Eyes Right?

How are the windows of YOUR soul doing?

Are they looking bright or feeling jaded? All this time we spend looking at screens can make your eyes feel tired, so what they need is a little TLC

Something you can do at your desk is called palming. Just put your elbows on the desk, with your hands upright (might be an idea to wash them beforehand, as you’ll be touching your face).

Now let your head sink down and let your palms (bit of a giveaway, that name, eh?) cover your eyes. This should block out all light so your eyes can just rest for a few moments.
 
Don’t stare into the darkness, - keep blinking – so your eye muscles relax.

Do this for 30 seconds to 3 minutes and your eyes will feel refreshed, and so will you.

If you need a little more relaxation, and not just for your eyes message me to book something more intensive, to get yourself all bright eyed and bushytailed.

#selfcareisnotselfish #selfcaretips #deskselfcare 

#theorganicbeautician #loveyoureyes

What's in your skin care?

What's in your skin care?

And, is it beneficial or detrimental?

All those long Latin or Greek names. Are they natural or not?

Do you need to be a cosmetic chemist to make sense of it all?

Take alcohol for instance

Bad for the liver and the skin, isn’t it?

Or is it?

If you’re as old as me, you might remember the luridly-fluorescent toners teenage girls bought in the 1980s. They stripped every last drop of oil from your skin, which then responded by overproducing oil, so you used more toner. (Great sales model, but not so fab for your face) 

And that cycle repeated, ad infinitum.

So, if you’re reading an ingredient label, and you see alcohol listed, don’t just assume that the product will be drying, as it’s not always the case.

Because, alcohol (as you might already know) comes in many different forms. And I don’t just mean tequila or vodka.

Some sorts of alcohol are great to have in your skin care

They’re usually called fatty alcohols and include ingredients like cetyl, cetearyl or stearyl alcohol, and guess what? they're derived from fats. (The name is a bit of a giveaway, there, isn’t it?)

They are also called esters, and Beeswax, for instance, contains about 50 percent monoester, while carnauba wax is roughly 85 percent ester. And both those ingredients are generally considered good for your skin, not drying.

Then there’s something you might recognise - Tocopherol. (The -ol ending shows it’s also an alcohol.) α-Tocopherol is also known as Vitamin E, which is generally considered beneficial for the skin, and not at all drying. In fact, fatty alcohols have an ability to lock moisture into the skin to form a protective barrier.

That sounds ok, doesn’t it?

The type of alcohol you want to avoid like the (current) plague, at least on your face, is SD40 (AKA isopropyl alcohol). This is great for sterilising surfaces and is often in cheap hand sanitisers, which is why your hands might feel mega dry, if you use the ones supplied in shop entrances, rather than carry your own.

Ingredients lists can be a bit of a minefield, so you may need some help decoding what’s good for your skin, what’s not and how you can look younger for longer.

Rather than turning to drink, at the thought of how complicated it is, why not get some help from a professional?

Message jane@theorganicbeautician.com to book yourself a consultation with an expert

 

Selfcare is NOT selfish

     

   Today - being Friday - is one of only two days ruled by a female Deity.

   Lucky to get two, really, weren't we?

   So, let’s not moan, because at 28.5%, it’s a better percentage than many parliaments around the world.

   Anyway, who has time to complain? Most of the women I meet and treat hardly have time to sleep, what with a job, trying to run a household, juggling animals and children (not necessarily in that order) and attempting to fit in cooking healthy meals and a spot of exercise.

     But finding time for you is important.

     Let something drop, and step off the treadmill, before you fall off it, drooping with exhaustion.

     Sometimes stopping everything for a little time out can be so energising that you get more done after the break. And selfcare is not selfish, it’s a necessity.

     As most women don’t have sheds, they need to escape to salons for a little P&Q. If you really can’t find time even for that, then carve out some time at home and do your own pamper session.

     Too tired to think of what to do? Maybe you need a little nudge?

     Every Friday I send out a Pamper Mission with suggestions on how you can treat yourself at home.

     Want to get those? Sign up HERE

Marilyn Monroe, who was a lot cleverer than she was given credit for once said 

“I want to grow old without facelifts. I want to have the courage to be loyal to the face I have made.”

But she died in her 30s, well before Botox was anything other than a life-threatening disease carried by over-ripe sausages, and fillers were something you chose to put in a sandwich, so didn’t have the chance to try either. 

Would she have done? Who knows?

And should we take beauty advice from film stars anyway? So, what’s the best thing to do? That's what I'm regularly asked.

Make your own decision, I think. 

After some detailed research, of course.

If you want to try something like Botox, and feel it will improve your life, that’s up to you. It’s doubtful that it will improve your life, but it’s your face, after all. 

Never have been one to follow the herd, and really having a severe antipathy to needles, I’m going to stick to the old fashioned route of ageing, but as Dylan Thomas said I will

“…not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” 

(Or the incipient wrinkles, if you're a hit shallower - that would be me, then.) 

Not that I’m into rage, really, sensible action is more my preference. Which is why I’ll be eschewing needles and practicing Facial exercises. 

Want to know more? Message me and we can chat. 

 

Parched limbs?

 So, a week of lovely weather, and suddenly the earth in the garden is looking parched.

From wearing wellies on my daily walk, it's suddenly sandal weather. And are my limbs ready for the sudden exposure?

That would be a 'no' from me.

I look like 'Nausicaa of the white arms', but considerably less glamorous. (Or Ancient Greek.)  
Way back when, Nausicaa and her maidens went down to the riverbank to bathe and do the washing, there being a dearth of domestic white goods in Greece at that point. They met Odysseus and kindly gave him clean clothes, and some oil to rub on his sea-drenched limbs.

He eventually repaid them with the Odyssey.

Which in those days was the equivalent of binge-watching Game of Thrones, presumably.

(Never watched it myself, as my son-in law lent me book 1, and that was sufficiently blood-drenched to put me off)

Anyway, the point of this massive tragic digression was the oil.

Because now is a jolly good time to start treating your arms and legs with some oil or body lotion.

Oiled legs

Your choice, but the best time to do this is when you emerge, like Aphrodite from the waves.

Failing that, the shower will do just fine.

By applying oil or lotion while the skin is damp, you trap moisture, which helps keep skin hydrated. Natty eh?

So that's your pamper mission. Lavish some love (and oil) on your limbs.

If you want to do something luscious for your face, however, you could take a peep at THIS. I have just two spaces left for the next few weeks, so delaying might cost you.

Want more info? Text the Pamper line on 07961224560