It’s National Relaxation Day! Unwind With These Pampering Beauty Treats (As Seen On CBS Austin’s “We Are Austin”)
In honor of National Relaxation Day, I stopped by CBS Austin’s “We Are Austin” today to talk about all the ways we can pamper ourselves and unwind. From soothing eye masks and comforting aromatherapy bath and body oils to personalized massage treatments, luxurious pillowcases, and glow-boosting face masks and serums, check out some ways in which you can prioritize mindfulness and self-care, center your body and mind, and create an atmosphere of absolute serenity. Check out the segment above (or click here to view) and keep reading for more details on the items discussed on air.
CREATE A COMFORTING AMBIANCE INSIDE YOUR HOME WITH THE AERA HOME FRAGRANCE DIFFUSER
Your home isn’t just your castle — it’s your sanctuary, the place where you feel safest and most comfortable, where you can finally exhale after a hectic day. And yes, while you can move furniture around to improve the feng shui in every room of your home, there’s nothing like fragrance to create a calming and stress-free ambiance.
Not only does the Aera Home Fragrance Diffuser ($150 for Touch Diffuser and $200 for Smart 2.0 Diffuser at AeraForHome.com) allow you to make your home smell more inviting, it also lets you be in complete control of your fragrance experience. Scented candles and reed diffusers can sometimes prove to be too overpowering or too subtle, either releasing overly heady fragrances that are downright headache-inducing or yielding a barely detectable scent. Also, with these traditional home scenting products, the fragrance tends to be concentrated in one section of a particular room as opposed to wafting in different directions and really reaching every nook and cranny of that room. With an Area Home Fragrance Diffuser, however, you can be sure that the entire room will be beautifully scented. Moreover, thanks to the sleek unit’s innovative technology, you can adjust the intensity of the fragrance being released, making it as whisper-like or as robust as you want it to be.
The first-generation Aera Home Touch Diffuser features handy buttons that allow you to increase or decrease the intensity of each scent, while the new Smart 2.0 Diffuser allows can be controlled both via these push buttons and through the Aera Home app. When you download the easy-to-use app, you can increase or decrease the intensity of the scent using your smartphone and you can program your unit according to your schedule. For instance, you can program your Aera Home Smart 2.0 Diffuser so that it shuts off just as you leave for work in the morning and stays off as you go about your day in the office, then turns on 15 to 20 minutes before you arrive home in the evening, so that you can walk into a beautifully scented home. And, if you have an Aera unit for each room inside your home, you can control all of these devices simultaneously using the Aera Home app.
All Aera fragrance diffusers utilize capsules with fragrance oils developed by master perfumers, so that each scent feels luxurious and sublime. If you like clean, joyful, serene scents, make sure to check out the Simplicity Collection of home fragrances, which was inspired by fond memories of life’s simple pleasures — be it a picturesque stroll through the woods or an arrangement of fresh-cut flowers.
The collection includes seven scents: White Tea, Citrus, Gingerlily, Sandalwood, Cherry Blossom, Lavender and Vanilla. Each capsule contains enough fragrance oil to last 1400 hours (depending on the intensity setting, of course) and each one retails for $50 at AeraForHome.com
RELIEVE TENSION AND SLEEP PEACEFULLY WITH AROMATHERAPY ASSOCIATES’ RELAX COLLECTION
More than any other sense, scent has the power to conjure up poignant memories and strong emotions. See, the olfactory bulb (the neural structure in the forebrain involved in processing smells) sends pertinent scent-related information to the amygdala and the hippocampus, two areas of the brain that play an integral role in processing memories and emotions. Certain scents, then, can trigger specific feelings, enhance our mood, and even elicit physical responses. Citrus smells, for instance, are often associated with a sunny and energetic disposition while lavender is linked to relaxation and calm.
Using holistic healing principles and an in-depth understanding of how essential oils benefit the body, mind, and spirit, Aromatherapy Associates has spent over 30 years creating indulgent bath, body, and skincare products that go beyond the surface level to create a deeper beauty and wellness experience.
Designed for those grappling with insomnia or restless sleep, as well as those who just need to unwind, the Aromatherapy Associates Relax collection is comprised of the following products: the mood-setting Relax Candle ($61 at AromatherapyAssociates.com) and Room Spray ($37 at AromatherapyAssociates.com), both of which create a calm atmosphere; the Light Relax Bath & Shower Oil ($73 at Aromatherapy Associates.com), which helps you wash away the day and unwind in the shower; the Deep Relax Bath & Shower Oil ($73 at AromatherapyAssociates.com), the perfect way to ensure a good night’s sleep; the Relax Body Wash ($33 at AromatherapyAssociates.com), an SLS-free foaming cleanser; the Relax Body Oil ($71 at AromatherapyAssociates.com), which helps you unwind while also conditioning skin with jojoba and coconut oils; and the Deep Relax Rollerball ($33 at AromatherapyAssociates.com), a travel-friendly product you can toss inside your purse and apply to w pulse points whenever you’re in need of a mindful moment.
All the products in the Relax collection contain essential oils like lavender, sandalwood, petit grain, vetiver, ylang ylang, and chamomile, which are known to relieve stress and anxiety, center the body and mind, quiet overactive minds so as to ensure a clearer thought process, and comfort the spirit.
As someone who tends to have difficulty falling asleep (an endless to-do list in my mind, a tendency to check emails on my cell instead of shutting work down for the evening, etc.), my favorite product in the collection is the Deep Relax Bath & Shower Oil. I suggest pouring a capful into your bath before bed so you can soak away the tension before tucking in for the night. And to condition skin and keep your mind and body at ease, you can follow up your evening bath by massaging on the Relax Body Oil, which conditions the skin with coconut and jojoba oils while calming the senses with chamomile, ylang ylang, and vetiver.
GIVE TIRED EYES SOME RELIEF WITH THE TALIKA EYE DECOMPRESS MASK
Stress can negatively affect the quality of our sleep, and that can show up all over our faces – mainly in the form of puffy eyes and dark under-eye circles. And, as if sleep deprivation, insomnia, and restless slumber weren’t enough to contend with, our eyes are constantly being exposed to external aggressors like pollution, UV rays, and blue light from electronic devices — all of which can make our eyes become dehydrated, exacerbate swelling, intensify dark circles, and deepen fine lines and wrinkles.
As it turns out, we all need some shut-eye — both literally and figuratively. To give tired eyes some TLC, I suggest reaching for the Talika Eye Decompress ($29 at Talika.US), a compact and portable mask designed to rehydrate, decongest, cal, and smooth the eye contour. There are six treatments in each box, and each single-use treatment comes in a double capsule packet containing a compressed eye mask on one side and and a soothing lotion on the other. The lotion is formulated with ingredients like Japanese rose petals, which have antioxidant properties and protect the skin against pollution; escin, a decongestant that relieves puffiness and minimizes dark circles; and chamomile and cornflower waters, which soothe and hydrate the skin. To use, you simply soak the mask in the lotion until all the ingredients are absorbed, unfold the mask carefully, then place it atop your eyes for 10 minutes. As the mask works its magic, you can listen to a relaxing podcast that can be downloaded for free using a code included in each box. During the 10-minute podcast, Iyenga yoga professor Arnaud Caby walks listeners through a series of breathing and meditation exercises, thereby creating a fully immersive experience that promotes both inner and outer beauty.
WAKE UP LOOKING REFRESHED WITH THE TALIKA EYE DREAM
There are morning when I look at the mirror and want to scream at the sight of the oversize bags under my eyes (which usually come courtesy of my husband’s snoring, one too many glasses of wine with dinner, or a bout with insomnia). While I’m still working on ensuring that I get a good night’s sleep regularly, I now have the perfect weapon to ensure I at least look well-rested — even on those mornings when I want to hop back into bed and take a break from #adulting. It’s called the Talika Eye Dream ($57 at Talika.US), and it’s an overnight mask for the eye area that works as you sleep so you can wake up looking refreshed and rejuvenated. The mask has a rollerball applicator that soothes the eye area and boosts circulation, and the formula features anti-aging peptides to smooth fine lines, horse chestnut extract to reduce puffiness, and soy proteins to revitalize the skin. Moreover, since the formula contains comforting lime and orange blossom waters, it helps soothe you to sleep.
SLEEP LIKE A QUEEN (AND AWAKE LOOKING LIKE ROYALTY) WITH THE HOLLYWOOD SILK SOLUTION
Speaking of beauty sleep, if you want youthful skin and, frizz-free hair, you should be sleeping on silk. See, cotton pillowcases can draw moisture from the skin and hair, drying them out. Moreover, all that wetness absorbed by cotton pillowcases can draw bacteria that will, in turn, make its way back to your face, leading to inflammation, acne bouts, redness, and more. Silk, on the other hand, doesn’t steal all that moisture from our complexions or our manes, so that those hydration reservoirs remain intact throughout the night. Also, when you sleep on a silk surface, there’s bound to be less friction as your skin and hair can easily glide across the pillow. By preventing friction, then, sleeping on a silk pillowcase means less tugging on delicate facial skin (which can lead to sleep creases and to wrinkles) and fewer raised hair cuticles (and hence less frizz and less chance of breakage). No wonder Marilyn Monroe slept on silk sheets!
The challenge, of course, is that most of us don’t have Hollywood star money and silk bedding can be prohibitively costly. That’s why The Hollywood Silk Solution’s pillowcases ($45 each at TheHollywoodSilkSolution.com) are so clever and ingenious. Their pillowcases provide all the beauty benefits of sleeping on silk — without the expense.
Each pillowcase uses the highest grade 6A Long Fiber Mulberry Silk on the topside and a high grade cotton on the underside, and it features a handy zipper so the pillowcase stays in place. Also, these pillowcases are machine washable, so there’s no need to splurge on dry cleaning. Genius, right?
TREAT YOURSELF TO A PERSONALIZED MASSAGE ENVY TOTAL BODY TREATMENT
You might instinctively associate massages with relaxation, but did you know there are actual medical studies that prove there’s a correlation between the two? Well, check this out: studies have shown that a 60-minute massage can lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol by 30%, while simultaneously boosting levels of the feel-good chemical serotonin and the neurotransmitter dopamine. See? Even scientists are urging you to incorporate massages into your wellness routine! As the nation’s leading provider of therapeutic massage services, Massage Envy is the place to go for a relaxing rub.
Always seeking new ways to cater to its clientele and enhance customers’ comfort and relaxation, Massage Envy recently unveiled CyMe Boost, an assortment of serums with targeted skin-enhancing benefits. The serums come in six varieties: Energizing, Renewing, Purifying, Clarifying, Hydrating and Firming. Each serum, then, has a very specific function so that, for instance, the Energizing Boost contains guarana seed extract and caffeine to stimulate the skin and give it a radiance boost.
These serums can be blended with the Massage Envy-branded lotions and oils used by your massage therapist, and they can be combined with other enhancements like aromatherapy oils, allowing you to personalize your total body treatment. In total, Massage Envy offers more than 720 enhancement combinations — imagine that!
Visit MassageEnvy.com for more information and to schedule an appointment.
ENJOY AN AT-HOME SPA DAY WITH SAVOR BEAUTY
You can turn your skincare routine into a self-care ritual with Savor Beauty, a skin care line inspired by Korean beauty rituals but simplified for the modern woman. Savor Beauty products are numbered so you know the order in which to apply them, and they’re made with 100% natural, certified organic, plant-based ingredients and are free of parabens, phtalates, sulfates, and synthetic dyes or fragrances. All of Savor Beauty’s clean beauty products are available at SavorBeauty.com as well as at Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus stores.
If you’re pampering yourself at home, you can start by giving your lips some sweet TLC using the Savor Beauty Manuka Honey Lip Scrub ($22 at SavorBeauty.com). This gentle polish contains sugar crystals that exfoliate dry and flaking lips as well as Manuka honey, a natural humectant that draws moisture from the air and infuses it into skin. The Manuka honey in the formula helps to heal and hydrate the pout so you can have supple and kissable lips in no time.
Next, to give your skin its glow back, you can apply the Savor Beauty Manuka Honey Mask ($64 at SavorBeauty.com), which exfoliates and detoxifies the skin, thereby boosting radiance. The formula contains papaya and apricot enzymes that loosen and dissolve dead surface skin cells, thereby revealing a more radiant layer of skin. It also contains Manuka honey, which has antibacterial properties that help to decongest and clarify the skin.
You can finish your R&R session with the Savor Beauty Pumpkin Seed Renew Serum ($64 at SavorBeauty.com), an anti-aging powerhouse with major glow-boosting abilities. This yummy-smelling serum contains pumpkin seed oil to diminish fine lines and wrinkles, rosehip seed oil to minimize dark spots, and meadowfoam seed oil to lock moisture into the skin and make it appear bouncier and more luminous. The end result: lit-from-within skin that just won’t quit.
REJUVENATE SKIN WITH THE ARTISTRY ADVANCED VITAMIN C + HA TREATMENT
You know how they say worrying causes wrinkles? Well, it’s time to stop fretting and put our trust in a great anti-aging product like the Artistry Advanced Vitamin C +HA Treatment ($62 at Amway.com), designed to diminish the appearance of expression lines including smile lines and forehead frown lines. It contains hyaluronic acid to draw moisture to the skin and make it look plump and dewy, as well as vitamin C to brighten the complexion and stimulate collagen production, making skin bouncier and more resilient.
OPT FOR MINIMALIST MAKEUP WITH ARTISTRY’S HYDRA-V SHEER WEIGHTLESS FOUNDATION SPF 15
When you’re in need of some R&R, why spend hours perfecting your contouring skills or trying to flawlessly execute a cut crease? Give yourself a day off from the heavy makeup and opt for a minimalist look that’s easy and natural. You can start with the Artistry Hydra-V Sheer Weightless Foundation SPF 15 ($44 at Amway.com), which offers just enough coverage to conceal any imperfections such as dark spots and blemishes while still allowing your natural skin tone shine through. The luminous foundation comes in 12 shades, is non-comedogenic, and it contains Norwegian fjord water and Hawaiian acai to boost radiance.
