Wellness Wednesday: How to achieve a red carpet glow from the inside out

If you're anything like us, another year of awards shows went by leaving you guessing about how the stars on the red carpet get their glow. You know the one -- the fresh-faced, dewy, youthful glow we all wish we could have. So after this year's Academy Awards, we decided to take matters into our own hands and find out exactly how to make our skin so lustrous. We chatted with celebrity nutritionist Peggy Kotsopoulos, and here's what she recommends:

How can women tailor their diets for beauty benefits? Is it all about hydration, or are there foods that can help with this?

Hydration, healthy fats & antioxidants are diet essentials for beauty benefits.

If you want a flawless, youthful and glowy complexion, hydration is key. Proper hydration reduces the appearance of wrinkles, eliminates dryness and helps with elasticity. Nothing will give you more of a youthful glow than hydrating your skin from the inside out. Plus, it helps to flush toxins from the body and keeps skin supple.

WTRMLN WTR is one of the best ways to keep hydrated as it's rich in electrolytes, helping to hydrate your skin at the cellular level, giving your skin the glow and keeping it flawless and fresh looking from the inside out. WTRMLN WTR also contains the rind, which is rich in vitamin C, a powerful antioxidant that firms up skin and helps to slow the aging process. The rind also contains L-Citrulline, which helps deliver oxygen to all the cells in your body, and is also great for glowing skin. Plus, it's rich in antioxidant Lycopene (way more than tomatoes), which helps build our skin-firming collagen and prevents against UV damage.

Antioxidants prevent oxidation by neutralizing free radicals. These help to slow down the aging process and give your complexion a youthful glow. Bright, colourful vegetables, fruits and berries are rich in antioxidants such as Vitamin C (which firms and tones up the skin), Vitamin A (which helps normalize oil production in the skin and fights acne and inflammation), Vitamin E (which keeps moisture in the skin and protects the oils in the skin's moisture barrier from free-radical damage). Dark purple fruits such as red grapes, wild blueberries, cherries, raspberries and black currents contain anthocyanins, which help slow down the aging process —not only physically, but also mentally by keeping the brain sharp. Orange and red colored produce such as mango, papaya, watermelon and tomatoes contain carotenoids, which provide anti-aging benefits, and enhance the immune system.

What do stars do beauty-wise in preparation for the red carpet aside from getting their makeup done?

Exfoliate! Nearly every single celebrity exfoliates before a big event. Countless celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Victoria Beckham even make their own exfoliating scrubs.

It's like taking off your coat at a party and revealing the gorgeous sequined cocktail dress you're wearing. The coat may keep you warm, but the dress is what makes you shine. Exfoliating does much the same thing for your face. It sloughs off the dull, dead skin cells to prevent pores from clogging and to brighten and even the skin tone. This, you see, is the equivalent of a shimmering gown—it's your best face.

What are some other celebrity-endorsed beauty tricks that really work?

Cinnamon for plump lips. Kylie Jenner and Anjelina Jolie are all about the pouty lip, and here's a simple tip for full kissable lips that Lisa Rinna swears by:

Cinnamon essential oil is a natural irritant that when applied to your lips gives them an instant bee-stung swell. Rinna adds a couple of drops of cinnamon essential oil to her lip gloss to give her lips that pouty fullness.

Instant lip plumper:
- 2 tsp of EVOO
- 2 drops of cinnamon essential oil
- Pinch of cayenne pepper

Add EVOO, cinnamon and cayenne pepper to a small bowl and and mix well. Dip in toothbrush then gentley scrub lips. The EVOO hydrates lips while the cinnamon and cayenne act as mild irritants, making lips fuller.

Another trick is using ground coffee as smooth skin (cellulite and puffiness free!) Halle Barry uses coffee as an anti-celllite treatment and to smooth skin.

There's a reason why caffeine is found in nearly every over-the-counter cellulite cream -- wearing your coffee is a great way to reduce the appearance of lumps and bumps. (Sadly, this doesn't hold true for DRINKING coffee, which actually worsens the appearance of cellulite.) Caffeine is a natural anti-inflammatory that temporarily reduces the appearance of dimples by smoothing out the area. It also helps tighten skin and blood vessels, breaks down fatty deposits, and reduces water retention by sucking excess fluid out of cells – making you appear thinner and more toned. Mixing it with a carrier oil such as extra virgin olive oil helps to hydrate and sooth skin at the same time.

For instant red-carpet worthy smooth skin:
- 1/4 cup of coffee granules
- 1/2 cup of EVOO

Use circular motions to massage well onto damp skin in the direction of your heart. (The massage yields the greatest benefit!) Let sit for 15 to 20 minutes and then wash off.

See how gorgeous and glowing all the celebrities were at the Oscars this year:

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