64. Your Skincare Routine 2.0: What Is Actually Worth the Investment (and what isn't!)

This podcast was transcribed using Rev.com. Please forgive any typos or errors.

Brittany: Hi friends! Welcome to the Life with Loverly podcast. I'm Brittany, a wife, mom, and lifestyle entrepreneur here to help you discover your best daily style and encourage you to try new things when getting dressed each day. I took a tiny following on social media and turned it into a community of over 1 million amazing women, and I am so glad you're here! I'll be sharing my heart with you beyond the 15 seconds on Instagram. So we'll be diving into things like personal growth, friendships, motherhood, marriage, and of course -- the business of blogging. Really, this space is here to serve as your go-to resource to building a life you adore while sprinkling some kindness to others along the way. Grab an iced coffee and let's do life together. I'm Brittany, and this is The Life with Loverly podcast.

Hi friends! Welcome back to today's episode of the Life with Loverly podcast.

Nichelle: Hi!

Brittany: I'm really excited for this episode.

Nichelle: Me too.

Brittany: We're going to talk about skincare today.

Nichelle: I know the people wanted to know our skincare routine because we've talked a lot about skin with Kalen coming on, our skin guru. We love her!

So I think people would just wanted to know, just get down to the point. What are y'all using?

Brittany: Right. Well, I will say there is a full blog post on loverlygrey.com with a detailed skincare, everything that I use, details about all of the products. So we will link that here in the show notes, too, so you can reference back to it. Because I feel like I know everything that I use, obviously, but if I tell you the name of it, it's not going to make sense, so that's a great place to go read about it a little bit more.

We're going to kind of go through a lot of things today. Our skincare products that we love, injectables that we do, treatments, other products that aren't skincare that we feel like help our skin.

Nichelle: And then even preventatives that I think we've learned over the years. I know as I am getting older, I'm learning so much more and trying to be so much more aware of what I am doing for my face. So..

Brittany: Yeah. I also feel like it is so important to invest in your skin.

Nichelle: It is.

Brittany: And stop going to tanning beds. If anybody out there still goes to a tanning bed, stop.

Nichelle: If I could just go back to my 18-year-old self and explain to her the reasons why you do not need to go to the tanning bed. I would do it.

Brittany: I know, and just even if you make one change...sunscreen. All over your body.

Nichelle: Yes. It's funny when you break it down and you ask dermatologists, or even skincare professionals, what you absolutely need to do for your skin, usually it comes back to moisturizers and SPF.

Brittany: Yeah.

Nichelle: Really wash and SPF. That's what they really get down to. So it's so fun to hear that kind of stuff, but again, yes. Kalen I know introduced me to a whole new world of how to take care of your skin the right way and it's not one way serves all.

Brittany: Yeah. So our skincare professional that we have seen for the last three years or two and a half years, her name is Kalen Ashford and she is a PA in Athens and she owns Ashford Aesthetics and she handles all of our skincare. From injectables to treatments to daily skin care, she does it all. And she's super passionate about it. She has a background in Dermatology and is just very knowledgeable on skin and how it works. She's had some amazing training in the past. We've done two episodes actually with her from previous seasons on the podcast. So if you want to go back and just kind of listen to who she is, there's a lot of information there as well. So we'll leave those in the show notes, too. But she's awesome and you can tell she's so passionate.

Nichelle: You go in there and you learn so much about your skin, how it's changed. She shows the progress and what it actually means in medical terms, but she's just so knowledgeable and I love that.

Brittany: So true. I feel like once I went in for my first skin consultation to really get my skincare in the right place, I took all of the products I was currently using and she and I went through every single one and she was like, why do you use this? Okay, let me look at the ingredients of this. Okay, you can keep using that one. Okay. And we went through and made, she did a whole analysis of my skin. We came up with a regimen that would work for my specific needs, but I just thought it was so great how invested she was in learning about what I knew about skin and then was like, okay, let's add to it or take this away. When you use this and this together, it's actually causing your skin to be more oily and we want to get away from that.

So I really appreciated how she sat down and did that. She also, if you're not local, she offers virtual consults where she can do the same thing with you and then give you a regimen if you're wanting that from her. So that's a great offering that you don't have to be local to go see her.

I always had super oily skin, acne-prone skin. I feel like growing up I always had a bump on my face. There was always a pimple somewhere. Usually a lot of them. I'm just like, this is just me. And it wasn't until probably late twenties, early thirties that I was realizing I wasn't even using the right products, or I was having acne because I was using products I shouldn't have been using. And it's just so wild. I feel like doesn't make me sound so old, but kids nowadays, or 20 somethings nowadays. So there's so much more information about skincare out there that they have access to. They have really great skin. But I wish my 20-year-old self cared a little bit more.

Nichelle: Same. I'm so embarrassed to admit that from the time I was probably 15 until the time I was, honestly, late twenties, probably after Brin, that I was using the same face wash and the same moisturizer every single day. And I'm not even going to say the name brand because it is so mortifying, but that's just all I knew. I was like wash my face, moisturize. Wash my face, moisturize. But I would sleep in my makeup at night. I wasn't wearing face makeup. I was very much always wearing eye makeup though, and I would sleep in it like it was no big deal.

Brittany: Yeah. I mean I think the biggest thing is washing your face. That became a non-negotiable for me when I was in college and was like, we've got to keep my face clean. If anything, we've got to start over. And so even to this day, I mean even if I'm asleep on the couch and then I wake up, I'm like I've got to go wash my face even it's the middle of the night.

Nichelle: Seriously. You couldn't catch me dead, unless it was an accident, falling asleep like that. I don't care how tired I am, it is a non-negotiable to wash my face and put my skincare on.

Brittany: I also feel like that's why we always check bags because I'm like, I have to bring my eight-step skincare process with me. I will pay to check the bag to have snatched skin. It just is what it is.

Nichelle: Part of my breakdown of us losing our bags that time when they were coming later, I was like, my skincare is all in there.

Brittany: I know. It's so true. And there are so many amazing products out there. So sometimes I feel like it's hard to know what is going to be good for somebody's skin. And there's a few influencers I follow who have great skin, but they're always trying new products. And I would always be like, okay, wow. Is that going to work for me? Or how do you know? And skincare can be expensive. That's why I think talking with somebody who's a professional and can help guide you.

Nichelle: Yes, because it was almost oversaturated. There are too many options, right? Because right now what we do is we input all the social media and you're seeing these people with gorgeous skin and you're like, okay, well they're trying this now. Okay, well then they're going to try this, and then they're trying this. Number one, it's not sustainable. Number two, it's not all made for one. That's not how it works. So seeing a professional has been the biggest game changer.

Brittany: And I just think back, too, on my personal skincare journey, for a little bit of time I was like a Beautycounter consultant, actually still am a Beautycounter consultant, and I use two of their products within my regimen religiously that Kalen was like, "these two are actually great options for your skin." But before that, I was just trying the products and this what's currently working for me. I felt like a test dummy, I'll try this out. But I feel like I would add in, like I used Elemis, some of their moisturizer for a little while, probably a year, and I really liked it while I was using it. And then I kind of switched over to ZO, which is what we use right now from Kalen, and I'm just seeing such different results. So I also kind of say this to say, if you're following an influencer who's maybe tried this and you actually really trust them, they are probably just trying what they think is working best for them, but then maybe something else is going to work best for them, or it might not work for you because your skin type is so different. So I feel like you have to be very careful with beauty advice sometimes.

Nichelle: I feel like I can use this as an example, and I mean, not to, Elemis is what we're talking about. So it's just the best example for my skin. I was like, gosh, your skin's gorgeous. I'm going to try it too. And so one of the things that I ended up doing was I did the overnight, which is a little bit thicker, but I have naturally large pores as it is. So what I did not know it was doing, because it is so moisturizing, there's so many agents in it that it stays on the outside of your skin that my pores were overacting. They were overworking to try to produce more oil because my skin thought that's what it needed. So it was keeping my pores large, and I was like, "wow I thought it was just like that's the pores I was given." I had no choice. And it is amazing when I stopped over-moisturizing for my skin type, that my pore size shrunk drastically.

Brittany: Well, and that's a great example of you came to work with me and then you started seeing all the stuff I was using and I was like, well, this is what it's doing for my skin. This is what I'm telling people. And then you'd be like, okay, let me try it too. And then it wasn't doing that for you because we have different skin, so it's not always going to be a one size fits all, especially in skincare.

Nichelle: Yes.

Brittany: For me, I have pretty oily skin. I feel like all year round it is just a little bit more oily than not. And one thing I feel like I was doing was always just stripping the oils. I would be like dry my face out. The oil is not for me, but really it is. I feel like I've learned so much as to what is actually working for my skin. So getting into some of the products that we use. We both use ZO Skin Health, and I will say they are an investment. The products are not cheap. But I have seen the biggest difference. If it's something you're wanting to invest in and change the way your skin looks, I would definitely consider meeting with somebody who's at a doctor's office or go to Kalen and she can walk you through these products. I feel like we both have a six to eight step.

Nichelle: Yes.

Brittany: Day and night. Yes. And that works for me.

Nichelle: It works for me, too. I was a Rodan + Fields consultant before I started working for you, and that was where I started really understanding the steps in skincare. And I felt like it was just kind of tapping the surface. It wasn't necessarily the same for me. They were like, here's the regimen, use the whole system. But whenever going to see her, I was like, I have an idea of what I'm supposed to do, but I don't know if it's the right product. So I ended up doing the same thing. I brought in my skincare and she was kind of going through it and she was like, tell me she wanted to know what I wanted to change about my skin. That was the first thing. And I was like, oh, because normally people just tell you what to do.

Brittany: Or they're just like, huh, looks at your skin. Okay, let's do this.

Nichelle: Exactly. But she was like, I want you to feel the best in your skin based on what you want. And so I was like, I have huge pores and obviously I'm aging. I'm going to have wrinkles. So anything to slow down the process, that would be ideal for me. And one of the things, makeup had a lot to play with it too, because I was trying to mattify everything and everything was falling into my wrinkles, so it made it even more obvious. But when she started telling me what I needed, she was like, you don't need all of this. You actually can minimize what you're using. Cause I was using vitamin C and then I was using hyaluronic acid, and then I was using a moisturizer and then I was using all of this. And she's like, no, actually there's products that actually are simplified and you can use fewer ones. I was just so blown away by the process.

Brittany: All right. So let's talk about some non-negotiables from our skincare. Again, like I said, we've got it all listed out on the blog, so you can go get a step-by-step. But for me, I think washing my face, I use the gentle cleanser and then I use the exfoliator in the morning and then the toner pads, which I feel like really made a big difference. That was something I was not doing, was using a toner pad before. So that kind of just really sets you up to have a clean surface on your face.

Nichelle: You double cleanse too, so you use a wipe.

Brittany: So this is what I do in the morning, but at night I do double cleanse. So then I do a toner pad, and then there's a kind of poor refiner. And she kind of said, this is what is going to set your skin up to take in all the goodness that you're about to put on it. And then I do an eye cream, which I still use the Beautycounter eye cream from their anti-aging line. It's the one that comes in the pink bottle. This stuff is unbelievable. She went through and looked at all the ingredients and she was like, okay, I'm cool with you using it. I like it because it's clean. I don't use all 100% clean products in my life, but I try to use cleaner products where I can. So this makes me feel good that at least a few of them are good clean products for me personally.

So I love that eye cream, and I feel like I actually have really good under eye. I do some facials with the same girl, and she always compliments me, saying, "your under eyes look so good, whatever you're using, continue doing." And she's under the light really inspecting my skin. So that always makes me feel good that it's a good choice of eye cream. And then I do the Daily Power Defense and then a vitamin C, which I still use the Beautycounter Vitamin C. I've really enjoyed that one. And then a sunscreen. That is my morning setup. I feel like the sunscreen, I could just, it's got a little bit of a primer on, or not a primer, but...

Nichelle: It can kind of act as a primer because it's a mineral-based SPF. So it lays and it almost flattens out the surface as you go to put makeup on.

Brittany: Remember that one time we were with Kalen and she was telling us the difference between sunscreens that are mineral-based or chemical-based, which I did not realize the difference. I was just like, oh, Elemis has sunscreen in it. And she was like, yes, it does, however, it's not a mineral-based sunscreen, so it's actually not the same. The chemical version is not the same as the mineral version. And of course she gave us much more details and stuff, but I feel like I went back home and was like, what are all the sunscreens I'm using that aren't actually working for my skin?

Nichelle: Agree.

Brittany: And then at night I use a makeup wipe and then do a cleansing after that and then another toner pad. So it's kind of the double cleanse for me is just I feel like what has worked best. And then we just recently added a little bit of retinol into my nighttime routine. I've tried it a few times and then I've just been like, ah, let's pull back. Because I mean, when you start a retinol, your skin is going to get funky. And it's interesting.

Nichelle: You're trying to shed all of that skin and then it's bringing new skin to the surface. So there's going to be some peeling that does take place. Dryness, but it's a process that you have to get through. And I know that's hard for you to just get through that process.

Brittany: Mostly just because of what my job is. And being on camera and having peely skin for a long period of time, we've kind of worked out something I think is going to work to slowly do it, and it is what it is, we'll be fine. And then I love the Growth Factor Serum that I use at night, which just feels like this blanket of moisture, but it's kind of a gel. A thick gel that goes on your skin at night and it feels so insane. And it just helps with cell regrowth while you're sleeping.

Nichelle: I don't use that.

Brittany: It's so great. But it wasn't something that she started me on. It was something when I went in for a check, she was like, I think we're at a point where we can put you on this now. And so I was like, okay.Great. So that's just what I love about having somebody in my back pocket who's helping me with my skin. I mean, I could try to make these decisions or go be like, well, I saw this on Instagram, maybe I can try it. But what step do you put this in your skincare process?

Nichelle: Exactly. There is a science to it. And I think that's another thing that I learned with some of these steps is, for example, putting on hyaluronic acid first and then putting a moisturizer on, because hyaluronic acid actually helps trap in moisture. And so you need that on your skin first in order to absorb all the benefits of the moisturizer that you're putting in place. And there's so many steps that are necessary for you to get the ultimate results.

Brittany: So I guess if you're not going to go see somebody, just do some research on what order you should do these things. And obviously there's so much information out there. There's a nurse practitioner that I follow, and she actually owns the skincare company called Barefaced. I don't if you know who she is, but she puts so much good information just about skincare overall. Obviously her products are the Barefaced products, which I haven't personally tried, but I've been like, if I was going to switch, I would go try that. A lot of information on their website is very factual and gives a great guide in the steps and the processes and things like that. But she just has a ton of awesome information about skin health overall. So I've really enjoyed following her. We'll leave her Instagram handle in the show notes as well. But I would just encourage you to do your research and figure out what is going to work best for your skin.

Nichelle: For sure.

Brittany: What about you? Is there any product that you have to use it every night or every day no matter what?

Nichelle: I think that one of the biggest was the toner pads. They are helping reduce the size of your pores and then retinol at night. So right now I'm actually not using retinol because it's summer and you're in the sun a lot more in the summer, and you can tend to get burned very, very easily. So I actually wean myself off knowing that we were going to be in the sun for vacation and everything. And what's so funny is I can tell a huge difference.

Brittany: It's like you've got a little more texture than you're wanting.

Nichelle: A little bit, yeah. And I'm like, okay I can tell that I'm not using it, but I'm going to build back up after we do our vacation and everything. You're welcome, Kalen, I know you'd be so happy to hear that. But those two things are a must-have for me. I will say, like I said, the game changer for me was the toner pads, but then knowing now what I know about washing your face, double washing is so imperative. Yes. Because think of all the times I double wash and especially more at night because you're just trying to get all of the day off. You're trying to get the makeup off and everything. So I use a La Roche-Posay, I don't know if that's how you say it, but it's a gentle cleanser and it is the best cleanser over-the-counter that will get makeup off completely. I use that first and then I use my ZO Skin Health Gentle Cleanser to do a second cleanse. But think of all the times that you've done two cleanses and then you use those toner pads and you see some residue still left. So imagine if we were just still washing our face once. So one thing that I would tell my 20-year-old self is to start using an eye cream before you start seeing wrinkles. Having some type of moisturizer under there, and then lots of water.

Still working on that one.

Brittany: Lots of water.

Nichelle: Yeah. 45 Grit's helping with that right now. So I'm somewhat of the same regimen as you, minus the vitamin C. She actually took me off of that because for me, the Beautycounter vitamin C was too oily for my skin. And so things were just moving around a lot during the day. So we omitted that. She was like, unless your skin starts to get dull, you don't need vitamin C. It's not a necessity. A lot of people tell you that it is, but it's not just depending on your skin type. And then at night, oh, I also add Rozatrol, which I think is what it's called. So it's to get rid of redness. Because I tend to get really patchy right here under my eyes. And then right here on my forehead with redness. And it has gotten so much better since I've been taking care of my skin, but I continue to use it just so I don't have that blotchiness. And then, yeah, retinol, I use, I think it's 0.5 for retinol. And I use all ZO Skin Health now at this point. Yeah, it's been a game changer. There's so much to be said about my pores. The pores around my nose were insane beforehand because they were just trying to overproduce oil and now I'm not putting so much on there for them to be as active. Yeah. I always thought I had to go to sleep as a glazed donut. That's what a lot of people say. And I'm like, I was doing that, but my skin is still...yeah. It's because that didn't work for me.

Brittany: Right. We're in this phase of life where it's like, what does work for me? Let's do that. Do more of what is working to help make you a better person. Make your skin better. It's just where we are.

Nichelle: Absolutely.

Brittany: All right. So let's move into some services that we do. And then injections. Let's talk about Botox. And Dysport. I have been getting Dysport injections, which is kind of like the little sister of Botox for six years or so. I started in my late twenties, probably should have started a little earlier. Cause I feel like I had some deep lines just like genetics.

Nichelle: Same for me.

Brittany: But I just wanted to have smoothed out skin. I mean, I feel like there's, people have opinions on obviously injecting toxins into your skin. There are alternatives if that's not something that you're interested in.

Nichelle: There's lots of topicals out there.

Brittany: And even those Frownies patches. Obviously you're not supposed to get any type of injectable while you're pregnant. So when I was pregnant earlier this year, I brought the Frownies. I was like, I'm going to give these a try. Maybe this will help keep my skin tight while I'm pregnant. I know they work for some people, so I didn't continue using those after I had the miscarriage, I was like, "Kalen!" But I mostly just do in my elevens, in my forehead, a little bit at my eyes. That's pretty much it. I feel like she keeps them all above my eyes for the most part.

Nichelle: Yeah.

Brittany: I recently, I guess it was, not last year, but the year before. No, two years ago. A year and a half ago is when I got filler in my lips.

Oh yeah. I think it was winter last year.

Two years ago I think. Yeah. Because last year was just like six months ago.

Nichelle: Time flies guys, when you're having fun!

Brittany: Gosh. It's so crazy. And that I feel like was a game changer for me. I had very thin, thin lips. I just wanted a little bit.

Nichelle: You wanted your Cupid's bow to come up a little bit and have a little bit on the side. And what's so funny is I didn't notice that beforehand, but when we look back at pictures, I'm like, it's so subtle, but it makes such a huge difference with the appearance.

Brittany: Yeah. So that is something that I've, I guess, do it yearly. And one thing I love about Kalen is she's not going to just be like, oh, here's a full syringe. She gives you what you need. You sit down. And she said, "tell me everything you love about your face" and "what are your favorite features about your face?" And so then you're like, "oh, well I like my eyes, I my face shape," or whatever it is that you like. But she's just going to enhance your natural beauty. I feel like nobody who goes to her looks like they've got too much filler or Botox or anything. She's very natural.

Nichelle: Yes. She's like, "I want you to walk out of here and still look like you've not had any work."

Brittany: Yeah. It's all very subtle, which I really appreciate. Something else that we've tried recently has been Sculptra, which is a filler and it helps promote collagen growth. So I've had a little bit of that in my forehead and then down at my jawbone. My temples kind of were hollow-looking and so she was just kind of creating some more collagen there. And she showed me the difference the other day when I was in there of from before I had any treatments to now. And she was like, "look at the difference in your temple. And just how it's just a little bit fuller." And it's actually really mind blowing what different fillers can do to your face mean. You can literally change your entire shape of your face. And obviously we're not here to promote you to go change up. But I do think there's something about feeling confident.

Nichelle: 100%

Brittany: And feeling like your best self and doing what is going to make you feel good and not feeling bad about it.

Nichelle: Agree.

Brittany: I don't know. I've just been very appreciative of her knowledge and still just enhancing just the beauty.

Nichelle: Yes, yes. Agree.

Brittany: What about you? You do Dysport too?

Nichelle: I do. So Botox, sometimes people burn it off a lot faster than others. And I think you and I are like that where it just burns off very fast on us. So Dysport is the one that does really well with, I don't even know what, metabolism? Yes. Is that what it is?

Brittany: Yes.

Nichelle: Okay. So I get Dysport in my elevens, on my forehead, and I get a pretty decent amount on the sides of my forehead because I started out with, I always call them bulldog wrinkles. They're hereditary. My dad has them, my grandparents had them and I had them from literally a teenager. And I was, I guess, very expressive with my eyebrows. So there were so many deep lines when I started in 2019, or 18, and noticed such a huge difference. But then I started getting them around my eyes as well, just to prevent that from getting any worse because my under eyes I would say was the one thing that I struggled with the most, aside from my pores.

So I guess eye sockets come down a lot deeper than some people's. And so it just shows a lot more. There's a lot more frail skin that's there. And then just recently in the last two times I've gone, she started putting some around my jawline right here. And it was mostly because I was talking about my shape, the shape of my face. I was like, I just feel like a Cabbage Patch Kid all the time. It's just very round. And I was like, "is there any way to do something with my jaw? Because I'm getting jowls as I get older?" And she's like, "I'm not putting anything in your jaw because at the end of the day it'll turn out to be a square and you do not want a square face that'll be very masculine." And I was like, "thank you. I don't want that either." But she goes, "what I can do is add a little filler to your chin," because my chin was kind of just going into my neck and she goes, "it'll just create a little bit more definition and bring your face together." And it's so crazy how a little bit of that yeah, just changed.

Brittany: I mean, looking at your face now, I see oval.

Nichelle: Yes. And I can tell a difference. When we were taking pictures and stuff, I have a chin now. And then a while back she put a little bit of what she just called a highlight. It just will catch the light a little bit. And it's such a small amount. You probably would never be able to tell from a picture. But we looked really, really close and it's like it just gives a little bit of...snatch.

Brittany: Bring it up. Bring it up.

Nichelle: So filler is very new for me here in the last six months, but I've really enjoyed it. I never thought that I would need it or have to do it because to me I was like, I have full lips. I don't have to worry about any of that. But this just little bit of detail has changed my confidence for sure.

Brittany: Absolutely. And I think that's what it is at the end of the day. Just feeling good about the skin that you're in and looking your best. It's the same thing I always say about if you're dressed in an outfit that you like and you feel confident in, that's going to boost your mood and you're going to feel like you can go into the day and attack it. If you feel like your face and your skin is looking great, that's going to just give you this added layer of confidence and just make you feel like your best self.

Nichelle: Exactly.

Brittany: It's kind of what we've been working on here. What about any facial treatments or lasers that you love?

Nichelle: I have not had lasers done yet. I know that's the next thing that Kalen was mentioning that we try. Maybe even microneedling. But I've done HydraFacials and I dermaplane myself. But if I go get a service done, it's been a while. But I would get dermaplaned whenever I went to get a HydraFacial. That's really the only facials that I've really done. Oh..I've had had glycolic peels.

Brittany: Oh!

Nichelle: I had a series of those.

Brittany: I feel like I haven't done as much facial treatments. I mean I do facials, like the HydraFacial. Misa at Avalon, Woodhouse Avalon, is unbelievable. She's amazing. If you go there, request Misa. But I've seen so many cool treatments that you can do with the BBL or pulling the blood from your skin and then putting it back in. There's so many insane cool things that you can try. I just feel like I haven't really gotten out of the peels.

Nichelle: The peel was very overwhelming for me and I think that's why I've not done it again. My face probably could use it. It could definitely use it. But it was so overwhelming because you had to go every X amount of weeks. I think it was six weeks for four times and it just progressively got worse. And it was the peeling that lasted so long. I mean it's like snakes shedding its skin and I want to go to work and not look like that. So it was very hard for me to do it again. But...glowing skin afterwards.k

Brittany: Yeah, I know. That's the one thing, it takes a lot to get your skin right. You have to work for that. It's not just going to come with no days of no makeup or peeling or whatever. It feels like the final product. There was a lot of hard work that got to having the snatched skin.

Nichelle: Exactly.

Brittany: Okay. So let's wrap this up. Tell me, are there any other products you recommend or anything else that you're currently doing that you feel like this is an absolute for good skin?

Nichelle: I think sticking with your daily routine is a non-negotiable. Have a system in place, go see a professional, making sure that you have the right products. But on top of all of that, I did try something new here recently and I am loving it. I need to see long-term results. But Red Light Therapy, it's supposed to be really good for fine lines and wrinkles. And so I got it because a lot of dermatologists are saying that it helps with snatching your jaw.

Brittany: Okay.

Nichelle: It's going to help some of that. The fluids, the buildup and all of that, try to release. So is Gua Sha, if you go through and you actually did the massaging of the face, that's supposed to help a ton as well. So I would love to report back on the Red Light Therapy. But when I was using it consistently for even, I think it was two weeks, I started to see a difference.

Brittany: So something else I want to try. When we were just in Palm Beach and we did the ice bucket, dipped our face into the ice bucket of cold, cold water. Hillary told us all about this and she said her face, she's been doing this for the last year, she does not wear makeup.

Nichelle: I know

Brittany: Her skin looked unbelievable, but what she does in the morning when she wakes up is she feels like a bucket or just a big bowl with ice and cold water and sticks her face in for five seconds, comes out, and then one more time for five seconds and does that every single morning and then does her skincare routine.

Nichelle: I think it's a lot to be said because people are doing cold plunging right now and there are just supposed to be so many benefits for your skin and your body and your health. I can see it. She listed off so many benefits. Girl knew what she was talking about.

Brittany: I know. I think she's somebody we need to actually have on the podcast.

Nichelle: Agreed.

Brittany: Because I feel like she has so many good life tips on just how to live your best life. Her Instagram, if you want to go start following her right now -- Tello and Rose (@telloandrose), we'll put that in the show notes, too. But her name's Hillary and I feel like I was just like, "keep talking. Tell me more. What are you doing? You ordered lemon water? Okay. What's happening?" There was just so much great information. So, I feel like I'm in this phase right now of just really wanting to learn how to live my best next life.

Nichelle: Your 2.0 self?

Brittany: Yeah! As Jenn Boughey would say.

Nichelle: There's so much information out there now and because we have access to it through social media. It's obtainable.

Brittany: Right. One product that I love that I feel like has really helped is a silk or satin pillowcase.

Nichelle: Game changer. Insert ad.

Brittany: Yeah. Seriously.

Nichelle: So good!

Brittany: This will make an immediate difference.

Nichelle: Hair, face, all of that.

Brittany: I've noticed a huge difference in my hair not having to wash it as often. Cause it's not getting oil from cotton.

Nichelle: Breakage.

Brittany: Yes. It's funny because Collins uses a cotton pillowcase and her hair in the morning is just so, kind of matted. Kind of just really frizzy. And I literally this morning was like, I think I'm going to get her a silk pillowcase.

Nichelle: Both of my girls have them.

Brittany: And just see, let's just test. I mean she has such pure, fine hair. I mean, doesn't ever put heat on it. She's four. But I want to just kind of do an experiment. But even for skin, this just makes a huge difference. Because your skincare isn't soaking into a cotton pillowcase and coming off, it's just building this barrier.

Nichelle: Yeah. Agreed.

Brittany: So highly recommend. We'll put a link for one that we love and use all the time. They're very affordable and a great option if you want to just try it out if you haven't tried one before.

Nichelle: I think that one thing that most skincare professionals would say is a huge thing is intake of water. You have got to have a good intake of water in order to maintain good skin health.

Brittany: Water is so good for you in so many areas. I mean, I shouldn't be the one having this conversation.

Nichelle: I'm just saying what the professionals say. I didn't say that I did it.

Brittany: Do as I say, not as I do.

Nichelle: I heard Kalen tell me this.

Brittany: Yeah, we're working on it. We're working on it.

Anyway, well, I feel like this was a great episode. Hope you guys learned something new. We'll leave tons of information in the show notes. So if you want to go talk with Kalen or look at any of the resources that we mentioned, it's a great place to start if you're wanting to revamp your skincare or your face and just work towards living your best healthy self!

This season of Life with Loverly is produced by Elizabeth Evans Media Productions.

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