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5 Drinkable Beauty Potions You Can Make Yourself

Author:

Dana James, M.S., CNS, CDN

April 26, 2016

Board Certified Functional Nutritionist

By Dana James, M.S., CNS, CDN

Board Certified Functional Nutritionist

Dana James is a Columbia University–educated nutritional therapist and founder of Food Coach NYC.

Photo by Shutterstock

April 26, 2016

As a functional medicine nutritionist, I love to alchemize food, herbs, and botanicals. Lately, I’ve been experimenting with putting powdered botanicals and liquid minerals into drinks to see if they can replace a vitamin and mineral supplement and still elicit the same physiological effects. The answer is YES!

While some of these drinks will require specialty products, like powdered probiotics and fulvic acid, they are optional enhancers. If your budget doesn’t allow for them, feel free to leave them out and instead use a beauty insider's hack—10 minutes of meditation. In fact, add meditation to the mix even if you do buy the specialty products!

Experiment with the following beauty drinks and think of them as jewels to be savored. Choose one or two per day, depending on your mood and what you’d like to enhance.

These five drinkable beauty potions I concocted will help to bring radiance and clarity to the skin:

UPON WAKING

Raspberry and Rose Beauty Tonic

Ingredients

1 cup muddled raspberries
4 ounces coconut water
⅛ teaspoon of a 12-strain probiotic (such as Klaire Labs Ther Biotic Complex)
10 mint leaves
1 millimeter fulvic acid (such as Omica's)
Dash of Bulgarian rose water (such as Alteya Organic Bulgarian Rose Water)
Handful of ice (or any amount to your liking)

Instructions

Blend all the ingredients together for 20 seconds; pour them into a glass and serve.

Its beauty-boosting benefits:

This tonic helps to decrease the breakdown of collagen thanks to the ellagic acid in the raspberries. It also supports the microbiome with the addition of a diverse strain of 50 billion probiotics, which help bring clarity to the skin. The fulvic acid contains 70 different minerals and enhances the absorption of other nutrients while the rose water helps to open the heart chakra. Replace the ubiquitous hot water and lemon with this very feminine Raspberry and Rose Beauty Tonic.

BREAKFAST

Mango and Ginger Beauty Smoothie

Ingredients

1 scoop raw vegan protein powder (or 3 tablespoons Beauti-fuel)
10 ounces coconut milk
1 cup frozen mango
1 teaspoon fresh ginger
1 handful of ice
1 teaspoon bee pollen

Instructions

Blend all the ingredients together for 60 seconds; pour mixture into a glass and serve and with extra bee pollen and grated ginger on top.

Its beauty-boosting benefits:

Two years ago, I formulated Beauti-fuel, my raw, vegan protein powder. It is infused with ingredients like camu camu and cordyceps that help improve the synthesis of collagen and elastin for more youthful skin. I wanted a vegan protein powder that had amino acids as well as neurotransmitters and digestive enzymes. When you add it or another raw vegan protein powder to mango, ginger, and bee pollen, you wind up with a vitalizing smoothie that supports energy levels and pretty skin.

MIDMORNING

Matcha Latte

Ingredients

1 cup activated almond milk
½ teaspoon matcha powder (such as Cap Beauty's or Panatea's)
½ teaspoon raw honey
Splash of vanilla

Instructions

Warm the almond milk in a small saucepan over medium heat. Put the matcha into your mug; carefully pour the warmed milk over it and whisk to combine. Then, add honey and vanilla to taste.

Its beauty-boosting benefits:

The Matcha Latte has become the golden child of wellness beverage connoisseurs and those eschewing coffee, but with good reason! Matcha has 10 times more antioxidants than regular green tea and is rich in L-theanine, which helps promote a state of relaxation and well-being. Sip this intelligentsia instead of being an overstimulated coffee junkie!

AFTERNOON

Brain-Boosting Chai Tea

Ingredients

12 ounces chai tea, warm
1 tablespoon Sun Potion tocos
1 teaspoon coconut butter
½ teaspoon each of ashwagandha, rhodiola, and cordyceps
1 teaspoon coconut sugar, optional

Instructions

Add all the ingredients to your blender. Blend them until smooth and frothy. If you don’t have a blender, add them to a mason jar and shake vigorously for 30 seconds. Be careful when blending warm liquids; start low and gradually increase speed as they expand.

Its beauty-boosting benefits:

This brain-boosting tea is supplemented with adaptogenic herbs, which increase mental acuity, cognitive function, attention, and mental clarity. Ashawagandha has been shown to increase the brain-derived neurotrophic factor, which stimulates brain cell renewal. The coconut butter and tocotrienols (abbreviated to tocos) not only make the tea taste good (the ashwagandha is bitter), but they also move the satiety hormone across the blood brain barrier so that our brain recognizes that we are full. It is exactly what we need at 4 p.m., when we typically fall prey to the office candy!

BEDTIME

Cacao-Infused Golden Milk

Ingredients

½ cup carrot juice
½ cup almond milk
Pinch or teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cacao powder
1 teaspoon coconut sugar
1 teaspoon coconut oil

Instructions

Whisk until frothy, then pour into a small saucepan over medium heat for 1 minute (or until hot). Put into a mug and enjoy as a bedtime treat.

Its beauty-boosting benefits:

No more prepackaged hot chocolate laced with chemicals that change our brain chemistry and make us feel hungrier! This Cacao-Infused Golden Milk gives you a hint of chocolate that is sweetened with carrot juice and made creamy with the almond milk and coconut oil. The carotenoids in the carrot juice help protect the skin cells from oxidative damage, leading to more radiant skin. Drinking this before bed really will give you beauty sleep.