Skin health is very dear and near to me because I used to suffer from adult acne a couple of years ago. At the time, it completely destroyed my self-esteem and made me hyper aware of my skin all of the time. This happened before I attended Nutrition school and so I had no clue that what I ate could potentially affect my skin’s health. So, instead, I tried changing creams, soaps, exercising, and leaving my skin alone. Nothing worked. Fast forward to today and my skin is clear most of the time. Of course, it still occasionally breaks out, but it when that happens, I usually know why and what to do to help it clear up again. Having bad skin can be quite debilitating and that’s why I would like to share with you my: Top 10 Tips for Beautiful Glowing Skin.

Disclaimer: before I even jump into these tips, I do want to mention that the skin takes time to heal. It is not an overnight quick fix. It does take some time and can vary from a couple of days to a few months for some. The key here is to have patience and trust that your skin will get back to being clear, glowing and beautiful once your body has all that it needs to functional optimally.

You see, your skin is one of the largest organs of the body and as such, it requires proper nourishment, hydration and a few other conditions to be at its best. In this post, I share with you my Top 10 Tips for Beautiful Glowing Skin. I have used these tips to keep my skin clear for the past few years. As soon as I stray away from one or more of these tips, my skin usually breaks out.

If after following these 10 tips you still suffer from skin issues, I would strongly recommend that you consult your favourite health care practitioner or holistic nutritionist to get to the root cause of it. It might be a deeper hormonal issue or an inflammatory condition that still needs to be addressed.

Your skin is like a mirror reflecting the state of your internal health, so pay attention to what it is trying to tell you.

Now let’s get into these tips, shall we?

Top 10 Tips for Beautiful Glowing Skin

1. Heal your Gut, Improve your Skin

This is by far one of the most important factors when it comes to ensuring that your skin stays smooth, clear and beautiful. When your microbiome is happy and healthy, your skin will automatically clear out and glow. To ensure that your gut health is optimal, follow these guidelines:

• Consume probiotics foods or a good quality probiotic supplement daily. Probiotics foods can be: fermented veggies, sauerkraut, tempeh, miso, kefir, or even kombucha
• Avoid processed sugars
• Drink plenty of water daily
• eat a diet rich in natural dietary fibers (i.e. lots of fresh fruits and veggies)

2. Drink Water, Flush it Out

This might seem like the simplest tip but it truly makes a big difference in how your skin will look and feel. Because your skin is made of up to 64% of water, it needs water to properly function. Moreover, water is essential to flush out toxins from your body (which when they stay inside can create more inflammation and skin issues).

3. Sweat it Out

Another great way to properly expel any unwanted toxins from your body is to sweat. Sweat might be gross to some of you but it actually serves a very important purpose: it regulates your body’s internal temperature (i.e. cools you down) and excretes toxins. The more you sweat it out, especially through exercise (which has added health benefits), the clearer and glowing your skin will be!

4. Breathe

Simply breathing deeply can be another great way to not only relax your mind, bring down your stress levels but also to once again detoxify. Your lungs are another organ of elimination via which your body gets rid of any extra waste. So, take the habit to breathe deeply and to slow down as often as possible. It will do wonders for your skin too.

As a matter of fact, stress often cancels out any good health habit. So, trust me anything to bring your stress levels down is always a plus. Especially with matters of the skin.

5. Get Your Daily Dose of Vitamins (A, C, E)

This trio is essential for skin’s health. Indeed, vitamin A, C and E are all 3 powerful antioxidants, which are essential to reduce inflammation, fight free-radical damage (causing premature aging) and finally to boost your skin’s collagen production (allowing your skin to remain supple and smooth).

Some great sources of these 3 vitamins are: leafy greens, root vegetables, red cabbage, cacao, avocado, sunflower seeds, almonds, walnuts, carrots, …

6. Sleep it Out

It’s called beauty sleep for a reason. Indeed, lack of adequate sleep has been linked to an increase in inflammation (acne, breakouts, dermatitis…), an increase in collagen breakdown (dull skin), and a decrease in proper skin hydration (i.e. older and dryer skin). Need I say more? Make sleep a priority!

7. Don’t Forget About Your Fats (Omega 3s)

Healthy fats are essential not only for the general health of your whole body, but especially for the health of your skin. Essential fatty acids (aka omega 3s) are responsible for smoother and younger-looking skin. Omega 3s are also anti-inflammatory and important for proper cell metabolism.

Get your daily dose of omega 3s by eating these foods: cold-water fatty fish (sardines, salmon, mackerel,..) or chia seeds, flax seeds, green leafy greens, walnuts, hemp seeds and avocados.

8. The More Fibers, The Better

Here is another great way to: flush out toxins from within your body, feed the good bacteria in your gut and cleanse your digestive system –> dietary F I B E R S. The more fibers in your daily diet the better. And preferably fibers coming from fresh fruits and vegetables so you can also get the additional vitamins and minerals present in these types of foods. The more colourful, the better.

9. Say NO to Sugar, Dairy & Junk Foods

These 3 food categories are very often at the root cause of skin irritation and inflammation. To guarantee smoother, younger and healthier skin, definitely avoid processed sugars, junk foods and dairy products as much as possible. You will notice a big difference right away. Try giving them up for 2 weeks and see for yourself.

10. Switch to Safer + Cleaner Brands of Skin Care

Last but most definitely not least: switching to cleaner and safer cosmetic products is another factor for the health of your skin. Unfortunately, most conventional and popular brands of makeup and skincare are loaded with chemicals that are often carcinogenic or hormonally disrupting. Whatever you put on your skin gets absorbed right away into your blood stream, so it becomes really important to check out the ingredients of the skincare products you use on the daily.

Here are some of my favourite skincare brands (all organic, natural, clean ingredients that are safe for your health and the environment):

• Good Medicine Beauty Lab (Use my discount code “deliciouslyvibrant” for 20% off!)
• Primally Pure
• Blue Beautifly
• Clove and Hallow (great makeup selection!)

And there you have it: my top 10 tips for beautiful glowing skin. I hope these help you as much as they helped me.

Stay vibrant,

Sarah.