All posts filed under: Self-Care Insiders

Get Blessed With Benedetta: Talking With Skincare Founder, Julia Faller

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In an industry known for its fickle attitude, the year 2021 has decidedly remained to be the one year we all seek skinimalism. Benedetta’s founder, Julia Faller, has been loyal to the less is more philosophy since the 80s. Calling the founder and president of Benedetta, Julia Faller, a pioneer in the clean beauty industry would be an understatement. What makes one a pioneer? If we had to define such a person it would be someone who questions the norm and goes against the grain, pushing aside fear of scrutiny and failure. As a licensed esthetician and clinician in the 80’s and 90’s, Julia found herself questioning the cosmetic and skincare industries. When no laboratory or even botanical suppliers, were willing to accommodate her wish for petro-chemical free ingredients she decided to do it on her own. She accomplished this by going directly to the source of ingredients and marrying science with the natural world. Today, the brand continues its trailblazing quest with transparency and conscious beauty. Benedetta is Farm-Sourced®, organic, vegan and cruelty-free. This …

Conversation With Wander Beauty Founders, Divya Gugnani and Lindsay Ellingson

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Shopping for clean and cruelty-free beauty at Sephora is still an impossible task – fortunately the list of brands available just got an update with Wander Beauty on the shelves. When it comes to shopping for products that go on or in your body, transparency should be a given, but is not always provided. With US clean beauty regulations being in the grey area, this brand takes a fresh and simple approach to ingredients – blending the natural with the synthetic (safely). We refuse to believe that today’s savvy and educated beauty community falls for marketing schemes, they say clean beauty is here to stay. It was only a matter time before Wander Beauty made it into Sephora. If you had to consider just one clean brand for all your essentials, you might make it Wander Beauty for their multitasking abilities alone. Wander beauty checks off all the boxes: the packaging and colors are pretty, the ingredients healthy, and the textures non-sticky. Let’s talk makeup. It can be hard to pick a favorite. The Liquid …

Plug Into Your Subconscious With Cynthia Morgan’s HappiSeek App

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Mental health awareness has been on the rise, but so has the number of people suffering with mental health conditions. According to a CDC report, 40% of adults in United States have reported considerably elevated adverse mental health conditions, which were directly associated with COVID-19. It is no wonder than that the demand for mindfulness apps has been on the rise as well. While there is something to be said for unplugging from our devices, these helpful apps can help us use technology in a healthy way. Enter HappiSeek, created by board-certified hypnotherapist, Cynthia Morgan. HappiSeek is one of the newest apps to come out this year in order to help users plug into their subconscious minds through gentle rewiring, science and relaxation. Scientific studies are proving that hypnotherapy can help you make meaningful changes in your life. This hypnotherapy app guides users step by step, opening doors to: trust, honesty, tolerance, gentleness, joy, defenselessness, generosity, patience, faithfulness and open-mindedness. Through it all, you will hear Cynthia Morgan’s friendly and calming voice. Cynthia Morgan is …

10 Beauty and Wellness Gurus To Follow On Instagram Right Now

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Want to focus on self-care and skincare in 2021? Here is a list of aestheticians, spa professionals, doctors, and wellness warriors to follow and learn from right now. BEATA ALEKSANDROWICZ – THE FACE WHISPERER Since the beginning of the pandemic we talked about the power of touch, and use of our five sense, to help soothe and heal the body and the mind. Beata Aleksandrowicz has been written about many times as the go-to expert in massage, healing and wellbeing. She live streams her sought-after face massage classes to help with sculpting, lifting, soothing and general Face Therapy. We cannot stop watching. Learn from a real professional and follow her: beata_aleksandrowicz. DR. BARBARA STRUM – THE YOUTH EXPERT Dr. Barbara Strum is everyone’s favorite aesthetics doctor. The German doctor never seems to age and has developed cutting-edge and non-surgical treatments that help fight inflammation and aging skin. In 2014 she blessed us with a skincare line that celebrates simplicity, hydration and provides a regenerative glow. You can book a virtual consultation with the famous doctor, …

The Duo, Carlos Lamarche and Jason Lundy, That Brought Us Salt Therapy During The Pandemic

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Carlos Lamarche and Jason Lundy want you to pay more attention to your lungs. The wellness duo opened SALT Live Energized in Soho because they saw an unfulfilled need. As with any city, New York is polluted. Soot, diesel fumes, noises, second hand smoke and chemical emissions pollute the city on a daily basis and while New Yorkers have come to live with it as an unavoidable part of the city’s charm, they deserve better. Seeking respite in the city that never sleeps can be hard but not impossible. Salt Live Energized opened before Covid, but since the pandemic, more and more New Yorkers have come to SALT to experience the power of salt therapy. We had our own experience at SALT and it was a breath of fresh air. Once you are in the salt room, the salt can be felt and seen. The natural anti-bacterial salt air widens your airways, loosens clinging mucus, and reduces inflammation. Breathing becomes not just easier, but more fulfilling. The non-inhaled particles of salt land on exposed skin, …

This Is How A Master Aesthetician Treats Her Own Skin

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Skincare tips and product recommendations are great, but what we really want to know is how the experts treat their own skin. One of the most sought-after custom facials right now is by master aesthetician Jillian Wright. Safe facials are back and the safest way to get a facial is to go to someone who takes the pandemic seriously. The Indie Beauty Expo co-founder has decided to go back to what she loves, being an aesthetician, and we could not be more grateful. Jillian tells us how she treats her skin this winter, what women over 30 should own, and how to deal with skin issues due to mask wearing. Jillian Wright’s personal skincare routine is for dry skin. DAYTIME ROUTINE Cleanser- Lab to Beauty Balancing Face Wash for day and Lab to Beauty Cleansing Oil at night (These are available at my facial suite) Eye Cream- Glowbiotics Anti-Wrinkle Illuminating Eye Cream Exfoliant- Herbologia Walnut Scrub  Serums (I layer three on my skin before my moisturizer) Lovinah Red-C Ampoule Bioelements Moisture x10 Glowbiotics HydraGlow Cream …

Expert Feng Shui Bedroom Tips For Couples

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Making small changes in our home environment can often create a powerful shift in our mood and our lives. Take the pressure off Valentine’s Day with Feng Shui. The bedroom is where your love thrives, so make sure your environment is properly set up to help your relationship in positive ways. For expert tips we went to an influential Feng Shui consultant, Judith Wendell. Judith Wendell is a well-known New York City Feng Shui expert; focusing on design, space clearing and teaching the Feng Shui philosophy. Before construction goes up, she is the one who gets called in to clear the space. Even if you think the spiritual aspect of Feng Shui might not be for you, the Chinese concept of Feng Shui provides practical tips that can be applied to our everyday lives. The position of your bed is most important. You should have a clear view of the door without being in line with its path.  This usually means that the bed is diagonally across from the door.  If the bed must be in …

Get Headache Relief With Yoga Tips From Shahada Karim

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Headaches pain can be debilitating and rarely do we turn to yoga for relief, but Shahada Karim recommends just that. The Certified Yoga Instructor, Movement Therapist and Owner of Habibi Sport gives us tips on relieving headaches with the help of six different types of yoga poses. Child’s Pose (Shishuasana) Seated on your knees, touch your big toes, open your knees and lay your torso forward and down between your knees. Let your head rest comfortably on a mat, block or bolster. This position takes pressure off the need to breathe into the chest by lifting breath into the back and sides of the ribs, relieving compression in the head and neck associated with headaches.   Wall Butterfly Pose (Supta Baddha Konsana Viparita Karani) Lie on your back, extend legs to the ceiling and press the feet’s soles together, keeping the glutes loose; open your knees in the shape of a diamond. Breathe deeply, relaxing the abdominal muscles. Use support against a wall or with a bolster or pillow under the outer thighs to support the …

Talking Spa Beauty, Wellness & Seaweed with Repêchage Founder, Lydia Sarfati

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Spa industry giants everywhere know Lydia Sarfati as the seaweed skincare authority – the Repêchage founder has worked her way up from esthetician who loved formulating and creating, to spa owner on Madison Avenue, to running one of the most well-known professional skincare brands in the spa community. Beauty insiders continue to be impressed by the Repêchage Four Layer Facial (I have yet to try it for myself). It is Lydia Sarfati who has helped set the professional and business standard in the field of esthetics. Many new brand creators can learn from this founder’s contributions and dedication to giving us the gift of effective and lasting beauty. Q & A with Lydia Sarfati Cultivated: I read that as a young girl you loved science and chemistry. Where did your passion for skincare and formulating products come from?  LS: My approach has always been based on chemistry and biology coupled with a holistic approach, looking at the skin from within as well as what you put on topically. Growing up in Poland, every Friday our kitchen …

Wellness & The City: Best Places For Socially Distanced Beauty & Wellness Treatments

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In today’s uncertain world escapism is the ultimate luxury. We combed our beloved city for socially distanced beauty and wellness treatments – three places helped us indulge in beauty and wellness, standing out as the best and safest to help us practice self-care. SALT LIVE ENERGIZED 180 Avenue of the Americas Respiratory health and immune health should be our priority, and salt therapy has the potential to become your new favorite pastime. While we have been to a number of salt rooms in the city (each unique in their own way), SALT is the only one that focuses solely on the respiratory system and makes their own body care line of products. Salt air therapy is natural and it is what makes SALT unique is the dry particles of pharmaceutical grade salt, as small as 1 micrometer (aka “micron”), released in a low humidity environment. We can tell you about the science of it all, but instead we’ll just tell you that our sinus headache was relieved upon exit. So what happens in the room …

Self Care Insiders: Fall Skin Care and Lifestyle Tips From Dermatologist and Cosmetic Surgeon, Dr. Dendy Engelman

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Seasons are changing and that means your routine is due for an overhaul. When we need advice on skin care, ingredients, skin dilemmas and even holistic, but essential, lifestyle tips – we go to the pros. By pros we mean our aesthetician and doctor. We have had lots of questions lately; from switching our skincare going into the fall to what causes rapid aging. Dr. Dendy Engelman answered. Dr. Engelman is a board-certified dermatologist located in New York, and a Director of Dermatologic Surgery at Metropolitan Hospital. Let’s get right into it. Cultivated: What skincare products or ingredients should we look for when switching from summer to fall/winter routines? Dr. Dendy Engelman: When it’s cold, there is less moisture in the environment. When you compound that by wind and central heating which further lessens the moisture. In this state, water is lost from the skin cells (keratinocytes) leaving skin dry, flaky, chapped. Even if skin does not seem dry, it still needs that layer of protection. The best way to combat it is layer, layer, layer! …

New York City Has a New Museum: The World’s Only Makeup Museum Has Opened It’s Doors With a “Pink Jungle – 1950s Makeup In America” Exhibit

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New York City proves that it remains to be America’s cultural hub with the opening of the world’s first Makeup Museum. Beauty, and more specifically makeup, have been a part of society for thousands of years, so we do wonder – why has no one thought up this idea before? While the initial opening of the museum was delayed due to the coronavirus, the 3,500-square foot space has officially opened its doors September 1st at 94 Gansevoort Street – proving that the city is recovering and very much alive. Before you go, make sure to reserve your ticket and schedule a visit on their website. Don’t forget to explore the rest of the meatpacking district afterwards. Let’s talk makeup. Makeup is so much more than tangible objects and what the eye sees. Makeup is heritage, resilience, nostalgia, strength, folklore, art, and so much more. Makeup artifacts can tells us more about what was considered beautiful, past inventions, and societal thinking. It was about time someone paid homage to makeup and its purpose. The museum opened …