If you are itching and flaking, scratching and despairing, worry not, as consolation lies within the next few paragraphs. Some things in life are easy, despite all we are told otherwise. There are so many ways to treat dry skin naturally. Better still, these many ways range from buying supplements to making your own creams at home. So there are solutions to fit all budgets.

As with any ailment or condition, dry skin is a clue to an underlying situation in the body, an imbalance. This is usually brought about by a lack of nutrients, so it does need to be addressed from inside and out.

Most ordinary shop bought washing powders, soaps, shower gels, bath salts and shampoos contain harsh chemicals that will antagonise a sensitive skin. These dry the skin out, and alongside a poor diet lead to all sorts of dry itchy skin problems.

In ‘Eating for Beauty’, David Wolfe points out, “The skin is the last organ to be nourished because it is the furthest away from the digestive organs.”

If you have not until now considered your skin an organ, then please note that it is! It is a helpful organ too, giving us notice when things are amiss, without having to resort to x-rays and intrusive tests. It will not lie. It will sag and bag and peel and puff if you do not feed it what it wants.

Given that skin renews itself every 28 days, you will see a significant improvement in a short time of ingesting and externally applying supplements for dry skin.

Internal Repair Supplements for Dry Skin

In conjunction with eating a diet high in raw vegetables, salad leaves and fruits, plus soaked raw nuts and seeds (in moderation), add the following:

MSM (organic sulphur): has an enormous affect on the body as a whole, which of course includes the skin. It is best to take as a powder – start with 2 teaspoons twice a day in a glass of water. Build up gradually to 4 teaspoons twice a day. This can be taken for the rest of your life. It is a food, and we don’t receive enough of it in our diet.

L–CARNOSINE: this combination of amino acids burst onto the western world scene around 2003, but the Russians have been using it for well over a hundred years. It is another white powder, highly effective in healing wounds and protecting collagen and elastin molecules in the skin. It seems to me only logical, that anything powerful enough to heal a wound or repair scar tissue, will have a powerful effect on less damaged skin.

COCONUT OIL: The ONLY oil you should cook with. All other oils are unstable at high temps. Consuming coconut oil will plump up your skin, not you. It will not make you fat, trust me.

David Wolfe again, “Coconut oil reverses the tissue damaging process by displacing cooked oil from the tissues, and providing fat soluble vitamins and minerals… directly to the damaged skin.”

There are many ways to take coconut oil. Make your own raw chocolate using this, add it to smoothies, or even add it to coffee!

BLUE GREEN ALGAES: these include AFA, Spirulina, and Chlorella as powders. AFA is the most potent, and the most costly. Chlorella often comes as tablets, but powder is available too. With any of these, commence with 1 teaspoon a day in liquid and build up to 3 times a day.

External Repair Recipes for Dry Skin

For me personally, having gone through the enticing panorama of attractively packaged and scented shop bought products, I now only put on my skin that which I can eat.

I eat coconut oil and I apply coconut oil, I eat avocado and I make avocado and spirulina face masks – just a couple of examples.

Over the years, I have made various skin concoctions at home and these are the most effective.

Skin Polisher by Roxy Dillon

½ cup walnut oil

1 heaped teaspoon lecithin granules

1/3 cup rose water

1/3 cup distilled witch hazel

Blend at high speed for a minute or two, and you will have a white lotion. Use it as often as you like. Store this in the fridge.

Mega Hydrating Olive Oil Butter

As I am always on the lookout to use what grows outside my door, I happened across olive oil, as olive trees grow in abundance where I live. I have not yet set up my own olive press, so I do have to buy this. However it is good and cheap being local. Using olive oil, beeswax and water, I made the best skin concoction yet. It is ultra hydrating, soaks in straight away, and is non greasy. It can be used on anything, as it is natural! So it removes my eye make up, and cleans my cat’s ears, as well as soothing my mature skin that tends to be dry. It’s also good on wood.

This is my own blend from trying out a few online recipes.

1-2 cups olive oil
2-3 dessertspoons beeswax pellets (approx. 50 grams)
1 cup tepid distilled water

Put beeswax and olive oil in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. When the beeswax is melted, add the tepid distilled water and simply whisk. The less olive oil you use, the thicker it will be. I added 2 cups of oil, which resulted in a cream that remains soft even when kept in the fridge.

Shea butter

I fell in love with this last year. I love the natural scent of it, but admittedly this may just be me. It is inexpensive yet luxuriously thick. However, depending on the climate in which you live, it will be easy to apply or not. And if you are in a hurry, waiting for it to soften up when taking it out of the fridge may not be an option.

If you try any of my ideas, please let me know how it went in the comments section below. And if you have any questions, please post them and I’ll gladly answer.