Step one to getting the best skin ever: Eat superfoods that nourish from the inside out with antioxidants, healthy fats, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. It’s simple, yet fundamentally true advice. But there’s another level to superfoods. Their superpowers need not be relegated to salads and smoothies – they can feed skin from the outside, too.
Our partner, LOLI Beauty, truly believes in the pure magic of superfood beauty. Their founder, Tina Hedges, grew up on this alchemy in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica where the women in her family passed down traditions of healing with nature’s gifts – from relieving a bee sting with crushed leaves to treating hormonal breakouts with a slather of local honey and a facial steam with wildcrafted herbs.
So here’s the second step to getting a healthy glow: Stir up a fresh skincare routine with these 5 potent superfoods.
Purple Corn
A superfood that powered an ancient civilization, purple corn has been life (literally) to indigenous Andean tribes in Peru for over 5,000 years. The Incas held it in such reverence that it was their sacred offering to Pachamama (Mother Earth) for fertility of the land, and to the apus (mountain gods) for spiritual transcendence. Pretty sure this gift must have been a winner. Purple corn is loaded with antioxidants, particularly anthocyanins and phenolics. Pulverized and used as a scrub, this vibrant grain boosts collagen and polishes and rejuvenates skin.
Plums
Sitting in the shadows of more famous fruits (looking at you, apples and oranges), plums are seriously underrated. But they have a secret weapon: their seeds. Eight times more potent than argan and six times more potent than marula, plum seed oil is Mother Nature’s golden child, brimming with sky-high levels of vitamins A, C and E, as well as fatty acids. It’s a glow-getter like no other. They source theirs from the very rare French Ente plum.
Matcha
A matcha latte may be a modern-day classic at the local cafe or juice bar, but it’s old school – throwback to 10th-century China. A concentrated form of green tea, matcha is believed to induce a calm, almost meditative alertness in the mind. And for skin? It does so matcha (had to). It’s anti-inflammatory, it rejuvenates with the mighty antioxidant EGCG and it purifies pores with the green goodness of chlorophyll.
Turmeric Root
The DIY turmeric face mask is a cult fave these days, but let’s go back to the roots. Turmeric’s anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antioxidant properties have been revered since 500 B.C. as medicine in Ayurveda, the traditional Hindu practice of healing and balancing the body through diet, herbs, and yogic breathing. Now a time-honored beauty secret for rejuvenating, brightening and healing temperamental skin, turmeric works straight out of the spice cabinet. But here’s the high-performance version: Turmeric root essential oil soothes inflammation to combat redness, dryness, breakouts, and dullness.
Blueberries
Blueberries’ superfood status is no secret. Ever since indigenous tribes of the northeast coast of North America discovered that the berries could heal stomach ailments and coughs, the rest is history. Low in calories but loaded with fiber, antioxidants and vitamin C, blueberries just might be the quintessential health food. They’re also rich in protective anthocyanins and pore-clearing salicylates, which help to repair cell damage and zap blemishes.
Eat superfoods. Slather them on. Have great skin. Trust – it really is that simple.
