Loving your Products!

I wake up with the light breaking through my curtains warming my face; I respond with a rebellious grunt and immediately grab my pillow and cover my eyes to prolong my much needed slumber. Tulip, my eccentric cat, sits across from my bed, on my vanity table and proceeds to knock my lipstick on to the floor, followed by my hairbrush, my compact bronzer, and anything else she deems appropriate. The faint sound of accordion from a busker on a nearby road, finds its way into my bedroom soon to be drowned out by hour-indicating chimes alerting me that I can no longer procrastinate the beginning of my daytime routine.

I walk over to my bathroom in a manner that is comparable to that of the walking dead. I open my shower door and close it behind me, the sound it makes seems amplified by my current state of exhaustion. I turn the dial and let the warm water wash over my face and rinse my skin as I rid my mind of the cumbersome thoughts of the night before.

I want you to be excited about your beauty products! Do you love your cleanser? What do you love about it? Is it the smell? The way it lathers? The way it makes your skin look and feel? If you don’t love it, why are you still using it?

Think of the way we experience wine and I use that word intentionally because I don’t drink wine, I experience it. The sommelier brings the bottle to the table. He displays it on his arm. He describes the notes and discusses the qualities of that specific year. He uncorks the bottle. He pours it slowly. I take the glass and smell the fragrant aromas of each note. I spin the wine in the glass and admire the colour. I take a sip and hold it on my palette for a moment before I swallow.

Why don’t we take that kind of care and enjoyment in our beauty products?

Here are my suggestions:

• Ask an expert! It can be overwhelming looking at so many options, let us guide you through the cosmetic labyrinth.
• Stop choosing whatever is cheapest! There is a reason professionals use the products they do. It isn’t about treating yourself to a luxury item, it’s about using a quality product.
• Identify your main concerns and the results you hope to achieve. Buy products that address those concerns. Don’t just buy something because your friends like it, their skin is not your skin.
• Sample the product. If you aren’t happy with it, exchange it!
• Give away your collection of lipsticks that you wore one time and never liked.
• Don’t feel bad about being drawn to cute packaging, its ok! I love the way my perfumes looks on my vanity table and I display them proudly.
• Pick products that are sensorial. Enjoy the smells and textures.
• Use your products as directed, trust me, there are reasons why you shouldn’t leave that hair mask in overnight.

Read beauty blogs, visit a cosmetic counter, go to the salon and start a conversation about beauty and let an expert’s enthusiasm influence you. Beauty is as much about how you feel as it is about how you look.

Visit York Street Spa and chat with our front line, they would love to guide you to the products you will love!