December 22, 2025 • 34 mins
Is there a pimple on your chin you are tempted to squeeze? If so, step away from the mirror and press play on our conversation today with Sofie Pavitt, a licensed esthetician and skincare product designer. Sofie has spent years developing Sofie Pavitt Face, her viral skin care product line, which includes everything from her mandelic clearing serum to the omega-rich moisturizer. Her work gets to the root of acne, is backed by science, and is fueled by a sense of fun. She unpacks for us how acne is made, why it affects us well past our teenage years, and how to love our skin in every decade.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Today on the bright side. No gatekeeping here. We're talking
everything you've ever wanted to know about acne with esthetician
Sophie p have It. You'll hear about where it comes from,
why it affects us well past our teenage years, and
how to love our skin in every decade.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
You've got to live your life too, otherwise you're going
to become that person who comes to the studio and
I've tried everything, it's not going to work. Got to
have your life as well. You know.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
I'm simone voice and this is the bright side from
Hello Sunshine, Welcome back to the bride side. I'm going
to start us off with a little confession here. There
are a lot of things I expected about my thirties,
maybe more wrinkles, a few gray hairs, but I never
expected to still be dealing with acne. I'm well into
(00:48):
my thirties and I am still navigating these crazy hormonal
breakouts literally just this week. Well turns out the idea
that acne is just a teenage problem is a myth, because,
according to Yale Medicine, twenty five percent of women and
twelve percent of men in their forties still report dealing
with acne. Which brings me to today's guest, Sophie Pavitt,
(01:12):
because if anyone can help us make sense of this statistic,
it's her. She is the creator and owner of Sophie
Pavit Face. It's a skincare line and facial studio in
Manhattan specializes in acne. Today, Sophie's opening up about her
own skincare journey. She's sharing how she treats and cares
for clients like Zendea and Lord, and ultimately how to
(01:32):
feel good in the skin you're in. Also, if you
take away one thing from today's episode, it's that you
gotta pick up her Omega rich moisturizer. I've never felt
anything quite like that one. All right, this is a
no gatekeeping zone, so let's get into it. Sophie Pavitt,
Welcome to the bright Side.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
I am so happy you are here. I consider myself
an acne survivor. I've survived. You know. It's sometimes rears,
its ugly head, hormonal acne. I deal with that every
now and then, but gosh, it has been such a
journey for me personally with my skin. And that is
exactly what you do here in New York City because
you have been donned the acne Whisperer of New York. Yeah,
(02:18):
you have your Sophie Pavit face skincare lines, right, and
you also have a private practice where you see patients.
And everyone assumes that acne is something that only young
people deal with, but you actually see a lot of
clients who are well over the age of twenty five. Absolutely,
(02:39):
and that's been my experience too, is dealing with adult acne.
So what is the reality that you're seeing in your studio?
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Okay, Well, the first of all, the demographic of the
studio is twenty five on woods like it always has been.
It's not a teenage problem for us at the studio.
It obviously is a teenage problem. But what we find
within in our client demographic is that they're dealing with
adult onset acne for the very first time. And what
(03:07):
happens is usually if people are experiencing breakouts in their
late twenties thirty thirties, there's a hormonal element to it
that we're not really tied into as a teenager because
there's a number of reasons why. First of all, our
bodies change. But the second problem is is that we're
all put on birth control really early to mitigate acne
in our teenage yeers, and then when you come off
(03:28):
the birth control, that's when you really see this hormonal
shift and you see the pattern in the skin too.
So there's a lot of different things that happen, and
people get married, they have kids, they go through perimenopause,
they go through really stressful periods of time in their life,
and all these things can affect breakouts. So it's kind
of like playing a little bit of a detective as
well with my clients. It's super, super common. I want
(03:50):
to say it affects forty percent of the population.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Why do you think it is that we grow up
believing that we're never going to deal with acne as
adults Because I was completely blindsided by it when I
was about twenty years old. That's when it really started
to take hold for me.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
I think to even answer that question, we have to
go back to why we break here in the first place.
And there's like a very quick analogy that I like
to talk to about this with people when I first
meet them, because I think there's a lot of confusion
around it too. You are genetically predisposed to acne, Like
forty percent of people in the world have a faster
cell turnover than somebody who isn't predisposed to acne. And
(04:27):
that won't break you out, but it sets the wheels
in motion for things to go wrong. And so sixty
percent of everybody sheds at one rate and forty percent
shed at a faster rate. And so what it means
is that you get a lot of dead cell build up,
and it means that you might get it on the
surface of the skin, it might be in the pores.
Those skin cells get sticky and stick to the sides
(04:48):
of the pores, and that won't break you out, but
it sets the wheels in motion for things to go wrong.
And so when I talk about it, there's like a
three chain event that I talk about, which is number
one is the over shedding of skin cells or skin
cell i'll build up. If you're thinking about like a
science experiment, that's you're consistent, that's like what will always happen,
even when you're eighty years old. Your skin will work
(05:09):
like that. The two other things which we feel variables
are oil production and bacteria levels. And first of all,
oil production is more of an environmental thing You can
be affected with your hormones, which increases oil production. It
can also be increased by the foods you eat, your
stress levels where you live, whether it's some of versus winter,
(05:29):
you know, your skin can get oilier in a much
more environmental way. It's also a little bit like hormonal.
And then you have bacteria levels. See acnes. Bacteria is
the bacteria that is responsible for this inflammation and these
like bacterial breakouts. The thing is is it lives in
everyone's microbiome on the skin. It's there and it's usually
quite happy. The only reason it gets out of hand
(05:51):
is if it has a food source, and that dads
skin and oil is his favorite thing to eat. So
when I talk about how we clear acne, we're never
going to cure that overshadding. That's how your skin works.
But what we're going to do is to be able
to help you maintain those results by making sure that
your skin is exfoliated correctly, your oil has somewhere to go,
the poor is clear, and then that bacteria doesn't have
(06:13):
a food source. So it sounds really simplistic, it's not,
but that's kind of my philosophy. Instead of going and
getting on these like low dose antibiotics or birth control
or you know, testosterone reducing things like spiralalactine or the
big one, acutaine. Those things work. I'm not ever saying
they don't period like there's literal data around it, but
(06:36):
there is an easier and softer way to maintain it
without medication.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
And a lot of those treatments are often band aids.
I've done every single one of those.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Band aid is the exact way to describe it. It
will fix it temporarily.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Okay, this is so good. I love the way that
you're breaking all this down. I want to go even deeper.
There are different kinds of acne. There's cystic acne. There
are closed commodonts which I do with which are so
hard to get rid of that pebbly texture. Oh, I
just want that smooth texture. Can you walk us through
a few of the most common categories of acne that
(07:09):
you see day to day?
Speaker 2 (07:10):
But it's kind of like torn about skin types right
where you're like, oh you dry oily cambo, Like you
can talk about acne in the same way.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
So the three big ones are inflamed, non inflamed subtype
two roseata. Those are the big ones. Oh, so inflamed
would go under hormonal, cystic, painful, heart to the touch
stuff would lead under that like inflamed category. So every
time you have something red, raised, angry, something which looks
like a pustual, that would be considered an inflamed breakout.
(07:39):
Then you have non inflame. Non inflamed is the pebbly
texture you're talking about where you can spread the skin
flat and you kind of see those bumps. It doesn't
feel like a breakout. It's not painful, but you feel
that congestion under the skin. That's what we would consider
non inflamed. And then, last but not least, you have
subtype two roseatia. Subtype two roseatia is a type of roseatia,
but it's actually a type of acting it's bacterial, so
(08:01):
it's got like a raised kind of paplo pustular kind
of feeling to it, but it's usually under the eyes,
under the cheeks, around the nose.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
What is one thing that you wish everyone knew about
treating acne?
Speaker 2 (08:15):
There's not going to be overnight. I can usually tell
within five minutes whether I'm going to have success clearing
someone just from attitude alone. And I know that sounds
like so crazy, but I can tell whether they're going
to be compliant with the protocol five to ten minutes,
because here's the thing, there's two things to really consider
(08:35):
when I say that, And I don't mean it in
like a I can tell it's more like empathizing with
someone because a lot of people make acne their whole
identity and they don't want to fix it. And that
sounds crazy to say, but like, there's a lot of
anxiety around skin, and it's a mental game. You know.
It sucks to be not to feel out of control
with your skin, and you can be doing all the
(08:57):
things and try everything and kind of educate yourself almost
into a corner with it. And so when they come
to see me, I'm almost like, Okay, you've got this
cup of information. I need you to empty everything you
know about this and start fresh. And that is a
hard thing for some people to accept, you know, but
I treat it in a very different way to say
a dermatologist. I work for a dermatologist, so I know
(09:19):
the way that it can be helped with medication, but
we go in a softer way.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
So what would you say, is like the Sophie Pavot
secret sauce.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Oh my gosh. Well, I'm going to get ripped apart
for this, and I'm ready for it because it's funny.
Tratoin is not for inflamed acne, and this causes a
lot of distress on the Internet when I talk about it.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
And can you just explain what tretonoen is.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Tretoin is the most top of the pyramid delivery system
for a ratinoid. It's the gold standard of ratinoid products
the RX. They're vitamin A derived and their whole objective
is to increase your cell turnover. If you have acne
and your cell turnover is already fast, what does that do.
(10:04):
It's like throwing gas on a barbecue, and so when
you have inflammation, speeding up that cell turnover is not it? Not?
At first, I believe that tract knowing can be really
helpful with acne, but I like to get the fire
down before adding it in. So on inflame people, the
first thing I do is take them off their trot knowing,
and I slowly introduce gentle exfoliators benzyl peroxide, which I
(10:28):
think is still a really great acne ingredient, and we
calm the skin down with that and then we maintain
the cell turnover with a ratanal later on. Okay, not
inflamed acne, sorry to interrupt you, is like really well
received with trot knowing because you have a lot of
build up, so adding that in your skin's not as
inflamed and sensitized. So you can add a trat knowing
(10:50):
in along with some other exfoliators and get a really
great result. So it's so bioindividual. I find the most
success with my clients when they're really inflamed is to
take them off they try and knowing.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Okay, so you kind of gave us a protocol for
what you would do if a client comes in with
inflamed skin. What about for non inflamed acne. What's the
first thing that you would suggest someone do.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Well. What's interesting is that a lot of people with
non inflamed usually also have some inflamed yes. So it's
kind of like this like protocol that I follow where
I will calm the skin down first, put in an
exfol leader and we'll talk about mandelic acid in a moment,
and then benyal peroxide. That for me in like a
very simple non commutogenetic routine is great. Once that inflammation
(11:35):
has gone down, then we slowly add a little like
ramp up, you know. Then we add in the retinal
that increases cell turnover to counterbalance that cell turnover. We're
then going to add a little bit more of a
powerful exfoliader. Maybe we'd add in a scrub. Maybe it's
one two times a week. You get like a little
magnesium in flakes grube going on along with that gentle,
low and slow mandelic acid situation. That that, to me
(11:57):
is the perfect non inflamed acne protocol. Noncomediogenic ingredients is
so important for non inflamed anything will clog your skin
if you're prone to it, You've got to just avoid
them like the plague. And I see really great results
that you should take a fish oil supplement.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
To Oh, okay, tell me about fish oil. Why should
I add it in?
Speaker 2 (12:14):
I find and again this is something that people will go,
oh gosh. Now, vegans, people who are plant based have
no fat oil in their diet, and as a result,
they can get really waxy and their seabum is almost hard.
It's like a crayon. Ye, you can feel it under
the skin. I can tell if someone's vegan in the
first moment I touched their face.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Wow, amazing. I want to bring you to a party
and just have you touch everyone's faces not vegan, ca herbivore.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
And again like that that is controversial because people are like,
I have perfect skin. I'm like, yeah, you probably have
your like fat and oil ratio great, but like it's
really hard to get those plant based fats and oils
in your diet and your plant forward you need fats
and oils, so adding and fish oil can be really beneficial,
really helps soften your seabum. It also brings that information.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Sugar is a big one hug. There's some debate around
that too. But what are your thoughts on sugar and
whether it causes acne.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Well, sugar creates an insulin response, and that insulin response
increases your oil production. And it's that three chain effect.
If you've got that sticky plug there from all that
dead cell build up and then you get this massive
ramp up in oil production, you've caused a perfect storm.
You are going to get a breakout. You know, combining
your sugar with fat or protein or fiber is really
(13:30):
a great way to offset that blood sugar spike. So
it's about food balancing. I'm always saying to people, Look,
I don't I'm not going to tell you to like
give up a dessert. Like if you want to eat
something sweet every day, great, you've got to do it.
But make sure you're food combining, make sure that you're
like really balancing your meals, and it will help. It
will really help.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
What about alcohol and wine, because there's this phenomenon that
happens to me whenever I go to France, I drink
more wine there. I don't drink a lot of wine
at home, and then I break out after drinking a
lot of wine. What is sugar? Is that? What it is?
Thank you you could sugar.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
It's delicious and you should drink wine in front.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
I mean, yeah, it's going right.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
It's like you have to you You've got to live
your life too, otherwise you're going to become that person
who comes to the studio and I've tried everything, I'm
not going to it's not gonna work. Yeah, you've got
to have your life as well.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
You know, We've got to take a short break, but
we'll be right back with Sophie Pavit and we're back
with Sophie Pavitt. I want to go back to a
word that you dropped a few moments ago, and that
was simple simplicity. And for me, that was such a
huge turning point in my own skin journey. Was just
simplifying my routine because I would have these inflamed acne breakouts,
(14:45):
and I think because of the panic and the mental
and emotional toll that happens, you start scrambling and trying
new things and trying whatever you can, and that only
aggravates it and makes it worse. Why is simplicity so effective?
Speaker 2 (14:59):
You know? I think people forget it takes around twelve
to sixteen weeks to see a marked improvement using a
correct skincare because and progress is not linear. So what
happens is is that someone will get on a really basic,
really easy to use skincare protocol four weeks in their
skin looks amazing. They're like, oh my gosh, I can't
(15:19):
believe my acne's gone. You're a genius. Thanks so much.
And then six weeks later or like two weeks after that,
they'll go I'm having a crazy breakout and I'm like, well,
what's happened? And they've been like, well I tried a
new foundation. Oh I put it in a spark cream,
and I'm like, well, we're not there yet, because that
(15:40):
microcomodome that can become a breakout starts. It takes around
twelve weeks to get to the surface. And again, I
own a skincare brand. I'm in like these retail surroundings
where I know, like people are shopping ten step routines
all the time and then wondering why their skin is
freaking out. Simplicity is key when clearing acne, and I
always talk about it is like a skin diet. Once
(16:01):
you've got it clear and you're maintaining it, you know
that that's going to work. You can start then adding
in a thing or two, like have fun with stuff.
Skincare is meant to be fun, but if it breaks
you out, you know you can come back to your
skin diet, you know. So that's how I tell people
that you can have fun, but just make sure you
only incorporate one new thing in a time after a
(16:23):
period of time that you know your skin is maintaining.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
I love the idea of a skin diet. Skin diet,
thank you for that. Would you break down what commutogenic
means versus non community.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
So again something that people come for me about because
commutogenic ingredients make products feel good. So things like shay butter,
coconut parcichet, coconut lcanes, avocado oil, all these things give
slip and hydration and bounce and softness to products. They're
(16:54):
really good for your skin. But if you're acne prone,
avoiding communogenic ingredients speed up your results. They speed up
your skin clearing. It's like taking dessert out when you're
on a skin diet, you know. So they're not evil.
Formulation does have a difference, so for example, if you
have like eighty percent shay better or like zero point
(17:17):
one in a formulation, that's going to be different. But
I'm all about the path of leasse resistance with my clients.
I don't know if they know the difference between a
coconut oil and a coconut arcane. They're very different. So
for me, I'm like, you know what, let's just avoid everything,
Let's get you clear, and then you incorporate one thing
at a time. If it has a communogenic ingredient, we
can try it. We have on our website a poor
(17:39):
clogging an ingredients checker on all.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
Of our packaging.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
We have a QR code that you can go straight
to and you can copy and paste the ingredient list
of any product makeup, piccare, lip bomb, whatever, and it'll
tell you if there's something in there that potentially could
break you out. It's really helpful for people.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
For anyone who's listening who might be struggling with acne,
use that poor clogging ingredient checker is huge.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Yeah, it's the first step before doing anything, just clear
out your commutogenics.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
So do you have a simple skincare routine, the most simple?
What's in your So you don't have like a twelve
step ten step process.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
I mean I do a lot of like procedures, so
we'll talk about that in a minute. But yeah, I
use my own skin care line. So the philosophy of
the Soviet Pavot face line is cleansed, treat, hydrate. It's
three steps. You cleanse your skin, to prep your skin
to receive your treatment. Your treatment is whatever you need
to address a skincare concern. So is it acne? Is
it redness? Is it brightening? And you can follow this
(18:39):
any routine right like that one treat is like one product.
You don't need ten, you need one product. The third
step is hydrate. What moisturizer are you using? Are using
the sunscreen that will protect the skin, which switches your
hydrate to protect It's just three steps. Three steps in
the morning, three steps in the evening. You can boost
your routine with a mask every week, but following that
(19:00):
skin diet is really really helpful for people. So that's
what I do.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Why are you so passionate about skincare?
Speaker 2 (19:07):
I can't describe to you the transformative the confidence shift
in clients when you can make them feel good about themselves.
My whole job is making people feel better about themselves,
and that is so addictive. I love that transformation that
I'm addicted to it, and you have to be deeply
addicted to this to make anything worthwhile.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
You know, did you ever have problem skin like is a?
Is this personal for you?
Speaker 2 (19:36):
It is personal. There's been two times in my life
where I've had monster breakouts. Number one was when I
moved back from Columbus, Ohio, which is my first ever job.
I designed underwear for Abercrombie and I went back to
London to work for a couple of years and I
moved back, and I think it was just like a
combination of everything. I changed my birth control, I moved
(19:56):
to London where the water is really hard, and I
was stressed. I didn't have a job, like I was
trying to figure out what I was going to do,
and my whole face erupted in breakout. Couldn't figure it out,
was using all the stuff. I just remember feeling really
hopeless about it. Yeah, and having lots of different information.
The dom would tell me one thing, my got necologists
tell me another, and I'd just be like, oh my god,
(20:16):
I just don't know how to fix this right. And
then when I was pregnant, so I've had two boys
boy moms, and when I was pregnant with my son's,
my skin was just terrible, like couldn't get it into control.
And that was even when I was I was a facialist,
so it took a long time to figure out. And
you know, again, you have to be kind of intuitive
with what your skin is feeling like too. My skin
(20:39):
was really sensitive when I was pregnant. Benzal peroxide, for example,
would give me a lot of irritation. I'd start using
it as a cleanser softening the ingredient to suit my sensitivity.
So it just took a little bit of back and
forth with that too.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
What was the breakthrough for you with your skin? How
did you clear it up?
Speaker 2 (20:56):
This protocol is seriously my favorite, the mandelic acid and
beds a peroxide combo. Again, we're going to talk about
something inflammatory right now, which is salasilic acid. Everybody loves salasilic.
It's a monographed ingredient for acne care. There's only three
things that is monographed as OTC for acne.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
What is monographed mean?
Speaker 2 (21:15):
Monograph means that when you go to the drug store,
or you go to Sephora, or you go to Alta,
you go anywhere and buy an acne product. If it
says acne on the box, it has to have one
of these three ingredients. It's FDA regulated as a skin
concern Sulfur, benzal peroxide, salasilic. Salasilic is so drying.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
And it's funny because.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
It's a BHA which is not an aha AHAs. The
analogy is A for above, BHA b for below. Right,
it works in the purse. That's great if you're oily,
and most of my clients with acne are not that oily.
They're pretty dry actually because they have this abundance of
sal turnover. So an AHA, in my opinion, works better
(21:59):
than a BH for acne. Again, I get ripped upon
on the internet because there's data around salasi it being effective.
It is effective, but not for everyone.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
We've got to take a short break, but we'll be
right back with Sophie Pavit. And we're back with Sophie Pavit. Okay, Next,
I would love for you to walk us through kind
of the evolution of our skin as we age from
our twenties through our fifties, because our skin is constantly changing.
And I keep coming back to your why, like why
(22:29):
you do this? And that is for that moment of transformation,
that glow that you see on a client's face whenever
they've made that confidence shift. And I choose to believe
that that can happen at any point in our lives,
in any decade. So let's talk about the natural progression
of our skins life cycle. And let's start with our twenties.
So you're just past, you know, the teenage years, stepping
(22:51):
out into the real world. You've probably got stress partying,
different environments, hopefully travel you're seeing the world. What are
the things that people in their twenties should be thinking
about when it comes to treating their skin.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
Your twenties is for prevention. Ah, think about your twenties. Like,
my skin was so good in my twenties. I had
no idea, you know, Like looking back, I'm like, damn,
skin looks so good.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
It still looks good, but like.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
It looked really good when I was in my twenties
and I'd smoke cigarettes, drink black coffee and go to
work on two hours of sleep. Yeah, and like you're
just like a baby in your twenties. Yeah, you have
to remember protection is everything. So use the sunscreen. You've
got to just be really like preventive in your twenties
because all that sun damage in your twenty shows up
in your thirties, right, Yeah, it's a timestam. It will
(23:43):
come to the surface. So use the sunscreen, don't smoke cigarettes,
and just hydrate. You don't want to go too crazy.
If you have acne, that's a whole different story. But
like for somebody not dealing with it and you're just
looking to like have good skin, just make sure it's hydrated.
You clean, you take your makeup off for bed and
you use sunscreen.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
Okay, so let's talk about our thirties. Now, Yeah, there's
a lot of change that happens in your thirties. There's
a lot of change. You might be hustling with your
career accelerating, you know, in the workplace, you might be
getting married or in a relationship, or having babies. And
when you think about your own skin journey and those
problematic times, you know, when you're pregnant or in postpartum.
(24:22):
Is there anything that we can do to prepare our
skin for big life transitions like that.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
Well, I think the biggest shift between my twenties and
my thirties for skin was that I got really dry,
Like my oil production just really dried up interesting, and
so I felt, oh my gosh, I could see fine
lines more and I had to ramp up my exfoliation
for example, to really help see that fresh cell turnover.
(24:48):
So that was a big thing for me late thirties.
You know, I started seeing the laxity and having kids.
I mean, you know what a transformational moment it is
for women to go through to have kids. I didn't
feel like my self until like maybe two years after
my second was born and I had two kids back
to back. Like you, so I didn't know my head
from my butt for like six years.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
Yeah, it was happening.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
Oh my god. So and you change, you know, like
your skin gets dryer, there's a lot of molaxity. You know,
you've like got big and got small again. Like that
makes a very big difference. I'm a huge proponent of botox.
I've been using it since my early thirties. I think
it makes my skin look better, not just about fine
lines and wrinkles. It smooths my vizage. It like makes
(25:31):
my skin look smoother. You know. I know a lot
of people not into botox. That's okay too. It's about
what makes you feel good.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Well. That kind of brings me to our skin in
our forties. Yes, and there's a lot happening there too,
in terms of aging hormones by pery menopause.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
Don't get me started.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
I mean, what are the skin changes that we should
anticipate for perimenopause?
Speaker 2 (25:52):
Even more dryness, like and this is where the fish
oil comes in, right. You want to like make sure
you have enough fats and oils in your diet of fiber.
Fiber is really helpful at mitigating excessive hormones in the gut. Again,
really hard to prove with studies and data, but there
is this theory that if you eat a lot of fiber,
fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains, fiber supplements, that you wipe
(26:14):
away excessive hormones which are stored internally in the digestive system.
That can really help if you get a lot of
cystic acne. By the way, like if you have this
like really intense hormonal like freak out on your skin,
doing something like that can really really help. Remember that
raw carrot salad thing that everybody was going nuts for
over it was like your carrot salad, your carrot salad
(26:36):
for hormonal hand. There's like theory on that's the reality
is it's a fiber, non soluble fiber. It's good for you, definitely.
Laxity is another thing. You know, like you start seeing
like a softening of the jawline, you might find that
there's that nasolabial fold starts coming in. You might see
a hollowness under the eyes where the like the fat
pads from underneath the lash lines start moving down. Like
(26:59):
all these things happening.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
Okay, let's round this out by talking about our fifties.
It feels like this is simultaneously an era where women
are becoming more comfortable in their own skin and their identity,
but also there are all these unexpected bodily changes with menopause.
What are the questions we should be asking ourselves about
our skin when we're in our fifties.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
I always tell my older clients, and I say older,
like fifty is not old, but like the clients who
are a little bit older than me, like, manage your
expectations with what you're going to get from skincare. It's
a three sixty approach. It's what you eat, it's how
you move your body, it's how much sleep you get.
It's what you're doing from a more advanced treatment. You know,
(27:42):
like if you're talking that you like have this like
sagging and you want to tiny up, babe, it's a facelift.
You know, Care's not going to do that, no, And
so I think managing your expectations about what each thing
does is really important as you get older. You know,
like there's that funny meme it's like you don't have
to be ugly, you just need to be rich and
it's so true. Like, I mean, we've seen these like
(28:03):
crazy facelifts you can get now, they're like wild. It's
making everyone's perception drift really weird because like, you know,
the Chris Jenners of the world who look thirty five
years old, it's amazing, But what does that make a
fifty five six year old feel about themselves?
Speaker 1 (28:22):
It's weird. Yeah, where are you at with this conversation?
Because I feel torn into directions right now. I look
at someone like Chris Jenner, so I'm like, good for her,
She like seems so confident and pleased with the result,
and I could see myself doing that at that age.
And then at the same time, there's a part of
(28:43):
me that's a little bit heartsick over like the bad
Fellers we're seeing and how it's like mutilating women's right
faces and bodies. Are you wrestling with any of these things?
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
I'm like very pro yes, Like, if you want to
do these things, go for it. If you have the
money to do it, awesome. Problem. I think for me, it's
it's really hard when I see someone who doesn't have
that or has the opportunity to do these things and
see like the frustration they get from it.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
That's hard too.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
Is it very dystopian for us to like consider that
that is like aging? Well, yes, it is. Like I
think it's a really hard conversation. Would I go and
get a facelift tomorrow and and like have a full
on body makeover? Yes? I would.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
Yeah, So I don't know.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
I think I'm probably the wrong person to ask.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
No, I think that's a really helpful perspective. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
I also just came back from Korea and I did
a whole bunch of stuff over there.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
Okay, I need to hear all about that. But girl,
your fillers look so good. They look so seamless and
integrated and natural.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Natural is the key too, fillers.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
And it's hard, but okay, tell me everything you did
in Korea.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
Well, going back to Saul was like a full circle
moment for me because I used to go so much
for work in fashion. Yeah, and it would always be
stolen moments. I would like be in the factory all day.
I'd be like, I have a ten o'clock facial. I
gotta go to my facial at ten pm to like,
you know, get that in while I was still working,
or I'd go to like the twenty four hour spa
and get a scrub at like four am, you know,
all this crazy stuff. So going there with my team
(30:16):
to primarily work on beauty was like, I was emotional.
I was like, wow, Accompli airline.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
Yeah, it was like a big deal.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
So we're developing some products now and soul, which I'm
so excited about, but one of the big things there.
I was like, yeah, I want to go and get
like a full day of treatments. So I did a
number of things. I did the resturant shots, the like
salmon sperm DLA. I've heard of this, not for the week.
It was pretty intense. It's a lot of shots. But
my skin looked like a baby's but it still does.
(30:47):
It was beyond crazy though. I would wash my face
and like wipe the cleanser off, and my skin would
feel oily, like it was so moisturized from the inside out.
It was in I'm always a dry girl, so like
to that, I was like, Wow, this is what feeling
oily is Like, It's so cool, I feel moisturized.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
How long did those results last?
Speaker 2 (31:07):
They lasted right four months for the restaurant. Really, yeah,
you got to keep doing it.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
Yeah, and how painful was it?
Speaker 2 (31:13):
It was Have you ever had botox before?
Speaker 1 (31:15):
No?
Speaker 2 (31:15):
Okay, so botox is like a little pinch, right, but
it's like death by a thousand cuts. You have like
eighty I stopped carunting at eighty shots, so I was like, whoa,
this is pretty intense. The shot also leaves like a
beasting rip bump, so I looked crazy. There's a really
funny article right now on the Wall Street Journal where
they interviewed me about it, and it's gone viral and
(31:37):
it's like this photo of me looking absolutely nuts. I
look like I'm in Avatar, you know, like with all
the bumps, and then the one of me like the
after it was worth it. I did ten therma, which
is a Korean version of thermash, which is collagen stimulated
tightening treatment. I did Lucas laser, which is a pigmentation laser,
and then I did some thread some underrye pdo threads too.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
So I was walking around with two black guys as well.
But the thing is in career, everybody's like that kind
of It's like everybody, Yeah, it's beauty tourism. It's like everywhere.
So I was like what I've a nobody kiss.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
I cannot wait to go. I am so excited and
now thanks to you, we all have our list Atribility
to get well Sophia. I have learned so much from you,
and I just love meeting other people in life who
enjoy being students at any age.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
Always I'm always learning, Yeah, so fun.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
I never want to stop learning. So I want to
just end our conversation by asking you something that I
like to ask all of our guests, which is what
are you celebrating right now?
Speaker 2 (32:40):
Just rolled out to all Doors and Sephora. That's such
a big celebration for us as a team. So I'm
really thrilled about that.
Speaker 1 (32:46):
How does it feel walking into a Sephora and saving
your products?
Speaker 2 (32:50):
So out of body experience for me? I am a
Sephora girl. Like I I've always been the person to
be like, drop me off at Sephora, come back in
three hours. I'll still be here and I'll be having
fun so to be in Like, we just did an
event in Soho in New York last Friday. That was
the first time of before I went to in like
the early two thousands with my parents and was like,
(33:11):
what is this place. This is so cool. There's nothing
like it in the UK, So yeah, it's it's a
massive thing for us and for me personally.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
Yeah, that makes me emotional to talk about you visiting
this is crazy Spora I and seeing your name on shellf.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
Yeah, it's so weird and we have this big billboard
up at the minute and it's yeah, it's just it's nuts.
I don't Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
You go girl, it's Sophie Pabott is a licensed esthetician
and creator of the skincare line Sophie pavot Face. Bright Side.
Listeners can get fifteen percent off on all single products
using the one time code bright Side fifteen at Sophiepavitface
dot com. The bright Side is a production of Hello,
Sunshine and iHeart Podcasts and is executive produced by Rhese
(33:53):
Weatherspoon and me Simone Boyce. Production is by ACAST Creative Studios.
Our producers are Taylor Williamson, Abby Delk and Adrian Bain.
Our production assistant is Joya Putnoy. Acasts executive producers are
Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder. Maureen Polo and Rhyese Witherspoon
are the executive producers for Hello Sunshine. Ali Perry and
(34:15):
Lauren Hansen are the executive producers for iHeart podcasts. Our
theme song is by Anna Stump and Hamilton Lighthouser.
Today on the bright side. No gatekeeping here. We're talking
everything you've ever wanted to know about acne with esthetician
Sophie p have It. You'll hear about where it comes from,
why it affects us well past our teenage years, and
how to love our skin in every decade.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
You've got to live your life too, otherwise you're going
to become that person who comes to the studio and
I've tried everything, it's not going to work. Got to
have your life as well. You know.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
I'm simone voice and this is the bright side from
Hello Sunshine, Welcome back to the bride side. I'm going
to start us off with a little confession here. There
are a lot of things I expected about my thirties,
maybe more wrinkles, a few gray hairs, but I never
expected to still be dealing with acne. I'm well into
(00:48):
my thirties and I am still navigating these crazy hormonal
breakouts literally just this week. Well turns out the idea
that acne is just a teenage problem is a myth, because,
according to Yale Medicine, twenty five percent of women and
twelve percent of men in their forties still report dealing
with acne. Which brings me to today's guest, Sophie Pavitt,
(01:12):
because if anyone can help us make sense of this statistic,
it's her. She is the creator and owner of Sophie
Pavit Face. It's a skincare line and facial studio in
Manhattan specializes in acne. Today, Sophie's opening up about her
own skincare journey. She's sharing how she treats and cares
for clients like Zendea and Lord, and ultimately how to
(01:32):
feel good in the skin you're in. Also, if you
take away one thing from today's episode, it's that you
gotta pick up her Omega rich moisturizer. I've never felt
anything quite like that one. All right, this is a
no gatekeeping zone, so let's get into it. Sophie Pavitt,
Welcome to the bright Side.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
I am so happy you are here. I consider myself
an acne survivor. I've survived. You know. It's sometimes rears,
its ugly head, hormonal acne. I deal with that every
now and then, but gosh, it has been such a
journey for me personally with my skin. And that is
exactly what you do here in New York City because
you have been donned the acne Whisperer of New York. Yeah,
(02:18):
you have your Sophie Pavit face skincare lines, right, and
you also have a private practice where you see patients.
And everyone assumes that acne is something that only young
people deal with, but you actually see a lot of
clients who are well over the age of twenty five. Absolutely,
(02:39):
and that's been my experience too, is dealing with adult acne.
So what is the reality that you're seeing in your studio?
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Okay, Well, the first of all, the demographic of the
studio is twenty five on woods like it always has been.
It's not a teenage problem for us at the studio.
It obviously is a teenage problem. But what we find
within in our client demographic is that they're dealing with
adult onset acne for the very first time. And what
(03:07):
happens is usually if people are experiencing breakouts in their
late twenties thirty thirties, there's a hormonal element to it
that we're not really tied into as a teenager because
there's a number of reasons why. First of all, our
bodies change. But the second problem is is that we're
all put on birth control really early to mitigate acne
in our teenage yeers, and then when you come off
(03:28):
the birth control, that's when you really see this hormonal
shift and you see the pattern in the skin too.
So there's a lot of different things that happen, and
people get married, they have kids, they go through perimenopause,
they go through really stressful periods of time in their life,
and all these things can affect breakouts. So it's kind
of like playing a little bit of a detective as
well with my clients. It's super, super common. I want
(03:50):
to say it affects forty percent of the population.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Why do you think it is that we grow up
believing that we're never going to deal with acne as
adults Because I was completely blindsided by it when I
was about twenty years old. That's when it really started
to take hold for me.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
I think to even answer that question, we have to
go back to why we break here in the first place.
And there's like a very quick analogy that I like
to talk to about this with people when I first
meet them, because I think there's a lot of confusion
around it too. You are genetically predisposed to acne, Like
forty percent of people in the world have a faster
cell turnover than somebody who isn't predisposed to acne. And
(04:27):
that won't break you out, but it sets the wheels
in motion for things to go wrong. And so sixty
percent of everybody sheds at one rate and forty percent
shed at a faster rate. And so what it means
is that you get a lot of dead cell build up,
and it means that you might get it on the
surface of the skin, it might be in the pores.
Those skin cells get sticky and stick to the sides
(04:48):
of the pores, and that won't break you out, but
it sets the wheels in motion for things to go wrong.
And so when I talk about it, there's like a
three chain event that I talk about, which is number
one is the over shedding of skin cells or skin
cell i'll build up. If you're thinking about like a
science experiment, that's you're consistent, that's like what will always happen,
even when you're eighty years old. Your skin will work
(05:09):
like that. The two other things which we feel variables
are oil production and bacteria levels. And first of all,
oil production is more of an environmental thing You can
be affected with your hormones, which increases oil production. It
can also be increased by the foods you eat, your
stress levels where you live, whether it's some of versus winter,
(05:29):
you know, your skin can get oilier in a much
more environmental way. It's also a little bit like hormonal.
And then you have bacteria levels. See acnes. Bacteria is
the bacteria that is responsible for this inflammation and these
like bacterial breakouts. The thing is is it lives in
everyone's microbiome on the skin. It's there and it's usually
quite happy. The only reason it gets out of hand
(05:51):
is if it has a food source, and that dads
skin and oil is his favorite thing to eat. So
when I talk about how we clear acne, we're never
going to cure that overshadding. That's how your skin works.
But what we're going to do is to be able
to help you maintain those results by making sure that
your skin is exfoliated correctly, your oil has somewhere to go,
the poor is clear, and then that bacteria doesn't have
(06:13):
a food source. So it sounds really simplistic, it's not,
but that's kind of my philosophy. Instead of going and
getting on these like low dose antibiotics or birth control
or you know, testosterone reducing things like spiralalactine or the
big one, acutaine. Those things work. I'm not ever saying
they don't period like there's literal data around it, but
(06:36):
there is an easier and softer way to maintain it
without medication.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
And a lot of those treatments are often band aids.
I've done every single one of those.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Band aid is the exact way to describe it. It
will fix it temporarily.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Okay, this is so good. I love the way that
you're breaking all this down. I want to go even deeper.
There are different kinds of acne. There's cystic acne. There
are closed commodonts which I do with which are so
hard to get rid of that pebbly texture. Oh, I
just want that smooth texture. Can you walk us through
a few of the most common categories of acne that
(07:09):
you see day to day?
Speaker 2 (07:10):
But it's kind of like torn about skin types right
where you're like, oh you dry oily cambo, Like you
can talk about acne in the same way.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
So the three big ones are inflamed, non inflamed subtype
two roseata. Those are the big ones. Oh, so inflamed
would go under hormonal, cystic, painful, heart to the touch
stuff would lead under that like inflamed category. So every
time you have something red, raised, angry, something which looks
like a pustual, that would be considered an inflamed breakout.
(07:39):
Then you have non inflame. Non inflamed is the pebbly
texture you're talking about where you can spread the skin
flat and you kind of see those bumps. It doesn't
feel like a breakout. It's not painful, but you feel
that congestion under the skin. That's what we would consider
non inflamed. And then, last but not least, you have
subtype two roseatia. Subtype two roseatia is a type of roseatia,
but it's actually a type of acting it's bacterial, so
(08:01):
it's got like a raised kind of paplo pustular kind
of feeling to it, but it's usually under the eyes,
under the cheeks, around the nose.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
What is one thing that you wish everyone knew about
treating acne?
Speaker 2 (08:15):
There's not going to be overnight. I can usually tell
within five minutes whether I'm going to have success clearing
someone just from attitude alone. And I know that sounds
like so crazy, but I can tell whether they're going
to be compliant with the protocol five to ten minutes,
because here's the thing, there's two things to really consider
(08:35):
when I say that, And I don't mean it in
like a I can tell it's more like empathizing with
someone because a lot of people make acne their whole
identity and they don't want to fix it. And that
sounds crazy to say, but like, there's a lot of
anxiety around skin, and it's a mental game. You know.
It sucks to be not to feel out of control
with your skin, and you can be doing all the
(08:57):
things and try everything and kind of educate yourself almost
into a corner with it. And so when they come
to see me, I'm almost like, Okay, you've got this
cup of information. I need you to empty everything you
know about this and start fresh. And that is a
hard thing for some people to accept, you know, but
I treat it in a very different way to say
a dermatologist. I work for a dermatologist, so I know
(09:19):
the way that it can be helped with medication, but
we go in a softer way.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
So what would you say, is like the Sophie Pavot
secret sauce.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Oh my gosh. Well, I'm going to get ripped apart
for this, and I'm ready for it because it's funny.
Tratoin is not for inflamed acne, and this causes a
lot of distress on the Internet when I talk about it.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
And can you just explain what tretonoen is.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Tretoin is the most top of the pyramid delivery system
for a ratinoid. It's the gold standard of ratinoid products
the RX. They're vitamin A derived and their whole objective
is to increase your cell turnover. If you have acne
and your cell turnover is already fast, what does that do.
(10:04):
It's like throwing gas on a barbecue, and so when
you have inflammation, speeding up that cell turnover is not it? Not?
At first, I believe that tract knowing can be really
helpful with acne, but I like to get the fire
down before adding it in. So on inflame people, the
first thing I do is take them off their trot knowing,
and I slowly introduce gentle exfoliators benzyl peroxide, which I
(10:28):
think is still a really great acne ingredient, and we
calm the skin down with that and then we maintain
the cell turnover with a ratanal later on. Okay, not
inflamed acne, sorry to interrupt you, is like really well
received with trot knowing because you have a lot of
build up, so adding that in your skin's not as
inflamed and sensitized. So you can add a trat knowing
(10:50):
in along with some other exfoliators and get a really
great result. So it's so bioindividual. I find the most
success with my clients when they're really inflamed is to
take them off they try and knowing.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Okay, so you kind of gave us a protocol for
what you would do if a client comes in with
inflamed skin. What about for non inflamed acne. What's the
first thing that you would suggest someone do.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Well. What's interesting is that a lot of people with
non inflamed usually also have some inflamed yes. So it's
kind of like this like protocol that I follow where
I will calm the skin down first, put in an
exfol leader and we'll talk about mandelic acid in a moment,
and then benyal peroxide. That for me in like a
very simple non commutogenetic routine is great. Once that inflammation
(11:35):
has gone down, then we slowly add a little like
ramp up, you know. Then we add in the retinal
that increases cell turnover to counterbalance that cell turnover. We're
then going to add a little bit more of a
powerful exfoliader. Maybe we'd add in a scrub. Maybe it's
one two times a week. You get like a little
magnesium in flakes grube going on along with that gentle,
low and slow mandelic acid situation. That that, to me
(11:57):
is the perfect non inflamed acne protocol. Noncomediogenic ingredients is
so important for non inflamed anything will clog your skin
if you're prone to it, You've got to just avoid
them like the plague. And I see really great results
that you should take a fish oil supplement.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
To Oh, okay, tell me about fish oil. Why should
I add it in?
Speaker 2 (12:14):
I find and again this is something that people will go,
oh gosh. Now, vegans, people who are plant based have
no fat oil in their diet, and as a result,
they can get really waxy and their seabum is almost hard.
It's like a crayon. Ye, you can feel it under
the skin. I can tell if someone's vegan in the
first moment I touched their face.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Wow, amazing. I want to bring you to a party
and just have you touch everyone's faces not vegan, ca herbivore.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
And again like that that is controversial because people are like,
I have perfect skin. I'm like, yeah, you probably have
your like fat and oil ratio great, but like it's
really hard to get those plant based fats and oils
in your diet and your plant forward you need fats
and oils, so adding and fish oil can be really beneficial,
really helps soften your seabum. It also brings that information.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Sugar is a big one hug. There's some debate around
that too. But what are your thoughts on sugar and
whether it causes acne.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Well, sugar creates an insulin response, and that insulin response
increases your oil production. And it's that three chain effect.
If you've got that sticky plug there from all that
dead cell build up and then you get this massive
ramp up in oil production, you've caused a perfect storm.
You are going to get a breakout. You know, combining
your sugar with fat or protein or fiber is really
(13:30):
a great way to offset that blood sugar spike. So
it's about food balancing. I'm always saying to people, Look,
I don't I'm not going to tell you to like
give up a dessert. Like if you want to eat
something sweet every day, great, you've got to do it.
But make sure you're food combining, make sure that you're
like really balancing your meals, and it will help. It
will really help.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
What about alcohol and wine, because there's this phenomenon that
happens to me whenever I go to France, I drink
more wine there. I don't drink a lot of wine
at home, and then I break out after drinking a
lot of wine. What is sugar? Is that? What it is?
Thank you you could sugar.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
It's delicious and you should drink wine in front.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
I mean, yeah, it's going right.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
It's like you have to you You've got to live
your life too, otherwise you're going to become that person
who comes to the studio and I've tried everything, I'm
not going to it's not gonna work. Yeah, you've got
to have your life as well.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
You know, We've got to take a short break, but
we'll be right back with Sophie Pavit and we're back
with Sophie Pavitt. I want to go back to a
word that you dropped a few moments ago, and that
was simple simplicity. And for me, that was such a
huge turning point in my own skin journey. Was just
simplifying my routine because I would have these inflamed acne breakouts,
(14:45):
and I think because of the panic and the mental
and emotional toll that happens, you start scrambling and trying
new things and trying whatever you can, and that only
aggravates it and makes it worse. Why is simplicity so effective?
Speaker 2 (14:59):
You know? I think people forget it takes around twelve
to sixteen weeks to see a marked improvement using a
correct skincare because and progress is not linear. So what
happens is is that someone will get on a really basic,
really easy to use skincare protocol four weeks in their
skin looks amazing. They're like, oh my gosh, I can't
(15:19):
believe my acne's gone. You're a genius. Thanks so much.
And then six weeks later or like two weeks after that,
they'll go I'm having a crazy breakout and I'm like, well,
what's happened? And they've been like, well I tried a
new foundation. Oh I put it in a spark cream,
and I'm like, well, we're not there yet, because that
(15:40):
microcomodome that can become a breakout starts. It takes around
twelve weeks to get to the surface. And again, I
own a skincare brand. I'm in like these retail surroundings
where I know, like people are shopping ten step routines
all the time and then wondering why their skin is
freaking out. Simplicity is key when clearing acne, and I
always talk about it is like a skin diet. Once
(16:01):
you've got it clear and you're maintaining it, you know
that that's going to work. You can start then adding
in a thing or two, like have fun with stuff.
Skincare is meant to be fun, but if it breaks
you out, you know you can come back to your
skin diet, you know. So that's how I tell people
that you can have fun, but just make sure you
only incorporate one new thing in a time after a
(16:23):
period of time that you know your skin is maintaining.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
I love the idea of a skin diet. Skin diet,
thank you for that. Would you break down what commutogenic
means versus non community.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
So again something that people come for me about because
commutogenic ingredients make products feel good. So things like shay butter,
coconut parcichet, coconut lcanes, avocado oil, all these things give
slip and hydration and bounce and softness to products. They're
(16:54):
really good for your skin. But if you're acne prone,
avoiding communogenic ingredients speed up your results. They speed up
your skin clearing. It's like taking dessert out when you're
on a skin diet, you know. So they're not evil.
Formulation does have a difference, so for example, if you
have like eighty percent shay better or like zero point
(17:17):
one in a formulation, that's going to be different. But
I'm all about the path of leasse resistance with my clients.
I don't know if they know the difference between a
coconut oil and a coconut arcane. They're very different. So
for me, I'm like, you know what, let's just avoid everything,
Let's get you clear, and then you incorporate one thing
at a time. If it has a communogenic ingredient, we
can try it. We have on our website a poor
(17:39):
clogging an ingredients checker on all.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
Of our packaging.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
We have a QR code that you can go straight
to and you can copy and paste the ingredient list
of any product makeup, piccare, lip bomb, whatever, and it'll
tell you if there's something in there that potentially could
break you out. It's really helpful for people.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
For anyone who's listening who might be struggling with acne,
use that poor clogging ingredient checker is huge.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Yeah, it's the first step before doing anything, just clear
out your commutogenics.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
So do you have a simple skincare routine, the most simple?
What's in your So you don't have like a twelve
step ten step process.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
I mean I do a lot of like procedures, so
we'll talk about that in a minute. But yeah, I
use my own skin care line. So the philosophy of
the Soviet Pavot face line is cleansed, treat, hydrate. It's
three steps. You cleanse your skin, to prep your skin
to receive your treatment. Your treatment is whatever you need
to address a skincare concern. So is it acne? Is
it redness? Is it brightening? And you can follow this
(18:39):
any routine right like that one treat is like one product.
You don't need ten, you need one product. The third
step is hydrate. What moisturizer are you using? Are using
the sunscreen that will protect the skin, which switches your
hydrate to protect It's just three steps. Three steps in
the morning, three steps in the evening. You can boost
your routine with a mask every week, but following that
(19:00):
skin diet is really really helpful for people. So that's
what I do.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Why are you so passionate about skincare?
Speaker 2 (19:07):
I can't describe to you the transformative the confidence shift
in clients when you can make them feel good about themselves.
My whole job is making people feel better about themselves,
and that is so addictive. I love that transformation that
I'm addicted to it, and you have to be deeply
addicted to this to make anything worthwhile.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
You know, did you ever have problem skin like is a?
Is this personal for you?
Speaker 2 (19:36):
It is personal. There's been two times in my life
where I've had monster breakouts. Number one was when I
moved back from Columbus, Ohio, which is my first ever job.
I designed underwear for Abercrombie and I went back to
London to work for a couple of years and I
moved back, and I think it was just like a
combination of everything. I changed my birth control, I moved
(19:56):
to London where the water is really hard, and I
was stressed. I didn't have a job, like I was
trying to figure out what I was going to do,
and my whole face erupted in breakout. Couldn't figure it out,
was using all the stuff. I just remember feeling really
hopeless about it. Yeah, and having lots of different information.
The dom would tell me one thing, my got necologists
tell me another, and I'd just be like, oh my god,
(20:16):
I just don't know how to fix this right. And
then when I was pregnant, so I've had two boys
boy moms, and when I was pregnant with my son's,
my skin was just terrible, like couldn't get it into control.
And that was even when I was I was a facialist,
so it took a long time to figure out. And
you know, again, you have to be kind of intuitive
with what your skin is feeling like too. My skin
(20:39):
was really sensitive when I was pregnant. Benzal peroxide, for example,
would give me a lot of irritation. I'd start using
it as a cleanser softening the ingredient to suit my sensitivity.
So it just took a little bit of back and
forth with that too.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
What was the breakthrough for you with your skin? How
did you clear it up?
Speaker 2 (20:56):
This protocol is seriously my favorite, the mandelic acid and
beds a peroxide combo. Again, we're going to talk about
something inflammatory right now, which is salasilic acid. Everybody loves salasilic.
It's a monographed ingredient for acne care. There's only three
things that is monographed as OTC for acne.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
What is monographed mean?
Speaker 2 (21:15):
Monograph means that when you go to the drug store,
or you go to Sephora, or you go to Alta,
you go anywhere and buy an acne product. If it
says acne on the box, it has to have one
of these three ingredients. It's FDA regulated as a skin
concern Sulfur, benzal peroxide, salasilic. Salasilic is so drying.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
And it's funny because.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
It's a BHA which is not an aha AHAs. The
analogy is A for above, BHA b for below. Right,
it works in the purse. That's great if you're oily,
and most of my clients with acne are not that oily.
They're pretty dry actually because they have this abundance of
sal turnover. So an AHA, in my opinion, works better
(21:59):
than a BH for acne. Again, I get ripped upon
on the internet because there's data around salasi it being effective.
It is effective, but not for everyone.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
We've got to take a short break, but we'll be
right back with Sophie Pavit. And we're back with Sophie Pavit. Okay, Next,
I would love for you to walk us through kind
of the evolution of our skin as we age from
our twenties through our fifties, because our skin is constantly changing.
And I keep coming back to your why, like why
(22:29):
you do this? And that is for that moment of transformation,
that glow that you see on a client's face whenever
they've made that confidence shift. And I choose to believe
that that can happen at any point in our lives,
in any decade. So let's talk about the natural progression
of our skins life cycle. And let's start with our twenties.
So you're just past, you know, the teenage years, stepping
(22:51):
out into the real world. You've probably got stress partying,
different environments, hopefully travel you're seeing the world. What are
the things that people in their twenties should be thinking
about when it comes to treating their skin.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
Your twenties is for prevention. Ah, think about your twenties. Like,
my skin was so good in my twenties. I had
no idea, you know, Like looking back, I'm like, damn,
skin looks so good.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
It still looks good, but like.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
It looked really good when I was in my twenties
and I'd smoke cigarettes, drink black coffee and go to
work on two hours of sleep. Yeah, and like you're
just like a baby in your twenties. Yeah, you have
to remember protection is everything. So use the sunscreen. You've
got to just be really like preventive in your twenties
because all that sun damage in your twenty shows up
in your thirties, right, Yeah, it's a timestam. It will
(23:43):
come to the surface. So use the sunscreen, don't smoke cigarettes,
and just hydrate. You don't want to go too crazy.
If you have acne, that's a whole different story. But
like for somebody not dealing with it and you're just
looking to like have good skin, just make sure it's hydrated.
You clean, you take your makeup off for bed and
you use sunscreen.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
Okay, so let's talk about our thirties. Now, Yeah, there's
a lot of change that happens in your thirties. There's
a lot of change. You might be hustling with your
career accelerating, you know, in the workplace, you might be
getting married or in a relationship, or having babies. And
when you think about your own skin journey and those
problematic times, you know, when you're pregnant or in postpartum.
(24:22):
Is there anything that we can do to prepare our
skin for big life transitions like that.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
Well, I think the biggest shift between my twenties and
my thirties for skin was that I got really dry,
Like my oil production just really dried up interesting, and
so I felt, oh my gosh, I could see fine
lines more and I had to ramp up my exfoliation
for example, to really help see that fresh cell turnover.
(24:48):
So that was a big thing for me late thirties.
You know, I started seeing the laxity and having kids.
I mean, you know what a transformational moment it is
for women to go through to have kids. I didn't
feel like my self until like maybe two years after
my second was born and I had two kids back
to back. Like you, so I didn't know my head
from my butt for like six years.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
Yeah, it was happening.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
Oh my god. So and you change, you know, like
your skin gets dryer, there's a lot of molaxity. You know,
you've like got big and got small again. Like that
makes a very big difference. I'm a huge proponent of botox.
I've been using it since my early thirties. I think
it makes my skin look better, not just about fine
lines and wrinkles. It smooths my vizage. It like makes
(25:31):
my skin look smoother. You know. I know a lot
of people not into botox. That's okay too. It's about
what makes you feel good.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Well. That kind of brings me to our skin in
our forties. Yes, and there's a lot happening there too,
in terms of aging hormones by pery menopause.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
Don't get me started.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
I mean, what are the skin changes that we should
anticipate for perimenopause?
Speaker 2 (25:52):
Even more dryness, like and this is where the fish
oil comes in, right. You want to like make sure
you have enough fats and oils in your diet of fiber.
Fiber is really helpful at mitigating excessive hormones in the gut. Again,
really hard to prove with studies and data, but there
is this theory that if you eat a lot of fiber,
fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains, fiber supplements, that you wipe
(26:14):
away excessive hormones which are stored internally in the digestive system.
That can really help if you get a lot of
cystic acne. By the way, like if you have this
like really intense hormonal like freak out on your skin,
doing something like that can really really help. Remember that
raw carrot salad thing that everybody was going nuts for
over it was like your carrot salad, your carrot salad
(26:36):
for hormonal hand. There's like theory on that's the reality
is it's a fiber, non soluble fiber. It's good for you, definitely.
Laxity is another thing. You know, like you start seeing
like a softening of the jawline, you might find that
there's that nasolabial fold starts coming in. You might see
a hollowness under the eyes where the like the fat
pads from underneath the lash lines start moving down. Like
(26:59):
all these things happening.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
Okay, let's round this out by talking about our fifties.
It feels like this is simultaneously an era where women
are becoming more comfortable in their own skin and their identity,
but also there are all these unexpected bodily changes with menopause.
What are the questions we should be asking ourselves about
our skin when we're in our fifties.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
I always tell my older clients, and I say older,
like fifty is not old, but like the clients who
are a little bit older than me, like, manage your
expectations with what you're going to get from skincare. It's
a three sixty approach. It's what you eat, it's how
you move your body, it's how much sleep you get.
It's what you're doing from a more advanced treatment. You know,
(27:42):
like if you're talking that you like have this like
sagging and you want to tiny up, babe, it's a facelift.
You know, Care's not going to do that, no, And
so I think managing your expectations about what each thing
does is really important as you get older. You know,
like there's that funny meme it's like you don't have
to be ugly, you just need to be rich and
it's so true. Like, I mean, we've seen these like
(28:03):
crazy facelifts you can get now, they're like wild. It's
making everyone's perception drift really weird because like, you know,
the Chris Jenners of the world who look thirty five
years old, it's amazing, But what does that make a
fifty five six year old feel about themselves?
Speaker 1 (28:22):
It's weird. Yeah, where are you at with this conversation?
Because I feel torn into directions right now. I look
at someone like Chris Jenner, so I'm like, good for her,
She like seems so confident and pleased with the result,
and I could see myself doing that at that age.
And then at the same time, there's a part of
(28:43):
me that's a little bit heartsick over like the bad
Fellers we're seeing and how it's like mutilating women's right
faces and bodies. Are you wrestling with any of these things?
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
I'm like very pro yes, Like, if you want to
do these things, go for it. If you have the
money to do it, awesome. Problem. I think for me, it's
it's really hard when I see someone who doesn't have
that or has the opportunity to do these things and
see like the frustration they get from it.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
That's hard too.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
Is it very dystopian for us to like consider that
that is like aging? Well, yes, it is. Like I
think it's a really hard conversation. Would I go and
get a facelift tomorrow and and like have a full
on body makeover? Yes? I would.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
Yeah, So I don't know.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
I think I'm probably the wrong person to ask.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
No, I think that's a really helpful perspective. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
I also just came back from Korea and I did
a whole bunch of stuff over there.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
Okay, I need to hear all about that. But girl,
your fillers look so good. They look so seamless and
integrated and natural.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Natural is the key too, fillers.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
And it's hard, but okay, tell me everything you did
in Korea.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
Well, going back to Saul was like a full circle
moment for me because I used to go so much
for work in fashion. Yeah, and it would always be
stolen moments. I would like be in the factory all day.
I'd be like, I have a ten o'clock facial. I
gotta go to my facial at ten pm to like,
you know, get that in while I was still working,
or I'd go to like the twenty four hour spa
and get a scrub at like four am, you know,
all this crazy stuff. So going there with my team
(30:16):
to primarily work on beauty was like, I was emotional.
I was like, wow, Accompli airline.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
Yeah, it was like a big deal.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
So we're developing some products now and soul, which I'm
so excited about, but one of the big things there.
I was like, yeah, I want to go and get
like a full day of treatments. So I did a
number of things. I did the resturant shots, the like
salmon sperm DLA. I've heard of this, not for the week.
It was pretty intense. It's a lot of shots. But
my skin looked like a baby's but it still does.
(30:47):
It was beyond crazy though. I would wash my face
and like wipe the cleanser off, and my skin would
feel oily, like it was so moisturized from the inside out.
It was in I'm always a dry girl, so like
to that, I was like, Wow, this is what feeling
oily is Like, It's so cool, I feel moisturized.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
How long did those results last?
Speaker 2 (31:07):
They lasted right four months for the restaurant. Really, yeah,
you got to keep doing it.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
Yeah, and how painful was it?
Speaker 2 (31:13):
It was Have you ever had botox before?
Speaker 1 (31:15):
No?
Speaker 2 (31:15):
Okay, so botox is like a little pinch, right, but
it's like death by a thousand cuts. You have like
eighty I stopped carunting at eighty shots, so I was like, whoa,
this is pretty intense. The shot also leaves like a
beasting rip bump, so I looked crazy. There's a really
funny article right now on the Wall Street Journal where
they interviewed me about it, and it's gone viral and
(31:37):
it's like this photo of me looking absolutely nuts. I
look like I'm in Avatar, you know, like with all
the bumps, and then the one of me like the
after it was worth it. I did ten therma, which
is a Korean version of thermash, which is collagen stimulated
tightening treatment. I did Lucas laser, which is a pigmentation laser,
and then I did some thread some underrye pdo threads too.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
So I was walking around with two black guys as well.
But the thing is in career, everybody's like that kind
of It's like everybody, Yeah, it's beauty tourism. It's like everywhere.
So I was like what I've a nobody kiss.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
I cannot wait to go. I am so excited and
now thanks to you, we all have our list Atribility
to get well Sophia. I have learned so much from you,
and I just love meeting other people in life who
enjoy being students at any age.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
Always I'm always learning, Yeah, so fun.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
I never want to stop learning. So I want to
just end our conversation by asking you something that I
like to ask all of our guests, which is what
are you celebrating right now?
Speaker 2 (32:40):
Just rolled out to all Doors and Sephora. That's such
a big celebration for us as a team. So I'm
really thrilled about that.
Speaker 1 (32:46):
How does it feel walking into a Sephora and saving
your products?
Speaker 2 (32:50):
So out of body experience for me? I am a
Sephora girl. Like I I've always been the person to
be like, drop me off at Sephora, come back in
three hours. I'll still be here and I'll be having
fun so to be in Like, we just did an
event in Soho in New York last Friday. That was
the first time of before I went to in like
the early two thousands with my parents and was like,
(33:11):
what is this place. This is so cool. There's nothing
like it in the UK, So yeah, it's it's a
massive thing for us and for me personally.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
Yeah, that makes me emotional to talk about you visiting
this is crazy Spora I and seeing your name on shellf.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
Yeah, it's so weird and we have this big billboard
up at the minute and it's yeah, it's just it's nuts.
I don't Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
You go girl, it's Sophie Pabott is a licensed esthetician
and creator of the skincare line Sophie pavot Face. Bright Side.
Listeners can get fifteen percent off on all single products
using the one time code bright Side fifteen at Sophiepavitface
dot com. The bright Side is a production of Hello,
Sunshine and iHeart Podcasts and is executive produced by Rhese
(33:53):
Weatherspoon and me Simone Boyce. Production is by ACAST Creative Studios.
Our producers are Taylor Williamson, Abby Delk and Adrian Bain.
Our production assistant is Joya Putnoy. Acasts executive producers are
Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder. Maureen Polo and Rhyese Witherspoon
are the executive producers for Hello Sunshine. Ali Perry and
(34:15):
Lauren Hansen are the executive producers for iHeart podcasts. Our
theme song is by Anna Stump and Hamilton Lighthouser.
Host
Simone Boyce
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Bobby Bones Show
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.