Welcome to Your Summer Beauty Guide!
This summer look within to get your gorgeous summer glow. It only takes a few simple tweaks to your diet and lifestyle before you’ll begin to see that your healthy, glowing skin all starts from within!
The Dispensary welcome Michelle Tirmandi, glow-getter and holistic nutritionist extraordinare as she dishes out her top tips to get your summer glow-on delicious easy, and a recipe for a DIY Payaya-Pineapple Mask!
Optimize Digestion
Our skin is a direct reflection of the health of our gut. When it’s healthy we’re able to absorb and use all of the nutrients from our food which is at the root of gorgeous skin, shiny hair and strong nails. Supporting a healthy gut is simple:
Probiotics
Adding a good quality oral probiotic can promote the growth of good bacteria which helps by breaking down and removing toxins so they don’t come out through your skin.
Prebiotics
Feeding the good bacteria with plant based fibres such as ground flaxseed, beets, asparagus, garlic, onions and pumpkin seeds can all help to maintain a healthy gut.
Fermented Foods & Drinks
Eating and drinking foods probiotic foods like kimchi, sauerkraut, tempeh, miso and kombucha also provides another great way to get good bacteria in to the gut.
Eat Skin Foods
Above and beyond drinking plenty of hydrating water and fresh veggie juices, skin loving foods include the key beautifying vitamins and minerals that specifically help to build and protect the hair, skin and nails:
Liver Loving Foods
Supporting the body’s own natural detoxification processes is critical for getting toxins out of the body. Activated charcoal, lemons, limes and bitter foods such as artichokes, beets, dandelion and mustard greens all naturally support liver detoxification and help you to get the glow.
Healthy Fats
Foods such as flaxseeds, walnuts, chiaseeds, wild salmon, olive oil, and avocados all provide the body with Omega3 fatty acids. These healthy fats nourish the skin by providing anti-inflammatory and moisturizing benefits, and they also reduce the signs of aging.
Phytonutrients & Plant Enzymes
Eating and drinking a rainbow of (mostly raw) fruits and veggies give the body a plethora of antioxidants and live enzymes which help to prevent premature aging and sun damage. Berries, dark leafy greens, watermelons, tomatoes, citrus, raw honey and bee-pollen, matcha green tea and fresh cold-pressed juices all contribute to a healthy glow.
Au Naturel Lifestyle
It’s important to keep your skincare and make up routine as au natural as possible because what we put on our skin gets absorbed in to our skin, with unequally chemicals adding and extra burden to our liver. This means avoiding toxic ingredients and showing your skin a little extra love:
Dry Skin Brushing
Adding just 5 minutes of dry skin brushing to your pre-shower routine can help to improve circulation, detoxification, exfoliation and reduce the appearance of cellulite.
Choose Non-Toxic
Choosing products without parabens, phalates, triclosan, petrol chemicals and fragrance is a good starting point for beginning to detox your skincare and make up routine. Using the EWG’s Skin Deep app is also a great tool for learning about the ingredients in your products.
DIY Skincare
Super simple skincare can be made at home with very few natural ingredients. Check out my super simple DIY face mask recipe below.
Pineapple & Papaya DIY Treatment Mask
This mask helps to even and tone the skin thanks to the papaya and pineapple which contain enzymes that help to dissolve scaly, dry skin. It used often it can also help to make the pores appear smaller in size.
Ingredients
1/4 cup fresh raw papaya, mashed
1 tbsp Pina Vida, or raw pineapple juice
Instructions
Using a bowl and fork or a mortar and pestle, mash the papaya and mix with pineapple juice into a paste. Gently pat on to the face and neck and leave on for 20 minutes before rinsed. Follow up the treatment with your favourite natural moisturizer. Use approximately once per week.
Michelle Tirmandi is a Toronto-based Holistic Nutritionist, Online Wellness Coach and the owner of Michelle Nutrition, a wellness business catered to busy women and brides interested in incorporating healthy eating and holistic habits in their daily lives. With her background in psychology and education, Michelle’s real-life approach to nutrition and wellness is highly focused on educating and empowering her clients with programs that will fit their lifestyles, leaving them feeling well both mentally and physically. Michelle also has a background in marketing, she is an avid foodie and recipe developer, and has contributed to several online publications as as Nutrition Expert, including Huffington Post, Real Food Toronto and Glow Magazine in addition to her own blog www.michellenutrition.ca. Follow Michelle on Instagram @michellenutrition & Facebook Michelle Nutrition and sign up to receive her weekly recipes and natural beauty tips here.
