During lockdown we’ve noticed that our skin has suffered a little so we’re looking at 7 ways to Nourish the skin you’re in.
We’ve all felt more stressed than usual, many of us have not made as much time for self-care as we might normally have done. Our sleep patterns have been disrupted along with our work routines. The results of all this is quite literally, written all over our faces. For the next month we’re focusing on #nourishedskin and taking a closer a look at nourishing ourselves from within and how that will help us to achieve that glow we love on the outside. We want to greet the summer with a glow and a spring in our step, join us!
What does be healthy on the inside mean?
A healthy diet means different things to different people and we would not advocate following a particular diet or getting too tied up in any food fads. A balanced diet, full of whole foods (organic where possible), cooked from scratch as often as you can, with limited processed foods is a good place to start. For your microbiome (the good/bad bacterial balance in your gut) to work efficiently you need to be eating as wide a variety of foods as possible. Think eating the rainbow! Fruit and vegetables contain powerful antioxidants that help to protect skin from the cellular damage caused by free radicals, pollution, and sunlight. Our Red Velvet Macaroons for instance are a powerhouse of beetroot-based antioxidants!
Healthy fats are your building blocks to great skin.
Good fats are an essential part of keeping your skin looking and feeling great. The skin is comprised of many different types of cells and structures which is partly held together and protected by a layer of lipids (fats). This lipid layer diminishes as we age but is also negatively affected by over-cleansing and over-exfoliating the skin or cleansing with harsh soaps/detergents, as well as by diets lacking in healthy fats, such as omega 3. A compromised lipid layer not only gives a drier, more aged appearance to the skin, but it also leads to trans-epidermal water loss, dehydration. Good vegetarian sources of omega-3 can be found in walnuts, linseeds, pumpkin, chia, and hemp. Grab some of our Oat Cookies for a healthy treat for your skin here.
Make time for cleansing, this is your time.
It might only be a few minutes in the morning and evening, but we’ve come to love the rhythm and routine of caring for our skin. We love to use soothing natural essential oils instead of the harsher chemical-based cleansers and moisturisers. There are so many wonderful natural ways to care for our skin. Rosehip oil for instance is a great allrounder for soothing, nourishing, exfoliating, and helping to boost collagen production. Using natural products also helps lessen our exposure to parabens and SLAS. Try Odylique or Botanicals for simple, beautiful products.
You snooze you win, win, win!
Getting your 8hrs is important for so many essential processes within your body to work efficiently (read our Sleep Blog for even more information). In basic terms the less you sleep, the less recovery from your day. If you’ve had a stressful day of juggling home-school, work zoom calls and keeping the wheels turning at home, you need at least 8hrs for your body to efficiently process all of the stress hormones you’ve created during the day. Stress hormones are great at creating that haggard, had enough look that we all want to avoid.
Go big on biotin for great skin.
Never heard of biotin. No neither had we before we started investigating. Biotin helps the helps fat metabolism in the skin. It is found in good amounts in some of our favourite ingredients, almonds, Swiss Chard, tomato, avocado and sweet potatoes. Try our Passionfruit or Vanilla Macaroons to add a little almond to your diet. With plenty of gorgeously crumbly Organic Spanish ground almonds in them these are a great way of making sure you’re getting some biotin in!
Eat your vitamin C!
Vitamin C is a super antioxidant. It is needed to support the immune system, promote radiant skin, and help blemishes heal properly. The best sources are blackcurrants, passionfruit, blueberries, broccoli, guava, kiwi fruits, oranges, papaya, strawberries and sweet potatoes. Vitamin C is needed to produce collagen that strengthens the capillaries that supply the skin. Try our Passionfruit Macaroons or slices to put a pep in your skins step!
Stress less, breathe more.
Stress plays a huge part in the health of your skin. Stress depletes all those lovely fat cells that we need to keep our skin plump and glowing and drains our bodies of essential vitamins and minerals. Your mind and your skin are closely related and work together. Many common skin conditions such as eczema and acne are shown to be exacerbated by stress. Stress cannot be solved with a one size fits all solution but learning what is creating your stress and finding ways to limit it will allow your glow to shine through. Find out more about how we deal with stress in our blog here.