Tips for healthy skin

Many of us may want picture-perfect, flawless-looking skin. It's common to go to great lengths and spend lots of money trying to achieve this. We often look for complicated solutions thinking it's going to be the fix for our complicated problems, when in fact, the solutions are usually quite simple. Here are 10 tips we use to help shower our skin with some love. 

1. Accept and honour above all

Each one of us is perfectly imperfect. We believe the most important step is embracing who we are and loving our skin so it loves us right back. We might have freckles, beauty marks, natural discolourations, a dark complexion, a light complexion, or maybe we're breaking out from hormones because it's "that time of the month". Regardless of these things, own it! It's you, and therefore it’s unique and beautiful in its own way. We recommend focusing on the things we can control, and not sweating the things we can't.

2. Nourish the cells

Some people will say that certain vitamin or mineral supplements are good for our skin. Others will say that specific ingredients are even better for our skin, such as cucumber, mint, lemon, or berries. Here at PUL, we believe there's no single compound or small group of foods that will help clear our skin in the long run. Rather, our nutrition and lifestyle choices as a whole are what impact our skin. The more wholesome, nourishing, and plant-based foods we enjoy, the clearer our skin may be.

Does that mean we need to be extreme? Not at all! We can still honour our hunger and enjoy treats. We may notice, though, that when we indulge in more processed foods rich in oil, salt, and sugar, our skin tends to break out more than usual. We aim to keep it all balanced, and place an emphasis on enjoying overall wholesome and nourishing meals and snacks. 

3. Stay hydrated

Hydration plays an important role in the health of our skin. Some people may recommend certain detox teas while others recommend vitamin-infused water. At the end of the day, plain water on its own, or in soups, smoothies, and teas are all we need. Getting enough fluids each day helps us avoid dehydration. How much liquid we need will depend on our overall lifestyle, so it could be anywhere from 9 cups to 12 cups a day. If we have liquids to sip on and quench our thirst throughout the day, we'll generally be good to go.

4. Maintain gut health

Most beauty product manufacturers try to convince us that our skin issues are an isolated external problem that can be easily fixed by a product they sell. Keep in mind that there's money to be made in these industries. We recommend that these claims are taken with caution. We truly believe the solution and secret to clear skin lies within. An integral part of skin health is gut health, meaning it's important to have happy intestines and healthy poops. We can help keep our gut happy by eating foods that are high in fibre, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and seeds. We can also enjoy some probiotics from plant-based yogurts or fermented foods. Of course, hydration and taking pleasure in regular movement also help to keep things moving.

5. Sweat it out

Sweating and enjoying regular exercise can help improve our overall complexion. Not to mention, it's a great way to de-stress! Getting moving increases our blood flow, which helps to deliver oxygen and nutrients to our skin. This process may also help to flush out waste products away from our skin and our other organs.

6. Decrease stress

Stress can take a toll on us not only mentally, but also physically. This includes on our skin! When we're feeling stressed here at PUL, we like to think about what things we can control to help manage our stress levels. It could be spending time in nature, getting support from a registered counsellor, talking with family and friends, or simply enjoying a warm cup of tea. Whatever the stressor may be, we encourage taking the time to identify what it is and figuring out how we can best support ourselves to decrease some of the stress in our lives. Our skin (and sanity) will thank us later. 

7. Keep products simple

In our experience, we've found that using a plethora of products hasn't been necessary. This may include using a variety of day creams, night creams, cleansers, face washes, makeup removers and scrubbers. Of course, everyone is different though, and this may not be the case for each of us. 

When choosing products, one thing we can consider is trying to find ones with fewer manufactured ingredients. Using products with more natural ingredients can help to reduce the clogging of our pores, and decrease chances of breaking out. An example of a possible substitution could be replacing makeup remover with coconut oil. We can apply a small amount of coconut oil on a cotton pad and use this to remove makeup around our eyes.

8. Let it breathe

Whenever possible, we aim to keep our skin clear of products to minimize the clogging of our pores and potential reactions between our skin and the products we choose to use. Sometimes when we pile on a lot of layers of product on our skin, we'll notice our skin breaks out more than usual. 

9. Gentle exfoliation

Exfoliating every 2 - 3 days or so is a simple way to gently scrub away any dead skin or debris on our skin. We can use an exfoliating cloth to do so, which doesn't need to be fancy. A simple one purchased for a couple of dollars generally works fine. Note that exfoliating more than 2 - 3 times a week can irritate our skin, causing it to turn red and bumpy.

10. Give it time

Skin doesn't clear up overnight. It may not even totally clear up ever! In a world where we're constantly surrounded by photoshopped and filtered pictures, it can be hard not to have high expectations for our skin. Overall, if we find a product or routine that works for us, and stick with it, we may start to notice changes in our complexion. With time and love shared with our skin, it will surely send some love back. 

Takeaway

Nothing complicated, and nothing that's going to break the bank is needed. Healthy skin comes above all from the inside. When we shift our focus to the outside, our focus can be placed on minimizing the number of unnecessary things we apply to our skin. Keeping things simple makes for happy wallets and happy skin!