High Performance Organic Skincare with Sarah Brown, CEO and Founder of Pai Skincare

10:36AM Nov 1, 2022

Speakers:

Angela Foster

Intro

Sarah Brown

Keywords:

skin

people

oil

skincare

cleanse

ingredients

products

serums

vitamin c

probiotic

called

cleansers

acne

lovely

ageing

angela

thought

food

put

active

You react to this and see it's not very unlikely to be the vitamin C, you're reacting to, it's everything else, touching points for delivery agents, there's also concentrations and the fact that if you're using water soluble vitamin C, which actually usually the culprits for most and something's interesting is different for you. Is because for that vitamin C to stay active because it's water soluble, Vitamin C is so unstable, you have to keep it at a pH of 3.5. For it to stay at all active.

Welcome to the high performance health podcast with your host Angela Foster, the show where we talk about everything you need to break through limits and achieve a high performance, mind body and lifestyle.

Hi Friends! Did you know that the average woman uses around 160 chemicals 160 chemicals before she leaves the house in the morning. I'm sure not you listening to this podcast, because I'm sure you're pretty vigilant with the kind of personal care products that you're using. But that is the average woman as what I read he is 160 different or is exposed to 160 different chemicals which is staggering. And it really underlines the need for us to be detoxing effectively, but also really to be seeking out products that don't involve lots of toxic chemicals. And that's why I'm excited to bring you today's guest. She is Sarah Brown, the CEO and founder of pai skincare, which is an organic skincare brand that is also a high performance skincare brand using natural plant chemicals to bring you those results. Now Sarah as she developed this range after her own problems with challenging skin, she had chronic urticaria, which we'll hear about in her mid 20s. And that was when she started mixing her in formulations from her garage really is a last ditch solution for her hyperreactive skin. And we talk about a skin and the effects of stress specifically on the skin and how it can affect things like that a carrier which if you haven't come across, and you've been fortunate enough not to experience it is really severe hives can be very, very inflammatory and uncomfortable for the person. And we talk about how stress impacts their skin in a really big way. Also gut health, food intolerances, things like that. But what you put on your skin topically can make a big difference. And it's really important to use products that don't involve any kind of nasties. And if you haven't already should definitely check out the website, ew g.org, they have a really good list of products, which ones are safe to use, which ones aren't. And they give a really good rating and their their list is expanding all the time. So that's ew g.org. That's a good one to look at. There are also various apps that you can use to determine what's in skincare. So we are getting more and more aware awareness around this. But pie was launched by Sara back in 2007. And that was a time when the organic category was underdeveloped and clean beauty wasn't really a thing at that point. So she's one of the early champions have certified organic, responsibly cultivated ingredients. And she's absolutely passionate about this. I learned a lot on this episode about the ingredients that we want to look for in terms of anti ageing skincare, and also what we don't want to find there. And the different delivery systems, how peptides can help you produce more collagen naturally in the skin and a whole lot more. So without further delay. Let me introduce you now to the lovely Sarah Brown. So I'm very excited to have with me today, Sarah Brown, who is the founder of hi skincare. It's lovely to have you here, Sarah, we were just sat in chatting offline about how products can be both natural, organic and performance based products. And I must say I'm really excited by that kind of trio. And I know, I know, listeners will be as well. First of all, before we dive in a very warm welcome to the show.

Thank you so much for having me, Angela, it's lovely to be here.

It's great to have you here, I think, you know, excites me about this actually, is that. So often women I was reading that actually the average woman before she leaves the house in the morning has basically put around 160 different chemicals on her. Because the average woman, which will you just think is crazy. We live in such a toxic world. And obviously that's putting pressure on the liver on all our detoxification processes within the body. And I think so many people now are trying to embrace a more natural approach. But then they think, oh, as we were saying, you know, am I going to miss out on the science if I do this? And how can I have all those performance benefits and anti ageing benefits and everything that I want out of a really good quality skincare product? So I was very excited when I when I heard that you combine the science with the natural?

Yes, well, in our world natural is natural science. So you know the way we formulate with beautiful ingredients. We're harnessing the properties from nature but it's a deeply scientific process that you absolutely can get extraordinary performance from natural ingredients.

Six it so we're gonna dive into that today. First So I know that you had this was all kind of started on the back of your own skin challenges. Something super common that people struggle with urticaria. Anyone listening? Who hasn't heard of that kind of complicated name before? Probably hasn't encountered it. But people who have well, can you just share a little bit more about what happened, what that condition is and your journey really to arriving here?

Sure. I mean, how long do you have? But now, I mean, because I have to go back 20 years really, and I have the chronic form of urticaria. Actually, there's there may well be people listening who maybe have not had a diagnosis. But when I start to talk about it, they'll go, that's what I have. When we see that a lot. It's not some, it's actually very common, but it's not. It's not commonly talked about like eczema like psoriasis, like rosacea, it just doesn't get the same airtime. Which is why I always love these opportunities to talk about it, because there's many people out there who aren't getting the help they need. But so mine started in one night. One night, so prior to that my skin was fine. not amazing, but it was fine. And I woke up in one night, in the middle of the night, I'm itching, like I cannot describe. I mean, until you've experienced this level of itching, it's very hard to describe. And the more it's very compulsive itching, so as you itch, and as you scratch to carry, then the rattle moves as you wish she it very quickly spreads. I always describe her to carry like a wildfire. Because it is a very good analogy in terms of the speed that it moves across the body and the heat. So it spreads very, very quickly. I had in minutes, hives, so it's very raised wheels and hives, over 80% of my body. And then the heat comes and your skin feels so hot to the touch. You honestly feel like going to combust and I had to get an A call bottom. And this happened for the first time and one night and I sat in a coal bar thinking what on earth have I eaten?

Because I was thinking as you're saying this? Some? Yeah,

is it some sort of anaphylactic reaction but couldn't think of anything that I hadn't eaten before? And then it then it passed. And then the next night it happened again. And then it was so extreme and so odd. I took myself off to the GP very quickly, actually. And I was very lucky because I got diagnosed really quickly. And I think it's because my it was such an extreme response. And, you know, reflecting back on it years later, I think it wasn't it was triggered by a bee sting. Because I'd had a bee sting a few weeks before and I've had a very bad reaction to it. And I have bee allergy in the family. I've never been allergic to bees before. But I had a terrible reaction very small and back for ages. And then this seemed to trigger in me and that they are quite closely linked. So I then got diagnosed by the GP then sorry, referred me to Charing Cross Hospital where I went and went to various clinics there. And a lot of my blood tested and and they did Mantis and said, Yeah, your classic chronic urticaria. So I went away with at least a diagnosis, which is great, half the battle. The problem is, is that the kind of the words that followed were idiopathic. And for those who don't know what that means, it means of unknown cause. And many skin conditions already empathic. Actually, many conditions, many autoimmune conditions are idiopathic. And I will say it's one word that I think is a miserable word to hear, because it's sort of it means that there's not a lot of solutions for you. And I was sort of sent on my way with very, very high strength, antihistamines to take day and nights, the night ones was so strong, felt rotten on them. And they said, Yeah, just take them for life. And I said, But you know, is the it's such I when I react and when I trigger. It's so bad, you know, I can't it's really it really affects your life. It's really inhibiting. And, and there was just no answers. I said it feels worse when I'm just before my period is no connection, which is nonsense, because it's very linked to hormones. I knew there were certain foods or I knew there were triggers, though different triggers for me, wasn't the cause. But that would trigger a flare up. And I was repeatedly told you can't control this now. And it was the worst thing you can say to someone with any condition. You can't control this and those were the words that was told this is 20 years ago. And actually what's really interesting is back then and I think you know fortunately things have moved on a lot but instinctively I knew that that when I reacted it was it was linked to other things not caused by but linked to other things like whether I was rundown where I was in my menstrual cycle where what I need to know and when particularly when I was stressed, so I could Lich you know I can now it's so funny the impact of the mind. I could if I really willed myself I could probably will On a flare up, and it sounds absurd, but you can, it's just, it's an extraordinary thing. And I knew stress was a big trigger for me, but, but I had to find that out on my son, myself and I had to, you know, it was just that there wasn't this connection to the sort of that these other impacts on skin. But we, you know, we have very finely tuned bodies, and they're all into connect. And that's, it's so obvious now. But it really wasn't. And I had to, I knew it myself, but I had to kind of write everything down. And that, so I lived with this condition for a really, really long time. And

it's quite, it's quite concerning what you were saying about the antihistamines there, because some of them that you're taking at night, over a long term basis have actually been linked to really affecting the brain and memory formation and things like that, and I think often is not thought about what are the long term effects of those pharmaceuticals, even though, you know, seemingly, it seems rather innocuous, actually, when they're taken consistently?

Yes. And I and the ones that night were definitely higher strength. And I think, for me, you know, they were a real crutch. And you know, some people say, I would never leave the house without lipstick, I would never leave the house with a pack of antihistamines in my bag. I just couldn't. And I always remember the last antihistamine I took was on my wedding day, you know, many years ago now, but I was determined and, and I now manage the condition in different ways. I still have it. And I think it's important to say that because you know, I think skin conditions in their truest form. So there's different types of sensitive skin. There's core sensitive, which are the conditions like the ones I mentioned. So urticaria, eczema, psoriasis, acne, and then the sensitised skin, which is more environmental. So it might be a reaction to an ingredient in your skincare, it might be something else, it might be medication, it might be, but it's more transitory, and you can manage that much more easily. But most conditions will stay and they can be managed away. But just not always, entirely. And I'm very lucky now because my skin is so well managed. And I I almost never react now. I do occasionally. But it's mild, and it's but it's like, Do you know what? And it goes back to this point about the mind. When I react, it's, I think it's because I'm so comfortable now and I understand my skin now that it's not as acute. And I'm not bothered by it. I'm not upset by it. And so it's it's a common experience and it's so it comes very quickly. And I do think this there is that and and it's like you know one of my ironically when I you know when my skin was at its most challenging, I was working in the States for a wine in wine brand. It's a fantastic job, I loved it. But wine is a really big trigger for me.

It's a big trigger for a lot of people. You see the layers go red, you get that histamine reaction, aggravates rosacea, sorry for hormones,

yes. But interestingly for me, I'm in New I got into granular detail about food. And so I know that old world wine tends to be better for me, the new world is really funny. And that's you start to learn these things about yourself. But yeah, I but you know, and I was working in the wine industry and wine was I knew was a really bad trigger. But I love wine, I really appreciate a glass of red wine, still, I will still drink wine, but I'm in control. And that's the difference. I you know, that is a choice. I'm not going to forego that glass of wine because I want that one glass of wine. And then the you know that if you do react, it's your choice. And it's it changes the whole dynamic of skin. Because you're in the driving seat. And that's what we try to do at pi we we offer a free service for people just to come and talk to us because I I've walked in those shoes so much I know what it's like when you get into a skin rot and you cannot find and navigate your way out. And you know, the industry I joined which I didn't know much about you know long time ago now is very different again now. And it's there's so much choice out there. There's so much misinformation. It's you know, you enter the world of atoms and that's completely bamboozling for people you know, if you want to introduce a vitamin C you know the complexity around just that choice because this is very hard to navigate, depending on what you're wanting to get from your skincare. I like problem solving.

Yeah, for sure. I'd like to dive into that as she and the different conditions because I think what you say there some of the things I just pick up on is so important because when you talk about the acceptance that you have it but that you can make conscious choices it reminds me very similarly when I was diagnosed with PCOS and I was pretty much told you know you make this as you may never have children how disempowering is that first of all right you may not be able to say I had endometriosis as well. And then with the you know, you are more likely to develop Type Two Diabetes again quite scary, particularly in family history. You know, the acne that you're experiencing is probably down to the PCOS, which it is and you know, but then Understanding actually that I could make active choices to it's never gonna go away. Of course I have PCOS, yes, it takes a bit more work to manage my blood sugar than other people. But once you accept and, and realise that you can bring things within your control and make conscious choices, is so much more empowering, isn't it? And it is similar to to you what you were saying there. But it's so often we get this diagnosis from a doctor, though, you know, medication is the only way out of this. And you know, inherently you don't want to feel that because you're giving away your power. It's like, if I don't take this medicine, now I'm going to be suffering. It's not the greatest approach. I relate

to that on so many levels. And I think once you take that step, and sometimes it's quite a painful step. I mean, I had to meticulously document my life, to work out what my triggers were. But I always say to people, if you are struggling, just know, know your skin. And it takes a bit of effort, and it really does. But God is it worth it. Because you'll start to see patterns emerge, whether it's food, whether it's particular skincare you're using and trying and reacting to, you'll start to see common ingredients. You know, it is it does take some unpicking, but it was life changing for me. Absolutely. I wouldn't be doing this for a start, because it got me into ingredient lists. And that just fascinated me and opened up a whole new world. And a really positive wonderful world. You know, it changed my life. But it changed my life in a in a in skin ways too. Because it is that notion of being feeling like you can take charge. It's very powerful,

very powerful.

So before we

dive into the actives, just because I think obviously there's a there's a gut piece of this, there's a mind piece, there's so many levels really, isn't it when we're talking about the skin. You mentioned there that you were really meticulously noting down what you were eating what those triggers were, and you worked out the old wine was better. The new world or what were the other things when you were going through it because I know for example, like with acne, dairy is a very common trigger. What were you finding was it was was it foods, for example, that were higher in histamine that was causing more of a problem or

do you know what I mean? It was it was well, at one point I went down the whole salicylates route to find out whether that salicylates and food were affecting me. And actually, I spent a lot a lot I mean, I went down a rabbit hole there for months and months of my life, because salicylates are another thing and all the things that you think you're eating a really good like, spinach, cucumber, full of salicylates. So that was I just gave up on that because I actually thought actually, there's nothing that I could literally nothing was very, very healthy. I don't know I wouldn't really healthy at all. And I do think that that actually. And particularly talks about dairy and eczema, and I remember man, it would talk we can talk about this in a minute. But managing a child with eczema and and I had a great child minder at the time, he said Be very careful about excluding whole food groups, because a it might be completely unnecessary and be very hard to reintroduce them. So I always sort of say, you know, you've got to be quite mindful about and also get advice on when you're managing food exclusion diets. And for me, all sorts of random things, select tomatoes is a classic one. Not great if they're all that much better if they're cooked. A certain ingredients was one in particular

struggle when they're cooked, because generally, it's a much more concentrated dose. So a few like cherry tomatoes, and a salad is fine. But for example, it's a tomato based Yeah,

but that's very, that's you're not comparing like with like, no, that's really concentrated tomatoes. It's like, you know, 100 Exactly. If

you look at Marco Pierre, right, yeah. Yeah,

so that's different. I mean, if I took the same amount of tomatoes, and AK, but, and also, it's so personal, and it changes all the time. So that was, that was one example also particular ingredients and skincare. So there were several, which are quite quite unpronounceable, but some of them are quite well known. So sulphate is not great. Propylene Glycol is not good. phenoxyethanol is a preservative that was commonly used to replace parabens, which there was a big scare about and not great for me. There's one called EMI. It's called, I can't even pronounce it, but it's abbreviated to EMI, which has now subsequently been very closely linked to eczema. And there's all sorts of restrictions now on how you can use that. But so so I could start to see ingredients in skincare. Yeah, all sorts, all sorts of advice.

I say when I've asked skincare companies about this, why is it there? I get told to random answers from things like it's to enhance the delivery of the of the active ingredients and things like this. What What is it there for and what's the issue with that?

It can be it can be different things so that what you just described is definitely one reason sometimes when active ingredients are extracted, they're kind have put into a base of propylene glycol. So you can't sort of remove one from the other. Sometimes it's like a humectant as well. So it sort of keeps moisture in the skin, that's diff different things, but we don't use it. There are ways and means there was ways to formulate differently. It's sort of serums. Particularly, they used to pin serums a lot. And to get that very, very light texture. And alcohol used to be used to be formulated the serums a lot. serums used to be formulated with alcohol a lot, you just don't need them. But it takes a lot of effort. You just don't need them. So there are ways the words means

they're always around. So I often get asked if there was one supplement, and I had to narrow it down to one supplement that I would take, what would that be, and it would be athletic greens. Why? Because it contains pretty much everything you need. It has adaptogens in it, it has already costi, B vitamins and other vitamins and minerals. It has mushrooms as prebiotics, probiotics, and it also tastes incredibly good. And so I tend to have it first thing in the morning or add it into my morning smoothie is super easy to blend up. And it's just so lovely. And like skin clearing energy boosting, helps with gut health is just magical. So it's the one thing that I take absolutely every single day. And the cool thing is you can get a year's free supply of vitamin D and five free travel packs from my friends over at one, all you need to do is head over to athletic greens.com forward slash Angela Foster. That's athletic greens.com forward slash Angela Foster, and let's get to the show. Okay, and then in terms of the mind connection, I think we were both talking offline, you know, with our experience with children with eczema, for example, just how much stress maybe seems to make a difference. That's something and it's interesting what you were saying there because about not eliminating from children's diets. That was the decision I took very early on with my daughter, because I was like, I don't really want to be restricting you when we don't yet know what could be causing it. And from an observational point of view, what I found was over time is that actually chlorine did aggravate it. She's a swimmer, but also, you know, just the stress of being at school even though she absolutely loves it inherently is putting a little bit more stress. Sometimes that can cause glare up so around exams and things like that. And it seems unrelated to food because very easy to jump to conclusions and say well, I'll remove this remove this remove this and I think there is an element of you then conditioning the child already. We don't want children to go grow up particularly I think with feeling like they've got to restrict food too much for obvious reasons, particularly with girls. And that was my concern. What have you found with that XP yourself?

Course also learned Yeah, it's fascinating hearing hearing it because it sort of took me back and I went to my child starts to get x MRI. It, it was so much worse than when I suffered with my skin. I mean, when I suffered my skin, I was miserable, but was just 10 times more miserable with a really young child who couldn't really communicate that well and and I was felt powerless to help so so for any parents out there who's going through that I totally understand because it's you feel dreadful. So with him, it was very interesting, because he is on set with him quite young. And he was about two and a half. And it was when my his little brother arrived. And we thought we'd managed it. Okay, we weren't, we were very busy business owners and but we thought he was aware that he was you know, I was obviously quite big. I knew there was a baby in there. But very, it was very interesting, very near just before the baby came, you know, week before he came up to my stomach and said stay in there. And I went, Holy, Holy. Yeah, so I thought and I said to my husband, he's not okay with this and, and then when the baby arrived, it was a real shock for him. And, and they love each other now it's fine. But very soon afterwards, he had eczema all down his legs and onset, and we weren't sure whether it's because we'd moved. We changed a lot because we were moving him out of his cart. And in all of these things were changing at the same time. So and again, we had a new mattress when isn't the mattress. But actually, I think it was the stress and what I took a long time and because I was just so desperate to fix and I also thought as a skincare owner, Brandon, I mean, I should be able to do this you know. So I just threw everything at it and tried different supplements and so I probably didn't really know at the end what what had solved it ultimately, but that what I did, one thing I did do was and I sit and I've seen this a lot since working with parents and looking at some and this is so simple washing powder. It find that so washing powder, and even people using the Kinder washing powders. I'll tell you, I'll tell you Fact. So if you wanted to remove all residues of detergents from washing powder out of your clothes, or bedlinen, or pyjamas, or it would take five washes to get them up. If you put them in five times, it would take five times on a really hot wash to get them out. So that shows you that these residues stay. And actually what we often would say to people is go just don't wash their clothes on anything. Just you can do hot wash or whatever, without any detergent. And just see, and lo and behold, about a month later, it would be getting better and better because as they wash the clothes again, I wouldn't ever suggest to go wash your clothes five times in a row. It's pretty painful thing to do. But as as time went on, particularly in pyjamas, this think about pyjamas and think about bed linen. So we just removed all of it and didn't introduce him for a long time later and reintroduced. And actually, my James any

central oils for kind of just freshening up No,

no, no, I didn't. And yes, the whites don't ever look, they look pretty grey. And they but you know, you just that was just a choice and, and it made, I believe made a very big difference. And even when now when I do is washing powder, I, I just realised that you, you just use about a third of the dose. I just use a third, you know, you don't need to use the whole, whatever dose. So that's one thing I did that the other critical thing I did it, this made a huge difference was bathing. And I think when you see all that aggravation, you just don't want to get it wet and you're just terrified of what to do and you think it's going to make it worse. And actually bathing is one of the single most thing, best things you can do daily. So, but it's really it's all about the detail and and what we found to be brilliant is bathing for you have to submerge the skin for at least five minutes. Obviously not hot water in a nice lukewarm water that's calming. I would put oats in the bath. So I think this was one of the most influential things. That was chickenpox, actually, yeah. Oh, it's not so good, actually, bizarrely, but oats topically applied. And I will put them in a tight sock and just a new you squeeze out all the milk from the O's until the water is like a Cleopatra bath, it's more milky. You let them submerge under that. And it should be for at least five minutes, but no more than 10. And that's really a nice to put a timer on. Because after 10 minutes, it's thought that the kind of the air starts to draw moisture out of the skin. So you get them out and you need to get them dry, patted dry very gently. And you need to get a lotion on or cream on within seconds. seconds. So you lock in that moisture. Yeah, you get the moisture, you get a moisturiser on very, very quickly, and then let that dry. And then I used to put a bomb on top to seal everything. And I would make him senior to me in short pyjamas so that his his skin could breathe and everything could dry well. And it was transformative. So very

similar to me, actually. And I but I can't work out as well, where there's an element of because of my daughter's was always mild in any event, but whether there's an element as well of just outgrowing these things, as well as essentially saying, I think as they get older,

particularly but it's stress related. And it sounds like both our children's cases there was different in elements of stress. And maybe you know, who knows, maybe part of it was that he just got used to having a brother, you know, so you just don't know, but But I do think I actually I used to see him go into the bath. You know, the Ag the the inflammation in the skin was distressing. And he'd come out and eight visibly calmed him visibly. So I think it was a combination. But yeah, and you know, and I, you have to be really careful here because obviously, again, I would say I don't know, because it's in your daughter's skin. But my son's was bad. But it wasn't it wasn't extreme eczema at all. And many children's are and you have to that you know you do, your GP has its place there. And steroids can have their place. But I think the problem is is that you need there is a very particular way to apply them, and they shouldn't be used long term. And the trick was steroids as you use them as soon as you see a smidgen. And you get it on quickly. And then you shouldn't need to reapply, it should just act very quickly. And you nip it in the bud. You shouldn't just be applying everywhere. And you shouldn't be wise I think

a lot of people assume I'll wait and hopefully it'll get better and then it gets worse and worse and worse. And then they go for a steroid cream.

It's where it's the way you apply it and you shouldn't have to apply it repeatedly. And then you should apply on an isolated spots where it's needed. But we never went down that route because we didn't have to but it was painstaking. painstaking, but worth it and he's fine. Now so lucky.

Yeah. I mean, likewise, as I say my daughter's was quite mild. So I think for people listening, it's hard, isn't it because if you're very severe eczema, I know. My hairdresser she has very bad eczema. She really struggles with it and I think as an adult that can be let's talk about the skincare then because you offer consults Patients, which is quite unusual for for many companies, so people can actually get a consultation and really understand how to target their skin. Let's wait, where's the best place to start? Do you think someone from let's take, let's say someone who maybe has hydration issues, and they feel like their skin's a little bit dull? What kind of products because I know it was soon as I think of like dullness, I think of vitamin C, vitamin C, I've struggled actually from, from breakout perspective, I think vitamin C can be quite challenging sometimes, depending on the delivery system, because I've used some that are not in a water base, and then other ones in an oil that are quite challenging. So I'm curious, you're

fascinating. Is is all about, do you know when you if you react to vitamin C, it's not it's, it's very unlikely to be the vitamin C you're reacting to, it's everything else. So to your point to the delivery agents, is also concentrations and the fact that if you're using water soluble vitamin C, which actually usually the culprits for most sounds interesting, there's definitely for you is because for that vitamin C to stay active, because it's water soluble, Vitamin C is so unstable, you have to keep it at a pH of 3.5 for it to stay at all active. And the other prompt, so that's not great for the skin. So your whole formula is is too low a pH, which is very unbalancing, so that's an issue. But equally any water soluble ingredient cannot penetrate the skin, it cannot. Your skin as you know has a barrier. And it's designed so that when we jump in a swimming pool, we don't inflate with water. It is you know, you can't you can't easily absorb water soluble ingredients. So that's the issue. And so what is water, vitamin C's were soluble vitamin C's, you have, that's why they're often in such high concentrations, because you have to put masses in just the hope that some of it

max this is on a sprite.

So you want and also live, you always want to know soluble, it just sounds like it's the formula, the rest of the form you need to think about that might be challenging, because an oil soluble is the right pH it penetrates the skin properly. It doesn't release into the skin until it's in the skin. That's really important. That's what you want. So it's slow releasing, and you get a control dose. So from your first job to your or your first pump to your last pump or your bottle, you're getting the same amount. So shouldn't actually

have any contact with the error either, presumably because not because well, even in our so because sometimes they'll come into the tincture format is that, then you're opening it and expose

fine if it's also liberal. Also, it was very stable. And you can heat an oil soluble vitamin C to eight degrees, and it'll be fine. So oil soluble, very, very stable. And that's one of the benefits of it. It's the water soluble that has to be either encapsulated or you don't want it very, very sensitive to heat light. Temperature. No, but what else whatever not said. So yeah. But anyway, Well, you asked a very important question, which was where to start and let you let's take the example of dehydration. But I would apply this to actually any person's skin issue or frustration, good skin, health, and is all about cleansing. It starts with cleansing every time. And I cannot tell you over the last decade, how many people's skin we have held just by fixing their cleansing. And it's usually because cleanse often cleanses are contained surfactants. So they're kind of they don't always foam, you know, often. A good clue of that is that it foams but often they're even cream cleansers that have surfactants in them. So really cheap way of getting dirt and grime and makeup off easily. But they again, it's all about pH they spike your pH they strip away your natural oil, no skin panics and overproduces or if you've got an older skin type that struggles to produce or you're kind of prematurely ageing or skin every day. But fundamentally, I use the analogy of probiotics, right? detergents don't have the prebiotic and not prebiotics, antibiotics sorry. Antibiotics don't have intelligence to me kind of good bacteria in your guts, right they just whip through and is the same with with detergents and cleansers. They just they just whip everything away very efficiently but they strip everything including all your good oil that you want. And so your skin has to over produce or is struggling to replace. So you know aggravate acne then which does all sorts of things actually with acne. That it's it's really damaging, frankly because any skin that's that's doesn't have enough oil is well overproduce but also it that skin is really dehydrated. So often actually is really interesting. People with acne have dehydrated skin but don't realise because they're cleansing more often over cleansing And so what happens is their skin is feeling like it's lacking moisture. And one of the ways it compensates is to produce or to make it feel well hydrated. So actually, one of the tricks of that is actually to introduce oil to your skin, which anyone with acne would be horrified at. It's incredibly helpful.

I've found it the most helpful thing to have any thing that like calms down Yeah, absolutely.

Because your skin is not going to reproduce even. And and it's all about the oil because obviously you don't want to come into genic oil. We have this beautiful oil it's this you won't believe the colour but it's completely black. It's black cumin seed oil. That's one of our test products. But it is on the market now and it's like cumin, sort of oil and charcoal. But that's a beautiful oil that's actually going to detoxify the skin, but it's going to it's lovely to use it's very light, but it just traps moisture in so so you're not going to have that issue your skin is not going to over produce all and it's going to kind of regulate your sleep and production. But anyway back to cleansing that's the point is is that whatever your skin type is poor cleansers will imbalance your skin and once you have imbalanced skin your honour kind of high road to nowhere but it's very hard to come back from and what we see often is people will cleanse their skin and you get that feeling of tightness after your your cleanse if you feel that you're using the wrong cleanser stop. And

how can you effectively take makeup off because I use like an oil I can basically make a lovely

yeah there's lots of so we have two we have a creamy cleanser has no surfactant at all we're using a combination of oils but in a cream emotion that just that's either dissolve dirt or grip dirt and take them away take it away. There's very gentle comes with a lovely cloth. Used together. It's a beautiful quite spa like cleanse but very efficient will take off mascara right you don't need these surfactants to remove, you don't need them. We also have an oil cleanse and orchids is a great and brilliant I would say if you are somebody who wears more makeup, or particularly a mineral SPF and oil cleanser is brilliant because it's going to very efficiently take off makeup dissolve it again and mascara new I always say that a good cleanser should take off your own makeup, you shouldn't need a separate eye makeup remover. And you just again you both ours you apply to dry skin but it just dissolves dirt and you just rinse away that one just tends to melt and rinses away but you're not you've not got the sulphates and the betaines kind of detergents in there. And honestly the number of times I've just seen people's skin misbehaving because it's imbalanced. And we'll often do the kind of the 30 day cleansing challenge and say go away just because I think people come to us and say what, what's the moisturiser fix or what's the serum fix none and an unknown and cleansing effects and that'll not what happens is if going back to that feeling of when your skin feels tight after cleansing, you can very easily misdiagnosed or skin type two people come and say oh I've got very dry skin well actually no you haven't but you're feeling it's dry because you're you're using the wrong cleansers it feels really dry all the time and tight and flaky but it's not necessarily and what you find is you get into a good habit of cleansing and I would say it's gonna be so transformative you can then we can then get you on the right path. But once you've gone down that path kind of you have to it's quite hard to get people back from

and cleanse twice virgin v2 So it's what I've been taught to cleanse twice remove makeup

Oh in one sitting yes if you've got if you've had if you've worn more makeup or SPF I think particularly together if you want an SPF day and makeup on top you are good double cleanse is great and you could do either are all cleanse verse and then our cream cleanse or you could do double cleanse with either I don't always and I think because I have the skin I have less is more for me I know that so if I've had a very light makeup day or a no makeup day I'll just do a one step cleanse and even in the morning I because I have two young children and a business to run I don't always always cleanse in the morning. I would definitely if I've used that black charcoal I would always but but I'll give my skin a good wash and use a planner but I think if you're if you're more on the hypersensitive side, just be careful and just less is more and build from there.

And what should you do after cleansing what's a really good morning and evening routine? So I think for somebody who is looking for that glowing skin, good hydration levels, protecting the skin against ageing enhancing collagen Boss, what's the ideal combination?

Okay, so let me take you through mine because I'm all of Tick tick tick right. Good cleanse, I would use peptides. So we have so we have these little arrows telling about these little lamb. Yes, these boosters are so cute. So this is this one's the insulin so that's really good that's a prebiotic is very good for calming and building your body. Maria, this is the peptides I think and what they are you just put a couple of drops into your existing what peptides are they? They are P peptides coming from Pee, pee, okay. And there's two types. My mind has gone blank but I know that pain and they so peptides are really interesting because they do send a message to your skin to produce collagen, collagen. We have one of those coming but collagen to apply topically does not boost your collagen. It's a complete misnomer, peptides they can send a message to produce collagen. So I have to say it's probably one of the ingredients I've introduced more recently that has had such an impact on my skin in terms of tone and plumpness. And yeah, it's fantastic. So I would put that into a serum. So I use our Hydrating Serum. I apply that together. And then I would just use an oil at the end and I would mist before an oil so we have a lovely mist called sentry flower. really calming if you if you get Raschi reds hot skins good for that too. But I would missed and then apply or I use I think I have this missed on oil so now I don't have the Miss so you always say a little hack. Missed before oil is the perfect way to apply oil because you get a very even application and you trap in that moisture. So it's just layering in moisture. And I see my other hackers I missed between those steps. Because you just in your life do it before serum I do it for moisturiser I do it because it's a really nice way because it will make your products go further they'll apply more evenly. But with oil particularly just three I just do three drops. This is already set and look at that colour that is carotenoids. That is just pure rose. We use the whole hip not just to seed Omega 3679 is magical. It's our current product and it's the thing we were most famous for but just three but most recent doesn't look like drops, three drops and you're just gonna pat that you just literally put it between your fingers you just passed on to the skin on to Mystic so you

shouldn't drop in I often see this when I look at videos on Instagram anyone that's in the beauty industry. There are certainly Pat why is this why don't we do this

just because you just don't want to work perfectly for me. I mean I have demographics and so I don't want to just do loads of this because I would get rashes. Just you just want to gently pat because you just don't want to kind of push and pull the skin. Okay. Eye Cream people you want to apply low and let it absorb what it needs. But so that's my evening and then in the morning I would just use cleanse, and and then moisturise, and then SPF and the F and the moisturise I would use as a vitamin C. And and great to pair with SPF. And vitamin C is you can you can use a vitamin C moisturiser at night, but it's better in the day because it has brilliant antioxidants, a brilliant antioxidant, it's going to really help prevent against UVA B damage. So it's all about the quality. It's all about the quality of investment. So

turn to tell you about probiotics that I've been taking recently called p three O M by my friends over at bio optimizers that has a certain type of lactobacillus is lactobacillus plantarum. That actually has been shown in recent scientific literature to enhance your body's own production of folate. So we all know that folate is really important for a process in the body known as methylation. But normally we think about where can we get folate from our food or from supplementation. And what's been found in recent research led by Dr. Cara Fitzgerald, is that actually if we use certain probiotic bacteria, then our microbiome can actually produce more folate for us which is very, very cool. And that particular probiotic is in the p3 om by by optimizers. And that's one of the reasons that I take it every day is also because it has been really improving the health of my gut reducing things like gas and bloating and increases mental clarity and focus. And it also boosts amino acid absorption because it helps convert protein into usable amino acids that feed your brain, gut and muscles. And as you know, I am a big fan of incorporating enough protein in our nutrition and diet plans because it helps to stimulate muscle protein synthesis. It gives us those very important amino acids which actually contribute to things like mental focus and clarity and probiotic p3 Oh and by by optimizers helps you do all of that is nothing short of amazing. And you can get 10% off that probiotic by heading over to bio optimizers.com forward slash Angela and entering code Angela 10 at checkout that is by optimizers.com forward slash Angela and just enter code Angela 10 at checkout you'll get 10% off probiotic p3 om and also the other products that I love by them. The blood sugar breakthrough which is incredible for helping you regulate your blood sugar Yoga, particularly after a high carb meal, the magnesium breakthrough that I take every day and really helps me to sleep. But actually, magnesium is about so much more than that, because it's used in so many processes in the body. And I'm so excited to say that now they're delicious tasting chocolate protein powder that you've probably seen me posting about on Instagram is also now available in the UK. And that is their protein breakthrough. So you can go and grab a cool 10% off all of those over at bio optimizers.com. Forward slash Angela and entering code Angela 10 at checkout. Now let's get back to the show. And do you have a SPF does we do natural it's not a chemical sunscreen,

it's a mineral sunscreen. Everything's a chemical. It's not forget so we got it. So we sort of say when people say oh, it's chemical. You know, water is a chemical. Everything's a chemical. So but it's not it's a it's a mineral one. It's not a more synthetic.

Synthetic. That's the best word. Yeah.

But it's a mineral and it's called British summertime. Party summertime. And we call it that because not because of just because it's British summertime, we call it because of the BST because of the wintertime when the clocks go forward. And that you know that feeling as Brits when the clocks go forward. And that spring is you know, we start summer officially started British summertime, genuinely get excited. It's a joyous moment. And so each person's life like we live in very next day, we're walking around the streets and everyone's lovely to each other because we euphoric. And that's that's just called it acts. We just love that day.

That's a great name. And he's he's so true. Because I think now we're recording this at the end of September. Goodness me, I just noticed with the busyness, there's a lovely summer walks, if I hadn't, you know, take my dogs out a little bit in the morning. But if I didn't have time, I was really busy, like podcasting and coaching and things all day. That's okay, because I could have a beautiful evening walk. And now it's just going so Yeah, yesterday evening, I just was playing hockey and the sun was just going just so fast while I was trying to walk the dogs and it's cold and it's wet. And then they come back grubby and dirty. And it's just praying for marched and roll wrap back round.

Well, someone said to me yesterday is the problem with this time of year is it's you're just entering the tunnel. And I thought was so well put because you know, you just see this long. You know, it's a long five months before you come out the other end. Anyway, on that just cheery note.

That's the only thing I suppose I do see the benefit is you do get to see, as long as it's a clear day, every sunrise and sunset, you can pretty much guarantee and I did that with my son one year, we sort of decided to take photos of the sun rising and setting that was a kind of our way of getting through those winter months. And she was really lovely. Especially notice. It's nice.

I like the change of seasons really. I wouldn't want it to be summer all the time. No, exactly.

So okay, and then what about these actives? Because this is exciting. I always like the idea of adding something extra in if you want to give them a little bit of a boost. How do those work?

So you can I mean, the beauty of them is we're calling them our affordable actives. So it's our it really is our kind of cost of living crisis on So for people that if you particularly if you don't Well, there's two different dimensions to this. The first is that I was continually told I couldn't use actives because I have, you know, hypersensitive skin and I was like well, I'm, I'm in my mid 40s And I'd quite nice, you know, an extra minute or you know, a bit of a boost. So, I would say actually, if you do have challenging skin, there's absolutely no reason you can't first of all, it's about finding the quality of the ingredient and inequality form and and that's been really sensitively made and thoughtfully made for your skin type. So that's the first thing we've tried to do them really affordably. So they're 19 pounds, which is amazing. So you can just you just put a drop into your existing products. And the beauty of them is they're so versatile so you could put vitamin C or drop into your moisturiser in the morning and then you could put a drop of peptides into your evening routine whether it's a serum or oil even and they blend really well together and it's just a great way of doing it without you necessarily I think again if you're somebody who has struggled with skin and you maybe you found a good groove right with the products you're using the you can add your pie concentrates into your existing products without having to go out and spend another 100 pounds on a new product.

Yeah, add these actors and I'm thinking about the charcoal one. What was it charcoal with that's not

an active that's an active showed you the little mini form this is the little model this isn't an active this is just a facial all that we have called carbon star but it's very much for acne prone blemish prone skin.

Okay, that might be a good thing before diving into the sauna maybe

know when you would want your skin to look into a sauna when I think you'd want you want you want it free you want your skin free

so there's some some nerves Well yeah, but it inhibit the toxins there because the oils go in quite I thought they penetrate quite deeply and quickly. What to devise a waiting,

I would. I wouldn't put personally I wouldn't go into a sauna with skincare or anything I'd want. Part of the point of saunas is that you're purging.

Yeah, I didn't know if your charcoal was going to help with that. No, because

I think it was in a different form, maybe but because it's in an oil form, I think it would just seal in the skin, I think it might see. I think you want to want to do proper sweaters.

So how would the charcoal work in terms of detoxifying many putting on at night,

you put it on at night, and you would only ever use this product at night. Okay, only at night, you'd never put it on the morning. And what it does is it just genuinely absorbs kind of oxidised sebum and just impurities in the skin. And then in the morning, you do a really good cleanse in the morning. And then it washes away. But at the black cumin seed is in there too. So that's again, what's giving that beautiful colour and the hero ingredient is actually the black cumin seeds. And it's I mean, it's got an extreme, it's extraordinarily complex. But in its simplest description, it's really anti bacterial. But it's really kind on the skin as well, because I think if you think about spot treatments, and they tend to have a benzoyl peroxide in them, they often have a salicylic acid and then not every once in a second, it's like acid, some a milder, obviously, but some people really struggle with it. And benzoyl peroxide is just pretty harsh ingredient that actually I always say is one of those ingredients that that comes to fix a problem and leaves behind a different one. No ingredient, no skincare ingredient or skincare product should should fix one thing and then create a different leave a different problem. And I think benzoyl peroxide, you get that beautiful crust around the spot afterwards, you know, it's just drying out the skin. It's not it leaves the skin imbalanced. And there's ways to tackle acne. And actually the best way is to keep the skin in balance. So you're tackling the inflammation and the you know, and you need a bacterial action. So that's what this product does so beautifully. So it's going to tackle and what I would say it's a great product to use in preventatively or in the active stage of a breakout. And then the rosette which I showed before. The bright orange oil is great for the end of a breakout. Just a sort of calming inflammation, healing for healing. So it's great if you've got one of this sort of a persistent blemish or scar that just won't budge. So people love that oil for acne scars. You just it's just going to just push on the healing. It's a very it's a very regenerative ingredient

that your thoughts around things like hyaluronic acid, for example, find integration really

good. There's a lot of debate about hyaluronic acid and I do I think that's pretty unfair and I think people don't understand enough how it works but it's brilliant. It's a It's why it's been in the beauty industry so long and it's stood the test of time because it's just fantastic skin hydrator so I'm all in favour. It's in the midst actually it's an amazing semester. It's an ombudsman C serum, but it's it's it features in our serums

and you've got from the beta carotene regime like natural vitamin A to kind of help enhance collagen production. Is that beautiful? Yeah. Okay, amazing. Well, I as I say I was just started experimenting with it with the products they smell and feel beautiful. So excited. I think I'm probably going to head over and pick up some of your actives to try as well just drop them something I'm kind of addicted. I was like playing with it and my daughter now she's 10 and she's got quite interested so Mommy, can I come and use your oils? When the pie skincare arrives?

Be careful we hear this a lot from mums actually saying my plati daughter's just yet. She's last night. My bloody son is just keeps nicking my moisturiser sentry.

I've got this vibrant blue oil that smells amazing. She's now associated with sleep. So she goes and puts on but I think a couple of drops that I used to drop or two levels going down so quickly. Glowing Yasmina overuse makes it expensive. Amazing. Thank you so much for coming on the show and sharing with us where can people find out more about you Sarah? The consultations the skincare Leisha

so website is priced skincare.com You can book on there so the consultations don't forget you can book very easily on the you can have as many as you want. They're completely free. On we're on Instagram at pai skincare and my personal channel is at my skincare underscore Sarah with an H

lovely we will link to all of that in the show notes. Amazing to have you on thank you so much for coming. It's

been a pleasure to hear

you enjoyed this week's episode if you know of anyone who's struggling with their skin or they're just looking for a really good quality organic skincare brand and please share this episode with them. Share the love and share the knowledge and it also helps to get the message of the show out there to a wider audience. So has have also been very kind in terms of giving listeners of this podcast a 10% discount of her skincare range, all you need to do is head over to pi skincare.com. And check out the products there. And if you enter code hBH 10 at checkout, you'll get 10% off your order. They also offer free consultations, which is really helpful in terms of you actually establishing which products are going to work best for you. And you can find that all over on their website pi skincare.com and just use the discount HPH 10. Thanks so much for listening to another episode of the High Performance health podcast. We really hope you enjoyed the show. And this podcast wouldn't happen without listeners and supporters like you and the best way to support the show. And to support me is to head over to iTunes or whichever platform you're listening on and provide us with a five star review. This really helps us to spread the message wider and help and impact more people to optimise their health and longevity. And if we read out your five star review, please reach out to us at info at Angela Foster performance.com with your name and your postal address and we will send you a call biohacking supplement or something else. Thanks again for listening and until next time, keep while syncing and stay optimised.

Thanks for listening. Remember to review and subscribe. You can grab the show notes, the resources and highlights of everything Angela mentioned over at Angela Foster performance.com You can also snatch up plenty of other goodies including the highly helpful Angela recommends page which is a list of everything she personally recommend to optimise your mind, body and lifestyle