Is wearing a mask damaging your skin?
2020 - The year that 'maskne' became a thing! Have you suffered recently with breakouts due to wearing a face mask all the time? Well, we have an exciting collaboration for you that's going to have your skin feeling smooth and fresh in no time:
We at Presscription have teamed up with the absolute wizards at Lisa Frankin Skincare to bring you a huge 20% off their entire range!
We thought we'd also get the lowdown on skin and skin conditions form a diet and lifestyle perspective from Nutritional Therapist, Grace Kingswell. Here's to glowing skin!
@gracekingswell
The most popular blog post I’ve ever written for Presscription was on natural ways to get glowing skin - so I have a feeling that this one is going to be of interest too. I think there’s absolutely no shame in admitting that we’re all a bit obsessed with our skin - our faces are always on show and it’s a huge confidence boost to have clear, blemish free and dewy skin. But is 2020 putting a spanner in the works for your glowing skin routine?
The irony is that “face mask” can either mean the thing you pop on at night that actually improves your skin, or the thing we have to wear all that that’s making us break out!
Let me ask you this - how often do you wash your reusable face mask? I bet it’s not after every time you use it. But the bacteria that collects in there coupled with the higher humidity from breathing is, in my own personal experience and having spoken to friends about it, making spots somewhat of a regular occurrence. There’s actually a name for it - 'maskne.'
Washing your face mask super regularly, or having lots on rotation so that you have a clean one to pop on is an easy and effective way to mitigate against the potential damaging effects of having to wear a hot, sweaty mask over half of your face every day. Also look for natural materials that are breathable like silk, linen and cotton and avoid wearing foundation of make-up under your mask too as this will only clog pores further.
In nature we find fructose naturally occurring in fruit, where it comes packaged with beneficial nutrients that aid in its breakdown and work to actually slow the release of the sugar contained into the bloodstream: fibre, antioxidants and phytonutrients. The high fibre content in fruit is beneficial for maintaining good gut health too. Crucially, natural fructose doesn’t cost our bodies anything, but when we consume refined high fructose syrups our body has a net loss of nutrients as it has to put a lot in to help break it down.
Your skin health is directly linked to your gut health! So if you're in the market for smooth, glowing skin then make sure you get your hands on our Gut Cleanse. Specifically formulated with key nutrients to support gut health plus pre and probiotics - perfect skin starts here!
Generally speaking, I usually don’t have a lot to say on the topic of spots or acne from a Nutritional Therapy point of view because unless it’s hormonal or puberty/adolescence related I generally tend to lump it in with all skin conditions due to this vital piece of info: your skin is one of your largest systems of elimination that our bodies have.
More often than not, if there’s something happening on the skin then there’s something happening within. The odd spot, congested skin, hormonal skin around your period etc is not something I’m particularly worried about as a clinician - but definitely something I’m concerned about as an individual because like I said, we all want to look our best! Severe acne is worth looking into as skin issues are often linked with digestive issues, and finding the root cause is a good way of clearing up problem skin without needing to resort to antibiotics or roaccutane.
Aside from that I think a good skincare routine is absolutely fundamental to maintaining good skin generally - especially if you live in a built up city where the air is thick with pollution and dirt. Being a Nutritional Therapist I advocate for natural skincare at all times (remember that anything that you put on your skin will be absorbed), but I break this rule on occasion when it comes to my skincare routine because sometimes I just need guaranteed results!
Presscription have teamed up with Lisa Franklin skincare to bring you 20% off their products, including their Clear Skin Ritual, a 4-step routine from their award-wining range to manage acne, blemishes and allergy prone skin. Packed full of vitamins, nutrients and clinically proven safe actives, it leaves your skin “purified, calm and clear.”
Simply use the code Lisafranklin20 at the checkout
And, whilst you up your skincare game you can also boost your skin from within with Presscription’s nourishing, organic green juices to really help you get your glow on!