Mini-Ep 395: The Serum Signal
Kate and Doree hear from listeners about more hot digital organization tips, finding the perfect retirement gift, and learning what Blue Mercury is. Plus, Kate has some real big feelings about remembering people’s names.
This might be the last mini-ep as we know it, but they’ll still be answering your questions and hearing your thoughts on future episodes. So keep them coming!
Mentioned in this Episode
To leave a voicemail or text for a future episode, reach them at 781-591-0390. You can also email the podcast at forever35podcast@gmail.com.
Visit forever35podcast.com for links to everything they mention on the show or shopmyshelf.us/forever35.
Follow the podcast on Instagram (@Forever35Podcast) and join the Forever35 Facebook Group (Password: Serums).
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Transcript
Kate: Hello and welcome to Forever35, a podcast about the things we do to take care of ourselves. I am Kate Spencer,
Doree: And I am Doree Sherer.
Kate: And boy, we're not experts.
Doree: We are not. We're just two little friends who like to talk a lot about serums.
Kate: And this is a mini episode. And dare I say, it's the last mini episode we're going to do maybe forever.
Doree: It's the last real mini episode we're going to do going forward. We're going to be incorporating some listener questions into our weekly episode, but the mini episodes as they exist today are going away.
Kate: They are. They're going away. Now I, I'm imagining when we do the listener question episodes of our weekly Forever35, they're going to feel similar, but we're not going to call them mini episodes.
Doree: No. It's just going to be the regular episode. And then we will also be doing a monthly q and a episode on our Patreon where you can ask us anything. And that's going to be freewheeling.
Kate: Oh boy.
Doree: Oh yeah. Did we mention we launched a Patreon?
Kate: Well, first we need to say, even though this is the last mini episode, this is where we hear from you. We share your comments and your thoughts and we answer your questions to the best of our ability.
Doree: Yes, Kate, this is where we stand at. Just want to be clear.
Kate: I want to be clear on that one last time
Doree: And talk to a medical or mental health professional if we say something that we are not qualified to say.
Kate: Please. Now onto our Patreon.
Doree: Onto the Patreon. So here's what's going to happen. We are still going to be doing one episode a week on the main feed with ads. It's going to be a combination of interviews and listener questions. Sometimes we're just going to be talking amongst ourselves, but it's going to be once a week. It's going to come out on Mondays. In addition to that, on our Patreon, we are going to have ad free episodes of product recall, which is, if you recall our deep dive into iconic beauty products. A new podcast called Season One, where we are going to be doing a TV rewatch podcast of the first season of TV shows that are selected by our patrons and the aforementioned q and a episode. So there will be an additional, once we get kind of up and running, there will be one more Forever35 Patriot episode per week. And then we also have a Discord, which Kate just admitted to me she loves the format.
Kate: Yeah, it reminds me of old school message boards. Everything is very easy to find.
Doree: Yeah, it's very fun.
Kate: Topics wise.
Doree: We also convinced our amazing merch, goddess Brook Forry of Balance Bound to provide our patrons with a merch discount, which is amazing. So you'll get that code when you subscribe and yes, you get all of that for $5 a month. And then we do have a $10 a month tier. And at the $10 tier you will get the ad free versions of the regular episodes that we are still publishing to the main feed. So that was my popular, all that other stuff, stuff that was my popular request.
Kate: Get those ad frees,
Doree: Those ad frees. And you also get a shout out on the podcast every month just as a little token of our preach. And we have a seven day free trial to check everything out. So if you're Patreon curious but you're not quite ready to take ye old plunge, check out ye old free trial.
Kate: Is it a cold plunge?
Doree: It is a cold plunge. If you're not ready to take the Patreon cold plunge,
Kate: Try it out and then see if you like cold plunging on our Patreon.
Doree: Yeah. Yep.
Kate: We also have a wild $35 a month tier where you get a very personalized video message of gratitude from us for signing up, plus all the other goodies mentioned before. So if you are living on the edge and you want to roll in there, we won't say no.
Doree: We won't say no. So all of that is at patreon.com/Forever35 patreon.com/Forever35. Now, with all of that said, let's get into our last mini epp.
Kate: Okay, here we go. We're going to kind of wrap up this digital organization conversation.
Doree: Oh good.
Kate: I feel like we have learned so much. And you know what? I received a targeted ad for a class on digital organization today. It was like as if my internet knew that we've been talking about this for three months.
Doree: No, your Internet is your phone just told the ad networks that you have more than 20,000 photos on your phone. And they were like, this person needs some digital organization.
Kate: It is a crisis. I am going to be implementing a lot of the tools that people have suggested because it's rough out there. But here are two additional things that we got that's really great. Okay. Oh wait, before we do, I need to express my gratitude to you for turning me on to the c v s photo app. And how quickly they're able to print photos. It was like miraculous. My kids needed some photos. I thought surely this will not be that great. They were ready in an hour from when I entered them onto the app on my phone. It was fantastic. And I got that hot tip from you. So
Doree: Look, CVSs photo, CVSs photo the more you know.
Kate: Sponsored by Doree. Okay, here's an email. Hi Kat and Dor. Day one listener coming from Egg Excellent Adventure. That is Doree's other podcast. Check it out. I just finished listening to your mini app. Get yourself sorted. I have a tip for your organizing your screenshots if you have an iPhone. I could say I came up with this, but I didn't shout out to Tal. Things I bought and liked on Instagram. I follow that account. I think for this life-changing tip. When you take your screenshot, you can save it to your notes app and you can sign them to the appropriate note. For example, I have a nail art inspiration note. When I see something, I take a screenshot, click on the square with the up arrow in the top right hand corner, choose the notes app, tap save two, and designate where it should go. Once it's saved, you can tap on the trash icon to delete it and it's still saved in your notes. I have one for recipes, memes, nail art, inspo, party inspo, et cetera. I have found this to be the easiest way to organize my screenshots. This is a great idea. I've never done this.
Doree: Wow. Okay.
Kate: I just have so many fucking screenshots mixed in and then I can't find them. Yes. And then I scroll for hours looking for the one screenshot I'm thinking of.
Doree: Totally. Also, it was a game changer for me. And this is one of those, yeah, everyone else was doing this eight years ago kind of thing, but for me,
Kate: which is fine. You know what, You catch on when you catch
Doree: On. I had never synced my notes app between my phone and my iPad and my computer. So my notes just lived on my phone. And then my notes app on my computer had my computer notes, app notes. They weren't synced.
Kate: Oh no, no. That's an, that's what drive me crazy.
Doree: And now they're synced and it's so much better. Oh my gosh.
Kate: Oh, it's amazing. It's amazing. Cause you can start typing a grocery list on your computer and then you go, it's on your phone like it that'ss. Great. It's one of the great perks of technology. Yes.
Doree: Yay. iCloud.
Kate: Okay, I'm happy for you. Yay, iCloud.
Doree: Alright, shall I read this next email? Yes. Hi, Kat and Dor. Love this digital organization discussion. I don't have much to add, but regarding photos for kids slash families, once a year I go through our family photos and move all my faves into a folder. Then I go into Shutterfly and click the make my book option, upload that file of photos, click some options, color scheme, et cetera. And then a couple days later you get a mockup of the photo book emailed to you. You can edit as many as you please or not. And then order for printing, the fee is nominal 10 to $15 maybe. I used to make my own photo books page my, I used to make my own photo books page by page and I honestly just couldn't keep up. At first, I felt like the make my book option was cheating or somehow making it less special. But then I came to realize that was ridiculous and I'd rather have the photo book to enjoy even if I didn't emotionally invest and pour over it for hours. Then I have a backlog of photos I wished that I'd made into books and that project hanging over my head, free yourselves. Outsource the project time. Enjoy the book. I do just want to note that you can also do this on the CVS app.
Kate: Doree, did you start working for cvs?
Doree: Hashtag CVS partner? No, I'm not CVS partner.
Kate: Doree, sponsored by cvs
Doree: I Am wearing a cvs tshirt
Kate: Well, you know what I did buy Doree is a Kirkland brand hat and I love it. And numerous people have texted me or numerous people have dmd me over Instagram after they'd seen that Kirkland is now selling these hats. You should get these. And I was like, I already did.
Doree: I wish that I could say I felt as strongly about CVS as you do about Costco, but like CVS is fine, it's overpriced. But look, their photo app, it's great. Great stuff, great stuff. CVS.
Kate: Wow. Again, if you want to reach out, oh, hire Doree. She, she's ready for sponsor.
Doree: I'm ready for that.
Kate: She's here shes got photo books to make
Doree: I am ready for that sweet sweet sponsor
Kate: But if, all right, listen,
Doree: If you do want to reach us, whether you are CVS or someone else, you can call or text us at (781) 591-0390. You can email us at Forever35podcast@gmail.com. You can visit our website forever35podcast.com for links to everything we mention on the show. We are on Instagram @Forever35podcast. And you can sign up for the Forever35 newsletter forever35podcast.com/newsletter. We also have a shop my at shopmy.us/Forever35, where we have all of our favorite all-time products. I also do just want to note that there is a prod recs channel on the Discord as well as the Costco Recs channel. I also learn the Discord has this relatively new feature where you can set up a channel as a forum and it does kind of mimic, it really does kind of mimic an old school message board. You can have topics that is very cool and then have comments within each topic, if that makes sense. So it's very convenient for things like specific recommendations because then you can go back and you don't have to scroll up and to find something within a conversation. So by request, the prod Recs and the Costco Recs channels are in the forum format. I'm really getting wonky about this Discord I got to say. But you know what? I love it.
Kate: I like wonky you. When you get wonky, you have that edge and I really love it.
Doree: Well, I do enjoy Discord and I'm living my best life in the Forever35 Discord. So join us there at patreon.com/Forever35. Alright, we are going to take a little break and we will be right back. Okay, we are back.
Kate: Okay, we have a bunch of VMs.
Doree: Here we go.
Voicemail: Hey, Kat and Dor. This is Cat from Connecticut, and I just had to pause the pause moment because I heard on the episode, Doree, mention the egg signal when you kind of need to call out to the audience and ask for help. And I just thought about an idea for Forever35. We could call it the serum signal. Hope you guys like that idea. All right, thank you so much for everything you do. Love you guys. Bye.
Doree: I love that the serum signal.
Kate: Kat, I feel like I heard this voicemail and I kept saving it for an episode and then I started using serum signal and didn't give you Kat, the listener credit for this. So just want to make sure we acknowledge where this has come from.
Doree: Wow.
Kate: It's come from Cat.
Doree: Thank you Kat.
Kate: Kat in Connecticut, the A real cat. I am an imposter when it comes to cats.
Doree: Can I share a brief aside about cats,
Kate: The animal or the name?
Doree: Well, kind of both. So Henry recently started playing tic-tac-toe and he's obsessed with it. And when he gets a tie game, he calls it a cat game.
Kate: Why?
Doree: I dunno, but he calls it a cat game. We, oh, we have a cat game. He's like, oh, cat game.
Kate: Oh, that's so cute.
Doree: It's very cute. I have no idea why he does it, but it's very sweet.
Kate: I wonder if he heard somebody else do it or if he heard something and he's turned it into his own thing.
Doree: Or if the first time he got a tie, the board looked like a cat. I don't know. I'll have to ask him.
Kate: Oh, I love that.
Doree: I'll have to ask him.
Kate: Ask him. But I also just love that he has come up with his own language and meaning for things. Well, speaking of names, we had another hot tip from a listener on how to remember people's names. I believe someone asked us about this.
Doree: Yes, here we go.
Voicemail: Hey y'all, my name is, I'm from Mississippi and I was just listening to your mini app this week about the question for how to memorize or how to recall someone's name. And in my freshman year orientation in college, my psychology professor gave us a hack that is, I have used so many times and it has been quite a while since I was a freshman in college. So you're at a party, you're meeting folks, and you are talking to someone that you realize you have completed blanks on their name. At some point before the interaction ends, that seems natural, you can say, I'm sorry, remind me your name again. And they'll say their first name and then you say, oh, I meant your last name. And then therefore you have gotten their first and last name if you ever need that. But that has been a savior for me to recall people's names. And they're none the wiser. It's the greatest trick. Okay. Thank y'all for everything. I've enjoyed your podcast since day one. Have a great week.
Kate: Well, thank you. And woof, woof to your dog
Doree: I was going to say your dog wanted to be on the pod.
Kate: So I have a thought about this.
Doree: Yes.
Kate: Which is that I, well, I like this, but I also think that we can, I hate being normalize.dot dot, but I think it's also okay to admit, I don't remember names. Could you please tell me yours again? I know I already asked. It's hard for me to remember. I think this expectation that we're all walking around remembering everybody's names and we are the only one who's for, and we have to secretly try to get the name. It's kind of created this, we're all forgetting names right or am I just only speaking for myself? And I think I'm like everybody else.
Doree: No, I mean also when you think about it as we get older, we've met so many people
Kate: And our brain function is less.
Doree: Exactly.
Kate: Great.
Doree: Exactly. Exactly.
Kate: So I also think it's okay to just ask again their name and not have to pretend like you knew it, but listener. But some people might not be comfortable with that. And this is a great tip. Thank you. I also will write it in my notes Doree. I also will write notes. Just write the name in my notes. Oh, speaking of the notes app.
Doree: That's a good idea.
Kate: Yeah,
Doree: That's a good idea. That's all. Alright,
Kate: Use that notes app. Okay.
Doree: Okay. Should we hear one more voicemail?
Kate: Yes.
Voicemail: Hey Kat and Dor. Question. What is the store Blue Mercury? Is it like a Sephora for the Wealthy? I'm very confused. Excuse me. I went in there because for the first time since Covid started, I wanted to get a foundation that actually they could match me for in store. And they put a bunch of products on me and there were some that I really liked. And when I went to get them, I was like, oh, there was this tiny jar of lip balm, like, oh, that sounds good, I'll get that. How much is that $90? And then this moisturizer that they put on me, I really like, and I asked how much that was two 20. I kind of felt like an idiot in that. I mean, I bought the makeup that I wanted, which was on price like 50 and 30. But anyway, I went out there thinking where, what did I just get myself into? What is Blue Mercury? Do people go here a lot? And how is it different than Sephora? Is it just not expensive? Anyway, I interested to know other people's thoughts. Thank you guys.
Doree: My impression of Blue Mercury, and this could be completely inaccurate, my impression was always that it was a sort of boutiquey, Sephora, their actual stores are smaller and they don't carry as many lines. And some of them seem expensive, but then some of them are not.
Kate: So it was launched in 1999 as an online retailer specifically. And it says here, I'm just pulling from Wikipedia specifically for luxury cosmetics.
Doree: They don't, well, they don't have drugstore cosmetics, but they do have, I'm just looking on their website right now. They have Bobby Brown, they have Hourglass, they have nars, which are Sephora brands. They're more expensive than drugstore brands, but they're not like $90 for a lip balm. Expensive. They sell Olaplex, Bumble and Bumble, Fresh. They sell brands that are, again, you're not going to buy them at Target or cvs, but they sell them at Sephora, but then they sell things at Sephora does not sell SkinCeuticals. That brand Ra Viv, that is insanely expensive. They carry Tom Ford. They carry is clinical. Augustin is badder. They do have some very expensive brands.
Kate: Yes, I do notice that they're selling a dip teak, citronella scented candle on their website, which color me Intrigued. Interesting. But yes, I can see, I don't know what Ra Viv is. Dorry. What is ra Viv?
Doree: Ra Viv is a very expensive skincare brand. I think they also have, and some of their stores have a spa, like some other stores you can get a facial and waxing.
Kate: Interesting. It's allegedly now owned by Macy's. Oh, it's part of the Macy's family.
Doree: That's Interesting. Okay.
Kate: Oh, okay. Oh yes. There's one inside Macy's in Sherman Oaks, California. And at Century City, I'm looking here in Los Angeles. Okay. There's a lot of blue mercuries here in la. Okay.
Doree: There's one in Larchmont.
Kate: I should go check. I don't think I've ever walked inside of a blue Mercury. Great. Thank you for this question. Listener. I tend to go toward, if I'm going to a specific store, it's either Ulta or Sephora. So I haven't been challenged with the Blue Mercury yet.
Doree: I definitely feel like I first went to one in Philly when I lived in Philly, which actually now that I'm Googling, I think it looks like Blue Mercury was founded in DC so kind of makes sense. Eastern seaboard, mid-Atlantic states. You know what, I'm saying. Kate. Let's take another little break.
Kate: We received this email from a listener. Hi Kat and Dor, longtime, longtime listener here. And I would love some advice. My mom is retiring this summer. She's an OR nurse who worked night shifts when I was little so that she could be home during the day for my sister and I during the summers. She got her master's when she was in her late forties, and she worked her way up to being director of surgical services at a major hospital. After nearly 30 years of experience, I could not be more proud of her. I want to celebrate this milestone and her with a gift of some kind, but I'm not really sure what her colleagues have already arranged for a retirement party. You or any listeners have any suggestions for meaningful retirement gifts.
Doree: I always feel like in these kinds of situations, something personalized is always nice.
Kate: I think this is a great time to kind of dig into what your mom's love language would be.
Doree: Ooh, Okay. Okay.
Kate: Because for someone like me, I would probably love a bracelet. But what if your mom is someone who likes experiences and maybe she would like to do something with you. And if your sister is in the picture, also your sister, maybe there's a thing you could do with your immediate family that celebrates her. You could create something. Maybe you make a photo book. I mean, I just thought what you wrote was so heartfelt that I wonder if putting, just putting your words of pride and appreciation into something for her to have some sort of keepsake, like Doree mentioned, might also be really nice.
Doree: But you know what? This is also a great time to send out the serum signal,
Kate: Send out that serum signal. Now, when my father retired, I am pretty sure I didn't do a damn thing. And now I'm wondering what kind of daughter that makes me. But I did coordinate a tribute video for him with the website tribute.co for his 70th birthday. And he really liked that. So that was very heartfelt and meaningful for him, I think. And I loved it. It was really cool. And it's kind of a keepsake, but it also is a wonderful way to celebrate people. So in addition to people celebrating your mom at a party, maybe there's some sort of something like that that you could make.
Doree: That's a really nice idea.
Kate: I loved that trip, the tribute. It was really cool.
Doree: Can you just briefly explain what it is for people who might not be familiar?
Kate: Sure. And I don't think they're the only website that does this, but it basically allows you to set up a page and request personalized videos from friends and family. You can send it to exactly who you want and they will submit a video and then you can either kind of piece it all together into one larger video or I think you can pay an extra fee and the company will do it for you. But in the end, you have this kind of long video of different clips from people and you can give prompts. So for example, it was my dad's 70th birthday, so I just asked people wish him a happy birthday and share something they appreciate about him or share a funny memory, whatever it is. And then in the end you have this longer video clip that the person can watch and hold onto. And it's all these different people from their life per sending a personalized video greeting and video message. And that can be, it was really, really cool. And it was for my dad, it was our family members, but then some of his colleagues did it. And it was just kind of a funny mix of people. And I thought that was really also makes it very special because you can kind of gather your mom having a party of coworkers this way. You could have all sorts of people from all different parts of her life congratulating her, celebrating her.
Doree: This would be a really nice thing to do for my mom's 75th birthday in a couple years because my mom actually has friends from all different parts of her life. Whereas, if I did it for my dad, it would be like three people. Yeah. Oh yes. But that my mom totally. My mom would like that. I'm totally going to do it. Mom, if you're listening. You didn't hear this. I don't think she listens.
Kate: Roberta, it's not happening. you know who does listen to this podcast? My dad.
Doree: Oh, hi Jim.
Kate: All right. We have one more message from a listener.
Doree: Okay, let's hear it.
Voicemail: Hi, Kat and Dor. This message is for the listener who emailed in asking about going back to school while there on maternity leave and thinking about being a older student. I just wanted to say, as a university professor, do it. Some of my best students are people who are coming back after a career change or just wanting to learn something new. They have a lived experience and a joy and a focus on learning that often the undergrads that are coming right out of high school just simply don't have talk to the professor in the class. You're going to let them know. I'm sure they'll be understanding. And one option you could look into is even auditing a class. That way you kind of get into the swing of things and feel like you're getting back into it. But it's low stakes. You're not getting a grade and you can just see what the rhythm is like and if it's going to work in your life, again from university professor here, do it if you can, and it's something you're passionate about, I think it's always worthwhile to learn something new. And I think you should definitely give it a try. Anyways, have a great day. Bye.
Doree: Love this encouragement.
Kate: I do too. I echo this person's sentiment. You've got this,
Doree: you've got this.
Kate: Well, Doree, great chatting with you. Thank listeners. Thank you so much for calling and texting and emailing. We hope we continue to hear from you and play more of your messages on our upcoming weekly episodes.
Doree: Yeah. Alright. Thanks everybody.
Kate: Bye.