The cold weather is here, what does that mean for your skin?

When the weather gets cold everything constricts in a protective response. Exposure to low temperatures stimulates cold receptors of the skin and puts the sympathetic nervous system into action. Sympathetic stimulation causes vascular constriction in your skin, arms and legs and all energy goes towards delivering blood where oxygen is most needed during this fight or flight response. Skin becomes of secondary importance when you are exposed to very cold temperatures. Thus always bundle up and keep your skin and body warm.

Many people experience skin dryness, dehydration and sensitivity during cold months. And as if cold weather was not enough, our body needs to constantly adjust between the exposure to the drying indoor heating and the outdoor cold temperatures often accompanied by equally cold winds.

As a result of this temperature roller-coster and cold constricted tissues, your skin produces less sebum, becomes tighter, dryer and has difficulty to retain moisture. It also has difficulty absorbing what you apply to it.
Even though your body as a whole adjusts to cold temperatures and with time can cope better, cold temperatures continue to present your skin with challenges throughout the season.

Applying heavier, more protective and deeply moisturizing products is definitely the way to go during the Canadian fall/winter. But when skin is tight and dry and has a hard time holding on to moisture it is important to know how to practice your skin care in the most effective way.

So what can you do to help the skin healing botanical formulas absorb as intended and have the greatest impact on the health of your skin during the cold season?

1.
Keeping the skin barrier healthy and intact is a no brainer. If your skin’s  protective layer is compromised how can your skin thrive? Oil cleansing offers a perfect support for healthy skin barrier. Do not use any harsh products which strip the skin and disturb its precious microflora: No harsh drying foaming cleansers, no sharp grainy exfoliants, no acid peals, no resurfacing treatments… . I know there are different opinions out there and this is mine based on the holistic approach to life and skin care.

2.
Warm purified water compressing, to increase blood flow, relax, soften, hydrate and open pores for better absorption of serums, oils and balms.

3.
Adding skin hydrating, softening and soothing herbal infusions to your facial compressing like: marshmallow, burdock, calendula and lavender.

4.
Adding heavier more protective face products to your skin care practice such as face balms.

5.
When needed adding a very gentle exfoliation to assist with dead skin cell shedding.

6.
Adding a weekly skin softening, soothing facial mask (WD facial mask coming soon)

7.
Dry skin brushing your body to stimulate lymph flow and sebaceous gland function. This way your body will produce more of its natural moisturizer - sebum. Use a natural bristle brush only. Choose soft bristles if you have sensitive skin.

8.
Taking relaxing warm baths in purified water enriched with herbal infusions and/or essential oils. Marshmallow, calendula, oats, lavender... made into a strong infusion and added to bath water are great. When your body feels warm and relaxed and skin pores are open you will benefit greatly from the healing properties of botanicals which you choose. You can add your favourite essential oils to the mix, first blending them into a bit of a lipid oil like almond, olive or camellia … and then dropping them into the bath water.

9.
Face and body massage (now is the time to visit a massage therapist who works with warm oils, long relaxing and warming strokes.
It is wonderful to know how to take care of ourselves but it is very important from time to time to simply lie down and receive care from an attentive therapist.

10.
And last but not least, skin health also starts from within! So strive to feed your body the best you can. Pay attention to your stress levels and mental health. Sometimes we get so busy, so wound up that we don’t even notice a downward spiral. Make time to meditate and stretch and breath and most of all know that you are worthy and the world needs you to shine the brightest you can.

Love and Light,

Magdalena xo

The Skin Types of Ayurveda

Understanding your skin type is the first step to making right decisions for both you and your skin.

Skin types is a very interesting topic for me as a professional. I also understand that there is a lot of confusion related to it. Many clients come to me and share during their first visit, that their skin was analyzed by various individuals and each gave them different feedback. This is obviously confusing and frustrating for them!

Here is the link to the SKIN TYPES OF AYURVEDA , an article which I have written for my very favourite school of aromatherapy The School for Aromatic Studies

My intention behind this article is to share my outlook and understanding of skin and skin type classifications. I hope that it will add more clarity and lift some of your confusion.

I hope that you’ll enjoy reading it. Let us know if you have any questions in the comments or by contacting us at hello@womandivine.ca

Love and Light,

Magdalena xo

Your emotional skin.

Our emotions and our skin are closely related. Our skin is actually a highly sensitive responder to emotions and it often reminds us that mind and body are one😀

Think no further then the last time you felt very embarrassed and your face turned red, or when you felt fear and your skin become pale. And how about that happiness and internal bliss glow?

Clients often share that stress in their life causes flare ups of eczema, rosacea or acne... As much as skin disease can mean viruses, inflammation, bacteria, when we are experiencing a persistent skin condition, emotional component is usually part of the experience. Given close bond between our skin and the nervous system this should be of no surprise.

In short you can say that your skin ‘feels’ for you the very emotions which you choose not to express. It cries, it gets inflamed with anger and it remembers traumatic experiences which took place years back but were never addressed. In a long run, sweeping under the rug never really works ...not even in skincare.

So if you feel that your skin is giving you a hard time and you know that you have done everything you can to help it heal, including proper diet, exercise, good skin care regimen, then it maybe time to examine, how your emotions are contributing to the problem. ...

Magdalena xo

Hyper local organic calendula oil

This is a solar oil infusion prepared from organic locally grown plant material: calendula flowers by Anne Janssen from Aylmer Backyard Farms and cold-pressed sunflower oil by Huiles d’Amerique located just outside of Aylmer, Quebec.

calendula oil at woman divine Ottawa

I prepare this infusion all by hand in small batches to assure its freshness and quality.

Beautiful golden calendula petals were first slowly dehydrated at a very low heat to protect their healing integrity. They then were suspended in sunflower oil for a period of six weeks and exposed to the sun and moonlight to assist the process of infusing the sunflower oil with the goodness of calendula flowers. This process married the medicinal properties of both plant materials creating a potent skin healing synergy.

Calendula oil is traditionally used in Herbal Medicine to help relieve skin inflammations and irritations and to aid in wound healing. It is soothing and healing and perfect for the treatment of dry skin, redness, skin irritation, chapped skin, bruises, cradle cap, diaper rash, and sore or inflamed muscles. Calendula oil is also valued for treating radiation-induced dermatitis.

It is exceptional for those with sensitive skin. It is also gentle enough to use for babies and children.

calendula oil at woman divine Ottawa

50ml - $20

to order: call 613 2167676 or email info@womandivine.ca