Friday, June 25, 2010

Skincare


Another common question; What about skincare?

There are two components to skincare - The outside and The inside. To have good skin, you must address both.

In addition, keep in mind that the skin is the largest organ and what we put on it seeps into the body. The less chemicals we use, the better we are.

The Inside: Of course, what you eat matters. Food allergies will appear on your skin with rashes and eczema. Acne will tell the tale of imbalances also in the body and can largely be helped through diet and supplements. If we aren 't drinking enough, our skin will also suffer with dryness and wrinkles. Our skin will stay more elastic by eating a diet with good fatty acids and vitamins. This is nothing new. We all need to watch what and how we eat.

The Outside: There is the obvious; sun exposure. Cover up if you are out too long. We all know that. But, what many of us aren't paying attention to is the chemicals we are slathering on our skin on a daily basis. We think that what we put on top of the body stays on top. However, we have millions of little pores in the skin. What are pores? Little tiny holes. Little tiny holes that absorb chemicals straight into the body. We don't want to put anything on the skin that we wouldn't want to put under the skin.

With that said, what do I do? Simplicity.

Coconut oil is my weapon of choice. I take my eye makeup off with it and I use it for my moisturizer. I put some orange oil with it for collagen production and for a great smell. I love it. I remove my makeup with a simple face wash. I exfoliate daily with a rough towel or you can use some cornmeal in the soap. I use mineral makeups and as much natural products as I can. Deodorant can be made with coconut oil and essential oils as well like lemongrass and lavender. My husband hasn't worn commercial deodorant for several months and hasn't been offensive yet. I still need to do a little better in this area but I am making progress. I have a friend who's sister is very much into the natural lifestyle. She knows what's going on. Lucky for the world, she has developed some great skincare products and makeup that are totally natural with a coconut and grape seed oil base. They are wonderful. They are also very affordable. You can check her out on her button on my sidebar at Essentially Basic Skincare. Lovely.

As with everything, I believe in keeping with what grows and what comes from the earth. Our skin tells our inside story. We want our story to be beautiful and glowing.


12 comments:

Tirsa Baker said...

Thanks Shari!
I am happy to say that I am really impressed with the homemade deodorant that I made last week. It was sooo simple and has really stood up to the AZ heat and my busy lifestyle. It is only 4-5 tbs coconut oil, 1/4 cup baking soda, 1/4 cup arrowroot powder. Mix together and you are done! I will have to try the orange oil. Sounds great! Thanks for answering my question.

Explore & Grow said...

Just a word of warning regarding mineral makeup. I went to purchase some on the internet last week and, after some research, learned that some mineral makeup is hazardous to our health. Many brands contain minerals that cause a variety of health problems, including lung cancer. I found only a few brands that I would dare put on my face. So research, research, research before making that makeup purchase!

Shari Goodman said...

Absolutely agree on the mineral makeup and with all things. You always have to read labels. Always. Same with supplements. There are so many harmful fillers that are hidden if you don't read what you are consuming. Thanks for the info.

Shari Goodman said...

P.S. "Families are Forever", I just click on your Whole foods for the Whole Families blog and love it. I can't wait to try out some of your recipes and love the info on juicing. I am trying to better with the green juice! Thanks for the recipes.

kami said...

What supplements are good for acne? I eat pretty well (of course we can all do better) but I'm dealing with acne right now. I believe it's tied to hormones since it always flares up during and right after pregnancy. I'm really broken out right now and I think it's because of menstruation (first one since the baby, darn it!). I use coconut oil as moisturizer and natural cleansers but I have yet to switch to natural make up (I will check out that website because I've been looking for something affordable). It seems like I just need something extra because I feel like I'm doing all I can and I still am having horrible breakouts, worse than when I was a teenager and ate horribly.

Also, for the deodorant, we use the same recipe as "Tirsa" and love it. We haven't had any problems with smelling since I added tea tree oil to the mixture. So, I use coconut oil, baking soda, cornstarch, tea tree oil, and lavender. My husband loves it too! I'll have to try orange oil, I bet that'd be delicious.

Shari Goodman said...

kami,
You can check out my post on acne here:http://enlightenedhomemaker.blogspot.com/2010/02/got-acne-think-zinc.html. Post pregnancy hormones are very hard on the skin. I have several moms emailing me with this problem. A few have tried the supplements that I recommended in the post; zinc, cod liver oil and Biotin and many of those saw instant results. It isn't the answer for everyone. Sometimes it is yeast issues that arise from the hormones and pregnancy as well. It usually takes a couple months of diligence to get it resolved but it can clear up. I don't miss those post pregnancy days! Miss the cute babies though.

kami said...

Thank you Shari! I'll check those out..I am ready for this acne to be gone...it's not attractive. Does the girl who sells the mineral make up live locally? Just wondering because I want to order some and thought I could save on shipping by picking it up (if she's local).

Shari Goodman said...

Essentially Basics is out of Utah. Sorry!

rachel said...

shari,
did you ever find anything out about the deal on coconut oil from tropical traditions? if not, i'll just go ahead and order some from there.

April said...

I have been using a natural line of skincare called MyChelle for years now and love it. Kind of pricey but totally worth it. www.mychelleusa.com

I absolutely LOVE their Clear Skin Serum. If I could only have one of their products, that would be it. Great for acne/whiteheads/blackheads. It works better than any other natural acne product/non-natural acne product that I've ever used.

You can usually find their products on amazon.com cheaper. Some Whole Foods stores carry them as well. They have trial kits which are great because they are inexpensive and you can try the products to see which ones you like before you buy the full-size. .

kami said...

Oh no problem! I will be in Utah for half of this summer so I may just order when I'm up there. Thanks!

Shari Goodman said...

check her site because I know her products are in some stores up there.