Author: The Therapy Cabin

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Hopi Ear Candling

Hopi Ear Candling is a holistic treatment that has been used for centuries.  The candles were originally made my Hopi Indians, hence the name we’re used to knowing this treatment as in the modern world.

At our Bon Accord Street premises in Aberdeen, Sanctuary Aberdeen and Sanctuary Training Academy, use the original BIOSUN ear candles, which are still made by hand, using a traditional recipe, and fine ingredients.  With pure beeswax, honey extract and herbs including St John’s Wort, Camomile and Pure Essential Oils, there’s much to enjoy with this quick and easy treatment.

BIOSUN candles also carry the CE labels, and are classed as certified medical products.  Never attempt to attempt a Hopi Ear Candling session on yourself, as there is risk of fire, and accident.  All therapists are required to be certified to carry out this treatment.

What To Expect

Your therapy session will last from 30 – 45 minutes, depending on which option you choose with us.

  • Hopi Ear Candling Treatments 30 Minutes
  • Hopi Ear Candling Treatment with post candling Facial Treatment of the affected area. 45 Minutes.

At the start of your treatment, you will be asked to remove your shoes and coat, and settle yourself on our therapy bed, on your side, with an ear facing upwards.  The bed will have a lovely warm electric blanket, for your comfort.  You will settle yourself on one side, and a cover will be placed over your ear.

The Hopi Candle will be lit and inserted into your ear, then allowed to burn down to just above the safety mark before being extinguished.   Your therapist will place a hand over your ear while this treatment is carried out.

Each candle has a safety filter, to prevent wax entering your ear.  While the candle burns down, you will experience a crackling in your ear, which is perfectly normal as part of the treatment.  The treatment will be repeated on your other side, and at the end, we will open the candles if you wish, to see the inner contents.

There will be a light feeling of suction while the candle burns, which has a massage type effect on your eardrum, and for most people, is very relaxing.  Many people have been known to fall asleep during their Hopi Candle sessions.

The light pressure and warmth in your ears can be felt in the forehead and sinuses, with supporters often reporting a soothing feeling, which helps their tinnitus, sinuses, stress and anxiety.  The experience is different for each individual.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

The Eyelash Lifecycle

They do say that eyes are the windows to the soul.  Whatever they are, most of us women tend to want lovely, long and curled ends to our lashes, but how many of us have thought about the whole life cycle and what happens to them?

All the hair on our bodies follows a natural growth cycle, and it’s important to look after our lashes so they remain in good condition throughout our lives.  Just look at the amount of people who plucked their eyebrows to the bare minimum in the 80’s and 90’s, and how they can’t ever recover those full brows they once had.

Our eyelashes have a very important job, so look after them.  If something touches them, we blink, which in many cases, repels the dust and dirt from falling into our eyes.  We’re all different in how many lashes we have.  On average, we have about 120 on our upper lid and around 77+ on our lower lids.    We can lose a few lashes every day.

The Lifecycle of an Eyelash

1 – Growth

This lasts around a month and a month and a half.  They grow at different times, otherwise, they’d all fall out and be regrowing at the same time.

2 – Transition

When our lashes have reached their full length, they stop growing.  When that happens, the now redundant follicle begins to reduce in size, and the eyelash risks falling out.   This phase can last a few weeks, and if an eyelash falls out at this point, it won’t recover and begin to grow again until the resting time has elapsed.

3 – Resting

At this point, it’s when our lashes lie dormant, not growing and the follicle does nothing, and can last up to three months.  During this time, the lash will fall out and when it’s over, new ones will begin to grow.

Tips To Protect Precious Eyelashes

  1. Take mascara and make up off before going to sleep.  Lying on your lashes can cause them to break, when the rigid, mascara coated lashes come into contact with a pillow you’ve fallen soundly sleep on.
  2. Use water based mascara as often as possible.  Waterproof mascara may be top-notch is making a curled end stay in place, but it’s hard-wearing on our delicate lashes.
  3. Pat your face dry, especially your eyelashes, and don’t rub.  Rubbish can break and pull out lashes before they’re ready in the natural growth cycle.
  4. Comb your lashes gently and regularly, when they are clean and make-up free, to separate them, especially if they’ve been lifted or have extensions.
Posted on by — Leave a comment

Contra-Indications for Waxing

There are contra-indications for waxing.  This means conditions where we cannot carry out a waxing treatment on you or may need more information.

 There are various levels to each condition mentioned, but please do not take offence if we need to decline from offering you a treatment, for your own safety.

It is your responsibility to accurately reflect your health condition on the consultation forms required before a treatment is carried out.  We want you to be safe and healthy following a visit to us, so please help us to make the right decisions with you.

We cannot wax the following, depending on the severity of the condition.

  • Prominent varicose veins.
  • Over the top of bruises.
  • Herpes.
  • Ulcers on the legs.
  • Cuts, abrasions or scabs.
  • Warts.
  • Hairy moles.  The hair on these will need to be cut rather than waxed.
  • Irritated or inflamed skin.
  • Rashes and infections.
  • Medication for acne.
  • Electrolysis or recent eye ultraviolet treatment.
Posted on by — Leave a comment

The Anatomy of the Eye

Have you ever wondered about the anatomy of your eye?  If so, here’s a little reminder, or a whole lot of a lesson for those who don’t know.

Our lovely little eye globe sits in two bony sockets, called orbits of the skull.   Inside these orbits, our eye globes are embedded in orbital fat, for their own protection.  Around that, there is a membrane known as the Tenon’s capsule, which separates the globe from the orbital fat, but lets the globe move around freely.

To move our eyes, four rectus and two oblique muscles work to move the globes in different directions.

Eye Globe

How is it made up?

Conjunctiva

The mucus membrane lining the inner surface of the eyelids.

Cornea

The transparent and domed part of our eyeballs that also covers the iris and pupil, letting the light into the eye.

Iris

A muscular diaphragm suspended in the front lens of the eye.   This is the part that gives colour to the eyes, knows as pigment, and excludes light, apart from what is allowed through the pupil.

Lens

The lens sits behind the pupil and focuses incoming light rays onto the retina.

Macula

At around the centre of the retina, this almost all consists of retinal cones, responsible for colour.

Optic Nerve

This nerve carries the necessary electrical impulses from the visual information received by the retina.

Pupil

In the iris, the pupil lets light through to the lens of the eye, allowing it to react with the retina.

Retina

Nervous tissue at the back of an eyeball.  Light hits the tissue and initiates an electrochemical reaction, where electrical impulses are sent to the brain.

Vitreous Humor

Gelatinous mass that occupies space between the lens and retina, compused of 99% water.

Our Vision

Our eyes act similar to a camera, as vision starts when light enters the eye through the cornea.  Light travels through aqueous fluid and passes through the pupil.  As muscles in the iris relax or constrict, the pupil changes size to adjust to the amount of light entering the eye.  When light rays land on the retina, they form an upside down image.  The retina coverts the image to an electrical impulse, travelling along the optic nerve to the brain, where it is interpreted as an upright picture.

Corneal Thickening

Vision is affected if the cornea is thickened and loses transparency due to swelling or fluid build up in the cornea.  This happens after eyes have been closed or had pressure applied for a period of time.  Once eyes opened, air dehydrates the cornea, reducing thickness and restoring vision.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

10 Reasons to Wax instead of Shaving!

Hair removal is a big thing if you like smooth and silky soft skin with nothing in the way of six ‘clock stubble, like after an early morning leg shave.

People can umm and ahh for long spells of time before deciding which method is the one for them.  There are just so many different ways of removing hair, that it’s impossible to ignore all the potential methods.  From shaving, to waxing and IPL laser treatments, there are many options, with different degrees of cost involved.

The two most commonly used options for removing hair, are still waxing and shaving.  Waxing beats a shave hands down any day for many reasons.

Let’s look at our top ten reasons to wax instead of shaving.

1 – No Six PM Shadow
We can’t underestimate this one.  Who wants to have stubble on legs, just a few short hours after shaving?

2 – Less Frequent De-fuzzing Sessions
Hair removal by waxing lasts longer, as it removed the hair right from the root, which helps to keep excess hair away for a few weeks.

3 – Silky Smooth Skin
This is probably the biggest reason that people wax for.  That lovely smooth feeling after a wax, especially if it’s a good wax being used.  Pain would be minimised and with good techniques, the pain of a couple of decades ago, isn’t a comparison.

4 – Good Value
Lasts for weeks at a time.  Granted, shaving can be cheaper, but it needs to be done repeatedly.

5 – Hair becomes thinner over time – With regular waxing, hair becomes thinner overtime which simplifies the waxing process and lessens the frequency and extent of waxing required.

6 – Added essential oils and fragrances – This enhances the salon experience and turns the chore of hair removal into a pleasant spa experience. Waxes come is an array of blends like Aloe, Rose, Chocolate, Lavender and Summer Fruits.

7 – Impossible to cut yourself….  Everyone who shaves seems to cut themselves at some point, and it hurts.  Waxing saves having this experience, and done well, discomfort is at a minimum.

8 – Pain decreases over time.  Honestly, it does.  As the hair becomes weaker (see point 5 above) the pain becomes less.

9 – Less ingrowing hair.   With shaving, there is a high chance of ingrowing hairs, especially on sensitive areas.  Waxing helps to reduce that potential.

10 – More environmentally friendly.  When disposable razors and new blades are used, they are often plastic and metal, and will end up as disposable items, thrown away onto trash heaps, as they cannot be recycled.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Importance of Cleansing, Toning and Moisturising your Skin

When I was younger, the importance of cleansing, toning and moisturising was an alien concept.  We didn’t have the internet to feed us the current news and had to rely on what our parents aunts, friends and enemies did.  And nobody went to a salon.  What!!

I was much older than I wish I was, when I began to look after my skin.  I’d say I was well over the age of 40, when I realised my skin wasn’t made of leather, and would definitely show the march of time sooner rather than later.

So – just how important is it to cleanse, tone and moisturise?

Well, just like leather, our skin actually does need some TLC if we want to help get the best out of it as we age.  I can’t promise you skin like the 30 something Duchess of Cambridge when you’re 70 years old, but not resembling a completely shrivelled and dried up prune by the time we’re 50 or 60 is a good target to aim for.  However old we are when we begin to look after our skin, we can only help hydrate and soothe, and the earlier we start, the better chance we have of helping our skin to stay in the best condition it can be, for as long as possible.

Let’s take each step..

Double Cleanse

Once in the morning and once in the evening.

It’s even simpler than it sounds.   Not removing the daily make-up and grime, means we’re sleeping with much on our faces, and if we simply top that up the next morning with another dose of make-up, well you can see where that could end up.  To help maintain a clear complexion and try to avoid spots and acne, cleansing is very important, especially at night.

If we don’t remove the muck while we’re getting older, it will dry out our skin and quite possibly clog our pores.  Who wants blocked pores as an adult?  Not me.  I’d do as much as I can to try and avoid it.  As an adult, try to avoid waterproof mascara as you need to rub harder to remove it, and can damage your eyelashes.  Keep the waterproof kind for rainy days, weddings and christenings.

Which one?  Use one that agrees with your skin.  An extra soothing variety will suit all skin types, but you can also buy ones that are specific to skin conditions, ie for dry, oily, or combination skins.  Lotions made with natural ingredients are kinder to the skin, which is why we use Eve Taylor Aromatherapy products.

I use a little cleanser, and add a touch of lukewarm water to help activate the cleanser on my face.  It helps to break down make-up, and although we don’t need to rub hard, using gently circling motions with our fingers can dislodge caked on grime.

Tone

After removing the cleanser, toning the skin is the next step.  Ensure you have fully removed the cleanser from your face, by using a facecloth, or dampened cotton pads.  Don’t scrub at this stage, as it’s all been about removing dirt and make-up so far.   Choose a gentle toner, and you might be surprised to find ever more dirt comes off if you use a cotton pad to apply your toner.  Some people like to close their eyes and spritz it on like a mist, but I find too much product is wasted that way.  Toner calms the skin and helps prepare it by lowering the skin pH level.

Moisturiser

This step is all about the hydration.  After cleansing and toning, replenishing the moisture in our skin is essential.  Do remember your lips, as we often tend to forget those.  Use a light gel for the eye zone, and choose a moisturiser that nourishes your skin.   Pure essential oils in a moisturiser are always a good choice, and the formulations hep to improve the elasticity of skin, as well as helping reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

Protect

This is a no brainer.  Sun Protection Factor 50, all day long.  At a minimum SPF 25-30, all year-long…..  If there is one thing that will help the appearance of lines and wrinkles, it’s to keep our skin protected and away from the harmful rays of the sun, for as long as possible.  Apply in the morning, or mix with your foundation before you go out.  Not only with your foundation go further, your skin will be well protected.  Reapply as necessary during the day.

Go Pro

Go to the professionals.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Eve Taylor

Eve Taylor Face and Body products are formulated with pure essential oils, sourced from prime locations around the world.

Safe

All products are free from being potentially harmful.  Parabens and formulated using only safe, proven, effective ingredients.

Animal Friendly

Eve Taylor do not, nor have they ever tested on our animal friends.  Tests are only made on willing human beings.

Eve Taylor is proud to be a British company, with products manufactured in their own factory in the United Kingdom.

All products are manufactured on-site, cutting down costs for production, and to still be able to produce product lines in small batches.  They are produced as they are needed, to cut down on time sitting on shelves, and ensuring active ingredients are fresh.

Eve Taylor Mission:

‘To help professional therapists achieve outstanding results through uncomplicated, affordable and trusted Aromatherapy Skincare products. ‘

Aromatherapy Base

Eve Taylor products use the power of Aromatherapy and botanical essences, to bring amazing benefits.    Aromatherapy is the use of essential oils.  The aromatic fragrances have therapeutic properties.

Essential oils are extracted from elements of plants like roots, bark, flowers and seeds.

Face Product Range Categories

Ultra Soothing – For hypersensitive, reactive or reddened skin.

Soothing – For dry, ageing or sensitive skin.

Balancing – For normal to combination skin.

Purifying – For oily skin with comedones and breakouts.

Collections

Within each of the four product range categories, there are products available to cleanse, tone and moisturise.  For soothing, balancing and purifying, there are luxurious face masks.

Additional Products

Target products for the eyes, exfoliants, masks, oils, serums and sun protection.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Hair Removal

For thousands of years, people have been removing hair from their bodies.  As women, especially, we’ve been made to feel that it’s necessary to remove all unwanted hair, and for those who do it, it makes them feel better about themselves.

So, the most popular ways to remove hair are:

Depilation and Epilation

As a teenager this seemed to be the holy grail of hair removal for me.  It was either take pot luck shaving or go all out with hair removal cream.   I’d sneak razors or the smelly cream from my mother’s bedroom and hide away in the bathroom to get rid of my emerging leg hair.  The fact that I hardly ever had any was neither here nor there.

The depilation cream removed hair on the surface of the skin, but did nothing much to keep my legs hair free.  A couple of days later, there it was, back to bother me.

Epilation I tried in the form of a little gadget which pulled out the hair by the roots.  Did I mention painful?   It does remove hair from beneath the surface, but it’s painful.

Shaving

Shaving is the one method that always seems to be the last resort, as it’s quick, usually painless and can be done at home, very simply.  It helps that throw away razors are so cheap, but it lasts for such a short time and the growth is sharp and uncomfortable, so although it’s a speedy and painless method, it’s certainly not the most efficient or skin friendly.

Gloves

Bags on your hands with a rough surface I did try once, but they did nothing for me.  I still can’t see the advantage, or work out who they work for.   I imagine some floaty little lady with delicate skin and very thin, willowy leg hairs would be only people these would work for.  For me, not so much.  I tried rubbing away at my legs, with nothing happening.  I ended up with red and rough skin with the rubbing, and a friction burn to fear you the next morning.  I never tried them again.  I would imagine they are much improved these days.

Plucking or Tweezing

I spent 20 years doing this to my eyebrows.  For so long, that my once healthy eyebrows with a pointy arch almost disappeared into oblivion.  I’ve lost count of all the hours I’ve spent plucking and pulling at stray and straggly hairs, with little consideration for the shape.  That’s a big regret of mine.  It’s great for small areas like eyebrows, or the odd straggle chin hair that crops up over the age of 30, but for large areas, it would be very time-consuming indeed.  It is cheap, and lasts for a month or more, but practical as a full hair removal system, it is not.

Waxing

For me, this is it.  A short spell with hot wax, and the excess hair is obliterated for a good few weeks, and the more I do it, the less hair I end up with under my oxters and on my legs.  These days, there are waxes that remove hair as short as 1mm, and they do it fairly painlessly too when there is a preparation oil beforehand.

So, that’s it in a nutshell.  What’s your favourite way to remove superfluous hair?

Posted on by — Leave a comment

I have a medical condition, can you still treat me?

The answer to this isn’t cut and dried.  It will depend on the treatment, your condition and the length of time your condition may affect you for.   I’ve had many disappointed clients at the point of consultation due to a medical condition making them unsuitable for treatment or requiring a letter from a GP to go ahead, but my answer to them is always the same.  If I carry out a treatment that has a negative impact or affects the treatment they are receiving from another therapist or a medical practitioner, I could do more damage to their health by continuing the treatment.

Please don’t be offended if we ask you to take a letter to your GP or consultant for their permission to go ahead with a treatment.

Common conditions are:

Skin Conditions

  • Both eczema and psoriasis are ok for most treatments, unless they directly affect the area to be treated, for example affecting the eyes when you want your lashes tinted.  It would not be appropriate to carry out that treatment, while a reflexology treatment may be perfectly suitable if the lower limb area is not affected.
  • Rosacea and acne do not usually stop treatments, unless you are being treated by a topical skin treatment, at which time we would rather you wait until your practitioner tells you it is ok to receive treatments.
  • Fungal infections such as athlete’s foot and ringworm would mean the area affected cannot be treated until it has cleared up completely.
  • Verrucas and wards would cause the affected area to be untreatable, however would not hinder other treatments.
  • Rashes will depend on where they are and what the causes are.  Speak to your GP.

Infections

  • colds, flu, cough and bronchitis tend to make you feel bad, so it’s not a good idea to have a treatment.
  • infectious diseases: please remain at home until you are fully better.
  • fever: please remain at home until you are free from illness, as you have an infection in your body.

Cancer

Dependent on your condition, however if you are under treatment, chemotherapy or radiotherapy, we are unable to treat you unless your GP writes to us and lets us know a therapy is suitable for you.

Pregnancy

In the first trimester, we cannot treat you.  For those after 12 weeks, there are still treatments we cannot carry out.  Lash treatments are unsuitable, as are products with chemicals and scents, due to pregnant women being unable to take antihistamine medication in the event of an adverse reaction.

Other Conditions

  • lice, scabies or other:  please do not come for treatment until you are fully clear of the conditions.
  • unusual conditions: please refer to your GP
  • undiagnosed lumps and bumps: please refer to your GP

Your Therapist

Please remember, that if you arrive for an appointment with a contra indicated condition, ie one that we cannot treat you for, and you have not disclosed that, we cannot fill that space and reserve the right to charge for a portion of that treatment.  Cancelling your appointment has a monetary loss of value for us, but we don’t want to put you at risk.

Please do not be angry with us for asking you to go and see your GP, it is for your own benefit, to ensure you do not receive a treatment that may make your health condition worse.