What’s actually worth it when it comes to midlife skin?

Because between facials, lasers, injectables, luxury creams, and every trending treatment in between… it’s easy to spend a lot of money without really knowing what’s working.

So instead of another long conversation, we did something different.

In this episode of The Iconic Midlife, Roxy Manning puts skin specialist Erica Marie Gatt, founder of EM Skin Studio, in the hot seat for a rapid-fire game of Face Off—where she has to choose between two options… and defend her answer.

No “it depends.”

No middle ground.

Just real opinions on what actually works for women navigating perimenopause and menopause.

This one is fast, honest, and surprisingly revealing.

🔥 In This Episode

• Botox vs. retinol—what’s actually more effective?

• Facials vs. lasers—where should you spend your money?

• Luxury skincare vs. drugstore—does price really matter?

• Filler—worth it or overhyped?

• What treatments deliver real results for midlife skin

• The biggest misconceptions women have about anti-aging

👩‍⚕️ About Erica Marie Gatt

Erica Marie Gatt is a skin specialist and the founder of EM Skin Studio in Hermosa Beach, California.

Known for her customized, results-driven approach, Erica blends advanced skincare treatments with a holistic philosophy to support long-term skin health—especially for women navigating hormonal changes in midlife.

Her work has been featured in Vogue, Angeleno, and California Wedding Day.

📲 Connect with Erica

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ericamiegatt

Studio: https://www.instagram.com/emskinstudiola

Website: https://www.emskinstudio.com

Join the Inner Circle: https://the-iconic-midlife-with-roxy-manning.kit.com/3433416614

Want bold guests, unfiltered stories, and iconic midlife insight in your inbox?

Listen & Follow

The Iconic Midlife is where smart, stylish women over 40 come to rebrand midlife on their terms.

New episodes every Tuesday. Bonus game episode drops on Thursdays.

Tap “Follow” so you never miss a moment.

Listen on:

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-iconic-midlife-with-roxy-manning/id1817484587

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4FRDzq3AalXaqfpfWq7dlm?si=7e91db12ba1f4bfa

Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/ff905ad8-332f-430e-a040-ce1ba5047483/the-iconic-midlife-with-roxy-manning

Let’s Connect

Social media: @theiconicmidlife (show) | @redcarpetroxy (host)

• YouTube: https://youtube.com/@theiconicmidlife

There's too many preservatives in skincare products at the drugstore.

Collagen supplements. Are they miracles or are they just marketing miracles?

If you get the right product, Most

overrated skincare trend right now.

Beef towel.

Why is that all over social media? What is like, the optimal number of ingredients that we should look for in like a moisturizer?

No more than like 15.

What age does skin. Skin really start changing?

36, 37.

So you really notice it. Like kind of like the end of the 30s.

After 25, you lose 1% collagen per year.

Sunscreen every single day. Or the best anti aging serum or cream that money can buy.

Sunscreen every day.

A pound of prevention is an ounce of cure.

Exactly.

Welcome back to the iconic midlife Erica. Are you ready to play a fun game?

I am.

The name of this game is called pick your poison. So pick your poison. Midlife skin edition. So I am going to read two choices to you, and you pick which one you would go with.

Okay.

All right. Number one, a $500 luxury cream or a $50 drugstore retinol. If you could only choose one, which one would you pick?

The 500 cream.

Oh, really? Okay. Over the retinol. Okay. So you think the cream would be more effective?

Yeah, like as concentrated. You want less ingredients?

Yeah. What is like the optimal number of ingredients that we should look for in like a moisturizer or, you know, skin. Skin cream?

I would say no more than like 15 ingredients, 15 ingredients.

That's kind of the magic number.

Yeah.

Okay. Number two. Botox. Too early or filler? Too late. Pick your poison.

Botox. Too early.

Is there a too early for Botox?

I think so. I've experienced people getting Botox at 18, so I feel like that's way too young.

Yes. You know. Yes, yes. That is way too young. You're still so young. Like, your skin is. You're still developing and your skin is still coming into its own.

Yeah.

And you're at your highest peak of collagen.

What is our collagen peak? Is it like in our 20s?

25.

25. Okay.

And then after 25, you lose 1% collagen per year.

You do. Oh, man. Oh, my God. Got to get that bank full again.

Yes, yes.

Pick your poison. Monthly facials for life or one big laser treatment a year?

Oh, monthly facials for life.

Really?

Because you're, like you said, filling your bank, your collagen bank. So you're consistently giving yourself more collagen. So that's why. And also too, it Makes your skin super healthy.

Okay, number four, collagen supplements. Are they miracles or are they just marketing miracles?

If you get the right product, really?

Okay, which ones do you like?

I love the Vital Boost supplement. So it's Vital Boost protein with hyaluronic acid and peptides.

And it's like a packet.

Yeah. They have in packets or they have it in jars and I really see a huge difference.

And also to the nad, the company is called Rho and it's the NAD supplement which creates collagen as well.

Oh, okay. Yeah, NAD is really good. You know, it's a good thing to take. For sure.

Now this is a mixed bag because I've had people on both sides tell me, you know, both ways about this, but tretinoin, which is Retin A. Tretinoin or Retin A forever or never touch it again.

I would say forever if you use it responsibly.

Good point. Not every day probably.

Right, exactly.

I've had other people come on and they're like, never. No, like Retin A. But it is like a totally individual choice.

Yeah, it really is. It depends on what you know, how well you like it, how your skin responds to it.

Okay. Pick your poison. Spend on skin care, like at home skin care or spend on in office treatments.

I would say in office treatments because we are able to give you more of a collagen production than you can do at home.

It's like way more. More effective and stronger.

Yeah. So it's like at home care on steroids.

Okay. We like that. Hormone replacement therapy for skin benefits or

not hormone replacements for skin benefits.

So you do it. I mean, it's worth it. You see the difference?

Yes.

100% sunscreen every single day or the best anti aging serum or cream that money can buy.

Sunscreen every day.

A pound of prevention is an ounce of cure, I think is what.

Yes, exactly.

Try to prevent it if you can.

Exactly. And then you can eat like a lot of, I don't know, oranges to get that vitamin C to help with, you know, your collagen production.

Yes, that's true. It counts. Oranges count.

Yeah, they do.

Face yoga or injectables?

Well, it depends on what kind of injectables are we talking about.

Right. Like it could be. You're like, would it be all of them? Yeah.

Or it would be just Botox or filler or.

Yeah. Okay, so if you had to prioritize, prioritize the injectables, what would you say? Like the top one would be like the best one?

I would say like Botox in the Botox family. But I would say, if it's all of the injectables or what was the other face yoga? I would say face yoga because you're

kind of getting into that muscle and everything, right?

Exactly. And you're getting rid of that inflammation that causes aging. So you're like, just like getting it all away.

Yes, we love that. We love that. Okay, if a woman has $2,000 to refresh her face at 45, does she spend it on products or procedures?

Can we put it down in the middle? Yeah. Fifteen hundred dollars for. Fifteen hundred dollars for treatments and five hundred for skincare products.

Okay, so do like a happy medium, like a mix.

Yes.

Okay, here is our lightning round. Most overrated skin care trend right now.

Beef towel.

My God, yes. Why is that all over social media?

I have no idea.

What, like, has that become, like, are people really doing it? Like, do you see people that use it and what happens to their skin? I mean, does it become clogged or broken out or is it like, good? I don't know.

At first it's like, looks great, right? Because you have the product on your face. And then after that I start to see either dermatitis or I start to see like a lot of cloggage. Oh.

Oh, yeah. I just can't picture, like, how I feel. Like my skin would freak out for sure.

Right. Like, who is like, putting cow fat good to put on your face?

On your face? Like, how is that even possible? Right. Most underrated treatment for a woman 40 plus. I would say a facial, A nice consistent facial. Right.

Because I have some people that are like, well, I'm like 50, 55 now, and I don't feel like facial will do anything for my skin. So why should I get a facial?

Ah. And you're like, there's so many reasons why you should get a facial.

Don't get a fluffy facial. You know, don't focus on that massage.

You're going to spend that money, make sure you get a facial and go somewhere like EM Skin Studio to really get a customized treatment using state of the art machines. So you can work on that cellular level.

Yes, that's important. Getting your skin at that cellular level 100%. One thing you would never let a perimenopausal or menopausal client do to her skin.

I would not let them waste their money on skincare products at like CVS or Target.

So nothing that, you know, is kind of like a drugstore sort of a thing.

There's too many preservatives in skincare products at the drugstore.

So if you're going to spend your money on skincare products and you're wanting to use skincare products, why don't you use something that is concentrated and actually gives you results? Otherwise, I feel like it's a waste of money.

Now, what are some of the preservatives that we should be looking out for? Like, are there certain names or certain kinds?

Definitely a paraben. Those are definitely a preservative. They're spelled so crazy long. A lot of them end with like a O L at the end.

It's like a P, H, E, O N Y L, X O L. Or you know, like that's how you know it's a preservative when you can't even say it or pronounce it.

Yeah, you can't even pronounce it. You're. And you, like, don't know what it is. Probably you're like, what is this? Totally.

And parabens are like an oldie, like an old preservative. So that's an easy one.

And do people, they still use it in skin care? It's still there.

Some of them do. Some preservatives are okay.

But if you see, if you're looking at ingredients on the skincare product and you see like five different words you can't read in the very first beginning of the ingredient list, that's your indicator that that is junk.

Oh, okay. So if it says like completely like kind of chemical sounding names, that's what we should be looking at.

Are there certain ingredients we should be looking for?

Yeah, so definitely look for hyalurate, hyaluronic ac, glycerin, lactic acid, mandelic, zinc. There's so many good ingredients like that help you. It depends on what your goals are.

Okay, that's good to know. The treatment that makes the biggest visual difference fast.

I would say the CO2 laser.

Yeah, that's a very. I mean, it really packs a punch, doesn't it?

Oh, it does everything. It lifts, it brightens, it lightens.

Yeah, it does like everything. Right? I mean, that is definitely on my list.

I'm like, that CO2 has been sitting on my list for a while, so that's something I'm definitely going to do. And then just to wrap it up, what age does skin really start changing from your perspective? Like, what is like that age that you see?

I start to see people's skin changing around, I would say 36, 37.

Okay, so you really notice it. Like kind of like the end of the 30s.

Yes. After 25, you lose 1% collagen per year. So you just gotta at least get products that have collagen providing ingredients.

Yes. Okay.

So just to go through the list, get good sleep, eat well, drink a lot of water, do collagen infusing treatments, and take supplements that promote collagen.

Yep.

Anything else that stands out to you for, for a midlife woman?

Definitely get your hormones tested so you can see what's going on and what you eat. Just be careful what you eat. That's a huge one because whatever you put into your body, it affects your skin.

Yes. It's going to show up like no matter what. We can't hide it anymore.

That's the truth.

That is so true. So what is next for you? Any exciting stuff coming down the way for you?

I'm trying to work on a product line right now.

Oh, percent damaged because I have sun damage and because I enjoyed my 20s way too much, I'm trying to figure out, you know, the perfect formulation, packaging. Packaging is a huge one, but I think I have the formulation down. So I'm excited.

Exciting, exciting. So you're going to be working on that and if people want to follow you on social media, what are your handles so they can follow you?

Erica Marie Gatt is my personal one and EM Skin Studio, LA is my facial studio one.

Oh, and it's such a great facial. If you're in the market for facials, please go see her. If you're in the LA area, she does the best customizable facials.

She looks at your skin and figures out what's going on. So she is amazing, super talented with that. And be sure you go back to Tuesday's episode where we talk about everything.

Perimenopausal skin and menopausal skin. You don't want to miss it. She gave so many great tips and so many favorite treatments and products and things that she has in the know.

So definitely check that out. And don't forget to rate, subscribe and comment wherever you get podcasts so you can find more amazing conversations like this.

Thank you so much, Erica. This has been such a treat and can't wait to come back down there and see you soon.

Thank you so much for having me. And I can't wait to see you too.

I know. I'm like, oh my gosh, we got to do all the skin things. I'm like, I'm feeling tired and dull and everything.

You will walk out of here like a cloud.

Glowing like an angel. Yay. I love that. I love that. All here for the dew.

Yes, the dew and the glow. Dew and the glow.