Glowing skin is a dream for many of us. When your skin is healthy you don’t pay much attention to it until the breakouts show up. Then the world suddenly revolves around it. Typically it happens at the most inconvenient time and you end up with layers of concealer to cover it up. Having issues with your skin can really affect your self-esteem. Whether you’ve dealt with troubled skin for a while, or whether it’s more of an occasional thing, I think we can all relate to the struggle – especially when it comes to the face.
What can upset your skin? There are many things to look into, as always, there is no one solution for everyone but I do have a few tricks that do apply very generally. You may be surprised to learn that a lot of the focus needs to be inwards. Your body is connected and everything is tied together. Regardless of your background, the following habits create a good foundation.
Hydration.
This probably isn’t exactly new information for you but it’s definitely worth pointing out. Your body is made of roughly 70% water and needs to stay hydrated. It does wonders for your skin. Water also helps the detoxification system to clear out anything that doesn’t serve you. Built-up toxins in your body can create many issues and if it’s too much to handle for your liver, it can show up on your skin. After all your skin is an organ.
Gut health.
You may have noticed that some foods can make you breakout. Chocolate or cheese is usually what comes up when I ask around. But is it the food or how well its digested? An unhealthy gut flora is linked to many issues and skin health is definitely one of them. It is in your stomach that most nutrition is absorbed and also where the majority of your immune system is found.
Sleep.
I’m sure we’ve all been here – we’ve woken up with a puffy face and dark circles after a poor night’s sleep. Your detoxification systems, such as the lymphatic system, are most active at night. A good night’s sleep allows these systems to do their job and cleanse the body. A happy inside enables a glowing outside.
Exfoliating and cleansing.
Now it’s time for some work that can be done on your actual skin – I bet you’ve been wondering when this step would show up. Every day your skin is renewing with cells being produced. In one year you shed around 4kg of dead skin cells. A bit of a gross statistic, but it gives us a good reality check. One thing you can do to help out is to exfoliate and cleanse regularly, around 2-3 times each week. On your face you need to be more gentle with finer corns.
Skin boosting foods.
Nutrition plays a huge role, not only because its linked to your gut health (as spoken about above) but also because a balanced diet provides a variety of nutrients. There are certain vitamins and minerals that are especially good for your skin. Bear in mind though, everything is interlinked! Some nutrients can only be absorbed in the presence of others. Now when that is covered, which macronutrients are associated with healthy skin? Vitamin E, C, D and K. These are also good for your hair and nails, as a bonus. Collagen and omega fatty acids also play a huge role.
Stress management.
Have you ever notice pimples showing up when you’re busy, just to make it all worse? When you’re stressed the body goes into fight or flight mode. During this time it’s not a priority to keep your skin in order because there is some kind of perceived danger to deal with. During this state, the detoxification system, sleep, absorption of nutrition, immune system etc will suffer. Looking into stress management tools such as deep belly breathing, meditation and nature walks can help your body to go into a more rest-and-digest state.
There are more things to look into but these six steps create a good foundation and that’s where I would recommend you start. If you have tried all these above and still haven’t noticed an improvement, then I would recommend you look at your hormone balances and adrenals. This plays a huge role for your skin, especially for us women. There can also be un unknown food allergy that troubles your body and triggers your immune system. Again, a healthy gut is a healthy body.
The last thing I would advise you to do, for now, is to look into is the type of products you’re using. We are exposed to so many toxins and chemicals from the products used in our environment. Your body is incredible in dealing with this but the load is very heavy in today’s modern world. If the build-up gets too much for your body to handle then this will be stored in your body instead of being flushed out. Your liver takes care of most of it but if the workload gets out of hand, it can store it in your skin or other organs. Do your body a huge favour by minimising the toxic exposure in those areas you are in control of. One of these is beauty and hygiene products. Everything you put on your body gets absorbed, regardless if its unnatural or not. Check out low tox life for more info about this topic.
