Our skin is the biggest organ of our body, vital for our health and wellbeing, and yet often gets neglected or is an afterthought when it comes to skincare + our beauty regime.

Our body uses the skin’s permeability as one of four ways to release + excrete toxins (the others being our breath, urine + stool). Without these channels of eliminating waste, toxins, excess hormones, foreign bodies + germs the body can become overwhelmed, inflamed + out of balance.

OR

Imbalances within our body; such as hormone imbalance, can often show up in our skin condition as the body works to fix the problem or get rid of toxins that are causing imbalance internally.

This can look like acne, breakouts, oily or dry skin, eczema, psoriasis, rashes and irritation…

Hormone imbalances and/or Stress can both be root causes of inflammation, a build up of toxins in the body and lead to skin issues

Could Your Breakouts Be Hormones?

If you’ve been dealing with breakouts or acne prone skin around your period and/or the same phase of your menstrual cycle every month then your breakouts could be due to hormones.

If your testosterone hormone levels are too high they can cause oily/greasy hair + skin, which in turn can lead to spots + breakouts.

Could Your Breakouts Be Stress?

If you’ve been dealing with breakouts or painful acne type spots that you can’t explain, haven’t been able to track back to a root cause like your digestion, eating sugar or dairy, hormones, allergic reactions, or the need for a better skincare routine you might need to look at the stress your body is under…

As with all things being able to identify the root causes of any symptom(s) means tracking backwards and keeping a daily journal…

Be aware of what’s going on in each day;

what are you eating?

how do you feel?

how are you sleeping?

where are you in your hormone cycle?

were you dealing with stress that day?

how did you feel about yourself that day?

were you negative or positive?

have you been over dieting or over exercising?

do your breakouts re-occur on a regular basis? — if so what are you doing in the week beforehand + where are you in your menstrual cycle?

These are all things you want to think about when trying to identify root causes.

If you do think that an imbalance of hormones or excess stress is affecting your skin health these are some natural + nurturing care tips for you:

Treatment of Imbalanced + Stressed Skin

Treatment for stressed and irritated skin must be threefold :

• Treating internally the imbalance in the body and helping the body back into alignment. This includes balancing hormones reducing stress and treating the information and damage caused by stress

• Supporting the bodies natural methods of elimination such as the liver and kidneys

• Helping skin heal from the outside by cleansing, balancing, and soothing

Treatments for skin alone will not fix the problem, and without also treating the root causes internally the risk the body trying to eliminate these toxins elsewhere instead, and causing future problems further down the line.

Skincare for Imbalanced + Stressed Skin

As well as working internally to balance your body, your hormones + reducing the effects of stress there are also many ways you can support and heal your skin topically using natural herbal remedies too:

Calendula

Calendula is one of those wonderful herbs that works to heal from both the inside body + topically. Anti inflammatory calendula can soothe eczema and relieve rashes, it can be used in treating and preventing acne as well an improving skin hydration and firmness.

It is a soothing herb that speeds the healing process, as well as having both anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that help to protect your skin's collagen and elastin from the effects of stress.

Rosehip

As well as being full of antioxidants, tannins and vitamins C (all of which the skin needs to stay healthy) rosehip oil is anti inflammatory, soothing and works to regenerate the skin.

Using rosehip oil daily improves skin tone, brightness and healing capabilities. Rosehip can soothe and reduce acne breakouts and leaves skin nourished, glowing, and moisturised.

Turmeric

Turmeric is a powerful root with many healing + health benefits. It can be used both internally and externally and, when mixed with honey, turmeric powder can make a cleansing, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant face mask. Mix honey and turmeric powder together and apply to the face. can be used once a week for deep cleansing and healing.

Leave for 15-20 mins then wash off with warm water.

• *Warning turmeric powder is deeply pigmented and stains easily. Use a glove to apply, and you may need to wash with a mild cleanser to remove any yellowing to the skin post application.

Frankincense ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Frankincense has been used as a healing medicine for millennia, it’s healing, antimicrobial, has powerful anti inflammatory properties and can be used in most skin situations…

Frankincense is an effective natural remedy to calm the complexion and relieve irritated or damaged skin. Frankincense Oil restores the epidermis of the skin and calms affected areas for rosacea, rashes, or breakouts, soothing and nourishes the skin.

Nettle⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Clarifying + cleansing nettle acts as natural astringent, tightens and firms the skin, cleanses + regulates natural sebum production, treats acne, promotes flawless skin AND accelerates the healing process helping with skin allergies + healing eczema.

Ashwagandha

Ashwagandha is a supporting herb for the body inside + out. An adaptogen ashwagandha cuts off the adverse effect of stress hormones on the skin. As well as keeping your skin young and supple, it clears dirt from pores, effectively diminishes marks and scars.

xo Emily