By Heidi Gibbon
Warm greetings to you. My name is Heidi Gibbon, and I am usually very quiet when it comes to expressing myself in a public forum, but I feel that the Holy Spirit has been nudging me for a couple of years now to give my perspective on where the world is heading on the topic of Self-Care and Wellness. This is not my comfort zone, but as my husband keeps rightfully saying to me “the only thing constant in life is change!”.
I am an aesthetician and have been caring for skin in a conservative way for the past 25 years. This conservative approach has changed with the birth of products with actives (medical skincare) and technological advances with skincare machines.
With social media and the internet, we have been bombarded with anti-ageing options and it can be very confusing! With options in the skincare industry like Microdermabrasion, Micro needling, Microcurrent, Lasers, LED light therapy, Acid Peels, Botox, Fillers, Radio Frequency, Ultrasonic Therapy, Medical Grade Skincare, we may feel anxious about what we should be doing or when to start doing it!
In this series of articles, I am on a mission to interview some of the most knowledgeable professionals in the self-care field to try to help you age gracefully while nurturing your natural beauty and respecting the body that God gave you.
One thing this pandemic has given us is more time—more family time and more time at home. I will share with you what has helped to keep my mindset positive, even though spas have been closed for almost four months.
During the first lockdown in April 2020, I discovered a new world on the internet. There are thousands of people creating courses in their niche all over the world, so if there is anything at all you are interested in there is a comprehensive course out there with exactly what you are interested in, waiting for you to find it.
I completed a detailed skincare course on the structure and function of the skin and am currently learning how to stimulate Lymph flow, release muscles and lift muscles on the face and neck with a stone tool. This is known as ‘Gua Sha’.
I have also taught myself how to conduct a skincare consultation virtually so I can still make an income even though spas and salons are still closed. If you are on a budget and want to access free information, I would recommend checking out the world of podcasts— there are so many good ones in exactly what interests you! In the next column, we look at the sun and ageing effects.
If you have any skincare/wellness questions, please send them to heigibbon@gmail.com, you can also find me on Instagram at mysalontt.
A quick skin care tip: get out of the sun!
During these difficult times where people have lost or have less income, it is still important to maintain your self-care to feel good about your image. If you are on a budget, I have two skin care tips that are FREE!
Firstly, stay out of the sun! The sun is responsible for about 80 per cent of the visible signs of ageing and in Trinidad & Tobago we are very close to the Equator which makes our rays even more dangerous.
Secondly, if you are plagued with breakouts a simple block of ice can help reduce redness, pain and swelling. Simply rub the ice cube on your emerging pimples twice a day for five minutes when your skin is clean.