There’s a long list of things we can all be thankful for this year, none more so than good health! But when we speak about being healthy, how often are we giving thanks for healthy skin?! The skin is your largest organ and also works the hardest for us, so it’s time we showed it a little appreciation, don’t you think? Your skin protects you daily from the elements, provides insulation, and also guards your body against germs, infections, disease, and a number of other traumas. Perhaps the greatest job your skin has is providing protection to your internal systems against the outside world. As our first line of defense against illnesses, healthy skin serves as a barrier to keep pathogens out of the body. Things like your nerves and pain receptors all react to signals first provided by the skin’s surface. Pain, or pleasure, your skin experiences these sensations first.
Because we visibly see our skin and those around us, we often tie our appearance to how we judge our skin. Stress, diet, sleep, medications, health problems, and more can all make a visible difference in our appearance. When these changes occur, we criticize our skin whenever it doesn’t meet our expectations, or we try to camouflage it behind makeup, or clothing so we don’t expose what we or society considers problem areas. But it’s time we shed those layers and remove those masks to give our skin some gratitude and reward our skin for a job well done. Being mindful of how you care for your skin is just as beneficial of a step as cleansing, moisturizing, and everything in between.
Our skin gives us many gifts, here are 3 ways you can show your skin some thanks during the season of gratitude.
Stay Hydrated and Moisturized
Water, water, water, your body needs it and your skin craves it. One of the best ways to care for and love your skin is to stay hydrated. Especially in the fall and winter seasons. Your skin is your body’s largest organ, and like so is made up of cells. And just like the other cells in the body, these skin cells are made up of water. So, without water and proper hydration, both internally and externally, these organs can not perform at their best. Healthy hydration helps the body in many of its functions, including digestion, circulation and absorption. Also,if your skin doesn’t receive adequate amounts of water, the dehydration will affect its appearance, causing it to turn dry, tight and flaky. Prolonged dry skin also leads to wrinkling since there is no more elasticity. And nobody wants dry, itchy, flaky, wrinkled skin.
In addition to replenishing the water your skin and body loses daily, you also need to up your moisturizing game. Your skin needs all the moisture it can get, but the downside is the water found in some moisturizers can make your skin feel like it’s being moisturized, but as the water dries up, your skin becomes drier as well. The products can also contain petroleum that can suffocate the skin. You’ll want to choose a proper moisturizer, like our Copacabana Body and Bath Oil, that provides natural moisture which helps strengthen underlying tissues and helps remove excessive dead cells on the skin’s surface that makes your skin rough and flaky in the winter. It is recommended to apply the oil evenly to your face and body within 2 minutes of leaving the bath or shower. The skin is still porous and is vulnerable to oil following the bath or shower, allowing better absorption. It’s the best way to say thank you to your skin, and your skin will show you its appreciation by staying soft and supple all season long. When applying oil be sure to use sparingly if you have oily or combination skin types.
Get More Sleep
Don’t skip out on your beauty sleep! Not getting adequate sleep can have visible effects on your health and you wear it on your skin. Sleep is essential for your body to perform at its peak, so when you skip out on getting proper rest, you upset your physical, mental, and emotional health. During sleep, your muscles relax, your breathing slows, and your body has the time it needs to repair. Like previously mentioned, if your body is in need of anything it will send you an alert. If you are suffering from sleep deprivation you may feel sleepy or out of sorts, even when you’ve been awake for a while, you may also find yourself with more of a dependence on caffeine or energy drinks due to a lack of energy. Not to mention the terrible mood swings, and irritability that comes with fatigue and sleepiness. Lack of sleep also affects your mental capacity with more feelings of depression or anxiety, or causing you to replace sleep with unhealthy habits like overeating, causing weight gain.
When it comes to your skin, the main benefit of sleep is restoration. During the waking hours, your skin is hard at work acting as your defense system against the elements like dirt, dry air, UV exposure and other free radical damage. When you sleep your skin switches from protection to repair. Hormones like melatonin and human growth hormone (HGH) production increase during sleep, which helps accelerate skin regeneration and the production of antioxidant enzymes within the body. Not to mention the collagen production and cell repair that takes place while you sleep. So when you have things like acne scarring, wounds, or abraisians, your skin has a chance to restore and heal itself while you sleep. Your nighttime skincare regime also has the opportunity to rejuvenate and repair your skin. The active ingredients increase the skin’s surface temperature and shift hormonal production. Their effects are enhanced during this time, and make the skin far more receptive to any retinoids, peptides, and vitamins from serums, oils and creams.
Better Manage Stress
Stressful situations uproots just about every area of our lives, and while you may think of being stressed as solely affecting your mental health, stress can attract your entire body, including the health of your hair, skin, and nails. Your body’s response to changes in your mental state from things like stress, anxiety or depression can cause skin issues to develop or flare up. When you feel stressed, your nervous system releases cortisol and adrenaline hormones into your body. Cortisol causes increased oil production in your skin glands, which can lead to clogged pores and acne breakouts. Stress impacts your immune system, causes your skin to be more reactive and sensitive, and triggers rashes, hives, and redness. Stress can also cause inflammation through the gut-skin connection. If you’ve ever been stressed or had to deal with a stressful situation, you’ve noticed how it impacts you internally and externally.
Those ‘tummy troubles’ or excess pimples on your face and body are how your body displays stress. Stress impacts the balance of bacteria in your gut, which leads to a release of inflammation. Internal inflammation can manifest externally as skin conditions like acne, or eczema and psoriasis flare-ups. People with chronic inflammatory skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis, and rosacea are more sensitive to flare ups when they are stressed. So if you want to keep your skin looking and feeling at it’s best, you need to prioritize your emotional, mental and physical health. Find more times during this season to relax and unwind. Get more sleep, drink more water, get more exercise, and eat a balanced, nutrient-rich diet. It will also help to speak to a professional for a tailored plan on how to manage the stressors and stressful situations in your life.
Taking good care of yourself inside and out, is the ultimate way to say “thank you” to your skin.
November is National Healthy Skin month, so what better excuse to tell your skin “Thank you” for all that it does for you. Check out some of our skincare products that can help nourish and revitalize your skin. Trust us, your skin will thank you for the love! You can also take your skin gratitude to the next level with a wax! Waxing provides the ultimate care to your skin by removing unwanted hair, dirt, debris, and other oils that can have harmful effects, leaving you with smooth, healthy, glowing skin. Book now at Depil Brazil and get your first wax, free!
