Dr. AVA SHAMBANS TOP 10 TIPS TO PROTECT FROM PIERCING COLD AND DEFEND THE DERMIS:
Avoid Hot [beverages and bath]– tepid temperatures and shorter showers will be good for your skin and the environment
Toss the Trident and Forget the Flavored Balm [ especially minty spicy or even fruity] balms – both contribute to drying and chapped lips
Cover your mouth! Don’t just slather a balm or emulsive lip product on in the morning pull a scarf, neck warmer or wind-breaking muffler over your lips and lower face
Exfoliate in the evening– effectively and gently with enzymes [natural papaya, bamboo or volcanic] or glycolic, lactic, salicylic or azeliac acid so night moisturizer and serum will penetrate most effectively
Crank up the ultrasonic humidifier especially in heated buildings by day or overnight
Slow down and sip– because it is so cold may not feel dehydrated – so drink more room temperature water and slowly to keep hydrated no matter how cold
Max your Moisturize after showering – use the benefits of while skin is still wet to seal the skin surface and add in an essential oil to moisturizers at night
For Serum Sake– Sleep on Silk! Cotton will absorb the expensive actives and prevent best benefit
Don’t skimp on sunscreen– apply as much and as often in winter as summer [including not just face, but neck and hands]
Change up your Product Routine!
Consider a ceramide-based product because the fatty acid will improve the skin barrier and function aiding in moisture sealing and protection
AMP up the AHAand Vitamin E intake
Make it better with butter– slather on the shea butter mango butter or incorporate squalene, apricot or coconut oil
Add a hydrocone mask for additional moisturizing benefits
Change your cleanser to a hydrating formula with AHA
Layer Serums in an anti-oxidant serum at night
DR. AVA SAYS THERE ARE A FEW DERMAL DELIGHTS OF WINTER – SILVER LININGS OF LADY WINTER – SO ENJOY
Puffiness dissipates and the cold naturally rejuvenates and tightens dermis
Acne lessens, and pores appear primed and perfect
We breath deeper, sleep sounder and give our skin more time for turnover, recovery, and actives to work more effectively
Less active sweat means fewer clogged pores and less absorption of environmental sludge, debris and dead skin cells in the follicles [a.k.a acne]
AND the Natural Flush of color makes for less makeup
For any “9th inning” winter dermal dilemmas or any other skincare needs, Dr. Shamban is available for interviews quotes or comments. We will be in touch to see what is hot on your list of editorial topics as we ease out of the cold weather season and spring ahead!
LA philanthropists Christine and Dr. Gabriel Chiu bring Chinatown to Beverly Hills in celebration of Chinese New Year presented by Piaget and Bottega Veneta at Two Rodeo.
The Quiet Punch tagline is “Fitness and Stress Relief in any Doorway” and nothing could say it better. When I saw this on my IG feed I knew I HAD TO HAVE IT! I mean, WE had to have it – as in me and my KIDS.
TENSION RELIEF, in a tidy little (cute as heck) piece of home gym tech.
In case you haven’t noticed – workouts are moving into the homes. We’ve got Peleton, Tonal, The Mirror and if I told you the amount of fitness apps I get pitched daily, it’s enough to make your head spin. And for good reason – home fitness is the wave of the future. Quiet Punch is the perfect addition to your home fitness fun.
Totally affordable ($99!), moveable, light, beyond easy to assemble (took me less than 5 mins) and FUN. And more great news!
There’s an APP with over 100 exercises and a Spotify playlist to take you through the punches. Love.
You know I’m crushing when I open up a product and I’m writing about it minutes later. This just happened. My hope is that my 8 year will punch the crap out of it when he’s having a tantrum and then, I’ll soon join him. Cuz mommy always needs to punch something.
Made perfectly for 28″ – 36″ doorways, perfect for temporary setup that doesn’t mark the door, and was built for all beginners alike.
This awesome totally easy to install doorway punching bag is the brainchild of Brian Pedone, who’s had a passion for boxing since the age of 13. Quick backstory: Life-long entrepreneur turned computer geek, combines his computer and boxing obsession into one and there you go – Quiet Punch is born. To read the full story behind the product, click here.
This is a big recommendation from me. It’s probably great if you have a spare doorway. Looks like I will just keep it in my kids’ doorway with might be a bit annoying to walk around but I also love that we are just throwing some punches every time we enter or exit the room.
Botanarchy’s mission statement is ‘Botanical Medicine For Body Autonomy’
Ancient Chinese Poetics +Holistic Primary Care
Embracing The Cycles Of Nature To Work In Sync With The Universal Flow
Carolyn Barron, Chinese Medical Physician + L.Ac
Says it all. And really not it all. Carolyn is a messenger, I truly believe. Ushering in what you have been asking for, without knowing it. My in depth session with Carolyn started with a deeply thorough intake (based on the online paperwork I had pre-prepared) about everything. My health, body, hormones, meds, energy, etc….Then she got to work with an incredible acupuncture session (sound bath on repeat as I relaxed into bliss) then a fantastic cupping session. Her space is divine and magical (and I walked there!! Hello WeHo!) and filled with all sorts of goodies and offerings like teas, medicinal mushroom elixirs, oils, rubs, books – oh dear good lord it’s little treasure trove. But it’s Carolyn’s energy, tuning in, wisdom, nurture and deep knowledge and expertise that makes the whole experience dreamy. I cannot wait to go back. She will for sure be go-to for all things acupuncture and so much more. She also gives workshops around town and is a specialist in so many areas I don’t know where to begin. Or stop. I think I’ll just keep going!
From her website below:
Botanarchy Herbs & Acupuncture is committed to providing accessible, radical healthcare while giving a voice to alternative viewpoints from marginalized areas of medicine. We believe that botanical medicine enhances the body’s innate capability to heal itself, empowering the patient as the healer.
It is not about ‘popping a pill’ for passive symptom relief. It is about taking an active role in your wellness to treat the root of what ails you, and igniting your inner healer. This path engenders a true state of body autonomy, freeing the patient from a reliance upon privatized healthcare and allopathic methods that often harm the body and undermine its innate, elegant intelligence.
8217 Beverly Blvd, Suite 7, Los Angeles, CA 90048
CAROLYN BARRON, L.AC
The defining question of my life has always been how do we – individually and as a culture by and large – decondition the noxious knots that industrialization, capitalism, and culture have wound deep within the body and spirit? Before I encountered the Tao and traditional Chinese medicine, I examined this as a writer deeply entrenched in the Riot Grrrl movement and third-wave feminism. The crucial praxis of my work en masse has been a systemic inquiry of how to reject authority, trust your own senses, and recover the capacity to taste and feel and sense for yourself. My goal in both my personal development and my interpersonal work with patients is empowering the individual with the tools to recover authority over their own processes and regain autonomy over their own body.
I am a licensed and California board certified acupuncturist, herbalist, and nutritionist based out of my hometown of Los Angeles. I went down this path because for-profit industrialized medicine made me feel hopeless and disenfranchised, and I longed for the tools to take care of myself and my community when the system failed to protect and sustain us. I have always been fervently motivated to shift the paradigms & politics of women’s bodies, and bridge the chasm between body and spirit by re-acquainting women with the magic of their biology. I believe that medicine is a dynamic force that is ever-evolving, and I am comfortable fusing my western clinical experience with diverse fields of natural medicine to provide holistic primary care to my community.
I named my acupuncture practice Botanarchy, which to me hearkens to the idea that medicine can be both a form of resistance and a reclamation of original, authentic nature. I’ve often thought that the practice of traditional Chinese medicine in its purest form awakens the creative, gestative spirit of the body, helping patients discover their own Tao and supporting them in living it.
I treat patients of all genders, but I consider my approach to medicine radical feminist health care, in that it is rooted in natural models that do not suppress the true nature of the body, and enhance connection to both the microcosm of the body and the macrocosm of the earth. I’m passionate about embodying a model of medicine that is not fear-based, shaming of choice, disease-driven, and authoritarian, one that does not like to tell their patients what to do or how to think, but instead asks their patients ‘what does that feel like’ and ‘what is your experience of this?’
As an acupuncturist at the Venice Family Clinic Integrative Medicine Chronic Pain Program, a clinical intern at Emperor’s College of Traditional Oriental Medicine, and as the manager of a functional medicine practice specializing in chronic disease, I have spent the last 12 years in a clinical setting, supporting patients and their families through nutrition, needles, and natural medicines. Enshrined in my temple of saps, twigs, roots and resins, the gristle of my life has been teaching myself and others how to master the arcane as a vehicle for self-healing and self-reliance. Committed to destroying the institutionalized lies our culture propagates about food, wellness, consciousness and the body, I teach my patients self-governance through ritual and DIY medicine, as tools of healing, self-care, body mastery, and eradication of externally-imposed dogma.
Thank you Body Kitchen for making my collagen selection EASY!
Pure, nutrient-rich ingredients and sourced from grass-fed, pasture- raised bovine collagen from the lush plains of South America and nutrient-rich marine collagen from the freshwater lakes of East Asia.
Body Kitchen isn’t just any collagen powder. It is fortified with di-peptides, 39x the concentration of any other collagen on the market. Di-peptides (Hyp-Proline and Hyp-Glycine) are incredibly rare, less than 0.1% of every 100g of regular collagen, but they are amazingly powerful.
Not only do they stay in the body longer, they’ve been proven to have a more powerful effect in rejuvenating and re-energizing our cells.
In other words, this is what really makes the difference is the body’s ability to absorb and synthesize the collagen. It’s also infused with Black currant extract to increase its absorption and efficacy in the body.
