Time Management and Self Care
Over the last few weeks I have had family visiting so I apologize for the delay in my newsletters. Time management is always a bit of a challenge for most, including myself. This can lead to frustrations and anxiety regardless of the seriousness of a task. Most of the time we feel like we are running out of time and don’t seem to have the mindfulness to achieve our daily goals. The glorification of busy is so overdone in our culture so what tends to happen is self care goes out the window. How can you feel productive without the anxiety of procrastination or being overwhelmed by too many tasks? It’s simple and here is my guide to managing the “busy” stress so you don’t let your self care go.
Roots: Why where you are from matters to your skin
If you know me you know that I moved around a lot as a kid. Both my parents worked in different cities and about every 2-3 years we would pick up and move according to their work. The biggest move was from New Brunswick, Canada to Wisconsin, USA when I was 10 years old. Shortly after the big, across the border move I started experiencing advanced puberty symptoms that I later became to understand was triggered due to stress and trauma from the environmental change.
How to layer your skincare
In the business of beauty there are many types of consumers. Are you the type of consumer who will buy a skincare product because you love the scent, texture or the promise of what it can do for you whether you have need it or not? I know many people who simply love products! The problem is at the end of the day they may have too many options and don’t know how to implement it properly into their routine. Just because you have a ton of products doesn’t mean your skin needs or wants it. What I want to talk about today is not only how to come up with a functioning routine but also how to be able to layer the products you want for maximum results. Layering skincare can be the key to success or the demise of your healthy skin. Here is your how to guide to customizing your regimen and how to layer.
Common Skin Misconceptions!
There are several misconceptions that we are taught to think about our skin throughout our lives. I have spent the last 10 years of my life having to re-teach my clientele about these misconceptions as I was one of the millions of young women who fell prey to them. I grew up genuinely believing that I wasn’t good enough because I didn’t match the unrealistic standards of society on women. My skin wasn’t clear therefore I wasn’t good enough. Sounds so shallow and self hating to think that I would compare my worth to a health imbalance but it was very real to me at the time. I still work on shedding off what the many articles I read in Cosmo, Glamour and any other mainstream magazines that created the impossible guide to being perfect. So today let me help break down the common skin misconceptions that we are still encountering today so hopefully your self worth will be uplifted and not challenged anymore.
Why I work from home
This weekend I attended a fantastic workshop at Wanderlust Hollywood hosted by the lovely Lauren Singer from Trash is for Tossers. One of my personal resolutions this year was to decrease my waste and continue to educate myself on how to help protect our mother earth. Having the opportunity to meet Lauren and learn some of her go-to recipes for zero waste home care products reminded me of why I decided to leave the spa world: IT’S INCREDIBLY WASTEFUL! Here are some of the main reasons why working from home is a small way to make a big impact:
Toners 101: Your go-to guide to this powerhouse skincare step!
A skincare routine can be really tricky to orchestrate without direction. To create a custom regimen it’s important to consider all of the steps offered in the multi-billion dollar industry that is also known as the beauty industry. There’s the obvious, sometimes confusing, often forgotten, and the overused steps. Today I’m going to talk about the often forgotten and sometimes confusing step of toning. I never truly understood why this step would even be left out because it is incredibly easy and sets your skin up for success. That’s when I realized that there is little to no education out there on the why and how of toning. Here is an easy breakdown of this skin changing step you will soon not be able to live without.
My Self Care Practices
Many people ask me what I do with my skincare routine. They literally want to know everything I use and assume that a few skincare products is all it takes to accomplish great skin. This is simply not the case. A lot of the work comes from a lot of self care. Self care is so different for everyone too. That’s the most beautiful part about it all. The tools I’ve developed in order to fill my cup are catered to my health and wellness. Here is some insight into my self care practices and the people who help keep me accountable for my well being.
Keeping up with Skin Food Talk
I have been blown away with the response my partner in crime, Tara Curran and I have received since our first "SKINFOOD" talk at SOHO House in West Hollywood. We have been working together for so long and we were finally able to create something really special. I would really love to invite you all to come to our first ever "Beauty and the Belly" brunch on Sunday March 6th at 12. The brunch is a great way to share our "SKINFOOD" talk and create a conversation about your skin, nutrition and overall health. Please RSVP now and we look forward to brunching with you soon! xo
My Deal Breakers
We all have deal breakers in life, love and work. They are the things we just absolutely do not put up with and will not tolerate no matter what. As a skin coach my deal breakers went from non-existent to a concrete list of no-no’s. It seems odd that a service provider like myself should have any boundaries as I am in the business of providing care to anyone who needs/wants it. The truth is if I were to be agreeable to everyone no one would progress. No one would see change and I wouldn’t be doing my job. So let me let you in on my skincare dealbreakers.
What to do: Your skincare rules for exercise!
One of the most common issues I have with my clients is their confusion with exercise and skincare. The statement that makes me cringe the most when I get done with a facial is “I’m going to go workout after this”. It feels wrong to tell someone no because I truly encourage everyone to live their healthiest life. There are a few reasons why exercise and skincare often don’t get along. Our initial instincts with it are sort of off. This isn’t anyone’s fault, there is just no clear information out there. Here are a few ways to avoid some skincare sins while implementing exercise in your daily routine.
Who Cares!
It’s important to find balance in life right? I know I’m constantly working on what to shift my focus on. This world is so over-stimulating that we can often start to feel overwhelmed with what to care for? I’ve learned that as an empath I take on a lot more energy than needed. In fact there is a point in which you can care too much. This is the fine line I’ve danced with over the last few years and you know what, it’s okay to let go of some of that baggage. As an esthetician I inevitably act as a source of therapy for some, and a punching bag for others. It comes with the territory and after 10 years, I understand that the ones who need to use me as their excuse to be upset it’s simply a projection of what is going on with them. You know what I do for those folks? Give them more love, since they clearly need it.
sugar addicts anonymous
Growing up I was always sick and had a severe addiction. The kind of addiction that no one talked about, worried about or even knew about. I had an addiction to sugar. Sugar doesn’t seem that bad you may think, but looking back over my entire health history it is clear that I was one of the many kids who suffered for no reason. From unnecessary illnesses, non-stop anxiety and many unexplainable symptoms I specifically remember feeling helpless and it was all due to inflammation. I always wondered why most kids were never as sick as I was. The vicious cycle of going to the doctor and constantly getting prescriptions (some packed with added sugar) for benign issues made me feel like I was an anomaly of a kid. This led to severe depression I battled for years. The crippling pain of not understanding why I was feeling as nervous, anxious, sad or even immobile at times was so much to take while all I wanted was just to fit in and have fun. One of the main issues I struggled with with my non-stop, highly inflamed acne. I struggled for 11 years with what felt like my “normal” skin and once I was able to dive into my health and really dig for some answers I was shocked at how simple the fix really was.
My skincare heroes!
Everyone asks me what I use in my skincare regimen and I never give a good answer. That isn’t quite true, I give an honest answer: “I use a lot and I do a lot”. People want a miracle product and an instant fix. It’s the world we live in and it’s what we are conditioned to expect. There is no such thing in my opinion. Slowing down the fast paced tempo of the outside world and truly connecting with yourself is the key to success. That being said I do have a love affair with a few products and I’m not often moved. Most skincare can be redundant and not transformative. Here is a short list of my recent WOW products, my skincare heroes if you will:
My journey into 2016
My journey to 2016 has been nothing short of amazing. I found myself roadtripping across the states so I can get to Texas on time for the holidays. It was really important for me to experience my vacation, which seems fair right? My partner James and I decided to really live in each moment of each day. Here is my journey into 2016: