Great-looking skin is not confined to the work of Photoshop and make-up artists. With a bit of care and attention you can really improve your skin’s vibrancy and complexion without expensive face creams. Here are a few natural ways to have healthier skin.
1. Exercise
As soft, fluffy and cliché as it sounds, exercising does improve your skin by improving your circulation. Better circulation means your skin cells replenish faster and with a better proficiency due to the greater amount of oxygen making it to your skin cells. This is essential for giving your face a brighter, healthier complexion.
Exercise also makes you sweat, which cleanses the pores, keeping your skin healthier from beneath the surface.
There are benefits to be had at the gym beyond the ones you can achieve on the rowing machine. After your workout you can spend a bit of time relaxing in the steam room or sauna to even further improve circulation and will help clean your skin.
2. Shea Butter
The base of a wide range of beauty products, Shea butter has a multitude of uses. It’s a natural emollient, making your skin feel softer and smoother with regular application. It also has a natural sun protection factor of 6, which makes it great for protecting your skin from the sun’s harmful rays at all times of the year.
Shea butter’s firming and plumping effects makes it a natural anti-aging product. You can find it in all sorts of beauty products, but the best way to work shea butter into your beauty routine is to track down unrefined shea butter.
3. Fruits and Vegetables
Not only is a healthy balanced diet better for your body, fresh fruit can do wonders for your skin, fighting against free radicals. Fruit’s natural anti-oxidants combat these elements that speed up the aging process. Fruits and vegetables with Vitamin C support the elasticity of your skin by protecting the collagen.
The more colours you can get into your diet, the better your skin will look and feel.
4. Avoid Skin-Damaging Ingredients
When choosing beauty products, it’s important to keep an eye out for ingredients that can harm your skin.
Avoid all products that have mineral oil in the ingredients, also known as liquid paraffin, paraffin wax and petrolatum. This is a petroleum product that prevents the skin from breathing, clogs the pores of your skin and interferes with the skin’s natural ability to eliminate toxins.
Dioxane is a synthetic derivative of coconut and is very common in skin care products, despite the chemical being “known to the State of California to cause cancer.” That dioxane is still being so common is shocking. Check the label and avoid it like a house on fire.
Feeling overwhelmed? If careful label-reading isn’t your thing, you can always whip up your own beauty products at home.
This was a guest post from The Beauty Room, a skincare products supplier for all skin types. We can offer you some great advice on our ‘Ask the Expert’ page. You can also get a free gift worth £50 with your first order.
Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by Perfecto Insecto