A look back at the past year

Tags

Big On Bloor Festival, cosmetics, essential oil, health, Jan Benham, Music Toronto, reflexology

A year ago I was getting ready for my first outdoor street festival! It was a great success and a turning point for me – a chance to step things up with my own business, knowing that I was about to leave my full time job and start a new path with another job but only part time. I’m getting ready to take part in Big On Bloor (http://bigonbloorfestival.com) once again and thought this was a good to look back at what has happened over the past year and what lies ahead!

At the end of last August, we went on a lovely vacation to California. Saw lots of places and would love to go back in the future and see some more! Returning from vacation saw me being back to self employed and very part time employed in a new job. My new job is with Music Toronto, a chamber music presenting company (www.music-toronto.com). Initially the plan was to only be working for them one day a week to start and to increase my time and my role over the next several years. Well that timetable has moved up considerably and as of this month I’m now working for them 4 days a week! It has been a great experience and I’m loving the work I’m doing with them.

I’ve been doing lots of reading and studying and moving more towards the treatment side with essential oils. I’ve been working away at my thesis and hope to finish off all of those related courses by the end of the summer. I took some more classes with my teacher, Jan Benham (www.makeyourowncosmetics.org), last October. I spent 5 days learning how to do facials and haven’t looked back! In November, I started booking some room time at a clinic near me and I’m giving facials on a regular basis now. I’m building my clientele slowly as I don’t have that many hours in a day. I’m loving it and the response has been great! Jan will be back again this October and I’m signed up for a chair massage class and a week long course in reflexology. So looking forward to both of those!

I have continued to launch a few more products this past year, adding in some more makeup items in the past few months. Next weekend I’ll be back at Big On Bloor and I’ll have my usual favourites and some of my new items available for purchase. The festival takes place over 2 days – Saturday and Sunday – so come on by and say hi if you are in Toronto! I’m hoping to be close to the Lansdowne end of the festival. Watch my LCO Facebook feed (https://www.facebook.com/LazyCatOils) for updates as we get closer to the end of the week.

BIG On Bloor Festival – July 19, 2014 – noon to 9pm; July 20, 2014 – noon to 6pm. http://bigonbloorfestival.com

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Reflexology

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Jan Benham, reflexology

My path to find my current teacher, Jan Benham, started in 2011 with an internet search on reflexology courses. I wanted to find a class that did not involve me taking an entire year or two year long massage therapy course. My search led me to Jan’s website and my path shifted slightly as I decided to actively pursue the aromatherapy side of things.

This past week Jan announced her course schedule for 2014 and she’ll be teaching reflexology in Toronto in October 2014! You can find a full list of Jan’s classes here: http://www.aromashoppe.com/course-schedule-52-c.asp

What is reflexology? It is the application of pressure on specific areas of the feet and hands (generally). The areas correspond with zones in the rest of the body and the stimulation of the area helps the zone rebalance.

Personally I have long believed that taking care of your feet helps your entire body. There are over 7,000 nerve endings in the feet and they do quite a lot of work everyday. And most times we don’t even think about them. Even when our feet are tired and sore, we are generally apt to just sit for a while to rest and not do anything directly to assist our feet.

While it is several months away, I’m looking forward with great anticipation to taking the reflexology course next October!

Seaweed – not just for sushi!

Tags

cosmetics, Gelidiella acerosa, Hypnea musciformis, Jan Benham, Sargassum filipendula, seaweed, skin care

We use a lot of interesting things in natural skin care. Clays, oatmeal, and sugars are some of the more well known items. One that I find extremely interesting is seaweed!

Jan, my teacher, has several recipes using seaweed extract and seaweed gel. Her extract and gel contain the following extracts: Sargassum Fillipendula, Hypnea musciformis, Gelidiella acerosa. Her extracts come from algae off the coast of Brazil.

Hypnea musciformis and Gelidiella acerosa are two different kinds of red algae. Sargassum filipendula is a brown algae. They all contain a lot of natural anti-oxidants and nutrients that can be used for the skin. These three types of seaweed and their extracts are used in over a hundred different skin and hair care products in the world – including masks, moisturizers, anti-aging treatments, shampoos, and body muds to name a few. Gelidiella acerosa and Sargassum filipendula are also harvested as edible seaweed and can be eaten raw or cooked.

At this point I am primarily using them in the extract and gel form for their anti-aging properties and their moisturizing abilities. I have focused on the extract for the past few weeks and I do enjoy using it as a eye serum. Next up I plan to be using the gel on a nightly basis to keep some moisture in my skin during the winter with our crazy radiator heating!

Kaolin Clay

Tags

cosmetics, facials, Jan Benham, kaolin clay, skin care

With studying skin care and facials, also comes a study of different clays. And there are a number of different clays out there. Currently I am working mostly with Kaolin clay. Kaolin is also called white clay or china clay. It is actually one of the main ingredients in porcelain!

Kaolin clay is naturally absorbent and contains silica and various minerals like magnesium, zinc, iron and potassium. It can be used in any number of cosmetic products. To name a few – dusting powders, soaps, makeup foundations, and of course facial masks.

My first introduction to kaolin was when I did the mineral makeup class with Jan Benham in the fall of 2012. It is one of the powders used in some of the base mixes for the make up.

Next up was dusting powder! I stopped using store bought deodorant quite some time ago. Originally I had switched to a homemade vinegar and water spray but once I was introduced to dusting powders, I switched again. I’ve been using dusting powder for about 8 months now. It is a mix of kaolin, baking soda, and essential oils and I find it really great!

And now I’m using kaolin as a base for some of my facial masks. It is a very mild clay so it can be used on all skin types – and that makes it a great starting point for me when looking at what will work best for different clients. And it is a favourite of mine to use on my own skin!

Facials!

Tags

calming, facials, health, Jan Benham, relaxation, skin care

As many of you know, I recently spent a week taking a course on Holistic Skin Care with Jan Benham. If you follow me on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/LazyCatOils then you might have seen a few pictures like this one

Me getting a kaolin clay mask!

Aside from being a great week of receiving treatments from my fellow students, it was a wonderful week of learning. We spoke about different skin types and discussed some common skin problems. We have notes on a variety of skin issues (and lots of things I want to research). With seven of us in the class, we were fortunate to have a nice variety of skin types and facial structures to work on – allowing us both to learn the techniques in general and to modify them for different people. We spoke about what you need to set up a treatment space and running a business in general. It sparked so many ideas, as Jan’s classes usually do for me!

Many years ago when I worked in the corporate world, I went for facials on a monthly basis. Life changed, my income dropped, my esthetician moved, and I eventually stopped getting facials. I did some at home facials but it is never quite the same. Over the past year I have done more of them at home since I was finally able to make my own products. And now I feel confident about being able to give facials to others. Whether it includes the dreaded extraction of blackheads or is just a relaxation facial, the benefits are evident for both the skin and the soul. And you can bet I’ll be swapping treatments as often as I can with my fellow students!

Qi Drop Therapy

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cypress, energy alignment, essential oils, health, Jan Benham, Qi Drop Therapy, ravensara, relaxation

For the past week I have been taking some more classes. Last Saturday I took a class Qi Drop Therapy with Jan Benham. It was amazing and I’m looking forward to adding this to my list of treatment options in a couple of months!

Qi Drop Therapy is a treatment developed by Jan based on her many areas of study over several years. It combines the application of neat essential oils, acupressure, massage and compress application. While the essential oils are applied to the back and legs, the result is an introduction of essential oils to treat the entire system. The focus is on energy alignment, the spine, and fighting viruses. It helps bring balance to your system using 13 different essential oils. The treatment is done on a massage table and takes around an hour. For me this week, it was a great way to help clear my lungs which had once again become fluid and mucous filled upon our return after our California vacation to the smog and humidity of Toronto.

For me, it was a great introduction to a few oils that I haven’t had the pleasure of working with yet such as Cypress and Ravensara. I’m looking forward to doing some more studying on all of the essential oils we used (yes – you can expect some blog posts on specific oils soon!). During the class, each student was able to give a treatment and receive a treatment. It is a wonderful way as a student to get a full appreciation of the treatment. Soon I will have my essential oil kit with everything I need to administer this treatment. I have a number of training treatments to do before I offer it up to the general public but I’m looking forward to getting started with Qi Drop and I’m looking forward to having some of my fellow students do treatments on me!

Taking some more classes!

Tags

aromatherapy, classes, cosmetics, essential oils, health, Jan Benham, learning, pet care, Qi Drop Therapy, Reiki, skin care

I have always enjoyed learning. Aromatherapy and essential oils have given me a chance to explore something entirely different in the past couple of years.

I have the immense pleasure of taking classes with Jan Benham. I started my formal studies in Aromatherapy back in May 2012 and, in September 2012, I was able to do some hands on training in Jan’s cosmetic making classes. It was great fun as well as being informative. As many of you know, it also prompted me to create many items for my Lazy Cat Oils line.

Jan is back in Toronto this September running classes again! If you are interested in how cosmetic products can be made you can check out her class schedule for September 2013 here: http://www.makeyourowncosmetics.org/schedule-for-classes-and-workshops-89-c.asp

I am looking forward to taking her Holistic Skin Care classes. How can I not – a few days of working on spa-type facial treatments! And I know that Jan’s classes are very hands on so we’ll be trying out everything. I can’t think of a better way to spend a few days!

There are two other classes with Jan that I’m looking forward to this September – Qi Drop Therapy and Pet Care.

The Pet Care class is pretty straight forward. Jan teaches a class about using essential oils with your pets. While I currently do not have any pets, I know many people who do and who would prefer natural products for their pets.

Qi Drop Therapy is a treatment that applies specific essential oils directly to your skin on your spine, legs, and feet. The end goal is to bring balance to your system. This is another energy treatment which I suspect will be a great complement to my Reiki training. I’m looking forward to learning some more new things!

And rest assured – I’ll be blogging about my experiences with all of the above afterwards!