Summer Empties (SPFs, Mascaras & Hair Masks!), Grey Blending Truths and Beauty Dupe Drama

Breaking Beauty Podcast

In this episode of Breaking Beauty, hosts Jill Dunn and Carlene Higgins reflect on their summer beauty routines, sharing personal stories and product reviews. They discuss beloved skincare

Key takeaways

• Elta MD sunscreen may be exiting Canada due to regulatory hurdles, prompting fans to seek alternatives.
• Tatcha Milky Sunscreen SPF 50 is praised as a top-tier option under makeup with excellent hydration and clarity.

Main topics

• Summer skincare empties
• Sunscreen alternatives and availability changes

Notable quotes

"We've come too far to stop" — Carlene's hair colorist on her gray blending progress.

Conclusion

The hosts conclude by encouraging listeners to share their own gray blending journeys

Transcript preview

Speaker 3 (0:00) The following podcast is a Dear Media production. Welcome to Breaking Beauty, the podcast all about the breakthrough people, products, and moments in beauty. We're your hosts, Jill Dunn and Carlene Higgins. Speaker 2 (0:21) Welcome back to another episode of Breaking Beauty Podcast, everyone. I'm one of your co-hosts, Jill Dunn, and I'm here in studio in New York City with Carlene Higgins. Hi, everyone. And we're happy to be in your feeds like we are every single Wednesday sharing the breakthrough people, products, and moments in beauty as longtime beauty editors turned beauty podcasters. Speaker 3 (0:43) Yes. And I hope you enjoyed our summer content. We were kind of having fun just like interviewing personalities and you know, our best of celebrity roundup. And today we're in our hall Speaker 2 (0:55) of fame. Hello. Speaker 3 (0:56) That was so good. That was epic reviewing products. So today we're kind of just doing like a mixed bag. We're going to be catching up on what we've been up to this summer. We're going to talk about a little bit of news and the products that we used right until the end. And that's because we're kind of gearing up for our next damn goods, which is best of fall. So we're in the process of testing everything right now. Yeah. Speaker 2 (1:19) And I'm really happy with how many new faces we have around here in the Breaking Beauty community, especially on YouTube. It has allowed our content to be explored by so many. new people. And so we're really grateful to have all of you on board. And these are these types of episodes where it's just you and I kind of catching up, Carlene. This is sort of a newer format to us. So we are experimenting every time we do this. Some people just want to hear us yapping. Some people are like, get to the interviews already. Today, giving you a dose of news empties and personal things of interest to us. Speaker 3 (1:51) So definitely, you know, give us feedback. Share it in the comments. Whether in Instagram, you can DM us or on YouTube, you Speaker 2 (2:00) can drop them right below. So, Carlene, I want to start talking to you first about summer empties, because the real talk is that when we are together, we are talking about what we're using, what's maybe not so good, what fell flat. And so I want to know what you've been like actually using to the last drop. the whole summer. Well, Speaker 3 (2:18) I have definitely been using sunscreen as a longtime listeners know. You and I are both devotees when it comes to sunscreen. And one of the ones that has become my ride or die is Elta MD. And I know our skincare aficionados out there know about Elta MD. It's in a lot of doctor's offices, a lot of dermatologists offices. So it's highly credible and they're. very well known for having sheer formulas. The one that I love is Elta MD Sunscreen UV Skin Recovery Red Color Correcting Green Tint. Okay. It's Speaker 2 (2:53) a Speaker 3 (2:53) broad spectrum SPF 50. And I love that one because I have a lot of redness in my skin. And so it's like the perfect amount of a green tinge that counters the redness, but does not leave my skin looking chalky. And I don't look... ghoulish afterwards. It won an Allure Best of Beauty in 2025. The sad news, though, Jill, is that you and I have both caught in wind of this Speaker 2 (3:22) rumor that Speaker 3 (3:23) AltaMD Speaker 2 (3:24) may be exiting Canada. Oh, it's not a rumor. It's confirmed. Don't worry. We are here in New York and we will start operating a business where we are smuggling it back for our fellow Canadians. Just joking, everyone. But, you know, the reality is that the distributor has decided that they are no longer going to distribute it in Canada. And there's many, many reasons. The unofficial one is that just for all of the hoops they have to jump through for Health Canada. Obviously, every country has their own regulations. Elta MD has clearly decided it's just not worth it for them anymore. So that's unfortunate. But the good news is that there's so many other sunscreens that are coming to market. And I will also say it's sad for you because. For a long time, you're like, else MD. You didn't have a favorite. And now you found a favorite and it's no longer around. This is what I'm saying. Speaker 3 (4:10) There's not a lot of green tinged sunscreens that do go on so clear. And by the way, they do have other versions of the UV skin recovery. They do have a sheer one. Yes. And. Yeah. So it's just like I just found my ride or die and now and now it's leaving. But I love that. I find it to be really hydrating as well. Yeah, they have a clear one and they also have a UV clear tinted broad spectrum SPF 46. They're all beloved. And so I'll be stocking up when I come to the US and. You know, whether or not this has to do with all these ingredient changes and formulations, we really don't know. I tried reaching out to the Elta MD PR and I could not get a response. So I may have lost touch with the current PR. So if Speaker 2 (5:00) you're listening and you represent Elta MD, call us. Call us. Well, I have a good suggestion for you. And it's actually from the brand Tatcha. This I finished this summer. It's an incredible SPF. It's their Tatcha Milky Sunscreen SPF 50 Soothing Hydration Shield right to the bottom. Unbelievable under makeup. Goes on so well. Selling out everywhere. I just saw the Nicola Rose the other day. Blew it up again. I was like, yeah, it's that hashtag damn good. And it's just so hard to find one that as an oily skin person doesn't make me. a disco ball. Right. And but also is good under makeup. It's so hard and they've absolutely crushed it. I have tried it as well. I also really like the Summer Fridays sunscreen. Right. But that's more like that's like a tinted mineral. This is not that I'm not surprised that Tatcha really created one that is incredible under makeup because they really became known for. They're silk canvas primers, right? So it's all about makeup. And you have that wonderful makeup artist, Daniel Martin, who's in probably the labs with them because he consults with them. So I wanted to shout that out as a summer empty. I did also get to try the Peach and Lily sunscreen that everybody keeps talking about. And I also really liked it. Now, this one I've tried is the Sun Cover Mineral Sunscreen, which I really like. But the beam blocker I also tried and I thought was fantastic. And I get why it's so hyped. That's the one that Sarah Kanonan, shout out to the Allure Beauty Director. She was our guest editor in our sub stack a couple of months ago. And she was raving about that. Ton of beauty editors loved it. And I was like, well, I got to like take another look at this. And I did. And I was like, yeah, this is really, really good. Okay. K-beauty, right? Yeah. They're going to crush it with peach and lily and so affordable because it's at Ulta. And peach and lily is, I think it's around $30. Yeah. Speaker 3 (6:55) But Speaker 2 (6:55) the Tatch one is $50. Yeah. U.S. So it's significantly more. Speaker 3 (6:59) Yeah, absolutely. Now, the other thing that I have used to the last drop is the Amika Soul Food Nourishing Hair Mask. I'm holding it here. And of course, we did an event look at. Yep. Right to the bottom. Right to the bottom. There's nothing in there. So we did an event with Amika and, you know, they hooked me up with a whole bunch of products. So Speaker 2 (7:22) I Speaker 3 (7:22) hadn't tried this and I love it. It truly is so nourishing. And my daughter loves it as well. She's probably wondering where it went to from our shower right now because she told me she loves it as well. She has hair down to her bottom. But the thing that happened to me this summer, Jill, while you and I were not together, is that I am in the process of gray blending. Yep. And so this is kind of new. Long-time listeners might know that I have, especially through this section, I have probably 80 % grays. I am just tired of going to the salon every four weeks to get my roots. You know, it's like a skunk. And the amount that it costs me every year is wild. Okay. And so I had a conversation with my hair colorist. We were doing permanent. And so we started. switching to a demi-permanent and as we're growing it out but finally she was like we just have to get away from it's still like staining your hair we just have to get away all together and i need to grow like this much of your gray so like two inches two inches before we can start gray blending so i've had the summer of growing up my roots and it is not easy at all like i cannot stand i feel so not put together even just being in the studio today. And I was in there last week. I was like, what can you do for me? And they threw a toner on it. And I'm just like, uh-uh. So I'm in the middle of this process. And so far, I'm not loving it at all. I'm in the weeds. And so she lightened up my hair a lot because for the gray blending, you have to have like lighter hair. So I feel that my hair got really dead again at the beginning of the summer. So I just... think that this Amika hair mask, it makes my hair so smooth, like right away, just using it one time and blow drying it. So this is like a keeper. That's great. This is a whole guinea pig situation journey that I'm on. And I will, I will keep you posted like when I have any kind of progress, but the. Crazy thing about this is like it's not like the blepharoplasty journey where I looked. I looked at the end of the before and afters of other people and I was like, yes, I want that. I did it. This is like I don't know what this is going to look like. I don't know what it's going to look like on me. I don't have a clear picture in my head of where we're going. Speaker 2 (9:45) So if you guys are just listening and you're not watching on YouTube, Carleen has. never been have never had a more furrowed brow. She is concerned. She is not trusting the process. No. And she is skeptical as I can tell you that right now looking at your face. Speaker 3 (10:02) Like I would go back. I would just call this whole thing off, except I've come so far when I was in there last week, Sam at 27 Salon, which is where I go in Toronto. She was like, you have come so far. We have to keep going. And I was like, all right. I'm going to keep going. Can we get another Speaker 2 (10:18) pandemic? Speaker 3 (10:19) Yeah, Speaker 2 (10:19) I'm like, I don't Speaker 3 (10:20) want to leave my house. I was ready to come in with a baseball hat, guys. Like I should and Speaker 2 (10:25) could if you Speaker 3 (10:26) feel like if you feel like I can't deal. So we're going to see how this all plays Speaker 2 (10:30) out. Speaker 3 (10:30) I think it's going to look great. I think Speaker 2 (10:32) you have a really good colorist and I think they know what they're talking about. And I think you're going to be happy. But I. I would be the same as you. Like you just it's really hard to to do that now. Interesting, like on that topic, because honestly, Matt Rez called me because he was the one who initially said that I should do this. And he's like, I know exactly what we're doing. Trust me, all of that. I've Speaker 3 (10:52) been Speaker 2 (10:52) doing demi-permanent that for years. Yeah, I permanence dead to me. Yeah. But interestingly, if there was one beauty invention I could personally invent, it would be a pill to not have gray hair because I like my natural color. I don't want to be gray blending. Yeah. You know, I'd be very happy with my natural color. Well, me too. Yeah. But your hair is really dark. You would be that dark? It's pretty dark. Yeah. I mean, Speaker 3 (11:17) I'd be happy with that. I started going blonde years ago simply because I had really dark brown hair and then my hair comes in white. Speaker 2 (11:24) Yeah. I'm sure everybody's nodding their head right now. Yeah. Doing the same thing, right? I actually saw a journalist that we know who's writing a story. about the exorbitant cost of hair color and going to the salon and trying and like what people are doing to get by to stretch out the time or whatever. Oh, yeah. And it's some people doing the box dye. Some people are doing. I Speaker 3 (11:44) mean, last Speaker 2 (11:44) time I did all Speaker 3 (11:44) over, I think after my tip, I mean, it was over a thousand and I'm sure here in New York, it's probably well above that. But anybody who's done successful gray blending, if you're out there, you're watching, you're listening, send some inspo shots. If you're happy with it, you're loving it. Send them our way. And if you're willing to share, we'll share that. We'll do a little Facebook of a few of them. Be cute. Because I think a lot of people, like I have never seen so many people gray blending right now. Maybe it's just the age group that I'm in, but even like.