Skin Healthy Squash
Squash, sometimes referred to as winter squash, is one of the quintessential foods of the fall season. With the fall harvest comes myriad varieties of squash, some well-known and others exotic, to roast and bake with. At the NAA, we love the nutritional benefits of these squash, especially how well they support the skin through seasonal changes with their often high content of beta carotene and vitamin C. This week we share and celebrate our individual favorite winter squash varieties, to call attention to their nutrition benefits as well as give you inspiration for cooking with them this fall.
NAA Favorite Squash Varieties
Tisha’s Favorite: Acorn Squash
Acorn squash, which is sometimes referred to as Pepper squash is a hard-shelled winter squash from 
the same family as the common zucchini, Cucurbita pepo. It is traditionally a dark green squash and is, as its name implies, shaped like an acorn. New varieties pair the same iconic shape and rich yellow flesh in a golden, white or variegated exterior skin.
This squash’s innards are delightful steamed or roasted. Their small size and distinctive shape make them a natural for festive tabletop decorations and acorn squash halves make ideal individual serving dishes stuffed with fixings. One of my favorite ways to make is make acorn squash a fancy treat is this recipe from Martha Stewart herself; it is a good thing. I recommend that you substitute nutritional yeast for the feta to increase its skin-smart quotient.
However, acorn squash are more than just pretty adornments for your plate- they also nourish your pretty skin! This squash is a good source of dietary fiber and potassium, as well as vitamins C and B, magnesium, and manganese. Acorn squash is also full of antioxidant vitamin A which gives you an immune boost and hastens skin healing.
Rachael’s Favorite: Kabocha Squash
My favorite squash is the bumpy, yet colorful kabocha squash. My love for kabocha squash started out as a simple matter of convenience--the peel is edible (when cooked)! Some squashes can be rather cumbersome to peel before cooking, but kabocha can easily be cut in half and roasted alone or stuffed 
with other delicious vegetables, or diced and added to any autumn stew, mash, or pureé--skin on. While the flesh of the squash itself is rich with many of the same skin-healthy vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants of other squashes, the skin itself adds a healthy dose of fiber to your meal. Fiber is essential for healthy skin, from the inside out.
Though kabocha squash is often associated with Japanese and Thai cuisine, it is grown locally in the United States and New Zealand. In the fall and winter, it is easily found in most farmer’s markets, making it a fresh, local, nutrient-dense sweet and savory treat. Though its flavor is similar to other winter squashes, it blends particularly well with Asian herbs and spices. One of my favorite ways to use kabocha squash is in a thick, hearty soup like this Thai Coconut Soup with Kabocha Squash recipe.
Jolene’s Favorite: Delicata Squash
Each fall I look forward to the first delicata squash, a favorite food that is versatile enough to work as a meal staple during this season. Delicata squash are oblong and pale yellow, mottled with dark green stripes and spots on their peel, which becomes edible when cooked. Rather than smooth, delicatas 
have a unique scalloped edge that makes for beautiful rings or semi-circles when sliced for roasting. But my favorite part of delicatas is by far their flavor—mild, sweet, and just the right combination of soft flesh and toothsome peel.
Like other varieties of winter squash mentioned above, delicata squash is a major beauty food. Just 3/4 of a cup of cooked delicata squash packs 70% of your daily RDA for anti-aging vitamin A, and a nice dose of collagen-boosting C. Try roasting Delicatas in coconut oil, seasoned with classic sea salt and fresh ground pepper, or try my sweet and savory Honey Cardamom Roasted Delicata Squash. I serve it as a side dish, or wrap the roasted squash pieces in corn tortillas, topped with fresh veggies and avocado slices for an easy fall take on a taco. I also like drying and roasting their seeds as a mineral-rich snack.
Acorn squash photo: Oregon Department of Agriculture
Kabocha squash photo: Viry Magallanez
Delicata squash photo: Dyogi
We want to hear from you!
What is your favorite winter squash variety?
How do you recommend preparing it for optimal skin benefits?
Head to Toe Spa Treatments
Head to toe spa treatments—the kind that pamper your skin from scalp to heels— are some of the most indulgent spa menu options. And not only do we love head to toe treatments because they routinely lavish attention on areas of skin that don’t get their fair share of love (say, your back or the bottoms of your feet), we love that they often let you revel in healing ingredients that would otherwise be quite messy if you tried to apply them top to bottom at home. This week we share our favorite natural ingredients to apply head to toe, in the comfort (and easily-cleaned environment) of a spa. Next time you crave a full body salt scrub or detoxifying mud mask, head straight to the spa for glowing skin, head to toe, without the mess.
Best head to toe spa treatment ingredients
Mud. Packed with minerals that are soothing, anti-inflammatory, and nourishing to your skin, mud treatments can produce wonderfully smooth results when applied head to toe. It's also one of the messiest ingredients on our list— ideal to try at the spa!
Clay. Like mud, clay is detoxifying and mineral-rich, and can be messy to work with— making it an ideal ingredient for a head to toe spa treatment. Depending on the type of clay used, this ingredient can also improve elasticity and texture and provide mild exfoliation.
Salt. Skip the salt scrub on delicate facial skin, but feel free to opt for this exfoliating, cleansing ingredient in your full body treatments.
Volcanic Ash. Like charcoal and clay, volcanic ash (bentonite is a well-known variety) is an effective full-body treatment with benefits like detoxification, mineral delivery and gentle exfoliation.
Charcoal. This trendy ingredient has timeless benefits, like absorbing excess oil, soothing skin, and drawing out impurities.
Wine. True, the skin benefits of soaking in wine aren’t as powerful as certain components of wine, like resveratrol, are when consumed. But we had to include this indulgent head to toe ritual on our list, since it’s a perfect pampering treatment for the spa. Look for a treatment that pairs a wine bath with another grape-derived ingredient that benefits the skin, like grapeseed oil.
Milk. Naturally-occurring lactic acid in milk gently exfoliates, bringing softness and glow to your skin. A full body milk treatment has been a beauty favorite since the time of Cleopatra.
Honey. This ingredient works wonders on facial skin, drawing in moisture, gently exfoliating, and preventing and healing breakouts. Now imagine those results head to toe. This is not a treatment you’d like to do at home, so opting for full body honey at the spa is an excellent choice.
We want to hear from you!
What’s your favorite head to toe treatment to have at the spa?
Which one of these ingredients is most tempting as a full body treatment?
Get Healthy Skin at the Gym
Moving your body is one of the keys to healthy skin that gets easily overlooked when we’re focusing on nutrition and skin care products. But movement— whatever form of exercise speaks to you— is powerful, and essential, to achieve your best skin. Whether you’re settling back into a gym routine this fall, or ramping up your workouts at home, we have some advice on keeping your skincare routine healthy. Read on, for your healthiest skin at the gym (tips apply to home workouts too!):
Healthy Skin at the Gym
During your gym workout, try not to touch your skin, as your hands have likely been handling some germ-laded equipment. Instead, have a soft towel on hand to wipe away sweat. You could use towels provided by your gym, but we often prefer to pack our own (we love organic cotton or organic bamboo), since towels at the gym are most often cleaned with bleach and other harsh agents. Same goes for our post-workout towels: we bring our own!
After a workout, we recommend that you use tepid water— nothing too cold or hot, even if it feels great on your muscles!— so as not to overdry your skin. Remember, one of the best things about exercise is perspiration. Sweat dripping from your pores means major release of toxins, and you don't want to want to go adding them right back in with industrial-grade products found in most locker rooms! Tempting as it might be to free up space in your gym bag, using the conventional body wash or hair products in shower dispenser may not turn out well. Decant a small sample of the products that you already know and love, and aim for simple, gentle cleansing products for your skin after a workout— skip the complicated essential oil blends.
Even after you shower and start to cool down, your skin must be able to continue sweating and detoxifying, so we recommend making sure that your products are lightweight and don't contain occlusive emollients. Opt for products that contain "dry" oils rather than butters and waxes for moisture.
Post-workout skin may still be carrying heat, so favor products and foods that can help cool your body and skin naturally. Cucumber, one of our favorite cooling foods to eat and apply, is a timeless choice. We love this ‘Cool as a Cucumber DIY Facial Toner’ recipe from the NAA’s Rachael Pontillo for our post-gym routines.
If you tend to get sore after workouts, we recommend adding a post-workout shake to your gym bag— specifically one that contains collagen and hyaluronic acid. Collagen helps the muscles and connective tissue repair itself after a strenuous workout, and hyaluronic acid's strong humectant properties are excellent for keeping every cell in the body hydrated; it doesn't hurt that these are also fantastic for skin health overall! A post-workout bath soak with Epsom salts can also help ease muscle soreness, as can adding a little extra anti-inflammatory turmeric or ginger to your morning smoothie.
Ready to refresh your gym skin routine?
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We want to hear from you!
What are your favorite skin care items for use at the gym?
How do your cool your body and skin after an intense workout?
Overview of Oats for Healthy Skin
Oats: you’ve heard of their use as a home remedy for itchy, inflamed skin, and you’ve seen them highlighted as active ingredients in various soothing creams and lotions. But are oats, that common pantry ingredient, really a good choice for healthy skin? Let’s take a look at the info on oats, for you and your clients.
Oat Skin Benefits
Oats, often labeled avena sativa, contain an impressive array of natural compounds that make them particularly soothing for irritated skin. Their content of sticky polysaccharide fibers called beta glucans help soothe skin by creating a protective layer on the skin’s surface, where the natural skin barrier may be otherwise compromised. Beta glucans can even support faster wound healing, and they have humectant properties, meaning that they draw in moisture that also aids skin that’s dry and inflamed. Oats also contain proteins that increase the skin’s production of filaggrin, a compound that further supports skin barrier function. And on the redness-reducing front, antioxidant avenanthramides in oats are known to reduce redness and UV irritation. Finally, saponins in oats gently cleanse skin and keep reduce dirt on the skin’s surface
Colloidal oats, which are oats that have been finely ground and then suspended in a solution that enables them to be spread evenly over the skin, are well-known and even FDA-approved as a treatment for irritated skin. In 2003, the FDA officially approved colloidal oatmeal as an ingredient to treat skin conditions including eczema, rashes, and psoriasis.
If you’re interested in testing and observing the skin benefits of oats at home, you can grind oats into a fine powder to be used in baths, facial masks, and scalp treatments, where it can quell itch.
Oats and Gluten Free Skincare
If you’re sensitive to gluten in your diet, while it’s less likely that gluten-containing ingredients will affect you topically, we believe it’s better to be safe than sorry. Avoid gluten-containing ingredients if you can. And among that list of commonly gluten-contaminated ingredients are oats, which themselves don’t contain gluten but are often processed with wheat and other gluten-containing grains. If you avoid gluten in your skincare products, know that unless a skincare products with oats specifies that it’s gluten-free, it may be gluten contaminated. Look for ingredient names like colloidal oatmeal, avena sativa, oat hydrolysate, lactobacillus/oat ferment filtrate, and sodium cocoyl hydrolyzed oat protein when searching for oat ingredients on a product label, to always be aware. And most importantly, watch how oats affect your skin and the skin of your clients in the event that there is a gluten reaction.
We want to hear from you!
Have you successfully used oats to soothe skin in your own routine, or a routine of one of your clients?
Do you prefer to use gluten-free oats for sensitive skin types?
Resources:
Colloidal Oatmeal benefits for the Skin
Gluten Free Skincare: What you Need to Know
Member on a Mission: Ashley Terry
We’re incredibly proud of NAA members and the unique ways that they apply Nutritional Aesthetics® in their personal and professional lives. It’s our goal to support them and share their wisdom by highlighting their stories with you in a periodic ‘Member on a Mission’ feature. Our latest featured member, Ashley Terry, is a licensed esthetician, eyelash technician, and makeup artist. She resides in Washington, where her business Ashley Lee Beauty offers a spectrum of services including facials that incorporate techniques like gua sha and lymph drainage.
Ashley says, "I always knew I wanted to have a career helping 
people. In 2014 I found my path to esthetics, immediately falling in love with my new career choice. I started my business in 2015 with the mission to help my clients feel more confident and beautiful on the inside and out. Around the same time I was struggling with acne which led to the start of my health journey. As I paid attention to how my body reacted to what I put in and on it, I realized that adapting a more organic, plant based lifestyle not only helped my skin but my whole being. With this knowledge and a new found passion for nutrition I began to incorporate a holistic approach to Ashley Lee Beauty. I absolutely love that I get to provide a space for clients to take a break from their daily lives, listen to their bodies, and just relax. Everyday, I am blown away by the fact that I am living my dream job and I am so very excited for where my path will lead."
We spoke to Ashley about the role that Nutritional Aesthetics® plays in her business and her approach to skin health:
NAA:
What excites you the most about the Nutritional Aesthetics® Alliance?
Ashley Terry:
When I found the NAA I was so excited to find a community with a similar mindset. I love that this is a community of professionals who focus on health and wellness to achieve great skin and beauty, willing to share knowledge so we can all learn and grow together.
NAA:
How do you apply Nutritional Aesthetics® principles to your work?
Ashley Terry:
I only use vibrant, organic or biodynamic, whole plant products during my skin care treatments. Plants are so powerful and full of life! During client intake I ask about their diet, exercise habits, stress level, water intake, sleep, and more. I use the information they share to shed light on underlying issues that could be affecting their skin. I continually check in at each new appointment to track how their skin and overall health is improving. I love to help my clients create new habits that help them feel healthier.
NAA:
Please complete this sentence, and elaborate as much as you wish: "For optimal skin health, I wish people would do more of ___________________, and less of ___________________.”
Ashley Terry:
For optimal skin health, I wish people would incorporate more self-care time into their schedules and do less negative self-talk.
As a wife, stepmom, and business owner I know how easy it is to do everything for everyone else, forget to set time aside for myself and then go over the day in my head thinking about everything I didn't do and everything I could've done better. Self-care is so incredibly important for maintaining and enhancing our health and total well being. We can eat the right food, drink all the lemon water, race to the gym, wash our face with the right products, but if we don't slow down and put our hearts into those things they will only feel like tasks we need to check off our list. We live in a world that is constant go-go-go, and I have found that by taking 10-15 minutes to slowly wash my face, rinsing the day away, and massaging at every step I feel more centered at the end of the night. Self-care comes in many forms, we each need to find what works best for us. Taking time for ourselves allows us to be in a more positive state of mind. In this state we don't get down on ourselves because we didn't get to every single thing on our list, we find ways to reschedule our days to allow us to get things done and feel less stressed. When we are less stressed there is less stress on our entire body meaning our skin has the potential to be radiant and healthy.
We want to hear from you!
How do you apply Nutritional Aesthetics® principles to your own work?
What role does self-care play in your daily routine?
Webinar: The Spiritual Side of Beauty
Are you curious about the powerful spiritual side of beauty? Then you'll want to join the Nutritional Aesthetics Alliance for The Spiritual Side of Beauty, a webinar conversation with Rebecca Casciano, makeup artist and founder of The Sacred Beauty movement— happening Wednesday, August 30th at 1PM ET.
Since 2010, Rebecca has worked as a makeup artist in bridal, fashion and entertainment. 
Her diverse clientele includes celebrities such as Mary J. Blige and Martha Stewart, in addition to wellness gurus like Gabrielle Bernstein and Latham Thomas. Her makeup artistry has appeared in magazines such as ELLE, Essence and Thoughtfully. Rebecca is passionate about helping women explore the deep connection between inner and outer beauty, which she calls "Sacred Beauty". Her philosophy was inspired by her own journey, which began with her mother's guidance and evolved through her lifelong commitment to spiritual and personal growth.
Together with Rebecca, we'll delve into the spiritual side of beauty during this webinar, and share why a spiritual approach can be incredibly important for beauty and wellness practitioners
This webinar—free for all live attendees— will take place on Wednesday, August 30th at 1PM ET.
In this webinar, you’ll learn:
- How to incorporate a spiritual approach into your practice or life.
- How Rebecca transformed her career as a fashion makeup artist to one that was aligned with the true spirit of beauty.
- Ways to bring Sacred Beauty into your practice.
- A sampling of Rebecca's favorite Sacred Beauty tools and rituals.
And more!
Please note: This webinar is FREE for live attendees only–the replay will only be available to NAA members. If you’re not a member and you want this information, register HERE, mark your calendar, and plan to join us live!
And if you’d like access to the replay of this webinar, plus every other webinar we’ve ever presented, plus a whole slew of other amazing member benefits, click HERE to become a NAA member!
Skin Soothing, Cooling Foods
Leave it to the August heat to make us crave soothing, cooling foods—nature’s gifts to the body in the high season. Besides just plain feeling overheated these days, other signs of heat and irritation, like digestive disturbances and heartburn, anxiety, headaches, and a rapid pulse, commonly arise in the body at this time of the year. In your skin, you may see extra inflammation, irritation and redness as a signal of excessive heat. If this sounds like you, cooling, soothing foods may be the best things to reach for to find relief. While spicy, hot, heavy dishes exacerbate heat, you can actually balance your body with foods that clear heat and toxins and soothe the digestive tract. These foods are especially known to balance the hot, yang season of summer with cool, yin qualities. Here are the soothing, cooling foods we’re eating now, for skin health and a body in balance:
Top soothing foods
You may want to look for these soothing ingredients to calm your body from the inside out, especially if you experience digestive irritation. These foods often contain mucilage or other soothing properties that calm your internal skin, which reflects in your outer skin as well!
- Pear
- Fennel
- Peppermint
- Licorice root
- Slippery elm
- Marshmallow root
- Coconut oil
- Fenugreek
Top cooling foods
Opt for these cooling foods to calm summer heat from your entire body, from the inside out. Wondering how you can easily spot a cooling food? These foods traditionally have a high water content, as well as a sweet or mild flavor.
- Cucumber
- Watermelon
- Apples
- Cantaloupe
- Mint
- Zucchini
- Celery
- Peaches
- Leafy Greens
We want to hear from you!
What foods do you love to reach for to cool and soothe your body at the end of the summer season?
How do you balance yin and yang qualities in your skin and body?
Carrier Oil Closeup: Sesame Oil
Sesame: you’ve likely eaten the seeds, used the ground paste in your cooking, or drizzled the oil over a stir-fry. But if you haven’t yet discovered the nourishing and protective properties of sesame oil for your skin, it’s time to look deeper. Read on for a closer look at one of the most aromatic seed oils for skin health.
Sesame oil: origins and traditional uses
Sesame oil is a thick, yellow, aromatic oil pressed from mineral-rich sesame seeds. It’s high in vitamin E, vitamin A, B vitamins, zinc, and potassium, as well as fatty acids, including linoleic and palmitic acids, that deliver palpable moisture to dry skin. Smooth it on for a major dose of moisture. As you use it, sesame oil works to boost circulation and tone skin, as well as support skin repair and help prevent bacterial infections. Sesame oil has traditionally been used for the ancient Ayurvedic skincare practice of abhyanga oil massage. During this detoxifying practice, warm sesame oil is massaged head to toe, prior to bathing. This ritual is said to nourish and calm the body, move lymph and blood, detoxify, and soften skin.
What is sesame oil good for?
The deeply moisturizing properties of sesame oil make it an excellent choice for dry skin types. Sesame oil is also a good choice for use as a scalp oil, as it can help control yeast. Its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties help it soothe itchy and inflamed skin, as well as benefit oral health when used for oil pulling. While it’s not strong enough to replace your sunscreen, sesame oil confers mild SPF protection, to the degree that it can be added to other skincare products to boost their existing SPF factor and free radical protection.
Did you know?
As sesame oil may provoke a reaction in sensitive individuals and those with a known sesame allergy, be sure there is no allergy is present and do a spot test on skin before using.
We want to hear from you!
How do you use sesame oil in your skincare routine, or the routine of your clients?
What are your favorite uses—topical or culinary— for sesame oil?
Visualize This: The Power of Visualization
Visualization: this time honored, scientifically proven tool is accessible to you anywhere and at any time, and it can change your perception, as well as the outcome of reality. What is visualization and how do you use it, you ask? Visualization is, quite simply, the practice of picturing a mental image. You can employ this tool by telling yourself a story— one that takes you where you want to go mentally, emotionally, or physically in your life. Incredibly, your brain may not actually distinguish real from imaginary, giving you an opportunity to influence the way it works. In fact, this study found that imagining a sound or shape has the same effect on our bodies as actually seeing that sound of shape, suggesting that visualization can have a major effect on your body. Read on for the ways that we use visualization in our personal and professional lives...
How the NAA uses visualization
Tisha: When I was younger, I used to approach visualization and meditation practices with doubt, rigidity, and obsessive worry about whether I was “doing it right”. Needless to say, bogged down with negativity, the tool’s benefits escaped me. Thank goodness I stayed open to fresh approaches, and was when I was gifted Mike Dooley’s book filled with a straightforward yet lighthearted approach to visualization and manifestation in 2009, I fell in love. I loved it so much I became a Infinite Possibilities Certified Trainer and use visualization tools daily to empower my own thoughts and my clients’. What’s not to love? I know now that it can be effective, free and fun. My favorite tips to keep it that way:
- Easy does it. Quality is key. Minutes a day can work magic in your life.
- Put Feeling First! Lean into the emotion of what you are visualizing, make it as real as possible in your body. You looking to fall in love? Close your eyes,smile, let out a big contented sigh and wrap yourself in a cozy blanket while you visualize. Visualizing a huge monetary windfall? Get off the couch and jump up and down and squeal, pick up the phone and gush with excitement to your imaginary confidant. Commit.
- Stick with the What not the How. Concentrate your visualization on your desired end result but don’t tie the universe’s hands in how it can conspire to get you there. You want to experience standing on the plains of Serengeti National Park, and feeling the vibration of the elephant footfalls through the soles of your own feet? (may be one of my favorites…) You want to become a sought after facialist to the the stars? Great. Just don’t link them by saying when I become X, then I will get Y- because there is infinite possibilities my friends!
Rachael: Visualization is something that helped me immensely in my personal experience in overcoming lifelong acne, in addition to losing stubborn baby weight. I also use visualization often for relaxation and stress management, either as part of meditation, while receiving acupuncture, or during savasana at the end of a yoga practice. It’s also something I recommend to all my clients and students either as a way to help them get clear skin, or have a successful skincare business. What I’ve come to understand both as a student of metaphysics and Eastern philosophy, with observation of modern scientific evidence that shows us the power of the subconscious mind in shaping our reality, is that visualization isn’t something reserved for the woo woo crowd--it is a powerful tool that can benefit anyone. My favorite visualization exercises include going to my “happy place” (a little homage to Happy Gilmore!) which is a cabin in the woods with a beautiful garden with herbs and flowers, with a babbling brook in the distance; and also visualizing the Goddess version of myself--the version of myself that knows no limits and is whole, healthy, confident, compassionate, and powerful in any given situation.
Jolene: I tend to lean on visualization to stay focused and strong during a difficult circumstance or while I’m working toward a goal, rather than than to manifest something material in my life. I believe that where your mind goes, your body flows, so in the face of a challenge visualizing my desired outcome or emotional state keeps me from, well, completely freaking out. My favorite way to use visualization is to breathe deep and take myself on a mental journey (like telling your body a story!) through the way I’d like circumstances to unfold, taking note of little details along the way. It’s an activity that is not only relaxing, but it sends your body positive messages of safety, security, and success.
Whether you’re working toward goals, healing your body, or coming up against a challenge, visualization can keep you strong and focused, so I encourage my clients to use this tool often, alongside nutrition and self-care. If they’re committed to a weight loss goal, they might visualize the pounds coming off easily as their body is properly nourished; and if they’re working to clear their skin, they might visualize the end result, with a healed, clear, radiant complexion. It’s such a gift to have this amazing, powerful, and completely free tool available to us at any moment of the day or night, through our marvelous brains.
Further Reading:
E-Squared: Nine Do-it-Yourself Energy Experiments That Prove Your Thoughts Create Your Reality
Infinite Possibilities: The Art of Living Your Dreams
Member on a Mission: Misia Smith
We’re incredibly proud of NAA members and the unique ways that they apply Nutritional Aesthetics® in their personal and professional lives. It’s our goal to support them and share their wisdom by highlighting their stories with you in a periodic ‘Member on a Mission’ feature. Our latest featured member, Misia Smith, resides in the UK, where she has been practicing holistic aesthetics since 2004. Misia is the owner and sole practitioner at her exclusive skin studio Soothe in Nottingham. She was one of the first in the UK to qualify as a Level 4 Aesthetic Practitioner in Advanced Skin Science.
Misia says, "Holistic and Nutritional Aesthetics has been a dominant feature in my life! 
As a young girl, I experienced numerous reactions to just about every skincare product I tried. My sore, inflamed skin was the bane of my life and as a young girl interested in beauty and health it was also frustrating. So at 16 I studied ‘Beauty Consultancy’ in the hope that I might understand the reasons behind my sensitivities. However, the level of information was not as in-depth or scientific as I’d hoped, so I started my own research into product ingredients. I worked in the National Health Service where I gained a good knowledge of anatomy, physiology and health and eventually after having my family went on to study Holistic Therapies such as aromatherapy, massage and holistic facials. However, my passion remained with promoting skin health through helping clients understand how their skin works and the influence of healthy nutrition on skin conditions. Surgery and injectables were the ‘fashion’ back then and I wanted to provide a beautiful place for women who wanted a natural alternative. I was passionate about the natural prevention of premature ageing, and so Soothe was born."
We spoke to Misia about the role that Nutritional Aesthetics® plays in her business and her approach to skin health:
NAA:
What excites you the most about the Nutritional Aesthetics® Alliance?
Misia Smith:
I was excited to discover the NAA because previously I spent a lot of time researching topics in books and online and I couldn’t find anyone who shared my holistic-nutritional-skin passion to exchange ideas with. There’s so much conflicting advice available. The NAA provides a first port of call for information and a feeling of family with like-minded people. It’s lovely to see the beauty field catching up and the ‘fashion’ becoming healthy skin and lifestyle.
NAA:
How do you apply Nutritional Aesthetics® principles to your work?
Misia Smith:
Gosh, every day with every client who walks through my door! I would never treat a client without first going through my Advanced Skin Care Review in which we discuss their skin care regimen (including ingredients), lifestyle, diet, sleep patterns, health and much more! When clients come to Soothe for a ‘facial’, they can expect the needs of their skin, mind, body and soul to be fed.
NAA:
Please complete this sentence, and elaborate as much as you wish: "For optimal skin health, I wish people would do more of ___________________, and less of ___________________.”
Misia Smith:
I wish people gave more consideration to the quality of the products they are eating or putting on their skin. We are literally what we eat. If we eat rubbish, we’re going to feel rubbish (and our skin will show us that it’s not happy!). The same principle applies to our skin – if we apply chemical laden, poor quality products to our skin, it’s going to behave poorly.
I wish people did less paying attention to big advertising campaigns making unrealistic promises of youth and flawless skin. It makes people cynical about the benefits of good skincare when the promises aren’t kept. People end up believing that all skincare products are the same. They are certainly not.
I also wish people did less aspiring to look like other people and did more of being proud and happy in their own beautiful skin.
We want to hear from you!
How do you apply Nutritional Aesthetics® principles to your own work?
What do you think has made the greatest impact on the appearance of your skin?