Jessica Alba’s Body Sculptor Shares Her Lymphatic Drainage Secrets For Reducing Inflammation, Beating Sluggishness and Boosting Immunity the Brazilian Way

0:00The following podcast is a dear media production.

0:07Welcome to Breaking Beauty, the podcast all about the breakthrough people, products, and moments in beauty. We're your hosts, Jill Dunn and Carlene Higgins.

0:20Hello and welcome back to Breaking Beauty podcast. The day is Wednesday, February 12th, and we are your hosts, Carlene Higgins. That's me. And my fabulous co-host is here, Jill Dunn. Hello, Jill. Hey, Carlene. So of course, our longtime listeners will know that we are two beauty editors turned beauty podcasters. And I feel like Carlene right now, what's getting me through the doldrums of winter is like award season. When I watched the Grammys the other night, I had like it on full blast. And then like just the red carpet moments that we're getting like, you know, Taylor Swift had that like excellent Vivian Westwood dress with like the sexy body jewelry.

1:02And I was just living for it. I was like, this is this is getting me out of my doom scrolling. And I'm I'm here for it all. Yes, of course. I feel like the whole body was on display on the red carpet. And for anyone who's not doing Ozempic in Hollywood, or maybe they are, who knows, or maybe they are, who knows. There's a whole other method. In fact, there is a guru that everybody goes to and she is our guest today. So exciting. Her name is Rebecca Faria. She's the founder of the Detox by Rebecca Spa and the creator of her signature Detox by Rebecca technique. She has over 13 years of experience and a master's degree in body aesthetics.

1:46And Rebecca is just the person that all the Hollywood elite are going to for lymphatic drainage. Yes. So she's got the first Brazilian lymphatic drainage spa in Los Angeles. And it's legendary at this point. Sophia Ritchie Grange goes there. Rosie Huntington Whiteley, Addison Ray. Like I would imagine this is my own opinion. I don't know anything, but I imagine before Addison Ray did that Rolling Stone cover where she's like wearing a two piece, she probably went to see Rebecca. You know what I mean? That's right. I even saw Brooklyn Beckham was there on Rebecca's Instagram I saw recently. So yes, Rebecca launched what's considered the first Brazilian lymphatic drainage spa in LA, hearkening back to her roots in Brazil.

2:31And her techniques really combine various methods into one, you know, comprehensive treatment. It's designed to detoxify the body, boost the immune system, combat cellulite, sculpt that silhouette by eliminating avoiding toxins and excess water weight. I tell you, I could have used this when I was in Arizona recently. I cannot tell you how bloated I felt. I don't know if it had to do with the altitude or what it was, but it's like, I get it. These people are traveling back and forth and it's like they want to look svelte, you know, no matter what your size, we love to look just like tight and tucked in and healthy.

3:11Yeah. It's just like if I could think of one thing that she should just have hanging over her door, it should be like, be that blow. Like, honestly, because that is what I think you you're getting a lot of the times. Yeah. If you don't want to lose a single pound, if you don't, if you have zero cellulite, it's just like that snatch kind of feeling and stimulation of getting rid of inflammation. Yeah. Now you went and had it done. I did. when you were in LA. So what was it actually like? It is one of the best body treatments I've ever had. Highly recommend. Okay. And it is just incredible, especially after a long flight, like I had just gotten off of and I was like, I get it.

3:57I understand why all of the girlies are going here. Now tell me, does it feel like a regular massage or is it wet? Like what is the, what is it actually like? So it's a 90 minute treatment. You go in, she has six therapists there and I had Renata definitely recommend her. She was incredible. And they're all individually trained by, by Rebecca herself. And they're just like her technique was, it doesn't hurt at all, but it feels a lot more intentional than rubbing the body with the full hand. It's more of a using your palm, using your pressure of your fingertips. You felt like she was really moving stuff around and they're moving everything toward the lymphatic drains in the body, right?

4:43So by your hips, underneath your arms, like everything is extremely intentional. And my, I think one of the more, more distinctive parts of the treatment is like, she starts with your legs and she's using a cream. It's not an oil. And she did my left leg first. And then she said, it's kind of like in that biologic research facial where they give you a mirror and you can look at one side of your face and then look at the other that hasn't been touched yet. Well, they do that with your legs and you can like, they get you to like hold your legs up and you can see how much. Could you see visually?

5:17Definitely on the top of my leg, especially. I was like, that is definitely looking more snatched. Oh my God. I would love to do this on my cankles. I'm telling you. And then I would, I'd be so curious to see if I could like lose half an inch. Oh my gosh. I think you just love how this treatment feels. And then she Renata, she also massaged my belly, which I am telling you, I never let any massage therapists do that. But there was something about how comfortable she made me feel and how she's just such a professional, almost like a nurse. She's like massaging my belly. She's like, if you fart, it's okay.

5:54You know, like let it out. Wow. I was like, I am one. I am one with you, Renata. I am here. I am in your hands. I trust you. And she's like, if you need to go to the bathroom, we can get up. Like, you know, because I think that happens to a lot of people. Stuff gets moving. That's right. She gets ahead of it. She's like, you got to go. We use the bathroom. Don't even worry. We'll go, you know, like that level of comfort. Oh, I love that. Women supporting women in the realest way possible. 100%. And she... No, but honestly, there's so much, so many of us are dealing with constipation and we may not even know it.

6:30Yes. And so I think it's like actually really smart to allow people to massage your belly. I'm so curious about that. Yeah. Thankfully, I'm happy to report there were, there was no incidences. Like it was okay. And then it's, she kind of moves along and then she does cupping on my back. And I had never really had that done. And I hadn't had that done in a very long time. And it was interesting that she was like pointing out that there was eight cups, I believe on my back. And she was like, this area targets this and that it's kind of like back mapping, if you will. And I had been carrying a really heavy suitcase and she's like, wow, like this part is really, really, you know, reacting more.

7:12And I was like, oh yeah, Yeah, because I was dragging and she was saying that that was kind of indicative of your arm being like overworked or whatever. So all in all, and then she finishes with kind of like a little bit of head and neck work. And then the last 20 minutes, you're in this cocoon pod that's infrared. It's 180 degrees of infrared heat. Very tolerable. Kind of looks like a tanning bed. And it also vibrates. I was like, I'm never getting out of here. This is amazing. Yeah. I love that. I feel like this is the kind of thing that I really would, it would be worth the money to like get it into a routine where you're going semi-regularly.

7:53And I love that this is cropping up more. I know in Toronto, I went to Trove. That's a relatively new spot and I wore the compression pants, you know, the ones Jennifer Aniston made. Like higher dose or whatever those are called. Yeah. And they also have one of those red light. It looks like a tanning bed thing. So I love that this is becoming more popular. We're going to be dropping these into our directory as we test them and give our BBP seal of approval. So it sounds like Detox by Rebecca definitely has that. I wanted to just shout out quickly because people are probably going, how much does this cost?

8:27It's 350 US, but kind of on the heels of what you were just saying, why I think Rebecca is so smart in her business strategy is she is training therapists all over the world. And in fact, you go to her website right now, anyone who's listening on detoxbyrebecca.com, you can find a therapist and she has people that she's trained everywhere from Switzerland to Australia, Toronto, Manitoba, Calgary, all over the US. And so I am going to definitely check out one of her experts in a different city as well. And they may not have the exact cocoon pod and all of that. But regardless, they've been trained in her Brazilian method.

9:08And so teach Amanda Fish, you know, like I love that she's spreading this out there. Absolutely. So we will link to that on our website at breakingbeautypodcast.com. And just ahead, Rebecca is going to talk to us about even how lymphatic massages go beyond just the aesthetics, right? So she's going to explain what her technique feels like from her point of view, as well as simple movements and practices that you can do at home to get the aesthetic and health benefits from lymphatic drainage on your own. And even simple things like tongue scraping that she incorporates into her routine and teas that she recommends.

9:47She had a lot of tips that we can do at home, but some of them don't cost any money. So I really appreciated that. And this whole episode is published on our YouTube as well. We're really trying to grow our presence there. So please check it out on YouTube and subscribe to our newsletter as well. Here she is, Rebecca Maria.

10:12First Aid Beauty is supporting our show this week. Y 'all know that I love exfoliation. I actually like it even more in winter because it just gives your skin that glow. And I want to turn you on to one of my holy grails for daily exfoliation, and that's First Aid Beauty's Facial Radiance Pads. They are so easy to use because they are pre-soaked individual use pads. They have glycolic acid and lactic acid. You simply swipe them all over your face. I usually do it as like a toning step, and I just find over time my pores look less noticeable. Any acne marks that I have have faded, and they're gentle enough even for the most sensitive skin types, so you can use them every single day.

10:53Plus your makeup goes on like a dream. Trust me. And you can see the difference First Aid Beauty's facial radiance pads make for your complexion. We know that you'll love them as much as we do here at Breaking Beauty. And right now we have a special offer just for our listeners. Get 20 % off when you visit our exclusive URL, firstaidbeauty.com slash beauty and use our promo code beauty. That's firstaidbeauty.com slash beauty. Don't wait, get 20 % off with promo code beauty at firstaidbeauty.com slash beauty. Once again, get 20 % off with our promo code beauty at firstaidbeauty.com slash beauty.

11:38We will link to this offer in our show notes and on our website. Now, back to the show. With our social media feeds being inundated with skincare, cosmetics, beauty, and wellness opinions, I'm here to lay down the facts. I'm Dr. Sheila Farhang. Welcome to the Durham Approved Podcast, where I'll be providing you with valuable, science-backed information that you can trust. My goal is to make you feel more knowledgeable and empowered as you navigate and make decisions about what's right for you and your skin and health journey. Make sure to tune in every Thursday and follow as I go from educating my patients in the exam room directly to you.

12:14Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

12:34Rebecca, welcome to Breaking Beauty Podcast. This is our first time really diving into the topic of the lymphatic system and lymphatic drainage. So we have come straight to the source. That's That's you, the expert, the leading authority. So can you explain to us your understanding of how the lymphatic system works? I honestly don't remember learning about this in anatomy class ever. The lymphatic system is almost like the garbage of the body. So imagine that your body is a house. The garbage of the house needs to be cleaned often. Otherwise, you're going to have too much trash in it. If you don't take care of your lymphatic system, if you don't support your lymphatic system, your body will hold on too many toxins, viruses, bacteria, and then you're going to get sick very often.

13:24You feel inflamed. You feel like you cannot sleep well. You're gaining too much weight. So by taking care of your lymphatic system, you are helping your body to get rid of toxins and any type of diseases and conditions that you might have. Okay. So what are some signs that maybe your lymphatic system is like out of whack? You usually feel like it's luggish, tired. You're not able to think clear because your body is holding on too many toxins and things that shouldn't be inside of you. But because the garbage is too full, your body is not able to process all these toxins out of you. You also feel headache.

14:04You cannot sleep well. You feel like your metabolism is not working. You feel not yourself. You know those moments when you feel after maybe eating too much and you feel like your body is not able to clear things out. That's how you feel when your lymphatic system is sluggish. Anything on the face that you might see or on visually when you look in the mirror? Yeah, you feel like the weight gain. Your skin doesn't look clear. You might have pimples. If you press your skin, you feel like a redness, you know, when maybe you drink alcohol the next day, you also feel this way because you have too many toxins inside of you.

14:47But the main thing for me is not being able to process my thoughts clearly because I feel like I'm not myself when my lymphatic system is sluggish. Okay. So what is lymphatic drainage then? Because we've heard about that for so many years, but maybe people aren't really sure what it is. You know, that's being drained and where does it go? Our lymphatic system works by itself. We throw it down massages. But because of the lifestyle we live nowadays, we are not sleeping properly. We're not eating properly. the lymphatic system can get kind of clogged. And when it happens, the body is not able to flush out all these toxins by itself.

15:33And that's when we use a lymphatic massage to help the body to push these toxins towards the drains of the body, which we call lymph nodes. The lymph nodes are like the drains that will send all this water with the waste towards your bladder and you're going to pee it out. If you think about the blood system, we have our heart and it's always pumping. It doesn't matter what you do, your blood is always moving. The lymphatic system doesn't have a heart. What makes the lymphatic system work is your lifestyle. If you don't have a good lifestyle, if you're not moving your body enough, if your muscles are not moving enough, the lymphatic system will slow down.

16:17But when we come with a massage, we use our hands to be almost like the heart of the lymphatic system. The hands will push this fluid towards the drain so your body can flush it out through your pee. Okay. Make sense? Yeah. It's like a pump in a way. It's a little hard to explain because it's way deeper than what I'm saying. Yeah. But to make it understandable, I'm trying to, you know. Right. It means like you're basically becoming like the catalyst to get it going, to get it moving if it is sluggish versus like the heart, which is involuntary. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And, you know, we often hear the word detox, especially after the holidays.

16:58People are usually trying to sell us something. But what's your opinion on like a detox tea or detox supplement? Do we need that or is our body going to get rid of the stuff anyway? Yeah, because you often will hear online from doctors. they'll weigh in and say, well, we have a liver and that that's the liver's function is to detox. So you don't really need to do a detox. So what's your take on that? I'm not a fan of products, even though I have my own products and I could be here trying to sell them. I think that your body will detox if you do a combination of habits that will support your body to detox.

17:36The liver is one of them. Like when we sleep, the liver detox by itself. So by waking up in the morning, you should always scrape your tongue because the tongue will have bacterias that your liver have detoxed through the night. Then you should go for a walk. So you are moving your blood, you're moving your metabolism, your muscles. You should drink enough water. You're hydrating yourself. You should get lymphatic massages and drink teas and do like this whole combination of habits that will support your body. So I do not believe that one single product or one single action, like getting a massage will detox your body.

18:15But you have to do like a combination of things daily and be consistent so your body has enough strength to detox by itself. Right. Okay. Got it. And I understand that lymphatic massage has come very naturally to you and because you're actually Brazilian. So tell us about the culture around lymphatic drainage where your home is? Is it just something you've been doing all your life? Yeah, like in Brazil where I'm from, lymphatic is a part of the culture. So people get it done since they are young. They see their moms, their grandma doing it on themselves. And it's a part of myself. It's a part of my culture.

18:57After finishing high school, I went to school for lymphatic. Then I did my master's degree. So I was able to learn deeper about it instead of just learning how to massage my friends, which is what everybody there learns. In Brazil, lymphatic massage is so big that it's even hard for me to explain. It's almost like doing your nails here. You find different types of nails and some people like longer nails or shorter nails. And you find a nail placed in every corner. That's how lymphatic is in Brazil. It's really big. Like some people are more specialized in models, other people in after surgeries or in pregnancy.

19:40But when I came here, I was the first person bringing lymphatic to LA. So I was like, how am I going to bring something so huge to a place like LA if I am the only one here? So I try to put it all in one methodology, which is the methodology that I use. Basically a combination of everything. But in Brazil, which person is specialized in one area? Like doctors here, you know, you have doctors for older people, for younger people, for kids, for babies. Or you're recovering from a surgery or something like that. Oh, that's so interesting. Like to me, lymphatic drainage, my first experience was definitely like through French beauty and French girl beauty.

20:20I feel like that's very big in France as well, lymphatic drainage. But they're always talking about getting rid of cellulite. That's the MO there usually. So you're doing it a little bit differently. And you even just you study traditional Chinese medicine as well. Yeah. So how does that factor in? I believe so much in Chinese medicine because they understand how emotions can affect your body. And as you said about the French way to sell lymphatic drainage, it's much easier to sell lymphatic drainage as something that will make you skinnier and get rid of cellulite, which actually helps because cellulite's inflammation.

20:58If you get rid of inflammation, you're getting rid of cellulite. But it's so much bigger than that. Like you have to be aware of your emotions, of your cortisol levels, of how you sleep. Sometimes you have toxic relationships with your partners or with family members. And that can affect your lymphatic system. And in Chinese medicine, we learn a lot about that. And that's why I love Chinese medicine. Very cool. Do you do acupuncture in your treatments as well? No, I do cupping, which is a part of acupuncture. I wish I had time to do it all, but I don't. But I love cupping. I learned in Australia.

21:39And in Australia, we have a big influence of Chinese medicine. So I went there to learn it. Yeah. Yeah, I feel like Chinese medicine just understands something different about this topic than we do in the Western world. about how it's about energy and that. But I wanted to ask you about your technique. You talked about cupping. So can you just walk us through what is the lymphatic massage method that you've created? Okay. As I said, I try to do a combination since I was only one person when I came here and I wanted to see as many people as possible. And I know that each person has a different problem.

22:24So I do a combination of hands and machines. When I see a client, I try to identify where they have the main problem. Is it from your relationships? Is it from lack of water intake or lack of exercise? Like what's going on with you? We are all different people, you know, and then by talking to them, I kind of see where they have more problems. So let's say if you have more problems on your legs, I'm going to spend more time on your legs. I will use my hands and then I will use machines to work on your legs. If you have problems with relationships, emotions, I will work more on your gut because our dopamine, which is our happiness hormone, is mainly produced in our gut.

23:11So if you have stressful relationships, you're going to feel bloated on your stomach. and then I'm going to use machines on your stomach and work more on that area. If you have, I don't know, if you work on your computer and then you have too much stress on your neck, that can stop your lymphatic system from working the way you should because you have too many knots. So I'm going to do some cupping on your neck, on your back, work more on that area. I work on the whole body for everybody, but I will spend more time where I need, where I feel like the client needs the most. Right.

23:57This episode is brought to you in part by Dende, the clean clinical skincare brand powered by biotech to support skin health and longevity. I don't know how many of you checked out our episode with the CEO and one of the chemists behind Dende, his name is Joshua Britton. And he really gave us insight into the concept of inflammation. That's really going to be a buzzy term in skincare for all of 2025. The idea that inflammation in your skin, which we know as beauty editors, is the root cause of everything from acne to a formation of a wrinkle. So if you're targeting that inflammation, it's going to help to reduce premature and excessive aging.

24:38I think it makes so much sense. I'm invested in it personally. And Dende is really all about that in their entire line of skincare. And it has this patented powerhouse polyphenol. It's called Naren Jenin. And it's clinically proven to reduce inflammation markers by 96%. That's huge. That ingredient is said to be 15 times more effective than niacinamide. So that's really saying something. I really like their latest release. It's called the Line Smoothing Eye Cream. It's only$46. I love how lightweight. weight it is so I can use it during the day. Usually I would only use eye creams at night. I find that it doesn't make my mascara transfer.

25:19So it's really easy to kind of slide right into my skincare routine. It has ceramides, hyaluronic acid, gives that plumping in addition to hexapeptide and that patented naringen. So that's an incredible combo of powerhouse ingredients. And if you want to try it for yourself, Dende is offering 15 % off to Breaking Beauty listeners at dende.com. That's D-E-I-N-D-E dot com from using code beauty. We'll link to this offer on our website and in our show notes. Hers is one of our show partners this week. So it feels like in 2025, everyone is talking about GLP-1 medications. I'll admit it. I've Googled it.