Natural Remedies to Improve your Skin. PART 1: Inside going Out

• Quite some time ago now my dear friend Anne, wrote to me on Facebook and said to me:
  "I'm having skin issues, do you know anything about what kind of essential oils and herbs are good for your skin and if there are any natural remedies that I should be looking into?"
  The following post is what came of that conversation, just a little bit more organized for your reading pleasure! 
  So imagine a wheel turning like a computer trying to load up all the informations stored in my memory after Anne asked me this questions. I had to pull up years of research and saved articles (yes, I save interesting articles, you're welcome).
  

  
  

  I mean, it's a big question..!

  
  

  "Tell me everything you know about essential oils and skin--GO!"

The beauty of your skin is first of all an inside towards outside kind of thing.

FATS, ESSENTIAL FATS (must be read as in BOND, JAMES BOND)

Let's start by talking about foods that will improve dry skin, if you suffer of greasy skin, just read this backwards, meaning this are the foods you might want to cut down!

Essential fatty acids, or Omega 3, are "essential", duh, to achieving a natural skin glow, they are natural anti-wrinkle and will improve the elasticity of your skin. Here are some suggestions of foods that contain such fatty acids and how you can incorporate them in what you should already be eating:

1. Seeds and nuts: Enjoy some sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds (pepitas) in your salad, add 5 cashews or walnuts or pecans or brazilian nuts or a table spoon of pine nuts or hemp in your yogurt, blend 1 tbsp of flax seeds in your smoothies (this is also great for your gut health). The combinations are endless and you can create so many yummy salads and snacks with these!

2. Flax seed oil and Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Rich in vitamin E and has antioxidant properties. Choose cold press and organic. Add 1tbsp of either to your salad or choice of veggies before serving. Remember that heating them up is not good for the oils, so consume them "raw". 

3. Eggs: good percentage of Zinc and vitamins from the B group, you can eat them for breakfast or make yourself some yummy quiches or frittata, here are some recipes right here!

4. Legumes (beans and lentils): they have a good amount of vitamin B and fiber, which drags toxins away from your body and nourish the skin. Add a couple of tbsp in your salad, soup or eat as a side or as a main, tossed with a little garlic and olive oil. Check out my video on how to rehydrate them yourself for better tasting beans. 

5. The right kind of Proteins: prefer the ones coming from fresh cheese (cottage, ricotta, mozzarella) and fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, sardines, anchovies) which are great for keeping your skin elastic. TAKE SOME IDEAS FROM MY RECIPE BOOK

FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

No matter your skin type, eating more fresh fruits and veggies will make you glow and rejuvenate your epidermis. 

1. Fresh berries: rich in bioflavonoid, which are believed to fight the free radicals responsible for early aging. Plus whatever, berries are delicious! Make smoothies with them, add them to yogurt, make a daiquiri with fresh strawberries. Ok maybe not the last one, but all the other suggestions are great. 

2. Fresh fruit: fresh, seasonal fruit is rich in liquids, it will keep your skin hydrated. Make a fruit salad, add them to your regular savory salad, learn how to pair it with cheese. Combine them with some of the nuts from earlier. Fruit is so much fun! 

3. Leafy greens: anything from kale to watercress, from parsley to mint, spinach and brussels sprouts. Here you'll find Omega 3, fiber, vitamin C, iron and minerals! Great for improving circulation (unless you're already taking blood thinning medications..), they will rejuvenate you and take away inflammation. Enjoy them raw or steamed, check this recipe out! If you sauté them, don't overcook, 5 minutes is more then enough, or you'll loose most of their properties. 

4. Other foods rich in Vitamin C: root vegetables (like turnip, carrots, rutabaga), plus the famous ones like oranges, strawberries, peppers, cantaloupe. Eat them as a snack between meals, far from everything else for improved digestion and minimize fermentation in the gut. 

HERBAL TEAS

For more serious skin conditions, before you resort to medications, try this naturopathic remedy.

Enjoy some BURDOCK TEA 3 times a day, far from main meals possibly: 50g of dried leaves soaked in 1l of boiling water for 10 minutes. If you can't find loose dried burdock leaves check out this tea made by Yogi

Remember that any diet related remedy will take some time. It's going to be at least 3 weeks to a month before you start seeing improvements, but don't give up! I promise it will improve your health all around! 

Now that we adjusted what goes in your body, let's talk about what you can do for your exterior to feel radiant right away. 

CLICK HERE TO KEEP READING ABOUT NATURAL REMEDIES FOR BETTER SKIN

Natural Remedies to Improve your Skin - PART 2: Outside going in

(to read the previous article about "Natural Remedies To Improve your Skin - PART 1: Inside Going Out" click here)

Now that we've covered what goes into your body let's talk about what you can do to your exterior to look radiant right away!

SCRUBS

                                          

I make my own because I'm poor. Here are a few alternatives that are great for the whole body, safe to use in the shower because sugar and salt base. I suggest scrubbing your face and body after a hot steamy shower, so that your pores will be nice and open (yeah baby, open those pores!) and you'll achieve a really deep peeling.

FOR DRY/DELICATE SKIN:

Sugar scrubs are better for you. Mix a tbsp of cane sugar with a little of flax seed oil (enough to get the sugar a little wet) and massage it into your face. It should feel a little scratchy but not uncomfortable. 

FOR COMBINATION SKIN:

Salt scrub (my personal favorite). You can use fine salt or course salt, depending on the level of scrub you want to achieve (bigger salt = mild scrub / fine salt = heavy scrubbing experience). I like to mix it with Jojoba oil and vitamin E oil, keep reading to learn more about these oils.  

FOR THICK RESILIENT SKIN

Combine the salt with a few lemon drops, it's astringent, will cleanse your pores and then close them forever. Well maybe not forever, but for a week or so for sure.

Try this recipe:

WHY SALT?

1. It brightens the skin color

2. It's rich in minerals

3. Combined with oil, it leaves your skin feeling soft

DO NOT ABUSE THE POWER OF THE FACE SCRUB!!! Or else... your skin will get overly sensitive and you don't want to strip it of all the good oils that it naturally creates to lubricate itself. Shiny skin is good, it means it's healthy. Fuck powder. Let your skin shine! 

FACE MASKS

Two words: clay powder. I started using this 10 years ago to make my own face masks and I never went back to buying a pre-made mask. Invest in some high quality one, cause a little goes a long way. I prefer green clay, I buy it in bulks (500gr at the time) and it lasts me about two years. It doesn't spoil. It's dry powder, why would it? 

Here are some recipes. Add the liquids little by little, until it reaches the desired consistency.

Here's a demonstration of that:

HYDRATING MASK

1tbsp clay powder, yogurt, vitamin E oil. 

MILD HYDRATING MASK

1tbsp clay powder, jojoba oil, water  

SUPERSTRONG ASTRINGENT MASK

1tbsp clay powder, lemon juice, water

I'M FEELING LAZY MASK

1tbsp clay powder, water.

Apply on freshly scrubbed skin and let it sit until it dries out. Then wash it with warm water, one of those little face sponges usually helps. 

Other ingredients you can use for a scrub or a mask: coffee grounds, leftovers from juicer.

DAILY FACE ROUTINE

This is a delicate topic because every person has different needs and I don't feel comfortable making  a blanket recommendation. 

But I can tell you what I use! 

I'm allergic to EVERYTHING (soap, alcohol, scents, parabens, dies) so I have to invest in a face cream that has basically nothing in it. 

For body and face soap I use Seba  Med, free of everything, works very well as a make up remover as well. For tougher make up and lipstick I put some coconut oil on a cotton swab and finish cleaning my face with that. 

For face cream I use a brand called La Roche Posay, it's not the cheapest but it works for me. 

I don't use any toners, makeup removers, eye creams or anti wrinkle creams (yet). When I need a little extra moister I mix a drop of my vitamin E oil with my moisturizer before I go to bed. 

BODY OILS, BODY BUTTERS

Here are some body oils that I recommend using instead of body lotions. 

Jojoba Oil (has the same PH as the skin and has been used for centuries to cure skin irritations)

Almond Oil (great emollient, known to prevent stretch marks even during pregnancy)

Coconut Oil (anti microbial and it smells so good!)

Raw Shea Butter (super hydrating, I use this for dry heals, cuticles and as lip balm)

You can also make your own blend, try following this recipe:

As for something that's already blended try New York Biology ANTI-CELLULITE Massage oil

I buy everything organic and fair trade, in bulks, to save some money, cause as I was saying before I'm poor.

ESSENTIAL OILS

Beside the wonderful scent that they provide, essential oils can be very powerful both on the mind and on the body. 

I buy mine from Amazon, my favorite brand right now is NEW YORK BIOLOGY.

Here are just a few suggestions, for more infos check out this chart.

GERANIUM, TEA TREE: antimicrobial, antibacterial, controls oil production, clears out acne.

ROSE: great for dry aging skin

LAVANDER: the smell of lavender is believed to relieve stress, which is one of the main causes of bad skin. 

SANDALWOOD, YLING YLANG: Anti aging, regulate the PH (so great for any skin type).

So experiment and let me know how it goes. 

Have you been using any of these methods? Anything in particular that you have been doing that has made your skin look amazing? 

Feel free to leave a comment below or follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram..

I hope this was helpful! 

Valentina

RealItalianKitchen