Staying home during the COVID-19 crisis is the safest way to stop the spread of the virus, but locking yourself indoors for long periods leads to skin issues. According to skin experts, staying home is not an excuse to forego our skincare routine. While self-isolation gives us time to rest our skin from outdoor elements, the sun’s rays and indoor pollutants can harm our skin by making it dry and irritated.
Since community lockdowns forced us to stay at home, skin-conscious women are finding more time to take care of themselves. In fact, the pandemic gave rise to four beauty trends: serums, at-home beauty tools, blue light-blocking skin care, and purple haircare solutions. This led to the emergence of buzzy categories, such as self-care and skin care, which gave an advantage to beauty companies doing business in the same niche.
Since health and beauty are at a steady rise during this pandemic, it is important to take the opportunity to level up your skin care and overall health. So if you want healthy and good-looking skin while indoors, here are some lifestyle changes you can make.
Home improvements
Believe it or not, our homes play a huge role in skin care and overall health. One example are bedsheets, which are often the main cause of skin breakouts. If you’ve been sleeping on the same mattress for weeks or months, imagine the amount of collected skin flakes, oil, sweat, and dead skin cells you shed in your sleep. Some of the gross stuff can stick around on your clothes, pillows, sheets, or worse, your skin.
Mattresses are also home to molds and dust mites. These pests often cling to our clothes and skin or even our pets. According to Sleep Foundation, we should replace our mattresses every six to eight years. A comfortable mattress from a reliable store is a big factor in a good night’s sleep. It also has a significant impact on our happiness and overall health.
If you want to go the extra mile, building a home gym is a great investment. Since most gyms have to close down during the pandemic, an at-home workout area will help you keep up with your fitness goals. What’s great about this is the freedom to workout in private and no gym memberships. An indoor gym will provide an opportunity to live an active lifestyle by improving skin health and increase energy levels.
For self-care fanatics, an indoor sauna will not only add luxury to your home but also boosts your health and well-being. If you want to save yourself a trip to a spa center, having a sauna at home is like having your own go-to spa destination. Saunas offer plenty of health benefits, such as improving blood circulation, reducing anxiety and stress levels, and clearing out body toxins.
Skincare routine
Most people think it is not necessary to use skincare products if you never leave the house. But according to dermatologists, we should never skip our skin care, especially the SPF routine. If you wonder why SPF products are a must, it is because the sun’s rays affect our skin even when we’re indoors. When UVA light penetrates through our windows, it exposes us to acquiring skin cancer and premature skin aging.
A great tip is to apply mineral-based SPF lotion while at home to shield our skin from the sun’s harmful effects. While experts still recommended getting our dose of vitamin D during the early morning, you still need protection against the sun’s rays. After all, lack of sun exposure can lead to seasonal affective disorder.
Applying moisturizer on hands is also important if you’ve been washing your hands frequently. When looking for moisturizers, check if they include hydrating features and hyaluronic acid to promote moisture and prevent dryness.
Lifestyle changes
Did you know that the blue light coming from our devices has harmful effects not just on our eyes but the skin as well? Too much screen time can damage our skin by promoting dark spots and premature aging. Even the act of bending our heads at our phones hurts our skin by increasing the chances of early wrinkling around our necks.
So if you’ve been spending a lot of time in front of the phone or computer, don’t forget to take quick breaks and perform stretching exercises.
The suggestions above demonstrate that caring for our skin and overall health should always start at home. Since we have limited access to essential services during this pandemic, we need to be resourceful by finding ways to maintain a good skincare routine even we’re stuck at home.
