Molly Sims on Success, Skincare, and Finding Love

Mary Alice Haney:
Today on SHE MD, I am so excited to have my dear friend Molly Sims. Molly is a model, actor, TV host, podcaster, business owner, beauty guru, author and so much more. Today, we're going to talk beauty, fashion and love. Thank you for joining us at SHE MD. This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for a physician's medical advice. You should regularly consult your medical provider in matters relating to your own health. So, I couldn't be more excited today. And Thais had an emergency C-section and she's going to be devastated because the reason that I know Thais is because I was co-hosting one episode on Lipstick on the Rim with you, and you said, "There's this amazing doctor coming in."
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Molly Sims:
This is so you.
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Mary Alice Haney:
Literally it was like, and by the way, this is so you. You're such a badass friend and women's advocate, but you said, "Just stay. Just stay for this. This doctor's amazing. We're going to talk about Ozempic." And I was like, "Who doesn't want to talk about Ozempic?" So, I stayed and she told us her breast cancer journey. I just met her that day, and then after that podcast, I met Thais and I said, "I don't know how I'm going to do this, but I need to figure out how to get you to the masses." And that's her why too. She's such a badass doctor, and there's so many places in the United States where there's medical wastelands and women have no access to healthcare.

Molly Sims:
And also, I think she's just such an advocate for women's health. To be able to have access to that is meaningful. We've seen in the news recently, even with Olivia Munn, helping her get to where she is today and her diagnosis. What I love about Thais, and I love about you and I love about this podcast, you're championing women, championing them to be better than we are, to have knowledge that we didn't know. And I think that's what I do. We do a lot on Lipstick on the Rim, and we literally had Thais on because we kind of wanted to talk about the good and bad of Ozempic, and is there any myth busters or what's true, what's false? And it was such a good episode, but yes, that's true. I'm like, "You're going to love this doctor." We were literally-

Mary Alice Haney:
I almost didn't stay.

Molly Sims:
I know.

Mary Alice Haney:
I was like, "I'm really busy, Molly."

Molly Sims:
I know.

Mary Alice Haney:
I mean, honestly... so I get teary-eyed when I talk about this, but no, but you did. That moment, it changed the course of my life and it gave me my why. And I had just shut my fashion line down and I was sort of, "What am I going to do?" And you said, "Come co-host Lipstick, when Emese, she can't do it." And I was like, "Okay, that sounds awesome." And I would come on and bring doctors on because my parents had gotten sick. And I don't know, anytime you have a friend, you're just like, "How can I help you?" I'll call you, who's a great social media person. But even before this, and this is what I want everybody to understand, and we talked about all the things that you are doing now as a beauty guru and starting YSE Beauty, but you are always the one that we would all call.
"Molly, what's a great under-eye concealer?" And you'd say, "Well, I'm an Italian. There's these five," and I'm using a southern accent stronger than I am because we're both from the south. You're from Kentucky, I'm from Tennessee. I'd be like, "Molly, who is the best facialist?" "Well, it depends on where you are. If you are in New York, I would go to this person." And so, this was even years and years before you even thought about starting YSE Beauty, you started doing that. So, I-

Molly Sims:
I think I get that from my mother to be honest with you. I know. God bless her.

Mary Alice Haney:
Your sweet mama.

Molly Sims:
My sweet big mama, but she was that way. She was always helping people, connecting women. She was such a cheerleader. She really was. And she was my cheerleader.

Mary Alice Haney:
She was your cheerleader.

Molly Sims:
So, I learned from the best.

Mary Alice Haney:
So, I want to go back up. I wanted to do, this is your life, Molly Sims. I know this about you, but I'm just going to read this out because I don't want to forget something because there's so many things that you are and what you've done. You started off as a model and you graced every single magazine cover in the world, from Vogue to Glamour to Cosmopolitan, Lucky, French Vogue. You then went on Sports Illustrated six times, once wearing a bikini worth $30 million. You then transitioned from supermodel to actress. Benchwarmers, Yes Man, Las Vegas. From there, you were an author of Everyday Supermodel and Everyday Chic. You then founded YSE Beauty and you host Lipstick on the Rim. There isn't anything you can't do. You are an incredible mother. You're an incredible wife. I love those three babies. And you're a real women's advocate and a great friend to me. So, I'm so happy that you're here. So, I just want to start though with the modeling. You're in Kentucky, you're at Vanderbilt. Start at the beginning. So, how does it start? Does somebody come up to you and say, "You're the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen?"

Molly Sims:
No, but when I was in eighth grade, I got my height. So, I'm almost 5'10". So, imagine little old me in eighth grade. And I had always heard ninth grade, 10th grade, "Oh, my God, you should do modeling or something." And I did dip my toe. I will say, I don't know that many people know this about me, but I did dip my toe into the pageant world.

Mary Alice Haney:
I didn't know that.

Molly Sims:
Yeah, I'm going to bring up a good old black and white. I won, I can't remember. I think I won Miss Calloway County. I'm pretty sure I did. I had a white puff-sleeved jeweled gown. My hair was French braided but poofed to put up and back. It was fabulous. I had so much fun, but I definitely knew that I wasn't of the pageant world. But we'd sit and watch it, Miss Universe, Miss USA every year. But ultimately, when I was in college, a girl that I knew was modeling and she was like, "Oh, you should get your pictures taken from this guy named Rick Day out of Memphis." And those pictures were sent to New York. And my mom and I went up to visit some agencies just to see during the summer. I think it was in between my sophomore and junior year, the summer before that I went and interned on the Hill because I had thought I wanted to go into political loss and type of politics, which Mary Alice and I both share a love of crazy politics.

Mary Alice Haney:
We love politics.

Molly Sims:
From that, I went to New York, I did the rounds. I ended up signing with Next Models who I'm still with, 30-something odd years later with Faith Kates and Joel Wilkenfeld. And then, I was supposed to go back to Vanderbilt. And I have a letter that I wrote Vandy to say, "I'm just going to take one semester off. I got a unique opportunity and I think I can make it" or something. It was really sweet-

Mary Alice Haney:
I think I might make it.

Molly Sims:
... and young and youthful. I look back and I'm like, "Oh, God." It was so like... no worries in the world. And then, I ended up in Germany, which was really hard and cold and the language, and it was just really difficult to kind of spread your wings when you're in Europe. At that time, you had to go to Europe because there were so many different magazines and you could get more tear sheets in your book and then come back to New York and make it. I ended up staying there for about three or four months, and then I moved to London for two years. Then, I moved to Paris and I lived there off and on for six years. I spent time in Italy, Germany. It was the best education I could ever ask for.

Mary Alice Haney:
Was your mom with you?

Molly Sims:
My mom would come. She came when I was living in Italy. I was pretty lonely. By the time I got to London, I'm like, "I don't know if I'm going to make it." It was starting to wear on me. I think coming from college and being like... nothing really mattered what you look like. And then, to flip that complete switch off and be like, "Everything matters what you look like."

Mary Alice Haney:
Were you very skinny? Were you the perfect... at that time, did you-

Molly Sims:
No. No. I was-

Mary Alice Haney:
But was it at the time of Cindy Crawford and the supermodels or it was before that?

Molly Sims:
No. It was before that. It was Corinne Day, the heroin chic. And it was difficult. It was a difficult period of time because my mom had always been... we'd always been health conscious, but we hadn't been skinny conscious.

Mary Alice Haney:
Right. That's a difference.

Molly Sims:
It's a very big difference. So, mentally, it was quite rough on me. I had to lose a lot of weight. It was definitely mentally challenging because I wasn't naturally thin. I wasn't a girl who-

Mary Alice Haney:
You have an amazing body, but you're athletic.

Molly Sims:
Yeah, I was more athletic. They called it catalog. And then, when I was in Paris, the tides started changing a little bit. Gisele started coming up. It started being that beauty, real beauty. But it was a good time and it was a bad time, but definitely, it's where I built most of my armor.
I think when you go through things that are difficult, when someone is judging you constantly or talking about you or, oh, you're 99% confirmed, but you don't get it because oh, you're too blonde, you're too dark, you're too short, you're too tall, you're too skinny, you're too fat, you're too muscular, you're not muscular enough. You do start to build a definite, I would say armor shield and resilience. So, I think as I've gotten older, that has definitely been my superpower. There's not a lot that can-

Mary Alice Haney:
Ruffle you.

Molly Sims:
There's not a lot that can ruffle me. And I think because at times I was high... I was just recently in London and I took my kids. And I had no money when I was living there. There was a great store. There's still a great store called Joseph in South Kensington. And I remember, and I still have this dress. I probably should have brought it, but I never talk about it. But I have a Missoni dress that I put away basically on layaway. Do you remember layaway?

Mary Alice Haney:
Yeah.

Molly Sims:
Layaway, a little money down. And I have that dress to this day, but it definitely made me just strong having no money, money, no money, money. Having to be malleable, fitting in, not fitting in, it made me be able to go through ebbs and flows in my life and come out of the valley and go back up the mountain and go back in and come back up.

Mary Alice Haney:
Right. It gave you resilience, and that's what we want for our kids.

Molly Sims:
It gave me resilience and it also gave me-

Mary Alice Haney:
How do we teach them resilience?

Molly Sims:
... you said, and to your point in the opening, a lot of people are like, "Wait, you've done this, you've done that? You've done this, you've done that?" I don't think there's just one chapter for women.

Mary Alice Haney:
I think that's so awesome. That's so awesome. There's not one chapter for women. And one door closes, another one opens. And you just have to be able to pick yourself off the ground, pull yourself up and start over again. And I think that is success at the end of the day.

Molly Sims:
It is, and I think because not everything is going to work. I talked to my husband, my husband is in entertainment business with film and TV. When we first started dating, he was like, "Well, of course it's going to work." I'm like, "I don't know if this is going to work." I hate to break it to you, but failure is good and it can really help you in certain ways. It's helped me with my company. I'm really good at problem solving, but I'm really good at pivoting. And I think sometimes as women we get stuck. You're just momming or you're just CEO'ing. Sometimes you got to pivot and sometimes you got to do a little bit of everything. And so, something hits.

Mary Alice Haney:
When did you look... I mean, you showed me your very first Vogue cover, House of Style happened, and then Sports Illustrated. I love showing my kids your Sports Illustrated. I'm like, "This is Molly. Oh, my God."

Molly Sims:
It all happened. The kind of the catalog, the beauty girl started coming out, coming back. I tried my hand... I dyed my hair black, jet black, Espresso Clairol box. It's actually a really good black if you want to do a box color and cut off all your hair. And then, I let my hair grow out and I went back to more of trying to just look like me.
And then, the Vogue cover where I thought would... I'm like, "Oh, my God, I'm going to be this cool editorial. I'm going to do all the magazines." So much of what I thought was going to happen in my career was the exact opposite. I went from that to meeting Diane Smith at Sports Illustrated, to getting House of Style, to meeting Matthew Ralston and saying only at Old Navy and a commercial, an Old Navy commercial. And then, I went from that to thinking... I had a very hard time through the industry. Everything depended on what I look like. I think because I'd worked so hard at school to get into Vanderbilt, and so hard, I had a really hard time-

Mary Alice Haney:
Just having it be about your looks?

Molly Sims:
... just having it be about my looks. And I also was interested in storytelling and I've always liked putting things together and coming at the end of something, just showing up and holding the product or the Coke or whatever is that I was hawking at the time. I did think there was more and I knew that. Not that I knew that the writing was on the wall in terms of modeling in terms of your time limit per se, but I did know that I wanted to do more than just be a pretty face.
I kind of got a little bit of the bug of acting. And so, I took a month in intensive at Sanford Meisner. I took that course for a month, and then everyone in October was going in it for a two-year course. I would love to take that class, and I talked to the teacher into letting me half take it because I was still living in Europe. I was still living in Paris and New York, and I took 77 Red Eyes over two years-

Mary Alice Haney:
Seventy-seven Red Eyes?

Molly Sims:
Mm-hmm.

Mary Alice Haney:
Oh, my God.

Molly Sims:
To be able to finish the course. And right when the two-year course was over, I kind of started auditioning. I got an agent and I'm like, "I don't know." And I was at the top of my modeling, so I was like, "This might going to work out." And then, I ended up auditioning for a reoccurring on Las Vegas. I think I was going to be in three episodes.

Mary Alice Haney:
And then, they were like, "Hello."

Molly Sims:
No. I got it. I was so excited. And they're like, "Don't worry, it's never going to get picked up." I'm like, "Great." Because I'm like, "I can't lose my day job. I've worked seven years for my day job." And then, right before we got the pickup, it was series, regular or nothing.

Mary Alice Haney:
And explain that. So, basically-

Molly Sims:
That means that your ass is doing 24 episodes on network television where they own you. And they're like, "No, don't worry. It's never going to go." They always say, "It's never going to go. After audition, don't worry."

Mary Alice Haney:
And most people really want it to go, but you were like, "Oh, no," because you're at the height of your modeling career.

Molly Sims:
Right. And so, it went, and God, I drove them crazy because I'm like, "Okay, Steve," I called him Steve, Stephen Sassen. Steve was basically my production. Get your ass there on a Monday and on a Friday at four o'clock in the morning. He's the man you had to get permission. Well, I would leave. I would go to New York. I would go to Paris. I'd be like, "I'll be back in 24 hours." I would drive them crazy. And I loved Gary Scott Thompson, who was the creator of my show. And I think-

Mary Alice Haney:
And Josh Duhamel. You got to spend all that time-

Molly Sims:
And Josh. And even with Gary, I tried to kind of downplay my looks for them to take me serious. I remember going in, I auditioned for Delinda in a camouflage T-shirt, jeans and flip-flops.

Mary Alice Haney:
Well, it's hard to hide this pretty. I just want you to know-

Molly Sims:
Thank you. But they did call and they were like, "Does she not want to be sexier?" I'm like, "No. I was just trying to make you think I could act. I was an auteur."

Mary Alice Haney:
And how did that transition into beauty? Because you've really created... YSE Beauty is amazing.

Molly Sims:
I think all of it had something to do with it. And then, I met Scott and then I ended up... I was always the one who would leave LA and go back to New York or go somewhere. I loved traveling. I loved-

Mary Alice Haney:
But let's talk about that for one second. You met Scott later.

Molly Sims:
I met Scott later.

Mary Alice Haney:
How old were you when you met Scott?

Molly Sims:
Well, I was playing pregnant in my last season of Vegas. I was 35, and I wore that freaking bump for 23 episodes. It's funny because I'm producing a movie called Kinda Pregnant with Amy Schumer for Netflix. It's an R-rated comedy. But the reason why I found it so universal, because I was the girl wearing the bump and I was 35. And I remember I woke up one day and I'm like, "Ugh, I really want a family." And it had never hit me. I never wanted kids young. I never wanted kids in my early 30s ever. But 35, 36-

Mary Alice Haney:
It hit.

Molly Sims:
... I was like, "Ugh." And I could tell I was getting, and I was in and out of difficult relationships.

Mary Alice Haney:
And what do you think it was about Scott? What was it that was... you had had long-term relationship.

Molly Sims:
I just think of who I was when I was in my 20s, even in my early 30s, of how different I was by the time I met him. And I mean this in a really good way. I tend to be a very co-dependent person, I think, because I always found a little bit of safety because I've been in the industry since I was 21 years old. I never could be stable.

Mary Alice Haney:
You were everywhere. You were all over the world. You're-

Molly Sims:
Not only that, but I never could rely on something. I missed birthdays, I missed funerals, I missed weddings, I missed friendships. I was always, I wouldn't say I was somewhat of a hippie, but in the way that I lived, I felt like I didn't have a foundation besides my parents and my brother. I was always, I don't know. So, I always felt like I needed something that was safe. And so, it kind of got me into long-term relationships, even though they were way too long, but I felt-

Mary Alice Haney:
You stayed in them too long because of that.

Molly Sims:
I stayed in them too long because I needed some foundation. I needed some safety.

Mary Alice Haney:
Like an anchor on us.

Molly Sims:
Like an anchor. That sounds bad to say, but as I look back and a lot of therapy, I think... and listen, I dated some wonderful guys and I owe a lot to a few of them because they were there for me in different ways. That made such a massive difference in my life to be able to go and do the things that made me. But in terms of meeting Scott, I first met him, he asked me out for an entire year and I'm like, "I cannot date you." "I cannot date you because you have your own situation and I have to date. I needed to date. I was not the one to date. If I met you, then that was it. I'll date you for five years. I'll just date you forever." But with Scott, I met him late, but he was just-

Mary Alice Haney:
He's the best.

Molly Sims:
I wasn't used to dating an executive either. I was always dating-

Mary Alice Haney:
An actor.

Molly Sims:
... an actor.

Mary Alice Haney:
Model.

Molly Sims:
Someone I don't even know. But I just remember he always showed up. He was very busy, but he'd be like, "Would you like to go out in a date in a week?" And I'm thinking, "I don't know where the fuck I'm going to be in a week, but okay, sure." But sure enough, a week would go by. I wouldn't really talk to him. He'd be like, "Hey, do you want to go do X or whatever?" I always found that a little odd.

Mary Alice Haney:
You just never had an adult.

Molly Sims:
I wasn't used to adulting. But I don't know, I think it was just at that moment what I needed. And he was also patient with me too. I dated other people. He didn't give up. I was 38 or 39. And he gave me his Lakers T-shirt in New York at my apartment on Valentine's. And we've been dating like four months. I was like, "Does this mean you want to go exclusive with your Lakers T-shirt?"

Mary Alice Haney:
Are we going steady with your Lakers?

Molly Sims:
Are we going steady? But I remember that was his favorite T-shirt and I knew it had a lot of weight, and that was it. Then, about a year later, a year and a half later, we got engaged and got pregnant on our honeymoon. We weren't really together for long before, but I did meet my prince later. But I think for me, I think I needed to.

Mary Alice Haney:
You needed that.

Molly Sims:
I needed to. I think I was a little stunted because I was always going and I was always... I also needed to kind of grow up. The one thing I can say that I did, I went to see a therapist to hold accountability because I was the girl who would find a dead bird on the side of the road and be like, "I can bring you back to life. With my lightness, I can make your darkness lighter." That's really narcissistic of me. To be truthful, that a therapist actually told me. I do think I needed to grow up. I was always so dependent on what they were going to do for me or what they were going to say for me, or did they want to be with me? I don't know. And then, with Scott, I was like, "Oh, no, honey. No, no. This is not how it's going to go."

Mary Alice Haney:
Somebody said this to me the other day that it's our responsibility to look within ourselves and figure out why are we making these choices. And we have to make different choices. But you have to look inside and say, "Why am I choosing that same person again and again and again?" And Scott was a different person. Like you said, you had to get in therapy and you had to figure out-

Molly Sims:
He had a suit on. He wore white socks during athlete.

Mary Alice Haney:
By the way, Tom is exactly the same way.

Molly Sims:
He was such an executive, he was very calendared and I was used to being like, "Oh, let's fly to Paris for two days." He was like, "I can't fly to Paris for two days." I'm like, "Okay." I was used to the exact opposite. I'm like, "Oh, let's go to Santa Barbara. I don't know, let's go to Europe for a couple." We were not on the same... he dated different people, I dated and I never really dated anybody like him.

Mary Alice Haney:
And he's so special.

Molly Sims:
He had a job.

Mary Alice Haney:
Yeah, you never dated somebody with job.

Molly Sims:
A serious job.

Mary Alice Haney:
Your parents were probably very happy.

Molly Sims:
I know, my poor mother. My mom was so good about not stressing me because I knew... my parents were older. They had me older, so she really... I mean by 35, she was like, "What the fuck is happening?" But she was like, "I just don't want you to settle."

Mary Alice Haney:
What a great mom.

Molly Sims:
I know.

Mary Alice Haney:
And big mama passed away. Was it last year? Has it been a year?

Molly Sims:
It's been four years.

Mary Alice Haney:
It's been four years?

Molly Sims:
It'll be four years April 28th.

Mary Alice Haney:
Oh, my God, that's incredible, Molly. That feels like yesterday.

Molly Sims:
I know.

Mary Alice Haney:
I know for you, it feels like forever and yesterday, probably at the same time. Now, what about pregnancy? Did you have easy pregnancies?

Molly Sims:
Because I was so... when I did my freak-out, we had Shahin Ghadir. He's a fertility specialist that I highly recommend. And when I was shooting Vegas, I went to see him because I had heard about this egg freezing thing. This was like, God, 15 years ago, 14 years ago. And then, I had made a pact to myself a couple of years later, "If I had not met someone, I was going to do it." And then, I actually had met Scott, but I really wanted to... I knew I really wanted it and I really wanted to make sure I had that insurance policy. So, we actually did a couple of rounds of IVF and I think it actually helped my fertility, I think.

Mary Alice Haney:
But you did a couple of rounds of IVF or you did a couple rounds of egg freezing?

Molly Sims:
I did a couple rounds of IVF. So, I bucked up and said-

Mary Alice Haney:
You bucked up and said-

Molly Sims:
... "I know we're not married, but I'm doing this."

Mary Alice Haney:
But the first one was natural on your honeymoon, right?

Molly Sims:
All of them were natural.

Mary Alice Haney:
All of them were natural.

Molly Sims:
All of them were natural.

Mary Alice Haney:
See, you freaked out for no reason.

Molly Sims:
I know. I tend to do that.

Mary Alice Haney:
But I have to tell this funny story I'll never forget. I think it was after your first pregnancy and right after, and listen, after our first pregnancy, we need to give ourselves a break. It takes nine months on, nine months off. And I was having a Christmas party or something and you walked in, and it's not that you had gained weight, it was like water retention. And you looked at me and you were... do you remember this? And with tears in your eyes. And I was like, "Molly, what do you..." so I just remember I was-

Molly Sims:
Yeah, it was a definitely dark moment. It was 2012. I just gotten married September 24th, 2011. I'd gotten pregnant about a week and a half later, and by June 19th I was 204.

Mary Alice Haney:
And for somebody that has literally spent their entire career about what your body looks like and-

Molly Sims:
Yeah. My mother had said to me, and it all came on in the last three months, my mother had said to me in May, and I had the baby in June. She's like, "I think something's wrong with you." And I said, "I do too. I don't know what."

Mary Alice Haney:
Were your doctors telling you anything?

Molly Sims:
No. I don't know why. I don't know why I ended up having a thyroid issue. I had a hypothyroidism. I don't know why it was not caught. I really don't. I don't know if it happened on the very end of the pregnancy and it just put on weight and put on, but I was so swollen.

Mary Alice Haney:
Swollen, it was what it was. You hadn't even gained a lot of weight. It was just swollen.

Molly Sims:
You could prick me almost. And I was uncomfortable. But to Mary Alice's podcast and the reason why we're both doing this now, I became my own advocate and I knew something was wrong with me and I could not figure it out. And it wasn't because I was binging because I was a model and I'd never gone to eat before and now she's pregnant, which a lot of people said, "Oh..." I'm sure they thought I was eating too much or whatever. But no, I became an animal trying to figure it out, and I didn't even figure it out until about four months after I had it.

Mary Alice Haney:
And it was like, boom, when you figured it out. It was incredible.

Molly Sims:
I think in a month, I lost like 25 pounds, 30 pounds once-

Mary Alice Haney:
But you were your own advocate. You dove in there and you've always been like that, Molly. And that's sort of like your reserve inside of you. And I think you're like that with your health, you really are. It's like, "Okay, and if something's on, we're going to face it. We're going to handle it."

Molly Sims:
Yeah. I definitely think you have to be your own advocate. I think you should have a yearly checklist on what you do. Get your blood work once a year if you're over a certain age or you have history or you have a breast cancer.
Mary Alice Haney:
And we're going to come on your podcast and talk about the risk assessment. That's going to happen.
Molly Sims:
If your number ends up being high, definitely get your mammograms, get your sonograms. Get your MRIs, but definitely chart it. Definitely chart and know it. Make yourself a little calendar. Have an incredible cardiologist. I go see him once a year. We do X, Y and Z. Go to the dentist. Go get your mammogram. There are certain things that you can take into your own hands.

Mary Alice Haney:
Because nobody else is going to do it for you.

Molly Sims:
And no one else is going to do it.

Mary Alice Haney:
Have you all heard about Bon Charge? It's a holistic wellness brand with a huge range of evidence-based products to optimize your life in every way. Their extensive range of premium wellness products helps you sleep better, perform better, have more energy, recover faster, balance hormones, and reduce inflammation. I like Bon Charge products because they naturally address the issues of our modern day life. It's a lot of effort to be running around all the time. You've got work, you've got kids. My skin kind of pays the price for it. I don't know about you all, but I have found that red light therapy is one of the best ways to take care of that wrinkle, the eczema, the acne, scar tissue, and a lot more. It only takes 10 minutes with Bon Charge's red light therapy mask. Stand in front of the TV, sit around, drink your coffee. Just put it right up there and it really helps with wrinkles, eczema, acne, and scar tissue. Go to Boncharge.com and use coupon code SHE MD to save 15%. That's B-O-N-C-H-A-R-G-E dot com, and use coupon code SHE MD to save 15%. Okay, so I really want to talk about beauty just because you... I mean, I don't think I know anybody else in this world that is as much of an expert as you are. I'm not kidding. So, I said years before you started YSE and Lipstick on the Rim, I mean both of these, you were the person that everybody went to. But what was the moment where you're like "I..." why start YSE? Why start Lipstick on the Rim? What brought that?

Molly Sims:
I was at a time where I was definitely, let's do another chapter, but I had three small kids. We were in COVID and I don't know, I started getting itchy. I knew that I... kind of the same way as a model, I know this about me. I can feel it when I need to do something different. Move to Europe. Scott know and it scares him. But I definitely have always had that kind of feeling, and I didn't want to go back to acting full time. So, I started writing. I started a little bit producing with The Home Edit, Get Organized. We'd found them and kind of nurtured that. And then, Hello Sunshine was incredible as a partner. And then, we took it and turned it into a Netflix show. So, that kind of got my producing, storytelling flowing. I've always been an avid reader. I used to read for my husband and I genuinely like to read thriller-esque things. We can discuss later. Never met a date line I didn't like. But-

Mary Alice Haney:
You just took your beauty knowledge from years of being one of the biggest supermodels.

Molly Sims:
Yeah, years of doing it. But I also wanted to have something. I wanted to create something. I got a little bit tired of doing the... I'm going to come in at the very end and represent X or Y or Z. But with my skin during the time of... I really had a bad thyroid issue, I started giving uneven skin tone, hyperpigmentation. And so, I did kind of get on this roller coaster. Do a VI Peel, do a laser, do hydroquinone. And it was great for a few months, but ultimately, the moment you go back out in the sun, it makes it worse, especially the melasma. And then, as you do the peels and the lasers, it thins your skin and then you're dry and you're red and you're irritated, but you don't have spots. And I was on literally this roller coaster until 2017, '18. 2019, Scott said I had a little bit of dirt or something on my face. I'm like, "This is it." And so, I started with... I'd stopped going to the derm. I got off hydroquinone. Haven't used it since 2019.

Mary Alice Haney:
And tell us what that is.

Molly Sims:
Hydroquinone is an active that will get off... it's basically a lightning active. It's a very strong ingredient that is really only supposed to be used for short periods of your life.

Mary Alice Haney:
You were on it for a long time?

Molly Sims:
I was on it off and on since 2012, which is not great because it thins your skin. With uneven skin, with brightening, when you're trying to get the glow, when you're trying to have uneven skin, when you're trying to exfoliate, there's a really big problem because you're trying to exfoliate and strip your skin to get all the dead skin cells off, but you also don't want to mess up your barrier. And that is what I was doing. So, I would do something really drastic for a few months, but then I would mess up my barrier being that I was thinning it, I was making it dry, I was making it red, and it just created havoc. So, I created a system that now is ultimately YSE. I started with one product and then another product and another product. And what I learned is that something crazy drastic wasn't the answer, but something that had nothing in it, no actives whatsoever, stuff that looked cool had no efficacy. And so, I created what is now the brightening collection. I started with my pads, then I went to some type of vitamin C, which is now my morning cocktail. Then, I would do a glow kind of primer just to kind of keep my insurance policy of my SPF, but also having my vitamin C. And then, my problem solver is my ode to hydroquinone. It's a brightening treatment in a gold tube and it is a treatment that I put a dime all over my face and my neck every single night. And that is why I have an even skin. And I-

Mary Alice Haney:
Your skin is so pretty, Molls.

Molly Sims:
... base it with a thing called the Last Call, which is a gentle retinol. So, my system, my routine, my cocktail is a brightening system that will not mess up your barrier, but at the same time gets everything off. And I have to say-

Mary Alice Haney:
Every kind of skin use it?

Molly Sims:
Mm-hmm.

Mary Alice Haney:
Okay. So, it's not just for-

Molly Sims:
If you have sensitive skin, your favorite ex pads, they've been sold out four times.

Mary Alice Haney:
It's amazing.

Molly Sims:
It's amazing. I always say people always complimented my hair. People still compliment my hair color, but I'm like, "It's only because I do the extra step." I do a detox shampoo or I do a crystals before and I get all the sunscreen, all the minerals, all the water, all the gunk, hairspray out of my hair, and then I do my color. It's the same as your skin.

If you leave all the dead skin on, the sunscreen, the leftover retinol from the night before and you're not properly cleansing and exfoliating, which is what the cleanser and the pads do, your face ends up looking like you're wearing your makeup.

Mary Alice Haney:
And that's how I feel. Even right now, my makeup's sitting on my face and it's sort of got... and I'm finding too, as I'm getting older, this didn't use to happen. When you're little, you don't put oil in your face because you've got these-

Molly Sims:
Well, you got pores.

Mary Alice Haney:
... you're going to break out. Now, I'm slathering myself and it still doesn't work.

Molly Sims:
I know.

Mary Alice Haney:
I'm literally like, and my skin, I find everybody's telling me this too, perimenopausal. I'm in menopausal. It's thin. And I'm like, "What do I do? What do I do?"

Molly Sims:
You don't mess up your barrier. So, you really take onus in that barrier and really hydrate and get ingredients like ectoine, beta-glucono-lactone, gluconolactone, things that are cushions, squalane, glycerin. Using brightening, but brightening where it's stripping, but it's not stripping, stripping. Our cleanser, I just did a whole thing this morning. My cleanser is so good because when you take off all your makeup, it doesn't feel dry. It doesn't feel like sandpaper. It feels soft and plump and ready. And then, I start the niacinamide, then I start the morning cocktail. The reason why my morning cocktail is so successful, my vitamin C, because it doesn't peel. It doesn't feel sticky. So, you can put on makeup over it. It's not going to peel. It doesn't feel sticky. It doesn't smell. And you have to wear vitamin C every single day. And if you wear vitamin C, you have to have sunscreen. And so, that's why the morning cocktail and-

Mary Alice Haney:
And we're going to have your whole regiment on the site too and Lynx, just exactly what to do because I think that's a problem. It's the same with medicine, with beauty. There's so much out there.

Molly Sims:
Well, we just launched our Wide Awake Brightening Eye Cream, and this is... women, when we would ask them, we were like, "Do you wear your eye cream?" "Sometimes."

Mary Alice Haney:
Yeah, that's me.

Molly Sims:
But do you want to wear your eye cream? Yes, of course. But how can it make you wear an eye cream? So, we created an eye cream that if your concealer had a baby with your eye cream, and it's an under-eye brightening. It's got rice bran extract, pomegranate, glycerin. It's got over 100 antioxidants and really strong vitamin C. And what it also has... and it's caffeine, so it de-puffs, even the applicator is cold. So, you can de-puff. It has caffeine in it, and then it's instant brightening. And what's amazing about it is it's universal. You can use it on all skin tones. And what it appears to be on the skin is not what it will ultimately. You're like, "Oh, my god, is this a little red? Is this little orange?" But it has microsphere pigments that make it go into your skin and that gives it that blurring effect. So, the color that you see, if you just keep rubbing it in-

Mary Alice Haney:
Changes.

Molly Sims:
... changes. You won't see it. You'll just see it brightening.

Mary Alice Haney:
Well, you just gave me some and I post it for you in my... after a day of shooting in my bathrobe, and I'm like, "I definitely need this, Molly Sims. I definitely need it."

Molly Sims:
Well, again, you can use it in the morning, you can use it at lunch. You can use it... I just prepped with it right before I came over. I came from a riveting Texas Hold 'Em musical for third through sixth grade at my little school. But I think I've always had a love of beauty. I think with the podcast, it was twofold why we started it.
One, we started it because I knew I was kind of thinking about starting a brand and how can I get to interview doctors? How can I become more of an expert in beauty and wellness? And then, I've always loved it. I love that spa there. I'm like, "I love that cold plunge. I love that dry brushing. Let's do infrared." I've been doing that.

Mary Alice Haney:
I know, forever. And you're the one that everybody-

Molly Sims:
For years.

Mary Alice Haney:
So, I get asked this all the time, it doesn't matter where I am. People find out that I'm your friend and they're like, "Just tell me what she does. I want to know, what does she do for her work out? What does she do for her hair?"

Molly Sims:
I'm almost see in the podcast, just tell me what to do.

Mary Alice Haney:
Because that's true. Okay, so if you're going to... if everybody listening, I'm going to give you Molly's workout. What do you do?

Molly Sims:
You're going to hate me for saying this, but it's 80-20. It's 80% what you eat and 20% what you work out. Mix it up. I do HIIT, I do Pilates, I walk, I run. I do a mixture of everything so I'm not bored. I dance. But do I crush it six days a week? I do not. I actually think if I crush it too much and I burn so many calories, I'm actually more hungry and it's harder for me to pull that back. It's weird.

Mary Alice Haney:
Do you have a certain diet?

Molly Sims:
I do. I eat a lot of protein, a lot of vegetables. But I also love... I'm not gluten-free. I eat brown rice. I eat bread. It's just I don't eat a ton of it. I definitely cut back on the alcohol. I think when COVID, like we were all, I was stuck at home with three kids. Cutting back on that is definitely a necessity. I love cold plunging. I do think a red light therapy is key for inflammation.

Mary Alice Haney:
For your face?

Molly Sims:
For your face and your body if you can afford it. Go in the whole bed, get in an infrared tube and just lay there. There's a thing called... there's a new word I'm going to start to talk about a lot. It's called inflammageing.

Mary Alice Haney:
Inflammageing.

Molly Sims:
Meaning inflammation with aging. As we get older, we need to lower the inflammation in our body. Fight or flight. How stressed are you? Are you taking those moments? Are you sleeping? Because that leads to inflammation. That leads to sickness. So, trying to calm your nervous system I think is-

Mary Alice Haney:
It's so hard.

Molly Sims:
For me, it has been almost impossible. I've had a hard couple of years medically and I had a back surgery, and then I had a couple other surgeries. And I think that is my goal for 2024 and on, just really trying to calm that fight or flight because I can get myself very worked up, as you know.

Mary Alice Haney:
No.

Molly Sims:
But I believe in microneedling. I believe in radiofrequency and tightening. If you want to do something at home, I believe in the new face. Dennis Gross has a great red light mask, an ultra-flare. Bon Charge has a great one. LightStim if you want to spend a little bit more money. They have a small dome one that I love. I just got and I banked out the money. Yes, you're welcome. Catherine Esposito is an incredible esthetician facialist that got me hooked on it. Taking a walk, taking a breath.

Mary Alice Haney:
What about your hair? Your hair?

Molly Sims:
My hair, I definitely had some issues with, and I guess I'll say it. Never said it before. I actually just went on Minoxil.

Mary Alice Haney:
And what's Minoxil?

Molly Sims:
2.5 milligrams. It helps your hair grow. Now, hair does grow in every other part of your body, but I'm taking a medicine that a side effect is thinning. And as you get older, it thins. So, I did go on it and I have to say it's made a huge difference.

Mary Alice Haney:
And then, what do you do before you-

Molly Sims:
Did a scalp, neutrophil. Crown Affair has a great scalp, getting into your scalp. Detoxifying. Kenra, there's a gray shampoo. I have the big daddy in my shower and do it once a week. Get all that stuff, all that shit out of your hair, off your color.

Mary Alice Haney:
I need to do that. I always feel like I can't get the shampoo out. It's just kind of stuck there.

Molly Sims:
They have a great... I love Kenra. I am obsessed with that line. They make a great... if you want to wear your hair back where it's super chic and slick. So, with my hair, the Texturizing Taffy from Kenra, they also make a detoxing shampoo that is insane. They have a heat spray that it's incredible. Honestly, I love the whole line. What else with my hair? Having really good tools I also think makes a really good difference. And I think the biggest tip I can give people with your hair, if you're getting a blowout, if you're blowing your hair out yourself or you're getting a blowout, do not do it on crazy high heat.

Mary Alice Haney:
Low heat.

Molly Sims:
Low heat. LolaVie has a great detangling spray that I love. My kids are obsessed with it.

Mary Alice Haney:
Hair's hard.

Molly Sims:
You got to take care of your hair.

Mary Alice Haney:
And my hair was invincible.

Molly Sims:
My hair was invincible for so long.

Mary Alice Haney:
Me too. And then, all of a sudden... actually, it was around... I think it's perimenopausal too. All of a sudden, I was like, "Why is my hair not growing?"

Molly Sims:
I know.

Mary Alice Haney:
"This is weird and it's breaking off." And I used to be able to color it with every inch of its life.

Molly Sims:
I know.

Mary Alice Haney:
And now I'm like, "Fuck."

Molly Sims:
I know.

Mary Alice Haney:
What is one thing that people don't know about you?

Molly Sims:
My husband thinks I'm going to kill him because I watched so much Dateline. But honestly, I'm like... he watched this one episode. If you want to watch one episode of Dateline, watch the Bitter Pill episode. It's very interesting how she killed him or tried to kill him per se. Oh, my God. What's one thing? I love eating breakfast for dinner.
I love to lie and say that I'm sick and I stay in and I cuddle my kids. It's true. I lie. I do not do the Mary Alice. Mary Alice will throw an incredible dinner party and 9:30, she's asleep with her eye mask on upstairs while her house-

Mary Alice Haney:
And everybody's still here.

Molly Sims:
It's still here. I work really hard.

Mary Alice Haney:
I know that, baby. I see that you work very hard. You work very hard at being a great mom. You work very hard at being a great businesswoman. You work hard at everything you do. And you're a really good friend.

Molly Sims:
Yeah, and I think... and the friend part, I think you have to deposit coins into the bank. I think sometimes people, "Oh, my God, why aren't you there?" "Well, were you there for me? Did you check on me? Did you... just that little phone call?" Or you do have to... with friends, you have to deposit. I think I missed out a lot of my youth on that. Thank God for my girlfriends who stuck with me. And I recently had a 50th in Morocco and-

Mary Alice Haney:
It was fabulous.

Molly Sims:
It was fabulous. And some of my friends were like, "Ugh, why did you invite everybody?" And I'm like, "Well, these people had been with me for the past 20 years of my life, 30 years of my life. They kept me afloat." I know.

Mary Alice Haney:
All right, give us Molly's top five beauty tips. And we're going to put your whole program for YSE Beauty on this.

Molly Sims:
Right. So, my five tips would be to exfoliate. Whatever you do, definitely exfoliate. Manifest, I know it's in the top five, but manifest what you want. The boy, the husband, the job-

Mary Alice Haney:
The life.

Molly Sims:
... the work, the baby. Manifest it, put it out there. In terms of beauty, I believe in the red light therapy. I believe in the infrared sauna. I believe that if you take a moment for yourself and feel good, even if you're guilty that you haven't done this X for your kids or have a moment with your husband, if it makes you feel better, you will be better at momming. Take care of yourself. Go to your doctor appointments. Do not put them off, even if you're scared to go.

Mary Alice Haney:
Do you take collagen?

Molly Sims:
I do take collagen.

Mary Alice Haney:
Which collagen do you love?
Molly Sims:
I like Isopure. I like-

Mary Alice Haney:
Every day you take it?

Molly Sims:
Two, three days a week.

Mary Alice Haney:
Do you put it in your coffee?

Molly Sims:
You're going to have Sarah Wragge.

Mary Alice Haney:
Yeah, Sarah is someone I keep hearing about and we're definitely going to have her on the podcast.

Molly Sims:
She's amazing. I think you got to meet her as well that night. She was really interesting, the way that she looked at the body, she looked at nutrition.

Mary Alice Haney:
And it's science-backed.

Molly Sims:
And it's science-backed.

Mary Alice Haney:
That's what we're trying to do.

Molly Sims:
I started taking her alkaline, and then she has one called Restore at night. I think those are two excellent products.

Mary Alice Haney:
And what supplements do you take?

Molly Sims:
Magnesium.

Mary Alice Haney:
At night? So, do you take Sarah's and the magnesium? You take two?

Molly Sims:
Mm-hmm.

Mary Alice Haney:
What magnesium do you like?

Molly Sims:
Thorne.

Mary Alice Haney:
Okay. You take Thorne. And there's so many different kinds of magnesium.

Molly Sims:
I like the Moon Juice.

Mary Alice Haney:
Is that Thorne?

Molly Sims:
The pink Magnesi-om by Moon Juice. I just take the plain magnesium from Thorne and the white, a big bottle of it. I have a little bit of joint pain and I have sometimes trouble with muscle recovery lately. I take tart cherry. I take two at night and that's really helping me sleep. My joints are starting to relax a little bit more. I take vitamin D. I take-

Mary Alice Haney:
Everybody is pretty much deficient in vitamin D. I don't know what that is. Maybe it's because we're all using sunscreen and even in California. But every time I test my vitamin D, and my kids, I tested my kids and they're deficient.

Molly Sims:
I take metformin. I take a peptide. I see Dominique Read with-

Mary Alice Haney:
Who I love.

Molly Sims:
... Marielle's. I take-

Mary Alice Haney:
She does all of her blood work.

Molly Sims:
... my Synthroid, my thyroid medicine. What else do I take? Vitamin D, vitamin B, vitamin C.

Mary Alice Haney:
If someone was going to have one product of yours, pick one product, which one would it be?

Molly Sims:
God. It's like picking my babies.

Mary Alice Haney:
I know. People used to ask me about my dresses for fashion. I'm like, "You're asking me about my children?"

Molly Sims:
I know my favorite dress from you. I'm from Haney.

Mary Alice Haney:
I have the Molly, the first season. Had the Molly yet.

Molly Sims:
I love the Molly. I would say your favorite ex pads. I think that's something-

Mary Alice Haney:
By the way, the names, your favorite ex pads.

Molly Sims:
I know. It'll get you into the brand. They're highly addictive and they work.

Mary Alice Haney:
And they work. But we are going to have the full regiment on the site because I think-

Molly Sims:
Thank you.

Mary Alice Haney:
Again, there's so much noise out there.

Molly Sims:
Well, I just think it goes back to we created the line to make it simple. We have clinicals. I say radiance, expert efficacy, radiant results. I want something that is efficacious and I want it to have results, and I want to feel good about it. We don't have a lot of time. And more does it mean better and more does it mean more.
And I think when you look at brightening, when you look at your core essentials on what you're using every day, consistency is the magic. I wish I could say with really good ingredients. I wish I could say, "Oh, this $600 product." You don't use the $600 product every day. Every day, cleanse your face, exfoliate. Protect your barrier and brighten. At night, this is where your actives can come into place. If you're waking up dry and irritated and red and just like a sandpaper, that's probably one of the worst things you can do. Limit going to your derm. Limit the-

Mary Alice Haney:
Things that we thought.

Molly Sims:
That we thought, the heavy microdermabrasion, the heavy lasers, all of that thins your skin. And as you get older, your skin is... what you were saying is, it gets naturally thinner. Try your best to be happy. I know, I don't love when someone's like, "Just be happy." But there is a little bit of... you sometimes got to pick yourself up. You got to dig deep and know not everything works out.

Mary Alice Haney:
And you're going to be okay.

Molly Sims:
And you're going to be okay.

Mary Alice Haney:
I love you, Molly.

Molly Sims:
I love you.

Mary Alice Haney:
You're the best.

Molly Sims:
You're the best. You're the best.

Mary Alice Haney:
Thank you so much for joining us today on SHE MD. If you want to stay strong, healthy, and empowered, follow us on social media at SHE MD podcast and subscribe to our show on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. For the takeaways from this episode, visit SHEMDpodcast.com.