A Beautiful Life with Elizabeth Molina

Welcome to "A Beautiful Life" with Elizabeth Molina. Recognized among America's top Models, our exploration into the essence of beauty transcends the superficial. Dive into a blend of holistic beauty tips, biohacking insights, mom hacks, and more, presented in compact episodes ranging from 30 minutes to an hour. Our guests? An eclectic mix ranging from the world's top beauty and health professionals to visionaries. All sharing their unique journeys and tools to enhance the beauty in life. Each episode reinforces the core message: we are all navigating life in our distinct ways, and there's immense beauty in that individuality. Let’s redefine and recognize the beauty in our everyday lives, one story at a time.

Ep.21 - Let's Talk About The Beauty in S-E-X! w/ Susan Bratton 09/22/2021

EP 20. The Beauty of Advocacy with AnnaLynne McCord 09/08/2021

Ep. 19 - The Beautiful Transition of Menopause 08/25/2021

Ep. 18 - Glitter Wax, Vagacials & More w/ The Mermaid Esty 07/14/2021

Ep. 17 - Biohacking Meets Beauty w/ Amitay Eshel 06/30/2021

Ep. 16 - Discussing Success & Failure with Hala Tala 06/16/2021

Ep. 15 - The Beauty in Skincare with January Olds 06/02/2021

Ep. 15 - The Beauty in Skincare with January Olds Elizabeth Molina: [00:00:00] Hello, my beautiful people, welcome back. You know what day it is, it is Wednesday, happy hump day today. We have an amazing person on the podcast today, as usual, and I am so glad to call her a friend. Her name is January Old. She is the founder of Clean Skin Care Company January Labs. She is a licensed institution. Her products initially captured the attention of celebrity makeup artists and as deficient as she grew into an internationally recognized line of high performance products that can be found at Beauty Neiman Marcus direct online and at a host of retailers around the world, January Labs is celebrated by beauty editors on the pages of Cosmopolitan, Vogue, Birdie's coverture, women's health and New Beauty, among others, for its simplicity, effectiveness and accessibility. Welcome, January. Did I miss anything while introducing you today? January Olds: [00:01:00] No. Perfect. Elizabeth Molina: [00:01:05] Awesome. So I am so excited to have you on today. I'm so excited. We had a little chat earlier. It was I was like, I should have hit record. We were having such a great conversation. So, January, we know you own a beauty brand. Let's not let's just not kid ourselves here. January Olds: [00:01:23] Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to talk to you. And I love learning about your story. So I already feel so connected. Elizabeth Molina: [00:01:33] Thank you. Thank you. So you are in the skincare business, right. And your company promises that less is more. I love that motto. I live by that motto. Can you explain what that means to us and how your products accomplish that? Like what does that less is more mentality before I get into all the other things. But I just really wanted to kind of like, surprise you with that question. January Olds: [00:01:58] I love it. Yes. I mean, I think of beauty. Everyone loves consuming more because it's fun and there's new products. And there's but when I set out to develop my line, I my past was working for a company called Clarens, which I'm sure you know of, and epicurean, that's my past. And both wines had huge product lines. I mean, there was one cleansers for different skin types. And and when I set out to make my line, I really wanted to simplify things. We're dealing with skin. My perspective is when you're using the right ingredients, you can really use one product to solve a multiple multitude of problems with this good. So ingredients I love to work with lactic acid, salicylic acid, great for pigmentation, fine lines, texture. So when I say let's there's more, it's using one product to kind of combat different things that your skin is struggling with. So if you have hormonal breakouts, you're probably having aging or fine lines or things like you want to address as well. And the beauty is when things are formulated the correct way, you can kind of target all of those things. So the idea of having 10 products and a regimen is just not how I live my life, even though I'm in this world and I do consume a lot of it's usually four to five products tonight. If that maybe it might just be one product. What your product should be working hard for you. And that's really what I've set out to do. Formula formulation has everything. A lot of brands, we're all working with the same ingredients, but it's just how you formulate. Elizabeth Molina: [00:03:45] Oh, I love that. I love that. Especially like I think that is just so appropriate for like 2021 in 2020 with the pandemic and everything. And like less is more. And like we're seeing the skin trends of like skin minimalism and just like people getting more aware of like what's in their product, how is it formulated, is it working for me? I love that you say that, like your products need to be working hard for you, and I never heard that before. January Olds: [00:04:11] I'm a licensed aesthetician as well. So it's interesting. Certain things just do not change in skin care. There are certain ingredients that regardless, there's new technology coming out, there's just certain ingredients that work well. But the other thing is how your products are formulated, what ingredients you put in it. That's always just been something that's really, really important to me. When I work for the other companies I worked for, I loved their product line, so I still do. I just think that we don't need such a huge selection. You know, somebody who has oily skin can use my cleanser, but somebody who is dry, dehydrated and even rosacea can use the same exact cleanser. So when it comes to simplifying, it's making the selection easy on the customer. But the formulas are more complex. But we kind of handle that for you. So I've noticed and even when I recommend products to people, I'm like I try to to start with, I'm like such a minimalist, I'm not wanting products. I want something like a 12 hour cleanser and then maybe our night cream. And as they start to develop with one, their skin really evolves and you're able to pinpoint really what works for you, because I don't love the idea of just, you know, layering 20 serum's and then switching it off. And, you know, if you're not really able to target what's working, you don't really know. You know, I'm sure you're well, tons of products sent to you all the time. And you're just kind of switching it up a little bit. Yes. I really just find it's so nuance. You know, every skin is so different for everyone. So you need to just kind of work with something for a while, not over to it. I usually give people a skin care make under. Oh, I love that. Yeah. Elizabeth Molina: [00:05:58] January, I think we cut we're going to be new BFFs. I'm also a licensed aesthetician and even I myself get overwhelmed with products and ingredients and formulations. And I'm thinking to myself, if I am getting confused, what about the people who are like not in the industry and like they are like what is a or what is a serum, what is a tonic? What is in essence what are these things right. Like do I need them all? How do I layer them on sunscreen. Oh my God. And so like I love the concept that less is more. And I really this is the first time I've heard anyone say, let your ingredients work hard for you, like I think you should, like, trademarked that or something like that. January Olds: [00:06:40] Well, thank you. Yeah. You know. Caroline Pirogues, I'm sure you've heard of her. She's an incredible blogger and she's an author now. Her book, I think it's a book on skincare. I can't remember the exact name, Elizabeth Molina: [00:07:38] But it's OK. We'll all get it and link it to show note. Janaury Olds: [00:07:42] Yes, it's that book is so precise and on point. I love her. She's incredible. But if somebody is confused, just get that book. It's also in an audio book. So if you just want to listen to it in her or her, she just really simplifies things. You know, it's it really doesn't have to be confusing. I think that there's a lot of people using sales tactics and like, oh, this is dirty and this is bad and this is just it. That's all gimmicky things to sell products, in my opinion. And I think that nobody's setting out there to make products that are unhealthy for you or that are going to eventually kill you. So it's that that that book has really helped direct people and basically, you know, cleansing, using that acid, a good toner moisturizer. It really clarifies things. I go to that book a lot on things that I might have forgotten through the years. I mean, I've been in that situation for like 20 years. I'm aging myself here. Elizabeth Molina: [00:08:46] Ok, so let's let's take it back a little bit. Let's go back to the name of your brand. It's your name. Yeah. Does that get confusing sometimes or do you feel like because it is your name that it is you like? I know a lot of people always struggle when they have a brand, like you said my name. Is it not my name? Am I tied to the brand like what I do like does that also reflect on the brand or what the brand does? Does that reflect on me? Like, I would love to get your perspective on that, because that is your name. January Olds: [00:09:16] Yes, it is. It's funny. When I was thinking of naming the line, I wanted to go something really obscure that didn't really make sense. What's floating around me is like blue bead or blue shop not. I'm like, this is not. And it's all about simplicity. But what is me is the name Jan. I'm born in November, so that's good to know on a score. Yeah. I'm just you know, I'm born in November, so my name is already kind of unusual. And when I ask my mom, she's like, you just looked like a January. So what's it. That's where I get I'm also six one. So it's really hard to blend in. When you're six one and your name's Jan, you're like, oh, that was someone else. That wasn't me. So there's no way yet to get around that. So my name has always been such a huge part of my, you know, even ordering coffee. Were you born in January? Why is your name Jan? Literally every day of my life. Yeah. I mean, it's it's a big part of who I am. So when naming my brand, it had to be January and then Labs comes in because that's really the idea that they work, that they kind of the idea of using products that are geared in nature, but also scientific. And they have so it just was born January Labs. I feel like January is a little more of like a clean, fresh start. It's all about new beginnings. And then Labs gives you the feeling of trust. It's something that's formulated correctly and it just works. Elizabeth Molina: [00:10:52] It can be challenging when your name is on the label sometimes. And like maybe like, you know, maybe it's your identity, the brand. Are you separate from the brand? Are you like, what if you do something and it doesn't like like I said, like, what if you like, become a pilot and you're like, oh, well, Jan Labs is a pilot now. January Olds: [00:11:10] I love what I do. I love my products. I feel like I'm really offering something to the world that helps. I, I feel like, you know, one thing I love is just getting feedback from customers are noticing. People have ordered for the last five years and they continue to order and they you know, so it's extremely rewarding. So I do feel very tied to the name and I am proud of it. You know, who knows what will happen in the future as part you know, a lot of brands get acquired and they have someone's name and then they run into trouble like, oh, is this you know, most important thing to me is the integrity of the ingredients, the integrity of the product continuing that. And that will always be a lot because my name is on there. And also my line is really a reflection of what I use, what's worked for me. Everything that we create has a purpose. And it's really only because I use it and I see results and I love it. I use every single one of my products. I rarely deviate and try another line. If I was in the business, I'm like, no, but it really it's just I love you here. I match a match today. This is my night cravenness, my favorite product online, and yet I started using that for two years before it was even created because I wasn't able to create that guy. You know, everything has been done so organically. I've I've grown this company, so I have a lot of time to test things, to see that they work, see that there's a purpose for them. The cool thing about not being owned and being privately owned is you don't have this pressure to make mootness. Everything that I offer, I don't want to overwhelm the customer. I want to recommend things because it's something that's really useful that they can use and use indefinitely. Your skin really evolves with the product. I do feel very attached in a very good way to know Elizabeth Molina: [00:13:11] What a great answer. And, you know, that's actually you bring up a great point about kind of like, you know, like artists and singers, like they have like that one hit. And then the label is like, you need to do the next one. And then the pressure is on like a mic and it's going to be the next hit, like, am I going to bomb it? So like, I love that you mentioned that because I don't know. For me, it just tells me that the your brand has more not that other brands don't, because I love a lot of brands, including yours, but the integrity. Right. Like you, you're like, no, this is what I stand for. That's what I love. And I don't have the pressure to, like, you know, come out with, like, SPF lip balm because it's like trendy because it's trendy right now. Right. So I love that. So let's let's take it back a little more like I feel like I'm going through a journey with you. We spoke about your creams. We spoke about your name of the brand. I want to know how you got into the beauty space. And I know we've touched about it a little bit. And if you're OK to share with it, I would I would love for you to. And if not, that that's totally fine. But just talking about beauty and how you got here and what that means to you. January Olds: [00:14:16] Absolutely. I mean, there's two different directions that question. And what I I love your story. I just thought of it and I got chills again. I am so in awe of you. So that's number one. Thank you. And I loved that. We talked about things we did because one half of me usually when answering this question, I'm like when I was a kid, I always loved skin care, which I did. I was always giving my girl facials. I was like 12, making yogurt marks and avocado masks. And I just always had an affinity to beauty. But, you know, this is something I've never talked about publicly. But in my high school years, I actually was sexually assaulted. I was raped by a teacher and it really turned my life. I went to a very small, private school. I had never had I had never kissed a boy. I had never I was very innocent. I was very behind that incident. I mean, it was the story is very long. That's a whole other podcast or maybe a few. Elizabeth Molina: [00:15:18] But Part two will have a part two. January Olds: [00:15:20] That's a whole history. You know, for a year I was groomed by this person and then this had been happening to several people. But I came forward about it. And, you know, back then, coming forward is not the way it is now. You know, it wasn't really safe with my family. I'm so blessed to have an incredible father, an incredible mother. And I had so much support in my in my home. But I left the school. I you know, it was insane. I was doing crank calls I was getting and I'm like, why do I even do this? Why did come forward with this? And really, the reason I did is I have a ten year old sister who are ten. You're a ten year younger sister who actually went to the same school, was a prep school that went from preschool to high school. And I saw her playing one day. And I'm like, if this person is still here when my sister is here, I. I couldn't allow that. I have never talked about this. So I like actually getting emotional. Right. No, go for it. Elizabeth Molina: [00:16:23] Listen, this is a I mean, I've January Olds: [00:16:25] Talked about it just not in this sort of world. Elizabeth Molina: [00:16:28] Well, thank you for sharing because I know that this can be helpful for people and for yourself and just let it out. You are in a safe place and we will just we just, you know, whatever you feel comfortable sharing. And we we will be honoring that little January after you're done with the story. January Olds: [00:16:45] I would love a little January. Thank you. Know, I so anyway, this occurs in my life and since my life on a completely different trajectory. And, you know, it manifests itself in a few different ways, like eating disorders and self-hate. And, you know, and I was in therapy, I would say, you know, I have a very supportive family, so but just my whole direction in life changed. And I have to say, I mean, I it was when I got my job with a company called Epicure, and you didn't say. My life, it was the one thing where I'm like, I love this, I am good at this, I saw value in myself, albeit I was still dealing with underlining issues. I wasn't completely healed. That happened later in life. You know, it's all part of the journey. It's funny because you you look at your life in retrospect and it's like how it would have been nicer if I didn't have to go through all that ugliness. You know, like the the after the way I treated myself, the way the relationships I was the the crazed. I mean, I was crazy. I was I was just unhealed. So I would write, you know, I, I and I say this obviously I think I was I was just such a completely different person. I was unhealed person now in my life. I think when people come to talk to me about, oh, how can I look better? I'm like, let's start from the inside out. January Olds: [00:18:18] Yeah. Was it really at that point? It's just ageless, you know, when you find that love from within. So really, my life changed so much at the age of 15. And then, you know, I feel like I spent 15 years repairing that and getting to the point where I am now. And, you know, a lot of that healing still happens. When I had my company when I first started, I was still dealing with a lot and I was able to really overcome a lot. And I'm still on that journey. So really, as we were talking earlier, you know, you start a company with one intention in mind. And, you know, when I first started, Jan laughs It's like this is what I know I'm going to make product. And you saw it. People are going to buy it, you know, as simple as that. Now, I'm like, these products are a piece of who I am. It's what I love. But there's so much more. And there's so many ways I would like to really be of service to women, young men, anyone who needs healing, because that's where the beauty really comes from. And that's really my mission. If I could spend my whole day talking to people and helping them and giving them tools to get through trauma to get the healing done, that would be a life. Elizabeth Molina: [00:19:36] But first of all, I want to take a second to honor the fifteen year old Jan, who was brave enough to come forward and put a stop to it and possibly even help stop other girls and maybe boys from having to go through that experience. So I just want to take a second to honor you and to honor the 15 year old who is so brave because especially like you said back then and even today, it is so hard because we're young. You are you know, there is a grooming process. You know, it doesn't happen overnight. Unfortunately, like, there are things that you may feel about yourself. Like you said, you spoke about a little bit about the eating disorder and not feeling good enough. And this is a common theme with people who have experienced this. And we try our best to overcome it. We try to learn many skills because we want people to see that we are good enough that they're not. There's nothing wrong with us, that we are complete and whole. And so a lot of us find refuge in different things, whether it's art, whether it's beauty, whether it is playing an instrument, whether something right. Elizabeth Molina: [00:20:42] Sometimes if we're lucky and others, unfortunately, you know, go a different route. And so, like this healing process that you spoke about, I just want to say I know that it was horrible what happened to you. And I know that you said that you spent 15 years healing and you're probably still healing because we're all healing every day. There's always something that comes up. And I just want to say thank you and honor you for that, because if you were not able to put in the work, you wouldn't be where you are here today helping other people heal and impact them in, even though it may sound silly to some... /episode/index/show/yourbeautyguru/id/19328834