Dermatologist Dr. Howard Murad

he has such an interesting story. How he was born in Baghdad, you know, put himself through medical school, had so many jobs in between, and honestly, he was the first person that figured out the correlation between beauty and wellness, and his skincare approach always depended on that. He is quite something and I'm looking forward to understand why he looks so good at eighty one years old and what he does and here about his company. So here's my

conversation with Dr Howard Murad. So, Dr Murad, I have to tell you, reading your biography, reading everything that you know, my amazing producer gave me, I wish there was a book. Is there a book of your life story? No, that really isn't. Maybe that should be, but yeah, you know that's written several books, um, but not specifically about my life story, a lot of it on my personal website

D R. Howard your ad dot com. But we'll we'll start at the beginning, because your name has been in my radar on my radar for decades, and I don't really know that much about you and reading about you. You've had some fascinating life so a lot of the listeners you know, are new to to who you are. So could you start at the beginning? Where were you? I was born in Baghdad. That that was a country

that never nobody ever heard of until about twenty years ago. Um. And as a child, we were fortunate to be able to migrate out of the country, um and come to the United States. I came here when I was seven years old. Yeah. You were New Yorker correct, Yeah. I grew up in New York. I went to college in New York and then I went to medical school in California and sort of I never impact Uh, And you went to medical school, but you also went to pharmaceutical school.

Well it's a story, you know. I tell people make your mark on the campus of life and letter direct you. Um. I always kind of was interested in science as a younger, younger person, I wanted to be an engineer. But then somehow or other I didn't get calculus very well. And my older brother was a pharmacistant, said you like science, why don't you go into pharmacy school, And so I did. While I was in my farmacy school, I thought, well, I'd like to go to medical school. Probably won't get in,

but I'll apply anyway. And I tell people, might make your mark on the cabinets of life and light to direct you, because a lot of times you don't know where you're gonna go. You let it, you let it take you. So it took me to go to medical school, and even there I always wanted to be on the surgeon. Uncle Sam had different plans for me. Sent me to Vietnam to the Italian surgeon and I got a lot of care of surgery. And when I came back for my second year of duty, I was attached to the

a dermatology clinic. And in medical school that was the most boring class ever. I mean I fell asleep most of the time, but now in a different light, it was very interesting to me. And when I finished my military I got into in residency and you see l A and to be a hospital. So that changed my life entirely. And then your first practice was in Los Angeles. It wasn't Los Angeles. It's a little community by the airport called Westchester. This was a very Chinese office. It

used to be a psychiatrist office. When I started, there was no sign on the door. There was a tiny waiting room, a reception area, and an office. And so I started my first week in practice, I had one patients who just happened to walk by. It was a lunchtime. I happened to be there. I was going around trying to meet people, and it turned out it was the

germantological problem. So I got my first patient without a sign on the door, without without office, but and that is and it grew from there, and that was Yes. I finished my weaponity in training and started my practice in nineteen seventy two. But you were one of the early doctors that realized that it's lifestyle and food and what you put in your mouth is an effective of the skin. And that's that was like in the eighties. Could you talk about that well, I under concept called

inclusive health. Inclusive means everything is connected, so over time it was trying to understand, um that skincare, which now I call it. I always say skincare is health care. If you really understood it, that you if you're really taking care of your skin, it means that you're taking care of the rest of your body. Everything is connected. And as a dermatologist, I was recognizing the patients that I was seeing or coming in and the ones who

did have a better lifestyle. We rate well, exercise and so on, seems to have better skin. Um. So it was a con sept of looking at that, but that led me into trying to understand what was going on and um. The other thing that really changed my life is understanding hydration. Now people think of hydration and drinking a glasses of water again. But if I were to have anybody come, I use is your skin dryer today than it was ten years ago? I think they would

all say absolutely, and is dryer? So it's a fact of life that we go through stages of life going in full hydration to less and less hydration. And how do we get better hydrated? Well, maintaining the barrier function of your skin in the first line of defense, So

making sure you're using sunscreens with antioxidants and inflammatories. And by the way, way back in two I started putting antioxidants in my products regardless of what they were treated, treating for um and so the idea of that barrier function. Think about it, when you get a sunburned skin gets red, but you also feel tired of arctic so you you begin to feel that what happened is damage penetrated through your skin into the blood stream and affected your brain

and liver and every organ in your body. Also, the reverses food because when your heart's not healthy, your skin doesn't look so good, so you're less you're more pallid. So that connection was very important. So the other problem was and this was the drinking a glasses of water a day and maybe that's how much we need, but unfortunately, when you drink that much water, it just goes right through you. So I had the concept of eating your water,

eating water rich foods. It's very important if you look at diet, basically, water rich foods are healthy for you. Basically fruits and vegetables that even means are you know you can absorb up to sight and water. Um, you know, fish and chicken without the skin uh is predominantly water maybe anyway, so generally help the foods are rich in water. Um. The other is the exercise. And people used to say,

well I exercise, what I'm sweating, I'm drying. Yeah, you're sweating, but you're building muscle, and muscle is seven percent water. And finally, stress reducing stress is going to make a big difference in your life because when you do stress, and and and how do we do that? Dr murre at, how do we do that? My answer to that is magic only happens when you create your own um and go back a little bit. But that way back in two pounds and three accord the term cultural stress to

stress the modern living. You know, if you think about it, we tend to have a very sedentary lifestyle, especially now with COVID nineteen. But it was happening, you know gradually anyway things get delivered to us. You can get food delivered faster than if you went to the grocery store. Your entertainment gets delivered to you, and you did to watch you just sitting. That leads to a sedentary lifestyle, Isolation, loneliness,

all kinds of bad things, and it's constantly pervasive. So I have to understand you have that that damaging you. And once you understand that, you develop ways to think how I can get improvement with that. And then why did you want to start your own skincare brand? Well, it was a journey. I was a pharmacist, as you know before, and a lot of times I would recommend

compounded prescriptions. I write the compound prescriptions and getting filled and people you know, like my compounding and they were coming and they would so I just wanted the compound of prescription. They didn't necessarily want to see me. And then I got involved in the Alphahi droxy acids way

back in mid eighties. I would say I started cheating patients with the Alphi droxy passings and rammatically sults actually always sent thousand different patients with different levels of alfhi drops the answers mostly like colic, and I saw the results and I said, at the same time, in my own practice, I had a inesteficition and in electrologies, so it's kind of a pre you know many spats. Before there wasn't any spat. I said, what the heck, you know,

maybe we should make it available. I opened up my own SPAT, which is twenty miles away from my practice. But people came to that, and so I started giving them the ALPHI drox, the acids and decided, well, let me see what I could sell it to other salons in other places. And so I started my bus knowing nothing about business. So did you started by yourself? Did you find a lab, a partner? I mean, how do you?

How did you do that? I wish I could give you the you know, a roadmap, because I didn't have one. I basically I met a person who said, why don't you started off a spot of your own? And so that's a good idea, and I said, okay, I'll open one. I didn't know how to do it, so I asked him to help me. And you helped me with, you know, finding somebody in a space to rent and things like that. And then I decided why should I only have it in my spot? Could sell it all over. I really

dedicated myself. Basically spent virtually maybe a hundred and fifty two hundred and seventy five days a year away from my home going to trade shows and things like that to trying to do open a business. I have a saying, don't let failures spoil your success because there were failures. As you know, if you have their failures, and a lot of people stopped, they say, I can't do it anymore.

My best way to describe that is I decided, well, besides just selling it to Cilantro, I don't and I sell it know an informercial conformercials were a big deal at the time, but there were you know, there were only certain channels. So again I found somebody who suggested that they could do a good job. And I wanted to break the mold because at that time it was just people sitting in a chair and talking to each other. I wanted a story. There were two sisters wanted to

care of herself be other. We didn't. I created some products, did in commercials and I sold zero. I had borrowed money to do that, and it just didn't more um, But then I still like the idea. So at a couple of years later, what I did is like again I borrowed some more money. I had to repay my money, but I've invested my whole again in this one, and

this one's huge and brought your ad. I think the reason people know you're at is more from the infomercials than actually you know, some of the retail and other places because it was a real success. Now you have how many products you have over skin care products? Yeah, you know, it's it's basically there are a lot of numbers and sometimes too much is too much? Probably better to have fewer, excuse and many students. But you know, every time you come up with an idea, so this

is great, but the other one is also great. By trying to limit it is a good idea, I think, otherwise becomes a little bit confusing. Basically, the general concept behind it I called the hydrade shouldn't products. These are people products for everybody, whether your young holds or in between, and they're encouraging better hydration again, which is the foundation of use than I was telling you before how important

hydration is um. And then there's the product that contained retinal and then there are products that contain the alpha hydroxy acids. Invited the what do each of those things do? Could you tell everyone what vitamin C does? What alpha hydroxy? Okay, so the first one is for everybody, the hydration one, because they have antioxygens and inflammatories and encourages the better hydration of your skin again, the ones that you can do to really back the lines the appearance of your

skin is hydrated. When it's fully hydrated, lines and wrinkles and things begin to disappear. Um. Then the second stage is maybe somebody in there, say, twenties to the forties, out of the sun too much, getting recles, diptation find and that's why idmen ce alphydroxy acids. And then beyond that is people who want something more dramatic. And I

believe retinal at this point is being ingredient. There are many other ingredient to many other things that go beyond it, but the basic important nvenient to that, although again you could use any of those at any as because retinal is a it's used for acne, it can be used for wrinkles, it can be used for a firming, and could be used for you know, at any age, and so can be alphydroxy acid. But generally that's what the categories are. And your business is so huge right now,

are you do still own it or no? I told I told the whole brand to Unilever in two pound and are you still involved. I'm involved in the sense that you know, it's my legacy I'm involved in my pe'll see my face and my things and things like that, because that's what lives on. I'm there to support the team and do the best that they can and and help them in any way I can um. My journey so far now had been to make it lightly different life for myself but still be involved in the brand.

I hope i'd be in different involves soill I die because it is what people know before and it is important to me that it is successful. I have no financial interest, and you know, I don't get a percentagement. Was it emotionally hard for you to to let go? It was very difficult because it was a family unit. One of my daughters, my nephew, a lot of family members were involved. But I could see the writing on

the walls. I could see that there was a point where we were getting to that we there was so much competition from all over and the ability to really maintaining and grow was going to be more and more challenging. And I didn't feel that I could bring that forward. I didn't believe that I could make that maybe happen. More so, what's spring enjoy these days? What are you doing for fun? Over the years I started painting, so I still paint. You know, I'm not sure exactly what

I do, but the days go by. Know, I I live, I I spend a little more time with my family and you know, things like that that I do and I and again, I'm still involved a little bit with the company because you know, I helped them with their promotions available. They asked me any questions about what what's my opinion on x Y and z UM. I don't tell them what to do. I give them my opinion and sub to them to take it or not. And

sometimes they take it, sometimes they don't. Since this podcast is called Beyond the Beauty, if you could just answer what beauty means to you, Like, what's your definition of beauty? Beauty it's health and wellness. Very hard to be beautiful if you don't have wellness and health in your life. You know, people ask me what's the one thing I could do for my skin that would that would really make a difference, And my answer is always smile, because when you smile, the skins lifted up and you look

more attractive, more becoming when you smiled. Then when you're angry, you know, there's so many other ways that I can look at you and because everybody is unique in their own way. One thing I tell my patients to do, and I know it's a podcast, but everybody has paper and pencil, paper in and I asked them to, without thinking and only ten seconds, do a scribbled step. You know how you just sometimes you will write on the paper, you kind of screw around ten seconds, don't think about

what you're doing. And if you give it to a hundred people, everyone's going to have a different scribble scrapp because everybody, you know, they're not going to do the same, And that to me proves everybody is a unique individual. Allow the unique you to blossom because there's nobody else exactly like you, nobody else who has exactly your talents, and nobody else who can do what you do. So allow the unique you to blossom. And where you put the scribble scrabble in the space that you spent it,

to me is where you think your potential is. But the white space is your true potential. So the idea is all of us. I think we're so good, we can do X, Y and B. It was kind of limited, but if you look at my journey, I never knew where it was going to end up, and every step of the way it was a little bit different, but I allowed just to happen. And don't let failure spoil your sticks us and expose your accomplishments to your harshest critic without fear of rejection. And who is your harshest

critic to you? So those kinds of things. That's kind of all kinds of philosophy ideas that I like to share with people. That's wonderful. Well, now I have a speed round, so I've got five or six questions, and let's see how we do. What's your daily skincare routine. Uh, you know it's different every day, but it's always a treatment and sunscreen of moisturizers at night. What's your supplement

health routine like these days because you have very beautiful skin. Well, I do take a lot of supplements, the basic ingredients and let mean I take the basic one a day vitamin with vitamin B and things like that in it. I do believe in glucosamine. You know, one of the things that happens to us is over time our collagen bundles begins to decrease. We see that unless more wrinkled

and joint pains and things like that. And colleges is built by h through cosmine amano act if I evence trades minerals, so I take it through cosmine supplement that has that combination and basic one a day. And how about your exercise do you have an exercise routine? I have a trainer four days a week, and when he's with me, I wish to do well. When I'm alone, I don't do so well. You know, I do the same thing with him. I could do it myself because the same thing, but when he's got there, I don't

do it. I hate to say that and admit it, but that's a truth. Truth is good. What about a favorite cocktail? Do you have one? It's not that I don't drink. I've never had a problem with alcohol at all. There were times when I would drink of you know, to his three sconsins in the evening, but right now, im you know, I might have a glass of champagne

or something to celebrate. My favorite drink is a green drink that my wife makes that is a lot of vegetables and mostly greens, and that's a mix them all up and question them up and we drink them every day, so I get my vegetables and salad and whatever all at one time as a drink, so make sure I get that. And how about for the final question, what is the one thing you can't live without? My wife? Best answer? How many years you married? Dr Murad? Well

we've been together twenty years and been married. Ah, that's so nice. Well, I have thoroughly enjoyed talking to you and just really like absorbing your wisdom. You are a very special man, and I hope more people of the different generations learn about not just your products, but you. And I want that book, your life story, your advice. All right, I'll have to do that. Thank you so much, Thank you so much. From this has been a real

pleasure to meet you and to talk to you. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.