Ahh, skin: the largest organ on our bodies and the one we have the greatest love-hate relationship with. Skin is hard to neglect, it’s the first thing we see, more like inspect, in the mirror every morning. Sometimes we feel like we’re on top of the world and other times we feel like everything is going wrong in our lives. This teeter-totter of emotions can be induced by the way our skin looks and how we feel about it on a daily basis.
When we’re feeling good about our skin, we do everything in our power to keep it that way: we increase our water intake, change our pillowcases and bedding, hit the gym a little harder, wash our makeup brushes more often than we would, eat healthier etc.
But what happens when one day we wake up and see the problems coming back?
Often, we completely dismiss our hard work and fall back into a self-loathing cycle until the next round of feel-good skin. This isn’t our fault. Most of the time, we are forced to address the issue when someone calls it out AS IF WE DIDN’T ALREADY KNOW! Like thank you for stating the obvious Auntyji, do you feel better about yourself now? (rolls eyes). I’m going off on a side note, but one of my biggest pet peeves is that if it cannot be fixed in less than 5 minutes, DO NOT CALL IT OUT! This goes for those who are nosy about others insecurities and are willing to put them on blast in front of everyone.
A concept of skin that I have learned through working in skincare is that having troubled skin does not necessarily mean that we are unhealthy: “bad” skin does not equal bad health. There is a stigma surrounding (very normal) skin problems or issues, that somewhere in our skin maintenance, we are doing something that is perhaps considered unhealthy. Honestly, feeling unhealthy in comparison to actually being unhealthy is in truth a crippling feeling because we feel like we’ve exhausted our resources only to come back to where we started. We should be careful in how we treat ourselves during such sensitive periods in our life because the relationship we build in that time can actually be the healthiest or unhealthiest thing for us moving forward.
Our skin is always changing and so are our resources. There are many routines, products or brands that we are always turning to out of habit or preference- and if this works for you, then stick to it by all means! If you are in the market for something new, then do your research about what values you follow in your daily lifestyle and find some brands that cater to those values. Then try some stuff out before committing to it. Making small to big changes in our skin care routines can keep us and our skin feeling fresh. It’s all about finding what works best for us.
I hope this serves as a reminder to anyone who needs it: reach out if you ever feel overwhelmed or have concerns about your skin. Accept advice only when you ask for it, otherwise, call people out on their offensive behavior. And keep going with everything you’re doing because I trust you know what the best thing for your skin is!
