Surprise Beauty Booster: Pumpkin!
Skin-saving snack
This gourd can make you gorgeous, whether you snack on its seeds or apply these product picks.
Prone to blemishes? Have sensitive skin? Add pumpkin seeds to your trail mix. They're packed with zinc, which has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties that may help calm irritated skin from the inside out, according to Miami-based dermatologist Heather Woolery-Lloyd, MD. And adding zinc to your diet may help mild to moderate facial
acne, suggests recent research from India.
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A dreamy serum
Heal chapped skin by rubbing a few drops of Om Aroma Pumpkin Night Serum ($58; omaroma.com) onto your face before bed; the pumpkin-seed oil's vitamin E and linoleic acid make skin more supple while you sleep.
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Hand healer
For soft hands that don't feel greasy, smooth on Lush Handy Gurugu Hand Cream ($17; lushusa.com), which moisturizes and soothes with quick-absorbing pumpkin-seed butter.
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Strand saver
Healthy Sexy Hair Pumpkin Purée Treatment Masque ($17; amazon.com/beauty) has strand-strengthening amino acids and moisture-rich fatty acids—both of which are derived from this wonder fruit. You're left with shiny hair that smells amazing.
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Pore perfecter
Exfoliating pumpkin and antibacterial honey in MyChelle Creamy Pumpkin Cleanser ($17; amazon.com/beauty) help keep skin clear.
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Softening scrub
Enzymes from pumpkin pulp and pumpkin-seed oil in Bella Luccè Pumpkin Glow Body Scrub ($27; bellalucce.com) dissolve callused skin, making this perfect for dry elbows.
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Gentle toner
If scrubs and peels are too harsh for your sensitive skin, soften up with Molton Brown Skinbalance Toning Lotion ($32; moltonbrown.com). Potassium and vitamin K (found in the formula's pumpkin enzymes) exfoliate skin without irritating and make any treatments you apply afterward more effective.
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Magic mask
Channel your inner aesthetician by doing a weekly at-home treatment with Freeman Good Stuff Organics Revitalizing Facial Mask ($7; freemanbeauty.com). Leave the mask on for 10 minutes, and its enzymes will gently dissolve dead skin cells to reveal brighter, smoother skin.