GRATiAE: Manicure in a box... and Organic too!

Every now and then, I stumble across something that I feel I must tell the world about. Yesterday was such a day, and so here I am. As with Kutai Raw Chocolat and Soya Body Bars, I simply must share it.

I made this discovery yesterday morning while browsing Clearwater Mall. You know how it is at this time of year: the malls hire out their extra spaces to stall-holders, who will try to sell all manner of products to unsuspecting by-passers. One needs to maintain absolute focus when passing these stalls, and work very hard at giving the appearance that you are either too busy and important to stop, or that you are the grumpiest human on the earth, and won’t take kindly to being disturbed. I’m usually very good at the latter, having inherited a face from my father, which can look extremely serious when I need it to.

So yesterday, I saw a stall that was obviously selling beauty products of some kind, and I managed to skirt around the stall without being noticed. Phew! Off I went to do my shopping and my browsing, which happened to bring me full circle an hour later to the same spot. This time however, my head was in the clouds, as it so often is, and I found myself staring at a middle-aged man, who was receiving a facial at this beauty stall.

Come on, you would stare too, right? A middle-aged man, having a facial?  Before I knew it, it was too late, and a salesman had descended on me like an eagle on a field mouse with it’s head in the clouds.

“Excuse me,” he called out to me. “May I ask what you use for your….?” I completely missed the last few words, but I suspected he was asking after my skin. My skin hasn’t been in great condition of late – I blame stress and hormones – so I was immediately feeling a little self-conscious. Anyway, I stopped walking. I couldn’t lie to him and say that I don’t have the time for this, and it was too late to apply my grumpiest-human-on-earth expression to scare him off. Besides, I’ve always been a sucker for people with strange accents, and this one sounded mildly French to me.

Darn my curiosity! Darn it, darn it, darn it!

Having asked the salesman to repeat himself, he asked, “What do you use for your…?” Again with that last word… Legs? Did he ask me what I use for my legs?? What on earth is he selling??? He definitely gestured to my legs… Gosh, how do I tell him that I just use whatever lotion I’ve received for Christmas this year? He’ll be mortified I’m sure…

“What do you use for your nails?” He repeated the question, this time taking hold of my hand and inspecting my fingertips closely. 

Oooooh, my nails. I don’t use use anything on my nails, not a single thing. I’m very hard on my hands, so I don’t colour them, not even with clear paint. For the most part, I use nail-clippers on them (How horrifying!) but I have been trying to be more disciplined about using a nail file rather to shape them properly. In all my life, I have had one French manicure, which barely lasted me 24 hours before I chipped it all off. And I’ve had tips applied twice, which both times ended in my nails nearly being buffered right off my fingers when having the tips removed.

I could have rambled off at him with this whole history, but between my legs and my skin I was already feeling like a bit of an ugly duckling, so I just told him I use nothing on my nails.

He asked for twenty seconds of my time, during which time he began to demonstrate how his unique nail buffer block will transform my nails. Now I’ve used nail buffer blocks before, but this gentleman informed me that his blocks are ‘medicated’, and he even ventured to call it ‘a massage for your nails’. I wasn’t quite sold on the idea, and was preparing to make my getaway. However, having noted by my wedding ring that I am married, the salesman asked me how old I am. Not in the least bit offended by this question, and still trying to determine the origins of his accent, I blurted out only too gladly that I’m 27 years old. He looked me up and down, eyes huge, and told me that he thought I was 18 years old.

I’ve often heard it said that flattery will get you anywhere. I can hereby confirm that there is some truth in this statement. I immediately felt only too glad to spend a few more moments with this wonderful stranger, to allow him the time to finish his demonstration and, if he so chooses, throw in another compliment or two.

Darn my vanity! Darn it, darn it, darn it!

In only a few moments, the gentleman had finished buffering my one nail, and he urged me to compare it with my other nails. Woweeee, what a difference! It was as though I’d received a full French manicure in under 30 seconds. So shiny. So pretty. So professional-looking. So shiny…

Must have nail buffer block.

Need it.

Must have it.

Must buy from man with strange accent.

What? Two-for-one special? Buy one, get one free?

Must buy from man with strange accent right now.

Two year guarantee on buffer block?

Must buy nooooooww.

The GRATiAE products, like Kutai Raw Chocolat and Soya Body bars, are organic products. The GRATiAE Beautifying Nail Kit, which is what I purchased (and got one kit for free), contains the following:

•  A nail file
• The GRATiAE Cuticle Therapy (cuticle oil)
• A GRATiAE buffer block (with a two year guarantee)
• The GRATiAE Hand and Nail cream (apply once a day, and smells absolutely divine!)

In the 2^nd Century, a Roman Emperor by the name Hadrian discovered a hidden thermal spring in the mountainous region near the Sea of Galilee in Israel. He found that the spring’s water had rejuvenating qualities, and so he named it after a Roman goddess, Gratiae, goddess of “The Three Graces” – youth, beauty and charm. 

Now, centuries later, theses springs are still being utilized, and science has given us the tools to harness the qualities found in these waters, as well as other resources from the Sea of Galilee. This is the origin of GRATiAE – Israel. And, remarkably enough, the origin of Rave (pronounced Rah-veh), the charming salesman whose accent I mistakenly thought was French. (way off there, sorry Rave)

GRATiAE not only provides nail care products, but also organic skin care products (which, in light of my recently difficult skin, I may just try out). One can read more about GRATiAE on their website: www.gratiae.il. If you’d like to find out more about the GRATiAE stores – in Menlyn and in Sandton – you can send an enquiry to info@nunaturals.co.za.

While it is such a pity that organic products tend to be priced so much higher than other products, there is without a doubt something superior about them. I can’t help but begin to realize that nature really does know best, and to recognize that the Lord has placed so much goodness into this earth, which we are only now learning how to use… and to protect.

Here’s to Orgaaaaaah-nic, fellow inhabitants of this earth – you know how I love it!

A Glass Half-Full... Of Rain.

I like to think of myself as a 'glass half-full' kind of person. I may not always have this quality in every circumstance I face, but I do try to find the silver lining in life's storms.


Speaking of which, we had some gentle rains this afternoon, here in Johannesburg. I'm sure you no doubt will know, as a fellow inhabitant of this overly congested planet, that as soon as one single molecule of precipitation falls from the sky, a phenomemon begins to occur below. As this catastrophic droplet of H2O plummets toward the earth, the magnetic fields in the atmosphere twist and warp and mutate. And when the droplet makes it's fatal impact on the ground, the now-shuddering magnetic fields implode upon themselves, sucking in with them all cognitive brain capacity, all human hand-eye co-ordination, and all ability to reason and form constructive decisions. The shock-wave from this astronomical incident is also known to cause all existing thought processes to become scrambled, forcing the brain of said thought processes to restart entirely.


And this is why, when it rains, traffic comes to a grinding halt. People become stupid on a universal scale.


So, when I left work in the drizzling rain, I resigned myself to the fact that I would be facing some heavy traffic on the way home. Surprisingly enough, not only was traffic lighter than usual, but I found that there was something I could be grateful for in the rain; a silver lining, so to speak. 


For the first time this week, I was able to drive on the highway without a teenager in a GTi weaving around my car, or a rooster* in an Audi riding up my rear bumper flashing his lights. No blind old businessman in a Merc cutting me off because he had the lack of foresight to see the slow truck right in front of him.


Yes, the rain seems to make people safe. And civilized. Perhaps it is the trance-like state that follows the droplet-hitting-earth-apocalypse, but my highway experience this afternoon was just so..... Peaceful.
And for this, I was grateful. I am also grateful that something as mundane as traffic and weather has given me something to write about. 


There is always something to be grateful for. 


This whole experience made me think of a song, which is now stuck in my head. Funnily enough, this song is completely unrelated to the topic at hand, but I shall share it with you for two very good reasons: 


1. The song makes reference in the first verse to a "road, long and winding", and a "silver lining" that's "out there somewhere." Other than this verse, the song is totally random to whatever it is I'm trying to write about. Weather... Traffic... Gratitude... Who knows. (not me) 


2. Bryan Adams is really easy-on-the-eyes, for an older guy

Enjoy this lovely tune (yes, click on the pretty purple writing), and may your upcoming Friday be fraught with silver linings, civilized drivers, and if you're especially lucky, someone like Bryan Adams to look at. 




*rooster in Audi is the kind of driver that Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear refers to... but Mr. Clarkson is a little less complimentary with his choice of words. Use your imagination, it'll come to you.