Show Notes
After my first pregnancy, I followed Taiwanese postpartum confinement practices for 40 days — herbs, cooked meals, no leaving the house, a night nurse living with us. My milk came in immediately. I stopped bleeding in three weeks. I felt held. After my second pregnancy, I had none of that. COVID meant no in-person support, no family, no village. I took no maternity leave. Six months later, I got shingles. At 30-something. All over my hand. Studies now show it takes up to a year for a mother to fully recover from birth. American mothers get six weeks of leave — if they're lucky. This week on Mirror Mirror, I sit down with Esther Park, founder of Amma and Co. — a postpartum care retreat based at the Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach in Orange County, modeled after the Korean postpartum retreat centers where 85% of Korean mothers spend one to two months after giving birth. Esther grew up in Seoul, competed on Korea's version of American Idol at 18, worked at L'Oréal, and went to business school during COVID before founding the first postpartum retreat on the West Coast. We talk about why Eastern cultures treat postpartum as a sacred recovery period while Western culture tells women to bounce back, what the research actually says about how long recovery takes, and what it looks like when a mother is truly supported from the start.
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How does “just a little filler” turn into a look you never intended and why can it be difficult to notice the change? Amy Chang sits down with Dr. Evan Rieder, a dermatologist and psychiatrist, to explore perception drift: how our surroundings, social feeds, and cosmetic experiences can shift what looks normal or beautiful to us.They discuss the pressure of pretty privilege, why the satisfaction of a treatment can fade, and how the pursuit of one improvement can become the search for the next. Amy also shares her own experience with being overfilled and how it changed what she looks for in an injector.In this conversation:• How repeated exposure can reshape beauty preferences• Why your injector’s judgment matters• When a practitioner should say no• The relationship between appearance, identity, and satisfaction• Why perception drift and body dysmorphic disorder are not the same thing• Four areas to reflect on before pursuing another treatment Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/materaclinics/Website — https://materaclinics.com/MATERA is a physician-led aesthetic clinic in Santa Monica, CA, founded by Amy Chang and medically led by board-certified facial plastic surgeon Dr. John Frederick. We help patients age beautifully through personalized care and the MATERA Slow Beauty Method™.Learn more or book a consultation: [email protected]→ Have a beauty question you want me to tackle on the next Inbox? DM @mirrormirrorwithamy on Instagram→ Subscribe so you don't miss next week's full Mirror Mirror episode.ABOUT MIRROR MIRRORMirror Mirror is a podcast that cuts through the noise and uncovers the science shaping beauty and the psychology driving our desire for it. Hosted by Amy Chang — LA Times contributing writer, Marie Claire 2024 Power Player, and a trusted authority in beauty, with over 2.4 million followers who turn to her for insights on cutting-edge treatments and science-backed skincare.Expect unfiltered conversations, expert insight, and the freedom to love your lipstick — while still questioning what perfection means.#beautymyths #skincare #aesthetics #beauty #filler
Looking your best doesn’t have to mean looking younger. What changes in your skin as you age and what changes when you stop believing your best years are behind you?In this special Mirror Mirror conversation with Shiseido, Amy Chang explores aging well from two perspectives: skincare science and personal reinvention. First, Dr. Nathalie Broussard, PharmD and Shiseido’s Director of Scientific Communication for EMEA, discusses skin aging, collagen, sagging and the relationship between skin, stress and lifestyle. She also introduces the brand’s research behind the Vital Perfection Sculpt-Define Serum. Then, Chriselle Lim joins Amy to talk about starting over after divorce, questioning the expectations she grew up with, and finding confidence through lived experience. They discuss simplifying skincare, wanting to look good without chasing youth, and why Chriselle wouldn’t trade her 40s for her 20s. In this episode: • How skin changes with age • Shiseido’s research into collagen and skin’s support network • Skincare, SPF, stress and daily routines • Reinvention after divorce and cultural expectations • Why confidence can come after taking the leap • Looking your best without trying to look younger