For several years now skin highlight kits have been selling like hot cakes at beauty centered shops like Sephora and Ulta. Just adding a little bit of highlight to certain areas of your face, such as your nose, cheekbones, and Cupid’s bow can brighten your complexion and make your makeup appear more natural, youthful, and fresh.

Everyone wants that luminous “glow from within” look. It’s not a trend or a fad that will go away. This “glowing from within” look is quite literally healthy skin showing through. It’s the kind of skin you return from vacation with. It’s bright, awake, rejuvenated, and full of life.

Unfortunately if you’re a workaholic, have kiddos, or if there’s any other type of stress in your life chances are the “glow from within” isn’t exactly showing through. Add in a few sleepless nights and no amount of highlighter is going to fix that complexion.

And quite honestly, a highlight kit is created to enhance ones beauty in a natural sort of way. Any makeup artist will tell you that you can’t achieve a true “glow from within” complexion with a highlighter no matter how good it is.

If there is no vacation in sight for you, and you don’t stand a shot at 8 hours of sleep tonight, don’t dismay! There’s still hope to achieve a beautiful healthy glow; a few high quality skin care products will help. As always, it’s important to avoid harsh chemicals in your daily skin care products, but sometimes it’s tough to know which ingredients are bad for our skin. Our article 3 Ingredients To Avoid In Face Wash goes over a few of the top offenders.

Aside from the 4 ready-set-glow products we’re going to discuss today, there’s one additional tip that is truly the most crucial of all to achieving a glowing complexion. So here are 5 ways to get glowing skin!

1. Exfoliate 1-2x Per Week

Have you ever applied a high quality foundation onto your face yet could not get over how bumpy and uneven it went on? The culprit is likely dead skin that’s just sitting there because you haven’t exfoliated.

What is exfoliation and why is it important? Exfoliation is the process of removing the oldest dead skin cells that sit on the outermost skin surface. When you exfoliate your skin, a barrier of dead skin cells that have been clogging your pores and skin is removed!

Exfoliants may be used on your face, body, and heels and soles of your feet. Pumice is a common exfoliant. In chemical exfoliants usually contain salicylic acid, citric acid, or glycolic acid. Certain enzymes used in exfoliants actually loosen the glue like substances that hold cells together.

The micro circulation stimulated by exfoliation detoxifies the skin. Now that the barrier of dead skin cells is gone, there are new skin cells that are excited about the fact that they will receive proper moisture and hydration. Exfoliating you’re skin unclogs your pores, minimizing the pores themselves, and removing those pesky blackheads.

Don’t skip this step!

2. Toner

What is a facial toner? A facial toner is an absorbing liquid, usually very quick drying, that is used to remove excess dirt, makeup, and oil. Whatever your cleanser missed- and it does- the facial toner will pick up.

Toners can balance and even correct the pH in your skin. Facial toners are especially helpful and necessary for people with acne prone skin. Toning your face clears pores and minimizes their appearance.

3. Moisturizer

A quality moisturizer is essential to a healthy glow. Dry skin never glows, trust me. Dry skin cracks, peels, and appears dull and aged. To obtain a healthy “glow from within” complexion, you must invest in a good moisturizer.

What is a moisturizer? A moisturizer is a cream or lotion used to prevent drying of the skin. Moisturizers are equally as important for dry, oily, and combination skin.

We know how moisturizers can help dry skin. But what about combination skin types and oily skin? Doesn’t it seem almost counterintuitive to add moisture to skin that is already overproducing oil? Are moisturizers really necessary for those skin types? The answer is yes! Sometimes overly oily skin is actually caused by dehydration in the skin.

4. Vitamin C Serum

What is a vitamin C serum? A vitamin C serum is a liquid or gel that is applied to the skin. It is packed with vitamin C. Why is vitamin C important for a glowy complexion? Well, our skin is constantly being attacked by free radicals which break down our collagen and elastin.

Vitamin C is an antioxidant, so it protects our skin from those free radicals. So the benefits of a vitamin C serum is to keep our skin protected and more supple and youthful longer. While vitamin C does not remove wrinkles, it does help fight off premature wrinkles by stimulating collagen growth!

5. Hydrate– From The Inside Out

So we have a list of excellent tried and true, high quality products here for our face. But without proper hydration, our skin can not thrive or survive. Water is crucial for cell growth. You see, our skin is also an organ and it requires water to exist.

With proper hydration, skin elasticity is improved thus reducing wrinkles. Our complexion is brightened with hydration, and the effects are obvious. The skin is supple, glowing, hydrated and healthy.

How much water should you drink per day for glowy skin? Research suggests drinking at least 8 eight-ounce glasses, or half a gallon, of water per day is standard for proper hydration. But also remember that the food you eat can add to the amount of water you’re consuming. A cup of tea or coffee, fruits and certain veggies like tomatoes and cucumbers, also help with adding that necessary hydration our bodies crave.

For more tips on how to achieve glowing skin, check out 3 Nutrition Tricks For Glowing Skin.