The Sally B's Everyday Guide to Healthy Skin
Scroll through Pinterest, or even your Facebook feed, and there will be a countless number of tips on how to achieve flawless skin. Don’t sleep on your stomach. Sleep on your back. Listerine is an excellent exfoliate. Toothpaste will get rid of pimples. It is getting increasingly difficult to decipher what will work and what is simply a gimmick.
To help you make sense of it all, we're offering our list of the best, everyday things you can do to keep your skin at its healthiest. The secret: balance. It’s not just what you put on your skin, it’s also about what you feed your skin from the inside and your lifestyle choices.
- Be conscious of the products you use. We would be remiss to not make this our very first entry to the list. Our skin is our body’s largest organ and it acts like a tissue, absorbing most everything that you slather on it. So the ingredients in your products will enter into your body and into your blood stream. Seek out skin care products that are made with organic, natural, and other good-for-you ingredients. And don’t just stop with skin care products. The laundry detergent, cleaning supplies, candles, and air fresheners in your home can come in contact with your skin and lungs and affect your health as well.
- Use products made with organic ingredients. Choosing an “all natural” product is not always enough these days. Consider poison ivy. It occurs naturally in our environment, but not something we would ever put on our skin. Bismuth Oxychloride is another naturally occurring ingredient and very commonly used, but can cause serious skin irritation and even acne. Ensure that the ingredients you’re using are gentle and beneficial to your skin and have been grown organically. If they haven’t, any number of pesticides used in the growing process could still be lingering with the ingredient.
- Minimize Your Sugar Intake. Sugar might give you a much needed energy rush, but it can also wreak havoc on your skin. It can attach itself to collagen and cause skin to become tough, inflexible, and ultimately loose its elasticity, which can result in wrinkles and fine lines. It can also manifest itself into rosacea, acne, rashes, or even increase pore size. Read more about how sugar affects skin and how you can avoid it.
- Pack your diet with leafy greens. Spinach and kale are packed full of essential vitamins and fiber, and are powerful antioxidants, which, in terms of our skin, help to fight the signs of aging and prevent wrinkles. Plus they are a great way to get a healthy dose of Vitamin A. Learn more about these green super foods here.
- Drink Plenty of Water. Keeping yourself properly hydrated allows your body’s systems and cells to function at their very best. When properly hydrated your body is working at its optimal state: your body is prime to absorb, digest and benefit from all the nutrients found in your food and skincare products, while your blood is able to circulate efficiently and rid the body of nasty toxins.
- Minimize Your Time In The Sun. Too much exposure can result in burning, free radical production, and moisture loss. Intense UV rays can cause cancer, as well as wrinkles, dark spots, and other signs of aging. Sure sunscreen can help shield your skin from UV rays, but be warned, most traditional brands of sunscreen are full of harmful, chemical ingredients. Read more here about how to protect your skin the healthy, non-toxic way.
- Get plenty of sleep, regular exercise, and reduce stress. Your lifestyle choices play an important role in your skin health, so don't minimize the importance of good sleep and exercise, including yoga. Both will increase your oxygen flow to skin to help keep it clear and free of toxins. Since unhealthy levels of stress can affect the appearance of your skin, you can use diet and exercise to keep your stress levels low and balanced.
- Exfoliate Regularly. Dead skin cells naturally accumulate on our skin, and when they build up they can give us a dull or muddy complexion. They can also clog our pores and interfere with our skin’s natural oil production, which can lead to enlarged pores, blemishes, acne, and even wrinkles. The frequency in which you exfoliate depends on your specific skin type, but we give you the run down on the different ways to exfoliate here.
- Wash Your Face Morning and Night. You might have heard that washing your face twice a day can strip your skin of essential moisture and nutrients, but we believe that when you’re using the right product, like our gentle Tamanu Luxury Facial Cleanser, cleansing twice a day is safe and beneficial. Not only is it a superb cleanser, whisking away dirt and bacteria, but the organic Tamanu Oil has anti-inflammatory properties to calm any puffiness or redness from the stresses of the day.
There are so many other wonderful things you can do for your skin, but these are the everyday skin-loving fundamentals that we have found to work. No gimmicks here, just a healthy balance of feeding your skin from the inside and out and incorporating healthy lifestyle choices.
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