Trending natural: Tips for achieving a healthy beauty glow

Beauty trends are shifting and habits, treatments and procedures that encourage wellness and produce natural-looking results are in high demand.

In 2023, people want to look well rested and not worked on, and they will do just about anything to achieve that.

Looking natural, vibrant and young at every age requires hard work, persistence and a lot of expertise. To achieve natural-looking results, we must create health from the inside out. That requires a cornucopia of knowledge in hormone balancing, nutrition, physical training, medical-grade skincare, lymphatic massage and noninvasive beauty treatments that create younger cells.

Here are some of my favorite ways to help patients thrive and project a healthy lifestyle glow. 

Muscle strengthening

After the age of 35, regular strength training is required for healthy aging. Muscles use glucose as fuel and when we build muscle our blood sugar levels will naturally become more stable throughout the day.

Excess sugar circulating throughout the body causes inflammation and turns on a process known as glycation in the skin. Glycation accelerates aging and creates fine lines, wrinkles, dryness, hyperpigmentation, acne and laxity in the skin. Stable blood sugar levels are a must for healthy aging and when we focus on building muscle we will set the body up to burn more calories throughout the day.

Weight-lifting also supports balance and grip strength which increases stability, reduces fall risk and is clinically proven to prevent osteoporosis.

If you don’t have time to commit to a full 60-minute workout, then try incorporating physical fitness “snacks” throughout your day such as parking at the edge of the lot and walking in, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, completing a 20-minute morning arm routine and/or a 20-minute evening leg routine.

Nutritional supplements

Nutrient testing should be done to identify specific nutrient deficiencies to avoid consuming unnecessary ingredients. When we consume supplements that we are not deficient in, the body must rid itself of the excess, and that process expends energy and creates waste. A simple blood test will help you identify nutrient deficiencies and help you save money by identifying the supplements that are needed for balance.

When it comes to supplements — quality matters. So, only take medical grade, third party-tested supplements whenever possible, and look for single-ingredient supplements to ensure potency and avoid unnecessary fillers.

Lymphatic lift

Manual lymphatic drainage massage therapy is gaining popularity for a reason. Lymphatic massage is a massage performed by a trained therapist to release blockages, reduce bloating and support overall health. Lymphatic channels are present throughout the body and are used to remove waste, maintain fluid levels and carry lymph and white blood cells to areas where they are needed for protection from invaders.

At Vibrant Skin Bar we offer a facial called the “Lymphatic Lift” that is great for thyroid support, head and neck circulation, acne relief and skin detoxification.

Hormone Health

Healthy aging requires balance. “Normal” for one person isn’t always the case for another. Knowing what your hormones look like in your 30s and 40s will give you a blueprint to follow in your 50s and 60s. Having bloodwork done when you feel great is just as important as having bloodwork done when you feel off.

I encourage my patients to have hormones such as thyroid, estrogen, testosterone and progesterone tested annually starting as young as 25 so that we know what their optimal levels should look like later in life.

Other lab tests that look at kidney function, red blood cells, blood sugar levels and liver health should also be done annually. If all of your levels look normal, but something feels off, make an appointment with a functional medicine provider for expert advice. 

Medical grade skincare

The three golden pillars of an anti-aging skincare regimen include vitamin C, vitamin A and SPF. Not all skincare contains enough active ingredients to produce results. So, stick to medical-grade products that have studies to support their claims.

Buying skincare products from your local dermatologist or aesthetic clinic is the best way to support local businesses and get what you pay for. Over-the-counter creams and serums sold in drugstores usually have lower percentages of the active ingredient and more products and longer treatment times are required.

Medical-grade skincare can appear to be more expensive, but when you consider that you usually need fewer products and a shorter time frame to see results you may be saving money. The ingredients you want to look for in the three golden pillars are ascorbic acid, retinaldehyde and zinc oxide.

Non-invasive beauty treatments

After the age of 25, the production of collagen and elastin in the skin decreases each year unless we do something to boost it. Bio-stimulating injectables, lasers, ultrasound and micro-needling are all great ways to increase collagen and elastin production and maintain a natural-looking appearance.

Sculptra and Radiesse are injectables that boost your body’s collagen and elastin production in the skin and require little to no downtime. Energy devices can be used to create a controlled wound that initiates a healing response to increase the production of collagen and elastin levels within the tissue.

One of our favorite new treatments, Sofwave, is an ultrasound device that can be used on all skin types and requires no preparation or downtime. A parallel ultrasound beam creates a wound in the mid-dermis just under the surface of the skin, stimulating the production of collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid to address skin laxity, texture, hydration and quality.

Natural treatments and natural-looking results are growing in popularity. Maintaining internal and external health requires commitment, dedication, knowledge, support and resources. Health is wealth, and the time we spend maintaining our health and the health of those around us is time well spent. When we are given the tools to activate the innate healer within, the results are priceless.

For more wellness tips, I invite you to visit my clinic, Vibrant Skin Bar, or reach out to me online at vibrantskin.com.

Kristina Cadwell is the founder and CEO of Vibrant Skin Bar, an award-winning medspa in the Arcadia area of Phoenix. She has a masters in medical science and has been working in the aesthetic medical field for over 10 years.