Whether the stress of the job is making your skin wrinkle like a female Gordon Ramsay, or your recent insomnia has left your skin wellness a little dull and lifeless, there’s a lot of beauty issues that you chalk up to “ageing” when actually there are sneaky, secret causes that are hacking away at your wellbeing. However, for every beauty-damaging cause, there’s also an anti-ageing wellness solution, so here’s some of our favourite tips and tricks:
1. Job Stress and Wrinkles: Whether you’re gunning for a big promotion or just trying to hit your crazy deadlines on time, job stress can take its toll on your skin. This is because your telomeres – the little caps on the ends of your DNA that help protect and keep cells, including skin cells, young – are negatively impacted by stress, and are shortened by work-related exhaustion. Exercising for 40 minutes a day, three days a week, is just what the doctor ordered for work-related stress, but even doing a little but more movement can help you to keep stress at bay. For a beauty fix, Dr. Amy Wechsler, a New York City–based physician who is board-certified in both psychiatry and dermatology, recommends Botox, as research has shown a correlation between Botox and happiness. This may be because freezing your frowning muscles halts the negative emotions that accompany the movement. Wechsler adds, ‘A low dose of Botox will stop small lines from turning into full-blown wrinkles.’
2. Insomnia and Dullness: We’ve all looked a little worse-for-wear after a big night out, but too much sleep deprivation can make dull skin a staple occurrence. Wechsler notes, ‘Transepidermal water loss increases if you’re not sleeping.’ Or, in English, your skin can’t hang onto moisture, and your cell turnover also slows down. Wechsler insists, ‘No stressful TV before bed. You can’t turn off your brain after that.’ If you’re around air-conditioners and heaters all day, this may also be causing the moisture to evaporate from your skin, so run a humidifier at night to stay hydrated.
3. Junk Food and Acne: When you have a bad day, you instantly reach for junk food – after all, when was the last time you saw someone stress-eat a healthy salad? Dr. Josie Howard, a San Francisco psychiatrist and psychodermatologist who studies the relationship between mood disorders and skin, points out, ‘Emotions play a huge role in what, when, and how much we eat.’ However, if you’re eating comfort foods like dairy, white sugar, and fried foods, your insulin levels will rise and cause your skin to produce more oil, which triggers acne. Try to keep junk food out of sight so that you can more easily resist temptation. Washing anything that comes into contact with your face– e.g. makeup brushes, pillowcases and mobile phones – can also help prevent acne, as this stops you spreading bacteria.
4. Break Ups and Sagging: A study of twins has shown that women who went through a divorce looked two years older than their identical twins who hadn’t. The researchers surmised that this was because the drama of relationship break ups elevates your cortisol levels, and this stress hormone causes collagen – the protein that keeps skin plump – to deteriorate. However, meditation can help to lower your cortisol levels. Yoga instructor Kristin McGee asserts, ‘Even five minutes a day helps. Sit, close your eyes, and pay attention to your breathing. Don’t judge yourself—there’s no wrong way to meditate.’ Another way to keep skin plump and tight is to eat more kiwis. This anti-sag beauty food delivers more than a daily dose of vitamin C, which plays a key role in collagen synthesis.
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