My 7 tips to awesome skin, are not ground breaking, but they will make a difference. These are the things that we need to be more aware of and adapt into our everyday life. Did you know that 70% of ageing depends of lifestyle and environment? We need to reduce pressure on bodies such as stress, pollution, smoking and alcohol.
It takes years to manifest and you generally don’t notice these things straight away. You are likely to notice it more so in your late 30s and 40s.
Here are my tips –
#1 Wash your face!
Cleaning your face morning AND night is a must. It only takes a minute.
Over the day you accumulate oil, dirt, pollution and increase your risk of bacteria and infection, which therefore means black heads and pimples and not to mention free radical damage. If you wear makeup, this too can congest pores and not allow the skin to breathe.
I usually wash my face when I brush my teeth it doesn’t take that long.
It is equally as important to wash your face in the morning. During rest your head lies on your pillow and over time you will accumulate skin cells, oil and dust mites.
It is also really important to have a clean slate when your applying your serums and hydrators as they will penetrate into the skin’s deeper layers rather than just sit topically on the skin. Now I have a small child and she touches my face all the time and god only know where those hands have been!! I make sure I wash my face morning and night!
#2 Invest in a good skin care product
This is where I do my shameless plug. You need to be using Epicure Cosmeceuticals!
First and foremost, you need to start being savvy with your ingredients and this is the basis behind Epicure Cosmeceuticals. There are a lot of products on the market that contain many unnecessary ingredients. For example, artificial colour/fragrance and preservatives. These ingredients have no purpose what so ever to the skin except irritate it and cause an array of health issues and a compromised skin barrier.
Some preservatives such as Parabens mimic oestrogen in your body and therefore can be carcinogenic.
Did you know that many products contain Parabens such as tooth paste, baby products and haircare? I avoid these ingredients at all costs (look out for my story on Parabens).
#3 Drink plenty of water
You need to drink at least 2 litres a day and if you exercise about 3 – 4 Litres.
I know you have heard this before but it really does make a difference. Your skin will be so much more hydrated and your bodies digestive system will improve which also has an impact on our skin. Try not to drink tap water, it has a heap of chemicals in it, if you have a filter that is great.
Brita water filters are great if you don’t have a filter at home. Also try to avoid plastic bottles as much as possible. Just a word of advice if you are a coffee drinker for every cup of coffee you need to replace it with 4 glasses of water, as coffee is a diuretic!
#4 You are what you eat!
Your diet has a huge impact on your skin.
This is where my journey began into being health conscious and developing a skin care range. When I was younger, I always felt unwell and I had bad skin as a teenager. I made the link to eating certain foods and how it impacted my skin and health. I noticed a huge difference when I eliminated certain foods and how much better I felt and looked. This led me into being more health conscious, and researching ways to improve my health and skin. I became really conscious of foods and ingredients. Hence why the basis behind Epicure Cosmeceuticals is being savvy with our ingredients.
Just a tip, if you want to slow down the signs of ageing, ensure you eliminate refined sugar, it can actually tear down the collagen in your skin making skin lose its elasticity.
I adapt the philosophy of only eat things that are natural. Be savvy with the ingredients, and read labels. Eat clean foods and in its most natural and raw state!
#5 Avoid Stress
Stress is the number one cause of many illnesses; it is not only detrimental to health but it affects our hormones and of course then affects our skin. A great way to de stress is to take time out for yourself.
It may be something as simple as going for a walk in the fresh air. Or even treat yourself to a facial!
You can even do one at home with one of our fabulous Enzyme Peel or Deep Cleansing Exfoliant.
#6 Reduce sun exposure
This one is huge when it comes to reducing the signs of ageing. I always wear sunscreen no matter what during the day.
I also wear an SPF in the winter months.
Some-times I have clients tell me that they don’t need to wear a sunscreen during the day because they are indoors all day long. Did you know that you are still affected by UV whether it would be windows, drying a car, certain indoor lighting contains UV too!
#7 Choose make up wisely
If you wear makeup, try to choose one that is non-comedogenic and make up that is supportive of the skin, not one that blocks your skin and doesn’t allow it to breathe. Always wash it off before you go to bed too!
I hope you found this story useful. Remember every little bit counts.
It’s the small repeated efforts that we do daily that make the difference!
Natalie Braic