Healthy Living

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

That glow: Celebrities with the healthiest, most gorgeous skin

    • Leighton Meester
    • Halle Berry
    • Nicole Kidman
    • Kate Hudson
    • Queen Latifah
    • Eva Mendes
    • Sandra Oh
photo 1 of 8

Leighton Meester

Getty Images
Gossip Girl's Leighton Meester, Halle Berry, Sandra Oh -- who doesn't want to smile up at a camera with their amazing, glowy skin? While I ponder the fantasy of having the caramel loveliness of Eva Mendes one day and the scrubby-clean fair skin of Reese Witherspoon the next, perhaps it's time to get working on making my own face a little more camera-ready.

We've all read the tips for making our skin look great a thousand times. And we've all had countless conversations with our girlfriends, mothers, the make-up counter clerk, the nice lady at Starbucks about how to finally get our faces in beautiful shape. What could we possible learn by hearing it all again?

Maybe nothing. But maybe this will be the one time we take some steps to make our skin feel healthier and look phenomenal. With that hope and with some inspirational photos of the women in Hollywood with the most gorgeous skin, here are some no-duh tips that we've never quite gotten around to implementing but still, just make good sense:

1. Sleep on it. You know how your face feels sucked dry after one of those too fun, late-late nights? Or how ragged you felt the first year after you were up every hour with your new baby? You're not just feeling the effects of a lack of sleep, they are also showing up on your skin. There's really no other way around making this kind of investment in your skin's health other than setting a bedtime and sticking to it. You might not see the results in the morning, but wait until that 20th high school reunion, friend. It will all be revealed then.

2. Hydrate it. Yeah yeah yeah, there's always going to be some debate about how much water you should be drinking. No matter where you side on the four glasses vs. eight glasses debate, just drink up! You will feel more alert, which means you will look more alert. Don't be afraid to serve up your skin a nice cocktail of moisturizer, too. If you're really feeling radical (or parched, either way), take a day off of make-up altogether and go on a little water-drinking, moisturizer bender. Think how perked up and pretty your skin will look after all that self-care.

3. Feed it. If you're going to eat for energy, longevity and to keep up with your busy days, why not also eat for fabulous skin? Making small adjustments -- like adding a cup of green tea to your nightly ritual or using sunflower oil in your stirfry-- might do as much or more for your skin's glow as all the products on your bathroom counter.

4. Protect it. I admit that as the seasons change, I have a bad and unconscious habit of stowing the sunscreen away as soon as I pack up my sandals. The reality is that we can still get loads of exposure to harmful UVA and UVB rays when it is cloudy and we do need the protection of sunscreen all year round. The two seconds it takes to slather on a bit of block means you will be guarding your skin from sunburns today and from cancer, wrinkles and sunspots in the years to come. And hello! Have you seen Nicole Kidman's porcelain skin? It's gorgeous, even under that giant hat and what has to be a pint of sunscreen.

5. Gently address the sins of your skin past. Acne scars, sun damage and other skin ickiness is a reality for most of our faces. Sure, I'd love to have the baby-soft, wrinkle-free skin of my 20s, but no product, nap or gallon of water is going to make that happen magically. Rather than worry too much about the little flaws (the worrying, by the way, causes me to make one of those scrunched up faces that cannot exactly be erasing the little lines, can it?), be kind to the body you have now. See a dermatologist (who doesn't yell -- sometimes a trick to find), try some gentle products that will fade scars, clear up dark circles and banish the blemishes making an appearance now. Healing will happen and in the meantime, use a bit of concealer until it's all sorted out.
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From the Community…

Comments 41-48 of 48
  • brienza1975's Avatar
    Posted by brienza1975 Tue Oct 21, 2008 1:15pm PDT

    pooop

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  • 's Avatar
    Posted by Tue Oct 21, 2008 2:36pm PDT

    wasnt sandrah o voted one of ugliest women! wow keeps u dumb bitches buying skin cream...

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  • Michelle's Avatar
    Posted by Michelle Tue Oct 21, 2008 3:14pm PDT

    Are you joking with Nicole Kidman ? She doesn't even look REAL. How about Meryl Streep ? AMAZING and real skin. I hope I look like that at her age . Au natural and hot !!!

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  • 's Avatar
    Posted by Mon Dec 29, 2008 1:08pm PST

    I like to use a facial sponge to exfoliate my skin, and i only use Dove soap, it make my skin feel great. After that I use Ambi mosterizer, which really has done great for my skin this winter. I tend to have very dry skin in the winter,and don't like to look shiny:)

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  • finally some class!'s Avatar
    Posted by finally some class! Mon Dec 29, 2008 1:32pm PST

    get the gel capsules of vitamin c from your local drug store vitamin dept. then break them open and rub it on your face at night before you go to sleep, improvements in days

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  • granville s's Avatar
    Posted by granville s Mon Dec 29, 2008 2:29pm PST

    this is what you do to look great: smile and be happy, make sure you go to bed happy and you will look better in the morning, what if I tell you that beauty is a feelings, not a look, hell who know what is so call beauty,some people think a mut is beautiful, so beauty is in

    the eyes of the beholder, it true...here is a test...some woman said

    roses are beautiful, I think she mean they smell good, why? if you

    take the rose apart and lay the parts down on the table, what is so

    beautiful about that ...but if you smell it, it smell good, and if you use the parts to spell I love you to someone, that is beautiful, so if your average wife or husband said to I love you honey...that is beautiful dont you think? stop listening to so called expert out their telling you what is beautiful, to each his own ...some men like large women, some women like skiny men, some men like women with long hair, some women like bald men, fat, tin, tall, short, black, white or between, we all have flaws, the flaws is what make us unique. so get over it all you so call experts and talking heads stop shoving your openions on the rest of us telling us what is beautiful and what is not.

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