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Yay wellness crushes! To be honest, I have so many crushes at the moment so I found it hard to pick just 5, but I will do my best to get more of these articles going because I know you love em, and I love writing them!

♥ Eden’s Salad Bar

This place is a little slice of heaven nestled in Subiaco & Nedlands. My pick is the Subi store as they have a wider menu range (tofu & veggie burgers! corn fritters! vegetarian sausages!) and I always try and get down here on my day off for their ‘Edens Green’ smoothie… spinach, lime, mango (& one other thing I’ve forgotten!). So totally thick, bright green, smooth, creamy and delicious. HUGE fan. They also have this amazing pumpkin bread. Love heading to pick up the smoothie after a hot personal training sesh. Will do a proper review soon, but if you haven’t heard of it then get down there. It’s not just vegetarian/vegan but they do have a lot of options for those so inclined

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♥ Wella SP Hydrate Shampoo ($18.50 from StrawberryNET)

While I’d prefer to use a more natural shampoo, I haven’t come across one yet which delivers results as good as the shampoos from the Wella System Professional range. Leaves my hair super clean and pretty smelling every time, plus tames and controls my hair, while providing much needed moisture. Tick tick tick. I’m loving this one in summer, but when summer is done I think I’ll go back to the Wella Shine Shampoo!

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♥ Floradix & Liquid Vitamin B

I get by with a little help from these two liquid supplements. Alright, number 1: FLORADIX. This is a herbal iron supplement that is useful for those low in iron and who don’t tolerate iron tablets well due to… slowed down traffic. I’ve just started taking this again after stopping for a few years and I have to say, the difference to how I feel is really noticeable. While I dislike the perception that vegetarians can’t get enough iron, because they can (plus I know many meat eaters who are deficient too!), I like to take this as my busy lifestyle means that sometimes I’m a little low – and this helps. Plus it tastes pretty good and can be taken with juice, smoothies or even water.

Number 2: Grants Liquid Vitamin B. Since our bodies don’t store vitamin B’s, we need a constant supply in our daily diet. Due to stress, heat and a busy lifestyle, we can sometimes have a need for an extra supply to keep us cool headed and feeling great. I love this liquid B and I always feel better taking it, just put some in water and drink. It’s recommended not to take it at night though, as vitamin b’s give you energy

Both are available from health food shops & some chemists.

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♥ Kikki-K Weekly Habits Pad

I had wanted this for SO LONG, and a few weeks ago I finally bit the bullet and shelled out the $5.95 so I could take it home with me and start getting myself into line. If you’ve got a million things on your mind everyday, sometimes those good intentions don’t get a chance to make it to the forefront of your brain. This will help. You write down some small (or big!) things you want to achieve throughout the week and tick the boxes on the day/s you achieve your goal. When you’re writing them in, you also choose a reward that you can treat yourself with if you complete your goals! For example mine reads like this:

♥ Green smoothie 4 x a week – reward: buy frozen goji berries
♥ Iron supplement every day – reward: more energy
♥ Zinc supplement every day – reward: clear skin

Some example they provided were:

♥ 8 hours of sleep – reward: breakfast in bed
♥ Read the newspaper – reward: buy a gossip mag

It keeps me on track, and I love it!

♥ Yoga Girl

This has been out for a while now… but if you’re into yoga and haven’t seen it, you MUST!

“I’m gonna grab a coconut water…and be on my way”

Did you enjoy these crushes? Anything new that you’re crushing on, I’d love to hear!!

Be well,

Annette

xoxo

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I have trouble finding good waxers. My skin is super sensitive and generally responds terribly to wax rollers. One time my underarms got incredibly burnt from a therapist trying to use a wax roller on them (very bad idea), another time I was told my legs were ‘really really hairy’ by a waxer I’d never met before (they were, but I didn’t need them to remind me!) and a lot of the time there are hairs left over and my skin comes out looking red-raw. All this and the privilege of paying upwards of $50 for the experience.

So I’m excited to let you know that I’ve finnnnalllllllly found a place that has everything a sensitive-legged gal could want in a waxing salon and it’s only $30 for a full-leg wax!!!

I came across ‘Just Beautiful Skin’ by Kylie Morellini on a notice board down at my local shops. I hadn’t had any great ‘at home salon’ experiences before, but something compelled me to email Kylie and book in for a wax. Probably the amazing price and convenient location.

Here’s the reasons it gets a big smiling tick of approval from me:

♥ Ambience

Stepping into Kylie’s little home salon is like going on a summer holiday. It feels like a mini beach house in there, and as I was staring up at the white, wooden paneled ceiling I found myself contemplating taking a dip in the ocean, then grabbing an icecream.

♥ Best wax rollers, ever

As mentioned above, I had all but resigned myself to never letting a wax roller touch me again. This time I was shocked – the wax rolled on smoothly and not too hot, and was taken off easily by the strip, along with my leg hairs and minimal pain. I couldn’t believe it! Very impressed.

♥ Thorough

Kylie was extremely thorough in making sure she hadn’t missed any rogue bits of hair, which was much appreciated.

♥ Friendly and caring

Just what you want in a beauty therapist, I found her lovely, super easy to get along with and she even advised me not to get my bikini line waxed, which I had asked for, as I’d previously been having IPL done and it would ‘reset’ all the hairs and I’d have to start again. Eeeek! So, so glad she let me know.

♥ Mild waxing redness

My legs are always going to be a little red after waxing, it’s a fact I’ve resigned myself to. This time though, they were the least red they’ve been in a looooooong time, it was really exciting for me!

♥ The price

$30 for a full leg wax. And with such good service, Cannot. Beat. It.

You can email or call Kylie from Just Beautiful Skin to book an appointment, her salon is located in Shenton Park.

Email: kyl_morellini@hotmail.com

Ph: 0404 183 467.

Where is your favourite place to get your legs waxed in Perth?!

Be well,

Annette

xoxo

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For someone who runs a website like this one, I really am quite abysmal at getting my hair cut and maintained to a pleasing standard. Massages, exercise classes, buying my lunch and restaurant dinners seem to drain the majority of my “extra money”, while my hair gets left being swooped up in a simple high pony tail day after day, only occasionally being privy to a hair straightener.

This year, I’m determined to make an extra effort to have “babe hair” more often than not, so with that in mind I headed down to Element Aveda Concept Salon in Subiaco for a cut, colour, blowdry & style AKA a complete overhaul. I had a 60′s themed night out planned too, so I was especially excited to have my hair styled.

When I phoned up to book the appointment I was a bit nervous, as I always am with hairdressers, but the guy who answered the phone was great and managed to book me in with Bree, the Creative Director for my whole sesh. Note to the uninitiated: seeing the Creative Director usually costs a bit of extra moolah, luckily for me it was worth it in this case!

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With my long scraggly mop in tow, I was greeted with cups of Aveda tea (so yummy once you get used to the unique taste!), hand massages and the signature “blue oil massage”. Bree and I decided to go with a chestnut colour, which has the gentlest of red tints to it, similar to my own hair colour but just a bit more oomph. Love the colour, but next time I think I will be a little more daring!

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For the cut, I wanted quite a bit off, but still a longish side fringe and the ability to make it a lil wavy. Check, check, check. Bree delivered all this and more and was fun to talk to. I ended up with an Alexa Chung-esque long bob with waves which I digged, and she even gave me a mini lesson on how to create GHD waves on my own… which I’ll try soon!

The whole experience was about 2 & 1/2 hours, and everyone was super friendly, I was kept hydrated and…THERE WAS A PUG IN THE SALON!

This certainly was a plus for me as I am wild about pups.

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I purchased the Aveda Brilliant Hair Spray ($39.95) which makes hair super shiny, gives a medium hold & contains black tea, certified organic chamomile, aloe and more! I found it kept my waves in well throughout a night of 60′s dancing!

So without further words…

Tah dah. New hair.

The total cost for my wash, cut, colour, blowdry/style & Brilliant Shine Hairspray was $265.

I will definitely be back!

Element Aveda Concept Salon
17 Rokeby Rd Subiaco WA 6008
(08) 9382 3004

Do you like the short hair or the long hair?! Love to hear your thoughts!

Be well,

Annette

xoxo

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I’m a lazy, overweight exercise-avoider. I have no excuse beyond a crippling dependence on cake, and in the last year, I’ve been doing my best to try to get on top of this situation. There have been ups, there have been downs, but having recently started attending Tamara Yoga, I’m starting to feel a lot more optimistic about my rocky road to (relative) health and fitness.

Firstly, all credit to my younger sister, who after my unsuccessful week-long attempt at finding a yoga class that worked with my work schedule piped up and suggested I attend Tamara Yoga. It’s obscenely close to where I live, parking is ample and free and their schedule is so insanely varied (7.00am on a Saturday morning, anyone? How about 6.00am on Cottesloe beach?) that you’d have to be truly unlucky to not have something you could attend.

The format is thusly – some classes are fixed, some allow a rock-up-and-pay arrangement. I signed myself up for a six-week beginners course, which locked me in for that amount of time, and meant that each class built on what was learned the week beforehand. They’re wonderfully flexible with this arrangement – I came waltzing in at the week two point, and they altered the fee to reflect the five-week duration. My instructor – the effervescent Carol – quizzed me a bit on my relative level of familiarity and kept an eye on me to make sure I didn’t do anything stupid.

This Buddha greets you in the foyer @ Tamara Yoga

The other option – pay as you go – means that for certain classes you can just turn up and hope it’s not horribly packed (this hasn’t happened – yet). I chose to attend a Vinyasa class at 7.00am on a Saturday morning (yes – this was extremely strange and overeager), which worryingly specified neither all levels or beginners, as many classes do. This instructor (I didn’t catch her name, but the website makes me think Helen), just like Carol, checked on what I knew and what I didn’t and came by to adjust me occasionally. Whilst it was a more advanced class than I strictly speaking should have been attending, every pose and movement had a lesser-powered option, and she was careful to specify easier variations of every motion. It was incredibly inclusive, and very considerate, and impressed the crap out of me.

♥ A class in action

But how are the classes themselves? The key word is relaxed. It’s a very informal, almost chatty format, more educational than you might expect and the wind down, meditation portion at the end (savasana) is complete bliss. The day after my first class I felt less stiff, more limber and more – centred, I suppose? And I don’t resent going at all, like I do gymming, or any other kind of exercise. I actually find myself poring over the schedule and trying to find drop-in classes I can wedge myself into – voluntarily. As in, with no one making me. This is a big deal, kids. As an additional level of awesome they provide everything – mats, blocks, straps, all manner of things. And you can buy rather wonderful yoga equipment there. I’m tempted. Watch this space.

So ultimately I’m really happy with Tamara Yoga. It’s wonderfully informal (which I love) with a great assortment of classes and highly skilled, friendly staff. It is the ultimate in non-intimidating Yoga. Very recommended!

Have you been to Tamara Yoga before? Have a penchant for cake? Lets chat below!

Email: info@tamarayoga.com

Web: https://tamarayoga.com/

Phone: 9385 2242

Tamara Yoga Classes held at The Luck Now Centre
UPSTAIRS 10/24 St Quentin Avenue Claremont Perth Western Australia
Enter via laneway off St Quentin’s Avenue across from Claremont Quarter

Review by Suzanne: she is allergic to exercise, and can only be cured with cake.

Be well,

xoxo