Hat Queen: Devra Wathen



Hat Queen: Devra Wathen

We’re taking you to Honolulu, Hawaii to meet 58-year-old Devra Wathen, the founder of the chicest sun hats in the world. ETSIS hats are elegant and crushable (great for travelling!), and most importantly, designed with their exclusive signature snap-in, snap-out 50+ UPF protection panels that protect your entire face from the sun’s harmful UV rays. “UPF” is like SPF for fabrics, and 50+ is the highest rating available.

Their Story:

ETSIS, short for “Escaping The Sun In Style” was created in 2009 after Wathen underwent several different treatments to remove pre-cancer spots and photo sun damage from her face. Under her dermatologist direction, she was told that going out in the sun was no longer an option. She desperately searched for a solution to protect her face, cheek, nose and neck from the sun’s harmful rays but found nothing that offered the level of sun protection she needed to safe guard her skin and live her day to day life. Rather than wear a fishing mask or a bag on her head she got creative and started to safety pin towels into her sunhats. This was not very attractive but very effective. With encouragement from her husband and friends to design something that was sun proof but also fashionable she sprung to action. After only 18 months of research and development, ETSIS hats were on their way to being manufactured.

I personally own two ETSIS hats and three different panels patterns, which I switch up depending on my outfit and sun protection needs. I love all the different ways you can wear them: there’s The Wrap (leaving your mouth exposed, as seen in the model wearing green), the Clinical Wrap (whole face coverage for dashing out of the clinic after a laser treatment!), and the Tie Back where you can even braid the panels into your ponytail for a pretty plait look (as seen in the model wearing white). Here’s a pic of me, taken just last week on a cruise ship, wearing an ETSIS hat without any panels.

Here’s The Skiny on this pioneering “Sun Escaper”.

Skin type? Dry

We heard you’re a bit of a product junky, so we won’t ask you to narrow it down to just three. What are you using and loving now?

I have quite a few favorites, but my essential products are by Osmosis: Restore Immune Repair Internal, Immerse Intense Moisture Boost and Quench Intense Hydrator. Restore Immune Repair are internal supplement drops you take 2-3 times a day and helps to improve and strengthen the skin and body from the inside out. It’s supposed to help with anti-aging, age/brown spots, hyperpigmentation, weak immune system, and strengthen organs and joints, while fighting inflammation. Quench is a light moisturizer with high amounts of hyaluronic acid and provides certain lipids to restore my skin’s epidermal barrier. And Immerse helps to calm and soothe super dry skin and is antioxidant packed to restore and replenish my skin. I’m trying to be committed to sticking to my Osmosis regimen and not be such a product junky!

Your most recent What The Yuck?! skin moment?:

After my most recent couple of IPL treatments, I noticed MORE brown spots coming up and not fading away like they’re supposed to! IPL is supposed to bring up sun damage from the dermis and allow it to break apart and slough off naturally—essentially making it heal or disappear. But that didn’t happen these last couple of times; they just came up and never faded. I think it is entirely possible to OD or overdo it on skin rejuvenation and exfoliating treatments like IPL, Fraxel or Thermage to the point where skin becomes so stripped that it can’t heal properly and becomes prone to more damage… especially in my case —Aging skin with 8+ years of aggressive such treatments! Even though I stay out of the sun and cover up, the compound damage to my skin in my sun worshipper days is super deep! And I’ve stripped my skin to the point it’s very sun sensitive. I should’ve done lighter lightening/brightening spot treatments as maintenance that were less aggressive than doing a whole series of IPL treatments each year. I should not have aimed for 100% perfection—you can only go so far with treatments.

Your 3 can’t-live-without anti-aging tools? Sun protection clothes and accessories like my ETSIS Hat, my Coolibar jacket and my driving sun gloves. Oh, and rosewater spray! (Watch her how-to video below)

Any beauty-boosting supplements? Every day I take CoQ10, Vitamin D, and Vitamin Ester-C.

If you could trade dermatologists with any celebrity, who would it be? Jennifer Lopez! Such glowing skin! And then there’s Michelle Pfeiffer and Julianne Moore who are in their 40s and 50s, respectively, and just look amazing for their age! They both have creamy, luminous and healthy skin—they look so fabulous! You can bet they stay out of the sun. No fake bake, spray tan or tanning beds for these ladies!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most overused word? Oh my God. I have a couple. “Schlep” and “mishegoss” are funny Yiddish words I use a lot. I think we all know what “schlep” means, but “mishegoss” means nonsense or someone’s craziness—and I see a lot of crazy people and things here and there! But I also use “caca” way too much. People put so much crap or caca into their bodies or pile it on their faces and just don’t take care of their skin and, as a result, they end up looking like caca.

Favorite food? Organic cranberry tuna salad from Whole Foods Market. It’s deliciously indulgent without being bad for you! It is skin nutrient packed: omegas and skin and muscle healing protein in the tuna and antioxidants in the cranberries to fight free radicals. It tastes amazing on gluten-free raisin toast or on top of spinach.

Favorite saying? Be safe, be smart, be chic: Escape The Sun In Style!

VIDEO BONUS Watch as Devra shows us how she uses her Rosewater spray…

For more information, visit their website: www.etsishats.com
ETSIS Hats are available at: www.villagehatshop.com/etsis-hats.html
Join them on Facebook: www.facebook.com/etsis





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