03/08/2010 In Skin Nutrition by bien-être

Skin doesn’t like dairy. Its true. There are many cases of dairy sensitivity or dairy allergies showing up on your skin in the form of acne, eczema, and Rosacea. As humans, we are not supposed to be eating or drinking large amounts of milk – especially cow’s milk. As one of our favorite biochemists, Ben Fuchs, would say: “Cow’s milk is for baby cows, not humans. Don’t drink cow’s milk unless you want to look like a cow.” Our bodies do not digest dairy easily. I’m not suggesting that you eliminate all dairy from your life – unless you have major skin issues because of it. I am advising that you cut down on the amount of dairy you consume daily to achieve clearer skin.

Some easy ways to cut down on Dairy:

• Forget the yogurt. It’s filled with sugar and not a health food.
• Stop drinking cow’s milk with breakfast or dinner. You get Vitamin D and Calcium from carrot juice, seafood, dark green leafy vegetables, seeds (like almonds), and more. You do not need to drink milk to get it. Milk companies want you to think so…but that’s marketing. Instead, try nut milk or coconut milk for your recipes. Almond milk is delicious and a great alternative for traditional milk drinkers.
• Cheese is delicious, but cutting down will help your skin stay clearer. Limit yourself to one serving a day. If you want to have pizza or raviolis for dinner, don’t add cheese to your salad or sandwich at lunch.

Here’s a great recipe for making your own Almond Milk at home. It will save you money and ensure you wont find unwanted ingredients like carrageen, sugar or preservatives.

They have a couple great ideas for sweetening or blending your almond milk. We like to add in vanilla (but use the extract only) or agave or honey to ours.

Skin Care BONUS:

• Dry the leftover almond meal and save it for your skin!
• Add the dried almond meal to a bit of honey and use it as a gentle facial scrub in the shower.

More information on non-dairy calcium sources: read
Here’s a great resource for Vitamin D information. (notice that they do include milk and fortified foods, but show all non-dairy sources as well.)

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03/05/2010 In Skin Nutrition by bien-être

Before applying a protective coating of bug spray…think about this:

You make efforts to use organic skin and body care products, choose organic food, and wear organic cotton or sleep on organic sheets. All this effort to avoid pesticides. But, if you still use traditional bug spray, you are pumping pesticides into your home and into your skin.

No one likes bugs, with the exception of certain entomologists, but the pesticides and chemicals in traditional bug repellents are just plain awful for you.

Here’s more information from The Bug Man.

Here are some clever tips to avoid the harsh effects and health risks associated with pesticides in bug spray, while staying bite-free:

Use Natural Pest Control:
Use a gentle, DEET-free pesticide for around your home. There are many services that advertise themselves as “natural” Pest Control. You don’t have to settle for harsh pesticides! This is especially important for households with pets and / or children.
Adopt a sugar free diet:
Mosquitoes bite for two reasons. Females go after the iron in your blood for their eggs, but only when they are reproducing – which is a small window of their lifespan. However, both male and female mosquitoes go after sugar found in plant nectar – and also in blood. Cut sugar out of your diet – its not good for you anyway – and you wont be as attractive to these tiny flying vampires.
Take advantage of screens, protective clothing and citronella candles:
These are all natural bug repellents that do not require anything to be applied to your skin. They make citronella candles in all different colors and containers now so that you don’t have to sacrifice style for safety. If you live in bug-friendly areas of the country, chances are that you already have screened porches or outdoor rooms. If you don’t, they make screen curtains that can be easily added for summer-time activities.
Wear fragrance:
Mosquitoes are attracted to the way you smell. This is why some people are more prone to bug bites than others. If you are one of these attractive people, try wearing a fragrance or body lotion to mask your natural fragrance.
Research is being conducted to determine which scents are most attractive to mosquitoes and ingredients that will mask certain these scents. Once this is discovered we will have some safer alternatives to traditional bug spray.

If you need to protect your skin further, choose natural bug repellent:

Here are some great options and ideas -

Natural Insect Repellents

Burt’s Bees

California Baby

Bugs aren’t all bad, though! Ladybugs act as natural insecticides for your garden. Bees keep your flowering plants happy and growing beautifully. Spiders eat other little bugs. They are all part of an interconnected ecology that gets terribly disturbed by synthetic and harsh chemical pesticides. Practicing natural bug protection keeps you and the ecological system you live in safe.

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03/03/2010 In Skin Nutrition by bien-être

According to William Duffy, respected author of Sugar Blues, the answer is a a big fat yes.

after you have kicked sugar for a year or so, you begin to notice big changes in the way your skin takes to the sun…

With a sugary diet “sitting in the hot sun covered with a chemical sauce to get a tan is looking for trouble- especially for women.” – william duffy

I wasn’t able to find much on the direct link between sugar consumption and sunburn, but I did find information that led me to the indirect link: courtesy of inflammation.

Inflammation in the body leads to free radical damage and can set you up for sun sensitivity. Since sugar is the leading inflammatory ingredient in the Western Diet, it is definitely possible that sugar can increase free radical damage and sun sensitivity.

If you think about it…we are using more sunscreen than ever, yet our rates of sun damage, skin cancer and rosacea are skyrocketing. If sunscreen is the answer, why is this happening? Sure we have holes in the ozone, but are they solely responsible for the rise in all these skin imbalances?

It is interesting to note that over the last 30 years, our sugar consumption has skyrocketed too, as proven by our nation’s diabetes rates. It may not be that we are consuming more candy or cakes. Sugar is added to so many prepared and packaged foods. Yogurt, milk, cheese, crackers, bread, chicken nuggets, baby food, salad dressing, salsa..and many many more – all contain sugar.
So, is there a connection between the rise in sugar consumption and the rise in sun sensitivity? There’s certainly a good argument for it.

Take a look at some of the ads placed by the Sugar Industry in the 1960s and 70s, posted by The Diet Blog.

“Sugar is responsible for nearly half of all skin aging, because it inhibits the effectiveness of collagen within your skin cells.” – Dr. Nicholas Perricone

Sugar attacks collagen fibers, cross-linking them excessively and causing them to stick together. The result is sagging and wrinkled skin. This process, known as glycosylation, can also cause hyper-pigmentation because it overworks the melanocytes that produce pigment. If the melanocytes are working overtime, churning out pigment – you can bet that they wont work as effectively when you get out in the sun. They will produce too much pigment in some areas and not enough in other. This can lead to discoloration of the skin and risk of sunburn.

Want proof for yourself? Try an experiment. Cut out all sugars (even the hidden sugars in foods,) now and see if you notice any difference this summer. While you will still need sunblock, you may find that your skin handles the sun better. For more information on Sugar in the Diet and how it affects your skin, read our post: Sugar and Your Skin -

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02/17/2010 In Skin Nutrition by bien-être

There’s something very soothing and comforting about tea. Maybe it’s my English background, but I think a “spot” of tea can be the best medicine. I’ve witnessed homemade Moroccan Mint Tea with fresh herbs mend heartache and hangover alike.

Black, green, red, white, oolong, and herbal: they each posses certain benefits. Add in flowers, fruit, extra herbal concoctions and you are talking about one powerful cup of liquid. My acupuncturist especially likes to recommend tea as a supplementation method, saying that the herbal remedies can be inhaled and ingested slowly, making them even more powerful.

But, what about your skin? Can your skin benefit from Tea Treatment? You betcha!

Not only can you drink these lovely teas, you can use them as a facial steam or add them to your next bath, too!

Our favorite teas:
For soothing dry skin: Herbal Teas are wonderful for dry skin conditions. Marshmallow, dandelion, peppermint, calendula, borage, and chamomile are all great choices to look for. A weekly facial steam bath using the herbs chamomile, lavender, and peppermint is also a really great home remedy for dry skin. You can look for a tea blend containing all three of these ingredients, or use essential oils or bulk herbs from your local health food store.

For detox aid or for acneic skin: Yogi Tea makes a great ‘Detox Tea Blend’ which can be helpful for both detoxification and acneic skin conditions. Green tea is also a good choice for acneic skin. Look for these added herbs: Burdock, Dandelion, Echinacea, Fragrant valerian, Goldenseal, Marshmallow root, Watercress, Wild strawberry leaves, Yarrow root

For rejuvenation and healing: (These teas work really well for sunburned skin too.) Hibiscus teas contain powerful antioxidants that may help to protect against cell-damaging free radicals. Hibiscus can be found in red zinger tea as well as many other herbal blends. Look for it on the ingredient list. As a bonus, look for hibiscus blended with green or white tea, other known antioxidants.

*Covering the cup with a saucer while it is steeping will keep the medicinal properties of the herb from evaporating away.

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02/04/2010 In Skin Nutrition by bien-être

We recently posted about Vitamin D and supplementation in the Skin Nutrition section and thought that this article from the New York Times Blog added some very poignant and helpful information on the subject. By and large we are deficient in Vitamin D. Blame it on diet, the environment or simply evolution. This vitamin is important for bone health and overall wellness, so how to we get more of it?

We use Vitamin D in our professional skincare for its skin strengthening and moisturizing benefits. But what about our internal organs and our bones? Popping a pill or taking a D-shot seems like a very easy solution. Is it too easy? Is there more to the D-deficiency story? Read up, and let us know what you think!

NY Times: The Miracle of Vitamin D – Sound Science or Hype

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