How stress can affect your skin

We know that stress can affect your body in many different ways, including causing sleepless nights, weight loss (and gain) and causing injuries, but have you ever noticed how it affects your skin?

This is due to the fact that when you’re stressed, your body releases hormones including cortisol which makes skin more oily, in turn playing havoc with its appearance. 

In addition to this, these chemicals make your skin more reactive, which can aggravate a myriad of skin concerns including eczema, rosacea, rashes, acne and more. Stress also makes your skin more sensitive, causes inflammation and can make it harder for your skin to heal. Not ideal, right?

What’s more, when you have bad skin it can often lead to you feeling stressed about your skin, making things ten times worse! 

So, what can you do to ease the effects of stress on your skin?

Get a sweat on: First things first, make sure to exercise regularly. Exercise is good for your body and is good for reducing stress, too. So it’s a win-win. Just make sure to cleanse your skin after exercising to ensure no sweat or bacteria is lingering on your face post-workout. 

Go to bed early: Make sure to get enough sleep! Ideally, we need between 7-8 hours of sleep per night. So, make sure to figure out what time you need to get up and work backwards to ensure you’re getting enough rest each night. 

Don’t skip your skincare routine: When you’re stressed, your skincare routine can be one of the first things to go, but it’s even more important at these times to take care of your skin. Keep your routine simple so that it doesn’t take up too much time so that you can quickly do it each night before bed and each morning when you get up. 

Do eat well: As with many things, eating well is so important for your skin. Make sure to include a range of foods in your diet, including carbohydrates, fibres, proteins and of course, your five a day!

Don’t touch your face: Touching your face can often become a typical reaction for many when stressed, but this is a huge no-no. Make sure to keep your hands as clean as possible and be hyper-aware of not touching your face as this can lead to further breakouts. 

Do drink enough water: A typical adult should drink at least 2 litres of water per day. Make sure to up your intake to flush out toxins in your skin. Our Wild Mint Konjac Face Pod is also great for drawing out toxins and impurities, with added mint that stimulates the skin and accelerates exfoliation. 

xx

- Rachel

TEAM NAS