Giveaway: Toxin Free Mani & Pedi at Biotyspa

Remember I raved about my favourite facialist and spa , Deborah from BIOTYSPA, before?

The fact that this place exists makes me already so happy.
A toxin-free, cruelty-free, vegan beauty salon with the most professional treatments and products...and all that just a few steps from my house in Bondi Beach.

French therapist Deborah just opened up a brand-new, beautiful Salon and of course, I had to go to the opening party.|
The treatment menu has also been updated and besides her signature treatments (which you HAVE TO try), clients can now also treat themselves to a toxin-free (five free) Mani & Pedi with the beautiful products and colours from Australia cult nail brand Kester Black.

Being pregnant I have been avoiding professional mani- and pedicures lately, as I want to avoid the toxin as well as the fumes in the conventional salons.
I had to try the Bioty Mani&Pedi , which besides using all five-free products is also done in in this beautiful large room with fresh-air and no fumes circulating around. 

What can I say? It is a completely different experience to your average nail salon.
Treatments with Deborah are always soooo relaxing and fun, so I really enjoyed my pamper time, especially when being pregnant. The result was flawless, my hands and feet are feeling moisturised.
There were so many beautiful colours, yet I decided to match fingers and toes and picked out colour "Lilac" for both. This is not the place to request funky nail art but rather have a relaxing & healthy experience.
I also got some extra tips on how to look after my rather dry poor pregnant feet, including more foot rubs from husband ;)

GIVEAWAY COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED

The Prize
One appointment for a toxin-free Mani&Pedi Combo at Biotyspa in Bondi.
Discover the pleasure of qualitative and relaxing manicure and pedicure, made with toxin-free products.
We use all natural creams, gels, nail polish and removers, certified cruelty-free, vegan and eco-friendly.

Enter Now!
To enter please leave a comment below and tell me what your favourite nail polish colours are this Summer. Do you love summerly coral, timeless nude, or stylish dark tones?
 

Terms & Conditions:
The Toxin Free Mani&Pedi At Biotyspa competition will be judged on skill. The competition opens, Thursday December 8 at 7pm EST and closes on Sunday, December 18th at 12noon EST. One entry per person. Entries will be judged on creativity and originality. Australian entries only, sorry. There is one prize to be won. Winners will be notified via email and published here at the end of this blog post by the end of Monday the 19th of December.

CONGRATULATIONS TO LUCKY WINNER KARA! WE WILL CONTACT YOU VIA EMAIL.
 

Winter Skin Good Bye with Eco Tan

This Winter has been feeling extremely long. I am still sipping hot tea next to the heater while typing this, so I guess it's safe to say that I have gotten used to the mild temperatures here in Australia. I am even getting a little bit pale.Naturally I am a medium skin tone, tanning very easily and I do get pretty dark during the Summer months. My skin is yellow toned and I feel it looks best sun kissed. I believe all skin tones are beautiful from the fairest milkiest white to the darkest chocolate brown, and of course we all suit our natural skin tone. As makeup artist I observe skin tones constantly as it's important to find the right colour match when applying makeup. My yellow skin can get a little sallow in Winter so I do prefer a little bit of a tan glow.

I am quite low maintenance (for someone working in the industry) with my personal beauty routine and really like products that work and a beauty routine that I can do at home. While spray tans are super popular here in Sydney (and thank goodness there are now certified organic self tan options available!) I prefer a quick DIY job in my own bathroom.

Self Tanning at home So I was very intrigued when I heard about Winter Skin by Eco Tan. Winter Skin is a lotion in a pump bottle, which is a body moisturizer with a hint of buildable self tan. It's THE solution to just warm up your skin, super easy to use. It has no stinky fake tan smell and keeps the skin hydrated. I simply exfoliate with the Extreme Exfoliating Glove in the shower and use the Winter skin as I would my usual body moisturizer and then wash my hands thoroughly. Done! If your knees, elbows and feet are dry make sure you exfoliate and hydrate them before using any self tan. This one is pretty foll proof though, as the colour is just a believable little hint of tan. No need for a tent or cleaning the bathroom afterwards, just a quick and easy thing to do. It can be used a few days in a row until you achieve the desired colour. Love it! It really helps as well to even out the skin and I feel ready to expose my legs now that Spring is around the corner.I might need a bottle for Summer to even out any tan lines before the wedding...(I will let you know if I do and if it works!) I think this is great for beginners, anyone with very fair skin, or people like me that find it too stressful to go for beauty appointments. If you however want a deep professional spray tan, Eco tan actually has professionals that can do this for you.

Why Organic? If you know me or have read this blog before you know how passionate I am about anything organic. To me it's the best lifestyle to ensure we can sustain this beautiful planet in the future. Organic food and cosmetics protect the environment, the animals and also our own health as humans. Of course I could go on and on why it is so important, but chances are you know this already. Otherwise I might write up a separate blog post.

Of course I all for the quality certified organic ingredients throughout the whole Eco Tan range. It has been tested in Australia to be toxin free and it's also vegan. I recommend this range to all my brides, if they are thinking about getting a fake tan for their wedding day. Of course always book yourself a trial appointment for a tan before the wedding day,so you can confirm the right colour and also make sure you don't have any allergic reactions. Now we can all get a truly healthy glow! In time for Spring...

Holistic Bridal Beauty Prep : Beauty Boosting Nutrition

Everyone that knows me how much I love healthy food and nutrition, I might sometimes annoy my friends with my words of wisdom and also always healthy food choices. So why would I take supplements?

Why Supplements? I believe that if you work in a demanding job or go through periods of stress or high workloads, sometimes your food intake just can't offer enough nutrients. There are so many different situations in life, where your body can do with a little help including for us women pregnancy, conceiving and menopause. Just to maintain a healthy regular cycle and balanced hormones it's important to look after your nutrition. Our skin, hair and nails also shows us pretty quickly if we are lacking something. Pay attention and listen to your body. Even though I am overall healthy and free of any serious illness, I take little warning signs of my body very seriously. If my digestion is not as usual, if I get breakouts and pimples, dry skin, mood swings or simply feel tired, I know it's time to change something. It's a great idea to give the body a little boost and help it out with some supplements and I have always seen great results. Sleep, good nutrition, enough fresh water and regular exercise are all important and supplements can only work as part of a healthy lifestyle. There is no shortcut to good health! I recommend seeing a Nutritionist or seeking advice in your local health food store, they can often be very knowledgeable.

My Beauty Boosters: Right now I am doing a detox with HUM Daily Cleanse & HUM Runway Ready. It is a four week course and I will make sure to continue until I run out. HUM actually offers an online consultation and a professional Nutritionist will contact you to recommend products. I thought the consultation was pretty fun and the Daily Cleanse sounded like something that could do me good. All their products are sustainably sourced, premium quality, non GMO, pure and also clinically proven to work!

Aisle Ready The Runway Ready is a fun beauty supplement for everyone, it will help with healthy nails, shiny hair and glowing skin and is also vegetarian and vegan. Which is great as many supplements contain animal products, and are not suitable for everyone. It comes in a pretty dispenser box with daily packs which contain 3 capsules. Super easy peasy! The whole box is a one month course. I just throw one sachet into my handbag in the morning and then take them with my lunch. Each sachet contains 2 "Red Carpet" Pills and 1 "Killer Nails" Pill. They contain Black Currant Seed Oil: Perfect Source of ALA & GLA Sunflower Seed Oil: Great Source of Vitamin E and Vegan Biotin which Strengthens the nails. I thought this could be an excellent idea to get ready for the wedding.

Skin Cleanse Within a week of the Daily Cleanse I saw my skin being more clear and I also felt I had great energy throughout the day. I take 2 capsules per day without food, it's super quick and easy even if my schedule is packed. These are meant to cleanse your skin, liver, bowel, kidneys and lungs with Organic Algae, Cleansing Minerals and a unique blend of 15 Detox Herbs. I will complete the course and possibly do a second one closer to the wedding.

Glow I have also been trying The Beauty Chef Inner Glow Powder, which is from a different brand. Inner Glow has really helped my skin and digestion. It's a delicious natural berry flavoured powder to be taken with water and it's basically made from fermented super foods. They help making your gut happy by providing pre- and probiotics, but it's also naturally packed with vitamins, minerals and vegetable proteins. Did I mention, it tastes delicious? I first thought it's a little pricey but it seems to last a while, as you only need to take a teaspoon per day. I am planning on keep on going with this one until the big day.

Before I started the Hum Daily Cleanse I just started taking a Magnesium Supplement for better sleep and less stress as well as a Super Green Powder, which is very powerful and was recommended to my by a independent Nutritionist. I loved both and will probably use it again if needed. As always do your research and ask a professional before buying supplements. It's important to make sure your supplements are free from cheap fillers or nasty ingredients, there are big differences in quality, many of the cheap vitamins from the supermarket won't cut it!

Have you tried supplements? What are your experiences? Feel free to share.