NOURISHING BEAUTY SOLUTIONS

If you are going to work on your internal happiness this winter, then surely it would be a crime not to keep your face and body happy also. Our skin is our largest organ and needs some TLC, especially during the chilly winter months. Most of us let our body beauty habits go in the winter and just focus on our face; out of sight is generally out of mind.

Your skin is crying out for comfort, though; you just can’t see the tears through the dehydrated, dry skin. Our skin is battling against the cold outside and then the heating inside. This tug-of-war wreaks havoc on your skin, leaving it parched, cracked and unable to repair itself. This is why you need to give it a helping hand. We are going to look at using more natural solutions — after all, there’s no point is being so obsessive about what we put into our bodies, if we are not looking at what we put on our bodies.

Some experts are now saying that what we put on our skin can actually be more harmful than what we put into our mouth. The average woman uses about 15-20 products each day, and recent studies show that the skin absorbs more than 60pc of the toxic chemicals in our cosmetics, totalling about five pounds of unnecessary and unwanted chemicals each year.

Our bodies are under a lot of stress, and we are constantly exposed to toxins in many forms, whether it be environmental toxins, pesticides, food additives, heavy metals, household products or wireless technology. Some of this we can’t control, but when it comes to your cosmetic and personal care products, you actually can.

Again, however, this is all about finding a balance, because our bodies are actually very good at detoxifying naturally.

The problems start when your body is overloaded with a variety of external toxins and, with the festive season approaching, it’s all too easy for your liver to get backed up quite quickly. If the liver is overworked and there’s a backlog of toxins waiting to be processed, this is where the problems start. The excess toxins will be pushed back into the bloodstream, where they are unwanted, so they will be pushed on again, into the fat cells.

Just think of your body as a factory. If the workload gets too much, the different assembly lines will start to become inefficient, and eventually the factory will produce poor-quality goods. Different parts of the machinery can get blocked and break down. In our bodies, this can manifest as various health conditions including allergies, reproductive issues, hormonal issues, premature aging, oxidation (free-radical damage) and even cancer, to name but a few. So what can we do? As everyone is different, it’s about looking at your own lifestyle. Making small changes is a winning strategy. As your products need to be replaced, consider switching to a more natural, chemical-free alternative.

I would personally start with products that cover the largest surface area, such as body products and deodorants. Then you can look at skincare and haircare.

Don’t panic: with my top tips, its possible to make better choices and have smooth, supple and happily hydrated skin all winter long.