Sowing seeds.

It is this time of the year again! A couple of weeks ago I received an email from the wonderful Anne who grows healing plants for our WD formulas. Every year around this time, Anne wants to know what to plant and how much to plant for WD for the year. It takes a lot of planning on her part to deliver what WD needs. And it’s not that easy to plan because weather changes and every growing season is a little different. For example some years calendula grows in abundance and other years it is too dry and flowers are scarce. So it is a bit of a guessing game.

Anne in her element

It also is a guessing game for WD. How much product will we need to provide for our clients this year, determines how much plant material we need to purchase. Will we expand in the coming year or will we slow down is the question. We can try to project but with today’s economic situation, it gets very tricky.

So every season, I say a prayer and ask for only that which will be needed. 

I never want to order too much, because dry plants do diminish both in life force and their effectiveness as time passes. I also don’t want to waste any. And if I order too little, there is no going back. Whatever is planted is planted and there is no more even if we run out.

Working directly with the grower certainly has a lot of nuances. We could have opted for buying plant material from big suppliers. It’s much easier for sure! We could order whenever we want, and if we want more, there is always more. It is also a lot cheaper. Like three times plus cheaper. So why not do it the easy way?

THE QUALITY OF PLANT MATERIAL 

When you see dehydrated plant material from plants grown by Anne and those purchased from a large scale supplier, no explanation is really needed.

plants grown by Anne

Anne’s plants are full of vibrant colour and aroma and are packed with antioxidants and phytonutrients. Intense colours and scents, are the testament to their vitality. 

Most of the plants from big suppliers look pale and tired as if life was completely drained from them. And it actually did! 

When I purchase plants from Anne, I am 100% sure that I am provided with this year’s harvest. Anne tends to the soil, nourishes it and prepares it for each growing season. She is devoted to the science of organic and biodynamic growing and continuously expands her knowledge.

With large suppliers, I actually would never know. Corporate organic farming, often happens in old mechanistic ways. Nothing to do with the connection to the earth, caring and wellbeing. There is a demand, therefore it is profitable, therefore it exists. 

During summer months, I can drop by Anne’s farm and I can visit with the plants as they are growing. This in itself is an incredible gift to a skin care maker. Witness what becomes my formulas while still in the ground is a wonderful mind trip:) 

Did you know that WD receives fresh plant material from the farm the same day it was harvested? We rush most of it into the dehydrator to preserve its healing qualities using a very low heat process. When dehydration is complete, some plants are infused in oil and some are carefully stored for later use. Plants which need to be infused fresh, like St John’s Wort, are immediately placed in jars and covered with oil. 

Plants infused in oils are called herbal extracts and they are the foundation for WD skin care formulas.

herbal extracts in the making

INVESTING IN OUR COMMUNITY AND LOCAL ECONOMY

I consciously want to support small producers like Anne and I am forever grateful for the support she provides to me and WD! It is an exchange not only of $ and product but a conscious exchange of energy in a pursuit of creating a more beautiful world for all of us.

I know Anne the human, and I know that she is a kind, caring person who loves feeling connected to the land and the plants. She excels at providing an incredible service to the local community by offering healing herbs, food from her gardens and the best maple syrup I have ever tasted. I want more of what Anne does in our lives! And my products are certainly better thanks to her efforts.

Supporting local has never been more important than today. I believe that in the coming years we will need to rely more and more on local growers, farmers and makers. Hopefully we will learn and understand that small organic growers are at the base of our wellbeing. Those who produce organic food and herbs in tune with nature are essential to our health. 

As a small grassroots beauty company, it is WD’s goal to support our local community through providing the healthiest, most effective and accessible skin care products directly to our clients.

We also feel that products created with local plants are best suited for the local skin care. 

Over the years we have been asked to sell our products in the US and in Europe. Even though it would assure an expansion and more sales, I refused. You may call me not business savvy but I have a very strong conviction in hyper-local service and although very important, $ is not a driving force for WD.

We have been also asked to wholesale WD products, and I refused that too:) Our price point is such that it has a modest markup so we can make a living:) and at the same time it makes our products accessible to everyday women.

If we would expand to the wholesale market then our price would have to double (or more) in order to make it feasible for us and for everyone else who would be providing our products. We would either have to drastically raise prices or downgrade to low-quality, cheap, raw ingredients. We will do neither:)

How can we ever make a shift to a healthier life for all, if high quality organic skin care and food is accessible only to high income earners? Not a chance! So this is how we choose to contribute to our local community.

Then in return you purchase WD skin care products and not only feed your skin with amazing quality ‘skin food’ but you also support a small business like mine and indirectly Anne’s as well.  And in this simple way together we create a beautiful circle of exchange of wellbeing, beauty, healing energy, care and yes money. I trust this is the way forward and this is how together we sow the seeds for a new purposeful and expanded way of life.

Love & Light,

Magdalena xo

Heart to heart on botox.

Botox is a controversial topic. And a bit of a touchy one for sure. There are strong views in both camps. I try to give more of a heart to heart or a woman to woman approach to the subject. Hope you enjoy listening!

I would love to know what are your thoughts on botox. Have you done it? Are you thinking of doing it? Please share if you feel comfortable to do so:)

Magdalena xo

It begins with intention.

I think that everything that we do repeatedly and on a daily basis is worth looking at and reassessing from time to time. And this includes your skin care practice. 

There are physical aspects of skin care worth reassessing every once in a while, like: 

1. How does my skin look and feel? Is it healthy?

2. Do I enjoy using my current skin care products? And do I feel that they work for me?

3. Do I have any new skin health concerns? If so, do I need support to address them or do I know exactly what to do?

4. Am I devoting enough time to care for myself?

5. Is there any room for improvement?

But there also are emotional aspects to our skin care practice and I would argue that they are actually more important than physical care.

Is the intention behind what you apply, why and how you apply, a conscious one? Or are you simply moving through the motions every morning and every night?  Is your practice self-loving, is it self-loathing or is it disconnected and robot-like?

These are simple questions that you may want to ask yourself. Being present and observing your self-talk while you go about your skin care routine or when you are wanting to purchase more or new skin care products is important. And it is the first step to overcoming potential self-destructive perceptions and becoming loving towards yourself.

I hope that we would all agree that intention behind whatever we do in life is very important. For example, giving generously to a charity because you wholeheartedly want to help fellow humans carries a very different energy from giving to a charity for the pure purpose of gaining respect and importance within the community. Exercising because you don’t want to be fat carries a very different energy from exercising because you want to be the healthiest you can be.

It is very much the same with skin care. If you buy and apply your products because you hate your skin, or are scared of getting older, you’ll probably keep on hating your skin and you’ll not only see it getting old but you’ll start feeling old.

If instead you chose to make a conscious decision to purchase and apply skin care products to add vibrance, health and loving care to your life, it will be a completely different experience. 

The first one is self-loathing, driven by fear and focuses on lack and I guarantee depletes your life force. The second is loving, health and life-force building.

These two perspectives will certainly offer you a very different life experience. Which one will you choose for yourself?   

Magdalena xo

Skin health and mask wearing.

I’ve been getting many emails and messages from clients asking for advice on how to tackle skin problems related to mask wearing.

This post is not a commentary on whether or not to wear a mask but rather it’s a look at how wearing a mask for a prolonged period of time affects your skin mechanically, chemically and biologically.

It’s rather unnatural for our face to be covered and consequently it’s no wonder that our skin is having a hard time.

Depending on your skin type and how long you cover your face for daily, you may be prone to an array of skin conditions.

Sensitive, combination and oily skin types will most likely experience the adverse reactions to face coverings the most.

Wearing a mask may impact skin in the following ways:

• mechanically - by causing pressure, micro-abrasion and heat - a mask may restrict blood and lymph flow, produce skin irritation, redness and inflammation

• biologically - by creating a hot damp environment a mask will - increase oil production, intensify microbial activity on the skin and have an impact on the function of blood vessels and will interfere with normal blood supply 

• chemically - by the type of mask (surgical, cloth… ) you choose to wear. A non surgical mask - is made of Polypropylene (PP) which is a thermoplastic “addition polymer” made from the combination of propylene monomers. It is used in a variety of applications to include packaging for consumer products, plastic parts for various industries including the automotive industry, special devices like living hinges, and textiles. Cloth masks - from the holistic skin care perspective, we see organic non dyed silk fabric as the most complementary to human skin and non toxic.

Pressure, micro-abrasion, warm and damp environment underneath the face covering and possible plastic toxic off-gasses may aggravate sensitive and combination skin conditions causing  irritation and inflammation (even more so now during hot summer days), eczema like flareups and red bumps/ changes to skin texture. If you are already prone to acne, you may also see an increase in the activity and an increase in oiliness in the T-zone. 

Oily skin may become more oily while wearing a mask and microbial activity may increase possibly causing acne and breakouts and more of the oily sheen to the face in general.

I also hear from clients who have to wear a mask at work, and are exposed to chemical disinfectants all day long. As a result, they’re experiencing serious dermatitis and eczema flareups and allergic reactions on their faces around their mouth and eyes. This is very challenging and difficult to address without actually removing the toxic irritant (disinfectant) from the equation:( 

How to help your skin during this time?

If you must wear a mask at work, don’t wear makeup!  Makeup which sits on the surface of your skin will create a problem under a mask even for the healthiest and most balanced skin. Foundation, ‘coverups’, blush, lipstick… these are a self explanatory no-no.

In general opt for gentler products. Now is definitely not the time to experiment with acids, peels and harsh scrubs on your skin. Not that it ever is, if you ask me:)

Adjust your skin care routine to include products which will actually offer the function which is needed at this time (calming, balancing, softening…)

Regardless your skin type, your evening cleansing routine is very important and you don’t ever want to skip it now. 

I personally love gentle oil cleansing and this is what we recommend to our clients at Woman Divine. If you’ve never tried oil cleansing, you may want to start with simple organic jojoba oil. If you like it, you can upgrade to our Oil Cleanser which is lovely and filled with skin healing ingredients.  Learn how to cleanse with oil HERE 

If you are experiencing a lot of skin redness, irritation, skin bumps, eczema, dermatitis, please don’t exfoliate until your skin calms down. 

If you choose to exfoliate, you are more likely to make the existing condition worse. Any product which creates lots of friction and micro-abrasion, is alcohol based or offers the function of peeling of the skin will make it worse.

Instead, for sensitized, red, inflamed  skin, you may want to add skin calming practices like: compressing your face with calming herbal infusion of calendula + German chamomile + marshmallow or rose.

You can add the below compressing practice to your evening routine:

Equal parts of above herbs can be infused in hot water for 60min+ , then strained, then used for saturating a face cloth, then this face cloth is placed on the face for a few minutes.

I also recommend upping on your Rosewater Mist and again making sure that your Face Oil, Serum or Balm is created to actually calm the redness, inflammation, irritation. If not, you will need to make a switch until your skin is back to it’s calm happy self.

A soothing white clay mask may be applied weekly. 

A simple Manuka honey mask will also offer lovely support to irritated, dry, blemished or acne skin.

Which products from Woman Divine Collection can you use for redness, irritation, changes in texture or breakouts?

When there is redness combined with dryness, your skin needs to be soothed and softened. It also needs a very gentle touch:) 

From Woman Divine Skin Care Collections, I would recommend Rosewater Mist and Face Balm | shea +seabuckthorne or Divine Face Balm to help this type of skin.

If your skin is feeling irritated, red but at the same time oily, your skin needs to be soothed and the oil production needs to be invited to slow down a whee bit.  This kind of skin condition will benefit from Woman Divine Rosewater Mist and Face Oil |calendula + chamomile.

If you are experiencing acne due to wearing a mask or acne is worse because of it, keeping on top of your cleansing routine is very important. 

A combination of calendula, plantain and rosemary can be infused in hot water and prepared as a facial compress or a face wash.

A green clay mask can prove helpful and as I have already mentioned, Manuka honey is always great. These can be applied once a week.

From Woman Divine Collection, I would recommend our Radiant Exfoliant Powder, Rosewater Mist and Face Oil | calendula + chamomile

If you have attended one of our GuaSha classes or one on one tutorials, we have showed you how to work with the lymphatics of your face and neck. These feather like lymphatic sweeps will be very helpful now so put them into practice. Any vigorous Guasha practice over very irritated and inflames skin is not recommended.

Whenever possible, let your skin breath. I am not an expert on masks but I suggest that you do your research regarding how long they can sit on your face before they need to be replaced or washed. This is very important. A mask can become a breeding ground for undesirable microbes on your skin.

I hope that you will find this information helpful. Please post any questions you may have in comments below.

Love and light, 

Magdalena

The effects of the skin care products that you use: from ecology to beauty.

Clients often ask me what is the difference between organic whole plant based products like I formulate for Woman Divine, and the department store or pharmacy bought, conventional lines. I feel that this is a very important question to ask and it absolutely deserves to be thoughtfully addressed.

Have a listen to this audio recording on the topic and let me know what you think.

Post your questions and feedback in comments or send me an email at info@womandivine.ca. and share with your friends.

I welcome your ideas and your wishes for future content so I can create recordings worthy of your time:)

Thank you,

Magdalena xo

Woman Divine in-house Refill Program is on!

It’s been my dream for a couple of years now to offer a refill program at Woman Divine Skin Care Studio. But realistically I knew that it wasn’t really possible while I was working on my own. 

Well, Julie has joined Woman Divine, I’m no longer working on my own and finally we can do it!!! 

Why the Woman Divine Refill Program?

We are initiating the Woman Divine in-house refill program as a collective effort to create less waste and less garbage. It is urgent that we all take whatever steps necessary to change our habits of overconsumption  and careless tossing out of objects that can easily be reused or repurposed.

How does the Woman Divine Refill Program work?

• This service is offered at the studio only and it’s pretty simple. You bring your bottles and we refill them for you on the spot:)

• This can be done when you come to the studio for your treatment appointment and/or every Saturday between 10am - 3pm. Dropping in to refill your products otherwise will not work.

• If you wish, when your bottles start looking a bit ‘tired’ we will freshen up the cup or the mister pump and/or the label. It will look brand spanking new when you leave.

• We will also be happy to refill your Radiant Exfoliant Powder jar for you.

• We are not able to refill your balm jars on the spot because balm making is a bit complicated, but you can bring your empty jars to the studio. We will sterilize them and refuse them in our production. So no jars go to waste.

We also highly recommend that you reuse the jars yourself whenever you can. We especially like using our empty jars for spices in our kitchen. Amber glass will keep your spices fresher for a little longer.

Will you get a discount when you get a refill or bring your empty jar back?

No, you won’t. We are not doing this to get you in to buy more under the pretence of saving you a couple of dollars. We are doing this 100% as a joint effort to create less waste and so together we can take action to live more mindfully..

We hope to see you with your empty bottles and jars at the studio. It’s a good thing to do!

Magdalena

Discover why knowing your face will make your life better.

I’ve been working with faces in my holistic skin care practice for the past twenty plus years and I know one thing for sure: most of us don’t understand our own face at all.

It’s a sad thing to realize since so much of our attention and effort goes into making our face and skin look its best.  We apply make up everyday, we moisturize and scrub and we get facials but we don’t take the time to actually understand our own face. In pursuit of beauty, we mostly treat our face as if it was one dimensional. 

In my book, the face is the most fascinating part of ourselves and by getting to know it better, you can develop a more meaningful relationship with yourself and with your beauty.  One that is based on understanding and deeper self knowledge, not just an on-the-surface, one-dimensional interaction.

You see, your face is nothing short of magical. It’s like the universe of you or your very own, ever-evolving piece of art.  It registers and conveys your joys and sorrows, the state of your health and the level of vibrance of your energetic being. The fact is that your face is a great communicator. The question though is are you willing to listen?

Chinese medicine practitioners and Ayurvedic doctors can read your health like a book simply by analyzing your face. The science of Morphology and face reading has your personality all figured out by the shape of your facial features and markings. It’s amazing!

Of course, I’m not going to ask you to become an Ayurvedic doctor so you can read your face. However, there are a few simple yet profound face facts that everyone will benefit from knowing. Why? Simply because if you understand the workings of your face you will no longer look for solutions to your face/skin problems in the wrong places. You will also gain a deeper appreciation for the miracle of your body.

The state of your physical health is expressed in the quality and health of your skin.

This presents itself through changes in skin texture, temperature and colour. 

For example, a person with a tendency to facial redness and inflammation may be prone to excess heat in the body and tendency for inflammatory conditions of the body in general. An over-acidic stomach is often accompanied by redness in specific areas of the face. I see this with my clients all the time.

Congested skin which lacks luster, looks puffy and is cool to the touch often represents a body which is slow, sluggish and congested with poor lymphatic flow. 

Next time when you experience a flare up of acne or skin redness, take a moment to acknowledge its connection to the internal workings of your body. Your skin is talking. Don’t just try to shut it up by using suppressive skin care products. 

The majority of chronic skin problems need to be addressed from the inside and also supported topically with clean plant-based formulas. No skin care product alone will fix your hormonal imbalance or your digestive issues. So please know the limitation of your skin care product and respond to your body’s signals by addressing the root causes. It will save you a lot of money and time that you spend searching for that perfect skin care product.

The state of your emotional health is expressed through patterns of tension in facial muscles and other tissues.

Lines and wrinkles, sad face, happy face… It is true that emotions which you are most attached to are written all over your face. 

There are a few really smart people out there who have devoted their life’s work to this subject. Dr Paul Ekman is my absolute guru when it comes to the relationship between emotions and the engagement of corresponding facial muscles.

 The gist of it is that every single person engages exactly the same facial muscles to express the same emotion. It doesn’t matter if you are from Paris, New York or a little town somewhere in Africa, when you are angry it shows up in your face in the same way. Of course there is nothing wrong with expressing emotions. The problem arises when you get attached to a particular emotion and feel it over and over. 

Let’s say that you feel very sad and disappointed in yourself, your partner or life in general. You are feeling this way not for a week or two but for the past year or maybe five years… as you know this is not uncommon. Some people feel sad and disappointed about something throughout their whole life.

The depressor anguli oris muscle is engaged in expressing this particular emotion. It runs vertically on each side of your mouth. 

If you are feeling sad and disappointed a lot, eventually this muscle becomes chronically tense. As a consequence a few things will happen: restricted flow of vital fluids (blood and lymph) which will contribute to the lack of proper tissue nourishment and accelerated aging, facial symmetry may be disturbed (more tension on one side than the other) and your lip corners will be turning down and that fixed unhappy look becomes a reality… The ‘marionette’ lines are the consequence of chronic contraction of this muscle.

To sum it up, your body, your thoughts and your feelings are all interconnected. In fact, the pattern of muscle tensions in your face is always involved in determining your emotional state. 

If you don’t like the look that you are seeing on your face lately you may want to spend some time with how you are feeling on the inside. It’s amazing how happiness and internal contentment will immediately light up your face.  And don’t be hard on yourself. We are all a work in progress.

Your sacred face

There also is a sacred aspect to your face and head. This is the seat of the vital energy points. In Ayurveda these are called marma points and in Chinese medicine acupoints.

These points are located all over the body (we have a few important ones on our face and head) at anatomical sites where veins, arteries, tendons, bones or joints intersect. They are also said to be the points of connection between our physical and the subtle energetic bodies. These points are connected to specific organs and sights of the body. For example the marma points located on the scalp are connected to the brain and also to the other organs.  

Ayurveda says that, through skilled marma point stimulation we can have an impact on hormonal balance, eye, ear and nose health, emotional balance, memory function, we can relieve headaches and strengthen general vitality of the person. These are just a few examples.

What I have observed in my work is that, through working with the face, people can experience not only states of deep relaxation but also safety and a deep sense of wellness. 

If mindfully acknowledged, the face can also be understood as the entry point or a gateway to deeper self knowledge, the starting point of communication with self.  

As a skin and facial therapist whose practice is devoted solely to treatments of the face I can wholeheartedly say that receiving a deeply nurturing face treatment is a powerful medicine both for you and your skin. The effects of such treatments can be seen on the outside and are definitely felt deep within. 

Now that you are a little bit more familiar with the true nature of your face, please, spend time with it. Touch it. Observe it. Not with your critical eye but with the an eye of wonder and exploration. 

Before you book your next facial and let someone else touch your face, make sure that they too see its magic. Don’t be shy to ask questions to make sure that they are well trained in the holistic arts of face work and that they understand the complexity and dynamic nature of your face. 

Magdalena