Worrying about your skin’s natural signs of ageing, hoping they’ll miraculously disappear overnight, is human nature. You‘re bombarded with pictures of airbrushed models with faultless skin wherever you look and wonder why they got it so good. But, we want to let you in on a secret: nobody has absolutely flawless skin.
Here’s a question: if you were asked to describe your idea of perfect skin in four words, what would you say? Clear? Smooth? Firm? Even? That’s all well and good, but it’s all a bit too perfect. Better to strive for clearer, smoother, firmer and more even skin, don’t you think?
Your skin tells a story of who you are and where you’ve been. Those laughter lines and crow’s feet are a sign that you’ve lived. And more importantly, that you’re still living a great life.
Be proud of your skin and the journey it’s taken to get you here. And because February is the month of love, why not up its TLC even more? It’s time to love your looks and work with, not against what nature gave you. And you’re in good hands here because we’ve got all the products (along with a side of know-how!) to help with that.
Here are five ways to help your skin be its best kind of beautiful …
1. Boost Your Natural Glow With Regular Exfoliation
Exfoliating your skin is one of the most important steps in your skincare routine. Why? Because its whole raison d’être is to boost cell turnover and maintain healthy skin.
Cell turnover is the process and rate in which your skin produces new cells that mature, move up to the surface, then die and shed. The life cycle of these cells starts at around 14 days when you’re a baby, but this natural rate of turnover slows as you age, hitting about 28 days through adulthood, then continuing to as long as 90 days in your older years.
This is all part of your natural ageing process and can’t be stopped in its tracks, but it does mean that dead cells can build up on the surface of your skin as you age causing dullness, blocked pores, poor texture, the works.
Unless you give it a little helping hand, of course. Exfoliating your skin regularly with a gentle scrub like our Natural Luminosity Scrub helps remove those dastardly dead skin cells that outlive their welcome.
And while some face scrubs contain sharp nutshells or fruit pits which can cause micro-tears on the surface of your skin, we use smooth, spherical pumice crystals because they’re much gentler on your skin. Use it once a day to deeply cleanse, gently exfoliate and help reveal the radiant, smooth skin you deserve.
2. Avoid Constant Touching
Did you know an intricate ecosystem of bacteria, fungi and microscopic mites (yes, really) lives on your skin called the skin’s microbiome? We know this sounds a tad gross, but your microbiome plays a very important role in preserving healthy skin by keeping toxins and bad bacteria at bay. Phew!
Your first step to maintaining a healthy microbiome is to avoid chemical nasties in your skincare which upset its delicate balance. (Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered there.) And the second step? Avoid touching your face during the day.
No matter how often you wash and sanitise your hands – which is a LOT right now – they carry millions of germs, chemicals and bacteria from things like your smartphone, keyboard, door handles and money.
If you constantly touch your skin, or even rest your face in your hands (guilty as charged), all those nasties will be transferred straight to your skin where they’ll disrupt the balance of your microbiome and cause anything from breakouts and dryness through to irritation or even eczema flare-ups.
If you’re a face-toucher, we understand it’s difficult to stop because it’s such a subconscious act. But try to be aware every time you do it. That’s the first step to breaking the habit and keeping your skin healthy and beautiful.
3. Feed Your Skin While You Sleep
Help your skin be its absolute best with an effective overnight treatment like our fabulous Night Elixir. As you sleep, your skin does the complete opposite and works hard to recharge, revive and repair itself to combat the stresses of the day. This is why having a separate day and night cream is so important.
Throughout the day your skin might require lighter moisturisation and a more matte finish, whereas at night you can afford to feed your skin with extra hydrating and healing ingredients such as vitamin E and pro-vitamin B5.
You could also try a retinol treatment before turning in for the night. Sunlight decreases the efficacy of retinol, which is why overnight is the best time to apply it. Our Pre-Eminent Beauty Serum takes care of business perfectly, helping to soften fine lines and pigmentation while considerably improving your overall complexion.
4. Revive Your Eyes
The window to your soul deserves the best attention because the delicate eye area is usually the first to show the signs of ageing. The good news is unloved eyes can be easily revived to help brighten your overall appearance.
Our Imperial Eye Gel is an all-time-favourite for instant rejuvenation thanks to its soothing, cooling properties which help reduce puffiness. We’ve even heard of customers keeping theirs in the fridge for an extra boost! Added with the amazing power of matrixyl to encourage collagen synthesis, this ‘little pot of magic’ is proven to plump and firm your precious peepers. Naturally – no need for needles!
5. Swap Heavy Foundation For Tinted Moisturiser
It’s easy to want to mask your perceived flaws by piling on the foundation, but here at HIGHBORN we believe you should show off your skin, not hide behind it. OK, so your complexion might not be perfect, but as we said before, whose is? Furthermore, heavy, oil-based foundations are terrible for oily or acne-prone skin because they can block pores and cause your acne to get so much worse.
Instead of heavy foundation, we’re firm believers in the powers of a tinted moisturiser. Our Organic Tinted Moisturiser with SPF 25 is extremely lightweight and non-comedogenic which means it won’t block your pores but, instead, gives your skin a subtle tint while allowing your true radiance to shine through.
It also contains SPF 25 and a whole host of age-defying superfood ingredients like antioxidants and omega fatty acids to hydrate, protect and strengthen your skin. You can currently choose from three stunning shades that cleverly adapt to work with your skin tone.
Foundation? No thanks. This is what truly radiant skin is all about. (p.s. join the waitlist here if your preferred shade is still out of stock, or try blending two shades! Risk-free, of course.)
Final Tip For Good Measure: Keep Smiling!
Life might not be easy right now, but studies prove that people with happy faces look younger than those with straight or angry faces. As we’re sure you’ve heard before, smiling uses fewer facial muscles than frowning (meaning less frown lines over time!) and it immediately lifts your cheekbones, brightens your eyes and reduces the appearance of jowls. Win-win!
To make the most of your smile (when it’s not hiding behind a Covid mask, of course!), add a pop of glossy colour by applying one of our Organic Lip Glosses. Completely natural and long-lasting, each of the three wearable shades contain light-reflective minerals to plump up your lips and enhance your youthful-looking glow.
See, you are beautiful. Now, don’t you forget it.
P.s. If you’re just getting started with embracing your natural beauty, try our most-loved Four Phase Day and Night Collection for the best value on your day and night moisturiser, eye gel and our must-have serum.