In hindsight, the revelations that the wellness and beauty industries are having right now seem like something we should’ve realized a long time ago: The things we put into our gullets have a direct impact on our hair, skin, nails, etc.–who woulda thunk! This isn’t a brand new discovery, of course–we’ve been smashing avocado onto our faces and into our mouths for decades in effort to soak up that Vitamin E and all those other benefits of nature’s butter. But recently, there’s been a proliferation of food and drinks hitting the market that are not only delicious, but have the extra added bonus of making you feel and look all glowy and whatnot.
Check out some of our favorites below, along with insights from their creators as to how they came up with them:
Sakara Beauty Chocolates
Earlier this month, the clean-eating queens at Sakara dropped what very well might be the best excuse ever to eat chocolate: It’ll make your skin soft and supple, and help it retain hydration. The secret ingredient is plant-based phytoceramides, which boosts collagen and restores your cell barrier, resulting in some serious plumpy goodness. Perhaps best of all, the little pyramid-shaped chocolates themselves are delicious, made from raw, organic dark cacao and coconut sugar–so delicious, in fact, that you might have to restrain yourself from popping more than the recommended 1-2 per day. The fact that you’re medicating your skin via some plant-based collagen won’t even cross your mind once the chocolates cross your lips, and I’d eat ‘em even if they didn’t have the potential to help you put out those glow-like-J-Lo vibes.
Cilk Rose Water
You wouldn’t know it from looking at this beautifully packaged rose-water concentrate, but founder Chanelle Louise’s vision was born out of disaster: Her now-husband was out on his motorcycle when he was struck by an oncoming vehicle driving on the wrong side of the road. He was declared dead on the scene, but was miraculously revived by a trauma doctor. He spent the next month in a coma and the six months after that in rehab, with Chanelle–formerly a stockbroker–taking the next two years to be his full-time caretaker. No longer able to indulge in their much-cherished habit of wine-drinking per his doctor’s orders, Chanelle began experimenting with creating a beverage that had that had a similar sensory experience. As an avid drinker of rose tea, she discovered rose products could have a calming effect on the brain, as well as positive effects on your skin and thus, she began developing the concentrate would eventually become Cilk Rose Water.
The product is beautiful from box to bottle to the concentrate itself, arriving in an elegant white package tied with white ribbon. Inside, the pink liquid is contained in a sleek black glass bottle that you dispense drop by drop into a glass of water (Chanelle suggests sparkling water, as it opens up the scent even more). It’s a lovely experience watching the concentrate unravel in the water, not to mention it’s delicious. Aside from treating yourself (and your skin), it’s a fun, unique gift–you get to drink your flowers rather than just stare at them.
The Real Coconut
Founder Daniella Hunter is living the life: In addition to launching a much-coveted line of tortillas and chips made out of coconut, she’s also the co-founder and creative director of the gorgeous Sanara Tulum. It was onsite at The Real Coconut Restaurant, which dishes out highly Instagrammable plant-based foods that center around digestive health, that she developed her recipe for said product that is now distributed by Whole Foods. But arriving at this dreamy, holistic lifestyle didn’t come without its early trials and tribulations, of course. As a child, Daniella was afflicted with asthma and a number of other health woes; it wasn’t until she was 19 and was more or less forced by a friend’s mother to watch renowned nutrition specialist Dr. Joel Robbins give a talk on nutrition that a switch was flipped:
“I was so inspired that I called my dad immediately after and told him that we had to figure out getting Dr Robbins over to the UK to speak,” she told us. From then on, she set off in pursuit of wellness through nutrition, experimenting with going vegan and cutting out dairy and grains; it’s something Daniella cites as an ongoing journey, having reintroduced animal proteins into her diet because that’s what she sensed her body needed: “I have a fairly relaxed attitude to food now, and I will occasionally eat things as a treat, or out of necessity (usually while traveling) that wouldn’t normally feature in my diet, without freaking out or having a reaction.”
Coconut products have entered the mainstream in a serious way in recent years, with its benefits on cholesterol, skin and hair widely championed by nutrition enthusiasts. Another special ingredient Daniella has noticed has worked wonders when it comes to supercharging her hair and skin?
“I love marine phytoplankton and drink the powder daily, mixed with lemon juice and probiotic drops. When I had my hair cut the other day, I noticed how long and lustrous it was. It’s never been this long before and growing so quickly.”
