At the recent W.E.L.L. Summit in Boston, I had the pleasure of taking a workshop with Jolene Hart, who wrote Eat Pretty—a book that teaches you how to eat for healthy skin. She reminded me what incredible health benefits spices—particularly cinnamon—have when we eat them routinely. Cinnamon, for example, is a potent antioxidant that helps stabilize blood sugar levels, and it can also help repair tissue damage and inflammation caused by high levels of blood sugar.

There are many more reasons to include cinnamon in your diet for good health (digestion, healthy circulation, and much more) but in addition, there are great reasons to include it in your skincare routine, too.

Let’s turn our ingredient spotlight onto cinnamon for better skin. I bet we can all agree that the smell of cinnamon is comforting and warming, and perhaps makes us think of holidays and treats. From an aromatherapy perspective, cinnamon helps fight exhaustion and depression. When applied topically in small doses, cinnamon helps warm and stimulate blood vessels, which brings blood flow to the skin’s surface and helps skin retain a healthy glow. In the same way, cinnamon helps keep your scalp healthy and happy for normal hair growth. The antioxidants in cinnamon help protect and repair. Cinnamon also helps tighten and tone pores, and it fights acne with its antiseptic and antibacterial properties. It makes a great exfoliate, which is why you see it often in face masks and scrubs. Cinnamon is well suited to people with oily to combination skin, but it can be used in small doses for any skin type but those with sensitivities.

Want to incorporate cinnamon into your skincare routine? Try one of these products…

• Meow Meow Tweet Cinnamon Coffee Bar Soap
• May Lindstrom The Clean Dirt
• May Lindstrom The Problem Solver
• Josh Rosebrook Balance Shampoo
• 100% Pure Fruit Pigmented Tinted Moisturizer with SPF