Well with Arielle Lorre - 343: Beauty Hacks, Ride-or-Die Products and The Kardashian Effect with Beauty Editor Kelsey Castañon

Episode Date: August 21, 2024

Kelsey Castañon is a longtime beauty editor currently serving as the director of PS Feel Good. She previously worked at Refinery29, Seventeen and Shape magazine. She joins the show to chat all things beauty including the evolution of the industry, how standards have changed, beauty as self-care and how social media drives trends today. We also discuss the craziest things she’s ever tried in the name of journalism, tried and true products, best drugstore finds and a round of smash or pass: beauty edition.Subscribe to Patreon for exclusive weekly content: patreon.com/ArielleLorreThis episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct, or indirect financial interest in products, or services referred to in this episode.Discover your perfect shade of Weightless Skin Foundation at BobbiBrown.comVisit ritual.com/BLONDE for 25% off your first month. Go to alomoves.com and use BLONDE30 for an exclusive 30-day free trial, plus 20% off an annual membership. Visit drinklmnt.com/BLONDE for a free sample pack!Use MALK's store locator to find MALK Creamers at a store near you Go to hellobello.com/BLONDE for 30% off your first customized bundle and a full-size freebie of your choice. Produced by Dear MediaSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Dear Media production This episode is Sponsored by Bobby Brown Cosmetics, you guys know that I am all about my skin and I put a lot of effort into taking care of my skin. So when it comes to makeup, I want that to come through. I don't like to wear a ton of makeup, look like I'm wearing a ton of makeup, which is why I am obsessed with the Bobby Brown Weightless Skin Foundation. You guys, it is so good. So Bobby Brown Cosmetics is known for their complexion products. And this new foundation, is truly elite, turning non-foundation wearers like myself into foundation wearers. So the weightless

skin foundation has been five years in the making and the Bobby Brown team tested on over 7,000 faces to perfect the formula and color range to deliver on what women seek out most in foundation, which is your best skin, not makeup. So I love a no makeup, makeup look. And the Bobby Brown weightless skin foundation is perfect for this. I love that it has 24-hour moisture and 24-hour wear because I like my skin to look dewy. My days are often really busy going from one thing to another, a meeting, to podcasts, being on camera, and then whatever I have after that. So I need my makeup to last and to look really natural. And the moisture and the 24-hour wear really help to maintain that. It also has smart skin balancing technology, which adapts to what your

skin needs, and Bobby Brown's ultra lightweight formula feels like nothing on your skin. It even stays put well on the move, even in humid climates. So see more of the campaign and discover your perfect shade of weightless skin foundation at bobbybrown.com. Welcome to the Blonde Files podcast. I'm your host, Ariel Lurie, and I'm here to talk all things wellness. From how to achieve optimal health and well-being to the best beauty tips and everything in between. No topic is off limits. I know there's so much information out there, so I'm bringing on expert guests and sharing my own experiences to help you sift through all the wellness stuff without the BS. Enjoy the show. Hi, everybody, welcome to the show. I have such a fun episode for you today for everybody who loves all things beauty and self-care and

wellness. So I am talking to Kelsey Kastanian. She is the senior content director at PS, formerly Pop Sugar. So she's a Brooklyn-based writer, editor, content strategist. She has more than 13 years of experience in publishing. She has a lot of experience in the beauty industry. And having been in the industry for so long at places like Refinery 29, 17, Shape, Allure, and Teen Vogue, she has really interesting insight into the beauty industry, the wellness industries, the lifestyle industries, and just how these things have all evolved over the years. So I, as I'm sure you would expect, had such a blast talking to her about the evolution of these industries. We talk about beauty as self-care, instead of beauty as vanity. And then we get into all of the fun stuff. So we talk about

some amazing hair hacks, the craziest things that she's ever done for work. And We talk about ride or die OG products that we loved, really tried and true products. We talk makeup hacks, hair color trends. We talk TikTok trends, face taping beauty standards. We talk about women shaming other women when it comes to beauty standards. We do a fun round of smash or pass. So it's a really fun and informative episode for all my beauty and wellness lovers out there. So please enjoy Kelsey Castanian.

Welcome, Kelsey. Thank you. Excited to be here. I feel like we've already been podcasting because we've been talking beauty things for the last 10 minutes. It just comes naturally, you know? Yes. You guys listening know this is my favorite subject ever. And I would love for you to just introduce yourself to the audience and tell them about your role before we get into your expertise. Of course. I am actually in a new role at PS. It's overseeing our balance, beauty, health, and fitness verticals, which are our four. key verticals that we're going to be focusing on. And before that, I've actually been in the beauty industry as a beauty reporter and editor for the last 12, 13 years. I say that out loud and I'm like, oh, so I've really seen it through its many evolutions, truly. Even with my expanded purview across multiple different categories, beauty has sort of been my bread and butter just for forever. How do you think it has evolved in the time that you've been in the industry? I think conversations around what it means to different people has really changed. When I first entered the sphere, I was in magazines, and a lot of magazines where it was service journalism, which is great,

but it also had a different point of view, which was everyone should look a certain way. Here's how to tame frizz. Here's how to like annihilate your pimple. And here's, it's all of these different words and terminology. I think when I started to move into the digital sphere, it became a lot more about accepting who you are and what you look like and what you love about beauty. There's a playful element to it, but there's also a way to use it as a form of self-care, of self-expression, and I think our conversations around that have changed. So less beauty. Obviously, there's been a lot of innovation in the space, but even beyond that, how people

are talking about beauty has completely changed. So how do you define beauty? Like, what is beauty to you? Yeah. I think beauty to me is the central focus that touches everything else in my life. I think I love beauty for my skincare routine at the end of the night. It's a way to unwind. But it's also something that I do secondhand.

It's like something if I'm going to an event, I love to play with a cat eye because I'm feeling sexy. It's just a way to incorporate it into everything else that I do. So it's not, it's not, beauty is not like me. I am not beauty. I don't think, even though I report on it all the time, it's not like a defining factor. It's just more so one piece of the larger pie. I think we are multi-dimensional humans. And a lot of times people try to define themselves by, oh, I love fashion.

Therefore, fashion is my personality. I love beauty. Beauty is my personality. I love that beauty can sit at the intersection of everything else that I love and care about. And I also just, it's just fun. You know? And we're just sitting here and we're talking about Botox. And I just love those conversations because it's such a, it's such a unifier.

Yes. It brings people together. It really is. It really is. It really is. It really is. Yeah. And I love this idea of beauty as self-care.

Yeah. Because to your point, like, I love my skincare routine at the end. of the day. That is very calming to me. It's when I'm just present and I'm not doing anything else and it's soothing. And, you know, I think that some people have a misconception, maybe about beauty or people who are interested in beauty are just vain, you know, like hopefully we're moving beyond that. Totally. But I love, I love what you said about it being at the intersection of so many other things. And I love this idea that it's self-care because, you know, really like if you're taking care of yourself, which I think beauty is, however that looks like for you, that's going to make you feel good.

Exactly. And when I'm taking care of myself and I feel good about myself, I'm better out there. Exactly. Exactly. You can even use it as a form of letting go of certain things. If you're doing a facial roller to relieve anxiety or you're going to the hair salon because you have an interview coming up and you just want to like feel really good. It has like an emotional connection. And it's so much more than superficial.

it's beyond skin deep for sure. I'm thinking of one. Have you seen the face ice bath when you dunk your face? I have. And I mean, I've had a DBT therapist on here talking about how that's such an effective thing to do for panic and anxiety because it activates your diver's reflex. So that's a two for one. A two for a panic attack and your face can be nice and depuffed.

Exactly. It's the anti-inflammatory response all across everything. Exactly. I love that. Yeah. What are some of your beauty non-negotiables? Beauty non-negotiables. I always wash my face at night. I feel like if I don't, I just feel like a different person in the morning. So I always, always do that. I swear by, speaking of dunking your head in a, in a, like, ice bath. I always do a cold rinse at the end of my shower for, you know, sealing the cuticle, keeping things shiny. That really works. It 100% works. I'm doing it after this. It 100% works. It doesn't always feel pleasant. Yeah. And for a little bit. I mean, let's just be completely real. It's not going to help your frizz on a day like today when it's 91 degrees and it's really humid and gross. But it will help and keep everything intact for just a little bit longer than it normally would. And I also believe in just not doing things for trends sake and just doing what you like. There's a lot of instances. where people will be like, do you want to try this because it's trending? And it's like, that doesn't feel like me. And I'm not going to do that. Yeah, I was going to ask you,

what are some of the craziest things that you have tried for work? So it sounds like you have the authority to say no now. But in your career, have there been things that you have tried that you wouldn't normally try? There is, well, there are a lot. I should preface that. There are a lot. And we can circle back and we can continue talking about it too. But there was one that I thought was really wild. worked. So it was just a regular wax appointment for a Brazilian wax, but they incorporated a lot of holistic wellness elements to it. So it was like a Reiki ritual. And I was like holding on to a stone. And then there was some like, you know, tapping motions to activate different chakras. And it literally did not hurt when she did the wax. Yes. Whoa. But I was like, what? Waxing always always

hurts. And it did not hurt. Like at all. At all. That's wild. Wild. Interesting. Was that here? It was in New York, but it was years ago. I don't even know if it exists anymore. I'm going to find out, though. I'll find out and let you know because it was one of the more surprising things that I was like, damn. And then do you have to write about that? I wrote about it. I did. I was at Refinery 29 at the time. And so I wrote about that. It is kind of fun getting to try some of the weird and wacky different treatments. I have a writer on my team who just did a Hannibal Lecter facial where you actually use a mask that look. I mean, it's very creepy. Meanwhile, she was like, it doesn't feel any different, but it just looks wild.

And it's kind of interesting just to hear something like that. And it's your job to try it. And she wrote about it. And it's just. What does a Hannibal Lecter mask entail? We need to know. It's wild. So it's all of the things you would regularly get from a facial. But at the end, you know, after you've steamed and you've done the extractions and all that good stuff. They put you in a cage. They put you in a, it's like a weighted blanket, but for your face. And then it's activated so it's plugged in. And it has, you know, it sounds so wild. But it's basically just energy, microcurrent energy that's going into. into the skin for a glowier effect. The things we do for a glowing skin. Yeah. Do you feel like we're getting a little gimmicky with the names? Totally. 100%. Okay. Okay. I just wanted to gauge where we're at

with that. Half of the time it's the same exact thing. Yeah. With a different name. I think a lot of the trends, you know, quiet luxury and except just all of the other things. It's even the Y2K boost that just, you know, resurgence. It's, it's, it's just, you know, it's, seeing a lot of similar trends, but just repackaged and reformulated. I'm like, I was here the first time. Like, this is, I guess we're at that age. I don't know how old you are, but I'm like, things, everything comes back around. Truly.

Yeah. I remember my parents saying that when I was in my like 70s phase when I was in middle school. And they were like, just you wait. Like nothing is really original. Yeah. I had an 80s phase where I was wearing a lot of, you know, like, if I was like pastel eyeliner, underliner, and just lots of colors and really bright blush back when I was

in high school and middle school. And to see it come back, you're just like, ah, I've been there. But I won't do it this time because it didn't work for me that first time. Yeah. I'm loving the 90s kind of vibe around everything, though. I hope that that one sticks around for a little bit. Yeah. Yeah. Kind of ledging. Easy. Yeah. I agree. I feel like, I mean, I understand, I think, where some of these names come from because of the virality or like the potential to go viral, you know, when it's like latte makeup, strawberry makeup, what is it, boyfriend blush now. Now I saw there's rich girl brunette. It's the hair color. Rich girl brunette, but there's also rich girl blonde, which is essentially just shiny hair. Blonde that is shiny. I know. I saw the, I saw the rich girl

brunette and I was like, it just lets brunette. I mean, they're saying like the tone. And then what's the other one? Liquid. I just saw that one. Liquid. Yeah. Liquid hair. What is liquid hair? It's the same. It's just shiny hair. Shiny hair. Got it. It's totally the name. The namification of all of the things. Yeah. Because it's all, I mean, boyfriend is just blush is just blush. Blush. Just a little lower, right? Yeah. What is it? Like the boyfriend after he plays rugby? Like, yeah. This is the British boyfriend, I guess. Which could be confused for sun-kissed flush for her. And strawberry blush. It's hard to keep up. It is hard to keep up. And that's why I feel like it's important to just do you. Just do blush however you want to do blush. Yeah.

And maybe try a different one the next day. And if you don't like it, don't do it ever again. I have been traveling a lot this summer. I am traveling right now. And sometimes keeping up with a wellness routine when I'm traveling can be a little bit difficult, which is why I love the Allo Moves app. It is the best health and wellness app that helps me to keep up my wellness routine wherever I am. So they have so much on this app when it comes to workouts. They have everything from beginner to advanced. They have the flow or the class that

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start bundling with 30% off your first order. Don't forget, that's hellobello.com slash blonde. A lot of people think that when it comes to hydration, it's all about drinking water. And this is not the full picture. Hydration is not just about drinking water. Being optimally hydrated is about optimizing your body's fluid ratios. So this fluid balance depends on many factors, including the intake and excretion of electrolytes. So electrolytes are, charged minerals that conduct electricity to power your nervous system. They also regulate hydration status by balancing fluids inside and outside of your cells. I learned about this years ago from my nutritionist who encouraged me to put salt in my water to help balance the fluid in my body.

I was dealing with a lot of water retention. It seemed counterintuitive and it was also difficult for me to get past the taste, which is why I love Element. So Element has a science-backed electrolyte ratio, which is 1,000 milligrams of sodium, 200 milligrams of potassium, and 60 milligrams of magnesium. And it has no sugar. And it comes in so many great flavors. My favorites are orange. I love citrus. I love the watermelon. I love the grapefruit. They also have raspberry. They have chocolate salt, which I know a lot of people who love putting that in their coffee. They're all so good and they make drinking water actually very enjoyable. So with electrolytes, you can maintain steady energy. They can help to improve cognitive function, have fewer headaches, experience

fewer muscle cramps, perform better for longer. They can help to support fasting. They can improve or maintain healthy blood pressure, regulate digestion. Of course, they help to keep your skin hydrated, get better sleep. There are so many benefits of incorporating electrolytes into your routine and really hydrating your body in an optimal way. So you guys can try Element and get your free element sample pack with any purchase at drink element.com slash blonde. And you can also try the new element sparkling, which is a bold 16 ounce can of sparkling electrolyte water. Again, that's drink element.com slash blonde, d r-r-i-l-m-t-t.com slash blonde. Yeah, I want to get to some of your ride or die products, but what are some products you were talking about this before we started

recording that you are not afraid to admit that you still use? Yes. This was fun for me. This was a story on PS that it was by our shop team. It's so fun to read. So I highly recommend checking it out. We can link it too. Thank you. On the products that were not embarrassed to admit that we use because there are so many.

I think mine in there I had lactate for all the lactose intolerant. Maybe girls out there and boys. All of us. Yeah, yeah. There was boob tape in there. There's for me, I think it was. the realization that I have, I have dark hair, so I have upper lip hair. And I used to, like, hide it from my now fiance. I'd be like, oh, don't, you know, don't come in here. I would just lock myself away

and just microblade and shave my face and whatever. Until one time she came in and I got so scared that I, like, snipped, you know, I snipped some of my eyebrow. And I was like, enough. I'm just going to embrace the fact that I shave my mustache. And this is the microblading tool that I love. And, you know, I also love the Sally Hansen bleach when the microblading just, you don't feel like doing it. Those are mine. What are yours? Products that I'm not embarrassed to admit.

I mean, I'm such an open book. I think when it comes to all of this, I don't know that there's anything really like. Embarrassing. Embarrassing. Yeah. I mean, we were talking about the boob situation, but I posted that on my Instagram about the Commando Top Hats, which are my new... Secrets. Secrets is out. Because I feel like everybody needs this at some point.

Agreed. I think the top hats, which are like stick on, like to cover your nipples only. It's not like a cup where there's any kind of support. Just to stick on neutral. Sticky. Or where it's at. It's not a, not a perfect science because then I had these like white circles. That's the problem. And I was going to dinner with my boyfriend and his brother and his friends. And I was like, well, it's dark in there. And so I was like, whatever, you won't notice. And I get there and they're like, oh, we're on the rooftop. And it was like still light out. And I was like, okay. Just letting you know, I have a little bit of a wardrobe situation going on here. If I was in Europe, I would just go nips out, like would not care. Why do we care so much about our nipples being out? Even in New York, I wouldn't care. Yeah. I don't know why in L.A. Probably because the brother was there. Yeah, that's true. That's true. But another one that I wanted to ask you was, are there any products that have

been tried and true for you for a long time. Like, I know for myself, I got into kind of beauty, I guess, when I was in like middle school, high school. And at the time, it was like the st. knife scrub and the cleaning clear and Jurgens. And I'm like, Jurgens, I still. Jurgens can ride for it. Yeah. Yeah. Apps to fucking Lutley. Like Jurgens is still, I think, one of the best products out there. And it's universal. My mom loves Jurgens. I love Jurgens. Yeah. So good. Trigen, sponsor this. Yes, please. I love the tan. I'm like, there's so many tanning products. So many. I'm just like, it's so good for a gradual one. I'm trying to think what other products we used back then. There was like an astringent. We were really into a stringent. Yeah, we wanted to like suck all of the things out of everything. Biori strips. Yeah. I don't know. Are there any products that you used like back in the day that you still like?

I still love the Cover Girl Lash Blast. I personally believe you can find really, really good mascara at the drugstore. I don't think you need to spend a lot of money on a mascara. You can. There's great mascara out there at Sephora at Ulta. You can get it at the department stores. But you really, you don't need to. Like L'Oreal Lash Paradise, I think it's $10.

It's so good. cover girl. Yeah, the cover girl clean. I can't remember exactly what it's called in the blue tube. Yeah. The dark brown. Best mascara I've ever used. Very good.

For me. Because I don't like a thick mascara that makes it look. You do have natural lashes. Yes. I'm like pile it on, baby. I just tint my lashes usually. I'll tint my lashes and my brows every couple weeks and I don't like to put any makeup on them.

And it's been a couple weeks of their light. But I feel like for me, maybe because I'm blonde, like if I do mascara, Like, I just start to look really done. So I like to keep it really natural. The 90s vibe. Yes. And that cover girl, last, clean. I think that's what it's called.

Yeah. Because I worked with them years ago. And that was how I found it. I probably wouldn't have bought it otherwise. And I was like, this is amazing. Right? I mean, you can find really good mascara at the drugstore. Yeah.

Another product that I am obsessed with. And despite it coming out so long ago, and it was when I first was a little beauty, baby and I just took what I could get whenever it was available is the It Cosmetics CC cream the OG. People love that. It is so good. I'm wearing it today. I wear it all the time. I'll test other foundations, skin tints, all of the other products that hit, but I always go back to it. Always. I've never tried it because I bought it once and I bought it in the wrong shade. And so it just, but I know so many people who are in the industry who aren't other influence. influencers and they're like, it is the best. It's, it neutralizes redness in a way that I don't think,

because there's kind of like a, I don't know how to explain it. It's like a gray undertone, which you're sort of like, why would I want a gray undertone in my makeup? But it just covers everything. And it's so good. How do you apply it with your fingers, with a sponge? I'm just like a hand. Really? Keep it easy. And then I use the beauty blender for a concealer. Okay. Yeah, your skin looks amazing. That's very kind. Thank you. Looks really good. Okay.

So I've been going through some of your articles. There are a few that I would love to talk about here that I think would be helpful for the listeners. One was sweat-free hacks that you've never heard of. Yeah. It's 92 degrees today in New York City. It is hot A-F. So what are the hacks? Yeah.

Okay. So first of all, we're like at the time when, do you have? Deodorant is just, you can, you should wear deodorant and it can help you the antiperspiram. But, like, sometimes you just need to take measures. Botox, speaking of Botox, can really help. People put it in their edges. They do like the palms of their hands, their underarms. And it just freeze, obviously it freezes the gland. And so you don't sweat as much. If that's a more dramatic measure, but it works. Yeah, I know people that do it, that love it.

And for three months, you don't have to worry about it, which is summer period. That's an option. Switching, even something as simple as switching the order that you apply your makeup. So maybe you'll do your foundation first and, you know, but applying powder first and then applying the rest like your concealer or whatever onto a. So when your skin is really dewy, it obviously might slip any product that you put over it. might slip. So by making it a little bit more matte with like a little bit of powder first, even though you would think to use it last as a setting, you know, a setting mechanism, it can really help cling, keep everything, you know, from budging. Yeah. That makes sense. Yeah. That math is mathing. The math is mathing. I know it's so weird. And I, you know, when you're doing it, you're like, this is why am I? But it works. Did you do that? Because your face looks very. I did not.

Okay. I did take a car here, so that's the key. I'm like, why am I? My face is melting. No, you see, but the thing is the dewy look. People love the dewy look. Yeah. I always...

I'm that baby. Are you? Oh, yeah. I always say I want my face to look wet. It's beautiful. Thank you. I took it to an extreme, I think, recently, because I discovered the Westman-Itelier.

Oh. Highlighter. Have you tried that? I have not tried it. I mean... But it's a big hit. People love it. it's pretty amazing, but I used it for the first time last week before I recorded an episode.

I'm like, I'll just put a little like here and here. And then I got the video back and I'm like, oh, wait, I think I saw that video. And you were like, I went in on the highlighter. Yeah. And it was like, I really went for it. Yeah. Didn't really get the placement. I was like, I just, I like to look Dewey. Like put it everywhere. And I was like, yeah, I really went for like disco ball. It catches the light. Yeah. And that's a beautiful thing. Yes. I'm trying to distract from all the Botox that's worn off on my face. That's my strategy. Okay, we kind of talked to hair color trends. What are some trends, though, if you have any that are, like, coming down the pipeline

with hair color? I mean, I know that for a long time, people were doing, like, the bobs and brunette, and now it seems like blonde kind of came back in. But, of course, there's the rich girl brunette. And we already preface this by saying, like, do you? Do you? That's the number one. But number two, if you're looking for, I think, and just to the point of it being a very

90s vibe. I think there's a lot of like melting effect where everything is just really natural looking. What you call it can be a number of things, but there's the root melt where people are getting hair color starting a little bit further, maybe two inches from the root. So it looks a little bit more natural. It's intentionally grown out. You know, it's like the new baliage is sort of that melted root. That's really cool and pretty. Yeah. Even like, chunky highlights, which when I did chunky highlights in seventh grade, I begged my mom to let me stay home from school because I was like, what did I do? But people make it cool. Even like the strategically placed chunky highlight just in the frame, yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I don't know if I could

do that myself. I don't think I could. I don't dye my hair actually. You don't? No. Lucky. Is it like, I'm just so lazy. I'm like, nah. No. Well, I went yesterday at eight o'clock in the morning and I was like, your hair looks great. I was like, let's go in and out. I got to be done at 10, 10.30. I was there till three. I love that.

So, it's a dedication. Dedication. And I was like, normally I do my hair in L.A. with my girl there, but there's someone here that I really love for blonde. And in L.A., we do what we coined weedy Rudy. So I like to be weedy, blonde, and really rudy. So I don't like highlights up to my part. I like them about an inch and a half down.

So we do a root gloss and we have this whole thing that we've been doing for years. And for whatever reason, yesterday, the root was not taking. Like, we put the root cloths on, took it off. It was still like blonde as blonde could be on top. And we were like, oh my God, put it back on. It was a whole thing. A whole process. Yes. Wait, what does that again? Weedy, Rudy. We call it. Wee Rudy. We call it. Wee Rudy. That's incredible. You need to coin that. Yeah. I joke that it's like that I trademarked it, which I didn't. But so many people would ask me, like, what do you ask for when you get your blonde? And I'm like, weedy Rudy, baby. I want it to be the color of wheat. Like, I love a beige blonde. I. I love a beige blonde. I. I. I I don't like ashy. I don't like really yellow. I do some like golden and then just like a lot of root. Because I like it to look lived in. Like all of my beauty things are to look low maintenance. Yeah. It's the trend of low maintenance or high maintenance to be low maintenance. Where you do all of the, you get the microblading, you get the eyelash extensions, the tints, the high tints. And it's all so that you can just wake up and be like, thank you. I'm done. Exactly. Bye. Yeah. It's like I will.

go in wherever I need to go every few weeks or a few months or whatever and do the thing. And then I don't have to deal with it for however long. I'm in full support of the high maintenance to low maintenance. I feel like a lot of us are like kind of like the pendulum is swinging a little bit, right? Where we were doing the most. And now it's like we're trying to do the least, right? Or like, or do maybe the medium so that then we can do the least, right? Exactly. Exactly. I do feel like in beauty, there's always going to be the pendulum swing. So even if we're thinking back to the Kardashians' full face beat, that was such a moment and a thing in 2015, 2016, 2017, when everybody wanted a perfectly sculpted, contoured face. And then they're like, oh, my God,

that takes a really long time to do. And I'm really tired. So it moves over to the other side where now they want easy and simple, just like everything, we'll probably go back to the extreme and then we'll probably go back to where we're at. Right now, I agree. We're sort of in this, like, low-key vibe. Yeah. I feel like that happens in everything. I feel like it happens in politics. I feel like it happens in beauty. I feel like it happens in wellness. It really is the through line through everything. It's like, I don't know why it's so hard to just find like a middle ground. It's like extremes. It's just going from one to the other. And then it's which is back. It would just be so much easier if we all just sort of lived in the middle. Lived in the middle. Yeah. Exactly. What are some trends that you have seen? And I have a list here

if you'd like me to refresh your memory. But like, especially when it comes to TikTok. I know there's so many viral hacks, viral trends, treatments. What is like worth it? What is something that maybe you found there that you really like? What's something that's like a skip or like an absolutely never? Okay, and absolutely never, and you should always skip, is the teeth filing. Have you seen this? No. People are filing their teeth because they don't like the ridges at the end. And it is a treatment that you can get if you go to a cosmetic dentist.

And obviously they have tools, real tools to help you. But people are doing it at home, and it's like damaging the enamel, like not good. So that's like a definite skip. first of all, the little ridges at the bottom of your teeth are natural. They help you eat, whatever. But besides that. And I was going to say, like, I've had multiple sets of veneers until I got a good set, and you want that.

You want the character of the tooth. That's exactly. I just did a story on the ears. And that's exactly what the dentist said. You're paying, like in L.A., $4,500 a tooth, and those teeth are having ridges. And they're going to have a little bit of discoloration because that's what a natural tooth looks like. Yeah. You don't want fake.

white and like forget about it if you like accidentally sneeze or something and you're just like filing in a totally different direction. Oh God. It's just, you know, leave it to their professionals. I never saw that one. Yeah, that's that's a definite skip. There's one that someone on my team tried and it inspired me to try it and it really does work and it's so strange, but using a broccoli to apply freckles, you basically put it in and it works. But, like, it works. But, like, it's. But, like, like in a really natural and cute way, you just use it with bronze or whatever. Like you can use it literally with anything. And you just like with the little broccoli and it works. If you have a broccoli, I don't always, I had to go buy a broccoli. Not a big like broccoli

man in general. But that one is like harmless. It's not going to hurt you to try. I almost feel like you should take the TikTok trends with a grain of salt. And if it requires doing more, then you would naturally think to do, probably better to just wait or research it or, you know, don't just go straight and do it. But if it's something simple and harmless, like a makeup hack, there's so many weird ones. Honestly, if you want to try the boyfriend blush, do it. Why not? If you're interested in that, it's not hurting anything. But as soon as it starts to get to, like, dyeing your hair at home in a certain way, filing your teeth, it's just, just don't do it. Just don't do it.

The broccoli one is actually good. And I know that people are doing it with self-tanner too, right? So you do it at night before bed and then you wake up and you have freckles. But it's kind of funny to me because that is maybe a good reason to not do something for a trend or don't do something permanent because I know so many people like laser off all of their freckles because they don't like them. Well, now the same people might be putting broccoli on their face. I know. I know. Freckles back.

I mean, whatever you want to do. like if you don't want your freckles, go ahead, laser them, do whatever you need to do. But it's just funny. Like, I think that some of these trends, like the tooth thing, that's permanent. Like, you can't get those ridges back unless you have somebody make a veneer for you. And that costs four to $5,000 a tooth. Yeah. Everybody, in case you're not aware, I'm sure my audience would not go down that road. But in case there's anybody like younger listening who doesn't want ridges on their teeth, you know, it's just like, you need to play the tape through. Yeah. Just double, just, you know, think, think about that one. Yeah, a little bit. Yeah. I feel like I know my listeners and I know that a lot of you guys can spot a too good to be true health hack from a mile away. I know that you can read labels like it's your job. And if this is you, congratulations. You are a healthy skeptic. So ritual knows that every good skeptic deserves a multivitamin that exceeds your standards. And they're clinically backed essential for women 18 plus multivitamins.

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I know this is not the conventional way of making matcha, but it's what I love. I add a tiny bit of maple syrup or honey sometimes, blend it, put it in the fridge, and the next morning it is this cold, creamy, delicious drink that I love so much. And when it comes to milk, having a good plant-based milk is essential for the taste and the consistency of this macha that I love making. So I love Malk. It's a premium plant-based milk made with simple, high-quality ingredients. It is so delicious without any fillers, gums, seed oils, artificial flavors, or other additives, commonly found in plant-based milks. I think a lot of people would be shocked if they looked at the ingredients in a lot of these plant-based milks. There's no need to add things like seed oils, artificial flavors, and the like.

And now they also have malc creamers. You guys, these are amazing. It's a clean and creamy addition to your morning routine. So milk creamers are dairy-free. And again, they're made without any of those gums, oils, artificial whiteners, or other not so natural flavors. They are just made with clean, organic ingredients, and sweetened with low glycemic coconut sugar. So sometimes I like to froth a little bit of this and add it to the top of my machas. So it's kind of like this cold foam, really delicious drink, and the creamer makes such a good addition.

They have vanilla almond, they have caramel almond, they have lightly sweetened oat. They're all so good. And you can now find Malk creamers at Sprouts, Airwain, and Select Whole Foods. You can also use Malk's store locator to find Malk Creamers at a store near you. What are some of your, I would say, best beauty hacks and like your must-have beauty products? Okay. Hacks, I do the cold rinse always. I don't really know if it's a, well, I guess lip balm for,

little flyways these days. I have gray hairs, which I've learned that gray hair is different texture. It's more coarse. So she doesn't like to lay. So using lip balm as like a little, now they make sticks. Brands are making sticks. R&Co has one. That's really good. I think Tresme has one too. TG. Yeah, exactly. So I feel like more brands are hopping on that bandwagon, but it's essentially just lip wax. Yeah, exactly. It's just a little. little sealant to get in there. What is your favorite hack? Lately, since I'm on this like no Botox journey, which has been a little bit of a mind fuck, just having gotten it for 10 years, I'd never saw my face move. And when it started wearing off, it was like panic. And then I got to a point where I was

like, oh, I actually like that I can emote. Yeah. And people know what I'm feeling. You know, we do have like mirror neurons. And I had so many friends and just people in my life. And I was like, be like, you know, it's actually really nice to like see your face move and like know what you're thinking. Like I look back on videos from a year ago and like I could only do like the eyes, you know, like widen my eyes, but like there's no expression happening. And if I smile like nothing. Yeah. And I think that what happens is you get into this cycle, especially in L.A. Like the aesthetic there is a little different from the aesthetic in New York. But you get into this cycle when you're getting Botox every three to four months. Then you see.

see a line come up and you're like, oh, got to go get more Botox. And I just never gave myself a chance to like see my face moving a little bit. So then there was a time about six months after getting my Botox where I was like, okay, this is like not bad. And now we're about 10 months out. And I'm like, okay, now it's getting like, your skin looks great. Thank you. It's mainly just like around my eyes. So I've been doing guasha, which like I never really bought into until now, like a lot of face massage, guasha. I tried cosmetic acupuncture, which I liked, but I think you have to be consistent with it. But the facial massage, like from a professional, life-changing. Just deep puffs, gets you all. I bought the suction. So like the facial cupping I'll do, and I think it just brings

some blood to the surface. I just bought some Japanese face tape from Natural Face Bible. People swear by it. People do swear by it. You'll have to let me know. Yes. Because up until this point, I tried frownies. No offense, frownies. Love what you're doing. But I couldn't get into like the plastering feeling of. You can tell it's on. Yes. For sure. It's hard. It's hard to get off. I felt like I was sacrificing my skincare for and I don't really have, I don't have lines at rest. It's really just like when I move. But face tape is a little bit different. But I was like there's nothing out there really that I found that did both that had skincare and also was like smoothing. Yeah. So I might. might be making my own. So my, I had a boss once. I love her. She's amazing and just so real. And I remember

she told me one time that her boss, also in beauty, trained her face, like trained herself to smile without emoting. And I never noticed that she did that. But she hadn't gotten, she was 40 at this point. She hadn't gotten Botox yet at that stage. And she was just like, I'll be like, fine and like didn't fully and I'm and I was like that's wild but it worked right she had no resting fine lines or wrinkles and it was all because she just trained herself focused on when she was laughing to like laugh without crick meanwhile I'm like yeah me too yeah I'm just like big you know I don't know I'm excited and I just my I only get Botox in my forehead because I'm an eyebrow razor Big eyebrow razor.

Okay. I thought that I just was not like a very emotive person. And now I'm kind of like, well, you couldn't, Ariel. That's because since you were 28 years old, you froze your face. But I still, I'm not much with my forehead. Yeah. I'm not much of an eyebrow razor. Right.

I'm not a furrower, so I don't have any 11s. Like the furrow is not my problem. I don't furrow either. Yeah. Some people, like, we're all different. It's really like I smile. big and I laugh really big. I don't think you should change that. That's a beautiful thing. I'm doing CO2 around my eyes. I did that last year and I had Botox at the time, but it really can help that

area. And it's not even so much the movement. I just don't want to get like lines. So it's just one of those things that I can do like once a year. But those are kind of, I don't know if those are hacks, but those are just like the things that I'm doing. Facial massage? That's a hack. Yeah. For sure. I think you just have to be consistent. Like, I've been doing guasha every morning and I can totally notice a difference because I see my face on video constantly. So I can see the Botox wear off if I look. And then I can see like when I'm consistent with certain things. I'm like, oh yeah, I do see a big difference. Like, I might not see it in the mirror day today. Exactly. But if I look at a week later and you see the before and afters, sometimes it's really hard to feel motivated to continue to do these little tweaks

in your routine because you don't really get a big payoff in the same way, but at the end of the day, it does help. Yeah. Yeah. Even if it's small and. And it's self-care. You know, it's like something that I've incorporated to circle back to that. Yeah.

Where it's like in the morning. At night I have my skincare. In the morning I have my skincare too. But like I do this massage and I'm present and I'm not scrolling or working or emailing. And it's like these little micro moments in my day where like, yes, it's a beauty. purpose thing, I guess, but like it's also self-care. It's multifunctional. You can totally do a beauty, tweak, routine, hack, but it can also be for another reason, giving yourself a moment in the day to focus on yourself and, you know, put your phone away and just do something

that makes you feel good. Yeah, I feel like there's so much judgment nowadays. And it's always from women towards other women. I never get judgment online from the men. about what I do or don't do, which is kind of sad. But I think that like everyone should just do what's best for them, whatever that looks like if you want to go F your face up with Botox. Like that's fine. Like we have choices. We do have choices. So the people that are like, what about aging gracefully? Like that can be aging gracefully. You know, like who is, who decides what that means? I also think people who don't do anything, there's also the comments of, well, she's not aging well. It's very much so people want the perfect blend of what they deem societally acceptable of how you're supposed to age.

And I just don't think that's fair. Somebody pointed out because I was talking about this on another podcast episode recently, and someone commented on my video and they had this really great example. which was in the Sex and the City reboot, Charlotte and Carrie. So Sarah Jessica Parker didn't look like she had done anything to her face at that time in the first season. I don't know if that's changed, but she was very natural. And then there were a lot of comments on. Charlotte, I can't remember.

Kristen Davis. Kristen Davis, yeah. She maybe had some Botox fillers, maybe surgery. I don't know what was going on there. But she had done some stuff to maintain. and she got torn apart and Sarah Jessica Parker got blasted. Isn't it wild? I'm telling you, everyone has these, that's the perfect example where they're like, she didn't do anything. Yeah. Therefore, she's not aging well. Yeah. Versus, I can't believe she did that. Yeah. She doesn't.

She doesn't look good. Yeah. And it's just like, who the fuck cares? Yeah. And who wins? Nobody wins. Nobody wins. And then if there is somebody who has good work done, which they're plenty of celebrities who do. Yes. If someone says, oh, so-and-so is looking beautiful on their red carpet, it's like, well, she had so much help. And it's like, okay. I mean, this is maybe expecting too much out of, like, the public, you know, not to have

opinions. But it's just like, I feel like women are in kind of a hard position where it's just you're damned if you do, damned if you don't. And so, therefore, do you? Do you? And bottom line. Yeah. And encourage people to just,

spread kindness. I know it's so difficult where everyone has their positions and they can have those opinions on what I do with my face. And I remember when I was at refinery, I did a lot of videos that would go on YouTube or Snapchat and people would just be like, I don't like her face. And it's just like, well, it is my face. And you know, you don't have to like it. But I would never engage and it would just be like you just push out the goodness. And you're like, I remember that for a hot second being like, oh, I don't want to have my video out there and people say they don't like my face. But then it's like, truly who cares? I could not point that person out in a lineup. Exactly. Yeah. It's like if you wouldn't take, what is the saying? If you wouldn't take advice from

them, don't take their criticism or something like that. That's really, that's a good one. Yeah, because I get it all the time and I was really vocal for a long time about like the beauty procedures, surgeries that I did, everything. And then I realized that I was getting like boxed in to being like the surgery girl where like that's all people wanted to talk about if they interviewed me or something. And I was like, you know, like there's so many other things. And that was like eight years ago. But I think because I talked about it, people felt entitled to give me their opinion all the time on what I have. and haven't done and how they feel about it. Still to this day, I get it daily. And sometimes people will be like, oh, well, this looks terrible. And I'm like, well, that I didn't do anything. That's like just my face and my anatomy, you know? It's like, it's just crazy the way that people engage with others online.

Yeah, it definitely, it reminds me of the Kylie Jenner. Did you see the episode where she just came out and was like, you know, everyone's talking about my filler and my face and what? was essentially talking about the, it's not body shaming, face shaming, just the shaming of it all, of people just bringing people down, women down. Yeah. Yeah. And I think with them, there's the argument that like they deserve it because look at what's happened to the beauty standards. They're so unrealistic because of this image that they have been pushing. But also, when you're that scrutinized, it doesn't. You might do that too. And also knowing that people,

have a microscope on these women. I mean, Kim was like I would have bird poop on my face if it would make me look younger. And I don't think that that's a normal way of thinking. And I just think you would, not that there's anything wrong, if people put bird poop on their face for the name of skin care, it's more so the constant pressure to look a certain way. I think to your point of comments, a lot of scrutiny in one way or the other, it forces you to think about these things that maybe you wouldn't have thought about before. Which is a shame. Yeah. And seeing yourself. I mean, I would imagine that they became more cognizant about how they look because they see themselves all the time. Like I talked about this, I think on another episode, sorry if I'm repeating

myself, listeners. But I remember when Instagram stories started and probably around the time Snapchat started. I'd never seen my face. no moving like that I mean yeah we saw pictures of ourselves we never videoed ourselves that was a a jarring point for me because I was like oh like my brows are really like my eyes are really hooded and I look sad all the time and I'm not sad like what is that about yeah that was like why I got a brow lift you know had I not had Instagram stories like maybe I would never have noticed I don't know now I'm on video all the time but like that's on such a microscopic level totally so to be on that level

level, to have the scrutiny. All the eyes on you. Yes. Like, I can see how, and it's a slippery slope. You do one thing. You're happy. You do another thing. You're happy with that. You do another thing. You realize how easy it can be. And then you're under this microscope. And I'm not defending them either way. But I just feel like, yes, I think that beauty standards have become very unrealistic. And I think that they've kind of been leading the charge on that a little bit. And I also think that they're in an impossible position. Both can exist. Both truths can exist for sure. Yeah. I actually, there was a dermatologist who I just saw their TikTok and I loved the message in it. Essentially, she was saying a lot of people are coming to her. Patients are coming to her with this. They're like,

I'm looking at myself in videos and I don't like the way that I'm photographing. I don't look how I want to look in a picture. And she was saying she wants to encourage people to think of it like a sunset where you're standing there and you're like, oh my God, this is the most beautiful sunset. You get out your phone, you take a photo and you're like, that photo sucks. That does not reflect this beautiful sunset. And she was saying that because you don't see yourself as often, but people who are looking at you, I'm sitting across from you and I don't see your wrinkles. I don't see your wrinkles at all. So we're hyper fixating on minute details of ourselves just because we're looking at ourselves differently than we ever would before. But to other people who are just sitting in front of you,

they don't see that. Totally. And I've been noticing that recently where I'll take a selfie with a friend or like my boyfriend who I'm here with. And even last night we were taking pictures and I was like, she doesn't look like that in real life. Like and I, and we can give other people. people so much grace and it's so easy to see with other people, but with ourselves, we're like so critical, like, oh, what's up with my eye? Right, right. So, yeah, I totally agree with that. I love that. Okay, we're about out of time, but let's do a quick smash and pass. Love it. Just because I love doing this. Okay. Double cleansing. Pass. I mean, sorry, smash. Smash if you Like it. I was like, smash. No, definitely smash. Draw on freckles. I'll say smash if you

care and want to. Samin sperm facials. Pass. Sorry, Jennifer Anniston. Slugging. Slugging. Smash only if you have dry skin. Boyfriend blush. Smash. Glass skin. Glaskin is a pass for me, but it's a smash for you. And I love the look of it on others. Retinol. Absolutely smash times 100. If you do one thing for your skin, have it be retinol. Are we talking prescription tritanoin or any? I think depends on where you're at, how, you know, what you are looking for, what you need. You can do over the counter 1.5%, 2%. Doesn't matter. If you, if you, want to go the derm route, you can, but there's effective retinol over the counter for sure.

Botox. Smash. So jealous. Have you seen the viral collagen, Korean skincare mask that everyone's doing? I have not. Oh, I bought it, but I haven't used it yet. Okay, so we'll circle back. Yes, we'll have to report back. I'll have to go and search and see it. Yeah, it's, I can't remember the name of the brand, but I'll try to find it and link it here. Perfect. It's basically this mask that you put on. and it's kind of got this like gelatinous kind of texture and people will put it on and it's opaque. And then when it turns clear, they take it off and people are sleeping in it. And when they take it off, their skin really does look like glass. But some people are saying like, yeah, because it leaves a film on.

But then when you wash it, it rinses off. But I don't know. People swear by it. I mean, I do feel like there are lots of, I will say, this is going to be a controversial opinion. Masks, sheet masks specifically, but masks in general, pass. Wow. I know.

Okay. I just don't feel like it really does enough. It's better to do an effective serum with AHAs if you're looking for something specific. But like a mask, I don't know, especially a sheet mask. Okay. Interesting. I'm thinking of this TikTok video that I saw with this guy. He's a dermatologist, I think, and he used the mask.

and he was on a plane. And he had a manual, like a moisture reader on his skin. Interesting. And it increased by like 47%. But it's also like, okay, but would a regular moisturizer do that too? 100%. I just got to say yes. Yeah.

Okay. Okay, let's see. Preventative aging, Botox fillers among 20-somethings. If you want to, I say yes. but I don't think it's needed until you have. Then again, I started Botox when I was 27, 27, yeah. So 28 for me, and I can say people are like, how do you not have lines on your skin? Like, because I don't have static lines.

I'm like, because I got Botox for the last 10 years. So there is something to it. Yep. All right. Amazing. Well, we're out of time. Thank you so much. That was so fun.

Thank you. where they can find you and read your articles and all of that. Yes, you can find me at pop sugar.com, but newly rebranded to PS. It's the best part of, it's the sign off, the best part of story, an email, all the good things. And you can find me on Instagram at Castanon K, C-A-S-T-A-N-O-N-K. Thank you for having me. Thank you. This was so fun. So fun. I love it. Thank you. Beauty Girl to Beauty Girl. Yes.

I hope you enjoyed that episode. And if you liked it, and if you liked the show in general, please take a second to rate, review, and subscribe. It goes a long way. And it's actually the best way to support the show. Also, if you want to see more about each episode, you can head over to The Blonde Files podcast on Instagram. You can go to Arialore.com. And I'm always posting about each episode over on my personal page at Arial Lori. Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services.

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