In recent years, Korean beauty treatments have gained a great deal of popularity around the world. Commonly referred to as ‘K-Beauty’ there are quite a few skin regimens that have become famous for their effectiveness. The K-Beauty blackhead method is one of these regimens, and might just be the perfect solution for you if you are struggling with skin impurities and blemishes.

Here at Carisma Spa, we want to make sure you know about current beauty trends that are proving successful, so I’ve compiled a short guide that summarises the K-Beauty blackhead routine.

Skin impurities like blackheads form when your pores or hair follicles get blocked by dead skin cells or excess sebum. They can also be caused by a build-up of bacteria, especially if your skin is irritated or damaged by the weather, for example.

This is why it’s important to use a skincare routine that also reduces excess sebum production, moisturizes and restores skin, and purifies your pores. This way, the underlying cause of the problem is addressed, to make it less likely that these impurities will form again.

​Various versions of the K-Beauty blackhead method exist, ranging from a 3-step method all the way up to a 10-step method! These routines can be condensed down into the main steps below:

Clean Your Canvas
Make sure you start your skincare routine with a clean face! This makes it easier for products to reach deep into your pores since you’ve helped them out by removing some surface oil and dirt from your skin. Try and match the cleansing product you use to your skin type, whether it’s dry, aging, combination or oily skin. If you prefer (or your skin varies in dryness/oiliness) you can use a product that’s suitable for all skin types.

Open Your Pores
Next up, wipe your face with a gentle cloth soaked in warm water. You can even microwave a wet cloth if you prefer, but be careful not to burn yourself (or the cloth)! The warmth opens up your pores and makes any products you use afterward more effective.


Optional: Use a Face Mask
Face masks are a great tool to correct and reduce skin impurities. If you use this routine often, make sure you only include a face mask once or twice a week though, especially if you prefer peel masks or have sensitive skin.

Masks reduce future sebum production and help clean dirt and oil out of your pores, especially if they are designed to target build-up in your pores.

Look out for masks that contain charcoal or clay since they’re more appropriate for tackling impurities. Avoid peeling masks altogether if you have sensitive, damaged, or irritated skin since they can make these problems worse. Try out a gentle face mask if you have these skin concerns.

Use a Cleansing Oil
Surprisingly, an oil-based cleanser is great at dealing with excess oil and impurities! Oil-based cleansers do a great job when it comes to dissolving blackheads, so rub a little cleansing oil over your face for 2-3 minutes, paying special attention to your nose area, or any area that is prone to blackheads. 

Rinse your face with a little bit of water, and rub your skin again (some cleansing oil should still remain). After a little while, you can fully rinse your face and the clogged pores will be rinsed out as well.

A pleasant advantage to oil cleansers is that they won’t leave your skin feeling over-cleansed or tight after your skincare routine.

Apply a Serum
After this intense cleansing routine, make sure to replenish your skin’s moisture. Serums are especially useful since they tighten your pores, helping to prevent skin cells and oil from building up all over again. You can find serums for dry skin, aging skin or uneven skin that has discoloration.

Heavy moisturizers should be avoided at all costs to prevent blocking your pores all over again, so opt for a gel-based or lightweight moisturizer if serums aren’t your thing.

Remember, moisturizing your face also means your skin won’t enthusiastically produce excess oil to replenish the moisture itself!

This K-Beauty routine is becoming well-loved all over the globe for its effectiveness. It’s definitely worth trying out if you want to tackle impurities, or even simply wish for a routine that provides deeper cleansing than your current skincare regimen.

Staying healthy doesn’t have to involve boring meals or unpleasant protein shakes. We at Carisma want you to enjoy your journey to wellness, so here are 5 amazing smoothies that support your health goals while tasting amazing!

Add to a Blender:

• A chilled cup of freshly brewed green tea
• Half a Cup of Yoghurt
• A cup of raspberries
• A tablespoon of honey
• Half a Cup of Ice

Blend until smooth and enjoy ice cold deliciousness!

​Consuming foods containing antioxidants has been suggested as a way to counter cell damage, reducing the chances of diseases like cancer, eye diseases, cardiovascular diseases, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and diabetes. Antioxidants can be found in a lot of fruits and veggies, and this first smoothie is full of them. The Green tea is packed with antioxidants and boosts your heart’s health.

Blend Together:

• A handful of frozen cherries
• A chopped kiwi
• A cup of almond milk
• Some chia seeds

Blend until smooth and you have a smoothie that will supercharge your energy! This is a great smoothie to start the day with, or use as a pick-me-up. 

The cherries and the kiwi will add a lot of vitamins and antioxidants to your diet, while almond milk is a low-fat way to improve your calcium intake. Chia seeds are loaded with nutrients and even contain Omega-3 fatty acids!

Blend Together:

• A quarter cup of frozen strawberries
• A quarter cup of raspberries
• A quarter cup of blackberries
• Half a cup of Coconut Milk
• Some spinach leaves

Blend together, and you have a low carb snack. This smoothie is also a great light breakfast, if you aren’t a fan of cereals.

Berries improve your blood sugar, are great for your skin and help fight inflammation. Just like the spinach in this smoothie, the berries are also packed with vitamins but have a very low amount of calories. Coconut milk helps with your energy levels, improves your digestion and helps your heart health.

Blend Together:

• 300ml of milk, water or yoghurt
• 2 scoops of vanilla protein powder
• A cored, chopped apple (preferably with the skin still on for even more of a health boost)
• 2 tablespoons of almonds
• A handful of uncooked oats
• A sprinkle of cinnamon

Blend until smooth and enjoy!
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This smoothie tastes like a delicious apple pie, but without the unhealthy part! It’s packed with protein, making it a great pre-workout incentive or a post-workout reward. You’ll be looking forward to exercising in no time.

Not only does it contain the protein you need for your workout, but the yoghurt will boost your immune system while the apple and oats will give you a great dose of fiber.

Blend Together:

• A cup of frozen blueberries
• Half a cup of your favourite berry juice (pomegranate and cranberry are great)
• Half a cup of ice
• A tablespoon of chia seeds
• Half a peeled banana
• Half a pitted avocado

Blend until smooth and enjoy a clear, focused mind.

This is a great way of taking a short break from work or studying, and improving your focus at the same time. This smoothie is also loaded with vitamins, protein and antioxidants to improve both your physical and mental wellness.

​We at Carisma hope this article has given you some delicious smoothie ideas! If this has given you a craving for some fresh fruits, you may enjoy our Spa & Lunch packages that even include a voucher to use at Kofi & Kale (where you can even try a whole range of smoothies)!

At many points in our life we may experience something that causes us a great deal of stress & anxiety, and given how hectic life can be these feelings can often last for a long amount of time. The turbulent nature of 2020 has been especially stressful for many of us, so it has become even more important to be able to prevent and cope with these feelings.

Here at Carisma Spa, we want to ensure that people experience both physical and mental wellness, so this article will take you through some ways to manage these negative emotions and to help prevent them from taking hold in the first place.

Anxiety can have physical, mental, and emotional effects on you. When you experience anxiety, you can feel scared or apprehensive, you can have negative emotions and you can even experience intense reactions like sweating, shaking or shortness of breath.

​Anxiety and Stress are often the result of something that has already happened, or something that you are worried will happen, so tackling these feelings can start from approaching these events in a different way.

If future events are causing you anxiety, it can be very helpful to plant for them in advance. Knowing that you already have ways to cope with this event, if it were to happen, can take a great deal of weight off your shoulders.

This can be as simple as writing down your daily routine in advance, listing your short term and long term goals, or writing down some ways to cope with an event that you fear will happen. Consider talking about these worries with people you are close to, as they may have perspectives that you are not seeing at the moment or solutions that you are not aware of. Often the act of simply talking with someone can relieve some anxiety.

Many of our goals in life require a great deal of time and effort; getting a good job, buying a house or succeeding in education, for example, can all require years of work. As a result, we can lose motivation and feel like our goals are too far out of reach, so it’s important to list small goals and reward yourself for them. Exercised or ate a healthy meal today? Reward yourself with some moments of relaxation. 

Even small achievements have their value, and it’s important not to forget this! Focus on what you can change right now.

Experiencing a moment of high anxiety or stress can be overwhelming, so it’s important to know what to do beforehand. When you feel overwhelmed, try to sit down and take a second to clear your mind. Close your eyes and focus only on your breathing. These calming breathing techniques are surprisingly effective, relieving intense emotions in a matter of minutes.

When we focus on our negative thoughts, we can give them a great deal of power and make them feel worse than they actually are. When you experience negative emotions, take their power away by listing them either on a piece of paper or in your mind. Ask yourself what is bothering you, why it is bothering you and whether you can do anything about it. 

If the problem is something you can change, try and list what you can do to solve it. If you can’t figure out a solution, ask others for advice or even see if you can get some useful information from the internet.

Often, this process can relieve your anxiety even before you actually start doing anything to fix your problem, since it grounds you in the present and makes your feelings tangible. Once you understand something, you can deal with it more easily.

Creating a relaxing environment can help with anxiety and stress, and aromatherapy is a useful tool in your arsenal. By burning incense, using a scented oil or a warmer, you can diffuse a relaxing scent around the room to ground you and relax you. 
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Specific scents like lavender, jasmine, chamomile, rose, frankincense, and patchouli have historically been used to relieve anxiety, depression, and stress.

If you feel like you would prefer a more hands-on approach to tackling your tension, you can choose treatments designed to relieve these negative emotions. A facial, for example, can relieve tension and allow you to step away from life’s worries for a while. 
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Meanwhile, a massage that targets anxiety like the Hot Stone Massage or the Antistress Massage is designed to relieve the symptoms of stress in your body to refresh your physical and mental energy.

Keeping up with meditation and exercise can also be a useful tool to relieve negative emotions. They lower the body’s levels of stress hormones, improve your sleep and make you feel more confident in yourself. In addition, they can be a great distraction that allows you to focus on something other than the way you are feeling.

​In conclusion, there are many approaches you can take to manage your feelings in these stressful times. You may choose to try one or more of these techniques or even all of them, so we hope that they will be of help and lead to your mental wellness.