Read all about it! Our New Annique Glow Guide.

Here it is! Our first Glow Guide post where we talk about simple and effortless ways to glow inside and out to radiate confidence, energy, and beauty – by simply being you!

I am excited to share this with you because it is a topic that is close to my heart. I am passionate about encouraging women to love being just who they are, because there is no else we should be. And so here is what you can expect from the Glow Guide.

First off, we'll talk Annique Rooibos skincare. We'll talk about the ins and outs of new products as well as our tried and tested products. We'll talk about the rituals of skincare and about what it takes to age well, exhibiting that Annique Rooibos glow.

But beauty is more than skin deep, it is also our unique way of being in the world. To truly glow, I believe it isn’t enough to only take care of our skin, we need to care for our inner person too. The Glow Guide will share ways a woman can simply relish being who she is.

I often find that women don't love being who they are. I know because that was me for the longest time. I struggled for many years with low self-esteem and lack of confidence. For so long I didn’t even know what it was to be me. And so I did what many of us do, I looked outside of myself to find out who I was.

I sought affirmation from others so that I would feel included and that I belonged. I looked at home décor and fashion magazines to tell me what I should have and how I should look. Needless to say, I found that I didn’t measure up, particularly in the looks department. I realised that, being pear-shaped, I didn’t have the ideal figure. I’m rather bootylicious, as the Australians like to say.

And I certainly don't have the buxom blonde look I thought I had to have when I was growing up. Trust me, there is nothing wrong with being buxom or blonde. If that is you, revel in it and enjoy it! But it’s not me. And so my struggle was: how do I be who I am, with my body-shape, my darker looks, with my demeanour and my way of being in the world? And the question that followed was: do I even know what that is?

Do you know?

I think we lose ourselves somewhere along the way. The irony is that in trying to find out who we are, we lose touch with ourselves and often become someone we think we should be. And that’s sad. In fact, it’s a tragedy. However, the gift of mid-life is that we often start to seek ourselves out again. Through the Glow Guide I want to help us all along on that journey.

I have some questions for you.

How far do you live from yourself? Do you live in your own body, or does your body just move you around because, in reality, you live outside of it wanting to be somebody else, wanting to live somebody else’s life, wanting to have things other people have? And when you look in the mirror, how do you feel about the face that looks back at you? Do you love being her?

In the Glow Guide I will share with you simple stories of how I progressed from being a woman with low self-esteem and living outside of myself, to a place where I was enjoying my life (even though I often felt that I wasn’t enough), to where I am now, a woman who is far more confident about who she is. In fact, I love being me. We should all love being who we are so much so that we wouldn’t trade places with anyone!

It wasn’t so long ago that I believed otherwise. I thought I would need to attach myself to the coattails of other more successful people to move myself forward because I could never be enough on my own. Yet, none of that is true. I’ve come to understand it is a lie. Is there a lie you may be believing about yourself?

If my story resonates with you then be of good courage, there is good news! Coming home to ourselves is not that difficult.

Yes, it takes courage. Yes, it takes commitment. Yes, it takes conviction. But all you have to do is take small steps that, in their effortlessness, have the power to bring you home to yourself. You can be confident by simply being you and that – for me – is the real meaning of beauty.

Beauty is your unique way of being in the world.

For sure, skincare is a part of that beauty. What you use to take care of your skin, and where, when and how you care for your skin, speaks value to you as a woman, and when we value ourselves we start tapping into what it is to be beautiful.

Coco Chanel, the famous French fashion designer, said:

“Look for the woman in the dress. If there is no woman, there is no dress.”

I truly believe that a woman who is comfortable and at ease in her skin exudes presence. This not only makes her a beauty to behold, but something more magical happens, it frees other women to be who they are too. That is the essence of the Glow Guide. I want it to encourage each of us to feel beautiful in our skins and to glow because we love being who we are.

There will be a myriad of simple suggestions from skincare to body care to soul care that will have you glowing, inside and out, radiating confidence, energy and beauty by simply being you!

Trust me, you don’t need to be anybody else.