Yes, that’s right. It’s all about BIODROGA Systems for me.

After telling you all about my Morning Skincare Ritual, we move on to the nightly skincare ritual.

I believe that finding the right sort of skincare system you can work into your nightly ritual is a best thing you can do for your skin. I reckon skin needs its much needed pampering and rest for whatever it was exposed to throughout the day. And personally, there are only three (3) things that are the key to a skincare ritual — cleanse, tone, and moisturise.

Anyway, I’ve decided on the switch simply because I’ve been fortunate enough to get my hands on one of the premium of premium lines in skincare in the market today — BIODROGA. I believe it’s currently being used at the Chi Spa (of the Shangri-La Hotels) and is exclusively distributed by Spa Essentials.

Hailing from Baden Baden, Germany, BIODROGA Systems is one of the high-caliber premium skincare brands in the global market today. I have yet to read the literature on the product to learn more but in my own experience of using it, I have to say that it can be a prime candidate to be the holy grail of skincare systems.

As much as I have the luxury of puttin on a lt of gunk on my face and call it a skincare ritual, I believe in efficiency. Why bother with multiple bottles when a three-step system can deliver better results?

Step One – BIODROGA Systems PURAN Formula Cleansing Fluid for Impure Skin

Step Two – BIODROGA Systems PURAN Formula Clarifying Lotion for Impure Skin

Step Three – BIODROGA Systems PURAN Formula 24-hour Care for Impure, Oily Skin / Combination Skin

I actually saw a visible changes in my skin on the first try! No, I’m not pulling your leg nor am I trying to sell you this product. I was actually amazed when I saw my skin soon after going through the 3-step process. Dumbstruck, really.

BIODROGA is scheduled to be officially launched in Manila this coming year, 2009. You can stay tuned for a series of product reviews on these products that’s part of my nightly skincare ritual. You can actually use it in the mornings too!

I have to give credit to Dr. Mike Turvill for introducing me to this wonderful skincare system and for bringing BIODROGA to Philipine soil.

Photo © 2008 Sasha Manuel

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Who said that you can only get Aromatherapy by just lighting a candle or taking baths? Ever since I arrived here in Australia, one of the things I do before I go to bed is to spray a bit of this Linen Spray from Amu’in on my sheets and pillow, even on the duvet. It helps me relax and sleep quickly.

For someone who’s used to long days and late nights, my sleep schedule’s been a mess for quite sometime now. But I can’t have it here since I do have to be awake when everyone else is awake. We all know that “fixing it” will take more than just a couple of nights but interestingly — though work does take me to have late nights still — the Linen spray has helped me A LOT. Seriously!

When Cathy mentioned that one other girl had tried Amu’in’s HULAY range to help in her sleeping problems, I couldn’t really believe it. I myself have sleeping problems and I’ve tried lots of ways to “cure” it but my efforts have been fruitless. Though when I did get around to sampling Amu’in, particularly the effects of HULAY in this linen spray, I’m definitely a believer now! I can’t believe that it’s actually true! Sleeping each night has never been utterly deep and restful. It’s also true that it’ll make it harder to wake up in the morning! LOL.

HULAY mainly consists of Lavender and Ylang Ylang essential oils. It has a calming and relaxing effect. You can check out the rest of the Amu’in HULAY range over at their website.

Amu’in is a Filipino-made Aromatherapy products brought to us by Spa Essentials.

Photo © 2008 Sasha Manuel

Post from: eBeautyDaily

I actually find it practical to, at least, bring with me an insect repellent and a hand sanitizer, on top of the other usual toiletries I’d pack. Taking my last trip to Vietnam and Cambodia as an example, I knew I had to be a bit careful since I’m not too familiar with the sanitary condition of these countries AND how my body will react to such exposure.

On this trip to Australia, I’m quite glad to have received an Amu’in gift that’s especially put together by Cathy Turvill of Spa Essentials aptly calling it The Anti-Jetlag Survival Kit.

It comes with a variety of Amu’in Aromatherapy products like body mists (one to help me stay awake during the times I need to stay awake and the other to help me sleep during the times I need to sleep), linen spray (which will help me sleep, too), insect repellent, hand sanitizer and a stress-relief balm (for headaches and insect bites).

(Feel free to check out Style Manila for more information.)

It even comes with its own special Amu’in atravel kit.

Who would’ve thought that Aromatherapy on travels can help you deal with jetlags and stuff? So far, I’ve found the body mists and esp the linen spray exceptionally useful. It does help me fall asleep even when the idea of sleeping is still very much far off.

How about you folks? How do you deal with jetlags? Have you ever considered Aromatherapy for your travels? What’s in your travel kit?

P.S. If you folks are interested in Amu’in products, feel free to check them out!

Photo© 2008 Sasha Manuel

Post from: eBeautyDaily

This experience is one of the many common things we go through each day. Little did we know that it contributes to the deterioration of one’s health. Yes, stress-inducing things like traffic, work, or finding yourself under poor time management can negatively affect one’s well-being and I’m not just talking about stress affecting temperaments. Think health in every sense of the word.

Getting Back to Basics

“Are you familiar with Aromatherapy?” Dr. Mike Turvill had asked. I know I should be asking the questions but I appreciated having been asked this particular question. Reason is that my own definition actually falls short of what Aromatherapy is all about.

Initial impression was that Aromatherapy was just all about scented candles, incense, or burning scented oils to create a scented atmosphere in a particular space (bedroom, office, etc). Scents being the operative word.

“Volatile essences have healed people since the dawn of time…” — Rene Maurice Gattefosse, French Chemist

According to Mike, Aromatherapy is the systematic use of essential oils distilled from plants as holistic treatments to improve physical and emotional well-being. Yes, it’s actually more than just lighting a scented candle or having scented baths. They’re just a part of the whole thing. Key to better understand the process are the words: aroma + therapy.

Scents play a large role in the healing and therapeutic processes and essential oils, larger. Though it doesn’t stop there.

The Essentials and Centuries-old Healing Wisdom

This brings us to the use of essential oils. Before all the modern science were made available for our health needs, people turn to ancient healing rituals or practices to cure ailments and the main component of such rituals/practices is essential oil. It worked then so why can’t it work now?

Mike shares that every ancient civilization used essential oils for healing and therapy. Essential Oils have therapeutic abilities that not only improve health but also help prevent disease. Apart from killing bacteria and virus, these are known to stimulate the immune system. Essential oils are also anitseptics and disinfectants and were once used to clean medical instruments and rooms in hospitals.

Essential oils number by the hundreds and around 300 are known to have healing and therapeutic abilities (there may be more); most are currently used in Aromatherapy like the following: Lavender, Lemongrass, Tea Tree, Peppermint, Eucalyptus, Palmarosa, Rosewood, Ylang Ylang, Sweet Orange, Cedarwood, May Chang, Mangosteen, Lemon, Citronella, Mango, Rosemary, etc.

Like what was previously stated, scents are the most obvious part of the therapy and, scientifically, whatever we smell can be ingested. The same thing with essential oils. Applied onto the skin, these are absorbed and goes into the blood stream, thus more potent than by just inhalation.

Aromatherapy + Spa

Spa places administer Aromatherapy in their sessions. These places often create a certain calming atmosphere from the get-go by applying the Aromatherapy principle of stimulating the olfactory senses. It’s all part of the Spa experience. Places like Nurture Spa Village and the Chi Spa of the Shangri-La Hotels (located in Edsa Shang, Mactan and Boracay) take it to the next level by incorporating Aromatherapy in their services, making full use of essential oils in their baths, scrubs, massages — Amu’in and Futuresse, respectively. It’s actually good to know if the spa place you frequent actually use genuine essential oils and not just plain carrier oils, scented or not.

DIY Aromatherapy

Learning more about these essential oils helped throw out the notion that using scents like strawberry, peach or chocolate in Aromatherapy is the real deal. We’re not saying that these scents are unpleasant because it does leave a particular space smelling good, though the healing benefits you may expect in DIY Aromatherapy will not be present. Mike even had to point out the importance in making sure you use real essential oils and have shared ways to determine if the bottle you’re purchasing from a seller is genuine (not fabricated). He strongly advises that we look for the scientific name of the essential oil on the label. And he further shared that a 10ml bottle of essential oil can go for as low as Php 300.00 for the common like Tea Tree to as high as Php 3,000.00 for the special sort (due to scarcity).

Mike told me that there are certain essential oils that can be applied directly onto the skin, i.e. Tea Tree, Lavender. But there a lot of these oils that need carrier oils for the reason that they’re too expensive (and impractical) to use alone.

You can look into Amu’in for Aromatherapy products you can use at home. They offer products to help you relax, heal, re-energize and even for a bit of romance.

About Dr. Mike Turvill

Has been in the Spa industry for the last six (6) years. Co-owner and President of Spa Essentials (makers of Spa Products like Amu’in), Spa Professionals (trains global standard Spa therapists) and Nurture Spa Village (Tagaytay and Pampanga). Earned a Degree from University of Bath and his Doctorate in Organic Chemistry from University of Nottingham. He’s a Chartered Chemist awarded by the Royal Society of Chemistry. And he used to be the Regional Technical Director, Asia Pacific Subsidiary for UNILEVER.

Photo: Copyright © 2008 Sasha Manuel

Image: amuinwellness.com

Post from: eBeautyDaily