"You go in there with your problem and you come out with a solution."
On episode 9 of The Lee & Irene Show, I asked my co-host, clinical nutritionist Lee Holmes, to guess a place in my house where I can be all alone and just be there with my thoughts, and sometimes I feel like I'm in a rainforest. Lee guessed my bedroom, but it's my shower. I want to talk about my everything shower because it really is one of my most fabulous and loved routines, and I don't get a lot of time for routine.
There's the everyday shower, which is my Monday to Friday shower and Saturday, and then Sunday is my reset day. As we get into about 4pm, I love to start my everything shower. I do this every Sunday and it is life changing. It takes about an hour. I don't really believe in getting a facial and going to a spa like I used to. I think you can create the same experience in your own bathroom, and you can create the same results with an everything shower as you would from going to get a facial. There's just something about the Sunday reset that sets up your week ahead. You can listen to the full episode here.
Why the shower is my thinking space
Lee gets her best ideas in the shower in the mornings, and I do exactly the same thing. The little trick with a shower is you go in there with your problem and you come out with a solution. It's not just about brainstorming or coming up with ideas.
For Lee, "the steam is doing a lot of the beauty work as well", and she asked me what I do before I get into the shower, and what order I do things in. Some of the everything shower does need to start before you hop under the water.
1. I shave my face in good light
I start my everything shower at around 4pm, because I get really good light in my house at 4pm. I start with my face, my chin hairs and my peach fuzz, and I shave my face outside the shower. I get a really good mirror, and in front of that mirror, with completely dry skin, I dermaplane. I don't wash it first, because I don't want it to be damp. You can dermaplane with oil, but not for my everything shower. I get rid of all my peach fuzz, and then anything that misses, I do the plucking and a bit of eyebrow. I sell the blades, so you can do it at home, because getting it done at a salon is really expensive.
I do it once a week. It's a myth that it grows back thicker. It just grows back exactly how it was the week before. If you've ever seen the TikTok trend where they spray their face with some sort of spray, can you imagine how toxic that would be for your face, and to breathe in whatever that crap is? I don't know what it is that they do, so don't.
2. I oil my hair
After that my face is feeling a bit sensitive, and I just don't want to jump straight into a hot shower. Step 2 is I massage oil into my scalp, and this is one of the things that's really helped my hair get really thick, an oil with rosemary in it. If you just want beautiful, luscious locks, you can use a different type of oil. I use the Vanessa Megan argan oil. If you've got fine, limp hair, you want to use something with brahmi, castor oil and rosemary.
Lee studied Ayurveda, and hair oiling "is an Ayurvedic thing". "In Ayurveda they use different kinds of oils for different needs. So for example, coconut is really moisturising and good for damaged hair." If you're a vata, one of the constitutions, "sesame is a really good oil for that."
There are two types of hair oil, and this is what's really confusing when you shop for hair oil. They're all bunched together, but there's a huge difference. There's the wash-out hair oil. Yes, it makes your hair greasy, and you're supposed to slather it on and massage it in with your fingers or a hair massager. That's different to a hair serum or hair oil that you use to get rid of frizz. For my everything shower I use the wash-out type.
I've got really thick, long hair, so sectioning it takes a while. Roots to ends, all of it. Soak it and then put a warm towel on top. You want those oils to infuse into your hair for at least half an hour before you get into the shower.
3. I dry body brush
Dry body brushing used to be the biggest trend in the world. I used to sell thousands and thousands of dry body brushes. We've got to bring that back. It is the most amazing thing, and it feels so good. You want to be doing this while your hair's in the towel, before you get into the shower, with your skin completely dry. Don't shave your legs first, because it can be a little bit sensitive. You want to be brushing towards the heart in really long strokes, starting from the feet. If you've got the bumps on the back of your arms, it's really great for that. You can feel buzzy while you do it, and it's really great for exfoliation.
The one that I sell now is exactly the same brand as the one I used to sell, but the bristles are much softer, like a medium. So you can go a little bit harder now, but you don't want to scratch yourself. After you've used it, give it a really good tap and a bit of a wash with a little warm water and Dr Bronner's peppermint soap. You don't want it to go mouldy, so don't leave it in the bathroom. Just leave it outside in the sun.
4. I filter the water and add essential oils
I love a really hot shower. On my Sunday I don't stand in the shower, I sit down on the floor, because I have it so hot. It's very unhealthy to have your shower steam with all that chlorine in your shower. You definitely want to be buying a shower filter. Shower filters are a non-negotiable. They are so cheap, and how they work is they're usually just made with vitamin C. The real culprit in a shower that makes our hair go brassy is chlorine, and you get itchy from chlorine. The vitamin C takes away and neutralises the chlorine.
For the bath, you can get a pantyhose-style sock and fill it up with vitamin C tablets, the chewable ones you get from the chemist. Put that in your bath and it will neutralise the chlorine in the bath water. We did a test where we put the vitamin C tablets in a cup of tap water, and the chlorine was neutralised. "Such a good hack."
I love the smell of the essential oils. Lee loves a good lemon myrtle and eucalyptus, and I love lavender, rose and peppermint. I'm also really lazy when it comes to essential oils, so I love buying a premixed blend, and they smell like a spa. You definitely need to put essential oils in a carrier oil. Unless you're experienced, don't be playing around with essential oils. I think you're safe to put a few drops at the bottom of your shower.
5. I cleanse with a shower cream
I want to start with the most amazing discovery, the Weleda shower creams. The rose one is called Love, it says love on the front of it. It's so creamy, and I don't understand how they can make the smell so potent considering it's completely certified natural. Weleda do the most amazing range of shower creams. They even do one in the Skin Food scent.
6. I shampoo three times
I stand up at this point, because it's very hard to wash the oil out of your hair when you're sitting down. I shampoo my hair at least three times, and you're going to need a clarifying shampoo. Your shampoo needs to be completely sulphate free and silicone free as well. I don't sell anything with either of those in it. Sodium lauryl sulphate does a really good job of getting rid of all the grease, but it strips all your colour out. It strips everything.
If you've got thin hair or shorter hair, you can use any natural or organic shampoo. Vanessa Megan and Mukti do really great ones. But if you want it to feel like you've bought Pantene, you need to get the 100% Pure brand. Their Sour Cherry Clarifying Shampoo is my favourite, favourite, favourite shampoo. It smells like cherry and it just cleans the hair really well.
Lee asked me about cold rinses. I've tried it, and if you rinse your hair with cold water, your hair is going to look 10 times more shiny and beautiful. I can't handle the cold water, so I don't usually do it, but it does work.
I only wash my hair once a week. If you wash your hair every day, I guarantee you if you just start washing it once a week, at first it's going to be greasy. Then after a month or two it will adjust, because your hair adapts. Lee is "a girlie that washes their hair once every two weeks". To stretch it out, she does "the high pony, the slick back pony, the bun, the ballerina bun", and even "the braids, the two braids."
7. I condition from mid-lengths to ends
The trick is then you add a beautiful nourishing conditioner, and don't put the conditioner on your roots. I get oily roots, so I just condition from mid-lengths to the ends. You want to avoid putting conditioner on your roots if you've got thin hair, and you probably want to avoid it if you've got thick hair too, because thick hair tends to have greasy roots. No matter which way you look at it, you don't want to be putting any conditioner on your scalp.
I scrub on the other days
I don't do the scrub with the everything shower, because I've dry body brushed and I feel that's done the job. But I do scrub almost every other day in the daily shower. I'm telling you, it's really hard to get a good scrub. The best body scrub that is completely natural and certified organic is made by a brand called Three Warriors. This brand does fake tan, and their Tasmanian Sand Scrub is made for getting rid of fake tan. Don't worry about if you've got fake tan or not. This scrub is so good you will never use another scrub again. It's made with Tasmanian sand, walnut shell, aloe vera and coconut oil. You could also get some sea salt and olive oil and scrub your skin yourself. You can make all of these things with food in your kitchen.
Before a big event, Lee mixes a ripe banana with yoghurt and puts it on her face. "The enzymes in the banana and the probiotics in the yoghurt can make your skin glow."
8. I put body oil on damp skin
I'll turn off the shower and pat dry. While my skin is still damp is when I slather my body with a body oil. If you want to save money, just use a coconut oil or a sesame oil, maybe even an olive oil. I sell lots of beautiful body oils, so I'll just pick something fancy and put that all over my body. This is like an Ayurvedic technique, but I think they do this before they get in the shower, not after. I love taking learnings from traditions like that and building them into my own routine. I massage the oil into my skin, and then I tap that off with the towel and put my pyjamas on.
9. I finish with magnesium
I'm obsessed with magnesium. I love the magnesium creams and I love a magnesium bath. The Elektra brand of magnesium is food grade, in the blue packet, and a handful in the bath is the best. The MooGoo brand do a magnesium cream. The tube's got purple on it, so I thought it was going to smell like lavender, but it has no scent at all. I thought it was going to be greasy, because most of them are quite greasy, but it soaks in like the most beautiful moisturiser, the most beautiful non-greasy body lotion.
Listen to the full episode
You can listen to episode 9 of The Lee & Irene Show on Spotify, Apple or your favourite podcast app.
About the Author
Irene Falcone is the founder of Clean Nectarine and co-host of The Lee & Irene Show. She started her first clean beauty business in 2011 with $100 in her garage and grew it to $20m in four years. She has spent over 15 years reading the backs of beauty and wellness labels, is a Telstra Business Women's Awards winner and an EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalist, and has been featured on A Current Affair, The Project, Sunrise, Channel Nine Mornings and Sky News.
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