Now that we're out of dreamy Pisces season, we can finally put old things to bed and start fresh with Aries season. Which not only kicks off the Astrological New Year, but also hails in the season of Spring! At least in the Northern Hemisphere, our Southern friends transition into Autumn. Aries is the first sign of the zodiac wheel and ushers in new energy, fresh ideas and the driving willpower to accomplish them all. It's time to put your best face forward, quite literally. The part of the body that Aries rules is the face and head. So paying extra attention to this region of your body is definitely important this month, especially with Chiron, the healer asteroid, conjunct the Aries New Moon, on March 24th. I go into much more detail about this on my podcast, Heather Namaste. To tune in, click HERE.
Believe it or not, our face can hold a lot of tension. It happens mainly in the jaw muscles and forehead, but the temporal muscles also can become quite stressed, especially if you're staring at a computer screen more frequently these days.
Some of my favorite things to do to relax my face include:
a healthy daily skin care routine
oil cleansing
hot towel treatments
clay masks
rose quartz face rolling
facial yoga
facial massage
A daily skin care routine is critical to clear, bright, happy skin. I've tried hundreds of facial cleansers, moisturizers, serums, and masks, and to be completely honest the thing that I've found to be the most gentle, the most effective, and the easiest is oil cleansing. Ok, ok, I know what you're thinking! "Oil cleansing, Heather, are you serious?!" Trust me babe, I thought the exact same thing when I first heard about it. But oil cleansing is incredibly effective. It's super gentle and even for my combination skin, I only had a short transition period. Meaning, that my face was so excited about the oil cleansing, that I hardly broke out at all, except for the occasional hormonal pimple. When we moved from Texas to Colorado, we didn't realize just how dry the climate is up here. My skin was always so dry and then would overcompensate by producing too much oil - yikes! Since I've been oil cleansing however, That is a thing of the past! My skin is so supple and soft now, it glows.
But that's not all I do for my face. After I cleanse, I spray vortexed rose water onto my face and put on my serums (at night) or my spf (during the day). If I'm feeling frisky, I'll put on makeup, but since we're just in the house, I tend to just wear a little mascara, and blush.
Hot towel treatments are best done during an oil cleansing session. In fact that's how you remove the oil from your face! To do an oil cleansing, you pour about a quarter sized amount of oil into the palm of your hand, rub between both hands, then massage onto your face. YES I KNOW! It's so icky feeling, especially if you are wearing a full face of makeup. BUT this massage is the best thing you can do, because that oil is breaking up all the makeup and breaking it down. The oil is swishing around all your pores, helping to remove dirt, dead skin cells, and makeup. This is a great time to massage those tense areas of your face. Your forehead, temples, cheek bones, jaw line, where ever you feel tension, take your time and massage it out for a minute or two. So once you're oiled and massaged, take your hand towel and put it under warm running water - not too hot! Wring out your towel and place it over your face to allow your pores to open and further swish out the dirt and funk. You can leave the towel on your face for about a minute, then when you're ready, wrap the towel around your hand like a little mitt, and gently begin wiping the oil off beginning at the middle of your forehead sweeping away from your face toward the hair line. Continue this process until your entire face has been cleansed and all the oil has been removed. If you'd like to follow this with toner to ensure your skin is thoroughly clear of all excess oil this is the perfect time to do so. Then just add your serums, or spf depending on the time of day. Best oils for this method are: Jojoba, sweet almond oil, castor oil, grapeseed oil, avocado oil, sunflower oil or apricot kernel oil. I have been using sweet almond oil with great success, although jojoba oil is the most similar to our bodies natural oils.
My favorite clay mask is the Aztec Secret Indian Healing Clay, which I mentioned in my most recent podcast episode. This mask is incredible at healing, soothing and detoxifying your skin! Known as the "World's Most Powerful Facial," the mask is made with bentonite clay from Death Valley, California, where it's sun-dried for up to six months. It's used to help clear acne and blackheads as well as for tightening skin. The all-natural mask features no additives, fragrances, or animal products.
If you haven't gotten yourself a facial roller yet, are missing out! The feel of smooth rose quartz gliding across your face, the weight of it, the energy it gives off, the heart chakra activation! It always makes me feel extra sensual, almost slinky afterwards too, like a snake slithering across a deep bed of rose petals, or like the silky touch of a sun warmed marble statue. Ok, before I step off the deep-end there, let's get back to facial rollers shall we? When facial rolling, it's best to roll away from your face. So you would roll toward your hairline or ears when rolling your jawline. Essentially you'd want to roll at a diagonal upward. This supposedly helps release those fine lines and wrinkles.
Facial yoga, and facial massage are super fun. There are some really neat videos online that show how to do yoga with your face. And to be honest, a lot of these exercises remind me of the facial warm-up exercises from my days in Theatre! Face Yoga Method on YouTube, has hundreds of videos on her channel all about facial yoga. I especially liked this ONE. If you didn't want to try the oil cleansing method and but do want to enjoy a nice nourishing massage, you can still enjoy the same benefits by massaging in your moisturizer, or serums. The diagram below is super helpful if you're doing this on your own face. This can also be an amazingly intimate moment between friends, or lovers to give each other facial massage, or any massage for that matter!
I hope you've enjoyed these great self care tips for Aries Season! And remember to put your best face forward my sweet comic soul friends.
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