Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast The Skincarma® Pod

Who decided that luxury beauty had to look, sound and feel European?

For decades, prestige beauty has drawn much of its identity from French and Italian heritage. But what happens when a founder challenges that convention — and decides her own culture deserves a place at the luxury beauty counter?

My guest today is Sandra Velasquez, founder and CEO of Nopalera, a modern Mexican beauty brand rooted in cultural pride, self-worth and the extraordinary resilience of the nopal cactus.

Before launching Nopalera, Sandra spent years touring internationally as the frontwoman of the Latin alternative band Pistolera. When the pandemic brought live music to a halt, she found herself confronting an uncertain financial future as a single mother in Brooklyn.

With no beauty industry experience, she taught herself cosmetic formulation, began making products in her apartment and built a brand determined to redefine what luxury beauty could look like.

We explore why she chose beauty as her next creative outlet, how the humble nopal became a symbol of cultural pride, and why she built the identity of Nopalera before she even knew what products she would make.

We also get into the fascinating evolution of Nopalera from cactus soaps and body care to its fragrance collections — including how the ceremonial Mexican resin copal inspired its first signature scent, Dulce de Cuerpo.

And then there’s Shark Tank, where Sandra famously turned down two investment offers rather than compromise her company’s value. For a brand built around the idea of standing in your worth, the decision was as personal as it was financial.

But perhaps the most compelling part of our conversation is Sandra’s belief that entrepreneurship requires something even more challenging than building a business: transforming the way you see yourself and what you believe is possible.

Because sometimes the biggest thing standing between where we are and where we want to be isn’t a lack of opportunity. It’s the limits we’ve placed on ourselves.

Key Takeaway

Luxury isn’t defined by European heritage, and success isn’t determined by someone else’s valuation of your worth.

Sandra Velasquez built Nopalera by challenging both assumptions. Her journey from touring musician to beauty founder is a powerful reminder that cultural identity can be a source of aspiration — and that sometimes the most important investment an entrepreneur makes is in their own beliefs about what’s possible.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

How Sandra Velasquez went from touring musician to beauty entrepreneur after the pandemic upended her career;

Why she created Nopalera to challenge the European ideals traditionally associated with luxury beauty;

How she taught herself cosmetic formulation and began making cactus-based products in her Brooklyn apartment;

Why the nopal cactus became the cultural and botanical foundation of her brand;

How Nopalera evolved from soaps and body care into fragrance — and the Mexican traditions that inspired its scents;

Why Sandra walked away from two investment offers on Shark Tank rather than undervalue her company;

How years of rejection as a musician prepared her for the realities of entrepreneurship;

And why she no longer believes that getting into a prestigious retailer necessarily means a beauty brand has made it.

Connect with Sandra Velasquez on LinkedIn and Instagram at @officialslv. Explore her modern Mexican beauty brand Nopalera on Instagram at @nopalera.co and discover its body care, fragrances and more at Nopalera.co.

—

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

Just because we can optimize our appearance — does that mean we should?

We’re living in an era when looking younger, feeling better and supposedly reversing biological aging have become part of the same conversation.

From looksmaxxing and injectable peptides to exosomes, NAD+ and increasingly sophisticated cosmetic procedures, the pursuit of beauty has evolved into something much bigger: the pursuit of biological optimization.

But how much of it is supported by science — and how much is simply very convincing marketing?

My guest today is Dr. Sheina Bawa, a Miami-based cosmetic and general surgeon specializing in facial aesthetics, and the founder of the biotech-driven skincare brand MetamorphMD.

What makes Sheina’s perspective particularly fascinating is that she sees aging from a vantage point most skincare experts never do: beneath the skin.

We begin by exploring what actually happens to the face as we age — including the movement of underlying fat and muscle, and why even the most sophisticated facelift can’t correct years of accumulated surface-level skin damage.

Then we get into looksmaxxing, the growing popularity of DIY peptide injections and the risks of experimenting with substances whose origins, safety and long-term effects may be poorly understood.

And things get particularly interesting when we turn to regenerative beauty.

Sheina shares her enthusiasm for using exosomes alongside aesthetic treatments, her concerns about experimental stem cell procedures and her skepticism about the benefits of topical PDRN.

Naturally, I have a few thoughts about that last one. I’ve become rather attached to a Korean PDRN serum — even while questioning whether its star ingredient can actually penetrate my skin barrier.

Then comes one of the most intriguing parts of our conversation: NAD+.

Despite incorporating NAD+ into her own skincare formulations, Sheina is skeptical of expensive NAD+ IV infusions. We explore why she believes delivery systems matter, how she approaches the science of absorption and whether we’re sometimes trying to supplement biological systems that don’t need our help.

We also get into the story behind her brand, MetamorphMD, her own struggles with acne and hyperpigmentation, and a particularly revealing observation from her cosmetic surgery practice: many patients seeking to correct visible signs of aging still aren’t wearing sunscreen consistently.

And as someone who has made sunscreen something of a personal obsession, you can imagine my reaction to that.

What I particularly appreciate about this conversation is that Sheina isn’t opposed to cosmetic intervention. Quite the opposite. She’s enthusiastic about treatments that can make a meaningful difference.

But there’s a difference between improving our appearance and assuming every new beauty innovation is something our bodies actually need.

And perhaps that’s the most important question of all!

Key Takeaway

The ability to intervene in aging doesn’t automatically mean every intervention is necessary, effective or worth the risk.

Dr. Sheina Bawa approaches beauty optimization from two perspectives: as a surgeon who can physically reposition the structures that change with age, and as a skincare founder interested in what topical formulations can accomplish.

Her experience reinforces an important distinction: structural facial aging and surface-level skin aging are different problems that often require different solutions.

And while she sees promise in certain regenerative aesthetic treatments, she urges caution around experimental stem cell procedures, unregulated injectable peptides and expensive longevity treatments whose benefits remain uncertain.

For Carmine, the conversation also raises questions about ingredient delivery, the difference between visible cosmetic improvement and proven biological regeneration, and the importance of sunscreen in preventing cumulative photodamage.

The goal shouldn’t be to optimize everything. It should be to understand what actually needs improving — and whether the proposed solution has the evidence to justify it.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

How Dr. Sheina Bawa went from aspiring fashion designer to general surgeon, cosmetic surgeon and skincare entrepreneur;

Why facial aging encompasses much more than wrinkles, collagen loss and changes at the skin surface;

How underlying fat and muscle contribute to facial sagging — and what a facelift can and cannot correct;

Why looksmaxxing isn’t necessarily a new phenomenon, even as the technologies and treatments available to consumers become increasingly sophisticated;

What concerns Dr. Bawa about DIY injectable peptides, questionable suppliers and the unknown risks of experimental biohacking;

Why she sees promise in exosomes used alongside aesthetic procedures but urges caution around experimental stem cell treatments;

Why topical PDRN raises questions about molecular size, skin penetration, ingredient concentration and delivery systems;

Why Dr. Bawa questions the value of expensive NAD+ IV infusions, despite using NAD+ in her own skincare formulations;

And, why she no longer believes that becoming a surgeon means her career must remain confined to a hospital operating room.

Connect with Dr. Sheina Bawa on LinkedIn here and on Instagram at @drsheinamd. You can also explore her biotech-driven skincare brand MetamorphMD at @metamorph_md or at MetamorphMD.com. And, learn more about her cosmetic surgery practice, Elevé Cosmetic Surgery, which she co-founded in Miami, on the company’s website here.

—

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

Is the sun really our enemy — or have we been missing half the story?

Episode 100 of The Skincarma Pod is a particularly special one for me.

When I first launched this podcast, my friend Dr. Jen Haley was the very first person to say yes to being a guest. I was still figuring out how to do this whole podcasting thing, and Jen showed up with the generosity, curiosity and enthusiasm that have made her such a wonderful friend ever since.

Now, 100 episodes later, I couldn’t imagine anyone better to share this milestone with. And fittingly, we’re talking about one of my favorite subjects: sunscreen, sunlight and skin health.

Jen is a board-certified dermatologist with more than two decades of experience and an integrative approach to skin health. After years of treating sun-damaged skin, she’s developed a more nuanced perspective on sunlight — one that recognizes both the dangers of UV radiation and the potential benefits of sun exposure.

So how do we embrace the sun without unnecessarily damaging our skin?

We explore smart sun exposure, morning daylight and circadian rhythms, and Jen’s strategy for protecting the areas most vulnerable to photoaging.

Then we get into something we don’t entirely agree on: mineral versus organic sunscreens. Jen makes the case for zinc oxide, while I introduce her to the latest Korean and European UV filter technology, including bemotrizinol (BEMT), also known as Tinosorb S, newly authorized for use in American sunscreens.

We also explore why UVA protection matters beyond SPF, the importance of iron oxides in tinted sunscreens for melasma, and whether nutrition and supplements like Polypodium leucotomos and astaxanthin can help protect skin from the inside out.

Along the way, we challenge assumptions, exchange ideas and remind each other that even after decades immersed in skincare, there’s always something new to learn.

And that’s what makes having Jen back for Episode 100 so meaningful.

She’s been part of this journey since the very beginning. Our conversations have evolved, our thinking has evolved, and in many ways, so has this podcast.

I couldn’t ask for a better way to celebrate 100 episodes — with a friend who never stops teaching me something new, and who reminds me why I love having these conversations in the first place.

Because the best conversations don’t just give us answers. They change how we think.

Key Takeaway

The sun isn’t simply our enemy — but that doesn’t make unprotected UV exposure harmless.

Dr. Jen Haley believes dermatology’s traditional emphasis on sun avoidance deserves a more nuanced conversation about sunlight, circadian biology, nutrition and whole-body health.

For Carmine, that conversation also reinforces the importance of sophisticated UV protection, understanding sunscreen filters and choosing formulations that people genuinely enjoy wearing.

Their shared conclusion is that protecting skin and supporting overall health shouldn’t be competing goals.

The challenge is understanding where sunlight’s benefits end, where UV damage begins and how to make informed choices without treating either sunscreen or sun exposure as the entire answer.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

Why Dr. Jen Haley has reconsidered the way she talks about sunlight after more than two decades practicing dermatology;

How morning sunlight influences circadian rhythms, sleep and overall well-being;

Why Jen believes intentional, limited sun exposure may have benefits — and why tanning and burning aren’t necessary to experience them;

How moving from New York to Los Angeles transformed Carmine’s relationship with sunscreen and cumulative UV exposure;

Why Jen prefers zinc oxide and what concerns her about traditional organic sunscreen filters;

How Carmine challenges that perspective with modern Korean and European sunscreen technology;

What makes bemotrizinol (BEMT), also known as Tinosorb S, such an important development for American sunscreens;

How iron oxides in tinted sunscreens can help protect against visible light that contributes to melasma;

What the research suggests about Polypodium leucotomos extract and astaxanthin as supplemental forms of photoprotection;

How nutrition, carotenoids, omega-3 fatty acids and niacinamide fit into Jen’s integrative approach to skin health;

And, why Jen no longer believes that mastering medicine means being able to cure everyone.

Connect with Dr. Jen Haley through her Substack, where she explores dermatology, skin health, nutrition and longevity, including her articles “Sunlight Is Not Our Enemy. It Is Our Vital Life Force”, “Your Skin’s Secret Sun Defense (It’s Not Sunscreen)” and “Melasma: Why It Shows Up and How To Treat It.”

—

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

There’s a moment in the life of almost every successful beauty brand when growth gets complicated.

More consumers. More channels. More creators. New leadership. New generations. New expectations.

And suddenly the question isn’t simply how do we grow? It’s what do we protect as we grow?

This week, Carmine sits down with Irena Kojouharova, a senior beauty marketing executive, brand strategist and fractional CMO whose experience spans P&G/Wella, Moroccanoil, GLAMGLOW, Estée Lauder, KEVIN.MURPHY, Freeman Beauty and emerging skincare and wellness brands.

Their conversation begins with a deceptively important distinction: not every marketing problem is actually a marketing problem.

Irena explains how she looks at the consumer journey — awareness, consideration, purchase and loyalty — to determine whether a brand needs more visibility, better distribution, a stronger product or an entirely clearer reason for consumers to care. If people know a brand exists but still aren’t choosing it or returning, throwing more money at media may simply amplify a weak position.

From there, Carmine and Irena turn to one of the central tensions in brand building: how do you evolve without erasing the very things that made the brand distinctive?

For Irena, that begins with understanding the brand’s DNA — its promise, purpose and distinctive assets — and separating those enduring elements from the creative expressions, channels, creators and cultural references that naturally need to change over time.

Carmine brings the conversation back to his own seven years as the voice of Kiehl’s, where even seemingly minor decisions were filtered through a fiercely protected brand identity. From the skeletons and motorcycles to the language inside the stores, the question was always the same: Is this part of what makes Kiehl’s Kiehl’s?

That kind of stewardship gets considerably harder as a brand grows.

More agencies, retailers, markets, creators and internal teams mean more people interpreting the brand. Irena argues that a brand deck alone isn’t enough. Brands need what she calls an operating system for decisions — a framework strong enough that the people executing the brand eventually become stewards of it themselves.

That becomes especially complicated in the creator economy.

Brands want the authenticity and creative instincts that make creators compelling, but too much control can flatten the very thing they hired them for. Too little control can turn a creator partnership into something almost unrecognizable from the brand itself. Irena explains why the answer often lies in distinguishing between what a creator must communicate and where they should be given genuine creative freedom.

Then the conversation shifts to another increasingly difficult challenge: how do beauty brands attract younger consumers without making longtime customers feel like the brand has left them behind?

Irena points to Sephora as a company that has repeatedly expanded its relevance — first with Millennials and now with Gen Z — without abandoning Gen X. Rather than replacing one generation with another, she argues, strong brands find ways to invite additional audiences in.

That thinking becomes particularly interesting in skincare and longevity, where the same product proposition can mean something entirely different at 20 than it does at 50. For a younger consumer, longevity may be about prevention. For an older consumer, it may be a mix of prevention and correction. The brand doesn’t necessarily need a different identity — but it does need to understand the different problems consumers believe they are solving.

Finally, Carmine asks what allows certain brands to endure for decades while others disappear.

For Irena, longevity doesn’t mean refusing to change. It means repeatedly returning to the fundamentals: consumer sentiment, competitive context, cultural shifts and the brand’s own purpose — then asking whether the way the brand is showing up still reflects what it intends to mean.

And in the episode’s closing conversation, Irena reflects on something she believed early in her career: that being a great marketer meant knowing everything herself.

Today, she believes almost the opposite.

The work is better when you know how to listen — to consumers, agencies, colleagues and different points of view — and use those perspectives to make smarter decisions.

It’s a conversation about brand DNA, growth and relevance — and why the strongest brands may not be the ones that reinvent themselves most often, but the ones that know what should never be reinvented at all.

Key Takeaway

Brands don’t stay relevant by constantly reinventing themselves.

Irena Kojouharova argues that enduring brands know the difference between what must evolve and what must be protected. Creative expression, channels and cultural references can change. The brand’s core promise and distinctive identity should be much harder to abandon.

Growth makes that harder — which is why strong brands create systems that turn employees, agencies, retailers and creators into stewards rather than simply more voices.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

How Irena Kojouharova moved from traditional marketing into brand strategy and fractional leadership;

How to determine whether a struggling brand has a marketing problem, positioning problem, product problem or distribution problem;

Why awareness without conversion or repeat purchase can signal a deeper positioning issue;

How brands can distinguish their enduring DNA from the creative expression that needs to evolve;

Why consumer research, social listening and even platforms like Reddit can help marketers understand what consumers actually value;

How scale can dilute a brand as agencies, retailers, creators, regions and internal teams add more voices;

Why Irena believes brands need an “operating system for decisions,” not simply a brand deck;

How brands can give creators enough freedom to make compelling content without surrendering the brand identity;

Why attracting Gen Z doesn’t have to mean abandoning Gen X or Millennials;

How the same longevity proposition can mean prevention to a younger consumer and correction to an older one;

What enduring brands do to remain relevant without constantly reinventing themselves;

And why Irena no longer believes being a great marketer means knowing everything yourself.

Connect with Irena Kojouharova on LinkedIn to follow her work in beauty brand strategy, positioning, marketing and growth.

—

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

There was a time when beauty brands controlled the message. They created the campaigns, retailers and magazines amplified them, celebrities endorsed them, and consumers largely followed along.

Then social media changed everything.

Today, a beauty brand can invest millions in marketing only to discover that a creator filming a 30-second TikTok in their bathroom has more influence over what consumers actually buy. And with platforms like TikTok evolving into search engines, communities and increasingly powerful retail channels, the traditional beauty marketing playbook is being rewritten in real time.

This week, Carmine sits down with Mimi Banks, founder of MB Social, a social media agency helping beauty and lifestyle brands navigate content, creators, community and the changing ways consumers discover and engage with brands. Mimi and Carmine are also longtime friends and former L’Oréal colleagues, making this conversation as much a reunion as an exploration of an industry they’ve both watched transform.

Mimi takes Carmine back to the beginning of her career — from the Clinique counter and Estée Lauder to more than a decade at L’Oréal, where she helped pioneer social media for Lancôme when brand Instagram accounts were still a novelty. She explains how that experience ultimately led her to launch MB Social in 2014, and why the business fundamentals she learned at L’Oréal remain invaluable in an industry where platforms and trends change almost daily.

Together, they explore one of the biggest shifts in beauty discovery: social media is no longer simply where consumers encounter products. It’s where they actively search for recommendations, compare experiences, ask questions and increasingly make purchases. Mimi explains why the conversations happening in comment sections may reveal more about consumer behavior than the content brands spend so much time creating.

Then they turn to TikTok Shop and its extraordinary impact on beauty commerce. From the rise of K-beauty brands like Anua and Medicube to Carmine’s own hilariously impulsive skincare purchases, they examine how social platforms are collapsing the distance between discovery and checkout — and what that means for established beauty brands trying to keep up.

But who actually has influence anymore?

Mimi makes an important distinction between influencers, whose value often comes from reach and lifestyle, and creators, whose credibility is built on expertise and craft. They discuss why follower counts don’t necessarily translate into trust or sales, how smaller creators can build highly engaged audiences, and what happens when a paid partnership becomes so scripted that it undermines the very authenticity a brand hoped to borrow.

The conversation also challenges one of beauty marketing’s favorite buzzwords: community. Mimi argues that brands can buy reach, impressions and visibility, but genuine community reveals itself through behavior — people returning, asking questions, talking to one another and developing relationships that extend beyond a single post.

Finally, they look toward a future increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence. As AI changes how consumers search for products, build skincare routines and interact with brands, Mimi considers what might be gained through greater efficiency — and what beauty risks losing if technology replaces the human relationships that make the industry so personal.

And in one of the episode’s most meaningful moments, Mimi reflects on something that has changed far more profoundly than social media: her understanding of success. From building a business to finding love and becoming a mother, she shares why she no longer believes life or career milestones need to happen on anyone else’s timeline.

It’s a conversation about beauty’s changing playbook — but also about the people, relationships and experiences that endure long after the platforms have changed.

Key Takeaway

Beauty’s marketing playbook has changed, but Mimi Banks argues that the fundamentals of influence haven’t disappeared.

Consumers may now discover products through TikTok searches, creator recommendations and conversations in comment sections — and purchase them without ever leaving the platform. But attention alone doesn’t create credibility, and follower counts don’t necessarily translate into sales.

For Mimi, the distinction is between reach and trust. Brands can pay for visibility, but genuine influence comes from expertise, authenticity and relationships that make people want to return.

And as artificial intelligence transforms how beauty is discovered and marketed, the challenge may be less about adopting every new technology than preserving what made beauty compelling in the first place: human connection.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

How Mimi Banks went from a Clinique counter to L’Oréal, where she helped pioneer Lancôme’s early social media presence;

Why the business training she received at L’Oréal became the foundation for launching MB Social in 2014;

How social media has evolved from a discovery feed into a search engine, community hub and retail channel;

Why the questions, recommendations and conversations happening in comment sections can be more revealing than follower counts;

How TikTok Shop is reshaping beauty commerce and helping emerging brands reach consumers at extraordinary speed;

Why Mimi distinguishes influencers, who often bring reach and lifestyle appeal, from creators, whose value may come from expertise and credibility;

How much creative control brands should retain in paid partnerships — and why overly scripted content can undermine authenticity;

How AI is changing product discovery, skincare recommendations and brand interactions — and why Mimi believes human connection still matters;

And, why Mimi no longer believes that career success, marriage, motherhood or personal fulfillment need to follow a predetermined timeline.

Connect with Mimi Banks on LinkedIn here and learn more about her work as the founder of MB Social on the company website here. Mimi is also a co-host of Beauty Is Your Business, a podcast exploring the people, brands and business decisions shaping the beauty industry.

—

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Explore more:

Learn more about Mimi’s social media agency, MB Social, and explore her conversations with beauty industry leaders on the Beauty Is Your Business podcast here.

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

Every beauty brand seems to be talking about longevity. But are we actually changing the way we think about aging — or have we simply found a more appealing way to market anti-aging?

This week, Carmine sits down with Dr. Jenelle Kim, a Doctor of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine, ninth-generation practitioner of traditional Korean medicine, founder of JBK Wellness Labs and author of The Korean Art of Living Well. For more than 25 years, Dr. Kim has worked behind the scenes developing and manufacturing beauty and wellness products, giving her an unusually long view of the ingredients, philosophies and trends that beauty continually embraces — and abandons.

Dr. Kim explains why the current longevity conversation feels familiar to someone rooted in a medical tradition that has considered vitality, balance and living well for thousands of years. Rather than treating longevity as another beauty claim, she challenges us to ask a more fundamental question: What are we actually trying to achieve when we say we want to live longer?

Together, Carmine and Dr. Kim explore the difference between chasing longevity and actually supporting it — through nourishment, movement, mindset and the everyday practices that help us function well. They discuss why our increasingly complicated approach to wellness may itself be creating stress, and where skincare realistically belongs within a much larger picture of health and vitality.

Then they turn to one of Carmine’s favorite subjects: ingredients. After more than two decades formulating products, Dr. Kim explains why the ingredients that endure tend to have something very simple in common — they work. Carmine calls it “ingredient Darwinism,” as they unpack the staying power of ingredients like niacinamide, hyaluronic acid and vitamin C; the tension between efficacy and ingredient storytelling; and why a buzzy ingredient means far less without understanding the formula around it.

Dr. Kim also explains why formulation is ultimately about synergy and delivery — not simply assembling a collection of impressive ingredients. They explore how modern formulation technology can make products better than they were 20 years ago, including the ability to harness traditional botanical ingredients more effectively, while asking whether innovation is actually useful if it only makes beauty more complicated.

Finally, the conversation moves from skincare to something far simpler: one breath. Dr. Kim leads Carmine through the podcast’s first-ever qigong breathing exercise, demonstrating a practice listeners can follow in real time to pause, ground themselves and reconnect with their bodies.

Key Takeaway

Longevity may be one of beauty’s biggest trends, but Dr. Jenelle Kim argues that its foundations are anything but new.

For her, longevity is less about chasing the newest optimization strategy and more about supporting balance across medicine, movement and mindset.

The same applies to skincare: an ingredient isn’t valuable because it’s new or buzzy, but because it works — and because the formula around it can deliver it effectively.

The real challenge is separating genuine innovation from novelty without making beauty more complicated than it needs to be.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

How Dr. Jenelle Kim became the first woman to carry forward her family’s nine-generation lineage of traditional Korean medicine;

How studying Western medicine ultimately led her back to Eastern medicine — and eventually into beauty formulation;

Why she believes Eastern and Western approaches to beauty and wellness can complement one another rather than compete;

Why today’s obsession with longevity feels familiar to someone who has been discussing the concept for decades;

What longevity means when you strip away the beauty marketing — and why living longer isn’t necessarily the same as living well;

Why modern skincare can genuinely be better than it was 20 years ago, particularly in its ability to harness traditional botanicals more effectively;

How overcomplicating beauty and wellness can create the very stress we’re supposedly trying to reduce;

Why Dr. Kim believes ingredients and traditional formulations that survive for generations often endure for the simplest reason: they work;

And, how a simple qigong breathing practice can help bring the body and mind back into balance.

Connect with Dr. Jenelle Kim on LinkedIn here and learn more about her work at JBK Wellness Labs. Her book, “The Korean Art of Living Well,” explores the philosophy and practices she describes as “living meditation” — an approach to bringing greater balance and awareness into everyday life. It’s available on Amazon here.

—

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Explore more:

Find The Korean Art of Living Well, by Dr. Jenelle Kim on Amazon here.

—

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

What if some of what we recognize as skin aging begins not only with declining collagen, elastin or facial support—but with the diminishing cellular energy available to maintain and repair them?

This week, Carmine sits down with David Suzuki, President and CEO of Bio-Therapeutic, the Seattle-based skincare technology company founded by his father in 1974. A licensed skin therapist, inventor and second-generation leader, David grew up immersed in engineering, manufacturing and professional aesthetics before eventually taking the family business into its next era alongside his wife.

David introduces his Energetic Theory of Aging, which places ATP—the usable energy produced by our mitochondria—upstream of many of the processes associated with healthy skin. He explains why he believes frequency-specific microcurrent can support cellular activity and why not every device that sends electricity through the face should be considered true microcurrent.

Together, Carmine and David unpack what creates the immediate “lift” associated with microcurrent treatments, separating the mechanical act of repositioning facial muscles from the electrical component intended to support them. They examine why waveform, frequency and microamperage matter; why visible muscle twitching may indicate an entirely different form of electrical stimulation; and how the four spring-loaded probes of David’s patented bt-sculpt system are designed to engage the contours of the face.

The conversation also becomes unexpectedly personal when Carmine shares how electrical neuromodulation through his Cefaly device transformed his experience with chronic migraine and helped him reduce his reliance on medication.

Finally, David explains the difference between the bt-sculpt GEN2’s LIFT and SKIN modes, how he pairs microcurrent with topical serums and why he no longer underestimates the cumulative effects of small, repeated choices—in skincare, food, hydration, movement and recovery.

Key Takeaway

Microcurrent is not one monolithic technology—and the immediate and cumulative results associated with it may not arise from the same mechanism.

With the bt-sculpt GEN2, the immediate visible change begins partly with kinesiology: four spring-loaded probes physically reposition and shorten targeted facial muscles. David argues that carefully selected electrical frequencies simultaneously support cellular energy and help those muscles maintain their newly sculpted position.

That distinction matters when evaluating devices. Sensation and visible twitching are not necessarily evidence of better performance, while the word “microcurrent” reveals little without an understanding of output, waveform, frequency, probe design and technique.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

How David grew up inside his father’s engineering and manufacturing business—and ultimately became its second-generation leader;

What his Energetic Theory of Aging proposes about mitochondria, ATP and the accumulation of cellular damage;

How frequency-specific microcurrent is intended to interact with cellular energy;

What creates the immediate sculpting effect—and why the bt-sculpt’s four spring-loaded probes are integral to the treatment;

How David distinguishes microcurrent from electrical muscle stimulation, and why muscle twitching isn’t automatically a sign of efficacy;

How the device’s LIFT and SKIN modes differ, why conductivity matters and how David pairs microcurrent with topical products;

And, why David no longer underestimates how profoundly small daily choices can shape the way we age.

Connect with David Suzuki on LinkedIn and explore his educational series, The Lab with David Suzuki. Learn more about Bio-Therapeutic and explore the bt-sculpt GEN2.

Carmine’s featured device is the Bio-Therapeutic bt-sculpt GEN2—a four-probe handheld microcurrent system he independently discovered while judging the BeautyMatter Awards, and one of the rare beauty devices to escape his bathroom drawer and become part of his regular routine.

—

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Explore more:

Bio-Therapeutic bt-sculpt GEN2

The Lab with David Suzuki

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

What happens when decades of clinical skincare expertise meet the wild plants of Jackson Hole — and what can that teach us about how aggressively we’re treating our skin?

This week, Carmine sits down with Kendra Kolb Butler, founder of Alpyn Beauty, the Jackson Hole skincare brand pairing clinically proven ingredients with sustainably harvested mountain plants.

Before founding Alpyn, Kendra spent nearly two decades inside clinical and luxury beauty — including 15 years working alongside dermatologist and formulator Dr. Dennis Gross. In 2015, she left a successful New York career and moved with her family to Jackson Hole, where a short reset became a permanent reinvention.

After opening the Alpyn Beauty Bar, Kendra discovered that even highly regarded skincare formulas struggled to address the dryness, irritation and moisture loss associated with the mountain climate. When her own skin began experiencing the same problems, she questioned for the first time whether clinical ingredients alone were enough.

Her search for an answer led to the wild plants flourishing under the same extreme conditions. Working with local botanists and naturalists, Kendra began exploring how these stress-adapted plants could complement proven actives — eventually transforming locally tested formulas into Alpyn Beauty.

Together, Carmine and Kendra examine beauty’s escalating “active ingredient bonanza,” why another person’s viral routine may be entirely wrong for your skin and whether the industry’s barrier-repair boom signals that consumers have pushed their complexions too far.

Kendra also takes Carmine inside Alpyn’s new 3-in-1 Barrier Repair Serum, pairing Azelaic Acid and the SNAP-8 peptide complex with wild-harvested Ghostberry to address visible redness, hyperpigmentation and expression lines through a barrier-first approach.

Along the way, they discuss sustainable harvesting, the origins of Alpyn’s Melt Moisturizer and why Kendra no longer believes hard work alone guarantees success.

Key Takeaway

Clinical science and botanical skincare do not need to exist in opposition.

Kendra’s philosophy is rooted in balance: clinical actives can produce meaningful change, but their effectiveness depends on skin that is calm, hydrated and capable of tolerating them. When aggressive routines repeatedly destabilize the moisture barrier, pursuing faster results may ultimately move the skin further away from health.

The lesson extends beyond formulation. Building Alpyn required expertise and relentless effort, but Kendra no longer believes hard work alone creates success. Connection, timing, luck, self-belief and the courage to act on an original idea matter, too.

Sometimes reinvention begins not with a perfect plan, but with trusting the feeling that the life you have built is no longer the life you are meant to keep living.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

Why Kendra left a successful 20-year beauty career in New York and moved her family to Jackson Hole;

How the Alpyn Beauty Bar exposed a gap between conventional skincare and the realities of an extreme mountain climate;

Why seeing clinical formulas fail in Wyoming forced Kendra to reconsider everything she believed about skincare;

How stress-adapted wild plants develop secondary metabolites that differ from those of plants grown under controlled conditions;

How samples of the original Melt Moisturizer generated local demand before Alpyn Beauty officially became a brand;

Why Kendra believes prescription tretinoin, high-percentage acids and social-media routines are contributing to over-activated skin;

And, why Kendra now believes success depends on far more than working harder than everyone else.

Connect with Kendra Kolb Butler on Instagram at @kendrakbutler and learn more about her story here. Follow Alpyn Beauty on Instagram at @alpynbeauty and explore the complete collection at alpynbeauty.com.

Carmine’s featured product is the Alpyn Beauty 3-in-1 Barrier Repair Serum, formulated with Azelaic Acid, SNAP-8 peptide, Centella asiatica and wild-harvested Ghostberry.

—

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Explore more:

3-in-1 Barrier Repair Serum

Melt Moisturizer

Barrier Repair Cream

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

What does it take to inherit a skincare brand — and then prove that its future belongs in your hands?

This week, Carmine sits down with Margot Grant Witz, Vice President and third-generation steward of Elizabeth Grant Skin Care, the family- and female-led Canadian beauty company founded by her grandmother in 1948.

Elizabeth Grant’s remarkable story began after a World War II injury left her with significant damage to her skin. Her search for a solution ultimately led to the creation of Torricelumn™, the proprietary marine-derived complex that remains at the heart of the company catalogue today. Decades later, Margot’s mother, Marion Witz, persuaded Elizabeth to revive the business — transforming it from a deeply personal formula into an international skincare brand.

Margot’s own path was anything but automatic. After resisting the family business, moving to France and earning her MBA, she returned ready to begin at the bottom — working in customer service, public relations and eventually live television before earning her place as a leader within the company.

Together, Carmine and Margot explore why inheriting a name doesn’t automatically earn respect, how she learned to introduce change without abandoning the brand’s history, and what it means to disagree with your mother when she is also your boss.

They also examine why Gen X and women over 50 remain overlooked by much of the beauty industry, how skincare can promise visible improvement without turning aging into the enemy, and why getting older should be understood as an opportunity rather than a loss.

Finally, Margot takes Carmine inside the brand’s new Collagen Re-Inforce 3D MarineDNA collection featuring PDRN — sharing what attracted the company to one of skincare’s most talked-about ingredients, how the complete formula shapes the consumer experience, and why hydration remains foundational to healthy-looking skin.

Along the way, they discuss true resilience, manufacturing skincare in-house, the importance of earning your team’s trust, and why holding too tightly to who you once were can prevent you from discovering who you are becoming.

Key Takeaway

A heritage brand remains relevant neither by discarding its past nor by preserving everything exactly as it was.

For Margot, stewardship means understanding why customers trusted Elizabeth Grant Skin Care in the first place — then evolving its identity, formulations and conversations without sacrificing that trust. It also means recognizing consumers whom beauty has too often made invisible, particularly Gen X women over 50.

The most meaningful form of reinvention may not be looking younger. It may be learning to see aging as movement, possibility and the privilege of becoming someone new.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

How a wartime injury ultimately inspired Elizabeth Grant to create Torricelumn™ and launch her skincare company;

Why the brand experienced a remarkable second beginning decades after its original founding;

How Margot went from packing boxes in the family basement to representing the company on television around the world;

Why inheriting a family name did not automatically earn her authority inside the business;

What working alongside her mother and grandmother taught her about leadership, disagreement and generational change;

Why Margot believes Gen X and women over 50 have become largely invisible to the beauty industry;

How skincare brands can advocate for visible improvement without presenting aging as failure;

And what Margot hopes her own generation will contribute to the Elizabeth Grant legacy.

Connect with Margot Grant Witz on Instagram at @margotgrantwitz and learn more about her story here. Follow Elizabeth Grant Skin Care on Instagram at @egskincare and explore the complete collection at elizabethgrant.com.

Carmine’s featured products include the Collagen Re-Inforce 3D MarineDNA Day Cream and Professional Institute Niacinamide Booster Drops. Skincarma listeners can receive 25% off at elizabethgrant.com with code SKINCARMA25 at checkout.

—

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Explore more:

Collagen Re-Inforce 3D MarineDNA Day Cream

Professional Institute Niacinamide Booster Drops

Supreme Essence of Torricelumn™ Serum

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

Hair loss is often treated as a cosmetic problem—or simply accepted as an unavoidable consequence of genetics. But what if we’ve been asking the wrong questions all along?

This week, Carmine sits down with Jared Reynolds—biochemist, molecular biologist, founder of Zenagen and ACTIIV, and a scientist whose research has focused on inflammation, receptor biology and scalp health for more than two decades.

After experiencing significant hair loss himself while in medical school, Jared began questioning why so many traditional approaches focused on stimulating hair growth rather than understanding why healthy hair stops thriving in the first place. That journey led him into the biology of inflammation, the scalp’s role in supporting healthy hair, and the emerging science that may reshape how we think about aging itself.

Together, they explore why inflammation has become one of the most important concepts in both skincare and hair science, how genetics and environment work together to influence hair loss, why the scalp deserves the same thoughtful care we give our facial skin, and how advances in regenerative medicine—including Yamanaka factors, cellular reprogramming and AI-driven research—may eventually transform the future of hair health.

Along the way, they discuss the gut-brain-inflammatory axis, why hair loss isn’t simply “genetic,” what AI is already changing inside scientific research labs, and why maintaining healthy tissue may ultimately prove more important than forcing hair to grow.

Key Takeaway

Hair loss may be one of the earliest visible signs that something deeper is happening beneath the surface.

Rather than viewing thinning hair solely through the lens of genetics or cosmetic correction, Jared encourages us to think more broadly about inflammation, tissue health, hormones and the biological environment that supports healthy follicles. As our understanding of regenerative medicine and longevity continues to evolve, the future of hair care may depend less on forcing growth and more on preserving the health of the scalp itself.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

Why Jared believes hair loss is often a scalp health issue rather than simply a hair problem;

How inflammation influences hair shedding and long-term scalp health;

Why genetics alone don’t fully explain hair loss;

How hormones, environmental exposures and lifestyle contribute to inflammatory signaling;

Why reducing inflammation may be more effective than simply stimulating hair growth;

What scientists currently understand about Yamanaka factors and cellular reprogramming;

Why the gut microbiome may influence inflammation throughout the body—including the scalp;

Why cleansing the scalp consistently may be more important than many people realize;

And why the future of hair health may increasingly resemble the future of longevity medicine.

Connect with Jared Reynolds on LinkedIn here and on Instagram at @zenagenhair and @actiiv. Learn more about Jared's research, Zenagen's science-driven approach to scalp health, and ACTIIV's professional hair care solutions at zenagen.com.

—

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Explore more:

Zenagen REVOLVE Women’s Trio Kit - hair and scalp wellness system

Zenagen REVOLVE Men’s Essential Trio Kit - hair and scalp wellness system

Zenagen Certification

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

If you’ve spent any time exploring longevity, healthy aging or premium skincare lately, you’ve probably heard of glutathione. Often called the body’s “master antioxidant,” it’s become one of the most talked-about molecules in wellness. But what exactly is glutathione—and why does the body manufacture it in the first place?

This week, Carmine sits down with Dr. Nayan Patel—pharmacist, educator, founder of Auro Wellness and adjunct faculty member at the USC School of Pharmacy—to explore the biology behind one of the body’s most important endogenous defense systems. After spending more than three decades studying glutathione, Dr. Patel explains why this remarkable molecule is far more than another antioxidant, how it protects cells from oxidative stress, and why supporting the body’s own antioxidant defenses may be one of the most important investments we can make in healthy aging.

Together, they unpack how glutathione works alongside Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) and other endogenous antioxidant systems, why oxidative stress begins inside the cell, what causes glutathione levels to decline over time, and why conventional oral and intravenous approaches have struggled to deliver glutathione where it’s actually needed.

They also explore the philosophy of prevention versus treatment, how diet and lifestyle influence our antioxidant defenses, and the decades-long scientific journey that led Dr. Patel to develop a novel topical glutathione delivery technology.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

Why glutathione is often called the body’s “master antioxidant”;

Why every healthy cell manufactures glutathione—and what essential jobs it performs;

How glutathione works alongside Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), catalase and other antioxidant defense systems;

Why oxidative stress begins inside the cell—and why that matters for aging;

Why glutathione levels naturally decline as we get older;

Why getting glutathione into the bloodstream isn’t enough—it has to reach the cell;

Why Dr. Patel believes prevention should become a central focus of modern medicine;

And how nutrition, lifestyle and reducing toxic exposures may help preserve the body’s own antioxidant defenses.

Key Takeaway

Glutathione isn’t simply another supplement—it’s one of the body’s own essential defense systems.

Produced inside every healthy cell, glutathione helps neutralize oxidative stress where it begins while also supporting the body’s natural detoxification pathways. As Dr. Patel explains, healthy aging isn’t about finding a miracle molecule. It’s about preserving the body’s remarkable ability to protect, repair and restore itself—and giving those innate systems the support they need to keep doing the jobs they were designed to do.

Connect with Dr. Nayan Patel on Instagram at @dr_nayan_patel and on LinkedIn here. Learn more about Dr. Patel's work, his bestselling book The Glutathione Revolution, his podcast The Vitality Pharmacist, and Auro Wellness's topical glutathione technology at aurowellness.com.

—

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Explore more:

The Glutathione Revolution by Nayan Patel PharmD

Glutaryl Topical Glutathione for Longevity and Daily Defense

G Antioxidant Serum

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

Healthy skin doesn’t necessarily need more products, stronger actives or the latest trending ingredient. Sometimes, what it needs most is consistency—and a healthy environment in which to function.

This week, Carmine sits down with Dr. Brent Ridge, physician and co-founder of Beekman 1802, the goat milk skincare brand he built with his husband, Josh Kilmer-Purcell. Before entering beauty, Dr. Ridge practiced medicine at Mount Sinai and served as Vice President of Healthy Living at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Today, he brings that medical background to a philosophy Beekman has championed for years: supporting skin health rather than constantly trying to correct it.

Together, they explore why the skin barrier went from an obscure scientific concept to one of beauty’s biggest conversations—and how over-cleansing, over-exfoliating and simply using too many products can leave otherwise healthy skin sensitized. Dr. Ridge explains why he still considers cleansing the foundation of healthy skin and how the surface microbiome contributes to the remarkable resilience that allows our skin to adapt to changes in its environment.

They also go deep on the science of goat milk, including how its oligosaccharides may help nourish microorganisms such as lactobacillus, why Beekman’s Bloom Cream was actually named for the concept of a microbial “bloom,” and the surprising oncology research that first led Dr. Ridge to investigate goat milk-derived exosomes years before exosomes became one of skincare’s buzziest technologies.

Carmine and Dr. Ridge also tackle one of beauty’s enduring assumptions: that expensive skincare must work better. Dr. Ridge explains why price and efficacy aren’t directly correlated, when paying more may be worthwhile, and why the texture, sensory experience and pleasure of using a product can still matter if they encourage something far more important—consistency.

Finally, they examine the increasingly blurred boundaries between medicine, wellness and beauty; the promise and risks surrounding peptides, supplements and emerging health trends; and why scientific language can empower consumers to understand their bodies while also making it easier to sell them things they may not need.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

Why Dr. Ridge believes consistency is one of the most important principles in both health and skincare;

How over-cleansing, over-exfoliating and using too many products can compromise the skin barrier and contribute to sensitization;

Why the skin’s microbiome plays an important role in skin resilience and its ability to respond to a changing environment;

How goat milk oligosaccharides may help support microorganisms such as lactobacillus on the skin;

The unexpected oncology research that led Dr. Ridge to begin investigating goat milk-derived exosomes years before they became a skincare trend;

How Beekman approaches innovation without chasing every trending ingredient;

And, where Dr. Ridge sees both opportunity and risk as medicine, wellness and beauty increasingly borrow from one another.

Key Takeaway

Healthy skin isn’t necessarily the result of doing more to it. Dr. Ridge makes the case that the fundamentals—thoughtful cleansing, protecting the skin barrier, supporting the microbiome and, above all, consistency—may matter more than constantly chasing stronger actives or the newest technology.

Innovation still matters. But price, novelty and scientific-sounding claims don’t automatically translate into better results. The best skincare product may ultimately be one that respects the biology of the skin, delivers what it promises and feels good enough that you’ll actually use it consistently.

Connect with Dr. Brent Ridge and his husband and Beekman 1802 co-founder Josh Kilmer-Purcell on Instagram at @joshandbrent. Follow Beekman 1802 on Instagram at @beekman1802 and learn more about the brand’s pioneering work in goat milk skincare, skin barrier health and the microbiome at beekman1802.com.

—

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Explore more:

Beekman 1802 Bloom Cream

Beekman 1802 Milk RX Advanced Better Aging Cream

Beekman 1802 Milk RX Advanced Better Aging Wrinkle Serum

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

GLP-1 medications have transformed weight management—and introduced “Ozempic face” into the aesthetic conversation. But are GLP-1s themselves changing the face, or are we seeing the natural effects of significant weight loss unfolding faster than the skin can adapt?

This week, Carmine sits down with Dr. Daniel Gould, a board-certified plastic surgeon with a PhD in bioengineering and Section Editor for Regenerative Medicine at Aesthetic Surgery Journal. Dr. Gould has coauthored published research examining both facial changes associated with GLP-1 use and the role facial vectors play in natural-looking face and neck lifts.

Together, they unpack what “Ozempic face” really is, including the loss of facial volume and structural support that can leave skin looking deflated, crepey or lax. Dr. Gould explains why nutrition, protein and essential vitamins become especially important when appetite and calorie intake decrease—and why patients may need to give their bodies considerably more time to adjust before pursuing an aesthetic treatment.

They also explore why adding filler can sometimes make the face larger without correcting descended tissue; how surgeons decide between filler, fat transfer, energy-based treatments and surgery; and why the direction in which facial tissue is repositioned can mean the difference between restoration and the unnatural, pulled look patients fear.

Finally, Carmine and Dr. Gould examine the beauty industry’s rush to turn the visible effects of weight loss into another problem consumers are told they need to fix—and why a healthier body, loose skin and all, should still be recognized as an extraordinary accomplishment.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

What “Ozempic face” actually is—and whether GLP-1 medications uniquely affect facial fat;

Why rapid weight loss can leave the face looking deflated, crepey or lax;

How inadequate protein and nutrient intake may affect the skin and the body during weight loss;

Why Dr. Gould recommends allowing time for weight and facial tissue to stabilize before considering surgery;

Why adding facial volume doesn’t necessarily correct tissue that has shifted or descended;

What a facial vector is and why it matters for natural-looking facelift results;

Why the aesthetic industry was so quick to market solutions for “Ozempic face”;

And, how patients can approach aesthetic changes without diminishing the health achievement that weight loss may represent.

Key Takeaway

“Ozempic face” is not a single condition with a single solution. Significant weight loss can affect facial volume, structural support, skin quality and nutrition—and those changes may continue evolving long after the weight comes off. Before rushing toward filler, devices or surgery, patients should allow time for their weight to stabilize, protect their nutrition and determine whether the concern is truly lost volume, descended tissue or both.

As Dr. Gould emphasizes, the goal should not be to create a different face. It should be to restore the face naturally—if the patient decides anything needs to be corrected at all.

Connect with Dr. Gould on Instagram at @faces_by_dr_gould and at dr.gouldplasticsurgery. Discover his groundbreaking work at Gould Aesthetics on YouTube here.

—

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Explore more:

Book a Consultation

Good Day LA 2026 Plastic Surgery Results | Dr. Daniel Gould Plastic Surgery

Natural Beauty’s Back for 2026: Looking Human Is in Again

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

We hear the word innovation constantly in beauty. A new ingredient launches. A familiar technology gets a new name. A product claims to repair, rebuild, strengthen or transform — and consumers are left to figure out which breakthroughs are real and which are simply very good stories.

This week, Carmine sits down with Nathan Puksta, founder of Filament Sciences, an R&D company developing proprietary technologies for professional haircare.

Nathan brings an unusually broad perspective to the conversation. Before becoming a founder, he spent nearly two decades inside beauty — including leadership roles at L’Oréal and Kiehl’s — and trained as both a stylist and an esthetician. Today, his work at Filament combines molecular development, consumer research and feedback from salon professionals to create technologies designed around measurable hair performance.

Together, Carmine and Nathan explore what genuine innovation actually looks like, why large beauty companies often optimize products for the average consumer rather than the outliers, and what smaller companies can learn by looking where the biggest players aren’t.

They also unpack how Filament develops proprietary molecular technology, why product format matters as much as the active technology itself, what consumers should ask when a brand claims to “repair” damaged hair, and why testing methodology may be more important than any percentage printed on the packaging.

The conversation also gets personal as two former Kiehl’s insiders revisit the brand’s unique approach to education, community and luxury — and consider why human connection may ultimately be one of beauty’s most valuable forms of scarcity.

Finally, Nathan shares where he believes haircare is heading next, from scalp health and hair growth to longevity and the changing biology of hair itself.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

Why Nathan believes luxury is increasingly about knowledge, experience and human connection rather than price;

Why Nathan believes beauty has become increasingly commoditized;

Why big beauty companies often optimize innovation toward the average consumer;

Why the outliers in consumer data may reveal where an entire category is headed next;

How Filament Sciences combines molecular research and consumer insight;

How consumers can evaluate hair-repair claims more intelligently;

Why “How did you test it?” may be the most important question consumers can ask a beauty brand;

Why Nathan believes scalp health and hair growth will play an increasingly important role in the future of haircare;

And, why “bond repair” may have become one of haircare’s most overused marketing terms.

Key Takeaway

Real innovation in beauty isn’t defined by how scientific a product sounds. It begins with identifying a meaningful problem, developing something genuinely different to solve it, and being able to clearly answer one deceptively simple question:

How did you prove it works?

Connect with Nathan on LinkedIn here and on Instagram at @nathaninthelab. Learn more about the trailblazing work he and his team are doing at Filament Science on their IG at @filamentsciences and on the company website at filamentsciences.com.

—

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Explore more:

FILAMENT TS.02/Tt : Tensile Strength Hair Treatment Mask

The Power of Tensilyx™

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

One of the biggest blind spots in beauty isn’t a new ingredient, procedure, or technology—it’s what happens after.

Every year, millions of people undergo cosmetic procedures, reconstructive surgeries, C-sections, cancer treatments, and other operations that leave lasting scars. Yet despite the emotional and physical impact scars can have, scar care has remained surprisingly overlooked by both the beauty industry and, in many cases, medicine itself.

This week, Carmine sits down with Jadis Montijo, founder and CEO of Motivo Scar Care, to explore why recovery deserves a much larger place in the conversation around healthy skin.

After undergoing gender-affirming top surgery, Jadis found himself frustrated by the scar-care products he was prescribed. When those products ultimately failed—leading to scar revision surgery—he partnered with renowned plastic surgeon Dr. Jonathan Keith to rethink an entire category from the ground up.

Together, they explore why scars are far more than cosmetic; how they shape confidence, identity, and healing; and why recovery may represent one of beauty’s next major frontiers.

Along the way, Jadis shares his personal journey of transitioning, the unexpected path that led him into entrepreneurship, and why building Motivo has become about far more than improving scars—it’s about helping people move forward after some of life’s most significant moments.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

Why scar care has remained one of beauty’s most overlooked categories;

How Jadis’s experience with gender-affirming surgery led to the creation of Motivo Scar Care;

Why recovery often falls into the gap between medicine and beauty;

How scars can affect confidence, identity, and emotional healing;

What differentiates modern scar-care products from traditional approaches;

Why nutrition, consistency, and overall health influence how scars heal;

How plastic surgeons and dermatologists are beginning to rethink post-procedure care;

And, why the future of beauty may be just as focused on recovery as transformation.

Key Takeaway

Scars tell deeply personal stories, but they shouldn’t define how we see ourselves. As cosmetic procedures, reconstructive surgery, and aesthetic treatments continue to grow, recovery deserves far more attention than it has historically received. This conversation reminds us that healing doesn’t end when the procedure is over—and that caring for a scar is ultimately about supporting the person behind it.

Connect with Jadis on LinkedIn here and on Instagram at @jadismontijo. Explore Motivo Scar Care’s innovative scar-care products and brand ethos at motivoscarcare.com.

—

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Explore more:

Motivo Scar Tape Roll

Motivo Scar Tape Sheets

Motivo Intensive Repair Scar Cream

Motivo Advanced Early Scar Serum

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

One of the most persistent myths in beauty is that aging happens entirely from the outside in. We focus on wrinkles, volume loss, skin laxity, and facial contours—yet rarely consider the structures beneath the surface that help support everything we see in the mirror.

This week, Carmine sits down with Beverly Hills cosmetic and neuromuscular dentist Dr. Arthur Glosman to explore what our mouths may reveal about the way we age, feel, and function.

Drawing on his background in dentistry, architecture, art, and design, Dr. Glosman approaches the mouth as far more than a collection of teeth. He sees it as part of a larger system involving the jaw, facial muscles, bite, sleep, inflammation, and overall health—and believes dentists may be uniquely positioned to recognize clues that other healthcare providers can miss.

Together, they unpack how chronic clenching and an unstable bite may place stress on the jaw, why worn teeth can change the proportions and support of the lower face, and what Dr. Glosman means when he describes restorative dentistry as an “internal facelift through the teeth.”

The conversation is also deeply personal. As a chronic migraineur who receives Botox in his masseter muscles and has experienced grinding, cracked teeth, and tooth loss, Carmine examines the possible relationship between jaw tension, TMJ dysfunction, and headache disorders.

Along the way, Dr. Glosman shares why he believes dentistry should feel more like hospitality than healthcare, how fear and shame prevent people from seeking treatment, and why simply walking through the door may be the most important first step.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

What neuromuscular dentistry is—and how it looks beyond the teeth;

How bite imbalance, clenching, and overworked facial muscles may affect the jaw, head, and neck;

Why worn teeth can change facial proportions and reduce support for the lips and cheeks;

What Dr. Glosman means by an “internal facelift through the teeth”;

What the gums, tongue, bone, and other oral tissues may reveal about broader health;

Why dental anxiety and past trauma can delay essential care;

How comfort, listening, and hospitality can improve the patient experience;

And, why dental problems rarely become less complicated—or less expensive—with time.

Key Takeaway

The mouth does not exist separately from the rest of the face or body. From bite function and facial support to inflammation, pain, and overall health, this conversation is a reminder that caring for our teeth may be one of the most overlooked parts of aging well.

Connect with Dr. Glosman on LinkedIn here and on Instagram at @dr.arthurglosman. You can also contact his practice for an appointment on their website at arthurglosmandds.com.

—

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

Ingredient savvy isn’t the same thing as ingredient literate.

We know to hunt for ceramides. We compare Vitamin C percentages. We scan for peptides, retinoids, and niacinamide. But when we turn over the carton and browse the full ingredient list, can we actually tell whether a product is well formulated—or whether we’re simply responding to clever marketing?

In this episode of The Skincarma Pod, Carmine welcomes back Annie Graham, cosmetic chemist and co-founder of Atomic Pom Labs, for a practical and refreshingly honest guide to reading skincare ingredient lists.

Annie explains why an INCI list is first and foremost a regulatory disclosure; what ingredient order can—and cannot—tell us; why effective ingredients may appear surprisingly low on the list; and why percentages, botanical overload, and hero-ingredient marketing can lead even experienced skincare shoppers in the wrong direction.

Carmine and Annie also compare different forms of Vitamin C, unpack the anatomy of a thoughtfully formulated moisturizer, and discuss why texture, stability, delivery, and the overall experience of a product cannot be judged from the ingredient list alone.

Then they put those ideas to the test by decoding three very different formulas: spa brand EPICUTIS’ Hydrobiome Serum, the $400 La Mer The Concentrate, and rhode Barrier Restore Cream—the best-selling moisturizer at Sephora.

The larger lesson is reassuringly simple: start with a cleanser, moisturizer, and sunscreen; choose products that suit your skin, budget, and routine; and stop shopping from a place of skincare FOMO. There is no secret ingredient everyone else knows about—and an impressive ingredient list is never the whole picture.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

What an INCI list was designed to communicate—and why it is not a complete evaluation of a formula;

Why the familiar “top ten ingredients” rule can be misleading;

How low-concentration ingredients such as peptides still play a meaningful role;

Why two Vitamin C products with dramatically different percentages cannot necessarily be compared at face value;

What humectants, emollients, occlusives, emulsifiers, and preservatives contribute to a moisturizer;

Why a simple ingredient list can produce an exceptional product—and a very long list can still underwhelm;

How texture, stability, packaging, price, and the likelihood that you’ll use a product consistently should influence your decision;

How to stop chasing the imaginary ingredient that will supposedly change everything.

Products Decoded in the Episode

EPICUTIS Hydrobiome Serum — a minimalist, water-based formula whose texture and humectant system become part of the analysis.

La Mer The Concentrate — a lesson in silicones, sensory elegance, instant cosmetic effects, luxury positioning, and exceptionally cohesive storytelling.

rhode Barrier Restore Cream — an ingredient-packed moisturizer that brings humectants, emollients, occlusives, niacinamide, peptides, and barrier marketing into one conversation.

Key Takeaway

An ingredient list is a disclosure—not a performance review.

It may offer useful clues about a product’s base, structure, preservation system, and featured ingredients. But it cannot fully reveal the formula’s stability, elegance, delivery, tolerability, manufacturing quality, or suitability for your skin.

The smarter approach is to begin with four questions:

What is this product supposed to do?

Does that function match what my skin actually needs?

Can I comfortably afford and consistently use it?

Does the finished product feel good enough that I will keep using it?

That framing captures Annie’s recurring message throughout the episode: learn the basics first, experiment thoughtfully, and do not let ingredient marketing convince you that everyone else has discovered a secret you missed.

Follow Annie and Atomic Pom Labs on Instagram at @atomicpomlabs. Learn more about the trailblazing work Annie and Diego are doing at Atomic Pom Labs at atomicpomlabs.ca.

—

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Explore more:

EPICUTIS Hydrobiome Serum

La Mer The Concentrate

rhode Barrier Restore Cream

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

One of the biggest shifts happening in skincare isn’t a new ingredient or breakthrough technology — it’s a growing realization that healthier skin may come from doing less, not more.

This week, Carmine sits down with Becca Zook, founder of Happi Rituals, to explore the growing movement toward simpler, barrier-focused skincare. After becoming frustrated with expensive products, complicated routines, and endless anti-aging promises, Becca set out to create something different — formulations built around grass-fed beef tallow, nutrient-rich botanical oils, and the belief that skin doesn’t need to be constantly corrected. It needs to be supported.

Together, they unpack the marketing forces that shaped modern skincare, whether consumers are experiencing “skincare fatigue,” why barrier health has become one of beauty’s biggest conversations, and what makes beef tallow one of skincare’s most polarizing ingredients.

Along the way, Carmine shares insights from three decades in beauty, including why he believes sunscreen remains the most effective anti-aging product ever created and the secret skincare philosophy he learned from celebrity aesthetician Angela Caglia.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

Why skincare routines have become increasingly complicated;

The science and controversy behind beef tallow skincare;

What “bioavailable” ingredients actually mean;

Why healthy skin may require fewer products than you think;

The difference between fighting aging and supporting healthy skin as we age;

And, how beauty marketing has shaped the way we think about skincare for decades.

Key Takeaway

Whether you’re a minimalist or someone with a ten-step routine, this conversation is a reminder that healthy skin isn’t always about doing more — it may simply be about giving your skin the support it actually needs.

Connect with Becca on LinkedIn here and on Instagram at @happi.rituals. Explore Happi Ritual’s beef tallow-infused products and brand ethos at happirituals.com.

—

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Explore more:

Happi Rituals RENEW + GLOW Face Mousse

Happi Rituals SOOTHE + HEAL Face Mousse

Happi Rituals FIRM + MOISTURIZE Body Mousse

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

One of the biggest misconceptions in skincare is that clearer skin begins with a better product.

While cleansers, serums, and prescriptions certainly have their place, board-certified dermatologist Dr. Katie Varman believes that for many people, lasting skin health starts much deeper — in the gut, on the plate, and in the everyday habits that shape our overall health.

In this episode of the Skincarma Pod, Carmine welcomes back Dr. Katie Varman alongside her collaborator and Skin Skin Academy co-founder, holistic chef, nutrition educator, and Le Cordon Bleu–trained chef Kimber Dean, for a fascinating conversation about their new program, Clear Skin from Within.

Together, they’ve created a practical 90-day roadmap that combines functional dermatology, nutrition, cooking, stress management, and lifestyle medicine to help uncover the root causes of acne. Rather than simply treating breakouts, the program helps participants identify the foods, environmental triggers, and daily habits that may be contributing to inflammation and skin imbalance.

Throughout the conversation, Dr. Varman explains why education alone often isn’t enough, why functional medicine complements — not replaces — traditional dermatology, and how the gut-skin connection influences everything from acne to overall health.

Chef Kimber shares her own remarkable healing journey and explains how cooking can become a powerful form of self-care, making healthier eating realistic, enjoyable, and sustainable — even for busy people.

The conversation also expands beyond acne, exploring food sensitivities, migraines, nervous system regulation, processed foods, hospital nutrition, and why both guests believe the future of medicine will increasingly bring healthcare professionals, nutrition, and community together.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

Why acne is often driven by much more than what’s happening on the surface of the skin;

How the Clear Skin from Within 90-day program helps identify individual acne triggers;

The surprising connection between gut health, inflammation, and skin;

Why elimination diets work — and how foods can be safely reintroduced;

The foods most commonly associated with acne and why they affect everyone differently;

Why stress, sleep, and nervous system health can influence skin just as much as diet;

How Chef Kimber uses food, cooking, yoga, and mindfulness as tools for healing;

And, why the future of skincare may depend as much on what’s happening in the kitchen as what’s happening in the bathroom cabinet.

Key Takeaway

Healthy skin isn't built by a single product or a single ingredient. It's the result of countless daily choices that influence the body's internal environment. Dr. Katie Varman and Chef Kimber Dean remind us that when we nourish the gut, calm the nervous system, and build sustainable habits around food, we’re not simply treating acne — we’re supporting the long-term health of the entire body.

Connect with Dr. Katie Varman on LinkedIn here and on Instagram at @shineskinacademy. Connect with Chef Kimber Dean on LinkedIn here and on Instagram at @chefyoginikimberdean and @happyfoodmeals.

Explore the Clear Skin From Within program here and enjoy a complimentary gut-skin lesson here.

—

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Explore more:

Clear Skin From Within 90-Day Program

Shine Skin Academy Homepage

Free Gut-Skin Lesson

Chef Kimber’s Protein Brownie Bites

Chef Kimber’s ADHD Smoothie

Eating for Sun Protection

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

One of the most fascinating questions in beauty has nothing to do with ingredients, formulations, or clinical studies.

It’s why we want what we want in the first place.

Every day we’re surrounded by images designed to capture our attention, shape our perception, and make certain products feel not only desirable, but inevitable. Yet few people ever stop to ask how that process actually works.

In this episode of the Skincarma Pod, Carmine sits down with photographer, director, and a—son founder Anderson for a thought-provoking conversation about luxury, branding, image-making, and what he calls the mechanics of desire.

Drawing on a career that spans fashion, beauty, celebrity campaigns, and the landmark launch of Fenty Beauty, Anderson shares how his early artistic training evolved into a deeper understanding of how aspiration is constructed — and why the algorithm may have changed where desire lives, but not how desire works.

Together, Carmine and Anderson explore why luxury brands continue to influence modern marketing; the distinct creative strategies behind founder-led, heritage, K-beauty, and science-driven skincare brands; and the unique challenge of creating desire for products whose benefits often take weeks or months to become visible.

The conversation also examines the growing tension between clinical proof and emotional storytelling, the role imagery plays in shaping consumer perception, and why building a memorable beauty brand requires far more than simply producing more content.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

What Anderson means by “the mechanics of desire” and why luxury brands have understood it for decades;

Why the algorithm changed where desire lives — not how it works;

How founder-led, heritage, K-beauty, and science-driven brands each sell beauty differently;

Why skincare presents a unique creative challenge compared to color cosmetics;

The relationship between imagery, copywriting, and consumer psychology;

Why luxury branding is built through image, symbolism, and repetition;

What today’s beauty brands often misunderstand about creating aspiration;

And, why producing more content doesn’t necessarily build a stronger brand.

Key Takeaway

Consumers rarely fall in love with a product because of a single image, headline, or scientific claim. They fall in love with the meaning that brands create over time. Anderson reminds us that while platforms and algorithms will continue to evolve, the psychology of desire remains remarkably constant — and the brands that understand that distinction are the ones that endure.

Connect with Anderson on LinkedIn here and on Instagram at @byandersonx. Discover his work at a—son on IG at @ason.agency and on his agency website at a-son.agency.

—

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Explore more:

a—son case studies

Anderson’s portfolio

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

One of the biggest misconceptions in aesthetics right now is that filler is a problem — the problem.

Spend a few minutes online and you’ll find countless videos blaming filler for everything from facial puffiness to “filler migration.” But according to board-certified dermatologist Dr. Kathleen Welsh, the real issue isn’t filler — it’s how filler has been used.

In this episode of The Skincarma Pod, Carmine sits down with Dr. Kathleen Welsh, founder of Bay Area Cosmetic Dermatology, alongside Roxanne Krempa, Director of Bay Area Body & Wellness, for a fascinating conversation about how aesthetic medicine is evolving beyond volume alone.

Drawing on nearly three decades of clinical experience, Dr. Welsh explains why she believes the backlash against filler is actually a backlash against overfilling, how social media has distorted public perception of injectables, and why today’s most natural results come from treating aging as a multi-layered process involving skin, fat, muscle, and structure.

Together, Carmine, Dr. Welsh, and Roxanne explore the rise of Emface, the role muscle loss plays in facial aging, the importance of prevention, and why sunscreen remains the single most powerful anti-aging intervention available.

The conversation then shifts into one of the most intriguing developments in aesthetics today: Exomind. Dr. Welsh and Roxanne explain how this neurotechnology is helping patients address stress, anxiety, focus, and emotional well-being — and why caring for the whole person may be becoming just as important as treating the face itself.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

Why Dr. Welsh believes people aren’t moving away from filler — they’re moving away from being overfilled;

What “filler migration” actually is and why it may be widely misunderstood;

How facial aging involves changes to skin, fat, muscle, and even bone structure;

What Emface is and how it helps support the underlying architecture of the face;

Why prevention remains the most effective anti-aging strategy;

The surprising role sunscreen plays in long-term facial aging;

What Exomind is and how it supports neuroplasticity, focus, and emotional well-being;

How stress, anxiety, and mental wellness increasingly intersect with aesthetic medicine;

And, why the future of beauty may be less about chasing perfection and more about supporting overall health.

Key Takeaway

The future of aesthetic medicine isn’t about finding a single miracle treatment. It’s about understanding aging as a structural, biological, and even emotional process. Dr. Welsh reminds us that the best outcomes come from prevention, thoughtful intervention, and treating the whole person — not simply chasing volume, trends, or quick fixes.

Connect with Dr. Welsh and Roxanne at Bay Area Cosmetic Dermatology on LinkedIn here and on Instagram @bayareacosmeticdermatology. Discover their cutting-edge treatments – including Emface and Exomind – on the Bay Area Cosmetic Dermatology website at weloveskin.com (or via the links below).

—

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Cutting-edge treatment links:

Emface

Exomind

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

One of the biggest misconceptions in beauty is that innovation and newness are the same thing.

The industry launches thousands of products every year. New ingredients dominate social media feeds. New brands appear almost daily. But according to beauty industry veteran Shannaz Schopfer, more products don’t necessarily mean better products — and in many cases, they simply create more noise.

In this episode of the Skincarma Pod, Carmine sits down with Shannaz Schopfer, founder of The Beauty Architects and a beauty industry insider with more than 40 years of experience spanning product development, manufacturing, formulation, and brand building.

Drawing on decades of experience — from growing up in her father’s skincare business in Switzerland to launching her own brand and advising manufacturers and founders around the world — Shannaz offers a candid look at what happens behind the scenes of modern beauty.

Together, Carmine and Shannaz explore why some ingredients lose effectiveness before they ever reach the skin, how social media and low barriers to entry have transformed the industry, what founders consistently underestimate about launching a brand, and why genuine innovation has become increasingly difficult to find.

They also discuss sustainability, packaging waste, ingredient trends, alcohol-free fragrance, the rise of Korean beauty, and the growing tension between experience and disruption in an industry obsessed with what’s next.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

Why having an ingredient on an INCI list doesn’t guarantee efficacy;

What most founders misunderstand about launching a beauty brand;

How social media transformed the pace of beauty innovation;

Why Shannaz believes the industry is producing too many similar products;

The hidden challenges of sustainable packaging;

What excites her most about the future of fragrance;

And, why experience remains one of the most undervalued assets in beauty.

Key Takeaway

The future of beauty isn’t about launching more products. It’s about creating products that genuinely solve problems, earn loyalty, and stand the test of time. In an industry increasingly driven by speed and novelty, Shannaz reminds us that quality, integrity, and experience still matter.

Connect with Shannaz on LinkedIn here and on Instagram at @shannazschopfer. Explore her work with brands and manufacturers through The Beauty Architects at thebeautyarc.com.

—

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

One of the most interesting questions in beauty right now isn’t which ingredient is trending — it’s who decides what becomes a trend in the first place.

In an industry flooded with marketing claims, ingredient buzzwords, social media hype, and now AI-generated content, separating signal from noise has never been more difficult. But beneath every launch, every trend, and every positioning strategy lies something much less glamorous — data.

In this episode of this Skincarma Pod, Carmine sits down with Monieka Bos, co-founder of SKINSKOOL Beauty and CosmeticIQ, to explore the growing role of data intelligence in modern beauty. Drawing from a proprietary database of more than 60,000 beauty products and years of human-verified ingredient tracking, Monieka offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at how brands monitor competitors, identify opportunities, track ingredient adoption, and navigate an increasingly crowded marketplace.

Together, they discuss the difference between clean data and AI, why ingredient trends like exosomes, PDRN, and NAD+ often become more complicated than their marketing suggests, and how brands balance innovation, positioning, and transparency in a market where thousands of products launch every year. Along the way, they explore what consumers actually care about, why some ingredients become enduring successes while others quickly disappear, and whether greater transparency is truly improving the beauty industry.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

How Monieka Bos went from practicing law to building SKINSKOOL Beauty and CosmeticIQ;

Why AI is only as powerful as the quality of the data behind it;

How brands use data to identify ingredient trends, benchmark competitors, and refine product positioning;

Why ingredients like exosomes, PDRN, and NAD+ are generating so much attention right now;

The difference between marketing ingredients and meaningful formulation choices;

How beauty companies track competitors — and why many still rely on surprisingly manual methods;

Why transparency remains one of beauty’s most complicated and misunderstood topics;

And, what separates brands that succeed from those that quickly disappear.

Key Takeaway

The future of beauty won’t belong to the brands with the loudest marketing claims — it will belong to the brands that can combine data, insight, creativity, and trust. As AI accelerates the pace of information, clean data and human judgment may become more valuable than ever.

Connect with Monieka on LinkedIn here and on Instagram at @moniekamaria. Explore Skinskool on Instagram at @skinskool and discover Skinskool’s Beauty Alternatives Finder at skinskoolbeauty.com

—

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Product links:

Skinskool Beauty Alternative Finder

Skinskool Excellence Award Winners

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

One of modern medicine’s greatest strengths is its ability to intervene. We can replace joints, bypass blocked arteries, remove tumors, resurface skin, and perform procedures that would have seemed impossible just a generation ago.

But what happens after the intervention?

In this episode of the Skincarma Pod, Carmine welcomes board-certified oculoplastic surgeon and Mendora Health founder Dr. Kami Parsa for a conversation about a question that rarely gets the attention it deserves: how does the body actually heal?

What begins as a discussion about skin health quickly expands into a much broader exploration of recovery, nutrition, inflammation, and the remarkable biological intelligence of the human body. Dr. Parsa shares how a seemingly minor finger injury sent him down a years-long rabbit hole into wound healing research, nutritional science, and the protocols used in burn units and intensive care settings to support recovery.

That research ultimately transformed not only his approach to patient care, but also his understanding of medicine itself.

Then life delivered an unexpected twist.

While preparing to publish his book Heal, Dr. Parsa discovered he had a 100% blockage in a major coronary artery and would require open-heart surgery. Suddenly, the surgeon became the patient, forcing him to apply the very principles he had spent years studying.

Together, Carmine and Dr. Parsa explore why nutrition remains one of the most overlooked aspects of modern healthcare, what critical care medicine can teach us about healing, the relationship between inflammation and recovery, and why supporting the body’s internal repair systems may be just as important as any procedure, treatment, or topical product.

At its core, this is a conversation about what happens when we stop viewing healing as something medicine does to us — and start recognizing it as something the body is designed to do for itself.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

How a finger injury unexpectedly transformed Dr. Parsa’s approach to medicine and patient care;

What burn units and ICU teams understand about recovery that much of healthcare overlooks;

Why nutrition plays a critical role in wound healing, tissue repair, and surgical recovery;

How inflammation influences both skin health and overall health outcomes;

Why many physicians receive surprisingly little nutrition education during medical training;

How Dr. Parsa’s own open-heart surgery reshaped his perspective as a surgeon;

The connection between skin repair, collagen production, and nutritional support;

And, why the future of skin health may depend as much on supporting biology from within as treating skin from the outside.

Key Takeaway

Healing is not a passive process.

As Dr. Kami Parsa explains, the body is constantly working to repair, regenerate, and restore itself — but that process depends on having the resources it needs to do so. While modern medicine excels at intervention, recovery is often treated as an afterthought.

His journey — from surgeon, to researcher, to patient — offers a powerful reminder that healing doesn’t begin when symptoms disappear or a procedure ends. It begins when we create the conditions that allow the body to do what it has been designed to do all along.

Sometimes the most important question isn’t how we treat the problem. It’s how well we support the body’s ability to heal from it.

Connect with Dr. Parsa on LinkedIn here and on Instagram at @kamiparsamd. Explore Mendora Health on Instagram at @mendorahealth and discover Mendora’s products and brand ethos at mendorahealth.com.

—

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Product links:

Mendora - The Skin Repair Formula

Mendora - The 7-Day Skin Reset Cleanse - Download for Free

HEAL: Your Recovery Blueprint with 100+ Healing Recipes for Surgery and Injury by Kami Parsa MD (Author)

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

We tend to think about innovation in beauty as adding more — more actives, more steps, more complexity. But what if the next frontier in formulation is actually about removing something fundamental instead?

In this episode of the Skincarma Pod, Carmine sits down with Small Wonder Co-Founder and CEO Stephanie Farsht to explore one deceptively simple question:

What if water — the foundation of most beauty products — is actually making them less effective?

Drawing from her background in strategy and innovation at Target, along with years teaching entrepreneurship and innovation at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, Stephanie explains how she approached beauty not as a traditional founder, but as a systems-level problem solver.

The conversation explores the hidden trade-offs inherent to conventional water-based formulations — from ingredient degradation and oxidation to the need for preservatives — and why powder-based products offer a fundamentally different approach to potency, stability, and performance.

Together, Carmine and Stephanie unpack the science and philosophy behind Small Wonder’s powder-to-lather haircare system, including the challenge of preserving active ingredients in their most stable form, redesigning packaging from the ground up, and rethinking how consumers interact with products in the shower.

But the episode also goes beyond formulation science into broader questions around innovation itself: why truly disruptive ideas often require rethinking the entire user experience, why sustainability should be a byproduct of smart design rather than a marketing headline, and how failure became one of Stephanie’s most important tools as a founder.

At its core, this is a conversation about challenging assumptions — and reconsidering whether beauty products are being designed primarily for convenience, tradition, or actual performance.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why water-based beauty products may compromise ingredient potency over time;• How oxidation, degradation, and preservatives impact formulation performance;• Why powder formulations help preserve active ingredients in their most stable form;• How Small Wonder redesigned not just the formula, but the entire shower experience;• Why packaging can function as part of the efficacy system — not just the aesthetic experience;• Why consumer behavior change is often the biggest hurdle in product innovation;• Why sustainability alone rarely drives consumer adoption in beauty;• And, how the future of beauty may increasingly center on intentional, systems-level design rather than endless product launches.

Key Takeaway

Sometimes the most meaningful innovation doesn’t come from adding more — it comes from questioning assumptions that no one else thinks to challenge.

As Stephanie Farsht explains, Small Wonder wasn’t built simply to create a more sustainable product. It was built around a deeper question: what if the conventional way beauty products are formulated is inherently limiting their performance?

That shift in thinking led not only to a new type of haircare formula, but to a complete reimagining of packaging, user experience, and ingredient stability itself.

The result is a broader reminder that true innovation rarely happens by optimizing the existing system. More often, it happens when someone is willing to redesign the system entirely.

Connect with Stephanie on LinkedIn here and on Instagram at @sfarsht. Explore Small Wonder on Instagram at @smallwonder.world and discover Small Wonder’s products and brand ethos at smallwonder.world.

—

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Product links:

Small Wonder Signature Shampoo & Conditioner Set

Small Wonder Signature Shampoo

Small Wonder Signature Conditioner

Small Wonder Magic Perfecting Serum

SURI 2.0 Electric Toothbrush

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

We tend to think about aging in beauty as a biological process — wrinkles, collagen loss, hormonal change. But what if part of the issue isn’t just what’s happening to the skin but how women are being seen in the first place?

In this episode of The Skincarma Pod, Carmine sits down with beauty industry veteran and founder of Skyn Iceland and All Golden, Sarah Kugelman, for a wide-ranging conversation about aging, identity, stress, menopause — and the evolving relationship between women and the beauty industry.

Drawing from decades of experience in beauty — from her early years at L’Oréal to pioneering the concept of “stressed skin” with Skyn Iceland — Sarah reflects on how internal wellness has increasingly shaped the way we think about skin health. She also shares the personal health crisis that ultimately inspired Skyn Iceland and helped introduce the idea that psychological stress could manifest physiologically in the skin.

The conversation then shifts to All Golden, Sarah’s newest venture focused on the needs of Gen X women navigating hormonal change, thinning skin, collagen loss, and shifting identity during perimenopause and beyond. But rather than centering menopause as a problem to “fix,” Sarah makes the case for a more expansive vision of “well-aging” — one rooted in vitality, relevance, authenticity, and self-perception.

Along the way, Carmine and Sarah unpack the beauty industry’s longstanding blind spot around women over 40, the disconnect between marketing and lived experience, and why today’s consumers are demanding products — and narratives — that better reflect how they actually feel.

Whether you’re interested in longevity, hormonal skin changes, or simply the future of beauty itself, this episode offers a thoughtful look at how the conversation around aging is finally beginning to evolve.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How Sarah Kugelman’s personal health crisis led to the creation of Skyn Iceland and the concept of “stressed skin”;• How perceptions of aging — especially for women over 40 — have shifted culturally over the last several decades;• Why many women feel unseen or misrepresented by the modern beauty industry;• How hormonal changes during perimenopause and menopause impact skin thickness, barrier function, collagen, and hydration;• Why menopause skincare is about more than dryness — and why the conversation is still evolving;• How All Golden approaches well-aging through both product innovation and cultural positioning;• Why Gen X consumers represent one of the beauty industry’s greatest overlooked opportunities;• And, how the future of beauty may increasingly center on longevity, vitality, and authenticity rather than “anti-aging.”

Key Takeaway

Beauty doesn’t stop mattering as we age — but the way we want to be seen often changes.

As Sarah Kugelman explains, today’s women over 40 aren’t looking to “turn back time” so much as they’re looking for alignment: between how they feel internally and how they’re reflected externally. That shift has implications not just for skincare products, but for the language, imagery, and assumptions that have historically defined beauty marketing.

The result is a broader rethinking of what aging in beauty can look like — less about decline or invisibility, and more about vitality, relevance, and continuing evolution.

Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn here and on Instagram at @sarahskyn. Explore All Golden on Instagram at @allgoldenbeauty and discover All Golden products and brand ethos at allgolden.com.

—

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Product links:

STAMINA INTENTION MOISTURIZER

STAMINA MIST

STAMINA MASK

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

We tend to think of skincare as something topical — ingredients, routines, products. But what if one of the biggest drivers of skin health isn’t what we put on our skin at all?

In this episode of the Skincarma Pod, Carmine sits down with board-certified dermatologist and founder of Stamina Cosmetics Dr. Marianna Blyumin-Karasik (Dr. MBK) to explore the growing concept of “stress skin” — and how chronic psychological stress may be reshaping the way our skin functions, heals, and ages.

Drawing on her clinical experience, Dr. MBK explains how stress signals travel from the brain to the skin through what’s known as the mind–skin axis — triggering inflammation, disrupting the barrier, accelerating collagen breakdown, and even altering how skin responds to treatments.

From the surge in stress-related skin conditions she observed during COVID to the development of her adaptogen-based skincare line, this conversation explores a more integrative view of dermatology — one that connects biology, psychology, and skincare in a way that feels increasingly relevant.

Along the way, Carmine and Dr. MBK unpack the science behind adaptogens, the emerging category of neurocosmetics, and the role of the skin not just as a surface — but as a signaling organ in constant communication with the nervous system.

Whether you’re dealing with breakouts, sensitivity, or simply noticing changes in your skin during stressful periods, this episode offers a deeper look at what might really be going on beneath the surface.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How chronic stress impacts the skin through the mind–skin axis and hormonal signaling;• Why dermatologists are seeing more “stressed skin” — from acne and rosacea to dullness and accelerated aging;• How inflammation, barrier disruption, and collagen breakdown are linked to psychological stress;• What adaptogens are — and how they may help regulate skin responses through multiple biological pathways;• What neurocosmetics are and how they aim to influence both the skin and the nervous system;• How hypochlorous acid functions as a multi-purpose, clinically backed ingredient for stressed or reactive skin;• Why post-procedure skin can serve as a model for understanding stress-induced skin vulnerability;• How skincare rituals — including texture, scent, and repetition — may influence the nervous system;• And, why a more holistic view of dermatology may be necessary to fully understand skin health today.

Key Takeaway

Stress isn’t just something we feel — it’s something the skin responds to in real time.

As Dr. MBK explains, the skin is not an isolated organ, but part of a larger communication network involving the brain, immune system, and hormones. When stress becomes chronic, that signaling loop can drive inflammation, disrupt the barrier, and accelerate visible aging.

The implication is clear: skincare alone isn’t enough — but it can play a role. By focusing on resilience, regulation, and recovery — both topically and systemically — we may be able to support the skin not just in reacting to stress, but in adapting to it.

Connect with Dr. MBK on LinkedIn here and on Instagram at @dermwithstamina. Explore Stamina on Instagram at @staminacosmetics and discover Stamina products and brand ethos at staminacosmetics.com.

—

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Product links:

STAMINA INTENTION MOISTURIZER

STAMINA MIST

STAMINA MASK

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

We’ve been taught that skin needs damage to regenerate — that the path to better skin runs through controlled injury. But what if that entire premise is flawed?

In this episode of The Skincarma Pod, Carmine sits down with physician, formulator, and founder of Osmosis Beauty Dr. Ben Johnson to challenge one of the most foundational assumptions in skincare: that inflammation and injury are necessary to stimulate repair.

Drawing on decades of clinical experience and formulation work, Dr. Johnson makes the case for a radically different model — one centered on dermal repair, cellular signaling, and systemic health, rather than exfoliation, resurfacing, and inflammation.

From his critique of retinoids and lasers to his emphasis on vascular supply, fat pad loss, and ingredient delivery, this conversation explores a more holistic — and at times controversial — view of how skin actually ages and regenerates.

Along the way, Carmine and Dr. Johnson unpack the limits of ingredient penetration, the rise of growth factors and exosomes, and the growing conversation around the gut-skin connection.

Whether you agree with all of his conclusions or not, this episode challenges the conventional playbook — and asks a bigger question:

Are we trying to repair skin the wrong way?

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why Dr. Johnson believes skin does not need controlled damage to regenerate;• His argument that retinoids may deliver short-term benefits with long-term tradeoffs;• Why collagen loss alone doesn’t explain visible aging — and how vascular decline plays a role;• The emerging importance of facial fat pads in structural aging and volume loss;• How GLP-1 medications (“Ozempic face”) may accelerate fat pad depletion;• Where growth factors, cytokines, and exosomes fit into regenerative skincare;• How signaling molecules may work through receptor activation and follicular pathways, not just direct penetration;• Why many popular ingredients — including hyaluronic acid and peptides — may function primarily as “plumpers”;• Dr. Johnson’s perspective on the gut-skin connection, including links between acne, rosacea, and digestion;• Why he believes Candida, toxins, and microbiome imbalance may be driving common skin conditions;• And, where marketing continues to outpace science in skincare — from lasers to longevity claims.

Key Takeaway

The skincare industry has long relied on a “damage-to-repair” model — but Dr. Ben Johnson argues that true skin regeneration may come not from injury, but from supporting the skin’s biology: improving circulation, preserving structural volume, optimizing signaling, and addressing root causes beneath the surface.

Whether or not you agree, one thing is clear:

The future of skincare may depend less on forcing the skin to react — and more on understanding how to help it function.

Connect with Dr. Ben Johnson on LinkedIn here and on Instagram here. Follow Osmosis Beauty on IG at @osmosisbeauty— and explore Osmosis products and brand ethos on their website at osmosisbeauty.com.

—

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Product links:

Osmosis STEMFACTOR

Osmosis RESCUE

Osmosis PURIFY

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

We’ve been taught to trust SPF as the gold standard of sun protection—but what if that number isn’t as precise, or as reliable, as we think?

In this episode of The Skincarma Pod, Carmine sits down with BeautyMatter journalist Janna Mandell to unpack one of the most unsettling questions in skincare today: can we actually trust SPF claims?

Following her deeply reported investigation into sunscreen testing, Janna reveals a system shaped by human variability, lab inconsistencies, commercial pressure—and in some cases, outright manipulation. At the center of it all is a surprising truth: there is no such thing as a perfectly precise SPF number.

From labs being given “target” results to brands unknowingly relying on flawed testing, this conversation explores the structural issues behind one of the beauty industry’s most trusted categories—and why accountability is far more complicated than it seems.

This is not an anti-sunscreen conversation. It’s a reality check on how sunscreen works—and what it can (and can’t) promise.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

Why SPF is an estimate—not an exact number;

How in vivo testing introduces variability—and opportunity for manipulation;

What “too perfect” results reveal about faulty data;

How brands, manufacturers, and labs share (and blur) responsibility;

Why many brands and founders may not fully understand their own testing reports;

Why lawsuits—not regulators—may be the real enforcement mechanism;

Why SPF 30 vs. 50 differences are often less meaningful than consumers think;

And, what actually matters: application, reapplication, and behavior—not just the number.

Key takeaway:

SPF isn’t a lie—but it’s far less precise, far more variable, and far more vulnerable to manipulation than most people realize. And while the system behind sunscreen may be flawed, the answer isn’t to stop using it—it’s to use it smarter.

Connect with Janna on LinkedIn here and on Instagram at @janna_mandell_writer. Explore her deeply sourced and insightful journalism for BeautyMatter here.

Publications in BeautyMatter by Janna Mandell:

Is Everyone Lying About Their Spf Claims? It’s Complicated (Published April 7, 2026)

The Real Sunscreen Scandal Isn’t In Australia. It’s In The Lab (Published October 3, 2025)

“Big Sunscreen”: When Misinformation Fuels Extremist Conspiracy Theories (Published June 22, 2025)

—

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

Everyone is talking about boosting NAD⁺.Almost no one is measuring it.

In the world of longevity, NAD⁺ has become one of the most talked-about — and most aggressively marketed — molecules.

From supplements to IV drips, the focus is on increasing NAD levels in the body. But there’s a fundamental question that rarely gets asked:

How do you know if your NAD actually needs to be boosted in the first place?

In this episode, Carmine sits down with Jari Närhi, CEO of NADMED, a Finnish health technology company developing one of the first clinical blood tests designed to measure NAD levels accurately and at scale.

Together, they explore the science behind NAD — what it is, what it does in the body, and why it has become central to the longevity conversation. But more importantly, they unpack the measurement gap that has shaped the entire category.

For decades, NAD has been notoriously difficult to measure due to its instability outside of cells — meaning much of the conversation around boosting NAD has been built on assumptions, not data.

That’s where NADMED comes in.

By developing a laboratory assay capable of measuring multiple forms of NAD in whole blood, they’re opening the door to something that has long been missing in the space: objective insight.

This episode reframes the NAD conversation — not as something to blindly optimize, but as something to first understand.

You’ll learn:

• What NAD⁺ is and why it’s essential for cellular energy and metabolic function;• Why NAD exists in multiple forms — and why that matters for measurement;• The role NAD plays in processes like DNA repair, cell signaling, and aging;• Why NAD has been historically difficult to measure in blood;• How instability and degradation have limited real-world testing;• What NADMED’s breakthrough assay does differently;• How and when NAD testing is being introduced into clinical settings and the U.S. market;• And, what it could mean to finally bring data and accountability to the longevity space.

Key takeaway:

The conversation around NAD has been driven by the desire to optimize — but without measurement, optimization is just guesswork.

Before you try to boost your biology, it may be worth asking a simpler question:

What are you actually working with to begin with?

Connect with Jari Närhi, Co-founder and CEO of NADMED, on LinkedIn here. Learn more about NADMED and their breakthrough NAD+ testing protocols and where to get tested at nadmed.com.

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

Acne is often treated as a surface-level problem — something to be managed with cleansers, serums, and spot treatments.

But what if acne isn’t primarily a skincare issue at all?

What if it’s a signal of deeper imbalances happening inside the body?

In this episode, Carmine sits down with returning guest Dr. Katie Varman, a board-certified dermatologist who combines conventional dermatology with a functional, root-cause approach to skin health.

Together, they explore the gut–skin connection — and how diet, the microbiome, inflammation, hormones, and even environmental exposures can influence the development and persistence of acne.

At the center of the conversation is Dr. Varman’s new program, Clear Skin From Within — a three-month course designed to guide participants through elimination, reintroduction, and optimization phases to better understand what’s driving their breakouts.

Rather than focusing on topical solutions, this episode reframes acne as a systemic condition — and offers a more comprehensive, inside-out approach to healing.

You’ll learn:

• Why acne is more complex than oil, bacteria, and clogged pores;• How diet and high-glycemic foods influence inflammation and hormone pathways;• The role of the gut microbiome — and how “good” bacteria support skin health;• What chronic, low-grade inflammation is — and how it shows up on the skin;• Why eliminating dairy, sugar, and processed foods can make a measurable difference;• How environmental factors like plastics, BPA, and artificial fragrance may contribute to acne;• The importance of fiber, spices, and fermented foods in restoring gut balance;• Why skincare alone often isn’t enough — especially for deeper, more persistent breakouts;• And, how estheticians can play a critical role in bridging internal and external care.

Key takeaway:

Acne isn’t just a product problem — it’s a systems problem.And while topical skincare has its place, lasting change often requires looking inward — at the gut, the diet, the environment, and the underlying drivers that the skin is trying to reveal.

Connect with Dr. Katie Varman on LinkedIn at Shine Skin Academy and on Instagram and TikTok. Explore the Clear Skin From Within program here and enjoy a complimentary Gut-Skin Lesson here.

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

Superoxide dismutase — or SOD — is one of the most important antioxidant enzymes in the body, yet it’s rarely discussed in modern skincare.

Often referred to as the “enzyme of life,” SOD plays a critical role as the body’s first line of defense against oxidative stress — a key driver of skin aging, inflammation, and cellular damage.

For decades, however, SOD has been considered ineffective as an oral supplement due to its instability in the digestive system.

So what happens when that problem is solved?

In this episode, Carmine sits down with François Vix, former L’Oréal executive and CEO of IsoCell, to explore the science behind GliSODin — a stabilized, orally bioavailable form of SOD supported by more than 40 published studies.

Together, they go beyond topical skincare to unpack how oxidative stress impacts the skin at a biological level — and why the future of beauty may lie in combining internal and external approaches.

You’ll learn:

• What superoxide dismutase (SOD) actually does in the body;• Why oxidative stress is central to skin aging and inflammation;• The difference between antioxidant enzymes and traditional antioxidants like vitamin C;• Why SOD has historically been considered non-bioavailable — and what changed;• Clinical insights on UV resistance, recovery, and skin health;• How combining oral supplements with retinoids and procedures may enhance results;• And, the growing shift toward “inside-out” beauty and skin longevity.

Key takeaway:

Topical skincare can only go so far. Supporting the body’s internal antioxidant systems may be the missing layer in how we approach skin aging — and skin longevity more broadly.

Connect with François Vix on LinkedIn at @François Vix. Explore GliSODin on Instagram at @glisodin_skin and discovery GliSODin products and science at glisodin.com. You can browse the research studies and publications at glisodin.org.

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Product links:

Glisodin V-SOD

Glisodin Anti-Aging / Dermal

Glisodin Skin Brightening

Glisodin The Antioxidant Enzyme

—

Publications and research:

A review of the science and health benefits for GliSODin

Immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties of an orally bioavailable sod-gliadin complex

Effects of 6-Week Supplementation with GliSODin on Parameters of Muscle Damages, Metabolic, and Work Performance at International Level Rowers after Specific Maximal Effort

—

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

In this episode of The Skincarma Pod, Carmine sits down once again with cosmetic chemist and regulatory expert Mark Broussard to revisit one of the most significant shifts in the beauty industry: the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act (MoCRA) — and why it’s only the beginning.

Mark, founder and Managing Director of Desert In Bloom Cosmetics Lab, works directly with brands to formulate, test, and bring products to market — giving him a front-row view into how cosmetic regulation actually functions in practice. In this conversation, he breaks down what MoCRA truly changed, and where critical gaps still exist when it comes to product safety, transparency, and enforcement.

Together, Carmine and Mark explore the real-world implications of modern beauty regulation — from microbial contamination risks to misleading ingredient labels — and why retailers, not just regulators, may hold the key to protecting consumers.

You’ll learn:

• What MoCRA actually changed for brands, labs, and the FDA;• Why “safety substantiation” remains one of the biggest unresolved issues in the law;• The three essential tests that should define product safety — and why they matter;• How small, unregistered brands can still bypass key regulatory oversight;• Why Amazon and other retailers could play a critical role in preventing unsafe or counterfeit products;• The truth about microbial contamination in water-based skincare;• Why fragrance allergens are one of the most common causes of skin reactions;• How the “1% rule” in ingredient labeling can mislead consumers;• And, what most people misunderstand about how cosmetics are actually regulated in the U.S.

The episode also explores the growing gap between consumer perception and regulatory reality — and why many people assume the beauty industry is far more tightly controlled than it actually is.

This is a conversation about science, safety, transparency, and accountability — and a reminder that when it comes to skincare, what’s not regulated can matter just as much as what is.

Follow Mark and Desert in Bloom Cosmetics Lab on Instagram here and on Linkedin here. Are you a brand founder wading through the complexity of MoCRA compliance? Learn more about Mark’s regulatory expertise at desertinbloomcosmeticslab.com/#MoCRA.

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

On this episode of The Skincarma Pod, Carmine sits down with Angela Jia Kim, founder of Savor Beauty, to explore the deeper philosophy behind K-beauty – beyond the trends, sheet masks, and viral routines.

Angela shares the piece of skincare wisdom passed down from her mother that shaped her entire approach to skin health: “Treat your skin like the most expensive silk on Earth.” Together, Carmine and Angela unpack what that metaphor really means in practice – and how a gentler, barrier-respecting approach to skincare contrasts with the more aggressive, results-driven mindset often seen in Western beauty.

The conversation dives into the real meaning of glass skin, the historical roots of Korean beauty rituals, and the influence of hanbang herbal ingredients in traditional Korean skincare. Angela also shares insights from years spent working directly with clients, revealing why consistency, ritual, and respect for the skin barrier may be the true secret to healthy, luminous skin.

If you’re curious about the philosophy behind K-beauty – or wondering what “glass skin” actually means – this episode offers a thoughtful look at how ancient beauty traditions continue to shape modern skincare.

Connect with Angela on Instagram at @angelajiakim and on LinkedIn here. Explore Savor Beauty on Instagram at @savorbeauty and learn more about the products and brand ethos at savorbeauty.com.

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Product links:

Coconut Jasmine Cleansing Oil

Toning Mist

Caviar Collagen Eye Cream

Truffle Face Cream

Pumpkin Seed Serum

—

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

The beauty industry sells aspiration, transformation, and perfection. But what does that culture do to the people building it from the inside?

On this episode of The Skincarma Pod, host Carmine Montalto sits down with executive coach and former beauty industry leader Elyse Conroy, founder of Soul Makeup and creator of Beauty Career Lab. After more than a decade working inside the corporate beauty world, Elyse now helps high-performing women navigate leadership, burnout, and reinvention.

Together, Carmine and Elyse unpack the emotional architecture of the beauty industry — and why so many successful professionals quietly struggle behind the scenes.

They explore how perfectionism shapes corporate culture in beauty, the growing conversation around executive burnout, and the difficult reality of ageism and salary compression facing women in mid-career leadership roles. Elyse also shares insights from her coaching practice, including the psychological patterns she sees in founders, executives, and high achievers who feel trapped between success and exhaustion.

This candid conversation looks at the human side of an industry built on image — and what it really takes to reclaim identity, confidence, and purpose after stepping away from corporate life.

If you’ve ever wondered what lies beneath the surface of beauty leadership, this episode offers an honest and deeply relatable perspective.

Connect with Elyse on Instagram at @elyseconroyxo and on LinkedIn here. Catch her podcast The Confidence Lounge with Elyse Conroy on Apple Podcasts here and explore her executive coaching programs and events at soulmakeup.com.

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

—

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

In this episode of The Skincarma Pod, Carmine sits down with materials scientist and inventor Eric Pressly and to explore the science of repair — and why rebuilding beauty from the inside out matters more than ever.

Eric is the inventor behind some of the most influential bond-repair technologies in modern beauty, and the founder of Epres haircare and ePhD nail treatment. In this conversation, he explains the molecular science behind repairing broken keratin bonds in hair and nails — and why most beauty products focus on coating damage rather than truly fixing it.

Together, Eric and his wife and COO Natalie share the origin story behind their newest brands, the creative process behind scientific innovation, and what it’s like building a company as partners in life and business.

You’ll learn:

• What “bond repair” actually means at the molecular level;• Why most nail and hair products only provide surface-level fixes;• How Eric developed new repair technologies during the pandemic;• The surprising connection between materials science, chemistry, and creativity;• Why the beauty industry often prioritizes marketing over innovation;• And, what Eric and Natalie believe the future of beauty should focus on: health first, youth second.

The episode also explores sustainability in beauty, the challenge of proving scientific claims in an era of AI-generated marketing, and why true innovation often happens outside of large corporations.

This is a conversation about chemistry, creativity, entrepreneurship, and rebuilding — both scientifically and personally.

Connect with Eric on Instagram at @ericpressly and on LinkedIn here. Explore Epres on Instagram at @epresbeauty and learn more about the products and brand ethos at epres.com. Explore ePhD on Instagram at @ephdnail and learn more about the products and brand ethos at ephd.com.

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on Substack and LinkedIn – and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Product links:

epres Bond Repair Treatment Starter Kit

epres Healthy Hair 3-Step System Starter Kit

ePhD Bond Repair Nail Treatment

—

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

In this episode of The Skincarma Pod, Carmine sits down with Angel Olavarria — chemist, founder, and formulator behind Strive Skin — for a candid, deeply nerdy conversation about what actually makes skincare work.

Angel didn’t enter beauty as a marketer chasing trends. He started as a DIY enthusiast reverse-engineering expensive vitamin C serums in his kitchen, eventually turning thousands of hours of experimentation into a science-led brand built on restraint, transparency, and real-world performance.

Together, Carmine and Angel unpack:

Why many men’s skincare brands underdose actives — or avoid listing concentrations altogether;

The truth about retinaldehyde vs. retinol (and why Angel built a formula around it);

Why niacinamide, alpha arbutin, and urea deserve more respect;

The myth of “collagen serums” and what actually stimulates collagen;

Whether glycolic acid is overrated for anti-aging;

Why sensory experience can “buy time” for results-driven actives to work;

The psychological — not just biological — differences in how men approach skincare;

And, what it’s really like to launch and bootstrap a science-driven skincare brand in today’s volatile market.

Angel also shares the unfiltered reality of being an early-stage founder: Reddit traffic disappearing overnight, Amazon algorithm chaos, and the emotional rollercoaster of building something from scratch.

If you care about ingredient transparency, concentration levels, formulation philosophy, and skincare without the marketing spin — this episode is for you.

Connect with Angel Olavarria on Instagram at @themodernman_ig and on LinkedIn here. Explore Strive Skin on Instagram at @striveskin and learn more about the products and brand ethos at striveskin.com.

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on LinkedIn here and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Product links:

Strive Miracle Face Moisturizer

Strive Deep Clean Men’s Face Wash

Strive Apex Anti-aging Retinal Serum

—

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

In this episode of The Skincarma Pod, Carmine sits down with Evelyn Wang, founder and CEO of The Silverist, to talk about gray hair, ageism in beauty, and what it really takes to build a brand from scratch.

After years inside major beauty companies like L’Oréal and Estée Lauder, Evelyn saw something hiding in plain sight: women embracing their natural silver and gray hair were being treated as an afterthought. Instead of formulas designed specifically for natural gray hair — which loses melanin and behaves differently than color-treated blonde hair — brands were simply relabeling purple shampoos and calling it a day.

In this candid and wide-ranging conversation, Carmine and Evelyn explore:

Why gray hair is fundamentally different from color-treated blonde hair;

How big beauty brands miss nuance when marketing to women over 40;

The tension between corporate marketing polish and founder survival mode;

What it really means to speak to Gen X consumers authentically;

Why “pro-aging” messaging can feel patronizing instead of empowering;

and, the reality of building a lean, profitable beauty brand without bloated overhead.

They also revisit their shared L’Oréal experience, debate the lost art of the focus group, and unpack the decision paralysis that comes with spending your own money as a founder.

Smart, funny, and refreshingly honest, this episode is for anyone interested in beauty marketing, entrepreneurship, and the cultural conversation around aging — especially if you believe women over 40 deserve more than being lumped into a single “mature” category.

Connect with Evelyn Wang on Instagram at @the.evelynwang and on LinkedIn here. Explore The Silverist on Instagram at @the.silverist and learn more about the products and brand ethos at silverist.com.

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on LinkedIn here and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Product links:

Silverist Lustrous Rituals Buildable Tone Shampoo

Silverist Holistic Benefits Leave-In Hair Serum

Silverist 3-Step System: Shampoo, Conditioner & Leave-In

—

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

What if “that’s just how it is” wasn’t good enough when it comes to childhood eczema?

In this episode of the Skincarma Pod, Carmine sits down with Jemila Alharazim, a Physician’s Assistant in asthma and allergy care and the founder of Ocean Olive, to explore how personal experience and clinical insight led to the creation of a new kind of eczema treatment for kids.

For years, Jemila prescribed topical steroids to eczema patients while hearing the same question from parents: Is there a gentler alternative? When her own son developed eczema, that question became personal. What followed was a three-year journey to develop Ocean Olive’s Whipped Gel Nourishing Eczema Spot Treatment — a microbiome-friendly, fragrance-free, OTC product designed for babies and children three months and up.

In this conversation, Carmine and Jemila discuss:

What topical steroids actually do — and why some families hesitate to use them long-term;

Why eczema is far more than “just a rash,” impacting sleep, school, confidence, and family life;

The science behind Ocean Olive’s pink-hued formula (yes, it’s vitamin B12 — and no, it doesn’t stain);

The role of the skin microbiome and Staphylococcus aureus in eczema flare-ups;

Why “less is best” when formulating for sensitive, eczema-prone skin;

What it really takes to bring an OTC product to market — from FDA requirements to clinical safety testing.

Beyond the science, Jemila opens up about how building a brand reshaped her identity — challenging her belief system, strengthening her persistence, and giving her what she describes as “another level of consciousness.”

The episode closes with a lighthearted lightning round — from salsa dancing and Spanish fluency to the Real Housewives of Potomac — and a simple but powerful reflection: “Joy to me looks like being with my loved ones and having the freedom to be whoever and do whatever.”

If you care about responsible skincare, children’s skin health, or the intersection of clinical practice and entrepreneurship, this episode is not to be missed.

Connect with Jemila and Ocean Olive on Instagram at @ocean_olive_ and on LinkedIn here. Explore Ocean Olive and learn more about the products and brand ethos at ocean-olive.com.

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on LinkedIn here and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Product links:

Ocean Olive Whipped Gel Nourishing Eczema Spot Treatment

—

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

For more than 25 years, the U.S. sunscreen market has been frozen in time – while the rest of the world moved on to newer, more advanced UV filters. In this episode of The Skincarma Pod, Carmine sits down with Carl D’Ruiz, one of the key figures behind the FDA’s proposed order to add a new UV filter to the U.S. sunscreen monograph – the first in more than a generation.

Carl is a regulatory and scientific affairs leader at dsm-firmenich, and has spent nearly two decades navigating shifting regulations, Congressional mandates, clinical trials, and evolving FDA requirements to bring bemotrizinol (PARSOL® Shield) to the brink of U.S. approval. When finalized, it would become only the third UV filter considered GRASE (Generally Recognized as Safe and Effective) under modern FDA standards.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Carmine and Carl unpack:

Why sunscreen is regulated as a drug in the U.S. – and how that stalled innovation;

What Category III really means (and why it doesn’t equal “unsafe”);

The impact of systemic absorption studies and the 2019 JAMA sunscreen headlines;

Why Americans have access to far fewer UV filters than Europe, S. Korea, or Australia;

How bemotrizinol could enable better broad-spectrum protection and more wearable formulas, especially for melanated skin;

What it actually takes – in time, data, and money – to shepherd a new sunscreen active through the FDA;

And why this milestone could open the door to a new era of sunscreen innovation in the U.S.

The episode also explores Carl’s unconventional career path – from the EPA to tobacco harm reduction to sunscreen regulation – along with the signature lightning round that touches on cycling, risk-taking, mentorship, and what it really means to play the long game in public health.

This is a must-listen for anyone curious about sunscreen safety, FDA regulation, ingredient innovation, or why the products Americans use every day have lagged so far behind the rest of the world – and what finally might change.

—

Follow Carl D’Ruiz on Instagram here and on LinkedIn here. And, you can learn more about Carl’s decades-long work to get PARSOL® Shield over the finish line in the BeautyMatter article, The Great Sunscreen Odyssey: The 25-Year Road to a “New” UV Filter.

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on LinkedIn here and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

What if one of the most beneficial skincare molecules was already living on your skin?

In this episode of The Skincarma Pod, Carmine sits down with Ann Marie Simpson-Einziger and Mike Einziger, the husband-and-wife founders of Mother Science – and self-described citizen scientists whose curiosity-led research reshaped how we think about skin biology, antioxidants, and aging.

Their journey began not in a traditional lab, but on tour, when Ann Marie noticed a strange, brightened pattern on her skin. That question sparked six years of rigorous scientific investigation into the skin microbiome, oxidative stress, and a naturally occurring, microbiome-derived molecule called Malassezin.

In this conversation, Ann Marie and Mike explain:

what it means to be citizen scientists – scientifically literate, deeply curious, and guided by data rather than dogma;

how Malassezin functions as a next-generation antioxidant and interacts with the skin’s own defense systems;

why oxidative stress is a major driver of visible skin aging, and how they use the term “oxidaging” to reframe the conversation;

what it means to be “a science company that expresses itself through skincare”;

and, how regulatory boundaries shape the way skincare science is communicated responsibly.

They also break down Mother Science’s three core products – the Molecular Hero Serum, Retinol Synergist, and Molecular Genesis Moisturizer – and discuss how backgrounds in music, pattern recognition, and systems thinking influence their scientific approach.

This is a thoughtful, science-forward conversation about skin biology, antioxidants, education-first brand building, and the power of approaching beauty through curiosity, rigor, and respect for the scientific process.

Connect with Ann Marie on Instagram at @annmariesimpsoneinziger and on LinkedIn here; and connect with Michael on Instagram at @michaeleinziger and his LinkedIn page here. Explore Mother Science on Instagram at @motherscience and learn more about the products and brand ethos at motherscience.com.

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on LinkedIn here and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Product links:

Mother Science has graciously extended an offer of 20% off their products for the Skincarma community. Simply enter code SKINCARMA at motherscience.com. N.B. Excludes sets and subscriptions.

Mother Science Molecular Hero Serum

Mother Science Molecular Genesis Barrier Repair Moisturizer

Mother Science Retinol Synergist

—

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

Men track their workouts, optimize their supplements, and obsess over performance — yet mention moisturizer (especially one with SPF!) and the conversation suddenly gets weird. Why?

In this episode of The Skincarma Pod, Carmine sits down with Bob “Beauty Bob” Gearing, a men’s health and lifestyle writer and contributor to Men’s Health magazine, to unpack the quiet contradiction at the heart of men’s skincare — and why language, simplicity, and habit matter more than products.

Bob shares his personal skincare journey — from severe teenage acne to building a routine in adulthood that actually sticks. He’s become an influential voice and advocate in the men’s grooming space. Together, Carmine and Bob explore how men discover skincare through their partners, why “grooming” can feel more accessible than “skincare,” and how most men are overwhelmed not by a lack of interest, but by an overwhelming flood of choices.

The conversation digs into Bob’s popular “two-minute drill”: a no-nonsense daily routine built around three non-negotiables — cleansing, lightweight hydration, and daily SPF. They discuss why sunscreen remains the hardest sell for men (despite being the most effective anti-aging step), why texture and feel matter more than ingredient lists for most guys, and how consistency beats complexity every time.

Carmine brings his de-influencer lens to the discussion, calling out ingredient overload, questionable devices, and marketing that talks at men instead of meeting them where they are.

They also touch on Bob’s writing for Men’s Health, including topics like SPF, sweat-friendly routines, golf and sun exposure, and the cultural silence that keeps men secretly asking skincare questions in DMs instead of out in the open.

This is an honest, practical conversation about men’s skincare habits — without the noise, the stigma, or the outrageous 12-step routines.

—

Follow Bob on Instagram at @beautybob and on LinkedIn here. And, catch his articles in Men’s Health magazine, including “Fellas, It’s Time to Take Care of Your Skin” and “How I Get Rid of My Back Hair Without Asking My Wife or Buddies for Help”.

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on LinkedIn here and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Men’s Health articles by Bob Gearing:

How I Get Rid of My Back Hair Without Asking My Wife or Buddies for Help

Yeah, I Still Get Pimples at 43 Years Old. Here’s How I Clear ‘Em Up.

Fellas, It’s Time to Take Care of Your Skin

The Post-Sweat Grooming Routine for Dudes on the Go

—

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

On today’s episode of The Skincarma Pod, host Carmine Montalto is joined by Shelley Hancock – a licensed esthetician, educator of educators, mentor, and author of Esthetic Success: A Seasoned Esthetician’s Journey

Shelley’s career didn’t follow a straight line – and it wasn’t polished in hindsight. Before finding her calling in esthetics, she moved through multiple jobs, industries, and identities, searching for work that truly fit. Along the way, she faced doubt, generational expectations, and a defining moment when her father expressed a fear that she might never find her passion.

That moment – and the many “leaps” that followed – shaped Shelley’s confidence-first philosophy. As she puts it in their conversation, “Leap even though you’re fearful.”

In this deeply human conversation, Carmine and Shelley explore:

Why confidence often comes before competence

The career detours that quietly prepare us for success

How connection, not credentials, builds lasting client relationships

The difference between knowing everything and trusting yourself

What today’s estheticians need to both learn and unlearn to build long, fulfilling careers

Shelley shares stories from her early days as a cosmetic counter associate, medical-office assistant, spa owner, and eventually an “esthetician’s esthetician,” revealing how curiosity, courage, and self-confidence shaped a decades-long career in skin health and education.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone navigating a nonlinear career path, questioning their next step, or learning how to move forward even when fear is present.

🎧 Listen now – and discover why leaping before you feel ready might be the most powerful career move of all.

—

Follow Shelley on Instagram here and on LinkedIn here. Learn more about Shelley and her work in aesthetics, and even schedule a consultation with her, at shelleyhancock.com.

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on LinkedIn here and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Product links:

Esthetic Success: A Seasoned Esthetician’s Journey

Can You Relate?: Personal Stories with Universal Messages

How to Become a Skincare Expert

—

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

In this special mic-flip episode of The Skincarma Pod, roles are reversed. After a standout conversation on skin microbiome health, Dahlia Devkota – former Allure beauty editor and founder of Editrix – returns to the podcast to interview Carmine, the creator of The Skincarma Pod and Skincarma Blog.

What follows is a free-flowing, unfiltered conversation that traces Carmine’s more than 25-year career in beauty – from department store counters and legacy brands to his time as the first-ever in-house copywriter at Kiehl’s, and ultimately to creating Skincarma.

With no script and no guardrails, Dahlia asks the questions editors always want to ask – and Carmine answers them with honesty and his trademark wry wit.

Together, they dig into how the beauty industry has changed (and where it hasn’t), why marketing often outruns science, and what actually matters when it comes to skin health today. From niacinamide, ectoin, growth factors, and the exosome hype cycle to sunscreen skepticism, personalization myths, and the difference between beauty culture in New York and Los Angeles, this episode is equal parts industry history, cultural commentary, and skincare truth-telling.

Catch Carmine and Dahlia in their first episode together: Ep. 54: “Healthy Skin Is Left Alone” – Editing the Microbiome with Dahlia Devkota, Founder of Editrix

—

Connect with Dahlia on Instagram at @dahlia.devkota and on LinkedIn here. Discover Editrix on Instagram here and learn more about the products and brand ethos at editrixwellness.com.

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on LinkedIn here and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Product links:

Editrix I. Demigod Ayurvedic Cleansing Oil

Editrix II. Deuxième Postbiotic Fermented Cleanser

Editrix III. Superare Microflora Barrier Film

Editrix IV. Bakterium Delirium Skin Education Serum

Paula’s Choice 10% Niacinamide Booster

—

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

In this episode of The Skincarma Pod, Carmine sits down with Alisa Lask, CEO of Rion Aesthetics and the medical-grade skincare line Plated Skin Science. Together, they unpack what’s real – and what’s hype – in the fast-emerging world of exosomes in skincare.

Alisa shares her path from Midwest beginnings and a career across Eli Lilly, Allergan, and Galderma, to leading a regenerative aesthetics company built on platelet-derived exosome technology – a category Plated helped bring into the skincare conversation.

Carmine and Alisa dive into:

What exosomes are (Alisa’s simple “text messaging system” explanation);

Why platelet-derived exosomes are fundamentally different from plant-based “exosome” claims;

Plated’s origin story rooted in the Mayo Clinic’s Van Cleve Cardiac Regenerative Medicine Program;

How Plated sources material from FDA-compliant platelet banks (and why transparency matters);

Why Plated is provider-dispensed, not built for big-box beauty retail;

Plus: murder-mystery comfort TV, safari travel, dog rescue, and the lightning-round line you won’t forget: “I feel most like myself when…I’m in the barn.”

Curious about exosomes? Explore Carmine’s article 2025 Ingredient Trends: Exosomes Are One Part Science, One Part Story on Substack here.

Connect with Alisa on Instagram at @alisa.lask_rion and on LinkedIn here. Explore Plated Skin Science on Instagram at @platedskinscience and learn more about the products, exosome science and brand ethos at platedskinscience.com.

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on LinkedIn here and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Substack, or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Product links:

Plated Intense Serum

Plated Daily Serum

Plated Hair Serum

—

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

In this episode of The Skincarma Pod, celebrity facialist and master aesthetician Angela Caglia joins Carmine to break down the truth behind stem cell skincare, growth factors, and what “regenerative skincare” really means. Angela begins by sharing her origin story – from Visalia, California to Paris and New York, and a pivotal moment with Barbra Streisand that sparked the launch of her namesake brand. She goes on to share how her cult-favorite Cell Forté Serum helped propel Angela Caglia Skincare into the luxury biotech spotlight.

Together, they demystify human-derived stem cell conditioned media, explain how it differs from plant extracts and synthetic exosomes, and why biocompatible, barrier-first formulas matter for real anti-aging results. They also discuss common skincare myths, the problem with overusing exfoliating acids, why many “toners” are actually at-home peels, and Angela’s approach to product integrity as a founder who still works hands-on with clients.

Plus: a lightning round on overhyped trends (OTC retinol), skincare rules Angela breaks, and her definition of healthy skin. (Psst…it’s rooted in consistency and self-care!)

Connect with Angela Caglia on Instagram at @angelacagliaskincare and on LinkedIn here. Explore Angela Caglia Skincare products and brand ethos at angelacaglia.com.

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on LinkedIn here and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, YouTube or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Product links:

Angela Caglia Cell Forté Serum

Angela Caglia Soufflé Moisturizer

Angela Caglia Cell Forté Eye Crème

—

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

In this episode of The Skincarma Pod, Carmine is joined once again by Mark Broussard, an industry expert who sits at the exact intersection of cosmetic chemistry and regulatory compliance – two distinct disciplines at the heart of brand building.

Mark is the founder and managing director of Bloom Cosmetic Test Lab, where he guides brands through MoCRA compliance. And, if you caught their last episode together (episode 45), you know that he’s also the founder and master chemist of Desert In Bloom Cosmetics Lab, where he’s developed more than 600 products over his career.

With his extensive background spanning a number of disciplines, Mark is one of the beauty industry’s most trusted voices on the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act — better known as MoCRA. MoCRA represents the first major update to U.S. cosmetics law in over 80 years, leaving brands to navigate an entirely new regulatory landscape.

Mark and Carmine break down what every beauty executive, founder, copywriter and product developer needs to know right now — from facility and product registration to labeling, safety substantiation, adverse event reporting, and what MoCRA actually means for innovation moving forward.

If you’ve been confused, overwhelmed, or just looking to keep up with the new federal requirements, this episode should be your blueprint.

Follow Mark and Desert in Bloom Cosmetics Lab on Instagram here. Are you a brand founder wading through the complexity of MoCRA compliance? Learn more about Mark’s regulatory expertise at desertinbloomcosmeticslab.com/#MoCRA.

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on LinkedIn here and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, YouTube or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

—

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

In this episode of The Skincarma Pod, Carmine welcomes Clara Cárdenas, co-founder of Pipa Skin Care, a breakout brand committed to providing age-appropriate skincare for pre-teens.

Clara shares her journey from her early career in Venezuela to her experience at Facebook, and how her passion for skincare led her to create Pipa with two childhood friends – Kristina Kubler, an esthetician with two decades of hands-on experience, and Corina Pfeffer, a mathematician turned designer turned logistics savant.

Pipa was born of a simple but universally relatable moment: Kristi’s daughter, Pipa, hit that age where she wanted real skincare – but everything on the market was either too childish, too harsh, or just too grown-up.

The conversation delves into the challenges of building a brand targeting two distinct audiences – moms and their young daughters – as well as the importance of clean ingredients and the unique needs of young skin.

Clara emphasizes the responsibility she and her co-founders feel in creating products that not only appeal to kids but also meet the trust of parents. The episode also highlights the brand’s marketing strategies, retail launch plans, and aspirations for the future.

Connect with Clara on Instagram at @claricardenas and on LinkedIn here. Explore Pipa Skincare on Instagram at @pipa_skincare and learn more about the products and brand ethos at pipastics.com.

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on LinkedIn here and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, YouTube or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

Product links:

Pipa Skin Care Squeaky Clean

Pipa Skin Care Smooth Operator

Pipa Skin Care Sun-Sational

Pipa Skin Care Skin Saver

—

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

In this episode of The Skincarma Pod, Carmine is joined by Dahlia Devkota, founder of Editrix, a trailblazing skincare brand that emphasizes the importance of the skin’s microbiome to overall skin health.

Dahlia shares her journey from beauty editor to entrepreneur, highlighting the innovative scientific research behind her products, which utilize post-biotics to promote healthy skin. The conversation delves into the Editrix brand’s unique four-step system and the significance of maintaining a balanced surface microbiome.

In their engaging conversation, Dahlia and Carmine explore the evolving landscape of beauty standards, the science behind truly effective skincare, and the importance of understanding the fundamentals of the skin barrier. Dahlia shares her insights on product development and the significance of treating skin as a living ecosystem, emphasizing the need for a holistic approach to beauty and wellness.

Follow Dahlia on Instagram at @dahlia.devkota and on LinkedIn here. Discover Editrix on Instagram here and learn more about the products and brand ethos at editrixwellness.com.

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on LinkedIn here and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, YouTube or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

—

Product links:

Editrix I. Demigod Ayurvedic Cleansing Oil

Editrix II. Deuxième Postbiotic Fermented Cleanser

Editrix III. Superare Microflora Barrier Film

Editrix IV. Bakterium Delirium Skin Education Serum

—

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™

In this episode of The Skincarma Pod, Carmine is joined by Brian Ecclefield, Founder and Managing Director of Validated Claim Support, the clinical testing lab setting new standards for ethics, accuracy, and transparency in cosmetic claims.

Few topics have shaken the beauty world this year quite like SunscreenGate – the scandalous revelation that the SPF validation tests behind many popular sunscreens may have been manipulated, falsified or simply fallen short, leading to careless, even dangerous mislabeling – and haphazard sunscreen product recalls.

There’s nobody more uniquely qualified to explain how we got here and where we’re headed than Brian Ecclefield. For more than 16 years, Brian has designed and overseen clinical studies for skincare, haircare, personal care, and OTC products like sunscreens. He specializes in the rigorous evaluation of claims, including the complex world of SPF validation.

Before launching VCS, Brian spent time inside two of the industry’s most relied upon (and infamous!) labs – AMA and Princeton Consumer Research – giving him rare, insider insights into how testing can go wrong, how numbers can be massaged, and what red flags brands should never ignore.

Find out how the scandal happened – and how Brian believes it doesn’t ever have to happen again.

Follow Brian on Instagram at @​​eccleburgers and on LinkedIn here. Learn more about the independent and unbiased work of Validated Claim Support on the company’s website here.

Follow Skincarma on Instagram and on TikTok. Catch product reviews of Carmine’s top picks of the best skincare on the Skincarma Blog. You can also connect with Carmine on LinkedIn here and explore his extensive work in beauty on the Carmine Montalto INK website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and/or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, YouTube or Spotify to help Carmine reach more curious listeners.

—

Product reviews on the Skincarma Blog:

Explore the Best Sunscreens for Face here.

Explore the Best Retinol Face Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Vitamin C Serums here.

Explore the Best Niacinamide Serums here.

Explore the Best Acne Treatments here.

Explore the Best Anti-Aging Creams and Serums here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Dry Skin here.

Explore the Best Face Creams for Oily Skin here.

The Skincarma® Pod is where indie beauty meets fearless curiosity. Hosted by Carmine, his podcast pulls back the curtain on the beauty industry with sharp insights, candid interviews, and a healthy dose of irreverence. From deep dives into ingredient science to raw conversations with dermatologists, brand founders, and industry insiders, each episode is a no-BS exploration of what really matters in skincare: how to attain and maintain healthy skin. If you’re obsessed with products, passionate about transparency, and love calling out hype, this is the place to learn, question, and glow smarter.

The Skincarma® Blog is written and curated by skinfluencer, skincare junkie and Brooklyn writer Carmine Montalto. With 25 years of expertise in beauty across every category, Carmine has helped build multiple consumer brands from the ground up. He’s named 100s of skincare, haircare & makeup products – some of which are probably in your bathroom cabinet right now! And, he’s tested 1,000s of products, the best of which can be found reviewed on his blog at skincarma.com.

With the right skincare routine including sunscreen...You CAN change your skin’s destiny!™