Nourishing Your Inner Health During Lockdown

Nourishing Your Inner Health During Lockdown

If you follow us on Instagram, you may have heard us raving about our Bestow Beauty range, and for a very good reason! When we’re treating so many different conditions in our clinic space, we have to treat every individual with a 3 way approach that consists of topical homecare, in-clinic treatments and good nutrition. The Bestow Beauty range is a functional food line founded by beauty therapist turned nutritional scientist Janine Tait. Supporting the skin with supplementation from Bestow can transform your skin and take it to the next level – it’s the missing piece to the puzzle that gives us luminous skin. And what better time to start than now when we are locked up in isolation?! Now is the perfect opportunity to revamp and overhaul our daily rituals, and make new habits for the good of our skin, our mind and our health.

Has your skin been playing up during the COVID19 lockdowns?


As a dermal clinician, this is something that has been brought to my attention in just the last couple of months. We’ve had to completely adapt to a new routine because we aren’t getting as much vitamin D and fresh air (not to mention the overload of the delicious banana bread we’ve all been making at home!)
Our bodies don’t even know what time of day it is (or what day it is!) and our skin is just as confused as we are!! There’s a lot of worry and uncertainty too. I know when I worry, comfort food always helps, however it definitely doesn’t do any wonders for my face. Our skin really does show how we are feeling on the inside and if we’re worried and anxious we get unwanted breakouts. If we have unbalanced bacteria in our gut, our skin becomes inflamed and if we are missing our spark and feeling a bit groggy, our skin can look flat and sallow. On the bright side, incorporating some Bestow goodies into our daily smoothie or breakfast can contribute to our inner health, resulting in glowing skin!

The one supplement we can ALL benefit from right now


Our skin is the largest organ but also usually the last organ to receive nutrition as our body prioritises other internal organs. For this reason we must pay close attention to the nutrients that are eventually finding their way to our skin. OMEGA-3 is an essential fatty acid that our skin needs, however we can’t produce it ourselves and it comes from the foods that we eat - salmon is naturally a rich source of Omega-3, although much of the salmon we eat now comes from farms instead of straight from the ocean, meaning the quality and quantity of Omega-3 has reduced. Other sources rich in Omega-3 include leafy greens, chia and hemp seeds, but research has proven that around 1600mg a day is required which is a lot to get from food alone.
This is where the Bestow range steps in to save the day! In particular, I would recommend the Bestow Beauty Plus Oil which packed full of Omega-3 in the form of flaxseed oil (proven to be the richest source of Omega-3 available). Taking a supplement like the Bestow Beauty plus Oil can help to reduce inflammation in the body by reducing the cytokines that occur when we have damage in our body. As we know, acne has been scientifically linked to inflammation and by increasing our Omega-3 intake, it can help to minimize painful breakouts. The Bestow Beauty Plus Oil is also highly moisturising and will assist in the overall rebalancing and quality of oil that our skin produces. Needless to say, this gives a much needed helping hand in calming eczema and psoriasis too!

Could it be time to add in a collagen powder?


Our natural collagen is made up of amino acids and is one of the most important proteins in our body. Think of collagen like a mattress with super bouncy springs that gives structure to our hair, skin, bones and ligaments. As we get older, we produce less collagen and our skin’s mattress starts to become more fragile, it loses its bounce and then wrinkles start to form. High insulin and refined sugar intake can cause an enzyme called collagenase to break down our collagen fibres, which is something to be mindful of. Vitamin C, zinc, proline, glycine and copper are some of the most important nutrients that have shown to be used in the building of new collagen. 
Collagen has become a bit of a buzz word over the last decade it’s led some people (including myself!) to become a bit sceptical of new collagen-based products and their efficacy. Although more research needs to be carried out, studies around collagen-based products look very promising so far. It’s recommended that we need 2.5-5g of hydrolysed collagen a day to see an improvement in skin firming and hydration, so if you’re like me and you’ve been slumping your face on one hand binge watching Netflix during these unprecedented times, I think it’s the perfect to branch out and get some collagen powder into your routine. I can’t recommend the Bestow Collagen Boost Powder enough! I’ve listed some of the vital information about this product below:

7 SKIN BENEFITS



  1. Boosts collagen and elastin production for younger-looking skin.
  2. Improves skin hydration and smoothness.
  3. Helps to reduce and prevent wrinkles.
  4. Helps to plump out crow’s feet and laugh lines.
  5. Inhibits MMP1 and MMP2, enzymes that break down collagen fibres.
  6. Contains Vitamin C and Zinc to optimise collagen production.
  7. Contains anti-oxidants to promote the formation of strong collagen.

INGREDIENTS


Bestow Collagen Boost powder is a concentrated, collagen dietary supplement. Each 7g serve contains:
Hydrolysed collagen peptides 5gms
Vitamin C 250 mg
Zinc 6mg
Raspberry juice powder 1724mg
Monk-fruit
Also contains: Tapioca maltodextrin

Here are some tips to boost our skin health in ISO

  • Working from home and being closer to the kitchen can lead to more fridges opening, and more snacking occurring! Select nuts or veggie sticks to munch on vs. a refined sugary snack – this will nourish your skin cells with more important minerals, while giving you more energy to get you through the afternoon.
  • Swap out your afternoon coffee with a Bestow Organic Herbal Tea, which is packed full of antioxidants to help support your liver and skin. Reducing your caffeine will also help to decrease stress hormones.
  • Go to bed at a reasonable time and get a good 8 hours sleep. Now that there is less commute time in the mornings, we can be enticed into going to bed later. Try not to get into that habit as a lack of sleep can harm all of our organs including our skin. Sleep is the time our skin regenerates the most and they don’t call it beauty sleep for nothing!
  • While we might not be moving around so much, we tend to forget to drink water. Set some reminders on your phone as it can make all the difference. Don’t wait for cramps and tight/dry skin to remind you to drink more.
  • As tempting as a 5pm quarantini is each day, drinking alcohol really doesn’t have any benefit at all for our skin. While it’s ok in moderation, try and refrain from having a drink out of boredom…unless you want dehydrated, flushed, lacklustre skin!
  • Get your blood flowing with some exercise. Blood flow = transportation of oxygen and nutrients straight to our skin cells.