If there was one thing that I absolutely knew, it would be that when we put our new site live last week there would be issues, there always are.  So as I welcome you to another Weekend Read, I just want to run through a few things with you.  No matter how much testing you do, when you launch into a live environment, these things take on a life of their own.  And that is precisely what happened.  I won’t do the detail because it’s far from cute.  Just know from me that I thought I had more or less kicked my overt caffeine habit.  But in the early hours of last Saturday morning it had come back with a vengeance.  Look, I’m human.  And straight down the line.

Anyway, I promised that I would walk you through some of the logistical changes and one of the most important changes is that when I write about the treats, the discounted price will not show up on the relevant product page, but on the checkout page.  The other thing is that as we ran the data input, the Wishlists disappeared and are now floating in the ether somewhere.  Despite all best endeavours, our IT experts couldn’t re-capture that information.  I know this is disappointing and all I can do is apologise.  Had I known this would happen, I would have told you the week before launch.  But I didn’t know.  We live, we learn.

I think the best I can do right now is take myself back into that world of my own, which I wrote about last week.  And I will do that thing by doing two lead treats, instead of one.  Thankfully, in one respect, Shabir is still heavily entrenched in the ongoing logistical issues and not watching me.  It is an absolute certainty that he would accuse me of going soft in the head.  So in an executive decision of one, I will do what I want to do.  I mean what can the repercussions possibly be.  Exile into the naughty corner.  It’s my second home.  Actually.

So here it comes.  And for anybody who thinks I plan some of these lead treats way ahead of time, I don’t.  I often do things in the moment.  It pleases me immensely that I can be so spontaneous and of course there is a story behind that spontaneity.  You all know, because I’ve written it so many times, that I love and adore the Healing Patches.  But it’s not only me, they have appeared, in all their glory, across the press and your feedback tells its own story of efficacy and brilliance as they help ease muscle aches and pains.  They can also be used to ease menstrual pain.  In fact, the permutations of use are pretty endless.  It’s called creative thinking.

The story.  Actually, it’s pretty obvious.  As we launched the new site and the Weekend Read, I sat with a Healing Patch slapped on my forehead.  Heal me.  Save my caffeine-fuelled pounding head.  I said to the patch.  I have a habit of talking to products.  So I thought you could all join me in the talking.  I will make this possible by telling you that for today only (Saturday 21 November) I am taking the price of the Healing Patches down to £10 for five patches from £15.

This is an important thing to be doing on so many different levels, but basically we heal by sharing.  And this is just one connotation of that belief.  Logistically, this offer will end at midnight GMT tonight, or while stocks last.  And just perhaps we should all sing to the patches too.  That song would be ‘Fix You’.  And yes I do have a Coldplay obsession.  In a long line of obsessions.  Never mind that.  Keyboard time is here.  Bash.     
Healing Patches by Ross J. Barr £10 for Five Patches (Offer ends at midnight GMT Saturday 21 November)

Being neat, the second lead treat dovetails into the first.  And it does this by way of being our bestselling supplement for joint aches and pain.  It is of course Superior Joints.  It has been several years since Shabir integrated Natural Egg Shell Membrane (NEM) into this formulation and wrote the associated article.  Although it was, and is, a heavily researched ingredient, it was subjected to a ludicrous amount of ridicule at the time of release, based purely on its name.  I will never forget that.  But we stood our ground and now thousands of you benefit daily from Superior Joints.

Joined by other hard-hitting ingredients, such as Ginger, Turmeric, Tart Cherries and HA, Superior Joints is normally £30 for 60 Capsules, but I am reducing it to £25 and because it is such a crucial supplement, I will extend this offer across the weekend.  The caveat is that stock may not last, but if it does, this offer will end tomorrow, Sunday 22 November at midnight GMT.  The mission.  To be pain free.  Shall we dance.  Cha Cha Cha.     
VH Editorial: Read This If You Are Taking Glucosamine And Suffer From Painful Joints; Superior Joints £25 for 60 Capsules (Offer ends at midnight GMT Sunday 22 November)     

Let’s talk about a common health concern, in a whole long list of them.  The subject matter is ulcers, which are breaks in the skin that fail to heal by themselves and are often accompanied by inflammation.  Ulcers can occur anywhere on the body, but in his article, Shabir throws the focus on foot and leg ulcers.  They are open sores which look like red craters.  They are mostly located on the side of the foot or on the tip of the toe.  Taking an overall look at this concern, Shabir writes about the common causal factors, the treatment of leg and foot ulcers and why he recommends Zinc to help heal wounds.     
VH Editorial: Leg Ulcers Treatment; Meloderm Manuka Honey UMF 15+ £28.50 for 125 grams; Synergistic Zinc by Quest Vitamins £9.05 for 90 Tablets

L-Arginine is an essential amino acid that has multiple benefits.  It cannot be manufactured by the body in sufficient amounts, which means that it has to be obtained from foods or supplementation.  Amino acids are building blocks for the body and are required for the manufacture of protein.  The main role of L-Arginine is helping to protect the body against cardiovascular disease.  In this role is helps promote blood flow, thus it helps improve cardiovascular function.

 Over the past two decades, various scientific studies have demonstrated L-Arginine’s role in the protection of numerous diseases, which Shabir writes about in the article linked below.  But more than that, such studies have also shown that it can help slow down the ageing process.  I think it’s important to say here that I have no problem whatsoever with the ageing process.  I have always been very clear that I believe we should age gracefully without looking that we have been thrown down a wind tunnel.  But there is ageing and ageing and if supplementation helps with that process from a health perspective, I am there.  Do join me.     
VH Editorial: This Amino Acid May Protect You From Various Diseases; L-Arginine HCI by Lamberts £20.75 for 90 Tablets

In this week’s Health Notes, Sarah shares the story of how an online CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) programme helped one woman cope with depression during the first lockdown.  So many of us have deep-seated negative feelings, whether they are related to recent ongoing global circumstances or otherwise.  Both Sarah and I have held a long-term belief about the importance of integrated therapies and we are huge advocates.

As you will read, Silver Cloud is an online eight-week course, which is recommended by the NHS to help people manage stress, anxiety and depression.  Patients have to be referred by their doctor, but such is the need, there is quite a long waiting list.  Nevertheless, I do urge you to read this article because I know that many of you will relate to the story.  With these words, I think it is important to say that you are not alone.  You are never alone if you reach out, which I know can be one of the hardest things to do.  Baby steps maybe.  And I’m here.     
How Online CBT Helped One Woman Through Lockdown by Sarah Stacey

Moving on, I think that you are going to like what I’m about to write about.  It is a Temple Spa product.  It makes an appearance because it is another one of those treats that I’m doing while Shabir isn’t looking.  It is well documented that I have a weird sense of humour, and the name of this product, Bon Voyage, is really amusing me because we are not Bon Voyaging anywhere.  And heaven only knows when we will be.

On the packaging, it states ‘Spa Wherever You Are’, well that would be in our own bathrooms.  There are six travel-sized products in this collection and they include Peace Be Still, AAAHHH!, Palm Balm, La La Lagoon, Good Hair Day and In Good Condition.  The price of Bon Voyage is normally £24, but in this moment I am reducing the price to £15, which gives you a saving of £9.  As ever, this offer will last until it doesn’t.  I somehow doubt we will get to the end of the day.  You know how it is.     
Bon Voyage by Temple £15 (Whilst Stock Lasts)

Stress and skin.  It was of course inevitable that with stress levels being heightened, so many of you are experiencing inflammatory skin conditions, such as eczema, dermatitis and psoriasis.  Prescribing for a customer with perioral dermatitis, Shabir recommended a regimen consisting of three products.  They were Clear Skin Complex, a supplement formulated to help improve all inflammatory skin concerns.  This supplement contains Zinc to heal skin and Burdock to help cleanse the bloodstream of compounds that’s cause inflammation and numerous other supportive nutrients.

Topically, he recommended Neurophroline Serum and Daily Hydrator.  Neurophroline, as most of you know, works to reduce cortisol production and also contains Hyaluronic Acid to hydrate and comfort skin.  Daily Hydrator works to provide surface hydration without clogging pores, while helping to improve skin elasticity.  The following words from the lovely person who followed this regimen.  Long live feedback:

‘I wanted to update you on my skin issue.  I ordered the three products that you recommended and have had fast and fantastic results.  On first use of the skincare I felt instant relief.  Within days the rash was fading and the itchy sensation disappeared.  There was faint redness, which had gone completely after almost two and a half weeks.  I have never had such a successful result and the skin on the rest of my face has a new lovely clarity’.

And with that, I suppose a new regimen is born.  The Inflammatory Skin Regimen.  I suppose one of these days, we should create a section on our site listing all of Shabir’s regimens.  There are loads of them.  We will get there, but in the meantime it is no accident that I have been talking (or shouting) about Neurophroline for over 18 months, or longer.  Its efficacy is unquestionable.  That much we knew.  And know.     
Clear Skin Complex by Viridian Nutrition £24.70 for 60 Capsules; Neurophroline Serum by GoW for VH £18 for 30 ml; Daily Hydrator by GoW for VH £10 for 60 ml     

Long live feedback.  Part two.  And it’s about Fulvic Acid Nail Cream.  I received an email from a customer telling me that she suffers bouts of Angular Cheilitis (AG).  AG is the inflammation of one or both corners of the mouth.  Often the corners are red with skin breakdown and crusting, which can be extraordinarily itchy or painful.  This condition can last for days or years.  Anyway, she was away from home and didn’t have her usual products to counter it, so she put a tiny smear of Fulvic Nail on each cracked corner of her mouth several times and then overnight.  More words, and I quote:

‘Well.  The next morning I couldn’t believe the change – not cleared up – but not sore and able to brush my teeth without making things worse.  It really is a miracle unguent and I can’t tell you how it’s improved things over only a couple of days, to the point where lip balm is now enough to keep things at bay.  I really love it and this little tube has earned its place in my capsule travel bag’.

And as it happens, I also received another email asking if Shabir could formulate a Fulvic Lip Cream.  He could, he really could, but it would be exactly the same formulation as Fulvic Nail.  So perhaps we should just change the name to Fulvic Nail and Lip Cream, but actually there is no need now that I’ve told you.  And the thing is that I couldn’t possibly put the same formulation into a differently named product.  It’s a beauty industry trick.  So now you know.  One of these days I am going to be kicked out of the beauty industry.  Wait.  I’m not in it.  In my head.     
Fulvic Acid Nail (And Lip!) Cream £12 for 30 ml

With that said, I think it best we now do the Saturday only treat. With every order placed today (Saturday 21 November) for £25 and over (excluding p&p), we will automatically include a Coconut & Honey Bath and Shower Gel.  It will only be available while stocks last, and because I’m not in possession of a crystal ball, I can’t tell you when that will be.

If I may, and before this ends, I have a few things that I want to say and the first is about our new site.  When we put the site live, we always knew that it would be a staged integration and as I wrote a couple of weeks ago, we needed stability first and foremost.  As many of you have realised, this first incarnation did not include the majority of the editorial features that we know you love and endlessly refer to.  I absolutely promise you that they are not floating in the ether with the Wishlists.  This integration will take place over the coming days, so please bear with us as we dress ourselves up.

The other thing I want to say is that Rome was not built in a day; and neither was VH.  Shabir and I have long held the vision of what we want VH to be.  And just perhaps with the advent of this new site, we will finally be able to what we have been wanting to do for the longest time.  I don’t want to go into detail on this now, but in my retrospective mind, I think perhaps we needed to wait twenty years to get to this moment, in order to strengthen what we have always believed our mission to be.

You see the thing is that you cannot buy trust, it is not a commodity, it could never be.  It is something to be earned, but of course it’s not only trust in products, it’s about trusting in a safe space, which is something I have been writing about for several months.  And it’s also about listening.  And in that listening, I take my lead from each of you and your emails.  It is the foundation of our sharing.

I remain resolute in my belief that there is light at the end of the tunnel in all things.  We are each doing our very best in the most difficult of worlds.  Against this backdrop, something very ugly is happening and that is the ongoing abuse and bullying, which is increasing in prevalence.  With so many of you experiencing this, my very being is with you.  So I say this.  Light will always prevail against dark.  And if we hold onto that, which we must, then in some small way, our collective world will be in a far better place.  Together.

And with that, I am ending this bulletin with love.

Always.

Gill x

 

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Prices and products advertised at times of sending and publishing are subject to change and availability. 

*Free gifts will only be granted if the items purchased are physical products and your total basket value exceeds the required amount noted.  Saturday only treats are subject to change should the specified gift run out prior to your purchase and are only included in orders placed between 7.45am (GMT) and Midnight (GMT) on the Saturday the Weekend Read is sent.  VH Addicts membership is a digital product and therefore will be excluded from the basket value.  Some gifts are blocked from international shipping due to local limitations imposed based on the country destination.  If this is the case, we will replace the gift with one that is able to be shipped to your destination.