You can fake being well rested—to a point. You can even fake feeling fine on your bad days. But your skin will tell you your every mood, regardless of the words coming out of your mouth. It’s the part of you that doesn’t understand the concept of pretending.
Your skin is the largest organ in your body, and if you do not treat it properly, it will show—dry skin, dullness, breakouts, wrinkles, and puffiness are all telltale signs that something is amiss in your body, and they are visible for everyone to see.
And you can use all the oils, masks and lotions you want but if you’re running on fumes here’s how your skin will alert you.
Dryness That Nothing Touches
Everyone has the odd dry patch here and there, but when moisturizer stops doing its job, it’s rarely the product. It’s your system. Not enough water, not nearly enough sleep, too much caffeine, and a definite lack of nutrients. Your skin will start each day parched, stressed, tired, and probably a little resentful, too.
But here’s the thing: you can’t buy your way out of that kind of dryness. It’s not a serum problem, it’s a lifestyle problem – too little rest, too much of everything else. You need to breathe so your skin can. So stop, take some downtime, fix your sleep pattern, nourish your body with good food and hydrate. You need it.
The Morning Swell
If you wake up looking like you’ve spent the night being attacked in a beehive, this is your skin telling you something is up. The fluid that rises and sits under your eyes and around them, combined with puffy eyes and a general tiredness around the face, isn’t the look anyone wants to face first thing.
For some people, it’s the result of too much salt, even sleep or hormones, for others, it’s puffy eyes from allergies. Pinning down the cause and rectifying it can allow you to wake up fear-free, not looking like you spent the last 24 hours crying into your best friend’s lap.
Breakouts That Are Here to Stay
You wash, tone, and double cleanse religiously, but those breakouts won’t disappear. Why? Because they’re trying to tell you something. Skin reflects more than oil or sweat; it shows what you’ve been carrying around.
Too much stress? Breakouts. Hormonal shifts, yep, there’s a breakout for that too. Stress, anxiety, boredom, and too many microwave meals, yep, you guessed it, breakout time. And not a top-notch cleaner is going to fix it. You need to work from the inside out for this one and eliminate triggers one by one, and you’ll find the cause. Grab an early night, eat a salad or three, swap your soda for water, and get some actual sunlight. Your skin will love you forever.
Dulness Drags You Down
If your skin looks greyer than a millennial’s color palette, you have a problem. Dullness in the skin is your circulation slowing down, a lack of oxygen, dehydration, a buildup of dead skin cells and a poor diet.
But fear not, you can give it its spark back by getting some natural light into your life, fueling your body with wholesome, nutritious foods, moving more to get the blood pumping and resting well. Oh, and a good peel and some vitamin C will work wonders, too.
