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Tata Harper | Morning Ritual Part 3 | Replenishing Nutrient Complex {aka The Icing On The Cake}

Good morning, lovely friends! It is Day 3 of Hurricane Sandy making her presence known along the east coast, and I have to say that those of us living in the Toronto area are blessed to be nothing more than a bit windblown and wet. One of my nearest and dearest lives in Brooklyn. Sandy’s effects have been far more significant there, causing many people an enormous amount of stress with her serious interruption of “life as usual.” My thoughts and prayers are with all of you who are still struggling to put the pieces together following Sandy’s visit. Now is truly the best time for real community to show up and show off. Praying that’s what you experience as you recover.

I’m pretty sure all of us would like a vacation at this point. Just a quick visit to an open field of flowers would do for me {the kind movie dream sequences are made of}. You know. Slow motion, walking through the fields, glowing and inhaling deeply as you drink in the scent of their glorious bouquet. Something like this.

{That is the actual Tata Harper walking through her actual field of organic flowers. So inspiring! I love that the dream sequence is in fact very real in her life. Sigh. Such admiration!}

I have to tell you that the final step in my morning routine really does feel like I’ve just walked through this very field of flowers while chatting with Tata about the more beautiful things in life. The natural fragrance of this beautiful blend of antioxidants and vitamins for the skin is intoxicating, and I always get compliments on my “perfume” in the morning after I’ve used it. No artificial fragrance here, ladies. Just the beauty of nature showing off. What is it I’m talking about? This simple little roll-on of Tata Harper’s Replenishing Nutrient Complex.

This deceptively small and simple product is truly the icing on the cake of my morning routine. It gives me a gorgeous, dewy finish that is not greasy. My skin gratefully drinks in the nutrients it provides and responds with a brightness, softness and glow that is the best “thank you” it could possibly offer me. For my combination skin, I find it best to apply it just to the apples of my cheeks, my neck and my décolleté {my drier areas}, but for those of you with dry skin who are dreading the thought of winter approaching, this will become your go-to remedy for dehydrated, tired looking skin. Apply it all over your face, neck and décolleté for a nourishing finish to your morning routine.

The light, easily-absorbed concentrate acts as your daily multivitamin for your skin, providing antioxidants, nutrients, fatty acids, vitamins, lipids, amino acids and omegas that are all essential for slowing the aging process, brightening, softening and rejuvenating the skin. Translation? Youthful glow in a purse-sized roll-on. And not the synthetic variety. Just good, old fashioned “you’ve got great skin!” glow. The best.

Check out the list of nourishing, active ingredients.

I am so happy to be headed into winter armed with this amazing product in my arsenal – thank you, Tata! No amount of crazy weather will worry me now. Not when it comes to my skin, at least. Now, if only there was a roll-on that we could use to remedy the chaos that many of our loved ones are still sorting through. There isn’t. That’s just about helping hands and loving hearts.

Wishing you a Thursday surrounded by real community, where friends and neighbours helping each other out is just the normal way of doing life. And to my dearest in Brooklyn, I wish I was there with you! My heart and prayers are with you for sure.

xo
s.

By Sarah Walker The Curated House|November 1st, 2012|0 Comments

Tata Harper | Morning Ritual Part 2 | Rejuvenating Serum + Rebuilding Moisturizer

Good morning, ladies! On this drab and rainy Wednesday, I must admit I’m feeling wide awake. My morning routine does not fail to stimulate my senses and leave me feeling more alive, even on dreary days like today, and I have Tata Harper to thank for that!

You might think my raving about Tata Harper is hyperbole. You might think that no skincare line could be that good. But this is a real thing, girls. It really is that good.

In Part 1 of my Morning Ritual I shared with you the Refreshing Cleanser and the Hydrating Floral Essence. Today I’m dishing the details on my experience of the Rejuvenating Serum and the Rebuilding Moisturizer.

You may remember that in my frugality, I started with this product lineup just by using the cleanser and the moisturizer. My skin really was immediately happy and I may not have upgraded to the full line for awhile, but now that I have been given the opportunity to fill in the other pieces in the puzzle it’s going to be hard to go back.

Typically I expect a serum to be “too much” for my delicate and sensitive skin, so to layer that with a moisturizer would normally be overkill for me. The thing is, Tata Harper is far from typical. Where other products might just sit on the surface, my skin drinks in the natural goodness of Tata’s products with gratitude. If I had to give the serum one job title, I’d name it my collagen-plumper. Fine lines and dryness seem gently swept away as my skin absorbs this lightweight serum. It is not too rich, so my skin is actually a bit matte but totally silky after it’s gone on. It’s the perfect prep for the moisturizer without layering onto my skin unnecessarily.

Let’s not forget that all of the ingredients in Tata’s products are natural and organic and toxin-free. For someone who is doing everything she can to eliminate unnecessary load on my immune system, this means a lot to me. Here is the {delectable} list of the main active ingredients in the serum.

Next is the Rebuilding Moisturizer. Because I’ve got combination skin, moisturizers have been a tough one for me over the years. They’re either rich enough to address my dryness but leave my t-zone oily, or they’re totally mattifying but dry out my cheekbones and leave me looking a bit windburnt. I think it is the purity and targeted purpose of the ingredients in this moisturizer that must make the difference. After using it my skin looks balanced and has a healthy glow with no greasy zones to contend with. The amazing thing is that my skin seems to be improving over time the more I use it. And P.S., the smell is divine. No fragrances here, ladies! Just the natural aroma of an organic field of flowers.

You may notice by now that Hyaluronic Acid {aka Natural Sodium Hyaluronate} shows up in almost all of Tata’s products. Hyaluronic Acid is actually a component of our connective tissue which is why it does such a great job of helping the skin retain moisture and maintain a youthful glow. Tata’s Hyaluronic Acid – occurring from naturally-derived bacteria – is the highest quality available on the market.

You can purchase Tata’s products directly from their website, on Spirit Beauty Lounge, through Neiman Marcus or at a list of premiere spas throughout North America. Many thanks to Tata for creating these amazing products and allowing me the opportunity to share them with you! It’s wonderful to know that good health and beauty can in fact go hand-in-hand.

xo
s.

By Sarah Walker The Curated House|October 23rd, 2012|0 Comments

Great Aunt Nan’s Beef Bourgignon

We’ve all heard the idiom: “You can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family.” Well, sometimes we are lucky enough to have family we would choose as friends. That is certainly the case with my Great Aunt Nan.

She and my Great Uncle David were spirited adventurers. In their “sunset years,” for example, they flew over from England, bought a small RV and spent years touring all of North and South America together. The first time I met them they were whipping up a marvellous meal in their tiny, one-burner kitchen while parked on the driveway of my childhood home.

A few years later I found myself the privileged guest at their dinner table once again, but this time back in England. The conversation, the laughter, the good wine and good spirits were all in plentiful supply, and the meal was one I will never forget. Sherried Cream of Mushroom and Great Aunt Nan’s Beef Bourgignon.

I loved the way she pulled the meal together, chatting whilst effortlessly gliding in and out of the kitchen periodically as she checked on progress. It was something of a dance, and an elegant one at that. Beef Bourgignon is a wonderful dish for slow and natural gatherings as it fills up every nook and cranny of one’s home with intoxicating aromas while offering a leisurely pace at getting to the table. Nan impressed upon me a vision of effortless, thoughtful entertaining that day which is perhaps in part the reason this is one of my favourite “comfort food” dishes. After a challenging day and in need of just such comfort, I chose to make this for my family last night and thought I would share it with you today {with only some slight modifications to the original}.

THE INGREDIENTS

6 strips bacon

2 lbs lean top sirloin steak {preferably organic} fat trimmed and cut into cubes

8-12 small cippolini onions, peeled and quartered

2 c. shiitake mushrooms, cut into cubes or sliced

2-4 cloves crushed garlic

1 tsp dried rosemary

2 Tbsp gluten-free flour {I love Cup 4 Cup}

2 Tbsp brandy

1 bottle organic, full-bodied red wine

2 c. beef consumé

1 bay leaf

Big pinch of thyme

Salt + pepper to taste

THE METHOD

Preheat oven to 350 F. Cook bacon strips until crispy and remove from pan onto paper towel to drain. Remove most of the fat from the pan, reserving just enough to fry the beef. Brown the beef lightly and sprinkle the flour overtop. Gently stir in 1/2 of the wine and brandy. Break bacon up into bits and add back along with the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil and transfer to a french oven or roasting pan. Cook at 350 for one hour then add remaining wine and brandy and return to oven, reducing heat to 325 for another hour. Finish with salt and pepper and serve with your favourite steamed greens and cauliflower purée. Enjoy!!