Women Who Rock Wednesday: Lynn of Angel Potions!

Welcome to Women Who Rock Wednesday! Of course, first things, first, we have last week's winner to choose via random number generator! Up for grabs was a signed copy of Civet's Hell Hath No Fury CD and the winner is... Kathy from MySpace! Kathy happens to be a real life friend of mine, but I don't think that disqualifies her, so Kath, I'll bring ya the CD next time I see ya!

Now don't forget, I had two contests going last week and you still have til Friday to enter to win Jennifer Banash's IN TOO DEEP, just go here to comment.

Onward with the show and of course, you'll have yet another chance to win at the end of this interview. Since I'vce been doing mostly authors and musicians for WWRW, I decided it was time for something completely different. So today, meet Lynn Turkington, an amazing Irish woman who has started her own skin and body care line ANGEL POTIONS.

How did you get started in reflexology and skincare. Tell us a little about reflexology?

I became interested in holistic therapies a few years ago after coming through a particularly hard time in my life. I had suffered with depression through most of my teens & 20s and had come to accept it was just something I had to live with. But then I began reading books by authors like Wayne Dyer & Doreen Virtue among others and I started to train my mind to think in a completely different way. When I first read “You can change your life by changing your thoughts” I thought “what a load of codswallop!” But it has turned out to be very true and I believe with a lot of commitment and hard work that anyone can turn their lives around.

It was reading a book called “The Language of Feet” by Chris Stormer that got me interested in Reflexology. She teaches the metaphysical aspect that our feet mirror our souls and every illness in our body and mind is caused by past traumas or emotional upsets.

Reflexology is based on the principle that every organ, gland and part of our body is reflected onto the feet and hands. It’s an ancient healing art, thought to have originated in Asia, but some believe it can even be traced back to ancient Eygptian times. It’s based on the Chinese meridian therapy. Meridians are basically the flow of energy through our bodies (or Chi). Blockages develop in these energies for many reasons – mainly emotional blockages such as fear, resentment, guilt and eventually these negative emotions will manifest info physical illness in the body. Reflexology helps to clear those blockages. Reflexologist’s are trained to detect these blockages on the parts of the feet and then are able to tell the person which corresponding part of the body it is related to. It’s a really interesting subject, I had a lady come to me just last week who was a bit of a skeptic but when I asked her if she had suffered a trauma to the neck, she said she had been in car accident and suffered whiplash and when I asked if she had any problems with her knees she said she had torn ligaments skiing last year! A lot of people are astounded and think that I am some sort of foot psyhic! And although I do use intuition in everything I do, it is something that everyone can learn with proper training.

On the subject of Angel Potions, my skincare range – I started that after doing research into psoriasis, which is something I suffered with for many years – again I learned that this illness is a response to stress and I found Reflexology to be a great help with it. But I was shocked to learn about the amount of chemicals that go into brand name skincare products. Even ranges that claim to be “natural” or “kind to skin” often are not. SLS (sodium laurel sulphate) is the one to avoid if you have sensitive skin. This is a very harsh chemical, and a known skin irritant. It’s basically the chemical that makes our products foam up and is unnecessary in most products because there are natural compounds you can use for the same effect – but it’s easier and more importantly CHEAPER for these big companies to use. The other problem chemical is Parabens – it’s a preservative which is put in a scary amount of products – skincare and most pre-packaged foods. Cancer research groups have done varies studies into the continuous use of Parabens in products, with some frightening results – namely Parabens being found in tissue removed from cancerous growths. There is an article and links about this on my site: angelpotions.com

Tell us about Angel Potions. What's your philosophy behind it? When did you start it? And what are some of your most popular products?

I think we owe it to ourselves to be kind and gentle to our skin. I find it hard to comprehend why so many people are up in arms about animal testing with beauty products, yet they rarely stop to think about what they are putting on their own skin.

Angel Potions is relatively new. The website www.angelpotions.com launched in November 2008 and I just started my ebay shop last month. However I do have a loyal group of customers already – mostly friends and work colleagues.

The favourite product seems to be the ROSEMARY & PEPPERMINT shampoo, its my own personal favourite. Its great for those with flaky scalps, and it has helped to clear my own scalp psoriasis. It has a really fresh, minty smell and the Rosemary also helps to encourage hair growth. Also the Ylang Ylang & Lavender shower gel is divine! I could smell it all day long! The bath bombs are also very popular and I’ve been told they are the best for lasting fizz and sweet fragrance.

It's a tough economy out there for small businesses and I hugely admire women who are giving it a go. Are you able to earn your living from Angel Potions and your reflexology business or do you hold another job? What are your dreams for your business?

Like I said, the business is very new so no, I am not able to make a living solely from it just yet. I still work 9-5 in an office which is not my favourite thing to do! But since starting my holistic therapy work and Skincare range, I have a newfound sense of purpose in my life, which makes getting up and going to the office job much easier because I know at the end of the day its just how I pay the bills, its not my career, its not my life.

My dream for my business is obviously to make it my full-time career one day. I would love to have my own clinic/shop where I could do my therapies and sell my products too. I am constantly expanding my knowledge and I’m currently training in Angelic Reiki – which is a form of energy healing like Reiki but working directly with the angelic realm, its very powerful. I am also planning to do “girls night in” type parties – where I will bring my products along to show to people and give taster sessions for Reflexology and I also do Angel & Goddess card readings, which people find a lot of fun. I think in these times of recession, more people are staying in and having fun in their own homes.

Can you tell us a little about how you make your products or decide what new products you will create/carry?

It started off as purely self-indulgent – I picked essential oils which I personally loved and blended it with base products. I did a lot of research to find the best possible wholesaler for the Shampoo and Shower gel base - they specialise in chemical free base products. I then blend the base with the essential oils. I would like to be able to make my own base products eventually, but I just don’t have the space at home to do it now. I do however make all the creams from scratch with vegetable oils and emulsifiers and I make all my own massage oil blends.

I have just started making delicious dead sea salt scrubs which will be available on the site in the next few weeks, and I will also be making whipped body butters – but again, I need more space to do this – I currently live in a small house in the city, but I’m hoping to move to the country soon to a much bigger place!

I am also open to taking requests, so whatever fragrances people would like, just drop me an email lynn at angelpotions dot com and I’ll see what I can do for you. I just made a coconut range for my best friend Jade at her request and its yummy!

Tell us about some of the women who have influenced you, perhaps in your business or perhaps artists, musicians, authors, etc who have been role models throughout the years?

Well the lady who inspired me to do Reflexology was the author Chris Stormer. She’s from South Africa and is known as the “Universal Foot lady”. She does workshops all over the world and I was lucky to attend one last year, which I can say was a lifechanging experience.

I always ask two standard questions of my Women Who Rock. What was the first album you bought and the first concert you attended? Be honest, we don't judge.

The first I album I bought was Madonna’s “Like a Virgin”.

My first concert I still remember like it was yesterday, and I know the exact the date because I still have the ticket stub:- 6th Jan 1990 – Bon Jovi!!! Not embarrassing at all, right? Cuz Bon Jovi rock!! Ok…not really, I know they’re cheesy as hell but you have to remember that back then, the music did suck. If you were into 80s hair rock bands, it was actually pretty cool compared to the other rubbish around.

Please dish about the moment where you felt most like a rock star. Maybe it was an art opening or a moment of big success in your career, an "I'm Not Worthy!" Wayne's World type moment where you met someone cool, or a time where you just got the rock star treatment.

Well its funny you mention the Wayne’s World “I’m not worthy” scene because one of my fondest memories is actually about the band featured in one of those scenes! I think it was 1992 and Aerosmith were playing in Dublin. My friend and I hadn’t managed to get tickets though because we were always so poor in those days! But we knew they were doing a “meet n greet” in a record shop that day. So we waited in line with our CDs to meet them and when I got up to Steve Tyler I put my arms up in the air and said “STEVE” and gave him a huge hug. And he responded with “Baby! Where you been!!!” It was hilarious…like we were old friends meeting up again! I told him we couldn’t get tickets and he immediately called over his tour manager and said “hook these girls up with tickets for the show”. So that night, we arrived at the show and walked right up to the front of the queue, gave our names, got VIP passes & got to stand side of stage! I remember feeling so important, like I was Mrs Steve Tyler for the night! He is such a gentleman and it was so nice to see such a huge rockstar, who cares so much about his fans.

I felt that learning about reflexology from Lynn was very interesting. Hopefully the interview inspired some comments from you because if you leave a comment you will be eligible to win samples of Angel Potions Shampoo, Conditioner, Shower Gel, Body Scrub & bathbombs! Comment away. I will draw a winner next week when author Liz Funk, visits us!