Minimal Beauty

Fascia is the biological fabric that holds us together, the connective tissue network. (Thomas Myers)

Fascia is made up of fibrous collagen & elastin fibers that provide structural integrity & elasticity to the tissues it surrounds. Fascia is found throughout the body & can be thought of as a continuous web that connects everything together.

There is a superficial layer of fascia connected to and found just below the skin, well talked about in the world of esthetics.

Take a look at the 1st photo, these are deeper layers of fascia lines & notice the locations on the neck and head.

One of the key roles of fascia is to transmit force and movement between muscles. This means that if one muscle contracts, the force is transmitted through the fascia to neighboring muscles, allowing them to contract as well.

Fascia is strong connective tissue and over time due to incorrect posture & alignment, overuse or injury, it becomes tight or restricted, causing causing pain, stiffness, & decreased range of motion.

Because Fascia is one system that is physically connected, tension or tightness occurring, for whatever reason, will not stay compartmentalized in one area. Especially from the bottom of the body up & gravity.

I share this in relation to Inner Mouth Massage & even as estheticians, taking a therapeutic & anatomical approach to our work through the fascia system.

What are some of the most common client questions around Inner Mouth Massage?

"How long will my results last?"
"How many treatments do I need?"

Results & treatments depend on multiple factors.

-What does clients posture look like?
-Injuries or tension throughout the rest of the body effecting upper body posture?
-Are they chronically grinding/clenching their jaw?
-What kind of pillow are they sleeping with?
-Are they breathing through their mouth or nose?

These are a few of many questions to be considered in relation to results driven & lasting results.

The overall posture of the body, held by the fascia, especially the head & neck play a large role in how "lifted and sculpted" the face looks.

To learn more & set your work apart, come & train with me!

Esthetician Training: minimalbeauty.com/for-estheticians

Jen xx

IG: @MinimalBeauty
Read my Blog: minimalbeauty.com/blog/
Book a Facial: minimalbeauty.com/facial-bookings
Esthetician Training: minimalbeauty.com/for-estheticians

1 year ago | [YT] | 0

Minimal Beauty

Within inflammatory skin concerns, accelerated aging concerns and all dis-ease, there is always inflammation.

That’s not to say inflammation is awful, it’s actually our bodies way of signaling imbalance or injury to us.

However, big difference in say, you bump your toe and it swells/acute inflammation process, in order to begin healing vs chronic and systemic inflammation from things like high sugar intake.

When inflammation becomes chronic and systemic, usually from food (and stress), it reflects heavily on the skin.

This not only in the form of breakouts or acne, but long term, sugar in particular breaks down skin tissue and causes accelerated aging.
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When foods and drinks rapidly convert to sugar in the bloodstream, the process of glycation occurs and glycation loves your collagen and elastin.

Sugar molecules attach themselves to these tissue proteins, which affect the cross linking structure negatively, aka loss of collagen and elasticity, fine lines, skin sagging, slow to heal tissue, etc.

AGE’s, Advanced Glycation End Products that form during this glycation process increase inflammation on a cellular level in the breakdown of skin, as well as our organs, which leads to common dis-eases and an overall constant low grade inflammation throughout the body.
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To simplify in regard to the skin, think of the texture of sugar. It is hard, crunchy, dehydrated and has no suppleness, not an ideal texture for skin.

Sugar destructs tissue through it’s fast, inflammatory inducing processes and skin ends up resembling signs in the above diagram. ⁣
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High glycemic foods, processed foods, synthetic and some natural sweeteners, starchy foods and alcohol are substances to avoid or be extremely cautious with.

Opt for a low glycemic diet and food combining that prevents huge blood sugar spikes to support healthy and radiant skin from the inside out.

This diagram is from @drnigmatalib and reflects the effects of sugar on the face and its direct role in the acceleration of aging.

Jen xx

IG: @MinimalBeauty
Read my Blog: minimalbeauty.com/blog/
Book a Facial: minimalbeauty.com/facial-bookings
Esthetician Training: minimalbeauty.com/for-estheticians

1 year ago | [YT] | 0

Minimal Beauty

Diving into the Temporo-Mandibular Joint today on the blog. Covering the importance regarding the anatomy, health & holistic approaches to the TMJ & surrounding area.

The TMJ & surrounding muscles influence the way we chew, the health of our teeth, the health of surrounding skin, can be the cause of head pain, headaches, facial tension, over development of the masseter muscles, & influences the shape & structure of the head/face for both adults & children.

A few fascinating facts about about Temporal Mandibular Joint (TMJ) area is the TMJ is the most used joint in the body & the masseter muscle, one of the 4 muscles of mastication/chewing, is the strongest muscle in the body.

Common concerns of the TMJ area & muscles often consist of teeth grinding & jaw clenching, which can cause destruction of the teeth, premature bone loss & receding of the jaw (as shown in the photo) headaches, limited range of motion, earaches, & can trickle down into causing neck pain.

While teeth grinding occurs mostly during sleep, jaw clenching & tension often happen unconsciously throughout the day.

Muscle & fascia have memory & form to our postural habits. Proper tongue posture, nose breathing & doing body scans to release tension in the face are all simple things we can do immediately to support this area.

Inner Mouth Massage will help to relieve tension & yes, your skin will look amazing but often missed are the therapeutic & long term benefits of supporting this area.

Facial bone structure, posture & alignment is the foundation of glowing, sculpted, supple and healthy skin.

Head over to the blog for the full article and learn more about this area and ways to support the TMJ through natural and root cause approaches.

If you are an Esthetician or Massage Therapist and would like to train with me on my methods of Inner Mouth Massage, learn more & sign up in bio:-)

If you are a client, please join my facial waitlist in bio to schedule with me:-)

Link in bio to read the blog!

Jen xx

📸: Changing Faces Dentistry

IG: @MinimalBeauty
Read my Blog: minimalbeauty.com/blog/
Book a Facial: minimalbeauty.com/facial-bookings
Esthetician Training: minimalbeauty.com/for-estheticians

1 year ago | [YT] | 0

Minimal Beauty

Wondering if a Retinol is right for you?

When it comes to @marieveronique_ Multi Retinol Night Emulsion, it is a big yes from me!

MV’s Night Emulsion Retinol benefits include:

A stabilized and encapsulated retinol that works at the dermis level renew skin cells without irritation.

Retinols (when used correctly) support healthy maintence of biological skin processes, healthy skin cell turnover and repair of skin cells.

This leads to an increase in skin clarity, healthy repair and rebuilding of collagen, decreased congestion and acne and an overall timeless, bright and healthy glow to the skin.

Due to its comprehensive formulation and deep condideration of the skin barrier, (Marie Veronique is the holy grail of Skin Microbiome supportive formulations afterall!) your skin will receive all of the amazing benefits of Retinol for the skin without the often harsh and disruptive inflammations that many presciptions can cause.

If you’d like to add this skin changing product into your routine, you can now find @marieveronique_ Retinol along with many of their skin transforming products in stock at Minimal Beauty. ✨✨✨

Jen xx

IG: @MinimalBeauty
Read my Blog: minimalbeauty.com/blog/
Book a Facial: minimalbeauty.com/facial-bookings
Esthetician Training: minimalbeauty.com/for-estheticians

1 year ago | [YT] | 0

Minimal Beauty

The BEST choice I ever made for my skin & life was to eliminate alcohol over 2 years ago.

I was never a huge drinker to begin with (always preferred plants!) but even as a social drinker, it has ill effects on the mind, body, skin & beyond.

Alcohol consumption is deeply conditioned into society. It's easy for the ill effects to be excused.

When I made the choice to eliminate alcohol, I also learned how infiltrated into society it is for nefarious & greedy reasons, targeting women at that. That alone made it a hard no for me. I'm a rebel at my core after all.

The effects of alcohol are worse for women vs men health wise. It's also much more dangerous for the vulnerability of women.

Some of the benefits of not drinking:

✨ No hangovers! I was always so sensitive to alcohol. The recovery from a simple glass of wine was not worth it. 2-3 days of getting back to "normal" to do the same thing next weekend, no thanks. It's a normalized, viscous cycle that I personally believe prevents us from reaching our highest potential.

✨ Workouts & gym training schedule have dramatically improved & are 100% consistent. It's nearly impossible to follow an intentional training schedule if alcohol is hindering my routine & schedule.

✨ I don't know of data on this but I do know my monthly cycle is gentle & less debilitating then in the past. Much less inflammation.

✨ I'm far from menopause but I'm already thinking about my hormones & changes that will occur. Hormones are everything for emotions, body, skin & hair. Alcohol is deeply disruptive to hormones.

✨ It's pure sugar & dehydrating. That's a hard no for my skin! Not to mention decent eating habits easily go out the window around alcohol.

✨ Life has catapulted & patterns I couldn't break free from dissipated organically in the past 2 years since stopping alcohol.

✨ No alcohol = dating clarity.

I share because this was such a back & fourth thing in my life for so long. The social part can be difficult to sever from.

Some people can handle alcohol better than others. If you're on the fence & do the back & fourth dance like I did for so long, eliminate it entirely. I promise you won't regret it!

Jen 🤍

IG: @MinimalBeauty
Read my Blog: minimalbeauty.com/blog/
Book a Facial: minimalbeauty.com/facial-bookings
Esthetician Training: minimalbeauty.com/for-estheticians

1 year ago | [YT] | 0

Minimal Beauty

In a world full of distractions, grass is greener, look over here, look over there, I promise there is so much peace and centeredness to be found in discipline, routine and ignoring the noise.

Routine and discipline create energetic momentum. This redirects the energy and brain power you would normally use to attempt to motivate yourself to do what needs to get done, therefore opening space to create and thrive in other areas of life.

Discipline and routine get you out of first gear. Discipline eliminates wishy washy and keeps your energy collected, which I now find much easier than daily decision and choice fatigue of what I am or am not going to do, which is leaky energy.

I cook a lot of the same meals. I follow a consistent workout schedule weekly. I predominantly do the same Kundalini Kriya/meditation every morning. If I did all of these things once in a while, it wouldn’t have much impact on my life or energy.

Do I want to do these things daily? Not always. However, it’s the consistency, moving through resistance and understanding you are playing a game with your brain, which loves comfort.

From my daily routine to normal mundane shit that needs to get done in life, I just prefer to do it and get it out of my energetic orbit. Constantly thinking about having to do something, knowing you have to do something, will turn into massive energy leak. Recognize everything as energy and currency because it is.

When I stopped looking for motivation and “feeling aligned everyday” is when things really started to evolve for me. Living an aligned life does not mean you will feel aligned every single day.

It’s very simple. Routine and discipline create energetic momentum. Momentum and consistency create results. Be it your diet, skincare routine, workout routine, etc, these things only work if you do. ✨✨✨

Jen xx

IG: @MinimalBeauty
Read my Blog: minimalbeauty.com/blog/
Book a Facial: minimalbeauty.com/facial-bookings
Esthetician Training: minimalbeauty.com/for-estheticians

1 year ago | [YT] | 2

Minimal Beauty

My little gummy squares got so much love in stories the other day!

My digestion had been feeling off lately and I tend to get very hungry when working on clients. I am also an afternoon/after work gym person.

It can be a challenge to eat during the day, at the right time, for the right amount of energy for full client days and my workouts.

Nothing irks me more than getting hungry when I’m working or especially when I’m training because I know it hinders my strength.

I’m also tired of snack bars, protein bars, etc. I find them hard on my digestion no matter how “clean” they are and none were agreeing or satisfying me lately.

These gummies, as well as a few other recipes I’ve been experimenting with are great on the go snacks.

I personally need a lot of protein to stay satisfied. I eat carbs but I tend burn through them quick because I’m extremely active. Carbs are also easier to find from whole food sources like apples, etc.

Gelatin itself is reported to have benefits that include supporting the digestive tract and gut integrity, supporting healthy hair, skin, nails, and bone and joint health.

Of course people will say, it’s not proven, blah blah blah. But I actually don’t care because controversy aside, protein is protein.

Unlike most animal protein sources, gelatin is not a complete protein, as it is missing the amino acid tryptophan.

However, I find these little treats filling, satisfying and bloat free. I eat animal protein with most of my meals but protein snacks to eat during the day have been more challenging to find since I eliminated all bars.

Little go to's like this can make or break my nutrition. They hold me over during the day and in between work, workouts, etc.

I need them to keep me satisfied so I'll take the time to cook for mealtime and most important, not end up w sugar cravings. Sugar cravings are very real and at least for myself, are very tied to my protein intake.

Found my recipe from @kristen.boehmer and highly recommend her website and blog for tons of intentional and gut healing recipes!

If you've tried gelatin gummies or have been thinking about it, share your thoughts and recipes in the comments!

Jen xx

IG: @MinimalBeauty
Read my Blog: minimalbeauty.com/blog/
Book a Facial: minimalbeauty.com/facial-bookings
Esthetician Training: minimalbeauty.com/for-estheticians

1 year ago | [YT] | 0

Minimal Beauty

It’s the swollen eyelids for me if I eat too much dairy! 😩

When dealing with skin concerns of inflammation and congestion and beyond acne, such as eczema or psoriasis, chronic puffiness and fluid retention of the skin, cutting out dairy is most helpful and supportive.

Dairy is rich in concistency. And while yes, high quailty and lesser processed dairy does offer sources of protein, vitamins and nutrients, it is the substance and nature of dairy that can be congesting.

If we tend to retain and hold onto fluid easily, def part of my constitutional nature, dairy can build up in our systems easily and may congest us more than others. We all metabolize ingredients, food (and life experiences!) differently.

Because the skin is so nuanced for each of us and one size does not fit all, there can be a lot of trial and error in discovering what is best for you and your skin.

Me personally, my digestion and skin do better without much dairy and when I do consume it, it needs to be of a lighter source. Example, I tend to not be bothered by feta cheese vs heavier or richer cheeses.

If you are experiencing inflammatory skin concerns, psoriasis, eczema, chronic puffiness/fluid retention, etc., you can eliminate dairy for a period, note improvements and test it back into your diet to see how it reacts.

You already know I’m all about eating for skin health around here! Please share in the comments if you’ve had experiences with dairy improving your skin, I would love to know and as always, we all learn from each other.

This amazing face chart is from @drnigmatalib. 💫

Jen xx

IG: @MinimalBeauty
Read my Blog: minimalbeauty.com/blog/
Book a Facial: minimalbeauty.com/facial-bookings
Esthetician Training: minimalbeauty.com/for-estheticians

1 year ago | [YT] | 0

Minimal Beauty

Speaking of cleansers as mentioned in my last post talking about pore size, I love oil cleansing and recommend it to a lot of clients.

I was asked the other day what is the most important step in a routine.....hands down, the cleansing process! 🙌🏻

A supportive cleanser provides the foundation for all of the rest of your skincare steps.

If a cleanser is disruptive, your skin gets into a hamster wheel cycle of imbalance and sensitivity.

The rest of your products, be it the best serum or oil in the world, are only going to be making up for this consistent disruption of skin barrier every time you cleanse instead of actually elevating and improving the health of your skin as a whole.

Cleansing is always #1 when getting my clients onto an aligned routine.

I’ve also used many oil cleansers but this @marieveronique_ _ is the most reparative and nourishing to the skin barrier of them all!

You can tell immediately by the consistency that this is a specialty formulation. It has a lighter, ethereal feel that turns to a light silky milk/oil when you combine with water during the cleansing process.

It removes make-up and SPF while nourishing skin barrier and microbiome.

Overtime, this regenerative cleaners rebuilds the barrier, softens skin and creates a hydrated suppleness to skin tissue while lessening inflammation and healing the skin.

I could continue to go on about the benefits of this cleanser and the cleansing process in general.

I’m also long overdue to post an oil cleansing tutorial for you all but it’s on my list.

In the meantime, tell me your thoughts on oil cleansing below. How was your experience with oil cleansing? Do you have a favorite?

Jen xx

IG: @MinimalBeauty
Read my Blog: minimalbeauty.com/blog/
Book a Facial: minimalbeauty.com/facial-bookings
Esthetician Training: minimalbeauty.com/for-estheticians

1 year ago | [YT] | 0

Minimal Beauty

Who doesn’t love a good face chart? Such a vital roadmap to what may be imbalanced inside the body and appearing on the face.

There are a ton of various style face charts based off modalities from Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda to modern nutrition. I like to a combination of maps and also most important to observe general patterns that I see through clients.

Be sure to save this chart and use as a reference to better understand what your skin or your clients skin may be speaking to you. ✨✨✨

Jen xx

IG: @MinimalBeauty
Read my Blog: minimalbeauty.com/blog/
Book a Facial: minimalbeauty.com/facial-bookings
Esthetician Training: minimalbeauty.com/for-estheticians

1 year ago | [YT] | 0