The Glow Girl Unwraps the Perfect Gift (and Shares High, Low Holiday Fashion)
Show Snapshot:
Ready to unwrap the perfect gift? Melissa Meyers, the chic creative director behind the inspirational lifestyle blog The Glow Girl, talks all things gifting and holiday fashion – cozy gifts at every price point, splurge-worthy investment pieces, surprisingly stylish Amazon finds, the sparkly shoe of the moment, Goop-approved wellness gifts, and so much more.
Bonus, Melissa shares her Top Ten 10 tips to look and feel your best at any age. You glow girl!
In This Episode We Cover:
1. How Melissa turned an email to friends sharing her fashion and beauty finds into a hot career as a lifestyle expert for media like NBC News and a social media influencer.
2. What made Melissa and her husband shake up their NYC lives to move to LA.
3. How Melissa identified a gap in the midlife social media market to launch the uber-popular The Glow Girl across channels including Pinterest with 225K+ monthly views, Instagram with 70k followers, and as a regular contributor to Who, What, Wear.
4. Cozy gifts, super splurges, yummy sweaters, the hottest shoe and boots, gifts every women in your life actually wants – ranging from a spendy dream hairdryer to giftable teas.
5. Love fashion? High/low dressing for the holidays and beyond plus, ideas for dressing sustainably.
6. Ear cuffs, faux leather pants, recycled boots – ideas to elevate your look.
7. Go-to beauty and wellness practices from supplements, to serums, to nutrition and treats.
8. How to score Glow Girl discounts on buzzy products ranging from fashion to food.
Quotable:
If you're staying home there are these cashmere jumpsuit sets by Filoro and I love them. You can feel snuggly and chic and then just put a little vest over it or add sparkly accessories.
I love to spread information ‘cause I love to research, discover and share. So this is really my dream career and I've managed to monetize it and now I'm doing ads for companies. It's just taken on a whole new level… I had a one-year contract with Clairol, I'm a clean beauty advocate and I talk about health and wellness, and beauty, fashion, all of that for women 50-plus.
More Resources:
Follow Melissa:
Sign up for her newsletter here
Melissa’s Holiday Lists:
New Year’s Outfits You Can Wear All Winter Long
16 Ultimate Designer and Luxury Gifts for Your Holiday Wishlist
15 Holiday Gift Guide Ideas for Everyone on Your List!
Melissa’s Amazon Holiday Gift Guide
Transcript
Katie Fogarty (00:03):
Welcome to A Certain Age, a show for women who are unafraid to age out loud. Beauties, we are in the finish line of 2021 and we are wrapping up this year with some sparkle and fun.
My guest today is Melissa Meyers, the founder and creative director of the inspirational lifestyle blog, The Glow Girl. A former New Yorker, now living in LA, Melissa is a content creator and lifestyle writer with over 20 years of editorial experience, covering beauty, fashion, wellness, and fun for who's who of print, publications and TV. You may know her for her sun-kissed social media content on Instagram or you may just be meeting her today, but you will love her tips on how women can look and feel their best at any age. She also helps us unwrap the perfect gift and has ideas for holiday fashion to add sparkle to your season. Welcome, Melissa.
Melissa Meyers (00:53):
Thank you for having me.
Katie Fogarty (00:54):
I am really delighted and excited. I've been following your content on Instagram for a bunch of months now. I especially love the mother-daughter content you share. ‘Cause I'm also very close to my own 20 something daughter. It's so fun to see everything that you share and sort of dipping in each other's closets. I do that with my own daughter, so I really enjoy that. But I would love for our listeners who, you know, The Glow Girl is new, I would love for you to share a little bit about how you launched it and what it is.
Melissa Meyers (01:25):
Okay. Well, The Glow Girl actually was a work in progress over many, many years. So, lots of reinvention, lots of ups and downs along the way, but has been really extremely rewarding because I'm super passionate about helping women to lead their best life. And I've always been. I was that go-to girl that said people would ask, “What should I get my mom for her birthday? Where do you get your hair done?” People were always asking Melissa. So, my first business was called Ask Melissa, and it was pretty much word of my else. And then I started a newsletter. The newsletter just caught on with all of my favorite people in New York and all my tips and tricks. I would just do this newsletter, it was like, 25 people. And then it grew to 700. Then it grew to 7,000. Then I put up a website, then I got an NBC—I did a quick video for my site and then somebody saw it and sent it to NBC, so I had a monthly segment on the Weekend Today show in New York as a lifestyle expert, coming on to share my tips and tricks for women.
And flash forward, then I started to feel like New York was very, very intense and I just wanted something different. So then again, reinvention, I said, you know what? I have this online magazine now, which also it became a magazine called Page Daily and I hired 12 people and I had 20 interns and it just was so challenging. The work was about 80 hours a week and I was raising children and I wasn't like, very present. And I just said, you know what? I just want something different.
So, we picked up my husband and I talked about it for many years. [laughs] And then we picked up and we actually, we moved to Los Angeles because we wanted to change our lifestyle. And we were gonna kind of reinvent, both of us, reinvent ourselves. He was winding down his hedge fund and I was winding down my online magazine and we just, I started to see people like, women around Los Angeles and most of them were in their twenties and thirties, and they were so-called “influencers.” It was kind of before that was coined at term, but they were all around LA taking photos of themselves or having, you know, photographers, shoot them and post these photos on Instagram or at the time there were so many other… there was like Snapchat and you know, so many other platforms. And they were really gaining, making their mark and gaining momentum for, you know, females to look at them as inspiration.
So I said, wow, there's nobody in the 50 plus space that's doing this (at the time 40 plus). And I said, I think I can do this. And I'll give women tips and tricks because I ran an online magazine and I know how to do, you know, I've always been a journalist and a writer, but now I think I can do this too. And I'm hoping to be an inspiration for women in this age group. And I started just putting the content out there and it just took off, especially over COVID, believe it or not. The past two years, my business has completely blown up. And I work with really big brands. I have long-term contracts with supplement brands like thorn. And these are all companies that I've been writing about and talking about for years. So, all of my content is very authentic and it's usually, I contact the brand or I've been using the brand for a long time, and then they think of me as a good spokesperson for, you know, whatever they're trying to put out there in the world. And I love to spread the information ‘cause I love to research, discover and share.
So it's really like my dream career and I've managed to monetize it and now I'm doing ads for companies. It's just taken on like a whole new… I had a one-year contract with Clairol, I'm a clean beauty advocate and I talk about health and wellness, and beauty, fashion, all of that for women 50-plus.
Katie Fogarty (05:36):
I absolutely love your content. And it's fun to hear the backstory behind it and how it was like an iteration, you know, that you had started off in the digital space with an online magazine, but then really identified a gap in the Instagram space, ‘cause you're right there. You know, you move to LA, there are a lot of young people, there are a lot of young people on social media, but it's fun to see content for women our age. And I love that you're often, you know, featuring your daughter who's in her twenties. I love that you show up on Instagram with many of your friends, you know. So it's really, it does feel very authentic and it feels very you and it feels like it's a slice of, you know, what the rest of us are going through.
Melissa Meyers (06:14):
Right. So, I mean, I also feel like, you know, in terms of bringing other women in; I love when I meet other women my age, who wanna do what I'm doing. And I just, I'm like an open book. I will meet them, I'll share all my information, how to build out the career, how to build out, you know, their Instagram. I love giving. 'Cause I just, that's just me. I just like to share information with other women. And I'm able to turn this into a career. And one of the things like with my daughter, which was really special during COVID and I just think that this is, you know, important to mention is that we came together as a family. I didn't have access to professional photography anymore. Anyone to cut my videos because you know, we had lockdown. That's what brought us all together. Like the “Mommy and Me” stuff—well, my daughter likes to call it the “Mother-Daughter” pieces—that really came out of all of us being here. And my daughter like saying to me, you know, mom, I wanna help you raise your game in the content creation space; you need to get a home studio, you need to get these lights, you need to get this reflector. Like she was giving me, feeding me all of these tips. And then together as a team, we started to create content that, you know, really went viral and was featured in Who, What, Wear. So I have a monthly feature in Who, What, Wear and my daughter now does these features with me.
Katie Fogarty (07:42):
I think that's actually how I first discovered you because Who, What, Wear had done a feature on “What to Wear Over 50.” And I was like, this is me. I clicked over and then I started following you and I started following your friend, Janet, and I really enjoy your content. So, I'm so happy and you are terrific at sharing. So, I have so many questions that I want to dive into. And one of the posts that you've done recently, 'cause we're in the holiday season, right? It's full swing. You're sharing a lot of content on gift-giving. You had one about sort of 16 ultimate, sort of, luxury gifts that you would love to receive. We don't have time for all 16, but what would be a top, you know, what would be your top three?
Melissa Meyers (08:19):
Okay, well the Dyson hair dryer is always on everyone's wish-list. It's the kind of thing that you don't wanna spend that kind of money for yourself. The basic one is $400 and the Air Wrap is $550. So, talk about a luxury gift. That, that is definitely a luxury gift in the beauty space. It's been on my list for so many years and I finally said to myself, that that was something I did buy for myself. I'm gonna splurge. And I bit the bullet and I bought one this year and it is life-changing because it, there is a reason why people fork up that kind of money for a blow dryer. [laughs] It really is that good.
Katie Fogarty (08:56):
Wow. Nice.
Melissa Meyers (08:57):
Yeah, so that's one and then the other one is I think if you're going to, splurge on something that's luxury, it should be something that's classic. So, I have these Dior pearl earrings and I have them for like 10 years now. When you're gonna invest money, you wanna look for longevity. So, I mean, I'm pulling out some old Bottega bags right now, which I love. Jenni Kayne makes a cashmere sweater, they're cardigans and they're about four or five hundred dollars, but they never go out of style. It's so great to just have one in your, and to gift one to somebody very special or chip in with a bunch of people and give them one of these gifts.
There's, there's also other gifts that I love, like, um, jewelry because huggies and hoops are so in right now. And I love Pamela Love for that. She's a great, really edgy, cool, jewelry designer. And she's really into multiple piercings, which I actually think for women over 50, like some people would be like, "Oh, I don't know, I just want my two pierces.” I just got three in one year and two in another. So, I only had one and two before and I kind of think it's cool to just, you know, step out of the box and, and do something a little different.
Katie Fogarty (10:14):
Yeah, that's such a modern way of wearing jewelry. And actually, I'm never gonna remember who makes this, but I saw something on Instagram where if you don't actually wanna, you know, go the permanent route of getting multiple piercings, there's an ear clip that you kind of, you know, goes behind the back of your ear where the jewelry hangs over. It's a cuff and it looks like you have multiple piercings. And I thought that's a great idea. If you wanna kind of try it on for size.
Melissa Meyers (10:38):
Yeah. And Swarovski crystal, they make some really beautiful cuffs, really cool cuffs. And I know Janet has a couple of them and they’re great looking.
Katie Fogarty (10:47):
Nice. Those are great ideas. And the idea of investing in something like a beautiful cashmere sweater that you'll have over and over and over again. Particularly as we, you know, hunker down. The pandemic is still causing a lot of us to spend more time at home and to be super cozy. So, that sounds like a wonderful investment. What are the best gifts for midlife women? Most of the women that listen to this show are kind of 45 to 65. And if you're buying for your sister, like I am this season or a girlfriend, or maybe even for yourself, what are sort of go-to gifts that you think every woman our age would love to have, to pull out of a gift bag?
Melissa Meyers (11:24):
Well, I mean, one of my favorite gifts are Peepers, they're readers and they're just a phenomenal brand. It's $27 per pair, the quality is great, they're super chic. I think I have like 20 pairs, [both laugh] but that's a great gift. There are these fuzzy slides by a company called Roam. They are so...
Katie Fogarty (11:49):
And how do you spell Roam? How do you spell it?
Melissa Meyers (11:51):
R-O-A-M.
Katie Fogarty (11:52):
R-O-A-M, okay great.
Melissa Meyers (11:53):
R-O-A-M. They are they're slides and they come in like all different like, puffy, shearling and fuzzy, just cozy, cute, chic. They have like a clunky bottom, they're really cute.
I love the GANNI boots and they make these boots out of recycled tires, which are less expensive than the typical GANNI boot, which is like $400 something, the recycled ones are $250. So, if you chip in with a couple of girlfriends, those are so cool, they're like downtown cool.
A cashmere wrap is always great. There's Heidi Wynne, I love her cashmere wraps. She makes one that, that I have that's in caramel. It's like a camel color, very useful.
There's Kroma, there's a one-day cleanse that you can get. This is brand new, it's been written about by Goop. And I think Gwyneth Paltrow is an investor in it, but they do a five-day cleanse. It's a luxury cleanse, they're powders, but the food is so good and they make something called OMG cookie butter. And you can just get that OMG Cookie Butter for somebody from this cleanse, or now they just launched a one-day cleanse and it's beautifully packaged, really a fantastic gift.
And by the way, I have discount codes for many of things because I contact these companies and I ask them, I say, I'd love to promote your product to my audience. And then sometimes I say, can you send me something to try first before I can do anything? I try it and then if I love it, I promote it. And then I say, you know, I'd love to have a discount code so I can offer something special to my readers and to my followers. So, I have that, like, people can, can find that on my website as well, which I'll go through all that at the end.
Katie Fogarty (13:38):
Yeah, absolutely. And can they find these discount codes on your Instagram? Which is @theglowgirl.
Melissa Meyers (13:44):
They can find it if they hit the link in my bio, they can find all of the links to all of this, to my gift guides, to my deals page, to my Amazon shopping page, which I curate in every category, including fashion, all of my top picks. And I'm updating this every single week because I'm getting new viewers all the time. And of course, you know, things change and as new stuff comes in, I'm just loading it into my website, to my Amazon page. Everything can be found there. And also on my website, theglowgirllife.com. So I feel like I'm more of a journalist blogger before I'm an Instagram girl. Even though Instagram is where everybody checks, but I have a very strong following and newsletter. And especially for women over 50, some people don't wanna be on Instagram. They just wanna get a newsletter. They wanna get it once a week into their inbox.
Katie Fogarty (14:43):
Yeah, a wonderful roundup. And I love that you offer these codes to people, you know, on all your channels; on your website, your newsletter, and on your Instagram. And I am definitely gonna be hitting that up to look for that OMG Butter code ‘cause that sounds interesting. Melissa, we're gonna take a quick break, but when we come back, I wanna hear your take on holiday dressing and fashion because I know this is one of your fortes. We'll be right back.
[Ad break]
Katie Fogarty (16:10):
Okay, we're back Melissa. I wanna talk holiday dressing because I know fashion is one of your real fortes and I'd love to talk about sort of, two different kind of outfits. One would be a fabulous outfit to wear if we're finally heading off to a party or for New Year's Eve. But also for those of us that are staying home, what's cozy, but festive?
Melissa Meyers (16:29):
Oh, that's so funny that you asked me that because I'm actually posting that on my blog today.
Katie Fogarty (16:34):
Yay!
Melissa Meyers (16:34):
[laughs] There's a company called Current Air and I am loving all of their items because not only are they well priced, but they make so many different types of clothing from like, boho chic to also stay-at-home chic, to the dress that you wear out for New Year's Eve. And I'm actually, they have such a cute dress right now. So, it's Current Air and they're very well priced.
And then if you wanna go fancy, GANNI makes a great dress. Ramy Brook is also mid-priced, they make some great dresses. But I think that if you're gonna stay home, you can actually wear like a pair of sleek pants that have a slit at the bottom. Norma Kamali makes a really cute, it's kind of like a stretch pant. And then with the top, you can just do like a, a sweater that has like some gold flecks in between with a little puff shoulder. And the shoes that are must-have right now—and this is whether you're staying at home or going out—but they're on Amazon. They're a copy of the Mos Mosh shoe, which is the shoe of the moment. It retails for, well over a thousand dollars, I found a dupe on Amazon and it's only about $49 for this dupe. And it's so great. I'm gonna be showing it on my website.
Katie Fogarty (17:57):
What do these shoes look like? Tell us.
Melissa Meyers (17:59):
They're a pointy classic pump style. And then they have crystals that tie up the ankle and a big crystal bow on the top. They are sling back. So, they like tie around. It's a classic-looking pump. They are so gorgeous. I mean, I thought they weren't gonna be comfortable because I was like "$50? I don't know.”
Katie Fogarty (18:23):
[laughs] They sound so fun.
Melissa Meyers (18:25):
I know. I tried them on and they're such great dupes. Even the girl that was filming me—I did a Reels with these as well—she immediately went on to my Amazon store and purchased a pair.
Katie Fogarty (18:38):
That's so funny. She was like, uh, Melissa, I'll be right back. I need to order something ASAP before we keep going.
Melissa Meyers (18:45):
She loved it. So, you know, another idea if you're really staying home, home and there are these cashmere jumpsuit sets by Filoro and I love them. They make a jumpsuit and they make a cashmere pant and top set. You can just do that and just, you know, feel snuggly and chic and then just put like a little vest over it that's sparkly, you know, there are a lot of companies making those right now. But basically, you know, just add accessories.
And you could even shop in your closet. I mean, I went in—and I'm doing the piece on this too—I wanted to see because people our age, we have so many great pieces if we didn't sell them or give them away from the year 2K and I just go in and say, wow, all of this stuff is back now.
Katie Fogarty (19:34):
Everything's back. I just went shopping with my daughter. I'm like, Hello 1987. I felt like all the neon sweaters are back. And a lot of the stuff that we wore that I wore in high school at least is back. It's funny to see it there. But you're right to shop your own closet because I have a pair of kind of jean bell bottoms that I just turned over to my daughter ‘cause that seventies look is back as well.
Melissa Meyers (19:55):
It sure is. Yep. I like a loose-fitting jean for sure, with a wide bottom. I'm not really into skinnies right now. I don't know if I'll say that in 10 years, I may be into them again, but I'm not into them right now.
Katie Fogarty (20:08):
I think post-COVID no one's into skinny. Skinny anything is not something that I want [laughs] that I want or need in my life right now, ‘cause it's a little tricky. So, what I'm curious, we've been talking about cashmere and yummy fabrics like that and sparkle. So, those are things that you invest in or you could maybe find sparkle, less expensively. What are things that you would say, you know, to our listeners, you don't need to spend money on this? What are the things that are basics that you can get that you choose to get that are well priced?
Melissa Meyers (20:37):
You know it sounds, I think that it's great to invest in like, you know, one great bag, but I have to say right now, Amazon fashion is killing it. So, I have been buying several of their… ‘Cause you're not gonna invest in like four cardigans cashmere that are like, you know, $450. So, Amazon makes these adorable cardigans, they're loose cardigans. I have them in every color. So, they're about, I think they're $40. Every time I wear one, someone asks me where I got my, my oversized cardigan. So, I think that an oversized cardigan is definitely something that you don't need to… you can invest in one and then just buy it in several colors. The other thing is they're making some really great copies of bags.
And also there's a company called Open Edit. I think Nordstrom owns it, it's out of Nordstrom. That's where, you know, you can find all their items. They make such incredible dupes of things that are trendy. So, I don't like, and that's one of the reasons why I didn't spend the money on the Mach & Mach shoes because I know that these sparkle shoes are a trend right now. I know that in two years, I may not like them, but I love them right now. So, I don't wanna spend over a thousand dollars on them. So that's, you know, another thing.
The other trick I really, really turn to is Zara. Okay Zara, I just bought the most awesome oversized, faux leather blazer. So, I don't think that you need to invest in leather anymore. And first of all, it's not a sustainable, faux leather is a more sustainable option. A.GOLDE makes sustainable leather right now and faux leather that is incredible. And it's the price of like wearing a pair of jeans?
Katie Fogarty (22:30):
Yeah, I totally agree. I was literally in Zara yesterday with my daughter and she left with the most stunning black, faux leather, kind of, wide bottom, not jeans, like a pant from Zara. They, they absolutely are stunning and they were very, very reasonably priced.
Melissa Meyers (22:45):
And another resource for me lately is Mango. So, right now these big oversized coats are so in and coats are so expensive. And you would think because in the past we've had to invest a lot of money in getting a good quality coat that's warm. Mango, I just bought three coats from Mango. They were all around $200 and I didn't, you know, ‘cause I wanna shoot in them, but I also it's been cold in LA lately. So, at night it's been getting down to like 39 degrees here. So, I didn't wanna spend a lot of money because I know that's a very short-lived season. So I said, I'm just gonna run to Mango and get a bunch of coats. And they have them in camel color, which is by the way, extremely hot. Like I have camel everything; I have camel faux leather pants, I have a camel long jacket, I have a camel short jacket, [Katie laughs] I have a camel bag. It's like everything, you know, I just, that's a great way to update is with a color that's on-trend, which right now, like I would say, is camel.
Katie Fogarty (23:45):
And that’s such a classic color as well. You can, you can put that in the back of your closet and you'll pull it out in 10 years, and camel's not going anywhere. It's not like, you know, like that lime green. So that’s probably a smart investment. Even if it is at, you know, a lower price point shop like Mango, which for listeners who don't know is the Spanish, which I think you can find at Mango.com. Do they have retail stores in LA?
Melissa Meyers (24:09):
They do. They have a retail store in LA, in Santa Monica. But I mean, I, I put a lot of their stuff in my shop fashion on my website. So, anything that I see from Mango that I love, I just pop it in there because I wanna share it with viewers ‘cause most likely I bought it so I know the quality is good. Like I got a sweater dress this year, that's another huge trend, sweater dresses. And if you don't want to wear like a body-hugging sweater dress, what you could do is get one a size up and then like use a belt to kind of like define your waist and pull it, like make it little baggy or get a ruched one. There's a ruched one that's by Michael Stars that hides all the little rolls and bumps and things that we want hidden. [laughs]
Katie Fogarty (24:55):
Very good tip, I love the idea of the belt. We like a waist-defining belt. This is such great advice and I love that you've curated this too so that listeners can go to your website and then find, you know, kind of the greatest hits. ‘Cause sometimes you get on these, you know, you get on Amazon, you get on Mango and there are so many options, it’s hard to know what to choose.
Melissa Meyers (25:17):
Of course. And some things might not look good, they might look cheap. You know like you wanna get the things that really, that the quality is there.
Katie Fogarty (25:24):
Melissa, so it's terrific that you curate this for your listeners and my listeners can go to Melissa's website and see her greatest hits from Amazon, from Mango. ‘Cause it's helpful to have somebody narrow this list because those storefronts are so massive.
Melissa, I wanna ask you about something else. Shift gears a little bit from fashion to wellness because I know that something that you talk about a lot in your social media content. You share your Top 10 tips to help women of any age, feel their best and you know, to feel younger and vibrant. We are pro age over here, but we still wanna feel our best. Can you share what works for you and what we should be focusing on?
Melissa Meyers (26:08):
Yes. Okay so, this is my favorite topic. [laughs] So, my very first tip is to move every day. Okay. My goal is to do 10K steps a day but obviously, that's not so easy if you don't have access to outside or a treadmill. So, find a great fitness class. For example, the one that I love the most is called The Class and there's also Melissa Wood, but I suggest that people like to investigate what works for them. Because if you don't find something that you love, you're not gonna do it. So, there are so many choices out there, but I just think, move every day. I don't care if it's for 30 minutes, 20 minutes. I like to do 45 minutes to an hour, but I just think it gets the endorphins moving and it definitely sets the pace for the day.
So stretch, roll out your body with a foam roller for circulation, that's extremely important to stimulate the fascia at this age. Yoga is great to practice because it's low impact and it's great for strengthening and we need strength at this age. I would even do a plank every day for one minute, my dad's 85 years old and he still does that. So kudos to him, right? [laughs]
Katie Fogarty (27:21):
Wow. I love that. Yeah, I'm inspired.
Melissa Meyers (27:23):
Yeah, he does. Okay. So, the second thing is to eat clean. Now it's easier said than done of course, but there's a way to cut out sugar and replace it with monk fruit sweetener. So, I work with a brand called Lakanto and before I started working with them, I used this sweetener replacement because my friend Alyssa Goodman recommended I replace all my sugar with monk fruit or stevia, natural stevia. So I researched it, found Lakanto. And I now bake with Lakanto sugar. I put these little sugar drops, they're not sugar, they're sugar replacement drops into my iced tea. I brew my own iced tea.
In terms of eating clean, shop at farmer's markets. Make sure that your meat is grass-fed, that’s very important because you don't want corn-fed meat because it just goes right into your body as well. And then if you're sensitive to gluten, then all kinds of things go crazy. In terms of inflammation, this will help control inflammation, which as we age, we're more sensitive to inflammation.
Katie Fogarty (28:26):
Yes. And inflammation wreaks a lot of havoc on all of our systems.
Melissa Meyers (28:30):
Oh, it affects pretty much, your gut health and inflammation affects every part of your life from brain fog, to what you look like to being tired. I mean, it's just, the list goes is on and on and on. And if you start eating clean and replacing sugar or cutting out sugar—I’m not able to do that, so I replace it with Lakanto.
Katie Fogarty (28:54):
Yes. I'm not a cutter outer. I'm gonna be a replacer. [laughs] I like my sugar.
Melissa Meyers (28:58):
I bring little packets with me. I travel with them. So, when I'm at a restaurant, I'm not gonna have slender. I'm not gonna have any fake sugar, any sugar, you know, this is the one that I want inside my body, that I know that I know is safe and healthy.
Intermittent fasting. Okay. This is, I think more important as we get older because we don't metabolize as quickly, it's better to have a 16 hour fast. And I found that I was able to lose a couple of pounds, unwanted pounds, just not by changing my eating, but by having my first meal at noon and ending my, my last meal by 8:00 PM. Which is really not that difficult. If you wake up and you need your coffee, okay, grab a cup of coffee, but then dive into something, whether it's exercise or work. There’s a way… If you keep yourself busy and off the habit of running into the kitchen and opening the refrigerator. If you miss breakfast, which I did, then have your breakfast as a lunch, make scrambled eggs and a salad on this for lunch. So, you know, that's the way to get around it ‘cause I did miss my breakfasts and I said, ah, I want my breakfast. [Katie laughs] But yeah, the intermittent fasting is, is fantastic. And there's been so much research done on that as well.
The other thing is to use non-toxic makeup and skincare. You know, we're always now worrying about what we're putting in our bodies, but people rarely think about what are they putting on their bodies. You know, the makeup that you're using can be toxic. The cream that you use in your skin every day can be toxic and can have sulfates and all kinds of chemicals in there that if you look up these chemicals, you would never put them on your body. So, I write a lot about clean beauty. I use, I'm not gonna say a hundred percent, but I'd say 95% clean beauty products and they're all over. I actually have a Glow Girl Certified list, which is also on my website. And you can see, as I find products, I add them to this Glow Girl Certified list. And I have it segregated into different like areas like, you know, beauty, skin care, all kinds. So it's easy for people to find.
Katie Fogarty (31:16):
I love it, it's so helpful.
Melissa Meyers (31:19):
Yeah. But there's also this app called Think Dirty and it's phenomenal. So, what you can do is you can scan the QR codes on your makeup or just even type in what you're using. And it'll tell you on a scale from 1 to 10, the toxicity level.
Katie Fogarty (31:35):
That is fabulous.
Melissa Meyers (31:37):
It's fantastic. So I sit there and then like, I can't tell you how many things I to throw away or even give away because there were some like friends that were like, I'll take it and I said, okay, you know, I'm not using this anymore.
But some brands that I like just, you know, for listeners to hear is like Westman Atelier. That's a luxury clean beauty brand. Gucci Westman, who was the makeup artist for rag & bone and for Revlon, went off on her own and she has her own beauty line right now, which is phenomenal. There's another line called ILIA. There's a line called Vapour Beauty, Merit, bareMinerals. You can go onto Sephora and they also have a stamp for anything that's clean, that they consider clean. There's also Credo, credo.com, which sources they're very, very strict in sourcing all makeup and beauty items that are nontoxic.
So, the next thing that I wanted to talk about is sleeping well. I know that that becomes an issue as we age. We wake up in the middle of the night, there are hot flashes, there are all kinds of things to deal with. I think if you, I started taking magnesium and I take the thorn magnesium, I actually take calcium magnesium so that I can also strengthen my bones at the same time. I'm a big believer in supplements, which we'll get to too. But, you can do CBD. There's a company called Winged and they make great CBD sleep gummies, which I use quite often. [laughs]
Katie Fogarty (33:08):
Yeah, CBD’s very helpful. We've had sleep doctors on this show that say CBD is a wonderful sleep enhancement. You know, it's really something that can help you get your sleep on.
Melissa Meyers (33:19):
It's absolutely been game-changing for me. And when people think of CBD, not everybody understands that they're not gonna get high from it because there's no THC in a lot of, you know, in the CBD products that I'm using. So, it just has all of the positive effects of the CBD of the hemp without, you know, altering how you feel, like the psycho part of it. [laughs]
Katie Fogarty (33:44):
Exactly. The psychoactives are left out.
Melissa Meyers (33:45):
Exactly, exactly, exactly. Psychoactive. Okay. So, the other thing is self-care. I think that we, at the end of the day, forget about taking care of ourselves. Like, I take a bath through times a week. I like candles in my bathroom. I love aromatherapy. There are these candles that I am obsessed with. They're from Voyage et Cie and they also make clean beauty products. But this particular brand, they actually, I know that Kamala [laughs] at the White House ordered them for every single room, every single guest room, these little mini candles. And I have them in my bathroom. But they make unbelievable products with essential oils. And they have, I think like over like 50 different natural scents.
Katie Fogarty (34:34):
Such a fun factoid. I love that.
Melissa Meyers (34:35):
Yeah, yeah. So, it's really, really great. But I think with self-care, the essential oils, getting a diffuser, I always have a diffuser running with lavender. I think that it's a lot of little things. It's not one big thing. You know, like living your most enhanced best life is not one thing. It's a lot of little things and you could take baby steps and say, okay, today I'm gonna do this. Today I'm gonna take a bath. Take one day at a time. Tomorrow I'm gonna try intermittent fasting. It's hard to swallow all of this all at once, but like, if you do it in baby steps, it's really not that difficult. So, I suggest that to a lot of people who are like, oh my God, I don't think I can do all these things.
Katie Fogarty (35:17):
They’re like, self-care sounds like a to-do list. But when you break it down, I mean, it’s simply more exercising, lighting a candle, taking a bath. These are all things that we can easily incorporate. They’re all doable.
Melissa Meyers (35:29):
They’re little things that add up to big things in the end. And like even mindfulness, like I have trouble meditating, but I do manage to do it in my own way. I bought this meditation pillow from Sunday Citizen and I sit on it and like, I just like looking outside at my view. And I'm lucky that I have this great view and I do box breathing, which is these like four deep breaths as deep as deeply as you can, hold them, and then breathe out as deep as you can. I do that every morning and every night and the box breathing just releases so much stress. So, I find that's my way of meditating,
Katie Fogarty (36:07):
Melissa, it's funny that you mentioned box breathing because the very first show I ever recorded was with an OB/GYN named Dr. Anita Sadaty and she said box breathing on that show. And it's something that I've been doing since the pandemic started because we are all stressed out and I do box breathing before bed. And I do box breathing before I get out of bed in the morning.
Melissa Meyers (36:30):
Oh, you do the same exact thing that I do.
Katie Fogarty (36:31):
The same exact thing that you do. And it is literally, probably under 30 seconds and it is so relaxing and soothing and it's something that's really become a go-to practice for me. I love that you do it.
Melissa Meyers (36:45):
I do it. And then I got my husband hooked on it, ‘cause he watched me do it. And he is like, in the beginning, he was looking at me like, what are you doing? [both laugh] And then I said, well, why don't you try it? And now the two of us sit there. [laughs] It’s very funny at night, the two of us sit there with our [big inhale]
Katie Fogarty (37:02):
I love it. I love it. It's so good. It's so good. Everyone should try this. Everyone who's listening right now is, you know, the moment we stop talking, I want you to try the box breathing cause you're gonna make it part of your routine too.
Melissa Meyers (37:12):
I agree a hundred percent, especially for people who have trouble meditating. I mean, look, there are so many great meditation apps, but I think that that that's a way of meditating. And the other thing that I think is so great is a gratitude journal. And there's something called the 5 Minute journal and you can get that on Amazon too. I actually have it in my store as well, but every day, like it, asks you the same questions and you just fill it out. It takes five minutes. You can spend five minutes a day filling out a gratitude journal. Like, if you know that all of a sudden it's like, ‘cause it prompts you with questions. So, it's so much easier than just like saying, okay, like write down what you're grateful for now. Like some people might have problems you know, they're not writers, you know, they don't wanna like spend the effort and energy to be creative that day. So, this makes it easy to do that as well.
The other thing is to take supplements. One of my non-negotiables I call it is to take a NAD plus, which is Nicotinamide it's I take the one from Thorne it's Niacel®200. And this is just, they've done so many studies; it like it supports the brain nerves, healthy aging, your metabolism, it helps repair the muscles. I pop one before I go like I play tennis and every week and my tennis coach is like, “Did you take your energy (they are my energy pills) pills today before tennis?” Because if I forget to take it, I don't play as well. [laughs]
Katie Fogarty (38:42):
You’re not running. You're like, I'm letting my partner get that ball. [laughs]
Melissa Meyers (38:45):
Exactly, exactly. So I really love the Niacin. Vitamin D is so important. I mean, there’ve been studies done now, even vitamin D helps prevent viruses from duplicating. And it's not only great for your bones, but it's just a lot of people are short of Vitamin D too.
Katie Fogarty (39:05):
Especially on the east coast. I'm an east coaster. We don't get out in the sun like you do in California. So, if you're living in a colder climate, you really need to check your vitamin D and prioritize supplementing what you're not getting from the sun.
Melissa Meyers (39:16):
Exactly. And like, I suggest going to an integrative doctor so they can take your blood and they find all the things that are missing all the vitamins and minerals. And then you can add whatever is missing. Just add that in. If you don't wanna take so many supplements, you need to just find what you're missing and, you know, try and get it in foods. Of course like, food is a great way to get your, you know, what you need every day. And some people say, oh, I'm gonna do it all in my food, but it doesn't matter. Your body might just be, might not be producing enough of one vitamin that it needs. Or a probiotic, for example, I mean, you know, your gut health is so important taking a probiotic every day. I really notice a difference in terms of not being gassy or just like my stomach, just doing well. You know, being regular probiotics is important. Vitamin B is very important.
And the other thing that I like to supplement with are mushrooms. So, I love this company called Om Mushroom and they have these different powders. My two favorites are the brain fuel, which is for focus, alertness, clarity. They have like these little powders. This one, the brain fuel, is actually a mocha flavor and they have Lion’s Mane in it, this one, in particular, Reishi, MCT, folate. It's like natural caffeine in there. You just add water to them and they are delicious. I can't, I mean, people don't even believe it because every time someone comes over, I make them try them. [Katie laughs] They also have a hot chocolate blend, but they have like, an energy blend. They have all these different blends and I recommend they have a matcha tea blend. I recommend checking out this company and ordering some packages just so you can see.
Katie Fogarty (41:03):
Oh, it sounds fun. Like fun, like a fun shake-up of your normal coffee routine. I love the idea of having the hot chocolate one, especially around the holidays.
Melissa Meyers (41:12):
It’s great. The taste and I'm just, you know, putting it out there, the taste is a ten. Like the hot chocolate, I'm actually you holding a packet right now. [Katie laughs] Reishi, the Chaga, Turkey tail, Ashwagandha. I mean, there have been so many studies done.
Katie Fogarty (41:26):
I wish we were doing this live because I would make you make me a cup.
Melissa Meyers (41:29):
Right? Exactly. Well anyone who comes over here gets a cup of it, don't worry. [laughs]
And then take care of your hair. You know, hair loss, it could be very devastating to women as they age. And I think that you know, taking biotin, which is, you know, one non-negotiable supplement that I take every day. But also there's a company called VEGAMOUR and that's a clean brand; they have these biotin gummies, they have biotin shampoos, they have all these different serums, they have a lash serum, they have a brow serum. If you use these serums every day they make a tremendous difference in hair growth. And they have thousands of reviews on their website. It's called VEGAMOUR. I also offered a discount code for VEGAMOUR because I started using them because it was a clean way to grow your hair, ‘cause sometimes you can, there are companies that have supplements, but they're not necessarily clean. So, you have to make sure that there's everything is non-toxic in the formulas for these hair growth supplements. And I think we covered it.
Katie Fogarty (42:35):
I think that the final one… I did do my homework and I looked at this fabulous list before we got on the horn here was really like to make sure you prioritize sleep as well.
Melissa Meyers (42:47):
Yes, sleep is. And people don't always realize, that your sleep, because it'll throw like, you know, your hormones get thrown off by your sleep if you're not getting a good night's sleep. And I recommend eight hours a day, even though I don't know always get eight hours a day.
Katie Fogarty (43:04):
It is really hard. And we've talked about sleep a lot on this show because you know, my audience is midlife women, sleep disruptions are real in this age demographic, we have hormone disruptions, we have a lot on our plates, there’s stress, which is why I'm really excited to be featuring a guest in 2022 coming in January, I've got a sleep doctor coming on the show to help share ideas with us. So that’s something…
Melissa Meyers (43:28):
Oh, well I'm gonna tune into that one for sure because it is very, very important and I'm always learning. And I always, if I can get a couple of new tips, then I love to share them too.
Katie Fogarty (43:38):
Yeah, I’m excited about that one because of everything that you've shared about wellness and taking care of yourself and feeling your best, I mean, I really feel like sleep is so foundational. When we have a great night's sleep, we’re ready, we’re up, we're excited. We're ready to tackle everything.
Melissa, you have shared so much incredible information. I'm letting my listeners know that in addition to going to Melissa's website, to find all of these different codes and all of the different content, you should be looking@acertainagepod.com for a complete transcript of this show. So, everything that Melissa mentioned, you can find in the transcript, and then you can hop on over to The Glow Girl to find the links for the things that she's talked about and her discount codes.
I'm so excited. I've got so many gift ideas. I have so many ideas for being cozy. I've got ideas for that mushroom, hot chocolate tea that I'm thrown into my cart. But before we say goodbye, Melissa, I wanna make sure our listeners know how to find you and keep following your work and all of your insight.
Melissa Meyers (44:41):
Thank you. Well, my website is called theglowgirllife.com. And when you go on that prompts you, if you want gonna sign up for my newsletter for the weekly tips right into the inbox, that's a great way to do it if you're not on Instagram. But if you're on Instagram, of course, you know, I'm on Instagram for hours a day. I use it as a resource to find information, even my news [laughs] these days, ‘cause everything seems to be on Instagram. I'm big, I'm huge, huge fan of Reels. They can find me at @melissamyers. It's M-E-L-I-S-S-A-M-E-Y-E-R-S. And yeah, I'm also on LinkedIn and I'm on Pinterest and there's a lot of different ways to find me, but I also take DMs if people like to reach out to me on Instagram, I answer all my DMs personally. So, you know, I welcome new followers and new people who can come to my community.
Katie Fogarty (45:41):
Thank you so much, Melissa. This has been a total treat.
This wraps A Certain Age, a show for women who are aging without apology. And this wraps our December shows and our focus on joy celebration. We kicked off with the lovely Jennifer King Linley author of Find Your Joy: A Powerful Self-Care Journal to Help You Thrive. Celebrity baker, Rosie Daykin shared crowd-pleasing recipes for the holidays and beyond, and Melissa Meyers joined us to share sparkly gift ideas to wrap up the season.
We'll be back the first Monday in January with our 2022 shows, you will not want to miss this episode. Mega popular productivity expert, Tanya Dalton offers tools that go way beyond New Year's resolutions and goal setting. We cover ideas for taking ownership of your life, prioritizing what matters over your endless to-do list, and how to live a life of intention and purpose. Tune in all January long to hear from guests who have ideas for rebooting your systems from sleep, to goal setting, to faith, to relationships. Join us every Monday to get your 2022 on track.
Special thanks to Michael Mancini who composed and produced our theme music. See you next time and until then: happy holidays, beauties.