Health

Can and should Essential Oils be used directly on the skin? I say NO

May 3, 2017 Paris B 21 Comments

I don’t know about you, but I enjoy using essential oils. I know, it’s all very New Age woo-woo. I’m not really that invested in the New Age movement, but I like my essential oils. Always have for years and years. I like them primarily because they smell so good, and well, to a degree, I believe that some oils can work on my temperament better than others. Lavender for one, soothes me and helps me sleep. Peppermint rejuvenates me and makes me feel refreshed.

But I think people have been lulled into a false sense of security when it comes to the use of essential oils, because of the fact that they’ve been around a long time and they are natural. This was brought home to me when I came across a piece of news on Twitter this week.

No, it’s not just any piece of news on Twitter, it was reported in the Independent (UK), which I’d like to believe isn’t fake news 😛

In a nutshell, the lady in the piece of news, applied essential oils directly to her skin, before going for a hot yoga class and then using a tanning bed. She suffered second and third-degree burns on the parts where she applied the essential oils which was attributed to the exposure to UV light. As much as I sympathize with her predicament, I felt that it was also timely for us to remind ourselves, with essential oils enjoying a bit of a renaissance, that essential oils aren’t play things.

If energy levels start to dip at noon, beat the afternoon slump with exercise

February 24, 2016 Paris B 12 Comments

I don’t know about you, but I think the Spanish and Mexicans got it right with their afternoon siesta. Never having been to either Spain nor Mexico (not for want of trying though!) I can’t ascertain the truth of whether businesses do shutter at high noon, to enable everyone to take a quick nap before they get back into the swing of things.

Personally, I’d like that!

beat the afternoon slump with exercise

For most of us who work, our days start at any time from 6-7am when our alarms go off, and we rub our bleary eyes before we wake up and rejoin the rat race. So, by the time the clock hits 12 noon, we’d have been up and about for at least 6 hours, and I think that calls for a break!

It doesn’t help that that’s when we break for lunch, and what with the heat and full tummies, and just low batteries, we find ourselves hitting that afternoon slump at around 2pm. So how do you beat that?

With the Fountain Hyaluronic Molecule you can now drink your way to hydrated skin

February 5, 2016 Paris B 15 Comments

Ok, just stick a label on my forehead already and call me SUCKER!

I’ve never been one for consuming beauty drinks. I know loads of people swear by them. Collagen drinks in popular in Japanese and Korean brands and heck, even my MOM used to be quite diligent about her collagen drinks at one time. Then again, Mom will try anything once, in the name of beauty. I think I got that from her LOL!

But when it came to beauty drinks, I wasn’t quite swayed. Well, until now that is.

Even though I’m surrounded by billions of Asian brands touting their little bottles of collagen drinks and beauty drinks, I couldn’t bring myself to buy them. Felt a bit like snake oil to me. You can’t really measure or see the effects, so I used to frown when Mom bought her drinks, but chose not to consume them myself.

During the Black Friday sales last year however, while I was browsing the Deciem website, I came across a deal on some of the products they carry under the Fountain brand, which is a brand that makes – you guessed it – beauty drinks! I’m not sure what possessed me, but I picked up one of their sets which included their popular Fountain Hyaluronic Molecule.

I know what you’re thinking. Did it work, PB? How did you like it? Are you a beauty drinks convert now? 😀 I dunno, are you?

7 days of yoga and 7 benefits I’ve reaped from doing yoga first thing in the morning

January 29, 2016 Paris B 28 Comments

Some time last year, I embarked upon what I call my “Fitness journey”. I was hesitant to even mention it here on the blog, because I’m not known to sticking to a fitness regimen. Unlike many people who embark upon a fitness journey to lose weight, mine was primarily born out of frustration – a healthier way to beat frustration, more like, but truthfully, still frustration nonetheless.

I’m happy to report that I kept to it, doing brisk walks on the treadmill regularly, and although I fell off the bandwagon at the end of the year, I climbed back on this year. Not only did I climb back on, I managed to improve myself, by incorporating short bursts of running. AND I DID NOT DIE! Let me just say that this is a major achievement for me. For my whole life, I’d only ever aspired to be a sloth… or maybe a koala; once I knew that sloths and koalas sleep for about 23 hours in a day! LOL!

But I also realised that running was a little hard on my body, especially one so unused to strenuous exercise, and I decided to go back to practising yoga on the side. I had been, on a weekly basis for a few years, but this time, I wanted to be better at it. I also decided to create a new routine, as per my new year resolution, by starting my day with a yoga session. And you know what? It’s been amazing! 😀

Health

I tell stories on Instagram @parisbmws