Skincare is Healthcare with Michelle Doan

Skincare is much more than a beauty routine. What you put on your skin affects your system, hormones included.

Michelle Doan, founder of Emani Vegan Cosmetics, joins Health Youniversity to talk about clean skincare and why it belongs in your fertility toolkit.

The conversation covers what your skin microbiome does, why fragrance is one of the most overlooked hormone disruptors, and how fermentation makes skincare ingredients easier for your skin to absorb. 

This episode is for you if:

• you're trying to reduce your toxic load 
• you want to know what's actually in your skincare
• you're curious how fermentation helps your skin absorb ingredients better
• you're in perimenopause and your skincare routine doesn’t work anymore
• you're rebuilding your relationship with your body 

Support your fertility journey with Preconception Plan at Health Youniversity. Learn more here: https://healthyouniversity.co/programs 

Learn more about Emani Vegan Cosmetics by clicking here.

Use Coupon Code HealthYou for 10% discount

💻 About Susan Fox: https://www.healthyouniversity.co/about

Take your 5-Element Fertility Quiz:  http://yourfertilityquiz.com/

Detox to De-Stress:  View the FREE Masterclass on the importance of detoxification to prepare for a healthy pregnancy:  https://susanfox1.easywebinar.live/gentle-detox

Learn about our program entitled Your Fertile Health: https://www.healthyouniversity.co/programs

Schedule a Fertile Health Assessment: https://www.healthyouniversity.co/your-fertile-health-call

Let us journey with you as you navigate your fertile health. Connect with me:

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Transcript

SPEAKER_03 1:25

Well, welcome to today's episode of Health University, where we talk all things fertility, pregnancy, and postpartum, and what I call the pre-perimenopause timeframe. Straight into perimenopause and menopause. They're all sometimes seemingly quick steps across the bridge of a woman's life. And so today we're going to cover an area that is important to all of these steps across the bridge of a woman's life, and that is the appropriate skin care to reduce the toxic load on our bodies. And I'm delighted to have Michelle Doan here to talk with us about her skincare line, her history, how she came to create this line, and what we can learn from her and about it. The line is called Imani, Imani Vegan Cosmetics. She is founder of Imani Vegan Cosmetics and a pioneer in clean beauty long before it became a trend. Born in Vietnam, Michelle's family escaped by boat and spent time in the Thai refugee camps before building a new life in California. Those early experiences shaped the resilience, gratitude, and perspective that would later inspire her business and life philosophy. In 1998, while raising two young children as a single mom, I was a single mom as well, Michelle launched Imani to solve her own struggles with parabolistic acne, sensitive skin, and later hormonal and menopausal skin changes. Today, Imani combines clean ingredients with advanced Korean skincare to help women feel confident in their skin at every stage of life. She believes that beauty isn't about perfection, it's about feeling comfortable, confident, and at home in your own skin. Welcome, Michelle. Welcome to today's episode of Health University. And did I miss anything in the bio that you would want to make sure that the listeners and viewers get to uh know about?

SPEAKER_00 3:17

I I think that sounds really amazing. And at the end of the day, it it's you know, if we don't have our health, we don't have anything, to be honest. Um, and so for us, it's it's always been a day one mission for us because I had horrible cystic acne. And I realized that there are so many products out there with junk ingredients. And in 1998, this is I I learned really fast about um, you know, what I can put on my body, what can I put on my skin? That really affected and impacted my health.

SPEAKER_03 3:51

Without a doubt, without a doubt. And did you ever learn the cause of your cystic acne, or were you able to just really remedy it strictly with skincare alone?

SPEAKER_00 4:00

Yeah. Um, so I come from a family of cystic acne. So we have bad hair, bad skin, and and everything else. Uh, eczema, you name it. Okay. And uh what I thought was a curse turned out to be almost like a life mission and a blessing, right? And this is where perspective is so powerful. Uh, so for the longest time I was like, wow, you know, why do I have cystic acne? And you felt so ugly and your hormones are going all over the place and it hurts. Yeah, like a cystic acne facial is it's very painful. Um, and I I didn't really know much about um skincare and beauty uh ingredients because in the 80s and the 90s, there were very little information that's available. There was very little education that is available. And I met an aesthetician that really changed my life because she saw how bad my skin was. And she's like, you know what? I can help you. And by that time, I've already been to so many dermatologists. I took acutane, that really messed me up, Susan. Um then all these really topicals, and uh, and then it really changed my life because I'm still dealing with like the side effects, inflammations, digestive issues, and I think it all affects your overall health in the ways that you feel. So she taught me about commodones, and back then I didn't even know there was such a list. Commodones are like ingredients that clock your porous. And back then there was really not any products for my acne skin. And so going in for an acne facial, she uses a lancet that would prod every single acne and she would squeeze them out, and my body would go into such stress that I would get into a cold sweat and I would be crying and I would be wearing neosporin, right? And so that was like the impact of my journey. And when I started learning about ingredients and things like that, like I didn't wake up one day and it's like, hey, I'm gonna start a beauty company, because you know, uh, I was really selfish, more like I needed something and it wasn't out there, and they were so frustrated. And then I had this list and I went shopping, and guess what? I couldn't find anything that would be suitable for my skin. That's interesting. And that's yeah, and that's a birth of Imani. This is back in the 90s where we don't have information in the palm of our hands.

SPEAKER_03 6:31

Yeah. Well, and also back in the 90s, you know, it we we were really much more, I'm gonna use the term victim, um, to marketing, right? We it was it was less about be healthy, it was more about look a certain way at whatever cost. And regrettably the cost was to our health, because at that time, even though uh the impression was to be healthy, the ways to get there would wreak havoc on the digestive system. So it's interesting and not surprising at all that you said that there's a link between your skin issues and a weakened digestive system because we were eating, you know, low-fat processed foods that was unbeknownst to us because we didn't pay attention, but nobody told us we're high in sugar, high in inflammatory uh preservatives and so forth. So I'm delighted that you were able to help yourself. I'm delighted that you met this person who was able to help guide you and that now you've got an entire skincare and beauty line that can help others as well. And this line is vegan, by the way, correct?

SPEAKER_00 7:29

Yeah, it's vegan. And it it is simply because, you know, like through my product journey, first I wanted to develop a product line that is safe for acne skin like myself, right? I can put on and it doesn't break me out. So, what does that mean from a product standpoint was that I had to eliminate so many ingredients out of it. And, you know, during the 90s, this is where like the mineral foundation revolution, right? So I was there for that revolution and kind of educating people that there is a new and alternative way. You know, unfortunately, now it's more like long wearing foundation, foundation that you can wear for 18 to 24 hours. And it's it's quite not healthy for your skin. And it's not healthy for your body because as you know, our body is like the largest organ. Whatever we put on it, it's gonna go directly into our system.

SPEAKER_03 8:22

And moreover, if you've got a barrier for 18 hours, your skin isn't able to breathe and excrete the toxins. And that leads me to the concept of the reality of the skin microbiome. We talk a lot about gut microbiome, vaginal microbiome, but we don't talk about the skin microbiome. Can you give us a little a little uh primer lesson on you know what do we need to know about the skin microbiome?

SPEAKER_00 8:49

Uh I think a lot of consumers are really confused. What is skin microbiome? The ways that I explain it, um, the skin microbiome, so imagine there are like bodyguards for your skin, right? Um, so it it helped to protect your skin. But when you start using products with like low pH that are very harsh, right? Let's say if you overuse retin A. Now, retin A can be good using in moderation and under a supervisor, but it's also chemicals, right? If you use things like that that affects your pH, you're gonna compromise your microbiome layer. And what you're looking to do is to improve, like younger, to have healthier looking skin, without proper care, you can actually cause your skin to accelerate aging. Because when you start depleting and then killing all those microbiome in your skin that keeps your skin young and suble, um, you know, there are so many things that we actually don't see down the line. That's really interesting.

SPEAKER_03 9:52

And so the the the it's it again, not just the products that we put on our skin, but what we put in our bodies and our hydration and so forth, that's equally as important to make sure that our skin microbiome, which is a reflection of what's going on inside, right? That's not while it while it is the barrier, it is not separate from the rest of our bodies. So you you've mentioned that you combine, you know, your your your own um, shall we say, recipes and that you include Korean um products. Can you tell us a little bit more about that that that recipe?

SPEAKER_00 10:26

So when we first started, uh we were very strong in cosmetics, like in makeup and foundations and lipstick. It was a very fashionable line. But as soon as I was going through perimenopause, and then when menopause hit me, and a lot of our customers like, hey, when are you going to make skincare? I love natural skincare, but when I'm over 45, now I'm 56, right? Um I realized it's like my skincare changed, so I can't really use the same skincare and and expect different results. And so K Beauty was very hot coming out on the market about a decade ago. And about six, seven years ago, I went to Korea and finding out what is their secret sauce? Like, what are they doing that's really unique and different? And the first thing that I find out is that they use a lot of products and a lot of steps. They used to have like a 10-step skincare, and for American lifestyle, it doesn't work for me because I'm a very minimalism uh lifestyle. And um and what I also find too is that there are a lot of ingredients. You know, when you start thinking about parabens, and it's still befuddling to me that there are still products out there with parabens and people are not reading it. These are hormone destructors, yes, parabens, phthalates, you know, toxic preservatives, yes. These are absolutely something that you don't want in your body and you really want to screen for it.

SPEAKER_03 11:56

Did you find parabens in these uh Korean skincare lines?

SPEAKER_00 12:00

Uh most of them, yes. Oh, and that's why they're they're getting a little bit better. Um, and so now they're using alternative. But for everyone that's listening, please read the label and kind of understanding what you're putting on your body, including food label. Um, this is why we eat less processed food. We're overloading our body and our liver that our body is like trying to purify, process all these things. So therefore, it takes away the function of other things that you might want to accomplish. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:33

And I think for the liver creating and clearing hormones, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:38

Yeah, absolutely. And uh another thing too is that fragrances, fragrances is a huge, huge violator.

SPEAKER_03 12:48

Yes, don't get me started. I mean, we may as well be snorting poison when we're spraying some of these perfumes or lighting the candles or air air fresheners. Um, it's it's really so, so, so toxic.

SPEAKER_00 13:03

Yeah, and and there's healthy natural alternatives and things like that. And so for sensitive skin, you're putting fragrances in skincare has 26 different allergens. So, like let's just say, you know, you're trying to get pregnant, you're pregnant, and you're trying to take care of your skin and you're not and you're reducing how much ingredients are going into your body, right? The one thing, the first thing you want to avoid is any fragrances that you're putting on your body. Because, you know, we talk about hair dyes, we talk about everything else, but we don't talk about what we're inhaling.

SPEAKER_03 13:39

Yeah, and and and in our sort of laundry and cleaning, you know, um products as well. Yes, I I couldn't agree more. So, so you for Imani, did I uh Imani, yes, I I want to make sure that we we talk about this ancient fermentation process that that is uh it's seemingly exclusively exclusive to your product line. Tell us what what is this?

SPEAKER_00 14:02

Yeah, so when I was in Korea, right, um, I found things that I that that was really kind of didn't fit for us because we are clean, but we also want high performance things to think. Um we want to clean and high performance, and I think about how are we delivering nutrients to your skin? And so we visited so many labs, talked to so many brands, and we found this one company, one lab, and they said, Michelle, we have 13 patents to process raw materials. And I'm like, tell me more, I'm so curious. And so we can take natural ingredients, like one of the patent processes for jinxing. We can take jinx and compound, and we are taking it from 200 parts per million, and through this patent process, we can break it down to 2000 parts per million. Wow. So making it like super bioavailable. So we're taking something that is really nourishing and then make it in a way where our skin can absorb. Can actually absorb it, yes. Actually absorb. And so that's why we think about like when it comes to skincare, like anything else, I look at potency. Like if you're looking at vitamins and nutrition, you want to know how many units, how excessive, and how many should you take. Same thing with skincare is that how much is it water? How much is it vanity claims?

SPEAKER_03 15:38

Let's talk about water because I have heard water in in beauty products, because I've I've heard people say if water is an ingredient, then probably it is not as optimal a product as possible. And I have no idea if that is a true statement or a myth. Can you can you share your opinion on that?

SPEAKER_00 15:57

Yeah. So it depends on the level and the percentages of water. So if you're buying something that is 90% water, right. You're not getting a lot of nutrients in your skin. So it's really um important to pay attention how much water. So if you're gonna go and buy like a skincare, you want to make sure that's clean, right? Because you want to protect your body, but you also want to know like how much water they're putting in. Water is really great because our water, our our body, water is it's our natural state. We it's it's kind of like a natural delivery system, right? But then we want to make sure that we get these wonderful percentages of active ingredients. That's really going to help our skin.

SPEAKER_03 16:40

So I mean, a lot of times products won't say how much water, but maybe where it's placed on the label, does that indicate how much water? I mean, if it's the first ingredient, possibly that might not be having a lot of active compounds. But if it's the fifth or sixth or tenth ingredient, perhaps it's just to enable the delivery system. Is that an accurate presumption?

SPEAKER_00 17:02

It is an accurate presumption, but every formula is really different. Okay. We have some products that are listed with water as the first ingredient, but the water could be only about 30%, right? And then you have like that we put in like 10% aloe when we put in niacinema. So you have to take a look at what else is in there. And if people reach out to us, like, hey, what's your water content? We will tell you exactly what's in it, right? And so it's usually what you're saying is correct, is descendant of how it is. Now, when it comes to potency, the percentages matter. But also we want to talk about like how much. Like anything else, too much vitamins is gonna exhaust the liver. Right. Too much vitamin C is going to irritate the liver. It's acidic.

SPEAKER_03 17:56

So I've put together a free 28-day detox masterclass that you can access by clicking on the link below. And now let's go back to our show.

SPEAKER_00 18:09

So more is not better. So it's about like smart formulations, it's about understanding how skin biology works, the same thing as your how does your body work. So we take we think a lot about your skin pH. We formulate for our skin pH. So vitamin C for the sweet spot for vitamin C is between nine and 10%.

SPEAKER_02 18:33

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 18:33

Because it's gonna give you enough results without irritating your skin. And it depends on the type of vitamin C.

SPEAKER_03 18:42

And is it equally across the board if you're a 28-year-old or a 58-year-old, that that that percentage of vitamin C, or does it change, does the ingredients list or the recipe, if you will, change depending upon how our skin changes over age?

SPEAKER_00 18:58

Yeah, I think age is definitely a factor, but I think it's also the skin health is a factor. You can be 28 and don't take care that haven't really pay attention to your skin and don't have a good regimen. But if you're like 58, but you really take care of your skin. So it really depends on your skin health, right? Um, and so I always err on the side of caution. Instead of doing something really extremely like high, just kind of introduce a couple of products that you have vetted that it's and then you start a baseline. And you're gonna see how your skin feels. If you're getting results or not getting the results, then you can adjust accordingly. Does Imani have a sort of a basic starter kit, if you will? Yeah. Um, we have a starter base, and it depends on what type of skin that you have. So let's say if you have dry acne and inflammation, um, you know, we have a three-piece skin kit. And the first one is a good cleanser. Like you need a soft cleanser, and it has to be SLS-free. You know how you know sodium laurel sulfate could also disrupt our hormone, right? And so plant-based is really incredible. We also put in fermented sake, which is part of a fermentation process.

SPEAKER_03 20:22

Interesting. So you can you can you can pour a little a little glass while you're doing your skincare. Not if you're pregnant, mind you.

SPEAKER_00 20:33

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And yeah, it's kind of funny. Um, I I've been blessed. I can't drink because I turn super red and it makes me feel terrible. So you're looking at a non-dream.

SPEAKER_03 20:43

Yeah, that it's it's common in the Asian um population to be lacking the enzyme that helps to digest the alcohols. And so that that flush is very uncomfortable and embarrassing. So yes, you're embarrassing.

SPEAKER_00 20:57

Yeah, so a good cleanser is really good, but you also now have to like you don't want to strip your skin, right? And especially, you know, you if if you uh are struggling with um fertility, you might want to limit like how much you are exposed to these ingredients. So, like SLS, parabens, mineral oils, and things like that. We have to bring it into awareness, and then you have to be in optimal health, right? Hydration, vitamins, nutrients, all these things have to come together. And then um, we want to create a very relaxing, right? Because I think when our body, our mind, our soul relax, then you were talking about receiving and welcoming. And that is very, very magical.

SPEAKER_02 21:45

I agree. And so clean cleansing is good, right?

SPEAKER_03 21:49

And that and and that that level of cleansing, intentional cleansing, knowing that you are putting on your skin or in your body, but for c for for skincare on your skin, something that is healthy, it changes your whole physiology because you're you're emotionally engaged with with being healthy. And as a result, you are going to feel healthier and make better choices and have better sleep and and so on.

SPEAKER_00 22:18

Yeah. And and what you said, I I really love is that uh when we are pushing and when we're pulling, um, I I I think we don't make room for magic.

SPEAKER_03 22:35

Yeah.

unknown 22:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:36

For qi is actually the in Chinese medicine. I'm a doctor of Chinese medicine, and we would say when we are pushing, we're we're constricting. We're and and then when we're constricting with that sort of singular focus, we are then uh setting us ourselves up for stagnation, which then will could could result in clogged pores, weakened digestion, and certainly um exacerbating emotional lability, usually irritation or depression or something like that.

SPEAKER_00 23:06

Yeah, absolutely. And um, and I grew up with TCM and I love acupuncture. Um, and it bring me like the most relief and more than any medication ever could. And then also, like, I'm so glad that so many women are using TCM for fertility. Yes. Um, and I think that's really critical, that's really important. And we work with three different clinics in Canada. Um yeah, and she does that, and then she also does anti-aging. So instead of like doing Botox, um, she has TCM for the face, which is I think um super fun. Um and then also you just need a serum. You know, we create something we call it a sleep and renew. I really encourage sleep, and sleep is when we restore, right? When we rest. The body needs rest. So I want to maximize the time that we're resting. So we create a 0% water, 85% probiotics from lactobacillus, interesting with apple and papaya and icin and I. And what our customers typically find is that after a week, they notice that their skin is actually a lot smoother. Um, and then your pores is refined. And it starts with texture. So if your skin feels really rough and things like that, I think about you know, the experience and the final experience, the tactile experience. So the sleep and renew has like less than 20 ingredients. Then we have something what we call uh a collagen. Um, it's called vegan collagen, but we actually don't put collagen in it, we actually use a fermented yeast that promote collagen production. Interesting. Because collagen powder is an extract, the molecules are really too big to absorb into your skin. So it actually just sitting on the top of your skin. Right, caking it. And so what we're looking to do is we're looking the fermentation to deliver the nutrients to the second and the third layer of your skin to really promote that.

SPEAKER_03 25:12

But then can I just want to highlight that? So the yeast fermentation process in your product allows for the delivery to get past the epidermis, the outside layer, and deeper into the dermal layer that is where the collagen production will then take place. And then from the inside out, we start to feel more, you know, firm, plumper, you know, uh yeah, wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 25:37

Yeah, and it has like a really beautiful consistency. I love it because when you put it on and you feel like I don't want to call it coating, but it feels like it's like a nice surface and it gives you a really um glowy look. Um, and from someone who has cystic acne, who struggled with it all of her life, right? And thank God I don't have like the pocketed acne. Um, I get a lot of compliments on my skin. And then when I tell people that, you know, I used to have cystic acne, they're like, oh, you you don't look like it. Are you serious? Do you have me before photos? And I'm like, no. I grew up in the 80s and I was so embarrassed to be in photos.

SPEAKER_03 26:19

Right, right. Yeah. So and and that and that circles back to to our emotions, you know, it is a very interactive and circular experience that when we, as I said, when we take good care of ourselves, we are uplifting and engaging and intending then, therefore, to do better. But when when when we're seeing an a mirror image that has us feeling bad about ourselves, that causes us to secrete all kinds of sort of, I'm not going to use the term negative hormones, but hormonal activity that exacerbates the problem. So, you know, cortisol spikes, insulin spikes, you know, our our our dopamine and serotonin go down. And so we're just, you know, we're in this constant spiral, if you will, of feeling poorly and and looking poorly. So so I guess my takeaway from this conversation is something as simple as skincare can be a a true therapeutic model for changing your your whole life experience.

SPEAKER_00 27:25

I think how we feel about ourselves is so critical. And um and and our thoughts, right? It's so critical to our quality of life. And I only say it because I went through you know a really tough period during COVID where my business plummeted, right? And um, I was living in a place of fight or flight. Um, I have chronic inflammation. Um, I was going through a depression, and it really affected how I felt I gained weight, but worse than that, I didn't love and I didn't accept myself. I was so miserable, Susan. And when I started to change my mindset uh mindset, and I did some really simple, I'm not the sit and empty your mind meditation kind of person. Um so I started listening to books, like don't believe everything you think. Then I'm start curating what type of thoughts that I want to do. And my our minds are so brilliant that whatever you focus on, yes, you're gonna get more of.

SPEAKER_03 28:36

Yeah, you that you create. I mean, that is how we create anything, right? We we think of it first. And so if we're thinking uh that that life is abundant and you know, and and life and people in life are here to support us and love us, then we create more of that. We're a magnet for that. Whereas if we're our thoughts that we're creating are I'm all alone in this, it's hard, it'll never change. We create the magnetic environment that pushes those folks that would want to help us away. They can't, we're we're not letting them in, we're not letting life in. So, yes.

SPEAKER_00 29:14

Yeah, and and I wanted to share with you like a quick story about my sister. Please um, you know, she she she had a son and um she wanted a second baby, right? And unbeknownst to me, she uh she and her husband was trying for two years and she was approaching 45. Okay, and finally, um, you know, she was coming to me, she's like, you know, I've been trying for a baby, and and they've she's been really quiet, and she's been quietly suffering, right? And then a couple of months later, she called me and she's like, I want to talk to you. I'm like, Oh my god, what's going on? And she's like, I'm pregnant, and I'm like, What? And then she's like, you know what? She's like, when we were trying and pushing so hard, and it was so disappointing every month, is when I'm like, Okay, you know what? If it happens, it happens. I'm gonna take care of myself. And now Emmy is almost one year old. Oh, that's lovely. And she's so magical, yeah. And my sister's 45, having a baby at 45.

SPEAKER_03 30:23

Yes, and you know, and which is like which is much more common these days, but usually through the help of IBF, not a natural conception. I mean, it obviously does happen, but it's not as common. Um, that is such a lovely story. And for for her daughter, Emmy, you said is her name. I mean, sh that she was then able to grow, be conceived in, and grow in an environment that wasn't full of inflammatory chemicals because your sister was much more in a place of I'm just you know, I'm gonna, I'm gonna live my life, I'm gonna support my my my body and my mind and my spirit. And that's what that is what got imprinted on on little Emmy, who's now a beautiful one-year-old baby girl. That is a great story.

SPEAKER_00 31:07

Yeah, and I love it. And then I said things good things happen when you start relaxing and then make space. And I do that. Um, you know, I I uh I'm blessed with three beautiful children. I'm a grandma of three beautiful grandbabies. And I I noticed, like even in my business and my life, the harder I fight, the harder things become. But if we start to relax and flow and receive, and that's when like magic happened. And when I said magic and miracle, it's not big, it's always like the little things that we overlook.

unknown 31:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:44

And that's what I love about it. And I'm so much more aware of it now.

SPEAKER_03 31:48

I for the viewing and listening audience, I I want to, I wanna um maybe reframe the word relaxed because they're told far too often, oh, just relax and it will happen. And and it's and it can feel very um like insulting to their experience. But when you when you said receive and allow and and believe and trust, you know, that has a different experience than the you know, kind of go sit in the corner and do your meditation and relax kind of um. So I just wanted just for the sake of this conversation and anybody listening, I I wouldn't want anybody to turn away from listening because of the word relax, which is it's just gotten unfortunately the word has gotten a little bit of a bad rap.

SPEAKER_00 32:30

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And uh it and for the longest time I couldn't relax.

unknown 32:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:36

And I I didn't allow myself because I thought resting was not good for me. And matter of fact, resting is it's so magical to be able to rest.

SPEAKER_03 32:49

I have a I have a teacher who I follow, a person who I follow who speaks to that that the moment you open your eyes, and maybe even before you actually open your eyes, the moment you become conscious after a night's sleep, that's when you want to start start feeding yourself these not necessarily positive affirmations, but statements of hope and potential and and seeing the abundance that is actually already there. I mean, the the the gift that you got to wake up one more time, you know, the the the the gift that it is a sunny day that's that's about to approach today, or even a rainy day if we need it, but that kind of mindset and then and then the mindset that then says, okay, now that I've kind of filled myself up with this, these good feelings, how can I how can I uh give give that out to the world and and see what thoughts come up? Like who comes up, who comes to mind who might need a friendly text or a little bit of extra attention or just just acknowledgement that that their presence in this world matters.

SPEAKER_00 33:53

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. How we wake up is gonna determine what type of day that we have. Um, and so I allow myself anywhere from 10, 20, 30 minutes, depends on the kind of day I'm having. And it's just to connect with myself, and it makes such a big difference in my day. And I just do these micro habits stacking. I I kind of lay in bed. I I love Louise Hay, so I listen to her for a little bit. I have my little LDD pad. I do like a little bit of lymphatic massage because I have a stiff neck, right? And that's how I wake up. And I love massaging the ears because that's like pressure points back. Yeah. And that and that's how I wake up and after, you know, 55, um, things get a little crunchy when you get out of bed, walking down the stairs.

SPEAKER_03 34:45

My dear, I'm rolling into 68 this year. So you I completely understand. You look amazing. We really do need to pay attention to resourcing, you know, replenishing ourselves morning and evening. And then it actually seems to happen almost instinctually through throughout the day when we start our day intentionally and end our day intentionally, even if it was a rough day, you know, just that that moment of like, okay, yeah, it was a rough day, and some good things happened, and I got through it. That's the only thing that happened is that I get to go to sleep again because I got through the day, that changes our mindset and changes our lived experience.

SPEAKER_00 35:23

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 35:24

Well, I I I I could talk with you forever. I want to be mindful of your time and the listener and viewing audience's time. So, just kind of to sum up some of the key points are realize that your skin has a microbiome that you want to be kind to and nourishing and not stripping it of its important uh flora and bacteria that is protecting us. That that the nature of our skin is a reflection of our whole health. And so putting things in our body and putting things on our body is really mission critical to good health, whether you're trying to conceive or not. Certainly if you're pregnant and nursing, and then and then to enjoy a more fun experience of perimenopause and menopause, because you know, ladies out there, it's it's not bad. It's actually kind of cool. So we've gotten some misinformation that it's you know something to dread as we take care of ourselves earlier. As soon as we take care of ourselves, it begins to uh uh change the experience so that we're actually having a fun, healthy uh later in lifetime, shall we say. And then and then be aware of the of the labeling and and so take a look at your labels. And I'm I'm gonna have in the show notes again the link to Imani, and so people can uh you know find out more. I'm sure that there's uh educational information on the website as well as product purchase information.

SPEAKER_00 36:49

Wonderful, wonderful. Thank you so much for having me today. It's a pleasure.

SPEAKER_03 36:52

So lovely to meet you and have this conversation. Viewers, listeners, thank you so very much for your time. We know it can be spent anywhere, and we really appreciate you spending it with us for these last 39 minutes. And so if this resonated with you, if you know of somebody who's got you know kind of skin issues, and we all have skin, so if you know we all have potential skin issues, and certainly if you know of someone who's trying to conceive or is newly pregnant or is pregnant, please pass this episode along so that they can learn from it as well. And um, until we we meet again, we always close out our health university episodes with the with the recommendation of enjoy your day and class dismissed.