Keep your skin beautiful with these 10 easy tips

 

We all love to get outdoors and experience the change in the seasons, but your skin can take an awful battering in the process. This is the time for dry skin, flaking, cracking and even eczema*. We all know the extremes in temperature from cold outdoors to central heated indoors isn’t a great mix for healthy skin, so what can you do?

1.  MOISTURISE

It can’t be said enough; moisturise my dears, don’t attempt to go anywhere without a decent moisturiser, preferably natural, without any chemicals that will further harm your skin in its delicate state. ANU Face moisturiser contains blackberry seed oil, a topical vitamin C element and carrot seed oil, both of which are natural antioxidants and collagen boosting.

2. MOISTURISE MORE!

It helps to up your game at night, when the skin is most receptive to healing. If you’re not already doing so, get yourself a decent oil based moisturiser to put on last thing on clean skin. ANU Night is an oil based balm with lavender essential oil (so it also aids blissful sleep) and the combination of natural ingredients, including Irish Moss seaweed helps repair and rejuvenate skin while you dream. We guarantee you will notice the difference in the morning.

3. GLOW CAREFULLY

The glow is beautiful; we all want pink cheeks after our fresh faced walk but go gently when you come indoors. Do your best to avoid extremes of heat including water; try washing your face with lukewarm water. Our soaps are cold processed so they won’t dry out your skin either; try our fragrance free soap (a winner in Woman’s Way Ageless Beauty Award this year).

4. PROTECT

The sun is damaging our skin even in winter and even through windows on a bright sunny day. We don’t have an SPF in any of our products because that would mean adding chemicals in order to keep the balance and high quality of our product, but we do recommend you use one over your moisturiser. Sometimes we can’t avoid chemicals, but it’s best to keep them to a minimum.

5. HYDRATE

We tend to drink less water in the colder months so why not replace the odd coffee for herbal tea? There are some amazing blends of herbal teas that not only taste good but are beneficial too. Try something with nettle in it to help eliminate toxins.

6. EXFOLIATE

But gently does it girls; treat your skin with respect and opt for gentle natural exfoliators. Our Teen Soap with oatmeal and French Green Clay is ideal as it clears toxins while exfoliating; also try ANU Day with citrus fragrances and poppy seeds.

7. AVOID THE HARSH STUFF

No matter what your regime has been over the months, winter is the time to cut back on harsh chemical cleansers. Hot Cloth Cleansers are ideal because they deeply cleanse and draw out dirt and toxins, while giving further moisturizing treatment.  ANU Clean Cleansing Balm will do all this and remove makeup, including even stubborn eye makeup. Contrary to what some might think, an oily cleanser will not give you spots – it will prevent them.

8. KISS MORE!

At least, you will be able to kiss and pout for selfies as much as you like if you keep your lips moisturized. We’ve been told our ANU Lip Balms are amongst the best on the market. Just sayin’.

9. EAT RIGHT

Stuff you know: less sugar, more veggies, especially watery vegetables like carrots and cucumbers. Put them in a juice if you don’t fancy them cold and raw. Get your five a day and make sure you include plenty of the following foods:

Salmon, watercress, spinach, avocado, hazelnuts, almonds, pine nuts and sunflower seeds.

Get enough selenium in your diet; you need it because it’s an antioxidant, it works alongside vitamins E and C so vital for skin health and it’s much needed for a strong immune system. Studies have found a diet rich in selenium protects against skin cancer, sun damage and age spots.

JUST 2-4 BRAZIL NUTS A DAY GIVES YOU ALL THE SELENIUM YOU NEED

10. ZINC

This essential trace element doesn’t just fight colds; Zinc is needed because it repairs skin damage, aids growth and hormone production, strengthens the immune system, facilitates digestion, fights free radical damage and slows down the ageing process. Not only that, but it’s an anti inflammatory agent that helps battle chronic disease. If you bite or suck your nails you might be deficient, but other signs include skin problems such as acne and rashes, a poor appetite, depression, lethargy and cuts and wounds that are slow to heal. Vegans and vegetarians must take a supplement as they won’t absorb enough from a meatless diet.

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Have the skin of a goddess all year round

• If you’re experiencing serious problems, go to your dermatologist; the above guidelines will keep skin healthy and improve mild skin issues, but flare ups of acne, eczema or psoriasis need to be seen by your doctor.

 

Recent studies (mostly conducted by skincare companies) seem to indicate that we look five years older at the end of the day due to fatigue and stress. I would add to that, the disappointment of promises made first thing in the morning to the mirror and broken by lunchtime  (nothing serious, just the odd bit of chocolate. Although I am pretty serious about my chocolate!) Plus, when we’re exhausted, few of us care how we look; I know I just go ahead and rub my tired, mascara bleary eyes and I wear my wild hair like a trophy when I come home, as a sort of sign to my family that I did the most work today.

Is that the rub? Particularly as women, do we own the pain too much (she sighs as she kicks off her shoes and notices the dirty dishes still there since breakfast, while she heads towards the laundry room); I want them to see me looking exhausted, I’ll admit it.

But there must be a hundred other reasons why we look older in the evenings; make up worn off, the day is done, that sense of get up and go no longer exists, and thoughts turn to ways to wind down and relax. Perhaps we are supposed to look older at the end of the day. I’ve no problem with that, but I certainly don’t want to carry those five years with me onto the next new day.

So look after yourselves at the end of the day; know how to rest. Maybe the dishes can wait, maybe someone can be bribed to put on a wash. Eat a light and healthy dinner (salmon is excellent for good skin health), have a glass of wine or a cup of herbal tea, turn off the phone, apply your ANU Night Balm and allow your body to absorb the benefits while you sleep. Wake up, renewed and refreshed, looking five years younger!

“Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness.
In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman
Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.”

From Mirror by Sylvia Plath
That’s one way of looking at ageing I guess; although Sylvia Plath’s beautiful sad poem, told from the point of view of the mirror, makes it all seem hopeless, we’d like to encourage you to see growing older in a more positive light. For a start – girl; there ain’t nothing you can do about it. It happens because it is as natural as breathing. Everything grows, everything ages and while a new seed brings delightful joy, it is when it becomes a magnificent plant that we really stand back and admire it. Focus on your eyes the next time you look in the mirror; with a knowing smile, remind yourself of the things you’ve seen, the secrets you are guardian of; the pleasures, the knowledge, the pain you carry, the moments that made it worthwhile. Wouldn’t it be disturbing if your face didn’t reflect back to you all of those carefully gathered experiences?

Think of the faces of the ones you love. Are they all super models? Can you love your sister before she’s had a chance to put her eyebrows on? My eye wanders over these faces, admiring not so much clear complexions but a crooked smile, an overlapping tooth, the mix of blues and greys of the eyes, a dimple, a furrowed brow that reminds you why you love this concerned human.

I’m not saying you should let yourself go; like anything we grow, we want it to look the best it can, because that reflects the true health of it. You wouldn’t put a bow on a sad looking plant, you’d water it or feed the soil or re-pot it – all the better to accommodate its growth. It’s alright to want to nourish and rejuvenate your skin too, and perhaps this is the real reason that the word ‘antioxidant’ gets our attention. Oxidising suggests the end of the cycle of growth and like any living thing on this planet, we are designed to want to survive for as long as possible. Getting older is perfectly natural; getting old is another thing altogether.

I know there’s some of you that can’t get your head around the idea of cleansing with an oily balm and that’s understandable; we equate oiliness with dirt, clogged pores and spotty skin. Aye, but there’s the rub (or not, in the case of a gentle balm) – the oils in a balm bind with your skin’s natural oils and get serious about lifting away the dirt and impurities that have built up over the day.

Other cleansers can be harsh, leaving your lovely face feeling thirsty and dry (literally, stripped of the natural oils you need for healthy skin). Such cleansers are banished here at ANU headquarters and facial wipes are a bit of a dirty word (even if some teenage goddesses think their skin is invincible, sigh) Using a balm not only makes sense for good skin health in the long term, maintaining the skin’s natural oil content, but many have the added benefit of antioxidant and collagen boosting properties. ANU cleansing balm includes castor oil and carrageen Irish moss seaweed – both of which deserve a dedicated blog of their own such are the benefits; I’m talking healing, deep cleansing, anti ageing, moisturising, not to mention aiding acne prone and sensitive skin. They even help reduce pigmentation.

Think of your cleansing balm as a make up remover, cleanser and deep moisturiser all in one. Sure, a make-up wipe is quick, but it’s not effective. This is your face we’re talking about. Get it as clean as possible before you go to sleep and your body starts its regenerative process. Using a cleansing balm is a must for any goddess serious about natural beauty.

ANU Cleansing Balm is easy to use: Massage the balm into your face – even the act of massaging aids rejuvenation – and wipe off with a muslin or gentle cotton face cloth rinsed in warm water. Rinse the cloth and wipe clean again. A cold water rinse will close pores. You can use the damp cloth to apply ANU cleansing balm to your eyes, or dampened cotton wool. It will even get rid of waterproof mascara with ease, so none of that frantic rubbing I was talking about earlier. You don’t have to, but you will want to spend some minutes just feeling your lovely soft clean face. Knowing you’re about as perfect as you can get, go get your beauty sleep.

“Since you cannot do good to all, you are to pay special attention to those who, by the accidents of time, or place, or circumstances, are brought into closer connection with you.” – Augustine of Hippo

We have recently been brought into closer connection with some lovely people; through a beautiful accident of time, place and circumstance, we have been fortunate enough to have joined a collective of businesses (all women, and as fans of ANU, all Anu Goddesses) this summer, and together we have opened a shop in the beautiful Powerscourt Townhouse Centre in Dublin city. We call ourselves KID, as all the brands consist of the most gorgeous design led children’s clothes, blankets and toys. ANU is for the mums, the goddesses and now, even the babies; through our connection with KID, we have evolved to include even tiny new born babies in our skincare range.

When people come into our shop, they tell us there is nothing like it anywhere else in Ireland. Everywhere you look, there are things to delight you; tooth fairies and unicorns, dresses and dolls, handmade wooden toys and tights for boys and girls; moccasins, baby caps, organic cotton pj’s and bamboo blankets, bibs, books, night lights, hoodies, cards and clips. And of course, ANU skincare for mothers, goddesses and anyone you want to spoil. And now, we even have the most delicate Baby Balm – suitable for babies from birth.

KID is special and ANU feels at home there. Our collective is healthy and happy and all the goodness of one brushes off the other. We learn, we appreciate and we prosper and grow. No wonder people feel there is a delightful atmosphere when they visit us. By paying special attention to each other, we open our doors to pay special attention to you. Come and visit us – Powerscourt Townhouse is magnificent and the heart of the Creative Quarter of Dublin is buzzing. It can only be a positive experience!