Rachael Pontillo is a functional nutrition practitioner and a licensed aesthetician, herbalist and skincare formulator. She teaches women how to make their own products without synthetic ingredients that do more harm than good. Anti-aging is hijacking young women’s lives as they strive for an unattainable beauty standard that cannot be bought. Rachael teaches you how to age gracefully by doing less and allowing your skin to go through its natural cycles.    When buying any product it is important to identify harmful ingredients masquerading as Vitamins because they just do not offer the same nutrients as a natural source would. Many of these synthetic compounds have not been around long enough to even know what the long term effects are.    Rachael teaches you what to look for and what to avoid. Ultimately though, she encourages you to ask yourself, why do you need any product at all? If you are spending money, time and energy using products that are harmful and really cannot stop the aging product, what is the purpose? By focusing on a healthy lifestyle, instead of relying on products,  you can boost your skin's natural ability to heal itself without expensive or harmful intervention and age gracefully.   Takeaways: [4:30] Anti-aging is an unattainable marketing message and it’s harmful to younger woman [6:45] In-Vitro research does not necessarily translate to regular usage of a product on humans [8:30] Your skin takes in nutrients from the food you eat not the products you put on it [11:00] Products using ascorbic acid will oxidize on the skin’s surface and won’t be absorbed  [13:00] If a vitamin was synthesized in a lab it is misleading to market them as natural [16:30] Rose hip. citrus and berry extracts are a great resource for natural Vitamins for skin [18:20] Retinols are actually very irritating and are banned by many ingredient safety sites [22:00] Natural products have shorter shelf lives because they avoid preservatives [23:15] Beauty is NOT pain! You should never need a day off from your products if they are safe [27:00] Exfoliating your face can cause damage and should not be done more than twice month [29:30] Dry brushing is a great way to exfoliate your body [34:00] Since the weather affects your skin your skincare routine may change with every season   Mentioned in This Episode: https://createyourskincare.com  https://skinwellnesspro.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachaelpontillo/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HolisticallyHaute/ Free Gift or Offer Link:https://createyourskincare.com/4-step-balanced-skincare-regimen/ Twitter: “They have been preserved so strongly, so that by the time you get them, sometimes 3 to 5 years after they were manufactured, that’s not great. There is nothing fresh about it. There is nothing about it that is going to get into the skin and your skin is going to be like, “Oh this is what I need!”, because the skin doesn't take in nutrients like that, it takes in nutrients from  the food you eat.” [8:30]   “Our skin’s barrier is primarily a lipid matrix, it’s meant to keep things out. So anything that is water soluble is going to have a harder time getting in on its own.”  [10:57]   “Is this skin care as in nutrients or is this a lab experiment going on on our faces? Where these ingredients have been synthesized and they haven’t really been around long enough to really know what is the long term effect of this.”  [12:30]   “When we force exfoliation, what it does is it exposes cells, that are not fully developed yet, to the elements.”  [18:40]   Podcast Disclaimer:  https://resources.thespadr.com/the-womans-doctor/#disclaimer