Latest / The Menopause Disruptor Podcast / The Role of Peptides in Aging Skincare with Stacey Berger

Transcript

The Role of Peptides in Aging Skincare with Stacey Berger · The Menopause Disruptor Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Retinol is like the little black dress of skincare, is what I think.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's been around forever.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_01: Everyone thinks it's amazing.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: But a lot of women can't use retinols because of that sensitivity piece.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_01: So they end up not being regular with using it.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_01: They end up using it for a day, taking four days off, or not using it at all.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: Because we have an encapsulation delivery system, it's gentle.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_01: And it's so exciting to see women that had to give up retinol for over 20 years aren't able to go back to it because it's an encapsulated delivery system.
• 0:30
  Mary Lee: Hey, listeners, let me ask you this.
• 0:33
  Mary Lee: What if the problem isn't that your skin is suddenly aging in midlife, but that your skincare was never designed for the hormonal changes happening inside your body?
• 0:44
  Mary Lee: Welcome back to the Menopause Disruptive Podcast.
• 0:47
  Mary Lee: I am your host, Mary, and today we will talk about a part of menopause that often gets dismissed as vanity, but is actually deeply connected to our biology, and that is our skin.
• 1:01
  Mary Lee: Dryness, sensitivity, fine lines that seem to appear overnight, lots of firmness, changes in texture, pigmentation and hydration issues.
• 1:12
  Mary Lee: That feeling that the skincare regime that worked beautifully for years suddenly doesn't.
• 1:18
  Mary Lee: And there's a reason for that.
• 1:20
  Mary Lee: My guest today is Stacy Berger, a beauty industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience developing and manufacturing skincare and hair care across clinical and mass market beauty.
• 1:34
  Mary Lee: Stacy has spent decades behind the scenes understanding ingredients, formulation, manufacturing, and what actually makes a product perform.
• 1:43
  Mary Lee: But somewhere along the way, she recognized a pretty significant gap in the industry.
• 1:48
  Mary Lee: Women's skin dramatically changes through perimenopause and postmenopause.
• 1:53
  Mary Lee: Yet most skincare isn't formulated with that biology in mind.
• 1:57
  Mary Lee: That realization led her to create, some of all, a clinical skincare system specifically designed for peri-to-postmenopausal skin.
• 2:06
  Mary Lee: And I love that this isn't simply another conversation about wrinkles and how to look younger.
• 2:12
  Mary Lee: Stacy challenges the whole anti-aging narrative.
• 2:15
  Mary Lee: Some of all is built around the idea of being pro-you, supporting healthier, stronger, more resilient skin, rather than trying to erase the evidence that we've lived, experienced, and changed.
• 2:28
  Mary Lee: In our conversation, Stacy will break down the seven interconnected hormonal shifts happening in midlife skin, explain why the skin barrier becomes so important, and takes us inside the science behind her formulas, including peptides, phytoestrogens, adaptogens, and the brand's proprietary AP2 platform.
• 2:51
  Mary Lee: We also get into some of the big skincare questions women are asking.
• 2:55
  Mary Lee: Does topical collagen actually work?
• 2:57
  Mary Lee: Are collagen supplements worth the money?
• 3:00
  Mary Lee: What role can phytoestrogens play in menopause's skin?
• 3:04
  Mary Lee: And is overexfoliating actually a thing?
• 3:07
  Mary Lee: But perhaps the biggest question is this: what if we stop trying to make women look younger and started giving midlife skin exactly what it needs to thrive?
• 3:17
  Mary Lee: Maybe our skin isn't asking us to turn back the clock.
• 3:20
  Mary Lee: Maybe it's simply asking us to understand what it is becoming.
• 3:25
  Mary Lee: But before we begin, here's something you need to know about Stacy Berger.
• 3:30
  Mary Lee: Stacy is the founder and formulator of Sum of All, a skincare brand created specifically to support women's skin through menopause.
• 3:38
  Mary Lee: With more than 24 years of experience in global beauty product development, formulation, and manufacturing, including leadership roles with major personal care companies, Stacy brings a unique behind-the-scenes understanding of what actually goes into creating effective skincare.
• 3:54
  Mary Lee: Today, she's focused on developing science-informed, ethical skincare designed specifically for the changing needs of women in midlife.
• 4:04
  Mary Lee: You can find more about Stacy on her website, sumofall.com, and on Instagram at Sum, spelled S-U-M, underscore of, underscore all, underscore beauty.
• 4:17
  Mary Lee: Some of all beauty.
• 4:18
  Mary Lee: Please join me in welcoming Stacy Berger to the Menopause Disruptor Podcast.
• 4:22
  Mary Lee: Stacy Berger, welcome to the menopause disruptor podcast.
• 4:26
  Mary Lee: Let's disrupt skin care.
• 4:29
  Mary Lee: I like it, definitely.
• 4:31
  Mary Lee: So glad to have you here.
• 4:33
  Mary Lee: This is a hot bed topic between this and peptides for getting skinny.
• 4:39
  Mary Lee: Skin and skinniness are in, and we're not always being told the right information and doing many of the wrong things.
• 4:46
  Mary Lee: So you're going to debunk a lot of things going on there.
• 4:49
  Mary Lee: But I would always like to start with your personal experience.
• 4:52
  Mary Lee: You're a little bit about your backstory.
• 4:54
  Mary Lee: You spent 25 years behind the scenes in the beauty industry.
• 4:58
  Mary Lee: And what did you see happening to women's skin during midlife that made you think we're missing something here?
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I wasn't seeing anyone look at women's skin through the lens of how hormones are actually changing the way it's behaving.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that revelation was very interesting to me.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_01: Everyone was very aggressively looking at solving a problem, like one problem, and overcorrecting many times and ignoring the whole systemic change that was happening.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: So I started to get curious and say, well, what's happening?
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: I'm 52 years old now and I'm in menopause.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: And at the time when I began my journey, I was in perimenopause.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: And I started to say, well, what's happening to my skin?
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: And how can I understand a little bit more, a smarter approach?
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: So I worked with OBGYNs and dermatologists and my chemist experts, an all-female team, by the way.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: So they really are knowledgeable firsthand, but also in the field at large.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: And we really discovered that there are seven major shifts, you know, happening to women's skin at the same time when they're going through hormonal change.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: And it's not linear.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: So those changes are up and they're down, and you have to have products and formulations that are formulated through that lens of changing the approach to fluctuating skin.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: So I worked with my team and we discovered that we really needed a system, a simple system of five products that could all work together to really help women navigate those seven shifts that are happening all at the same time, like dryness and hydration, barrier fragility and slower skin recovery, dullness and uneven skin tone, that texture roughness and those fine lines, that slower cellular turnover, loss of firmness, elasticity, and that thinning and volume loss.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: So those are all of the factors at play that correlate to what your hormones are doing to your body.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 7:10
  Mary Lee: I'm glad you named all seven.
• 7:12
  Mary Lee: I was gonna ask you about that.
• 7:13
  Mary Lee: Yeah.
• 7:14
  Mary Lee: Is there one particular one that needs more attention, or is it a combination, much like the name of your company, which we'll get in the sum of all is that needs the to be addressed first and foremost, or is it a congruent approach?
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_01: Well, the thing is, no two women have the same skin.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_01: There's so many different factors at play.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_01: No one's menopause is the same as someone else's menopause.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: And so there is that fluctuation piece.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: So everyone needs to look at their skin holistically and say to themselves, I need to treat all of the pathways that are affecting what I'm seeing through these seven shifts.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_01: And not everyone experiences all seven shifts.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: It could be two of them, it could be five of them, and it could be at different times.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: So you need to look at focusing on those pathways of hydration and barrier strength, that renewal efficiency, the tone and texture and firmness and density.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: And through that lens, depending upon your needs and your skin's individual journey, you can optimize the performance of your skin.
• 8:18
  Mary Lee: That's how I'm answering your question.
• 8:20
  Mary Lee: You are actually.
• 8:21
  Mary Lee: We're gonna get a little bit deeper into that.
• 8:24
  Mary Lee: I want to understand more about the name that you came up with.
• 8:28
  Mary Lee: The sum of all.
• 8:29
  Mary Lee: Very intriguing.
• 8:30
  Mary Lee: So, what did that name mean to you?
• 8:33
  Mary Lee: And what does it say about our philosophy about aging skin for women?
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: Well, sum of all has actually three different meanings.
• 8:42
  unknown: Okay.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: So the first meaning of it is that really, I think when women are in midlife, we've had a whole lifetime of beautiful experiences, challenges, accomplishments, a whole life of a life lived.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: And so we are not necessarily able to be put into one box.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_01: We are the sum of all of the experiences that we've had, the roles we play.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: Some of us are moms, some of us are sisters, daughters, we're a lot friends.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_01: We play a lot of roles, professionals.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: So we're complex by the time we get into midlife.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: And so that needs to be looked at and not diminished, but that we should be elevating women to say we are the sum of all this beautiful experience.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_01: And we shouldn't need to feel that we need to turn back the clock to look 20.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: We just want to look like our best version of ourselves.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: So that was the first part of that vision for the name.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: Secondly, women's skin is complex, right?
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_01: Because it also holds all of these experiences and this life lived.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: So it's the sum of all of these needs coming together and looked at holistically through our system.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_01: And our formulas are the sum of all the most efficacious ingredients, as well as the community.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_01: I think that it's really exciting that menopause is a topic now that people are shining a light on.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_01: But when I started this journey, really most women were still not talking about it.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_01: My mom didn't even remember her experience to give me advice.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: So I looked at it as community, that it's also we're stronger when we're together in community.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: And some of all of our voices coming together, of our relationships, so that we can help each other through this next stage.
• 10:27
  Mary Lee: Beautiful.
• 10:28
  Mary Lee: And it's so great that menopause is finally getting its day in the limelight.
• 10:33
  Mary Lee: Absolutely.
• 10:34
  Mary Lee: And that there are several outspoken women and trailblazers that are drawing attention to exactly what's happening to the scientific shift in the with hormonals and those changes in the body, changes in many of our microbiomes from the gut, even the vaginal microbiome, but our skin.
• 10:52
  Mary Lee: And it was mentioned before on a previous podcast, guest of mine, she talked about the skin microbiome.
• 10:59
  Mary Lee: And this is not something that's getting its day in its attention, if you will.
• 11:06
  Mary Lee: The limelight.
• 11:08
  Mary Lee: That we just think of it as skin is skin.
• 11:11
  Mary Lee: And you mentioned that there is a close connection from those hormone changes with our skin.
• 11:19
  Mary Lee: Those seven main areas, as you mentioned.
• 11:22
  Mary Lee: But here's something else that I really feel that is not being drawn attention to because this microbiome is so unique and needs to be treated specifically.
• 11:32
  Mary Lee: We are still being sold all these products and told you need anti-aging and you need to address those wrinkles.
• 11:40
  Mary Lee: You need to address the collagen loss.
• 11:43
  Mary Lee: You got to keep looking younger.
• 11:44
  Mary Lee: And we are being sold this, and this is the narrative that's being thrown at us all the time.
• 11:49
  Mary Lee: I want to talk about a little bit before we get into your unique formulas, what is happening, why we are still being misled to believe that looking younger is still the ultimate solution.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I think that's changing.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: I think that we are in a cultural revolution right now where people are starting to change that messaging around anti-aging and to focus more on pro-aging and aging well and that longevity piece, taking care of your skin longevity, just like you take care of your health and other aspects of your longevity.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: So I do think there is a change, but I also think that it was lazy marketing.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: I think it was fear-based marketing and also marketing that came from men.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that there's so many more females now that are leading the charge, starting companies, really changing the message to be something that we want to hear ourselves.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: So for myself, part of the mission of Some of All is to be more than just a beauty brand, but actually a women's empowerment brand.
• 12:51
  Mary Lee: Love that.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: And so we want to help women know that they can feel great at any stage.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: And it's all about optimizing your health and wellness of your skin, which is the largest organ of our body.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: But it's not about taking away your wrinkles, it's about optimizing the way you look for you by taking care of it and maintaining your skin longevity.
• 13:13
  Mary Lee: Wow.
• 13:14
  Mary Lee: So do you think this menopause movement that's upon us now is forcing our beauty industry to become more ethically honest, scientifically honest?
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: That's such a good question.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_01: And part of why I started a brand is because I felt like there was not an openness in sharing what goes into formulations, right?
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_01: I think that even though there are wonderful formulas in the market, there's an opaqueness of information.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: And so even when you look at what's called an inky list, which is the ingredient list on the back of a packaging, no two products necessarily are using the same ingredient, even if they may have the same inky.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: So there's a lot more that goes into a formulation than what people really know.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: And so it was important to me to create products that I wanted to use for myself that I wanted to, that I felt like I could get behind and really feel confident that you're getting what you pay for, that you're really getting something that is going to do something and help you feel good, rather than guessing and saying, well, what percentage is this ingredient in there at it?
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_01: Is this the actual ingredient that I think it is?
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_01: And playing that guessing game.
• 14:34
  Mary Lee: Yes.
• 14:35
  Mary Lee: So now that you've worked across many industries in this, in the beauty industry, and you've seen the mass marketing and the messaging that's coming out, what have you learned specifically about the difference between marketing an ingredient and actually formulating a product that performs exactly as it should for the aging skin?
• 14:58
  Mary Lee: That's a really good question.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: Well, there's multiple aspects to that question.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_01: Some brands use what are called marketing ingredients at percentages that don't do anything.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_01: They call it like the fairy dust of the formula.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: It's kind of like the story, but it may not be in there at percentages that do anything.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: Secondly, let's say they are using it at the right percentage.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_01: You have to look at the total formulation and look at what other ingredients are in the formula.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_01: How do they play together?
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: Are they looking at, are they working with different types of aspects of the skin to really give you a holistic treatment that you're looking that you need to have for the results that you're looking to achieve?
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: So it's there's multiple aspects of that.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: And then there's the non-sexy ingredients that sometimes do some of the heavy lifting because it's they're important, but then you're using other ingredients that are optimized when you combine them with those core ingredients.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_01: Additionally, we select all of our ingredients that were clinically tested before we even put them in our formulas.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: So it's also selecting ingredients that have data.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_01: And I think data is really important.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: So it's not just marketing like a fun story, like it's grown in the mountains of wherever.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_01: It's no, like, was there an actual scientific study done on the efficacy of this ingredient and at what percent?
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_01: And on and what results did they see?
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_01: And then if we use it at that percent, that's the exciting piece.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_01: And then how do we add it to other ingredients that have been clinically tested on their own and proven to be efficacious and combine that in a really interesting way that then helps our skin on multiple levels at the same time?
• 16:42
  Mary Lee: Okay.
• 16:42
  Mary Lee: Yes, I agree.
• 16:44
  Mary Lee: And I love that you said that we can get caught up with the idea that it was something that was harvested in the Himalayans or in this rare corner of the earth that the purest of the pure.
• 16:57
  Mary Lee: And we get this obsession, ingredient obsession, like the retinals, the peptides, the vitamin C's, hyaluronic acid, but the formulas, how they work together.
• 17:08
  Mary Lee: So take us down that journey of testing and understanding the ingredients that is necessary for the aging skin and combining it with other ingredients so that it actually delivers.
• 17:21
  Mary Lee: And I don't know, maybe one doesn't negate the other, sort of thing.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that first of all, that's why it takes time to develop beautiful formulas.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's not something that happens quickly.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_01: So what we do is first we do all of our research on the right ingredients.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: We worked with our medical team to really understand what we were trying to accomplish.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_01: Then we go to the lab and we say, okay, well, logically, this should go with this and this should accomplish our goals.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: Let's put it together and let's test it.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: And then what we do is we do clinical testing on the finished formulas to really make sure that we are performing even better than what the original clinicals showed on the individual ingredients so that they're stronger together.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_01: But additionally, what we do in our formulas is our entire line has what's called our AP squared longevity platform in every single product.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_01: And that is a complex that combines phytoestrogens with peptides and also with adaptogenic chaga mushroom.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: And that combination helps to put the skin into that balanced state where it's able then, instead of constantly recorrecting something, it's then able to optimize working with the other active ingredients in our formula because we have over 30 active ingredients across the line at percentages that do something.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_01: But the foundation of what enables everything to really function at its best is our AP squared.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_01: And so what we did was put that together and then, like I said, go out and test our finished formulas and make sure that we're really getting the results that we want to see.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: And that happens way before we even put it in a bottle and start talking about how to get it to market.
• 19:08
  Mary Lee: Oh, okay.
• 19:09
  Mary Lee: Now we got into the science.
• 19:10
  Mary Lee: I was gonna ask you about this AP2 formula.
• 19:13
  Mary Lee: Yeah.
• 19:14
  Mary Lee: I like the science.
• 19:15
  Mary Lee: I like to dig into it, unpack it.
• 19:18
  Mary Lee: So you've kind of hinted on it adaptogens, phytoestrogens, and peptides.
• 19:24
  Mary Lee: Yes.
• 19:25
  Mary Lee: So what let's unpack what each three component can do for the menopausal skin.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: So I guess I'll start with the peptides.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: So the peptides are like messengers to your skin, they're signals, right?
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_01: They're short, they're so what they're doing is they're telling your cells or telling your skin to synthesize collagen.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: So it's really strengthening that collagen in the skin, giving it that foundation.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_01: And then we combine that with the adaptogenic chaga mushroom.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_01: So the adaptogenic chaga mushroom, what happens is like in midlife, a lot of times your skin experiences sensitivity and inflammation and oxidative stress.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_01: And so the chaga mushroom helps to calm the skin and put that into balance a little bit more.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_01: And it helps to address that oxidative stress.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_01: So that's now, so that's a different pathway.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_01: And then the third ingredient are the phytoestrogens.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_01: And the phytoestrogens, our skin has estrogen receptors all over.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: And what's important is that those signals that that come to the estrogen receptors or that those estrogen receptors actually emit diminish as you go through this change of hormones.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: And so phytoestrogens aren't replacing estrogen and they're not in lieu of, but what they are doing is helping to encourage how those estrogen receptors function and help them to function better, to improve the way that they're signaling, to help, so that it's a working all together to help signal, protect, and adapt.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: So all of those things come together, and then that skin is stronger, calmer, and ready to work with the other ingredients in the formula.
• 21:16
  Mary Lee: Okay.
• 21:17
  Mary Lee: So they're supporting hormone-affected skin, they're not making any hormonal claims that it's replacing an okay at all, which is really important.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_01: So women that feel uncomfortable taking hormones, and some women have reasons why they can't.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_01: This is not a problem for them to use because it's not estrogen and it's not systemic.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_01: However, if you are taking hormones, then you have like a sandwich for your skin.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_01: You're treating it from the inside with that hormone replacement therapy, but then you're also coming at it topically and making sure that you're treating the hormonal changes that are happening in your skin and all the things that estrogen might not be able to tackle.
• 21:57
  Mary Lee: Right.
• 21:57
  Mary Lee: So it's not like you're putting on uh in like an estradiol 17 beta cream on the face or on your skin.
• 22:05
  Mary Lee: And okay.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_01: And quite frankly, some people want to use that.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_01: And you, I would say that is something that you can use with our products because using just estrogen topically doesn't necessarily target other aspects of the skin's changes that happen in midlife.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_01: And what happens is you overlook other things that need attention.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_01: And that estrogen is focusing on certain things, but not everything.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_01: So you can use that with our products if you want to use more ingredients and more products, but you don't have to.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_01: It's a personal choice that some women like to make because our products are targeting that inflammation, that oxidative stress, that barrier disruption, that slower cellular turnover.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_01: The estrogen creams are focused on not all of that.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_01: All of that extrinsic aging and oxidative stress that comes from midlife.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_01: It's important that you still focus on that.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_01: That chronological aging, the sunspots that you developed from, I mean, I don't know about you, but I live in the sun when I was little with those reflectors and oil.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_01: And I did so much damage that I regret.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_01: So it's coming out now in my skin.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_01: And I have to take care of that if I want to have healthy looking skin.
• 23:20
  Mary Lee: And it's not necessarily just the face, is it?
• 23:23
  Mary Lee: Like this can be on the chest area where a lot of us are experiencing that sun damage from our youth.
• 23:30
  Mary Lee: Oh, definitely.
• 23:31
  Mary Lee: Like the spots on the hands, definitely on the arms.
• 23:35
  Mary Lee: Absolutely.
• 23:36
  Mary Lee: Okay.
• 23:36
  Mary Lee: Now you combine ancient botanicals such as Tamila, Tremella, and should say wild yam, red clover.
• 23:45
  Mary Lee: So what other well, what exactly is going on with those ancient botanicals to augment your products?
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_01: So there's lots of beautiful ingredients that supplement the clinical ingredients that we use.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_01: So we're using, like I said, the ingredients that were clinically tested that are the heavy hitters.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_01: But then we have ingredients like subaki oil, for example, in many of our formulas.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_01: Subaki oil is actually like an ancient Japanese beauty secret that they used to, the geisas used to use it in Japan.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_01: And it's super hydrating.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_01: It really helps with the lipid layer in the skin, has a wonderful fatty acid profile.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_01: And so really that that gives you like that deep hydration.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_01: Chamella mushroom is also an incredibly hydrating ingredient.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_01: And so these are ingredients that complement our peptides and complement our bioactives to really optimize what you're going to see.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_01: So every formula has in it these ancient botanicals combined with new science.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_01: So we're really taking the best of both worlds because there's a lot of knowledge that has been passed down through the generations that's worthy of continuing with.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_01: So I didn't feel like I wanted to give up one for the other.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_01: I thought, let's make the best of both worlds.
• 25:07
  Mary Lee: Yeah.
• 25:08
  Mary Lee: Some of all the best.
• 25:10
  Mary Lee: Exactly.
• 25:12
  Mary Lee: And science marches on, and we have out our luxury now to be able to see the actual evidence that shows us that these ancient beauty products stand the test of time, but then there's more that we can do to address.
• 25:26
  Mary Lee: So I'm really before we get into like the daily ritual of all the products and how they can be used in combination with each other, I want to go back to something you mentioned at the very beginning, and that you built some of all, not in isolation.
• 25:40
  Mary Lee: You had a dermatologist and OPGYNs, you were involved, like this multidisciplinary approach.
• 25:48
  Mary Lee: Why was this so important to have them?
• 25:50
  Mary Lee: Particularly an OBGYN, we don't often think about that when it comes to our skincare.
• 25:56
  Mary Lee: But why was it so important to have them on the team as you built this brand, this company?
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I'm not an expert on everything.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I think my superpower is bringing together people that have more knowledge than I do and putting it all together in a way that I can bring something spectacular forward.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: And so what I thought was really important was to talk to the OBJ Ryan's because they're on the front lines of women going through hormonal changes and they have a different understanding, more maybe about how these hormones are affecting women's health.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_01: So I thought it was really important to hear their perspective, hear what their what complaints women are coming to them with.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_01: Because I don't think a lot of women were going to their dermatologists, pinpointing hormonal change and how that's affecting their skin.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think they put the pieces together necessarily.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_01: So I think this was, you have to realize this was quite a few years ago.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_01: Now maybe women are starting to understand and connect the dots better.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_01: But at the time, I thought that was really important to have that OBGYN input so that I can really understand the pain points that women were dealing with, other than just myself.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_01: Because, like I said earlier, every woman's menopause is different.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: So, and then the dermatologists to understand, obviously, like from their perspective, what skin challenges are they constantly hearing about in midlife?
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_01: And how, and then discuss like, well, what do we think the hormones are doing and how is that affecting skin?
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_01: Just like at a silly example, we wake up at three in the morning a lot of times when you're going through menopause, or at least I do.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_01: And a lot of my friends seem to have that 3 a.m.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_01: wake up.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_01: So we're not sleeping well, and the cortisol in our bodies goes up because we're stressed and tired, and that affects your skin.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_01: So there's all these factors playing in.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I thought it was critical to understand from the dermatologist's perspective, then how or what are they seeing?
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_01: And then combine all the pain points from all these different female perspectives, aside from their own, because like I said, they my dermatologist team are both women in menopause and the OBGYNs are also females that are going through menopause.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_01: So we were all also speaking to it from lived experience.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_01: So I thought that was really important to inform how to select the right direction of what we wanted to achieve to really help women.
• 28:21
  Mary Lee: So true.
• 28:23
  Mary Lee: You know, this entire how shall we say, the pain points, the what uh what is being said on the front lines, so to speak, is actually changing a lot about a woman's relationship with her own skin.
• 28:38
  Mary Lee: But for me, and I'm probably not speaking in isolation, having this relationship or this new regime with my skincare has almost become too complex because it was always as a kid in our youth, like, oh wash your face with soap and water, as our moms used to always say, a face gloss if you're really diligent.
• 28:59
  Mary Lee: Acne, maybe if you're suffering from acne phase in life.
• 29:04
  Mary Lee: But now we're in a different relationship where it's become part of our menopause self-care, if you will.
• 29:11
  Mary Lee: But simplicity, we're always looking for simplicity.
• 29:15
  Mary Lee: We want just to keep things simple.
• 29:16
  Mary Lee: And I think this might be a beautiful segue and to explain to us is the way in which the skincare regime now works with your products.
• 29:25
  Mary Lee: Talk us through that.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I thought it was really important to keep it very simple.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know about you, but I am very busy in my life.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_01: I am being pulled in a million directions.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_01: I don't have time to spend hours on my skincare, nor do I really want to.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_01: I want, and I also feel like being a bathroom chemist and layering on 10,000 different products is also not good for your skin.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_01: They don't necessarily work well together.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_01: They weren't necessarily made to work together.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_01: So I thought it was really important to create a highly edited, easy to follow, quick skincare system.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_01: So really it's a couple minutes in the morning and a couple of minutes in the evening, and you were done.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_01: Our products are consist of five products in the line.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_01: So in the morning, we have, I would start your day with our collagen boosting serum.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_01: And that is your foundation piece.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_01: That's really helping to make sure that like your cheeks don't become your jowls, right?
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_01: So like it's firming, it's and it's and our formula is really outstanding because it really targets the collagen ecosystem in your skin.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_01: So we're focusing on helping to put that collagen building peptide into your skin, but we also have technology that helps to promote and support recycling of fragmented, broken down collagen.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_01: And then we're actually all putting in vegan, biomimetic, collagen peptides into your skin as well.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_01: So we're helping to encourage synthesis of collagen, we're putting it into your skin.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's identical to collagen type three.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_01: And then we're helping to recycle that collagen.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_01: So we're really focusing on helping to build that foundation through looking at the whole system of collagen in your skin with that hydration piece as well.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_01: So we let that absorb, you put that on your skin.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_01: So we put the collagen serum on, fan your face, let it absorb, brush your teeth.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_01: And then once it's really gone into your skin, then you put on our energizing day cream.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_01: And our energizing day cream is an outstanding formula.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's more than just a moisturizer, it's more than just a cream.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_01: What it really is a treatment that lasts all day.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_01: So you're putting this on and it's really helping your skin with its tone and texture, with its hydration, which is your skin's ability to hold on to water.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_01: So it's not that you're just putting moisture on top, it's actually helping your skin improve the way it holds on to water.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_01: So this formula also has a lot of antioxidants in it, which are really also very important for your skin health and wellness.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_01: So we use an encapsulated vitamin C and E in this that as the day goes on, it gets released.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_01: So it's a really, it's like a vitamin smoothie for your face with other active ingredients, which I won't bore you with all of them, but there's it's just a powerhouse formula that I can tell you more about if you want later.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_01: And then and then we finish it with our eye cream.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_01: So our eye cream is wonderful before you start your day because we call it our flash effect eye cream.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_01: And there's a 30-minute immediate effect where in 30 minutes we had actually a 40% reduction in the appearance of the eye wrinkles.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_01: So it's really great under your makeup, or if you don't want to wear makeup and just to feel refreshed as you go about your day.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_01: But it's not, it doesn't really end there.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_01: It's actually a long-term treatment as well.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_01: So there's benefits to continuing with that eye cream because we had clinical testing show some outstanding results within 28 days, where it's really helping not only with smoothing and firming, but helping to just revitalize tired-looking eyes.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't know about you, but I always look a little tired.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_01: So that's your day and finish it with your SPF of choice.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, SPF is super critical, and I think it's a really important piece.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_01: And women, a lot of women have their own preference to what really speaks to them for their SPF.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_01: So that's the morning routine, very simple.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_01: So it's three steps.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_01: And then for evening, our evening routine, and we actually try to frame it as a ritual because it really shouldn't feel like you're going to the gym and it's like this punishing regimen.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_01: It should feel like a moment to love yourself.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_01: But the night routine is very, there's two different options to start your evening.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_01: So we have an overnight resurfacing serum.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_01: And this is a really beautiful formula because it's really important that your cells renew and that you gently exfoliate because when you have a lot of buildup on the surface, it doesn't reflect the light.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_01: It's it gives you that dull appearance.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_01: And so you really need to have that cellular renewal.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_01: However, many women, when they go through menopause, have extreme sensitivity and they don't have the ability to use the products that you use.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_01: Plus, your skin barrier is really important to protect.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_01: So we created a formula that uses flour acids, glycolic acid, and pineapple enzymes to like help with that renewal, that that gentle resurfacing.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_01: But we finished it off with putting ingredients back in that help to give your skin the nutrients it needs, the hydration and the skin barrier.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_01: And this is a leave-on.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_01: So we don't have to do anything.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_01: You just put it on, then you put our replenishing night cream on top.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_01: And our replenishing night cream is an outstanding product.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_01: It actually targets all seven shifts.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_01: And what's outstanding about it, more than anything, obviously everything has REP squared in it.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_01: So I haven't really mentioned that again, but it uses an encapsulated retinol.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_01: And retinol is like the little black drafts of skincare, is what I think.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's been around forever.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_01: Everyone thinks it's amazing.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_01: But a lot of women can't use retinols because of that sensitivity piece.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_01: So they end up not being regular with using it.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_01: They end up using it for a day, taking four days off, or not using it at all.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_01: Because we have an encapsulation delivery system, it's gentle.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I it's so exciting to see women that had to give up retinol for over 20 years are able to go back to it because it's an encapsulated delivery system.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_01: So it's fabulous.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_01: And then it also has it's like a cocoon of hydration for your skin in the evening as well, because we use these Japanese hydration ingredients that combine special algaes with the tsunaki oil.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_01: And it's really like just enveloping your skin in that softness and that hydration piece.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_01: So that's, and you just leave that all on.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_01: And then the last thing is we put the eye cream on in the evening again and you're done.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_01: So, and on the nights that you choose not to use the overnight resurfacing serum, you can pivot it with the collagen serum if you want to switch it up.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, so you can do the collagen in the morning.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you can do it at night.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_01: But the point is that you have that flexibility.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_01: And some people use the overnight resurfacing serum seven nights a week.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_01: Some people use it three nights a week.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_01: Everyone's a little bit different in how much they want to use that particular product.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_01: But I love the fact that it's so easy.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_01: There's no standing over your sink and just spending so much time trying to figure it all out.
• 36:16
  Mary Lee: Yeah.
• 36:16
  Mary Lee: So I'm glad you pointed that out, the simplicity, but in particular, the morning routine with the SPF.
• 36:22
  Mary Lee: I've always been curious and get it confused.
• 36:27
  Mary Lee: SPF goes on as a last barrier with all your protection.
• 36:30
  Mary Lee: It moisturizes collagen underneath.
• 36:32
  Mary Lee: Good to know.
• 36:33
  Mary Lee: Glad you clarified that.
• 36:34
  Mary Lee: But I've also heard it that collagen is not something that necessarily can be absorbed properly through skin, and it's something that we need to ingest.
• 36:43
  Mary Lee: Talk us through a little bit about what's happening with that, how it's interestingly absorbed.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_01: Well, collagen molecules, typical collagen molecules, are large and they won't penetrate into the skin.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_01: And that's why we have our ingredient that there's that focuses on two things the peptides that are encouraging the synthesis of collagen.
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_01: So they're telling your body to signal to make its own collagen.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_01: But then we have that other ingredient that I was talking about that's in our collagen-boosting serum, that it's very small molecules, and it's made through, I believe it's made through fermentation in the lab.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_01: And it's that bioidentical exactly as collagen type three.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_01: So it's very small.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_01: So it's and it's vegan.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's so it's not made from animals or anything like that, and it actually penetrates.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_01: So that's the topical piece.
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_01: Taking collagen is great.
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_01: I think it just depends on the quality of what you're taking.
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_01: It always makes me nervous ingesting things because I don't know how regulated some of that is.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_01: And I'd like to see more data on what I'm putting into my body.
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_01: But the collagen, historically, I think is a wonderful thing.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I think, like we said earlier, it's sandwiching your care, right?
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_01: Taking care of yourself on the inside is just as important as taking your care of yourself topically.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_01: And you want to know where that collagen is going, right?
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_01: So take it in, that's fine.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_01: It's not going to be a bad place, but it may not end up necessarily on in the topical areas that you want it to go.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_01: So it's nice to then sandwich it with that products that go on top so that you're getting that into the places that you want it to go.
• 38:18
  Mary Lee: Yeah.
• 38:18
  Mary Lee: And again, I'm going to re-emphasize this as I said earlier.
• 38:22
  Mary Lee: We think skin regime, the face, at least I tend to draw my attention first.
• 38:27
  Mary Lee: The skin regime is the face, but it's my neck and the chest area that definitely shows my aging.
• 38:35
  Mary Lee: Hands, and then particularly the arms.
• 38:38
  Mary Lee: So your products are completely designed to target all those key areas of the body.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_01: So what I do is I bring down my neck and chest, whenever whatever I put on my face, I carry it down.
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_01: I carry it down onto my neck and to my chest, and then whatever's left over, I put on my hands.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_01: So for me, I think that I'm seeing the best results from making sure that I'm treating all of those areas with my products.
• 39:05
  Mary Lee: And then you also mentioned that those women who are sensitive to certain ingredients, retinol being one of them, you mentioned pineapple in one of your evening products.
• 39:15
  Mary Lee: If a woman has a food sensitivity, such as pineapple or coconut, does that translate also as a sensitivity when it's applied topically?
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I'm not an allergist, so I don't want to give medical advice, but I would say that I would be cautious and maybe do a tiny patch test and see if there's a reaction.
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it's important with any new product to try it on a small area of your skin before you make the big commitment to the whole face, just because everyone has different sensitivities and reacts differently.
• 40:34
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, one of the things we did in our line to try to mitigate that is the whole line is fragrance-free so that we were trying to give women that that cleaner experience where they don't have to wonder what's in the fragrance.
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_01: And so our free our products all smell like the natural botanicals of what's in them.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_01: But but yeah, I mean, everyone has a different sensitivity.
• 40:55
  SPEAKER_01: I have someone I know who's allergic to mushrooms, so they can't use the products because we have a lot of mushroom ingredients in our products.
• 41:02
  Mary Lee: Interesting.
• 41:03
  Mary Lee: So those who are using your products, what kind of results?
• 41:07
  Mary Lee: First of all, how long have has your res or have your products been on the market and in that time frame?
• 41:15
  Mary Lee: What kind of data have you collected?
• 41:18
  Mary Lee: Because testimonies are really deal the deal.
• 41:22
  SPEAKER_01: No, absolutely.
• 41:23
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we did a soft launch this last year.
• 41:26
  SPEAKER_01: So we're relatively new to the market, and we currently sell in dermatologists' offices, OBGYN offices, a couple med spas and on our website as well.
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_01: And really the results we're seeing and hearing are outstanding.
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_01: People are loving the way their skin is looking.
• 41:43
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, to the point where I've had dermatologists tell me like they were beyond shocked to see that topical skincare could really help look make them look refreshed, renewed.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_01: Their hydration was just really like back where it was, and that their the intensity of their dark spots was minimized and that some of the deeper lines and wrinkles were starting to be softer.
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_01: So they just felt like they had their glow back.
• 42:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 42:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm getting a lot of stories like that from a variety of women at different ages, actually, as well.
• 42:18
  Mary Lee: Yes, beautiful.
• 42:19
  Mary Lee: I do appreciate the fact that some of all are not trying to sell anti-aging where you need to have fewer wrinkles.
• 42:28
  Mary Lee: It's just merely addressing those big seven areas, the cell turnover, the deep, the dark spots, the deep lines that can be softened and even giving that glow back, restoring replenishing moisture, which is exactly what we should be hearing from the industry, rather than trying to reverse time and step in front of the mirror and suddenly say, Oh my God, I haven't looked this way since I was 20, because that is selling a fantasy.
• 42:58
  Mary Lee: What you're trying to sell is let's embrace the skin that has now arrived with our bodies, but do so in such a way that we can still feel a sense of, and I won't say youthfulness, but a sense of replenishment that the skin, no matter what, is craving.
• 43:20
  Mary Lee: That's what we need.
• 43:21
  Mary Lee: We need the moisture.
• 43:23
  Mary Lee: So I really appreciate what you have to sell on that.
• 43:26
  Mary Lee: It's as you say in the language on your website, uh who you've been and who you're becoming.
• 43:34
  Mary Lee: And that is such a beautiful way to uh embrace the menopause, the whole menopause transition, whether it be its skin, changes to your frame, changes to your strength.
• 43:46
  Mary Lee: It's just honor the woman who has arrived and then do so wisely by optimizing optimizing your health and skin being also part of that health.
• 43:57
  Mary Lee: So if I'm gonna pose this question, if menopause is not something we need to fix, but something to move through.
• 44:05
  Mary Lee: What do you hope women see when they look in the mirror on the other side?
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_01: Possible.
• 44:20
  Mary Lee: I love that, Stacey.
• 44:22
  Mary Lee: So beautiful.
• 44:23
  Mary Lee: So you told us where they can get your products.
• 44:25
  Mary Lee: You're selling it in certain dermatology offices and clinics and gynecologist clinics also on your website.
• 44:32
  Mary Lee: We'll get to that sharing it on your website.
• 44:35
  Mary Lee: But what I wanted to leave with is a couple of rapid fire questions, just so we can have a better understanding, a little bit more of who you are, what drives your ambition in this field of women's health.
• 44:52
  Mary Lee: So it's a little fun.
• 44:53
  Mary Lee: So you're ready?
• 44:53
  Mary Lee: You're ready for okay.
• 44:55
  Mary Lee: Rapid fire with Stacey.
• 44:58
  Mary Lee: Retinol or peptides?
• 45:01
  Mary Lee: I have to choose.
• 45:04
  Mary Lee: It's not fair, is it?
• 45:05
  Mary Lee: Because you use it.
• 45:06
  Mary Lee: That's not fair.
• 45:12
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know both.
• 45:17
  Mary Lee: You know what?
• 45:18
  Mary Lee: That's a perfect thing.
• 45:18
  Mary Lee: I'm gonna put on my PR hat.
• 45:20
  Mary Lee: This is where you block and you bridge.
• 45:23
  Mary Lee: It's never about a choice.
• 45:25
  Mary Lee: It's bridging too.
• 45:26
  Mary Lee: It's understanding the role of both of them.
• 45:28
  Mary Lee: And you've explained that beautiful.
• 45:29
  Mary Lee: Yeah.
• 45:30
  Mary Lee: But I will make another one little bit, one or the other.
• 45:33
  Mary Lee: Serum or moisturizer?
• 45:36
  Mary Lee: Ooh, I like serums.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_01: Tell us a little bit more.
• 45:41
  SPEAKER_01: I like the concentration.
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_01: I like how it sinks into my skin.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_01: I just always feel like I love my moisturizers, but I always feel like I like the intensity that I it's really not intensity, but the I like the application process of the serum.
• 45:56
  SPEAKER_01: I like how it sinks into my skin.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_01: And I just psychologically I always feel like it's doing something more.
• 46:02
  Mary Lee: Yeah.
• 46:03
  Mary Lee: Yeah.
• 46:04
  Mary Lee: So true.
• 46:05
  Mary Lee: Let's go back to the collagen supplements idea.
• 46:09
  Mary Lee: Are they helpful or are they more of a hype?
• 46:13
  SPEAKER_01: The ingestible supplements?
• 46:16
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna say a little hype.
• 46:19
  Mary Lee: Okay.
• 46:20
  Mary Lee: Okay.
• 46:21
  Mary Lee: Again, because the industry is trying to sell us on something that's yeah, we should see something.
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'd like just to see more data.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_01: And I think if I saw more data, I might change my mind.
• 46:35
  SPEAKER_01: But until I see more data, I'm not buying into anything.
• 46:39
  Mary Lee: Beautiful.
• 46:39
  Mary Lee: And you know what?
• 46:40
  Mary Lee: I'm so glad you said that, Stacy, because that echoes the sentiment of Dr.
• 46:43
  Mary Lee: Stacy Sims, another Stacy, as she's a sports and exercise physiologist, well outspoken, speaking about women, trailblazing women in the field of menopause or in the arena of menopause.
• 46:56
  Mary Lee: And she says that too, that right now the data is inconclusive when it comes to skin care, although there's still supporting data if you're taking it for joint support, joint pain, joint support, but in terms of skin.
• 47:10
  Mary Lee: So very good that you reiterated that message.
• 47:15
  Mary Lee: I wasn't trying to put you on the spot, but well done.
• 47:19
  Mary Lee: One thing that we haven't gotten too much into it, but I'll throw it into these rapid fire questions for a helpful hype.
• 47:25
  Mary Lee: Red light therapy.
• 47:26
  Mary Lee: Is it worth the investment?
• 47:29
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I think so.
• 47:29
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_01: Hey.
• 47:33
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'm not an expert on red light therapy, but I think that the science is really interesting.
• 47:38
  SPEAKER_01: And I think obviously it depends on the quality of the red light that you're accessing.
• 47:43
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'm not sure.
• 47:44
  SPEAKER_01: If you buy it off of Amazon, it may not be worth it.
• 47:47
  SPEAKER_01: You have to have the right professional grade red light, but I think it's really worthwhile and interesting.
• 47:53
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 47:54
  Mary Lee: Good.
• 47:55
  Mary Lee: More in lines of the hype.
• 47:57
  Mary Lee: Botox.
• 47:59
  Mary Lee: Hype or helpful?
• 48:01
  Mary Lee: Is it preventative or is it more pressure?
• 48:04
  SPEAKER_01: I think it can be a good tool in the toolbox.
• 48:07
  SPEAKER_01: I think that obviously the more micro expressions that you make, the more wrinkled depth occurs.
• 48:14
  SPEAKER_01: It's just like anything, like with that redundant action.
• 48:18
  SPEAKER_01: So if that's something that a person doesn't necessarily want to have, I think that Botox can be a tool in the toolbox, but you have to protect your investment with other skincare.
• 48:29
  SPEAKER_01: It's not in lieu of anything else.
• 48:31
  Mary Lee: I love that.
• 48:33
  Mary Lee: What is one thing women should stop doing to their skin during menopause?
• 48:37
  Mary Lee: Oh, aggressive exfoliation.
• 48:41
  unknown: Okay.
• 48:43
  SPEAKER_01: Stop treating it aggressively.
• 48:45
  SPEAKER_01: Be gentle to your skin.
• 48:46
  SPEAKER_01: And on the flip side, one thing when women should start doing right now.
• 48:52
  SPEAKER_01: Taking care of your skin.
• 48:53
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, really giving it the nutrients that it needs to make sure that it, you're not, it's always better to be proactive than corrective.
• 49:01
  SPEAKER_01: So if you take care of your skin now, you're in you're engaging in that longevity piece of making sure that your skin maintains and looks its best.
• 49:12
  Mary Lee: Mm-hmm.
• 49:14
  Mary Lee: You're stuck on a str on a stranded island, a deserted island.
• 49:18
  Mary Lee: What is the one product you would want to have with you?
• 49:21
  Mary Lee: I think my day cream.
• 49:22
  Mary Lee: Okay.
• 49:23
  Mary Lee: Which of has the AP squared?
• 49:26
  SPEAKER_01: Has my AP squared.
• 49:27
  SPEAKER_01: Everything has our AP squared in it, but it also has my antioxidants and all of my other beautiful nutrients that I think could get could keep me going.
• 49:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 49:39
  Mary Lee: Fill in the blank.
• 49:40
  Mary Lee: Midlife skin doesn't need to look younger.
• 49:42
  Mary Lee: It needs to blank.
• 49:44
  Mary Lee: Look healthier.
• 49:47
  Mary Lee: Yeah.
• 49:49
  Mary Lee: Not younger.
• 49:50
  Mary Lee: Healthier.
• 49:51
  Mary Lee: Healthier.
• 49:52
  Mary Lee: Yes.
• 49:53
  Mary Lee: I love that.
• 49:54
  Mary Lee: Stacey, tell our listeners where they can find your products, where they can find you a little bit more about the research or the ingredients that goes into your products.
• 50:05
  Mary Lee: Take it away.
• 50:07
  SPEAKER_01: So our website is www.sumofall.com and it's spelled sumofall.com.
• 50:16
  SPEAKER_01: And we also are on Instagram at some of all beauty.
• 50:21
  SPEAKER_01: And there's underscores between each word.
• 50:24
  SPEAKER_01: So those are the two places that are good to find us, and obviously for your shopping and to check us out on our website is the best place.
• 50:32
  Mary Lee: Beautiful.
• 50:33
  Mary Lee: I'll get all those links in the show notes show description below.
• 50:36
  Mary Lee: Stacy, this has been very informative.
• 50:39
  Mary Lee: Uh I'm I'm thrilled to hear that you are relying on not just the industry hype, but you're actually dug deep into the ingredients that not only perform well, but perform well together to keep it simple, less confusing.
• 50:53
  Mary Lee: So we'll share those products and everything about what you do on your website.
• 50:57
  Mary Lee: Congratulations to your business, your launch, and your all-female team that is backing you.
• 51:03
  Mary Lee: So thrill thrilled to see this in our in the menopause disrupting industry is that we're taking control, we're taking charge, and we're not listening to the narrative anymore.
• 51:12
  Mary Lee: One powerful thing that you would like to give our listeners advice on right now.
• 51:19
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I think it speaks to what I said a little earlier.
• 51:21
  SPEAKER_01: Just still believe in what's possible for yourself.
• 51:25
  SPEAKER_01: That we still have so much ahead of us.
• 51:28
  SPEAKER_01: And midlife is not a time for endings, it's a time for new beginnings and new possibilities.
• 51:35
  Mary Lee: I love that.
• 51:35
  Mary Lee: Thank you so much for sharing your expertise, your energy, your insightfulness, your wisdom.
• 51:41
  Mary Lee: Very informative conversation.
• 51:43
  Mary Lee: Thank you.
• 51:45
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for having me.
• 51:46
  SPEAKER_01: I really enjoyed this.
• 51:47
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate it.