Season 1 Highlights: The Best Moments & Biggest Takeaways

One season. Ten experts. More truth than the beauty industry wants you to hear.

From the operating room to the treatment room, from the lab to ancient medicine, Season 1 of Face It brought together some of the most respected — and refreshingly honest — voices in skincare, wellness, and beauty to challenge everything you thought you knew.

We sat down with Dr. Miami to pull back the curtain on BBLs, Ozempic, and the real risks of plastic surgery abroad. America's #1 dermatologist, Dr. Shah, broke down what's actually living on your skin right now. Hygiene expert Madame Sweat exposed the everyday habits that make people think they're clean when they're not. Esthetician of the Year Michael Razzano unpacked the acne epidemic quietly affecting 85 million Americans. Cosmetic chemist Dr. Julian Sass put the internet's most viral skincare products to the test — and didn't hold back. Legendary esthetician Nerida Joy shared 47 years of knowledge that most doctors will never tell you. Miami injector Pamela Weinberger gave us a rare, honest look at what actually happens in an aesthetic medicine practice. Board-certified dermatologist Dr. Adeline Kikam called out the skincare industry for failing melanin-rich skin. Dr. Will Cole challenged the way modern medicine treats symptoms while ignoring root causes. And TCM enthusiast Glow With Ava flipped the script on everything American culture gets wrong about skincare from the inside out.

If Season 1 proved anything, it's that the most powerful thing you can do for your skin starts with knowing the truth.

Big things are coming. Don't miss it.

Transcript

Intro

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Hey everyone, welcome back to Face It, the podcast that cuts through the noise of the beauty industry. We just wrapped season one, and honestly, I'm still processing it. We covered so many topics from skincare to wellness to conversations that I didn't even know I needed to have. So to celebrate, we wanted to do something extra special. Here are the best moments of each episode of season

Dr. Miami: Did Ozempic Change Plastic Surgery Forever?

SPEAKER_02 0:26

one. Did Ozemphic change plastic surgery forever?

SPEAKER_07 0:29

Forever. Forever. The big, you know, the robots are coming in 10 years, but the big trend that's going to be in the next five is the massive weight loss patients from GLP1s.

SPEAKER_02 0:41

Yeah, I definitely want to get into that.

SPEAKER_07 0:43

Yeah, I mean, that is and that that is, and again, it's a it's a huge boon for plastic surgeons. Especially with the new tablets that are coming out. So right now you have to give yourself give yourself a shot every week, you know, for Munjaro, uh, you know, Zetbound, Wagobi, all that stuff. And if you haven't heard about these and you're watching this podcast, go Google GLP1s, Wagobi, Ozempic, Munjaro, Zapbound. These are amazing drugs. If you've ever had a weight problem, or even if you're like, and I you don't have to be massively overweight to take these drugs. People are taking them, you know, just to lose five or ten pounds, which is fine. They're healthy, they control your blood sugar. There's some other benefits to it in terms of cancer prevention and heart disease. So I'm a big believer in them. But when those uh when that medicine is gonna be put into pill form in the next year or two, you're gonna see thousand hundreds of thousands of people losing massive amounts of weight. And when you lose weight, you need plastic surgery.

SPEAKER_02 1:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 1:41

If you lose more than 50 pounds, chances are you're gonna need plastic surgery to tighten things up.

SPEAKER_02 1:44

Do you also think, like maybe in the sense where now people aren't going for plastic surgery because of Ozempic?

SPEAKER_07 1:50

No. Well, the opposite. Uh so here's the thing: plastic surgery is not for weight loss. Never has been.

SPEAKER_02 1:57

Okay.

SPEAKER_07 1:58

It's always been for body contouring. And people who are overweight and go for liposuction are making a big mistake because liposuction is not for weight loss. Once you get down to your goal weight or near your goal weight, liposuction is great for contouring like small areas, your love handles, that little bit of fat in your armpit over here, the back of your arms, like we talked about, it's not for weight loss. So the fact that people can lose weight now, essentially without diet and exercise. I mean, it is a kind of a diet, but it's without having to like really put in the effort they had to before. Right. And uh GLP ones also quiet like the your food obsession in your brain, it quiet, it quiets the food talk in your head, it makes it a lot easier. You don't have to go for gastric sleep, gastric bypass, all those other operations that you needed to loot to do to lose 50 pounds typically. Um so once everybody kind of gets back to their goal weight, now you're in the zone for plastic surgery. Now you look great in clothes, but out of clothes, things are loose. Your breasts have fallen, maybe you have extra skin here and there. And that's when plastic surgery is really appropriate.

SPEAKER_02 3:06

Gotcha.

Dr. Miami: Most Regretted Procedure

SPEAKER_02 3:07

Next question. Are nose jobs the number one regretted procedure?

SPEAKER_07 3:11

Uh no.

SPEAKER_02 3:12

No? What is?

SPEAKER_07 3:13

I don't think so. The number one regretted procedure. I try not to do procedures that are regretted.

SPEAKER_02 3:21

No, of course.

SPEAKER_07 3:21

Yeah, but like if I had to statistically, though, what would you say? Statistically, I would probably say facelifts.

SPEAKER_02 3:29

That's a good one. I was just thinking something with the face because it's the first thing you noticed, you know?

SPEAKER_07 3:38

For a couple of reasons. One is they're expensive. Yeah. Super expensive. Um, and then secondly, uh, they never quite achieve what the patient really is looking for, which is a time machine. So, like if you're 60 years old or 65 and you get a facelift, you don't you want to look 30, you want to be 35, but you really won't. You're gonna look like a 65 year old with a facelift. You know what I mean? Like you're still gonna be 65, you're still gonna maybe you'll look 10 years younger at 55 or 50. But you you never get the you know, the the dream result like you want. Whereas if somebody's had a big nose their whole life and now they have a cute little nose, it's it's amazing. Yeah, you know, or if someone has small breasts and they have big breasts, it's amazing. So very little regret there because it's something that they never had and you're giving it to them. Whereas trying to restore something like youth is really difficult to make people like super happy about. That's not to say that rhinoplasty is perfect, because probably at least 10 to 15% of all rhinoplasties get revised at some point.

SPEAKER_00 4:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 4:42

But needing to revise something to make it like more perfect is not the same thing as regretting.

Dr. Shah: What's Actually Living on Your Skin?

SPEAKER_01 4:49

Every single one of us is gonna have bacteria, fungus, and little crawly mites.

SPEAKER_03 4:54

Oh no.

SPEAKER_01 4:54

Yeah, underneath the skin. And if we were to culture it, like on culture medium, culture is like food for these organisms. Right. It would grow like colonies of bacteria from your skin, right? So those are also building up on your skin throughout the day. Now, usually these live in harmony. We call that the microbiome, and usually they don't cause problems in people. But as one of these organisms, kind of like a weed, gets dysregulated, then it can cause start to cause problems on the skin, like rosacea and acne and so on and so forth. And so that's why when you don't cleanse sometimes, your skin can get really irritated. And we know this in people who have eczema. So in severe cases, we'll actually have people take what we call bleach baths. So it's actually dilute bleach. We put babies in these dilute bleach baths, which seems kind of crazy to do, but it's to to kill some of these bacterial organisms on the skin that actually can inflame your eczema.

SPEAKER_02 5:39

Wow. Wash your face, have mites on your face. That's crazy. That's actually the craziest thing I've ever heard. Okay.

Dr. Shah: Can Leaving Your Makeup On Tattoo Your Skin?

SPEAKER_02 5:46

So does leaving your makeup on permanently tattoo your skin?

SPEAKER_01 5:51

That's a good question. There has been cases of um where, especially with eye makeup, people leaving their, and I can, I can, we can pop up some pretty grotesque pictures of this, but people who leave their makeup on, especially heavily pigmented makeups. And some of the makeups are different. You know, with time they've gotten better, but not every makeup product has been great forever. And so some of these don't wash off well at all. And so with time, um, similar to a tattoo, right? A tattoo, you're kind of putting ink on the skin, and then you're using um or you're coating your the needles in ink, and then you're basically depositing them into the dermis, right? So similarly, you have these pigments that are in your makeup form. And if they get deposited or get picked up into the skin at all through whether they're tears or any rubbing, for example, like let's say you're using a makeup wipe on the eye and you're constantly rubbing it, this can introduce pigments deeper into the skin. And so we've seen cases, especially because underneath the eyelids, we have more of like a what we call like a conjunctival mucosa. It's got less barrier, let's say. Right. Um, in kind of more simpler terms. It has less barrier. And so it's easier for things to get deeper into the skin. And so sometimes when you see patients and you flip their eyelids open and there's somebody who's been using eyeliner or mascara for their whole life, you'll actually see that they're it's almost tattooed mascara into their conjunctival eyelid when you flip it over. So yeah, it can get stuck in there essentially. Um which is not something to necessarily be scared about, but um we definitely see it happen. And if you don't remove your makeup or you don't use the right makeups, um that can stick around for a bit longer.

SPEAKER_02 7:30

Yeah. I mean, I've also noticed with myself, like way, way back when when I would sleep in my makeup, not now, but that even days after I'll have like a little bit of residue always like on that bottom line, and it like is almost it's not permanently there, but like really hard to take off, especially after it's been just like sitting there and I've been trying, like it won't, it doesn't budge sometimes. So I definitely feel like I've experienced something similar, not as intense.

SPEAKER_01 7:56

But yeah, these things are really depositing in this a lot. Most makeups, right? Most makeups are not gonna because tattoos really need to get down into the tattoos really get into the dermis layer of the skin, which is below the. So when we look at the skin barrier, it really is epidermis, dermis, and then tattoos really exist in the dermis, which is your collagen layer of the skin. So you really have to rub your makeup in to a really impaired skin barrier for it to get to that layer where it's gonna essentially tattoo. But um, but to your point, with makeups in general, a lot of them are going to attach to the stratum corneum layer of the skin, which is that very, very top layer, superficial layer of the skin. This is also the same layer that um like like uh sunless tanners attach to. So if you've ever used like one of those sunless tanners, always it uses like a sugar-based molecule that deposits in their stratum cornea of the skin. And that's why it stays. That's what that's where temporary tattoos hang out, right?

SPEAKER_00 8:51

Right.

SPEAKER_01 8:52

And this is also like if you ever have gotten your hair dyed darker than your natural hair color, you'll notice that your scalp is a little bit pigmented from that for a little bit afterwards, and it basically is binding to your stratum corneum and it will eventually exfoliate off. And that's gonna same thing's gonna happen with some makeups, especially if they're like longer lasting makeups, right? Where basically for a few days it'll look like maybe you have dark circles because it's basically attached itself to the stratum corneum.

SPEAKER_03 9:17

Right.

SPEAKER_01 9:18

Luckily, that part is not very deep in the skin, and everyone naturally exfoliates that off every few days. And so within a few days it will come off naturally. Same thing with hair dye, same thing with sunless tanners, same thing with temporary tattoos.

SPEAKER_02 9:28

Gotcha. Okay, yeah, that's interesting. I never put like those three things, three things in the same category, but that makes sense.

Madame Sweat: The Truth About Sleeping With Wet Hair

SPEAKER_11 9:34

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 9:34

Okay, and sleeping with wet hair.

SPEAKER_11 9:37

Never, never, why never you know, you can get scalp fungus from that.

SPEAKER_02 9:42

Wow, really?

SPEAKER_11 9:43

Yes, and very controversial. I'm sure I'll get people commenting back, but it is a known fact. If you sleep with wet hair, it's anything wet, right? And so if you it's you need to dry it as fast as possible. That is the healthiest thing. Your sheets, your towels, you get them in a hot dryer as fast as you can. The faster you dry them, the less chance for bacteria to grow. And your scalp is the same. So if you go to sleep with a wet scalp, it has a chance for bacteria to grow and irritate your scalp. You need to dry your hair before you go to bed.

SPEAKER_02 10:19

And the bacteria will breed in your head in your head.

SPEAKER_11 10:22

Yeah, and especially if you have long hair and you put it up wet, which some women do, even worse. Um, so no, you do have to dry your hair before you go to bed.

SPEAKER_02 10:31

Oh wow.

Madame Sweat: How Bad Is It to Reuse a Towel?

SPEAKER_02 10:32

Okay. So how bad is it to reuse a towel, even if it still smells fine?

SPEAKER_11 10:38

Well, you know, there's all kinds, it's kind of controversial in a way, in some ways, but they've done all kinds of microbiologists have done all kinds of studies, and where there is moisture and humidity, you will have bacteria. That's just a given. Okay. And the thing about towels is that towels are made of cotton. And cotton, terry, it takes a long time to dry. And that is and your bathroom is moist and warm. So you've got a perfect scenario for a petri dish. So they often say the longer your towel takes to dry, the more bacteria you will have because it will start growing as the moisture is. So if your bathroom is very humid, and some people don't have proper fans or proper ventilation in their bathrooms, so their towel, and if they're really thick, may take a full 24 hours to dry, which means it's already got bacteria growing on it. So the answer is depends on the towel, depends on the conditions in your bathroom. Um, and most people are busy. I get that. They're not going to be running a load of wash every single time um they're drying off their body, but I would definitely recommend um, you know, trying to change your towels twice a week if you can. The other thing that's really good is heated towel racks because it'll help them dry faster.

SPEAKER_02 12:02

Oh, that's smart.

SPEAKER_11 12:03

Right? Like if you want to leave it on. Yeah. Um, because I sometimes forget to turn mine on and I think, yeah, then I'm not gonna get that mildew, even if you can't smell it. I know it's drying faster. So I know it's not growing well, it's bacteria.

SPEAKER_02 12:16

Yeah. So would you say that let's say someone followed all the right steps in the shower, right? They wash all their bits correctly, everything's all good, we're all clean, bacteria-free. Then we get out of the shower and we use this towel that's been sitting there. Did that kind of just cancel everything out, would you say?

SPEAKER_11 12:33

Well, you're basically rubbing, yeah, that bacteria and gosh knows what else is on the towel. And I don't know what you did the last time. So that's what I mean. Like, did you throw it on the floor? Did it fall on the floor? Like, so there's all those things. Um, and some people even dry their, like where you dry your towel, as I mentioned, a heated rack, but a lot of people put their towels on hooks, which is the worst thing you could do. I would never ever use a towel that I was on a hook. Why? Because the towel is, you know, I can't show you here, but the towel is not spread out to dry. So guess what's growing in all of that? And I can guarantee you that towel smells the worst. But it's amazing how many people have hook uh towel racks in their bathroom. And it's like, no, you have to open it up and allow it to dry properly. So I would never reuse a towel that's been drying on a hook ever. Okay. Um, I would want a fresh towel. And FYI, here's another little thing is that, and I love this stat, but the sun, and especially because you're based here in Florida and you have UV, UV rays all the time. The sun is nature's sanitizer. So I will tell you, if you're having trouble getting that smell, even after you wash your towels, if you can leave the towel in sunlight, the if it's a high UV index that day, the UV index is like a natural sanitizer. It will get the smell out of the towel.

SPEAKER_02 13:58

Wow.

SPEAKER_11 13:59

And it will, it will get rid of the bacteria, basically.

Michael Razzano: Can Birth Control Cause Acne?

SPEAKER_02 14:02

So I feel like growing up, like I always thought that you go on birth control to help with acne.

SPEAKER_06 14:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:08

But you said that there's some birth controls or some IUDs that can actually trigger acne. Yes. Can you explain that a little bit?

SPEAKER_06 14:13

Yeah. So there's estrogen and um progestin. Anything that's high in progestin is going to be really androgenic, which is gonna cause the skin to produce a lot more oil. So, like I mentioned, when that oil gets in with that, um, that overproduction of that cell cycle is called retention hyperkeratosis. So when that overproduction of oil is um mixing in with that cell cycle that we're not able to keep up with because we're acne prone, that's when that a lot of those um issues start to rise with the inflammation. So anything high in progestine is gonna cause the body to produce more oil. Wow. Um, birth control shouldn't be like a solution to acne. Like I'm not saying get on birth control if you're trying to like clear your acne. I think the holistic approach that we were talking about last night is definitely more of the solution. But anything that's high in that progestine is gonna be a little bit more, um cause a little bit more issues in those that are acne prone because it's gonna cause a lot more of that oil in the skin.

SPEAKER_02 14:59

Gotcha. Okay. I feel like we just cleared a misconception right now. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 15:03

That should be my first one.

Michael Razzano: How Diet & Lifestyle Affect Acne

SPEAKER_02 15:06

So I want to move on to holistic acne care.

SPEAKER_06 15:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:09

Um, so how big of a role does lifestyle and diet play in acne? Are there any foods or habits that you recommend avoiding?

SPEAKER_06 15:16

Yeah, I think it definitely does play a role. We kind of went over like the hormonal stuff. Um, with foods, you just want to avoid anything that's gonna cause the body to produce more oil. So dairy is a big one. Um, iodine salt can be very irritating. That's why like a lot of sushi products like soy and seaweed and shellfish can be a little bit triggering, is because they're loaded with iodine. Um, peanut butter stimulates androgenic activity in the body, which can cause the body to produce more oil. Um, and then biotin is a big one because what biotin is doing is essentially causing the body to create more skin cells. And I mentioned that acne bone clients can't keep up with that cell cycle because they're already producing enough skin cells. So that kind of just adds more fuel to the fire. But when I'm going over like this diet and food list with my clients, I really like them to have a healthy relationship with that list. So I always make sure to mention like, don't cut out any of this entirely because that's just gonna stress the client out even more. But just be mindful of, you know, if you can substitute, you know, milk with almond milk or just like cut back a little bit, um, you'll notice changes in your skin. Gotcha.

Dr. Julian Sass: Does Salmon Sperm Skincare Actually Work?

SPEAKER_02 16:19

Salmon sperm.

SPEAKER_05 16:20

Mmm, yeah. Salmon sperm, all of the like good evidence that we have for like what it does for the skin has to do with injections or like applying it alongside microneedling, just something to help it get delivered into the skin. Because the salmon sperm, um, the actual gradient is called PDRN. Like to get it into the skin, it's very difficult because the molecule is really, really large. And when you have that, you have to have some kind of delivery system either in the product or manually to get it into the skin to like do what it says that it's gonna do, which is why it's so popular with like treatments. And so in skincare products, it's likely gonna be hydrating, and that's really it, which is not bad at all. But a lot of those benefits that we hear about PDRN, you're not gonna see nearly as much if you're just applying products, but you're not getting it done like from a pro from a pro professional, getting it with microneedling, getting injections, something like that to like get it into the skin so it can like interface with the skin and do what it says that it's gonna do.

SPEAKER_02 17:24

So a lot of these animal-derived ingredients, it sounds like they're mainly for like hydrating, moisturizing.

SPEAKER_05 17:30

Yeah, for yeah, for for the most part. Like some of them do have additional benefits, but you've gotta like pair them with treatments or have delivery systems or have something in there to make sure that it gets to where it needs to go. Right. But otherwise, yeah, a lot of them are just gonna be really moisturizing, plumping, hydrating, and all that, which is fine, but it's not gonna be any better than lots of the other ingredients that we have on the market that are not nearly as expensive or complicated or anything like that.

SPEAKER_02 17:54

So salmon sperm, SAS approved or sus. I'm gonna say sus. I'm gonna say sus for that one. It sounds a little sus.

SPEAKER_05 18:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:01

So

Dr. Julian Sass: Is Sunscreen Harmful for Your Health?

SPEAKER_02 18:02

there's no data out there to say that sunscreen's harmful for your health.

SPEAKER_05 18:06

Absolutely not. Not a shred of evidence.

SPEAKER_02 18:09

And there's no data out there to say that sunscreen's harmful for the environment?

SPEAKER_05 18:12

Absolutely not. So all of those things that come with like reef safety is a really big one. Cause like, oh, the like chemical filters, you know, bleach the coral reefs. So all that's is done like in a tank with putting the pure UV filter in the tank, which is very different than putting the product on someone's body and then getting into the water where you have like a very little bit of runoff into that product. And if you look at some of those same studies that say, oh, that like these chemical filters also bleach the coral reefs, zinc oxide also bleach the coral reefs in those studies. So if we're gonna look at it tit for tat, technically zinc oxide, which is like the main filter used in mineral sunscreens, is also not reef safe. So there's nothing that says that those UV filters at the level they're used in our products are going to be harmful. And there are so many other things that happen that are so much more harmful for the reefs, because some people are like, oh, it's happening, you know, where there are lots of people and because it's because of their wearing sunscreens. It's like, well, maybe because you have scuba divers and you have, you know, tourists all going down here like at the reefs all the time. Maybe that has something to do with it as well. Right. Yeah, it's there, there's so many other factors. And now, like sunscreen has become like the scapegoat. Yeah. All these things to kind of like mask all these bigger structural problems that are much harder not to crack, but it's so easy to just say, oh, hey, sunscreen's bad, we should ban it. And it's like, okay, great. But when these things don't improve after that, then it's like, oh wait, maybe it's something else. There, then you have these bigger things that are much harder to tackle.

SPEAKER_02 19:46

Right. And sunscreen's so, you know, it's so it's so important to wear sunscreen.

SPEAKER_05 19:51

Yeah, exactly. Like it's one of those things that's like, guys, it's it's an essential, like, especially if you are somewhere like here in Florida where it's very, very hot, or if you're in like Hawaii where it's even more hot. Like, there are these places where, like, yes, like sunscreen is essential if you're gonna be there. Now you have to like kind of fight all these battles to kind of get anyone to wear it initially, and then to make like cosmetically elegant formulas is another hurdle as well. It's really, really difficult to just kind of like kind of surmount everything to just get people to wear it at all.

SPEAKER_02 20:22

Right. Okay. Yeah. Well, to end off this segment, is there a viral sunscreen besides the one that you said you loved, but like a very viral sunscreen that you absolutely love?

SPEAKER_05 20:32

Ooh. Oh gosh. My gosh, what are what are some viral sunscreens?

SPEAKER_02 20:39

I would say, I mean, I had a lot of them here, but like the super group is pretty viral. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 20:42

So Sob is pretty good.

SPEAKER_02 20:44

I feel like the fun ones are viral. Yeah. You know?

SPEAKER_05 20:46

Yeah, yeah, because like super group is like iconic. Um the vacation one, obviously. Like the those are like my like big two viral sunscreens.

SPEAKER_02 20:57

Amazing. I'm glad I brought them together.

SPEAKER_05 20:58

Yeah, and oh, okay. I mean, they're it's it's hard to get in the US now, but the like relief sun from Beauty of Joseun. Oh, it was like viral for so long. So it was just like it was a cream formula that people absolutely loved. It's not my personal favorite because it's it's a tiny, tiny bit ashy on me. But if you're like just a little bit lighter than me, it's absolutely fine. Um, but yeah, I think that that beauty of Josun Relief Sun One is a really, really nice touch because it feels like a lightweight more moisturizer.

SPEAKER_03 21:28

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 21:28

For so many people that was like a whoa, how do you have a sunscreen? That feels so light. It's the right way. I mean, that's that's the magic.

SPEAKER_02 21:33

That sounds nice.

SPEAKER_05 21:34

Yeah, that's that's the power of those of those UV filters that we can't get here in the seeds.

SPEAKER_02 21:39

Yeah, okay, wow. Good to know.

SPEAKER_05 21:40

Yeah.

Nerida Joy: Why Is Adult Acne on the Rise?

SPEAKER_02 21:41

Kind of happening right now that maybe didn't happen as much in the past was adult acne. Yes. What would you say are like the causes of adult acne?

SPEAKER_10 21:50

You know, it's really interesting because I've been doing hands on work for 47 years and I have never in all of these years seen as as many people. With acne now. Wow. And it, you know, it isn't just the teenagers and the the 20-year-olds. It's it's not just from wearing makeup that's comedogenic and clogging pores. Right. There is a lot more internal um, you know, gut health issues. People are really um, you know, emotionally, there's there's a stress factors, but I I think in general, there's always been stress, but I think in general, um, you know, it's harder, it's our bodies are just not as strong as they used to be. Our our constitution is not what it used to be. Um we used to be able to a hundred years ago digest foods differently. You know, our bodies um aren't as strong. And you know, the we we really are evolving with our environment. And in doing that, you know, our bodies have to adjust to survive. And so, you know, the more processed foods are, uh, the you know, all of these things really interfere with our hormones. So, you know, where where does it leave us and why do adults have more acne? I think that our bodies are just more sensitive and we are more reactive to, you know, stress. And I always say stress is not just a word that floats above your head, right? It actually attacks your weakened organs because we all come into this world with weakened organs that we carry from our parents and our grandparents. And when you get stressed, it might be that your weakened organ is your stomach, and therefore you're not digesting food the same. And when you're not digesting food and you're not, you know, assimilating things really well, then your skin is the largest organ of elimination that just shows what's going on internally. Yeah. So, you know, stress is, you know, a a trigger, but hormonally, you know, I think that PCOS, rosacea, these are things that are really on the rise. And it's um, you know, there's a lot of things that uh, you know, a lot of inflammation, I mean, inflammation alone is on the rise, and disease all stems from inflammation. So it's definitely um, you know, it's all it all contributes to adult acne.

SPEAKER_02 24:26

Yeah. You mentioned how PCOS is on the rise. Do you think that's something that definitely contributes to adult acne?

SPEAKER_10 24:32

Absolutely. Yes, absolutely. Because with PCOS, you have, you know, more male hormone, which is why there's this hair that, you know, facial hair that appears more with PCOS. Uh people, you know, have more hair on their body. I mean, women that have PCOS have hair in areas like on their butt and their lower back and areas that, you know, it it really shows up everywhere. And so it's definitely something that is on the rise for sure. And uh and hormones plays a huge role in it, you know, the imbalance of hormones and and also, you know, people are taking a lot of things. They're they're taking a lot of vitamins, so they're doing things that are, you know, maybe not quite right for them. You know, so I mean, I remember, you know, years ago, I mean, they had pills to make your breasts larger, and young girls are taking this because they they're impatient and they don't they don't realize, well, hold on, I maybe I need to wait till I'm 20 years old and see what happens. Right. You know, they're they're popping things or they're rubbing creams on that influence our you know, our hormones. I mean, all of these things, what we put on our skin topically, right, a certain amount of that does affect our hormones. So, you know, ingredients, formulations, all of these things really

Nerida Joy: Red LED Lights & Melasma — What You Need to Know

SPEAKER_10 25:53

matter. The red, lead lights are really a problem for melasma. And so I, you know, as as we uh evolve and as our sun gets worse because of you know shuttles being let up in space that release all that black carbon, it's really destroying our atmosphere. Right. And so the sun rays are much harsher, and I think that um more people are blotchy, you know, they have blotchy skin. And whether it be melasma because they're taking some, you know, medicine that makes it worse, um, or whether it just be environmental, you know, a lot of it is based hormonally too. So I think that you know, the red, lead lights are just out of control. I mean, I just came back from a bigger, big show in Las Vegas, and you know, so many of the booths are selling these lead, red lights. And some of them are just super gimmicky, like they they really don't understand, nor do they, you know, they're they're there to sell a light, but they don't really understand skin. And that's upsetting to me because you know, a lot of people that it's it's so popular on social media and just the lead lights everywhere. Right. Um, but red lead is not for melasma and it's not to blotch your skin, it will make it worse. So uh so those are some of the things that immediately come to mind.

SPEAKER_02 27:20

Yeah. So in certain instances, these red LED lights could do more harm than red. Oh, absolutely.

SPEAKER_10 27:26

Without, without doubt. I mean, it's interesting. It's crazy. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 27:30

I I wouldn't have known that.

SPEAKER_10 27:31

Yes.

Pamela Weinberger: Botox vs. Filler — What's the Difference?

SPEAKER_02 27:32

Wow. What would you say is the difference between Botox and fillers and why do people swear by one over the other?

SPEAKER_04 27:40

I think that in general, it really depends on what you need as a patient in terms of swearing by one or the other. So if you're talking about wrinkles, then we're talking about Botox. And if you're talking about adding more structure to an area or maybe a little bit more fullness in the lips, now we're talking about filler. Gotcha. Okay. And how do they actually work in the face? So, what Botox does is you inject a small amount of it. And what it does is it blocks the signal of acetylcholine, which is what makes our muscles contract. And then fillers, they have different little personalities and properties depending on where you are in the face. But what they do is they kind of, you know, they add like a little bit of fullness in an area or they add a little bit of structure if you're talking about a jawline. And so they end up being

Pamela Weinberger: Is the No-Botox Movement Legit?

SPEAKER_04 28:27

completely different.

SPEAKER_02 28:28

So I want to kind of talk about a movement that's going on right now. It's called like the no-tox movement. People are basically boycotting Botox and saying that it's like toxins going straight to your brain. What are your thoughts on this?

SPEAKER_04 28:41

So Botox is actually really safe. And when you inject it, it stays in a really, really confined area and it's not gonna go to your brain. Okay. So we can forget about that. Okay. But just in a way to kind of know is that the FDA approved amount for the three areas, meaning like the forehead, between the eyebrows, around the eyes, that FDA approved dose is 64 units. Wow. That's what they say will get you to three months, maybe four months, of having a little bit of like, you know, wrinkle-free treatment. But also what's gonna be a lethal dose of Botox is 3,500 units. Oh, wow. So we're talking about just completely different amounts. And when we're talking about treating the wrinkles, we're using such a small, small amount to treat our our wrinkles and our face or whatever we're using it for.

SPEAKER_02 29:42

Right. It's not dangerous since you're not using like an absurd amount of Botox. No. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 29:48

And I think that if we're talking about those like bigger areas where you are doing bigger amounts and bigger units, for example, trap tox, very, very popular right now where you Botox a trapezius muscle, either because people have tension or people want a little bit of like a longer neck type of a look. In my practice, I do a hundred units when I do that. If I'm treating somebody's entire face and I'm doing the hundred units, maybe I space those out between two appointments. If you really want to take safety the next like level, you can always do that. You can space things out for people.

SPEAKER_02 30:26

Yeah. That's another question I had because you said that people will do Botox like help alleviate pain. And I've heard like it's good for like migraines and things like that. Absolutely. Can you touch a little bit on that? Sure. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 30:37

Botox has 12 FDA approved therapeutic uses. Meaning um, we I think it got first FDA approved for blepherospasm, which is uh issue with the eye. Oh, wow. Um they even use it in some pediatric patients that are born and you know, their neck is very tight. So we're using it for so many different things because it is pretty safe.

SPEAKER_02 31:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 31:03

And we found that at those units that we're using, we're able to treat a lot of different conditions. And if you've ever experienced migraines, then you know that you're glad to have anything to help you.

SPEAKER_02 31:16

That's

Dr. Adeline Kikam: Laser Hair Removal & Melanin Rich Skin

SPEAKER_02 31:17

awesome. Laser hair removal doesn't work on gray or red hair. Can you break down why that's the case?

SPEAKER_09 31:24

So the whole way um lasers work is lasers work by targeting melanin in the hair shaft. It's what allows um the laser energy to be able to identify, like, you know, and destroy the hair. Because once you the laser targets the melanin, um, that energy gets turned turned into heat. And then heat is what destroys a hair follicle. Okay. Um, in um melanin-rich skin, you have more pigment for the laser to target, right? Right. Um, but with the lighter um skin tones, uh like gray, white, um hair, red hair, there's less melanin in that um hair shaft. So then it's not as, you know, specific in getting to that hair and causing the same damage. So in those cases, um, other forms of hair removal um become really important. Wow. That's so interesting. I've never heard that. That's really cool. I tell people like if you want to get laser hair removal, you have to get it before you gray. Yes. If not, it really becomes difficult. Yeah. So funny.

Dr. Adeline Kikam: The Best Sunscreen for Melanin Rich Skin

SPEAKER_09 32:29

What type of sunscreen? Right. Are we gonna do chemical? Are we going to do a mineral? Is it gonna be tinted or non-tinted? But when it comes to melanin-rich skin, I particularly like tinted um mineral sunscreen because um there's some research that shows that uh the iron oxide in tinted sunscreen is really helpful when it comes to hyperpigmentation by decreasing um the effects of blue light on the skin, which tends to lead to um it tends to lead to um, how can I say prolonging what they call erythema or redness on lighter skin tones, and then also prolonging hyperpigmentation on darker skin tones. So when it comes to treating conditions like melasma, which is a very common condition in skin of color, melanin-rich skin, I especially love tinted um mineral sunscreens for that. Awesome. Do you have a favorite tinted mineral sunscreen? Yeah, like I love um LTA MD's line of tinted mineral sunscreens. I also love um this um skincare brand called Audacity.

SPEAKER_02 33:36

Ooh, okay.

SPEAKER_09 33:37

I hope I'm saying it correctly, but I love your sunscreen. And then um I also like a couple from La Roche per se. And then, oh my goodness, Beauty of Jocen. I hope I'm pronouncing that right. They have like one of the best tinted mineral sunscreens I've used in a long time. It's super lightweight, goes on very well. And then the great thing about it is they have multiple shades um of the darker skin tone range or darker range of um their SPF, their tinted SPF, which is great when it comes to having just that variety that patients and folks can pick from. So yeah, Audacity, LTA MD, La Roche Posey, um, and Beauty of Joseon right now, holding it down for me. Love those. Great option.

SPEAKER_02 34:25

Yeah.

Dr. Will Cole: What Does Functional Medicine Have to Do With Skin?

SPEAKER_02 34:26

What does functional medicine have to do with the skin?

SPEAKER_08 34:29

Oh, it has everything to do with the skin. I mean, the skin is an outer mirror. It's a proverbial check engine light of something going on in the body. It's multifaceted, but we need to have both an outside in and an inside out approach. Right. And if you do have one and not the other, it's just scratching the surface. You're gonna be really frustrated because you could take all the best skincare products out there, and that's that is one half of that puzzle, that outside in approach, but you have to look at the inside out as well. Right. And for people on the other side that just deal with the inside out and they they have a poor skin microbiome, or they're using inflammatory products or things that are irritating to the skin mantle, skin uh barrier, that's not good either. So you have to bridge and have a both and not either or approach here. Uh so it has everything to do with it. And specifically, what my a large work is is looking at somebody's skin issues, looking at their health history, running appropriate labs to look at what's causing it. So it's it's multifaceted, it's multifactorial, it's not gonna just be one thing. But a big part of that I would say is looking at the gut. The gut is a significant component as far as the research is concerned. We have what's called the gut skin axis or the connection between the gut and the skin. And the skin is oftentimes an outer mirror of what's going on in the gut. It's like think of if so you look at somebody's skin, that is in many ways what their gut lining is looking like. Meaning if their skin's inflamed, their gut should be we we want to rule out the fact that their gut's inflamed or not. For many people, it is. And depending on the study that you cite, we have about upwards of 100 trillion bacteria in our gut. We have about 30 trillion human cells. So we are exponentially more bacteria than human. And with that amount of bacteria, it's known as the microbiome or small life microbiome. And we want to look at the the balance of this microbiome. Right. If 75% of the immune system is in the gut, inflammation is a product of the immune system. So there's a crosstalk between what's going on in the gut and what's going on in the skin. And we have the skin microbiome, that's all the beneficial microbes on the skin, and that's intimately tied to the larger microbiome, which is in the gut. So as someone that can have an unhealthy microbiome or imbalanced microbiome in the gut, it can show up on the skin through the sort of microbiome inflammatory skin connection. Um, so we would look at labs for someone that has skin issues. We would look at labs. One of those potential labs would be someone's microbiome, gastrointestinal health at large, looking at inflammatory markers in the gut, looking at bacterial imbalances in the gut, there's things, um, a type of dysbiosis. If you break that word down dysbiosis, it's like a bad, bad imbalance, bad balance in the in the gut. It's it's it's the sort of these uh uh proverbial weeds overgrowing in this gut garden. If your gut is the garden, if the microbiome is the garden, you have people can have these opportunistic and pathogenic bacteria in the gut. These are like uh these metaphorical weeds, right? They're higher in what are called lipopolysaccharides or bacterial toxins, which are pro-inflammatory. God made gram-negative bacteria, but we don't want overgrowth of these bacteria. It's it's the Goldilocks principle. It's not too high, not too low, but just right. Or homeostasis, right? And that applies to many things in the body. It applies to the microbiome with bacteria, it applies to hormones, you don't want excesses of hormones, you don't want deficiencies of hormones, it applies to inflammation, we don't want high inflammation, we don't want suppression of inflammation either. So it's it's we want balance, we want homeostasis in the body. So specifically with skin health, we have to look at the landscape of this gut garden, the landscape of the microbiome. So looking at bacterial imbalances, which there's a sp go back to what my point is, the dysbiosis piece, there's a type of dysbiosis called SIBO, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, which is very, there's a lot of exciting research around SIBO and its connection to skin issues. And and it's also, some researchers are postulating that SIBO may be an autoimmune condition in and of itself, but it certainly is associated with different autoimmune issues. And that's not to say, to be clear, not everybody with SIBO has an autoimmune condition. But there's somewhere on this inflammation spectrum. There's some dysregulation going on with the immune system. And for some people, not everybody, it can show up on the skin. So I want to look at things like imbalances or bacterial overgrowths in the gut, but not just bacterial overgrowths. But as someone can have SIBO, they can also have what's called SIFO, small intestinal fungal overgrowth. Or you hear oftentimes on social media about candida, right? Right. And what is that, right? Candida is part of the microbiome. It's not inherently bad. Small amounts are fine, just like it's back to that Goldilux principle. Right. We just don't want overgrowth of this, which is associated with skin issues and other inflammatory problems in the body. All of these imbalances in the gut, whether it's bacterial, yeast and fungal overgrowth, parasitic issues, can be another thing that can really stress the body out. Um they all of these overgrowths can increase an inflammatory response. Inflammation's not inherently bad either, but when the body has these overgrowths, it really can be stressful. The body's trying to maintain homeostasis, so it ramps up inflammation. It's the defense system of the immune system. But over time, that can wear down the intestinal lining. Uh, what researchers call increased intestinal lining permeability or hyperpermeability. The common term for it is leaky gut syndrome. Things passing through the gut that shouldn't be able to pass through the gut.

SPEAKER_03 40:12

Right.

SPEAKER_08 40:12

Oftentimes, what causes it are these bacterial, is and fungal or parasitic overgrowths. Environmental toxins can do it too, which we can get into, like herbicides, pesticides, microplastics, forever chemicals. But, anyways, there's a there's a combination of things stressing the gut out. When things can pass through the gut lining into the bloodstream, the immune system says, What the heck's going on? Why is there undigested food proteins? And that can trigger food sensitivities, which can impact the skin health as well.

SPEAKER_03 40:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 40:39

Or bacterial toxins, that creates an inflammatory cascade. Inflammation is really the common thread between all of these health problems. So an inflammatory skin issue, whether it be acne or rosacea, dermatitis or psoriasis, those are inflammatory.

SPEAKER_03 40:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 40:54

Okay, why is that check engine light? Why is that skin issue on on? And for many times, people, it's that gut-skin connection that needs to be looked at. Look, it's way more effective. It's there's so many other facets in that. Right. We have to look at hormones, we have to look at nutrient deficiencies as well. But it's gonna be part of that sort of trifecta of things that are there, but the body's interconnected. So if the gut's off, that can throw off hormones. But then conversely, if hormones are off, that can throw off the gut. So we have to look at these sort of what we would call upstream and downstream issues, the interplay between the different systems of the body. But you could see why. I mean, I didn't even get to dig into hormones, but you can see why it's not as simple as take that serum.

SPEAKER_02 41:38

Right.

SPEAKER_08 41:39

The serum's important, the products you use in your skin are important, but it's just one half

Dr. Will Cole: Are Probiotic Sodas Actually Doing Anything?

SPEAKER_08 41:46

of the puzzle.

SPEAKER_02 41:46

Okay, and let's be real about probiotic sodas. So Poppy, Olipop, are they actually doing anything?

SPEAKER_08 41:54

Uh okay, here's the deal. Be honest. Okay.

unknown 42:02

All right.

SPEAKER_08 42:02

I I they they have some redemptive value. I will say this. Poppy actually got in trouble a few years ago, right? Because someone sued them. Which when you get to a certain level size, people just like to sue everybody. But um, so I felt actually felt bad for Poppy at that point because I really felt like man, you really think Poppy is gonna like heal your gut? Like they're making it fun. They're talking about pre about prebiotic prebiotics and apple cider vinegar. It's not that serious. Like, this is a poppy is not your doctor, right? Like, get out get a get a life. But we live in a litigious culture, right? People like to sue people, it's really sad and sick. Um, but they were sued because they were said that this was misleading and they thought that it was like some therapeutic gut medicine was poppy. Um I can appreciate something like poppy for what it is because it has does it have enough apple cider vinegar to really move the needle? I don't know. Probably not, but it tastes good, and I think it's better than drinking a high fructose cor corn syrup soda.

SPEAKER_00 43:10

Right.

SPEAKER_08 43:11

Uh, Olipop, I do think has a little bit more as far as the the clarity of their prebiotics. Again, is it a gut healing magic? No. But it is a better for you alternative. Yeah. That's where I can get behind pragmatically brands that are trying to do better for you versions. Yeah. I would just be mindful of the amount of grams of added sugar. They still are gonna have a lot of the brands. I don't know every single one of those brands out there that are the probiotic sodas. Look at the grams of added sugar. And that kind of parlays into kombucha, right? And kefirs, you'll see those show up. Still look at the grams of added sugar. Um, they're fermented. The fermentation breaks down a lot of the sugar. That's how you make kombucha with the scoby and it's a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. But the tartar the better, I guess would be my pro tip there. If it's super sweet, look at the grams of added sugar. They may use a monk fruit or allulose or stevia or something like that. That's a low-carb natural sweetener, which I would say for many reasons, it's a better option than having high cane sugar or something like that. But look at the label, become label literate and look at the grams of added sugar, and then realize it is what it is. It's a fun drink that's enjoyable. It's not going to like heal SIBO. It is, it is definitely more complex than just drinking poppy.

SPEAKER_02 44:30

Okay. Good to know. I'm glad, I'm glad we debunked that.

SPEAKER_08 44:33

Cleared

Ava Lee: Does the Ear Control Your Entire Body?

SPEAKER_08 44:34

the air.

SPEAKER_02 44:34

Is it true that the ear controls like our entire body?

SPEAKER_12 44:38

Absolutely. Which is wild because, you know, our ear is so tiny compared to the rest of our body. Yeah. But your ear really is a microcosm of that reflects your entire body. You know, every single point, different point in your ear correlates to a different organ or your system that can cure a lot of conditions that people are having. And the easiest way, I mean, it's kind of similar to reflexology, where your feet also reflects to different parts of your body and your organ.

SPEAKER_02 45:08

Right.

SPEAKER_12 45:09

Right. It's a very similar theory with ears as well. But ears, I think, is even more powerful because you can see almost like instant changes, especially when you use our ear seeds. So the easiest way to think about it is um your ear is shaped kind of like um a baby torso in a mom's room. Oh. But upside down. Interesting. So for example, the ear lobe kind of reflects more of the person's head and brain. Yeah. The in the middle is more reflective of, you know, the torso and the organs of the body. Okay. And then the top is more related to the feet and the spine, for example. Gotcha. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:51

Okay.

SPEAKER_12 45:52

So are there like a million different things that ear seeds can help with? Million different points. And because of that, million different things earse can help. You know, a licensed ear act um ear therapist can be able to treat so many different conditions. For example, like, you know, your posture, your sleep issues, even like a certain autoimmune conditions, infertility, like anxiety, ADHD, uh, eating disorders, like there's a million things it can actually treat. And that's how powerful your ear is. Because when you stimulate certain parts of your ear, it is actually sending a signal to your nervous system. Okay. Your ear and your nervous system is extremely closely connected. And by sending that signal to your nervous system that correlates to a certain organ or your system, that's sending a signal, and it's a very, very communicative system almost instantly too.

SPEAKER_02 46:47

Gotcha. Wow, that's that's crazy. It's mind-blowing. Can ear seating completely change someone's appearance?

SPEAKER_12 46:53

Yeah, it actually can.

SPEAKER_02 46:55

How so?

SPEAKER_12 46:56

If you do it consistently, you know, it is targeting your nervous system, it is targeting the depuffing of your face, it is targeting the posture, it is targeting your shoulders. For example, our V-line year seed kit that is more so to eventually get that depuffed snatch jawline, and it does that almost instantly. But doing that, it's not ear seed, that one ear seed is just targeting your jawline, for example. We are targeting so many different parts of your ear, but we're first doing that to relax your spine, then it works to relax your shoulders because when your shoulders go down like this, then it also correlates to your collarbone, your neckline appears longer. If your neckline appears longer, your face looks even slimmer. And then we target the TMJ and the jawline point to get that lift. Yeah. And also by doing that, because your body's more relaxed and it's absorbing all the toxins, all the puffiness in your face kind of just like swells out and goes out into the system.

SPEAKER_02 47:54

Wow. And is earseeding something that we can do to ourselves, or do you have to go see someone to get it done? Um, both, right?

SPEAKER_12 48:02

But in a kit that we made, if you follow the instructions and place it in the right part of your ear, absolutely it's safe to do it by yourself at home.

SPEAKER_02 48:13

Oh wow. Okay. And can earseeding help with acne?

SPEAKER_12 48:17

It can. Yeah. There are certain points that can definitely because it's not just like the acne. Let's say, let's say, for example, we talked about it's like a whole 360. Yeah. So you're targeting the inflammation in your body.

SPEAKER_02 48:28

Right.

SPEAKER_12 48:29

To target the acne.

SPEAKER_02 48:30

Oh wow. Yeah. So would you say then, because we kind of talked about like cortisol and cortisol face earlier. Yeah. Would you say earseeding can be a solution to cortisol face?

SPEAKER_12 48:40

It can be.

SPEAKER_02 48:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_12 48:41

It definitely can be. I wouldn't say it's like a one-stop shop. Right. There's a lot of other things we have to tackle at the same time. Totally. But absolutely.

Ava Lee: Is Korean Skincare a Scam?

SPEAKER_02 48:48

Is Korean skincare a scam?

SPEAKER_12 48:52

Absolutely not. It is not a scam. I think the reason why people may think it's a scam is because the products are so affordable compared to a lot of products in the US. But when you actually try it, you will know that it's not a scam because it's so effective for the price point. And we can get into why and how K-Beauty can achieve this level of excellence for the price point. Yeah. And that's why I think it's a it has been a long time coming, but why there's it's loved by thousands and millions of people around the world now.

SPEAKER_02 49:22

Yeah. What would you say is the difference between like Korean beauty, Korean skincare, and American skincare?

SPEAKER_12 49:29

I think this also very much goes back into what we talked about earlier, where Korean skincare is very much preventative versus reactive skincare in the US. Yeah. Right. In the US, we have a lot of really strong, astringent acids, retinols, pimple patches, like pimple creams, like something that is only for reactive purposes. And sometimes when you use too much of that, yeah, it could work, but it's kind of worsening your skin barrier over time. But Korean products is very much preventative to the point where you don't ever want to get to the point where you have to use those strong actives. Right. Right. Um, but I think the culture in general, like the way I grew up or everyone in Korea, is from a very young age, you are taught that you need to be applying your moisturizer, you need to be applying your skincare and sunscreen just like you're brushing your teeth. It is very much part of everyone's daily ritual. So it is something that, like, you know, young kids are always wearing sunscreen.

SPEAKER_02 50:26

All right,

Outro

SPEAKER_02 50:27

that's a wrap of season one's best moments. I hope you guys learned as much as I did. And stay tuned for some more exciting stuff. This has been Face It, where we get real about what works and what doesn't