You most probably already know this – but your skin is a reflection of whatever good or bad is going on inside of your body.
Do you ever wonder why you get a massive blemish right before a huge work presentation? Or just before your wedding– or any event where you would really love to look your best – but you have been stressing about it?
Or your skin is looking extremely dry and dehydrated – flat and lifeless, bags looking darker and puffier before any of the above?
How about that pesky friend that visits your chin once a month right before your menstrual cycle?
All those skin reactions unfortunately are all directly linked to what’s going on internally—namely emotional stress, and hormonal imbalances—which is why a holistic approach to skin care is much more effective than skincare alone.
Holistic skin care is an ancient practice that involves treating your skin in a ‘whole’ way, instead of only treating the outside and or only the inside.
Holistic skincare looks at the whole picture – it looks at the root causes of skin imbalances, which means it looks at what is actually causing the issues – not just throwing skincare at you to treat the symptoms and not the cause – which often causes more issues than improvements.
Your skin is your largest organ – without it you would be a large pile of organs lying next to a skeleton. It holds everything together and is connected to every organ inside you through a network of nerves, blood vessels and lymphatics.
It is the communication link between your external environment and your internal environment – and it deals with everything inside and out daily.
It needs a correct balance from inside and out to function at its optimal best as it is a extremely important part of your wellbeing!
Holistic skincare is the act of helping you nourish your skin from the inside, balance yourwellbeing on a emotional level, and apply skin nourishing and healing skincare on the outside.
As a holistic skincare therapist and nutritionist – I ask multiple questions via Zoom about your diet, hormonal phase in life, stress levels, physical activity, menstrual cycles, bowel movements, skincare, haircare, water intake and of course where you live (environment plays a massive role in your wellbeing and therefore your health).
These questions are important because these factors impact the flow of energy though-out the body. If someone’s energy is blocked, either from stress or irregular bowel movements, it will hinder that flow, which in turn can cause inflammatory responses in the skin.
Once your diet, and lifestyle are well balanced (or as balanced as is possible!)
I look at your skincare.
Using the correct skincare to feed and protect your skin from outside.
Nourishing your skin so that your microbiome flourishes – lays the foundation for healthy glowing skin.
Why is this? Because when the skin’s protective layer is healthy and intact, with healthy flora (like your gut!) it is able to protect itself from the environment.
When it this protective barrier is intact – your skin is safe from inflammatory imbalances such as rosacea, acne, eczema, dermatitis, psoriasis and premature ageing.
Aggressive peeling treatments, foaming cleansers, retinols, miconeedling, and overuse of multitudes of serums one on-top of the other – all damage the skin’s microbiome – leaving it open to the attack of acne causing bacteria, and increases its sensitivity, making it more prone to inflammatory skin conditions, and sensitivity.
When you use simple skincare routine, choosing healing skincare and eat a skin healing diet – your skin will be able to take care of itself.
What should you eat more of?
Have you ever heard the saying “you are what you eat?” most probably you have – but one that you may not have heard of – is “everything you eat comes out of your pores” which I think is absolutely brilliant because it is so true!
People with a healthier gut microbiome have a better fatty acid outline – which means their skin is extremely hydrated, moisturised, and supple.
The opposite is for those who have gut imbalances, or digestive imbalances – they often have inflamed and sensitised skin.
To maintain a healthy gut, it is important that you eat foods loaded with antioxidants, probiotics, prebiotics, and phytonutrients. All of these foods reduce inflammation in the body – which equals reduced inflammation in the skin!
Basically – a diet high in superfoods will have your skin glowing sooner than later. Add polyphenols to your diet for an divinely healthy boost of goodness – as long as you also;
Drink plenty of filtered clean water.
Just like planet Earth, the human body is largely made up of water. In actual fact we are 80% water.
Water is one of the foundational building blocks of life. Without enough of it, living things feel dry and don’t have what they need to thrive. Your skin is no exception.
Drinking enough water is not only critical to healthy skin, but it also helps your body regulate toxins, helps you stay hydrated, awake, and alert.
Have you ever felt tired or spacey, then all of a sudden felt like a different person after drinking a large glass of water? That’s the power of H20.
Keeping your body hydrated helps to keep the elasticity of your skin intact. Wrinkles and lines form over time, it’s part of the aging process, but drinking water can help to slow down and minimize that process, leaving your skin looking smooth and clear.
Going deeper than keeping your skin healthy, adequate water consumption also helps improve blood flow, which lends itself to so many other overall health benefits. Additionally, water’s ability to enhance gut health and flush out toxins may also minimize the chance of those toxins making their way towards your skin, which can lead to breakouts and irritations.
So how much water should you actually drink?
The jury is still out on how much water it takes to truly promote the skin, but experts recommend that men should drink 15.5 cups (3.7 litres) of fluids a day, while women should drink about 11.5 cups (2.7 litres).
If you have trouble drinking this much water, here are some tips to boost your intake:
- Drink hot or iced herbal tea.
- Flavour your water with a slice of lemon or lime.
- Drink salt free sparkling water (read the back of the bottle – or better buy a Soda Stream and make your own)
- Get a cute, reusable water bottle that inspires you to drink.
- Set a timer on your phone to drink a cup every hour or so.
- Make a game out of it and challenge yourself to drink a certain amount by a certain time each day.
- Eat water-rich foods like melons and cucumber, celery, and zucchini.
Staying hydrated isn’t just about drinking enough water. You’ll also want to minimize drinking beverages that can dehydrate you like coffee, tea alcohol and sugary drinks like soda.
Now it is also time to:
Exercise daily
Exercise is the first port of call for improved health recommended by multiple health specialists – and that is because it makes a massive difference to most health issues.
Exercise helps regulate blood flow which makes it easier for your body to deliver oxygen and nutrients to the parts that need it most.
That rosy glow you get after working up a sweat? That’s your body’s way of telling you it’s flushing out toxins, getting the blood pumping, and helping keep everything in check so you can live your best, healthiest life.
Working up a good sweat can also help clear pores so that you can stop pimples and whiteheads in their tracks. Your increased blood flow helps to move waste products and free radicals from your skin, to prevent inflammation and damage. This also helps to increase cell turnover and collagen production, to help reduce fine lines and wrinkles.
Getting regular exercise is major part of holistic skincare, and holistic health in general, as it benefits your longevity and reduces the risk of heart disease, helps you manage your weight, and improves your mood and mental health.
Get plenty of sleep
This is something so many of us just don’t get enough of – and without enough sleep – no matter what you do – you will not get the results you want.
You know how you feel after a lousy night’s sleep? Groggy, grumpy, fuzzy headed.
Well, your skin doesn’t feel much better.
The second you drift off into dreamland, your body goes to work repairing and restoring itself. Your body gets time to rest in recovery mode while you sleep.
It’s not only working hard to heal, rejuvenate itself, and process the day, it’s also working on keeping your skin healthy.
One of the ways that sleep aids in healthy skin is by building collagen. Collagen as we know is important for youthful skin – but when you don’t get enough sleep, your body is not able to make it.
Sleep also helps to boost blood flow, which is a major key to preventing dark, puffy, eye circles, which can make your skin look duller.
The longer you sleep, the more time your skin and body have to recover from the day. Experts recommend anywhere from seven to nine hours a night.
Another huge benefit to getting enough sleep? You don’t wake up cranky and feel like you can actually function throughout the day!
If you have trouble getting enough sleep, you might need to take a look at your stress levels.
Mitigate the “stress effect”
If your stress levels are not properly managed, they have a way of wreaking havoc on our health and skin.
It manifests itself in more ways than you can imagine – from messing around with your digestive system, through to disrupting our largest organ – the skin.
The longer you experience stress, the more inflamed your body becomes – manifesting itself in symptoms such as acne, eczema, seborrheic dermatitis and psoriasis.
Stress is unavoidable in our bustling lives, but the one thing we can do is work out how we can decrease our response to this stress.
Herbal remedies such as tinctures, adaptogen herbs, homeopathy and herbal teas, can all help manage our stress levels.
The most effective way is to start on adaptogens to support your adrenal glands, and meditate at least for 10 minutes daily – I am a terrible meditator so I plug my ears in to meditation music and write down all that I am grateful for. I find doing this every morning helps me have a wonderful day.
Book a glowing skin consultation if you would like help getting your skin glowing!
Yvette xx
Thank you for reading my blog!
Hi!
I am Yvette van Schie, I am a holistic beauty therapist, skin nutritionist, skincare developer and makeup artist. I am passionate about sharing real beauty advice with a whack of reality.
For over 30 years I have worked with the best in the beauty and health industry as a trainer, educator and product formulator and I still do – so my knowledge is diverse – I am not blinkered when sharing my information with you because everyone I speak to shares what they know, and I turn it into easy to digest information because I want my readers to feel empowered to make their own decisions and to feel that they are fully in control of their beauty and well being.
