Read on for the ultimate list of life-saving tips to naturally get clear, glowing skin that everyone will notice.
Foods for a Healthy, Natural Glow
First things first, let’s revise: what you put in is what you get out. Say it out loud now. Promise yourself you won’t forget it. Good, because it’s awfully simple: the food you eat directly impacts the health and look of your skin. Maybe once upon a time, you could get away with a late-night beer and junk food binging and wake up the next morning to a flawless-looking face. Fine, but your body won’t support you in this forever. Changing your diet is not as hard and scary as you might’ve thought. Learn about the best foods for healthy-looking, glowing skin.
- Eat more foods rich in healthy omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon, avocado, walnuts, flax seeds, chia seeds and more.
- Green tea is an antioxidant monster. Sip it daily.
- Don’t throw out the green tea leaves after steeping. Apply a mixture of green tea leaves and some milk to pimples or skin area in general. Keep for ten minutes then rinse and follow up with a moisturizer. Simple face masks usually give the best results.
- Add even more greens. Kale, swiss chard, broccoli, and the likes contain just the right nutrient make-up that promotes healthy skin. Increase your veggie intake in general.
- If you thought we’re done with the greens, you were wrong. Greens juices are the beauty elixirs of our day and you’d be right to add them to your daily routine.
- Make mixed nuts your number one go-to snack. Especially pretty skin-friendly selenium-rich Brazil nuts or almonds. Make sure they’re raw.
- Barley tea is one of the Korean beauty secrets. They sip it on every occasion for its skin benefits and even give it to children under the age of two.
- Add as many superfoods in your diet as possible.
- Eat tomatoes as they pack a bunch of the lycopene antioxidant and other skin-friendly nutrients. Add more of the salad all-time favorite to your fridge.
- Reduce refined sugars. Anything from actually sweet foods to white bread and pasta. Too much of it
- Keep a healthy gut. Healthy gut bacteria are directly related to fewer acne breakouts. Consider starting to take probiotics. Also, add probiotic-rich foods such as kimchi and sauerkraut.
- Add turmeric to your diet. This spice contains curcumin – a powerful member of the antioxidant group, which fight damage-causing free radicals and keep your skin healthy.
- Vitamine C is a friend of healthy skin. Get more of it. Some dermatologists even recommend ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) for topical use to stimulate collagen production.
- Switch coffee for cocoa. If you just thought that was impossible for you – stop. Think again. Nothing is impossible. The popular phrase “I can’t live without coffee” is just something we repeat often enough until we believe it. The acidity caused by everyday coffee consumption is an enemy to flawless skin.
- Before you get lost in the sea of advice on healthy foods for beautiful skin, make sure you don’t forget the basics: Drink more water! Staying hydrated is the most important most ignored health rule that exists.
- Drink lemon water in the morning. Lukewarm glass full of water with a squeeze of lemon and a little honey melted in it. The ultimate beauty elixir that jumpstarts your metabolism and cleanses your skin from the inside. Worth turning it into a daily routine.
Hygiene Tips for Clear Skin
Right up there on the list of factors that determine the appearance of your skin, we find hygiene. Perhaps equally as important as diet, the way you treat your skin on the outside has a lot to do with how it behaves back. Below are the best skincare routine tips out there.
- Keep it natural and simple. Product marketing today is so smart, it can get under your skin. There is a whole ocean of advice on the best ways to nurture your skin and it’s threatening to devour you. Here’s a secret: your skin is the smartest, listen to it. Choose skincare rituals that work in sync with the skin’s natural functions.
- Wash daily. It sounds simple, but I really mean daily. Even at the end of stressful, long days. A piece of advice for late nights in: wash your face earlier in the evening while you still got the energy.
- …but: avoid taking showers twice a day (or more!). Water strips your skin and hair of natural oils, especially urban, chlorine-rich tap water.
- Always – always – stick to the “No makeup in bed” rule!
- Exfoliate regularly. Exfoliation refers to any practice meant to remove dead skin cells, dirt and other impurities from the skin’s upper layer. You can either go for a physical exfoliation, which relies on abrasive substances (such as salt, sugar or coffee) or for a chemical one, which uses acidic ingredients (such as milk for ex.) to achieve the goal. Research your options today and step up your game on this count, since the benefits are countless.
- Use charcoal on your face. We know what you’re imagining now, but no. Many cosmetic products from both the natural and the conventional cosmetic spectrums incorporate this surprising ingredient, which is a great cleanser. Activated charcoal-based soaps and facials are popping up on the market as we speak. Try to feel the clean effect as never before.
- Try dry brushing. Using a soft brush on dry skin to remove dead cells before every shower can do wonders for a smoother, cleaner skin on the body. Some recommend the technique for the face too.
- Keep your hands at bay. Easier said than done, but you must try not to touch your face during the day. Especially not with dirty hands.
- Watch out for the microbes. Clean your phone and laptop keyboard with a sterilizer at least once a month. Keep your everyday gadgets clean for they can easily send acne-causing bacteria up to your face.
- Wash your hands often enough. If you cannot completely avoid touching your face unconsciously during a stressful day, at least make sure it’s with clean hands. Always clean your hands before washing your face.
- …and change your pillowcases as often as possible, for the same reason. Don’t sit in sweaty clothing after workouts. Don’t put on sweaty clothes even if dry.
- Clean your makeup application brushes as often as possible.
- Keep your laundry germ-free. Today we love the low temperature and cold cycle in the laundry and rarely put much thought how clean our washed clothes really are. They may smell good and look clean while holding thousands of harmful, acne-causing (and more dangerous) bacteria.
- Go easy with the hairspray. Be careful with hairspray application, don’t let it fall on the face. It’s one of the strongest pore-blockers. Especially if you wear bangs, make sure you don’t go overboard with the hairspray.
- Use separate towels if possible. We all have different skin and different personal hygiene habits. It’s good to keep a separate towel just like a separate toothbrush.
The Ultimate List of the Best Skincare Routine Tips
Okay, it’s about time to move onto the best pieces of advice
- Put some thought into your skincare routine. Try out different things to fix the best combination of products and rituals for you. Listen to your skin in the process.
- Moisturize. The importance of regular moisturizing for all skin types can hardly be overstressed. It’s not all about drinking water for internal hydration, you need to keep your skin hydrated on the outside too.
- Stack up on oils. Smearing oil on your face may sound off-putting at first. At this point though, you must have been living under a rock not to hear about the amazing benefits of cold-pressed oils for skin. Some of the famed masterpieces include coconut oil, olive oil, almond oil, rosehip oil, argan oil (the game-changer on the age-defying skincare market), St. John’s Wort oil, marigold oil, and camellia oil.
- Shea butter is an effective moisturizer across the board for all skin types. The funny smell should not scare you away. This wonder of nature has more applications than you could possibly imagine, and for a reason.
- Don’t ditch mainstream cosmetics completely just yet. It’s easy to turn a friend into a foe if you overdo it. Going natural with skincare doesn’t mean mainstream dermatological products – and the science behind them – should be disregarded completely. Especially if you have mature skin or find yourself down the road of skin aging, some age-defying creams are worth investing in. Besides, mainstream cosmetics is not what it used to be: much of it has benefited from the natural skincare movement, marrying science and nature in their products.
- That being said, definitely avoid heavily scented creams. Chemical perfumes are wholly unnecessary irritants to your skin.
- Use toners or essences. They lock in the results of cleaning and prepare your skin for the moisturizer.
- Use witch hazel-based toners for impressive results. This plant extract boasts an amazing array of skin uses and benefits.
- Use serums. They are to face creams, what shots are to a glass of beer. Choose a good one and apply it every once in a while.
- Don’t overdo it! Use as few skin products as necessary. Make sure not to make your skin go crazy by overwhelming it with different products every other week.
- Consider the order in which you use your skincare products. Make sure you’re doing it right.
- Leave your skin at peace at night. Many skin experts recommend the application of deep-care skin masks. This may work for some as well, but in the long run, and from my experience – your skin needs to be left on its own at night. Most of its natural processes and regeneration happen during sleep and it’s good not to disrupt them. This doesn’t mean you should skip cleansing and moisturizing before bed!
- Apply a thin layer of honey on fine wrinkles overnight. This may feel a little absurd and definitely messy at first. Trust me – it’s worth it all the way. You will see for yourself in a couple of weeks. Just make sure you’re using real, raw honey, not a processed one where all the enzymes were killed.
- Ditch the conventional lip balm and try applying natural butter or honey on your lips instead. The results are yummy (literally).
- Do weekly face masks. Some pretty effective DIY recipes exist out there for masks that can be made with kitchen pantry ingredients.
- Use eye cream even if you’re below 30 to prevent wrinkles in the soft skin around the eyes.
- Wear sunglasses, and not only in summer. Squinting causes wrinkles over time.
- Don’t go rough when removing makeup, especially not in the area around the eyes. If you constantly stretch your skin when wiping makeup it will loosen up over time and lines will become more visible,
- Give yourself a lymphatic drainage facial. Sounds complicated, but it’s not. It involves a circular movements facial massage meant to push out toxins from your face through the lymphatic system. Korean beauty experts swear by it.
- Check the expiry dates! Make sure you aren’t using expired makeup or skin products.
- Try out the dermaroller on your face. Microneedles damage your uppermost skin layer on a cellular level, causing the skin to produce more collagen.
- Slow down with the concealer and foundations palette. Instead of treating the symptoms, you’d better cut to the heart of it. Follow these tips to get – and maintain – glowing skin naturally. Embrace your imperfections and reduce makeup use.
- Change your toothpaste for a natural, SLS-free one. Consider not only what kind of skincare products you are using, but also the ones, like toothpaste, which have an indirect influence on skin.
- Once we are here, here’s a related one: avoid plastic products as much as possible. The hormone-disturbing material that’s eating the human race and our habitat today is also bad for your skin.
- Try home remedies for skin ailments. Before you rush into some dermatologist advice for an in-office invasive skin improvement method, see what you can do at home. There are so many recipes out there.
- Try apple cider vinegar recipes for face masks. Or use cotton pads to dab organic, natural apple cider vinegar on spots and other skin imperfections. Repeat daily for a week for visible results!
- If you’ve got time on your hands, try layering. Never heard of it? It’s a Japanese six-step “slow cosmetics” skincare technique that stresses the benefit of spending time with your skin for the best results. Google a good guide asap.
- Do regular face steams! Hold your face over a bowl of boiling camomile tea plus a few drops of lavender oil for a perfect relax + face cleansing ritual. Follow up with moisturizing and beauty sleep.
- Don’t apply skin products after shaving. Or don’t shave before skincare rituals. It can irritate your skin in this over-sensitive state and cause greater complications.
- Don’t forget about the neck. We often focus on facials and body skincare rituals and forget the neck that’s stuck in between.
- Protect your skin from air pollution with beeswax-based products.
- Have a spare tube of hand cream in your purse or backpack wherever you go.
- Go for natural foot soaks at the end of a stressful day to relieve, soften and pamper foot skin.
- Take extra care after sunbathing. Do not leave your house for the summer holiday without enough good quality after-sun moisturizer.
Bust the myths!
Let’s review the most common skincare myths so you are sure not to fall prey to faulty wisdom once again.
- Avoid washing with hot water. Myth: wash your face or body with hot water before cleansing to open up the pores and maximize the cleansing effect. Sure, it’s good to open up the pores but do so with steam, not by way of a hot water shock. Simply taking a warm shower is the easiest way to achieve this. The hot water rinse, on the other hand, will strip your skin of its natural oil, sebum, and prompt sebum overproduction, thus meddling with the balance of your skin. And that ain’t gonna lead to no good.
- Avoid antibacterial soaps. Myth: antibacterial face and body soaps keep you protected by ridding you of microbes. This is mission impossible. Bacteria are everywhere around – and inside – us! Aggressive antibacterial soaps only manage to rob your skin of important good bacteria needed in its daily functioning. The same goes for the myth of rubbing alcohol to “clean” acne. Nope. Your floor needs the disinfection, not your face.
- Moisturize regardless of skin type! Myth: I shouldn’t use a moisturizer if I have oily skin. Nope. It’s a myth.
- Don’t avoid sunscreen. Myth: Sunscreen’s cancerogenic and more harmful than the sun. There are tons of sunscreen varieties out there nowadays, and the UV rays are definitely more damaging for your skin than any of them.
- Avoid overly abrasive exfoliants. Myth: The harder you rub the exfoliator the more effective it is. Exfoliation is to remove dead cells and dirt from your skin’s upper layer, not to pull out the entire outer layer!
More tips for lastingly beautiful skin
- Have your sunscreen on. Always protect your skin, no matter how strong the sun. This should be a lesson learned by now.
- On hot summer days, wear a hat. An even more effective and trouble-free way to protect your skin from the damaging effects of the sun, than sunscreens which come with their own downsides.
- Take quality night sleep. And I don’t mean to do this once to make up for a week of bad sleep. Nothing supports your skin as much as a steady, regular sleeping pattern.
- Sleep on your back. Squeezing your face in the pillow for prolonged hours at night causes wrinkles.
- Reduce stress. This is no news, but the effect of stress on the skin specifically is dramatic. Is keeping stress under control not so easy? Well, maybe you are due for a life change. Nothing in life should be worth more than your health and wellbeing.
- Keep the booty moving. Exercise, exercise, exercise. Yes, we know this is a cliche, but simply an important one. Hit the gym, go for a run, dance before bed… So many different options exist today in this big, wide, world that you really need to work hard to come up with an excuse for yourself.
- Introduce a quick stretch before bed. It’s important to get some blood rush into your head. This promotes good and restful sleep. It can be the downward dog, or standing on your head or simply letting your head down from the edge of the bed.
- Do facial yoga exercises before bed! The age-defying effect, in the long run, is priceless, plus it’s absolutely for free!
- Relax. Make sure you give yourself small breaks during the day to rest your brain, eyes, nerves. Focus on your breathing and forget about the daily stress for at least five minutes.
- Observe your skin. Use your time in front of a mirror or under the shower to spot any rapid changes or new imperfections on your skin. You need to spot problematic issues early on, so you can take timely action. Besides, disciplined inspection of the skin can also help detect more serious ailments under the skin.
- Visit a dermatologist regularly. The same way you need to say hi to your dentist every once in a while for healthy teeth and gums, you also need to do check-ups at the skin doctor to detect any funny business early on.
- Double-check your criteria for what makes someone a skincare expert. In the age of information so many websites out there offer “expert” advice when, in fact, they’re simply selling skincare products. Fact-check content before you go by it.
- Don’t pop the pimples. This is for real. Popping can cause irritation and increases the risk of acne scars.
- A related one: Don’t pick at ingrown hairs. To prevent ingrown hairs, exfoliate before shaving.
- Wear your hair in a ponytail at home. In windy weather, during workouts or simply during work, long hair gets into your face and rubbing its oil and impurities against your skin. Try to avoid it.
- Be gentle with your skin in general. Avoid rough, painful exfoliators or any other products. If it hurts it means your skin doesn’t like it. It may be causing irritation or it may be an allergic reaction. Wash it off immediately.
- Treat scars and fine lines early on. Make sure you start treatment as soon as possible to reduce the risk of permanent scarring or preventable, premature deep wrinkles.
- Take contrast showers. A beauty secret known since the Romans, the hot-then-cold shower contributes to glowing skin and much more.
- Get enough good sex. Yes, because if your hormones are out of balance, sooner or later this will manifest on the skin. Make sure to maintain a hormonal balance.
- Spend time out in the sun. Don’t let the shy spring sun rays go to waste. Staying out in the sun in healthy time intervals (early morning or late afternoon) enables Vitamin D production. D-vit is one of the main elements for healthy skin and hair.
- Schedule mountain getaways. Go for even small hikes or walks in the woods regularly. This allows you to escape the harmful city air pollution. The quality of the air directly impacts skin health, and in most cities, the air isn’t the cleanest. Camping trips are a blast – you get the added benefit of stress relief.
- Pamper your skin with an occasional spa. The Finns know it best – saunas or Turkish baths and other spa miracles provide you with an intensive skin detox.
- Give yourself massages in the shower. Steam massages are another proven Korean skin beauty secret. Check it out.
- …but: Do take quick showers. Meaning, keep the amount of time water splashes down your face and body to the necessary minimum. Water dries out the skin and even though you may follow up your showers with deep moisturizing.
- Don’t hit the gym with makeup on. Another red flag when it comes to makeup. The last thing your skin needs before an intensive sweating session is blocked pores.
- Watch out for overly dry air indoors during winter. Most modern heaters are known to easily dry out the air. Take action to prevent overly dry air as it dries out your skin too.
- Say “No!” to the tanning bed. The UV rays over time cause premature aging and can even increase the risk of cancer.
- Use a silk or satin pillowcase. Cotton or linen can be harsh when rubbing against your skin.
- Protect your skin from mosquito bites, whose itchiness can lead to irritation. A useful natural option is keeping basil, lavender, thyme or rosemary plants on your balcony and in your bedroom. Plenty of natural repellent varieties can fix you during trips.
- Quit smoking. Nothing more there is to say.
There isn’t a perfect recipe for overnight skin improvement. Certainly not for a change that will last. It all depends on your specific case, so you shouldn’t take any of these tips at face value. Try out and shape your own rules of thumb when it comes to skincare.
