BEAUTY HOTLIST: The wellness buys that are actually worth it.
The wellness industry is a hot mess right now, but here's a few things that are working for me...
Each month on pay day you’ll get a preview of my monthly edit (unless you’re paid subscriber, in which case you’ll get the FULL list) of beauty buys. I’m a beauty journalist with 15+ years of experience with very little tolerance for BS and stuff that doesn’t work. It’s designed to save you time, cut through the marketing spiel and never ending viral crap on social media to find things that are actually worth it.
BEAUTY HOTLIST: The wellness buys that are actually worth it.
It’s ingrained in me from years of working on women’s magazines that January is the month of ‘wellness’. It was always nicknamed ‘new year, new you’ and the pages would be full of sh*t diets, new wellness trends and other stuff to give you a temporary boost, but would be relegated to the crap drawer come February. Everything can be given a ‘wellness’ spin these days - I’ve just had press releases informing me that injectables like Botox and filler, nail polish and hair dye are all ‘wellness.’ Giving anything a wellness spin is a sure-fire way to make us think it’s good for us.
So with that in mind, here is my alternative edit of the wellness things that I think is worth considering, and why. BUT - I’m not suggesting you buy them all, but they’re all things that I’ve tried and liked, and wanted to share with you.
Try using scent to shift your mindset between tasks…
Do you work from home? Often I meditate, journal, work and relax all in one small space - and to mark the change in activity, I change the scent of the space. I do genuinely think scent can change the mood of room and help you shift your focus between tasks - which is something I struggle with. I tend to have one scent for meditation, one for energy clearing, one for mornings and one for relaxation. These don’t have to be expensive either, you could legit use air freshener if you love it, but these scents are the ones that really make a difference to me…
-Estelle Bingham I Am Sacred Space Sprays - from £45 each (from Liberty and I AM SACRED SPACE.COM from Feb 22nd)
Estelle aka ‘The Heart Whisperer’ is an energetic healer (with tonnes of famous clients) who has over 20 years experience supporting people to find more love, purpose and connection in their lives. I’ve had a preview of these sprays and they are delightful; pick from LOVE which aims to help bring love into your life, PURPOSE to help with clarity, focus and courage and PROTECT to clear negative energy. You can spray them on your body, or your space too.
Make your own: Alternatively you can make your own sprays by getting some cute spray bottles, filling with water and decanting a little essential oil into them. Ila Apothecary Beat The Blues Spray, £31 is also an excellent spray as a general pick me up for multiple uses. I’m a big fan of sprays just because they’re just quick to use.
Other good scent options are:
Scented candles - for meditation purposes I love Mama Moon candles; made by the Semra, an eclectic witch in London. There’s so many beautiful blends to choose from but the Love Manifestation one is my fave, and they really help me get into the zone. For winding down, Neom Perfect Night is excellent and makes me all groggy (in a good way.)
Atomisers - Lots of brands do these room diffusers/atomisers, but whatever vessel you use I’d get your oils from Aromatherapy Associates, Neom, De Mamiel or Ila Apothecary - they’re the best for aromatherapy. This is the diffuser I use, but you can get cheaper ones, and as nice as it is, it does end up looking mucky fast.
2.Supplements that cut through the crap…
I want to caveat straight up that you should speak to a doctor/research any supplements you’re interested in throughly. Ideally, it would be good to have blood tests done to check your levels to see if you need supplementation (and have them analysed by an expert etc.) I’m also not suggesting you take all of these supplements I mention below, but these are the supplements that have worked for me…
Heights (above)- This multi-vit (with omegas and probiotics) was created by neuroscientists to help support cognitive function and general health. I’ve noticed that it has helped ease my morning brain fog, and boosted my energy levels and you can subscribe to it which takes the hassle out of repurchasing. A 3 month supply is around £120 so it’s not cheap, but there is a lot of science behind it.
Seed probiotics - These probiotics contain 24 strains of probiotic and prebiotic that are designed to survive in heat, moisture and our stomach’s acids. They’re created by leading gut health experts (including one of the original researchers who coined the term probiotic) and are one of the few probiotics I’ve noticed a difference with. I will say, if you do have gut issues it’s probably useful to do a stool sample test to see what bacteria you actually need before you invest in probiotics, but these are the best on the market IMHO. They’re around £50 a month.