When the stress shows

Misfortunes never come singly. Is that why my skin tends to get bad every time a major stress kicks in to my life? I think the reason might be a bit more complex than the accuracy of this old proverb but it’s hard not to notice the regularity. Even if I try to eat well, sleep enough and pay attention to my everyday beauty routine, stress always shows And demonstrates the victory on the surface of my skin. The good news is that if there is a pattern, there must be a way to break it. 

What is stress?

The nature of stress is not as evil as we might think. What’s more, stress can be good for us. Controversial? Maybe, but also true. We get stressed every time out body feels in danger. It’s our built-in alarm system that kicks in to prevent us from getting hurt or killed, like when you decide to take a step back when you see a car coming directly towards you. It triggers us to lay low hoping that the danger will pass or get up and defend ourselves. It’s called the the fight-or-flight mode, a very primal motivator for survival, that’s been allowing our ancestors to avoid real life threats.

The threats might have changed over the centuries but the stress mechanism remains the same. When your brain detects some sort of danger, it sends a signal to adrenal glands to adjust the levels of cortisol in the bloodstream.¹ The more stressful situation, the bigger the spike. Cortisol, called the stress hormone, plays an important role in a number of processes in human body. It:²

• Keeps us alert
• Increases the blood sugar 
• Regulates the blood pressure
• Boosts the energy 
• Helps reduce inflammation 
• Controls the metabolism 
• Controls the sleep-wake cycle 

After the potential danger has passed, the cortisol level should calm down, giving you the sweet feeling of relaxation. This short- terms stress, called eustress, is the good kind I’ve mentioned before. It motivates you to take actions, focuses your energy, enhances performance and improves cognitive function.³  But if you’re under constant stress, your body might start to find it difficult to switch the alertness button off. Chronic stress, called distress, makes the coping mechanisms overwhelmed, which might result in:4

• Fail to return to physiological and/or psychological homeostasis
• Anxiety, depression and mood swings
• Headaches
• Decline of cognitive function
• Hormonal imbalance
• Digestive problems and weight gain
• Heart disease 
• Inflammation 
• Disturbed sleep-wake cycle 
• Skin conditions

Effects of stress on your skin 

Let’s get back to the paired misfortunes. Chronic stress can not only impact the way we feel but also the way we look. How come the skin is so sensitive to it? It all comes down to cortisol as well.⁵  The stress hormone triggers your skin glands to overproduce the sebum, an oily, waxy substance that covers and protects the skin.⁶  Unfortunately, too much of it clogs the pores and causes acne breakouts. As if their appearing wasn’t enough, the stress- induced breakouts can stay visible for much longer than usual. Research⁷ shows that wounds, breakouts and acne heal slower when the body is under the influence of constant stress.

That’s not all. Stress impacts your immune system, which makes the skin more reactive and sensitive which can lead to development of conditions like allergies and rashes.⁸  It disrupts the epidermal barrier, making your skin more prone to loss of hydration and elasticity. It can also exacerbate existing inflammatory skin conditions and lead to even more severe flare- ups.⁹  That is a lot to take in. And to deal with, especially considering that when overstressed, we tend to neglect self-care (you might skimp on your beauty routine due to lack of time or energy) and develop skin picking habit, which makes the skin, weakened, dehydrated and inflamed, heal even slower. 

Skin microbiota

I’m pretty sure that when you hear the word „microbiota”, your mind takes you directly to your gut. But the microcosm of good bacteria, viruses, archaea and fungi also inhabits the superficial layers of the skin, creating the cutaneous microbiota. To give you the idea of how varied it is, imagine that a person has on average a 1000 species of bacteria only living on the skin surface.¹⁰  The skin microbiota composition is extremely important to the balance of the immune system, and as one of the effects the condition of your skin.¹¹ 

Some skin diseases, including eczema and psoriasis, are associated with an altered microbial state.¹²  The exact understanding of how stress responses influence the skin microbiota is not yet defined due to the complexity of the neuroimmune and stress response pathways¹³  but it’s clear that during the periods of prolonged stress we should support the potentially weakened skin microbiota with the right skincare. 

Calm your mind to calm your skin 

Overstressed skin needs time to heal, detox and strengthen. But it won’t do it all on its own. Consistency is the key is you want to see long-term result and prevent from new flare-ups in the future. Here’s what you need to know: 

Learn to unwind:

As long as your body will continue to overflow with cortisol, it will be extremely difficult for you to bring back the balance to your skin. Remember that apart from being affected from physiological stress, your skin is the primary sensing organ for external stressors, including heat, cold, pain, and mechanical tension.14  If you’re still hesitating to give relaxation techniques a chance for the sake of your health, think of them as a part of your daily skincare routine. Research shows that mindfulness meditation may improve resilience to stressful psychological challenges.¹⁵  Put a purifying face mask on and while it’s absorbing, try to clear your mind as well. 

Support your skin microbiota:

Weakened skin microbiota might have trouble fighting the bad bacteria living on the surface of your skin. To give it a helping hand, make sure to provide your skin with the right skincare ingredients with purifying and healing properties. Myrrh, one of the potent ingredients of LAST Skin Repair Serum, has strong antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and anti-fungal properties,  kills harmful bacteria and stimulates the immune system to produce more white blood cells. That is definitely the support kit your skin microbiota needs when stress takes over. 

Eat anti-inflammatory foods:

You can’t truly take care of your skin without taking care of your diet. When your skin gets flared up, it is crucial to not fan the flames with the wrong foods. According to the scientists from Harvard Medical School ¹⁶, products with the biggest anti-inflammatory properties include tomatoes, dark leafy greens, fatty fish, avocados, turmeric, ginger, olive oil, nuts and fruits high in antioxidants, including berries and cherries. 

Mind your hygiene:

Even the smallest skin conditions can flare up, when hygiene is not on point.  To limit the growth of bad bacteria on your skin surface, take precautions. Change your towels often, make sure to wash your hands before applying cosmetics, carefully clean you skincare and beauty gadgets, including gua sha and make up brushes and avoid removing sweat with your hands.¹⁷

Control your habits:

As I’ve mentioned, stress can contribute to developing skin picking habits.  I know that the urge to get rid of the unwanted skin condition can be hard to control, but it’s the easiest way to cause even more, potentially long-term, damage. Every time you break the skin either by picking or squeezing a pimple, you create an open wound, vulnerable to bacteria. If you don’t want to fall into the vicious circle of new flare- ups and make to bacteria spread even faster, just don’t touch your face. 

If there is one thing I could ask you for that would be to not overrate to the positive effects of stress. Not to use it as an excuse to being stuck in negative patterns that make it pile up. I know how important it is to feel good in your own skin. And I know how difficult it is when the skin wraps an overstressed body and mind. Think of relaxation as the first step of your everyday beauty routine, let your body and mind rebalance and watch your skin follow. 

Marzena Jarczak

An international model based in Paris. A researcher, copy writer and a journalist exploring for us the areas of neuroscience, brain, biohacking, living healthy life. Author of Out & About series discovering cultural life in Paris in all its aspects. A strong, wise personality with a growth mindset.

Learn more:

1. What Is Cortisol?,WebMD; December 2020
2. Physiology, Cortisol; National Library of Medicine, National Centre for Biotechnology Information, Lauren Thau, Jayashree Gandhi , Sandeep Sharma; January 2022
3. Good Stress, Bad Stress and Oxidative Stress: Insights from Anticipatory Cortisol Reactivity; National Library of Medicine, National Centre for Biotechnology Information, Kirstin Aschbacher, Aoife O’Donovan, Owen M. Wolkowitz, Firdaus S. Dhabhar, Yali Su, and  Elissa Epel, September 1
4. Stress and Distress: Definitions; National Library of Medicine, National Centre for Biotechnology Information
5. Brain-Skin Connection: Stress, Inflammation and Skin Aging; National Library of Medicine, National Centre for Biotechnology Information, Ying Chen and John Lyga, June 2014, Inflamm Allergy Drug Targets; 13(3): 177–190.
6. Sebum, Science Direct
7. Ending stigma and discrimination in mental health, The Lancet
8. Immunology and Skin in Health and Disease; National Library of Medicine, National Centre for Biotechnology Information, Jillian M. Richmond and John E. Harris, Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. 2014 Dec; 4(12): a015339
9. Association of psychological stress with skin symptoms among medical students, National Library of Medicine, National Centre for Biotechnology Information; Ghada A. Bin Saif, MD, Hala M. Alotaibi, MBBS, Abdullateef A. Alzolibani, MD, Noor A. Almodihesh, MD,Hamad F. Albraidi, MBBS, Najed M. Alotaibi, MBBS, and  Gil Yosipovitch, MD; Saudi Med J. 2018 Jan; 39(1): 59–66.
10. The skin microbiome, Nature; Michael Eisenstein, December 2020
11. Evaluation of the Effects of Stressful Life on Human Skin Microbiota, Research Gate, Pierre-Yves Morvan, January 2018, DOI:10.4172/2471-9315.1000140

1. What Is Cortisol?,WebMD; December 2020
2. Physiology, Cortisol; National Library of Medicine, National Centre for Biotechnology Information, Lauren Thau, Jayashree Gandhi , Sandeep Sharma; January 2022
3. Good Stress, Bad Stress and Oxidative Stress: Insights from Anticipatory Cortisol Reactivity; National Library of Medicine, National Centre for Biotechnology Information, Kirstin Aschbacher, Aoife O’Donovan, Owen M. Wolkowitz, Firdaus S. Dhabhar, Yali Su, and  Elissa Epel, September 1
4. Stress and Distress: Definitions; National Library of Medicine, National Centre for Biotechnology Information
5. Brain-Skin Connection: Stress, Inflammation and Skin Aging; National Library of Medicine, National Centre for Biotechnology Information, Ying Chen and John Lyga, June 2014, Inflamm Allergy Drug Targets; 13(3): 177–190.
6. Sebum, Science Direct
7. Ending stigma and discrimination in mental health, The Lancet
8. Immunology and Skin in Health and Disease; National Library of Medicine, National Centre for Biotechnology Information, Jillian M. Richmond and John E. Harris, Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. 2014 Dec; 4(12): a015339
9. Association of psychological stress with skin symptoms among medical students, National Library of Medicine, National Centre for Biotechnology Information; Ghada A. Bin Saif, MD, Hala M. Alotaibi, MBBS, Abdullateef A. Alzolibani, MD, Noor A. Almodihesh, MD,Hamad F. Albraidi, MBBS, Najed M. Alotaibi, MBBS, and  Gil Yosipovitch, MD; Saudi Med J. 2018 Jan; 39(1): 59–66.
10. The skin microbiome, Nature; Michael Eisenstein, December 2020
11. Evaluation of the Effects of Stressful Life on Human Skin Microbiota, Research Gate, Pierre-Yves Morvan, January 2018, DOI:10.4172/2471-9315.1000140
12. The human skin microbiome, Nature Reviews Microbiology; Allyson L. Byrd, Yasmine Belkaid, Julia A. Segre, January 2018; 16, pages 143–155 (2018)
13. Dynamic Role of Host Stress Responses in Modulating the Cutaneous Microbiome: Implications for Wound Healing and Infection; National Library of Medicine, National Centre for Biotechnology Information, Casey J. Holmes, Jennifer K. Plichta, Richard L. Gamelli, and  Katherine A. Radek; Adv Wound Care (New Rochelle). 2015 Jan 1; 4(1): 24–37.
14. Brain-Skin Connection: Stress, Inflammation and Skin Aging, National Library of Medicine, National Centre for Biotechnology Information; Ying Chen^* and  John Lyga; Inflamm Allergy Drug Targets. 2014 Jun; 13(3): 177–190.
15. The Effect of Mindfulness Meditation Training on Biological Acute Stress Responses in Generalized Anxiety Disorder, National Library of Medicine, National Centre for Biotechnology Information, Elizabeth A. Hoge, Eric Bui,Sophie A. Palitz, Noah R. Schwarz, Maryann E. Owens, Jennifer M. Johnston Mark H. Pollack, and  Naomi M. Simon, Psychiatry Res. 2018 Apr; 262: 328–332.
16. Foods that fight inflammation,
17. What causes eczema to flare up?, Medical News Today, Rachel Nall, April 2021

Marzena Jarczak

An international model based in Paris. A researcher, copy writer and a journalist exploring for us the areas of neuroscience, brain, biohacking, living healthy life. Author of Out & About series discovering cultural life in Paris in all its aspects. A strong, wise personality with a growth mindset.