How to Combat Havoc on Your Skin from Holiday Indulgence!
What you put in your body will almost certainly impact your skin. Your skin is the biggest organ in your body and will mirror the havoc caused in the body over the holiday period. The holidays are a great time to enjoy with family and friends, indulging in food, drink and vacation. I want to share with you what happens to your skin and how we can prevent or improve your skin.
Alcohol is the worst, most aggressive component to destroy your skin.
The first effect is dehydration: it takes all the fluid out of your skin.
Alcohol causes inflammation to the skin, creating a histamine reaction—that creates the redness, the flushing of the skin. It also speeds up collagen loss by depleting crucial nutrients like vitamin C which is essential for collagen production.
Alcohol is not great for your complexion due to the high sugar content. It can cause puffiness, due to the body trying to hold onto as much water as possible because alcohol dehydrates the body.
What can I do?
Give your body a break in between!
When you are in your 20s alcohol leaves your body in about 3 hours but when you are 40 it takes about 33 hours. Minimize your alcohol intake to once or twice a week. Different alcohols have different effects on the skin; the clearer the alcohol the better. Stay hydrated by drinking water with your drink! Red wine is actually good for you in moderation as it is filled with antioxidants.
Lack of “beauty sleep” will prevent your skin from renewing itself.
Getting good sleep during the holiday season can be a challenge. Ideally, you can get 7-9 hours of sleep for the skin to repair itself! If we don't have enough sleep our cells can’t regenerate and tissue can’t repair itself. Being constantly sleep deprived can cause the cortisol level to rise, which puts the body under constant stress. Read more about “beauty sleep” in this chapter.
What can I do?
I recommend bergamot, chamomile, lavender, sweet marjoram, lemon, neroli, petitgrain, sweet orange, sandalwood and vetiver. Simply add a drop or two of any essential oils to your pillow or a blend in a vaporiser or add 3 drops to your bath. Kat’s Relaxing Organic Body Night Oil can be used as a massage oil to relax you before sleep.
Not prioritising your skincare routine will have consequences.
When we have a busy schedule, often our skincare regimen is put on a backburner. We might not cleanse our skin every night or do our usual exfoliation or masking once or twice a week.
The worst thing for your skin you can do in my opinion is not cleansing your skin before you go to bed! Especially during the holiday season, we wear more makeup when we go to parties which can clog up our pores and cause breakouts. By not exfoliating on a regular basis can cause a build-up of dead skin cells which makes the skin look dull, but also can cause congestion.
What can I do?
Using a balm or an oil cleanser gives you a much deeper cleanse, as oil dissolves oil, so it’s perfect for removing stubborn makeup. I recommend Tri-Phase Cleanser.
Cleansing your skin as soon as you get home or doing so in front of the TV can be helpful, as leaving your evening cleanse until right before bed you might find that you simply do not have the energy.
Exfoliation is vital to increase cell turnover, to have glowing skin and make up that goes on smoothly. I recommend using Nimue Cleansing Gel as a cleanser or Nimue Conditioner or Nimue Active Resurfacing Wipes or on a daily basis as an exfoliator. This Anti-Ageing Leave-On Mask is an overnight mask you can sleep with, which recharges your skin at night, and you wake up with radiant and plump skin.
Stress can cause breakouts and compromise your skin barrier.
The holidays can be a stressful time that interferes with the body's natural hormone balance. It can increase oil production, clogging follicles resulting in breakouts or acne. It can disrupt the skin's barrier which will make it more susceptible to bacteria and fluids from escaping, resulting in rosacea and dehydration.
What can I do?
Be sure to incorporate gentle exercise as much as possible such as swimming or yoga. Meditation not only destresses you but also slows down the ageing process, by increasing oxygen rejuvenating the skin. I recommend the Headspace app to support you with daily meditation.
One of my favorite ways to relax is to take a bath with epsom salts.
Stress can disrupt our skin barrier. I recommend hyaluronic acid to keep our skin barrier intact. Find out more in my chapter “Why should I use hyaluronic acid in the colder month of the year.”
Why does too much sugar cause sagging and inflexible skin.
All the sugary treats during the holiday season lead to glycation. This is a process where sugar attaches itself to the proteins of collagen, causing collagen to “cross-link.” When collagen cross-links, it becomes stiff and inflexible, leading to wrinkling and stiffness of old skin. That's because tiny little stands that normally slide over one another are now attached and they cannot move freely. This can result in sagging and inflexible skin that gives us the appearance of ageing.
What can I do?
Alpha lipoic acids prevent and may even reverse the attachment of sugar to collagen. They do this by preventing accelerated aging of collagen by protecting it from sugar toxic effect. There is evidence that alpha lipoic acid applied topically or taken orally can reverse glycation. I recommend Nimue Alpha Lipoic Activator Serum. Nimue is a derma cosmeceutical product range with a high concentration of active ingredients and requires a professional consultation before purchasing. Please contact me to schedule a consultation if you’re interested in purchasing this product.
Book a skin consultation to help you make the right choices for your skin this holiday period.
