Out and about

I never thought I’d wear scrubs again.

And I certainly didn’t expect the first time back in them would be at an aged care expo.

But there I was…black scrubs back on, without my old clinic logo.

Turns out…I needed to find a different reason to wear them.

(Although these days, being back in scrubs also means BYO chair and sit down whenever my body tells me to.)

In September, Sara and I attended our first event together, the Mandurah Community Aged Care Expo, sharing something we've both become rather fascinated by…carnosine.

Why an aged care expo

Aged care probably seems like an unusual place for us to start.

During my worst years living with fibromyalgia and POTS, when people asked what it felt like, I would often say, "I feel like an old lady."

And I really meant it.

Could you imagine being in your early forties and not being able to wash your own hair?

For years, I went to a hairdresser once a week and paid someone to wash and dry my hair for me because I physically couldn't manage it myself.

And that's only one example.

My body hurt. I tired easily. Everyday things I'd never given a second thought to suddenly required more energy than I had, and assistance I never used to need. I was no longer independent.

So when I talk to older people whose bodies aren't doing what they once did, there's a part of me that genuinely understands.

There was another reason this particular event felt right too.

My Dad

Growing up in New Zealand, Dad had such a heart for the elderly.

He’d pick up the “oldies”, as he called them, from the retirement village who could no longer drive, take them to Church and drop them home again. During the week, he’d take time out of his workday to sit with some of them over a cup of tea or coffee, a bicky or cake and a good old chat.

Dad passed away in 2024, and preparing for this expo, I couldn't help feeling like he would have quietly approved.

Almost like he'd passed the baton on.

And then there's Sara

Sara was once a client at my Smooth Synergy Bunbury Clinic and became a true friend. When I became really unwell, she was one of the people who stayed close. She's seen me at my worst.

But Sara also brings her own lifetime in our industry to this little partnership.

She practically grew up in a hair salon, working alongside her sister after school, on weekends and through the school holidays. Once she had finished her apprenticeship, the two of them bought a salon together, and ten years later they sold it to go and explore other adventures.

Sara comes from hair. I come from beauty and aesthetics.

Between us, we understand what decades of standing, bending and repetitive work with your hands, arms and shoulders asks of a body.

But Sara had another reason carnosine caught her attention.

She and her partner Mark own shares in racehorses. Sara had started using the gel herself, and when she discovered there was an equine range, down another rabbit hole she went.

She's since started sharing what she's learning with their own racing syndicate and equine community too.

Down the rabbit hole

If you know Sara and I, you’ll know neither of us is particularly good at NOT investigating something once it catches our attention.

So when carnosine came onto my radar, I had questions.

When Sara started looking into it, she had questions too.

And down the rabbit hole we went.

We started learning about carnosine, a dipeptide our bodies make naturally from two amino acids, beta‑alanine and histidine.

Carnosine itself isn't new. Our bodies make it, we get some through our diet, and it has been sold as an oral supplement for years. We knew all of that already.

What caught our attention was a different way of using it…on the skin.

The more we used the gel, and the more we read about carnosine, the more questions we had. One question would lead to a study, that study would lead to three more, and there went the afternoon.

And then, of course, there was the reason this particular rabbit hole started in the first place…

We'd got our hot little hands on a topical carnosine + magnesium gel, direct from Canada, ahead of its Australian and New Zealand launch in 2027!

And I think that's why this has become so interesting to both Sara and I.

It isn't another product we've stumbled across. It started with a product…and turned into a much bigger conversation about carnosine, and the questions this gel opens up.

On the day

That's what brought us to Mandurah.

We weren't there to tell older people that one gel is going to fix everything that happens to a body as it ages.

We were there to start conversations about carnosine, share what the science is exploring, talk about our own experiences, and let people try the gel for themselves.

They'd rub a little on, the back of the neck, or one wrist or hand and not the other, then we'd send them off to walk around the hall and ask them to come back and tell us how they found it.

And goodness…people wanted to talk.

We were busy almost from start to finish. At one point one of the organisers came over and told us he had never seen a line like it at one of these events.

By the end, Sara and I had nearly lost our voices.

My body wasn't quite as enthusiastic.

Getting home

I got home completely exhausted and ended up in a flare afterwards. And strangely, even that gave me some clarity.

I have incorporated so many "alternative" therapies into my everyday routine that I can now see how each micro-adjustment turns into a macro-result.

As soon as I got home from the expo I went straight into care mode.

I stripped off the scrubs and lay out in the last twenty minutes of sun before it was gone. A beautiful spring afternoon, no clouds, not too hot, enough vitamin D, and grounding on the grass.

Then of course I doused myself in carnosine gel and wrapped myself in a linen dress and kimono. I have read that pure linen carries a high frequency. Believe that part or not, I know how my body feels in it. Hospitals once used real linen for their bedding, and some of them had sun wards on the roof. That is a rabbit hole worth going down.

I upped my salts for the night, turned off the wifi and all the technology, and lay down for a rest.

I did nothing else that night. Dinner was an Asian broth noodle soup, ordered in. No dishes. No cleaning up.

The next day I was extra kind to myself too, and let my body rest and catch up.

Normally I use the gel morning and night. That day I added a third application, and did the same for the next two days. By day three I was back to my usual morning and night.

It was also a reminder that selling my clinics was the right decision.

My body can't do what it once did. There's still some sadness in admitting that.

But the qualifications, experience and knowledge I spent twenty‑five years building didn't disappear when I sold my clinics.

They're being redirected.

I may not be able to spend my days hands‑on in a clinic anymore…but I can still educate. I can still connect people. I can still ask questions. I can still share what I've learnt.

And I can do it in ways that work with the body I have now.

When chronic illness closed one door in my life, God quietly opened another.

What's next

Well, apparently Sara and I are taking this little show on the road.

Because what makes this particularly interesting is that the conversation doesn't end with aged care.

The topical carnosine + magnesium gel we've been exploring has its roots in the world of professional sport, which opens an entirely different conversation with athletes and the professionals who look after their bodies.

These are exactly the kinds of professionals we want to be talking with.

So we'll be attending professional and industry events, as well as sporting, health, aged‑care, hair and beauty events throughout WA…because each audience gives us an opportunity to explore carnosine through a slightly different lens.

For an athlete, that conversation might begin with what the gel was originally made for.

For a practitioner, it might be where topical carnosine + magnesium could potentially fit within the work they already do.

For someone getting older, it might begin with a chat about what their days look like now.

For Sara and I, with our backgrounds in hair, beauty and aesthetics, there's another group we understand particularly well…the professionals whose own bodies quietly take a beating while they spend their careers looking after everybody else.

And then there's another audience I hadn't necessarily expected to find myself talking to…

The horse people.

Thanks to Sara and Mark's involvement with racehorses, Sara was particularly interested in exploring the equine range.

There's a whole equine range as well, including a Kentucky Derby story you'll want to hear.

So to all my horsey friends following along…there's a rabbit hole here for you too.

Sara has already started that conversation within their racing syndicate and equine community, and I have a feeling this may take us into some interesting places.

Older adults. Athletes. Practitioners. Hair and beauty professionals. Horse people.

Different people. Different reasons for being curious.

But the same question keeps starting the conversation…

Have you heard of carnosine?

If that question has brought you here, keep exploring.

I've shared much more on this website about carnosine, my own experience with the gel, and a dedicated practitioner section exploring this technology from a professional perspective.

And if you're an event organiser, sporting organisation, clinic, practitioner, trainer or someone from the equine world and think this is a conversation your community would find interesting…I'd love to hear from you.

Chat with Carla