A key lesson that many of us learned from the national lockdowns is how important it is to indulge in self-care. Engaging in a tailored skincare routine is a simple but incredibly worthwhile and enjoyable way to incorporate self-care into daily life.
For distracting anxiety-prone minds, adding an element of structure to your day and boosting self-esteem are just a few ways that a skin care routine can support mental wellbeing.
Skin Care as a Self-Care Ritual
Self-care doesn’t have to involve anything extreme such as an expensive spa trip or a spontaneous city break abroad, it really can be as simple as setting aside a portion of your day to dedicate to caring for your skin.
Anything that makes you feel good and reduces stress can be considered self-care, and a dedicated skin care routine is a simple way to integrate elements of mindfulness into your life, the benefits of which, for mental health, are proven.
How Does a Skin Care Routine Benefit Mental Health?
Everyday life can be stressful and it’s common for people to feel guilty about taking and enjoying ‘time’. However, it is proven that you will do better in other parts of your life if you’re looking after yourself properly, both physically and mentally. The reduced anxiety, increased confidence, and improved structure achieved by using skin care as a self-care ritual can help you do better at work, at home and in social situations.
Structure & Routine
Writing for headspace, Marty Nemko defines a routine as “something you know you can do well”. The writer and career coach goes on to explain how this can help us feel more in-control, “Modern life, increasingly defined by unpredictability, can be anxiety-provoking, and routines provide an anchor of predictability”.
When stress builds in our lives, regardless of its cause, you may feel less in control of all situations; a skin care routine can become something and somewhere in which to experience solace and provide a stable, anchored time in the day for grounding and introspection. With the Covid-19 pandemic causing disruption in almost every aspect of our lives, it has become more difficult than ever to cope with stress and feel as though we are in control of what happens in the future.
Having a routine where you know exactly what you’re doing and why you’re doing it, is meaningful and serves as a process to restore equilibrium; it’s almost like a re-set button
Once equilibrium has been re-established, you can concentrate on improving mindfulness and so become fully present and focused on your thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations. When this becomes a routine, you will be improving your ability to relax and become in-tune with your thoughts and feelings on a deeper level.
Confidence Building
There is a definite a connection between our appearance and how confident we feel within ourselves. It’s like the feeling of happiness many have straight after a trip to the hair salon, or when first wearing a new outfit or even when we’re wearing our favourite pair of old jeans.
Although a cliche, “When we look good on the outside, we feel better on the inside”, is entirely accurate, and a skin care routine that can target elements of your skin that make you feel less confident can give your self-esteem a massive boost.
When you’re comfortable about how your skin looks, you’ll be more enthusiastic, less distracted and focused on life’s bigger picture Facing the world with your skin looking and feeling how you want it to will make you feel more confidence taking on life’s challenges. Whether your next challenge is going for a new promotion at work, or making new friends in a social setting, feeling good in your own skin is usually the first, and most important step.
Even if you have a skin care routine that is quite simplistic and only takes you around five minutes, never underestimate the power of showing yourself that you are worth taking care of. That small time of self-focus, brings life back into focus, which in turn can easily lead to increased exercising, better eating habits, all of which will improve your overall physical and mental health.
Anxiety Relief
Anxiety is considered to be one of the most common psychiatric disorders in the world, and it’s estimated that approximately 8 million people in the UK have an anxiety disorder of some kind.
Whilst it’s important to both reflect on the past to learn from our mistakes and to look forward and plan for the future, spending too much time outside of the present moment can become unhealthy.
Skin care routines can help us to centre, ground and distract ourselves to avoid becoming overwhelmed by stress and worry.
Mindfulness & Skincare
At the end of the 20th century John Kabat-Zinn described Mindfulness as, “the awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally”.
A skin care routine is the perfect opportunity to incorporate mindfulness into your day-to-day life. Taking a moment to slow down and focus on every step in your routine, from the smell of every product to the sensation of how each one feels on your skin forces your mind to be entirely present in that time.
As a mindfulness practice, skin care benefits the following areas:
- Body Awareness: Improving your ability to detect subtle sensations and changes in how your body feels means you’ll be better equipped to understand the physical changes that stem from different emotional states.
- Focused Attention: Dedicating your time to one specific task exercises your ability to focus and concentrate on specific tasks without allowing your brain to become distracted by intrusive thoughts.
- Self-Perception: Approaching our thoughts and feelings non-judgementally positively influences the accurateness of our self-perception and acceptance of our own life experiences – we take situations as they are, rather than as negative by default.
- Physical Health Benefits: Practicing mindfulness reduces blood pressure and brings stress levels down, which have benefits for our overall help.
Improved Sleep
For many people, anxiety is worse at night – especially in the hour or so before going asleep. This is because there is more idle time in the evenings and we’re less distracted by other activities, which leaves the opportunity open for intrusive negative thoughts and worries to invade our headspace.
Sleep deprivation can then make anxiety worse, which creates an unhealthy cycle that’s difficult to break.
Focusing on an activity that brings you joy and keeps you calm before bed can be a great distraction from unhealthy thinking patterns and help to avoid spiralling into an anxiety attack. You’re also more likely to drift off to sleep quickly and feel more rested when you wake up if you go to sleep in a peaceful state of mind, rather than an anxiety stricken one.
The Trend of Skin Care as Self Care
Self-care and wellness are by no means new trends, but consumer awareness of skin care’s relationship to how we feel inside has only grown in recent years.
In an article published by Cosmetics Business, Megan Asha, founder and CEO of US retail conference host for innovative consumer brands, FounderMade, says “I believe self-care has become the core of what beauty is today”.
Explaining further, she says, “We’ve seen a huge shift from beauty being for the outside world, to internal beauty. Skin care and beauty rituals have become a form of self-care. How you feel from the inside- out, your health and longevity is now at the forefront of what it means to be beautiful.”
Bespoke Cosmetic Development
Since 1974, Jarvis Cosmetic Developments has been creating premium skin care products for boutique, spa, and independent brands across the UK.
Combining our deep understanding of cosmetic industry trends with our knowledge of how important skin care is to both physical and mental health we can deliver completely unique cosmetics to the competitive market.
If you are interested in exploring the trend of skin care as a form of self-care or any other cosmetic trends, please get in touch with our team today.