Soothe Your Skin and Your Gut

Hello friends and beauty enthusiasts! My name is Mei-Lana Chow. Thank you for dropping in to my first blog post!

My Purpose: Glowing Skin

I have been working as an aesthetician for 16 years. 10 of those years as a Medical Aesthetician at a dermatologist office in Toronto. I am also Registered Holistic Nutritionist, a Bellanina facelift massage specialist, and now finally a blogger?!

I know what you’re thinking…I sound all over the place! But the common thread here is: I know skin: how to take care of it, how to keep it looking great ,while keeping you feeling even better.

My goals is to share what I’ve learned throughout my years working as a skin care specialist. I would love to help you find what you really need for your skin to stay healthy and vibrant!  I highlighted “you” because there are so many different opinions and theories out there as to what works to make your skin glow. But the thing is, what works for one person won’t necessarily work for the next. Sometimes we have to blend all sorts of methods to find the right fit to achieve beautiful, lasting, illuminating results.

I truly believe that beautiful glowing skin is a by-product of a healthy body. And a healthy body begins with gut health and is supported with healthy lifestyle choices and habits!

My #1 Advice for Skin Care

The number one thing I always recommend to my clients is to start taking a high quality probiotic every day. Look for probiotic that delivers 20 to 50 billion live organisms per dose and contain a combination of different strains of lactobacillus and bifidobacteria. Take as directed, preferably once or twice daily with meals. This “friendly bacteria” helps to keep your digestion running smoothly and also will have a direct impact on the clarity and tone of your skin.

Another way to incorporate gut-friendly probiotics into our daily food choices is to eat fermented foods! Sauerkraut, kimchi, organic yogurt, kefir, and kombucha…yum!!!

One thing I must point out though!!! It’s the fact that some people are unable to properly digest milk proteins, and this can irritate their bodies creating an abundance of mucus in the tissues and ultimately having an “ugly” impact on their complexion. If you suffer from cystic or even mild acne, cutting out all dairy might just clear up your skin!! Try cutting out ALL sources of dairy from your diet for a minimum of 2 weeks.  Betcha you’ll notice less breakouts?

Healthy Food & Healthy Skin

Now I’m going to put a spin on this and suggest you also put the same food you’re eating for a healthy body and put it on your skin for a healthy glowing complexion! YUP!

I have honestly had the most compliments on my skin the days after I apply this turmeric mask on my face. I also put this mask on my boyfriend once after he came home from surfing in November. Yes, he surfs in the icy waters of Lake Ontario, with a wetsuit of course! He just loves catching waves!! Well, this one time he came home with a serious case of wind burn. His skin was so irritated it was screaming out for the soothing, anti-inflammatory nature of this mask. I mixed it up and smothered it all over his face, left it for 15 min, washed it off and BAM, his skin looked and felt normal again!

This is definite must-try at home facial treatment, especially if your skin is inflamed, irritated, or acne prone!

Turmeric Mask for Glowing Skin