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There are moments in our life when we feel truly inspired; following a challenging yoga session, after finishing reality TV shows like the X-Factor or The Renovators (as we start shifting our furniture whilst belting out Adele songs), when we receive genuine, full-face-smile inducing compliments or for some, simply after we finish a very strong coffee resulting in creativity and inspiration literally buzzing through our veins. Eating at Samudra; an organic, sustainable and vegetarian café nestled in the heart of Dunsborough, is now listed as one of my inspiring moments.

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The moment my Tony Bianco boots crunched the gravel path and I breathed in the fresh sea-breeze all thoughts of university essays and the Samantha Wills necklace I’d just lusted after in a shop window peacefully retreated from my brain. I was ready to convert to a Birkinstock wearing, yoga practicing, hippie vegetarian. Accompanied by my lamb-loving fiancé, we weaved through the mass of large, natural wood tables and settled at a table perched on the grass, soaking up some indecisive September sun.

The inspiration began to emerge as my eyes flittered across the pages of the menu in excitement, lamb-lover not quite as enticed, pointing to the safest option Superhero Avo Sandwich- Yallingup Woodfired Sourdough topped w/ cashew cheese, tomato, avocado & alfalfa sprouts. I added to the order the Kombi Breakdown, gluten free – A flavour explosion of cumin, coriander, cardamon, clove and one of our favourite superfoods – tumeric, served w/ quinoa and the Feel-good falafels- raw- gluten free- Delicious Egyptian-style falafel balls made with carrots, sunflower seeds & aromatic spices, cumin & caraway seed, served w/ handcrafted sunflower seed aioli and couldn’t resist the Super Green Smoothie- Pear, apple, lemon, orange & kale.

Inside Samudra ♥

Gazing around the Samudra landscape, from the organic eco garden where the chefs source the majority of their produce to the timber decked café area, I realized I could keep my boots on as you did not need to have dreadlocks or favor hemp t-shirts to eat here (my apologies for the stereotyping, although a woman who obviously forgot to wear shoes or brush her hair resulting in long dreadlocks was purchasing an organic chocolate macaroon when I was paying at the end…. just saying!). There was a unique display of customers; from the tourists flaunting jeans with sport shoes (true tourist attire) looking slightly anxious reading the menu, to the couple sitting behind us loudly debating spirituality and money. Whether they came to The Kombi café for it’s genuine passion to inspire and nurture their guests by providing sustainable, organic, biodynamic meals or if they were there just because the line at the local Dome was hideously long, the air thick with relaxation and serenity was beginning to work it’s magic on their minds and stomachs!

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As our order was placed on the table my inspiration levels heightened yet again. The smell, the colours and the delicate plating was enough to demand any carnivores attention (bringing their thoughts back from daydreams about sausage rolls and meat pies from the local bakery). The simple but favourite combination of tomato, avocado and ‘cheese’ (a cashew cheese alternative) was not a let down and the toasted sourdough provided the perfect foundation for these tasty flavors.

The falafel are one of the best I’ve tried, the dense balls just oozing good-for-you-ness, full of spices and nuts and resting on top of a sunflower seed aioli. The dhal with vegetables was served with quinoa was creamy with a noticeable heat hit and very very moreish. I would be a happy woman if I could eat a bowl of their Dhal each week night whilst catching up on Kids Masterchef, perhaps with a sneaky red wine which I’m not sure would be Samudra approved. My smoothie was a vibrant green colour and it was difficult to refrain from drinking as my fiancé tried to capture the perfect picture of it, however in the end I gave in and gulped down the thick and delicious concotion. Just like the rest of Samudra’s delights it tasted like wellness and health, delectable.

Empty plates!

If you are ever in Dunsborough and have worked up an appetite perusing the streets (in the process realizing you desperately needed several new scented candles, new bathers and of course you needed another decorative elephant statue) I would definitely recommend relaxing and filling your stomach at Samudra. You know they have your health and wellbeing at heart, their recipes are constructed with passion and knowledge with ingredients sourced from the garden, available also for your exploring pleasure. As my boots crunched the gravel during my (reluctant) exit from Samudra, my body and mind healthy and light, I felt inspired to recreate my meals with similar ingredients and love. When we know how beneficial the ingredients that go into your meals are for our mind, body and spirit it’s easy to devour everything on your plate (and still purchase a goji berry bliss ball for the road). So how would I describe my experience at Samudra overall? Well it was absolutely dhal-icious 🙂

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Address:

226 Naturaliste Terrace
Dunsborough WA 6281

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

Article by Jade Jurewicz, inspiration by Samudra. You can find Jade’s blog over @ http://jadescinnamon.tumblr.com

Be well,

xoxo

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Recently, my hair has been getting real long. I’ve been growing it for ages in an attempt to get to a length that I call ‘mermaid hair’. I’m not too far from my goal, but with great hair lengths comes great responsibility. Unlike a real mermaid I am not underwater all the time and my hair is oft tormented by the ravages of dryness and breakages, split ends and unruliness. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the ends of my hair sometimes feel like straw or a broom. Or a straw broom.

Guy De On (natural care from the Dead Sea) have created a Peach Shampoo and a Peach Conditioner to help rehabilitate the hair follicles and prevent splitting and dehydration. Which is exactly what my straw broom is in need of. Both of these two products contain Peach Kernel Oil antioxidant (containing Vitamin F and fatty acids), Pro-Vitamin B5, Vitamin C and Meadow Foam Seed Oil and claim to replace essential elements that the sun and pollution steal from your hair. I was glad to hear this, because with the Australian sun returning in a couple of months to give us another long hot summer, my mermaid hair will need more care and attention than ever.

♥ Peach Shampoo – $25.80

After using the Peach Shampoo and Conditioner my hair (especially the ends) felt smooth and soft (as I was expecting) but also surprisingly lighter which was a great bonus considering that the longer your hair gets the more it can feel like a heavy lifeless curtain. I would almost go as far as saying that I felt like I had more volume in my hair, which for someone with dead straight follicles is not something that I can say after every wash. Also, and this is a far more personal preference, I don’t like to over-wash my hair (one or two times a week tops) and not all shampoo and conditioners can give a good enough clean to go the distance- but the Guy De On products seem to be able to handle two times a week without any trouble.

♥ Relaxation Bath Crystals – $30.25

One last honourable mention from Guy De On is the Dead Sea Relaxation Bath crystals. I was having one of those weeks, the kind of awful week where it’s only Tuesday and you just can’t wait for it to be over. You know the kind. Well, my week was made significantly more bearable by having a bath with these Guy De On crystals every night which maybe that was slightly indulgent of me, but the beautiful smell of the crystals (extracted from the Dead Sea) and the aromatic oils really helped soak away my aches and pains and made me feel a little less like I was falling apart.

Who would have thought that such life-giving products could come from the Dead Sea?

Review by Adriane Daff, actress and Dead Sea Devotee!

Products were provided for consideration.

Be well,

xoxo

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Do you know that eating far more fresh fruits and vegetables daily than the government recommendation of two fruit and five veg can completely change your health, your body and your life experience for the better?
In fact, eating a mostly vegetable based diet can propel your health to heights you can’t even imagine. They alkalise your blood, help to balance your body (and your moods!), allow better digestion and detoxification to occur and improve your chances of healing everything from acne to cancer.

Take my experience for example. I was reliant on daily steroid use to manage debilitating top to toe eczema for almost 25 years of my life. I was very frequently sick with the flu, colds and infections, plus I always battled with my weight. For ten years I tried every medical and natural route to heal my body of the symptoms and pain I lived with to no avail. That is, until I started downing green vegetable juice every day, eating a plant based diet of mostly vegetables, particularly leafy greens, adding in therapeutic natural foods and getting my colon cleansed. Yes, you read that last bit right.

This powerful combination transformed my health, body, energy, happiness and even my career and whole life experience in a way I never thought possible. This is the power of a clean, alkalising, plant based diet to start a revolution inside your own body. Of course, don’t forget your mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing too! Below is a look into a typical day for me, which keeps me feeling consistently wonderful. Please use this to inspire, not mimick. You and I are different and have different needs. That is why I coach clients to find their own perfect balance, but everyone can benefit from seriously upping their veggie intake.

7 AM: I wake up and immediately get my meditation on. I listen to a guided mediation, my much loved Blissitations or practice mindfulness meditation.

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7.20 AM: I drink lots of spring water and then shake my booty for anywhere from 20 to 45 minutes. I am currently running a free Strong Is Sexy Fitness Challenge on my website which is great fun!
8.15 AM: Shower time! I brush my body in long strokes towards the heart with my natural bristly dry body brush to stimulate my lymphatic system. I shower and moisturise with organic, pure products and oils.
8.30 to 11.30 AM: I grab a litre of pure water with lemon juice and stevia and some Tulsi tea and head to my office to get started on my work day.
11.30 AM: I venture on to my back patio to catch some sunlight and breathe deeply.
11.45AML More clients, writing articles, blog posts, and other work. I feel so blessed to do the work I do.

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1 PM: I make a full litre of green vegetable juice. Some combination of cucumber, celery, zucchini, silverbeet, chard, parsley, mint, kale, cos lettuce with lemon and ginger. I drink more herbal tea and pure water throughout the day.

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3 PM: A snack of a smoothie made from spinach, avocado, blueberries, vanilla stevia, carob powder, cinnamon, water and ice fills me up while leaving me feeling light and energetic (similar to this recipe).
6PM: After finishing up my main projects and tasks for the day, I create an incredible salad of baby lettuces, carrot, beetroot, chopped garlic and ginger and cubed avocado topped with this winning Raw Japanese Caesar Dressing. I follow my salad with steamed cauliflower sprinkled with nutritional yeast, sea salt and dill. While making dinner, I listen to inspiring audios and dance to great music.

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8 PM: After some final work, scheduling, emails, chores and often a class, client or teleclass, I relax for the night with a hot carob “milk” made with fresh almond milk. I spend quality time with my man, read, watch a film, do some stretches, go for a walk or just lay quietly until I go to bed. Every night I go to sleep listening to more Blissitations and smiling into my pillow, grateful that I’m alive.

Casey Thomas, certified Detox, Health and Life Coach, shows you how to get radiant health and energy, lose weight and heal naturally so that you can live the life you want in a body you love. Casey is based in Perth Australia and conducts phone consultations internationally. If you’re ready to ditch the frumpy feeling and start looking and feeling fantastic in 7 steps, get your FREE report, tips and guidance now at http://www.CaseyLorraine.com

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1. Retreat for One

I’d previously experienced the Bodhi J Retreat for One and been pretty enamoured with it, so much that it has become my ‘go to’ for when I want to reward myself, which I did last week. At $125 for a half hour mud spa bath with champagne, fruit & mini choc, then a full body aromatherapy massage finished with herbal tea and more fruit, it’s an indulgence that I keep coming back to again and again!

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2. Ethically Harvested Lavender Oil

After being sent this product to try a little while ago, I haven’t been able to stop using it in my favourite way, which is to put a couple of drops onto my pillowcase about 20 minutes before I go to bed. This is probably not the best thing for my pillowcase, but it is definitely good for me! I love falling asleep surrounded by the soft scent of lavender.

And just what does ethically harvested mean?

“This denotes sustainable cultivation. An ethically harvested essential oil is derived from a herb, shrub or tree that is not harvested so aggressively that the species becomes depleted.”

I think that’s pretty cool.

♥ This is what coconut oil looks like when it’s not summer!

3. Coconut Oil

After hearing various friends raving about coconut oil, I was finally pushed over the edge by my naturopath Brooke, who said that it would be great for me and that she likes to eat it from the spoon. SOLD.

And so lately I have been including this form of virgin, unprocessed saturated fat in my diet. It has a “haunting vanilla taste” and is indeed yummy straight off the spoon. There is some debate around the health benefits of coconut oil due to it being a saturated fat, some say because it’s unprocessed it’s good for you, others are not so sure, however the research I’ve done and Brooke’s confidence is good enough for me 🙂

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3. Candlez

I’ve never been much of a candle girl, due mostly to my mothers incessant worry that I would burn down the house if any semblance of fire made its way into my perpetually messy room. A fair worry for those who’ve never seen my room.

Now that I live out of home and have control of what objects are allowed through the front door, I’ve really been getting into burning essential oils and candles for the first time and I feel like I’ve been missing out all these years!

This Fig, Cassis & Mandarin mini candle from Palm Beach Collection is a soy candle that has found itself being lit pretty frequently over the past few weeks. It imparts a beautiful smell (the mandarin is most strong for me, which I love) that lingers throughout the house that is just great because it means I don’t have to clean up as much as I probably should… just kidding… sort of. At $14.95 these candles are a cheap way to spruce up a room or set the mood. Oo la la.

Just a quick one this week, thanks for reading guys! X

Be well,

Annette

xoxo

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Hey guys, as some of you know I now write beauty pages for Xpress Magazine quarterly but was recently asked to do a fill in feature for the regular weekly issue. I decided to focus on the fact that beach and bathers weather is upon us and that it can be pretty scary!

If you’d like to download a copy of how it looks in the magazine you can do so: here (PDF version).

Otherwise read on for my top tips to beat the bikini body blues…

Summer is a comin, and with it, the promise of glorious sunny days and heat which can only be quelled by a trip down to the beach and a dip in the ocean followed by an icecream or bevvy. Sounds great right? You’ve picked out your adorable vintage inspired bikini online, stalked the postman for days and when it finally arrives somethings not quite right… suddenly you realise “I’M NOT READY FOR THIS NEAR NAKED PUBLIC DISPLAY OF FLESH!” and vow to spend summer indoors, dreaming of a snowy getaway.

But don’t give up hope just yet, if you’re in need of some guidance follow these tried and tested tips to beat the bikini body blues and reclaim the beach this summer!

IPL / SPL

Most people have heard of Intense Pulsed Light / Square Pulsed Light by now, but in a nut shell it’s a relatively quick and simple treatment that involves applying bursts of intense light to areas of the body to reduce hair growth (feels like a rubber band snapping on your skin, no worse than waxing).

It works incredibly well on bikini lines, legs and underarms and for those who are prone to ingrown hairs, is nothing short of miraculous (I used to be one of them and haven’t had an ingrown since)!

The real beauty of this treatment is in the freedom it allows you, with treatments every 6 weeks and a diminishing amount of hair each time, it gets easier and easier to slip into your bathers without any rogue hair worries. It works best on those with fair skin and dark hair, and is my number one tip for making summer easier.

There are plenty of places that offer these treatments, I’ve had great luck with: http://www.hairfree.com.au

Move Yourself

This one gets mentioned so much that it’s become more than a little redundant, there is a reason for the constant reminding though: IT WORKS! Exercising is the best way to burn calories and stress, plus get endorphins flowing around your body, all three of which will make you feel great and help you look good.

There are 54 million ways to get moving, from bikram yoga to bike riding, boxing to burlesque dancing – they will all help you get a toned tum and bum, plus improve your posture so that you stand up tall as you take your first tentative steps onto the sand this summer – just don’t burn your feet! Once you’re at the beach, you can even take it a step further by getting into some frisbee, beach volleyball, jogging along the shoreline with a pup… or you could take the unconventional approach and go for a swim.

Full Body Exfoliation

It’s time to put TLC’s “No Scrubs” out of your mind and allow yourself to enter the wonderful word of exfoliation. There’s something about having every inch of your body scrubbed that makes for feeling completely physically and mentally cleansed. It’s a great post-winter ritual that will leave your skin free of built up dead skin cells and able to get rid of toxins more efficiently. It will also make you look all smooth and glowy, which will help ease the pain of taking the majority of your clothes off. So make like a snake and shed that winter skin, you can have this done professionally at a day spa, purchase a cheap body scrub or make your own out of sugar and olive oil.

To (Fake) Tan or Not to (Fake) Tan…

So far we’re free of pesky hairs, feeling the benefits of exercising up a storm and have smooth glowing skin – so what next? The divisive topic of tan vs no tan of course!

Now I’m going to optimistically assume that everyone is onboard with me when I say: actual sun tanning is a Pretty Silly idea given we live in Australia and are unfortunately in peak hour public transport style proximity to our good friend the ozone hole, which means we are in the top four countries most at risk of skin cancer. So no sun baking okay? Yes? Great.

So now there are two choices: summery glow vs au naturale. Being of the more ghostly persuasion myself, I’m all for embracing the skin colour you born with. The advent of shows like Mad Men and all of those fancy historical films with beautiful “english rose” types has made being a fair skinned lass as equally acceptable on the beach as having naturally darker skin, so if you’re giving the colour of soy milk a run for its money then you can by all means EMBRACE IT without fear of social exclusion.

Both dark and pale skin needs to be covered up with cute hats, clothing when possible, protective sunglasses and lashings of sunscreen, or my favourite, Invisible Zinc.

If you can’t bear to get bare without a little extra colour confidence, then a spray tan is the best way to go. My pick is local brand Aussie Bombshell, who are currently taking the state (and Australia) by storm with their extremely natural looking sunless tans. You will still need to apply sunscreen though, no getting naughty and slacking off thanks. Yes miss.

These four suggestions should get you well on your way to bikini body confidence, all you need now is a warm day, your favourite beach and the all-clear from the lifeguard that there has been no shark sightings for quite some time. And that bevvy I mentioned earlier. Enjoy!

Be well,

Annette

xoxo