If you
haven't over indulged on excessive amounts of food, alcohol and sugar this holiday season we would all like to know how you managed!?
If however, like us at Raw Skincare, you have eaten may too much chocolate, consumed a few too many cocktails and the calories consumed are past counting, your skin may be paying the price! Now it is widely debated whether food has an effect on the condition of your skin, however, personally I can tell when I have had a few too many bad eats, as do a large number of people I know. So we have devised a list of skincare commandments to get your skin back on track, ready to face the new year!
1. Eat plenty of healthy fats- When we say eat plenty of healthy fats we are talking about natural fats such as nuts, avocados, coconuts... and so on. Natural fats play a vital role in keeping your body looking and feeling healthy.
2. Oh Sugar- If you are going to eat sugar, make sure it is from a natural course such as berries & don't eat too much of that either, sugars can cause inflammation and this is apparent in your skin too.
3. Drink Water- By drinking plenty of water it will help to flush out your system of toxins and help you to keep nicely hydrated. Your body needs water to function properly!
4. Go Grain- Cut down if not completely cut out anything "white" from your diet. This includes items such as pasta, bread, cake, cereal and so on. These are all processed and likely to be full of sugars. Switch to wholegrain and ensure it comes from the earth & hasn't been pulverised and moulded into something which resembles food.
5. Can it fly or swim?- If it can then its great to eat! Fish & poultry are fantastic sources of protein (if you eat them) but red meat such as cows can again cause inflammation. If it is a meat that you do enjoy, choose organic meat- it is more likely you will be eating meat that contains a lot less hormones that can affect your acne.
6. Don't use harsh foaming agents to scrub your skin of its breakout!! If over indulgence has left you broken out be careful how you cleanse. By removing all the excess oil from your skin, your skin will produce more. Use a natural oil to cleanse your skin instead! Oil will not cause you to break out unless you use chemically manufactured oils such as mineral oil.
7. Don't exfoliate daily- Exfoliation is designed to rid your skin of old, dead skin cells leaving behind lovely refreshed new ones! Your skin takes more than a day to produce a new layer of skin, by exfoliating too often you will leave your skin looking red, sore and inflammed.
8. Don't use tooth paste or nappy cream!- Seriously! These will be no good for your skin, they may bring down inflammation around your spot but will still leave your spots standing tall- the thought that you could dry out a spot is also incorrect- a spot is not made up of water and will therefore not "dry out".
9. Don't pick- Picking your spots can be very tempting, but unless it is a white head which can be removed (through the correct technique only) do not try and pick them- it will leave your skin red, inflamed and you may end up with scarring too.
10- Remove all make-up- This might sounds very obvious, but don't forget to remove your make-up thoroughly. Leaving excess make-up on over night may end up clogging pores which can lead to spots.
We hope this brief guide has given you some insight into how to get your skin back on track this new year. Let us know what you find helps your skin when you have a break out!