Getting My Face Back

I recently found myself in natural beauty product heaven, and I feel the need to share this with you. 

Located on Lee Highway in Gainesville, Eden's Natural Marketplace sells all kinds of natural products, including food and cleaning supplies.  I was only concerned with the beauty products, though. 

I started shifting from mainstream products to natural (aka clean) products last summer after reading No More Dirty Looks by journalists Siobhan O’Connor and Alexandra Spunt.  I was living in Brooklyn at the time, and I was fortunate enough to have Perelandra just a few blocks away.  Eden's doesn't have quite the amazing selection that Perelandra has, but it comes close.  I didn't see any Dr. Hauschka or Juice Beauty, but it definitely has the basics like Avalon Organics, Alba and one of my favorites, JASON. 

Most importantly, it's the closest store I can find that carries my absolute favorite, Simply Pure.  It's locally made in Virginia, and it's the cleanest natural beauty line that I've ever seen.  It's pretty affordable, too. 

I walked into Eden's in search of Simply Pure products to help me with my face.  Yes, my face needed help. About six months ago, I started breaking out a lot which was unusual for me.  For most of my adult life, I would get the occasional blemish,  but overall, I managed to keep my skin looking pretty good.  Naturally, I started to do some research and everything started to make sense. 

I ended up living with my vegetarian sister for two months between Brooklyn and Chantilly, and this wreaked havoc on my body.  I love my sister, but eating delicious bread and pasta on most nights just wasn't working for me.  My body was getting angry.   A recent HuffPo article claiming that dairy and sugar can lead to acne actually makes a lot of sense to me.

But I digress...

After finding some Simply Pure face wash and face lotion, I began to look for some fish oil supplements.  I read that Omega-3's are good for your skin.  The lady who was working at Eden's asked me if I needed any help, and I replied, "Yes, I need help with this."  I was pointing to my face, and after one glance, she understood.   

She led me to Udo's Oil,  which offers a blend of Omega-3's, 6's and 9's.  It also has some evening primrose oil that she said would be good for me.  I believed her. 

Long story a little shorter, it's been a couple months and my face is finally getting back to normal.  It's probably a combination of the Simply Pure products (which are A-MAZING), the Udo's Oil and the end of my Tony Soprano diet.  I also replaced milk with organic soymilk and got back into my regular workout routine. 

I've also started reading Perfect Health by Deepak Chopra, M.D.  In the book, Chopra writes that the skin renews itself every five weeks, so I'm sure that has something to do with it, too. 

I'm not trying to say that I've found a magic cure for everybody's skin problems.  But, if you haven't switched to natural products already, it's worth looking into.  Either way, make a stop at Eden's next time you find yourself in Gainesville.  You won't regret it.