If you want to turn heads with flawless, glowing skin, Scott-Vincent Borba, author of Cooking Your Way to Gorgeous, says having a gorgeous complexion may be as simple as turning on your oven, blender or stovetop. Borba, who has worked with Mila Kunis and Jennifer Love Hewitt, believes in leveraging common, all-natural ingredients ~ both inside and outside ~ for stunning results. Among his favorite tips:

Eating your way to flawless skin

  • Give your skin a boost throughout the day by snacking on green veggies and root vegetables such as radishes. “These are great fat-burning foods, plus they act as appetite suppressants and free radical ‘scavengers’ that help flush out the system.”
  • Toss the canola oil and start cooking with Malaysian palm fruit oil. “This oil is rich in vitamin E tocotrienols, which research shows may delay aging in skin cells. The carotenoids found in red palm oil may also help protect your body from the sun’s UV damage, and they appear to boost skin’s ability to protect itself from harmful toxins. Plus, I love the fact that Malaysian palm fruit oil is non-GMO and produced sustainably.”
  • ONLINECooking Your Way to Gorgeous book_v1 (2)Serve Skin–Full Nachos for a real crowd-pleaser. “Cut six wheat tortillas (rich in selenium) into eighths and place on a baking sheet. Drizzle with a tablespoon of Malaysian red palm fruit oil and bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. When the chips start to get crisp, sprinkle on a cup of low-fat cheddar cheese (for vitamins A, D and calcium) and six diced black olives (monounsaturated fat, vitamin E). Remove from the oven when the cheese has melted. Top with a mixture of ½ tablespoon flax-seed powder and 1 tablespoon fat-free sour cream. This recipe is packed with the vitamins and antioxidants your skin needs.”
  • Drink at least 48 ounces of water each day and cut greasy or fried foods from your diet. “Focus instead on getting plenty of omega-3s and supplementing your diet with vitamins A, C and E ~ antioxidants that are vital for cell regeneration.”

Preventing breakouts from the outside
“There are several reasons why skin breaks out. The most common are hormones, stress, bacteria and poor diet,” explained Borba. “I always start an anti-blemish regimen from the inside out. That’s the most important approach, since most of the common blemish causes occur within our bodies.” He couples his nutritional approach with these outside tricks for ramping up beauty.

  • Cleanse and moisturize twice daily. “Use a brand that is not overly rich or overly drying. Supplement your skin with the appropriate boosters. For example, if you have oily skin, try using a mattifying masque once a week. If you have blackheads, use a deep exfoliant twice a week. The key to this outside approach is to balance your skin to achieve homeostasis, so it’s less inclined to break out.”
  • ice copyCamouflage the culprits. “Covering up a break out is a true art. Traditionally thick, heavy makeup has been the default for covering up a breakout. While it can help, it sometimes makes breakouts even more noticeable. Instead, try washing your face then gently exfoliate. After towel drying, cool down the affected area by applying an ice pack (or ice cubes in a sandwich bag) for two or three minutes. This will reduce the size and redness of the affected area. Then, moisturize your face, taking caution not to irritate the affected area. Finally, apply non-comedogenic makeup as follows: light green over the affected area (to hide any red/pink areas) followed by foundation all over, then a finishing powder all over. By the time you’re done, you should be the only one who knows you have a break out.”

Scott-Vincent Borba is the author of three best-sellers: Makeup for Dummies, Skintervention and Cooking Your Way to Gorgeous For more information, visit scottvincentborba.com.