Holistic Beauty from the Inside Out (25 page)

UNLOAD THE UNDER-EYE BAGGAGE

Most of us have suffered from eye bags and puffy eyelids at least once. Fluid retention, stress, allergies, hormone changes, and heredity all play their part. One of the most common reasons for puffy eyes is a bout of tears. When we cry, our body reacts to
emotions and sends more blood to flow through the eyelids, which leads to swelling. Plus, we pat and rub the area, which doesn’t soothe it any more. Paradoxically, too much sleep can sometimes make you look worse. Puffy eyes after a long sleep often result from too much salt and alcohol at dinner, tossing and turning, or a bedroom that is too hot.

Eye puffiness can also result from allergies or irritation caused by eye makeup, eyedrops, and cosmetic products. Try to figure out which product gives you irritation and toss it away no matter how much it cost. An eye cream labeled “hypoallergenic” and “safe for sensitive skin” gave me one of the worst allergic bouts in my life.

Traditional cosmetic offerings for puffy eyes include caffeineladen creams packed in a roller pen that is supposed to disperse fluids and promote circulation, but this doesn’t always do the trick. The caffeine content of such creams is usually too low to make any difference. You will be better off with a cup of espresso—and it costs considerably less.

Green tea de-puffs and firms swollen eyelids. Prepare a cup of green or peppermint tea and let it cool down. Cover the cup with a saucer to prevent precious phytochemicals from evaporating. When nearly cold, pour the tea into ice cube tray and freeze. As needed, wrap the ice cube in gauze or muslin cloth and wipe your eye directing from inner corner outward.

If your puffy eyes are not caused by hay fever, a virus, or an allergy, there are many inexpensive ways to get rid of excess baggage:

1. Wash your face with ice cold water, splashing into eyes to help tighten the skin and promote blood flow. Gently rub your eyes with an herbal ice cube (find the recipe in
   Chapter Six
   ). If the ice is stinging your skin, wrap it in muslin cloth or a paper towel.
   
2. The traditional advice is to place two slices of cool cucumber on the eyes for several minutes, but this rarely helps if you are not pressing cucumber slices into your eye sockets. I found that soaking two black or green tea bags in cold water, chilling them in the refrigerator, and placing them over closed eyelids for several minutes works much better.
   
3. Steaming your face helps purge excess water and tighten the skin. To relieve water retention, add fennel, dill, parsley, or rosemary to the bowl of hot water, then carefully lean over and cover your head with a towel. Steam your face for five to ten minutes.
   
4. Add celery and parsley to your salads. Herbs that ease puffiness and water retention include dandelion, corn silk, nettle, cleavers, and meadowsweet.
   
5. Bloodshot, swollen eyes can be due to a lack of vitamin B2Good sources of this vitamin include eggs, cottage cheese, yogurt, broccoli, asparagus, spinach, mushrooms, brewer’s yeast, and almonds.
   
6. To camouflage puffy eyes, do not pile on shimmery eye shadows. Instead, apply some matte face powder to the eyelid and focus your attention on eyelashes: curl and color them to visually open the eye and distract attention from the puffiness.
   

FEED YOUR EYES

As your skin needs nutrients to remain resilient and bright, so
do your eyes. There is solid scientific evidence that you can protect your vision from age-related degradation by enriching your diet with lots and lots of eye-specific antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. The best way to obtain antioxidants is from fresh fruit and vegetables—the more colorful, the better.

• Eye-nourishing antioxidants are abundant in purple fruit and vegetables—for example, eggplant, red cabbage, dark grapes, blackberries, and blueberries. They contain flavonoids lutein and zeaxanthin, two antioxidants are responsible for sharp vision.
  
• Zinc, copper, and vitamin C help protect your vision from age-related changes such as glaucoma. Luckily, these supplements are also known to protect your skin from premature aging and to generally improve your immunity.
  
• Ginkgo biloba is a well-known herb that helps improve blood circulation and memory. Studies show that ginkgo biloba protects eyesight by maintaining oxygen supply to the eyes and also works as an antioxidant
  ¹³¹
  
• Essential omega-3 fatty acids are some of the most important supplements for your skin and eyes. The retina has a high concentration of omega-3, particularly DHA . Omega-3s protect eye cells from inflammation, free radicals, neurotoxins, and environmental aggressors. All good reasons to eat more fish or invest in a high-quality omega-3 supplement.
  

Chapter Eleven Quick Tips

1. Buy organic eye creams. The skin around your eyes is very fragile and sensitive to synthetic irritants, so
   going organic with your eye products should be a priority
   .
   
2. Sunglasses are the first warriors of aging skin around the eyes. No matter what the current fashion,
   opt for oversized sunglasses that are marked as providing comprehensive sun protection
   .
   
3. Oil makeup removers work a lot better than gels or creams because they dissolve waterproof and mineral makeup more efficiently.
   To remove eye makeup easily, saturate a cotton pad with olive oil and gently press onto your eye, then slide to remove traces of mascara and liner
   .
   
4. Green tea and cucumber are excellent for puffy eyes;
   slices of raw potato help lighten under-eye circles
   much more efficiently than any eye cream.
   
5. Zinc, copper, and vitamin C ensure good blood circulation in the eye area and slow down collagen loss in fragile skin.
   Drinking enough water helps prevent eye puffiness and droopy eyelids
   that result from the eye “yo-yo”: puffy lids in the morning, dull and tired in the evening.
   
6. Purple-colored vegetables help maintain sharp eyesight and also replenish the skin with antioxidants
   —essential for wrinkle prevention.
   

TWELVE

Beautiful Body

Y
ou know how important it is to shower regularly, and I bet you already know or have previously guessed that harsh soaps and heavily perfumed shower gels wreak havoc on your skin by stripping away its natural oils and infusing your body with less-than-healthy substances from artificial fragrances and penetration enhancers. To stimulate your senses and wake up your mind without damaging your health, opt for shower gels made with plant-based detergents and scented with essential oils. Gentle cleansing and a pleasant scent are all you really need from your shower gel. The rest of antiaging, brightening, energizing, and skin-lifting bells and whistles are washed off too quickly to make any difference.

If you are getting used to saving water in the shower for budget or environmental reasons, keep shower gel usage to a minimum too. A quarter-size blob of gel is all you need to clean yourself from head to toe in three minutes or less. Unfortunately, hot water dries out the skin and causes small blood vessels to burst.
If you really crave your hot shower to relax aching muscles and banish the blues, turn down the heat and take a warm bath, but make sure to keep the splashing to fifteen minutes. Anything on top of that will dry out your skin.

SKIN MOISTURIZING MADE EASY

Drugstore shelves sag under the weight of a seemingly endless array of body lotions, but you can moisturize your skin easily and inexpensively at home using just one ingredient.

Any season is good for body oils. Winter calls for the richer texture of emollient olive, grapeseed, and sunflower oils, while summer is the season for dry oils such as jojoba, chia, and sweet almond. They smooth your skin and boost your tan, creating a luminous, sexy glow.

The best time to moisturize is after a shower. Once you have gently patted yourself dry with a towel, you have about three minutes to coat your body with oil or lotion. Apply your moisturizer in generous strokes aiming upward, from bottom to top. Quick application allows your skin to retain the water it absorbed during your shower, increasing the benefits of your moisturizer.

If you must have a moisturizer, weed out natural brands that do not practice “greenwashing”—that is, covering lots of synthetics under an “organic” name—then you will enjoy lovely body moisturizers from Dr. Bronner, Lavera, Weleda, Primavera, Pangea Organics, and my own brand, Petite Marie Organics.

Body oils are the best moisturizers, as they give the most water locking and skin-nourishing effect per drop, and there’s no need for the water, emulsifiers, or preservatives that often make up to 80 percent of a regular body lotion. You only need a teaspoon of oil to invoke a gorgeous glow in your chest and legs, and you can try endless variations of essential oils and mineral body shimmers added to your base oils for a truly fantastic glow.

Soya, sweet almond, extra virgin olive, grapeseed, and peach kernel oils are great all-rounders as they leave a lovely sheen on
the skin without sticky residue. Jojoba, thistle, and chia oils are more suitable for oilier skins, which can be overloaded with heavier oils. Such oils are called “dry” as they penetrate instantly without any sheen or residue. For extra-nourishing body buttering, you can try coconut oil: it is solid and is sold in jars, but it instantly melts when it touches the skin.

Here are very simple combinations of essential oils if you want to enhance your body oil with beauty “superpowers”:

Balancing Blend:
Add 8 drops lavender, 4 drops orange, and 1 drop eucalyptus essential oils to 120 mL (4 oz.) base oil of your choice.

Purifying Blend:
To control body acne and ingrown hairs, add 5 drops tea tree, 5 drops geranium, and 3 drops lemon essential oils to 120 mL (4 oz.) lightweight “dry” base oil such as jojoba or thistle. For sources, get some useful ideas in
Appendix C
.

Antiaging Blend
: Add 10 drops sandalwood, 4 drops rose otto (optional), 4 drops rosewood, and 5 drops grapefruit essential oils to a nourishing base oil.

Aphrodisiac Blend
: Combine 10 drops grapefruit, 8 drops ylang-ylang, 3 drops patchouli, 2 drops vetiver (optional), and 4 drops rose otto in 120 mL (4 oz.) lightweight base oil.

If you come up with a combination of scents that’s particularly appealing to you, make a careful note of ingredients that you have used. To prevent your oil from going rancid, store in a dark glass bottle and add 3–5 capsules of vitamin E oil or 2–3 capsules of evening primrose (starflower oil) to your oil. These supplements are available in many pharmacies and health food stores. To use, carefully puncture the capsule with a needle or manicure scissors and squeeze the contents into the container with your oil.

To keep your skin supple and glowing, up the moisture level of the air around you. Dry air sucks the moisture from the skin so it feels dry and taut more quickly. These days, you can find air humidifiers at all price levels and with many useful features such as ionic air-purifying functions that kill airborne bacteria. But the simplest and probably most effective air humidifier is a bowl of water placed near a source of heat. To make the bowl of water more interesting, why not add a floating tea light or a few drops of essential oils?

BODY EXFOLIATION

To help your skin absorb your moisturizer or body oil more efficiently, regular exfoliation is a must. Leave the loosely grained, pleasantly scented scrubs to your face. Body brushing is all your skin needs. When performed daily, it helps purge all those toxins accumulating in fatty tissue, stimulates the circulation, and maintains healthy collagen production. By removing dead skin cells body, brushing makes it easier for the skin to absorb moisturizers and treatment products.

The secret to good body brushing is the right tool. Avoid brushes that scratch your skin: mini tears on your skin surface can lead to maxi inflammation. But remember that too soft won’t work either.

One of the most affordable and versatile tools is a loofah. A loofah is made of dried plant fibers and is most effective when wet. It is used strictly to dislodge the dead skin cells that clog pores and give the skin a dry, flaky appearance. Work in circular movements, from your feet to your neck, to help stimulate your circulation. After using it, simply rinse it in warm water and suspend it above a heat source to dry. Replace your loofah regularly as it will lose half of its exfoliating power after three or four months of use.

An exfoliating mitt is used dry to soften the skin and unblock oily pores by stimulating blood flow. Unlike the loofah, the mitt
must be treated with care: after use, wet only its surface with a stream of boiling water and then lay it flat to dry. Mitts can grow mold if soaked through.

You should brush before you shower or take a bath, preferably every morning, to boost your mind and spirit. Start at your feet and brush using long, smooth movements working up your legs and across your thighs, hips, and bottom. Move up your arms to the shoulders. Don’t be too enthusiastic with the brush, especially if your skin is delicate or you have lots of broken capillaries. Never brush your tummy or bust area. Brush for at least two minutes, then rinse the brush and enter the shower or the bath.