What every city transplant needs for their skin care
Due to the universal pull of abundance I’ve been manifesting I recently had a considerable amount of new clients. One thing that most of them had in common was that they were recent transplants to LA. Without even seeing them I already knew what they would be dealing with. Each individual had a completely different background and circumstance yet they all were experiencing a common Skin Food Talk category of skin imbalance. Since I’m co-founder and lead the skincare side of Skin Food Talk I already knew what would be common symptoms because they were experiencing compromised detoxification organs that led to inflammation and irritations. So why is it that this happens to nearly every city transplant? As someone who has lived in 3 states, 2 countries and countless homes, I can confidently say I’m the expert of this topic. Here are my top 3 skin care tips for new city transplants:
WRKSPC Oasis Launch and what I learned
Last Wednesday I had the opportunity to participate in the launch of WRKSPC Oasis, A women's coworking + wellness popup at the Parachute Hotel in Venice with Skin Food Talk. WRKSPC Oasis was founded by two bad ass entrepreneurs bosses that I’m so grateful to have met. Kristine Lo, who was also my wedding videographer and SFT’s ebook photographer and Mikayla Mitchell, whom I had met previously through conscious city guide. These ladies were paired together at a meditation workshop (how cosmic!) and manifested their creation together so flawlessly. All day Tara and I got to sit outside on the rooftop and meet with women who were either self employed, in between careers or attracted to a women run wellness popup. When I get to meet with people all day long and talk about their health there are a few themes that consistently come up; we tend to overwork, under eat/sleep and lose track of that little voice within that says “slow down”. Women led companies are changing the world right now and it’s incredible to be apart of it while we are seeing a lot of darkness rise. We bring the light to all aspects of life - our friendships, family dynamics and our workspace. Many of us are empaths or sensitives that feel a lot of what’s going on and start to notice the physical and emotional symptoms that don’t seem to have a root cause. The reason the launch of WRKSPC Oasis was so successful was because they found the root which is how to care for ourselves and each other while balancing our super woman responsibilities. I wanted to take the chance to share the practices I learned from the event and how they have immediately impacted my life.
Last week, it hit me...
Have you seen La La land yet? Well I've seen it about 4 times now and within the first scene I'm bawling. Mostly because I'm a sucker for musicals but secondly because even though I'm not an actor, I identify with the message of the film so much. In the opening scene there is this song and dance sequence to the song "Another day of sun" that any Los Angeleno will tell you feels very relatable. This city can eat you up and spit you out but then we wake up and do it all over again the next day.
Last week, it hit me...
I was reminded that our first Skin Food Talk was a year ago and I was hit with a wave of emotions. It's not just because of the success of this past year, it's because I had a lot of memories resurface and I realized that this last year taught me how to better cope with the challenges of this life.
It takes a village
Building a community for yourself is important for any stage of your life. If you think about your work, you usually need a full team to get everything done. If the team is built right for the task and everyone shares the same passion for the common goal, the results are usually productive and wonderful. If your team isn’t structured according to the same goals it can be disastrous. The same concept falls into friendships, families and the community you built to help keep you well and healthy. Your wellness community is everything and shouldn’t be ignored. Let's face it, the phrase "it takes a village" doesn't just stop when we're babied. Here are some key points to evaluate when building your team.
FP Escapes Recap; what I learned and what you didn't see
On Saturday, I landed back in LA and was greeted by a fellow passenger with a “good luck”. Though I’m sure the sentiment was very surface, I felt it on a multitude of levels as I awaited assistance to get off of the plane. I guess I should back up a little bit before you all start to worry. The previous Saturday I was on my way to Mexico with Tara for our long awaited trip to Todos Santos for a Free People Escape in which we were going to be hosting our signature Skin Food Talk, a beauty workshop, individual consultations and managing the Tara curated meals for 20+ guests and staff for the next week. We were ready, excited and open for the chance to grow individually and as a partnership. Packed with bikinis and yoga clothes, our day started in the early hours of the morning as we fly to Cabo around 8 am. Our social media feeds were flooded with our friends getting ready for the Women’s Marches in all parts of the world. The FOMO (fear of missing out) started to kick in until we realized that we would be able to hold space for our sisters marching on as we were chosen for this trip for a reason.
My Self Care Practices
Many people ask me what I do with my skincare routine. They literally want to know everything I use and assume that a few skincare products is all it takes to accomplish great skin. This is simply not the case. A lot of the work comes from a lot of self care. Self care is so different for everyone too. That’s the most beautiful part about it all. The tools I’ve developed in order to fill my cup are catered to my health and wellness. Here is some insight into my self care practices and the people who help keep me accountable for my well being.
Keeping up with Skin Food Talk
I have been blown away with the response my partner in crime, Tara Curran and I have received since our first "SKINFOOD" talk at SOHO House in West Hollywood. We have been working together for so long and we were finally able to create something really special. I would really love to invite you all to come to our first ever "Beauty and the Belly" brunch on Sunday March 6th at 12. The brunch is a great way to share our "SKINFOOD" talk and create a conversation about your skin, nutrition and overall health. Please RSVP now and we look forward to brunching with you soon! xo
sugar addicts anonymous
Growing up I was always sick and had a severe addiction. The kind of addiction that no one talked about, worried about or even knew about. I had an addiction to sugar. Sugar doesn’t seem that bad you may think, but looking back over my entire health history it is clear that I was one of the many kids who suffered for no reason. From unnecessary illnesses, non-stop anxiety and many unexplainable symptoms I specifically remember feeling helpless and it was all due to inflammation. I always wondered why most kids were never as sick as I was. The vicious cycle of going to the doctor and constantly getting prescriptions (some packed with added sugar) for benign issues made me feel like I was an anomaly of a kid. This led to severe depression I battled for years. The crippling pain of not understanding why I was feeling as nervous, anxious, sad or even immobile at times was so much to take while all I wanted was just to fit in and have fun. One of the main issues I struggled with with my non-stop, highly inflamed acne. I struggled for 11 years with what felt like my “normal” skin and once I was able to dive into my health and really dig for some answers I was shocked at how simple the fix really was.
Skin Care Elimination Diet
While having worked in many different spaces and places as a licensed aesthetician and skin guru for the past 9 years, the number one skin care problem I have seen is: FOOD ALLERGIES (or intolerances). It is incredibly common for people to not show signs of an allergy or intolerance to say sugars or gluten in their digestion since it has built up slowly over time. What happens is it slowly starts to make it's way onto your skin in many forms that can easily be mistaken for other skin conditions such as rosacea, cystic acne and melasma. Don't get me wrong, the root of all pesky skin conditions is inflammation and heat so it can be hard to differentiate without the proper guidance but here are a few tips and tricks that I give my clients in order to make them their own skin healer.