Dr. Ewoma: The Skincare You’re Wasting Money On, What Really Defines Beauty, & Why She Left Traditional Medicine to Build a Cosmetic Empire

32:47And so I actually wanted to start with what are the ways that people can beauty max that are actually very inexpensive? Some of us weren't taught hygiene, darling. Very basic, but very important. And that's everything from actually showering once a day. I know you're looking at me, Maggie, like, baby, people don't shower. People don't shower. On that note, people don't lotion. The body needs to be lotioned and moisturized every single day. if you can you know getting manucules pedicules grooming your like brows you know getting a lash lift whatever it may be investing your hair getting it cut trimmed those are some of the very easy things that you can do one of the biggest game changes for me that relatively costed not much money was having a one-on-one makeup class because it's all well and good kind of following youtube tutorials but it's really helpful having actual qualified makeup artists talk through with you okay how can we start maximizing those features that we were talking about, you know, without looking clowny.

33:40Well, is this where you think that things like Swan Beauty will actually do really well? Because it's like AI one to one. It's you looking in the mirror and it telling you what to actually do. Again, there's frozen cons and dangers to that, for sure. But you could argue it's a relatively inexpensive way to get a bit of what you need, really. That was actually my latest investment that I've never talked about yet. It's a company called Thea AI. And it's essentially a Cosmo Dermatology AI layer, an app that essentially takes pictures of your face, uses AI, you talk to an AI. And so right now I'm suffering from perioreal dermatitis.

34:17It diagnosed it. And eventually the next phase is like telemedicine, where it can actually get you the primarial cream or whatever primavolus cream that I'm on. But I think that's because this personalization is actually really necessary. So I want to play a fun game actually of like rapid myth busting or like what's worth the splurge what's not okay let's start mouth taping pass no okay red light face masks spend salmon sperm facials spend yeah skin cycling yeah spend snail mucin spend it shouldn't cost you too much okay it's just a great hydrator masseter botox on the right candidate a thousand percent worth a spend Retinol versus tretenoin?

35:00100 % yes. Much prefer tretenoin. Why? It's strong. It's prescriptive. And so you get maximum results. However, there is a propensity to get a lot of side effects with it. Dry, flaky skin. So if your skin can tolerate it, it's going to transform your skin and make it look young forever. Let's talk about something that I often see on TikTok and I actually fundamentally believe in. As a highly ambitious woman that has a lot going on, it feels impossible to do everything. So this whole routine of high maintenance to be low maintenance, I love. Because even for me, I remember when I first got keratin or like a smoothing treatment in my hair, having very frizzy hair, it actually made a huge difference to how quickly I could get things done in the morning.

35:43So for you, what is your high maintenance to be low maintenance routine? Every two weeks, we need to be doing a manicure. Annoyingly, my nails grow that quickly. So the nail spend is quite expensive. so nails every two weeks pedicure at least once a month maybe more during summer because your nails grow quicker facial every month that's a must within that facial I'll get like a light chemical peel microneedling an LED deep extractions and I just find that that helps to just give the skin a nice MOT every month I love a Brazilian lymphatic massage shout out my girl Clevia hey love it keeps snatched you know everything you want maybe a lash lift if I'm feeling funky but I just use lash serins from time to time I love massages massages isn't quite sort of you don't get that outward payback but I just find not only does it just provide a bit of lymphatic drainage it also just keeps me de-stressed and then injectable wise because I'm not going to pretend that all of this is due to water and 10k steps a day I've actually kind of slowed down with the injectables over the years.

36:53I've learned that it's a marathon, not a race. And so you need to be very measured with how often you do these things. So I now maybe do my Botox probably once a year, max two, slow down with the filler. And instead I'm skiing towards biostimulators. So things like Sculptra. And I actually tend to do that in Korea. Yep. She goes all the way to Korea to get her skin treatments and injectables. May or may not get sedated when I'm there. Very normal in Korea, by the way um okay I think that's somewhat comprehensive but there's probably way more that I do I know it but I don't want to bore your audience I think they're fascinated yeah what about the basics of things like sleep nutrition water like is that important so important and it's actually one of the things that I vet for in my skin consultations because more often than not all of those things is the very reason why they're coming to me with a skin problem and I think people really do overlook the sort of connection and the link between psychology mental well-being and your skin they're absolutely linked and you know more often than not I have women coming to me in their 20s in their 30s and some of these sort of exacerbators or even triggers for their acne stress what you know workplace stress and it's crazy because Because I've even had some situations where, you know, my patients have left relationships, toxic relationships.

38:19And also sleep. If you're not sleeping, it's going to show eventually. Whether it be through dark under eye circles, just sort of premature aging of the skin. What else? Smoking. Ladies, why? Why? Why are we trying to kill ourselves? No, don't do it. I know it looks chic and cool, but not. So you can really tell when someone's like a chronic smoker, heavy smoker, they get sort of gray, black skin changes around the mouth on the lips. And that's a permanent sort of pigmentation. Just the skin overall, instead of having like a healthy, you know, flushed glow, it just looks pale, gray, lifeless. And then also typically that's when you start to see other skin issues like very dry skin or even breakouts too.

39:06I think that's one of the most interesting things for me too, because I think that we talk so much about beauty maxing and all the things that are very expensive. But there was actually something that I just did that was$200. I'm not saying it's nothing, but it fascinated me. I did a buccal fat massage and my massage therapist talked to me about this muscle right here. The SCM, right? Stenoclodomastoid. She said to me, Maggie, if these are tight, it is going to drag your face down because your muscles are literally pulling at your face. And so every single day I started massaging this muscle right here, the SCM.

39:45And I've actually seen my face lift. And this is a free thing that I am now doing with myself every single day with a gua sha. And there are free things that people can do to improve their appearance that we don't talk about enough. One of my most viral threads that I just posted was about that. like name something under$200 that's completely changed your appearance. What if you had to single out just a few things that people can do that are affordable under$200 that are going to improve their appearance and therefore the way that they feel about themselves? What would those be? The first thing that comes to mind that is under$200 and very easy to get in the States, crest whitening strips.

40:24What are they like 30 bucks in Target? So good. Like I've been using them for almost 10 years and every time I go to the dentist like how are your teeth so white why are you here coming to me for more whitening I'm like it's crest whitening strips um and definitely in the UK due to sort of the limitations on the amount of peroxide that they can use during whitening treatments there's actually more peroxide in those strips than what we use professionally in the UK uh FYI but please use remineralizing toothpaste at the same time because if not it's gonna make your teeth very sensitive just word of warning so crest whitening strips can absolutely transform your smile.

40:59On that note of just sort of muscles and as you mentioned, sort of the, you know, stenochloride and my stenochloride sort of putting down on your lower face, even a massage gun loves it. You know, you can get even like a cheapy one on Amazon and that's something that I do almost every day. I tend to dip sort of on my shoulders, this sort of area, the back, just to help loosen up all the muscles sort of just below the face to stop that sort of dragging and just to improve sort of, or even free up that tension as well, which can actually show up in the face. A facial can make a hell of a difference.

41:33Even just getting extractions once a month, if you struggle with sort of breakouts, oily skin transforms the skin. As I said, it's just like a really nice reset every month. Dermoplaning is pretty cheap. I did a bit of dermoplaning yesterday, and that just helps remove sort of the peach fuzz on the face and provides a little bit of exfoliation too. Brows for me are another thing that can really make a transformative difference to the face. So what's that? 20 bucks at most, maybe a little bit more. As a doctor, when you see someone start and they go through that physical transformation of actually looking their best, how do you qualify what that patient's journey is from where they're starting to where they end up in terms of how they feel?

42:16Very good question. I think it's all about, first of all, patient selection. And what I mean by that is, are they fit to undergo the treatment? and that's specifically mentally fit you know I think dysmorphia's of varying degrees are very common within the cosmetic dermatology space and to a degree it's expected I think my personal opinion on it is where sort of you're on that sort of lower end of dysmorphia but you have incredible insight into that and you can sort of rationalize and and you're within reality that's when I'm like okay I'm comfortable but where maybe people that are on the other side of the spectrum severe dysmorphia is obviously number one I need to point you the direction of psychiatric psychological help for sure and I don't mean that in a mean way just this is very much a safeguarding thing are you doing it for confidence for self-empowerment or are you doing it to appeal better to your boyfriend that is not a reason to do it you know and it's funny because actually let me not get into it but yeah I just have a very funny story about yeah about that time of um I said to my patient I was like and again this is one of my regular patients right so we developed that rapport whatever and I was like babe I think you're here because you're bored and she absolutely just burst out laughing and she's like how did you know yeah I'm bored I was like but this is not these are not procedures that you do when you're bored and I know it feels like that.

43:48I know it's just like, oop, bit of lip filler. But baby, no. Unboard yourself somewhere else, not in my clinical chair. Sorry, honey. And then the next sort of stage that I really urge and sort of put my patients through. And something I say to everyone is at the start of your injectable transformational journey, you need to be very clear in your mind. What is your ceiling of happiness? That's what I call it. Your ceiling of happiness. You need to be very clear that, OK, if I do X, Y, Z, address that thing, that thing. OK, then I'll be happy. And that is so important to be clear in your mind from the beginning, because to a degree, these treatments are quite addictive.

44:23You know, more is more is more is more. You know, when people start with toxins, you know, often they say that toxins are a bit of a gateway drug, a metaphorical gateway drug. It tends to not just stop there. And so if you don't have a handle on these things from the beginning, I mean, the results can be disastrous. So my bottom lip is real. My top lip, I actually have an injection in. Obsessed. And I was always very self-conscious that my lips were like very different sizes. And when I was about like 19 or 20, no one had any cosmetic work done. And I remember finding on like Craigslist, this Russian nurse, like a part of Toronto that I did not live in.

45:03I went and I got my top lip filled and it has never gone down. And I'm now 34 years old. And I still do not know what was put into my top lip. At least she was a great injector because it still looks good and natural. But to this day, I have no idea what was put into my top lip because I think back then it was such a hush-hush space. And that's why I'm so glad that there are people like you who are willing to have the conversation in a safe way. Because then when I moved to LA and I remember wanting to start getting Botox, I only wanted Botox right here. And the injector, the doctor, was like, oh, no, sweetie, you need it all in your forehead because it actually won't work unless you do it all there.

45:44And I remember being like, well, then I don't want it. And I left her office and I was like, this felt like a red flag. So for you, what are those green flags and red flags when someone walks into an injector's office or clinic where you can very quickly tell, like, this is not the place where you should be trusting this provider to inject something in your face because it is very serious. Well, first of all, I'm sorry about that. Bloody hell. The fact that your upper lip hasn't recovered. What did she put in your lip? I don't know. You can feel it after. I will, Hans, sorry. Red flag number one, do not go to unscrupulous places or via unscrupulous sort of databases or whatever have you, websites, etc.

46:26Number two, make sure that you go to someone who's actually qualified. In the UK, unfortunately, the regulation is very meh. and so technically anyone can kind of inject your lash lady can technically inject it's not illegal here which is crazy and so it's really important that you go to an actual medical professional a nurse a doctor etc a dentist etc and you need to be very careful of the people especially on instagram who use very vague language of master injector whenever i see that i'm like baby what does that mean that is cosplay for or even code word for you are not a medical professional you are a baby girl off the street who did a weekend course in filler and is now calling herself master injector so medically qualified people only the third red flag would be a doctor who doesn't know how to say no to you you really need a doctor who will say no to you because you know as i said this this realm can be very addictive you want this you want that but you need to have a very firm doctor be like darling no we're not doing this I'm so sorry this doesn't look natural I don't think this is going to be in the best interest of your face or the aesthetic of what you're trying to achieve because if you find yourself in the opposite hands a doctor who says yes to everything that's when your face will start looking like something else let's just say that in terms of green flags I would say a medical professional an injector that you actually get on with you know I think we forget these soft skills you know you over the years you will spend a lot of time with your injector with your sort of practitioner and so you need to like them you know don't think that just because they're a doctor or whatever you have to tolerate them no like this is such an intimate space and it's such a transformative space not only just transformative for the face but with my women like I have had such deep conversations about the baby girls have taught me all sorts of things that obviously will remain very confidential and so you need to be or even find an injector who makes you feel safe and then the second green flag oh this is a good one second green flag is do you like the way that your injector looks very important it's not always an absolute thing I would definitely say that you know there's definitely some injectors who look a little bit less than natural but are fantastic injectors but it's just very important because if you like the way that your injector looks by and large you can assume that you share the same aesthetic commonality and aesthetic is very important with the person that you're getting injected by you need to have to a degree the same sort of ideal of beauty if not you're going to walk away incredibly unhappy and then the third red flag would be i would say reviews reviews recommendations has your girlfriend gone there has your mom gone there etc and have they all had good experiences especially if they're not an influencer like just the person that's not being motivated to have a great experience exactly because even technically being an influencer i do appreciate that a lot of establishments will give influencers better treatment a few months ago i come downstairs and courtney is answering emails and chugging out of our olive oil bottle.

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52:35Written and read by me, Rufy Thorpe. Listen to the free audiobook now. In products, because I think that obviously there is so much on the market. It is so hard to know what is actually going to make the difference. But let's actually drill down to like ingredients. What are the ingredients that you think if it's in there immediately skip, immediately skip? And are there ingredients that you like to see in very specific products that you will not use unless they have them in there? For me, I would say proceed with caution where there's sort of essential oils, fragrances. It's not an absolute thing.

53:14I would definitely say people are not necessarily aware that also the quality of the essential oils and fragrances make a difference within formulations too. I can make a difference between whether they break you out or not. Also for me, anything that's like laden with oils, you know, plant oils, this oil, nut oils. I'm just like absolutely not because I have mildly oily skin I struggle with acne in my teens early 20s so I generally do not use facial oil I stay away from that I'm also very mindful with sunscreens sunscreens are another common one that can really make people break out so just be conscious of that in terms of the whole mineral physical sunscreen debate again it's just kind of an element of trying and seeing what works for you and then if you do sort of have any particular issues trying to figure out if there's a particular filter within that sunscreen in terms of the ingredients that I lean into and I'm like give me more definitely any sort of retinoid so retinoids essentially the family of everything from retinol retinol and tretinoin I love a good acid some of my favorite acids include azelaic acid another great one for perioral dermatitis as well I love hydrating products um so some of my favorite hydrating ingredients include i don't know hyaluronic acid polyglotamic acid this ebolo you name it and that's why i particularly love k-beauty for that and with all of this like i think when i first started into really having to take care of my skin because i crazy hormonal acne was starting to get prorial dermatitis like it just felt also overwhelming and so even thinking about like putting together a routine for you like how can people really understand what is a routine?

54:58How do they even layer things? Like, is it also personalized? Or what is like your go to blanket when someone's like, I'm just starting and I need a routine to look my best of my skin? Yeah, very good question. So really, the fundamental with any skincare routine is a cleanser, some sort of hydrating slash moisturizing product. And then last of all, sunscreen. So that's kind of like the backbone, the skeleton of any skincare routine. And then in terms of what you layer on top of that, that essentially depends on your skin type. or skin concerns, and your skin goals. So you need to be very clear about all of those three things.

55:30And then that's when you start leaning into sort of certain products and certain actives that then address all of those things. And with that in mind, I find that the reason that people are so dissatisfied with their skincare routines or why they're not getting the results that they're hoping for is because they're not using the right ingredients for their skin concerns. They're using what's hot and trending right now on TikTok. Where is worth the spend if people are on a very tight budget to improve what they look like to therefore feel better on the inside. Okay, how much more money have we got to work with on a tight budget?

56:01Let's say we have$300 total. Well, beyond all the things I previously mentioned, that's when you could potentially, depending on where you're based, you could start foring into the world of chemical peels, maybe. Foring into the world of microneedling. Microneedling is the most unsexy, low-key boring treatment, but is fantastic in terms of results. I swear by it. I love it. It's fantastic for sort of texture, addressing pore size, scarring, boosting collagen. It's just amazing. I feel like a really great place within your skincare routine to invest are definitely serums. Serums obviously are where you can get the sort of targeted treatments in.

56:45And so some of my favourite brands for that, that fall well within the$200 mark include brands like Medicaid. I love Allies of Skin for their serum. So good. And SkinCeuticals. I would say those three brands are like the brands that fill up probably most of my serum shelf. It is alarming when you think about even the food industry of like what we are allowed to eat in the U.S. versus the U.K. Is it the same thing with beauty? For sure in terms of cosmetics, we're a lot more sort of stringent in Europe compared to the States, unfortunately. and even you know speaking to the stringentness or even in many ways dare I say lack of innovation in the cosmetic space within the states just recently you know a new filter in like what 20 30 something like that years was just approved and that's a shame it's a real shame Dr.

57:34Iwama I feel like we've had such a comprehensive way to like really understand how to improve our life based on feeling good on the inside but also looking good on the outside is there anything else that you feel like we haven't talked about that you would want a woman to hear based on the conversation of improving their life and really achieving what they want? Super random, but I love listening to like the OGs of like self-development because I don't know about you, I find that like the self-development gurus of today are basically recycling all of the knowledge from the greats. But I feel like you hear at the core from these like old men.

58:06It's reminded me, or even a message that I heard through that, that I think would bode quite well with your community would be, yes, it's all well and good, sort of manifesting, praying for, working towards that hot, smart, rich life, but also pray, manifest, call in, work on the attributes, the tools, the mindset, the physicality, the grit that is going to get you there. Dr. Iwama, let's do some fun rapid fire. Let's do it. What is the last thing you put on your credit card? What I put? Probably Amazon. Super random. Love that. Is it same-day delivery in the UK? No, we're so behind. What's the delivery time?

58:46Next day. Oh, that's fine. Okay. We're suffering here, Maggie. What is the last most expensive thing you've purchased on your credit card? A little cheeky watch. What watch? The AP. You put that on the credit card recently. Well, technically my debit, but yeah. I'm obsessed. It was a dream watch, actually, that I put on my vision board. When did you get it? A couple of months ago. So, yeah, yeah. So I've wanted this watch for probably like two years now. And rose gold. I probably shouldn't flash it. No, I love it. I like being demure with these things. I'm like, it's fake. One product you'd never leave home without?

59:22Lip balm, crusty, dusty, peely lips. Ew, no. Okay. Very off brand. What is the most overhyped skincare ingredient right now? I think what annoys me in the skincare space now is just like the faddiness of some launches. I'm like, you people are just launching stuff for the sake of it. Like it's what I call TikTok skincare. It's like we've got this already. We've had this before. But now there's glitter and different colors in it. Why are we doing this? What is a product to get rid of Technac? Oh, peptides. Lots of peptides. Like injectables? Well, not those kind of peptides. Okay. But peptides in terms of topical peptides.

1:00:02So again, Medicaid have a ton of, you know, different products for that. But any sort of peptide treatment, very anti-aging. and help to sort of boost collagen, all that good stuff. Also retinoid, that's going to be great. And also just hydrating the neck too. A lot of the lines in the neck, not all, but a lot of the lines in the neck are just due to dehydration, really. Okay, what is the biggest skincare meth you wish would die? I think the first myth that comes to mind is black don't crack. Baby, it cracks. Ooh, some of the baby girls are looking way beyond their years. they're wearing the struggle on their face.

1:00:39Black can absolutely crack. Yes, genetics is very much on our side, but it is not an excuse for not looking after your skin. You can only pick one for the rest of your life. Body care or Botox and injectables for your face. This is tricky because I'm going to tell you about something after. So I'm like, do I give the PR answer or do I give the actual answer? Actual answer. Obviously Botox. I just, I need it. Okay. What is one step people skip that they should absolutely not in their skincare routine? Sunscreen. It's very unsexy, very boring. If you haven't found the right sunscreen for you, it's kind of greasy.

1:01:21So hence, I absolutely advocate for using a sunscreen that you actually love. Like we don't want to age beyond our years and sunscreen is the way to prevent that. Okay. So the last two, if you had to tell yourself an ages or love note for the rest of your life what would it be i'm really proud of you that's what i'd say love that and if you had to title the season of your life what would it be called first thing that comes to mind is the bitch is back i love you dr iwoma if people want to follow want to find you where can they find you and how can hsr help you well in terms of where to find me on instagram it's dr iwoma ukulege very long but just type in dr woma and you'll find me on tiktok it's skin doctor without the i i also have a youtube there are a couple of scammers impersonating me but if you put my full name you will find me um where else can they find me i have a sub stack called dear doctor what else what else what else also they can book a skin consultation with me and even a girl chat with me as i said i love to solve people's problems if you have a man that's stressing you out we can talk about it.

1:02:28My availability is very limited, but you know, those are some of the ways that you can reach me. Love it. And how can I just help you? I mean, well, Maggie, you know, we're friends now. I'm just saying. Yeah, obviously. I'm kind of forcing myself upon you. Obviously. We have for four years parasocially, so now it's just in person. I'm kind of fine girly, but I'm trying to play cool. Girls, same. That's why I love having this podcast now because it's like I get to meet people in real life, whereas TikTok was just like by myself. How can you help me? I don't know. I'm working on a great project.

1:02:56Are you fundraising? Soon to be. Okay. I am. I am. I think I'm ready to move into the next iteration of Iwoma. I love the social media stuff, but me being me, I get bored really easily. And, you know, it's funny. One of my influencer friends, he basically calls, you know, promoting products on social media the equivalent of being a QBC lady. and yeah I think I think I've done a fair bit of that and I'm like I think it's time to do it for myself and uh so that's what I'm working on addressing a white space within beauty it's very on brand for me love it we've got the skin out that's all I'll say love it there's a reason why skin always looks buttered up if any woman has very deep pockets out there and likes the idea of me after today come and invest in me baby i love it our first pitch live dr imama we love you thank you so much for coming on and i'm so happy that we had this chat likewise

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