Your skin can take a toll when you’re stressed; and these past few months haven’t made it easy. Not to mention, we’re only a few weeks into the Fall Semester. Sitting in three-hour zoom meetings, on top of all the homework, isn’t making our lives any easier. So, here are a few tips and tricks you can use to make sure stress isn’t taxing your skin.
- Watch Skincare Videos
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YouTubers like Hyram, James Welsh and Susan Yara’s channel Mixed Makeup give great skincare advice. They’re there to help you out. While going to see a dermatologist would be your best solution, not everyone can afford that. Especially not in the middle of a pandemic. Watching their videos can help you fill in where your skincare is lacking.
- Stick to your routine
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Just because you’re staying at home doesn’t mean you should take a break from your skincare. Your skin still needs some help. Whether it be dry patches or an oily t-zone, your skin’s problems aren’t going to go away because you aren’t leaving home.
- Give your skin a break
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Before quarantine, I regularly put on some makeup to go to work, school and going out with friends. Right now, none of that is possible. Use quarantine to let your skin breathe. You don’t need foundation or eyeshadow or blush when the only person seeing you is your dog.
- Experiment
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Trying out a clean beauty routine, experimenting with different serums, or trying out retinol will let you see how your skin reacts without the worry of having to hide adverse reactions. You could also completely reconstruct your skincare! Liah Yoo, the founder of Krave Beauty, set out to #pressreset and simplify skincare. Telling her clients to start off with the basics (face wash, moisturized and sunscreen) and to listen to their skin. Adding serums and oil that target problem areas.
- Learn to manage your stress
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It sounds lame. Almost like telling someone with acne they just need to drink more water (Seriously, people need to stop doing that.) But this is stressful, frustrating and infuriating. We’re all worried about our futures, getting good grades this semester and desperately wishing we could just go out with friends to a bar without the worry of getting breathed on. However, all that worry shows up on our skin or makes pre-existing conditions worse.
How should you cope with your stress? Well, there’s journaling, playing video games, planning virtual hangouts with your friends or reading a good book. I highly recommend reading Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg. She teaches readers how to use writing and journaling to meditate their worries away. It’s hard to do this alone. FIU’s program CAPS has resources for you to use in case you need to speak to a counselor or therapist.
Quarantine sucks. That isn’t news. Between wearing a mask, stressing out and being cooped up at home all day, your skin is taking a toll. We can use skincare to bring a little bit of normalcy back into our lives while also nourishing our skin. Its 10-15 minutes we put aside to pamper ourselves and be alone with our thoughts.