March 31, 2025 • 21 mins
Chinese Medicine practitioner The Jade Lady, Dr. Lily, reveals how the 3,000-year-old practice of acupuncture is becoming the natural alternative to injectables for those seeking youthful, glowing skin.
In this episode, we explore how those tiny needles may work beneath the surface to balance your body's internal environment (like maintaining a healthy fish tank!), improve circulation, and enhance absorption—all contributing to that coveted radiant complexion. Plus, Dr. Lily explains why an individualised approach is essential for treating different skin conditions.
Whether you're needle-phobic or curious about holistic beauty treatments, discover which acupuncture point could replace your injectables appointments and learn how Chinese Medicine's "octopus" approach treats beauty from within.
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CREDITS:
Hosts: Erin Docherty
Guest: Dr. Lily
Audio Producer: Tegan Sadler
Disclaimer: The information provided in this podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. Dr. Lily is a registered Chinese Medicine practitioner. Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine treatments discussed may produce different results for each individual. These treatments are not intended to replace conventional medical care or treatment prescribed by your healthcare provider. Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional before starting any new treatment. Cosmetic acupuncture results vary and the effects described have not been evaluated by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
You're listening to I'm Ama Mia podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Mama Mia acknowledges the traditional owners of land and waters
that this podcast is recorded on.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Makeup is My Therapy.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
I'm in love, I'm obsessed and I don't even feel
guilty about it.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Hello, and welcome to you Beauty, the daily podcast for
Your Face. I'm Aaron Dougherty and welcome to the formula.
Every week I sit down with celebs, experts, and some
of the biggest names in beauty and take a look
into their skincare of tenes and if you've been scrolling
through social media lately, you might have noticed a rising
trend in the beauty world cosmetic acupuncture. It seems like
(00:52):
this ancient practice is making a massive comeback as people
search for natural alternatives to injectables and invasive procedures. Today,
I'm thrilled to be sitting down with doctor Lilly, a
Chinese medicine practitioner specializing in acupuncture, cupping and quigong across
regional New South Wales. She's helping clients transform their health
(01:14):
and skin using techniques at date back thousands of years.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
So today we're going to be.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Diving into acupuncture treatments and whether these tiny needles can
actually reduce wrinkles, lift sagging skin, and create a glowing appearance.
Doctor Lily is going to explain what's happening beneath the
surface when those tiny needles go in, and why so
many people are turning to this natural approach for wellness
and beauty. So, whether you're dealing with dullness, battling breakouts,
(01:43):
or you're simply curious about alternatives to conventional treatments, this
episode is for you. Plus we'll get into the nitty
gritty of how to maximize your results with the right
skincare routine, products that complement acupuncture treatments, and Doctor Lilly
will share her insights on how Chinese medicine approaches beauty
from within. So let's get into it.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
You are such beautiful skill, but how hello doctor Lilly.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Thank you so much for coming on the show today.
I've been seeing so much about cosmetic acupuncture lately. My
Instagram is suddenly full of people with needles sticking out
of their faces, but they all look surprisingly relaxed. So
I've brought you in here. I need to pick your brain.
Thank you so much for coming on the show.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
I appreciate it. So much. There is that calm serenity
that you see through that social media feed of all
of those intense needles.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
It looks terrifying, but everyone looks like they're having a
good time. So I need to find out more about it.
I want to start with the basics here.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Acupunctures. It's often seen as a mystical practice.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Can you give us a little bit of a rundown
on exactly what it is and what's happening in the
body when all those little tiny needles go in.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Absolutely well, you're quite right, and when you say that
it is mystical and Chinese medicine, acupuncture as a whole
has a very very deep, rich history through China, So
that in itself is something that speaks volumes because it's
made it into the twenty first century with a lot
of credibility and a lot of background research. And we're
(03:20):
looking at how energy and circulation impact overall help and
that is what these different lines and channels on these
different charts and things that people would see around about acupuncture,
that's what we're really talking about. We're talking about this
internal pathway of energy as well as physical matter, and
(03:41):
that's what acupuncture is tapping into again. It all sort
of depends on your belief system and your own personal
understanding of what you think health is. But the bottom
line is it's very very effective, otherwise I wouldn't be
practicing in well.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
I've seen some really great results on social media, and
I guess that's why I really want to dive into
the cosmetic acupuncture technique itself. But I also saw that
you offer things like cupping and some thing called is
it qui gong am?
Speaker 3 (04:11):
I saying that.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Right, chigong? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Oh, tell me a little bit about how these different
Chinese medical practices work together for you know, overall wellness
and beauty.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Absolutely. So if you try and imagine an octopus and
you name that octopus Chinese medicine, every arm is going
to have some purpose. So one tentacle or one arm
might be cupping, which is great for moving fluid, it's
great for contouring in terms of facial cupping when you're
(04:43):
looking at the cosmetic world, and so is one of
those lovely things that is quite accessible and easy to
do at home. The same with things like glasha and
the rolling that's become really popular. So there's parts of
Chinese medicine that can be accessed by the everyday person.
And then there are parts of Chinese medicine that are
(05:03):
a little bit more specialized, like needling and chigong is
form of exercise therapy. So that's another tentacle of the
octopus that's looking at how movement keeps us healthy.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
That's so interesting, QUI going, Okay, I'm not going to
embarrass myself again and say how I said it. I
love that analogy of the octopus. And you know, there's
so many different techniques that give you that holistic, overall
approach to well being and beauty.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Exactly because there's so much dynamism and movement and possibility
with one of those tentacles or one of those branches,
people forget that it's actually a whole octopus. So that's
where you get that exciting natural benefit through cosmetic acupunction.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Amazing.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Well, that's what I wanted to ask you a little
bit more about. There's obviously been a surge in people
turning to this form of treatment instead of things like injectables.
Tell me a little bit about what's happening on a
cellular levels that makes it effective for things like anti aging,
whether it's fine lines and wrinkles, you know, dullness in
the skin.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Absolutely, So again, if I can kind of dip into
that aquatic analogy, I had a beautiful teacher at university
who taught biology, and she described the effects of acupuncture
as looking at the internal pH yucidity and alkaline nature
of a fish tank. The same thing is happening in
(06:29):
the human body. We are full of fluid and intracellular
fluid and extracellular fluid. Acupuncture has a very very profound
effect on balancing that internal fish tank environment without us
actually having to do anything extra. Needles tap into that
naturally and help balance that system that has that knock
(06:52):
on effect of our skin. The same way you would
look at a fish tank and go oh, the water's murky,
but there's something up, and the same with acupuncture. You know,
you can look at someone's face and go, oh, complexion
is red or dull or pale or lotchy, so there's
something up.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Well, as someone who is very pregnant right now, and
how is all the fluid for about ten people, I
feel like this could be a very good time for
my face. I've obviously not been having any injectible treatments.
Tell me a little bit about the benefits of acupunction.
Can it really lift and firm the face? And how
(07:31):
does it compare to treatments like facials or injectibles like
anti wrinkle injections or fillers or whatnot.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
So facials as in terms of gentle massage and getting
that kind of work done in a salon versus injectibles,
that's a huge sliding scale because you're talking about introducing
a foreign matter into the body directly, which would never
happen in nature. You're not really going to fall on
(07:58):
a needle full of botox. In nature, maybe you're going
to get stung by something or run into a plant
or something like that, and that's going to have its
own effects. But what we've really done with inject stables
is introduce this really really extreme substance into the body,
and not everyone is instinctively okay with that, just because
(08:20):
we have this world around us that feeds into our
sense of insecurity. What we think beauty is what our
self value sits at. It's much much nicer to gravitate
towards those gentler interventions for our skin because they're more forgiving,
whereas those intense interventions like injectibles. That's where you tend
(08:43):
to hear more horror story.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
I feel like we're in an interesting stage right now
in terms of injectable treatments and you know what we're
doing to our faces. I feel like there is a
little bit of a shift in terms of how we
approach aging and how we're embracing treatments that are a
little bit less invasive.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
So this is just started or well spotted, and that's
an exciting thing when you talk to a lot of
people who go, oh, is the world really going in
this direction?
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Tell me a little bit about different approaches that you
might take in terms of tackling different skin issues when
it comes to cosmetic acupuncture. So if someone's struggling with
things like acne or rosasia, are there different approaches that
you would take.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
In terms of looking at that octopus analogy? Again, what
you really have to do is diagnose the underlying condition
of what is causing that redness. So you might have
ten people in front of you, all with red skin.
The unique thing about Chinese medicine is that it would
say all of these different red skin conditions could possibly
(09:55):
arise from different internal states. So let's give attention to
the individual. Let's look at that person's unique constitutions. Instead
of saying to the world, oh you have red skin,
that means this. It says your body is unique, find
out about you. Not one product is going to work
(10:16):
for everyone, but it's up to us as individuals to
have that unique intelligence that we've always tapped into and
use that again in terms of diet products, what we
respond to in terms of our sleep routines and our
massage routines.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
And I think that's becoming such a common thing, even
just with Di Whi, Skinker and Diddy at home. As
you mentioned, Guasha and facial massaging and all these different
kinds of techniques that are drawn from traditional Chinese medicine.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
You've kind of.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Touched on it before in terms of the octopus analogy,
But there's that idea that acupuncture can help you with
just upping that glow or radiance of your skin. Tell
me again, what's the mechanism behind that. Is it more circulation,
is it the lymphatic drainage. Is it just a combination
of all of the above.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
It's a lot of delightful things happening at once. So
it's the things that you mentioned, plus a lot more
so we're talking about how skin is absorbing, how pores
are opening and closing, how blood circulation is moving through
superficial blood vessels and deeper blood vessels, because that will
impact things like coloration, dullness, and it's that glow that
(11:30):
we want, right And that's all about If you look
at Chinese medicine, it loves to simplify things into yin
and yang, fire and water. You get that lovely mysterious
poetry that comes along with Chinese medicine. So straight away,
the majority of what's going on with skin conditions is dehydration,
(11:52):
the simplest thing.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
I can feel that a lot right now as someone
who needs to up their hydration a little bit. I
want to move on to the routine. I want to ask,
are there any specific kind of skin care products or
ingredients that help with these acupuncture results? Like should someone
focus on specific ingredients in their skin caredine?
Speaker 1 (12:13):
It really is one of those exciting things where it says, Okay,
if your skin type is oily, then you need to
find a compatible product with that that might be more suitable,
something like hemp oil, or if your skin is more
prone to dryness. Then we need to look at a
product that's going to give you a lot of moisture,
something like Maringa oil. So again, it's about having someone
(12:36):
that you trust and doing your own personal research and
experimentation with products. And I'm always a big fan of
please flip that thing over and read the back.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Sometimes it can seem too complicated, but there's a lot
of information I feel that we just take from the
marketing slap on the front of packaging and we don't
read that to your back of the ingredients place right.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
And just understanding the face as a skin structure in
comparison to the rest of the body. The face has very,
very delicate skin arounding all of its structures, particularly around
the eyes. We're using things like coconut oil, which a
lot of people will see is more naturalistic, is not
always ideal for the faith because we want those paws
(13:22):
to be able to breathe. So we're looking at how
we can maintain that glow, that beauty, that cosmetic aspect
right alongside am I healthy?
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Does acupuncture actually help skincare absorb better? I know you
mentioned about the pores and how it obviously increases circulation
and lymphatic flow. Is skin care absorption an effect of
this as well.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Absolutely, the great thing about acupuncture is that it can
work on improving your absorption pathways not only through your skin,
but through your digestive system and through your digestive tract.
So having that added effect, you might be taking a
lot of collagen, you might be taking a lot of supplements,
you might be taking a lot of nutrients, and people
(14:10):
should stop after a year and say is that effective?
Is that working? Is that doing something for me? If not,
we potentially have an absorption problem somewhere in the body
and that gets addressed with acupuncture points as well.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
And are there any ingredients that you'd tell your clients
to completely avoid before or after acupuncture? Is there any
ingredients that could potentially interfere with treatment, like retinol or all.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Of those high steroidal creams and all of those heavily
medicated different aspects that people have prescribed need to be
used carefully alongside with acupuncture. It becomes one of those
things where you don't want to interfere with anyone's pharmaceutical
routine alongside what you're doing for their skin care. But
it's something that you can always avoid on the day,
(14:59):
and then that lets you know is acupuncture working or
am I looking at the effects of what I've been
using on the side. But natural is always best. So
if you come in for your cosmetic with fresh skin,
that allows for your practitioner to use an appropriate healthy
oil or lubricant and you can go on your way
and see how compatible that is.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
That's a really good intel.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Tell me, if someone's really terrified of needles, what's your
best pitch to convince them to give face you like
you puncture or try.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Well, you don't need needles, you don't need a lot.
It's always a really really great thing to say to someone.
Let's just start with one small point and if that's
not okay, then that's absolutely fine. There are lots of
other techniques that we can try that are less invasive,
so you can still get good benefits without compromising someone's
(15:52):
sense of safety. But most people find after they try
one needle that they've probably stepped on a bindi on
their front lawn. They've given them a much worse experience.
So once you break that spell of what a needle
means or what you are dudgeon needling to me, it
becomes a pleasant, nice experience, and before you know it,
(16:15):
you're laying there with fifty needles in your face.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
Double down.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
If you could only recommend one acupuncture point for beauty
and skin health, what would it be and why?
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Absolutely? A point called yintang, which is located between the eyebrows.
This tends to be an area that women love to botox.
It tends to be that area where we're getting the
most frown lines and the most expression lines right between
the eyebrows there. That also tends to be the area
that women will point to first and say, do something
(16:50):
about that exist, So it becomes a lovely area that
you can massage gently in an outward fashion. So if
you imagine a line down the middle of your face,
the point is going to lie roughly between your eyebrows,
right at that third eye area, a little bit.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Lower, so it's kind of where those eleven lines appear
to pop.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Up, exactly where those eleven lines.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Often sign me up for that. That sounds amazing.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
It's one of those lovely points that helps you feel
calm as well.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
Hit you've been one of the greatest discoveries.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
Of all time or miss never again never.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
I want to now move on to our hits and
missus Doctor Lilly. This is my favorite part of the
show because sometimes we get quite controversial opinions.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
Oh we love a good controversial opinion.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
I want to know what is a skincare technique or
ingredient that you love and one that you hate?
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Okay, Well, one skincare technique that I love in particular
is gwasher, which of course has become so popular through
TikTok and through social media. People are doing their own
skincare routines at home, and I think that's fantastic because
people find it accessible and they find it useful, and
they get to see the benefits. And that's something that
(18:18):
I'd love to do for myself all the time. Just
use my simple, glacious stones and roller and just get
all of that fluid moving and drained down for my face.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
And you don't even need fancy tools too. You can
use your hands as well.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
That's exactly right. If anything, that pressure and that connection
is more important because we live in a society where
intimacy and our own relationship with our bodies is so compromised.
So having that chance to just touch your face in
a skincare routine and massage through, there's a reconciliation that happens.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
And what about something that you hate, Oh, something.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
That I hate for sure is these skincare routines that
involve a lot of aggressive force, especially around the eyes. Again,
that's that kind of delicate area that you want to
be treating gently. So when I see skincare routines that
are particularly aggressive, I always get that voice in my head.
(19:17):
It's like, oh no, no, no, no, no, no, that's no good.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
We don't need to be doing that to our eye area.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
That's exactly right. So again, one of the other things
is that people will sometimes push and massage upward or
treat themselves very aggressively in that manner and not drain
any of that down. And it's so easy in modern
society to get things like headache anxiety. That's all that
energy that's already stuck up. You don't want things stuck
(19:44):
up in the heads. You want the head to be
able to think clearly so you can make good decisions
for your life. So even just a gentle massage down.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Doctor Lily, I already want you to please make a
space for an appointment for me. Oh, anytime, ready for
my cosmetic acupuncture?
Speaker 3 (20:02):
And for you to message my face.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
It is a beautiful experience to give someone you see
them relax and remember that they just good things too.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
That's so nice, Doctor Lily. Thank you so much for
coming on the show today. I've learned so much from
this convo, so I hope I Ubis have too. Thank
you so much for coming on.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Ubis. Thank you so much for listening to this episode
of You Beauty, which will also be my last episode
for a while.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
I'm going to be leaving my.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Beautiful little pod baby to go and have a real
human baby, but I want to thank you all so
much for having me in your ears every week. I've
absolutely loved hosting the show and having the chance to
speak with so many interesting experts and names.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
In the beauty industry.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
I know I've learned a lot over the past couple
of years, and I really hope you have too. So
until next time, thank you so much for listening to
me on the show, and I can't wait to get
back in your ears soon. The producer of You Beauty
is Steph McPhee, with audio production by Lou Hill, and
I'll see you next time.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
Bye.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
He
You're listening to I'm Ama Mia podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Mama Mia acknowledges the traditional owners of land and waters
that this podcast is recorded on.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Makeup is My Therapy.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
I'm in love, I'm obsessed and I don't even feel
guilty about it.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Hello, and welcome to you Beauty, the daily podcast for
Your Face. I'm Aaron Dougherty and welcome to the formula.
Every week I sit down with celebs, experts, and some
of the biggest names in beauty and take a look
into their skincare of tenes and if you've been scrolling
through social media lately, you might have noticed a rising
trend in the beauty world cosmetic acupuncture. It seems like
(00:52):
this ancient practice is making a massive comeback as people
search for natural alternatives to injectables and invasive procedures. Today,
I'm thrilled to be sitting down with doctor Lilly, a
Chinese medicine practitioner specializing in acupuncture, cupping and quigong across
regional New South Wales. She's helping clients transform their health
(01:14):
and skin using techniques at date back thousands of years.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
So today we're going to be.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Diving into acupuncture treatments and whether these tiny needles can
actually reduce wrinkles, lift sagging skin, and create a glowing appearance.
Doctor Lily is going to explain what's happening beneath the
surface when those tiny needles go in, and why so
many people are turning to this natural approach for wellness
and beauty. So, whether you're dealing with dullness, battling breakouts,
(01:43):
or you're simply curious about alternatives to conventional treatments, this
episode is for you. Plus we'll get into the nitty
gritty of how to maximize your results with the right
skincare routine, products that complement acupuncture treatments, and Doctor Lilly
will share her insights on how Chinese medicine approaches beauty
from within. So let's get into it.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
You are such beautiful skill, but how hello doctor Lilly.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Thank you so much for coming on the show today.
I've been seeing so much about cosmetic acupuncture lately. My
Instagram is suddenly full of people with needles sticking out
of their faces, but they all look surprisingly relaxed. So
I've brought you in here. I need to pick your brain.
Thank you so much for coming on the show.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
I appreciate it. So much. There is that calm serenity
that you see through that social media feed of all
of those intense needles.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
It looks terrifying, but everyone looks like they're having a
good time. So I need to find out more about it.
I want to start with the basics here.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Acupunctures. It's often seen as a mystical practice.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Can you give us a little bit of a rundown
on exactly what it is and what's happening in the
body when all those little tiny needles go in.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Absolutely well, you're quite right, and when you say that
it is mystical and Chinese medicine, acupuncture as a whole
has a very very deep, rich history through China, So
that in itself is something that speaks volumes because it's
made it into the twenty first century with a lot
of credibility and a lot of background research. And we're
(03:20):
looking at how energy and circulation impact overall help and
that is what these different lines and channels on these
different charts and things that people would see around about acupuncture,
that's what we're really talking about. We're talking about this
internal pathway of energy as well as physical matter, and
(03:41):
that's what acupuncture is tapping into again. It all sort
of depends on your belief system and your own personal
understanding of what you think health is. But the bottom
line is it's very very effective, otherwise I wouldn't be
practicing in well.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
I've seen some really great results on social media, and
I guess that's why I really want to dive into
the cosmetic acupuncture technique itself. But I also saw that
you offer things like cupping and some thing called is
it qui gong am?
Speaker 3 (04:11):
I saying that.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Right, chigong? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Oh, tell me a little bit about how these different
Chinese medical practices work together for you know, overall wellness
and beauty.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Absolutely. So if you try and imagine an octopus and
you name that octopus Chinese medicine, every arm is going
to have some purpose. So one tentacle or one arm
might be cupping, which is great for moving fluid, it's
great for contouring in terms of facial cupping when you're
(04:43):
looking at the cosmetic world, and so is one of
those lovely things that is quite accessible and easy to
do at home. The same with things like glasha and
the rolling that's become really popular. So there's parts of
Chinese medicine that can be accessed by the everyday person.
And then there are parts of Chinese medicine that are
(05:03):
a little bit more specialized, like needling and chigong is
form of exercise therapy. So that's another tentacle of the
octopus that's looking at how movement keeps us healthy.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
That's so interesting, QUI going, Okay, I'm not going to
embarrass myself again and say how I said it. I
love that analogy of the octopus. And you know, there's
so many different techniques that give you that holistic, overall
approach to well being and beauty.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Exactly because there's so much dynamism and movement and possibility
with one of those tentacles or one of those branches,
people forget that it's actually a whole octopus. So that's
where you get that exciting natural benefit through cosmetic acupunction.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Amazing.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Well, that's what I wanted to ask you a little
bit more about. There's obviously been a surge in people
turning to this form of treatment instead of things like injectables.
Tell me a little bit about what's happening on a
cellular levels that makes it effective for things like anti aging,
whether it's fine lines and wrinkles, you know, dullness in
the skin.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Absolutely, So again, if I can kind of dip into
that aquatic analogy, I had a beautiful teacher at university
who taught biology, and she described the effects of acupuncture
as looking at the internal pH yucidity and alkaline nature
of a fish tank. The same thing is happening in
(06:29):
the human body. We are full of fluid and intracellular
fluid and extracellular fluid. Acupuncture has a very very profound
effect on balancing that internal fish tank environment without us
actually having to do anything extra. Needles tap into that
naturally and help balance that system that has that knock
(06:52):
on effect of our skin. The same way you would
look at a fish tank and go oh, the water's murky,
but there's something up, and the same with acupuncture. You know,
you can look at someone's face and go, oh, complexion
is red or dull or pale or lotchy, so there's
something up.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Well, as someone who is very pregnant right now, and
how is all the fluid for about ten people, I
feel like this could be a very good time for
my face. I've obviously not been having any injectible treatments.
Tell me a little bit about the benefits of acupunction.
Can it really lift and firm the face? And how
(07:31):
does it compare to treatments like facials or injectibles like
anti wrinkle injections or fillers or whatnot.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
So facials as in terms of gentle massage and getting
that kind of work done in a salon versus injectibles,
that's a huge sliding scale because you're talking about introducing
a foreign matter into the body directly, which would never
happen in nature. You're not really going to fall on
(07:58):
a needle full of botox. In nature, maybe you're going
to get stung by something or run into a plant
or something like that, and that's going to have its
own effects. But what we've really done with inject stables
is introduce this really really extreme substance into the body,
and not everyone is instinctively okay with that, just because
(08:20):
we have this world around us that feeds into our
sense of insecurity. What we think beauty is what our
self value sits at. It's much much nicer to gravitate
towards those gentler interventions for our skin because they're more forgiving,
whereas those intense interventions like injectibles. That's where you tend
(08:43):
to hear more horror story.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
I feel like we're in an interesting stage right now
in terms of injectable treatments and you know what we're
doing to our faces. I feel like there is a
little bit of a shift in terms of how we
approach aging and how we're embracing treatments that are a
little bit less invasive.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
So this is just started or well spotted, and that's
an exciting thing when you talk to a lot of
people who go, oh, is the world really going in
this direction?
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Tell me a little bit about different approaches that you
might take in terms of tackling different skin issues when
it comes to cosmetic acupuncture. So if someone's struggling with
things like acne or rosasia, are there different approaches that
you would take.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
In terms of looking at that octopus analogy? Again, what
you really have to do is diagnose the underlying condition
of what is causing that redness. So you might have
ten people in front of you, all with red skin.
The unique thing about Chinese medicine is that it would
say all of these different red skin conditions could possibly
(09:55):
arise from different internal states. So let's give attention to
the individual. Let's look at that person's unique constitutions. Instead
of saying to the world, oh you have red skin,
that means this. It says your body is unique, find
out about you. Not one product is going to work
(10:16):
for everyone, but it's up to us as individuals to
have that unique intelligence that we've always tapped into and
use that again in terms of diet products, what we
respond to in terms of our sleep routines and our
massage routines.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
And I think that's becoming such a common thing, even
just with Di Whi, Skinker and Diddy at home. As
you mentioned, Guasha and facial massaging and all these different
kinds of techniques that are drawn from traditional Chinese medicine.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
You've kind of.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Touched on it before in terms of the octopus analogy,
But there's that idea that acupuncture can help you with
just upping that glow or radiance of your skin. Tell
me again, what's the mechanism behind that. Is it more circulation,
is it the lymphatic drainage. Is it just a combination
of all of the above.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
It's a lot of delightful things happening at once. So
it's the things that you mentioned, plus a lot more
so we're talking about how skin is absorbing, how pores
are opening and closing, how blood circulation is moving through
superficial blood vessels and deeper blood vessels, because that will
impact things like coloration, dullness, and it's that glow that
(11:30):
we want, right And that's all about If you look
at Chinese medicine, it loves to simplify things into yin
and yang, fire and water. You get that lovely mysterious
poetry that comes along with Chinese medicine. So straight away,
the majority of what's going on with skin conditions is dehydration,
(11:52):
the simplest thing.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
I can feel that a lot right now as someone
who needs to up their hydration a little bit. I
want to move on to the routine. I want to ask,
are there any specific kind of skin care products or
ingredients that help with these acupuncture results? Like should someone
focus on specific ingredients in their skin caredine?
Speaker 1 (12:13):
It really is one of those exciting things where it says, Okay,
if your skin type is oily, then you need to
find a compatible product with that that might be more suitable,
something like hemp oil, or if your skin is more
prone to dryness. Then we need to look at a
product that's going to give you a lot of moisture,
something like Maringa oil. So again, it's about having someone
(12:36):
that you trust and doing your own personal research and
experimentation with products. And I'm always a big fan of
please flip that thing over and read the back.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Sometimes it can seem too complicated, but there's a lot
of information I feel that we just take from the
marketing slap on the front of packaging and we don't
read that to your back of the ingredients place right.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
And just understanding the face as a skin structure in
comparison to the rest of the body. The face has very,
very delicate skin arounding all of its structures, particularly around
the eyes. We're using things like coconut oil, which a
lot of people will see is more naturalistic, is not
always ideal for the faith because we want those paws
(13:22):
to be able to breathe. So we're looking at how
we can maintain that glow, that beauty, that cosmetic aspect
right alongside am I healthy?
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Does acupuncture actually help skincare absorb better? I know you
mentioned about the pores and how it obviously increases circulation
and lymphatic flow. Is skin care absorption an effect of
this as well.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Absolutely, the great thing about acupuncture is that it can
work on improving your absorption pathways not only through your skin,
but through your digestive system and through your digestive tract.
So having that added effect, you might be taking a
lot of collagen, you might be taking a lot of supplements,
you might be taking a lot of nutrients, and people
(14:10):
should stop after a year and say is that effective?
Is that working? Is that doing something for me? If not,
we potentially have an absorption problem somewhere in the body
and that gets addressed with acupuncture points as well.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
And are there any ingredients that you'd tell your clients
to completely avoid before or after acupuncture? Is there any
ingredients that could potentially interfere with treatment, like retinol or all.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Of those high steroidal creams and all of those heavily
medicated different aspects that people have prescribed need to be
used carefully alongside with acupuncture. It becomes one of those
things where you don't want to interfere with anyone's pharmaceutical
routine alongside what you're doing for their skin care. But
it's something that you can always avoid on the day,
(14:59):
and then that lets you know is acupuncture working or
am I looking at the effects of what I've been
using on the side. But natural is always best. So
if you come in for your cosmetic with fresh skin,
that allows for your practitioner to use an appropriate healthy
oil or lubricant and you can go on your way
and see how compatible that is.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
That's a really good intel.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Tell me, if someone's really terrified of needles, what's your
best pitch to convince them to give face you like
you puncture or try.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Well, you don't need needles, you don't need a lot.
It's always a really really great thing to say to someone.
Let's just start with one small point and if that's
not okay, then that's absolutely fine. There are lots of
other techniques that we can try that are less invasive,
so you can still get good benefits without compromising someone's
(15:52):
sense of safety. But most people find after they try
one needle that they've probably stepped on a bindi on
their front lawn. They've given them a much worse experience.
So once you break that spell of what a needle
means or what you are dudgeon needling to me, it
becomes a pleasant, nice experience, and before you know it,
(16:15):
you're laying there with fifty needles in your face.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
Double down.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
If you could only recommend one acupuncture point for beauty
and skin health, what would it be and why?
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Absolutely? A point called yintang, which is located between the eyebrows.
This tends to be an area that women love to botox.
It tends to be that area where we're getting the
most frown lines and the most expression lines right between
the eyebrows there. That also tends to be the area
that women will point to first and say, do something
(16:50):
about that exist, So it becomes a lovely area that
you can massage gently in an outward fashion. So if
you imagine a line down the middle of your face,
the point is going to lie roughly between your eyebrows,
right at that third eye area, a little bit.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Lower, so it's kind of where those eleven lines appear
to pop.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Up, exactly where those eleven lines.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Often sign me up for that. That sounds amazing.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
It's one of those lovely points that helps you feel
calm as well.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
Hit you've been one of the greatest discoveries.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
Of all time or miss never again never.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
I want to now move on to our hits and
missus Doctor Lilly. This is my favorite part of the
show because sometimes we get quite controversial opinions.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
Oh we love a good controversial opinion.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
I want to know what is a skincare technique or
ingredient that you love and one that you hate?
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Okay, Well, one skincare technique that I love in particular
is gwasher, which of course has become so popular through
TikTok and through social media. People are doing their own
skincare routines at home, and I think that's fantastic because
people find it accessible and they find it useful, and
they get to see the benefits. And that's something that
(18:18):
I'd love to do for myself all the time. Just
use my simple, glacious stones and roller and just get
all of that fluid moving and drained down for my face.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
And you don't even need fancy tools too. You can
use your hands as well.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
That's exactly right. If anything, that pressure and that connection
is more important because we live in a society where
intimacy and our own relationship with our bodies is so compromised.
So having that chance to just touch your face in
a skincare routine and massage through, there's a reconciliation that happens.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
And what about something that you hate, Oh, something.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
That I hate for sure is these skincare routines that
involve a lot of aggressive force, especially around the eyes. Again,
that's that kind of delicate area that you want to
be treating gently. So when I see skincare routines that
are particularly aggressive, I always get that voice in my head.
(19:17):
It's like, oh no, no, no, no, no, no, that's no good.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
We don't need to be doing that to our eye area.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
That's exactly right. So again, one of the other things
is that people will sometimes push and massage upward or
treat themselves very aggressively in that manner and not drain
any of that down. And it's so easy in modern
society to get things like headache anxiety. That's all that
energy that's already stuck up. You don't want things stuck
(19:44):
up in the heads. You want the head to be
able to think clearly so you can make good decisions
for your life. So even just a gentle massage down.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Doctor Lily, I already want you to please make a
space for an appointment for me. Oh, anytime, ready for
my cosmetic acupuncture?
Speaker 3 (20:02):
And for you to message my face.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
It is a beautiful experience to give someone you see
them relax and remember that they just good things too.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
That's so nice, Doctor Lily. Thank you so much for
coming on the show today. I've learned so much from
this convo, so I hope I Ubis have too. Thank
you so much for coming on.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Ubis. Thank you so much for listening to this episode
of You Beauty, which will also be my last episode
for a while.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
I'm going to be leaving my.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Beautiful little pod baby to go and have a real
human baby, but I want to thank you all so
much for having me in your ears every week. I've
absolutely loved hosting the show and having the chance to
speak with so many interesting experts and names.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
In the beauty industry.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
I know I've learned a lot over the past couple
of years, and I really hope you have too. So
until next time, thank you so much for listening to
me on the show, and I can't wait to get
back in your ears soon. The producer of You Beauty
is Steph McPhee, with audio production by Lou Hill, and
I'll see you next time.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
Bye.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
He
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