Post Holiday Skin Care Guide
With the festive period over and Summer in full swing, is your skin feeling the effects?
The festive season can be a frenzy of late nights, days in the sun, higher alcohol and caffeine consumption, heavy makeup, and indulgent feasts.
While these elements contribute to the joy and merriment that come with this time of year, the cumulative effects can leave your skin looking and feeling less than its best.
So why does your skin have a festive freakout?
Lack of Quality Sleep.
A lack of quality sleep leads to dark circles, puffy swollen eyes, decreased skin hydration, elasticity, and firmness, to name a few! Late nights can disrupt your skin’s natural repair and regeneration process, which negatively impacts the skin in a variety of ways. Read our blog about the importance of beauty sleep here.
Dehydration
Dehydration is one of the most common issues we see post-festive season. This is due to several factors, including hot and humid weather conditions, excessive sun exposure, air conditioning, and inadequate hydration. Dehydration shows up on the skin virtually instantly, making fine lines and wrinkles more visible and a dry, dull complexion.
Alcohol
Increased alcohol consumption is one of the primary perpetrators of festive season skin woes. The dehydrating, diuretic effect of alcohol means your skin loses fluids and nutrients needed for healthy, happy skin. Alcohol also impacts gut and liver function and increases inflammation. The flow-on effects of this include poor sleep, water retention, bloating, poor digestion, reduced ability to detoxify, and flare-ups of inflammatory skin conditions such as acne, rosacea, dermatitis, and eczema.
Dietary and Lifestyle Changes
Out-of-balance skin is often triggered by changes in diet and lifestyle. Indulgent foods, or rich in sugar and fat can lead to acne, breakouts, and skin inflammation. Most of us relax our eating habits and physical exercise routines over the holidays, which is more than okay; give yourself permission to indulge guilt-free over your holidays.
Clogged Pores
Our pores take a big hit over the Summer holidays. Party makeup + lots of sunscreen (we hope) + plenty of sweat and dirt are a recipe for clogged pores, blackheads, whiteheads, congestion, and breakouts.
Sun Exposure
Sun exposure takes a huge toll on our skin, being a primary contributor to premature ageing. UV exposure degrades antioxidants, suppresses collagen production, alters elastin degradation and deposition, and increases cellular inflammation. This leads to visible signs such as wrinkles, lines, loss of skin tone, rough, uneven skin texture, pigmentation changes, and age spots.
Now that we’ve covered some of the ways your skin is impacted by the festive holiday season, let talk solutions!
Our top tips for getting your skin back on track
Establish good sleep hygiene and habits. A lack of quality sleep can sabotage your skin health. Read our Benefits of Beauty Sleep blog for more information about the importance of good sleep hygiene, as well as our top tips for optimal sleep.
Load up on Omegas. Aside from including plenty of omega-rich foods in your diet, taking an omega supplement is one of the best ways to ensure your skin is getting the nutrients it needs to function properly. Omega-3s hydrate your skin, reduce inflammation, and increase protection against environmental aggressors.
Amp up your antioxidants.
Increase your dietary intake of antioxidants to support your cells in fighting off free radical damage. See this list for the best sources of nutritional antioxidants.
Add in some ingestible antioxidant skin support for heightened results. Our top recommendations for antioxidant supplementation are Vitasol’s Anti-Ox + C and Therapure’s My Liposomal Glutathione.
Apply antioxidants topically with DMS Mask with Vitamins from Dermaviduals or a customised serum formulated by our expert Corneotherapist based on your specific skin needs.
Show your lymph some love. Our lymphatic system plays a major role in the health and function of our skin. Dehydration, inadequate exercise, and consumption of inflammatory and processed foods can all lead to a sluggish lymph system. See our blog post Healthy Skin Needs a Healthy Lymphatic System for ways to show your lymph some love.
Book a treatment with our expert skin therapist. Seeking help from a professional is the best way to get your skin back on track. Our customised and corrective facial treatments are designed to give you exactly what your skin needs on the day of treatment.
Our Enzyme Therapy provides a gentle, safe and effective exfoliation. It also refines pores, and clarifies and evens skin tone. Perfect for all skin types, especially sensitive, oil, acneic, and congested skin.
LED Light Therapy with Max+ is one of our favourite modalities for skin healing and rejuvenation. Max+ has 6 different wavelengths, helping to treat acne, congestion, redness, pigmentation, uneven skin tone and texture, fine lines, wrinkles and premature ageing.