Thank you Janet!

Woman Divine offers raw vegan organic facial treatments that leave skin with a healthy glow, writes JANET WILSON
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Ottawa Citizen August 17, 2012 1:31 PM

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Holistic skincare therapist, Magdalena Tomczak, runs Woman Divine in Ottawa, which offers facials using fresh fruits and vegetables.

Magdalena Tomczak has been using food as medicine for the skin since her childhood while growing up in Poland. She followed her mother’s simple beauty regimen of using cucumber slices and tea bags on her eyes, honey as a facial mask and essential oils for stomach aches and colds.

Tomczak owns a holistic skincare clinic called Woman Divine in Westboro. She credits her “beautiful” 81-year-old mother for influencing her to study nutrition and herbal medicine and aromatherapy.

“Organic products are full of life and energy. You can’t compare them to products that sit on store shelves for two years,” she says. “I love the freshness of creating a mask using local products in the summer. I source everything from local growers in Aylmer and purchase exotic fruits from Herb & Spice on Wellington Street.”

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Tomczak moved to Ottawa 24 years ago and was one of the first in the area to get involved in the local organic skincare movement. While she makes most of her own treatments, she has been using anAustralian skincare line called Jurlique for 18 years.

After hearing glowing reviews about Tomczak’s raw vegan facial from a few neighbours, I recently decided to check out what the buzz was all about. Located on the second floor of a converted home on Churchill Avenue near bustling Westboro, Tomczak began offering this particular facial a year ago.

“I love it. I can fully customize the treatment and can make it as complex or as simple for the client. People with skincare allergies love it because it’s pure and there’s no fuss. You don’t have to worry about unlisted ingredients because what you see is what you get.”

For my visit, Tomczak showcased the natural ingredients in little glass dishes, including lavender, marshmallow root and rose petal infusions, cucumber juice, a blend of camellia oil, lavender essential oil and blue camomile, manuka honey, ground oats, almond butter, matcha green tea and white clay.

The raw vegan treatment, which costs $90 and is an hour long, starts with a cleansing process using manuka honey, oats, almond butter and marshmallow extract.

A lavender infusion spray is used to hydrate the face along with rose water and cucumber. A warm blast of steam opens the pores and readies the skin for deep cleansing, exfoliation and extractions, if needed. Tomczak offers a relaxing massage of the upper chest, shoulders, neck, face and scalp. After that, a face mask of apricot, honey, white clay and matcha tea is lathered onto to the skin and then it’s time for a foot massage.

In a word, the experience was blissful and one I hope to repeat in the not-so-distant future. I loved the feel and the smell of the natural ingredients on my body, the heavenly massage and listening to Tomczak’s insightful philosophy on how she chooses to lead her life and about her hopes to inspire those around her. I left feeling relaxed and rejuvenated.

“I never believed in the five-step skincare routine, but I do believe in mindful, nurturing self-care and the power of touch, which is why massage is a big part of my treatments,” says the 49-year-old.

“I wish for women to take beauty into their own hands and to trust their intuition rather than the latest advertisement. Skin and the face are not separate from the rest of the body. They are very much a dynamic part of the whole being.”

Magdalena’s secret tips:

What can’t you live without:

I love working with oils especially rosehip seed oil. I use this vegetable oil to moisturize my skin on a regular basis. Rosehip is excellent for aging skin and heals burns and scars.

What else?

I also love lavender essential oil because it is an amazing skin-cell regenerator and it’s wonderful for the nervous system.

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