As much as we like to use serums, masks, cooling globes, gua sha, and under eye patches, the reality is; our skin reflects our habits more than our topical skincare routine.
Dehydration, malnutrition, drug/alcohol consumption, salt/sugar intake, and menstrual cycle are among the things that greatly affect our skin’s health and appearance. The skin is our largest organ, and is made as much in your medicine cabinet as it is at your vanity. Your skin will communicate to you what it’s lacking through dryness, breakouts, dark circles, oiliness, redness, and sensitivity etc. For many of us, our skincare routines, and self-care routines, are missing a giant, secret weapon, or more like many, tiny, secret weapons.
Vital Minerals
Vital minerals, or more commonly shortened to: Vitamins, are supplements to our diets that are necessary for those who don’t get enough of these minerals from their food.
I recently found the perfect blend of supplements to clear my skin quickly after many years of trying countless skincare products for my acne, redness, scarring, and dryness. My skin had been “talking” to me the entire time, but I just attributed the irritation and breakouts to just “having bad skin”.
***I am not a doctor, nutritionist, dermatologist, pharmacist, or esthetician, and can give no real medical advice. All vitamins recommended in this post are over-the-counter supplements that give no claim to diagnose, cure, prevent, or treat any disease. These are simply what has shown me results, personally***
Collagen
Collagen is a naturally occurring protein in the body that is responsible for strengthening our skin, bones, joints, tendons, and ligaments.
In the skin, specifically, it helps with elasticity and hydration, as well as “slowing” the aging process by reducing wrinkles and dryness. Collagen helps the skin to look firm and supple, supporting volume that is typically lost with age and stress.
Biotin
Biotin is a B-complex vitamin that helps maintain skin’s health overall, and is usually the main ingredient in all those “hair, skin, and nails” vitamins. It helps to hydrate the skin as well as strengthen and grow the hair and nails.
Zinc
This one was a game changer for my acne. Zinc is an anti-acneic, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, and oil-regulating supplement. After hearing that some adult women with acne on the lower half of their face are typically dealing with a zinc deficiency, I decided to take it as a last-ditch effort. Slowly but surely, it has cleared up my active breakouts significantly.
Zinc is easily to overload on, so it’s recommended that you limit your intake to around 50mg per day.
Hyaluronic Acid
Hyaluronic acid has become very popular in recent years as a topical treatment for the skin in serums and moisturizers, but hyaluronic acid is naturally occurring in the body, with 50% of it being present in the skin. Hyaluronic acid binds to water and can hold 10x its own weight (in water), making it the key factor in the hydration of our skin.
Aging, sun exposure, smoking, and pollution can lower these levels in the body, so taking a supplement can help replace these levels in the entire body, not just on your face, as a serum would. We show the first signs of aging in our hands, neck, and face, and hyaluronic acid can help to slow the decline of our skin that naturally occurs with aging.
Folic Acid
Folic acid is needed to facilitate the development of healthy skin cells, helps to produce more collagen, and in turn, also diminishes wrinkles and fine lines. Folic acid is found in most women’s multi-vitamins and prenatal vitamins.
B12
Necessary for the regeneration of all cells, B12 also reduces irritation and has been effective in helping acne, eczema, and psoriasis.
Outside of skincare benefits, B12 is also good to take to help boost your energy, and healthy brain function. B12 deficiency can manifest itself in depression, irritability, dark thoughts, and poor memory or decision making.
D3
The “sunshine” vitamin. Living in the Northeast, it’s hard to get enough sun all year round. After being diagnosed with a vitamin D deficiency, I realized how much better I felt after taking the supplements prescribed to me in terms of mental health and having increased energy.
Vitamin D helps to repair the skin, and is needed for cell growth as well as destroying free radicals and boosting the skin’s immune system. There are stronger links being made in research that acne can also be caused by vitamin D deficiency, as active breakouts are actually infections of the skin.
Vitamin C and other Antioxidants
Vitamin C is an antioxidant, which are molecules that fight free radicals (pollution, toxins, radiation, bacteria, infections, etc.) to help protect your skin and prevent oxidation. Vitamin C also promotes collagen production.
Antioxidants are also one of the most important topical skincare ingredients to help protect the skin and prevent breakouts, even without being specifically vitamin C.
Sea Buckthorn Oil
Sea Buckthorn Oil promotes skin elasticity, hydration, and cell regeneration, as well as being anti-inflammatory. It reduces redness and irritation in eczema, psoriasis, and rosacea.
Conclusion
This is the first of my skincare posts, so I hope you enjoy and find this helpful! I take all of the supplements above, in conjunction, daily, and have noticed a significant change in my skin after plateauing for some time. I’ll be posting a topical skincare routine for sensitive, acne-prone skin that I hope will help as well.
Enjoy!
Much Love XOXO,
N. Alexandra