Tata Harper

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The Wind Down

Sunday is my spa day. I don’t have a lot of time to go to spas even though I love to take care of my skin and would get facials on a weekly basis if I could. So I have learned how to do them myself and I have this little ritual that I do every Sunday with my girls. Sometimes my son joins in too!

I start winding down around 7pm. I light aromatherapy diffusers, which I typically have going all weekend, and we all sit down on the floor or if it’s the summer we do it on the porch off my bedroom. I have my portable steamer, lots of towels, bowls with water and a couple of sponges. In the diffusers, I have a mixture that is grapefruit, geranium and rose – it’s very uplifting. There’s always music, just whatever is playing on the radio, but at the weekend it is on all day. I try to do my diary at around 9pm when my kids have gone to bed. I scan the week to see what’s going on, and if I’m travelling that’s when I do my bag – which takes forever, literally hours, because there’s so much to consider. I take care of last minute emails then too.

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The Routine

I love starting with my Nourishing Oil Cleanser. On a Sunday night I love doing several cleansers. When the skin is perfectly clean is when your face will really absorb all the products you layer on after, so I’m a big believer in that. I massage the cleanser in really well and remove it with warm water and sponges. Then I follow with the Purifying Cleanser to remove pollution. That’s a cool cleanser because it transforms texture multiple times; it goes on like a gel, feels like an oil while you’re working it in and then rinses off as a milk. Part of its technology is to bring the temperature of the skin down, so it also feels very refreshing on. At that point my skin always feels super clean. Then I do the next cleanser. At this point I turn on the steamer and get it going before doing the Regenerating Cleanser – that’s my last cleanse. This cleanser I don’t remove, but leave on and layer with the Resurfacing Mask – it amplifies my glow; we call it the glow getter. I’ll leave that on for around 15 minutes at the end of my triple cleansing, but it’s also a good tip if you want great skin for an event or a party and you don’t have a lot of time. I do all of my cleansers on dry skin, because they’re more like treatments than cleansers.

Once that mask is on I turn on the steamer and use it for just a couple of minutes, just to open my pores and activate some of the enzymes in the products. Then I remove it all and use the Hydrating Floral Essence. I love to saturate my skin with the floral essence before adding anything else. Now my skin can breathe, it’s decongested and glowy and it’s ready to receive the treatments. I add a few pumps of the Rejuvenating Serum then put Eye Cream on. Finally I put a couple of pumps of the Reparative Moisturizer in my hands with two drops of our Replenishing Nutrient Complex and mix that up and layer it on. I massage it in really well and take a little extra time doing that on a Sunday; sometimes I use a jade roller and take it right down to my neck and around my eyes.

I take baths every day but on Sunday night I prepare an extra special bath. First I bathe with my kids and then I kick them out and stay in for another 15 minutes for a little bit of me time. I use bath salts with lavender and ginger and then I use a concentrated herbal bath solution from Germany that I add in. I like scents that are stimulating. I use the Dr h rose bath milk and a yoghurt probiotic powder that I mix up and use. It’s a whole ritual! Before I get in I use our Smoothing Body Scrub and only do that once a week on a Sunday. I find baths so relaxing; it’s the one thing I look forward to every night. A lot of ideas come when I’m in the bath and I process a lot of things from the day.

I love using the Redefining Body Balm as soon as I get out, because when my skin is warm it melts in so well. I keep it on my nightstand. I am a huge hair person. I use the Revitalising Body Oil and soak my hair in that completely. I brush it in then and let it soak in then I do a little braid and sleep with it in. I shampoo on Monday mornings. While the hair oil is on I never sit still, I’m always doing things — whether it’s sorting out my closet, or looking at my emails or my diary for the week ahead. I’m letting my hair grow and so I like experimenting with curling tongs. I have one that has a clamp built into it for waves. It’s so easy and I like to travel with it.

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Bedtime

I aim to be in bed by 10.30pm because on Sunday nights I like to watch a movie in bed. I apply the Redefining Body Balm but this time on my feet and legs and I also have aromatherapy oils by my bed. Depending on how I’m feeling I apply them to the soles of my feet or on my neck. I need around 7-8 hours sleep a night to feel my best. Right before lights out I do a little routine that I learnt from a meditation guru that I know. It’s just a little mantra and I also have a few techniques that I do with pulsating lights. I just like things that relax the brain. I do some meditation every morning and every night, just for 15 minutes. I drink either chamomile with honey and milk or some golden milk with turmeric, and I always sleep well.

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Monday Morning

I set an alarm for a Monday morning, on the weekdays there’s definitely an alarm! I don’t use one on a weekend, which I find such a luxury. But Monday morning it’s set for around 6.30am and I’m straight up, engaged and ready. First things first I exfoliate on dry skin and then I take a quick shower and then I do a pared back skin regimen but minus the triple cleansing, because there’s no time! I feel generally pretty excited about the week ahead, I know what to expect and I feel good to go.