Nailpolish, toothbrushes and e-string bags -oh my!

Tis the season at Essential Health...

Butter London nailpolish

Butter London believe in colour, not carcinogens, which is why they have created a complete range of hand and nail care products without the three chemical nasties formaldehyde, toluene, and DBP. There's a tonne of nail colours to choose from including Come to Bed Red, Diamond Geezer, Frilly Knickers, Scoundrel, Saucy Jack, Snog, The Full Monty and La Moss. We also stock their acetone-free nailpolish remover.

Bamboo toothbrushes

If pandas brushed their teeth, they'd choose these bamboo toothbrushes. You should too because they are biodegradable, environmentally sustainable, and only $2.95... In Australia, over 30 million toothbrushes are used and disposed of each year, amounting to approximately 1000 tonnes of landfill each year. The plastic they’re made of won’t break down in our lifetime. Nor within the lifetime of our children. No thankyou.

E-string bags

Yoga bag, gym bag, shopping bag, market bag, work bag, beach bag... The list goes on. Made from 100% cotton, available in eight pretty colours and with short or long handles. They're $3.95 each or 3 for $10. Bargain.

Burt's Bees giftpacks

Burt's Bees carfully create their beautiful products using ingredients that are the best nature has to offer. These great little packs include milk and honey body lotion, aloe and buttermilk body lotion, almond milk and beeswax hand cream, beeswax and banana handcream, miracle salve, lemon butter cuticle balm, honey lipbalm and peppermint foot cream. All for $24.95! We'd like to know how do they fit it all in there?

Stuff those stockings!

Baking is sexy.

Do you have a loyalty card at Muffin Break? Do the ladies at your local bakery know your first name?

Now I'm not saying get rid of the sweet stuff all together... Where's the fun in that? It's all about putting effort into the food you eat and knowing exactly what's in it.

So tie up your apron straps (you too boys) and get baking!

Maria’s Health Slice

1 cup spelt flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ cup coconut
¼ cup sesame seeds
½ cup raisins
1/3 cup chopped apricots or dates

¾ cup rice or oat milk
1 tablespoon honey

and crap-loads of yummy cinnamon!

Combine milk and honey. Add all other ingredients. Stir. Pour into lined lamington tin. Bake in a moderate oven for 20 mins. Keeps really well in the freezer.

Well go on.... Get baking!

After long last....

We're happy to anounce that the Essential Health Clinic is officially open!!

A hug in a tub.

A few weeks ago a forty-something year old "super mum" came into my shop at her wits end. Her nerves were frazzled due to working full time, looking after her three kids and husband and constantly visiting her elderly mother in the nursing home. She wasn't sleeping well, was suffering leg cramps at night and a racing heart. The only thing that was getting her through the day was her three mugacino's.

I gave her a tub of BioCeuticals 'Ultra Muscleze' and told her to cut back on the coffee and take deep breaths. She came back in last week with a relieved look on her face. When I asked how how the powder went she described it as a "Hug in a tub".

Aswell as containing a variety of vitamins and amino acids, Ultra Muscleze features a therapeutic dose of magnesium. Magnesium relaxes muscles to reduce spasms, supports nervous system function and assists with energy production. Drinking coffee increases the elimination of magnesium from the body and stress causes the body to use up it's magnesium at a greater pace.

The 150g Ultra Muscleze is $34.95 at Essential Health. That's a whole months worth of hugs :)

Dear parents...

Parents, please don't feed your kids space food sticks.

Unless they are in fact going to space.

Just a thought.

Our *Glowing Skin* smoothie.

Skincare ads in magazines are designed to be seductive so that you, the reader, think that if you spend your hard earned cash on their products that you'll resemble their (airbrushed) models.

If you want great skin, the truth is that your skin is a reflection of your digesion and overall internal health. And all the creams in the world aren't going to change that unless you look at your diet and lifestyle.

So start cleaning from the inside out by eating nutritious foods, drinking plenty of fresh water and have a good chat to your naturopath or nutiritonist to see what supplements can help you along the way.

Here's an example of a fantastic nutrient-dense meal that will help your skin glow....

Whizz together:

2 Tbs of protein powder or 1 raw free range egg

fresh or frozen fruit of your choice (eg. bananas, mango, blueberries, strawberries)

2 cups of dairy/rice/oat/soy milk

1 spoonful of natural yoghurt (we like Jalna or Bornhoffen)

a few good shakes of ground cinnamon

a small handful of rolled oats

1 tsp of spirulina

1 dessert spoon of coconut or flaxseed oil

Drink up!