When we are stressed and have, what feels like, too much to do we often scarf down our meals which can lead to indigestion, heart burn, weight gain, you name it! Try and relax and take a break when you eat. Eat slowly and try to relax while doing so. Try to drink plenty of water as well and if you see your glass is empty, get up, stretch and refill. These little things will actually help you perform your job better than pounding through all day long and will help you feel fresh when jumping back on the treadmill of life and ready for what the rest of the day will throw you! A healthy less stressed you will result in healthy less stressed skin, hurray!

Silica, a trace mineral found in various foods including green beans, strawberries, asparagus, green and red peppers and cucumber, is essential for healthy skin. Silica helps in strengthening connective tissues like muscles, nails, cartilage and hair. Its shortage can result in reduced skin elasticity and can also slow down the body’s ability to heal wounds. So eat your fruits and veggies to increase skin elasticity and youthfulness!

If you have a blemish that is sore and swollen, try holding an ice cube to it for a minute or so. This should help alleviate the swelling and will sooth your tender skin.

Give yourself an at home facial, complete with cucumber slices. Now, if you have never used cucumber slices on your eyes, we dare you to try it. Not only does it feel cool and refreshing and seems to help the under eye luggage, but you also have to sit back and relax. Wash your face and put on a calming mask, like Exuberance’s Celebrate! Pink Cranberry Gel Mask, slice some cucumbers and lay back for 10 minutes. You will feel rejuvenated and refreshed when you’re done!

Though flavoured lip balms are tempting, heavily scented and/or flavoured ones can irritate your skin causing chapped, blotchy, or itchy lips. Synthetic Fragrances are usually made up of harmful chemicals and when you put these on the delicate skin of your lips, you’re asking for trouble. Look for unflavoured or natural flavoured balms with natural ingredients, but always check the ingredient list before you buy!

If you find that you need to pile on the moisturizer, stop! This can lead to clogged pores and serious breakouts. If this is what you have been doing, it’s time for a new moisturizer. Use one that sinks into the skin, like She’s So Lovely Rose Daily Moisturizer, rather than one that just rests on the top. You’re skin will stay hydrated without feeling greasy since the moisturizer contains potent organic ingredients that sink deep into the skin and doesn’t contain waxes or fillers like many others do. Make sure you’re getting a moisturizer, not a mask.

If you suffer from the dreaded dark circles in the morning, try this to help conceal your tired eyes and make you look wide awake and ready for action! Dab on some eye cream, like Exuberance’s Ultimate Perfection eye cream (you’ll only need a teeny bit!), with your ring finger and let the cream sink in for about 10 minutes. Remember, leaving your eye cream in the fridge can help with de-puffing and will feel really good on your tired peepers. Then take your concealer (safe and organic is best, especially when we’re talking about your eyes) and spread it on. Be sure to use the same shade as your face. Ultimate Perfection gleams on the skin and this will come through your makeup to give you a beautiful, awake and dewy look!

Pores appear larger when they are bunged up with dead skin cells and oil. To clean them out and to ensure that they stay clean, try exfoliating every other day (at night) with a gentle exfoliator, like Evolution Facial Exfoliator. The reason to choose a gentle cream based exfoliator is to ensure that you are cleaning out your pores without stripping your skin of all your natural oils and thus keeping your skin moist rather than tight and dry. After cleansing, morning and evening, use an alcohol free toner, like Believe Tangerine & Sugar Maple Balancing Facial Tonic, to really clean those babies out! When applying makeup use a silicone free primer, like Miracle Bound Skin-Firming Gel Makeup Primer, to smooth out your skin and give yourself an even base that will allow you to apply makeup without your pores appearing more noticeable. Be kind to your skin, even if it has some large pores. Don’t strip and rub until it is raw; gentle cleansing and moisturizing will do the trick!

Dull skin = dead skin. When skin is dull, this usually means that you have dead skin cells resting on top of your skin making it appear lifeless and blah. Ridding yourself of dull skin, and clearing the bath for beautiful dewy skin, starts with exfoliation. You should exfoliate at least once a week and always at night to avoid sun damage to your fresh new skin underneath. Apply serum, like Ode to Eve Brightening Facial Serum, to newly exfoliated skin as this is prime time for those wonderfully brightening ingredients to be soaked up. Seal the deal with a rich night cream like Victory is Ours and be prepared for bright, glowing skin in the morning!

Skin care products can be intimidating when you don’t know how or when to use them. Here we will give you step by step instructions on what goes where and when.

Morning:

1. Cleanser: You might think that this is unnecessary in the morning, but this is not true. Your skin still produces oil overnight and if you are worried about your skin drying out, cleanse your face with a gentle cleanser like Radiance Green Tea Daily Cleanser to keep your skin moisturized, balanced and fresh.
2. Tonic: If you have severely dry skin try spraying tonic directly to face without rubbing; otherwise, apply tonic to a cotton pad and wipe over your face. Believe Tangerine and Sugar Maple Tonic is gentle and does not contain alcohol which can dry out the skin significantly.
3. Serum: Apply a dime size amount of serum, like Ode to Eve Brightening Serum, to skin that is still a little damp from the tonic. This step is crucial for dry skin as the serum is meant to penetrate deep into the skin to strengthen cells and deliver active ingredients to the skin. Allow the serum to sink in by leaving it on for 5 minutes before following with your moisturizer.
4. Moisturizer: Apply a nickel size or more of moisturizer like She’s So Lovely Daily Moisturizer.
5. Primer: Using a gel makeup primer really prepares the skin for makeup application by smoothing the surface of the skin. Miracle Bound Firming Primer Gel is a great primer to use to prep your face and it does not contain silicone like many other primers!
6. Set: After applying your makeup you might like to spray your face with Believe Facial tonic to deliver an extra vitamin boost and set your makeup.

Night time:

Repeat steps 1 to 4, replacing your daily moisturizer with a night cream that is a little richer than day time that will renew and repair your skin, like Victory is Ours Night Cream.

Note: If you have oily skin, you might want to skip either the moisturizer or serum during the day. Experiment with how your skin reacts to find the best option for your skin