As a naturopath, I’m always thinking about dietary and lifestyle recommendations to complement my organic skin care range. Drinking herbal teas has got to one of the easiest and most effective things you can do to further benefit skin. Not only do they taste great but the actives in herbs are absorbed and taken-up quicker than supplements.
As obvious as it may be, the water in tea also benefits dry skin, probably the most common skin complaint and a frequent contributor to the worsening of skin conditions.
Here are a few of my favourite herbal teas and skin issues they can assist with.
Green tea – All Star
Top of my list is green tea because it offers benefits for skin on so many levels. It has extremely potent anti-inflammatory properties which can reduce redness and irritation, making it helpful for eczema, rosacea and psoriasis sufferers. Its anti-microbial action can also benefit those with acne. Rich in antioxidants, this well-researched plant has also been shown to reduce the DNA damage responsible for skin cancer.
Chamomile – Eczema
This little white and yellow flower has got ‘calm’ written all over it. It has potent anti-inflammatory and anti-allergy actions which make it the perfect tea for anyone suffering from eczema. It also has gentle antimicrobial properties which help prevent eczema from becoming infected. And because it’s so gentle, its suitable for all ages, from infants to elderly.
Echinacea – Acne
If I was to pick one herb for acne, it would be Echinacea. This ancient American herb has been used for centuries for its immune-boosting capabilities but it also holds great benefits for skin issues, particularly acne. Echinacea has been shown to inhibit the proliferation of bacteria known to cause acne and reduce bacteria-induced inflammation.
Turmeric – Psoriasis
This golden-coloured rhizome has been much lauded of late as a cure-all for many disorders from cancer to cold sores, but its benefits for skin deserve just as much attention. Turmeric has potent anti-inflammatory and anti-proliferative actions which can be very beneficial for a range of skin disorders, particularly psoriasis. Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disorder which is characterized by white, scaly lesions and considered incurable. Several studies have shown turmeric to provide some benefit to psoriasis sufferers.
Bilberry – Rosacea
This petite European berry has been traditionally used to improve visual deficiencies, such as night blindness, due to its ability to protect and repair the fragile capillaries in the eye. This vaso-protective action is what also benefits rosacea sufferers, particularly those forms of rosacea in which capillaries become enlarged and break under frequent flushing.
Sunscreen is something that we all know we're supposed to wear on a daily basis and it gets especially drummed into us from a beauty perspective as the best way to maintain the youthfulness of our skin. The thing that bothers me is that there is a lot of misinformation about the level of SPF required and the benefit to skin. I'm here to bust those myths!
Keeping our skin healthy shouldn’t be a difficult or complicated task. However, there are some really simple mistakes that we all make from time to time that can be detrimental to the health of our skin both short and long term. Here are the top 5 mistakes I commonly see:
1. Over cleansing
This is perhaps the most common skincare misstep. We all seem to think that squeaky clean skin is healthy skin but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Every time we cleanse our skin, we’re not only stripping it of dirt, food and make up, we also remove naturally produced oils in the skin, as well as some of the microbiome (the good bacteria, microorganisms etc) that helps maintain our skin’s barrier.
The skin on our bodies is often neglected as we tend to focus on our face and figure our bodies will just look after themselves. Big mistake!
Because our skin is our largest organ and most of what we put on it gets absorbed, choosing high-quality products for the body is so very important. They need to be 100% natural and as organic as possible, to avoid causing skin reactions, disrupting our hormones, and not adding to the toxin burden on our liver.
There are also some simple things you can do to look after your body that will reduce dryness, stop eczema from flaring up and keep it glowing.
