The current lockdown situation is having an effect on all our health, both physical and mental. Your skin is no exception. While we are generally getting more sleep, spending a lot of time indoors, changing your regular habits (in many cases eating less healthily) and skipping regular facials can all add up. We’ve identified some common lockdown skin issues and tips for how to combat them.
Dry skin
A tight feeling face and flaky, itchy skin - if these sound familiar, chances are your skin is struggling to adapt to spending so much time inside. The first thing you can do to counteract this is drink at least eight glasses of water a day, and more if you’re drinking caffeine or alcohol. Try jazzing it up with lemon or cucumber. Avoid showers that are too hot (which can effect your skin barrier) and try incorporating hyaluronic acid into your skincare regime. It makes your moisturiser far more effective.
Dullness
If you’re anything like us, your complexion is far from glowing right now. Again, this is largely due to the amount of time spent indoors and not being able to follow your regular routine. We can;t stress enough the importance of staying hydrated and also eating foods which are rich in water . Your skin tries to compensate for dehydration by slowing skin cell turnover, which makes the outer dead skin layer thicker, which can make the skin look dull and flaky. Make sure you cleanse, serum and moisturise every day.
Spots
As if a pandemic wasn’t stressful enough, now your skin is breaking out too! Of course, the two are very much interlinked. If you’ve lost your job or are worrying about vulnerable loved ones, your cortisol (stress hormone) levels are going to be going through the roof, which can manifest in spots. Glycolic acid is great for controlling oil, as is niacinamide. Try and resist the urge to touch or pick at your face too.
