If your skin needs a boost of radiance, try this detox for clear skin!

If you’ve been around here lately, you know that I’ve been into all things skin lately. For years I’ve struggled with breakouts and oily skin and it’s done a number on my confidence and self-esteem. I mean, I’m in my 30s, shouldn’t I have outgrown this by now?!

After visiting the functional medicine doctor and making some big changes to my diet, the products I use on my skin and my lifestyle, I’m finally seeing amazing results. My skin cleared and continues to look better every day! I eat more foods that are good for my skin and avoid skin care products that have any of these 8 toxic ingredients.

How To Know If Your Skin Needs A Detox

This is actually easier than you’d think. If everything is functioning properly in our bodies, we shouldn’t have any outward signs of inflammation or irritation like breakouts, redness, excess oil, discoloration, eye bags, puffiness or general dullness.

Our skin is our body’s largest organ and any internal issues are directly reflected through our skin. The healthier you are on the inside, the healthier you are on the outside!

If you’ve been dealing with chronic skin problems, it’s probably take a more serious look at your health to uncover what’s happening inside to cause these problems. For the longest time, I assumed that breakouts and acne were caused solely by genetic or personal hygiene, but I now know that couldn’t be further from the truth!

Detox for Clear Skin

We’d all love it if detoxing our skin was as simple as throwing on a face mask, but it’s pretty clear that our skin health starts internally. If you want to truly heal your skin or just make it as beautiful as possible, you’ve got to start with what you’re putting in your body.

Think of your body as a car. If you only put in the cheapest gasoline, eventually, you’re going to get build-up that leads to bigger issues. But, if you’re filling it with only the best, it’s going to perform at it’s best!

Whenever I need a major skin detox. I start with what I’m putting in my body. I usually notice that I breakout when I have a busy week and we order more takeout than normal, go out for drinks more than, get less sleep or simply fall off track. I also counteract it from the outside with healing and calming products, but you can’t just do one or the other.

Support your Liver

Our livers are super important in detoxing our skin as they’re responsible for removing toxins from our body. Eating foods that boost our liver function and help it to detoxify will only speed up your skin’s recovery. Foods that are high in healthy fats like omega-3 fatty acids like avocado, walnuts, olive oil, cod liver oil are great. Cilantro and parsley are also great herbs to add to your diet for liver detoxification.

It Starts with Diet

I talk so much on here about how important our diets are to our overall health. Fueling our bodies with nutrient-dense foods that help boost our bodies natural detoxification systems is essential. I shared the best foods to eat for healthy skin here, and always make sure I’m filling up on lots of veggies and leafy greens.

It’s also important to make sure you’re cutting out the junk. Avoid all processed, junk, and fried foods as well as refined sugars. When I notice that my skin is particularly inflamed, I also limit my carb and gluten intake. I’m not allergic to them, but I do notice that I feel better when I don’t et as much of them.

Another big tip for skin health, is taking Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides every day. I get so many questions on whether or not this stuff works, and the answer is YES! It’s also really good for gut health, and if your gut is healthy, your skin will look better. I either mix it into my coffee or switch it up with their Collagen Matcha and make an easy matcha latte!

Water

I can’t stress this one enough! Drink water, lots of water! This is key in detoxing your skin! If you’re not sure where to start, take your body weight, divide it in two and drink that many ounces of water. Personally, I aim for 96 ounces of water each day. If drinking water is hard for you, try adding citrus to it. Not only is that beneficial to your liver’s health, it tastes good!

I like to start each morning with a glass of warm water with apple cider vinegar. It acts as a probiotic and helps improve digestion and wakes you up more naturally. When you’re detoxing your skin, avoid alcohol and caffeine consumption (or at least limit it to one) as that can contribute to dehydration.

Skincare

Deeply cleansing your skin is important when detoxing. It speeds up the process and helps to remove any buildup from the outside. I love washing my face with an oil cleanser at night as this is the deepest clean you can get. Plus, cleansing your face this way feels like a spa experience! Before you cleanse, always remove your makeup. I love this eye makeup remover and this cleansing balm.

Once my skin is clean, applying a face mask is a great way to get a really good deep clean. Clay masks do a great job of deeply cleaning your pores and a charcoal mask is great for balancing oily, breakout-prone skin.

I also love doing a Resurfacing Peel to slough off dead skin cells and encourage new growth. Peels can be strong, especially if you’re not used to using them, so start by using 2-4 times per week. Be sure to not use any products that are too harsh, those can irritate your skin can cause more damage than good!

For the rest of your body, dry brushing is an excellent way of detoxifying. Plus, it leaves your skin feeling so much softer and smoother. It provides amazing exfoliation for your whole body and has a whole host of other benefits as well!

Makeup

If you can, avoid wearing makeup while detoxing your skin. When I’m home with Owen, I try to not wear makeup, just SPF. If you need to wear makeup, go light and use safe products that are free of toxic ingredients. A simple routine could be this Dew Skin Tinted Moisturizer, blush, mascara and this lipstick. You’ll still look put together, but it’s very light!

Detoxifying Teas & Supplements

Sipping on green tea an warming teas that have flavors like anise, turmeric, ginger and cinnamon are great for detoxification. If you can add those spices to your meals too, do it! Turmeric and ginger are both very anti-inflammatory.

As far as supplements go, I highly suggest adding a probiotic to your daily routine. Our gut health is also known as our second brain and when our gut health is out of whack, it often results in skin issues. Probiotics can add the healthy bacteria back to your digestive tract and make it easier to digest your food properly. You can also add probiotic foods to your diet like Bubbie’s fermented pickles, kombucha, yogurt, sauerkraut and kimchi.

Essential Oil

Tea tree oil is great for detoxifying. You can actually mix a few drops of tea tree oil with a neutral oil like jojoba to make a face serum. I like to diffuse this in our house though. It helps keep the air clean and the scent keeps me calm.

Peppermint, eucalyptus, lemongrass, lavender and orange are all great for detoxification. In the morning, I love diffusing lemongrass, eucalyptus or orange as those scents help wake me up. I love lavender or peppermint at night because they’re so calming and make falling to sleep easier.

Skin Detox Tips

I highly recommend you employ all of the above things to your life when working to detox and clear your skin. A few other things I love to do to boost skin detoxification are:

• turn the shower from hot to cold, this helps push out toxins from the pores
• sit in the steam room—opens pores, just make sure your skin is clean before you go in!
• hot yoga—my skin always looks clear after I leave, just make sure you’re not wearing any makeup
• wash your face after exercise—you don’t want all that sweat and gunk sitting on your face
• avoid touching your face—I’m so bad at this, but the less I touch my face, the less I breakout
• clean your phone screen—bacteria can sit on our phones and get transferred to our faces

When I’m diligent about doing these things and maintaining a healthy skincare routine afterwards, before I know it, my skin cleared! What tips do you have for detoxing your skin?

BTW, 4 reasons why you should switch to a natural deodorant, and is microneedling worth the hype?