Debbie Matenopoulos has accomplished so many things over the course of her career.
Yet, her career was still only getting started.
Now, she’s tackling something completely new the skincare industry.
The secret to great skin had always been a family secret until now.
After a bit of experimenting even in her own kitchen her brand Ikaria Beauty was born.
Oh, my gosh.
You’re going to love it.
You’re going to love this stuff.
Buy my creams!"
Because there’s not enough of those.
I did this out of necessity completely because I have such allergic skin.
When I tell you this stuff is so good, I am so proud of this.
All my friends privately text me and they go, “Deb, this is really good.”
And I said, “I know.
I’m not just sending it to you just to put on your skin and pretend it’s good.
It’s really good!”
it’s possible for you to even put it on your baby.
I put it on my daughter for her eczema.
Have you always wanted to go into skincare?
That’s what I’m telling you.
This happened absolutely from necessity.
The mother of all invention is necessity.
I’ve always been very pro-Greek, pro my people.
I’m the biggest Greek cheerleader.
I’m so proud of my culture.
It was my love letter to Greece and to my dad.
It’s such a hateful disease.
I was like, “Why do they look so much younger than we do in America?
But they spend most of their time in the sun on the beaches.
It doesn’t make sense.
What is going on?”
I’m so young."
[Laughs] I’m like, “You’re right, mom.”
Olive oil is a big thing that a lot of people had started talking about at that time.
Clearly a lie, clearly not true, but I’m as much a consumer as anyone else.
I work in the business.
Of course, they’re going to shell out the money.
What went into creating Ikaria Beauty
That’s the thing, too.
Yeah, and it doesn’t work.
I really just did it for me.
Thousands of dollars of dermatologists.
So I basically moved back to my roots.
I went back to my roots.
I’m like, there’s something to this, so I asked them.
They went into the lab, and they started putting these things together.
I tried to do it at home, and it was a disaster.
[Laughs] I mean, it was okay.
But trust me, you don’t want me making the creams.
You want them, the professionals, to do it.
I started to ask people, they’re like, “What’s Mountain Tea?”
It has really amazing healing properties for your skin.
It’s similar to chamomile.
So holy basil, olive oil, royal jelly, honey, something called blue cone flour.
And it was just initially meant to actually, sort of, reduce inflammation and calm the skin.
That’s what I wanted.
People don’t realize that, that it gets worse.
In doing this, I mean I learned so much about this, by the way.
It’s such a cool process.
It was reducing fine lines.
It was helping my daughter’seczema.
Tell me what you think, and be completely brutally honest.
I’ve got no skin in the game.
I haven’t started anything.
These are just some people I met who have agreed to do this with me.
Tell me, would you use this?"
This is so good."
I said, “Alright.
We’ve got to do it.”
I’m the Greek girl hawking Greek products."
[Laughs] I wanted to do it, because it’s good.
It is a product that I can be very proud of and no hype or gimmick.
And I’m not going to rip you off, you know?
Debbie Matenopoulos shares her skincare secrets
What are some of the things that you learned?
What I learned is too much olive oil can be a bad thing.
[Laughs] Olive oil’s really great for you, don’t get me wrong.
In Greece, they take shots of it in the morning, like, literally it’s a medicine.
Olive oil is like medicine, and it’s also great for skinin moderation.
I thought, this is down.
I learned that recipes and formulas are super important.
You must always follow a recipe.
[Laughs] So that’s one of the things I learned.
As long as you keep a lot of the stuff out of heat, it’s okay.
And you don’t contaminate it by sticking your fingers in too much.
You always want to use, like, a little spoon or something, especially when it’s natural.
That’s what makes me nervous about all these DIYs online.
They’re like, “Dothis.
You don’t know the balance of everything.
I can tell you from experience, don’t do it.
[Laughs] I mean, I had honey in my hair.
I wish I had some of that video.
Lookingback, it’s hysterical.
Looking back, it’s hysterical.
[Laughs] Now that I’ve moved forward, and I actually have professionals helping me.
What’s some of the best beauty advice that you’ve heard?
I can give you some beauty advice.
Does it hurt to be that pretty?”
And I’m thinking, there’s nothing I can do.
This is my job.
I need to interview these people and get the best interview I can out of them.
Again, I just learned that smiling and being authentic is the best beauty tip I can give anyone.
I mean, because I didn’t have much of a choice.
My makeup artist one time said to me, “Stop telling people.
When they walk up, and you say to them, ‘Hey!
It’s so good to see you.
I’m having a breakout.’
Why are you calling attention to it?”
Just be confident, and have a smile."
And, you know, that goes a long way.
That’s probably the best advice I could give you as far as beauty advice goes.
Stuff that is actually tangible that you could use?
But again, you know, in moderation, olive oil is great for your whole body.
I promise you, they look 10 to 15 years younger than they really are.
There’s got to be something to that.
There’s been a secret there all along.
Do you know what I mean?
It dulls your skin as opposed to making it glow.
If your skin is pretty and glowy and healthy, that’s all you need.
And it helps with your confidence, too.
It’s about the confidence at the end of the day.
You were very young.
I was a baby.
You probably learned so much on that set.
You’ve said that Barbara Walters was your mentor.
What did you learn from her?
I learned so much from Barbara.
It was the most incredible experience of my life.
Really, it was so scary, Kelsie.
Oh, my gosh.
I was so young, and it was so scary.
I just wanted to make her proud, and I just wanted to be good at my job.
I learned so much from her.
Just sitting next to her, I felt I was learning everything.
That’s probably one of the biggest things she taught me, was how to listen.
The studio audience is, like, 50 people now, but before then, it was 200 people.
I was studying my cards and studying my cards.
I need to be as smart as these people.
I don’t need to be as smart as these people.
They were renowned journalists and prosecuting attorneys and had won multiple Emmys and comedians.
Like, I was a kid.
She came up to me, and I’m just reading.
[She] takes my card, takes them out of my hand, and rips them up.
Imagine Barbara Walters doing that to you.
I’m like, “Oh, my God.”
[Laughs] I’m like, “Oh, my God.
Oh, my God.
How I’m I going to do this?”
My whole life flashed before my eyes.
[Laughs] Because you want to study the people you’re interviewing, what you’re talking about.
I went out there.
She said to me, “See?
That’s the best show you ever did because you listened.
You’re much better when you just listen,” and she’s right.
Let’s go down that road for a minute because I bet there’s more here."
That’s always the better interview.
It happens all the time.
Why don’t we learn something new?
She was tough, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
She also taught me never to be late.
I like that one, too.
Because it’s changed so much, and you’ve guest hosted quite a few times over the years.
That’s what’s interesting.
There have been so many different iterations of this show from when I was on.
Like, when I went back just recently,Sunny [Hostin]wasn’t there.
It was her birthday or something, and Whoopi [Goldberg] wasn’t there.
It was just me, Joy [Behar],Sara [Haines], and Ana Navarro.
So it’s really nostalgic, and it always feels really good.
I think this is going to work," and it did, and people loved it.
And that’s exactly what happened.
Look at “The Real,” look at “The Talk.”
They even tried to do the male “View” [“The Other Half”].
And we were the first.
There will only ever be one first.
Will we ever see Debbie Matenopoulos permanently return to The View?
Would you ever want to permanently go back to “The View”?
That’s asking a lot.
Yeah, it is a daily show.
It’s, like, uprooting my family and really Never say never.
But the show has changed so dramatically since I’ve been there.
And again, you needed Ineeded life experience to be on that show.
And at 21 years old and 22 years old, what did I really know?
I’m a better communicator.
I am more comfortable in my skin.
I am more confident, so I’m better suited for that platform.
But, you know, it comes along with a lot of How can I say this?
It comes with a lot of baggage.
It is simply a reflection of the ocean."
You’re like, “Wait, what?”
If you say, “My name’s Debbie.”
Is it Debbie?"
You get attacked for everything.
The show in itself is all about debate.
Even if it’s not the women debating, it’s about America debating what the women have said.
I know this is what I’m signing up for."
I mean, have you seen some of those boards?
I mean, woah.
The truth is I’m about being nice.
I always have been.
I’m not about I don’t want to fight.
I’m a lover.
I don’t want to argue with you.
It is okay for you to have a different view than mine.
That’s why it’s called “The View.”
It’s not supposed to be just one.
It’s okay for you to have a different opinion.
It doesn’t mean I don’t love you and respect you.
That’s not how it has to be.
It gives me a headache, just even thinking about it.
[Laughs]
Even back then because it was so different then.
We’d have so much fun.
We used to do the most crazy things.
I was jumping out of a plane.
We had the best time.
The show was a reality sort of lifestyle, just an insane, fun show.
Meanwhile, she’s interviewed all of them, you know what I mean?
So even then, when things started to get heated, I would just shut up.
I was like, you know what?
I’m going to bow out of this one and just sit back and let you ladies argue.
I’m not getting in it.
[Laughs]
I’m sure that would be hard, and you also have all these people watching.
That would just be a lot.
I mean, especially when you’re a kid, that’s what I’m saying.
Then, it was too scary.
It was way too scary.
Now, I’d probably say some things that would offend people, for sure.
I just, I’d probably say that.
I’d say, “You know what, ladies?
I don’t want to fight.”
I don’t have to be right.
I just want to be happy.
Will we see Debbie Matenopoulos in a GAC Family Christmas movie one day?
You’ve been working with GAC Family recently.
Would you ever want to act in one of their Christmas movies?
That is so funny you asked me that.
They’ve asked me a few times like, “Oh, would you do this?”
I said I was like, “I’m not an actress.”
That’s the one I would’ve done!"
He actually played a talk show host, and he had a co-host.
And we did the special for GAC right after we shot that.
I mean, I obviously can play a talk show host.
Maybe I can’t, but really?
[Laughs] It’s really funny.
They go, “Oh, my gosh.
We’re so sorry.”
I think they thought, “Oh, my gosh,” and I was just teasing them.
I said, “Of course, I’m not offended at all.
However, if there is a sequel, I know who you’re free to call.”
He goes, “I promise!
Well, we have a Christmas tradition in my family where Thanksgiving night Oh, this is so funny.
Thanksgiving night, they start playing the Christmas movies.
So this began with me and my sister and my brother.
I can recite pretty much every single line.
It is one of the It still stands the test of time.
The writing is so funny.
It’s still so clever, and Chevy Chase [is] at his best.
I mean, really, really good.
I think all the other vacation movies were okay, but “Christmas Vacation” was just priceless.
And then I also love Oh, gosh.
I mean, it’s not new.
It’s like two years old or three years old.
It’s so sweet, and it’s just really good.
I also love “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
My daughter’s 7, and she’s obsessed.
“These are the funnest!”
I’m like, “I know, honey.
They’re so much fun.”
She goes, “Why did they leave him at home?
They’re bad parents.”
[Laughs] They had so many kids, they couldn’t keep track.
That wouldn’t happen today; they would go to jail.
What’s coming up next for you?
Well, stay tuned.
So that is very close to being done.
That’s the best Christmas present ever.
And then, I’m producing a television show that is pretty much based on my Greek cookbook.
That’s something that is very time specific, so I have to wait until summer.
We’ll go there and do that then.
And then another one I’m working on Gosh, I got a lot of stuff happening.
Hopefully it doesn’t all happen at one time because I’ll go crazy.
Then I won’t be able to do any of it.
[Laughs] But that’s how it always happens, you know?
And then suddenly, everything at once.
And they were like, “Because the food at the stadiums used to be horrible.”
All these big, fancy chefs want to be inside of the stadiums.
[Laughs]
For more information on Debbie Matenopoulos' skincare line, visitIkariaBeauty.com.
