Snacking on frozen crickets and yuzu is so 2018. The new year has plenty of fresh wellness fads to look forward to. Jessica Harris unveils nine of the weirdest
The hottest new food supplement
Anything hailed as the most important plant in the world by Nasa for providing the earth with around 70 per cent of its oxygen is not to be sniffed at. Marine phytoplankton – aka the stuff jellyfish eat for breakfast – contains our recommended daily intake of EPA (an omega-3 fatty acid), plus vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. No wonder health-conscious Hollywood types add spoonfuls of it to their morning juice.
Fountain Phyto-Collagen Molecule, £40, cultbeauty.co.uk
Marine phytoplankton – aka the stuff jellyfish eat for breakfast – contains our recommended daily intake of EPA (an omega-3 fatty acid), plus vitamins, minerals and antioxidants
Divorce Retreats
The first Monday of January sees a 25 per cent increase in Google searches for divorce. The newly brokenhearted can seek sanctuary along with life-coaching and stress-management services.
Marbella Club Amanda Hamilton Wellbeing Retreat, from £1,530pp for four nights, amandahamilton.com
Adult Lullabies
It’s time to swap paperbacks for literary lullabies, with apps such as Calm’s Sleep Stories racking up more than 60 million listens and audiobook sales rising 22 per cent last year. Psychologists believe that replacing screens with audio in the evening helps our senses to wind down, leading to a better night’s kip.
Calm, £34.99 for a year’s subscription, itunes.com
Habit Coaching
Our intentions to curb that 4pm chocolate treat may be honourable, but come 3.55pm all bets are off. Enter the habit coach, a wellness guru to help overcome those unhealthy routines (such as said Wispa addiction).
Wellness workshops, from £25, Gazelli, gazelle
Sheep-Placenta Smoothies
While eating placenta may be the norm in the Kardashian household (Kourtney turned hers from her third birth into supplements), the protein-rich organ is moving into the mainstream – and it’s nothing to be sheepish about. Known to promote collagen production which has a plumping effect on the skin, sheep-placenta skincare was the first to launch, with placenta drinks due to hit UK shores quicker than you can say ‘baa ram ewe’.
Rest & Revive Restorative Placenta & Stem Cell Night Serum, £170, MZ Skin, effortlessskin.com
Enzyme Cleansing
Just when you thought your beauty regime couldn’t get more scientific, here come enzymes. As a substance produced by living organisms, enzymes make for a gentle exfoliation process by digesting dead surface-skin cells which lead to dull complexions.
Enzyme cleansing treatment with Renée Lapino, £200, reneelapino.com
Meso-dosing
Forget superfoods – 2019 is all about the meso-nutrients, those ‘in-between’ ingredients (meso is from the Greek for middle) we might be missing out on. Although they’re found in everyday food and drink, we’re not always ingesting enough of the right compounds to get the full effects. Enter meso-dosing – an easy way to ensure you’re topped up with the right stuff. Taking a supplement of health-boosting turmeric (with its antioxidant and antidepressive properties) is a great place to start.
Pukka Wholistic Turmeric, £16.96 plus p&p, pukkaherbs.com
Dream Meditation
Through an empowering soundtrack and trippy visuals, lucid dream meditation promises to tap into your ‘dream reality’ (think Inception) to unlock the subconscious and act as a life rehearsal space to face fears without consequence.
Online course in lucid dreaming with Charlie Morley, £97, charliemorley.com
Ironing gym classes
Ironing is one of life’s banal tasks but, according to new research, you could get more out of it than wrinkle-free sheets: 72 per cent of Brits admit that smoothing creases is more relaxing than yoga. Now guests at a London hotel are enjoying choreographed ironing and synchronised breathing for a chilled chore. Seriously.
Ironing Club at the Hilton Garden Inn London Heathrow Airport, hilton.com