Well with Arielle Lorre - 76: Celeste Thomas, RN - Holistic Skincare, Acne Solutions + Skincare Q&A

Episode Date: September 23, 2020

In this episode I am talking to Celeste Thomas, registered nurse and holistic skincare expert, about all things skin and beauty! We discuss how to get to the root of acne and other skin conditions; how she combined her Western medicine background with Eastern principles to treat skin; how to eat to glow; why inner health is so important when it comes to skin; mistakes we all make when it coms to skincare; how to be confident despite skin issues and what we should all start doing for better skin. We also do a Q+A portion where she answers, among other things: how to get rid of blackheads; what ingredients to be wary of; how to diminish the appearance of pores; treatment for melasma and scarring and so much more!   www.functionofbeauty.com/BLONDE for 20% off your first order! www.blublox.com/BLONDE for 15% off your order plus free shipping! www.branchbasics.com with code BLONDEFILES for 15% off your starter kit!   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.

Auto-hue with Sunny Cars feels as if the children Not me's Not-Vosand. Actisvercare Verdwine. Vacantcy can chaotic But who'sorgalos

An Auto-Huurt Says, One No Stress. No eigener risk Noid, unverwashed Always Folletticter Costerte. So, So will auto-hue

Sondorger's under-Zorger's Go to your reisadviceur or SunnyCars. The following podcast is a dear Media production. Hey, welcome to the Blond Files podcast. I'm your host, Ariel Lori, 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 is so much information out there, so I'm here to help you navigate it all and live your best life. Thanks for listening. Let's get into it. Hi, everybody. Welcome to this show. Today's episode is so fun.

like total girl talk about all things, skin and beauty. I am talking to Celeste Thomas. She's a registered nurse and holistic skincare expert. She is the founder of the True Spoon, Eat to Glow, and the skin confident course. And she's just so cool and knowledgeable. We had so much fun chatting all things, beauty. And we cover everything from getting to the root of acne and other skin conditions. why inner health issues show up on our skin, what mistakes we are probably all making, what to start incorporating to achieve better skin, what foods are particularly beneficial. And then we also do a Q&A in the second half of the interview where she answers all of your burning questions like what to do for blackheads and enlarged pores, acne scarring.

She talks about the best budget-friendly products and dupes of expensive products. what ingredients to avoid and her ultimate holy grill products. So we cover everything. This is jam packed with information. And I think you guys are going to love it. So enjoy. All right. So welcome, Celeste. Thank you so much for coming on. Thank you so much for having me. And it's so wonderful to connect with your amazing audience. I feel very blessed. Well, we've been talking about doing this for, it feels like six months now, like probably this whole year, right? Because we're We were going to do it before quarantine happened and then everything got shut down and things got crazy. Then we were going to do it in person again and then things got shut down again.

So true, but we're doing it. We're doing it. And I was just telling Celeste, before we started recording that like I'm sitting on my childhood bedroom floor in my sweatpants. Like, totally rogue here, but making it happen. So I'm so excited to talk to you. I put a story up on Instagram last night saying that you were coming on and we got inundated with questions. So this is just such a popular topic. It seems like everybody has skin problems and nobody can get to the bottom of it. Yes. And the stress right now is not helping.

So I will have so many tips and answers later on. Oh, that's really good because I felt like when this whole thing started, at first my skin was like never better. It was insane. And I kind of attribute that to probably not going out as much and like exposing myself to like pollutants maybe. And then the stress, of course. Initially the stress was kind of reduced for me because I wasn't driving around and sitting in traffic and just the stress of day to day life, like the hustle, right? Right. And it was amazing.

And then as it kind of dragged on and then I like I started school and then my face just erupted. So many factors. So many factors. Yeah. Yeah. So why don't we start by just having you tell us about your own story and like how you went from nursing to becoming a skincare expert. And then we'll also get into your own journey with skincare. So my skincare journey really started, you know, you're talking about being in your childhood bedroom. I mean, for me, it started in adolescent. So after puberty, I really just had bad teenage acne. And I really didn't know how to take. care of it. It was just kind of going to whatever grocery store and picking up noxema or clear cell or anything that said acne. And I was just so frustrated and nothing worked and I tried proactive and I tried medications and, you know, I have such a soft place in my heart for anyone struggling with their skin because I struggled for so many years and didn't really know what to do.

And as a kid, I was, you know, really interested in science and arts and I decided to go into the medical field because I wanted to learn more and to be able to heal my skin and also science has been such a lifelong passion. So went to nursing school, got my bachelor's degree in nursing, worked in aesthetics to learn about skin and really felt this huge void. Like I had been cheated because I invested so much time and energy and I still didn't have all the answers to heal my own skin. So then it really took a turn and I started really investing time and energy into learning more holistic practices and Eastern modalities and different ways to heal myself from the inside out. And that's what worked for me. And I love sharing the kind of amalgamation of

both Eastern and Western because it really works. Yeah, I can relate a lot to that. As you were talking about the different things that you tried when you were younger. I'm like, yep, yep, I can still smell the Nogsema. I remember that so well. What did you learn about your own skin and like your own struggles in your journey? Like what were the main components that you think or in your experience were contributing to your problematic skin? One of the biggest factors, and I know you'll relate to this as well, was my gut health. And my skin changed so dramatically after a dear friend invited me to a fermentation workshop like seven years ago and I learned how to make my own fermented foods. And I didn't realize that I had gut health issues or that my microbiome wasn't strong.

But when I started incorporating those homemade, organic, local, you know, kraut, veggies, probiotic, yogurt into my diet, my skin started to drastically. improve as well as my immunity. And it was such a huge player in my skin health. That's interesting. Did you have symptoms of poor gut health aside from skin problems? You know, I think the acne was one of the biggest things, but I have the predisposition to be very anxious. And I did notice a mild shift in my anxiety. I just had a little bit more clarity and I was a little more kind of baseline calm. So it's pretty miraculous what a healthy microbiome can do for your whole body. I obviously talk about gut issues a lot and I've had my own journey, but people often ask me like, well, how do I know if something is a miss? And I think we commonly think of like really acute gut issues like bloating or, you know, gas or whatever.

But there can be these like secondary symptoms, not even secondary, but more subtle symptoms like anxiety and like skin issues and rashes and acne and sleep is a really big one. And I think people don't really realize that. So that's important for them to hear. We all know that poor air quality can be terrible for our health, right? But we also compromise air quality in our homes when we use standard toxic cleaners. So poor air quality can weaken our immune systems. It can bring on a whole host of.

other health issues like allergies, inflammation, eczema, and hormone disruption, just to name a few. So Branch Basics is here to change all of that. They make a biodegradable, non-GMO, fragrance-free concentrate that can clean everything in your home safely without harsh chemicals. Everything from the kitchen or bathroom to laundry and wood floors, Branch Basics has you covered. So basically you get a kit with the concentrate in various bottles in the mail, and you just mix the concentrate with water and voila. You have just replaced all your toxic cleaning supplies in one step. The other amazing thing is that you don't use a bunch of plastic because you just replace the

concentrate solution in the bottles that they provide. And as if that's not enough, the stuff seriously works better than the toxic home cleaners. This is such a simple way to cut down on waste and clean up the environment you live in. So go to branch basics.com and use the code blonde files for 15% off their starter kit. Again, that's branch basics.com and use the code blonde files. That's B-L-O-N-D-E-F-I-L-E-F-I-L-E-S for 15% off their starter kit. This offer is good until the end of the year, and I cannot recommend this product. enough. Hi there. I'm Lauren McGoodwin, founder and CEO of Career Contessa, the largest online career

resource built inclusively for women. I also have the privilege of hosting our new podcast, The Females. We're here to help with real talk career advice from CEOs, authors, creatives, and other experts to give you real strategies for building a successful career all on your own terms. Each episode of the Females is sure to not only inspire, but also to motivate you to take action and move your career forward. Be sure to tune in every Tuesday. for new episodes and follow along on careercontessa.com. And along the lines of, you know, gut health for sleep and sleep for skin, people don't realize how much of an impact your sleep plays upon your skin. You actually have hormones that are

only released at night that help your body maintain moisture and hydration. And to really, when they talk about beauty sleep, it is such a real component of your skin health is getting proper sleep. Yeah. So I want to kind of break down, like, what do you think are the most detrimental things to the quality of our skin? Oh, my goodness. Yes, so many things that I love talking about.

There's a few things. We'll start with something that may seem really simple, but it's really important. And that's refined sugar in your diet. And, you know, when we think about all the different kinds of sugars and all the different labels for sugars, there's coconut sugar, there's different syrups, there's brand sugar, there's just so many different kinds of sugars that can really kind of cloud labels and it's really hard to tell what's in what. But I really, really suggest if anyone's dealing with eczema, acne, skin irritation, even premature signs of aging, really taking out that inflammatory sugar from your diet. as much as possible in order to allow your skin to thrive. And I'm a huge fan of a cheat day, of a cheat meal, but where I see people really struggling with skin health issues are those daily things that don't realize that they're doing that could be detrimental to their skin. Say you're drinking an almond milk latte every single day and you don't realize that your almond milk has refined sugar

in it. It has coconut sugar. It has, you know, even just regular sugar. And if you are experiencing redness or irritation, a lot of that is from inflammation caused by sugar. And some people can handle it better than others, but really, if you are struggling with your skin, take a look at that. Another thing that's huge, and back to the latte, is coffee. And this is multiple fold. But for those people who drink a lot of coffee, think about the potential for cortisol with all of the caffeine. So cortisol is a hormone that contributes to, it's a stress hormone, it's an androgen. So if you have acne, that cortisol can help stimulate more breakouts. It can cause redness and irritations.

So the caffeine is huge. but also coffee has specific acids in it that can contribute to breakouts and those who are genetically prone. Another one too, back to the cortisol and the stress is we live such a fast-paced life and I know things are a little bit different in quarantine and people may realize that, you know, certain stresses are lower like you're talking about, but just the stress of unknowing, having your life completely derailed and having very little center or grounding. that stress response that you have truly takes a toll on your skin. Yeah, I agree.

And I do think, like, even though maybe the most noticeable stressors, like, okay, well, I'm not, like, getting up and jumping out of bed at, like, six in the morning and running to do my workout and then getting in my car and going and that kind of, like, intense pace, that's definitely gone. But there is this kind of, like, underlying sense of unease. and I know that this is on a scale. Some people's whole lives have been completely turned upside down. So, you know, I can't imagine what that's like. But yeah, there is this kind of like underlying, constant anticipatory anxiety, like fear, unknown. And I do wonder.

I wonder what it's doing to all of our bodies in this long, it's like a prolonged kind of low-grade trauma. Right. And that's the long. low-grade stress, that's creating so, so many issues. Humans are meant to have that fight or flight, you know, if there's danger, that kind of thing. But our modern lifestyle and all those low-grade stressors, they really produce oxidative stress on the skin, on the body, you're aging faster or having issues of gut health, all of these negative things. And when I think about the skin, it really is a mirror of what's going on in the inside of your body. And when things finally

bubble up to the point where you're seeing visible signs on your face, there are so many underlying things that it's important to really address and go deeper than just a product or a topical or something on the surface of your skin to fix, quote unquote, what's happening. Right. So with your own journey, when you started noticing changes after you incorporated fermented foods, what did your journey look like after that? Did you start making other lifestyle modifications? Did you change your approach to like the products that you were using? What did that look like? Yeah.

So around the same time is kind of the fermentation workshop. There's kind of springboarded. I don't know if that's the right word. But it kickstarted a whole transformation into a more holistic lifestyle, a holistic, non-toxic, clean lifestyle where I really started to delve into the products in my life and, you know, what I was putting in and on my, body in order to be really my healthiest self. I think I really had a switch in my brain from looking a certain way to being truly healthy. And one of the major changes that I made was

going through each individual product and doing my research on, I don't know if you know about the environmental working group. So they have great resources where you can look up ingredients in your products or products as a whole and find out. what the heck is in them. And not only that, but the research studies, and this ties back into my nursing side of like nerdy, loving research, research studies of what those ingredients are doing in the long term. And it was so shocking to me to find bio-cumulative ingredients in products that are unregulated, potentially, you know, carcinogenic products, skin irritant products, just all of these wild things in my skin care that I was using. Let's talk about hair care for a second, shall we?

I think we have all gone out and bought that shampoo that somebody was swearing by or that's supposed to transform our hair only to try it and be totally disappointed. Well, function of beauty is about to change your life. Okay. So they specifically tailor hair care with formulas created especially for you and your hair. All you have to do is go online and take this quick, fun quiz. And from that, they custom make your shampoo and conditioner from the ingredients down to the bottle. That's right. They personalize the packaging with your name on it. You get to pick the fragrance. So it's totally unique and special to you. I mean, at this point, I think we all know that we all specific needs when it comes to everything from our diets to our exercise routines and beauty products.

So I don't know why we normally settle when it comes to hair. Function of Beauty's formulas are vegan, cruelty free, and also free of sulfates, parabins, and other harmful ingredients. So go to function of beauty.com slash blonde, that's BL-O-N-D-E, to take your four-part hair profile quiz and save 20% off your first order. Again, that's function of beauty.com slash blonde, B-L-O-N-D-E for 20% off and let them know you heard about them from the show. Yeah, I wanted to ask you about that scale and a bunch of people actually sent in questions about it. And I was going to ask you, like, what are your top ingredients that you avoid?

So the interesting thing about ingredients to avoid, and I get this a lot too, if there's something like a paraben or a sulfate, those are some top buzzword things to avoid, if that's an ingredient label, companies will change the molecular structure slightly or they'll change the chemical name and put it in a product instead of whatever people are recognizing at the time. So I could give you a list today, but it wouldn't be helpful because it's constantly evolving and it truly takes doing the research and or trusting, you know, an influencer who actually knows their stuff or a doctor or someone in your life in order to make sure that you're not getting swindled with ingredients. That's so shady. The system is so shady. Yeah. I mean, with skin, with beauty products, household products, food, everything. Completely.

And our country doesn't protect us. I mean, we have some of the same labeling laws. in the United States in practice that have been there since the 30s. We have hardly any bands. I think we have something like 150 banned ingredients where the EU has over 3,000. Right. So it really is one of those things. You can't just go based on a label.

You can't trust a label. It's greenwashing. And I hate that we even have to have this conversation. but you're not being protected, so it's finding those stores or people who you trust. So, yeah, so what do you think are the mistakes, the biggest mistakes that people are making when it comes to their skincare? So toxic ingredients is definitely one of them, definitely looking through and making sure that you don't have anything irritating or stripping. One common issue I see with people's skin care routines, and we both. did this, we were talking about it, but using things that are far too harsh to fix their acne,

things that have tons of BHAs, which are beta hydroxy acids, the cell cyclics, and just the peroxide's, things that are, they might be okay for some, especially really young people going through acne, but as we get older, our skin is a sensitive organ, and we want to make sure that we're not just stripping it, but we're cleansing it properly and then supporting it. with moisture and hydration. So that's definitely a key. Another one that I often see is people not incorporating chemical exfoliants into their routine. And it might sound counterintuitive if you have skin irritation or dry skin or acne-prone

skin to chemically exfoliate because I think the word chemical scares people. but it's so essential so I'm talking about like the malic acids the lactic acids the enzymes the naturally occurring substances that get in there and just very gently exfoliate and cleanse your pores and get rid of excess dead skin cells and sebum and oil and pollutants and you can do that in so many different ways with toner or masks or really, really any kind of skincare products can have some beautiful chemical exfoliance. With your own skincare experience, how long did it take you to transform it? It really took such a long time. It really is a process because I was kind of using my own skin as a guinea pig and I was testing different things

and trying different things. But I think from the point where I really healed my gut and transitioned my products and through that evolution, it was probably a solid three to four years before I felt like my skin was really, really healthy and that I had enough knowledge to really assess my skin at any point and care for it. But I really, it doesn't have to be like that. I think it's important for people to hear that like it does take time though, right? And like probably some trial and error. And I think we live in this time where we all want instant gratification. And I know I do. Like when I was having skin issues at the like end of last year, maybe, beginning of this year, I can't remember. I was like, fuck it. Just put me on birth control.

I'm just going to take the pill. Like I don't want to invest the time and go through like, you know, the highs and lows of experimenting with different things. I just wanted the Band-Aid, even though I knew like rationally that that was not the answer. And thank God I didn't end up doing that. But we want like quick fixes. So maybe it doesn't have to take three or four years, but like it also it takes time and like personal investment, right? Completely. And I'm so glad you brought up the Band-Aid treatments because that was my experience when I was younger and going to dermatologists. And it was this prescription antibiotic and this topical antibiotic. And here go on birth control. And And really those band-aids never fix the root cause.

So whenever you stop taking those band-aids and utilizing those quick fixes, you're at square one. So it's almost more of an emotional trauma than where you were at the beginning. Right. And you may have some newly acquired imbalances and things that you then have to deal with on top of it. Completely. And it's such a common thing in our society.

and especially for women to be just put on birth control or given some sort of medication, like, okay, we can fix you. But really, our bodies are so powerful and our hormones are so intelligent. And if your body is telling you in the form of acne or insomnia or bloating or anything like that, that there's a problem, we're powerful enough to figure it out with intuition and with time and with resources that are out there, I truly believe that every woman who's experiencing especially skin care symptoms has the power to heal themselves and really have healthy, beautiful skin. We are inundated with blue light in our daily lives from every direction.

And I don't want to be an alarmist, but it's really not good for us. Did you know that just picking up your phone and looking at it in the morning can tell your body that it's mid-afternoon and your hormones and body act accordingly. To find out more about this and so much more, definitely check out episode 47 with Andy Mant, who is the founder of Blue Blocks. I talk about these all the time, so I'm sure you've heard it before, but truly my best wellness hack of 2020 has been incorporating Blue Blocks light therapy glasses into my life. No more digital eye strain, no more tension headaches, no more anxiety from looking at a screen, all day, they are truly a game changer. Blue blocks are the ultimate blue light blocking glasses

created in optics laboratory conditions. They block out the blue light and unlike other companies who have no understanding of how light impacts help, blue blocks are actually backed by the latest science and research. So blue blocks has high quality lenses for daytime, night time, and for color therapy exactly in line with the suggested, peer-reviewed academic literature. They have over 20 stylish frames to choose from, and they come in prescription, non-prescription, and readers. And people always ask me which style I normally wear. I have a few, but my favorite are the crystal. And I know that they just restocked them, so make sure you check that out. And they're amazing. So if you want to get your energy back, sleep better and block out the

unhealthy effects of blue light. Go to blue blocks today and get free shipping worldwide and 15% off with the code blonde, that's B-L-O-N-D-E, or go to blueblocks.com slash blonde. That's B-L-U-B-L-O-X.com slash blonde, B-L-O-N-D-E. Also, through their work with restoring vision, for each pair of blue blocks purchase, they donate a pair of reading glasses to someone in need. So you're not only helping yourself, but you're helping somebody else too. Something that I really wanted to ask you that a lot of my listeners asked is, like, in that interim, when you're trying to find what works for you, how can you remain confident if your skin is making you feel less than? Such a great question.

And, you know, when I've had such bad bouts of acne that I didn't want to leave the house and crying to my mom on the phone and really, really struggling with my skin confidence, I really found that the best way to combat that and to find an inner strength and confidence is to really tap in and remember what makes you, you and what makes you unique and special. And the things that you love about yourself that have nothing to do with your appearance, whether that's your sense of humor or your intellect or what you're really good at and try to find little ways in your life to share those things with others. because when you're serving others or when you're really tapped into something that you're proud of that has

nothing to do with your physical appearance, you find so much joy in that that you'll forget the Zit on your face. Yeah, I totally agree. And I always say this on here, but like I can be feeling really uncomfortable with, you know, how I'm looking or how my skin is or whatever, whatever it is. One day and then the next day I can completely focus on like what I'm doing. doing for others and pouring my energy into my passions or whatever. And I look the exact same as the day before, but I feel completely different. But I do really have compassion because it is so, like when I started breaking out, I don't know, a month ago or whatever, I was like, God, this sucks. Like I had forgotten how much it can just kind of wear on your, just on your energy. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. One thing that was really beneficial in my nursing, career working in aesthetics was seeing and treating some of the most beautiful women in the world. I mean, literally sports illustrated models and people who you would look at them and just think, oh my gosh, their lives must be so perfect because they have an otherworldly beauty. And having these women come to me and sharing how insecure they were about themselves or picking themselves apart was such a great lesson to me because I realized, oh, wow, it has zero to do with what you look like and everything to do with your relationship with yourself and how you you perceive your own beauty. Yeah, it's so true. And it is kind of this like, this interesting dynamic where like

a lot of the most beautiful or admired for their beauty, you know, those people are often the most insecure. And I think with social media and like filters and everything is photoshopped and face tune, like it's so easy to forget that we're all human. It's so true. And without the ability to get right with yourself mentally and to appreciate yourself for everything that you are, your true essence more than just your physical appearance, you'll never be happy with what you look like on the outside. Yeah.

Preach, it is so true. I know. And you know, another thing that's really simple, anyone listening who's finding themselves spending too much time looking in the mirror during quarantine, put a scarf on it. Get rid of your magnifying glass. Like, it sounds stupid, but the more time we spend in the mirror, the more we will pick out flaws and we'll find asymmetries and we'll find perceived imperfections. There's no perfect symmetrical face.

We're all beautiful snowflakes. We're all unique. So if you're picking yourself apart, listening right now, don't do it. You're beautiful. put down your mirror and walk away. I love it. And probably maybe get off Instagram. And I'm not saying this to other people. I have to remind myself sometimes. Like if I'm heavily using social media, whether it's for work or whatever, and I'm seeing these images like 24-7, it definitely affects how I view myself. Whereas, you know, like going back to what we were saying before, like if I'm,

If I'm not doing that and I'm doing other things, then I always just feel so much better. It's so, so true. And it's so beautiful to hear you say that, someone with a big social media presence who's very beautiful. You know, it affects every single person and no one is above it. And it's okay. We're all vulnerable to those comparisons. But really, just connecting to those people who love you and know how uniquely special you are, especially during these times. It does make us all remember what's really important. And having a face-tuned photo look like someone else is isn't really the most important thing. Or creeping someone's social media and seeing how their skin is on stories because you're struggling and breaking out. You want to compare yourself.

It's just not worth it. Okay. So we got so many questions sent in and I want to make sure that we get to a lot of them. So let's segue over to a Q&A. I know people want to hear specifics. So I'm going to start with the number one question that people sent in, which was, how can I diminish the appearance of large pores? Yes, such a good one.

So twofold for this one. So the reason why people usually have enlarged pores are either genetics, which is a big one, I hate to say. Some people will just always have larger pores than other. people, but no matter what you are given with, you are given genetically, you can improve the size of them. So the first thing is pores get so easily clogged. And when they're clogged, obviously they appear to be larger, darker. So using those chemical exfoliants that I was talking about before to help slowly over time kind of rid your pores of debris is so essential. So I love using

chemical exfoliant masks a few times a week, they're super, super helpful for the clogging pores. Do you have any brands that you recommend? Yes, there's a cherry enzyme peel from naturopathica that I absolutely love. That sounds amazing. You would love it. It smells just like a cherry pie, and it is so gentle. It's great for all skin types. I think my facialist might use that, or she uses some kind of cherry enzyme. I don't know if it's naturopathica, but one other thing with the pores, because it is important. So think about a sponge. When a sponge is really dry, the holes of the sponge appear to be larger.

So think about your pores the same way. If your skin is really dehydrated, especially on the top of your nose, your cheeks, your chin, pores can appear to be larger. So you want to make sure you're getting in there with like a hyluronic acid serum or something that, it's really hydrating. So this is something kind of along those lines that I was curious about. So that's probably my biggest issue is like clogging. I don't normally break out, but I have like clogged pores. But my skin can also tend to be, I would say I'm combination,

but it tends to be dry even though it's clogged. So can you explain that a little bit? Yeah. So this is where skincare order. of application really comes into play. And no matter what, your skin, what it does is it carotinizes cells. So as your skin creates new cells at the bottom layer, it pushes up the dead skin cells and you have this kind of hard layer on the surface. So it's really easy to have dry skin, but also lots of clogging because of that. So you really do need to get in there with the chemical

exfoliants, the cleansers, to clean the surface of your skin. So you have a really fresh canvas and then doing the steps like the toner, the mist, the serum, and then the moisturizers. So you're literally moisturizing and hydrating in order to get that dewy glow. Got it. Okay. And so what about blackheads and whiteheads? That was another question that we got a lot. So the same thing. Blackheads and whiteheads are just different stages of poor clogging. First, heads are white and then they turn black as all of the tissue dies and gets necrotic, which is so gross. Lovely. Lovely. And then it turns into acne. That's kind of the stages. And you can really improve all of that with chemical exfoliation and just proper application of skin care. And a big mistake I see with that

is people, you know, just doing a cleanser and applying an oil and thinking that that's going to help them. But really, that's just creating an even kind of deeper, thicker layer of crud on the surface of their skin. Okay. Are there oils or ingredients that acne prone people should avoid? Yeah. I mean, it's also individual that I would really suggest if you're super acne prone, I would just give yourself an oil break. Do like a month of no oils, just some hydrating serums. There are so many different syrums that are more water-based, haleronic acid-based and not oil-based.

So I would suggest really giving yourself an oil break. And then over time, if that goes well, then incorporating natural skincare products that maybe have oil as one component, but not just an organic rose hip oil straight up all over your skin. You think you kind of answered this one already, but serums before or after moisturizer? Yes.

So serums are going to go before moisturizer and you want to make sure if you're using multiple serums that you're using your most active serum first. So you want that to absorb into your skin and really work its magic before you're applying the other things. especially when I come to like sorry go ahead I can just like talk about serums for eight days no go ahead

especially if you're talking about in the morning like a vitamin C and at night maybe like a retinal serum you want to make sure that you're using those ones before your other serums are moisturizer and how do you know which serums are more active than others

that goes back to just knowing your products and doing your research and reading about them And if anyone has any questions about their specific serum, they can always DM me or DM the brand. Because if you're putting something on your face and you spent money on it, I would just really, really urge you to learn a little bit about it and find out what it's actually doing to your skin. Yeah. It's so funny when you say that, I'm like, oh, wow, that's a good idea. Like, I never hear something. I just blindly like buy everything that, you know, that sounds amazing and then just put it on my face. You're not alone. It's so, so common. And I think because I spend a lot of my time researching

skincare and researching ingredients and learning about different things in the skincare realm, it seems like such a no-brainer to me, but people have busy lives. I get it. It's not something that is fun for everyone. But taking that extra time to constantly be assessing your skin and assessing your products and seeing if it works, it's worth it in the long term because you're going to see the benefits. Yeah. And if you're spending good, money on these things. You're right. It's such a waste to just like kind of aimlessly use it. Totally. I just had a revelation clearly.

Okay. How can we get rid of brown spots or acne scarring? So the first thing if you have any scarring in your face is to be so cognizant of sun exposure. The sun is going to make any scarring. worse, darker, at least personally, in the summer in Los Angeles, it's almost impossible to completely avoid the sun. And my pigmentation always gets a little bit worse. So that is the first step. And then it depends really on the severity. So for those people who have the pitting acne scarring, the textural acne scarring, that kind of ice pick scarring, I can't tell you to just go out and buy a product to truly improve that.

Doing something like an in-office microneadling and something a little bit more invasive is going to be what you're going to want to do for results in those cases. For more mild cases, things like retinal, things like chemical and physical exfolians, ones that aren't too harsh, but kind of where you can increase the cellular turnover and kind of have fresh new babies get a little faster. are going to help you out. What are your feelings on, well, like, I'm going to break it down in two completely different categories. So first, what are your feelings on like prescription retinoles?

So the thing about prescription retinoles is if you look on EWG Skin Deep and you look on other, you know, websites that check for toxicity, they aren't the most. They're not clean. They're pretty toxic. But really, it's all about looking at why they're considered toxic. So for some people, things like retinol, which are defined as skin irritants, and that's a lot of the reason why they're considered toxic. You want that irritation because that's what's going to create new cells and cell turnover and increase that. But if you're someone who has issues with skin irritation, you don't want a classified skin irritant in your skincare routine. So it's really about looking up this specific ingredient because the EWG will tell you exactly why,

it's quote unquote not good for you. And if none of those things are concerned to you, it might be worth the results of the product. Right. Okay. And then also what are your feelings on lasers, like maybe clear and brilliant or alumara, things like that? In theory, I'm all for lasers.

I mean, pulse light lasers. I'm not exactly sure what kind of laser the clear and brilliant is. But the main issue with lasers is that lasers target melanin primarily. So we all have a certain amount of melanin in our skin. If you're someone who on the spectrum of melanin has very, very light skin, lasers are relatively safe for you because they'll probably target the darker pigment in your skin and then the rest of your skin's intact. For those of us who have darker pigmentation, more melanin in our skin, lasers become more and more dangerous, the darker your skin tone is. So you really have to go somewhere where there are, you know,

medical doctors, registered nurses, people who know exactly what they're doing and who aren't trying to sell you something because you could potentially damage and scar your skin worse than when you came in. Right. Okay. Let's see. Let's go back to acne, how can somebody identify the underlying cause of their acne? Like, how can they determine whether it's the products that they're using or their gut health or their hormones or what? I'm so glad you asked because this is one thing that, I mean, it was like 15, 16 years now, because I'm 31 of trial and error and figuring it out. And I have shed the tears that whoever asked that question has shed of trying one thing and going on a crash diet and spending $800

on this treatment and not knowing. And I utilized all of those trial and error moments and made a course to help people troubleshoot their routine and start slowly but surely incorporating better habits, different routines that could be helpful and getting rid of things that could be potentially causing acne. So I made a course for that because it really is. It's complex and it's going through every system in your routine, every part of your lifestyle and doing a little excavating. Right. Yeah. And we will link that in show notes so that people can find it easily and start their own skincare journey. So I want to talk about food because you always post about like eat to glove. and we know that what we ingest makes a huge difference in our skin and our overall well-being.

And people did ask about specific foods and how they affect us in a good way and a bad way. So what was your experience like with your own diet and what are the foods that you incorporate now for good skin? So when I was in college and in nursing school and crazy hours, tons of caffeine, tons of quick. food. My skin was probably at its worst and I was doing a lot of sugar-free or not sugar-free, like diet yogurt and diet everything and low-fat everything and really just took such a toll on my skin. And I really think that the key to having beautiful skin and having a diet that supports that is real whole foods. And I know that you are a big advocate for this as well. But just eating things, going to the grocery store, shopping the perimeter, it's just completely

changed my skin. And I really try to live by that philosophy of recognizing a real ingredient and cooking with it and utilizing it. And that's where Eat to Glow comes from because all of the the nutrients that are in our diet helps support a glowy beautiful complexion. When you're just eating things out of a package and things with a lot of preservatives and you don't really know what they are, like most of those foods have very little nutrient value that your skin can utilize. Right. Yeah, so important. I want to know, like some people asked about budget friendly, holy grill products. So are there any that you would recommend that are kind of accessible to everyone. And then I also want to know, like, if you're willing to share what your absolute

holy grill products are and, you know, understanding that everybody's different and everyone's skin has different needs, but your skin is insane. And so I'm sure the people want to know. Yes, happy to share all the details. I'm completely an open book. And so happy to share that with your audience. So budget-friendly skin care. You know, Target has been doing such a great job. I give them standing ovation. They have truly been bringing on brands that are affordable, that are clean, that are effective. And there's three in mind that I suggest people take a look at if they're looking for affordable things. So the first one is Cocoa Kind. Have you heard of them? Yes, I love Cocoa Kind. They have it in Whole Foods too. Okay, great. So Whole Foods and Target.

It's a great line. The founder of Priscilla really struggled with acne as well, and she wanted to make something that she couldn't find, and that was affordable, accessible naturals. So Cocoa Kine's great. There's also a brand called Honest, which you guys might know because of Jessica Alba. Another great affordable line. And then the last one is versed, which is from the who-what-wear team. And they are really focusing on very active natural. And then personally, I am obsessed with this line called January Labs. And if anyone follows me or has seen my social, I talk a lot about this product line. And I feel like I wish I could just invest because it's just so organic and I just love them. But it was founded by a former model who had lots of skincare issues after people just using really terrible products on her skin all day. and she is another science nerd like myself and truly has just found a way to create natural efficacious products and she has a really affordable price point for what you're getting. I'm looking her up on Instagram right now.

Her skin is beyond. In person, I've never seen more beautiful skin in person. Wow. Wow. Yeah, you guys need to go check this out. Okay. I'll be buying everything. No, that's the thing. When you're talking about, holy grail, I'm like, okay, great. Well, I use the January Labs cleanser, the January labs toner, the January labs miss. Oh, the January loves retinol cream. The January loves night cream. So it's, it's a line. It sounds like you need to end up. I know. And I get sent so many things and I'll only test things that I really believe.

in the ingredients, but, you know, these are the default products that I will spend my hard-earned money on and I suggest so often. And a few more. I just have to give two more Holy Grail. And then we're done with that. But there's a line called St. Jane. Have you heard of it? So it's decently new and it's a line of CBD skincare.

They sell it at Credo. and the founder worked in tech before and she's just such a brilliant mind in the CBD space and her products are probably the most beautiful natural products that you would actually want on your, you know, your vanity. And her CBD infused vitamin C is the best ever. Wow. I'm looking at that now too. It's so beautiful.

Yeah. Oh my God. So nice. Yeah. one's great. And I did a dupe comparison between that and the CE ferulic. And this the CBD St. Jane C-Drops is actually same level of efficacious product results with the CBD, which helps to calm and so anyone suffering from irritation or more sensitive skin can get those really intense benefits. Interesting, because I use the skin suiticles. But yeah. And it's good to know. I'm going to try it. Yeah. Amazing.

And what's the third one? Okay, the naturopathica cherry inside peel. Everyone needs it. It's amazing. Have to have it. Okay. So to close out, I just want to know what is the one thing that you think we should all do right now for our skin? Three liters of water a day.

It's so good for everything. It's completely accessible to everyone. And I just, I think that it's something. that's so often overlooked. And because we are all home right now, it's something that we can make a habit so that when things get a little busier, we know to batch our leader jugs of water or whatever we have to do, add mint in there or lemon in there so we can actually make it happen. Right. I love it. Well, where can everybody find you? So I am Celeste Thomas on Instagram and on YouTube. And my website is thetruspoon.com. All right.

Thank you. Of course, thank you so much for having me. And if anyone has specific questions, they can always DM me. I get back to everyone like a crazy person. Amazing. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for having me. I hope you enjoyed that episode.

If you liked it, and if you like 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 Blond Files podcast on Instagram. I'm always posting about each episode there or over on my personal page at Ariel Laurie.