143. From Cancer to Purpose - Taking Care of Our Largest Organ with Hayley Rose

In this eye-opening episode, we delve into the hidden dangers lurking in everyday beauty, hair, and skincare products. Discover the alarming truths about ingredients that have been linked to cancer and hormone disruption.

Join Colette as she introduces Hayley Rose, the owner of Harborside Bath and Body (https://harborsidebathandbody.com) Hayley shares her personal battle with hormone-induced breast cancer and how it inspired her to research and promote organic, clean skincare through her own shop.

Prepare to be shocked by the stark differences in regulations between European countries, Canada, and the US regarding banned substances in these products.

Listen to Hayley's inspiring journey of switching to clean products, leading to significant improvements in her skin and overall well-being. This episode underscores the crucial importance of being aware of the ingredients in the products we use daily on our largest organ.

Tune in for a compelling discussion that might just change the way you look at your beauty routine!

Episode Highlights:

00:50 The Journey Begins: Discovering the Link Between Beauty Products and Health meet Hayley Rose

05:38 Hayley's cancer journey and the shocking discovery that led her to researching beauty products impact on our health

07:38 A Global Perspective: Comparing Cosmetic Regulations

14:22 Be aware this applies to fragrances, perfumes, candles

17:57 Hayley educates her team to provide their customers with the right products

22:12 Hayley's gratitude for the help she received during her battle with cancer and having young children

23:53 Hayley's life lessons from her journey

To find out more about Hayley and take better care of your skin:

Website: https://harborsidebathandbody.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harborsidebathandbody/

To schedule a one on one skin type assessment you can go here:  https://zcal.co/hayleywithhbb or for the skincare questionnaire: email Hayley at hayley@harborsidebathandbody.com

She'll send you the questionnaire and based on your responses, she'll create a skincare regimen for you.

______________________________________

Connect with Colette:

Instagram: @wellnessbycolette

Website: love-colette.com

Thank you for listening to the Limitless Healing podcast with Colette Brown! It would mean the world if you would take one minute to follow, leave a 5 star review and share with those you love!

In Health,
Colette

Transcript

[00:00:00] Wellness truly is integrated in every walk of life. Today we're going to talk about progressive aging, skincare routines, and clean products because clean products really do matter. Our guest comes from Rogers city, Michigan. She's the owner of Harborside Bath and Body, where she helps others by providing clean options for skincare, breast cancer survivor.

[00:00:28] mother and a fantastic human. It is my pleasure to welcome Haley Rose. Welcome Haley. Thank you so much. I'm very happy to be here. That's great to have you. I'd like to just dive right in you have a beautiful story to share. And I think everybody that goes through something hard always Has a change and it makes you see things differently in the world.

[00:00:53] So I'd like you first to take us back to childhood and maybe a memory that is very special to you or something that happened that kind of pushed you in the trajectory of where you're at today. I would have to say, I think it's my grandma because my grandma was a truly beautiful person inside and out.

[00:01:12] And she was in her eighties and she never left the house without lipstick and earrings. those were her things she had to have on. But, she always taught my sisters and I, that you really need to take care of your skin and make sure you wash it. don't leave your makeup on at night, make sure to get your neck, All this all growing up.

[00:01:31] And so from the time I was young, I loved. Skincare. I loved makeup. I loved all the girly things. So that's how I got into it is definitely through my grandma. Amazing. So she taught you more like the self care and it matters. And that's really sweet. Did that translate to your mom, like from your grandma?

[00:01:52] it's funny because my mom didn't have it. As much as two of my sisters and I, we are all in and my mom [00:02:00] is beautiful too, but she just didn't have the same love for skincare. She uses skincare, but she doesn't go all in like I do. And sisters do. So it's funny because my grandma didn't get it with my.

[00:02:12] My mom, but she sure got it with a grand. She was probably really happy. Oh, yay. I like that the multi generational things that, how we can connect with others in our lives. So I think that's beautiful. So you have a, it sounds like a really beautiful childhood and you have a very doting grandmother.

[00:02:30] And where does that take you? Did you go to college? I did go to college. I went to, so I grew up in Northern Michigan and then I went to school at the University of Oklahoma and I had a degree in petroleum engineering and then I went to, I completely switched careers. That's random, right? Yeah. And then I got an MBA from Oklahoma state and I worked in the energy industry for 27 years When I retired voluntarily at the age of 50.

[00:03:00] I had been in an executive for the previous six years. And one of the things I really loved about my job was the problem solving for our customers and being able to, really make a difference for our customers. And the more that I moved up in the organization, the less removed I got from our customers.

[00:03:19] And I really missed that. And so that was one of the reasons I retired. And then just some of the corporate politics that come about that gets old. So I just thought at 50, I'm not satisfied and I don't have to do this anymore. So I retired and my youngest one was still at home. He was a junior in high school.

[00:03:38] And then when he graduated and. went off to college, my husband was going to retire and we had built our retirement home up in my hometown in northern Michigan. And so when we were here, my hometown was going through like a revitalization efforts and,had gotten some state funding. And so I said, I want to open up a store, and my husband was very [00:04:00] supportive.

[00:04:00] I'm very thankful. And he was like, what are you going to do? 

[00:04:04] I started really getting interested in organic products and clean products, a couple of years before this. And I'm like, I want to open this type of store because I want to educate people. I don't want to instill fear in people, but I do want them to understand.

[00:04:20] Some of the problems we have with the chemicals that are in largely the beauty industry as a whole. Yeah. that's how I got started in opening this business. So take us to you. You are a breast cancer survivor. So when did that happen and what did that look like in your life? So that happened when I was 39 years old.

[00:04:40] I hadn't even had my first mammogram yet. And so it was 15 years ago. I went in because I had found a lump and actually my husband was the one who found it. I keep telling him all the time. He saved my life I went in and found out I had a very aggressive form of breast cancer. And because of the fact that it was aggressive, even though it was caught early, I had to do, eight rounds of the hard chemo, 17 rounds of another type of chemo, seven years on an oral medicine.

[00:05:12] I had to have a mastectomy, a hysterectomy. It was for a year my life was consumed with this, and I had originally thought because my dad's side of the family has a lot of cancer so I had assumed that it was something genetic, and my oncologist had me do some genetic testing to make sure, and it came back negative, that there wasn't anything that could be tied genetically.

[00:05:35] And so she had said, it's likely something genetic and maybe just hasn't been discovered yet. And so I kept that kind of in the back of my head. And then about five years later, I found a geneticist because I had read that there were more genes that had been identified, found a geneticist, went through the whole genetic testing again.

[00:05:53] Came back. There's nothing tied to it. And I thought okay now that is just so interesting and then back Gosh, it [00:06:00] was probably 2019 I had a scare that there was a recurrence and they thought it was back in my lungs and I Ended up going to see MD Anderson to in down in Houston. I went to MD Anderson and came back.

[00:06:14] It turned out to be nothing. Thankfully, it was just a kind of a fluky thing. and I had told them about all this history in my family and they said, we're going to do some genetic testing and I'm like, great. So we did the genetic testing. Nothing came back for me again. And so I'm like, okay, this is just crazy.

[00:06:30] And they said, It could be, environmental causes. We don't know what it is. It could be in plastics. It could be, products you're using and I thought that was really interesting. 

[00:06:39] So I started 

[00:06:40] looking into 

[00:06:40] products that 

[00:06:41] have been 

[00:06:42] linked to cancers 

[00:06:44] or hormone disruption 

[00:06:45] because mine was

[00:06:46] a hormone induced

[00:06:47] breast cancer.

[00:06:48] And that's when 

[00:06:49] I started really 

[00:06:50] learning. all 

[00:06:51] the ingredients 

[00:06:51] that are 

[00:06:52] not good 

[00:06:52] for you that 

[00:06:53] are in a lot 

[00:06:54] of beauty products, 

[00:06:55] hair products, 

[00:06:56] skincare, 

[00:06:56] makeup. And I 

[00:06:58] was so stunned 

[00:06:59] by this. And if 

[00:07:00] you look at 

[00:07:00] in the European 

[00:07:01] countries, they ban 

[00:07:02] over 2000. And in Canada

[00:07:04] they ban over 500 

[00:07:06] and in the US 

[00:07:07] they ban 11. yeah. That's crazy. 

[00:07:10] Wow. Yeah, it is 

[00:07:11] it is crazy. 

[00:07:12] And so I started 

[00:07:13] watching documentaries 

[00:07:15] and so I switch to 

[00:07:17] do everything clean

[00:07:18] and I really started 

[00:07:18] looking at

[00:07:19] ingredients

[00:07:20] . I felt like 

[00:07:22] my skin 

[00:07:22] looked a lot better. 

[00:07:23] I felt better. 

[00:07:24] I thought, okay, 

[00:07:25] there's something to this 

[00:07:27] and even what you eat for sure.

[00:07:29] And, so that's how I got into it. And then I opened up this store and we've sold to over 20 states so far. So I'm, super thrilled about that. Yeah. That's exciting when you experience something and it becomes a passion. Exactly. And that we have very similar stories, which is why I'm doing this podcast, which is why I am really focused nutrition and why I want to share it.

[00:07:54] So you've basically vetted products in your store. And so [00:08:00] people don't have to worry about. do I need to read the label? Do I need to get out my magnifying glass? When I'm making a spontaneous purchase in the store and see if there's harmful chemicals in here. Right. You've done that. So I think it's really, it's really a beautiful service that you've done, for us.

[00:08:17] people can go to you and you can help them. So there might be some that are really deep into a skincare routine and maybe you have not vetted your skincare line. there's others that might not have a skincare routine. And I want to say that. Tell people about some people think, Oh, it's very vain.

[00:08:38] It's vanity. And I disagree. I disagree. I would like you to. It's overall health. You're talking to people every day. So why don't you tell people that think, Oh, this is vain, that you're slathering yourself with ingredients, but tell us why that's important. It's important because. It is skin health is a part of overall health.

[00:08:58] Your skin is the largest organ on your body and you have to be taken care of it. You have to, you be using sunscreen. It there's just so many things that your skin can lead to further problems on. and I think it also can tell you if there's something else going on. So it's, your skin is. is so important.

[00:09:19] And I do, I always just say, if you're looking at your overall health and you're starting a workout routine, and you're changing your food that you're eating, you need to include your skincare in that as well. cause even if you don't want to use the makeup and all of that stuff, having a good skincare routine is just the whole part of overall health.

[00:09:37] It is. And let's touch a little bit on endocrine disruptors, which are in everything, right? They're in foods. But why don't you share about what that looks like in skincare and things that are, we're lathering perfumes, lotions. Yes. So when you're using perfumes and lotions and cleansers and, all the good stuff, the [00:10:00] face masks, a lot of those products have parabens and phthalates and, a lot of things that have already been tied to linkage in hormone disruptions, which can cause, It can possibly lead to cancer.

[00:10:14] It can possibly lead to low birth weights in kids. Other diseases that are hormone related like a thyroid disease and things like that. It's very it's alarming that there's these products that have that and there has been legislation. There's been a big push in the last year for sure to ban more products and there was legislation that was passed at the end of last year that didn't go so far as banning the ingredients, but it did give the FDA a little bit more control over the manufacturing's companies.

[00:10:47] So there's going to be more testing and things like that. So it will be interesting to see how that pans out. I feel like it should have been more because, if you, if it's interesting, cause I listened to this lady, on Instagram who, Is an OBGYN and she talks a lot about the problems with menopause and the things that have happened with menopause and how since it's a largely, it's women that are affected.

[00:11:13] It hasn't been studied to the degree it should have been. And she's really studied it. And. All these symptoms that people had said were, in women's heads and things like that, are very real. And to me, it's the same thing with the whole beauty industry, because, which I think we need to change that name anyway, but that's a side point.

[00:11:34] but the beauty industry is very much it's women used. And I just feel like there's not enough attention on it. Largely it's women use. And, There needs to be the focus on it's already been proven that there's these harmful chemicals in it and that It's doing damage to women and there's been some like I've seen some documentaries where they have taken somebody who was like me and [00:12:00] Used skincare and makeup and hair care and all of that stuff since she was young and she was in her Mid 20s and they tested all of her hormones levels when she was doing this Then they had her stop using products on her skin All together, she couldn't even use deodorant for 48 hours and then they started her on all these clean products and after 30 days what it did to her hormone levels and it was amazing and I thought this is things people need to know about because it can cause so many problems for them and it doesn't mean that it's going to happen to everybody but it's going to happen to enough and why take those chances, why?

[00:12:39] Just protect yourself as much as you can. And it's in the air we breathe. It's from the exhaust from vehicles. It's from exact moods and it's everywhere. So if we can just take a little precaution. I always tell people when they're eating that when you're home, be clean, don't have bad oils and make sure that is really clean because when you eat out, you're going to get those horrible oils in your food and because restaurants want to turn a profit and they're using the cheapest products as they can, unless they're a very natural farm to table conscious restaurant.

[00:13:18] And So be careful about what you're eating. And so same with skincare, you're going to be receiving all these endocrine disruptors, toxins, chemicals. So be really cautious about that. Do you also, in your store, have the like a natural candle because I know that when you're burning that please talk about that too.

[00:13:40] When you're burning candles that are with fragrance and bad oils, we're inhaling them. So tell us about that. Yes. So fragrance and perfumes and all of that can have and what's unfortunate is that companies can label it as fragrance and you don't know what goes in there. So even if [00:14:00] you're reading the ingredients and you think, okay, this is pretty healthy ingredient list, but if it says fragrance, you still don't know What's in it, and the reason the government allows companies to do that is because that was always considered proprietary information.

[00:14:13] But when you're inhaling these chemicals, if there's chemicals in there, now I found ones where it's 100 percent organic and they commit that even though they use fragrance, there's no chemicals in there. They lights in there because that's the big one in the fragrance that can be in there that will really cause some problems.

[00:14:30] But when you're breathing that it's going into your lungs. It's going into your airway and can cause all sorts of issues. So we do have clean burning candles. We have chemical free perfumes. so we've, we've really tried to look at all of it and make sure that everything is clean.

[00:14:49] That's beautiful. And what do you tell women that are going through menopause? Because this is perimenopause. Yes. This is something that I'm really happy that we're talking about it more, but. there are ways that we can control, the reactions that we're getting. And I know for myself, I'm very clean.

[00:15:11] I work out, I'm very conscious, but I do feel it when I kind of veer and I'm traveling and I'm eating out more,I feel my body feels a little bit off. tell us about how this plays into that menopause perimenopause. it's interesting because. You can have,hormonal acne when you're a teenager, and when you get past it, you think, okay, I'm past it, but you might not be, because a lot of the times, when going through menopause, which can last a long time, because if you have perimenopause, and then into menopause,your estrogen level is dropping, that imbalance between testosterone and estrogen can cause acne all over again.

[00:15:52] So I see older women that have come in and said, I don't understand this, but I'm getting acne now. And so we go through [00:16:00] about what their skin type is and then look at problems that are specifically for her hormonal acne and how we can try and control that. it is interesting. my. My menopause was forced when I had a full hysterectomy back when I was 40 after my cancer.

[00:16:16] I didn't have, I was just like flushing. So I didn't really go into the perio menopause, but my sisters have them and we've talked a lot about that. And my youngest sister, who is going through a lot of it right now. It's really made a difference. Her skin has got drier, and that's all part of estrogen.

[00:16:34] And so we've had to, but she has combination skin. So we have to add a little bit more emolliency into the products that she's using, but not too much so that it's going to cause the breaking out, so it's a delicate balance. 

[00:16:48] What I've learned is skincare is very personal.

[00:16:51] Fragrances are very, fragrances, smells, scents are very personal. So you have to discover which ones you like. Yeah. And which ones are effective. Exactly. Exactly. Yes. Because there's nothing worse than trying something and then it's just. false flat. Oh, I completely agree with that.

[00:17:09] And that's like my team at the store, we spend a lot of time educating, making sure everyone on our team understands the skincare, because the skincare, is generally not, the cheapest thing in the store. And so you want, if somebody's going to pay the money, you want it to work for them.

[00:17:27] So I said, there isn't anything worse for them to buy the wrong product for their skincare type. Cause they'll never go back to it. they'll think the whole line is bad, but it's not, it's just they had the wrong product for their skin type. So we spend a lot of time going through that education piece and making sure Everybody's on board on what type of products are good for what types of skin type.

[00:17:48] Yeah, no, it's really important to do that. And what else, like what other advice, after you've gone through the cancer and you contemplated, okay, what's my next step in [00:18:00] life? There has to be somewhere in there that you, maybe dove inside more and you become maybe meditative and had some kind of a relief.

[00:18:10] like? So for me, it was my faith. I grew up in a Christian home and when you're young and you have young kids. And at my time when I got diagnosed, my kids were eight and five, there was all sorts of things. And I would say, even while my faith was always important to me, it wasn't probably at the top of my list.

[00:18:30] And I am one that likes to, I jump in both feet, I take care of things. And all of a sudden I was in a position where people wanted to take care of me and it felt very foreign and I didn't like it and it was really humbling to understand, I don't have control over this. whatever happens is going to happen.

[00:18:52] And. I can make good choices going forward and that can help me. But for me, it was really reconnecting with my faith and it just, it would bring over a sense of calm for me. And that was probably the biggest thing is I really reconnected with my faith and came to peace with whatever was happening, Yeah. And it's important to be able to have that space where people can You can reflect and go inside and ask, and the other important component is receive. You said it felt uncomfortable. Yes. And I think a lot of us women experience the discomfort of receiving because we're just so used to receiving.

[00:19:36] Giving and going and especially if you're a professional, and even if you're a stay at home because you're doing everything for everyone all the time and receiving feels like a waste of time sometimes, right? Yeah, exactly. Okay. Yeah. I have to slow down to see what you're going to give me because I have to evaluate is it worth my time?

[00:19:55] Is it not worth my time and we need to let that go and we need to get into [00:20:00] that mode of receiving. Because when we do that too, it also is this beautiful hormone producer naturally. yes, and it, I will say, while I'd never want anybody to go through cancer ever, I will say I came out of it a better person, much more grateful, and I felt like I was always a grateful person and a positive person beforehand, but that really honed in, and I felt like I didn't take advantage of things that I probably took advantage of before, It made me, I feel like it made me a better mom, and so there were a lot of blessings that came out of it, even though I wouldn't want to go through it again, you know what I'm saying?

[00:20:40] yes, a lot of, and the gratitude that I felt was just overwhelming for the people that had stepped up and helped me and helped my kids because at my time, at the time, my husband was working in a different state. He was transferred up in Kansas and I was in Oklahoma, and he would be. Commuting back and forth on the weekends and we both worked for large companies and his company ended up moving him back to Oklahoma so he could be home with me through this, which I was like, thank you so much.

[00:21:11] And I had people that came and helped my kids, would take them to their farm or take them to the movies or bring us games because I had so little energy during that time that a lot of the things is we played board games a ton. And those things meant so much. And yeah, it's just an overwhelming gratitude for these people, because I never felt like I never felt like I really needed help before.

[00:21:39] And now I realize, okay, it's okay. Everybody needs help at some point or another, and it is totally okay. And it's healthy to have that help. yeah. So what message do you have for women that are just in their hyper masculine all the time? I think they need to, center up however they need to do that, whether that's yoga or [00:22:00] meditation or.

[00:22:01] In prayer, however, that looks like to them. I think they need to allow them that self and really look at what matters in life and also be able to understand that there's nothing wrong for asking for help. There really isn't. And I just think If people can get more comfortable with that, it would be so positive for so many people because it, it really is a wonderful feeling when you know people have your back and they really are trying to help you and make things better for you.

[00:22:34] And if you let them, it will, it'll be better for you. So this is so true. And one question that I like to ask all my guests at the end is if this was the last message. That you had to broadcast out to the world. What would it be? That's a good question. I would say never take any day for granted and don't sweat the small stuff.

[00:22:57] pay attention to the little things and live your best life. And one of the ways you can live your best life is making healthy choices and what you eat and how you exercise and meditation and what you put on your skin. So I just think the whole. But the whole gamut of it is so important to live your best life.

[00:23:16] those are words of wisdom. And when we can just step into that divine feminine and receiving and educating ourselves about what we should be putting in and on our body. I think it will, help us show up our best selves for the world because we all have gifts to give.

[00:23:39] We're all different. We're all unique and there is no competition. There is just a sharing of information and everyone hears it different from different people. So Haley, I really appreciate you showing up the way that you do for making a difference in your community because as you said, it is [00:24:00] leaking out.

[00:24:00] 20 states have ordered from you and I hope there's, Transcription by CastingWords People from California that are gonna be tuning in and around the world. We are a global podcast. So maybe you'll get some orders from across the way. That would be amazing. Yes. And I have delivered to California. So that's great.

[00:24:19] Amazing. Yes. And is there anything else that you would like to, impart or share today? the only thing that I think I would add is if anybody doesn't know their skincare type or anything like that, I do offer, and it's for free. I can design a skincare regimen for them. I would need to them to either, book a 10 to 15 minute consult with me or answer some skincare questions, either one.

[00:24:43] And then I would follow up with a customized skincare routine. And then they could buy samples if they wanted. And if they bought the samples and then they ended up purchasing from me, the full products, they would get a discount off like 10 off the first product because the samples would cost 25. And so if they bought one product, they'd get 10 off.

[00:25:04] And if they bought two or more, they'd get 25 off. So they get their money back when they buy, if they like it, but I just feel confident that they would like the product. where can people find you? So I'm online at harborsidebathandbody. com. I'm also on Facebook as well as Instagram. Okay. I love it. go check out Haley. She's amazing. And I really appreciate everything that you're doing and how you're showing up and sharing wellness and goodness with all of us. It really means a lot. Thank you. Haley. Thank you, Colette. It's, it was an honor to be on here. I very much appreciate it.

[00:25:37] Thank you. And everyone else until next time, be well.