It seems like, as a female, you are always battling some type of skin issue: acne, sun damage, dryness, redness, cellulite, and more. In honor of National Healthy Skin Month, this article provides you with the basics of green skincare and the best advice and resources to make your skin shine and glow from the inside out!
Photo via weddingssc1 |
Here are essential tips on getting healthy skin that will be the envy of all your girlfriends:
- Be a Skin-Beauty Foodie. According to research, antioxidant-rich foods help with antiaging and fight off wrinkles, pimples, sun damage, cellulite, and sagging neck and jaw skin! For the ultimate skin beauty, make sure to eat at least one of the following foods daily: avocadoes, green tea, sweet potatoes, blueberries, goji berries, flaxseeds, tomatoes, walnuts, medicinal mushrooms, and olive oil.
- Know Your Skin Type. Is your skin thick, oily, soft and cool to the touch? Or is it dry, thin, fine-pored and sensitive? Do you have a pink or reddish complexion with a good amount of freckles or moles that is warm to the touch? When you understand your skin’s needs, you can care for it appropriately and put forward your best face.
|
Here are some general guidelines for skin types as summarized from Chill Out & Get Healthy by Aimee Raupp, an Oriental medicine practitioner and acupuncturist:
~If you have thick, oily and soft skin that is cool to the touch…
- Avoid greasy, clogging creams and go for organic, paraben-free, chemical-free, water-based foundations
- Wash your face daily with plain water and a washcloth
- Use gentle cleansers to open up and purify pores, like Cetaphil, Weleda’s wild rose cleansing lotion, or Burt’s Bees orange essence facial cleanse
~If you have dry, fine-pored, thin and sensitive skin that is cool to the touch…
- Avoid cleansing products that dry the skin, like alcohol-based cleansers and otners. Use nourishing cleansers such as organic olive oil soap, Cetaphil, or Weleda’s iris cleansing lotion
- To nourish the skin, massage organic olive or coconut oil onto the whole body after your shower
- Look for cosmetics that are hypoallergenic or made for sensitive skin
~If you have fair, soft and warm skin with pink or reddish undertones and a good amount of freckles or moles…
- Avoid excess sunlight, tanning treatments, and high-heat skin therapies such as facial or whole-body steams
- Use sensitive and delicate face cleansers, such as Weleda’s almond cleansing lotion
Photo via bellflowertextiles
- Green Your Makeup Bag. Many popular beauty companies, such as Estee Lauder, Avon, Revlon, L’Oreal and more, use bad-for-your-skin ingredients in their products, like formaldehyde, lead, and lanolin. Not only are these chemicals toxic for your skin, but they are also toxic for the earth. Use the Cosmetic Safety Database (www.costmeticsdatabase.com) to find the safest green makeup products for your makeup bag.
- Be an SPF Buff. Everyone needs valuable Vitamin D from the sun’s rays, and 10 to 15 minutes of daily sun exposure is great for the skin and the spirit! However, if your exposure to the sun will last longer than that, you must protect your skin with a sunscreen containing titanium dioxide and zinc; these ingredients are necessary for broad-spectrum physical sun protection but are too large to be absorbed by the skin, making them completely safe and harmless for your skin’s health. Renee Loux, organic living guru, recommends purchasing sunscreens “that are free of chemical preservatives and sunscreen chemicals, which though may prove effective for UV protection, are easily absorbed through the skin with questionable consequences.”
- Quench Your Thirst. Water is necessary for all life processes. Drink a lot (approximately half your body weight in ounces of water; for example, if you weigh 130 pounds, you need 65 ounces of water a day) to flush toxins from the body and impurities from the skin.
- Embrace Your Inner Sleeping Beauty. You need seven to eight hours of uninterrupted sleep a night to prevent dark circles, puffy eyes, ruddy complexion, and acne. Restful sleep is soothing to the skin and completely necessary for that inner, youthful glow!
Resources:
Danielle Foster is a Natural Foods Chef and Holistic Health Counselor with a knack for fabulous, easy green living. She founded Get Green Girl, a motivational workshop series ultimately teaching teen girls about self-acceptance, achieving their dreams, and making a difference in the world all while reinforcing green, environmentally-sound habits and behaviors. Visit www.get-green-girl.com for more info.