As soon as the cold weather hits, it’s a great time to think about hydration for your skin, your brain and your entire body. We often think just about how much water we drink, but hydration is also about moving that water through the body (especially through the fascia, that lacy layer that surrounds our muscles) AND keeping our skin nice and moisturized.
According to the Harvard School of Public Health, drinking enough water is important for:
- keeping joints lubricated
- regulating body temperature
- better focus, mood, and cognition
- delivering nutrients to cells
I’m a big fan of using some tricks to increase my own water consumption! I will often make spa water, by adding in fruits & herbs/spices to make water seem more luxurious. My favourite blends are strawberries & basil leaves, candied ginger & peach slices, and 1 tbsp of rosewater with a few mint sprigs.
I also love using larger water bottles to keep track of my water intake – I even have a full gallon water bottle (it’s pink, of course)!
So once you have increased your water intake, there are additional steps you can take to hydrate and replenish all the parts of your body. Dana Cohen and Gina Bria’s book Quench is a great resource for understanding how to create optimal hydration throughout your body. They recommend incorporating hydrating foods such as chia seeds, cucumbers and watermelon into your diet and adding micromovements and foam rolling to move the water to where it needs to go, particularly into the fascia that gives shape to our bodies and plays such an important role in our health.
Lauren Roxburgh is another incredible resource for learning more about fascia and creating the hydration and movement that we need to feel our best. She has a great explanation of fascia here, and you can check out her books Taller, Slimmer, Younger and The Power Source for great health information. She is my go-to for learning more about foam rolling and how to move our bodies in non-traditional ways for major benefits. I am so much more in tune with my body after reading her books and following her workouts.
Finally, taking the time to care deeply for our skin in the colder months is so important. I’m a firm believer in using clean face and body moisturizers a LOT to soothe and hydrate all year but especially as the cooler autumn months settle in. I have a few favourites for my face that I layer:
- Saje true dew facial oil (scented with floral oils that I adore)
- Beautycounter Countermatch recovery sleeping cream (unscented & rich)
- Beautycounter Countertime ultrarenewal eye cream
For my body, I’m obsessed with Beautycounter’s new SuperQuench body butter (it’s available right now in one of the holiday sets). It is scented with natural Monoi oil, which means it smells like a tropical vacation. It’s rich without being greasy and keeps my skin soft all day.
There are many great clean options out there for moisturizers. I am a Beautycounter consultant and really love the products and the clean beauty mission behind the company. But please know that there are more clean beauty products available than ever before, so – especially when choosing a moisturizer that will sit on your skin – pick something free from harmful chemicals.
So as winter in Canada rapidly approaches, start thinking about creating optimal hydration for your beautiful body!
Barre with Justine 