facelifts & fatherhood | spencer hedges

Summary

CHEERS! with Avery Woods
Episode: "Facelifts & Fatherhood" | Guest: Spencer Hedges
Release Date: August 3, 2026

---

Episode Overview

In this heartfelt and candid episode, host Avery Woods sits down with celebrated makeup artist, educator, and single father, Spencer Hedges, for an in-depth conversation about personal transformations—inside and out. The two discuss the realities behind building a career in beauty, the journey to fatherhood through surrogacy, authenticity and transparency in the influencer world, and even the decision to undergo a facelift. Blending vulnerability, humor, professional advice, and real talk about life changes, this episode shines a light on the intersection of self-care, ambition, and parenting in the modern age.

---

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Authentic First Impressions & Self-Image

• Avery opens by complimenting Spencer's appearance, bridging into the subject of self-presentation both online and in-person (02:36–03:08).
• Spencer’s Introduction: “First and foremost, I kind of consider myself—well, not kind of. I am a makeup artist, but really I’m a makeup educ[ator] now...educating and getting the viewers...familiar with how to use products and apply it on themselves and just see themselves for the beauty that they have.” (03:26)

2. Life Journey: From Florida to LA, and Grit to Glam

• Spencer’s Early Life:

  • Originates from Tampa Bay, Florida; moved to LA at 16 to pursue an entertainment career and independence. (04:00–05:34)
  • Early LA hustle included cramped living (efficiency apartment with roommate), working multiple jobs (UPS, call center, Mary Kay consultant’s assistant), and eventually building dual careers in a medical office and as a makeup artist. (05:37–09:35)
  • Notable moment: Despite financial success in makeup, Spencer kept his medical office job to stay grounded and disciplined (07:37–09:35).

  “At that time… I had just started making seven figures a year… and I was still working part time at this medical office front desk and people were always like, ‘Why in the world are you doing that?’...It grounded me, it kept me humble…” — Spencer (08:28)

  • Avery relates to maintaining a "day job" (pediatric ICU nurse) while her social presence grew. Emphasizes the character-building value of real-world jobs. (09:35–10:35)

3. The Evolution as a Makeup Artist & Industry Realities

• Early makeup interests: Began doing mother’s and sister’s makeup as a child, but only saw makeup counter jobs as possibility until coming to California. (11:03–12:23)
• Social Media Trajectory:
  • Instagram growth started via before-and-after posts and word-of-mouth from co-workers. (12:57–13:47)
  • Pivotal moment came about five to six years ago with YouTube tutorials and long-form content, fully transitioning to online entrepreneurship just two years ago. (14:08–14:35)
  • Kept side jobs for grounding, discipline, and family feeling—not out of necessity. Final transition to full-time content came after having a daughter. (15:58)

4. Embracing Fatherhood: The Surrogacy and Single-Parent Journey

• Always desired to be a father—specifically a single father—since age 13. Inspired by helping raise his youngest sister. (17:41–18:27, 20:33–21:10)

• IVF and Surrogacy:

  • Spencer’s sister-in-law served as surrogate; egg donor was used, with Spencer’s brother and extended family actively supporting the process. (21:23–23:10)
  • Highlights the privilege and significance of having trusted surrogacy within the family rather than through agencies. (23:10–24:44)

  “...if I had to go a different direction and hire, you know, a surrogate whom I didn't know...just having that trust...” — Spencer (24:03)

• Emotional Memorable Moment:

  • First holding his daughter, Celine, at birth (“She was so calm...just kind of blinking and looking at me.”) (25:39–26:48)
  • Affirms the importance of making his daughter feel happy, safe, and confident as a central parenting goal. (27:28)

• Balancing Fatherhood & Business:

  • Business mindset shifted from “chasing a paycheck” to “building a legacy” for his daughter. (29:02–29:42)
  • Wants to model hard work rather than hand down privilege—a recurring theme with Avery re: raising grounded kids. (30:19–30:42)

5. Influencer Responsibility & Authenticity in Beauty

• Staying Grounded:

  • Both hosts discuss industry pressures and how maintaining side jobs/outside interests keeps them authentic. (15:58–16:54)

• Transparency with Audiences:

  • Both stress the necessity of honesty regarding procedures and endorsements. Avery discusses public reaction to her own cosmetic surgeries and the fine line influencers walk between inspiration and relatability. (44:58–47:17)

• Industry Critique:

  • Both are critical of brands that enforce rigid, inauthentic ad briefs and buzzwords, advocating instead for honest creator–brand collaborations. (34:10–41:19)

  “...this ain’t working. All right? … They had just released it a week ago. And I said, listen, I’m not going to get results from this machine in a week, all right?...And by the way, I just had a facelift...so I don’t even think I’m the right candidate to talk about this.” — Spencer (35:55)

  • Spencer prefers to educate and build trust: “My goal...when I partner with you is not to sell the product. It’s to instill education and trust with the consumer with your brand.” (39:05)

6. The Facelift Conversation: Beauty, Aging, and Confidence

• Spencer’s Facelift

  • Recently underwent facelift (~4 months prior), as well as brow and neck lifts, inspired by dramatic weight loss (over 100 lbs) and wanting to feel rested rather than younger. (43:33–50:42)
  • Initially hesitant to share, concerned about sending the message that beauty requires surgery. Ultimately, both hosts agree that honesty with followers is paramount.

  “I didn’t want plastic surgery to be my storyline...But in a way it’s like you’re not...outgrowing [your audience]...You just want to look like the best version of and feel like the best version of yourself for them. Right. And that’s why I also had made decisions to get the facelift...” — Spencer (49:28)

  • Avery: “...you just need to do it for you because you deserve to do it for you. And there’s some things that...just cannot be changed unless you get it surgically done.” (47:19)

7. Brand Partnerships Done Right: One Size and Professional Integrity

• Spencer serves as global brand ambassador for One Size by Patrick Starrr.

  • Highlights the brand’s respect for creator autonomy and authentic storytelling—contrasting with other brands’ overly controlled briefs. (53:25–56:43)
  • Praises their new launches, particularly the bronzing setting spray and color corrector sticks, and the focus on education and performance. (54:05–59:39)

  “...one size is the only brand, first of all, the first brand I ever worked with, the very first that ever sponsored my content and made me feel seen as an artist...the only brand who said, spencer, we're not going to give you a creative brief on this. Do whatever you want. We trust you.” (55:51)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Grounded Success:
  “...I was still doing masterclasses and building my social media presence...making seven figures...and I was still working part time at this medical office...It grounded me, it kept me humble...” — Spencer (08:28)
• On Surrogacy Family Support:
  “...the biggest gift to be able to have someone carry your child who you completely trust...” — Spencer (23:42)
• On Beauty Campaigns:
  “...no one gives an F about these pomegranate seeds. No one is walking past your gondola at Sephora and saying, oh, that's expensive. Oh, but you know, I got no pomegranate seeds. Gotta get two of them.” — Spencer (40:19)
• On Cosmetic Procedures:
  “...if I wrote you a check right now, you cannot tell me that you wouldn't take it and send it to the first person you see with a PhD, okay?” — Spencer, joking about his mom’s reaction to facelifts (52:40)
• On Content Authenticity:
  “My goal...when I partner with you is not to sell the product. It’s to instill education and trust with the consumer with your brand.” — Spencer (39:05)
• On Single Parenthood & Legacy:
  “...at this point in my life, it's really about wanting to build a legacy...that I can pass down to my baby, you know, and my grandbabies and my great grandbabies...” — Spencer (29:41)
• Parental Joy:
  “Right now, it's just like snuggling with my daughter. Yeah. I make her out her bottle. I take her, I steam. She likes her milk steamed.” — Spencer (67:05)

---

Segment Timestamps

• 02:28 – Episode begins: Avery introduces Spencer
• 03:26 – Spencer introduces himself as a makeup artist/educator
• 04:00–05:34 – Spencer’s move from Florida to LA, coming-of-age stories
• 07:37–09:35 – Balancing early medical office work with makeup career
• 12:57 – Early Instagram growth; before & afters
• 14:08–15:58 – Social media full-time transition; side jobs for grounding
• 16:54 – Parenting, priorities, and why family led to focusing on social
• 17:41–18:27 – Spencer’s path to single fatherhood
• 21:23–24:44 – Surrogacy journey (sister-in-law surrogate, family support)
• 25:39–26:48 – Celine’s birth & early fatherhood emotions
• 29:02–30:42 – Legacy & business motivations post-fatherhood
• 34:10–41:19 – Honesty in influencer partnerships; ad brief authenticity
• 43:33–53:25 – Facelift discussion: why, how, personal impacts
• 53:30–59:47 – Brand partnership: One Size, education, product love
• 62:11–65:18 – Makeup tips for Avery’s vow renewal, powder application secrets
• 65:22–72:50 – Rapid fire: Spencer’s must-have products, celebrity glam dream, routines, and more

---

Rapid-Fire Section Highlights

• Must-Have Product When Tired: “Eye drops. Yeah. Lumify.” (65:28)
• Celebrity Glam Dream: “Celine Dion...Diana Ross...but right now, Kiki Palmer.” (66:02)
• Favorite Wind-down Routine: “Snuggling with my daughter...steam her milk...bath...jammies.” (67:05)
• Best Drugstore Recommendation: “I love the Nyx brow pen...lip and brow pencils from the drugstore.” (71:20)
• Luxury Beauty Product Not Worth It: “A lot of moisturizers and serums that claim tightening or lifting...there ain’t nothing like a good old scalpel.” (68:39)

---

Practical Beauty Tips & Philosophies

• On Powdering:
  “I use more of a W technique. So from the under eyes, nasolabial fold, powdered down...If you run a mile, you’re gonna be sweating here. Not on your upper cheekbones or down the center of the nose...” (64:42)
• On Skin Preparation (for any budget):
  “You don’t need a lot of money at all to skin prep...A cleansing balm...will soften the dead skin cells, lightly exfoliate without stripping...then a good serum.” (69:25)
• On Content Creation & Longevity:
  “At this stage in my life, it’s not—I’m not chasing a paycheck. I’m not chasing a follower...now it’s really about wanting to build a legacy...” (29:02)

---

Closing Thoughts

Spencer Hedges’ journey from the Florida suburbs to LA’s beauty scene—and from hustling front desks to global makeup educator and single father—is a testament to resilience, self-awareness, and authenticity. Whether discussing the real reasons for getting cosmetic enhancements, calling for honesty in the influencer industry, or joyfully parenting his daughter Celine, Spencer (with Avery’s warmth and humor) makes this episode a masterclass in both vulnerability and empowerment.

Follow Spencer at @hispencerhedges on all platforms.

Transcript

[Narrator]

I've been in this library for six hours. I'm out of snacks and energy. Plus I just realized I forgot to put deodorant on.

[Spencer Hedges]

Oh girl, you're a mess. Let's run to Target.

[Narrator]

Let's rtt.

[Avery Woods]

We'll grab some protein chips, body spray and deodorant.

[Narrator]

And we get 20% off with target Circle so we can get those great face masks for our self care Sundays. I love an SCS.

[Interviewer/Host Assistant]

Let's get out of here.

[Narrator]

College students get 20% off their next purchase with Target Circle subject to terms.

[Avery Woods]

Visit target.com circle for more details.

[Sponsor Voice]

This episode is supported by F's the Shards, a seductive drama from executive producer Ryan Murphy. Set in 1980s Los Angeles, the series follows a group of glamorous, deeply entangled high school seniors drawn into a life of wealth, beauty, parties and excess. At its center is Brett, whose reality begins to unravel when the arrival of a new student coincides with a series of mysterious murders. FX's the Shards premieres August 5th on FX and Hulu.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

Cheers is presented by Ashley. Good news, you can stop scrolling furniture inspo because the new Ashley Luxe line from Ashley has all the beautiful and luxurious pieces you need and they're all designed for how you actually live. I've told you guys I recently completed my home office slash podcast studio using the Ashley Luxe collection and it looks so beautiful. I honestly wish I would have had this line before I started furnishing my house because I'm pretty sure every single room would be full of this collection. It's so high quality for such an incredible price. Ashley makes elevated, intentional pieces made with sculpted wood, soft velvet and leather and brushed metals. The Neo upholster Boucle dining armchair is

[Avery Woods]

one of my favorite pieces.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

I have two of them in my office when I'm having meetings. You can mix and match with dining seating. I can move it around my office. It's just very versatile and just looks so luxurious. I paired that with the Bracken round end table that has natural marble inlay and again, I get so many compliments on it. I use it daily and the French black finish adds so much depth and warmth. Discover the new Ashley Luxe collection by visiting Ashley in store or [e-mail] Luxe.

[Avery Woods]

Hey, it's Avery. Welcome to Cheers. Hi Spencer. How are you?

[Spencer Hedges]

I'm great. How are you?

[Avery Woods]

I'm obsessed with you already because you came in cozy. Yeah. And one thing about me, I'm not dressing up same.

[Spencer Hedges]

I mean, we got too much on our plate.

[Avery Woods]

Yeah there's too much going on. Also, you're so gorgeous, it's beyond.

[Spencer Hedges]

Thank you.

[Avery Woods]

You know when you watch. Well, I mean you, you understand this because you have such like high quality but relaxing ASMR style content, but you never. With creators like that, what kind of filters are going on. You're even more gorgeous in person.

[Spencer Hedges]

Thank you.

[Avery Woods]

I hope you know that I needed

[Spencer Hedges]

to hear that today of all day. So thank you for that.

[Avery Woods]

No, truly, because you just never know what like who's going to walk in when it comes to that, that type of video. But you're so immensely talented at what you do. But when you meet someone for the first time, how do you describe yourself and what you do for a living?

[Spencer Hedges]

Well, first and foremost, I kind of consider myself. Well, not kind of. I am a makeup artist, but really I'm a makeup educ now. It's something I really leaned into over the last four or five years of my career is educating and getting the viewers because that's primarily where most of my education takes place is online. Getting them familiar with how to use products and apply it on themselves and just see themselves for the beauty that they have.

[Avery Woods]

Yeah.

[Spencer Hedges]

Where are you from originally? Florida.

[Guest/Commentator]

Florida.

[Spencer Hedges]

Okay. So I moved to la. It's tricky because I don't know, at what point do you say like, you're from California? Yeah, I've been here for 16 years.

[Avery Woods]

Okay.

[Spencer Hedges]

I moved here when I was 16 actually as well. And I just, I love it. I, I got out of home. I was, got my GED and I said, peace, I'm out of here.

[Avery Woods]

Where in Florida are you from?

[Spencer Hedges]

Tampa Bay.

[Avery Woods]

Okay. So we vacation in Destin every year.

[Spencer Hedges]

Nice.

[Avery Woods]

With our, our good friends. I'm not familiar with Tampa, but I know a lot of people from Tampa.

[Spencer Hedges]

Yeah, you know, you're not missing out on much, you know, to be honest. Like if you're going to go to Florida, like go south down to Miami, you know, even Orlando is kind of up and coming. If you're going to go to Tampa, forget Tampa Bay. I know I'm going to ruffle some feathers to some people listening and watching. But Tampa Bay, maybe skip out on that, go over to St. Pete. That's where it's at. It's super cute, quaint, a nice little town on the water. They have this hotel there called the Vinoy. It's really chic and it's just, it's a good vibe over there.

[Avery Woods]

Okay, love. What brought you to LA at 16?

[Spencer Hedges]

I wanted to be in entertainment somehow. I don't know really what that looked like at that age. You know, I was just trying to figure out, you know, life at 16. I mean, I have. My beard is growing in. That's the biggest concern. I'm like, what is this? But at 16, I really knew I wanted to be in entertainment. I wanted to be on my own and spread my wings and figure life out. And so at was it 14, I had started becoming homeschooled with the intentions of obtaining my ged, graduating early and then heading out to into la.

[Avery Woods]

And you came here by yourself?

[Spencer Hedges]

I did.

[Avery Woods]

Who'd you live with?

[Spencer Hedges]

By myself. By myself.

[Interviewer/Host Assistant]

What were you.

[Spencer Hedges]

Well, no, I shouldn't say that. When I first moved here, I did have a roommate, but there's no one that I had known. It was just we shared a little. Gosh, it wasn't even a studio. It was an efficiency. So it's not even like, like a studio. At least you kind of have your own separate kitchen and area and efficiency. It barely fit my left butt cheek. I mean, it was so tiny and there was two of us in there. But it was the best time of my life.

[Avery Woods]

Really.

[Spencer Hedges]

It was the best time. Yes.

[Avery Woods]

I think when I look back to what I thought at that time was such a hard time of my life, sometimes I'm like, I would give anything to go back because it's such a simple time of your life, you know? Like, my husband and I always talk about how in the early days of our relationship and marriage, we struggled so much, but like, we didn't need a lot to be happy. And that's such a freeing thing. And even though success is amazing and you live such a privileged life, the simple things are always the things that matter most. And I love thinking about that time.

[Spencer Hedges]

Do you feel like now, as we've gotten older and we have more on our plate and responsibilities, like, you know, touching bases on what you were just, you know, talking about. As you know, things were simpler when we were younger. Like now for me, I find, and it's kind of like unavoidable. I just have more fears now than I ever did always. Like at the time we had nothing to lose. Like, what was the worst that could happen? I'd end up on the streets. And at the time I was so like, I'm very lucky and privileged to say that if it got to that point, my parents would not let that happen. They would say, spence, come on back home. But that was worst case scenario. And that's not that bad. Now it's like kids, you got the House, you got a mortgage, you got X, Y and Z and just trying to keep up with life.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Avery Woods]

And then when you are a provider too, for your family, your child, it's different because you don't do it for you, you do it for them. And that feels like it's everything to lose. Of course, you know. So what kind of jobs were you working at 16 in LA?

[Spencer Hedges]

Goodness, everything. Well, so before I had moved out to la, I had already been working, I had, while I was going through the homeschooling program, I was also like a part time assistant to a Mary Kay consultant. I had worked at UPS and I worked in a call center. So I, I was booked and busy. When I moved out to la, I ended up becoming a very part time assistant to a family friend who worked in the furniture business, if I remember correctly. And I kind of just helped operate the sales and everything. And then for many years, many, many years, I had worked front desk at a medical office. And that was one of the most pivotal times of my life. And it was funny because I was just talking to some girlfriends about this at dinner the other night because they had known me when I was already kind of blown up on social media, so to speak. I had already kind of gained some success as a makeup artist and I was living a double life for the longest time. And only they, my closest friends and family had known that while I was still doing masterclasses and building my social media presence. And at that time I had just, I mean really probably just started making seven figures a year. Like that was like at the beginning of my big career and I was still working part time at this medical office front desk and people were always like, why in the world are you doing that? You didn't need to. But they were, it grounded me, it kept me humble and I've lost money so much. I've been broke and then I had a little money broke again. I've never been good with money and I know my, my personality trait. So when I started making money and gaining success, the people whom I worked for at that medical office, which were, they're from China, they're very traditional Chinese, they kept me, kept me extremely grounded and, and it taught me discipline a lot and I needed that at that time in my career.

[Avery Woods]

Yeah. So I, I resonate a lot with that because I was full time pediatric ICU nurse and so my social media was blowing up and I had, I think like 1.5 million followers on TikTok, still working full time in the ICU and I signed with my team and everyone that I worked with was like, dude, why are you here? And I'm like, well, my entire life I wanted to be a nurse. Like, this was not something that I expected to do. But also I feel extremely grateful to have seen real life experiences and, like, worked really hard jobs and had a really hard career because it does put, put our life into perspective. It makes you feel so grateful for everything you have. And I've talked about this so many times. But my friend Jackie Aina, who also is another beauty creator, love her. She's the best.

[Spencer Hedges]

I'm her, like, her biggest.

[Avery Woods]

Yes, she's the greatest. And we sat down on the podcast and she was talking about how people that come from that type of life have a different work ethic in this industry.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

And it's just true.

[Avery Woods]

You have a different perspective. You work harder and you're, you're humble and you're grateful. Not, not everyone's humble in this industry, that's for sure. But you are very grateful. And there's days where sometimes I'm like, oh, I don't want to film that ad. And I'm like, bitch, get your ass up. Used to work 12 and a half hour shifts pregnant during the pandemic. Like, you can film an ad for a foundation or whatever it is, you know, 1,000%. And so I feel very grateful for that. When did beauty and makeup come into your life?

[Spencer Hedges]

I suppose when I was young, ish, probably around six or seven. I had always enjoyed doing my mom's makeup and my sister's makeup. And I don't know if they enjoyed it. They got burnt a couple of times with a curling iron. And let's not even talk about the time I'd bring out the eyelash curler, but it's something I always enjoyed doing, but I never thought I can make a career out of it. You see, like back then, all we kind of knew, especially in Florida and like that all we kind of knew of a makeup artist is someone who works behind a counter in a mall selling and promoting product. Gosh, now that I say that out loud, I guess it's not far off from what we do now.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

It's true, it's true.

[Spencer Hedges]

But at the time I was such a nervous. I don't know if nervous is the right word, but I was very shy, introverted as a child. So for someone to think, Spence working behind a counter, approaching strangers, forget it, like, because I would never. I'm a different person now. And, um, so I never gave second thoughts to even Becoming a makeup artist, it wasn't till I lived out in California and I, I realized, like, oh, there's an industry for this. Like, people get paid to do someone's makeup. I mean, okay. And I remember the first time someone offered me money to do their makeup, I said, wow, okay, I, I feel like this is too good to be true.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Avery Woods]

So were you, did you start making money when it came to the makeup industry by doing people's glam?

[Spencer Hedges]

I did, yes. So I was primarily, I offered that service is I would do a lot of house calls. And then from there it ended up to me kind of just building this repertoire of clients that worked on camera. And I would do a lot of print work and go to their shoots and do makeup for music videos and all kinds of things.

[Avery Woods]

And then. Tell me about when social media came along.

[Spencer Hedges]

Well, social media, you see, social media came along actually in the very beginning. But I wasn't making or monetizing off of it, making any money or nothing. I was just doing it because at the time I was working a job where my coworker is like, because I was always enjoying, enjoy doing their makeup. And she says, why don't you post about it on Instagram? I was like, instagram, what is that? Like, what is this nonsense? Let me see.

[Avery Woods]

Like when the sepia filter was there.

[Spencer Hedges]

Yes, yes. And there was no videos or reels or nothing. You just, you take a picture and you post it. I said, I don't know about all this. And she just do it. So I did it. And at the time, I would post a lot of befores and afters and that caught a lot of buzz very quickly. And I, my social media grew very fast from that. Like, that was during a time, I mean, it was very different than now, I'd imagine it was similar to what TikTok was at the beginning.

[Avery Woods]

Yes.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

You know what I mean?

[Spencer Hedges]

And yeah, one thing after another happened and I realized that my bread and butter was in befores and afters. And of course I would tackle the brands or mention them. And it raised some eyebrows and got people paying attention on that side of the industry.

[Avery Woods]

And then what was the pivotal moment where you like, okay, I could do social media full time.

[Spencer Hedges]

I'd say about five or six years ago, right before I started my YouTube channel, when I started YouTube, long form content of these tutorials, I realized, okay, I've been doing it, I could do this full time. I didn't actually do this full time until maybe two years ago. I was up until two years ago. I was still working at the acupuncture clinic two years ago. What? I've never even said that.

[Avery Woods]

That's crazy.

[Spencer Hedges]

And if they need someone calls in or whatever, and they need someone at the front desk or in the back changing out table paper, whatever, I'm there. Like that. Those people are like my family.

[Avery Woods]

Oh, I love that.

[Spencer Hedges]

And it, again, it taught me a lot of discipline and keeps me. Still keeps me grounded. And I find that I just love. And it kind of aligns with being a makeup artist. I just love serving people I love. Yeah, I don't know if that makes sense.

[Avery Woods]

Yeah, no, totally.

[Spencer Hedges]

It would have to make sense for you, because you have to be there for people. You get it.

[Avery Woods]

Yes. I had a very hard time when I first left nursing because I felt like I wasn't contributing to society in a positive way. And people argue and say, like, well, you bring joy to us through your content, and I appreciate that. But I knew I made a physical difference in people's lives and for these kids. And I always felt like it was my calling. And so that was a really hard decision for me. But it was my manager that gave me the push and was like, you always have a place to come back, but you never know if you don't try. And I'm so grateful for that. Like your friend saying, like, post on Instagram, sometimes you just need that outside perspective to give you that little push, and it totally changes your life. Do you think you waited so long to leave because of the stability or just because it felt like a leap? Or what was keeping you from fully committing to doing only social media?

[Spencer Hedges]

It wasn't the financial stability, because up until I was even working in that medical office, I was financially stable. It was just, I. I really liked the discipline that it gave me. And I wear so many different hats with what I do in social media that it allowed me to. It gave me an escape from the world I kind of live in. And you get it, too. Like, you go to events and, like, there is this glamorous factor, this glamorous filter that a lot of people see this through, and it allowed me to, you know, kind of stay grounded. I keep on going back to that because that's really what it was. It didn't get me caught up in the bad things that kept me out of trouble. It kept me around the right people and. But what really made me decide that, hey, I gotta go my separate ways was having my family, you know, having a child. And now she has and deserves my 100%, my utmost attention.

[Avery Woods]

Let's talk about her.

[Spencer Hedges]

Yeah, let's do it.

[Avery Woods]

Okay. The videos where she'll like help you with your makeup. Send me because that's my daughter. Like, she goes through my PR cabinets and like stocks her little drawers with, know, her clear lip gloss and blush and all the things.

[Spencer Hedges]

How old is she?

[Avery Woods]

She's five. Oh my gosh.

[Spencer Hedges]

That's such a fun age.

[Avery Woods]

It's such a fun. I feel like 18 months for a little girl on is just like more and more magical. I mean, I have a boy and a girl, so it's magical in different ways. Like, I get, I was such a tomboy growing up. So with my son, like, I love roller skating and playing sports and I get like that rough house side with him.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

But.

[Avery Woods]

But with my daughter, I also love beauty and glam and fashion and so I get that. So it's kind of best of both worlds. But did you always know you wanted to be a father?

[Spencer Hedges]

Always. Always. I'd say from the age of 13 on.

[Avery Woods]

Yeah.

[Spencer Hedges]

My youngest sister was born when I was 13.

[Avery Woods]

Oh, okay.

[Spencer Hedges]

So the day I held her when she was born, I just felt like this very paternal instinct and I'm like, I need to become a father. And I think that's what also kind of gave me the fire underneath my tush to do something with my life at a young age of is because I knew I had always seen myself. I like a plan. You know, my plan was always to be a single father. And I knew that road to get there is a little tricky. And so I needed to make something of myself to have a child at a young age. And.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

Without regular practice, kids can lose momentum over summer break. IXL helps students stay sharp and confident so they're ready for the next school year. IXL is an award winning online learning platform that helps kids truly understand what they're learning, whether they're building math confidence, strengthening reading and writing skills, or reviewing science concepts. IXL is used in 96 of the top 100 school districts in the US and studies show kids who use IXL score higher on tests proven in all 50 states. My kids just had their last day of school yesterday, so IXL is already prepped and on board. I've raved about how much my kids love ixl. They've been using it since last summer when they were in summer camp before they went into transitional kindergarten and first grade. Make an impact on your child's learning. Get IXL now and cheers with Avery. Listeners can get an exclusive 20% off IXL membership when they sign up today at ixl.com cheers visit ixl.com cheers to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price. Traditional old banks charge overdraft and monthly fees. Why pay to get your own money? Chime is banking built for you. That's why they have thousands of fee free ATMs. Chime members can earn up to $1,150 in annual rewards fee free. And with a Chime card, you get 5% cash back. In a category you choose, you're not just switching banks, you're upgrading to America's number one choice for banking with a Chime checking account. Chime is not just smarter banking. It's the most rewarding way to bank. Join the millions who are already banking fee free today. Head to chime.com avery that's chime.com avery it only takes a few minutes to sign up. Chime is a fintech, not bank banking. Services for Chime card provided by Chime's Bank Partners. Optional products and services may have fees or charges. Stated cash back for Chime prime only. No minimum balance required. Checking account ranking Based on a J.D. power survey Published October 20, 2025

[Avery Woods]

how come you knew you wanted to be a single father specifically?

[Spencer Hedges]

I'm sure a psychiatrist will tell me that has something to do with my parents, you know, going their separate ways when I was young o they divorced when I was very young and it was a messy divorce and I just never felt the craving of being with someone or being in a relationship. I don't know, it's just something I always envisioned, just raising a child on my own and raising that child with just so much love and attention and making that child feel safe and just giving them an opportunity to grow into their own person.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Avery Woods]

For those that maybe are interested in exploring that type of journey, can you kind of walk us through what the IVF surrogacy journey was like for you in order to become a father?

[Spencer Hedges]

Sure. I mean, for me I do want to say to, you know, your listeners and viewers that the journey looks different for everybody. It does. But my journey specifically, I got very, very lucky. And I'm very privileged to say that for years now I had been talking with my sister in law about being my gestational carrier or surrogate to make it, you know, easier to be my surrogate. She we had always talked about it for the last, I don't know, 10 years. And when I felt like I was ready, we both decided, okay, let's do it. I had an egg Donor. And through ivf we created the embryo. And it took a little bit of work to me to have a, you know, for it to carry to term. But I got a good one. You know, my little daughter Celine, she's, she's perfect. And so to answer your question, yes, I had an egg donor, I had the surrogate and it was a, it was a long process in that all. She lives in Florida. So I was going back and forth a lot because IVF clinics were there. And we did it in the same way you would do it as if you had gone through an agency to have a surrogate. You know, we had to go through the psych evaluations and the insurance and the escrows and everything. And it was a stressful process. But to make it make sense, like it was the most exciting part of my life because I was one step closer every day of my dream, becoming fulfilled. It was a really special experience. And then to be doing it with my family, like my sister in law, my brother, you know, he was just so supportive and like, you know, giving her the shots, you know, every day. And we're very, very, very close.

[Avery Woods]

Yeah. I was going to say, I know a lot of people that are exploring surrogacy and that's the hardest part is finding someone to be able to carry your baby or affording it, you know, that's another thing too. It's so expensive. But the fact that your sister in law did that for you, what a special thing. Like what a selfless, incredible thing. Because I've been through pregnancies and childbirth. That shit is not easy, you know, but that just shows who you are. And them knowing what an incredible father you are going to be that she did that for you, I just think it's so special.

[Spencer Hedges]

Thank you. I agree. It was not just like the biggest compliment, but it was the biggest gift to be able to have someone carry your child who you completely trust. You know, I honestly thinking about it, if I had to go a different direction and hire, you know, a surrogate whom I didn't know,

[Sponsor Voice]

I don't care

[Spencer Hedges]

like how much, you know, how reputable the agency is, how much you're paying, just having that trust.

[Avery Woods]

Yeah.

[Spencer Hedges]

I don't know, man.

[Avery Woods]

Especially living far apart.

[Spencer Hedges]

Yes.

[Avery Woods]

Like you're not seeing them every single day, knowing what they're doing every day. So that's a very.

[Spencer Hedges]

And the energy around the household too, you know, I think that that had a lot to do with it and I, I completely trusted her. She had been pregnant before then, five Times like, she loves being preggers.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

Wow.

[Avery Woods]

Queen.

[Spencer Hedges]

And so that household is booked and busy. A lot of kids running around. It's just good energy. And I never for a second had a worry. And I don't know if I could say that if it was anybody else. So for that alone, just such a great gift.

[Avery Woods]

So with her being in Florida, did she give birth there and then you went to grab Celine and come back?

[Spencer Hedges]

So I ended up. I ended up purchasing the house next door when I went on the market. Oh, yeah. And I had been traveling there so often, and then also too, like, I wanted to be close to my family. And at the time, like, it was such a great gift that she was giving me and she was doing for me. I just felt like I wanted to be there and support. And we obviously, we know, like, it's not her child. She knows that. You know, I part ways and I bring. The plan was always to come back to California. But your mind says one thing, your body says another, and I just don't. I never knew how things were going to work out. Of course she knows that. Again, it's my child. But you just carried a human being in your body for nine months, you know, and you. How do you process that? Like, again, your heart says one thing, your mind says another. So I wanted to be close by, and that's amazing.

[Avery Woods]

Tell me about seeing Celine for the first time when she was born.

[Spencer Hedges]

It was. It's a little bit of a blur. It was a long delivery. I hadn't slept for like 18 hours or 20 hours, as if I had to go through all the work. Oh, poor me.

[Avery Woods]

Hey, at least you were up.

[Spencer Hedges]

At least you were up. But it was. It was really special. And it was very. It was a surreal moment. And I remember seeing her and I

[Avery Woods]

mean, you know, like, it's like an oxytocin release. Like none other. It's like you're high on life. It's the greatest experience ever.

[Spencer Hedges]

And I remember thinking, because I was preparing for, like, when I would see the whole delivery, I'm like, this is going to look like a crime scene. But I remember seeing her. I'm like, oh, my gosh, she is so beautiful. And I'm sorry, Most kids, all babies now, looking back at photos, I'm like, she looked like an alien. Okay. But in the moment, I was like, she's so beautiful.

[Avery Woods]

Yeah, she's perfect because she's yours, of course.

[Spencer Hedges]

And I remember just. She was so calm. She wasn't crying. She was just like, so calm. And Just kind of like blinking and looking at me. Not that she can really see anything, you know, when you're. And yeah, it was just. It was really special.

[Avery Woods]

I love it.

[Spencer Hedges]

And I got to experience it with my brother right there. And of course, you know, my sister in law, Jessica, and it was just three of us and. And of course all the nurses as well. You know, it's funny, you know, in the moment, all these nurses rush in. Right, right. You're about to give delivery. One of the nurse. I was like, oh, my gosh, what's happening? And there's just like all this energy and this nurse is like, I just want to let you know I'm a huge fan.

[Guest/Commentator]

I love you.

[Spencer Hedges]

And I'm like, thank you. One, two. Not now. Now's not a great time. Like, I'm about to experience the most special moment of my life. And, like, you want a selfie?

[Avery Woods]

Boundaries, babe. Boundaries, babe. Okay, love this. What is your favorite thing about fatherhood so far?

[Spencer Hedges]

I just love seeing her kind of come into her own person and explore things. And she's just becoming this confident little girl. And selfishly, I love that she feels safe. Like, I can tell she is truly happy and she feels safe because it makes me feel like I'm doing something right. But I also, for her, I just love seeing her happy and explore new things. And we went out to this farm over the weekend and just her getting to play with the goats and. And, you know, ride on this little bumblebee tractor. It's like at that age, we forget everything is bigger than life.

[Avery Woods]

Yeah. And it's the little, like, magical moments, but it makes you. I'm a very on the go, like, in a hurry person. I think motherhood has really taught me to say slow down and embrace the small moments, especially with our industry. It's forever evolving and changing, and so we're always on to the next. But I think my kids force me to slow down, which is kind of beautiful.

[Spencer Hedges]

And to that point, I think I agree with that for sure. And just becoming more present.

[Avery Woods]

Yes.

[Spencer Hedges]

Right. I had to remind myself a couple times that, like, Spence, put your phone down, put the laptop away. Like, go play blocks with your kid. You know what I mean? Go watch whatever on the TV with your kid. Yeah. So work can wait, you know?

[Avery Woods]

Yes. How are you managing and balancing single fatherhood so well?

[Spencer Hedges]

I'm thriving.

[Avery Woods]

I know, but you also run an extremely successful business, and being a working parent, especially a single working parent, is very hard. So give me your tips.

[Spencer Hedges]

You know, at this stage in my life, it's not. I'm not chasing a paycheck. I'm not chasing a follower, you know, I don't care about my following count or, like, count or whatever. Honestly, nowadays, it's kind of plummeting, you know, with the algorithm.

[Avery Woods]

I feel like everyone is on the same boat, though. So we're all kind of. We're still.

[Spencer Hedges]

I give up.

[Avery Woods]

Yeah.

[Spencer Hedges]

The ship has sailed and sunk. I'm like, forget it. I mean, whoever wants to watch me can watch me. And those are the people I want around anyway.

[Avery Woods]

Yeah, totally.

[Spencer Hedges]

But at this point in my life, it's really about wanting to build a legacy and build out something that I can pass down to my baby, you know, and my grandbabies and my great grandbabies, you know, and that's what I'm thinking about right now.

[Avery Woods]

I love that.

[Spencer Hedges]

I don't know how my current career fits into that, but all I know is that I want to build out something that she's going to be proud of. And that was going back to what I was saying earlier. I've always been about a plan, and I've always wanted to have my own family first, have a child before I really built out a brand and a business, because I need her to see the blood, sweat, and tears I put into this. You're not going to be no Nepo baby. Not on my watch.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

Totally.

[Spencer Hedges]

You need to see what I'm putting into this. And because I'm not just passing down, you know, a check on a silver spoon for you.

[Avery Woods]

Totally.

[Spencer Hedges]

So I agree.

[Avery Woods]

We tell our kids the same thing. Like, they earn their allowance. We tell them, you know, their life is very privileged. And it's hard, though. Like, we live in the same area that is the majority of kids around there, though.

[Spencer Hedges]

Yeah.

[Avery Woods]

So I've learned once my kids went to school. School, that those, you know, those are hard conversations.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

Why?

[Avery Woods]

Why does this kid have this?

[Spencer Hedges]

Why?

[Avery Woods]

Why do we have to do this? Why do we have chores and responsibilities? And I'm like, well, that's. That's what you do. You raise a hardworking kid. Because a lot of those kids graduate high school and they don't know what they're doing or they don't have the work ethic or the drive because they know it's handed to them.

[Spencer Hedges]

Right. You know, and I think that comes down to, like, what their home. Their home base is, you know, for. For us, our homes. What are the mor. The, you know, the ethics that we kind of instill in our children. And, you know, when they go out into the real world, like school. I mean, it's no different than at our age. Right? I find myself comparing myself to Jeff Bezos. Why is that guy a billionaire? Okay, like, if I knew I could have, like, wrapped up some things in a box and shipped it to someone's doorstep, I would have done it a long time ago. Why not me? Yeah, but that's life.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

Totally.

[Avery Woods]

Were there any, like, OG beauty gurus that you loved watching as you were growing or that inspired you?

[Spencer Hedges]

It wasn't necessarily gurus, like, on social media, because when I was really learning and training to do makeup, I was studying the greats, you know, we're talking about Kevin Aucoin and Sam Fine and, you know, all the amazing artists that are from, you know, the past and currently still with us. I mean, there's just so many artists, even Mario now and. And Etienne Ortega. Anyways, so that's who really I was looking up to and just kind of keeping a close eye on and finding that their techniques were working for me and my clients.

[Avery Woods]

I feel like the beauty industry, especially on social media, is forever evolving. There's always a new trend or new thing to try. How do you stay true to your techniques and what you believe in?

[Spencer Hedges]

You know, my techniques, they. I don't find that they just came about last week because they were pushed through an algorithm, you know, or a kind of trend. These are techniques that are tried and true that I've used on clients, you know, for years. And I think a lot of times as viewers, we forget that because something's trending. It's not going to work for us. It looks great on someone who does their makeup every single day and who is in front of 20 lights and possibly a filter and, you know, in front of their phone saying that, you know, this is amazing. You gotta try it. And they're serving an algorithm, you know, but it's. It's different as a. As a working makeup artist, truly a working makeup artist, because like a lot of the beauty influencers, only a handful, handful of them come from a working background as an artist or are currently working. And that's why I do currently work, is that that is the best training I have to keep my. My, you know, skill sets and tools sharp, so to speak. I like working on other people, on other, you know, skin concerns and textures and shades and goals, you know, so those are. That's something to keep in mind, is that when you watch these trends, you

[Avery Woods]

know, yeah, it's true, and it's crazy how many people still Will do makeup tutorials with a beauty filter because you do show real texture and real skin. And it's important because I can't tell you how many products I have purchased from watching someone's tutorial. And I get it in the mail and I try it. I'm like, this looks so bad on me, you know, so it just depends. It depends on who you are and what your skin type is like. And I just love how much you experiment, but also are authentic.

[Spencer Hedges]

Thank you.

[Avery Woods]

You know?

[Spencer Hedges]

Thank you. And I think that's okay too, if a trend doesn't work. And I always tell, remind people, like, it's okay if a product doesn't work for you, you know, and it kind of goes back to like how I feel sometimes with brands and their marketing. Like, I can. This is a whole other episode, girl. Because the gag is, yep, these brands, can they get a little too comfortable in their, in their marketing meetings? Yeah, they do really stretch the truth. These campaigns that some brands run nowadays, it sends the message that you have to run out and buy this. Like, we've really kind of adjusted our mindset to serving this algorithm that you have that you have to run out and buy something or else you'll have. What is it? Fomo. Fomo, yeah. Fear of missing out.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

Right.

[Spencer Hedges]

And I hate that because, listen, our dollar can only be stretched so far nowadays, let me tell you. And when you're working and hustling and you're making, you know, you have this money and you're going to spend your hard earned money on something that you're promised will work for you and it doesn't, I don't know, it's just not a good feeling. Not just as a creator and a makeup artist saying this, but as an actual consumer. And I wish brands saw that it does more harm than the good because now the consumer loses trust in that brand. And I think you might be able to give some insight as well. Working on this side of the business. And we're promoting products and, and such. When we get these creative briefs from brands and they're so adamant on using these buzzwords and, you know, handing us the same creative brief that they're giving 20 other people, it's just like, listen, this ain't working. All right? There's like this machine that this company wanted me to promote. They had just released it a week ago. And I said, listen, I'm not going to get results from this machine in a week, all right? I need at least six months to try this out. If you're going to claim, if you want me to claim that it lifts the face. And by the way, I just had a facelift, you know, four months ago, so I don't even think I'm the right candidate to talk about this.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Avery Woods]

And also, it's because we're being authentic.

[Spencer Hedges]

Right.

[Avery Woods]

And I've told brands that. Have you. I love that. This is kind of being trendy, though, on social media. People are talking about this. I've seen so many creators make videos talking about what their CTA is in a brief or I've had this happen to. I saw a creator talk about how she was offered a campaign.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

She accepted it.

[Avery Woods]

They said, just talk about your experience, naturally, why you like the product. And she sent in the video for approval. They came back and corrected her and said, actually, we need you to say X, Y and Z lines, A through E, whatever. That's not me being myself. That's not me being authentic. That's not me telling you my true experience with the product. You're giving me lines like we're in

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

a movie, like it's a script.

[Avery Woods]

Viewers do not want to see that. You know, Like, I know immediately, even before I did this full time, I'd watch something and I'm like, that ad is so scripted. Like, I don't believe a word that bitch is saying.

[Spencer Hedges]

Exactly. It just feels very inauthentic and performative.

[Avery Woods]

Yes. It's very frustrating. I worked with a brand not too long ago, and it was a story set, and it was for a company that I genuinely love and use. And I feel very lucky to be in that place, point in my career where I can be picky about who I work with, but when I really believe in the product, I'll do it. They wanted. They were so specific about the brief. I posted it, and then all of a sudden, my entire feed is this exact ad with like a hundred different influencers. Same brief, same line, same stories. And then they emailed my team a week later, like, hey, like, the performance of it was a little bit low. Like, there weren't as many link clicks as we expected. Correct. Because a hundred other influencers did the same ad, said the same thing. How are they gonna choose which link to click? They're all the same. And it's the same discount code. It's not authentic at all. But that affects the brand's success and how many people are going to be

[Spencer Hedges]

purchasing and, you know, nowadays, which is amazing how far we've come, like, the power is really in the consumer's hands. Like, we are so Privy to information. And we're way more educated now. Right. And we have so many options. Yes, the industry is super saturated, the beauty industry. But the perk of that is, is that we can choose where we want to spend our dollar. Right. And when we find that these bigger companies, you know, it doesn't even have to be a big company if a company steers us the wrong way and just leaves a bad taste in our mouth after we've given them our trust, bought their products, chose to support them, because that is a choice. You can choose who you want to support, what brand you want to put money in, you know, in whose pocket if that trust is betrayed, I'm not going back there.

[Avery Woods]

Yeah.

[Spencer Hedges]

You know, and here's the thing. I always tell, like, brands, obviously their goal, they want to get an roi, they want to get a return on their investment. Of course it's a business. I get it. But I tell them, I said, listen, my goal and my content when I partner with you is not to sell the product. It's to instill education and trust with the consumer with your brand. So, for example, this is like a year, it was a little while ago, this primer that I had to, I partnered with, to promote. And I forget what I had. It was like a certain, like a strawberry primer or, or something. It had like acai seeds, I don't know, God's gift to earth, apparently. And I did like the primer and I like that it had an active ingredient. That's what I resonated with. But they were so, you know, they were so set on me talking about, they wanted me to reshoot, talking about these acai seeds or pomegranate seeds, I don't know. I said, listen. And I had a call with this billion dollar company, okay, with the owners, the founders of it, and I said, listen, no one gives an F about these pomegranate seeds. No one is walking past your gondola at Sephora and saying, oh, that's expensive. Oh, but you know, I got no pomegranate seeds. Gotta get two of them.

[Avery Woods]

Let me swipe that card.

[Spencer Hedges]

Yeah, yeah.

[Avery Woods]

They don't give a shit.

[Spencer Hedges]

So no one cares about that. Does it work? Okay? They want to see results. And guess what? If they're not ready to buy now, when they are in the market to purchase a primer, they're going to feel comfortable, confident and educated about your product and they will go and buy yours. Even if that does not mean right now, I don't want to make them feel like they have to go buy it right now, but when they are ready to, they will.

[Avery Woods]

And what'd they say?

[Spencer Hedges]

They allowed me to post it and it did really well. It did amazing. Yeah. I don't know what the numbers were. If they got to reach. I don't care about the numbers after I partner. That's not my goal. I'm not a salesperson in that regard, you know.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Avery Woods]

And also consumers don't want to hear the nitty gritty again. They want to see results. They want to watch you put it on your face and see why it's worth the money.

[Spencer Hedges]

Right.

[Avery Woods]

You know, they don't care about acai bs, whatever, whatever they were talking about.

[Spencer Hedges]

There's so much, there are so many claims nowadays. I can't keep it. Just does it work? Does it work? Does it fit my budget? Does it work? Do I support the brand and do I need it?

[Avery Woods]

Yeah, totally.

[Spencer Hedges]

Do I need it?

[Interviewer/Host Assistant]

You've heard it a thousand times. You've got to eat enough protein, but you still want it to taste good. Fulfill Protein bars are seriously delicious, seriously convenient ways to hit those protein goals on the go. Fulfill Protein is a delicious protein bar that tastes like a candy bar and fits into your everyday life. Grab a chocolate salted caramel bar for the perfect sweet and salty combination. Or if you're a peanut butter and chocolate person, Fulfill Chocolate Peanut Butter with Reese's flavor is so good so you can power your days with indulgent chocolatey taste, double dipped chocolaty coating and a soft and chewy nougat style center. And the best part? Every Fulfill Bar packs a whopping 20 grams of protein with eight vitamins and only one to two grams of sugar. So break up with your candy bar. Shop Fulfill Protein on Amazon at a retailer near you or go to livefulfill.com for more information.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

Does anyone else feel like August is the Sunday of summer? It's the perfect time to hit reset before the autumn rush and your wardrobe is the perfect place to start. Quince proves you don't need a crowded closet to look incredible. You just need the right pieces. Everything at Quint is priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands. They work directly with ethical factories and cut out the middlemen. So you you're paying for high quality, not brand markup. I've raved about Quince's European pajamas to you guys for so long. They're so breathable and soft, but for summer I've been obsessed with the 100% European linen wide leg pant. There are so many different colors. It's such a great quality. For the price, they're only $42. And other linen pants that I've purchased from other brands are double, if not more than that. Pairing that with just a simple button down or T shirt is the perfect outfit for summer. It's breathable, it's elevated and you aren't overheated. Upgrade your everyday. Go to quint.com cheers for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK too. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com cheers for free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com cheers

[Avery Woods]

did you say you had a facelift?

[Spencer Hedges]

I did, yeah.

[Avery Woods]

Wait, I want to talk about that.

[Spencer Hedges]

I feel like I've been doing, I've been talking a lot about it, which is funny because I'm like, I was never planning on talking about it. And then I'm like, that's the only thing I want to talk about.

[Avery Woods]

Well, you look insane. Thank you. So I want to talk about it.

[Spencer Hedges]

Sure, let's do it.

[Avery Woods]

When did you get it?

[Spencer Hedges]

About four months ago. I'd say.

[Avery Woods]

You look so good for four months post op.

[Spencer Hedges]

Thank you. Thank you. It was, I started, I got back to work a week after. So actually I shot a campaign for one size. Literally like I think a week and a half or two weeks after my facelift. Looking back on it, I look crazy. I don't know why my management left me out, let me leave the house. I'm kidding. But it was. Yeah. If you want to see me like two weeks after a face look, go check that out. I was back to work and I felt great. Looked a little crazy. Swelling just started going down. A couple weeks ago, a very dear

[Avery Woods]

friend of mine just got a facelift and then she get her nose redone. So they did at the same time. And then she did an upper and lower bluff. She looks so good. Like a week post op she just got her drains out and I was like, wow, like add this to the

[Spencer Hedges]

list and like just a little bit of swelling. That looks kind of good afterwards.

[Interviewer/Host Assistant]

It is. Okay.

[Guest/Commentator]

Plump.

[Spencer Hedges]

That's like the honeymoon phase.

[Avery Woods]

Okay. Plump. Oh my God. Looks so good.

[Spencer Hedges]

Question. Can I ask you because I want to pick your brain about this.

[Avery Woods]

No, tell me.

[Spencer Hedges]

All right. So my whole thing, right. The reason I never intended on talking about it, I've never talked about plastic surgery is because in my situation I'm promoting techniques and products to encourage people to feel more beautiful and look more beautiful, so to speak. I just didn't want plastic surgery to be my storyline and to just send the message to people who are so impressionable, especially younger people who follow me, that, hey, to look or feel beautiful, you gotta go underneath the scalpel. So did you ever feel that way? And what. Did you ever feel a responsibility to talk about it? What made you decide that you wanted to be open about it?

[Guest/Commentator]

It.

[Avery Woods]

Since I started on social media very long time ago, I always was very authentic, sometimes a little bit too honest, to the point where people would be mad at me or get me in trouble or whatever, call me fake. I felt like if I wasn't open about it, then people would accuse me of lying or I felt like I was lying to my audience. I also am very body positivity. And I've. You know, when I first got really big on social media, I was six months postpartum with my daughter. I was still breastfeeding. I was the heaviest I've ever been. I was a working mom. And I talked about those real struggles that I've had. And I talked about how, you know, the two things that really made me insecure my whole life were first, my nose. You know, girls made fun of me in high school, and so I just felt like at every angle, unless I was looking at you, head on, my nose really bothered me. But until I grew on social media, I didn't have the financial ability to

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

get a nose job.

[Avery Woods]

But when I first. First started growing online, I'm constantly editing myself, and it's like all I'm doing is looking at my nose, and I'm like, it bothers me so much. And yes, I think it's important to talk about how you don't need surgery to be beautiful and be confident. And in no way did I think I was ugly, but it was something that I did for me, to help me. And yes, I promote beauty products and I love to do makeup tutorials, but that was something that, deep down made me feel more confident and I feel like being open and talking about it. My audience respected me for it. And I've had a lot of people say, like, you encouraged me to finally do what I've always wanted to do. And then, like, with my boobs, you know, I was like a very busty woman since I was very young. And then I breastfed my last baby, my first baby for 10 months, my

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

second baby for 14 months.

[Avery Woods]

And so I just had super, super saggy boobs. I was like, I couldn't button a shirt. I even I didn't even want to wear a tank top because I had really saggy cleavage. It really just, like, ate at me. And I was like, you know what? I've sacrificed my body for my children. I breastfed for a very long time. This is something I want to do for me. And I knew that diet and exercise weren't going to help me, and so I took, like, I vlogged my whole journey. And I feel like it helped so many women realize you just need to do it for you because you deserve to do it for you. And there's some things that. That just cannot be changed unless you get it surgically done. That doesn't mean you have to, but if it helps you and makes you feel more confident, I always tell my audience, like, hell, yeah, do it. I didn't need to get a boob lift. I didn't need to get a nose job, but it made me feel so much better about myself. I think the only people that got upset with me were people that have a really hard time when you grow online and you're able to, like, really change your life. When they followed me as a nerd and they felt I was more relatable, which I understand, but I also was able to grow a different career and support my family and spend more time with my kids and provide more opportunities for myself and my family. I think anyone would take that if they had the option to. I feel like people will be mad either way. But I always. Even if it gives me hate, I always compare it to the Kardashians. I feel like people get really upset when they can see the drastic changes in their body, but they will not talk about plastic surgery, and so they

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

get eaten alive for that.

[Avery Woods]

But then there's. The other side, is if you do talk about the work you've had done,

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

then you're called fake.

[Avery Woods]

I would rather be called fake.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

But be honest all day long over

[Avery Woods]

coming back on the Internet with a completely new nose and pretending like I did not have surgery on my nose, you know?

[Spencer Hedges]

Yeah. And I think that's why you've had. You have such a loyal community and a community that loves you.

[Avery Woods]

Yeah.

[Spencer Hedges]

You know, it's because they trust you and they relate to you, too. To the other point you're making about people who kind of maybe hate on the choices that you've made for yourself. I think it's. I mean, I've never been in a relationship, but I'd imagine it's like if you entered into a relationship with a person and that person is Having a glow up and you're like, oh, I feel a little insecure now, or oh gosh, they're moving on without me. People are noticing them more. It would prob. People probably feel that way and they probably feel like, I don't know, you're outgrowing them. But in a way it's like you're not, like you're not outgrowing them. You're not going anywhere. You just want to look like the best version of and feel like the best version of yourself for them. Right. And that's why I also had made decisions to get the facelift is because, girl, I was tired. I was tired. I mean, you know how it is to have kids and I had to easy, you know, my work only started after she was born, you know. But it was, yeah, I was, I was tired and I looked tired and I lost over 100 pounds.

[Interviewer/Host Assistant]

Wow.

[Spencer Hedges]

So that does a number, right?

[Avery Woods]

Wow. Good for you. That's amazing.

[Spencer Hedges]

And so I just like looked in the mirror. I'm just like, I look tired. I don't want to get a facelift to look younger. I'm only 33.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

I don't.

[Spencer Hedges]

How young do I want to look? You know, younger than my daughter. No, but I just want to feel and look rested. Yeah, right. Because I feel like I have all this energy. I'm so happy and I have the best time of my life. And then people close to me be like, Spence, you look tired. I am tired. You know, I've been up all night and then I have work meetings at 6am and Celine won't sleep or she's sick or yada yada, yada. But that's not what I wanted. That's not how I wanted to present myself.

[Avery Woods]

I also. Two things to that. First of all, with a massive weight loss like that, from a medical perspective, a lot of people will need skin removal surgery. Or it's like with me, I will forever have loose skin unless I chose to get a tummy tuck, which I don't think I will because I'm okay with my loose skin. Because I was £211 when I gave birth. I had a huge tummy. So my body went through changes. It's the same when you have that much weight loss. Your skin is sagging, it's tired, it was stretched and now you've lost weight, so you have this extra skin that you're not filling out anymore. You're again, like you said, you're in the best time of your life. And that's what my husband I always said, like, we're young, we're thriving. Why, if I have the option, am I choosing to be insecure about something that's bothered me for 15 years? I'm gonna go fix it.

[Spencer Hedges]

You know what? Most people would do the same if they could.

[Avery Woods]

Okay.

[Spencer Hedges]

And anyone who says that they wouldn't, they're lying or they're not in a situation where they could. Okay. I don't like what. I love you, mama, but I'm gonna put you on blast right now. Okay.

[Avery Woods]

Sorry, Mama.

[Spencer Hedges]

She's. I'm like. She goes, spence, you don't need to do this. Yeah. You know, she was very anti because what she had known of facelifts is, like, kind of what they used to really be, where you look wind blown, there's a lot of tension on the skin. Now they go, you know, deep down to this mess and deep tissue. Anyway. Okay, that's another episode for another time. But the point is, is that, mom, like, it's going to be natural. And she goes, I would never. Just be happy with yourself. I said, mom, if I wrote you a check right now, you cannot tell me that you wouldn't take it and send it to the first person you see with a PhD. Okay?

[Avery Woods]

Yep.

[Spencer Hedges]

All right. You. I know you would get a facelift if you could, if you wanted to. And she agreed. And then she picked me up from surgery on surgery day, period. Yeah, she was. She was there. She came to town, she helped me with Celine, and she picked me up and she goes, spencer, I told you. I told you. Because I looked crazy.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Spencer Hedges]

I mean, my eyes were. Because I also had the brow lift and the neck lift and everything. And my face was crazy.

[Avery Woods]

You don't even have an incision mark.

[Spencer Hedges]

He hid it behind the hairline and here. And then with guys, it's different because they go inside the ear and around the ear, and then they pull the skin back a little bit. But my beard line was, like, in my ear. So now they have to hair laser remove.

[Avery Woods]

Yeah. You're a global brand ambassador for one size. Congratulations.

[Spencer Hedges]

Thank you.

[Avery Woods]

I love Patrick, and I love that brand.

[Spencer Hedges]

I. Me too. I love everything they stand for, and I love where they're going. Like, I love. It's not often where there's a brand who I like, truly appreciate in terms of their past, their present, and where they're going. When I became privy to the products that they're releasing for the rest of the year and a couple quarters next year, I was like, I have to be a part of this brand. I have to, I have to, I have to. And you can see for the last, like, few months, they just like been knocking out banger after banger. I mean, their bronzing setting spray, life changing, right?

[Avery Woods]

No, I literally bought two bottles to restock because my husband and I are taking a, like a tropical vacation for our 10 year wedding anniversary. And I'm like, it's legit all over my chest, my face. I was scared shitless, by the way, when I got it, because I was like, what is this gonna make me orange? Yeah, I already use the one size setting spray, as we all do. Yeah, that. It's probably top five product I've used in, like five years.

[Spencer Hedges]

That's amazing.

[Avery Woods]

Genuinely, I would say that, like, and I go, like, I. I'm blessed to be on pr, but like, I literally. Patrick, I'm. My ass was in Sephora at the Commons, restocking it because I needed more. Like, it's so good.

[Spencer Hedges]

It's so good. And it doesn't transfer.

[Avery Woods]

No.

[Spencer Hedges]

And I love it.

[Avery Woods]

You can use it on your body too. I love Body Glow.

[Spencer Hedges]

Yes, yes, yes. And you know what I've been doing with that, that I love is I just use a little bit of cream blush, like red, red cream blush, just to give like that sunburnt look. A little bit on my cheeks, across the nose. And then I use that on top. And literally nothing else on the market will make you look like you just stepped off a beach, like a damn mermaid. Excuse my language. Like, you will look literally like you just got back from vacation. It's that little bit of red cream blush. They actually have one that they just released a limited edition, which is fantastic. But use whatever, you know, use red lipstick for all I care. Really. Just dab it on and that will give you the sunburnt sun kissed look. And then that bronzing spray, Chef's kiss.

[Avery Woods]

I'm using that on my vacation immediately.

[Spencer Hedges]

Yeah, it's life changing.

[Avery Woods]

Yeah. I just, I love him and every event that I see him at, he's just the sweetest. And he always has brothers with him and just like such a big family guy.

[Spencer Hedges]

Very, very, very kind. And he hustles. He's a hard worker.

[Avery Woods]

No one can deny his work ethic.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

It's crazy.

[Spencer Hedges]

It's really admirable. And I'm really proud to be a part of that brand because it's a brand that I've been with since the very beginning, and it's the only brand. And I mentioned this because we were talking about it a bit ago about brands who really push their luck with those creative briefs. One, size is the only brand, first of all, the first brand I ever worked with, the very first that ever sponsored my content and made me feel seen as an artist.

[Avery Woods]

I love that.

[Spencer Hedges]

But two, the only brand who said, spencer, we're not going to give you a creative brief on this. Do whatever you want. We trust you. Not just that, but it was actually to promote their foundation. When they launched it, I said, listen, I need to be honest, I didn't care for the first foundation you had ever launched. It was like a BB cream or something like a. They no longer sell it, but it was back in the day. And I said, I need to call you out for that in my content because I loved the new formula, the foundation. They said, do it, do it. We trust you.

[Avery Woods]

See, that's a brand I would immediately get behind.

[Spencer Hedges]

Exactly. I'm like, they're not trying to pull the wool of your eyes. They're not trying to be sneaky with some buzzwords and all that. They're like, listen, just talk about what you feel comfortable with, talk about what you like, what you don't like. And they never have anything to say. When I send in the content for approval.

[Avery Woods]

That's amazing.

[Spencer Hedges]

I just post it.

[Avery Woods]

As a global brand ambassador, what are your roles?

[Spencer Hedges]

Well, it's to support with launches that they have coming up and also past product, but really to reinforce the educational aspect of using their products and posting content and tutorials. And they just released, I think I can. Yeah, they just released their ultimate color corrector sticks. They're stains and they're incredible. They're incredible. So I just posted, filmed a whole tutorial for that.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

Okay.

[Spencer Hedges]

And, and this goes. This like proves the genius behind the brand. Like when they want me to create content, you know, talking about a color correcting product, first of all, they're not looking for me to, you know, conduct this application on someone who's two and a half minutes old. You know, of course a young model is not going to have much color correcting to do. So they're like, we're going to use everyday people, but use people who have these concerns, who have hyperpigmentation and darkness around the eyes. And let's prove to the consumer how and why this works. But also the product is nothing like what we've seen before. They have a really interesting way, let me tell you, of being able to marry products that are consumer friendly, but also performing and performance grade, like for like professional grade, I should say for artists.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

I Agree.

[Spencer Hedges]

And there's not a lot of brands who have been able to do that makeup forever. Has done a nice job over the years. But one size, I feel like, is the only brand who's done it and done it well and from the beginning. So these stains, like, if you haven't received them yet, I think they're gonna be launching it here shortly. Try it out. Cause they're really good. They actually. They go on like a cream. They're super opaque, but also they almost, like, work like a stain where they don't move. And there's like, they're budge proof, transfer proof for up to 12 hours, but, like, you literally cannot move the product. And that's really useful because to get into the technical side of things, color correcting can be very intimidating.

[Avery Woods]

It moves because a lot of cream products, once you start blending some other products layering on top, that shit's gone.

[Spencer Hedges]

Exactly. Or they all blend together. What was the point of this?

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

It's not working.

[Spencer Hedges]

Yeah. And so. So what makeup artists do to prevent that is they set it with a little bit of powder. So you put the color correcting cream on, and then you set it with powder, and then you put a liquid or, you know, a liquid foundation or concealer on top of that. And that's where things get very scary for, you know, an everyday person. Like, oh, my gosh, I'm putting powder and then a liquid on top. Oh, I give up. I'm not doing this. What they've been able to do with this formula, it being like a stain, you don't have to set it with powder. You give it two minutes to dry down. It's not moving nowhere. So you never have to use a powder. You just go right on top with your concealer. It will not mix in at all.

[Avery Woods]

At all.

[Spencer Hedges]

You have my word. And that's like. It's just. I just love everything to do. I'm just proud to be a part of that brand.

[Avery Woods]

I love that.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

Well, it's a huge deal. You should be very proud of that.

[Spencer Hedges]

It's a dream come true. It's what I've always wanted before. I. Most people would probably, at this stage, want their own makeup brand. I just. I wanted to represent. I wanted to support a brand. And.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

Yeah. This episode is sponsored by Better Help. I have raved about Better Help to you guys for so long, but my favorite part about Better Help is you're able to have a therapy session in the comfort of your own home.

[Avery Woods]

I am always on the go.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

I'm a busy mom. I'm working multiple jobs, I'm in different roles, and with filming it's been really hard to be consistent with therapy. So Better Help has truly saved me in so many ways. You've heard about therapy with Better Help, but do you know how much people love it when they use it? See for yourself. Check out amazing customer reviews updated every [e-mail] reviews you'll find hundreds of people sharing how much Better Help has helped them. The feedback from people who have used Better Help speaks for itself because Better Help has an average Live therapy rating of 4.9 out of 5 based on over 1.7 million client session reviews. It's no wonder more than 6 million people have used BetterHelp globally haven't tried it yet.

[Avery Woods]

BetterHelp makes it easy to get started.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

Just answer a few questions and get matched with a therapist. You're in good hands. BetterHelp therapists have at least 3 years and 1000 hours of hands on experience. See the reviews, see what stands out and see if BetterHelp is right for you. Visit betterhelp.com averywoods that's betterhelp.com averywoods One

[Narrator]

sweet melty bite of a Hershey's bar and suddenly I'm right back, sitting on the front porch with my grandmother on my a slow summer afternoon. She doesn't say much, just breaks the bar in half and hands me a piece. I open my mouth to say whatever a 9 year old wants to say and she replies with a low sh Listen. So we sat there listening. That was the first time I learned that quiet can feel full. Hershey's. It's your happy place.

[Avery Woods]

My vowel renewal is coming up. Okay, so what are.

[Spencer Hedges]

Yes, I'll do your glam for it.

[Interviewer/Host Assistant]

Okay. Period.

[Spencer Hedges]

Let's just jump right to it. Of course.

[Avery Woods]

What are three non negotiable products you would say I have to include when my vow renewal is coming up for glam.

[Spencer Hedges]

Okay, what do you love most? What's your favorite feature about your face?

[Avery Woods]

Oh, I don't know about my face. I just for me, when I do my glam, I like to be very dewy bronzy. I love a good nose highlight to accentuate my fake nose.

[Spencer Hedges]

Okay.

[Avery Woods]

I guess I like my jawline. I'm like, I don't really.

[Spencer Hedges]

We love a confident queen. I mean you have such a gorgeous face.

[Avery Woods]

Oh, thank you. It's the nose job, I'm telling you. Changed my life.

[Spencer Hedges]

Okay, I'm gonna call my doctor and be like sharpen the scalpel after this.

[Guest/Commentator]

Okay.

[Spencer Hedges]

Tap, tap. Get that anesthesia ready.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Avery Woods]

Dr. Starkman in Scottsdale.

[Spencer Hedges]

He did it for us.

[Avery Woods]

He's amazing.

[Sponsor Voice]

Wow.

[Spencer Hedges]

So you went out to Arizona for.

[Avery Woods]

Yeah. He's incredible. He only does facelifts and nose jobs.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

By the way, my surgeon that did

[Avery Woods]

my boob lift, Dr. K. Incredible.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

She's so amazing. Again, paid in full.

[Avery Woods]

She was telling me. She was like, yeah. When you, like, see people online talk about, like, their surgeons and they're getting it for free, that's a no. No.

[Spencer Hedges]

Yeah.

[Avery Woods]

They're not supposed to be doing that.

[Spencer Hedges]

What was your question? We could talk on and on forever.

[Avery Woods]

Okay, so your products on my vow.

[Spencer Hedges]

All right, we're going to have to catch up after this and, like, go out for, like, coffee.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

I mean, we're literally neighbors.

[Avery Woods]

So let's go.

[Spencer Hedges]

You ever need eggs or tequila, just come on. Knocking.

[Avery Woods]

Oh, we got lots of. Lots of alcohol in my house too.

[Spencer Hedges]

Okay, so what do you need? You like to be bronze and glowy. So of course, we can't go without saying the bronzing setting, spray from one size. We already confirmed. We both love that.

[Interviewer/Host Assistant]

Love.

[Spencer Hedges]

You know what I'm really into right now are lashes.

[Avery Woods]

Oh.

[Spencer Hedges]

But let me tell you something. I like these. I like the clusters, not the strip. I can't do a strip. I've never. And that's coming from a makeup artist. I dread doing strip lashes on anyone. I don't even how to do it on myself. Clusters, the ones that go underneath your eyes. Life changing. Yep. Okay. So there's that. And then I love a good gloss. O. I love a good gloss.

[Avery Woods]

Yeah.

[Spencer Hedges]

Or a good powder too. Because, like, even though you can look incredible in person, if you have a little bit of shine in flash photography, it looks oily. Yeah.

[Avery Woods]

Yeah.

[Spencer Hedges]

You can never go wrong with a good powder.

[Avery Woods]

I've learned that on reality television. I'm constantly being powdered.

[Spencer Hedges]

Yeah.

[Avery Woods]

And I like to look very dewy and glowy. And I'll set my T zone. But on. When you're on reality television, you're sitting down in the confessionals with all the lights and stuff every five seconds. My makeup artist is powdering me.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

Yeah, yeah.

[Avery Woods]

Because it can go really quickly from dewy to oily.

[Spencer Hedges]

Real quick.

[Guest/Commentator]

Real quick.

[Spencer Hedges]

If you're going to be doing, you have to be doing in the right area. Cheekbone, down the center. That's why I don't believe in the whole T zone thing because, like, where you want the glow is actually kind of in that T zone. Down the center of the nose is where you want glow in the upper cheekbones. I use more of a W technique. So in the W zone is where I powder. So from the under eyes, nasolabial fold, powdered down.

[Avery Woods]

Okay.

[Spencer Hedges]

Otherwise you look sweaty, greasy. All that down to the chin, around the mouth. Because that's where we sweat, Right? It's there. If you run a mile, you're gonna be sweating here. Not on your upper cheekbones or down the center of the nose and then back up to the other eye. So there's the W. Okay.

[Avery Woods]

Period. Yeah, I'm taking notes. Okay. We like to end with rapid fire.

[Interviewer/Host Assistant]

Are you ready?

[Spencer Hedges]

Okay.

[Avery Woods]

What's the product you're always reaching for

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

when you look or feel tired?

[Spencer Hedges]

Eye drops. Yeah.

[Narrator]

Lumify.

[Spencer Hedges]

Lumify. Lumify.

[Avery Woods]

My husband's like, babe, how much? Like, you need to start doing research. We have a problem. I have it in, like, every purse, every bathroom.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

It's.

[Avery Woods]

It's everywhere. Because the second I feel like my eyes are red or like yellowish tinged ugly.

[Spencer Hedges]

Yeah. No, I'm not leaving the house.

[Narrator]

No.

[Spencer Hedges]

Call it quits. Wrap up. No, we're not going to work today.

[Narrator]

No.

[Avery Woods]

But I'm a contact wearer too, and I use it with my contacts.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

I've been fine.

[Spencer Hedges]

Yeah.

[Avery Woods]

I love Lumify. If you could glam any celebrity in the world, who would it be?

[Spencer Hedges]

Oh, goodness. Well, it's always been Celine Dion.

[Avery Woods]

I mean, I. Hence the name. Yeah, I get it now.

[Spencer Hedges]

I've always loved Celine Dion or Diana Ross. But right now, like, right now, right now, for, like, the last, like, year and a half, like, my dream person I want to meet in glam is Kiki Palmer.

[Avery Woods]

Oh, I love her. Yeah. Oh, she's killing it.

[Spencer Hedges]

Yeah, I love her. I love everything she's. She needs a talk show. We need to get her on a Network. Her podcast.

[Avery Woods]

100%. I fully agree with that. She would be, because she's really good at improvising.

[Spencer Hedges]

Great. And she can connect. Kind of like you. You guys have this talent, this gift that you cannot teach. You can connect with people. That's not something you can teach. You either have it or you don't. And you both have it. We need to get you on. We need to get you on a network, too.

[Avery Woods]

Oh, you're so.

[Spencer Hedges]

You're gonna have. You're gon ruling the world.

[Avery Woods]

That's so nice. Did we get that? I'm, like, just making sure we're recording. No, I've been obsessed with Kiki, and I really want her to marry Sean Evans from Hot Ones.

[Spencer Hedges]

Wouldn't that be amazing. Oh, I love that episode so much. I know. They're both so sweet.

[Avery Woods]

She's such a good mom and so real.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

I love her.

[Avery Woods]

Okay, what's your favorite way to unwind

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

after a long day?

[Spencer Hedges]

Unwind after a long day. Right now, it's just like snuggling with my daughter. Yeah. I make her out her bottle. I take her, I steam. She likes her milk steamed.

[Avery Woods]

Oh, period. I know. Celine's bougie.

[Spencer Hedges]

Yeah, that's right. Steam her milk and give her a bath. There's just like. You get it. There's nothing like ending the day with a clean kid, you know?

[Avery Woods]

They smell so yummy.

[Spencer Hedges]

So yummy. They got all the lotions and potions on. They're in their jammies and just having their bubba. Their drink and their. Their bottle of milk and.

[Avery Woods]

Yeah, that's the best. I love it. Every single night that I get home, I'm like. Even though I worked all day and I know I'm picking up the two most exhausting things to ever happen to me, I know it's gonna be a good night. Like, I just go to bed feeling fulfilled every day. Okay, Fuck. Mary Kill. Liquid blush.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

Powder blush or cream?

[Avery Woods]

Blush?

[Spencer Hedges]

Wait, liquid powder or cream? Cream. Okay, Cream. Fuck. Am I allowed to say that word? Okay, Excuse my language, Mom. I'm sorry, what's the other one? Marry or kill? I'm gonna kill off powder because there's only so much you can do with it.

[Avery Woods]

Yeah.

[Spencer Hedges]

Wait, what did I say the F word for? F word is for liquid.

[Avery Woods]

Yeah.

[Spencer Hedges]

Kill as powder, Mary. Cream. And I'll tell you why right now. Because cream you can put on the lips, you can put maybe on the eyes, a little bit on the cheeks. There's so much more you can do with it.

[Avery Woods]

I think it's just like, longevity. So we're stuck with her.

[Spencer Hedges]

Okay.

[Avery Woods]

I would say the same thing. What's a luxury beauty product that is secretly not worth the money? Money. Does it have to be brand? But like, any trendy product that you think's not worth it?

[Spencer Hedges]

Okay. I don't know. Honestly, I'm gonna say a lot, probably. In the skin care world, there's a lot of moisturizers and serums that have a lot of claims, and it's specifically the ones that claim like tightening or like lifting. Okay, Let me tell you something. As someone who has every product under the sun, okay? The expensive, expensive stuff, the not so expensive stuff, the things in between, there ain't nothing like a good old scalpel, all right? And a Little needle and thread.

[Avery Woods]

Okay.

[Spencer Hedges]

So when these claims say that, you know, it's like a facelift in a bottle.

[Avery Woods]

He got a facelift.

[Spencer Hedges]

So, yeah, I'm like, I'm telling you right now.

[Avery Woods]

I was gonna ask you.

[Spencer Hedges]

Yeah.

[Avery Woods]

What do you think is the key to skin prep? Maybe for people on a budget.

[Spencer Hedges]

Okay, here's the thing, is that you don't need a lot of money at all to skin prep. You know, I think it depends on what your concerns are and what your goals are. I think overall, less product is more. But using the right product is most important for makeup. What I really love to do is use a cleansing balm to lightly exfoliate the skin. You don't have to get an expensive one. You can pick them up at the drugstore for cheap and cheerful. But it allows you to kind of do just break down the dead skin cells sitting on top of your skin. Like, if you let that, you know, cleansing, cleansing oil, you know, sit on the skin, it'll soften the dead skin cells. And then after five or so minutes, you kind of wipe it off and it lightly exfoliates your skin without stripping it of its natural oils or just being too abrasive. I feel comfortable taking that technique with my clients because, like, it's not my job to, like, give them a full facial and exfoliate their skin and use chemicals. Like, I'm just there to do their makeup. And I don't want that responsibility. Like, I. I don'. Use all these products, skincare products on my clients that have all these long term benefits. I need short term benefits. Right. If something lifts and tightens and all that jazz over the span of two years, great. But I need something that works now. So a cleansing balm will give me immediate results. And a good serum.

[Avery Woods]

Yes.

[Spencer Hedges]

Yeah, a good serum.

[Avery Woods]

I feel like people are too scared to be too oily and dewy before adding makeup, but it really does help prep your skin so much or else you're gonna oxidize and be really dry and flaky before you're adding makeup.

[Spencer Hedges]

You gotta look like a rotisserie chicken, I always say, before you start makeup, because that's why you lean on powders to finish off. Yeah, it's like a Bonnie and Clyde situation. Right. You gotta have the powders, but you gotta have the moisture there to work with the powders.

[Avery Woods]

True.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

What's a drugstore beauty product you will

[Avery Woods]

defend until the day you die?

[Spencer Hedges]

I mean, right now it's. I love the Nyx brow pen.

[Avery Woods]

Oh, the felt one.

[Spencer Hedges]

Yes. It's really thin. And I really like, I think brow pencils in general, Lip pencils and brow pencils in general are fantastic from the drugstore. And most people don't know that they're often made. There's only a small handful of manufacturers around the world that make those products. Products. So they're often, whether they're high end or drugstore, they're often coming from the same place. So you can never go wrong with the lip and brow pencil from the drugstore. But I really like that brow pen.

[Avery Woods]

I like the l' Oreal extensionist mascara.

[Spencer Hedges]

L' Oreal makes fantastic mascaras.

[Avery Woods]

I think that's one of the best mascaras I've ever used. Like easily.

[Spencer Hedges]

What color is it? The tube?

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

Silver.

[Avery Woods]

It's like chrome.

[Spencer Hedges]

Like a mirror extensionist mascara.

[Avery Woods]

Yeah, it's incredible.

[Spencer Hedges]

Okay, I'm gonna check it out.

[Avery Woods]

So.

[Co-Host/Advertiser]

Great, great.

[Avery Woods]

Are you an early riser or a night owl?

[Spencer Hedges]

Pre fatherhood night owl. Wake up a little bit later. But now I wake up early. I don't, I'm not a sleeper. I sleep maybe like four hours a night. And I've always kind of been that

[Avery Woods]

way, though my husband's the same way. I'm like, I could sleep 12 hours a night if I was allowed.

[Spencer Hedges]

But is he a creative?

[Avery Woods]

No, no, he's just always. He just knocks out and then he's just up. Once the sun's up, it doesn't matter what time he goes to bed. But like once he sees like a glimmer of light, he's up.

[Spencer Hedges]

Like clap, clap. Lights on.

[Avery Woods]

Uh huh. All right, last one. What's one word your best friends would use to describe you?

[Spencer Hedges]

Crazy. Literally crazy. I mean, my friends know me best, so they know who I am. And I would say I'm a little cuckoo for cocoa puffs. Again, I'm a creative.

[Avery Woods]

I don't believe that. I would say, unless you have tequila in you.

[Spencer Hedges]

My friends are like funny. They have a good funny bone. So they would probably say crazy but really loyal. Like if we're gonna. If you're gonna ask them, like, seriously, like in a sit down Oprah style interview, how would you describe Spencer? They would say loyal. I'm very, very loyal.

[Avery Woods]

I love that. Well, I thoroughly enjoy chatting with you. I am so happy that I found out we're neighbors too, because now we're going out for drinks or something.

[Spencer Hedges]

This is just the beginning of us.

[Avery Woods]

This is just the beginning, honey. When the vow renewal comes up, we're experimenting.

[Spencer Hedges]

I know. That's right. You know where to find me.

[Avery Woods]

I was gonna say tell everyone your handle so they can can go follow you.

[Spencer Hedges]

Yeah, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, it's all hespencer hedges. And do I have any other social. I don't know what else is out there nowadays. I think that's all I use. That's all that matters. Just find me there.

[Avery Woods]

I can't keep up. People are like, have you tried substack? I said, I can barely keep up with what I got going on right now.

[Spencer Hedges]

Exactly. I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to make for dinner.

[Avery Woods]

Yeah, 100%. Well, you're a joy. You were such a breath of fresh air and I loved getting to know

[Spencer Hedges]

you more and vice versa. You've made this made me really feel comfortable and safe here and I loved having these conversations and I can't wait to be back if you let me back.

[Avery Woods]

Always, always, honey. Cheers, everyone.

[Spencer Hedges]

Cheers.

[Avery Woods]

One crunchy bite of her Hershey's cookies and cream bar and I'm taken right back to college. Move in. Day I was a little overwhelmed by the newness of it all. Boxes were everywhere. I needed a break from unpacking. But just as I was able to take a breath and open my Hershey's cookies and cream bar, my new roommate Rachel walked in. I offered her a piece, but she said no. Then after a beat, she said, actually, those are my favorite ones. We left, the ice was broken and we've been friends ever since.

[Narrator]

Hershey's. It's your happy place.

[Sponsor Voice]

Nowadays, you have certain expectations when you fly. Like people napping on the airport floor or flying in your pajamas. You know what you don't expect? Expect free drinks. But now T Mobile members get a free premium drink when they fly Delta Airlines. So just sit back, relax, and switch to T Mobile today. Visit t mobile.com membership for details. It's better over here. Get a free premium Delta drink with eligible plan and link SkyMiles account 24 hours before qualifying flight required. Must be 21 or older.

[Guest/Commentator]

CT Life for terms Hi, I'm Angie Hicks, co founder of angie and one thing I've learned is that you buy a house, but you make it a home. Because with every fix, update and renovation, it becomes a little more your own. So you need all your jobs done. Well, for nearly 30 years, Angie has helped millions of homeowners hire skilled pros for the projects that matter, from plumbing to electrical, roof repair to deck upgrades. So leave it to the pros who will get your jobs done. Well, Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find a pro for your [e-mail].