Letter from the editor | Christen Michel
It’s true what they say. Your 30’s are the best years of your life. You spend your entire 20’s trying to figure out what your passions in life are and what type of people make you happy. Your 20’s are just a prep for your amazing 30’s. So far my 30’s have included this: launching my own skin care line, marrying the man of my dreams, completing my family of 5, meeting the most inspirational women I’ve ever met, and now…writing about it. With all of the wonderful people that come through your universe on a daily basis, why wouldn’t we share each other’s knowledge and passions? I’ve created this magazine as a compilation of all of the wonderful people, thoughts, and ideas that come my way. If you just take one thing away from this, then my wish has been granted. Enjoy!
Christen Michel
The Garden Glow Team of Inspirations Christen Michel | Esthetician & Skin Therapist Carri Marlow | Certified Personal Trainer & Running Guru Sarah Rallo | Registered Yoga Trainer & Personal Trainer Ashely Gerry | Fashion Guru
The Holiday Issue The Gardens Discoveries | A last minute gift guide for your favorite friends | 6 Glowing Skin |Skin care for the active lifestyle & hangover skin recover|7,9
In Every Issue Christen Two Things | Two things I’m begging you not to do this winter | 8 What’s In Sarah’s Bag? | What’s your vision? | 11-12 Ashley’s Closet | Spy on her looks for the Holiday season | 10 Your Body is Yours Forever | Don’t let the holidays get the best of you | 13
Garden Glow: (noun)
A lifestyle or idea in which a person can see the beauty in many different areas of life; a wide variety of passions in life.
A gift guide you’ll actually find useful…. Perfectly priced and perfectly thoughtful girlfriend gifts! By Christen Michel A fill-in-the-blanks book all about why she’s so wonderful. When you have a great friend, it’s important to let her know. Get this at www.papersource.com
We have completely over indulged in monthly beauty subscription boxes over the last few years for ourselves, maybe it’s time to send your favorite queen bee a beauty box one month! Check out the different themes at www.christenmichel.com
I don’t know about you, but a friend who buys me a Candy of the Month Club membership is a keeper. www.candyclub.com
Some might find this juvenile, I find it PERFECT! Give your friend her favorite emoji for Christmas. www.zazzle.com
The Garden: Glowing Skin | by Esthetician, Christen Michel
Skin Care & Workouts The most common questions answered. •
•
•
•
I know I’m not supposed to wash my face too much, so do I wash before a workout, after a workout, or both? If you’re like me, you wake up in the morning to work out, and leaving the house with “sleepy” feeling skin is not an option. It just feels gross! On the flip side, if you are working out after work with a face full of makeup, you need to get that off. But listen… get an antibacterial wash cloth (I use Norwex) to cleanse your skin before a workout. Do not use a cleanser. Just use the cloth and water. If it is a high quality cloth, it WILL leave you feeling clean and fresh. Once your workout is done, cleanse your skin with your regular cleanser. It is important to cleanse pretty quickly once the workout is complete to avoid clogged pores and breakouts. Ok, so I’ve used my cleansing cloth before my workout. Do I put my moisturizer on? Or is it best to work out with a bare face? Working out causes some skin dehydration, so believe it or not, it’s important to apply a sheer moisturizer to prevent moisture loss. Remember: letting your skin get dehydrated too often will lead to premature aging. I should wear a headband or hat to prevent sweat from dripping onto my face, right? Right…and wrong. If you are finding that you are getting little bumps or clogged pores around the line where your headband or hat sits, then you are better off not wearing one. If this happening to you, try keeping an antibacterial wash cloth with you and wipe every few minutes (depending on your level of sweating). Is my fitness lifestyle causing all of these breakouts? It’s very possible. I always ask my clients “did these breakouts start around the same time you started to amp up your workouts or runs?” Sometimes it’s hard to remember things like this, but if there is a correlation, then YES. Sweat causes an occlusion of the pores and can cause annoying breakouts and clogged pores. It’s important to use a cleanser with Glycolic Acid and NEVER leave your skin sweaty. Wash immediately.
You CAN have an active lifestyle and healthy skin too. There’s no need to choose one or the other.
Two things I’m begging you not to do to your skin this winter: #1 Do NOT let your moisture escape! Winter air is so dry that it looks for any place to grab moisture…and guess what? Your skin is an easy target. You have about 1 minute to get your moisturizer onto your skin after a shower or cleanse before the dampness acts as a magnet to the dry air. If you don’t, the result is that tight, chapped, crackly feeling that we all hate.
#2 Do NOT keep your skin from doing its job. What do I mean? This busy time of year leads to many nights of going to bed with a dirty face. You may not think this is that big of a deal, but it is. Here’s why: Your skin does most of its repairing and hard work at night. So all of the bacteria, free radicals, and environmental damage your skin encountered all day is being dealt with at night. It’s important to give your skin a clean, bacteria-free place to repair and regenerate.
The Holiday Hangover Skin Rescue Plan 1. FIRST. We’ll start with the basics…wake up and face the music! 2. THE BAD NEWS. Skip the coffee today. This is hard, but it’s a must. 3. LET’S GET STARTED. Grab a huge glass of lemon water. If you have cucumber and mint in your fridge, throw it in there too. 4. CLEAN SLATE. Grab your best exfoliating treatment. Med Spa To Go is perfect. Exfoliate! 5. OPEN & OUT. Jump in the shower and steam up. Get those pores open and allow them to clean out. 6. DON’T LOSE THE LITTLE MOISTURE YOU STILL HAVE. Within 60 seconds of getting out of the steamy shower, you need to spritz yourself with a hydrating spritz, like the Replenished, or apply a light moisturizer such as the Skin Quench. 7. RESCUE MASK. Mix plain yogurt & honey, apply to the face for 15 minutes, rinse with cool water. 8. BRIGHTENING TONIC. After you rinse off the mask, splash your face with club soda a few times. 9. GET THINGS MOVING. Grab your sheer daily moisturizer and give yourself a mini facial massage. 2 minutes is perfect. Make sure to hit the pressure points and use tapotement around the eyes. *The Glow Quick-Me-Up Massage 10. EYES. Good old fashioned green tea bags are the best. However, don’t forget to dampen them and put them in the freezer long enough to stay cold on your eyes for 15 minutes. 11. YOUR DAY. Some things you need to do throughout the day to get your skin back to perfection is workout (to dump the toxins), eat bananas (to replenish your potassium), and keep sipping on lemon water. 12. YOUR LAST STEP. If you feel like you could still use a little bit of help as the day goes on, take a warm Epsom salt bath. This will continue to dump the toxins and, as an extra bonus, will soften your skin.
Follow Christen for glowing skin tips and advice Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Website
s
Relatively easy pieces to find, but when mixed & layered together… what you get is unique, fun, and festive looks for holiday parties or a New Year’s Eve bash. Don’t be afraid to mix patterns and textures. When you get out of your fashion comfort zone, you light up the room!
Have you heard of
“Vision Creation”? Find out how to make your goals, dreams & visions simple to achieve
Check out my vision board
Follow Sarah for daily fitness motivation and fit tips! Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Website
The holiday season can be enough to derail even the most dedicated exerciser. It's cold outside, you're busy and there are parties galore with drinks and treats. The first step in keeping holiday diet and fitness on track is to acknowledge that you'll have to adjust your diet and exercise.
Start planning now so you can make adjustments to your routine to help you stay fit during the holidays. For example, if you usually take an evening spin class and you know you'll be working late, hit the pool or treadmill or find an early morning class. Instead of trying to squeeze exercise in, take other things out. Instead of watching TV or catching up on Facebook for 30 minutes, go for a run or pop in a 30 minute video. The holidays are a great time to try something new. Not a runner? Sign up for a winter or spring 5k. One of your runner friends will be happy to run with you! Working out with a friend is a great way to stay on track and keep each other accountable. Try out a new class at the gym, mix family activities and fitness - hiking, ice skating, sledding, etc. or take up a new sport.
Keeping your diet on track during the holidays is just as tricky, if not trickier than keeping your fitness on track. There are so many temptations during the holidays, it's almost impossible to avoid them! Just like with fitness, planning is the key to not falling off the wagon. Here are my top five tips for staying on track:
1) Don't skip meals. Skipping breakfast or lunch before a holiday party or gathering will only lead to overeating and making bad choices. 2) Make wise choices and be mindful of portion control. Let's face it, you're going to have to have a slice of that pumpkin pie. But be reasonable, just one, not the whole pie! 3) Allow cheat meals. If you have a big holiday party or family get together, be sure to eat healthy for the other meals that day. 4) Drink responsibly - avoid soda (too much sugar), choose white or red wine rather than champagne or hard liquor, drink in moderation and stay hydrated. 5) Always have a healthy snack in your purse. A handful of nuts, small piece of fruit, clean protein bar, etc. The holidays are very busy for most people. Always having something healthy on hand will keep you from grabbing fast food or convenience items that are often unhealthy.
Follow Carri for daily fitness motivation and fit tips! Facebook | Twitter
See you again in February 2015! www.gardenglowmag.com
xxoo