It’s Spring! We all want to be out & about, enjoying the warmer weather and shedding those extra layers, right? But unfortunately, we all need to keep safe and well, so need to isolate ourselves as much as possible. That’s obviously the right thing to do, but there can be a downside…………… ‘Isolation Skin’!
We’re human, we thrive on contact with each other. Isolation can impact our lives negatively in so many ways, mental health, financial impact, exercise and definitely our skin.
Why is your skin suffering so much during isolation…..?
Isolation seems to be having an adverse effect on many people’s skin, causing breakouts & inflammation. I’ve received several messages from clients asking why this could be, as they aren’t wearing any make-up, so assumed isolation was going to give us fresh, flawless, glowing skin, but that hasn’t proved to be the case.
So, I’m going to take this opportunity to address the possible causes and to provide some basic help and advice.
So why is it having a negative effect? Why are we seeing an increase in skin related problems, including blemish breakouts, inflammation & dryness? Like we don’t have enough things to worry about during the pandemic? Now we have skin concerns to add to the list?
Here are some of the issues that isolation will be causing your skin:
Spending a lot of time indoors causes a deficiency in vitamin D as well as increased exposure to artificial and dry air. Not getting enough sun lowers immunity and increases flare ups of autoimmune diseases such as eczema, psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. The artificial air resulting from central heating removes the moisture from our skin, causing it to dry out. Dry skin increases risk of flare ups and also makes your skin more susceptible to infections.
Other factors include:
Stress
Stress levels are high for most of us at the moment, job insecurities, loneliness, home schooling, restrictions, complete change in lifestyle.
The amount of sebum (oil) in your skin is influenced by stress, the more stress that you feel the higher the cortisol levels in the body and the more active the sebaceous glands become. Anything you can do to decrease stress levels will aid in decreasing levels of cortisol, lower stress and reduce acne.
Diet
Due to being restricted to our homes, we all tend to change the way we eat when not in our normal routine, comfort eat, pick at the ‘wrong foods’ throughout the day, or make unhealthy meal choices.
Some foods can affect our hormones and their levels which then can also lead to a flare up of acne. For instance, foods which include refined grains & sugars, fast foods, dairy, chocolate to name just a few.
Sleep
Our sleep patterns are all over the place, due to lack of routine, this impacts on us all massively. During the deep sleep stage each night our bodies secrete several hormones which help the body to repair and rebuild tissues, including the skin. Deep sleep also reduces protein degradation. Proteins are needed for skin cells to be able to repair themselves and skin cells recover more quickly whilst sleeping. It also helps to balance the stress hormone cortisol, which in overproduction aggravates acne.
Skincare
Whether we like it or not, we all have extra time on our hands, so it seems like the perfect time to try out the variety of skincare products we have stocked up in our bathroom cupboards, but could we be over doing it, by using too many different products?
Mixing up a variety of products and ingredients on your skin can cause irritation. Giving yourself a mini facial including an exfoliator & face mask daily can seem like a nice relaxing treat, but this is likely to be causing your skin problems and the exact opposite of what you’re trying to achieve.
Exercise
The lack of exercise can also have a huge impact on our skin.
Solutions
Time to spring clean our isolation routine!
1. Get your daily dose of vitamin D! Go for your daily hour of outdoor exercise, spend some time in the garden.
2. Find a daily activity to help de-stress, maybe meditation, or yoga would work for you?
3. Try to eat a healthy balanced diet, include all the relevant nutrients, check out our blog on specific foods to help your skin here
4. Limit amounts of alcohol, which is high in sugar.
5. Try to get back into a normal sleep pattern, a regular bedtime & set your alarm for the morning.
6. Stick to your normal daily skincare routine, treat yourself to a mini facial once a week.
7. Exercise at least three times a week.
8. Take the following supplements daily, Vitamin D, C & Zinc.
9. Drink at least 2 litres of water a day.
10.Wear SPF daily.
Good luck! I hope my suggestions are helpful, your skin is back to its normal glow and you all keep safe and healthy.