The state of our skin can tell someone a lot about our mental health. Other than affecting our self-esteem and how we see ourselves, our skin health provides a clue on how we’re doing emotionally and mentally as skin issues can manifest depending on how we’re feeling. Indeed, dermatologist Helen Taylor notes our society values good skin a lot, and that skin health and emotional health affect each other (and vice versa).

Caring for your skin affects more than just the surface. In this post, we’ll look at the mental and emotional benefits of being kind to your skin.

Helps Keep Stress and Anxiety at Bay

With all that’s happening in the world today, it’s important that you do something for yourself that makes you feel good and hopeful that everything will be okay. One way to do this is by tending to your skin. Indeed, activities as simple as applying a relaxing mask or massaging in your moisturiser before you sleep can help you feel more relaxed and keep stress at bay. But other than that, even looking forward to doing your skin routine at night can do wonders for your mental health. This is because when your mind anticipates events that will improve your mood, feel-good neurotransmitters are released in your brain. So, maybe try splurging on an extra special mask or a luxurious serum and whip these out the next time you need to alleviate your anxiety and stress.

Having a Skincare Routine Creates Structure

Developing a routine is crucial to having good health, whether it’s emotional or physical. This is because a routine can become a point of stability and help comfort you ⁠— especially in times of disarray. And this is all the more important as we continue to work from home, with digital nomad James Gonzales highlighting the importance of planning out your day and maintaining a steady rhythm of work, family, meals, and self-care. Skincare can be a great part of your morning routine to help you get in the zone and start your remote working day strong, and a good way to wind down after a busy day, too.

Allows You to Bond with the People You Love

The great thing about caring for your skin is that you can share this with the people you love. If you want to improve your relationships, spend more time with people through taking care of your skin together. Doing simple skincare treatments like sheet masks allows you to relax with the people you love and strengthen your bond with them. However, be careful with choosing a face mask, as NBC News notes that not all provide the same level of hydration and can also irritate your skin. Be sure to be mindful of the ingredients, and be sure to only use hypoallergenic and non-comedogenic products to avoid aggravating any skin issues.

Helps us Practice Gratitude

In our post ‘Why Gratitude Should Be Part of Your Beauty Routine’ we’ve mentioned how it can be easy to obsess over our flaws and find fault in ourselves. Doing this is incredibly damaging to our self-esteem and mental health. Because of this, our skincare routine shouldn’t be centred on how we criticise how our skin looks, and instead be about giving thanks for our own unique beauty. A skincare routine that is rooted in uplifting ourselves allows us to practice gratitude in all aspects of our lives. In a nutshell, gratitude is the declaration of anything good. So when creating a skincare routine, maybe list down the things that you love about your skin and think of ways of how you can further improve it, such as using a tinted moisturiser to highlight your good skin texture.

Exclusively written for thepuristcollection.com by Jen Gilbert