Five steps to fabulous

11 Jan 2010 06:46 AM | Posted by bh'sLeanne

Start the new year the right way, with a new-found radiance that’ll have your friends begging you to reveal your beauty secrets…

Detoxification
Feeding your face may be the last thing on your mind after the festive season but so long as you choose the right foods, you can nourish your skin from within.

We know that you carefully consider what you put onto your body but now’s the time to focus on what you put into your body. Pick wisely and you could get a radiant glow to rival the best of the celebrity beauties.

Make oily fish your new BFF. Fresh sardines, tuna and mackerel are packed with essential fatty acids (EFAs), which moisturise the skin, making dry skin a thing of the past this decade. Eat fish three times a week and if fish just isn’t your food of fancy, try taking fish oil supplements or flaxseed oil – both of which will provide you with EFAs.

Exercise
You’ve heard of happy hormones, right? Well add a little cardiovascular activity to your day and a chirpy chick you’ll be. Regular exercise releases endorphins and it is these feel-good polypeptide compounds that motivate you and lift your mood. Exercise also boosts blood circulation, increasing blood flow thus leaving your skin glowing (no, not sweaty!). So next time you try to talk yourself out of going to the gym, think about the positive benefits you’ll reap.

Thinking
We know that free radicals are bad for our skin but fighting them is a battle in itself. The first step starts with identifying the causes and eliminating or avoiding these common triggers as much as possible. Key sources include: sunlight, cigarette smoke, environmental pollution and stress and it’s the latter that you can reduce with meditation. Now before you think I’ve gone all namby pamby on you, I haven’t: the deep breathing technique lowers heart rate and metabolic rate, taking pressure off the heart, resulting in a state of relaxation and calm – ahh!
Take just 20 minutes out each day to practice focusing on your breathing. Make sure you find somewhere quiet, sit comfortably and forget about the duties of daily life.

Oxygen
Okay, so it sound like an obvious one but you’d be surprised how many of us breath incorrectly and particularly when we’re stressed we tend to breath shallowly, which isn’t good for our health.

By breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth consistently and not to shallowly we can increase air flow to the lungs, which… wait for it, you’re going to like this benefit… delays biological ageing! That doesn’t mean you can ditch those anti-ageing skincare creams and simply breath better but it does mean it’s worth paying a little more attention to your breathing habits – especially in time of increased stress or anxiety.
 
X marks the spot – or did!
Who wants to start the new year with a whacking big spot on their face? Not me siree, so that’s why we’ve compiled these tips for getting beautiful blemish-free skin in a jiffy.

It’s an oldie, but a goodie and it’s free – water. Yes, even tap water can have tremendous health benefits so sip away sister! Aim to drink at least eight glasses a day (about two litres). It’s preferable to drink filtered but tap water is better than no water and try to drink it at room temperature – less of a shock to the system than chilled water.

Why water? Well, it keeps your skin moisturised, which has huge benefits to your complexion. Dehydrated skin doesn’t shed its dead skin cells as well as hydrated skin, resulting in blocked pores, build up of bacteria and spots.