Is New Year, New You already putting you under pressure to do more and do it all better? Even if your resolutions aren't what's causing you stress, there's likely a million other factors quickening your pulse and robbing you of sleep right? You probably already know that you need to manage your stress so that it doesn't make you sick. We also want to make sure that your stress isn't getting in the way of a healthy skin care routine because looking as stressed as you feel just makes matters worse.
The Negative Effects of Stress on Skin
Stress is both an emotional and hormonal experience. How you feel and what your body does in response create a cycle that has the potential to pull you into a downward spiral. Take a look:
The stress hormones, most notably cortisol, disrupts your endocrine system, and endocrine imbalances lead to a number of undesirable physical effects. In terms of skin health, prolonged stress can:
- Cause adult acne breakouts (which do not respond to acne skincare formulations with the same success as adolescent acne)
- Increases oxidative stress at the cellular level i.e., more free radicals wreak havoc on collagen, elastin and healthy skin cells
- Increases inflammation and skin sensitivity
- Decreases healing capacity
Bottom line: the effects of stress on skin result in more and more noticeable lines, wrinkles, sagging and redness.
The Negative Effects of Stress on Skin Care
Stress is a fact of life. To some degree, we actually need stress to perform at our best. But when stress gets overwhelming, we tend to deal with it in counterproductive ways like trying to conserve energy by not practicing proper self-care. For a number of people, good skin care habits go out the window, meaning:
- Makeup and daily environmental ick is not removed from skin
- Skin is left without proper hydration and nutrition needed for healthy cell turnover and repair
Compound a lack of good skin care practices with the direct effects of stress on skin and you have more of the same undesirable results lines, wrinkles, sagging, redness.
How to Counter Stress and Its Effects on Your Skin Care
There is no magic method to remove stress for your life or its potential to damage your skin. To counter stress and its effects, you need to do the work it takes to manage stress and consistently adhere to your skin care routine. There are loads of resources to help you manage stress books, blogs, YouTube videos, social media posts, personalized apps you name it. But when it comes to managing (or, better yet, minimizing) stress on your skin, you can more easily maintain a healthy skin care routine and get better results with the right products. Hale Cosmeceuticals offers a line of products formulated for every skin type, and many products, like our O.R.A.C. Lifting Complex and C-Fine Milk Lotion, do double-duty, providing moisture and antioxidants for skin protection and repair.
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