Mirror Mirror with Amy Chang

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.

I gained 70 pounds with each of my pregnancies. After two kids, I assumed the soft tissue around my abdomen and lower back was just what came with being a mom. After one session with Rebecca Faria, the pioneer of Brazilian lymphatic drainage in the US, those "pockets of fat" were gone — and a six-pack I had never seen on my own body appeared overnight.It wasn't fat. It was lymphatic fluid I had been holding onto for years.This week on Mirror Mirror, I sit down with Rebecca Faria — founder of Detox by Rebecca in Beverly Hills, and the practitioner behind some of the most talked-about lymphatic drainage results in LA — for the expert deep-dive on what the lymphatic system actually does, why our modern lifestyle keeps it stuck, and what every woman should know about how it changes after pregnancy, in perimenopause, and as muscle mass declines.We also get into the morning and night routines Rebecca swears by, what cupping marks actually mean (mine were dark over my kidneys — she explained exactly why), and the at-home techniques anyone can do without ever stepping into a clinic.→ 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.LISTEN ANYWHEREApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/bh/podcast/mirror-mirror-with-amy-chang/id1876357199YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0jhmgotD1awPuvobT7taFgInstagram: @mirrormirrorwithamy

This week on Mirror Mirror, I'm joined by Camille Moore — brand strategist, founder of Third Eye Insights, and consultant to some of the largest beauty brands in the world — for the unfiltered breakdown of how beauty marketing actually works in 2026, who's winning, who's quietly dying, and how consumers can decode the difference.Pat McGrath Labs is reportedly up for sale to avoid bankruptcy. Rhode's mass-distribution deal may already be eroding its brand premium. Lululemon is committing what brand strategist Camille Moore calls "death by a thousand cuts." Augustinus Bader's Dua Lipa diffusion line was, in her view, a strategic mistake. And Summer Fridays stamping "Made in Korea" on the front of its packaging? That's where this conversation gets honest. → 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.LISTEN ANYWHEREApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/bh/podcast...Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m2XPnXRIag&t=1043s Instagram: @mirrormirrorwithamy#beautymyths #skincare #aesthetics #plasticsurgery #cosmeticsurgery

What should you actually know before getting filler, Botox, blepharoplasty, or plastic surgery?In this episode of Mirror Mirror with Amy Chang, board-certified facial plastic surgeon Dr. Prem Tripathi breaks down the hidden realities of the aesthetics industry, from unqualified injectors and filler migration to counterfeit Botox, overfilled faces, med spa red flags, and why “natural” cosmetic work is harder than ever. We also discuss why filler trends are collapsing, what procedures actually work, the future of aesthetics, and the risks most patients underestimate before going under the needle or knife.

Tennille Jenkins is a content creator and co-founder of the long-running blog The Tennille Life. In this intimate conversation with Amy Chang, Tennille shares her personal journey with going grey—from initially trying to fight it to ultimately embracing it. They discuss the message she hopes to pass on to her daughters and why self-acceptance and positivity are foundational to living a fulfilling life.

Amy Chang shares her personal experience with perimenopause and the symptoms no one prepares you for.From waking up at 3AM every night to brain fog, fatigue, and memory lapses, this episode breaks down the early signs of hormonal change and why so many women are left confused, dismissed, or misdiagnosed.Amy walks through her journey of getting tested, starting hormone replacement therapy, and navigating the trial-and-error process of finding what actually works. She also dives into the impact perimenopause has on skin, including sensitivity, breakouts, and barrier disruption and the products that helped her stabilize it.

Jill Dunn & Carlene Higgins, two longtime beauty editors and hosts of the podcast Breaking Beauty, sit down with Amy Chang for an examination of the myth of “aging gracefully” and how this term has played out in the editorial world the past few decades, why women are punished for both aging naturally and trying to fight it, where the pressure to stay youthful really comes from, and why some women feel invisible after 40.

Judy Lim is a makeup artist, viral content creator, and recent medical tourist. She joins Amy Chang for an intimate conversation about her experience traveling to South Korea and beyond for plastic surgery. Together, they discuss the realities of medical tourism, the pros and cons of surgery and recovery abroad, the financial and emotional considerations involved in making such a decision, along with what Judy would change about her experience going to Korea for plastic surgery if she were to do it all over again.

Beauty intelligence expert Amy Chang breaks down the skincare trends she's actually paying attention to and the ones she's passing on. From glass skin procedures to exosomes, get the unfiltered take on what's real, what's hype, and what's coming next.

Elise Hu is an American broadcast journalist, host of the TED Talks Daily podcast, and former NPR bureau chief in Seoul, South Korea. In this Expert Deep Dive, she joins Amy Chang to examine Eurocentric beauty standards, challenge assumptions about colonialism’s role in shaping beauty ideals in the East and around the world, and explore South Korea’s soft-power play in exporting its own unattainable beauty standards back to the West.

Tracy Tutor is an author, top luxury real estate agent, and star of Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles. She joins Amy Chang for an intimate conversation about her experience with GLP-1 medications, having been one of the early adopters in Los Angeles in 2022. They discuss the fierce back-lash Tracy faced when sharing her journey online, micro-dosing GLP-1s, navigating body image, and managing beauty and mental health while operating in high-profile Hollywood circles.

Welcome to the first-ever The Inbox Episode of Mirror Mirror with Amy Chang. In this episode, Amy answers your most pressing beauty questions. From navigating an overwhelming skincare industry to figuring out what your skin actually needs, she breaks down how to test products properly, how to know if something is truly working, and why simplifying your routine is the most powerful move you can make. Amy also gets into a deeply personal conversation about beauty identity, confidence, and how external messaging can shape the way we see ourselves. New The Inbox episodes drop on Fridays.

Dr. Carl Truesdale is a board-certified facial plastic surgeon based in Beverly Hills. In this Expert Deep Dive, he joins Amy Chang to discuss the rising popularity of facelifts, driven by advancements in surgical technique and technology. They explore how facial anatomy influences which facelift approach is most appropriate, whether treatments like Sculptra, threads, or fillers can impact future surgical outcomes, and how to determine if—and when—a facelift is the right choice.