March Newsletter

It is with a sense of gratitude that I sit and write this letter to all of you. Gratitude for the friendships that I have made with each and every one of you, gratitude for your loyalty to my service, gratitude for Robyn and Marion for all that they do at front desk. Gratitude to the mentors that I have had over the years, Dr Des Fernandes for all that I have learnt and continue to learn from him, to Dr Deon van der Westhuizen for his support and encouragement and to Dr Ean Smit who taught me so much about lasers making me push myself to do more.

Towards the end of last year I knew that it was time to think about the next couple of years – was I still passionate about my work? Did I want to continue? The answers were a resounding YES but not at the current pace. So what to do? The answer came in the form of finding someone who would like to work with (not for) me, I would mentor her/him and hopefully that would ease my load. I had in mind finding a recently qualified student whom I could nurture and grow.

However, that was not to be. For 5 years I have been having regular treatments with Fiona at the Environ Institute, each and every treatment was a blessing, a time to relax, catch my breath and have my skin attended to in an expert way. Fiona was looking for new challenges and thinking of starting her own business, I told her what I was thinking of, and wondered if she would like to join us and run her business under our umbrella.

So, to my great joy, after much reflection, she has decided to join the team. Fiona has worked at the Arabella Spa near Hermanus, as well as a stint on the ocean liners and finally at the Environ Institute under Dr Fernandes. She has knowledge and good hands and is prepared to go the extra mile. I feel that we are privileged to have her as part of our team.

As such, we can now offer a full compliment of services : manicure, pedicure, waxing, massage and facial treatments. I hope that she will be happy with us and feel part of the SWSKIN family.

After 32 years of being in the skin care industry I come to the conclusion that there is no magic potion that will instantly rejuvenate and change our skins . What I can say is that regular skin care treatments that are focused on stimulating the fibroblast cell (ie the cell that manufactures our collagen/elastin & glycosaminoglycans – hyaluronic acid) will deliver results. Treatments such as the Environ DF treatment, BT-Nano and LED’s, Filorga cryolift and mesotherapy, Microdermabrasion and peels have proven to me that they are capable of just that. Those of you who have been with me for years, bare testimony to this fact

Medical Needling is a wonderful tool improving scarring, texture and generally tightening the skin. However, it is more invasive than the above and requires a few days down time. Most of you have seen me after I have needled myself ie pink and a little swollen for a day or two. Then there are excellent treatments such as Fraxel and Althera which Dr Ean Smit does to work at a deeper level to tighten and lift the skin. Dr Deon van der Westhuizen prefers Thermage whereas Dr Des Fernandes would focus on Medical needling and “threads” to achieve the above.

The list of rejuvenating treatments is endless, it requires research to find what would suite the individual best and it is skill and not price that should ultimately determine the choice made.

However for me, it is first and foremost lifestyle that needs to be addressed. A healthy eating pattern, regular exercise , time management which allows for regular “me” time and a positive attitude that win the day.

Last year we brought the Barre Body Shakes into the clinic, I have found them to be so rewarding and if one is rushed can supplement or replace a meal. Organic and complete loaded with all the essential nutrients they are the first shake that I feel that I could try.

This brings me to the latest topic – the Tim Noakes diet, well……. The jury is still out on this one, but I so agree that we must go back to eating whole food, cut out all the refined foods, stop with the low fat and limit sugar to a minimum. All carbohydrates ultimately are converted to glucose in our systems but the refined carbs are the worst eg white flour, rice, etc Sugar causes inflammation in our systems and it is believed that many of the modern day illnesses are aggravated by this. Please stop with all the fizzy drinks, fruit juices and low fat products (to which sugar has inevitably been added) and you will feel a whole lot better. There is so much more to be said but that is enough for now.

So it is with gratitude that I end this letter, in the hope that this year will be a brilliant one for all of us. Yes, there will be bumps, yes the economy could be a bit shaky and we have an election , we have lost Madiba but let his legacy live on, he never gave up even in the face of impossible bleakness. List your gratitudes, count your blessings and they will carry you through the bleak times.

Sharon

Ps we are working on our website and have a twitter site and hope to soon have a blog. I am told that this is the way to go, so in order to prevent myself from becoming a dinosaur I am trying to embrace this new age of tweets, twitters but quite honestly would rather write to you all as above and listen to twitters in the beautiful bushveld.