Water isn’t just water when it comes to skin care

A few years ago, I entered a particularly challenging time of my life regarding my health. I had decided to stop taking the oral contraceptive pill (aka ‘the pill’) and within 8 weeks, along with other health challenges, my skin broke out with uncontrollable, angry acne. This gave my self-confidence, of which I had worked so hard to build up over the previous years, a big kick in the gut. It was at this point that I started to take a deeper look into ways to heal my skin from both the inside out, and the outside in.

This unexpected situation I found myself in, guided me to dive deeper into holistic health and looking at my body as a whole, as what conventional medical doctors were suggesting to help ‘heal my body’ didn’t sit right with me…something inside me was screaming “more pills are not the answer”. Having already completed an undergraduate and postgraduate university degree, critical thinking was embedded in me. This combined with my naturally inquisitive nature and that screaming voice inside, led to me explore alternative options to heal my body.

I began to research ways to heal my skin naturally and the 3 things I keep coming back to included, clean filtered water, gut health and avoiding chemicals/toxins.

Being a Registered Nurse, I already knew that our bodies are made up predominantly of water and that in order to function optimally at a cellular level, we need to be properly hydrated, so I began to investigate what my drinking water actually contained. I mean, water is literally the one thing we cannot survive without, so it makes sense to ensure that we give our bodies only the best.

As I began to learn more about the hidden nasties lurking in our everyday tap water such as rust, fluoride, chlorine, heavy metals and various other chemicals, not to mention the potential contamination of herbicides and pesticides that make their way into our water supply, I decided I didn’t want to be putting these toxins into my body. Particularly chlorine due to its potentially damaging affect on the gut microbiome. I was on a mission to be my healthiest self and give my organs the best circumstances possible to detoxify my body of years and years’ worth of prescription medication and environmental toxin exposure. I innately knew that this was the only way for my body to truly heal in the most sustainable way.

Therefore, after much research, I made the best investment ever and got myself a Waters Co AceBio+ Filtration Jug. I immediately not only tasted the difference in the water quality, but I felt more hydrated. It is a hard feeling to explain and one that I think you can’t quite understand until you make the change yourself, but I just felt amazing. Just knowing that I was giving my body the highest quality filtered, remineralised, alkaline water possible, also helped me to feel incredible. One of my favourite things about this filtration system, apart from the amazingly delicious water it produces, is that after it removes all of the contaminants, it adds all the good stuff back into the water to truly hydrate your body.

Before I continue, I just want to set the scene. I am the type of person whom when encounters a challenge, will tackle it not only head on, but from every angle possible to ensure that I cross that finish line with flying colours. So, whilst I was making changes to my drinking water, I also began eating a more nutritious, wholefood, organic diet to support my gut (leading me to study Functional Nutrition), re-evaluated my exercise regime, worked with multiple holistic health practitioners, and switched to living a low-tox life to minimise my external exposure to toxins and chemicals.

I quickly became both fascinated and shocked at the amount of toxins we are exposed to both willingly and unwillingly, each and every day. Like most everyday people, I was not aware that the average women absorbs 2.5kg of chemicals every year from her make-up routine alone; OR that there are over 1400 chemicals out there that physically disrupt our body’s hormones; OR that the word ‘fragrance’ on an ingredient label is actually an umbrella term that disguises up to hundreds of chemicals; OR (the BIGGEST SHOCK of all) that 287 different types of chemicals including plastics, fire retardants and pesticides have been found in umbilical cord blood samples. This information highlighted not only how toxins can enter our body in what we eat and drink, but also how absorbent our skin. This quickly led me to re-thinking what I was putting on my body and also the water I was showering in. assess

During this awakening, with the help of my husband, BARE by Bauer was conceived. The creation of BARE by Bauer was born not only to help my own skin, but also to help other people navigate the challenging world of skin care products. I wanted to create a brand that that used only real ingredients to support the body’s innate healing by harnessing nature’s goodness, and also to take the confusion out of interpreting ingredient labels. I also wanted products that are toxin free to minimise potential harm to us and mother nature, as well as products that are created from a place of love and good intention. I wanted all this, whilst creating a brand that remained affordable so that everyone could access 100% natural goodness, so that is what we did.

Currently the BARE by Bauer range includes everything from deodorants to facial serums, and body scrubs to bamboo cotton buds. We are in the process of expanding our business to provide a more education-based service as well as currently working with Herbalist and Naturopath Melonie Thompson from Groundwork Health and Wellbeing, to create an organic herbal tea range, including one specifically designed to support the body in detoxifying and promoting skin health.

With all of these changes in my life, came positive changes in my health. Along with eating a more nutritious, wholefood, organic diet, changing my drinking water, and using toxin free products, I began to start noticing changes in my skin and overall health. Initially it was an exacerbation of my acne as I truly believe my body was finally able to start ridding itself of toxins, but after a few months of “detoxifying” my skin started to heal. Whilst I am still on a journey of healing, that has brought with it plenty of ups and downs and learnings along the way, it has enabled me to learn so much about our body’s innate healing abilities if given the right circumstances and opportunity.

Stay tuned for part 2 which explains how the Waters Co Shower Filter has helped heal my skin and my top tips for glowing skin.