Category

Food for thought

October 2, 2021
6

HOW WE CHOOSE OUR PROVIDERS

By | Beauty, Food for thought, Home, Massage | No Comments

Glow Concierge works with beauty, wellness and fitness providers around Switzerland. We entrust these people with an important mission – to provide a good first impression of the brand. How do we make sure then that these individuals get it right?

YOUR FIRST CONTACT

Our every partnership starts with a test appointment. Rosamund, the founder and CEO of Glow Concierge, created this brand first and foremost because SHE needed these services. Whichever provider you book, you can be sure she had a treatment with him/her before.

It is important to us that you receive only the best quality services. That’s why Rosamund not only tests the providers herself, but also tries to get a treatment with them once in a while to check if everything is according to Glow Concierge Standards.

YOUR SAFETY FIRST

Allowing strangers in your home can be a little nerve wracking. Glow Concierge possesses information about each provider at all times. In more than three years of our existence, there were no major incidents. One thing we always ask people who are still having reservations is, do you have someone who cleans for you? Do you often give this person a key? Are you often out when they are in your home? If the answer is yes to any of these questions then there’s no need to think any further!

PROVIDING THE SPA EXPERIENCE

Glow Concierge was created with an idea that you can combine the comfort of your home with the pleasure of being in a salon, leaving out all the unnecessary and somewhat frustrating parts like looking for a babysitter or searching for a parking spot.

All our providers receive Glow Concierge Towels, which you are very welcome to use! As soon as you’ve made yourself your drink of choice, you will be surrounded by fluffy white towels, and all the equipment you would normally find in a salon. Andrei even goes as far as to turn on a relaxing playlist during your massage.

EARNING YOUR TRUST STEP BY STEP

We hope this article has helped you to understand Glow Concierge better. Should you have any more questions, we’re always ready to respond to them in the comments below.

Your Glow Concierge

July 24, 2021
3

WHICH YOGA TYPE IS BEST FOR ME?

By | Fitness, Food for thought | One Comment

Chakra, Ayurveda, Nidra, Vinyasa, Tridosha – unless you studied Sanskrit, you probably have no idea how to get your head around so many types of yoga.

If you don’t have time to try all of these yoga types for your own, read this article and discover which one will cater to your personal needs.

VINYASA

Vinyasa Yoga, also referred to as “flow yoga”, is one of the most common practices in the world. Some translate Vinyasa as “to place in a special way”, meaning that it requires conscious movements from each and every part of our bodies.

The Flow Yoga is all about calm and balanced movement. Together with your breath you flow from one posture into another, constantly changing and yet remaining still.

No Vinyasa practice is ever the same. This yoga type is so intuitive and different for each individual that you can even start doing it on your own after a while.

It is best suited for those working office jobs or with the low-activity lifestyles. Vinyasa Yoga brings you back to movement while stretching all the limbs and bones of the body.

CHAKRA

In ancient Sanskrit Chakra means a spinning wheel. According to the yogic belief there are 7 of these wheels surrounding our physical body. They are responsible for the flow of life and energy through us.

Every Chakra is of special significance and regulates the way we experience reality through the different emotions, aspirations or fears.

Therefore, if even one of the spinning wheels becomes blocked, the whole mechanism gets impaired. This can lead to anxiety, lethargy, digestive or other health issues. 

The focus of Chakra yoga is to locate the impaired or even blocked chakras and help you feel like yourself again. This is usually achieved by a combination of asanas, physical movements and meditation.

NIDRA

This practice is best suited for treating anxiety, insomnia and burnout symptoms, as it can be compared to a full 3hour sleep!

In Yoga Nidra you don’t need to freeze in uncomfortable poses for minutes, stretch, use muscle strenghth or do any kind of physical activity. You will start and finish the class lying on your mat.

The main goal of this session is to get you into a deep state of conscious sleep. Unlike meditation, where you normally observe your thoughts come and go, the yoga nidra sleep is the state of conscious dreaming while remaining awake.

Yoga nidra works with autonomic nervous system, which regulates the unconscious processes in our body, like heartbeat or breathing.

A recent study found that while both yoga nidra and meditation had the benefits of reducing stress, yoga nidra was more efficient in reducing anxiety.

AYURVEDA & TRIDOSHA

Practiced all over the world for more than 5000 years Ayurveda is one of the fundamental elements of the ancient Indian teachings. It literally translates as the science of life and well-being.

Ayurveda is based on the principle of three doshas – three pollutants in the human body. Each of these pollutants regulates our skin type, digestion patterns and many other aspects of who you are.

This practice recognizes that every individual has her/his own prevalent Dosha. The Ayurveda and Tridosha practitioners usually access the needs of their clients to develop a unique exercise routine.

This practice is somewhat similar to the flow yoga, with its continuous movements and breathing exercises, but is at the same time more personalized and directed at treating your own disbalances.

As you might have already noticed, yoga is not about getting your body into the perfect shape. Yoga is the science of mental and physical balance, of feeling who you are and what your body needs.

A personal class at your home is the perfect opportunity to dig in deeper into your feelings and discover the hidden imbalances within yourself.

July 3, 2021
3

WHY LOVE YOGA

By | Fitness, Food for thought, Health | One Comment

Most of us are well-informed about the benefits of yoga. We associate this activity with healthy lifestyle, flexibility and mental well-being. But sometimes it seems so hard to force ourselves to do it. If you are one of those people who think “Yoga is not for me”, here are some good news! YOGA IS FOR EVERYONE.

Let’s first reexamine some of the benefits in comparison to other physical exercises.

There’s a tremendous amount of research confirming that certain yoga types can improve health through down-regulation of hypothalamic– pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). These two systems are the main responders to stress in our bodies. Therefore, the more often there’s a need for them to work, the more disbalanced your body’s response to triggers gets. This dysfunction then leads to obesity, diabetes, autoimmune disorders, depression, substance abuse, and cardiovascular disease.

Yoga has immediate effects on stress hormones and increase of natural killer cells. Studies even suggest that it reverses the impact of stress on the immune system. Moreover, you can actually feel the change, as yoga has also been shown to decrease anxiety and increase feelings of emotional, social and spiritual well-being.

Many studies have compared the effects of yoga and other physical activities such as fitness, stretching, walking, running or dancing. And, while the results on blood sugar reduction were similarly positive, yoga has been shown to have much greater benefits on the psyche.

In most of these comparisons yoga has been shown to be as effective as or superior to exercise on nearly every outcome measured.

The research conducted on women in labor or experiencing menopause confirmed the ease of the symptoms as well. While the pregnant women practicing yoga experienced an increase in maternal comfort and shortened labor time, the occurrence of hot flashes for menopausal participants reduced significantly.

COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT YOGA

Time Consuming

A lot of people who have never practiced yoga believe that it is really hard to choose a studio, yoga type, instructor or the time to start. However, they forget that the main focus of any yoga type is to bring balance to one’s life. It doesn’t matter if you start with Asana Yoga or Ayurveda, your instructor is going to focus on your specific needs.

Thus, all you need to do is click on “Book an Appointment” at glowconcierge.ch and your instructor will come straight to your door and care for a smooth start in your yoga journey.

Women’s thing

Surveys show that men can feel uncomfortable in yoga classes, either because they are surrounded by women or because they do not feel comfortable doing some exercises. Other than that, it is a common belief that if an exercise does not include weight lifting or enormous calorie burn, it is not worth doing.

But as we have mentioned earlier, yoga has many benefits on your general well-being. A skinny, exhausted figure is not a guarantee that you won’t get burned out the next day.

The bottom line is that everybody, men or women, want to stay healthy and yoga is an easy solution for that.

Doesn’t burn enough calories

Maybe yoga will not burn as many calories as an hour of running on a treadmill. But it has been shown that people who practice yoga tend to make healthier nutrition choices. Combine this fact with the lowered stress and blood sugar levels, and here you’ve got all the calories you would have burned doing something else.

Yoga is boring

This one is a classical fear of people willing to start yoga. They view it as standing in one position for 10 minutes without anything to do. However, yoga offers a huge variety of exercises oriented at different muscle groups at once. After all, in 3000 years of existence of yoga there must have been developed some exciting exercises.

To sum up, yoga does not only improve physical and  psychological conditions, but is also a great relaxation technique. It engages many muscle groups while keeping your mind at peace at all times. If you are suffering from lower back pain, cardiovascular disease or experiencing stress, yoga is exactly what you need.

We always test the providers before they start to work with us. So you can be 100% sure that the person who comes to your home has the friendliest personality and is well qualified. If you still haven’t fallen in love with yoga, let them help you make the first step.

Your Glow Concierge

June 19, 2021
2

NUTRITION HACKS FOR BETTER PERIODS

By | Food for thought, Health, Nutrition | No Comments

“That time of the month” doesn’t need to mean bloating, mood swings or painful cramps. Avoid period fatigue with these nutrition tweaks and you could be on your way to downgrading or eliminating symptoms all together!

UP THOSE OMEGA 3’s
Good fats, like Omega 3’s, are a dream at helping your body reduce inflammation which is key in reducing cramping. High-quality fats are exactly what your body needs to balance hormones and they even help clear skin. Look to add avocados, olive oil and grass-fed butter to your diet. They are great to sneak into your smoothies and salads – you’ll barely notice.

SAY BYE BYE TO PROCESSED FOOD
Eating whole foods is brilliant for your body and its functions. Your body is intelligent, when you put an apple into it or lean chicken, it knows what to do with it.
Go and check your pantry now, pick up a food that has a label on it. Read the list of the ingredients – if there are ingredients you can’t pronounce, then it stands to reason that your body won’t know how to digest them either!

EAT THE RAINBOW
Increase your consumption of fruits and vegetables. When you get playful and try and eat every color of the rainbow you soon find you have added additional fiber, vitamins and minerals without even trying. With a special shout out to phytonutrients which only exist in plant based food. They talk directly to our cells, helping increase immunity and decrease inflammation.

GET PICKY WITH YOUR PROTEINS.
It’s very simple when you think about it. Our bodies produce our own hormones and then balance them in line with our cycle. If we start to add new hormones – from factory farmed meat – we give our body new work to do and evolution hasn’t yet taught us how to do this and maintain a pain free period.
Buying organic grass fed meat (and where possible keep it local) takes this stress off of our bodies so it can focus on what it does best. Many people have noted that reduced meat consumption provides a more comfortable flow.

Daisy Quin – Yoga Instructor and Nutritionist in LA

@spiritualmixtape

April 3, 2021
3

2021 – THE YEAR OF LITTLE BIG WEDDINGS

By | Beauty, Bridal, Fashion, Food for thought, Party | No Comments

With a large numbers of couples postponing their weddings last year, this wedding season is expected to be the biggest we’ve even seen. Even though the COVID-19 regulations are still quite strict, there are some celebrations waiting to be held since last year and we cannot wait any longer. So what is 2021 going to bring us? Fully booked outdoor locations? Guests not coming because of the restrictions? New delays and expectations?

Planning any kind of event now is a real headache! But look at the bright side, now you have a legit excuse to not invite some people you would have “had to”. This year is the perfect opportunity for a small but elegant wedding. Our motto for 2021 is “Less is More“!

Because some couples have been planning to throw a big party for more than a year it might be hard to find a venue for your little celebration, but there are always alternatives. Especially so if you are only allowed to invite up to 15 people.

Our recipe for the perfect wedding is renting a small house somewhere next to a lake and enjoying this moment with your closest friends.

Here’s a list of things you should be looking for to throw the perfect party:

  1. Search for the place with a big enough garden
  2. Make sure the neighbors in that location know what you are planning and will not call the police (this can really happen in Switzerland!)
  3. Do not forget the makeup and hair! Even if it is a small celebration you would still want to look flawless in your wedding pictures.
  4. Order some flowers to decorate as well as your bouquet
  5. Stock up on Champagne and delicious food

We hope this list inspires you to not delay your special day any longer and get down to planning. If you need any help with the third step Glow Concierge is always there to help! For weddings and special occasions our providers can often drive beyond their regions of availability that you can see on the website. So if you are not sure what you need or how to plan it, write us an email and we will organise everything for you! You can also schedule a trial appointment to see which sort of style you want without stressing about it on your big day.

P.S. There’s more about weddings and our services coming on our social media. Subscribe to our Instagram or Facebook channels not to miss it.

March 27, 2021
2

POST WINTER SKIN

By | Beauty, Food for thought, Home, Massage | No Comments

We’re all tired of winter and our skin even more so! All combined, the dry cold air, continuous handwashing and sanitizing are just a recipe for disaster.

If being responsible and sanitizing hands in every supermarket has shown on your hands here are some tips that’ll help revive the skin:

1.Scrubbing first. Take off that dry layer of dead skin cells and let the new ones shine. Moisturizing does not often give the effect you’re expecting it to because a big part of what you’re trying to hydrate are dead skin cells.

Buying a body scrub or having a professional scrub your hands and body can help the skin prepare for the creams and lotions you’re about to give it. Full Body Sea Salt Peeling from Caterina is the perfect treatment to shed off your winter skin and massage a complex of refreshing and moisturizing ingredients in.

2. Moisturize, Moisturize, Moisturize… Putting a hand lotion at your sink or using some body milk after the shower can really change the way your skin feels. But sometimes we might want something extra, be it a professional hand massage after a manicure or a full body treatment.

Raindrops Massage with 7 Essential Oils from Alexandra is designed to enrich your body with vitamins and relax your soul. It is bringing the body into structural and electrical alignment and makes you feel recharged and ready for summer.

3. Have you forgotten something? When we are wearing closed shoes and socks all the time it is easy to forget about the skin on your feet.

Save yourself the struggle, book the classical pedicure, and we’ll make your feet sexy again.

4. By looking at your face it is easy to estimate the health of your body. And when if not under direct spring sunlight will the bags under your eyes be more visible.

Having a basic facial or a microneedling treatment once a month is the perfect way to maintain your skin bright and shiny.

Your Glow Concierge

March 13, 2021
1

MAKING THE SWITCH TO NATURAL HAIRCARE? 5 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW FIRST

By | Beauty, Fashion, Food for thought, Health | No Comments

As the founder of nul, a no-nonsense natural personal care brand, I speak with many clients who want to make the switch to more natural products.

For a good reason, too! At their best, natural products:

  • Are more environmentally friendly
  • Don’t use potentially harmful chemicals
  • Nourish your skin and hair with many beneficial plant extracts
  • Often have plastic-free packaging

However, there are also some things to be aware of when making the switch. Here are the top 5 things you should know before making the switch to natural haircare.

1.    Is it really natural?

Natural beauty is a hot trend right now, and with this comes greenwashing. Many brands claim they have 100% naturally-derived products, but it’s not the case when you look closer. 

Take one of the most common ingredients for shampoo bars: sodium cocoyl isethionate (SCI). While it may be derived from plant oils, it’s not a natural product. The process to make SCI requires harmful chemicals, which are also used in processing crude oil. 

The easiest way to know if a product is really natural is to look out for a COSMOS certification from BDiH, EcoCert, or Natrue. 

However, many small producers can’t afford the certification. So if you’re looking to buy from an indie brand, ask them if their products comply with the COSMOS-standard.

2.    No more silicones

Natural products don’t contain silicones because they don’t biodegrade in the environment. Products containing silicones coat your hair and skin with a thin layer of plastic. This can make it feel great: smooth, soft, strong and “repaired”. This is why silicones are found everywhere in the beauty industry.

However, although your hair and skin might feel great, silicones aren’t doing you any favours. It can build up on your scalp and strands, making it look greasy and heavy. If you don’t use a clarifying shampoo regularly, it can also coat the strands so well that it doesn’t allow any hydration to penetrate your strands, drying them out over time.

Despite this, people find it hard to leave silicones behind as they are so used to their effect. When making the switch to natural products, be aware that there will be an adjustment period where you get accustomed to seeing your hair in its natural state and not covered in plastic.

3.    It’s not safe just because it’s natural

There is the perception that natural automatically means its safe. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. I look on in horror when I see people coat their skin in (or even drink!) undiluted essential oils – it’s a recipe for an allergic reaction.

Nature is amazing and it’s capable of producing a lot of powerful ingredients and compounds. When not used with consideration, these compounds can be harmful. It’s, for this reason, there are strict rules about the use of essential oils and plant extracts in products. In general, most oils are safe at a 1% usage ratio. All commercial products will follow these rules, but you may run into problems with some indie beauty brands. To be on the safe side, ask them if a certified chemist has approved their products. This is a legal requirement in Switzerland and Europe, and all reputable brands get their products certified. 

And please, never use undiluted essential oil no matter what anyone tells you!

4.    pH is important

Any product containing water or mixed with water has a pH level. This includes shampoo, soap, conditioner (even in bar form), and most styling products.

The pH level of your skin is typically around 5.5, and the pH of your hair can be as low as 3.5.

pH levels are particularly important for hair as it’s not a living organism. It’s made up of “dead” cells. While your skin can be exposed to a range of pH levels and recover it’s natural pH level quite easily, your hair cannot regulate its pH levels.

As your hair is acidic, if you expose it to something alkaline (like soap) the cuticles on your hair can raise – allowing moisture (and color if you have color-treated hair) to escape and giving your hair a rough and dry appearance.

A good shampoo and conditioner will have an acidic pH between 5.5 and 4.5. This acidity seals the cuticle, trapping moisture and color and giving your hair a shiny appearance. 

As a general rule, don’t use soap on your hair. If you absolutely must, ensure you rinse it with diluted vinegar afterwards to re-seal the cuticle.

But what I really recommend is finding a pH-balanced shampoo and conditioner instead.

5.    Less can be more, but not always

There is a perception with natural products that the shorter the ingredients list, the better. Many commercial products are unnecessarily complicated, and the long ingredients list can hide many harmful chemicals. 

However, there are many wonderful natural active ingredients out there that can greatly improve your hair’s health and appearance. And it would be a shame to miss out on them just for a shorter ingredients list.

Instead of just looking at the length of the ingredients list, look at why each ingredient is there. With increasing consumer mistrust, more and more ethical brands are disclosing why they use each ingredient. At nul, we even have a page for each ingredient that explains why we use it, where it comes from, whether it’s vegan, and how it scores on the environmental working group scale.

Making the switch to natural hair care is not always easy, but it’s worth it for you and our planet’s long-term health. I hope this post makes it easier to switch in the right way. 

Thanks for reading, and please reach out if you have any questions.

And if you want to try a shampoo that’s truly natural, silicone-free, safe, pH-balanced and contains active ingredients, check out our range of shampoo bars.

Katie

About the author

Katie Cullen Montgomerie has worked in technology marketing for the past 10 years. Before founding Nul she was the head of marketing and communications at a top Swiss start-up. 

Working in technology, she saw a large number of start-ups working to solve environmental issues. In stark contrast, the personal and household care industry has stagnated with little innovation.

With an MBA and a passion for green chemistry-based natural cosmetics, Katie decided to challenge the status quo. In 2020 she founded nul, a not-just-for-profit company bringing sustainable products to consumers in Switzerland and the world.

About nul

nul is a not-just-for-profit company with the mission to make the personal and household care industry more sustainable by offering eco-friendly alternatives that actually work.

No water. No plastic. No toxins. No nonsense.

February 27, 2021
2

IS IT TIME FOR THE ROARING 20s 2.0

By | Beauty, Fashion, Food for thought, Party | No Comments

There’s a lot of speculation in the media about this magical “post pandemic” world that everybody has been looking forward to so much. The question is: what will it look like? Will we stay forever cautious of close contact and social situations? Or will global society come back to “normal”? Some experts are even convinced that our world is about to enter a completely new unpredictable stage…

Social distancing, mask wearing, continuous disinfection of every surface – all these things have become a part of our everyday routine and are very likely to stay there. It is said that the world will never be as free as it was – individuals will take caution in talking with strangers, reconsider their lifestyles and be less likely to engage in “one-night-stands”.

However, there is also the completely opposite scenario in the media. In this case the Covid-19 pandemic is often compared to the Spanish Flu. After the world recovered from one of the deadliest pandemics, closing following on the shirt tails of one of the world’s deadliest conflicts,  a decade of consumerism, new music, fashion, freedom, glittering excesses and self gratification set in. The dawn of the Jazz Age. F. Scott Fitzgerald called it ‘the most expensive orgy in history’.

The roaring 20s, or an era of champagne, as it is sometimes called, was not only the time of crazy parties that we’ve read about in The Beautiful & the Damned and The Great Gatsby but also of a new and constantly changing fashion.

What trends can we expect to see in 2021? The annus horribles that was 2020 is over. We need to embrace colour, glitter and all that is gold! Expect to see colour blocking, bold lips and dramatic eyes.

In times of hardship, sales of beauty products traditionally soar. This is particularly true for lipstick. A bold, bright lip can transform you! Channel your inner goddess with classic red, be it matte, glossy or glitter!

With masks and facial coverings being the norm these days, it’s only your eyes that can express you in public. Shimmery green, bold orange and hot pink are all set to be trends for 2021, just look at what the models at Tom Ford and Burberry were wearing!

Even though the pandemic is still not over, we can already see the longing of individuals for social events and new activities. A good example is the Chinese Spring Festival, which is held every year and is famous as a time for major movie premiers and shopping. Even though the places in the theaters were limited to 50% capacity all the tickets for this week were sold out! The supermarkets have experienced a flow of great number of customers despite the suggestion of the government to “stay home”. The ski resorts are full and people are desperate to get back to some form of normality.

As people return to the work place, so will they return to after work drinks and dinners and dancing.

We at Glow Concierge are hoping that the prediction of a roaring 20s part 2 will come true and very soon all of us will be able to have the time of our lives. Until then, we would recommend you to enjoy this time at home: take a bath, order a massage, read a book, have a fitness session in your garden. Our providers are always here to pamper you whenever you feel the urge for some self care.

January 14, 2021
1

NEVER TRUST A FAD AND WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR

By | Beauty, Fitness, Food for thought, Health, Nutrition | No Comments

If it looks like it’s too good to be true, then it probably is! “Lose 10 kg in 5 weeks”, “Juice cleanse to detox your body”, “Eat these magical pills and reduce your clothing size within a week…” We get bombarded with weight loss tips, teas, pills, powders and “new year, new me”–gibberish, all year around, but it escalates during the Christmas and New Year time. Many people and businesses are willing to go very far to get hold of your money, and well marketed health-claiming products would also have ended up in my cupboard if I didn’t know better.  However, instead of pouring out money on products with no function and of bad quality, let’s go back to basics. 

  • Be sceptical, be curious, ask questions – do not believe everything you hear, see and read
  • Check the sources of the products or article. Are they reliable? Do they have scientific back up? Has this been proven or disproven?
  • No juices, powders, tablets etc. can help you to detox the body. This is simply a marketing-concept! The liver, kidney and skin is responsible to “detoxify” your body, these organs do work even without the rainbow-pills  
  • If you lose 10 kg in 4-5 weeks, you have mostly just lost body water. If weight loss is the goal, then time is what you need. Generally, you should not lose more than 0,5-1 kg per week in order to be able to maintain the weight loss and avoid the yoyo-effect
  • For a controlled weight loss, it is important that you plan your meals and find a suitable meal rhythm e.g. Breakfast, Lunch, Snack & Dinner.
  • Make sure that you have a lot of vegetables/fruits on your plate for every meal
  • Carbohydrates are not dangerous, but necessary. Nevertheless, make sure to choose the complex carbohydrates – the ones with a high fibre content, such as whole wheat pasta, wild or brown rice, buckwheat, barley, whole wheat bulgur.
  • Have a good protein source at least twice per day, such as fish, meat, tofu, tempeh, dairy products, pulses and legumes.
  • Fat is also necessary in your diet, choose foods high in omega-3 and -6 fatty acids e.g. salmon, mackerel, olive oil, nuts and seeds.
  • Sugars are not dangerous for the body, but they should be kept to a minimum. WHO recommends not to eat more than 25 g/ 6 tsp. of sugar per day.
  • Alcohol can be enjoyed once in a while, but know that it does not provide the body with useful energy, and it is recommended to drink less than 14 units per week. (1 unit =25 ml of spirits, ½ pint, 87 ml wine etc.)
  • Make sure to try and always eat at the dining table, preferably spending 20 minutes for a meal, so it can be enjoyed!
  • Exercise is not only helpful for a potential weight loss, but also important for maintaining bone health, muscle mass and our cardiovascular system.
  • Rest and sleep! This is a must! It is very difficult to lose weight if you are already fatigued. Aim for a good quality sleep of 7-8 hours. 

This article is written by Henriette Saevil, Clinical Nutritionist

(IG: @nutritionbyhenny). 

If you have any questions or want to book a consultation please feel free to contact me via our website: https://nutrition-az.com/appointments or drop me an email: henriette.saevil@nutrition-az.com

December 8, 2020
1

MICRONEEDLING

By | Beauty, Fashion, Food for thought, Health, Home | No Comments

So, what exactly is microneedling?

Microneedling is a minimally invasive skincare treatment that stimulates “wound healing,” or the body’s natural reaction to produce collagen. Microneedling has been around for centuries, most commonly as acupuncture. This modern version didn’t really take off until the early 2000s and has since been taking the beauty world by storm.

The benefits make microneedling worth the splurge. This treatment boosts collagen, promotes healthy circulation, and helps to tighten and lift skin. Microneedling is also the ideal way to treat dreaded scarring from acne, hyperpigmentation, fine lines, and even stretch marks. Count me in!

Before having my appointment, I made sure that my face was thoroughly clean without a trace of makeup, I hardly ever wear makeup so that was an easy one! Once I was comfortably lying down and wrapped up nice and warm under a blanket, Monique explained the whole treatment before getting started.

The tool that was used looks like a large pen, so you don’t actually see any needles. Monique started by applying a serum, she started on my forehead and then worked in sections on my face, the serum is packed with vitamins so that the skin absorbs the benefits throughout the process. I was expecting it to be quite painful so was pleasantly surprised to find that apart from the odd sensitive area like the upper lip and cheekbones, it wasn’t too bad at all. Honestly, no part of my face actually hurt until my upper lip, and even then, the pain was tolerable, she did that area really quickly so it was over almost before it began. This is generally a more sensitive area on your face anyways, so it makes sense!

After Monique had finished my entire face, she applied a cooling and calming mask for 10 minutes to help reduce inflammation and redness, this felt so good! The final step was to apply a calming cream and I was officially good to go.

She explained after the importance of wearing sunscreen and gave me a small sample of SPF50 in case I didn’t have any myself.

I have to say I was expecting to look quite alarming and have no chance of going outside for a good 24 hours but in fact I was quite shocked (in a good way!), when I looked in the mirror, I was a little red but it didn’t look too bad at all, I actually went out after and didn’t get any strange looks.

The first 2 hours after the appointment, my face was a little tender, it felt a bit like wind burn but after a couple of hours I didn’t notice it at all.

For me the biggest thing I noticed was my pores look smaller which is exactly what I wanted. I didn’t have any side effects although I’ve heard that some people do break out a few days after.

HOW FREQUENTLY SHOULD YOU BE MICRONEEDLING?

According to Monique, for best results you should have 3 treatments, a month or so apart, after that, once a year is enough.