Natural Remedies: Skin Food

What you put in your body is just as important as what you put on your body. 

This post comes to us from wellness expert, Tara Curran. 

It’s clear that “green beauty” is gaining momentum, as more and more like-minded explorers dedicate their lives to knowing just what they’re putting in and on the body.

A practicing holistic nutritionist for a little over 6 years, my work delves into a range of subjects — finding the best foods, self care, exercise and skin care for YOU. (Note: These subjects vary for every individual that I work with, dependent on lifestyle, choice and sensitivities.) Skin care was shortly introduced to my offerings after I realized its importance, and began changing my conventional routine.

A few years ago, my skin developed new issues that I found very difficult to control. During this time, I — maybe miraculously — met my Skin Food partner, Hayley Roy, a medically trained aesthetician who uses only green beauty products. She has helped me understand that, just as we pay attention to the food we eat, we must also pay attention to those ingredients being applied to our skin. One ingredient (clean or not) may not be a universal solution for all skin types (just like food). I came to the stark realization that my diet was clean, but my skin care was not. Hayley and I realized that, in order to simplify the seemingly overwhelming topic of green beauty, we needed to talk about it, break it down into an easy-to-follow way of understanding. Thus, Skin Food was born… out of our mutual love to share the knowledge we have given one another.

Here, I’d like to share with you several highlights in our Skin Food conversation:

1. The environment can change your skin. I learned this the hard way — every climate, city and space has its own environment that may affect your skin. There are a few key things you can do: Internally, add detoxifying foods to your diet (like leafy greens) that support your liver and kidneys. Externally, use skin care products that include non nano zinc and omega’s 3, 6, 9, all of which create a protective barrier on the skin.

2. Keep it simple. Like many of you, I’ve fallen victim to wanting to scrub extra hard or load on the products during a breakout or less-than-optimal skin day. The best thing you can do? Use just 1-2 products at a time so your skin can become more easily acquainted with them. If you don’t know what products to use, start with a mild cleanser like One Love‘s “Easy Does It” and follow with a serum and sunscreen for day and moisturizer at night.

3. Change up your routine. Often. Our bodies change constantly, thanks to a never-ending cycle of hormones. Just as you wouldn’t wear the same clothes you did in high school, you should not use the same skin care. In our Skin Food conversation, we work with our listeners to determine where they are on the spectrum of health and what protocol to use. Tune into your body: are you feeling hormonal, stressed and fatigued? These are good indicators that you should look for products with ingredients to balance the skin. My favorite products often include Immortelle, an ingredient known for calming inflammation and clearing up nearly any skin issue.

+ What are your fave skin care tips? Have questions?