Category Archives: Beauty & skincare

Patchouli is B-E-A-U-T-Y for dry skin

21 Monday May 2012

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There was a time, four years ago, when I couldn’t stand the smell of patchouli, aka Pogostemon Cablin (the latin name!).

It’s now one of my favourite oils for my skincare, and a favourite aroma that I find really sweet, earthy and enriching.  I recently discovered it as if smelling it for the first time.

Take a strong, deep sniff, and you’ll find it a little sweet, a little spicy, a little woody, very rich and thoroughly earthy.  This is a wonderful “base” oil for grounding and nourishing; helping us to keep in touch with our physical self, and hence fabulous for a rich and indulgent night time treat for the skin. Continue reading »

Step 2 to Beautiful Glowing Skin: Steam inhalation

08 Sunday Apr 2012

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4 steps to beautiful glowing skin

Here’s the second step in our 4 easy steps to beautiful, glowing skin using natural products already found in your kitchen. Excellent for all skin types especially congested.

After you’ve exfoliated and hydrated using baking soda, lemon juice, honey and salt recommended in Part 1, it’s time for Step 2: unclogging your pores with an aromatic steam inhalation.

Before you gloss over at the thought of a home steam, I have to say: this is SO much more exciting than you might imagine, since it involves adding essential oils (clearly not something you might have randomly in the kitchen, as I suggested in the subtitle, but you can do this step just as easily without).

Immediately preceded by Step 1, your pores will be perfectly prepped for detoxification.

All you need to do next is:

Continue reading »

4 Steps to Beautiful, Glowing Skin

12 Monday Mar 2012

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Photo by David Blaikie

Photo by David Blaikie

Easy steps for beautiful, glowing skin using natural products already found in your kitchen. Excellent for all skin types especially congested.

Ever wondered how to have beautiful skin without spending a fortune on expensive cosmetic skin care products?

Over the next four posts you’ll learn how to create a glow that usually only an airbrushing session can create!

There are four simple steps to beautiful skin that you can do at home, using everyday ingredients found in your kitchen.

To uncover your natural radiance you need to:

  1. Exfoliate
  2. Unclog
  3. Detox
  4. Nourish

Continue reading »

Laugh In the Face of Stretch Marks

12 Monday Sep 2011

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Essential oils for stretch marks during pregnancy

Photo by Thomas Pompernigg

It’s one of those things that expectant mothers consider frequently: how to avoid stretch marks.

Belly, bum, breasts and thighs, oh my!

A concern for expecting mothers of any age, some women get them and some women don’t.  The thing is, you won’t know till after your first pregnancy, so it’s hard to know whether you need to take preventative measures.

Either way, it’s good to keep your delicate belly skin nourished, and give baby a mini massage to boot, so treat yourself to a beautiful combination of essential oils and carrier oils to keep your belly, breasts and thighs hydrated and moisturised. Continue reading »

Skincare that Creates the Wow! Factor

28 Tuesday Jun 2011

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Skincare for the wow! factor

It’s no secret.

Essential oils are bl**dy amazing beauty elixirs.

I can’t tell you how many people, including complete strangers, tell me that my skin literally *glows*.

The ritual application is also a daily pleasure; the aromas make the latest face cleaning task a ritual I cannot do without!

The versatility of essential oils never cease to amaze me.

Unlike the lotions and potions you find in the supermarket or beauty halls, many of them can restore balance to any skin type, plumping up dry skin and balancing out overly oily skin.

If ever there was a skincare range that was able to restore a perfectly soft and supple complexion to any skin type, including conditions like rosacea and acne, it’s definitely essential oils that will continue to wow! you.

Here’s a brief look at why and which oils to use for your skin type.

Continue reading »

How to Start Using Essential Oils – For Beautiful Skin

22 Wednesday Jun 2011

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How to use essential oils for beautiful skin

In Waking Up to Conscious Beauty I mentioned that using essential oils in skincare had a positive and amazing impact on mind-body health; if your skincare products are absorbed by your skin, why not make them as pure and as beautifullu (and naturally) aromatic as possible?!

Here’s a little more on why this is NOT a new concept (they’ve been used for THOUSANDS of years) and how to add them into your daily skincare.

Essential oils for mind-body health

The ability of essential oils to positively impact mind-body health has been well documented since the art of distillation was refined in Persia in the eleventh century.

The process was perfected in order to produce rose water, which was prescribed as a cure for digestive tract complaints. It became very popular and was exported to China, Europe and India to be used for culinary and medicinal purposes.

Continue reading »

Wake up to Conscious Beauty

10 Friday Jun 2011

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Essential oils for beautiful skin

The age of conscious beauty has arrived.

We are more conscious than ever of what we put on our skin.

With growing concern about ingredients and how they affect body-mind health, the spotlight is on natural ingredients like essential oils. They come tried and tested: for more than a thousand years, observation and experience has proven that their complex chemical nature gives essential oils active properties on the skin. They are effective; they are safe; they make us feel great.

Welcome to conscious beauty.

Continue reading »

Can anti-aging pillow cases reduce fine lines?

26 Wednesday Jan 2011

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With copper woven into the fibres, can pillow cases improve the texture, tone and clarity of your skin? Retailing at $US45, you’d expect them to do that and more.  Do they work?

Back in 2007, the British Association of Dermatologists put out a response to the claim that satin pillow cases can help fight wrinkles.  Nina Goad said:

“While this idea is interesting, unfortunately I don’t think buying satin pillow cases is the answer to youthful skin. In terms of lifestyle changes that we can make to prevent premature skin aging, protecting the skin from the sun and not smoking are known to help keep wrinkles at bay.”

Continue reading »

Recipe for an Energising Body Blend

13 Monday Dec 2010

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Essential oil recipe for an Energising Body Blend

Lemon essential oil energises body and mind. Photo by André Karwath

First thing in the morning it can be hard to get yourself going, so it’s really handy to have a body blend that gives you an energising kick start as well as moisturising and hydrating your skin.

Some essential oils can energise you as they stimulate your vital processes like blood flow and the flow of lymph, thereby helping your circulation and detoxifying at the same time.  Essential oils of lemon, fennel, juniper and lemongrass do just that so using them in the mornings before a full and busy day can give you the kick start you need.

Continue reading »

Make My Hair Grow!

08 Wednesday Dec 2010

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Make My Hair Grow!

Essential oils are good for promoting hair growth. Photo by Girls Hair

Noticing more hair than usual disappearing down the plug hole when you shampoo and condition?  Cleaning a  scary amount off your hairbrush every day?

Central heating,  harsh hair colourants, styling products containing synthetic chemicals, falling levels of oestrogen, a sluggish thyroid, stress and genetics are some of the things that can affect hair growth and loss.  Luckily, some essential oils are known to promote hair growth and, when used regularly, can improve the quality of your luscious  locks.

Continue reading »

If You Wouldn’t Eat It, Don’t Put It On Your Skin

29 Monday Nov 2010

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If you can't eat it, don't put it on your skin. Photo by Seier+Seier

The more I learn about our skin and its ability to absorb everything we put on it, the more crazy it seems to use products that we would never dream of eating.  It’s prudent to check the ingredients of the products you use, consider buying certified organic and, one step better, to use natural products you can find in your kitchen at home.

Continue reading »

Aromatherapy Tips for Beautiful Skin

14 Tuesday Sep 2010

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Aromatherapy Tips for Beautiful Skin

Regardless of your skin type or condition, there is an aromatherapy skin care solution perfectly suite to created the most gorgeous glowing skin you may never have thought possible.  Follow these aromatherapy tips for beautiful skin:

  • Essential oils are highly antiseptic, stimulate the growth of new cells while removing old ones, improve muscle tone and blood flow, help eliminate waste, reduce inflammation, regulate sebum production and reduce the impact of emotional stress.
  • Hydrosols, the distillate produced as a result of steam distillation during the extraction of some essential oils, are as therapeutic as the essential oil they are derived from as well as being nourishing, hydrating and soothing.
  • Carrier oils made from seeds and vegetables are softening, protecting, prevent moisture evaporating and supply the skin with essential fatty acids and vitamins with specific healing properties.

Aromatherapy skin care creates beautiful skin

Combining the above in your daily skin care routine will enable your skin to flourish.  Your skin type determines which essential oils, hydrosols and carriers oils you’ll use on a daily basis.  Follow these tips for beautiful skin bespoke for your skin type:

Continue reading »

Get rid of cellulite with some aromatic oils

01 Wednesday Sep 2010

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Essential oils such as lemon can help get rid of cellulite - photo by André Karwath

Cellulite bothers us more than any other skin condition.  We hate it and spend millions trying to get rid of it.  While some experts says it is impossible to get rid of it, with some dedicated lifestyle & dietary changes and some TLC, it is possible to minimize the signs of that orange peel effect. Essential oil that are detoxifying, stimulating to the lymphatic system, hormone balancing and which have diuretic properties can be very effective.

What is cellulite?

Cellulite is basically toxic fat that appears on our body as puckered bits of flesh like orange peel.  Fat cells love toxins and chemicals so they hide them away in places like our thighs and arms to protect our vital organs from them – it’s our body’s way of protecting itself and preventing self poisoning.

Continue reading »

Benefits of nuts for health and skincare

08 Sunday Aug 2010

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Benefits of nuts for health and skin care. Photo by Sanjay Acharya.

One of nature’s richest anti-ageing foods, they are packed with protein, omega 3 and 6, Vit E, calcium and magnesium which are great for our health.   They also contain lipase which could be a key enzyme for weight loss, especially if they have been “soaked” first in order to release their enzyme activity.

They are also beneficial in our skincare in the form of “carrier oils” widely used in aromatherapy and the skin care industry.  The vitamins, minerals and other nutrients they are packed with are nourishing, softening, healing and regenerating for our skin.

Continue reading »

Understanding skincare and cosmetic labels

10 Wednesday Feb 2010

Posted by in Beauty & skincare, Musings

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The importance of researching skincare ingredients. Photo by Simon Strangaard.

The importance of researching skincare ingredients. Photo by Simon Strangaard.

Ever looked at a skincare label and been confused by the chemical names?

Ever researched them?

A fantastic article by the Ecologist analyses the label of Carex to deconstruct the ingredients in layman’s terms.

Dissecting the chemical names and providing matter of fact commentary of the adverse effects may lead some of you to reconsider the use of this category of products in your home.

The importance of reading labels

It is now more common for people to buy healthy and organic food, however the next step is to make sure your soaps, cleansers,  toners, moisturisers and cosmetics are of the same high quality as the food you eat and also considered by you as an investment in your health.

Since everything you put on your skin is absorbed into your body, if you’re not prepared to eat what you put in your skin, then the question arises “should you be putting on on your skin?”.

Extreme as this may be, it all ends up in your bloodstream.  How this affects your body is then up to the mix of substances, synthetic and natural.

There is a huge body of evidence to show that these cocktails are affecting all the other systems in our body, including our respiratory system and our brain.

Continue reading »

Sacred Space: An Aromatic Bath

19 Saturday Dec 2009

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There is no pleasure more divine than lying in a warm bath filled with oils surrounded by glorious aromas and peaceful calm.  An aromatic bath is a perfect way to cleanse body and mind simultaneously, either alone or with your adored significant other.  Relaxing at bedtime or stimulating to start the day.  We’ve already explored how drinking water is the first essential to maintaining health but this post is about how immersing your body from neck to feet simultaneously is both a therapeutic and indulgent treat combined.  When we immerse ourselves in seawater, the water from a mineral spring or any water enhanced with salts, hydrosols, carrier oils or essential oils, we create synergies with added positive effects.

Continue reading »

Aromatherapy and Beauty: the outward expression of total well-being

17 Thursday Dec 2009

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“Beauty is not a veneer upon things; it is not skin deep; it is not something added to make an ugly thing acceptable.  It belongs to the nature of the thing made.”

- Unknown

The practice of Aromatherapy understands the amazing interconnectedness of skin – the body’s largest organ – with all other organs and life processes – physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.  It believes that the health and appearance of our complexion, as the quote above suggests, are an outward expression of our total well-being.  Aromatherapy works by helping to create the balanced terrain upon which our inner beauty can flourish and be visible to others.

Our quest for & fixation with physical beauty, however, leads us to fall sucker to marketing & advertising campaigns that tap into our insecurities and longings with promises of things impossible to sustain through topical treatments alone.   Creams and lotions promise to “eradicate the appearance of cellulite”, “reduce wrinkles”, “diminish wrinkles”, “uplift”, “enhance”, “reverse”, “hydrate” etc etc.  Are these claims possible if beauty is more than skin deep?

Continue reading »

Renegade Beauty #2: the beauty savvy hydrosol

20 Friday Nov 2009

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Hydrosols, hydrolats, floral waters or plant waters, whatever you want to call them, their effects on our beautiful skins are AMAZING and, much to the beauty industry’s loss, little known & used.

With a bit of research and the right combination of hydrosols added to your beauty regime, you could both say “good-bye” to all those expensive creams and lotions that can only claim to do the same thing, as well as adopt a more organic & holistic approach to beauty.

Continue reading about hydrosols for beauty

Renegade Beauty # 1: Luscious lips

19 Thursday Nov 2009

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We frequently re-apply lip balm and lipstick which leaves to to wonder: “where is it all going?” – obviously it’s being absorbed, so being conscious of the products we put on our lips, right down to the last ingredient, is crucial for maintaining kissable lips forever!

The lips are rich in blood vessels and the colour of our blood is what we see through their thin, almost colourless, skin.  The more melanin our lips contain, the less likely we see the colour.  This is why darker people tend to have darker lips; they have more melanin.  The lighter the skin colour, the less melanin, the pinker the lips.

They are amazing and gorgeous and delicate (and very good for kissing with) and we need to protect them!

Organic Lipstick

The best way to do this is to ensure that your lip balms, conditioners, glosses, lipstick & treatments are lead, petroleum and toxic chemical free.

Continue reading for product & brand recommendations

Buy organic to save the owl (and other gorgeous creatures)

17 Tuesday Nov 2009

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Farmers employ owls as pesticide control

In Israel, Jordan and Palestine birds of prey were dying from eating rodents that contained rodenticides from the crops, signaling a need to reduce pesticides and chemicals in farming.

Farmers in the regions are now working with scientists to do this, by employing more owls and kestrels as agricultural pest controllers!  Kestrels hunt during the day and owls during the night so there is 24/7 crop protections.  Ingenious. Full BBC story. Continue reading »