Add these products into your daily beauty routine
Each New Year we vow to eat healthier. No more doughnuts or digestives for breakfast. The fridge is stocked with all the ingredients needed to make the ultimate green juice. Midmorning snacks consist of carrots or celery and where a platter of cupcakes used to sit in the break room, a veggie plate has now taken its place. We all know the importance of eating healthy but what you put on your body is as important as what you put in it.
Meet Matcha and Vitamin C; your two new beauty best friends.
Try adding these new all natural products to your 2015 beauty routine. We can’t get enough of them. Matcha is the highest quality powdered green tea available. It’s made from the nutrient-rich young leaves picked from the tips of shade-grown Camellia sinensis plants. It’s then steamed, and deveined before being stone- ground into a very fine powder. This helps to preserve its green colour and antioxidant properties.
Bear in mind that discerning matcha drinkers will find a difference between culinary-grade and ceremonial-grade matcha. The culinary grade is excellent for desserts, smoothies, and entrees (this is the type that you want to use in our smoothie recipe below); while ceremonial grade is excellent too for straight-up matcha drinkers (mix with hot water and you are good-to-go!). Kiss Me Organics offers us both types of matcha – pick and choose, ladies!
While tea is normally used for drinking there are a multitude of benefits when applied directly to the skin. One of the reasons we love matcha is for its detoxification qualities. It is capable of removing heavy metals and chemical toxins from the body. It also helps protect the skin from UV rays and improves blood flow and oxygen levels. Remember all those foods that are high in antioxidants like spinach, dark chocolate, and blueberries? Matcha has more than all of them! It is also high in catechin, an antioxidant that helps fight bacteria and infections. It can help slow down the ageing process too. Woo hoo!
Green tea is known for its feel good quality and in the words of Audrey Hepburn, “Happy girls are the prettiest girls”. Not all matcha is created equal so we recommended using the organic variety. Beware of any that’s a dull brownish colour and smells like hay. That means it’s become oxidised.
Goodbye embarrassing scar from primary school, hello flawless skin!
Our other all natural beauty product is a top-quality vitamin C serum. This vitamin is critical because it’s needed for the growth and repair of tissues in our body. Since the body doesn’t store vitamin C it needs to be consumed on a regular basis. Vitamin C creates and maintains collagen, its like nature’s botox. It strengthens blood vessels and gives skin its elasticity and strength. It can ward off signs of ageing due to free radical damage from prolonged sun exposure. Vitamin C improves skin’s texture and appearance by retaining moisture and increasing circulation. This holds a special place in our hearts because it lightens dark discolouration like age spots and helps scars fade.
If you can’t find these products at your local grocery store don’t worry. US based health and skin care company Valentia Skin Care (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HJD8NLY) and Kiss Me Organics (http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00DDT116M) are now expanding to the UK (our US readers can click here (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DDT116M) to check out Kiss Me Organics’ fabulous matcha). These ingredients can be found in some of their products. While we won’t be abandoning our beloved beauty balms or scrubs anytime soon, sometimes the best things in life are the simplest. We’ve provided a smoothie and face masks recipe to help you start incorporating these products into your daily beauty routine. You’re welcome!
Matcha Face Mask
1 tsp. Matcha powder
1-3 tbsp. Aloe vera gel (may use water for normal or combination skin)
Directions: Start with matcha and 1 tbsp. of Aloe or water and mix until you have a thick paste. Add more liquid or powder if needed. When right consistency is reached, gently rub into face and neck in a circular motion. Leave on for 10 to 20 minutes and then remove with a warm moist washcloth. Pat skin dry and then moisturize.
Matcha Smoothie Recipe
2 tsp. Matcha
1/2 Avocado
1/2 cup Spinach (rinsed & chopped)
1 Lime, juiced
1 Banana, sliced
1 cup Coconut milk
1/2 Granny Smith apple
Directions: Place all ingredients in a blender and run on high until smooth. Enjoy!
Stop worrying about dry skin over winter; get your hands on Matcha and Vitamin C here and here!
