Is your mental health something that is impacting on

your skin? What you use topically on your skin is not

the full story. We really need to be thinking about our hormones, our

gut health, and how they play a huge role in the quality

and the function of the skin. If you decrease the amount

of alcohol that you're putting into your body, your skin is

going to improve a thousand times. alcohol dries

the skin out and it's what we call a holistic skin practitioner like

myself doesn't only know how to recommend based on your skin

she has a deep understanding of welcome to the holistic skin

guru where what's on the surface is just as important as

what's underneath i'm your host amena let's dive deep

into the world of holistic skin care So

what do you really need to know about the difference between a holistic approach

to skin and a typical beautician approach to

skin? Okay, so typical beautician will

not fully understand the ingredient technology or

skin biology because generally speaking, SIRT2

and SIRT3 providers in Australia don't

get much education around skin biology or

ingredient technology. They get basics in facial

training and basics around beautician

treatments such as brows, lashes.

Most beauticians will be guided by their skincare

provider as to what to recommend. This

is the same as reading the back of a bottle, pretty much. Seeing

a qualified skin therapist with experience will enable

you to receive information that is more bespoke and

suited to your skin type. That leads us to a holistic skin

practitioner. A holistic skin practitioner, like

myself, doesn't only know how to recommend based on

your skin, she has a deep understanding of what to

look for in your lifestyle, your environment, your

diet, and to guide you towards what is best for

your skin. You see, we don't just look at the skin as one

entity. Everything is connected. And so everything

has a flow on effect on the other. And your skin

is your body's largest organ. So when

typically when something is going wrong elsewhere in the

body, in our organs, it's it's it

starts to present in our skin in the form of a

rash or in the form of dullness or grayness

or that sort of thing. And that's when we know things are not quite right.

You know, a lot of people end up with very, very dark circles under

their eye and it's connected to their liver or it's connected to

their kidneys. We've had people who

present with the tails of their brows that stop

growing and that usually tells us that there's

something going wrong with their thyroid. Some

people come in and they have a lot of congestion around

their chin area and that will tell us that their

hormones are, you know, disrupted in some shape

or form and so that they need to go and do some investigating and find out what

it is that's going on. Gut health, all these sort of things affect

our skin. So remember what you use

topically on your skin is not the full story. And

so we really need to be thinking about our hormones, our gut health

and how they play a huge role in the quality and

the function of the skin. Sometimes even the seasons,

like from the time of year, it will affect the

way your skin reacts to things around you and how you treat it.

So start thinking about this. You know, it's

not just your skin and what you put it onto it. It's

how you live and what you yourself through insufficient

sleep disrupts the body's way of healing. And

the skin is the first to show the signs of fatigue, not

enough hydration. And by the way, the best way to hydrate is

to drink a glass of water first thing in the morning before you, as

soon as you wake up to really give your skin what

it needs. Do this daily. You can incorporate some

Celtic sea salt or Himalayan pink salt on your tongue and

watch how things start to change. Another

one to look out for is your mental health. Is

your mental health something that is impacting on

your skin? it can impact hugely depending

on what you're going through. Most clients who are suffering with

depression have noticeably grayer complexions with

darkening under the eyes. And some may say, well,

if you suffer from depression, then you're probably not sleeping well. And this

may be true, but think of your skin as your body's largest

organ and the symptoms of ailments usually show

through the skin. So the key to good skin is

to be happy. What we tell ourselves about ourselves is

important and being overly critical of our looks may

not help us reach our skin goals. This particular topic

about skin and alcohol is something that

in Australia, I don't seem to get much of

a good reaction from clients about it. Most Aussies don't

want to let go of their glass of wine every night and I get

it, but if you, decrease

the amount of alcohol that you're putting into your body, I can

almost bank my life on it, that your skin is

going to improve a thousand times. I

was listening to ABC radio the other day and they were chatting about

how Australian women are so inebriated and

I was like, what? They started talking about how

Australian women, like there was a study that was done in Sydney, And

they found that, um, Aussie women start their day

with a coffee and then maybe by about 10 or

11 o'clock, they're either having an energy drink or another coffee.

And later in the day, in the afternoon, maybe

another energy drink or another coffee. And by the

time dinner rolls round, these women are

already onto their second or third wine

before dinner or after dinner. And that doesn't even

take into account the fact that one in three Aussies take medication for

depression or anxiety. So if you throw that into the mix, their

bodies don't have time to be free from intoxicants. Before

the next day rolls around and the process repeats itself. So

this is not doing our skin any favours. Alcohol

dries the skin out, and it's what we call the intrinsic

factors of aging, where the skin ages faster

than it should. Something really for us to think about, because

as Australians, we put so much emphasis on alcohol as

part of the way, you know, everyone has

fun these days, that some people can't even imagine

going out with their friends to party without getting

drunk. Think about what that's doing to your skin. You

know, years ago, I had a girl that used to come in. She was a regular client.

And then all of a sudden, she was breaking out. And she was saying to me, I don't

know what's going on with my skin. Like, how am I breaking out all of

a sudden? I'm doing everything you're telling me to do. Once

I dug a little bit deeper and I asked her a few questions, it

became glaringly obvious what was going on. She

was going out on the weekends and binge drinking. And

then she was coming to see me for her appointment on

like a Tuesday or a Wednesday. And by then the alcohol

had caught up with her skin. The sugars in the alcohol had actually

caused her skin to break out. Now, there's the sugar in

the alcohol and there's also the alcohol component. For

her, this was the sugars that was actually causing her skin to break out.

But in many of us, we're showing our age through

overindulging in alcohol because alcohol dehydrates

and it does age the skin. So a few things for

us to think about. The other thing that ages the

skin is smoking. And I don't care what you're smoking, whether

it's tobacco or anything else, it is going to age

your skin whether you like it or not. Not only

does it age the skin, it also sucks into

our pores. I mean, I've done microdermabrasions on smokers before, and

as I'm doing the micro and cleaning that skin, I can actually smell

the smoke coming out of their skin. And

that's how bad it is. So we really want to think about what we're

putting our skin through. And this client, I can,

I can actually remember the moment when she got off the bed and I said to her, are you

a smoker? And she said, yes. How did

you know? And I said, well, I could smell the smoke coming out of your skin

as I was doing the micro. And she was amazed by

this. And then she said to me, how old do you think I am? And I

swear to God, I was trying to be kind when I said to her, I

thought she was in her early fifties. She was actually in

her early forties. And I almost shriveled up

into a little ball. I felt so awful, but she asked me

the question and I gave her the answer that I thought was

kind. She actually looked like she was in her mid to

late fifties and she was in her early forties. And

it's all because of her smoking habit. Vaping is another way of

disrupting your skin's balance. And it has the

nicotine component in it, which we already know is bad for our

skin. But the chemical component is also bad for

our skin. And you only have to go online to see all the

skin reactions that have happened to people from vaping.

So you can even cause some acne and

dehydration with vaping. So stay away from

smoking and stay away from vaping. So really think

about your skin and what you're putting it through. Get rid of your bad habits.

Anybody who tells you that you can look amazing with

no hard work is lying to you. Anything in life that

you want to prosper in, whether it be finances, careers,

your body or your skin, you have to put the hard work

in. And it's actually not that hard when it comes to skin. You

just need to be guided in the right way and

you will see amazing results. Thank you for joining me

on Holistic Skin Guru. If this episode has helped

you get one step closer to achieving your skin goals, I'd

love your support with a five-star review on Apple Podcasts

and Spotify. And don't forget to subscribe on your favorite platform

too. If you've got any questions about your skin, I'd

love to hear from you. Connect with me at Holistic Skin Guru

on all platforms. Don't forget, as a listener, you can get

10% off all treatments at our SkinFit New Farm Clinic in

Brisbane. Simply pop the word podcast in

your booking online or mention it on the phone when