Smooth as Silk Skin

If you read my last post you are more than likely dry brushing your body (Great Job!) As you know, this is our largest organ so it pays to keep it healthy. I wanted to talk about lotions in this blog because even though we are dry brushing we also need to be moisturizing and hydrating. The best thing to use on your body is something that your body will soak up and benefit from.  Arbonne has some wonderful body products but none better that the RE9 line and the Genius Serum.

Now before we get into the body products I want everyone to remember that mineral oils and anything the form of are not good for your skin, they clog your pores. 

A molecule of oils is much larger that the pore on your skin, So once you are done dry brushing and washing your body, you don't want clog your pores with oil.  This is how acne, black heads and skin irritation start. Make sure you are reading the back of labels when you buy body products. It is also a good idea to stay away animal product and animal by-products (such as lanolin, elastin etc)

Let's talk about the products

Arbonne Intelligence Serum. A truly accomplished performer! This is a lightweight, concentrated serum that absorbs quickly to hydrate and illuminate, it actually improves the look of skins firms. You simply add a few drops of this to your moisturizer to boost the benefits. You can also use this serum by itself to enhance skin's natural radiance. I absolutely LOVE this product! This is by far one of my top favorites.

 This smooth and Hydrating Body Lotion is the best. It is full of antioxidants and vitamins to help moisturize the skin. This is a light and greaseless lotion that your body will simply drink up. This is great to use in the morning and don't forget to add a few drops of the Arbonne Intelligence Serum. Based on a clinical study of 50 women, 100% agreed that their skin felt smoother and softer after one use.                                                        

The Firming Body Cream is in a class of its own. This fabulous body cream supports collagen, promotes firmer-looking and smoother-feeling skin. It also is wonderful to use in the evening after a bath or shower. This body cream will work its magic while your body is resting, this too can used with the Arbonne Intelligence Serum.  

The results are remarkable. 

81% of participants reported the calmed and soothes their skin with in 1 week. 

In 4 weeks 

95% reported an improvement in skin hydration 

90% reported unimproved skin tone and clarity 

81% reported their skin felt more energized and revitalized 

So there you have it! I hope you enjoyed this and as always if you have questions please don't hesitate to ask.

Wishing you Health, Wealth, And Happiness!

Ania 

The best makeup primer you will ever use!

Dry Brush Your Body to Good Health Part 1

Recently I visited a long time friend and owner of a local spa here in Santa Barbara. As we chatted I remembered her giving me one of the most revitalizing massages I every received. It was one of her full dry brushing body massages. When I mentioned this to her we started talking about the benefit of this technique. So I went out and bought a body brush, did a little sleuthing on the internet about it and have started doing this myself. The benefits are unbelievable!

The human skin is the largest organ we have, and if we take care of it by using some simple steps and adding healthy products into our life we are on the way to better health and living! The benefits go beyond skin deep, the skin is made up of nerves, glands, and cell layers. It produces antibacterial substance to protect us from infection and enables your body to produce vitamin D when exposed to the sun. Your skin is a crucial part of your interaction with the world around you.

Dry brushing your body can be invaluable, not only brushing off dead skin cells but also activating waste removal via your lymph nodes. There are several additional benefits you receive when dry brushing such as increasing circulation, reducing cellulite, stress relief, improving digestion and kidney functions, and it is invigorating; it will also increase your metabolism (which I love)

There is a process for this that if followed correctly your will receive the benefits. The 5 extra minutes it takes to do this will pay off in the end.

Dry Bushing: How to...

• You will need a body brush, preferably something that has a handle so you can reach your back but then removable when you are working on your body.
• The brush should fairly good quality- Drug store and discount store are pretty reasonably prices, it should feel stiff but not to overly.
• Dry brushing should be done daily before you take a shower in the morning or in the afternoon, doing it to close to bed time may make you feel energized.
• Always brush toward your heart, starting at your feet and working your way up (including the soles of your feet). Once you reach the belly area brush in a circular motion. 
• Make sure you get under your arms, this area can be sensitive but is very important. Remember don't scrub your skin just brush with long strokes; your skin should be pink not red and irritated. 
• Take a shower and follow your normal routine. 

Its that simple! Give a try for 30 days and experience the difference and don't forget to leave your comments below on your dry brushing experience.

Since we are all body brushing now! the next blog will be devoted to the products we use on our body.

Wishing you Health, Wealth, and Happiness
Ania

Aminal Products in Cosmetics? What? Shut the Front Door!!

What’s in your cosmetics and beauty products? I personally did not know any of this until I was educated on this subject. To be honest, I was pretty shocked and sickened by the truth, and sometimes the truth hurts! Some people may not care what is in their beauty products, or don't want to know. We live in a sociality that wants instant gratification. So goes the old saying "oh the price we pay for vanity" well in this case we not only paying for it but we are also participating in using products that are unsafe, harmful to our well-being (and not to mention disgusting). The US cosmetic industry uses fillers (animal product or by-product) in every day items that you purchase. This is what you pay for when you buy items that are not vegan certified or botanically based.  Words like Collagen, Elastin, and Retinal etc. are important words when we start to see fine lines and wrinkles. Ahhh! Words are powerful! But what are those products made of, you ask? Lets read on.

1. Hyaluronic Acid -is used in anti-ageing skincare products as it is an antioxidant, a humectant (drawing moisture up in the skin) and it boosts collagen synthesis. Sounds like a fantastic ingredient for a skincare product, right? Hyaluronic acid is found in human umbilical cords and rooster combs. Since the early 1980s, it has been produced from rooster combs on an industrial scale. If you buy a product that contains this anti-ageing ingredient, check that it was made by producing enzymes from a bacteria-based biofermentation process.  It is likely that most products you buy in the shops will contained the rooster comb variety.

2. Collagen – Ever seen a skincare product advertise that it contained collagen? Sounds like a great idea, given that the loss of collagen is one of the main signs of facial ageing. However, collagen in skincare products won’t actually do all that much, as the consensus is that it won’t be absorbed deeply enough into the skin (if at all) to help strengthen fibrous tissue. And you might be even more put off when you find out that most collagen in skincare creams comes from chicken feet and ground-up animal horns.

3. Elastin – much like collagen, the loss of elastin is one of the main reasons for facial aging  Again, skincare companies are clamouring in order to be able to claim that their product boosts elastin so some of them add it into their creams and lotions. Will it penetrate your skin far enough to do much? The consensus is probably not. According to PETA, this protein is extracted from the neck ligaments and aortas of cows.

4. Keratin - I bet you’ve seen this one advertised in some of your hair care products. Many shampoos and hair rinses like to tell you all about their added keratin which will strengthen your hair. What they don’t tell you is that it’s extracted from the ground-up horns, hooves, feathers, quills, and hair of various animals.

5. Carmine -is a red dye that is often used in lipsticks, rouge, eye shadow and other cosmetics. It is also used a lot in food and drinks, particularly items that are bright red (think of ruby-red juice and supermarket curries!). It is made of red pigment from the crushed female cochineal insect. PETA reports that 70,000 beetles must be killed to produce one pound of this dye. Sounds horribly unnecessary when you can also use beetroot which, as everyone knows, stains everything red.

6. Glucosamine – This skincare ingredient is thought to be barrier enhancing, moisturizing and helps to even out skin tone. It’s found in many animals’ exoskeletons but apparently chicken bone marrow is a great source of glucosamine for the cosmetics industry (is this going to be a blog post just about chickens?!).

7.  Ambergris (a.k.a. whale vomit). This grey floating faecal-smelling lump is a sperm whale bile duct secretion. Gosh, that’s really selling it, isn’t it? It’s still used by some perfume manufacturers to ‘fix’ the smell of a perfume. Thankfully most perfume manufacturers use synthetic alternatives nowadays, although Cosmetics Design Europe reports that it is still used by Dior and Kenneth Cole. Skunk order is another form that is use to give one a long lasting smell... Yuck! 

8.  Fake vanilla fragrance – Vanilla has a lovely aroma, as we all know. This Mexican plant is beautiful and produces fantastic orchid-like flowers which have a symbiotic relationship with its pollinator, the Melipona bee which is native to Mexico. For that reason, the only way vanilla can be cultivated around the world is through hand pollination, which is how almost all of the vanilla pods you buy in the shops came about (ever seen Mexican vanilla for sale? I didn’t think so). In other words, extracting vanilla fragrance is an expensive job. Which is why we can all breathe a sigh of relief that scientists at the International Medical Center of Japan can now extract a fake vanilla fragrance from cow dung.

9. Placental protein – this one says it all really, doesn’t it? Animal placenta is extracted from the uterus of animals in abattoirs and seems to be used quite widely in skincare products. It seems to be used as a humectant, which means that it is used to draw moisture up into the top layers of the skin.

10. Stearic acid - many natural (theres that word being tossed around) skincare products will tell you if this fatty acid is plant-derived. However, those that don’t tell you are probably using animal-derived stearic acid. Rendering factories separate the fat from waste animal tissue in order to create stearic acid. Animals used for this process will include cows, pigs and sheep. Sources of meat include abattoirs, restaurant and butcher shop trimmings, expired meat from supermarkets, and the carcasses of euthanized and dead animals from animal shelters, zoos and vets.

11. Crystalline guanine – ever wondered what creates your pearly iridescent effect in your shampoo, eye shadow and nail polish? We all love a bit of superficial prettiness, after all. The shiny effect is caused by crystalline guanine, extracted from fish scales.

12. Panthenol – you will probably recognize this chemical as it is often used in shampoos and conditioners to moisturize and lubricate your hair. It is also used in some lotions and mascaras. Panthenol is often made from one of the components of honey but is also found in certain vegetables and meat. The majority of panthenol used in the cosmetics industry comes from meat or honey. Given the price of honey and the worldwide decline in numbers of bees, I’m guessing meat might be a more common source of panthenol nowadays.

I am not a vegan or a vegetarian, I am an Iowa girl. I was raised in the country and have eaten my fair share of meat. Although now that I am older and a little bit wiser I am carful with what I put in my body and even more carful what I put ON my body. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and please note this is informational only and if you are conscious about your health you will understand the importance of what you just read.  It saddens me that we have no regard for our well being as humans; what are we doing to ourselves by using products that are potentially unhealthy.  

Wishing Health, Wealth, and Happiness

Ania 

I am not an advocate for PETA, nor am I a member. This information has come from the PETA’s Animal Ingredient list. http://www.peta.org/living/vegetarian-living/animal-ingredients-list.aspx

Truly Genius

Arbonne Intelligence Genius 

Nightly Resurfacing  Pads

Yes! Arbonne has went above and beyond with this product! These nightly used pads are a fountain of youth a bottle! This is a SAFE, plant based retinoid product that will save you a trip to the dermatologist.

This product is comparable to a chemical peel, microdermabrasion or Retin-A type product without the harshness on your skin (or down time). It is truly a magic eraser for ALL the pesky skin issue such as acne, dark spots, wrinkles, dull-aged skin... you name it - it fixes it! It can be used to supercharge any skin care routine. This product can be used nightly after you wash your face by wiping your face and décolleté in an upward fashion.

I stated using this product and have seen much improvement in my skins appearance. I also have a little "bowtie" scar on my décolleté that has been diminishing since I started using this product, I have tried several other products to get rid of this but nothing has worked. This is so simple to use; empty the solution on to the clean white pads and let it soak in. The pads puff up a little which gives you some texture while using them but at the time staying very soft and gentle. Here is a before and after of a Genius Product user that gives you some idea of well this works on the surface of the skin.

Yet again I am amazed at Arbonne and the quality of the products that produce. This product is for men and women ages 12 and older.

If you would like information regarding this products, please let me know or you can stop by my website and order it. www.aniaduensing.arbonne.com

Wishing you Health, Wealth, and Happiness!
Ania

Calling all guys and gals! April 6th is the kick off to the 28 Day Detox

New groups are forming now! Mark your calendars guys and gals! April 6^th is the kick off for the 28 day detox group.  This is a great time to get started on eat healthy, losing unwanted pounds, or getting back into those jeans (or shorts). 

The 28 day detox kit features products that help make it easy for you eliminate wheat, gluten, corn, soy, dairy and other inflammatory foods from your diet while bringing in nutrient rich foods instead. Breakfast and sometimes lunch is a smoothie with their pea-based protein powder and fiber boost. There's detox tea and probiotic packets for during the day, and don't forget about the energy fizz sticks! if you are trying to get off coffee this is the perfect substitute. 

The protein powder in vanilla (my favorite) is absolutely the best, mix it with any type of fruit,  greens, or chia seed; these are so satisfying, I will have a smoothie in the am, and then have a good lunch. Dinner is simple, a healthy meal or a protein shake with greens (or some other type of protein) I also love the detox tea I drink after dinner or an hour before bed. It is super gentle and it tastes great.

Are you ready to kick addictive foods?Are you ready to find out how good you can feel? 

New Group Starting April 6^th

Save up to 40% off plus free shipping in California become a Preferred client and receive a free gift ($50 value) *Orders must be placed by Monday March 30^th*

Not familiar with Arbonne, it is a natural skin care company from Switzerland that has a direct sales model, you work with a local consultant who helps you with product questions and ordering.

The program is botanically based, gluten free, and vegan

The Arbonne program is super easy, naturally based and, while weight loss is common, about getting you back to craving and eating whole and clean foods. 

A Facebook group is available for you to join and get support, show off your progress, or offer simple and healthy recipe ideas!

Self Tanner. The Health Way!

Spring has arrived and summer is just around the corner!  but your skin is a "winter-white".  I do LOVE that summer glow but I don’t like the suns damage! For me self-tanners are the way to go. 

Self-tanners take a little bit of practice. You first need to exfoliate, it is VERY important to get rid of any dry patches and I found that it works best to mix some body lotion with your self-tanner, too! First, I exfoliate with Arbonne's Foaming Sea Salt Scrub, I then apply Arbonne’s Made In The Shade Self Tanner before I go to bed, the next morning I wake up with a golden tan. The tanner comes in a pump that allows for an even coating, so all you have to do is lightly rub it in. I then take a cloth and remove the excess from my feet, ankles and knees since those areas then to turn darker than other areas. Your tan lasts for several days and you don't need to apply every day. You will find that it will even out the color a bit after you bathe too. This tanner is also safe to use on the face. I spray it my hand and gently apply to face avoiding the eye area.

I've used many self-tanners on the market, but, I must say one of my favorites is Arbonne’s Made In The Shade Self Tanner. I am an Arbonne consultant and might be a bit selfish using my own products but needless to say, this is one of the MUST have to add to your summer collection. Not only is it vegan-certified and botanically-based but you develop a deep, dark tan without the damaging effects of the sun thanks to its SPF 15. The tanner is blended with avocado oil, arnica, chamomile, linden and rosemary extracts and works great for all skin types.

Arbonne has led the health and beauty industry in providing pure and safe products for over 35 years. Its products are botanically based, 100% vegan certified, gluten free, hypo-allergenic down to 0%, dermatology tested (not just recommended), free of mineral oil, and free from harmful chemicals that not only cause cancer but other diseases and skin conditions. Arbonne’s products are great for those who have problems with adult acne, rosacea, eczema, or teen acne. Its products are full of vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and peptides. The products not only make you look great but are healthy, safe, and pure.

If you are interested to try Arbonne’s Made In The Shade Self Tanner please let me know. You can contact me directly or go to me site and buy a supply today!

Wishing you abundant health, wealth, and happiness!

Ania

30 Day Detox! Are you Ready for a Spring Cleaning?

How often do you change the oil in your car -- Every 3000 miles?  How often do you clean your house -- Weekly?  At least you do a heavy spring-cleaning once a year, right? How often do you clean out your body ... You know, change the oil on the inside so that things run better and cleaner?  My guess is that for most people, it's never or rarely.

With Arbonne's 30-day detox program, along with a different way of eating to achieve phenomenal results, YOU will SEE and FEEL results in the first 3 days! This is all achieved with pure, safe, products. Free of animal bi-products, artificial flavors and dyes, gluten, wheat, and dairy.  Invite your friends to come on this journey with you and experience results the same results.

March bringing in the first day of spring, I know for me I am looking forward to shedding a few pounds from 2014, feeling better on the inside and looking better on the outside. The main ingredient I would always lack in my detox programs was the fact that I was never getting enough protein, the shakes have 20 grams and they taste "fabulous".  Since becoming an Arbonne Consultant I found that I have struck gold with their products; the great thing about this detox is that I don't have stop using the product if I don't want to. For example: I follow the 30-day routine, I can replace a meal with a shake anytime going forward. That Simple! This is a great way to get healthy and help with your cravings; it tastes great and is good for you.

Here are a just 4  reasons to detox... If you can relate to any of these then you have just made a decision to better health!

1. You have FLC Syndrome: Feel Like Crap. You wake up feeling less than vital, vibrant, alive, joyful and full of energy.

2. You can’t lose weight and keep it off (you want to fit into your jeans).

3. You can’t control your sugar and carb cravings (you may be suffering from food addiction). The fact is that sugar and flour are biologically addictive. The science behind it is clear and conclusive.

4. You need a STAYCATION. All of us stray from living in a way that supports our health: too little sleep, too little exercise, too much bad food, too much stress, not enough time for ourselves.

Meet the Products that will enhance your life:

Protein Shake Mix - Vanilla (1) Chocolate (1)

Daily Fiber Boost (1)

Energy Fizz Stick - Citrus (1) Pomegranate (1)

Digestion Plus (1)

Herbal Tea (1)

7-Day Body Cleanse (1)

30 Days to Healthy Living and Beyond Guide (1)

 Our body is like a bathtub.  When the water is coming in at a quick rate and the drain is running slowly, it overflows -- or at least, runs sluggishly. This is how most of our bodies are reacting because our drain is running slowly.  Arbonne's 30 Days To Feeling Fit program helps to clean out your drain and give your life and body a boost!  You will see your body, health, and attitude improve, as this program will get rid of toxic fat, help you change your palate to actually crave healthier foods, and help you listen to your body to figure out allergies you may not even know that you have.

There are 3 ways to obtain this great product wholesale price, preferred client or a consultant. The preferred client and consultant status will give you a discount of 20%-35% off.  If you need additional information I would be happy to answer any questions you may have. If you are ready to "jump in" go to my site and order your supply today. If you need my help let me know, I will be happy to place your first order for you or guide you through the process.

Wishing you happy and healthy days!