Vitamins For Your Visage

As you may have notice, we're a little obsessed with the organic skincare line, Body Deli. And our latest craze is their Liquid Vitamin Hydra-Mist. Carry the mini version in your purse to see serious results including collagen stimulation synthesis with  maximum hydration and skin firmness. 

Infuse your skin with wrinkle reducing peptides, super hydrating antioxidant micro-clustered water, ultra potent Rovisome Vitamin C and enzyme rejuvenator Sea Kelp Bioforment.

Available in Austin at Aloe Skin + Body or online at thebodydeli.com.

Skin by Ann Webb - a top fave!

I first met Ann Webb 8 years ago when I was helping open a wellness center in Austin called Plum Blossom. The concept that what we put on our body was as important as what we put *in* our body was a new one at the time, with Ann at the helm of what many now take for granted. 

Ann is a bright light with even brighter skin, a testament to her life work and passion. Skin by Ann Webb is one of Whole Foods top selling skin care lines for good reason. Ingredients are all natural, cutting edge and both effective and affordable. 

Her cleansers are some of my favorites and I personally use her delicious smelling Peppermint Milk Cleanser in the winter and migrate to the Spearmint Tea Cleanser for a more sudsing cleanser in the sweltering summer months. 

Ann's philosophy for affordable skin care also extends to her facials. Her AW Customized Facial for new clients is $65 and will leave you with the signature Ann Web glow!

Fave Product: Inventive Eco-Organic Environmental Cleanser

Austin’s skincare gurus have a healthy assortment of opinions and recommendations. But on one there is unanimous consent.

Owners Jessica Slutsky of Sabia and Tracy Bethel of Aloe Skin + Body and many others all rave about Inventive Eco-Organics Skin Care line.

Inventive Eco-Organics is 100% organic, locally crafted and results driven. Innovations such as ozonated oils including an ozonated Jojoba Oil allow deeper penetration of the moisturizing properties along with antibacterial and antifungal properties for acne prone skin types.

Inventive’s Environmental Cleanser, offers the gratification of sudsing, without the stripping or pH imbalancing effects of many foaming cleansers. With both grapefruit and tea tree oil it effectively removes impurities and excess oils but it’s emollient properties also soothe, leaving the skin sparkling clean and dewy. This is my new favorite cleanser, especially heading into some drier winter months.

Head over to Sabia or to Aloe Skin + Body to see the entire line and to find the best options for your skin. Or shop online here.

Can food make us look younger?

I have witnessed such a tremendous impact in my own skin vitality, that I now encourage our clients to measure and embrace their Skin Glow. I know this can be a tough one for us ladies to own and I get it, who wants to gaze at themselves every day analyzing their glow? This is why, when walking through the tracker together, I always let clients know this area may be harder to gage on your own.

But who doesn’t love being stopped in the hall to have a colleague rave about how good you look? Many of our clients are surprised when other people inquire about their glow but it’s the best way to know. We hear it all the time in the daily tracker notes, “Wow, you were so right, someone told me how amazing I looked and asked me what I was doing!” Hence the power of food.

Here are biggest steps to truly reverse wrinkles and increase your glow:

• Find and Remove food intolerances: Any foods creating inflammation can add years of age on the skin.
• Eat Alkalizing Veggies like kale, broccoli, spinach and chard.
• Drink Green Veggie juice every day. Find TLC Juice here.

Product Review: Body Deli Creme de la Rose

"Body Deli" aptly captures the deliciousness of this organic superfood laden skin-care line, so pure you can eat it. Do you hear pure and think ‘ineffective’? Au contraire. Raw superfoods like kale, fruit acids, and pomegranate pair with ionic microcluster water for superior hydration and visible results. We could serenade many of their products, but we’ll start with our favorite of the bunch: Creme-de-la-Rose. 

A cult favorite revered for it’s spectacular line up of face smoothing ingredients: Bulgarian Rose, COQ10 and Vitamin-A are used for cell regenerating properties and exquisite healing aroma. Goji Berry extract is used for its amino acids and Vitamin C content. Formulated to help accelerate cellular turnover, feed epidermal cells, restore elasticity and diminish the depth and intensity of wrinkles, their Bulgarian Rose is the real deal and retails for over $4,000 a pound! 

Every time I put this on, my beau remarks on how good I smell! Ladies, it’s a ‘natural parfum’ meets wrinkle buster with glow enhancing results.

Purchase it online here. 

Food as an Alternative to Botox

Stay tuned for LoveLife GLOW, a new community that offers tips and suggestions for how to age naturally, reflecting how good we feel internally and externally. 

Ok women, I confess. A combination of a healthy dose of vanity paired with curiosity has inspired me to study the effects of food on my skin. And I’m inspired by what I’ve discovered is possible over the years.

I had a memorable moment 15 years ago, one romantic afternoon sitting on the deck with a boyfriend at Au Berg Du Soleil in Napa. He asked a question that scratched the record, inquisitively inquiring with concern for my well-being, how I acquired the scars between my eyebrows.  His question took a moment to sink in, as my brow undoubtedly further furrowed, creating deeper “scars.”

My health was a mess! I had a double whammy: A life-time of chronic inflammation and health challenges paired with a decade long tanning obsession from 15-25, that was catching up. Despite eating what I thought was a healthy vegetarian diet since age 12, I was unwittingly eating foods that were making me sick and aging me prematurely. At 25 I had laugh lines and wrinkle creases in my furrow of a 45 – 50 year old. Ahemmmm, an unaltered one.

As my journey unfolded and I changed my diet, eliminating sources of inflammation, my health issues disappeared and I was amazed by how fantastic I could feel. An added bonus, I slowly began experiencing a receding of these wrinkles and an improvement in a lifetime of poor skin quality, that was directly correlated to foods. Now, ladies I want to be careful to say that I’m not a wrinkle hater and I understand their inevitability and I choose to embrace rather than erase them. But if there are self-care options that allow us to naturally feel better AND look better…..who amongst us can say no to that proposition?

How is it even possible for food to impact our skin?

Inflammation. It is at the root of everything, including aging. Food is one of the most profound sources of inflammation. Whether eating processed foods, sugar or our intolerant foods, these are one of the quickest youth zappers. They zap our energy, vitality and our youth.

When I drink wine, a former passion in my 20s that included a 140-bottle collection personally hand-picked from the wine countries, I look ten years older the next day. On special occasions, I choose it anyway, but the difference is I know why I don’t feel my best; I know why I’m not reflecting my best and most importantly I know how to get back on track.

Other foods that furrow my brow? Dairy is one of the biggest ones. In Chinese medicine they say dairy is one of the most aging foods. Whether due to dairy for the sake of dairy or dairy’s inflammatory effects in my body, it is not my friend.

What foods are wreaking havoc on your skin, aging you prematurely? While there are some common ones, we also each have our own specific triggers. How can you use food to not only feel your best, but also offer a long term built in natural botox alternative?

All LoveLife Method programs will now include tracking skin health, specifically youthfulness with foods. Some of the effects are immediate while others provide a boost for years to come.

Stay tuned for LoveLife GLOW, a new community that offers tips and suggestions for how to age naturally, reflecting how good we feel internally and externally.
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