8 tips for glowing skin with Dr. Abbie
You have enough on your plate organising the entire wedding; guests, in-laws, food and seating plan politics, and last minute extra sh*t. The last thing you need is a stress-related pimple breakout on your special day.
Written By Dr Abbie from Zhong Centre
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Your wedding only comes around once and, like a pregnancy, you want to be able to take the space and perspective to enjoy the process building up to uniting with your loved one ‘in your special way’.
At Zhong Centre, myself and my team are totally focused on ensuring all stress levels are checked at the door so you can do you and your beau.
Stress-free means glowing skin and shiny eyes to gaze into your love's’ eyes all the more.
These are my top 8 tips for glowing skin from within.
1. Jade Gua Sha
My clients call it the wrinkle eraser, giving the most profound and actually visible effects that you are able to do in your own home (or car on the way to work). The Geishas of ancient China were definitely onto something when they were scraping their faces with a fancy coloured rock. This technique enhances circulation in the skin and muscles of your face and scalp, relaxing muscle tension and encouraging lymphatic drainage as it works to even your complexion, and increase healing turnaround of minor scars and pigmentation. All of this scraping increases the turnover and production of collagen and elastic, locally, to help your face appear brighter and tighter. No fancy chemicals, just your own Qi and Blood.
2. Bone Broth
Literally made from collagen, iron, and fermented goodness, bone broth is an easy addition to any diet. Either make it yourself or get it readily available in concentration form to drink like a warm miso cuppa soup. From a Chinese Medicine perspective, this builds “Blood” which is what we manipulate to aid the rosey cheeks, to plump the skin, to enhance the repair and rejuvenation of skin and muscle tone, to help with feeling calmer (more anchored), and promote digestive relief. If you have read any health article or Sunday paper of late, you would have read the scientific realisations (Chinese have known for centuries) about the correlation between gut health, emotional/mental wellbeing and overall health. So, a simple brothy soup (savoury tea) will not only help with bloating, PMS, hangry, low energy and fatigue, but also complexion, redness in your cheeks and skin repair. Easy!
3. Favourite Feature
What you focus on expands. So if you’re feeling anxious and super insecure about how you’re going to look on your big day, turn the tables on this trajectory of thinking. Remind in your inner voice of what you really LOVE about yourself; eyebrows on fleek, elegant fingers, gorgeous cheekbones, glistening eyes, great shoulders… there are heaps to pick out. The more you focus your attention on what you like about yourself, you will literally train your brain to look for and hone in on more things about yourself that are great. Let's face it, your partner isn’t even remotely aware of the freckle on your left earlobe that you can’t stand and think stands out like dogs balls. Realistically, would you still do your partner if they had wobbly bits? They feel the same about you. Imperfections aren’t why people gravitate. People will be attracted to your radiant smile, as you beam love for yourself and your partner out of that gorgeous face of yous.
4. Sleep
Sleep solves all the mother f*cking problems in the world. All repair and rejuvenation occurs when we sleep. The organs cleanse and repair themselves according to Chinese Medicine. For best benefits falling asleep before 11pm will ensure optimum recovery. Poor quality sleep results in fewer capillary vessels and fibroblasts, which are essential for recovery (and keeping our skin firm and tight).
If you are a night owl or like to howl at the moon due to having difficulty falling asleep, ask us for sleep tips and a sleep hygiene leaflet email hi@zhongcentre.com.
5. Cosmetic Acupuncture
Traditional Chinese Medicine Acupuncture cosmetic rejuvenation aka “TCM facelift” works on treating the constitution of each person, it responds to the reasons the lines are in the face in the first place. Cosmetic acupuncture is exactly as the name suggests—acupuncture for cosmetic purposes. Think of it as a natural alternative to toxic beauty practices: a facelift without the fat injections, or botox without the chemicals. It is just some fine acupuncture needles placed on your face creating an instant lift and smoothing out those crows’ feet. It helps to encourage blood flow and collagen production in specific localised areas, to enhance skin and give a hydrated appearance to skin tone. Let us help you to get those stress hormones in check so you are bright as a button and not bloated, grumpy, tired, itchy or rashy on your special day. It’s great for any age. Great skin and a sparkle to the face is timeless.
6. Kitchen Exfoliation
Want a bright face or perhaps you are self-conscious about enlarged pores? Get some kitchen salt and oil (don’t care what kind) and use it together for GENTLE exfoliation in the shower. Don't get too greasy and weird in the kitchen, unless you’re into that. 2-3 times a week will suffice, this helps to cleanse the pores and reduce noticeable visibility if you feel you have ‘enlarged pores’ - especially in the T zone and nose area.
7. Pimple Problems
Start with the oil and salt scrub in the shower - your back included if that is a problem area for you. Save yourself consultation fees and cut dairy out of your diet for at least 3 months - watch your acne improve. If you suffer from chronic acne or zits that won't quit, we have fantastic herbal capsule formula that stops the pimple cycle within 8 days and clears your complexion within 4 weeks. This sh*t really works, #thankfuck
8. Scars And Acne
Other than the obvious Chinese Medicine to balance the skin cycle of the oil imbalance, a course of acupuncture is fantastic for encouraging more healing to scar tissue (old and new), as well as incorporating at-home tools including dermal rolling and the fabulous anti-bacterial and super hydrating polypeptide fi- all-your-life-problems masques after rolling. This is perfect for men and women’s skin. Dermal rolling creates surface microtrauma to encourage fresh blood to the skin surface, and the microtrauma encourages more collagen to be directly created where the roller rolled.
Working to create that gorgeous wedding glow that you want to share with your partner (and that wedding photographer) is both an inside and an outside job. Creating glowing skin from within can be aided by Chinese Medicine and by returning yourself to what YOU love most about you. If you want help polishing that diamond, visit us at Zhong Centre for cosmetic rejuvenation and at-home tools to prepare you for your big day.
To book in and visit Dr. Abbie at Zhong Centre in St Kilda, click HERE