A recipe for a clear complexion

Forget spending lots of money on creams, cleansers, and potions; choosing to opt for clean healthy living is often the best way to turn back the clocks and ensure a sparkly and bright complexion. This week will suggest a recipe to follow which may help achieve this, and after time most people should notice a marked improvement.

For some people however acne and flares ups of spots can be a persistent problem. Reasons for this may be hereditary, hormonal, due to allergies, or even the use of certain medication. In the next Jax Writer’s spot, I will explore these reasons, and discuss possible herbal remedies and treatments that can be used in the battle against spots. However following the recipe below, is the first step towards clear skin, and is vital in ensuring the effectiveness of any other treatment.

Ingredients

· Drink water
· Eat a balanced diet
· Cut back on bad habits
· Forget buying lots of products
· Don’t over cleanse
· De-stress
· Don’t squeeze your spots

Method

Drink water
Coffee, tea, fizzy drinks and alcohol can all dehydrate the skin, and the best way to keep your skin hydrated is to drink lots of water, ideally 1.5litres a day. Drinking herbal teas can count towards this target.

Eat a balanced diet
Fruit and vegetables are important for skin health as they provide essential vitamins such as; the B vitamin (Niacin) which helps retain moisture in the skin. Protein helps form the skins support structures, and essential fatty acids are central to the elasticity of the skin. Zinc is an necessary element in the oil producing glands, and is therefore important in skin health. Zinc which can be found in whole grains, sunflower seeds and nuts, and also aids in the healing of tissue which can help prevent scarring. If you suffer with acne, to give your system the best chance of fighting spots, keep processed foods to a minimum and cut down on your intake of saturated fats (mainly found in meats and diary products). By eating healthily, incorporating an array of foods, you are more likely to get all the nutrients the skin needs.

Cut back on bad habits
Smoking is one of the worst culprits for aging the skin; it enhances the production of an enzyme that which can cause a loss of elasticity and the development of lines. Smoking can also limit the amount of oxygen that actually reaches the skin. Drinking too much alcohol can lead to broken veins and redness in the skin as it causes blood vessels to dilate and constrict.

Forget buying lots of products
Many people spend a fortune on skincare products, however they can clog up the pores, stopping the skin from breathing, and allowing the microbes involved in causing acne to flourish. Products can also overload the skin with chemicals. We wouldn’t dream of eating anything containing the chemicals that are found in some skin creams, yet what we put on our skin is absorbed in to our bodies. Common ingredients in moisturisers and anti wrinkle creams such as; sodium lauryl sulphate, di-methicone, pro-pylparaben, ethylparaben and parfum can actually cause skin irritation, and some have been shown to alter the skins structures to allow potentially harmful chemicals to enter the bloodstream. Aromatherapy oils can be used to moisturise without making the skin greasy. It should be noted however that although natural, some oils should not be put directly on the skin, so either ask an aromatherapist to make a suitable mixture up for you, or find an aromatherapy book which includes recipes you can make up yourself. One very good book is ‘Aromatherapy for women by Maggie Tisserand’. Alternatively there are a range of natural creams available using essential oils which can often be found at health food shops or online from stockists such as:

http://www.nealsyardremedies.com/
http://www.highernature.co.uk/
http://www.greenpeople.co.uk/

When it comes to moisturising the body, you can’t go far wrong with coconut oil; it’s cheap and certainly good enough to eat. It is usually solidified and looks a bit like lard, however by warming it up, either by just rubbing in your hands or leaving near a radiator for a while, it turns into oil which can be smeared all over the body.

Don’t over cleanse
Although it is better to cleanse your skin morning and night, cleansing with soap based products can dry the skin out, irritate the skin and even contribute to the formation of spots. Opt for a natural and/or a gentle cleanser such as from the ‘Simple’ range. Exfoliating can help remove dead skin cells, and reveal fresher looking skin but shouldn’t be done more than once or twice a week as exfoliating too much can damage the skins natural barrier and cause dryness and sensitivity.

De-stress
Constant stress can also take it out of the skin. Stress can cause tension in the muscles which can contribute to wrinkles and lines, and may also affect your hormones possibly leading to an outbreak of acne or psoriasis. Trying to get enough sleep, drinking chamomile tea, meditation and/or deep relaxation, and taking regular exercise, are all possible ways of helping you manage your stress levels.

Don’t squeeze your spots
Squeezing spots can cause scarring. It can also increase the risk of inflammation, by causing breaks in the skin where harmful bacteria can lodge, therefore effectively spreading the spots around. If you have trouble with spots, and a few weeks of clean healthy living doesn’t make a difference, then it may be worth trying some herbal remedies.



Mixing together these ingredients and following this method should help knock a few years off your face, and give your skin a noticeable glow. It will take time however; turning around the effects of years of bad habits and product use is not going to happen overnight. If you are following the recipe and still not seeing any difference after many months, then check out next fortnight’s article on Jax Writer’s spot, which will look at the causes and possible courses of action to deal with problem skin.

“Let food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food”
Hippocrates

Note: Information in this article is not intended to replace the advice of your doctor. I am not medically qualified, but have been interested in nutrition for over 20 years.