FORWARD
‘Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.’ ‘She's not beautiful but she has a great personality.’ ‘Beauty is skin deep.’ These clichés about beauty are old fashioned and shallow, indeed, skin deep. Gregory Landsman has spent a lifetime in the beauty industry encouraging others to find their inner beauty, while showing them how to promote healthy skin and feel good about themselves inside and out.
We all know there are products galore offering to reduce aging and to create beautiful skin, but they come with chemicals, fragrance and expense. How do you choose a product? The answer is easy: don't!
In Gregory’s book, he shares a plethora of simple skin treatment recipes using supermarket and household pantry ingredients. I have personally had the pleasure of receiving such treatments on my skin.
Oil mixtures for my arms and hands. A bicarbonate scrub for my face. Warming oils for my face. I love the idea of being in charge of exactly what goes on my skin. I can access ingredients affordably and readily inside my home and make DIY skin care when I want to. No chemicals, fragrance or expense. Yes, skin deep, the warm glow, the flow on ‘feel good’ effect, has long lasting benefits. Besides, I have been able to share these uncomplicated, yet effective remedies with my mum and my neighbour when we were all suffering from dry skin and cracked fingers.
Even though I am living with cancer for now, people say I look good. And do you know what? I feel good, on the inside and the outside. After fourteen chemotherapy treatments in nine months, my skin should be dry and loose, the tissue under my skin shrunken, but the daily oil routines mean my skin is elastic and supple. Not just my face, but my arms, belly and legs too.
Therefore, I can recommend the self-care recipes in this book as useful and accessible for anyone with dry skin – or in my case super dry skin!
During this process I am learning to give myself permission to spend a little time on pampering myself. But on reflection, is it pampering for the sake of it? Not really – it’s time to promote healing and self-reflection. I have neglected these aspects in my life so far. Why? Probably for the same reasons everyone else has. We lead hectic lives and so believe we don’t have time, or even that it’s a waste of time! We can rationalise our actions in many ways, but I say just give yourself a bit of time for self-nurturing. It doesn’t take long and the long-term benefits to your skin and your feelings about your inner beauty and worthiness become evident.
After all, beauty is in us all, and whether we are well or not, Gregory’s recipes allow us to unlock our inner beauty, heal our dry skin and feel good within ourselves.
Deb Singleton
Teacher & Philanthropist