Beauty with added BRAIN POWER
Self-tanners that beat depression. CBT facials that boost confidence. And lotions that transform your mind AND your skin. INGE VAN LOTRINGEN investigates...
ACHERISHED lipstick, shaped eyebrows, a bouncy blow-dry and a fancy moisturiser. Not so long ago, the demands we made of beauty were simple.
Its function was to provide a little war paint and a bit of pampering — and a good job it did of it, too.
Now, though, the stakes have risen and beauty is no longer focused solely on outside appearance. Today, the beauty industry wants to make us more beautiful on the inside, too.
Can a new foundation enhance our ‘emotional wellbeing’? Would you buy a skin serum as a stress-buster? Can make-up change the way we think?
Research company Mintel, outlining the future of beauty in a recent report, predicts that an older overall population ‘will move the conversation beyond outward appearance and ageing to longevity and emotional and mental health’.
The idea is that by using products and rituals that target our minds and senses in the right ways, our health and happiness — as well as our looks — can be positively affected.
It may sound far-fetched, but evangelists for the so-called ‘neuro beauty’ movement are even adding ‘gratitude’ into their daily skincare routines, giving thanks for anything from the state of their skin to the fact that they lived long enough to have wrinkles.
This, too, we are told, will make us more beautiful.
‘The “inside work” manifests as a whole new kind of glow that even the best highlighter in the world can’t give you,’ according to Lauren Gores Ireland, co-founder of beauty brand Summer Fridays.
And yet the more we discover about the connections between body and mind, the more logical it seems that what we put on our skin, and the way that we do it, will have an effect on our brain, too.
BY SELECTING ingredients and strategies that target our senses and neurons, our health and our looks can be positively affected. It’s based on the idea that we can control our destiny by reshaping our minds and our emotional wellbeing.
‘This thinking is rooted in ancient Eastern traditions and is now backed up by neuroscience and behavioural psychology,’ says author and neuroscientist Dr Tara Swart.
In her book The Source, Dr Swart shows how practices such as yoga and meditation are physically and mentally transformative because they ‘rewire’ the body’s neural pathways.
Catering to a chronically stressed-out clientele (and that was before coronavirus added to our woes), the beauty industry has already begun harnessing the concept to create products designed to boost not just our self-esteem, but our mood and minds as well, incorporating things such as brainwave-altering fragrance, touch and rituals into your potions and treatments.
Here’s my pick of the best new neuro beauty treatments and products . . .
FOUNDATION FOR HAPPINESS
GRACE, Powerful, Determined … the 44 shades of Zoeva Authentik Skin Luminous Foundation (€28, zoevacosmetics.co.uk) are named after positive affirmations — encouraging or uplifting phrases or words to repeat to yourself on a regular basis.
Zoe Boikou, of Zoeva Cosmetics, created her make-up range after a childhood blighted by domestic abuse made her want to empower women to celebrate their individuality, not mask it.
‘I want to remind them of their strength every time they put on their makeup,’ she says. Similarly ‘empowering’ language is a key part in a Dr Murad facial where positive affirmations (such as ‘Be imperfect, live longer’) are offered on colourful cards for each client to choose and take away with them after their treatment.
Dr Swart explains the science behind proactively channelling positive thoughts, which is a basic form of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).
‘It means you train your brain to notice information you need to achieve your goals,’ she says. ‘Consciously choosing to assign value to things that move you forward will bring opportunities. It’s not magic. You just learn to see possibilities that your brain hid from you previously.’
SKIN SHRINKS FOR THE STRESSED-OUT
PSYCHODERMATOLOGY may be a word you’re unfamiliar with, but it is already a health specialism. The brain/skin connection is a long-established one, says consultant psychodermatologist Dr Sohere Roked.
‘Stress and anxiety affect the immune system, drive allergictype reactions and manufacture chemicals in the body that set off inflammation and disrupt the skin’s protective barrier.’
The result: inflammatory skin diseases such as acne, rosacea, psoriasis and eczema, which are all on the rise.
In clinics, specialist doctors including Dr Roked combat these with a mix of therapy and prescriptive skincare.
There are more overthe-counter cosmetic options for stressbesieged skin as well. Meder Beauty Science Red-Apax Concentrate, (€99, mederbeauty.com, below left) is a serum containing trufflederived neurosubstances grifolin and neogrifolin.
‘These interact directly with skin nerve fibres responsible for pain and heat, instantly blocking redness and discomfort,’ says dermatologist Dr Tiina Meder, who calls skin the ‘external reflection of the neurological system.’
Garden of Wisdom Neurophroline Serum (€20, victoriahealth.
com) is a rare product that directly reduces the level of stress hormone cortisol, which surges in skin cells at times of stress. A reduction in redness and a subsequent eveningout of your skin tone can be expected in two weeks.
Cannabinoids (the nonpsychoactive compounds in cannabis) have been widely
proven to calm the central nervous system when ingested, and quell inflammation when applied to the skin.
A quality product should mention ‘CBD’ or ‘cannabidiol’ (not ‘CBD oil’) in its ingredient list, and state its dose of CBD in mg. Montana No1 Everyday Wellness CBD Tincture (€105, montanawellness.co, left) has 1,500mg CBD (a mediumstrength dose) for both internal and topical use.
MINDFUL MASSAGE TO SOOTHE THE SOUL
UNWIND a busy mind, escape the pace of everyday life and emerge feeling focused, with a sense of renewed positivity. That’s the promise from the ESPA mindful massage, which is a holistic, deeply relaxing and clarifying experience which begins with mindfulness. Guiding you through breathing and visualisation techniques, your therapist will calm both mind and body.
The metamorphic zones on the feet are massaged to re-balance and ground, before soothing massage is continued up through the body, finishing with a reenergising scalp massage using warm Rose Quartz Crystals.
ESPA also have a Mindful Facial, using warmed herbal poultices with therapeutic massage to deeply cleanse, hydrate and rejuvenate the skin while also calming a busy mind.
Finishing with a choice of a soothing scalp massage or hand and arm massage, it’s promised you’ll emerge feeling relaxed, nurtured and with beautifully smooth, radiant and nourished skin. And of course, free from negative energy. Available at Farnham Estate Spa, from €130 (see farnhamestate.ie).
FRAGRANCE TO BLOW YOUR MIND
PROPONENTS of aromatherapy have long reached for their bracing mint or sedative patchouli oils to regulate their moods in times of need.
Whether forged through personal or cultural associations, scent directly affects our emotions and contributes to the strength of memories. New studies have shown how this happens.
‘Brain-imaging technology proves that certain aromas change people’s brainwave patterns, irrespective of their familiarity with the smell,’ says psychologist Dr Mark Moss of Northumbria University.
‘It suggests a moodmodulating effect that is more hard-wired than simple associations with scent.’
In other words, our response to aroma isn’t just psychological but physical. For example, the scent of specific wood essential oils (phytoncides) lowers blood pressure and stress hormone levels, and may even increase immune cell activity.
This has led fragrance companies to work hard on ‘functional fragrances’ — scents that work as anti-stress or confidence-boosting supplements.
Aromatherapy Associates’ Forest Therapy Wellness Mist, (€20, spacenk.com, above) bottles the life-affirming, soulsoothing benefits of a walk in the woods using the aromas of cypress, pink pepper and juniper berry.
Or try ThisWorks Love Sleep Bedroom Blend (€23, thisworks. com, above right), which is designed to help you switch on your libido by boosting confidence and sensuality.
A brain scan study at Carl Gustav Carus University Hospital in Dresden proves it lulls users’ neurons into a state of pleasure and calm. For the ultimate chill-out, get your hands on Thin Wild Mercury Laurel Canyon
1966 Edt (from €42, shopthinwildmercury.com, which contains seven anxiety-reducing aroma extracts, including hemp terpenes, (which work in much the same way as cannabinoids).