Your skin and stress: relaxing is the best skincare

Stress and breakouts are directly related to one another. Stress is first recognized by the brain, then androgens, stress hormones are released and the adrenal glands send out increased amounts of the hormone. The increased amount of the hormone leads to increased oil secretion through the skin. The oil gets trapped just below the surface because dead skin cells are blocking its path out. Trapped oil is a major component that causes acne.

In short, this means that the more you stress out, the worse your skin will look. So learning to relax is good for all parts of your body, including your skin. Sometimes, is seems that stress is just plain inevitable. Projects are due, relationships need mending, tragedies strike and it is all unavoidable. While it is true that you can’t stop stressful situations from popping up, you can change the way you deal with them.

When a stressful problem, such as a major deadline, is fast approaching, be sure you schedule in some time that is solely set aside to let you take better care of your body. Try walking or exercising, which increases the circulation of oxygen and nutrients, which in turn is great for the skin; exercise is a great stress buster in and of itself as well.

If you don’t have time to drive to the gym, try relaxing through meditation which you can do right in your office. While the actually act of meditation won’t improve your skin in itself, the act of relaxing will tell your brain to stop producing signal that lead to excess oil secretion.

Once you are at home, try relaxing by re-creating a spa in your own bathroom. Adding ingredients to your bath water such as essential oils or a moisturizing bubble bath will help improve your skin’s feel and appearance. Also, since taking a bubble bath is a relaxing activity, you are once again preventing excess oil production and secretion which will also help your skin’s condition.

Of course relaxing is nice, but sometimes it just isn’t practical. If you are really in a jam and you know you can’t set aside that precious time, much as you’d like to, then at least continue to take care of your skin like you normally would, or perhaps even better than you normally would. When people are under stress, they usually have less time to dedicate to routine activities, which includes exercising proper skin care practices. Don’t skimp on taking care of your skin when you are under stress. Stressful situations are times that call for a person to pay extra attention to their skin.

If you don’t thoroughly remove makeup and you don’t gently exfoliate skin, the oil that your stressful situation is producing will remain trapped under the skin and result in an acne breakout. To keep your skin looking clear, use a gentle cleanser in both the morning and at night. Don’t use harsh soaps as an attempt to bust oil. Instead try using a toner to help clean off that excess oil at night and carry oil absorbing papers to blot your face with during the day.