4 juice recipes for great skin from celeb facialist Joanna Vargas

You’ve probably left a facial appointment with a bag of beauty products to preserve your post-treatment glow. But after a treatment, Joanna Vargas, the New York celeb aesthetician of Michelle Williams and Naomi Watts, also likes clients to walk out with something else that whips their skin into shape: a handful of juice recipes.

Often the causes of problems like dark circles and acne are more than skin deep, says holistically-inclined Vargas, who noticed her own skin improve after swigging green juice instead of coffee. “Great skin’s a reflection of what one puts in their body and their digestion.”

So she created recipes like “Brighten Up” and “All Clear” as beauty boosters. By sipping a juice instead of a 3:00 p.m. Starbucks latte, her clients started sending emails saying they were breaking out less, looking less puffy, and even digesting rich foods better, she says. “I noticed their skin seemed more hydrated, alive, and glowing.”

Originally posted July 1, 2013. Updated August 18, 2017.

So which of Vargas’s juice recipe might be best for your beauty regimen? Check them out now…

1. Beat the Sweets

This juice blend with beta-carotene-rich carrots and skin-clearing apple will help you kick the snacking habit and provide a line of defense against office-cupcake cravings. “Anyone can have amazing-looking skin, if they just take the steps,” says Vargas. “You can’t eat garbage, and have amazing skin.” Noted.

Ingredients
4 carrots1/2 appleGinger to taste

2. Brighten Up

This juice is great for every skin type. Detoxing parsley’s great for stimulating the lymphatic symptom and reducing water retention. And spinach has vitamin F (AKA omega fatty acids linoleic acid and alpha-linoleic acid), which is great for healthy functioning skin that glows, says Vargas. The nutrients in apples, particularly the green ones, have a handful of skin benefits, including brightening and toning.

Ingredients
4 carrotsHandful of spinachHandful of parsley1/2 apple

3. All Clear

Bromelain, the enzymes in pineapple, promote good digestion and good skin. (Bromelain is even applied topically in skin-clearing masks and exfoliants.) Cucumber and apple are skin-purifiers that help boost hydration and alkalinity. They all work together to calm inflammation, which is present with acne, says Vargas.

Ingredients
Few slices or chunks of pineapple1/2 cucumber1/2 apple

4. Super Eight

This is Vargas’s super-fresh answer to sodium-laced V8. “You notice such a difference in people’s skin and health when they drink fresh-pressed juice. Even my clients in finance who work obscenely long hours, have rich dinners at night, and have to be at work at 6 a.m. Their skin regains its vibrance. I’ve threatened to call their assistants to have a juice delivered,” she jokes. “Anyone has time for it.”

Ingredients
1 kale leaf1 collard leafHandful of parsley1 stalk of celery1 carrot1/2 red pepper1 tomato1 broccoli floret

While you’re in the kitchen how about whipping up these 7 beauty foods for glowing, gorgeous skin. We’ve also got tips on how to (really) put the glow in glowing skin and two easy steps to glowy, luminous skin.