Skin Health & Healing

Your Holistic Skin-Care Guide

The skincare market today is valued in the high billions. The obsession with perfect skin is everywhere. Every other video I see online is about how to achieve glass skin, how to not-age, a 20-step skincare routine. Everyone is trying to sell the next best thing that’ll get you to achieve perfect skin.

I have fallen down the rabbit hole over and over again, ordering these products out of desperation and insecurity. The problem with this is, it will always have us chasing after an unachievable outcome.

We’re often looking for a quick fix to our problems, but it is so important to note that skincare is internal. A big mindset shift for me when it came to dealing with skin problems was understanding that the imperfections on my skin are my body trying to communicate with me.

What We’re Chatting About Today:

• Common Root Causes of Skin Issues

• Holistic Tips for Internal Skincare

  • Daily Practices for Addressing Root Problems

• Eating for Skin Health

• Clean Skincare Solutions

• Skin Health Recipes & Moreeeee…

In the past when I would get acne, my first instinct would be to judge myself, have frustration, shame and insecurity. This may sound crazy, but I have tried to make the shift to gratitude instead. Gratitude that I have a healthy body that has the ability to cleanse itself and communicate to me that there is an imbalance somewhere in my system. It’s all about perspective.

Instead of jumping to those negative emotions, I try to be more curious. Ask questions, try to figure out the root cause. This process has also helped me become more in tune with my body overall, and more intuitive with myself. It has allowed me to be more patient and loving with my body.

The problem with skincare today is that we are constantly comparing ourselves to others. We see this beautiful perfect skin online and assume that we need to look like that. We compare the rawest versions of ourselves to the most highly edited and filtered version of someone else.

Skincare is individual. It requires us to look inward and reconnect with our bodies. The answer most likely won’t be found by buying that new expensive serum you saw online. Like everything when it comes to health, I believe in first and foremost going back to the basics. Maybe that serum will optimize your skin, who am I to say? However, if you aren’t actively evaluating the foundational pillars of health first, then it is just a band-aid to the actual problem.

Our bodies are smart. They are incredibly complex and intelligent. Each and every symptom that occurs is a reaction, it’s our bodies way of problem solving. There is a WHY. Our bodies have the incredible skills to be able to heal themselves. We must give our body the tools to thrive to the best of it’s abilities. We need to do is tune in with curiosity and patience, and listen to our bodies.

There is no quick-fix. Patience with our bodies and understanding is key here. Because skincare is internal, I am going to start out by going over the most common root causes of skin issues. Then I will go into how I address them.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. None of this is medical advice. Just a fun discussion and conversation based on my personal experiences and learnings. Pls speak to a medical professional before starting anything new, every body is different. If you feel lost on where to begin, I recommend finding a functional or natural medicine doctor to deep dive into you.

Common Root Causes of Skin Issues

1. Stress

It always comes back to stress doesn’t it lol. Chronic stress is one of the top causes of inflammation in the body - whether that is mental or physical. This inflammation causes other imbalances in the body, and that can often manifest into skin issues.

In our every-day living, more and more our nervous system’s are in a chronic state of fight or flight. It is so important to actively practice throughout the day bringing our bodies back into a calm state of rest and digest.

2. Gut Problems

The gut and skin are directly related. Skin health starts in the gut. The gut microbiome is a complex system, and when the gut is out of whack, often times it’ll show up in our skin.

Examples of gut problems are gut dysbiosis, leaky gut, chronic inflammation, bacterial or fungal overgrowth, constipation, food allergy/intolerance, etc…

3. Hormone Imbalance

Our bodies, especially as women, produce lots of different hormones that ebb and flow for different reasons. Depending on our actions, our environment, things we consume, these hormones can start either under or overproducing, causing an imbalance.

These fluctuations in hormones can cause acne or skin issues. This is why we are more prone to acne during certain times in our cycles (typically luteal and menstrual).

4. Lymphatic + Liver Stagnation

When our detox and drainage pathways are sluggish, this shows up in our skin. Whether the pathways are overloaded or struggling, they are not properly flushing out toxin build up in our body. Because of this, our skin can start taking over for what our other organs aren’t capable of, and this shows up in skin issues.

5. Poor Oral Health

Similar to our gut, our oral microbiome also has an impact on skin. When there is an imbalance in our mouths, this can cause inflammation that leads to acne.

6. Environmental + Toxin Overload

Toxins that we come in contact with in our every day life whether that be at home, at work, or anywhere else can have an impact on our skin health. When my skin was at it’s worst, I was living in a mold-infested apartment and using products daily that were filled with toxic microbiome stripping ingredients and endocrine disruptors.

7. Nutritional Deficiencies + Inflammatory Diet

Wherever you are from, the Standard American Diet has an extreme negative impact on skin health. It is extremely common to be consuming ultra processed food: refined sugars, refined carbs and grains, pesticide and herbicide riddled produce, conventional meat and dairy.

Looking at the ingredients of packaged food at the grocery store, the ingredient list is a novel that contains things that aren’t even real food. Consistency of consuming these over time can cause chronic inflammation in the body. This leads to imbalances in all systems, including all of the above, and is very damaging to skin.

Additionally, this way of eating can cause nutritional deficiencies in the body. Unfortunately over time a lot of our food has increasingly lowered in nutritional value. Soil has become depleted and food has become so processed that the profile of vitamins and nutrients in food and water is little to none. Deficiencies in important vitamins and minerals (ex. vitamin A, D, E, Zinc) shows up in our skin.

8. Weak Skin Barrier + Product Overload

Just like our gut and our mouths, our skin has a microbiome too. A healthy balance of good bacteria in our skin microbiome contributes to healthy skin. Conventional beauty products and extensive skin care routines can strip our skin microbiome, clog pores and break down that skin barrier.

When our skin barrier breaks down, it causes that protective layer of skin to let in more harmful toxins, bacteria, pollutants, allergens. The more we are putting on our face, the less opportunity we are giving our skin to properly heal itself. I truly believe less is more when it comes to skin.

9. Blood Sugar Imbalance

Excessive cortisol or excessive glucose spikes can lead to an overload of insulin in the body. Overtime this can cause a blood sugar imbalance or in more extreme cases insulin resistance. This may manifest in chronic fatigue, weight gain, inflammation and hormone imbalances and that can show up in skin issues.

10. Exhaustion + Poor Sleep

Beauty sleep is REAL. Sleep has a huge impact on skin health and aging. While we are sleeping, our body is at work. It is going through our systems restoring, repairing and healing. When we sleep less, or our sleep quality is compromised, our body literally stops prioritizing producing important nutrients that make our skin clear, elastic, glowy, firm & plump.

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When I am having a skin flare up, I can usually look at these points and evaluate my actions to point back to one of these causes. I now implement daily holistic practices that help me prevent skin issues and heal skin from within. So let’s get into it…

Daily Holistic Practices to Improve Skin Health

Eating for Skin Health