The holiday season often leaves men and women alike feeling especially stressed out. Between finding the perfect gifts and dealing with unexpected visits from relatives, many Americans have trouble dealing with the issues inherent to the holidays. But as if it were magic, once the calendar switches over to a new year, a new you can magically appear as people set the bar higher than where they currently are and will continue to adapt to better and new routines that make life a touch easier. For many, this includes beauty and skin care.
The high volumes of stress and low amounts of time mean that many Americans don’t, and can’t, allocate their regular amount of time to proper skin and health care. Though the stress (not to mention all the great food) can be a tough obstacle to overcome, a strict regimen of skincare products and techniques can mean that your skin remains as happy as the holidays.
With this in mind, this guide seeks to consolidate information from a variety of sources to make it even easier for consumers to keep their skin naturally, and beautifully, healthy. Despite the plethora of sources and information within this guide, readers need to keep in mind the importance of independent research in practicing their skincare techniques.
Though the tips included in these guide are designed to help readers, we cannot overemphasize the importance of individual techniques and strategies to make sure that your skincare regimen remains structured.
Having said that, here are six ways you can maximize your skincare in the New Year.
1. Limit Stress
Far too often, skincare strategies revolve around what is outside the skin. While there is definitely a place for ointments and crèmes in a well thought-out routine, the most important thing you can do to keep your skin healthy happens inside the body, not out.
Studies show that emotional and mental stress can weigh heavily in the skin’s ability to regenerate, heal, and stay young. In fact, stress can even cause significant skin-related disorders including acne, premature aging, and psoriasis.
Over-activity in key glands in the skin is often a result of increased stress, and can have serious consequences. Controlling stress is vital to maintaining ageless and healthy skin throughout the holiday season.
Medical doctor Ken Duckworth explains that one of the main causes of stress in the late holiday season is family. In order to control your stress, Duckworth advises that men and women reevaluate the source of their stress, taking precautions to avoid the actions which stress them out.
Further, he advocates that those who are consistently predisposed to stress consider outside techniques like yoga and meditation to return to lower stress levels during stressful times.
2. Sleep and Hydrate Well
The state of mental health, and thus skin health as a whole, is largely dependent on controlling stress. A more important thing to remember, however, is that the importance of sleep and hydration in the holiday season cannot be overstated.
Sleep allows the mind to regenerate, and gives the skin a chance to heal and restore itself after a stressful, and sometimes dry, day. Additionally, Americans need to make sure to keep themselves just as hydrated as their skin.
If the skin isn’t getting enough water, the effects can be awful; the skin can become flaky and more easily damaged. Leading professionals advise that those skin-conscious Americans drink at least five cups of water per day.
Sleep is increasingly important as well. A study published in Clinical and Experimental Dermatology elaborates on the need for sleep, concluding that rest is a key component in the reversal of skin aging.
During sleeping hours, the cells in the skin are allowed to regenerate, repair damage, and be made new again. This process is vital to the regeneration and the health of the skin which covers all human bodies.
In order to prevent sleep deprivation during the busy times of December and beyond, be sure to go to bed at a decent time and avoid distractions, such as TV, which help prevent quality REM sleep.
3. Employ an Advanced Routine in your Regular Skincare
In the stressful times of the Christmas season, typical nonchalant skincare techniques simply don’t suffice. Instead, many Americans need a serious upgrade to their regular routine—skin peels, creams, the works! In particular, consumers should look for effective means to both moisturize and protect their skin from outside agents.
One great choice is the Elemis Papaya Skin Peel. This award-winning concoction has been met with positive reviews from critics and consumers alike and can help to rejuvenate and revitalize old skin cells.
Pair this with a moisturizing cream such as the Platinum Skin Care Hyaluronic Grape Stem Serum and you’ll have an effective routine which can help even the most degenerating skin cells repair themselves almost overnight. Both of these products can help to exfoliate the skin, while still preventing the significant damage so characteristic of more abrasive alternatives.
During the holidays, many consumers ought to consider ramping up their regular skincare routines. By employing a regular and varied group of creams and serums, Americans can most effectively usher in a new era of personal health and cleanliness in their skin.
4. Revise your Dietary Habits
Though holiday food is absolutely delicious, its effects on the skin are often less-than-tasty. These foods are high in calories, fat, and grease. For far too long, professionals in the medical industry underestimated the role of food in skin health.
In 2016, however, we now know that foods high in grease and fat are awful for the skin. Soyun Cho of Seoul National University elaborates, saying that anti-aging foods, foods heavy in anti-oxidants, can provide a healthy alternative to the greasy food of holidays past.
Foods high in Vitamin C and Vitamin D are often great choices for skin health regimens. These skin boosting and strengthening vitamins help to bolster the production of collagen in the skin.
As a result, they are able to keep the skin looking healthy and young through the holidays to the New Year and beyond. Additionally, foods with high density of beta-carotene are good options for maintaining the skin and preventing DNA damage.
These foods include sweet potatoes, carrots, spinach, romaine lettuce, and butternut squash. Fruits and vegetables are perfect options to keep the skin looking healthy through the holiday season.
5. Change your Makeup Strategy
Makeup is a poor concealer of legitimate damage to the skin. Though it is often the best way to address problems at the surface, too much makeup can be a very bad thing, and can easily make the skin conditions being addressed even worse for the individual employing the use of makeup.
Specifically, using the wrong products on your skin can exaggerate the problems inherent to skin on the face, head, and neck.
Too many products on the face, especially when combined with stress, can wear down the outer layer of the epidermis and wear down the skin, causing the dangerous dehydration we discussed earlier. Makeup, if used incorrectly, can be awful for the health of the skin.
Lightweight foundations and other makeups are often the best way to go if you want to keep your skin glowing throughout the holidays. Specifically, water-based foundations are able to easily come off the skin and leave very few visible traces if removed properly. As a result, users of this product are often less predisposed to skin-problems resulting from overuse of makeup.
Even when it comes to things like eyeliner, water-based alternatives are great options to avoid skin-related issues.
When the holiday season rolls around, it becomes all-too easily to get wrapped up in overusing makeup to conceal minor blemishes and breakouts. In reality, this solution can easily turn into the problem.
By converting to a more relaxed and consistent makeup routine, consumers can look their best while still not hurting their skin’s health.
6. Nighttime Routines
The most important aspect of any skin-rejuvenating routine happens not during the day, but right before you go to bed. Even though the exhaustion of the holidays may leave readers tired and ready for rest, users of complex or simple skin routines should always dedicate some time at the end of the evening for their routine and skincare.
Wet-wipes with Vitamin C offer a great way for Americans to rid their skin of harmful dirt and debris.
After this is done and the skin is returned to its regular glory, you are welcome to apply a variety of products to your face before getting a good night’s rest.
More importantly, the nighttime provides the perfect opportunity for users to go overboard on skin creams and cleaning supplements. During the night, the permeable walls of the skin better fortify themselves against infection and attack. As a result, users are able to put as much on as they want, reaping the benefits of the routine without the risks outlined earlier in this guide.
Conclusion: Healthy Skin through the Holidays
Though the allure of stress and overcompensation during the holidays is great, consumers ought to be careful enough to avoid giving in. Using the simple tips provided in this guide, you can have a happy holiday season, with even happier skin cells.
Limiting stress, maximizing sleep and hydration, using the most of a little makeup are all among the main things needed for a good skincare regimen. We will have much more updated information this year about all of the popular skincare ingredients and extracts (just like we do for dieting and weight loss) in the near future.
Remember, however, that individual results will always vary. Before moving into a specific makeup and skin routine, make sure you evaluate your own needs and weigh them with a variety of different options for viable skin care. With this in mind, the happiness of the holidays can easily apply to your own skincare.
