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Posted by Annette @ Wellness WA on December 15, 2009
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Nom. Fish pedicure. Two words that really look a little strange together don’t you think? The beauty world is abuzz with these little feet eating fishies.
I recently received an e-mail from a reader that I’m going to share with you:
“Hi, I am interested to know if there is a place in Perth where I can get a fish pedicure. I had one of these in Thailand and found it to be the best pedicure I have ever had. I would really appreciate your response to this.
Many thanks”
So first of all lets get some fast facts about what a fish pedicure actually involves!
♥ Feet are placed into a small pool or tub of warm water, where Garra Rufa (commonly known as Doctor Fish) are present.
♥ Dr Fish are toothless, love eating dead skin flakes & are used because they leave the living skin untouched!
♥ Your feet are nibbled at for 15-45 minutes.
♥ It is reported to be VERY ticklish at first!
♥ When the pedicure is over, you are meant to be left with baby soft feet.
The treatment is extremely popular in many Asian countries, especially in high-tourist areas.
Now here is where I break your heart a little bit after building you up to be all keen on some critters munching on your tootsies…
There are some prevalent health, hygiene & cruelty concerns when it comes to fish pedicures.
♥ Investigations in the United States have led to the banning of fish pedicures in Florida, Texas & New Jersey.
♥ “Unlike standard pedicure procedures, which have strict sanitation and equipment sterilization standards mandated by state laws nationwide, it is impossible to sanitize or sterilize the hundreds of fish used in the fish pedicure treatment.” (source)
♥ “the study found that fish pedicures are unsanitary and may lead to the spread of fungal and bacterial infections through small cuts or lesions in customer’s feet”
♥ The fish are starved when pedicures aren’t being performed, in order for them to consume an amount of dead skin considered adequate for a ‘successful pedicure’.
♥ As they thrive in a warm water environment, there are questions as to whether salons keep the water heated during times when the salon is not operating.
So it appears unlikely that fish pedicures will be making their way to our shores (legally in any case) anytime soon, due to these concerns.
We’ll just have to stick to our regular deluxe salon pedicures & ped-eggs
, which really isn’t so bad now is it?!
If you’ve had a fish pedicure, leave a comment and let me know how you found it!
Be well,
xoxo
Posted in Alternative Therapy | 
68 Comments »
Posted by Annette @ Wellness WA on December 13, 2009
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Hola hola hola! After a scorcher of a weekend (can you say 37 & 39 degree days consecutively?! Yes, Summer is here), I feel like we all need a little bit of a break.
Personally, I’m drinking an ice-cold smoothie that consists of the following…
♥ Soy milk
♥ Frozen Banana – tip for for young players!
Summer makes our fruits ripen and perish a lot quicker due to the heat, bunches of bananas have been browning up on my bench quicker than something quick, so instead of letting them go to waste, chop ’em up, then into a container & in the freezer.
Makes your smoothies about 20 x more awesome with creamy cold goodness, saves you money & a tasty way to get more fruit! WIN WIN WIN!
♥ Half a cup of frozen blueberries
♥ Heaped teaspoon of organic drinking chocolate
WHIZZZZZZ EM ALL UP. Delicious cool treat on a hot, hot night.
Here are some links to some wonderful wellness related articles to keep you busy!
♥ “Keep your knickers on, if you want to blissfully drift off” – Queen of Beauty, Ms Foster explores the perils of adherence to the “Everything Off!” day spa rule. Essential reading! Keep those knickers on!
♥ Earth Mother In the Raw – This blog was recommended to me by a friend & is an interesting look into the lifestyle of a woman who has lost over 45 kgs by eating healthy & raw foods wherever possible. Worth a look for sure!
♥ Health Before Beauty is Karen Fischer’s (she used to host What’s Up Doc!!!) website. There are some extremely interesting articles on alkalinity / acidity in the body and what effect this has on the skin & she has a fabulous newsletter. She is also extremely beautiful so it’s not hard to follow & believe her advice!
Just these three bite size pieces for now. I’m out to go stargaze on the beach, a very relaxing end to the weekend!
Be well,
xoxo
Posted in Wellness Tips | 4 Comments »
Posted by Annette @ Wellness WA on December 11, 2009
Given my interest bordering on obsession with the benefits of yoga there are lots of questions that are constantly being thrown my way. While I am always happy to help one-on-one, I thought it might be useful to answer one of the more common questions here!
I really want to get into yoga, what do I need to bring to a class?
There are a few things you may need that you might not have thought of, read on to find out how to construct your very own Perfect Yoga Start-Up Kit!
Note: Though most yoga companies provide the bare essentials for their classes, if they are very popular equipment may run out. The other benefit of having your own gear is hygiene, you’re the only one sweating on it & you know how clean it is.
– Numero Uno! Most importantly you will want a great quality yoga mat. There are mats of varying thickness, you’ll want to choose one that is thick enough to provide some comfort on a hard surface, as well as being non-slip so the mat doesn’t slide around all over the place when you are trying to practice your yoga.
Think about your personality when buying a mat as well, there are plenty of colours to choose from so pick one that will inspire you to be zen, be active or be healthier. My pick are these gorgeous mats
that come in an amazing array of colours!
– Next, you’ll want some clothes, though I’m sure there’s naked yoga somewhere in the world, it’s best not to risk it. Maybe a review for another day?!
This is really a personal preference; tight shorts, baggy shorts, track pants, legging style workout gear, singlets, t-shirts – you can really take your pick! Be sure to take the weather into account when choosing what to wear, however make sure you bring a light sweater or blanket along to pop on at the end of class for meditation because your body loses a lot of heat during this time.
For cheap & cheerful opt for K-Mart, Best & Less or Target. If you have money to burn you can head to Lulu Lemon which is a new yoga & sportswear store just opened in the ENX100 building in the city!
– An eye pillow is your next stop. These are FANTASTIC! My favourite types are lightly scented with lavender for extra relaxation and usually filled with rice or seeds to delicately rest on the eyelids, block out light and soothe.
This one looks great: Barefoot Yoga Silk Eye Pillows – with Flax Seed & Lavender Scent
!
– You’ll want a water bottle, staying hydrated is super important during yoga so this is a must have! Sure you can grab a plastic bottle from the supermarket, but with health concerns about plastic bottles abound it may be nice to have your own reusable one (stylish, environmentally friendly & good for you!)
This is one of the most popular and well reviewed water bottles on the internet and free from lots of nasties, so well worth a look: CamelBak BPA-Free Better Bottle
– For women and men with long hair, don’t forget to bring a hair tie. Yoga can have you in upside down, inside out poses that you might never have expected and hair can get in the way and be annoying.
– Deodorant. This is most certainly an essential! We’re all working together in a fairly small room usually and while our classmates are generally nice people, we don’t like them enough to endure their body odour. Please don’t forget this!
On the same token, don’t use strong (or any) perfume before coming to class. It spreads throughout the room and can be overpowering. Stick to a neutral deodorant and save the perfume for hot dates 😉
So these are your absolute basics! Depending on different yoga styles (for example, Iyengar) you may need some extra equipment, but it varies from class to class and your instructor can let you know.
Remember that you don’t need to go out any buy any special shoes or socks for yoga because it’s practiced barefoot.
The only other thing you’ll need to bring is a desire to quiet your mind and get a little bit more strength and flexibility. Sorted!
Be well,
xoxo
Posted in Exercise, Products | 2 Comments »
Posted by Annette @ Wellness WA on December 10, 2009
After one of the worst waxing experiences I’ve ever had at a salon this weekend, I’ve decided to share some ways in which to minimize the chances of such unfortunate hot wax related pain and suffering happening to others!
The world of salon hair removal can be treacherous, we’re navigating the waxing waters of poorly trained staff, salons trying to cut costs and unhygienic practices…all in the hope that we will find the holy grail of beauty therapists.
And honestly, it’s pretty amazing how hard it is to find a good one in this town.
Many of my friends have never waxed before and go all wide-eyed when I proclaim it as a Godsend, three weeks with no underarm hair, I’ll take that opposed to daily shaving & stubble thank you very much!
So this advice is for them and also anyone who is not satisfied with their current therapist or timidly contemplating jumping into the world of waxing.
Without further ado, I present to you my advice.
“Everything you ever wanted to know about getting waxed at a salon but were too afraid to ask…”
– First up, recommendations recommendations recommendations! Ask your friends, your Mum, sisters, brothers’ girlfriend, aunties, that random woman on the bus who looks impeccable.
Word of mouth recommendations are one of the best ways to find a great place for people to perform acts of hot wax application on your sensitive areas. I’ve found that most people I’ve asked don’t wax, but 1/10 will have a tried & tested go-to, so that you can confidently jump on the bandwagon without too many heart palpitations.
– HOT WAX VS. STRIP WAX. Alright, now listen carefully. Here is where it gets important. There are some fundamentals of waxing and this one is King.
Hot Wax = thicker wax that is applied with a spatula to your more sensitive spots (bikini line, brazilian, underarms, sometimes eyebrows), when cooled it’s removed by hand. ie. the wax itself is pulled off and the hairs come with it. This wax hurts a lot less than strip, better on thick hairs, does a better job of keeping ingrowns at bay and is a bit more pricey for salons to purchase (important note for later).
Strip Wax = a thinner wax that is also applied warm/hot but removed by pressing a strip of cloth over the top, rubbing and then pulling off. Better for large areas such as legs and arms, quicker to apply and also cheaper for salons to purchase.
Then, there are subcategories for strip wax:
* Applied with a spatula
* Applied with a ‘roller’ (kind of like deodorant)
So we have three different methods we’re working with, which brings me to my next point:
– CALL OR ASK WHAT TYPE OF WAX THEY USE, BEFORE YOU GO!!! 99% of the time they should be using hot, peel off wax for your bikini line or underarms. I’ve spoken with other wax-ees and beauty therapists and this is the STANDARD PRACTICE!
However, there are a -lot- of beauty salons who will try and get away with using strip wax in these places, because it is about 1/3 cheaper for them & sometimes it works (however, the hair grows back faster, more prone to ingrowns, more pain for you). I urge you to not accept this and not to support salons that do this, you probably wont want to anyway because of the added discomfort.
Secondly, I and others I’ve talked with have found that the wax rollers provide a substandard wax compared with the spatula and strip method (for legs & arms).
The wax is quite temperamental, doesn’t come out evenly, has problems with being heated to the right temperature and as someone with sensitive skin, I’ve found it irritates my legs a lot more and I end up with red bumps, whereas with the spatula method I don’t.
In summary:
– Ask your friends where they go!
– Hot Wax + Bikini Line + Underarms = Good
– Strip Wax + Spatula + Legs + Arms = Good
– Anything Else Generally = Bad
Thus concludes the first part to this delicate topic! If you have any of your own advice, let me know in the comments, otherwise very soon you’ll find out some more vital info to know before you show up naked & hairy at your therapists door!
Be well,
xoxo
Posted in Beauty Salon, Wellness Tips | 7 Comments »
Posted by Annette @ Wellness WA on December 1, 2009
– There are now 13 more beauty salon, day spa and yoga centre brochures on the site! We are constantly collecting and uploading them and you can have a look at them all by clicking the “Spa and Salon Brochure” link to the right of the screen under Categories.
– The Raw Kitchen are currently running a great little competition where you can win a voucher to the workshop of your choice! All you need to do is send in your best story, photo or recipe about raw foods and you’re in with a chance to win! So simple! It closes on the 14th of December so you better snap to it by heading to the site to enter!
– Since Today is officially the “First day of Summer” (yay!) it’s a great time to consider something like a full body exfoliating scrub to rid yourself of those pesky dead skin cells. It will leave you feeling fresh and glowing. There are plenty of places in town that do this and I’ll be reviewing some of them VERY shortly for you!
– Finally, Christmas is only 3 weeks away! My next post will give you some great beauty & wellness ideas for your loved ones (and maybe even yourself…!). I previously wrote on some great Chrissy ideas from Lush as well!
Til next time my friends!
Be well,
xoxo
Posted in Other, Wellness Tips | 2 Comments »
