Winter a time to nourish and flourish

Vania Bailey is a professional makeup artist, and is also known as Hawke's Bay's Brow Queen.

Winter is a time to not only nourish your body, but to reflect and count your blessings, says Vania Bailey.

The professional makeup artist and Hawke's Bay "Brow Queen" believes in not only taking care of yourself, but also other people.

"First take care of yourself. Winter is a great time to change your skin care. Try something different. We need something a bit more nourishing on our skin during these cold months.

"Oil your body from top to toe and leave on for 20 minutes before you shower. This helps break down fat tissue and helps with blood flow. As you are putting it on think about your body and be thankful for who you are and what you are.

"Your body cleanses itself at night so by rubbing yourself all over with oil it helps to remove the build up toxins," Vania says.

She says there is no need to go out and buy expensive body oils. "Try sesame seed oil. It has seasamol in it which is anti inflammatory."

Vania also recommends drinking a glass of salted water in the morning. "Just a teaspoon of Himalayan salt - it helps kick start the adrenals for the day. Self care on the inside means you are protected on the outside."

Vania says another way to make yourself feel good is to practise the wheel of giving. "Just giving something to someone is a great way to beat the winter blues - it's so rewarding."

Recently Vania gave Debbie Shaw some eyebrows. Debbie was diagnosed with breast cancer in November. She has had an operation and chemotherapy.

"One of my good friends was trying to raise some funds for me so I could get my brows done when Vania rang me and said she wanted to do it for me," Debbie says. "It has made a huge difference to my confidence. I just feel so good."

For her part Vania says it was so rewarding. "Seeing how great it made Debbie feel was all the reward I needed."

Other winter tips include using a more nourishing sunblock. "I like Image SPF 50. Also mature skin needs a bit more oil. That doesn't mean you have to go and buy new makeup - just add a bit of rose oil to the one you are using - it gives your skin a nice luminous look."

Another trick Vania recommends is giving yourself an eyebrow makeover. She takes a truly personalised approach to each client's eyebrows using brow contouring and featherstroke tattoo, also known as microblading, creating natural looking brow. If you didn't realise the importance of eyebrows before, you will after a consultation with Vania.

*For information go to Vania Inc, vania.co.nz