ENIKŌ’s ‘Four Pillars’ of Holistic Skin Health

Thank you for checking in to the ENIKŌ® community! Your support inspires us every day as we continue to create innovative solutions for your skincare needs. We are excited to share some education on our latest creation and how it aligns with our holistic philosophy.

As we embrace 2025, it’s the perfect time to focus on ENIKŌ’s ‘Four Pillars’ of holistic skin health:

The Mind & Skin Connection
The Gut & Skin Connection
Nutrition & Skin Connection, and
Genes & Skin Connection.

Moving ahead, we will delve into these pillars one by one, sharing educational insights and practical tips to enhance your beauty from the inside out. On this occasion, we’re highlighting the ‘Mind & Skin Connection’, emphasizing how our mental well-being significantly influences our skin’s vitality and how to manage stress and emotions. Next time we’ll shift our focus to the Gut & Skin Connection, emphasizing how maintaining gut health is crucial. Both pillars are essential for cultivating radiant skin and overall well-being, and we’re here to support you every step of the way.

To guide you on this journey, we’re introducing the ENIKŌ® Gold Plated Copper Roller, a revolutionary tool that embodies our holistic philosophy and supports our Four Pillars approach.

Understanding the Mind & Skin Connection

The Mind & Skin Connection highlights how mental health directly influences skin vitality. Stress, anxiety, and emotional fluctuations can manifest as skin issues, leading to breakouts, dullness, and premature aging. This connection is particularly crucial during the holiday season, as increased demands, family gatherings and seasonal pressures can elevate stress levels and, consequently, cortisol production.

Cortisol and Skin Aging

Cortisol, known as the stress hormone, plays a significant role in how our bodies respond to stress. When cortisol levels rise due to chronic stress, it can trigger a cascade of negative effects on our skin:

Increased Inflammation: Elevated cortisol can lead to inflammation in the body, which is linked to various skin conditions such as acne, eczema, and rosacea. This inflammation accelerates the aging process by breaking down collagen and elastin, essential proteins that keep skin firm and youthful.
Decreased Moisture: High cortisol levels can lead to a decrease in moisture levels in the skin, resulting in dryness, flakiness, and a dull complexion which exacerbates the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
Impaired Barrier Function: Chronic stress can weaken the stratum corneum, skin's natural barrier, making it more susceptible to environmental stressors, irritants, and harmful bacteria, leading to further skin issues.
Hormonal Imbalances: Stress can also lead to hormonal imbalances that may result in breakouts and changes in skin texture, further affecting your skin’s overall health.

Sleep and Skin Aging

Quality sleep is vital for maintaining healthy skin. Poor sleep or insufficient rest can exacerbate stress, leading to elevated cortisol levels. During deep sleep, the body repairs itself, and skin cells regenerate. Lack of sleep can hinder this process, leading to increased signs of aging, including fine lines, dullness, and a compromised skin barrier.

Sleep Quality Tips

To enhance your sleep quality and support your skin health, consider these tips:

Avoid eating late at night, as this can disrupt your sleep cycle and lead to poor quality rest.
Refrain from using electronics at least one hour before bed. The blue light emitted from screens can interfere with melatonin production, making it harder to fall asleep.
Aim for quality, deep sleep between 10 PM and 12 AM for optimal rejuvenation and skin repair.

Fascia and Skin Health

The ENIKŌ® Gold Plated Copper Roller not only enhances skin vitality but also promotes fascia health. Fascia is a connective tissue that surrounds muscles, organs, and nerves, playing a critical role in overall body function and appearance. When fascia is tight or restricted, it can lead to tension, discomfort, and a dull appearance in the skin. By incorporating the roller into your routine, you can help release tension in the fascia, promoting better circulation and a brighter, healthier complexion.

Harnessing the Power of the ENIKŌ® Gold Plated Copper Roller

The ENIKŌ® Gold Plated Copper Roller is designed to facilitate the release of tension through its gentle rolling action, which improves blood flow, relaxes tight muscles, and promotes lymphatic drainage. Regular use of this roller can support fascia health and help reduce cortisol levels, the stress hormone known to negatively impact your skin. Incorporating this tool into your daily routine creates a calming ritual that nurtures both your mind and skin.

Creating Your Ritual

To maximize the benefits of the ENIKŌ® Gold Plated Copper Roller, consider the following techniques, prioritizing lymphatic drainage in order to mobilize toxins:

Begin by gently tapping along your collarbone and rolling above and below this area to stimulate lymphatic flow.
Move under your jaw and just below the ear, applying the same light motion.
Sweep along the jawline outward and continue up to the forehead.
Roll down in front of and behind the ear, allowing drainage towards the collarbone.
Frequency: Use the roller 1-2 times daily—once in the morning to awaken your skin and again in the evening to unwind.
Starting Point: Begin on your décolleté with relaxed shoulders. Position your tongue gently on the roof of your palate to encourage full-body alignment and focus.
Mindfulness & Gratitude: With each movement, bring your awareness to the present moment. Embrace a sense of gratitude, fostering a positive mindset that rejuvenates your spirit.
Gentle Rolling: After lymphatic drainage, move the roller in soft, upward motions to encourage circulation and alleviate tension. You can also incorporate a gentle tap-tap technique to further stimulate blood flow.
Breathing Synchronization: Synchronize your breathing with each roll. Inhale deeply for a count of 4, hold for 4, and exhale for a count of 8 to calm your nervous system and support relaxation.
Savor the Ingredients: As you roll, indulge in the luxurious botanicals of your ENIKŌ skincare products. Their healing properties harmonize beautifully with the roller, delivering deep nourishment to your skin.
Intention & Closure: Conclude your ritual by setting a gentle intention for the day ahead or preparing your mind for restful sleep. This final step brings a sense of wholeness and fosters a harmonious connection between mind and skin.

Support Your Mind and Skin with Tonic Adaptogens

As a naturopath, I recommend incorporating personalized tonic adaptogens into your routine to enhance your mind and skin connection. Adaptogens such as Nigella, Holy Basil, Schisandra, and Ziziphus can help manage stress levels and promote balance, ultimately enhancing your skin's vitality. These herbal allies work to regulate cortisol production, fostering resilience against stress-related skin issues. Incorporating these adaptogens into your daily routine can be as simple as adding them to your favorite smoothies or herbal teas, ensuring you receive their powerful benefits throughout the day.

Quick Checklist for Your Skincare Journey

Schedule time for your daily roller ritual (1-2 times a day).
Incorporate tonic adaptogens into your routine for stress management.
Prioritize quality sleep for optimal skin health.
Avoid late-night eating and screen time at least one hour before bed.

Looking Forward

This exploration of the Mind & Skin Connection is just the beginning. Next we will delve into the Gut & Skin Connection, focusing on the importance of maintaining gut health and its impact on your skin. Together, we will empower you to achieve radiant, balanced skin and overall wellbeing in order to:

UNEARTH YOUR GLOW

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Unearth Glowing Skin: The ENIKŌ Approach to Slow Aging

October 24, 2024

In a society that often equates beauty with youth, it's easy to feel pressured to alter our appearance or conform to fleeting trends. But it's time to pause and ask ourselves: Why do we feel the need to meet an external standard? Aging is a natural process, and our skin is an authentic map of our experiences, emotions, and lifestyle choices. At ENIKŌ, we believe in celebrating your unique beauty and nurturing radiant skin from the inside out. We go beyond temporary fixes, focusing on true nourishment that encourages your skin's natural healing processes. Have you ever used a skincare product that left your skin feeling dry, tight, or overly cleansed? These signs indicate that the product isn't providing the deep, nutrient-rich support your skin needs but is instead stripping away mostly beneficial layers of your stratum corneum. Our goal is to enhance your natural beauty by delivering pure nutrients that support and retrain your skin cells for optimal function. We believe in the wisdom of nature and only use pure, concentrated botanicals, bioactive minerals, and plant-based nutrients. Our formulas are free from synthetics, fillers, and harsh chemicals—just the essentials your skin craves. We invite you to rethink your skincare routine and discover an approach that genuinely aligns with your body’s needs. Unlock Your Skin’s Potential: Integrative Beauty Practices Our integrative beauty practices go beyond topical treatments. Here are some key components of the ENIKŌ method that help you achieve glowing, youthful skin: Lymphatic Health: Regular use of tools like the ENIKŌ Gold Plated Copper Roller can help activate your lymphatic system, reducing puffiness and promoting a clearer complexion. By moving stagnant lymph, you encourage the flow of vital nutrients and support detoxification. Nutrient-Dense Skincare: ENIKŌ’s products are packed with vitamins, antioxidants, and essential fatty acids that penetrate deeply to nourish your skin cells. This internal support enhances your skin’s resilience and radiance. Mindful Nutrition: We believe that glowing skin starts from within. By incorporating nutrient-rich foods into your diet, you can boost your skin’s natural healing abilities. ENIKŌ offers guidance on dietary practices that support healthy, vibrant skin. Biohacking and Personalized Herbal Support: Through the use of adaptogens, targeted nutritional supplements and herbal blends, you can support your body’s innate healing processes and optimize your skincare results. ENIKŌ’s holistic approach views beauty as the harmony between body, mind, and environment. Our vision is to help you nurture this balance through skincare solutions that respect your body’s natural rhythms. We offer more than products. Stay tuned to our Journal entries for tools and practices to empower your skin and spirit to thrive. Whether through mindful nutrition, biohacking techniques, or personalized herbal treatments, we aim to enhance your inner vitality and outer glow.

ENIKŌ's Top 8 Rituals For Glowing Skin

May 30, 2023

Glowing skin begins with effective, simple daily rituals. 4 minutes, twice a day, connecting the mind and body, can have you radiating from the inside and out. 1. Check your skincare ingredients. If the first ingredient is water and it contains perfume/fragrance and sulphates/sulfates, it’s time to let it go. 2. Use your skin care routine as an opportunity for mindfulness and self-care. Set a timer for four minutes and use this opportunity to connect with yourself, taking deep breaths, releasing any tension from the entire body, and feel empowered knowing that glowing, plumper looking skin is in your hands. 3. Eat the rainbow. Every day, try and consume at least four different fruits and vegetables to make sure you are getting a whole range of phytonutrients in your diet. 4. Be considerate of the amount of acidic food and drink you consume and try to limit it to a maximum of 20% of your overall diet. This includes being mindful of alcohol, caffeine, dairy and sugar. These can cause dehydration, breakouts and lead to premature ageing. 5. Ever experienced dry, flaky, rough or dull skin? The best cure is to hydrate from the inside out. Start by aiming for eight glasses of spring or filtered water each day and watch the transformation begin. 6. Get at least seven hours of sleep each night. Sleep is the best opportunity for our body to repair, restore and recover. 7. Be mindful of sun exposure. Vitamin D is so important for overall health but too much exposure to UV can be harmful. Check out the app D-minder to help you calculate how much and when to spend time in the sun. 8. Cleanse your skin every night. Use a gentle cleanser, ideally an oily cleanser, to remove makeup and all traces of daily grime and pollution. Remember, consistency is key. Start with 1 or two habits each week and keep adding to them week by week for the best, lasting results. For more information on ENIKŌ's famous skincare techniques including facial yoga, facial reflexology, acupressure and more, make sure to follow @eniko_skincare and @eniko_facial_yoga_plus on Instagram.

Let’s Begin With Skin Basics…

June 1, 2021

The skin has an amazing array of functions. It envelops the body providing a flexible, air and watertight barrier between our body’s tissues and the environment. It provides protection from a range of harmful environmental factors such as temperature, mechanical injury, radiation, chemicals and toxins, bacteria, viruses and parasites, to name a few. The skin regulates our body’s temperature in a number of ways such as insulation, perspiration and blood circulation. The skin also contains five kinds of sensory nerve receptors to form the somatosensory system which provides feedback to the brain about the immediate environment. Last but certainly not least, the skin also plays an aesthetic role. For better or worse, society holds aesthetics in high regard. For this reason, most are concerned about appearance and a major part of that is the condition of the skin. Generally speaking, people try to look after or improve their skin by using topical products and services, a testament to the size of the beauty industry. Most however, don’t give much thought to the fact that skin condition is not just a reflection of how the skin is maintained externally, but is also a result of internal health. The body, and in-turn skin, needs the correct care, conditions and nutrients in order to function and look its best. This is why we need to go back to the basics. The skin is the largest organ of the body and is divided into three layers, the epidermis, the dermis and the subcutaneous layer. It contains about 70% water, with the remainder being protein, fats (approx. 50% ceramides, 35% cholesterol and 15% free fatty acids), trace minerals, nucleic acids and numerous other elements. The epidermis is relatively thin and is made up of three main groups of cells. The main cells are keratinocytes (skin cells). These develop in the subcutaneous layer and, over approximately one month, migrate to the stratum corneum (surface) where they are shed. Mental note: remember the ‘stratum corneum’ as we will discuss this a lot more in posts to come. The other two main cells are melanocytes (pigment cells) and langerhans cells (immune cells). Next is the dermis. This is a much deeper layer at approximately 20 to 30 times thicker. Here you can find the specialized proteins of collagen and elastin that form various sizes and types of fibers. Other types of proteins form a complex gel that surround these fibers creating an area called the extracellular matrix. The lower most layer, where keratinocytes are formed, has a number of functions. It houses blood and lymphatic vessels as well as nerves. This layer also contains collagen fibers along with other substances called proteoglycans or glycosoaminoglycans (GAGs). Here you can find fat cells which, don’t just help prevent the body from the cold, but also provide protection from mechanical injury. The thickness of this layer varies depending on the person and the body area. Like everything in the body, the skin requires certain nutrients to make constituents such as keratin, elastin, collagen and GAGs. Essentially, the body should get all these nutrients from food. Some people though, end up more deficient in these nutrients than others, which may be why certain people look worse off than others for their age. Without the key nutrients, lifestyle and environmental factors, skin begins to deteriorate and signs of aging, such as wrinkles and age spots develop. Skin therapy and supplementing the skin with nutrients, can however slow down the aging process. The trouble is, we assume skincare products and services, which provide short term improvements, will also be beneficial in the long term. Unfortunately, this is not necessarily the case. Arguably one of the most important things to consider is how to support and enhance the skin’s ability to function and regenerate effectively. Second to this are the long term effects of what skin is exposed to. These two factors will greatly affect the skin’s ability to function optimally for many years to come. Achieving a balance doesn’t just involve using the right products, but reviewing what is going on internally to cause symptoms and treat conditions such as pigmentation, acne, rosacea, broken capillaries etc. It is essential to address the cause and not just the symptom. Stay tuned for upcoming hints tips and information on how to effectively look after and treat your skin and your health.

Does the stratum corneum interest you? It should…

June 1, 2021

In our last blog, one of the basics we covered was the layers of the skin. Do you remember the ‘mental note’? No stress if not, it was the ‘stratum corneum’ also known as ‘the horny layer’. The stratum corneum, or SC as we’ll refer to from here on in, is the outermost layer of the skin. Previously, this layer was considered to be a lifeless membrane that merely provided some mechanical protection from the outside world and prevented water loss from within. Over the last half a century or so, studies have emerged showing that in addition to the previous simplistic assessment of this layer, the SC has biological properties and functions that directly and substantially contribute to, not just skin health, but health in general. The main champion of this research was Professor Albert Kligman who can be credited with pioneering studies into the SC and founding, what is now known as, Corneobiology. His work was furthered by Dr. Peter Elias who established ten major functions of the SC, with Kligman adding a further six. We believe the following stratum corneum functions are worth noting as they have a considerable impact on skin health and appearance: Permeability – A healthy SC will allow for effective absorption and excretion. Absorption via the skin, although vital, can be a pro and a con. It can be extremely useful when applying quality products that can improve or maintain the SC, deeper skin layers, or health in general. However, it also allows for the absorption of harmful environmental chemicals including ones commonly found in mainstream skincare products, so be mindful of your environment, and what you apply to your skin. Antimicrobial – A healthy SC will aid in protecting against bacteria and viruses. It does this via the acid mantle, being a slightly acidic layer (pH ranging from 4.5 to 6.2) of ceramides, free fatty acids and cholesterol. This acidic environment provides protection from microbes. If the SC’s homeostasis is compromised, so are its defenses, allowing microbes to invade affecting the skin and body’s health and appearance. Antioxidant – The SC regulates the production of antioxidants, in particular vitamin D, which protects against free radicals brought on by photo-oxidative stress, arguably the largest contributor to the signs of aging. Psychosensory – The SC provides feedback to the brain of its immediate surroundings. In order for the right messages to be transmitted, and the body to react appropriately, the SC must be healthy and working effectively. Hydration – The SC doesn’t just provide a mechanical barrier to water loss as previously thought. It is in fact permeable and regulates transepidermal water loss via the same layer that provides microbial protection. The hydrophobic properties of this ‘lipid layer’ (mental note for our next blog), can allow or prevent water loss, keeping the lower layers of the skin appropriately hydrated leaving skin moist and plump. Initiates inflammation – The SC can activate cytokines as a function of the immune system. Again, this can be a pro or a con. A proper functioning SC will trigger the immune system and cause inflammation as a defense mechanism when it senses a threat. However, a compromised SC can trigger inflammation at inappropriate times leading to troublesome skin conditions. Due to its diverse functions, the SC has attracted the attention of a number of scientific disciplines including molecular biologists, anatomists, physiologists, pharmacologists, geneticists and psychologists to name a few. This, in itself, vindicates the complex and vital role the SC plays in how the body functions, which is why ENIKŌ products focus on repairing and maintaining a healthy SC. Now that we have covered the basics of skin and in particular the SC, in future posts we will elaborate further on the stratum corneum, as well as lead into the importance of using appropriate products. We are starting to hear more and more about particular ingredients being harmful, so we will explain exactly why, and how to make sure your skin functions optimally and, in turn, have it looking as youthful and radiant as it should. Stay tuned! Sources and further information can be found at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1468-2494.2011.00644.x https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3175800/