Beauty on the inside is not just for good hearts and amazing personalities. Virtually all the major leaders and celebrity personalities in the health industry are, in one way or another, showing us all how much our inner beauty impacts how we look and feel and act on the outside. Whether it’s Dr. Oz, Jillian Michael, Dr. Dean Ornish, or Lisa Lillien, the common theme is moving towards having the right lifestyle for your overall health.
You have a lot more control than you think in how you feel, how much energy you have, and how you look. And the look and feel of your skin is no different. To create beautiful skin, start with beauty on the inside. Think about it, the old adage “you are what you eat” is so true. But, that is only part of the story. For the whole picture you need to add drink, sleep, do, say, and act to the mix. Try this on for size:
You are what you eat, drink, say, where you go, and how much you do, sleep, stress, and laugh.
Yes, that is a bit long, but it is true. For your skin, it is a combination of your lifestyle and your environment. In fact, 80 percent of the way your skin ages is due to these two factors alone. However, most of us put all our effort and a lot of our money into countless skin treatments for our sun damage, wrinkles, dryness, blemishes, and age spots. Yes, there is a place for dermatologist grade products in your skincare routine. However, no skincare routine or product can compensate for poor inner health.
The first and most important thing you can do is drink lots of water. I know you hear this all the time, but it is so true! Your body is an organ – the largest organ – and it is made up of 70 percent water. There are many skin problems that originate with dry skin so it is very important (1) to hydrate and (2) moisturize without suffocating your skin.
The last point is very important because many moisturizing lotions actually clog pores and keep the skin from breathing. Your skin is a dynamic organ with anywhere between 2-4 million sweat glands. In an area the size of a quarter, you have around 600 pores. That puts the number of pores on your face alone in the 30,000 to 50,000 range. If you consider the impact of thick moisturizers, foundation, and other make-up, then it is easy to see why we have skin issues, and why they get more pronounced over time.
To give your skin the breathing room it needs, wash your face twice a day, keep the make up to a minimum if possible, and use a light moisturizer. Look for a moisturizer where the main ingredient is a natural oil or extract like sunflower seed or macadamia oils. Natural oils and extracts will lubricate your skin without clogging pores and it could make all the difference in the look, feel and health of your skin.
