Recently I've been getting quite a few questions about ingredients, especially when they sound "chemical". 

So here is the answer to one...

"Why are there added essential oils in the Dr Hauschka products? I thought they used whole plant ingredients?"

Fair point, and you're right in that assumption - they DO use whole plants, but there's rules and regulations that govern these things even more strictly than a Government minister's Dominatrix.

Generally speaking, it can be safer to use whole plants, and often more beneficial, because although loads of things have been analysed to the nth atom, there may still be other - as yet unfound - ingredients.

And there's this thing called synergy, which is what happens when ingredients work together as a whole.

The whole is frequently greater than the broken up constituent parts.

For instance, take willow bark: one of the main ingredient in that is salicylic acid.

Which is commonly found in aspirin.

Yep, one of the commonest drugs on this planet was originally synthesised from Willow bark. In fact the name salicylic comes from its Latin name: Salix (meaning willow)

Willow bark contains salicin, a compound that can be metabolised in the body to create salicylic acid, and is a precursor to aspirin.

It's been used in Folk medicine for yonks, to relieve pain, calm inflammation, and reduce fever. However, because it was used in its whole (or wholistic) form, all of the other constituents probably played a part in the healing properties.

Once you extract one ingredient, things can get out of balance, and the body doesn't always recognise it.

The same thing with essential oils. You can buy 'fragrance' oils which are lab synthesised, so don't contain all the complexity of a natural oil. (And they can be toxic...)

Rose oil, for instance, is unbelievably complex, and contains more than 300 known compounds. However, you can list some of them separately and get things like

• citronellol
  
• phenyl ethanol
  
• geraniol
  
• nerol
  
• farnesol
  
• nonanol
  
• linalool,
  
• nonanal
  
• phenyl acetaldehyde
  
• citral
  
• carvone
  
• 2-phenylmenthyl acetate
  
• methyl eugenol
  
• eugenol 
  
  

Some of which sound well dodgy, don't they?

I mean, if you saw 2-phenylmenthyl acetate on a bottle you'd be sensible to assume it was created in a lab, wouldn't you?

Can you imagine Juliet going round saying -
 
"2-phenylmenthyl acetate, 2-phenylmenthyl acetate,
Wherefore art thou 2-phenylmenthyl acetate?"

No. No poetry in that. A rose really might not smell as sweet, if that's what it was called.

However, poetry is not for chemistry lessons, although if you ask nicely I'll tell you one we used to sing at school.* 

Now, as I mentioned yesterday, there's this thing called INCI which stands for International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredient. (Isn't nomenclature a fab word? Back to Latin again, you see, can't escape - well, it is Hallowe'en)

You can see why they shorten it to INCI, can't you?

This deals with the systematic names which are "internationally recognised to identify cosmetic ingredients (i.e, plant extracts, oils, chemicals)." 

These names are developed by the International Nomenclature Committee (INC) and published in the International Cosmetic Ingredient Dictionary and Handbook.

Sounds like a helluva read, that.

The regulations go further - like Tax legislation - and certain ingredients must be listed separately, even if they are present as a whole plant ingredient.

So that, in an enormously gargantuan nutshell, is why you'll see things like Citral, Farnesol, Benzyl Alcohol and Eugenol listed on your Rose Day Cream.

Not because they're added in to make it smell nice, although they do contribute to that, but because they are integral parts of the ingredients used to give you radiant skin. 

Have a Radiant day! 

And if you want a daily Beauty Bulletin, sign up HERE

*It was a ditty set to music and went like this:
Poor old Brown is dead and gone,
His face you'll see no more,
For what he thought was H2O
Was H2SO4...

The Daddy of Handwashing

Okay, you've seen the loo roll wars, and now know what panic looks like, but imagine going into hospital and knowing that you had roughly a 13% chance of surviving if you turned left, not right?

That puts the loo roll wars into perspective doesn't it?

But that is precisely what pregnant women faced in 19th century Vienna.

In 1847, a chap named Ignaz Semmelweis was an obstetrician working in Vienna, looking after two separate maternity wards, and he noticed - as you would - that the women in one ward died in droves, while in the other, the majority survived. 

Ignaz Semmelwiess portrait
from Britannica.com

How could that be? He wondered and investigated, to find that in one ward, the women in labour were looked after by midwives, while in the other one - just across the corridor - they were in the care of (male) doctors.

Now, at that point, the medical profession assumed the people died from “miasmas” which were poisonous, invisible, airborne gases. But Professor Semmelweiss thought that this couldn't be the case, because air moves, and would certainly blow from room to room.

Then he then noted the difference in staff: midwives in one room, and, in the other, doctors, who were also performing post mortems and autopsies. (If not at the same time…)

Obviously, the women were not allowed anywhere near the autopsy room, whereas the doctors would go straight from performing an autopsy to assist a woman in labour. Yep. Really.

History of Medicine Division, National Library of Medicine.
Courtesy of Pan American Health Organization,
circa 1960s, Bolivia. Photographer: Dana Downie

You can see where this went, can’t you?

Yes. The doctors (like many modern visitors to the men’s room) were not washing their hands! 

The Midwives never went into the post-mortem room and never handled dead bodies, while doctors would perform an autopsy and then go straight to the maternity ward next door to deliver a baby. Nice.

Anyhow, clever old Semmelweiss assumed there was a correlation between this, which was confirmed when one of his colleagues got septicaemia: Dr Kolletschka cut himself while doing an autopsy, developed blood poisoning, and died.

When he attended his chum’s autopsy (as you do?) Dr Semmelweis noticed that lesions on his colleague's body matched the lesions on the body of the autopsy patient. This - he thought - meant that the SCALPEL had transferred the miasma, not the air!

Scrupulous and vigorous hand-washing was instigated at his command, and the death rate on both wards subsequently dropped dramatically.

Which was great for all concerned, except poor old Semmelweiss. 

Because, you’d have thought that the medical profession would have lauded him as a hero, but no.

When he presented his findings, even though he could show that a simple hygiene measure - hand washing - was saving the lives of neonates and their mothers, he was utterly mocked and ridiculed.

It took many years and many more deaths before the medical profession got to grips with this. Which is one reason why surgeons wear bow ties – they can’t drip into things they shouldn’t (and I don’t mean their soup!)

Semmelweiss was sacked and ended his life in an asylum. Poor chap. Because, he was a hygiene hero.

How do I know all this? I heard a play on the radio many years ago and was horrified by this tale. So, I then went and read all about him. Recently the Google doodle was commemorating him quite rightly, as we all know about hand washing now, so credit where it’s due.

So wash your hands scrupulously and frequently, but if all that hand washing is taking its toll, you know where you can get hand cream don’t you?

That’s right. Text the Pamper line and I’ll post you some. 07961224560 will do the trick. You can sanitise the screen afterwards.  

Stay well and have a radiant day!

Love, x Jane x

Okay, you've seen the loo roll wars, and now know what panic looks like, but imagine going into hospital and knowing that you had roughly a 13% chance of surviving if you turned left, not right?

That puts the loo roll wars into perspective doesn't it?

But that is precisely what pregnant 

Ignaz Semmelweiss - from Britannica.com

women faced in 19th century Vienna.
In 1847, a chap named Ignaz Semmelweis was an obstetrician working in Vienna, looking after two separate maternity wards, and he noticed - as you would - that the women in one ward died in droves, while in the other, the majority survived. 

How could that be? He wondered and investigated, to find that in one ward, the women in labour were looked after by midwives, while in the other one - just across the corridor - they were in the care of (male) doctors.

Now, at that point, the medical profession assumed the people died from “miasmas” which were poisonous, invisible, airborne gases. But Professor Semmelweiss thought that this couldn't be the case, because air moves, and would certainly blow from room to room.

Then he then noted the difference in staff: midwives in one room, and, in the other, doctors, who were also performing post mortems and autopsies. (If not at the same time…)

Obviously, the women were not allowed anywhere near the autopsy room, whereas the doctors would go straight from performing an autopsy to assist a woman in labour. Yep. Really.

You can see where this went, can’t you?

Yes. The doctors (like many modern visitors to the men’s room) were not washing their hands! 

The Midwives never went into the post-mortem room and never handled dead bodies, while doctors would perform an autopsy and then go straight to the maternity ward next door to deliver a baby. Nice.

Anyhow, clever old Semmelweiss assumed there was a correlation between this, which was confirmed when one of his colleagues got septicaemia: Dr Kolletschka cut himself while doing an autopsy, developed blood poisoning, and died.

When he attended his chum’s autopsy (as you do?) Dr Semmelweis noticed that lesions on his colleague's body matched the lesions on the body of the autopsy patient. This - he thought - meant that the SCALPEL had transferred the miasma, not the air!

Scrupulous and vigorous hand-washing was instigated at his command, and the death rate on both wards subsequently dropped dramatically.

Which was great for all concerned, except poor old Semmelweiss. 

Because, you’d have thought that the medical profession would have lauded him as a hero, but no.

When he presented his findings, even though he could show that a simple hygiene measure - hand washing - was saving the lives of neonates and their mothers, he was utterly mocked and ridiculed.

It took many years and many more deaths before the medical profession got to grips with this. Which is one reason why surgeons wear bow ties – they can’t drip into things they shouldn’t (and I don’t mean their soup!)

Semmelweiss was sacked and ended his life in an asylum. Poor chap. Because, he was a hygiene hero.

How do I know all this? I heard a play on the radio many years ago and was horrified by this tale. So, I then went and read all about him. Recently the Google doodle was commemorating him quite rightly, as we all know about hand washing now, so credit where it’s due.

So wash your hands scrupulously and frequently, but if all that hand washing is taking its toll, you know where you can get hand cream don’t you?

That’s right. Text the Pamper line and I’ll post you some. 07961224560 will do the trick. You can sanitise the screen afterwards.  

Stay well and have a radiant day!

Love, x Jane x

Into the Arms of Morpheus - How to Sleep Better (Part 1)

In Greek mythology, Morpheus was the god of dreams

The Greeks believed that he shaped and formed their dreams. 

Because he could appear to mere mortals in any shape or form (hence - morph, meaning form, or shape) he functioned as a messenger of the gods, communicating divine messages to sleeping mortals. Or brain-washing them, if you prefer...

Although he could take a human form, Morpheus’s true shape was rather more nightmarish - a winged demon. He was the son of Hypnos, the rather nattily named God of sleep and his mama was Pasithea, the Goddess of relaxation and rest. He had a few brothers, collectively known as the Oneiroi (dreams), but we won't bother with them or his parents much.

Morpheus seems to have outlasted his parents and brethren as an expression to embody peaceful sleep and rest.

(Which is unlikely where the Greeks and their gods were concerned, but let us refrain from picking nits.)

How can we get back to being pals with Morpheus?

Maybe by switching off a bit more and a bit sooner...

Screens are a sleep-killer

Screens are a disaster for sleep. The blue light they emit suppress your body’s release of melatonin. 

Never mind Glamis having murdered sleep. Nothing in Macbeth is a patch on the damage blue light does to sleepy time and your body-clock.

What's Melatonin?

If you've seen packets of it at the chemist, you'll know that some people use melatonin as a sleep aid. Our bodies make it naturally but suppressing it - not such good move.

Melanin is a hormone that helps regulate sleep, so we want to encourage it not suppress it. This means things like reading a proper paper book, rather than a machiney e-one at night prior to sleeping.

In fact, research from Harvard Medical School has found that people who read traditional paper books fall asleep faster and feel more alert the next morning than those who go to bed with an e-reader.

Plus how on earth do you turn over a corner of an ebook?

Jean Twenge, a professor of psychology at San Diego State University and author of iGen, a book examining the relationship between adolescents and technology recommends not using devices at night.

She says social media and other smartphone activities tend to keep you thinking about what you've read in a way that is not conducive to switching off and sleeping. She says:

“It’s too easy to keep thinking about your friend’s text, the frustrating work email, or the comments on your Facebook post.”

In other words, if you're worrying about the news you've read or wondering if you bought the wrong thing, your brain will keep buzzing.

“None of this is conducive to settling down for sleep at night,” Twenge says.

There you are! That's Harvard and a Professor of Psychology telling you. Not just lil' ol' me.

There seems to be a fashion in which way to lie babies.
I always put mine facing up. Not like this.

So turn off all screens good few hours before bed, and that means the news, too. The news is rarely good, always sensational and not exactly designed to help you rest and recuperate. 

To sleep like the proverbial baby - a nice quiet one, not a yelling, colicking sort, switch off early and often.

Have a radiant day and a restful night!

PS What to do instead of screen time? A warm bath while sipping an herbal infusion. I'll tell you which ones are good tomorrow.

Why you can't you use Essential oil in the water

If only I had a fiver for every time I've been asked "Can I use Essential oil in the water"  No.You can't. And if you are reluctant to spend more hard-earned moolah on a bath oil, then I'll ask one in return. . . Have you ever made salad dressing?  When you make salad dressing, you add oil and a water based liquid like vinegar or lemon juice. Or Bergamot juice if you're feeling flush and adventurous. You add a few other things and then you shake it, shake it baby. (Twisting and shouting is optional, unless you have Gordon Ramsay there?)  You shake it, then leave it for a bit and come back and it has separated. Because Oil and water don't mix. And, as you might have guessed from the name, Essential oils are oily They are also incredibly intense and concentrated medicinal products. Some of them can even burn you. Dropping essential oil on top of water, even if you use a portable liquidisery thingy will not mix the oil in the water; it will remain distinctly separate. An 'oil in water' emulsion will not spontaneously and magically occur. Chemistry and physics don't work like that. Shame, and annoying, but so much is, I find. To mix oil and water you need an emulsifier of some sort This is because water molecules are polar. This means that one end has a negative charge, and the other has a positive one. Just like a battery. Except without the helpful little markings. Those charges let the molecules form hydrogen bonds and attach to any other molecules that are polar, like other water molecules. So you get H2O. Two lots of hydrogen to one lot of Oxygen. Easy peasy. Who said chemistry was hard? But, oil molecules are not polar, so they can't form hydrogen bonds. Even if they wanted to. Which they don't seem to. When you put oil and water together, the water molecules stick together like glue, and the oil molecules all squish up together in a distinctly separate clump. Like teenagers of opposite sexes at a disco. What you see is two distinct layers. Floating oil on water To get them to mix, or to make an emulsion, you need an emulsifier. That's alcohol, in the case of the shy teenagers, but to go back to our now-separated salad dressing, you can use something like mustard, mayonnaise or egg yolk. These will bind the two disparate substances together. If you are absolutely insistent that you want to use your essential oil for your compresses, then you can try mixing it with full-fat milk. Too much faffing about for my liking, so I use a bath essence, which contains Sulphated castor oil (Organic, natch) which is an oil treated to mix with water. This is also known as Red Turkey oil, and is the only oil which will mix with water. Using this means that your water is softened, scented and medicinally useful, as you can tailor the oil you choose for your compress to the time of day, your mood, and your current skin condition. Sage is great for oilier skin, for calming down those pesky female hormones Moor Lavender is fab at night, having soporific properties, is generally calming on both mood and skin redness and softening the water for sensitive skin Lemon is good for summer time, as it's cooling, but also lovely and awakening of a dull dreary morning, when you'd really rather not bother Rose is the queen of Flowers, smells divine, and is suitable at all and any times. A bit like champagne. . . But don't put champagne in your compress water. That would be wasteful. So the short answer to "can I use essential oils instead, because I've got those and it's cheaper?"  It's still no. Not because essential oils aren't wonderful - they are - but because it's wasteful.

What's your 20/20 vision?

Happy 2020

Do you have a 20/20 vision? 

Does it include a New You?

If so why?

What's wrong with the current 'you'? 

Is it really something that entails an entirely changed person? 

Or is all the novelty just a jolly good way to sell newspapers and their ilk?

The latter, probably.

There's nothing wrong with

• dry January
• Starting to exercise
• cleaning up your diet
• stopping smoking
• Juicing celery
• drinking lemon water. . . 

...and all the rest of the changes we feel we should make. 

If needed. 

But is January really a good time to do that?

February, once the days are visibly longer, is probably better, as it might be slightly more tempting to leave a warm (or tepid in our case) house to walk/run/jog/hop in the fresh air. The air in January can be a little too fresh, which might put you off for good.

The problem is that most New Year Resolutions are broken. Usually before February.

They probably should be renamed "New Month's Resolutions".

Which is why joining a gym in January is generally a waste of money for 11/12ths of the year.

Do it in February instead, and try it for one month.
If you think you'll continue, then go for it. If not, you can thank me later. (And spend the money saved on a nice, relaxing facial?)

The last resolution I made, about 15 years ago, was not to resolve ever again. That one was dead easy to keep.

Our brains are funny things, especially the primitive part. They like to take things literally and they are not programmed well for negativity.

So, saying things like "I'm giving up alcohol" or "I'm going on a diet" upset it and you'll sabotage yourself. Or your brain will.

(I won't go on for ages about this, although it's fascinating stuff, because Google can tell you more than I.)

Maddening, isn't it? But, to succeed, you have to put a positive spin on things. Be your own Spin Doctor!

Instead of "going on a diet", which is a depressing thought, try telling yourself that you're going to eat a delicious salad for lunch every day. That you're going to enjoy drinking more water as your skin will look so great. That sort of thing.

There are some handy hints in my book, if you need motivation.

If you haven't a copy, go HERE to get one, or message me and I'll post one, with some goodies.

Obviously, I'm not resolving anything, but I am doing Dry January, despite my birthday being bang in the middle of it - I'll drink Purdey's rather than champagne, I suppose.

Also, I'm going to do Facial Gym exercises EVERY day.

That'll be made a little easier by that fact that I won't be alone. If you want to join in, the "Chin & Necks" course will be starting in Mid January. There are still two spaces left...

Have a radiant YEAR!