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5.19.15

It doesn’t take much to sell us on the all-natural, whole food “beauty powders.” The line between wellness and beauty is thinner than ever and we couldn’t be happier about it. Beauty brands are thinking more about overall wellness, wellness brands are thinking more about all-natural beauty and the whole thing is resulting in more of us looking a whole lot more gorgeous!

Carla Oates is the lovely lady behind one of our favorite beauty-slash-wellness brands of late, The Beauty Chef. Her products, like Glow inner beauty powder, nourish the body with fermented superfoods that cleanse and balance in a way that ultimately results in glowier skin.

Carla’s responses to our Green Goddess Guide are fantastic. She reiterates the importance of digestion for all kinds of health and beauty concerns (something we’re talking about a lot this week,) sings the praises of dry brushing, and offers up a killer DIY that we can’t wait to whip up ourselves…

In a pinch, I…

Whip up a green smoothie! I could write a book about why green smoothies are great for your body, especially when detoxing. I’d recommend a blender like the Vitamix, which gives you a concentrated nutrient hit with all the cleansing fiber of the fruit and veggies. Fiber is great for helping to clear out the digestive system and bowels while also feeding beneficial bacteria in the gut, and, as I always say, beauty begins in the belly.

Can't travel without…

My Dream Repair Serum – it gives my skin a velvety glow! This serum contains 18 powerful ingredients, demonstrating a very high level of antioxidant cellular repair. The unique bio-synergistic blending process blends ingredients to create a super-charged formula, rich in antioxidants to repair and rejuvenate skin cells during the sleep cycle.

Beauty tool:

One of the key reasons your skin appears dull and lifeless is because it’s covered in makeup, grime and sweat. Seriously. Think about how many products you pack on your skin daily, then think about external factors like pollution, grime and dirt and sweat and what they’re doing to your complexion. While cleansing will remove some of the dirt, the best way to really give your skin a deep clean and lift away these dulling agents is with an oscillating cleansing brush. Not only will it give your skin a 30% improvement in cleansing, but the super fancy new Clarisonic Aria will also improve tone and texture, so you’re gleaming all day long. It has three speeds and works wonders on your complexion. If you’re tossing up whether to get one or not, here’s my advice: Do it!

Always in my evening clutch:

For a quick fix, I use a little of my Dream Repair Serum in my hair (massage it into the ends) for a burst of shine. It keeps the hair luminous while I’m out and also helps balance the pH of the scalp. 

Weirdest beauty habit:

Using a water purifier for my skin and wellbeing. Our InnerBeauty water purifier gives you clean, smooth tasting water to hydrate your skin and body. As we are made up of around 70% water, the quality of the water we replenish with daily is vital for radiant skin and wellbeing. It helps remove chemicals, allergens and impurities and is portable for great tasting water at all times!

In the shower I keep…

A dry body brush. Dry body brushing with a natural-bristle brush will help exfoliate dead skin cells, reduce cellulite and help drain the lymphatic system of toxins. Starting at your toes, brush your skin using long strokes towards your heart. Do this three times a week for glowing skin.

On my bedside table…

Our Beauty Fix Balm. The heavenly coconut scent makes it impossible to resist plunging a finger in and slathering this balm on lips (and hands and feet and elbows and knees and anywhere dry). Seriously yum! Its key ingredient is fermented coconut water, which is rich in electrolytes, vitamins and minerals and which does something super clever – it transforms the amino acids from the grains and seeds (quinoa, brown rice, millet, linseed…) into smaller peptides, which helps your complexion better absorb the skin-smoothing nutrients. Best of all, the fermented ingredients act like a natural preservative system. Genius!

Once a month I…

 Treat myself to a homemade body scrub. See the recipe below. Grapefruit essential oil detoxifies the skin and decongests areas of the thighs and buttocks (just be careful in the shower, as oil can make the recess very slippery!) Coffee and cocoa promote toxin removal.

After a long night or rough weekend, I…

Take a luxurious bath! Whether a full bath or foot bath, add epsom salts to your water, as they’re rich in detoxifying sulfur and relaxing magnesium and promote detoxification. 

On little sleep I rely on…

The Beauty Fix Balm. This coconut-infused balm is rich in electrolytes, vitamins and minerals— it soothes inflamed, irritated skin and hydrates and re-texturizes tired skin, restoring lipid balance. Dab a little balm around your eyes and cheeks for a dewy, refreshed look. It’s a do-everything skin fix! 

The product that changed my skin…

Our Inner Beauty Powders – Glow, Detox and Body! These powders are unique, powerful, formulas created to support your health and beauty daily. We reject the ‘external’ focus of the modern beauty industry, and instead advocate a more internal, grassroots approach to skin health. The 100% natural, certified-organic ingredients in our powders are supercharged through our unique Flora Culture bio-fermentation process, which unlocks nutrients and magnifies their benefits. We carefully select natural and certified organic ingredients to nourish and enhance the skin from the inside so your skin has a healthy glow on the outside. They’re rich in biologically enhanced ingredients that work in synergy to keep the flora of the skin in balance and its cellular life flourishing. We believe that with the help of our powders, natural beauty can be lived from the inside out.

For glowing skin…

If you want more radiant and glowing skin, you might be surprised to know that the answer lies more in your digestive tract rather than on how much you’re spending on creams and cleansers. Our digestive tract has a somewhat permeable lining, but when that lining becomes more permeable than it should (also called “leaky gut”), food particles can slip thru and our immune system sees those as foreign substances. This leads to an inflammatory response in the body, and one of the main effects we see is skin disturbance, such as eczema, acne, and dermatitis. When we restore healthy digestion, our skin can revitalize. The fermentation process and probiotics found in our Glow Powder work together to get the digestive system back on track. Fermented foods promote better digestive health, leading to greater absorption of nutrients and improved liver. Probiotics are billions of good bacteria to keep the digestive system healthy and boost the immune system of the body and skin.

Most treasured beauty tip…

The first step to healthy, radiant skin is balancing digestive health. If you think about a garden, the soil is like our gut. The soil needs the right nutrient levels and bacterial balance to support the plants and for them to be strong, their leaves robust and their flowers to blossom. For our skin to be strong and lustrous and radiant, we also need the right bacterial and nutrient balance in our gut. It takes time for our digestive track to balance out. A healthy lifestyle can go a long way in improving your general health and skin.

My go-to DIY:

We should all treat our skin to a face mask. A DIY face mask is great for decongesting the skin and helping to bring back your natural radiance. I love a lemon, green tea and papaya enzyme face mask, as it’s rich in skin-refining enzymes, alpha-hydroxy acids, vitamins and anti-oxidants – guaranteed to bring the rosiness back to your cheeks. One of my other faves is an herbal oat cleansing scrub, a beautifully gentle natural recipe.

DIY Grapefruit Body Scrub

Ingredients:

1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of coconut oil.
20 drops of grapefruit essential oil*

*For a more stimulating scrub, replace grapefruit oil with 2 tablespoons ground coffee and 2 tablespoons of organic cocoa.

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients together well and store in an airtight jar. This should last up to a couple of months outside of the fridge. To use, massage about 2 tablespoons of mix onto wet skin on the buttocks and thighs.

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Comments


  1. Would love to hear how often Carla uses her Clairisonic. I’ve heard so many good things about them, but my skin is so sensitive–I worry about overdoing it.


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