Although I do have my favorite skincare products - more about those later - I know that the condition of my skin is a reflection of what I put in my body through my diet, and not just what I put on my skin morning and night. The key to glowing, soft, clear, youthful skin is in your diet and your lifestyle, and not only in a jar, tube or bottle.
There’s no denying it, pregnancy, breast-feeding, taking care of your child changes your skin. It’s a combination of three elements that cause this change - the hormonal shifts, your sleep schedule, and your nutrition as someone supporting another human being! If you don’t focus on taking care of yourself, it will show up on your skin. Lack of sleep, micronutrient depletion, collagen loss, hormonal imbalance - all of this will make your skin appear older. Pregnancy and post-pregnancy can bring about acne, dryness, wrinkles and sagging, eczema, rosacea, and under eye circles if you are not consciously choosing a diet and lifestyle that supports what your body is going through at this time.
I’m always looking at my skin’s signals to me to tell me what I need to add more of into my diet or lifestyle. For example, if I don’t get enough sleep, my pores get bigger! They literally grow in size with every hour of sleep that I miss!
So, how do I ensure I look fresh as a new mom? Let me break it down for you.
My skin care secrets - beauty from the inside out
What to do for beautiful skin:
- Sleep! Sleep, sleep, sleep - whenever, however you can. For me, that might be an extra 90 minutes when my husband can take care of our daughter’s morning routine before he goes to work. It can also mean a nap in the afternoon or extra sleep at the weekends. Recent research showed that you can payback your “sleep debt” from the previous week by adding hours in bed at the weekend.
- Outsmart Stress - To get better quality sleep and avoid insomnia or waking up frequently you need to cut back on the caffeine and supplement with the adaptogens ashwangda, rhodiola, and maca which will ease the pressure put on your adrenals from sleep deprivation. Use the blood sugar stabilizer cinnamon on your morning eggs, in smoothies, or in tea to prevent surges and crashes in your blood sugar which can lead to fatigue and poor sleep.
- Beautify with superfoods - Let’s start with what not to do, namely crash dieting. Don’t try to cut out all fat or cut back on what you’re eating in the day - in fact, do the opposite! Eat a lot and fill up on fats. For me that means 2 eggs every morning with coconut oil, avocado on gluten free toast, sunflower seed butter on apple slices, three full meals every day. Know that if you want to lose weight - women need to eat fat to lose fat. If you’re breast feeding this is so important! I am breast feeding and I still take my pre-natal vitamins to keep my milk supply high and restore the nutrients that go to my daughter. Add in some essential fatty acid omega 3 supplements to that mix. Plus lots of bone broth for the gelatin that makes your skin bouncy and dewy! You can even add gelatin squares to your smoothies if this is easier.
My skin care secrets - beauty that’s more than skin-deep
I am a huge fan of Naturopathica skincare products. While I’m not paid for these recommendations, I feel passionately about sharing them because it is nearly impossible to find skin care product that has ingredients I personally feel comfortable with using while pregnant or breastfeeding. These pass my personal test. Just before the holidays I visited their new NYC spa and had the most dreamy, gorgeous facial and massage. Here are the products I use at home:
- In the shower every day I use the Naturopathica oat polish facial cleanser to help with skin cell renewal.
- Each night I use the Naturopathica calendula based super-hydrating thick moisturizer to heal my dry skin.
- Once or twice per month I spend some time hanging out in the Naturopathica pumpkin enzyme mask for maximum exfoliation.
Special Flo-tip
If you are coping with acne you may have been interested in all the recent news about probiotic skincare. Some of these products are amazing, if you’re curious if it might work for you, experiment by just taking the juice from a finished jar of sauerkraut and dabbing it on your skin after your cleanser to help rebalance the skin microbiome.
Always remember, that once you have the right information about how your body really works, you can start making health choices that finally start to work for you! You can do this - the science of your body is on your side!
To your FLO,
Alisa
