Episode 97 - Lasers, Skin Barrier, Skincare HOLY GRAILS and more - Answering Your Skincare Questions With Natasha B, Beauty Junky Monkey - PART 2 (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast episode 97.

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here or view our podcast episode guide.

Amy Sherman: Welcome to Nirvana Sisters podcast, where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state, your nirvana. We are Sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman.

Katie Chandler: And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation.

Natasha Brinkmann: You. Um.

Amy Sherman: Welcome back to the show. Nirvana Sisters Family. So we are here. It is part two with Natasha B beauty junkie monkey. We she promised she'd be back. She's here. If you haven't listened to episode 96, go run and listen to that one. But Natasha B is a trained esthetician skincare expert and educator. You may know her as Beauty Junkie Monkey on TikTok, where she now has over 400,000 followers and lots of helpful skincare advice. She's just growing by the second because I think the last time we talked to you, you at 350, so you are just crushing it. We love all of her advice. The last session was amazing. We talked so much about different products and routines, and we're just going to continue that conversation and get into it. So thank you so much for being back on the show. Natasha, we love having you on.

Natasha Brinkmann: Oh, thank you for having me. This was way too much fun the last time. I'm like, we got to go to number two.

Amy Sherman: Absolutely. I know we still have product questions and different things like that, but we did want to make sure we touch on some of these skin treatments that we're seeing out there because I think there's so many, from micro needling to morpheus aid to the lasers to the this to the that. There's so many things. And we'd love to hear from you what your experience has been, if you recommend anything, who they're best for, all the different things that we're seeing around there.

Natasha Brinkmann: Absolutely. I have some personal experience. I will say out of the gate, I am not a licensed medical esthetician, so I don't do the lasers. I don't do the morpheus eight. Again, I still have a lot of friends in the industry, so I know that. And then, of course, with my clientele who had it done, I get a lot of feedback so I can talk about it based on that information. So I'm happy to provide that for myself. I have done a little bit of laser. I've got a little bit of filler in my lips. That's the only thing I'm really maintaining right now is just a little bit in the lips because I have those little French lips. As I age, they slowly dissipate. So I just put in just a half a syringe just to kind of back up. And I have done PoDoX in the past, Botox in the past, but I stopped it over last year because I was testing out other brands and one of my commentators said, well, how do you know how it really, really works? And I was basing it on how well it held my Botox for longer periods of time. That's how I was basing mine. And I thought, that's a very fair question. So begrudgingly, because I really love the results. I stopped using it. And I have to say, over the past, I'd say eight months, maybe. I think it's about eight months now. I haven't touched it since. And I'm just shocked because 48 years old, and I'm looking at myself going, well, I can live with that. I'm not perfectly wrinkle free, or you can see when face to face. But I don't mind the aging process. I just want to age well. And I think having a good skincare routine and then using medical aesthetics is a great thing to do. But it's really, really important to do it authentically and not to go overboard, because that's when the regret sets in, and that's when people start messing about with their face and they start going, what have I done? One of my personal pet peeves is the lip flip that they do with Botox. I've had a lot of friends get it done. And the problem is that you can't purse your lips anymore. And so eating, drinking, people can't eat properly because the food comes out of their mouth and stuff like that. And I'm like, I understand that the aesthetic part and what they're trying to do, but when you start changing how you look, because it's not natural to have that flip, right? Like most of us, either you have it or you don't. That's when you start changing, really, in my opinion, who you are. A little filler in a place that's already full, no problem. A little bit of filler here and there just to kind of touch it up. A lot of people are surprised I have lip filler. And I'm like, yeah, I only use half a syringe. I don't use a full syringe. I have, in the past, didn't like it. It was a little too much. And not that a lot of people would notice it, but I think for me, it was just like I like the subtlety of it. And that's one thing I've noticed for sure is, like, Botox is fantastic if you have those deep 11th between your eyes. Yeah, do it. Absolutely. Because product can only go so far. But yeah, I just wanted to say that right out of the gate, because I know we've seen some celebrities out there, and I'm just like, oh, no, sweetie, no.

Amy Sherman: I know. When you look like you can't even recognize them, it's so scary.

Katie Chandler: Also, I feel like I think that there can be a slow climb to this. Oh, my gosh, I've gone overboard. And I know one time I did, I think a little bit too much Botox. And I just remember looking at myself, thinking, like, I look a little weird. And it took a while for it to click that. Oh, I probably have a little bit too much Botox. Right now. Next time I should scale back a little bit. Like I would see myself in a phone. I'm like, Why are my eyebrows up to my hairline? What is going on with that crazy smile? So I think it's a good reminder when you are doing bone talks, if you get that feeling that might mean to pump the brakes. And also a really easy trick for that lip flip that is totally natural and easy to do is to just put some highlighter on your top lip line as well. It doesn't really give you the lip flip, but it gives an illusion of it. So don't go putting the Botox in there for that.

Natasha Brinkmann: Yeah, well, when it starts function, like you can't function and you can't chew it's like, nah, I'm horrible. I'm self conscious of that is not working. I want us to dribble it out of my mouth. I'm like, yeah, no, that's not thank you. Do I do that? No, I don't want to do the lip flip. I was just going to say right now, the little chin dimple seems to be a big deal. I'm like, really? This is a big deal? Careful with who you go to, because their job is to make money, and the more you spend, the more they make. And I mean, a good medical aesthetician will have that. Nice, okay, let's not overdo it or kind of talk you down and go, you know what? You look fabulous because you don't want to take away who you are. I have a little French bump here on my nose, and the first thing my husband said when we met is, like, you can never touch your face. You can never touch your nose. And I'm so grateful he said that, because you're right. That's who I am. It's part of me. It's part of what makes me me. And is it the perfect nose? No, but it makes the rest of my face, in my opinion, look perfect because it's me, right? And I want to look in the mirror and look at myself and go, oh, hey, that's still me with some of the procedures. I love laser treatments. They're incredible. And I think they're going to be the new microneedling coming out as they progress and they get better and better and better. Myself, I love to do the IPL laser or photofacial is what it's called, because it does so much, so it zaps out your hyperpigmentation. So if you have some really bad sunspots or freckles or really bad sun damage, it works so well, it just zaps it right out, and it naturally exfoliates out of your skin. It also helps to really stimulate collagen and elastin. So if you find that you're getting some of the deeper lines around the eyes, but you want to kind of treat that, then it's a nice way to slowly get that in there. And then when you pair that with your good products, you're going to have beautiful results. And I love how it tightens down the pores. So it really helps with texture, it helps with scarring. A couple of years ago, I was diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma on the edge of my nose. And that sucked because what people don't realize about skin cancer, the basal cell is it goes down like a trunk, but then it spreads like a tree root. So it's not that that basal cell will kill you, it's going to disfigure you because they have to dig out all around it. And I had a huge hole in my nose, which I kept covered meticulously for six weeks. And I think it's because I kept it covered, I kept it moist. I'm really good at wound care. It really started to progress very well. Even my dermatologist was like, wow, that's healing. And then I did get some laser because I did get a little bit of puckering around the edges, and you could see it. Like if I turned my head a certain way, you'd really see it. So what I ended up doing was I did five laser treatments, and now you can barely see it.

Amy Sherman: Yeah, it looks amazing. I've had actually a lot of basal cells, so on my face, it's genetic, and I've had a ton. So I'm crazy about the sun and stuff, too. But yeah, you can't even tell now when you say you got a laser for that. This is where I get confused, because I've heard about the IPO. I've never done it, but what kind of lasers, from what you know, what you've seen, what kind of lasers do you use? For what? Because you were saying that I imagine there's a laser that's better for healing a wound than explaining your face or whatever.

Natasha Brinkmann: Oh, yeah. No, again, not a laser technician, but what I know from my girl is that what it does is it goes in and it helps to stimulate the collagen underneath it. So it helps to really plump that back up. Then you can do more invasive like fractal. Fractal is a deeper laser. So you do need downtime for that. Because again, working with clients, I have clients that have had facelifts, half facelifts, the morpheus laser treatments. The biggest thing I can tell you from their experience is that you really have to be mindful of your recovery. So if you do not have two weeks where you can really baby your face, do not do it, because then you risk scarring, then you risk complications, then you risk swelling. You're going to have those anyways because that's all part and parcel of doing these more invasive IPL. You don't get that as much. It's not as invasive. But the fractal, you're going to be losing a few layers or when you do any type of acid treatments. My mother in law had that done, and oh my gosh, her face looked like hamburger meat. It was awful. It was awful.

Amy Sherman: Oh my God. Like so red, right?

Natasha Brinkmann: Oh, red. Raw. It started to look like yeah, look like hamburger meat. As it was, the top layers were coming off and she really had to be diligent about her care. I mean, her skin looked great afterwards, but again, it was very limited. She thought it get rid of all her wrinkles. No, it didn't. Right. It got rid of a lot of them, but the deep ones were still very there. So she was upset that she went through all of that and didn't get the results that she was looking for. Right. So that's the thing with these procedures, is we got to A, manage your expectations, and B, listen. Exactly. If they tell you avoid the sun for two weeks, we're talking avoidance. We're not talking, oh, I'll just pop in the car and run to the store. The radiation does penetrate through the window. Your skin is damaged. Putting radiation on damaged skin, bad idea. That's where scoring and pigmentation come into play. So that's one of the best things I can say about any treatment. Follow their advice, listen to them, be honest about what you have done, what you haven't had done. If you've done any type of retinol, they need to know this prior to you going in, because of course, that will affect how the skin responds with everything. Morpheus eight. I've heard mixed results with that. I've heard a lot of people have amazing and that's that deep. It's like a machine where they basically puncture. It's like micro needling, but it has a little bit of a current in there and it works really well at stimulate collagen. It's very good. Problem with that is A, you have to make sure that you have the proper technician that actually knows what they're doing. Because I had another client, she had it done, and she has these hundreds of little bumps all along her entire face and lower jawline.

Amy Sherman: Oh, my God.

Natasha Brinkmann: Yeah. So she went back to her technician, said, WTF what's going on? And her technician's words were, oops, I think I went too deep.

Amy Sherman: My God.

Katie Chandler: So is it permanent right now?

Natasha Brinkmann: It's there. We'll see if it stays there. I don't know if there's a laser that can help break up the scar tissue. I don't know. But that, to me, would be a deal breaker. And that's why when it comes to any type of micro needling, I'm really hesitant. I'm okay with a surface microneedling for just basic stuff, but even then, I'm like the benefits of a laser treatment outweigh the pain and discomfort, in my humble opinion, of doing like micro needling, which is pretty invasive. Right. So I guess it just all depends on what you're going for. But I'm really loving the lasers because they do work so very well.

Amy Sherman: Yeah, I've done. Micro needling. I haven't done lasers. I've done micro needling a bunch of times more surface, not like the morpheus eight where that scares me. But I have a very good person, and I love it, and I think it takes, like, years off of my skin or off of my face, but yes, have to go to someone who knows what they're doing. Like, I've been going to the same person when I first did it. I went a bunch of times, and now I'll do it like, once or twice a year to freshen me up. But yes, it's your point. If you go to the wrong person, forget it, you're done.

Natasha Brinkmann: Yeah, I agree. And that's the hardest part.

Katie Chandler: How often do you suggest lasers? How many times a year should someone, if they want to be on that track and doing lasers frequently? Is it like a twice a year thing? I have no idea.

Natasha Brinkmann: I guess it all depends. I know some technicians suggest doing it all throughout the year. Personally speaking, I like to do it either at the beginning of the year or the end of the year, of the summer months, simply because the damage from the sun is going to happen, whether you protect it as much as you can or not. So for me, it's like, well, I want to make sure that I prevent any for. I'm trying to do the preventative thing. I don't want to get skin cancer again. That was not fun. And I definitely want to prevent having all of that damage and that pigmentation. So for me, generally, I like to do it at the end of the season. So in the fall, because the sun's not as high, it's not as intense, it just seems like I save my money to say that I save my money, right, because it's not cheap. I do my entire face into my neck and my chest, and if she's feeling generous, she'll do the back of my hands. But every area, they charge you, so they're charging you everything. You want a little extra, you want a toe done, they're going to charge you $100.

Amy Sherman: Does it hurt?

Natasha Brinkmann: No. So what it feels like is it feels like a little snap. So if it does hit that pigmentation, you're going to feel that like a rubber band snap. But it's more shocking than anything. It's more of like, okay. And then once you kind of get used to it, then you're okay. If you have a lot of damage or a lot of pigment yeah. Just be aware. It's going to feel awful at first, but again, after a week to ten days, it looks so good, and there is no downtime. You're a little pink for a while. Your pigmentation gets a little bit darker as it comes out, so it looks worse, but then it comes out and the skin underneath looks lovely. The thing that I've noticed from my melasma clientele is not really a great idea. It just does not seem to it helps to pull some of it out, but Melasma has that basically is like a hormonal trigger. So once that switch has been flipped open and the pigmentation has been charged, it doesn't go away. And so it will admin flow. It'll get lighter, it'll get darker, but it'll never go away. So IPL, unfortunately, hit and miss results. A lot of my clients say they take it, they do it for Melasma, but then it comes back. But it is good.

Katie Chandler: It's also good for sunspots and everything, right?

Natasha Brinkmann: Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. So you kind of have to look at the big picture and like I said, what the expectations are on that. I'm really into lasers and PRP. I don't know if you guys have heard of that one yet.

Amy Sherman: I've done it. Yeah, with my microneedling.

Natasha Brinkmann: Oh, you have? Okay. So I have not tried it yet, but I had PRP, so plasma rich platelets. So that's where they take the blood out of your arm for those who don't know, and then they spin it into the device, and then all the rich plasma goes to the top, and they take that and they inject that into your wherever. Right. And I had that done on my knee after I tore my ACL and my meniscus last year. I was a little overzealous in my Zumba class.

Amy Sherman: And it helped, right?

Katie Chandler: I didn't know it did that. That's amazing.

Natasha Brinkmann: It is. It was so cool. Like, I had it done over a month ago, and now I can wear my heels. Like, this is a year long injury, so I can wear my heels again, which I'm obsessed with. I can move, I can dance again, I can twist again. I'm absolutely floored. It worked exceptionally well for me. It was worth the $500. Totally worth it. Yeah.

Amy Sherman: My friend did it for her shoulder, I think.

Natasha Brinkmann: Yeah. And I've heard nothing but good things, but then all of a sudden, they say, well, we can help if you have the deep crevice underneath the eyes, if you're having issues with the marionette lines, I'm like, oh, we can do that too. I know you can do it in the hair to help prevent hair loss. There's so much yeah, I'm going to be doing a little bit more looking into yes.

Amy Sherman: There's so many good things now. I mean, there's so much innovation going on. It's really cool.

Natasha Brinkmann: I was going to say one client did it, and she says I looked sensational. She loved it. And I'm like, well, that sold me.

Katie Chandler: That's all you need to hear.

Natasha Brinkmann: That's all I need. Sold.

Katie Chandler: I'm curious about what your thoughts are on these simple at home tools like our guacAs and our Jade Rollers and also the new face. Is it microelectric?

Natasha Brinkmann: Microcurrent devices.

Katie Chandler: Microcurrent, yes. What are your thoughts on those?

Natasha Brinkmann: So I'll tell you right out of the gate, the microcurrent devices are not strong enough for them to actually invoke a lot of change. You might see maybe 5%, maybe if you're lucky. Most people do not. And the thing with the at home devices is the hardest thing is consistency. That to me, I've had a lot of devices in my past, but I'll tell you, those microcurrent ones are a complete waste of time. Complete. They're just not strong enough. That's why when you go in clinic and they use it in clinic, you see results because it is strong enough. It's got somebody who's licensed. They know what they're doing. There's education behind that. So then that way that machine can be used properly. What they sell is just not strong enough. So you're never going to get the results. Jade rollers massaging tools. All they do is a nice Lymphatic draining. They do not tighten your skin. They do not firm up your skin. They do feel amazing. Like I'm just getting over a cold. And I always use mine over top of my sinus areas because I'm just like, this is bad. But it really does help kind of move everything out a little bit. Or if you're just one of those people, it just makes you feel like it's your time and you like the feel of it on your face while you're putting product in. No problem. Rule of thumb, make sure that your equipment is clean before you use it and clean after you use it. Right. Because you want to make sure that you're not spreading bacteria over your face. And most people don't clean their tools, and then they wonder why they break out the LEED. I am testing two versions out right now. So, like a body one and one for the face. It's still early, but I will say right out of the gate, if you have any type of issues with acne, this worked really, really well. I had three three pimples on the side that popped up, and I was kind of surprised because that doesn't happen for me. I usually don't break out like that. And they weren't going away, and it had been three weeks, and I'm like, I'm pulling out all my big guns. Like, I'm pulling out the salicylic acid. I'm doing all the little extra tricks I know. And it wasn't really like a couple of them would heal, and then they'd reinfect. And I'm like, okay, well, this is ridiculous. So when I got this Led mask to test, I put it on and within two days, they were gone.

Katie Chandler: That's interesting. Yeah, I bought both of those. I have the Led and the new face. And I've been using the new face religiously. The new face, I like it personally, but what I really think it is for me is it's more related to inflammation and lymphatic drainage. I have autoimmune disease, so I'm always inflamed. So I think it's kind of maybe doing a bit of the same action that the rollers or the gouache, like.

Natasha Brinkmann: Deepuffing removing the fluid, right? Absolutely.

Katie Chandler: At the same time, I have to do it pretty much every single day to still see what I'm seeing when I'm doing it. And last week I took a week off, and I was like, all right, I'm starting to look a little more puffy and droopy and blah. So I'm doing it again. But the Led, I have one, and I'm not using it, and I should because I have Acne. It's driving me nuts. So it's good to know that you feel like that's, really. When you were doing it for the Acne, did you do what light did you do? Does yours have the yeah, it's just.

Natasha Brinkmann: Like the red light therapy mask. Yeah, I posted it on. It looks ridiculous. I feel like Silence of the Lounge when I wear it. It covers your entire face, but it's really nice. It's convenient. You can still work with it on. It's got a timer on it. So, so far, my review so far is really good. It does help to tighten it down my pores even more, so I'm really enjoying that. I always want to make sure that the information I'm giving my clients and my audience is always really good, viable information so they can make an informed decision. I think it definitely has value, for sure. For certain skin types, the hardest thing for me is consistency. It's the hardest thing because it has to go on after you wash your face, and you have to let it on before you put on any serums, any lotions. Like, it has to go on clean skin. And for me, I have a routine like everybody else. I get up, I do my morning stuff, answer emails, got to go wash my face, and then I have my routine when I do my face. So to stop, put the mask on and make sure I get my ten minutes every day. Oh, okay. I didn't do it this morning, which I didn't. I have to do it tonight. Well, I was supposed to do it last night, and I just didn't get to it.

Amy Sherman: Yeah.

Katie Chandler: The mask is a hard one to do. I think that's why I can't get in the groove. The new face, I can do it with my morning routine. It's right there. But this mask, it's huge, and if it's not right in front of my.

Amy Sherman: Face, I forget to forget about it.

Natasha Brinkmann: Yeah, that's exactly it. But I'll tell you, when I get a zip, that sucker is going on.

Amy Sherman: It's maybe just a good tool to use when you're totally broken out. So moving in, I have a question about because I hear this word, I feel like it's a buzzword now, and I just want to understand what it actually means. Skin barrier. What does it mean? How do you treat it? What should we be thinking about when it comes to skin barrier? I don't really even understand what it means.

Natasha Brinkmann: Well, basically, it's the top layer of your skin really is what it is, right? So it's the top layer of the skin. And the reason why it's mainly compromised is people are overusing the acids, right? So they're using too many salicylic, glycolic, lactic acids or blends. They're not using the right acids for their skin type. Now, don't get me wrong, there are certain people that can use all different forms of acids, but certain ones work better than others for different skin types. And again, nobody talks about that. So that is why a lot of people, when they're doing or using too much retinol this week I've been featuring nothing but retinol.

Amy Sherman: Yes, I've been watching. Yes. So educational.

Natasha Brinkmann: Oh, thank you. Retinols. What they actually do is they kill off the top layer of your skin is basically what they're doing. That's why you get in the dry down. That's why your wrinkles look worse. The whole goal is because it wants to get the newer cells to hurry up, like to kick back into gear, which they do slow down. Like when we're in our twenty s and thirty s, it takes about 28, 31 days for our new skins from base all the way up. When we age, that can take two to three months of new skin cells. So that really slows everything down. And that's why retinol is so good. But because it's killed especially Tretinoin prescription strength, people just go right to the full monty and it's a horrible process. And some people can never get past a basic retinol, let alone some people can't use retinols. So you know what I mean? It's all about stimulating the skin, stimulating and getting everything up. But then you're compromising that skin barrier, and that's the biggest issue, because once it's compromised, so you're going to have larger pores, everything is going to look way more texture because it's inflamed, right? The pores are inflamed. Then you're going to have open little channels for bacteria and dirt. And if we didn't learn anything from COVID we really live in a very dirty environment 90% of the time, right? I don't want to be like a germaphool, but if you're susceptible to acne, that's not your friend, that's not going to help you. And when you're compromising it by using these too many acids in your cleansers and your toners, and then you're putting on your retinols, well, then it's a hot mess. And then you're going to age faster because your skin is not healed. It's not performing at its maximum capacity. So I know last one you talk about niacinamide. Niacinamide is a component of the skin barrier. It's something that fortifies the cell walls within the skin barrier. The other thing that you really need to be cognizant of is your lipids, your fats. So the lipids are naturally occurring in your skin. They're created by your sebaceous gland, so your oil gland. So have you ever noticed people with really oily skin age, like, incredibly.

Amy Sherman: Barely, like no wrinkles.

Natasha Brinkmann: Yes, it's because of that fattiness that supports. So think of your skin as bricks, like you see on a house, and the fatty acids or the lipids are in between. That's your mortar. So when it comes to skincare, what you want to do is you want to tack it three ways. You want to keep the fatty acids in there so that's your lipids and your ceramides. Then you want to also keep in the hydration, so your hyaluronic acids. And then you want to keep the structural support so that's your niacinamide. So all of a sudden, you have three ingredients that you need in your skincare routine on a daily basis as you're aging, that I just talked about, that you can now do. And Skin Fix just came out with a brand new barrier serum that I'm absolutely obsessed about. I had a commenter, said, how come your marionette lines aren't as deep? Like, are you using a filter? And I'm like, no, this is me. And I was like, I am testing out a new product. And I'm kind of hush hush about stuff because it's so new for me, but my skin is so thin and so dry. I find that products really amplify very quickly for me. So I usually know within about two weeks if something's working or not. And I've been really helping with this.

Amy Sherman: I have to try that. I know we were talking about a bunch of skin fixed products last time, and that's a new one. I got to try that.

Natasha Brinkmann: It's a new one. I just pulled up my list. Here, let me pull. I can save the list. I love my list. Yeah, if it works, it goes on my list. Okay, so it's called the skin fix barrier. Oh, hang on. My apologies. So skin fix barrier triple lipid collagen niacinamide activating serum that sounds like a triple whammy. It is. Now, I didn't go into the full details yet of the ingredients, so I just want to make sure that the collagen or collagen peptides, because if it's basic collagen, collagen molecularly is too big, it's not going to penetrate the skin. I'm assuming these are the lipids. So I have to go back and still do some research on it because, again, I'm still technically testing. But I'm just letting you guys know I'm kind of excited because it's really nice.

Amy Sherman: Yeah, it sounds really nice.

Katie Chandler: Back to the skin barrier thing. Do you find that a lot of people with premature aging and premature wrinkles, it just has a lot to do with that skin barrier is compromised, and they're like dehydration lines, and those things can be fixed relatively easily. Like if you're 36, 40, whatever it may be, and you've got a lot of little fine lines, it's probably that your skin is dehydrated, your skin barrier is compromised, and you can start to just use the right products and the right routine and snap back really quickly, right?

Natasha Brinkmann: Absolutely. As long as you're diligent with it and you're doing it every day. Yeah, absolutely. Keep it plump, keep it plump, keep it hydrated. Yeah. There's a huge difference between oily and hydration. Hydration is inside the skin. Oiliness is outside the skin, which you need because it protects that barrier. Again, it's that nice glossy over. I mean, I know a lot of people who are oily hate it because it's too much. Right. It's too much of the shellac, if you will. But a nice layer is really good because it does protect the skin, and it does give it that nice little barrier. Like, little things can bounce off of it, and it's like, you shall not pass. You're not coming in. It's important. But at the same time, hydration is key. And so if you're starting to see fine lines and wrinkles really quickly, you're probably dehydrated even my wrinkles on my main forehead, like my main line right in here. If I can keep that plump, it looks half as deep just by plumping it back up.

Amy Sherman: I was going to ask you about oil. I have, like, an oil cleanser that I use, which I love. It feels so good, but I also see people use just oils that they don't wash off. Are those good for you? I have very dry skin, too, so to me, it would seem like putting on an oil would be good. I just don't like the only oil I have is a cleanser. But are there certain oils that you would recommend for dry skin that you could keep on the skin that are helpful?

Natasha Brinkmann: Oh, yeah. There's tons of amazing oils. I call it skin glazing. So it's something that I throw in routines when people like you and me, we're really dry skin. That would be something I put at the end of the routine at night. So skin glazing is basically taking so you have all your water based products, right, and you put them over top of the skin, and then as you sleep, all that starts to absorb, but you also do dehydrate throughout the night. It does evaporate. So when you put something over top of it, either like Vaseline or oils, which I prefer because of the texture, it basically creates, like, a little pot, a little lid on the pot, and allows all your products, your water based products, to really absorb into the skin and keeps the top layer really hydrated. So you're getting the best you're sandwiching it in there, and you're making sure.

Amy Sherman: That this is very happy.

Natasha Brinkmann: And my favorite oil in the whole wide world and still to this day, is Herbivore Phoenix Oil.

Amy Sherman: I actually have that. And it's funny, I bought that. I mean, it's probably expired by now, but I remember buying that, and I didn't really know how to use it because it was before I was into all this stuff. Really, it was like I was just starting to experiment, and I didn't know. But now that you're saying to wear it at night, that makes sense. I had no idea how to use it.

Natasha Brinkmann: You just put it over top of your nighttime.

Amy Sherman: It just kind of sinks in at night.

Natasha Brinkmann: Yeah, it stays a little bit more on top, but you just kind of pat it in. And I call it skin glazing because you look like a glazed donut. When I tell people glazed, I want you to look lazy. I don't want you to look like a plain donut. We want full glow.

Amy Sherman: Love a glazed donut. Along with the glazed nails, too. We were talking about should we get into our wrap session, Katie?

Katie Chandler: Well, before we do, I want to hear Natasha's routine.

Natasha Brinkmann: I'm just so curious.

Amy Sherman: We need to know your morning and your night routine.

Natasha Brinkmann: Yeah, that's not fair. I'm testing I'm testing products right now, so I'm always testing. Let me be.

Amy Sherman: Yes. If you weren't testing and you were just like a normal vacation day, something like that, yeah.

Natasha Brinkmann: Okay. Would I have to be on budget? No budget. Whatever you budget. Oh, my God. Okay. No budget. I probably still use the same cleanser that I have, which is the ordinary squealing cleanser, because it's just perfect for my skin. Anything like a richer emollient is really nice on dry skin, so I love that. Or the skin fix. They have a really nice foaming oil cleanser, so any one of those would be fantastic. If I could. For makeup removing, I would do the two botanicals. The turmeric makeup removing balm is sublime. I want to do, like, a downward dog yoga pose while I'm wearing it because it's not so good. It's just amazing. For my serums daytime, there is a new product from Emk Beverly Hills called the Rescue Serum, and it's a proprietary blend, which I'm not a fan of because they usually typically don't work. But when I tried this very high end Beverly Hills, this bottle is, like, $250, and I'm really obsessed with it. I keep going back thinking, I really liked how it firmed up my skin, tightened, brightened my skin. It's just one of those ones where it just stood out from a lot of the other products I've tested. So I love that one. I definitely love the skin fix. The new one I was talking about the activating serum, because that's keeping me juicy and plumpy, so I'd probably keep that in there. And I'd have to see how the chubula would work from True botanicals, because I just ran out, and I'm really missing it. So I would use that.

Amy Sherman: This is all morning.

Natasha Brinkmann: This is all morning.

Amy Sherman: Okay, just clarifying, because we might copy this routine.

Natasha Brinkmann: Yeah. Again, this is based on me and my needs. I know. I'm just trying but with that being said, the moisturizer, I would probably either use the cocoa kind or the skin fix. Because I love both. The cocoa kind really is juicy and plumpy, but right now it's super, super dry here in Alberta. So I'd probably stick with the skin fix until the humidity went up a little bit.

Amy Sherman: The cocoa kind one like, what is cocoa kind?

Natasha Brinkmann: Awesome. It's a smaller company, but they have what's called poly. Let me find the name so I say it properly. You can buy it online.

Amy Sherman: Yeah, it's a brand.

Natasha Brinkmann: I just haven't resurrection polypeptide cream. It's almost like tatcha. So it looks like the Tatcha dewy water cream, but it's more plumpy. You get a lot more plump out of it. It's gorgeous.

Amy Sherman: So is that like, better during the day, not as both day or night. Okay.

Natasha Brinkmann: Or night? Yeah, you could use it both day or night. I love it because even my oily clients love it because it plumps them up, it gives them that fullness, but it doesn't make them feel oily or extra. You know how sometimes you have a moisturizer on, feels oily or not? Yeah, exactly. And it doesn't do that. So I love that one. So that would probably be my day. And then my SPF, of course, would be either my isn't tree SPF or my ilia, which is my tinted moisturizing serum, which I use all the time. And I adore that one. My nighttime would look very much the same as the morning, so except I would so wash my face. Then I would probably use either. Well, I'm waiting for Topology. Their argline solution is incredible, but they've been out of stock because they kind of went viral last year, so they're trying to play catch up. They have the best arguine solution to date that I've tested.

Amy Sherman: I know, I've watched her videos on that. I really want to try it.

Natasha Brinkmann: Oh, it's nice. And I'd even like their stick. Like, I'm digging out my stick right now because they're out of all of it. Come on. And they're matrixal. I love skin divas matrixal synthetic six. I would say neck and neck with topology. Like, it is sensational. And that one, I would use either one of those two. Then I would probably use my Beverly Hills emk serum, rescue serum, then that skin fix serum. And then I'd probably put on my retinol. I'm really in love with mailov right now. They have a retinol, so it's a step up from retinal instead of a retinol. So it's al. So it's a step up higher and it's a bright yellow. And I think it's called moonlight here.

Amy Sherman: You mentioned it last time, and I actually bought it.

Natasha Brinkmann: I haven't tried it yet. So this is something once you've done a retinol for a long time and you're feeling like, okay, I'm not really seeing fine lines. Still don't seem to be kind of progressing as well as I want. Then you would move up to this one. And I love it. I really love it. The longer I use it, the better my skin looks. And I'm obsessed.

Katie Chandler: The matrixel, is that just a nighttime thing? Because I've been using it day and night, so I need to switch to only night.

Natasha Brinkmann: Well, it can be used day. Right? There's lots of options that you can use. It's just it can't be used with vitamin C because it breaks down the bonds. So that's the trick. And if you're using a vitamin C during the day or a niacinamide, then you're covered. Like niacinamide can be used with matrixal, just not vitamin C. So it depends. I would change up my routine, though, because I love putting in certain things at certain times of the year. I also love to do copper peptides because that's a real great way. Like if you have that face dump where your face looks like it just gave up on you and you've lost all of that, and it happens. I think I got it at 46. I noticed the face dump, I'm like, what the hell? I've been loving you. What is going on? So I have to say that was a shocker. And then I got onto the copper peptides from Biosense, which is superior to the ordinary. I just want to say that because most people that try the ordinary don't see results. But with the copper peptides from Biosense, when I do like a whole bottle of that, my skin just plumps right back up and I love it. I always get, oh, you've got filler in your face. No, I'm just plumping it up.

Amy Sherman: The old and you use that at night, the copper peptides, but you can.

Natasha Brinkmann: Use it during the day. Again, in retinol weeks, she goes, Can I do copper peptides during the day and then retinols at night? Yeah, you can, and you know what, that's probably something I should try.

Amy Sherman: So after your retinol, you were talking about the retinol from May Love. Do you do moisturizer on top of that?

Natasha Brinkmann: Always moisturize, and if it's really dry, I put oil over top of that. Or like the topology has the caviar stick, which is really rich. So I'll put that on or I'm still, like I said, digging out the argoline stick that has a nice rich.

Amy Sherman: Hanging on to every last ingredient.

Natasha Brinkmann: Yeah, when you find something you love and you obsess over, that's why I share it, because I'm like, no, I only share what I feel is really good. I do share stuff. That's okay because everybody's budget is very different. But generally speaking, if it works, I talk about it. If it doesn't work, I just don't talk about it.

Amy Sherman: Yeah, no, it's so helpful. Okay, so I think we should get into a wrap session so we don't lose you and lose the answers. Okay, so quick answers. What is your favorite wellness or beauty hack?

Natasha Brinkmann: My favorite or one of your favorites? Definitely laser treatments. That to me is like a solid underscore and a little filler here or there. Like I said, for my lips, that will always be in my routine, for sure. And just the consistency of my routine. That, to me, is like my religion. That's my time. I love doing that.

Katie Chandler: The next one is your five minute flow. You just got out of the shower and dried off Ubers pinged you and they're five minutes away. So you're going to do your skincare routine that you just told us really quickly, and then what are you going to do to get out the door and get in that Uber on time in five minutes? Yeah, put it this way.

Amy Sherman: You don't have time to do that whole skin routine. Like, what are those Holy Grails that you're like, all right, if I don't put on anything else, I got to put on these things to get up.

Katie Chandler: Boom, boom, boom. Yeah, there you go.

Amy Sherman: Isn't that a hard question?

Natasha Brinkmann: That would be really hard because I would probably slap every **** thing I just quickly as I could, throw in my ilia, put my hair in a bun, and then, yeah, throw in some rule of lemons and hope to God I don't have anything sticking out of my pants. I would definitely throw in a couple of serums, probably a couple of my serums if this was the morning I'd put on. So again, one of my serums, or the one that I was talking about, skin fix and then moisturizer and then ilya over top because it's a tinted moisturizing.

Amy Sherman: That's a great one.

Natasha Brinkmann: And it gives me my SPF. It gives me everything all in one. And that would probably be the quickest thing, but I would never be late. That doesn't happen. I need my beauty routine. I have my time set aside so I have enough time to I know.

Amy Sherman: And it is relaxing, I find.

Katie Chandler: So true. All right, and the last one is, how do you maintain your daily nirvana? Maybe it's your beauty routine that maintains your nirvana.

Natasha Brinkmann: Well, you know what? It's funny because my husband and I, we do every night, we do five things we're grateful for every single night. And it's just something that we kind of got into just to stay grounded and stay in the moment, because life can get really crazy. And my husband has been dealing with colon cancer for the last four years, which we finally thank you, but we believe we're at the end of it now. And for us, it helped us keep us grounded. So you didn't get stuck in the fear. It was more for the mental health, but now we don't stop. Like last night, I'm like, do you want to do the five things we're grateful for? He goes, I'm so tired. Let's do it tomorrow. I'm like, okay. And then 2 seconds later, he goes, no, it doesn't feel right not to do it. So now it's our routine, and we just say five things. It could be anything simple, like, I'm just really grateful I had great clients today, or I'm grateful my cold is finally giving up things like that. And it changes. And we try to make sure we don't say the same thing over and over again because then it kind of takes away from the exercise. But that's what I yeah, that's really good.

Amy Sherman: I love that.

Katie Chandler: Yeah, it's a great practice. Wonderful. Well, Natasha, we are so incredibly grateful for your time and honestly, like, pen and paper and notes. So when you're listening to this episode and maybe listen to it a couple.

Amy Sherman: Everything will be in the show notes.

Natasha Brinkmann: Don't worry.

Katie Chandler: I have to hear the details over and over again on when to do this, at what time. And so, yeah, I think our listeners, this episode is going to be downloaded multiple times by lots of people.

Natasha Brinkmann: So thank you for your time.

Amy Sherman: Don't forget to follow Natasha B on TikTok on Instagram. Will you tell us your handles again, just so everybody knows?

Natasha Brinkmann: Yes, I'm on TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram. And Instagram is natasha beauty junkie monkey. Facebook is beauty junkie monkey. And TikTok is Beautyjm zero.

Katie Chandler: Got it. All right, well, before we go, we like to wrap with a little mantra or quote or just friendly reminder. So I think we're talking about all this beauty. So I kind of liked this one. To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don't need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself. Self acceptance, do your little beauty routine to make you feel good.

Natasha Brinkmann: Accept yourself. Exactly.

Amy Sherman: And embrace yourself. Exactly. And just want to say thank you again for all your time. We could literally spend hours talking about.

Natasha Brinkmann: This stuff with you.

Amy Sherman: We just really value your time and I know our listeners will, too, so you can come back anytime. We'd love to have you as much.

Natasha Brinkmann: As you want to.

Amy Sherman: Come on, because this is just so helpful and learning how to take care of our skin and ourselves. So much fun. Thank you again.

Natasha Brinkmann: You're very welcome. And thank you, Katie and Amy, for having me and reaching out to me. This was amazing. I enjoyed it very, very much. And I'd be happy to come back. So maybe we can do a third one. Love it. Absolutely.

Amy Sherman: Thanks for listening to Nirvana Sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes. Please subscribe and leave us a review. Also, find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would, please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana Sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.