Cowgirl’s Guide to Beautiful Skin

Ten Top Tips

1. Diet & Exercise - A diet rich in whole grains, beans, fresh vegetables and fruits, and small amounts of animal proteins will feed your skin the nutrients it needs to keep it healthy. Skin, hair, and nails thrive on trace elements and minerals that are found in vegetables, nuts, and seeds – like magnesium, selenium, silica, zinc, and many others. Nuts and seeds also provide essential fatty acids (EFAs), which nourish inside and out. EFAs keep skin moist and soft, and they help to maintain healthy cell structures. They can also be taken as supplements by eating Flaxseed, Evening Primrose, and Borage oils. Drinking good water hydrates the skin from the inside while flushing toxins out. Exercise pumps nutrients through the tiny capillaries of the skin, circulates oxygen, and facilitates waste removal. Besides, we know how exercise relieves stress, which is especially tough on skin.
   
   
2. Keep your inner body healthy - When the digestion system functions smoothly, waste products are eliminated with regularity. Often, problems with the skin and hair are reflections of problems with the body’s internal condition. A two or three day internal cleansing program can be one of the quickest ways to see improvement in the skin.
   
   
3. Express your inner beauty - Cultivate an inner smile which radiates from your happiness and success in living. See yourself as a healthy, happy beautiful person. Give up the negative habit of comparing yourself with everyone else and see beauty as part of the harmony between nature and self. Be your beautiful self.
   
   
4. Clean up your act! - Take a hard look at bad habits; alcohol, cigarettes, constant weight gain or loss, and too much caffeine. These all deplete the body of necessary vitamins. You can spend hundreds of dollars on the best products and treatments, but in time, those lifestyle habits will be all over your face.
   
   
5. Get enough sleep - It doesn't take long for the lack of sleep to take its toll on your body, and usually the first place you notice it, is a look in the mirror. Important bodily functions take place at night and the body needs to recover, repair, and regenerate as you sleep. Make sure that you get your "beauty rest".
   
   
6. Take a look at your environment - Indoor heating can be very drying to the skin. Pollution, chemicals, recycled air, and extreme weather conditions all make skin care more important. Dry saunas, long hot baths, and hot tubs can rob the skin of moisture. Consider your laundry detergents, bath soaps, water quality, and the air you breathe. Place plants in your home or office to add more oxygen and purify the air around you. Small changes to your daily environment can greatly improve health and skin conditions.
   
   
7. Purchase skin care products that feed your skin - Read the ingredients! Plant based products with skin specific herbal extracts and essential oils can actually penetrate, feed, and provide therapeutic benefits for your skin. Look for whole ingredients like aloe vera, sunflower oil, calendula extract, or lavender oil, which the skin easily assimilates and uses for healing and nourishment. Watch out for chemicals, perfumes, and drying alcohols, which are prevalent in mass market products.
   
   
8. Buy small quantities of skin care products more often - True natural ingredients break down over time, just like the foods we eat. It’s better to purchase small containers more often and use them! If your creams are still pink and fluffy after a year or two, think about what kinds of preservatives and perfumes were used to keep them that way, and what benefit is there for your skin? Any truly active ingredients are long gone.
   
   
9. Protect against the sun - Healthy skin needs fresh air and sunlight. It does not need sunburn. Use a sunscreen when you are out for long walks and certainly when biking, skiing, etc. A hat is still one of the best protections you have; so wear one whenever you are outside. It is now common belief that most sun-damage is done to the skin before the age of 10. Don’t forget to wash those chemical sunscreens off once they’ve done their job, and apply a nourishing moisturizer, like Cowgirl Cream or Extreme Cream, to feed your skin when you come inside.
   
   
10. Avoid over exfoliating and over moisturizing - The protective layer of the skin, the acid mantle, is delicate. Harsh and abrasive cleansers can strip the skin of this coating, leaving it vulnerable to bacteria, dryness, and irritation. The oil glands go into overdrive trying to compensate for this condition - a common problem for acne prone skin. With too much moisturizer pores become clogged; skin becomes lax and skin function decreases. The key is to moisturize so that your particular skin is supported to function and regenerate naturally.

More Skincare Tips...