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We all like to believe that all our skin concerns and issues can be whisked away by fancy bottles and a few of our favorite beauty magazine’s promises. That would explain why we’re so quick to write a blank check and happily walk out of the beauty store, hoping it’s worth the splurge. Deep down, however, we all know that it’s never that easy. Sure, skincare routines are important – but approaching our skin maintenance from the outside alone cannot deliver the results we’re looking for. How our skin looks and feels today and in the future can also be traced back to what we eat and drink, how we handle stress, how much we sleep, exercise, et cetera. Therefore, the next time you step into the skin care aisle, remember that beauty begins from within. Aiona Alive gives you eight tips for healthy skin from the inside out.

Topical skincare products are essential today for healthy-looking skin. But that’s not the be-all-and-end-all of skin maintenance.

Alt-tag: A woman at a spa using cream.

Best tips for healthy skin from the inside out

1. Eat your way to glowing skin

Our waistlines aren't the only reason we must be more conscious about our food intake. Making healthier food choices is a massive part of achieving that gorgeous, healthy, glowing skin. So, whether you want to address particular skincare concerns or issues, slow down your skin’s aging process, or revitalize your dull-looking, lackluster complexion, it matters what you put on your plate.

Your skin craves fresh fruits, veggies, whole grains, protein-rich foods, foods with healthy oils, and omega-3 fatty acids. This will boost your skin's collagen production, making it smoother and suppler while preventing premature wrinkles and skin sagging.

2. Mega omegas

Case in point: the importance of fatty acids in omega-3s for skin can't be ignored. Research suggests these essential nutrients play a hugely significant role in determining how your skin behaves. For instance, they regulate your skin's oil production, boost hydration, minimize signs of aging, soothe breakouts, and even improve the skin's immunity to damaging environmental factors like UV damage.

Where can you find omega-3s? Plant-based sources include flax seeds, chia seeds, and soybean oil. There is also fish oil and other seafood. Avocados, olives, cashews, and macadamia nuts have omega-9s, which are just as crucial if you want to look and feel good.

Omega-3 is proven to have undeniable benefits for overall skin health.

Alt-tag:  Fish and lemon on a white ceramic plate

3. Vital vits

Once you've found the best diet for you, one of the best tips for healthy skin is to fortify it with essential nutrients like vitamins A, C, D, & E. Serums, skin treatments, and moisturizers can do a lot for your skin. Still, you need these nutrients to work their magic throughout the body rather than just on your face. Your primary source of vitamins and minerals should be your diet and food. To achieve maximum benefits, you can rely on vitamin supplements as your secondary source, and finally, there’s topical application.

4. Beef up on your protein

As one of the skin tissue’s fundamental building blocks, protein plays a significant role in keeping your skin healthy, plump, and glowing. Thebest source of this macronutrient will depend on your personal dietary preferences, ethics, tastes, intolerances, and allergies. For instance, animal protein sources are known as “complete proteins” because they contain a complete amino acid profile. Plant proteins, on the other hand, do not. For this reason, vegans and vegetarians tend to boost their protein intake by combining various plant protein sources.

5. Water, water, water

Dry skin? Just drink more water! That makes sense, right? Unfortunately,there isn't enough research to support that idea. Experts agree that increasing your water intake is no magic bullet, despite what we’re led to believe by our darling celebrities. As we age, our skin undergoes gradual changes; it’s natural, and one more glass of water won’t change that. The only caveat is that only severe dehydration will translate to your skin, which then becomes dry and flaky, and loses its elasticity, making it more prone to wrinkles, irritations, and blemishes.

But there’s more to the story. Research shows that water consumption can positively affect your overall health. So, it may not fix your crow’s feet, but it is certainly necessary for your body to run optimally, flushing the system and helping the essential nutrients reach the skin through proper blood flow.

If you're unsure how much water you should drink, divide your weight in half. Then, drink the amount you get in ounces. Averse to drinking water? Luckily, you can also hydrate through water-filled fruits and vegetables, fresh juices, smoothies, green tea, and coconut water.

6. Manage stress levels

If you’re under a lot of stress all the time, your skin is likely to show it. According to research, acute and chronic stress can negatively impact overall skin wellness and even make skin problems flare up or cause new issues to develop. And although stress is a normal part of life, and we cannot avoid it altogether, it matters that we learn how to cope.

Of course, not all coping techniques are created equal. For instance, knocking back a drink or lighting up a cigarette may seem to help at the moment. But in reality, these are some of the unhealthiest ways of handling stress and can alter our skin in the worst ways. On the other hand, maintaining good lifestyle habits, scheduling time for relaxing activities, learning stress management techniques, talking to someone, etc., can do wonders for your health.

7. Exercise

Expensive creams and lotions can only do so much. That’s why maintaining certain healthy lifestyle habits, such as staying active and getting regular exercise, is one of the best pieces of advice for healthy skin we can give. Keeping up a regular fitness routine helps you lower stress hormone levels and replaces them with so-called feel-good hormones that boost your energy, mood, and outlook. That doesn't directly affect the skin, but it can improve its overall appearance.

Treat your body right, and it will show immense gratitude.

Alt-tag: A woman holding red dumbbells showing that working out is a way to have healthy skin from the inside out

Note that it’s essential to have pre-and post-workout skincare. This is because exercise can also put your skin under a lot of stress: sweat, dirt, bacteria, sun, etc. So, if you have a set routine, all the better. Prepare your skin before every workout by removing makeup and cleaning up your face. Then, it's time to hit the shower as soon as you finish working out.

8. Get some shut-eye

It’s called beauty sleep for a reason. During a solid eight-hour sleep sesh, your body and mind recharge, restore, and heal themselves. For one thing, your skin cells switch into full recovery mode, regenerating three times faster than during the day. Next, your body starts producing growth hormones. These guys ensure that your skin generates enough collagen, which is crucial for smoother, more elastic skin. Finally, your skin can de-stress and take that much-needed environmental break from elements such as sun exposure, pollution, and blue light. Therefore, our suggestion for healthy skin? Tuck yourself in and get ready to REM – your skin deserves some downtime!

That was the last of our tips for healthy skin from the inside out. Hope we they are helpful!

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Environmental toxins come in many forms: liquid, gas, solid, or a combination, and have a sneaky habit of making their way into things you use or are exposed to every day. Environmental toxins are substances that exist in or are introduced (usually as a result of human activity) into the environment that have a harmful effect on your health in both short and long term capacities.

Any of the vital natural resources we rely on as humans can become polluted, like water, soil, and air. Without realizing it, we are using and consuming these resources and the toxins they contain, which cause negative effects in our health over time. In cases of severe pollution, negative effects may become more noticeable faster than in cases where pollution is absorbed or ingested in smaller amounts over time.

Regardless, environmental toxins pose a threat to your health, but not just internally. Air pollution poses one of the largest risks to the health of your skin and can cause visible issues through exposure, whether it’s infrequent or repeated.

Keep reading to learn more about how air pollution harms your skin and what you can do about it.

Where Does Air Pollution Come From?

Air pollution originates almost entirely from man-made sources, though there are a few natural origins of air pollution. Natural sources are specific to certain parts of the world (though things like wildfires and natural gas releases can technically occur anywhere in the world) and you’re much more likely to be be exposed to air pollution through man-made sources.

Pollution naturally occurs as a result of wildfires, volcanic eruptions, natural gas pockets, and dust carried by wind. These occurrences are far more infrequent than synthetic pollutants, and are less of a risk or concern depending on what part of the world you live in. Of course, they are a big threat to those that are near and are at risk of being exposed to them, but they are less likely than the sure threats of certain synthetic human-produced pollutants.

Sources of man-made pollutants include, but are not limited to:

You can be exposed to air pollutants both indoors and outdoors. The severity of the pollution depends on your location and daily activities. People in rural areas are more likely to be exposed to a high volume of wood burning pollution and agricultural byproducts, whereas people living in cities and other urban environments are more likely to be exposed to a higher concentration of industrial and fossil fuel pollutants.

How Air Pollution Harms Your Skin

Air pollutants can cause varying degrees of damage to your skin depending on the specific toxins and compounds you’re exposed to, how often you’re exposed to them, and the effectiveness of any protective or regenerative measures you take to combat them.

Damage can range from premature aging, acne, inflammation, and irritation to chronic skin conditions like psoriasis, dermatitis, and eczema. In severe cases, long-term exposure to pollutants can cause serious forms of skin cancer.

This is why it’s so important to take preventative measures and try to limit exposure. There is no avoiding it entirely, so doing what you can to counteract the effects of pollution and protect yourself are vital in maintaining your skin’s health in the long-term.

How to Protect Your Skin From Environmental Toxins

Making sure you’re getting plenty of antioxidants in your diet is a great way to help combat air pollution damage to skin. A diet high in vitamins C & E, as well as omega-3 fatty acids can help fight free radicals that are harmful to your skin. Consider adding supplements to fill any gaps in your diet, and consult with your physician to get recommendations and learn the potential side effects of any

You can (and should) also apply antioxidants topically to aid in the fight. Vitamin C serums are perfect to help fight the oxidative properties of toxins in the air.

It’s also important to cleanse your skin at the end of each night to erase the pollution your body has encountered throughout the day. An almost-invisible layer of grime is present even if you haven’t worn makeup or other products in the last 24 hours. Regular exfoliation can also help gently remove layers of skin that have been exposed to physical and chemical pollutants.

You should also aim to replenish collagen in your skin, as toxins can break down your natural collagen and decrease elasticity and firmness over time. This happens as you age anyway, but toxins can contribute to premature aging. Preventing significant rapid loss of collagen due to repeated, unprotected exposure is the best countermeasure against air pollution’s damaging effects.

Lasers are one of many modern technologies that can be used to our benefit–but did you know they’re very effective when used for skin care? More and more people are seeking laser treatments to reveal youthful-looking, healthy skin and to erase the flaws right off their face. For laser newbies, it might sound scary or dangerous, but these procedures are perfectly safe and produce great results for those that want to slow or reverse signs of aging.

What is laser treatment?

Laser treatments use focused light to penetrate the skin, removing or repairing skin irregularities both on and under the surface. It varies in intensity based on the exact type of laser being used. Laser treatments are performed by trained professionals in medical spas, dermatology clinics, and plastic surgery clinics and should not be attempted by amateurs. While the lasers are perfectly safe if used in the correct application with safety measures, they can cause serious harm if not handled appropriately.

What kind of skin concerns do laser treatments address?

Laser treatments can help a whole host of skin issues! This goes way beyond anti-aging: because there are so many different kinds of laser treatments, there is an equally diverse number of skin concerns that they can be used to fight or repair. 

Here’s a quick list of some of the things that laser treatments can help with:

• Uneven pigmentation or hyperpigmentation
• Spider veins
• Blemishes
• Enlarged pores
• Acne scars
• Treatment-resistant melasma
• Surgical or injury scars
• Sun damage
• Hair removal
• Tattoo removal
• Fine lines
• Wrinkles
• Skin texture
• Loose skin

This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it should give you a good idea of the types of skin issues that could benefit from laser treatment. If you have a skin concern that isn’t on this list, talk to your dermatologist to see what type, if any, could be helpful in treating your specific condition.

Types of Laser Treatment

There are two main categories of laser treatments: ablative and non-ablative.

Ablative lasers work on the top layer of skin, using an intense light to remove a very thin layer and stimulate the skin underneath. This works well to remove flaws on the surface, like sun damage, texture issues, and deep scarring, as well as reduces moderate fine lines and wrinkles. This is a more aggressive, invasive type of lasering and is often used in resurfacing procedures.

A slightly more mild option is a non-ablative laser treatment. Non-ablative lasers work by heating up the skin at a deeper level than ablative lasers and therefore don’t harm the surface, making this a much less invasive option for certain skin issues. Heating up the subsurface skin tissue stimulates collagen production and can help with acne scarring, hyperpigmentation, and mild wrinkles or fine lines.

Either of these treatments can also be fractionated. Fractionated ablative or non-ablative laser treats only an evenly distributed percentage of an area of skin instead of the whole area all at once. It quite literally only uses a fraction of the laser’s area. Fractionated lasers create targeted, precise, self-healing micro-holes in the skin to treat the area at the most effective level.

There are also other types of non-invasive lightwave treatments that will help your skin look better from the inside out. BroadBand light therapy can reverse visible signs of aging and acne by stimulating skin at a deep level, much like non-ablative laser treatment. Intense Pulsed Light therapy (abbreviated as IPL or colloquially known as photofacial) pulses intense light waves into the skin to reduce discoloration and repair sun damage.

Side effects of laser treatment

Before you schedule your first appointment for laser treatment, you should be aware of potential side effects. Laser treatments can induce some uncomfortable and unappealing side effects before you see the final results and may be shocking if you aren’t fully prepared before undergoing treatment.

Potential side effects include (but are not limited to):

• Redness
• Itchy skin
• Inflammation
• Swelling
• Acne
• Blistering
• Oozing
• Burns
• Scarring
• Infection
• Eye injury
• Change in skin color
• Bruising
• Peeling or flaking

Some of these symptoms–like peeling and flaking–are perfectly normal and to be expected as part of the healing process after receiving laser skin treatment.

Others should be addressed with your dermatologist and/or primary physician right away. Things like infection or eye injury should always be taken seriously as soon as you notice symptoms, as delaying treatment can sometimes result in long-term complications.

Severity of symptoms will differ depending on which type of laser treatment you receive because of the varying levels of intensity of treatment. Symptoms can last anywhere from a few hours in mild cases to several weeks for more extreme treatments.

What’s the best laser treatment for anti-aging?

That depends! Everyone’s skin is different and what works well to tackle your aging concerns doesn’t necessarily work for someone else’s, so there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Both ablative and non-ablative lasers can treat common signs of aging like wrinkles, fine lines, sun damage, and texture at different levels of progression.

Ablative lasers treat more acute conditions and produce more dramatic change with fewer treatments. Non-ablative treatment may require more sessions to achieve the desired result but will cause less discomfort and milder, more temporary symptoms than ablative lasers. 

A big factor to consider when determining which laser treatment is right for you is the recovery process. Treatments using ablative lasers may require more intense recovery measures and may be more disruptive to your everyday life than treatment with non-ablative lasers. 

Potential recovery measures for laser treatment include making sure skin stays hydrated, using cold compresses to alleviate swelling, avoiding sun exposure, and diligently using sunscreen. 

In the case of more intense ablative laser procedures, many patients opt to take a few days (or weeks) off of work. This is due in part to the dramatic appearance of the skin while undergoing the healing process and can also be beneficial to focus on following post-procedure orders to protect your investment in your skin and ensure best results.

Sunscreen is essential for protecting our skin from the sun’s harmful UVA and UVB rays. However, the claims made from some of these natural ingredients are proved to not be as effective as we thought.

UVA and UVB Rays

UVA and UVB are the two types of ultraviolet radiation that come from the sun. UVA rays penetrate deep into the skin, causing long-term damage such as wrinkles and age spots. UVB rays affect the surface of the skin, causing short-term damage such as sunburns. Both types of rays can lead to skin cancer.

The efficacy of natural ingredients- Zinc Oxide

Zinc oxide is one of the most common ingredients used in sunscreens. Even though zinc oxide is a chemical, sunscreens that contain zinc oxide are often referred to as natural, or physical. This means that the ingredient does not penetrate the skin but rather block the sun by sitting on top of skin.

Surprisingly, not all sunscreen ingredients protect against both UVA and UVB rays. Zinc oxide, however, does. “It’s a photostable, broad-spectrum sunscreen, so it has one of the broadest UVA coverages of all the sunscreen ingredients.

“Zinc oxide can be ‘micronized,’ meaning it’s processed into very small particles, so small that the preparation appears clear when applied on the skin.” Non-micronized formulations, she explains, are often less cosmetically elegant and are more opaque or white. So, if you’ve ever applied a sunscreen that left a white, powdery cast on your body, it most likely contained zinc oxide as a key ingredient.

Carrot seed oil

Carrot seed oil does have health benefits, but protection from the sun is not one of them. Carrot seed oil has an SPF of 38 but it does block the harmful UVA and UVB rays, and should not be used on it's own as a sunscreen.

Red raspberry seed oil

Red raspberry seed oil is a natural sunscreen with an SPF of around 28 to 50. However, it has not been proven to be effective against UVA rays. Because raspberry seed oil doesn’t offer UVA protection — which is responsible for 95 percent of UV rays — raspberry seed oil alone isn’t recommended as a sunscreen. Given its other beneficial characteristics, however, it can be used as a healing agent for other skin conditions.

Almond oil

Almond oil does have SPF, but it’s not very high. The SPF of almond oil is only 2 to 6. This means that you would need to apply a lot of almond oil to your skin to get the desired level of protection. Almond oil is also not water-resistant, so it’s not a good choice for activities like swimming or sweating.

Coconut oil

Coconut oil has an SPF of around 4 to 6. The Mayo Clinic also mentions that coconut oil only blocks 20 percent of the sun’s ultraviolet rays compared to sunscreen’s 97 percent.

It’s imperative that a sunscreen provides either UV-absorbing or UV-blocking protection to be effective. There is not one scientific study proving coconut oil, or any other natural oil for that matter, provided any adequate UV-absorbing or UV-blocking protection. But as far as zinc oxide (the main ingredient for sun protection in these DIY recipes), mixing active cosmetics isn’t as simple as adding the recommended amount.

Shea butter

Shea butter has an SPF of around 6, also not enough protection against harmful UVA rays. However, shea butter is known for its high concentrations of fatty acids and vitamins, an ideal cosmetic ingredient for softening skin. Shea butter also has anti-inflammatory and healing properties.

Bottom Line

There are many natural ingredients that can be effective for sunscreen. Some of the most popular include zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, and avobenzone. Each of these ingredients has its own unique set of benefits and drawbacks, so it is important to choose the one that is best suited for your needs. Zinc oxide is a physical barrier against the sun's rays, making it a good option for those with sensitive skin. It is also effective at blocking both UVA and UVB radiation. Titanium dioxide is another physical blocker that is less likely to cause irritation. It is not as effective as zinc oxide at blocking UVA radiation, but it is better at blocking UVB radiation. Avobenzone is a chemical blocker that protects against UVA and UVB radiation. However, it can be unstable in sunlight and can cause skin irritation. Ultimately, the best natural sunscreen ingredient will depend on your individual needs and preferences.

We all know that there are several recipes out there for eating our pumpkins after October 31st. These include classics such as pumpkin pie, pumpkin spice lattes, and roasted pumpkin seeds. However, did you know you can also incorporate pumpkins into your beauty routines? Today I will be teaching you how to make your own face mask and sugar body scrub. Raw pumpkins are full of zinc, vitamins A, C, and E, and contain natural enzymes that eat away dead skin. Not only will you smell nice but it will also rejuvenate your skin. Since both of these recipes have no preservatives, it will only last around a week, so make small batches. 

Pumpkin Face Mask

Ingredients:

5 teaspoons pumpkin puree
3 teaspoons brown sugar
splash of milk

Pumpkin-Sugar Body Scrub 

Ingredients:

1 cup coarse raw sugar or salt
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon sweet almond oil

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. You can add more or less sugar and oil based on personal preferences. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use.