My All-Natural Tips on How to Achieve That Perfect Glow!

Hello again, my beauties!

I hope you all are thoroughly soaking up the last few weeks of summer! I have certainly been spending plenty of time basking in the suns rays!

Today's post is all about my favorite healthy and all-natural tips for helping to maintain beautiful, glowing skin throughout the summer months. Sometimes, the elements of summer (i.e., sweat, excessive heat and humidity, air conditioning), can cause our skin to get out of whack! I'd like to share a few tips on how to keep your beautiful skin using all-natural remedies!


One of my favorite ways to keep my skin hydrated, nourished, and looking radiant and healthy is lemon water! 

Drinking water in general is INCREDIBLY important for our bodies, but adding lemon provides an even bigger boost of benefits! Vitamins C and B, more vitamins, fiber, iron, calcium, and so much more! Not to mention, the benefits of water. Keeping your body nourished will give your skin a brighter complexion, even out your skin tone, and keep your skin hydrated and naturally moisturized. 

Lemon water reduces inflammation, the antioxidants in lemon water keep your skin blemish- free, and reduces wrinkles, as well as diminishing age spots and scarring! Lemon water is perfect to maintain your skins radiance!

Honey Masks!

I've talked about honey masks in the past (full in-depth post HERE ) but I will share a summary of why honey is SO beneficial to the skin.

Yes, I mean raw honey that comes in the little bear-shaped tube that you use for baking, or to put into your tea, etc. etc. There are so, so, so many skincare benefits of honey, it does absolute wonders. It's important to note, when purchasing your honey, make sure you're purchasing "raw", "natural", "pure", or "organic" honey to ensure that it's in its most natural form. 

First, let's talk about why raw honey is so amazing for skincare.

• It is full of antioxidants, making it a secret agent in fighting aging. 
• Honey is EXTREMELY moisturizing and soothing, giving your skin a beautiful glow.
• It unclogs pores!

Here are my favorite benefits of honey:

It's a natural antibacterial, therefore, it's amazing for treating acne, as well as preventing it. 

It protects against skin damage. 

Promotes wound healing.

After cleansing your skin and drying, take a generous amount of honey in the palm of your hand, and simply apply it as you would a mask all over your face. You will look extremely weird, but it's very worth it. 

The amount of time you leave the mask on varies depending on the severity of your skin. If you just want a quick mask, leave it on for about 15 minutes, a little more: 20 minutes, if your skin is in really bad shape: an hour. 

I normally leave my mask on for an hour, sometimes more if I get caught up doing things. After an hour, I simply wash it off and all of my redness, inflammation, and irritation is absolutely GONE. It's amazing how quickly your skin clears up within just an hour. 

I did some research, because I'm always interested in the ways what we put inside our bodies helps how we look on the outside, and I found some of the most beneficial fruits and veggies to add to your diet for glowing skin! 

• Apples: Apples have a huge amount of vitamin C, which keeps your skin firm and gives it an inner radiance. Apples also prevent free-radical damage which causes premature skin aging. You can receive these benefits by simply eating an apple a day! You know, the old saying, "an apple a day..." haha. You can even apply the juice of an apple to your face as a sort of mask! Just wash it off with water in 10 minutes. 

• Carrots: Carrots are high in beta carotene which our bodies turn into vitamin A. Not only does the vitamin A give your skin a beautiful natural glow, but it also helps fight wrinkles, and improves your skins clarity! Just add some carrots to your diet! I love to snack on carrots and organic hummus every day. Or add some carrots to your cooking. I'll have a link below where you can find amazing, natural recipes to incorporate all of these healthy fruits and veggies! 

• Strawberries: Strawberries have a strong presence of malic acid, making them a natural whitening agent. Did you know that strawberries help to whiten teeth? Yep! That's right! The huge amount of antioxidants in strawberries give you a healthy glow from within! I like to snack on some strawberries with a little dash of sugar. You can add strawberries to a salad, yogurt, smoothies, cereal, etc. You can find recipies for some amazing smoothies, cereals, yummy desserts, and more that incorporate strawberries by clicking HERE !!

• Tomatoes: Tomatoes are rich in an important antioxidant called Lycopene. This antioxidant has anti-aging properties within! Also, due to tomatoes being naturally acidic, they work to tighten pores and prevent pimples! Eat them raw, add them to a yummy salad, a delicious dinner, or apply the pulp directly to your face and wash it off after 10 minutes! I love adding tomatoes to salad. I also love making a tomato salad by simply cutting up some tomatoes, add some basil and spices of your choosing, throw in some fresh mozzarella, and add some balsamic vinaigrette! Serve cold. I also LOVE this recipe by Aloha.com for a delicious vegan pizza that incorporates tomatoes, and another fav of mine, avocados. https://aloha.com/shop/recipes/meals/best-healthy-vegan-pizza

Another way to achieve a beautiful glow with amazing benefits for the skin, is my tried and true, all-natural skin bff, Josie Maran's 100% pure Argan Oil! 

The list of benefits from this one organic product is as endless as its list of uses. Not only do you apply this to your skin, hair, nails, etc., but you can even incorporate it in your foods as well! Add a few drops of Argan Oil to a smoothie, a meal you're cooking, a salad, and take in all those benefits! 

I have written an entire post dedicated to all the benefits of Josie Maran's Argan Oil, which I will link right HERE for you all to read in-depth, but for a simple summary of Argan Oil... 

What makes Josie Maran Cosmetics Argan oil so different from other brands claiming to have pure Argan oil, is that everything is done by hand and naturally. Each seed is cold pressed, by hand, between two rocks by women in Morocco. Cool, or what? It's so important to state that the seeds are cold pressed to extract the oil because by cold pressing, you are not ridding the oil of any essential nutrients. By pressing the seeds with heat, like many companies do due to the cheapness and quickness of the task in factories, you are eliminating the pure essential nutrients of the oil itself. 

So what are some of the benefits of Argan oil? Specifically, Josie Maran Cosmetics Argan oil? 

Argan oil is essentially a lightweight oil that deeply hydrates and nourishes the skin; providing the skin with essential fatty acids, Vitamin E, and enzymes that it needs, but our bodies don't produce. It heals, conditions, and hydrates the skin with anti-aging properties that help fight wrinkles. Argan oil absorbs quickly, deep into the skin, making it a beneficial moisturizer, leaving you with dewy skin throughout the day.

Josie Maran Cosmetics 100% Pure Argan Oil contains NO Parabens, Sulfates, or Phthalates.

Argan oil actually helps to balance out your skin. Your skin stops producing excess amounts of oil because it is receiving oil more frequently. It's perfectly safe to use in the summer, and all year round! Now, you're still going to be oily, that's just your natural skin type, but you will notice a significant decrease in oil production. Argan oil will not make you break out. In fact, it will help your breakouts heal. Any dry patches, red patches, acne scars: This product will help you rid your face of them all! Talk about a life-savor! 

With these all-natural skin superhero's, your skin is going to be as radiant as the sun throughout the summer! Not only will you have a beautifully radiant glow, but the benefits that you will feel within due to the benefits of the super foods will be so empowering! I always feel so healthy, full of energy, and my strongest, when I eat clean! 

Remember, look up some AMAZING recipes including the fruits and veggies I mentioned above, as well as a bundle of other amazing recipes over at Aloha.com! Aloha is dedicated to making health simple, fun, and accessible through honesty, simplicity, and quality! You can learn more about Aloha at their website which I will link for you: HERE

Thank you all so much for reading, and I look forward to sharing more beauty tips, products, and finds with you very soon! 

Until then, stay beautiful,

Christina Bracco

xoxoxoxo

For PR inquiries, questions, comments, suggestions, please email: Christina.f.b@aol.com, or please fill out a Contact Form in the sidebar. Thank you.

INSTAGRAM <---- CLICK AND FOLLOW ME HERE!!

TWITTER <----- CLICK AND FOLLOW ME HERE!!

Skincare Favorite: Mario Badescu Cucumber Cleansing Lotion!

Welcome back, beauties!

Spending an awful lot of time in the sun/heat during the summer months, or all year round, we know the effects the sun can have on our skin.

Dark spots, freckles, breakouts, burns, dryness, excess oil; it can get our skin real cray cray!

That's why, I wanted to focus today's post about a skincare product that has really been helping my skin to stay calm, cool, and clear during the summer.

I'll admit, up until recently, I was not using a toner in my skincare routine. I have heard countless times how important a toner is for balancing your skin, but I never wanted to use one because I felt they'd be too harsh for my sensitive skin, cause breakouts, and/or dry me out.

Finally, after reading reviews, watching beauty vloggers, and doing research, I decided to purchase the Mario Badescu Cucumber Cleansing Lotion. AMAZING.

First off, let's talk about the fact that it's a toner, but the name refers to it as a "cleanser." 9 times out of 10, if a skincare product has the name "lotion" in it, but it is in pure liquid form, it's a toner. Don't get confused!

So what is this toner made to do? 
This toner disinfects and rids the skin of any pore-clogging bacteria, excess oil, and residue that may be lurking-perfect to prevent breakouts and protect any open wounds for a weak moment of picking (DON'T DO IT, BEAUTIES!).

It's just 4% alcohol, and soothing cucumber extract astringent.

This product is AMAZING! I've mentioned countless times, I have extremely sensitive skin. This product states that it is intended for normal to dry skin, however, it is INCREDIBLY sensitive and soothing and leaves my skin feeling incredibly refreshed with no negative side effects. 

I use this once a day, at night, after I cleanse my skin with my Philosophy Purity One Step Facial Cleanser and Clarisonic. Pat your face dry after cleansing your skin, and then take a little cotton ball and gently swipe it all over your face and down your neck. I personally feel using a toner twice a day is way too much for your skin, you don't want to strip the skin of its natural oils. Just like cleansing, toning once a day is enough to get the job done.

And can we talk about the price?

I really love Mario Badescu products because they're SO high quality, and work amazingly well, but compared to other skincare products out there, they're way more wallet friendly.

Just $26.00 for a 16 oz bottle. Try to find that deal for a toner in Sephora! 

Pick this up! You won't regret it. I promise. Would I lie to you, my loves? It's really transformed my skin.

I'm thinking of doing a whole skincare routine post. How do we feel about this? Take to Twitter or Instagram and let me know. And let me know some of your fav skincare products. I'm trying to find a good brightening serum because I think the FAB one I'm using has been discontinued. Wah! Let me know! (Links to both my Twitter and Instagram below!)

Until next time, stay beautiful.
Christina Bracco
xoxoxoxo

For PR inquiries, questions, comments, suggestions, please email: Christina.f.b@aol.com, or please fill out a Contact Form in the sidebar. Thank you. 

INSTAGRAM  <---- CLICK AND FOLLOW ME HERE!! 

TWITTER <----- CLICK AND FOLLOW ME HERE!!

Now, I'm on Pinterest! https://www.pinterest.com/ChrissyBracco/