Post Waxing Wonder.
Here’s a quick and super effective little essential oil number to apply to your skin after waxing which not only soothes your skin, but act as a natural antiseptic too. Just mix the following bits of gorgeousness in an amber or similarly dark coloured bottle, cap, and gently shake. Be sure to store in a dark, cool place, out of reach of children. Not a bad drop this one. Enjoy!
- 75 ml of organic sweet almond, jojoba or apricot kernel carrier oil
- 25 ml of Calendula infused oil
- 25 drops of True lavender essential oil (lavandula angustifolia)
- 10 drops of Tea Tree essential oil
- 5 drops of German chamomile essential oil (the blue one)
Affirm Beauty.
There wouldn’t be too many folks around who didn’t know that Beauty Marked! is Coo Coo for powder puffs, beauty inspirations, and great products and services. But did you know that I am also a huge fan and firm believer in the power of positive affirmations? Yes, sirree Bob! Not only do I personally practice by saying positive statements daily, but always recommend loving and approving affirmations for my client’s use as well.
It’s amazing how powerfully effective and life enhancing it is to affirm one’s gorgeous self by saying several positively worded truths daily that will profoundly assist to manifest their infinite beauty and light. Saying and believing in positive affirmations each day is akin to planting and nurturing the most treasured seed and watching it grow into an extraordinarily healthy and robust tree that is forever ripe with precious fruits. This life force laden tree will not only nourish and inspire, but also positively change the thoughts that powerfully create the consciousness and the future of the grower and absolutely everyone in its miraculous presence!
Positive affirmations used daily are soon transformed into beliefs that will always produce long lasting results and beneficial change. Marvelous isn’t it? You get all this from just a few positive words affirmed daily. Nice!
A few positive affirmations for today and always:
“Today is a wonderful day. All is perfect, whole, and complete. I love and approve of myself. I am beautiful. I use my affirmative thinking to create exactly what I want. I expect the best and I deserve it…everyone does!”
Wednesday Is Selenium Day.
Well actually every day is selenium day where a healthy diet that supports great skin and health is concerned. But for today, this Wednesday, Beauty Marked! has decreed it to be Selenium Day! *happy dance*
Selenium is a trace mineral that is a big league player on Team Antioxidant and is metallic grey luster in colour (it’d make a nice eyeshadow colour actually). This powerful trace mineral and the antioxidant enzymes it makes play an important role in many of the body’s varied processes and without it, not much is smooth sailing. Selenium is only required in very small amounts, but its potent antioxidant presence helps to fight damage caused by free radicals (a by-product of oxygen metabolism) in the body. Selenium’s main partner in crime is vitamin E and betwixt them both, they work flawlessly to assist in correcting UV-A damage.
Scientific research has also proven that Selenium’s presence has a protective effect on the heart, which seems to decrease the risk of heart disease as well as lowers the risk of many different cancers. It’s certainly worth noting too, that when selenium is in chronically low levels or absent within the body, one is at a much greater risk of illnesses of the immune system, mood disorders, thyroid dysfunction, degenerative disorders, and skin problems to name a few.
So where do you get Selenium? Luckily, there are many natural food sources rich in Selenium:
Shellfish, whole grains, Brazil nuts (but don’t over do it as the Selenium content is mega and you only need a little), fish such as tuna (canned in oil) and cod, meats (turkey, beef, and chicken), garlic, eggs, foods grown in soil rich in Selenium, Brewer’s yeast, and natural spring water are all fab sources of Selenium.
Many quality supplements will also have the perfect daily amount of Selenium present in it too. Just check the ingredient listing thoroughly before purchasing. But if your anything like me, you’ll go the food option, as any excuse will do to eat something yummy and (of course, Selenium-) rich!
Happy Selenium Day!
-BM! xx
SO What?!
Beauty Marked! absolutely loves an environmentally aware product, but what we love even more is an environmentally aware product that works. Did you know that Australia’s Salon Only (SO) hair care range absolutely fits this bill? SO hair care products have had a makeover with an environmental focus and repackaged its extensive range created from the expertise of no less than 3 generations of hairdressers! Most would be familiar with SO from its debut in the late 90’s and from its use in any of the 33 SO dedicated preferred product salons across Australia from soon after its inception. Now though, the range has certainly grown and is available currently from over 700 salons nation-wide with its new-look packaging!
So what we love about SO, besides their considerate product range, is the new innovative design changes made to the packaging and the super cool refill system that allows you to rock up to mostly any of 700 SO stockist and refill your empty and fully recyclable SO product bottle and receive an ever so handy $5 AUD off the refill price! Not bad, huh? Nice on your purse and great for the environment. We love that!
To find your nearest stockist, contact SO on 1300 660 680 (within Australia) or visit www.salononly.com.au for so much more.
Times When A Breakdown Is A Good Thing.
I often get asked if it is really necessary to remove all of one’s makeup from the day’s adventures if you are going out for the evening and still wish to wear makeup. To be honest, I don’t feel it is always 100% necessary to remove all of your makeup and cleanse, but if you’ve got the time and energy…go for it! If not, this is when I’d go “the breakdown”. Breakdown the bits of your makeup that are looking a bit battle weary and blot, perhaps powder and reapply. This treatment, of course, doesn’t really extend to mascara as that’s a whole other kettle of fish altogether.
So for everything non-mascara related, just lightly remove or take back by gingerly wiping off with a tissue and or cotton bud. When you’ve done this ever-so-gently, blot your entire face (t-zone especially) with cosmetic blotting paper or film. *whispers* One square of single-ply, super cheap loo paper works fantastically by the way. After you’ve blotted away any excess oil or perspiration that would have naturally managed to creep to the skin’s surface after a day’s wear, just barely powder your entire face (loose or pressed powder is fine). When you’ve finished your ‘barely there’ powder, feel free to reapply your makeup to your beautiful heart’s content.
Carefully breaking down your makeup, blotting, lightly powdering, and reapplying will often give you a nicer looking and longer wearing base for your colour cosmetics than would freshly applied. Go figure? I suspect it has a lot to do with the artful building up of makeup and removing the excess oils, which leave mainly pure pigment behind. (Much like the Beauty Marked! technique for getting your lip to stick.) But don’t be tempted to skip the blot step, because it’s the buildup of oils that actually cause the cakey and flakey thing to happen, which is definitely not the effect we’re after. It’s now, after I’ve done the above, that I adore a quick and ultra indulgent spritz of rose water. Quite frankly, I can’t think of a better and more luxe way to set my makeup. Mmmm.
Now on to the matter of mascara. You know, generally, I am tempted to just leave it alone. I rarely reapply new over old, as that just seems to tempt fate, especially where the potential for clumping and flaking is concerned. But if you reckon there’s only a weensy bit or no bit on, then by all means reapply. Just be extra vigilant for clumps and ensure the lashes stay separated. You can carefully re-curl your lashes with a non clamp-style curler if you’ve got one. If not…use your finger to gently press the lashes towards your lid and hold for about 30 seconds or so before the mascara is dry. Sometimes the finger trick works so well that I often wonder why I bother searching for my curler in the first place, which, oddly enough, always seems to grow legs…especially when I’m in a rush.
So there you have it: Times when a breakdown might just be a good thing. Ultimately though, the most important thing of all to remember is to blot and don’t stress…because you’re beautiful!
For The Travelling Man.
Just because Beauty Marked! knows precisely how important it is to keep our men gorgeously groomed both home and away, we had to point you in the direction of this great travel kit from VitaMan. The VitaMan Travel Kit contains a stellar lineup of holistically minded skin and hair care products that are based on traditional native Australian plant and herbal extracts that have been expertly used by indigenous Australians for thousands of years. Every VitaMan product uses organic aloe vera as its base as opposed to mineral oil or lanolin which is pretty nifty within itself.
The VitaMan Travel Kit contains six 50-ml travel-sized tubes of great grooming products comprising of VitaMan Face & Body Cleanser, Face Moisturizer, Shave Crème, After Shave Balm, Shampoo, and Conditioner. But wait, it gets even better as all of this fabulousness comes in a soft and easily packable water-proof travel case with 6 internal pockets for the products and plenty more room for other grooming incidentals as well. He’ll just adore it…nearly as much as he adores you!
Spare A Spritz…
Spare a spritz of a gorgeously scented perfume for the darling young girl that adoringly watches as we get ready for the day. Just a petite spritz or dab on the wrist, neck, or behind the ears of our cherished little beauty allows her the opportunity to share in a glimpse of her rightful journey into the world of her own infinite beauty and to feel and smell the specialness that a luxe, heady fragrance brings. She then is gently and lovingly introduced to a part of what we prize about this beautiFULL world we gracefully exist in. Just one small loving spritz can have such a wonderfully big impact. So precious!
