Miranda Kerr Just Shared Her 4 Secrets for Gorgeous Skin, Low Inflammation, and Better Digestion

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If you came to know Miranda Kerr as a Victoria’s Secret Angel, what you may not know is that her appeal is more than skin-deep. The 39-year-old is married to Snapchat co-founder Evan Spiegel, as well as the mom of three kids between the ages of 11 and two. Since her Angel days, Kerr has continued her education and was one of the early pioneers of the “clean beauty” movement with her skincare brand, KORA Organics.

Now, in an exclusive interview, Kerr tells The Healthy @Reader’s Digest that in addition to holding college degrees in nutrition and health psychology (how’s that for Miranda Kerr trivia!), she’s probably a little different from other Hollywood beauty brand founders. “In 2010 I graduated from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition as a Certified Health Coach,” Kerr told us. (With over 30 years since its establishment, the IIN is one of the best known holistic wellness and health coach programs in the world.) “I also recently completed Stanford’s Introduction to Food and Health. I really believe health is wealth and want to continue expanding my knowledge until the day I die,” Kerr says.

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Part of what’s inspired Miranda Kerr’s fierce commitment to wellness was her upbringing in Australia. “When I was 16, my mum was diagnosed with cancer in her spleen,” she tells us, “so, as a family, we started to further research the ingredients in all the products we were using from our personal products, to cleaning supplies to packaged goods. To see how potentially toxic certain ingredients that were available on the market and assumed to be safe was shocking. Even products that claimed to be natural might contain one or two natural ingredients and a whole bunch of potentially harmful ingredients.”

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In 2009, Kerr founded KORA Organics and helped blaze the trail to educate consumers about the effects some cosmetics and cleaning products can have when they absorb into the bloodstream. This year, KORA Organics launched their Turmeric Glow Foaming Cleanser—which Kerr describes as “a super-invigorating, pH-balanced gel cleanser that transforms into a lathering foam to thoroughly cleanse away dirt, oil, and other impurities.” (The Healthy‘s editors got to sample the Turmeric Glow cleanser and can report that it’s a light, tingly formula that we’re calling an ideal summertime face wash.)

Here, Kerr shares the habits that help her feel amazing, even on days she doesn’t get dolled up.

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Courtesy KORA Organics

The Healthy @Reader’s Digest: You were one of the first stars to launch a beauty wellness brand. Why did you see a need for this company, even before clean beauty was so popular?

Miranda Kerr: Growing up, I was very fortunate to have a family that emphasized the importance of health, wellness and self-care from a young age. I feel very blessed to have had a very healthy, down-to-earth upbringing and am so grateful to my parents and grandparents because that played a huge part in my passion for health and nutrition, ultimately leading my life in this direction.

Back in 2006, I was talking to a friend of mine about how I’d been eating organic and had cleaned up all our products at home so they were less toxic, but I hadn’t been able to find anything in the market that was certified organic in the skincare space. She introduced me to an aromatherapist, who made certified organic essential oils. From there I was put in touch with the chemists behind those products, which is where everything started. I asked them if it would be possible to create certified organic, results-driven products because no one else was doing it.

Ultimately, they confirmed that it was possible, but would be a huge commitment of time and money, so I decided to take it upon myself. I invested my own money and we started creating samples. I wanted to develop products that were powerful, yet healthy, and were actually certified organic in accordance with ECOCERT/COSMOS, a strict world certification.

The efficacy of the product is what’s most important and that’s why we’ve worked so hard to get it to where it is today.

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The Healthy: A lot of people might not know that before you started modeling full-time, you studied nutrition and health psychology—so it’s clear you’ve had an interest in health and wellness for most of your life. Would you say healthy eating, mental health, and relationship wellness are still important to you?

Miranda Kerr: Absolutely! Healthy eating, mental health and wellness continue to be incredibly important to me. From my experience over the years I have come to believe in and appreciate a holistic approach to overall wellness. All aspects of our bodies are interconnected, and the health of our skin is linked to our mind and body. In order to see the best results, it is necessary to look at all three aspects. Our philosophy at KORA is:

• Feed your MIND with positive affirmations and self-love;
• Feed your BODY with the nutrients it needs to function at its best;
• Feed your SKIN with products to help detoxify, nourish and revitalize.

Developing each product is a long process because I want to be very diligent with every decision, from the formulations to the packaging. I feel blessed to work with some of the very best chemists in the world on our formulations and personally love working so closely with them.

The Healthy: What’s one daily wellness practice you refuse to skip?

Miranda Kerr: I start every morning with 32 ounces of celery juice on an empty stomach. I really believe that the celery juice has helped so much with my digestion, as it’s such a good anti-inflammatory. It supports kidney function, it’s alkalizing and full of electrolytes. My body craves it now. It’s probably the one wellness practice I would say I refuse to skip.

Regular meditation helps me stay calm and centered. I try to meditate at least twice a day—morning and night—and sometimes during the day when I can. Sometimes the kids will meditate with me.

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The Healthy: KORA’s Turmeric Glow Foaming Cleanser includes ingredients we don’t often see in skincare. Why were ingredients like mint and rosemary important to you?

Miranda Kerr: I love incorporating ingredients that I’m personally obsessed with into products. I love turmeric. I’ve been cooking with it for as long as I remember and also love making fresh turmeric and orange juice shots. Since turmeric is an anti-inflammatory and antibacterial ingredient, it helps with acne and brightens any dark spots and pigmentation, in addition to helping with wrinkles.

Another key ingredient that makes this cleanser so powerful and soothing at the same time is the Saccharide Isomerate: a naturally-derived sugar isomer that’s very similar to certain complexes found in the skin that create an essential moisture barrier. So it helps bind to the skin’s natural moisture barrier, keeping your skin ultra-hydrated well after rinse-off. After using it, my skin feels super clean and refreshed. Plus, the peppermint, palo santo and rosemary aromatherapy wake up both your skin and your senses.

The most important ingredient to me is our special ingredient, noni. As I mentioned, my whole family is very much into health and wellness, and noni was something that has been a daily thing for most of my life. I was introduced to noni by my grandmother when I was 13 years old. Every day my grandmother would give me a little shot of it, 30 milliliters. I have been drinking it ever since. I would also apply it to my skin if I had a breakout or sunburn. It’s super rich in vitamins and minerals and full of antioxidants, and I truly believe it has been the key to my health, from the inside out. Noni has been such a big part of my life that I wanted it to be a key ingredient across the KORA range and every one of our products contains noni. The noni fruit is a superfood, super fruit known for its anti-aging benefits. It’s also anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, antifungal, helps your immune response, and has high amounts of vitamin A and vitamin C. Read The 12 Vitamin K-Richest Foods for Healthy Aging, from a Nutritional Biochemist

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