
DESCRIPTION #803: Join us as we sit down with Expert Esthetician, Staci Christie, & LightStim Founder, Steve Marchese! Discover the incredible benefits of light stimulation, say bye to wrinkles, acne, & pain with the transformative power of...
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Lauren Everts
The following podcast is a Dear Media Production.
Michael Bostick
She's a lifestyle blogger extraordinaire.
Stacey Christie
Fantastic.
Michael Bostick
And he's a serial entrepreneur, a very smart cookie. And now Lauren Everts and Michael Bostick are bringing you along for the ride.
Stacey Christie
Get ready for some major realness.
Michael Bostick
Welcome to the Skinny Confidential. Him and her.
Stacey Christie
Let me give you the juice on light stimulation. So I was really properly introduced to red light therapy by Stacy Christie, who, as you guys know, she's been on the show, is my medical esthetician in San Diego. She is incredible. There is truly no one like her when it comes to skin. I've never seen such beautiful skin in person. She has glowing, dewy, clear, stunning skin and she just knows what she's talking about. And I'm so lucky to talk to so many different skin experts and to be able to pick her brain every single time she is working on my skin has been a real treat. I have known Stacy since I was 20 years old. Literally met her working at a boutique. She came in and I was like, who the fuck are you and where the fuck did you get that skin? I basically harassed her at 20 years old and I've seen her ever since. I have introduced my friends, my husband, my community to Stacy Christie. Now, since going to her, she has always gone on and on about her red light bed. Stacy had been dying to introduce me to the founder of LightSTEM, who we have on the podcast, Steve. I finally got to get a bed of my own, a light stimulation bed. Currently, I'm pregnant, as you guys know. I'm going to do a show about that. So I'm not laying on the bed because it's been recommended not to heat your body temperature up too much when you're pregnant, but I am using the ellipsa every single day. Anyway, I'm such a fan of light stimulation that I wanted to go straight to the source to get all the details for you guys. So I invited Stacy and Steve on the show. On that note, let's welcome our esthetician and expert esthetician, Stacey Christie and Lightsden founder to the him and her show.
Michael Bostick
This is the Skinny Confidential. Him and her.
Stacey Christie
This episode is one that I personally am so excited about because not only do I have my esthetician, who I've been going to since I was 21, Stacey Christie. She's back on the show. You guys loved her episode.
Lauren Everts
Hi, guys.
Stacey Christie
But I also have someone who she loves, who I've come to love. Steve, who owns Light Stem, which is light stimulation, he's going to explain it to us, not red light therapy. So first, just to get the lay of the land, why is it light stimulation and not red light therapy?
Steve
So it started out being called LED light therapy. But using the word therapy is a misnomer because it's treating wrinkles too. You might be doing some things like where you're making pain go away. That's therapy. Wrinkles is aesthetics. It's not. So using therapy doesn't work. Then the scientists started using words like photobiomodulation and low level light therapy, which really more related to lasers. And then all of a sudden red light therapy came into being the word that was being used. But it's a misnomer again therapy. But it's also a misnomer in that red light because not just red LEDs, it's infrared LEDs. It's amber, it's blue. And so really the category called light stimulation, because you are using different wavelengths of light to cause the cell to stimulate the cell to do something, whatever it is that you, that it is going to be doing.
Stacey Christie
You told me something so interesting. You came to my house to install a bed which we're going to get into. And I was telling you I love the cold plunge sauna and you said something about what light stimulation does compared to it and it blew my mind. What was that? Stat.
Steve
So you said you had had an infrared sauna, right? Yeah, so. And I said that. So an infrared sauna is the best kind of sauna you could have because it's, it's. You're not going to have to worry about mold. And it's not, you're not something you're having to clean all the time. Like, like a normal wet sauna would be. But don't be confused because it's an infrared sauna. Don't think that you're getting infrared value out of it. You're. The infrared is just being used to make you sweat, to make you sweat out the toxins and the drugs that have accumulated in the fatty tissue of the body over years of time. It is not reducing your inflammation, which is what LED infrared will do. And a lot of that has to do with how far away the actual light source is.
Michael Bostick
What is the main difference between traditional sauna and infrared? What is the idea that they're doing different?
Steve
It's just a different way of heating you up. In a traditional sauna, it's really more almost a steam room with throwing water on the rocks and that sort of thing. You've got mold, you've got to deal with all the time. Whereas an infrared sauna, it's all dry in there.
Lauren Everts
You think that's just a huge environment for bacteria to accumulate.
Stacey Christie
Now she's starting to think of the bacteria I've had on my face, and she's starting to put it together. I first learned about this specific light stimulation through Stacy. I went to your office to get a facial and you were like, lauren, you have to lay on this bed. And it blew my fucking mind.
Lauren Everts
Well, the light stem bed is nothing shy of a miracle bed. My personal experience is I injured my back terribly. Was told by orthopedic surgeons that I needed shots and surgery. My days of tennis and even working as an esthetician were done. A good friend of mine was my sales rep, contacted Steve. Steve contacted me. Stace, you've been carrying my handhelds, which are incredible, for years. Do me a favor. You need to lay on this bed before you go forward with shots and surgery. Steve, I can't afford that kind of a, you know, whatever. So he kindly sent a bed to my house pre Covid. During a 10 day period, Covid hit. The whole world slams down. The bed is at my house. No one can pick it up. The good news was 14 days later, two weeks solid, I laid on that bed. I was back on the tennis court. I had no pain. So I said, steve, I need this bed. I remodeled my office to accommodate the bed. Not only have has it helped me countless patients. One guy, 6, 5, tumbled downstairs, walked in with a cane, grimacing in pain, torn rotator cuff, just back legs, the whole nine yards. Five days, no life, five treatments, no cane. Couldn't believe how good he felt.
Michael Bostick
So let's back up for a second. Steve, how did you get into this and how did you become interested in this space to begin with?
Steve
My wife and I are serial entrepreneurs. We met when she was 16 and I was 22. So we've had a couple of businesses and we were in between businesses. A girlfriend of hers gave, told her that she should buy this light, this light device. She didn't even know what to call it, and that it was really good for wrinkles. And so she did, she bought it and she starts using it. And within two weeks, like, a big change happened where, you know, like, she would do the thing that a lot of women do when they look in the mirror is they tear themselves apart and they like, oh, that's bad, and that's bad, and that could be better. And that's the way. That's not a great way for your wife to start out her day, right? And so she's using this light. And then all of a sudden, after two weeks, she's going, you know, I might look a little bit better there. Like, then she kept using it. And like after about three months is like wrinkles were literally starting to become less and less tightening up in the jowl area here. And so she basically sent a testimonial into the the company. And the company at that time was two inventors working out of a garage and said, thank you, I love your product. Here's some pictures. And they, you know, kind of went, you're nice looking. You're the right age. Would you. Would you be our spokesperson? And we were like, in between businesses. So she had time on her hands. We always have worked together. She goes, sure. So they came over to our house and they were videoing her in our living room. Because that those were the days when you would always give a video with anything that you bought, you know, and a little disc. And I'm in our office at our home with the main inventor. And I realized that he's out of business. Like, he doesn't even know it, but he's broke. Every friend and family member around him. And not from having bad intentions, just from not being knowing business, you know. So I made a deal to buy the company from him. There we were off and running, and we had no idea what we were doing. I mean, we were in an automotive business prior to that and building custom homes. This was manufacturing of a device that could be used in health and beauty. And it was like whole new world.
Stacey Christie
What do people who are listening need to know about other companies in light stimulation? What are things to look out for where it's a scam?
Steve
I think number one thing would be to buy products that are made in the U.S. for one, the company's located here, whatever company it is, and you can actually get your product fixed if there's something wrong with it. And then above and beyond that, like FDA clearance, I'm not, you know, a lot of people, you say that and they go, ah, the FDA doesn't do a good job on it. And I'm like, maybe they've blown it on drugs. And we've all seen that, but they're really strict on devices and safety and efficacy testing is really tough.
Stacey Christie
You told me a super interesting fact at my house. You said that in Germany they have these beds in hospitals on.
Steve
And we were talking about hyperbaric chambers.
Stacey Christie
I'm sorry, we were talking about hyperbaric chambers. You're right.
Steve
Yeah.
Stacey Christie
For some reason. I thought you said isn't slight stimulation though used in other countries or. No.
Steve
Oh, yeah. I mean, it was more prevalent in Europe before it became prevalent in the U.S. why? I don't know why. Actually, I can't. Yeah, I don't know why. But now, like the US is all over it way, way more than anywhere else.
Stacey Christie
Do you think that because it's so healing and because there's so many things that it's doing right, that maybe the US is well on high level?
Michael Bostick
For people that aren't familiar with light therapy, how does the technology actually work and interact with the human body to heal or whatever it does? Because I think a lot of people are unclear about how this technology actually interacts with our bodies.
Steve
So in a real simple explanat that everybody can understand is there are different wavelengths of light. And you could look at the definition of wavelengths as colors. So there's different. There's red and there's infrared, which the human eye can't see. So it looks like it's not actually lit, but it is.
Michael Bostick
So when you look at some of these light beds and it looks like the bulbs out, it's not. That's the infrared.
Steve
That's the infrared, yeah. So different wavelengths do different things when they interact with cells, when they feed that light energy to a cell and the cell has a response from it. And depending on what the wavelength or color of light that you're feeding it, the response can be different. And like everybody thought red light, red LEDs in particular were the only thing that you could use for wrinkles. And then we did studies like 15 years ago and we added amber to the red. So it wasn't just using the red, but now we're adding amber also. And we got way better results with wrinkles with that. And we, we actually got the first FDA clearance for full face wrinkles. They only used to approve periorbital around your eye, but, but they saw that we were getting results everywhere. Even like the heart, nasal, labial folds and up in your, your forehead and that sort of thing. And, and we lights and got the first FDA clearance. Or you could also interchange the word clearance for approval. They just use a clearance for, for devices for the treatment of wrinkles on the entire face.
Michael Bostick
So they've been able to explain scientifically why amber and red light does this to the skin and why it clears up wrinkles. Is it producing more collagen or what? Like what is it activating?
Steve
Yeah, so the cells are the mitochondria of the cell absorbs that light energy and then converts it to, if you remember your high school biology, something called. And triphosphate, or ATP.
Michael Bostick
That's what I was gonna say.
Steve
That's the gasoline. That's the gas that runs our cells. And interesting fact is most people don't know is that from age 20 on, we produce 8 to 10% less ATP every decade we're alive.
Lauren Everts
That's a lot.
Steve
Yeah.
Stacey Christie
With what you do with skin. Stacey, how have you seen this therapy enhance what you do with skin?
Lauren Everts
Oh, well, every single facial I do, I incorporate the pro panel, the anti wrinkle panel, or Steve recently came out with the ellipsa is a little more compact, not quite as strong. Yes, but it enhances my facial treatment. You know, people are always saying, oh, my God, I've never had a facial like the facial you've given me, but you've experienced what I do. And red light finishes all of my facial treatments because I have just done an oxygen infusion, and now I'm infusing everything with this anti wrinkle face panel. And here's a quick, really cute story. Another patient, the little handheld device, which is very, very affordable and very user friendly. During COVID no one was getting treatments or Botox or anything. I saw a patient after we were able to get back to our lives, and I said, my God, where'd you go find Botox? During this time, Stacy, I used my handheld every single day on my Glabella between her eyebrows. It looked like someone took an iron to her forehead that affected.
Stacey Christie
How long do you. I have that one. And Michael was using it today. It was like a whole scenario. He's in the bathroom naked, using. It's like a lot to take in on his dissection.
Steve
Where was he using it?
Stacey Christie
Yeah, who knows? He was using it in his gooch.
Lauren Everts
No more wrinkles.
Michael Bostick
It looks like someone ironed it out there.
Stacey Christie
Thank you. I do not need that visual. It's too early. But if he uses it on his face, how long does he have to use it? And is he actually pressing it onto his skin?
Lauren Everts
It needs to touch your skin. But I'm gonna let you answer that question.
Steve
Ask me one more time.
Stacey Christie
How long do you have to use the handheld device on your face?
Steve
Oh, so it actually beeps every three minutes. So you'd hold it gently touching the skin and gently meaning barely, but touching. And you could hold it right up to underneath the lid, your eyelid, or you can right alongside the crow's foot, no problem. Most people do it while they watch television. And you might just want to close your eye on that side of your face if the light bothers you. And in three minutes you just move it to the next location. And you could then do the neck, you could do the decollete. I mean, and then for watching a movie, you start back over again. My wife watches television with two on her, like one on each side of her face.
Stacey Christie
You can do a lot in three minutes, guys. See? Okay, so if someone was to pick between the wand and the ellipsa, to me it's like you go for the ellipsa because you don't have to hold it. Right. What are you picking?
Lauren Everts
It's kind of hard to say.
Steve
So initially I think that you're going to get the best results from the. Actually the least expensive device, which is the $249 light stim for wrinkles. Because it's actually touching and distance is everything. We're going to talk in a little while, whenever you're ready, about distance and penetration and.
Stacey Christie
Tell me about distance and penetration.
Michael Bostick
I understand this topic.
Steve
And then once you've like built up enough collagen, you know, it takes, it's a few months that you start. It's actually about eight to 10 weeks that you start seeing change if you took a good before and after picture. But it's, it's plumping up that lower level of skin, that dermis layer, and it's pushing the fold of the wrinkle out like that, little by little. So.
Michael Bostick
Because it's plumping up the collagen.
Steve
That's right. That's right. So you've got to. It's like blowing up a balloon, kind of like, except that it's just creating more collagen.
Lauren Everts
Consistency is key. Yeah, consistent with anything we do, but the consistency is key. So I send my patients home with a handheld, at least, bare minimum. Continue to use this until I see you again. And it's so effective, but you just have to use it.
Stacey Christie
This is a weird thing that I was wondering, does it do something to stimulate your eyes in the morning? Because when I look at it, I feel like my. This is so weird that my hormones get balanced.
Steve
There are clinical studies that show that certain wavelengths of light will help to release serotonin and dopamine. And so that's like a whole mind altering thing. Like you're feeling good and you look in the mirror and you've like your day's starting out right now and that sort of thing. And it's that feeling that serotonin and Dopamine, I think create. That might be what you're.
Michael Bostick
I have a weird thing that I want to tell you that I was going to bring up on the. Well, bring it up now. So I did the bed that you dropped at our house, and I did it late one night. I was like, okay, I put a. We're just going to try it at night. And I track my sleep every night. We have an eight sleep. And it tracks, you know, like the REM cycles and the deep sleep cycles. And typically I'm like, hour and a half deep, hour and a half rem. I think that's like, kind of average if you're getting decent sleep. So anyways, I went to sleep and the next morning I, like, had all these crazy dreams and I woke up and I had three hours and 20 minutes of REM sleep.
Lauren Everts
I do mine every night before I go to bed.
Michael Bostick
And I told Lauren and I said that was a crazy.
Stacey Christie
Because it gives you such a good sleep.
Michael Bostick
So I was wondering if there's any explanation as to why that would occur and why you would get that. Obviously, sleep is restorative and all this.
Steve
Totally. So I have to do all the correct stuff for the FDA here. What the bed is actually approved for by the FDA or cleared for by the FDA is muscle and joint pain, arthritic pain and stiffness, and increase blood circulation. But There are like 4,000 studies on led, and many of those studies say that if you use the right wavelengths, LED can release. And I'm going to have to use this word, I'm sorry, but it's trapped nitric oxide, and that's not nitrous like your dentist uses. But nitric oxide, which is a signaling molecule in the body, was discovered in the mid-90s by three scientists. It was such a big thing that they received the Nobel Prize for the discovery of it in 1998. And one of the things when you have a high level of nitric oxide is you have better sleep, Way better sleep. They did a clinical study on that. They did clinical studies on all kinds of stuff with nitric oxide, with increasing people's nitric oxide levels. And they did it using a gas mostly, which is not like a real natural way of. I mean, you. You ate walnuts or you could take. You could take supplements for. With nitric oxide to help create more and more nitric oxide. But. But when you have a lot of it, the studies show it reduces heart attacks, reduces strokes, it increases blood flow to the brain and increases libido in women. It makes men's Erectile dysfunction drugs work two times as good. Builds the immune system for athletes. It gives them more strength, more stamina, and a faster recovery time. And I'm going to tell you a story about recovery time. So a lot of people that watch sports would know a guy named Saquon Barkley, who is a running back for the Giants. I think two years ago, he suffered a high ankle sprain. There were nine games left in the season, and they told him he was done because nobody comes back from a high ankle sprain fast. I flew him a bed to his house in New Jersey. He did three and four hours a day on the bed instead of missing the last nine games, walks back on the field two weeks later and sets a personal record of 206 yards.
Lauren Everts
Damn success.
Michael Bostick
And is that because all of these factors, like, for me, what I found is like, I'm always watching this. That's interesting. If I'm sleeping better, it's obviously gonna affect a million other things in recovery and all that. But for him, is it because it's a culmination of all of these things that you're able to basically speed up recovery or legally, are you. Yeah.
Stacey Christie
Wink twice. Okay, let me ask you this, but.
Michael Bostick
I could say potentially, like, as the host of the show, that there's a hypothesis could be made based on the evidence that I saw, that if I was suffering from something, getting a night of sleep like that and having the REM sleep kick up to double what I usually get would accelerate whatever recovery I needed to have.
Steve
And if, you know, if certain wavelengths of light are helping to produce more collagen and elastin for it to make wrinkles go away. And that's because of that energy level of the cell. Well, that would say that it's also increasing energy levels of your cells, your ATP. And they've done studies on that that show that there could be like a 200% increase or something like that in the increase of ATP.
Lauren Everts
Well, and look at my recovery. I was unable to walk. Ask Anna. I thought I was going to have to crawl. I was in tears. I was in so much pain. And told, your only choice is surgery. After shots to bring down inflammation, the bed literally put me back on my feet, back on the court, back to work. That's why I'm such a huge believer in that bed.
Stacey Christie
What are some other things that you've seen, some benefits yourself that you are shocked by? And just really quick, when I laid on the bed in your office, something I noticed is it put me in a theta State. So I was asleep, I think, but I was awake and it was almost meditative where it like restored me. Have you seen theta?
Lauren Everts
Everybody goes through how I like to explain it. It's like a calmed, so you're relaxed and chill. But because of the serotonin and dopamine being increased, you're in a better mood. I had a guy who like really doesn't like people. He's just a kind of a hermit. And he's a client of mine, he laid on the bed, he calls me, he's like, what the fuck? Stacey says, I just said hello to a stranger in Starbucks. I don't even like people. He felt so good, he wasn't even himself. And it's just, it works on a variety of different aspects of injuries. And then the whole anti wrinkle for my business. I think every esthetician, if they could have the bed, they should have the bed. Bare minimum. The pro panel to use that in conjunction with skin care, dermatology. There's you know, orthopedic surgeons for patients who are recovering from surgery, plastic surgeons. I mean this, the bed and all of the devices you have, from your pain aspect to your beauty aspect, it's just encompassing. I mean it's a fabulous device and.
Steve
They could count on it working. Like we've been around 25 years. We sell to about 40,000 spas and medispas and that sort of thing in the US alone and have about 100, I'm sorry, about a million consumers using our handhelds every night while they watch television.
Lauren Everts
The handheld's a no brainer.
Michael Bostick
What are the skeptics? Not of your company, but of this therapy in general. Say like, why is this not more widely adopted by, you know, it's.
Steve
It is now. Yeah. We used to go to like doctors shows, trade shows 10 years ago and they'd walk by and they'd laugh and they'd go, oh, I've got lasers that are way more strong than those things, than those LEDs. And we're like, yeah. And our things repair the damage that your lasers do to somebody's face. They're completely different. But we really don't run into it anymore. Most doctors are hip to it. Definitely. All the anti aging doctors in the integrative medicine doctors, they're all onto it. Like every large franchise in the country is calling us to use our bed in their franchises for fitness massage, facial recovery.
Michael Bostick
Well, you mentioned the fda and you can't say this, but I can. There's been so many issues. I think people are at the point where we're tired as a country of just managing sick care after something happens, you're like, okay, now I got to take all these things and all these pharmaceuticals. People are looking for preventative measures and things that they can use to feel and look better consistently like.
Steve
And.
Michael Bostick
And that topic is consistent on this show. And a lot of times, we bring these kind of conversations on here, and in the beginning, people are like, what the hell are you guys talking about? But sure enough, over time, people start to kind of come our way.
Stacey Christie
If there is an esthetician listening. How would you incorporate the red light? If you say, if you. If you really want the bed and your eyes on the bed, but how would you just incorporate it quickly into your facial.
Lauren Everts
The pro panel.
Stacey Christie
You would do a pro panel and you do it last?
Lauren Everts
Well, I. I use it, actually. Yeah. At. At the end, after I've done. After I've infused all my serums, after my oxygen infusion or during the middle of the hydrafacial, before I put the mask on, I like to infuse serums. Nothing that's. That's too opaque on the skin. And it just, you know, 20 minutes. It's. It's. I mean, it makes such a difference. And I don't do much Botox myself. I don't do any filler. You know, I don't have that many wrinkles.
Stacey Christie
And go look at her skin on YouTube. Cry me a river about it. I look at it every day. It's the best skin ever.
Lauren Everts
Well, thank you, honey, but I'm telling you, it's not only what I do, but I will give a lot of credit to Light Stem as well, because I've been using it consistently. Again, consistency is key, but I've been using it consistently well since 2020.
Stacey Christie
A supplement that I have taken every single day. Like, literally every single day for the last three years is creatine. And this seems to surprise people because I feel like creatine has gotten this rep where it's only for men, and it's not. I like creatine because it supports lean, sculpted muscles and it enhances your workout performance. I've noticed this is, like, so weird that my muscle tightens around the skin when I take creatine, which I really like. So I'm a huge fan, as you guys know, of Array. I talk about their bloat pills all the time. What I like about this company is the integrity around the supplements. And they just launched a gummy. It's called Array Tone, and it's their first ever gummy supplement and I am obsessed because there's five grams of creatine in it. This is huge. The fact that they have recognized that women want and need creatine is incredible. And I can tell you this is a supplement that is recommended across the board by every single expert doctor nutritionist. Like they love creatine. So the fact that Array was on the pulse with this is amazing. It's non GMO laxative free filler free. Go to array.com and use code skinny at checkout to receive 15 off and 4 free bloat travel packs. So you get 4 free bloat travel packs with your first purchase or auto ship order. Go to array.com and Use code skinny.
Michael Bostick
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Stacey Christie
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Lauren Everts
Your husband, you know and I know that this is not FDA approved, but he had high blood pressure. He's been lying on the bed more consistently and his blood pressure is much better.
Steve
So can I tell you?
Stacey Christie
Yeah, go. You let it rip.
Steve
I want to tell you how the bed came about.
Stacey Christie
Let it rip.
Steve
So our son works with us in the business. He's 35 now and 14 years ago he was 21. Picture of health, you know, California male and he worked with us and he had problems with his tonsils. He never had them out when he was younger. And so he decides to go in the hospital and get them taken out. He does that. He's in recovery, we're at the hospital, my wife and I are at the hospital and he's in recovery and all of a sudden things go way south. And like his blood pressure shoots up to 210 over 165. He starts hemorrhaging. They throw him back into the surgery for four hours. They, they actually had to give him a bunch of drugs that did away with all the drugs that put him out in the first place so that they could then give them the drugs to put them out again to put them back into surgery. It was like radical. They give them back to us and they go, he's got, what's the word? It's like chronic high blood pressure. 165 over 110, 115. He could have a stroke at any moment, he could die.
Michael Bostick
Like he had it just in that moment or he's consistently had it.
Steve
He has chronic high blood pressure and we didn't know it. And they go, you need to do something like right now. And we're like holy cow. Like so we're.
Michael Bostick
But they had no explanation of why this was occurring.
Steve
And we're normally like alternative minded medically first, you know, and, but they tell your kid that your 21 year old kid could die. And like we're like, we're straight to regular medicine. Put him on the drugs, dropped it three points. Like oh, we're like okay, so he could maybe be impotent from getting the drugs. So for three points we're not doing that to him. So we take him off the drugs. We know, like I said, we sold the 40,000 spas, medispas doctors in the U.S. we know everybody. Like we took them everywhere. Integrative medicine doctors, anti aging doctors, naturopaths, Chinese medicine. Nobody ever found anything wrong with them. And nothing worked, nothing brought his blood pressure down. And I noticed he and I were talking on a Saturday in manufacturing. We're sitting in manufacturing and we're talking and we weren't open. And I remembered something that like every day about 2:00 I go, you just, just die. Like you just pass out on the couch like you've got no energy left. I go, maybe there's something wrong with your cells and they're not producing enough ATP, the energy source of your cell. And maybe, maybe, maybe that's why nothing works on you. Because your cells don't have enough energy to carry out the function that they should carry out. Whenever somebody gives you some kind of stimulant, some kind of vitamin, some, you know, that sort of thing, I. So we should build like a. I didn't even know what to call it. A bed, you know, something big that has wavelengths that we know the cells would absorb and convert to ATP. And that took six years. And sometimes I tell a story and I joke and I go, so my son died. But no, no, but that took six years. But in 60 days he and an engineer and a welder put something together that looked like a white coffin. Everything we do is white. Lightsam is very applesque looking kind of. And so it had slab quarter inch steel sides and a straight piece of glass on the top. The only reason why we used glass is because we needed to make sure that the angle of light was going through and not being distorted so it would get to them. And it was. And so in 60 days we built this really crude thing that took six years to perfect. So we finish it, he lays on it three days a week and two months later his blood pressure is 130 over 80. And we go, whoa, we should, we should, we should build this thing.
Michael Bostick
Oh my God, why was he not producing ATP? So I'm gonna like go into those.
Steve
No idea, no idea, no idea.
Michael Bostick
And he was active and all this stuff.
Steve
But that was the point where we all went, this is a good, this could be a good product. Maybe this could help a lot of people. First thing we did was go to the fda because everything we have is FDA cleared. We've done all the clinical studies, we do all the right stuff. Puts her, all the safety testing. I happen to had worked a lot with the assistant director of the fda and so I went straight to him and I said, Neil, we want to build this bed, this LED bed. We want to get it cleared. He goes, don't bother. So he goes, save your money, don't write us a check. He goes, you're never going to get it cleared because that doesn't work. And I go, what do you mean that doesn't work? He goes, well he goes, everything that's been developed like that, it's all just lighting up the skin. You get no penetration. They're not doing anything. It's not an aesthetic device. It's a wellness device. You need to affect a lot of cells with this good energy to actually get a measurable result. So don't waste Your money. And I go, well, why aren't they getting penetration? What's the deal? And that started like really a six year conversation with them before we actually got FDA clearance. Making many different models, made many different modifications. We kind of learned three things. If you're further away than three quarters of an inch from the tip of the LED bulb, and this is not for aesthetics, that could be two or three. The panel for the face could be two, three inches away, no problem. But for wellness, you need depth of penetration. You don't want to. You don't want to just affect the cells on the surface, but you want to affect them an inch or so down. You want to get it down into muscles and joints.
Michael Bostick
So people that are standing in front of these kind of, it's a joke and they're five feet away or three feet away or two feet away, it doesn't work.
Steve
It's a joke. Yeah. Even anything that's got a top to it. This is why we built a one sided bed that you flip on. And we made it so you're actually only a quarter inch off the tip.
Michael Bostick
Of the ball because you need the penetration.
Steve
Yeah. And then the next thing we found was that, was that, you know, we knew that we would order LEDs, like maybe some emitting light somewhere between maybe 50, I'm sorry, 15 and 50 degrees, you know, so that, that's an angle that's got some intensity to it that, that would help you to penetrate deep. Okay. As opposed to 180 degrees. It's got no penetration. Just take a light flashlight sometime and hold it right against the wall, back it off a quarter of an inch and look at what you got. Then back it off like 2 inches and you just see light loses its power exponentially as you leave the tip of the bulb. Anyway, we ordered these LEDs emitting light like that between 15 and say 50 degrees. But we were getting no penetration. And what was happening was it was hitting the acrylic and it was dispersing out 180 degrees. So we. My son immediately goes on this mission of buying every device on the market and checking them out. Everybody's got this problem, but the acrylic.
Michael Bostick
That they were putting over the light was dispersing the light. And then they're getting no penetration. Also. You're not close enough. So it's just like the light's just not even touching you.
Steve
So he spent two years with the four largest manufacturers of acrylics in the world to come up with this acrylic that finally lets the Light through without distorting it. The third thing was, is that the FDA has an efficacy test for, for getting this pain approval and increased blood circulation approval on these full body devices. And what it is, is you have to raise the tissue temperature, your skin temperature of your entire body to between 40 and 44 degrees Celsius. That's about 104 to around 111 or 12 degrees Fahrenheit, which you go, wow, that's hot. Well, it's not hot for a skin temperature. Outside you're sweating like a pig in that temperature. But for your skin to get to that temperature, it's not a big deal. It's actually, it's actually that soothe and soothing, gentle, relaxing warmth that you were talking about that puts you to sleep on the bed, actually. And so they've determined that's where benefits happen. So you gotta be able to do that to the whole body. Well, you know, this was the big problem that took three years to solve. Because when you lay your body on a sheet or a layer of undifferentiated LEDs, what's going to happen is your torso that has a lot of mass to it is it's going to heat up the best. And you know, whether it's going to make it to 104 degrees or not, that's questionable. Mostly dependent by how far away you are from this light source, but no chance for the arms and legs. According to Google, the arms and legs are 58 to 68% of your total body mass. So. So way more than half of your body is never potentially going to hit that temperature range and hold it. And so my son again came up with this great idea of instead of putting a whole sheet of LEDs across the whole bed surface of the bed, let's do 30 separate little modules, like little boxes that hold like they say, 6, 700 LEDs in them. And let's design a sensor that's able to discern the temperature of the skin and differentiate an arm or a wrist from, you know, my chest and my fat stomach or something like that. Right. And then be able to raise the temperature of the module where my arm is way hotter than where my chest is. So we get the temperature up to this.
Michael Bostick
So it evenly does it, it distributes it evenly.
Steve
Yeah. So you are legally actually giving people a full body treatment. Okay. And we patented that. Right. Now there's a whole legal scene happening in the full body led industry. The Federal Trade Commission, I brought you these documents so you would have them. The Federal Trade Commission put out a letter in April of 23 and said to the health and wellness industry, a warning. And they said, you guys are duping the public with unsubstantiated claims. And when they wrote the letter, there was already 670 companies that they had notified and penalized. And I don't know how many they've done since then. And they basically said, we're coming after you. So next thing that happens is the class action lawsuit firms saw that and went, oh, there's low hanging fruit. Let's attack some LED companies. And we've got the government behind us. Who did they come after? Light stem, of course. We're the biggest, right? And so it was not fun and I spent a lot of money with attorneys, but four weeks later, they were begging me to be their consultant because we just showed them all of our FDA clearances. We showed them that everything we have is FDA cleared. We showed them the clinical studies.
Stacey Christie
They were asking you what the link was to buy one.
Lauren Everts
Yes. Well, I have to tell you, I mean, it's.
Stacey Christie
They're like, can I get a code?
Lauren Everts
The proof is in the pudding. I have so many of my clients have tried different devices, different companies and have not seen any results whatsoever. And I'll, you know, and I've said, look, I don't, you know, I could put you in touch with Steve to talk the nuts and the bolts about the science behind it, but what I know is Lightstem is the only one that's FDA cleared. Is that correct?
Steve
No, well, no, there's only. It's the only bed that has legal FDA clearance.
Lauren Everts
Okay. And what about the handhelds?
Steve
There's lots of other devices that have FDA clearance. And I'm not saying that they work better or worse. I think that ours are better than anybody else on the market. And I don't think the professional industry would have accepted us to the degree that they've accepted us if they weren't. FDA clearance is more prevalent in smaller devices.
Lauren Everts
Okay.
Steve
Yeah.
Stacey Christie
If someone's listening. This has been called multiple times the fountain of youth, which is incredible. Give me the fountain of youth all day long. What are other things that they can do for the body of the skin? We've talked about the face, Stacey, that can support the fountain of youth along with this.
Lauren Everts
Oh, well, you know, I like using any of the, like, you know, I have Elastin, for instance, makes a nice tightening body lotion. I have a few different body lotions, different companies, and I will put those on my body in the morning. And I won't Put anything on my body right before I lie on the bed. But I make sure it's nice and absorbed. But I think it's extremely important to keep your all your skin hydrated. To me, I don't like to go on the bed. When I get out of the shower, I slather my body head to toe with body lotion with different serums. I have something I've always done. I dry brush and then I do all of my routine. But when I'm lying on that bed, I have already put a tightening body lotion on my body.
Stacey Christie
So you do all of your tightening serums and body lotions before you lay on the bed?
Lauren Everts
Yeah, well, before I lie on the.
Stacey Christie
Stacey dry brushes too. She loves the dry brush.
Lauren Everts
The dry brush is a game changer.
Stacey Christie
She loves the skinny confidential dry brush and the spoon.
Lauren Everts
I use it all.
Stacey Christie
She uses everything. The fact that you take care of your body the way you take care of your face is wild.
Lauren Everts
Your skin does not stop here. I mean, to me, a face, your facial products from the nipples to your hairline. And if you're bald, keep going. I mean, that's your face. But don't forget about the rest of your body. You know, and the light stem bed just takes your. Your whole well being, good health and well being to a different level. Honestly, it really. It's changed my life. I don't know if I would even be here. I was literally could not walk. I mean, I could have ended up in the operating room and God knows what would have happened.
Stacey Christie
Well, because your career is standing on your feet too. That's. It's seven.
Lauren Everts
I mean, plastic surgery bent over a table for 18 years. I've been bent over over half my life.
Stacey Christie
I know, but you would never notice. I'll make a joke, but I won't. This Ed's destination. I'm not gonna make a joke about it.
Michael Bostick
So when, like what. In what instances? I mean, it sounds like always, but in what instances? If, say like you were talking about the football player was maybe going to have to have a surgery or. And then he started doing what other instances do you see people being able to use something like this to maybe offset, you know, is it a surgery? Is it, is it a chronic illness? Is it high blood pressure? Like. And I know you have to be careful with what you can say.
Stacey Christie
I would love to know what you've seen with cancers too.
Michael Bostick
But how would somebody think about incorporating this if they've been dealing with a chronic condition? I guess what I'm asking is what Else.
Steve
So to answer your question, first on cancer. So the oncology departments of most hospitals around the country have picked out a spa that they like and send all their clients to that spa because their skin goes to hell from the cancer. And they have that spa reach out to usually one of two companies in the US that trains them on what they can and can't do with these clients that have cancer. At least two of the companies that I know of recommend lightstem as part of their training, but they're not allowed to use LED while somebody is getting chemo. They are allowed to use it other than that. And I can't really speak intelligently on clinical studies having to do with cancer and led at all. I have no knowledge in the area. But other clinical studies, like I say, the nitric oxide, the LED has been shown to be able to release trapped nitric oxide, which again, reduces heart attacks, strokes, increases blood flow to the brain, increases libido in women, makes men's erectile dysfunction drugs work two times as good builds.
Stacey Christie
Don't use it too much. I could use a break laying on it every night. I'm gonna be like, again, why does.
Michael Bostick
It make the erectile dysfunction function? Is, you're saying just the medicines or.
Steve
So the thing that actually activates Viagra and Cialis is nitric oxide. The shitty thing is you just filled.
Stacey Christie
The bed with all the guys there.
Steve
The shitty thing is that about the time a guy might benefit from using Viagra or Cialis is also the time when he has the least available amount of nitric oxide in his body. Actually between, I think it's between 50 and 60, 80 to 85% of the nitric oxide that we produce when we eat, you know, salads and walnuts and different things that create nitric oxide. It ends up being trapped in our cells and is not available to the body to utilize at all. So you test the average 50 or 60 year old walking around down the street with a saliva test, little strip of paper, and he like, I don't know, on a, on a zero to five scale, he's like a zero or a one. Always, always. And then you know, nitric oxide, but can be, can be increased anyway. And that's what these studies have shown.
Michael Bostick
What about for hormones? Could this help regulate hormone balance or.
Steve
No, I haven't seen anything on that. But in general, LED puts the body in that condition where homeostasis, where everything's coming right.
Stacey Christie
What do you. Out of all three of the products, how Stacy, would you use each one? So like, like, let's pretend like there's someone who travels a lot. Let's pretend like there's someone who's, who wants to just use it on the go. Like, what are, what are all the different ways to use each one?
Lauren Everts
If you're able to have the light stem bed, if you have that luxury of owning a light stem bed, it truly is a luxury item with unbelievable benefits for your entire family. I to me, it's well worth the investment. If not, you know, I think everyone should have a handheld because the handheld can go with you anywhere. The Pro Panel. The Pro Panel is a device that's on wheels and I will use that Pro Panel. The pain panel, for instance. Say I have a patient having a facial. I might have the Ellipsa, which is a very nice device that's kind of U shaped, that goes over the face and the neck. I'll have that on their face and neck. And if they have a bad knee or a bad ankle, I'll put the pain panel on them during their facial treatment. And it's fantastic. So, you know, you come in to see me, I mean, I have all the gadgets, but for home use at least the handheld, the Ellipsa would be second, third would be a Pro Panel. And if you can have that luxury bed, it's well worth the money.
Stacey Christie
I have the Ellipsa too, which is so amazing to lay in bed. And what I noticed is when I've turned it on, my kids flock to it, which is so crazy.
Lauren Everts
My dogs lay on the bed with me at night.
Stacey Christie
Well, you put it on me after my facial. Your dogs jumped up on me. Both of them. They did not do that the whole facial. They both were on top of me trying to get under it. Why is that?
Steve
Courtney Cox did a video. She hired a professional crew to come out and video like how when she does her treatments on our LED bed, her dogs jump on it and they're all over and they're like both of mine do. Maybe it's that, that sense that animals have, that it's something that's good for them. I don't know.
Stacey Christie
My Chihuahua jumps on. I turned it on the other day and he jumped on the bed. Who are other celebrities that you guys have seen using this? I know Paris Hilton is a fan. Who are other ones?
Lauren Everts
Phil Mickelson.
Stacey Christie
Oh, that's cool.
Steve
Yeah, Phil Mickelson. That's right. Matter of fact, that when he got his bed, that was when his career turned around and he ran a couple of major.
Lauren Everts
Yeah, he was doing.
Stacey Christie
Yeah, he heard it here first?
Lauren Everts
Yeah, no, it's just, it's an incredible bet. I think probably most celebrities have it. I mean, why wouldn't you?
Steve
Yeah, we, we have a lot, a lot of like celebrity level pro athletes too, but a lot of them. Like we've signed NDAs with a lot of these people that.
Stacey Christie
But a lot of celebrities have them.
Steve
Yeah.
Stacey Christie
And Courtney Cox posted hers. If you guys want to go watch, you can go see her whole thing.
Steve
Yeah, she's really sweet.
Stacey Christie
I mean, it's pretty cool. I got really, really serious about my sleep in the last two years. So what I did was I got a state of the art mattress. I made sure my room was pitch black, dark. I even got like a chimes machine. And then I got an Oura ring. And what the Oura Ring has done for me is it's really upgraded my sleep, which is no surprise. It tracks a lot of different things. You can track your heart rate or you can track your skin temperature trend. But what I love it for is I've gotten metrics of how to really improve my sleep, which in turn helps me manage my stress. If you have not tried an Oura Ring, you're missing out. What it does is it detects sleep stages and it's really accurate. I think that if you're someone who wants to manage stress like I did or really upgrade your sleep, this is a really great way to start. Oura Ring is the revolutionary smart ring that delivers personalized health data, insights and daily guidance. Oura Ring really empowers women to better understand their bodies so they can be their own health advocate too. So I'm pregnant now. If you're looking to get pregnant, they have something called the Natural Cycles app. And what this is is it's the world's first birth control app and it's now powered by Aura. So if you want to take control of your fertility really effortlessly, you can do this with Natural Cycles, which is integrated into the advanced Oura Ring 4. If you want to commit to your body, yourself, your health, and just improve your overall life, this is such a great gift to give yourself or a friend. It allows women to deeply understand their unique bodies with data. You can go to oura ring.com to learn more, visit ouraring.com Lauren and I.
Michael Bostick
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Stacey Christie
I don't mess around when it comes to my hair. I take my hair care so seriously. I just wanted to upgrade the whole thing. After I had Zaza about five years ago, I noticed that I had hair shedding and I was like, I'm going to take this into my own hands and I'm going to do everything possible that I can do to support hair growth. So I started getting into scalp massage. I got a scalp massager. I do it in the morning, I massage my scalp, I stimulate it. I also use a really good hair serum to stimulate that and then I do micro needling around my scalp. I also have a great shampoo and conditioner and I sleep on a silk pillowcase. The specific hair supplement that I'm always talking about is by Nutrafol. It's a clinically tested formula and what I've really seen is improved hair growth but also decreased shedding, which was so important to me. Neutrophil has a proactive approach and they really target the root causes and I can tell you that I am walking proof my hair is completely changed. Like it's a whole new world. Nutrafol is the number one dermatologist recommended hair growth supplement brand trusted by over 1 million people. See thicker, stronger, faster growing hair with less shedding in three to six months with Nutrafol. Start your hair growth journey with Nutrafol. For a limited time, Nutrafol is offering our listeners $10 off your first month subscription and free shipping. When you go to nutrafol.com and enter promo code skinnyhair, find out why over 4,500 healthcare professionals and stylists recommend Nutrafol for healthier hair. That's Nutrafol.com spelled N u T R-A F o L.com promo code skinnyhair that's NutraFool.com promo code skinny hair. One question that I have, this is a maybe an ignorant stupid question is some people have asked me when they've, when they've seen my bed, they say what is the difference? This maybe not a smart question between this and a tanning bed, meaning they both light up. Can you explain the different lights?
Steve
So, so, yeah, so, or tanning bed that's been retrofitted with LEDs. How about that? Okay. Because UV light is just terrible for the skin. It causes skin cancer. That's what a tanning bed does. But, but, but, but let's talk about the tanning bed. Yeah. About the tanning beds that have had replaced with LEDs or panels that hang on a wall that you're working out with two, three feet away like you mentioned earlier. Michael. So there's a law firm called King and Spalding headquartered in Washington D.C. one of the largest firms in the country with 1300 attorneys. Has a really good like over 25 year working relationship with the FDA and the FTC. So they just wrote a six or seven page white paper splash slash opinion letter and I brought you that too so you would have this as back up. Basically it explains how all of these devices that I've just mentioned are operating under an exemption that the FDA put out four years ago. And the FDA was being overrun with devices out of China trying to get FDA clearance. And so their reviewers were working on a bunch of LEDs, which are stuff which was low risk. Nobody's ever been hurt by an led, that sort of thing. And instead of like on like high risk clinical studies where people were dying and things like that. And so he says we need to like, we need to like work this out so that, so that we you know, do something to alleviate this bottleneck. I've got. And so they came up with this, an exemption. And the exemption, everybody thought that the exemption just said, hey, if you want to just like put like one of these devices out on the market and you're not going to make like wild claims, like, you can just go ahead and do it, you don't need FDA clearance. But that's not what the exemption actually said. What it said was that you could do that and you don't have to submit the paperwork to us and spend the millions of dollars and the years that it takes to get through FDA clearance on something like that, but you have to still do all those tests that any other company that actually got FDA clearance would do and keep it in a folder so that when the FDA or the FTC walks in your door or you can go, look, I dotted my. I's signing, I'm doing everything legal, okay? But nobody actually read that part of it. Nobody also read the part that says there's two requirements that you have to meet in order to be exempt. One of the requirements is very easy. Everybody that's now breaking the law can fix this really fast. And that's make no claim other beyond what a company that has an FDA cleared LED bed is making. And because it's very specific, what we can make muscle and joint pain, arthritic pain and stiffness and increased blood circulation. But the second requirement was that they have the fundamentally same technology. And if you had the fundamentally same technology, your engineering of your light, that would mean that you could probably. That's the FDA's kind of guarantee that you probably could pass all those tests for efficacy and security, safety, and that they're not going to get to see because you don't have to submit the paperwork. Okay? But the problem is that the only technology that's ever been able to pass those tests is our patented technology with the separate modules and the sensors. So we can't use it, that sort of thing. And so what this law firm is saying is that basically, and I'm paraphrasing, all these devices are illegally on the market right now and in violation of. Of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic act, which is punishable by fines and up one to ten years in prison. It's pretty strict.
Stacey Christie
Wrinkles, Wrinkles. This episode, I think, has a lot to do about wrinkles. We're going to take a little tangent. We know that the light stimulation helps with wrinkles. What are other things that people at home. I would be crazy not to ask you this. Having you on the podcast can do to Support wrinkles.
Michael Bostick
Wrinkles?
Lauren Everts
What do you mean with. With the light skin?
Stacey Christie
No, everything Skin facial. What are your tips?
Lauren Everts
Well, for wrinkles you definitely keep your skin clean and hydrated. Everyone needs to be using a hyaluronic acid on their skin and a moisturizer. Bare bare minimum. Like my little go to kit here has, you know, keep your break it down.
Stacey Christie
Yeah.
Lauren Everts
Cleanser, hyaluronic acid, moisturizer are the bare minimums. And of course sunscreen. But I would not ever use sunscreen prior to using the light stem device. So you can have clean skin with your serums on and then use your light stem device followed by your sunscreen.
Stacey Christie
Okay, so you want to use the light stem before you use sunscreen.
Lauren Everts
Absolutely.
Stacey Christie
Okay.
Lauren Everts
And no makeup, Nothing that's going to interfere with that light.
Stacey Christie
And you had come on our show before and the episode was you guys gotta go listen to Stacy on the episode. And what was so cool that you did that I thought was amazing is that you offered Skype sessions to anyone who wanted to do their own routine.
Lauren Everts
Yeah, no, I cause a custom, you know, skincare isn't one size fits all. In my go to kit, these are some bare minimums. An herbal cleanser, the hyaluronic acid moisture surge colostrum serum, which you love, Lauren. And this body lotion, the epicuren orange blossom body lotion I've been using, I slather my entire body with that. That every single time I get out of the shower.
Stacey Christie
That's what you put on before the bed?
Lauren Everts
Yeah, yeah, that. Well, I might even use a little tightening serum. I mean me, I will use some tightening serum on my arms, tightening serum on my legs, and then I put that all over my body.
Stacey Christie
So what I think's cool though is that if you guys do do a Skype with Stacy, she has these kits that she made for everyone with everything that you need for problematic skin. She also sells the light stim wand.
Lauren Everts
And the pro panel and the bed. I sell everything. Yes.
Stacey Christie
Okay, so if you guys want to do a Skype session with her and you want to see what's the best for your skin and you even want to talk to her about which light stim you should get. Yes, that is an option. Yeah.
Lauren Everts
Because we can also treat acne. So the go to kit is more of every day. Whereas the clear and calming kit is for compromised skin. Maybe your skin, the barrier needs some repair. You have some blemishes going on. So we have the, the clarifying cleanser, a noni gel, the propolis Lotion and the probiotic, which has colloidal silver in.
Stacey Christie
There, which is amazing for bacteria.
Lauren Everts
Very good.
Stacey Christie
Here's my thing. After listening to both of you. If you're not going to invest in your skin, in my opinion, you're not investing in your resume. You walk into a room and the first thing people see is your skin is your face.
Lauren Everts
Face.
Stacey Christie
And to me, I look at it as, as I'm investing money into doing daily habits that make my skin the best. And if I'm listening, I'm definitely, I'm sure as hell getting on a Skype with you to go over what I need to be doing because so many people are on the wrong products.
Lauren Everts
Oh, my God.
Stacey Christie
Just because I'm using Colostrum serum every day doesn't mean you should be. And just because I have the bed. Maybe you need the, the pro panel, like everyone to make. Because you're traveling. You just have to do. You sort of have to tailor what works for you.
Lauren Everts
Exactly. It's all customized.
Stacey Christie
It's all customized. And so what I think is so amazing about this episode is it's a two pronged approach. Right? You can do the consultation with Stacy. You can go over what should be, what you should be using for your skin, and then you can also figure out which light stem that you want to invest in. But I also think, like, the light stem is something that you can do every single day. It's so easy to do it while you're watching television.
Michael Bostick
There's no overdoing it. It.
Steve
No, no, no handhelds.
Lauren Everts
You get an extension cord. My mom, she's 80 and she's never had any facial plastic surgery. And she has little lines around her mouth. She literally holds that light stem.
Michael Bostick
The.
Lauren Everts
It's like a shower wand. We should have brought one, but it's like a shower wand. She holds it on her mouth until it beeps and she kind of goes around her mouth. It has so softened her lines. It's shockingly, you know, but she uses at least on clean skin, Moisture surge and the Colostrum serum. Bare minimum.
Stacey Christie
What are some mistakes that you think people are making with their skin when it comes to their skin that you.
Lauren Everts
Both have seen not using sunscreen? Yeah. And a hat. Sunscreen alone isn't enough anymore. You know, our ozone layer is shot.
Stacey Christie
So, you know, everyone asked me about the hat that I wear all the time. If the hat is the specific hat. It's the eye care.
Lauren Everts
It has up UPF 50 Eric Javits hats. Yeah, they're all on my Website.
Stacey Christie
The Navy.
Lauren Everts
The Navy.
Stacey Christie
Go with the navy hat. It's so cute. And I think that everyone should definitely check out lightsdim. I was really passionate about bringing you on this show because I want to spread the word about this. And I know that you're giving us a discount.
Steve
Right?
Stacey Christie
I'm gonna.
Steve
Yeah, I have a. I have a big announcement.
Stacey Christie
Oh, yeah.
Steve
So yes, yes, we are, we're gonna, are gonna give it 10% discount on any products if you use the code that you'll supply.
Stacey Christie
Code Skinny.
Steve
Yeah. But we have one product that is not on the website now and it will not get a discount. But it's pretty special. And I don't think they'll care about it. They don't get a discount on it. So our LED bed right now is $65,000. And if you're a professional, you'll get wholesale, but that's still in the $50,000 range. And you've got to prove that you're a professional that's going into a business to get that discount. But we have a bed that's coming out on the first of the year and we'll start taking orders now for it. That is $25,000 for consumers for at home use. It really doesn't look any different than our existing bed, but it is a little bit different.
Stacey Christie
Okay, let me ask you this because everyone's gonna ask, why is it so expensive? Explain it. Cause it's expensive. My thing is, it's an investment in my health. I'm gonna use it every day. I'm gonna use it 65,000 times. It's a dol.
Michael Bostick
Can professionals buy this? Is it. Is it mostly like the business is financing it or is the businesses writing a full.
Steve
They write checks, they finance it. We have financing for them. That's not a problem.
Michael Bostick
But, but, but so businesses buy this and then they use. And obviously they use it for their clients. They rent it out. And that's what they.
Lauren Everts
Yeah, yeah. It's a service that you provide for.
Steve
Your most LED devices on the market. People are just, that are making them. If they're not made in China, which most of them are, and they actually have some little backyard workshop or something that they're making them in here in the US they're just buying them off the shelf. You know, they're just really cheap LEDs and they're buying them off the shelf. We have. Our LEDs are probably 50 different specifications that go into them and, and they'll make like maybe 5 million of them and then they collate Those down to in, like, 26 bins, A through Z. And. And the higher the letter, the more expensive the led. So we spend a lot of money, is what I'm saying, on our LEDs. That's number one. The FDA is really expensive to go through. And it's not just a one and done. We're inspected every single year. They come in and they're in there. The FDA and then the ISO group that inspects us for like three to five days, they're in there looking at everything, making sure that we're all. Everything that we told the Ledger and the FDA and that the FDA tested is all still the same. We haven't replaced them with cheaper parts or anything like that. So it's just like, that's why. But 65 grand for the only bed that has legal FDA clearance, when there's plenty of tanning beds with that have been converted to LED that really like. Well, they fit into that whole category I was talking about that are. That are 60 to $120,000.
Michael Bostick
So it. There are obviously there's probably some people that. A lot of people that listen to the show that are maybe that could maybe afford that. But for people that can't, there's the handheld device or for people that want to try the bed. Do you guys have a resource or a list on your site that shows which clinics or which spas have them in certain areas? Or do they have. How can people figure that? If they. If they can't buy the $65,000, when do they want to try the full bed?
Steve
They'd have to call into the office because the. That system that's being put on our website shortly won't discern who's got a bed or who's got a panel. It just put. Because it's like 40,000 of them.
Lauren Everts
A lot of people come into my office just to use the bed. They don't come in for a facial treatment. They just come in to use the bed.
Stacey Christie
Yeah, you can go to Stacy. She has the light stimulation in her office. There's lots of different ways to use.
Lauren Everts
Every device there is from light stimulation.
Stacey Christie
I think that for me, if I wanted to gift this to people, the wand is a great gift for Christmas. How much is the wand?
Steve
249.
Stacey Christie
Okay. So this is like a. This is like a gift. You get this under the tree, and you're like, fuck, yeah.
Steve
And it'll last. Your grandparents, your grandchildren's grandchildren's grandchildren will still be using it. They never break.
Stacey Christie
So you have the one for wrinkles.
Lauren Everts
And the one for pain. Right. So, I mean, it is a no brainer.
Michael Bostick
And how much is the panel?
Steve
The ellipsa is about $2,500. The pro panel is 6,500. And then there's a $65,000 bed, but the new bed will be 25,000. We'll have consumer financing, like maybe put five grand down and make, you know, four or five hundred dollars a month payments or something like that.
Stacey Christie
Is the pro panel the thing that's on the bed?
Steve
Yes, it is. It's attached to the bed. Yeah.
Lauren Everts
And you can also.
Steve
Or it comes in a rolling stand.
Stacey Christie
I will say that the ellipsa, the one that you have, Stacy, that goes over you is during the facial. Really great one too.
Lauren Everts
Yes. And then we also have the pro panel. I have a pro panel at home. Ed literally rolls that thing down the hall, goes into his office, kicks back, puts it over his face, and everyone's like, why do you look so good? He uses that pro panel every single day.
Stacey Christie
Okay.
Michael Bostick
But if somebody wants to jump in right away, they can try the handheld. And if they want to try the beds, they can either call to make a decision.
Stacey Christie
We're gonna do a giveaway. Okay. We are going to give away. I didn't even ask you this, Stacy. Can we give away one of these?
Lauren Everts
Of course we're gonna give away one of each.
Stacey Christie
Okay. We're gonna give away Stacy Christie's go to kit and Stacy Christie's clear and calming kit, which you can find on our website. We're gonna give away a light stim.
Steve
Ellipsa and in three different handles, acne, wrinkles and pain.
Stacey Christie
This is a huge giveaway. Okay, so what you guys have to do is you have to follow lightstem on Instagram and acecristy on Instagram to win and then tell us your favorite takeaway of this episode on my latest post at Lauren Bostick. You can use code skinny on Stacy's website. Stacy Christie Skin and Lightstem.com code skinny for 10 off.
Michael Bostick
We'll link it out in the show notes too.
Stacey Christie
And if you guys want to know my favorite Stacy picks, you can go to my blog. She's all over my blog. She's been all over my blog for the last 10 years. And then if you have any questions for me about the have had the best experience, which is why I wanted you guys on here. Where can everyone contact you both if they have questions?
Lauren Everts
Instagram at Stacy Christyskin steveightstim.com Make sure.
Stacey Christie
You follow LightSTEM and acycristyskin on Instagram. Thank you guys for coming on the show.
Lauren Everts
Thank you for having us.
Stacey Christie
I can't wait for you guys to come back after I've used it for like two years and I look like Michael's 21 year old girlfriend. Michael's gonna be like, oh, my gosh. To shop Lightstem, just go to LightSTEM.com and check out that ellipse. I'm telling you, it's such a good one.
The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast: Wrinkle Fixes, Wellness Hacks, & The Beauty Tech Revolution
Featuring Expert Esthetician Stacey Christie & LightStim Founder Steve Marchese
Release Date: January 30, 2025
In this insightful episode of The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast, hosts Lauryn Bosstick and Michael Bosstick delve deep into the world of light stimulation technology with two esteemed guests: Stacey Christie, a renowned esthetician from San Diego, and Steve Marchese, the visionary founder of LightStim. The episode, titled "Wrinkle Fixes, Wellness Hacks, & The Beauty Tech Revolution," explores the transformative impact of light stimulation on skin care, wellness, and overall health.
At [03:05], Steve Marchese clarifies the terminology, stating, "It started out being called LED light therapy. But using the word therapy is a misnomer because it's treating wrinkles too. Wrinkles are aesthetics, not therapy." He emphasizes that the term "light stimulation" is more accurate as it encompasses various wavelengths such as red, infrared, amber, and blue light, each serving different functions. This broader categorization moves beyond the narrow scope of red light therapy, highlighting the versatile applications of light stimulation.
Steve further explains at [11:07], "There are different wavelengths of light... Red and infrared, which the human eye can't see... Different wavelengths do different things when they interact with cells." He breaks down the science by illustrating how light energy is absorbed by the mitochondria in cells, converting it into ATP (adenosine triphosphate), the cellular energy source. This process, as Steve elaborates at [12:52], “So it, the cells are the mitochondria of the cell absorbs that light energy and then converts it to ATP. That's the gasoline. That's the gas that runs our cells."
In a comparative discussion at [04:17], Stacey recalls her conversation with Steve about infrared saunas versus light stimulation beds. Steve elucidates the differences:
Traditional Sauna: Uses steam and requires regular cleaning to prevent mold. Primarily induces sweating to detoxify the body without reducing inflammation.
Infrared Sauna: A dry sauna that avoids the mold issue but, according to Steve, "is not reducing your inflammation, which is what LED infrared will do."
Steve emphasizes that the effectiveness of light stimulation lies in its ability to penetrate deeper into tissues, promoting inflammation reduction and cellular healing, a capability traditional saunas lack.
Lauren shares her transformative experience at [05:50]: "I injured my back terribly... was told I needed shots and surgery... two weeks solid, I laid on that bed. I was back on the tennis court. I had no pain." This testimony underscores the bed's efficacy in accelerating recovery from severe injuries, potentially avoiding invasive procedures.
Steve narrates a pivotal moment at [31:21] when his son faced a life-threatening complication from surgery. Desperate for a solution after conventional medicine failed, Steve and his team developed the LightStim bed in 60 days, leading to a remarkable recovery: "two months later his blood pressure is 130 over 80. And we go, whoa, we should, we should, we should build this thing."
Priced at $249, the handheld LightStim devices are user-friendly and portable, allowing daily use to target specific skin concerns like wrinkles, acne, and pain.
At $2,500, the Ellipsa Pro Panel offers a more stationary solution, ideal for integrating into facials and professional treatments, enhancing the efficacy of skincare routines.
The flagship product, the LightStim Bed, commands a premium price of $65,000 (with a consumer version coming at $25,000) and is designed for comprehensive full-body treatments. Steve highlights its uniqueness: "It's the only bed that has legal FDA clearance."
Steve addresses the stringent FDA clearance process at [07:16], emphasizing LightStim's commitment to safety and efficacy: "It's important to buy products that are made in the U.S... FDA clearance is more prevalent in smaller devices." He contrasts LightStim with competitors who often bypass FDA standards, leading to subpar and potentially unsafe products in the market.
Stacey adds at [09:41], "What do people who are listening need to know about other companies in light stimulation? What are things to look out for where it's a scam?" Steve responds by advocating for FDA-cleared devices, ensuring consumers receive legitimate and effective products.
Lauren discusses integrating LightStim into her skincare regimen at [13:33], "Every single facial I do, I incorporate the pro panel, the anti-wrinkle panel... Red light finishes all of my facial treatments because I have just done an oxygen infusion." Steve explains the scientific basis: "It's plumping up that lower level of skin, that dermis layer, and it's pushing the fold of the wrinkle out like that little by little."
Steve elaborates on the wellness benefits, including pain relief and increased blood circulation. At [21:04], Lauren shares, "He literally lays on that bed, back on the court," highlighting the bed's role in immediate pain alleviation and enhanced recovery.
Michael recounts his improved sleep quality at [17:21], experiencing extended REM cycles after using the bed. Steve connects this to nitric oxide production: "Nitric oxide... reduces heart attacks, reduces strokes, it increases blood flow to the brain... better sleep."
Steve mentions notable athletes like Saquon Barkley benefiting from LightStim: "He laid on it three days a week and two months later his blood pressure is 130 over 80... set a personal record of 206 yards."
Steve touches upon hormonal benefits, noting increased libido and enhanced efficacy of erectile dysfunction drugs through nitric oxide release, though he advises caution regarding hormone regulation.
Lauren explains how she integrates LightStim into her esthetician services at [49:05]: "I use the pro panel... when I have a bad knee or a bad ankle, I'll put the pain panel on them during their facial treatment. And it's fantastic." This dual approach of combining beauty and wellness treatments caters to a holistic client experience.
Steve proudly mentions LightStim's adoption by celebrities and athletes, including Phil Mickelson and Courtney Cox, enhancing its credibility and appeal. Lauren adds at [51:00], "When he got his bed, that was when his career turned around," attributing significant professional success to LightStim usage.
Steve discusses financing options for businesses and the upcoming consumer bed at [66:00], "The new bed is $25,000 for consumers... We'll have consumer financing, like maybe put five grand down and make... four or five hundred dollars a month payments."
Lauren and Stacey emphasize the importance of a comprehensive skincare routine when using LightStim devices:
Stacey highlights the customization available through Skype consultations with Stacy Christie, ensuring personalized skincare routines.
Steve hints at the release of a more affordable consumer bed at [66:00], priced at $25,000, with features mirroring the existing model but tailored for home use.
To engage listeners, Lauren and Stacey announce a generous giveaway at [71:12], offering Stacy Christie's skincare kits and LightStim devices. Participants must follow LightStim and acycristyskin on Instagram and share their favorite takeaway from the episode using the code "skinny" for discounts on LightStim products.
This episode of The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast offers a comprehensive exploration of light stimulation technology, blending scientific insights with personal testimonials and professional applications. Stacey Christie and Steve Marchese provide a nuanced understanding of how LightStim devices can revolutionize both beauty and wellness routines, backed by FDA clearance and real-world success stories. Whether you're a skincare enthusiast, athlete, or someone seeking holistic health improvements, this episode underscores the transformative potential of light stimulation in enhancing quality of life.
Notable Quotes:
Steve Marchese [03:05]: "Using 'therap'y didn't work. We are using 'light stimulation' because you are using different wavelengths of light to cause the cell to stimulate the cell to do something."
Lauren Everts [05:50]: "In two weeks solid, I laid on that bed. I was back on the tennis court. I had no pain."
Steve Marchese [12:52]: "The cells are the mitochondria of the cell absorbs that light energy and then converts it to ATP. That's the gasoline that runs our cells."
Steve Marchese [17:21]: "There are clinical studies that show that certain wavelengths of light will help to release serotonin and dopamine."
Steve Marchese [35:37]: "We built a one-sided bed that you flip on... You're actually only a quarter inch off the tip."
Resources & Links:
Note: All product mentions and endorsements on this podcast are made by the hosts and guests based on their personal experiences and expertise.