All this week, I’m going to feature little things I do (or desperately want to remember to do) on a regular basis for more beautiful, detoxified, and clear skin. To wit, they’re things you can just slip in to your regular day and hardly even know you’ve done them.
Every single one of these tips takes less than 5 minutes to accomplish. Over time, though, you’ll notice a difference in your complexion, appearance, and – most importantly – the way you feel. In a good way. Fo’ sho’.
Today through Thursday will feature a new idea and their purpose, and each day will also have a featured picture with a reminder on it. These photos are some of my favorites that I’ve taken over the last couple of years. Finally, a reason to show them off.
Underneath each of the pretty photographic reminders is a link to a complimentary high-resolution download. You guys can print them off and tape them to your mirror or pin them to your pin board (or pin them to the virtual Pinterest, even!) so you’ll have sweet visual reminders to slip these skin-improving regimens into your life.
If you want. No pressure.
Really. It’s up to you.
(Do it.)
Here’s the first thing you/we should ALL slip into our daily routines: Water.
Drink Water Before You Do ANYTHING Else In the Morning
I know what you’re thinking.
“Water, Betty? Seriously? If I wanted ‘water’ as skincare advice, I’d read … oh … just any beauty book ever written.”
I admit it; it’s over-used advice. Everyone knows that hydrated skin = beautiful skin. And hydration comes, first, from the inside.
BUT! I’m not just talking about hydration. I’m talking about detoxification.
And the best way to detoxify is by drinking water … first thing in the morning. Before you put any other thing in your mouth. (And, yes … I mean anything.)
I’ve run across several recommendations to do this (mostly on Japanese beauty-advice sites), but it wasn’t until I watched Food Matters this weekend that it finally hit home.
Food Matters Makes Beautiful Sense
The thinking is this:
- When we sleep, our bodies repair, rebuild and regenerate. A large part of that process is releasing toxins into the elimination system.
- If we don’t effectively eliminate those toxins, our bodies have a difficult time assimilating the nutrients we put in them over the course of the day.
- Water, before anything else, will help those toxins handily flush out of our systems, so they don’t stick around for another day (or 40) in our system.
- This leaves our body ready for the nutrients we put in it during the day, and cleaner than it was the day before.
- Cleaner bodies + more nutrients = healthier, clearer, younger-looking skin.
As luck would have it, I happened to find the exact clip from Food Matters talking about the importance of drinking water first thing in the morning, as well as some of the rationale behind it.
There is also some other more, um, graphic information about detoxification toward the end. You can skip that if you don’t like to hear about bowel movements.
David Wolfe (and Charlotte Gerson) talking about the significance of detoxification:
Speaking quickly regarding water intake in general, one thing that I still cannot get over – 5 years later – is how drastically my energy level changed when I started drinking more water. I went from a glass or two of water a day to at least a gallon of water on average.
It was pretty radical.
Water, Water Everywhere … What Kind Should We Drink?
First: Morning water should be lukewarm.
Not ice cold, not piping hot. Lukewarm. Tepid. Warmish. Milk-warm (which is apparently a real thing … thank you thesaurus.com).
Easier on the digestive system that way; makes for a quicker entrance, a happier stomach, and a faster exit. Gentle, simple, fast.
Now for the annoying news: I do think it’s pretty important to drink purified water.
Especially in the morning, when you’re trying to get all the toxins (and heavy metals) OUT. You don’t want to be putting any of those things IN at the same time.
Honestly, that’s my personal opinion. I think water, like vegetables, is better for you if it’s consumed. If you can’t afford or don’t have access to organic veggies, eat what you can. If you don’t have access to purified water, drink what you can.
But if you do have the means to purified water … make it so.
And for those of you who’ve asked if Pur or Brita filters count, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say they kinda do. They count more than not having them. They may not get rid of as many things as a Berkey filter does (especially if you have the Berkey component that removes fluoride), but they’re better than straight tap water.
Ultimately, though, the most important thing is to drink 2-3 glasses of water.
First thing in the morning.
Before you eat or drink anything else.
And that’s the first thing you can slip in to your daily routine … and hardly even notice it.
Do You Have An Aversion to Water First Thing in the Morning?
It’s weird, isn’t it? So many people seem to really be averse to drinking water first thing in the morning.
I admit, I used to be one of them. Heck, most of the time I still am. Traditionally, Skip’s got coffee made when I drag my sorry butt out of bed in the morning. And if there’s coffee there, I don’t even think about water.
So it’s totally understandable if the thought of glugging down 2-3 glasses of water before juice or coffee or milk sounds kinda icky or weird.
Do you think it’s worth it, though?
Food For Your Soul: Throw Away That Sad Magnet!
i’ve been taking one tablespoon of honey everyday with water and the effect seems to be good, nourishes your digestive system and promotes bowel movement. you guys should try it as well.
I’m with LarissaA! My grandmother did this too, every morning! Lukewarm water with a squeeze of lemon…and she lived to be a HEALTHY and HAPPY 96!
Michelle in Massachusetts
Hey CB!! I love love love your blog. Thank you so much for your enthusiasm and wonderful and useful tips. I am quickly becoming a crunchinista!!! I have to say this is one of the easiest and best tips. I have been drinking a couple glasses of water in the morning like you suggest and not only does my skin feel great, but it really really helps wake me up and keep me more alert during the day. A few other things I have had great success with is the honey face wash (LOVE IT), ‘no poo hair washing as well as the different hair treatments, and I love your air freshner spray recepie. I am going to try fruit on my face as soon as I get home!!!!
Yes, your body will acclimate to the new intake amount. Give it time.
If you are really new to drinking plenty of water, I highly recommend increasing the amount s.l.o.w.l.y. Your body will love you!
Meanwhile, I have a benign tumor on my kidney (discovered by coincidence) and my Aurvedic practitioner has me drink warm water every single morning with a squeeze of lemon. I am so grateful my neighbors have a Meyer lemon tree (and don’t use pesticides) and share with me! 🙂
Also, for carsickness, seasickness, any motion sickness, I put 1 drop of organic or wild-crafted lemon essential oil into my water bottle. Along with a hairband around my wrist (or anyone’s wrist) two finger-widths down from the crease, this does WONDERS!!!
Ok this might be TMI, but has anyone else noticed that their bodies’ new favorite pasttime since starting this is peeing? Five times in the hour after drinking 2 cups, I almost don’t have time to do anything else with my mornings. I’m all for the enthusiasm of my kidneys (good job guys!), however… I’d like a life beyond those particular four walls.
Does your body stabilize after a while? Just writing this makes me want to go again. Maybe it’s psychosomatic.
I picked up this morning glass-of-water habit while studying in France and living with a French family. All of the women in the family did it. They often added a squeeze of fresh lemon too which is supposed to help with detoxification. Now that I’m in the habit I notice myself getting really thirsty if I don’t have that morning glass!
I loved it too! I actually bought my copy from the used book store IN our library. 🙂
And you’re right… it really did make a lot of sense.
(I’ve got a slice of orange in my water right now, btw) 🙂
Just the thought of 6-8 glasses everyday makes me cringe, but I knew I need more water than I was currently drinking. Then three weeks ago I read the book “French Women Don’t Get Fat” and one of the ways she suggests for increasing water intake was to drink a glass before bed and another on getting up in the morning. Since then, I’ve made a point of drinking a big glass first thing in the a.m. It’s painless and brainless that way… kinda sneaky for my own good. And my hubby is even doing it too now.
To help drink more during the rest of the day, I usually squeeze a little lemon juice in it. Cucumber added to it is nice too, but I usually forget and just eat them.
I borrowed that book from the library and loved it! make so much sense. I might have to buy a copy so I can go back to it for reference.
How about alkaline water? I know it’s better to be more alkaline than acidic and I saw alkaline water at the health food store yesterday. Wonder if it’s worth it.
I admit drinking water is one of the things that I struggle with the most.
I’ve recently started making an effort to increase my water intake (like maybe 2 – 3 weeks?), and my energy level and skin still aren’t great, but my NAILS! They’ve been growing and growing and are beautimous. Hopefully if I stick with it my skin will get the message too. 😛
Hey Betty,
I live in a part of Canada that has clean, mineralized water. Obviously it’s not as good as purified; but would it still do the trick?
I was doing so good at this for a while there…but not recently. Thanks for the reminder. I love to put a couple drops of high quality lemon essential oil in there too!
I loved that suggestion on your blog, Krissa! I was bummed when I found out my lemon EO was not of a good enough quality to take internally. Since I can’t locate it locally, it looks like I’ll have to order some of the good stuff online. I haven’t forgotten though!
Not as fun a tip as, say, creating some fruity gloppy mess to smear on your face and magically you look ten years younger and ten pounds lighter, but I’ll run with it. 🙂
But, incidentally, if you have a recipe for a fruity gloppy mess that will melt ten pounds off, could you blog about it tomorrow? Thanks, you’re a doll.
I’ll make sure to set my water bottle right beside my bed tonight:)
This makes total sense.
I actually just read this same advice somewhere online yesterday. I can’t remember where. Now that I’ve been given the same advice twice in less than 24 hours, maybe I can remember to start doing it! I just started this morning!
grandma always said to drink 1 big glass of WARM water to help have beautiful skin as soon as you wake up
I need to remember to do this! Thanks for the tip. It seems so simple, yet so easy to overlook.
Yes drinking lots of water is KEY to good health! I have been drinking more water and have been feeling more energetic as well. Thanks for the great reminders of why I should keep doing it. Oh and for any of those who are a little reluctant to try it: You get used to it after a while and kinda, sorta, (gasp!)actually crave it!
I usually drink my water “room temperature”, because it just goes down so much QUICKER that way. If you’re thirsty, do ya really want to SIP water, or CHUG water?? Yeah, that’s what I thought too.
But for the last few days my water has been ICE COLD, with ice cubes floating in it, and I am sipping it throughout the day. Why? Because my tonsils have decided to detox themselves and have swollen up to twice their size and are making swallowing a chore. The ice cold water chills them a bit, freezing the nerves, and thus swallowing (as opposed to drooling all over the place) is far less painful.
For the past few years it’s been Reverse Osmosis water, but now I think I’m going to go with distilled water. I read once, so many eons ago, that distilled water helps to rid the body of toxins, as the water itself is empty of minerals it will leach the minerals from your body, but it starts with the BAD minerals. Of course, I’ve been told that once those bad things are out of your body you should stop drinking distilled water and switch to re-mineralized water. To them I ask: and in this world of constant bombardment of crap from car exhaust to cigarette smoke to fumes let off by our furniture material and wall paint and building materials, etc, WHEN will our bodies EVERY be free from those pesky ever-present free-radicals that are constantly trying to ruin our bodies??
So, yeah, I think a constant inner-shower of distilled water is definitely a Good Thing.
Thank you, Betty, for reminding me of the vital importance of water, and water’s state of being BEFORE it enters the body.
I super agree with you on that one! Water is indeed one of nature’s best beauty regimen. I find your article really interesting. I will definitely make this a habit every morning. Do you drink water at night as well?
Thanks for the tip!