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Sun Safety and Skin Repair Tips from Celebrity Esthetician Gina Mari

As wonderful as summer can be (thanks to longer days, trips to the beach and pool, and lighter brighter vibes in general), it’s not necessarily ideal as far as our skin is concerned. After all, exposure to UV rays is the leading cause of visible signs of aging—not to mention it can lead to some pretty serious hazards for skin and overall health. In search of intel and solutions to save our skin all summer long and 365 days a year, we tapped celebrity esthetician and Goldfaden MD’s Educational Advisor Gina Mari. Heed her advice on all things sun safety and skin repair. Plus: helpful FYIs on the ingredients you’ll want in your skincare routine, ASAP.

What is the biggest misconception people have about sun safety?

That you only have to apply sunscreen once in the morning and then you’re good for the rest of the day. We have been educating people on the proper use and application of sunscreen for years now and it still amazes me when a client comes in literally fried and says, “But I put it on this morning!”

What skincare ingredients can heighten photosensitivity and what are your tips for using them in the summer months?

Products that contain ingredients such as retinoids, vitamin C, alpha-hydroxy acids, beta-hydroxy acids and benzoyl peroxide will definitely make your skin much more sensitive to sun exposure. As opposed to discontinuing the use of these ingredients, simply lower the percentages that you’re using creating an overall milder formula for your skin. And, I would suggest only using your actives at night.

What skincare ingredients can help minimize sun damage, whether immediately or more long term?

Several ingredients listed above are extremely effective. Additionally, niacinamide, kojic acid, azelic acid and hydroquinone have proven great results. Consistency with the use of whichever combination or stand-alone ingredient your product/products contain is key. As all of these ingredients work to exfoliate and resurface (even if it’s the slightest amount) so applying a hydrating product with ingredients such as alpha lipid acids, hyaluronic acid and ceramides will really help speed the healing process as well as help you maintain results.

Direct sun exposure aside, what are the surprising culprits that can wreak havoc on your skin in the warmer months?

Skin, hair and nails are really affected by basically sun, salt and sand! We all need to enjoy our lives and a little vitamin D is good for you. Protect your skin during the daytime and focus on repairing and restoring in the evening.

What is one thing you wish everyone would do (or not do) in terms of sun exposure and skin health?

Using and reapplying sunscreen as suggested is great and there are some really cool sun-protecting clothing items such as hats, swim shirts, etc. that really assist with additional protection. Essentially we want to protect and renew our skin every day and that will lead to healthy-looking skin.

Do you have a go-to hack to reduce post-sun skin sensitivity?

Really take extra care with cool baths and soothing products that contain ingredients like aloe vera. Please, please, please, don’t scratch or peel the burnt areas…that will extend your healing time.

ABOUT GINA MARI

Gina Marí is a skincare expert with a unique approach to skin renewal and preservation. She was named “Top Celebrity Facialist in Los Angeles” by Allure Magazine and works with a list of high-profile, A-list clientele who know her as meticulous, compassionate and forward-thinking. Gina curates skincare programs for her clients, designed for both immediate results and long-term maintenance to improve the health and vitality of the skin “Seeing my clients happy, glowing and confident is a gift that constantly inspires and motivates me,” she says. Immersed in the developing science of skincare, Gina conducts advanced research and utilizes cutting-edge technologies in her skincare programs, constantly discovering new treatments to help her clients with their individual skincare concerns and goals.

 

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WORK UP A SWEAT FOR YOUR SKIN

Sweat your way to radiance: detoxify, rejuvenate, and glow with nature’s finest skincare

Sweating is a natural bodily function that is often associated with physical exertion and exercise, rather than its true key role in keeping our skin youthful, dewy and firm. 

In fact, there are many skin health and whole body benefits to sweating beyond the cooling of the body and regulation of temperature that it gets its reputation for. 

We asked Goldfaden MD’s Wellness Expert Alyssa Switzer, a dancer, yoga teacher and endurance trainer, why sweating is so good for skin health and the mechanisms that make it so.

Unclog Pores

One of the most noticeable ways in which sweating benefits the skin is by helping to unclog pores. Our skin is exposed to a variety of pollutants (such as dirt, oil and bacteria), which can accumulate in the pores and cause inflammation and breakouts. When we sweat, our pores open up, allowing these impurities to be released from the skin. This cleansing process is an effective way to keep the skin clean and prevent acne and other skin issues.

Hydration

Sweating can also help hydrate the skin. Sweat is made up of water, salt and other minerals that help moisturize and nourish the skin. This is particularly beneficial for people with dry skin or conditions such as eczema, which can cause the skin to become rough and flaky. By sweating, we are providing our skin with a natural source of hydration, which can help to make it look and feel healthier.

Removed Toxins

Furthermore, sweating can aid in removing toxins from the body that can damage the skin and cause premature aging. When toxins build up in the skin, they can cause inflammation, dullness and other signs of aging. By sweating, our body can eliminate these toxins and promote healthy skin cell turnover, which can help to keep our skin looking younger and more vibrant.

Circulate Blood Flow

In addition to these benefits, sweating can also help circulate blood flow to the skin. When we sweat, our blood vessels dilate, allowing more blood to flow to the skin’s surface. This increased blood flow can deliver oxygen and nutrients to the skin cells, which can help to support collagen production. Collagen is a protein that is essential for maintaining skin elasticity and firmness, and its production naturally declines as we age. By boosting collagen production, sweating can help promote firmer, more youthful-looking skin.

However, it is important to note that excessive sweating can have negative effects on the skin if left unmanaged. Excessive sweating without cleansing can lead to skin irritation, rashes and breakouts. It’s essential to maintain proper hygiene and a good skincare routine to prevent skin problems. Following your workouts, it’s key to remove the impurities you’ve just sweated out from your skin as soon as possible. Wash your face and body using a gentle cleanser such as Goldfaden’s Pure Start. You can skip exfoliating after a workout to avoid potential irritation.

In conclusion, sweating is an excellent way to promote healthy, radiant and youthful-looking skin. By unclogging pores, hydrating the skin, removing toxins and boosting blood flow, sweating can have numerous positive effects on our skin health. Just remember to give your skin a nice, refreshing cleanse afterward.

About Alyssa

Alyssa is a dancer, yoga teacher and high performance and endurance trainer, which is why she believes understanding and healing the body is of the utmost importance. Her passion for movement, nourishing foods, performance, and physical & mental health are constantly growing and evolving. Whether through her yoga teaching or training, Alyssa will bring you to places within yourself where deep change and healing can occur.

 

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Remedy Place Founder Jonathan Leary on Alternative Healing Modalities and the Future of Wellness

Jonathan Leary, DC, is a concierge wellness doctor who’s worked with countless celebrities, athletes, and VIP clients. He founded Remedy Place—the first-ever social wellness club, which presently has locations in Los Angeles and New York City—based on his years of alternative health education and private practice. In this Q&A, he discusses how Remedy Place came to be, the most popular treatments they offer, why it’s so important to go beyond the traditional model of healthcare, and more.

How did you come up with the concept of a social wellness club?

I have been working on Remedy Place since 2012. It was always my dream practice idea from the moment I started my business plan. I knew that I wanted to create something different from anything else out there and I wanted to cultivate an environment different from anything else I saw in normal healthcare. 

Previously, when volunteering in hospitals during my pre-med studies I saw the chaos and stress constantly (not only for the patients but also for the doctors and hospital staff) and I knew there was a huge opportunity for improvement. 

At the end of 2015, I completed the original business plan during my four years of doctorate studies, but when it came time for funding I quickly found out business loans were not an option. I was then forced to pivot and then opened my own concierge practice, which I had for five years before the first club opened. During this period, I constantly updated the business plan after listening to my patients, seeing what worked, what didn’t work, what they were willing to change, what they were not, what stressors they all experienced, etc. This data and clinical evidence shaped the foundation of Remedy Place and put me in the perfect position to look at all of the issues I saw in the industry, and then create the solutions to them while making sure it was also a smart business. 

In short, my findings were: the environment plays a major role in the healing process (based on the quick success in my patient’s homes), alternative medicine, preventative care & lifestyle changes were the only way to fix the root cause of my patient’s health issues (based on over 1200 patients success stories over the years) and lastly almost every single patient I had said because of their healthier lifestyle changes they felt restricted and sometimes lonely because it restricted their social life. The solution – make self-care a regular practice, make an environment that is designed to heal and make it social (so we can enhance their health and social life at the same time)

What are the most popular treatments at Remedy Place?

All of our tech-remedy experiences are pretty evenly booked at each club! Furthermore, our lead alternative medicine doctors (Acupuncturist, Chiropractor, Naturopathic Doctor & Functional Medicine Doctors) are fully booked pretty much every day. They are truly the foundation behind Remedy and they are not only great for preventative care but they are naturally curing and fixing the root cause of chronic pain, gastrointestinal problems, mental health conditions and so much more!

With that being said, from an outside perspective our infamous ice bath classes are definitely the most viewed or talked about publically. As a company we prioritize privacy, especially because most of our guests fully trust us with their health and care (also the reason why we don’t do influencer collabs because we don’t want to have people filming in the space), but even the most private guests/members of Remedy sometimes like to talk about joining the 6 minute club and post about it. Also, our ice bath class experiences have over 100M views (on tikok) so a lot of peoples first introduction to the brand has been through seeing that on social media.

What’s your favorite treatment (or one you recommend most) and why?

I wouldn’t say I have a favorite only because I genuinely use everything in the space regularly! I guess it truly depends on the occasion and how I am feeling on a certain day. For the quickest positive shift to my mental and physical health I would choose my ice baths. For my overall health and performance, all of my alternative medicine doctors are my go to no matter if I have a symptom, something more serious or if I just want to make sure I am getting healthier.

Nevertheless, for the past couple of months I have lived on flights and because of being stagnant so high in the air I really enjoy our FDA-approved full-body lymphatic compression suit. Your lymphatic system is very complex, but it is very powerful. This system is responsible for helping remove toxins (and other Impurities, sodium, carbon dioxide, and many other byproducts) out of the body. This is your body’s internal system that helps remove wastes. Unlike your circulatory system there is no pumping mechanism so the only way to help push this out of the body is through movement and manual manipulation. So when seated a lot or on a flight you tend to decrease the movement in your lymphatic system (you always feel bloated or something even swollen after a long flight)

Although from the outside it looks simple, the research behind this is pretty incredible. After going through the experience for an hour and squeezing out your entire body you can test the efficiency of this treatment by testing the urine after the session when waste is eliminated out of the body.  

How do the treatments at Remedy Place enhance wellness and go beyond the traditional healthcare model?

It all starts with education. Right now to fix our healthcare system we need to teach people how to achieve their own health independence by being proactive instead of reactive. You have to make lifestyle changes and learn how to take care of yourself daily. The problem is this is not what we were taught and now people are more curious than ever but don’t really know how to do it. At Remedy Place not only is education a primary goal of our team with each guest’s experience but our end goal is to be a free education platform that can give you the instruction manual to your body.

With this as our core philosophy, we know that the future of healthcare is going to trend more and more towards alternative medicine and that is why we are cultivating the best of the best up-and-coming holistic doctors to pave the way.

Next, we truly believe that human connection is the most important form of self-care. So that is why we created “social self-care” and all these experiences to bring people together and enhance their health and social life at the same time.

Lastly, every ‘remedy’ at Remedy Place is rooted in science and my own clinical evidence. My practice in sports medicine really set us up on a healthy foundation. Listening to patients for 7 years, hearing what they liked, what they didn’t like, what worked, what didn’t, and so on – and truly understanding their stressors gave me so many data points to find solutions for. 

With all of the above together, that is what makes Remedy Place so special!

As the founder of Remedy Place, what has been the most rewarding moment or greatest client success story to date?

Honestly, everyday I wake up and have to pinch myself that I am living my dream and reflect on how grateful I am that my passion is my work and also that my passion also gets to help people at the same time. I mean this in the most genuine (hopefully not corny) way.

With that being said at the end of the year (2022) my team and I reviewed the data from the previous year and when I saw that the West Hollywood club helped people over 25,000 times in a single club and my mind was blown away. When I had my practice, I was fully maxed out with patients everyday and had a huge waitlist. This was great, but at the same time limiting my dream goal to positively impact our healthcare system at a larger scale. A patient once told me – “How are you going to change healthcare seeing one patient at a time?” That is when I really shifted my priority to make sure Remedy Place launched so it could be a platform that could reach the masses. In the future, knowing that each club should be helping guests over 40,000 times per year, per club I can truly see the impact that the club alone will make when we have 5, 10, 15, 20 club, etc. And that is just our clubs, nevermind all the other branches we are launching with Remedy Place.

What are your skincare and self-care non-negotiables?

I think skin health all starts from within. Doing my functional medicine and maintaining a healthy diet based on those results has played the biggest role in not only feeling good, but also looking good. Every day I eat healthy, I move, I do my breathwork/meditation and some form (or a couple) of self-care. It took me a long time to get my whole routine down and to truly love every single part of it, but now there is not a single thing I would change.

 

About Dr. Leary:

Dr. Leary is the first and only Concierge Wellness Doctor who is changing the face of standard healthcare. He graduated at the top of his class with a Doctorate in Chiropractic Medicine that provided him with an extensive foundation in anatomy, physiology, neuroscience, clinical nutrition, and rehabilitation. He spent a decade researching and developing Remedy Place’s cutting-edge techniques that optimize the body’s natural ability to heal. Throughout his career, he has brought his professional expertise to a wide range of celebrities (i.e. Kardashians), athletes (i.e. Shaun White), and patients from all walks of life. His visionary leadership, deep network of industry professionals and capital, as well as years of clinical experience place him in the ideal position to see around corners and capitalize on the next wave of healthcare trends.

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