How Can A Detox Benefit Your Skin?

Now that the sun’s out and summer is fast approaching, many people are taking the opportunity to detoxify their bodies. This is an amazing idea, and can have a ton of positive effects both on your skin and your body in general. It does need a responsible approach though, so this week on the blog we’re going to quickly take you through some of the best ways to do it.

Why Does Detoxifying Help Your Skin?

As we always say here at AP Skincare, our bodies are amazing machines. There are lots of biological systems in place that our bodies use to detoxify themselves, but it never hurts to make their jobs easier now and again. Your liver is an excellent example of an organ that detoxifies the rest of your body, but your skin works pretty hard too. As the largest organ in your body, we’ve already talked about all the ways in which it protects you, but it also plays a part in expelling the nasty stuff from your body too.

When your body has an excess of toxins, they’re often manifested through your skin as it works to get rid of them. You can see it in stuff like excess congestions (blackheads, in other words), and enlarged pores. Things like alcohol and salt gradually dehydrate you, for example, which has rapid and quite noticeable knock-on effects on your skin. Your skin needs to be properly hydrated in order to look at its best, so detoxifying by giving things like salt and alcohol a miss will give it a much-needed chance to recover.

How To Do Detoxifying Right

detox kit

Here’s where we have to be careful when talking about detoxing. All too often, they’re used as a catch-all term by some of the more ill-informed health advocates, and used as justification for all sorts of fad diets. At AP Skincare, your health matters to us, and so we want to be very clear with you: detoxifying and dieting aren’t the same thing. They overlap, definitely, but it’s not the same definition. If you gave up drinking for a few weeks, you’d be detoxifying, but if people asked you probably wouldn’t tell them you were dieting.

The key to a successful detox is to know your goals going in. It’s not a fad diet (be very careful of those), and it’s not necessarily a weight-loss exercise. It can be, but mostly it’s just about giving the bad things a miss; things like refined sugar, alcohol, excessively salty foods and maybe even caffeine.

If you’re picking out a recommended detox programme, use your common sense. Be wary of ones that over-promise. The Master Cleanse is a really good example of a supposedly good detox programme that can have awful effects on your body. As a general rule, if on the ‘cons’ column it lists ‘severe hunger and/or cramps’, it’s not good for you. These dodgy detoxes are often easy to spot as long as you keep alert!

Our Skincare Detox Top Tips

top detox tips

Many people choose to construct their own detox programme, which is what we’d recommend here at AP Skincare. Our detox top tips are:

Colourful fruits and vegetables are rich in anti-oxidants, making them fantastic for your skin, and they’re also high in fibre. Drinking plenty of water keeps your skin hydrated, helping it look and feel healthier. Exercise, meanwhile, makes you sweat more, giving your body more opportunities to get rid of the bad stuff through your pores. Alcohol, coffee and sugar can all wreak merry havoc on your skin – not to mention your body in general – so giving them up is a great idea too.

And finally, our chemical peel treatment can help you get rid of any dead skin cells still fluttering about on the surface, helping you feel fresher in time for summer! Call us today on 01282 297 000 to book a treatment, or pop into our skincare clinic in Blackburn. We’re here to help!

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