#32: Midlife Skincare and the Pressure to Age Well

Micropeels. Botox. Retinol. Peptides. Red light masks. 11-step skincare routines.

The pressure on women to “age well” right now can feel completely overwhelming — especially when your skin suddenly starts changing seemingly overnight in your late 30s and 40s.

In this episode, Stacey sits down with Stephanie DiPisa, founder of Solara Suncare, for a conversation that starts with sunscreen… and turns into something much deeper.

After two of Stephanie’s children experienced severe reactions to traditional sunscreen, and while navigating her own health journey with Lyme disease, she found herself deep in the world of ingredients, inflammation, hormones, wellness, and sensitive skin.

What started as one mom trying to solve a problem for her family eventually became an award-winning skincare brand trusted by dermatologists, estheticians, beauty editors, and retailers including Bluemercury, Neiman Marcus, Whole Foods, and Target.

But this conversation isn’t really about skincare products.

It’s about what happens when women enter midlife and suddenly feel pressure to “fix” every part of themselves.

In this episode, we talk about:

•  why skin changes so dramatically in midlife 
•  inflammation, hormones, and sensitive skin 
•  sunscreen confusion and what actually matters 
•  wellness overwhelm and trying to “age well” 
•  simplifying skincare in your 40s 
•  the connection between stress, nervous system health, and skin 
•  supplements, social media wellness culture, and learning to listen to your body 
•  and why sometimes less really is more 

If you’ve ever looked in the mirror during this phase of life and thought,
 “Who is this woman?”
 this conversation is for you.

About Stephanie DiPisa
Stephanie DiPisa is the founder of Solara Suncare, a mineral sunscreen and skincare brand she created after two of her children experienced severe reactions to traditional sunscreen. While navigating her own health journey with Lyme disease, Stephanie became deeply interested in ingredients, inflammation, wellness, and sensitive skin.

Today, Solara is an award-winning skincare brand trusted by dermatologists, estheticians, beauty editors, and wellness-conscious women looking for simpler, cleaner skincare solutions.

Find Stephanie + Solara

Instagram: @stephdipisa + @solarasuncare
Website: https://solarasuncare.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Micropeels, Botox, red light masks, peptides, facials, retinol, skincare routines with eleven steps before bed. The pressure on women to age well right now feels a little out of control. And it is really easy to lose yourself in all of it. Especially when your skin suddenly starts changing seemingly overnight in your late 30s and 40s. But what if caring for yourself in midlife didn't have to feel so complicated? Welcome to the Next Phase Podcast, the show for millennial moms entering midlife who are done fixing themselves and ready to start listening to themselves. I'm your host, Stacey Hudson, and today I'm joined by Stephanie DePisa, founder of Solara Skincare, a mineral sunscreen and skincare company she originally created after two of her children had severe reactions to traditional sunscreen. At the same time, Stephanie was navigating her own health journey with Lyme disease, which sent her deep into the world of ingredients, inflammation, illness, and sensitive skin. What started as one mom trying to solve a problem for her family has grown into an award-winning skincare brand, trusted by dermatologists, aestheticians, beauty editors, and even celebrities like Giselle Bunchon's makeup artist. But what I love most about this conversation is that it really became less about skincare and more about what happens when your body starts changing in midlife and you're trying to figure out how to care for yourself without completely losing your mind in the process. In this episode, we talk about why skin changes so dramatically at this time of our lives, wellness overwhelm, and trying to fix aging, inflammation, hormones, and sensitive skin, simplifying skincare in your 40s, and why sometimes less really is more. Let's get into it. Welcome to the podcast, Stephanie DePisa. Hi.

SPEAKER_01 2:21

Hi, thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_00 2:24

Oh, you're so welcome. I'm so excited. Let's get into the sunscreen conversation because I think a lot of moms have been through it when it comes to sunscreen. And I feel like there's two camps. There's the conventional camp of just, you know, the same sunscreen we've been using since we were kids and lather it all over your kids, and that's great. There's the crunchy camp that says skip sunscreen and just use hats and layers. And there's the rest of us who are just trying to figure out what makes sense, do what's best for our kids, do what's best for us, but we're a little overwhelmed by all of the information. So tell me as a mom, what was your journey with all of this? And how did you end up creating your own sunscreen company?

SPEAKER_01 3:20

Oh my gosh, it is definitely a conversation, right? I actually started the company for my children. I have three, and two of them actually had terrible adverse reactions to chemical sunscreen. And this was long before my health journey ever started. And like you, I thought I was doing all the right things, being like, oh no, we gotta spray them head to toe. And now my oldest is a freshman in college. So this is going back 18 years, 19 years. Back then, there was no conversation around ingredients and clean and none of that. But it was on those vacations where he actually and my youngest daughter would break out in these rashes and it was terrible. They would be like, ah, it's burning when you spray it on. And that really for me is where this whole idea of even thinking about sunscreen and what was inside of it even started was because I was a mom that had a need. I had kids that couldn't use the stuff that you buy everywhere on vacation, the most popular sunscreens. And through talking to other moms and experts in the field, I learned that this is a very common problem. And the reason why is that sunscreen, the chemical versions of sunscreen, which I'm not against, but they soak in and then they reflect back as heat. So they're absorbing. And that's why if you have sensitive skin, um eczema like my son, it is painful because the heat portion of it, it inflames the skin. Mineral sunscreen was the solution that our dermatologist and pediatrician gave us. And all those years ago, it was like toothpaste. I didn't want to roll my kid in that. It was like a fight to put it on. And that's where the idea for my company came from was just finding an option that was pleasant to put on for my child that I knew that I could feel good about putting on their skin. But I'm above the middle ground camp. I think sunscreen is really important. I think skin cancer is a real concern, and anything we can do to protect ourselves from that is quite important. And also burning the skin is just damaging, even if you put the skin cancer piece aside. It's never good to burn the surface of your skin. But sun is not something I've ever been afraid of with my kids. This is not a popular opinion for a sunscreen founder, but it's how I truly live my life and how I feel. 10 to 15, 20 minutes of real sunshine is great. And there is a misconception that if you're wearing sunscreen, you're fully blocking all rays. That's not true. That's not true at all. It doesn't affect vitamin D production the way that we think it might.

SPEAKER_00 6:00

Yes, I love that. And entering my 40s, being a lot more cognizant of wearing sunscreen regularly and noticing really actually a difference. Right. All I did was change one thing, and that was putting on sunscreen every day. And I noticed a difference in my skin. I noticed less sunspots, and that was really impactful because I'm like, oh, you can stop and prevent going forward, and it does make a difference. It's not too late.

SPEAKER_01 6:27

It's never too late. And that to me also is the beauty of sunscreen is that obviously you want to prevent the bad stuff. That's number one. But the second piece of it is that it is protective against many things, not just UVA and UVB. Our products specifically have pollution defense, blue light defense, so other things that can help cause premature aging of the skin. The more we can prolong that, the better.

SPEAKER_00 6:52

Can you tell us more about what is in conventional sunscreens that your product does differently? What did you want to avoid?

SPEAKER_01 6:59

In the United States, sunscreen is actually considered a drug product. When you look at the back of a sunscreen tube or spray, you'll see at the top the active ingredients, just like you would on maybe an Advil or a Tylenol. It says the active ingredients. Those are the ingredients that are put inside to help shield from the sun and protect the skin. We at the current moment, we only use zinc oxide, which is a mineral-based sunscreen. And so that for me was number one was that we wanted the primary active ingredient to be a zinc oxide. It's healing, it's calming to the skin. It's in a lot of diaper creams, like kidding aside, because it is a calming ingredient. So for me, and what I was trying to solve for with my own children, it was very important that it only be that. And then from there, I wanted to peel back the layers of what other things were causing, either detriment to the skin, were question marks about hormone disruption and then also fragrance because we all love the smell of a banana and a coconut, but to get that scent is a questionable ingredient. And if they're a question mark, I don't want them in the products I'm putting on my kids or my face. So we took all of those out. We replaced them with things that are healing and nourishing and anti-inflammatory. So that was the approach.

SPEAKER_00 8:17

And what I think is funny about this whole journey is that you started it for your kids, but it feels like it's made for women at this stage of life because it's I told I told Stephanie beforehand, I feel bougie when I use her sunscreen because it's not just sunscreen, it's also skincare.

SPEAKER_01 8:39

It's very intentional that you're having that experience because when we started, it really was products just for the family for vacation sport, but we kept hearing exactly what you shared. And so therefore, we built on the line for everyday products and very selfishly, a lot of those products are actually meant to use clinical actives that help with problems I was personally having, right? Fine lines, hyperpigmentation for those of us in our late 30s and older, right? There are things we are trying to heal or correct, and you'll see those ingredients in our products for exactly that reason.

SPEAKER_00 9:14

So you said something in your original email to me that felt super familiar, and that is that you wake up in your late 30s, early 40s one day, and you look in the mirror and you're like, oh my God, who is this woman? Your skin can change so dramatically almost overnight, and it's a little alarming. And so you said that was your experience too. And so, what did that actually feel like for you?

SPEAKER_01 9:41

A hundred percent. I for me, I woke up one day and not only did I feel like I didn't look like myself anymore, but even my skin texture and the way it was behaving with my products I've been using for decades at this point, they just weren't working anymore. It was a pretty big wake-up call. And it was in that moment that I really started to understand why is this? What is actually happening underneath? What's happening? And more importantly, how can I fix it? And it's been a journey. I don't think I even have it figured out fully yet. I feel like every time you get to that point where you start to feel like, okay, I'm starting to feel like my old self, my old skin again, and you wake up to something new. And I'm in my late 40s now. Seen a lot in the last seven years of being in my 40s.

SPEAKER_00 10:28

Yeah, it's a lot. I'm actually currently seeking out a naturopath for the first time in my life. And one woman said something to me that stuck with me. She said, I specialize in paramenopause and menopause and hormonal changes. But what I found is that we can find something that works great for two or three years and then it changes again because our hormones are changing. And that was a little hard to hear, but I think it's important for us to understand that because when you've got your skincare dialed in your 20s, it can be dialed in probably for the next 10 years and you've got it figured out. And it's not quite the same after 40. Is that what you're saying?

SPEAKER_01 11:06

That's exactly what I'm saying. Inside and outside, right? So many things are happening, even just with how you physically feel when you wake up every day. Our bodies are changing. I feel every week it's something different and new. And to your point, it's about finding trusted people that can help you on that journey because not all advice is created equal. And what works for me may not work for you. It's about really being in tune with your body and listening to it to the best you can that day. That day in that moment. Oh no, just this Tuesday. I don't know about Wednesday. That's right. We got to get through today first.

unknown 11:43

Oh God.

SPEAKER_00 11:44

All right. From your research and your understanding, what changes are happening to our body that are then showing up in our skin in our late 30s and our 40s?

SPEAKER_01 11:53

Yeah. So there's a few things that are happening. Collagen and elastin, for example, is number one. I think physically what we see is different in our skin. We start to lose some of those building blocks. And that's when you start to see a bit more sagging, a bit more drooping, maybe the eyelids, our fine lines are becoming a bit more pronounced. And for me, these are all things that I celebrate. The truth, right? If you're aging gracefully and healthily, it's a gift. But when you want to feel like yourself, it can be a bit traumatic when you wake up and things aren't where they used to be physically. Some of the things, like even hormonally, that are happening are causing inflammation in my body, which for me is then increasing the redness in my cheeks almost like a rosacea. So not everyone has that experience, but that is something that the hormonal imbalances are waking up within my body. And the water loss in our skin is more pronounced. And so that also causes dryness. It can cause irritation. And that's why a lot of the products that I leaned on for so many years didn't work for me anymore. My skin needed so much more. And those are just a couple of things I've noticed on my end. And it's not topical, it's supplements and other things too that can help support that as well.

SPEAKER_00 13:09

I think that's a really good point. And I also have an interview with a tricologist who specializes in hair. And I was shocked at how much emphasis there was on what we're putting in our bodies and what's happening inside our bodies. It doesn't matter if we're using the fanciest salon deep conditioner, if we aren't hydrating, if we aren't eating well, if there's a lot of inflammation in our bodies that we haven't figured out what where that source is. So same for the skin, of course.

SPEAKER_01 13:39

Same for the skin. And I'm glad that he shared that and that you did as well, because I think for so long we were taught as women that there are miracle creams, there are miracle serums. And if you're not using them, then you're missing out, or if you're not spending thousands of dollars on your skincare every month, you're missing out. And I, in my experience, have not found that to be true at all. There is no miracle topical treatment, you know, that erases what's happening inside of our bodies and our minds. The science tells us that's true.

SPEAKER_00 14:16

Yeah, yeah. I just want to touch on something you said earlier, water loss. So when you say that, I immediately think, oh, is that just because I'm dehydrated, I'm not drinking enough water, or that's something that we can't necessarily control. It's just aging.

SPEAKER_01 14:30

Yeah, it's a little bit of both. And so hydration, like orally drinking and electrolytes and things like that, absolutely help support that. And an hydrated internal body also, you see that beautiful benefit on your skin as well, but also exterior to your skin barrier. And I work with a lot of dermatologists, which is how I have gotten this information. We've work very closely with estheticians and dermatologists. And that's part of this process of the collagen and elastic and building down the building blocks of our barrier support. And we do start to lose water from the surface of the skin. And that's why having products that seal that in and allow the moisture to retain is just one thing that you can do in addition to hydrating with water and electrolytes. So, yeah, the actual structure of the skin can start to change and cause water loss.

SPEAKER_00 15:23

Yep, that makes sense. Again, I'm gonna have a hard time getting through this interview without everything feeling, well, that's depressing.

SPEAKER_01 15:30

But there's solutions though. There's solutions.

SPEAKER_00 15:33

That's right. I think there is also this moment, again, going back to waking up one day and it almost feels like your skin has changed overnight and having some regrets, like wondering, oh shoot, I should have been wearing sunscreen, or oh shoot, I should have been using eye cream. And you're wondering, did I mess things up in my 20s? Or us millennials loved our tanning beds, which I didn't need to go to a tanning bed, but I my friends did.

SPEAKER_01 16:02

And I'm fully guilty of that as well, a hundred percent. And yeah, I hear what you're saying. And I always believe no regrets, because at the end of the day, I think we probably made the best decisions that we could in the moment at that time. And here we are trying to maybe reverse some of that or at least do it better. And the thing is, once you enter your 40s, you still have a whole lot of life ahead of you. So I always try to say it's never too late to start to address those things now so that when you get later in life, 60s, 70s, 80s, there are things that you can help prevent in terms of damage. If you start them now, it's never too late.

SPEAKER_00 16:39

That's good to hear. We needed to hear that.

SPEAKER_01 16:41

Thank you, Stephanie. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm also trying to reverse some of the tanning bed damage myself because it is real. But onward and upward, right?

SPEAKER_00 16:51

Onward and upward. That's right. Yeah. You know what's funny? So my grandma, who's from Barbados, had these freckles that as a younger person, I always used to think, oh, they're so cute. I want freckles. And then as I got older and I started getting them, I was like, these aren't freckles, these are age spots. And like, how sad that I could no longer consider them cute when they were on my own face. And I really have upped my game in the last year or two, as I think one does when you start to notice, oh my goodness, my skin really is changing. I better take better care of it.

SPEAKER_01 17:29

That's exactly right. A hundred percent. We tend to always be harder on ourselves. I see a lot right now on social media about topicals and peels and acids and preventative Botox in 20s and 30s. And that to me, I feel like is maybe not necessary. I think it is about other things that help contribute that are healthy choices that you can continue and start good habits.

SPEAKER_00 17:56

I've been seeing a lot more education about skincare, either in podcasts or social media. I think people are focusing on it almost as much as they have been their diet in the past. And just like health and wellness, just like our diets, it can be very confusing and overwhelming because there's a lot of different opinions out there. Stephanie, with all of your research, what have you come to the conclusion of that are like the essentials that are super important for us at this stage of our lives to take good care of our skin and react to the damage we might have caused in our teens and 20s?

SPEAKER_01 18:33

Skin care, supplements, mental health, and movement. Those are the four things that I've tried to focus on. Some days I nail it, some days I don't, but all of those things combined have really led me to a healthier being. And I think when you're healthier inside and mentally, it does show. I really believe that. And your skin and your energy.

SPEAKER_00 18:56

Oh, I love that answer. I did not see that coming. Your essentials to skin care are not just about the skin, it's also about your mental health and your happiness because it shows on your face. What a beautiful statement.

SPEAKER_01 19:09

Oh, thank you. Well, a million percent. And I'll tell you, I learned that going through my own journey with Lyme disease. So that to me really opened my eyes up to the balance. I'm lucky that I got to work with a very amazing functional medicine practitioner. And that's really where I learned personally how the being works as a whole, right? It doesn't matter how many supplements and creams you're using if you're sleep deprived and not taking good care of yourself, right? So everything really does work together. And I believe that. And I've seen results from that, not only healing with my own journey with Lyme, but also now as I'm entering this next phase of confusion in my body, hormonally and otherwise, is there really a connection between all of these things? And for me, inflammation tends to be the biggest culprit of negative results. So there's a lot of things we have to do to put out those fires. And skincare is only just one piece.

SPEAKER_00 20:09

Yeah, absolutely. Can you tell us beyond the mental and physical things, your general routine, morning and night, what you use for skincare, especially after everything you've learned through all these years of research and also your condition and what that taught you about your body?

SPEAKER_01 20:29

Absolutely. What's funny because I would have thought if you asked me even just 10 years ago, five years ago, that I would have had this 10-step routine. In fact, I did. I did in my 20s and 30s. I've had all the things. And it's actually been the opposite in my 40s and now my late 40s. I've actually pared it down dramatically. So I use an oil cleanser because my skin is dehydrated and dry hormonally and otherwise. So for me, it's a very nourishing way to remove the day. Um, it doesn't dry out my skin. I have one I love. So I do that. I do an eye cream that I absolutely love, a very rich and heavy eye cream, a serum, and a night cream. So it's four products. And so my night routine tends to be a little heavier because it can kind of soak in, absorb, and lock in that moisture overnight. And then in the morning, I just splash my face with water and I keep it really simple. I have an eye cream, an SPF eye cream, an SPF tinted moisturizer, and that's it. Now, if it's the winter, my skin's really dry. Underneath of my SPF, I'll absolutely put on a heavier cream, but I keep it very simple, which has been a learning curve for me.

SPEAKER_00 21:45

I love that we all need more simplicity at this stage, and all we've been told at every stop is that we need more. And so I think that's beautiful. Yes, please, less.

SPEAKER_01 21:59

Less and I got to that point because at one point my skin was so reactive. It was breaking out from everything. In my 40s, I didn't even have that in my teens. I was breaking out. I was having rough patches in rosacea spots. And I realized that in a lot of cases, the products that I was using were causing a lot of that, right? And at one point I couldn't figure out which was causing it. I was really stripping my skin barrier essentially with all the exfoliators and the peels. And so for me, that wasn't working. And the only way to get back to normal was to take it all away and start from scratch.

SPEAKER_00 22:38

Yeah, absolutely. How do you feel about makeup in terms of skincare? You said at the beginning that you really wear a lot less. Is that just a choice because you don't want to wear it? Or is it also because sometimes layering on makeup afterwards also isn't the best thing for our skin?

SPEAKER_01 22:55

Yeah, a lot of the heavier foundations I notice settle in my fine lines, or the concealers I used to wear actually draw attention instead of detract. And so for me, that wasn't a great look. And I'm time deprived. I don't have time anymore to do all the steps. It's been a little bit of both. I think the industry also is recognizing that there is opportunity to serve a customer that is 40 plus and that does have different makeup needs. And that makes me very excited.

SPEAKER_00 23:26

Makes me very excited too. I think most of us are at least open to this concept of some of the more conventional products that we've been using since our teens and 20s, have ingredients in there that could be impacting our health, could be impacting the environment. I believe the term is greenwashing, where it's so easy for so many products now to be like, oh, I'm gonna look like a natural product and put a couple of know this and know that, but there's all this other stuff in there. So I don't want to go too far in the weeds, but I'd love to hear what you know and maybe just a tip for what we can look for when we're shopping for products to make sure that they are a more natural product.

SPEAKER_01 24:06

You're right. It is absolutely Pandora's box. For me, I think there's no single source of truth. There is no firm certification on what clean means or what healthy means. It's really about doing research to what you believe and what's right for you. I love leaning on external resources like the EWG, the environmental working group, is one that I do have a lot of respect for. No certification body is ever perfect, but I think having worked with them now for many years, they do extremely hard work. They do the hard work so that we as consumers don't have to. And I love that because I know when I see that or I see their seal that I can trust it. And so I would say for someone new to the journey of cleaning things up, they're a great resource for identifying places where you can make healthier choices. In skincare specifically, there are things that I do avoid. I actually don't think chemicals are bad at all. Water is a chemical, right? So that terminology I find to be a little polarizing when people say that. But I do think there are things that we should stay away from, especially those of us in our 40s who are dealing with hormone challenges using ingredients that can be endocrine disruptive. Let's not do that. There's no reason for that anymore. There are cleaner options out there, and looking for those on the label are important. Parabens would be one of the question marks that people did have about endocrine disruption, chemical actives and sunscreen is another. And then I also lean away from fragrance. That's another thing that is like an unknown. You're not required to disclose what's inside of fragrance. And so I still wear perfume. I love it. I put it on my clothes, not my body, right? But I won't use it in my skincare because I don't want that soaking into my skin.

SPEAKER_00 26:01

So my first thought is I am 13 years old and I'm walking into Victoria's Secret and I'm beelining for Love Spell and I'm spraying it all over. And then I'm taking it home and I'm spraying it on everything. And I lived in Love Spell when I was younger. And there is something about scents that just brings you back. And I I stopped even using perfume after I got pregnant, but there are certain natural products that use natural scents, correct? And and those are okay. I am a little confused about the whole scent thing because it as an ingredient, it can just say fragrance, right?

SPEAKER_01 26:40

Exactly. And they're not required to disclose what that fragrance is made up of, could be hundreds of different ingredients inside. So you may never know, and you may never know how it's being mixed together and in what. And so listen, at the end of the day, what I've learned and I try not to do is do any fear-mongering because there's so much of that outside too. And listen, I love a good scent that brings me back. I have them, I use them. Like I said, I just choose to spray it on my clothes. I don't avoid it. But when it comes to layering that on your skin and letting it soak in and doing that time and time again, I personally believe these things do add up over time. And if we can avoid some of them, we should. And even some natural scents aren't great for you either. There are certain plant extracts that have known to mimic hormones. So there's no way for us to know all of these things or to be afraid. And that's why I always say find a resource that you trust that aligns with your philosophy and use that resource, whether it's EWG or I think made safe, there's a few. And that's an easy way to quickly look and see, okay, is this on the red list or if it's yellow or green, I can go for it. It's just a simple way to do that.

SPEAKER_00 27:58

I really appreciate that you said that, the fear-mongering. And as somebody who was really deep into the health and wellness world for a long time, I became certified health coach and I was a nutrition writer. And so I got into it. And I think I learned some good things from that experience. But what I don't love about it is there's so much of this all or nothing, and don't do this, and this bad thing will happen if you do this. And if we go around living our lives that way, it doesn't matter how healthy we are, like you said in the beginning. If we're not happy on the inside, it doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_01 28:33

I guess we're stressed. So true. It's so true. I share that completely. Find things that are enjoyable too. And I firmly believe that. I really do. I believe it's everything in moderation. I love to have a good martini sometimes on a Friday night. I don't have a problem with that, right? So, yeah, like demonizing certain ingredients or food types or anything like that. I'm not a huge fan. Just go where the science shows you and then make the best decision you can for yourself and for your family because we all are different. We're different.

SPEAKER_00 29:06

You have to take what's for you and leave what's not. That really is what it comes down to. Because we're all we're all surrounded by experts who think that they have the best opinion, the best strategy. It can't work for everybody. That's the whole point. And that's something we talk about. Stop trying to fix yourself and start listening to yourself. So I think that that really does apply to pretty much everything, including skincare.

SPEAKER_01 29:31

A million percent you have gut instincts and intuition for a reason. And I do believe if all of us take a moment to quiet the noise around us, because there is a lot of noise now, but I'm also in my late 40s. You know, it took me a long time to get to that opinion. It does, it takes so long. So we look there is a beautiful thing about being in your 40s and 50s, and I do think the confidence piece of it is something that is new and different that I'm enjoying that in my 20s and 30s I didn't have. And there are benefits too.

SPEAKER_00 30:04

Yeah, our skin in our 20s was fabulous, but the confidence in my 40s versus my 20s, it's not even you can't compare. It's a totally different level. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:14

It's almost unfair.

SPEAKER_00 30:19

Okay. Supplements. Supplements again are something that everybody has an opinion on. It seems like the supplement industry is just blowing up and it's really easy to type in a problem and find a solution in a pill. And I know there are some good supplements out there, and I know that we can benefit from them because our diet is lacking in so many things. But back to the naturopath conversation, I decided on the one because something she said to me was exactly the way I feel. It was, look, yes, there will be supplements I may recommend to you, but my ultimate goal is to have you off as many supplements as possible. I want your lifestyle and your food to give you what you need. And God was that freeing to hear.

SPEAKER_01 31:30

And I personally agree with it. I believe right now we are being inundated with things that our body supposedly needs, especially when you start talking in this perimenopause conversation, which I'm a glad that it's happening, but because it's so trending right now, everyone has something to say about what you should be taking, what hormones, what supplements, what shots, what this, right? And it is overwhelming. I do believe we have an overdependence on those quick fixes. I've certainly been guilty of it. There is a time and a place for sure, but not everybody's body needs the same things. And I learned this when I was going through my own Lyme journey. If your body didn't need it, it will excrete it anyway. So you've just spent time, money, energy on something that your body never needed to begin with, while maybe not paying attention to the things that it does need. And so I think finding someone that can help really drill down on that through all kinds of functional testing and blood work is the solution because you can be deficient in certain things and not in others. And you will find results from solving those deficiencies versus supplementing with what Instagram tells you that you need as a 40 plus year old female.

SPEAKER_00 32:50

Yes, we are a fun market for the supplement industry because we are struggling so much with so many things our bodies changing. And so you're like, Yeah, okay, if this will help, I'll take it. And before you know it, you've got 10 pills to take every day. And it's it, and I'm sure there's some that are doubling on something that you don't need multiple of. And this stuff isn't nothing, but it's not that's right, it might be plant-based or it might be all natural, but plants are powerful. Like, what are we messing with here?

SPEAKER_01 33:20

I'm glad you said that because that's the whole beautiful thing about plant medicine is that it can work, right? And so if it does work, as you layer all of them on top of each other, maybe sometimes they don't work together or they're not the solution that your body needs. And I am a huge proponent of listening to your body, seeing the data about your body before you start supplementing and just lifestyle overall. Like I believe vitamin D in the sun form is the best form. And I own a sunscreen company, so everyone always thinks that's a juxtaposition. I don't think it is. I think sunlight is an example of how nature can nourish, right? And maybe you don't need to supplement as much vitamin D if you were getting outside and moving more. I'm guilty of that, and that's why I share it. I am vitamin D deficient right now, and I realize it's because I've been spending a lot of time indoors, right? And it affects other things. Your circadian rhythm, your cell turn, it affects everything. And I couldn't fix it with just a supplement compared to the magic of just getting outside and moving.

SPEAKER_00 34:29

Absolutely. I am I've been really into circadian rhythm lately. And um, gosh, if it is not the coolest thing because it's free of all the hacks out there, it's the only one that we have full control over. It's not easy because especially the nighttime part, but the daytime part, I go out in the morning and it's I've just made it a priority. I journal in the morning anyway. And so now I bring my journal outside and I sit under the sun, watch the sunrise, and it is seriously the most romantic thing ever. Because I always like, I'm always journaling. I'm so grateful for the sunrise. I'm like, who am I? But, anyways, I got sidetracked there. But yeah, the it's sometimes it's not the supplements, sometimes it's just the most natural solutions, right?

SPEAKER_01 35:16

That's exactly right. That's exactly right. And listening to the body the way nature intended it, right? Fresh air and sunlight, it heals a lot of things. And it's why, but also calms the nervous systems. We talk a lot about nervous system inflammation, especially going through perimenopause with the hormone imbalance, can also trigger a lot of disarray in our nervous system for many reasons. So when you go on vacation, if you notice, everyone calms down, everyone's happier, your mood is lighter. Yes, because you know, but also because you're outside, you're out, you're about, you're getting natural sunlight, and you're listening to your body and calming down the inflammation. And so if we put little pieces of that idea into our day, I think it's beneficial. I'm working on the nighttime thing like you are as well, mostly calming my mind, right? It's less about the light at that point, it's what's going on up here. Absolutely. Um, but starting your day like that is magical. I think I'm gonna take a page from that book. I just like that. I really like that.

SPEAKER_00 36:13

Yes. Yeah, and I so I start with Four Gratefuls, then I just do free writing, and it's only 10 minutes because that's all I have in the morning. Sometimes my daughter joins me outside and she brings her little diary and sketches bunnies while and we're watching the sun again. It's just okay. So thank you. You've made something really beautiful, and you are a beautiful person. I really have enjoyed this conversation and just I hope we can be friends after.

SPEAKER_01 36:42

I would love that. And I have to pick your brain because you shared some things with your own journey. I'm like, oh my gosh, I have to learn more about this for myself. So I would love that so much.

SPEAKER_00 36:53

Yeah, that sounds good. Okay, tell the audience where they can find you, where they can follow you.

SPEAKER_01 36:59

Absolutely. So, me personally on Instagram is at Steph DePisa, and the brand is Solera Suncare, which is at Solera Suncare. And you can purchase our products on our own website, Solarasuncare.com, or in real life. We have our bougie collection at Blue Mercury, Neiman Marcus, the detox market. And then we have our family-friendly options at target.com and Whole Foods. So you can find us hopefully everywhere you shop so that you have a solution that's easy to take on the go.

SPEAKER_00 37:32

Of course, I feel bougie. You sell them at Neiman Marcus. I'm so crazy. I have no idea. I ordered them online. Okay. Thank you so much, Stephanie. I love this conversation, especially that you didn't scare anybody. That makes me so happy. Your intention is not to scare anybody. This is my journey. This is what I've learned. And I think we can all take from that as just let's stop being so all or nothing and let's figure out what works for us.

SPEAKER_01 38:00

That's exactly right. And I love that you share that philosophy. And thank you for letting me share my thoughts too. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 38:07

Of course.