- Stress doesn’t always cause breakouts, but research shows a significant link between the two.
- Chronic, continual stress triggers activities in the body that can lead to breakouts or make existing breakouts worse.
How are your stress levels lately? Have you noticed stressful times affecting your skin and causing you to break out?
At Dermalogica we know stress can cause several issues on the skin. One of the leading triggers of adult breakouts or acne is chronic stress. Read on as we explain how and why stress impacts our skin.
Chronic, continual stress is a top trigger for the factors that contribute to breakout development. Research has shown that breakouts are significantly associated with internal stress levels, and that chronic stress can make existing breakouts worse. How?
Chronic stress increases levels of stress-related hormones such as cortisol and sends skin’s sebaceous (oil) glands into overdrive, which mixes with dead skin cells and breakout-causing bacteria. Adult skin is more prone to build-up of dead skin cells because natural cell turnover slows over time.
When skin is stressed, it also loses some of its ability to protect itself because its barrier becomes compromised. For adults, this can lead to further complications, such as inflammation and premature signs of skin ageing. Stress damages collagen, causing wrinkles. Cortisol lowers natural production of Hyaluronic Acid, which dehydrates skin and increases the appearance of fine lines. Dehydration also triggers even more production of excess sebum, which creates the perfect breeding ground for breakout-causing bacteria.
In today’s busy world, the increased pressure to do more faster makes it hard to limit chronic stress. But adults who are prone to breakouts can benefit from incorporating stress management and self-care activities such as yoga, deep breathing/meditation, regular exercise, quality sleep or using aromatherapy… even a quick walk with a friend or co-worker during the day can help manage chronic stress. Cutting back on caffeine and sugar can also help manage breakouts, as can establishing a daily and nightly skin care regimen that treats both adult breakouts and premature signs of ageing.
We know that during times of stress, it can be harder to get quality sleep. Sleep is a vital time for our skin, during the night-time our skin heals and repairs itself. If we do not get enough good quality sleep, this can exacerbate breakouts and speed up signs of ageing. Dermalogica has the perfect night-time duo to help combat breakouts whilst aiding a restful night’s sleep.
Try our revitalising treatment gel-cream Sound Sleep Cocoon for a relaxing night-time moisturiser. Encapsulated, motion-activated French Lavender essential oil helps to promote a deep restful night’s sleep, whilst it transforms your skin overnight by optimising night-time skin recovery.
Night-time is an optimum time for healing and repairing the skin, making it the perfect time to target those breakouts.
Fight breakouts whilst you sleep by using our Retinol Clearing Oil. A revolutionary night-time oil to help target breakouts whilst slowing down the signs of ageing on the skin. Combining both Retinol and Salicylic acid to reduce fine lines and ageing concerns whilst renewing the skin as you sleep.
Apply a layer of Retinol Clearing Oil followed by Sound Sleep Cocoon for the perfect night-time duo for stressed breakout prone skins.
To learn more about the impact of sleep on your skin visit soundsleepcocoon.com/. Along with restful sleep tips you’ll find a 20-minute binaural beats track to help you unwind and drift off to sleep.