A few months ago, we reached out to you, our Muri Muse community, to learn more about the impact our Full Flower Ritual has had on your skin health. We've been overwhelmed both by the real-world transformations we've seen, and the perspectives on self-care that you all shared with us. 

Over the next few weeks we'll share a few of our favorite Before & After moments  and introduce you to some of the incredible muses in our community.

Next up: Muri Muse Elyse Hamme, aka Elyseum Beauty.  

A New York based esthetician and skin care educator, Elyse's approach to integrative skin healing and facial services deeply resonated with us from the moment we met: She is the creator Skincare Affirmations™️, a treatment experience that combines traditional facial techniques with touch massage and affirmations designed to shift the way we think about our "problem" skin.  

We connected with Elyse while she was fighting through a period of inflamed, angry breakouts and itchy, red patches. As an esthetician, she knew giving her skin time and space to recover was imperative — keep reading for her story of healing, and how she managed to foster a mindset of patience and positive self-love during the process. 

Muri Lelu: For those who aren't yet familiar with you, how would you introduce yourself and your work? 

Elyse: My name is Elyse [and I'm] an Esthetician & Self-Care Expert who specializes in Holistic facial approach. I treat the skin whilst creating a safe space to treat the self.  

Muri Lelu: Please share your recent skincare journey with us. Describe the issue you were experiencing, what it looked like, what it felt like on your skin (I.e. did you experience pain, itchiness or irritation), and what it made you feel like? 

Elyse:  My skin was having a huge freak out and I didn’t know why… it was inflamed, itching [and had] a lot of texture. As an esthetician, the last thing you want is flawed skin. It discredits your work. Lately, my skin journey chapter has been "patience". Having virtually perfect skin growing up to incredibly communicative skin as an adult is frustrating.

Muri Lelu: How did you begin addressing the issue? What was your approach to the healing proces? 

Elyse: It's so easy to want to use highly active ingredients and products when your skin is going through acne or a reaction. But sometimes that's just not the approach you should take. My skin is doing what it needs to do and all I can do is support it. Mentally and physically. Topically and digestively. 

Muri Lelu: How did our products change your skin? When in the process did you start using it, and what results did you see? How long did that take? 

Elyse: I [started] putting Mauvaise Herbe Indica Oil on every hour for 48 hours, then twice a day for a week. It was legit like night and day!

I honestly was not expecting the Indica Oil to kick in so quickly and calm my inflammation and stop the itching. I'm so in love! 

Muri Lelu: What's your current maintenance routine to preserve your skin health at the moment?   

Elyse: It's important that we recognize there are so many contributing factors to skin expressions — and I'm calling [them] that because our skin battles aggressors and stressors daily even without us knowing.

Our skin is doing what its designed to do; whether we like the expression or not. It's super frustrating but because of that, most times its better to support & protect [versus] micro manage and hover.

Muri Lelu: Why are your facials listed as affirmations? What exactly is a skincare meditation? What inspired this service?  

Elyse: My facials are simple affirmations [that] help bring mindfulness to the way we view our skin at it’s “worst”. While working with clients over the years I noticed that my facial treatments felt more like therapy sessions. I would listen to their stories and notice patterns of negative self talk when sharing about themselves or their skincare journey.

The Beauty industry has made [a] fortune thriv[ing] off of our insecurities. It's the ugly side of the industry that nobody wants to talk about until now; which leads me to my Skin Care Meditation™️ group sessions. My Skincare Meditation is my way of bringing intention, focus, and celebration back to yourself.  

The session talks about how important touch, the senses, and nervous system [are]. I go through a series of touches to get you thinking about those sensations and [see] where they takes your mind. [We work on] how to bring your thoughts back into focus.  

I teach you very basic massage techniques [and] demo my techniques on you to help you compare level of intention and texture. And, I give you very basic grounding affirmations and heart chakra affirmations.  

Muri Lelu: The definition of self-care is, at its core, a well-rounded practice of replenishing the  self. When you strip it all back, what do you consider essential acts of self-care?  

Elyse: That's a "hard" question because the answer isn't cookie cutter...  rather habits maybe? You have to LISTEN to yourself. And know when you're in code  yellow, orange or red. The goal is to not wait until you're in code red [to start caring for yourself]... maybe code yellow.  

Overall, just understanding what works for you. Maybe you need movement, maybe you need journaling, maybe you need solitude, maybe you need community. Maybe it's demonstrating your Love Languages back to yourself.  Maybe its perfecting a level of self discipline.

All of that to say... you have to Learn to find YOUR voice within. And LISTEN TO IT. Give yourself permission. Learn to give yourself grace.  

Muri Lelu: Favorite Flower?

Elyse: My mom  is a native gardener. She does Natural Pollinator seminars; so she talks flowers & plants  all the time. I think i just have a new appreciation for them because of her. I really think  they're all so beautiful however, a lot of times I don't remember the names. I gravitate[d] to Lantana and picked [it] out for her garden because of the colorful variations and the shape of the petals. They're so pretty and cute! And then I learned these plants attract butterflies and  hummingbirds and repel mosquitos, i love that!! 

Muri Lelu: Most subversive thing you've done lately? 

Elyse: Honestly sometimes existing blissfully as a Black woman feels subversive enough.  I take to my beauty page to talk about injustices and inequality all the time. Calling out what I dislike about the beauty industry or how companies treat their employees... I've pivoted to creating safe spaces for humans to heal and always offer my services free to members of my community. I am not a fighter but I want to support those who are... It's my "thank you for your services" gesture.