Your Ultimate Cheat Sheet To The Best Beauty Vitamins

Vitamins are essential for health and beauty, but choosing the right ones for can feel like a task that requires a degree. More importantly, once you finally find the perfect one, how can you tell if your body is actually absorbing it? Below, the best vitamins, minerals and herbs for every health and beauty need.

Hair, Skin and Nails

Tracy says: "Your locks tell so much about your health, so when you're deficient in certain vitamins and minerals, you hair doesn't have optimal shine or bounce. A good multivitamin with active B Complex is best. I say active because we want B12 to have a methyl group attached to make sure we absorb it, just in case we have detoxification issue. B vitamins help your hair, skin and nails to grow effortlessly."

Vitamins to take:

Biotin: The #1 B vitamin for hair growth.

Zinc: When we are deficient in zinc, our hair loses its color, leading to gray hair.

Vitamin D: Opens follicles for hair to grow.

Vitamin E: Gives hair shine, bounce and growth.

Niacin: Increases circulation to allow hair growth.

Magnesium: Gives stronger hair.

Iron: Encourages hair growth.

Herbs to take:

Stinging nettle

Horsetail

Saw palmetto

Aloe

Amla (high in vitamin C)

Basil (improves circulation, strengthens hair breakage)

Burdock root (strengthens scalp and is anti-inflammatory)

Fo-ti

He shou wu

Black sesame seeds

Dong quai

White peony root

Energy

Tracy says: "Energy coming from the core is better than energy that's quick and suddenly disappears. Use these vitamins and herbs for sustained energy."

Vitamins to take:

B12

Folic acid

COQ10

Herbs to take:

Ren shen (ginseng)

Astragalus

Licorice

Memory

Tracy says: "Each day we want to be able to make a sizable deposit into out memory bank so enhancing it by increasing our omega 3 and taking the following herbs will help."

Vitamins to take:

Omega 3

Vitamin A

Herbs to take:

Lions mane

Ginkgo bilopa

Gotu kola

Bacopa

Sleep

Tracy says: "A few hours of deep restful sleep is better than 8 hours of tossing and turning. Certain deficiencies of vitamins and minerals can interrupt a restful night of sleep."

Vitamins to take:

Melatonin

Magnesium

Vitamin B3

Vitamin D

Vitamin B12

Folic acid (B9)

L-tryptophan

GABA-(Kavinace)

Herbs to take:

Valerian

Passion flower

Kava kava

Hops

Ashwagandha

Magnolia

Chamomile

Diet/Immune System

Tracy says: "When it comes to our diet, it's not just about what we put into our mouth, but what we actually want to eliminate."

Vitamins to take: 

Vitamin B1

Vitamin B3

Vitamin B6

Vitamin C

Vitamin E

Vitamin A

Vitamin D

Iron

Selenium

Zinc

Herbs to take: 

Reishi

Chaga

Cordyceps

Dandelion greens

Legumes

From: Harper's BAZAAR US