Jade Rolling for New Moms

By Amber Woods

The repeated thing I hear from new moms is that they have no time to take care of their skin.  This makes sense… they are underslept and giving their everything to their new baby.  When a new mom recently asked me what she could do that is “quick for toning and to promote collagen production”, my immediate thought was simple:  Jade Rolling! 

OK, I know it might sound nutty to tell a new mom with no time for facial care to add jade rolling into her routine, but hear me out.  

What I love about jade rolling is that it is SO EASY, and you really could do it anytime.  Although it’s nice to do it as part of a larger routine or to massage oil into your skin first, it’s not necessary.  You don’t need a mirror or to be in the bathroom to do it.  You could spend 30 seconds jade rolling every day and you would stimulate your lymph, and that would create an entire cascade of improving skin function that will lead to collagen production.  And it feels so good!  

I especially love mini rollers, because they are so compact and light and they just make it feel even easier to do.  You can have your roller lying around anywhere (next to bed, coffee table, kitchen counter) and grab and do some rolling while you are multitasking.  Keep it in the fridge and grab it while you are preparing something in the kitchen.  The only bother is keeping it clean, but I know we are all washing our hands a lot and using sanitizers these days, so it won’t be too hard to rinse or wipe it down before you use it.  

You can learn everything you need to know about rolling in my Skin Flow online workshop, but for those who are truly time and energy crunched, here’s all you need to start: 

Always roll from the center of the face outward and always do strokes down your neck to start and end.  That’s it.  Do this for 30 seconds everyday and you will promote collagen production and improve the tone and health of your skin!  

(Note: I call it "Jade Rolling" because that's how the technique is commonly referred, but you can use a roller made from other stones too, such as the Rose Quartz one we carry)

3 Simple Ways to Incorporate Facial Massage 

By Amber Woods 

Home facial massage is something I absolutely recommend for keeping your skin as healthy as possible.  Learning to massage your face takes a little practice (learn more in my online workshop), but once you know the basics, it can easily become part of your daily or weekly routines.  I know for some it feels daunting to add something new into their routine, and perhaps they don’t know where to start.  While setting aside extra time for longer facial massage sessions is wonderful and recommended, especially before special events, I want to share 3 ways to seamlessly incorporate facial massage into your current routines.  

For many, you are already washing and moisturizing your face at some point each day.  Most facial massage techniques benefit from some slip (moisture), so why not tack on some facial massage moves, whether it be gua sha, rolling, or manual (hand)  massaging, as a finishing touch for your routine? 

One of the things I love about oil cleansing is that you have to take a moment to massage your face.  Even 10-15 seconds can be effective, but consider taking 1-5 minutes while you are oil cleansing to more deeply massage your face.  You can even lie down on your bed while you massage.  I don’t recommend doing this when you are oil cleansing to remove makeup or a lot of grime from your skin, but otherwise this could be a nice, relaxing treat.  

This is the absolute easiest way to incorporate massage into your routine everyday.  Rather than be delicate with your product applications, opt to work them into your skin with your hands.  Place product in palm, rub hands together and then apply and massage in with entire hands.  Spend 15-30 seconds working them in, doing strokes outward and down your neck.  This will give your skin and lymph system a little stimulation every time you do your routines.  

These are easy ways to make facial massage a part of your regular routine, without much fuss.   The benefits of facial massage are endless, from clearing congestion to preventing fine lines to improving tone and texture of your skin.  

Want to learn more about home facial massage?  Take my workshop, Skin Flow:  The Basics of Home Facial Massage to learn the all of the major tenets of lymphatic drainage, gua sha, facial rolling, and hand massaging.  

Leave your facial massage questions and comments below! 

3 Herbal Allies When You Can’t Stop Picking 

By Amber Woods 

I’m sure we have all had moments where we just couldn’t resist that urge to pick at our faces-- that cystic pimple that won’t go away or those pesky clogged pores! 

Or maybe it’s a habit that isn’t even totally conscious--  It’s your go-to when you feel stressed, anxious, or overwhelmed, and next thing you know your skin is raw and inflamed from picking or you’ve just re-picked that same scab that keeps reforming.  

Whatever it is, picking can exacerbate breakouts or other skin issues and cause permanent scarring.   Of course these results are not desirable, but it’s also not any easy habit to crack.   The behavior often lies deep within a stress response and issues of control and self-esteem.  Becoming aware of the habit is the first step to working on it.  

There’s much psychology to consider around dealing with chronic picking, and it’s a complicated matter.  I can’t tackle it all this short blog, but I do want to share 3 types of herbal allies to reach for when you can’t stop picking.  These are three forms of plant medicine that can help you to ease away from the desire to pick by supporting your nervous system.  

Adaptogens are herbs that help support your body’s overall stress response.  Think of them as basket to carry you along when you might otherwise want to spin out.  Nervines are herbs that help relax your nervous system, gently calming anxiety.  When combined, they can offer great stress relief.   Picking truly happens more often, especially chronic picking, when your mind is just too much to handle.  Adding these stress relievers into your supplement routine can really help curb your need to pick.  

Although finding the perfect match for your constitution would require working with a trained herbalist, let me recommend a favorite combination that works well for many: 

Eleuthero (adaptogen to help hold emotional stress) & Hawthorn Berry (nervine that nourishes the physical and emotional heart).  

I recommend taking these in the form of a tincture (an alcohol or glycerine extract).  

Take 30 drops of Eleuthero 2x daily and 15 drops of Hawthorn Berry as needed for stress, anxiety, or when you feel like picking.  

Essential Oils are a healing substances made from the aromatic part of a plant, and they are the heart of aromatherapy.  Aromatherapy is the practice of using scents for healing, and is especially useful in relaxing the nervous system and helping to relieve stress.  

Certain scents such as Lavender, Chamomile, and Rose are very calming, and can help when you are feeling that urge to pick.  

Essential oils could be used therapeutically in the form of candles, room sprays, face mists, massage oils, or roll-ons to help you relax.  

Two of my favorites are Lavender Essential Oil and Rosewater (a by-product of essential oil).   Lavender essential oil is the one essential oil I’ve found to be safe to apply to the skin undiluted (one drop on a Q-tip is plenty!).  Get a bottle of good quality lavender essential oil and use a drop on your temples or wrists to resist the desire to pick.  You can even use lavender essential oil to calm your skin and help it heal after a frantic picking session has already happened (gently apply with a Q-tip).  

Rosewater is so refreshing and uplifting.  I recommend carrying a small bottle with you, and misting your face and telling yourself you are beautiful any time you feel like picking.  

Flower essences are an energetic medicine that are used specifically for emotional healing.  They are usually taken by the drop into the mouth or misted on face or into room and breathed in.  There are flower essences for everything you might be dealing with (browse the various essences from Sister Spinster & Bach Flower Remedies), but a couple favorites for picking: 

-Agrimony is used to help with addictions and compulsions like skin picking

-Crab Apple can help with obsessing over imperfections 

-Rescue Remedy is a blend to help calm anxiety 

-Eucalyptus encourages a sense of tranquility 

-Self Love Spray uplifts the heart and brings about self love and compassion 

These are the 3 types of herbal allies to help support yourself when approaching any habit of skin picking.  All of these work well to calm the mind, relieve stress and anxiety, and bring about more self love.  I hope some of these remedies will help you on your journey towards less picking. 

Comment below with thoughts and questions! 

The Importance of Nighttime Repair

By Amber Woods 

One of the coolest things about our skin is its abilities to heal itself.  How many times have you watched a cut scab over and disappear? Or a burn heal and fade?  Or even pimples come and go? 

Our bodies are brilliantly designed to know exactly what to do to repair themselves.  Imbalance and disease can be a wrench in the wondrous works, but generally your body wants to heal and be well, and knows what to do.  

While our systems have these natural physiological actions, we also have to provide the fuel to keep them going.  The better quality fuel, the better the function. That’s why what we feed ourselves inside and out, and what habits we keep, have such an impact on our skin health.  

One of our body’s main functions of repair is sleep.  We spend almost ⅓ of our time sleeping, whether we like it or not, and that is because our body has to recharge.  And it’s while we sleep that a lot of repair work can get done. Your body’s energy and resources aren’t being used for active digestion or physical exertion, and can be directed toward healing itself.  When it comes to skin, nighttime repair is so important. Have you ever noticed that when you wake your breakouts tend to be less inflamed or your skin generally calmer? It’s had a chance to do some healing without any interruptions.  

Although our skin can do a lot on its own, one of the best things you can do is set it up with optimal repair conditions before you go to bed.  I’d like to share 4 tips for how to prepare your skin for ultimate nighttime repair.  

1.  Relax Your Mind.  Part of the repair process is getting quality sleep.  Allowing your mind to unwind before bed will help you get better z’s.  Make yourself a cup of chamomile tea. Opt for reading instead of television.  Put away your screens at least 30 minutes before it’s time to sleep. Take some deep breaths.  

2.  Clean & Prepped Skin.  Removing makeup, dirt, sunscreen, and pollution from your skin before you sleep helps it to better repair.  Applying gentle repair serums (shoutout Midnight Dew!) and adequate moisturizer can also prep your skin to do its best work.  See previous blog on creating a nighttime routine.  

3.  Digestion is Not the Main Event.  Doing your best not to eat at least a couple of hours before bedtime will help your body to focus on repair rather than digestion.  

4.  A Clean Environment.  I can’t stress enough how important clean pillowcases are.  Pillowcases should be changed a very minimum of once a week, but I recommend every two or three days.  Introducing debris and bacteria from dirty sheets and pillowcases will not benefit your skin’s repair time.  

Take a moment to consider what ways you can best set yourself up for optimal nighttime skin repair, and as always, share your comments and questions below!

Mastering Masking: 

5 Tips for Masking at Home 

By Amber Woods 

With more time at home, shelter-in-place has been an attractive time to focus on your skin care routine.  I believe that your daily routine is most important for healthy skin, but when you have extra time, all roads lead to masking.  

Since so many of you have time to mask right now, I want to offer my 5 best practices for masking at home.  

1.   Don’t Over Do It.  

Masks are generally used as an addition to your daily skin care routine to exfoliate, brighten, nourish, hydrate, or calm your skin, depending on the type of mask you choose.  With most masks, they aren’t meant to be done daily, and I recommend doing them 1-3x/week (less for exfoliating masks, more for hydration/nourishment/calm)

2.  Don’t Let It Dry.  

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t want a mask to totally dry on your skin, especially if it contains clay.  This can be very dehydrating and damaging to the surface of your skin. I recommend avoiding masks that contain mostly clay, or if you do use them, to mix them with whole milk plain yogurt to keep them from being too harsh and drying.  Also consider putting them only onto your T-zone area if you are congested.  

Remove a mask just before it’s dry. Alternatively, leave the mask on longer, but mist it or massage in some water or hydrosol every few minutes to keep the mask from drying out completely.   Check instructions on mask jar for recommended time to leave on, but keep in mind to keep the mask slightly moist however long you do! 

3.  Practice Proper Application, Removal, and After Care. 

Masks should always be applied to clean skin with clean hands, so wash your hands and face before beginning.  The mask shouldn't be too thin or too thick, just a nice even layer. When mixing dry masks, don't use too much liquid-- you want a nice paste that will spread and not be runny.  

I believe most masks are best removed with a warm, damp washcloth.  This is less messy and helps you to get all of the product off without a ton of water and splashing.  Once you have fully removed your mask (check your neck, hairline, and nose creases!), it’s important to moisturize right away (unless it was a moisture mask meant to leave you moisturized).  With most masks, you can follow by splashing on some toner and massaging in your favorite facial oil. Don’t skip this step after a mask.  

4.  Make Your Own. 

Masks are the best skin care product to DIY.  There are many great mask ingredients that you may have in your kitchen already-- Raw Honey, Whole Milk Plain Yogurt, and Avocado, are some favorites!  Try mixing equal parts of these three into a paste for a moisturizing and gently exfoliating mask. Or try one of them on their own!  Adding yogurt to your favorite existing powdered mask can make it extra luxurious and lightly exfoliating from the yogurt’s lactic acid. I could write a whole book on this, so I’ll leave you with these few ideas as a starting point.  

5.  Make a Ritual Of It. 

Often I’m offering tips on how to do quick masking for convenience, but since many of us have more spaciousness in our days right now, consider making a ritual out of masking.

Start by cleansing your skin and then steaming before you apply your mask. To steam, boil water and pour into a bowl. Add 1-2 drops of essential oil (such as lavender or eucalyptus) or a T. of dried aromatic herbs (i.e. rosemary, rose petals, lavender, chamomile).  If you don’t have any herbs or essential oils, just use plain water. Place your face above the steaming bowl and drape a towel over your head. Breathe in the steam for 3-7 minutes. When you are done, apply your mask and lie down or take a bath. Remove and finish with toning and moisturizing! 

Also, if you have a clean paintbrush around (fan style work the best!), try apply your mask with a brush instead of your fingers for an extra special experience.  

Those are my 5 best practices for masking at home!  Hope this inspires you to do some masking of your own.  

Our favorite masks at Pink Light are our Rose Petal Enzyme Mask, a gentle gel exfoliator,  and Coconut Pearl Powder, a brightening powdered mask that is amazing when mixed with yogurt! 

Happy Masking!  Leave comments and questions below!