Cooking Your Way to Gorgeous

Health Communications, Inc.

Deerfield Beach, Florida

www.hcibooks.com

The information contained in this publication is not intended to replace the services of a physician, nor does it constitute a doctor-patient relationship. All content in this publication is provided for informational purposes, and readers should consult their own physicians concerning any recommendations. You should not use the information in this publication for diagnosing or treating a medical or health condition. If you have or suspect you have an urgent medical problem, promptly contact your professional healthcare provider. Any application of the suggestions in this publication is at the reader’s discretion. All information is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice, diagnosis, or prescription. When trying facials, to avoid any potential allergic reactions any time you make a facial mask, test it on the inside of your wrist first, before the mask touches your face. Most supermarkets label items with possible allergen-containing ingredients; however, there is always a risk of contamination. There is also a possibility that manufacturers of said commercial foods could change the formulation at any time, without notice. Readers concerned with food allergies need to be aware of this risk.

Neither Scott-Vincent Borba® nor Ali Morra-Pearlman assume any liability for adverse reactions to food consumed, or items one may come in contact with while trying recipes, hair treatments, and facials outlined in this book. Although most products used in hair treatments and facials are derived from natural products (fruits, vegetables, and so forth), every skin type is unique in its response to various vitamins and minerals, and the combinations thereof.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
is available through the Library of Congress

©2013 Borba, Scott-Vincent.

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

HCI, its logos, and its marks are trademarks of Health Communications, Inc.

Publisher: Health Communications, Inc.
3201 S.W. 15th Street
Deerfield Beach, FL 33442-8190

Cover photo of Scott-Vincent Borba by Kelsey Edwards Studios

Cover image used under license from Shutterstock.com

Cover design by Larissa Hise Henoch

Interior design and formatting by Lawna Patterson Oldfield

E-Pub formatting by Dawn Von Strolley Grove

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Eat Your Way to Gorgeous Skin

1 Take It from the Top

2 Eyes That Love You Back

3 Time to Feed Your Face

4 Into the Core

5 How Low Can You Go?

6 Living the Sweet Life

7 Cocktails and Mocktails

Conclusion: How It All Began

About the Author

About the Writer

Acknowledgments

Kelsey Edwards Studios
for happening into my life! We met by forces of kismet and you will always be a part of my family. Thank you for shooting this cover and photographing many of my major events, modeling jobs, agency headshots, and important projects. You believed in me since I set foot in Los Angeles, and friends like you are hard to come by, indeed.

Frank Weinman, a terrific book agent who supported my creative ideas and never tried to change who I am.

Allison Janse for being the best publishing partner I could ever ask for. Thank you for not stifling my wacky innovations and for pushing me to be even more creative. You are patient and refreshing, and I’m blessed to be working with you on these last two projects and many more to come.

Eric J. Allen, a close friend (and willing guinea pig) who was there with me to test all my beauty concoctions, recipes, and products. Having one of the top celebrity makeup artists and my closest confidant by my side since we both started out in the industry has been a lifesaver. Thank you for all you have done, all the years of listening, and never once telling me that I couldn’t accomplish my goals.

My writer Ali Morra-Pearlman who breathed life into my ideas with her wonderful way of language and originality. A great partner for the world’s first ever beauty cookbook! What a fun and challenging adventure we went on with this project. You are extremely talented, and I’m proud to call you my great friend and colleague.

Valerie Castro for your exceptional eye and constant cheerleading! You picked me up many a day when I needed the support to push forward. You are a special person and a wonderful source of guidance.

Friends and supporters like Nancy O’Dell, Angela Basset, Selena Gomez, Stacy Keebler, CS Lee, and Jennifer Love Hewitt (among many others). You trust in my expertise and I can’t thank you enough for showcasing my philosophy of inside-out beauty as realistically as humanly possible—on your skin!

Mi otra familia.
I love our virtual chats and seeing your faces and friendly messages daily. You are my tabula rasa, and without you I wouldn’t be inspired to keep innovating products. I constantly have you in the back of my mind when I create or push myself to achieve a higher goal. I always ask,
can I honor you with this effort and make you proud?
You are my engine and my magic and I appreciate you tremendously.
Nos vemos en el cyberspace! Besos.

Introduction: Eat Your Way to Gorgeous Skin

All of us are looking to spend less
but still get high-level results with our beauty routines. The good news is that including foods in your diet that support healthy skin is easier and more cost effective than any other skin-care method. Feeding your skin from the inside out with skin-friendly foods and whipping up skin-saving beauty treatments with things you have in your pantry are what I call being
skin savvy
. What many people don’t know is that your kitchen pantry holds many secret ingredients with multiple uses that will give you skin-revitalizing results. I will show you how to use many of them, such as olive oil, baking soda, honey, canned beans, avocados, vanilla extract, sea salt, oatmeal, and fiber powder, and I will also introduce you to many new powerful ingredient favorites.

If you choose to live life productively and to the max, if you are open to lifestyle improvement, achieving better skin quickly, a slimmer silhouette, and a pared-down medicine cabinet, plus fewer trips to the cosmetics counter, this book is for you. Enjoy it over the course of many months, or years, and I guarantee you’ll see and feel a significant difference.
Cooking Your Way to Gorgeous
teaches you how to combine the power of ingestible nutrients and topical ingredients to visibly change the appearance of your skin.

You will read a lot about “hero” ingredients in this book. When discussing gorgeous skin, the term pops up frequently. A hero is any nutrient or food, or combination thereof, that boosts health, wellness, and beauty. Hero ingredients and recipes offer you A+ benefits, above and beyond the rest. You’ll notice that we have labeled quite a few recipes in this book as “hero recipes”—these are my all-time favorites and most efficacious. In the chapters that follow, I will explain what these hero foods can do for your skin and offer you a wealth of simple, delicious recipes you can make with them.

But for now, here is your jump-start cheat sheet: The most important hero foods to eat, in my opinion, are:

1) berries, camu camu, and pomegranates (antioxidants)

2) seeds, nuts, and sprouts (protein and vitamin E)

3) fish (omega-3 fatty acids)

4) greens, the darker the better (vitamin A),

5) whole grains (antioxidants)

These hero foods work for every body part and physical channel to provide internal and external beauty. In this book, I encourage you to not only cook with hero items to
feed your skin,
but to use them in facial recipes and concoctions to
apply to
your
skin
.