When you think about skin care, naturally 9 out of 10 times you’re thinking about a product that is going to go topically on your skin. A cream, a serum, a cleanser or a mask.

But when you look at the true essence of beauty, especially with black skin and using what nature has given us in all of the natural elements that surround us, your beauty begins from within.

There are great foods, herbs and fruits that will nourish your skin from the inside and that is the essence of what is projected to the outer appearance or what people see when they look at beautiful black skin. We talk about maturing or aging. We’re not against aging, it’s the natural flow of life.

And it certainly is not what women of color think of when you’re looking at skin care as it relates to you.

Whether you’re in your 20’s or 30’s you are maturing and your skin care regimen changes as you go through different phases hormonally in your body.
Finding Beauty in Your Kitchen

Food will be looked at today as the essence or an important part of providing you with the wonderful reflection that looks back at you as beautiful skin. One of the main things to consider when looking at the type of foods that are going to nourish your body is your green foods.

Your kale, spinach, collards (in the winter time), broccoli and asparagus are green foods that nourish and nurture your cellular level. But you can have fun with food and create some great recipes for the beauty of your skin.

Take blueberries for instance, Blueberries are a source of resveratrol. Resveratrol which is also found in grapes, gives you a wonderful glass of wine. Resveratrol is also a known component that’s being found in products that cater to healthy skin care.

How do they fit into your kitchen for great skin care. It’s obvious that you can have blueberries in the form of a nice dessert. In the summer time they’re always soothing and refreshing to your pallet.

If you can’t handle a lot of sugar or dairy (which a lot of people of color can’t), you can use blueberries as a dessert that will give you that same wonderful refreshing taste as an ice cream. Even something as simple as a banana.

Take ripened bananas, put them in the freezer in Tupperware or a plastic bag (something that will seal them well) and you’ll have it for different types of use of sweet preparations to curb that appetite for ice cream. One of the ways of using the banana is in conjunction with blueberries.

Slice the banana, put it in the blender so they can be creamy. Then you can add blueberries and now you’ve got a blueberry treat.

You can top that on an ice cream cone, or take that same frozen concept and put it between 2 of your favorite vegan cookies and now you’ve got a blueberry ice cream sandwich. You can coat the outer edges with walnuts, almonds or flaxseed, but you’ll have a great dessert that will be a substitute for something that typically has high sugar content.

You’ve got that same banana base because if you look at it, the frozen banana can become a base for lots of other desserts as well. You can take a glass and simply layer bananas and fruits in a glass and make a frozen type of smoothie.

Foods as Antioxidants in Natural Black Skin Care

So you can take your antioxidant foods like your blueberry, strawberry, raspberry and your banana (also high in potassium) and know that what you’re eating is healthy, internally and externally beneficial.

Now if you’re looking for something from more of a juicing standpoint that is still going to give you the benefits of great skin:

• take a cup of almond milk,
• one persimmon,
• a handful of spinach,
• a half teaspoon of cinnamon,
• a quarter teaspoon of cardamon,
• one half teaspoon of vanilla extract and
• one date, you can blend it thoroughly and now you’ve got a magnificent green drink that’s like a milkshake.

Another recipe for your green foods;

• 1 half of a lemon,
• 1 cup of kale,
• 1 cup of spinach,
• 1 cucumber,
• 1 half of a mango and cilantro,

Juice it all and you’ve got a nice green drink that’s going to be healthy for your skin as well as move everything out of your system very smoothly.

Cucumbers are normally used topically, but taking them internally will filter the components out into your blood stream which is that much more beneficial.

This is just an idea of how to take food and nourish your skin from within naturally because we’re dealing with what mother nature has provided with us in terms of fruits and vegetables. Take a simple machine like a blender or a juicer and combine the ingredients to create some wonderful tasting foods to nourish your body And your skin from within.

That’s it for this week,  As Always …

Dedicated To Your Beauty,

Juliette Samuel

Esthetician/Author/Publisher

Nyraju Skin Care