Old English Lufu means Love

Category: Skin

  • Flower Essences

    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

     

    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

    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

     

     

  • Three Ingredients I Will Not Use in Skincare

    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.

  • Confessions of a Licensed Esthetician

    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.

X

Newsletter Signup

Sign up now and never miss a thing!

X

You're Signed Up!

Now that you are signed up, we will send you exclusive offers periodically.