How To Take Care Of Skin Naturally
We get it: You want smooth, clear, glowing skin that not only looks healthy but is healthy.
We have good news.
There’s no need to turn to complex synthetics to get the results you crave. Instead, it’s possible to take care of your skin with simple formulas and 100% natural ingredients that are gentle, nutrient dense and sustainably sourced.
Nutritious natural ingredients for healthy skin
Many of nature’s best ingredients contain vitamins, fatty acids and antioxidants (to fight the damage caused by UV light, pollution, stress and more). They have the ability to soothe, heal and reduce inflammation. Here are just some of the ways that the right natural ingredients may benefit your skin.
- Anti-aging: Rose water and grapefruit, grape, sunflower and camellia oils all have known anti-aging benefits to help, from reducing fine lines to minimizing the look of pores. Basil improves elasticity.
- Calming: Lavender and jojoba oil both help reduce redness, peppermint oil helps soothes itchiness, rosemary oil calms sensitive skin and sweet almond oil helps softens and soothes. These ingredients are also known for their anti-inflammation benefits, as are juniper berry oil, aloe leaf juice and orange oil.
- Moisturizing: Moringa, safflower, avocado and evening primrose oils help to nourish, protect and moisturize the skin.
- Blemish clearing: Oils from tea tree, lemon, bitter orange and clary sage are known for their antibacterial properties and may have the added benefit of soothing, clarifying or exfoliating. Kaolin and bentonite clay help to draw oil, dirt and impurities from the pores, while witch hazel is known for its astringent properties that help to removes excess oil.
Lifestyle choices that affect your skin
Healthy skin doesn’t just come down to the products you apply to your face. Your lifestyle choices also matter. Here are some simple ways you can take better care of your body’s largest organ: your skin.
- Wash with lukewarm—not hot—water: Hot water may strip your face and body of its natural oils, which moisturize and protect your skin.
- Don’t pick at your skin: Popping pimples and picking at dryness, especially with unwashed hands, can push bacteria deeper into the pores and cause blemishes and scarring.
- Limit time in the sun: Spending your day out in the sun can cause aging and skin cancers. Wearing sunscreen is important for skin health, but so is wearing sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat, sticking to the shade and staying indoors when the sun is highest in the sky (typically around 11am to 2pm).
- Drink plenty of water: Downing a bottle of water won’t directly hydrate your skin, but it will help your liver and kidneys clear toxins from the body and promote overall health.
- Get lots of sleep: Your skin repairs itself when you snooze. Strive for seven to nine hours every single night.
- Cut down on high glycemic index (GI) foods: Desserts, candy, sugary cereals and drinks, refined grains and alcohol all have a high GI, which means they cause blood sugar to spike and trigger the body to produce insulin. In turn, your skin may become inflamed and produce more sebum. If you consistently eat a diet with high GI foods, you may develop acne.