437: 2026 Reset: My Fitness, Food and Beauty Blueprint

The following podcast is a Dear Media production. This is Well, a podcast about wellness in all its forms. I'm Arielle Laurie, and each week I'm sharing unfiltered conversations with the people shaping how we feel, live, and look. Come for the substance, stay for the honesty, and leave with the tools to be well inside and out. Welcome, everybody. Happy New Year. I guess we're about a month into the new year here, but I did not get to do a new year solo as planned because I got the plague. Like, I don't know if you can hear in my voice. I'm kind of getting over it now. But I was going around bragging to everybody about how I have not gotten sick in the longest time. And my boyfriend was sick and I was taking care of him and everybody I know is sick and I didn't get it. Even in the fall. everything that was going around. And then I got hit with whatever is going around LA, but I know that it's everywhere. And it was like, I was humbled very, very quickly. So here we are a month into the new year. I guess it's a good time to recap. And I did a Q&A on Instagram as I always do for these episodes. And the gist of what everybody wanted to hear about was 2026 wellness, beauty, fitness. What are we doing? How are we regrouping? What are the goals for the year? So I'm going to start out though, how I've been starting with my guests, which is kind of a this or that lightning round. I had somebody make these for me and I have not looked yet. So manifestation journaling or vision boarding. Okay. Lightning round is not my strong suit and you guys know this I would have to go with both because I've talked about it in the past I have done like Pinterest vision boards I've never done like the kind where you actually go and you cut things out you make a physical one but when I was getting divorced in 2023 and I've shared this story before I made a Pinterest vision board and it was like east coast summers and I had a specific picture and I didn't think twice about it it was just East Coast on the summer. I didn't even know where it was. And fast forward to 2024, I was on Martha's Vineyard with my boyfriend and we took a picture and I was like, the background looks really familiar. And it was the exact spot. It was the exact background. It was wild. That said, I do have kind of a beginning of the year manifestation practice that I've been doing. And I have found that this really works well for me. So even though we're a little bit into the year. This is something that you guys can do. That's really, really simple that I feel like just helps to get clarity for the coming year. So I do a meditation or an activation or something like that to get into my subconscious. And then I do a visualization meditation for 20 minutes. And then when I'm done with that visualization, I go right into journaling or you can go into your notes app and I write it down exactly as though it is a fact. So I'm like this year I am going to X, Y, Z and I get super, super, super specific. And I do it in my notes on top of my daily gratitude list that I do. I've been doing it for 12 years of my sobriety. And then I just glance at it or read it over in the morning when I do my gratitude list. So I remind myself of it. And then I look back a year later and see what unfolds. So that's something you guys can do. Something that I do really love and I do recommend, especially if you have a hard time with like traditional meditation would be something like the activations app. I had Mimi Bouchard, the founder on my podcast back. I think it was in June. And then we re-released the episode a couple of weeks ago because I just thought that it was so perfect for the new year. And it's one of those habits that you can incorporate that compounds. And what I love about it is that it's not like a typical meditation where you sit there and you close your eyes and you go within or you have to like stop your whole life to do it. So she has walking activations that I love. There's a lot of embody your future energy and it really, really helps with confidence and motivation. And there really is an activation for any situation in your life. And there's also a time for it. So like I said, walking, she has getting ready with me activations. I will listen to them if I'm going to do an interview or something, if I'm kind of nervous or whatever it is. And I just love that it's something that you can do when you are going about your daily life and it's not disruptive and it just primes your brain and changes your energy. And when you change your energy, you change your life. And I feel like that's such an easy way to change your energy and change your mindset. That was the longest this or that. Okay. New year, new me or same me, better habits. Same me, better habits. Definitely. Big goals or boring consistency. Both. These are so hard for me. Morning routines or non-negotiables. I don't really have non-negotiables. And this is something that I'll get into in this episode. I have shared this so many times before I think a misconception about me is that I'm super rigid with my wellness and I'm really not I have used the analogy often that I wear wellness like a loose garment that's a recovery saying but for me it's a set of tools and I don't use every tool all the time so I would have to go with morning routine okay walks or workouts I'm gonna go with workouts. I'm in my workout era. Fasted workouts or fueled workouts, definitely fueled. Morning sunlight or evening wind down. The morning sunlight thing is so hard for me when I do it. It is life-changing, but I'm going to have to go with evening wind down. Pilates or strength training. I'm in my Pilates era. Long workouts are showing up for 20 minutes. I think showing up no matter how long you can do. Motivation or discipline, definitely discipline. I'm motivated like not that often. Lasers or injectables? Lasers for sure. Medical grade skincare or less but better products? Well, there's really no such thing as medical grade. So I don't really know what less but better is, but I'm just going to go with like simple efficacious skincare. in office treatments or at-home consistency at home it's what you're doing 99% of the time that's going to make the biggest difference skin cycling or intuitive routines I'm going to go with intuitive routines I've been switching up my routine a lot lately and it's been very intuitive so protein forward or carb forward I feel like I eat more carbs than protein right now although I do eat ample protein, but carbs really fuel me. So I'm going to go against like the whole wellness protein thing. And I know that we've talked about how I invented protein, but I'm going to go with carbs right now. Eating intuitively or loose structure, intuitively always for me. Okay. So the first question was, how is the new year going for me, work, travel, all of that? So I'll just catch you guys up a little bit. I did tell you that I got sick. I know that I'm not unique there. It happened to so many people that I know. I was really, I thought that I was going to meet my maker one night. Like I had the worst fever and body aches and I was like delirious and I was in so much pain and so weak that I couldn't reach my bedside table to get the Tylenol to make the pain and the fever go away. So I just laid there. I felt like I was hallucinating. It was wild. and I just emotionally was in a really weird place and I somehow ended up on Titanic TikTok. So I was spending so many hours of the day on Titanic TikTok and then I was like, okay, I have to go watch the movie and then I watched the movie and it awoke something inside me from when I was like 12 or 13 years old when it came out and my love for Leonardo DiCaprio back then. So I was like emotional and like hormonal. It was a dark, interesting time, but I came out on the other side. Other than that, I've really been in like my homebody era. I have traveled so much the last two years that over the holidays, I was like, I don't want to go anywhere. I don't want to do anything. And after that, I was just feeling so motivated for the new year as far as wellness and all that goes, but also work. Like I'm very in work grind mode right now. And that feels good. So I'm just like in my routine, focusing on work. I've been consistent with my workouts. And I'll talk about that a little bit here in a minute. And no travel. I was supposed to be in Miami this week, but because I was sick, I didn't go. And where am I going next? I'm going to Hawaii for Valentine's. And then I go to London and Barcelona in the end of February. So I do have some travel coming up in New York. So I'm just enjoying this time now at home. My house is pretty much done and that's been really nice and we had this kind of second summer in January which was so nice and now it's cold and gray and depressing so what are we doing in the new year for beauty diet exercise all of that I'll start with what motivates me for working out and work and all of that so those are two totally separate questions I'll get the work one out of the way first, I guess. But what motivates me in work right now is that I'm trying to make something that outlasts AI. I don't know why other content creators and people in my industry aren't seeming to be super concerned about AI. I'm super concerned about it. I think that it's going to take over social media in a way that we can't even necessarily comprehend right now. and I've seen so many AI influencers and we can't really compete. And I know that there is conversation about how we're going to shift back to like authenticity and all that, but they can make AI look really authentic. Like, I don't think people understand. It is so crazy. I've gone down so many rabbit holes when I was sick as well. So I'm really just focusing on continuing to build my community. I've been doing this for a decade. You know, I've had the podcast for almost seven years. It's been a long time and I really am trying to be strategic and realistic about how to make that sustain whatever change is coming. And then of course, my other outside project that you guys know is coming soon. So that's my motivation, really. I think things are going to change a lot in the next couple of years. And so I'm kind of trying to prepare for that. But also I'm really enjoying creating again. Last year, it was not enjoyable for me. I don't know why. And now I'm just really enjoying making organic content again. And I'm feeling creative and inspired and connecting with my audience and people that listen to the podcast and people that follow me. And it's just somehow gotten fun again for me. So that keeps me motivated as well. When it comes to working out, my biggest problem when it comes to working out is consistency. And this is going to sound weird and it might not land how I want it to land, but I think a lot of people are motivated to work out for how it makes them look. I look the same no matter what I do. And I've been really open about this before because I get questions like, well, how do you slim your thighs and how do you target lower abdominal fat and what do you do for this and that? And I always say I have my mom's body. It's genetic. And I don't think enough people talk about how big of a factor genetics are when it comes to your body composition. So I look the same no matter what I do. It's this or I lose weight. And that happens when I'm like traveling a lot or have like work stress or things like that. So this is it. So that's not a motivation for me. But when you remove that as motivation, I mean, yes, I could probably get like super ripped if I was like doing a lot of weights and stuff but I don't want that so it's like that is removed so what is going to motivate me and sustain me and at this point in my life at 40 it's really about health and longevity and the feeling that I get after I work out I love the feeling when you finish a workout and you have those endorphins and I get a smoothie and that's like my reward at the end of a workout. And I love that routine so much of like being sweaty, feeling accomplished, and then going to get my smoothie. And that is what really is driving me right now. And I just feel good. I kind of lost two years of working out when I was dealing with the ramifications of the Botox incident and my MCAS, mast cell activation syndrome that happened as a result of that, which one of the big symptoms for me was exercise intolerance. I could not recover from a workout. I would be completely debilitated for days. So to build up that resilience again and feel like I getting stronger that probably more sustainable motivation than looking a certain way That not to say that I not like oh I want to like tone up a little bit That can be part of it As far as motivation, I think that discipline is so much more important and building habits is so much more important than motivation because you never know what your motivation is going to be on any given day. And most days, like I'm not that motivated to actually do something. It's like the action has to precede the feeling. So yesterday, for example, I posted about this on Instagram. I'd gone to dinner the night before at Giorgio Baldi, the best pasta. I ate so much. I was in such a food hangover when I woke up yesterday. I did not want to do anything. I did not want to work out. I felt slow, lethargic, sluggish. My joints were kind of hurting because I ate a bunch of things that I don't normally eat. Like I just felt not good, like totally hungover. And I was not motivated to go to my Pilates class that I had signed up for, but I had committed to it. And so I went and I felt so much better after. That's where the discipline comes in. And people asked what tips from guests that I've had on have really made a huge difference for me. What did people share last year on the podcast that I'm bringing into the new year. And one of the main overarching themes I feel like from experts, especially when it comes to things like fitness and nutrition and just anything lifestyle, even if it comes to your business or any habit that you are trying to build, it's what you do daily that's going to compound. It's repetition. And I have felt that work over the last few months where I have just taken the actions instead of waited for motivation or made excuses of why not to do something. And the repetition really has made some of my habits that I'm trying to embrace more habitual and there's less friction there, definitely when it comes to fitness. So if you're looking for tips for motivation and just doing the things that you're not in the mood for, I would say just do it and do it imperfectly. And you're just banking that. You're banking that consistency and it's going to build over time. I kind of feel like the word detox gets a bad reputation. It's had pretty bad PR in the wellness world in recent years. Usually I think because it's tied to extremes, but the truth is your body is detoxing every single day and your liver is doing most of the heavy lifting. It regulates energy, hormones, digestion, even mood. And in modern life, stress, travel, processed food, environmental exposure, it can just use a little more support, which is why I love Peaks liver detox protocol. What I like is that it's not a cleanse and it's not restrictive. It is a gentle daily two part system designed to support your liver's natural detox pathways instead of forcing anything. So the first is electric turmeric, too, which helps activate detox pathways and support inflammation balance. The second is La Ginger, which supports circulation, digestion, and actually helps move things out so that you don't feel heavy or bloated. And together, they work synergistically to support digestion, immune function, clearer energy, and that lighter, more balanced feeling throughout the day. I have to say I've been loving this. I am a skeptic when it comes to wellness things, but I have noticed that I just feel like I have so much more balanced energy and I feel way more clear. and it's been kind of dramatic. I personally like to use it in the morning and it's one of those routines that feels supportive without being disruptive. There's no harsh rules, no deprivation, just consistency. So if you want to try it, you can get 20% off at peaklife.com slash well, that's P-I-Q-U-E life.com slash well. It's a really thoughtful way to support your body from the inside out. Lately, I've been thinking a lot about energy, not in like a hypey way, but in a very real everyday sense, like wanting to feel strong in my workouts, wanting to feel clear in my head and not totally wiped by mid afternoon. And what I've learned is that you really can't out train low energy. It's so much deeper than that. It's really at the cellular level. So one of the simplest habits that I've added into my routine is mitopure gummies. They are the first longevity gummies designed to support your cells energy by helping renew your mitochondria, basically your cells powerhouses. And what I like is that it isn't about quick energy or stimulants. It's really the steady sustained support over time. I like to keep them right next to my matcha in the morning. So they are easy and honestly kind of enjoyable, which definitely matters if you already feel like you're taking a million pills. They are sugar-free, they're vegan, they're non-GMO, they're clinically backed, which is obviously very important to me when it comes to supplements or something that I'm going to be incorporating into my routine on a daily basis. So longevity does not have to be complicated. Sometimes it's just one small consistent habit that actually supports your body as you age. So if you want to try it, you can get 30% off your first month of Mito Pure gummies at timeline.com slash Ariel 30. That's timeline.com slash Ariel 30. While the offer lasts timeline.com slash Ariel 30. that's timeline.com slash Ariel 30 while the offer lasts. We live in a world that our bodies honestly were not designed for from constant stress to ultra processed food, environmental toxins, travel, lack of sleep. And one of the places that shows up first is your immune system, especially your gut. This is why I've been using Arma Colostrum for such a long time. It really works at a foundational level by helping to strengthen your gut lining and immune barriers, which is important because most of your immune system actually lives in your gut. So this is really about supporting the structure that protects you in the first place. Arma is made from bovine colostrum, which is nature's first immune food. It contains over 400 bioactive compounds that help reinforce gut integrity, support immune resilience, and help your body respond better to everyday stressors. For me, it's been one of those quiet behind-the-scenes habits that just makes my system feel more supported, especially during travel, busy seasons, or when I'm pushing my body just a little bit harder. I like to take it first thing in the morning. I mix it into water or coffee or even a smoothie, and it's become one of those simple non-negotiables that I actually stick to. It really comes in handy when I'm traveling. I don't go anywhere without those travel packs. So if you want to try it, Armora is offering 30% off your first subscription. Just go to armora.com slash well, or enter the code WELL at checkout. That's A-R-M-R-A dot com slash WELL. That's A-R-M-R-A dot com slash WELL. Okay, so my workout breakdown. This is what everybody wanted to know. The breakdown that I'm aiming for is Monday, Wednesday, Friday Pilates because I have an instructor that I love. Tuesday, Thursday, either walk outside or go to the gym and just do the treadmill. And I like to go to the gym and do the treadmill either when it's not nice outside, which I know is the reality for so many people who don't live in LA right now in the winter. But also I like that I can go and I can be productive and I can have it stuck. So I love doing like an hour to an hour and a half walking session on the treadmill and just getting through all of my emails and admin stuff and doing a lot of the backend stuff that I don't necessarily have the time or the bandwidth for during my normal workday. I just find that having that hour and a half uninterrupted, I can get so much done. So I love that. If it's nice out, then I'll go for a walk outside. You guys know that I like to schedule all of my meetings and my calls midday and I am camera off and it's because I am walking around getting my steps in. I think better. We need to stop normalizing meetings on Zoom when you don't need to be sitting there looking at a computer like that needs to end in 2026. I don't understand. Also, like so many meetings that don't have to be meetings, they can be emails or texts enough. We're all so busy and bogged down with so many things. That's just something that I don't have time for this year. We're trimming the fat. But yeah, so I will walk during the day a few days a week at least. I'm not like a 10K steps every day girly at the moment. I have done that in the past and yes, it's great and I felt amazing, but it's not like a huge goal of mine right now. And then on Saturdays, I train with my boyfriend and our trainer and I do strength. So I do weights, but we kind of do low impact Pilates type movements with weight machines and higher weights than I'd using in Pilates. So that's the breakdown. I do need to incorporate more like high intensity cardio, VO2 max type stuff. That's something that I would have as a goal for this year that I haven't done yet. But the goal is four days a week of some kind of strength resistance training and then walking and diet. Everyone wanted to know diet as well. So my diet has not changed really at all. I'll walk you through a day wake up I haven't been great about food before caffeine I know I've preached about that and I really do feel so much better when I eat before I have my matcha but I don't know I've just been waking up kind of groggy and like I just need something to like get me going so matcha and then I will have my breakfast not really doing a lot of protein at breakfast right now, I'm doing either oats with some kind of fruit and that's pretty much it. Or I'm doing like a seed bar with some almond butter, just something. Usually I'm trying to work out in the morning, so I just don't want to eat a ton. And then I'll work out. And then after my workout, usually around 1030 or 11, I will have leftover dinner. What did Natazia Stolberg call it. Oh my God. I'm going to, I'm drawing a blank. She had a name for like dinner that you have as lunch the next day. That wasn't just leftovers. You guys are like, it's called leftovers. I know, but there was something specific that she shared and I was like, Oh, that's great. But I will batch make grilled chicken, ground Turkey, sometimes steak, brown rice, Jasmine rice, vegetables, sweet potato, delicata squash, basically some kind of carb protein and vegetable and then I freeze it in individual freezer bags and I did that initially because of my issues with histamine a lot of people asked how I've been doing with that I feel like that's so niche although so many people are dealing with it now but I'm doing better I've been totally stable but I'm on a ton of meds so I think that's why I'm stable but freezing reduces the histamine content in the food so that's why I started doing it and then I was like, wow, this is so nice that I have all these pre-portioned meals. And that's another thing we need to normalize this year is having dinner for breakfast or brunch. Like we don't need to be having sweet stuff for breakfast. I know that I just said I have oats or some kind of bar or something, but I really love having post-workout some rice, some kind of protein, usually ground turkey. I'm loving that right now and a vegetable. And then usually I'll have a snack later in the afternoon. I'll either have like a smaller portion of those leftovers or I'll have these freeze dried sweet potato sticks that I love so much. I can only find them at Air One. The brand is called Sweet Potato Awesome. I love the name. I'm like really on the nose. I think I've shared about them before. I'm really into lesser evil popcorn right now, except it's really bad for me because I will eat nonstop. Like popcorn is one of those things for me that I just, I don't have like the off button in my brain and I don't overeat with anything else. And it's not overeating. It's just, I eat beyond what I want to be eating of the popcorn, but I do really like that. I'll have like an apple. Sometimes I just want something kind of sweet, but I don't want to eat a lot. And I love like a date with almond butter. And then dinner. I go out to dinner a lot. It's just the way my life is right now. Very, very social. I will usually try to get some kind of protein in fish or chicken, vegetables, same kind of thing that I would make at home. But you know, like I said, the other night I was at Giorgio Baldi. Of course, I'm going to get the pumpkin ravioli there. It's so freaking good. Or this sausage pasta that I love at another restaurant. want. So it really just kind of depends. That's where like the 80-20 kind of loose wellness habits come in. I don't have to eat at home every night. I'm not super rigid with the diet when it comes to that. And I really just eat what I want. And somebody asked if I've struggled with my relationship with food ever. And the answer to that is yes. I mean, I've been so open about the fact that before I got sober, I had all kinds of eating disorders from when I was a teenager until I got sober at 28. My first experience with disordered eating was when the cabbage soup diet came out when I was like a freshman in high school or something I don know if anyone remembers that I could not get that stuff down It was so disgusting And I was like 80 pounds, no weight to lose. But that was the thing back then. And we were all doing it. And then it was like Atkins came out. And I remember my boyfriend's family were doing Atkins. So that was like cauliflower mashed potatoes. And we were eating snack wells. Those actually kind of slapped like those chocolate what were they called like daredevil or chocolate devil or something I would be so curious to taste those now and be like were these actually good or were they like dog food and then I developed bulimia really bad in I guess my early 20s and that kind of like came and went and then when I got sober the first six months that I was sober I really struggled with that. And to the point where I would eat like a few pieces of food and I would have to throw it up. And I remember when I started working with somebody in sobriety and we were doing work to get down to like the causes and conditions of what was making me drink the way that I was drinking and use drugs and all of that, because that's a symptom, right? That's not the actual disease. The problem is what was going on in my mind. And I believe spiritually. And she said, when you straighten out spiritually, you straighten out mentally and physically. And I didn't know what that meant at the time, but that was true for me. And ever since then, the eating disorder went away. However, when I started my Instagram account, we were doing BBG, Kayla, it's seen as this was 10 years ago. So it was a totally different time. And there were so many trends online at that time. Like if it fits your macros was big and everybody was eating like the Arctic zero and, you know, other diet foods, not dissimilar to what we were eating in the early 2000s, but it was just masked as like health food. And it wasn't about how I looked, but I thought that I was eating healthy by eating that stuff when I was really restricting myself. So I developed pretty bad binge eating and I was restricting throughout the day and then binging at night. And once I stopped restricting any kind of food group, I stopped counting macros. I stopped thinking about calories or macros. Like I wasn't trying to eat low fat. I wasn't trying to eat low carb. I wasn't eating these like weird health foods. I developed such a normal intuitive relationship with food. and I've had so many experts on my show who have said like when you put protein first and when you're eating balanced whole foods for the most part it's really hard to overeat and that's been my experience and it's it's really hard to have cravings and that's also been my experience and when I do have cravings I just eat whatever I'm craving like it's not that deep it's not that serious like you eat it and then the craving is gone and you move on if you're having cravings all the time, then I would look into that and look at your diet and see what you might be like lacking in your diet that's making you crave things. And of course, there are certain health things that can make you crave more salt or sugar, hormone things, you know, like blood sugar. But if you're eating balanced meals and you're eating enough, I just think your body intuitively knows like how to eat and what to eat. And we make it so complicated. And I understand like real eating disorders, I'm not talking about that. I would definitely suggest if you're struggling with that to reach out to an expert to help you. But if you feel like you're just having like weird cravings, I would look at your diet and see what you might be lacking. But that's how I overcame my disordered relationship with food. So true story, I have loved the real real for a long time, but I think that I was kind of underestimating how much I could possibly love it. I think I was under utilizing it. And then over New Year's Eve, I was in Palm Springs with a friend and she was showing me how she shops on the RealReal and some of the incredible vintage and new dresses that she has gotten. And she kind of taught me how to be more efficient. And now I have to say I'm completely obsessed. 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I have, I think such a relaxed, adaptable lifestyle and I have so much fun and I travel all the time. I go out all the time. I don't know what's boring about my lifestyle. Maybe this person means like with the wellness stuff. But again, like I said in the beginning, and I probably sound like such a broken record, but there's nothing rigid. It's not like I wake up and I'm like, okay, we're going to go outside. We're getting the sunlight. We're journaling. We're meditating. We're doing the red light. Then we're doing the sauna. And then we're doing that. No, it's not that at all. I do have things that I like to do. I like to do my red light mask in the morning. When I do my meditation, it's so easy. It's like two birds with one stone. Meditation is something that I guess is a non-negotiable for me. I remember I said in the beginning, I don't have non-negotiables. It's a non-negotiable. Of course, I have days where I don't do it but probably 85 to 90 percent of the time I do it and it has been just a game changer for me as far as my perspective and that's the most important thing I don't do it to feel calm or relaxed or chill or anything like that that can be a byproduct I do it from my perspective and how it widens my perspective on life. And that's so, so, so invaluable and useful to me. And then, yeah, the diet, all of that is not rigid. The workouts aren't rigid. It's like I do my best every day and that's all that matters. Okay. 2026 beauty plan. I started the year with microneedling. It was actually the first time I've done microneedling I think ever. I think I did my neck and chest before. Maybe I did my face once, like at least five years ago. I truly can't remember. I really don't think I did, but people might find receipts and come for me for that. So maybe, maybe, maybe I did it once, but you know, with microneedling, you really have to do multiple sessions to get the benefits. So it's a little hard to judge the results. I do feel like my skin is very glossy, but I think that's also a result of some changes that I've made in my skincare, which I can get to hopefully if I have enough time. But I'm going to keep doing microneedling. I think I'll do three more sessions. I think Jen said four sessions in four months. I do want to do like one face laser. I haven't done a face laser since 2023. And my only issue that's stubborn is a little bit of pigmentation on like the lower sides of my face where my hats in the summer, if they're not a really wide brim, I get hit with the sun like on those lower side parts of my face and with all the traveling and everything in the summer, I just inevitably get some sun there. So you know skincare helps and things like tranexamic acid hydroquinone if you want to use that can help but really laser is like one of those things that is so useful and practical when it comes to an issue like that because it can just get rid of it so I'll do a laser I did cool peel at the end of last year maybe it was like beginning of last fall on my neck and my chest So maybe I'll do that on my face or maybe I'll just do like my old school Fraxel, which is what I had done before. But I'll definitely keep you guys posted on that. And that's really it that I have on my beauty regimen for the year. I asked Dr. Mascaro if I needed Sculptra. He said no. Somebody asked if I think that that is because of my fat transfer that I got five years ago. Probably, I'm assuming. but I think also my skin quality my skin quality has changed so much I was going through old pictures last night and I was like wow I did a TikTok so you guys can go back and watch but I'll post it on Instagram as well and my skin in 2022 was so different than it is now and I have not done anything I have not had surgery I did one laser I did the one microneedling thing really it's and red light skincare and that it and the skincare completely changed my skin It can do everything but it can do a lot And you know it's one of those things. It's like I was talking about in the beginning with the habits that compound over time. If you're doing the right skincare for your skin and a vitamin C, a retinol, some kind of actives where you're getting ample exfoliation and hydration. So you're having that cell turnover, you're maintaining or you're protecting or you're building collagen. Like it can really, really not only maintain, but it can change things for you. So yeah, I'll do three more microneedling sessions. I'll do one laser TBD on that one, but I'll share it with you when I do and skincare and that's it. And people ask like if I'll do Botox again and I don't know. I don't know. I will say I shared about it because I talk about skincare, but I felt like I had to be honest about the fact that I tried Botox again and the backlash was swift and loud. And I was starting this by saying I'm a little concerned because I did get messages from people who were like, oh my God, I had the same reaction as you. And I'm so glad that you were able to do it again and have no issues. And so I'm going to try it again too. And I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. That is not what I was trying to say. And I wasn't trying to promote it or anything. So I just want to put that out there. I truly think if you've had a reaction to it, you should not do it again. Period. I took some precautions when I tried doing some units pertaining to the health issues that I've had and I didn't have a reaction, but that's not to say that I wouldn't have a reaction if I tried it again. And so I don't want anyone to take what I said when I shared about trying it again as me promoting it. And then I did a post where I did like, I think it was the 10 things to do for your best skin or something. And at the end I said, Botox, I was like, truly nothing compares to Botox. In my experience, I went two and a half years without it. I did the face taping and everything, which I still do. That was another question I got. But nothing works to actually paralyze your muscles like Botox does. That's just a fact. That doesn't mean that you can't get amazing results with things like gua sha and facial massage and face tape and red light and at-home devices and facials and lasers. Like there's so many modalities out there, but nothing freezes and paralyzes your muscles. Full stop. Someone made like, it looked like a PowerPoint presentation. The cover was how well is Ariel? And there were pictures of syringes around it. Yeah. And she's like an anti Botox person, which I understand she had a bad reaction. I know how traumatizing it is. And it was probably triggering to see that post of mine, you know, and I think if people didn't listen to the podcast that I did about it and didn't hear the nuance and didn't hear how it was something that I really grappled with and that I did think it's fucked up, like beauty standards are fucked up to have that reaction that I had and have that trauma and then go back and do it again. Like it is fully like it's the pressure of society and beauty standards and being public facing and all of that. And I shared about that. It wasn't just like flipping like, oh, I got Botox again and it's the best. And like now I'm promoting it. No. But yeah, there were some creators that kind of dragged me and had very strong opinions about it, which again, they're entitled to. But I had to put that disclaimer are out there. Okay. Face lasers for beginners. How does microneedling compare? What is the most bang for your buck? So lasers and microneedling are totally different tools for totally different goals. Microneedling is for like building and maintaining that collagen. Like I was talking about before, you need to be more consistent and then lasers are good for building and maintaining collagen, but also for issues like hyperpigmentation, some deeper textural issues. They have totally different applications. I think if you're younger and you don't have that much pigment and you have pretty good skin and you maybe have some fine lines or you're starting to notice a little bit of like change in your collagen, then microneedling is good. I think it's probably something that's good to start early because then you're like banking that collagen. Whereas if you wait too long, like I did and you're 40 and you start, you have less to work with there. I think lasers are more bang for your buck if you want to pick one. But which laser you do totally depends on your skin concerns, your skin type, what your goals are. So it's hard for me to just universally recommend a laser. I like Braxel. I know it's pretty old school, but it does address both textural issues and pigment issues. I like IPL for darker spots, but if you have olive skin or any kind of like tan skin, I would say absolutely do not do it because you can get hypopigmentation. And I've seen some devastating results from IPL. In fact, I got IPL a few years ago and I had a little bit of a tan and I had like white leopard spots for months. So not good. clear and brilliant. I feel like it's kind of a good entry level laser if you're younger. CO2 obviously is on the other end of that spectrum and that would be more aggressive, but you do get that bang for your buck where you're not having to go in and get multiple sessions like you would with a Fraxel. Although I will say I've never gotten multiple Fraxels in a year. I've always just done one and people are like, no, you need to go back and do a few. Not for me. I don't know why. What are one to three things I wish I did at 25 for skincare sunscreen. I did not wear sunscreen until I was 29 and I'm starting to notice the ramifications of that. The pigment stuff I feel like you can kind of take care of with laser and I've been proactive with laser and that's partially why I did it starting my mid-30s because it helps to kind of sloth off those precancerous cells like Fraxel can help with that. And just to get rid of any emerging pigmentation before it becomes too much of an issue. But the texture thing is something that you can't really do that much about. Like I'm starting to notice my skin kind of thinning and getting more like crepey in areas. And I know that it's from excessive, excessive sun when I was younger. That's mostly on my body though. My face, I was pretty good. I kept it out of the sun. but I would say at 25 for skincare SPF vitamin C I think for me I'm thinking of my skin back then I would go with exfoliating I didn't exfoliate enough until I was what was 2022 I was 37 and that was when I developed like cystic acne and again I'll put that video up and older pictures it's crazy to think that that was my skin. And I wasn't really using actives because I was told that like more actives would irritate my skin and my skin was so sensitive. I kind of became just so scared of like using any kind of active, using any kind of moisturizer. So I wasn't giving my skin what it needed. And that was when I realized the power of proper exfoliation. So I would have done that in my 20s. I will end with this one question. A lot of people wanted to know what happened to my haircut. It's really funny because I saw a TikTok yesterday. I always talk about how I don't scroll. I don't scroll on Instagram, but I'm a little bit addicted to TikTok right now. It needs to end. But I was watching Morgan Stewart's TikTok and she was like, I've lost the plot when it comes to my hair. And I'm like, yeah, that's me. I have lost the plot. You guys know that I cut my hair, I guess it was two weeks ago now. And I had like the Rachel Green 90s cut and I loved it so much. I never was planning on keeping it. So I have extensions, but my extensions I had had for like six months. So we ordered new hair and the new hair was arriving and we were going to put it in on a Friday. So on Tuesday, I was having a little bit of like a mental breakdown day, just overwhelmed with everything. And I text my hairdresser, Danny, and I was like, let's chop my hair tonight. Because what better is there to do when you're having a little bit of a mental breakdown than chop your hair? But I was like, then I can see once and for all if I want to have short hair. Because I had had it in my head for so long because it's so chic on other people. I love it. And it just looks more intentional versus like I just always have this like kind of of beachy like bedhead kind of vibe. So I was like that way I can see if I like it. And then if I don't like it, we can just put the new extensions in on Friday. So we go and cut it. And I loved it. Loved it. And we were joking that everyone was going to be like, oh my God, thank God you cut those atrocious extensions. You look so much better now. Those were so horrible. and of course they were and we were like and then we're going to put the extensions back in and it's going to be so funny because everyone told me the truth of like what they really thought so I did want to keep the short hair but here's the thing and this is important for anybody who's thinking about cutting their hair it was so hard to style so the first like four days I still had it styled the way that he did it which was like kind of blown under and like fanned and it looked really like sleek and natural. And then when I showered and I tried to do it myself, despite having all the tools, despite knowing how to do my hair, like I would rather do my hair any day than get it blown out because I like how I do it better than anybody else. But for some reason, the curling under was so hard to get right. So I'm like doing it with a round brush and then doing it with my main hot thermal brush thing and it still was like not looking right. Then I'm going over it with the straightener and like trying to curl it under with the straightener like he did at the salon, but it was like too harsh of a, like a curl. It wasn't soft. So then I'm trying to straighten over it again. And I was like, I am going to fry my hair off. This is not good. And not only that, but I have to do this every single day. I have to make it totally straight and sleek and then this curl under and I was like no I can't do it with my long hair and it's a little bit too long right now we need to trim it but I style it when I get out of the shower after wash day and so I'll blow dry it with a round brush or with my Dyson round brush which I'm obsessed with I know that I was like anti-Dyson for a long time now I'm like pro I love it and then I'll straighten whatever pieces need to be like a little bit straighter and then I go over it with a T3 curling iron and just get like a beachy wave and that's it. And then for four days, I don't touch it. So I think it's just so much better for my hair health. I loved it. I know it looks better. I know I agree with you. Okay. I'm agreeing, but it just was not sustainable for me. So anyway, I'm going to stop there, but as always, thank you guys for listening. And I am recording a bunch more solos with Chelsea, my brand manager. I had talked about doing this a while ago and you guys were really into the idea. So I have a bunch of those fun episodes coming and yeah, we've been crushing it this year. So thank you guys. Love you. Don't replace me with AI. Okay. Bye. I hope you enjoyed that episode. If you liked the episode and if you like the show in general, please take a second to rate, review, and subscribe. It goes such a long way in supporting the show. Follow the show over on Instagram at well.pod. You can also follow my personal Instagram at Arielle Laurie. I'm always sharing great clips from the episodes and we also have full episodes on YouTube as well if you want to watch in entirety. Thanks for listening. Hey everyone, it's Maddie here, host of The Bad Broadcast. If you're looking for some good, clean positivity? I'm not your girl. Because over at The Bad Broadcast, we dive deep into all the things we love to hate. Bad dates, bad bosses, bad roommates, all while finding the humor in it. We also chat pop culture, relationships, food, and all things nostalgia. Think of it like a sleepover with your best friends where you get to vent, laugh, cry, and watch your favorite chick flick. You can listen to The Bad Broadcast every Monday wherever you get your podcasts, or you can now watch the full episodes on YouTube. Remember to be safe, be kind, be hot, and I'll see you on Monday. Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. 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