Your Skin Is Your Biggest Organ, Give It A Detox

Summer, the season for lazy days spent at the beach, indulging in your favourite foods and drinking a little more wine than usual. Even for the biggest health and wellness devotee, those balmy summer nights come with all but impossible temptations which manifest themselves in less than ideal skin come autumn time. So what is one to do when the new season is ushered in with a dull complexion, uncommon breakouts, under eye circles that leave people asking if you are unwell and a face that looks like it aged over summer? You do a skin detox. 

Start with the cheap fix…We have all heard the saying beauty is skin deep so before you go out and invest in expensive creams and elixirs, got for the most cost effective remedy, H20. When it comes to fresh, glowing skin, flushing out toxins from within is not recommended but necessary. Ensure you drink 2 to 3 litres of water a day consistently for 7 days to experience a celebrity worthy glow.

Tip: Add a squeeze of lemon and a few slices of ginger into your water to speed up the detox process.

Sleep it off …Spend some extra time between (clean) sheets. It is essential to helping combat breakouts and those ungodly dark circles you have been rocking since Christmas Eve. Your skin, like the rest of our body, repairs itself while you sleep. Now if you think one early night will be enough to repair your youth, think again. The body requires consistent sleep to repair itself from weeks of late nights and indulging in all the wrong foods.

Tip: Change your pillow case every night for a week. While it may sound like a tough gig, it will help speed up your skin's healing process. When your face experiences a breakout, you produce extra oil and bacteria while you sleep which transfers onto your pillow case. Cleansing your face will be pointless if you hit the ZZZ’s on a bacteria filled pillow.

Quit sugar for a week…Sure we may be asking for a lot, but heck you have just spent the better part of the month indulging in all your favourite desserts. We know this is a tough ask but if clearing up congested skin is the goal, quitting sugar for a week will deliver the same results as an expensive facial. This means saying no to lollies, cakes, carbohydrates, sugar-filled drinks and even fruit for the duration of your skin detox. 

Tip: Cutting out sugar will allow your body to speed up its detox process. This means you will be likely to experience a few headaches and 4 pm slumps in the process. Reach for a grapefruit when the cravings hit. Not only will it curb your need for sugar but it will also help your liver detox. 

Commit to cleansing properly…Do double cleanse. When it comes to removing the day’s impurities, we have all been guilty of taking a short cut here or there. I mean when we have spent the night dancing to our favourite tunes, bed seems like a much more attractive option. Ensure you cleanse properly removing all traces of dirt, bacteria and makeup before heading to bed.

Tip: Always follow up with a toner to bring back PH levels in your skin. If you are prone to dry skin, use and oil based cleanser to remove your makeup first.

Make it a little rough...While cleansing will help rid your skin of surface bacteria and impurities, it won’t help your congested skin bring impurities to the surface. This is why adding exfoliating to your weekly routine is key. Exfoliating twice a week will help rid your skin of dead cells and will reveal a more radiant, blemish-free complexion.

Tip: Make your own exfoliant using ground coffee beans and yoghurt to reveal a smoother and more radiant complexion. You will not only be buffing off skin cells but will be letting your skin breathe and take a break from unnecessary chemicals found in many commercial exfoliants. 

Have makeup free days...Go back to basics and let your skin breathe by having 2 make up free days a week. While going into work makeup free may not be ideal, try and have makeup free days on the weekend. Opt for a lighter foundation or a tinted BB cream during the week. 

Tip: Don’t add any new products to your beauty and skincare routine. While it may be tempting to go out and purchase a miracle elixir to bring life back into dull skin, introducing new products is likely to irritate the skin further. Let your skin recover and detox first before adding new products to your cabinet. 

Photos courtesy of Vogue.com and Popsugar.com