3 Simple Steps to Spring Skin Renewal
I’m looking out the window into the sunshine, birds and butterflies busily going about their day. It finally feels like we might have settled into spring here in Wicklow. If you’re anything like me you’re coming out of hibernation too, inspecting all those bits of you that haven’t seen the light of day for a few months! Our skin is one of those things that get neglected when we’re not looking at it all the time so here’s 3 simple ways to help your skin come out of hibernation!
Because our skin builds from the inside out we can greatly improve the look and feel of our skin by considering what we provide our body with as building materials.
Step 1: Hydrate
It’s so important and it’s also the most easily missed. Dry, flaky, wrinkly skin can be vastly improved by good hydration. Here are some really easy ways you can get more super skin hydration into your day:
Herbal teas. Several herbs and spices have great skin-supporting properties. Enjoying a daily cup or two of good quality herbal teas is a really easy way to increase your hydration and boost helpful skin nutrients at the same time! Try the following by themselves or in combinations - turmeric, nettle, fennel, peppermint, dandelion, burdock root, liquorice, red clover
Lemon water. We lose a lot of water through our breath as we sleep. It’s really important to start the day by replacing some of it. Drinking freshly squeezed lemon juice in a glass of room temperature water before you get into the day’s activities is helpful in many ways. Squeeze ¼ to ½ a lemon into 200-300ml room temperature water and drink it 30 mins before eating if you can.
Pre-caffeine cup. Coffee and caffeinated teas are pretty dehydrating and as much as we might like to think so they do not count towards our daily hydration target! However, simply by drinking a decent-sized glass of water before your daily fix you can go a long way to reducing the impact!
Step 2: Clean out the pipes
It’s essential to get our waste out of our bodies. If that process is blocked up or too slow then the toxic waste products created in our bodies can recirculate back into our bloodstream which may show up in our skin in the form of itching and rashes. The easiest way you can take action here is to eat plenty of fibre from fresh vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds. This type of fibre binds to toxins and eases the passage of waste out of our body. Eating super sources of fibre can be just as much a part of our lives as our morning process of ‘putting a face on’. Here’s some easy ways to include skin-enhancing fibre in your day:
Snacks. Enjoy a crisp, juicy apple along with a handful of nuts or seeds (brazil, almonds walnuts, pumpkin and sunflower seeds are particularly skin-supportive) or a couple of tablespoons of hummus with carrot, celery and sweet pepper sticks. It’s a double win for your skin if you can replace a high sugar processed snack with these choices.
Breakfast. A slice of wholegrain toast spread with avocado and topped with a poached egg sprinkled with freshly ground black pepper is an amazing skin-glowing way to start the day! Ditch the cereal and go for the skin food, even if you only do it on the weekends!
Cup-a-Soup. It’s so easy to make a delicious, nutritious skin-boosting cup of soup. Try a chopped carrot, a handful of broccoli florets, the green top of a leek and a small clove of garlic lightly cooked in a cupful of chicken or vegetable broth for 5-10 mins, add in ¼ teaspoon turmeric and ¼ teaspoon of ginger and blitz it all up with a stick blender. So yum!! And that counts in your daily hydration tally too! I love it when everything comes together like that (it’s like I did that on purpose…)
Step 3: Sunshine
What better way to come out of hibernation than to simply get outside?! Our winter skin is longing for the warming rays of the sun. Even on cloudy days it’s worth getting some skin exposure. Vitamin D is hugely helpful to our skin and is manufactured by the body it when exposed to the sunlight. It’s fundamental to making collagen to keep us looking young and melatonin which is a very powerful anti-oxidant. Aim for 10-30 minutes of exposed arms and legs when the sun is high in the sky. Wear a hat to shield your face and pay attention to burn time which will vary based on your own sensitivity and the time of year. So next sunny spring day why not grab a pair of gloves and take a stroll through some clean countryside near you to collect fresh nettles to brew as your daily cuppa!
Do you suffer from persistent or chronic skin problems like dry skin, dandruff, skin rashes, itching, eczema, acne, rosacea or psoriasis? Diet and lifestyle adjustments are very helpful for reducing the symptoms of these all too common problems.
To find out how a personalised nutrition and lifestyle plan can help you to get back your youthful, glowing skin click here to book a free First Steps consultation session.