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Alternative Therapy Review: Reiki with Helen Walker of Walker Wellness, Pickering Brook.

I’m always looking for new and exciting ways to balance my mind and body, chill out and de-stress in general. I’ve tried comedy nights, virtual reality therapy, ongoing yoga, sublime massage and more…!

Suffice to say that when Helen Walker from Walker Wellness contacted me to trial the ancient art of reiki , I was very keen to test out its supposed relaxing qualities, and funnily enough I just so happened to have it done on the day I had a job interview!

For those who don’t know:

“Reiki is a natural form of healing therapy. It uses non-invasive gentle touch. This form of therapy aims to increase energy levels and promote relaxation and wellbeing.”

For more detailed information I have found this to be an excellent & simple resource: Reiki @ Better Health Channel.

My session started with the gorgeous Helen answering any questions I had, then popping on some relaxing music and asking me to lie on my back, I was then covered with towels (very comfy!) and the reiki began.

Over the next hour and a half her hands moved lightly over my body, starting from the head, and stopping at various points to help release the energy stored in these places!

Throughout the experience I felt deeply relaxed and nearly fell asleep a few times (which never happens to me during treatments).

Afterwards I was advised to increase my water intake, the same as after a massage, and to note any changes I felt within myself.

I felt very relaxed and went in and smashed the job interview, funnily enough the woman interviewing me was a big fan of reiki too!

If you are looking for an alternative treatment that has been conclusively proven to assist with stress reduction and relaxation then I would definitely recommend giving reiki a go, especially with Helen, as she has a beautiful energy and is extremely passionate and knowledgeable about the practice.

Walker Wellness … for a healthy body, mind and spirit; naturally, safely, effectively.
Combined Therapies
Tel/Fax: 9293 7247
Mob: 0400 999 785

Be well,

Annette

xoxo

Beauty & Wellbeing Routine: Conor Mines, Perth Food Blogger.

Conor runs the successful food blog http://www.holdthebeef.com.

First up, briefly tell us a little bit about yourself!

I’m in my mid-late twenties (some may argue the “mid-“ is stretching it a bit these days), completing the final year of my PhD in environmental engineering, and these days find myself spending most of what time I have left over in the day either talking about, reading about or writing about food.

Although I love to bag it, I love living in Perth but regular travel is necessary for my mental health.

Tell us about your daily beauty routine.

It’s really very basic, and sometimes I wonder when I’ll become a proper grownup and start wearing makeup to work and using night creams. I cleanse, tone and moisturise in the morning, then normally wear a SPF-ed tinted moisturiser through the day.

I’d love to say I drink gallons of water a day and always get at least 8 hours of restful sleep but this is rarely the case! Herbal teas keep my water intake at somewhat acceptable levels and coffee keeps my body from punishing me too much about the amount of sleep I let it have.

What’s the one beauty treatment you can’t live without? And your favourite place to have it done?

After discovering its joys about a year ago, I am an IPL convert. It’s like magic. Smooth, smooth magic. I was getting it done at Erazer in Claremont and found them to be really good, but my last treatment was done at Hairfree Centre in Booragoon after seeing it promoted on Wellness WA.

Who do you trust with your hair in Perth, and why?

I go to Steve at LASH in Inglewood. He always does a great job, is really affordable, is fun to talk to, never berates me for how long I leave it between visits and he makes decent coffee. He also keeps his magazines up to date, and I never have to resort to reading about Simone Warne or Bec Hewitt.

Favourite budget / at home beauty treatment?

I bought an epilator on eBay a few years ago and have found it to be a great way to save money on leg waxes without having to resort to shaving. It’s a bit old and only works when plugged into the wall, but it’s not like I’d want to go do it down at the park or something anyway.

Natio Tinted Moisturiser RRP $17.23

Your three, absolutely cannot live without, favourite products?

Toothpicks – my teeth gaps are on a constant mission to embarrass me, and I always have toothpicks on hand to thwart their plans.

Natio Tinted Moisturiser – it adds a bit of colour to my face while protecting me from the sun.

Facial Wipes – these are perfect for lazy people who want to keep their face clean, and are a godsend at the end of a big night out.

Do you have any secret tips you use to keep looking / feeling great?

Smile 🙂

What beauty treatment/ wellbeing activity would you love to try but haven’t yet? (Due to time, money, scared etc!)

I’m curious to see how my body and mind would respond to being in an Isolation tank. While I’m not overly afraid of suffering from claustrophobia inside one, I am apprehensive about paying good money to potentially spend an hour being bored and trying to stop thinking about what I need to buy at the supermarket, how badly I need a haircut, how I really should book myself in for another IPL treatment etc.

Describe a typical day of eating for you.

Eating is one of my main priorities in life, and there is some part of my brain that is constantly thinking about my next meal, even while I’m eating my current meal.

My typical day will start with breakfast of a bowl of steel cut oat porridge with assorted fresh fruits, natural yoghurt, stewed rhubarb and a sprinkling of dried fruits on top.

Lunch will be something like sushi, a wrap and salad, or an enormous chicken or tuna salad.

My standard boring dinner is some sort of embarrassingly large stir fry with a huge amount of vegetables and a protein such as chicken, tofu or fish. I am also constantly snacking throughout the day, and can fade pretty quickly if I have to go very long without sustenance.

Describe your fitness routine.

Given that one of my favourite pastimes is eating, and I am not blessed with magical genes, I maintain a decent fitness routine in order to fit into my clothes and also to keep myself strong and healthy.

Despite the mostly horrendous music, I’m a big fan of the Les Mills group fitness classes. I do Body Pump three times a week and Body Step twice a week when it suits my schedule. I’ve also recently set myself the potentially ridiculous goal of running the half marathon component of the Busselton Half Ironman in May of next year, so have just started doing interval training once a week, and a “long run” once a week. So far my definition of “long” is 10km, which isn’t even half a half marathon. I’m glad May is a long way off, and that Busselton is nice and flat.

Do you take part in any alternative therapies or take supplements? If so, discuss.

Although I have a good diet, I take a daily multivitamin and fish oil supplements in case I’m somehow missing any vital nutrients. I went through a sustained period of getting regular acupuncture, and found it very beneficial for many reasons, but have fallen out of the habit at the moment. I also can’t go long without a neck/shoulder massage and treat myself whenever I can, which is never often enough.

Any questions for Conor?!

Be well,

xoxo

Weekly Wellness Winks.

Nom nom!

Mondays can be tricky, so we’re here to help you rev up with a basket full of inspiring links and ideas to get you going!

Everyday Tips to Help Yourself De-Stress from BeGenki.

Feed Your Brain! – by Bridget Janes Health Diary, I loved this article so you should check it out!

Brocolli & Pine Nut Soup – a recipe that a friend of mine made and said was particularly DELICIOUS (and green)!

Spring Clean your Diet – Spring has sprung, if you need a helping hand with a tune-up, this article has you covered.

Easy DIY Detox Yoga Sequence – nuff said, do this!

Your mouth says chocolate, but what you really want is…

Bad Habit Breakers – learn how to help break naughty habits!

Bikram Yoga, the Good, the Bad & the Sweaty – over at PRIMPED.

Exercise Review: Bikram Yoga Perth – and while you’re at it check out our very own Bikram article if you haven’t already!

Hope you have some greatness planned for your week, right now I’m using a clay mask to exorcise the weekends sins from my skin and tonight I’m hitting up a yoga class & cooking up a mega vegetable feast!

Be well,

Annette

xoxo

Beauty & Wellbeing Routine: Adriane Daff, Actress.

Welcome to our BRAND NEW segment, where we will uncover for you all the secret tips & tricks that well-known and upcoming “Perthonalities” employ to keep them looking and feeling on top of the world (or Kings Park)!

If you have any suggestions for Perth based darlings you’d like us to interview, send through an e-mail and we’ll try and get them to shed some light on their health and beauty routines.

First up is Adriane Daff, actress and local pretty Perthie, she has worked in films, television and most recently two plays that received rave reviews, including “The Pride“.

Read on to see how she keeps looking great…

Tell us about your daily beauty routine!

Trying to remember to cleanse, tone and moisturize. Trying to remember to put on sunscreen. Trying not to touch my face throughout the day. Trying to do at least some sort of exercise. Trying to drink as much water as I can. Trying to get at least 7 hours of sleep. Trying to eat apples. I would describe the whole routine as ‘trying’.

Whats the one beauty treatment you can’t live without? And your favourite place to have it done?

IPL at The Beauty Gallery is pretty damn amazing. Mircrodermabrasion at the same place is also really good. And I like facials.

The best facials I’ve ever had in my life were at a place in the West Village in New York that I went to regularly up until about a year ago when I left America. My therapist was a very stern Eastern European lady (called something like Olga) and told me if I just drank more water and slept more it would make a huge difference. I wish I could go to her regularly. She was so matronly and matter of fact. I miss her.

Who do you trust with your hair in Perth, and why?

I trust anyone and everyone. I’m not too prescious about my hair (and maybe not too kind) but I feel like it’s the one thing that no matter what you do to it, it’ll always grow back. So you should dye it, cut it, do whatever you like to it because it’s only temporary. In saying that though nine times out of ten when I say to someone I love your hair they tell me they got it done at Head Studio.

Favourite budget / at home beauty treatment?

Visine eye drops. Eight dollars!

Juicy Tubes!

Your three, absolutely cannot live without, favourite products?

Lancome juicy tubes, Aesop sunscreen, Dior Diorshow mascara.

Do you have any secret tips you use to keep looking / feeling great?

Sleep and water drinking! Just like Olga said! Boring. But it works, I think.

What beauty treatment/ wellbeing activity would you love to try but haven’t yet? (Due to time, money, scared etc!)

One day I would like to go to a really intense day spa that lasts for maybe a week and is in a really remote part of the world and you do things like immerse yourself in snow/steam in a sauna/roll around in honey/get blasted with a high pressure hose and eat only rice two times a day. Something really harsh, just to see if it works.

Describe a typical day of eating for you?

I’m not so good with routine, I find it really hard to get into good habits. Food both bores me and overwhelms me. I try to eat things that I know are good for me but more often than not I don’t care enough. I’m working on it.

Describe your fitness routine.

Again I’m really bad with routine so I go through phases of exercise but things I always find myself going back to are walking (because it doesn’t feel like you are exercising) swimming and yoga. I recently started Bikram Yoga which I like because its mental and physical. And very challenging.

Do you take part in any alternative therapies or take supplements? If so, discuss.

Not really, I’m pretty cynical and ignorant when it comes to alternative therapies (I’m sorry to say). I try to remember to take calcium tablets but that’s about it!

Thanks Adriane!

Do you like our new section?

Who would you most like to have reveal their beauty / health secrets?

Any questions for our actress friend?

Be well,

xoxo

Spray Tan Review: Envy Makeup, Tan and Beauty Bar, Mount Lawley.

I have a secret to tell. And it’s kind of hard to announce it because im a self proclaimed beauty addict.

Up until a few weeks ago… I had never had a professional spray tan.

PHEW. There. It’s off my chest.

I decided an impending trip overseas was the perfect time to get bronzed and I booked in with Envy Makeup, tan and beauty bar, in Mount Lawley: http://www.envyonbeaufort.com.au/.

I was so nervous before I went that I spent days researching what I might need to do when I was there, what I had to do before I got it done and also the maintenance that was required. Heres what I learnt:

Exfoliate. DUH. We all know this. So I scrubbed and scrubbed the morning of the tan, making sure no pesky skin cells were left hanging around. After the scrubbing though, my skin was awfully dry which of course meant I needed to moisturise. This posed a problem because I was told to have no products on my skin before a tan. No deodorant, no moisturizer, no perfume na da. Because I was getting my tan right after work this meant I had to be like this all day. Yuck. Moral of the story is, try and get to a shower before your appointment to avoid being product free at work.

♥ Secondly, don’t shave. I thought at the time, “Oh I’m so clever, I’m going to shave the morning of and that way I wont have to shave for a few days, thus keeping my limbs bronzed for longer”. WRONG. I got this weird dotty rashy thing from the tan seeping into my freshly shaved legs. So save the shave for after the tan, preferably when it has set.

♥ To maintain your glow once you have been sprayed, use a moisturiser with no Alpha-Hydroxy Acids, as this breaks down the colour. I used the Neutrogena Norwegian moisturiser and found it was super duper hydrating.

As you can see I really went to town on the research. So now it was time for the tan. Like I said, by now I was a tad nervous. Once i arrived I was greeted by my assistant for the session. She was very welcoming and immediately got into business. I was asked how dark I would like to go and Envy’s various shades and formulas were then explained to me. Envy specialise in formulas that have a low DHA concentration, creating a subtle tan, perfect for white gals like me.

After I picked my colour I was taken into a little room with a booth similar to a shower. Your assistant will ask you if you would like to go nude, wear underwear or a disposable G-string, I chose to wear a g string and no bra… In about 4 minutes my assistant was back, she didn’t bat an eyelid at my exposed state which immediately put me at ease.

Just before starting my lady gave me a cream that I applied to my bumpy bits to prevent streaking. Make sure you slap that cream on; don’t be shy like I was or you will streak!

I was then asked to stand with my arms spread in the shower while the tan was applied with a device similar to an air brush. 5 minutes in I was already glowing!

After I was sprayed I then received a dry down with warm air from the air brush and I was left to dress.

My experience was professional and comfortable, pretty good for a first time I think. My tan lasted 36 hours on a plane (plane trips dehydrate you which in turn can reduce your tan!) and by following the tips I mentioned earlier, my colour lasted a total of 8 days!

No longer do I shake in fear at the thought of a professional spray tan…. I am now addicted.

Address:

Shop 8,
595 Beaufort Street,
Mount Lawley,
WA 6050

Tel: ( 08) 9328 8322

Fax: (08) 9300 5466

Email: admin@envyonbeaufort.com.au

Web: http://www.envyonbeaufort.com.au

Review by April Rose, spray tan convert.

Be well,

xoxo