Knowing your way around a makeup kit is a good thing, but
the ultimate goal is to look naturally gorgeous without piling on the products. Happy skin is
healthy skin, and achieving that much-coveted natural glow means making choices
that serve your skin well. Here we look at 11 simple tips for getting and
keeping healthy, gorgeous skin.
1.Sleep tight: How much sleep you get -- or don’t get -- makes a significant difference
to your skin. Up all night working on that presentation for work? Your skin
will look pale and dull the next morning, with uneven tone and dark circles
under your eyes. A full night’s sleep -- 7 hours will do -- nets you a brighter
complexion and natural glow. The healing power of sleep works wonders for
natural beauty.
2.Stress free: Stressed out? Your skin will show it with redness,
breakouts and dry, flaky patches. Squeezing in some weekly yoga may not be
possible, but do try to minimize stress as best you can. Have a cutoff time for
work (no laptops or smartphones in bed, please). If you can, take 10 minutes
every night to stretch, sit quietly sipping your favorite herbal tea, or doing
whatever else takes your mind off the chaos of life.
3.Drink more water: The key
to hydrated skin comes from the inside out. In warm weather, most of us think
to drink more fresh water, since we may be perspiring, even when we aren't
working out. But since winter air is especially (and subtly) drying, it's
important to drink plenty of agua during the winter too. "Water should be
consumed at room temperature or warmer," Arnett recommends, "and if
you realize that you are quite dehydrated, add a small pinch of mineral salt to
the water, which will help your body absorb it more effectively."
4.Eat well: Diet has a profound effect on how the skin looks.
A diet full of refined flour, sugar and processed foods is a major culprit in
uneven tone, breakouts and general lack of brightness. Giving your skin the
nutrients it needs will help you get your glow back. This means saying sayonara to sodium-filled snack foods and
pre-packaged meals, and instead getting lots of leafy greens, fresh fruit,
colorful vegetables and whole grains.
5.Wear sunscreen: use sunscreen when you are going out. When sunscreen is the
outermost layer, it forms a nice shield against UV rays. If you are using a chemical sunscreen, it's
best to wait 20-30 minutes after applying before going outside so the UV
filters have time to soak into your skin and form a protective layer. You
don't have to wait for all-physical sunscreens. Sunscreens with titanium
dioxide and zinc oxide actives are effective as soon as you put it on. However,
since there are sunscreens with both chemical
and physical UV filters, it's generally a good idea to apply sunscreen
15-30 minutes before sun exposure.
6.Exfoliate : Regular exfoliation sloughs away dead skin cells and
unclogs pores to reveal fresher, brighter skin. Choose which type based on your
skin type: scrubs for oily skin, chemical exfoliators for dry or mature skin,
and enzymes for sensitive or reactive skin.
7.Go easy on the salt: Salt balance is incredibly important,
which is why if you're dehydrated, it can be a good idea to add salt (as
detailed above). But if you normally eat very salty foods (think salami and
deli meats, processed snacks and soup, or if you add tons of salt to dishes),
you can knock your salt balance out of whack the other direction, which can
cause dehydration (and soon after, stressed skin). So if you are a bit
heavy-handed with the shaker, cut back.
8.Ease up on the caffeinated beverages: Coffee and non-herbal teas contain
caffeine, a natural diuretic, which can dry out your skin. Choose herbal teas
or plain water to keep as hydrated as possible (without going overboard) and
your skin will improve.
9.Avoid moisturizers with petroleum: Mineral oil and petroleum jelly are
both petroleum-based products, which means they coat the skin, but don't
actually moisturize it (the top-level oil slick actually blocks your skin from
making it's own oils). Over time, your skin becomes unable to function normally
without the unnatural oil slick; your aim should be to encourage the natural,
healthy sebum (oil) production in your dermis.
10.Avoid soaps with sulfates: Naturally, you want to get clean when
you wash, but you don't want to strip the naturally protective oils (sebum)
from your skin. Sulfates, which make some soaps and shower gels foam up, remove
your sebum, which you actually want to avoid. "If skin feels squeaky or
tight after a shower, it's damaged," says Arnett. She suggests looking for
cleansers without sulfates; "You can get clean without harsh
detergents," says Arnett, who recommends , Alafia which I
use, and Nourish(both available at Whole Foods) as brands that do
the job safely (and are price competitive with conventional brands).
11.Oil up: Adding oil, or an oil-based moisturizer to
your body isn't going to make you more oily; it supports skin and doesn't block
natural sebum production. Arnett recommends jojoba oil which "is the
closest to skin's natural sebum and isn't greasy."coconut and sesame oil,
and shea and cocoa butters (or combinations of these ingredients) also work
well, depending on how much moisture you need (my dry skin loves shea butter).
Unless you have really oily skin, most winter skin can use some oil.
Applying right after a warm shower will really help it absorb into skin.
There are a lot of products
on the market for all kinds of beauty routines. Most of these products are very
expensive. Many of them contain ingredients that can cause allergic reactions
for a large number of consumers. Here is a list of 10 effective natural beauty
tips for you to try. They are extremely inexpensive and easy to use. And you
don't have to try to decipher an ingredient label to see if there may be an
ingredient that can be irritating to you.
