The Experts Behind Our Holistic Skincare Guide Share Their Top Tips For Better Skin: Part 3 (Topical Products)

Welcome to Part 3 of our Holistic Skincare Guide blog series! We’re spilling our HSG expert’s personal stories + top tips on nutrition, lifestyle and topical products to create healthy skin, holistically. Be sure to check out Part 1: Nutrition and Part 2: Lifestyle for even more expert skin tips. And you can get our complete Holistic Skincare Guide here!

Before we begin, let’s state the obvious: Skincare can be so confusing and sometimes overwhelming, ingredient lists are endless and hard to understand, and with all of the product options, the steps, the dos, and the don’ts, how do you know what really works and how to best care for your unique skin needs?

That’s where our Holistic Skincare Guide topical product expert (and in-house Holistic Esthetician!), Courtney, comes in. That’s me! 😉

As a licensed esthetician certified in multiple holistic modalities, I’m sharing my personal skin story and my top product tips to visibly transform skin. I hope my in-depth knowledge, hands-on experience and pure, simple product tips will be your guide for clear, balanced and glowing skin.

Keep scrolling for my top 10 takeaways for better skin and be sure to shop our complete Holistic Skincare Guide for even more expert self-care practices and product tips to improve your skin – this time, from the outside in.

It all started when I was 11 – with a DIY beauty book (oats and bananas became my go-to skincare combo) and a BIG dream to open a spa/salon someday.

As I hit high school, I left my natural DIY days behind me as more sophisticated (ahem, drugstore) products and popular beauty magazines became my obsession. I was all about the 10-step skincare routine, the latest product craze and what seasonal color Sephora had just launched. While my desire for all things beauty continued to develop, so did my skin issues.

Problematic skin became my new norm. While the lifestyle I was living in high school and college played a huge part in my inflamed skin (unhealthy habits, emotional stress, late nights, poor nutrition – topics we’re talking about in our Holistic Skincare Guide!), the products I was applying definitely didn’t help. While I had fallen in love with the ritual of my am/pm skincare routine – how it smelled, how it felt, how it looked – little did I know I was slathering on artificial fragrances, skin-suffocating ingredients and harsh chemicals every. single. day.

As I began diving deeper into the science of skincare after graduating esthetics school and working with an international beauty brand, it became more and more clear to me how intricately connected our entire beings are.

And for the first time, I started to question the quality of the products I had actually been using – on myself and on my facial guests. How could I continue to apply and recommend products that contained toxins on people who were trusting me with their beauty and overall well-being?

So I took a step back from the beauty brand I had been working with for several years and made the swap to the most pure and natural ingredients I could find. And want to know what I discovered along the way? I didn’t have to sacrifice results (or my health) when I started treating the skin topically with real, recognizable ingredients. And my facial guests didn’t have to sacrifice results either.

The topical skincare section of our Holistic Skincare Guide is a collection of my own personal observations and professional experiences over the past decade. If you want in on my pure skin protocol that doesn’t compromise your overall well-being and creates clear, healthy skin, keep reading. 🙂

• The skin has a long, daily to-do list and is in charge of several functions to keep our bodies balanced, detoxed and protected – it plays a vital role in our health as a whole.

• Not skin type, but skin state – your skin’s way of being and behaving (it’s ever-evolving!).

• Start to view skin conditions as its way of communicating needs – as well as an invitation to do some deeper healing.

• Nature has given us everything we need – no artificial colors, chemicals or fragrances necessary. Topical skincare products sourced from nature are a powerful way to help reduce toxic exposure on your skin and in your body.

• Take a deep breath, give yourself grace and start the detox process one product at a time.

• Learn to listen to what your skin is saying and let it be your guide. 3 T’s: Tone, Texture, Temperature.

• A skincare routine is intended to serve you and your skin and your schedule. You can simplify the steps if you’re short on time or you can make your skincare routine more intentional depending on your skin/self-care needs.

• It’s through movement and flow that the skin is fed, detoxified + nourished and the muscles are strengthened and sculpted = this is where facial tools come in.

• Look for facial services with a strong focus on massage modalities to experience the most healing benefits – skin, soul and spirit.

• Allow yourself to receive care and compassion in every area of your life – and pure, non-toxic skincare is a simple, powerful place to start.

Want even more in-depth insights and expert tips for topical skincare products – plus nutrition and lifestyle tips? Get our brand new HOLISTIC SKINCARE GUIDE here! XO