How to Ease Stress And Control Breakouts

Are you experiencing redness and break outs on your skin?

Lately in the office I’ve been seeing a lot of inflammation and hormonal breakouts due to stress. A lot of us are overworked, anxiety, school, life, so many stressors that can wreak havoc in our skin. A lot of times when we are stressed, we reach for foods and drinks that taste delicious, but can trigger acne.

Have you tried sipping tea before bed? Something like Lavender, Valerian, Chamomile or Chrysanthemum are wonderful at calming the nervous system.

If you are experiencing more breakouts lately, I want to give you a few suggestions that I tell all my clients who are in my Acne Boot camp.

1.Find what foods are triggering your skin. Everyone is different and all of our skins react differently. The main things to eliminate (then add in slowly to see if you are reacting to it) are milk, cheese, yogurt, nuts (no peanut butter especially), coffee, sugar. If you have rosacea, limit spicy foods, and alcohol as well.

2.Take Zinc and Omega Fish Oils daily. Make sure you are using quality vitamins. Do your research before you purchase.

3.ICE. Rub ice on your breakouts 2x a day until inflammation goes down. This is very important for cystic, severe acne.

4.Be careful with “green” drinks/powders. Some are okay, but greens like chlorella and spirulina have a lot of iodine in them and can trigger acne break outs.

5.Drink Green Tea daily. This superfood has more health benefits than science even knows. Fights cancer, reduces inflammation lowers cholesterol, speeds metabolism. Make sure you are using good quality, loose leaf green tea. There are so many varieties, try them all, see which ones you like. I like to get a lot of my green teas from the local Asian Market, they also have other flower/teas like lavender, chamomile etc… Also, the mere act of sitting for a moment, sipping tea is calming in itself, try to end the day with this ritual.

I’ve written about the anti-inflammatory effects of tea and other benefits of drinking tea. You can read more about it here : Tea for Healthy Skin

6.Add Magnesium powder to your tea. You will rest like a baby!

Acne is definitely manageable and we can get your skin to completely turn around, but when our hormones are stressed, that can make the process more difficult and prolonged. As soon as we are able to get a hold of stress in our lives, we will begin to see dramatic differences in the conditions of our skin.

Calming Night Time Tea

Lavender Flowers
Chamomile Flowers
Coconut Milk
3 cups of water
Honey

Add 3 cups of hot water and flowers to a tea pot or small pot on the stove, sit for 5mins.
Strain flowers into a mug or bowl and add a little coconut milk and honey. Stir and enjoy!

If you are needing help managing your acne or know someone who is, schedule a facial and we can begin the path to clear, healthy skin!