How do you take care of your skin?
What products or habits do you use?
It’s really shocking how many toxic products are out there, all touted to be the best for your skin.
And while your skin won’t absorb everything, far too many toxins are absorbed via the skin.
The tricky thing with skin is that it shows us internal and external health.
It’s very common to have skin issues because of the liver, the gut, even the adrenals (the glands that make our sex hormones).
So let’s go over some simple things to support your skin inside and out.
Habits for healthy skin:
Eating well – as in, organic, non GMO, actual real food not made in a lab. That also means not fast food, ultra processed foods, junk foods, sugar, and any foods that you know inflame you.
Dry Brushing – this is amazing for your lymph and your skin!
Sauna – you’ll be amazed what daily sweating (or at least regularly) will do for your skin. It clears the pores, it gets rid of dead skin cells, it brings blood to the surface which means the skin gets nourished.
In terms of saunas, I like both the kind called Finnish or Swedish, as well as infrared saunas.
The infrared sauna I have is from Therasage.
Which leads me to light therapy.
People usually talk about red light, but it does depend on your goals.
That’s why I also have the face mask from Therasage, as it has 4 different lights:
– amber – for lymph and relaxes skin
– red – boosts collagen
– blue – soothes irritation and targets acne causing bacteria
– purple – combines red and blue for balanced “radiant” skin
I had to be careful when I started using this mask, because I could get a sore throat or headache! It was actually helping my body get toxins moving and out.
And while I do like using this type of light therapy (and do so daily), let’s not forget about the sun!
We need sunshine for health – skin, mental, hormonal, etc is all affected by getting healthy amounts of sunshine.
Sunshine, without sunglasses or anything else blocking the sun, with actual skin exposure, is important in regulating many processes in our health (again, within reason).
How well your skin deals with sunshine does depend on your nutrition.
So your food choices tie back into skin health yet again.
Nutrition for healthy skin:
This is where vegetables and fruits come in with all their wonderful carotenoids and flavonoids.
Grass fed organ meats are also full of essential nutrients for skin cell regeneration and skin health.
We need vitamin C (with bioflavonoids), vitamin A (which needs zinc to activate it), vitamin E, B vitamins, and vitamin D3 (which needs vitamin K2 and magnesium).
One of the simplest options for this is Immune Genic from Systemic Formulas which has all of these except the B vitamins in it.
When talking nutrition for healthy skin, that also means looking to the gut.
There are specific bacteria we need in the gut for healthy skin, which is exactly why Systemic Formulas came up with Derma uBiomic – a probiotic for the gut-skin axis.
In this case, nutrition also means hydration, so you do need to drink plenty of clean water.
Note I said water, not fluids. We are made up of 70% water or more, not 70% coffee, alcohol, juice, sports drinks, or soda.
Now, what we put on our skin is just as important as what we put in our bodies.
Topical skin options:
I like to keep it simple with products I use on my skin.
Hyaluronic acid is really great for skin hydration, but a lot of the products with it are expensive or have other ingredients I don’t like.
So I order the hyaluronic acid powder from micro ingredients, mix it according to their instructions, and that’s what I use most.
Sometimes I put this on and it’s all I need, other times I will add something else on once it’s soaked in.
Ion Skin Support spray is a great option (here at Fullscript), where it not only hydrates skin, it also protects it from the toxins we are exposed to every day.
Both of these options can go on before applying another lotion or can be stand-alones.
If your skin is needing more support, I do like natural options such as tallow or castor oil.
And there are also more fancy options like the Derma Serum from Systemic Formulas which regulates inflammation and supports a healthy skin microbiome…
… or the Facial Beauty Serum with Copper Peptide from Quicksilver Scientific (here at Fullscript), which is calming and addresses age-related skin changes.
While we will all have variations in what our skin needs, the basics will be the same.
And you should consider a shower head filter as well, this is a total game changer for some people and their skin (either way it’s an important step for your health).
Healthy skin isn’t a vanity thing, it is a health thing, so what are you doing for it?
