Awakening Beauty

Do you ever get overwhelmed by the vast array of marketing and products available on the shelves? I know that I did. As someone who has suffered from, what I will rather generously call, “problematic skin” aggravated by an obsessive compulsion to wash and use every product going, I had somehow become estranged from my own body. Instead of treating it with gentle love and respect, I was frantically assaulting it with a myriad of scrums, serums, masks and creams. Alas, every time I consulted a magazine or sought advise, I seemed to end up with further reason to do battle with my “petulant” skin; the list of faults steadily increasing – acne, wrinkles, dry patches, bags, puffiness, uneven tone, sun spots, scarring.
If I went for a facial, instead of leaving with the radiant, glowing skin I so desperately craved, I left with a large list of expensive potions and the feeling that I must do better. In a society that demands perfection, I had somehow failed to fit in.
One day, whilst waiting in the queue in Space NK (basket laden with the latest wonder products), I overheard a conversation between a sales assistant and someone seeking product advice:
“You see I have been staying up really late, over indulging at office parties, smoking quite heavily, not removing my makeup and nighttime and drinking very little water, what do you recommend?”
“Oh you definitely need Serum X it contains hyaluronic acid combined with a collagen peptide, it is amazing and will sort out all those problems so you don’t have to worry!”
A little voice inside my head thought “That is complete snozwangle! You need to start taking care of yourself lady“. I then gazed down at my basket, which contained the same magic Serum X. Hmmmmmm.
Now whilst I don’t drink alcohol or smoke, it struck me that I was also neglecting my body, stupidly paying out for product after product, without investing in myself. I returned the products to the shelves, put down my basket and left the store.
On my way home two pretty unremarkable but extremely serendipitous events occurred. Firstly, as I stopped off for a bottle of water I encountered a stunningly beautiful woman in the supermarket. The amazing thing was that this lady must have been about 70 years old, but she radiated the type of inner beauty and peace that no amount of airbrushing, photoshopping, makeup artists nor, I hazard at a guess, hyaluronic acid and collagen peptide can achieve. She seemed to emanate palpable contentment and to be a perfect ease with the world.
Secondly, the local bookshop happened to have a copy of “Awakening Beauty” displayed in the window together with a recommendation that caught my eye. It read thus:
“In a culture that idealizes, youthful looks and encourages elaborate makeovers or even surgery to achieve them, the idea of natural beauty is often all but ignored. But, true beauty is within reach for women of any age”
These words resonated with what I had experienced that morning and I ventured in to find out more.
Now, I had encountered Dr.Hauschka before, but to my shame I had taken the Cleansing Cream for an exfoliator (not bothering to read any literature in my haste to scrub my skin to perfection) and pretty unsurprisingly I wasn’t impressed with the results! I very glad I had a second opportunity to get to know these fantastic products. There are plenty of Beauty Bibles out there, this one is in celebration of all things Biodynamic and the magic of Dr.Hauschka!