You have to admit: Despite all the time Kristin Cavallari spent in the sun filming Laguna Beach and The Hills, her skin is always glowing. Now, the 29-year-old mom of three is spilling her beauty secrets in her new book, Balancing in Heels: My Journey to Health, Happiness, and Making It All Work ($25; amazon.com). In this excerpt, Cavallari explains how she plans to avoid botox.
Good skin is where beauty starts. Growing up, I never had full-fledged acne, but I definitely had zits. It wasn’t until I changed the way I ate that my skin completely transformed. Before, it was a miracle if I didn’t have a zit, and now it’s strange when I do. Obviously, a large part of that was due to hormones in my teenage years, but I had blemishes in my early twenties as well.
My goal is to never get Botox. Or any other filler or injectable, for that matter.
I don’t hate on people who get Botox; I would just prefer to do everything a more natural way. We don’t know the long-term effects of that stuff, and it doesn’t seem right to me. We are supposed to age—that’s part of life! But for me, it’s all about preventive care so that I can age naturally and gracefully. There are a lot of natural things you can do—and feel good about using—to help your skin look great.
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It starts with what we put in our bodies. Once I started eating real food, my skin began to clear up and look fresh. In addition to following a healthy diet, I try to drink at least 90 ounces of water throughout the day. In fact, you won’t see me without a water bottle! I believe this has a huge effect on keeping my face clear and hydrated.
Topically, my beauty routine is also all about hydration, hydration, hydration. Not long after I moved to Chicago and was breastfeeding my first son, Camden, I got a facial because I began breaking out again. The aesthetician told me that my skin was dehydrated. Even though I was drinking a ton of water, between the new cold weather and breastfeeding, it wasn’t enough. She gave me a hydrating mask, which in my teens and early twenties I would have run from. So I started using the mask; sure enough, my skin improved. I use a mask to this day during winter months, and I notice a big difference. Just because I’m prone to breakouts doesn’t mean I don’t need some hydration love as well. A homemade mask is great because the ingredients are real, wholesome, and easy to find around the house. Just a few minutes wearing this mask can do wonders for your skin.
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It’s also important to do an exfoliating face scrub about once a week. [See Cavallari's recipe for a coffee face scrub below]. This removes dead skin cells, unclogs pores, and allows the skin to breathe.
I love rose hip oil for fighting fine lines and dryness. I squeeze a full dropper into my hands and rub all over my face at night. Another great product is coconut oil. I use this stuff for everything: cooking, baking, as a hair mask, and on my entire body. Some people swear by putting coconut oil on their entire face, but loading my face up with thick oil scares me a little (clearly those pimples as a teenager have scarred me a bit!). So I only apply it under my eyes and on my neck to help protect against aging and to hydrate.
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Another product I swear by is vitamin C serum. I put it on a few nights a week to even out skin tone and combat any redness. It’s also anti-aging, because vitamin C is crucial for the production of collagen, helping maintain skin elasticity and firmness.
Preventive care for your skin also means using sunscreen. Take it from a girl who lived for many years in Southern California! I always use an SPF 30 organic sunscreen on my face. Some brands of sunscreen can be loaded with nasty chemicals, so it’s important to look for a product with zinc oxide as the main ingredient. Fortunately, there are good options nowadays; you just have to read the ingredient labels like with everything else you buy.
Taking care of my skin means no matter how tired I am, I always remove my makeup and wash my face at night. There’s nothing worse than waking up after sleeping in your makeup. My skin gets clogged after even one night. It’s worth the 2 minutes!
Homemade Coffee Face Scrub
Mix ¼ cup finely ground coffee beans and 2 tablespoons cocoa powder with either almond milk or melted coconut oil (start with 3 tablespoons and keep adding until you reach the desired consistency). Gently rub over your face (avoiding your eyes, of course), then rinse off; I use leftovers on my back and arms as well. Just make sure the coffee beans are finely ground to avoid scratching your face.
Reprinted from Balancing in Heels by Kristin Cavallari. Copyright (c) 2016 by Kristin Cavallari. By permission of Rodale Books. Available wherever books are sold.