‘Tis the season to be jolly…

And worn out, and full of cold, and surrounded by loved ones for slightly too long…

Stress, alcohol, diet, partying, sleep disruptions and travel are just a few of the factors that can wreak havoc on your skin and senses over the festive season, so we wanted to give a little helping hand with a few tips to help keep you glowing, inside out.

You are what you eat – and drink

It’s so true – no wonder our complexions flare up when the boxes of foil wrapped sweets, decadently rich foods and around-the-clock cocktails are in abundance.

Our approach? Dilute. Make sure you have plenty of water and breathers from the feasts to avoid feeling too full and lethargic. Break down the big meals with herbs, leaves and spices that do wonders for soothing the stomach. Keep those Christmas colds in the room at bay with a few immune boosters; turmeric, garlic and chilli are all brilliant aids for this.

Here’s a festive recipe from Alexandra:

A cup of your favourite nut or coconut milk
½ tsp of cinnamon
1 Star anise
A pinch of Black Pepper
A pinch of Turmeric
Date syrup to taste (optional)

Pop everything in the milk and very slowly warm it up. 

Strip

Let your skin be naked - Keep skin bare & breathing as much as you can.

If your skin is prone to flare ups and takes on a life of its own, don’t fight it, let it calm down of its own accord. Make sure you care for the skin flare ups as you would your mood – our Sensitive Skin range is wonderful for this, but try to avoid anything new – play it safe, less is more.

If you are making the most of the great outdoors, your skin may be feeling the winter chill and in need of a little more moisture, so have a think about a moisturiser with added vitamins that can boost that natural nourishment.

For those looking for a clean glowing complexion from the comfort of your home, take a look at our previous blog talking about Honey extraction – your pores will thank you and you will smell heavenly too.

Travelling? Pack carefully

Going near and often far over the winter break sees many of us on planes, trains, and a host of car journeys… Pack sensibly and look for products that serve more than one purpose. Angel Balm is an award-winning multi-purpose balm that can be used as a cleanser, a mask, a lip balm, a dry skin saviour. Suitable for all skin types, you will be covered for all sorts.

Last but by no means least, take the time to rest. Slow down, listen to your body and enjoy the stories being told around the room. How often do you get to reflect like this? Enjoy it, it is precious and entirely deserved!

In this blog:

Multi-purpose – Angel Balm
Sensitive Skin – Awaken cleanser
Ultra-nourishing Moisturiser – Formula 1

Honey

Honey. We all know it to be a healer in the kitchen cupboard and a wonder ingredient for just about anything digestible. We treat our insides to the glorious goodness of honey, why wouldn’t we treat our skin to the same healing powers?

Honey is naturally antibacterial, bursting with antioxidants, making it brilliant for breakouts and ageing alike. It is wonderfully nourishing, so helps to create a natural glow, and given its sticky nature, it is brilliant at unclogging pores.

Acid pads, enzyme masks and other skin resurfacing mediums do a great job at destroying the acid mantle layer and some go much deeper, leaving skin defenceless, making it unsurprising that so many people have sensitive and reactive skin.

 Scrubs are fine once in a while if there is an accumulation of dead flaky cells, but they should be used with care to avoid breaking healthy skin.  Honey is wonderful because as you lift it off the skin, only what is ready to come off will be removed. It also calms and nourishes the skin at the same time.

Honey extraction has been a key component of Soveral signature facial treatments for 15 years now, blended with a secret formula of vitamins and plant extracts to enhance its anti-inflammatory properties. Alexandra designed a non-abrasive technique to remove the honey that lifts the underlining facial tissues to aid detoxification – you literally feel your lymph starting to move.

Alexandra shared four simple steps for honey exfoliation at home with Vogue.com. Take a look and feel the difference immediately.

Skin will feel squeaky clean but if you want to go a step further and do a deep pore cleanse, post-honey exfoliation is a great time to do so, as the pores are open and the first layer of dead skin has been removed.  Massage Soveral Angel Balm onto the skin and the fats in the balm will blend with the sebum in the pores while the Geranium in the balm will separate and travel down into the pore to balance the sebaceous glands, working wonders for the skin. 

Once you remove the Angel Balm with another hot damp flannel you also remove the top layer of sebum within the black head. Overtime this technique will minimise pores and you will never need extractions again.

For those with dry flaky or congested skin, treat your skin to this sweet ritual once or twice a week - for those with a more normal skin, we would recommend making this a fortnightly regular.

Now, more than ever, people want a more natural approach to their skincare, but the transition can often be somewhat problematic. Like any creature of habit, skin that has been dependant on purely synthetic ingredients may react by breaking out, or become over sensitive to natural active ingredients. Active ingredients are highly desirable though, as they are key contributors towards the maintenance of healthy, toned, and youthful skin.

So how does one make the switch?

Assess if your skin is likely to react to natural active products: skin has been stripped of its own natural defence barrier may have an adverse reaction to active natural ingredients.

Has your skincare regime included any of the following?

• Skin resurfacing products such as solvents (even natural ones)
• Foaming cleansers, especially with sulphates.
• Retinoids – any form of Vitamin A
• Fruit acids (including Vitamin C serums)
• Harsh exfoliating ingredients
• Alcohols

Or, have you used any of the following treatments in the past 6 months:

• Micro-needling, Micro-blading, Microdermabrasion or Microcurrents
• Thermage ®
• Any laser skin treatment
• Any form of a skin peal
• Any other skin treatment that may have caused inflammation

Re-building the skin

If you suspect that your skin is over sensitive or likely to breakout by going natural, the best way forward is to do the switch in small steps.

Step 1 – Start with the cleanser.

If you have been using a foaming or in any way stripping cleanser, switch to the Soveral Awaken Cleanser. This mild yet effective cleanser promotes good skin health and is the right PH for healthy skin. Awaken is made with healing aloe vera, nourishing sunflower seed oil and a spritz of Lavender essential oil that adds natural antibacterial and mild antiseptic properties, all in all making this cleanser lovely for troublesome skin types.

If the skin tingles when using the Awaken Cleanser, it’s a clear indication that your skin is too alkaline and needs rebuilding. Look at the rest of your skincare and remove anything else that is stripping away the skin.

Step 2 – Balance the skin’s PH.

Once you have used the Awaken Cleanser for a week or so and if your skin has reacted well, then it’s time to start balancing its PH. The skin’s healthy PH should be between 4.5 to 5.5, which is slightly acidic. This is the right PH for healthy microflora to thrive and fight infection.

Introduce Floral Rain after Cleansing with Awaken, a heavenly blend of Orange Blossom & red roses, nourishing extracts of Aloe Vera & floral waters. Spray directly onto the skin before applying your moisturiser or serum.

Step 3 – Introduce a natural moisturiser.

Moody Skin is a mild moisturiser that has a small amount of natural oil and active yet mild essential oils.

An easily absorbed moisturiser, it has a synergetic blend of Lavender, Aloe and Palmarosa and is topped off with a splash of Vitamin E to make a wonderful blend for sensitive, and somewhat problematic skin, helping to regulate sebum production and allow the skin to breathe and repair.

Final step…

If after two months using just these three products the skin is reacting well, then we can start introducing nourishing oils, serums and active products that will regenerate and rejuvenate the skin.

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