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What is Intuitive Beauty?
With Halloween only a week away, it seems like an appropriate idea to light some candles and pull out some tarot cards to determine what your skin needs right now or perhaps glance into a crystal ball to forecast your next haircut, right? The phrase intuitive beauty has gained a occult reputation, and unless that’s the kind of stuff you’re into, it can sound like a nightmare. However, for those of us in the Nordics, intuitive beauty means taking a lesson on well-being from nature.
This year, beauty lovers have delved deep into the illusion of needing to control every aspect of our beauty lives. The beauty industry tries to resist accepting change at all costs – whether your skin is ageing, reacting to the elements or merely displaying what’s going on in your inner space, you skin is considered to be broken, so should be fixed.
“A facial gua sha treats your body at the same time as your skin, as the impacts are transported via the fascia networks throughout.”
This is not to say that we shouldn’t have perfect skin at the top of our wishlists this season – after all the value systems of the beauty world are hard wired into our society, that striving to be more beautiful has become an innate quality especially for us women and we shouldn’t feel ashamed about it. In light of the recent and ever on-going Black Lives Matter movement, we are happy to see some of the beauty standards of today being recognised for what they are, a man-made standard upheld by societal constructs.
Pondering beauty from a perspective of intuition, makes us turn to nature for answers, something people in the Nordics do quite well. Just like plants, we aren’t in control of much that happens around us; sometimes, it feels like we aren’t even in control of how we react. However, when we notice changes in our skin or hair, we often intuitively know the cause. Unlike plants in nature, though, we tend to manage these times of transition with significant amounts of guilt and shame.
Metsä/Skogen is a concept store in the heart of Helsinki promoting slow lifestyle. Together with Hetkinen Cosmetics they have created a forest inspired beauty and wellness range to help you relax and bring the the soothing effect of the forest into your home.
Instead, the intuitive beauty trend invites us to embrace the not-so-beautiful stages of transition. Our bodies speak to us in many ways, and it takes courage to listen. There can be a lot to unlearn before you trust your own inner voice and instinct, as we are used to treating symptoms, rather than allowing the root cause to get your attention. A great way to start your intuitive beauty routine is by always factoring in stress, diet, exercise, hormones and even your thoughts and emotions when navigating changes in your skin and hair. A great tip is to then focus on what your skin and hair need to release through cleansing and exfoliating, and what they need to receive in the form of serums, moisturisers and conditioners. Unpopular opinion: sometimes your skin and hair might need a break from products altogether.
Good luck on your intuitive beauty journey, be sure to engage with us on our socials to let us know how it goes!
Images courtesy of Mira Luhtala – Featured image courtesy of Metsä/Skogen