Why I Refuse To Have A Skincare Routine (Or: Being an Excellent Steward of Your Own Ecology 101)

Written By Kelly Samantha

Photo by Kelsey Curtis on Unsplash

Personal care is, well, personal, no doubt, but there have been many misconceptions and a lot of miscommunication in modern culture when it comes to the daily maintenance and care of our glorious selves. In case you were late to the party (and I know many people still are), non-toxic skincare is all the rage now and it’s time we do a little catch-up with this holistic, non-toxic skincare guide. A guide that has been brewing in the back of my mind for a while now.

Although I grew up relatively low-tox with a conscious mom on modest means and was very much a counter-cultural, anti-consumerist minimalist by necessity, I still used St. Ives apricot face scrub, Colgate toothpaste, Oxy pads for acne, Irish Spring soap, nail polish, and still used Herbal Essences shampoo, which was the standard cheap drugstore fare that I never gave a second thought. Like many of us, I was misled to believe from the label that many of these products were safe, “natural” and even effective simply because they lined store shelves, had images of fruits or leaves on the packaging to project a health-conscious image, and were labelled things like “hypoallergenic” and “dermatologist tested” (and nowadays it seems to include “vegan”, “ethical”, and even “fair-trade”).

Then after a while, it’s easy to become numb and unconscious to it all: even as we get older, we can see famous people, our friends or people we admire using certain products and become drawn to doing the same so we can feel “part of the club” or more connected. A problem with modern consumerism, as I’m sure you know, is that it attempts to fill a lack of authentic connection. The sheer amount of toxic products out there is dizzying. Most companies are insidious greenwashers or secretively owned by bigger conglomerates, even infiltrating “counter-cultural”, hippie-adjacent demographics, meaning that the marketers were (and still are) preying on their targeted unsuspecting consumer, because at the end of the day, if you actually examine the ingredient lists, these products they’re peddling are total poison (even most “luxury” brands)… not to mention tested on animals and packaged in needless plastic.

Think of toxins like a bucket: if you keep adding them, over time, the bucket overflows. We can keep going and going unconsciously on autopilot until we or our friends and family are faced with some serious health issues that affect longevity and even interrupt a thriving, free, full-spectrum, authentically expressed and smartly navigated life. The stress and fear induction around avoiding, researching and selecting all of these products is also not helpful. Heck, there are entire blogs and online businesses revolving around low-tox lifestyles. This is why, once and for all, I’d like to make it very clear in this article that whatever you put on yourself affects every single aspect of your life so you can feel empowered to use your discernment.

Often in today’s world, it can be very easy even as a “minimalist” to fall down the rabbit hole of products, marketing and fake beauty standards (ESPECIALLY in the age of Instagram, marketing reels and Tik Tok), but we cannot out-product a lack of genuine self-love and authentic expression/connection, poor diet, poorly managed stress, and poor sleep hygiene. We don’t need more plastic material superficial things in this world. When it comes to caring for yourself, you’re really your own guru, but no amount of image manipulation you do to yourself will actually bring peace to your soul. When we really get down to address these roots, all of our skin problems will naturally fade away to reveal an innate inner glow.

Traditional Chinese face mapping is a 3,000 year old practice used to decode messages of stress from other areas of our body via channels of qi (energy) that flow throughout it. Diet and lifestyle shifts are the keys to resolving imbalances. Day-to-day, I personally don’t concern myself too much with the semantics of face maps. While they have their place, I usually find it easier to just focus on the simple daily basics while viewing everything as a whole whenever possible. I always go bare-faced because I have nothing to hide (as a bonus I have minimal acne and glowing skin due to good nutrition). Image courtesy of Healthline

Beauty, to me, is moving in alignment (somatic integrity), authenticity, playfulness and joy. It’s magnetic. Today I have cultivated such deep respect for myself and my life path, and the stronger this gets, the less I feel inclined to patch myself up even as I get older, harnessing the power of good nutrition (aka effortless detox), trust in my body, intention, and active outdoor movement alone. Don’t get me wrong, expressing yourself on a physical level can be fun and lead to more connections and fleeting personal fulfillment, but I believe it is so important to source your tools as wisely as you’re able to. Taking care of your skin can be like a holy ritual, and if you can afford it, there are so many non-toxic, high-quality alternatives out there that you can explore.

Currently I am no longer into anything but the bare minimum in terms of products and have essentially deconditioned myself from materialism and modern life. So often we humans tend to overcorrect and someone coming off of a toxic lifestyle may overcompensate with a full cabinet of 50 different organic essential oils, serums, gua sha stones, clays, etc. I seem to have skipped this step in favour of the bare basics. Different functional tools that actually support the body to stay healthy can be used as a preventative measure, especially when unhealthy modern industrial environments and depleted nutrients in mainstream agricultural soils are concerned.

Mostly out of sheer laziness, I've been fortunate to reach a place of self-respect and harmony where I require nothing more than:

  • regular full spectrum sunlight on bare skin (to tolerance without burning)

  • omnivorous, organic, 99% regeneratively sourced nutrition that effortlessly supports the body’s natural detoxification pathways and neuroplasticity

  • fresh spring water splashed onto the face with organic hemp face cloths, and used in cooking and drinking (findaspring.com to find spring water nearest you). Deuterium-depleted or sourced from the north/south poles, if possible

  • Dr. Bronner’s castile soap for the hands (and washing dishes)

  • non-toxic saponified charcoal soap for the face, usually just in the shower which works wonders for my oily skin without having to use petroleum/chemical-based/synthetic products or stripping scrubs whatsoever. Skin-friendly oils like jojoba can also be a great cleanser/moisturizer without overcompensating the skin’s oil production. I like Living Libations but a good clean charcoal (or your preferred) soap could be found in pretty much any health store near you.

  • filtered shower water

  • a bit of melted beef tallow or lard on the back of my hands as a REALLY EFFECTIVE hand cream in winter

  • peppermint or unscented shampoo by Carina Organics or spirulina shampoo by Living Libations (or whatever non-toxic shampoo I can access, no conditioner needed). These cleaner products can be more expensive, but because of the stark simplicity of my routine, I can invest, and showering less to keep my microbiome intact means minimal cost per use.

  • no bras to keep the lymphatic fluid flowing, and only organic cotton underwear (non-toxic, natural fiber, plant-dyed or undyed if possible)

  • no makeup (even non-toxic brands are too much of a hassle for me)

  • positive and nurturing thoughts and actions, empathy with healthy boundaries, resolving inner conflicts through a dance with life and self-expression

  • zest for life and its endless possibilities, low stress, silliness and enjoyment, and a drive to thrive in all circumstances

Ironically, much of this can be seen as high maintenance but it actually promotes longevity and full-spectrum empowerment for me in the long run. Without the distractions of makeup, hair dye, beauty standards and party culture, more of my energy can be devoted to cooking up organic whole foods, projects, connection and deeper exploration of the inner and outer worlds. It’s definitely more of a well-rounded and intuitive self-care routine that’s flexible with my current lifestyle, keeping me crystal clear in terms of navigating daily life and my greater goals. Minimalism is actually a gateway to maximizing as you remember wholeness and harmony while creating balance and living the life you actually want.

May this article help plant seeds and carve out a way towards exploring a greater relationship with yourself, cultivating a liberated framework around personal care and free self-expression. The ultimate guru will always be you. Curating an inner glow (in more ways than one) involves a deeply holistic analysis of your lifestyle, and I hope this article can spark a willingness to live well and discover your own personal routine.

When we take back our power and become armed with greater knowledge, we can effortlessly settle into unique routines and not stress about it, because it will naturally be less intensive, less exhausting, less forced. Find the strength and courage, use your intuition, embody vigilance, do what you can with what you have, and don’t believe the noise. It comes down to self-education, empowered awareness, and self-love. What’s inside is reflected on the outside, and as your relationship with yourself evolves, inevitably so will your surroundings.

“Beauty is a light in the heart.”
— Khalil Gibran

Nutrition

Real beauty begins within with a thriving gut supported by quality, sun-raised nutrition. Your skin is an organ as part of the larger system of your body, and healthier skin starts with a healthier gut. Ancient systems of medicine including Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine knew this for thousands of years, and modern Western science is finally catching up via systems like functional medicine, German New Medicine, and an amalgamation of both new and classic systems and modalities.

If you want to curate a truly innate glow, the first and maybe even only area you’ll need to invest in is clean nutrition tailored to your unique needs. It wasn’t until I completely stopped processed, pre-made and packaged foods and cooked most of my own meals back around 2013 that I generally noticed a real, drastic and lasting change in my skin quality, quality of life and gut health due to a cleaner diet and outdoor movement. You are what you digest and what you can gather from the environment (full-spectrum sunlight, electrons, barefoot with earth’s Schumann resonance, etc). Your gut is what processes your nutrients and allows them to create and rebuild your body, cell by cell. It is you who transmutes and integrates it all. Whole food nutrition enhances your innate beauty, and when you nourish yourself, you may find that you have a natural willingness to live well in all other areas of your life. To learn more about my gut healing protocol, visit here. To check out some of my medicinal recipes, visit here. Food is medicine.

Blood sugar balance

Another area I believe is helpful to be mindful of is keeping blood sugar balanced throughout the day, which can be a key to reversing the pathway to so many issues, including acne, which I no longer struggle with as badly as I used to. Reducing big insulin spikes and energy crashes also helps maintain steady energy levels throughout the day without relying on coffee or stimulants! (Yes, really). This can support your immune system and metabolism, promote a healthy weight, and improve gut health, allowing for easier and positive changes throughout your whole life. The key is in daily, consistent, yummy, satiating whole food meals high in quality protein and healthy fats, and lower in whole sugars and whole carbs (not the same as “keto”, which I don’t believe is beneficial long term).

Include lots of fruits and vegetables, non-irradiated/homegrown herbs and spices that work for you as well, although things like dates, bananas and mangos can be an insulin trigger for some. You can visit the Glucose Goddess to learn more about blood sugar balance. Cooking and then cooling certain starchy foods like organic rice and yellow/white potatoes creates prebiotic-resistant starch and promotes more balanced blood sugar. Have them alongside balanced meals (protein, fat, cooled carbs together), as well as brief 10-minute walks after meals. Seriously, nice and sustained energy throughout the day is a total game-changer for life and longevity.


Common things to avoid for glowing skin:

  • Sugary soda pop

  • Caffeine (particularly energy drinks)

  • Alcohol

  • Refined sugar (white sugar, brown sugar, things like HFCS, syrups, and even coconut sugar). Things like natural organic cane sugar and pure maple syrup can actually be pro-metabolic depending on your context.

  • Artificial sweeteners (acesulfame, aspartame, saccharin, sucralose, stevia, various flavourings common to take-out food)

  • Refined industrial vegetable and seed oils (sunflower, safflower, canola, corn, soybean)

  • Dairy (particularly factory-farmed, pasteurized, homogenized, corn/soy/grain fed, conventional non-organic dairy. Raw dairy can be the complete opposite and very healing, try what works for you)

  • Highly processed conventional grains and flours, usually hybridized and sprayed with glyphosate, and fortified with “vitamins” aka iron filings since the 1940s which does nothing but accumulate in your organs)

Introducing more of what’s “good” is often more powerful than avoiding and focusing on what’s not so helpful. Commonly known foods or supplements to have on rotation to build and maintain gut health and glowing skin include:

  • Fatty, wild-caught fish (such as salmon, mackerel, herring)

  • Avocados

  • Grass-fed, grass-finished bone broth

  • Grass-fed and grass-finished organ and muscle meats

  • Steamed or cooked veggies (raw veggies can be great but harsher on the digestive system and less bioavailable if you have a damaged gut)

  • Fermented foods such as kvass, kimchi, kefir

  • Virgin, cold-pressed coconut oil

  • Aloe vera

  • Walnuts (ideally activated)

  • Carrots

  • Sunflower seeds (also ideally activated)

  • Dark chocolate (such as ceremonial raw cacao)

  • Cold-pressed organic juices (…yum)

  • Green tea/matcha

  • Grass-fed colostrum (if you can handle dairy)

  • Glutamine

Well-digested food is fundamental to a thriving gut ecosystem. Here are some tips to help improve digestion, which helps you break down and effectively absorb nutrient-dense meals:

  • Avoid drinking liquids too close to meals (or during meals) as this dilutes your stomach acid, which breaks down food

  • Stay hydrated throughout the day otherwise (fruits and vegetables with a bit of sea salt with its minerals are more effective than plain water)

  • Avoid drinking cold beverages in general, room temperature or warm is best and helps with lymph flow

  • The addition of spices can also increase your digestive fire, like cayenne, cumin, coriander, and fennel

  • Consume a variety of probiotic-rich fermented foods, and consume a variety of prebiotic foods (which act as food for the probiotics). Fermentation is a kind of alchemy, and traditional lifeways include lacto-fermented foods with nearly every meal.

  • Eat with your hands when possible. In Ayurvedic wisdom, this promotes a full sensory experience as well as health benefits, activating digestive enzymes and hydrochloric acid before the food even reaches your lips. Your body’s capacity to produce “rasa” is increased, promoting longevity.

  • Find a balance with fiber; there is such a thing as too much. Only utilize low/no fiber in the context of resetting the gut microbiome temporarily, not long term as this damages the gut and increases colon cancer risk

  • Eat mindfully, without distraction. Leave your phone and other technology in another room, enjoy your home cooked meal outdoors under sunlight when possible, present and unbothered! 

  • Avoid eating when you are in a distressed state; take a few deep breaths and practice gratitude for your meal. Mitigate stress or use it to your advantage. Enjoy your food in peace.

  • Chew your food properly—this is the first and vital step of digestion. Chew your smoothies before swallowing each sip to improve digestion and avoid bloating. 

  • Soak and sprout any nuts, seeds, grains, beans and pulses before consuming them to neutralize anti-nutrients (“activate” them)

  • Eat seasonally and locally whenever possible, and opt for more cooked foods in the winter, and more raw foods in the summer in general

  • Certain yogic poses boost digestive fire, like cat-cow and apanasana (knees to chest)

  • Eat during sunlight hours and go outside at least every few hours to photosynthesize and inform your body of the time of day, aligning with the elements and wisdom of nature. Avoid eating too close to bedtime. Night is when your body rests and repairs itself on a cellular level, the time when most detox and repair processes occur (which it cannot do if it has to digest food all night long). Eat earlier, go to bed earlier. 

  • Eat outside and expose at least your upper body to the full-spectrum sunshine to help sculpt and modulate the gut microbiome, charging and structuring your cellular water like a battery with earth’s light, water and magnetism. Enjoy!

Suggestions for digestive aids:

  • A few sips of diluted raw apple cider vinegar in spring water before a meal

  • Digestive bitters or digestive enzymes

  • Lemon juice diluted in spring water

  • Apple cider vinegar diluted in spring water (I like 1 tsp per glass; it’s strong)

  • HCL + pepsin (if it works for you)

  • Enjoy fresh ripe local fruits first before meals

  • Increase Agni by consuming fresh ginger, lime, lemon, or a spoonful of raw homemade fermented foods like sauerkraut with your meals

Hydration

If you do ANYTHING for your skin (health) in your lifetime, let it at least be avoiding unfiltered tap water. I was very lucky to have been raised mostly on relatively clean (filtered/bottled spring) water not directly from a tap (although yes, plastic bottles are terrible and best avoided whenever possible). Most municipal water treatment plants do a great job at filtering out the pathogens but leave behind a slew of toxicants such as chlorine, fluoride, pesticides, heavy metals and microplastics. To filter these out, reverse osmosis filter your cooking and drinking water, or ideally, collect wild spring water from a source near you, via findaspring.com or a local delivery service (I currently use Cedar Springs in non-toxic glass jars in southern Ontario, Canada. Seriously, you’ll never drink tap water again once you taste the difference). Spring water comes from the earth, collects minerals from the rocks and sand, and once it becomes part of your cells, you remember who you really are.

Staying hydrated and moving facilitates your digestive health and cleanses and detoxifies your blood, hydrating your organs (and skin). Just try not to drink liquids too close to meals (when it’s easy) as this dilutes your precious stomach acid which is needed to help break down the food.

  • clean water (spring water, or properly reverse osmosis filtered water)

  • herbal infusions and teas

  • fresh ripe fruits and vegetables (favourites lately include fresh raw cucumbers and tomatoes with a bit of mineral-rich sea salt to boost the hydration process)

  • mineral-rich bone broths in soups/stews

  • even meats can be hydrating!

When it comes to skincare, it’s best to be very discerning because what goes onto your body goes into your body. Invest in a core selection of high-quality skincare formulations made with 100% organic and/or wildcrafted ingredients (such as Living Libations), and you’ll find that you have more free time in the other areas of your life. Find what works for your skin, many health stores will let you try a sample patch to see how it reacts before purchasing. Invest in a few 100% organic, natural fiber, gentle face cloths and bath towels while you’re at it. There is a war for your dopamine from marketing execs around the world, so practicing vigilance, reading ingredients and living your authentic life will help you take charge. That, to me, is real “luxury”.

Face masks

I genuinely can’t remember the last time I used a face mask, but there have been effective ingredients that I’ve used, like raw honey. Get to know your unique skin and find what works best for you. Not every ingredient works for everyone, but some of the safer ingredients that can support different skin types, whether in face masks or non-toxic soaps, include:

  • activated charcoal (detoxifying, particularly good after a day downtown with all the car exhaust pollution)

  • bentonite clay

  • French green clay

  • jojoba oil (a great neutral carrier oil that can double as cleanser and moisturizer)

  • raw local honey or manuka honey (most mainstream honeys are BS, get to know your local beekeeper or have a look in your local health shop)

  • tiiiny amounts (like 1-2 drops) of diluted 100% pure organic essential oils in a carrier oil (a particularly scammy industry, so watch out if you do go down that route). If going out into the sun, avoid citrus oils such as orange or grapefruit as they can react negatively with the sunlight. Different plant oils can have different benefits. I personally don’t bother with essential oils unless used in my diffuser once in a while.

  • cucumber (blended)

  • aloe vera gel (blended)

A homemade charcoal face mask can be great for pulling out toxins from your pores after a long day downtown, a manuka honey mask can be great for restorative hydration, and a cooling blended cucumber mask with yogurt, aloe and/or honey can be helpful after long days in the sun.

Soaps

Most soap is a lie, and especially for my fellow oily skin friends, excessive aggressive soap only irritates the skin, kills the microbiome, and promotes more natural oil production. Your face is its own microbiome and shouldn’t be scrubbed day in and day out. Despite various and often controversial beauty standards around the globe, don’t be afraid of dirt and sweat and the natural authentic rawness and expression of your soul. Your microbiome (both of the skin and gut) keeps you healthy, and they act like soldiers that help fight off bacteria and infection to keep a balanced environment. If you scrub and sanitize too much and focus on it too narrowly, odour, infections and dis-ease are only easier to come up.

Cleaner soaps such as diluted Dr. Bronner’s unscented baby castile soap and saponified/handmade soap have been great for my oily skin on occasion or in the shower a few times a week, otherwise I usually just rinse my face with plain water (ideally spring water/filtered water) and an organic face cloth, protecting the natural microbiome of my body. Never use anti-bacterial soaps if you can help it. You could also use natural face-friendly plant oils to cleanse such as jojoba if it works for you.

Diluted Dr. Bronner’s unscented baby castile soap is my favourite all-purpose non-toxic soap for washing my hands AND washing the dishes throughout the day.

Carina Organics have been going for half a century here in Canada and are among the cleanest biodegradable products on earth. Their shampoos and body washes lather up naturally and nicely enough to reach and balance out accumulated oiliness of my hair without disrupting the body’s microbiome. The shampoo that doubles as a body wash is perfect, saves time when I do use it as a body wash, and promotes a clean conscience.

For those of you who are often exposed to Staphylococcus aureus (Staph infections), particularly in gyms or hospitals, Defense Soap can be your ally.

Note that it generally isn’t ideal to use body wash every single day, and a simple body rinse in plain filtered shower water or a dip in the lake is more than enough to regularly protect your microbiome day to day, even after a sweaty gym sesh. Cleaning up your diet will help prevent body odour in the first place, but for anything else, there’s Primally Pure aluminum-free deodorants made with tallow from grass-fed cows!

There are more and more products out there that purportedly support the gut, like Ion (formerly Restore) and various probiotic sprays like Mother Dirt, but honestly, the best skincare is completely free: getting outdoors under sunlight and in the actual dirt, spending time in nature barefoot and bare skinned, and showering less.

Makeup

I’ll keep it short and sweet. Makeup is BS. This includes nail decorations, hair colour, eyebrow threading, eyelash extensions, and whatever else. I was raised with a bit of casual awareness to how toxic most makeup is, and was given a small pack of talc-free Physician’s Formula powder from my mom as a teen that I never used. I’ve never been a big makeup wearer and only wore a light amount of BB cream to school/work for 4-5 years before it really hit how toxic it all was, especially when combined with a largely indoor lifestyle with lots of artificial light (horrendous). The marketing onslaught of worldwide consumerism can really permeate your world if you’re defenseless and careless, even if you’ve grown up “anti-consumerist” like I have. In 2015/2016, spurred by my vegan phase and increasing conscious awareness, I ditched all forms of makeup and hair and nail colour (vegan or not). It’s all such a waste of time. You were born with a beautiful face, and my best advice here is to cultivate unconditional love for your whole self.

If you do use makeup (it can be fun), cleaner brands such as Ilia, Kjaer Weis and assorted brands from The Detox Market can all be great options. I actually still have a few things from Ilia and Kjaer Weis that I might use for special occasions. Makeup was widely used in the ancient times that we often like to glorify but ultimately, I genuinely feel that the best look for any face regardless of gender or identity is an effortless, natural glow backed by real nutrition and a happy nervous system rather than a gaudy, overdone, contoured face paint with botox.

Cap Beauty has a decent selection of high quality, luxurious non-toxic skincare, although I usually look at the dry brushes and snacks before anything else.

Ultimately, none of this stuff will replace a lack of genuine self-love, authentic self-expression, empowerment, authentic connection, nourishment and nutrition that begins within.

I had a phase where I was really sensitive and anxious and lived in such fear of toxins (likely all a byproduct of leaky gut and copper toxicity from long-term vegan/vegetarianism), but that ain’t healthy, either. It isn’t always easy, but what’s conducive to a thriving life on the other side of fear, diagnoses and hyper-awareness (especially in the saturated info age) is relaxation, presence, a degree of surrender, and play.

Skin issues (acne, eczema, psoriasis, etc.)

Skin issues have many possible factors that contribute to them, even trauma and emotional conflicts. Without going into too much complexity, if you find yourself with a non-urgent skin issue, at the very least you’ll want to look into your lifestyle, gut health, and diet to begin with. Too often people are prescribed or marketed ineffective topical band-aid solutions like toxic creams for acne and it ends up being a waste of time and money, often prolonging the issue that can actually be reversed with other safer and more gentle methods.

Diet is one of the basic keys to resolving most skin issues, as is restoring the health of your gut microbiome (leaky gut/indigestion), and eliminating triggers such as inflammatory foods and allergens as discussed earlier. For me, diet is inextricably tied to acne, along with stress and hormone balance. A cleaner organic diet with carefully sourced plant and animal foods (especially sourcing high-quality grass-fed dairy) and pure spring water really minimizes acne for me, no makeup needed. Short-term restrictive autoimmune protocol diets like GAPS can also be useful depending on your context, in which certain foods are re-introduced in order to better understand how the body reacts to trigger foods.

Another important thing to do is eliminate the use of all products containing synthetic chemicals. Chances are, it’s all of them! Even formulations that boast certain essential plant oils or “natural ingredients” on the front can list 30 different unrecognizable, toxic ingredients on the back. Assume that most skincare companies are guilty until proven innocent.

Invest in a basic shower filter and you’ll vastly reduce the toxic load on your body, promoting easier healing. Unfiltered tap water is full of chemicals and chlorine that aggravate all types of skin, even more so skin that is already chronically irritated.

Dial in your quality sleep and stress reduction regimen, poor sleep promotes stress and inflammation, none of which are conducive to healing.

It’s important to note that inflammatory triggers of synthetic chemicals aren’t restricted to soaps and what you put on your skin, and also include toxic cleaning chemicals, birth control, air fresheners, non-stick coated cookware, polyester plastic petroleum dyed clothing, artificially scented paraffin candles, VOCs, chemically treated furniture and carpets, laundry detergents and fabric softeners, jewellery, perfume/cologne, alcohol, and food sensitivities.

PS. If you find yourself with eczema, consider applying goat or cow kefir to the affected area and there’s a high chance it will resolve! For me, simply drinking grass-fed kefir along with healing my gut and following the lifestyle protocol as closely and strictly as possible actually resolved my 4-year stint with a small patch of eczema, and the healing happened very gradually with consistency. My emotional patterns have shifted for the better as well, contributing to the healing. I even bought a natural eczema balm but never needed to use it, not even once. The gut healing protocol includes conscious avoidance of artificial blue light exposure, especially at night, and as someone with a tech screen job, this was very challenging! Your skin wants to heal and your body wants to thrive. Pain is your body communicating with you, tune in and you will overcome this challenge. All it takes is dedicated commitment to your healing journey.

Sun care

Full-spectrum, smart sunshine exposure (without burning) is life-giving, plays a critical role in healing the gut, and is the ultimate life force. I usually don’t bother with even natural/non-toxic sunscreen, but when I do spend an entire day in the sun, I opt for non-nanoparticle zinc, non-toxic formulas such as the ones by Living Libations or a homemade formula (see below), or simply wear a hat and long sleeves. Spending more safe amounts of time in the sun and in nature transforms your life in ways that can be explained by known science, yet in ultimately unfathomable ways.

The nature of the written word and online discourse with the development of the Internet seems to easily promote “either/or” thinking, atomization, and division. Combine this with mass malnutrition, isolation and indoor living and we can easily see this madness develop, not only on the physical plane, but on emotional and psychospiritual levels as well. I think it’s important to step back from this, create space with the awareness that modern technology tends to be very square-minded, and balance this out with something else more expansive. Bring the soul and spirit back. Get in the sun. Come together as one. When you empower yourself and do the inner work, you can wield the power of technology wisely and with consciousness, intention and accountability.

Sunlight on bare skin when the sun is over 30 degrees from the horizon provides your body with vitamin D from the UVB rays. If you carefully do this all spring/summer and into fall, you’ll be able to build up stores of vitamin D that last throughout the winter/dark months. The benefits of sunlight exposure go way beyond just vitamin D, and vitamin D supplements cannot replicate the exact effects of sunlight on bare skin. Sunrise and sunset are the most low risk kinds of sunlight, and most healing.

The Dminder app developed with Dr. Michael Holick can be useful to track your vitamin D levels and find out the best times of the day to generate it based on your skin tone, cloud cover, and geographical location. This can be a great tool for engaging in smart, safe sun exposure and knowing when it’s time to cover up.

Skin cells must be strengthened and nourished internally with real food and spring water or clean, filtered, restructured and remineralized water to receive the full blessing of interacting with the sun. Water contains minerals that inform the skin’s cells, intrinsically entwined with the mineral content dictating the water content in each cell and how receptive the skin is to water, providing for cell function and efficiency of cell-to-cell communication.

I have fairer skin with less natural protection from the sun’s rays, but my largely organic, colourful, whole foods diet acts as an internal sunscreen and helps me stay resilient for longer periods of time in the sun, having first carefully built up my solar callus over the years. A colourful, delicious, abundant regenerative wild diet full of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, high quality animal proteins, healthy fats and appropriate carbs creates your cells and boosts your resilience, supporting a healthy tan/glow and just overall a better quality of life. Before this, on a garbage Western processed vegetarian diet, I would be more susceptible to burning quicker (and getting emotionally sad).

Top foods to avoid include industrial processed vegetable and seed oils (including fake olive oil), processed grains, and processed refined sugars. I’m sure you’ve caught wind of this from the paleo/vegan/keto/carnivore/low carb crowds (although when it comes to manifesting health, none of those labels should be anything to stick to). Also, a note on coffee: although it can increase skin’s sensitivity to the sun, it is not a “bad” food, and can be pro-metabolic and promote longevity in certain contexts. Opt for organic, mycotoxin-free coffee if possible, and swiss-water process decaf if you prefer.

Skin supportive foods that naturally help increase resilience in the sun include:

  • whole foods with omega-3 DHA (such as seafood)

  • tomatoes

  • leafy greens

  • healthy saturated and monounsaturated fats like avocados, grass-fed/finished tallow and ghee, grass-fed butter, extra virgin authentic olive oil

  • whole foods with astaxanthin such as wild caught seafood, also available in supplement form - can be a great internal sunscreen

  • wild local chaga mushroom (best and most bioavailable as dual extracted or spagyric tincture)

Seek local organic foods when possible, and you’ll have the elements of the land come into your cells. Even if you clean up your diet and build up your solar callus, it’s good to have options if you get to a point where you’ve had enough sun and can’t immediately duck indoors. Bring a long sleeved shirt, a hat, or an umbrella on your travels to avoid burning. I would like to emphasize that burning is absolutely terrible for your health and promotes skin cancer, shock and distress in your body, and destroys your skin, compromising its ability to be elastic/stay youthful.

If you do burn, consider applying one of these to the affected areas to soothe skin:

  • aloe vera (scraped from a leaf, or gel) OR:

  • jojoba oil - restores vitamin E, adds moisture, and promotes healing to soothe sunburns

  • I don’t recommend excessive use of essential oils as they’re very strong, but a few drops of peppermint essential oil or lavender essential oil can be useful diluted in a carrier oil

If you’re on the level of a sun worshipper and need some extra support, consider:

  • immortelle, sandalwood, geranium, frankincense and rose all have the potential to fade hyperpigmentation (sun spots) and prevent abnormal cell growth. Using one of these oils/distillations diluted can help support and nourish your skin well into older age

“The action of sunshine in the outdoors on the body is of such a nature that sun-baths have a triple significance—as a healing agent in the cure of disease, as a preventative to disease by building up the body resilience, and as a sheer pleasure- giving tonic which increases the feeling of well-being.”
— Edgar Mayer, MD

Especially if you have “nature deficiency syndrome”, regularly merging your body with the sunlight (especially at sunrise and sunset) without burning is the ultimate preventative and healing health tool, helping you connect with the power of the universe. For bone health, mental health, skin, muscles, organs and marrow, and a healthy, glowing, thriving body with an expanded mind… be open to receive the free gift without fear! “Be like the sun and watch the whole world grow tall”.

The Conventional Sunscreen Lie (synthetic, chemical-based)

Conventional/mainstream sunscreen is bar none one of the most sh*t-riddled, toxic, disease-causing products on this planet, no matter the brand or SPF level. Not only is sunscreen a massive contributor to cancer with recalls as recently as earlier this year, but it pollutes the natural waters and disturbs everyone else around you, particularly if you’re using one of those sunscreen sprays.

Most of the well-known brands for both kids and adults are terrible: Coppertone, Banana Boat, Equate, but even the higher-end and luxury brands are just as toxic: Clarins, Neutrogena, Avene, and SPF makeup like Cle de Peau, Estee Lauder, various BB creams, or La Mer. These shiny products contain a slew of toxic chemicals including oxybenzone, avobenzone, octisalate, octocrylene, homosalate, benzene and octinoxate, endocrine disruptors promoting a wide range of issues including endometriosis, thyroid dysfunction, and autoimmunity.

Your skin is a pore-tal to your bloodstream, and anything that goes onto it goes into it. I can’t stress this enough: if something is too poisonous to eat, it shouldn’t go onto your skin.

Even worse is that in the summer heat, our pores are wider to facilitate sweat, and when we slather on these toxic products, more of it gets absorbed!

A lot of people have become so afraid of even the smallest exposure to the sun. I think this actually makes sense if they aren’t coming in with a cleaner diet/healed microbiome and lifestyle, so intuitively there’s this drive they have to avoid certain stressors (then they waste their money on toxic sunscreen induced by marketing fear). Unfortunately, safe amounts of full-spectrum sunshine is one of the major things not to avoid on a regular basis if you are actually seeking to manifest health and longevity.

Homemade DIY non-nano zinc sunscreen

Taking a few moments to make your own sunscreen safeguards you from the toxic product marketing cronies. I like DIY sunscreen because it’s water resistant, helps protect from excessive UVA and UVB, isn’t overly sticky or greasy, rubs in completely, smells great, is biodegradable, and supports peace of mind. There are many ways to make your own non-toxic sunscreen with zinc as the active ingredient, since the non-nano particles are too large to enter the bloodstream. Safe sunscreen ingredients can be easily found at your local health shop or ordered from places like well.ca.

Be mindful that zinc is an actual sun block, so you won’t be absorbing the beneficial vitamin D or other synergistic magic from full spectrum sunlight on bare skin when you do put it on your skin. Safe sunshine on bare skin should be the priority on the regular, but DIY non-nano sunscreen can be great once you’ve gotten enough sun for the day. And fortunately, it is biodegradable, meaning that it will not pollute the waters or destroy coral reefs! I actually rarely wear my sunscreens unless I’m legitimately out in the sun all day and need some extra protection.

DIY, Non-toxic, Biodegradable, Non-nanoparticle Sunscreen Recipe

  • 2 tbsp cacao butter

  • 2 tbsp shea butter

  • 1/4 cup beeswax

  • 1/4 cup apricot oil

  • 1/4 cup avocado oil

  • Mix them all together over low heat in a small saucepan until melted. Remove from heat and let it cool a bit. Then, add:

  • 2 tbsp non-nanoparticle zinc oxide

  • Optionally, add in 1-2 drops of your preferred sun-friendly essential oil

  • Then pour into a glass container for storage in a dark, dry place (ideally in amber or miron glass to prevent oxidation and preserve the integrity of your sun cream)

A bit on SPF

SPF (sun protection factor) is a general measure of how much solar energy is needed to produce sunburn on protected skin. More SPF in formulations is supposed to mean more protection, and the lower the SPF the more often you’d need to apply. SPF 15 filters approximately 93% of all incoming UVB rays, SPF 30 filters 97%, and SPF 50 filters 98%. These are just guidelines of an imperfect model and it all depends on the reality of what you’re doing and your skin type, whether you’re sweating or swimming, so it is up to you to be diligent, know your skin’s individual needs, and reapply as needed/get out of the sun before any signs of burning. No sunscreen regardless of strength should be expected to stay effective longer than two hours without reapplication (or even better, simply covering up with long sleeves and a hat to save money).

This homemade sunscreen will provide approximately SPF 25-30, and with the addition of certain high-quality essential oils like carrot seed or raspberry seed oil it can rise up to about SPF 40, but at the end of the day it is up to you to know and address your own needs and reapply/cover up as often as needed. As someone who has been lifelong embedded in the harsh, cold, dark Canadian climate, my sun exposure and experience would be far less intense than someone near the equator, and getting into the finer details of SPF protection hasn’t been deeply woven into my experience, but those who spend loads of time in the sun may benefit from this knowledge.

SPF is a useful tool for those who enjoy lots of time in the sun, but know that applying sunscreen will not allow your body to synthesize vitamin D and all the other wonderful benefits that nature’s free healing gift of sunshine on bare skin has to offer.

Aging

I don’t think we could talk skincare without implicating the entire anti-aging industry, which I truly loathe. From my experience, we get naive women as young as their early 20s already getting into the useless anti-aging serums and creams—a recipe for lifelong toxin accumulation, disempowerment and infertility. I think we all inherently feel this to some degree that aging is a beautiful, natural process—it’s grace, it’s life, it’s a sign of wisdom. It is also very harmful to the psyche to try to reverse something that is a process of life. Decide to see skin lines as a sign of a life well lived, how lucky you are to have accumulated so much wisdom through your years.

Today in the West, by default we mostly seem to be missing the vital and absolute pillar of community elders who can share valuable wisdom with the world community for a better life now and for future generations (unless I’m missing something…). I can see this changing with worldwide online communities though, for those confident enough to wade the online waters and express themselves. People still dye their natural grey hair, disempowered with chemicals, sedentary and isolated in front of screens, often falling ill prematurely due to lifestyle and are left in separate nursing homes. No, thank you. Let’s support and listen to our elders throughout all stages of life, encourage a better social life, the enjoyment of outdoor activity, organic gardening, quality foods and food sovereignty, and help them stay active outdoors under full-spectrum sunlight for longer and healthier, more insightful, multifaceted, enjoyable, fulfilling, purposeful lives.

To age gracefully, simply nourish with whole foods and sunlight, drink clean water, transmute that crystal clear energy, stay curious, playful, creative and in awe, practice beginner’s mind. Prioritize good sleep, express your real feelings, get what you want out of this life, mind your business, go at your own pace, manage stress. Use all natural/non-toxic, minimal skin/body care formulations with zero synthetic ingredients. Support your body through this life, rather than fighting against it. Love yourself, love your skin as it is. Personally, I’m training to become tomorrow’s medicine matriarch. Join me.

I hope this provided a fruitful peek into what a genuinely holistic, effortless skincare (whole care?) regime can be like at any stage of life. Releasing all of the judgements and heaviness from the eyes of others will help lighten your energy and change the paradigm starting with yourself, becoming more fearless to dive into the unknown. None of this is intended to induce fear or neuroticism, but I urge you to examine your current routine, get to know your own body and find what works for you, nurturing rather than punishing. Learning and experiencing the wholeness of your body requires no products. Happy rewilding, here’s to a lifetime of peeling back the layers, exploring the mysteries of your natural beauty, and returning to harmony.

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Kelly Samantha https://roottoskykitchen.com
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