Health Notes: Jo's Victoria Health favourites
Sarah has handed over to Jo this week for her top must-have-at-all-times products from Victoria Health, our go-to online store for expertly chosen supplements, niche beauty products and much much more; next week Sarah’s!
I can’t remember when I first discovered Victoria Health, the website co-founded by pharmacist Shabir Daya and the wonderful Gill Sinclair (can’t think how to describe her – maybe the most intrepid seeker out of the best health, wellbeing and beauty products worldwide…). Anyway, it was sometime in the mid Nineties and Victoria Health has never failed since then. We sometimes think that Shabir never sleeps as he seems to read every piece of research on every condition and relevant supplements anyone has ever written.
So Jo and I thought we’d tell you the top must-have-at-all-times products we rely on from VH. Starting with Jo:
Life Extension Bone Restore/£35 for 30 days supply. Eleven years ago, I broke my left wrist. That had hardly healed before I broke the right one – 48 hours before Sarah's wedding. And let me tell you, the champagne and painkiller combo, post-op, was quite something. Shabir recommended this supplement and I've been taking it ever since. Of course, the benefits are invisible; I haven't been for an osteoporosis test (something I plan to do this year), but my dentist has reported I don't have any bone loss in the gums, so I reckon I'll be taking this for ever more.
Thyme Out/£18 for 200ml. Occasionally and out of the blue, I get an attack of infernal itching on my shoulders. No idea why, but possibly food-related. I swipe a cotton pad drenched with this across my skin, and it takes the heat right out. I also use it for minor cuts and grazes and wouldn't be without it.
Lixirskin Universal Emulsion/£32 for 50ml. I have the highest respect for founder Colette Haydon, the cosmetics formulator behind this range. She knows better than anyone that you CAN create a one-product-fits-all skincare product. Because I travel a lot, I don't want to have a load of jars and bottles in my case, so I pack this: it works on bodies, faces and even (applied thickly and removed with a flannel), as a cleanser. Genius.
Sibergin/£17.49 for 30 days supply. This turns me from a Reliant Robin into a Formula 1 racing car, when I'm giving a speech (11 of them in March, sharing the story of Green & Black's!). I don't take Sibergin too often, but it revs me up without dropping me down hard, the way caffeine does. I've found it useful when trying to get my energy back after viruses, too.
Aromatherapy Associates Inner Strength Bath & Shower Oil/£55 for 55ml. Less well-known than AA's legendary Deep Relax Bath & Shower Oil (which I would never dare to run out of) is this bath oil. It's backbone in a bottle. I have gifted to many, many friends, too, who are having a hard time with sick family members, battling illness themselves, or have been bereaved. And everyone has said that it really helps.
