It was only last night I had an epic meltdown - and we’re not talking from the heat.
Crashing down on me like the walls of Jericho it became evident just how pointless my evenings had become.
I sobbed onto a voice note to my darling friend (you’ll see the irony of this in a couple of pars)
Like most people my evening’s revolve around dinner, bath (for my 3-year-old), a spot of my guilty pleasure: Love Island (please don’t judge me, some of most intelligent female friends are also obsessed).
Then what do I do past 10pm?
There is the odd message to friends, a little scroll through the impeccably filtered lives on Instagram, I then have a nose at dating apps and feel disappointed (yeah, I’m even sadder than I thought!) and waste the next couple of hours on my phone while my beautiful boy lays next to me.
Inadvertently I found myself at a Dr Murad beauty launch for his new initiative the #EyesUp Campaign. Listening to his gentle american tones and warmth, it materialised that the event revolved around putting down your digital device and pledge to go #eyesup.
I’m honestly not inventing this. It was fortuitous I was even there, and I was glad I had made the effort and the schlep to be at the event held at The Institute of Contemporary Arts.
Murad is hellbent on educating and empowering people around the world about the danger of digital-only relationships, and the power of real-life human connection. As I looked around slowly to my friend (the same one I offloaded on) mouthing ‘O.M.G’, I realised our lives had been played out vicariously through our phones. I only know what she is doing through social media, and vice versa - and we very rarely pick up the phone to interact, let alone face to face - as much as I adore her. But this is where the digital revolution began; we’d much rather comment or like a pic to show our approval, and there were even the days when we used to ‘poke’ our friends just for attention. Now we barely interact at all and when we do - everything is for show for our social media lives.
At Murad their philosophy is that the irony of technological advancement is that we are more digitally connected than ever before, yet less connected to one another in meaningful ways.
So where does this intrinsically link to skincare?
The beauty bods at Murad believe that healthy, beautiful skin is a direct reflection of how you live your life. They believe that today we are faced with tremendous demands that our bodies have not evolved fast enough to handle. Technology allows us to work and communicate anywhere, but we feel pressurised to portray a social media perfection at all times.
My life is pretty perfect at times; I have a beautiful son and we have lots of adventures, a handful of  supportive and loyal friends, a wonderful loving family and you make your life what it is.
You choose what you do every day, you choose which path and direction you take. If you’re having a bad day take control of it and work out what will fulfil you (this is when I often reach for chocolate). Tonight I have eaten chocolate AND cake.
The Murad experts refer to the stress of modern living as Cultural Stress, which in a nutshell, is wearing us down and negatively affecting our skin, health and happiness.
Dr Murad himself has conducted numerous in-depth scientific studies and examined more than fifty thousand patients over many years , concluding that sustaining positive changes in well-being, relates to your overall happiness and truly shows in your face. In his epic speech he mentioned getting back in touch with your playful side and ask yourself “who are you now?” and “who were you at your core?” He guestimates that when you were at your prime, your skin was moist, there were no imperfections, you were exercising and less likely to get sick. Well, yes - I think this was around 29/30. I’d hit Bikram yoga twice a week to sweat out all those toxins, I saw my body tone up very quickly, I calmed down the boozing (with the odd blow-out) and was generally really enjoying myself and surrounding myself with fun and positive people.
Watching him speak I began to well up (yes, I’m due on any day) his home-hitting message was about how as a child if you stacked it there’s no judgement. You just pick yourself up, laugh and carry on (probably after a little grizzle)
To be fair, if I stack it these days I’m probably the only person who guffaws while everyone looks on and wonders who the twat on their arse is. Although I am quite a positive person and think I just lift people naturally - it’s not an act, it’s just me. I, like anyone, have my bad days and spectacular breakdowns (usually one week before ovulation) but, as Murad himself says, smile - a smile costs nothing.
Disconnect that phone and start with Connected Beauty. Here are the key points for Murad’s whole-person approach to beauty:
Nourish Your Skin - use efficacious skincare to strengthen and protect skin, the first line of defence for every cell in the body
Eat Your Water - consume a balanced diet centered on water-rich fruits and vegetables to help cells lock in hydration (lets be honest very rarely do we drink 2 litres a day)
Awaken Your Body - Participate in physical activities that brig you joy to build muscles. Here Dr Murad said not to force yourself into exercise for the sake of it but do something you actually enjoy.
Be Kind to Your Mind - Manage the stress of modern living and cultivate emotional self-awareness to help cells stay hydrated. Think of stress as a vacuum sucking away any hydration and damaging your overall look leaving you haggard and lacklustre.
If you want to join the #EyesUp revolution visit www.EyesUp.com.
Going “Eyes Up” doesn’t have to be a complete lifestyle change. It’s all about making little edits to your day that make a big difference to your overall well-being. I think with me this is going to be a long process, starting with averting my eyes to a tangible book (not an e-reader), and getting motivated to walk into that yoga class and enjoy it - I’m currently nervous of judgement that I’m useless and will be using the baby analogy - if I fall on my arse, everyone will laugh with me.

MURAD.CO.UK

Cuteness overload - the Skin god himself!