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Get the Oscar  winning look from Jennifer Lawrence using Ere Perez cosmetics.

The lovely Jennifer is set to become one of this decade’s biggest stars. At just 22 she’s already made a huge splash for her part in the film The Hunger Games, Winter’s Bone and X-Men: First Class, and now with a Best Actress Win for Silver Linings Playbook, her place in Hollywood’s A List has been secured, despite her little trip up the steps to collect her Oscar!

Jennifer is a natural beauty who exudes that youthful understated glamour we’d all love to emulate!  Here’s how to get her look:

Oat Milk Foundation, followed by a dusting of Pure Rice Powder in My Blush.  Some Versatile Vanilla Highlighter on the cheekbones and eyelids (as a primer/highlighter).

Natural Almond Oil Mascara and Better Than Smokey Creative Chamomile Eye Duo to pop those gorgeous blue eyes, or if you’re brown eyed, go for Very Important for smokey brown.

Just a hint of colour with either Clever Carrot Balm in Healthy, New Beautiful Beetroot Cheek and Lip Tint in Charm for some corally nudey stain, or the always perfect Real Rosehip Oil Lipbar in pretty pinky Love. For evenings use Rich Olive Oil Lipstick in the shimmery pinky tones of High Tea or Prom.

Maintaining good health can feel like a big job sometimes, particularly on those days when we just feel like hitting the snooze button. The good news is that there are little things you can do, that take no more than 2 minutes that will make a difference to your health and wellbeing. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Add a dash of lemon to your water first thing in the morning. As you boil the kettle for tea or coffee, drink a glass of warm water and lemon juice. It helps to flush out toxins and prime your digestion for breakfast.

2. Dry brush. Two minutes of dry body brushing before a shower stimulates the lymphatic system which helps to clear toxins out of the body), gets your circulation moving and sloughs off dead skin cells allowing your skin to absorb moisturiser more effectively.

3. Add more antioxidants to your food. This is actually much more simple than it sounds. Some great suggestions include half a teaspoon of Tumeric for its anti-inflammatory effects, a cup of green tea, a dessert spoon of organic Tomato paste in your cooking (which is rich in lycopene), a handful of berries or some grated ginger and lemon tea.

4. Deep breathing. If you feel stressed, anxious or are just sick of driving in traffic take a few deep breaths. It can just be enough to break the cycle of thoughts contributing to your stress. Set the alarm on your phone a couple of times across the day with the message “remember to breathe”. Just those few moments will help you take the stress down a notch.

5. Call a friend. Connection is important to our wellbeing and it can be too easy to chat on Facebook instead of picking up the phone. Sometimes it is enough just to check in.

6. Take the stairs. Instead of choosing the elevator or the closest carpark, head for the stairwell of choose the carpark farthest away. The minutes of extra exercise all add up.

7. Hug someone! Make it someone you know . Physical contact is relaxing. Think of it as a handshake from the heart. Virgina Satir, who was often referred to as the mother of family therapy, determined that “We need four hugs a day for survival. We need eight hugs a day for maintenance. We need twelve hugs a day for growth.”

I would love to hear any 2 minute health tips you have.

How do we measure feeling goals...by feeling good!

Are you starting the year with a new you? Did you make lots of new years resolutions or goals? How are they going? I am usually filled with inspiration and write down lots of things I want to achieve etc, some of which actually happen, some of which don’t. I checked my big goal list from 2012 recently and I ticked off about 50%. Not bad if I take the cup half full view (which of course I have to do to make myself feel ok about it!), not so great if I don’t.

This year instead of writing down concrete action-oreinted goals I am trying something different. Instead, I am making feeling goals (this idea is courtesy of Danielle LaPorte). Basically I have outlined how I want to feel instead of what I want to do. One of those feeling goals I have written down is “healthy”. Now this may seem simple as I generally look after myself and eat well but I want to feel really healthy, not just go through the motions of doing all the “right” things.

In essence, instead of thinking about what is “right”, I consider if the food I am about to eat or habit I have makes me feel healthier. This means that I can spend a day reading a book with absolutely no guilt as long as it makes me feel healthier. By the same token, it also means I will be busting a move 5 other days of the week because that makes me feel good. So does this mean a big change to my habits? Not really. I am moving more and stressing less, which is definitely a good thing. The big change is the way I think (or feel) about what I am doing, so instead of feeling like a chore, regular exercise feels good because I feel healthier (and I am not so worried about how many km I walked etc, rather that my body feels good, or doesn’t which is time to stop).

I have put down below a some of the other things that help me to feel healthier with the hope that you might feel inspired to make some healthier choices yourself.

• Go organic and free-range whenever possible. You can feel good about less impact on your body and the environment.
• If weight loss is your goal, choose foods that actually feel good, not only at the time of eating but half an hour later. Are there foods that make you feel awful after eating them e.g. too much bread makes me feel bloated so now I generally minimise the amount I eat and choose sourdough as it stops any symptoms.
• Take a moment. I have to admit that stress has been my number one issue. I have a habit of filling up my life so full that I don’t have a moment’s breathing space. Now I take a moment when I need to. It doesn’t have to be the whole day (see above re reading). Sometimes it is enough to get up half an hour earlier and play with the dogs and chickens in the backyard (my chickens don’t actually play with me but watching them scratch around gives me so much pleasure…and then I get to collect eggs!)
• Get enough sleep. Hello who doesn’t feel better with enough sleep? One of my particularly bad habits is to stay up late, just to have a moment or do some reading but the result is that I feel rotten the next day. So I have been consciously choosing to go to bed earlier and naturally there are so many benefits. I feel better the next day, I can spend time in the garden, I get to have my quite moment and I research shows that good sleep normalises appetite, decreasing the hormone grehlin and the desire to overeat. It’s win win!
• Stay well hydrated. This seems like a no brainer but really I get busy and forget. So I have started to create what I hope is a new habit and am carrying around a 1litre water bottle, ensuring I finish it by lunch and then refilling. So far, so good and I feel more alert and less weary around 3pm. Bonus: my skin looks really hydrated!
• Use good skincare. Now I know this is an obvious one for me but it just makes me feel so good to use organic/natural skin care. I feel like I am doing good things for the planet by minimising petrochemical use and for my body by using antioxidant rich nutrients on my skin.

These aren’t the be all and end all of goals, just the way I personally help myself feel healthier. Are there ways you can feel better?

I love Christmas. Its a time to spend with family and friends but sometimes I am dismayed by the waste! Food, wrapping, cheap trinkets etc. So this Christmas our family made the choice to give presents that are in consumable (i.e. skin care, wine, a plate of food for Christmas lunch), experiences (such as a massage, movie tickets or marigold seeds) or eco-friendly gifts (quality over quantity). It is our way of helping to prevent land fill. Apart from these suggestions there are lots of ways you can reduce, reuse or recycle and generally have a greener Christmas this year. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Make choices that support a cause you believe in
I have been a passionate supporter of the Australian Marine Conservation Society for many years. I love the beach, have a pathological fear of sharks but respect their right to swim through the sea and think we should protect our oceans. So this year when I had the opportunity to buy some wine for Christmas Day AND support the AMCS I jumped. They have partnered with Goodwill Wines to raise money to protect our ocean wildlife. You can buy these boutique, cruelty-free vegan and specially labelled wines and know that over half of the profit is going towards the work AMCS do to protect Australia’s ocean wildlife. With possibly the world’s cutest wine label (a cheeky Australian sea lion!), they make a great gift for wine lovers. Order here by tomorrow 14 Dec to receive by Christmas http://www.goodwillwine.com.au/charities/australian-marine-conservation-society. Please enjoy responsibly.

2. Give plastic a miss and trim a living tree
At our house we trim a native tree we have had growing for many years now. Each year it takes on a very unusual shape – tree trimming is not a skill I have! For a more traditional tree, the Australian Wollemi Pine is a slow growing prehistoric tree that will be with you for years.

3. Recycle your wrapping
For really interesting wrapping use old newspapers or magazines to wrap your pressies. Each one will look unique. Alternatively use material that can be saved and reused with ribbons for bows.

4. What is the life of your present
When it comes to buying gifts ask yourself what the life of your gift is? Will it end up in the trash within a few weeks? Take note of the adage ”quality over quantity”. If this puts a gift out of your price range, you could give to a charity on behalf of your loved one, create an experience (a bush treck, picnic, date for a movie), give a consumable item such as wine, christmas cake, a couple of mangos or make something yourself.

I’m curious, what ideas do you have to make Christmas greener?

Article by Ananda Mahony ND, editor of Vitaleblog

After finishing a semester of nutrition lecturing I gave myself a 2 week holiday, some time to recuperate and refocus after a very satisfying, but full on semester. I haven’t been anywhere or done much so far. Why am I telling you this? Well because I had so many plans, blogs to write, a new website to create for my naturopathic practice, garden, get fit, go to yoga and so on. The list was a page long. Instead I found myself inspired by none of these activities and so I thought I would share with you the small inspirations and activities in my holiday that have meant I have written no blogs (except this one), not lifted a finger to put together a website or completed many, if at all any of the things on my list….

My holiday inspirations & activities

1. Reading: an inspiring book called The Fire Starter Sessions – a soulful + practical guide to creating success on your own terms by Danielle LaPorte. This book surprised me. I didn’t mean to read it (or rather listen as I have it audiobook form) but my hands made their own decision and purchased the download before I had time to think about it. Now I am half way through and really starting to reevaluate what I am doing. And it’s thought provoking and exciting.

2. Listening: Since I have been more relaxed I have the patience to listen to music again. When in full swing I can find music, no matter what kind, irritating, like a fly buzzing around my already very full head. When in relaxation mode, I find it so enjoyable to listen to music of all kinds. My play list currently is 40 Most Beautiful Violin Concertos, Kitty, Daisy & Lewis – Smoking in Heaven and dare I say it, even some Sparkadia!

3. Watching: Yesterday afternoon I was sobbing to myself (fortunately I was at home alone so could sob to my hearts content) as I watched As it is in Heaven. I had no idea how lovely and…well deliciously sad this movie is. I loved it. By way of contrast today I am going to see the latest Bond film Skyfall – nothing like a bit of Hollywood cinema occasionally!

4. Practicing: I have been participating in Depak Chopra’s 21 Day Meditation Series. I spend a very peaceful 15 minutes a day listening to Depak impart wisdom.

5. Wearing: Karen Murrell’s Red Shimmer Lipstick – my new favourite red! Oh and I also have on Zoya Carmen nail polish. My colours coordinate (for once!) and it’s all just to please me.

6. Eating: incredibly well! I can’t actually confess to being a junk food addict anyway. My Achilles’s Heel is coffee so I have one every day – real coffee that is. Apart from that it is good, fresh, healthy fare. I am slightly obsessed with grated carrot and beetroot with parsley, rocket or something green and a soy mayo based dressing. I have it at least 3 times a week. Oh and just because it is the season I bought some mince pies to share with a friend that came over – they are so good with coffee

7. Exercise: a daily stroll (with no huffy puffy) around the local reserve with my two dogs. It certainly tires them out more than it does me. I go at dusk and so get to see the sun go down most days. The light in the reserve is so soft. Drifting through the forest is a lovely gentle way to end the day.

So while this holiday isn’t action packed with DOMES (days of maximum endeavour) or full of social engagement, it is just what I need to reconnect with my…well, self really!

Please let me know what things help you reconnect, reignite or reprioritise your life.

This month Spring has sprung and with it comes a lighter look. Ere Perez have created a natural Spring Look with Giann Rooney. Giann is the brand ambassador for Women’s Fitness magazine and a former champion swimmer. Ere Perez chose Giann because she always looks so healthy and elegant, understated, yet beautiful.

At Vitale we love this soft, subtle yet natural look for Spring, so try the following and Get the Look!:

• Apply Ere Perez Natural Oatmilk Foundation in your chosen colour  – make sure your skin is well moisturized first – for a lovely light and even base.
• Then apply some Just Jojoba brown Eyeliner Pencil around the eyes, smudging it a little to give a little softness.
• Then apply some Natural Almond Oil Mascara to make your lashes stand out and look beautifully healthy and glossy.
• With your finger apply a little Clever Carrot Balm in Harmless (slightly pinky natural) to your cheekbones to give a soft glow and finally…
• Treat your lips to our spring favourite lippie, Rich Olive Oil Lipstick in BIRTHDAY (a glossy coral pink – perfect for Spring colour).  (Tip: If you prefer more of a sheer look, try Real Rosehip Oil Lipbar in LOVE)

We would love to hear if you have a new Spring look and if so what you use.

This article is from Annie Meredith, renowned Healer, Acupuncturist and creator of the Spirit of Woman Essences

Flower Essences bring about inner alignment and connection to both our natural inner knowing and our highest wisdom.

As the need for a radical change in the way human beings think and behave becomes apparent in 21st Century comes a new range of essences, specifically designed by a woman, for women. The Spirit of Woman Australian Wild Flower Essences derive their potent energetic healing qualities from the Australian landscape.

Produced at Mt Nebo in South-Eastern Queensland, an environment that was an Aboriginal women’s birthing site for thousands of years, they carry the energy of the incoming Divine Feminine, the new consciousness sweeping the globe, which expresses the values of co-operation, nurturing, support, intuition and coming from the heart.

Mainstream thinking has traditionally been aligned for thousands of years with the Divine Masculine and the values of competition, self-determination, logical thinking and boundary containment. In the social environment, under this value system, women have not fared well.

They have been the ones to take major responsibility for contraception, at a cost to their body’s natural functioning. Many struggle with infertility, which is in epidemic proportions worldwide, leading to the need for Assisted Reproductive Technology. More and more women now routinely undergo unnatural birthing methods such as caesarean sections, which carry risk, while many women suffer from insecure and unfulfilling parenting because confidence in their essential mothering ability is low.

Spirit of Woman Australian Wild Flower Essences carry the potent ability to assist you, as women, to tune in to the energy of the feminine, by owning your powerful feminine biological inscription, and your inbuilt capacity to ensure optimum natural reproduction and parenting for yourselves and your children.

Your partner benefits too, in taking these beautiful essences.  They help him to tune into the intimacy of birthing and nurturing through the early baby years and deep, meaningful involvement with his children as they grow through childhood.

Here are some of the ways they can help:

• Assist in resolving the causes of infertility for you and your partner, physically, emotionally and psychologically
• Support becoming naturally fertile easily and gracefully
• Smooth the pregnancy, helping to shape your baby for optimum health from within the womb
• Ensure a blessed birthing experience by bringing confidence in Nature’s inbuilt programming for a trouble-free, easy birth
• Assist you to heal the emotional wound following a caesarean section, for yourself and your baby
• Help you to ‘relax in the post-birth afterglow’ bringing confident parenting from the start, when your relationship with baby is being formed, by tapping into your inner feminine intelligence
• Encourages parenting from the heart, so that you and your child enjoy a trouble-free childhood, by maximising strengths and supporting challenges
• Assists your child’s transit through tumultuous teenage years, while helping you to maintain your sanity and family balance
• Helps you adapt to the empty nest, as your children grow to adulthood and you discover your next creative process, with your grown children as your best friends………..

View the Spirit of Woman Parenting Range

Don’t you just love a product that can do more than one thing – a multi-tasking product? For a start it means more space on your bathroom sink. But I think it also speaks to sustainability and simplicity. Do we really need a product for every little thing or can we incorporate products in our routine that have more than one use. Here are some favourite multi-takers from Vitale Natural Skin Care.

Remedica Monoi De Tahiti Blue Oil – with a base of coconut oil infused with natural Gardenia flowers this product is so gorgeous to use with a subtle, natural scent that lasts. This product can be used as a body oil, in the bath or as a treatment or styling agent for normal to dry hair. Not only will your skin and hair feel smooth and silky but it will smell great too.

Dr Bronner’s Organic Liquid Castile Soap – this product is perhaps the ultimate multi-tasking shower product. It can be used to wash your body, hair or even your teeth!!! In fact Dr. Bronner recorded the “18 in 1 uses” on his label, which has been left mostly intact since his passing in 1997; however, people have reported many, many more uses for it than that. Here is a paraphrased version of the label as written by Dr. Bronner:

• Always dilute for Shave-Shampoo-Massage-Dental Soap-Bath!
• Peppermint is nature’s own unsurpassed fragrant Deodorant!
• A drop is best Mint Toothpaste; brushes Dentures Clean!
• A dash in water is the ideal Breath Freshener & Mouth Wash!
• Peppermint Oil Soap for Dispensers, Uniforms, Baby, Beach!
• Dilute for ideal After Shave, Body Rub, Foot Bath, Douche.
• Hot Towel-Massage the entire body, always towards your heart.
• Pets, silk, wool & body tingles head to toe – keeps cool!
• 3 dashes in water rinse most Sprays Off fruit & vegetables!
• 1/4 oz in qt H2O is Pest Spray! Dash, no rash Diaper-Soap!

Pure Lavender Oil – considered the queen of essential oil, lavender is readily used either pure, diluted or combined with other oils for a wide variety of benefits & emotional effects:

• Skin care – especially for sensitive, dry or acne prone skin
• Headaches – rub a drop or two on the temples for a tension / headache relief.
• Burns – The anti-inflammatory property soothes skin’s sunburn.
• Insect Repellent/Bites and Stings – Repel bugs and takes the sting away from bites or even the splashed cooking oil in the kitchen (quick fix for kitchen accident).
• Congestion/Asthma – Anti-spasmodic (muscular contraction) and anti-inflammatory effects make lavender good for respiratory support. Also suitable for children.
• Dandruff – Balancing and moisturizing for dandruff treatment.
• Insomnia / nervous tension – Anti-stress

Lip Balm – I have so many lip balms deposited in various pockets and bags so that I never go without. The multiple uses I have for the humble lip balm include:

• Hand balm when out and about
• To moisturise dry elbows or any dry area of skin
• When in dire need I used it as an eye balm before applying mineral makeup.
• To keep my unruly eyebrows in place when “going out on the town”
• And of course as a lip balm….who would have thought!

Do you use any of your cosmetic products for a purpose it wasn’t made for? If so we’d love to hear about it.

The big news in brows is that bushy brows are back! Think Brook Shields in the 80′s – well maybe not that untamed, but rather shapely bold brows. So the quicker you can get your brows growing in, the better! Here is where I come to a grinding halt! Growing back? About 4 years ago I wrote a series of articles about my brow growing journey from thin over-plucked 90′s brows back to their natural thicker form. The series of articles spanned 18 months in which time you would imagine that I had cultivated a full set of bushy brows. The bad news is that it just didn’t happen…at all. Over 18 the month regrowth period I think about 4 brow hairs regrew and all in the wrong places. So I literally haven’t plucked my brows in 4 years and despite the current popularity of bold brows, I won’t be following this trend.

The Scouse Brow

However, I don’t have to lie down and live with the dissatisfaction of over-plucked brows. Nor do I have to slavishly follow brow fashion. This latest trend for bold brows has tipped too far cultivating an offshoot known as the Scouse Brow. Obviously fake, Scouse Brows are heavily filled in a much darker shade than your hair colour and very straight with little natural curve. This look has quite a dramatic (OTT) effect and makes the brow the central feature of your face. My personal opinion is that this look is not for everyday wear and preferably not at all!

As you can tell from my personal tale of brow woe, finding a brow style that is fashion-proof and suits your face is not always easy. Drawing from professional brow groomers (!) the ultimate aim is to create a brow that is fuller with a natural look either by using subtle makeup techniques or if you tend to thicker brows anyway by maintaining a regular waxing or plucking schedule.

Filling in your brow

If you want to fill in your brow but are unsure how to, this youtube video shows a basic fail-safe technique using an angled brush and eyeshadow. A good neutral choice for brow colour is Minerelle Serene. As well as being a mid brown shade with no red tones, it is also matte (glitter brows are a look for parties but not everyday). Alternatively you can use a specific eyebrow pencil. Brow pencils are harder than eye pencils to ensure you don’t apply colour too heavily. The pencil I use is the Lavera Brow Pencil which has a brow brush on the other end for grooming once you have completed filling in colour.

Brow Shaping

If you have naturally gorgeous brows, then you may just want to keep them in shape. A brow gel can help stop wayward brows from point in all directions. If you think you need a little help with your brows, go to a professional, even if only once, to have your brows properly shaped to your face. You can then maintain the look with plucking or regular waxing if needed.

Brow shapes come in and go out of fashion and even the famous among us can get it wrong every so often. Micheline Pitt from Pinup Girl took a look at some of the more famous brows in their time and how they might have looked with the benefit of a brow “artiste”

Pure & Green have created this great video about the absolute benefits of using organic skin care and particularly the use of wholefood ingredients.

View Pure & Green Organics range of whole organic skin care