With St. Patrick’s Day coming up this weekend, I wanted to share some of my favorite ways to be a little more Green! Going green is easier than you may realize, and your body and your skin will thank you for it. A simple way to give your skin some love is to start your day with a nutritious and delicious green smoothie.
Starting your morning with a healthy smoothie can set the right tone to make healthy choices throughout the day. By sipping one, you’re more likely to feel more balanced and energetic, and less likely to fall prey to skin-sabotaging foods that may come your way.
You may be wary of green-colored drinks, but this refreshing smoothie will go down easy. Pineapple and grapes add just the right amount of sweetness to mask the bitter, nutrient-dense greens, and the cilantro and lime add a touch of fresh, clean flavor to this classic skin-nourishing smoothie.
“IT’S EASY BEING GREEN” Smoothie Recipe
Ingredients:
1 cup (235 ml) brewed chamomile tea
1 cup (30 g) fresh organic spinach
1⁄2 cup (75 g) seedless green grapes
1⁄2 cup (42.5 g) pineapple, frozen
1⁄4 medium organic green apple
2 tablespoons (30 g) hemp protein powder
1 teaspoon ground chia seeds
1 teaspoon chopped fresh cilantro
Fresh lime juice, to taste
Directions:
In a blender, combine all the ingredients and blend until smooth. Pour into a tall glass and enjoy cold.
For another yummy smoothie option check out the red velvet smoothie recipe I shared for Valentine’s Day. It’s great to enjoy a rainbow of smoothies!
How to “Go Green” With Skin Care Products
Certain ingredients like fragrance, avobenzone (in sunscreens), propylene glycol and formaldehyde releasing preservatives can trigger negative skin reactions. And, whatever your skin type, avoiding toxins is essential for clear, glowing skin. This means we need to be using products free from toxic inflammatory agents and, instead, packed with key nourishing ingredients.
These are a number of harmful ingredients you should look to avoid in your personal care products. If your products contain these, I suggest throwing them out. Don’t be afraid that you won’t be able to use any beauty products though. Luckily, nature provides us with natural actives that have powerful abilities to help clear, rejuvenate, and heal skin. So kick those chemicals to the curb and use some of these green alternatives instead.
Top 5 Harmful Ingredients
- Fragrance: Avoid all fragrance unless it’s natural, such as from pure essential oils.
- Formaldehyde and formaldehyde releasers (quaternium-15, diazolidinyl urea, DMDM hydantoin, bronopol, or imidazolidinyl urea): A known carcinogen and irritant found in nail products, hair dye, hair straighteners, false eyelash adhesives, and some shampoos.
- Mineral oil and petroleum (also called petrolatum, petroleum jelly, and paraffin oil): Made from petroleum; research suggests contamination with this ingredient may be linked with cancer.
- Parabens (propyl-, isopropyl-, butyl-, and isobutyl-): Used in many personal care products as preservatives, parabens have been found in breast tumor tissue and have estrogenic activity.
- Ethanolamines (diethanolamine [DEA], monoethanolamine [MEA], and triethanolamine [TEA]): Studies link these with cancer, especially when combined with other ingredients that form nitrosamines.
Natural Green Alternatives:
- Organic, pure, essential oils
- Natural preservatives such as citric acid or rosemary leaf extract
- Plant-based oils such as coconut or almond oil
- Plant-based skin soothers such as aloe vera leaf and turmeric root
- Nourishing DIY skin care ingredients such as honey, oats, avocado, yogurt, or papaya
Share Your “Green” Pictures!
I would love to see how you are going green this week either in your food or with your skin care routines. I have a Facebook Group for people who are working on improving their skin from the inside out using the information found in my book Clean Skin From Within. It is a fun place to ask questions and share tips and successes with each other. You can join the group at this link. Once you’ve been accepted, introduce yourself and share a picture of you eating or drinking something nutritiously green.
Clean Skin From Within Book
Don’t have a copy of my book yet? You can grab a FREE copy at https://book.thespadr.com (you just cover the shipping and handling). The book is jam-packed full of helpful information on how to have glowing clean skin by addressing the root issues causing you problems. You can heal yourself from the inside out by changing what you eat and what you put in your skin.
Hope you have some fun this St. Patrick’s Day going a little bit more green, and I do hope you will come and share a picture or story on our Facebook Group!
