What is Natural skin care?

Put simply, ‘natural skin care’ is caring for your skin in a natural and chemical-free way. ‘Natural skin care’ advocates enabling the skin to take care of itself (without any assistance from synthetic materials/ chemicals). ‘Natural skin care’ is about inclusion of good habits in the way you lead your day to day life. A lot of natural skin care measures are actually the same as those for body care in general.

Image via WikipediSo let’s see what these natural skin care measures are.

The first and the foremost natural skin care measure is – ‘Drink a lot of water’.  Around 8 glasses of water is a must everyday, for most people (for children or large adults, this number can vary). Water helps flush out the toxins from the body, in a natural way. It helps in the overall upkeep of the body and promotes good health for all organs (not just skin).

General cleanliness is another inexpensive type of natural skin care.  A daily shower (in clean, non-chlorinated water, since chlorine can irritate and dry the skin, and introduce toxins into your body), wearing clean clothes and sleeping on a clean mattress/pillow are all part of general cleanliness. After all, clean skin is the key to keeping the skin disorders at bay.

Regular exercise is the next thing on the cards. Exercise increases the flow of blood that helps in getting rid of body toxins and keeping you healthy, and also flushes toxins out through your skin via sweating.  Exercise also helps in beating stress which is the worst enemy of good health.

Healthy food and eating habits are also recommended for natural skin care.  Some types of food (e.g. high-fat, oily, and sugary food) is know to cause acne and should be avoided as much as possible. Your diet should be a healthy mix of various nutrient providing foods. Raw fruits and vegetables are known to provide the most nutrients to your body and help in getting rid of body toxins.

A good sleep is also instrumental in maintaining good health and in beating stress. Most adults require at least 8 hours of sleep per night to stay healthy (children may require more), and a night of restful sleep allows your body to heal skin blemishes and calm and relax your muscles, allowing your skin to stay firm and youthful.
Reducing stress is another natural skin care therapy. Stress causes overall damage to body and health.

Drinking a lot of water, getting sound sleep and regular exercise, which have already been mentioned, are great stress busters. Indulging in a warm bubble bath, listening to music and playing your favorite sport are also good ways of beating stress. Yoga is yet another way of beating stress; it can provide both exercise and relaxation at the same time.

Avoiding excessive exposure to sun (by wearing long sleeved clothes, hat and umbrella, etc), is another natural skin care strategy. Sunscreen lotions may be helpful for prolonged sun exposure, but are not typically recommended, as they may contribute to your toxic load and also may not be as effective as we have been led to believe (see this interesting article for more info: http://www.ewg.org/2010sunscreen/). 

Image via WikipediaA lot of traditional and home made natural skin care products/ measures are also known to be very effective. Such measures are not only natural and easy-to-follow, but also relatively inexpensive.

Besides that, a lot of natural skin care products are available in the commercial market. We have some great recommendations for these on our website at: http://www.newholisticliving.com/toxicload.html.