Radiant Skin
Three major factors contribute to the health of your skin: good nutrition and general wellbeing, good conditioning and removing dead cells and impurities.
Good nutrition and general well-being
Food that is good for the whole body will make your complexion glow too, however, hair and skin have some specific nutritional requirements: drink plenty of water, eat a good amount of healthy fiber, and prefer foods rich in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids (sunflower, pumpkin and flax seeds, fish, olive oil), vitamin B12 (eggs, shellfish, cornmeal, lean meat, soy) and antioxidants (all berries, green leafy vegetables, green tea, red wine, oregano). Remember that all topical products can do is maintain the appearance of what is already there and no amount of external pampering will do it any good if your skin health is sabotaged at cellular level by toxins, oxidants, dehydration and stress. Also, since elimination is one of your skin’s functions, as unglamorous as that may be, keeping the amount of irritants it has to process to a minimum will go a long way towards avoiding rashes, acne and a sallow appearance. Awareness about the damaging effects of smoking should go without saying.
Good health, restful sleep, reduced stress and a general state of well-being immediately reflect upon your skin and hair, improving their tone and texture and making them glow.
Good conditioning
Skin can take very good care of itself in its ideal state, so reach a state that’s close to ideal and it will be very happy. Healthy skin is slightly acidic, with a PH between 5 and 6, which is why it enjoys sugar scrubs and fresh fruit masks. The invisible protective layer of fatty acids cultivates the beneficial bacteria that help your skin function and discourage the growth of the bad ones that make it prone to inflammation. Also, in order for any of the cells in your body, including skin cells, to function at their best, they need good oxygenation rates, adequate hydration and a proper balance of minerals to maintain their membranes supple and permeable.
A regular honey scrub helps the skin achieve perfect balance, keeps the blood moving, and provides good hydration. Protect your skin, it will thank you, especially in winter. Use creams and salves that contain beeswax, this natural product creates an invisible shield against harsh weather and other environmental stressors.
A blend of baking soda and sea salt in equal proportion, especially mixed with antiseptic essential oils like bergamot, lavender, tea tree, thyme, or peppermint, makes for a wonderfully aromatic bath salt which heals small cuts and scrapes and keeps breakouts and inflammation at bay. Don’t use on open wounds, ’cause – salt, and beware of tea tree oil if you are male, it has unfortunate side effects.
One sure way to have glorious tresses is to massage your scalp regularly, thus improvingblood circulation around the hair follicles; it turns out there is real benefit to the hundred brush strokes rule after all. Also true for both hair and skin, don’t strip them of theirnatural oils, they are there for a reason. If you must scrub them off replace them with fats that are as close to your own chemical make-up as possible: coconut and cocoa butter, lanolin, jojoba and almond oil, and the most inexpensive and healthful kitchen ingredient of them all – vegetable oil.
Removing dead cells and impurities
You have to remove dead cells on a regular basis to allow the young and healthy ones to thrive. To achieve this goal, use body scrubs once a week (mix salt or sugar with oil in a proportion of two to one, add your favorite fragrance and you got yourself a luxurious beauty product), apply natural pore refining cleansing masks (a broad range of options, from simply applying fresh apricots or strawberries to your face to the all time winner egg yolk-honey-clay mask), and remember to remove all make-up and impurities at the end of the day.
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