Esthetician of 17 Years: Your Skincare Isn't the Problem

If you have spent good money on a skincare product, maybe used it a month, maybe watched your skin get even worse, maybe got drier, red, maybe you broke out and you have no idea why, here is what almost nobody tells you. It might not be the product. It might be the way you put it on or what you layered it with. So today, I'm really excited.

I'm sitting here with Kaila Meier of KJ Relaxin Medical Spa. She has 17 years of experience in skincare, and she actually formulates her own medical grade skincare line. Welcome to Dialed In Health. I'm Melissa Goodwin.

Every episode, we bring in the people who actually do this work, providers, practitioners, the experts who see clients and patients every day. We ask the questions you'd ask if you were sitting across from them so you can find the right people, make better decisions, and feel confident about what's out there. So welcome to Dialed In Health. We're going to talk all things skin today.

Welcome, Kaila. Hi. Thanks for being on the show. I'm super excited because skin care is fascinating.

And there's so much information and misinformation and TikTok trends out there. I'm so excited. So tell us a little bit about yourself. Tell us who you are and how KJ Relaxin Medical Spa came into being.

Well, I'm Kaila. I'm the owner of KJ Relaxin Medical Spa. I started in 2013 in Minnesota in the basement of my house. And I knew I always had a vision to help people with their skin because I struggled with cystic acne.

I didn't want people to scar. I wanted to come in where it's a body, soul, and spirit kind of feng shui. So the external is the sculpting and the facial. Internal is a foot detox.

And that take home care is my skin care products, the KJ Relaxin Skincare Pro. So I wanted to have that philosophy for any ages to come in and to make themselves feel good inside and out. So you had cystic acne. What did you do to heal yourself?

Yeah, so I did a lot of research. I worked with a lot of people that were medical doctors and advanced aesthetic. And they helped me maneuver my face. I'm a big researcher and studied how I can get the cystic acne under control with the care of my dermatologist.

And I wanted things because a lot of skincare would be good for a while and then would dry out my skin, or do the reverse. And that's why I wanted the medical team to help me with my medical needs of my face. Because scarring of cystic acne can be a huge thing, where if it scars enough, you would need plastic surgery. So I wanted to take care of that before I got to that point.

So you formulated your own skincare line. Yeah. Because that's a big deal. There's testing and all the things, packaging, labels.

It's a lot. Yes. So I actually go through a company that is in Texas. And we went back and forth.

I'm not a scientist, but they helped me. I wanted something with no smell, no odor. And I wanted a silicone base so it doesn't clog the pores. Because that's what I was finding in a lot of skincare products.

It was like trapping my skin and not breathing. And so those areas were getting more congested, especially in my T zone already. And so that's why they helped me formulate it. So every year around my birthday, I launch one more product.

So why was no smell important to you? Yeah. So I just noticed by doing different research on different products that the smell was irritating my skin because of the perfumes and the fragrance inside it. And my mom actually had skin cancer.

And she had rosacea and a lot of skin problems. And it was because of the fragrance in it. I just had her use these products for a little while. And all of a sudden, her skin was healing on its own because of the ingredients.

So when people hear medical grade, you think, oh boy, that's going to be expensive. Tell us a little bit, what does medical grade mean? So medical grade skincare, the skincare ingredients that are in it are more potent than you can get on a storefront. They just have to have different ingredients and making sure that the ingredients don't counter indicate each other.

It just has to do with that. So you've been treating people for 17 years. What are some of the biggest mistakes that you see people do with their skin? That would be overusing different products with their skin.

Less is more with any products because a lot of people are exfoliating their skin, but they're doing it every day. Well, your sebaceous gland goes in overdrive, so it makes you produce more oil, which then you'd get drier. So after, I'm in my 40s now, and our bodies are changing. And my body isn't producing as much oil, but then if you take that away, then the fine lines, the wrinkles, the melasma, all that will start creeping in.

So a lot of over exfoliating. What else do you see people doing? A lot of people trying different products. Everybody has a fad, which I love fads, my business girl, because of social media.

They screw it up, and then they come and see you. But then they come in, and they're like, okay, so I got this microneedling tool that's a roller, and I got this acid, and then this salmon. And so all this stuff, and then all of a sudden, their face is more irritated, so we have to calm it down. And it's just having people lack knowledge, because there's so much product on the market.

So for the rest of us, when we're watching TikTok, there's snail mucin. I've seen salmon sperm. There's tallow. There's all the microneedling things you can get at home.

Peptides, topical peptides. How do you decide what to bring into your line? So again, I do a lot of the research. I look at what is trending and what is working, and I usually try it on people that are here, like on myself, before I'd bring it into my spa.

Everyone's going to have a fad. You could go viral with anything, right? Which is great, but it doesn't always work. And that's why it's at the price point that it is.

It's usually under 20 dollars. Right, so Korean skincare, that's another one I see a lot about. So Korean skincare, they're like the head of the game for skincare. When I go in training in the East or West Coast or down South, Korean skincare, that is like the bread and butter.

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All right, back to the show. One of the things that a lot of us will do, myself included, you see something cool and you buy it, and then you've got a stack of stuff at home and you might mix it in there. You might have a red light. You might have exosomes, salmon sperm, snail mucin, a little bit of tallow, some oil, some Korean skincare.

What's the problem with that? Well, because after you get to that top layer of your skin and you just keep formulating and putting it on, the chemicals are rubbing together, right? It's not even hitting your skin. There's blockage of it.

That's why you always do your cleanse, your eye cream, and then your serums and your toner because that's the order that it should go. Like if you keep putting on multiple serums, well, it's not really hitting your skin after time because there's already serum on your skin. And so then you're just making a chemical reaction. You're making a little cocktail on your face.

Sounds terrible. So tell me about the steps a little bit. How do you know what order to put things on and is it different day and night? Yeah, so with my skincare it's pretty easy self explanatory, but you go with the cleansers and then I let that dry.

I always pat dry. I don't rub dry because then it just adds friction on my skin. So I pat dry that and then I will do the under eye and then I'll do my serum and then the toner to activate the serum. And then I'll do a moisturizer and then my KJ shade because that's SPF 30 and moisturizer and a BB cream in it.

So you can use it as a primer. So do you have to do all of those things? Yeah, well, it would be great if we had the time to do all of it every day. But that doesn't mean you have to.

Everybody needs an eye cream. We're constantly on electronics. Our eyes are our biggest age. Your eyes and your hands and your decollete are the three.

But I do my cleanser and then my eye and vitamin C. And then I'll just do a moisturizer because I just want to get all three steps in. Because your skin is kind of like a routine. You want to keep building it.

And if you start missing steps, then you kind of fall out. So if you can stay routine, that's the best you could do. So your decollete and your hands, those are the big tells too. So most of us forget about that.

So what do you use on your decollete and your hands? Yeah, so I do the vitamin C and I do the peptide. That just builds the collagen. The vitamin C will help any melasma or discoloration, because as we age, those come out.

And then just locking in that moisturizer. So tell us a little bit about peptides. Peptides are very popular. Tell us about what you use for peptides.

So the peptides that we use are all the topical ones. They're not injectable, they're all medical grade. But what a peptide does, it builds collagen and fine lines and wrinkles. So it helps the elasticity of your skin.

So just think of your skin as a rubber band. This helps bond it back together. There's many peptides in the product. That just helps with the elasticity of your skin.

And so that's in the serum that you have? Yep, so that is in almost all my products. It's all in the hydration products because peptides can go from peptides to like a steroid for skincare. It just helps enhance your skincare faster.

Okay, so retinol, tell us a little bit about retinol. Yep, some, but it's not as much as you would get from a dermatologist. A dermatologist is directly retinol on your face. Of course, it will be more potent.

This has an extender, so it goes over time with the retinol. So for retinol with me, when I got it through my dermatologist, it was really drying for my skin, and I felt like my under eyes and around my mouth were getting more wrinkles. And it was continuous peeling. Well, then I wanted something with retinol in it, but not as potent, but still locks in that moisturizer, and it doesn't do friction to your face.

And so then that's how we came up with some of the retinols in our products. Yeah, it can be kind of abrasive. So retinol can be great, it helps with turnover, but also as we get older, your skin's thinner. And especially our under eye, our under eyes are so thin, and when you put on product, you always want to tap, you never want to just swipe and pull, because then the dark pigmentation can start accumulating in there because it is so thin.

Yeah, so what do you do for really dark under eye circles? So a lot of hydration, a lot of water. We do eye treatments, use a really good under eye with a little retinol in it. You do feel tingling, but it helps with that moisturizing underneath your eye, and also a light exfoliation.

And some of it is hereditary. So sunscreen, where do most people go wrong with sunscreen? Yeah, so sunscreen is a huge thing. In the 80s, no one wore it, so now they're all coming in here.

But all SPF can only go for so long. You have to reapply it, and people just don't realize that. They're like, oh yeah, I use this spray. Well, the spray doesn't necessarily go all over your face, right?

You have to do a rub. I actually do a lotion, or my KJ shade for my face, so then I can see where I absolutely have it, because that's why it's tinted also, so then you know you don't miss a spot, because a lot of skin cancer starts on the face. So if it only lasts so long, I always thought that if I had skincare in my makeup, or my foundation, I was good for the day. Is that not true?

Yeah, so it's usually 20 to 30 to 40 is the most for your makeup, but I would say that you still want to reapply, if you're directly in the sun or you're out, especially if you're by the water, the reflection of the water. I see a lot of people come in, and I can tell if they drive for a living or fly because of the window of their sun damage on their side of their face. So if there is one product that everybody skips that they shouldn't, what would it be? Vitamin C.

Vitamin C, tell me why. Because vitamin C helps with discoloration, helps tightening the skin, it helps with that hydration. I can't go without my vitamin C. Because I don't want melasma all over my face because I'm noticing, I don't know if the sun is more potent, but people are getting discoloration and sunspots more than I've ever seen in my whole career in this past two years.

So the vitamin C that you use, it's not just taking it orally, you're actually putting it on as a topical. Yes, the brightening C serum. So you've got peptides and vitamin C in your serum. All right, so what else, when you see on TikTok, that you're like, people need to stop doing this?

Probably the most important thing is using devices that are not entitled for at home care. Like I see a lot of people coming in and doing those microneedling rollers, and I'm like, okay, no. Because you don't know the depth of it and it pierces your skin and you start bleeding and then people come in here and they're like, what can I do? Because it scars so fast.

So just be careful. It's not really necessarily the serums, it's the things that you apply the serums with. So the thing that is piercing your skin. So tell us, you say you've seen a lot more sunspots and dry skin, what do you think is going on with skin right now?

People are exfoliating too much. I think people see a dark spot and so they feel like they need to exfoliate their face morning and night and that is not what you do, right? Because you lose skin on a daily basis. And so I do mine on Sundays because it's a cell turnover rate.

So think of it as like a pancake, you're flipping it over. It's helping all those cells and all those skin particles fall off all at the same time. So you're not having some hang on and then it starts darkening in those areas, especially around your mouth or underneath your eyes. Okay, so menopause and perimenopause.

Your skin changes a lot. Oh yes, I hear all about it. What are you hearing? Yes, they're all coming in and they're like, Kaila help me, my skin, either their skin is super dry.

And so we come up with a whole thing for a skincare routine and for a take home care. But they're also stating that they're getting cystic acne. So many people are on different hormones now. So now they're coming in and they're like, okay, I have acne and I've never had acne.

And that's another thing, the exfoliation. If you do it once a week, that helps too, so it doesn't block those pores and it minimizes them. So if we can do all of that together, it will help with the journey of menopause. Because nobody tells us about menopause and what our skin goes through.

Yeah, so exfoliate, but not too much. Just once a week? Yeah. What else are you seeing with menopause skin?

A lot more people, the drying is the number one thing. So what do you do to help with that? So I do an oxygen facial with a hydration facial pretty much on all my clients. But menopause, then we just leave them under longer.

And then with the red light, that builds the collagen. And then the blue light kills any acne and bacteria growing on it. And then top it off with the orange light. And then that helps with any discoloration.

How often do you need to do that? Yeah, so the one here, you just do it on your visit. But if you have one at home, you can use it. I use mine two to three times a week.

My red light therapy. I have a mask at home. Is there one good one? There's so many.

And it just depends how much you want to spend. You can go from a hundred to a thousand. But red light therapy, blue light, orange, they all are good. If you can get one, you need one.

So tell us what happens if somebody comes in and they've had a bad TikTok buying spree, they use a bunch of stuff and they're a hot mess. What do you do? Oh my gosh, it's like you're dissecting their face and helping them. I have to do skin patches because I don't want to burn their face anymore.

And so you have to reverse it. So it's like taking baby steps back to get them to that point. So what is the vitamin C doing to help? You said it helps with melasma, helps with your skin spots.

So it's helping and pulling up. We all have melanin in our skin, right? Think of it as chocolate chips. Some people's chocolate chips are bigger, some are smaller, and that helps the coloration of your skin.

This is helping bring that to an even tone through your whole body. So if you use it on your face, your decollete, your hands, you can use it anywhere. I've had people use it on their legs. You said a facial, how often should I come in and get a facial?

So a lot of my clients come in once a month. And then we do have packages of three or six, because I have a lot of snowbirds. But we see some people come in every three weeks, but we mostly see every four. If there is one thing you could tell people to not do, everybody stop doing this, what would it be?

Not using SPF, but I would say, do not use 10 different products or use a product that you opened a year ago. Because it doesn't matter what kind of line of skincare, makeup or anything, after a year, it is no good. And sometimes with the chemicals inside it, it ferments, and then it could do the worst. It could really damage your skin.

So throw your old stuff out. Absolutely, throw it out. All right, I'm going to read you a few things, and you tell me if it's true or false. Medical grade and drugstore skincare are basically the same thing.

False. Because you can't have anything over the counter that's medical grade skincare, because of the potency of the ingredients inside it. If one serum is good, layering more actives is better. Yep, so again, the toner activates it, but you don't need to put on four different serums, because the four serums are just blocking the other ones.

Fragrance means a product is high quality. False. Fragrances sometimes can make you more irritated. People have more allergic reactions to things nowadays.

So just adding more ingredients that are not necessary, just for the fragrance to help sell your product, is false. And a lot can hide under the word fragrance and parfum. Skincare people swear by on TikTok is safe to buy. That's a maybe, right?

As long as you use it in moderation, and you don't use anything that would hurt your skin or make you bleed, it's going to be harmless. Just make sure you don't use 20 different products. Dry skin means you just need to drink more water. False.

You do need to drink more water, that hydration, but your skin is also showing you that it is dry, you're internally dry. So when it comes to the surface, it's already to that point where it's dehydration. So you want to keep using hydration serums and the light therapy. Menopause wrecks your skin, there's nothing you can do.

False, oh my gosh, we would all be crazy. Menopause is just a part of life and we can still, with that skincare, hydration, peptide injections, all of that. You have to look and see the products that you want to use while you have menopause to stay on track. Expensive skincare is a rip off.

No, that's not true. Skincare is going to be more expensive, especially if it's good or medical, because of the ingredients that are in it. And if it is cheaper, then you kind of wonder, well, what ingredients are in it? Is it synthetic?

Is it real? So you kind of have to be careful with that. But you do believe in skincare obviously. Yes, I love skincare.

So how long does it take to turn your skin around? Yeah, so it just depends if you have your at home care. I'm not a magical worker. But when you come in and if you're using products that are drying your skin at home, it's harder.

But if I get you on the right regimen and you come in, you'll see it, when you leave the facial room, you'll notice a difference. And then as long as you do that at home care and you stay resilient with coming in, it's night and day difference. So how do people find you? How do they book appointments?

So I'm on Facebook, Instagram, I have kjrelaxinmedicalspa.com, you can go on there. I'm on TikTok, I'm on all the social media platforms. I'm on Google. Wonderful, thank you.

So we'll make sure to link, if you're watching on YouTube, we'll put all of those links in the description below. But thank you so much for being on our show and talking about the amazing line and sharing about your formulations and your process and all the great work you do here at KJ Relaxin Medical Spa. All right, thank you so much for having me on the show. Hey, that's our show.

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I'm Melissa Goodwin, the line is open. See you next time.