For years I searched for the answer to my skin breakouts, and since I believed dermatologists and beauty magazines assertions that “what you eat has nothing to do with your skin” I tried anything and everything. Seriously: extremely harsh prescriptions, antibiotics (needed to be taken for life), crazy 3 step skin care regimens, peels, scrubs, new pillowcases every night, you name it, I tried it- unless it was diet related. Then I found Dr. Nicholas Perricone and the wisdom he had to offer! Here was a dermatologist on the Upper East Side of Manhattan saying that what you put in your body has everything to do with the health of your skin! Of course since then most people have wisened up and recommend eating cleaner for healthier skin, but Dr. Perricone gives us exact foods to eat and recommendations for clear, vibrant, radiant skin.
It was in his book The Perricone Prescription that I happened on a little factoid that changed my life- dairy may cause breakouts. What? Why had I never heard of this? Sure enough, I removed dairy from my diet and within a week my skin started clearing up completely. If only I had known this while I was modeling full time, it would have saved me from many worried filled nights before big photo-shoots! (I painfully remember showing up to film an Oxy commercial with the biggest zit I’d ever had. Everyone on set was laughing at the irony…must have been that Ben & Jerry’s I was somewhat addicted to!) These days of motherhood I have a lot less time to spend on my skin care routine (and by less time I mean sometimes i wear the same make up for a week. You know it’s true…) The beauty of taking care of your skin from the inside out is that you don’t have to add any steps to your already crazy life! You eat no matter what!

Oh- and now I get to decide what I’d rather have: clear skin, or a latte. And yes, sometimes I choose the latte. As I said in my Oxy commercial many years ago, “It’s called balance.”