2/1/2024
What’s New and Cool?
FEBRUARY MONTHLY AVAILABLE: save a few $$, and the weekly reminder to order by signing up for the next four weeks of meals now.
YOGA!!! Mark your calendars!! Saturdays 2/10 & 2/17 8:30 am (Holy Trinity Church, Greenport) and Sunday 2/11 @ 11 am (Meadowlark, Cutchogue), I’ll be back on my mat teaching yoga for the wonderful Claire, of North Fork Yoga Shala. Book your spot now!!
WORKSHOP ALERT: So stoked to share that Dr. Emily McDonald and I are teaming up for a very special culinary medicine workshop on April 8th where I will share all my favorite tips on simplifying things in the kitchen, where to source your food, money saving tips, and my favorite kitchen appliances and pantry finds!! Emily will be leading a 6-session culinary adventure designed to help you create a more in depth, joyful relationship with food and how it fuels and heals us. I am so excited! Emily is such a gift to my life and if you haven’t had a chance to work with her this could be your chance! While the intimate details are still being finalized, you can sign-up now!!! There’s actually only a few spots left, so get in there now! I can’t wait to see you there.
If you’ve been keeping up with my most recent emails, you know I’ve been feeling this winter pretty deeply. But what runs deep also shows on the outside and in the case of this cold, damp weather, our skin can really take a beating. But while there are a million products designed to help protect or even heal, your skin, most are doing more harm than good.
Did you know that your skin is your largest organ? If eating real food is a priority for you, then putting real ingredients on your skin should be equally as important. When your skin is dry, it’s essentially parched and looking for something to drink. If you were thirsty you wouldn’t guzzle a bunch of chemicals, would you? Well, maybe some of you would, but that’s a blog for another day. If you care about what you put in your body, you should care about what goes on your body.
My general rule is “if you can eat it, it is safe for your skin.” Does that mean I would eat my hand soap? Probably not. But if I did eat my hand soap I wouldn’t have to call poison control and get my stomach pumped. So just like you check the ingredients on your food, check the ingredients on your skin care products (this includes shampoo and conditioner too!). If you don’t know the ingredient, can barely read it, or turn 85 by the time you get to the end of the list, I’d toss it.
Here are some things to consider when taking care of that sweet baby skin of yours:
Less is more. We don’t need gobs of soap to stay fresh and clean. A little bit goes a long way and water can wash so much of that stink away! Our skin has a microbiome of it’s own and the more you interfere with the balance, the more problems you will see. Just like your gut! I love Attitude products for my cleansing needs.
Eat Right and Hydrate. Like I said earlier, what’s going on inside is gonna show up outside. If you’re dehydrated your skin will rat you out. Drink lots of water, and if it’s filtered add electrolytes or a pinch of salt. Lemon always helps. Eat real foods. All plant foods are hydrating and nutritious leaving your body nourished from the inside out. When you eat well, your skin glows! Not surprisingly, a simple google search for “best foods for your skin” will list foods that are condensed with nutrition. Think berries, cruciferous vegetables, and organic organ meats. What’s cool about eating real foods. They help to maximize the health of ALL parts of your body. Best bang for ya buck, IMO.
Temp and humidity. When water is too hot it can dry out your skin so when showering or washing your hands use warm water over hot. If your skin turns red from the water, it’s too hot (guilty!!!) Keeping the temp in your home cool and using a humidifier can help too!
Moisturize! You’ll want to find a moisturizer that is safe and effective and the results will be different for everyone. If you are unsure about which products are safe the EWG has the most amazing resource, Skin Deep. Here, you find out how toxic or safe your personal care products really are without doing the research yourself! This is one of my favorite winter moisturizers for my face, hands, and body. In fact, I purchase most of my personal care products from Neal’s Yard. They are safe and luxurious!! But there are many other less expensive options out there. Just check out Skin Deep to simplify the process.
Wear Protection. The wind and cold air does a number on our skin, so make sure to dress appropriately and protect that beautiful skin of yours!
This conversation runs much deeper than just skin deep, but I will leave you with these tips to as a little skin food for thought ;-)