Author Archives: Lili Giglia

Brand, Essentially Lili Products, Skincare Tips

Dry Skin During Winter

Posted on by Lili Giglia
Renew Balm Dry Skin During Winter
20
Feb

Our 5 year old played in the snow
without gloves during Swiss winter.
His dried out hands hurt so much
he couldn’t bend his knuckles.

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Dry Skin and the Winter months wherever you are, the weather can be cruel to especially if you are prone to your skin drying out quickly, cracking and becoming irritated. Eczema loves to play havoc during the cold season which is not pleasant if you suffer badly.

Last year, during the cold Swiss winter, our 5-year-old son enjoyed playing in the snow at kindergarten without his gloves.
After a few days, his hands and knuckles were red and sore from drying out.He found it hard to dress and play with his Lego as bending his hands hurt a lot.He was also in a habit of using lots of soap when washing his hands and not rinsing properly, which was also drying the skin.

For him, we started monitoring him whilst he washed his hands to make sure there was no residual soap. as well as drying the water off. At bedtime, we applied Renew Balm to his hands, then put a pair of socks on his hands to keep the product contained, allowing it to penetrate into his dry skin whilst he slept.We only had to carry on with this routine for a week, which gave his dry skin a chance to repair.

Here are a few other suggestions for taking care of your Dry Skin During Winter Months.

1. Hydration
Make sure you keep your body hydrated and replenished with plenty of water. This helps your body to function, flush out toxins and keeps your skin looking fabulous. The recommended daily intake of fluids for children aged 5-8 years of age, 5 glasses (1 litre); from 9-12 years of age, 7 glasses (1.5 liters); from 13+ to Adults, 8-10 glasses (2 litres).

2. Avoid Hot Water
Make sure you only wash your face and neck with lukewarm or tepid water.This includes your baths, showers, shaving, cleansing and exfoliating. When your skin is sensitive and prone to drying out, you want to make sure that the temperature is not going to cause more damage and break the tiny veins in your face.Blotches are likely to happen when super hot water is applied to your face.If you really want to have a steamy hot shower, ensure the water is on your back or chest, but not directly on your face.

3. Be Gentle with Your Skin – all the time!
Try not to use harsh ingredients on your face. Avoid techniques that require you to pull or stretch your skin.Use gentle circular upward motions, and pamper your skin by tapping and stimulating the blood flow to your face. This will help you feel wonderful as you get ready to start your day or prepare for a restful night.

4. Moisturise Your Face
It’s important to ensure you keep your face moisturised for your day out in the cold weather. Use a good one that keeps your skin feeling soft and nourished, without the need to keep reapplying throughout your day. Often products are water-based and fluid, which tend to be drawn from the skin quicker than butter and oil-based products.
We make a range of moisturisers for various ages which help make the skin feel soft and nourished.
Natural Baby Moisturising Oil For Babies & Children,
Youth Face Balm for Under 30s,
Hydrating Face Balm for men Over 30s,
Nourishing Face Balm for women Over 30s and
Diamond Era Balm for women Over 50s.
We also make the Vitamin Rich Mens Face Balm and Vitamin Rich Womens Face Balm if your skin needs more tender loving care due to irritation or damage, and Evanesce Balm for those that have Acne which needs treatment.

5. Don’t Forget Your Hands, Feet & Body
Your body also needs to stay nourished in order to seal the moisture in your skin.The butter-based products literally melt onto your skin, helping it to stay soft and nourished.Our Geranium Hands & Body is lush and great for applying all over the body and suits expecting and nursing mums.For those that love Peppermint, Mint Body Butter is so delish you will be tempted to eat it … please don’t though! Peppermint Feet is a favourite for those that have cracked heels. It also helps with fungal infections and smelly feet.Though Peppermint shouldn’t be used if you’re expecting and nursing, so try Tango Twinkle Toes instead!Made with Tangerine, my daughter and I named it imagining expectant & nursing mums wanting to dance with their little ones whilst they were being taken care of!

Gallery: Before and After with Eczema, Renew Balm, Before & After using Pink Clays.

6. Rug Up & Stay Warm With Breathable Fibers
Prevention is always best, so make sure you keep your gloves on when out in the cold weather. Wearing Cottons also helps your skin breathe and prevents irritation.Avoid wearing synthetics, polyesters, and other fabrics which can cause your skin to sweat and itch. Pyjamas feel nicer when they are cotton too, particularly if you have skin prone to getting irritated whilst you sleep.

7. Have A Cleansing Routine at Night Time.
Did you know you are only meant to cleanse at night time?The reason for this is because our skin is subjected to pollution, dust and smog from traffic and the environment we live in. It builds upon our skin and if we don’t cleanse it out, the muck can begin to clog our pores.Make sure you are gentle when cleansing and to include your neck and shoulders if they are also exposed to the environment. Remove your makeup with either Almond or Coconut Oil.If you don’t like using oils, try removing makeup with a little Aloe Vera instead. Then you can use our Cypress Cleansing Balm which is made with Beeswax, Butters and Essential Oils.It feels wonderful as it penetrates the skin’s reserves – it’s just like having an all-natural Botox fill!

8. Monitor the Temperature in the Home
During the winter months, the temperature at home is usually really warm and toasty. This often high temperature dries out the moisture in the air and affects us with dry skin the most.In the mornings, you should start by opening your windows and changing the air in the home, refreshing any stuffiness. This is particularly important if you have sensitivity to dust or dust mites that thrive in warm climates.In the evenings, you can place bowls of water in your rooms to prevent your skin from dehydrating. You will be pleasantly surprised how much water remains in the bowl the following morning. You can also turn on your humidifiers to replace any moisture which is lost from having the heating on.Steamers are also great, especially if you are able to add Essential Oils to freshen and help clear any signs of Congestion and Sinuses.
We make Concentrated Serums which mums have been using in the bath to help their little ones with congestion and coughs. The carrier oil makes the products safe to use in the bath, which are Kids Breathe Easy Concentrate and Breathe Easier Concentrate .They can also be applied to the chest, feet, and tips of the nose for easy breathing.For infants, it can be used in a diffuser 30 minutes before being put to bed and on nearby linen. From 1 year of age up, you can apply to their pyjamas and feet. The direction is with the Product information.

9. Patience …
Patience is key especially if your skin dries out very quickly during the winter months. You have to keep applying, keep drinking fluids, keep yourself rugged up, stay moisturised and monitored your clothing and temperature all the time to prevent your skin from cracking.It’s often frustrating especially if your skin feels like sandpaper and looks like it’s been hacked by a knife.With time, and persistence, it will get better for sure. Just be patient!

10. Lastly… start all over again from Step No 1
And we go back to the top .. Hydration, Avoid Hot Water, Be Gentle With Your Skin – All the Time, Moisturise Your Face, Don’t Forget Your Hands, Feet & Body, Rug Up & Stay Warm with Breathable Fibers, Have a Cleansing Routine at Night Time, Monitor the Temperature in the Home and have Patience!

These are the steps I found worked best for me and when I don’t do these, my skin suffers for it.

And to treat yourself, if you love mucking around with Masks & Facials, you might enjoy doing this too:
1 teaspoon of Pink Clay mixed with 2 teaspoons of Aloe Vera, mixed onto your palm.
Apply to your face and allow to set.
When it dries, apply some warm water to soften before removing with either tissues or cotton wool.

The pink clay has a unique blend of Kaolinite, Iron, Montmorillonite, Illite, and Calcite. It helps to detoxify your skin, removing any dead cells and allows the creation of new ones whilst leaving you feeling refreshed.

BLOG PARTICIPATION:

We would love to hear what annoys you the most about the winter months and what you do to keep your skin from drying out. Share your tips and stories with us and we’ll give you something to try out.

Should you wish to contact us for more information about our All-Natural Products, please send me an email info@essentiallylili.com

You can read more About Lili here, see the range of Products on offer at Shop Categories or refer to our Blog Library for more topics covered.

Kind Regards Lili @ Essentially Lili

Brand, Friendship, Travels

The Festive Season

Posted on by Lili Giglia
The Festive Season Dubai
24
Dec

The Festive Season

Being amongst family & friends, Sharing, giving, loving, laughing, relaxing &
taking time to appreciate what is important!

This picture was taken in 2012 at Burj Khalifa, Dubai, UAE. The hanging decorative butterflies look like snowflakes!

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We love the Festive Season for all that it represents.For some, it’s about celebrating their religious beliefs. For others, it’s being amongst family and friends:-sharing, giving, loving, laughing, relaxing and taking time to appreciate what is important in life.

For us, we have spent many years abroad and away from our loved ones.

When we first married in Jan 2004, I moved to be with my husband in Dubai, where he was already working. I remember feeling out of place as the newlywed trying to fit in, get a job and make new friends.

There was an Expat Mums group that I asked to join, despite not having a child! I was invited to attend a meeting with this group of ladies, which later changed their name to include women like me who had no little ones at home or school.

Here I met two remarkable women who embraced and accepted me into their family circle and have been our friends ever since. Knowing we had no family in Dubai and not wanting us to be alone, they invited us to be part of their family Christmases and showed us what loving, sharing, laughing, acceptance was all about. We still talk about that 2004 Christmas in Dubai as though it was yesterday, only now their kids are all grown up!!

We meet when we can, whether in the UK over the summer break, or in Dubai on our way back from visiting family in Australia.We feel quite privileged to have shared many wonderful memories together since that time with all of our families.

Today, we reflect on the year 2016. It has been a year of loss and sadness, failures, triumphs, and successes.With hindsight, we wonder what we would have done differently or better with our choices.We look at the friendships we have made and lost along the way and wonder why they are no longer. Some of these friendships were only meant to teach us something about ourselves, whilst others remained for a season. Some have been true relationships that have withstood the test of time and distance. We hope to learn from these chapters in our lives, as our experiences enrich and teach us how to become better and more decent people.

We look at our children and are grateful that they safe and in good health, able to enjoy the freedoms of where they live. We often take these subtle things for granted when in fact, we should be grateful and happy for all that we have.

So on that note, we hope that you have been amongst loved ones, laughing, eating and enjoying each other’s company. We hope no-one has spent the festive season alone.

At Essentially Lili we wish 2017 brings you success, happiness, health, love, peace, joy and the desires of your heart.

Please be kind to one another irrespective of your personal beliefs and ambitions.
Be mindful of those who have less or nothing as we reflect on how lucky and fortunate we are. And let’s make the world a better place for everyone… especially the next generation.

Merry Christmas And Happy New Year to you all from us at Essentially Lili x

BLOG PARTICIPATION:

We would love to hear about your best Christmas and why it was so special to you.

Should you wish to Contact us for more information, email info@essentiallylili.com

You can read more About Lili here, see the range of Products on offer at Shop Categories or refer to our Blog Library for more topics covered.

Kind Regards Lili @ Essentially Lili

Brand, Essentially Lili Products, Skincare Tips

Customer Satisfaction

Posted on by Lili Giglia
Give Thanks for everything
18
Dec

Customer Satisfaction
The best kind is reading & seeing how
Happy your customers are with their amazing results.

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Testimonials

Customer Satisfaction is the Ultimate Success Story..

I’m sure we all love when someone goes the extra mile to provide genuine Customer Service, and that person makes you feel special and important to them. The service industry used to always be about ensuring customers are looked after. We gave the best service which was then communicated to our managers at Performance Review time.

Ironically this seems to be missing lately as businesses are more interested in making their money, rather than connecting with those they are helping. Some situations are so irritating. For example, when you pick up the phone to resolve a crisis or situation, and the person at the other end isn’t interested in helping you fix the problem. Usually, escalation is the only way to have these kinds of problems sorted.

I remember a time whilst travelling in Europe, I wanted to ask the lady at the Customer Service Desk about the trains. Whilst I was asking the question, she proceeded to shut the blinds in my face, her eyes facing downwards as she spoke into her microphone, ‘I’m closed!’ Oh the shock on my face, thinking how can she be sitting at the customer service desk when she didn’t want to help anyone?

This was just so against the grain of what I had been doing all my years working for Blue Chip companies around the globe. Communication is important, as well as being honest and offering assistance to help resolve situations. In my opinion, this makes the best kind of employees, and are the type that Clients and Managers always like to speak positively about.

At Essentially Lili, we have heard good and bad things, all of which is to help improve and build rapport, reputation, and credibility. In our previous Blogs, we don’t always get things right the first time and with feedback, we are able to change, evolve, and improve … or in some cases, scrap altogether!

What we love the best is when someone is brave enough to ask for help. They send us their close up photos of their skin, including the blokes who add, ‘Lili, here are my pics without makeup on!’ … We love that everyone is able to join in our humour!!

Once their products arrive, they follow instructions on when and how to apply and any other advice given. When the note comes back to say ‘OMG I love your product, my skin feels amazing, my feet look better than ever before, the Rosacea / Eczema has calmed down, the Acne has vanished, the Menopause – what Menopause?’… This has been the best Testimonial and the ultimate feel-good story for us.

I recently met with a customer who took a risk when asking about my non-commercial products earlier this year. She tried it, changed her routines, and saw an improvement over a very short period of time. She then moved on from the problem-solving Magic Serum to the lush Frankincense Face Serum. She looks Absolutely Fabulous and for me, showed Customer Satisfaction at a wonderful level! This made us both feel happy to see how a little bit of change can make a massive difference to how one looks and feels!

With an overall holistic approach, we try to help our customers achieve the results they are looking for. We believe that a happy, stress-free, well-nourished and hydrated body reflects on the outside with clear skin, a fresh mind, and a body that functions according to its purpose. One that is out of balance stressed, not well-nourished is like a car that hasn’t had a regular oil change, which chugs along inefficiently. Please don’t get us wrong – we all have moments like this, where we are stressed and out of sync. Though finding the balance that works for us individually is what we try to achieve.

BLOG PARTICIPATION:

Yep, I’m sure you could share some really bad customer service stories with us!! We are looking forward to seeing some fantastic and some cringe-worthy stories from you. Please Don’t be shy!!

Should you wish to Contact us for more information, email info@essentiallylili.com

You can read more About Lili here, see the range of Products on offer at Shop Categories or refer to our Blog Library for more topics covered.

Kind Regards Lili @ Essentially Lili

 

Brand, Essentially Lili Products, Skincare Tips

Pedicures Super Dry Feet

Posted on by Lili Giglia
Tango Lime & Peppermint Feet Products
19
Oct

Pedicures Super Dry Feet

Have you ever thought
‘OMG My Feet!’ are an embarrassing
sight for sore eyes!
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Have you ever thought ‘OMG My Feet’ are an embarrassing sight for sore eyes, whilst looking at the yukky dry skin?  Do you scratch it off whilst watching TV, making a horrible mess on the floor, hoping that no-one notices whilst you get the vacuum cleaner to remove the evidence? 

If you have said ‘Yes’ to these questions, then don’t feel bad – I was the same but probably worse.

I went for a pampering session to get my feet pedicured. I was embarrassed to be honest, thinking that the Beautician was going to see my awful, concrete feet as I referred to them.  They were really dry with cracked skin on my heels.

The gasp I was given when she sat down to start my feet was confirmation that they were pretty bad.   She said, ‘Liil, what happened to your feet?  In all my years doing pedicures, I have never seen such dry feet!

She took photographic evidence, which has conveniently disappeared…. to be honest, you wouldn’t want that kind of information flying around if you were running for the Presidency, right?  Ironically, I wish I had kept the picture to show you the before and after photos instead!

My Beautician puts on the face mask, takes out her electric foot filer, and begins sanding my feet. I felt like I was in a ‘Mr. Bean Movie’. It was so embarrassing to say the least, needing so much work to find new skin underneath.

My pedicure always took longer than normal as the Beautician needed more time to finish and paint my toenails. Crazy huh?

A few months later, in making my Essentially Lili Products for people to try, I thought I would make something to help keep my feet nourished.  I experimented with a few different blends, trying always to keep it natural and easy to apply.The one that I loved the most was had Peppermint and was so delish to smell and felt even better on the skin.  My feet were hydrated, fresh, soft and smooth as they enjoyed the butter, oils and Essential Oils being applied every morning and night!

Peppermint Feet soon became a favourite product.  The home-spa treatment process was easy. The trick with this home pedicure was to gently remove any dry skin from the heels using a foot filer, not the ‘cheese grater’ type apparatus. Rinse off and pat dry both feet.  Using the back of my thumbnail to take approximately half a 1/2 a thumbnail of Peppermint Feet apply the product to the heels, soles, toes, and tops of the feet, gently massaging in the process.   If a little bit of product was used, I was able to put my shoes on without needing to wear socks.   Too much product would just take longer to absorb into the skin in which case, socks would be needed and perhaps a lie down for maximum chillax!

It’s been over a year since I needed to have this long embarrassing pedicure take place.Now I can have a home-spa treatment every day!!

At Essentially Lili, I have often changed a blend to suit others that would otherwise be excluded from using a product.  In the case of the Peppermint Feet which is a favourite, I wanted to make something which included Pregnant & Expecting women so we named it Tango Twinkle Toes.  I think it’s lovely being pampered and included whilst expecting the arrival of your little one(s)!

For those that have stubborn dry feet, I made Lime Foot Repair which contains beeswax and helped heal the cracks, repair the damaged heels, and make that skin new again! The Beeswax works like a barrier, keeping the moisture locked in under the surface!!

This means that everyone can enjoy their home-spa treatment and as there is a product suitable for all.

BLOG PARTICIPATION:

Essentially Lili wants to give you the chance to pamper yourself every day, by giving away some Peppermint Feet & Tango Twinkle Toes to the best stories shared.

I want to hear about your hilarious feet stories, pampering sessions, or anything else that made you feel awkward! Sharing is Caring!

Simply fill in the rest of the following comment with your story in the comments below:
“I never forget the day I took my Super Dry Feet out to…” We will pick a winner by 26th January 2017 and notify the winner via email. Don’t forget to put your details below!

Should you wish to Contact us for more information, email info@essentiallylili.com

You can read more About Lili here, see the range of Products on offer at Shop Categories or refer to our Blog Library for more topics covered.

Kind Regards Lili @ Essentially Lili