Skincare seems to be a topic that comes up over and over for me, even though my focus with content is often more about nutrition, fitness and positivity–and I get it!
Keeping my facial complexion looking healthy, clear and vibrant has been a focus of mine since I first got my monthly cycle (age 12). For years I struggled with cystic acne (you can read all about that experience and what helped me here). But in the last 5 years, I have been acne-free (HECK YEAH MAN) and that’s been a liberating feeling.
What’s left on my skin present-day is some acne-scarring and occasional cheek redness that fluctuates with my time of the month, my diet, my sleep quality, my alcohol intake and overall stress levels. It took me a long time to learn that health in general (your skin is a reflection of what’s going on inside your body) is TRULY affected by every aspect of your human experience.
Emotional State’s Impact on Skin
This includes your emotions, beliefs, thoughts, stress, unhealed trauma, skincare ingredients, diet quality, etc. Might seem totally quacky that your beliefs about yourself can manifest themselves elsewhere in your body. You don’t have to take my word for it. There’s heaps of science and anecdotal info to reinforce this, just check out the Heal Documentary.
You can’t neglect any aspect of that and expect to be perfectly healthy. Also–perfectionism won’t necessarily serve you either. The key is to GAIN MORE AWARENESS surrounding your thoughts, choices and habits.
Okay, okay, so back to skin redness. Most people are probably looking for a quick fix. Been there! Though healing your skin doesn’t happen overnight, there are some things you can do now that will immediately start helping you.
Your Skin is Largely Your Diet
Multiple things to point out here:
-When your body is not effectively eliminating (kidneys, liver, etc.), it does so through your skin
-If your diet is crappy and full of processed, inflammatory foods, your skin is going to reflect that
-Drinking a lot of water goes a long way! (I use this Berkey Filter for all my drinking water)
-Cutting out (or minimizing) common inflammatory foods can help a whole bunch. Gluten, dairy, soy, corn, egg (for some people) and highly processed oils would all fall into this category.
Makeup Wearers, Clean it Up!
Redness is an indicator that inflammation is happening, which is your body’s response to damage or imbalance. Wearing toxic makeup is like putting gasoline on that fire. The sooner you can swap out your current drug-store foundations, concealers, etc., the sooner your skin will have a chance to get on the healing train.
My personal favorites are made by a company called Mineral Fusion. Not only are they accessible (you can buy them online and in your local Whole Foods, Sprouts, or other health food store, but they are EWG Verified (Environment Working Group), an organization that reveals information on the toxicity of many makeup/skincare/food brands. They even have an app. It’s a great resource for looking up different products you currently use or are considering purchasing.
The two most important ones (since they go directly onto your skin) that I would swap to are their Pressed Powder Foundation and their Concealer Powder if you’re looking for more natural coverage.
There have been a few times when traveling that I chose to use other makeup because I didn’t have my trusty clean options on hand. I noticed that my skin was more red, irritated, slightly itchy and just unhappy when I took my makeup off each night). Those instances were a good reminder that the quality of your makeup does matter.
Keep Your Facial Hygiene Pure
Just like makeup, most generic skincare cleansers, toners and moisturizers are rife with chemicals, preservatives and skin irritants. Luckily, there are a lot of cool brands out there that have created clean, organic, nourishing skin care products that are sure to help you reduce your facial redness.
A few of my staple favorites are Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint Bar Soap and Now Foods Jojoba Oil.
Doesn’t Non-Toxic Makeup & Skincare Cost More?
Here’s the thing, if you’ve ever shopped for makeup or perfume at a department store like Macy’s, Dillard’s, Saks, etc., you’ve probably noticed that it’s SO expensive. The biggest kicker is that the ingredients in those products are absolute dog crap. Seriously. You can’t even pronounce them. They’re not clean, they’re toxic and they don’t improve the true health of your skin. It’s actually amazing to me that places like that still sell. *steps off soap box*
That said, non-toxic skincare when compared to those options is actually significantly cheaper AND it actually helps your skin look more youthful and dewy, without any chemically-laden crud.
If you are used to buying makeup at a drug store and pay less than $10 for foundation, this may be a step-up money wise for you. But it’s one thing to wear makeup everyday just to cover things up. It’s another to invest in a product that will be helping improve your skin and not just mask the redness. That’s the difference I see between the two.
Also, I don’t spend money on heels, handbags, jewelry, etc. My “girly money” goes towards clean skincare and cosmetics. That’s where my priority lies. If you have had nagging skin issues your whole life, you can probably relate that this is a no-brainer.
