This section is designed to provide advice and information about particular treatments and how they can benefit you. We hope to answer your questions and give explanations about specific physical concerns.
Massage
Massage is fantastic for either stress relief and pure relaxation or much deeper to help break down uncomfortable areas of tension. The treatment focuses on particular areas of concern to you. The massage will begin with warming movements to the area to ensure that the muscles are ready to be worked on. After the warming, deeper movements can then be applied.
Although massage requires contact with your skin. It is not an invasive treatment and you can completely relax throughout.
Skin Care
Your face is a very honest reflection of your lifestyle. Smoking, heavy drinking, sun damage, poor diet, stress, illness and lack of exercise will all contribute to unhealthy skin. Combined with a poor skincare routine this will result in premature aging and a dull complection. Using the right products for your skin is the first step for healthy skin.
Tips for healthy skin
- Use products designed for your skin type
- Ensure you are drinking at least 6 glasses of water a day
- Cut out cigarettes and heavy drinking
- Exercise regularly to increase your blood circulation and lymph drainage
- Use sun screen daily. Even when the sun is not bright its rays can still damage your skin
- Exfoliation clears the dead skin cells allowing the products you put on your skin to penetrate deeper and work more effectively
- Moisturising is a must whatever your skin type. It keeps your skin hydrated and protects from 'free radicals'.
Diagram of the skin
Acne- It is a very misguided belief that acne only affects teenagers. People of all ages can get acne an can be due to one or a combination of causes. It will affect about 80 in every 100 people aged 11 - 30 at some time.
Acne is caused by the sebaceous glands (see picture below) secreting sebum, a natural oil, onto the skin. The hormone testosterone triggers the sebaceous gland to produce this excess sebum and when the dead skin cells are not shed properly, the follicles get blocked.
Factors to make acne worse
- Squeezing and picking spots will spread bacteria causing further inflamation and can result in scarring.
- Certain contraceptive pills can make it worse depending on which hormones they contain. Many are used to assist acne however.
- Stress in certain people will cause acne
- Excessive production of male hormones, such as testosterone, which can cause conditions such as polycystic ovary syndrome
- Female menstral cycle due to hormonal changes
- Some prescribed medication including steroids can make acne worse
'Spots' What's what?
- Comedones are commonly known as 'blackheads'.They have a wider opening than normal and are an accumulation of sebum and dead skin cells which have got trapped in the follicle. A chemical reaction causes this to turn black.
- Whiteheads are similar to blackheads except the opening to the pores are very small so the air cannot reach the blockage to oxidise it so it remains white.
- Redness occurs because the bacteria, which normally lives harmlessly on your skin, feeds off the sebum and causes the skin to become inflamed.
Dehydration- Many people are confused about their skin as although it may be oily, can also find it can be tight and appear dry. This is caused through dehydration rather than actual dryness. People with oily skin have concerns about using moisture products believing it will add to the oiliness further. It is important to realise that however much natural oil your skin produces it still needs to be hydrated. You must use a moisturiser for oily and combination skin which will be lighter but still gives your skin the protection it needs.
Eyelash/brow tinting
A tint test is required a minimum of 24 hours before a treatment. This insures you will not have an allergic reaction to the tint.
