Skincare isn’t all about picking out the right products, it is about getting the basics down too – and these can be pretty much free.
Read on to learn about the top 5 ways to make your skin look fresh, dewy, glowy, and healthy, without having to splurge on tons of products.
Drink lots of water
Drinking plenty of water throughout the day does much more than just keeping your skin hydrated.
The general rule for making sure you are drinking enough water during the day is to aim for 8 X 8oz glasses a day. Some people go over this to 2-3 litres, which is probably also ok, but anything past this is likely overkill. Remember, there is such a thing as water poisoning, so sticking near the guidelines is always recommended.
When your body has enough water, it can more easily help flush out the toxins that accumulate throughout your day and prevent them from increasing skin issues like acne, irritation, and blemishes. Not to mention, helping to banish those pesky dark circles under your eyes.
In addition, making sure your skin has plenty of water can help regulate the natural pH, improve skin elasticity, help shrink pores, reduce puffiness, reduce wrinkle formation, and just all around give you that bouncy glow.
Considering all the other great things that staying properly hydrated does for your body and overall health, this one is a no-brainer and should be at the top of your beauty regimen list. The extra trips to the bathroom throughout the day will be totally worth it — trust us.
Increase your healthy skin vitamins
For great skin, you need to make sure it has all the vitamins it needs to look healthy and function at its best.
Vitamin A, E, C, D are some of the best skincare vitamins you can consume, and luckily, they can normally be easily ramped up by revamping your diet and getting a little sunlight on the regular.
Vitamin D can be found in meat, eggs, dairy, and certain fortified products, but if you are a vegan or vegetarian you will want to take a vitamin D supplement since you are likely not eating many (or any) of these items.
You can also get your vitamin D from the sun, as your skin synthesizes it when exposed to sunlight. But, this absorption is decreased if you live in colder and more northern climates, you have darker skin, or you always wear sunscreen. So, even if you feel like you are outside a lot, these levels can still below if you aren’t getting enough in food or supplement form.
Since this vitamin is so important, try to get some in your food as well as popping out into the light regularly (although you will still want to be wearing your daily sunscreen of course).
Vitamins A, E, and C are also regularly found in various foods, as well as popping up in lots of natural skincare products that put an emphasis on vitamins.
To double up on these, you can make sure you are eating a well rounded high vitamin diet, as well as using a topical vitamin serum-like Strut Brightly vitamin C cream.
Boost your exercise levels
Exercise isn’t just for your muscles, it can work wonders for your skin too.
When you exercise, you get your heart pumping, and your blood circulating all over, including the small vessels in your face.
This ramped up circulation means that more blood carrying oxygen and nutrients is being brought to the skin, and this is a very good thing for skin health.
Boosted oxygen and nutrients to your skin can help increase collagen development and fresh new skin cell production.
So, increase your gym and exercise time to get that fresh-faced glow while also working on that beach body. Exercise is always a win-win in our book.
Improve your diet
We touched on this in the vitamin category, but having an overall healthy and balanced diet with plenty of fruits, veggies, complex carbohydrates, and healthy proteins can help your skin look its best.
Consider your diet the fuel that a healthy glow depends on. Sure, you can pop on some moisturizer and make-up and brighten up your look, but your skin will always look it’s best when it is nourished from the inside out.
Talk to a dietician, or use a helpful food diary ap to double-check that you are getting enough healthy fats, carbs, proteins, vitamins, micronutrients and minerals every day.
If you struggle with getting the full amount of vitamins and minerals each day, rounding out a healthy diet with a multivitamin is totally ok to make sure you are giving your body and skin everything it needs to function at its best.
Your body and skin will return the favour with looking and feeling strong and healthy.
Gentle facial massages
This one may look and feel a little odd at first, but a gentle facial massage can work wonders to get everything flowing and stimulated in your face.
Do you know how great your skin looks and feels after having a facial? Part of that glow comes from having that prolonged gentle massaging action.
When you are applying your skin products with clean hands, take a little extra time to massage out and up along your facial features, taking care not to pull or stretch the skin. Always be gentle while doing this, and massage skin in an upward motion.
This will help boost blood flow, eliminate extra built-up fluids causing puffiness, and stimulate collagen production.
Conclusion
The bottom line is that there are lots of things that you can do to help boost the health and beauty of your skin, without spending a penny on fancy skincare products (although, you can do both to step up the glow even more).
Your skin looks it best when it is hydrated, stimulated, have ample blood flow, and plenty of nutrients to go around.
And, the best part is that what is good for your skin is also good for your body as a whole, so following these 5 tips is a whole-body health win-win.
