Alexandra Soveral - Perfect Skin

Our skin is the one organ that most accurately reflects our inner health and wellbeing, and yet it is rarely understood. Alexandra Soveral, one of the worlds most in-demand facialists, reveals the secrets to healthy, glowing, flawless skin from the inside out and from the outside in. Discover:

• expert nutrition advice and skin-friendly recipes
• organic solutions to allergies and flare-ups
• all-natural skin-care products straight from your kitchen
• uncover the myths, lies and pseudoscientific claims we are fed by brands
• how skin works and what affects it

ALEXANDRA SOVERAL founded her award-winning eponymous skin care line in 2005, where she still hand blends every product. Alexandra is a respected skin specialist and product formulator for high-quality brands.

To Jorj, who makes it all possible

Any references to writing in this book refer to the original printed version. Readers should write on a separate piece of paper in these instances.

WHY ARE WE all not looking younger and more beautiful? With an endless stream of new products and treatments available that are the latest scientifically proven, clinically tested, doctor-approved, celebrity-endorsed miracle, why are we not looking better and feeling happier with our skin?

During the nearly 20 years that I have been a holistic skin therapist, my clients have been asking me where I stand on the latest miracle they have just heard about; their friends had it done, will it work for them? More often than not, by the time Im halfway through researching the latest product or procedure, my clients have moved on to the next, and this time it is definitely going to reverse all signs of ageing and take at least 10 years off their tired and dull skin. My question to them is always this: why do you have tired and dull skin in the first place?

When I look at photos of my mother when she was in her mid-thirties, I see blemish-free porcelain skin, with not a wrinkle in sight it looks as though the photo has been airbrushed. My mother lived a modest life without access to expensive creams and make-up, she massaged her skin with sweet almond oil and her most treasured cosmetic product was a large blue tin of NIVEA creme. Being a single working mother of four children, why didnt she have tired and dull skin?

Indeed, when we look at photos of women from the past century we dont think, Oh dear, they didnt have Botox back then, thats why they look so awful or, If only she had this 800 pot of miracle cream her skin would not look so wrinkly. The truth is that, instead, we tend to think how perfect their skin was and we wonder why we dont often see skin like that any more.

So what is going on? With all these new scientific discoveries, are we not supposed to be advancing in time towards a future where everyone has perfect and young-looking skin? Instead, we are growing more and more dissatisfied with the way we look and, for the most part, this is not an illusion: the general health of our skin is on the decline. Never have there been so many cases of eczema, psoriasis, acne, rosacea and premature ageing, and many other skin conditions that dermatologists just cant diagnose.

My job as a holistic skin therapist is to look at everything that makes a person whole. This includes not just a clients medical history, but also their family situation, professional life and lifestyle. Should anything come up that may need medical attention, I encourage my clients to seek this. While training to be a holistic therapist, I was encouraged to investigate each clients medical history to give me the knowledge to either contribute to their continued well-being or to support them through their medical recovery. The first year of the course was based on anatomy, physiology and pathology, learning the body systems and how they interact. I found this fascinating and my interest has never diminished since. Over the 15 years that followed I dedicated myself to investigating anything that relates to the skin. Apart from being a holistic therapist specialising in skin health, Im also a skincare formulator. This means that I write the formulas for all kinds of natural skincare products for many brands as well as for my own. I believe that it has been the interest I have taken in skin health that has enabled me to succeed as a formulator. I feel that often theres a missed conversation between chemist and consumer and I see myself as the bridge between the two. I spend as much time in the treatment room as I do in the lab. As a skincare formulator, my aim is to create the best possible environment for healthy skin to thrive. Knowing this, my clients present me with every imaginable skin complaint. I then must decide if its something that needs medical attention, a nutritional practitioner or simply a matter of adjusting the way they care for their skin.

Specialising in natural solutions to treat skin, my clients usually come to me as a last resort. They have tried everything and seen an array of specialists, yet their ailments persist. I cant always help them and I dont always have the answers by the time many clients come to me their skin has been through a lot and is therefore quite sensitive. For those looking to reverse the signs of ageing, they have been promised solutions by reputable experts but not properly warned about the adverse reactions they could encounter. What I find most frustrating is when I am approached by so many clients who have been on courses of antibiotics, hormones, Accutane (an acne treatment) or steroid creams to treat their skin ailments and are now petrified of coming off these strong and destructive drugs in case their skin flares up again. Im not saying that these drugs should never be prescribed or that they never work, but it is rare that I come across anyone that has permanently eliminated a skin condition after taking just one course of any one of these drugs; it does happen, but its very rare.

It is when mothers bring me their babies that were born covered in eczema that I think that surely we are doing something wrong with the way we are living our modern daily lives. I dont think that the decline of our skins health is due to one single thing, but a bunch of things that are collectively contributing towards it. I feel its time we pressed the pause button and looked at our lifestyles, investigate what is making us age faster and get some clarity on what our skin needs to thrive. Im a great believer that healthy skin is the only route to perfect skin.

I THINK ITS so important to get to know the skin you are in. Our skins main concern is to keep us healthy: it is our first line of defence as it protects us from external dangers and informs us when internal issues arise. We owe it our respect and full consideration by caring for it, learning how to improve its functionality and giving it what it needs to do its job effectively. To do that we must be attentive to the messages it is sending us this can sometimes be life-saving. By living in harmony with our skin we are living in harmony with ourselves. In this chapter, I will take you on a journey through your skin. As you learn the functions of each layer of your skin, as well as of each component, you will understand why it behaves in certain ways under certain conditions and environments. This will enable you to take charge of your skin with your new-found knowledge.