beauty Archives - The Curated House

A Gorgeous Giveaway from Tata Harper!

Spring really is showing of these days, isn’t she? All this rain is bringing some beautiful blooms to life in the garden, the sun is starting to win out over the clouds, and the temperatures are finally starting to climb. Makes you feel fresh and a little bit more alive, doesn’t it?

Well, why not have skin that matches the freshness of the season? You’ve heard me RAVE about my love for Tata Harper Skincare, and I am beyond excited to be able to offer you the opportunity to win some for yourself!! Tata has generously offered to send one of you lovely readers of The Curated House a Deluxe Beauty Set!!!

This set contains all the essentials you will need to get your skin gorgeous and glowing for Spring! Included are: The Rejuvenating Cleanser, The Hydrating Floral Essence, The Rejuvenating Serum, The Rebuilding Moisturizer, The Repairative Moisturizer, The Replenishing Nutrient Complex, and The Resurfacing Mask!

These generous, travel-sized vials are the perfect way to indulge in experiencing the complete line, and trust me, your skin will thank you!!

OK, so here’s how you can enter to win:

1. Pin this post to Pinterest using the description: #gorgeousgiveaway via The Curated House + Tata Harper Skincare.

2. Tweet this post out to your followers on Twitter using the hashtag #gorgeousgiveaway via @CuratedHouse + @TataHarper.

3. Like The Curated House and Tata Harper Skincare on Facebook.

3. Post this Giveaway on Facebook using the hastag #gorgeousgiveaway and tag The Curated House and Tata Harper Skincare in your post.

4. Pin the Tata Harper Skincare product you are most excited about to Pinterest {use the links above} and include the hashtag #gorgeousgiveaway via @CuratedHouse + @TataHarper.

5. Leave a comment below this post with links to all your #gorgeousgiveaway social media frenzy! Each Pin, Tweet, Like and Post equals an entry for this GORGEOUS GIVEAWAY!!!

Talk about a multitude of ways to win! This giveaway closes June 6th, 2013, so you’ve got 2 full weeks to Post, Tweet and Pin it up! This giveaway is open to residents of the US and Canada only. Can’t wait to announce the lucky winner!!!

xo
s.

By Sarah Walker The Curated House|May 23rd, 2013|15 Comments

At-Home Scandinavian Spa + Body Beauty Ritual

What is the one thing you often find yourself desperate for, yet elusive of your grasp? For me, it is deep, restorative rest. In a culture that demands we define ourselves by what we produce, it is difficult to justify {let alone facilitate} time to rest, reflect and heal. And yet, it is perhaps one of our most important life skills.

In this context, one of my favourite places to decompress is Le Scandinave. Surrounded by the whisper of the wind through surrounding birch trees and the gentle laughter of a nearby running stream – savoured against the backdrop of an “absolute silence” policy – guests are invited to restore through a repeated 3-step hot/cold ritual.

FIRST: Spend 15 minutes in something hot: the outdoor, organically-shaped hot tubs, the Swedish dry sauna, or {my favourite} the Eucalyptus Steam Room.

SECOND: {and this is both the hardest AND the best part} PLUNGE into one of their remarkably cold {think glacial} pools for anywhere from a few seconds to two minutes.

THIRD: Rest for at least 10 minutes in the recline of one of the Adirondak chairs that are carefully grouped around wood burning fires, scattered throughout the peaceful property. Nestle into a hammock on the edge of the woods. Read. Sleep. Breathe deeply as your heart rate slows down and your body temperature normalizes. And then, repeat steps 1-3.

I always come away from Le Scandinave breathing better. The “full body exhale” kind of breathing. I feel wrung-out and relaxed, detoxified and de-stressed. And my skin fairly glows. The only draw back to the experience is the 1+ 1/2 hour drive home afterward, and the limitation this distance places on the frequency of my returning.

And so, I have crafted my own little at-home ritual that I have found to be almost as restorative. I have enhanced it with two amazing products to make it a decadent Body Beauty Ritual that I try to indulge in once a week. Yes, it takes effort to carve out the time. But the decompression and detoxification are worth it.

{Image via Pinterest}

STEP ONE: If a sauna is available to you, I highly recommend starting there. We are fortunate enough to have a small infrared sauna in our basement, so I start my ritual with 30 minutes of reading while sweating out toxins, sipping water and breathing deeply, soothed by the sound of ocean waves on CD. I choose to do 30 minutes here because I want to soak up the amazingly healing benefits of the infrared heat, but I have also broken it up into two or three 15 minute cycles on the days when time permits. This step can simply be done in a hot bath with Epsom salts if a sauna is not available.

STEP TWO: Next {and this is certainly the discipline of it}, I turn our shower to the absolute coldest setting and use the hand-shower to “refresh” myself from head to toe, paying careful attention to get into armpits and backs of knees where the heat likes to hide out. This step is where my silence is inevitably broken with some “Woot!” “Yikes!” “Okay!” “Just Breathe.”

STEP THREE: I start a very hot Epsom salt bath and lay down for 10 minutes while the bath fills. I use the 10 minute track on this restful nap CD as my timer.

STEP FOUR: Soak in the bath for 20 minutes while sipping water and relaxing.

{Spoiler alert: Steps Five + Seven are my favourite upgrades to the Le Scandinave experience, making this feel like a true at-home spa treatment.}

STEP FIVE: Using my Come Clean Exfoliating Mitt {pictured above}, I thoroughly exfoliate my body from head-to-toe. I am always amazed at how much dead skin gently rolls off with this magical mitt, leaving me with a radiant glow. My circulation is stimulated {amazing for detoxification and lymphatic drainage} and my skin is prepped for better absorption of the gorgeousness to come in Step Seven. This is my absolute favourite new {Canadian!!} body-beauty find.

STEP SIX: One more dose of discipline: a 1-2 minute ice-cold shower, washing off all of the exfoliated dead skin from head-to-toe.

STEP SEVEN: Massage a generous, moisturizing application of Tata Harper’s Revitalizing Body Oil all over. This non-greasy oil infuses my skin with botanical nutrients derived from Calendula, Arnica, Frankincense, Rose and Apricot Kernel Oil {to name a few}. My thirsty skin gratefully drinks it in and absorbs it completely, leaving my skin refreshed, invigorated and deeply moisturized. The carefully blended ingredients aid in healing and cellular repair, improve my skin’s elasticity and noticeably rejuvenate my freshly exfoliated skin.

Amazingly, I have also discovered {thanks to a beauty tip from Tata’s team} that the oil makes an incredible aid to shaving my legs, and I get the smoothest shave possible when I wait until after all of the detoxification and exfoliation! I now save this step in my bathing routine until after I have applied my oil.

Beyond all of that goodness, the scent is heavenly. I no longer wear perfume, in fact, but rather use Tata’s Body Oil as my decadent scent of choice.

And there you have it! My At-Home Scandinavian Spa + Body Beauty Ritual. If you are looking for a way to treat your Mom for Mother’s Day, here is what I would suggest. Buy her a Come Clean Exfoliating Mitt, a bottle of Tata Harper’s Revitalizing Body Oil, and {if you live in the area} a day pass to Le Scandinave. She can reclaim the art of self-care by learning the healing hot/cold ritual at Le Scandinave and then bring it home to make it a regular routine! What a beautiful way to celebrate your Mom and offer her the opportunity to nurture herself the way she has nurtured you. And remember to nurture yourself while you’re at it!

xo
s.

By Sarah Walker The Curated House|May 8th, 2013|2 Comments

Exhale Spa NYC | Upper East Side | Tata Harper Facial

Spend just a couple of days in New York City and the hum and pace of your body will change somehow. It’s as if your internal rhythm section starts playing double time through the chorus, picking up on the city’s electric energy. This can be exhilarating! It can also be tiring {and for me it was both}, so you can imagine how utterly spoiled I felt in having a spa treatment waiting for me at the end of my second day there.

In order to be able to understand and share with you the full Tata Harper experience, I was offered the opportunity to experience the indulgent pleasure of one of her signature custom facials at the eponimous NYC Exhale Spa.

Walking in, I was greeted by incredibly friendly front reception staff, who had me fill in a form to let them know all about my skin. After storing my things in a digitally locked locker and donning a waffle weave robe and some slippers, I was ushered down a hushed hallway {where the lighting quickly changed to warm candlelight and everything else on dimmers} and invited to settle into their waiting room. Surrounded by candles, imported and hand-carved wood pieces and options on daily customized teas and water, I settled into the comfy linen-slipcovered club chair to await my treatment.

My aesthetician Tiffany greeted me warmly and invited me to join her in the quiet treatment room just down the hall. She then took a very thorough history of my skin and asked a lot of thoughtful questions about how my skin was doing that day. I had some sensitivity giving me trouble, so Tiffany took note of it and then left me to change into the strapless terry cloth wrap and slip under the covers of the heated treatment bed. {Cue sigh number one}

After adjusting the temperature of the heated bed to my liking {i.e. turning it up to “therapeutic heat”}, Tiffany invited me to close my eyes and experience 3 different aromatherapy scents from which I could choose my signature aromatherapy for the treatment. Perhaps not surprisingly, I was drawn to Tata’s Bedtime Treatment, although the Stress Treatment and the Irritability Treatment were also lovely. But my body needed rest, and it said so. I was definitely in the right place. Once the signature aromatherapy was selected, Tiffany dispensed some of it into her palms and invited me to take 3 deep breaths, inhaling the calming aromatherapy with each breath. {Cue sigh number 2}

The facial began with gentle steam, a lovely place to start in order to open up my pores and allow the 2-step cleansing to take effect. Tiffany was careful to apply chilled compresses to cover the delicate skin around my eyes while she was using the steam, and she thoughtfully replaced them with freshly chilled compresses throughout the facial experience.

Cleansing began with the cleanser that I use daily, the Refreshing Cleanser, and then followed with the more exfoliating Regenerating Cleanser. The finely ground apricot seed powder in The Regenerating Cleanser still felt gentle {unlike others I’ve experienced that contain exfoliating grains}, and my skin felt fresh and light when she was finished.

The next step was the Resurfacing Mask, a product I had not yet had the opportunity to experience. Tiffany applied a generous layer of the mask to my face and then proceeded to give me a glorious arm and hand massage with Tata’s Revitalizing Body Oil. The intoxicating scent of this body oil could only come from the fields of organic flowers that Tata grows on her farm in Vermont. I felt transported by the aromas and my skin thirstily drank in all of the richness of the oil. Tiffany then carefully wrapped my hands to allow the oil to soak in and offered me an extra layer of heat with heated “mitts” that she gentle slipped over my hands {kind of like electric blanket oven mitts with no thumbs}. This was a very soothing alternative to the paraffin hand treatment I’ve received in the past, and a lovely way to ensure that all the nutrients of the generous application of body oil had a chance to thoroughly soak into my parched hands and cuticles. She then moved on to give me a scalp and shoulder massage with this same oil, nudging my body even further into relaxation. {Cue sigh number 3}

The next step was the part of the facial that we all tend to dread: extractions. With all of the gentle steam, 2-step cleansing and exfoliation, I was in for a pleasant surprise. This was honestly the most painless extraction experience I’ve ever had, no doubt in large part due to Tiffany’s skilled technique. Relief! {And sigh number 4}

To cool and refresh my skin after the mask was removed, Tiffany applied a cold compress mask to my entire face, a lovely way to close my pores after all of the warmth and steam and to calm any sensitive areas that might have felt “put out” by the extractions.

My skin always responds with gratitude with Tata’s Rejuvenating Serum is applied, but this time it absorbed even more fluidly, quickly becoming one with my skin and similarly followed by the Restorative Eye Cream and Rebuilding Moisturizer. Tiffany of course finished with the quintessential icing on the cake – the Replenishing Nutrient Complex. Have I mentioned how much I love this product? It is like rescue in a roll-on for my skin. It’s seriously my secret weapon for a daily glow.

With my decadent facial complete, I slowly made my way back to the change room, passing by a CoreFusion class being instructed in the Zen-like modern rustic exercise room down the hall where women were sculpting their bodies with one of the most famous barre method exercise classes in the country. Definitely something to try the next time I’m in town.

Needless to say I would highly recommend the Exhale Spa Tata Harper Custom Facial experience. With several locations in New York and many more throughout the US, you shouldn’t have too sojourn too far to find them!

Many thanks to Tiffany for such a delightful experience, and of course to Katherine, Lara and Keri for arranging such a treat for me! Can’t wait to get back to New York for another one!

xo
s.

By Sarah Walker The Curated House|November 29th, 2012|0 Comments

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