Party season is right around the corner, and we can’t wait. Tis the season for family photos, seasonal parties, and laughter, so naturally you’re going to be letting your hair down a bit. A combination of late nights, cold winter weather, and a little indulgence really begin to take their toll on your skin during party season, which is of course when we’d rather be glowing. Your skin goes through a lot day to day anyway, and some merriment can mean we put it through some trials too. How do you stop your skin becoming dry, dull, and tired this party season and stave off the burnout? Here are our top 3 tips on maintaining your skin’s health while you still have fun this winter!
How alcohol affects your party season glow
The cycle never seems to end – you want glowing skin to look great for parties and get togethers, you then attend these parties and indulge a little, and then you need to save your skin afterwards in time for the next party. Seasonal skincare is a balancing act that needs some attention paid to it, and the first thing to pay attention to is alcohol. Whether you enjoy a drink or just have one with your evening meals, there are plenty more occasions during party season your drinking to increase. This will generally leave you with a dull, dry base. Alcohol has a double impact on the skin, the first being dehydration. When your body is hungover and dehydrated, it will always send any remaining moisture to the internal organs to aid their detoxing. This naturally saps the moisture from the skin, leaving it irritated. Also, most alcohol is pretty high in acid and sugar. Cocktails and carbonated drink mixers contain a lot of sugar, causing inflammation in the skin. This then hinders skin cell renewal and can even cause collagen to break down, resulting in premature skin ageing. Be mindful of your alcohol consumption, drink plenty of water (even between alcoholic drinks) but also adopt products that are high in hyaluronic acid and richer moisturisers to boost your skin cell renewal and hydration.
How even Christmas shopping stress affects your skin
You’ll receive no judgement from us, but we know a lot of people still have Christmas shopping to do come the morning of Christmas Eve. This shopping frenzy isn’t a walk in the park, as we’re sure we’re all aware. Coupling the Christmas stress – whether present buying, readying your house for hosting, or arranging family plans and meals – with cold weather, less sleep, and more social occasions tires out your skin like you wouldn’t believe. When you’re under stress or pressure, your adrenal glands release a hormone called cortisol, which affects blood flow throughout the body and damages collagen in your skin. This accelerates the ageing process and hinders your skin’s ability to repair itself, which results in skin fatigue. With skin fatigue, you’ll notice dullness, enlarged pores, and dryness. It doesn’t reflect light very well, so it quite literally saps your glow and looks tired. Fight dryness with hyaluronic acid and moisturisers, as always, but for dullness you should be utilising products rich in Vitamin C. It boosts your skin cells, brightens, and smooths rough skin, reinvigorating skin that is seasonally stressed. We’d recommend the ZO Skin Health C-Bright Serum!
Slacking on your seasonal skincare
The third and final exploration we’re doing into seasonal skincare is how, generally, people tend to slack on their skincare routines. Late nights, whether spent partying or preparing, lead to us just wanting our beds. We all know sleeping in makeup is never good, but when we’re extra sometimes our bed is just much too persuasive. Sleeping in makeup promotes bacterial infections, leading to clogged pores and breakouts. It also dries the skin out, causing redness and sensitivity whilst speeding up the ageing process! However, even if you don’t wear makeup, slacking on your skincare routine still causes problems for your skin. As we discovered in our blog post on autumn and winter skincare tips, our skin has specific needs at this time of year that should be adhered to if we want to keep it dewy and fresh. Weekly exfoliation, richer moisturisers, and skin cell boosting products are always advisable for everyone, not just the makeup-wearing amongst us. You might even find that a chemical peel would benefit your skin.
Keeping your skin glowing and fresh this party season is a feat we should all attempt. If you’d like to discuss your skin’s needs or enhance your glow in time for Christmas, enquire online or speak to a member of staff on 01463 830149 today!