5 Ways Stress Messes with Your Appearance

[By Sophie Goldberg]

“If you can’t be better than your competition, just dress better.”— Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief, VOGUE

We’re fast approaching the middle mark of 2018, and for some this time of the year may mean chasing a project deadline, or looming exam finals before being let loose to enjoy the summer break! On top of that, your hair seems to be thinning and zits are starting to pop up! Gosh! Beauty is holistic and how we feel on the inside can definitely affect how we look on the outside. When a person is stressed, feels depressed or is anxious, they literally leave tell-tale marks on your appearance. Here are 5 ways how stress is affecting your overall demeanor and things which you can do to overcome them, for no one should let the negativities of life bring her looks down!

Dull skin

There are a few reasons why the skin appears dull when one is stressed. One reason is neglect of daily care. Good eating habits, exercise and daily beauty regime all went amok as you just can’t be bothered with them. Some even abuse their skin through stress-related behaviors such as scratching, rubbing or hair pulling. A study done found that stress also affects the protective mechanisms of the skin in a negative way, resulting in water loss which affects the skin’s repairing and regenerative abilities. All these things lead to dryness and dullness, with problems such as eczema and dermatitis aggravated.

Solution: As your skin becomes dry and sensitive, what better way to restore its vibrancy than by natural essential oils? Many botanical oils such as Azulene, Argan and Rosehip have always been used for their healing properties. CHAI  SAPPHIRE Balancing Facial Oil is an awesome choice that comes packaged in a slick pen with a rollerball tip for convenient storage and easy application. Formulated with 100% natural and pure plant oils including Azulene, making perfect sense as this blue stuff is extracted from Chamomile, a flower known for calming the mind and body to sleep. Thoroughly hydrating stressed-out skins without clogging pores, SAPPHIRE creates a harmonious skin environment so that skin can stop producing excess oil and find the balance it needs when subjected to both internal stress and environmental aggressors. This quick-absorbing oil drives moisture, vitamins, fatty acids, and antioxidants into your skin, forming a natural barrier to lock in essential nourishment while protecting against dryness, as calming as the skin equivalent of a soothing lullaby.

In addition, boost your overall general health and emotional well-being by increasing physical activity. The body is tuned in such a way that when we are dealt with a stressful situation, a “fight or flight response” is triggered. However, modern age stress may not be remedied by this response. So what exercise does is it works as a simulator to metabolize those awful stress hormones and enhance the released of ‘happy hormones’ such as endorphins. As your stress level diminishes and returns to its calm state when you’re relaxed, the appearance of your lackluster skin will slowly be restored.

Read More: Ticks & Treats for More Youthful Looking Eyes

Zit Attack

When we are in a stressful situation, the body releases stress hormones, mainly cortisol. Cortisol directly affects our skin by increasing production of oil. Coupled with the already dull skin, this leads to unhealthy skin— aggravating acne break outs and other skin related problems. Even for those not usually affected by acne tend to develop a temporary acne break out due to the increased oil production. The problem is further aggravated for the acne-prone as the presence of other pro-inflammatory stress hormones cause the skin to be more sensitive, and the acne more inflamed and more persistent.

Is your zit attack that refuses to go away coupled with irregular menses, inexplicable amount of facial and body hair growth and stubborn weight that’s really tough to lose? Chances are you might be suffering from PCOS— Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, a fairly common hormonal disorder that affects almost 1 in 10 young women in the reproductive age group.

Solution: Consult your gynaecologist or family physician if you have symptoms suggestive of PCOS, as they can be effectively dealt with using oral contraceptive drugs for hormonal therapy to regulate menstrual cycles. At the same time, do not neglect your usual daily beauty regime. Start off with avoiding harsh soaps and products as they can further worsened an already sensitive skin. Do not pick at the acne spots as well, as this would lead to further inflammation and scarring. Also, if you already know tough times are approaching, it’s good to plan ahead. Keeping an acne-busting skincare gem on hand, such as the SW1 FLAWLESS Complexion Clearing Serum is especially useful for those pesky peek-a-boo zits that love to spring surprise (but most unwelcomed) visits! As its name suggests, this skin detoxifying elixirwith sebum control nanospheres facilitates oil elimination and deep pore purging to keep skin refreshed and silky soft; while anti-acne ingredients niacinamide, neomycin and tea tree oil barricade skin from further comedonal and pimple outbreaks.

Read More: 4大抗氧化食物吃出年轻肌肤

Listless hair

Do you sometimes hear that when a person is undergoing a life-changing event such as childbirth or major surgery, they may start to have hair thinning problems? The strands become weak, break easier and hair loss occurs. There are many factors contributing to hair loss, but stress itself may be a primary reason. During a stressful situation, the hair goes into a fall-out phase. This can occur up to 3 months after the stressor. Good news is, once the stressful situation is alleviated, the hair would grow back, usually within the next 6-12 months.

Solution: A balanced diet will do wonders to provide strong and vibrant hair. As you provide your body with nutrients, it helps provide the building blocks to fortify the hair follicle. Ensure your diet is rich in healthy proteins, vitamins, and iron such as fish (salmon, trout), walnuts, spinach and eggs. Skimmed milk, low-fat cheese, strawberries and blueberries also fit the bill, especially when thinking of something to snack on. The Keramax Scalp Program is an effective way to further boost and rejuvenate falling hair and thinning scalps with scientifically proven treatment modalities. Available at the SW1 Clinic @Paragon Medical Suites, this program utilizes Revage 670 Laser, an FDA-approved low-level laser therapy which emits totally pain-free laser energy to stimulate blood flow to your hair follicles. When done together with Revitascalp the effects are synergistic, thereby promoting thicker and more luscious hair with healthier and stronger hair shafts to boot.

Read More: 10 Benefit of Oxygen for Glowing Skin That You Never Kne

Brittle nails

Stress can manifest itself in different ways, including ridging and brittle nails. Some people, when feeling anxious or stressed develop awful habits such as picking at the nails, nail-biting, or constant rubbing. These stress related repetitive actions over time cause the nail plates to become distorted, forming horizontal ridges as they grow. Also when your body is in a state of stress, the nails are at a low-level priority for the body to focus on in terms of healing and rejuvenation, leading to unhealthy nail growth.

Solution: Care for your nails by applying cuticle cream or oils daily. You can also go to a local drugstore to purchase a nail-strengthening polish. For those with nail-biting habits, you could get one that is made specially to deter the habit as in contains a bitter ingredient. When you’re feeling anxious, try to think positive and learn to take control of the stressor. For instance, if going out to a crowded market is an unpleasant chore, get round that with online grocery shopping. If an event does not adapt to your standards, try adapting yourself to the situation. Broaden your perspectives and ask how important will the situation be in a month’s time and whether it’s worth getting upset over. If it is not, then move on and focus your energy elsewhere!

Read More: How You Can Change Your Life in Less Than 30 Minutes

Aging skin

As mentioned earlier, stress may lead to dull, dry and sensitive skin. This contributes to formation of fine lines and wrinkles. But aside from that, when we are feeling down, our facial expression will tend to follow, in that you tend to furrow your eyebrows or turn your mouth downwards. There’s a reason why the lines formed are coined ‘frown lines’. All these lines inadvertently make you look old and haggard.

Solution: Practice mindfulness and meditation. You could even try self-hypnosis which can be done anywhere and at any time. A simple way is to repeat positive mantras such as ‘Grant me peace’, or ‘Keep calm and stay beautiful’! And if you need a little help, it has been found that skin rejuvenation procedures through cosmetic interventions significantly improve a person’s outward persona and appearance. A study done showed that patients treated with anti-wrinkle BOTOX®microinjections not only experienced reduction of their lines and wrinkles in terms of physical appearance with the muscle relaxing effect of Botox, but some patients were reported as feeling less anxious, more relaxed and also more optimistic!Recognize and acknowledge its presence but give your absolute best to stamp out your stress. For when we feel more attractive, our emotional and social life is given a boost, and all is well and beautiful!

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Do you know that stress can affect your menstrual flow but at the same time, your menstrual flow might be giving you undue stress that’s affecting your health& beauty in adverse ways?

Learn how to better manage your monthly visitor in red at the GO WITH THE FLOW lunchtime talk with renowned aesthetics physician Dr. Low Chai Ling, medical director of the SW1 Clinic / Aesthetics Surgery in Singapore and senior gynaecologist, Dr. James Lee, sharing their expertise on common menstrual-related problems including pesky acne breakouts, abnormal bleeding and intolerable cramps.

Date: 16^th May, 2018, 12.30pn to 1.30 pm Venue: The Reading Room, #02-9/10. Downtown Gallery.

Open for registration HERE with limited seats subjected to availability. Lunch is provided.