Not Skinny But Not Fat's Amanda Hirsch Shares Her Secret to 2-Second Glowy Skin

If you follow Amanda Hirsch (also known as the creator behind Not Skinny But Not Fat), you know that she's an open book. There's nothing Hirsch won't tell her followers, whether she's candidly speaking about the challenges and rewards of motherhood or sharing her unfiltered thoughts on the latest celebrity gossip.

The same rings true for her eponymous podcast, Not Skinny But Not Fat. Hirsch asks her famous guests the questions you're dying to know the answer to, and she makes it seem like it's all just banter between friends. Her knack for keeping it real makes her the perfect partner for Bioré, a skincare brand that's known for its pore strips. Hirsch has long been a fan of the brand and chose to partner with it after her own pore-strip saga caught the Bioré team's attention. This month, Hirsch and Bioré are working together on Bioré's third annual Get That Sh*t Out campaign, which sheds light on mental health awareness. 

Below, Hirsch and I talk about her partnership with Bioré, and she speaks openly about her own mental health journey and how it's evolved over the years. Hirsch also explains how motherhood has been an integral part of her journey of building Not Skinny But Not Fat and even shares some of her staple beauty products. Keep reading for all of the juicy details, and this Mother's Day, remember Hirsch's sage advice: "You can be a mom and still be a dumb bitch."

Do you want to start by telling me a little bit about your partnership with Bioré?

This is a partnership that happened so organically, which is my absolute favorite way for things to happen. I wish everything happened that way, where you use the product, love a product, and the brand notices, and you do something together.

I've always used their strips. I was just hanging around, put on a strip, and I was like, "Oh my god!" I saw what came out, and I just posted [for] my followers. I was like, "Oh my god, you guys, you don't know what just came out on this pore strip." It's wild how people love that kind of thing. So many people were like, "Oh my god, show us, show us." I was like, "Wow, you guys are gross, but okay." Then I literally linked it. I made a Google Drive photo because I was like, "I don't want to post this for everybody." I don't want everyone to have to see my blackheads, but for those who want to, they deserve it. So I made a clickable link and linked my literal blackheads, and I guess the brand took notice because they sent me more products, and then we ended up connecting on this campaign. … And we're stripping the stigma around mental health. [It's] just all working in this really beautiful organic and also meaningful way.

It's always funny to me that people do love seeing those blackheads strips and the pimple-popping videos on TikTok and stuff.

You wouldn't believe it. I one time cut my finger, and I was maybe a little bit dramatic, but I was saying that I cut off a finger piece, and everyone wanted to see it. Then [I] ended up linking that one too.

People are gross.

People love seeing things like that. I'm like, "Wow, why would you?" But I'm very, very cognizant of the fact that there are so many people that don't want to see it. So if you don't want to see it, you don't have to.

Right. You're not going to alienate people by posting a photo to your Instagram Stories.

Trigger warning: blackheads! No.

Exactly. I saw your post recently about how you started Not Skinny But Not Fat after becoming a mom. I know Mother's Day is coming up, so I wanted to ask you what that journey has meant to you.

Wow, yeah, it was really emotional. I knew it in the back of my mind. But my friend just reminded me of it. She was like, "Do you realize that all this stuff is happening after you became a mom?" And I was like, "Oh my god, that's so true." It is really important for me to share that piece with the people that follow me because I was scared to have a kid. I wasn't where I wanted to be in my career yet. I kept on pushing it being like, "Oh, I'm not there yet. I'm not there yet." 

I don't know what it is. It's ingrained in us. Once you have a kid, you're not going to be able to have a career or further it along or whatever. So I kept on waiting for it to be at this place where I'm comfortable enough to say, "Okay, this is when." When I started monetizing what I do, it was after Noah was born, which was a crazy thing for me to realize. Not only did he not get in the way of that, but everything kind of boomed when he came. So it's not in a way of like, "Have a baby—you'll succeed." It just doesn't have to get in the way. 

When I was pregnant, I remember saying, "This isn't gonna change me. I'm gonna still love reality TV. I'm going to be the same bitch." And that's why I have the merch [that says] "You can be a mom and still be a dumb bitch," which sounds offensive, but when I say "a dumb bitch" about myself, it's like loving celebrity gossip, reality TV, going out with your friends, doing all the things you were doing before. I feel like it used to be [that] a mom was a mom. You looked like a mom, and you acted like a mom, and your whole personality was a mom, and I just like to remind people that you can be a mom and still be a successful B, still be a dumb B, still do all the things. You're just also a mom. 

I think that's a great message to spread. I'm in my 20s, and I know that a lot of people I know, and myself even, feel that way. I think that it's great to let people know that having a kid doesn't have to change your career aspirations and who you are.

Yeah, exactly.

I know that this campaign is tied to mental health. How has your own mental health journey evolved over the years?

I got my first panic attack when I studied abroad in 2009, and I was in college. Before that, I'd never even known. I remember I had a boyfriend who was depressed, and I was like, "Excuse me? What's that? How did you get depressed? You're dating me—what's wrong with you?" I didn't get that it was this thing that could come out of nowhere. It didn't necessarily have to do with what you have going on or not. Even choosing to study abroad in Barcelona, I basically turned the globe and pointed. I was so carefree. I look back, and I'm like, whoa, what a life to live, where you couldn't give an eff. 

This was before smartphones. I couldn't really keep in touch with my mom. I had to buy a phone card to call her. All this shit, I guess looking back, came down hard, and I got my first panic attack when I was studying abroad there. Full-blown thought I was gonna die, middle of the street, ambulance came—the whole thing. I spent the next few months there basically on a countdown, basically seeing the world kind of blurry. It was just very, very bad, and it took me a while [doing] tests and CTs and thinking I have tumors, not wanting to accept that this is anxiety, and that was a bad bout of it. It took me a very long time to come to terms with [the fact that] you're fine physically, and this is a mental health thing. And it came out when it came out. It's hard to not blame the situation or, you know, think that if I didn't go away…

When I got back, I started medication, and I was so against it that I just wanted to not be on it. I was like, "I shouldn't be on this. Me, Amanda? The carefree butterfly?" It took me years to say, "I have this—taking medication for it should be like taking medication for diabetes." Hearing celebrities talk about it, hearing other people talk about it is really what helps me be like, "Okay, I'm not alone." I remember hearing Amanda Seyfried in an interview being like, "I take Lexapro." To me, it makes me feel a little better that other people are going through this. You're not alone, and cool people go through it, and people you look up to go through it. You're not alone in this.

I will say [it took] years because I'm 34 now. Listen, nothing is a magic pill. Deep breaths and yoga won't make everything go away, nor will medication. But I think that I'm in a place with it where it's part of me. When it comes up, it comes up, and you push through it. Sometimes, I'm thankful for it. I'm like, "Hey, you tell me when things aren't too good." Sometimes, your anxiety has this intuition that you don't. It tells you things like "You're not comfortable here—you should leave."

Yeah, definitely. And it's cool that now you get to be one of those people that people can look at and know that you struggle with things. Now, this campaign is helping bring all that to light.

That's why it's really cool. I was like, "Whoa, stripping away the blackheads and the stigma? Give it to me." Any chance that I can get to talk about it. You also don't want to talk about it every day. … I'm a person that has anxiety. That's obviously not the only thing that I have going on. But I think that the more people talk about it, the more people will be comfortable talking about it [and] the more other people will feel seen. I feel like it's just a positive thing all the way around.

Do you have any beauty products that you always use before you film one of your podcasts?

It's funny you ask because I started noticing that I would put on makeup for my podcasts. A lot of them I do over Zoom because a lot of guests are on L.A. time. I was putting on bronzer and all this shit. And I was like, "Wait." … If you have that little glowy filter on Zoom and if, before you go on Zoom, you just apply a serum and a moisturizer and a lip, you look really, really glowy—more than with makeup. I highly recommend that. Next time you go on a Zoom call, don't put on makeup. Put on skincare stuff. I got that idea because one of my guests came on and was shining. And I was like, "What do you have on your face?" And she's like, "Oh my god, I just did my skincare routine." That's how I got the idea. I was like, "Hell yeah, I'm coming on my podcast with just moisturizer and serums, and you look like a glowy goddess."

That's amazing and also a pretty easy tip to follow, which is great.

I feel like that's my number one life hack right now. Honestly.

Do you have any other beauty tips or product recommendations that you've picked up from any of your podcast guests?

I'm not a huge makeup girly. I try. I just feel like I'm not the best at it. But I feel like I've gotten little tips. I had a podcast guest on recently. I literally didn't know you have to wet your Beautyblender before. … I forget who it was, but they were talking about it. She was just like, "Listen, I just take the Beautyblender, I soak it, I put on some concealer, and then I put it all over my face." That also gets ya dewy.

Is there anything about your beauty routine that you think would surprise your followers?

I'm so not mysterious. I don't think there is an ounce of mystery left. Is there anything they don't know? Like, honestly.

I mean, they've seen your blackheads in the Bioré strip.

They see my blackheads. I've told them that I can't do laser, that I have to get waxed because I'm too light. I literally have said everything. What else is left? How many times I shave a week? Not often. There's not much mystery left.

Well, that's a good thing, though. That's why people like following you, right? You're very real.

Yeah, they like it. But also, they know that I'm constantly striving for some mystery—unsuccessfully. 

If you could give your younger self any advice, what would it be?

I love that. It's a little cheugy, but I love it. I would tell myself, keep dreaming girl. Keep being that delusional little self of yours because you're not wrong. Where your head's going, you're gonna get there. When I was younger, these were my dreams, what I'm doing now. So many times, I would doubt myself and be hard on myself. Like, why are these your dreams? Are you a superficial beotch? Why don't you want to save lives? I would tell my younger self to listen to herself and not doubt herself. She's going to do what she wants to do.

I love that. I guess keep being a dumb bitch, right?

[Laughs] Keep being a dumb bitch.

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