Nourish - 5 Natural Products to Add to Your Summer Beauty Regime
As we edge closer towards the summer season, it’s a good time to start adjusting our beauty regime to accommodate the changes the new season will bring.
Warmer temperatures, more sun and longer days are a definite welcome, but they do come with some side effects. Sunburn, frazzled locks and parched skin are just some worth mentioning.
To help you prepare for the new season, I’ve put together this blog on 5 Natural Products to Add to Your Summer Beauty Regime.
These products will help support you from both the inside and the outside. They will help to protect your skin and your hair from unwelcomed damage whilst encouraging healthy locks and glowing skin.
No. 1 – Natural Sunscreen
Since we absorb roughly 60% of what goes on our skin, it’s always a good idea to go for natural products, especially when they’re going to go directly on our skin.
Step one for your natural summer beauty regime is to avoid toxic, chemical-laden sunscreen. Instead go for a natural, preferably organic one.
Check that it has a broad spectrum (UVA/UVB) coverage and an SPF of at least 15.
When looking at the SPF number on a bottle of sunscreen, look at it as a measure of time. If your skin would typically burn after 10 minutes in the sun, a sunscreen with SPF 15 should allow you to stay in the sun 15 times longer (150 minutes) before your skin starts to burn.
Look out for Titanium Dioxide and Zinc oxide combined. These are minerals that provide broad-spectrum UVA and UVB protection and deflect rays before reaching the body. Apply sunscreen 30 minutes before any sun exposure and reapply often.
Check out my previous blog: 5 Ways to Prep (and Pamper!) Your Skin for Sun for more info on skin sun protection.
Recommended products:
Green People’s fragrance-free SPF30 sun lotion
This is a great product to protect your skin naturally from UVA and gives up to 97% protection from UVB radiation. The formula is rich in antioxidants helping to protect against cell damage.
It’s even water-resistant due to the non-pore clogging beeswax used in the product. I also love this product because it’s great for my sensitive skin as well as being scent-free.
Pai British Summer Time Sensitive Sunscreen Spf30
This one is a new kid on the block, and you can’t get much more natural than this. A certified natural SPF 30 daily facial sunscreen that is suitable for rosacea & eczema-prone skin.
It has a broad-spectrum UVA and UVB protection and uses zinc oxide to protect from light rays. This non-greasy formula absorbs really well and is suitable for sensitive skin.
- Mineral & plant formula to protect & repair skin
- Non-irritating, non-nano zinc oxide
- Non-greasy for easy makeup application on top
- Blue-light & Infra-Red protection too
- Reef-friendly formula
- 100% safe and non-toxic to marine life.
No. 2 – Facial Oils and Serums
Step two in your new summer beauty regime is nourishing your skin with an antioxidant-rich serum/face oil.
When our skin is exposed to ultraviolet rays (UV), these rays can activate free radicals in the skin and cause accelerated ageing, sunburn and may over time lead to skin cancer.
Sun exposure can also cause our skin to dry out leading to flaky dehydrated skin. That’s why we need to take care of our skin.
In case you’re interested to know more, I cover more about this in my previous blog: Prepping your Skin for Summer with Kinvara Skincare.
Recommended products:
Trilogy Rosehip Oil
Rosehip oil is a pure plant oil which has been extracted from the seeds of wild rosehips growing on rosehip bushes. It is renowned for its skin healing properties and its ability to help repair and protect the skin.
Rosehip oil is also suitable for all skin types, so no matter if your skin is dry, sensitive or oily, you can use it! Have a read more about the benefits of rosehip oil here: What’s the scoop on: Rosehip Oil
Also worth trying are:
No. 3 – Source of Life Gold
Step three of your beauty regime is protection from the inside out. There are many ways to improve your skin’s UV resistance, and what you eat is one of them. What we put in our mouths can have a massive impact on how our skin handles the sun.
Actually eating certain fruits and veggies gives our bodies the raw materials to build its own sun protection, from the inside out. See our blog Foods to Naturally Increase Your Skin’s UV Resistance here.
Source of Life Liquid gold
This natural product is a whole-food-based multivitamin supplement with a tropical fruit flavour. It contains more than 120 fruits and vegetables, prebiotic complex and omega fatty acids.
Source of Life gold is an easy and delicious way to provide your body with an enormous amount of antioxidants daily. While not a substitute for topical sunscreen, the combination of both non-chemical sunscreen and an antioxidant-rich diet is key for summer skin protection. Throw in plenty of fruits and vegetables, high-quality fats, proteins and lots of pure water and you’ll be set!
No. 4 – Chaga Mushroom
Step four of your beauty regime may come as a bit of a surprise. We’re talking mushrooms.
Chaga is a mushroom that grows on birch trees in cold environments, like Siberia, North Korea, Canada and the USA.
This powerful mushroom has been used for hundreds of years in traditional and folk medicine, and for good reason!
Chaga is packed full of melanin, the pigment that provides colour to the skin, and provides a shield against harmful UV rays. It’s actually where chaga gets its distinctive dark colour from, which also happens to be the main pigment present in our skin.
Because chaga provides this pigment naturally, it is thought to be a very valuable source for helping to:
- protect the skin against sun damage
- diminish the size of age spots
- give the skin a healthy glow
- work as a powerful anti-ageing supplement
- promote cell regeneration and revitalization for skin and hair
Chaga is also an incredible source of antioxidants – top of the scoring board to be exact. Antioxidants are compounds found in food that stop or delay damage to the cells caused by oxidants. These oxidants are free radicals found in the environment, with sun exposure being a big one.
Gram for gram, chaga contains the highest antioxidant level of any natural foods, surpassing acai berries, cacao, goji berries and turmeric (cucurmin.) Learn more about chaga mushroom here on What’s the Scoop on: Chaga.
Recommended Product:
Four Sigmatic Chaga Elixir
To ensure you are able to get the most out of this mushroom, Four Sigmatic dual-extract their mushrooms. This means that all of the active water- and fat-soluble components have been made to be more bioavailable with boiling water and alcohol, respectively.
No. 5 – Natural Conditioner
Sun exposure can really weaken and damage hair, especially if it’s on top of daily blow-drying and styling.
To support your hairs natural health, grab yourself some natural hair products that don’t contain any nasties. Chemical ingredients and additives like parabens, preservatives, sulphates, artificial fragrance and dyes (to name a few) are no friend to your lovely locks.
These chemical-ridden products can cause all matter of irritation to the scalp (we’re talking dermatitis, psoriasis, or eczema ) and even damage to your hair over time.
And don’t forget how absorbent your skin is. You can actually absorb these chemicals into your skin via your scalp, increasing your exposure to hormone disruptors and toxic build-up. You only have to see how nicotine patches work to see how easily your skin absorbs things into the body.
As everybody’s hair is different, I advise trying out different products and companies to find the right ones for your hair. We have plenty to try out in our Nourish store’s so you’ll be sure to find one that suits you.
Recommended products:
- Faith in Nature Avocado Conditioner
- Faith in Nature Coconut Conditioner
- Jason Long & Strong Jojoba Conditioner
- Green PeopleOrganic Repair Conditioner
Emily Nöth
Any questions? Drop into your local Nourish store to chat with our expert team and explore our full range of foods, supplements and skincare. You can also find our full product range in our online store.
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*Please note that while we are knowledgeable about our products and nutrition, this blog should never be a substitute for medical advice and attention.
Please remember that you should always obtain the all-clear from your doctor before starting any new supplement plan or diet if you’re on any medication
