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Last time we spoke all about the importance of hydrating and protecting your skin. While these key steps form the foundation of great skin, there is more to the story should you wish to take your quest even further. Just to reiterate, the tips I’m giving you here come from my own experience of what works for me. They don’t constitute medical advice and neither am I going to list off a bunch of stuff that is ideal but I don’t really adhere to. You want the real story.
You are what you eat.
We all know this is true, but the chances of me adhering to a macrobiotic, purely organic or raw diet are non existent. Sometimes I wish I could but it just isn’t in my nature. However, having had years of not looking after myself in my early twenties, I know the difference between the good the bad and the achievable.
Here is the philosophy that works for me: “Eat less crap,(but still just a little cause its fun), and drink more water.” It’s that old adage, everything in moderation, that works best of all. So when it comes to food I aim to eat things that are the least processed versions of themselves. So for example I don’t make pasta with sauce from a bottle. Instead I make it myself with tomatoes and herbs boiled down on the stove. It is easy, cheap and has far less salt, sugar and additives. When I started applying these guidelines my skin improved markedly. For all the money we spend on skin care, so many of us do far more damage with the money we spend on convenience food.
Hungry? Eat things like nuts, fruit, berries and skip the muffins. If you want cake (yes that’s me), then make it yourself. That way you know what is in it, (far less sugar and fat than the commercial versions) and if you have to go to all that effort for cake you are less likely to eat it so often!
Try to eat as many brightly coloured fruits and vegetables as you can fit into your day. Keep your grain foods whole and unbleached and avoid prepackaged and frozen meals where possible. If you work long hours and just don’t have the time to pull together gourmet meals each night (yep that’s me too) then a little forward planning goes a long way. I like to make up huge batches of vegetable and barley soup to freeze in portions for later, and having both a rice cooker and slow cooker are life savers. If the cupboards are bare, my fall back position is miso soup with things like bok choy, enoki mushrooms or lots of wakami thrown in. It takes all of about 5 minutes to put together and is just brilliant!
Supplements
I know that the jury is out on this one and people will forever argue about the effectiveness of various supplements, but I take a few that help me along.
Firstly, because I don’t always get the ideal intake of fruits and vegetables, I take a multi vitamin. Nothing fancy, just a basic supermarket kind. Other than that there are two others that really help my skin along.
OMEGA 3 - Fish oil helps keep my skin soft supple and elastic. It is supposed to be good for my brain and makes up for the lack of regular fish in my diet.
Silica – There is a silica supplement on the market that is touted as improving skin tone, elasticity, hair health and growth as well. I began taking it in conjunction with a few other things for joint problems, but it also showed in the health of my skin and hair so I’ve continued it. I won’t say that it is the key to my good skin though, as my skin is very good without it too, but it does help the hair and nails for strength.
Water’s best friend – Tea
Many of you asked after the first skin care post, about whether or not tea counts towards my daily water intake. I drink loads of tea and it is the only thing that gets me through those cold Melbourne mornings. However, I try to limit my intake of black tea (Earl Grey, Lady Grey, Breakfast tea etc..) and put black tea into the same category as coffee – that is – I don’t count it as “water”. I drink loads of green, white and herbal teas which are the perfect winter solution. My favorites are- White Rose Tea, Gen Mai Sen Cha, Jasmine and Peppermint.
Not exactly the drinking kind, but another pretty way to enjoy roses and tea.
Sleep
We generally all need far more than we are getting and there is a lot to be said for a deep, restful beauty sleep. As a Mum, sleep to me is all the more precious as the opportunities to sleep in or cat nap are very few and far between. For a while there I was taking large doses of iron after being told by the Doctor that my tiredness was due to a lack of iron in my diet. While that did help me somewhat you’ll never guess what fixed me right up? Yep, sleep! Whenever possible I try and get early night, turning in at the nana hour of 9.30 or even 8.30 on the odd occasion! Given that I have to wake up about 5.30-6am, I’ve found that it is true that the sleep you get before midnight is the sleep that does you the best. Get yourself a sleep mask, and while your at it, if you have children get one for them too. My girls have them and are enjoying the novelty so much that bedtime is actually fun for them now!
I’d tried all manner of under eye creams for dark circles, different formulas and even spending up to $200 once! But after only four early nights in a row, that sleep wove a magic wand like no cream ever could. I realise it isn’t always possible and sometimes those evening hours are the only ones we get to ourselves. But if you make it something special, taking yourself to bed early is an even more delicious treat that spending the evening with the boxed set of Mad Men!
Your guides are really useful!
I need to take on some supplements too before it’s too late. God knows how weak my body is!!!
SKM, wow, that is pretty much exactly what advice I follow too. I spent alot of time in the sun as a young girl, but for the past 10 or so years I have stayed out of the sun (wear a hat every day) and in last 2 years have gone organic (as much as I can). My skin is now quite good.
Not eating processed food also helps keep one’s vintage figure looking great too!
I’m so glad that you mentioned Omega 3. It is such an essential nutrient that so many people overlook. Not only is it great for your skin and brain function, but it helps your body to break down trans-fats and other toxins.
This is all excellent advice. I couldn’t agree with you more on the sleep issue. Sometimes, when my skin is looking sallow and blotchy, all I need is a really good sleep.
Great tips, I love the white tea from T2 with the rose buds I used to drink a pot of it a day. Must get back into that habit!
I really need to work on my sleep patterns and meditate before I go to bed again like I used to do.
A solid 20-30 mins meditation in front of a lavender candle after a warm shower by candlelight (I make sure all the lights in the house are out and walk to the bedroom with one candle).
I find the candle light helps because it is not so jarring as electric lights can be.
WORD. I absoloutely agree with you 100%. The food is a really big thing and I adhere to the same philosophy as you…its the processed foods that are the worst. I am always astounded at how much sodium is in premade products and it’s one of those things that are never brought up – especially not in the same way as fat is seen as bad. Sugar too.
The hardest thing for me to keep up is my vitamins. I’m not sure why as I’m used to doing other routine things daily but I’ve never been able to stay on vitamins too long.
Sleep used to be a tricky one and I used to go out a lot having big nights. I didn’t realise how much it affected me until I stopped doing it for about a year and THEN went out on a big bender. I suffered for a whole week! I thought to myself “did I feel this crap ALL the time back then?”.
I was just talking about this the other day, I always drink Green Tea, red tea during the winter months, but drink loads of water during the summer/spring.
It makes a world of difference, Cake and snacks should be in moderation, less bread, etc, just look at dogs, there was a reason why I changed dog food, she had skin allergies, etc, when I changed her diet to a lower fat, her skin (my dogs) improved. I never drink soda, only when I have craving.. I go for bubbly water with lemon zest or something…..
I hate sugar drinks..
Girl Japan: Me too. Sparkling water with lemon or lime in it is fantastic
A part of me rebels at having to take care of my skin. Before I turned eighteen, I think I had had all of five pimples in my entire life, and my skin was almost always clear and soft and even-toned. Then eighteen hit and I suddenly had rampant break-outs, scaley dry patches, excess oils, splotchy color, you name it.
Sadly, I had to stop eating potato chips and drinking sodas so much. I’m a salty-foods person, I just LOVE them but they break me out so now I have to watch that, and I’m not used to it yet.
You know what really helps, though? Every once in awhile I put a thin layer of sour cream on my face. It sounds disgusting but I’ll swear by it. I wash it off with hot water and then rinse my face with cold water and pat dry. Result: my skin is smoother than a baby’s bottom, and I mean that literally.
the Rasin Girl: Sour Cream?! Wow, I’ve never heard of that but now I am inclined to try it and see what happens. I wonder if it is to do with the culture in it like yoghurt?
For all the money we spend on skin care, so many of us do far more damage with the money we spend on convenience food. –> So very true!~
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Lovely
shame i like my black tea though
I enjoy your blog, I love to know what others are thinking. I have worked in the beauty industry for 30+ years as a hairdresser & make-up artist. I’ve used every kind od product you can imagine. My old stand by cleanser is good old Ponds cold cream! Apply to a dry face massage it in and remove with warm wash cloth, rinse it out and keep going until your make-up is gone. It keeps my skin soft and you can’t beat the price! As far as staying hydrated, drink water. Soda is terrible for your skin too bad I love diet pepsi so much!
I know this post is from quite a while ago, but I’ve only just discovered it and I wanted to ask you about something that is making me quite anxious.
Why do you place black tea so far below green and white tea? I know it doesn’t have as high a degree of catechins, but the thealavins and thearubigins that make it darker have SIGNIFICANT health benefits of their own (as long as you don’t add milk to the mix). I feel like black tea is being demonised and I don’t understand why!
I’m just anxious to know because I drink a lot of black tea because I thought it was good for me…but now I’m not sure
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