I have very dry skin, and I always have had fairly dry skin (it seems to fun in the family from my mom.) It seems to have gotten worse since my diet and skincare has become more natural and healthy. That doesn’t make much sense to me. I am thinking that perhaps if I begin using salt, it will help to with retention of water. Or soaking in a bath with dead sea salt? Maybe olive oil as as a moisturizer? I dunno!
I currently don’t consume any salt except lately I’ve been using some raw olives (with Celtic sea salt on them) in my marinara. I use natural soap and pure shea butter as moisturizer.
I would appreciate any suggestions for either diet or skin care! Thanks!
Comments
Yes, raw oils and fats will definitely help your dry skin. I find that flax seeds and flax oil work best for me (taken internally) and give my skin more of a ‘glow.’ You can add the oil to smoothies or over salads—it has a pretty neutral taste so it won’t be as overpowering as other oils might be.
As for external application, I love almond oil (which isn’t raw, but it’s better than most products on the market). It’s the best thing I’ve tried. It makes your skin super soft, it just takes a little time to absorb. And it prevents scarring if you’ve had a minor skin injury or something. (I had, well, let’s just call it an ‘incident’ with my blender about a year ago, and almond oil worked fantastically to heal the wound and minimize scarring.) A lot of people can get away with using coconut oil and it works wonders, but for some reason it dries out my skin.
You definitely need some salt in your diet, and unless you’re getting quite a lot from celery, chard, and spinach you might need to ‘supplement’ with sea salt. I don’t know how much ‘enough’ is for the average person, but I find I need between 700 and 1000 mg/day (mostly in the form of celery juice and chard). No one seems to talk about this in the raw community very often (which surprises me because it doesn’t seem like the kind of thing that would be ultra-controversial or anything), but I’ve heard of people having dangerously low sodium levels on a raw diet if they don’t eat enough natural sodium which can cause health problems.
Avocados are great too, and if you have some that have gone ‘off’ or some flesh left in the insides of the shell after scooping, you can even use it for shaving—works great, but it might clog your sink/bathtub a little! I picked up that tip on another raw site a few months ago.
Congrats on your healthy lifestyle at such an early age! :)
Thank you for the advice.
I already make sure to eat olive oil, flax oil, and avocado on a daily basis.
I think I will try the suggestion of discontinuing the use of soap. I’ve noticed that since I’ve been on summer break, my hands are drying out more than usual. (When I’m at home, I wash my hands very often with soap, but at school, I only get a few chances to wash my hands and do not use soap.)
I don’t eat celery or chard often enough to get sufficient amounts of salt.
I didn’t realize that sea salt worked as a deodorant! I’ve been trying different things, and most of this school year, I just went without any, hoping that I wouldn’t sweat. haha.
You guys are great! Thanks again.