As a sensitive skin sufferer – I know full well how difficult it is to have the perfect skin. As some of you may know I have been on quite a skin journey. When Amber from Elira Skin reached out to me to see if we could work together, I was intrigued by her forward-thinking approach to skincare.
Amber’s background for all things skin started when she dealt with hormonal acne as an adult. She started her healing process using a holistic approach, treating her body from the inside out and trained to be a skin practitioner. Amber specialises in lymphatic and sculptural massage. She is a true believer in working on not just the surface of the skin but also the lymphatic, fascia and muscles alongside nutrition and stress management. Amber’s belief is that connecting mind and body is very important.
The reason why her sculptural facial massage treatments are so popular is because they offer natural face lift approaches to sculpt and define facial features but also release all the tension that is built up over time in our muscles, leaving you feeling physically and mentally uplifted. I saw first-hand how incredible her results were after just one session. The consultation was extremely thorough, we had a chat through all things skin and I was really impressed with Amber’s knowledge. The treatment itself was so relaxing I honestly did not want it to end. It started with a cleanse, steam and extraction, followed by an extensive facial massage. During the facial massage Amber worked on my Buccal muscle. This technique has been around for a while but is currently trending on social media and has become popular again. It involved using her thumb and fingers to massage the inside of my cheeks… yes she was wearing gloves! It can be beneficial to those wanting to decrease puffiness and help reduce tension around the jaw area. I actually found this a little tender but not uncomfortable. Turns out I had some tension in this area, probably from all the talking I do! The before and after photo blew my mind, I couldn’t believe how puffy my face was before! If you book in a treatment and mention my name you will get £10 off your treatment (thank me later).
BEING REAL
We do however have to be realistic of what we can achieve and how our skin looks in day to day life. With the obsession of social media, we have been fixated on looking perfect and hiding our flaws with filters. Research on filters and mental health reveals that filtering actually depletes self-esteem and distorts body image. I recently decided not to use filters anymore when showing my face on my stories as it gives me and others unrealistic expectations of what skin should look like. It’s ok to have pores, it’s ok to have blemishes, this is normal!
I love the ethos of Huda Kattan, founder of make-up brand Huda Beauty, which was valued by Forbes at over £800 million in 2018. I adore her brand and this for me is amplified by the fact that she comes across as a genuinely nice person. She verified this for me when I met her a couple of years ago in Dubai. She was so warm and friendly, she took the time to chat with me and gave me such a tight squeeze when she hugged me goodbye. She uses her platform to raise awareness about the danger of using filters and how it is setting unrealistic standards. She states that a third of young girls and women refuse to post pictures of themselves unless they have been edited with filters. Huda has decided to lead by example and has personally committed to not using any filters on her skincare social media account. I absolutely love this idea and wish more skincare brands would do this. It would help to break the habit of overthinking how our skin looks in pictures and move towards self-acceptance. Is it time to stop using filters? I think so.
