Thank you Janet!
Woman Divine offers raw vegan organic facial
treatments that leave skin with a healthy glow, writes JANET WILSON
-->
Ottawa
Citizen August 17, 2012 1:31 PM
-->
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.”
-->
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.
© Copyright
(c) The Ottawa Citizen
