MY BEAUTY REGIME

In my opinion, there are two crucial elements to a beauty regime for African skin or any other colour skin – the products you use and what you eat and drink. So here we are looking at my beauty regime featuring Murad products and also a look at the effects of what we eat. http://youtu.be/t5tHfmiYuQ8 Daily regime: My daily regime is made up of three steps following the beauty regime suggested by Murad. I have added a fourth step to it for my night regime which is simple – I use Olay Anti-Wrinkle cream before bed. The Murad three step regime involves first washing your face, twice a day is what they recommend. This gets rid of the dirt and debris from the environment as well as dead skin cells and any makeup you have been wearing. No more than twice a day, use a toner after washing as this balances out the skin pH levels and prepares it for the next step.

Step two is the crucial part and is designed at repairing some of the damage done to the skin as well as restoring its health. Healthy skin is better equipped to deal with the stresses that the environment throws at it. Often this involves using a topical and an internal supplement care product from the range.  Finally, there is the moisturiser and for me, the Essential-C Day Moisture is the best product. It works perfectly on my brown skin and protects it against damage from the environment as well as from UV rays. It also helps combat dehydration as dry skin looks and feels terrible as well as repairing some of the damage caused by those pesky free-radicals. It uses a citrus formula that makes skin supple and radiant. Food and the skin What we eat can have a big effect on our skin because of the interaction between the elements in the food and the elements in our body. You can be at the height of African fashion but if your skin lets you down, the effect will be spoiled. For example, I mentioned free radicals? Those are the horrible little things that run around in our bodies causing aging. But the best defence against them are anti-oxidants. These are primarily vitamins C, E and A as well as selenium. These combat the free radicals and help to make skin healthy and youthful.  Vitamin C comes from fruits such as orange, grapefruit, berries, pineapple and kiwi as well as greens such as kale, cabbage and Brussel sprouts. The vitamin is easily destroyed by the rays from the sun so if you’ve been out in the sun a lot, top up on vitamin C rich foods. Vitamin E comes from almonds, sunflower seeds and greens such as spinach, Swiss chard and broccoli as well as olive oil, avocadoes and peanuts. It guards against UV damage from the sun and is a top anti-aging vitamin. Then there’s Omega-3 fatty acids – one of the few times where the word ‘fatty’ is a good thing! These are the substances found in fish such as salmon, mackerel, anchovies as well as seaweed, flaxseed oil and soybeans. They work on cell membranes, letting good stuff like water in and keeping toxins out as well as helping to protect against sun damage. So next time you are out choosing an outfit from a favourite African fashion blog London, remember to look at what is in your food basket as well as your clothes. Love, Ivy