The Healthy Skin Routine
To say that females take on more stress when it comes to Skin Care, is definitely an understatement. I mean, women are the targeted demographic for Skin Care companies. Skin Care and Beauty are multibillion dollar industries that have very minimal regulations when it comes to safety and labeling. That combination makes it extremely easy for anyone to create a product, give it a fancy label, and market the bejesus out of it to make mega bucks, without having to undergo any kind of testing or safety regulations before launching. However, there is a “makeover” currently taking place in the Skin Care and Beauty industries. Groups of amazing people have been gathering to create safer, healthier, and more sustainable products that impact our overall health, our skin, and our environment in a positive way. All we need to do is educate ourselves on how our skin got to a certain point, the harmful products we are using, and what products we should be using. Trust me, when you make the switch, a lot more will change than just your skin…and that is a good thing!
Begin Skin Deep
Before we dig into the topical treatment of our skin, we have to know why our skin is the way it is. Some individuals are born with skin conditions, some have allergies, some have genetic predispositions, and some, well, just self inflict skin conditions without even knowing it. What if I were to tell you that no matter the reason, you can either minimize or eliminate your skin symptomatic reactions by studying what you eat and drink? Sounds crazy right? But, sometimes the simplest act of just drinking 3 more glasses of water a day can get rid of the bags under your eyes. So, how exactly does one study what they are eating and drinking?
It’s a lot easier than you think. Write down in a diary (or use a notepad on your phone) everything you eat and drink in a day. By the end of 1 week, you will be able to assess exactly what you are putting in your body. (Include how much water you drink.) Based on what was written down, create a list of how many glasses of water you drink in a day, and how many servings of whole foods (food that require no label!) you eat in a day. Then write another list of all the “other” things you drink and eat in a day. Now, what list is longer? Did you just have a lightbulb moment? I know I did when I did this exercise a few years ago. The information I gathered though was so valuable. Once I let that information sink in, I decided to add in 2 extra glasses of water a day and to keep sugary treats to 1 serving 2 days a week. Now, that took some massive effort on my end, it was not always easy, but I got some amazing results by the end of 2 weeks. I had more energy, my skin looked smoother without red spots and acne, my dry patches on my knees disappeared, and the bags under my eyes shrank down to nothing. Why do these tweaks in what we consume make a massive impact on our skin? Well, what we see come to the surface, is actually the result of an interaction that occurred beneath the surface.
The consumption of adequate amounts of water is so important for overall health, and it reflects on our skin. When we don’t drink enough water our cells are deprived of enough nutrients and oxygen…we are literally suffocating our cells (no wonder our skin looks lifeless at times!). When we stay hydrated (meaning we are drinking enough water), we are helping our body get rid of toxins, stabilize our blood pressure, create protection for our organs and tissues, give our bodies a “normal range” body temperature, as well as keeping our electrolytes in check! Everyone requires a different amount of water, but a good rule of thumb is half your body weight in ounces. If you keep up with the water intake throughout the day, it will help your skin stay hydrated, smooth, and plump! And who doesn’t want that?!
Sugar and processed foods don’t just affect your interior health, they show up on your skin…like all the time!!! I cannot stress enough how important it is to limit the intake of these foods. The skin is somewhat like the outside of a colander. You know when you drain the pasta or wash the veggies, all that nasty water or dirt that escapes through the holes? Yeah, that’s exactly what your skin does as well. It’s trying to release all of that junk your body doesn’t want to keep anymore. It shows up as a rash, a dry patch, acne, hair falling out, or hair growing in places we don’t want them to grow, dark circles, bags under your eyes, and all of the other things that we think will go away if we find the right magical lotion! Try an experiment…remove all sugar for 2 weeks and note what happens to your skin. Not enough to convince you? Remove all processed foods for 2 weeks, and then see what happens.
It’s not a big kept secret that what you drink and eat affects your skin health. It is just a topic that you will never see advertised by any company, or even see in the fine print on a super model magazine. It is the topic that we need to address as the top priority before we start swiping our credit cards for the next big trend in the Skin Care and Beauty department.
Skin And Beauty Enhancement
Let’s just clarify that any product we use on our skin or hair (our outter body) should be an enhancement of what we are already producing from the inside. What that means is when we choose to apply a product to our skin or hair, we are trying to create a positive and lasting impact on our overall health. So, do you know exactly what is going on, and into your skin and hair? Are you just keeping up with the trends? Or is it more budget friendly? Don’t panic if these answers seem to shake your brain…they are supposed to!
Wiping a product on our skin causes an impact that goes much deeper than the surface of the body. That product seeps inside the pores, and travels throughout the entire body, and its’ systems. For instance, a lotion with certain chemicals in the formula, can travel through your body and alter your hormones, and how they function (along with causing other complications). These are called endocrine disrupters. These particular chemicals are found in many Skin Care and Beauty products that are still being sold in thousands of stores. These are chemicals such as parabens, benzophenones, bisphenols, and phthalates. Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC’s) are found in much more than skin care and beauty products (but I’ll save those products for another Blog). The fact that there is minimal surveillance of harmful chemicals in products we use daily, should give us all the more reason to truly understand exactly WHAT we are applying on our bodies.
We all want to keep our smooth and flawless baby skin, but since we are humans, we age. And that goes for our skin too. Does that mean we can’t help it out with GOOD and HEALTHY enhancements? Of course not! Finding good quality products is much easier than it was even 5 years ago. The movement to become a healthier society isn’t just happening with the agriculture and food industries. The Beauty and Skin Care industries are making some progressive steps in the “GOOD FOR YOU” direction. So, if you’re just not the person to create your own DIY Skin Care products at home (which is actually really easy to do! I highly encourage you to try experimenting!) then there is good news! There are many companies rising up to the challenge of creating safe and healthy formulas for humans to use…and the results are just as amazing, if not better, than the toxic brands. I myself have found that my skin does well with Beauty Counter Skin Care products. I also love using Honest brand cosmetics. (I am not sponsored, I just like these brands…I’ll leave links below.) I have even started my daughters in the habit of buying the safe and healthy brands. Some may say that these brands are too expensive. However, once you get into a groove with your hydration and nutrition, you will come to find that you need less Skin Care and Cosmetic products than your skin is used to. Instead of a 12 step night time routine, you will scale back to a 3 step night time routine. The 10 step makeup application will scale down to a 4-5 step application process. All that money and time wasted on all the products and applications you don’t even need, will give you more time to relax, take a bath, or even just get more sleep…how awesome would that be?!
It takes time and patience to understand what is causing your skin to react the way it does. It takes even more time and patience to find safe and healthy products that enhance YOUR skin. It is an ever changing journey that is truly an individual experience. Some may benefit from multiple products in one Skin Care line, while others may have to find one product from one brand and other products from other brands, or perhaps use a natural product like coconut oil. We all have a variety of health and skin care needs that differ from one person to the other. The best way to discover what works best for your Skin Care Routine is understanding the root cause of your skin condition, adjusting what YOU need, and finding products that are going to enhance your Skin Health that are safe and healthy. If you are unsure of an ingredient in a product look it up at Environmental Working Group , or don’t buy that product. What you put on your skin, and what you consume every day, has an ever looping impact on your overall health. Reading labels, and understanding ingredients, are small little steps we can all take to improve and prevent Skin Conditions. We all want beautiful and flawless skin, and that begins with a Healthy Skin Routine; from hydration and nutrition to topical enhancements.
Links To Get You Curious:
EWG Personal Care Products Search For any type of product (face cleanser, body wash, etc.) and filter by clicking the box “EWG VERIFIED”
