On Skin Reactivity

On Thursday I got a facial treatment from a woman who works in the town where I live. She does great work and I always love my sessions with her. Most days I leave with my skin looking fantastic. But around every fifth session or so, I have some weird reaction. Sometimes it's acne, sometimes a rash, and one time it was itchy, swollen skin that lasted for over a week and resolved into acne breakouts!

We have tried every combination of products, from her entire suite of things to her very patiently putting up with me bringing my own. She is incredibly talented and skilled and she has worked at some of the best spas in the world. (If she weren't so attached to being self-employed I would want to hire her myself.)  Anyway, last week's session was one of the weird ones. I can tell you I am literally broken out from forehead to chest all this weekend. You might imagine what a liability this is when my face is my billboard for my practice. But I don't blame Valerie in the slightest.

Your skin may or may not be as testy and sensitive and weird as mine, but if you do experience sensitivity challenges I want to throw out the possibility that you may have unexpected reactions sometimes, even if you continue using the same products as a session from which you walked out looking fabulous just last month.

While an adverse reaction can sometimes stem from something like allergy or improper product removal, there are also those times that a combination of other factors (such as stress, diet, hormones, weather) will result in reactivity.

I will write further in a future post about things we can do to avoid this, and what we can do to minimize the effects and duration if sensitivity does occur, but for now I wanted to post while it was on my mind.

And now I am off to apply more 302 Remedy Rx. Miracle product and I love it.

Meet the Therapists: Alina

Hey Everyone!

After years of working in an office and feeling like I was not giving back to society, I decided to go back to school and get my license in Massage Therapy.

Why Massage Therapy?

Well, I lived in NY and constantly noticed how everyone had horrible posture from sitting down all day and I also noticed how NYers do not take time out for themselves to relax and see all the beauty around them. It is is a fast paced city and I feel like Massage Therapy is a way to heal the mind, body and spirit. And it was a way for me to do the same. I am a graduate of the Swedish Institute in New York. I am fully trained in Swedish, Deep Tissue, Sports Massage, Shiatsu and Reflexology. I recently moved to San Francisco and I am excited to bring that sense of wellness into this side of the country.

Alina gives an amazing deep massage. Life-changing good stuff. Her usual days at Apotheca are Tuesday and Saturday, with some other times throughout the week. Click here to book your session with her today!

Be Your Own Apothecary: Non-Toxic Deodorant that Actually Works

Apotheca products have always been free of Parabens and synthetic chemicals and fragrances. Lately there has been a lot of well-deserved terrible press about just how bad these ingredients are. So lately a lot of my clients have been asking for my recommendations of natural products that don't contain toxic chemicals but that actually work. You see, many well-liked faux-natural lines (such as that airport favorite that looks like a twee apothecary and whose name rhymes with "Bhiel's") have gross ingredients like aluminum and artificial fragrance. And your usual health food store deodorant may not have parabens or aluminum in it, but it also leaves many lovely ladies and gentlemen feeling. . . not so fresh.

I'm sorry, Tom's. I'm looking at you.

Our own k23 skincare makes a fab-smelling, sweat-stopping, Earth-saving deodorant/antiperspirant with shea butter, French cosmetic clay, and a host of ridiculously good-smelling essential oils. A steal at $15.95, it's redolent of an enchanted valley and makes you feel like raising your hand all day long, even when you don't know the answer.

But it's dead easy to make a perfectly serviceable product yourself with stuff you probably already have on hand. So, BEHOLD- my recipe for a super-easy deodorant:

Supplies needed:

A SAUCE PAN
A MIXING BOWL

A JAR
SOMETHING TO STIR WITH (I like cocktail swizzles, but use what you've got.)

Ingredients needed:

COCONUT OIL 
ALUMINUM-FREE BAKING SODA

Optional:

ESSENTIAL OILS in a scent you like (something like this would give you a fresh scent with great antibacterial action)



To Make:

1. Melt some coconut oil in a double-broiler
2. Pour it into a jar and add enough baking soda to make a paste
3. Add a couple drops of essential oils if you like
4. The end.




Oh, you thought cosmetic formulation should be a touch more complex? Okay- here are longer directions for you, but really you are just fine doing the above. This isn't rocket surgery.
 

To Make, Complicated:

1. Make a double broiler (or bain marie, if you're feeling French and/or fancy) by putting your mixing bowl atop a sauce pan that you have filled halfway with some water.

2. Bring the water to a boil and as you do so, scoop out some coconut oil into the bowl. Eyeball it- you're talking maybe five tablespoons, depending on the size of your jar.

3. Heat the coconut oil until it is just liquified.  (Coconut oil is solid at room temperature. If it's a hot day and you happen to be starting with liquified coconut oil then you may skip this whole melting step.)

4.  Pour liquified coconut oil into your jar and add approximately 1/2 cup of baking soda to the jar. Mix well.

5. Add 5-10 drops of essential oils of your choosing if you are inclined.

Optional, 6: If you are a sensitive sort or if you have just had hair removal, the baking soda may sting a bit. If this is you, try substituting part cornstarch for part of your baking soda.

Et voila, you're done and you smell darned fine.

don't you just want to stop by an author event and start asking some questions?

Want more recipes? Check out our sister blog, SF Slow Kitchen: The Home Cooking Project, for more stuff to eat and stuff to make, for healthy beauty inside and out.

How Bugs Make You Beautiful

Think microorganisms are yucky little germs? Think again! Good "bugs" like probiotics keep the bad microbes in check, and this is crucial to maintaining a healthy body and healthy skin. The human intestinal tract is lined with bacteria – both good and bad. There is no question that intestinal health IS overall health, and you can't have one without the other. There is also no question that unhealthy digestion comes out in the skin. When intestinal flora are out of balance, we not only get constipation, bloating, and allergies,but also acne, reactive skin, and overall inflammation. Not a pretty picture.

Too many of us eat diets rich in processed carbohydrates and sugars. And too often, we think we are doing right by our bodies when we reach all too quickly for the antibiotics. I can't tell you how angry I get when I have clients with treatment-resistant acne come to see me for the first time and their medical histories show they have been on round after round of antibiotics to treat their skin. Talk about ignoring the cause and just slapping a band-aid on the problem. Only in this case, the band-aid actually makes the problem far worse. I don't blame clients for this but their dermatologists should know better.

One easy, cheap, and delicious way of restoring the balance of good to bad bacteria in the body is to eat a diet rich in natural probiotics. Probiotics are great in a supplement form (and I highly recommend them to clients with chronically poor diets and/or a history of frequent antibiotic use). But even simpler, probiotics come in some of the tastiest and easiest foods we can make.

For skin and body health, try to eat at least one serving per day of one of the following fermented foods:

• Good yogurt (whole fat, organic, preferably raw, and definitely unsweetened. Even better to make it yourself.)
• Kombucha
• Kefir
• Sauerkraut
• Fermented soy foods (and only fermented soy foods): Miso, tempeh and natto
• Kimchi
• Real buttermilk from raw cream - easy to make and so delicious! (Recipe coming soon.)

To get you started, come on over to the Home Cooking Project for my recipe for the easiest raw sauerkraut ever.

Here's to good health and beautiful skin!

~Kirsten

Wiggle, Jiggle, Glow

Let's talk about  dermal fillers. 

Better yet, let's talk about soup. And Jello.

Last year I read a book called Deep Nutrition, Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food, by Catherine Shanahan MD and Luke Shanahan. Read my thoughts about it here.  

Here’s Dr. Cate on mineral-rich soup stocks for skin:

Better yet, let's have Jello.

“The highest quality skin care products contain the collagen-building ingredients your skin needs to restore itself. Even skeptical doctors agree that regular use of these expensive products can have impressive results.  However, skincare expert Dr. Dennis Gross, MD warns that it’s not an overnight solution.  “It takes time, molecule by molecule, to build collagen fibers.” Dermatologists advise patience and regular application to get anti-wrinkle creams in contact with skin as much as possible.  Why not also feed your skin from the inside?

If a cream containing two or three collagen-building nutrients can help your skin, imagine how effectively you could nourish and rebuild your dermal collagen if you ate a meal containing dozens of dermal growth factors. The nutrients in bone stocks switch the genes for collagen manufacture to “on.”  This effect is magnified by vitamins A, D, E and C, and a few common minerals.  Whether in a skin cream or your soup bowl, the same natural ingredients help you look young. But when you ingest them, you infuse all the layers of your skin, and all the other tissues in your body, with rejuvenating nutrients. “

Word.

According to Weston A. Price Foundation President and prominent nutrition researcher Sally Fallon Morrell, stock not only contains gelatin, it has “minerals in a form the body can absorb easily—not just calcium but also magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, sulphur and trace minerals. It contains the broken down material from cartilage and tendons--stuff like chondroitin sulphates and glucosamine, now sold as expensive supplements for arthritis and joint pain.”

Now, I will admit to being a regular consumer of that broken down material from cartilage and tendon. I take daily hyaluronic acid and silicon supplements for the health and hydration of my skin. They’re not cheap but they and a good skin care regimen work well to decrease the giant chasm that too many years of refusing to wear glasses has etched deep between my brows.  Still, nutrients from real food are always best since they work together synergistically in a way that isolated supplements never can. For the health of my skin, my hair, my digestion, and my overall body, I make and consume many quarts of mineral-rich, nutrient-dense, and delicious broth every week, for soup broth and as the base for sauces.  I also channel Betty Draper and make a great big jello-mold every week for snacks and kid lunches. Yes, gelatin is just powdered bone broth, without the savory flavor. And it’s actually a health food.

A good gelatin makes beautiful, smooth, cellulite-free skin.  It’s one of my favorite “beauty treatments” and it’s easy as can be.

My recipe is over at The Slow Kitchen.  What are your favorite “beauty foodie” staples?

Detox Not Botox Redux

Spring is here and that can only mean one thing: Apotheca's annual Detox Not Botox EVENT. (Okay, it's more of a series than an event but EVENT-all-caps has a certain advertising-lingo grandiosity, hasn't it?)

This is our third year of offering the package, and through the previous two we have talked to countless clients who report their skin, weight, and energy levels have improved until long after the program is over.

Here's what Detox Not Botox at Apotheca ISN'T:

• It is not a cleanse or a fast of any kind
• It is not a crazy diet or prescribed eating plan of any kind
• It is not something that involves chemicals, fillers, or anything bad for you

Apotheca's Detox Not Botox is a hand-picked series of good for you treatments to lower stress, smooth your skin, get you into a regular movement practice, and just take care of you. In this reset button for springtime wellness you get:

• One 60-minute detox facial treatment with lymphatic drainage facial massage


• One 45-minute skincare for the back treatment with our amazing Swamp Dust detox mask, featuring Pacific coast seaweed, French green clay and an amazing blend of essential oils sure to banish back acne and get your skin glowing for Spring.


• One 70 -minute massage for stress relief or Integrated/ deep tissue massage with full-body dry brushing


• Two private yoga sessions


• Our own delicious herbal tisane, custom-blended for the season and made from the highest quality organic nutritive herbs, for you to take home. 

To reap the full benefits of the program and to get a jump on your springtime wellness routine it is recommended that you complete your series within three weeks of beginning.



Regular price: $470. Package price: $423. Buy this package before March 15th for the reduced rate of $399!

Go to our secure booking page and select Detox Not Botox from the package drop down menu. 

For those of you who are doing your own springtime dietary reset, why don't you come over to Apotheca's brand-new sister blog Slow Kitchen: The Home Cooking Project to read all about Kirsten's crazy food-obsessed past, follow her adventures in radical dining in, get delicious whole food recipes, and share what you're eating and how you're feeling. There will be a really great giveaway on the Slow Kitchen blog next week, so be sure to join it today and stay tuned.

 Happy Spring!

Happiness

“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy.’ They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.” ~John Lennon