Old English Lufu means Love

Category: Skin

How I Cleared Up My Acne (Naturally No Medication) Part 2
This post is a sequel to Part 1 about which cleanser is right for your skin type and why. This post is my personal story on how I developed acne and how I was able to clear up my skin.

How it Started

I would like to say that genetically I have dry skin. I did not realize this until I was around 18 years old. I went to the department store to purchase a cleanser and the lady at the counter did me a favor and explained to me that my skin was a dry skin type. I was convinced that I had oily skin because I had breakout. Of course I was a teenager and my hormones were balancing and I had some black heads and small pimples but in reality I do have dry skin. So luckily I purchased a milk cleanser and went about drinking 64 ounces of water a day as per recommendation and my skin became more clear. Again it goes back to the correct cleanser for your skin type to get your skin balanced. Lesson learned.

Fast forward a few years later and I relocated to the island of Maui. Now I was living in a humid tropical environment. My skin was still dry but I knew to switch up my moisturizer to something lighter due to the heat and humidity. I was living on the island for about a year and I decided to sign up and study at a trade school to become an esthetician. I entered the program with beautiful clear skin. Some of the students even complimented me on my skin saying how pretty it was. This program was 1000 hours long and over the course of the months I slowly started developing break outs all over my face. Imagine your in a skincare course and all of a sudden your developing acne everywhere. It was extreme. My friend in the course would stay after class and do extractions on me. She, gained the practice of how to properly pop the blackheads and pimples and I, gained the idea of trying to clean up my face. The reality is I learned the pain of having pimples (pustules) and black heads and watching them grow on my face. I gained the understanding of how it feel so see ones facial skin change in a negative way.

Having acne is a very emotional thing. It can affect your psychological state of mind because it is easy to become obsessed with the pimples and it feels like something beyond your control. No one gets pimples and looks in the mirror and feels good at what they see. Every morning you wake up and look in the mirror hoping nothing new develops on your face. Meanwhile your purchasing and mixing skincare brands like crazy trying to find anything that will work. On top of the fact that you want to extract and pop your pimples like crazy to get rid of them which is a lot of pain. Pain for the swelling pustules growing under your skin, that alone hurts and then add the extractions. Its a vicious negative cycle that has you mentally wondering if your skin will ever clear up.

The Extreme

One day after about 6 weeks of all these new pimples on my face I had had enough and I asked my friend if she could do a facial and do massive extractions on me to get as many pimples and blackheads popped as possible. She agreed. Now two things here, first of all when doing a facial we had to pick out the products being used. She asked me what type of cleanser I wanted to use. Of course my mind is thinking I have acne now so give me the oily skincare line. Second thing here, we were taught in school doing extractions can cause trauma. Technically your never supposed to perform extractions on someone for more than ten minutes. Well we went for it and I told her to keep going and thirty minutes later I was a red puffy faced extracted mess. I left that day feeling terrible. I was so down because you look in the mirror and your horrified to see all the pimples and redness and swelling. You feel like your never going to heal. To be honest the extractions for 30 minutes was a little to much emotionally and I did cry a little. But I was at a loss and feeling desperate.

Incoming Workshop

So now I am still in esthetician school studying and I had an opportunity to go to Oahu and attend a workshop with a certain very well know brand. This seemed like a great educational learning opportunity. So I went to the one day workshop to learn more about skincare. There was a section of the workshop that focused on acne and there was to be a live demo on extractions. I begged the presenter to let me be the model. With all the breakouts on my face I would love a trained professional with experience to do extractions on me. She agreed and I was now the demo face for this workshop on how to properly extract pimples and blackheads. Personally I was just happy to be getting extractions again. Remember when you feel like everyday your waking up with more breakout you just want the skin cleaned. Unfortunately because I was the model receiving the extractions I never was able to see watch how she demonstrated doing the extractions. However, after this workshop I was convinced to purchase this skincare line of oily skincare products to clear up my face. I bought the whole thing. Cleanser, toner, spot treatment and moisturizer.

I had hope again. But what happened? Nothing. I literally obsessed woke up every morning going straight to look into the mirror to see if my face had cleared up. Checking to see if my spot treatment for those new pimples had worked. Honestly I was seeing my skin look worse and I was getting hard bumps and my pimples were not coming to a head. I was using spot treatment with salicylic acid and nothing was making sense. (I found out later why this was) Anyways here I had invested in this whole product line probably spending at least $70 dollars and my skin was not looking any better and if anything looked worse. I felt defeated again. On one hand I wanted to just give up and on the other hand I kept doing my research. This had been going on for months at this point. This vicious cycle of trying a skin care product with the hope of getting clear skin to seeing no changes.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

After feeling hopeless and not wanting to invest anymore money on products I was at a loss. I didn’t know what to do. I literally felt horrible and just wanted clear skin. I feel like the saying it is easier to gain weight than to loose it, well in this case it was easier to gain pimples and taking forever to get rid of them. I was frustrated. Then all of a sudden during my research I came upon a more holistic brand of skincare. Their approach and concept for healing acne was homeopathic. Now at this point I was familiar with homeopathic as I had my own homeopathic doctor and I understood homeopathic remedies. The homeopathic method pertaining to skincare was way less invasive than what I had been using prior. This line is very natural and uses flowers and plants from nature to heal the skin and I decided that was the way I wanted to go as far as skincare. As I was reading up on this it all made sense to me. So I was down to give it a try. Ready to buy the whole skincare line but this brand offered a mini sampler kit. I think it was around $20 and I decided to try something new. This way I could test what I needed without buying the whole line.

The brand that I found was Dr. Hauschka. In simple terms their approach was way different to healing oily skin or break out. Essentially they have the homeopathic concept that like cures like. So if you have oily skin you put more oil on it and you will stop producing to much oil? It made sense to me as you read in my Part 1 post its all about the acid mantle. If your acid mantle is stripped then you are going to be producing more oil. I was probably guilty of this when I kept buying oily skin cleansers but the base of my skin type was dry. With this line the concept was using a cleanser that was almond meal based so you felt like you were cleaning your skin nice and deep but it was gentle enough to use everyday and then you would spray the toner on your face and in the morning you would use an oil based moisturizer and at night you would give your skin a break and cleanse, tone and let the skin breath with no other products on it.

So here I am on the quest for clear skin with a new approach which is homeopathic with a brand that has more natural ingredients. I’m all in and ready to try it. Let me tell you within the first week I started seeing the difference. I had hope again. This homeopathic approach seemed like it was working. Needless to say after 1 month my face cleared up and my skin went back to the beautiful clear skin that I naturally had. Another thing I want to point out here with skin is that everything has a 28 day cycle. Your skin will renew itself in 28 days. So whatever products you are using on day one if it is correct for you and your skin type and is balancing or healing you should see a change within 28 days. I was so grateful to find Dr. Hauschka and the clarifying day oil. Ill post link here (not sponsored) https://www.drhauschka.com/clarifying-day-oil/ It was such a good feeling to able to use the products properly and have everything clear up within 28 days. I continued using this remedy for probably a month more and then I started to phase into the correct moisturizer for my skin type and a milk cleanser for the morning and the scrub at night time only.

The way that I had discovered Dr. Hauschka is because I had been searching for natural skincare brands to work with. That is how I originally found them and then saw their concept to treating acne and problem skin. At the time they were offering a special 5 day training in Esalen California by Monterey for licensed estheticians. I was about 2 months out of facial school and I was down for more training. I had to apply and be approved to go to this training. It worked out and I was able to go and learn about all the flowers and herbs in the products and what each ingredient was designed to do for the skin. Let me just say that this brand changed my whole trajectory on how I approach skincare. I have always, since finishing my esthetician course, chose the natural approach to skincare with organic and natural skincare brands.

Conclusion

If you take anything away from this post it would be that it is possible to balance your skin. I definitely went through it with my break out crisis and I completely understand how it feels to have acne and oily skin. Skin by itself is a science and I will say it always starts with your cleanser and what is right for your skin type. You need to check in with the acid mantle and make sure your not stripping your skin and that your using the right products for your environment. In hindsight I figured out what I had done to cause the break outs and excessive oil.
- 1) I took my esthetician program in the summer months on Maui. So the weather was much hotter at the time and I was studying in a large warehouse that had no air conditioning.
- 2) I was receiving daily facials to practice skincare and it was to much for my dry delicate skin.
- 3) Add to it that we were using a steamer in no ac in a humid climate I was getting bacteria on my face like crazy.
- 4) Then use the wrong cleanser that was stripping my skin. Forget it my skin would not have healed.
I share this personal story hoping that for anyone out there looking to clear acne or balance your skin you may be able to relate to some of the scenarios here to help you in your own skin. A few years later when my life and environment changed I ended up developing borderline psoriasis and I had to figure out what was going on again and how to balance that. Stay tuned for Part 3 on developing psoriasis and how I was able to get my skin back into balance. Please feel free to comment or contact for any questions on balancing skin.
December 19, 2024
What Your Acid Mantle is and How (Your Cleanser) Affects Your Skin Pt.1
Skincare 101

We are going to take this post to the basic skincare 101 science of skin. In this post I will try and breakdown and explain what the acid mantle is in understandable terms and also guide you on cleansers and why they are an important factor when considering your acid mantle and skin type

The acid mantle is very important in determining your skin type and how to balance your skin. I searched the definition of acid mantle in Wikipedia and it was a little to scientific. I checked back to the more understandable definition from the Milady’s study book and found this explanation.
Definition: The acid mantle is a thin, slightly acidic film covering the entire surface of human skin, serving as a protective barrier against pathogens and reducing body odor.

Composition: The acid mantle is composed of:
1. Free amino acids and α-hydroxy acids (lactic acids) excreted from sweat
2. Free fatty acids and amino acids from sebum
3. Urocanic acid and pyroglutamic acid
pH Range: The surface pH of the skin’s acid mantle typically ranges between 4.5 and 6.5, with an average assumption of 5.0 to 6.0. However, recent research suggests that healthy human skin naturally tends to return to acidity levels below 5.0 when left untouched by skincare products or water for extended periods, with an ideal pH value of 4.7 and some individuals showing levels as low as 4.3.
How I break it down to a facial client

Everyday from the time we all wake up our skin is starting to balance. There can be a lot of environmental factors that affect the balance of your skin. I will mention those later. Now as you go about your day I always say between 12 and 3 pm we all start to develop a little sheen or shine on our face. This happens to everyone male or female. The amount of shine one produces varies by climate so there can be a little of a give and take. That sheen on your skin is your acid mantle. What that does is it is designed to protect you. A natural protective barrier. Now if you cleanse your face and your cleanser is to strong it will strip your skin and make it feel nice and tight. So what happens? As the day goes on your brain will realize “Oh they do not have their protective barrier let me produce more oil for them.” Now you begin the vicious cycle of trying to balance skin and you can produce more black heads and pimples. This causes your to go into a fight mode of trying to protect you and in the meantime your producing more oil. If you naturally have dry skin and your using a strong cleanser this can cause your skin to become extra dry and then eczema or psoriasis can occur.

That is why with any skincare routine one of the most important products is your cleanser. If you are washing your face in the morning to start your day and after you cleanse, your face feels nice and tight. That is an indicator that the cleanser you are using is too strong. So my rule number 1 with cleansers: You never want your face to feel tight after you cleanse your skin. Yes it could happen with an exfoliant but we normally do not want to exfoliate more than 2 nights a week. Night time is better for exfoliation followed by a deeply hydrating moisturizer.

Rule number 2 which can be the next step in your morning routine is no alcohol in your toner. The alcohol can also be drying and stripping. Remember when we are using a skincare regime we are looking for that balanced glow.

If a product is to strong and strips your skin you will produce more oil throughout the day. If the product is to heavy for your skin and the molecules of say an oil or cream are to heavy that too can cause breakout on the other end of the spectrum.

Rule number 3 is the water you are using to cleanse your skin with. Do you live in an old building with old rusty pipes? Have you looked up the region of where you live and the main water supply and what they put into that water? If the water is heavily chlorinated then you will be essentially washing your face with chlorine. Another stripping agent. (Not to mention when you shower you are breathing that in) A website you can use to check your local water supply: https://www.livescience.com/59935-tap-water-database.html

Rule number 4 how is the weather or climate where you are? What time of year is it? In winter we use electric and gas heaters to heat living spaces and that can have a heavy drying effect on the skin. If you are going outside and it is cold with a chill whipping breeze on your face, that wind can chap your skin as well and cause heavy dryness. If you live in a tropical climate, is it with heavy air conditioning usage? Air conditioning can cause the skin to run on the dry side. Tropical humidity can sometimes make you produce what feels like more oil and you can have a layer of dirt and sweat mixed and cause a breakout reaction. Climate is a very important factor to consider when you are searching for the correct cleanser for your skin.

Conditions that can be caused by your acid mantle being stripped are:
- acne
- blackheads and breakouts
- eczema
- psoriasis
- extreme dry skin
Again these main skin conditions can all have a root cause of the cleanser that you start your day with. Its not a formula for all because each individual has a story but in a round about way when it comes to balancing skin it starts with the cleanser and your acid mantle. Then you have the conditions of rosacea or psoriasis. That (in my opinion) is also a cleanser that is to strong stripping your skin. I will side note here a lot of times the redness can be caused by the climate. Especially the Northeast winters. You can see the rosey red cheeks on the fishermen and a lot of times people do not attribute this to the climate. (there is a natural homeopathic cream for this redness stay tuned for part 2 post.)

Types of Cleansers

When we go to the beauty store or any section of any store that sells skincare products it can be overwhelming to understand the different types of cleansers and what they do or how they work with the skin. Let me explain 5 common types of cleansers you’ll find and how each one can affect the skin.
- Milk Cleanser
- Foaming Cleanser
- Gel
- Oil Cleanser
- Micellar
- Bar Soap
I’ll start with my personal favorite which I think is good for everyone and that is the milk cleanser. Some brands might have a cream cleanser or call it that variation but essentially it will be a more creamy type of cleanser. This cleanser is more gentle on the skin and will not strip your skin. Next we have the foaming cleanser. The foaming cleanser is normally designed for more oily skin. It gives the sensation of a deep clean because the foam scrubbing feels like your really getting in there and cleaning but these types of cleansers can be harsh for the skin so be careful. If you are using a foaming cleanser and have noticed some breakout I would probably discontinue use. Also refer back to the rule. If you cleanse your skin in the morning does the cleanser make your skin feel tight? I wouldn’t recommend that type of cleanser for you. I’m going to place the gel cleanser in the same category. Gel and foaming cleansers are designed for more oily skin types so if you notice any tightness after a use or wash I’d say it would be a no for your skin.

Now oil cleanser is considered to have the heaviest of molecules of all the cleansers. A little bit close to micellar on the spectrum but more so heavier than all the other cleansers. To be honest I wouldn’t start my day with either of these cleansers. If you had massive dry skin or maybe an older menopausal skin this may work for your skin type to start the day but other than that I would use this type of cleanser in the evening and with a wash cloth. Also I would suggest here that Micellar is a great make up remover. Both eyes and face.

My final cleanser here is bar soap. I used to not be a fan of bar soap at all but now here I am with my own brand of bar soap. https://elementlufu.com/store/lavender-cleansing-bar/ When I switched to more clean beauty products I started really looking into the breakdown of soaps and ingredients and what is in everything. The right bar soap can be very clean (such as mine) and be effective and non stripping. What I find appealing with my bar soap and any “clean beauty” soap is if you can understand the ingredients. That has become the most important thing for me in my products is to clearly understand what I am using on my face.

Conclusion

All in all you just do not want your cleanser to be stripping your skin. Remember stripping equals more oil production. When you cleanse your skin you are not looking for that tight tight feeling. That is an indicator that the cleanser is to harsh for your skin. I know sometimes that it can be mental and someone might desire that tight feeling to think that their skin is really clean. But we just need to let that go because in the long run it is not going to serve you well. If you want that, “I need to feel super clean feeling,” you can always follow up with a non alcoholic toner and see the results on a cotton round.

To not make this info to overwhelming I’ve decided to break this post into a Part 1 a Part 2 and a Part 3 because there is so much detail into really balancing the skin. Like I’ve mentioned before, me personally I have been on both spectrums of skin. I was an acne model in facial school where they could use my face to demonstrate how to properly extract black heads and pimples and then I was borderline psoriasis when I had moved to a new city. I want to explain how those two conditions happened to me so that if anyone else may be in similar situations they can learn for themselves how to get back into balance or just realize the climate their living in and how it can have a dominant factor on skin. So I will explain in Part 2 how my acne skin condition happened to me and recommend various products that I personally used to get back into balance.
December 14, 2024
This is the Low down on brands recipe sharing and (ingredient lists)
In this post I’m going to share with you a little bit of detail into products, ingredients, ingredient list and what to look for so you are getting your best bang for your buck when purchasing skincare products.

What products do you use???…..

When I am working and giving facials I will usually always after cleansing the skin ask the client, “what type of products are you using?” Or I may say, “what type of cleanser do you use?” The reason I am asking is because when you cleanse the skin you can feel the texture of the skin. If it is really dry then that can be an indicator that the cleanser is stripping the natural oils or overly drying the skin. Sometimes the skin is in great condition and feels really balanced so I am generally curious as to what the person is using on their skin. Now comes the open conversation. If they respond that they are using a big department store brand I always try to explain in the nicest way possible that certain brands share recipes.

Recipe Sharing

For example. I was dating a guy awhile back and he was actually into skincare. He was from Europe and liked to take care of his skin to some extent. One day we were out shopping and ended up at a high end retail store and we came across a very expensive European brand. Lets just say one bottle of cream retails for around $260.00. He was under the impression that due to the price and the fact the product line was produced in Europe it was one of the best skincare lines. I informed him that the brand was sold to Estee Lauder and its not the same formulations anymore.

This product (not saying exact brand to not get into trouble) was originally made in Germany. It was formulated to work with sea ingredients and it was claimed that the original formula you could eat it directly from the bottle. The creator wanted it organic and pure. What started out as impressive ended up getting altered. When the owner who created the skincare line passed away the family sold said pricey brand to Estee Lauder. So now what happens to the product? Reformulation. Even though Estee Lauder claims its the same formula I would have to say its pretty impossible. Why? First, I read the ingredient list and with certain preservatives in said formula you would not eat it out of the bottle. Second, I learned at the beginning of my career that the U.S. has more strict ingredient codes and certain products must contain certain approved preservatives. It can be frustrating for manufacturers from other countries because they sometimes have to alter there formulas to get into the U.S. market.

So you can see that if you start out with a great product and then the product gets sold, recipes can be altered. Unfortunately as a consumer unless your aware of the change over you wouldn’t know that a product line can be altered. This post is to bring awareness to the consumer as to how important ingredients are in a product and that recipes can be altered from the original once a company is sold. This can happen with a lot with brands. Not just in the skincare industry either. I have seen this happen with alcohol and food too. If you are in love with any brand or any particular product just be aware if it has been sold anything can be reformulated. If I know of brands that have been sold I let people know. Better to be an educated consumer and get the value you deserve for your dollar. Just for an idea there are 7 major companies that own a majority of our health and beauty products. Here is a list of the big “Umbrella” companies mainly running the beauty industry.

182 Beauty Companies are owned by 7 Major Players

And the players are….
- L’Oreal
- Estee Lauder Companies
- Coty
- Shiseido
- Unilever
- Proctor &Gamble
- Johnson & Johnson
Now consider all the beauty department stores and makeup stores. With so many brands and so many options it can be a lot to consider when purchasing. One opinion I have when I am shopping in certain beauty stores if there is a sales person helping me I expect them to know their brands. Yes most ambassadors or brand representatives are trained on the product lines that they are hired to work with but are they a skincare specialist? Meaning are they a licensed esthetician? Do they do facials and work on peoples faces and touch skin on a regular basis? Do they really know how to balance skin? If someone is selling you a product look at their skin as that would be a clear representation if they know what they are talking about.

I always encourage you to read a label. If your new to understanding ingredients you really want to learn ingredients and what they do. I am a label reader for food products, hair products, skincare products anything that is going on my body or into my body I am going to read the label. I will advise, because I have had this happen with brands, both in my trainings and just browsing on my own that its best to go straight to the ingredient list. You know on a label when they emphasize an ingredient and even explain what is does? I ignore all that I want to know exactly what is in the bottle, from first ingredient to last ingredient. If I am in a department store I will ask for the box if I can not find the ingredient list on the bottle. Why? You could promote and sell the best ingredients but they could be mixed in with the parabens and mineral oils and then all that descriptive talk would not matter. Again saying this so that you will get the best value for what you are consuming.

Clean Beauty

I really got into clean beauty in the last few years. It all started for me when I realized I had been obsessed with a Marc Jacobs brand lipstick. I was OBSESSED with a certain color. I wore it everyday on my lips. It was the best color and formula for me. A great color, lasted all day didn’t wear off and didn’t dry my lips. If I say that I was using that particular lipstick brand for over 5 years and wearing that color everyday I wouldn’t be lying. Then it happened. The line discontinued the color. So I did what I always do. I went crazy and tried to buy the color everywhere to have my stored up back stock. Then I started to run out of my back stock. (Mind you I learned you can always find make up going out of circulation on the apps Poshmart or Mercari.)

Now here I am going crazy for a lipstick color that is getting discontinued. All of a sudden it hit me when I really started to think about it. This lipstick stayed on my lips so good that I sometimes still had the color on my lips when I was going to bed. I mean of course I used makeup remover but there would be almost like a stain on my lips and I said you know this product I have been using everyday for 5 years and its like it almost is staining and staying on my lips. How can this be good? It just clicked in my brain that not only does lipstick have chemicals in it you are essentially consuming those chemicals when you eat. We all eat everyday and have products on our lips. That was the moment for me that I decided I wanted to switch to clean beauty products and I didn’t want added chemicals in my products.

From that point on I had to find a new lip product and I slowly wanted to clean out my skin and makeup supplies to be as non toxic as possible. I even switched up my nail products. I can honestly say I am really happy with the products I found. I of course always go back to using my https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ website to check a score on a product. I will say that I didn’t think I could find a product for my lips that I would love as much as the one I had been using but I actually did find a new lip product that I love even more. I’m sure I love it more because I know that I am not using harmful ingredients and even if it doesn’t have massive staying power it is nice to reapply.

https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/products/869370-Burts_Bees_Gloss_Lip_Crayon_Pacific_Coast/

When I tell you I love this product for my lips I LOVE IT (not sponsored). It is from Burt’s Bees and I have used some of their products before but nothing for the lips. Its a lip crayon and it goes on so nicely and really good packaging and lasts a LONG time. Its also very economical. It received a score of 2 out of 10 on the Environmental Working Group website which is still considered the clean zone for beauty products.

I’m going to list here some websites that I found for my makeup when I wanted to switch to clean beauty. I know these brands and have used them and I have been very happy with the products I have used from these sites.
Label Reading

Of course I have to add my own products here because again I need to emphasize you want to clearly understand what is on the label or clearly understand the ingredient list. I love my tallow cream and love how clean it is.

https://elementlufu.com/store/lavender-and-lemongrassntallow-cream/

If you scroll down and read the ingredient list there is just 5 ingredients all of which I would hope you can understand.
1. Beef Tallow: Majority of the product is made up of. This ingredient is so nourishing for the skin and full of vitamins. (Really is the secret to anti aging).
2. Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Second ingredient so has a high concentrated level of oil to nourish and hydrate skin.
3. Organic Jojoba oil: An oil close to your skins own level of ph so again great for a hydrated and balanced skin
4. Organic Lemongrass essential oil: Main properties to help naturally preserve product
5. Organic Lavender essential oil: Also to preserve product and give off healing properties.
Again that is why I created this line with clean labels so you know exactly what is going on your skin and its effectiveness.

Conclusion

To sum up everything here I would say the most important take away is read your labels. Really know the ingredient list and what is in the actual bottle you are about to purchase. Take note that any company can reformulate, change recipes and be sold and thus change recipes. If your really in love with a brand you can always look up the history just to make sure the company has not been sold. I have also done that with food brand. I cannot stress enough to just read the ingredient label and know what is in the product. Also as a consumer you have the choice if you want to consume chemicals both in your food and in your beauty and body products. I hope that this maybe gave you a little insight into making a choice for yourself and bringing awareness to how “Larger” companies can work. If you have any questions feel free to comment or reach out on the contact form.
December 6, 2024
Flower Essences
What are flower essences and how do they work? I am going to try my best to explain flower essences in this post along with sharing personal experiences that I have had over the course of the years using them. I first discovered flower essences over 8 years ago while randomly listening to a podcast. It was a two week self help workshop where a different contributor was being interviewed everyday. I choose to listen to this particular podcast because it was described as anyone who loves flowers and promised we would learn about the essence and properties of flowers and how the flowers work for us and our emotional health in our everyday lives. I had no idea what was in store. The person being interviewed was Katie Hess the founder of Lotus Wei https://www.lotuswei.com/

In a nutshell if I were to describe flower essences I remember someone explaining that back in mid evil times before there was a lot of medicine available if someone was feeling down they were told to find the essence or dew of their favorite flower and rub it on their face and drink the dew drops. This act of rubbing the dew on oneself was supposed to help with a natural emotional healing as each flower has a different property that can address such emotional issues as depression, anger, frustration, guilt, jealousy, on and on.

To describe it from Katie Hess

“Flower elixirs are liquid infusions of fresh flowers. They consist of water that contains the bioenergetic imprint of the flowers. This energetic imprint travels through the acupuncture meridians, like an acupuncture treatment without the needles.

Historically, these types of flower remedies are called flower essences. They do not have a scent. To avoid confusion with aromatherapy and essential oils, we have always referred to them as flower elixirs.

When taken internally or applied externally, flower elixirs work through the acupuncture meridians to shift our state of mind, often within minutes, with an exponential effect over time.”

My first time trying flower essences

After I listened to the podcast I was pretty sold on trying out these flower essences. I liked the concept and so I went on to the website to figure out which flower elixir I wanted to try. There were various choices and also mixed flower blends on the site that would address such issues as happiness, inner peace, inspiration, sleep, and love. The one I choose was called Infinite Love. Low key was in the mind set of attracting love but the description as much as it said magnetizes others to be around you it also had about 8 other infinite love properties. Mainly focusing on self love and being kind to yourself. So I placed my order and patiently waited for my Lotus Wei Infinite Love flower elixir to arrive in the mail. When my packaged arrive about 5 days later I started taking my elixir. Basically comes in a glass bottle and is recommended to take up to 5 times a day. So into my mouth goes the drops. Its a subtle wait where you start with the dosage, continue living and then, see what happens. Did I notice a drastic change overnight? No. It says it takes about 2 to 3 days before you feel anything. Well I did start to notice after a few days I would have these loving thoughts for myself and literally a voice in my head would say to me, ” Why would you think that about yourself that isn’t nice to think that way about yourself.” It was very interesting because the self loving thoughts would come out of nowhere. I did notice it though. So I knew in some way this flower elixir was working.

I will say at the time my cousin was staying with me and I talked her into trying these flower elixirs too. She chose Quiet Mind and it was supposed to help with sleep issues. She definitely fell asleep a lot faster using the elixir she choose. One night she asked me if I wanted to try it and honestly I don’t have issues falling asleep but I was keen to give it a go. I did the 5 drops under my tongue and I slept very deep that night. So deep, that the next morning I woke up very groggy. So with Infinite Love and a one time hit of Quiet Mind I experienced the beginning of my flower essence journey.

All things flowers

As the years passed I became more and more obsessed with anything flowers. I started to see that flowers are here for us and they have so many innate healing properties. In the world of facial products I had seen various brands use flower essences or floral sprays to use on the face. Initially I didn’t understand it. For example if a brand had lavender water and said to spray on the face as a boost I always wondered why would you do that? Why would you spray over your cream or your foundation? Well as time passed and I became more and more into using make up and makeup application I was seeing everyone use setting spray to set their make up. I had already ordered and used the Lotus Wei Infinite Love Aura Mist numerous times and that is when I decided that would be my setting spray. I became obsessed with spraying on my face before I walked out the door or just adding a mist in the middle of the day to get my floral boost. I kind of imagine it like a bouquet of flowers being sprayed on your face and then who wouldn’t glow after that?

Just a little plug here. That is why I choose the formulation I did for my element Lufu balancing face toner. https://elementlufu.com/store/gentle-balancing-toner/If you check the ingredient list you will find rose flower, green tea, chamomile and aloe vera. Spray away and indulge in the bouquet of goodness for your spirit and you skin.
Product successfully added to your cart.View Cart
- Gentle Balancing Toner
  
  $24.00
  
  ADD TO CART CHECKOUT NOW
  
  Gentle Balancing Toner
  
  $24.00
  
  ADD TO CART CHECKOUT NOW
  
  Successfully Added to your Shopping Cart
  
  Adding to Cart…
So as the years went on and I had been dabbling with the various elixirs offered by Lotus Wei I started to remember a brand of floral essences I had seen at health food stores in the vitamin section. That brand was Bach Flower Remedies. I was kind of wanting to try a new brand and see what the difference is. I was researching on the website of Bach when I realized he was the grandfather of floral essences having started his brand in England in 1930. The main difference is he used a base of homeopathy to mix his essences and his tinctures where mixed in alcohol (brandy). Lotus Wei bases here elixirs in honey. So I was down to try a new brand. I had actually found some at my local Sprouts and they came in a three pack. There were 3 different emotional issues being addressed in the 3 pack and you would choose the pack by the theme of the issues. That local store supplied two of the 3 pack themes so I had to choose. I basically was getting 3 different issues addressed in one box.

Trying Bach Flower Remedies

So I started my first bottle and was taking my suggested drops 3 times a day. It is always the same feeling when you start to take a floral essence. It takes time to kick in and is very subtle. It takes time but after a few days you do definitely notice something. So in this case I had just started on one of the bottles and had been taking for about a week. Here comes the deep part. I started noticing out of nowhere I was having flashbacks of times I had spent with my ex. Mind you this is my ex I had broken up with over 10 years prior. I literally could see a flash of something that happened between us and I would think yeah I remember he used to do that or oh I remember that wasn’t a good experience. This went on for about 3 days. Just random flashbacks of my past with my ex and not positive memories. I could literally see a scenario from my past happen with him and it would come out of nowhere. It wasn’t making sense to me because I hadn’t thought about that guy in a long time. All of a sudden it hit me it was the flower remedy I was taking. I literally sat there and thought I don’t know why I’m having these memories flash up but this seems like grief. Let me see what issue this flower remedy is supposed to address. I grabbed the bottle and right on it was the word Grief. For me I realized wow this stuff works.

Now to tie these flower essences into skincare. Besides the fact that once I learned how amazing floral essences are for the face and created my own toner with a bouquet of flowers, I do feel from my own personal experience that once your internal body is glowing and your feeling more emotionally balanced your external appearance will glow. I just love what floral essences do for your emotional healing. Anytime I was giving a facial and a client may have felt that they were interested in a way of finding emotional balance naturally I would tell them my experience with flower essences. I always make the comment if the whole world was using these things we would all be in a much more balanced space. I’m obsessed and love using the flower remedies. I always like to have a flower essence on hand. Even if I may not necessarily feel the issue the essence is designed to address I just like having a flower essence available.

Here is a list of links to use if you want to better understand flower remedies
- https://www.lotuswei.com/blogs/blog/tagged/flowers – blog explaining the flowers and properties
- https://www.lotuswei.com/pages/podcast – podcast
- https://www.bach-flowers.co.uk/bach-remedies.asp – explains Dr. Bachs healing theories with flowers
- https://www.bach-flowers.co.uk/using-bach-remedies.asp – how to use the flower remedies and dosage
- Store – Old English Lufu means Love – link to my store and skincare products
- https://www.DirectlyFromNature.com/?Click=95171 – my affiliate link also a special one time coupon with link
Conclusion

Something that I literally stumbled upon while cleaning house one day turned out to be such a life changer. Flower remedies are great. They are harmless to the body and anyone can use them. You can use on pets, babies, children even plants. I find it fascinating that Dr. Bach’s theory on healing, stems from the idea that as long as your emotional state is good in your mindset then the body can heal. He has 38 flowers dedicated to healing your emotional state. He was a big believer in healing mind, body and spirit. I still stand by my idea that if everyone in the world was taking flower remedies we would have no problems.

If you click on the photos it will link you to the Bach Remedies website. Enjoy a one time discount code

http://<p><a href=”https://www.Direc
December 2, 2024
Three Ingredients I Will Not Use in Skincare
Clean Beauty (What’s in a product)

Are we someone who reads ingredient labels? Do we pay attention to ingredients? Do we have time to pay attention to ingredients? I have been reading labels since way back both on food and skin products. I think it is very important to know what you are consuming both topically and internally. Everything you use on your body and everything you consume affects your internal dialogue. Some people do not realize that your skin is the largest organ of your body. What does that mean? Whatever you put on your skin penetrates directly into your body and can absorb into your bloodstream within minutes. The product on your skin will absorb in some form into your systems faster than food.

Why? For example, food has to first work with the saliva in your mouth, then passes through the acids in your stomach, then small intestine where it works with the bile from your liver to start sending out and absorbing the nutrients you need to nourish the body. Your skin however, absorbs ingredients with determining factors, such as how your skin pH is upon application, how large the molecules of product are, fatty lipids in product verses water substance, product formulation and the condition of you skin upon application. Just note that the skin does get penetrated by what ingredients you put on it and absorbs (ingredient makes it into your bloodstream) a percentage of everything you put on your skin.

One thing I like to do is have an toxic score app or website that I can use to check the brand of the products and the name of the exact product I am considering purchasing to check for toxicity. This gives me some piece of mind if something has a low toxicity score. Here are some websites/apps that you can use to test and score products before you consider purchasing them. Some also test food and household cleansers.

Clean Beauty Websites/Apps
One of my main go to sites I have been using for years is the Environmental Working Group with Skindeep https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ for my skincare and beauty products. I love that they give products a score from 0 to 10. You can go on the site or app and look up almost any brand and any product your considering to buy and find a score to see how toxic a product is. You can also see an ingredient breakdown and what the potential harmful effects of a particular ingredient has on the body.

Product Ingredients and Fillers

Now that you have a resource to check the chemical make up of your products that you are using or are considering to purchase I am going to share with you a few basic ingredients out there that have been my No No’s for years, once I realized what they were. The biggest NO for me is PARABENS, SODIUM LAURYL SULFATE, AND MINERAL OIL.
1. To me the easiest to explain a paraben is that it is a filler. It is not necessary in a product. Parabens can be considered a filler or a preservative. If you look at a container for a product, say for example a shampoo bottle and you see the thick creamy white product. Over half of that bottle could be filled with a paraben which is basically a substance to fill the bottle. The main parabens you can see on a label are methylparaben, propylparaben and isopropyl paraben. Whenever I read an ingredient label and the product has a paraben in it I put the product back. Why would I spend my money on a filler to “fill” the bottle per se and what could possibly make the product that effective for use on my hair or skin?
2. Another huge No No for me has been sodium lauryl sulfate or sodium laureth sulfate. Basically this is a surfactant or aka an emulsifier. What that translates to is that it is a degreaser. (Product has been known for use to degrease automobile engines) It is one of the first ingredients in shampoo as it will lather up your hair and give you that nice lather soapy deep clean feeling. However, there are other more natural ingredients that when blended properly can have the same emulsifying effect but not be so harsh and damaging to the pores of your skin.
3. A third ingredient that is a No No is mineral oil. I cannot tell you how many products they put this ingredient into. You can find a lot of baby oils and sunscreens (the worst) that have this ingredient. Number one easy way to explain why mineral oil is not good for the skin is that the molecule is to big for the skin to absorb and its a petroleum or petroleum derivative. Usually this means that the product is cheaply manufactured. More importantly than the manufacturing process is that mineral oil is a petroleum distillate or derivative. I always like to use this visual for anything petroleum based. Imagine an oil spill in the ocean, now imagine your body is the ocean and imagine that petroleum or oil on your skin. Can you see it? Your full of oil and nothing is penetrating through especially sun or oxygen. How can you survive without sun or oxygen and yet this petroleum based product is sitting on your skin. The question or answer as to why manufacturers are putting that ingredient in baby oil is mind blowing. Consumers aren’t always educated on what certain ingredients are and what/how they affect the skin of the body.
Quick Process for Label Reading

So to make label reading for skin products easy I will usually read a product label and quickly scan for any form of these three ingredients If I see any of these ingredients in a product its an instant NO. If I don’t see any of my 3 major No No’s I’ll usually take out my phone and look a product up after that to see if its in a product testing database and what score it has received. Sometimes I’ll research at home before I go out to see if I like a companies ingredients. You can always start with a companies website and find the actual ingredient list to know if you are interested in the products. This process makes it easier to decide on a purchase and how “clean” it is for the body.

I’ve also learned in my training throughout the years with different product lines that it is good to know where ingredients are derived from. Meaning are they derived from a scientific lab or are they derived from “nature” by either extracting the ingredients directly from a plant, tree, or root in nature. Reason being the body will almost always absorb and thrive on any ingredients that are derived from nature which in my opinion makes the product more effective to achieve results over a lab produced ingredient.

I will get into the breakdown of the derivatives of ingredients used in products in another post. As for now I just wanted to give you a little idea of how a product formulation can have an effect on both your body and your wallet. If your buying something with fillers and harmful ingredients that wont even penetrate into your skin but sit on the surface of your skin are you really getting any value from that product? If your purchasing a product that is clean and will work with the natural cells of your body doesn’t that seem more effective? Hopefully you can feel motivated to check your ingredient labels if you are someone who hasn’t been a label reader. If you are a label reader but want more information about what is in a product and how it affects the skin/body I hope using one of the apps or websites mentioned will help you to start checking the status of a products ingredients and feel confident in making a “clean” purchase for yourself or your loved ones. If you have any other instant “NO” ingredients you see in a skincare product let me know in the comments.
November 23, 2024
Confessions of a Licensed Esthetician
This post is for anyone working in the beauty industry or anyone thinking about working in the beauty industry. I’m going to be brutally honest here and tell you the ups and downs of working in the beauty and spa sector. There is always the good the bad and the ugly of working in any field. If your a people person there is more good than bad.

Lets start with what could be the bad. Nothing is that bad there are just some facts to point out in this industry that not everyone realizes are going on behind the scenes. When your a customer you will not always think about these issues but its a reality in this industry. Disclaimer here these are things that are coming from both my personal experiences and my opinion.

The Bad
1. Free Services or giving away your time and skill with no pay. An example I would give here is obviously a free nail service or facial or whatever it is in this industry you do for a job interview. This is a reality. When you go to an interview you have to show your work and you will have to perform a service with no pay. Where that can get not so pretty is if your constantly interviewing and having to give services and no one will pay you for that. I am okay with this in the sense that this is part of the reality of this industry. Another not so pretty is once you get hired and then you need to train you will be doing more free services. Imagine if an establishment has 8 different services on the menu. They want you to learn all the services and be able to perform them well. So you will be doing lots of services to practice and this is normally at a training rate (minimum wage). Occasionally people can tip you while your practicing.
2. Insurance depending on where you work you may need to provide and pay for your own liability insurance. Some companies will allow you to work under their insurance but sometimes you will have to provide and pay for your own insurance. Why this is necessary is if you have a rare experience or incident with a client (for example the wax was to hot and you waxed a client and their skin ripped and scarred) that client can sue you and you would want to have coverage.
3. Low commissions, tricky pay or an establishment keeps your tips. When you interview some places are not so transparent and they will offer information about your commissions, percentage and gratuity in the interview process while discussing your pay. You can start working and realize they set up the commissions in their favor by their booking process. Or you can work and I’ve had this happen personally where the establishment charges a service fee and they state on the website in teeny tiny fine print that the service fee is not for your service provider but if you would like to leave an additional gratuity you are encouraged to. (this is after the client was just charged 20 percent service charge on top of the service price.) Pretty sure the client is thinking that they just tipped.
4. Do not love product or brand I’m working with. Another frustration I have had throughout my career is not being in love with the product. Imagine getting hired at an amazing place and having amazing clientele and then the product or brand the place chooses to use you are not in love with. Its not always that your not in love with the product but you know from your knowledge and experience that there are better things out there. Imagine too that your expected to sell that brand and can earn commissions but the product could be a high price point and you do not believe in it. I have done so many facials where someone will ask me, ” so what do you use on your face?” You know its not the brand your working with but it puts you in an awkward response of well these products I’m using on you right now are good but for your skin there could be something better. Always not an easy thing to juggle.
5. Disease and condition of the nails for the nail technicians. People do not realize that you will be working on fungus on both the nails and the skin of the feet. Sometimes it smells. You are responsible for the proper sanitation and clean up after that client. Hopefully the establishment where you are working has gloves and provides gloves because I’ve had that issue where the order didn’t arrive and now we have this type of client to work on.
6. You become a free therapist. It has been said that psychology should be a pre requisite to work in the beauty industry. A lot of people tell you a lot of things. Some things you could go without knowing. I’ve been doing services where people can be sharing very intimate details about their life and sometimes you need to know how to respond.
7. The questioning. Guaranteed you will be questioned everything about yourself and your life. I have worked in the high end sector with high end and private clients and your trained not to ask them personal questions. On the contrary they will ask you anything and everything about yourself. Sometimes I think I don’t know you and I do not feel like answering this question but you kind of have to navigate how to answer with grace as they are a paying customer.
8. Bossy or controlling customers who tell you what to do or how to do your job. It can happen sometimes where instead of someone coming for a relaxing service they want to tell you how to do the service. You usually have to tip toe around them as you can never tell if its their personality or they are unhappy with the service being performed. Or they could be having a bad day and you are the lucky chosen one to receive the brunt of it all.
Even though the bad can seem super negative there are also some amazing positive aspects to this type of career. I have had way more good than bad and that is why I have stayed in the industry as long as I have. Taking it to a more positive note we can explore the good side of working in the spa and beauty industry.

The Good
1. Amazing clients. You can meet the most amazing people and depending on where you work you can have regulars and once in awhile(no guarantee) they can become life long friends. You can always learn a lot from your clients too. Many people that I have done services on have became friends or found ways to stay in touch.
2. Receive services at a discount and do trades. Always nice when you have extra time to practice services with a coworker and have a little surprise pampering time all while having a little extra coworker bonding.
3. Friendships with coworkers can be amazing. Normally working in the same type of environment and having studied from the same book it brings a commonality and you can usually find someone in your work space you “click” with. I have loved working with so many people in all my different spa and salon jobs and have great memories with them all.
4. Back to the amazing clients I have learned so much from my clients. It has always been interesting when someone has an interesting career choice or owns their own business and talks about it. Its fun to hear from people and different perspectives and learn something new as your working.
5. Product discounts. Always a perk when working with spa and beauty products to be able to get a discount or wholesale price. I have quite an array of spa products in the bathroom but they eventually get used.
6. Staying up with the latest trends. For me personally its nice to be in a career where your getting exposed to the newest trends. There is always change in this environment and growth. You can choose to keep it old fashioned and stick to the basic facial styles, or learn the equipment and machine facials. Its nice to be able to incorporate a little bit of both styles to a facial for example.
7. Trade Shows are the best. This is what keeps you in the know and its always fun to see the new concepts and trends being launched out in the industry. Normally bonding with a coworker or two as you attend the trade shows and being able to buy most things at cost as your attending the show with your license.
8. Great pay. If you set yourself up at the right establishment you can definitely make a great commission and pay rate. I’ve learned over time what places are good to work for and what commission scale works in the therapist favor. Note: I would probably never work for a place that offers either or whichever is greater in a two week period. That usually pans out to making minimum wage and you do all the work and the establishment gets paid in their favor. Again speaking from experience.
9. Down time you can give yourself a service. Always a plus. Sometimes from working in the industry it gives you the time to pamper yourself too. I have worked in some not so busy places and let me tell you my nails always had polish on them during that employment.
In conclusion working in the spa or beauty service industry can have its ups and downs but as long as you can focus on the booking and the end goal it can balance out to be a rewarding experience with each client and thus a rewarding career. I have loved working on all my clients and have some great memories through the years of some clients and the things they did or said that stay with me. I can still remember that special client that would always book a service every Friday for example or my male client that only wanted me to do his manicures and would work around my schedule every 2 weeks. There is definitely a human connection in this field of work and adding the beauty and benefits of enhancing a persons looks or the feeling of helping someone to feel pampered is a great reward.

Through it all the good or the bad the spa and beauty industry is a service industry that incorporates the power of touch. We all end up touching and enriching each others lives whether it be by the touch of a hand or the power of a skincare or body suggestion to enhance your overall feeling of health and well being. It is a great industry to work in and very personable on many levels. After over 15 years in the industry I can say that I am very happy I made the career choice that I did. Write a comment if you want to add to any of the pros or cons of the industry that I may have missed in the comments section. Also feel free to reach out with any questions per the contact button.
November 14, 2024