Yes, we know that no magical food item can bestow upon us the creamy complexion of Clé de Peau Beauté's face Amanda Seyfried – but surely a girl can dream!
Confession time: We used to be guilty of reckless beauty binges, piling on product after product, day in and night out ... until we reached a roadblock in our quest for complexion perfection. Like the dreaded “plateau” in a weight-loss programme, nothing we slathered on our visage seemed to yield visible results. What could account for us being stuck in a skin rut?
That was when we arrived at a sort of epidermal epiphany, if you will: We were downing as many cans of sugary fizzy pops as we were massaging moisturisers into our mien. Could that tired trope about being what we eat hold true, after all?
Take it from the experts, who say that what you put in your body may matter just as much as what you put on top of it. “Think of food as fuel for your face,” says Nicolas Travis, Singapore skincare entrepreneur and founder of upcoming grooming label Allies of Skin. “Like the other organs in your body, your skin is made up of proteins, fats and fluids, so it needs to be continually re-fuelled with nutrients through your diet.”
If, like us, you’ve been stymied by the lack of noticeable improvement in your skin condition, try giving your topical serums and salves some sustenance for support. We’ve gathered grub for a dietary dossier that will hopefully give you the gorgeous glow you’re hankering after. Eat up!
1. SEAWEED
The seaweed is always greener in someone else’s lake. If you’re born and bred in Singapore, you’ll probably have no trouble incorporating this marine manna in your menu – it’s found in familiar hawker fare like fish soup and stir-fries.
Here’s why seaweed is so good for you. For starters, it’s stuffed with substances called lignans and fucoidan, which are converted into anti-inflammatory phytoestrogens when consumed. Studies show that these compounds may lower breast cancer rates (which, granted, isn’t a skincare perk per se, but we’ll take it.)
More direct beautifying benefits stem from seaweed’s stress-alleviating stockpile of riboflavin and pantothenic acids. These B-vitamins bolster your body against fatigue by fortifying your adrenal glands, helping to soothe stress-induced rashes and skin sallowness. In short, don’t forget to eat your sea veggies!
La Mer Blanc de la Mer SPF 50 UV Protecting Fluid PA+++, $140, and innisfree Eco Science Wrinkle Spot Essence, $54 for 25ml
Pair with: La Mer’s lush new sunscreen comes loaded with the luxury brand’s legendary kelp-infused Miracle Broth, while innisfree’s anti-aging elixir boasts what the K-Beauty brand dubs “retinol from the ocean”, a regenerative extract gleaned from gulfweed harvested along the coasts of Jeju island.
2. FRESHLY BREWED TEA
Green thumbs up. Green tea – and indeed, tea of any tint – is great for your skin. Studies show that when imbibed orally, the potent polyphenols in the emerald elixir sops up harmful radiation from solar rays, making it a useful adjunct to your daily dose of sunscreen.
This beneficial beverage – call it the matchless matcha – is just about peerless in terms of fighting age-accelerating free radicals. A growing body of research in the Archives of Dermatology points to your calming cuppa’s anti-inflammatory properties, which may even reduce the risk of skin cancer. (Disclaimer: Even if you’re drowning in tea, always exercise a healthy degree of caution when you’re out in the blazing heat and wear sunscreen, please!)
Skyrocketing tea to superfood status are other good stuff like catechins, which are antioxidants that help to ease skin inflammation in the form of spots, sagging and puffiness. Lest you think this is a carte blanche for you to guzzle green tea all day, do note that bottled beverages of the vending machine variety are usually spiked with sugar and “empty” calories. Stick to an unsweetened, freshly brewed pot whenever possible!
Clé de Peau Beauté Brightening Serum Supreme, $230 for 40 ml, available May 2014
Pair with: A whole suite of skincare products incorporate tea in their ingredients list – a sign, perhaps, of the ancient plant’s association with modern beauty in Asia. Right now, we’re coveting Clé de Peau Beauté’s new Brightening Serum Supreme, which comes in a fabulous faceted flacon complete with the seductive promise of delivering “diamond-like clarity”. The Japanese prestige brand says that this satiny serum’s blend of botanicals, chief of which is an extract of black tea, has been proven via in-vitro tests to halt the destruction of protective proteins in your skin’s outermost layer, giving you the sort of lit-from-within translucency its face Amanda Seyfried is famed for.
Origins A Perfect World Antioxidant Moisturizer with White Tea, $75 for 50 ml
For something a little more purse-friendly, try the equally lovely Antioxidant Moisturizer with White Tea from trusty American brand Origins. This deeply nourishing night cream is packed with powerful antioxidants courtesy of exotic silver tip white tea, gathered from the green fields of China’s Fujian Province and said to be one of the elements constituting the elusive “elixir of immortality” of Chinese lore.
3. SEED OILS
Sow the seeds of skin success. Repeat after us: Oils are good for you (find out why in our facial oil guide.) For the purposes of this story, we’re zeroing in on the essential fatty acids (the “Omegas”) found in flax seeds and nut oils, because these “healthy” oils have the most cosmetic cache.
Like lubricating an engine, Omega 3 and Omega 6 oils act as buttresses for brittle cell membranes, allowing these microscopic sponges to sop up precious moisture for plumper, younger-looking skin.
So, what to steer clear of in the condiments section of your nearest grocery? “Most commercially treated edible oils are put through hell before arriving on the aisles, with all sorts of solvents and extremely high temperatures destroying much of their goodness,” warns Gene Ho, managing director of CADO Asia Pacific, a Singapore-based beauty research laboratory.
Instead, grease up your grooming regimen by splashing out on top-notch dressing oils labelled expeller processed or cold pressed, which are bottled “neat” with most of their nutrients intact: “Cold-pressed oils are only gently heated, which means all of their essential fatty acid goodness can work their magic on your dry, flaky skin.”
Here’s a small caveat. “Good” oils are still calorific treats best partaken of in moderation (no more than two tablespoonfuls, ideally). Fatten up your skin diet by supplementing ingestible oils with topical ones.
The Face Shop Calming Seed Cream, $55.90 for 50ml, and The Body Shop Vitamin E Serum-In-Oil, $42.90 for 28 ml
Pair with: The Face Shop’s new Calming Seed Cream comes chock-full with exotic tamanu seed oil, said to be an ancient folk remedy used by Polynesian islanders as a soothing salve against sun damage.
Also new for 2014 is The Body Shop’s Vitamin E Serum-In-Oil, a souffle-light blend of organic wheat germ, jojoba, marula and soya oils that vanishes into our skin. Tip: Spread the wealth by rubbing the excess into your nails and cuticles!
4. WATER
Eat your water. The “eight-by-eight” advice for drinking water isn’t a rule cast in stone: If you have petite appetites like us, you might find it hard to quaff quite so many glasses a day.
Instead, try eating your water. All the juicy foods you enjoy also go towards your daily fluid intake: Think clear consommes, crunchy cucumbers, eggplant and tomatoes. These water-rich veggies not only hydrate your skin, they do so with the bonus benefit of fibre and other trace nutrients – and you don’t suffer that urgent, need-to-pee sensation you sometimes get after downing glass after glass of water.
Here’s why water is so worthy of your consideration when it comes to your complexion. Proper hydration is the cheapest, most effective way of flushing out toxins, which in turn helps to keep your skin clear. On a micro level, water serves as a wagon for wheeling nutrients in and toxins out of your individual skin cells, so keeping suitably hydrated quite literally quenches your skin thirst!
Laneige Waterbank Mineral Skin Mist, $35 for 120ml
Pair with: Laneige has banked its rep on its Waterbank series, and quite rightly so: The Korean brand is always the first name we pull out of our beauty hat when quizzed for a hydrating skincare recommendation. This particular mist is our must-have for weekend getaways. A quick spritz sets makeup and fights off signs of post-flight fatigue, so you’ll step off the plane looking like a well-watered woman in full bloom!
5. HONEY
Honey, I shrunk the zits. Swap the simple sugars for a skin-friendly spoonful of honey. We’ve previously given you our recipe for a DIY face mask, but the treacly treat is best enjoyed stirred into your favourite tea blend.
Here’s why so many holistic types swarm to honey as their first choice for a guilt-free sweetener. Honey is an honest-to-goodness superfood, being both antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory– making it the bee’s knees, so to speak, for angry red zits.
Tip: Thin a dollop of manuka honey into a jug of lukewarm water, then pour into ice trays and freeze into bite-sized cubes for a “cool” spin on a throat-soothing lozenge!
Crabtree & Evelyn English Honey & Peach Blossom collection, from $13
Pair with: We’re fond of just about everything from Crabtree & Evelyn’s “bee-lightful” new suite of wildflower honey-infused body butters ($48 for 250 ml) and lotions ($40 for 250ml). We’re particularly partial to the posh American beauty brand’s All Purpose Balm ($18 for 14g), a silky salve which comes packaged in a quaint metal tin. Stash it by your bedside and smooth a good amount into dry elbows and knees, or wherever you need a little extra loving!