How to be beautiful: 5 tips from Japan

If you follow Chinese astrology, you’ll know that appearances will matter in 2017. As of 28th January, it is officially the Year of the Rooster – a popular, amusing and good looking fellow who likes to strut his stuff. So, I thought I’d share my five favourite natural beauty tips from Japan. These are inspired by Chizu Saeki’s bestselling book The Japanese Skincare Revolution.

1. Look at beautiful things

Chizu recommends spending time appreciating beautiful objects and beauty in nature, imagining that your skin is absorbing particles of beauty from the things you see. It seems like an odd tip, but an open, enthusiastic expression is always beautiful – and produces fewer wrinkles in the long run!

2. Warm up

If you’re a frequent reader of these posts, you would have heard me going on about eating your food warm to improve nutrient absorption – and it’s no different when it comes to feeding your skin. Warm up your skin and your skincare products before applying them. This will open the pores and make your products more fluid, helping all those goodies sink right down into the deeper layers.

3. Work out

According to Chizu, muscle tone is just as important as skin tone when it comes to looking fresh and vibrant. Your skin is attached to your muscles, so when your muscles sag your skin sags too. Toning facial muscles is easy and sweat-free. YouTube has some great facial workout videos, like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9KdymSLnTc

4. Massage

Over time, daily massage with fingertips and palms can transform your complexion, ease out wrinkles, tone facial muscles, improve circulation and flush out lymph. Frequency is the key, so include a few minutes’ massage in your daily skincare routine. This nifty YouTube video shows you how: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTlvYYZ8MRs&t=35s

5. Chew on the saggy side

Look at the mirror face-on and smile with your mouth closed. Compare the height of the left and right corners of your mouth. Notice which side is higher. Now compare the outer corners of your eyes with each other, and the outer ends of your eyebrows. The muscles on the higher side are more toned than the muscles on the lower side. You can tone and lift the muscles on the saggy side by making a conscious effort to chew on that side, bringing more symmetry to your face over time.