Your name:
The Orange Veggie That Smoothes Your Skin
Next time you shop for skin care products, make your way to the produce aisle and pick up some squash.
Butternut would be ideal. No, you don't rub it on your face. The veggie works from the inside out, thanks to its rich supply of pH-balancing and skin-cell-turnover-boosting vitamin A.
The Right Balance
Butternut squash is one of the best things you can eat to get more vitamin A from your diet. And you want more, because vitamin A and healthy skin go hand in hand. The nutrient helps keep your skin's pH on the acidic side (just enough to keep bacteria at bay) and promotes cell turnover, so your skin doesn't become dry, rough, and scaly. As if that weren't enough, winter squash also gives you sunburn-protective and wrinkle-fighting beta carotene and vitamin C. (Find out more about antiaging nutrients for your skin -- and where to get them.)
4 Steps to Beautiful Skin
You don't need a 2-hour spa treatment to get a healthy glow. All a healthy skin care routine really needs are these 4 steps:
- Cleanse. Not too harsh, but not too gentle. Here's what happens when your cleanser is too strong.
- Moisturize. But you need the right one for your skin type. Get the lowdown on gels, creams, lotions, and ointments.
- Exfoliate. Gentle scrubbing helps unclog pores and remove old, dead skin cells. Find out how to do it.
- Protect. Take this quiz to find out which kind of sunscreen is best for your skin type.
Want more skin care advice? Take the RealAge Skin Care Assessment and get a personalized plan for making your skin look and feel younger.
RealAge Benefit:
Doing routine self-examinations for skin cancer can make your RealAge as much as 1.7 years younger.
