Stop the clock on your skin’s aging and keep it youthful and glowing well into your golden years!

It’s been such a delight to see my social media newsfeed filled with pictures and memories from my 70^th birthday celebration! From dear friends who’ve stood the test of time like Stephen Sinatra, to new friends I’ve made through my Inner Circle, my home was filled with the sounds of joy and laughter all weekend long. It was a wonderful time that I won’t soon forget!

Unlike many women my age, I don’t mind seeing pictures of myself through the years. I still take pride in my skin and know that wrinkles and dry, sagging skin aren’t inevitable hallmarks of aging. Beauty is an inside – and outside – job, and many of the skin issues you’re facing may not be tied to the stage of life you’re in. On the inside, I supplement with lots of Omega 6 fats – CLA, GLA, and pine nut oil are my personal beauty salves.

“Nature gives you the face you have at twenty; It’s up to you to make the face you have at fifty.”– Coco Chanel

Toxin overload, unrelenting stress, hormone imbalance, sun exposure, and mineral deficiencies all play a role in the health of your skin. Once you understand the science behind why your skin remains oily, loses its elasticity, is still prone to acne, or is thin and fragile, you can easily take the same steps I have to keep it looking dewy and radiant well into your advanced years. Here are 5 Beauty Basics that I live by to keep my skin looking so youthful.

1. Embrace Healthy Sun Exposure

The sun is not your enemy, but it can prematurely age your skin with too much exposure. When it comes to healthy sun exposure, the rules are simple:

• Don’t use chemical sunscreens.These tend to give people a false sense of security to where they tend to stay out in the sun much longer than is safe for the skin. Chemical sunscreens allow harmful UVA rays through, and these rays not only cause wrinkles and premature aging of the skin, they also suppress the immune system in such a way that protection is lost from free radicals, bacteria, and other pathogens. This means that while they may protect from sunburn, they are not providing protection against skin cancers. In truth, the chemicals in sunscreen (like PABA and benzophenone-3, among others) have been shown in studies to promote cancer.
• Get enough sun exposure every day to synthesize the Sunshine Vitamin.Sunscreens block the UV rays needed for your body to make vitamin D from sunlight. Vitamin D, known as the “sunshine vitamin,” is needed for proper calcium absorption, healthy bone development, and prevention of osteoporosis. All it takes to make enough D is to expose your skin, unprotected, to the sun during the peak hours – 10 am to 3 pm – long enough for it to turn lightly pink or for 15 minutes, whichever comes first.
• When in sun, do as the Hawaiians do.Hawaiian islanders have traditionally spent prolonged periods of time out in the sun, and curiously don’t often sport the telltale signs of sunburn to show it. Their secret lies in the marine microalgae they’ve consumed regularly that’s rich in astaxanthin. I take an astaxanthin supplement derived from this microalgae to protect my skin and eyes from sun damage, and I’m happy to say I’ve noticed a remarkable difference in the amount of time I’m able to stay outdoors without a sunburn.
• When you have to be out in the sun for extended periods of time, use a mineral-based sunblock. Historically, mineral-based sunblocks have been thick white creams that you plaster all over your skin to keep the sun’s harmful rays out. Zinc oxide and titanium dioxide have been the active ingredients, but there’s some evidence of not only environmental concerns but some DNA damage as well. So, non-nanoparticle zinc oxide is the safer choice. 3^rdRock Sunblock is my brand of choice. It’s not only made with food grade edible ingredients, making it safe for children, but it’s also a cancer-protective alkaline pH.

2. Break Your Wrinkle-Making Habits

While it’s easy to blame the sun for the wrinkles we have, the truth is much more complex. Consider these tips to banish wrinkle promoters:

• Avoid rubbing your eyes. The thin skin under and around your eyelids is some of the most sensitive skin we have. Rubbing your allergy eyes or vigorous makeup removal can damage this tender skin, causing it to swell, discolor, or sag.
• Limit your alcohol and caffeine. These diuretics tend to make your body and your skin lose moisture and become dry, encouraging wrinkles.
• Be mindful of medications and nutrient-poor diets. Cortisone, cortisporin, aspirin, and restricted diets rob your body of wrinkle-fighting nutrients like vitamin C, B6, D, and K, along with zinc and potassium. These nutrients are necessary for skin elasticity, tone, hydration, and healthy collagen.
• Avoid repeated facial expressions, like pouting, frowning, squinting, or pursing your lips.
• Get regular exercise to oxygenate tissues and promote sweating that cleanses pores, resulting in a glowing, rosy complexion.
• Fix poor dental work. What may appear as wrinkles may simply be dental work that makes your mouth look skewed, causing skin to stretch unnaturally.
• Stop smoking. With each puff, you’re curling your lips, and that adds up to hundreds of times per day. Years of this can cause minor cigarette creases to develop into deepening wrinkles, not to mention the free-radical damage caused by the chemicals in the smoke itself.

3. Fall in Love with Essential Fats

Fats are not the dietary villains they’ve been made out to be, and I’ve been educating my clients on this crucial fact for more than 4 decades now. If your truly want to turn back the clock on your aging skin, then consider essential Omega 6 and Omega 3 fats to be the key. These essential fats not only help to balance your hormones, they mobilize calcium into the skin to give it strength and resilience, and they rebuild your skin at the cellular level to reverse the damage done by free radicals.

Nuts, seeds, and their cold-pressed oils, wild caught fish, pastured poultry and eggs, and grassfed meats and dairy products are all rich sources of these essential fats. To ensure you are getting the entire spectrum of fats your skin needs (not to mention your brain, heart, and other essential organs), consider supplementing with Super-EPA and GLA-90 from UNI KEY Health. They are my go-to supplements when I am traveling or need a boost in my essential fat intake.

4. Clean Water is Key for Ageless Beauty

You’ve probably been told your entire life to drink more water – we all have – and it’s necessary for beautiful skin. Dehydration causes skin to dry out and shows up as wrinkles and dull, lined skin. Because your body is made up of approximately 70 percent water, you need a constant supply throughout the day to keep yourself hydrated.

Gulping down several ounces at once may make an excellent kidney cleanse, but does little to keep you hydrated. Small amounts of about 4 ounces at several points throughout the day will go a long way toward keeping your hydration status. Make sure the water you drink is properly filtered, so xenoestrogenic chlorine, heavy metals, and bacteria so common to many municipal water supplies are properly neutralized and eliminated.

5. Become Your Own Beauty Detective

Our personal care products have become increasingly more toxic, with chemicals that are not only hormone disruptors and estrogen imitators, but they also promote cancer. These products not only age your skin prematurely but they may be compromising your health as a whole. The first thing I would have you do is read the labels for every product that touches your skin, from shampoos to soaps to moisturizers, and compare the ingredients to those found on the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Database.

With the products that have passed the test, the next thing I would have you do is test their acidity, using nitrazene, or litmus paper, which is readily available at most pharmacies. Just dab a small amount of the product onto the paper. If the paper turns blue or even purplish, the product is too alkaline for what your skin needs. If the paper turns yellow, the product is on the acidic side, which is what you want.

Your skin has a protective acid mantle, which we rarely hear much about. This highly important layer of your skin is the shield between you and environmental assaults that would harm your skin, or penetrate even deeper. By testing the acidity of the products that touch your skin, you are matching them to your skin’s natural acid mantle.

I have been blessed – and cursed – with sensitive skin. In my teens and twenties I was desperate to hide the blemishes that heralded my overindulgence in the sugary foods that triggered the breakouts so easily. Over time, I’ve learned to see my skin as a blessing, because it’s one of the reasons I became so interested in nutrition in the first place. Later it taught me about copper imbalance and the associated fatigue I struggled with. (I detailed all of this in my book, Why Am I Always So Tired?)

You need look no further than your kitchen for products to give you glowing skin and clear up the dryness, itchiness, and blotches that come with alkaline skin. Papaya and cucumber both match the natural pH of your skin, and for me personally, apple cider vinegar has become my best-kept beauty secret. I use one part ACV to 8 parts water as a toner, hair rinse, and even bath soak for tired, aching muscles.

My Personal Beauty Regimen

Your skin is your body’s largest organ, and what you put on it matters as much as what you put in your body. You can restore your skin’s health and youthful appearance from the outside in. All of the chemicals we’re exposed to, combined with pH issues and my own sensitive skin, inspired me to develop my own line of skin care products, available through UNI KEY Health.

BeauCle Purifying Cleanser, Ultra Hydrating Moisture, and Corrective Crème are my must-have beauty essentials that keep my skin soft, supple, and youthful. These products are non-comedogenic, hypoallergenic, and pH balanced, and don’t contain any of the chemicals listed on the EWG’s Skin Deep database. Here are just a few of the botanicals you’ll find in these pure, clean products:

• Camelina sativa seed oil – for skin elasticity and moisture
• Centipeda cunninghamii extract – for its anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, and anti-bacterial properties
• Sea Buckthorn – for its rich antioxidant content and ability to support collagen production
• Oat Beta Glucan – oats have long been known to soothe irritation and inflammation, but also supports collagen production, which may reduce fine lines and wrinkles
• Probiotic Complex – to restore the skin’s ideal pH and protect against common irritants
• Acmella oleracea extract – to firm and tighten the skin