Embracing Ageless Beauty: Biohacking and Holistic Skincare with Rachel Varga - Episode 216

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Rachel Varga is one of the first to blend Western approaches to skin care and rejuvenation, functional insights, and biohacking optimization strategies. By blending the best of these worlds and observing what her most radiant patients are doing she will also help guide you on your path to healthy skin and vibrancy for many years.

Unlock the secrets to a lifetime of radiant skin with expert Rachel Varga in an in-depth conversation covering medical aesthetics and biohacking. As we age, our skin demands more than just conventional care; it requires a symphony of tailored strategies that respect its complexity and our unique journeys.

Struggling with the challenges that come with menopause? We get it. That's why this chat with Rachel isn't just about skincare – it's a holistic navigation through the seas of hormonal change, where self-care goes beyond the surface. With stories from our own lives, we examine the influential role of menopause on blood glucose, skin condition, and overall health, offering guidance on selecting the right mentors and health advice that resonates with you. Plus, we scrutinize the latest spa trends, microneedling, and dermal rolling, weighing the risks and rewards of these popular skincare practices.

This episode is more than a beauty session; it's about embracing the beauty of authenticity and the electrifying energy that comes with it. Prepare to be inspired to shine from within and make impactful health and lifestyle decisions that illuminate your path.  Be sure to SHARE this episode with a friend!

My Essential Thyroid Guide is now available on all Amazon stores!
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Canada:  https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0CW4X3WJD

Join here:  Sandy K Inner Circle

Join me here:  Sandy K Inner Circle

Transcript

Skin Health as We Age

Speaker 1 0:02

Hi everyone , it's me , Sandy Cruz of Sandy K Nutrition , Health and Lifestyle Queen . For years now , I've been bringing to you conversations about wellness from experts from all over the world . Whether it be suggestions on how you can age better , biohacking , alternative wellness , these are conversations to help you live your best life . I want to live a long , healthy and vibrant life , Never mind all those stigmas that , as we reach midlife and beyond , we're just going to shrivel up and die with some horrible disease . Always remember balanced living works . I really look forward to this season . Hi everyone , welcome to Sandy Kay Nutrition , Health and Lifestyle Queen . Welcome to Sandy K Nutrition , Health and Lifestyle Queen . Today , we are going to talk all about skin health as we age with my favorite skin expert , Rachel Varga . This is going to be an amazing conversation and you'll have some takeaways and a little bit of work to do . If skin health is something that's important to you , please don't forget to share this episode with a friend .

Speaker 1 1:33

My essential thyroid guide is out . It's available on Amazon everywhere , so please grab it and do me a favor . If thyroid is something that is important to you , thyroid health , it actually . I would hope that it's important to everyone . However , if you purchase this guide on Amazon . Please go ahead and provide me with a true rating and review on Amazon . It really helps others to find this guide and a couple of things that I've heard gosh like . It just warms my heart when I hear comments like this . One of the comments was I would have had to read four different books to get the information that I got in this handy little guide . So the whole point of this thyroid guide is not to provide you with medical advice . It is to provide you with information so that you can truly advocate as a partner in your wellness to optimize thyroid function .

Speaker 1 2:40

This interview function , this interview , will be available on rumble . Go follow me there . Sandy k nutrition . It will also be on youtube . Please follow me on facebook , instagram , tiktok . I even have a sub stack . Follow me wherever you do social media . I have different content everywhere .

Speaker 1 3:03

And now let's cut on through to this amazing interview with Rachel Varga . Hi everyone , Welcome to Sandy K Nutrition Health and Lifestyle Queen Today with me . My special guest is Rachel Varga , and Rachel is one of the first to blend Western approaches to skincare and rejuvenation , functional insights and biohacking optimization strategies , by blending the best of these worlds and observing what her most radiant patients are doing . She will also help guide you on your path to healthy skin and vibrancy for many years , and today Rachel and I are going to talk about skin health as we age . I'm really excited to have Rachel on my show , because most of you who listen know I'm a big skin geek . I want to learn it all . I want to do it all , but I want to do what's right for me , and Rachel's here to talk to us all about that . And with that , welcome Rachel . Thank you for coming .

Speaker 2 4:13

Thank you very much for having me , sandy , and I'm just as excited as you are to connect all about skin . I'm clearly a beauty nerd on the inside and out and then beyond , and other aspects as well , with health and radiance , vibrancy and biohacking . So , yes , let's learn to do it all and get this beautiful skin , look after the largest organ of our body , and not leave aging up to chance , but to choice and make great decisions every day so that you can look and feel your best .

Speaker 1 4:49

I love it . Okay , you have to start by telling us your background . What's your background ? How did you get into this field ?

Speaker 2 4:57

Yes , my mother is a registered nurse and straight out of high schools get a good , practical job . My father's also a carpenter and straight out of high school get a good , practical job . My father's also a carpenter . So I completed my bachelor's of science in nursing and when I graduated I actually didn't feel done with school and considered becoming a medical doctor , naturopath , dentist . So then I did all my med school prerequisites so I'm hoping my bachelor's I have a year in gen chem , organic chem and biochem and wrote the MCAD DAT , applied one year and thought to myself you know , I'm going to give this education entrepreneurial avenue a go .

Speaker 2 5:36

And during that time when I was doing my med school prerequisites , I had also been working for two years as a pediatric ICU nurse , working with very sick kids that were traped and vented . I did that for about two years . It was really challenging Peds ICU is not for the faint of heart . And then , because I was considering becoming a physician , opening up my own practice , I actually joined an oculoplastic surgeon back in 2011 to see what it was like to run a clinic and if it is something I wanted to do and to segue into more of the medical realm . I looked at the avenue of medical aesthetics , so underwent training and you know , 20,000 rejuvenation procedures . Later , over 10 years , here I am helping people learn about what they can do at home in clinic slow aging , biohacking . And then I also became a teacher and a researcher , so I teach not only the client at home what to do , but also the clinician in the clinic how to provide powerful rejuvenation options .

Speaker 1 6:43

Amazing , amazing . You're obviously very passionate about what you do .

Speaker 2 6:49

And it's always evolving . I'm always learning about new things .

Speaker 1 6:52

And as a researcher .

Speaker 2 6:54

I've published a number of academic articles . I love to publish papers on topics that people haven't published very much on .

Speaker 1 7:03

That's a great . That's a great way to go . I mean , people want to learn more about it . I'm sure if you're looking for it and it's not there , right .

Speaker 2 7:11

Yes , especially if I want to speak to something in an interview that I think is really important , such as eye rejuvenation , which is the first way of the face to show signs of aging the eyelids . How to go about that in a safer way , not just going by what's trending on social media , giving quote-unquote instant results , but you don't see the issues months , years down the line from some of those , first teachers . And then also biohacking and oxidative stress . That's my most recent topic , oxidative stress status and its impacts on skin aging . So I can kind of now talk about the biohacking stuff with a little bit of research to back that up in a form of literary review . So I'd love to nerd out , but as a practitioner I have to bring the research to what I say , which is different from , say , the standard influencer approach Well , where they'll say a lot of different things but it's not really kind of substantiated , if you want . I'm sure you see that a lot .

Speaker 1 8:08

Yeah , yeah , let's do it , let's dig in .

Speaker 2 8:12

So I know you have a number of excellent questions , oh yeah , we can start with that .

Speaker 1 8:18

I thought you were going to go with the biohacking and research , but you know we can start .

Speaker 2 8:23

Yeah , we can go wherever you want . I'm happy to .

Speaker 1 8:35

We can actually start , then , with midlife , like most people want to address the common things that happen at midlife , so let's start with . You mentioned the eyes . Okay , this is a big one for me , rachel , because what are you noticing ?

Speaker 1 8:51

No , I'm not noticing anything , and I'll tell you why . No , I'm going to tell you why . Because everybody in my audience knows that I am 100% transparent in everything that I say and do . I don't always say , oh , I do this , I do that , but I had an upper bluff surgery because my eyelids were so hooded that I'm sure okay , anyone who's listening in Canada knows that OHIP probably would have covered it in another 10 years . It was that bad and I think this is a great place to start , because I tried everything and I would love to hear your take on it , because I went and did this in 2021 , not that long ago and I exhausted all my efforts . So there are , I'm sure , more people than not listening that would not want to do the surgery . So what are their options for eye rejuvenation ?

Speaker 2 9:52

This is a fantastic question . I have over 10 years in practice , cosmetic dermatology , plastic surgery and oculoplastics , which is where I sat for over 10 years and did a lot of my research on . So I'm very familiar with the world of blepharoplasty , which are eyelid surgery Eyelid surgery to essentially remove excess tissue from the upper eyelid . For you , sure , might've been covered in 10 years because your peripheral vision could have been impacted .

Speaker 2 10:31

Mm-hmm . And then for the lower , the lower eye bags , right , we lose the malar fat pad , cheek support and the lower eyelid contents kind of pouch out and we get these festoons or there's lymph accumulation or there's kind of pockets of fat that could be surgically removed and repositioned . And I'm glad that you mentioned this , because sometimes and I talk about this in my recent paper on rejuvenation algorithms I like to approach rejuvenation and recommend moving from least invasive to most invasive . However , sometimes , sometimes , surgery is actually going to be the better option and the reason for that is it's going to provide a longer lasting impact . Is it's going to provide a longer lasting impact and say , for example , if you were to just stick with neuromodulators and fillers and lasers , you can really only do so much for eyelid tissue that literally may just need to be surgically removed . So in some cases , surgery is actually the more time and cost-effective option .

Speaker 1 11:44

I have to ask you this because is it possible that you may be too far gone Meaning ? So ? I'll give you an example , and the reason I say this is because so many people , like you said , eyes are the first thing that people notice and I'll tell you a story . I think that there's obviously some component to genetics . Then there's sun damage , and there's right , and you're not going to laugh . You're not going to laugh as a skin expert . But when I was younger , I burned my eyelids so many times , sunburned , sunburned , and I have an 87 , almost 87 year old dad and a 77 year old mom and my eyelids , at 51 , I think that was when I did this or 52 , were worse than theirs . So I often wonder maybe you can answer that question In a case like that , is that a situation that maybe you might consider it , because no matter what you use , it's not going to fix the problem at this point .

Speaker 2 12:56

Yeah , well , there's a couple of things going on here . Number one you may have a different skin type than your parents , so when you are lighter skinned , dark eyes , light hair , oftentimes you have less melanin . Actually , even light eyes too . You have less melanin in the skin , which innately gives you less protection from the sun , which is why you've probably heard of a peptide called melanotan yes , I've used it in the past yes , I did last year too , but it gave me sunspots .

Speaker 1 13:28

Oh , it certainly does oh okay , keep going , sorry yeah .

Speaker 2 13:34

So for everyone tuning in here , um , the history of melanotan it was actually researched as an anti-skin cancer drug because it tells the body to make more melanin . So for people like myself I'm a fitzpatrick skin type two I don the body to make more melanin . So for people like myself I'm a Fitzpatrick skin type two I don't have a lot of melanin in my skin , so that predisposes me to being at higher risk of accelerated aging and also precancerous or cancerous lesions . So that's why this drug is really interesting . It's a peptide . It's not FDA approved , though drug is really interesting . It's a peptide . It's not FDA approved , though the derivative from that , pt-141 , as another peptide for libido enhancement for women , is actually FDA approved in the United States .

Speaker 2 14:15

But melanitin is interesting . So it tells your body to make more melanin , because when you don't have a lot of melanin , you don't have a lot of innate sun protection . However , you can hack that , and I have , through different antioxidants reducing oxidative stress and certain supplements , and lifestyle habits will actually allow me to go outside , and also clearing up parasites allows me to go outside and pretty much be you know , south South Florida sunshine all day and not burn , when a few years prior to that in Canada . I would burn in about 15 minutes in the sun so we can modulate our response and resilience to sun . But the other thing that might've been going on with you that could be different than what you notice in your parents with your rapid eye aging , could have been some lifestyle things and for everyone tuning in you're going to find this really interesting and the concept of are you too far gone or not . I'm going to talk about that in just a second

Eye Care and Skin Protection

Speaker 2 15:15

.

Speaker 2 15:15

Let's talk about the eyelid laxity . What some of the common causes are ? Oh yeah , not hydrating and sun protecting the skin Side , sleeping , oh , oh yeah , which protect my eyes from blue light , which is actually where I wear them all the time , to not only protect my eyeballs and my vision , but also the delicate skin around the eyes from blue light . So I don't just wear these , you know , to look cute .

Speaker 1 15:52

I got that on these , rachel . I got it put on my reading glasses .

Speaker 2 15:57

Is that prescription lenses isn't adequate . The prescription coding is not adequate .

Speaker 1 16:03

So it's not doing it .

Speaker 2 16:04

Yeah , but I need the prescription . Yeah , you can . I have my prescription lenses actually in these specific blocking glasses .

Speaker 1 16:13

Oh , very cool , Very cool .

Speaker 2 16:15

Optics are fantastic in these lenses too , anyways . So when we side sleep or sleep on our stomach , what happens is we're creating this compression of the brow and eyelids . So you see , when I do that , I get all these vertical lines on my brow . So if you are noticing in the mirror that you have any vertical lines so lines between the brows , nasolabial fold , lines around the mouth , marionette zone you know , when you wake up you have lines on your cheek and around your eyes that are vertical , that are kind of just static . They're there . When you wake up it's because you're squishing your face and you're actually breaking down the fat , bone and collagen , elastin and basically getting the skin to fold on itself while you're sleeping eight hours a night and contributing to a wrinkle , so that's probably what was contributing there .

Speaker 2 17:10

You're probably a stomach sleeper , side sleeper , and you probably rubbed your eyes a lot .

Speaker 1 17:14

Oh , a hundred percent I used to .

Speaker 2 17:16

Now I don't , I don't anymore , I've learned it's a sign of oxidative stress too . So for people who rub their eyes a lot it's what I talk about in my last paper the eyes tell us so much . Not only are they a window to our soul you can tell a lot about someone by the brightness of their eyes or the flatness or the darkness or the heaviness right Allow the eyes to present contrast to really what's going on behind the surface of someone .

Speaker 1 17:42

I agree , oh my God . But I'm a real life case . I had a ton of sunspots , sun damage , rubbing my eyes , all of those things when I was sick . When I was sick , this is when I was unwell Like I feel like I look much younger now at 54 than I did at 41 , 42 . But a lot of work had to be done to get there .

Speaker 2 18:10

Yeah , I feel like you look more like your 40s . To be totally honest with you , sandy .

Speaker 1 18:14

Thank you , thank you , thank you . But I had to work at it , rachel , and I was not well , so it really really goes to your point about kind of working from the inside .

Speaker 2 18:25

You mentioned oxidative stress and oxidative damage around a lot of pollen In a pretty short period of time , if you're prone to allergies , what's going to happen is your eyes are going to get red , itchy , poppy . You're going to start rubbing them . So what happens with that is when we're rubbing the eyes , or even when we're doing our skincare and we're removing eye makeup , we're putting products on , we're toweling and drying the skin . If we're too aggressive and rubbing the eyes too much , it's actually going to contribute to something called floppy eyelid syndrome . Oh , what's that Legitimate syndrome ? Floppy eyelid syndrome ? It's from rubbing the eyes and stretching the eyelids .

Speaker 1 19:20

Oh my gosh , Rachel , let me ask you this , because so many women I know get the really aggressive eyebrow waxing . Can that contribute to that ? You know where they're ?

Speaker 2 19:35

I'm not a fan of waxing at all . Okay , In fact , when I would get and one of my best friends owns a lash and brow studio she just sent me permanent makeup , all that yeah and I don't get waxing or sugaring because it's too irritating on my skin and I've seen women that you know did their own waxing to their upper lip at home yeah and they ended up taking off way too much skin and they have hyperpigmentation . So I instead elect for tweezing . We pluck a chicken , ladies , and I don't do threading .

Speaker 1 20:12

Me , neither Me , neither . I don't do any of that .

Speaker 2 20:15

Just do tweezing , it's way more gentle .

Speaker 1 20:17

What do you think about at home ? Like I understand , like do you do , do you like I don don't know ? What are your thoughts on dermaplaning ?

Speaker 2 20:28

uh , well , I actually shave my face all the time . Okay , so do I I do too .

Speaker 1 20:35

I'm like I'm listening to you , I'm like , do I even mention this ? But I use , but I do it like maybe once a week just a light , like I don't . I actually don't have any . You know how ? What happens to a lot of women at menopause ? They get the witchy hairs . I don't have any of those , but I have the peach , the peach fuzz , you know , and I don't like it . So I use the little . It's not the bath water , no , no .

Speaker 2 21:02

Okay , here's what you , here's what you need to know .

Speaker 1 21:04

Okay , yeah .

Speaker 2 21:05

Yeah , versus shaving your own face . Okay , so dermaplaning became really popular , I would say about six years ago , in the med spa space , and what this involves is taking a scalpel , a straight up scalpel , to actually go over the skin , to take off the top layer of skin , stratum corneum and the peach fuzz along with that , and then products can be applied .

Speaker 1 21:27

Yeah .

Speaker 2 21:28

Now you can spend two to $400 for that , which ?

Speaker 1 21:31

I've never done it with somebody else , I've only done it myself .

Speaker 2 21:36

So you can go that Avenue , or what a lot of people unfortunately do is they go on Amazon and they purchase a disposable blade to do it . So it's like this plastic handle with the blade , probably coming from the Orient , probably full of who knows what metal alloys , and then they use it once and then they throw it away .

Speaker 1 21:56

Yeah .

Speaker 2 21:57

So there's a cost and there's a waste to that . I take this into account for everything from picking what lasers I want to work with if there's consumables , waste , cost all of that . So not a fan of that either . What you can do is , when you're washing your face , get yourself good old Gillette Mach 3 male razor . Those razors are the best . I love them , them . You want to scratch off the little lubricating strip ?

Speaker 2 22:26

yes , top because they don't even disclose what's the , what the ingredients are in that one female laser razors . You can do laser hair removal too , by the way , but not for the peach fuzz , right that's not going to do anything with that , but what I find with female razors is that they have so much crap on them . All these like moisturizers and lubricants yeah they do and I never use .

Speaker 1 22:52

I never use the female razors . No , I okay go with the good old male one that's a good tip , okay , and then , gentle and gentle , right like , you have to be very careful .

Speaker 2 23:06

Yeah , just gather motion . While you're cleansed You're still on your face 100% . It's kind of- . Nobody wants to see the side profile of a lady with all this peach fuzz .

Speaker 1 23:15

I'm with you .

Speaker 2 23:15

It's a terrible look .

Speaker 1 23:17

I'm with you . I have to go back to the creases . You know , like the side sleeping , the stomach sleeping , where you were talking about that . What are your thoughts on silk pillowcases ?

Speaker 2 23:30

I actually have worked with a really great pillow . It's on my biohacking page on my website . These are like over 10 year products and they're kind of like a foam and they keep your cervical spine in the right orientation . If you have to side sleep , it reduces the compression . Really well-made product . Now you can also get silk pillowcases with that . You can get copper infused pillowcases , silk infused um bamboo infused .

The Beauty of Skin Health

Speaker 2 23:59

I'm a huge fan of a pillowcase that has slip to it .

Speaker 1 24:02

Oh , okay .

Speaker 2 24:03

Actually primarily for the reason that it won't rough up your hair , oh , so you don't get breakage on , say , the back of your head or the nape of your neck in the back area here . So I have a huge fan of pillowcases that are smoother in nature .

Speaker 1 24:21

Okay , that's good to know because you know , you see it . You kind of see it everywhere and you wonder is this just you know , gimmicky , or does it really ?

Speaker 2 24:31

actually help so my passion is to help everyone who connects with me hears me to become a more conscious consumer , right ? So when you ask me the question of someone too far gone , this is never anything I ever want to hear anyone say about themselves . You're always worth it . When you're in your nineties , you have more value to you in the form of lived experience and wisdom than someone in their twenties . However someone . As they age , maybe they start to feel a little bit more invisible . I hear this a lot Now .

Speaker 2 25:11

I've worked with clients for years who have always been more mature than I am . In fact , this could sound really funny . I go to two Bible studies . One of them is for a group of ladies who are in their forties and another one is a group of ladies who are in their sixties and seventies . And I actually prefer to spend time with more mature women because I just get on with them better it's . You know they've . They've seen a lot of things . They've gone through it . They've gone through perimenopause , menopause , post menopause . They have a lot of wisdom and with these women , when they reach ages 60 to 90 and they've made really good choices , they're more beautiful , they're more radiant .

Speaker 2 25:55

I have seen a number of ladies in their seventies that rock the gray hair . They have a beautiful hairstyle , they dress themselves in really gorgeous neutrals , monochromatic outfits types of things . They carry themselves in a very regal way . You're not going to see that in a 20 year old . So in no way , shape or form , is anyone ever too far gone Now . I've worked with people that have the toughest of the toughest skin we're talking nurse of over 25 , 30 years . Hasn't done a single thing poor sleep , night shifts , hormone imbalances , all sorts of stuff . However , you do one thing to just allow them , help them look at themselves in the mirror and think , wow , that's an improvement . I'm really happy with that . I did something positive for myself . No one's ever too far gone . But not everybody wants to do rejuvenation , but pretty well , everybody wants to have healthy skin .

Speaker 1 26:57

No , I agree with that for sure , because you know we'll get on the topic of Botox fillers . Um , you know , I , I personally , I don't , I don't shame any woman for whatever her choice is and whatever she chooses to do . I feel everybody should do whatever they want , without judgment . That's my opinion and um .

Speaker 2 27:25

Well , I mean , that's something simple called freedom too , right yeah ?

Speaker 1 27:28

We should be able to make choices .

Speaker 2 27:30

It is , but we feel are the best for us .

Speaker 1 27:32

Absolutely . But you know how it is , rachel , right , like women , women love to judge other women and I have actually heard somebody say this about me and they're like , oh , she looks great . She looks younger now than she did before . She's had a lot of work done , and that was a quote . And you know I'm like , okay , well , actually , technically I've had my eyelids done , so I wouldn't consider that a lot of work , but it's the way in which women judge other women and I don't know . I think that's I don't know where it stems from . I don't know why that happens , but it's not great , and I always promote everyone to do whatever they feel aligned to do . I've always been like that since I had a platform . I would love to hear your thoughts specifically on this topic . I think it's an important topic .

Speaker 2 28:40

Well , let's go back . You know , a couple hundred years , maybe even more than that . What happened to female healers when they helped people with different herbs and remedies and they used those themselves ? They looked pretty good . They were the community healer . What ?

Speaker 1 28:59

happened to them ? Oh well , they were completely . You know . The community turned away from them . They judged them .

Speaker 2 29:09

They got burned at the stake .

Speaker 1 29:10

Okay , if you want to talk about witches , sure , yeah , they got burned at the stake . I mean we could go there . Rachel , I just had like a past life regression reading hey , I hear you .

Speaker 2 29:26

You asked I'm going to go there .

Speaker 1 29:27

Yeah .

Speaker 2 29:28

Where does this stem from ? This goes way back to when women are helping others and other people feel threatened for whatever reason .

Speaker 1 29:39

Yeah .

Speaker 2 29:40

And then they go against them . That's their own insecurities , right ? People that did that . They wanted other systems and processes to thrive instead . That's pretty well known .

Speaker 2 29:49

So also that's been perpetuated in our culture , right ? You look at the movie like Mean Girls , right ? We also look at the movie like Mary Poppins . What happened after the war ? A lot of women were like okay , we got to join the workforce . We got to work like men now , because either they're off to the war they didn't make it workforce . We got to work like men now because either they're off to the war , they didn't make it back , we got to pick up the slack in our communities .

Speaker 2 30:15

So there's been a lot of things that have happened to the masculine and feminine aspects in regards to culture over a long time . And then we have things like like I mentioned that newer show , mean girls . It's almost like this behavior has become acceptable . Yeah , which I think is just absolutely saddening . Yeah , and when people talk about other people , these are not people you want to surround yourselves with . If you are doing that , you are perpetuating more of a low vibe nature . You're going to age faster . It's going to come back around . Karma's going to get you . Watch your words , lead and live by example and have really good boundaries for bad behaviors .

Speaker 2 31:06

I don't spend time with people who gossip . I'll either switch the framework of the conversation or I'll simply remove myself from the situation and focus my attention on being around other people who are operating in a higher vibratory state . This impacts your beauty . This impacts your hormones . This impacts your hormones . This impacts your adrenal state , your cortisol , your sleep , how you look and feel .

Speaker 2 31:35

Nobody wants to hang around a negative Nancy . People want to hang around a positive Patty . But if someone else is a negative Nancy , they're also going to probably want to hang out with a negative Nancy . So for you listening at the positive Patty , you do not want to be anywhere near that . So I'm very specific with my circle . Who my inner circle is , as well as clients that I work with , I choose to primarily work with a lot of intuitive empaths and people who look at looking after their skin from a skin health approach , skin from a skin health approach , and we're going to tie this back to Botox and fillers and the combination situation here , because I've actually noticed a huge shift in the medical aesthetic space in regards to what clients ask me for .

Speaker 2 32:22

So I started my career in medical aesthetics in 2011 . And then in 2017 , 2015, . I started to notice a lot of people were flying to see me from all over the globe for rejuvenation . This is kind of strange . I'm on Vancouver Island 20 something year old nurse . Why is this person flying from France , dubai , new York , la , toronto to come and see me , this young , 20 something yearold nurse , on this very secluded island ? What's going on ?

Speaker 2 32:53

here , so then I started to offer online consultations and then so I started to broaden who I was serving and started to notice that people were , around that time , becoming more interested in this term skin health as opposed to . You know , what can I do Like ? What rejuvenation options are there ? No , it's . How can I get healthy skin ? This shift really warmed my heart because what I observed and I talk about this in my Audible Radiance , the new skin science , definitely downloaded .

Speaker 2 33:31

I share quite a bit more about my story too . I'm not going to exhaust you with four hours of my story and my own journey . Sandy , when you ask me that question , listen to the Audible . But what I started to observe was we all can think of the busy body . All can think of the busy body . Let's call her Betsy .

Speaker 2 33:51

You ask her how she is and she says oh , I'm so busy . You know , I just pick the kids up , just drop them off here . I got to do this , I got to do that . Just so busy , right ? They come in with their handbag , their coffee and put it on the table and they're like really restless and agitated . You know , maybe they actually drink a little too much . They might not have a great marriage . They're the busybodies .

Speaker 2 34:11

Those are typically the kind of people who are going to want to show up to a clinician every couple of months to say , do what you need to do . But I don't want any downtime . I need to , you know , get back to my life . Hosting social engagements a couple of times a month at the house , I can't have a red face , which means they can't do lasers . So then what do they do ? They primarily do neuromodulators , and when I look at individuals like this that don't have the time to do a basic at-home skincare protocol , they just do injectables . They don't have the time to do lasers or see the value in that . They just do injectables . They do not look anywhere as good as someone who takes a skin health approach with a dialed in skincare routine lasers a couple of times a year for different things , maybe some injectables , maybe some lasers , but really looking at nourishing the skin all the time .

Speaker 2 35:04

So individuals that just go for Botox and filler , they totally miss the mark .

Speaker 2 35:06

So , individuals that just go for Botox and filler they totally miss the mark on the skin health . And for those clients that I've worked with , in contrast , that would come to see me in their 50s and 60s beautiful body , mind , spirit , energy , practices . They have their faith , they have their family , they eat really well , they're active , they're living a life of purpose , they have hobbies like art and hiking and making music . These individuals look at more of a skin health , skincare and laser approach , maybe some surgery , maybe some injectables as well , and they look healthier and they actually require fewer rejuvenation interventions . These are the people that I would say are more radiant because they're doing the things behind the scenes with their faith , their family life and also from a reducing oxidative stress status position . So it's good to look at kind of those two categories of clients that I've worked with , ones that just do Botox and fillers and then the other ones that might do some of that too , but they're also focusing on skin health and lifestyle . They , or their aging process , are completely different .

Speaker 1 36:24

That was probably the most unique answer . I've holistic approach and I really align with that . I think that's an amazing way to describe it , because I don't think that anything in life is quick snap your fingers and poof , it's going to appear .

Speaker 2 36:49

No , absolutely not . Have you ever heard of the hero's journey ? You ever watched a star Wars movie ?

Speaker 1 36:54

Yeah , oh yeah , my , my son was so into star Wars . I've seen them all .

Speaker 2 37:00

Yes , so here we go .

Navigating Menopause Challenges and Influencers

Speaker 2 37:02

We face a challenge . Let's call this challenge menopause , okay .

Speaker 1 37:09

It can be for many women .

Speaker 2 37:11

Oh yeah , we face this challenge called menopause . We got kids , we got a life , we have personal and professional duties , relationship all these things that maybe you're also in the corporate world , right ? No , that's a whole other beast . So when we enter perimenopauseopause , postmenopause , all of these different ages and times in our lives present different challenges . So in the hero's journey think of the jedis there's this issue . They gotta figure something out . They come across , maybe a mentor to train them so that they can overcome this challenge and then reap the reward . So the hero's journey is something we all go through , if we've ever overcome something really significant in our lives . So you go through the journey , you have the challenge , you meet the mentors , you overcome the obstacle and then guess what ? You reap the reward .

Speaker 2 38:09

So this was me last year was doing a long fast , about a week long fast in Sedona , southern Utah . So I'm used to sea level . This was seven to 8,000 feet elevation . In the summer is tested , my metabolic flexibility on a whole other level , and I was really happy with how well my body did . But I felt the nudge to do that , to do that challenge and then get the benefits of autophagy and skin radiance and all sorts of things . So when we know we're going through a challenge and for those of you listening , you're following Sandy , maybe this is the first time you've heard about myself as well , you're following Sandy , maybe this is the first time you've heard about myself as well you find your mentors to support you on your journey so that you make better decisions . But I'll give one piece of advice here . Not everybody in the speaker and influencer space has their ish together . Everyone's people , everyone's a person too .

Speaker 2 39:10

Some people are going to be better educators and teachers and have higher levels of insights , higher degrees of information to share with you . So I recommend not just taking everything you hear at face value , but really looking at someone . What's going on with their eyes ? Are their eyes bright or are they dark ? What kind of words do they use ? What are their gestures like ? Is their nervous system balanced and regulated ? Do you feel better when you listen to them or do you feel more stressed out because they're inducing high beta cortisol dumping and putting you in a fear state ? Notice this when you listen to people on your journey and selecting the mentors you choose to include in your life to help you reach the reward of looking and feeling your best and having the life of your dreams .

Speaker 1 40:01

Wow , that's actually very it's crazy , because you and I only met for the first time today , but there's so many things that we just happen to align with with each other , because I say that all the time . I'm like , if you're , if you're following somebody who has , you know , a six pack , and all they talk about is how you must work out in this certain way in order to achieve what you're looking at right here and you're going through menopause and you're just struggling to have a healthy visceral fat on your metabolic scale , maybe that's not the right person to be following , right ? So there's got to be that connection , and I actually just spoke about this , about how we get so much information now through social media , and it's literally there , it's in our face , all the time you have to be so careful .

Speaker 1 41:04

You have to be careful , you have to be careful , careful , you have to be careful , and I've actually spoken about this , even relating to some of the very big male influences . And this is nothing against men , I'm not a man hater , I'm not . You know what I mean . Like , I love my husband of almost 24 years , but I call it the maniverse , rachel , and the reason I call it that is because I get a lot of women who will say , oh well , I'm trying this because so-and-so said to do this and I'm like okay , does this resonate with you as a woman in menopause ? Is this helping you or is it making you feel worse ? Are you listening to a study that may not include resonance with your own personal being , because all the studies that are out there are great . We need to pay attention to them .

Speaker 2 42:03

But then there's internal resonance , and then most of the studies are done on Menlo too , right .

Speaker 1 42:09

Exactly . That's why I call it the maniverse . I mean even . You know

Beauty, Health, and Biohacking Discussion

Speaker 1 42:13

. I even talked recently in an article . I wrote an article about how you know , you know you probably know this about melatonin and how everyone's saying do not give it to kids . Do not give it to kids because it can delay puberty . I'm'm like well , guess what ? My son's almost 23 . I gave it to him when he was about 10 in a micro dose . This is well before any of those studies , because he stopped growing , rachel . So you know , now the studies are saying don't do it , don't do it . Well , guess what ? He's six foot one . He reached puberty at a normal rate . He's like you know . So this is why you have to look at your individual situation as well , which I love that you do that and you really described what is true radiance .

Speaker 2 42:59

Maybe you want to get into that , oh , we haven't even gone there yet .

Speaker 1 43:02

Okay , well , let's go there , let's go . What's true radiance ?

Speaker 2 43:06

This is really the juicy part . You mentioned a lot of really beautiful things and I just want to touch on them .

Speaker 2 43:12

The reason why we're connected , cindy , is we have a number of really lovely mutual friends and , for you and I , we're in a similar sphere . We do a lot of work online . We love helping people . In fact , we help a lot of the same people within our niche . In fact , we help a lot of the same people within our niche , mine being anti-aging , longevity , skin health and yours being women around the age of 50 . So really good alignment there , and we have a lot of really similar friends and , yes , we just met .

Speaker 2 43:42

However , without you knowing , I've utilized a few different strategies to establish more bonding and trust . Now , this is something I do a lot to discern if there's a client I want to work with or there's someone I want to make a business connection to , or if there's a friend I want to make or someone I want to date and have in my life . We really need to prevent people better than we have been to an establishment of bonding and trust . I'm going to tell you why . This is related to beauty . A lot of you tuning in here think that looking after your skin , which is the largest organ of your body , is vain . It's not If you're looking at the mirror and there's something that bothers you , like in your case , and you thank you for your transparency upper eyelids , right hooded upper eyelids . You wanted to do something about it . You felt like it made you look old . You felt like it was already starting to impair your peripheral vision . Do something about it right Now , when we move towards not trying , use the word trying .

Speaker 2 44:54

I am so key on word choice . This is actually how I discern people I want to spend time with or not , by the words that they use . So say , for example , I don't use words amazing or wonderful or trying or wild or crazy . Do not use those words because they're actually psychologically scrambling and if our psyche scrambled , then our mind scrambled , then the main control center of our body is going to be a little bit messed up . So having clear , coherent thoughts , brain , heart connection , all of that is so key . So getting back to the desire to be more beautiful actually fulfills a very deep rooted need in survival to have confidence , to build your community . So those mean girls that say this badly about this person , that person , do you think if there were to be a big situation in the world you could rely on them ? No , no , they'd probably try and Jack your stuff . Yeah , no , no , no , you don't want to be anywhere near those people . You not want those people in your community because you cannot count on them . They don't have integrity .

Speaker 2 46:14

The other thing you mentioned was , you know , obviously , patriarchy right , the whole health area biohacking has been predominantly male dominated . I think it's because the men had confidence to talk about these things . They were the first ones to talk about them . Confidence to talk about these things , they were the first ones to talk about them , but historically , the people who have listened to them have been primarily women , which is also interesting , interesting . You also mentioned something really interesting called melatonin . So melatonin is a potent antioxidant . I have mine right over there , actually , and when I mentioned a couple of years ago when my skin used to burn really easily I'd burn in about 15 minutes I did a protocol and this was called the FLCCC protocol , and I did this to support my immune function A couple of years ago .

Speaker 1 47:09

Yeah , I know , I know . Yeah , I know what you're talking about ?

Speaker 2 47:13

yes , uh-huh . So , as a researcher , I like to look at the research . Okay , this antioxidant , it's got some . It's been around for a long time , a couple decades at least . Okay , these are what some practitioners are saying is really helping . I'm gonna going to do it . What have I got to lose ? And then , when I supported my immune function , my skin improved significantly , as well as my resilience to oxidative stress in the form of UV sun radiation . Breakouts that I was getting were no longer staying red and pigmenting Hair was coming back fuller . I also did a number of parasite cleanses , too . That's another overlap with that protocol I just dropped .

Speaker 2 47:58

You know , you know , yep yep yep , it's okay , but these are choices I made to feel better and be healthy . I just didn't know that the skin would respond in such a potent way , to the effect that when I really reduced oxidative stress with biohacking my paper and make easy read it . It's open source , it's for the clients , for the clinician and it highlights key basics to do for biohacking based on my research . Right , purifying purifying , it's all about purification . You want to look good , you want to feel good , you want to have the best life of your dreams , your dreams .

Speaker 2 48:38

You better clear out the noise and the static and things that are messing with you physically , non-physically . So we have purification over air , water , lighting , electromagnetics and pathogens such as yeast , fungi , candida , heavy metals , pesticides , even mold and , of course , parasites . So working in this approach purifying first your air , then water , lighting , electromagneticsetics and detoxing is a project I recommend and to reduce oxidative stress actually , even before doing rejuvenation , is going to set you up for success because rejuvenation itself , like neuromodulators , like dermal fillers , like lasers , like surgery , they will actually add to your oxidative stress status or your toxic bucket and you'll elicit cell danger response . I'll track that . Last time I had filler a number of years ago , my HRV tanked . Interesting .

Speaker 1 49:47

That's so interesting , that's so interesting .

Speaker 2 49:52

Yes , so based on my experience , my observation being a biohacker , being a double board certified aesthetic nurse specialist why did my hrv tank when I did some rejuvenation ?

Speaker 2 50:02

toxic load it's not so much the toxic load , it's because it elicits cell danger response . So when we're looking at this term oxidative stress , oxy you can . You can measure this . If someone's oxidative stress levels are elevated they're going to present with red , dry , dull , rough skin , red , puffy , dark eyelids , probably having some scalp irritation , probably have some extra weight around the midsection , probably not sleeping great Neurologically and nervous system probably kind of wrecked and not composing themselves appropriately in relationships and communication .

Speaker 2 50:48

This is how oxidative stress manifests in everyday life . You can see it or it comes out in your communication and interactions . So when we look at , say , rejuvenation of any form , it will elicit a degree of healing , a response for the body to heal , which from that is triggering something called the cell danger response . So if that toxic bucket or toxic load is really full for whatever reason toxins in your air , water , lighting , electromagnetics , you got parasites , mold , all that stuff you do rejuvenation , you add an element of cell danger response , recovery to that . That toxic bucket could potentially tip over and then you have a statistic of adverse events , you know , maybe contributing to that statistic . So that's why I wrote my last paper to actually help people not have problems or reduce the likelihood of adverse events after rejuvenation and really get the medical aesthetics world up to speed with the integrative of functional world that understand really well this concept of oxidative stress and inflammation , which is inflammation amazing .

Speaker 1 52:08

That's just fascinating . Okay , so it's interesting because that also goes along with because one of my specialties is therapeutic grade supplementation and that's what my training is in . And I'm always like people ask me about NAD and spermidine and you know all the really fancy longevity supplements . I'm like until you get your food down pat , meaning you're eating whole , real foods . I don't believe in specific diets unless you have a specific goal . But I'm like unless you have a specific goal . But I'm like until you get that , until you have your nutrient status really balanced and until you're feeling good and you're in a healthy state , don't bother with adding in the spermidine or the NAD , because it's not going to help you if your nutrient status isn't balanced . So same thing with the skin . I love what you're saying .

Speaker 2 53:16

I completely agree with you , by the way , and it's refreshing to come across someone else who's a speaker in the space that you know doesn't jump on the bandwagon .

Speaker 1 53:24

No .

Speaker 2 53:24

You actually , when we're jumping back to , when I'm talking about something called discernment , when you're finding your mentor to help you on your journey , red flag is if they follow trends . I do not follow trends , in fact , with rejuvenation options , lasers , injectables , surgeries , all sorts of things , I've always thought it was called a seven to eight year rule . The reason for that is we saw a laser on the market a number of years ago . It's a five-letter word . It starts with an F , it's got an X in it , it's got an L in it .

Speaker 1 54:03

It was one of the I know what it is , why you're not allowed to say it .

Speaker 2 54:07

It was a really popular piece of technology about , I'm going to say , 10 years ago .

Speaker 1 54:11

Yeah .

Speaker 2 54:12

It was pretty new . There really wasn't anything else on the market to compete with it . But what we started to notice , what I noticed clinically , was that when people had about six of them , their skin actually started to look a bit funny . Their pores would almost have like melted away . It was kind of strange and made the skin look really thin like an eggshell . So I noticed that . And then I also noticed when people had , say , had a brand new injectable on the market . So one of them was called Derma and then it's got another word too .

Speaker 2 54:43

I'm not going to say the specific names for a couple of reasons , but basically there's a big class action lawsuit because people were having inflammatory nodules and things like that . I saw it in this poor woman who had it done over a decade before her oxidative stress status or toxic bucket , I think , got overwhelmed and then she had this inflammation , probably a biofilm around that more permanent filler . So in the medical aesthetic space we have , the biohackers would be the cowboys , but the thing about biohacking is that you're doing it on yourself . The thing about medical aesthetics is you're doing it to other people . Let that sink in for a second . So what I've learned is to take a very conservative approach with anything new , whether it's injectables , whether it's lasers , because even body contouring we've seen this right . You have a brand new generation of body contouring technology which contributes constitutes less than 8% of what med spots actually do . They're not really as popular as you might think . But there's the first version of the tech , right , it's got all these settings hot , cold , all sorts of things right . And then you might notice after a couple of years , some issues . Okay , let's revamp that technology , let's make it a little bit better , let's make it more comfortable , let's make sure it gets better results . Then you have the second iteration of it . Okay , some further tweaks need to be done , protocols , how it's used , all these things . So that's the process . It's usually you have a product made with protocols that was researched , but then in the real world setting , when it's applied to a larger population , that's when we really hone in how to actually use that product or technology . It takes time . Product or technology , it takes time , takes time to hone things in . So what was this august 2022 ?

Speaker 2 56:44

I was sitting in a room with about 30 of north america's top stem cell experts stem cells , peptides , exosomes , all these things right . So primarily sorry , um , stem cells and exosomes and I was like , wow , this is like what it must have been like sitting in a room with people in the 90s first talking about botox . I was like I could say it was just like that . Really interesting observation . I may be coming from the aesthetic world so I'm really excited to see where that stuff goes , but it just needs time .

Speaker 2 57:12

So when I hear things like nad , spermidine , nmn um , I actually take a lot of these products . I do some . Yeah , I completely agree with you that you have to get your nutrition dialed in . So , whether that's through testing or eating for your blood type , reducing your oxidative stress right , purifying air , water , lighting , electromagnetics , clearing out things that like parasites that can be pulling on your nutrients , then add these extra things in like NAD , spermidine NMN , red light therapy , hyperbaric chambers . But start with the basics , because when people stick with the basics and they're consistent with it , they get results .

Speaker 1 57:55

Yes , A hundred percent . Okay , let's , let's um , we're all . I feel like I could talk to you for hours , but we're almost .

Speaker 2 58:07

I'm here to be of service and help out , so ask me anything .

Speaker 1 58:09

Okay , so I'm going to ask you . So you , you mentioned , you know , some of the lasers and some of the procedures , and I don't think you want to get into names , but I have heard . So I'm a big fan of IPL , I've been doing them since I love IPL .

Speaker 1 58:28

Yeah , I think I was . It's 11 years that I do at least one a year . I just had . My face is a little bit pink . I just had my second one . I wait until the fall and then I'll do one , two or three . I think this year I'm going to do three . It's what's kept my skin up . After I had to do a more invasive one , I did a YAG laser . Do you know which one ? That one is Rachel .

Speaker 2 58:57

I'm familiar with intense pulse slide . Yeah , the YAG laser . Do you know which one ? That one is Rachel . I'm familiar with intense pulse slide , yeah .

Speaker 1 59:01

The YAG was nasty , but I had honestly you know how they talk about liver spots with people who are aging it was like I had these giant spots when this was when I was 41 . So I should share with you some of these before and after photos because I think you'd find it interesting and fascinating . So IPL is kind of one of those that I've stuck with .

Skincare, Peptides, and Laser Safety

Speaker 1 59:27

I do the little whatever face shaving , you called it at home . I've been doing that . I take care of my skin . I have a full routine . I do my peptides in the serums . I love the serums that are like maybe you can tell us I use copper peptides . Are you a fan of those ?

Speaker 2 59:50

Oh gosh , I've been using peptides in skincare since I started in the industry in 2011 . Okay , good , good , good , peptide great uses , but not all skincare is created equally . I will say that , okay , good , good , good , peptide gray uses , but not all skincare is created equally . I will say that , okay . And in the biohacking space a couple years ago , I was like , oh , peptides and skincare , it's totally innovative .

Speaker 1 1:00:07

Yeah , okay , well , you know I . I just , I'm a big believer in looking at my skin and seeing what gives me results , and if I notice a difference and you know my age I'm worried about my neck getting . You know , I take care of my . What is it ? Declatage ? Is that how you pronounce it ? Declatage ? I take care of that . So I do all the things . I do red light therapy , I do sauna . Obviously , I'm a nutritionist . I eat well . One of the major things for me , though , was when I was just entering menopause this was in October 2022 , we should talk about it is I became pre-diabetic . Isn't that interesting ? So I actually talked about this because I think there was a study and you probably know about this about the link between blood glucose and insulin in the skin ?

Speaker 1 1:01:04

Yeah , yeah , and a lot of women experience insulin resistance , dysregulation in , you know , blood glucose around menopause and it's because our estrogen is going down which makes the receptors weaker and we're more prone and more susceptible to this . So I had to . Anyway , that's a whole other story , rachel , but knowing what's going , no , it's your story .

Speaker 2 1:01:32

You're sharing lots of other people's .

Speaker 1 1:01:34

I think a lot of other people . So what I'm saying is I align with you when you're saying look at the whole body and see what's happening with your skin . And then I have to ask you this , because this has been on my mind you see , a lot of these really intense lasers that I have actually heard plastic surgeons talk about and you know , I don't know if they have an ulterior motive , like , is it because they want you to do the facelift , or is it the truth that some of these lasers can be so intense that I can go too deep and actually almost like melt the fat layer ? Maybe you could talk about that .

Speaker 2 1:02:18

Sure , happy to All , right . Well , let's unpack this .

Speaker 1 1:02:21

Yeah .

Speaker 2 1:02:21

Cause it's a big one . Let's nerd out . This is . This is my wheelhouse . I mean I can do the skin stuff , the rejuvenation stuff , make recommendations , teach , write research with my eyes closed at this point .

Speaker 1 1:02:33

Yeah .

Speaker 2 1:02:35

Really interests me is then adding the biohacking side of things and all the longevity and functional integrative side of things . So there's not many people in the medical aesthetic space that are bridging this . I'm considered one of the first . So when I'm looking now at my traditionally trained background as a double board certified aesthetic nurse with this integrative angle , I see things totally differently . So let's go through what you're doing . You're doing intense pulse light once a year . Love that . I just had my intense pulse light the other week as well Face , neck , chest , arms and hands .

Speaker 2 1:03:12

However , what I will say is and one of the reasons why I don't make claims of which lasers I like is because not all lasers are suitable for every skin type . This is not medical advice . This is educational information only . If you think you have a medical condition , you must seek the guidance of a licensed physician . You specific detail about lasers in podcasts and social media content is because lasers actually carry the highest rate of litigation or lawsuits interesting in north america , and one of the reasons why is you have these people who know nothing about the industry .

Speaker 2 1:03:55

They want to open up a med spa and they end up buying really bad technology and they cause . They don't know any better and the technology could actually be counterfeit . Wow , you know , even in my small hometown , um , someone I know . She rang me up . She wanted me to do some practice consulting for her , because I do that too . I consult with the client and the clinician . I just want to see other people operate Similarly to me . I also thrive in how they provide rejuvenation .

Speaker 2 1:04:26

So she's telling me , all this laser she buys , she got a good price on it . I never even heard of it and I spent about two to three years getting my hands on the most commonly used popular lasers out there . So I can speak to pretty much anything and I've used it . I know what it's like to have the procedure , what what it feels like , what the recovery is like . Is it worth the time and money , the recovery times that worth the money or or the pain ?

Speaker 2 1:04:55

Because some of them definitely aren't , even though they have massive advertising and celebrity clout behind them . In fact , what I found is when you see technology that's got advertising everywhere and they've partnered with some of the biggest influencers is because the technology actually is not good and they have to pour the money into advertising , as opposed to this trend I've seen with better technology , probably never even heard of . They pour more , the companies that produce the tech , they pour more information . Same with skincare more energy is put into research , development and education as opposed to market , because they know their products are going to speak for themselves , right the results . So I wanted to mention that .

Skin Care Protocols and Spa Trends

Speaker 2 1:05:44

Um , full skin routine . Consistency is king if we're talking about getting noticeable outcomes . What I noticed in the clinic . You know someone would see me initially for consultation and we're going to talk about consult and what's happening in the men's spa space because you need to know about them yeah .

Speaker 2 1:06:02

When I would first meet with someone , I'd take their before photo so like very clinical before photo and then I'd start them off on a basic routine cleanse twice a day , double cleanse in the PM , moisturize twice a day sunscreen , mineral sunscreen , only predominantly zinc , and then exfoliate a couple of times a week In two weeks .

Speaker 2 1:06:23

So I saw them for consult , we stabilized their skin with their basic skincare protocol and then I would say , do some type of facial on them , or laser or injectable , whatever they want , right , whatever we discussed , discussed what I would see across the board in people just being on a basic protocol for two weeks cleanse , moisturize , sunscreen , scrub , no matter how sensitive their skin was red , sensitive , irritated , dry , mature skin .

Speaker 2 1:06:51

In two weeks then the photos don't lie less redness , more dewiness , more glass and the skin was reported to just feel better , right , not as dry , not as rough . So imagine that you figure out how to properly care for your skin , the large organ of your body , and then you're consistent with it . That's going to pay off . But when you are using a really great protocol with primarily practitioner grade products not what you're getting on the drugstore shelves , not what you're seeing advertised for social media these are products that are only able to be accessed through consulting with the practitioner Serums , copper , peptides , different neck creams , eye creams those are kind of more of the extras , but they definitely serve a place . And something that kind of is a little bit controversial with at home and in clinic is something called microneedling .

Speaker 1 1:07:49

Yes , I was going to ask you about that . I've done that too . And then with a practitioner . She's a medical aesthetic nurse and she actually works in an office with a general , with a plastic surgeon , sorry . So like I don't know if that makes a difference too . It's a very reputable office , but she was doing that and she would put the serums that were peptides when the pores were open . Does that make sense too ?

Speaker 2 1:08:22

Yeah , I learned about dermal rolling , actually from one of the original godfathers of dermal rolling , dr Lance Satterfield and his research team back in 2011 . He wrote the Bible on microneedling .

Speaker 1 1:08:33

Okay .

Speaker 2 1:08:34

So that's where I , just straight out of the gate , had really great information , education , instruction on dermal rolling . Now I do have an opinion on doing it in clinic . Okay , let's hear on what to do in clinic and also what to do at home , but it depends on the individual needs of the individual . Also , I know a lot of other practitioners listen to me and I'm not comfortable with giving things the year and the name , because it might be tech that they have in their clinic and I don't want to put people down , kind of thing , absolutely .

Speaker 2 1:09:08

But from my observation on who has the best skin that I've worked with clinically for a long time People that have the best skin , that are aged 60 to 90 , that are consistent with their skincare they're consistent with their dermal rolling at home they have the best skin . They actually have more collagen and elastin and thicker skin than people I see in their twenties and thirties . So you will not find a video of me teaching dermal rolling anywhere online . I only teach this in a private registration only tutorial space , because it's irresponsible for practitioners to be showing the general population how to do things like that . So is that because they ?

Speaker 1 1:10:12

can hurt themselves Like ?

Speaker 2 1:10:12

is that why sites that people were buying all sorts of products from ? So there was at one point I was at a conference . There was about 500 of us practitioners in the room and we actually decided to pull all of our treatment videos offline because people were seeing it and then doing the wrong things and then they would see issues and damaging counterfeit , so damaging their skin a lot with counterfeit fillers do you remember those high pressure hyaluronic acid pens for the lips they would ?

Speaker 2 1:10:43

like oh , yeah , yeah , yeah , yeah , huge , huge issues , right , massive issues . Oh my god . So uh , for learning how to dermal roll and the basics of applying your basic skincare routine adding in skin cycling and more advanced layers like serums , copper , peptides , peels , retinols dermal rolling . And then there's actually another piece of technology I love to use at home greater on the eyes , too . That's something I teach in my tutorials only , and there's a reason for that . People always think , oh , I'm gonna , you know , buy this eye cream or buy this retinol , or you know , this influencer is selling this roller for 20 bucks . I'm gonna try it yeah you won't get results .

Speaker 2 1:11:30

if you're a trier , you need to have better mentorship and you're gonna do and you have someone to be accountable , because if you try , if you just try , notice people in your sphere that you connect with that are triers .

Speaker 1 1:11:49

Well , I see it when I worked with clients who were they're going to try a diet , they would try to eat a certain way , or they would try to be good with taking the supplements that were recommended , but then they wouldn't take it every day and then they wouldn't see the results . So that actually makes a world of difference in the world of wellness and nutrition as well .

Speaker 2 1:12:15

Absolutely . It's also personality who's going to be successful Someone who tries , and then we call this the never never plan , or someone has a clear strategy , clear direction and follows through . So those are the type of people that I work with and they're the ones that are going to get the results . Now , one of the other things I want to mention is what's actually happening with some of these really trendy pieces of technology that you're hearing about .

Speaker 1 1:12:48

It starts with an M , the one that I know exactly what you mean .

Speaker 2 1:12:53

The . The med spa space has shifted significantly over the last few years , and what's happened is I'm very well connected in the med spa industry . A lot of my girlfriends are reps for different companies or they're involved in clinic corporate buyouts and acquisitions , so not only do I have my finger on the pulse of the med spa world , but I also have my finger on the pulse of the biohacking world yes .

Speaker 2 1:13:25

So what happens when a med spa gets bought out , which is every entrepreneur's dream ? You create a company and you sell it . There's nothing wrong with that . But what is happening is the med spa world has become a multi-billion dollar industry and it has become very attractive to investors looking to diversify their portfolio . The business of beauty isn't going anywhere . In fact , big Pharma , big Food they're all getting their hands in big beauty too .

Speaker 2 1:14:03

Look at some of the biggest brands you see on the drugstore shops . Oftentimes they're owned by big food companies too , right ? So when it comes to a lot of these med spas now , we're seeing a very cookie cutter approach where someone goes in for consultation and they're meeting with the salesperson , not the practitioner . They're basically getting offered a cookie cutter approach . Do six skin tightening . Do six radio frequency ? Do six micro . Yes , yes , do six of the six of that , right ? It's all about selling packages , it's all about the bottom line , right ?

Speaker 2 1:14:38

cookie cutter for everybody totally some of these really intense lasers and some of the layers that you're seeing a lot of marketing for . Well , now you kind of know why . So with these med spas being bought by corporate conglomerates , they basically redo how everything's running and operating in the clinic and it is a little bit more about the bottom line . In these types of clinics it's like very obvious , and they actually get better deals through the laser distribution companies on technologies and then they have a lot of money to advertise them . So that's why over the last few years , you've been seeing so much advertising for specific rejuvenation technologies .

Speaker 1 1:15:26

Totally , I've seen it , because I will pay attention , because I want to know if it resonates with me or not , and there are certain ones that very specifically did not resonate with me , because I do research as well to make sure that it makes sense for me .

Speaker 2 1:15:48

I'm not going to jump in . How do you research something that's only been on the market for a year or two ?

Speaker 1 1:15:52

Well , I actually listen to . You have a seven to eight year rule , like I said , when I say research , I listen to experts Like people like yourself . This is why I have you on my podcast , because I'm going to look and assess if it makes sense for me and what are my reservations on trying it yeah , and when it comes to rejuvenation , if you have kind of a feeling that something isn't right for you , listen to it .

Speaker 2 1:16:24

you don't need to justify why something doesn't feel good for your field to anybody . That's going to be a really personal thing . The body always knows , right , yep . So if you're in a med spa situation and someone's recommending something you really don't want , you're not comfortable with , you need to listen to that . But the other thing is a little bit of like a you know , excitement , a little bit nervousness . That's kind of part of it too , right , when you're when you're doing rejuvenation as well . But there are a lot of technologies out there that actually you know , like the IPL .

Speaker 2 1:17:00

Ipl is intense pulse light . Within that category of intense pulse light , there's tons of different types of brands and technologies . Right , it's like a family , right and same , with more intense resurfacing lasers . There's Erbium , there's Yegg , there's CO2 . There's lots of different types of weightless frequencies of lasers and then the joule and the energy that goes along with that . If someone's prepped their skin ahead of time , are they going to follow a great protocol afterwards ? How healthy are they ? The healthier you are , the faster your recovery is going to be . There's no question about that in my mind , but with the different lasers that are out there there , the cost of these lasers are like buying a lamborghini . It's like having a ferrari in a room in your clinic .

Speaker 2 1:17:45

you want to sell packages of them totally right , in my opinion , when it comes to having healthy skin , looking and feeling our best . It's not about showing up to someone once in a month , it's actually every single day , 99.9% of the time , making really good decisions with what you're eating , what you're drinking , how you're living , what your thoughts are , what your AM and PM skincare and personal hygiene routines are . Do that first . Maybe do some dermal rolling at home , maybe do some peels at home . Right , get the oxidative stress status down . Then look at doing some in-clinic stuff for things that are left over and letting your home care be sort of like this heavy lifting and then in-clinic tech that's obviously more expensive . We're going to have some downtime . Let that take care of what's left over . That's a great approach I like to suggest for rejuvenation .

Speaker 1 1:18:38

I love it . Okay , I have to ask you one last question before we wrap up . What are your thoughts on cause ? You mentioned at the very beginning about how you got your skin to a place where you can go out in the sun and not burn right away , Right ? You mentioned that . So I'm a big fan of astaxanthin . Am I is that ? Can you talk about that , both internally and topically ?

Speaker 2 1:19:11

Yeah , astaxanthin topically , that's still pretty new .

Speaker 1 1:19:14

It is new .

Speaker 2 1:19:15

Yes . So I'd like to see some long-term evidence on that , because I'm not a gimmick person . If I'm going to speak to something , that's my reputation .

Speaker 2 1:19:25

Yes , right , so I got to do my due diligence , especially as a researcher

Enhancing Beauty Through Radiance and Biohacking

Speaker 2 1:19:29

too . I look at things totally different than a lot of speakers and influencers do . There's a lot of good clinical evidence for astaxanthin , as well as alpha ketoglutarate for reducing someone's biological age . I really like that approach internally . But again , you got to do the basics first . We're also seeing other trends with topical , say , estrogen-based creams for the skin . We're starting to see trends with topical , say , estrogen-based creams for the skin . We're starting to see some really great purchase outcomes with that too .

Speaker 2 1:20:04

I would still give it a bit of time because that is pretty new in a topical skincare formulation . I'd like to at least see another year or two of that so that if I'm making a recommendation for something , it's not going to waste someone's time and money because I wouldn't be able to sleep well at night . So when it comes to getting the skin to not burn , this is going to come down to oxidative stress . So in my journey part of my story I should actually mention this is I was in two pretty rough car crashes , so I started biohacking before . I think I started biohacking like 2014 , 2015 . My previous partner , 12 years pro athlete , lived a really healthy lifestyle exercised a ton personal training , weightlifting , cardio good balance with that , but I wasn't eating the right food . So then I had the lifestyle stuff , tweaked my food , started some biohacking and then I was in a really rough car crash in 2019 .

Speaker 2 1:21:08

Really bad rear ender Wasn't my fault . Really bad whiplash . So much pain , headaches , all sorts of stuff . It was terrible . So much pain , headaches , all sorts of stuff . It was terrible .

Speaker 2 1:21:24

and in order to manage pain and headaches , I really had to stay dialed in with my nutrition and oxidative stress and biohacking so that I wasn't miserable yeah so I was doing that work and then you know , still on this trajectory , as a young gobble board certified aesthetic nurse , flying here , flying there , teaching on this stage , presenting for this company , doing this research , like pretty jet set lifestyle . Then I didn't get the memo the first time to slow down . I'm the universe . Then I was bumped again , oh my gosh , year and a half later , year and a half later , taking time off to heal because I wasn't healing . On my way to the beach to do a cold plunge , I got t-boned in my girlfriend's camaro as a passenger car came right on my side . Brutal , oh my God .

Speaker 2 1:22:17

So from that point forward I really had to slow down and literally change every single aspect of my life , which is really annoying from . You know where I sit in a movie theater for my head position on the screen . If I'm at a dinner situation , I can't maintain a turn in my neck for a long period of time . If I'm at church , I got to be like front and center situation . So we all go through challenges in our life and it's how you decide to approach them . Are you going to be a woe is me ? Are you going to go on drugs ? Are you going to succumb to addiction ? Are you going to succumb to negative emotional thoughts or are you going to do the best you can to reduce inflammation and oxidative stress ? That's what I did . That's when I inadvertently clued into the fact that , wow , okay , I'm outside and I'm not burning what's going on there .

Speaker 2 1:23:16

So that's what clued me to the fact that reducing oxidative stress , biohacking , eating the right foods , pumping the body up with antioxidants , omega , collagen all those types of things , regular detoxing , being in positive emotional states these all impact our longer lasting ability to be beautiful and have great energy . So I sort of fell into the , the learning that we can shift , how we respond to environmental stressors , emotional stressors , energetic , spiritual stressors too , and then also how that enhances something called radiance , which I think is a great topic to conclude on , because this is really what my life mission is actually um becoming . It's talking about something called radiance and who I see it in and what they're doing and what I've done to cultivate it myself .

Speaker 1 1:24:17

Hmm , so when you think radiance , I'm curious , sandy what do you think Personally , my personal um description of radiance , I would also equate it to their aura and the energy that they give off , and I'm personally I'm an extremely intuitive person . I can feel energy , I can feel it from people and so that in and of itself can make a person more or less radiant . This is totally my definition , but I can see that I can feel that off of a person , even through Zoom . I can really sense authenticity , because I think authenticity is a big part of being radiant , because I think authenticity is a big part of being radiant , being real .

Speaker 2 1:25:17

Yeah , it's beautiful . I ask everyone who comes on my show what is radiance to you ? So I just asked you here and obviously you're going to be on my show too . I look forward to that . Thank you for having me here . So this concept let's first think of what radiance looks like in the real world and then I'm going to share a definition that actually comes from ayurveda , which is really cool

Unlocking Radiant Energy With Rachel

Speaker 2 1:25:40

.

Speaker 2 1:25:40

Okay , so I started to observe people . Right , if we go back to the , the busy body or the individual who was more mature and they had their life sorted out , lived a great lifestyle , they barely needed any rejuvenation who's going to be more radiant ? The busy body or the person doing the work and looking after themselves ? By choice , not by chance , they're going to be more radiant . So it's this energy of entering a room and having the right people notice you , of entering a room and having the right people notice you .

Speaker 2 1:26:13

I used to go to events . You know , great outfit , great makeup , skin , hair , all fancy and I've had people come up to me all the time . They're like Rachel , what skincare are you using ? What makeup are you using ? Did you do your hair yourself what designer are you wearing ? Get asked those questions all the time , like , very like superficial things , which , which is fine , it's just okay , okay .

Speaker 2 1:26:32

But then after I started to learn a little bit more of the radiant stuff , observe it , see , what made people different when they came to see me and like , really take notes out of their playbook and then start to employ it myself . Now I go to events and have people come up to me and they say things like , oh , I saw you . I just I wanted to come up and say , hi , there's something about your energy all the time , all the time . And then I spoke in Orlando at a really big conference and I mentioned you know , I recently moved and all these things .

Speaker 2 1:27:10

And you know , all this radiant stuff stuff , it's beauty stuff , it's to build your community , because you're first building your confidence , then build your community . And after I shared that and said that when you're operating in this radiance frequency , you're going to become a magnet for the right people in the right way at the right time to support you on your journey . And you just support them . Pay it forward too , right , stronger together . And then , after I gave that lecture , I had there's three ladies actually that came up to me , and guess what they all were from the city that I just moved to oh cool , yeah , jupiter pretty cool , that is cool , but I love it .

Speaker 1 1:27:54

What are ?

Speaker 2 1:27:54

the chances right . So when you have the courage to show up and carry yourself in a really beautiful , radiant way , people are going to notice and be like wow , who's that that just walked in the room ?

Speaker 2 1:28:08

Yeah , I don't want to get to that . Oh , they seem like a lovely person and , uh , so being . Also . We're going to get into the definition of radiance in a second , but you mentioned something sandra is really important is if you are listening and you're highly intuitive . You're what we call an intuitive empath , which is pretty well most of the people who I work with . I don't work with people that are watching YouTubers get ready with me . They just want to keep up with the Joneses , look like Kim K , stuff like that . No , people want skin health and they want to do it in a way that's in alignment with their values , what they want to do , what they don't want to do , and I create a custom plan for them . That's who I work the best with . People who are really intuitive and sensitive are also usually really sensitive physically to certain foods and toxins , so I don't want to use the phrase it's a blessing and a C word .

Speaker 2 1:29:04

That's a terrible word to use but it's just kind of a phrase . To just think about that phrase for a second . I love to study linguistics . Like using those two words , a blessing and a C word , in the same sentence is like totally counseling . Let's bring more blessings into our lives , knowing that with your operating system you're going to be a bit more intuitive and you might be a bit more sensitive to certain things , so you might have to work a little bit harder on being healthier . It's a blessing , right , it is a blessing once you look at it this way and not like a burden , like why am I dealing with this whole thing ? Why am I always bloated ? Why are my hormones a mess ? It's simply because I think you're going to be more sensitive and that's okay . It's a blessing once you see it that way . So the definition of radiance is really cool . Comes from ayurveda , a couple thousand years old , right ?

Speaker 2 1:29:59

I know you work a lot with feng shui and tcm again , very ancient practices yeah in ayurveda there's a really cool definition of radiance , radiance being the electromagnetic projection of all of your other systems operating at a certain frequency . So radiance is actually the 10th body . Body , mind , spirit and energy are simply your first four bodies . You have six other parts to you , right , when you start to do the inner work , you focus on your physical form . Focus on the other things too energetically , spiritually , all that . Then your radiance actually becomes stronger . And think about that for a second .

Speaker 2 1:30:45

Radiance is the electromagnetic projection into the world . It's like an emission , it's like a beacon . When you're operating in a certain way , you're going to become a magnet for other people , like that too . So when you operate in this way , it becomes really easy for you to also see other people that operate in that way , and it's easier for them to also see you too . So I think this is how we make the world a better place is one , one human , one soul at a time , making the choice to become more radiant , to live better , and then people are going . You'll know what's happening . When people come to you , they're like , wow , you're looking really good , what are you doing ? And then you know you don't have to tell them like the million things you're doing for health and nutrition and biohacking . Just give them one thing . You don't have to be the preacher on the soapbox , but just give them one thing to drip into their psychology , their field , to help them . I love that , and then they'll probably ask you for some more tips . Okay , give them one more tip .

Speaker 1 1:31:42

Yeah , no , that's amazing . Oh my gosh , this has been such a great conversation . Rachel , please tell everyone how they can find you and work with you .

Speaker 2 1:31:56

Absolutely . My podcast is really fun . I give a lot of great free information on there . It's called the school of radiance podcast , actually a top 20 in the U S podcast on how to an education , and it's all about body , mind , spirit , energy practices , which , of course , talk about skin stuff , big emphasis on radiance , biohacking , all that . So that's the school of radiance podcast . My website , that's where you're going to find everything . The school of radiancecom that's where you can shop over 250 skincare , hair care , makeup , dermal rolling products that you can shop everything directly through there .

Speaker 2 1:32:36

It's all pre-vetted by me , but I do recommend starting with a consultation with me for the right plan . Right , select me as your mentor . I'll give you the guidance on what to do at home and in clinic , with ongoing support , and then for my tutorials . This is where we hang out . Every week I do a live lesson . They're always live , so I'm always learning .

Speaker 2 1:33:00

Ask questions as well . Ask your questions and learn how to actually use your products from basic how to cleanse your face , facial gua sha , lymphatic drainage , fascial muscle , um um massage for the face , the next really important , actually in your scalp and then moving into the more advanced layers like antioxidants and peptides and retinols and dermal rolling for your post-rejuvenation tips . That's all in my tutorials and that's like the icing on the cake how actually put your products on one-on-ones the cake , how to actually put your products on One-on-one's the cake recipe , what to do right Now for the cherry on top of the presentation of it all communication , etiquette , how to be comfortable and confident in any situation , personally and professionally , and a lot of the behind the scenes , detoxing and technologies that I use that I'm not going to talk about publicly . That's in my membership . So that's really for people who they resonate with me on a deep level and they're like , yeah , okay , there's some stuff that this one's doing behind the scenes that I wouldn't know about . Yeah , only place I talk about the deeper layers and practices is in the membership .

Speaker 2 1:34:09

So everything's at the school of radiancecom and as a thank you for everybody listening to this very long episode , which I'm sure you've enjoyed , I warmly invite you to use promo code Sandy K all one word for 15% off of your one-on-one and tutorials with me at the school of radiancecom . Have any questions ? Send me an email , happy to help you out .

Speaker 1 1:34:34

That's great . Thank you so much , and I will have that information in the show notes . Thank you so much for coming today , rachel . This has been an awesome conversation .

Speaker 2 1:34:43

You too , and I really look forward to meeting you , sandy , in person as well at some upcoming events and , I'm sure , after we stop recording we'll probably coordinate that I love your energy .

Speaker 1 1:34:55

Thank you .

Speaker 2 1:34:55

Love what you're doing , love your energy . It's not common for someone who's interviewing me that is willing to go to some of the layers that we went into .

Speaker 1 1:35:08

So good job . So much more than just skin , Rachel . I love it .

Speaker 2 1:35:14

Here's the thing I get . I get people on the skin . I have to be very clear what my storefront is . Get people on the skin stuff and then , once they hang out with me , they learn what I'm about . They're like wait a second , there's some other things I gotta know too . I thought I just needed to learn about skin and how to put products on and makeup and lasers and all this stuff . It's like whoa .

Speaker 1 1:35:35

I didn't know that stuff . Most people who know me know I like to go deep and we went deep and I love it . Great conversation . I hope you enjoyed this episode . Be sure to share it with someone you know might benefit and always remember when you rate , review , subscribe , you help to support my content and help me to keep going and bringing these conversations to you each and every week . Join me next week for a new topic , new guest , new exciting conversations to help you live your best life .