Hello Stranger!

Hello there, long time no speak!

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Sorry I've not been blogging lately, it's my busiest time of year in the salon and I've just not had a chance to write any blogs. What with organising and running stalls at Christmas Fairs, helping my wonderful clients looking gorgeous for their Christmas parties, soothing winter harassed skin, easing aching muscles; not to mention organising our family Christmas and the demands of our little boys school Christmas events (special thanks to his school for making his classes monthly cake stall this week!!!) But eeek it is getting exciting here!!

So until next year I'm afraid all my time is taking up with all things Christmassy!!

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Until then I'd just like to say a big THANK YOU to all of my wonderful readers for all your support and encouragement this year. 

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Hope you have a magical Christmas and amazing New Year.

Sara x

I've Been Published!!

I'm really proud to announce I've had a letter published in the leading beauty association BABTAC's members magazine Vitality.

Image via LA Girl Diaries

I wrote in response to an article on whether the stereotype 'bubbly but not too bright beauty therapist' often portrayed by the media and television still stands today and whether it's a harmless bit of fun or damaging.

Here is my response!

I must add the article was fantastic and many well respected therapists and business owners set the record straight on what we are really like and how hard we have to study to gain our qualifications and continually develop our skills and knowledge in an ever changing industry.

Thank you BABTAC for giving me the opportunity to air my views.

Beautiful Cupcake Gallery - Bird Cages

I have recently installed some stunning art in the salon - well strategically placed some gorgeous stickers I found!

I'm getting so many lovely comments about them especially the jewelled bird cage. As always this led onto a blog post idea, and so to my Beautiful Cupcake Gallery dedicated to pretty birdcages...

Stencilled cupcakes by The Pink Cake Box

How sweet is this? By Lilrose at Cake Central

Dainty Bird Cage Cupcakes found at The Cupcake Blog

Beautifully presented vanilla cupcake in a birdcage complete with instructions! At Free Vanilla Recipes

Hero Product - Jessica Fusion for Peeling Nails

I have many clients with peeling, flaky nails that chip easily. Well I have a fantastic product that will solve the problem. The most common mistake is people using the wrong basecoat which exacerbates the problem.

Image via Beauty Gossipologyst

The rule is if your nails peel/flake the only basecoat treatment you should use is one specially designed for peeling nails. Strengthening treatments will just plump out the peeling layers making the problem worse.

My nails peeled and chipped for years until I trained with Jessica at college and was introduced to one of my best buddies Fusion. I'm quite sceptical about wonder products but Fusion caught my eye, I had nothing to lose, plus joining the Beauty Industry I was seeing more and more beautiful nails and wanted mine to be part of that gang!

I was amazed with the results, the only time my nails have peeled since have been when I've peeled my gel nails off (embarrassed face!) and when I had pneumonia. I just reached for my trusty bottle and et voila... beautiful nails once more!

Many of my clients have had amazing results using Jessica's Fusion at home too. It contains rubberised resins which fuse the layers of the nail back together to prevent further peeling and chipping. It also contains Vitamin A which strengthens and conditions the nails encouraging healthy growth and layer development. You can wear it as a basecoat or as a clear varnish.

• Apply 2 layers every 2-3 days. 
• Your nails will continue to peel until the problem area grows out, so keep trimming/filing the nails with a soft file.
• File in one direction rather than sea sawing back and forth as this can make them peel more.

Jessica's GELeration can be used with a coat of 'Build' over the basecoat to help peeling nails too. Most importantly tempting as it may be, never peel off your gel nails as you will remove layers of your nail with it!! I learnt my lesson well!

Jessica's treatments never cease to impress me, many clients, friends and family have had excellent results with their different basecoats and cuticle treatments. So why not give it a go?

My nails nowadays!

Available from my salon Rituals Beauty in Newcastle upon Tyne:
Midi size 0.5 fl oz - £11.20
0.5 fl oz -£17.95.

To order yours today call 0789 4120073 or email hello@ritualsbeauty.co.uk. If you aren't local, I offer a postal service for a little extra cost.

Naturally Beautiful

How's this for a piece of natural beauty? This is the view from outside our house and salon this afternoon - if you look closely you'll see a second rainbow! Don't think I've ever seen a doubler before!

Jessica GELeration Has Arrived At Rituals Beauty

I am a very excited bunny - my first delivery of Jessica GELeration has arrived in the salon. I'm like a kid in a candy store! Shame I am still wearing a gorgeous set, otherwise I'd been doing my own right now!

To recap and for those who haven't read my previous posts on this fantastic nail system...

GELeration - is it a Polish or is it a Gel? Well it paints like polish, but performs like gel - a perfect combination. Jessica's philosophy is to develop the long term health of your natural nails and this has been carried on with GELeration hurray! The whole process is kind to your nails. Weak, broken or bitten nails can be revived and refreshed. Great as an ongoing maintenance treatment, for an occasion, or to help grow your nails.

Like all the Jessica range this product is amazing, it has really blown me away. GELeration is a new generation in soak-off nail system. It is a "hybrid" between a gel and a polish, it doesn't chip, fade or peel and it's super shiny with no need to use a top coat. It is much thinner than I expected so looks super natural. It dries in seconds so you leave the salon with dry nails - don't tell your man though - we still need a good excuse not to do the washing up!! Your nails look like new every day and super shiny. It's removed in minutes with a special soak off solution.

Here is my first go with "Buck Naked" - this is one of my favourites; a delicious nude brown with a gorgeous crème finish - it reminds me of Chanel's famous "Particuliere" in fact looks good enough to eat! It needs a little extra curing time than the other colours but I think the results are gorgeous - I really enjoyed using this system - even more than others I have used - it really does paint on like a polish and absolute pleasure!

Next to paint my toes- I probably won't expose you to them they are not a pretty sight! Have a great weekend x

Get the Best out of Waxing

It takes up to 4 treatments to really see the benefits of waxing – so start now and get the best results for a super smooth for Spring and Summer.

You should have 3 weeks hair growth before you have your first wax (first ever or after a break). 

It is normal to not be completely smooth when you first start having waxing. Following the Wax Queen Lori Nestore's methods, I never tweeze the small hairs left as they are at a different stage of the “hair growth cycle” and we want all the hair to be long enough to wax at each visit. It really does work – my regular waxing clients now have none or very little short hairs after their monthly waxing sessions. 

Waxing the hairs every 4 weeks will encourage the “hair growth cycle” to be in sync, allow the skin to become used to waxing - making it less painful and making you hair free for longer! Leaving more time between waxing will start the whole process all over again.

Many salons offer courses for treatments which saves you money  – my salon does 6 for the price of 5 or 10 for the price of 12.

Planning Your Waxing Session
You should stop doing any hair removal approximately 2-3 weeks (depending on the speed of your own hair growth) before your waxing appointment, this will ensure your hairs are at least) 1/2 - 3/4 cm long (the recommended length so there is enough hair for the wax to grip onto and for comfortable removal). You can always trim the hair with scissors if it's much longer.

For the ladies I would highly recommend avoiding the couple of days before your due to start your monthly cycle and during, purely because your pain threshold is generally lower during this time.

Preparing For Your Waxing Session
To get the best results you should exfoliate the area the day before your appointment in the bath or shower using a loofah, body scrub or exfoliating mitt, this will remove any dead skin cells and lift the hairs ready for waxing.

On the day of your treatment avoid applying any body lotion to the area as this could prevent the wax from attaching to the hairs.

In Between Waxing Sessions

Shaving and hair removal creams stimulate the hair growth making it come back quicker, thicker and darker and will knock the “hair growth cycle” out of sync, so please don’t be tempted to use these in between appointments – be patient and it will really pay off.

To prevent ingrown hairs, after your skin has calmed down, gently exfoliate the skin 2-3 times a week in the bath or shower using a loofah, body scrub or exfoliating mitt. 

It's definitely worth investing in a good Aloe Vera based after wax product to use after your session and the next few days to cool and soothe the area and speed up the healing process. Your therapist will stock these.

Using body lotion on the area every day will help keep the skin soft, supple and help the new hairs push through normally.

Are you using the right Lip Balm?

Want gorgeous, kissable lips like these? Then read on...

Unlike the rest of our skin and face our lips do not produce sebum (keeps our skin and hair moisturised). That is why they get chapped and dehydrated, especially in the dry and cold seasons.

Mineral oil or Paraffin (cheap by-products of petroleum) based lip balms draw moisture away from the lips making you lick them, drying them out further. You should try to look for a lip balm that contains shea butter or beeswax which attracts moisture from the air to the lips and conditions them. You might be surprised to hear that famous brands like Carmex, Dior and Elizabeth Arden’s Eight Hour Cream all contain petroleum based ingredients.

Now you may be thinking "but I can’t live without my Vaseline" – just take a minute to think why you are lip balm addict?

Is it because as soon as it's worn off, your lips are dry again and desperate for more? Or...

Is because it’s your wonder product and it keeps you lips soft all day long and you hardly ever have to reapply?

If you are using the right lip balm you shouldn't have to constantly reapply. So next time you go to buy a lip balm – have a close look at the ingredient list. Don’t we all long for smooth kissable lips?!

Here are some natural balms I love.

Aveda Lip Saver SPF 15 soothing and moisturising botanical balm. With antioxidant rich beeswax, refreshing cinnamon leaf, clove and anise oil. Has sunscreen and antioxidants to protect the lips from UV and other harmful environmental factors. £11.50

Neal’s Yard Organic Shea Nut and Rosehip Lip Formula keeps lips soft and smooth with moisture replenishing organic shea nut butter and hydrating rosehip oil. Rich in moisturising vitamins A and E. £7.05

Eve Taylor Seal & Protect Lip Balm SPF 10 vitamin E rich balm with nourishing shea butter and beeswax and hydrating jojoba seed oil. Soothing and healing calendula and a hint of cooling mint and sweet orange. The natural sunscreen protects against the elements all year round great for sun or wind damaged lips. Great on any sore or chapped skin including nose and hands. Available from Rituals Beauty for £4.79

Could there be something other than the weather making your lips dry?
During my consultations I use Eve Taylor’s System of Analysis* to help detect where the skin problem originated, holistically looking at the physical as well as the emotions to help us understand the cause and effect. It really is fascinating stuff!  (By the way beauty therapists don’t diagnose medical conditions - this is a doctor’s role).

* Each part of the body influences the other and if you can find the origin of the cause of a problem you can help restore balance - Eve Taylor OBE

Using this system we know that dry cracked lips can relate to problems with the intestine, so we then look into whether you suffer from things like IBS, constipation or other digestive problems. Little things like changes to your diet and lifestyle can really help.

To order any product from Rituals Beauty, call 0789 4120073 or email hello@ritualsbeauty.co.uk. If you aren't local, I offer a postal service for a little extra cost.