Time Inside + Acne Breakouts
plus the best herbal teas for acne!
Given that many of us are spending more time at home or indoors at the moment, a question that came into my inbox recently might be something you might also be contemplating.
The question was:
“Would being inside more cause my face to break out like crazy? Other than a little stress from COVID-19, nothing has changed other than being inside much more. But my face is breaking out. It has not done this in years!”
My answer:
We’re quick to assume stressful things aren’t really all that stressful to our minds and bodies, and whether it’s a little or a lot of stress, the effects really shouldn’t be that significant.
Unfortunately, our body feels it whether we think it should or not.
So the short answer is that it’s more likely to be the stress from COVID-19 that’s causing your hormonal acne than merely spending more time inside.
Why have I labelled the breakouts as hormonal acne?
The answer is that stress affects our hormones, which affect the oils (sebum) on our skin. That sebum gets stickier and contains more inflammatory substances. Sticker sebum and inflammation create the perfect environment for a clogged pore and inflamed acne.
While it’s not easy, the best thing to do is find ways to tackle the stress that’s spiking cortisol and affecting your hormones.
Things that can help include herbal tea, zinc, probiotics, antioxidants, rest and movement.
Keep reading for more details!
Simple Low-Stress Skin Care Routine for Acne
It’s also a good idea to make sure you have an acne skincare routine that supports your stress-busting efforts, check out our most popular 3-step routine for acne-prone skin below (you’ll find the products + steps for building a personalized routine here)
Shop for antioxidant-rich natural skincare products for acne here.
Herbal Tea for Acne
Below is an excerpt from my holistic healing for acne workbook with 4 of my favourite herbal teas for acne-prone skin. Grab the workbook here for more herbal tea suggestions that help support clear skin.
Joyful Moment & Staying Clear
If you’re more sedentary than usual, look for ways to move more – this releases stress from our body and is one of the best ways to combat it (as long as we don’t get competitive or hard on ourselves about it!)
For me, I use the app “just dance now” because it’s a fun way to move ?.
Also, check to see if there’s something in your diet you’re consuming more (or less) of than usual.
For example, if you’re getting an excess of B12, that can spike breakouts as can an inadequate supply of antioxidants and zinc (compared to folks who aren’t prone to acne, acne-prone skin needs more of both to stay clear).
If you’d like some help narrowing down the action steps that could help your skin the most right now, check out my holistic healing for acne workbook.
To explore other acne articles like this, check out the acne learning nook.
I am sending you lots of virtual stress-busting lemon balm!
P.s. Check out my “before & after” acne story here.
Looking for our face mapping guide for acne? You’ll find it here.
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