Eat your way to a more beautiful you with the help of nutraceuticals

Some people eat their feelings. Other people eat because they’re bored. And some people don’t eat anything at all. But one of the latest fads is to eat your way to beauty. Fill in wrinkles, turn back the clock and hydrate your skin by drowning your aging sorrows with a case of Nestle’s Glowelle. At least that’s what the chocolaty drink claimed it could do; when it was on store shelves. Let’s suspend our skepticism on whether Glowelle and other “functional foods” are actually effective and just window shop for nutricosmetics.


Nutricosmetics, Nutraceuticals and Cosmeceuticals, oh my!
Here’s what you need to know about this gang of health (pharmaceutical) and beauty (cosmetic) do-gooders.

• Nutricosmetics are products that promote beauty from the inside out, like Glowelle.
• Nutraceuticals are health foods, beverages or supplements that have beauty benefit undertones, like green tea.
• Cosmeceuticals are topical beauty treatments with added clinical benefits, like an anti-aging cream that also moonlights as a sunscreen (ha ha, get it?).

Each type has a signature purpose, yet every branch relates back to beauty and wellness. Nutricosmetics are even often packaged in cosmetic containers as a counterpart to a commonplace external cosmetic.

Nutraceutical and cosmeceutical products are all about function, used to protect and enhance fitness, skin and hair care, and so much more. Said to reveal enhanced beauty characteristics and overall better health, these edible products come in a variety of shapes, sizes and flavors. Here’s a quick look at what’s on the beauty menu.

Food
Cosmetic containers are discarded to make way for paper or foil wrappers and disposable plastic cups when it comes to packaging food nutricosmetics. Who knew nibbling a chocolate bar fortified with antioxidants or a marshmallow loaded with collagen would keep your face looking young? And was Jamie Lee Curtis telling the truth when she ranted about how probiotic-rich yogurt cleared up all her digestion issues? If so, TMI (too much information), but it’s good to know that these multi-use products supposedly make a difference.

Beverages
Teas (green tea and black tea, among others) are classic and long standing nutraceuticals. Drinking them brings health benefits (said to reduce the chance of cardiovascular disease and improve metabolic rates) but the antioxidant-rich solution is also known to make your skin glow. Expanding the boundaries of helpful drinks, Borba Skin Balancing Water includes various flavored formulas, each specific to a given function; to clarify, firm, replenish or defy age.

Supplements
We’re taught from a young age that we need vitamins and nutrients to live well. We’ve all heard, “Eat your spinach! You’re not leaving this table until that broccoli is gone!” Vitamin D and calcium help strengthen bones, but I bet you didn’t know vitamin C keeps your skin looking pretty. Beauty-in-a-bottle products may not be sold in cosmetic containers but Nutricosmetics account for a large number of supplements. Ranging from hair and nail growth to weight loss, it’s as if there’s a pill for nearly every cosmetic desire. Our dream come true!

Some people are literally biting into the nutricosmetics fad, while others push it around their plates like room-temperature canned succotash. We stock cosmetic containers and pharmaceutical bottles to fit your needs; whether they are innovative or classic, we can help you out.

So, don’t be shocked when you realize a pre-exfoliation chocolate bar is now packaged alongside your favorite body wash. Gorging on chocolate while bathing? What more could you ask for? Remember, chocolate not only does the body, but the beauty good too.

Have you ever tried a nutricosmetic? Share your experience with us in the comments!