Snacks that are good for your skin
For hunger-taming snacks that are good for your skin (and your whole body), keep these five foods on hand.
For hunger-taming snacks that are good for your skin (and your whole body), keep these five foods on hand.
Though a wide array of nutrients work to keep us and our skin healthy, Vitamin C is a skin defender loved by all. Here’s how it helps, and how to put it to work for you.
Mother Nature has given us so many natural ways to support our health, and keep our skin looking and feeling good. One of the amazing nutrients we’ve been gifted is Vitamin C, a.k.a. ascorbic acid.
This handy natural nutrient is what our bodies use to:
It also can help to lighten and brighten the complexion, reducing the appearance of age spots and evening out skin tone.
Nutrition is a building block of good self-care. And obviously Vitamin C is a critical piece! Fortunately, it’s also in many of our most-popular fruits and veggies.
Start by making sure you’re getting the recommended levels of Vitamin C. (It can be challenging, and time consuming, to keep track of nutrition, so sometimes tracking our meals and snacks with one of the many apps available can help.)
Best sources of Vitamin C: Citrus fruits (like oranges), red or green peppers, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, strawberries, cantaloupe, tomatoes and potatoes.
Vitamin C can also help you from the outside, in. One reason that vitamin C in skincare products is helpful to your complexion is that it brings the benefits right to the skin’s surface. And since the skin’s outermost layer doesn’t have any blood vessels to carry nutrients to it, serums or other products can help close that gap.
Skincare products that incorporate Vitamin C can help skin look more plump, and have a nice glow, quite quickly after applying. Over time you may even find dark spots begin to be less noticeable, too.
As with most self-care practices, balance is key. Too little vitamin C can leave your body less able to do the work it needs to keep you healthy, and make you tired, slower to heal, have puffy gums and more. Too much is no good either, often leading to stomach problems or, in topical skincare products, skin irritation. When in doubt, follow your physician’s recommendations.
It’s easy to see how Vitamin C is a skin defender for us all! Yet exploring the ways that this and other ingredients affect your skin is a smart practice. We each have a unique make up, and getting to know how the variations in your environment, stress, nutrition, and type, impact you is the best path to your best skin, and overall health.
Good looking hair starts from within, so start here to learn more about nurturing a healthier scalp for healthier hair.
The hair products and tools we use to manage our tresses can create quite a bit of stress for our scalps—the skin that, along with our hair, protects our heads. As we clean and condition our hair, change its color, secure the latest styles with heat, sprays or lotions, our scalps are largely hidden, so any effects are often “out of sight, out of mind” – at least until we feel discomfort there!
It’s so easy to forget the impact our hair care can have on our scalp, and the follicles within. But the scalp is an important part of maintaining a healthy mane. Here’s what you need to know about scalp care:
A healthy scalp is an important contributor to healthy hair. You see, just below the scalp surface is where your hair growth begins, one hair per follicle (or shaft). Along the walls of each follicle are glands that produce oily “sebum” that help condition the hair, and lift up dead skin from inside the shaft.
It’s important that hair follicles remain clean and open so there’s good blood flow and the hair, follicles and scalp thrive: nurture a healthier scalp for healthier hair!
If your scalp is coated with too much oil, dead skin, or unhealthy bacteria, that can make it harder for your hair to stay healthy, and can even cause it to thin or fall out. Like most elements of good health, the goal is to maintain good balance: clean, hydrated, moisturized.
The short answer is that It should feel good — no dryness, flakes, redness, pain or irritation. When it’s healthy, the skin on your scalp shouldn’t really feel like anything.
But if any of these sound familiar, your scalp may need some care:
Good nutrition, staying hydrated, and stress management will all give your body, scalp, and hair roots the best chance of good health. On top of these, there are some hair-specific tips to help your scalp stay healthy:
TIP: Unless your scalp is feeling itching, or your hair is visibly oily, there’s no need to wash your hair daily. Every 2-3 days is often enough.
Our hair is our natural beauty accessory, showing off our personal style and framing our faces to draw attention to our eyes, lips and expressions. Follow these tips and begin the journey to a healthier scalp for healthier hair! Tap here to read more about hair care.
Tattoos are more popular than ever right now, with up to 40% of people under 35 having at least one (and 36% of those 36-54)—and a similar number then wondering how to keep tattooed skin healthy.
One important tip we’ve heard from many reputable artists is that you’ll get the best results when your skin is healthy to begin with!
So, moisturize regularly for a few weeks before your tattoo. In the days before your appointment, be sure to drink plenty of water (and avoid drinking dehydrating alcoholic and caffeinated beverages). Arrive at your appointment with a clean skin surface. And of course, choose a reputable artist with a good reputation, and clean studio and equipment.
Here are more things to know about keeping your tattooed skin healthy:
To help maintain skin health at the tattoo site, you’ll want to give it similar care to any open wound… plus a few extra steps over a longer period:
Hopefully you will have started a healthy skin ritual like our Joy to the Skin Collection even before your tattooing, but if not, now is the ideal time to begin one! Caring for your skin will not only help your body’s protective organ withstand infections, it will help your fine art show at its best for years to come.