Life has gotten somewhat more chaotic than usual since the announcement of the Coronavirus and Covid-19.
Under everyday “normal” stress, your complexion can change. You’ll see extremely dry skin, more oil than you’ve seen before, along with breakouts.
It’s almost impossible to remove stress and anxiety, so what’s a girl/guy to do?
Depending on your level of stress, your body goes into a flight or fight mode. Extremely high stress levels will send blood rushing to your heart, lungs and brain. What happens to your skin? It gets less oxygen and fewer nutrients. This can also cause inflammation.
With the world shutdown economically, some of you working from home, others not quite sure if you’ll have a job to return to, your stress levels are through the roof. Your skin will begin to show the stress.
With as much sanity as possible, you’ll want to find a way to keep your skin as healthy as you can. Vanity for some, necessity for others. How will you do it?
Antioxidants become your first line of defense. They’re known to fight free radicals. Free radicals can damage the cells in your skin. The sun often causes skin damage because of its UV rays.
Green Tea Extract has a high source of antioxidants. Green tea is full of plant polyphenols. This can help boost the immunity of your skin as well as fight inflammation.
Hyaluronic Acid is known to help reduce fine lines and wrinkles. It can also help with the healing of wounds. It brings moisture to the surface of your skin causing it to have that youthful glow you’ve always wanted.
Vitamin C – You’ll want to look for products that contain Vitamin C. It helps boost your collagen, as well as brighten and tighten. Be sure to look for Vitamin E as an added ingredient to help with the stability of vitamin C. It might say THD or tetrahexydecyl ascorbate, but it’s vitamin E.
Vitamin E is known to help the healing process of your skin. It’s known to help protect your skin from oxidative damage. If you’re challenged with acne, vitamin E would not make a good choice of ingredient. It could worsen it.
There’s no skin care regimen without nutrition. After all, you are what you eat. Here’s a quick list of foods to add to your list if they don’t already exist.
Avocados are high in healthy fats. Eating enough of them can often help with flexibility and moisture in your skin. They’re also a good source of vitamin E.
Walnuts are high in omega-6 fats. They help promote inflammation for conditions like psoriasis. Whereas omega-3 fats reduce inflammation. Walnuts contain zinc, vitamin E and selenium which are all antioxidants.
Sweet potatoes give you the beta carotene you need. It gives you a source of vitamin A. Beta carotene is known to help your skin as a natural sunblock.
Add red and yellow peppers, broccoli and tomatoes and you’ll have the beginnings of a great nutritional program to care for your skin when it becomes skin on stress.
That’s it for this week. As always …
Dedicated to Your Beauty
Juliette Samuel
Esthetician/Author/Publisher