Skincare Treatments You Can Eat (that actually work!) | Andy Hnilo of Alitura

You're seeing in Europe. Why are thousands, thousands of ingredients that we are fine with our formulas not allowed in Europe that are completely fine with the FDA in the United States. It's a completely different mindset and it's financially driven.

Not all natural skincare is created equal and many even so called natural products contain ingredients that could be causing breakouts, dry skin and even acne. I have Andy Nilo on today's podcast and Andy was struck by a series of large vehicles while crossing a busy street. He had a collapsed lung, seven broken ribs, and a severe compound jaw fracture which was broken in five places. And I know you're probably thinking, okay, what does this accident have to do with non toxic organic skincare? What? Well, out of desperation to repair his own facial scarring, Andy began making his own natural skincare products in his small little apartment to help heal his own scarring from the accident. And well, that was when the birth of Ali Tura all began. So today we are talking all about what ingredients can help and also harm your skin or what harmful ingredients to look for and stay away from in skin care and foods that can help with skin health. Plus, during the episode, Andy graciously gave all my listeners a huge discount off of all his organic natural skincare products. That was just so generous of him. So listen in for that. And of course you know this already, but this is the Digest this podcast and I'm your host, Bethany Cameron. Let's get right into the episode. Lately I've been drinking a lot of water, which is a good thing. But the bad thing is that I get up in the middle of the night to pee and I have a hard time falling back asleep. So I often end up lying awake while my mind thinks about all the things I have to do the next day. And it ends up killing my energy levels, not to mention weakening my immune system from the lack of sleep needed and all the rest. So if you have trouble falling asleep, or perhaps like me going back to sleep once awake, I totally get you. That's why I wanted to share about magnesium breakthrough. I started taking it and it's truly helped solve several sleep problems from tossing and turning. And the best part after a great night's sleep is that I don't wake up groggy the next morning. That magnesium breakthrough has been a game changer. And what a lot of people don't know is that magnesium is responsible for over 600 different biochemical reactions in the body. It promotes healthy sleep to help you just fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer, and have more peaceful nights. It also supports stress management, muscle recovery, helps reduce and prevent muscle cramps and is needed to help build strong bones. Unlike many other magnesium supplements that might be giving you one to two forms of magnesium, Magnesium Breakthrough contains all seven forms of magnesium designed to help calm your mind and help you fall asleep, stay asleep and wake up refreshed. Not only does Magnesium Breakthrough help you sleep better, it also helps calm your mind and allows you to feel grounded and relaxed even during the daytime. Magnesium Breakthrough is soy free, gluten free vegan and the best part is that BIOptimizers has a 365 day money back guarantee that is an entire year you can try this product and if you're not satisfied you'll get your money back. So if you want to nurture your mind and body with this all natural full spectrum magnesium supplement, go to buyoptimizers.com digest and use code digest at checkout to save 10%. In addition to the discount you get by using my code, you can get up to two travel size bottles of Magnesium Breakthrough for free. This is a limited time offer to my listeners so act fast. Again, just go to buyoptimizers.com digest and use code Digest that's B I O P T I m I z s.com Digest and use code Digest I have been a long consumer of Colostrum for years and have known the benefits it holds for our health. It's been clinically shown to help guard against inflammation and everyday toxins and pollutants. Colostrum intake has also been linked to fewer respiratory tract and GI infections in children and adults and in fact There are over 5,000 published studies documenting the benefits of Colostrum and its ability to optimize health from when we are born all the way through to our elder years. It's even been proven to be three times more effective than the flu vaccine Armor. Colostrum is different from others on the market and it's something I started taking back in March 2023 long before all the hype. They use a proprietary cold chain biopot technology that distills over 200 functional nutrients guaranteeing the highest bioactive integrity and bioavailability. Another thing I personally love about this company is that they only extract and use the surplus Colostrum from grass fed pasture raised happy cows that are no longer needing it to supply their young. So you know you're not taking away from animals that need it or only the surplus Colostrum is used and Armor makes sure they are getting only the best From Healthy USA cows from family farms. Amara has three flavors, orange, watermelon and unflavored, which is my personal favorite because the unflavored has no natural flavors and just one single ingredient. And Armor is the only Colostrum on the market that's casein free, which is the protein most people with a dairy allergy react to. And for those that do not have a true allergy but rather have a dairy intolerance, the culprit is usually not the dairy itself, but rather the way that it's processed. All commercial dairy utilizes high heat and aggressive processing for pasteurization and sterilization. Unfortunately, this changes the structural shape of the proteins and destroys the omega fat molecules, rendering them unrecognizable to the body as a food. This is what triggers the immune system inappropriately, leading to intolerant symptoms like digestive complaints, rashes and inflammation. However, Armra's innovative cold chain biopotent technology distills colostrum's over 200 functional nutrients without the use of high temperatures, guaranteeing the highest bioactive integrity and bioavailability. As a result, ARMA is actually anti inflammatory and often well tolerated by consumers who typically would have dairy intolerance otherwise. The cool thing is that if you purchase the stick packs specifically and are not 100% satisfied, you can return the product within 30 days of purchase and receive a refund. So if you haven't tried Armor Colostrum but have always wondered, now's your chance without any risk. If you get the stick packs or perhaps you already are a user and lover like myself and prefer their canisters, you can still get a discount when using my code. Just go to tryara.com and use code Digest to receive a special discount for my podcast listeners. That's T R Y A R M R A. And use Code Digest on either their stick packs or canisters to receive a discount. Again, that's tryarmora.com and use code Digest. Thank you so much Andy for coming on the show. It's a pleasure to have you.

Oh, I'm grateful to be here. Thanks for having me.

Yeah. Okay, so I want to start this podcast with some rapid fire yes or no questions. So you can only answer yes or no. Are you ready?

Yeah. Let's go.

Okay. Can you eat your skin care?

Yes. Not all the products, but yes.

Okay. Do most skin care products cause breakouts?

General statement.

Oh, conventional. Maybe I should say that over time.

It can lead to health issues. I don't, I mean, I don't want to Most, it's part of the issue. The ingredients are part of the issue. That's kind of generalizing a lot of products and you know, it's more about the underlying issue with hormonal levels, endocrine systems being disrupted through the non or through the toxic ingredients in the products. So it's. And then that builds up. It can lead to much bigger problems down the road as far as just causing breakouts. I mean, I believe diet comes into play, definitely the ingredient deck. But I know this is a long winded answer. That's a very general yes or no question and I don't want to throw a lot of companies products under the bus, but definitely pointing the ingredients.

So yes and no. How about that?

Yes and no.

All right. Is retinol harmful to our skin?

It has very harsh sun sensitivity levels, unpredictable downtime, which I like to stay away from because I have such sensitive skin. It is undeniably effective. However, a lot of the additives and you know, things like fragrance and preservatives and unnecessary fillers in that product make it counterproductive to skin health. I believe overall.

Okay. Are most skin care brands lying to us? Yes or no?

I believe yes.

Yes. Okay. Will switching to a natural skincare automatically cure someone's skin?

No.

All right, last one here. Is sunscreen a scam?

Yes and no. The sun is my portal. I need it every single day. However, I'm very compassionate to the people that have, you know, skin issues and you know, can't be out in the sun for too long that you need to be very careful with. However, a lot of the ingredients commonly laced in those sunscreens supposedly protecting you from the sun, I believe are counterproductive again in that whole process and can lead to underlying issues down the road when used consistently.

Yeah. Yes and no. All right, well that was a little bit of just maybe what we will cover in today's episode. You are the owner and founder of Alutura, which is an all natural organic skincare line which I have been using and I am loving. I have some special products which I personally like. Well, I'm sure we'll get into it during the episode, but tell my listeners first what happened on March 20, 2011.

Well, I was crossing the street after dinner. I got hit by a westbound heading vehicle, lost consciousness into the eastbound lane and then run over by a Land Rover, Toyota Tundra and Land Rover just clothes cut off. Me in the middle of Melrose, rushed off to Cedars Sinai ICU where I woke up with compound fracture of my jaw. Seven broken ribs, collapsed lung, just lung, just completely unrecognizable. Quickly, you know, I was on a morphine drip, but I quickly found out the severity of the situation. And it was jolting, to say the least. But I'm very, you know, at that time, I was very grateful to be alive. I don't know if it was a morphine drip, but as my family came down in the next couple of days, I just. People don't survive accidents like that. So a heightened perspective on being alive was definitely there.

How old were you?

I was 30.

30, okay.

Yeah, yeah. And, you know, it was interesting because my family, my sisters, mom, dad, brother, everybody was around. And it's tough with my sisters and their families and husband's families that to get all of us together under one roof, you know. And so there was a lot of love that I needed in that little 600 square foot apartment in North Hollywood. But I just, you know, my jaw was wired shut, I had no teeth, I was unrecognizable. And that was my career at the time. But that didn't even come into. I was. I had the positivity and the love for my family being around me. And I could walk. My ankles were intact, my knees, shoulders. I could, you know, kind of do a push up and I could, you know, walk. So I came to, you know, I put together this, like, little recovery plan to walk down Chandler bike path to and from 3.2 miles back and forth just to get circulation going immediately. I tried to put. Well, I put together a plan of recovery physically to get the. Keep the circulation going. I was in very good shape when I got hit. And, and I had a preexisting clay mask that I was hiding from everyone. So I knew I had that in my back pocket to create a lot of microcirculation and light exfoliation and reintroducing minerals that we lose as we age in my back pocket. But I was, you know, you're a little rocked. That's a very serious situation. Traumatic situation. But I had this weird excitement inside of me for being alive like that. Just hearing the accident and the reading the reports and going back a couple of weeks later, hearing from people, they thought I passed away. Well, they thought the person passed away. They didn't know it was me. And then they found out it was me. And this one of the waitress, one of the waitresses that I'd served that night, like, came outside and looked at me like she was seeing a ghost. Because I went down. I just wanted to figure out a little bit more about what happened.

And so this was the birth of Ali Torah, basically. And I know people are like, okay, what is this accident? Half any connection with a skin care line. So how, how do you make that connection?

Well, I mean I was trying to get back into the entertainment industry. I didn't like this little speed bump in my life. A lot of people were telling me that I would never work again as a model and actor. I was on Days of our Lives. Hello ladies. Coppertone, Abercrombie, Calvin Klein. I walked the Runway for, I mean I just, that was what I was doing for a living. And it was kind of like laughed at. And I get it, it's a funny industry to being, I guess when you're in la. But that was how I made my money and I quit.

Your appearance, I mean you're obviously your body, your physique, your appearance and your skin is part of your appearance. Which now was completely different because of this accident.

Right. And so I had mentioned that pre existing clay mask, it was rasool clay bentonite, I think kale powder and vitamin C. And back when I had roommates, I would hide it under the little bathroom, common bathroom that we shared and I'd run inside, mix it up in a little bowl, run into my room, let it dry, hop back in the shower. That was my. I would do it every Sunday night before a week of auditions. So I knew I had that. It was very effective. It's now our aloturic clay mask. That's a long story made short, but I started using it immediately after the accident just because I, I just had this, you know, theory that bringing a lot of circulation to the surface of the skin and then combining it with this paste, which is now our night cream, I would melt down beeswax, cacao butter, aloe vera, sea buckthorn oil. And at that point I'd started working with plant derived STE cells on the water side. And in this cast iron pan I made this chunky paste which is like I said, now our night cream. But I did a ton of research so there's so much information available out there for all of us. And I couldn't afford the creams and serums that the doctors were recommending that I use to counteract the scarring and abrasions that I had that were deep. And I, I didn't trust the ingredient deck either in those formulas. And even isolating the active ingredient just didn't make sense to me. I felt that my skin would respond best from a superfood meal for mother nature.

So after you got home from the hospital, you're in your apartment and you're your own scientist, basically trying to heal your skin. And the scarring that happened from just making up different concoctions that you've done your research on and due diligence and finding out what worked right. And to my understanding, your skin healed rapidly very quickly.

Christina Rodriguez, good friend of mine, who had seen me in the icu. I picked her up from the airport in Burbank, like, three weeks later, and she gave me one of those, like, legitimate, dramatic double takes because my teeth were obviously gone, Jaw watered shut and everything. But this. My. My. The abrasions were gone. The scarring and swelling. You know, that's not one of those things you can just quick fix and. But it takes time. However, loosening up that scar tissue mitigated some of that swelling, which made me feel good. I mean, I had. I booked a job for Macy's with my Northern California agency, and I didn't tell him about the accident. So first or second week of June, I made that Runway show. And it was a nice little victory, you know, but. And I was one of the only guys in a shirtless scene. I had a huge road rash scar on the. On my right side that they didn't see in the casting. So that was a little like, whoops. But so how soon after or second week of June.

So that was March, April, May, June. Not. Not too far along now.

I got the wires out the Thursday before. Teeth bonded in that Friday, and then flew up to San Jose that Saturday and walked the Runway. And, you know, you just need those victories. I didn't like the fact a lot of people were, like, just saying that I'd never be back. And at that time, you just, you know, you need that momentum.

And so now I want to know when, because I want to talk about natural skincare, organic skincare, like, misconceptions and things like that. But when was that moment when you decided to make the products you were making for yourself, for others? When did you decide to make this a brand?

Oh, it was for about a year and a half because Christina wanted to try this mask, you know, after seeing that. And then I went over to her house. Little bamboo bowl. Apple cider vinegar, lavender oil, I think lemongrass. She was with a bunch of her friends, and there I am explaining way too wordy about the process, how to mix, and why I'm using certain essential oils for the aroma. But in all I wanted was a picture and some feedback. This was, this was never a plan to have a business or a product. I just had something that was magic for me and I wanted to share it. So I, you know, for about a year, year and a half, and then I was posting pictures because the whole time I was. This was never supposed to be a business. I never charged anybody. But it was my little thing to get back into my purpose at the time that I thought and that was entertainment industry. And this was just a little thing that I had. But in those pict and in the feedback that I would get from like, oh, it smells a little earthy. So I dialed down the kelp powder. I mean, I was going around LA in a little backpack to people's houses. I didn't even know esthetician, you know, smaller estheticians that hopefully I get some validation. They would start using their practice. But they kept telling me no. Well, one time, Mary Halls, bless your heart. Who owns Alvarado Skin Institute in La Mesa, California. I want to try this mask. So I drove down to San Diego. She tried it, she loved it. She tried it out on four of her like regulars and they loved it too. So she put it on board and took it on as her clay based, mineral rich superfood clay mask. Like no name, no company name, nothing. We were trying to figure out a way to charge, but she gave me like treatments in exchange. But I, after one laser treatment, I had so much unpredictable downtime. I was like, okay, I'm good just with the clay mask. So we didn't do a trade. So I was finally getting paid for it. But then I went on a podcast with Dave Asprey February 1, 2014, and that the last 10 minutes he asked what I did for my skin because we didn't even mention the clay mask. And I just started flowing on the ingredients. He got such a response. He flew down to LA. We came to terms on an agreement and June 26, a few months later, we had the Alex her clay mask on the bulletproof website. And that's how we acquired a customer.

So Dave Asprey being on his podcast was huge. To really get the business going.

Yes. I mean, that's how.

Yeah.

Oh, absolutely. Like after the first, I was just such a victory to be there. I idolized Dave, you know, I mean, I would tweet him and you'd never. I think he liked it one time, but I love him.

I think he's, he's, he's great, right? And he goes into diet too, which I want to go into as well with You. Because obviously I can only assume as healthy as you are. And look, you have a really good diet as well for. And I'm sure you ate some certain foods for your skin. But your, your clay mask, everyone should try it, by the way. But it does smell kind of funny. Can you talk about that? And I, I don't mind it. I'm like, oh, it actually kind of smells. It smells a little funny and funky. But I would prefer that as opposed to like all these artificial scents and fragrances and chemical smells that you typically get.

Yeah, I mean, just fragrance is the number one culprit of toxic ingredients. Like in the Dirty Dozen. Fragrance has. Yeah, that's. That's probably the number one ingredient that I would look into. Natural fragrance is not natural. There are government accepted terms that you can put on your labels that just, in my opinion, manipulate and are deceptive to the viewer who doesn't really know enough about the ingredients. My recommendation would be to that, you know, get the Think Dirty app. There are a couple other apps where you can scan the UPC code and get a 0 to 10 rating on the cleanliness of the products in your. Cleanliness on the ingredients in your products. It's. They're getting so good at just putting key ingredients. I mean, we want a full ingredient deck. Get that expanded ingredient roster and really point, you know, that's when you find out who really cares. It's just turning into almost a carbon copy across the board of so many products. And to me, from an, you know, artistic standpoint, I didn't want to be like other brands. We go. I just go from a blank canvas. I know the emulsion that I want. I definitely know the base in my liquid products. I've just always been, you know, really into bee products. Just so. Oh, my gosh, rich in enzymes.

And people have to know, like, your ingredients. I want to go into the ingredients too. But before we do fragrance, you said that's probably one of the top offenders in skincare products now. I was looking up some of the top five American beauty ingredients like that are actually banned in other countries and fragrance was one of them. So it's banned in other countries and still in our skincare products. But also liquid formaldehyde. Yeah, I mean, like, they're putting that in our, in our skin care. That's ridiculous.

Derivatives of ammonia, phthalates, petroleum.

That was another one that I found when looking at. I'm like, petroleum. They're putting that, you know, or paraffin. Yeah.

The seed oils. It's, it's there is such a way to separate yourself from all that. And the thing is it costs a lot more. My body lotion out the door costs 29. That's before shipping. That's what I pay to make it for me. And then we sell for. I believe it's 87. So like you know, I love it. But that's my dream though. It's a statement product that I have in my hand at conferences. I pump out, you can eat it and it's my dream. Brazilian acai butter, lemongrass and aroba beeswax. I mean take your ingredient deck to another level. You have that control as a formulator and business owner. If it comes down to numbers, in my opinion, you're not doing your job. You're not, you're not, you're not, you're not passionately describing your formulation process that is completely different from others. It is completely different. You get an emulsion, you can those and then it comes down to the thickeners with what you want to use. Do you want to just use glycerin, potentially soy based or do you want to expand it and tell a story about your raw organic beeswax sourced from family that holistically raises bee products in Halleva, Hawaii? Like I just. And then you get into the cold pressed essential oils that always organic or if they're better wildcrafted, we'll use that one. That's how we formulate our products non negotiably with our ingredient decks. And it's, it's, it's just my form of it. It's a creative outlet to me and I stand by that. That is the 100% truth. I love this. I love formulating my products. I love doing stuff that, that going to lakes that other companies won't go to purely because of cost. And look, we're smaller staffed. I learned I went into this without a business plan. But the undeniable quality and then just treating your customers like you'd like to be treated, it's not that hard. Treat your customers like gold. Make every situation right. Who knows, they may go ahead and start telling their friends about your products. Word of mouth marketing is. That's the only way we market.

I mean you do a great job at educating your customers which I feel like a lot of skincare companies do. Not especially conventional because why would a conventional skincare company educate their customers on toxic ingredients that are in their products? But there's one in particular too. I want to go into some ingredients that you put into your products. But I love that you can eat your lotion. I love it. And I know you said it is quite pricey, but you don't need a lot. Like I'll put it on and it's not greasy, which I love. But you're not having to slather a bunch on.

But the thing is. And then. Thank you by the way. Like here's the key point. We use maroon glass. M I R O N. Please look up the lengths they go to. It's this durable ultra, this violet glass that only allows the good UV rays to enhance the bioactivity of my live ingredients. It's their models. It's preserved by the bottle, not by toxins. If you see any company out there not just talking about Alatur using that glass, they care those bottles out the door 2.82, which is probably more expensive than the entire formula of some of these bigger brands. That's just my bottle and pump. Yes.

Wow. Okay.

From the Netherlands. Like the only reason I got lucky on this one because I knew I wanted my colors to be black and silver. And then this beautiful. Because I couldn't find a black glass bottle. Found that one. It is. I just got, you know, beautiful messages throughout this whole process that, you know, we just stay the course with and it turns out people love it. But just telling the truth with the formulation, telling the truth on the benefits, putting just an errorless formula together that we can control through testing through. Yeah. Signing off on a formula is the best feeling in the world to me.

I actually get asked quite a lot on my Instagram about what Omega 3 oil I take and if there are any quote, vegan fish oil supplements out there. Well, I actually don't take any fish oils and I haven't for a very long time once I found out. It's dirty little secret, literally. I'm not sure if you know this, but Omega 3 fish oil supplements often go rancid resulting in supplements that don't improve your health and can often have a negative effect since you could potentially be consuming rancid oils. So instead of fish oil, try C15 from the company Fatty 15. The fatty acid known as C15 is the first essential fatty acid to be discovered in 90 years. And the best part, it is 100% vegan. Fatty 15 is delivering the world's first pure science backed C15 supplement and has three times the healthy aging cell benefits of omega 3 or fish oil. That's crazy, you guys. This special fatty acid is derived from plants using a patented oxidation resistant technology resulting in a pure form of C15 it's vegan and contains no flavors, fillers, allergens or preservatives. C15 is the only ingredient in fatty 15 which I absolutely love that this company just doesn't add anything else. It's 100% pure. Fatty 15 is also proven to resist oxidation factors both in and outside of the body and works in multiple ways. It repairs age related damage to cells, protects them from future breakdown, plus boosts mitochondria energy output and it activates pathways in the body that help regulate our sleep, mood and natural repair mechanisms for healthier aging. Overall, this functionality leads to a myriad of exciting benefits now and as we age, namely improved metabolic liver and heart health, smoother functioning joints, deeper sleep and healthier hair, skin and nails. It comes in a sleek reusable glass and bamboo jar and refill capsules are shipped to your door quarterly in recycled material pouches. That's just four shipments a year. So whether you're vegan, don't like the taste of fish oil, or don't want to ingest rancid oils that are commonly the case with fish oil supplements, try fatty 15 to help support and restore your long term health. And who would I be without offering a discount to the Digest this community? So fatty15 has graciously given me the ability to offer you 15% off their 90 day subscription starter kit. Just go to fatty15.com digest and use code Digest and you can cancel anytime so you're not committed. Again, that's f a t t y the number15.com digest or use code Digest at checkout. If you've ever wondered about the non toxic air fryers, shampoos and conditioners, organic undies and new food products on the market, and even some not available to the public and well you want to get the inside scoop, then you need to join the 20,000 plus people that are already receiving these updates. Via my Friday Finds newsletter I share information that only my subscribers get in their inbox. Stuff like non toxic kitchen appliances, new food finds, product recalls, food news, and even personal care products we all should or should not be using. My Friday Finds newsletter goes out once a week every Friday and has quickly become some of my followers favorite things to open in their inbox. I've even started to include a recipe in this once a week newsletter. This is not published anywhere else and cannot be found on my blog. So if you're not part of the over 20000 people that are in the know, be sure you're not left out by going tolittle sipper.com. subscribe and enter your email. That's it. It's free. There's no spam. Just helpful, insightful content. Full of goods, literally. So pause this episode and go to L I L S I p p e r.com subscribe. That's L I L S I slash subscribe. Why add Grass Fed colostrum to your products? Because some of them, you know, some of your products do have that and I want to go into that.

I mean, where do I start? So first off we, I use first four hour Grass Fed Colostrum from Cheyenne, Wyoming. The first four hour milking is, is tough to get. So the sourcing component of that is very important. Working with a guy named Tom out there who's been with me since 2012, like we have that personal relationship when I was first going through my recovery. So I really love working with them. So it's I originally went out with when I had my jaw wired shut I bought The Dragon Herbs Air1 Jing Herbs talked to George Lamoreux, Crosby Taylor, Sage Dammers, Truth Calkins with my jaw wired shut trying to put together this superfood meal for internally because my job I couldn't, you know, to get my nutrition. Well, some of those ingredients I would experiment with in that clay mask that I was making up, I had this whole recipe of my recovery to build myself up from the inside out and then take care of myself with, you know, topically with my clay mask and my little paste which is now a night cream and then go on my walks, get my circulation going and then stay consistent with that daily. And you know, I started to get my zest back, you know. But some of those ingredients in that tonic that I was making in the morning I would, you know, experiment with. And the ones that stuck, American ginseng, freshwater pearl powder and first four hour milking Grass fed colostrum ingredients that I was using internally turned out to be extremely beneficial topically as well, which is not that surprising considering the skin is our largest organ and you really need to treat it like another mouth and it's the biggest detox organ as well. So really feeding that with a nutrient dense meal and also the combination of the clays pulling out heavy metals and toxins and impurities, staying consistent with that and then feeding your system internally with this, you know, little morning tonic that I was doing, I, I just felt electric and I, I just wanted to do that for the rest of my life. And then building on that knowledge Again, this was 2012 13. It's just that, you know, I'M just hungry to, to learn because I saw and experience what it did for me and I just wanted to share it.

Yeah, well, I mean, because a lot of people, I know colostrum is really big right now, but they're taking it internally.

Right.

So what can colostrum do externally on a topical level?

I believe during the exfoliation process, especially when combined with ascorbic acid, which is a high potency form of vitamin C, just helps with the cell turnover. Helps develop the healthiest skin cell during that exfoliation process with the trace minerals, IGF1 growth factor component. Just so rich in enzymes and just very good for the skin as we're seeing. This was a decade ago. Now you're starting to see it used. However, again, cost comes into play for many people, not for us where that, that ingredient is effective. I will be using that potentially in more products, maybe in an internal product as well. We're working on like a nice colostrum, three different type of collagen based beauty kind of concoction tonic as well. But that may be down the road. Yeah, no, it is, it is, yeah. Because I love supplements and we're mostly skincare, but I, I just want to make things that I, that I use throughout the day and I'm kind of, I'm already improvising, make my own little thing on that with butterfly pea powder.

That's awesome. Well, you also use CoQ10 and for those that don't know, can you elaborate on that? So what does CoQ10 do for the skin?

Just really targets the mitochondria of the skin cell. So again, during, during, after nice intense exfoliation, especially with our meteorite scrub, what I like to do is go clay mask, then meteorite scrub to rinse that off in the shower. So you leave just. Your skin is vibrant, breathing. Right. And then following that up with something like the gold serum, but as plant derived vitamin A, a retinol alternative that we source from France. That's organic alfalfa derived, not lab aid concentrated. You know, this is an ingredient from mother Nature.

Well, let's talk about that because there is a retinal controversy.

Right.

And I love that you actually derive it from alfalfa as opposed to like you just said, made in a lab. So that this is a natural retinol that you derive from alfalfa. So let's, let's talk about this for a second.

Yeah, so it's, look, it's not going to have that drastic minimization almost within a couple weeks, like retinol can do. Retinol is one of those things that is, is effective. I just would rather not have that harsh, unpredictable downtime and sun sensitivity. And just my skin is so sensitive. I always get these little red dots and so I stop.

So let's talk about the, the benefits of retinol as well as the side effects from, from retinol that maybe one can get just in general, right? Like what are the benefits and the downsides?

Well, the benefits over time, if it's working for you, I believe that, you know, it can help minimize crow's feet and fine lines around the eye area. However, I just believe that also you can develop a system that doesn't have the unpredictable downtime and sun sensitivity that many people experience. And then you have to back it up with maybe a toxic sunscreen. Like this whole cycle can be mitigated and completely changed with the natural process of exfoliation, shedding the dead skin cells, hydrating with a really rich, nutrient dense, clean moisturizer afterwards, then healing and conditioning your skin while you're in one position for hours at night with a dense night cream. Wake up, take a day off from exfoliating, but then again cleanse, hydrate, heal, do it again, maybe exfoliate a few times a week. Keep this simple system with clean products. As long as you're maintaining a good, you know, clean diet that's working with your hor. I just getting good sunlight, staying active. To me that's the recipe being around people that you love. Obviously there's emotional component to that as well. But like I just staying away from, I, I just don't, I don't want those ingredients rubbed in daily. To my largest organ. There's a study that women leave the house with over a government 100 government recognized carcinogens daily. From lipstick, makeup, hairspray, perfume, let alone the shampoo conditioners. Maybe leave in conditioners that you're using to that close to your brain. I just, I mean in the follicle of the bulb, like I just. It may be damaging your hair. All these components we need to look into and they're all derived from the ingredients and the products. Whether it's household products, laundry detergent, the pillow that you're sleeping on at night, from what Tide gain all of those fragrances. See how long it takes to rinse out that fragrance right from. From gain or Tide. Rinse it once and then smell it. That is your skin is more porous than the. Well, maybe not a towel, but it is very porous. So you're Absorbing those chemicals in a very similar way, isn't that scary to you?

It's ridiculous. Yeah, well, and speaking about perfume, you do have a perfume, which I. So here's a story. So my husband and I, So you sent us some products a while back, right? And I was like, okay. And I saw the perfume and I was like, oh, no. Like I'm, I'm not going to try. Because my husband and I, we are not scent people. We don't even have like scented candles. Like, we don't like it because it's super toxic and we just don't like the smell. Like, once you eliminate toxic things, if you smell something, it smells, you know what I mean? It just smells so chemical and just gross. So anyways, long story short, we open, I open up the, the perfume and I take a whiff, I spray it and I'm like, oh, that's not that bad. So I walk over to my husband and I was like, hey, like, what do you think of this? And he smells it and he's like, I actually like it. Like, it's not, it's not off putting at all. And so we both agreed. And it's so funny because your spray, your perfume is unisex and we both like it and we love it. I mean, this is how horrible we hate scents. Like, we don't even wear deodorant. My husband and I, we don't wear deodorant. We detox a while back and now we just feel like we don't, we don't really need it.

Yeah.

But, yeah, so I love, I love your perfume. So let's talk about it because how is it, how is it clean? How, what does it smell like? Like, give us the details.

All right, so I, I grew up collecting fragrances. My first one that I ever got was CK1 unisex. I loved it. Then it went to Aqua de Geo, Eternity Obsession, you name it. I just want to be like my dad and have this cool cabinet with a lot of fragrances. So I mean, I'm obsessed with fragrance. I love, I just think it can lead a little, Leave a little statement without words, which is now our slogan to that. But I started wearing Santal 33 from La Labo. Okay. So. And I got stopped everywhere. So what I did is I wanted to make a very similar fragrance to that, but extremely clean, gluten free alcohol water in a fragrant oil that has none of that phthalates, no mineral oil, complete, as clean as I can make it. And I did it took over 100 tweaks. I signed off on it three times total. That means twice. No, no, no, no. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. It's. It's a little kind of baby powdery. It's a little. And that, I mean this is in the tank, this is in the production tank. So now they have to adjust that which never happens. It took years to make and then we went down to the bottom. It was just, it's the whole process of like I didn't, you know, it was my first. And then, you know, sampling it out at conferences. It just kind of developed this cult, beautiful cult like following and that's its own entity. I'm so glad you mentioned that. That's one. I mean they're all my babies. But that is interesting to me because it sells very well and people haven't even smelled it. You know what I mean? To sell a fragrance online without smelling and then just to get this beautiful reaction. Scent is so personal. Right. Like how do you make something for, you know, for. It's just one of those things where you can obviously think something smells great and then others I just. This is. I'm really glad you like it because I made it for that because it's just fragrances to me. I'm so sensitive to it. It gives me headaches.

Totally.

And you can just tell, like you said, you walk into a room and it's. And it's not going to leave until you get out of there. It's actually tough to kind of detox.

So off putting. And I mean fragrance is, I tell my followers, like fragrance is like natural flavors in food. Right? Like fragrance is the natural flavor in food because it's so unregulated. You see that on the ingredients. Just for fragrance. That could be who knows how many chemicals, hundreds of chemicals are in a fragrance.

Right, Exactly. And you can even put natural in front of that and it's fine. There may be like some subdivisions of that that, that you have to qualify for, but I don't think so. I'm not really sure. Good. They're getting better and better just with the labels. A company I'm not going to mention, they had this big like clip art on their, on their jar, that tube that just said made with a hundred percent natural. And then a tiny. Because you know, that's all you see. Made with 100 natural. And it's exfoliants in very tiny letters. Sure. They were using like, I don't know, I think it was corn or pomegranate holes or something like that. But like, when you see that, that's so. And then you turn the label around and read the ingredient deck, and it's just littered with carcinogens. And it's just like. That is so deceptive to me. How do you. Ah, man, the word.

I mean, the word natural is so unregulated and so overused where it's hard to even trust now especially. I mean, there's so much greenwashing nowadays. Now I. I go. I do want to go back into your a little bit, and I want to know, what foods were you eating to help your skin from the inside out?

Bone broth, a lot of colostrum, egg yolks, beets, a lot of avocado, Good fats when I could start chewing or are you talking with my jaw wired shut?

Well, yeah, let's talk about when you're. Let's just assume no one listening, hopefully has their jaw wired shut. So if they were to go and go to the grocery store, like, what would you recommend for someone to pick out foods for their skin?

Oh, nutrient dense. So I like cruciferous beds, cruciferous vegetables, preferably fermented. So I like to have a little kimchi, avocado, rib eye, elk, sockeye salmon, avocado, cauliflower, rice. I mean, I eat the same thing almost. You know what I mean? These are my. My. It's just my. My fuel, you know, Almond butter, coconut yogurt, blueberries. I'll make a little smoothie. These are like my little snacks throughout the day. Does that make sense?

Yeah. What's your opinion on organ meats?

Oh, I love them. I mean, I used to cook, don't get me wrong. It's, you know, not exactly easy to nail. The beef liver recipe, however, Paleo chef Mary. Mary Hall. Mary Shenouda gave me an awesome liver recipe, which. That makes it, you know, at least because it's so for you. You feel electric after eating. Liver, heart, kidney, I can't do, but I'll do. I'll do a sausage like a liverwurst with a liver from US Wellness Meats. So liver, heart, kidney, and ground beef and like some coriander and cumin to make it taste okay. But. Oh, you really hit the. The nail on the head right there. Organ meats are incredible. I. I just. I mean, I've tried everything so well.

And there's a lot of companies now, too, that grind it within their. Their meat. So there's a lot of people. L. Force of nature does it. And there's some other companies that do it too. Or you could take. They have organ supplements now in case you just can't stomach it. And there's some good quality ones out there. So I love that you love organ meats because so do I. And it's great for not just your skin, but like, you're just overall health and you don't need a lot either.

Mm. Yeah. It's just. It's so interesting to me too. I mean, you see tallow starting to be used in products now. I originally had emu and tallow in my night cream back in 2000. What, 14, 15. But I was so bent out of shape and getting into Whole Foods and those. Both those ingredients were on their, like, prohibited list, so I couldn't. Well, at the time, yeah, I don't know if they all.

Tallow was prohibited in whole foods.

Yeah. In. In a product. In skincare.

Oh, in skincare. I'm like, they. I mean, they sell it now for cooking and it is becoming a lot more popular.

Yeah, it's great. Who knows? I mean, I, I may throw it because I'm making Alatura Soul S O L, which is Spanish for sun. And it's interesting you mentioned that because I want to embrace the sun. However, also get a quantifiable SPF to protect while all my. With my. My natural components. And I'm doing nothing like all these other. So it's going to take a little bit, but that, that's the dream, you know, Wouldn't you rather see just non nano zinc, like beeswax, cacao butter, aloe, and just like maybe some carrot seed, raspberry seed, and just get go to town on natural ingredients in a beautiful sunscreen with no holes. All tested out in the FDA and making it perfect. But that's, that's my goal.

So that's in the lineup. A natural sunscreen.

Yeah. We got the first meeting. Okay.

I cannot wait.

Yeah, it's like embrace the sun, but also have respect for the. You know, it's. There's a way. There's a way to do it and it's going to be completely different from other.

Well, and I've actually heard that consuming seed oils makes you. You burn. Like, that is actually what makes you have sunburn as like the seed oils inside of you. Have you heard that?

I have heard that. I. I can't like, point to any quantifiable studies. It does come down to, in my opinion, like, inflammation, your body rejecting something which could, you know, as your. Your skin is responding to, you know, an internal inflammation, make you more Susceptible to the absorption or how your body absorbs sun, sunlight. In my opinion, there is something to be said for, you know, eating a really rich diet and good fats to help maybe, you know, thicken out the subcutaneous fat layer on your epidermis, which may overall over time, you know, develop like almost a callousness to the, to the sun over time. You hear stories about that. This is all theory. And I don't obviously want to make, you know, not make a general statement, but I just believe, you know, it all goes hand in hand. Eating extremely healthy, getting good sunlight, staying active, you know, breathing fresh air.

Yeah, I want to go back to diet for a second here. What are some big offenders that can actually harm your skin? Like, what are some foods that are definitely going to inflame your skin? And obviously each person is different. I mean, you know, some people can eat a greasy piece of pizza and their skin is glowing and then, you know, the next person eats it and they wake up with 10, you know, zit. So obviously. But there are some pretty bad offenders when it comes to food. Can you elaborate on that?

Processed foods. I mean, anything that disrupts your digestive system and then slows down that process, and then now your stomach's barking at you, your system's out of whack and out of line. I would say processed foods, sugar grains, limit dairy. I'm not. So I don't mind raw dairy, but unorganic, you know, dairy.

I would stay away from it if it's cultured, right? I mean, yeah, definitely.

If it's cultured, I don't have a problem with that at all. Great point. Missing a big one. Yeah. So we got sugar, salt grains, processed foods.

What's your opinion on gluten?

Yeah, I'm not absolutely stay away in, in my opinion, I stay far away from gluten. I don't really have to, you know, it's, it's. For me, it's pretty easy. There are a lot of good gluten free options now. I'm all over this, like almond flour tortilla with goat cheese and elk. That's like my new thing. Oh, nice little kimchi and avocado. That right there, I mean, has like the tang and the creaminess of the avocado, but you're getting all that good live bacteria. I just think kimchi and I was interested to see what opinion is on that, considering the gut guru.

Yeah, well, I mean, kimchi could be definitely great. It just have to be. If someone does have ibs, it can make You a little gassy?

Yeah.

So you have to introduce it slowly for sure.

Okay. Okay. Yeah. And then just. See, just taking care of the gut. I do digestive enzymes. I like bio optimizers. I have wobe enzymes that, that really help out from a systemic enzyme standpoint. I love the sauna. Not sure how that ties into what you mentioned, but I just had to. I'm such a fan of the sauna. Really good structured water post sauna. I think staying hydrated just. And also mineralized has helped with my mood and production and output.

Yeah, well, hydration and electrolytes are so key. Even myself, I can tell if I drank a lot of water yesterday, I wake up the next day and I'm like, oh, definitely drink a lot more water because my skin, I can see it.

Yeah. Yeah, that's right. Yep.

Now, what's any advice for someone struggling with cystic acne? Because let's just say there's that person and they have acne on their face and they're like, I am eating clean. I have the right diet. I'm doing all the things right. But I still have this acne. Right. And they're, they're doing the topicals, they're doing internal stuff. I mean, and they just feel lost. What advice could you give them?

Those are the toughest ones because usually what those are right around the teenage years while, you know, the, the hormones are racing, you're growing into your body, you have this, you know, maybe not the most heightened attention to detail on your diet. Your diet. But I mean, outside of just teen and hormonal issues with that, I. That's a real tough one.

I mean, could it be stress? You know, I know a lot of people are stressed. Maybe that's it. Or like you were saying, you could be an adult, you could be 35 years old and still having hormonal imbalance.

Right. Yeah, the hormone. And that's one of those things that. It's just the. The toughest for me because I don't want to prescribe something that if it's internally, like, I, I just don't know enough about on their end, what they're consuming, what kind of. Of environmental stressors or professional personal stressors that they have with what's going on in their life that may be contributing to that. Usually you can pinpoint and find a solution to it, but it, you know, because when you have. I mean, we've had some really, really intense cases of, you know, cystic acne from, like, like you can barely see skin for anyone.

Listening go to their website because I was on the. I think it was the about page or one of the pages and you have some before and after photos of some of your consumers. And the before and after is incredible with people with acne. I mean it is incredible.

Yeah. Now that's pretty special that that's. We. We need to get all of them up there. We're working with our developer. Yeah. Our user generated content in authentic true testimonials of users using our products is what is continuing our, you know to grow our business. And just sharing that, sharing the stories, highlighting beautiful customers that want to just share their story of skin transformation. I mean our reviews and it's. It really is very personal to me.

What are some tips for someone? What are some natural products that you could just grab out of the fridge or your pantry that could calm inflammation on the skin? Like would that be yogurt on the skin, honey on the skin, oatmeal. Like what are something that no one really has to spend any money. What are some tips?

Well, when I first I've done it all. What's the most effective one?

Aloe vera.

I mean I'm just gonna say aloe vera because that's. Yeah that is all post sun snap if you have access to it. Whole foods, aloe vera. If they don't have it, talk to the grocery guy. I guarantee they can start ordering and snap one of those little the leaves in half and you'll see this rich like orange enzyme. Put it on all over your face in your hair. Let it completely dry. It's going to be a little tight. Rinse it off. That's refreshing. But you're probably going to need to follow with the moisturizer. But it's a nice little natural element that it is very effective if you have any cuts. Oh post sun sun exposure. I would say that's number one that cacao butter. I can keep going and going going of what I would put. But yeah, aloe vera, egg white. I mean I yeah, I've tried that. The egg whites, it's very tightening in my. You know and I did. I have tried goat yogurt and kefir. Everything. It's it's all tightening. It's very tightening.

Avocado. Have you put that on your face?

Yeah, not bad. But that's the thing. Why not turn it up, add a little aloe vera, maybe an egg white, mix it all up and that's a good little game changing. Maybe a little honey in there too. Those are noticeably different skin elixirs that you can apply. Yeah. Aloe, little egg white, maybe some honey.

Man, we're making like a salad dressing here. But I mean again that goes back to. I love that you can eat, eat a lot of your skin care. I'm like, I'm not going to say all but you can eat a lot of it and not a lot of companies you can do that with.

And our clay mask it. I supplement with almost every ingredient in that product with the exception of kale and clay and Rasool when you think about it. Bentonite, vitamin C, kelp powder, American ginseng, pearl powder, colostrum. These are things I supplement with. You're rubbing it into your skin and then creating just an ab. I love it. Yes. And our moisturizer as well. Body lotion as well. Gold serum. Obviously you probably don't want to, I mean a rose hydrosol can be a little. But it's not going to, you know, it's nowhere near these government recognized, lab made.

Yeah. And you don't really even, even if you don't like eat it per se. Right. And I'm always, at least I used to before I started using like organic natural skincare. You know, I would not even want to put it around my lips because I didn't want to eat it or I didn't want it leaking in. But I mean, hey, if it does with your products then you know, fine.

You know, it's night and day difference with other brands in their ingredient decks and I stand by that. It's fun to just know how we separate ourselves. You can just go side by side. Any product out there. There are very good ones. Amerigiani, May Lindstrom, Osea. Yeah. But it's there far and few between you really get to know integrity. I live in my dream and I'm alive. I mean very grateful to have something. I'm going to stay right here and not get greedy and no, stay true to your, your values. And that's, that's easy for me.

Andy, I love your mission. It's amazing. And I do have a question too about. We talked about acne, but what about anti aging?

It's so. Yeah, that's my recipe. I'm 42, gonna be 43 this year. I, I mean cleanse, exfoliate, hydrate repair. Just a four step system. You know. I exfoliate a little bit more because I have something to prepare for daily. I like being fresh and my skin, you know, I'm eating a lot of good, good fats. My subcutaneous layer is Good. My fine lines aren't really showing up yet. So I think diet really does have to play with that as well with just creating influx of microcirculation to the surface of the skin. So that's basically, you know, blood mic, you know, stagnant capillaries getting circulated, filling up those fine lines, whether it's for 24 to 36 hours, you're, you're doing a natural, you know, process that your body does. You know, when using certain ingredients like flays to create that microcirculation of the surface of the skin, then you exfoliate the dead skin cells. You hydrate with really rich, nourishing, active and raw ingredients and then you heal and hydrate while you're one position. I just. And then we have little devices like the derma roller, right, this titanium micro needle derma roller that opens up little pathways onto your epidermis to allow the ingredients to sink in further. So I mean there are natural elements, no quick fixes. But if you stay consistent with this, I just am very confident that you're not going to need to go and do these other treatments, you know, or at least, you know, if you want to, you know, do your thing. Well, with the exception fillers and votes. I'm just not a fan personally, but you know, teach their own. I just feel like this can help from a natural element. Do the exact same thing. I've just, this is how I live. And we hear the results daily from people who are experiencing the same thing. It just works. I mean, this is what people are using in their back bars and bed spas and they're charging hundreds for this. You can also do from the comfort of your own home. Just with, you know, following the process and steps. It's just, it's the truth, you know.

Well, what are some ingredients? So we talked about the good ingredients, right? But what are some ingredients to look out for in conventional skincare products? So like if someone's listening and they want to go into their medicine cabinet right now and look at the ingredients and whatever product they're using, what should they look for? And being like, nope, this is good, good or excuse me, this is bad, let's toss it. What are those ingredients?

Sodium lorth sulfate, any type of propane dial, Butylene glycol. Glycol, Propylene glycol, potassium sorbate, phenoxy, ethanol. That's oxy.

I heard oxybenzone is a pretty.

Yeah, absolutely. That's up there a bht, you know, the myriad of alcohols and I Mean I saw formula from another company I won't name had five different types of alcohol and I'm talking, I think it probably had about 24 ingredients all. I mean that's the thing. It's. It's that you really, in my opinion, you have to choose between in an all natural deck and then just the carbon copies that are almost. It's just 90, I would say of. And it's disappointing because I just look at it from founder to founder of like just create. Like where's your creative? I get it, it's it, it is business. But like where's. This is what other people are putting onto their faces, you know.

Well, I mean it's a good point to bring about too that not all natural skincare is beneficial because alcohol, I mean that is natural technically. Right. But is it going to be really good and hydrating for your skin or you know, X, Y and Z could be now like dog poop is natural. I really don't want to put that on my skin, you know, like so between natural and beneficial as well.

Yeah, I mean also with, with different types of alcohols and the processes and the distilling and also not being gluten free. There, there is something there. You don't need that much. We use an organic gluten free alcohol in our toner as a delivery method combined with caffeine and niacinamide that has a purpose to it to help minimize bores. Like there's a purpose to that. What I want to know the purpose for all these unnecessary ingredients and what they hold in there. And if it comes down to dollars, you know, sure, that plays a part because you don't, you don't need all of those formulas. It comes down to just a different theory and mission and what you want to sign off on. And I would never ever sign off on what 99 of companies are doing and you're seeing in Europe. Why are thousands, thousands of ingredients that we are fine with our formulas not allowed in Europe that are completely fine with the FDA in the United States. It's a different, completely different mindset and it's financially driven.

Yeah, it's amazing what ingredients are banned in Europe and other countries and still here in America people are just putting them in their products left and right on their face every day.

Every day.

Yeah, it's amazing.

I just think inflammation that you know, it's just over time really have to think this is something you're doing every day, you know, over time and then just inflammation is the root of all disease. And I just think it can lead to issues down the road and does not serve the skin. I firmly believe that our skin responds best to ingredients as close to Mother Nature as possible.

Well, Andy, you're just such a testament and you have such an amazing story and so much to give. And look what came out of the accident that literally changed your life for the better, I. I think. And look what you're doing now in helping who knows how many thousands, hundreds of thousands of. Of people using your products. Where can people find you?

So I'm@alitura.com a l I t u r a dot com. That's Latin for feeding and nourishing, by the way, your skin being your largest organ, it's important to treat it like another mouth. So I love the name and I want to give 20% off the entire store to your following.

Oh, my gosh.

Yeah.

Okay, so how do people get 20% off?

Digest.

Digest. Okay. So if you.

They.

If they use the code at checkout, digest, they'll get 20% off?

Yes. And if anybody has any questions, I'm all over. You know, I handle the social media. My email is andylatura.com if you have any questions. This is what I eat, breathe, and sleep. I love what I do. Very grateful to be here, by the way. Bethany, thank you for. I've read a lot on your story, so. And I just want to say, like, big respect for you solving your own issue as well, you know, and you're helping. You're doing at a much larger scale than me, but you're helping so many people get out of their own issues. So big respect to you and what you're doing.

Well, thank you. Yes, I. I think that anyone can use their past history for a better future, and you just have to utilize it right. And I love that, you know, that's both of our missions is to help where we see a need. So, again, thank you so much, Andy. It's been a pleasure.

Yeah, it's been a pleasure. Thank you.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Digest this. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in your podcast app to let us know if you're ever wondering how you can support me and this podcast, sharing it with your friends and family is the best way. This is a resonant media production produced by Drake Peterson and edited by Mike Fry. To email the show, Message us@digitthispodmail.com See you next time. The content of this show is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual medical and mental health advice and does not constitute a provider patient relationship. As always, talk to your doctor or health team first.

Are you ready to rock middle age? I'm Dr. Tina Moore, Gen X truth teller and holistic physician. On the Dr. Tina show, one of Apple podcast Top Alternative Health Shows, I share what actually works for metabolic health, hormones and strength, backed by decades of clinical results, not trends. From loving the gym and hitting your protein goals to peptides to microdosing GLP1s, it's all done the right way, not the hype way, because menopause doesn't have to suck if you're fit. New episodes every Thursday, produced by Drake Peterson and Wellness Loud.