Spring is approaching and it is the perfect time to renew and refresh our best and most beautiful selves. Our beauty rituals and routines offer a luxurious moment of calm, self-love and appreciation. What we use to nourish ourselves internally has as much of an impact as what we use externally. What we eat, where we live, and how we feed our body and soul all play a significant role in how we outwardly represent ourselves. No beauty products can replace how you are feeling on the inside. It shows on the outside when we feel good physically and mentally. Happiness and self-love are beautiful.
Tending to the internal garden: What you put on your skin matters, but it’s more important to pay attention to what you are putting in your body. The age old saying, “beauty starts from within” is true in many ways.
What you put into your body will also determine the health of your skin, hair, and overall physical being. It can be helpful to seek out the advice of a skilled herbalist or do research on your constitution, because often our constitution is optimally paired with specific foods or energetic qualities of plants, and this knowledge can help you work with imbalances. Gaining insight into our individual internal garden allows us to understand better what foods, plants and ingredients work best for us.
Eat Real, Whole, Foods
Whole foods rich in essential fatty acids, antioxidants, minerals and vitamins support your hair and skin. So load your plate with whole grains, leafy greens, root vegetables, berries, avocado, olives, nuts, seeds, superfoods like raw cacao, turmeric, maca, and green superfoods like spirulina.
Sip Herbal Teas
Herbal teas with herbs that are rich in calcium, minerals, and chlorophyll are also an easy way to get nutrients into your body. Nettles, red clover, oats, burdock, and raspberry leaf are some favorites that are mineral-rich and nutritious. Start each day with fresh plants whenever you can for extra added hydration and nourishment.
Good Hydration Is Essential!
That dewy glow we all thrive for—it doesn’t come from a product. It comes from being hydrated, which in turn leaves our tissues plump and smooth.
Add Lemon Wedges To Your Water
This simple habit aids in digestion throughout the day and supports the body’s natural process of detoxification.
It’s all about gut health—take your bitters!
A clean and healthy diet, filled with foods and herbs that enhance digestion, i.e. bitter, warming and pungent herbs, are all ingredients you can find in the spice cabinet or the produce section of your local store. A few of our favorites include ginger, fennel, dandelion, and burdock. Better yet, harvest them yourselves.
Start each day by taking a dose of herbal bitters to jumpstart the digestive process. Bitter herbs are naturally detoxifying in nature. By supporting digestion and liver health, bitters support clear pores and balance for our sebum and skin moisture.
Increase Your Intake Of Live Foods
Foods like kefir, kombucha and sauerkraut keep our microbiome happy, and when our flora flourishes on the inside, it shows on the outside with healthy, clear skin and bright eyes.
Less Is More
Our skin is designed to do its job naturally. Eating a healthy diet, staying hydrated and using whole, simple products all support the idea that our skin can breathe and do its job naturally. The less we put on our skin and the less we switch up our routines with new products, the more our skin can do its own work. Our skin is the communication between our environment and the inner workings of our bodies! Through our skin, we see the diverse energetic system inside us and any imbalances we may be experiencing. Studies have found that our skin absorbs at least 60-70% of what we put on it. So what goes ON our body, ultimately goes IN the body. There are some nasty products out there full of unnatural ingredients, like parabens. These widely-used preservatives are estimated to be in 60-90 of all makeup and skincare products, so stick to products that are natural, free of toxic chemicals, and products that you could essentially eat.
Rosewater For Skin Hydration
A spritz after cleansing and again during the day does wonders for the skin’s freshness and moisture, plus you get the added aromatherapy effect from the roses leaving you relaxed, refreshed and feeling pampered. Other herbal hydrosols can be used in replace of rosewater, and you can pair according to your own constitution.
Cleanse And Moisturize With Oil
It’s simple, and it keeps you away from all the other toxic ingredients out there. Not only can you cleanse, remove makeup, oil pull and moisturize, but oils like coconut are also rich in healthy fats, making it another great thing to eat! Before a hot shower, try massaging oil into your skin. Then wipe off the oil with a warm wet washcloth in the shower. It leaves your skin feeling clean and smooth.
Rose and Chamomile Clay Face Mask
Herbal masks with clay help to pull out toxins and gently exfoliate your skin. Adding honey or coconut oil helps to not to dry out the skin too much. Apply to a damp face and work in circular motions. Allow it to dry (5-10 minutes) and wash off gently with a warm washcloth. Follow with a bit of coconut oil and a spritz of rosewater! Ingredients: powdered rose petals, rose kaolin clay, honey, coconut oil, and a drop of chamomile essential oil.
Dry Skin Brushing
Dry skin brushing helps support your lymphatic system, which is responsible for ridding the body of stagnation, resulting in healthy and resilient skin! Skin brushing also supports the immune and digestive systems, both of which are involved in detox.
Sweat
Although it is a major eliminative organ, most people’s skin is very inactive. Sweat is a primary elimination route for toxins. Making a habit of getting a good workout at least once a week, or if you can, a hot sauna or bath, works magic for the skin and assists its ability to breath, stay hydrated and glow.
5-Minute Meditations
Mental attitude towards beauty and feelings of self-worth are the most important beauty ritual! Feeling genuinely content shows and is contagious, so take care of your spiritual self-care with meditation, breath work and herbal nervines like Joy Tonic to uplift and brighten the spirit. The rest will follow.
Here’s to being our most beautiful selves, inside and out!
