The Functional Aesthetician

Amber, a stay-at-home mom, is currently eating nothing but beef and salt for 20 days. 

And not for any health reason, but purely out of curiosity about what it would do for her body and muscle retention. 

In this episode, she opens up about a separate, harder chapter: a postpartum hormone crash that left her progesterone at 0.1 and how she finally got the right diagnosis after an earlier doctor missed it.

In this Episode, You’ll Learn:

Kerry was told his congestive heart failure was permanent and would only get worse. He reversed it along with a lifelong irregular heartbeat, crippling depression, and years of chronic pain, using nothing but a carnivore diet. 

In this episode, Kerry shares his health collapse, the YouTube video that changed everything, and how that same healing spread to his family and people around the world. 

We also talk about his upcoming documentary, Healing Humanity, premiering October 23, which follows real people healing chronic disease through food.

In this Episode, You’ll Learn:

This week marks 50 episodes and one year of The Functional Aesthetician Podcast, and I’m telling the story I haven’t told.

What led me into shifting into functional medicine and starting this podcast.

🎉 To celebrate, I flipped the mic and let my boyfriend, Clint, interview me. 

We get into why I built this show around women 40+ navigating perimenopause, what functional medicine labs catch that a standard doctor’s visit misses, and where I want to take this podcast next.

If you want to hear my side of the story, this episode is...

This week on The Functional Aesthetician Podcast, we're talking about a full-body scan that found brain cancer with zero warning signs

And how a metabolic approach helped beat cancer without chemo or radiation.

My guest is Andrea Schaffer, an oncology nutrition consultant whose own cancer diagnosis came out of nowhere.

A preventative full-body Prenuvo scan found a mass in her brain before she ever had a single symptom. 

Three and a half years later, she's cancer-free, and walking us through how she approached her cancer diagnosis.

The ketogenic diet, t...

This week on The Functional Aesthetician Podcast, we're talking about nutrition, gut health, hydration, and supplements worth taking.

We also talk about why so many women hear "your labs are normal" and still don't feel like themselves.

My guest is Jackie Klein, a board certified holistic health practitioner and author of Holistic Healing From the Inside Out. 

Jackie builds her approach on the foundational things that move the needle before testing or supplements even come into play.

If you've ever been told everything looks fine on paper but you still feel b...

This week on The Functional Aesthetician Podcast, we're getting into the gut-brain connection, hidden toxins, and the sleep habits that can quietly disrupt your mental health with integrative psychiatrist Dr. Krishna Taneja.

Dr. Taneja treats the whole person instead of just prescribing and moving on, looking at gut health, toxin exposure, nutrition, and sleep alongside traditional psychiatric care. 

If you've ever wondered why medication alone isn't fixing how you feel, or how something like mold in your walls could be driving your anxiety, this episode is for you.

In this Episode, You’ll Lea...

This week on The Functional Aesthetician Podcast, we're talking about protein and sleep, the two habits doing more for your energy after 40 than almost anything else. Plus we do a quick gut-check on the avocado oil controversy and why so many women over 40 are eating "clean," sleeping enough hours, and still feel tired, puffy, or stuck.

My guest is Lillie Kane, YouTube creator and certified nutrition health coach whose own turnaround started far from a health studio. 

She didn't learn how to actually feed her body until she met her now-husband in her twenties. 

...

This week on The Functional Aesthetician Podcast, we brought Zuzu back to talk about something most of us don't think about until something feels off.

EMFs, electromagnetic frequencies, the invisible fields coming off your phone, your WiFi router, your smart meter, and just about everything else plugged in around you. 

If you've been doing all the "right" things for your health and still can't figure out why you're not healing, this episode might be the missing piece.

Back again is Karen "ZuZu" Armes, founder of Holistic Health Educators and Lily Fields retreat center.

This week on the Functional Aesthetician Podcast, we're talking about pelvic floor, painful sex, and HRT; three topics women in perimenopause and menopause aren't getting straight answers on. 

If your labs came back "normal" but you don't feel normal, or your HRT isn't doing what you hoped, this episode is for you.

Joining me is Kim Bilyk, an occupational therapist, trauma-informed pelvic health therapist, and self-titled "Queen of Turn On." 

Kim's own journey into this work started when she lost her period for eight months after a bikini competition, and her doctor's only an...

Ever wonder why your doctor makes it sound like pregnancy is inevitable the second you stop taking birth control? 

In this episode, Samantha sits down with Chanana McGarry, founder of Womb Literacy, to talk about a natural, side-effect-free way to track your cycle that medical professionals are ever trained in. 

Chanana shares her own journey from unplanned pregnancies to becoming a fertility educator, and we talk about why period pains are not "normal," what your basal body temperature and cervical fluid can tell you about your hormones, and why ovulation matters even if you're not tr...

Your labs come back "normal" 

You've eliminated junk food

You're doing everything right, yet you still don't feel like yourself. 

In this episode, Samantha breaks down why the gut is the root cause behind symptoms that look completely unrelated: skin flare-ups, fatigue, mood swings, autoimmune disease, and perimenopause chaos. 

She walks through what gut dysbiosis is, how the gut-skin and gut-brain connections work, and the reasons your gut is struggling: from antibiotics and processed food to mold, glyphosate, heavy metals, and forever chemicals hiding in your everyday products. 

Samantha also...

Darcie Burtch, NLP practitioner, clinical hypnosis coach, and trauma toolbox creator, opens up about compound trauma, losing her dad, and the "superwoman cape" every woman needs to take off.

Darcie Burtch has turned every bit of her traumatic life into a toolbox for healing. 

In this episode, Darcie and Samantha talk about what trauma does to the body, why women are conditioned to "push through" instead of feel, and the practical tools to move through grief without getting stuck in it.

Darcie shares techniques from her Trauma Toolbox Workshop, from using music to c...

Most women are told their labs are "normal" right before they fall apart. 

K Miller, the Harmony Coach, serial entrepreneur, mother of five, and homeschooler, spent years bouncing between doctors before an oncologist finally caught a severe iron deficiency, followed by a thyroid disorder and SIBO. 

But this didn't fix the exhaustion. 

It took slowing down, syncing with her natural rhythms, and ditching the "push through it" mentality to actually feel better.

In this episode, K and Samantha unpack why women are taught to operate on a 24-hour clock instead of the...

If you're over 40, stuck in perimenopause, and doing everything "right" by cutting calories, avoiding butter, choosing low-fat, and still not losing weight, this episode is for you. 

Samantha sat down with Dr. Jocelyn Foran, an anesthesiologist, who reversed her own decades-long battle with ulcerative colitis by ditching the food guide and going carnivore.

We talk about why insulin is the real driver of stubborn weight gain, fatigue, and inflammation in midlife. 

We dig into the flawed science behind the "saturated fat is bad" myth, why cholesterol is a firefighter and not the enemy wh...

If your labs keep coming back "normal" but you still feel exhausted, foggy, and nothing like yourself, this episode is for you. 

In this week’s solo episode, Samantha breaks down the confusing overlap between thyroid dysfunction and perimenopause, why Hashimoto's goes undiagnosed in women 40+, and why a standard thyroid test isn't giving you the full picture. 

She unpacks why so many doctors aren't trained to run the right labs or prescribe HRT, busts the outdated fear around hormone replacement therapy, and reveals what your skin has been quietly trying to tell you about your horm...

What do you do when your labs say "normal" but your body says otherwise? 

Samantha sits down with Moyra Gorski, a wellness educator, breast cancer survivor, and menopause advocate, to talk about alternative approaches to health, cancer, and menopause.

Moyra shares her personal journey from a skeptical nurse to learning alternative approaches to health, including the breast cancer diagnosis that sent her searching for root causes instead of radiation treatment. 

She opens up about the mindset work that shaped her recovery.

The conversation shifts into perimenopause and menopause and why symptoms ge...

What if the root of your bloating, low energy, and even your skin issues isn't a mystery, it's your gut microbiome? 

In this episode, I sit down with ZuZu, holistic health care practitioner and founder of Lily Fields Center and Holistic Health Educators, who reversed her own epilepsy over 35 years ago through food, and has spent decades teaching others how to rebuild their health from the kitchen, not the pharmacy.

In this Episode, You’ll Learn:

Samantha sits down with microbiologist Kiran Krishnan to break down one of the most under-taught topics in skincare: the skin microbiome and its direct connection to gut health. 

Kiran spent over a decade pioneering gut microbiome research before turning his focus to the skin, and what he shares will change how you think about acne, skin sensitivity, and aging skin for good.

In this Episode, You’ll Learn:

If you've been pushing harder in your workouts but seeing fewer results, this episode is for you. This week I'm joined by Katie, a fitness professional and host of the Wellness After 40 podcast, to break down exactly why exercise needs to change in your 40s, and what to do instead.

We're talking about the real reason HIIT workouts can backfire during perimenopause, why cortisol and insulin resistance make certain workouts work against your goals, and the specific fitness shifts that support your hormones instead of stressing them further.

Katie also shares her simple framework for...

Why do so many women in their 40s look in the mirror and feel like a stranger is looking back? 

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Natalya Borakowski, naturopathic physician, founder of Desert Bloom Skincare, and creator of the Unveil You platform, to talk about the science behind mirror anxiety.

We also talk about how perimenopause rewires the brain's self-perception, and chronic stress is quietly destroying your collagen.

If you've ever caught yourself picking apart your reflection, feeling like you've aged overnight, or wondering why your skin isn't responding the way i...

What if the missing piece in your acne journey wasn't more skincare products, it was your gut?

In this special episode, Samantha sits down with her client Teresa, who spent years battling acne. 

She tried Accutane and birth control before booking her first facial and discovering what was really driving her breakouts. 

Teresa shares her full journey, from her first facial to running a gut test, and her journey to clear skin through healthy eating and the positive impact her diet has not only on herself, but her family too.

In th...

In this episode, I'm joined by Jen Sugermeyer, founder of ATA Cosmetics, a tool that is completely rethinking how skincare and makeup are applied to the skin. 

Jen shares her powerful self-love journey, and how that transformation led her to build a brand rooted in the philosophy that attitude, thoughts, and actions shape everything.

We're breaking down why application is the most overlooked step in skincare, your  lymphatic system is your skin's cleanup crew, and what actually happens when you apply products with your fingers (spoiler: it's not great). 

If you've been spending mon...

Are you in your 30s, 40s, or 50s and your skin suddenly feels like a stranger's? 

You haven't changed your routine, but your skin is dry, breaking out, and aging faster than it ever has, and nobody seems to have answers.

In this solo episode, Samantha breaks down exactly what is happening hormonally and why your skin is the first place it shows up. This is the conversation your doctor isn't having with you,  and the one you've been searching for.

You'll learn why perimenopause affects far more than your cycle, how your th...

In this episode of The Functional Aesthetician, Samantha Dench sits down with Kisha Hamilton, award-winning licensed esthetician and founder of The Rebeauté, a corrective skincare sanctuary rooted in holistic healing. 

Together they talk about the gut-skin connection, what a compromised skin barrier actually looks like, and how a barrier-first approach can transform stubborn skin conditions like acne and hyperpigmentation.

Kisha also shines a light on global skin and explains why corneotherapy and barrier repair are essential for achieving real, lasting results for these clients.

She also shares what she’s working on for esth...

If you're gaining weight, exhausted, and doing everything "right" eating less, exercising more, and nothing is working, this episode is for you.

Holistic nutritionist and menopause health coach Lora Ulrich breaks down the hormonal cascade that happens during perimenopause and menopause, and why the old rules simply don't apply to your body anymore.

Lora shares her story: from a childhood thyroid condition, to a surgical menopause, to becoming one of the leading voices in midlife metabolic health. 

She breaks down the connection between estrogen decline, insulin resistance, cortisol, and weight gain in ways t...

If you've been doing all the "right things" eating clean, exercising, taking your supplements, and you still can't lose the weight, clear your skin, or feel better, this episode is for you.

Samantha sits down with Stephanie Lee Hayes, somatic educator and founder of Roots and Rituals, to unpack the nervous system piece that most practitioners (and even therapists) are missing. 

Stephanie explains how chronic stress and unprocessed trauma keep your body locked in survival mode and why that makes healing nearly impossible, no matter how hard you try.

If you've ever felt l...

In this episode, Samantha sits down with Megan McCue, a speech language pathologist and Botox injury advocate, who became seriously ill after a single cosmetic Botox session in 2024. 

What followed was months of neurological symptoms, swallowing difficulties, hair loss, extreme anxiety, insomnia, and cognitive impairment. 

Doctors dismissed her. The ER couldn't explain it. And no one connected it back to that one injection.

Megan is now a leading voice in informed consent advocacy and has written multiple books, launched a podcast, and co-produced a documentary to get this information into the hands of wo...

Are you struggling with chronic fatigue, hormonal imbalance, or PCOS and feel like nothing you try is actually working? 

In this episode of The Functional Aesthetician, I sit down with Dr. Jaday Garcia, board certified doctor of natural medicine, functional medicine practitioner, and founder of MindBodyRestored to talk about the root cause healing approach that conventional medicine keeps missing.

Dr. Garcia shares her personal journey navigating PCOS, PMDD, chronic migraines, and chronic fatigue after years of being handed prescriptions with no real answers. 

Her story is one every woman dealing with hormonal imbalance wi...

This week, Samantha shares a full recap of her first-ever experience at the Skin Games in Dallas. From speaking on the holistic skin panel to connecting with some of the most inspiring aestheticians in the industry, this episode is equal parts behind-the-scenes and big-picture.

Samantha shares what she witnessed, what she's building next, and why stepping outside your comfort zone is still the fastest path to growth, personally and professionally.

Plus, she's announcing something brand new: the Inside Out Jumpstart, a 30-day functional medicine entry point built specifically for the woman who's not quite ready...

What if your eczema, psoriasis, gut issues, fatigue, or chronic inflammation aren’t random at all, but signals from a nervous system that’s been stuck in survival mode?

In this episode of The Functional Aesthetician Podcast, Samantha Dench sits down with holistic health coach and alternative health practitioner Sabrina Hall to unpack the deeper connection between nervous system dysregulation, systemic inflammation, and chronic skin and body symptoms.

Sabrina shares her personal healing journey through eczema, IBS, celiac disease, lymphatic congestion, and autoimmune patterns, and how that experience led her to a whole-body approach that goes...

What if your bloating, fatigue, headaches, brain fog, and skin flare-ups were actually early warning signs of chronic inflammation?

In this episode of The Functional Aesthetician Podcast, Samantha Dench sits down with naturopathic doctor Elizabeth Yarnell to break down what inflammation really is, how it shows up in the body and skin, and why most people miss the signals until symptoms become impossible to ignore.

Elizabeth shares her personal journey of being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at age 29, losing vision in one eye, and being told her condition would only worsen. That diagnosis pushed her...

Your labs are “normal.”

Yet you’re exhausted, inflamed, bloated, and don’t feel like yourself.

What if hormones aren’t the real problem… but a downstream symptom of something deeper?

In this episode of The Functional Aesthetician Podcast, we sit down with functional medicine practitioner and aesthetician, Heidi Cooper, to unpack why so many women in their 30s, 40s, and 50s experience fatigue, weight gain, skin flare-ups, and hormone imbalance symptoms, even when bloodwork looks “normal.”

We talk about the difference between conventional and functional medicine, and why standard lab ranges often mis...

In this episode of The Functional Aesthetician Podcast, we sit down with licensed esthetician and founder of LBH Skincare, Heather Reay, to break down the truth about the skin barrier.

We discuss signs of barrier disruption. Heather explains the difference between clinical skincare and over-the-counter formulations, how low pH and proper exfoliation support skin regulation, and why layering multiple actives may be dysregulating your skin.

We also address the growing trend of tweens using corrective skincare and why young skin does not need aggressive active ingredients.

If you’re overwhelmed by skincare trends or...

If you’ve been treating your eczema with creams, prescriptions, and elimination diets, but it keeps coming back, this episode will change how you see your skin. 

Eczema isn’t just a surface issue. It’s a signal from your gut, nervous system, and immune system that something deeper needs attention.

In this episode, I’m joined by functional nutritionist Krista Harcus to unpack the root causes of eczema and why true healing starts inside the body.

We talk about the gut-skin connection, microbiome health, nervous system regulation, stress, hormones, and why steroid creams an...

If your body feels stuck in stress mode, it could be a nervous system issue.

In this episode, our special guest, Brenda Mundt, talks about how breathwork regulates the nervous system, influences cortisol, and helps bring the body back into balance. She explains why most people have shallow breathing, which keeps you in a state of stress, and how intentional breathing can signal calm and safety to the body.

We also discuss how trauma, sometimes passed down through generations, can live in the nervous system and shape how the body responds today. 

This c...

Starting a new diet, lifestyle, or skincare routine shouldn’t feel this hard, but for many women in their 30s, 40s, and 50s, it does.

If you feel stuck, overwhelmed before you begin, or disconnected from your body, this episode explains why starting feels so difficult, and why it’s not a motivation or discipline problem.

In this episode, Samantha breaks down how nervous system overload, hormonal shifts, burnout, and loss of body trust make change feel exhausting. 

Learn why self-sabotage is often self-protection, why forcing change backfires, and what the real starting point...

If your hormones feel out of control but your labs are “normal,” this episode is for you.

Weight gain, fatigue, acne, gut issues, and skin changes during perimenopause and menopause are often blamed on hormones, but the real issue is insulin resistance.

We talk about why so many women struggle to lose weight, feel worse when dieting or exercising, and develop skin and gut issues in their 30s and 40s, even when they’re “doing everything right.”

This episode connects the dots between insulin resistance, perimenopause, menopause, gut health, metabolism, and aging skin, without bl...

If you’re in your 30s or 40s thinking, “I’m eating well, I’m working out, so why am I gaining weight and feeling puffy, tired, and off?”

Samantha sits down with Kelsey Ale, functional nutritionist and women’s hormone health expert, to unpack what most women are not being told about perimenopause, insulin resistance, blood sugar, inflammation, and the skin changes that show up on your face first.

You’ll learn why the “calories in / calories out” approach often fails in midlife, how fluctuating estrogen impacts insulin sensitivity, and what simple nutrition shifts can help you feel...

Clean beauty isn’t always safe, and in some cases, it may be doing more harm than good.

In this episode of The Functional Aesthetician Podcast, host Samantha Dench sits down with Afshan Hussein, environmental health educator, fertility coach, and founder of Pregnancy Safe Cosmetics, to expose the biggest clean beauty myths impacting skin, hormones, fertility, and metabolic health.

Afshan breaks down why many “non-toxic” and “clean” beauty products are not pregnancy-, fertility-, or hormone-safe, how U.S. cosmetic regulations differ drastically from Europe, and why ingredient loopholes allow harmful chemicals to stay on the shelves. <...

Not all wellness trends are created equal. In this episode, learn which 2026 skin and wellness trends are worth your time, and which ones to question before jumping on the bandwagon.

In this first episode of 2026, Samantha Dench explores the top skin, beauty, and wellness trends shaping the year ahead, and the ones to approach with caution. 

From the return to professional skincare and the rise of skinimalism, to functional medicine, customized supplementation, and social health, this episode focuses on what truly drives healthy skin from the inside out.

You’ll learn why simplifying you...