Lovely Sarah.

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

I spend most of my days working with independent artists at Performing Lines WA doing all kinds of things – directing photoshoots, editing grant applications, organising press, marketing shows, designing flyers, managing events and documenting lots of creative developments or artworks. I also just curated my first major show at PICA last year called Rounds and co-published a book.

I really love cooking and spending time at local farmers markets. I just started a website called Organic Hunter that documents recipes, produce, cafes, markets, juicing and general thoughts about everything organic in Western Australia.

I can also fold my thumb behind my index finger.

Trilogy Cream Cleanser – RRP $36.95

♥ Tell us about your daily beauty routine.

I have a very simple routine. I wash my face with water, or if I can be bothered, Trilogy Cream Cleanser followed by Trilogy moisturiser. I use Trilogy body wash daily and depending on my mood, I might use Australian Bush Flower Woman Essence. If I go to the beach I’ll use Wotnot 30+ organic sunscreen.

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

Because I work in an office during the week I am starting to get some serious back and neck problems. I just started getting regular deep tissue / remedial massages by my friend Nisha Ariyaratne who is studying Mind-Body Medicine at the Life Academy. Nisha uses Native West Australian Flower Essences instead of oils, which work vibrationally to help move stress and blockages. She is the best!

Aveda Blue Oil Balancing Concentrate.

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

Rory at emm Aveda Concept Salon. emm salon only uses Aveda products, a company who live by organic and plant-based ingredients. They also start the session by offering a free de-stress massage using Aveda’s Blue Oil Balancing Concentrate which has this amazing ability to calm your mind and body. Powerful stuff.

♥ Favourite budget / at home beauty treatment? 

Delicious honeyface – cleansing scrub and then Elixir raw jarrah honey facemask.

♥ Your three, absolutely cannot live without, favourite products? 

1. Trilogy body wash
2. Biologika Lemon Kiss Deodorant
3. Aveda’s Blue Oil Balancing Concentrate (unavailable to buy online, but you can find it at any Aveda Salon.)

Delicious lookin’ juices made by Sarah.

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

I exercise daily, even if it’s walking an hour to and from work. I juice like crazy because it makes me feel like gold in the morning. I don’t eat red meat or poultry and I tend to only eat organic food. I drink lots of water, I sleep at least 8 hours a day and I don’t wear makeup.

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

Shiatsu massage.

Salad & juice made by Sarah.

♥ Describe a typical day of eating for you.

I grew up with a family full of foodies so I tend to base my day around cooking and eating. I probably spend more time than your average person preparing food everyday because I only like to eat organic produce. My most typical day consists of…

Morning – Freshly squeezed vegetable & fruit juice (I use an OSCAR VitalMax juicer), eggs and soldiers (still as good as when you were a child).
Morning tea – Coffee (from Lowdown) & fruit salad (always with raspberries)
Lunch – I usually make a salad in the morning or take left over’s from dinner. The past two days I have eaten a salad with: Greens, sprouts, grilled carrots + zucchini + eggplant, toasted pine nuts, goats cheese, balsamic dressing
Afternoon Tea – Fruit and usually some kind of cake or dark chocolate (because I crave sugar all the time)
Dinner – Fish with some kind of salad concoction.

♥ Describe your fitness routine.

Walking an hour a day. Or if I make it to the gym I will ride for 15 minutes, go on the cross trainer for 30 minutes, and do 10 minutes weights and 10 minutes stretching.

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

Not anything on a daily basis. I might use tissue salts or flower essences.

Augusta.

♥ How do you like to relax? What are your favourite ways to de-stress?

If I can – I will go straight down south to Augusta and walk in the bush or swim lots. If not – massage or watch classic TV series which don’t make me think too hard.

Thanks Sarah, check out Organic Hunter for more chemical free love.

Be well,

xoxo

A slightly more relaxing portrayal of Omnilux.

I’ve been intrigued with Omnilux for quite a while now, but nothing quite cemented the interest like hero dream-bebe Zoe Foster and her unforgettable words at the PRIMPED look book event last year:

Well then. We by no means suggest you do such a thing, but it’s good to know the option is there.

With this little thought wailing around in my brain for the past 12 months, along with some unshakable pimples and a desire for clearer skin – I bit the light therapy bullet and booked in for a sesh of Omnilux at Skin Deep Medi Spa in the CBD.

A photo of me having my Visia Analysis done… 😉

First up though, I had my skin analysed by Lauren, the spa manager, with a Visia Skin Analysis machine. For those of you who hate close-ups, you’re not going to like this! However I see it as a necessary evil to help uncover what the main areas of skin concern are. So a bunch of photos are taken from all angles with your head in the machine and once finished you’re shown the pics and talked through the problem zones.

My personal areas of concern were dehyrdation around the eyes, uneven skin tone and acne bacteria, mostly on the chin 🙁

A regime of both Omnilux red (collagen & lymphatic stimulating & healing) and Omnilux blue (acne bacteria destroying, pow pow) is recommended, as well as some light chemical peels and exfoliation suggested (but I don’t think I’m quite ready for the peels yet!)

Twenty four hours pass and I’m back in the medi-spa for my first Omnilux treatment (the red one to start with)…gulp!

A hop, skip and a double-cleanse later, I’m lying on the treatment bed with my hair in a disposable cap waiting to make friends with this piece of machinery that is promising me pretty skin.

The first thing to note is that the lights sit just a couple of centimeters above your skin, unlike in the image above where it’s shown to be about 30 centimeters away. I’m a bit claustrophobic so I asked the therapist to stay with me during my first treatment and she was more than happy to do so. As it turns out, if you feel that it’s too close they can move it back a bit, or you can wiggle down out of it for a minute.

Secondly, even with little goggles on and my eyes closed – THE LIGHT IS SO BRIGHT! It gets better after a few minutes but I hadn’t read about that anywhere so was surprised.

Throughout the treatment I’m aware of a slight warmth, but it doesn’t feel hot.

The twenty minutes pass pretty quickly with chatting, and you can probably bring in your iPod if you like, or just relax to the peaceful music that is piping through the spa.

A vitamin B serum is applied to my skin, which apparently helps, as well as a moisturiser. For Omnilux to be most successful, you need to have two treatments a week for a month, and then you can dial it back to once a month. It takes a few sessions to really start seeing a difference, but today I’ve felt that my skin might just be looking that little bit better already…

Zoe.

Time will tell though, and I’m excited to continue on my journey to Zoe Foster worthy skin.

Omnilux revive (red) is $95 a pop & Omnilux blue $75, they’re not cheap, but if they do as promised I’ll be more than happy to keep making the room in my budget.

I went to the Skin Deep Medi-Spa located at:

Shop 4 Central Park Building
777 Hay Street, Perth
Western Australia 6000
T. (08) 9226 2997

Or you can find another salon in Perth that provides Omnilux here!

Have you tried Omnilux yet? Would you? Do you have any other questions for me? Comment below!

Be well,

Annette

xoxo

♥ ♥

I’m sure you’ve heard about chia seeds (or the more sexy sounding scientific name Salvia Hispanica) by now! If you haven’t, they have been taking the world by storm for the past few years with their incredible nutritional profile, essential fats, protein, minerals, vitamins and fiber.

Here are a few fun facts about chia seeds:

♥ Contains the highest known plant concentrations of omega-3
♥ Great source of both soluble & insoluble fiber
♥ A complete vegan protein
♥ Three times more iron than spinach, four times more antioxidants than blueberries, seven times more vitamin c than oranges! (source)
♥ On their own they are really crunchy (and get stuck in your teeth!) but if you leave them in water for 10 minutes, they swell to form a gel like substance so can be used in dry food preparation as well as liquids, like smoothies.
♥ In 28 gms of chia you can find: 9% of the Daily Value for protein, 42% dietary fiber, high amounts of the essential minerals, phosphorus and manganese, moderate calcium content, and trace levels of potassium and sodium (source, Wikipedia)
♥ Can you say, chia pet? These cute little guys are made from chia seeds too!

♥ I want this chia puppy!

So today I was sent an e-mail asking where you can purchase chia seeds in Perth, and I wanted to let everyone know that it is REALLY, REALLY easy!

Chia seeds have become so popular now that I’ve seen them frequently in Coles, Woolworths and IGA’s (in the health aisle), as well as your more traditional outlets – health shops.

If you’re looking for organic chia seeds I’d suggest trying Manna Wholefoods or Mt Lawley Wholefoods, but if you’re just after garden variety chia then a trip down to your local supermarket should prove successful 🙂

Chia porridge

My personal trainer, Sarah, sprinkles chia seeds on porridge for breaky, which is one really easy way to incorporate these little nutrient gems into your diet.

Stuart Watkins, my personal meditation / yoga trainer, as well as Emma from The Raw Kitchen are big chia fans as well. These three are some of the healthiest people I know!

Hope I’ve helped some of you out 🙂

Have you tried chia seeds before?

Be well,

Annette

xoxo

If the idea of doing yoga in a natural setting, be it in a park or by the ocean, takes you to your happy place then you’ll want to get involved with this.

Holistic personal trainer / nutritionist / meditation & yoga practitioner Stuart Watkins will be running classes in Kings Park, Cott and City Beach throughout the 2010-2011 Summer!

I’ve recently had a personal meditation / yoga sesh with Stuart (more on that to come later) and can vouch for his knowledge, calming voice & positive / healing vibes that seem to emanate from him in droves.

Make sure you get in touch with him by the listed methods to ensure a spot. The classes are by donation, so you pay what you feel, which is a really harmonious way of doing things.

Namaste!

Be well,

Annette

xoxo

Photo of Chakra Balancing Treatment by Sodashi

As soon as I read about the 90 Minute Sodashi Chakra Balancing Treatment on the Bodhi J website, I knew we had to be together.

“Deeply meditative, this experience aims to bring the chakras into alignment through a fluid combination of massage, specific essential oil synergies and beautiful crystals. Working subtly on the energetic body with profound effects, this truly unique experience leaves you feeling calm and in a state of harmony, resulting in an increase in wellbeing and spirituality.”

Yes please. Now, as you can imagine, one prerequisite for this treatment is a mind that is at least 2% open. Energy therapies are a relatively new player in the game and as such are often viewed with a skeptical eye.

I can’t say for certain they work, all I can let you know are my experiences, and after this treatment I felt on cloud 9 for about 3-4 days after!

Check out Chakras for Beginners for a little more info before reading on!

Going to the day spa can be a very intimate experience, we allow ourselves to be touched and comforted by people we usually don’t know, this treatment specifically requires you to be completely undressed (although your modesty is certainly preserved at all times), however disposable underwear is made available for those who might not feel so comfortable going au naturale!

♥ So after taking it all off, I’m directed to a beautiful eco-bathrobe. It’s all about the little things, and these unique robes are made of flax and are very low in pesticides, herbicides and fungicides! Pretty impressive and really comfortable, they are also available to purchase for $130.

♥ A quick test is done to see which of my chakras are imbalanced, turns out my 3rd (emotions) & 5th (communication) chakras could do with a bit of work!

♥ Before each chakra (from the base of the spine to the crown of the head) is gently massaged and worked on, I’m asked to inhale a Sodashi scented oil (see above) that corresponds to and will help to balance that particular chakra. It is incredibly relaxing and the scents are divine.

♥ After each point is worked on, a beautiful crystal is placed on my skin.

♥ I have to note at this point that I’m not someone who falls asleep easily, but I found myself dozing off at least twice!

♥ Once the back is done, the front is worked on (again, modesty preserved).

♥ The treatment finishes with a relaxing rest in the lounge area, some fresh fruit, tea and chocolates 🙂

The whole thing was AMAZINGLY relaxing. I walked out of there on a cloud and stayed there for 3-4 days. As someone who is very busy and always searching for ways to reduce stress, I found this to be one of the more effective treatments I have tried in a while!

If you have the moolah, the Sodashi Chakra Balancing Treatment weighs in at $185 for 90 mins, then I would highly recommend you high-tail it down there before even finishing this article.

If not, start wishing upon stars or putting away a dollar a day because this treatment is definitely worth your hard earned.

I wish I was back there right now! *dreams*
Contact Bodhi J

42C Grantham St (Cnr Nanson St)
Wembley, Western Australia 6014

ph: (08) 9387 5152
fax: (08) 9387 4548

admin@bodhij.com.au

Ever had your chakras balanced?

Would you like to? Lets chat!