LifeGLOSS: InflammAGING. The inflammation = aging connection.

“Sound the beauty alarm -  anyone over 40 is on fire and going up in flames!”  
At least, that’s what it feels like some days. But the truth is many of us are inflamed—not just psychologically but physically from within—and it’s called “ inflammAGING.”

How to detect inflammation and calm the flames contributing to disease, dis-ease and aging skin.

Stay GLOSSY!

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Transcript

0:00

Welcome to Life Gloss, a beauty podcast for sassy and seasoned women who have lived life and have a drawer full of lip gloss to prefer.

Hillary Clark-Mina: 0:09

Welcome back to LifeGlass, we're talking inflammaging today, and if you're wondering, what is that even a word? Inflammaging, it's inflammation related disease. Aging. So, listen up, it's known as the silent killer, and you may very well have inflammation raging through your body. Inflam raging, see how I did that? Uh, but it's causing aging. We're

Susan Gerdeman: 0:42

going to talk about it. Let's talk about it. Yeah, it's like the house is on fire. Is it hot in here or is it me? I mean, all these things, it's all part of aging. It's all part of inflammation. The skin gets flushed. The body overheats. It just, you know, it's like a furnace working over time and it shows up on the skin and it starts, you know, breaking stuff down and you start to look older and puffier or redder. But it's it's an interesting marketing term, but it's a term that actually I think is, you know, look, I'm no scientist, but it sounds pretty scientific. It sounds like something that we should all be talking about. And I'll be concerned about, I think it was Dr. Perricone actually, who really was one of the first who coined, you know, the phrase inflammating, but if you really break it down, it makes sense inflammation and aging inflammation,

Hillary Clark-Mina: 1:37

right? And if you didn't see our last episode with him, scroll back a few, he is coming back. So we're going to get more of him. Give us your questions, but it's true. And. One of the things that he noticed when he was studying disease tissue under the microscope is that if there was no inflammation present, there was no disease present. So what he found was whenever I see disease, inflammation is also present. So then what is the correlation and could the inflammation have something to do with the disease? So we're actually talking about something that goes far more systemically than just our skin and how we look. By the time it gets to your skin, it truly is raging throughout your entire body. Sure. Hormones, menopause, aging, all of that. All of that is inflammation too. What we wanted to talk about today is that inflammation is something that goes on subtly inside the body all the time. That's why having an anti inflammatory diet is so important, but you can hit it topically too. Rosacea, menopause, all those things. Plus towards the end of our time together, I want to spend a little bit of time talking to those people at home. And you know who you are that are overdoing it with acids, with derma rolling, with, you know, all of the stuff that you're doing to your skin to create micro, um, micro abrasions or micro, micro injuries because then you build collagen as you heal. You can do that once in a while, but if you're always in a state of pro inflammation, a pro inflammatory state, you can't heal. So too much is too much. So, but we've got some fun stuff before we get to the serious stuff. Yeah. You're wearing makeup today. I

Susan Gerdeman: 3:26

am. Did everybody notice I, I actually put on some makeup. I put on a little eyeliner. I was having fun with color. I think we talked a couple of episodes ago about You know, just sort of, I don't know, having some fun with makeup again and not taking it so seriously. So, I had to take the kid to the orthodontist this morning before school and, I don't know, I think I just got up so early that I was, Like, I'm just going to toss in some eyeliner and throw a caution to the wind. So that's what I did. Um, but I also pulled some products because at the same time when I got home and I'll put on my glasses so I can actually see what I'm doing now, um, I got an order from Sephora. So I thought I would just really quickly share some things. These, this doesn't have anything to do with inflammation, um, but it really did calm me down getting a little Sephora package. Sure. Sure. So when I got back and had my, you know, little eyeliner on, I decided to, um, go through this package and I want to share it and tell you what's going on and what I'm keeping. All right. So what do you want to start with? You want to start with like, what's going back? What's going to my daughter and what I'm keeping? What? Yeah, sure. Okay, so what is going to my daughter? Okay, meaning, you know, she's, uh, going to be 18 next month. She is not a makeup wearer, um, but she does enjoy little bits and things. So I decided to jump on the milk train. I know they've, you know, been getting a really lot of press again and kind of, you know, having a little bit of a comeback again. So I thought, you know, what I, you know, I got sucked in by a color hill. So there is a new gloss. It is their Odyssey, the lip oil gloss, those hybrids. You know why I don't listen to myself when I say, Susan, you don't like those hybrids. And I thought, but maybe I'll like this one because you know, I love me a gloss. I am a gloss girl. I love to toss on and go. This is in my wheelhouse this color right here. It's a shade called Wander which is perfect for me And um, because I do like to wander especially when i'm shopping and roaming around So I loved the color. It didn't have shimmer. I thought this is the perfect throw it on and go out of the house You know who you are listeners Um, if you're like me toss it on without having to look in a mirror and you look good. Instantly done. Yeah. But it's a gloss oil hybrid. So what does that mean? It means it's really sheer. It means it doesn't have a lot of length in the time of wear. It doesn't have that rich, glossy feel that I like. Some people like to feel nothing on their lips. If that's you, you'll love this. It feels like nothing, and therefore it is

Hillary Clark-Mina: 6:26

nothing I want. I need, as we came from the Mac lip glas day. Yeah, we don't want that sticky, but we want, I

Susan Gerdeman: 6:35

need an anxious lip. I need a lip that I can use a fork and knife with. Mm-Hmm. I don't want a teaspoon lip. I don't want this little like. Oh, it doesn't feel it feels like Aaron have anything. No, I'm not that person. I want a lip. So if you don't want a lip, but you just want a little moisture and gloss and go, I think these are great. So

Hillary Clark-Mina: 6:59

bad, bad, bad, bad friend. Today I'm going to the post office. I'm sending you this. This is your color. That's my color. I see that.

Susan Gerdeman: 7:10

That's a me. It's a pinky nude. It's a pinky nude, but it's not too pink. Yeah, but look at that gloss. Look at that thickness that that viscosity that mm-Hmm, that, that's a fork in knife lip right there. My friend. This is a fork and it's full of

Hillary Clark-Mina: 7:27

shea ha hoba. He, yes. This is a young blood one. It's a color called a more so I'm saying

Susan Gerdeman: 7:35

you

Hillary Clark-Mina: 7:35

some love.

Susan Gerdeman: 7:36

I'll do it. Drive down the hills of Hollywood and toss that in the post to your friend. I will talk in the post to you. Because this is going to my daughter. She will love this. This is Gen Z, man. This is that natural light. It's a gloss oil. It's not too heavy. It's really sheer, noncommittal. She'll love this. So here you go, daughter of mine. You have a gloss. She's lucky. That's going to her and that's kind of her color because it's just very she's a redhead more She's you know, she's not a redhead. She'd kill you if she she heard you say that she's not she's golden She's sort of like a like a light brown golden. You can't say redhead to these kids. They'll like have a heart It's she just she's not a redhead. Nothing against redheads. She is not though. Um Redhead, I know but she didn't get that gene. I don't know. Okay. Okay, so You Let's see. Um, so that's going to her. That's going to the daughter. So it's not going back. It's going to my daughter. Cause I do think she'll like that. So, um, want to know what I'm keeping or want to know what's going back? What's going back and why? Okay. So this one's heartbreaking to me, but, um, I really wanted to love this and it's not working for me. Might work for you. But I do tend to have a drier skin. So this is not working for me. This is Charlotte Tilbury, the unreal sheer skin glow tint. It is a foundation and shimmer in a stick all in one. It is so pretty. I love the color. It is so beautiful. It's like, it's a, it's almost like a tinted moisturizer in a stick. And it's. Very glowy, super high mica load, like real, like a light bulb exploded on my skin, um, which I kind of love. Here's my issue. Because I'm a dryer skin, when I put this on and I want, I looked all glowy, but then I look close in the mirror, it was patchy. It like didn't lay nicely. Question. Yes.

Hillary Clark-Mina: 9:41

Can you use it as a highlighter?

Susan Gerdeman: 9:45

Yeah, I could, but it has, it has coverage in it. So it's sort of like a, a tinted moisturizer and a stick. And I wanted to love this so badly, but it's not working on me. It made my skin look, and I don't, if you're a person with pores,

Hillary Clark-Mina: 10:04

No, I was going

Susan Gerdeman: 10:06

to say send it to me, but no, it's I would, but you'll hate it. I know you

Hillary Clark-Mina: 10:12

I'll hate it because I have pores. See?

Susan Gerdeman: 10:14

Yeah. If you have pores, this is not for you. If you're poor less, this is perfect. I would love to see this. I think I'm going to be honest. I think it might be for someone younger, you know, who just doesn't have any pores or any anything and just wants to glow, but I wanted to love this. So I'm kind of, oh, I'm bummed out. I'm irritated and you're right. I could probably keep it, just use it under my eyes or as a highlighter, but. I have six.

Hillary Clark-Mina: 10:48

If the mica load is too heavy, you don't even want it under your eyes. So, okay, show us what, what else did you get? Okay.

Susan Gerdeman: 10:55

So then, um, what am I keeping? What am I loving? So in the ever expanding world of, um, concealers, because it seems like everyone is dog. Is doing a concealer. The concealer is the new blush. Yeah, I mean, concealers, the new blush this month. Um, I went ahead and got the Gucci Westman concealer and everybody's talking about, yes, we love her packaging from Italy. I'm sure it's from Italy. It's so beautiful. So Lux, you know, I love her whole brand. Love the whole line. It's really targeted to us over 40. Love, love, love. I have to say the concealer is excellent. Now I will tell you this. It is a concealer, meaning it is not a serum hybrid concealer. It is not a sheer concealer. It is not a highlighting concealer, nor is it a thick cream wax concealer. It is for. In my opinion, probably skin that's more mature or maybe leans more towards dry because it's creamy, but at the same time, it's coverage. It's opaque. It is a thick concealer. This is not a, a sheer wash concealer. This is a, Wow. I didn't see it 80s,

Hillary Clark-Mina: 12:13

90s. This is a, like, old school. Here's a concealer.

Susan Gerdeman: 12:18

It is, but at the same time, Hill, I'm gonna be honest with you, she did a beautiful job of, it's so malleable, it just has a beautiful, it's matte, but it glows, but it doesn't shimmer. You can tell she put years into this. I gotta tell you, she did a great

Hillary Clark-Mina: 12:34

job. I've been hearing on TikTok from some of my people, um, that know my age, you know, from my vintage beauty, a few of them are makeup artists and just beauty lovers, of course. And a couple of them have said, Hey, we have the Maxine's revenge. We love it. But have you tried, there's this new one. And if you want even different kind of coverage, like they didn't even know exactly what to say either. They were like, well, I'm going to tell you, I'll go.

Susan Gerdeman: 13:02

As a professional makeup artist. Um, it is totally different. It is, it is this, you can use it, you know, as a concealer. I like to, I used it just as a concealer around my nose. I put a dot on my chin and under my eyes. Am I going to them buff it out and use it all over my face? No, I'm going to do that with my Maxine's Revenge. I'm going to do that with Kosis. I'm going to do that with more of a serum liquidy concealer. This is really meant to conceal. I would not personally use this as an all over wash. I suppose you could, but I, when I haven't slept. or allergy season, right? Just having a rough day. This is what I'm going to grab. This provides a lot of coverage. She's a beauty. It's really good, but I've been wearing it most of the day. Okay. I was going to ask you. I'm not getting any breakdown and I have my eye cream on. I'm not getting any, uh, there's no separation at all. I'm not getting any, you know, funny lines and wrinkles, like nothing settling. I got to tell you did a really, really good job on this. Okay. So if you're looking for a concealer, that is a concealer. This is a really good one. Um, you know what I

Hillary Clark-Mina: 14:31

picked up lately now that I happen to be sitting next to my makeup bag, you know, I pulled out that I haven't used for a long time. For those of you that get, you know, color here. Cause I have a lot of see through on my eyelids. It can make me look sick. And sometimes things will crease. Cause I have, you know, hooded lids more on this side than on this side. I forgot Anastasia does this pencil. And it's dry. It's a very dry pencil and it's called her pro pencil. It's called an eyeshadow primer and a color corrector. Yeah. I use it all over just in those tough spots when I don't want things to move. Yeah. And you know, it, it's dry. So you do be aware of that. But Yeah.

Susan Gerdeman: 15:22

And speaking of eyes, I, this is the eye pencil I put on. Um, I told you, I would tell you earlier, it's the Urban Decay, the 24 seven, you know, I love the 24 seven. They're really, they're just good. They're easy. They're quick. They're a gel hybrid pencil. This color is called Alkaline, and it is really, really like a reddish, aubergine y, purple y kind of, it's great with green eyes, blue eyes. I have to tell you, if you're looking, if you're someone who doesn't wear liner or you tend to use browns or colors like that a lot because you don't want color per se, this is a nice little branch out. You know, trying something that's kind of like between a plum and a brown, a little bit of a red, kind of trendy. I like it. I like it a lot. So, I just added that.

Hillary Clark-Mina: 16:13

It's edgy, because it kind of makes you look a little ill, but not ill. You can, it's fashion. It's a fashion look. Okay, ill,

Susan Gerdeman: 16:22

but not ill. Alright,

Hillary Clark-Mina: 16:23

I'll take it. No, you know what I mean? It's a fashion color. You have to have balls to wear that color. It's a fashion color. A fashion color. It's very, it's the second the screen came on, I looked at you and I was like, Ooh, yeah, it's edgy. Like me. Yeah, well, hello. When you wear makeup, you wear cool colors. It reminds me of the, um, aubergine mascara by Chanel from the nineties. Do you remember that one? I still have it. And I lived for that. This

Susan Gerdeman: 16:54

color is a lot like there's the Chanel eye pencil I own. That's very much like it's actually that Chanel one is a little bit more even red, but this one's a little more. This is like a burgundy plum, but it's not a plum. It's definitely leads more burgundy, but anyway, it's called alkaline. It's super fun and cool. If you're out there and you're looking for something that isn't brown or black and you want to just have some fun, I have to say, I'm kind of digging it. I'm sure I'll get a comment when, you know, the kids get home, they'll be like. What are you doing? But you know, that's okay. They know by now there'll be something going on when they come home. So that's the little haul that we did recently. That's kind of some of the fun that we had. And I think that's what makeup's all about, right? Trying new things. And I just want our listeners to know that, you know, we're still trying stuff where there's stuff we like, stuff we don't like. And please, if disclaim this, just because there's something that I loved or didn't love doesn't mean You won't. I think that's why we try to show both sides. Like, if I'm skating like this, I would like it. Or, you know, so do with the information what you want, friends.

Hillary Clark-Mina: 18:08

Yeah. Maybe at the end, I'll show you guys a contraption that I've been experimenting with. Cause for those of you that are just joining us, I'm the weird one. I'm the one that, okay.

Susan Gerdeman: 18:22

Is that a whole other episode though, that we need to do for this? What are we gearing up We can do it. We can save this for another episode. I swear. Here I am. Like, here's some new fun makeup I've been trying and you're like, pulling out contraptions that we don't know what they are. Contraptions. Oh man, you are. All right, next. All right, next episode. Next episode. We'll have to do next episode. The one thing, um, that uh, I am uh, really excited though to talk about is not just, you know, all this new and exciting stuff, is to really talk about this inflammation. And it's something that I live with chronic, chronic inflammation in my body. So I do certain things and one of them, I think you mentioned earlier, and that is an anti inflammatory diet, which I have stuck with for years. But then the past few years really stuck with, and it has made such a difference. What I'm eating and drinking internally definitely has made a change in my skin.

Hillary Clark-Mina: 19:31

Definitely. And as you and I have discussed, I'm recent, I'm on the verge of getting a diagnosis that points to chronic inflammation, which I knew I had. And that's why I went to the doctor and I said, I need some blood tests because this is what's going on. And I think that this might be happening. They gave me a panel. They said, Oh, 15 percent of the population tests positive for that. But you don't need to worry about it, but and I said, no, I do need to worry about it because my body's changed. I'm seeing my body do these other things and I had to really advocate and really push for the next level of tests and they came back where I was supposed to be in the category of a one. I'm an eight and they've like freaked out. They're sending me to everyone. They're bumping appointments. I'm going to choose to chew it, approach it nutritionally myself personally, first, before I do anything else. But, um, yeah, it's all the triggers are like the house is on fire. The alarm bells are going off, but I mean, I knew that by the way, my body was acting and I've been on an anti inflammatory diet my whole time. A lot of this is hereditary. And it's now activating.

Susan Gerdeman: 20:44

So, you know, I think you bring up a really good point Hill, and that's something that I really want to put this out there to anyone who's listening. You have to remember in life. You know, a lot of what's happening internally. You're not crazy. All right, find someone to listen to you find the doctor who understands you no matter how many you need to go through to get there, but know that some stuff can be fixed or managed, I should say. better word through diet, exercise, sleep, nutrition, et cetera. If you do all those sort of biomarkers, you hit all those things, you're, you're, you're living your life like you do. And like I do very healthy, very aware, very mindful, just kidding. Um, but if you, if you do that, But you're still noticing the inflammation or stuff is still coming up in your blood work through your physician's office. I think that's where you need to come to a realization and almost an acceptance and understanding that some stuff is genetic. Some stuff is hereditary. Some stuff we cannot control. We can manage and we can partner with it, but we might not be able to control it. So I think that's what we want to talk about with the inflammation, the things that you can do to help quell inflammation of the skin, you know, meditation, anti inflammatory foods. You can eat the salmons. Follow the diet, eat the blueberries, uh, certain supplements, um, health, not smoking, exercising, move your body 30 minutes every day, like. We're not telling laughing, having sex, have a puppy, hold a baby, come and hold the dog, you know. We're not telling any of our listeners anything they're not already hearing every day. Like it's out there now, the whole anti inflammatory movement. This is stuff that you and I have been doing, you know, for years, right? But sometimes things

Hillary Clark-Mina: 22:45

still

Susan Gerdeman: 22:46

go haywire in your body. And

Hillary Clark-Mina: 22:50

I

Susan Gerdeman: 22:50

think that when menopause hits for many women, it creates this perfect storm, as I call it, where you can be living this anti inflammatory lifestyle, you can be doing all the things we just talked about, And then all of a sudden you go through menopause, come out on the other side, right? You're going through that moment of change. And it's almost like a storm hits. And this is where we see upticks and flare ups of all types of different things happening in the body and happening with our skin. And, you know, so many things I look back and, you know, I know when I got sick a few years ago, it was right around that same time. It was like, you start digging like Nancy Drew and you're like, wait a minute, that's like a perfect storm situation. And little things like you notice your hair changes, your skin changes, like, and all of a sudden you're like, why is that not, that moisturizer not working as well anymore? Why is that color not laying down as well anymore? Friends, these are all little signs. These are all Why does my fragrance

Hillary Clark-Mina: 23:57

not smell the same anymore?

Susan Gerdeman: 23:59

Yes! Even your fragrance can change. A hundred percent! So these are all little signs that you need to do things like go to your doctor once a year, get your blood work done once a year. I just had mine done last week. You know, it's so important to put together your team of beauty And put together your team of internals and your doctors and really realize that these changes are going to happen. Inflammation will happen. I don't know anyone. I was trying to think the other day, do I know anyone that hasn't said to me they're not inflamed lately? Like everyone is living in this inflammatory state, even doing so many of the things we're talking about living well and eating right and all this. So you're never going to get. You're

Hillary Clark-Mina: 24:43

never going to get a perfect baseline. You're never going to get in a toxic world. We can't live in bubbles. We have to be happy. So You know, find the joy. I'm actually, I'm talking to this company called rebalance, um, later this week. So I'm going to update everyone. Rebalance was started by a gentleman for his wife that was experiencing elevated cortisol and. All of these issues around menopause, my understanding so far is that they really target cortisol and they do it with sublingual pellets morning, noon and night that have a measured dose, mostly of, um, Herbs. That's what I have the information for right now. I'm going to find out more, but it's more of an herbal sort of a supplement that helps to naturally lower cortisol. I don't know a lot. Stay tuned. And I'm going to find out more because cortisol, cortisol is the killer.

Susan Gerdeman: 25:41

Cortisol though, I will tell you this, cortisol can only, correct me if I'm wrong and any listeners that are physicians out there, but from my physicians have told me, cortisol can only, you can only track your morning, noon and night cortisol through a saliva test. Through a sex hormone test and that will tell you where your cortisol levels are morning noon and night I did that test to find out about mine and Interestingly enough and I don't know how many other listeners are like this and you know, we share everything here as you know My cortisol levels were perfect phenomenal I couldn't believe it. They were great. I had no cortisol issues at all. Yet there's some inflammation in my body that I live with. So again, you know, I think we have to be so careful to like, you know, all of us, like, well, my cortisol, you don't know what's high and what isn't unless you have it tested regularly, careful, just taking supplements, be careful, just going on the tick tock bandwagon and, you know, doing what everyone else is doing. You need to go and get tested. You need to go in for your body and find out exactly what's going on. And I believe I've been told a certain amount of cortisol is important. You can have too low a cortisol. So you need it. You need it. Yeah.

Hillary Clark-Mina: 27:01

Cause a cascade of problems. So, but you you're right, Susan, in that this is what a lot of people don't know is they don't get testing when they're over 40. They don't get testing until there's a problem, start getting testing. So you have a baseline Because, you know, let's just face it, the white male doctors that have been measuring and studying menopause for decades, the normal range for us and our hormones is so broad. So broad. You could be, you could be an extreme problematic. symptomatic situations and they're not going to help you. I've said, I've had people tell me no, because you're just at the high end of normal. I've had other people look at full blood panels and they look at it, you know, from a much wider view and they're like, of course you're miserable. This, and this, and this, and this is off. So you have to find your baseline, start early, start, you know, when you're in your late thirties, just get a test one, keep it on file. Okay. You may not use it for a million years, but it'll be really good for you to see this is where my hormones were when I felt fine and great and good. And then in your forties, your fifties and your sixties, you'll be glad that you have that benchmark.

Susan Gerdeman: 28:15

Yeah. You always want to have a baseline, you know, you always want to have a baseline. Um, I think that's important, but as far as what we can do as non physicians and just women going through our stuff, let's talk about as makeup artists and professionals. Um, What, what we can do. I know we need to cheer as well. I had my hydrogen water earlier today, um, but I think we should talk about certain topical things, you know, um, things you want to stay away from if you're experiencing any type of inflammatory issues, uh, like say, for instance, a rosacea or, uh, a puffiness or a dryness or anything you've noticed, flushing, et cetera. You want to stay away from ingredients in skin care and in makeup that contains things like menthol, camphor, crushed seeds and walnuts, anything that can cause little, you know, I know Hillary's rolling her eyes because she's the esthetician who has seen skin destroyed with over exfoliation. And it becomes inflammatory because you're over exfoliating, right? And infected sometimes. And infected, but also those ingredients Hilda are in makeup, be careful, you know, of doing anything or, you know, nobody, I mean, do they even, I don't know, I was just thinking the other day, has anybody put retinol in foundation yet? Because I mean, like, that's going to be like,

Hillary Clark-Mina: 29:39

you know, We're seeing some, we're seeing, we're seeing some version, we're seeing forms of vitamin A in some foundations. In fact, Clinique was one of the first ones to do it in concealers for breakouts and blemishes and

Susan Gerdeman: 29:56

things like

Hillary Clark-Mina: 29:57

that.

Susan Gerdeman: 29:57

But you have to be really careful with the ingredients you're putting on your skin and think, you know, more calming ingredients. Think things like So do they, you want to think things like centella asiatica, you want to think things like, um, Oh, what's what I'm thinking niacinamide, um, you know, some of that you want to be

Hillary Clark-Mina: 30:24

careful with.

Susan Gerdeman: 30:24

Yep. Yeah. Things that are more calming to the skin, more

Hillary Clark-Mina: 30:29

soothing, no mushrooms, things like that. Yes, algae, snow mushroom, centella asiatica, all of those like delicious, calming things. Um, my whole PSA is this. So think of it this way. Your skin is designed to reproduce cells and to replicate cells. If you are constantly retching at your face and forcefully really speeding up the cell turnover, while also creating micro injuries. People think, Oh, I'm exfoliating and I'm a derma rolling and putting all these serums in. So I'm exfoliating and I'm creating micro injuries. So I'm taking all the dead skin off so the serums can get in and I'm poking holes in my face. So my collagen is going to rebuild. Hang on a minute. You can do that in a derms office, maybe at home. I don't even like people to derma roll at home. I wouldn't. Maybe once every six weeks, not every day. And let me tell you why. Because the skin needs time to replicate cells. If you have cells that are chronically damaged. If your micro, if your epidermis, if your skin on the surface is always healing from a major peel or you're overdoing it on cocktailing your acids and your skin is ever so slightly burned. I have people coming to me being like, I exfoliate and I want my skin to be smooth, but it's just, it's so dry and rough and I'm like, it's It's not dry and rough. That's a microscab. Let it heal. It's weeping. It's begging. It's crying for you to leave it alone. Your cells replicate. somewhat based on the cells that were there before them. So if you can get your skin as healthy as possible, you're going to be able to replicate healthy cells, compromised cells. It's harder for them to make healthier cells. So give it a break. Get a laser once in a while. Do a big peel once in a while. Do the extreme, but do it more seasonally, quarterly, and the things that you do at home. Think I want a happy, this is your home environment. Children are happy in a calm home. Children aren't happy in a violent home. Think of it kind of that way because our bodies are so much smarter than the labs that are making products for us. So if you put your skin in an ultimate balanced nourished condition, you will be shocked at what it can do. I can't tell you how many people I see that over peel over exfoliate and they're like, I have all these dark spots, all this hyperpigmentation, it's getting so much worse. And I'm like, that's because your skin's on such high alert that even if you slather on sunscreen and walk to your mailbox, your skin is like, Holy shit. I'm naked and I'm outside cover up. And it's making dark spots because it feels so exposed. So easy does it, especially as we're getting older. Cause we have that internal stuff going on. Hot flashes can even trigger, you know, tyrosinase, melanin, um, the melanocytes to pop off. So you don't have to walk around in a bubble. We're not fear mongering. Basically what we're giving you is good news. You can do less. And actually get a better result is what we're saying.

Susan Gerdeman: 34:04

100%. And I think, you know, a lot of

Hillary Clark-Mina: 34:07

brands

Susan Gerdeman: 34:07

Yeah, and a lot of brands are really addressing this and you can tell, um, Inflammaging out is coming out more and more in skincare. Um, I just found a new one, Dende, online, um, that is specifically targeted towards Inflammaging, um, and that looked interesting. So I might have a look at that. Elta MD has been addressing, um, Inflammaging for years. Uh, their whole skin recovery line is Excellent for someone who has a very hypersensitive or inflamed skin. I personally use, and have used for quite a few years now, the Elta MD Skin Recovery Serum in the pump. Anytime I get a flare up or my face gets red or aggravated, I use it. Or I wore makeup that day and just, it didn't agree with me or just whatever life throws its way at me. I'll take a little bit of that serum and put it on. And it, the next day my skin is just flawless. Like the redness is gone within an hour. That product is fantastic. Um, it's nice to see this, you know.

Hillary Clark-Mina: 35:16

Every, every single project that I've worked on in product development lately for when I say lately, almost the past decade, I've snuck in where possible when it's other brands, obviously you can only do what you can do when possible. A few anti inflammatory ingredients, just because their clients will keep coming back that more. I mean, the whole base for beauty hack, tell it is Attica, snow mushroom, It's everything in there is about calming, hydrating, nourishing. So you can look for those. And makeup brands,

Susan Gerdeman: 35:51

too. Makeup brand. You know, there's a lot of good ones that are, you know, I don't know about you, but years ago I would always get clients asking me, I have rosacea, or I have a lot of redness, what can I use? You know, Clinique was always the gold standard, and I think in a lot of cases they still have their whole redness thing. line. So I think Clinique is a, is, you know, a nice sort of place to start. L2MD, uh, Reveve has a whole anti redness skincare line that's excellent. Power 28 for makeup. They're actually

Hillary Clark-Mina: 36:21

approved by, you know, the psoriasis and eczema foundation. Yes. Um, Bare Essentials.

Susan Gerdeman: 36:28

You know, spectacular mineral based makeup often can be very, very gentle, uh, for skin that's inflamed. Be careful though, because sometimes mineral can also look really dry on the skin. So it's, you know, there's gotta be a nice balance there, but bare essentials, I think does a really good job. If you're looking for something that is, uh, good for inflamed skin. I also think, um, Of course, Westman Atelier. I mean, she really does use a lot of anti inflammatory ingredients in her makeup line that are excellent. Jane Iredale I know is also another one. If you're looking for something naturally, you know,

Hillary Clark-Mina: 37:12

I would actually take a look. at young blood. If you've abused, if you've ever used bare minerals or Jane, and you feel like you're tired of putting it on and waiting for it to oxidize and change and do all the things that minerals typically do look at young blood because they're, they've been, I found them in the, in the cosmetic surgeon's office 20 plus years ago. Yeah. They've been around a long time. Yeah, all we used after um, co2 laser because it would help to heal. They don't use the cheap fillers, which is a zinc. Zinc is a cheap mineral filler. That's what oxidizes that both bare minerals and um, Jane use they don't use zinc so it won't turn so if you're if you're a deeper more deeply pigmented Skin, and you want to use mineral makeup look at young blood. They have the shades They don't turn and they're more pro luxury Clean mineral. So that's great. If you've all used the others and it might be time to upgrade and they've done a really good job with hydration. So they have like a deep sea water

Susan Gerdeman: 38:19

foundation,

Hillary Clark-Mina: 38:20

right?

Susan Gerdeman: 38:20

Because I do, I do notice a lot of the mineral based, uh, they do tend to be a little chalky, a little drying, a little dry looking on the skin, uh, which is fine. I mean, listen, not every woman gets older and gets drier skin. Some women actually get. oilier. So we're just letting, you know, things that we found to be true. And for my personal skin, it just tends to be very dry, but I do have a lot of friends and clients over the years that, that almost got more shiny and more oilier as the years went on. So you will love products like, you know, the young bloods and the Jane Iredell's and the bare essentials. You'll love those mineral products. You'll, your skin will just. You know, eat them up, but I think it's important to whenever you're using makeup of any kind, really, you know, try to look at the back of these boxes, you know, try to take a look. We're not expecting everybody to, you know, all of a sudden become a scientist, but Think of makeup and, and, and skincare almost like you do food. I read the back of, of anything. You know, I try not to eat much that comes out of a box. But if I do, I make sure that it has under a certain amount of ingredients. If I see a list of ingredients that's this long on the back of something, whether it's something I'm going to ingest or put on my face, I do tend to pause and think twice. Um, if it just has like a whole, like, you know, if it's like the Bible on the back. You know, that's a lot of stuff on my skin and I'll probably pass on it, you know, and go to something maybe that tends to be a little, you know, a little less ingredients forward. Um, but I think, uh, there's definitely a lot more options out there now. Less is more, you know.

Hillary Clark-Mina: 40:08

So the goal, I think really the whole point of this episode and the goal is to communicate to our audience that you can do more with less. When you're looking to improve your skin, because I think at a certain point we look in the mirror and we're like, Oh, what am I going to do? Things are changing. I have to do so much and there's all this information out there and you want to go like on the attack. It's the exact opposite. Calm everything down, calm everything down from the inside, calm it all down from the outside and give everything a break. integrate slowly one at a time. That's really our biggest message here is, you know, you'll be surprised once you baby your skin rather than beat it up. It's going to baby you back.

Susan Gerdeman: 41:04

Yeah, I agree. You know, I think that it's, that is probably the biggest takeaway from this episode for anyone, you know, beauty is meant to enrich. Beauty is meant to heal. Beauty is meant to make you feel good. It's not about. beating yourself up. It's not about overdoing. It's not, it's always, we always want to like do too much. And if it's the one lesson I can say before you, you know, put that makeup on in the morning, just breathe, think about it, then go forward. Right. And I guess that's a good analogy for life, right? Think before you put the gloss on. Right.

Hillary Clark-Mina: 41:44

I love it. I love it. I'm excited. I'm sending this one to you. I'm excited to have fun. I'm so

Susan Gerdeman: 41:50

excited to try that. Thank you for thinking of me and sending it to me. Of course. I can't wait to show you guys my contraption on our next episode. Oh my god. Stay tuned for the contraption. What are we talking about next time, Susan? Wait, Hill, we just had a whole episode on less is more and breathe and be natural and anti inflammatory. And then you're showing like straps and things that you're doing to yourself. I have problems. I don't

Hillary Clark-Mina: 42:15

know what's happening. I'm a curious mind. I am still a working makeup artist, so I need to know these things. Okay, well, yeah. I know. I mean, we'll just Listen, you're gonna get it all here, okay? If anybody

Susan Gerdeman: 42:27

out there ever wants a, a little human guinea pig, Hillary's your girl. She'll, she'll give it a go for sure. She'll try it. Uh, I have to stay informed for the people. You really do. You have to stay informed for me, so that I can call you and say, Hey, why don't you try this, Hill? Yeah, that's a good idea. But you

Hillary Clark-Mina: 42:49

stick your finger in the light. Yeah, why

Susan Gerdeman: 42:51

don't

Hillary Clark-Mina: 42:51

you stick your finger in the socket? Can you imagine? Yeah. If we were sisters for real, I would have been getting like, I don't know if I would have made it. You would have been just doing it to see if you could get me to do it and laugh.

Susan Gerdeman: 43:04

Pretty much. You would have been the one always in a time out and I would have been standing in the corner going, yeah, big sister, little sister. What can I tell you? So yes, until next week, my friends. Stay healthy,

Hillary Clark-Mina: 43:20

but go check us out Instagram at Life Gloss Podcast. We love it when you follow us there. It allows us to keep this going. Tell your friends, tell your family, we have some incredible stuff coming up through the holiday season. Lots of really good guests. Keep your questions coming because we do book guests according to what you want to see and we answer all of your questions. So at Life Gloss Podcast. So as always, Susan, I'm going to keep you glossy. I'm going to send me

Susan Gerdeman: 43:54

glossy friend. Send it my way. Stay glossy. Stay glossy, Susan.