Elimination System (The Body's Detoxification) - Part 2: Skin Deep

A photo of my skin, raw and unfiltered. Or is it unfiltered?

Stand naked in front of a mirror, and look at your skin from a strangers point of view. What story does your skin tell? Do you see stretch marks that could speak of a pregnancy or a weight loss journey? Maybe there are scars and acne, eczema or a sunburn, tattoos or piercings. Our skin is a living account of our life.

I look at my skin and I see the carelessness of my childhood on my freckled shoulder where I once had sun poisoning. The more recent carelessness, falling asleep in the sun and getting a unique tan line after the intense burn.

Is the story "skin deep"? It goes farther, actually. It shows signs of what is happening deeper within the body. It also has more than one layer, three to be exact (top to bottom: epidermis, dermis, hypodermis) and we shed it almost like a snake would every month. Well, not exactly like a snake. Rather, we shed a few skin cells at a time that when the month is over, the former hypodermis becomes the new epidermis. How cool is that?!

Home for hair follicles, sweat glands, and connective tissue, our skin has a big job already. You may have heard that it is our bodies largest organ. Filtering our body's waste through processes such as sweat and pus, it is one of the main elimination system organs. This is why it is so vital that we take care of our skin.

Let's not make any hasty decisions yet, I see you reaching for your newest skin care product. I may have some bad news about your newest cream/scrub...

Most of the time, they hurt worse than helping!

There, I said it. Good chance that if you went to the beauty isle at the department store and bought something "clinically designed" to "help" the skin, you are pumping your skin full of unnecessary toxins.
​

This was mainly me just putting things in a humorous light, but the message rings clear.

Taking care of our skin properly...beyond the facial creams and lotions...let's think on that, shall we?

Our skin has an elastic capability that provides it being able to "bounce back", stretch, grow and even shrink when losing weight. To help this, it is vital to drink the daily requirement of water (see former blog post, part 1 of this mini series). By staying hydrated, our skin is able to keep its elasticity and our sweat glands are also able to properly function, cleansing the body of it's impurities.

Dry skin brushing is another method for taking care of our skin. Here's a quick video I made introducing the topic. Sure we look disheveled, sure Bentley put his butt right in front of the camera - it's always interesting here!
​

A big thanks to my loverly husband and sweetest Bentlers for them joining me in this video!

Diet is also key in the health of our skin. Excessive alcohol, lack of nutrition, greasy food, food with dyes and unhealthy additives can appear through your skin with things such as eczema and acne.

For acne, try raw tomatoes crushed and applied to the skin, with a witch hazel infused rinse and a cold water after rinse. The tomatoes acidic constituents may help against the infected area, and witch hazel a good toner.

For eczema, witch hazel is also a valuable herb. A salve of lavender has also been known to help. Eczema may also be a factor of the need for diet changes.

Feel free to contact me for additional information and any questions that may arise.

I hope you all have a great rest of your week, and I wish good health to you and yours!

We sell lavender / spearmint salve in our apothecary!