Expert: Caroline-Morgane Choisy-Rossi - 9/20/2009

Question
Hello,
Id like to know how to get sweller red looking cheeks. Is their certain foods that would help or not help,  vitamin supplements or exercises, regime to encourage red cheeks.

I have very fine hair that feels like it is always falling out. It is curly and doesn't have any shine. I would love to grow my hair, for ir to shine and to feel strong? What can I do?

Thankyou very Much,
Alana

Answer
Hello Alana,

Considering the 2 conditions you are describing here, I would say that they are related and it looks like your skin and hair are "tired".
If you are taking strong medications or have been going through a heavily medicated disease, your skin and hair conditions could be the result of just that. If you do not have any thyroid problem, then your body is just telling you in its own way that you are recovering from some stress (you may not even be aware of it). So here is what I can advise you...

1. For your skin, exfoliate weekly with a gentle exfoliant (no harsh scrubbing please!) and follow-up with a moisturizing mask. Eliminate chemical and synthetic skin care and make-up. Choose a natural cleanser (like floral water or hydrosol) and a natural moisturizer with precious plant oils like Wild Musk Rose oil, Borage oil or Raspberry seed oil packed with antioxidants. Additionally, you may want to apply these pure oils directly on your skin in the evening as they will help to rebalance and boost your skin.

2. For your hair, your shampoo might not be the best one for your hair. You may want to look at something more gentle. Additionally, you can apply some hair mask like Jojoba oil or Monoi oil or Argan oil with a few drops of Rosemary and/or Lemon essential oils. Leave on for 10-20 min with a towel wrapped around your hair, shampoo, condition and dry gently. You can also apply a little bit of the Jojoba or Argan oil as a leave-on conditioner to protect your hair and give it some natural shine.

3. Before taking supplements, I would recommend eliminate caffeine, excess of meats and carbohydrates and processed foods from your diet. Find some detox program like with green clay, or herbs like dandelion or milk thistle. I do not know enough about you to recommend anything specific for you. Drink plenty of water and green tea (to help cleanse your body). Do juicing regularly. Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits. You may want to add some ginger root tea or extract to your diet, as well as some hot spices like pepper in moderation. If you don't eat salmon or mackerels at least once a week, then consider taking omega-3 essential fatty acids supplements.

4. Supplements: this is tricky as there are so many of them available now! I would recommend to get plenty of sunshine to stock up on Vitamin D before the winter. Scientists and doctors have recently discovered that a large part of the population is deficient in Vitamin D which is a very important for health and beauty. As I wrote just above, don't forget to get enough omega-3 from your diet (flax and hemp seeds, salmon, mackerel...) or from borage or krill oil.

5. Exercise: do some deep breathing every day and find yoga or tai-chi exercises which strengthen the large intestine, lungs, kidneys and heart.

There are a lot more things you could do to improve your skin and hair, but this, I think, would be a good start and should get you on track. But most of all, please don't forget that a positive attitude is mandatory! If you need more precision, don't hesitate to get back to me. Be patient as it takes some time to turn something like that around, depending how fats your body is responding to what you are doing.