Sinful Skin Stressors: Cause and Effects The six things that you’re doing that are negatively affecting your skin
Illustrations by Gretchen Roehrs
From a boozy late night to a greasy fry-up the next morning, sinful habits might be affecting your body in more ways than you think - especially when it comes to your skin.
Lane Crawford asks the experts, Dr. Nicholas Perricone, leading dermatologist and nutritionist behind Perricone MD, and London-based cosmetic dermatologist Dr. Sam Bunting, to reveal the effects of some of our most tempting skincare sins.
Cause Fast Food
Effects
“This meal is likely to contain a high salt load - so within hours you may have a puffy face, due to fluid collecting in the delicate facial tissues (especially around the eyes),” explains Dr. Bunting. Dr. Perricone adds, “Many refined carbohydrates found in fast food cause an inflammatory response in the body which promotes increased pore size and puffiness, as well as dark under eye circles, loss of tone and firmness, loss of facial contours, increased pore size and puffiness.”
Cause Lack of Sleep
Effects
“When we are sleep-deprived, our skin takes on a pasty, puffy and more wrinkled appearance - formerly svelte figures begin to resemble that famous “Doughboy” of baking fame,” jokes Dr. Perricone. Dr. Bunting elaborates, “The affects of this are usually present within hours – sleep-deprived skin is dull, dehydrated, prone to redness and blemishes may arise.”
Cause Smoking
Effects
“Cigarettes deplete the skin of oxygen and vital nutrients, reducing blood flow to an area while temporarily raising blood pressure. This results in a grey, pallid, lifeless and unhealthy-looking complexions and if it continues, also causes dry, leathery looking skin, premature deep lines, wrinkles and loss of radiance,” explains Dr. Perricone.
Cause Excessive Alcohol
Effects
“The dehydrating effect of excess alcohol means that this is likely to have an impact on skin within hours - so expect dull, lifeless skin the next day,” says Dr. Bunting. Dr. Perricone elaborates, “Alcohol creates inflammation throughout the body including the skin, resulting in effects that far outlast dehydration. Dullness, enlarged pores, discolouration, sagging and lack of resilience are some of the short and longer-term effects.”
Cause Sugar
Effects
“Refined sugar, such as in cake, has a high glycaemic load and stimulates insulin levels to spike in our bloodstream - this is now believed to contribute to breakouts. Its likely to take days to weeks to create blemishes due to the complex mechanisms contributing to acne,” says Dr. Bunting.
Cause Sun Tanning
Effects
“UV radiation is in fact the main environmental factor that causes human skin ageing. Excess exposure to ultraviolet radiation causes skin to loose elasticity, become thin and translucent-looking skin, create wrinkles, dry rough, leathery skin, broken capillaries, freckles, liver spots, blemishes and skin cancer,’ explains Dr. Perricone.