Podcast · Arts & Books

Mirror Mirror with Amy Chang

Welcome to Mirror Mirror with Amy Chang, where we dive deep into the cutting-edge science of beauty and the complex psychological and cultural reasons behind why we pursue it. Join me for honest, insightful conversations where science meets self-discovery. Together, we’ll ask the important questions

New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 54 min
Latest: 8 Oct 2026
Language: English

Latest episode

8 Oct 2026 · 1 hr 8 min

Why Chasing Perfection Is Costing You Your Confidence with Nazanin Mandi

What happens when you’re praised for your beauty but still don’t feel good enough? Nazanin Mandi joins Amy Chang for a candid conversation about body dysmorphia, life after her divorce from Miguel, and rebuilding an identity she felt she had lost. Scouted as a model at 10, Nazanin shares how an early comment about her body stayed with her and how insecurity later affected her work, confidence, and willingness to be seen. She reflects on a music video she never released, anxiety before red carpets, and the difference between receiving compliments and believing them. Nazanin also opens up…

Play episodeWhatsApp Download

Earlier episodes 29 most recent

S1 · E41 · 1 Oct 2026 · 46 min
Why Fixing Your Face Doesn’t Always Fix How You Feel With Dr. Evan Rieder
How does “just a little filler” turn into a look you never intended and why can it be difficult to notice the change? Amy Chang sits down with Dr. Evan Rieder, a dermatologist and psychiatrist, to explore perception drift: how our surroundings, social feeds, and cosmetic experiences can shift what looks normal or beautiful to us.They discuss the pressure of pretty privilege, why the satisfaction of a treatment can fade, and how the pursuit of one improvement can become the search for the next. Amy also shares her own experience with being overfilled and how it changed what she looks for in…
S1 · E40 · 24 Sep 2026 · 37 min
Chriselle Lim on Life After 40 + The Science of J-Beauty with Nathalie Broussard
Looking your best doesn’t have to mean looking younger. What changes in your skin as you age and what changes when you stop believing your best years are behind you?In this special Mirror Mirror conversation with Shiseido, Amy Chang explores aging well from two perspectives: skincare science and personal reinvention. First, Dr. Nathalie Broussard, PharmD and Shiseido’s Director of Scientific Communication for EMEA, discusses skin aging, collagen, sagging and the relationship between skin, stress and lifestyle. She also introduces the brand’s research behind the Vital Perfection Sculpt-Define…
S1 · E39 · 16 Sep 2026 · 56 min
Can You Actually Trust the SPF on Your Sunscreen? with Ava Matthews
What does the SPF number on your sunscreen actually tell you and how is it tested?Amy Chang sits down with Ava Matthews, co-founder of Ultra Violette, to explore sunscreen labels, mineral versus chemical filters, and why sunscreen formulas differ around the world. Ava shares her perspective on the CHOICE sunscreen testing controversy, Ultra Violette’s product recall, and the changes the brand made to its testing process. They also discuss bemotrizinol (BEMT), sunscreen texture and wearability, and the everyday questions that make SPF feel more complicated than it should.Topics covered in…
S1 · E38 · 9 Sep 2026 · 40 min
Are Regenerative Skin Treatments Worth the Hype? with Dr. John Frederick
Filler, Botox, Sculptra, PRP, PDGF and exosomes are everywhere, but how do these treatments differ, and what should you understand before trying one?In this episode, Amy Chang sits down with board-certified facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon Dr. John Frederick to unpack the rapidly changing world of aesthetic medicine. They discuss why filler can remain in the face longer than patients expect, where filler may be appropriate, the risks associated with nose filler, and why your treatment history can matter when planning a future facelift.Dr. Frederick also explains the differences…
S1 · E37 · 2 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 10 min
Why Social Media Makes It Harder to Find Your Style with Mandy Lee
Social media gives us endless fashion inspiration, so why is it making personal style harder to find? Fashion trend forecaster Mandy Lee, known online as @oldloserinbrooklyn, joins Amy Chang to unpack why fear of looking wrong, being “cringe,” or changing in public can keep us from developing a style that actually feels like our own. Mandy explains why people online increasingly dress alike, even when real life remains much more diverse, and how TikTok and Instagram can turn aesthetics into rigid rulebooks. Amy and Mandy explore trending topics like why personal style requires vulnerability,…
S1 · E36 · 26 Aug 2026 · 1 hr
Why We’re All Starting to Look the Same with Lauren Sherman
Why are people in Los Angeles, New York, Paris and London starting to look more alike and what does Instagram have to do with it?Puck fashion correspondent Lauren Sherman joins Amy Chang to decode the hidden beauty and style codes of the world’s most influential cities. Lauren explains why cities still have recognizable beauty codes in an algorithmic world, how online aesthetic tribes are replacing local culture and why social media can make personal taste feel increasingly standardized. She also shares how art, film, books, nature, vintage shopping and time away from the feed can help us…
S1 · E35 · 19 Aug 2026 · 1 hr 14 min
What Actually Works in Skincare with Charlotte Palermino
Why has skincare become harder to understand when we have more information than ever?Charlotte Palermino, co-founder and Chief Brand Officer of Dieux Skin, joins Amy Chang to unpack how fear, outrage and insecurity shape what beauty companies sell—and what consumers buy.From sunscreen conspiracy theories and “clean beauty” to ingredient-rating apps, luxury pricing, retinoids, K-beauty and kids at Sephora, Charlotte separates useful information from marketing noise. She explains why a longer routine is not necessarily a better routine, why expensive does not automatically mean effective and…
S1 · E34 · 12 Aug 2026 · 54 min
What Really Happened to Crystal Kung Minkoff on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
Ten hours of filming can become seconds of television. For Crystal Kung Minkoff, that meant even close friends watching The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills were left asking: “Who am I watching? This is not you.”Crystal opens up about becoming RHOBH’s first Asian American Housewife and what she learned about the gap between who you are, what gets filmed, and the version of you audiences ultimately see.She explains why Housewives isn’t scripted but how scheduling, selective moments, omission, and editing can still construct a powerful story around a person. Crystal also reflects on the…
S1 · E33 · 5 Aug 2026 · 53 min
Why Tradwives and Dating Apps Sell the Same Fantasy with Dr. Sarah Banet-Weiser
Tradwives promise simplicity. Dating apps promise effortless love. Media scholar Dr. Sarah Banet-Weiser explains why both can turn identity into a product—and what Love Island, swipe culture and AI relationships reveal about modern womanhood.In this episode of Mirror Mirror, Amy Chang and Dr. Sarah Banet-Weiser unpack how media becomes a “script” for real life. They examine why repeated images start to feel normal, the production and paid labor hidden behind tradwife content, and the crucial difference between choosing to be a stay-at-home mother and prescribing that life for every…
S1 · E32 · 29 Jul 2026 · 51 min
Why This Billionaire Heiress Stopped Chasing Beauty Perfection with Dorothy Wang
Dorothy Wang had the access, the doctors and the budget, but she still said no. In this candid conversation with Amy Chang, Dorothy discusses the pressure she felt during Rich Kids of Beverly Hills and Bling Empire, what happened when she no longer looked like the version of herself audiences expected, and why she eventually stopped trying to perfect every feature.Dorothy opens up about living with eczema, managing PCOS and insulin resistance, facing public criticism while filming Bling Empire, and learning that health and happiness matter more than chasing every beauty trend. Dorothy also…
S1 · E32 · 22 Jul 2026 · 52 min
The Status Game: How Presentation Shapes Who Gets Ahead with Alison Fragale
Five years ago I made a few TikToks where I leaned hard into self-deprecating humor — playing into every stereotype I thought my audience already had about me. Vain. Superficial. Not that smart. They went viral. Millions of views. So I did it again. And again. For four years. It worked. I built a large audience on it. And I was exhausted from shrinking myself into a box that had almost nothing to do with who I actually am. This week on Mirror Mirror, I sit down with Alison Fragale — organizational psychologist, professor, and author of Likable Badass — to unpack what's actually happening…
S1 · E31 · 15 Jul 2026 · 49 min
Why So Many Women Are Secretly Losing Their Hair with Christine Chiu
Christine Chu had so much hair she had standing salon appointments to thin it out. Her ponytails were too thick to manage. Hair loss was never on her radar. 1 Then in the fall, her hair started shedding like autumn leaves. By November, it was coming out in clumps. By December, bald spots. By New Year's — almost entirely gone. She was filming Bling Empire, Dancing With the Stars, and RuPaul's Drag Race at the same time. Getting glammed up to three times a day. And quietly going bald underneath it all. This week on Mirror Mirror, I sit down with Christine Chu for one of the most honest and…
S1 · E30 · 8 Jul 2026 · 48 min
The Hair Restoration Treatment Beverly Hills Surgeons Are Using with Dr. Ben Talei
Most clinics draw 10cc of blood, spin off 5cc, and call it PRP. According to Dr. Ben Talei, that's not PRP. It's plasma. Plasma, without a concentrated yield of platelets and signaling factors, doesn't do much for hair loss. The entire PRP industry, he says, is largely built on protocols borrowed from studies that weren't actually measuring what the industry claims to be selling. This week on Mirror Mirror, I sit down with Dr. Ben Talei — Beverly Hills-based facial plastic surgeon, founder of the Beverly Hills Hair Group, and the surgeon behind more than 3,000 lip lifts and the Cupid lip…
S1 · E29 · 30 Jun 2026 · 41 min
Redefining Beauty After Motherhood with Jasmine Tookes
Three weeks before the 2025 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, Jasmine Tookes got a call: they wanted her to open it. She was nine months pregnant. Her doctor said no.She begged him anyway. She flew from LA to New York with a private doctor monitoring her vitals the entire flight. She walked the runway in four-inch heels, praying her water wouldn't break under the lights — and became one of the most talked-about moments in the show's history: the first visibly pregnant model to ever open it.Ten days later, she went into labor on the steps of her own foyer. Alone. Her husband was out driving the…
S1 · E28 · 23 Jun 2026 · 46 min
The Postpartum Crisis Nobody Is Talking About with Esther Park
After my first pregnancy, I followed Taiwanese postpartum confinement practices for 40 days — herbs, cooked meals, no leaving the house, a night nurse living with us. My milk came in immediately. I stopped bleeding in three weeks. I felt held. After my second pregnancy, I had none of that. COVID meant no in-person support, no family, no village. I took no maternity leave. Six months later, I got shingles. At 30-something. All over my hand. Studies now show it takes up to a year for a mother to fully recover from birth. American mothers get six weeks of leave — if they're lucky. This week on…
S1 · E27 · 16 Jun 2026 · 47 min
Flow & Flush: Brazilian Beauty Rituals & Lymphatic Drainage with Marianne Fonseca
Marianne Fonseca has been a model for 20 years. She's lived in Brazil, China, Europe, and the US. She's getting married in six days. And this week, she's flying to Costa Rica for stem cells before the ceremony.She also founded Gente Beauty — a Brazilian body care brand built around at-home lymphatic drainage — when nobody in the US had heard of lymphatic drainage and investors didn't understand what she was building. Three years later, the category has exploded, and Gente is stocked at Nordstrom, Revolve, and Amazon.This week on Mirror Mirror, I sit down with Marianne to talk about the…
S1 · E26 · 10 Jun 2026 · 1 hr 7 min
Flow & Flush: The Science Behind Lymphatic Drainage with Rebecca Faria, Detox By Rebecca
I gained 70 pounds with each of my pregnancies. After two kids, I assumed the soft tissue around my abdomen and lower back was just what came with being a mom. After one session with Rebecca Faria, the pioneer of Brazilian lymphatic drainage in the US, those "pockets of fat" were gone — and a six-pack I had never seen on my own body appeared overnight.It wasn't fat. It was lymphatic fluid I had been holding onto for years.This week on Mirror Mirror, I sit down with Rebecca Faria — founder of Detox by Rebecca in Beverly Hills, and the practitioner behind some of the most talked-about…
S1 · E25 · 3 Jun 2026 · 1 hr 16 min
A Beauty Founder Doing The Opposite Of Every Other Beauty Brand with Priscilla Tsai
The beauty industry spent $32 billion on influencer marketing in 2025 and 80% of brands increased their influencer spend last year. Priscilla Tsai, the founder of Coco Kind, went the other direction. In this week's Mirror Mirror, I sit down with Priscilla Tsai— who's been building Coco Kind for 11 years — to talk about the unconventional moves that have actually worked. We get into why she stopped spending on traditional influencer campaigns, why she replaced influencer trips with customer brand trips (eight superfans, not eight creators), what "ultra-transparency" looks like when you…
S1 · E24 · 26 May 2026 · 1 hr 10 min
Beauty Marketing After The Hype: What Actually Builds Trust with Camille Moore
This week on Mirror Mirror, I'm joined by Camille Moore — brand strategist, founder of Third Eye Insights, and consultant to some of the largest beauty brands in the world — for the unfiltered breakdown of how beauty marketing actually works in 2026, who's winning, who's quietly dying, and how consumers can decode the difference. Pat McGrath Labs is reportedly up for sale to avoid bankruptcy. Rhode's mass-distribution deal may already be eroding its brand premium. Lululemon is committing what brand strategist Camille Moore calls "death by a thousand cuts." Augustinus Bader's Dua Lipa…
S1 · E23 · 19 May 2026 · 1 hr 10 min
Under The Needle: What You Should Know Before Your Next Treatment Pt. 2 with Dr. Terry Dubrow
What actually happens when plastic surgery or cosmetic treatments go wrong? In this episode of Mirror Mirror, Amy Chang sits down with renowned plastic surgeon Dr. Terry Dubrow for an honest conversation about the side of aesthetic medicine most people do not want to talk about: complications. From filler emergencies and vascular occlusion to revision surgery, med spa red flags, surgical regret, and the emotional fallout of a procedure gone wrong, Dr. Dubrow explains what patients need to know before, during, and after cosmetic treatment.
S1 · E22 · 12 May 2026 · 42 min
Under the Needle: What You Should Know Before Your Next Treatment Pt. 1 with Dr. Prem Tripathi
What should you actually know before getting filler, Botox, blepharoplasty, or plastic surgery? In this episode of Mirror Mirror with Amy Chang, board-certified facial plastic surgeon Dr. Prem Tripathi breaks down the hidden realities of the aesthetics industry, from unqualified injectors and filler migration to counterfeit Botox, overfilled faces, med spa red flags, and why “natural” cosmetic work is harder than ever. We also discuss why filler trends are collapsing, what procedures actually work, the future of aesthetics, and the risks most patients underestimate before going under the…
S1 · E21 · 9 May 2026 · 10 min
Skincare Mythbusting: Myths About Skincare That Are Ruining Your Skin | Mirror Mirror The Inbox
Amy Chang breaks down the skincare and aesthetics myths people still believe, from “clean beauty” marketing to SPF misconceptions and in-office treatment expectations. If you’ve ever wondered whether expensive skincare actually works, if tingling means a product is effective, or whether one laser treatment is enough, this episode is for you. Amy shares the science behind skincare consistency, collagen loss, barrier damage, Botox timelines, lasers, microneedling, and the biggest misconceptions shaping the beauty industry right now.
S1 · E20 · 5 May 2026 · 1 hr 22 min
To Embrace Graying or Not? That Is The Question Pt. 2 with Tennille Jenkins
Tennille Jenkins is a content creator and co-founder of the long-running blog The Tennille Life. In this intimate conversation with Amy Chang, Tennille shares her personal journey with going grey—from initially trying to fight it to ultimately embracing it. They discuss the message she hopes to pass on to her daughters and why self-acceptance and positivity are foundational to living a fulfilling life.
S1 · E18 · 28 Apr 2026 · 1 hr 3 min
To Embrace Graying or Not? That Is The Question Pt. 1 with Jay Small
Jay Small is a celebrity hairstylist, trichologist, global educator, and founder of haircare brand Arey, with over 22 years of industry experience. He joins Amy Chang to break down the science of greying hair—why it happens, which lifestyle factors accelerate or slow the process, why you need different products when dealing with grey hair from a structural standpoint and why prevention and scalp health play such a critical role in long-term hair health.
S1 · E17 · 24 Apr 2026 · 12 min
No One Told Me This About Perimenopause | Mirror Mirror The Inbox
Amy Chang shares her personal experience with perimenopause and the symptoms no one prepares you for.From waking up at 3AM every night to brain fog, fatigue, and memory lapses, this episode breaks down the early signs of hormonal change and why so many women are left confused, dismissed, or misdiagnosed.Amy walks through her journey of getting tested, starting hormone replacement therapy, and navigating the trial-and-error process of finding what actually works. She also dives into the impact perimenopause has on skin, including sensitivity, breakouts, and barrier disruption and the products…
S1 · E17 · 21 Apr 2026 · 1 hr 7 min
Is "Aging Gracefully" a Myth? Pt. 2 with Sarah Creal
Sarah Creal is a beauty industry veteran, former CEO and co-founder of Victoria Beckham Beauty, longtime executive at Tom Ford Beauty, and founder of her eponymous makeup brand, Sarah Creal. In this intimate conversation with Amy Chang, they examine the myth of “aging gracefully,” what happens to women’s visibility as they age, how to navigate the tension between resistance and acceptance, and where the beauty industry still has room to evolve in serving women over time.
S1 · E16 · 14 Apr 2026 · 1 hr 20 min
Is "Aging Gracefully" a Myth? Pt. 1 with Jill Dunn and Carlene Higgins of Breaking Beauty Podcast
Jill Dunn & Carlene Higgins, two longtime beauty editors and hosts of the podcast Breaking Beauty , sit down with Amy Chang for an examination of the myth of “aging gracefully” and how this term has played out in the editorial world the past few decades, why women are punished for both aging naturally and trying to fight it, where the pressure to stay youthful really comes from, and why some women feel invisible after 40.
S1 · E15 · 10 Apr 2026 · 11 min
How To Approach Anti-Aging And Longevity - Without The Needles | Mirror Mirror The Inbox
On this episode of The Inbox, Amy Chang breaks down how to approach anti-aging without needles. She walks through the lifestyle, skincare, supplement, and in-office options that actually make a difference, and the mindset shifts that can slow the visible signs of aging. From antioxidant serums and growth factors to non-ablative lasers, food choices, and why sleep and stress matter more than most people think, Amy shares her personal routines and the changes that had the biggest impact on her skin and overall wellbeing. If you’ve ever wondered how to look and feel better without injectables,…
S1 · E14 · 7 Apr 2026 · 57 min
Beauty Getaway: Is Going to Korea for Plastic Surgery Worth It? Pt. 2 with Judy Lim
Judy Lim is a makeup artist, viral content creator, and recent medical tourist. She joins Amy Chang for an intimate conversation about her experience traveling to South Korea and beyond for plastic surgery. Together, they discuss the realities of medical tourism, the pros and cons of surgery and recovery abroad, the financial and emotional considerations involved in making such a decision, along with what Judy would change about her experience going to Korea for plastic surgery if she were to do it all over again.

About Mirror Mirror with Amy Chang

Mirror Mirror with Amy Chang is a English arts & books podcast from Amy Chang. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.

Publisher: Amy Chang
Language: English
Category: Arts & Books
New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 54 min
Latest episode: 8 Oct 2026
Feed: RSS — paste into any podcast app
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1876357199
Rights: Amy Chang

RSS feed Apple Podcasts

More English arts & books

Take it with you

The Melo app keeps playing with the screen off, works in the car and on your watch, wakes you to your station, and browses the whole catalogue offline. Free, no ads, no account.