Simple Ways To Help Your Skin & Body Detox

Our skin is the first line of defence against the external environment, and the epidermis is continuously replenishing and shedding tens of thousands of dead cells every minute. Absorbing 60% of what you put on it and creating a microbe and infection barrier (accounting for 10% of your body weight!), your skin works very hard to keep you safe. 

Eliminating waste is one of the main physiological functions of the skin. When organs such as the liver get overwhelmed with cleaning and filtering, we may see other organs, including the skin, step up, possibly leading to those poor-diet-choice breakouts.

While it is your body's natural detox process that does the hard work, what you put on (i.e. personal products loaded with harmful toxins!) or don't put on your skin matters immensely to its health. 

Related Article: Are Hormone Disruptors Hidden In Your Skincare?

Will my skin tell me if I need a detox?

If you feel that a general dullness has usurped your skin's radiance or you notice more blemishes than usual, it might be time to think about supporting the skin in its natural detoxifying process. Certain natural skincare ingredients help the skin to recalibrate its cellular turnover and oil production functions, and others can help wash away environmental toxins like pollution and bacteria.

Some smart natural beauty tools and daily habits can also help support the body's detoxification process. Curious what some of these are? 

Clays

Related article: Drink this yummy smoothie every day for two weeks and watch skin GLOW!

Clay attracts metals and impurities due to its magnetic charge, detoxifying the skin and drawing out impurities and oils from the surface of the skin. Rhassoul Clay is one of our favourites as it is very detoxifying due to its high level of ion exchange, absorbing toxins and leaving your pores clean and less visible. (Note: mix a Rhassoul Clay mask with a wooden spoon, not a metal spoon, so as not to disrupt this process.) You can also add a cup of Rhassoul Clay to a bath for a full body detox on those days when you just feel extra heavy. For great skin all-over, make a simple paste of Clay and water and use it as a full-body mask before taking a bath and washing it off.

Superfoods

While eating a healthy diet with plenty of superfoods is essential nourishment for your body, there are some serious benefits to applying superfoods topically, too! Superfood ingredients like olive leaf extract, cranberries, pomegranate, green tea and aloe vera don't just offer amazing skin-enhancing benefits when we eat them. They also provide anti-ageing benefits when applied directly to the skin. 

Global award-winning Atonement Superfood Face Mask was created to be the ultimate multi-tasker - detoxifying skin with its base of Rhassoul and French Green Clay while giving it a dose of topical nutrition with its sumptuous blend of superfoods. 

The best part for busy people? The bamboo powder featured in this luxurious face mask creates a magical combination that not only exfoliates and renews your skin to its radiant glow when you massage the face mask off but also boosts circulation and stimulates cell renewal. 

Himalayan Salt 

Himalayan Pink Salt is a powerful detoxifier and is known to help extract the toxins out of your skin and tissues when you use it topically or soak in it. Himalayan Salt is excellent for helping skin detox, but when you use it in a body scrub the exfoliation removes the top layer of dead skin cells to pave the way for new skin cells to regenerative. You'll be amazed at the fresh, smooth skin you reveal underneath! 

With rose for a luxurious scent, stress-relieving lavender, and the natural antiseptic and antimicrobial properties of sweet orange combined with skin-awakening neroli, you'll want to check out this luxury Himalayan Salt and Organic Raw Sugar Body scrub. 

Pure, Certified-Organic Prickly Pear Seed Oil

Since we know without any dispute that some chemicals can and do enter your bloodstream through topical application of skincare, it goes without saying that one of the best ways to detoxify is to start using toxin-free products! 

But, you don't have to sacrifice quality and results for natural and toxin-free products. Cue Prickly Pear Seed oil. Once relatively unknown outside of organic beauty circles, this super-potent beauty oil hit world headlines when 59 (at the time) year old Nigella Lawson called it her skin-saviour  in her Sunday Times Column. 

So, although this magical oil is terrific for those of us over the age of 40 due to its incredible skin-brightening and plumping action, it is also incredible for people who struggle with congestion and acne. Forget toxic acne treatments - give Prickly Pear Seed Oil a try, as it is known to balance skin's oil production and help reduce blemishes and acne. The high percentage (acne sufferers have been shown to have low levels of linoleic acid on their skin surface lipids, and prickly pear seed oil is high in linoleic acid).

Check out our small-batch, Moroccan fair-trade Illumino Youth Serum with 100% pure, certified organic prickly pear seed oil  (and hundreds of certified genuine 5-star user reviews)!

Konjac Sponges

A 100% biodegradable face sponge made from konjac root, this fibrous-yet-soft sponge has been popular in several parts of Asia for years. They are an incredible 100% natural and toxin-free way to cleanse and exfoliate in one simple step, giving your skin a smooth and radiant look, without the irritation of a physical scrub. I use my Konjac sponge each morning when I wake (obviously without makeup one) and then at night after my cleanser to enjoy the effects of a double-cleanse which is amazing for skin!

Exercise

Exercise should not merely a new year's resolution … it's the perfect way to ensure you are detoxifying in the healthiest way you can all year round! 

Sweat allows fat-soluble toxins, heavy metals, and dangerous toxins such as pesticides, lead, and mercury to leave your body in a much safer way than if they were to be filtered through the more easily damaged kidneys into urine. Because 1) kidneys cannot regenerate like the liver and skin and 2) skin has a larger surface area, so excretion of toxins through the skin allows for toxins to spread, be diluted, and removed safely. 

So next time you head to your favourite workout, remember that you are doing your whole body a huge favour!

Sleep

While we sleep, our bodies secrete anti-inflammatory and anti-stress hormones, which in turn switches on the skin's renewal and detoxification processes. In simple terms, at night the skin's layers are renewed. Because of the skin's ability to turn over rapidly, sleep is in is an essential ally if you want to support your body's ability to detox.

Related Article: How Our Skin Repairs Itself While We Sleep

What not to do

Sometimes good health choices are about what you leave out. Be selective about the products you use on your skin and educate yourself about what's in the products you are using.

One of the simplest yet most profoundly beneficial resolutions you can make is to avoid the harsh chemicals often found in fragrant products (did you know the word 'fragrance' could mean that up to 3000 chemicals could be used?). Steering away from preservatives like parabens, phenoxyethanol, and formaldehyde that can have adverse effects is critical when it comes to caring not only for your skin but your overall health. 

Check out a straightforward list of commonly used toxins  in skincare and person products- and which you DEFINITELY want to avoid! 

Here's to a happy, healthy, and radiant you today and every day! 

Want to shop some of these toxin-free, award-winning self-care products? Visit the online store at www.indagarebeauty.com