Does insurance come into play? No coverage. Is it out of pocket?

[20:18] Katy Whalen: It is, yeah. Unfortunately, healthcare does not want to pay for. Right.

[20:28] Katie Chandler: What's the price point?

[20:29] Amy Sherman: I'm curious.

[20:31] Katy Whalen: It varies depending on which peptide. I would say average. So I have a face cream, and then I also do the growth hormone releasing have, and I think those are right around 200 each for a month supply and then our weight loss peptide is probably our most expensive and that is, you know, depending on dosage, could be 250 or 300 a month.

[21:00] Katie Chandler: Okay, got it.

[21:01] Amy Sherman: And then how long? And I'm sure it's very individual, but how long if someone was interested in doing peptide therapy, how long do you do it? Do you do it? Is it like you always do it or you do it until you feel better and then you do something else?

[21:14] Katy Whalen: Yeah, not up to you. You certainly don't have to be on it forever. It's something that you can just try see what's working for you. We actually recommend that you should cycle off every once in a while. Like I'll do mine for six months and then I'll take a month off and that kind of just helps you reset, also helps you figure out what's really working for you and kind of see the benefits that you're getting. But yeah, you can always try something else or just get off if it's something that you're not feeling is helpful.

[21:48] Katie Chandler: Tell us a little bit about NAD therapy because I have seen this at my wellness center where I get IB therapy infusions. Are you combining is NAD peptide or is it something different?

[22:05] Katy Whalen: It's not a peptide but it's technically a coenzyme.

[22:09] Katie Chandler: Okay.

[22:10] Katy Whalen: But we offer it and we think it's pretty cool.

[22:14] Katie Chandler: It's powerful. Right? And doing it in conjunction with the peptides probably does a lot for people.

[22:20] Katy Whalen: Yeah, it's certainly one you can try on its own too. So NAD is in every cell of our body and we need it to live and of course levels decline. But what it really mainly does is it helps with metabolism, it helps convert your food to energy and then it also protects our DNA integrity. So think of antiaging or think of disease prevention. So you can do it in an IV clinic? Through an IV. We send ours out as injections and it's kind of cool. It's one that you feel right away, you'll feel like a flush feeling and I like to kind of sit down and breathe and kind of relax and meditate for about 1015 minutes and I feel that freshness and you just have a little boost of energy.

[23:06] Katie Chandler: Nice.

[23:07] Amy Sherman: Yeah. I've heard a bunch of different podcasts and read a little bit about NAD and is that a more it seems to me from what I've heard and this could be completely wrong, but that it's like a more intensive treatment. Like, you only do it for, like, a short period of time, or no.

[23:23] Katy Whalen: I think when you're doing it with an IV, it's pretty intense. I think you have and I haven't done it that way, but I think you have to sit there and have you done it that way?

[23:32] Katie Chandler: Maybe I haven't, but it is very intense and you have to be monitored by a nurse when you do the IV. Way, and it takes a long time.

[23:42] Katy Whalen: It takes all day.

[23:44] Amy Sherman: I feel like that's what I've heard.

[23:46] Katy Whalen: That it can be uncomfortable. I think it's something that they really give you a lot of at that sitting. So what we do is we recommend weekly injections so you could do it at your home and it's just kind of 15 minutes of a flush feeling. So it's certainly a lot easier that way.

[24:05] Katie Chandler: More tolerable yeah, that makes sense. That makes sense. So you're also doing HRT or hormone replacement therapy, or is the peptide considered HRT? I was looking at your content. Is that what it is?

[24:26] Katy Whalen: They're two separate things.

[24:27] Katie Chandler: Okay.

[24:28] Katy Whalen: Yeah, we do HRT. We believe in a hormones as being like, such a foundation. I mean, each hormone has its own benefit and function and they all need to be in the right levels. I always think of hormones as story of goldilocks. You don't want too little or too much of anything. You want it to be just right for your levels, which is a little bit different for everybody. But if one level gets thrown off, then you can really a lot of things off in your body. And I think for women especially, there's such a gap in you're done having your babies and you're in your forty s and who's caring for you now and what's like I just think I'm excited because I think there is a movement to change that and a lot of companies that are offering support. So I'm excited for that. But I think a lot more is needed.

[25:22] Katie Chandler: It's so true. Our health care system just kind of looks at post baby years, like, periodopausal. Menopausal, women is just like, all right, well, you're all on your own, go figure it out.

[25:32] Amy Sherman: Oh, you're getting older, that's what happens. You're not supposed to feel great, right?

[25:38] Katie Chandler: Of course we love our OB gens and they serve a massively great purpose, but once we get to this spot, they're like, say in our go find.

[25:49] Amy Sherman: Somebody, come in once a year for your Papsmear. There's no continuity.

[25:57] Katie Chandler: Do you do lab work and testing as well for your patients? You send them off, they get their labs done, and then your team looks at the results, et cetera?

[26:07] Katy Whalen: Yeah, prescribing labs. And certainly if you're thinking of a hormone, you definitely need to do some labs. And then we continue to monitor people on treatment with labs. So we have a partnership with a few different people. LabCorp is one of them, so it's easy if you have a LabCorp menu. We also partnered recently with Get Labs and they come send a mobile phonomist to your house. So that's pretty cool. For people that are in urban areas, that's a really great option for convenience. And then we also partnered with a company called Tesla, which is like a device that sits on your shoulder and can test your hormones as well. Something that you do at home and then send back.

[26:47] Amy Sherman: That's interesting.

[26:50] Katie Chandler: Yeah, that's cool. Nice.

[26:52] Amy Sherman: I have a question about the hormones too. Do you see a lot of women taking hormone replacement and peptides at the same time? Or is it two kind of separate strategies?

[27:07] Katy Whalen: I mean, I do that, I believe in that for sure. If something is off with your hormones, then you should absolutely do that. And then peptides to me is just like icing on the cake. I think it really is woman dependent. I think there's still a lot of people that aren't educated on hormones, hormone therapy, or maybe dangerous, or think it's not natural to help your hormones. So I think that there's just different people who are looking for different things or have different comfort levels.

[27:39] Katie Chandler: Okay, I have a question that you may or may not know the answer to. We can edit it out easily, but have you heard of HMVs? Is that a peptide? Do you know? I've just recently started reading about HMB.

[27:52] Katy Whalen: HMV, I haven't, but I will definitely look that up.

[27:55] Katie Chandler: HMB as in boy. And it has something to do with leucine, which I think is an amino acid, and it helps with just muscle growth. And even if you're not training, it can help maintain muscle and prevent muscle waste as you're getting older. And then if you are working out and training, it helps build the muscle faster. Which, as you were saying earlier, part of the problem with aging that is a massive culprit is the fact that we lose muscle mass over time. And that is so important in maintaining all of your overall health, metabolism, hormonal, health, everything. So I've just recently been looking into that.

[28:40] Katy Whalen: Yeah, I'll ask JC about that. Personally, I haven't heard of it, but for sure I'm interested in all the things muscle related because that's certainly part of the key for vitality, sort of.

[28:52] Amy Sherman: Yeah, I was just listening yesterday to something about aminos, which again, I don't know the difference between aminos and peptides. I guess it's all related, but there was, like, some sort of amino someone was talking about who was getting older and saying that by taking this, it helped them. They said, like which is so true when you're working out a lot and you feel really toned, and then you take a break for like, a week, the older you get, all of a sudden you feel like, wait, I looked good a week ago, and then what happened to my muscles? Where to go, where'd it go? So by taking aminos, I guess, or peptides can help you sort of maintain that muscle mass a little bit better than was it, what, creatine?

[29:34] Katy Whalen: Maybe? I think that's an amino acid.

[29:37] Amy Sherman: I don't know, I can't remember. I have to look. It was a podcast I was listening to and it was a company that did more like amino kind of supplements, I'm not really sure, but basically. The same idea as Katie was saying, it helps to keep that muscle mass or your muscle more together than like totally.

[29:55] Katy Whalen: Yes.

[29:57] Katie Chandler: Funny sidebar. Total sidebar. But something interesting that I just learned about muscle growth and building muscle and exercising, there's like a mind muscle connection. And when you're training muscles because I'm trying to train my glutes, apparently my tush is a little on the flatter side. If your brain isn't attached to the muscle that you're exercising, it doesn't fire as much and you can be totally wasting your time. So I just learned recently that there's, like, with the bands for your legs exercises before you start to train and lift weights, that you do, like, two minutes of exercises with bands contracting that muscle and really focusing on the fact that you're contracting that muscle to help then activate the muscle so that all the work you're putting into it is actually efficient. And it can be a total waste of time if you don't have the mind muscle connection. Isn't that just the most bizarre thing you've ever heard? It seems like pseudoscience and absurd, but.

[31:02] Katy Whalen: It'S a fact that makes total sense to me, actually. I bar method or bar class. I feel like it wasn't until I have also felt like my butt has never been very muscley, a little bit flat. And I feel like I recently started I'll do some bar classes and it's really a mental thing. I'll have to think about contrasting that and I think it's exactly right. I feel like, okay, now I know how to use that muscle.

[31:33] Katie Chandler: So you get the results.

[31:35] Amy Sherman: Yeah, it's so true. I do a lot of Melissa with health, and in her workouts, she always says, like, if you're doing an arm thing, I was doing it yesterday, and she's like, be intentional. She like, think about what you're exercising right now. When you think about it, it sort of like fires it up because you're right, if you're not thinking about it or really intentionally targeting that muscle, it's just like you're doing the whole thing, but you don't get in that little area, which is so similar yes. To the Pilates and bar classes. And you're like, oh, that's the muscle. That's the little thing I never knew I had. So yeah, it's really interesting.

[32:09] Katy Whalen: Totally. Yeah, that makes sense.

[32:12] Katie Chandler: All right, well, before we get into our rep session, I would love for you to just let us know where our listeners can find you because I know they're going to be super interested in working with Joy and yourself.

[32:23] Katy Whalen: Yeah, you know what? We hang out on IG a lot, so would love to for you to follow us there. It's Joy women's Wellness. And Joy is spelled. Joi and then online, if you want.

[32:35] Katie Chandler: To consult, we are Choosejoy Co. Nice. Yes.

[32:40] Amy Sherman: And then if someone wants to consult, they just sign up and it's a zoom. Like the initial meetings. A zoom.

[32:45] Katy Whalen: Yes. Consults are just 25 and then just sign up online and then we'll have a patient coordinator call you to set that up and set up your labs if a lab is needed.

[32:54] Katie Chandler: That's great.

[32:55] Katy Whalen: What did you say?

[32:56] Amy Sherman: You mean I said I will be doing that. Okay. So I feel like there's so many more things to go through with peptides. So we may need a part two at some point because I feel like Katie and I are just starting to learn about this area and I feel like it's this emerging I don't know what's the word?

[33:13] Katie Chandler: I want to get like cutting edge.

[33:14] Amy Sherman: Yeah, you hear about here and there, but I feel like it's going to be mainstream really soon. So thank you for all of this information. So get into our rough session. Quick answers, ready? What is your favorite wellness or beauty hack? Peptides.

[33:33] Katy Whalen: I call it my whole body antiaging. I do a growth hormone releasing peptide. I just sit on my tongue every morning. It dissolves and then I have a ghkcu face cream that I use on my skin.

[33:47] Katie Chandler: Nice. This growth hormone that you use, is that HCG?

[33:58] Katy Whalen: H is growth hormone, but we're not actually putting growth hormone. It's actually growth hormone releasing peptide. So it's a peptide that tells your body to release more of its own growth hormone.

[34:11] Katie Chandler: Okay. I'm very interested in that one sidebar. All right. This next one we call it our five minute flow. You just got out of the shower and dried off and Uber is pinged you. They're five minutes away. What are you going to do? Your Holy Grail to get it together and getting that Uber on time.

[34:27] Katy Whalen: I'm a little bit hippy. I'm fine going makeup free sometimes, but I absolutely need my moisturizer when I get out of the shower. I'm addicted to that. So I have like a dry oil, a little recipe that I use. Quickly throw that on all over. And then I also need a hat. I'm a hat girl. I love my Chemo Savvy sets and hats. And I feel like you can get away with a lot more makeup free days and bad hair days if you.

[34:55] Katie Chandler: Can throw on a hat and you're in the right town for that hat, I tell you. We love a good hat in Nashville.

[35:04] Amy Sherman: Okay. And how do you maintain your daily nirvana?

[35:09] Katy Whalen: I'm always trying to work on that and it's a balance of getting in enough self care and spending quality time with my family.

[35:19] Katie Chandler: Yeah, amen to that. Right?

[35:22] Katy Whalen: Good answer.

[35:23] Amy Sherman: And you'll be spending quality time with your daughter today in America.

[35:27] Katie Chandler: That's going to be so fun.

[35:29] Amy Sherman: Yeah.

[35:30] Katie Chandler: Well, Katie, thank you so much for being here. This is a very exciting conversation and we can't wait to learn more about it. And we have to have you back on for part two. So thanks for being here with us. And Amy, you're going to close us out with a mantra and I think it's a mantra from Joy.

[35:44] Amy Sherman: Yeah, I found two quotes on Joy's Instagram that I love, so I'm going to say them both. So the first one is really funny. FYI menopause is not the end. That's what we should be telling our doctors. That's one. And then the other one I liked was just it's a quote that you have on the little billboard. There's a peptide for that, which I think is so cute, like a good saying. Because next time I'm feeling a certain way, I'm just katie and I are going to be like, there's a peptide for that.

[36:13] Katy Whalen: Peptide for that.

[36:14] Katie Chandler: We might need to call up Katie wayland.

[36:16] Katy Whalen: Exactly.

[36:18] Amy Sherman: Thank you so much for being on the show and enjoy your day with your daughter and we'd love to have you back anytime. Thanks again.

[36:25] Katy Whalen: Thank you so much.

[36:26] Amy Sherman: Thanks for listening to Nirvana Sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes. Please subscribe and leave us a review. Also find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know some one that would we've sherrod and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana Sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye..

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