When you’re dealing with a bad skin day or week or month, it can feel like a battle to feel good. It might be that you decide to cancel plans, avoid work or school, or do everything you can to cover it up. Well Ditch the Label and Bioré want to normalise bad skin days, because no one should miss out on life because they are struggling with an issue. Here’s some key things you need to know about your ‘skin esteem’.
Everyone has bad days
Every single person in the world has experienced a bad skin day. From waking up with spots, to oiliness in the sun and dryness in the winter, blackheads from pollution – you name it! We know that it can feel isolating to have a bad skin day, especially if you think it might stop you from going out or doing what you love. But trust us, you are not alone in any of this. Here are some quick tips about how to deal with a bad skin day:
- Make sure you are protected against the sun and UV as a high priority
- Don’t feel the need to cover everything up – everyone gets flare ups
- Covering up could even make it worse, especially if it’s warmer weather
- If you feel uncomfortable, speak to people you are going to be seeing to
- give them a heads up – stares and questions will only make you feel worse.
Your skin is a really important part of you
Your skin is not something to be ashamed of, but something to celebrate. It regenerates itself, it heals, it protects you, it’s your first barrier against bacteria and viruses. And no matter what skin issue you suffer with, there is always something you can do about it, even if it’s just working on how you FEEL about it. But we think the most important thing is to take care of your skin, not to make you look good, but because it’s an awesome organ that is worth taking care of.
It does all sorts of things to keep you safe
How do pores keep your skin healthy?
Pores are the small openings at the top of our hair follicles, that cover the entire body and perform the essential function of releasing sebum onto the skin. Although large pores can be vexing, pores are vital for maintaining healthy skin. In fact, the average adult has 5 million pores, with approximately 20,000 on the face alone.
Why does the skin produce sebum?
Sebum is our body’s natural oil, which acts to moisturise and protect our skin against both infections and ultraviolet radiation, (the number one cause of premature ageing), whilst keeping it supple, like waxing a surfboard.
How does your skin act as a protective barrier?
The upper most layer of the skin, the stratum corneum, is the skin barrier. Scientists liken it to a brick wall, where your skin cells are the bricks and naturally-occurring lipids (fats), such as ceramides, cholesterol and fatty acids are the mortar, preventing moisture loss from both the skin and the body, as well as protecting against external stressors, such as pollution and UV radiation and thirdly, supporting the skins’ dynamic functions. Your skin barrier is the primary determinant of how healthy and even your skin looks.
We know that it can be difficult to embrace something that maybe you don’t like about yourself
Embracing every part of who you are is a tough ask. We are told it all the time – love yourself, be happy. But it’s never really that easy. Negative self-talk can be hard to stop, especially if we have been bullied or teased for the things we don’t like about ourselves. Try repeating some positive affirmations like we recommend in this article, or even just take some time to break down what it is that is upsetting you and deal with it a bit at a time. You can work it out on paper – jot down some stuff you really love about yourself. You’ll see that you have a lot more to be thankful for when you really think about it.
If you feel like you need some tips on rebuilding your self-esteem after bullying then give this a read.
But if you want to boost your skin-esteem, we can help
Ditch the Label has teamed up with teamed up with the wonderful people at Bioré to help boost skin esteem for everyone. Whatever it is that might be getting you down about your skin, we want to make sure it never again gets in the way of you loving yourself, or going about your daily life.
You can find out more about the campaign and access the rest of the support resources at biore.com/en-gb/skinesteem.
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