Natural health tips for skin

Water

No one would drink dirty water, but by ignoring plain water that's exactly what your body has to work with.  There is nothing in the body that can work without fluids.  Everything is carried within the body in suspension: oxygen in blood, digested food, even nerve impulses need water to function.  If you don't drink enough the body recycles fluid and it doesn't get rid of the waste floating round the system.  Water is taken from the skin for more essential processes like digestion, this alone uses two quarts of fluid a day.

Drink a glass of water per hour but not directly before or after meals as water dilutes digestive juices.  The brain is quickly affected by dehydration as it is 80% water and many mild headaches are simply due lack of water rather than anything else.  Caffeine increases water loss so drinks containing caffeine should be minimal.  To calculate how much water you should drink for your weight, divide your weight in pounds by three.  The result is the minimum you should drink in ounces: e.g. 180lbs divided by three equals 60ozs of water per day.

Body Brushing

Natural bristle brushes can do wonders for problems like cellulite and dry areas.  Skin brushing is a fantastic way to improve circulation, stimulate lymph drainage, boost cell renewal and energise the whole body.  The skin is our largest organ so it makes sense to take care of it, and five minutes is all it takes before a bath or shower.  Removing dead surface cells means body creams penetrate deeper into the epidermis.  Body brushes are available from places such as The Body Shop and Boots, but they must be natural bristle.  A brush with a long detachable handle is best.

The first few times you use the brush, dampen it with water to soften the bristles.  On dry skin, brush gently but firmly taking care over more sensitive parts.  Avoid very fine skin e.g. on the face, neck and breasts, also broken skin or varicose veins and irritated areas.  Skin should be left pink and tingling, not red!

Starting on the feet, brush soles and up over ankles and calves, always towards the heart.  On the thighs, brush up towards the groin where the two of the main lymph nodes are located.  Brush in a circle about 15 times on the front of the torso: up from right hip to top of ribs, across right to left then down to left hip and across.  This follows the path of the large intestine.  Brush up both sides of the body, up over buttocks, back and arms.  Brush down from the shoulders towards the heart.

Cellulite is a natural part of a woman's body.  The matrix of fibres under the skin is like a net and unfortunately, women have a larger ‘net’ structure than men.  On areas of greatest fat and fluid storage, e.g. buttocks, thighs, etc. the fat pushes into the holes in the fibre ‘net’ and Hey presto – cellulite!  Brushing these areas helps drain fluids out and if necessary can be done morning and evening.  I've found it to be more effective than many so called ‘cellulite creams’.

Dry skin needs gentle treatment, don't brush if skin is broken, irritated, or if you have an infectious skin condition such as impetigo.  Dry areas occur where circulation is slow, which affects the turnover of cells.  With regular dry brushing, the condition of skin improves because the increase in circulation to the base layers of the skin brings more nutrients to feed the dermis and epidermis and speeds up cell turnover.

Free! De-stress Sequence

These little exercises are great for relieving stress or for when you need a break but haven't got time.

You can use them at the beginning or end of your Faceworks session too!

1. At the back of the neck, feel up towards the base of the skull with your fingertips.  Massage gently all around the top of the spine, paying particular attention to sore areas.
2. Cup the right hand around the back of the neck and massage all the cervical (neck) vertebrae on the side where your fingertips are.  Do not press too hard; gently move fingers to locate sore areas.  Swap hands and massage the other side.
3. Shut your eyes and place cupped palms over.  Feel the warmth from the hands relax and relieve tension around the eye socket.  Hold for at least thirty seconds.  This is really refreshing for eye strain and tiredness.
4. Place your thumb tip just above your ear and the remaining fingertips slightly spread out three inches further up the side of your head.  Now push your fingers and thumbs together, pinching quickly and firmly on the scalp.  Repeat the action from temples back to behind the ear, in a semi-circle.  The area is often very sore so be gentle but thorough!  This relaxes the temporalis muscle: often the cause of tension headaches and that ‘tight’ feeling across the forehead.