Clean Skincare, Hormones & Fertility: The Hidden Toxins In Your Skincare | Ep. 587

Episode 587

Today’s episode is brought to you by my newest resource for women’s health
professionals, the Practitioner’s Guide to Optimizing Egg Quality. This comprehensive
guide breaks down the five key steps to improving egg quality, along with the top
five evidence -based supplements to support egg development, mitochondrial health, and
implantation potential. Head over to fertilityfriday .com /egquality to grab your
complimentary copy today. That’s fertilityfriday .com /eggquality. This is the Fertility
Friday Podcast, episode number 587.
Today’s episode is a really great follow -up to last week’s episode where we took a
deep dive into how to reduce our toxin exposure with Laura Adler.
That episode really made some waves. And of course, whenever we get into this topic
of toxins and toxin exposure, it can feel overwhelming. And in real food for
fertility, we have a really in -depth chapter on toxins and how they affect
fertility. And even just wading through that research and looking through all the
different places where toxins are coming at us can be a little bit overwhelming. So
in today’s episode, we’re focusing on skincare, and my guest, Courtney Joy Gets,
is joining us. She is from Primally Pure, and we get into a lot of interesting
topics. I mean, your skin is your largest organ, and what I always say is that if
you’re putting it on your skin, you also should be able and willing and wanting to
eat it, because essentially when we put products on our skin, they’re being absorbed
into our bodies similar to, it’s obviously not exactly the same as eating it, but
it has very similar effects. So a couple really interesting topics come up in
today’s episode from greenwashing this whole issue within the natural industry where
different companies are putting green labels and putting all these cool marketing
buzzwords on their products when they haven’t actually removed the toxins from said
product or maybe they’ll add in something that seems very healthy, but they didn’t
take out like the fragrance or the paraben or whatever. So we talk a little bit
about that and also just the importance of natural skincare and how it can be
different to our typical ideas and thoughts around skincare. So, there’s a whole
different approach to creating natural skin care products at times when you’re not
able to rely on a lot of those chemical compounds that kind of hold everything
together. So, really excited to share today’s episode. Let me just share a little
bit about Courtney before we jump into it. Courtney Joy Getts is Primarily Pure’s
Holistic Aesthetician and Education Lead. She has been with the brand for over eight
years and has been involved in the beauty industry for over 15 years. Her experience
and expertise with natural skin care, the healing power of touch and holistic beauty
rituals are at the core of all that she creates. She is trained extensively with
industry experts across the country in buccal intraoral sculpting massage, manual
lymphatic drainage, facial gua sha, and cupping to offer her community the most
educational content and transformative treatments. So without further So let’s go ahead
and jump into today’s episode with Courtney.
So I’m so excited to be here today with you, Courtney. Welcome to the show.
– Thanks, Lisa. It’s such a privilege to be here with you. – Yes, of course. And
the last time we saw each other was in person, which was so fun when I was on
the primarily peer. Well, I know that There’s the name of the company and the name
of the podcast, so tell me the specific name of the podcast so the listeners can
go check that out. Our podcast is called the Grounded Wellness Podcast. Obviously,
we’re a skincare company, but everything impacts skin health, and so we really love
to focus on overall health and wellness.
Your expertise just resonates so much with our community, so it was so cool to have
that conversation with you over in Southern California. Oh, Oh, so fun. And I still
remember the, so we were having this conversation. So on the air, it’s these two
women having the conversation, but a lot of your team were men. And it was so fun,
the questions that they were sharing. And I always find that men are, I mean,
obviously impacted because men have women in their lives. But it was so fun to just
have that experience of all the men being like, wait a minute, what did you say
about this and what was going on with that and I had no idea about this. Yes,
yes. They helped to guide the conversation. We’re like, that’s a good question. Let’s
talk about it. Oh, it’s so fun. Well, so I would love to hear about your story
for anyone who isn’t as familiar with you or as familiar with Primarily Pure. I’d
love to hear how did you get into the skincare business? Yes. So I have been a
licensed esthetician since 2007 and really was drawn to this industry since I was a
little girl. I like started a little spa and skincare studio in my parents basement
and would charge the neighbor girls for makeovers and spa days. So I feel like it
was innate within me and just really drawn to beauty and wanting to be beautiful as
a little girl. And then through the years, just like devouring beauty magazines and
all the DIY beauty books. So then finally, when I had the opportunity to go to
beauty school, it was truly a dream come true. And I will say now that I am fully
embracing the holistic lifestyle, it didn’t begin that way. So I’m really grateful
for my aesthetics education. It actually really inspired a whole person perspective
when it came to skincare, my mom tried to raise us with more of a health focus in
our family, but there was still so much more to learn and to dive into. And so my
roots of my training really began with not isolating the skin or just simply
focusing on topical products, but really looking at whole body health for balanced
glowing skin. And then I was working with this international beauty brand after
graduating for several years, only to then start to wake up a little bit more to
the reality of natural products and the presence of greenwashing in these natural
products. And so starting to learn that maybe these ingredient lists were not as
clean as they claimed to be. And as I was diving deeper into what truly supports
skin function and what promotes the balance skin barrier. I realized that these
ingredients really didn’t have a place in my skincare protocol for myself or for my
facial guests. And personally, I really struggled with problematic skin, tons of acne
over the years and truly tried every approach like from pills to tanning beds to
all the cringe like approaches now. And So I think too,
just my own personal healing journey of what truly clear skin, starting to cut
gluten and sugar and alcohol from my diet and releasing profound shifts in skin
clarity when I adopted those changes in my lifestyle. So then encouraging my facial
guests to also look at their lifestyle, look at their diet, and to reconsider the
products they were applying. So then I ended up leaving that beauty And I was with
for a really long time when I discovered Primely Pure, because I was on the search
for truly clean ingredients, minimal ingredients in the products, and knowing Bethany
McDaniel as the founder, and that she was a female entrepreneur pursuing really
incredible sourcing and formulations. I thankfully was able to connect with her,
and that was in 2016. So I’ve been with the brand for over eight years and have
been able to work alongside the brand we started. I was probably like the fourth
employee hired and now we have almost 125 or so employees.
So it’s been a really cool experience to be a part of the brand growth and just
helping to also support the growth of the product line and the ingredients we source
and education, especially with natural ingredients or products can work a little bit
differently than conventional skincare can. So really helping to lead the educational
side of the brand. And as I mentioned before, especially with our podcast, it’s just
another branch of our education that we love to share with our community. It’s not
just about the products you apply to your skin for healing, but about all these
other internal and external factors. So that’s kind of my journey from the beginning
until today. We also had the privilege of starting a holistic spa through the brand,
which we had open for about six years, which we just recently closed sadly with the
move of our headquarters and I moved states. And so while I’m not practicing in the
primary peer spa, still really engaged and skincare tips, holistic skin habits,
rituals, and also educating on the podcast alongside Bethany. – Amazing. That is so
fun to hear your journey through this. And I feel like it’s so common, given that
this is such a big part of your life and what you do that you did have a very
personal connection to it, having struggled with not too great skin. So why don’t we
talk a little bit about that? Before we started the interview, we had a little
chat. We were kind of talking about different topics to touch on. And you had
mentioned, you know, what about any questions from your audience? And the one
question that did come to mind was, I mean, what about women who really struggle
with acne and poor skin? What do you wish you knew then that you know now?
– I love that question. And, oh, my heart just breaks. So I think the first thing
I want to say is that I believe everything is repairable. I believe balance is
possible and our skin is so brilliant and intricately created that when given the
right support, it does have these innate healing capabilities. But when we’re
experiencing this painful somewhat embarrassing or shameful skin conditions,
like you can be so embarrassed to actually leave the house, it can be so painful,
it can be hard to sleep. And as women, we want to feel beautiful. And so
experiencing these inflammatory skin conditions can really take a toll on self
-confidence. And so healing too, what I think I wish I knew early on when I was
starting my skin healing journey is to, instead of Viewing breakouts or redness or
rashes as something to combat or fight or to erase or get rid of is to actually
approach it with more of a compassionate perspective because our skin is our largest
organ it truly is a mirror to our internal world. Oftentimes these signs that our
skin is showing us can can be a cry for help. There are these imbalances within my
body that need some tender loving care, it needs some support,
it needs some fortifying, some detoxifying. When we start to see these conditions as
an invitation to do deeper holistic healing, the ripple effect is not only clear
balanced healthy skin, but it’s more energy, it’s more vitality, it’s better sleep.
There’s just more clarity and connection and confidence holistically. So that’s my
encouragement is to, instead of isolating the skin or trying to target these
conditions with just harsh topicals, to really start to look deeper at gut health,
hormonal balance, lymphatic drainage, these big health functions and the way our body
was created to thrive and to start to just slowly do some deeper investigation to
support your skin. There’s so much I can dig into there. I think that one thing
that was really interesting to hear you talk about the skin is it’s similar to the
way that I talk about menstrual cycle, right? Because it’s a reflection of what’s
going on on a deeper scale and obviously the skin is a little bit different because
then I mean when I was growing up I grew up in the age of this all the
infomercials and stuff and so you would see all of those commercials and the
solution to skin problems was stuff that you put on your skin. So why don’t you
talk a little bit about just that concept? Obviously what we put on our skin is
very important but when it comes to skincare it’s not everything. One of the things
that you said which was really interesting was that everything is skincare. This is
something you said before we started recording. So I’d love to hear how we balance
that with the importance of what we put on our skin, but also how that’s not the
whole story for ensuring that we have healthy skin. Yeah, definitely. Everything is
skincare. As we look again at it being our largest organ and it’s intricately
connected to the way we’ve been created, everything influences the other.
And obviously our skin is impacted by internal factors and then our external
surroundings and world. So topical products, as you mentioned, are very important.
The quality of the topical products we’re using especially, but it is only one piece
of the skincare puzzle. And so one thing that I think is very important for skin
health that I think is often overlooked is actually nervous system regulation.
Oftentimes we hear that the sun is the number one culprit for premature aging.
I actually disagree with that. I think light and moderate mindful doses is extremely
healing for the skin. Obviously we don’t want extended UV exposure, but I believe
that stress is actually the number one culprit for aging. We are living in such a
state of chronic stress in our modern society and our body not only like even I
feel like I have friends are like, oh, I’m not stressed. I don’t feel stressed, but
stress can come in so many different forms. The toxic burden from the products in
our home, on our bodies, emotional stress, when we’re dealing with unprocessed
emotions or trauma, that’s just like kind of low grade chronic stress, especially in
our fast -paced modern worlds, the hustle, rarely having times of stillness or deep
rest. So when we really look at the effects that stress can have on our body and
living in this prolonged sympathetic state, it degrades our health over time and
repair and regeneration of our skin, our body, our functions, our organs can only
heal in a state of the parasympathetic nervous system, which is arrest and digest.
And so one of my favorite tips to support balanced skin is parasympathetic nervous
system activation. And so different Vegas nerve exercises. So Vegas nerve is one of
the biggest components of the parasympathetic nervous system. And that helps to
regulate so much within our bodies, cognitive function, digestion, hormones,
mood, and simple practices truly, just deep diaphragmatic breathing,
just taking a few moments sporadically throughout the day to tune back into our
breath, which often too we can find we’re like breathing pretty short, pretty
superficial, and it’s a free, fully free, accessible anytime. And so even just like
that oxygen getting back into our bodies, supporting our skin health from the inside
out, lowering those stress levels, and doing an inhale.
That’s about four seconds holding and then exhaling about eight. So that extended
exhale really helps to engage the vagus nerve and then other simple practices like
mindfulness and meditation, vocal cord vibration. There’s these various really simple
practices to really engage your nervous system that support whole body and skin
healing.
– Did you know that you could listen to the fifth vital sign for free with your 30
day trial of Audible? Head over to fertilityfriday .com /audible to listen now.
That’s fertilityfriday .com /audible. That
is so interesting because, of course, that is not typically what we are told when
we think about improving our skin. And maybe share a little bit about how you made
that connection. Like how did you, was it just through your work, through your
education, right? Through, I think that we underestimate the role of stress in all
areas. So, I’m right there with you, I think that, and I really like how you
framed it because I often try to do the same thing when talking about the cycle
where it’s not, there’s different kinds of stress. Like the chronic stress isn’t like
the guy that cuts you off today. The chronic stress could be the fact that you
have stuff off -gassing in your house constantly that’s putting an extra burden on
your liver that you don’t even know about. And so that, so I’m right there with
you.
– Yes, I think one of the things that led me to this understanding truly was like,
I tried everything else. Like there’s so many facets and factors that I feel like
often the nervous system can be a missing link. And especially if you feel like
you’ve tried every topical or lifestyle change, I think often stress can still be
lingering and we’re living in this dysregulated state. And I think too,
when we look at the skin, especially when it comes to premature aging or acne,
often the root cause of these conditions is inflammation. And I think too,
our Stress can have such a detrimental effect. The mind -skin connection is so real,
and that’s also what can create this inflammatory cascade. I think it’s cool too
because honestly, in modern medicine, they’re beginning to acknowledge the link between
emotional stress and disease. Something like 80, I think this fact may not be
correct, but there’s a very high percentage of diseases and disorders that they can
trace back to emotional stress. I think that’s the big piece that I’m leaning more
into is stress, as we mentioned, the products, the go -go -go lifestyle, and more so,
I think really leaning into that emotional piece, and that is something that can
easily get looked over because we can’t see it. It’s not something that’s easily
recognized and we really need to create those spaces of stillness and solitude and
meditation, I think to allow those emotions to really surface, be processed and
released. And when we think about the lines and where they’re forming, like often
women are struggling with the 11s or those forehead lines of just like overthinking,
worrying, fear, anger. And so often, our emotions are revealed on our faces,
whether we try to hide them or not. And like embarrassment, shame can be that
flushed look, redness. So our skin is telling a story too of the emotions happening
within us. And that’s why nonverbal communication is also so powerful. We communicate
not only with our words, but our facial expressions and what our skin is
communicating. So I feel like I’ve kind of rabbit -trailed a bit in this response.
but there’s just so many layers and I think too in my own healing journey,
just kind of feeling a little bit stuck. I was working with an endocrinologist
trying to help balance my hormones. I was doing all the diet changes, the balancing
the blood sugar. I detoxed everything and still struggling with certain skin
conditions. And that’s when I was like, there’s got to be a deeper link. And that’s
when I really dove into the emotions and started to learn the effect that that can
have on our skin and our body’s overall ability to heal. Mm -hmm.
So that was really the final piece of the puzzle for sure. Well, let’s talk a
little bit about skincare. I think that we forget that, especially like I find in
my mind as we talk about skincare, because of course I’m not always talking about
skin, but in my mind I feel like I go between my face and the rest of my body.
So it’s like when you’re talking about these things we can do to protect our skin.
I’m thinking about women who suffer with acne on their face because that’s our face.
So that’s kind of like the most distressing, I would imagine, the most distressing
aspect of it. But you don’t really think about everything else. You don’t think
about lotions and soaps and shaving gels and perfumes and all the things because as
you said, our skin is our largest organ And whatever you put on your skin, you
better may as well eat, because it’s the same thing. Maybe talk a little bit about
that aspect of it and why it’s so important for us to be aware and intentional
about what we put on our skin. – Yes.
There is, I think a statistic from the environmental working group that said women
apply, which I honestly think this is a little bit of an outdated statistic. Women
apply up to 12 products a day with over 168 ingredients. Like if we really think
about our body products or shower products or makeup or skincare, our hair, our
fragrance, that is easily more than 12 products a day. And when we add up all
these different ingredients that may not always be clean or supportive to our health
and our hormones. Over time, it contributes to this toxic burden on the body,
which makes it harder for our liver to be optimal and our digestion to work
effectively. And so while our bodies are very resilient and on the one off can
protect itself from these invaders in a sense, when we’re applying these products
daily, which most of these products are, that’s where it can degrade and damage our
health over time. And so I think when it comes to skin, because it is in Oregon,
I like to think of it as health care. So by really focusing on the products you’re
applying and the ingredients you’re using, it helps to heal your skin and give it
that environment to really thrive. And oftentimes, these ingredients that are in
modern day conventional skincare products that you grab from a drugstore or department
store, honestly, even a lot of e -commerce brands now that are claiming to be
natural are still packed with a lot of ingredients that are known endocrine
disruptors. They mimic our own estrogen and they throw off this delicate balance and
disrupt this hormonal harmony that we need for so many functions in the body.
Obviously, fertility being a big And also, they have been linked to being carcinogens
and allergens, and there’s just so many ingredients that are being allowed in these
products because there’s also practically zero regulation. There is a lot of movement
towards creating more regulation around products, but in America, there’s really
minimal regulation on what clean is, natural and non -toxic. So that’s the other
issue is a lot of brands are catching onto consumers, desiring cleaner products,
learning about the harmful health effects of applying these dangerous ingredients
daily. And so unfortunately, greenwashing has also become more prevalent.
So on the front of a bottle, it may have like a green leaf or it may say natural
or made with or made without. But when you turn the bottle around and actually read
the ingredient list, there can still be some sneaky chemicals that we don’t want to
be applying every day. The number one ingredient that I always recommend to keep an
eye out for that can still find its way even into the natural formulas is the
ingredient fragrance. And this can be a hard one because it’s like,
oh, I can pronounce it. I understand what this word is, where some of the others
are like either acronyms or long words that you can’t pronounce where fragrance is
like, “Oh, that can’t be that bad and I want to smell good.” However, this word is
actually protected by the FDA for companies to use because it’s a trade secret,
this fragrance formula, but it can contain hundreds to thousands of chemical
ingredients to make up this one fragrance. So in reality, we have no idea what this
ingredient actually entails, and it’s truly in everything. The body washes,
the shampoos, the air fresheners, the candles, so that I feel like if we just start
with fragrance and remove that from the products we’re applying, we’re surrounding
ourselves with, it’s a really powerful foundation to start to heal. – I’m so glad
that you mentioned that. That was kind of, if you hadn’t said it,
I would have asked about it, because when you talked about the greenwashing, I think
that that’s just, it’s irritating, but I think we should all know if we, if you
didn’t know already, you should know that it’s happening. Because I mean, I’ve had
that happen a couple times, or maybe my husband goes to the store and he buys
something and he’s like, “Is this, you know, like about this people?” And then he’s
like, “He’s pretty good.” So I’m not trying to say negative about him. He’s pretty
good, but it has happened. And I’m super irritated every time it does, you know,
you buy that lotion from the health food store or whatever. And then as soon as
you open it, you’re like, oh man, because when it does have fragrance, you know
that it has that. So maybe share with us then. Obviously the fragrance thing is
huge. And what’s interesting for me, I’ve been avoiding typical products for a very
long time now. And my husband makes lotion from different ingredients.
Yeah, I’ve been trying to get him to, like, you know, take it to the next level,
but he, like, does this whipped body butter stuff that’s pretty fun. Okay. So that
has helped me to stay out of a lot of the products in the marketplace.
Although I still think it’s not, how do I say it? Like, I still like to support
brands. I still like, you know what I mean? Like, I still like to have a variety.
The point that I was making, though, is that with the fragrance, that’s one of the
things that we can avoid. But how do we know then maybe share with us some tips
for choosing brands? Because you said a couple of things in the interview. You
mentioned that you switched brands. And one of the things that you said was because
you really felt strongly about the ingredients, right? And primarily pure.
And that was something where it sounded like you were saying, like even though they
were trying, they still didn’t go far enough. I really wanted to make sure that
there was the alignment there with the products. So talk a little bit about that,
maybe share even a little bit from the industry perspective of what are some of the
challenges associated with making a brand that truly is clean in the actual,
not their greenwash definition, but the actual definition of clean, Whether it’s
financial, whether it’s the product stability, why are all these brands pretending to
be clean, but not? That is the question. Well,
A, I think they’re pretending to be clean because of this growing consumer demand.
People are becoming much more educated on ingredients and skin health,
and I think too sadly with the rise of infertility, so many women are starting to
make this change when they’re struggling with conception. And so I think brands are
trying to kind of quickly align their packaging claims and marketing campaigns and
what they think consumers want to hear without actually doing the hard work of
aligning their ingredient list or doing it just enough that it can look natural,
but then they have this inclusion of the fragrance or refined inflammatory seed oils
or non -organically grown ingredients which contain pesticides and herbicides.
And so I think that’s one, money is always behind it. And the other is,
which we talk about a lot of primary Pure as well, natural products, they do
require a different type of formulation. We don’t have the
chemical stabilizers or the emulsifiers or these typical skincare ingredients that are
made in a lab to support the texture or the aroma or the color of a product
formulation. And so sometimes we often mention that with natural products, there is
some variety in the color you receive or what the texture feels like. There’s not
this uniformity or perfection when it comes to nature. That’s not how nature acts or
behaves in a sense. It really just depends on the crop that season or the weather,
especially with where we source. That’s why too, sometimes sourcing can be really
tough looking for these suppliers and distributors that are really aligned with
regenerative farming practices or truly don’t spray their plants or what processing
are they using for their oils and not using chemicals or high heat. So there’s a
lot that goes into truly clean formulations. And then I think sometimes when people
have used conventional skincare for the majority of their lives are used to a
certain feel or texture or experience with a product and natural products can
sometimes work a little bit differently. They’re not sacrificing results, they still
perform so beautifully. And if not, sometimes I think even better, because they’re
really supporting skin barrier function, your skin’s microbiome balance. But like a
cleanser, for example, we’re used to probably splashing your skin with water, sudsing
up, rinsing it with water, where we really advocate and love cleansing oils and it
doesn’t work the same way. You actually massage the oil onto dry skin, then you use
a warm washcloth to actually remove the product and makeup and dirt and debris. So
that’s why too, we have a strong emphasis on education just because sometimes natural
products can work a little bit differently. Natural deodorant being another one.
Aluminum -based deodorants block your sweat glands. If you watch people apply
deodorant, it’s like up, down, up, down, up, down, like just constant application
where with natural deodorant, there’s no fillers, there’s no cheap ingredients.
Everything’s very pure, very concentrated. For example, you only need one to two
swipes of a natural deodorant and there’s no aluminum. There’s no ingredients to
block this natural function that’s necessary to detoxify the body and bring that back
into balance. And so a lot of education on why sweating is good for you. And once
you make the switch, your body actually becomes more balanced over time and minimizes
the amount of sweat, minimizes the odor. And so, yeah, I think when we’re used to
experiencing products in a certain way, sometimes making the shift can be a little
bit more challenging. – Oh, there’s so much to dig into.
So I want to share a thing. So I learned about the aluminum problem a long time
ago and I’m one of those people who can’t, still can’t get away with not having
deodorant. Just, I don’t know if I’m the stinky person, I don’t know what’s going
on. Sorry guys, but it is what it is. And so, but the reason it really resonated
with me what you were saying, ’cause in high school I used degree. Probably the
worst, all the chemicals, all the, like, right, don’t judge me. I was a teenager.
But then when I stopped using it, I’ve tried so many different natural deodorants.
Now I’m really excited. I want to try it primarily if here is deodorant. But
anyways, we’ll get to that later. But I’ve tried so many different deodorants, but
the first thing you notice when you stop using the degrees, sorry, the label drop,
but that’s literally what you see is the first thing that you notice is that you
do sweat. So This has been years now, I’m like 20 years in. So I’m used to
sweating, but at first, yeah, it’s a little weird because you don’t even know that
this is happening, especially if you started using deodorants like that when you were
a teenager. Like you don’t even realize that it’s blocking your sweat. I just want
to hang out there because I’m fascinated by this because I just do this in my own
silo. I’ve never really talked about that. And I had a friend say something to me
recently, Courtney, she said something like, “Oh, but I hate those natural deodorants
because I need sweat. And I was like, wait a minute, you’re supposed to sweat. And
that’s like, but I don’t talk about this very much. So this is, that’s why. So
let’s hang out here because this is super fascinating to me. Yes. Yes. And isn’t it
interesting too, when we’re kind of, which I still forget, because this has been my
world now for so long as well. I’m like, oh, people are still drawn to the
aluminum or just, they don’t have that awareness. And I get it. I mean, sweating
can be uncomfortable. And especially in the summertime, it’s like, oh my gosh,
that’s like the last thing I want to do. – I feel like I should say something,
like what we are talking about, just for clarity, for anyone who still like doesn’t
sweat or whatever, because of the aluminum, we’re saying like you’re sweating, like
it’s wet, but you’re not smelling, just in case anyone’s curious about that part.
– Yes, that’s exactly it. So the deodorant, I mean, that’s the difference first and
foremost between a deodorant. It’s helping to combat that body odor and it’s
neutralizing that unwanted smell where the antiperspirants are what contain those
aluminum compounds to truly block the sweat glands. It’s a little bit scary when you
dig into the research surrounding that as well. Aluminum has been shown.
It’s also linked to Alzheimer’s disease. And even thinking of like heavy metal
toxicity in the body, aluminum is a heavy metal, and we’re applying it near these
really profound lymph nodes right here, which is a main detoxification hub for the
body, and then our delicate breast tissues. And I think oftentimes alongside aluminum
in those more antperspirant deodorant products are parabens, and there are also
studies that found parabens in breast tissue tumors that they pulled. And so
especially with the deodorant, it’s super vital to use an aluminum -free, truly
natural deodorant. And also to the way our bodies intended to function.
I mean, I think asanas are having a moment nowadays too for the detoxification
benefits, we’re sweating. Like sweating is known to be so beneficial for our health,
and we’re doing it from a whole body perspective, and saunas, and working out, and
exercising. And so it kind of defeats the purpose if we’re doing these other health
practices, but we’re still using aluminum deodorant to like block our sweat glands.
So yeah, I think when you dig a little bit deeper into the impact it has on the
body, hopefully it just sparks a little bit of inspiration to try a different
approach to your deodorant.
Popping into today’s episode with a quick question. Do you like paper charting?
Today’s episode is brought to you by the Fertility Awareness Mastery Charting
Workbook. This is the first beautifully designed, fully customizable paper charting
workbook designed with you in mind. With three years worth of charting pages, the
Fertility Awareness Mastery Charting Workbook has you covered. If you’ve been looking
for a solid alternative to charting apps, you’ll love this charting workbook. The FAM
Charting Workbook is available in both Fahrenheit and Celsius Editions and is
available in spiral bound, paperback, and e -book versions. Head over to
FertilityFriday .com /workbook to order your copy today. That’s fertilityfriday .com
/workbook. Now let’s go ahead and jump back into today’s episode.
I’m so curious now. So I feel like I’ve been living under a rock because I’ve just
been doing this for a long time. So I don’t have any idea. I don’t have a touch
point of what’s normal know, and what percentage of, even what percentage of
listeners would be using regular deodorants with aluminum and not sweating and not
realizing this is a problem. So you’ve, this is some, I’m going to be following up
on this somehow, but I can do some sort of, maybe I’ll do an Instagram poll. I
want to know, I want to know, because I’m curious now, because like I said, like
when you were talking about it, it’s one of those things that has slipped into the
background of my mind. Cause I kind of made that decision so long ago and didn’t
think about it. It is terrifying to think of all the people out there that are not
sweating because it is, like you said, an essential just part of detoxification and
right next to our breasts, which is a huge thing. – So deodorant was actually the
first product our founder, Bethany, ever formulated. It is literally what started the
brand. – Wow. – Yes, so that’s what we’re known for, I will say.
And so the majority of our customers, it can be extremely challenging to find a
natural deodorant that really performs sweating aside. Like you can still be really
stinky, I can feel really uncomfortable, it can cause irritation or rashes on your
delicate underarm skin. So people have really struggled to find one that really works
and supports their skin. And so many of our customer reviews are,
I literally was about to turn back to my drugstore deodorant until I discovered
Primalimpure’s deodorant. And so that’s like our big piece of education is like, if
you’re going to start swapping out your skincare for more natural alternatives,
deodorant is the first product to swap. Well, at some point in the future, when I
do try, I’ll provide my honest opinion because I am that girl. I have tried so
many different, I don’t want to make this about me, but we’re talking. I’ve tried
so many different and full disclosure, what I have to use, I use deodorants that
contain baking soda. And so occasionally I have to take a break from them because
if you use them for like long stretches of time, sometimes they obviously cause
irritation in the underarms, but that’s the only thing that has worked because like
I said, I’m apparently a sticky person. Lisa, I’m I’m gonna send you some of our
deodorants. And fun fact about our formula, because that is often, and people can
have reactions to the baking soda in the formula, which is the ingredient that helps
to combat unwanted odor. We use a naturally mined baking soda, which means it
contains a finer grain, so it’s much more smoother in the application, less prone to
developing any sensitivity or redness or rashes. And And Little Sneak Peak, we are
launching a baking soda -free deodorant later this year. For those of our community
that truly cannot use any kind of baking soda, we are working on a baking soda
-free version. That is so interesting. I just want to say, this was legit, just my
curiosity. I had no idea that that was your first product, just in case I would
think this was a really highly -calculated advertisement. It really wasn’t. legit like,
and I want to share something else too. I’m not going to brand dropped or whatever,
but I recently tried a different brand to the one I usually use and it did not
contain baking soda, but I was having one of those irritation moments and I was
like, okay, let me try smells. And then I used it and at first I thought it was
a miracle. I was like, this is the most amazing thing ever. And then probably a
month in I started to get and at first I just want to say I don’t have
particularly sensitive skin. I’m not that girl. I actually can use baking soda,
containing deodorants for the most part. And usually after it takes a while before I
get irritated. So I just want to prep. I’m not super sensitive. But after about a
month, I started to have this ridiculous, I don’t know what it was. It didn’t have
baking soda. So it had some sort of natural, whatever, I don’t know, you would know
more than me, but it had some sort of natural It probably plant -based, right? Some
natural thing, but it irritated me to the point that I threw it out and I could
never buy it again. I, it gave me like a rash and it was, I was just like, this
is so weird because it’s only baking soda that does this. Like what is happening? I
like my armpits, like armpits 10, deodorant zero. – Oh sad.
– My armpits just win and the deodorants lose. – Wow, interesting. And that’s the
thing too. – It can be a journey because obviously every body and body chemistry is
unique. So certain ingredients may be supportive to some and others can cause some
kind of reaction. And so it can definitely be a bit of an investigation along the
way for sure. – Yes, but just to wrap that up, like I do have it under control. I
have been literally using natural deodorants for a very, very long time. I’ve
experimented with making my own, all the things. So in case anyone’s concerned about
the status of my armpits. We are good, but I don’t want to make my own full
disclosure. I don’t, ’cause it’s worse when I put the baking soda with the stuff
myself. It’s just a lot more abrasive. So I actually am currently content with using
other brands that have sorted this out better than I have. – Yeah, love it. – All
right, well, we can switch to another topic. One thing I wanted to, but thank you
for entertaining. (laughing) I’m so glad that resonated so deeply with you. I could
talk deodorant all day. I don’t know if anyone else has the struggle, but man,
because I’m committed to not, but I feel like there was only one time, I think
literally in recent past, that I really felt compelled to use a different deodorant
once. It was several years ago, and I was on a trip, and I think I was speaking,
and so yeah. That’s just what, nervous, yes, real. That was, Yeah. So I think there
was only one time that I think I was like, oh, I don’t know. But anyway, I think
we make all these changes to fortify our health to create more resilient bodies. So
then in the one off in however long we do apply where we’re exposed or whatever,
our bodies are going to be okay. And they’ll be more quickly able to recover. But
I hate it because I’m used to sweating. No, like when I used to, I’m sorry, I’m
still sorry about this. This will be maybe the last thing. So when I used to use
degree back in the day, I can still remember this from like high school. It would
take days to wash it off. Like I would have to, because it really does whatever it
does to stop you from sweating, right? So it was very effective and it had the
smell. But I remember when I stopped using it, like I would have to like really
rub that stuff to get it off because whatever they put in it. So kind of like
fabric softener. Like when you, I don’t use fabric softener, but like when you, like
we’ve got baby clothes from friends and stuff like that, you know, when you have
little ones and they give you the package. And I remember a friend of ours, they
were the nicest clothes too. They were like, right? But I had to wash them like 10
times. Also just truly hanging them outside in the sunlight for like a day or two.
Oh my gosh, gets it out so well. But I’m in Canada. It was – Probably winter.
– Yeah, that’s true. – Sadly. (laughing) – Solid. – Okay, so yes,
thank you for the deodorant rabbit trail. I really appreciate it. And I trust that
there’s at least a few listeners who appreciated it too, so thanks a lot. I wanted
to get to the menstrual cycle and using products in line with that. You had
mentioned that when we had talked before. And I mean, one of the reasons that I
haven’t spoken specifically about the importance of clean skin care on the podcast
for a while, which is one of the reasons why I’m thrilled that we’re having this
conversation. But in the past, when we would talk about this on the show, of
course, one of the big reasons is just raising awareness about how important it is
to pay attention to what we’re putting on our skin. Because like I said, whatever
you put on your skin, you may as well be eating. And pretty much all of the
products that are engineered for women, unless they actually do meet those clean
standards, do have endocrine disrupting chemicals that do many of them, the chemicals
act like estrogens and then can throw off our cycle or hormones, can even make our
period pain worse and all the things. So tell us a little bit just about the role
of skincare and how for those of us who are aware of our cycles and charting our
cycles, can kind of incorporate that into our routine. Yeah, I love that. And so I
feel like a cycle thinking is just becoming more prominent and prevalent as we are
learning more about our bodies. One thing you and I chatted about on the Grounded
Wellness podcast, which I’ve heard you talk about before too, it’s like, why weren’t
we taught this at a much younger age? I truly was in my mid 30s when I learned,
which I’m only 38 now, but yeah, I was in my mid 30s when I learned that my
cycle had four phases. I had no clue. And so now that I’m aware and I’m tuning in
and learning more, it’s so beautiful to see how when we sync up our lives, even
our skincare, it can really help to support that delicate hormonal balance and all
the ebbs and flow of those fluctuations to not only just support like energy and
our mood, but also to support all the changes that our skin can experience too. And
when we use those clean products that don’t have those endocrine disrupting chemicals,
it can actually help truly, which sounds crazy, but it can bring balance back to
that hormonal system over time. It can help to reduce period pain and the PMS
symptoms and all the things when we have that lower toxic load in our bodies,
but still even with all that said, there’s still the natural fluctuations of our
hormones with our cycle, which you talk about obviously all the time. And so with
those changes, it can impact how our skin is responding. And so cycle -syncing our
skin care is a really powerful way to just help keep it balanced and supported
throughout our cycle. And so I can just walk us through the phases,
kind of what’s going on. And then a few really simple skincare tips that you can
incorporate, which I love this too when we approach our cycle with this mindset
because then if breakouts appear right before your period, you’re not like,
“Ugh, my monthly pimples popping up.” It’s actually like, “Okay, I’m aware. I’m in
my luteal phase. I’m moving towards my menstrual cycle.” It’s like these signs of
your skin, speaking to you of this is where you’re at in your cycle and then
supporting it with really natural supportive ingredients. So with the menstrual phase,
the focus here with skincare is moisture and massage. So I love acronyms,
alliteration, I mean, so that’s like an easy way to think of menstrual. I need a
little bit more moisture and an emphasis on massage because in this phase is when
our hormones are really dipped. Estrogen is low, progesterone is low. And so it
helps because of these lower hormone levels, it actually contributes just to a little
bit of a weaker skin barrier, lower sebum production. So your skin can be a little
bit drier, a little bit more susceptible to irritation or inflammation. And so by
focusing on moisture, which for a balanced moisture barrier, your skin needs both
water and oil. I think oftentimes we can still be a little bit nervous to put oil
onto our skin thinking it’s going to clog our pores or make us feel more oily when
in reality balanced, healthy skin requires both skin loving oils and that water
content in the skin. So a couple of tips that I love for supporting the moisture
barrier are plant hydrosols and like a facial mist after cleansing. and then while
your skin is still damp and dewy, applying your facial oil or your facial cream.
And a couple of ingredients I really love for rebuilding moisture, which primarily
appears also really known for it, and it’s a foundational ingredient is tallow from
grass -fed cows and emu oil. So these animal -based ingredients are very similar to
the way that our skin is created, and it’s similar to that makeup and that lipid
barrier. And so it’s actually easily recognized, easily absorbed, and all these fatty
acids are foundational to healthy skin function. So plant hydrosols, animal based
moisture, and then massage to help boost the absorption of that moisture, and then
to allow the skin to really support its internal functions. So facial dry brushing,
facial wash -off, ridged facial rollers, any type of facial tool or just massage with
your hands to really help support skin health and skin function from the inside out.
So those are a few tips for the menstrual cycle. And then as we move into the
follicular phase and ovulatory phase, as we feel our energy starts to increase a
little bit, we’re kind of coming out of that menstrual lull and slowness. This is
where estrogen begins to increase a little bit. And that’s when obviously we’re
preparing for ovulation and natural cell turnover is increasing, collagen is
increasing, and hyaluronic acid production is increasing. So this is where your skin
is starting to feel a little bit more glowy, a little bit more balanced, a little
bit dewy. And estrogen, sorry, progesterone production is still a little bit low
here. So we’re still wanting to focus on hydration and support that lipid barrier.
So with the follicular and ovulatory phase, the focus is on light exfoliation, just
to help support that natural glow, nudging that cell renewal, and then fresh blood
flow. So really enhancing the glow that your skin’s already got. And again,
massage is one of my favorite ways to enhance that microcirculation in the skin.
Facial cupping is one of the best for that, you have an immediate glow. It’s
helping to really support that extra blood flow, that oxygen -rich nutrients to the
skin. And then from an exfoliation perspective, this is something that I think is
either often misunderstood or overused in skincare. So when I speak about exfoliation,
I’m not thinking of aggressive scrubs or chemical peels. I’m thinking really gentle
gentle skin supportive exfoliation. Facial dry brushing is one of my favorite methods
because it just gently buffs away any buildup or dead cells that are just ready to
move along. It’s not incurring any trauma or injury to the skin to incur that fresh
collagen production or skin renewal prematurely like a lot of other more aggressive
exfoliation treatments can do, and it’s simultaneously waking up that circulation and
lymphatic flow below the surface. So it’s like this two -for -one treatment. And then
another really gentle exfoliant I love is just raw honey. So whether you use it as
an all -over mask or as a cleanser, raw honey acts as a humectant, so it’s very
hydrating. It also has enzymatic exfoliating benefits, so just helps to slowly kind
of digest any buildup or adult’s surface cells. And then when the honey mask is on,
honey tapping is a fun way to activate more lymphatic drainage and blood flow. It’s
kind of like rebounding, but for your skin. So you just tap with the honey, it’s
quite elastic. And so it’s creating this, it’s just waking up all that lymphatic
drainage and blood flow below the surface. So yes, facial cupping, raw honey,
that light exfoliation and hydration. And then, as we move into the luteal phase,
this is where our progesterone peaks and sodas are oil production.
So this is where you’ll probably start to notice those more reoccurring breakouts
right before your period. You may be more prone to inflammatory responses in the
skin, more redness, irritation. And so the goal here is lymphatic drainage and
detoxification, really helping to reduce that inflammation in the skin, keep the skin
really clear and supporting that optimal flow of the lymph fluid. And so as I
mentioned, facial tools are one of my favorite and easiest ways to really support
the lymphatic drainage in the skin. And Gua Sha, I love, if you’re experiencing more
breakouts on the face, just by focusing on the neck flow with any of your facial
tools, creates these open pathways of drainage and detoxification to actually lower
breakouts and inflammation on the face. Another skincare tip in the Lidio phase is
double cleansing. And so this is a two -step cleansing technique. One starts with the
cleansing oil and step two is more of a water or glycerin -based cleanser. So it’s
a really thorough, complete cleanse helping to really detoxify, but not over strip or
dry out the skin, which is really important to preserve that natural lipid barrier,
and then as well the animal -based ingredients. So looking for those creams and balms
to help keep the microbiome balanced, the skin barrier balanced, because even with
acne or breakouts, often times the traditional protocol can be to dry it out and to
be really aggressive with these acne fighting ingredients when something really
nourishing and gentle, like an animal -based fat that’s ethically sourced, packed with
fatty acids, are very, very healing and can actually help prevent any post
-inflammatory hyperpigmentation or acne scarring after a breakout. And then the other
thing with breakouts, oftentimes salicylic acid is a go -to acne ingredient.
However, that’s also shown to be an endocrine disruptor. And so looking for or
natural alternatives to salicylic acid, like white willow bark, manuka oil,
tea tree oil is very antibacterial and effective. So just nourishing your skin
barrier instead of going after it with more aggressive treatments. So yeah,
I think that’s essentially like looking at it as a whole. And again, it’s not like
a one guide for every skin state, but it’s really an encouragement to just tune
into your skin, like, okay, what’s happening here? What are my hormones doing? How
is it impacting my skin? And then what are these like little tweaks we can make to
our routine to help support our nervous system, our skin state, and our hormones
within? – Oh, I love that. That is, I love that you took us through the different
stages of the cycle. And when you frame it that way, even for,
I mean, of course, I think of the cycle for pretty much everything because that’s
what I’ve been doing, but for women who are struggling with different issues with
their skin, even just tracking where those issues are cropping up in your cycle can
be huge, obviously, and then pairing that with some intentional practices around kind
of minimizing what tends to happen more in those stages. Of course, you’re gonna get
much better results. And I love that you talked a little bit about the role of
animal products in skincare as well. I think more and more people are kind of
starting to realize that it makes sense.
I’m trying to think of the phrase, but like, supports like, I think is the phrase
I’m thinking. That’s also why oil cleansing can be so effective for skin. Yeah,
and it’s so different to, again, growing up in the 80s and the 90s. It’s very
different to what we were taught about at that time. I mean you call that
education. But when you just the whole industry seemed to be based on chemicals and
potentially plant -based products which have a role but I think we’re shifting more
to what actually works for humans and so it’s really just refreshing I suppose you
could say to hear more candid discussion about what’s actually working. I love that.
And I think it’s beautiful when we look at these formulations that include both
plant based and animal based ingredients, that is nature. That’s where nature thrives
with the presence of both. Like when we look at just monocropping and when it’s
just one crop planted, it actually is quite destructive to soil biodiversity in our
planet as a whole. And so regenerative farming, which we also educate a lot about
actually incorporates pasture -raised animals that graze and their manure acts as
compost for the soil and restoring that soil health. And so I just like to compare
our products with like the way nature was intended to function with the presence of
both. – Well, Sue, as we start wrapping up today, I would love for you to tell us
a little bit more about Primally Pure and some of the products you mentioned, the
deodorant and where our listeners can go to find more information also about yourself
and where they can go to find more about you, on the socials, all the things and
if there’s anything interesting and exciting on the horizon. Yes. So,
I think a couple of our best selling products that I always recommend checking out
first is for sure the deodorant, which we spent quite a bit of time chatting about
today. Okay. We have seven or eight different aroma profiles for a deodorant.
So that’s something fun. You could order like the trio and try out different sense
for your body, see how they work. We also have a deodorant quiz that’s kind of
based on your personality, which can be fun to figure out which scent is best for
you. Another product I really love to recommend is our Plumping Line in our Facial
Care products. Our Plumping Line is used with bakuchiol, which is a plant based
alternative to retinol. And studies have actually shown that this ingredient bakuchiol
performs just like a retinol. So it helps the smooth lines, resurface skin, support
acne. However, there’s no side effects like a retinol can incur, which creates more
sensitivities, more redness, sensitive to sun exposure. So that’s an ingredient I love
to educate people about, especially with Maybe the Lodial Phase Breakouts or
postpartum hormonal acne. Bacuchils are a really powerful ingredient to support skin
health, and it’s also pregnancy safe and really beneficial. And then we just launched
our brand new SPF collection. So this is huge. Well, I don’t recommend wearing
sunscreen every single day because of the benefits of light for our overall health
but of course if you’re going to spend a day at the beach or you’re on vacation
or an afternoon extended hike you want to look for a mineral -based sun protection
that’s broad spectrum and so we have our non – nano zinc oxide sunscreen and it’s
infused with tallow so that animal -based nourishment not only provides a sun barrier
but also protects your skin barrier so that’s an exciting new launch that we have
and I think too with all the education surfacing now about chemical actives and
sunscreen and how detrimental they are to our DNA, to our health,
to our hormone systems. There have been recalls and FDA changing their mind about
the only truly safe sun protection which are mineral based. It’s really important to
re -look at the SPF you’re applying to your skin, especially with the, I think
that’s something we’ve all been raised with two is do not leave the house without
sunscreen. And so kind of reevaluating which sunscreens you’re actually applying.
So Primely Pure, you can shop all of our products at primelypure .com, we’re a
completely e -commerce brand. So everything lives on our website. We also have an
incredible customer experience team that loves to educate and provide guidance and
resources. So if you’re new to the brand or new to natural skincare. Just send our
team an email. We also have a skincare quiz. So if you’re wanting to shift your
facial skincare routine, that can help provide some guidance and what products to put
together for your morning and evening routine. And then on Instagram, we’re
@primelypure where we have a ton of education. I share some different tutorials for
facial massage techniques and skincare routines. And then of course our podcast
Grounded Wellness is on Spotify or Apple Podcast, wherever you tune into podcasts.
And then our blog is purelifeblog .com. So tons of just very well researched
information there as a guide and a go -to resource for really living a more clean,
non -toxic lifestyle. Amazing. Well, we will make sure to link all of those to the
show notes page in case anyone is on the go. And Courtney, I just want to thank
you so much for being here today. This was such a treat. We covered so much ground
and I feel a lot more informed actually about skincare. Oh, I love that. Thanks,
Lisa. I think skincare is, yeah, there’s so much synergy here with all that you
educate your community on and the power of natural nontoxic skincare. So, so
grateful. We could connect and share this conversation with your community. Thank you
for listening. If you enjoyed today’s episode and you’re wanting to share it with a
friend, or you’re wanting to grab any of the links that we talked about, head over
to fertilityfriday .com /587. – I hope that you enjoyed today’s episode with Courtney.
It was such a treat to have her on the show. And like I said, a great follow -up
to the episode we had last week about toxins. And having that specific focus on
skincare, thinking about how your skin is a reflection of your overall health and
the connection to the menstrual cycle I think are all really important themes that
we talked about today, as well as kind of buyer beware, being aware of this new
trend now for companies to say the right things in their marketing, but not
necessarily follow through by removing the toxic chemicals in the products themselves.
So I do think that this conversation was kind of well -rounded in that it helps us
to remember that it’s not the skin care piece and extremely important, but if you’re
looking to have lasting, healthy skin, it’s more than simply what we put on our
skin. We want to be taking that kind of whole body approach to understanding those
connections, which I think is really important. But also, we want to be taking a
closer look at the products that or putting on our skin and being aware of the
trends for different marketing strategies around green products.
And so this whole idea of greenwashing is something that we should really be aware
of as well. Knowing that companies, maybe they just stick in aloe at the end of
their toxic product soup. And now they say, “Oh, made with aloe.” It’s like really,
just as an example or all natural or whatever, but then they still use the pair of
bins and the fragrance and things like that. And words like natural don’t, they
aren’t necessarily police. So there’s a lot of creative marketing efforts as consumers
that we should be aware of so that we are really aware of what we’re putting into
our bodies. And I know I mentioned on the episode that there’s been a number of
times when I bring home a product, maybe I was busy, maybe, you know, I had a
child at my feet or something and I wasn’t paying as much attention. And I bring
home what I thought to be a natural product from the health food store. And as
soon as I open it, I can tell that it’s just loaded with fragrance. So this is
very, very common. And sometimes I wonder, I’m like, why do they even put these
products in the health food store shouldn’t they? But it’s a reminder that just
because it’s It’s like, you could have the prettiest, greenest -looking label. You can
have it in the most high -end store, and it’s still full of chemicals, right? So we
have to always just be aware of what we’re buying, what we’re putting on our skin,
and although it’s inconvenient for us to have to take the action into our own
hands, like, be responsible for this, it’s just how this industry is far from being
regulated in a way that we don’t have to be aware of the products. All right,
so with that said, I hope that you have a wonderful weekend whenever you’re tuning
into the show. If you found this episode resonated with you, if you can think of
someone who would benefit from hearing it, feel free to share it. The link is
fertilityfriday .com /587. So thank you for spending some time with me today.
And of course, as always, until next time be well and happy charting. If you’re
loving the podcast and you’re ready to apply fertility awareness strategies in your
women’s health practice, then I know you’ll love our Fertility Awareness Mastery
Mentorship. It’s a nine month immersive experience that will completely transform the
way you work with clients, allowing you to not only teach fertility awareness, but
to use the menstrual cycle as a vital sign and diagnostic tool in your women’s
health practice. Our next class starts in January 2026, so there’s still time to
reserve your spot. There’s no other program like this offered anywhere. Transform your
practice in nine months. Head over to fertilityfriday .com /vamlive to apply now.
That’s fertilityfriday .com /famlive.
(upbeat music)