10 Tips For Glowing Skin

I hear from people all the time that they just want more vibrancy in their skin, but they don’t have time for a skin care routine. Well, now we have no excuses because we have nothing but time. Here are ten tips to help you on your quest for glowing skin.

1. It’s the oldest trick in the book but WATER IS EVERYTHING. Every cell, tissue and organ in your body uses water. We are also losing water all day through breathing, digestion, and sweating and dehydration isn’t a good look on anybody. Drinking enough water is also crucial to flushing out all of those unwanted toxins. You should be drinking half your body weight in ounces every single day.

2. Eat your fruits and vegetables (just like your mom told you). Not only are fruits and veggies filled with nutritious vitamins, minerals, and crucial antioxidants for your body and skin, you also get a high percentage of your hydration from them as well. One of my favorite ways to get in some extra hydration through food is a bomb green drink I found from Dani Bruflodt of thyme_ is_honey, I promise it tastes good.

4 oz cold water

4 oz coconut water

1 tsp. chia seeds

1/2 large cucumber

1 cup spinach

1 tbsp. minced ginger

1 tbsp. honey

Pinch of sea salt and juice from one lime

Cucumbers are about 95 percent water and coconut water is filled with electrolytes and rich in potassium.

Happy Hydrating!

3. Move your body at least 30 minutes everyday. Moving for 30 minutes increases blood flow and circulation, leaving us with brighter skin. Bonus: it also helps reduce stress, and boost endorphins and productivity. I know we are all stuck at home right now but You Tube has a ton of free videos. Otherwise I love Alo Moves and Obe fitness for at home workouts.

4. Drink green tea. It’s an inexpensive way to get some really beneficial antioxidants in. It is rich in polyphenols which are natural compounds that can help fight inflammation in the body. Green tea also contains a catechin called EGCG which can help prevent cell damage.

5. Take a high quality probiotic. Just like our skin works to keep toxins out of our body, our gut works to do the same. Most of our bodies have endured damage due to the foods we eat and the environment we live in. Toxins are seeping into our blood stream and destroying our gut. Taking a probiotic like Just Thrive can help repair the damage we have done and give our gut the good bacteria it needs so our body and skin can thrive.

6. Cleanse morning and night for at least 60 seconds. I think cleansing our skin is something we can all improve on. Most people aren’t cleansing as thorough as they could be. It’s important to make sure we get all of our make up and the toxins from the day off of our skin so the products we put on after can do their job. Cleanse in an upward motion with a gentle massage. This technique helps stimulate blood flow and bring nutrients to the skin.

7.EXFOLIATE. So many people leave this out forgetting how important it is. We shed thousands of skin cells per day and although some fall off naturally, just like getting stuck in traffic our dead cells can get stuck on our skin. I don’t love scrubs for exfoliation because it’s easy to get too aggressive with them. I prefer a gentle enzyme mask. One of my favorites is NuPeel by Theraderm. You put it on clean, dry skin, let it sit for a minute or two then gently rub until it starts to ball up and rinse off. You’ll be left with softer, brighter skin. This is great for any skin type and is also acne safe.

8. If you don’t do anything else on this list, please WEAR YOUR SUNSCREEN. The sun is responsible for almost 90 percent of our aging. 90 PERCENT. Skin cancer is also the number one cancer in the United States. Although most of us are deficient in vitamin D studies show that just ten minutes a day in the sun can increase our vitamin D levels and we still need to be protected with sunscreen. Extensive time in the sun can also increase hyperpigmentation and make acne scars worse. You should be wearing an SPF 15 every day, even if you’re inside. If you’ll be outside for extensive amounts of time, opt for an SPF 30 and reapply every two hours. One of my favorite things to have with me if I know I’ll be outside all day is Arcona Sunsations Mineral Makeup. It’s all one applicator and easy to carry with you and touch up throughout the day.

9. Use a high quality vitamin C serum. Our skin is our body’s first line of defense against the environment and the areas like our face that are left exposed are constantly targeted by environmental stressors. Stressors include things like pollution and UV light. Aside from using sunscreen the second best thing we can do is feed our skin with antioxidants. Vitamin C is known to increase your sunscreens effectiveness by 30 percent. It also is a form of exfoliation so it helps to lighten and brighten. This should be applied every morning after you cleanse before you apply sunscreen. A couple serums I recommend are SkinCeuticals Phloretin CF and Vivant’s Spin Trap Antioxidant Serum.

10. Gua Sha. You guys, it works, I swear. I love to sit on the couch and do my nightly Sha with my Empress Stone from Wildling while sipping my daily dose of antioxidants in a glass (red wine,obvi). Gua Sha is known as eastern botox. Instead of freezing your muscles like traditional botox does, this keeps your facial muscles active. This technique helps flush out your tissues via the lymphatic system, increase circulation and decrease muscle tension. Leaving you with plump, glowing skin. You want to apply oil on clean, dry skin and then gently pull the tool out. You Tube is a great teacher and has some phenomenal videos. One of the oils I love for this technique is rosehip oil (acne safe) from Solaris Lab NY. Solaris has great options for Gua Sha stones as well.

Hope this was helpful! Happy Glowing.

XOXO,

Kaila