Foods to Avoid if you Want Glowing, Flawless Skin

First published in Allure, June 2016

Popcorn, cappuccinos, bottled water—some of the most delicious (or most boring) foods can be hard on your skin if you overdo it.

White bread, bagels, popcorn…

“Foods with a high glycemic index give you a sugar rush that will be terrible for your skin,” says Ava Shamban, an assistant clinical professor of dermatology at UCLA. “When you increase sugar levels in the bloodstream, the sugar that’s not picked up by the liver can get into your collagen, which your body may then identify as damaged goods and chew up. It can also cause inflammation that could make you break out.” You can find out a food’s glycemic index at glycemicindex.com —anything under 55 is considered low.

Red velvet cupcakes, pistachio ice cream cones…

Sweet stuff that’s irritating on your Instagram feed—looking at you, artfully arranged plate of macarons—is even worse for your skin. Once again, too much sugar can break down collagen and elastin, making your skin look dull and causing wrinkles over time. When you can substitute for sugar, “honey is the best sweetener since it’s loaded with antioxidants,” says Shamban.

Yogurt, cappuccinos…

Dairy gets a lot of flak for being bad for your skin, but the truth is “we don’t have enough data to know for sure, so we can only say it’s a potential culprit,” says Shamban. So far, studies have shown a correlation between dairy and acne but not causation, and anecdotal evidence is less reliable than you’d think. “If you gave up eating yogurt or drinking skim milk every day and had fewer breakouts, you wouldn’t know if it were because of the dairy or its sugar content,” says Shamban. Your best bet is to look for dairy that’s made a) without added sugars and b) from cows that are not treated with hormones. “The hormones cows are fed can be steroid analogues, which can make you break out,” she says.

Bottled water

“The BPA in water bottles is another steroid analogue, which means it could act like hormones in your body,” says Shamban. “You don’t think about your bottled water breaking you out, but we don’t know yet—and anyway, there are a thousand reasons not to use plastic bottles all the time.”

Your morning coffee

If it gets you out of bed, don’t give it up. But you’d be wise to balance your coffee or fancy-pants espresso by chugging a glass of water, too. “Coffee acts as a diuretic, and that won’t make skin pretty, that’s for sure,” says Shamban. “Our skin cells are made of water, and anytime they shrivel up, you lose that glow and plumpness.” That means fine lines, like the ones we all have around our eyes, look worse. But as long as you add back hydration, there are plenty of benefits to drinking coffee, too: The polyphenols in coffee could mean younger-looking skin in the long run. Women who drank about three cups a day had the fewest age spots in a study in the International Journal of Dermatology.

Rounds of margaritas…

If you’ve ever had a hangover, you already know that having more than a few drinks dries out your skin the next day—it’s why lines look worse (like, way worse) on Sunday morning. Pile on the moisturizer and, if you’re lucky enough to look puffy, too, try pressing a compress with half-and-half or whole milk under your eyes. The proteins in whole-fat milk bring down bags.

…And the salt on the margarita rim (or in a bag of chips)

“Just as coffee and alcohol do, too much salt will dehydrate your skin,” says Shamban. It’s why some dermatologists go to extremes: “I put all of my patients on a zero-added-salt diet—if you’re making chicken, you can cook it with rosemary, thyme, and pepper, no salt. Fish is olive oil, garlic, and basil. And restaurants function on salt, so I tell them no dressings, sauces, or salt,” says Harold Lancer, a dermatologist in Beverly Hills.

Milk chocolate—but not dark chocolate (woo-hoo!)

It’s the sugars that make milk chocolate hard on your skin, but for the record: “There’s no reason to skip dark chocolate,” says Shamban. (Look for 70 percent cacao or higher.)

Anything caliente

If you have rosacea, don’t pour hot sauce on your pizza. “It’s the skin condition that’s most sensitive to food,” says Shamban. “And spicy foods trigger inflammation and flushing.”

Skin-Saving Smoothie

First published on WellandGood.com

Instead of reaching for the aloe vera when it’s already too late, save your skin by nourishing it from the inside out by sipping on a hydrating smoothie that features no-UVAs-necessary glow boosters from your fridge.

The recipe is made with chunks of juicy watermelon (super hydrating), strawberries (they contain ellagic acid, which studies have shown can help protect skin from sun damage), and mint and aloe (which both soothe sunburns by cooling the skin and triggering cell regeneration).

Genius, right? So while you still need to slather on the SPF, this smoothie will help boost your natural (and year-round) glow inside out. Get the recipe below—and watch the video to see how easy it is to make.

Ingredients

2 cups watermelon chunks
2 cups strawberries, cut up
1/4 cup aloe flesh
1 Tbsp chia seeds6-8 mint leaves

1. Cut the watermelon and strawberries up. Drop them in a blender and add ice. While you are cutting the fruit, soak the chia seeds in water for 5 minutes. This will make them easier to blend.

2. Cut the thick end of the aloe leaf off and slice it down the middle. Extract the pulp by peeling back the flesh. Scrap the aloe into the blender.

3. Add the chia seeds and mint leaves into the blender. Blend, serve, and add a bit more mint for garnish.

More Free Press in July

SO PROUD!! More FREE PRESS inside of this month's SHAPE magazine for R+F!!!  I love how Rodan + Fields improves your complexion AND slows down the signs of aging!!!  We are in 4 different magazines this month - all free press touting how great our products are . . .

The 7 Biggest Beauty Myths, Debunked

It’s easy to go into autopilot when it comes to skin care and hair care. (Lather, rinse, repeat, anyone?) But just as some of your go-to products may be bringing you down—we’re looking at you, Cetaphil—your ingrained beauty habits could also be undermining all of your good grooming intentions.

So if you cleanse with oil and rinse your hair with apple cider vinegar, and yet still fight gnarly blemishes or funky frizz, it may be time to reassess the beauty factoids that you’ve taken as gospel for so long.

Before you freak out, rest assured that there’s no need to overhaul every aspect of your routine—start with these simple hacks, and you might be surprised at how quickly that nagging issue goes away for good.

Ready to level-up your skin and hair game? Keep reading to discover 7 common myths that could be sabotaging your best beauty efforts, all busted by top skin and hair experts.

Myth #1: You should wash your face in the shower

This is most definitely not the case, unless you also apply your toner and moisturizer under the shower head (which we obviously wouldn’t recommend). “As soon as you’re done cleansing, you want to immediately move on to the next step in your skin-care routine,” explains therapeutic skin coach Hayley Roy. Washing your face in the shower could actually cause acne, due to its impact on your skin’s pH. Who knew, right?

Myth #2: Less is more when it comes to moisturizer

Wrong again. The more hydration, the better—and two layers are, in fact, superior to one. “The idea is that you’re doing two stages of moisturizing to pack in the hydration,” dermatologist Dhaval Bhanusali, MD, of Sadick Dermatology explains of the Korean beauty-inspired double moisturizer trend. (No, it’s not just a marketing ploy to get you to buy more products.) So if you’re applying your favorite facial oil sparingly, you may want to lean towards the generous end of the spectrum.

Myth #3: You can use dry shampoo with abandon

Actually, you should be aiming to spritz your strands no more than twice a week. “For some, [dry shampoo] can create irritation, or inflammation of the hair follicles,” says dermatologist Mona Gohara, MD. The magic grease eliminator can also be seriously dehydrating for your hair, so save it for after those super sweaty workouts that leave you and your ‘do drenched.

Myth #4: Caffeine is bad for your skin

When sleep slips down the priority list, everyone’s favorite pick-me-up helps in more ways than one—it also banishes dark under-eye circles.“Caffeine functions as a vasoconstrictor—or a tightening agent—that constricts the blood vessels around the eye area, which in turn makes the dark circles and puffiness less visible,” explains Lauren Hoffman, whose beauty brand Onomie focuses on the eyes. Of course, it’s  not as simple as ordering a double; caffeine needs to be applied topically in order to give your skin a boost.

Myth #5: Beer is the enemy of beauty

It may not be great for your belly, but beer is good for another part of your body: your hair! Turns out that malted barley is full of nutrients that are released during the brewing process, like B12 and folate, which support healthy hair follicles and growth. (You can even find brew in shampoo now.) The best part? In place of a next-day hangover, you’ll just have Kate Middleton-esque locks.

Myth #6: You should always wash your face in the a.m.

Don’t stress if you run out of time to cleanse before rushing out the door. It’s more important that you wash your face at night to get rid of unwanted oils and dirt that may build up throughout the day. “Unless you’re doing something insane while you’re sleeping, you really don’t need to get in there and use a high-powered cleanser in the morning,” says Rachel Winard, founder of natural beauty brand Soapwalla. She recommends sticking to just a toner (before applying your usual moisturizing creams or oils) just after waking up.

Myth #7: The only way to get a collagen boost is with the help of needles

In fact, drinkable collagen is gaining ground in wellness circles—Jennifer Aniston included—and it might be more effective in boosting skin suppleness than other methods. “When you ingest science-based hydrolyzed collagen, you increase the pool of special amino acids available to the cells in your body that make it,” explains Naomi Whittel, founder and CEO of nutritional supplement company Reserveage. In layman’s terms, that means consuming collagen nudges your body into making more of it naturally—we’ll take that over injections any day.

Alicia Keys: Time to Uncover

Why the musical icon is embracing #nomakeup. 
First published at Lenny.com

We all get to a point in our lives (especially girls) where we try to be perfect.

Does it start somewhere in second grade after picture day when you wear your frizzy hair out 'cause your mama says it's beautiful but all your "friends" laugh at you?

You grab the brush and gel and pull your beautiful big hair back into the tightest ponytail you possibly can to contain your unique hair in a bun — hiding a piece of who you are in order to fit into a picture of what others seem to see as perfection.

Yeah, that's one moment.

Or how about in junior high school? Where all the "pretty" girls are wearing lipstick and eyeliner and mascara. Some of them are so skilled they even look like those models in every magazine you ever read — the ones who made you feel slightly uncomfortable with yourself or misrepresented or just unseen.

It's another moment where some piece of you realizes that to fit in or be thought of as beautiful, you have to cover up to be a bit closer to perfect.

Yeah, that's another one.

Trust me, it didn't just end in junior high. I remember when I first started to be in the public eye. Oh my gawd! Everyone had something to say. "She's so hard, she acts like a boy, she must be gay, she should be more feminine!" But the truth is, I was just from New York, and everyone I knew acted like that.

In the streets of New York you had to be tough, you HAD to be hard, people needed to know that you weren't scared to fight!

But this wasn't the streets of New York. This was the harsh, judgmental world of entertainment and my biggest test yet. I started, more than ever, to become a chameleon. Never fully being who I was, but constantly changing so all the "they's" would accept me.

Before I started my new album, I wrote a list of all the things that I was sick of. And one was how much women are brainwashed into feeling like we have to be skinny, or sexy, or desirable, or perfect. One of the many things I was tired of was the constant judgment of women. The constant stereotyping through every medium that makes us feel like being a normal size is not normal, and heaven forbid if you're plus-size. Or the constant message that being sexy means being naked.

All of it is so frustrating and so freakin' impossible.

I realized that during this process, I wrote a lot of songs about masks filled with metaphors about hiding.

I needed these songs because I was really feeling those insecurities.

I was finally uncovering just how much I censored myself, and it scared me. Who was I anyway? Did I even know HOW to be brutally honest anymore? Who I wanted to be?

I didn't know the answers exactly, but I desperately wanted to.

In one song I wrote, called "When a Girl Can't Be Herself," it says,

In the morning from the minute that I wake up  / What if I don't want to put on all that makeup  / Who says I must conceal what I'm made of  / Maybe all this Maybelline is covering my self-esteem

No disrespect to Maybelline, the word just worked after the maybe. But the truth is … I was really starting to feel like that — that, as I am, I was not good enough for the world to see.

This started manifesting on many levels, and it was not healthy.

Every time I left the house, I would be worried if I didn't put on makeup: What if someone wanted a picture?? What if they POSTED it??? These were the insecure, superficial, but honest thoughts I was thinking. And all of it, one way or another, was based too much on what other people thought of me.

I found my way to meditation, and I started focusing on clarity and a deeper knowing of myself. I focused on cultivating strength and conviction and put a practice in place to learn more about the real me.

And I promised I would approach things differently this time regarding my image and allow my real self, as is, to come through.

Time passed after I wrote "When a Girl Can't Be Herself," and I didn't think about it much. I guess I got busy and was too focused on creating the music to think about it so specifically.

It wasn't until I walked into one of my first shoots for my new album recently that the issue was front and center again. I'd just come from the gym, had a scarf under my baseball cap, and the beautiful photographer Paola (never met a Paola I didn't like) said, "I have to shoot you right now, like this! The music is raw and real, and these photos have to be too!"

I was shocked. Instantly, I became a bit nervous and slightly uncomfortable. My face was totally raw. I had on a sweatshirt! As far as I was concerned, this was my quick run-to-the-shoot-so-I-can-get-ready look, not the actual photo-shoot look. So I asked her, "Now?! Like right now? I want to be real, but this might be too real!!"

And that was it. She started to shoot me.

It was just a plain white background, me and the photographer intimately relating, me and that baseball hat and scarf and a bunch of invisible magic circulating. And I swear it is the strongest, most empowered, most free, and most honestly beautiful that I have ever felt.

I felt powerful because my initial intentions realized themselves. My desire to listen to myself, to tear down the walls I built over all those years, to be full of purpose, and to be myself! The universe was listening to those things I'd promised myself, or maybe I was just finally listening to the universe, but however it goes, that's how this whole #nomakeup thing began. Once the photo I took with Paola came out as the artwork for my new song "In Common," it was that truth that resonated with others who posted #nomakeup selfies in response to this real and raw me.

I hope to God it's a revolution.

'Cause I don't want to cover up anymore. Not my face, not my mind, not my soul, not my thoughts, not my dreams, not my struggles, not my emotional growth. Nothing.

Alicia Keys is a 15-time Grammy® Award-winning singer/songwriter/producer, an accomplished actress, a New York Times best-selling author, an entrepreneur and a powerful force in the world of activism.

Ask the Doctors - What Can I Do to Reduce My Daily Sensitive Skin?

Dr. Kathy Fields: The skin’s natural lipid barrier is designed to hold moisture, cool the skin through release of moisture, and prevent irritants from penetrating the skin. When that barrier is compromised, due to genetic predisposition or environmental factors, your skin loses water faster and is more exposed to the harsh effects of external triggers—which can lead to sensitive skin that is dry, cracked, chapped or visibly red.

Some great ways to help your skin break the cycle of sensitivity include:

1) Be gentle when touching skin, and avoid exfoliating products that contain glycolic acid, scrubs and mechanical brushes, which can diminish the protective barrier on skin;

2) Before applying daily skincare products to your whole face, do a patch test on the inside of your neck in case your skin has a reaction (stick with fragrance-free formulas, too).

3) Avoid other environmental triggers that may cause sensitive skin flare-ups, such as unprotected exposure to wind or cold weather, hot showers, stress, spicy foods and alcoholic beverages.

If sensitivity, including dry, chapped, cracked or red-looking skin is a usual occurrence, a daily comprehensive skincare routine is recommended. The SOOTHE Regimen helps to protect your skin and alleviate dryness and other sensitivity issues, so that you can help your sensitive skin look and feel its best. SOOTHE Regimen combines clinically proven OTC active ingredients with exclusive RFp3 peptide technology to shield against the biological and environmental aggressors associated with dry, chapped, cracked, red-looking, sensitive skin. The result? A healthy-looking, even-toned complexion every day.

Fact Vs Fiction: Fair-Skinned People Always Have Sensitive Skin

FICTION. While all ethnicities are more or less equally prone to sensitive skin, having light-toned skin does not mean that you are destined to suffer from sensitivity. As Dr. Katie Rodan notes, “Despite all the studies, the medical and scientific communities’ ability to predict who will be sensitive to what is still not very good.” While genetics do play a role, there are many other external factors that can trigger sensitive skin.

Skin tone, or color, is actually linked to how our skin reacts to the environment and how it shows signs of aging. Fair skin is at a higher risk for melanoma (the deadliest skin cancer), yet all skin tones and types need protection from the sun to look good and stay healthy.

Your skin and its sensitivity are unique to you—based on a combination of factors, like age, hormones, climate, and skin hydration and more. Common scenarios related to sensitive skin include:

• Cosmetic Intolerance. Many people who suddenly exhibit dry, chapped, cracked or red-looking skin without any prior history of sensitive skin are really experiencing intolerance to cosmetic products, even ones they have used for some time. It can come on suddenly; your skin can no longer take the products you’re using, so it reacts by flaring up.
• Stress. Let’s face it…the many forms of stress that we deal with every day can wreak havoc on the skin’s protective barrier function, making skin more likely to show the signs of dryness and damage. When skin is stressed, it literally loses water at a greater rate, jeopardizing its natural ability to repair and renew itself, which perpetuates a cycle of sensitivity.
• Environmental changes. Traveling from a warm, moist region to a dry climate with cold temperatures, low humidity and wind results in skin that’s likely to become sensitive. Anytime the barrier function is weakened, the skin leaks moisture and its natural defenses are compromised, allowing irritants to enter. Travel tip:  Sensitive Skin Treatment is a multi-tasking formula that reduces visible redness in 5 minutes and fortifies the skin’s barrier to relieve dryness—so you can rescue your skin on-the-go.

No matter what the cause of sensitivity, you can take daily steps to help your skin find its equilibrium. Avoid harsh or chemical exfoliants, rentinoids, alcohol, fragrances and chemical sunscreens. Look for gentler ingredients like dimethicone, allentoin, oatmeal, chamomile, lipids, vitamins C and E and green tea, to name a few. SOOTHE Regimen shields against the biological and environmental aggressors associated with dry, chapped, cracked, sensitive skin to help restore a healthy-looking, even-toned complexion—no matter what your skin tone.

Wedding Day Skincare Countdown

The hair, the makeup, the dress…your skin? That’s right, whether you’re the bride-to-be, a bridesmaid or a VIP guest, you want your skin to be as smooth and flawless as the wedding. But how do you get your complexion to say “I do” for the big day too?

Achieving a radiant, wedding-worthy complexion can be a time investment, so start as early as you can. Introduce new skincare, from cleansers to makeup to sunless tanners, no less than a month before the date, so you can eliminate any products that trigger even the slightest irritation.

If you don’t have any complex skincare concerns, and you want smoother, softer, more even-looking skin—exfoliation is one of the safest, simplest ways to get your skin glowing. Even the best makeup won’t hide the look of uneven skin texture, so consider ENHANCEMENTS Micro-Dermabrasion Paste, which uses sugar and salt to gently exfoliate. You can start using it up to one week before the wedding to remove old, built-up skin cells and allow younger, more vibrant cells to appear on the surface—and skin looks brighter after just one use.

Don’t exfoliate if you have a skin concern like adult acne. Instead consider the UNBLEMISH Regimen, which targets blemishes and works to prevent future breakouts. If you’ve developed brown spots from sun exposure or hyperpigmentation, the  REVERSE Regimen helps to visually brighten and even skin tone. (You might even get away with wearing less makeup.) When it comes to skincare, the most impressive results are seen over time, so plan accordingly. If the event is less than a month away, our cardinal rule is to only stick with products that are currently compatible (or are extremely gentle) with your skin.

What should you avoid? In the last four weeks, don’t even consider in-office dermatological procedures (like chemical peels or laser treatments). Resist any last-minute temptations to try new products or treatments. Keep up your natural glow by staying hydrated and moisturizing skin. Last-minute facials (except gentle exfoliation) are off limits, as are touching, picking or squeezing, which can all irritate skin. Finally, avoid unnecessary stress and over-cleansing which can cause breakouts.

If it’s an outdoor wedding, wear a wide-brimmed hat (unless you’re the bride) and apply your sunscreen (try it in advance so you can find a formula that works with your makeup).

Ultimately, through thick and thin, your skin is with you for life—so be good to it always.

Fact Vs. Fiction: Using Multiple Skincare Ingredients Together Creates Better Results

FICTION. Mixology may be a fun way to find your signature cocktail, but combining too many different skincare products is not likely to produce the results you’re after. Plus, if you’re not careful, product mixing can actually aggravate, rather than improve, your skin.

What’s the trick to multi-product success? Start by familiarizing yourself with the active and cosmetic ingredients in your skincare routine so you can recognize (and avoid) the most common mixology problems:

1) A lose-lose situation. Sometimes the ingredients in different products counteract each other, which means you won’t see the intended benefits of either product on your skin (for example, alpha hydroxy acids cancel the benefits of vitamin C-based products).

2) Tandem irritation strikes. In other words, your skin is fine when the products are used independently, but use them together, and hello skin irritation. This is common when combining multiple products with anti-aging benefits (think: retinol and alpha hydroxy acids).

3) Beware of product incompatibility. This is easy to test for by rubbing your face after the second product has dried. If it peels, balls, or curdles, you’re looking at products that don’t mix.

These ingredients simply don’t play nice with each other:

Retinol.* This derivative of vitamin A is a must-have when it comes to visibly improving skin texture and minimizing the appearance of pores. However, dryness, redness or irritation can result from mixing retinol with glycolic acids, alpha hydroxy acids (in many wrinkle-minimizing products), or salicylic acids (in acne treatments). It’s no surprise then, retinol and the acne-fighting ingredient benzoyl peroxide actually deactivate each other.

Citric acid. Commonly found in moisturizers, this effective ingredient is destined to be a loner. Citric acid often causes irritation if layered with other products.

Alpha hydroxy acids (AHA) and vitamin C. These acid-based ingredients actually destabilize each other, leaving the antioxidants ineffective, so choose products with one or the other—but don’t combine them or you risk redness, peeling and irritation. Also steer clear of retinol if you’re using either of these acids.

Word to the skin-wise: Get to know the ingredients that work in harmony with your skin (and with each other)—but leave the mixology to dermatologists. Stick to a collection of products clinically designed to work together, and your skin will thank you. 

What your Butt Can Tell You About Your Skin Health, According to this Expert

Wondering if you’re doing enough to protect your skin? Well, your butt is a good barometer.

A dermatologist and assistant clinical professor from Mount Sinai Hospital, Dr. Diane Madfes, spoke to Science of Us about the importance of proper sunscreen use and how that affects your skin. “A good way to reassure yourself is to look at areas that are photoprotected by clothes, i.e. the buttocks,” she says. “The skin in this area is smoother, tighter, with better elasticity.”

Think about it: The skin on your behind is way more supple and (most likely) untouched by the sun—which means that, if its texture is a far cry from what’s going on up top, you might want to reach for the nearest tube of SPF 30 and start lathering up the rest of your body, pronto.

Dr. Madfes goes on to explain the exact science behind sun damage. One major problem is that it suppresses your immune system, which allows skin cancer to grow. Another culprit behind making your sun-exposed skin not as soft as your rump are free radicals—they actually kill cells and activate enzymes that break down oh-so-precious collagen and elastin (which keeps skin looking youthful).

In other words, if you wear sunscreen every day, you’ll have fewer sun spots, fine-lines, and wrinkles, less sun damage, and you’ll be at a lower risk for skin cancer—no ifs, ands, or butts (wah wah) about it.

“If you do protect when you’re young,” Dr. Madfes tells Science of Us, “you’ll have it for your lifetime.” Her biggest tip? Put sunblock on after you brush your teeth, so it becomes routine.

Summer Beauty Foods

Summer beauty is everywhere - in the air, the trees, on your seasonal plate. Summer crops bring beautifying powers, from UV defense and collagen building to natural cooling and hydration. 

Dig in and get your summer glow on!

Apricots - Support smooth skin
Blueberries - Boost skin elasticity
Cantaloupe - Protects against UV damage
Celery - Maintains electrolyte balance
Cherries - Strengthen skin and connective tissue
Collard Greens - Boost anti-aging glutathione
Cucumber - Boosts skin elasticity and moisture
Okra - Feeds healthy digestive bacteria
Papaya - Defends against UV damage
Peach - Boosts collagen production
Pepper - Reduces inflammation
Pineapple - Supports healthy hair color
Plum - Protect collagen and skin firmness
Raspberries - Strengthens hair and nails
Tomato - Defends against UV damage
Watermelon - Maintains healthy red blood cell production
Zucchini - Calms nervous function

Here is a great Summer hydrating drink from the book: 

Eat Pretty, Nutrition for Beauty, Inside & Out by Jolene Hart

Sweet Summer Cooler

Serves 4-6

• 8 stalks of celery
• 1/2 of a pineapple, cut into chunks
• 20 oz/600ml coconut water

Blend all together. Enjoy! As a splurge, it makes a great base for a summer cocktail!