Beauty is more than just the way we look. It’s also about who we are. Keep reading to discover my collection of natural beauty tips that cover not only the physical aspects of ourselves, but also delve into how to be beautiful as we interact with others.
How To Be Beautiful Inside & Out
Tips to Make Inner Beauty Shine
Beauty isn’t just skin deep. Beauty also comes from the inside. It’s your heart, your compassion, the help you offer your community. It’s lifting one another up or offering a simple kindness. With all the hate and violence currently taking place in the United States, I think it’s more important than ever to let your inner beauty shine through. That’s why, my first beauty tip for women is to lift other women up.
Recently I attended a local event in which some of the women attending did just that. I was in the women’s restroom (where it’s impossible not to end up when wine is involved) surrounded by a group of women somewhat older than myself. So, I asked, “How do you handle aging? Your body is changing constantly. Your hormones are out of control. And exactly why does no one prepare your for perimenopause like they do for puberty during adolescence?” They laughed. They also acknowledged that I was right. And they not only gave me the best advice, they made me feel included in my discovery of the ever so mysterious circumstances of aging.
This brings me to my second (of many) natural beauty tips. Because those women’s advice was to, no matter what, be confident. Because confidence is beautiful. Own your life, your body and everything about yourself. Take all the wonderful things about you and let them shine. Then use your confidence to speak up others, stand up for the underdog and to be kind to others.
Natural Beauty Tips for Skin, Hair & Health
Taking time out to care for your skin, hair and health not only helps you look better, it’s also a wonderful way to practice self care. Following of some of my own favorite natural beauty tips as well a few tips from several of my favorite fellow bloggers.
Tackle your adult acne with these natural beauty tips.
Adult acne can be a beast. And it’s not always easy to control. With hormones that are constantly changing throughout our lifetime, preventing acne can be a struggle. Before you see a dermatologist however – or decide to throw in the towel – I recommend trying probiotics. I know I’ve mentioned probiotics a lot lately, but it’s because they really do work! I take Lovebug’s Here’s the Skinny Daily Probiotic. It’s not only cleared up my skin, it also has significantly diminished hormone breakouts from perimenopause. This is the only brand of probiotics I take now.
Unfortunately, even if you do everything right, you can still end up with an acne break out. Stress, hormones – even sneaking in that junk food! – can lead to those occasional volcanic facial eruptions. I’ve found that organic neem oil works wonders at pulling whiteheads to the surface of those painful red bumps literally overnight. In addition, retinol is also another great acne treatment to help keep your skin clear. This retinol serum from Kate Blanc Cosmetics is specially formulated with hyaluronic acid and jojoba oil to fight both aging and acne. Bacuri butter works great too! Or give one of these natural acne remedies a try.
Of course, getting rid of acne isn’t the only blemish you have to contend with. When I get desperate to clear up that horrid giant pimple that won’t pop, sometimes I over treat it. Then I have a blob of dry skin or a scab left in its place which looks as bad as, if not worse than, the pimple did. Luckily my Allure beauty box arrived in the knick of time with a free sample of Sunday Riley Good Genes Lactic Acid Treatment. It quickly gets rid of the dry skin around those zits that didn’t want to heal. So you can spend less time picking your face and more time amazed by how great your skin looks.
Oral care natural beauty tips.
While not all of us have dental insurance, or can afford regular cleanings, there steps that you can take to help keep both your teeth and gums healthy. After all, who doesn’t want a beautiful smile? One of the easiest things you can do to promote oral health is to floss. Flossing your teeth everyday helps to prevent your gum line from receding. Something that is a concern for all of us as we age.
Brushing your teeth too hard can also lead to a receding gum line. However, something as simple as switching to an electric toothbrush can help if you’re guilty of being a bit overzealous when your brush. My boyfriend’s dentist recently advised that he he was brushing too hard which was causing his gum line to recede. So Greg bought us both Oral B electric toothbrushes like this one, which his dentist indicated could help remedy the problem.
In addition to daily flossing and brushing, I also switched to a fluoride free toothpaste. Studies have shown that excess consumption of fluoride can lead to brittle bone disease. As my local water is fluoridated, reducing my fluoride intake is even more important to me as I age. Women especially are at risk of losing bone density and strength after menopause. Therefore, in addition to taking supplements of vitamin D3 daily, I also filter my drinking water through my Brita pitcher. I’ve also switched to a fluoride free toothpaste.
I’ve used every kind of name brand toothpaste at some point. None of the big toothpaste brands, however, have worked as well as Jason Powersmile Whitening Paste. This natural toothpaste is fluoride free, SLS free and gluten free. I have sensitive teeth. However, I’ve had zero problems with sensitivity after switching to this toothpaste. Additionally, the plaque that likes to collect on my bottom teeth (both between teeth and along the gum line) has completely disappeared since using this toothpaste. My teeth literally look “dentist clean.” (And this was before the electric toothbrushes made their way into our bathroom.)
Natural beauty tips for hair care.
There’s nothing like a bad hair day to make a bad day even more stressful. Fighting with your hair can be the worst. But no one wants to get stuck putting one’s hair in a ponytail just to be done with it.
The texture and condition of my hair has changed a LOT since turning forty. Not only do I have stray gray hairs popping up here and there, my hair is also drier and more coarse than it was earlier in my life. Having grown up in the 80s, I did a lot of damage to my hair. From Sun In products, to straight up bleaching and crazy curly perms, I put my hair through some chaos. My hair’s been every color from a horrible brassy blonde to blue, black and pink. Once I finally grew my hair out in my late twenties, I vowed to never put it through that kind of abuse again.
Instead, I’ve started applying henna every few months. Made from completely natural plant botanicals, henna doesn’t JUST color hair. It also conditions your hair, adds shine and gives hair extra volume. Henna lasts about three months. And it naturally fades out of your hair. So unlike chemical hair color, it doesn’t leave obvious roots. It’s also a much healthier hair color alternative. I always know when it’s time to apply more henna because my hair becomes difficult to manage at that point.
Not only does henna do a great job at conditioning my hair, I also love that it hides the few grays I have sneaking in. It works great for hair that’s less than 10% gray. However, if you have more than 10% gray you have to use a 2-step process for the color to hold. Light Mountain Natural Hair Color and Conditioner, which is the brand available at my local co-op, also offers henna hair color products that work for gray hair in addition to their regular henna hair color. And it’s not just available in red. You can also purchase various shades of brown, auburn and black.
If henna sounds amazing, but you don’t want to add color, you can also purchase neutral henna hair coloring. This product offers all the benefits of henna without a noticeable color deposit. However, it’s not recommended for light hair. Alternately, you can also purchase Organic Zizyphus Spina Christi. This botanical hair care product conditions hair in a way similar to henna but without depositing ANY color, even on white hair. Like henna, you’ll find that this herbal conditioner provides body, aids with detangling and also conditions your scalp. For hair that needs extra conditioning, I highly recommend HennaSooq’s Henna Gloss Bar, which I’ve used in the past with wonderful results.
Before you try henna, you’ll need to be sure you haven’t processed your hair with chemical hair coloring or a perm in the past three months. Also be aware, that the processing time is somewhat consuming. While I’ve found I can easily use henna hair coloring at home without extra hands, processing time ranges from two to four hours depending on the depth of color you are looking for. Additionally, it will give your hair an herbal smell similar to spinach for several days afterward.
My favorite place to purchase henna is from Night Blooming on Etsy. She sells not only henna coloring and conditioner, but also essential oil blends, hair oils and rinses and other related natural hair care products. Or try moringa oil for a fabulous one-ingredient hot oil hair treatment.
Natural beauty tips to promote skin health and combat dry skin.
If you suffer from dry skin or eczema, then these natural beauty tips (and recipes!) will be perfect for you.
A few years back I struggled with several bouts of extremely dry skin and patches of eczema. Lotion and body butters helped initially, but then they would make my skin extra itchy. They also never really solved my dilemma. No matter how much lotion I used, at the end of the day, my skin was still dry and its condition never actually improved. Rather, the products I was using to treat my dry skin were only temporarily masking the issue.
I finally stumbled onto the perfect, natural dry skin remedy – hemp seed oil. Hemp seed oil is an exceptionally rich oil high in essential omega fatty acids and proteins. Produced from the oil of cold pressed seeds of the hemp plant, hemp seed oil provides the four essential fatty acids beneficial to the skin. (Linoleic acid, alpha-linoleic acid, gamma linolenic acid and stearidonic acid.) In fact, hemp seed oil has one of the highest contents of essential fatty acid contents topping out at 76%!
This non-greasy carrier oil absorbs quickly and easily when applied to skin without clogging pores. Its natural anti-inflammatory properties make it especially beneficial for irritated or eczema prone skin. My DIY dry skin body oil recipe with hemp seed oil, that I created a few years back, ended up being one of the best natural remedies I’ve tried to date.
Refrigeration, however, is recommended for hemp seed oil as it has a short shelf life. Therefore, when using this oil to make your own natural dry skin care products, you may want to consider adding an antioxidant to extend the shelf life.
Alternately, you can also try using hemp seed butter in its stead. Unlike hemp seed oil, hemp seed butter is shelf stable and has an extended shelf life of two years. It’s wonderfully moisturizing and is particularly beneficial for dry or damaged skin, eczema, psoriasis and mastalgia. Hemp seed butter is produced using the fatty fractions and unsaponifiables which are collected during the refining process and are then blended with hydrogenated vegetable oil to produce a butter-like material suitable for use on skin and hair.
Discover a collection of natural moisturizer recipes for your dry skin at Soap Deli News here.
If making your own natural skin care products isn’t for you, then I highly recommend the natural skin care and beauty products from Diamond Hemp. All of the products available from Diamond Hemp are made in the USA using natural cold pressed hemp seed oil. They carry a full line of hemp care bath and body products that includes body butters, body scrubs, facial masks, facial serums and anti-aging creams.
Their Diamond Aloha antioxidant cream is made with organic antioxidants and pure hemp oil to help maintain a healthy youthful glow while fighting the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. It also contains neem oil, which I previously mentioned to help fight acne, as well as willow bark extract which contains anti-inflammatory salicin which is similar to acne fighting salicylic acid.
In addition to natural skin care products, you can also promote skin health with beauty tools. My friend and fellow blogger, Cari of Everything Pretty, recommends dry brushing as one of her top natural beauty tips to promote healthy skin. Not only does dry brushing exfoliate skin and help to increase circulation, it also may help reduce acne breakouts. Cari also likes dry brushing because it just feels good. The massaging motion is a simple and easy way to sneak extra self care into her busy schedule and it gives her a boost of energy. You can check out all of Cari’s tips and benefits of dry brushing on her blog.
Natural beauty tips for face mask lovers.
If you love face masks then you’ve got to try these natural beauty tips from A Life Adjacent and Country Hill Cottage!
Kim and Kyla of A Life Adjacent use caffeine as part of their morning skin care routine. By adding instant coffee and matcha powder to their face masks, they’ve found it works wonders at combating puffiness and bloating. This can sometimes happen when they overindulge on carbs. However, you may experience this if you had a bit too much to drink the night before. You can find the caffeine face mask recipe that Kim and Kyla use here. Not only does if fight that stubborn water retention, it’s made with natural ingredients you can find in your kitchen. (Or try this Awake Facial Mask from Wicked Soaps on Etsy!)
They also suggest using raw honey as a morning facial wash when your skin doesn’t feel dirty enough to use a real cleanser. Not only does it gently cleanse facial skin, it won’t dry it out like soap and other cleansers can. This is especially helpful when the air is cold and dry during the winter months.
Sisters Irena and Cyna of Country Hill Cottage, on the other hand, turn to papaya to revitalize dull and dry skin. Papayas are, of course, wonderful for your health both inside and out! These fruits are rich in vitamins A and C, a powerful antioxidant, and many minerals, such as calcium, iron, phosphorus, copper and potassium. They also contain the enzyme papain, which is fabulous for skin. This gentle exfoliant helps unclog pores and restore skin’s elasticity.
To get glowing skin for your face, you can prepare their quick and easy papaya face mask! Simply mash 1/2 fresh papaya (without seeds) and combine with 1 tsp honey and 1 tsp olive oil. Apply the mask to your face, then leave on for 10 to 15 minutes. Then remove and rinse your face. Pat dry for brighter, glowing skin.
Natural beauty tips for health and wellness.
You can also promote beautiful, healthy looking skin from the inside out. Kim and Kyla both add collagen powder to their morning coffee for better skin and hair. They love that it makes their coffee extra creamy. Not being able to taste it in the coffee is another big plus. (Especially for those of us who are picky about things like butter coffee and avocado toast.) Or you can also try collagen in this healthy Collagen Hot Cocoa Mix from Ginger Berry Organics.
What are some of your favorite natural beauty tips? I’d love to hear how you take care of your skin! So please feel free to share your ideas and beauty tips in the comments.
For more natural beauty tips as well as homemade skin care recipes, you can follow me on your favorite social media platforms. You can currently find me on G+, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Blog Lovin’ and Instagram. Alternately, you can also subscribe to Soap Deli News via email for future updates, DIY projects and recipes.
