7 Healthy Tips for Beautiful Skin

With the toning/bleaching syndrome rapidly catching on among the ladies, the quest for beautiful skin has never been more vicious or competitive - lightening creams and soaps abound with promises of overnight transformation and younger-looking, glowing skin. But what shall it profit a lady to have 'white', translucent skin but still have dark, gnarled knuckles? The road to great skin goes beyond having the right cosmetic products, rather its a wholesome process which involves amongst other things observing the right skin health practises, a healthy diet and yes, having the right skin care products.

So have you been been devoting energy and resources to finding the perfect skin beauty products? Perhaps its time to change directions and look into nourishing the skin as opposed to merely polishing it because in the end, healthy skin equals beautiful skin and beautiful skin equals a more confident and sexy woman.

Now that we've covered the basics, let's get straight into the business of the day. The road to glowing, gorgeous skin...

1. Never, ever sleep with makeup on: You may or may not have heard this before but sleeping with makeup is the biggest no-no in the quest for healthy skin because it can have very damaging effects. Essentially, there's an oil build up overnight which leads to clogged pores and it goes downhill from there - pimples, darkened skin and after a period of time, wrinkles, dull skin. So, save yourself the trouble and endeavour to always wash off your face before sleeping at night.

2. Water is the skin's best friend: Drink loads of it, splash it on your face, just get all round comfortable with it. Water is a great hydrant which cleans the system and also tightens the pores. Drink several tall glasses a day not just for great skin but also for better bowel movement which in turn improves the appearance of the skin. Also when washing off make-up, splash cold water on your face to tighten the pores. Wash with warm water and again rinse off with cold water. Warm water opens up the pores which allows for the germs to be thoroughly washed off while the cold water at the end tightens the pores so that they're sealed from contamination and further exposure to germs.

3. The sun is NOT the skin's best friend: Constant exposure to the sun not only darkens the skin but also reduces the skin's elasticity which over time becomes damaging for the skin. Need we say more?

4. In case of blemishes and long term infections: To get rid of deep blemishes and long term infections, simply dilute apple cider vinegar in water and apply to affected areas for a soothing, healing effect. Natural, hydroquinone free and without any side effects.

5. Natural exfoliating: Dilute a few drops of lavender oil in hot water and cover your head over it for a refreshing, home spa session. The steam opens up the pores cleaning out impurities while also serving as an antiseptic.

6. For brighter skin: To lighten dark spots, squeeze some lemon juice over the area. Also apply organic yoghurt all over the face for clearer, brighter complexion.

7. Eat your way to great skin: As we've said earlier, the road to great skin starts from within as such food items like salmon, garlic, sweet potato, egg yolk and avocado are great for the skin. Salmon is rich in protein, potassium and Vitamin B-6, garlic reacts with the blood to fight bacteria, sweet potato is rich in potassium, sodium and Vitamin A while avocado pear is rich in Vitamin E and C as well as collagen all of which are great nutrients for the skin.

This is even more so in the case of folks who do not come naturally endowed with beautiful skin.