The CoastRider Beauty & Wellness Show
The CoastRider is proud to announce the Beauty & Wellness Show,
which will take place on, Sunday, 5th October, 2008
at the beach-side La Zenia Hotel.
A new contemporary and interactive well being show coming soon to the Costa Blanca
Come and experience a whole new way of living and looking.
Whether you are an individual therapist or a large salon, if your business is involved in any
aspect of the beauty, body or health and fitness markets then this is an event not to miss.
Call Jenny now on 966 701 037 to find out how you can be a part of this exciting show.
The Beauty & Wellness Show will also incorporate an evening award ceremony for the CoastRider’s Beauty & Wellness Awards
The CoastRider Beauty & Wellness Awards
Introducing the first Beauty & Wellness
Awards on the Costa Blanca. Each week in
The Coastrider there will be an opportunity
for anyone and everyone to vote for their
favourite hair, health and beauty
professional here on the Costa Blanca.
Categories include Best Hairdresser, Best
Nail Technician and Best Beauty Therapist.
Awards like these not only give kudos to
those hardworking and valued
professionals here on the Costa Blanca but
also help to raise standards and aspirations
of the hair and beauty industry here in
general, giving you, the public, a better and
higher quality of service.
Look out for your copy of the nomination
form which will be printed in The CoastRider
over the next few weeks and also be
available to download from our website.
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Therapy Room
Deciphering the ingredients...
What is actually in your face cream?
All of us are hoping for that miracle in a
bottle, but the sad reality is that the cream
to remove our wrinkles and dissolve away
the years just simply does not exist, despite
all the media hype which the beauty
industry would like us to believe…and a lot
of the time we do. However, being misled
can be severely disappointing, as well as
being an expensive as we try one cream
after another, which does not only mean a
over cluttered bathroom – a veritable
graveyard of half used and discarded
lotions and potions as the results promised
remain unseen – but costs us a lot of
money! This is exactly what this ever
growing industry wants us to do…buy their
creams, at huge, inflated profit to them.
However, there are some reputable
brands out there which don’t promise the
earth, and also consider the earth’s ecology
when selecting ingredients, prioritising
renewable resources, making sure their
products are not over packaged, and what
packaging they use is biodegradable and
fully recyclable. The ecologically friendly
brands more often than not do not test on
animals and chose the highest quality
ingredients. These brands, like
Dermalogica, Aveda, Green People are
sometimes more expensive than your
commercial brands (although sometimes
cheaper than the bigger, commercial
brands who get you to pay inflated prices
for their brand names) so it is worth valuing
your skin and making sure what you are
applying to your face and body is good
quality, not potentially harmful and more
importantly, is actually going to improve
your skin.
Always consult a professional skincare
therapist for the correct advice on what will
help your own individual skin condition.
Often the creams and cosmetics we use,
list a confusing and illegible catalogue of
ingredients, which, unless you are a
chemist, are pretty impossible to decipher.
So, as part of The Therapy Room´s
campaign to raise ingredient awareness we
help you work out exactly what some of the
most common ingredients are. This week
we start with Acetylated Lanolin.
Acetylated Lanolin: An emulsifier and
emollient. Acetylated Lanolin repels water
better than plain Lanolin and is used as a
water resistant film when applied to the
skin. It reduces water loss through the skin.
It is an extremely common ingredient used
in many cosmetic creams to give a ´velvety
feel´. It is used to make baby products, skin
and hair preparations like creams, lotions,
powders and sprays more appealing. It is
also used in some suntan gels and
mudpacks. The CIR Expert Panel found
Acetylated Lanolin to be safe in the early
1980s but are considering new information,
to determine if the final safety assessment
should be reaffirmed, amended or to have
an addendum.
Fiona Harlowe is known as the “skin doctor”. She specialises in acne, rosacea, hyper-pigmentation and aging skin conditions to regular complexion perfecting using a combination of high tech
equipment, peptide packed products containing active plant extracts and holistic techniques.
Fiona Harlowe is a Skincare Expert & Laser Therapist who always gives free consultations. Fiona is one of the leading, authorised Dermalogica stockists on the Costa Blanca and is based at Vanilla,
Villamartin. Call for your free consultation today on 966 765 616 or 678 836 961
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Alternative health: Reiki
In the last of my columns on alternative
health for a period I have chosen
to look at the Japanese healing
technique of Reiki. It has had a number
of different names over the years including,
hands on healing and distance healing.
The word Reiki means universal
life energy. A source that all Reiki masters
believe exists in every living thing.
A Reiki master or therapist treats those
parts of the body he or she senses are
emitting weak energy, by laying his or
her hands close to the site of the problem,
this enables energy to start to
flow through the therapist’s hands to
the patient. To be a Reiki therapist involves
a very high level of self-belief, for it is
your energy flow as well as that of the
patient that affects the outcome.
Unlike many other alternative Japanese
medical practices Reiki is not ancient.
Reiki first started at the turn of the century
by Dr. Mikao Usui, a Japanese doctor.
Dr Usui developed his healing
system from Buddhist teachings and as
a result of extensive travels, as well as research
and meditation. This system of
healing is also based on Sanskrit teachings.
Like many Japanese traditions it is based
on discipline and respect. Which are
based on five principles:
• Just for today. Do not worry
• Just for today. Do not anger
• Honour your parents, teachers
and elders
• Earn your living honestly
• Show gratitude to every living thing
During a Reiki session a patient or client
lies on a massage type bed. The therapist
gently lays their hands on your fully
clothed body. This is said to stimulate
your energy by gentle drawing from the
therapists energy, thus creating a positive
flow. It is said that Reiki can be used
on all sorts of ailments, including helping
to heal broken bones and improve
arthritis. An alternative method is called
the hands off technique that doe not involve
the therapist touching the patient
at all. This is normally only practiced by
masters.
Practitioners of Reiki encourage their
charges to become pupils themselves
and for those that desire it, move on to
become masters. There are three levels
Reiki. At first degree, the pupils learn to
practice on themselves and others; at
second degree, a powerful form of distant
healing and a technique, which addresses
the cause of problems, is
learned. Finally the third degree is the
level of Master and is only for those who
want to make a lifetime commitment to
a spiritual path with Reiki living and teaching
it.
My mother-in-law is currently training
for the second degree. She provided me
with a lot of the information for this article.
She suffers from severe arthritis
and assures me that it helps greatly.
As with most alternative medicines,
there is very little scientific evidence that
it works.
Of all the techniques I have researched
over the past six weeks, Reiki is the hardest
one for me to get my head around.
Not because I don’t believe anything
that my mother-in-law says. I can honestly
say that I have maintained an
open mind right from the beginning,
and I was surprised by some of the results
that I experienced. The most impressive
being the technique of tapping.
I now use this as a regular substitute for
Paracetamol and Ibuprofen. For me Reiki
does not open any doors, but the same
can be said of other alternatives for different
people. If you wish to try out an
alternative therapy then I would recommend
it. You may have to try a few before
you find the one that suits you best.
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Going Green
At last a beauty book with eco-friendly
principles and sustainable ways to look
and feel gorgeous at its heart…The
Green Beauty Bible by Sarah Stacey and
Josephine Fairley is the biggest
independent survey in the world of
organic beauty products. In the book
one daisy is awarded to products which
are mostly botanical, two daisys for
those all natural products and three for
those whose organic credentials are
verified by the Soils Association.
At a time when many mainstream
brands are turning green and natural
cosmetic and skincare companies are
booming, positive changes are slowly
unfurling. If you were into green beauty
ten years ago, you were probably
considered to be a bit strange and hippy
like, where as now, not only is the
consumer sitting up and taking notice
of what they are putting into and onto
their bodies, but it also makes
commercial sense to those big players
in the industry.
Mineral make-up is one of the
newest ‘must haves’ of the beauty
industry (like the new mineral make-up
by Rimmel) but has actually been used
by the more reputable skin health
centred brands (like Dermalogica)
which also have strong eco-friendly
connections.
In all, 1100 women tested the
products in the book, which shows that
Sarah and Josephine also wanted to get
real feedback on the results of the
products being tested. The book
stresses one of the points we looked at
in The CoastRider’s Therapy Room last
week, that of the dangers of some
toothpaste. As Sarah claims: “On the
packaging of many toothpastes it states
´do not swallow as you’ll be
poisoned´and I really don´t want to put
that in my mouth if it’s such a risk.”
There is a natural living section as
well, with tips on making your own
fragrances and how to build up a strong
immume system, in which destressing
is given the
prominence it needs.
Read it now, The Green Bible
is published by Kyle Cathie and
was released in the UK on 22
May.
Fiona Harlowe is a Skincare
Expert & Laser Therapist who
always gives free
consultations. Fiona is one of
the leading authorised
Dermalogica stockists on the
Costa Blanca and based at
Vanilla, Villamartin. Call for
your free consultation today
on 966 765 616 or 678 836
961.
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