It all started in primary school for me. I was one of the lucky ones to go through all of High School with lots of little friends on my face….who can relate!? I was also one to try different things to help my skin but would never stick with anything. I’ve only now realised there’s no quick fix and consistency is key.

So fast forward about 10 years since high school and the little friends on my face started to leave me, but they didn’t leave completely…and those who left, left me with some pretty decent scars, and what I see as holes (aka open pores). So I started to just accept that this was how it was going to be…..until the day I met my skin fairy godmother (aka Bernadette at Facialista’s).

So here’s the story, I one day really just felt like getting a facial, it was coming to the end of 2018….it was a long year and I felt like pampering myself, so I googled facials in Adelaide and found a groupon deal for Facialista’s. I booked myself in and let’s just say, the rest was history!

I met Bernadette for the first time and we clicked instantly, she was so sweet and just wanted to help my skin. She asked me what kind of results I was looking for and I just said: please fix my ‘holey’ skin! We laughed and then she had a look and said this is achievable with their omnilux light therapy treatment ….I was intrigued and open to anything. So the journey began.

The treatment started with a thorough cleanse, she then put me under the omnilux light (see photo below) and gave me the most relaxing yet firm shoulder and neck massage. It was such an amazing experience. Once that session was over, Bernadette suggested that I book in for a few more treatments…..I’m normally not one to buy into these ‘deals’ but I really believed in Bernadette and thought to myself, now is the time to invest in my skin!

I decide to have a few more fortnightly sessions, and I started noticing a reduction in my scarring as well as a reduction in my pore size. A few months past and I suggested to Bernadette that I wanted to share my results with you guys here on the blog, and Bernadette kindly offered to do some more treatments for me on the house so she could ensure that I have consistency (remember consistency is key!) so I continued to have regular sessions for the rest of the year, and here are the results (from December 2018 to December 2019)…

Facialista’s also introduced Nanopore (aka Micro Needling) to their services and Bernadette started including this in my treatment plan. I found this to be a bit of a game changer for my skin. I feel it made my skin feel replenished from within….as in the overall texture and feel of my skin improved immensely….it just felt cleaner! In terms of pain level, I would say it feels like someone is scratching your face for a few minutes with sharp fingernails….but it’s totally manageable! Apart from Omnilux and Nanopore, I also purchased some skincare for my home skincare maintenance routine….only 3 products, so it wasn’t scary to figure out how to use them. The routine includes a cleanser, a cream, and an illuminating serum. Your routine will depend on your skin and Bernadette will be able to recommend what’s best for you depending on your skin concerns!

So that’s my skin journey! To start yours off, Bernadette has kindly offered 50% of your first Omnilux treatment (rrp $155)  This is for new clients who mention reading this blog post! Hope you enjoy it! Check out Facialista’s here > http://facialistas.com.au

According to Beyond Blue, SAD, has a seasonal pattern – you’re fine during the warmer months, but as the cold closes in, life feels too hard and all you want is hot buttered toast in bed with a Netflix marathon. Sunlight affects our hormones, but some people are more susceptible than others. Lack of sunlight can mean our bodies produce less melatonin, the hormone that tells your body it’s time for sleep. Less sun could also mean less serotonin, a hormone that affects mood, appetite and sleep. Finally, sunlight affects our body’s internal clock (circadian rhythm) – so lower sunlight levels during the winter can throw off your body clock.

So knowing all of that, it’s important to prepare ourselves for the winter months, and let our mind and body know that we can get through. There are good things that come with the winter months which we tend to forget, such as cozy nights in, warm drinks before bed, and ofcourse the comfy and relaxed fashion….who doesn’t love an oversized, fluffy jumper and not to mention layering! So when PrettyLittleThing.com contacted me and asked me if I wanted to choose some pieces from their current Knitwear campaign…the answer was YES! It really is amazing how a little retail therapy can bring the mood up. Check out some of the pieces I chose and a my try on haul video down below:

Photos by Crystal Dench

Comment down below and let me know how you will be preparing for Winter!

]]> http://www.thegraciouslife.com.au/all-warmed-up-with-prettylittlething-com/feed/ 0 http://www.thegraciouslife.com.au/music-can-be-the-best-medicine-meet-the-magnets/ http://www.thegraciouslife.com.au/music-can-be-the-best-medicine-meet-the-magnets/#comments Sat, 02 Mar 2019 01:01:29 +0000 http://www.thegraciouslife.com.au/?p=519 Tell us about The Magnets? How did you all come together?

We actually began as street performers in Covent Garden in 1996. The Magnets have introduced millions to a-cappella music for the first time in concert, on radio and TV. Our richly varied career has seen us sign a major record deal with EMI, release four albums. We have performed alongside music legends including, Blondie, Bryan Adams, Tom Jones, Tinie Tempah, The Black Eyed Peas, Gregory Porter, Rick Astley and The Kaiser Chiefs to mention a few and play private shows for supermodels, heads of state and royalty. The new line-up includes 3 incredible top tenor voices. The guys are all west end lead vocalists. Shows include We Will Rock You, Rock of Ages, Ghost, Footloose, Chess, Guys and Dolls, Jesus Christ superstar and Jersey Boys. I’m now the old boy! I used to be the youngest.

You’re show at the Adelaide FRINGE incorporates humour with your amazing a-cappella talents, how do you think music effects your audience and their mood?

The aim of any Magnets show is for the audience to have fun and have an hour of escape time to just enjoy. Music can be too serious. We like to get to know the audience and for them to get to know us. It’s basically a big 80s party. Everyone in the group has their own special vocal talent and their own story to tell. 5 guys on stage having fun and singing amazing music. Everyone leaves smiling and happy!

How do you guys manage balancing the touring life with a healthy personal life?

We all have very understanding partners! It can be tough sometimes though and Mike and Nick are both married with children. Nick actually has his Wife and little boy over here too. We love having our families and partners on tour with us when we can. It’s just so easy to keep in contact now. When I started touring I’d only just bought my first mobile phone and was too expensive to use overseas. A long time ago!!!!!!

Tell us how it really makes you feel to entertain us at your shows?

It really is the best job in the world. To make people smile and have fun in every show is just amazing. The Magnets is a family show everyone. No one is left out and to have the opportunity do this is Adelaide is just amazing.

For more information, check out: 

The Magnets at Adelaide Fringe

1. Tell us about yourself and your Business?

I’m a father, Health and Fitness Youtuber (Alpha lee fitness) & Online coach ( weight loss,  Muscle building and health & fitness lifestyle coaching)

Over the last 3 years I’ve built the largest online health and fitness community in Sri Lanka with 26,000 followers on instagram @lalitha_epaarachchi and 62,000 subscribers on Youtube, my Youtube channel alone has had over 3 million views in  just over an year. I’m proud to say that I have successfully hoisted myself to the top of the space with zero paper qualifications.

The way my business works:

What I found out through the initial stages of my work was that there were plenty of influencers who are willing to share their lifestyle, expose their bodies, promote products without considering its impact and provide subjective information convincingly enough to make a sale or push a brand. This is a very lucrative method to earn on the short term but on the long term, in a space where you are dealing with people’s health and fitness it’s a naive, shortsighted method.

Based on this understanding, over time, I fine tuned my approach to:

1. Delivering accurate information that has scientific evidence. I do this both in Sinhalese (youtube) and english (instagram)

2. Promote a balanced lifestyle which the majority in Sri lankan’s can afford, emulate, still be healthy and fit and importantly keep building on.

3. Work long term with brands. This is mainly because I noticed that most influencers worked with brands for a few weeks and moved onto another brand. Brand hoping is lucrative but damages your credibility as a product influencer which means in the longterm brands will not be paying you as much due to a lack of conversions. Engagement is meaningless without conversions – Your audience to Their customers. The 2 best examples from my brand portfolio are zimantra leisure center battaramulla and protein.lk. Both have become top brands in their space.

4. Build my own paid service (online coaching). This is a service where I build training & nutrition plans for my clients. This was important because I wanted to make sure that brands could not pressure me into promoting anything I don’t like or agree with. If my income is covered through my own sweat equity, I would not have any reason whatsoever to con my audience by promoting products that i don’t believe in.

2. Why did you decide to start your own business and What keeps you motivated.

I started making content on youtube and facebook while I was working as a software engineer. 3 weeks after I had my son I was very unfairly treated by my employer at that time. In brief, my employer accused me of not working well enough. That experience made me understand that as long as I work for someone else I will never truly be happy or appreciated regardless of how well I worked for them.

I’m not a believer in motivation. If you need to be motivated to follow your passion i don’t think it is your passion to begin with.

3. As a Sri Lankan influencer, how would you like to influence other Sri Lankan’s, as well as all others around the world?

I can’t fix the world with the work I’m doing but I firmly believe that I can change the health and fitness space for the better. With my work and approach to my work I hope I can influence more people to bring our space back out from vanity & drugs. In other words, I want to show people you can be honest, ordinary, average looking, earn and live a happy, peaceful life.

On Tuesday evening I was invited to participate in an Influencers Style Challenge, hosted by The Myer Centre Adelaide, Realm Adelaide, and Little Lion PR. So after work, I walked over to the very fancy Realm Adelaide display apartment which played as the beautiful backdrop for the style challenge. This was such a fun challenge, my outlook on the event was to go in open minded, try new things and to step out of my comfort zone…you’ll see the looks I put together below (also check out the video down below). From here I then rushed of to the second event for the night, which was the launch of The Style Establishment, the new stylish kid on O’Connel Street. I had a browse of the beautiful pieces on offer, took some snaps and finished of the night chatting with some other lovely bloggers.

Wednesday evening was not about fashion, rather it was about food…sushi to be exact! I’m so excited to share that Sushi Planet have opened their second restaurant in Modbury, for those of us North-Easters, it’s the perfect location for a good sushi fix. Looking at all the different sushi on offer, it made me think that sushi are like people, each different in their own way, but at the end of the day they’re all one of the same kind. Highly recommend checking out Sushi Planet, they’ve got booths that I think make the dining experience that little bit more comfortable.

Then came Thursday night, Thursday night brought a mix of events. The first was the launch of Ettie Ink Studio. Ettie Ink is the brain child of 2016 House Rules finalist; Michelle Fogden. Check it out if you’re in the market for some amazing paintings and prints. After checking out the studio, I then made my way to the next event, which was the opening of the Lucky Dumpling Market. Located on the Torrens Riverbank, it’s the place to be for a chilled night out and some delicious food…I personally recommend checking out the offerings at the Sookii La La stall.

So how did I survive this week, well my biggest tip would be to have a PLAN. In this plan include rough times of when you’re planning on arriving and leaving each place, this gives you an idea of how long you have at each place and you can make sure you make the most of your time while you’re there. Also in this plan, think about where you can park for each event, if you have an idea in your mind about where you will be parking, it takes out a lot of that unecessary stressing. And finally, think about what you will be wearing and like me if you’re going to the event straight from work, include make-up, shoes and a bag in your outfit plan….trust me, with a good plan in place your stress levels will be practically non-exsistent.

Here are some snaps from the week that was…..