Sunshine Vitamin – Vitamin D!
Working in doors from home over the past year has meant that we have spent a lot more time indoors. Gone are the exotic holidays to far flung places, or long weekends to the South of France, Portugal, or Spain. Instead, we have been hibernating in our recently converted living rooms, come ‘home offices’ with the only light being absorbed being blue light emitted by our computers, which we all know is not good for us. Sunny holidays have many benefits – lifting our spirits, leaving us with great memories and adventures, and most importantly providing us with much needed sunshine, and that all important Vitamin associated with the sun – Vitamin D. For those of us lucky enough to have a garden in the UK, last year provided us with lots of warm weather, a blessing in disguise all things considered, but the UK weather is not normally as kind to us. We are all too familiar with experiencing four seasons in a single day!
THE BENEFITS OF VITAMIN D
Vitamin D is being touted as a bit of a miracle vitamin – it is known to boost our immunity, clear up our skin, and to reduce our anxiety levels. It plays a crucial role in maintaining strong and healthy bones, tackling flus and viruses, regulating our insulin levels, boosting our brain power and in supporting our cardiovascular health.
Every cell in our body has a Vitamin D receptor at sufficient intensities. Our immune system is very dependent upon its availability to help enhance our immunity and adaptive immunity thereby creating antibodies. Vitamin D is critical for our body to absorb calcium, low levels of Vitamin D can lead to depression and have been linked to endometriosis, and it is particularly important for pregnant women. It also helps us to lose weight. Studies found people taking a daily calcium and vitamin D supplement were able to lose more weight, as the addition of calcium and vitamin D had an appetite-suppressing effect.
There are two primary forms of Vitamin D: D2, which is present in our gut and sourced through our diet, and D3 which is created in our skin via sunlight. Vitamin D3 is superior to D2. Only 10% of the Vitamin D our bodies needs comes through our diets, through eating foods including egg yolks, tuna, sardines, mackerel, and shitake mushrooms, the balance comes through sunlight, which we only need in small amounts – 10 – 15 minutes a day is sufficient.
BOOSTING VITAMIN D LEVELS
Vitamin D functions as a steroid in our skin, working within our cells’ nucleus to stimulate and regulate various functions. A 2012 study suggests that it may play a protective role in minimising the risks associated with skin cancer. Several skincare brands have launched products high in Vitamin D – including Zelens, Herbivore, Drunk Elephant, Elemis, Murad, and Dr Brandt. The Vitamin D included in these products is a topical form, renowned for helping to repair our skin through regenerating our skin cells, strengthening our skin’s barrier, and evening out the tone and texture of our skin. Vitamin D helps to reduce inflammation in our skin and conditions such as eczema and acne can be treated with Vitamin D. Whilst 10 -15 minutes of sun exposure each day doesn’t sound unachievable, not many of us venture out every day, so it’s likely that a supplement will help us to reach the daily recommended amount especially when living in colder climates.
The general recommendation is that we supplement with 10mcg of vitamin D per day during the winter months. Wild Nutrition specialises in ethically and sustainably sourced supplements, that supercharge our defence system with an active form of Vitamin D3. The brand also provides a vegan alternative in the same product. Solgar has a chewable supplement, an easier method of absorbing this nutrient, that helps to support healthy bones and teeth. Healthspan and DLux have created sprays that provide adults with the required daily dosage of Vitamin D by spraying the inside of our cheek, this is then ingested directly into our bloodstream, making it quicker and easier to absorb. Understanding the importance of Vitamin D and ensuring that we are regularly topping this up – whether through our daily dose of sunshine, supplements, our diets, and topically – is crucial to our health and happiness. Don’t neglect your daily serving of this sunshine Vitamin.
ENSURING YOU ARE TOPPING THIS UP
Understanding the importance of Vitamin D and ensuring that we are regularly topping this up – whether through our daily dose of sunshine, supplements, our diets, and topically – is crucial to our health and happiness. Don’t neglect your daily serving of this sunshine Vitamin.
If you want to start a business in the beauty, spa or wellness sector and are looking for expertise, or you have an existing brand and are looking for support, get in touch, we would love to hear from you. As a beauty brand management company, we are the beauty company behind the beauty companies, working with an award-winning portfolio of clients to develop your brand from ‘concept to shelf’.
As a beauty and wellness consultancy, we develop a comprehensive strategy for your business by understanding your vision (and the marketplace) and then delving into the details to create order and structure neatly packaged up to deliver you commercial results. We design brand identities and visual elements, manage your product development, build your go-to-market strategies to help you to engage with your ideal customers.
We are proud to support our clients from different regions of the world – from Saudi Arabia, to Dubai, Sri Lanka, Africa, Australia, the US, Canada, Europe and the UK – from entrepreneurs, to multi-award-winning beauty and wellness brands, retailers, investors, distributors, embassies and trade bodies. And we work with you across the retail sector, and the professional sector, including the hair care market, professional nail care market, spas, salons, hotels and the aesthetics market – here’s a snapshot.
If you would like to discuss your ideas with us, get in touch, we would love to hear from you.
As an international beauty and wellness consultancy, we are proud to work alongside clients from different regions of the world – Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Sri Lanka, Africa, Australia, Canada, US, Europe and the UK . We love collaborating with entrepreneurs, multi-award-winning beauty and wellness brands, retailers, investors, distributors, embassies and trade bodies across the retail sector, and the professional sector, including those selling into the hair care market, hotels, spas, professional nail care market and aesthetics market.
If you need support with devising a new strategy, developing a new product range, designing your packaging or rebranding your current product range, managing your PR, or with planning your market-entry into international markets, get in touch, we would love to hear from you.
Bespoke is a brand management expert with deep industry knowledge, extensive experience and a comprehensive understanding of the beauty and personal industry in the UK and Europe, complemented by an extensive network of contacts in the relevant market segments. Bespoke’s expertise, experience and contacts significantly contributed the success of the UK/Europe project with the companies that Bespoke assisted successfully entering or well on track to enter the UK and European markets. The Bespoke team was very professional, responsive and obliging and always delivered within timeframes. It was a pleasure to work with them.
Working with Janet over the past year has been a real pleasure, she has fantastic industry experience and knowledge of the UK beauty market. She has delivered a number of webinars for my clients looking at how to enter the UK market, providing an overview of the market and how to build a strategy. She took the briefs we provided and added real value to them, included key insights and information that my clients have found incredibly useful. Feedback on these sessions has been very positive. Janet is a clear communicator and has always delivered as agreed and on time. We are continuing to work together on other projects and I very much value the conversations we share.
‘Janet has a wealth of experience across retail, buying and marketing. She conducted a full strategic review of our cross functional business and the travel retail market to develop a comprehensive buying and quality control strategy that was signed off at board level. I highly recommend her as an asset to any business.’
‘As a Queensland-based company, we were determined to tap into the European market and establish a strong presence. From the very beginning, Bespoke Advantage demonstrated a deep understanding of our export goals and objectives. Their comprehensive knowledge of the European market, coupled with their extensive network of contacts, enabled them to connect us with key decision-makers and influential stakeholders in our target countries. Their strategic guidance and insights were invaluable in shaping our export strategy and positioning us for long-term success.’
‘Through Janet’s management skills, expertise and proven track record on the job she successfully managed the purchasing of our retail operations and ensured the integrity of our brands in-stores. Her enthusiasm and total dedication, delivered results in any project she was involved in.’
‘Janet has excellent beauty market knowledge. Level headed with clear vision, direction and the ability to drive business forward, Janet led the teams through a complete product design change advising on what the key marketing messages should be, incorporating her technical knowledge and beauty expertise.’
‘Absolutely fantastic course. Condensed learning from Janet, an expert in developing beauty brands. Also, valuable introductions to expert professionals, in the Masterclass sessions. In 12 weeks, you will learn from Janet, what would take years to learn by yourself. A very worthwhile investment’