Bob is pretty much a master of de-stressing life.  When things get to be too much,he knows how to stretch out and lay down.  He eats his fruit and veggies.  He knows when he needs water.  He plays when he’s ready to play and he’ll play by himself if he needs to.  HIn many ways, he’s my personal lifestyle icon!

I do a lot of life-styling and I thought I had a pretty dialed-in routine for my own self-care and even my skincare.  But when Murad reached out and asked if I’d like to experience their Connected Beauty philosophy in action (lifestyle + skincare + self-care) I jumped at the chance to see what I was missing!

Here’s what I learned to amplify my own skincare & self-care routines from my time with the experts at Murad.  The lessons have made a decided glowing switch in my life!

First I should say I was blown away by the amount of money and time famed dermatologist Dr. Murad invested in scientific research to confirm many of the philosophies he expounds.  His book, “Conquering Cultural Stress” was an eye-opener.

Cultural Stress is real.  It affects our well-being and our genetics and our beauty as well.  Putting pressure on ourselves, following diets that are punishing, living in great speed without enough rest… all of it takes a toll beyond what beauty creams and serums can reverse on their own.

Beauty is from the inside out as well as the outside in.  The inside- nutrition, sleep, hydration, a sense of confidence and peace- matters far more than anything else.

Affirm your beauty. 

These cards I was given, printed by Murad, are great thought and journal prompts for evey day to start unravelling deficiencies in self-esteem and pressures to conform that don’t serve us at all.

I have been musing on these points, one by one, and watching all my limiting beliefs around longevity, beauty and perfectionism ease in the light of a new focus— connected beauty!

If you spend time with your journal every day writing out the pressures you feel one by one – just one a day- and then unravelling it – you’ll create much more space to glow and thrive!

Below the surface beauty.

Under the surface you see the future of your skin and you can treat it now to prevent it from happening later. And what I saw under the surface was shocking…!

I sat at the Murad flagship store in Los Angeles and a specialized camera did a multi-layer assessment of what was happening beneath the surface of my skin.  While I have pretty much “zero” overt skin issues at all and I’m grateful for that, check out the “below the surface” score for pigmentation as a result of years of letting sunscreen slide!

While I can’t see it now, that could be my skin destiny in the years to come if I don’t start taking action. I started with a Vitamin C serum called Advanced Radiance and I can feel it tingling as I apply it after their Essential C vitamin cleanser.  As my aesthetician advised me, if you’re on a budget and want to maximize effective products, cleanser is less vital than serums that stay on the skin because you’ll only be exposed to the cleanser for about 30 seconds and a powerful serum will work for hours.

Vitamin C is a powerful brightener, as is their famed Rapid Age Spot lightening serum.  It has Hydroquinone added with a powerful delivery system…and because I’m so au natural with my skincare I’m going to test that one gradually to see if my skin can tolerate it to undo the bit of sun damage I’ve done.

Needless to say, I now wear a natural sunscreen daily on my whole body and face to prevent added pigmentation!

Delivery-systems matter.  During my luscious layered Murad facial experience I asked more questions that possibly anone on the planet as I’m intrigued by a company that invests so heavily in a lifestyle philosophy.

I wondered why my coconut oil sat on my skin after my bath and never deeply moisturized as I’d hoped.

“Delivery systems” are the pathwaysways that subnstances can penetrate and the skin surface and have an effect. If they are blocked by dead skin cells, oils will just sit on the surface of your skin.  To make my coconut oil work, I needed to exfoliate well first to remove dead skin cells in the way of that penetration.  In fact, if you’re not seeing a great effect from a serum or a moisturizer, before you give up as it sits on the surface of your skin and doesn’t absorb, try a great scrub beforehand.

Eat your water.   Eating your water is a big part of Murad’s skin food self-care.  Eating lots of raw fruits and veggies (a salad a day can be a great start!) as well as drinking water provides truly cell-hydrating minerals and water that will keep you looking and feeling radiant.

Try eating a few pieces of raw fuit or a few raw veggies for a week and see how much better you both look and feel— it’s an invaluable part of a de-stressed, connected beauty philosophy!!!

I’m so grateful to Murad for the opportunity to be an Ambassador and experience integrated lifestyle and beauty on an even higher level.

Here’s a bit of a review:

Eat some raw food every day!

Create more mental space to affirm your beauty and wellbeing.

Exfoliate gently (scrubs, sonic cleanser brushes, etc) and moisurize well. 

Use sunsecreen and skincare that is desiged to be “active” and penetrate to have an effect that’s nourishing!

Remember that every day the way you treat yourself will determine your beauty future more than anything else you do!

Love yourself more…and share that love !

You can learn so much more about Murad and their philosohy and products HERE.  

Stay radiant and glowing!

xoxo Dana

 

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