Realfoodology - What’s In Your Beauty Products with Annie Tevelin

Episode Date: June 22, 2022

99: Annie Tevelin is the founder of Skin Owl. A non-toxic vegan, cruelty-free, conscious, plant-based beauty line that was created as a result of her own journey with cystic acne. Instead of going on Accutane, she went back to school to study Cosmetic Chemistry in her early 30's and began formulating products that eventually healed her skin.  Check Out Annie: https://www.skinowl.com/ https://www.instagram.com/skinowl/ https://www.instagram.com/offtherecordwithyou/ Check Out Courtney: Courtney's Instagram: @realfoodology www.realfoodology.com Air Dr Air Purifier AquaTru Water Filter EWG Tap Water Database Further Listening There's What in My Makeup? Men Taking Care of Their Skin is Sexy

On today's episode of The Real Foodology Podcast. There is no checks and balances system on cosmetics. And so whatever is out there on the shelf is being governed by the company that decided to put it out there. Hi guys, welcome back to another episode of The Real Foodology Podcast. I'm your host, Courtney Swan. I'm an integrative nutritionist with my master's of science in nutrition and integrative health. And this podcast is about all things health and wellness. I try to dive into conversations that I feel like you're not hearing in other places. And my aim and my goal

is to help you thrive and feel the best that you can in your body so you can live a long, healthy life and feel good. Today's episode is with Annie Tevlin of SkinOwl. SkinOwl is a non-toxic, vegan, cruelty-free, conscious, plant-based beauty line that was created as a result of her own journey with cystic acne. She really didn't want to go on Accutane, so she went back to school to study cosmetic chemistry in her early 30s, and then she began formulating products that eventually healed her skin. We talk all about her journey with acne. We also talk about what is in conventional beauty products, what you should look for, why you want non-toxic and clean beauty products and so much more. So you guys know, I like to keep these intros short. Let's just dive right

into the episode. As always, if you are loving the podcast, if you could rate and review it, it would mean so much to me. Also, please share it with your friends, your family. If you want to share it on Instagram, tag me at real foodology. It would mean the world to me and it helps the show so much. I really appreciate your support. 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,

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at checkout for an additional 15% off. That's neurohacker, N-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. Did you know that most cookware and appliances are made with forever chemicals? Yes, that means your nonstick pans, your air fryers, your waffle makers, your blender could possibly have PFAS. And yes, even our beloved crockpots and pressure cookers. I have actually been talking

about this for so long. Back in 2006, my mom came to my dorm room and made me get rid of all my nonstick pans because she was concerned about 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 the, 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 legit pieces of art. Our place is a mission driven and female founded brand that makes beautiful kitchen products that are healthy and sustainable. All their products are made without PFAS, which are the forever chemicals, and also made without PTFE, which is Teflon. If a company is not outwardly stating that they don't use these chemicals, then if they are using nonstick coating on their appliances, they are absolutely using forever chemicals. And there's been increasing

global scrutiny for their impact on the environment and our health and recognizing this impact. The EU plans to prohibit PFAS by 2025. Our place has always been PFAS free and they offer durable toxin-free ceramic coatings, ensuring a healthy, safe cooking experience. And let me tell you, you guys, they are changing the game with non-toxic appliances. They have a blender, they have an air fryer, they have a crock pot, not to mention they're amazing. Always pan. They have a perfect pot, which is just the perfect size for soups. And they also just came out with a cast iron that I'm loving as well. And I more recently replaced all of the bowls and plates in my kitchen because I really needed an upgrade. My other ones were so old. So I more recently replaced all of the bowls and plates in my kitchen because I really

needed an upgrade. My other ones were so old. So I got some from our place and they are so beautiful. The ceramics are beautiful. The colors are amazing. Like I said, everything is like a piece of art. If you want to try any of the products from our place, go to fromourplace.com and enter my code realfoodology at checkout to receive 10% off sitewide. That's fromourplace.com code realfoodology. Our place offers a 100 day trial with free shipping and returns. Annie, so I'm so excited that we got connected. For those of you guys listening, if you've not checked it out yet, I was actually on Annie's podcast a couple of weeks ago, and I loved that conversation so much off the record. Um, so go look it up. And we had such

a great conversation that I wanted to bring Annie on to talk all about skincare. I feel like this is like a really big topic right now. People are finally starting to wake up about all the ingredients and everything that's going on in our, in our skincare and the reason why we want to start using more green and clean beauty. So before we go into it, can you tell everyone a little bit about your background? Yes. So I really had no business getting into business. I had no experience with starting a business. I was actually a film major and really wanted to be a music video director back when there were snazzy music videos coloring our TVs. But I will say that as a result of kind of being on set and working in that world in Los Angeles, I had the honor of shadowing makeup artists. And it was something I was always super into. I was always into makeup as a child. I just didn't think that that was a

job that I could have. You know what I mean? That was like for other people. And I was to go to college and have something, you know, I think in a more traditional sense of the idea of work. And so I think as a result of, you know, learning how to put on makeup and using makeup, I wound up using products, I think incessantly that the ingredient deck and probably the volume that I was wearing it because I later after the music video world fell apart, I got headhunted by Longcomb and was traveling around with them doing makeup. This is a long time ago. There would be like a small assortment of something at Whole Foods, but there wasn't a Credo. There wasn't a detox market. There wasn't

this kind of clean beauty, so to speak, was not having a moment. It was very crunchy and granola and minimalist. And thank God these people, you know, kickstarted what an amazing genre this has become. But I wasn't tuned into it. So I was wearing all the big box stuff, the stuff that you were getting at Sephora back in the day, and stuff in a department store, which was not what the department stores look like now. And it wreaked havoc on my skin. I thank God I was a makeup artist because I was able to cover it up and be really savvy about it. But it was like, I was like a proactive commercial. I tell people that all the time. It was down my face, my chin, my, I mean, my jawline was a complete disaster. My neck, my back,

my chest. I mean, I had acne, I think anywhere you could have had it. Um, and I tried a lot of things and they didn't work. They would work for like two weeks. I would be super frustrated, broke. And I was about to go on Accutane. And I was like, this can't be the way to do it. This at all. For those of you listening, I missed the boat in high school on acne. And this was something that was happening in my late twenties, early thirties, which I didn't also think was possible, but it most certainly is. Um, and so I went back to school and UCLA had a cosmetic chemistry program. And I went through the program twice cause I was never really all that good at science. I was like, I really got to understand what I'm talking about here. Um, and I learned how to formulate products. Um, and I really got

the bare bones of it. And I had an amazing teacher who was like the godmother of the green beauty shift. Um, and I just started making things and started putting them on my skin. And before long, uh, I got rid of my acne in about 30 days. Um, it was crazy. 32 days to be exact. It took me 32 days to use this one product that now is called the geranium drops. It has not changed the formulation, the ingredient deck, nothing has changed about it since its first, since its inception. And, and I shared it with a Facebook group that I had at the time that was called Skin Owl. And Skin Owl was like my alter ego. I was like a messenger of wisdom in a very confusing industry. And people

were like, holy shit, like I can't believe what this product has done to your skin. Can I get it for my daughter? Can I get it for myself? And that's when I was, I told my best friend, I was like, you're a graphic artist. We need to make a logo and like a landing page. And I need to put a label on this weird brown bottle that I'm apparently putting this in. And that was the beginning of SkinOwl like nine years ago. Wow, that's amazing. I also love that you brought up back in the day when clean beauty was just starting to get on the market. I remember I was on it super early, but I was shopping at Whole Foods to get all my

skincare. And I remember, yeah, it was all this like crunchy, like not fun packaging at all. And I'm very much about aesthetics. I want beautiful products that I'm like happy to have on my bathroom counter. And I remember, yeah, like all the stuff I was buying at Whole Foods or like the co-op were just like not pretty. And to be honest, I felt like a lot of them weren't really that effective. In the last 10 years, clean beauty has really come a long way. You mentioned something about your acne, and I'm sure a lot of people listening are very curious. How did you get rid of it? Was it just this one product, or was there a bunch of different stuff that you did?

Yeah. I think, you know, to many people listening, it's something that kind of hits you like a Mack truck. I thought I was doing all the right things. And I was living in a city like Los Angeles that had a lot of, you know, I had a lot of access to the facialists and, you know, the estheticians and the food, you know. And I was kind of hip on what exacerbated acne. So whether that was caffeine or excess sugar or excess dairy, like I was tuned into that. I was tuned into the gut health conversation at an earlier age because of my education. And I did it all. I literally did it all. And I want people to know

who are listening that like I did it all and it was still persistent. And it was something I think that I really throw back to the removal of birth control in my life. I had a tiny bit of it when I went on and then I had boatloads of it when I came off. I also toggled between different birth controls, didn't take my pills sometimes, forgot my pack when I was traveling. I mean, it was like, God, good Lord, when I think about what birth control did to my hormone cascade, I'm so happy to be off of it. And I understand the, you know, the purpose for it, but it really, you know, you replace one hormone cascade, your natural hormone cascade with a new hormone cascade. For those of you listening,

it's not like a doctor traditionally gives you a blood test before you go on a birth control to show where your estrogen and your progesterone and your testosterone levels are. They pretty much just give you whatever's hot and whatever the pharmaceutical sales rep came in touting. So back in that day, it was like Fiaz, Yasmin. We were kind of coming off of the orthotricycline and low estrin type of drugs. And we were going into these really unique forms of estrogen, forms of birth control. And it's always boggled my mind. It didn't then. I was like, this is a doctor. This is my gyno. It's all good. But since then, whenever I talk to women about acne, the most important thing I can

ask them to do is not to take one blood test, but it's to take four. And then you take it once a week, every single, you know, the same day, every single week, once you start bleeding, um, if you have, you have your period and, and, and then you're able to see the full picture of a hormone cascade, because otherwise you're just taking one blood test and a doctor could say, Oh, you're, you know, your progesterone is a little high. And it's like, it should be right before you start bleeding, you know, unless you're pregnant. So it's like in order to, to see if hormones are playing a part in your acne, you know, unless you're pregnant. So it's like, in order to see if hormones are playing a part in your acne, you take four blood tests, and you go to Quest, and you do

it, and then you present it to someone that you trust, who can really read it. And I didn't know that then. And so I was just in a sea of confusion. And so when I made this product, you know, I was, I pulled back on my makeup, I pulled back on the foundation, the bronzer, the blush and the concealer. And I pulled back from all of that and just tried to wear like a whole foods tinted moisturizer. I stayed indoors more than I probably would have in another time in life without acne because I felt a lot of shame. Um, and I used the geranium drops and drank a shit ton of water with lemon in it. And then the acne started going away from the geranium drops. And I can't say it any other way.

Like it just started mitigating it before my eyes. I was like, what is happening here? And so then I learned about bamboo activated charcoal. And I was like, I'm going to go and get a charcoal bar from this brand called Erno Laszlo. And so I went to go get the charcoal bar. And then my skin started getting even better. And so I went to go get the charcoal bar and then my skin started getting even better. And then I formulated my own charcoal bar and I started using that. And I introduced that like way before I brought it to market, but I remember just using the charcoal

and the geranium and anti-inflammatory and something to kind of decongestant and something to kind of pull that dirt and grime and sebum out. And the, you know, the collateral beauty of those two products together, to think that less could be more, was so insane to me at the time, because of how some of these typical skincare lines, especially in the early 2000s, were touting like four serums in the morning, four serums at night, this is your morning cream, this is your night cream. And I was like, but I'm just using these two products and they're kicking ass. And like, and that was that. So I, that was that. And honestly, in about 30, 40 days, my skin started to change drastically. Um, and then I did, I remember I went to Kate Somerville,ille, which had like a facial house in LA.

I'm not sure if she still has this, but I did some blue light therapy. She does. Yeah, it was like red and blue light therapy. And that was it. That started to help with the scarring. And the further I got away from birth control and the more I started using products, specifically pure plant oils that have a smaller molecule that can go to places in the skin that creams can't

because they are usually made with lipids, my skin started to change and it was wild. Wow. I'll never forget it. That's amazing. I mean, acne is one of those things that when you have it, it is literally hell. It's pervasive. You feel so helpless. You feel like everything that you try isn't working. I had a similar story as you in the sense that, um, I had never had acne until I started getting it when I was like 23. Like I'd never had it in high school. And then all of a sudden I started getting it and I was like, wait, what? Like I thought I missed, you know, I thought I missed the boat here.

Yes. And I can now look back. Hindsight-20, that for me it was birth control because it was right around when I started on the NuvaRing, which only lasted a month because it made me such a different person. I remember my boyfriend at the time was like, get this thing out of you. I don't know who you are. You're a monster right now. And like anyone listening who's like, that's horrible. No, it was the most loving thing he could have done for me because I couldn't even like

witness myself because I was in such a weird place at the time. And so then took that out also at the same time, went vegetarian. And then I was vegetarian for five years and that just completely exacerbated it. And I had horrible, I mean, I had cystic, like it was like the second, like the day that one would go down, another one would pop up that day. And it was just like, Oh, like how do I get rid of this? Um, and for me personally, um, going off the birth control didn't help because I didn't go on anything after that. It was the vegetarian diet that really exacerbated it. It wasn't until I started eating meat again. And then for me, I added in, um, glutathione and calcium D-glucrate, which both help push excess estrogen out of the body. And they also help the detoxification pathways and help protect

and cleanse your liver. And that's another thing too, for people listening, I would look into protecting your liver and taking certain things that can help promote those detoxification pathways. Because oftentimes acne can also be because of a sluggish liver. But I think the birth control thing, I really wanted to point that out. I think is a really important component of this. And actually, um, I have the women of, um, the documentary, the business of birth control coming on soon. And I'm so excited. So we won't spend too much time talking about that. I will be listening about, I will be listening to that because that is, you know, it's such a subjective conversation. I think that's what it comes down to with acne is like, it's not all gonna, you can't give one person the same probiotic. You can't give one person the same anything. It's these are our bodies and there's a genetic code and there's a disposition and there's variations and there's allergies and intolerances. And, and so I think it's just good to exalt, to say it, to write,

to make it social and to say it out loud so that people at least know that there's more options. And I, and I wish I had known, I mean, I guess, you know, it's just the world hadn't evolved to where it was now. So there was only so much information and there was only so many things that I thought to think of at that time. Um, and now it's, you know, I'm so happy that the acne conversation is a loud one because people now get to look into other modalities that I, and you never knew about. Yeah. Well, and I think the hormonal component is such a big part of it. Like, cause that, that was what started me on my journey of finally starting to heal my hormones was someone told me to go get a hormonal blood test. And I also found out my progesterone was really

low. And this is to your point, why it's so important for people to look into this because, so my progesterone was low, but someone else could be having acne because their estrogen is too high or, you know, their hormones are imbalanced in a different way. So it's really important for people to understand that they need to go and figure out exactly what's going on in their body, because it may be very different from what someone else is going through that has acne. Yeah. You know, these food intolerance tests, take them, you know, like try and troubleshoot, you know, get yourself off of dairy, not for two days, not for 72 hours, but for a couple of months. What happens? What happens when you really journal what you're eating and be honest with yourself?

Because it's one thing to be like, yeah, I mostly like, you know, some whole wheat bread, good sandwiches and maybe some salads. But like when you really get into the snacking and you really be honest with yourself about what also happens sometimes, sometimes, right? After 7 p.m. or what happens, you know, when you hit the bar scene or you go to a party, it's like all that stuff needs to be taken into consideration. And you're not, you don't need to shame yourself for it. We just need to be accurate. And so once we have an accurate look at what's going on with what you're ingesting and what is presenting itself, then we can start to get ahead of it. And that's why I love, I mean, we do all of these consults now at Skin Owl. It's like, I'm going to ask you a shit ton of

questions about your life and you, there's no shame here. You're just going to answer. You're just going to say yes or no, or maybe so. And we're just going to like really give ourselves a platform finally for the truth of what this all looks like. And then that way we can take an accurate, you know, an accurate journey. Like we know where to go once we have all the correct information. Yeah. Yeah. It's so important. So let's talk about skincare. Let's talk about beauty or green beauty. Why? So what is the deal with all this? Like, I feel like for a lot of people that are just diving into this, a lot of people have this mentality of if it's on the shelf, there's no way that it couldn't be unsafe for us. Like there's no way that they would allow this stuff on the shelf. So can we dive into that? What is going on with

our convention? I love it. Okay. So, you know, I think there's so many terms going around. There's clean beauty, green beauty, then planet kind of conscious beauty is blue beauty. Then there's indie beauty. I mean, I, it's just, I think we can all agree that there's this like new kind of class of beauty that is popping up that is taking a vested interest in sustainable packaging while also taking a vested interest in kind of sustainable ingredient sourcing. You know, I think you can have a green beauty brand, but it can be using honey and it could not be the most sustainable brand. I'll use SkinOwl as an example. We, and I'll get back to your original question, but just to kind of paint this overarching picture, not everything natural is good and not everything synthetic is bad. And from a chemistry approach and an earthly approach, I think it's important to say that, you know, there's, we have a product that's called our

glosses and these are kind of highlighting oils that have a shimmery component to it. So if you don't want to wear just like a normal face oil and you want a little vibe, you can put on the rose quartz gloss. Well, what is in that product is a synthetic mica. So I have chosen not to source natural mica, which is mined primarily in India because of the child labor background to that. It's a harrowing, shitty thing that is happening in these mines with people, specifically young people. So we go to a lab and we make it synthetic. Now, is it always a bad thing if it's synthetic? Absolutely not. Because in this case, especially going back to an acne client, a synthetic mica is going to be brighter. It's going to be spherical instead of jagged edged. So people who have acne from using like

the shimmery bronzers and the shimmery highlighters that normally it creates these kind of micro tears in the skin presenting as inflammation or acne, spherical mica is going to be better for you because it's just going to roll onto the skin. And then you don't have to worry about the contraindications of what it's doing to humans out there in parts of the world that you'll never see. So there's just a lot of layers to this world, and that's just one of them. But I think it's important to note that the FDA is really tied up in the Food and Drug Administration. That is why it is called that. Cosmetics are not drugs. Cosmetics are cosmetics.

They sit on a shelf. They never need FDA approval. The things that would be considered drugs that sometimes fall under the cosmetic world are like sunscreens, right? I'm not allowed to put out a sunscreen and say that it has any sun protection. I'm not even allowed to use that language unless it has been approved by the FDA. I'm not allowed to have the name acne on any of my products because if it is actually going up against, you know, P. acne bacteria and what we know, you know, medically as acne, it has to be a drug, which is why Accutane, Tetracycline, you know, some of these other, uh, you know, Trentinoin, Spirulactane, all of these types of products are considered drugs. They need FDA

approval. I can say breakout, I can say dark marks. I can say, uh, some, you know, times you can say hyperpigmentation, but like when it comes to classifying cosmetics as drugs, that that's like a big no-no. I think like, and nobody adheres to this because this is one of the biggest words in the beauty industry, but like the word nourishing, for example, from a chemistry point of view, nourishing is to bring water into the skin. That's absolutely impossible. You can't deliver water into the skin unless you're using a syringe. So, I mean, steam can create like a surface, uh, like a facial steam can create like the, the, you know, visibly, uh, look like water has entered the skin, but it is in such a nanoparticle type of way that you just can't make these types of claims. So like a nourishing eye cream is complete bullshit, but it's, it is the marketing behind it. So this industry is, um, is a tricky one because there's so much false advertising and there's so much greenwashing. Um, you put a flower on the outside of a product.

And I think we talked about this a little bit when you came on off the record, but like, um, who's a good example of this. Let's just call them by their name. Like Garnier is a really good example of this. They had like an argan oil shampoo and there was a little flower on the outside and like a weird picture of an argan nut. And you look on the back of it and there's argan oil in it, but it's the last ingredient in the ingredient deck, which usually means that it's less than 1%. So it's not going to be inactive in the way that SkinOwl and, you know, Josie Maron and some of these other brands have used argan oil as an active over 50%, over 75%. But nonetheless, Garnier is allowed to say, our argan nourishing shampoo. And it's just like, it drives me up the wall.

I'm sure you'd see this with the food industry. You know what I mean? It's like, we don't need to say that that was gluten free. Like we get it, but you're just putting that on the packaging because it's going to lure people in. Um, it's, it is, it's crazy. It is so crazy as a formulator, but I think that's why I've always kept it really simple with SkinOwl. Like we're, we're not going to over-promise, but we are absolutely going to over-deliver. Um, and, and, and it's just simply supportive skincare. That's what SkinOwl is. It meets you exactly where you are and it doesn't, it, I really try hard not to fluff it up

to, to the degree that the beauty industry is known for. Yeah. This is really exciting. Organifi now has kid 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 want to 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. Imagine having a metabolic coach in your pocket that you could access at any point, any time in the day, whenever you want. That's what Lumen is. Lumen is the world's first handheld metabolic coach. It's a device that measures your metabolism through your breath. And on the app, it lets you know if you're burning fat or carbs and gives you tailored guidance to improve your nutrition, workout, sleep, and even stress management. I have so many

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energy levels, better fitness results, better sleep, and more. Now, this is a really cool feature too. It can actually track your cycle as well as the onset of menopause and adjust your recommendations to keep your metabolism healthy through hormonal shifts. So if you want to take the next step in improving your health, go to lumen.me and use real foodology to get $100 off your lumen. That is l-u-m-e-n dot m-e and use real foodology at checkout for $100 off. Thank you so much to lumen for sponsoring this episode. Well, that's important because I think people are getting to a point where they're exhausted

by all of this marketing and all the fluff and the greenwashing. Cause like you said, I mean, um, we are being sold products that are not what they say that they are. And that is what my biggest problem is with the beauty and skincare, um, industry is that we're being sold these products, like something that really bothers me that I don't think people are fully awake or aware to yet. So there are these beauty products that are insanely expensive. Like think about all the, like the designers that are coming out with stuff like Dior, like people love Chanel makeup and stuff. And they assume because that is a

really high price tag on there, that this is a really high quality, amazing, great product. It is garbage in there. They use industrial toxic oils, things that should not ever belong in our body, which by the way, that's a really great thing for people to remember is that whatever you put on your skin is going to end up in your bloodstream. So you're basically eating it like your skin is eating it. And so if you're putting all these toxic ingredients on your skin and on your body, it's like you're eating them. I mean, think about people.

It totally does. It is like insane building. It is the building blocks for it on a professional level and on a personal level. And you see people get estrogen creams and they put them on their forearm and then that's supposed to enter the bloodstream and kind of modify your hormones, just a hormone cascade. It's the same thing with body lotion. It's the exact same thing.

And there's no checks and balances. And so this is why Instagram and TikTok and whatever has been like the best of things and the worst of things, because if there's no checks and balances and there's companies out there that don't have the, if I may, the integrity of SkinOwl, then you're able to say the argan oil, argan nut thing on a package and people will buy it because they don't know what we're talking about. The average consumer doesn't know this information. They've never been taught this information. So think about that. I mean, let that sit for one second, that there is no checks

and balances system on cosmetics. And so whatever is out there on the shelf is being governed by the company that decided to put it out there. And that company, if it is, you know, not all big box brands are bad, but if you think about some of these massive conglomerates that absorb these really special small companies. And then, you know, am I allowed to cuss on this podcast? Oh yeah. Let it fly. I'm like, and then fuck around with the ingredient deck. This is why five years down the line of you loving your favorite lipstick by X brand, you're like, wait a minute, this just all of a sudden

isn't the same. It's because of what you just said, like everything kind of loses its integrity. And it is, it's a massive shame. But I think there's enough good, there's enough good out there that we can find it at all prices to at all kind of entry points in terms of shopping. Target has really great brands now. You can find it, you don't have to be in like a big city, like in LA or San Francisco to have access to these clean beauty stores. You're starting to see it in Sephora. You know, you're also starting to see celebrities get more invested in this conversation too, which is scary because, you know, Skin Owl uses argan oil. It's one thing. But like,

if somebody, if a massive brand starts using coconut oil, then we're going to have what we have now, which is kind of an extinction of coconuts in Nigeria. So it's like, it's, it is such a, it's such a layered, there's so much complexity with this industry. And in terms of formulation, that you just try and do the best that you can and present the best product that you think are going to yield people the best results so that I feel good about the ingredients that I'm sourcing. It would be another thing if I was like creating a line that didn't do anything for anybody and then these ingredients were kind of used in vain. Yeah, absolutely. Well, and you also brought up another great point about, you know, the estrogen creams and then you're kind of doing the same thing when you put lotion on.

I think this is another really important component of this conversation is that we are seeing skyrocketing numbers of infertility. And then you look at, on average, women put up to, I believe the number is 160 different chemicals on their body every single day. Because think about it, women are using way more beauty products and skincare products and everything than men are. It's in your lotions. It's in your body wash. It's in your makeup. It's in your skincare routine. It's in your sunscreen. We are getting hit so hard with so many different chemicals. And then

now we see the rising numbers of people on IBF and dealing with infertility and there's absolutely a connection. Um, and this is why I wanted to have this conversation with you because I think it's so important that people wake up to what we are putting on our skin. And I'm so grateful for people like you that are providing us better alternatives that are not going to mess with our hormones. You think about it too with babies. It's like the babies get all the really healthy stuff, but then as we get older, what about protecting the adult? You know, like all the stuff where it's like, you can't put that in a baby. You can't put that in a baby. It's like, well, most of those

things that you're talking about, you also really shouldn't be putting on an adult. Yeah. I mean, it's just going to build up over time. You can apply that across the board. Although I will say, we say that about babies. And then you look at Johnson and Johnson who have been in litigation because of their, the no more tears. And, um, there was the talc in their baby powder that is directly connected to, I believe it was ovarian cancer and they knew it. They knew that they were doing this and they did it anyways. It's, it is, um, this is what, you know, it goes back to that original point of without a checks and balances, you know, talcum powder is not a drug. It is a, it is a cosmetic, it is a consumer good. And so you've really got to do your research. And that's why storytelling,

you know, businesses and websites and kind of online, what am I trying to say, like online shopping sites, it's so important for, I think now more than ever for people to be really telling the stories of the founders. Because when you know the origin of the brand, then you know that it can be trusted. And as these, even these clean beauty sites that are now growing and they're bringing all the cool thing in, the storytelling starting to go down. It's like, ooh, that scares me a bit.

That scares me a bit. You know, what was started as small is now starting to get big and it's almost turning a little too big box for I think a lot of founders comfort. And now the storytelling is starting to go down and it's like, it's popular and it's cool and it's celebrity backed. And we're kind of going back to the early 2000s where it

feels like Us Magazine again, where if this person's making it, then it must be good. And I really hope that those brands don't get too big. And then it, it, it messes with the kind of the, the quilt that has been, yeah, that has, you know, this industry, I think, started from. Well, I mean, you bring up a great point. So I was just Googling right now because I couldn't remember the name of it. But Kris Jenner just came out with a, quote, unquote, and I'm saying quote, unquote, on purpose, clean beauty line. And then I went and looked at the ingredients. They have fragrance in them.

So and this is something you brought up earlier. clean beauty line. And then I went and looked at the ingredients. They have fragrance in them. So, and this is something you brought up earlier, but for people that don't know what this term means, this is what we call greenwashing, where essentially a brand paints this picture that they are clean and healthy and really good for the environment, et cetera. And then you go and you look at the packaging on the back or you look at the ingredients on the back and you actually see that they're, I mean, they're lying to you essentially. And this is exactly what she's doing. Yep, exactly. It's infuriating. I think like self-care can, and I've written blogs about this. I've talked about this on the podcast, but like, I think there are so many opportunities for self, for self-care to be self-care and then there's opportunities for it to be self-scare. And so I'm not a huge proponent of being like, we must never be around X ingredient because it can,

you know, turn into this. It has to be really strong evidence to suggest that this ingredient would turn into something else in your bloodstream. And I think this has kind of gotten a little crazy, especially if we're talking about ingredients that are less than 1%. Um, you know, uh, it wasn't ethyl hexyl glycerin. It was, um, Oh my God. Hello. It'll come back to me. There was one ingredient that was like, um, you know, kind of the pariah of the beauty industry. And it wasn't a paraben. Oh my God. I can't believe I'm blocking on it. I'll figure it out. Um, and it was like, yeah, I totally will. But it was like, you know, Oh God, like fear this product. And it's like, no, it's actually okay if it's used in less than 1%. And primarily it is used in less than 1%. So like, I'll, I'll look at an ingredient deck

and I'll tell you what it is. I won't leave the audience hanging, but you know, there's things like parabens and methyl parabens, propyl parabens, dimethicone. These are the things that you primarily don't really need. These are the first lot that I announced was your preservatives. The dimethicone is usually what gives like a makeup primer its slip. You normally see this in the MACs, the NARS. This is like a very popular ingredient, but you also see it in brands that are touting green. Everybody has their list and their line of what you don't, what they don't want to cross, right? Like you can't just be like, you can't freak yourself out too much by saying all of my house ingredients, all of my nail ingredients, all of my hair ingredients, my makeup, my skincare,

my baby ingredients, my dog food. I mean, this is, it's a luxury to be able to make those choices because they are predominantly more expensive. Um, but you pick your habitual places, you know, like I don't wear deodorant, so it's not something I have to worry about. Once you stop wearing deodorant, in many cases, your pH balance, you get kind of pH balanced on your own. Um, makeup and, and skincare are going to be my heavy hitters, but hair care, I don't really do much. I air dry it. I'll throw in maybe a little bit of dry shampoo, but it's not the area that I need to be super crazy about. So it's like you pick and choose where your habits show up. But in terms of looking at the ingredients and making sure that it's integrity driven, fragrance is the number one ingredient that I tell people to be aware of

because it's a trade secret. You never have to share what's in it. It's fragrance or it's perfume. If you have a product that's sold overseas, it has to be written also in French on the packaging, or specifically Canada. And it is insane what could be in there. It could be horse urine and you wouldn't know. It could be a blend of propylparabens and dimethicones and manure. You literally would not know. And that is why fragrance is so scary. And that is what is so infuriating about Kris Jenner's line because she doesn't have the expertise, nor should she, to understand how to read an ingredient deck. And she's hiring companies that are greenwashing their private labeling and selling it to people.

And so now she's out there saying it's green, it's clean, and she's going to get eaten alive by people who have this understanding. Well, exactly. And unfortunately, she's going to dupe a lot of people into thinking that they're making a better, cleaner choice. And they're still being exposed to these fragrances that are known endocrine disruptors. And what did we start out this conversation about hormones? Endocrine disruptors are going to imbalance your hormones, lead to acne, infertility, sometimes cancer, thyroid issues. I mean, these are real concerns and we're just being hit by them left and right. Yeah. And she's on estrogen. She's on estrogen. You know what I mean? She has episodes of keeping up where she is putting estrogen on her body. So it's like, I mean, a lot of women put estrogen on

to promote youth. Like as you drop an estrogen, that's kind of the thing that keeps your skin nice and dewy and plump and, and, um, moisturize and the look of that. And so a lot of celebrities as they age, they start bringing in bioidenticals or they start bringing in hormone replacement therapy to kind of assist with the help of estrogen because it helps the skin and your, yourself look younger. It's just, it's such a, it's such a like conundrum because, you know, you take the estrogen and then you wind up creating a product that can fuck with people's estrogen. And it's, um, yeah, I think we should send out a mission statement so that she's aware of what she's selling. Well, okay. So now that we've gone into that, let's give people a little bit of like a, um, how to

apply this in their life. So what kind of things should people be avoiding in their beauty products? Yeah, I think, um, listen, some of this is going to be personal allergies and personal intolerances. Like if you keep seeing that X is a, you know, what's a good example? Like, um, I mean, I'll use argan oil, like, ooh, argan oil, that's amazing. Like, I've heard such amazing things about it because of its oleic and kind of fatty acid complex, like that sounds like it would be good for me. And

it's not working for you. And you are showing signs of inflammation, like don't push it. And I think the internet does a wonderful job of coconut oil was a perfect example of that. Coconut oil, it was everywhere. It was on your face. It was in your hair. It was in your stomach. We were doing like, you know, toothbrushing with it. It was fucking everywhere. And so now there's like hardly any coconuts, high integrity coconuts. And also on top of it, none of the literature ever suggested that it was a highly comedogenic product. And when I say comedogenic, that means it cannot penetrate the pores. It's on the surface, kind of like a

neosporin, kind of like a jojoba. Jojoba and coconut oils are not oils. They're not like an argan or a tominew or a marula. They don't have the same fatty acid complex. They don't have the same penetration. They are great as a barrier. They are waxes. They sit on top of the skin and they protect you from a cut or a bruise. Or they're great for kind of like the oral pulling and that type of thing. They're great on the ends of the hair to kind of create a barrier towards further dryness if you live in the high desert. It is not to be used on the face if you have acne. This is why I do not formulate with coconut oil because it is a cheap ingredient. It is a filler. It is the hydrogenated oil. It is the equivalent. It is the unbleached flower of the skincare world.

And not to say that it doesn't serve a purpose in some ways. It's just, we just don't want to put it on the face if we have acne and bouts of inflammation for a long period of time. And so I look at that and I'm like, oh God, you know what I mean? This is, these are these kind of nuanced conversations that are not happening on the internet. Everybody's just obsessed with coconut oil. You know, so I think that there's kind of like a little bit of like a dirty list and it depends on who you ask. That list can be a little longer than others. But for me, if you see fragrance, which is usually going to be one of the first ingredients on the deck, opt for something else.

Opt for something that says natural fragrance. I think you can now say or essential oil-based. Natural is also a weird greenwashing word because like petroleum is natural too. So it's, you know, natural doesn't mean it is nature derived. It just means it's in its, and you ask someone to define, how would you define natural? It's like really funny where people go with it. It's like, um, but I think it's just like, yeah, exactly. It's like not always nature based. It is, um, you know, of its, of its original origin of, of origin.

And so like petroleum, which is gas can be one of those things. And so if you think about mineral oil and you think about, um, um, you know, the PEGs. So anything that you see on an ingredient deck that says PEG dash, usually a number, those are your propylene glycols. Those are all of the gas and petroleum based products that you probably don't want on your skin. So that's what they spray on planes to de-ice them. Just so you guys know. Yes. Yeah. You don't want that anywhere near your skin. No. It's what is probably in your high school janitors.

It's in there somewhere in those ingredients to clean, especially during COVID, like bacteria. And it's a really good, you know, it's gas. It's really good at breaking down, uh, full systems of ingredients. Um, we don't want that in our face, right? So for me, it's going to be fragrance, the PEGs, your propylene glycol. Um, the, if you're looking at a product overseas or you're in Canada, it's going to say parfum, P-A-R-F-U-M. Um, that's also means fragrance. Um, dimethicone, I'm probably not going to go near. That's usually going to be in your makeup primers, your kind of slippery moisturizers. All of your primers,

usually in the big box world, are going to say dimethicone. Yeah, I think some of the colorants, like the reds and the yellows, like stuff that is making the product look like it was derived from a rose, even though we add that red color in there to give it the look of a red rose petal. And you can say the same, you talked about that on my podcast with food. You know, but some of the other stuff, it's just, you really gotta maybe just email the company and say, Hey, I see in the deck, you have, um, you know, uh, anything. And I could think of a million ingredients, but like anything of this, can you tell me what percentage of that is? And they should be able to tell you. And you're not the first one probably to email these companies and ask it. It is like a very savvy thing that is happening now. Um, but I promise you, if you email some of the bigger

conglomerates, nobody's going to get back to you because it's not an answer that you're going to want to hear. Well, and I will say this, when it comes to the percentage in the product, I think a lot of people like to say the dose makes the poison. And while this is true, people are not taking into account the massive amount of these chemicals that we are being exposed to on a day-to-day basis. Like I just said earlier, it's in your lotions, it's in your body wash, it's in your skincare routine, it's in your sunscreen. So while you may be looking at this product and going, oh, but it's less than 1% in this one product. Are you taking into account that it's also in X, Y, and Z other products that you're using?

And then all of a sudden you are at the point where it is kind of the dose is becoming the poison. And that's part of the problem. I could, you, you like, that was so beautifully articulated on, when you came on my podcast about the accumulation of this, right? Like whether it's sugar or whether it's sunflower, you know, canola oil or sunflower, it's like, whatever that is, it's like, that's not your first presentation today. And then if you think about that over the course of weeks and you think about it in things that you're eating out, but you'll never really see the full ingredient deck. The accumulation of these things, it is not to fear the fact that if for some reason you're in a pinch and you need to use a product once at your friend's house with fragrance in it,

that you're going to die of a lonely cancerous death. It is the accumulation of these things. And I really got to be clear about that. I just can't use that. It was on her, my friend had it, but I really, so I like went without doing my hair because it had this in it. And it's like, does that show up in your, in your vanity, on your medicine, in your medicine cabinet? No. Okay. Do it. Relax. Because here's the thing, when your cortisol goes up and you start spiking insulin and you start stressing out and fearing these products, you're doing damage to yourself as well on a mental health level. So like let's all take a deep kundalini breath

and just like remember that it's the accumulation of these things, not the onset of it being used minimally. And it has to be said. Yeah, and so that's why it is important in your day-to-day life to clean up these products. But if you're exposed to them every once in a while, are you going to die? Like you said, no, you'll be fine. But it is really important to start making those swaps. So what, I'm trying to think of how to formulate this question, but basically if someone's listening

and they're very, very new to this and they're feeling super overwhelmed, where can they kind of start to start cleaning up their skincare and their beauty products? I love that question. Um, because I think sometimes when you have this conversation, people then take like a scan around their whole house and they're like, I'm throwing it all away. Like I'm lighting the fire. And it's like, we, you know what I mean? We don't need to do that. We don't need to do it. We absolutely don't need to do it. There's so much time and the process of swapping can be fun and can spark joy. And so, and it's also like, it puts a dent in your wallet. So like, let's not put, start putting things on a credit card just at this for the sake of like the fear of all of this. We're going to

pick five things. Okay. That we habitually use. And so for someone that might be, okay, every single day I wear deodorant. Every single day I wear tinted moisturizer. Every single day I use a dry shampoo. And, or maybe like you wash, you know, you shower every single day. I don't know what your lifestyle suggests, but like maybe you shower and wash your hair every single day and you use a conditioner every single day and you use a body wash every single day. Like I want you to kind of scan your life if you are listening to this and think about just on a skincare, makeup, hair, and nail survey, what you use daily and like maybe multiple times. Are you touching up that lipstick throughout the day?

Are you just putting it on once in the morning? Are you using a chapstick? So what I would do is I would kind of pick five and over the course of the next like two to three months, I would start swapping those out. If you have the funds and the fervor to swap it out all in one month, do it. But I want you to just pick, scan five. And you know what, maybe, maybe all of that stuff is pretty clean, but then you've been waiting to touch up things with your house, um, cleaning agents or your dog food or, um, you know, um, you know, nail care, which gets, I think with like the cooler nail stuff, like if we're talking about acrylics and tips and luminary and some of this kind of stuff, like you're probably not going to get away from it.

But if we're just talking about like plain nail polish that you can take off, then there's like the 11 free, 12 free. I think they're up to like 15 free nail polishes. Dazzle dry is great too. Oh, what is it called? It's called dazzle dry.

It's basically like a really clean gel and it really works. It stays on for like two weeks and it's non-toxic. It's great. Perfect. So that is a perfect, perfect option. But I would just look at it and then, you know, some of these sites I think are a little, like everybody likes pointing to the Environmental Working Group, which is otherwise known as the EWG. That is, I prefer it when we're looking at solo ingredients, like when we're

looking at the toxicity of dimethicone, then we can go to the skin deep section of that site and see like if it's a zero through 10 and what the level of toxicity is. When we're talking about products, it gets like, it's, it gets a little shady. There's not that they're like paid off, but they get, and I don't want to like slander this company, but there, there's, there's some stuff there that isn't always like, you know what I mean? It doesn't show all the, all the products that you want, and it's not always, I think, the truest form in terms of feedback. So you can always go to the Think Dirty app is always a good one. You can also shop from sites that have kind of guiding principles in place.

So Credo Beauty is going to be up there. Detox Market is going to be up there. A Full Lane is going to be up there. Detox market's going to be up there. A full lane is going to be up there. But you can search and then look on these websites and say, like, what are the guiding principles or like, what are the, what's the no list? And so then you can compare some of the ingredients that haven't worked for you. And then, you know, just by shopping at this company that these products are not going to contain any of these things. And it takes away all of the work. You don't have to do any of the work. You don't have to research it. There are companies out there that have already done that for you. Um, and, uh, and yeah, I would just start

small baby steps, like really and truly slow and steady wins the race because then it becomes this fun journey as opposed to this like overnight shame cycle that, um, doesn't do anything good for us in the end. Yeah. No, I think that's great. It's, um, really great advice because I, whenever I have these conversations, I always like to remind people that, um, just because you're using those products now, don't freak out. You're going to be okay. The body is super resilient. We have a liver and kidneys and all the, you know, the lymphatic system in order to detoxify all this stuff, but it is important to get it out of your body now. So, um, I would start taking steps and there's, you know, like we've

been saying this whole episode, there's amazing companies doing really amazing stuff, providing really great products that actually work. I mean, I compare all the makeup that I have now to to the stuff that I was buying at Whole Foods 10 years ago. And I'm like, thank God companies figured this out because 10 years ago I was like, Ooh, this is not, the makeup was not, it was not great. But now, I mean, you have brands like Ilia and Kosas and I, I mean, I like them better than, you know, the Dior's and the Chanel's and all the other stuff. It feels so good. It smells so good. There's a lightness to it when you put it on.

They, you know, there's, you know, like to your point, back in the day, like you could go, I'm trying to think of like the earlier brands, like Zuzu was a very early branded Whole Foods. Mineral fusion. Mineral fusion. I mean like bare essentials, which was like, you know, not, not, it was, it was getting closer to where we needed to be, but it wasn't in full. Um, and, and you'd go and like the lipstick was maybe like a little dry, but like it was kind of cool and it was something that nobody else had. And so like I touted it around or like a couple of lip liners or like the shimmery eyeshadows. Um, and, and now it's like, if someone's like, I don't want to switch to that because like, I like my high pigment makeup or I like my, um, long wear, or I like how long it lasts. Like I don't wear it often. So I want it to sit on a shelf for a while. That's all happening now. You can get high performance,

long wear makeup and, and, you know, and you know, I don't know if I would encourage anybody to have a lipstick at the length of time that the preservative system of some of these big box brands can last. But if you go through a lipstick in less than a year, then that clean beauty world, it's all, it's all, you're, you're good. You are totally good. It has totally changed to Courtney's point. And, um, and it's fun. It's like really fun to shop it because it's just the, it's, it's like a step in the right direction of how you take care of yourself. Well, I'm trying to think of, um, anything else that we haven't covered. Oh, I want to hear, we talked about this a little bit on your podcast,

or I think it was after we stopped recording. You said that you could give people kind of tips and tricks on how to self-formulate. Ooh, I love that. Yes. So, you know, I think it's like kind of how some of this began, like on Pinterest. Like I think back in the day, there would be like, here's your own avocado face mask. And like, I know it sounds a little old school, but I still totally stand by that. A hundred percent. Like if people are sourcing avocado and flax and chia and pomegranate, what are some other good ones? You know, some of the oils. Yeah. Right. Manuka honey and Himalayan salt in your body scrubs. And I love this so much.

I mean, even dark chocolate and more the cacao. And then some of these other butters like your shea and cocoa butter. I mean, like it's there. It's right there on the ingredient deck. Granted, you don't know the percentages of these products. So you're not able to like completely mimic the cocoa butter body moisturizer that you love, but like you can absolutely go to the store and grab everything I just said, like, um, vitamin E, which would be your preservative. Um, you know, maybe, uh, a

citric acid or something like that looks like a citrus essential oil and go get yourself some shea butter. I mean, a lot of these raw ingredients are probably going to live at a Whole Foods or a co-op or something like that. Um, I would shop for it in person versus like an Amazon or online. Um, and then you could always pour out some of your favorite, like cut into the cellulose of your favorite probiotic and some Greek yogurt. And I already said vitamin E is the preservative, like a light preservative.

And, you know, bring an antioxidant in. Like I think Whole Foods has all of those like camu camu powder and like goji berry. Throw that into it. Mix that shit up. put it on your face and see what happens. Does your skin get better? Does it get worse? Or does it stay the same? It's like have fun kind of making, you know, kind of making sense of it. If you have a preservative, which you can look all of that stuff up online, like what are natural plant based preservatives, they're probably going to be sold somewhere at a store, It's probably going to be kind of an oil or something that you can get your hands on. And I'd like an antioxidant. I'd like a little

exfoliation. So maybe I'm going to add in a little brown sugar or I'm going to add in like a pink Himalayan sea salt if I'm going to use it on the body. And like I have acne, so I really want to use things that are going to be quite healing or a little softer. Uh, so your Greek yogurts, your avocado, um, um, your, I love the crush, like kind of throwing in the crush probiotic powder in there. Um, what else, what else, what else? Uh, I feel like there's other really heavy hitters.

Like peaches is always good as an antioxidant and a brightening agent i feel like eggs are good too aren't they for your skin absolutely yep absolutely the egg white is gonna you can put it in your ninja and like froth it up i mean half of this stuff you could probably drink too but um i just think about like eating it so yeah yeah and like test it on your body. If you don't want to use it on your face, like what, how does it perform on your decolletage? How does it perform on your legs after shaving? Um, if you're using a lot of anti-inflammatories, um, but it's always fun to take to the internet and just be like, what are anti-inflammatory ingredients? And,

and I think it goes without saying, like, if something calls for like almonds, like we don't want to use the almond butter with the other things in the ingredient deck. Like, we want to actually crush down the almonds and then we're going to use the almonds. Oats are also really good as a face mask. It's going to help you kind of congeal the face mask. If you put the oats in, it will allow the product to kind of, you know, be as one. You can find emulsifiers, things that are going to be a little stickier that allow you to blend the products together. But this is all water free too. So it can be really sustainable for you. And then,

yeah, I'd say the shelf life is probably going to be on the lighter side. So you probably want to use it within like one to two days. Especially if you're using avocado, the product is going to start to change colors if you don't have appropriate, uh, preservatives, but I can go on and on about this. I think you, if you take to the internet and ask simple questions and you get simple truths, then you can go and have fun with creating skincare. Yeah. Oh, I love that. It's fun too. Okay. So I want to ask you what I ask every guest on my podcast. What are your personal health non-negotiables? These are things that no matter how busy your day is, I know you have a kid, you have a dog, like you have all these responsibilities, you run your business, but these are things that you do in

order to take care of your own health. And you're like non-negotiable, I do this every day or every week. Yes. Oh, I love this. I love this. Okay. So, um, it's so funny how this answer changes once you have a child. So, um, number one, I always have a glass of water with electrolytes in it every single morning. Um, water is something that's hard for me to access because of the speed at which I move. So I bought a water bottle. And so I have my water bottle that's like that I fill in the morning and I put anything that I want in there, my electrolytes, or it's just water, maybe coconut water, like whatever it is, but I like put that all there. So it's like I'm starting off the day with hydration, which has to happen with someone, especially taller women. It's a bigger engine to move. Like I'm almost 5'11". So for me, it's like, I got to hydrate more than someone who,

and I definitely need to be more conscious of it than someone who's maybe 4'11". There's just a lot more of me in order to like stay, you know, not fatigued. Uh, so starting off the day with something hydrating, um, and something that kind of sets me up for success. So like a protein shake, and then I'll throw in my MCT oil. I'll, I'll, you know, my, my, it has to be first. Okay. That's my point. Um, taking my supplements, I used to be a little wary of supplements, but now there's really great companies doing amazing things, um, in, in, in systems that your body can actually break it down and you can actually metabolize what is in that pill. And so I take a probiotic, I take a fish oil, I take a vitamin D. It's actually a cod oil that also helps with eye health. If you're in a drier climate, it helps a lot with dry eye. I take a vitamin D3. I take magnesium and I take my electrolyte and then I'm missing something.

And apparently that's my MO on this podcast. It's like, it's an almost, I'm almost there. I'm about to go run and get it. Oh, and I take elderberry. That's what it is. Because I was like chronically sick since January, once my body started to not be sterile anymore. So supplementation in the morning and hydration are non-negotiables. If I don't do it in the morning and my day starts, I just feel like I'm not going to be able to operate at the level that I need to. And whether that's placebo or it's real, it's just, it is what it is. And then the third thing I'll say is I'm, I don't eat things off my son's plate. I don't eat the things that I prepare for my son. And it's not because I don't prepare him good, healthy things, but it's because it's food that I otherwise never would have engaged with. And it's like, kind of like, you know, um, mindless, you know what I mean? It's like kind of like you know um mindless you know what i mean it's like mindless eating

to like eat the thing off the spoon before i put it in the in the sink or um you know to eat some of the snacks like acts it's i think it's good for monty to have access to some of the foods that like in my adulthood like maybe i wouldn't eat and i'm not talking about mcdonald's but like he's gonna maybe eat ice cream at a sporting event on a day that I'm not going to eat ice cream. And I think that some of this is like the well-roundedness of childhood. Um, and so like, I don't need to get something that he's going to get, you know, I don't need to be, if it's like pizza night and he's going to have like a yummy pizza, I don't need to have the pizza.

Um, and like always picking the good options for Monty that are going to set him up for success with his diet as he gets older. And there's a lot of really healthy options for pizza out there, I might say. And like homemade ones, like on pita bread with like a homemade spaghetti sauce and whatever. Anyways, my point is like, especially as someone who put on 40 pounds after being pregnant, these are the things that I need to do in order to really kind of feel good in the skin that I'm in and not be mindless about the food that I'm eating, but really intentional about the stuff that I am putting in my body because we're not getting any younger, apparently, allegedly. No matter how hard we try.

Okay. So for everyone listening, where can they find you? And more importantly, where can they find Skin Owl? Yes. Okay. So you can go to good old Instagram at Skin Owl. We're also recently on TikTok at this is Skin Owl. If you love the, you know, listening to podcasts, which I'm sure you do if you're here right now, we are at Off The Record With You. The podcast is called Off The Record. And then everything

kind of lives on skinowl.com. That's skin like the skin that we've been talking about. And then owl like the bird.com. You can catch the podcast there. We have a store if you guys are ever in and around Boise, Idaho. I recently transplanted here from LA and we have a brick and mortar and it is an incredible opportunity for you to come in and immerse yourself in SkinOwl IRL, which it's great online, but it is so awesome in person. It's like a skincare cafe and we can really troubleshoot what's going on in your skin. And then the last thing I'll say is if you are having trouble with your skin and you just don't know where to start and all of this feels really overwhelming, I do virtual consults. You can just go to skinowl.com and search in the

little search bar consultation, and it'll bring up like a consultation with the founder. And it is, it is a point of pride. It is amazing what I have been able to do with these clients. And I just want you to know that it's not a road you always have to go alone. And if you need that help, I and my team are certainly there to help. Oh, that's amazing. Well, thank you so much for today. That was such a great conversation. Yes, I agree. I adore you. Thank you for giving me an opportunity to be here and talk about it with you and all of your people. Thanks for listening to today's episode of the Real Foodology podcast. If you liked this episode, please leave a review in your podcast app to let

me know. This is a resident media production produced by Drake Peterson and edited by Chris McCone. The theme song is called Heaven by the amazing singer Georgie, spelled with a J. Love you guys so much. See you next week. The content of this show is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual medical and mental health advice and doesn't constitute a provider patient relationship. I am a nutritionist, but I am not your nutritionist. As always talk to your doctor or your health team first