Tips

Bonjour, Mes Amis!

This week, in celebration of our recent partnership with Equilibrium Fitness for Women (more on that in a bit!), let’s talk about another word that many of us (including me!) have somewhat of a love/hate relationship with: exercise.

When it comes to fitness and exercise, we’ve all heard that it’s the best possible routine to include in our day; even the more subtle health benefits of most forms of exercise are too numerous to list, not to mention it’s ability to make you look and feel younger and healthier.  However, when it comes to actually setting down the newspaper and morning cup of coffee and doing these miraculous exercises….well, let’s just say that sometimes it’s hard to feel motivated!

Yoga, Pilates, Cardio and strength exercises all have obvious positive effects such as increased muscular and cardiovascular strength, increased flexibility, and so on.  But, as an article from Psychology Today was smart to point out, “Exercise is good for every organ in the body. Since the skin is the largest organ it goes without saying that the skin benefits as well.”  

So what are these skin benefits?  For those of us who are now picturing how red and sweaty our skin looks fresh out of a workout session, they are not as obvious as one might hope, but they do exist!  As opposed to being a quick-fix treatment to skin conditions–like a concealer covering up a patch of acne–fitness and exercise are a long-term investment because they work at treating the causes, not the symptoms, of unhealthy skin in several big ways.  Let’s go down the list, oui?

1. Stress Relief

I plan on talking about the effects of stress on your skin in a lot more detail later on this week, but I want you to get a head start on a healthy stress reliever!  Despite that mini-battle that goes on in your head before you abandon your morning paper and coffee for your running shoes, just getting yourself outside or to the gym can do wonders for built-up stress.  According to a very helpful article in the Huffington Post, exercise decreases our stress-hormone (cortisol) levels, increases the production and circulation of endorphins, and forces the different systems within our bodies to work together a lot more closely than they would if we were still on the couch in our PJs; if exercise happens regularly, the body gets very good at communicating with itself, enabling you to handle stress more efficiently and effectively.

2. Get your Blood Pumping

Research is also showing that many signs of visible aging, such as puffiness or loose skin, are affected by circulation within the skin.  This means that when our bodies are mostly sedentary, our skin doesn’t get proper circulation, but when we exercise and get our heart rates up, our circulation improves all around.  Increased blood flow to the skin, which carries many helpful components (including oxygen!) can help tighten problem areas all over the body.

3. Now Sweat!

Sweating is also considered good for the skin by many, and not only because it helps to keep us cool as we exercise.  Sweating is a great way to help your body purge toxins that aren’t good for us or our skin, and can help to reduce inflammation of the skin that causes acne, redness, and an overall ‘blah’ look on skin.

4. But don’t forget…

Ah, but here are a few VERY important reminders before you head for the gym!

• If exercising outside, always wear your sun protection!  On ALL exposed parts of your skin!
• If exercising with equipment, always make sure to clean it before and after you use it (especially at the gym!).  If not cleaned regularly enough, exercise equipment can hold quite a bit of sweat, dirt, and bacteria, even if it’s just you that uses it!
• Regardless of where you exercise, you need to cleanse your skin (not just your face, but your whole body!) both BEFORE and AFTER you exercise.  Working out with make-up, lotion, or other things on your skin can clog your pores and cause acne, so make sure your skin care routine occurs a good long time before your trip to the gym, or after.  After a workout, your body is covered in sweat and the toxins it carries, as well bacteria from potentially unclean equipment. Ew!
• Stay thirsty, mes amis!  We lose water very quickly while working out, so it is important to drink a lot of water during and after exercise to keep your skin hydrated.

Now back to our exciting deal with Equilibrium Fitness!  At your next appointment with us,  you can pick up a free 7 day membership pass for Equilibrium, or let them know that A French Touch Salon referred you on your first visit.  They offer a great variety of classes, personal training, weight management, and diet & nutrition advising to help keep you looking and feeling Body Beautiful!

Fitness and exercise might not put a smile on your face when your alarm goes off at 6:30 a.m. to wake you up for a run, but it has been proven time and time again to not only have positive physiological effects on the body, but also contributes to that self-love idea I’ve been chattering on about!  Working out is one of the best treats you can give yourself (no, sadly, it isn’t chocolate), because in addition to keeping your body and skin healthy, it can boost your confidence and self-esteem, make you look and feel younger, help you manage weight gain or loss, and refresh you by relieving stress.  And nothing compliments healthy, beautiful skin like a healthy, beautiful smile!

Bisous,

Bonjour, Mes Amis!

And now to discuss the crème de la crème of our anti-cellulite treatments, our Sothys-inspired Aroma Slim Wrap!  

The Aroma Slim Wrap treatment begins right after you enter the salon, with a personalized assessment of where the cellulite is, how long you’ve had it, etc. so that we can provide the best and most effective possible experience for you.  Then the pampering begins with a full body wrap designed to exfoliate and smooth your skin, leaving it feeling youthfully refreshed.  Next come the Sothys professional grade serums that are selected and applied according to the area of affected skin and the severity or longevity of the cellulite.  These serums work to breakdown the fats in the area that are straining the skin and connecting tissue, improve micro-circulation in the affected area, increase collagen production, and include polyphenols, which eliminate and prevent fat cell formation.  Finally, your hour in heaven comes to a close with the application of Sothys’ Programme Silhouette Enhancer Body Serum and Essential 24 Body Cream, which you already know a thing or two about!

Now, a few words of wisdom from our very own Patricia:

“The Aroma Slim Wrap body treatment and the Programme Silhouette products, when used together, work to make the benefits of these Sothys treatments faster and deep acting, which magnifies and lengthens their effect.  Incorporating products like the Sothys Enhancer Body Serum and Essential 24 Body Cream is important, but really they work best when used as complimentary to the professional body treatment.”

While I urge all of you to take both physical and dietary measures to keep your bodies and your skin looking (and feeling!) young and healthy, Sothys’ luxurious products and body treatments are well worth your consideration.  Just to clarify, cellulite is not a serious medical issue, and has no actual negative effects of its own, other than its bumpy appearance on your skin.  However, being comfortable in your own skin is an absolutely essential step in looking and feeling beautiful on the inside and out; confidence and self-love should always come first, and if cellulite is getting in your way, I’m glad I could tell you about one of the finest topical treatments available.

À bientôt, mes amis—I hope you all have a lovely weekend, and remember to stay body beautiful!

Bisous,

Bonjour, Mes Amis!

Now, where were we?

Ah yes—now that we’ve covered the basics concerning cellulite, let’s get to the good stuff!  How can we get rid of it?!

   

Luckily for us, Sothys (a name many of us know and love, thanks to Patricia!) has created a couple of wonderful products to help counteract the formation and appearance of cellulite.  First, is their Sérum Sublimateur de Silhouette (Enhancer Body Serum), which is a high-impact, 14-day treatment that works “visibly and urgently to reduce the appearance of cellulite.”  Next, is their Crème Corps Capitale 24 (Essential 24 Body Cream), whose objective is to “Create a long-lasting more beautiful body” by being an “indispensable body ally to fight against the appearance of cellulite.”  Both the serum and the cream include caffeine on the ingredients list to help with the burning of fat in a process known as lipolysis.  The Essential 24 Body Cream also includes a mix of polyphenols, which encourage the breakdown of targeted fats while reducing the formation of fat cells, all at the same time (quite a handy tool to add to your daily regimen)!

Both products have demonstrated visible effects during use and are considered effective independently, but the fast-acting serum and slower, soothing lotion work in harmony together to magnify the effects and firming benefits of both products (remember what I said a few weeks ago about strength in numbers, rather than relying on one product?) 

This is a fantastic option, yes, but I encourage you to hang on one more day to hear about the grand finale—our Sothys Aroma Slim Wrap!  This special body treatment is the most powerful counteractive instrument we can offer which will not only help fight stubborn cellulite, but give you an opportunity to indulge in a relaxing hour on Cloud 9. 

À bientôt, mes amis, and remember to stay body beautiful!

Bisous,

Bonjour, Mes Amis!

I hope you all had a lovely and relaxing weekend!  But alas, Monday came as it always does, so I decided to break up your week with a quick three-part series with some body beauty advice!

Let’s start with an unpleasant word: Cellulite.  Eww!  We all know (and fear) what cellulite looks like, but do we really know what it is, or what causes it?  Understanding this can help us understand what all of our favorite beauty products (like Sothys, as I’ll explain in a minute!) do to prevent it!  According to MedicineNet.com, the dimpled appearance of cellulite, which is most common on the thighs, hips, seat, and tummy, is caused by fat deposits beneath the top layer of your skin pushing on and around the connective tissue within your bottom layer of skin.  The skin around the connective tissue expands to allow room for the fat cells, but the connective tissue holds certain points of your skin tighter to the muscle beneath it, causing a bumpy texture.  This confused me at first, but go with me on this analogy for a moment.  Picture a balloon filled with dry pieces of sponge.  Inside the balloon, across the middle, is a rigid piece of plastic that connects the opposite sides, so that they are held at a certain distance apart—let’s say 6 inches.  Now, start to fill that balloon with water; the sponge pieces, like fat cells, expand to hold the water, which pushes the balloon out to make room.  However, the rigid piece of plastic, like the connective tissue, holds those two points at exactly six inches apart, while the rest of it is free to expand.  Our skin works the same way when we accumulate more or larger fat cells—it makes room, but the connective tissue can’t stretch very much, resulting in the oh-so-lovely cottage cheese effect we’re all familiar with.

As several medical websites I visited were quick to remind me, having cellulite does NOT mean you are overweight—in fact, weight is only one factor among many that are believed to contribute to cellulite.  The first factor that was listed in several places was actually gender; women, because of the types of fat our bodies create and the way we carry that fat, are more likely than men to get cellulite.  Other factors include genetics and family history, a poor or eccentric, constantly changing diet, slow metabolism, lack of regular physical activity, hormonal activity, skin thickness, and age.  The simplest of preventative treatments prescribed were a healthy, balanced diet and regular exercise, to limit the amount of fat your body produces, the distribution of that fat, and to keep your muscles toned.

However, try as we might, sometimes a salad and a trip to the gym every once in a while, while still an excellent routine to upkeep (we’ll talk more about that later this month!), is not enough to keep your skin free and clear.

Tomorrow, I’m going to tell you all about the Sothys products we have that work to counteract the formation and appearance of cellulite—quite the dynamic duo they are!  Also, stay tuned for Thursday’s explanation of our marvelous Sothys Aroma Slim Wrap, which uses professional-grade Sothys products to fight and prevent cellulite, to make you look and feel wonderful, too!

À bientôt, mes amis, and remember to stay body beautiful!

Bisous,

Bonjour, Mes Amis!

Now that we’re making our way deeper into August, I thought that this week would be a great time for an announcement!  My lovely colleagues at A French Touch and I hereby declare August to be

 Body Beautiful Month!

So far this summer we’ve talked a lot about protecting and caring for your face, but the rest of your skin deserves some love and pampering, too!

Some of you might be thinking, “Whoa, I can tell you all about facials, but what exactly is a body treatment?”  I’m here to tell you it’s easy—a body treatment is just like a facial for the rest of you!  The goal of a body treatment can vary, like facials do, to focus on anything from tanning, to anti-aging, to smoothing and slimming, but the overarching goal of many body treatments is to cleanse, exfoliate, and hydrate all of your skin, not just your face.  From exfoliating scrubs and polishes to wraps to massages, body treatments are the perfect solution to the gentle therapeutic attention your skin craves!

Body treatments have been around for ages; the first documented body treatments were the milk baths that Cleopatra took to keep her skin soft and youthful.

We have a few lovely body treatments here at A French Touch that I want you, mes amis, to take advantage of this month!  When you come in for a body treatment, you will receive 50% off a Sothys Nourishing Elixir in one of their luxurious scents.

Sothys tells us that their Elixir is made up of nourishing oils that leave the skin soft, satiny, and delicately perfumed for your personal “sensorial escape”.  They’re perfect for that extra few minutes of daily indulgence your skin needs, and will leave you feeling relaxed, pampered, and ready to take on your day.

So, mes amis, stay tuned this month for more information about our favorite body treatments, how Sothys can show us a thing or two about showing our bodies some love, and how to stay body beautiful!

Bisous,

Bonjour, Mes Amis!

Though I hope every single one of you is having a wonderful week so far, I know how stress has the tendency to creep up on you (even during the summer, imagine that!).  You know exactly what I’m talking about—everything is happening all at once, and you can’t seem to find the time to finish your coffee, or just sit for a minute, and then by the time your day is over, you wonder when you found the time to even breathe!  So, just in case any of you are having a week that is as busy and crazy as mine, here are a few ideas about how to cope with life’s ‘surprises’.

First and foremost—make lemonade!

Always try to make the best with what you’ve got.  Attitude really is everything, so try putting on those lemonade-colored lenses and get to juicing!

Share all of the lemonade you’ve made! 

Maybe life gives you LOTS of lemons; don’t let them go to waste!  Who knows?  Maybe someone in your life needs a little pick-me-up, too.  Share your positive outlook with others!

Maybe you need a little vitamin C! 

Let’s keep an open mind now.  Could these lemons be a message in disguise?  Look for the silver linings, mes amis!

Remember to not go around squeezing them in people’s eyes! 

This just made me laugh, but it’s true!  Instead of complaining to others, look to them for inspiration; maybe they can show you how to use those lemons to…

Make something Delicious!

Tired of boring old lemonade?  How about lemon bars, lemon cookies, lemon meringue pie….mmmmm!  Never stop looking for new ways to look at something, that is how we learn to prepare for next time!

Take a bite!

Have a good laugh at the funny faces!  This comes back to keeping a positive attitude even through a sour situation.

Take the seeds and plant a lemon tree!

Eco-friendly and cost-effective!  Maybe you’ll save life the trouble of having to throw some at you last minute.

Make orange juice, then sit back with a tall glass and watch the world wonder how you did it.

This last one might be my favorite; no matter how many times I emphasize a positive outlook, this quote really shows what it can do for you.  Meeting every challenge with a smile and, even though you know it’s going to take a lot of work and self-investment, making the best of everything because you can and because you deserve the best!

So, next time you feel like you’re being pelted with lemons remember that your outlook can change everything, and that rather than being stuck with that pile of lemons, you can make something better of it, and you will because beautiful, happy, positive you deserves it!

Bisous,