How To Get Glowing Clear Skin

Naturally glowing skin is a sign of health. When you are healthy inside, your health is mirrored on your skin.

This skin care regiment is my personal experience. This is what worked for me to achieve smooth and glowing skin. I have added face skin brushing, and alpha-hydroxy acids cream just recently to my regiment and have seen wonderful results, believe it or not, my skin looks and feels better now, than it did 10 years ago.

1. Eat a healthy whole foods diet and avoid processed harmful foods

Avoid all processed foods and poisonous ingredients.

Checklist of artificial ingredients to avoid:

- high fructose corn syrup.

- enriched and bleached flour

-aspartame, saccharine, acesulfame-K

-hydrogenated oils or/and partially hydrogenated oils (trans fat)

-artificial colors and flavors

-monosodium glutamate (autolyzed yeast, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, yeast extract or glutamic acid)

-preservatives: sodium benzoate, benzoic acid, sodium nitrite, sulphur dioxide and sorbates.

Concentrate on a diet rich in fresh vegetables and fruits, also eat legumes, whole grains, nuts and seeds to make sure you are consuming all necessary beautifying vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients.

2. Drink plenty of water

It is usually suggested that you drink at least 8 glasses of purified water a day. When you are well hydrated, you will have supple, beautiful, well moisturized skin. If you are dehydrated, your skin will also be and look dehydrated.

3. Address any health issues that might effect the beauty of your skin

Problems such as: allergies, thyroid and hormonal imbalances, poor liver function, constipation and many other health problems, can cause dry skin and/or acne, dark spots on the skin, dark circles under the eyes, and premature aging. Our health is a very important aspect of healthy skin, our skin shows what is inside of us, if there are problems with your heath, address them first, before you can address skin issues.

4. Avoid and reduce stress in your life

Learn to use stress reduction techniques if you are stressed out.

5. Get enough sleep

This is an obvious one, when you don't get enough sleep, skin will look dull, dark circles and wrinkles might appear. Sleep is an essential part of staying healthy.

6. Exercise

Exercise is a very important part of any health and beauty regiment, and since to have a glowing skin, you need to be in good health, exercise is of a great importance

7. Avoid tanning and or use natural sunscreen lotion

When exposed to sun for prolonged periods of time, use sunscreen lotion with skin safe sun block agents.

More on safe sun care products please read here

8. Do not use harsh cleansers to cleanse your face

Many skin cleansers will dry your skin, and they can be too irritating.

New wonderful trick that I have learned, is to use oil and water to cleanse my face. This formula is great for removing eye make-up, foundation, and dirt from the face.

Recipe is extremely simple, what you will need for this make-up remover is:
Small empty bottle. You can use your bottle from the eye make-up remover.

1 oz. of distilled water

3 oz of light olive oil

Optionally you can add 5 drops of grapefruit seed extract and contents of 4 vitamin E capsules to the oil and water mixture as a preservative. Or, make small batches of this make up remover.

Mix everything well. To use, moisten the cotton ball with this make-up remover, cleanse the whole face including eyes, rinse your face with water and follow with toner and moisturizer.

If you do not like using oil on your skin, use a mild skin cleanser without Sodium Lauryl Sulfate.

9. Use non-alcohol toner

Alcohol containing toner will dehydrate your skin, making it more prone to wrinkles and breakouts.

I have used a few different toners, but one I pick over them all is; all natural and gentle, time-tested toner by Thayers. It is alcohol-free, and it works great for sensitive skin like mine. It contains wonderful and healing for the skin ingredients: aloe leaf juice, glycerin, witch hazel un-distilled extract, vitamin E and other plant extracts. There are many good non-alcohol products out there, this is the one works best for me.

But most of the time I make my own toner, it's super easy to make and makes my skin feel great, it's slightly exfoliating as well, due to the presence of Alpha-hydroxy acids in it. Skin feels and looks really smooth after using this home made face toner. It helps to reduce acne because this toner is pH balancing and antibacterial.

Ingredients:

1 cup of water

2 Tbs of raw apple cider vinegar (use only raw vinegar, because it contains all the natural acids in it's raw form needed for healthy skin)

5 drops of essential oil of lavender

5 drops of essential oil of lemon

10. Exfoliate

The frequency and the choice of exfoliating agent, will depend on how sensitive your skin is. You might actually try different scrubs and brushes, until you find something you like and something that works for you.

I am sure you have heard about dry skin brushing when it comes to your body, but dry skin brushing also, does wonders for the skin of your face. To perform this you will need a natural bristle soft brush, preferably small. I bought mine at the shoe store, yes it's actually a shoe polish brush, but it works wonderfully, it is a perfect size, bristles are natural and soft and it has a wooden handle.

Brush your face before shower in the morning and in the evening before washing it. Skin has to be brushed while its dry. Face skin brushing will help to exfoliate, energize and tone your skin, brushing will increase blood circulation in the face, to help regenerate the skin cells and to deliver nutrients to your face, you will literary feel like your skin is waking up in the morning while you are brushing it.

Another way to exfoliate your skin is by using scrubs.

The simplest and one of the most effective scrubs I found, is a regular sugar scrub. Use it twice a week. Sugar scrub accomplishes two things: one, due to glycolic acid content in the sugar, it exfoliates your skin by "ungluing" old skin cells, making them easier to slough; two, sugar crystals will remove those dead, old skin cells while you gently massage the face. Also, if essential oils added, it will give additional benefits to the skin, depending on the oil or oils used.

Simple face scrub recipe I use:

1 cup of sugar

1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil

20 drops of lavender essential oil.

You can use essential oil of your choice, citrus oils also work well to help regenerate skin cells, making your face glow.

11. Use chemical-free moisturizer

Use a moisturizer that does not have any parabens, which are hormone-disrupting chemicals (Ethyl-, Methyl-, Propyl-, or Butyl-), phthalates, sulfates, alcohol, fragrances, mineral oils and PEG. These chemicals will damage your skin and possibly health.

Look for a moisturizer with antioxidants. Also, if you want a smooth and glowing skin, use a moisturizer with alpha-hydroxy acids, natural acids which help to shed dead skin cells and stimulate the production of collagen, and new skin cells, making your skin look smooth and glowing. But keep in mind that products contains such acids might not be suitable for all skin types.

Eating right, exercising, taking care of your health and skin will give you the results you have been looking for.

Also, keep in mind, if possible, not to overuse foundation and face powder, it tends to clog pores and prevent your skin from glowing naturally.