CARE BY: Christina Düsterdich
WHAT IS YOUR MORNING ROUTINE?
I'm not a morning person, but a satisfied B person, so I don't have many expectations of myself on weekday mornings.
I allow myself to have a soft start; sit up, deep breaths, roll my neck and stretch my body while I'm still in bed. Sometimes I start by welcoming the day with surya namaskar.
The first thing I do when I get up is make a glass of boiled water. I have done that for many years. It is said that drinking boiled water on an empty stomach supports the body's cleansing and maintenance of electrolyte and mineral balance. While it's getting ready to drink, I give the skin on my face a splash of cold water, dry brush, massage in my products and apply a quick make-up. I'm hungry as soon as I get up, so breakfast should preferably be easy, often it's oatmeal with fruit and some grains, but it can also be crisp bread with goat's cheese. The rest of the morning is all about getting the whole family out the door on time.
My morning luxury is the coffee I drink on my way to work – I have 45 minutes on the bus to the office, and I spend those waking up and just looking out the window, music in my ears, it's pure enjoyment.
HOW DO YOU PREFER TO SPEND AN HOUR IN YOUR OWN COMPANY?
The best thing I know is to go for a walk at my own pace in nature - it feels like an adventure.
I must have a mission for me to go. It can be picking berries, flowers, or e.g., a small photo session... What drives me out into nature is what I know I will bring back home. I feel both connected to and inspired by nature - there is a high ceiling and room for all kinds of thoughts.
An hour alone in the forest is for me the best self-therapy and I always come home with a new idea, a clarity, a calmness, a richer experience or with something that prolongs the happiness of having been close to nature. E.g. berries I can make a pie out of or fresh flowers by the bedside table.
WHAT IS YOUR BEST ADVICE FOR SHOWING SELF-LOVE AND PRIORITIZING YOURSELF IN A BUSY DAY?
One piece of advice I got myself many years ago after I became a mother was to take the time to bathe in the evening. It is tangible advice that has been good to me.
I shower in the evening, because there I have plenty of time to enjoy the self-love and luxury of bathing. If I'm alone with the children, I have the door to the bathroom ajar, but otherwise there are no rear edges or disturbances - and then I have one less thing to do in the morning.
A calm end to the day with a bath is also said to promote sleep and calm the body and senses. Personally, I feel like I get the day cleaned up and go to bed with a calmer energy.
HAVE YOU MADE A DECISION IN YOUR LIFE THAT HAS BEEN PARTICULARLY GOOD FOR YOU?
To give myself permission to follow my dreams. I use my intuition to make most decisions.
I'm not into doing 'everything right', but I'm into finding out what feels right, and then going after it, although it may be transgressive.
It is often when it has felt the most noia, to act on something, that I have moved the most, e.g., in my working life. But also in my private life, the gut feeling has turned out to be particularly good. In the last few years, my husband and I have made some wild decisions regarding our housing situation, which, even though most people thought we were crazy, have got us quite nicely on the way to what we only once dared to dream of.
WHAT ADVICE, ON CREATING A LIFE IN BALANCE, WOULD YOU GIVE YOUR YOUNGER SELF?
I have no doubt that I would have had a more harmonious relationship with the transition from being a teenager to becoming a woman if I had known more about the synergy between the inner emotional life and the female cycle. I think it was difficult to understand everything that was happening in the body at the time, it made me uncertain on many points.
It wasn't until my 30s that I have a balanced relationship with my cycle.
YOUR BEST TIP FOR A STRONG AND HEALTHY BODY AS WELL AS A MIND IN BALANCE?
I think it is very individual what the path to balance, strength and health is.
Therefore, my best tip is to feel out and align expectations with the one who knows best – you. From a skincare perspective, my best tip is 'Beautiful skin starts in your gut'. A saying that I am confirmed time and time again is true because digestion is undeniably connected to the skin. If the skin is out of balance, there is most likely something in the body or mind that is out of balance as well. Skin problems cannot only be treated symptomatically with creams, it is necessary to look holistically at skin care, to find the reason behind the skin's needs, and from there find the right treatment or lifestyle change. A stressed skin must be cared for like a stressed mind, with calmness, patience, care, and love.
Maybe it will all end up coming together into a higher unity, once you start looking with loving and curious eyes at yourself, the whole of you.
Have you always had a holistic approach to beauty care? And what does that mean to you?
When I was a child and young person, my interest in beauty was more a matter of appearance and I was preoccupied with the transformation I could make with dressing up, and later with my clothing style and makeup.
I have always had unproblematic skin and therefore did not take great care of either it or my body. My interest in beauty was playful and superficial.
I was curious about life in completely different ways and didn't pay attention to well-being and didn't have a holistic approach or understanding of what it meant until I started my education as a beautician at the age of 20.
The year before, I was in a traffic accident which could have meant death for me, instead it meant life. I felt for the first time how the inner and the outer were connected, how mental health can affect the psychological and vice versa, and how appearance was no longer the most important thing.
Since then, the holistic approach to life has been a part of me, and I have inevitably brought that into my interest in wellness and skin care.
I carry it with me everywhere, also in the way I have decorated our home; where each room has colors and furniture that support the function of the room, so that the room and those who stay in it become a whole. A living room as a grounder, a dining room as an uplifter, and an entrance hall as a welcome.
I have been on many inner journeys over the years, which have taught me how to best take care of myself, through motherhood, marriage, career ambitions, life's bumps, and trials.
Today, this means that I am aware of the totality of my choices and opt-outs.
But I will never become a fanatic, I am too curious for that.
DO YOU HAVE AN EASY BEAUTY TIP THAT WE MAY SHARE?
Dress your skin for the changing seasons just like you do your wardrobe; serum as moisture lingerie, the face cream as a form-fitting suit and face oil as the skin's warm sweater.
IF YOU COULD CHOOSE AN ACTIVITY OF YOUR OWN CHOICE THAT WOULD FILL YOU WITH LOTS OF ENERGY - WHAT WOULD IT BE?
One of my own promises to myself this year has been to accept the naturalness of needing rest and relaxation. Being rather than doing. Use rest as an active source of new energy.
I believe that we can mirror ourselves in nature. And like our own inner winter; on the days we menstruate are designed by nature to help us slow down and take precious time to regenerate, I see the season, winter, and the dark days we have now, as an occasion and call to do so same.
If I'm allowed to choose one more, it's a burst of laughter - there's nothing more energizing than crying with laughter.
Do yourself the favor of following Christina's beautiful and poetic universe at @chrisduster, where you are drawn into a world filled with self-loving everyday potpourri, a holistic approach to beauty and dreamy glimpses of fine design and home decor.
Smørslottet - Dreamers live here
In addition to being Head of Creative at the holistic beauty brand Karmameju Skincare, Christina spends her energy renovating a beautiful older house a.k.a. Smørslottet on Langeland, which becomes the family's countryhouse.
Christina and Casper are drawn to bringing the best of the past into the future and have an extraordinary sense of detail.
Follow @dreamers_live_here and be inspired by the beautiful, dreamy, and poetic glimpses - we love following the journey ourselves.
Leave a comment