Julie Howton (00:02.563) Natalie, welcome to the podcast. Natalie Novak (00:05.336) Thank you so much for having me, Julie. I'm excited to be here. Julie Howton (00:08.722) I am, I was so excited when I learned about what you're doing, but I would love for you to share because it speaks to me. I know it's going to speak to so many other listeners. I'd love to hear a bit about your journey. How do you go from esthetician to co-founding this amazing skincare company? Natalie Novak (00:30.626) Well, it's quite a long story, but I wanna shorten it up as much as possible. You know, it's funny, when I was a child I used to dream about you know, owning my own skincare company someday. I my mom's friends would bring me a bunch of their old cosmetics and things and I would play with them in my bathroom. But, you know, I mean that was just a thought and a dream at a s you know, years and years ago when I was eleven years old. However, when I was living in Southern California, I was working at Nordstrom and this was way back in nineteen eighty seven. And I was, you know, loving cosmetics and I started out working in the cosmetics department. As I was going to school to, you know, I was studying marketing. And there was a huge earthquake one morning. And so I was, you know, about an hour later I was at work and I went up to the stock room to replenish the stock. And I noticed that one of the products that was designed for our skin, our largest organ, it had fallen off the shelf. It broke and it ate through the carpet as well as the carpet padding, exposing a hole of cement literally this big. I mean, it was like a foot and In diameter. And I thought, the minute I saw that, I immediately thought, how is that legal? What is this doing to my body? How is this going to affect the environment? Like, this is not okay. I was really angry. I thought, you know, because we had this misconception, you know, we always think that, you know, if we go into a store and it's there on the shelf for us, it must be safe for our bodies, right? Julie Howton (01:42.439) It just. Yeah. Julie Howton (01:59.782) Must be safe. Yeah, no. Natalie Novak (02:02.766) Sadly, that was a very eye-opening, you know, moment for me. It was a huge red flag because I thought, how there's no way I can unsee this. I can't go sell this product now knowing this. And you know, the ironic thing is two months after this had happened, my grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer, which was another red flag to me, and here's why. Her physician at the time told her it could have been caused by all the hormone mimicking chemicals in her cosmetics. And I, yeah. Julie Howton (02:31.184) Really? I'm just surprised timeline like this was a good doctor. Natalie Novak (02:32.56) Yes, he was n I know, he was way beyond I know he was way beyond his time, no doubt. But I thought, my God, like what is really happening here? And so I knew that there was a gap in the industry. I knew something needed to happen, but I didn't know exactly what I was going to do. So the first thing I did was I went out and I bought the cosmetics ingredient bible and I read it page to page. And I I was so obsessed with everything about reading labels. I was reading labels on every product from then on out because I I couldn't understand why a mitolized urea, which is like, you know, how is this product as a present Preservative, you know, in common ingredients. And you know, phthalates and you know, formaldehydes, and just all of these things, it did not make sense to me. So I went on a mission and I first became an esthetician, and I enjoyed it so much. I wanted to learn more about the body. Then I went to school to become a massage therapist. And then, you know, fast forward several years later, here I am. I had moved to Michigan and I got married, and we bought a farm and I was raising my two kids and we had alpacas and I had 75 chickens and you know we were living the life very clean organic life. You know, my daughter would go out and collect the eggs every morning and then she wanted to paint her nails every day. And I'm like, Kiki, there's no way that you can do this. This this doesn't match our lifestyle. And children actually absorb more chemicals than we do because their skin is thirty percent thinner than adults. Which means that it's more of a concern. And you know, these kids that go to these birthday parties and they come home with all these trinkets from China and we have no idea what chemicals are in those items that our our children are putting on their largest organ. And so it's really made me think that like I needed to do something about this. And so it was time and I had done enough research and I started making products for her, you know, just off of things that you know, off from the farm in my farm kitchen and things that I had grown. Julie Howton (04:33.03) Yeah. Natalie Novak (04:36.632) own utilize like utilizing lavender and in different plants and things and I just started working on things in my blender and I created products you know for like a demographic for children and I launched that in Whole Foods in 2010 and like in the Midwest region and then it went down into you know Southern California and you know It was really it was called Kiki Pure and Simple and it was basically, you know, nail polish and lip balms and shimmer sticks and and just things for and like sunscreen and things like that. Exactly, but safe. And so as I'm going through this process, I'm thinking to myself Julie Howton (05:07.27) Fun for, yeah, fun for girls. Natalie Novak (05:16.096) I need to start developing a product for myself as I'm at that point in my life approaching f my fifties and I thought, I have gotta get something that is organic. It's gotta be food grade, but it has to have the efficacy that you would get when you go into a plastic surgeon's office. Yes. So Julie Howton (05:19.282) huh. Natalie Novak (05:34.902) I called so many different chemists and they all laughed at me. They said, Lady, go find a new hobby. This cannot be done and and you know, there was this burning soul or desire in my soul that I needed to keep going and that I knew that I could get there. I just didn't know how. And ironically, in two thousand twelve is when I met Ron Webb. who is now my partner and he had been mapping the genome with his mom back in the you know early nineties and he started with animal wound care on her Arabian horse farm in Pays in Utah and so all these things synergistically came together and he he basically could do everything I wanted. And that's when we created Kindness Powered Skincare because we both had a desire to help others, you know, in a large way. And, you know, we both wanted the same things. And he was all about n he knew how to create products that had food-grade organic ingredients. And we actually have taken it to the next level where we've utilized wildcrafted ingredients because those are the most unadulterated. They're like in the the most natural form in nature where we can find them. where they have the most nutrient dense ingredients. And so that's what we did. However, you know, it's it's interesting how this kind of all started because I was kind of sick for a long time. You know, I mean Julie Howton (06:45.458) Wow. Julie Howton (06:58.438) Yeah, share that part of your journey with us. This part's amazing anyway, and it's making such an impact for women. And I love that you brought up, it was very honest of you, there used to be like clean, and then there was efficacious, and they didn't often crossover. I mean, I remember even just years ago, Natalie Novak (07:19.245) Yeah. Mm-hmm. Julie Howton (07:24.248) you know, trying to find like a clean deodorant that worked for me or, you know, the or the makeup. Like it just it wasn't the products available, especially years ago, where they didn't feel good. Like there was no luxury. There was no. And like you said, a lot of it just doesn't work when it comes to. Natalie Novak (07:28.192) Sure. Julie Howton (07:49.582) us mature women who don't want to look as mature as we are, you know. But I know that listeners are going to resonate with. Natalie Novak (07:52.504) Right. Julie Howton (07:59.81) the also the personal health journey because that's why we're here is so many of us weren't paying enough attention and these things weren't available. And I know I've heard you say and I'm like 150 % behind the, know, everybody wants to know what to eat to feel better and they don't pay attention to what they're putting on their largest organ. And so share as much as you're comfortable to share of your personal Natalie Novak (08:21.429) Mm-hmm. Natalie Novak (08:25.27) Yeah. Julie Howton (08:29.845) health journey as well. Natalie Novak (08:31.722) Yeah, I'm I'm a wide open book. I mean I I feel like the more I can share the if I can help somebody else that's suffering, that's what it's all about. Even if it's just one person, it doesn't matter. And and so, you know, I kind of got when in my early twenties I got sucked into the whole, you know, having to look perfect and I got breast implants and I w now I wish I hadn't because I you know, I had them for a long time and I got silicone or excuse me, I got I got the saline thinking that that was, you know, healthier than silicone. Julie Howton (08:36.955) Yeah. Julie Howton (08:41.042) Yeah. Julie Howton (08:58.428) same thing healthier. Natalie Novak (09:01.736) Right. There's no such thing. I mean, these companies don't tell you what it the chemicals that are in, even just the shell of these products. We have no idea how incredibly toxic they are to the bodies. But we have to remember the body is a miraculous thing and it is very resilient. So, you know, don't give up hope. It's just we have to learn how to pivot when the body is needing different things. And so I became really sick and I just kept getting worse and worse and worse. And after going to so many Julie Howton (09:10.129) Right. Julie Howton (09:19.314) Mm-hmm. Natalie Novak (09:31.548) doctors after doctor after doctor. They all said I was perfectly healthy and there was nothing wrong. But why was I having anxiety attacks constantly? Why was I having a hard time breathing? Why was I thinking I was dying? And all of this stuff. And it wasn't in my head. It was that my body was reacting to something that shouldn't be there. Julie Howton (09:49.436) Yeah. Natalie Novak (09:50.486) And it just I mean, it it's so simple. But I didn't know. And and Ron, my partner, was the one that figured it out. He found a website. Yes, he was the one that because he's a researcher, you know, as a scientist. That that's what the man does. Like he's up until two o'clock in the morning every night researching constantly. I'm like, what are you learning now? And it it's just he's very, you know, passionate about all these things. And and so he found a website called Julie Howton (09:58.417) Really? Julie Howton (10:02.364) Right. Right. Natalie Novak (10:17.378) Breast cancer illness by Nicole. And there were thousands and thousands of women with the same symptoms. Yes. No, no, sorry. Yes, I'm sorry. I don't know where that came from. Yes, breast. Thank you for correcting me. Yes. Yes, I know. Yeah, breast ill, yeah, breast implant illness by Nicole. And now there's hundreds and hundreds of thousands of women on this site. So. Julie Howton (10:23.122) Breast implant illness or breast cancer? Okay. Yep. We're talking about your grandma's. Implant illness. Yeah. Yeah. Julie Howton (10:42.096) Yeah. And for listeners to kind of understand some of your symptoms, it is always so interesting when we really think of the immune system. And, you know, because because. Natalie Novak (10:55.02) Yes. Julie Howton (10:58.904) those of us with a history with autoimmune, you you tend to think like negative, it's like, no, our body's designed the whole thing, even with breast implant illness or whatever your drivers of your autoimmunity are, is your body trying to protect you and either getting exhausted and misguided or it's overwhelmed and there's too many things. but you presented with like somebody with rheumatoid arthritis, correct? Yeah. Natalie Novak (11:15.18) Yes. Natalie Novak (11:25.814) I had boy did I ever yes. I was in constant pain. Yes, absolutely. Julie Howton (11:29.243) Yeah. Julie Howton (11:33.842) The key is that why. And so I'm highlighting this for listeners because just because you have a diagnosis doesn't mean you... Like the diagnosis is not the explanation. It's just the label. And so why? Why is the body behaving this way? And so I love the... Natalie Novak (11:46.488) That's not the root cause. Julie Howton (12:00.274) Your story, your journey is actually really unique. All of our journeys are unique and remarkable, but most of the people I interview ended up doing what they're doing because of their illness or a loved one's illness or, and you almost didn't even know. that's why you were doing it. You know what I mean? Like you were on the path the whole time. And so I love that. So I'm assuming you had your implants removed. Natalie Novak (12:26.485) Exactly, yeah. Uh-huh. Natalie Novak (12:39.89) boy, did I ever the minute Ron cr decided that that was what needed to happen, he's like, You're not gonna wanna hear this, but I think you have to get these things removed and I was I said, Absolutely, I don't ever want to feel this way. I don't care what I look like, I want my life back. It doesn't matter. So I had them roo removed in twenty eighteen. And my eyesight came back immediately the next day, you know, after surgery. I I couldn't believe how different I felt. My rheumatoid arthritis symptoms were gone. I mean, I did not have one eight in my body. I didn't even need to take the medication that they they prescribed to me after the surgery. I didn't need I didn't have any pain. I mean not even from the surgery, from them scraping this. You know, I had to find a very special like a specialized surgeon that knew how to properly, you know, remove them. You know, that it's n it's huge. It is. Julie Howton (13:20.164) Right? Julie Howton (13:28.592) And that is so key and really important because a lot of people, I've heard so many stories of people saying, you well, I got my implants out, but they just had them removed. They didn't go to a breast implant illness specialist. And more more surgeons are learning and understanding. And I get it. It's a tough, like if you make your living, Natalie Novak (13:42.632) Mm-hmm. Right. Natalie Novak (13:51.404) Yes. Julie Howton (13:56.37) you know, putting in implants, then it's hard to also say, yeah, you know, I, I agree. Breast implant illness is real. It is real. And, and on the most basic level, it makes so much sense. If you think of we're putting a foreign object in our body, could that trigger an immune response? I, yep, it could. Will it for everybody? No, you know, so yeah. Natalie Novak (13:56.526) Putting in. Natalie Novak (14:05.848) Yes. Natalie Novak (14:14.071) Right. Mm-hmm. Yes. Natalie Novak (14:24.17) I know. It is crazy. And I actually s Julie Howton (14:26.955) That's amazing that you had such a like marked recovery, like such a difference almost immediately. Natalie Novak (14:34.792) Mhm. And you know, cer there's certain aspects that were immediate and there's still other ones that I feel like I'm still kind of unwinding. You know, because they were the saline, I saved them. I asked them if I could keep them because I wanted to know what was going on inside them. Because my mold markers were out of like off the charts. I was so highly allergic. I have them. They're sitting right here and I they're full of they're it's disgusting. But I saved them just as a reminder to help other people like show them. Julie Howton (14:53.232) I was going to ask you. Julie Howton (15:03.258) Yeah, and it takes a long time to clear. Natalie Novak (15:04.79) Mm. Julie Howton (15:07.73) the micro toxins from the body and to clear. And so I love that, you know, you're so grounded. It's like, yes, I had this like really market improvement and this is a process. I say it all the time, you know, on the show and for anybody who listens, I don't know. sitting here today, can't imagine how I could feel better, but I know in six months, when I look over my shoulder, I'm going be like, wow, I actually do feel better. Natalie Novak (15:08.17) It does yes. Natalie Novak (15:16.728) No, thank you. Natalie Novak (15:37.358) Mm-hmm. Julie Howton (15:37.684) We just don't know where that the ceiling is. Hopefully we just all keep getting better. But it is a process, especially when you're dealing with the toxins because A, the body can't clear them quickly. if B, if you try, you'll get sick. So yeah. Yeah. Natalie Novak (15:48.748) Yes. Natalie Novak (15:55.423) Exactly. Yep. It's true. And you know, honestly, so much of it is also mindset. You know, if we get sucked into the fear factor and the negative part of it, I had to really grow spiritually to sort of get more connected to my body and it took me a long time to get to feel safe in my body again because I wasn't feeling and I didn't know that. You don't know what you don't know. You just develop all these symptoms and then you start to panic because you think you're falling apart and nobody can help you and it's it's terrifying. Julie Howton (16:26.736) Yeah. Natalie Novak (16:26.826) However, once you start to become more spiritual and you get more connected to your body and you meditate and you get your nervous system regulated, then you realize you have control over your body. And once you get there, that is where things really start to shift. Because it's, you know, this controls this. You know, your mind controls the body, but the body can also control the mind. So it's that delicate balance. And once you figure that out, things really change. At least for me, they Mm-hmm. Julie Howton (16:57.842) Oh, I joke. I say, you thank goodness. The whole, you know, we hope to always be growing, right? And I say, I'm such a better coach now. I would always incorporate mindset work even in the beginning of my coaching career. And then I realized like, oh my gosh, I'm doing us wrong. We need to start with that. And like you said, can just wreak everybody that steps through the door virtually or in person has this disconnection with their body and it's a survival skill when we're in pain, when we're anxious, when we're... But if you think about it the other way too, logically listening to your story it makes perfect sense that your nervous system would be dysregulated and that you would have anxiety. Natalie Novak (17:30.69) Yeah. Julie Howton (17:43.76) because your body was like, you know, my gosh, like, get this stuff out of me. You know, and it's, it's just, you know, trying to deal and or compartmentalize. And we do that until we get to this place where I totally agree with you. We cannot fully heal if we're not connected with our body and, and we're Natalie Novak (17:43.83) Yeah. Natalie Novak (17:52.181) It's true. Julie Howton (18:10.416) not doing the work to, you know, A, believe we can heal and B, you know, whether it's spirituality, minds, whatever you want to call it, we all need to ground and connect with our bodies and with nature. Natalie Novak (18:25.442) Yes, absolutely a hundred percent. It makes all the difference, yes, for sure. Julie Howton (18:27.474) So I love that. All right, ready for the fun stuff? I mean, I'm having a blast. I could talk just about this part of your journey for hours. Natalie Novak (18:34.382) Sure. Natalie Novak (18:42.156) I know, I could too. Julie Howton (18:45.894) Kindness Powered Skincare is so unique in so many ways. So I wanna have you kind of introduce the company for us a little bit because you guys are going beyond just, hey, let's not hurt people with our products. And so it's not just the humans, it's the earth, it's all of it. And I love the name too. Natalie Novak (19:01.538) Yes. Julie Howton (19:11.58) We just, it's so important. We need kindness to ourselves, to others, all the things. So share a little bit about kind of that journey of, okay, you know, we understand the mission and where it came from, but why kindness powered skincare and what does that mean? Natalie Novak (19:15.918) We do. Natalie Novak (19:31.458) Well okay, thank you. Yes, that there's so much to this. So you know, when when I first met Ron, he was partnered with a couple of guys that were filling their garages with food, you know, every week to feed families that in need. And he basically said, you know, this is like something that we want to continue and and do on a larger basis. And so it was interesting that he and I both had the same philosophies and you know, we want to help people in as many ways as we can. Because like you said, this world could not ever have enough kindness, as far as I'm concerned. And it y you know, the world that we live in today, people value that kindness so much. It's just incredible what a smile can do. You have no idea what somebody else is going through and you know say you're at Starbucks for instance and you're buying a coffee and you just decide to buy the person their coffee behind you. I mean you have no idea how that touches them and how that also spreads and creates it manifests more yes and and we want to manifest yes a hundred percent and and so that's you know our philosophy behind everything and and Julie Howton (20:28.444) Right. Pay it forward. Yeah. The butterfly effect. Yeah. Natalie Novak (20:41.154) When you think about the largest organ, our skin, we never think about it like that. I'm gonna keep saying that because I want you to think about it and your listeners, it's so important to understand the choices that we make every day for our largest organ. So think about this. Julie Howton (20:47.505) Yeah. Natalie Novak (20:55.904) In the morning we wake up, we brush our teeth, we wash our hair, we wash our body, you know, we're utilizing all these different products, right? And so at the end of the day, how many chemicals do you think that we are coming into contact to? It could be hundreds or even thousands, you know, things like you know, these these plug-in things and all these toxic they're just they're just awful that people put in their environment thinking that, well, it's on the market. It must be safe. I can just buy it if it's available to me, but Sadly, we have to do the research. We have to start to learn to read labels. We have to understand what we're putting in our environment and what we are putting in our bodies, our sacred, these are our souls. I mean, we this is our sacred. Yes, we have to be so mindful of what we're choosing to put in our body, just as what we're, you know, we're thinking, like you said earlier, you mentioned, you know, we think about what we put in our body because we're choosing, make better choices as for food. However, we also have to make better choices for what we're putting on our body. Julie Howton (21:37.068) vessels. Julie Howton (21:50.055) Right. Natalie Novak (21:55.68) And so that is why I wanted to create this product that was so mindful and intentional about everything that we choose. So become because I'm a master gardener, I studied organic farming and I had my own farm. And so when I think about soil, that is the that's the foundation of everything that we do. And so when we choose these raw materials to create our products with, we have to understand where these are coming from. So for instance, if there's a conventional farm up the road, And there's an organic farm down the road. And say, for instance, you get you know a rainstorm, and those chemicals from that conventional farm are gonna trickle down into the organic farm. So we have to look at geographically where these items are produced and grown. We have to look at so many things, and so I really take the time to understand all of that because it means so much to me. I personally do not want to have any chemicals in my products, I don't want to put any of that on my largest organ, and I want to make sure that. we're producing the healthiest thing for our customers. And here's another really important thing. We have been donating to the Hello Gorgeous Foundation, which is a foundation that is located in Indiana by Kim Becker. She's the founder and it helps women with all types of cancers. And we've donated to them for the last eight years. And the thing that I love the most about what Kim will always say is she says that we have never once had a woman that had a reaction to your products because they are so clean and they come out of surgeries and you know, they're getting the chemicals from, you know, the preservatives that might be the in the anesthesia and their body's already not feeling well and it's it's fighting. Julie Howton (23:33.276) to wear. Natalie Novak (23:35.382) And we don't want to add to that. We want to, you know, help, you know, soothe the the system. You know what I'm saying? And and and feed it things that it needs. The body's designed to heal itself, which is great. We just need to, yes, I know. I mean, our bodies are so miraculous. They are designed to heal themselves. They just need the tools to to utilize. I mean no, think about everything that Mother Nature has placed on this earth. Every plant has a specific property that's going to treat the body. Julie Howton (23:42.169) Absolutely. Julie Howton (23:47.93) Say that again? Yes! Natalie Novak (24:05.366) in it a specific like any sort of specific way. And we utilize those things. And that's what Ron has studied for years is you know how the body works. He, you know, the interesting thing about him is that his mother when she was becoming a chemist, she she was going to school and she was very dyslexic. And so she couldn't read her she could read but it was a struggle. It took her longer to read than normal all of her books. So he when he was in high school he read them for her. So he learned so many things as he was helping her. So it's such a beautiful Julie Howton (24:27.186) Bye! Julie Howton (24:31.654) Wow. Natalie Novak (24:35.216) Beautiful story. So he just innately knows like how what triggers within the body works with specific herbs. And that is why we created kindness powered skincare. A because we wanted to bring something that is gonna make your skin the healthiest skin possible because when your h skin is healthy, it does what it's supposed to do. It it actually can protect your skin from the sun. You don't need all these toxic chemical sunscreens. You know what I'm saying? Even though we make our own sunscreen, there are times when you will need it. Like if you're on a golf course or you're on a boat for eight hours, you know, you don't want to be completely getting fried. But on the day to day basis, you know, I mean, our bodies are gonna know what to do. Julie Howton (25:01.714) Yeah. Julie Howton (25:16.388) still need it. Yeah. Natalie Novak (25:18.326) And we need that vitamin D because we also need the immunity support, right? And all the other things. So it's important. So there's Julie Howton (25:20.786) Thank you. Yeah, absolutely. So amazing. and, and again, it goes back to that whole connection. You know, we were talking about like reconnecting or, or nurturing the connection with our bodies. And I did kind of jump to and the planet Because I do think that that is another reason we have become so sick is our food is so Not coming from nature Our products, know, you mentioned the I was thinking about when you talked about the plugins and my face filter dropped and I made a face Because I there they're so triggering for me Natalie Novak (25:50.688) Mm-hmm. Yes. Natalie Novak (26:02.872) Yeah, yeah. Natalie Novak (26:08.322) me too. Julie Howton (26:09.186) But it is so interesting though, just like with all the ultra processed foods and taste buds change, these chemicals are designed to change your sense of smell so that like, know. Natalie Novak (26:18.275) Yes. Julie Howton (26:28.722) It just depends on what your perspective is at the moment. Like for me, if I am going to do laundry and I pick up that article of clothing three weeks later, there should not be a waft of anything. So it's like we've all been so manipulated. And I love that you brought up the understanding that Natalie Novak (26:45.16) Mm-hmm. Yes, agreed. Julie Howton (26:56.85) And I would still choose the organic that's downhill from the non-organic if those were my only two choices. We say all the time when I wasn't, I used to disagree that better was better. And then I realized like, yeah, when you really come around in your healing journey, sometimes better is the best available. But it's like buying organic wine from California. There is no such thing. The soil is so sad. Natalie Novak (27:07.16) Mm-hmm. Natalie Novak (27:20.792) Yeah. Julie Howton (27:26.804) saturated in glyphosate and other chemicals that yeah, it may be grown organically, but it's not clean. Test it. So I love that you guys are. really focused on, you know, where your ingredients are coming from. So I have a question. It may not be an easy answer other than I know Ron, you know, again, powerful scientific mind, right? Because so many of us, like so many of us for years have felt like the choice is either it's clean or it really helps. Natalie Novak (27:51.388) Ha. Julie Howton (28:10.41) and not both. And so you guys have these products that are, and you even have lines geared towards, you know, women who aren't 20 helping us feel like we look our best and the common skin problems that happen over time. How is it, is it because that's like your passion or how is it that you guys are able to actually move the needle on that? Natalie Novak (28:40.632) Well, first, Ron is incredibly brilliant and he knows how to turn like specific triggers on within the body, if you will. For instance, there is we have this product called La Luna Rose Peel and it's basically a mask. It's like we c I call it the five minute facial inner jar. You know, typically like when you go into Sephora, you're gonna pick up a jar a a product and you're gonna look at all the ingredients and it's gonna say it's got ceramides and peptides and collagen. But what the common consumer doesn't understand is that those These particle sizes are far too large to actually fit into the skin cell. Okay, so we think as a consumer that it's gonna work. We're gonna buy this product and it's going to work. It's just gonna sit there. It's gonna it's like right trying to rub a brick through a brick wall. It's impossible. So what we do is there is a specific amino acid that is naturally in pearl powder, which is one of the ingredients that we utilize in this product. It's this beautiful product, and that that amino acid has a specific protein that actually feeds collagen. So it's like collagen food. So then the body naturally starts to produce that. It's it's very interesting, you know, how that happens. And you know, everything, you know, our philosophy is root cause on everything. So, you know, we he just understands, you know, how these herbs and you know, these botanicals that he's extracting actually help the skin to be its healthiest self. That's that's what our goal is for everything. So somebody that's got, you know, scarring from melanoma, we've got we ha I could send you our, you know, library of all these case studies that we've run and people are getting such incredible results. And it's because again, the body's designed to heal itself when you give it what it needs when you have you know we have pure intentions and we're utilizing things from the earth we're not using chemicals. You know, the the chemical is the body is gonna look at it, it will reject it like a foreign object. But when you feed it something that it knows, you know, we c all come from the earth. We're utilizing the earth to make these products. So it just it's that synergistic, you know, effect. It just naturally works with the body. Julie Howton (30:52.282) So brilliant and and you said a couple times and that I wanted to highlight it the first time you know when we talked about the people usually start with know, acknowledging that what they're putting in their mouth has something to do with their symptoms or perhaps that that needs attention. And we all know, you know, I keep thinking of like gut health, gut health, because they say your skin is a reflection of what's going on in your gut and we all know that gut health is essential for overall wellness and definitely plays a big role in autoimmunity. Natalie Novak (31:10.946) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Natalie Novak (31:18.338) Yes. Julie Howton (31:33.324) But the so the reading the ingredients because you said it a few times and you've been doing it for years. And I will I didn't even get to see, but my imagination will never unsee the the product eating through the carpet. So thank you for sharing that. You know, if if nothing else happens, but people listening to this conversation finally start turning their packages around. Natalie Novak (31:40.92) Mm-hmm. Natalie Novak (31:51.906) Yes. Natalie Novak (32:00.394) Yes. Julie Howton (32:01.498) I mean, you really, don't think you can navigate unless you have an amazing guide that is very trustworthy. You can't navigate a healing journey if you don't learn how to read labels, whether it's food, skincare products, cleaning products. And so I love that. you, so if somebody turns around one of your products, like even if they don't know what it is, do they look like real words? Natalie Novak (32:30.562) They do, they can tell. They absolutely can see. A hundred percent. Yes. Exactly. Yeah, they can see that we use organic argon oil. We use organic olive oil. We're using organic pomegranate oil. You know, there's and we use we love essential oils as well. Cause those can are very beneficial to the body, as you know. So Julie Howton (32:31.588) Okay. Yeah, I love that. Julie Howton (32:48.39) Me too. Yeah, made from nature. Natalie Novak (32:54.582) Yep, we don't ever use any fragrances because we don't need to. And we don't animal test and here's why. We don't have to. We aren't using toxic chemicals. That's the beauty of it. Nobody should do that. Julie Howton (33:04.368) Right. I love that. It's really important for people to understand because it does make sense. Like if something can eat through carpeting, well, you better see what it does on tissue before you put it at market, right? But when you're taking food grade natural products, Natalie Novak (33:20.866) Mm-hmm. Absolutely. Julie Howton (33:29.234) then the safety is already there. And again, I think what you guys are doing that's so remarkable is the efficacy as well because yeah, and I am somebody and I did, I made that choice for years to use something that was safe, even though it wasn't great, but I knew at least it wasn't hurting me. It wasn't another insult. Natalie Novak (33:39.468) Yes. Natalie Novak (33:47.214) Mm-hmm. Natalie Novak (33:53.164) Yes, exactly. Yes. Julie Howton (33:55.474) Yeah, so I love that you guys have both. We don't have to choose anymore. And that's the fun part. Natalie Novak (34:05.812) Exactly. We did all the homework for you. And I think, you know, simplifying sorry. I was just I just wanted to add another tip. You know, simplifying your routine. You know, more is not more. I think people feel like, especially going through autoimmunity, it's really important to just simplify everything because Julie Howton (34:08.818) Which is. Yeah, no, go ahead. Natalie Novak (34:28.404) I I personally experienced this when I was obsessed with trying to find a way to make myself feel better and I was trying everything. I was I mean, this is no joke. I would be traveling for business and I would take an an additional suitcase full of vitamins with me. Be it was ridiculous the things I would take because I just I needed to feel comfortable. I needed to know that I was gonna have all the things that I needed to feel okay. And you know what? When I stopped everything, my body finally started to regulate because it wasn't getting hit with something all the time. It it just needed to just chill out for a minute. Take a beat, you know. And so I think with skincare routines I feel like people overdo it and there's just a few simple things that you need to do. Julie Howton (35:01.894) Quiet, yeah. Julie Howton (35:12.536) So I want to, you totally led me right to, I want to ask two questions. I'm going to start with like common mistakes that people make or like, are we doing that we shouldn't be or don't need to be? It doesn't have to be a mistake, but, and then I want to flip it to like, what should we all be doing? Natalie Novak (35:12.554) You know, I just Natalie Novak (35:29.452) Mm-hmm. Natalie Novak (35:34.602) Okay. Well, first of all, don't get your skincare advice on TikTok. Let's just get back to the basics. A again, simplify everything. And and and again, I'm gonna say this again. Read your labels. Understand, you know Julie Howton (35:38.512) Haha! Atta girl! Natalie Novak (35:54.442) If you are just unsure of what to do, you're better off just applying something, you know, like go to the health food store and find something with just a few ingredients. Like we have a product called probiotic toner, and it has three ingredients in it, and that's it. And that's just a very simple way to to nourish, you know, the microbiome because our skin, just like our gut, is Julie Howton (36:10.352) Yeah, amazing. Julie Howton (36:16.762) Thank you. I was like, ooh, let's talk about that. Natalie Novak (36:20.242) Yes. We we don't realize that our skin has a microbiome and it gets thrown, you know, out of whack, out of balance so quickly because of products that we we're utilizing, maybe that you purchase from the drugstore, or it could be at a high end department store, or it could also be at a doctor's office because the FDA well here's what I learned. The FDA has not regulated the Cosmetics Act since nineteen thirty-eight. Which to me was crazy. I know. So these Julie Howton (36:44.242) Yes, it's horrifying. And it's just like our food system. There's this huge list of things that are illegal in the EU that are totally fine. And I am not a huge fan of big government. And I think we all need to take some personal responsibility. But I also think that we Natalie Novak (36:51.67) Yes. Natalie Novak (36:56.044) Uh-huh. Natalie Novak (37:07.426) Yeah. Julie Howton (37:12.402) I would look forward to a day where you don't have to do research. I think you should read the labels, period, no matter what. But there should also be a comfort level that if you're grabbing a product, even if it's right for you, it's safe. And we don't have that at all. Natalie Novak (37:29.268) Exactly. Not yet. I'm hoping it's coming. I have faith. It's just gonna take time. Julie Howton (37:35.89) I do too. think we're going in the right direction. Look, in these conversations, the more people learn and understand and take that personal responsibility because there isn't somebody out there fixing it for them, that's, and then we vote with dollars and that's how it changes for sure. Yeah. So, yeah. Natalie Novak (37:51.096) Yes. Natalie Novak (37:56.042) Exactly. And I think people are waking up. Julie Howton (38:01.234) I do too, but then I leave my bubble and I realize we still have more work to do. So, uh-huh, it's okay. So, simple is better if you're going to do something, at least do something safe. Is there something that people... Natalie Novak (38:05.454) There's a lot more work. I know. It's okay. That's right. Natalie Novak (38:21.378) Yes. Julie Howton (38:24.88) Well, and I love the, the biggest don't is don't get your skincare advice on TikTok. I love that. I guess that means I don't have to look for your TikTok channel. Yeah. Yeah. is there, are there. Natalie Novak (38:34.986) Right. We do have one, but we're not giving advice like that. Julie Howton (38:45.17) kind of like classes of products or things that, and I'm being selfish because I want to learn, I'm going to focus on women especially. Are there things that we think we have to do or things that a lot of women are doing that they shouldn't be? Natalie Novak (38:53.635) Yeah. Natalie Novak (39:02.358) Yeah, I think we need to listen to our body. And here's what I mean by this. Y you know, when you are facing with autoimmune conditions and then you're also going through menopause, for instance, there's a lot of shifts that happen in the body. And if we're applying a lot of different in you know, products It's it's gonna be too overwhelming for the body to deal with and for us. So I want you to think of skincare as a ritual. We are so intentional with everything we do. So for instance, we have this aromatherapy cleansing oil that, you know, I have you pump it in your hands and then I have you rub your hands together and then you cut over your face and you inhale the benefits from the aromatherapy, because what that's doing is that's turning on the olfactory nerves to help regulate the nervous system. Women tell me they sleep better at night every Every time they do this. And then you massage it in and take a warm cloth and you know gently in circular motions remove any makeup or any environmental toxins. It has the ability to break down makeup pigments and sunscreen pigments. And then you would follow with that probiotic toner because that's like kombucha for your skin. It's feeding the natural, you know, microbiome. And it's helping regulate, and it's also helping to lighten hyperpigmentation and it's gently digesting the protein, which is the dead skin. So it's removing. that barrier to allow our treatment products to, you know, basically it's gonna help them to abs your skin to absorb more nutrition from the treatment products. So the Renew Face Cream, which is our signature product, I would start everybody there. This product contains our Dermanu technology that's going to focus on adding volume to the skin. It is going to add collagen and hydration storage. So most products on the market actually sit on the surface of the skin and they don't actually create hydration storage. Our Dermanu technology has the ability to create that storage so it stays in the cells. And so when you use this product, you will notice it the next morning. When you feel your skin when you wake up, it'll still be plump and supple feeling because it's Natalie Novak (41:07.0) It's got that storage rather than it just absorbing or evaporating out of the skin immediately. We also utilize coenzyme Q10 that turns on the ATP, which is the adenosine triphosate, which is energy. Our entire body needs ATP. We wouldn't be here if it weren't for ATP, right? Julie Howton (41:20.496) Yes. Yeah. Amazing. Natalie Novak (41:24.408) So just those simple things, you know, I mean, that is going to help the skin shift and become more healthy. It brings the skin back to homeostasis. And everything that we are doing, we're always trying to bring the skin back to homeostasis. We also have elixir. I wish I had we've got this eternal youth elixir, which it takes us, it takes us months to extract the botanicals from this. Julie Howton (41:46.354) You Natalie Novak (41:52.472) But it's this beautiful product. Yeah. Julie Howton (41:52.88) was looking at that online and I was like, I just want to bathe in that. Natalie Novak (41:57.814) Ha ha ha. This product is super potent. I will send you some. It's incredible. You just want to use a little bit at a time, and here's why. If you use it every single day, your skin cells can only absorb a certain amount of nutrition, and it would be too much. And I wouldn't want it to create a breakout. But if you use it every few days, you know how some supplement companies will tell you only use it Monday through Friday and take the weekends off? It's the same concept with this product specifically. And that's because your skin can only absorb so much. Julie Howton (42:23.11) Sure, yeah. Natalie Novak (42:30.01) Nutrition. And then it just has to push the rest out. Julie Howton (42:31.474) See, but even that, when I was reading that, and I wanna, this is my word, it's not coming from you. When I think of kindness powered skincare and your mission and your determination, when you take a product that's not inexpensive, for good reason, you just said it takes you guys months to make it. And, and the, the recommended usage is not daily. That's integrity. Cause because, you know, I think of like the old like wash and repeat. Well, like if it got you clean the first time, why do you need to repeat? So we can sell more shampoo. Right. And so I, it actually was something that jumped out in my brain as I was doing research of like, wow, you guys are really. Natalie Novak (43:13.676) Yeah. Yes. Julie Howton (43:29.272) in it for the right reasons and as a company there's integrity there. And which that trustworthiness look especially like my our listeners right they've all been burned in one way or another and we try to have those conversations that they can trust. So I just wanted to to applaud and for me like trust and integrity Natalie Novak (43:44.558) Yeah. Mm-hmm. Natalie Novak (43:51.222) Yes. Julie Howton (43:56.69) That's top like you said before like make a choice that's safe and then go from there You guys also happen to have these amazing products. I have I have a question Natalie Novak (44:02.326) Yes. Natalie Novak (44:10.574) Mm-hmm. Julie Howton (44:10.878) my husband used to own a med spa and we used to go back and forth because I was like, I won't use any product you all sell. and, and he's a functional medicine physician. He totally understands clean products. He, we use clean products at home. and his, his thing he used to come up against all the time was, shelf life. Right. So Natalie Novak (44:19.256) Yeah. Natalie Novak (44:35.008) sure, great question. Julie Howton (44:36.556) Yeah, how are you guys, like what does that look like? How are you guys keeping your products clean and safe without the preservatives that everybody else seems to think they need? And is there a shorter shelf life on your products? Natalie Novak (44:52.418) You know, this is so ironic. So we have products that we have saved from ten years ago. And we have some products that this woman found one of our sales reps, she found some jars of our original renew face cream in the back of her closet. She was cleaning it out and she brought them in and she said she opened it up and she said, Look at these don't have mold and they still smell good. She couldn't understand it. And I I wish I could tell you how Ron does this. He's got a very special way of doing this. Julie Howton (45:21.114) It's just the synergy with the. Natalie Novak (45:22.352) But yes, see he's figured it out. But the to answer your question, so what we write on the box, and you'll see on the back, you know, there's like a little jar, it it'll say twelve months on all of our products. Now that's once you open them. If you don't open them and you keep them in a cool dark place, they will last for 18 months. Julie Howton (45:27.396) Okay. Julie Howton (45:36.026) Okay, but I mean that's Julie Howton (45:47.142) Well, awesome. Natalie Novak (45:47.896) So I think they're probably a little longer than most organic produc you know products on the market. So it's a great question. Julie Howton (45:54.158) Okay, I was just curious and I had a feeling you were going to have a good answer and I wasn't throwing you under the bus, but I know he's going to ask me later, so. Natalie Novak (46:01.878) No Natalie Novak (46:05.816) Sure. No, that's great. Julie Howton (46:08.696) So amazing. So where is the best place for people to, and it may be the same place, we're also gonna ask for people who listen on the go who wanna find out more about you, but where can people get information and where can they find your products? Natalie Novak (46:28.266) If you go to KPS essentials dot com, you will find we have a spa locator. We're in a lot of functional medical, you know, medicine doctors offices. We're in, you know, high end spas and hotels, some high end, you know, hotels and things like that. But Julie Howton (46:46.394) and they can order online from you too, right? Natalie Novak (46:49.26) Yes, absolutely they can. A hundred percent, yes. And we actually have routines. So you they don't have to do the guesswork. There's you know, we have suggested routines. We also have a skin quiz that will help them understand what they need and it will really help them Julie Howton (46:51.452) Okay. Okay. Julie Howton (47:04.624) which I think is so helpful because as I was looking through, like, is it just, I'm like, yeah, could, that would help me. that would help me. that, you know. So I love that you have that guidance, but also fun that people can locate a clinic or a spa and, you know, if they have testers or whatever, perhaps experience, touch and smell. Natalie Novak (47:16.165) Mm-hmm. Natalie Novak (47:29.346) Yes. And the thing that I would highly recommend is we ha we sell this at home facial kit. And it gives you the opportunity to try all of our best sellers for the price of one product. So that's the most economical way to start. And there's also a routine card on the inside of the lid. This is this is kind of this is what it looks like. But it's called the at home facial kit. And then it sh has all the ingredients on the back. And then it also inside that lid is the protocol. So it gives them step by step, you know, how to use a like. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Right, exactly. Julie Howton (47:53.532) Thanks. Julie Howton (48:02.928) Which is great. I am that person that if you don't tell me how to use it, I'm probably not going to use it right. Nor am I going to spend the time to research how to use it right. So I appreciate you guys really have thought about like every angle of all of this and it's amazing. Natalie Novak (48:14.431) Mm-hmm. Natalie Novak (48:23.116) We try. Julie Howton (48:24.178) So is there anything like up and coming? I don't know. Anything you want to share with us that are you guys changing anything, expanding in any way, any new adventures or maybe even just for you, Natalie? Natalie Novak (48:45.208) Gosh, you know, we're always expanding and, you know, trying to do everything as close to the earth as possible. And, you know, as we're shifting and sometimes we lose like sight of specific suppliers that have maybe like this glass packaging. You know, we're always trying to make sure that everything that we're doing is thinking seven generations ahead. Whatever the choice we make now, how is that going to affect the next generation here? Julie Howton (49:00.594) you Julie Howton (49:13.426) amazing. Natalie Novak (49:13.762) And I feel like that's that's really an important philosophy that we have. Julie Howton (49:18.84) I think that's of course correct that we all need to, like I think that's part of how we got here is nobody was considering that. And so again, back to the just, you know, your. Natalie Novak (49:24.534) Yeah. Mm-hmm. Exactly. Julie Howton (49:34.282) your brand is amazing and I look forward to learning more about the products and having you. I know I had said to you earlier, you know, maybe we can do a second conversation with Ron because I knew I was already going to have way too much to ask you about. And I know that there's good information about you as well on the kpsessentials.com website. Is that the best place for people who are intrigued by you that want to learn more about you? Natalie Novak (49:51.064) Ha ha ha. Natalie Novak (50:03.862) Yes. And we we're also on, you know, Instagram. I have my own Instagram, you know, page as well. It's I th I'm the the skin underscore your skin health guru. I don't even know. I guess I should probably look that up. I should have known that. Your skin health. Yes. Your skin health guru we're yeah. Sorry. Yes. Julie Howton (50:17.49) I love it. I'm only laughing because I'm the same way. would be like, wait, what is my... There she is with underscores. Your underscoreskinhealth underscore guru. Love it. Natalie Novak (50:35.842) Thank you, yes. Julie Howton (50:38.566) Well, Natalie, thank you so much for turning your passion into something that serves so many and for taking the time to come on and educate us all and inspire us all because I heard you say it several times, the body can heal and you are helping people heal their bodies. So I'm really grateful. Natalie Novak (50:57.954) Yes. Well, thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate you. And and don't ever give up hope. Your body will heal. You just have to have faith and just, you know, try to get centered and when you g feel out of balance, just get yourself quiet. It's those times that make such a big difference. Julie Howton (51:13.234) love it. Absolutely. Thank you. And for everybody listening on the go, remember you can get the show notes, transcripts, and links by visiting inspiredliving.show. I hope you had a great time and enjoyed this episode as much as I did. I'll see you next week. Natalie Novak (51:18.722) Thank you, Julie.