April 20, 2020

The 3 main reasons for lockdown skin

What is 'Lockdown skin'?

Surely with less makeup, less exposure to pollution and sun, you'd think your skin would be glowing and clear? So what's with the extra oily skin or super dry skin? The sudden breakouts? This is 'Lockdown skin'. Bad skin is not the end of the world and put in perspective there are worse things to think about in the middle of a pandemic, but we think skincare is self care. And self care is essential.

Let's look at what might be the culprits.

Snacks attack

You are more likely to be snacking all day long, I know we are... from boredom and for comfort. Which will impact on your skin as most comfort snacks are highly processed and full of sugar. Sugar breaks down collagen, the protein responsible for your skin looking plump, youthful, and lifted. Also, sugar can weaken the immune system, and a suppressed immune system is bad at fighting off bacteria.

While it is not realistic to quit sugar during a stressful quarantine, you might be able to switch some of the sugary snacks to less harmful ones like fruits.

Stress

Let's face it, the whole world is under traumatic stress right now. Fear and uncertainty will raise your cortisol through the roof.

Stress is a recognised trigger for inflammatory skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis and acne.

Your body creates cortisol under stress. Cortisol is often called the "stress hormone" because of its connection to the stress response. Too much cortisol results in acne and accelerate the ageing process, leading to the appearance of lines, wrinkles, and age spots.

According to dermatologist Ellen Marmur, MD, if you don’t sleep enough and you’re under a lot of stress, your brain releases cortisol, and then that causes your skin to get really dried out and inflamed, and acne, psoriasis, and everything gets worse. “That’s called ‘transepidermal water loss,’ and it basically means that your skin barrier isn’t strong anymore and the water’s just evaporating. Then, you’re set up for infections and inflammation.” Otherwise known as acne.

Dehydration

Dehydration can be from two factors; not drinking enough water and drinking too many cups of coffee, tea or sugary beverages which will dehydrate your skin. While it is very important to drink water daily (you need water to live), it might not be the best or fastest way to hydrate your skin.

Celebrity facialist Renée Rouleau says that 'You’ve heard about the importance of drinking water to hydrate the skin yet no matter how much you drink, your skin still feels tight and dry. Sound familiar? The reason why this occurs is that research shows drinking water to be the least efficient way to hydrate the skin.

Drinking water does not hydrate the skin in the way you’ve always been lead to believe. Skin cells are like fish and need water to live and applying topical hydration with skincare products will always be the most effective way to plump up thirsty skin cells. The result will be dewy, fresh and healthy-looking skin.'

Self-care is important at the moment, but don’t worry if you are breaking out or struggling with dryness. If you have bigger things to worry about right now, that is completely understandable. But making little changes to help your skin will likely help to boost you overall health and mental wellbeing too.

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