Bare-Faced Beauty: Top Five Natural Skin Care Tips
As much as expensive products can do the job in keeping your skin looking youthful and clear, it’s sometimes a relief to go back to basics and look at ways in which you can use simple, natural substances to achieve the same outcome.
Skin Care Tip One: Oily Fish
Don’t worry, we’re not expecting you to gulp down a spoonful of pungent cod liver oil every morning with your cornflakes. That would be mean (albeit good for your health). There are more tasty ways to go about ingesting those vital omega 3s that everyone keeps raving about. Chow down on oily fish such as salmon, mackerel and sardines, to keep your skin moisturised and glowing.
Skin Care Tip Two: Maintain a Good Digestive System
This doesn’t mean create a timetable for regular McVitie’s biscuit intake (although the odd one wouldn’t go amiss). Drink plenty of water and incorporate fibre into your diet to keep your digestion ticking over. Snack on nuts, seeds and raisins to keep you system on form.
Skin Care Tip Three: Avoid the Three Big Baddies
Alocohol, smoking, and sugar are the three big contenders for the ‘Who Has the Worst Effect On Skin, Ever’ trophy. Up first, alcohol dries out the skin and can expand blood vessels, causing blotchiness and fine red lines. How unattractive. Up next, smoking accelerates the ageing process, leading to sallow, wrinkly skin, well before its time. Yuck. And finally, sugar, which isn’t as sweet as it sounds, can promote loss of elasticity and sagging skin. Rubbish. So all in all, a terrible threesome, who should all be banished to the bin.
Skin Care Tip Four: Plenty of Exercise
You don’t need to run a marathon a day, just get some fresh air, stretch those legs – maybe get off the bus a stop early, or walk up the stairs instead of taking the lift. Every little helps, and as you feel more lively in your body, you’ll see the result in clearer, more toned skin.
Skin Care Tip Five: Michelin-starred face food
Finally, have some fun and create your very own face mask, with ingredients from your very own kitchen. Whiz together 1 tbsp oats, 1 tbsp plain, live yoghurt, and a tsp honey. Apply to your face, leave for around 10 minutes (probably best not to answer the door to anyone during this time) then rinse off. Your face will be beautifully cleansed and free from impurities. And you can have the leftovers for breakfast.