Those of us interested in skincare know that not all products are created equal. But with hundreds—if not thousands—of brands on the market, why is it so difficult sometimes to find products that really work? Well, there are a few factors that can influence a product’s efficacy.

First, it’s important to make sure you know what is in the products you’re using. Aside from knowing your skin type, it’s imperative to make sure that the ingredients in the products you’re choosing to use are designed to treat your specific skin issues. Furthermore, you don’t want to be filling your body with junk. Skin is the body’s largest organ, and what we put on our skin goes into our body. If you’re using products that are filled with toxins and chemicals, it won’t matter if the product was developed to treat your skin issues, your body will likely be thrown off kilter and become imbalanced due to the reception of unnatural ingredients it doesn’t want, crave, or need.

This is why I developed Immunocologie as a clean beauty line: skincare starts with the ingredients. If the ingredients aren’t good for us, the product isn’t either.

Second, what we put into our bodies is just as important as what we put on them. Even if you’re using top-of-the-line skincare like Immunocologie, there are myriad other factors that can impact your skin health journey. For example, dairy is inflammatory. If your skin is red, puffy, irritated, or inflamed, you might need to reduce your dairy intake to support your skincare routine in reducing inflammation. Sugar, as tasty as it is, reacts poorly with collagen, which can lead skin to become dull and saggy. Even if you’re using a product like hyaluronic acid, which is known to boost collagen, if you’re eating poorly you’re making it harder for your body to produce collagen naturally, and work with the products you’re using.

So, what can we eat to give our skin a boost? Well, not-so-coincidentally, a lot of the ingredients we feature in Immunocologie are edible and can heal our skin from the inside out—in fact, we call our products “Juicing for the Skin” as a nod to the nutritious, healing benefits of our ingredients. Immunocologie products utilize both burgundy and white grape seed. If you’re looking for sweet summer snack, grapes are filled with vitamin C and antioxidants, which help increase collagen production, fight wrinkles, and combat dark spots. We also utilize lemon in our products; lemon is a detoxifying-agent that, when consumed through eating or drinking, can help brighten the skin and fight acne.

Other yummy skin-boosting treats include:

• Tomatoes: Lycopene (what makes tomatoes red) boosts collagen and fights free radicals.
  
  
• Carrots: Vitamin A and beta-carotene prevents overproduction of cells in the skin's outer layer, meaning fewer flaky dead cells that otherwise could combine with sebum to clog your pores.
  
  
• Blueberries: Filled with antioxidants that help the body fight cell-damaging, skin-aging free radicals. They’re also a great source of prebiotics which are rich in fiber which your gut ferments into anti-inflammatory fatty acids.
  
  
• Spinach: High levels of folate, an essential B vitamin, helps maintain and repair DNA.
  
  
• Yellow Peppers: High in vitamin C which helps boost collagen to fight wrinkles and crow’s feet.

Watch the video below for an introduction to the natural food ingredients we use here at Immunocologie to heal the skin from the inside out.