Published: June 15, 2023
Stress is something that everyone experiences and, in small amounts, there’s nothing wrong with this. In fact, research shows that moderate levels of stress can actually improve cognitive performance and alertness.
However, the problems begin when a person starts feeling stressed over a long period of time, which is also referred to as chronic stress. This causes the body to release large amounts of cortisol, otherwise known as the stress hormone. The purpose of cortisol is to help us deal with stressful situations, but too much of this hormone soon starts causing havoc with the skin.
How? That’s exactly what Bionyx will be talking about today. We’ll also be sharing some top skincare and lifestyle tips to help with managing stress so that you can once again rock clear and healthy-looking skin with confidence.
Acne
When you’re feeling stressed and the cortisol is shooting around your body, this triggers the brain into producing another hormone called corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH). This hormone affects the skin’s sebaceous glands, which is where your skin’s sebum comes from. CRH stimulates those glands, causing them to ramp up their oil production.
As you’ll already know if you have acne-prone skin, excess oil is never good news. It doesn’t take long for this to start building up in the pores. Once it mixes in with bacteria, inflammation occurs, with this happening so much faster when the body is under stress. After this, breakouts aren’t too far away.
Studies have confirmed that high levels of stress correlate with acne severity. The more stressed a person is, the worse their acne will be, whereas utilizing techniques for managing stress helps to keep severe acne at bay.
Tips for Managing Stress-Induced Acne
If you’ve noticed that your breakouts get worse whenever you’re feeling stressed, then your first point of call should be to try to cut back on the amount of excess oil that’s building up on your face. Managing stress will help to do this in the long run but, in the meantime, make sure that you have a good cleanser and exfoliant in your skincare routine.
For a cleanser, we’d recommend the Bionyx Rhodium Mousse Cleanser. Mousse cleansers are extremely effective at lifting away excess sebum, along with dirt, makeup, and other impurities.
Meanwhile, the Rhodium Complex Facial Peeling is ideal for a deeper cleanse once or twice a week. This exfoliant will clear away any excess oil from your pore openings, preventing it from delving deeper down and causing blockages.
By ensuring that sebum doesn’t build up on your skin with the use of these two products, you’ll be able to prevent the appearance of acne and enjoy a clear complexion once again.
Dryness
While some people experience severe oiliness during times of stress, others witness the opposite extreme; dryness.
This comes down to how stress impairs skin barrier function. The role of your skin barrier is to protect your skin from the environment while also preventing moisture from evaporating out of your skin and into the air.
When your skin barrier isn’t able to work in the way that it should, which is a common occurrence when the body is stressed, this affects moisture retention. It causes the skin to lose moisture at a much faster rate, resulting in dryness and itching.
Tips for Managing Stress-Induced Dryness
Since the stress that you’re in is interfering with your skin barrier, the best way to manage stress-induced dryness is to turn to skincare products that will help your skin barrier to feel stronger and more resilient.
The best products for this are moisturizers containing essential fatty acids, just like Bionyx’s Rhodium Essential Day Cream. Thanks to shea butter and sunflower seed oil, this moisturizer is a superstar at transforming a dry complexion into one that looks beautifully soft and supple.
In the evenings, give the Rhodium Night Recovery Cream a try. It’s a thicker formula than our day cream, which is exactly what you need at night. If your skin is dry during the day, then this will likely worsen in the evenings. Skin barrier function naturally declines each night, meaning that the skin is already prone to dryness. The extra dryness caused by your stress will only exacerbate this, making a rich night cream absolutely essential.
Premature Fine Lines and Wrinkles
Your skin contains collagen and elastin fibers, which keep the skin firm and taut. Think of them as scaffolding – they hold your skin up from beneath. As your collagen and elastin fibers degrade over time, the skin can’t maintain its structure and volume, resulting in fine lines and wrinkles.
So, to keep your skin looking youthful, you need to preserve those protein fibers as much as possible. Unfortunately, stress has the opposite effect. Once again, it all comes down to cortisol. The hormone damages the skin’s collagen and elastin fibers, causing them to break down. This accelerates the skin aging process, resulting in fine lines and wrinkles at a much earlier age.
Of course, repeated facial expressions can lead to wrinkles too, which are often referred to as expression lines. When you’re consistently stressed, you’re much more likely to make certain facial expressions, such as frowning or furrowing your brow. While the lines caused by these expressions may bounce away to start with, it won’t take long before they end up permanently etched in your skin, especially since your stress is also damaging your skin’s protein fibers at the same time.
Tips for Managing Stress-Induced Skin Aging
If you’ve been concerned about your skin looking older than it should, then it’s time to upgrade your skincare routine with products that have been designed to reduce and prevent the appearance of skin aging.
The BioLift Platinum Deep Wrinkle Concentrate would be a good one to start with. It’s a serum, which means that it will carry its active ingredients deeper down into the skin than a cream will. And trust us when we say that you definitely want your skin to soak up as much of this serum as possible! It’s filled with vitamins, which will help to counter the look of aging skin. It also contains sodium hyaluronate, a humectant that will plump up your appearance to leave it looking fuller and brighter.
The Alloy Platinum Synergizing Serum is another one that will help to lift and firm your complexion. This formula contains a blend of vitamins and peptides, plus a sprinkling of colloidal platinum to leave you with a glow!
Puffy Eye Bags
Remember how we talked about stress degrading the protein fibers in your skin? Well, in addition to this causing premature wrinkles, it can also lead to puffy bags under the eyes.
How? Because a decline in collagen and elastin means a loss of elasticity and volume. The skin starts to sag. With the skin around the eyes already being thinner than the skin on the rest of the face, this can result in the appearance of puffy eye bags.
Tips for Managing Stress-Induced Eye Bags
If you want the skin around your eyes to feel stronger and thicker again, then begin by following the tips above for managing stress-induced skin aging.
However, your eye area will need some extra attention, especially since the skin here is already super thin. For this, you’ll need some good eye care products.
Start with an eye serum, such as the Bionyx Rhodium Intensive Eye Serum. It contains a number of ingredients that will help to firm up the look of your eye area, including apple fiber, aloe vera leaf extract, and shiitake mushroom extract. It also contains elastin, the protein that we just discussed.
Once you’ve applied an eye serum, layer an eye cream over the top. The Rhodium Advanced Eye Cream is ideal for de-puffing the look of the eye area. Like our eye serum, it’s infused with a range of ingredients that each help to smooth and volumize the appearance of the skin.
Managing Stress: Our Top Tips
Of course, in addition to managing stress with good skincare products, it’s also important to address the root of your stress with some lifestyle adjustments. It’s easy enough to advise people to avoid stressful situations but, in most cases, this isn’t actually possible.
So, what can you do to lower your stress levels whenever you feel them starting to soar?
To start with, try to set aside some time each day to do something that you enjoy. It’s so important to have a few hobbies that you can turn to whenever you’re feeling stressed. Taking some time out for yourself will help to keep you feeling mentally balanced.
Ideally, one of those hobbies should be something active. Research shows that physical activity can really help to lower stress levels. Whether you get your heart pumping by going for a vigorous run or you take things a little slower by teaching yourself some yoga positions, get your body moving and you should start to feel a little stress relief.
If the stress starts to feel overwhelming, don’t resort to alcohol or drugs. Not only will these vices make you feel even more stressed in the long run, but they won’t do your skin any favors either. From accelerating aging to contributing to acne, all of those stress-related skin symptoms that you’re experiencing will only get worse if you add drugs or alcohol into the mix.
Instead, try talking to someone about your problems. Whether it’s a friend, a family member, or a mental health professional, a simple chat about what’s bothering you could really help to take a load off your shoulders. At the same time, you may discover new ways to deal with the stress that you’re experiencing.
Summary
Stress affects the skin in so many different ways. If you’re trying to achieve skin that looks clear, bright, and healthy, then learning how to manage your stress is so important. In addition to ensuring that you’re using the right skincare products for the stress-related skin concerns you’re battling, spend some time incorporating various stress relief methods into your lifestyle to help you cut back on the amount of stress that you experience in the long run.
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