Stressed skin is something I know far too well; it’s almost scary. I remember when I would say my skin looks so stressed, my friends would look at me like I was losing my mind. 

The truth is skin can show its stressed, and that’s when the breakouts start coming. 

If you have read my about me page, I mentioned I suffered a severe acne breakout in my late 20s. Looking back at the situation, I was extremely stressed, and my skin paid the price. 

The good news is there are ways you can help your skin and keep your skin glowing during stressful times. 

Here are 8 Easy Steps To Help Stressed Skin

What Does Stressed Skin Look Like? 

When I look at myself in the mirror, and my skin looks dull, unhappy if you will, I know it can be the cause of two things. 

1. I need to exfoliate 
2. My skin is screaming for help. 

Stress can cause our skin to become dull, tired-looking, we can begin to lose volume in our face. Believe it or not, stress can cause fine lines speeding up the aging process. 

Now don’t get me wrong aging is not a bad thing; it’s a beautiful journey, but you should be able to do it at the right time due to aging not because you’re stressed! 

How Does Stress Affect Your Skin? 

Stress is a silent killer, in my opinion, and dealing with stress is something we may not be great at. With the fast pace in life, stress is almost inevitable and can wreak havoc on the skin. When stressed, our body releases the hormone cortisol, which is known for breaking down collagen. Our skin becomes more prone to sensitivity and irritation, breakouts.

Things to Help Your Stressed Skin 

Depending on what you’re facing when looking at your skin, here are ways to get your skin back on track. 

Focus on your Cleanser 

When our skin becomes stressed, this is a perfect time to go back to the basics. Reach for a gentle cleanser that you feel comfortable using (remember less is more). 

My go tos are either Cetaphil, drunk elephant, and Tula. 

I always get amazing results when I use the three mentioned above. If I had to choose, I would go for the Tula. 

The Tula Purifying Face Cleanser is refreshing and is super gentle on my skin. This cleanser has probiotics and is fantastic at removing extra makeup my wipes left behind. Probiotics help condition skin without stripping or over-drying, which is perfect when the skin becomes stressed. 

Step Away from using harsh facial tools

8 Easy Steps To Help Stressed Skin

We all need 8 Easy Steps To Help Stressed Skin! 2020 has been one heck of a year (so far)

When our skin becomes stressed, our skin can become inflamed, dry out, or break out! 

When my skin is stressed, I treat it like baby skin and pause on using my facial tools. I stepped away from using my Clarisonic permanently because it was way too harsh on my skin. I then started using my FOREO Luna and haven’t gone back since. If you’re interested in the FOREO LUNA, you should check this post out.

Some people find the FOREO is gentle enough to use on stressed skin; I prefer to use my hands and gently rub the cleanser into my skin, focusing on my oily areas. 

After washing your skin, make sure to pat instead of rubbing to towel all over your face. 

Focus on Your Night Routine 

Our night routine is crucial when it comes to rejuvenating our skin. Please take note to focus on your skins night routine. 

After you wash your face with the gentle cleanser of choice, now is the time to reach for a hydrating sleeping mask. 

Sleeping masks are great to bring intense hydration while you sleep, which makes it perfect when your skin is stressed. 

Three great products to try are: 

Drunk Elephant F-Balm™ Electrolyte Waterfacial

Origins DRINK UP™ INTENSIVE

Laneige Water Sleeping Mask 

All three masks target intense hydration while you sleep, and I always wake up to soft skin in the morning. 

The Drunk Elephant and the Origins are more on the cream side while the Laneige is more on the gel side. 

Tip: Put your favoriting hydrating mask in the refrigerator before you start your routine, so its cold when you apply it. It will feel amazing, and this will help your skin destress. 

Go easy on the AM Routine 

Many of us love to wash our face in the am with cleanser. 

Have you ever tried not washing your face, but more if rinsing? The truth is, you may not need to wash your face extensively in the morning if: 

You thoroughly cleaned your face the night before

You feel comfortable with your skin in the morning

By comfortable, I mean, you didn’t wake up to a terrible oily mess.

If you insist on washing your face in the morning, please use a gentle cleanser. If you use a harsh cleanser on your skin, you’re only drying out the skin.

Add Vitamin C to Your Line Up 

I can tell when my skin is stressed because it looks dull, like a dull penny that needs to be shined up. Using Vitamin C daily has been a game-changer for me. I use Drunk Elephants Vitamin C as a primer to my makeup.

Vitamin C is excellent for 

• helping to brighten the skin

• Protect the skin from dark spots forming 

• Helps to Promote Collagen Production 

Vitamin C may not be for everyone, especially for those that have sensitive skin. Since Vitamin C is acidic, those that have sensitive skin may want to start at a lower concentration and try it on a small area of the face. 

Consider foods that are naturally anti-inflammatory for the skin

What we eat during stressful times is crucial for our skin, whether we believe it or not. If you can, try to focus on foods like salmon, avocados, nuts, seeds, these foods are naturally anti-inflammatory. 

Don’t Pick At Your Skin When it’s Stressed 

I swear this is something I need to work on; this is the first thing I do. Picking your skin is the exact opposite of what you should do when your skin is stressed! Picking your skin will lead to more inflammation, scarring, your damaging your skin. 

By squeezing annoying pimples, you’re risking pushing bacteria deeper into your skin and paving the way for future problems. 

Instead, try a hot compress and applying a pimple drying treatment. 

Steam your face 

I love to steam my face; not only does it help open my pores, but it also helps my mind to relax. It is essential to focus on your breathing steaming. Breathing is known to help with lowering stress and improving a stressed state of mind.

Steaming your face at night is a great way to open your pores for your skincare to sink deeper into your skin. 

Steaming your skin is not something you want to do daily; this can cause more inflammation of the skin, and if you’re not careful enough, you could be letting more bacteria into your skin. 

After steaming your face, rinse with cold water and make sure to pat and not wipe.  

Final Thoughts

These are the 8 Easy Steps To Help Stressed Skin! When you skin is stressed it will show you, all you have to do is take action!

When/If you’re feeling stressed, take a step back, focus on your breathing, and get in a calm mindset. You will be surprised at how the body reacts when you force yourself to slow down.
Caring for our skin during times of stress can fall on the priority list, if you take anything from this post, remember less is more and be patient.

You Are Beautiful!