So as I welcome you to another Weekend Read, I am a little bit excited about a new launch. I’m actually talking about Cadbury’s Orange Twirl, which is being resurrected after last year’s unprecedented demand for this Limited Edition bar of wonderment. I have a friend who was on a mission to track one down. He couldn’t. We live in hope. And that’s the thing really, we live in hope of all good things chocolate included, (in moderation) because that’s the most important thing right now, together, of course, with our health and humour which I hope we can uphold together.  And I know that’s a tough call.

Throughout the past six months, my modus operandi has been very clear.  Everything has changed and we have needed to embrace that change in the best way we could.  For me, it has to be about communication, and it’s all about the written word.  On words, I have always believed that words can heal in differing ways, which is probably one of the things I care most about.  I will end this Weekend Read with some pretty strong words, because they need to be written and they need to be said.  But before that, let’s delve into some of the products which I hope make a positive difference.  And that’s the mission too.  It always has been.

At some point in the distant past, I wrote about loving products. With a gracious acceptance of the years of research and development that precedes a launch, I often kiss my products and as some talk to plants, I talk to products. And Sage Complex is one such product.  The history of this product is pretty profound.  In a former life it was called MenoHerbs until a dastardly commercial act of greed and jealousy (I’m on one today!) forced us to change the name.  This was, and obviously still is, Shabir’s formulation and with one or two minor tweaks over the years, it remains one of our bestselling supplements.

And as I talk to Sage Complex, I thank it for being a powerful female hormone balancing supplement and for helping to conquer menopausal symptoms.  These include helping to alleviate hot flushes, night sweats, vaginal dryness and mood swings.  And it’s the mood swings that I want to say a few more words about.  Shabir has always recommended that all women should take this from the age of 35, but I will go one further.  Stress related mood swings are of course incredibly prevalent given the ongoing global uncertainty.  In other words you don’t have to be menopausal (or peri-menopausal) to benefit.  All of our hormones are dancing in weird ways.  They need to stop.  And I need to write about a treat.  The Sage Complex Treat.

I think you are going to like this one.  It was Shabir’s idea, so all thanks to him as we include a free travel sized (15 Capsules) bottle of Hyaluronic Acid High Strength Capsules, worth £17.50, with every order placed for Sage Complex. Although most of us take HA anyway, if we specifically link it to the menopausal years, then it is known that a decrease in oestrogen is responsible for affecting skin in a number of ways, particularly decreasing the defence against damaging free radicals, both externally and internally.  Skin also becomes thinner with less collagen being produced, which in turn decreases elasticity and increases dehydration, often leading to wrinkle formation.  To some extent the above can be mitigated in some way by using HA supplementation.

So the logistics.  To receive the Sage Complex Treat, please click on the Sage Complex Treat link below.  Such is its importance, this offer will last across the weekend ending at midnight BST tomorrow (Sunday 13 September).  And just to say, I may well kiss my products, and I will continue to do so, but on this occasion social distancing prevails and I will not be kissing Shabir, either for the creation of the products or the treat.  If you feel so inclined, you are free to do so.  Virtually.  Feel the love Shabir.
The Sage Complex Treat (Sage Complex £25 for 90 Capsules; Hyaluronic Acid High Strength Capsules Travel Size £17.50 for 15 Capsules); Hyaluronic Acid High Strength Capsules £35 for 30 Capsules; Hormone Mimicking Supplements Should Be Used By Nearly All Women Over 35 

It all started about two or three weeks ago.  The emails, that is.  Each and every year we release a product called Triple Flu Defense.  It is a year specific homeopathic tincture and it is an amalgamation of research from doctors across the globe in helping to establish efficacy against viruses.  So many of you swear by this product, thus the interest, thus the emails.  And it has now arrived.  That will make a whole lot of you happy.

Given common respiratory and flu-like symptoms, many of the remedies in last year’s version are present again this year and cited as key ingredients.  These include Bryonia, Gelsemium, Altimonium tart, Phosphoric acid and Phosphorus.  With the addition of Arsenicum, Camphora, Eupatorium and Lycopodium to help strengthen the tincture, this year’s formulation has a ‘+’ added because of the various enhancements.  So Triple Flu Defense+ 2020-2021, it is then.  The directions for use are on the product page and they are quite specific so please do take the time and care to ensure you follow these correctly.

And here comes my Covid-19 caveat, because I have to. Whilst this is an extremely powerful formulation, it has not been tested against Covid-19. Obviously there is not a single product that can claim immunity against Covid.  But, and as I have been writing most of this year, we can protect ourselves as best we can to help build, enhance and protect our immune system with specifically targeted products.  This is one of them.
Triple Flu Defense+ (2020-2021) by Dr Nenninger £27 for 30 ml

Time for a new product launch.  And it’s a beauty launch.  This is particularly close to my heart for many different reasons, not least because I have always strongly supported niche brands and their very survival depends upon the recognition of their honesty and integrity in all that they do and the efficacy of the products they bring into the world.  The brand is Willowberry.  The product is Sensitive Face Oil.  And I love it.

For so many years, I have written about facial oils.  Divine fragrances waft under my nose, and that’s about it.  I can’t use them because they are virtually all loaded with essential oils and as most of you know, I have an extreme allergy to essential oils.  The beauty industry, in their infinite wisdom, have been known to make statements saying that essential oils are not skin irritants.  I will tell you otherwise.  For an ever-increasing amount of us, they are the ‘forbidden fruits’ of beauty and even if you don’t get a full-blown allergic reaction, those little bumps that can so often appear under the skin, may in fact be essential oil related.

So the product. It is loaded with Rosehip, Chia Seed and Vitamin E. It is extraordinarily nourishing, it helps protect the skin’s barrier function and being ultra-light, it is quickly absorbed, so in effect you can use it in the morning as well as in the evening.  I have been testing Sensitive Face Oil for quite a long time. We held the launch back because of the pandemic, but I am so thrilled to be able to share this with you now.  It’s one of those keeper products and I’m so happy to have it residing in my bathroom. I think you will be too.
Sensitive Face Oil by Willowberry £26.99 for 30 ml (Vegan) 

Earlier this year we launched Indeora Healthy Magnesium Deodorant to great acclaim.  Little surprise because it is a highly effective, aluminium-free natural deodorant, which is non-irritating and a healthy alternative to potentially harmful antiperspirants. With the addition of the super-mineral Magnesium, this deodorant has been inspired by Ayurvedic principles, focusing on the use of naturally derived active ingredients.

And as I write about the virtues of this deodorant, a treat. When you buy Indeora’s Healthy Magnesium Deodorant, we will automatically include Indeora’s Hyaluronic Hand Sanitiser (75 ml).  It has been clinically formulated for dry skin, the fragrance is Sweet Orange and you cannot buy this as a stand-alone product because it was created to help support and acknowledge Indeora’s customers and followers.  This is a Limited Edition offer, you will need to click on the link below to receive this gift and it will end when it ends.  Amen to that.
Indeora Deodorant + Free Hyaluronic Hand Sanitiser £16.99 

I know that my opening words were all about chocolate, but I am not going to apologise about that because heaven only knows we are not saints.  Over the years many of my friends have questioned the fact that I write about my Diet Coke and other habits when we are, obviously, a health and beauty website.  My answer is always the same.  I will not live my life pretending to be something that I’m not.  And, with respect to those who do, I am not going to exist on nuts and grains, whilst dreaming about big fat chips.  With salt and vinegar.

That said, I do think that an element of moderation is needed and I also know that because of lockdown and various other circumstances, so many of you (I read all the emails that come in) would like to drop a bit of weight.  And so I will refer you to one of Shabir’s archived articles about Yacon Syrup.  Organic Yacon Syrup helps boost your immune system, aids weight loss, helps alleviate constipation and helps control sugar levels, which is an entire subject of its own which I will write about some time over the next few weeks.

Back to it and Yacon Syrup can help increase your metabolism greatly without really changing your dietary habits, as long as those habits are quite sensible.  Controversially or otherwise, I do not believe in diets, but that is a personal statement.  What I will say though, and I feel a bit of a hero, is that I have more or less given up on Diet Coke.  Maybe I have one or two a week, if that, and since giving it up, most of the bloat has gone.  Gone I tell you.  I’ve also given up on those flavoured waters. No names, but they tend to bloat and clog you up too.

Anyway, anyway, do read all about Yacon Syrup, it is far more heroic than I am. From joggers to jeans. Without the muffin-top.  Perhaps.
Organic Yacon Syrup £15.99 for 425 ml; Can Yacon Syrup Help You Lose Weight? 

However buoyant we are usually, the current climate is triggering a tsunami of anxiety and depression, which affects people to varying degrees of intensity.  Many of us don’t want to take medication, writes Sarah in this week’s Health Notes. With so many of us looking around for alternative ways of calming our fearful brains, Sarah examines how yoga can help anxiety.
How Yoga Can Help Anxiety by Sarah Stacey 

Let’s do a couple of updates and I’m going to start with the monumental wait list we have for Mrs White’s Unstung Hero.  We have stated on the product page that we expected another consignment around the middle of September and I think we might just be able to keep to that, which is a great relief. In detail, France has woken up from its August siesta, the bottles have just arrived at the manufacturers to be filled and sometime next week they will be making their way to us.  So it’s either going to be at the end of this week, but I’m thinking it will more than likely be sometime the following week. Hold on!
Mrs White’s Unstung Hero Mosquito Repellent £20 for 250 ml 

I often write about product marriages that are made in heaven. There are quite a few of them and after I wrote about using the Healing Patches for Restless Leg Syndrome, we received an email singing the praises of Diosmin Plus too.  We have always said that you should allow at least 28 days for supplementation to really kick in, but this customer told us that after reading Shabir’s article on Diosmin Plus, she started taking it and after three days she went through the night without any leg problems.  And she has been fine ever since. So it’s Diosmin Plus and a Healing Patch then.  He has his uses. I’m talking about Shabir.
Diosmin Plus £26 for 60 Capsules; Healing Patches by Ross J. Barr £15 for 5 Patches; What Causes Restless Legs? 

It’s the Saturday only treat, so with every order placed today (Saturday 12 September) for £25 and over (excluding p&p), we will automatically send you a bottle of Pure Blends Soothing Micellar Water (250 ml).  Its ingredients include Chamomile and Cotton Seed extract to help soothe skin and as ever, this will not show up on your order confirmation or invoice, but will be included in your order.  Tra-la. 

Last Saturday I sat reading your emails with tears rolling down my face and a great big lump in my throat.  I will fully own up to being extraordinarily emotional and sensitive; quite honestly I don’t think I could do what I do if I was any different.

And through my tears, I am of course referring to Sally Brampton’s article, Change, which I felt was so pertinent at this moment in our lives, even though it was written several years ago.  I know Sally’s article was shared extensively and it was in that moment, last Saturday morning, that I knew what I had to do today.

If you didn’t already know, Sally was the poster girl for depression. She was bi-polar and the last article she wrote for us was called Secrets and Lies. In short, Sally wrote about mental illness, which was her own story. I think that each of us can find something in her innate wisdom that will either be relevant to ourselves, or to those close to us. It needs to be said of course that there is no stigma attached to any form of mental illness and each of us have a responsibility to help recognise and support this fact.

But of course that is not nearly enough. Whilst I have such a strong belief, as I wrote above, that words can be incredibly healing, conversely words can damage and kill. I do not say that lightly.  For the longest time I have written about cyber-bullying and at a time when so many are at a very low ebb, it still continues. I just cannot fathom what on earth these abusive perpetrators hope to achieve or, indeed, who they think they are. But in so many cases they are the root cause of mental instability in others.  At what cost do we allow these people to get away with it.  We cannot and we will not. We have to make a stand.

This is absolutely not about me, but I am prepared to bare my soul to tell you that I speak from experience. Several experiences. And as is so often the case, these delinquent beings (sorry, I will not hold back) do not have a clue as to who I am or what I am. Their observations are based on opinion, their opinion, and not fact.

In one particular incident I was called a ‘cow’ by a certain CEO of a certain company.  It received thousands of likes.  So thousands of people were complicit in believing I am a cow.  Except none of them know me.  In another, my whole being was plastered all over social media.  Except every single word was a lie.  And I received death threats.  I’ll leave it there.  For now.

I need to end this with Sally’s words:
‘So I say this. Keep no secrets and tell no lies. Ask for the truth and I will tell you’.

Once again, if you are able to share Sally’s article, then please do so.
It really matters.
Secrets and Lies by Sally Brampton

Wishing you a restful weekend.

With love.

Gill x

 

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