Late nights, minimal sleep, all day drinking, slapping on mysterious make-up brands to look the part of an enthusiastic crew member on top of eating every conceivable thing that looks like food are permissible during the annual iconic Fresher’s Week.
For most, it closes the Summer holidays with a massive bang. For others, it’s an excuse to celebrate before the start of another year of academic pursuits. Whatever it is, your health – right down to your skin – suffers the consequences of this insane week. But how to transform your skin from fresher’s week to a fresher glow?
It’s simple; no need for top-of-the-range face elixir or a time-consuming facial care regime. Just drink 7 or more glasses of water daily for a week and watch your complexion transform. Besides water, Vitamin E and C-rich foods like cucumbers, celery, apples, plums, pomegranates and bananas have hydrating properties which constitute 20% of our water intake. Sufficient Vitamin C also helps dispel inner toxins, thus reducing the appearance of pimples and blemishes. It’s key to nourish internally, so beauty can radiate from within.
Use store-bought or DIY-kind depending on how sensitive is your skin. On top of your daily fruit and vegetable consumption, face masks are a good supplement. Get creative and have fun mixing a DIY mask from blended bananas, vinegar, oats and mayonnaise applied to your face. The mask can tighten pores and cleanse as well as exfoliating and moisturising the skin. The best part is that all items are organic and suitable for university students on a budget.
After all those sleep-deprived nights, your skin is just screaming for some quiet time. When you sleep, your body’s hydration level normalises, producing the moisture responsible for that youthful glow. Without sleep, your skin cells cannot repair themselves causing your blood vessels to dilate and the formation of dark eye circles. On close inspection your skin feels drier and perhaps slightly bumpy making you resemble a shrivelled elderly person. Sleep just 8 hours a night and age backwards.
No, it’s not too cold yet to hide under a blanket and Netflix until February. If anything, exercise gets your blood flowing to flush out the toxins and carry nutrients throughout your body, even to your skin. Exercise also eases stress that causes acne outbreak and the appearance of dark spots, but before you go, slap on some sunscreen. Too much sun and radiation dulls the skin and causes it to age faster and nobody wants to look 35 at 20.
If you have not heard the raves about coconut oil, it is not too late. Virgin organic coconut penetrates the skin better than any other oils, repairing the collagen, a protein found in our skin that keeps our skin elastic and smooth. Furthermore, it effectively works as a moisturiser and a deep cleanser that softens the dirt-filled keratin caps in your skin, making it much easier for nutrient absorption.
The journey of flawless skin needs a bit of sacrifice, which means ditching your daily make-up regime for a week or so. This is just to prevent the chemicals from the make-up from clogging up your face, giving your skin a chance to breathe. Your skin will feel and look so good that you may even forget the need for make-up, so your once-daily make-up regime is only reserved for nights’
