You have probably experienced yourself that stress and lack of sleep have a major impact on your skin.
Busyness and deadlines at work, traffic jams, bringing and collecting sports clubs / music lessons / friends of your children and also shopping and doing the household in between. In the evening you flop down on the couch, exhausted, but actually there is more waiting to be done….
Stress is bad for your body, but your skin also suffers a lot. Did you know that stress gives you impure, sallow skin and more wrinkles? The stress hormone cortisol is responsible for a sallow and impure skin and a real wrinkle puller.
What causes those skin problems?
1) Fluid loss: Due to prolonged stress, the cortisol production remains higher than normal for a long time, as a result the moisture balance in your skin is disturbed and your skin can no longer retain the moisture well. The result:in the longer term a sallow skin with dry lines.
2) Fine lines: Chronically elevated cortisol levels not only cause fluid loss, but also damage collagen. This protein provides elasticity and firmness to your skin. With stress you have constant muscle tension that can cause permanent wrinkles.
3) Redness: stress weakens your immune system, causing the skin condition rosacea can develop or become more intense.
4) Acne: stress triggers inflammatory reactions that can cause or worsen acne.
5) Tired eyelids : Stress often causes sleepless and restless nights, which in turn causes tired and swollen eyelids.
What can you do about this?
It is of course important that you reduce stress as much as possible, which is of course not always easy with our busy life as a working mother. Here are some simple tips to take the pressure off a bit. After all, life should be fun too!
1) Plan rest moments in your agenda. E.g. to sit on the couch with a magazine, do a yoga or meditation exercise to relax or take a lunch walk with some colleagues. It is even better to spend a day in the sauna with a friend or to schedule a relaxing back massage. Also put a cross in your agenda (for example 2x a week for half an hour to an hour), this works best. It may sound crazy, but usually you get more done after a relaxing moment for yourself. So invest in yourself.
2) Exercise 2-3x a week. When you exercise, you burn stress hormones, as it were. You get peace of mind and you stimulate your blood circulation. Your muscles also relax better after exercise, so that you get fewer neck, shoulder and headache complaints. You really don't have to exercise intensively for hours, 30-45 minutes at a time is enough. Think of that lunchtime walk…
3) Get enough sleep, while you sleep, your body lowers cortisol levels, so that you are less likely to suffer from dryness and skin-aging inflammation of your skin. In addition, your cell renewal is a bit faster, so that your skin can better repair the damage of the day. Also use a serum under your night cream and you really give your skin a nutritional boost during the night.
4) Healthy food So eat lots of vegetables, fruit, grains and fibers, nuts and good fats. Try to get enough vitamins and minerals every day, this is very important for your body and ultimately your skin. possibly good nutritional supplements are fine as a supplement, but do get good advice from an expert. Rather avoid the fast carbohydrates, sugars, caffeine and alcohol.
5) Use the right skin care products, here too things often go wrong. With the right skin care that suits your skin type and condition, you nourish your skin in the right way and your skin visibly improves. Your skin will glow again and look fresher, so more youthful!
Unfortunately, I also come across it a lot in the salon, people often think that they have a combination to oily skin, because they once have a pimple or see some blackheads. Usually this is a wrong conclusion. Cosmetics that do not match your skin type disrupt the skin barrier and cause minor (and sometimes even) major skin problems in the long term.
If you are not sure which products suit your skin, let a professional make a skin analysis. Or do a skin analysis online. This can prevent a lot of (skin) stress.
Have a beautiful day!
