Holistic Beauty from the Inside Out (20 page)

1. Make your own beauty products
   —it’s a lot easier than you think and will save you quite a lot of money too. Plus, you will know exactly what goes in your lotion, shampoo, or scrub. Flex your cosmetic formulator muscle by experimenting with masks, toners, and simple shampoos based on castile soap, and after you feel confident enough, try making your own creams and cleansers.
   
2. Double cleansing is essential for glowing skin
   . Combine two cleansers, one to remove daily grime and another one to deeply cleanse and purify your skin. Choose cleansing oils if your skin is dry or sensitive.
   
3. Cleansing clays are excellent for oily skin:
   add clays to your daily cleanser and makeup remover and make a deep-cleansing clay mask once or twice a week
   . Choose aluminum-free clays such as fango, montmorillonite, or rhassoul mud.
   
4. Use toners
   —even if the current cosmetic trend advises you that toners are out of fashion. A plant hydrosol or green tea infusion will not only remove all traces of cleanser from your skin, but will also leave a thin, nongreasy film of beneficial phytochemicals and essential oils.
   
5. Scrub and exfoliate with care
   : choose nonabrasive, fruit-and lactic-acid-based treatments if your skin is dry, delicate, or inflamed, and feel free to experiment with fine salt, sugar, semolina, or crushed fruit kernels if your skin is oily or combination.
   
6. Moisturize and protect from the sun
   : these two steps will ensure your skin will glow and radiate health and vitality. Choose mineral sunblocks that reflect the sun rays rather than penetrate your skin and become free radical magnets.
   
7. Natural oils and butters are your lips’ best friends. Beeswax tends to dry the skin a little.
   If your lips are inflamed, cover them with honey and leave it overnight
   .
   
8. Once a week, treat your skin with a relaxing, deeply conditioning spa facial
   complete with exfoliation, steaming, a purifying clay mask, and a moisture-boosting fruit pack.
   

SEVEN

Beautifully Spotless Skin

O
ily skin can happen at any age. For many of us, oily skin and its ugly sister, acne, almost always conjure up thoughts of our teenage years. but as someone who spent ten years fighting acne and the next ten years erasing its ugly residue in the form of scars and discoloration, I am aware that blemishes have nothing to do with your age. Your diet, stress levels, hormone fuctuations, and synthetic skincare can make acne happen when we least expect it.

CLEAN SKIN SOLUTIONS

Common acne triggers include sugar, wheat, and dairy, as well as artificial colorings and preservatives in the processed foods. if you suspect your skin becomes oilier after certain meals, try excluding these food categories from your daily diet for a few days and see how your skin feels and looks. in the meantime, add the
following acne-busting supplements and nutrients to your daily meals:

Fiber:
Bulk-forming “roughage” keeps your bowels working smoothly, absorbs any toxic junk that passes our lips, and reduces the dangerous accumulation of estrogen hormones in the body. You may notice that acne flares up most often after a bout of constipation. The easiest way to consume more fiber is to start your day with an old-fashioned porridge or a fancier version called “Birchermuesli,” which is oat f lakes soaked overnight in plain water and topped with lots and lots of berries and nuts.

Nothing beats zinc when it comes to blemish reduction. Zinc works to normalize hormonal levels and also to reduce inflammation. Other skin-clearing supplements to consider include a complex of B vitamins, sulfur, and magnesium.

Essential fatty acids, such as one or two tablespoons of coldpressed flax seed oil a day, help quench low-grade inflammation in acne-prone skin.

Helpful herbs for oily, acne-prone skin include dandelion (a great liver tonic), echinacea (excellent for general immune support), and burdock root (great for hormonal balance and blood purification).

I won my victory over acne six years ago by accident. I started taking a regular valerian herb supplement to help me cope with a new puppy who was a terrible sleeper. After a week of taking valerian twice daily, I suddenly noticed that my skin was free from blemishes. Oily skin and stress levels are linked more intimately than you think.

CLEAN SKINCARE FOR CLEAN SKIN

If you take just one bit of advice from this chapter, make it this: be extra gentle to your oily skin. Ditch alcohol-laden toners and caustic cleansers. Instead, treat your oily skin as if it is recovering from first-degree burns and use products with potentially irritating
vitamins and essential oils only where needed, and very sparingly to treat a spot, not the whole face.

You can easily transform any beauty product you currently own into an acne-specific one using purifying, anti-inflammatory essential oils such as tea tree, rosemary, geranium, and lavender. Green clay (bentonite) is very useful to have around if you are prone to oily skin. You can add it to cleansers, toners, and masks anytime you like.

Wash your skin morning and evening with a very gentle cleanser for sensitive skin or even plain natural liquid soap. Here are some recipes of purifying cleansers for your oily skin that you can easily make at home:

Foaming face wash with clay:
Add 2 teaspoons green clay to 100 mL (3.3 fl. oz.) natural liquid soap (castile soap is the best) and shake well. Use as a regular cleanser to absorb impurities from pores, which are generally wider in oilier skin types.

Yogurt and lemon cleanser:
This is a very gentle clarifying treatment made with 1 tablespoon plain yogurt and a few drops of fresh lemon juice. Combine in the palm of your hand and gently massage into the skin, then rinse face dry.

Clay and oatmeal cleanser:
Cover 2 tablespoons of fine oatmeal with half a cup boiling water and allow cooling until a slimy, sticky liquid forms at the top of the oatmeal. Collect the goop and add a pinch of clay to make a paste. Massage into your face and either rinse off or leave on as a mask for five or six minutes. Eat the porridge while the mask settles!

After a cleanser, apply a simple toner made with one or two ingredients. Avoid alcohol in your toner at all costs. Instead, use witch hazel, tea tree hydrosol, or lavender distillate to remove any cleanser residue and create a very thin, non-comedogenic layer of purifying phytochemicals on the skin surface. Here are some really easy toner ideas:

Witch hazel and clay toner:
This dual-phase toner needs to be shaken before use. The idea is quite
simple: Add 2–3 teaspoons of green clay to a small bottle (100 mL / 3.3 fl. oz. or less) of witch hazel and shake well. To apply, saturate a cotton pad and wipe your face.

Double apple toner:
Combine ½ cup apple juice, ½ cup mineral water, and 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar in a glass bottle. Close tightly and shake well. Apply with a cotton pad, avoiding eye area.

Milk of magnesia toner
: To quickly soothe your skin and diminish blemishes, apply a thin layer of plain, unscented milk of magnesia, a common stomach-soothing medication. Allow to dry and either rinse off or leave overnight.

Acne-prone skin can be surprisingly sensitive, so avoid grainy scrubs that will irritate spots. Instead, use apple cider vinegar and lemon juice diluted with water, green tea, or aloe vera to gently exfoliate the skin and diminish the size of the pores.

Do not skip the moisturizer—even oily skin needs hydration. After many years of trial and error, I realized that the best moisturizer for oily skin is very thin, “dry” oils such as chia, cucumber, jojoba, or thistle. These oils must be applied very sparingly—just two or three drops for the entire face. Their fine molecular structure makes them disappear in the skin without a greasy trace, and their rich antioxidant content helps soothe and heal the skin more efficiently than any oil-free, chemical-laden creams would. You can add a few drops of tea tree, lavender, or eucalyptus essential oils to your facial oil to increase the antibacterial potential of the base oil.

After applying the “dry” oil, allow your skin to absorb it fully, and then continue with a mineral sun protection formulated with zinc oxide. If you are using makeup, switch to mineral foundations formulated with zinc oxide and mineral pigments. As described earlier, I cannot emphasize enough: avoid silicones,
bismuth oxychloride, or artificial dyes in your mineral foundation.

Treat your oily skin to a purifying facial at least once a week. If your skin can tolerate it, you can apply a quick clay mask every other day. But once a week, indulge in a complete spa-like facial treatment:

1. Cleanse and exfoliate your skin using diluted apple cider vinegar or lemon juice in the following proportion: 2 tablespoons of the acidic liquid per half cup of green tea or mineral water. Apply with a cotton pad avoiding eye area, then rinse off and pat skin dry.
   
2. Steam your face using an infusion of nettle, peppermint, and chamomile in very hot water (be careful not to burn your skin!). You can easily buy herbal teas to prepare your purifying facial steam. After steaming your skin for eight to ten minutes, pat face dry. Do not rinse your skin.
   
3. Apply a clay-based mask. You can prepare a paste of French green clay or Fuller’s Earth clay mixed with mineral water, green or black tea, herbal tea, or even fruit juice such as orange or apple. Take 2 tablespoons of clay and add 2 tablespoons of the liquid soap of your choice. Adjust the amount of the liquid to create a smooth paste. Apply a thick layer all over your face including chin and upper neck area. If you plan to wash your hair afterward, work the mask into the hairline where acne blemishes often form. Relax for ten to twelve minutes or until the mask dries out, and rinse face well with warm water.
   
4. Apply a healing mask. You can choose from a variety of fruit and vegetables that you may have in your refrigerator:
   

Spinach mask:
If using frozen spinach, thaw 1 spinach cube and combine with a little cornstarch to create a paste. If using fresh spinach, make a puree using a blender. Apply to your cleansed face and leave to set for ten to twelve minutes.

Applesauce mask:
Apply applesauce in a thick layer all over your face and leave to work its magic for ten to fifteen minutes, then rinse and pat skin dry.

Strawberry and blueberry mask:
Purée 2 medium strawberries and 4–5 blueberries in a food processor and apply to your skin. You can also use frozen berries. Fruit acids and natural antioxidants work to mildly exfoliate, brighten, and heal your skin.

Potato and onion mask:
This recipe can be smelly, but it works wonders on severely blemished skin. Grate 1 raw potato and ½ medium onion, then mix the pulp well. Take a piece of clean gauze (you can also buy ready-made cotton masks) and apply to your face, then cover it with the vegetable purée. This mask visibly reduces redness and diminishes post-acne marks and discolorations.

If you have been plagued with oily, acne-prone skin at some point in your life, or are suffering from acne right now, you must have already spent years trying to fight it with benzoyl peroxide, retinoids, harsh cleansers, and alcohol-based toners. All these treatments only diminish acne symptoms without addressing the real cause of oily skin. Stress relief, a clean, additive-free diet, and natural skincare will help rebalance your oily skin and prevent skin sensitivities that are quite common in people who tried to conquer their acne with harsh chemical methods. Sensitive, easily irritated skin is a sign of whole-body imbalance, and like oily skin, it can be brought to balance with natural, holistic methods.

Chapter Seven Quick Tips

1. Common acne triggers include sugar, wheat, and dairy. Make sure you
   know your blemish triggers
   and correct your diet accordingly.
   
2. Retinoids and benzoyl peroxide are conventional acne treatments, but they can leave your skin vulnerable to free radical damage and thus prone to premature aging.
   Tea tree oil and other natural antibacterial substances help regulate acne bacteria
   without unpleasant side effects.
   
3. Fiber and zinc are some of the most helpful nutrients in your quest for clear skin
   . Fiber helps maintain regular bowel movements, while zinc regulates hormone levels often responsible for acne outbreaks.
   
4. Clay and witch hazel are probably the most effective natural treatments for blemishes.
   Clay absorbs excess oil from deep inside the pores, while witch hazel works as an astringent.
   
5. Apple cider vinegar also acts as an exfoliant with antibacterial action
   , so it purifies and clarifies at the same time, when added to your toner.
   

EIGHT

Beautifully Calm Skin

L
ike acne, sensitive skin is on the rise. Most of us can name up to ten substances that give us redness, itchiness, or rashes when they occur in a cosmetic product. For some of us, it’s a harsh detergent or artificial fragrance; for others, it’s certain essential oils. Even something as benign as aloe vera or chamomile can trigger a nasty rash or an array of blemishes that can look like acne. We are all prone to sudden episodes of sensitivity due to irritations, breakouts, itchiness, flakiness, or redness, but for some people sensitive skin is an everyday reality. Here’s a bit of good news: with natural nutrition and irritant-free skin-care, you can have calm, even-toned, glowing skin, no matter what your skin type is.