Wedding planning can be fun but let's face it pretty stressful and this can have a toll on our skin (along with not eating properly and quite possible the additional consumption of celebratory alcohol consumed).
We met with Alice Mackintosh, a registered nutritional therapist in London and one of the co-founders of Equi London - a brand focused on health supplements, with a specific focus on women’s wellbeing and beauty.
We tried them, loved them and decided to ask Alice on their formula focused on beauty (aka. great for brides-to-be)
HOW CAN NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS HELP WITH SKIN?
I want to stress It’s vital to eat the right diet consistently if you want results, but the beauty of good skin supplements is that they can help to target the skin directly and deliver lots of goodness that can speed the process up. This is especially useful if you are prone to spots, get hormonal skin conditions or just have lacklustre skin that you want to pep up and get glowing. Many of us have tried skin supplements in the past to no avail without realising that to really get results, the right formula and science is absolutely key.
We spent months formulating Equi’s skin supplement Beauty Formula to ensure it contained as much goodness as possible and really targeted all the underlying reasons why someone might have a skin problem. The skin is a barometer for your internal health, and immunity, hormones digestion and sleep cycles all contribute to a glowing complexion. Multi award winning skin supplement Equi Beauty Formula contains over 60 top quality ingredients from all over the world; combining a skin focussed multivitamin/mineral, supergreens and grasses, probiotics, enzymes, herbs, adaptogens (ancient herbs used in India and China that support our hormone balance), medicinal mushrooms and omegas. Unlike any other product available, we blend these powerful ingredients with skin saviours collagen, resveratrol, silica, pine bark, acerola cherry and hyaluronic acid; it is this unique combination that’s what really delivers noticeable results, helping to clear spots, encouraging healing, brightening skin and keeping it radiant and smooth.
WHAT SHOULD I BE EATING TO MAKE MY SKIN GLOW FOR THE BIG DAY?
If your skin is spot or acne prone, blotchy, dry, red or have dark circles under the eyes, then achieving a flawless complexion can feel like a constant battle. Facials, peels, magic creams and potions can also make it very expensive, but the good news is that some simple changes to what you eat and the right nutritional supplement can really help you get results. Not only does this cost less, it also generally helps you to feel more energetic and boosts your immunity – which is an essential part of you enjoying the whole process!
The most important place to start is by upping your fruit and veg – 7 / day veg and 2 fruits is the ideal and surprisingly easy to achieve once you get your head around it. A smoothie or porridge with berries for breakfast; a large rainbow salad or soup at lunch and a chicken and veggie stew with sweet potato on the side for dinner can easily get you up to your daily quota. Get colour and variety, and the fresher the better. Pomegranates, blueberries/blackberries, beetroot, cucumber, kale, sweet potato and cauliflowers are probably some of the best types to try more of. Try having sauerkraut too, since this is full of good gut flora that is also important for skin – more about this below! I also tell people to ensue they eat enough fats as these are truly what make our skin glow. Good quality oily fish 4/week and aim to get ¼ avocado per day, 2 handful of walnuts or flaxseeds and 1 portion of raw extra virgin olive oil. Sunflower seeds, bone broth (homemade stock), tahini and chicken are also great as they are a source of zinc, a collagen booster. If you are struggling with a skin condition, consider cutting down on dairy and gluten and limiting sugar, white refined carbs and alcohol.. not ideal but it can help speed up results!
I HAVE 1 MONTH BEFORE THE WEDDING – IS THIS ENOUGH TIME TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO MY SKIN? Yes – it’s never too late to get started with nutrition! The life cycle of a skin cell is normally around 4-6 weeks, so if you make some key changes to your diet, then this is enough time for old, unhealthy skin cells to be replaced by newer healthier ones. Though everyone is different, we generally find that people notice skin is more glowing and dewy after 2 weeks of taking Equi's Beauty Formula, with spots healing and fewer forming after 4 weeks. The results of this and a good diet is more glowing, dewy skin and the longer you give it, the more results you’ll get.
HOW DOES COLLAGEN HELP MY SKIN GLOW AND WHAT ELSE CAN HELP GIVE ME A BRIGHT COMPLEXION ON THE DAY? Our bodies produce collagen naturally, and this forms the structural framework of the skin, which keeps it elastic and looking young and fresh. Or ability to do this becomes limited as we age, and the collagen levels in the skin fall. There is a lot of research about how taking good quality collagen as a supplement in the right form can boost collagen levels in the skin. People notice improved elasticity, fewer fine lines and a bright complexion. Our skin supplement Beauty Formula contains GlowCutis® – a powerful blend of collagen and collagen supporting ingredients totally unique to Equi. Zinc, vitamin C and silica are a great way to support your body’s own production and we also add in hyaluronic acid, resveratrol and pine bark help to hydrate and give a dewy, clear complexion.
