Happy Skin Essentials Part 1

Who doesn't like beautiful, supple, clean, clear, blemish free skin! Throughout my my teenage years I struggled with maintaining blemish free skin and knowing what works for me and what doesn't.  As an adult having progressed, through my 20's, 30's and slowly creeping toward 40's I've had quite some years to study my skin, to educate myself and to make a few conclusions on what  contributes to the health of happy, healthy skin.

Over the years I've discovered a few of my happy skin essentials starts with nourishing my body with real food, the second exercise, third staying hydrated, the fourth maintaining a healthy gut, free of inflammation caused by foods that aggravate the digestive process and lastly, cleansing and caring for the skin beyond the surface. Part 1: let's take a look at a few Happy Skin Essentials and their benefits.

 1) Olive Oil

Has the ability to protect the skin from premature aging due to it's rich antioxidant properties of vitamin E, polyphenols and phytosterols. What makes olive oil interesting is it's ability to penetrate the skin without clogging pores, but lifting and clearing grime from the pores of the skin as well as exfoliating the skin. In using olive oil  on my skin I found that my pores shrunk and it literally bought what was hiding deep in my pores to the surface. Within a two week time frame l began to see a significant difference in the tone of my skin and any white heads and black heads were hiding, were gone.

* after a face wash, I take two drops of  olive oil on my fingertips and began rubbing in circular motions upwards on my entire face and neck. While rubbing you actually feel the sloughing of the dead skin and your circular motions are helping the oil penetrate your pores allowing any grime to rise to the surface. Since Olive Oil tends to exfoliate the skin, I do not use more than twice a week, I typically will use as needed.

Bragg Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2) Cod Liver Oil

Cod Liver Oil is known to be one of the richest sources of  of vitamin D, vitamin A, and it's large amount of omega 3 fatty acid. It has been used for centuries, relieving joint stiffness, reducing inflammation, improving cardiovascular health, boosting the immune system, increase cognitive function, brain health, performance and function. This oil is a powerhouse in it's own right and I wish I would of discovered it sooner. What makes Cod Liver Oil so beneficial for the skins is through it's powerful antioxidant properties, improving the skins texture, appearance and suppleness and it's ability to heal most skin ailments from dry skin, acne, psoriasis, dermatitis or rash.

*after a  face wash, I take two drops of the cod liver oil on my fingertips and began rubbing in circular motion, upward on my entire face and neck. The oil is a bit fragrant, but I find bearable.  I actually look forward to loving my skin with with this oil. I rub into my skin 2-3 minutes and sleep with it overnight.  I find that it penetrates the layers of my skin and moisturizes beyond the surface level adding a suppleness to my skins. After a week of usage your skin will glow and look radiant and youthful. I found it helped to tone and even my complexion. I believe the skin has specific needs for different periods of time and every day or week can be different, and so I use accordingly .

*stay posted on an upcoming post specifically about Cod Liver Oil and it's overall health benefits.

Carlson Norwegian Cod Liver Oil

3) Dry Brushing

Quite a few years back when I worked with Autistic children I met two parents that spoke highly of dry brushing. While most of the families I dealt with struggled with understanding their child's diagnosis, I clearly remember three parents who were motivated on finding the very best therapies and treatment for minimizing the effects and challenges that Autism bought for their young growing school age child. Dry brushing seem to come up in all of the conversation and it was fascinating to get a glimpse into alternative methods through the parents, this was actually the very beginning of my personal journey in discovering the world of alternative medicine and therapies. With ton's of paperwork, lots of meetings, families to meet and children to see, I never explored  the overall technique and benefit of dry brushing, and so here we are many years later and now I completely understand it's relevance and importance in our health.

What dry brushing is to the skin and lymphatic system, aerobic activity is to the cardio vascular system.  Dry brushing, as the bristles meet your skin and you create circular upward motions you are increasing the circulation of you skin which assist in ridding the body of metabolic waste. You began stimulating the lymphatic systems within the body helping to release toxins and waste on a cellular level. When movement happens, ridding waste of some sought usually follows...and this is why exercise is soooo important. The benefits are endless, so while we bath daily to clean the body, exfoliating through dry brushing helps to get rid of dry skin, clearing your pores and allowing your skin to breath. In this small act of brushing so much is happening your skin, you will also notice, after moments of dry brushing  a slight reddening of the skin due to the increase of blood and oxygen circulating which is a great thing.

As in the case of cellulite, dry brushing helps the skin to take on a newer and firmer appearance while detoxifying the cells beneath the surface. Days and months after, the skin will sought of go through a slight metamorphosis phase as waste and fats are broken down and flushed through the lymphatic system, you will see days after a sough of loosening of the skin which may not look like much is happening and then several days later a revealing of  a more smoother, firm appearance  of skin.  I often see this when dry brushing the back of my legs which has some cellulite. The more you continue the dry brushing the smoother in appearance the skin will become. On a deeper level, dry brushing has been known to support kidney function an digestion. It is quite obvious that your entire body can not help but to be affected.

Now reflecting back on why dry brushing was so important to the parents and their autistic child I worked with early on, on a more sensory level, dry brushing can feel amazing, calming and soothing. It's ability to release muscle tension through providing a series of movements that will help to calm and ease the body and nervous system from the excess sensory stimulation being received from the surrounding environment. Typically in alternative therapy based practices this is called the Wilbarger Brushing Protocol.

* I would typically dry brush in the evening as it allows more time to relax into really taking my time brushing the different areas of my body. I create firm  upward circular strokes in the direction of the heart going over the entire body with the exception of my face, stomach and chest which are known to be very sensitive areas which may cause a reaction of nausea of vomiting. While I do brush my chest, I typically would brush my chest with a smaller brush and when I exfoliate my face with a softer wet brush. 

Natural Body Brush

4) Facial Brush Exfoliation

Our face amongst all body parts gets the most exposure day in and day out. It is exposed under all sorts of conditions that we often take for granted. From sun, heat, cold, dust, wind, rain, gases, bacteria, environmental toxins, you can go on and on. This leads me to say why exfoliating the face holds important value in our skin care routine. While, I believe the body and all of it's mechanical ways of being was intelligently formed and it's processes work to protect both internal and external, I do believe that we can further assist in the up keep and health in doing a few simple things.

I began exfoliating with a brush fairly recently, prior to this, I've mainly used my hands along with exfoliating cleansers to do that sought of work and I was quite content with that. I'm can't remember what prompted me to incorporate the brush, but I'm glad I did. Within the first use, I noticed my skin was softer and brighter on a whole new level and seemed to help exfoliate just a bit more than my hands and a cleanser did which made it a bit more porous in receiving oils I use to moisturize my face after as well as made my skin more receptive in receiving the benefits of my daily facial cleanser.

What I love about the facial exfoliation is not only do you get a nice face massage, it gets rid of dead and dry skin cells while stimulating circulation beneath the skin and that's what makes the skin firmer, brighter, supple looking and healthy.

* Just to note, I do not believe in using a facial brush very often, as it can irritate the skin and disrupt the natural moisture balance of the skin creating future breakouts, a vicious cycle. Before using I assess my  skin to determine if it's needed, it's not something that I automatically incorporate in my skin care routine on a consistent and scheduled basis.  I typically would exfoliate up to twice a month, therefore the skin has a chance to do what it should do following the exfoliation process which is regenerate, heal, compose itself and refresh. I typically will exfoliate at night, after a gentle face wash I will place a warm towel over my pace to open up my pores for up to two minutes, I will then pour a light facial exfoliant on the brush and began slowly creating circular motions with the brush onto my skin. My motions are light, gentle slow circular motions which should be your entire face. This is usually 30 seconds. I would not recommend  circulating the face with the brush beyond one minute. The skin on the face is much more sensitive then the skin on other body parts. Gently splash the face with warm water to cleanse product off face, pat dry and then I luxuriate my face in either Almond Oil or Rose Hip Oil. #skininlove

In addition to the oils mentioned in this post there are so many other beneficial oils for the skin ( *see future post about facial oils ). Stay posted!!!


Eco Tools Dry Brush