Melissa’s Guide To Aging Well
Welcome to your all-encompassing guide on aging with the utmost style & grace, with every passing year. As I celebrate not only my 41st birthday this year, but Citrine’s 10 year anniversary, I find myself focused on ageless beauty more than ever before. I am really investing in educating myself further, spending more valuable time on my self care practices & taking my skincare routine to the next level. Over the past year I have been really honing in on curating beautiful, effective & nourishing skincare rituals that not only give me a glowing complexion, help to keep my skin plump & supple, but also enhance my internal beauty… that’s truly everlasting.
Never forget that regardless of your age, whether you are just starting out with your beauty journey, or you’re more mature, you are absolutely perfect as you are. You always radiate a timeless & untouchable beauty from your heart, soul & being that will always remain. Learning to truly tap into your inner beauty through the heart, through self love & self care is no easy journey, but let me tell you… it is worth it. And that is exactly why we are here. Let’s get right into my most coveted tips & tricks on how to utilize skincare & wellness to achieve a timeless radiance that goes beyond the physical.
DIY AT-HOME FACIAL - USE A FACE MASK DAILY
This is one of my absolute favorite tips to take your skincare game to the next level. If you want to cheat the beauty treatment system, this is for you. When you invest in your skincare products & you get daily use out of them, they are far more effective at transforming your skin than heading in for a treatment once every 6 weeks, or however often you’re able to. Instead, indulge yourself in a daily pleasure by using a super nourishing, ultra-hydrating face mask once a day. Whether you opt to allocate time in the evening or the morning for this little moment of at-home spa bliss, you will begin to notice a huge difference in your skin with consistency.
Personally, I love to rotate between a few of my favorite masks every single morning. I love to set the tone of the day with a really luxurious self care moment, and it allows me to multitask as I make my morning matcha, take care of my daughter & set my intentions for the day. Depending on the mask you choose, your skin will benefit from a targeted dose of really nurturing skincare ingredients that can help with cellular turnover, retaining moisture in the skin, refining texture, relieving congestion & increasing collagen production. These are the top three masks that I find myself rotating between…
By cycling the products you use, you are training the skin so that it doesn’t get accustomed to any certain product or ingredient, which over time, can lead to it being ineffective. Our skin builds up a tolerance to products that are used too often. My tip is to make sure you’re diversifying which masks you’re using each day to ensure best results.
INDULGE IN AN EYE CREAM - DON’T SKIMP ON THE EYE AREA
One of my favorite & OG beauty tips I owe to a fabulous French woman I met while working at Erno Laszlo counter when I was 18. She told me the importance of starting to use a daily eye cream as soon as possible and since that day, I have always made investing in my eye area a priority. As you may know, the skin around the eyes is extremely delicate and therefore, one of the first places where we begin to show signs of aging… from loss of volume to fine lines, we all experience this. Collagen production begins to decrease as we age, so to replenish the skin & help boost the skin’s ability to produce more collagen, you’re going to want to go in with a really rich eye cream that contains a high level of active ingredients.
By using a super hydrating eye treatment, whether it’s a cream or a serum, you’re locking in moisture which helps to reduce inflammation & prevent fine lines from forming. Dry skin is essentially a danger zone when it comes to skincare. Hydrated skin is happy skin, so by treating the eyes both day & night with moisture, vitamins & nutrients, you’re going to prevent unwanted side effects of aging. I always advise to take the eye cream all the way up to the orbital bone, in between the brows, and around the lip area if you experience tightness or lines there as well.
YOUR BODY IS A TEMPLE - SO TREAT HER LIKE ONE
We are often so hyper focused on our beautiful faces when it comes to skincare, yet we fail to acknowledge the skin on the rest of our bodies. Skin is skin, and when the skin on your face begins to lose volume & feel less supple… so does the skin all over our bodies. In fact, the skin on our bodies is often far more dry due to environmental factors such as weather, hot showers, potentially harmful toxins in your laundry detergent & other factors. Hydration is so, so vital to keeping your skin youthful and this applies to your entire body, from head to toe.
As the years go on, I notice myself realizing how important it is to take your ritual one step further by really nourishing your body. Treating her with amazing, nourishing, hydrating ingredients & treatment products. Cleansing her with scrubs & exfoliants, dry brushing her & then luxuriously applying really beautiful products, helps me get in touch with my body, which is SO, so important… especially as the years continue to pass us by. We realize that these sacred vessels are such a blessing & we should really treat them as such. Over the past year, Tata Harper has launched a couple of really transformative body treatments that I became obsessed with. They really changed the body care game for me, not only because of how effective they are at removing texture, smoothing & hydrating, but because they are formulated with face-grade ingredients. This is a relatively new concept in the beauty industry & I see the increased focus on high quality body care products really taking hold. Treat yourself AND your body, she is so, so worth it.
In addition to nourishing your body with major TLC received from nurturing body washes & refining body serums, to intimate products & body beauty tools… MOVEMENT is one tip that I find to be incredibly key as I get older. Moving your body IS the fountain of youth. Movement is the KEY to cellular regeneration & ageless beauty. From walking to pilates to lifting weights, you take your pick. All of them are equally important in their own way, but my personal fave is a dedicated yoga practice. In particular, Kundalini yoga.
Practicing Kundalini yoga activates the holy trinity… the mind, body & soul in sacred connection. So not only are you combining movement & breath within the body, you are also signaling the mind, which gives you access to your inner world… connecting you to your spirit. Kundalini is rooted in deep, ancient roots that draw upon science, energetics & spirituality to awaken our DNA, heal the body by utilizing the body itself & elevating our arc line… an extension of who we are, also a part of your aura. Your auric field & arc line is the way you project yourself into the world. It’s your radiance and how you are perceived on an energetic level. Kundalini helps to purify, strengthen & enhance your auric field & your energy. This not only empowers you, but gives you a sacred sense of influence, allowing your true inner beauty… which is stemmed from love… to shine through & have a profound effect on those around you. This is what eternal beauty is all about.
If you haven’t dipped your toes into Kundalini, or yoga, I suggest starting with some simple YouTube videos and seeing how it resonates with you and taking it from there. There are so many beautiful online & in- person resources to guide you on your journey. I have really found that Kundalini deeply resonates with me & I look forward to integrating this side of myself with the Citrine community more, as it relates to beauty & overall wellness.
TRANSFORM IT INTO A RITUAL - MAKE SKINCARE SACRED
At the root of really beautiful, glowing & ageless skin, is your intention. Utilizing clean, high vibrational & efficacious products combined with an intention, mindful awareness & consistency, is going to give you a glow that you never knew was possible, no matter your age. How I integrate all of this is by investing the time I spend on my ‘skincare routine’ & actually transforming it into an everyday, sacred ritual. Instead of slapping on your products & just going through the motions as your mind trails off, set aside time for yourself. Whether it’s five minutes or 45 minutes, allocating a moment to focus solely on yourself, sets a precedent for how you respect & treat yourself. You deserve it. You come first. As you nourish & care for yourself, as you indulge, luxurate & fulfill your own desires, you are able to show up in a much more expansive way for others. As many of us are Mothers, wives, business owners and have a never ending list of responsibilities that involve taking care of others, it is US who need to show up for ourselves first.
Your routines now become your rituals. Especially when it comes to skincare, body care, makeup application & all aesthetic adornments… from applying fragrance to your jewelry. If you have the space & time, consider setting the mood with some music, diffusing some essential oils or lighting a candle. I find that setting an intention when I apply my skincare helps me connect with the process as a ritual, infusing your products with whatever energy you need for the day or to close out the night. If you’re looking for super supple & hydrated skin overnight, set that intention as you apply your products. I find that this works especially well if there is an issue we are looking to treat within the skin, from excess dryness to rosacea or blemishes etc.
Settle into the present moments with really nourishing deep breaths, take a moment to gaze into your own eyes in the mirror… something we often avoid. Connect deeper & allow whatever is calling to you to naturally unfold. I personally love to massage my face with my serums & oils as a really sensual, meditative practice that helps product absorption, while working to stimulate & relax muscle tension in the face. Facial massage can help lift the skin, stimulate collagen production & increase circulation.
If you aren’t used to getting this intimate with yourself & experiencing your skincare routine this way, it may take some time getting used to it. One way that I developed my practice over the years, was by resonating with a few of my now holy grail products that my mind began to associate as a ritual. The holi(trinity) by Agent Nateur is a really great collection to start with because you actually go in with your hands to mix two products, the holi(c) & the holi(water), to create a special activated vitamin C emulsion, which you then apply. Take the time to really draw awareness to all of your senses… from inhaling the divine fragrance to patting it gently onto your skin as you feel it plumpen. Then going in with the holi(oil), which is the third step of the collection, I really massage it into the skin with gentle lifting motions. This is just one example of how you can make the most of your skincare application by really making it an experience. And this is something you have the pleasure of doing every single day. Overtime, this will rewire your brain to look forward to your skincare ritual.
ALL THE EXTRAS - FROM BEAUTY TOOLS & TECH TO SUPPLEMENTS
Recently I have been getting more & more into beauty technology. Not only when it comes to innovative & science backed ingredients in my products, but utilizing tools. When you invest your money and time to go the extra mile when it comes to treating your complexion like the goddess she deserves, you start to see pretty profound results. One of our latest launches here at Citrine is the Theraface, my new HOLY GRAIL beauty device. Honestly, it’s the only device you really need. It comes with eight attachments that you can interchange to curate your own customized treatment ritual so you have everything you need to treat yourself to a really effective at home facial. The device comes with three different LED light therapy heads, a blue, red & infrared… personally, I alternate between the red, which reduces inflammation in the skin & repairs muscle tissue, and the infrared, which is hyper-focused on anti-aging & smoothing out any fine lines, especially around the eyes. Then you have the three facial percussive massage tools which are so helpful in stimulating the lymphatic system in the face, moving out any excess toxins & fluid build up, which is going to get rid of any inflammation and help to boost collagen production, all while contouring the face. The microcurrent attachment is incredible to finish off with, as it really firms & tightens the skin while stimulating tissue recovery.
Another key element is utilizing ice therapy. Ice is the ultimate anti-inflammatory. The Therface has the Hot & Cold Rings, which can be purchased as additional attachments. I love to utilize these to first, tighten pores & reduce inflammation with the cold ring, which gives you that really tight feeling & a flushed glow. I then follow it up with the hot ring to warm up the skin & increase blood flow. Alternating between hot & cold is known as thermal shock and can reverse signs of aging, while stimulating collagen production & helping to improve your skin’s elasticity. This is something we can all do at home, regardless if you want to splurge on the Theraface or not. We also carry the Skin Gym Ice Coolie which is your standard ice roller and is such a great addition to any skincare ritual.
As important as it is focus on treating our skin externally… we all know, the condition of the skin exterior & the radiance we emanate is actually a reflection of our inner health… on an internal, systematic level, a mental level and an emotional level, which is why I choose to approach beauty in this really nourishing, holistic & mindful way. To ensure that my skin is glowing at it’s optimal state, I really focus on consuming fresh produce & whole foods, drinking enough water & enriching fluids such as green tea & matcha for the extra benefits. Supplementing our skincare rituals with ingestible vitamins, minerals & antioxidants makes ALL the difference, and is potentially & arguably, the most important factor in aging well. Making sure that our skin is hydrated through serums, masks & moisturizers is one thing, but we also need to be consuming foods high in water content to give our system all the replenishment it needs to function optimally at a cellular level.
Another beauty ceremony of mine includes that ritual of making my holi (mane) matcha everyday. This is the iconic collagen powder that touts incredible benefits not only for our skin, but also for your hair, nails & your gut as well. It contains just two ingredients, salt water pearls and marine collagen. It works by activating cellular repair and collagen production to strengthen and rebuild your cells. By ingesting pearl, you are receiving a potent dose of nacre, one of the natural compounds found in pearl that stimulates the regeneration of your natural collagen. Pearl contains over 30 trace minerals, including calcium, silica, selenium and iron, which so many of us are actually deficient in & works to keep hormones balanced and our immune system strong. All pivotal factors in ageless beauty.
AGENT NATEUR
HOLI (MANE)
Incorporating a diet abundant in nurturing foods from Earth, breathwork, setting an intention and beautiful & effective skincare ingredients are all key factors into curating your unique & sacred ritual. Beauty routines are all about giving back to yourself, your skin & your body… as an offering of gratitude to her for keeping you healthy, well & whole. As we begin to treat ourselves with just as much care as we treat others & take time to honor ourselves in this way, we begin to see powerful shifts in our reality. Not only in our physical appearance, but our relationships & our overall experience. Tuning into your own heart is probably the most profound beauty tip I could ever give you. So, crack your heart wide open and watch your life transform.
