Realfoodology - 24: Men Taking Care of Their Skin is Sexy with Celeste Thomas and Drake Peterson

Episode Date: March 3, 2021

Celeste Thomas, RN, and Holistic Skincare Expert joins us for another episode along with my podcast producer Drake Peterson to chat all about men’s skincare! If you are a woman, you still want to listen so you can relay the info (or even this podcast!) to the men in your life! Drake shares his experience with his skin woes over the years, his new skincare routine that Celeste helped him with and what else he did to achieve great glowy skin! Show Links: https://www.thetruespoon.com/https://www.instagram.com/celestethomas/ Eat To Glow Meal Prep ebook https://www.thetruespoon.com/eat-to-glow/meal-prep-ebook/Acne Skincare Guide https://www.thetruespoon.com/skincare/acne-skincare-guide/Skin Confident Course https://www.thetruespoon.com/skincare/skin-confident-course/ https://www.thinkdirtyapp.com/https://www.ewg.org/ Tula https://www.tula.com/ Code Realfoodology saves you 15% CocoKind https://www.cocokind.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwuL_8BRCXARIsAGiC51B-NxrPT9cv2RxCHbG9VbxniR2tkiLvJMh-zHEFT5MSIEzFcat-8bYaAk9nEALw_wcB

On today's episode of The Real Foodology Podcast. Men should care about skincare because it is the biggest organ in their entire body. It's their biggest physical system and they need it in order to protect themselves, protect their body. Plus, at the end of the day, people are looking at our faces, they're looking at our skin. You want to feel confident, you want to feel good about your skin and really just protect your skin's health. Hi guys, welcome back to the Real Foodology Podcast. I have my producer Drake joining me today. Hello. We have a really great episode. This one is actually geared all towards the men this time. I know we have a mostly female audience,

I think, but we're trying to get more men to listen. Actually, that's not true. It's pretty, I mean, it is mostly female, but it's like 60% female, 40% men. Oh, I'm really happy to hear that. Also, if you're a woman listening and you have anyone in your life that's male that you care about, I still recommend that you listen to this. That way you can pass on the information or send them the podcast. Yeah. So we, we are joined by one of my best girlfriends, Celeste Thomas. She is an RN and she's also a holistic skincare and beauty expert. And she started working with Drake a couple months back, which is why I wanted to bring Drake on the episode today because he had some skincare concerns that he wanted to address. And he reached out to Celeste, and she helped him get him into a little skincare routine,

helped him. I helped him more with his diet than she did, but kind of just there were a few modifications to help improve his skin. And we talk all about it today. It's a whole team effort. You know, it takes a village. But yeah, so we give tips and tricks, a really easy, affordable and accessible routine for any man that's wanting to start with the skincare.

And we also address why should men care, you know, about having a routine? I think it's so we talk so much about women having a skincare routine and men are almost completely left out of the conversation. And this sucks. So we wanted to bring men back into the conversation and give you options and talk about why you should do it. So with that, let's get to a question and then we're going to get into the episode. This is really exciting. Organifi now has kids stuff. They just released two kid products. One is called easy Greens and it's a refreshing green apple juice where kids will never know that it's packed with veggies. And the other one is called Protect. It's

a delicious wild berry punch like the Kool-Aid that we used to have as a kid, but without any sugar. This is really exciting. And if you've listened to the podcast for a while, you know that I'm a huge fan of Organifi and most specifically because every single product that they make is glyphosate residue free. So you know that you're going to be able to give these powders to your kids and know that they will be able to consume them safely without any glyphosate in it. So let's break down each one. The Easy Greens is a nourishing and delicious blend of superfoods and veggies that provides essential nutrients, probiotics, and digestive enzymes to bring balance to kids' growing bodies without fillers,

additives, or junk. It helps to fill in nutritional gaps, aids in growth and development, supports digestive health, has a rich micronutrient profile, and includes digestive enzymes. This would be a great way to sneak in greens for your little one without them actually knowing that it's healthy for them. And the second one, which is the wild berry punch similar to Kool-Aid, is called Protect, and it is to support your child's daily immune health with food-derived nutrients that work to strengthen their body's first line of defense. I know just through girlfriends of mine that have children that when your kids are going to school, going to daycare,

they're coming home sick a lot more often just because they're getting exposed to different kids and different viruses when they're out in the world playing with kids. So this would be a great way to help to support your little one's immune health. It's organic and it's also made with real whole food ingredients.

It has a delicious berry taste and it's low sugar and it's gentle enough for kids to take every single day. And I really love the ingredients in this one. It's orange and acerol cherry, which is a powerful source of vitamin C and antioxidants. Astragalus, elderberry and propolis. These are all really great for overall immune health. If you wanna try the products that I talked about today or any of the Organifi products, go to Organifi.com slash realfoodology and use code realfoodology for 20% off. Again,

that's Organifi. It's O-R-G-A-N-I-F-I.com slash realfoodology. Do you want to hear the biggest discovery of our time for promoting healthy aging? Of course you do, because all of us are concerned about aging. There is a class of ingredients called senolytics that were discovered less than 10 years ago, and they are being called the biggest discovery of our time for promoting healthy aging and enhancing your physical prime. Now, when I'm talking about aging here, I'm not just talking about on a superficial level, wrinkles and saggy skin. I'm talking about energy, joint pain, your ability to show up for your life, cognitive function. I'm talking about the real effects of cellular aging on the body and what it does to our body as we age. Now, as we age, everyone accumulates something

called senescent cells in their body. They cause symptoms of aging, such as aches and discomfort, slow workout recoveries, sluggish mental and physical energy associated with that middle age feeling. They're also known as zombie cells. They're old and worn out and not serving a useful function for our health anymore, but they're taking up space and nutrients from our healthy cells, much like pruning the yellowing and dead leaves off of a plant qualia. Synolytic removes those worn out senescent cells to allow for the rest of them to thrive in the body. And you just take these supplements two days a month. That's right. Just two days a month. Qualia Synolytic is an amazing product that helps to remove these senescent cells. And if you want to hear more about the product and more about these senescent cells that affect aging, go back to the episode that I did with Dr. Greg Kelly of neurohacker. So you can

dive more into the details of all of it. But the formula that I'm talking about qualia senolytic is non GMO it's vegan, it's gluten free, and the ingredients are meant to complement one another factoring in the combined effect of all the ingredients together. If for some reason you don't like the product, you're not feeling the effects of it. It also has a 100 day money back guarantee. If you want to resist aging at the cellular level, try qualia senolytic, go to neurohacker.com slash real foodology for up to a hundred dollars off and make sure to use code real foodology at checkout for an additional 15% off that's neurohacker N E-E-U-R-O-H-A-C-K-E-R.com slash realfoodology for an extra 15% off your purchase. Thanks to Neurohacker for sponsoring today's episode. Before I get to the

question, I just have a little disclaimer. As always, these answers and this podcast are just for educational and informational purposes only. I am an integrative nutritionist, but I'm not a doctor. And I don't know you personally, I don't know what's going on in your body. So just know that this information on this podcast is not a sub for individual medical or mental health advice. And it doesn't constitute a provider patient relationship. As always, talk to your doctor first. Today's question comes from Emma, and she said, I've always thought that if it was on the shelf, that it was okay for me and not bad for me, and that there was no way a company would be able to sell something that was bad for my health.

Am I wrong for thinking this? All right, Emma, I'm going to be real with you. Yes. Unfortunately, especially when we're talking about skincare and beauty products, there's actually no regulating body that regulates the ingredients that go into any beauty products. Any, I mean, we're talking about lotion, makeup, skincare, you name it. This has been a huge concern. Um, so hopefully I'm hoping that because as more and more people start to wake up to this, that there will be something that eventually regulates that. But as of right now, when we're talking about skincare and beauty products, there is no regulating body. So any company can put anything they want. They can literally put anything they want in the product and it's not regulated at all. When it comes to

food, yes, it is a lot more regulated, but we are notoriously known in the United States for being very relaxed about this other countries are very specific about what ingredients we can put in our food and they do this to protect our health because if they didn't then again the same with skincare and beauty products companies could put literally anything they want in our food and they wouldn't be stopped but I will, so there are certain regulating bodies that do that now, obviously, but there are some ways of getting around it. So for example, with food, when we call food natural, there's no definition of the word natural. So any company can claim that their food is natural. So you could have, um have a super highly processed,

I don't know, candy bar, let's just say a candy bar, and they can just write natural on it on the front if they want. And so it has become more of an advertising word than an actual word that means something about the food. So it's always important to read ingredients, be super aware of this. And when, once I finally learned this and I just started to accept it, it allowed me, um, I just, then I started looking into stuff more, you know, and it's just the unfortunate reality. We shouldn't be getting, I mean, we're, we're, we should be super upset about it, but don't let it like ruin your life. What you do is you just find products that come from companies that are very transparent. They tell you all the ingredients and it's woven into their philosophy to create products that are good and healthy for

our bodies. Also, I have a podcast episode with Celeste where we talk all about this with skincare and beauty products and what you can do and how you can find healthier, non-toxic versions so you can get around that. But until we have some sort of governing body that protects us from that, we're going to have to kind of do the digging on it, unfortunately. And with that, let's get to the episode. Oh, I'm so excited about today's episode. I'm excited. Yeah. I'm excited to be here. So happy to have you.

So I have my dear friend, Celeste Thomas, and then I also have my producer, Drake, who makes little appearances here and there. Howdy, everyone. Howdy. Hey, hey. So today we are going to talk all about men's skincare. We talk so much about women's skincare. I feel like that's pretty much all we hear about, but there's not a lot of people talking about skincare for men and why they should care. So I feel like, you know, besides the obvious, why should men care

about skincare and their skin? Men should care about skincare because it is the biggest organ in their entire body. It's their biggest physical system and they need it in order to protect themselves, protect their body. Plus at the end of the day they need it in order to protect themselves, protect their body. Plus at the end of the day, people are looking at our faces. They're looking at our skin. You want to feel confident. You want to feel good about your skin and really just protect your skin's health. Yes, absolutely. And I feel like in society, we're so focused on like quick results or what am I going to see immediately? So for men that maybe don't really have any skincare concerns right now, I want to encourage them to start thinking about this because five years down the road, 10 years down the road, when those wrinkles start coming in, depending on your

age, they're going to wish that they had started sooner. Completely. I 100% agree with that. It's also, I mean, skin cancer is such a huge problem in our society. And men don't really think about that until, you know, they're 35 to 40 after tons of sun exposure and having to get different things removed from their face surgically, like beyond just looking good, taking care of your skin is a healthcare priority. Like we do need to think about it in the longterm, just like every other system. That's a really good point. We always talk about more of the vanity side of it, wanting to look good, but it also is a health concern. But the vanity is there too. And when people are looking at your skin, it is important. I mean, we live in Los Angeles right now. And if you think about writers, directors, musicians,

you look at them and you really, you associate them based on what they look like with an age. And like, maybe he's too old to be a cool musician. Maybe he's too old to be a relevant writer. And it's not, it's kind of messed up that we're ageist in our society. But if you can keep your skin looking as young as you can for as long as you can while also making it healthier, why would you not do that? Yes. And as you're saying that, I'm literally looking at your beautiful glowing skin and I'm like, yes, girl, we have a, we have a whole table of glowing skin here. So, you know, this is going to be a good episode for anyone who wants to achieve that. Yeah. I love it. Well, okay. So where should we start out first? I guess, um, let's talk about Drake story first of all. So we brought Drake on for a reason because he has been getting some help

from Celeste. Celeste has been a savior. Oh, don't make me cry because I get really emotional when people have success stories after using tips that I share with them. Well, my entire life, ever since I was like probably 13, I had skin problems and I was constantly going to like the dermatologist. I was constantly like going online and trying to figure out what's wrong. And I was put on everything from Accutane to like any like antibiotics all the time for years and years and years. And it seemed to just make everything worse. And then about two years ago, I just, I read somewhere, like, it's better to just not do anything to your skin. And like, don't, you know, the more you wash your face, the worse it's going to be. So I was just, I started, I just stopped doing everything

and my skin got better. But my boyfriend started to say like, Hey, your skin's really dry. Like you should do something about it. And then you came on right around that exact same time. And so you kind of got me, you inspired me to start, you know, being like, okay, I have people that I know around me and I have Courtney that always is helping with diet. So now I want to see if I can get my skin to look a bit better. And then, so you came on and I tried a few things and they weren't working because I was doing the wrong stuff. So then I texted you, I don't know if you remember that, and you were like, oh, don't do that. I think I was doing like an exfoliant or something. And you said, no, don't do that. Don't do that. You have, what did you even say?

Rosacea, probably. And you were using a physical exfoliant scrub every day, which is breaking down your skin's barrier and irritating it. And it was, so things got worse. But then once he told me that, I ordered a few certain things. And then I also got a food sensitivity test, which also was, I think, a huge player. Yes. Because one thing on your page that you always talk about is you're like, oh yeah, so this weekend, I like, you can see I had my cheese here. And you like point to a always talk about is you're like, oh yeah, so this weekend, you can see I had my cheese here and you point to a blemish and you're like, here was my bread or whatever else it was. And now I actually noticed that. Every time I eat something that I shouldn't be eating, I can literally see it pretty much the next day. On your skin. I'm so glad you brought

that up. And one other thing I want to touch on with your story that I think is so important for men's skincare is a lot of men get so defeated that they just go to using nothing because a lot of the products that are made for men and that are male friendly, quote unquote, at the grocery store places that men would shop are really irritating, drying, poor quality skincare products. So they use those products and then their skin reacts poorly. And they're like, I'm just not going to do anything because me not doing anything and letting my natural oils just kind of sit there is doing more for my skin than using these harsh products. But when you have a great skincare routine of high quality products, even if it's a minimal

amount in the right application order, then you're done. You don't need to reinvent the wheel all the time. It's not really complex. The skincare piece can be relatively easy. The stress level, the diet, all that kind of stuff is important to check on. And that's a little harder because you are going to, we're not going to say cheap, but you are going to indulge and have fun and have holidays and it might show up on your skin. But as long as you have a baseline understanding of skincare, it's not super complicated for dudes. Yeah, totally. Yeah. And, you know, I even see that with my, with my husband, he never really used skincare because he just, his skin was fine, quote unquote.

And, um, but he was really dry, dehydrated. His pores looked huge because they were dry and dehydrated his crow's feet. I love that. He looks like a man, but his crow's feet went from his eye pretty much to the corner of his mouth. I mean, it was just like a cavern of crow's feet. And now because I've introduced things into his skincare routine, which we'll talk about in a second, his skin looks amazing. His crow's feet are like a quarter of the size. I look at him all the time and I'm like, babe, you look so good. He's like, okay, but don't tell anyone in your stories because you already did. And I'm so embarrassed. So like, keep it to yourself. And I'm like, okay, I won't tell anyone, but now's my chance to tell everyone what works. And really for men, it's, it's for all skin. It's about a few things. It's about cleansing, exfoliating,

hydrating, moisturizing, and protecting. So there's five key things. That doesn't mean you can't do three steps in one. There's great products where you can cleanse and exfoliate in the same product, or you can hydrate, moisturize, and protect with SPF in one product. So it's just finding those little condensed tricks for guys that maybe, I'm not saying all guys don't want a long skincare routine, but most probably don't. So you can find those combination products. It's just kind of a experiment in finding what works for your skin and what doesn't. Everyone's skin has different needs, but I would love to talk to Drake about what he's using and what he's loving and what's working for him just so people can kind of get an idea. I will say his skincare routine is a little extensive because we had fun together.

I wanted to give him all of my favorite products and I have a kind of a lengthy skincare routine, but he was willing to get a few things in order to get the skin that he has today, which is so wonderful. So what are you using Drake? So the first thing I use is the Tula cleanser. As Drake is into his steps of what he's doing, I might just pop in with little antidotes and informational things that will help everyone listening. So cleanser. So I started the Tula cleanser and then after that, wait, I'm going to stop you as the first thing. Okay. So with cleanser, this is really essential. And this is a great tip for guys, no matter what cleanser you're using, making sure you actually get in there and cleanse, not just like slap some water on your face and throw on some cleanser, but really get in there, massage your face, give on some cleanser, but really get in there.

Massage your face. Give yourself some love. This is not a feminine thing. Just really get in there. Make sure you get off all of the dirt, sebum, oil, all the dust mites from your pillow. Just pretend that your face is covered in gunk and make sure you get it all off because proper cleansing is so essential to clear healthy skin. And it'll help with anti-aging. It'll help with absolutely everything. So cleansing, huge, huge step. AM and PM. Yes. And I like to use cool water

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me being exposed to something called Teflon. Teflon is a coating that is used on nonstick pans and a lot of these appliances that I just named. So I've avoided Teflon, nonstick, PFA coated appliances, pots and pans, you name it for a very long time. And the only option for a very long time was just stainless steel pots and pans. So I was really excited when a company like Our Place came out because they started creating really beautiful cookware and appliances that are like pieces of art. Every appliance that I have from our place, I legit want to store it on the counter. And I'm the type of person that does not want anything on my counter because I like it to look really just clean and minimal. But I'm so obsessed with all the our place products that I have so many of them displayed on my counter because they are

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off site-wide. That's fromourplace.com, code realfoodology. Our place offers a 100-day trial with free shipping and returns. And then after that, I use this. This is the snail miracle stuff that I don't even know what it is, but it comes from Korea. Snail mucin. And it is actually the mucus byproduct of snails when they move around. I love it. Literally, I could have like a zit on my head and I put it on at night and the next day it's like basically gone. I need to get that. It's miraculous.

And it's like 15 bucks. It's so cheap. So good. Yeah. Amazon will link all of Drake's skincare products in the show notes. Yeah. I want to go to the factory where they make it and just see all the snails just like. I think on YouTube you can watch how they do it. And then after that, I do the, I use the ice roller, which I keep in the freezer. It's like a jade ice roller. Do that for like 30 seconds. And that's great for anyone who deals with acne, rosacea, irritation. If you're hungover, say you like got drunk on a Tuesday and you have a Zoom meeting the next day, use your ice roller and just get out some of that inflammation. So then I use the rosehip water, which is I think from Versed?

Cocokind. Cocokind. That's right. And that feels really good. And then from what you just told me, that helps when you do the ice roller and then that, it helps your skin sucks up stuff more or something like that. Yeah. So the thing about misting, hydrating stuff. So rose water is very hydrating.

And whenever you're hydrating, you're cooling the skin, you're hydrating the skin. Everything is really going to get deep into your pores. And a huge mistake that men make is they use a cleanser and then just a thick moisturizer, but really then your skin isn't getting hydrated. You're just moisturizing it. And they are two different things. So hydration is with water. Moisturizing is with oil. And in order to really fill up your skin and have glowy, dewy, hydrated, and moisturized skin, you need both. So you want to do the steps of lightest to heaviest, and that's exactly what you're doing. But you can't have moisture without hydration and expect

your skin to be hydrated. It'll look dry. I remember I had a dermatologist and she, I was like, my face is so dry. She literally gave me Aquaphor, which is like basically Vaseline. And it was like this so thick. That's an occlusive barrier. So literally your skin could not breathe or get hydrated. It just had an oil slick on top. And that's what happens when people cleanse and then moisturize. Sometimes they'll feel really dry in certain areas, but also be oily. And they're like, how does this work? It's because your skin is still dry, but then it has oil on top of it and it can't absorb it fully. Yeah. Awful.

Dermatologist. We need a whole other episode just on the shit your dermatologist told you that fucked with you. Yeah. Yeah, let's do it. Excuse my language. No, we're here for it. And then the last thing I do is it's a hyaluronic acid. I can't even say it.

Hyaluronic is a phenomenal product. It's good for all skin types. It's one of the most hydrating products. Plus, it draws in more moisture because it's hydrophilic. So it's going to give you more of that glowy, dewy, bouncy complexion. And that might sound feminine to someone, but really if you look at a man who has hydrated skin, he looks young and awake. Certain things, you're like, you don't want puffy circles under your eyes. You don't want your skin to look sallow and older than it is. Hyaluronic is a great,

great product. And you can find really affordable ones. That's the thing. A lot of guys don't want to spend a ton of money on skincare and that's okay. There's so many good brands, Coco Kind, Versed. There's all these target brands now that create great products. And some of them have labels that don't look the most masculine, but if you can get over that, I mean, or put it in a different bottle, if that really bugs you and your aesthetic is a certain way, you're going to really enjoy the products. Yeah. And then the last thing would be sunscreen. Yeah, baby. Which I do all the time. And it also feels good and it smells good too. That one's from Versed for sure. The yellow bottle.

Yes. And for anyone listening, we'll link all of these that we're talking about too in the show notes so you can get them yourself. Yeah. And sunscreen is a really, really essential one that I find a lot of men are averse to and they don't use. I definitely find in my own relationship and guys I've dated, friends, husbands, sunscreen is a no-go for guys. And I think a lot of it is because they have bad memories of like the white cast and sunscreen that's just, they can't blend in. And they're like, I'm not even going to deal with that because they've had to use it for their whole lives from the time they were kids where their mom was like, you have to use this. So a lot of guys are like, no, I'm not talking about that.

Or like when you were at the pool as a kid and you just had like a white nose. Yes. It's terrible. So just kind of reintroducing better products and now the technology is such that, you know, with your Versed sunscreen, it's not a white cast. It blends in beautifully and protects your skin because that's where the protection, the skin cancer, all those things, the wrinkles, you know, you can really avoid a lot of premature aging. Plus, you need to wear it inside every day, cloudy or not.

Visible light in your lamps, blue light, light coming through the window, UVA and UVB through the clouds. Through the car, too. Through the car, every single thing. So there's no safe place. If you can see a light, you need sunscreen. So we talk a lot about inflammation in this episode, and I wanted to touch on that and something that really helps with inflammation outside of your diet, which plays a huge role in

it. I love that you guys touched on, there was a couple of things you touched on. One, hyaluronic acid, just coming from a woman's perspective, completely changed my skin. I used to have really, really dull, dry looking skin, and perspective, completely changed my skin. I used to have a really, really dull, dry looking skin and I could not figure it out. I was putting on every oil known to man, every moisturizer. And it wasn't until I found the hyaluronic acid that I was like, okay, now I see a difference. And now I feel like my skin is looking glowier. Um, also another great, um, thing that you talked about is just their skincare being affordable. You know, they don't have to spend a lot of money on it, but we also, let's go a little

bit into this actually, because we also don't want anyone just buying something from just anything from the drugstore, you know, like there's certain stipulations that we want to look for. And like you said, there's a ton of really great brands that are non-toxic that we can find at target. Um, I think even CVS may have some now, but you would know better than me. I don't know. We can put that in show notes too. Yeah, I feel like Target has the best. And then Amazon has so many things. We all buy from Amazon. You can get affordable

stuff the next day to your door. Yeah. Which is so, so nice. I know. It's so nice. So what are some of those brands for people listening that we know have a really great price point and that are non-toxic, really great for the skin? Yeah. I would say Honest Beauty, Versed, and Coco Kind are the best that I've researched, that I trust. I trust all their ingredients. I've tried almost all of their products and they're really great price points. I mean, Coco Kind specifically, most of their products are under $20 from 15 to 20 and they're decent sizes for what you get. So that's one of my favorite brands for sure. So Drake, from a man's perspective, having never really had a skincare routine, how do you feel now about having to have a little skincare routine at night?

I have no problem doing it. It's so easy. I do it in the morning and in the night. And sometimes if I don't like at night, if I've had too much wine or something, I'll just, I make sure that I do the snail stuff. Yeah. I love it. I always do the snail stuff. And is it because when you see the result, it inspires you to just do it? And it also kind of feels good too.

I don't know. Yeah. Taking a little time for yourself. And I think anyone listening who is a woman who's trying to inspire her guy to get into this, talking about that. You know, like, oh, my gosh, I just feel so good, babe. Or like, oh, my gosh, I woke up, my skin looks so good because I did this skincare routine. Just like little dropping hints. Because I've found that with my husband, if I'm like, hey, babe, you need to start taking care of your skin.

You need to do a skincare routine that never works. Then he just is like, yeah, he doesn't want to listen. I heard something interesting on the skinny confidential podcast one time. And she said that what she does when she really wants her husband to hear something, but he won't hear it from her. She'll put on a podcast where they're talking about it and play it really loudly when he's like in the bathroom with her or they're like in the kitchen together so that he can hear it, but he's hearing it from someone else on the podcast. So if you're listening, play this podcast for your husband, boyfriend, you know, whoever, um, that you want to get to pay attention. That's such a hot tip. And then the other hot tip is everyone likes free shit and everyone likes gifts. If you're like, oh, I really like this.

I thought you might like it. And you just put it in his cabinet, put it on his desk, whatever, or like put it on him one day to show him it feels good. That's how Nate got into skincare. Cause I'd be like, oh, I got all this stuff brand sent to me. I want you to try it. Like, maybe you'll like this. And it started with one product. And now he has like a five-step skincare routine. And he's like, babe, do you have any more of that mist stuff? And I need some more serum. And like this one's a little heavy. I like the last one.

I'm like, okay, now you want the good stuff, huh? But you really can inspire skincare in a really positive way instead of being negative and naggy because no one likes that, male or female. Yeah, that's so true. So for a man who's just wanting to start out or just starting out, what would be your top three, maybe four products that you would suggest they start with? So my first suggestion to anyone starting skincare routines is you don't want to include too many new things at once. So see if you're a guy and say you have a cleanser and a moisturizer. Okay, great. Then you would just buy either a really active mist that has a little bit of chemical exfoliant, some hydrators in there, or maybe a toner if you're really acne prone

that also has some hyaluronic. You can find toners that have that or an essence that has multifunction. Then once you run out of your cleanser from CVS, then upgrade your cleanser and find a cleanser depending on your skin type. Maybe there is a chemical exfoliant. Maybe it's really gentle and more of a cream cleanser. So people can always DM me if they need help because you do need specialized treatment based on your skin. I can't just give like a blanket these three. But really, you need a cleanser. You need some sort of step that's going to chemically exfoliate and hydrate, and then a moisturizer that has some protection. So maybe an SPF moisturizer mix.

If you had those three, you'd have a great skincare routine, especially if you don't have a lot of specific issues. For people like myself, who's really genetically acne prone, or like Drake, who has genetic acne and rosacea, we might need a few more things because our skin's a little more complicated and our needs are more complicated. But for someone who's like, I'm a little dry, I'm like, easiest patient ever. Okay, cool. Use this. It was the Honest Beauty. That's what it was. Oh, the hydrogel cream. The hydrogel. Yes. So that's a great product because it has two forms of hyaluronic acid, but it also has some moisturizing ingredients. So that's hydration and moisture in

one. So that'd be great for someone who wants less steps. Yeah. And it's very light. That's awesome. What about for the beard? Am I supposed to put all the products here? Because I feel like it's just kind of a waste because it doesn't always get down to the skin. That's a great question. And I wish I had a great answer for you. But I think anywhere where there's hair growing, do you often get breakouts within the beard area? No. Okay.

I wouldn't worry about it then because I feel like the tissue is a little different since there's hair follicles growing there. And I would make sure you're cleansing when you can. And probably in the shower, it's easier to really get in there and kind of scrub. But as far as absorption of the expensive products, it can't really fully absorb because there's so many hair follicles. It's just going to be giving you like beard conditioner. It's a very expensive beard conditioner. I have a very shiny, beautiful beard. So, yeah.

And all that stuff you got me was under $100. For everything. Yeah, and it's been almost two months now, and I haven't even gotten a second thing of anything yet. That's awesome. Wow. That's really, really good to hear. I'm glad you touched on the facial hair thing because another good thing to talk about is a lot of men who shave actually will have an exfoliation step just from shaving. So sometimes they don't need as many exfoliants or scrubs or things like that, especially if they're not acne prone, because they're actually exfoliating the majority of their face all the time. And that's another reason why

some men who shave their face all the time in the areas where they shave, their skin actually looks really good because they're getting rid of all the dead skin cells and everything. But if you're a man and you are shaving your face, remember bacteria grows on your razors. And when you're shaving your face, please do not have razors for a long period of time. I mean, any sign of discoloration, it getting clogged, you got to throw that thing away. Or find a more sustainable option where you can rechange the razor blades. Yeah. Yeah. Because we don't, last thing we want is more breakouts just from the razor itself. You know, we're trying to eliminate those. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. So there was another important thing I wanted to touch on that Drake had said earlier that we won't spend too much time talking about just because

this is more of a skincare based episode, but another really good, important component of your skin is your diet. Huge. Yes. More than 50%. Exactly. The skincare is the icing on the cake. It's the practices and the diet that are primary. It's so true. But I will say this, when I was younger and I was really, really getting into health and wellness and I was really learning how to clean up my diet, I wasn't really,

in my mind, I had learned that diet made such an impact that I really didn't worry much about my skincare. And it's not to say I wasn't doing anything, but I was that person that I was going to whole foods and I was just buying, you know, a standard cleanser and like an oil and a, and a moisturizer. And that was it. And I couldn't figure out why I couldn't get to that next level of the skin that I really wanted. So I really do believe that it is a combination or not even believe it is a combination of the two. You want to make sure your diet's in alignment because that's what's going to keep you from having redness and inflammation. It's going to also bring down the breakouts, especially if you're like allergic to certain things that you're unaware of.

But the skin care is an important component of it. And I will say that I look back on photos of myself in my twenties when I'm, my diet was pristine, but my skin, I was like, Ooh, she needed some hyaluronic acid, a little moisture. She needed some moisture. So it's definitely a really important component. And if you're listening, it's, it, it plays more of a role than you may think if you're so concerned about diet. Yeah. And that's why I like to call it holistic skincare because it's diet, it's skincare, but it's also practices, stress management, and also the home practices with the way you're cleansing, ice rolling, masking. The whole holistic approach is really important because

if you don't have one piece, it's not going to be the ultimate glow. Yeah. So it's a lifestyle, baby. But you get addicted to having nice skin and then you're like, I can totally handle this. You buy your natural wine and you're like, we're good. Buy your vegan cheese and you're like, cool. We're just going to do this. Exactly. Yeah. Okay. So, um, kind of to wrap things up for someone listening that maybe needs to, or not needs to, but is, is inquiring into maybe cleaning up their diet a little bit for their skin. What would be your top, maybe like three or four things to do? Yeah. And I'm going to make this a little bit more male centric since

we're talking about dudes. Budweiser. Budweiser for sure. I'm just kidding. I do have a great resource on my website, five ways you're sabotaging your skin without even knowing it. And that's a great resource. But number one for men, packaged food, packaged processed food. A lot of guys are buying frozen food, eating packaged food, really all – Courtney, you can go into this so much more than I can – but refined sugar, so much sodium, the preservatives, the poor quality of meat, the poor quality of dairy, the simple carbs, every single thing is contributing to bad skin all in one. So if you can avoid packaged processed foods and just try to cook your food, that would be my number one. My number two is protein powder. So poor quality whey protein

powder. We're talking about dairy. Anyone who's acne prone, dairy has been proven scientifically to cause breakouts in people like myself. And Drake and I have seen it. It happens. Yep. That's what I had to cut out from my Everly Well test was like mostly dairy. Right. And you're seeing a huge difference from that, from cutting it out. And when I do eat dairy the next day, it's like shit. Yep. Same. So that whey protein isolate is just nasty, poor quality shit dairy condensed into a powder, and you're just chugging tons of it in a protein drink after you work out. And think about all those added growth hormones that they add into the conventional dairy too.

That's a whole other issue. Whole other issue. Yeah. So those two, then refined sugar just as a category is probably the worst thing you can do for your skin for most people. The oxidative stress, it's going to age your skin. You're going to have irritation, breakouts, redness, rosacea. I mean, it's everything. So yes, white sugar, corn syrup, those are the worst. But if you are sensitive, like I am, even the coconut sugars, even the agaves, we like to think that those are like, oh, they're so healthy. Yes, they're not quite as

refined as white beet sugar, but they're still refined and it's still going to negatively impact your skin. So pick and choose your battles with the sugar when you really want to indulge. Great. But sugar is a big one. Then I would say overconsumption of coffee, which is a twofold because it's not only a lot of coffee, but you're also really dehydrated if you're drinking too much coffee. Yeah. So hydration in your skin is huge. A lot of people are buying poor quality coffee that's not organic, that has fungal mold spores

all over it. Pesticides. Pesticides. Super inflammatory to the skin. Yep. So if you're going to do coffee, organic coffee, high quality, one to two cups max. I know that men can drink and process caffeine better than most women. So maybe two cups is okay for you. And it wouldn't be for me like off the rails

with one cup of coffee, like shaking. Um, so those are kind of the top ones. I think, is that four? I think so. Yeah. Was that four? Yeah. I want to make a note too, about the coffee thing. That's interesting. Um, to remember is that the more coffee you drink, the higher your cortisol is going to go. And your cortisol hormone over time can lead to a hormonal imbalance, which could lead to hormonal acne. So there's another layer to that as well. Yeah. Cortisol is very directly linked to breakouts. And that was why I stopped drinking coffee completely. Not only was it contributing to my anxiety, but it was making my skin bad. Yeah. I gave up coffee for a little bit. It was contributing to my anxiety, but it was making my skin bad.

I gave up coffee for a little bit. It was contributing to my anxiety, but ultimately I found a sweet spot for me. So anyone who's listening that's like, I refuse. I can never get rid of my coffee entirely. You don't have to entirely cut it out. You can. And I know Celeste is really a huge proponent of that. And she loves to do matcha lattes, which are also great. But if you're like me, we were like, I did the matcha latte thing for a second, but I love my coffee so much.

Just limit yourself to one a day, you know? And you know what I do a lot too, actually, is a four sigmatic coffee. I love that coffee. Yeah. That's what I used to drink when I drink coffee. Cause it's really low caffeine. It doesn't have a ton of coffee. And then you also have some functional, um, medicinal mushrooms in there too. Yeah. The adaptogens and the mushrooms kind of counteract the cortisol effect of the caffeine. So you're actually kind of getting just like a wash in the best way, you know, and it is, it is really good. And the interesting thing about caffeine and skincare and diet and all the things it's bio-individuality. Some people are fine with caffeine, but just keep it to a minimum. Also a cup of coffee is not a frappuccino.

Let's all remember. Because then you're getting your sugar, your dairy, all the things in one. So we're talking like black coffee over here. Yes. It's much cheaper too. Maybe a little coconut milk. Exactly. Completely.

So those are huge. But I think it all just comes kind of down to that. Also, we could talk about factory farm meats, just poor quality meats, you know, any, anything that's factory farm or overly processed, your skin is going to be like rear, rear, rear. Yeah. Well, cause think about it. Your factory farmed animals are sick animals. There's no way around it. So if you're eating conventionally raised factory farmed animals, you're consuming an animal that's very sick or that was very sick when it was alive. Um, usually pumped full of hormones, antibiotics, depending on, you know, what form of meat it is. And so those factors are going to have an effect on your health and

ultimately your skin. Yeah. Yeah. Huge, huge factor. Not to mention we need to get to a place in society where we don't allow these and you know, like we need to get, we need to get to a place in society where we don't allow these. We shouldn't be supporting these factory farms anyways because they're terrible for our environment, terrible for our health, and horrible living conditions for these poor animals. So I'm going off on a tangent, but it's a real thing. Real thing. Yeah. Well, we covered all of my questions. Is there anything else, Celeste or Drake, that you guys wanted to say about men's skincare? I think the other thing when it comes to the diet is you had me, you were saying no, like inflammation is bad. So you said

we need to get your inflammation down so that when something does happen to your skin, it's not going to be, it's not going to be as affected. So one of the things now is everyone has to wear a mask all the time. And my skin is so sensitive that wearing a mask, I would break out on the nose, on the cheeks, even still happens sometimes. But to prevent it from happening a lot, you told me to take some mushrooms, not the fun kind. Yeah, adaptogenic mushrooms to get his system to be lower inflammatory so his skin wasn't reacting so much. So that and turmeric.

So I eat that every single day in my smoothies and I know it works. Yeah. I mean, your skin is a testament. We should post the before and after of Drake in the somewhere. Yeah. I don't know where it's going to go, but we will. Let's do it. In the somewhere.

Yeah. And then just my last little tidbit, anyone, male or female, if you want more tips and tricks, my YouTube channel has a wealth of information with different skincare routines for different times of year and different skin types. And I also have Instagram where I'm posting stories every day and tips. And I do dupes and also my TikTok. I'm sharing lots of informational stuff. Oh, she's killing it. At CelesteThomasRN.

And you can always DM me if you ever need specific help. I'm always available and absolutely love helping people with their skin. And your e-book. Yeah. I read that or I actually watched it. Oh, the course. The course. Yeah.

So I have my Skin Confident course. If you're really struggling with your skin and you're looking to make a lifestyle change and just learn as much as you can about having clear, healthy skin, I have a course, Skin Competent course. It's on my website. It's linked in my link tree on Instagram, all the things, but I'm just a resource to help you with your skin. Yeah. She's a great resource. So I hope you guys seek out all of the content that she has because it's really, really great and eBooks and all that. So yeah. Well, thank you guys so much for joining me today. This was a really great episode. Thank you for having us. It's always Courtney. We love you. Love you guys.

This is a Resonant Media production produced by Drake Peterson and mixed by Chris McCone. The song is by Georgie. As always, please don't forget to rate and review the podcast. It really helps me in this show a lot. See you next week. I try to like it, but I don't like me. At least I know I am. My time won't be wasted anymore. You are standing twice above me. I'm always feeling. I have to be the one.