James - The Glow Plan Face Massage for Happy, Healthy Skin in 4 Weeks

This book is for my big brother Simon and little sister Lizzie, you inspire me in more ways than you can ever imagine.

The Glow Plan

Abigail James

First published in the UK and USA in 2022 by

Watkins, an imprint of Watkins Media Limited

Unit 11, Shepperton House, 8393 Shepperton Road

London N1 3DF

Design and typography copyright Watkins Media Limited 2022

Text copyright Abigail James 2022

Photography copyright Katrina Lipska 2022

Illustrations copyright Watkins Media Limited 2022

The right of Abigail James to be identified as the Author of this text has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

Publisher: Fiona Robertson

Commissioning Editor: Anya Hayes

Assistant Editor: Brittany Willis

Head of Design: Karen Smith

Senior Designer: Kate Cromwell

Photographer: Katrina Lipska

Illustrations: Alice Claire Coleman and Kate Cromwell

Production: Uzma Taj

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-78678-595-4

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed in the United Kingdom by TJ Books

www.watkinspublishing.com

CONTENTS

Introduction

Welcome to the Glow Plan! This book is for you if you lack energy, you never seem to have enough time for yourself, you suffer from niggling health problems and know that all of this is affecting your skin. Perhaps your complexion has lost its glow. Maybe youve noticed a few extra lines and wrinkles. Perhaps youre tired of those dark under-eye circles. Or maybe you just want to step off the daily hamster wheel and gain the headspace you need to make better choices for yourself and your skin.

If you simply want to dial up your wellbeing and get glowing skin, youre in the right place. This plan is dedicated to addressing what your mind and body need to feel radiant, vibrant and youthful at every age.

The focus of the Glow Plan is daily facial massage. Ive been specializing in facial massage for decades long before it became a social-media craze! Having trained professionally in a wide variety of techniques and methodologies and performed massage on thousands of faces in my clinic I can tell you that its much more than just a fad. Its been an ongoing passion of mine throughout my career and Im thrilled to have the opportunity to share my exclusive facial-massage exercises with you, so you can discover just how transformative it is too. This is your step-by-step, day-by-day plan to help you feel your most beautiful self and really glow!

GLOW [verb] to look attractive because you are happy and healthy

Whats Different about the Glow Plan?

There are thousands of books about skincare out there. So, whats different about this one? As an aesthetician with more than sixteen years experience, Im a huge believer in great skincare products and treatments. However, choosing the right products, understanding the labels and personalizing your routine is only one piece of the puzzle. To get and maintain glowing skin as we age, we need to look at the complete picture of our physical and mental wellbeing.

As a woman in my mid-forties (at the time of writing), I know this from personal experience. But this plan spans more broadly than that. During my career, Ive treated everyone from teenagers to those in their seventies and beyond. This experience has given me a unique insight not simply into how our skin ages, but why. Ive been able to map common causes, symptoms and ways of addressing lines, wrinkles, loss of firmness, dryness, adult acne, rosacea and generally lacklustre skin that has lost its glow.

The Glow Plan will address many facets of physical and mental wellbeing that play into the health and youthfulness of our skin. Well explore the quality of your sleep, diet, gut health, exercise and hormones. Well even look at how long you spend sitting at your desk, whether you live in a polluted environment, how much time you spend in nature and what supplements you may need to add into your daily routine. Naturally, well also address the marketing spin around skincare products, weed out anything youre using thats not working for your skin and discover how to select the right active ingredients for you.

And lets not forget your mental and emotional health, which has a symbiotic relationship with the quality of your skin. Stress and anxiety trigger our nervous system and a cascade of chemical processes that affect our skin on a cellular level, causing inflammation, collagen breakdown and accelerated ageing. Likewise, when our skin looks and feels dull, dry, saggy, sensitive and patchy, our confidence tends to drop. That inner critic shouts louder, and we enter a vicious cycle of negativity.

The Glow Plan is your opportunity to break the cycle and form new habits that benefit all aspects of your wellbeing. My wish for you is that by the end of the plan, you feel happier, have a sense of what beautiful means to you and know what you need to do to cultivate that inner and outer glow.

What Do I Mean by Ageing Well?

Ageing is part of life and one that we should embrace. For years, women in particular have been subjected to a social narrative that tells them ageing is bad. I believe this narrative is changing, but theres still a long way to go.

So, when I talk about ageing well, I dont mean you should conform to social pressure. This is about doing whats best for you as an individual at a cellular, physical, emotional and intellectual level. Its about maintaining good health, finding balance and retraining our over-taxed brains to be more calm and mindful, so we can relish the joy of life and look and feel our best.

Happiness, health and how our skin looks in the mirror are all inextricably linked. Our skin is part of our identity, and as we age, we dont need to hide away or lose our sense of self. Instead, we can nurture our inner confidence, get radiant skin and feel better than ever. Whatever your age, you can still have healthy skin thats full of life. This is what I mean by ageing well.

Ageing doesnt mean giving up on style and individuality; it doesnt mean abandoning fashion and living in comfy slippers and flannel knickers - Twiggy

My Story

Like many women, hormonal changes have shaped my life and wellbeing. I had my first child at the age of twenty-three and suffered from the first of two episodes of postnatal depression. Ive been on and off antidepressants for much of my adult life. This is not uncommon, and I have learned its not anything to be ashamed of. If we had a physical ailment we would not question taking medication to support it! These days, Im feeling the effects of an early menopause and the related effects on my body, skin and self-confidence.

I tell you all this because no ones life is without challenge. Yet, if theres one thing Ive learnt over the decades, its that we have a huge amount of power to change the narrative, overcome challenges and restore that inner glow. So, how did I do this?