Rise and shine!

Getting motivated in the morning can be one of the hardest challenges of our day, and it often takes a little bit of extra oomph to roll out of bed and start the day.

I’m not sure about you, but lately my personal daily struggle is against the alarm clock in the morning. The weather has changed and instead of a bright and sunny sky to look forward to; the weather is cooler and the skies are grey. I love Autumn, but it seems like no matter how much sleep I get the night before, peeling myself out of bed is never easy.

There are countless things that are demanding our attention at any given time. I wake up, rollover turn the alarm off on our phone ( or take that 9 minute snooze ) and since it’s already in hand, I’ll immediately look at text messages, look at emails & look at the calendar to see what’s on the agenda for the day. I haven’t even stepped out of bed yet I’m already overwhelmed with the amount of things that I have to get done that day, so the day begins in mild state of anxiety.

Over the past year I have come to see the morning as the foundation upon which I build my entire day – mentally and physically. I find that if I start the day by doing these habits listed, I am usually happier, healthier, more productive throughout the day. In contrast, if my morning is chaotic and rushed I find that my energy runs out later in the day and I generally get a lot less done.

Here are 8 morning habits I believe will provide you with a solid foundation upon which to go about your entire day:

Wake up when its time to wake up– You snooze you lose.

Drink a bottle of water– It kick starts my metabolism and gets my body ready for breakfast.

Meditate– Meditation is the practice of silencing the mind, and the morning is a particularly good time to do it. Just a few of its many benefits include improved concentration, better health, and increased knowledge of self.

Put on music– Music helps me to get in touch with how I’m feeling that day and sets the pace

Get Ready– When you work for yourself, or you work from home, its easy to get comfortable sitting around the house in your PJ’s but taking the time to make yourself look and feel professional and presentable not only makes you feel better, you’ll be in a professional mindset and stay focused on the tasks at hand.

Eat a Nutritious Breakfast– If you have time to prepare a meal – make yourself a full balanced breakfast including protein, carbs, fibre and healthy fats. If you’re pressed for time, make a smoothie with berries, spinach and some type of protein like chia seeds. A nutritious and balanced breakfast is essential if you want to fire up your metabolism and keep yourself powered up throughout your day.

Exercise– There are immense benefits to exercising in the morning. First, it raises your metabolism which helps to burn calories all day. Second, it starts the day with a positive accomplishment. I always feel ready to take on anything after exercising, and it is great to carry this momentum into the day.

Make a Plan– Prioritize what NEEDS to get done vs what you’d like to do and create a timeline. Set your intention for the day by taking a moment to make it clear to yourself what you plan to do that day & how you plan to feel; then connect with your intention in your mind, body and spirit before starting your day.

We’d love to know: Do you have any morning habits that work for you?

XO Kimberley

Skincare talk: Halloween Makeup

This Friday is Halloween, and all that makeup can wreak havoc on your skin. Halloween makeup is a ton of fun but its important to remember to take care of your skin!

Here are a few tips to keep your skin looking its best:

1. Always test makeup in a small area first to prevent possible skin & eye irritation

2. Remember to remove all of the make up before bedtime so it doesn’t clog up your skin! I would suggest double cleansing to ensure all makeup is removed.

3. Give your skin some serious TLC the next day. Pamper yourself with a purifying face mask.

Be safe and have a happy halloween

XO Kimberley

The Benefits Of Beet + How To Use It

We are obsessed with Beets around here! A definite superfood in our books!

Get the glow:

Beets are a powerful cleanser of the blood, are high in iron and a great source of vitamin c, magnesium, dietary fiber, folate and potassium. They also contain cancer-fighting pigment betacynin, cleanse the blood, strengthen the gall bladder and liver, and can be used to treat acne.

If you don’t like Beets you will after making this desert. This moist chocolate-beet cake recipe is one of the most delicious and interesting desserts I’ve had in a long time. Beets happen to be one of my favourite vegetables because of the earthy taste and vivid colour, and the fact that this recipe artfully transforms the root into a luscious cake is just really cool.

Simply Delicious {Vegan} Chocolate Cake 

What you’ll need:

For the cake:

• 2 large beets, baked
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup turbinado sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1 cup spelt flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• Dash of cayenne pepper
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

For the chocolate cream glaze:

• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1 cup vegan chocolate chips

Directions: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove the beets from their stems, scrub them clean until running water, and then wrap each individually with aluminum foil. Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour or until the beets are tender through. Remove the beets and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Transfer the beets to a food processor and add the water they formed in the aluminum foil while baking. Process until broken down. Add the vegetable oil, sugar, and vanilla. Pulse until smooth.

Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and add the flours, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and pepper.

Stir until evenly combined.

Lastly, fold the chocolate chips into the batter before pouring into a lightly greased 10-inch round baking pan. Place into the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the center has firmed.

While the cake sits at room temperature, melt the coconut oil and chocolate chips over a double broiler until completely melted and mixed. Let sit off of the stove for a few minutes to harden slightly and become more “spreadable”. When serving each slice of cake, spoonful the mixture atop each slice before eating.

And Voila!

Do you have a favorite way to incorporate this vegetable into your diet? We’d love to know!

XO Kimberley

How to get motivated

“Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action.” ~Benjamin Disraeli

Although laziness is common and a natural part of life, it has the potential to completely consume us.

I personally have times where laziness causes me to feel trapped. No matter what I do, I cannot seem to shake it off. I feel tired, I fall asleep constantly during the day, I sit around a lot and feel unable to be active, I avoid doing anything productive, and seem to put everything i want to accomplish on hold.

I believe there are two kinds of laziness. First, there’s the kind where you have been working your butt off for weeks and finally after all your hard work all you want to do is be lazy and do nothing.

But then there’s the kind of laziness where you struggle to find motivation. Every time you think of something you would like to do or achieve, you cannot find the energy or drive to work toward it. This is the kind of laziness that I am talking about.

Being lazy is actually quite draining and depressing. I know because I regularly find myself feeling so lethargic that even the simplest task seems like a challenge.

I’m sure I’m not alone. When I’m having a day where I just don’t want to do anything, I motivate myself by making a really simple to-do list – and I mean really simple. Tasks include things like making my bed, calling to schedule a regular doctor’s checkup, or doing a load of laundry. Easy stuff. Not only does this keep the dishes from piling up and the laundry basket from overflowing, but seeing the check marks fill up the page mentally tricks me into feeling accomplished, which then motivates me to tackle more, harder tasks that day. It’s a great way to break me out of that “I can’t do anything today” feeling and boost my mood.

We’d love to know: What are your tips for finding motivation?

XO Kimberley

Post-vacation skincare tips

While you did slather on sunscreen all through the vacation, it is important to take extra care of your skin on your return. The excessive onslaught of UV rays and the damage it causes makes it imperative to go the extra mile while your skin slowly transitions into regular skin care routine.

Here are my tips to help get your skin back on track.

Exfoliate: Use a gentle exfoliant on the face, to shed off the build up of skin cells which are damaged, dry and pigmented. Do not rub hard, as this can lead to irritation and inflammation.

Note: if there is redness due to a sunburn, do not exfoliate until the skin has healed. 

Calm and Hydrate: Apply a hydrating and calming masque, which is thirst quenching on dehydrated skin, three times a week. One of my biggest concerns is how dry my skin gets especially from traveling. This is where my favourite mask comes in.

Moisturize: With a beautiful tan often comes thirsty skin resulting in flaky skin that looks dry, uneven and dehydrated, nothing like the healthy glow you really wanted. Regardless of your age, the sun is the number one way to dehydrate the skin. Keep your skin supple by rehydrating through the day with our Sea Mineral Mist. The antioxidants will bring your skin back to its optimal health. Make sure to keep the skin nourished and hydrated throughout the day and night, with the use of serums and moisturizers.

Protect: This tip is not only a good way to care for your skin when you get home; it’s also a good preventative measure for next time. Applying sun block when you return will help you prevent any further damage; the next time you go to the beach, be sure to use sun block the entire time you’re exposed, no matter your skin tone. It will help protect you from harmful UV rays and keep your skin from drying out or peeling. Also, you’ll be surprised how much you can still tan through sun block.

We’d love to know: Do you have any tips for hydrating your skin after a week in the sun?

xo Kimberley

Matcha Green Tea

I love me some tea.

I’ve already gone on and on about it before when I talked about the health benefits of teas, so I’ll spare you this time around…

Now if there’s one tea in particular that is touted for its health benefits, it’s green tea. Green tea is loaded with antioxidants that have powerful effects on the body. Antioxidants protect your body from free radical damage that can lead to many serious diseases like cancer and heart disease. They also have an important role to play in detoxifying your body, maintaining your immune system and protecting your eyes and skin from free radical aging.

Amongst its many beneficial antioxidants, one of the most important in green tea is Epigallocatechin Gallate (let’s not even try to pronounce that and just call it EGCG). This important antioxidant may be one of the main reasons green tea has such powerful medicinal properties.

Green tea also contains the amino acid L-theanine, which is able to cross the blood-brain barrier and increases dopamine and the activity of the neurotransmitter GABA, both of which have anti-anxiety and effects and boost brain function. When combined with caffeine, which green tea naturally contains, these benefits are enhanced.

Some studies have also shown that green tea boosts the metabolic rate and increases fat burning in the short-term.

But it’s suggested we drink a lot of green tea to get these benefits! Drinking 5-8 glasses of green tea a day is usually recommended in order to reap the benefits. I mean 5-8 glasses is a lot of green tea! Basically, all of the fluids you drink in a day would need to be green tea and that could get pretty boring.

This is where matcha green tea comes into play. You can think of this as regular ol’ green tea on steroids because 1 cup of matcha green tea (made with ½ teaspoon of matcha powder) has the antioxidant power of 10 glasses of green tea. Yes, TEN TIMES!

Matcha green tea is a powdered green tea made from the nutrient-rich young leaves of camellia sinensis plant (a.k.a the green tea plant). These leaves are steamed and stemmed before being stone-ground into a fine powder.

Tip: Be sure to buy an organic matcha tea. If you’re buying a product for its health benefits like Matcha it makes no sense to be ingesting residual herbicides, pesticides or other potentially damaging chemicals. It may seem pricey, but keep in mind that it goes a very long way as you only use ½ per serving. I get mine at Davids Tea. 

Aside from its amazing health benefits, I love matcha green tea because it gives me a significant caffeine boost without the upset stomach that coffee always gives me.

We’d love to know: Have you ever tried matcha green tea?

XO Kimberley

Treating Rosacea with Essential Oils

Rosacea is a chronic and often complex disorder of the facial skin that that is becoming increasingly widespread as the large baby boomers generation enters the most susceptible ages. It is often characterized by flare-ups and remissions.

Often referred to as adult acne, this typically begins any time after age 30 as a redness on the cheeks, nose, chin or forehead that may come and go. In some cases, rosacea may also occur on the neck, chest, scalp or ears. Over time, the redness tends to become ruddier and more persistent, and visible blood vessels may appear. Left untreated, bumps and pimples often develop, and in severe cases the nose may grow swollen and bumpy from excess tissue. In some people, the eyes are also affected, feeling irritated and appearing watery or bloodshot.

Rosacea can be aggravated by a variety of things and may differ from person to person. Common aggravators are vigorous exercise, overexposure to the sun, exposure to extreme temperatures (both heat and cold), hot flashes, spicy foods, hot drinks, caffeinated drinks, alcoholic beverages, and stress. It can also flare up for no particular reason. Though there is no known cure, the triggers that make rosacea worse can be avoided and a lifestyle and skin care program can be adopted that eases the symptoms.

Rosacea cannot be cured. The goal of rosacea treatment is to suppress flare-ups with appropriate therapies. Commonly treated with antibiotics; rosacea can also be controlled with natural treatments. The use of natural essential oils has been proven to reduce the symptoms of rosacea. Essential oils with cooling, anti-inflammatory properties can offer a solution to calming the symptoms of rosacea, including swelling, redness, and itching. When choosing products for rosacea, look for products that contain the following essential oils:

JOJOBA essential oil is utilized for rosacea due to its emollient assets, its non-irritating results and for the reason that it lessens trans-epidermal water deficit, thus aiding maintain the moisture of your skin.

GERMAN CHAMOMILE essential oil is beneficial for Rosacea because it soothes and calms the skin, aids tissue regeneration and heals. It is used in aromatherapy as an analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antiallergenic and fungicidal.

LAVENDER essential oil is widely used. It is anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-bacterial. A much loved essential oil for all skin types, lavender essential oil is especially advantageous to rosacea skin. It soothes the skin and contains anti-inflammatory assets.

NEROLI has a sebum balancing effect to balance oily and dry skin and is often blended with other essential oils to cure Rosacea. I find the aroma very pleasant.

ROSEWOOD essential oil is noted for increasing elasticity and soothing the skin, so is an ideal addition to a blend if you have mature skin as well as Rosacea.

ROSE HIP essential oil contains elevated strength of the essential fatty acid, GLA . Essential fatty acids are important to the formation and protection of healthy cellular membranes, in which nutrients go by into the cells. Rose hip oil is utilized on rosacea as an antiseptic and to control sebum construction.

SEA BUCKTHORN essential oil is beneficial to the skin for numerous issues including rosacea because it is anti-inflammatory and helps support cellular regeneration.

Many of our products contain some of these essential oils that are recommended for Rosacea. Drop by our store today and one of our skin care experts can help determine what products and treatments are right for you.

Note. Although a natural remedy, it is important never to use essential oils directly on the skin but to dilute to 1% or less using a carrier oil that suits your skin type

XO Kimberley

Recipe: Kale chips

I am generally not a huge fan of kale, mostly because of the curly texture. I am however a huge fan of spinach. Raw. Cooked. Sauted. In soup. As a salad. It doesn’t matter.

Kale has become increasingly popular in the past few years, and for good reason to. This nutritional powerhouse is packed with vitamins and minerals so I figured i should try and incorporate it in my diet. Since I am not a huge fan of the texture, I added it to my daily green juice. And the verdict? Loved it. So after seeing and hearing great things about kale chips I decided to give it a go…

Oh, perfect and wondrous kale chips! Where have you been all my life?! Kale chips are so delicious and highly addictive.

These greens bake up perfectly into light and crisp chips of amazingness. And seriously? They are so easy to make. Spray, season, bake, enjoy. Plus, they stay crispy through the day. I was a little surprised by that. For some reason I thought that they would begin to get soggy after sitting, but nope! Hours later they are still deliciously crisp and snackable.

What you’ll need:

– 1 bunch of kale

– 3 TBSP Olive oil

– Salt and Pepper to taste

How to make kale chips

1. Pick your kale

I generally use two types of kale for my kale chips. Lacinato kale (also known as Tuscan kale or dino kale) is blue-green, fairly flat, and looks almost leathery.

Curly kale is pretty self-explanatory, with tight, ruffled leaves.

2. Wash and dry, dry, dry

Give the kale leaves a good rinse and lay them in a single layer on dish towels or paper towels. Roll them up and gently pat them until they’re as dry as you can get them.

3. Cut ‘em up

Using a paring knife or, my favorite, kitchen scissors, cut the ribs out of the kale leaves and discard them (the ribs are very bitter). Then trim each leave into approximately 2-inch sections (some will be smaller – no worries!).

4. Toss with olive oil

Place the kale into a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil – I use about a tablespoon per medium bunch. And toss gently, but thoroughly. You don’t want to bruise the kale, but you want to make sure every single bit of every leaf gets coated. Curly kale, with all its ridges and valleys, might take a little extra effort.

5. Lay in a single layer on a baking sheet

Line a baking sheet/cookie sheet with parchment paper or a SILPAT mat and lay kale in a single layer on the mat. Sprinkle with a bit of coarse salt (I use kosher salt) as desired.

6. Enjoy

Remove from the oven once done and allow to cool slightly before enjoying!

We’d love to know:  What is your favourite way to eat kale?

xo Kimberley

Ingredient spotlight: Sea Buckthorn

A new-to-you (but actually quite ancient) “IT” superfood has arrived on the scene: sea-buckthorn berry.

A bright orange fruit that grows in dense clusters on low bushes, sea-buckthorn is actually a berry-like fruit that is soft, juicy and rich in healthy oils. Loaded with antioxidants and packed with more vitamin C per serving than an orange, this unique berry is showing up in both food and body treatments. Known for its skin-softening capabilities, sea-buckthorn  has long been a popular nutritional, medicinal and beauty supplement in many parts of the world.

When eaten raw, sea-buckthorn berries are sour and downright unpleasant. To use this nutritional powerhouse, the berries must first be pressed to separate the juices into three layers. The upper two layers are creamy and slick with the fruit’s saturated and unsaturated fats, rich oils that are used extensively in skin lotions and face creams. The bottom layer is made up of sediment and juice, a strong and fruity concoction that is used in food products and nutritional supplements.

What makes sea buckthorn a superfood?

This tiny yellow-orange berry is approximately one third of the size of a blueberry, yet packs about 1o times the amount of vitamin C as an orange. With high amounts of protein, fibre, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, the sea buckthorn berry is a powerful food. Touted as one of the most nutritious and vitamin-rich foods in the world and offering benefits both internally and externally, sea buckthorn is quickly becoming as popular as acai berry and pomegranate.

Sea buckthorn offers a powerhouse of anti-aging nutrition. Vitamins A and C reduce inflammation, which is key for any proactive and protective beauty regimen. The berries also contain omega-7 essential fatty acids, which promote tissue regeneration and skin health.

All natural and all wild, this unique fruit oil product can be used all over the body – and inside the body – to improve one’s health and beauty.

This little berry can be found in many of our products such as the Botanical Bliss Facial Serum, Seaberry Bath Soak, as well as in both the Bikini Babe and Sea Berry Soaps!

We’d love to know: Are sea buckthorn berries a part of your health and beauty routine?

xo Kimberley

Recipe: Pumpkin Pie Oats

First of all, Happy Thanksgiving to all of our Canadian readers out there!

We love seeing pumpkins everywhere, from décor to pumpkin flavored coffee. Today I want to share with you one of my favourite (and super easy) pumpkin recipes…

Pumpkin Oatmeal

Jazz up your usual morning oatmeal with a few tablespoons of pumpkin. Top with your choice of toppings and voila!

What you’ll need:

1/3 cup old fashioned oats
1/3 cup milk of choice
1/3 cup water
2-3 tablespoons canned pumpkin
2-4 teaspoons maple syrup (or sub brown sugar)
1/2 teaspoon chia seeds, optional
1/8-1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 drop molasses (if using maple syrup as sweetener)
2-3 tablespoons pecans, chopped
sprinkle of ground flaxseed, optional

Directions:

In a small pot, combine oats, milk, water, pumpkin, maple syrup, chia seeds (if using), pumpkin pie spice, and molasses. Stir together and turn heat to medium low. Cook oats, stirring occasionally, until they reach your preferred texture & consistency, about 10 minutes. *Note: There are many types of oats – the thicker, the longer they will take to cook. Check the cook time on your package to be more exact on preparation time.

Pour oats into a serving bowl and top with pecans and flaxseed (if using). Enjoy!

XO Kimberley