The holidays are right around the corner and I’m sure you’re already stressing about all the things you must do and need to get done beforehand. Well, before you let these things get you all worked up let me explain to you how this stress is going to affect you and your skin or is already affecting you.
First, I know we’ve all experience stress in life but what exactly is stress you might ask, well, stress is the body’s reaction to any change that requires an adjustment or response. The body reacts to these changes with physical, mental, and emotional responses. Our bodies are designed to handle stress to keep our bodies alert, motivated, and help us avoid certain dangers but if you’re not giving your body time to heal and relax, this is when stress starts to affect our bodies negatively. Stress changes our chemical production in the body and can make already existing conditions worst so it’s important to take ahold of stress before we start to see the negative effects.
Stress can aggravate psoriasis, rosacea, and eczema. It can also cause hives and other types of skin rashes and trigger a flare-up of fever blisters. Stresses can cause under eye bags, puffiness in the eyes and face, and is a major cause of wrinkles. Stress also irritates your skin causing dry flaky skin and even has the opposite effect, stress can increase a hormone like cortisol which produces extra oil that can lead to breakouts. I personally have experienced a sudden breakout in rashes and hives all over my body like I mentioned above but didn’t know the cause and rushed to my doctor’s office and was put on medication to eliminate the reaction, but the cause was due to high levels of stress which is extremely common so, she suggested working on relieving that stress before I end up back in her office! This was when I had that realized that my stress needed to be addressed so that I don’t end up in the same situation again and did my research on ways to prevent stress from affecting me negatively!
To prevent stress from taking hold of us this holiday season you might want to start by pre-planning and prepping whenever we can so that we don’t have to get that last-minute shopping in, cooking, or any other holiday prep. I suggest writing yourself a daily to do list of tasks and check them off once they’re done. Also, take some time for yourself this holiday season, you can do this by giving yourself a little you time each day, even ten minutes helps, for example, read a book, meditating, doing some yoga, or by even just enjoying a glass of red wine in front of the fireplace and just focusing on your personal growth and what makes you happy (plus red wine is filled with lots of antioxidants). I recommend planning a treatment regimen for your skin for the elements ahead this winter, you can also read my winter skin care blog I posted previously for some tips. And if your skin does start to freak out due to stress, try and schedule yourself in for a skin care treatment such as a dermaplane to sluff off dead skin cells or the perfect peel to get rid of that damaged skin and promote new plump skin. You can even come in for some product suggestions including our Ageless Total Eye Lift Creme which helps diminish fine lines, wrinkles, and dark circles and our Vital C Hydrating Overnight Masque to help diminish wrinkles, adds hydration, and contain minerals to provide radiance to stressed skin, these products help fight those stress casing skin concerns and all while you sleep to wake up refreshed, revitalized, and with glowing skin. Make sure to get out and exercise as well, this help alleviate stress instantly, but make sure and shower right after to prevent pores from clogging from oil and sweat.
I hope this blog helped explain how stress can negatively affect out bodies and some ways to prevent this. So, remember this holiday season take some time for yourself and give yourself some extra time to plan and prep so you aren’t frazzled at the last minute trying to get things done. And remember the holidays are about family so don’t sweat the small things, I’m sure everyone just wants to really spend some much-needed quality time with you anyways!
