Ready to crack the code on why your skin acts up at the worst possible times? It's all about your hormones! In this fascinating episode of The Formula, we're diving deep into the connection between your hormones and your skin with celebrity facialist Ingrid Seaburn. After 15 years transforming A-list faces in Hollywood (including Mel C, Jackie O, and Delta Goodrem), Ingrid is spilling the secrets about why your skin changes during different life stages – and what you can actually do about it.
If you've ever wondered why you break out when stressed, why pregnancy gives you that glow but also stubborn pigmentation, or why your skin seems to have a mind of its own during perimenopause, this conversation will be a game-changer. We're also diving into why some expensive treatments are basically fancy placebos and which ingredients actually deliver on their promises.
And if you want more skin-changing revelations, our episode with gut health guru The Beauty Chef will completely transform how you think about skincare and gut health- watch the full episode on YouTube here.
LINKS TO THE PRODUCTS MENTIONED:
Ingrid Seaburn - Advanced Retinal Serum $250
Ingrid Seaburn - Preventative Retinal Serum $170
Ingrid Seaburn - Growth Factor Serum $250
Ingrid Seaburn - Nourishing Moisturiser $140
Ingrid Seaburn - Eye & Lip Treatment $150
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CREDITS:
Hosts: Kelly McCarren
Guest: Ingrid Seaburn
Producer: Sophie Campbell
Audio Producer: Tegan Sadler
Mamamia's studios are furnished with thanks to Fenton & Fenton. For more head to their website here.
Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elder
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
You're listening to a MoMA Mia podcast. Mama Mia acknowledges
the traditional owners of land and waters that this podcast
is recorded on.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Makeup is My Therapy. I'm in love, I'm obsessed, and
I don't even feel guilty body.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Hello, and welcome to you Beauty, the daily podcast for
your Face. I'm Kelly mccaren and welcome to the formula.
Every week I chat to all sorts of celebs, experts,
and their biggest names in beauty to take a sneak
peek inside their bathroom cabinet and still as much information
from their clever brains as possible ready to share with you. Now,
(00:51):
you might be in a certain stage of life where
your skin is just not what it used to be.
Maybe you're hitting your late thirties or forties and perimenopause
is roaring its ugly little head with dry skin and
random breakouts. Maybe you're pregnant and you've suddenly got pigmentation
that's appeared out of nowhere. Well, we might already know
that those sneaky little things called hormones have a lot
(01:13):
to do with it, and to help us understand how
hormones can affect our skin and come up with some solutions.
Is my amazing guest today with me today is celebrity
facialist and hormonal skin expert Ingrid Seaburn. After spending fifteen
years in Hollywood, working with a listers and transforming some
of the most famous faces in the world, Ingrid returned
(01:36):
to Sydney where she continues to help change the skin
of women in every phase of life. She's worked with
the likes of Delta Gudrum, Pip Edwards, Jackie O plus
Spy Skull Melcy to name a few. Ingrid's holistic approach
combines cutting edge skincare with a deep understanding of how
our internal biology affects what we see in the mirror.
(01:56):
You have such beautiful skin.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
But how.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
So today we are unpacking how those invisible chemical messengers
in our bodies create very visible changes in our se
in from pregnancy to postpartum, perimenopause, menopause and beyond. Ingrid,
Welcome to.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
You, beauty, Thank you, Kelly. It's so nice to be.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Here on this rainy Sydney day. Before we get started,
what is the main message from this chat today that
you would love listeners to remember and take note of.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
There are a couple of messages because that different things
are going on at different stages of your life, right
with your hormones. But hormones are such a huge part
of how our body functions, how healthy our skin is,
and I think the take home would be that I'm
going to try to sort of delve into things that
(02:51):
you can do to manage those hormones at the stage
of life that you're at, whether it's with pregnancy, hormones
or perimenopause, because I think there's a lot of information
out there about you know, this is what it is,
but not so much about what we can do. So
I think that's important to kind of Yeah, I agree
(03:11):
on actual skin solutions, and because.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
We all can't afford to be going to an endocrinologist
or have the time every single time something different is happening, exactly.
I only recently realized that that was an actual thing.
An endochronologist anyone that's playing long at home, yeah, is
a doctor that specializes in hormones. I didn't know that
was the thing until recently. Really, Yeah, I know, I
guess I love it, right.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
I love that you admit that. Oh, I'm not.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Afraid of admitting things before we dive into the specific
life stages. Can you help us understand the fundamental relationship
between hormones and skin, because the way I think about it,
I think that the perfect example is when you're a teenager, yes,
many of us, and we just start breaking.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Out absolutely, So hormones rule our lives as women, right,
So the basic connection with skin is that hormones are,
as you said, like the messengers, little chemical messengers that
go to our brain, to our muscles, what connects us
(04:12):
to our cellular function and so organ wise, skin is
your largest organ. So skin is probably the most reflective
organ of what's going on hormonally in your body. So
the relationship is really an obvious one because you can
tell what's going on with your body hormonally by what's
(04:36):
going on with your skin. And particularly with teenagers, you know,
we start off I mean the three biggies hormones for women,
it's estrogen and progesterone, for men, testosterone. We have all
three in our bodies. But what happens when we reach
puberty is that those hormones start to kick in as
(04:58):
we start to get closer and closer to particularly when
you're pre pubescent, that's when they start to kind of
get a revon where you start to get a surge
of estrogen and a surge of progesterone, and the problems
are with imbalance. It's not the actual hormones. It's just
that the imbalance of hormones can go either way with
(05:22):
teenage skin. If you have an imbalance where there's a
surge of testosterone, then you're going to get more breakouts
because that creates more signaling to oil production, and then
you get the bacteria and so it becomes like a
vicious cycle. Same with progesterone. To a lesser extent. Progesterone
(05:45):
is a female hormone, but it can cause irritation and
clogged pores and more seben production, and so really it's
just that balance, and so it's so difficult for teenagers
to kind of get through that period and have perfect skin.
You know, some do, they're very lucky, but they're the
few yeap.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
I must have had an awful lot of progesterone and testosterone,
because my skin was awful when I was a teenager.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Yeah, it's such bad. And mine wasn't bad, Like I
had really bad cystic acne on my chin. And no
matter what, you know, this is it like for all hormones, right,
it's hormones, and it's so difficult. And the thing with
teens is it's such a tough one for them to
deal with because you know, they're so self conscious anyway
that they're you know, suddenly they've got all these pimples
(06:33):
and they just don't even want to go out of
the house. And then it's overwhelming on how do I
treat them? And then that becomes a rabbit.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Hole of all the wrong things exactly because you're trying
to put all of these different things on your skin
and they're trying to cover it up, and.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Yes, which makes it worse. Yeah, and different doctors, different therapies,
you know, people sometimes tell you different things exactly. And
social media.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
I mean everyone's an expert, right.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Everyone's an expert. And teenagers will listen to influences on
social media more so than they will a.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Doctor exactly because she's terrifying.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
God knows, you know, TikTok is no more, right.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
So of course they do it. Yeah, they read the
back of a box. They know what that product does.
Possibly you know that probably didn't even read it back
of the box, I know. So while estrodrome gets most
of the attention for being great, Yeah, more so for
the skin, more so than progesterone and testosterone. How do
all of the hormones influence our skin health with things
(07:34):
like the stress hormone cortisol.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
So, cortisol is in a group of hormones called androgens
and which also includes testosterone, and cortisol is the stress hormone.
So it has an effect on our adrenal glands. And
when that happens, then that also has an effect on
(07:57):
our well, first our skins immune response, and then second
again the oil production. So it ramps up the oil production.
And that's a classic example of when you're stressed, your
skin can often be breaking out, you know, the worst
possible times, right when you really don't need it to
(08:20):
break out.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
My best friend to tour it like it was. It
was quite funny looking back. She had perfect skin, her
entire life barely is at a pimple. Her wedding day,
she woke up with a pimple in between her eyebrows.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
It's like a bride's worst nightmare.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
So I's a karma because she was like, can you
all make sure that you don't get pimples on the
wedding date. I was like, well, this is what happens.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
But it is karma, isn't it. It's like they just arrived,
you know. I call them a little friends and.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
I'm welcome from times two. No one invited them, no one, no,
So they were not invited to the party. They just
turned up.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
So that's what cortisol is, you know. And just talking
skin today, but cortisol has such an impact on every
part of our ability to deal with stress. But for skin,
that's how it manifests.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Sadly, And what are the telltale scigns that any hormone
is too high, too low and is affecting our skin,
like obviously it's not just acne. So what sort of
science should we be looking for.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
There's two things. So estrogen is really the elixir of
youth in terms of hormones for your skin, because estrogen
is the one that has a direct relationship with collagen
production and elasticity. And it really is the one that
(09:41):
surges mid cycle. So when you're ovulating, when you're ovulating, ladies,
you look your best really any age, yes, because your
skin is plumped and you're going to start furma and
mid cycle mid cycle and also sort of from a
I don't know, like a caveman point of view or whatever, like,
(10:04):
because we're trying to attract a mate, right, you know,
or you want to look your best in semin That
wed isn't how beautiful a right? So nature is so
clever in that way. So estrogen is the one that
will give you that beautiful, plumped, collagen filled skin, hydrated skin.
That's the one that is really the most important in
(10:26):
terms of youthful skin. That's the one that we start
to lose as we get older, which we can talk
about next.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Why can't we just inject estrogen into our face?
Speaker 2 (10:41):
It's a hormone, it doesn't Why can't we because we're
going to die, We're going to go down a whole.
That's actually you know what, Estrogen face cream is sort
of a thing, right because if you really think about
(11:01):
where else women, we're really all getting into some really
juicy stuff. Here pun the pun, But if you really
think about where you would put estrogen gel when you're older,
you aren't quite old enough for this, but perimenopause, menopause down.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
The area that you need to get inseminated.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
You're a little bit dry at times. There might be
a little bit of an issue there. So estrogen gel,
imagine what that does, so imagine what it does to
your faint So same saying, right, plumps, hydrates.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Hydrates, juices. That was it.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
But to answer your question about can you eject it,
well no, because it's a receptor, you know.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
It kind of like collagen. You can't just inject it
straight into your face.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
No. Collagen is one of my pet peeves is when
I see something that says collagen cream because people always think, oh, collagen,
I can put that collagen. Yes, it's first of all,
it's from a cow or it's marine collage or whatever.
But you can't do that. It can't penetrate your skin
first of all, it can't get to your dermis, so
(12:09):
it's not and slow down raging. The best thing you
can do to increase your collagen is to use active
ingredients like retinal or vitamin C that stimulate your own collagen.
Don't ever buy a moisturizer that says collagen moisturizer. It
will do nothing but sit on your epidermis, and.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
It might do a nice job of doing that.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
So you're probably going to pay a lot of money
for it to sit there rubbish.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Yeah, So if we're too low or high in any
of these hormones before we get into the specific sort
of stages that we might get into, what can we
do about it from a skin perspective.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Right, So there's no real skin issue with estrogen. So
we've established that.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
If you overproduce it, it's not going to It.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Can make you more sensitive to the skin and hyperpigmentation.
That's why you see when women are pregnant sometimes they
get malasma that is a direct correlation with an increase
in estrogen. So their skin might be really beautifully clear
and plumped, but they will have hyperpigmentation issues. That is
(13:21):
really the only contradictory or contradiction of you know, an
increase in estrogen for pregnancy and then that lingers you know,
post pregnancy because that surge of estrogen has been fabulous
for your pregnancy, but not so fabulous for pigmentation. That's
an issue that happens to not every pregnant woman, but
(13:44):
it can. So that's the estrogen part. Progesterone is some
people are really sensitive to progesterone. I know myself, like
I've tried progesterone based contraception and I just I couldn't.
It just didn't feel good. It didn't agree with my skin.
So pilp, yeah, or they're just different things like the mariner. Yeah, right,
(14:05):
so but everyone's different. Right, So that's a conversation you
have with your doctor about what hormone is best for you,
but also for your skin, because your skin's going to
show what your sensitivity is to that hormone. But progesterone
is a great female hormone and it goes side by
side with estrogen and it's necessary. But if you're sensitive
(14:27):
to it or too much progesterone, if progesterone is dominant,
then it can cause excess oil and an overdriver you know,
that's seven production, and then you will get breakouts. And
the breakouts are usually they'll go down your neck and
they're just you know, they're kind of like it really
is just a surge of oil production with progesterone, amongst
(14:52):
other things. But for skin. And then you can also
have you know, too much testosterone. That happens with women
who get to a low body mass index and they're
training and they're sort of you know, they're kind of
becoming sort of you know, leaner, and they get to
a point where their body is producing more testosterone. That
(15:13):
can again cause male pattern acne, and that can be
a problem too. So it really is important to be
able to recognize what your skin is sensitive to and
what it's reactive to, and then talk to your doctor
about balancing your hormones. All hormones are necessary. The key
(15:40):
thing is to balance them, and that can sometimes be
a little bit of trial and error with contraception, you know,
with skincare, with all sorts of things. So you have
to kind of get your blood work done and then
see where your hormones are at.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Yep, okay, So can we get into different things that
we can do about our skin when we're going through
different things like nancy perimenopause, menopause which are probably after
your teenage ye is the biggest peaks, would you say,
(16:16):
fluctuations in hormones, So pigmentation when you're pregnant. Is there
anything that you can really do about that or not
because you're pregnant.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
I'm going to say no, there's nothing.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
I think that people will appreciate that honesty.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Yeah, don't be fooled. Don't go to a laser clinic
where they say, oh yeah, we can get rid of
that in successions. Your hormones are ruling your life. When
you're pregnant, you cannot win. Forget it, like, just use
really good sun protection, you know, but don't cover it
up in hope courage, Yeah, and just be patient because
(16:54):
you know, once your hormones and you've had your back like,
it will subside. But hyperpigmentation is not something that you
can permanently get rid of. If you're prone to melasma
when you get pregnant, that means that you're probably you know,
your estrogen's pretty good, so you're kind of enjoying looking
(17:18):
quite young, but you've got the malasma. Then really it's
an uphill battle. There's no point when you're pregnant to
trying to get rid of malasma. And then after your
pregnancy you have to wait till your hormones are balanced
out again, and then you can certainly look at things
to control and inhibit and manage your pigmentation. Because here's
(17:42):
an interesting thing about pigmentation. I know I'm kind of
going off the subject a bit, but it's really important
because I think a lot of people tend to get
conned by the idea of can you get rid of
my pigmentation. Oh yes, you know that's five thousand dollars.
You know, no, because it'll come back. And here's why
it comes back, because melanin is a really smart thing
(18:06):
in your body. It knows it has a job, and
its job is to protect. When it sensors trauma, which
can be UV hormones, you know, stress, it goes, Oh
I better get on up there and protect. So it
comes up to protect. You know, it kind of gets
its wires crossed with hyper pigmentation, and there can be
(18:27):
issues you know later on life's age spots and whatnot.
It will come and go. So any time it perceives
that it's needed, it's going to come back. How in
the hell do you stop that? You can't. So you
can temporarily burn it off, which is really painful, painful
and you know ultimately is damaging to your barrier. So
(18:50):
that's another thing we never used to talk about. Or
you can know that you can control, inhibit and manage
to the best, and obviously sunscreen and some protection is
key in that. But don't get hung up on it.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
You know, it's also just pigmentation. I can steel. But
also who has so moving on, you've worked on the
faces of huge celebrities. Who were you the most excited
to meet?
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Oh, my beautiful girl, Melsey.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
Oh, she's got beautiful skin too.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
She's the most adorable human being.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
You're responsible for that skin, You've done it.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
I'll take responsibility. I'll take it. I'll take it skin.
She is just the cutest person on earth. And she
was out here recently doing the voice and we've become
really good friends because we're both girls in our fifties
and she's like, you just bond with her immediately because
she's so down to earth. She meet people and it's
just like and she was just like you would never
(19:49):
believe she's had the level of fame that she's had.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
She's just so nice to hear.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Oh my god, I love her.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
And if you had to pick one celeb who would
you say has the most beautiful skin in real life?
Speaker 2 (20:01):
They all do. All my clients, by the way, not
just celebrity clients. I love all my clients equally. Honest.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
That blew you away a little bit, Like, WHOA, I
can't believe that is real life skin type thing.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Jackie is looking amazing? She does.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Yeah, she's got great skin. Yeah, we need to get
her on actually and find out what her skincare regime is.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Well, you're talking to her therapist, okay, Well.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
We need to get a list from you because she's
in her fifties now too.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Isn't she? So her and jamm come and see me,
and she's again lovely.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
So what are two things aside from sunscreen that you
think someone with aging skin should be using.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Retinal is hands down, we all kind of know that now, right,
followed closely with vitamin C. I will say that herolinic
acid is really important for retaining hydration in your skin.
Herolinic acid is not inactive. It doesn't go down to
your dermis. It sits in your epidermis and it helps
(21:01):
your skin to hold water. And we produce it naturally,
but we need to replace it because our production declines
as we get older. So, particularly this time of year
when you're doing you know the skin is dry because
the temperatures have dropped and the air is dry, then
you need to up your chyrolonic acid.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
On the flip side, what is the one skincare trend
or ingredient that you just see people talking about and
you think, oh my goodness, you just wouldn't recommend it.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
I'm not a big fan of anything that has a
temporary kind of effect. The Korean masks, you know, the
jelly masks, and you know anything that's sort of a
hype thing like that.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
It's a gimmicky.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
It's a gimmicky thing.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Yeah, completely agree, And thank you so much for sharing
all of your expertise with us today. We have really
gone on a couple of wild tangents and I'm fay
for it. No, I love it. And if you want
any more information, they can find Ingrid on Instagram. We'll
make sure that we pop a link in our show notes. Well,
thank you so much for listening to this episode of
(22:07):
Your Beauty. I hope you found it as wildly interesting
as I did. We actually all did, everyone sitting in
this room with me right now. We just loved that chat.
We want to get Ingrid back on for part two
because I don't know about everyone listening at home, but
I really want to know exactly what she uses on
her skin. If you enjoyed this episode, please check out
our Instagram at You Beauty Podcast and have a look
(22:28):
at our YouTube channel. Don't forget to subscribe to our
Beauty newsletter and please rate and review us. This episode
of You Beauty was produced by Molly Harwood with audio
production by Tig and sad Lave. Thanks for listening and
don't forget to tune into tomorrow. Bye.
You're listening to a MoMA Mia podcast. Mama Mia acknowledges
the traditional owners of land and waters that this podcast
is recorded on.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Makeup is My Therapy. I'm in love, I'm obsessed, and
I don't even feel guilty body.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Hello, and welcome to you Beauty, the daily podcast for
your Face. I'm Kelly mccaren and welcome to the formula.
Every week I chat to all sorts of celebs, experts,
and their biggest names in beauty to take a sneak
peek inside their bathroom cabinet and still as much information
from their clever brains as possible ready to share with you. Now,
(00:51):
you might be in a certain stage of life where
your skin is just not what it used to be.
Maybe you're hitting your late thirties or forties and perimenopause
is roaring its ugly little head with dry skin and
random breakouts. Maybe you're pregnant and you've suddenly got pigmentation
that's appeared out of nowhere. Well, we might already know
that those sneaky little things called hormones have a lot
(01:13):
to do with it, and to help us understand how
hormones can affect our skin and come up with some solutions.
Is my amazing guest today with me today is celebrity
facialist and hormonal skin expert Ingrid Seaburn. After spending fifteen
years in Hollywood, working with a listers and transforming some
of the most famous faces in the world, Ingrid returned
(01:36):
to Sydney where she continues to help change the skin
of women in every phase of life. She's worked with
the likes of Delta Gudrum, Pip Edwards, Jackie O plus
Spy Skull Melcy to name a few. Ingrid's holistic approach
combines cutting edge skincare with a deep understanding of how
our internal biology affects what we see in the mirror.
(01:56):
You have such beautiful skin.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
But how.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
So today we are unpacking how those invisible chemical messengers
in our bodies create very visible changes in our se
in from pregnancy to postpartum, perimenopause, menopause and beyond. Ingrid,
Welcome to.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
You, beauty, Thank you, Kelly. It's so nice to be.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Here on this rainy Sydney day. Before we get started,
what is the main message from this chat today that
you would love listeners to remember and take note of.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
There are a couple of messages because that different things
are going on at different stages of your life, right
with your hormones. But hormones are such a huge part
of how our body functions, how healthy our skin is,
and I think the take home would be that I'm
going to try to sort of delve into things that
(02:51):
you can do to manage those hormones at the stage
of life that you're at, whether it's with pregnancy, hormones
or perimenopause, because I think there's a lot of information
out there about you know, this is what it is,
but not so much about what we can do. So
I think that's important to kind of Yeah, I agree
(03:11):
on actual skin solutions, and because.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
We all can't afford to be going to an endocrinologist
or have the time every single time something different is happening, exactly.
I only recently realized that that was an actual thing.
An endochronologist anyone that's playing long at home, yeah, is
a doctor that specializes in hormones. I didn't know that
was the thing until recently. Really, Yeah, I know, I
guess I love it, right.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
I love that you admit that. Oh, I'm not.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Afraid of admitting things before we dive into the specific
life stages. Can you help us understand the fundamental relationship
between hormones and skin, because the way I think about it,
I think that the perfect example is when you're a teenager, yes,
many of us, and we just start breaking.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Out absolutely, So hormones rule our lives as women, right,
So the basic connection with skin is that hormones are,
as you said, like the messengers, little chemical messengers that
go to our brain, to our muscles, what connects us
(04:12):
to our cellular function and so organ wise, skin is
your largest organ. So skin is probably the most reflective
organ of what's going on hormonally in your body. So
the relationship is really an obvious one because you can
tell what's going on with your body hormonally by what's
(04:36):
going on with your skin. And particularly with teenagers, you know,
we start off I mean the three biggies hormones for women,
it's estrogen and progesterone, for men, testosterone. We have all
three in our bodies. But what happens when we reach
puberty is that those hormones start to kick in as
(04:58):
we start to get closer and closer to particularly when
you're pre pubescent, that's when they start to kind of
get a revon where you start to get a surge
of estrogen and a surge of progesterone, and the problems
are with imbalance. It's not the actual hormones. It's just
that the imbalance of hormones can go either way with
(05:22):
teenage skin. If you have an imbalance where there's a
surge of testosterone, then you're going to get more breakouts
because that creates more signaling to oil production, and then
you get the bacteria and so it becomes like a
vicious cycle. Same with progesterone. To a lesser extent. Progesterone
(05:45):
is a female hormone, but it can cause irritation and
clogged pores and more seben production, and so really it's
just that balance, and so it's so difficult for teenagers
to kind of get through that period and have perfect skin.
You know, some do, they're very lucky, but they're the
few yeap.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
I must have had an awful lot of progesterone and testosterone,
because my skin was awful when I was a teenager.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Yeah, it's such bad. And mine wasn't bad, Like I
had really bad cystic acne on my chin. And no
matter what, you know, this is it like for all hormones, right,
it's hormones, and it's so difficult. And the thing with
teens is it's such a tough one for them to
deal with because you know, they're so self conscious anyway
that they're you know, suddenly they've got all these pimples
(06:33):
and they just don't even want to go out of
the house. And then it's overwhelming on how do I
treat them? And then that becomes a rabbit.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Hole of all the wrong things exactly because you're trying
to put all of these different things on your skin
and they're trying to cover it up, and.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Yes, which makes it worse. Yeah, and different doctors, different therapies,
you know, people sometimes tell you different things exactly. And
social media.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
I mean everyone's an expert, right.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Everyone's an expert. And teenagers will listen to influences on
social media more so than they will a.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Doctor exactly because she's terrifying.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
God knows, you know, TikTok is no more, right.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
So of course they do it. Yeah, they read the
back of a box. They know what that product does.
Possibly you know that probably didn't even read it back
of the box, I know. So while estrodrome gets most
of the attention for being great, Yeah, more so for
the skin, more so than progesterone and testosterone. How do
all of the hormones influence our skin health with things
(07:34):
like the stress hormone cortisol.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
So, cortisol is in a group of hormones called androgens
and which also includes testosterone, and cortisol is the stress hormone.
So it has an effect on our adrenal glands. And
when that happens, then that also has an effect on
(07:57):
our well, first our skins immune response, and then second
again the oil production. So it ramps up the oil production.
And that's a classic example of when you're stressed, your
skin can often be breaking out, you know, the worst
possible times, right when you really don't need it to
(08:20):
break out.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
My best friend to tour it like it was. It
was quite funny looking back. She had perfect skin, her
entire life barely is at a pimple. Her wedding day,
she woke up with a pimple in between her eyebrows.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
It's like a bride's worst nightmare.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
So I's a karma because she was like, can you
all make sure that you don't get pimples on the
wedding date. I was like, well, this is what happens.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
But it is karma, isn't it. It's like they just arrived,
you know. I call them a little friends and.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
I'm welcome from times two. No one invited them, no one, no,
So they were not invited to the party. They just
turned up.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
So that's what cortisol is, you know. And just talking
skin today, but cortisol has such an impact on every
part of our ability to deal with stress. But for skin,
that's how it manifests.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Sadly, And what are the telltale scigns that any hormone
is too high, too low and is affecting our skin,
like obviously it's not just acne. So what sort of
science should we be looking for.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
There's two things. So estrogen is really the elixir of
youth in terms of hormones for your skin, because estrogen
is the one that has a direct relationship with collagen
production and elasticity. And it really is the one that
(09:41):
surges mid cycle. So when you're ovulating, when you're ovulating, ladies,
you look your best really any age, yes, because your
skin is plumped and you're going to start furma and
mid cycle mid cycle and also sort of from a
I don't know, like a caveman point of view or whatever, like,
(10:04):
because we're trying to attract a mate, right, you know,
or you want to look your best in semin That
wed isn't how beautiful a right? So nature is so
clever in that way. So estrogen is the one that
will give you that beautiful, plumped, collagen filled skin, hydrated skin.
That's the one that is really the most important in
(10:26):
terms of youthful skin. That's the one that we start
to lose as we get older, which we can talk
about next.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Why can't we just inject estrogen into our face?
Speaker 2 (10:41):
It's a hormone, it doesn't Why can't we because we're
going to die, We're going to go down a whole.
That's actually you know what, Estrogen face cream is sort
of a thing, right because if you really think about
(11:01):
where else women, we're really all getting into some really
juicy stuff. Here pun the pun, But if you really
think about where you would put estrogen gel when you're older,
you aren't quite old enough for this, but perimenopause, menopause down.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
The area that you need to get inseminated.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
You're a little bit dry at times. There might be
a little bit of an issue there. So estrogen gel,
imagine what that does, so imagine what it does to
your faint So same saying, right, plumps, hydrates.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Hydrates, juices. That was it.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
But to answer your question about can you eject it,
well no, because it's a receptor, you know.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
It kind of like collagen. You can't just inject it
straight into your face.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
No. Collagen is one of my pet peeves is when
I see something that says collagen cream because people always think, oh, collagen,
I can put that collagen. Yes, it's first of all,
it's from a cow or it's marine collage or whatever.
But you can't do that. It can't penetrate your skin
first of all, it can't get to your dermis, so
(12:09):
it's not and slow down raging. The best thing you
can do to increase your collagen is to use active
ingredients like retinal or vitamin C that stimulate your own collagen.
Don't ever buy a moisturizer that says collagen moisturizer. It
will do nothing but sit on your epidermis, and.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
It might do a nice job of doing that.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
So you're probably going to pay a lot of money
for it to sit there rubbish.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Yeah, So if we're too low or high in any
of these hormones before we get into the specific sort
of stages that we might get into, what can we
do about it from a skin perspective.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Right, So there's no real skin issue with estrogen. So
we've established that.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
If you overproduce it, it's not going to It.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Can make you more sensitive to the skin and hyperpigmentation.
That's why you see when women are pregnant sometimes they
get malasma that is a direct correlation with an increase
in estrogen. So their skin might be really beautifully clear
and plumped, but they will have hyperpigmentation issues. That is
(13:21):
really the only contradictory or contradiction of you know, an
increase in estrogen for pregnancy and then that lingers you know,
post pregnancy because that surge of estrogen has been fabulous
for your pregnancy, but not so fabulous for pigmentation. That's
an issue that happens to not every pregnant woman, but
(13:44):
it can. So that's the estrogen part. Progesterone is some
people are really sensitive to progesterone. I know myself, like
I've tried progesterone based contraception and I just I couldn't.
It just didn't feel good. It didn't agree with my skin.
So pilp, yeah, or they're just different things like the mariner. Yeah, right,
(14:05):
so but everyone's different. Right, So that's a conversation you
have with your doctor about what hormone is best for you,
but also for your skin, because your skin's going to
show what your sensitivity is to that hormone. But progesterone
is a great female hormone and it goes side by
side with estrogen and it's necessary. But if you're sensitive
(14:27):
to it or too much progesterone, if progesterone is dominant,
then it can cause excess oil and an overdriver you know,
that's seven production, and then you will get breakouts. And
the breakouts are usually they'll go down your neck and
they're just you know, they're kind of like it really
is just a surge of oil production with progesterone, amongst
(14:52):
other things. But for skin. And then you can also
have you know, too much testosterone. That happens with women
who get to a low body mass index and they're
training and they're sort of you know, they're kind of
becoming sort of you know, leaner, and they get to
a point where their body is producing more testosterone. That
(15:13):
can again cause male pattern acne, and that can be
a problem too. So it really is important to be
able to recognize what your skin is sensitive to and
what it's reactive to, and then talk to your doctor
about balancing your hormones. All hormones are necessary. The key
(15:40):
thing is to balance them, and that can sometimes be
a little bit of trial and error with contraception, you know,
with skincare, with all sorts of things. So you have
to kind of get your blood work done and then
see where your hormones are at.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Yep, okay, So can we get into different things that
we can do about our skin when we're going through
different things like nancy perimenopause, menopause which are probably after
your teenage ye is the biggest peaks, would you say,
(16:16):
fluctuations in hormones, So pigmentation when you're pregnant. Is there
anything that you can really do about that or not
because you're pregnant.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
I'm going to say no, there's nothing.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
I think that people will appreciate that honesty.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Yeah, don't be fooled. Don't go to a laser clinic
where they say, oh yeah, we can get rid of
that in successions. Your hormones are ruling your life. When
you're pregnant, you cannot win. Forget it, like, just use
really good sun protection, you know, but don't cover it
up in hope courage, Yeah, and just be patient because
(16:54):
you know, once your hormones and you've had your back like,
it will subside. But hyperpigmentation is not something that you
can permanently get rid of. If you're prone to melasma
when you get pregnant, that means that you're probably you know,
your estrogen's pretty good, so you're kind of enjoying looking
(17:18):
quite young, but you've got the malasma. Then really it's
an uphill battle. There's no point when you're pregnant to
trying to get rid of malasma. And then after your
pregnancy you have to wait till your hormones are balanced
out again, and then you can certainly look at things
to control and inhibit and manage your pigmentation. Because here's
(17:42):
an interesting thing about pigmentation. I know I'm kind of
going off the subject a bit, but it's really important
because I think a lot of people tend to get
conned by the idea of can you get rid of
my pigmentation. Oh yes, you know that's five thousand dollars.
You know, no, because it'll come back. And here's why
it comes back, because melanin is a really smart thing
(18:06):
in your body. It knows it has a job, and
its job is to protect. When it sensors trauma, which
can be UV hormones, you know, stress, it goes, Oh
I better get on up there and protect. So it
comes up to protect. You know, it kind of gets
its wires crossed with hyper pigmentation, and there can be
(18:27):
issues you know later on life's age spots and whatnot.
It will come and go. So any time it perceives
that it's needed, it's going to come back. How in
the hell do you stop that? You can't. So you
can temporarily burn it off, which is really painful, painful
and you know ultimately is damaging to your barrier. So
(18:50):
that's another thing we never used to talk about. Or
you can know that you can control, inhibit and manage
to the best, and obviously sunscreen and some protection is
key in that. But don't get hung up on it.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
You know, it's also just pigmentation. I can steel. But
also who has so moving on, you've worked on the
faces of huge celebrities. Who were you the most excited
to meet?
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Oh, my beautiful girl, Melsey.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
Oh, she's got beautiful skin too.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
She's the most adorable human being.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
You're responsible for that skin, You've done it.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
I'll take responsibility. I'll take it. I'll take it skin.
She is just the cutest person on earth. And she
was out here recently doing the voice and we've become
really good friends because we're both girls in our fifties
and she's like, you just bond with her immediately because
she's so down to earth. She meet people and it's
just like and she was just like you would never
(19:49):
believe she's had the level of fame that she's had.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
She's just so nice to hear.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Oh my god, I love her.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
And if you had to pick one celeb who would
you say has the most beautiful skin in real life?
Speaker 2 (20:01):
They all do. All my clients, by the way, not
just celebrity clients. I love all my clients equally. Honest.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
That blew you away a little bit, Like, WHOA, I
can't believe that is real life skin type thing.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Jackie is looking amazing? She does.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Yeah, she's got great skin. Yeah, we need to get
her on actually and find out what her skincare regime is.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Well, you're talking to her therapist, okay, Well.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
We need to get a list from you because she's
in her fifties now too.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Isn't she? So her and jamm come and see me,
and she's again lovely.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
So what are two things aside from sunscreen that you
think someone with aging skin should be using.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Retinal is hands down, we all kind of know that now, right,
followed closely with vitamin C. I will say that herolinic
acid is really important for retaining hydration in your skin.
Herolinic acid is not inactive. It doesn't go down to
your dermis. It sits in your epidermis and it helps
(21:01):
your skin to hold water. And we produce it naturally,
but we need to replace it because our production declines
as we get older. So, particularly this time of year
when you're doing you know the skin is dry because
the temperatures have dropped and the air is dry, then
you need to up your chyrolonic acid.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
On the flip side, what is the one skincare trend
or ingredient that you just see people talking about and
you think, oh my goodness, you just wouldn't recommend it.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
I'm not a big fan of anything that has a
temporary kind of effect. The Korean masks, you know, the
jelly masks, and you know anything that's sort of a
hype thing like that.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
It's a gimmicky.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
It's a gimmicky thing.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Yeah, completely agree, And thank you so much for sharing
all of your expertise with us today. We have really
gone on a couple of wild tangents and I'm fay
for it. No, I love it. And if you want
any more information, they can find Ingrid on Instagram. We'll
make sure that we pop a link in our show notes. Well,
thank you so much for listening to this episode of
(22:07):
Your Beauty. I hope you found it as wildly interesting
as I did. We actually all did, everyone sitting in
this room with me right now. We just loved that chat.
We want to get Ingrid back on for part two
because I don't know about everyone listening at home, but
I really want to know exactly what she uses on
her skin. If you enjoyed this episode, please check out
our Instagram at You Beauty Podcast and have a look
(22:28):
at our YouTube channel. Don't forget to subscribe to our
Beauty newsletter and please rate and review us. This episode
of You Beauty was produced by Molly Harwood with audio
production by Tig and sad Lave. Thanks for listening and
don't forget to tune into tomorrow. Bye.
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