The Power of Red - Rooibos Red
Thursday, March 09, 2006
I hate tea. I lived in Britain for 2 years and visit almost every year and still I hate tea. I know how good green tea is for people. I like it flavoring my ice cream. I adore using it in my facials, but I just don't like how it tastes in the cup. So imagine my surprise when I found a tea that I not only love to drink, but that trumps green tea in the health and wellness department!
Rooibos (roy-boss), also known as Honeybush or Red Tea isn't really "tea" at all. It comes from a reddish bush in South Africa and although the leaves are processed like tea, Rooibos comes from the plant Aspalathus Linearis and not the Camellia plants which produce traditional teas. Like traditional teas Rooibos leaves are brewed to give a refreshing flavor, but with a fruity, nutty, sweet, and totally non-bitter taste.
Scientists have been studying the medicinal properties since the early 1900's when a Russian immigrant named Benjamin Ginsberg discovered Rooibos for Europeans, but our studies are just proving what South Africans have know for centuries. Rooibos tea not only tastes amazing, but eases headaches, digestive problems, allergy symptoms and colic. According to studies conducted in South Africa and Japan Rooibos aids in health problems such as insomnia, irritability, headaches, nervous tension, and hypertension. When used directly on the skin it reduces inflammation and irritation caused by things like insect bites, eczema, psoriasis, and other rashes.
Preliminary findings indicate rooibos tea contains more polyphenols than green tea. At least eight different polyphenols have been identified in Rooibos, and since rooibos is entirely caffeine free the antioxidant and healing power of this tea can be used to help slow the aging process and boost the immune system in anyone at any age. A good Rooibos tea contains no colors, additives or preservatives. It's naturally sweet so you don't need to add additional sweeteners, and even people who don't like tea love the taste!
Rooibos contains almost no oxalic acid, making it a good beverage for people prone to kidney stones, and contains the following minerals: copper, iron and potassium, calcium, fluoride, zinc, manganese, alpha-hydroxy, and magnesium. Like green tea it helps freshen breath, keep your teeth and gums healthy, and keep you younger looking.
As with any tea, the quality of the leaf matters. I get mine from one of the top supplier of Rooibos tea in the world. They know tea, and if you've seen me and had a Tea Infusion Facial you can attest to how wonderful the tea tastes and smells, but also how beautiful it leaves your skin. So from now on think red when you think about drinking tea. Even if you, like me, didn't think you were a tea drinker give a cup of Rooibos a shot.
posted by Cybil at 9:07 AM | 0 comments
Spring Skin Care
Friday, March 03, 2006
Well it's March and that means it's time to move away from your Fall and Winter skin care routine. Luckily, Spring is the easiest season on your skin. Spring showers wash away pollution in the air, those horribly drying heaters get shut off, and humidity enters the picture once more. For Spring the overall skin care answer is lighter, brighter, and winter repair.
Lighter. Put aside the heavy creams and dark makeup. Spring is a season for rebirth and growth. During the winter you are battling harsh, dry climates like wind, cold, and electric heat. With the coming of the rains the air is fresher and cleaner, and much needed humidity comes back. With more moisture you need lighter creams and lotions. Many of the winter creams are heavy so they can protect the skin from water loss and create a barrier between your skin and the elements. The Spring means more water, nicer weather, and therefore the need for less.
Brighter. During the Winter months there is less sun and people stay inside more. This is when you should be on a deeper skin care regiment that includes more acid and peels. With the Spring, and more sun, you stop this but the results shine through. Your skin should be be brighter, fresher, younger looking. Sunscreen, always a must, is even more important now so you can maintain this new skin. Buy a sun hat you love and where it whenever you're outside. Remember to put some of that sunscreen on the back of your hands as well!
Winter Repair. No matter how good we are to the skin in the Winter, some damage in the form of chapping, scaling, cracking, or dullness will be evident. Give your skin its very own Spring cleaning. There are lots of ways to do it. Spend the extra time scrubbing your body from head to foot and then slather it with a water binding lotion. Get a manicure and pedicure. Try a body treatment for the first time. If you only see an esthetician once a month, see them two times a month so you can get a good clean with the first visit and then get a rejuvenating facial for the second one. Spring is the best time for skin. Take the time and use this season well.
posted by Cybil at 8:33 AM | 0 comments
The Art of Dedication
Thursday, February 23, 2006
I'm moving all my old client records into a new computer system I'm trying out. As I plow through the records and type the info into the proper fields its become very clear that the clients who have seen the best results are those who are dedicated to the task. They are the ones who see me like clock work, do every step every day regardless of how silly it sounds or how tired they are, and trust me to do my job. They don't come to me and tell me what to do. They don't complain that they don't see results while confessing that they just can't do fill in the blank every day. And most of all, they allow for the amount of time the process takes.
Skin Fitness is not a quick fix and what I do isn't a miracle – no matter what my clients may say. I can't even count how often someone has thanked me for the work I have done and all I've been able to do is thank them right back. I work hard for my clients. I train, I stay up on the latest research, and I listen to what they and their skin tells me. But ultimately the results are as good as the effort they put in. They are working hard. They are staying focused. They are dedicated to the task. Without them I am just and esthetician fighting to minimize damage during every facial with no time to correct problems. Without their hard work I'm nothing.
One of my clients once explained to me that dedication like I require is an art. He said, "It's like when I plan an exhibition. You see what needs to be installed and changed. You see what needs to be hung where. You know the goal and then have to dedicate yourself to the task of getting it all done in time in the most perfect way you can. And damn does it take work! But after a while the ebb and flow of what you do becomes simple. It becomes a skill and then an art, and suddenly the dedication is second nature. It's a part of you and not really work at all."
This is exactly what my dedicated clients learn. At first taking care of their skin is hard. They have to work at it. It's a slow process that takes more time than they want to give, but over time it becomes part of their every day routine and suddenly it's simple and they feel lost without it. Dedication. That's what I am asking of every client. But I only ask because I am dedicated to perfecting your skin.
posted by Cybil at 10:01 AM | 0 comments
Mind-Body-Spirit: When a facial isn't just a facial
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
While putting the finishing touches on my new space, and preparing all the marketing materials that go along with my new business I have had to sit down and ponder how to express what it is that I do. Most people come to me to fix their skin, but what they may not realize is that Skin Fitness encompasses more than just the correct lotions and potions. Skin Fitness isn't just about the topical. It's about the internal and spiritual as well.
Your skin is a mirror that reflects your health on the outside. To look good you have to feel good both inside and outside. While I work to improve your skin I am also working to improve your self esteem, your mood, and your overall health. You can't have beautiful skin if the rest of you is unhealthy and unhappy. Healthy skin is about total wellness. It encompasses the whole body because your skin encompasses your whole body.
Eastern medicine has long recognized the impact emotions have on the body. Their approach to health is a mind-body-spirit connection. Western medicine has traditionally thought of this as "hocus pocus", but more and more studies are coming out scientifically proving that the concepts behind this principal is valid.
Anxiety, stress, depression are now all scientifically connected to illness, poor health, and depleted immunity. Studies have shown that depression is linked to poor outcomes from heart and spinal surgery. Fear, anxiety, and depression have been linked to increased post-op pain. It's no longer strange to hear about a peer reviewed study, published in a well renowned medical journal supporting the benefits of nontraditional, alternative, or holistic practices. And it doesn't matter whether you believe in the healing power of gem therapy, reiki, or reflexology either. Most studies can support all these claims as helpful in at least one way. They all include touch, and touch is something that we have proven people need.
Our skin is the only organ of the body that really "touches". It is a sense that we take for granted. A physical magic that we never think about. "When Michelangelo sought to portray God animating Adam, he didn't paint a bolt of lightning whitening Eden's sky, he chose an outstretched hand, reaching down from above." (Total Skin by David Leffell) He chose that because the power of touch resonates within us. Can anything express more emotion than a touch of a loved one when upset, or a hug from a friend after a long separation?
While studying child behavior in college I read a book by an anthropologist named Ashley Montagu called Touching: The Human Significance of the Skin. In it he discusses how all early experiences are passed through the skin, and how without touch we become less social, unhappy, and ill.
Although Montagu's book came out in the 1970's, new studies are showing that babies who are touched and cuddled walk and begin to speak sooner. Whereas babies who don't get enough physical touch tend to suffer more physical and psychological ailments as they grow up. Residents in hospitals and retirement homes live longer and heal faster if they have regular visitors who care enough to touch them.
Skin Fitness is about total wellness and overall health. Mind-body-spirit. I see them as one and treat them as one. Yes I make you look good, but it isn't just the creams I put on you. It's the entire experience. It's the power of my touch, my knowledge and training, the music, the lighting, the massage, the tea …well everything. Each element contributes to the experience. This is what makes what I do successful and what gets my clients the results they want.
posted by Cybil at 7:52 PM | 1 comments
Eyebrows Only
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Eyebrows frame the face. This is why the shape and appearance of your eyebrows is so essential to how you look. Even a minor adjustment to eyebrows can cause a major change in your appearance. So lets start with the basics.
Eyebrows 101
The safe rule for any eyebrow to look good is to start the eyebrow at the corner of the eye (Diagram A), place the arch at the side of the pupil (Diagram B), and end the brow at the corner of the eye (Diagram C). The goal is to get an eye's width between the two eyes, and to have nothing hanging over the outer edge of the eye. For those who love numbers, from point A to B=60% of the total length. From point B-C=40% of the total length. This is the way a normal eyebrow will look most flattering on most people.
Of course there are always exceptions. Some people have wide set eyes or close set eyes. Some eyes droop, or some brows are very heavy and strong. In all these cases the above brow will look good, but there are other tricks that a good brow designer will use to frame the face better. Quite frankly, these cases are why most people entrust their brows to someone like me.
As many of my devoted eyebrow fans know I have a very unique philosophy on eyebrows. Not everyone will agree with me, but those who don't I send to someone else who can make them happy. For me eyebrows are one of the most important features of the face, and to make them look their best I think you have to follow a few simple rules.
Eyebrows are sisters not twins.
Your face isn't perfectly symmetrical, so why would you want your eyebrows to be perfectly symmetrical? Your eyebrows should, like sisters, look very similar to one another, but they aren't supposed to be mirror images of each other. By trying to make them mirror images you are just exaggerating your features' asymmetrical flaws.
You are not J-Lo a.k.a. Stick with your natural shape
People laugh when I say this, but the number one thing I hear from a new client is "Here's a picture of the eyebrows I want". And invariably the picture is of J-Lo! I am not kidding. I couldn't make this up if I tried. I sometimes wonder if Jennifer Lopez knows her eyebrows are in such high demand…
Your face has it's own shape, and your brow bones have their own natural structure. If you don't look like J-Lo I can guarantee that even if I could get your brows the exact shape as hers, they still wouldn't look that way on you. Bone structure, features, face shape, and eyebrow hair growth all factor into your own, ideal, natural brow shape. I know there are places out there that tell you to pick a template and then shape your brows to it, but those brows always look unnatural and separate from the features of the people wearing them. It's like trying to make an Andy Warhol painting look good in the same frame as a Raphael painting. The two artist just aren't the same and therefore they each need a different look.
Train Don't Trim
You've seen these around, heck this might be you! There are many people who feel that eyebrows need to be trimmed super close to the face. They feel that if they have any length to the hair it will go wild and get out of place. BAH! Trimming here and there is necessary especially if you have curly or bone straight brows. But over trimming brows not only makes them look messy as they grow in, but can leave gaping holes, and thin spot in the brows. This is why I teach my clients to train their eyebrows!
Eyebrows are just hair. They can be trained just like the hair on your head. It takes about 3 month of persistence, but it works. Ask any one of my clients. They can each tell you that training takes time, but is worth it. Not only does training your brows keep your brow shape longer, it makes it appear more natural, and can even fix problems you have with your brow shape.
Let them grow!
Most people have a tendency to over pluck. They get into the mindset that just one more hair will make the sides perfect images of each other (please remember my 1st rule!). This leads to people taking off too much hair. Also people don't know how to create a good brow shape so they just blindly tweeze away. Too thin brows can't frame the face. I am not saying you need Brooke Sheilds size brows, but quite frankly those look better on most people than pencil thin!
Creating good brows is often a time consuming and annoying process. Often you have to walk around for a couple of months with eyebrows that don't look their best as you grow hair back in. You have to learn to love the new "look" you have, even if it's totally different from what you've been wearing for the past 10 years. I don't know how many times someone has left me worried that they look "like a freak" because we took out 5 hairs on each side of the inner brow. "It looks so big!" they always say. I tell them to try it out until the next wax and see what people say. "Give yourself time to get used to it. It's not any different than getting a new haircut. You need time." Is what I always reply. 9 out of 10 times the person is happy in 2 weeks when I see them again. If they aren't, guess what, those 10 hairs will grow back if you just don't touch them!
posted by Cybil at 3:27 PM | 0 comments
