Nam Vo on Glowing Skin: Treatments, Skincare, & Blush
GlowLab with Susan Yara
In this episode of GlowLab, host Susan Yara interviews celebrity makeup artist Nam Vo to uncover the secrets behind her signature 'glow job.
Key takeaways
- Nam Vo attributes approximately 60% of her skin quality to genetics and avoids alcohol to prevent inflammation.
- Professional treatments like radio frequency (RF) and microneedling are highlighted as effective tools for skin tightening when performed by skilled practitioners.
Main topics
- Skincare routines and products
- Professional dermatological treatments
Notable quotes
My favorite look is when a woman looks like she drinks water, eats vegetables, and minds her business.
Conclusion
A practical guide for anyone seeking to transition from basic skincare
Transcript preview
Speaker 1 (0:00) My favorite look is when a woman looks like she drinks water, eats vegetables, and minds her business. Blush. I love blush. I love it too. I love blush. And by the way, the last couple of years, the Lord has given us good blushes. We're getting creams. We're getting liquids. We're getting shimmer. We're getting glow. I think blush is the one item that whether you're... 15 years old or 100 years old, it makes you look healthier. It makes you look fresher. So if I was stuck on a desert island, I'm bringing blushes. I love it. Speaker 2 (0:34) Welcome to Glow Lab. We're going to have a lot of fun and learn a lot Speaker 1 (0:37) together. Speaker 2 (0:39) One of my favorite celebrity makeup artists online for years has been Nambo. She is best known for her glow jobs. And I brought her on just now and she gave me my very own glow job. So I'm very excited about that. But I just really wanted to hear from her as a celebrity makeup artist and also for herself. How is she keeping that glow going? So she's sharing that today. Now, you are glowing as Speaker 1 (1:04) expected. Thank you. As I've always seen you. I think everyone wants to know. How do you keep the glow going? Okay, so I have to be really honest. Most of it's probably genetic. That being said, I am the most high-maintenance bitch in the game because I truly, truly love skincare. I love treatments. If I didn't have this job and I was like a rich housewife, hopefully I am one day, I would still be doing the exact same shit. I probably just wouldn't be filming as much. But literally since I was a child, I like skin. I like, you know, I feel like a lot of American women, especially, they're like, girl, I don't want to put on five creams. I'm like, for me, I'm the opposite. Like, I don't like doing things like flossing or brushing my teeth. That's not fun to me. But skincare, it makes me feel like a queen when I'm putting on my serums and I use my little tools and I land in my LEDs. It's like a moment of... self-love and it makes me feel like a queen. So I truly, genuinely love it. And I've been this way since I was a child. Yeah. So. Well, I mean, you coined the whole Dewey dumpling. Speaker 2 (2:08) Yes. You know, and I feel like Speaker 1 (2:10) you've kept that going strong. I actually think it's gotten stronger and stronger, the branding. Yeah. Thank you. You know, like we for the industry, we're old bats. Yeah. We are. Oh, my God, we are. We're like adults. We're grannies in this industry. We're grannies and not granny skin quality, though. That's Speaker 2 (2:26) what Speaker 1 (2:26) matters. I started out as a professional makeup artist and I came to New York with $35 and a dream. It was $13,000, but I tell the press $35 to be more dramatic. Speaker 2 (2:37) It sounds like a bigger story. Speaker 1 (2:39) My dream in life was to be like an editorial celebrity makeup artist. And then when social media happened, like I went from being helping the talent to being the talent, which has been really fun. But I've always, since I was a child, I just love beauty. I liked actresses and I liked magazines and I like pageants and I just, I like it. Yeah. Well, how do you keep, you know, you keep bringing Speaker 2 (3:05) up skin quality. Yeah. And it's amazing. Like your skin quality is actually fantastic. Like if you guys have ever wondered if you're watching her on social media, if her skin actually looks like that, it does. Thank you. It does. And I actually think that false advertising, none, none, because your makeup couldn't stay the way it is like this glow. Like you have. I mean, can you guys see it? She has visible glow happening on her skin. And if you didn't Speaker 1 (3:30) have good skin quality, it wouldn't look so good. Because I Speaker 2 (3:32) think people Speaker 1 (3:32) ask you about that sometimes. Yeah, they always do. And then when I meet like dewy dumplings in real life, they're like, oh, my God, it's real. It is. It is. Thank you so much. I work hard. Yeah. Speaker 2 (3:42) If you were crepey or had like lots of creases in your skin, the makeup, that glow wouldn't be sitting so beautifully. Speaker 1 (3:48) Yeah. So I OK, if we're honest. Yeah. genetics will get you, I think, 60 % there, right? Yeah. Like I don't do any crack or heroin and I'm allergic to alcohol. Yeah, I don't drink that much either. Like you'll see me babysit Speaker 2 (4:03) a Speaker 1 (4:03) glass of wine. I wish I could drink alcohol because it looks really fun. It's so chic. Like when you have like a go-to drink. Like if I think about it, my whole like teenage, 20s adult, I don't know what it's like to be hungover. So I think being allergic to alcohol has been a gift. And I also think if I drink alcohol, I'd probably have illegitimate children. I'd probably have STDs. I definitely wouldn't have the skin. So I think the Lord knew what he was doing when he's like, bitch, no alcohol for you. Speaker 2 (4:30) Wait, wait, when you say you're allergic, is it like the way I'm Speaker 1 (4:32) allergic, like Asian glow? Yeah, but like times 10. If I have like a shot of tequila, I will be on the ground and there will be like a 911 emergency. No way. Yeah, I'm hypersensitive. Hyper, hyper sensitive. So you know a lot of Asians were missing supposedly enzyme. Yeah. But I think mine is on the whole other level. Yeah. So I just don't mess with it. But now that I'm older, it's expensive and it's not good for your skin and you get pregnant a lot. So it's been a Speaker 2 (5:01) blessing in disguise. It's been Speaker 1 (5:02) a Speaker 2 (5:02) blessing. I love it. Genetics aside though, you do do a lot of procedures and you're posting that and everything. What Speaker 1 (5:07) have been the ones that you think have made the biggest difference to keeping your skin so smooth and tight? Okay, so. I know this is controversial. Radio frequency. There's a lot of bad PR behind radio frequency. I've been doing radio frequency for 10 years. You're saying Morphe? No, a variety, whatever people want to give me for free. And if it's a trusted doctor, then I do it. But I've done Forma. I've done Zurf. Softwave isn't radio frequency, but you know, it's a modality of skin tightening. I've done Morphe S8, which wasn't my favorite. I don't know all of them. Like I feel like every doctor, everybody has like a different modality. If it is done correctly, it's like a push-up bra. It lifts and snatches. And if it's done wrong, it does burn fat when it's done wrong. But in the right hands, I think it's actually something that really does tighten the skin. So my skincare game really got strong when things became free. Speaker 2 (6:02) When I have to pay, Speaker 1 (6:04) it's different. But my skincare game got real good when they're like, you no pay, you no pay. And Speaker 2 (6:11) I was like, Speaker 1 (6:12) okay, Speaker 2 (6:12) so. You're Speaker 1 (6:13) like, Speaker 2 (6:13) I'm in. So you don't like basically turn it down. You like go in and get the procedures. Most Speaker 1 (6:16) of Speaker 2 (6:16) the time, if Speaker 1 (6:17) it's like a qualified doctor, and here goes another thing that I look for in a doctor, whatever, a practitioner. And I've said this on TikTok before, that person can't look crazy. If you book a personal trainer, that person should probably look fit. And if you book somebody that does your injectables and your fillers, you shouldn't look like a cat lady. Whoever you book for your treatments. I think you should look at them and go like, was that tastefully done? If they have something like absurd, it's a big red flag. I agree. So what I do before someone offers me a treatment is I read the reviews. But more than anything, I look at their face. I'm like, do you look crazy? Do you look overfilled? And that and if you look like a cat lady, it's a no. But if you look like in New York, do you know who Dr. Eunice Park is? Yeah. I love Dr. Eunice Park. She's tasteful. Yeah. She doesn't oversell herself. She's not egotistical. So, and she looks great. Yeah. Tasteful. Yeah. She looks mindful and demure. So that is like, I think people forget that a lot. I agree. And oh yeah. And if it's a male doctor, look at their wife. That's a good. And the girls in the office. And the girls in Speaker 2 (7:23) the Speaker 1 (7:23) office. Speaker 2 (7:23) The Speaker 1 (7:23) girls that work in the office get all the Speaker 2 (7:25) treatments for free. They test on them and everything. So you got to see how they're looking. And I Speaker 1 (7:29) feel like a lot of practitioners, people are like, he has 200,000 followers. Who cares? I think something that we have to keep in mind about doctors, nurses, people that work in beauty, some of the most talented people in the world are not social media stars. They're booked and busy. They don't have a marketing team. They don't have like a fancy social media, but it doesn't mean they're not talented. Obviously, you know, Instagram is a great platform and it's Speaker 2 (7:53) a Speaker 1 (7:53) great place to see work, but don't judge someone if they're not a social media star. A lot of times they're just busy working. That's totally true, too. And Speaker 2 (8:01) the Speaker 1 (8:01) social media star doesn't Speaker 2 (8:02) mean that they're good. Exactly. Yeah, that is totally true. Some of the social media stars got big on social media because they were still in like their residencies and stuff. And so they had the time to do it. Speaker 1 (8:12) Yeah, it's just a lot of people, you know, like I say, I've had my makeup done by like so many celebrity artists. Speaker 2 (8:18) And Speaker 1 (8:18) like a girl that works at the cleaning counter at the airport like blew me away one day. And I was like, aren't you a celebrity makeup artist? I think social media is great. Social media has done a lot for my career and I'm grateful. But I think that sometimes we judge people too much and it doesn't mean that they're not talented. You know, because social media is another game that you have to be good at taking pictures. You have to be good at storytelling. You have to be good at like projecting online and not every talented person is good at all of those things. That's totally true. That's totally true. Okay, so let's Speaker 2 (8:50) say Speaker