More 80% of the people that have taken our online skin quiz are exposed to stress, and that's something that we found deeply concerning.
Stress is not a temporary issue, it can cause real damage and imbalances in your body. Sadly our lives are full of stress triggers, especially in the weird world circumstances we are all living in.
What are the Effects of Stress in Your Skin?
1. Looking Dull and Tired, due to the Effects of Cortisol
Cortisol is the primary stress hormone. It redirects the bloodstream to increase your heart and breathing rate, and also tenses your muscles. However, the skin looses much of its bloodstream resulting in poor circulation, making the skin look dull and tired.
2. Your Immune System is Weakened
When you are stressed, your whole immune system is weakened. Neuromediators (a crucial component of the skin immune system) participate in blood vessels dilation, inflammation, sweat secreation, oil production and pigment disorders. So the effect of stress on the skin can be varied and since it imbalances your skin it can cause dry skin, oily skin and, even skin discoloration.
3. Stress is Oxidative
Stress causes oxidative stress, it causes an imbalance between free radicals and anti-oxidants. Free radicals cause chain reaction (called oxidation) that can damage the DNA, the skin cells and cause ageing and diseases.
4. Stress triggers Skin Conditions
Does a pimple appear when you're stressed? Yes, it's quite common. Many studies have found stress as a trigger for many skin conditions including acne, rosacea, eczema, psoriasis and more...
How Can You Fight Stress?
It's hard to manage stress triggers, but all of us can develop helpful tools to keep a good mental health. Here are some of our ideas:
Exercise, proven to boost self-esteem, reduce stress and anxiety.
Meditate, meditation can offer clarity, self-knowledge and amazing emotional and physical tools. The benefits of meditation are limitless.
Healthy gut, much of our mood depends on our gut health. Serotonin (the happiness hormone) is 90% is made in the digestive tract. Serotonin is a mood stabiliser and responsible for wellbeing and happy feelings. Make sure to have a diet that supports your microbiome. (Timothy et al 2017; find here)
Mindful time, spending time doing the stuff you love! In my case is painting or spending time with my loved ones!
How can Qualia help with your Skin?
If you're exposed to stress, we'll try to make your formula extra special and calming to help you keep your skin balanced. Firstly, your formula acts to balance your natural oil barrier, so even if you're exposed to stress, your formula can help you maintain the normal functioning of your skin and protect it from the effects of stress. Secondly, our formulas dealing with stress have aromatherapeutic properties. Our usual ingredients treating stress it include:
- Distilled Rosemary Leaf, which a double-blind randomised study showed an improvement a memory and quality of sleep and a reduction of anxiety and depression. (Nehmatolahi et al. 2018; find here)
- Distilled Lavender Flower, known for its calming properties. This ingredient can help ease anxiety, reduce stress and also improve the quality of sleep, which has been proven by many different scientific studies.
In conclusion, stress and mental health are extremely linked to the skin health. There's still many more things that we will cover in future posts. So stay tuned to learn more about it!
