How stress affects your skin (and what to do about it)
The founder of {DISCIPLE Skincare} - Charlotte Ferguson-Quilter - talks you through the way that stress affects your skin and how her oils are great for counteracting the (increasingly common!) side-effects of modern life ("Bye-bye Acne!"). Having tried everything to 'control' her acneic and stressed-out complexion, Charlotte - a psychotherapist, with in-depth understanding of the negative impact that chronic stress has on the body - decided to take her complexion into her own (very capable) hands.
Her capsule collection of balancing oils - {DISCIPLE Skincare} - stars clean, skin-nourishing extracts, botanical adaptogens, prebiotics and linoleic acid, which work to boost the cells’ ability to cope with stressful situations, while ‘normalising’ hormones to keep blemishes at bay. Over to Charlotte...
"Ever noticed that when you're stressed and anxious, your skin is often one of the first places to suffer? If you're even a tiny bit prone to acne and breakouts, periods of stress and anxiety can really make your breakouts worse...
"Hormone fluctuations are the main cause - your body is built to release the hormone cortisol to respond to stress, but elevated cortisol levels over extended periods of time can affect every physiological system in your body, including the thyroid and adrenal glands ("Hello adrenal fatigue!"). Not only that, but cortisol is also known as the 'ageing hormone' - it increases blood pressure and blood sugar levels, hardens arteries, increases fat storage and lowers growth hormone. Yikes!
"Stress causes skin to produce more oil. This increased production of oil can easily clog hair follicles, creating the perfect breeding ground for acne bacteria. We all know by now that anxiety also causes an inflammatory response in the body, which triggers breakage of pore walls. This can cause the body to respond with redness around the broken pore and an influx of puss (gross!). On top of that, an anxious mind and body suppresses the immune system, which can adversely affect the body’s ability to fight off intruders like bacteria (making you more prone to infections).
"Scientific research shows us that a holistic approach is the key to wellness, longevity and radiant glowing skin! Looking at diet, sleep pattern and stress levels is a great place to start. At {DISCIPLE} we use botanical adaptogens to hugely improve your body's ability to adapt to stress and help to rebalance hormones. With up to seventy per cent of skincare absorbed into the body, our oils are the perfect delivery system for therapeutic grade, stress-busting plant extracts."
Cult Beauty’s Content Editor and a Cult Beauty OG, Verity loves nothing more than the marriage of language and lip balm. A quintessential Libran, she’s a self-professed magpie for luxury ‘must-haves' and always pursuing the new and the niche — from the boujee-est skin care to cutting-edge tech. Balancing an urge to stop the clock with her desire to embrace the ageing process (and set a positive example for her daughter), Verity's a retinol obsessive and will gladly share her thoughts about the time-defying gadgets, masks and treatments worth the splurge...
