3 life-changing, skin-boosting beauty drink recipes from “The Moon Juice Cookbook”

Need proof that turmeric and pearl powder do your skin as much good as $100 moisturizer? If you ever meet Moon Juice founder Amanda Chantal Bacon, you’ll be more than convinced.

The one-time gourmet chef has a complexion that’s as glowy as it gets, and she’ll be the first to give superfoods all the credit. (Beauty Dust lovers are likely to agree.) And now, she’s revealing some of her most potent radiance-boosting recipes in The Moon Juice Cookbook—a brand-new guide to high-vibe nutrition.

“I really look at health and beauty as something that already lives inside of me.”

The book is packed with juicy intel on Bacon’s philosophy towards nourishment, touching on her top 10 kitchen tenets—from eating raw, alkaline foods to getting enough good fats and probiotics—as well as her medicinal pantry staples, favorite cooking tools, and tips for organizing the kitchen.

But what really makes this a must-read are the recipes. You’ll learn how to make nearly all the star drinks and snacks for sale in Moon Juice’s three Los Angeles shops, plus some more gorgeous concoctions.

To fete the book’s debut, Bacon shared three of her favorite beauty drink recipes with Well+Good, plus some insight into why they’re great for your skin. “I really look at health and beauty as something that already lives inside of me,” proclaims Bacon. “This perfectly potent plant-based alchemy is a tool to help your body and mind remember its own perfection.”

Keep scrolling for three easy beauty drink recipes, excerpted from The Moon Juice Cookbook. 

Gracious Greens

Yields 20 oz.

The inherent sweetness of spinach and cucumber are accented by the elegant, vegetal notes of mint and lettuce in this delicate blend. It’s great for warmer weather or the days you don’t want a heavy hitter with loads of bitter greens. Gracious Greens helps bestow glowing skin as it alkalizes and hydrates with cucumber, and cleanses, alkalizes, and deeply mineralizes with loads of spinach and mint. The lettuce specifically supports skin, hair, and nails.

Ingredients
1 head romaine lettuce, root end trimmed1 1/2 to 2 European cucumbers, or an equivalent weight of Kirby, Persian, or standard cucumbers1 cup tightly packed spinach15 sprigs mint1/2 lemon (If you don’t have a centrifugal juicer, remove the pith and peel.)

1. Feed all the ingredients into a juicer, alternating the greens and herbs with the cucumbers. Stir and serve.

Golden Milk

Yields 16 oz.

Golden milk is the cult moon milk. Years ago, unaware of its Ayurvedic roots, I naively conjured the idea of an ancient yogic recipe that added turmeric juice and spice into milk. This is a blend that really wants to be on the planet: From its resurrection in the Moon Juice kitchen to now being widely enjoyed by the masses, it is a luminous recipe that is equally healing and pleasurable.

Turmeric root has a thousand and one virtues, including inflammation-soothing properties that are as effective as a painkiller for me. I find it works within about 20 minutes to address joint pain.

This nourishing moon milk delivers lifetimes of pleasure and a multidimensional taste experience. It speaks to the magic of medicinal traditions that expand beyond time and space, recalling the ancient phenomena of Ayurveda. If you can’t get fresh turmeric, you can substitute half a teaspoon of ground turmeric but it will have a distinctly different flavor.

Ingredients
Golden Milk12 oz. almond milk (see below for recipe)3/4 lb. fresh turmeric, juiced2 tsp raw honey or sweetener of choice1/8 tsp ground cardamom1/4 tsp ground cinnamon5 whole black peppercorns, or 3 drops of black pepper oil

Almond milk
1 cup raw almonds4 1/2 cups water2 pinches pink salt2 teaspoons raw honey, or to taste

1. Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend on high until the peppercorns have fully broken down.

For the almond milk
1. Put the dry, raw almonds in a bowl and add enough water to cover. Soak in the fridge overnight.

2. Drain the nuts and transfer to a blender.

3. Add the water and salt and blend on high for 30 to 45 seconds until the nuts are broken down and the liquid is milky, 30 to 45 seconds. Don’t over-blend.

Note
Enriching this golden potion with one teaspoon lucuma powder adds to the inflammation-taming benefits of the turmeric, and will help you cut down on the honey content, enhancing the inherent sweetness of the fresh turmeric root juice. Try halving your honey, or use none at all!

Beauty Latte

Yields 12 oz.

This is a warm cup of luscious antioxidant, enzyme, amino, and mineral richness. This ancient beauty potion delivers deep nourishment into the bloodstream for bone and cell building and tissue regeneration, reversing the effects of aging and inflammation. It also tonifies and heals organs, beautifying on a cellular level and bringing suppleness to the skin and shine to hair.

Ingredients
Latte12 oz. lait de coco (see below for recipe)1 tsp rose water2 tsp lucuma powder1/4 tsp pearl powder1/2 tsp ground schisandra berries1 tsp raw honey or coconut sap, or 1 drop of stevia for a low-glycemic version1 tsp ghee or coconut oil1 Tbsp tocotrienols

Lait de coco
1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 cup young Thai coconut meat (one 5×2-inch strip), fresh or frozen
4 cups water
Pinch pink salt

For the lait de coco
1. Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth, about 45 seconds. This milk will have a nice “cream on top” when cold, so shake and stir to evenly distribute.

For the latte
1. Gently warm the lait de coco in a saucepan over low heat, without allowing it to simmer.

2. Carefully pour it into a blender.

3. Add the rose water, lucuma, pearl, schisandra, sweetener, and oil.

4. Blend on high for 20 seconds or until warm and frothy.

5. Pour into a mug and serve topped with the tocotrienols.

Reprinted from The Moon Juice Cookbook by arrangement with Pam Krauss Books/Avery, a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC, A Penguin Random House Company. Copyright © 2016, Amanda Bacon

Now that you’re in on Amanda Chantal Bacon’s drinkable skincare weapons, find out how Veronica Webb, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Kate Bosworth attain complexion perfection.