Latest / Healing Her Story with Riva Jean-Paul / Skin, Cycles & Beauty Standards: Reclaiming True Radiance with Jamie Dillavou

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Skin, Cycles & Beauty Standards: Reclaiming True Radiance with Jamie Dillavou · Healing Her Story with Riva Jean-Paul

• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: Hello everyone, welcome to today's episode of the Healing Her Story podcast.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: I am, as always, just so excited.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: I love these guest episodes.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's such a beautiful opportunity to connect with like-hearted women all over the world.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: And today we've got a returning guest who I'm just yeah, always so in awe of.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: Such a wise, wise, wise, wise woman, and always has so much um, yeah, so much insight and wisdom to share.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: So really looking forward to today's conversation.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: If you haven't listened to her first episode, today we are meeting with Jamie.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: And Jamie is one of my cycle coach school sisters.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: We were just talking about how much we missed our little podcasts and all of our group calls that we went through in psycho coach school together.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: And Jamie has been well on her journey.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's always so fun to follow her Instagram page and see all the cool, insightful tips and things she's sharing.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: And uh she's just such an inspiration.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: I like I it's like you know, when you say like that's who I want to be when I grow up, it's like I I wish I was like Jamie when I was like 10 years ago.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, that's that's where I would have loved to be.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's like right where Jamie is now.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: So uh today, as I was saying, we are joined by Jamie, a certified menstrual cycle coach and accredited international practitioner of holistic medicine.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: Jamie's journey began at just 13 when her first period opened the door to a lifelong curiosity about the mysteries of the menstrual cycle.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: By 19, struggling with debilitating cramps and other symptoms, she was guided by a naturopath to start asking deeper questions.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: Questions that sparked a passion for menstrual health and hormone balance that has shaped her path ever since.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: Since 2018, Jamie has dedicated herself to studying the menstrual cycle and holistic approaches to hormone health.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: Now she supports women in healing their periods and imbalances naturally, helping them reconnect with their bodies, honor their cyclical rhythms, and embrace a vision of beauty and empowerment rooted in balance rather than resistance.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: Jamie, welcome back to the show.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for having me on.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_02: I'm so happy to be here and talk about this.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like I haven't talked about cycles with another like fellow coach in a long time.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_02: And it just feels really good to talk to somebody that also knows what's going on.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I don't know, it's just freeing, you know.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: I do know.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: I love it too.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's like funny when you're out kind of interacting in the world and and people don't always have that same awareness.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, you just can't like relate to them in the same kind of way.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: So uh yeah, it always feels just kind of like a homecoming to connect with yeah, other cycle sisters on this path.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, for sure.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: So good to be here.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: Well, let's get into it today, Jamie.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: Today we are talking about beauty and more specifically skincare.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: And again, this is something I've seen you uh talk about on your page.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: And today we'll start a little different.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: I usually ask guests to share their story, but since you've been on the show before and you've shared your story before, and we're talking about skin, I'm wondering if you would be open to sharing your skin story.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yes.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, let's hear.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_02: And boy, do I have one.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_02: All right, let's get into it.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_02: So um, my skin story.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_02: I have very, very acne-prone, sensitive, and dry skin.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_02: So it's a super fun, complicated combination of things.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um I struggled all through my teen years into almost into my early 20s with just acne that I could not get rid of for the life of me.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_02: I tried everything.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_02: I went to dermatologists, I went to different um aestheticians, and just no one's stuff ever helped me until I found um the woman that I've been seeing now, my esthetician, Valerie.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_02: Love her.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_02: I started seeing her when I was 20.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_02: I was a little bit into my 20th year, and I found her, and she specializes in acne-prone skin, and she literally changed my life.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_02: And I learned so much about um poor clogging ingredients and found out basically everything I've ever used: makeup, skincare, shampoo, conditioner, all this stuff um that just isn't good for acne-prone skin girlies.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_02: And she has her own product line that I've been using for the past six years, and I don't think I'll ever use anything else.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_02: Like when she retires, I don't know what I'm gonna do.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_02: So I hope she has somebody to refer me to.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_02: But she literally saved my skin, and everyone that's local to me, like I sent them to her.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, skip all these other places.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_02: You're seeing my girl, Val.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, so she's been a huge um just help in educating me on skincare in general and just all the different elements of it.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_02: Um she looks at skin holistically, so diet, lifestyle, and product.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like the perfect mix of everything.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_02: It's not too natural, but it's not too harsh and chemically that's a word.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, that's my little spiel.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_02: And even now, sometimes if I get too confident, I'm like, oh, I'm gonna let me just my skin's been good for a while, let me try something.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_02: Nope.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_02: And I can't do that no matter how old I get.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_02: So that's fun, but yeah, and then of course, getting into menstrual health and stuff and learning about the different hormones and how hormones impact your skin, like from texture to hydration and all that stuff, it's very, very neat and interesting.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, wonderful.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for sharing that.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think you're um alone in that that struggle with acne-prone skin.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I think specifically in those teenage years, I know that was something I really struggled with as well when our hormones are changing, and there's so much like about life that is changing too.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: And so it makes sense that like that additional stress of of change around that age can come with um, yeah, flare-ups, and maybe for some of us more than others.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, while you were sharing your story, I thought of proactive.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: Did you ever use proactive?
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_02: I did not, but I did not, but I would beg my mom to let me use it, and she would not let me use it, but I'm thinking she did not let me because that shit is harsh.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_02: Really?
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: I'll burn your face off, according to I used it for a little bit because I struggled with acne, yeah, and I used proactive for a little bit, and and I think it worked, but it was like expensive to keep up, and so I think I just stopped using it.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: And um, yeah, I don't remember what I did after that.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know if they had this everywhere, but I remember at my local mall, yeah, they had like the machine where you can buy proactive.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_02: This must really work.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: Are they still around?
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: Do you know?
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_02: No, they're not.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, jeez.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_02: Wow, that was a crazy time.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_02: They had all the celebrities too doing commercial sport.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that that's funny.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: I love kind of reminiscing on yeah, just those old old memories from that time of my life.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_02: So that was so 2000s from yeah, totally.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: Well, um, yeah, let's let's kind of reel it back in.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: That was a really nice start just to kind of drop us into this discussion today of skin.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um you've already mentioned how our hormones affect skin and how it changes across the cycle.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: And so I'm wondering if you can walk us through how our skin actually changes across the different phases of the menstrual cycle.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_02: So I guess we'll start at the beginning of the cycle, the menstrual phase.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_02: And this, as you know, is when all hormones are at their lowest.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_02: And so the super fun hormone that gives us so much energy and life, estrogen, is one of the hormones that's at its lowest.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_02: And because it's responsible for skin hydration and vitality and collagen production during your period, you might notice that your skin is a little more dry and dull, and that can cause breakouts because your skin is so dry, and the dry skin cells can clog your pores.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um, this is also the phase of the menstrual cycle where everything's very sensitive from our emotions to our skin.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_02: So it's really important during this phase to more so focus on hydration, like using hydrating masks and really thick, beautiful creams.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and also drinking electrolytes during this phase too, in general, is good for your body, but that will also help with some of the dullness and dryness that we see in the skin.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, potential, dull, dry.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_02: Kind of like how you feel, that's what's happening on phase two.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I would not or I don't personally use any harsh chemicals or anything during this phase, again, because it's a very sensitive phase for our skin.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_02: And then we go into the follicular pre-ovulatory phase where estrogen is beginning to rise.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_02: So we have a little bit more hydration happening in our face.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_02: Um you might notice that your skin is a little bit more clear, radiant, and pump.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_02: Pump when we think plump, because we're just getting that life back with beautiful estrogen.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_02: And during this phase, I would say just keep up with your normal skincare routine because your skin isn't necessarily too oily during this phase, because estrogen is not yet peaked, but we're getting there.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but it's also not going to be too dry where um we have to focus so much on just hydrating.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_02: So our skin is becoming a little bit more resilient during this space.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_02: So it's a good time to introduce more chemicals if you're willing to use chemicals, you know.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_02: When it comes to skincare, I'm not super, I learned to not be super natural with it.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_02: I'm I just kind of use what works because I have gone through phases of just trying to use natural skincare, but my skin would still break out really bad.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_02: And there are a lot of pore clogging ingredients in natural skincare.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_02: And it works for a lot of people.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_02: If you have acne-prone skin like me, it does not work for me.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm not scared to kind of use a little bit more, I guess we could call them active ingredients.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_02: But this is a good phase where we can introduce more active ingredients because our skin is a little bit more um yeah, resilient.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_02: So then we move into the ovulatory phase, just a quick moment in time that may have been our cycle, and also that shows up on our skin too, because estrogen is now peaking.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_02: And so you might notice that your skin looks I have dry skin, so I like it personally.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_02: But if you already have oily skin, this can be a phase where you feel really, really like greasy and oily.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_02: And so, because of that, like it is okay again to use more active ingredients here, like even drying, like clay masks.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_02: If you find yourself like breaking out in certain spots, spot treating.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_02: I personally love benzoil peroxide, that helps me a lot when I have breakouts, and your skin can handle it here.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um what else about the ovulatory phase?
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_02: Testosterone.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_02: So, testosterone, we have a spike in that during when ovulation happens, and a lot of women can be sensitive to testosterone, and that's what would cause a hormonal breakout during that phase is testosterone because it's a male hormone, if you will.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and if you're sensitive to that, that can cause breakouts specifically like on the chin and jawline.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_02: I actually read something around that.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_02: You get that?
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_02: Listen to this.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know how true or not this is, but I read, I don't remember where, so I can't like reference it a few years ago.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_02: That, or it could be like an old wives' tale.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know that you you know what ovary you're ovulating from based off of where you break out on your chin.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: Interesting.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_02: I know, and I will say it could just be placebo from hearing this, but when I break out during ovulation, I'm like, hmm, who's not like but I don't know if that's true or not, but it's just it's interesting to me.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, okay.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um what can help with the peak in testosterone is spearmint tea.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of women that have PCOS are recommended spearmint tea just because it kind of helps balance out testosterone a little bit.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_02: So that can help with um breakups as well.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_02: And then last but certainly not least, we have everyone's favorite, like the luteal phase.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_02: That's always fun.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_02: Um during the luteal phase, our hormones are slowly on a decline.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_02: After ovulation, we get another peak, but then they just like fall after that and it all goes to shit, including our skin.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_02: And I like to say this is kind of the phase where your the skin type you have kind of shows through because if you have dry skin with estrogen dropping, my skin personally becomes really, really dry here.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_02: But if you have more oily skin, the hormone that takes over during the luteal phase progesterone, um that can cause more sebum production in the skin, which in result can clog the pores and cause breakouts of them because sebum makes your skin a little more oily.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_02: So, yeah, I say the luteal phase is where we really see our natural skin really shine, what we're working with.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um, during this phase, because we can be a little bit more a little bit more bloated, and skin cells are kind of piling up after we had a big increase in collagen in the first half of our phase.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_02: Um I would focus on lymph drainage here.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_02: Using saunas, or if you don't have access to a sauna, like just looking up like lymph drainage massages, and they're super easy to do, and all you need is like some oil or a cream so that way you're not like dragging your skin so much.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_02: But those can be really beneficial to help with the bloating we might see and the puffiness, and also just bring some more blood flow to the face if it's looking a little bit more dull.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, I think I covered all four phases there.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_02: I think.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you did.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: Wonderful.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: I took some notes.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that was a really um just helpful walkthrough of how it changes across the four cycles.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: And as you're naming things, I'm like, oh yeah, I guess I do kind of notice that.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm definitely excited to track it more closely myself and um yeah, play with some of the things that you mentioned.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: I found the um the lymph drainage thing in the alluteal phase to be really interesting too.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm wondering if you've ever um explored dry brushing.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I know that's something that I do.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_02: I have not, yeah, but I hear it's really good for you.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_02: Do you do it in the shower?
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: I do it before I get in the shower.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_01: Before you get in the shower.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I usually like to do it around um the phase that I'm in right now, which is my inner spring.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_00: And so now I'm curious to try it a little bit more um in the luteal phase and see what that's like.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_02: And can you dry brush your whole body or is it like only you only do certain parts?
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: You do um your whole body, you start from um like furthest away from your heart, and you work your way towards your heart and you brush towards your heart.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: So I usually start down at my feet, and then I'll brush up my legs, going towards my heart, and then I'll kind of do like my belly and my back, and then my arms and my armpit, my chest, my neck, and then I'll switch sides and do the same thing.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_02: Oh wow.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it takes just like a few minutes.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna have to look into that because I have heard of people doing that, but I don't know.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_02: I just I'm like, what, why?
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's it's an Ayurvedic uh practice.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and it's for your lymph nodes and drainage to just kind of like get things moving, I believe.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it does also exfoliate the skin a little bit too.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, I'm sold.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'll be doing that, yeah.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: That and um goua shaw is also something that I really like.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_00: Have you tried gouasha before?
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_02: I have a few times, but then I always just forget to do it.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I really like to do it um in the bath um or like in bed or something, and I'll get a little oil, and I usually will kind of go.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I start with the neck, and then and I've actually had a massage therapist who does lymphatic drainage walk me through how to do it.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: So you always clear out your neck first, and then everything goes down towards the heart.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: And then once you've cleared out the neck, you can kind of go along the jaw, um, along like underneath the eyes, the eyebrows, and then like the forehead, and you do all of that up upwards towards the crown.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_02: I follow this one girl, I don't know what her title is, but her name is Anastasia, and she went viral on Instagram and TikTok for facial and scalp massages.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and like she like reversed, not to like switch topics, but she like reversed, like aged.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_02: Like she looks younger now in her 30s than she did when she was like 25 years old.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_02: And it all has to do with how your skin just starts to drag down.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_02: But if you do these massages, it like brings the skin like back and down and it ties into like lymph drainage and like all this stuff, and it's incredible.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_02: And she gets accused all the time of getting Botox and fillers and all this stuff, and she doesn't have any of that.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_02: And I don't think anyone her age should have that either.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_02: Like it's so crazy, not to switch topics, but how we've normalized young women.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_02: When I say young woman, I'm talking like 47 under you're a young woman, getting Botox and filler everywhere, and everyone's starting to kind of look the same.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: And it's just so scary, like how much we've normalized it because 19-year-olds are looking at this, looking at like lip filler, for example, as a trend.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's not a trend that's mutilating your body, and like no judgment.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_02: If you want to get lip filler, get your lip filler.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_02: It's not about you getting a lip filler, it's about how we've normalized it to teenage girls.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_02: That's just like 18, 19-year-old girls don't need lip filter.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, totally.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_02: Like you need to be like in school, like a little.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, I hear you.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the body is is still developing, and um, you're absolutely right.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, I mean, I think this is very related, the idea of beauty standards and who sets them and who who subscribes to them, and the cost in which we are adhering to these unrealistic beauty standards.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it makes me think of I just lost it.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: Let's see if it comes back.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um come back.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: So good.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: It floated away.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: Beauty standards, and um, oh goodness.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: Oh goodness, I'll have to see if it if it comes back.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: I think it will.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because yeah, it was it was important, but it's it's floated away.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll see if it comes back.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_02: When that happens, I know.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_02: It'll come back.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_02: I'm putting the vibe out there, it'll come back.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, it'll come back.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's like right there.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_00: So I think I just need to stop thinking about it and and it'll float back in.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so yeah, let's let's keep the conversation going here.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um now um you've already Already kind of described what's happening hormonally that contributes to things like breakouts and dryness and sensitivity.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_02: So would you say it's mostly estrogen and testosterone, it sounds like I guess it's kind of all of them because then an elluteal phase, progesterone, down with the sebum production, that can clog pores.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_02: Like they all really do.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_02: It's amazing how how potent they all are in the jobs that they do that they can show up on our face.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_02: Like I don't know why I'm thinking about this, but I guess it makes sense.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_02: Like estrogen is also responsible for like vaginal lubrication.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_02: So in the luteal phase when estrogen is dropping, like you might notice like down there is drier too, but that's also like skin and membrane.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like your face is kind of reflecting like what's going on in your lady bits, too.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_02: It's kind of amazing.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um one thing I did forget in the luteal phase that can help with kind of just the stressors of um it becoming a little bit more sensitive again.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_02: Your skill, your skin is a little bit duller and etc.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_02: They make anti-pollutant skin toners that can kind of protect your face from outside pollutants that one hydrate and balance your face, but again, also protect from outside stressors that can be really beneficial during the luteal phase.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know why I'm thinking about that.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_02: That just came to me.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, I love it.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_00: That sounds that sounds great.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_00: Anti-pollutant toners, you said.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, wonderful.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_00: So many um things to explore there.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_00: And you are um correct.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm I'm seeing what you're seeing too, how the skin mirrors what's happening, the lower skin as well.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, it makes me curious and excited to to kind of track and and notice that.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I guess we can we can go there.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_00: I'm wondering about now, I've always heard like as far as like skin down below, like in the vulva, you you're not really supposed to do much.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_00: I think they have you know wipes and um lotions and creams and stuff, but from what I understand, it's it's pretty self-cleansing.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, what are your thoughts on that?
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, like internal, because I feel like a lot of people get the terminology wrong, and maybe it's because you and I were like heavily educated on it.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_02: Like us, we're like, oh yeah, the ball, but the vagina, and like we can recognize all the different parts of it, but a lot of people just refer to down there as a vagina, so things can kind of get lost in translations.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_02: You are right, so the vagina itself is referring to the vaginal canal, so that's internal, and the internal is what is self-cleaning with discharge and all that fun stuff, but the like the vaginal lips, the labia, that you can clean.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_02: Like I encourage everyone to be cleaning that, at least with like water or something, or like even just a mild soap, because you don't want to get stinky, because you know, we do sweat, and it is that would be the external body part internal self-clean, external, you can clean.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_02: That's how I really love I'm not into like the um like the special washes and stuff.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like that's a little bit much with like fragrance and chemicals and all that stuff.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_02: But I do like really good free period too.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_02: Like if I'm out and about or know I'm gonna have a long day.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_02: The brand Honey Pot makes uh sensitive wipes, they make scented ones too, but I like the sensitive ones that do a really good job at cleaning the external and they just keep you smelling fresh, like if you had like a really long day or you're just like out and about and have so many things to do, or if you're on your period and everything's a little bit messy, like they just help you feel really clean without anything harsh in there.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_02: So I really like those, but just a mild soap or even just water, but no, internal, please, please, ladies, do not clean internal, like that's you don't need to be doing that.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, okay.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_00: So yes to the external along the labia, uh, but no to the internal for cleansing.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_00: And now I'm also wondering for hydration too.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_00: Are is it appropriate to apply like it?
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_00: Let's say, like I know for myself, I I've really like um like really nice high-quality oils.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if you wanted to do like a gentle massage, or if the skin was feeling a little dry down there, would it be okay to kind of like rub a little bit of oil on the or what do you think?
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_00: Because it's so close to that internal pathway.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_02: I've heard mixed things specifically about coconut oil.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_02: I heard technically coconut oil is safe to use, like even as like a lubricant.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, however, I heard other people say that it can throw off your pH.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_02: So that's one of the things that I'm still like willing to, or should actually I should write that down, explore that more.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_02: But I mean, just like anything, you can find research for and against literally everything.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_02: But I did I have heard coconut oil is safe.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, have heard that, okay.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_00: Cannot cannot confirm, but I've heard it.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, and don't tell people I told you that.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, I I don't know.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_02: I guess trial and error.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_03: Sure.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_02: I used coconut oil before just to like see, and I didn't notice that my pH balance was off or anything, but I don't know how I would notice that, like nothing happened, like I didn't get like a UTI or like bacterial vaginosis or anything like that.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_02: I'm so ADD.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_02: It just reminds me.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_02: I guess if you wanted to clean internally, a safe way to do that would be boni steaming.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_02: I have gone through periods of time, yes.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh, it's so good, it's so good in just relaxing.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_02: Like, even if you don't, it does have a lot of benefits internally, but even if you just want to like connect with yourself or just relax, like I can't even describe you know, because you do them how relaxing it feels.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, like it's it's very relaxing, and um, yeah, I get a lot of benefit from it too.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I've I've had really the Yoni Steaming specifically, I've had um, I feel like I've had some sexual trauma cleared out through a couple steams, not like every time, but there's been like a few really potent ones where I was like, whoa, I feel like I just let go of a lot of um just kind of like energetic residue from previous, you know, relationships and situations.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_00: And um I've also noticed too in intercourse um with my husband, I've noticed like um there's like a tightness.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and when I'm really diligent about the steaming, everything kind of like softens a little bit, and I find it's it's more receptive for um for penetration.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_00: So that's something I've tracked with that too.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_02: I wonder if they recommend that in pelvic floor therapy.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I don't know.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know, but I feel like they should, but I don't know anything about pelvic floor therapy.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_02: But when you were describing like tightness and just like like especially women after they give birth and things can kind of be like tight here, loose here, and there's just a lot going on, and they see a pelvic floor therapist.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like yoni steaming would be really good.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_02: Like what you were saying with just relaxing everything down there and just opening up to invite in, you know, because that's what you're kind of doing when you're yoni steaming, like it relaxes you, but you're also welcoming in like the steam and the herbs, and I love yoni steaming.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_02: I tend to only do it in the autumn though, because it gets really hot in the summer.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_00: You too.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_00: You know what?
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_00: When you said autumn, I thought my inner autumn.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_02: Oh I was like, yeah, no, I get it now.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_02: But yes, in inner autumn, that's also when I do it.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah, I could see it getting a little hot in the summer.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, I I've slowed down, and I wonder if that's just kind of intuitively why um over the last couple months.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_00: I did one from before my last plead because I just felt like I need I needed one.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_00: Love it.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_00: That was a wonderful little little sidebar.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_00: It all kind of feeds in though and and ties in um really well.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I guess we can kind of shift more to um kind of what we were talking about before as far as beauty standards.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I do remember my little thing that floated away did come back in.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's just it's kind of something that like I want to say grinds my gears.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_00: I never say that, but that's the term that's coming through.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_00: You'll I often will see, you know, like a wellness event and like a wellness spa.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_00: And the services are Botox, lip filling.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, is it wellness?
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_02: I I don't know.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_02: I know exactly what you're talking about.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's absurd, and it's not wellness.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_02: Botox is literally toxins, and maybe I'm not knocking it.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_02: One day, I'll probably be like, you know what?
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_02: But one day I probably will.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I'm not gonna lie.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_02: But it's more just like young women like you and I, like, we don't need that.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_02: We don't need that because you know why?
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_02: Because we have a menstrual cycle and all these hormones, like it really is like more towards menopause when estrogen drops and like everything else drops with it.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_02: Like, that's when you'll start to notice like the little like turkey neck going on, or like your skin just sagging more and your skin's more dry, so more lines show.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_02: Then I'll probably be like, okay, you know what?
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_02: This is happening.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_02: But I just I don't like how normalized that it is for younger women, like it just it doesn't make any sense to me because these are the days where we really should be embracing what God gave us where we're at right now, our youth, celebrating our youth, and that shows in our face and in our body, and it just I don't know, it bothers me.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_02: Like when I was 20 or 21, I did fall for the lip filler thing.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_02: I never got it again.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_02: I was one and done, so everything you see now is natural.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, but I did fall for it, and so I kind of understand the mindset because I wasn't even self-conscious about my lips.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I wasn't like, oh my god, like my lips.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_02: Like it quite literally was all these YouTubers that was watching that were around my age were getting lip filler, and I liked how it looked with lipstick on, so I was like, I'll just try it, like it'll look good no matter what, and then I got it, and I was just kind of like, I didn't like it's not even necessarily that I didn't like how I looked because I felt like I looked fine with lip filler, it was more like I didn't like feeling that it was fake, beauty, and that it wasn't mine, like those lips were not mine, it looked pretty and it was fine, but they weren't mine, and so I would never get lip filler again.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_02: Botox will get there one day.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_02: I'm never getting lip filler harbor again, yeah.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, but so I understand the mindset of being young and being like, oh, all these other people are doing it, and like it looks like it's just a very like immature kind of like yeah, and that's kind of how influenced young girls are by people we look up to.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, very much so.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_00: More more so I would say.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we're all um influenced by the media and social media and all the things that we're consuming, and women especially um, you know, are more more susceptible, especially at that young age where our brains are still developing, our identity is still shaping.
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, I'm I'm really grateful I've grown up in the day and age that I've grown up.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um I mean, I was a teenager when MySpace came out, and um I definitely had my my time with social media in my teens, but nowadays it's it's pretty terrible.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, some of the bullying and just the um the expectations and and everything that is just kind of like coercing through the the atmosphere that is social media and the internet.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's yeah, I've d I did an episode on this actually, how social media um influences young girls and and women and it's um it's quite unsettling.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_02: And all these girls are so beautiful too, yeah, but all their faces are starting to look the same.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_02: They all have the same cheeks and the same nose and the same lips.
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_02: And I love looking at women from like the 80s and 90s, like when they were teenagers or like in their early 20s, like watching like a sitcom from the 90s, you see their faces and they're all so beautiful, but they're all uniquely beautiful, they all look so different and have very distinct features.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_02: And our culture has kind of shifted from having distinct features to everyone having very similar features.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_02: And are these women still beautiful?
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, but they're we're missing that kind of unique type of beauty.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I hear that.
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and then we want to come back unique beauty.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I wanna I want everyone to have like distinct features that are like, oh my gosh, you cannot replicate this with filler and Botox.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_02: You can't, yeah.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_02: Like filler and Botox and a boob job and a BBL can only get you so far.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_02: Like having kind eyes and a genuine smile will get you a lot further, and it also feels better inside too, yeah, you know, for you.
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_00: I love that kind eyes and and what did you say, kind eyes and a smile?
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_00: Genuine smile, yeah, yeah, and even just like the the beauty of our spirit and our heart, like that can really come through, and I feel like that's actually harder to see um when it is covered with like you've kind of named things that aren't really ours.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_02: So can I ask you a question, even though it's just your podcast?
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_02: When do you feel the most beautiful?
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_00: Definitely in my inner summer.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_02: In your inner summer.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_02: And what makes you feel beautiful during your inner summer?
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_02: Like what can you describe what exactly it is that makes you feel that way?
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's like it's like the sense of like looking in the mirror and just being so happy with like um, you know, of course, like I want to say it's what I see, and I'm also wondering if it's like what I'm what I'm how I'm feeling inside is filtering what I am seeing.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_00: Because sure, there's probably some weight fluctuations that we've already kind of talked about across the cycle.
• 40:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and that's that's a big one for me.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_00: I was bullied as a child for my weight, for being overweight, and so that's always been something that I've had to deal with.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm always kind of contending with that that um voice inside that doesn't that says that I don't look like the beauty standard, right?
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so that's something that I deal with quite a bit, and I noticed that I don't deal with it as much in my inner summer, and so yeah, maybe it is just the estrogen and just the feel goodness that's that's moving through my system that kind of just allows me to maybe really see myself for for who I really am.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_02: Well, that's beautiful.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_02: What the heck?
• 40:49
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_02: It's so true though.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_02: Like if you look at people around you and compare yourselves to other people, or even just listen to what people, like especially being young, listening to what people have to say about your body, like if you genuinely listen to that, you'll never ever ever be good enough, and nobody will ever be satisfied with you because like you're telling me you were bullied or pecked on because they thought you were overweight and you struggle with that.
• 41:22
  SPEAKER_02: I was picked on for being skinny and like not having meat on me.
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_02: It's like what what do you want from them?
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_02: What do you want?
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_02: And it's like they don't want anything, they just have they.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know who they are, these people that have saved.
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_02: They just have all this extra energy to just like put on other people, and it's like it builds thick skin, that's for sure.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but you'll you'll never be good enough if you listen to what other people have to say about you.
• 41:53
  SPEAKER_02: Because there's no there's no version of perfect that's actually perfect, because then if you actually listen to people like, oh, this is pretty, you're still not gonna be good enough because then they'll find something else wrong with you.
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_02: Bye.
• 42:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, you're absolutely right.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, totally.
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_00: And that's yeah, I've had to really unravel myself from from all of that.
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_00: Because um, yeah, you're right.
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's like if you you're either, you know, if you're skinny, you're like then something's wrong with you, you're sick, you're starved, you're not eating enough food, or you know, on the other side of the spectrum, you have too much weight, and you know, something must be wrong with you.
• 42:27
  SPEAKER_00: And so, yeah, it is very confusing, especially um as a young girl, if you're trying to interpret all these different messages.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_00: And it reminds me of like even when I look back on photos um of when I was more more thin, um, my thinnest, I I still at that time I was my thinnest, I still struggled with my body image.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's like it just kind of yeah, reflects what you've already kind of shared here.
• 42:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, wow, like even when I was my most thin, I still thought that I wasn't thin enough.
• 43:01
  SPEAKER_02: And I was thin.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, do you find as you get older that you don't care as much what you look like, or does that still kind of you still have that thing inside you that's like I still definitely have um that thing inside that that cares.
• 43:18
  SPEAKER_00: I think um I have learned how to not internalize it um as much, like the the standards and and the things I kind of get from the outside.
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um and I have kind of learned to settle a bit more into just kind of um acceptance of of where I am, like specifically with with exercise, because I I I love exercise and I worked in the fitness industry for a few years as a personal trainer and fitness instructor.
• 43:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I um yeah, it was it was a big part of my life, and it it still is.
• 43:53
  SPEAKER_00: I still move my body every day, but I'm I'm not working out to the extent that I was because when I was working out that much, I was working out to to be skinny.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_00: I was working out all the time to be skinny.
• 44:05
  SPEAKER_00: And um, I've actually worked on this a lot with my menstrual cycle coach, and it's about for me, it's about feeling good, it's about feeling strong, it's about being happy, being healthy.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_00: And so that has changed um my body a little bit because when I'm not working out to be skinny, then it's like, okay, now I'm just working out in a way that feels good, in a way that is sustainable, in a way that really honors my body throughout the different phases.
• 44:31
  SPEAKER_00: And so maybe this is kind of actually a more sustainable weight than trying to, you know, fit the beauty standards and what that took, you know, restrictive eating, uh, working out, you know, five, six, seven days a week.
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_00: And while it was thin, my eyes twitching, and I'm having problems in my inner summer, and you know, my mental health isn't in the best state.
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, it's a tricky balance.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um I like what you said about switching just working out in lifestyle from instead of how you look to how you feel.
• 45:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 45:10
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that's so important because something everyone needs to keep in mind is that everybody's healthy looks different.
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_02: Healthy on me looks different from healthy on you, looks different from healthy on somebody else, because we all have very different backgrounds, genetics, all this stuff.
• 45:27
  SPEAKER_02: Like even food we eat, like we all have different foods from like our ancestors, wherever we came from ourselves and our family lives.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_02: Where they ate certain types of food that to somebody else they might be allergic to that.
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_02: But somebody like you, like that is what your ancestors ate and continue to eat.
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_02: So there's just it goes back to everyone is so unique, like literally down to our bone structure.
• 45:56
  SPEAKER_02: That is how unique we are.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_02: And everything else just kind of like fills in.
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_02: How we look physically, our face shape, everything.
• 46:06
  SPEAKER_02: We're all you so uniquely different.
• 46:08
  SPEAKER_02: We're so different.
• 46:09
  SPEAKER_02: And I love it.
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 46:11
  SPEAKER_02: I love it.
• 46:12
  SPEAKER_02: But people need to remember that.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_02: Like we're all very different.
• 46:16
  SPEAKER_02: We come from different countries and different religions and different ethnicities.
• 46:21
  SPEAKER_02: Like we're all different.
• 46:23
  SPEAKER_02: And so we're not gonna look the same.
• 46:25
  SPEAKER_02: And we're not gonna feel the same, doing the same things as other people.
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, you're you're absolutely right.
• 46:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I think this kind of um it can also kind of like mirror like what we see in our society with this, you know, patriarchal lens in which the world kind of operates, and how that kind of like really does twinkle down into um the things that we're kind of discussing here today, because that to me does seem more patriarchal and more masculine to like fit in a box and to have everything packaged up nicely and neatly and everything looking the same.
• 47:03
  SPEAKER_00: Whereas the more feminine way, as we know, is more cyclical.
• 47:08
  SPEAKER_00: It it ebbs and it's flows and it's it's hard to track and it's hard to articulate sometimes.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I just find that so fascinating.
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_00: And um yeah, I think just this understanding of of menstrual cycle awareness, while it is connected to our skin and how it changes throughout the cycle, it's also deeply connected to these um yeah, societal patterns and conditions that we see.
• 47:34
  SPEAKER_00: For sure.
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so fascinating.
• 47:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well, I feel like we've kind of talked about how beauty can be um part of the healing process, and I'm curious if you have any thoughts about um how the skin can be part of our healing process, like working with the skin, taking care of the skin.
• 47:58
  SPEAKER_01: Good question.
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I guess our skin can be a map of what's going on internally and externally and kind of shows us what's agreeing with our body and what's not agreeing with our body.
• 48:22
  SPEAKER_02: And that is like a whole spectrum from food to the type of makeup that you put on your face.
• 48:30
  SPEAKER_02: And when you're using things your body doesn't agree with, whether it be a certain skin product that makes your face break out, or a certain shampoo, like even shampoo and conditioner, like it gets it touches your face.
• 48:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I know that doesn't agree with you.
• 48:45
  SPEAKER_02: Or if we're looking at what more like holistic people talk about with like food and stuff, like if you have certain allergies to different things, which I've noticed personally with myself, there's another side tangent that I used to have sensitivities to certain foods that now that my nervous system is much more regulated than it used to be.
• 49:13
  SPEAKER_02: I no longer have food sensitivities to literally anything.
• 49:17
  SPEAKER_02: And I used to be like, I would not, I could not have dairy, I could not have gluten, I could not have this, that, the other thing.
• 49:25
  SPEAKER_02: I eat whatever I want now, and my body doesn't react to it.
• 49:29
  SPEAKER_02: So I think nervous system health plays a huge role in everything, but also skin.
• 49:36
  SPEAKER_02: I don't break out from certain things anymore because of how I've regulated my nervous system.
• 49:42
  SPEAKER_02: But your skin is a map that shows you what is agreeing with you and what is not agreeing with you both internally and externally.
• 49:50
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like the biggest, most obvious telltale sign of like what's going on and what we need to stop.
• 49:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, wow.
• 50:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I never thought about it like that.
• 50:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that's so wonderfully articulated.
• 50:05
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, it just makes me very curious to track my skin a little bit more.
• 50:10
  SPEAKER_00: And um you'll have to remind me of that one piece you shared about um you kind of went on, oh, the nervous system.
• 50:18
  SPEAKER_00: There we go, the nervous system, and and how now that you've regulated your nervous system, you don't have as much um flare-ups or as many reactions to certain foods.
• 50:29
  SPEAKER_00: And something that I kind of noticed, I had some little tingles in my body as you were saying that, which is always my little sixth sense just telling me like you're on to something here.
• 50:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I've noticed that in myself as well.
• 50:42
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if I've been able to understand it or articulate it in that way, but there was a time where I I really couldn't eat dairy.
• 50:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and there was a lot of things where I just like, you know, it was like eggs, it's like shiitake mushrooms, it's like just like random shit where I'm just like, okay, apparently I can't eat this anymore.
• 50:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and now I'm I'm eating dairy again and I'm not having reactions.
• 51:05
  SPEAKER_00: So that nervous system piece really does tie into everything, doesn't it?
• 51:09
  SPEAKER_02: It's everything.
• 51:11
  SPEAKER_02: And the more women I talk to just about their lives and how they feel, there's a huge correlation between women that have anxiety, which is just nervous system dysregulation, yeah, and stomach issues.
• 51:29
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 51:30
  SPEAKER_02: Like every anxious girl has stomach issues.
• 51:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 51:33
  SPEAKER_02: And like it's so frustrating going to the doctor with anxiety because they'll automatically be like, oh, your stomach hurts because you're anxious.
• 51:42
  SPEAKER_02: But then other people will be like, oh, you're anxious because you're stuck.
• 51:45
  SPEAKER_02: Like it's just it's a whole thing.
• 51:47
  SPEAKER_02: Regulate your nervous system, regulate your life.
• 51:50
  SPEAKER_02: Easier said than done.
• 51:51
  SPEAKER_02: It takes years.
• 51:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, you're absolutely right.
• 51:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, wonderful.
• 51:58
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thanks for kind of like tying that up for us, this nervous system piece with the skin and and our healing journey.
• 52:05
  SPEAKER_00: It's um really just fascinating to me to see how everything just it's all connected, right?
• 52:11
  SPEAKER_02: I know it's crazy.
• 52:12
  SPEAKER_02: It's crazy also how many subcategories start from the menstrual cycle.
• 52:18
  SPEAKER_02: Like, we could literally talk about anything and relate it back to the menstrual cycle, vice versa.
• 52:25
  SPEAKER_02: Like, it's so funny.
• 52:27
  SPEAKER_00: I do find it um funny too.
• 52:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's been um interesting to come up with the topics for these episodes.
• 52:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I bet.
• 52:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 52:35
  SPEAKER_00: So cool though.
• 52:36
  SPEAKER_00: It is very cool, yeah.
• 52:38
  SPEAKER_00: Still have many more ideas to come, too.
• 52:41
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just like like you said, it just kind of never stops.
• 52:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 52:47
  SPEAKER_00: Well, um, you've mentioned um as we're kind of approaching the hour here, I kind of want to start giving um folks some just kind of practical things they can explore.
• 52:56
  SPEAKER_00: You've already shared so much, but there's something you shared about the um what did you say?
• 53:03
  SPEAKER_00: The um there's a certain kind of products, poor clogging ingredients.
• 53:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 53:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, what are those?
• 53:11
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh.
• 53:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um maybe, maybe top five if there's a lot of yeah.
• 53:17
  SPEAKER_02: Basically, most products that are oil-based will clog your pores.
• 53:23
  SPEAKER_02: There are like I I couldn't even list them because there's so many, but a good resource you can use is if you just look up um pork clogger checker into your Google search engine, and you have a product that you're like, oh, should I get this?
• 53:40
  SPEAKER_02: Should I not get this?
• 53:41
  SPEAKER_02: Copy and paste the ingredients into the pork clogger checker, and that pretty much has a database connected to it that has most well-known pork cloggers, and it'll show up if it's safe or not.
• 53:55
  SPEAKER_02: But a lot of like natural skincare brands that we see, so pore clogging, like are the beef tallows, the coconut oils, this oil, that oil, a lot of those are extremely pore clogging.
• 54:09
  SPEAKER_02: Another one that's found in a lot of uh hair care products, satirial alcohol.
• 54:17
  SPEAKER_02: That is extremely poor clogging, and it's usually like the second ingredient in these products, which means that it's more potent in the product.
• 54:27
  SPEAKER_02: So that's another one.
• 54:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um some women do okay with this, other women don't.
• 54:34
  SPEAKER_02: Algae, products that have algae in it or any sort of like seaweed type of thing that can cause um pore clogging.
• 54:42
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, but there the there's so many pork cloggers.
• 54:47
  SPEAKER_02: So I just recommend look up pork logger checker and check all your products into that, and it'll tell you, and it'll show you the exact ingredient to that clogs your pores.
• 54:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um if it has like one ingredient that clogs your pores, but it's like wicked far down on the list, you're probably good.
• 55:07
  SPEAKER_02: The most important are probably the first 10 to 15 ingredients in the product because those are the most potent.
• 55:14
  SPEAKER_02: But um, yeah, it's crazy.
• 55:18
  SPEAKER_02: Like when I went through all my products with my esthetician when I was 20 years old, everything I used from head to toe was just pork loggers, and it was like, oh that's good, but it's because it's cheaper.
• 55:32
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of the pork cloggers are cheaper to yeah, yeah, it's like how fast food is cheaper too.
• 55:39
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, exactly, but less so these days, but I'm like, no, that's so true.
• 55:47
  SPEAKER_02: Where did you go?
• 55:48
  SPEAKER_02: I think I went to like Shake Shack like a month ago, and that shit was like$27 for the prize in Shake.
• 55:56
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, I could have gone to a fancy restaurant, actually.
• 56:01
  SPEAKER_02: Like, what?
• 56:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, yeah.
• 56:03
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
• 56:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 56:06
  SPEAKER_00: Well, yeah, it can it can be tricky, you know, with um limitations to try to, you know, get all the right things.
• 56:13
  SPEAKER_00: And um, kind of with that in mind, I'm wondering if you have any like brands or um, yeah, kind of products that you obviously, you know, take it all with a grain of salt because as we've already discussed today, everyone is so unique and what works for Jamie may or may not work for me or for our listeners today.
• 56:32
  SPEAKER_00: But if there were some products or name brands or things to kind of keep an eye out for, what would you recommend?
• 56:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so a couple brands I really like.
• 56:42
  SPEAKER_02: The brand Face Reality, really good.
• 56:45
  SPEAKER_02: They have every skincare product you could ever need.
• 56:48
  SPEAKER_02: All of those products are not forklogging, that whole brand.
• 56:52
  SPEAKER_02: Another brand is um Viva Los Angeles, V-I-B-A Los Angeles.
• 57:00
  SPEAKER_02: She is an esthetician, she's a celebrity esthetician that works in the same network as my esthetician.
• 57:07
  SPEAKER_02: So she formulates her products the same way my esthetician formulates hers.
• 57:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 57:13
  SPEAKER_02: So that she's a good one.
• 57:16
  SPEAKER_02: She has like she has the um anti-pollutant toner that I use, and I'll never use a different one because it's so good.
• 57:24
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 57:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um, she has the everything I use, she has on her website.
• 57:29
  SPEAKER_02: So Viva Los Angeles is like number one, face reality, number two, and then if you don't see anything you like, oh my gosh, what's that look cycled?
• 57:41
  SPEAKER_02: Rtofskincare.com, you can filter out your specific needs.
• 57:47
  SPEAKER_02: So you can click something that says acne safe and it will show you all the acne safe products.
• 57:55
  SPEAKER_02: But unfortunately, some products that are marketed as acne safe have pork loggers in them.
• 58:02
  SPEAKER_02: So when it comes to that website for the acne safe ones, I would still plug it into a pork logger chat just to double check.
• 58:10
  SPEAKER_02: But like my number one and number two Beba Los Angeles and face reality, you're good.
• 58:16
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, wonderful.
• 58:17
  SPEAKER_00: I wrote that down.
• 58:17
  SPEAKER_00: I wrote a little star next to Beba Los Angeles.
• 58:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that sounds great.
• 58:25
  SPEAKER_00: Wonderful.
• 58:27
  SPEAKER_00: Well, um, let's see, are there any um practices that you would recommend for people to tune into with um for to tune into what their skin is asking for rather than just following external advice, as we've kind of shared some tips, like how can people start to discern like what is what is right for them?
• 58:51
  SPEAKER_02: Your questions are so good because they make you think like they're not generic, and I like that.
• 58:58
  SPEAKER_02: I guess to start with, you need to have a solid baseline of like what does your skin look and feel like when you like what your skin looks and feels like, and then what are you doing during that time that you like how your face looks and feels like for example right now?
• 59:29
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like my skin looks great from my face to my body, but I've also been at the beach for three weeks and my face and my skin clears up, and I prefer the way I look when I have been swimming in the ocean and I get those natural like minerals all over my body.
• 59:46
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, and the vitamin D from the sunshine that just nourishes your skin to your face, and it also like that stuff, too, though, regulates my nervous system.
• 59:57
  SPEAKER_02: So even if I look botched, I don't care because I feel so good inside.
• 1:00:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:00:04
  SPEAKER_02: Um but discovering what your baseline is, I think is key, which is why you need to have a good skincare regimen.
• 1:00:12
  SPEAKER_02: Off of that, if we're talking about women specifically and hormones, like really keeping track of there's so many things we can track in our cycle from emotions, how we feel physically, what foods we want to eat, etc.
• 1:00:28
  SPEAKER_02: But if you want to add another thing to that list, how your skin looks and feels, and am I breaking out here?
• 1:00:35
  SPEAKER_02: Am I dry here?
• 1:00:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um, am I oily here?
• 1:00:38
  SPEAKER_02: And then based off of that, then you can kind of play around with it.
• 1:00:43
  SPEAKER_02: Like if you're dry during menstrual, a hydrating mask and not using drying face products like a benzoyl peroxide, where as in your ovulatory phase, if you are breaking out, your skin's a little more resilient, and we have the estrogen going, so we're a little more oily.
• 1:01:02
  SPEAKER_02: Using a benzoyl peroxide is great right there to dry out anything and to cleanse the pore.
• 1:01:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um but yeah, it's so individual, but I would say finding your baseline and just paying attention.
• 1:01:17
  SPEAKER_02: So many things in women's health in general is just actually tuning in and paying attention.
• 1:01:22
  SPEAKER_02: And most self-care practices that people recommend are kind of just you can look at them more like a routine, like getting yourself in a routine of checking in and taking people's advice, but it's more taking people's advice is more just getting in the routine.
• 1:01:40
  SPEAKER_02: And then once you're in the routine, then you can really branch out on your own.
• 1:01:43
  SPEAKER_02: But it's just getting in the routine first that's important.
• 1:01:48
  SPEAKER_00: I like that.
• 1:01:49
  SPEAKER_00: That's helpful.
• 1:01:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, thank you.
• 1:01:51
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it kind of reminds me of my own like journey with self-care and routines and how in the beginning I was doing a lot of like what was recommended to me, but that really helps me to build like a solid, like my morning routine.
• 1:02:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's like I've been doing that thing for like, I mean, it looks a little different each day, but it has the same kind of framework, and I've been doing it for like eight years, something crazy.
• 1:02:17
  SPEAKER_00: Like I just wake up and do it every day.
• 1:02:19
  SPEAKER_00: And and now I'm in a season where it does kind of like ebb and flow a lot, and I kind of will come up with my own things, and um, yeah, I think that structure in the beginning can be so helpful.
• 1:02:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:02:33
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I know on my website I have a self-care chart that people can print out for free.
• 1:02:42
  SPEAKER_02: Cool.
• 1:02:42
  SPEAKER_02: But it has different self-care practices from food to exercise to just little rituals you can do for each menstrual face.
• 1:02:52
  SPEAKER_02: But even that isn't necessarily for people to do those exact things.
• 1:02:57
  SPEAKER_02: It's more just the recognizing, you know, the recognition of routine and cyclical nature and how the body changes.
• 1:03:06
  SPEAKER_02: And then from that structure, you can kind of pay attention more to what your body wants.
• 1:03:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yeah, yeah, beautifully said.
• 1:03:14
  SPEAKER_00: I also like what you said about the baseline too.
• 1:03:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and that's not something that I've really explored much.
• 1:03:20
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's easy for myself as someone who's always I'm a projector 5-1, so I'm always wanting to improve systems and things that is just I'm always trying to make things better.
• 1:03:31
  SPEAKER_00: And so with that, I don't always focus on like when things are going well, like tracking what's going well too.
• 1:03:41
  SPEAKER_00: Not just tracking the things that like aren't going well that are standing out to me, but like noticing those times, like for example, like you know, when I'm in my summer and I'm I'm feeling at my peak, most optimal beauty, noticing, what have I been doing the past few days that has contributed to this sense of feeling um yeah, just beautiful and and regulated and connected to myself.
• 1:04:08
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm excited to play with that too.
• 1:04:10
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for that.
• 1:04:11
  SPEAKER_02: Of course, I loved this.
• 1:04:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, this has been great.
• 1:04:14
  SPEAKER_00: So many things.
• 1:04:15
  SPEAKER_00: I took a lot of notes um on this episode.
• 1:04:17
  SPEAKER_00: So as much as this episode was for um our listeners, it was also very much for me too.
• 1:04:28
  SPEAKER_00: Wonderful.
• 1:04:30
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we'll definitely plug.
• 1:04:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, can we plug your cycle chart in the the show notes for people to explore if they would like to?
• 1:04:37
  SPEAKER_00: Cool.
• 1:04:38
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so we'll put that in the show notes along with um your website and your Instagram.
• 1:04:42
  SPEAKER_00: I know Instagram, um, I've dip, I've I'm kind of dipping my toes back in again.
• 1:04:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um for those of you.
• 1:04:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for now, it's like I've also been tracking that across my cycle.
• 1:04:54
  SPEAKER_00: And um, I feel like this past um this past cycle, because I'm in my inner spring right now, I I've really felt this shift I hadn't experienced before in my luteal phase.
• 1:05:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I was kind of posting and sharing a lot in a very like um natural way.
• 1:05:14
  SPEAKER_00: Like I wasn't like, oh, what am I gonna post today?
• 1:05:16
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, oh, I have an idea.
• 1:05:17
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I have an idea, and then I, you know, kind of follow it.
• 1:05:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um so anyway, it was I was riding that wave, and then the wave kind of like settled, and I did really notice this shift inside that was like, oh, I don't care about posting on social media right now.
• 1:05:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so it wasn't like a like, okay, like time to put away social media now.
• 1:05:40
  SPEAKER_00: It was like a genuine, authentic thing.
• 1:05:43
  SPEAKER_00: So that was really cool to experience this cycle.
• 1:05:47
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, did you bleed with the new man?
• 1:05:50
  SPEAKER_00: Or led I I did around, yeah, like in the days, days before.
• 1:05:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:05:56
  SPEAKER_00: So um, yeah, do you have any thoughts on bleeding with the dark moon?
• 1:06:00
  SPEAKER_02: Well, so um I have found for myself that when I bleed more around the new moon, I am like get me away from society.
• 1:06:14
  SPEAKER_02: I don't want any part of this, I don't want to see social media, I don't want to see this, I don't want to see that.
• 1:06:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but when I bleed around the full moon, I am like on it.
• 1:06:26
  SPEAKER_02: Like that's when I want to do like Instagram Q ⁇ A's, and I'm having all of these like ideas and stuff.
• 1:06:33
  SPEAKER_02: But if we look at like new moon cycles, the new moon cycle is the most traditional cycle, and it is about focusing inward on our inner world, nourishing uh just us and ourselves and preparing for um motherhood, if that's what you want, but just all everything that comes with that inside of us.
• 1:06:56
  SPEAKER_02: Whereas bleeding with the full moon is very like external, wild woman, um, nurturing society kind of cycle.
• 1:07:05
  SPEAKER_02: And so it's just interesting.
• 1:07:07
  SPEAKER_02: All of it's interesting.
• 1:07:08
  SPEAKER_02: See, that's like another, like, oh, here's another sub-sub sub cow.
• 1:07:14
  SPEAKER_03: Totally, yeah.
• 1:07:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I have been um playing with with all of that a lot, and it's funny how our inner rhythm can and just sometimes reflect or mirror the the outer rhythms and cycles, or sometimes there's like this contrast and like the magic that kind of comes in that contrast.
• 1:07:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah.
• 1:07:35
  SPEAKER_00: Well, as you said, like so many things we could discuss.
• 1:07:39
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but this has been uh really wonderful, Jamie.
• 1:07:42
  SPEAKER_00: And thank you so much again for coming on and just sharing all of your wisdom and your insights.
• 1:07:47
  SPEAKER_00: I yeah, I really admire you and and the path that you walk, and it's always such a delight to to um yeah to just chat and yeah, explore with you.
• 1:07:57
  SPEAKER_02: Well, thank you for having me again.
• 1:07:59
  SPEAKER_02: Like I was so honored when you messaged me.
• 1:08:01
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, oh my god, she likes me.
• 1:08:03
  SPEAKER_02: She wants me back.
• 1:08:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, you're you're great.
• 1:08:07
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I love chatting with you, and I love doing this.
• 1:08:10
  SPEAKER_02: So thank you.
• 1:08:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, of course.
• 1:08:12
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe we'll have you back again for another discussion, as we've already named.
• 1:08:16
  SPEAKER_00: There's so many to be had.
• 1:08:18
  SPEAKER_00: There is.
• 1:08:19
  SPEAKER_00: Wonderful.
• 1:08:20
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thanks again, Jamie.
• 1:08:22
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.