2 Part Skin Care Regime

You asked, and I am going to answer.

Age Slower with these tips

A while back I offered to answer your questions if you sent them to me. I was expecting allergy questions or hormone balancing, but instead, you threw me a curveball. You asked about skin. Why does it change as we get older, what can I do to fix my dry skin, what do you do to keep your skin looking like that?

Most of you asked:

What's your skincare regime? How do you manage it? What products do you use? You really don't use filters in your pictures?

To start with, I am very vocal about filters. I refuse to use filters because I don't agree with the deception, they create for personal perception. They set unrealistic expectations to live up to. They are ruining our younger generations' self-esteem and sense of reality. This we can see feeds a unachievable sense of beauty which fuels body image issues, which is great for the cosmetics, diet and cosmetic surgery industries but not so much for your mental and physical health. When you get older and you blur your wrinkles out so much your nose disappears, we all know? But enough about that, I will rant another day...

Honestly, I didn't know there was such a thing as a process to a Skin Care Regime until you asked me about it. It sounded military-like, I had to look it up. There are A LOT of YouTube videos on that topic. WOW!

The truth about me... I think all those expensive skin and makeup products are bogus. I've never used them. They are way overpriced and don't deal with the real problem. Your skin is a direct reflection of the health of your body. In fact, it is often the first thing I notice about my clients, and why I ask that they refrain from wearing makeup when we meet. The skin is a window to internal health. All the nutrients it needs to be firm, plump, and pretty come from within not slathered on top.

Age better with a Holistic and simple routine

This is how I think about skincare products... How can a cream work better than food? If I need water, I don't splash it on my skin and say there I have had a drink. I drink it, it must come from inside. If I need vitamin A (Retinol) I eat food like eggs or cod liver oil... If my skin will benefit from Vitamin C, a serum won't help, I eat vegetables or organ meats.

I thought long and hard about this skincare topic, and here are the things that I truly believe are key to my 2-Part Skincare Regime if you can call it that.

PART 1

I wash my face with very mild soap only once a day, usually before bed in the shower.

I never wear foundation, cover-up, bb cream, or whatever other concoction you spread on your skin to even it out. I've never worn it. I have tried it; it feels heavy and sticky, and it is just not for me. I just embrace my freckles.

I exfoliate with a baking soda paste a couple of times a week. Sometimes at night, sometimes in the morning, sometimes I forget. ;)

Get out in the sun without stuff on my skin. I never use SPF on my face unless I am going somewhere hot and know I will stay out longer than usual and burn.

I don't tan my face in tanning beds. I cover it with a light scarf.

I do use face lotion, but a Neutrogena or Nivea cream is all I need. $8 a jar of cold cream (I think that is what my Grandma used to call it). Nothing fancy, just practical. I apply it in the morning and in the evening before bed. I go heavier around the eye area.

PART 2 ~ The Important Part

Now all those things are fine and dandy, but here is where I think the most important part:

I don't eat sugar. Never ever white sugar or brown sugar, and limit natural sugars to about once a week. I never eat sugar substitutes and I even limit fruit. This also includes juice, store-bought, real fresh-pressed, and homemade juice. No smoothies or sweet drinks.

I don't drink alcohol very often. (Maybe a glass of wine on occasion every couple of months. Never in excess.)

I don't smoke cigarettes. I tried when I was young and stupid.

I avoid drugs. I've never tried them. Not interested.

I have always eaten by the guidelines of The Weston A. Price Foundation. I detail those in a simple format here at Unwrap Your Food. (Even as a child i was blessed to be fed about 80% of these nutritional guidelines) That summed up is about 80% vegetables, high-quality animal products (meat and fat), and almost no grains. If I do have grains - they are soaked, sprouted, or fermented. Even as a child we ate mostly whole foods, meat with fat, and loads of vegetables. When I don't follow this, I see the effects on my skin. I can't stress the importance of vegetables, with butter or other fats, (not fruit) enough.

I avoid processed food. This includes organic and "health" foods that are processed. This also includes things called "healthy" like plant-based vegan cheese, and vegan meat, and processed non-dairy milk... fake-highly-processed plant-based animal-flavored-like products are some of the most toxic un-recognizable food products. The more processed foods, the more shelf-stable products, and foods in packages you avoid the better your skin will be. That is a promise I can make.

I don't drink fancy drinks (Am I the only one that calls them "Fancy"?) for pre-workout, post-workout, pumps, protein, and any other chemical sloshes of nonsense like that. I get all I need from food and pure water. Thrive, beach body, packages of other similar stuff, is just expensive junk you don't need. I do have a plain black double espresso to get me going if I need it, and I use Great Lakes Hydrolysate gelatin every day.

I drink water. 8 glasses of pure, filtered, clean, non-flavoured water. I don't need to tell you why... because you know... and you know you should drink it too.

I don't take supplements regularly, I take supplements only if I need them for something specific for a short period, and never-ever a regular multi-vitamin. Supplements are called supplements, they are intended to use supplementary until you get things back on track. They are never intended for long term use or regular use.

I don't take prescription medications or other pharmaceuticals, unless necessary. Never Advil or Tylenol. And no hormone therapies.

I exercise. That is a big one! It makes you sweat and clears out all those pores, but it also tones up the muscles that firm up your skin. Exercise makes you look younger.

I don't believe in a product if they show you a before and after. I honestly don't believe that rubbing external expensive creams on your face will make any long-term difference on anything except your pocketbook. I have never come across someone who eats well with a load of skin problems unless it was side-effects of necessary medications or linked to another disorder. I have seen people clear up 40 years of acne quite quickly by changing their diet to be unprocessed, like the one you can read about here. Dry skin and redness also usually diminish with this improved diet.

Before and after pictures of commercial products for skin and diet are marketing efforts and they are done well, too well, if you ask me. It is important to remember that changing your diet has great beneficial effects, but it takes time to reverse the years of damage done. Give yourself some love, acceptance, and an opportunity to heal. This could take days, months, or years, but enjoy the process because that is the best part about it.

The 3 most important things that will cost you no extra money and make the biggest difference in your skin.

1) Eat unprocessed, real food. Details here.

2) Drink filtered, pure water with nothing added.

3) EXERCISE!

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