Burnt out and breaking out? Here’s how stress is affecting your skin

You know that stressful situation you keep replaying in your mind? And the mountainous spot growing on your chin? Well, we hate to be the ones to tell you, but they might be connected… here's how stress is affecting your skin.

How your skin is affected

• Hormones wreak havoc
  When you’re stressed, your parasympathetic nervous system creates a surge of hormones that affect the whole body. The hormone cortisol causes oil production to increase which leads to clogged pores and breakouts. Therefore, the more persistent the stress, the more clogged your pores.
• Inflammation station
  You may have heard of the gut-brain connection, where the bacteria in your gut are interlinked with how you think and feel. Well, this also extends to a gut-skin connection too. Stress impacts the balance of bacteria in your gut which can lead to internal inflammation. This causes or exacerbates inflammatory skin conditions like eczema, acne, rosacea, and psoriasis.
• Picking, popping, and scratching
  When you feel anxious or stressed it’s common to feel restless. For some people, this means shaking their foot, tapping their fingers, or pulling at their hair. For others it means picking, popping, and scratching their skin which, of course, causes problems. 

Hold up! It’s a two-way street
Yep. Not only does stress worsen your skin, but your skin can also worsen your stress levels. Studies show that those who feel self-conscious about the way they look are more vulnerable to mental health problems. So, how do you shift the feeling and fix your skin? 

3 stress-free lifestyle habits for better skin

1.     Create a de-stress skincare routine

Our ultimate solution for tackling stress and skin worries is to create a routine that combats both. Taking time to go through a gentle and loving skincare ritual adds structure to your day, which has been found to improve mental health.

2.     Get some rest

Sleep has a profound effect on your stress levels. So take time to allow your body, mind, and skin to rest, heal, and recover. Just remember to take your make-up off before you nod off!

3. Take care of the inside out

Eating well will help improve your gut health and, in turn, reduce stress-related skin problems. Try to avoid processed and sugary foods which trigger inflammation.
 

Our number one product for stressed-out skin?

Stress Faace AKA: frazzled faace, end-of-my-tether faace, thirsty faace, dry faace, overwhelmed faace, what-did-you-just-say faace, need-a-moment-of-calm faace?
Faace’s new does-it-all daily cream can help stop the impact of stress on your skin in just 2 hours! Think of it like the luxury cruise ship of skincare; in other words, everything it needs is all under one roof. Suitable for overtired, overwhelmed, overstimulated and generally ‘over it’ skin whenever you need it most (AKA oily, dry, dull and sensitised skin), leaving you more time to crack on with whatever else life throws at you.
Packed full of incredible fast-acting ingredients, the star of the show is Neurophroline® a sustainable active that helps wage war on stressed skin with clinical tests* showing more luminous and even skin tone after use. The rich yet whipped balm also contains marula oil, niacinamide, allantoin and Japanese rice bran oil. That means skin that feels smoother, brighter and less turbulent; in other words, you after a two-week spa break.
Whether you have skin that’s prone to breakouts, dark spots or redness, from here on in, you don’t have to worry about it because this cocktail can help restore your complexion so that it feels more like it's singing than screaming.
Plus, for every purchase of Stress Faace, we will donate a pack of sanitary products to someone in need via Hey Girls. An amazing social enterprise helping tackle period poverty. We call that #proudfaace.