4 Autumnal Skincare Must Haves Paired with 4 Fabulous Recipes Guaranteed to Help Accentuate Your Glow!!
The Skinsmith | 14th October 2024
1. Autumnal Yam & Pumpkin
Yam & Pumpkin Enzyme Peel accelerates the exfoliation process removing dead skin cells, reducing the appearance of pigmentation, fine lines and sun damage. It’s one delicious purée of yam and pumpkin leaving the skin looking firm and radiant. Yams are rich in antioxidants, which are known to rebuild skin cells and may reduce oxidative damage caused by free radicals. They’re also rich in vitamin C, which helps promote collagen production in the body. Collagen is a protein that is effective in maintaining the skin's elasticity.
It’s now officially Autumn and everyone is craving everything pumpkin flavoured. This wonderful enzyme peel means you can also get your pumpkin fix through your skincare routine! Let’s look at all the benefits that pumpkin can have on your skin!
Pumpkin has the highest content of naturally occurring vitamin A (which helps minimize acne scars), salicylic acid (helps to reduce acne), and beta carotene (helps decrease wrinkles & dark spots). In addition, its high zinc content helps keep your skin protected from UV rays.
Keep applying those Yams and Pumpkins to the surface of your skin but if you want to do things right work from the inside out too. We love this delicious recipe here, it’s a nutritious family dinner requiring minimum effort! It’s wonderfully simple to make, with sticky, spiced chunks of pumpkin and sweet potato, red onion and peppers, served with watercress and crispy pumpkin seeds.
Sticky pumpkin and sweet potato traybake
Preparation time
less than 30 mins
Cooking time
30 mins to 1 hour
Serves 4
Ingredients
For the traybake
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 tsp honey
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ½ small pumpkin or 1 small butternut squash (approx. 600g/1lb 5oz), cut into 3cm/1¼in chunks, seeds reserved
- 2 sweet potatoes, cut into 3cm/1¼in chunks
- 2 red peppers, deseeded and cut into thick wedges
- 2 red onions, cut into thick wedges
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the crispy pumpkin seeds
- reserved pumpkin seeds (see above), washed and patted dry with kitchen paper
- 1 tsp olive oil
- pinch smoked paprika
To serve
- 100g/3½oz watercress or rocket
- 250g/9oz natural yoghurt
- 1–2 tbsp sriracha
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.
- Whisk the oil, vinegar, honey, garlic and spices together in a large bowl. Add the vegetables, season with a pinch of salt and pepper and mix thoroughly. Tip everything into a large roasting tin and shake out into an even layer. Roast for 50 minutes, giving everything a shake and a mix halfway through cooking.
- Meanwhile, make the crispy pumpkin seeds by mixing them with the oil and a pinch of salt. Spread out on a non-stick baking tray (or a tray lined with greaseproof paper) and bake alongside the vegetables for 20 minutes until crisp. Season with a pinch of smoked paprika and set aside to cool.
- Remove the vegetables from the oven and stir through the watercress. Mix the yoghurt and sriracha together, drizzle over the vegetables and serve topped with the crispy pumpkin seeds.
2. Plum Glow
- Wild Plum Eye Cream reduces the look of dark circles around your eyes with iron-rich wild plum. The skin around the eye area will appear brightened and re-energised.
Plums are rich in vitamin C which helps to brighten your complexion, reduces dark spots and freckles, and helps you achieve an even skin tone. Plums also help improve blood circulation in your skin which helps to lighten scars or age spots.
Duck and Plum is a winning combination and this vibrant colourful salad is a great way to eat some amazing ingredients which your skin will be hugely grateful for!!
Duck & plum salad
Preparation time
20 mins
Cooking time
1 hr and 45mins
Serves 2
Ingredients
- 2 duck legs
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
- 2 medium carrots, sliced into thin, long matchsticks
- 4 spring onions, sliced into matchsticks
- 4 ripe plums, halved and sliced into 8 thin wedges
- handful of coriander leaves, chopped
- handful of roasted peanuts, chopped
- 1⁄2-1 tsp fish sauce (optional)
- 1 lime, juiced
Method
- Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Put the duck legs in a small roasting tinand rub over the olive oil, Chinese five-spice and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Roast for 1 hr 30 mins-1 hr 45 mins until tender and easily pulled apart. Leave to cool, then shred the meat using two forks.
- Put the carrots, spring onions, plums, coriander leaves and peanuts in a bowl and toss to combine. Drizzle in the fish sauce, if using, and the lime juice. Toss again.
- Tip the duck meat into a bowl or onto a serving platter, then top with the plum salad to serve.
- Strawberry Rhubarb Hyaluronic Serum will give your skin a youthful looking glow with hyaluronic acid and vitamin-rich strawberries and rhubarb. It’s a powerful re-hydrator for dry skin.
3. Fabulous Strawberry & Rhubarb
Strawberry Rhubarb Hyaluronic Serum will give your skin a youthful looking glow with hyaluronic acid and vitamin-rich strawberries and rhubarb. It’s a powerful re-hydrator for dry skin.
Strawberry benefits for skin are backed by ellagic acid and Vitamin C antioxidants, strawberries produce a strong photoprotective effect on our skin. The latter protects us from UV damage and so prevents collagen destruction. It also prevents wrinkles and fine lines making our skin look healthier and younger.
Rhubarb can also enhance the health of your skin. From fighting free radicals to reducing inflammation, here are a few benefits to consider:
- Antioxidant-Rich
Rhubarb boasts plenty of antioxidant compounds including Vitamin C, beta-carotene, phenolic acid, anthocyanins and more. In fact, rhubarb has been proven to pack an even greater antioxidant punch than kale! Together, these powerful antioxidants help neutralize the aging effects of free radicals. They protect the structural integrity of collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid and help your skin remain plump and wrinkle-free for longer.
- Anti-Inflammatory
Inflammation is enemy #1 for your skin. When your body experiences infection, it responds by issuing an immune response. The lymphatic system springs into action and increases blood flow to the area of concern. This influx of white blood cells can cause redness, heat and swelling.
Inflammation is a factor in a number of skin conditions and concerns, including acne breakouts, rosacea and even sagging skin. It can also cause skin wounds to heal more slowly, which affects your skin’s overall health. By promoting optimal blood circulation, rhubarb can help minimize skin inflammation.
- Anti-Bacterial
Rhubarb is also a natural anti-fungal and anti-bacterial agent. In fact, traditional folk medicine often used a paste of raw rhubarb as a topical application for various skin infections. In neutralizing bacteria, rhubarb can be beneficial in treating bacterial skin conditions such as acne.
- Astringent
Rhubarb also has astringent properties due to its tannin content. This astringent action causes body tissues to shrink and constrict. For this reason, traditional folk medicine has used rhubarb to alleviate such issues as hemorrhoids, internal bleeding and inflamed mucous membranes. For the skin, rhubarb’s astringent qualities can help to shrink the appearance of enlarged pores.
- Brightening
Pigmentation is your skin’s first line of defense against UV exposure. When the skin is exposed to UV rays, an enzyme called tyrosinase triggers the skin’s melanocytes to release melanin, resulting in dark spots and uneven skin tone. Plants from the Polygonaceae family – like rhubarb – are tyrosinase inhibitors that can brighten the appearance of these spots of hyperpigmentation.
Of course, Strawberry and Rhubarb is a classic combination for a crumble with both sweet and tart flavours. This dessert is very easy to make and a great excuse for eating lots of cream or custard (just think about all the good those Strawberries and Rhubarb are doing you!!). Replace the flour with oats and fine oatmeal (you can find gluten free ones in most supermarkets) for a gluten free alternative.
Rhubarb and strawberry crumble
Preparation Time
10 mins
Cooking Time
40 Mins
Serves 6
Ingredients
- 250g rhubarb, cut into slices 2cm thick
- 250g strawberries, hulls removed, large ones cut in half
- 100g light brown sugar
- 150g plain flour
- 125g cold unsalted butter, diced
- 100g rolled oats
- pinch of sea salt
Method
- Preheat oven to 180°C/Gas 4.
- Mix the rhubarb and the strawberries together with 2 tablespoons of the sugar and transfer them to a snug fitting baking dish.
- Put the flour, butter and remaining sugar in a bowl. Bring it together and work it with your fingertips until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Alternatively, pulse it together in a food processor to get the same result. Stir in the oats and a pinch of salt. Crumble it evenly over the top of the fruit. Wet your hands and flick water across the top of the crumble – this stops it browning too fast before the fruit has cooked.
- Transfer to the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, until golden on the top and bubbling beneath. Leave to cool for 10 minutes before serving, ideally with clotted cream.
4. Skincare Wonders Yoghurt & Cucumber
Clear Skin Probiotic Cleanser is a clarifying cream-gel cleanser for oily, acneic skin types and for those with the occasional breakout. Cleanse and clarify acne prone skin with the cooling and invigorating properties of cucumber and tea tree oil. Moisturise with sweet almond milk and exfoliate with yoghurt to deep clean pores without stripping the skin of hydration.
Cucumbers are about 95% water, which means they're a great hydrating vegetable. The natural compounds in cucumbers, which include antioxidants, have been shown to play a role in preventing cancer cells from multiplying. Cucumbers may also help prevent diabetes. The antioxidants and minerals—specifically the mineral silica, which helps your body produce collagen—may help nourish your skin and keep it smooth and firm.
Yogurt is a nutritious food that is a great protein source and is loaded with calcium, phosphorous and vitamin B12. It's also a good source of potassium, zinc and vitamin D. Altogether, the nutrients in yogurt support bone and muscle growth, healthy nervous and immune systems, cell growth and development, and healthy blood pressure. The probiotics in yogurt may improve your digestion system, as well, by providing beneficial bacteria to your gut's microbiome.
Getting some of these ingredients into your diet is of course amazing for your skin too and this delicious salad makes both a refreshing accompaniment to a main course of meat or fish, and a tasty filling for pita bread. If the cucumbers are grated instead of chopped, this mixture can be served as a dip.
Cucumber-Yogurt Salad
Preparation Time:
No Cooking
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 4 large cucumbers, peeled
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups low-fat plain yogurt
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 2-4 cloves garlic, minced
- Freshly ground pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, or 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Method
- Cut cucumbers in half and seed. Cut each cucumber boat in half lengthwise and then halve each quarter. Cut crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces. Place in a bowl, sprinkle salt on top, toss and set aside for at least 20 minutes.
- Combine yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, pepper and parsley (or mint) in a medium bowl. Stir in the oil briskly.
- Drain the cucumbers, return them to the bowl, pour the yogurt mixture over and toss well.
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