Happy New Year! It’s the perfect time to refresh, renew and treat yourself to some “me” time.
Whether it’s upgrading your skin care routine or finding ways to get quality sleep, there are a number of self-care solutions that can easily be added to your 2021 routine.
Dr. Whitney Bowe and ABC News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton shared their best advice for finding ways to show yourself a little extra TLC this season.
Dr. Whitney Bowe, Dr. Jen Ashton and Maya Feller share their top tips for self-care this year so you can rock your resolutions.
Psychological strain can show up as “stress skin.” Treating it is easier (and more affordable) than you think.
Quick recap: When you have “leaky gut,” the walls of your intestines are injured, which allows irritants, microbes, and undigested food particles to “leak” into the bloodstream. From there, the immune system often marks them as foreign invaders and attacks (which can lead to painful digestive conditions). This we know, and while it’s not yet a widely recognized medical condition, the term has been used a lot more lately by integrative and functional nutrition experts alike.
But did you know you can face “leaky skin” as well? According to board-certified dermatologist Whitney Bowe, M.D., the process happens in a similar fashion to a leaky gut—when your skin barrier becomes compromised, the skin is less able to trap moisture and keep allergens, pollutants, and irritants from seeping in. “When they penetrate through the skin, they trigger inflammation, and they make things like acne, eczema, rosacea, psoriasi worse,” she shares on this episode of the mindbodygreen podcast.
Not a fun situation in the slightest, but there are ways to help manage your leaky skin and strengthen the barrier. Below, Bowe weighs in.
The dermatologist and Pore House physician advisor speaks about her holistic approach to skincare, why she champions clean beauty, and the impact of the gut-brain-skin connection.
Once it was everyone’s favorite new thing, but it turns out that washing your face with an oscillating brush is not a good idea.
Do Wear a (Physical) Sunscreen
Dermatologists recommend everyone wear sunscreen every day, but if you’re using a chemical exfoliant, it’s even more important. “You’re leaving your skin a little more exposed, since you are removing those top layers of the epidermis,” says Dr. Marchbein, who recommends a physical (or mineral) formula. “Physical sunscreens protect skin that hyperpigments easily by creating a literal barrier that reflects off the sun, while chemical sunscreen actually absorbs some of the heat, and can worsen pigmentation issues,” she explains.
Don’t Combine Peels with Physical Exfoliators
Going overboard on exfoliation can irritate skin and lead to eczema, redness, dryness, inflammation and acne breakouts. When using a chemical exfoliant like a peel, “Hold off on any scrubs made from granular particles,” says Whitney Bowe, M.D., a board-certified dermatologist in New York City. “I also recommend avoiding loofah or Buf-Pufs, and anything else abrasive on the skin.”
Do Incorporate Days of Repair
“People who exfoliate every day run into issues with their skin barrier, so I recommend spacing out your peels by four nights,” says Dr. Bowe. (If you have very sensitive skin, Dr. Marchbein recommends using a peel only once a week.) On off days, Dr. Bowe advises you use products with ingredients that restore the skin barrier, such as glycerin, hyaluronic acid, jojoba oil, sunflower seed oil and squalane.
If you’re serious about protecting yourself — and others — from the very real dangers of Covid-19, you’re wearing a mask when you go out around others.
For many people that is leading to an embarrassing and unpleasant side effect: blemishes, pimples, zits — or what dermatologists call acne.
“I have patients calling in despair saying ‘What is going on? I’ve never had a breakout before and now my face looks like a teenager’s!'” said board-certified dermatologist Dr. Whitney Bowe, clinical assistant professor of dermatology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center.
“We’re seeing lots of flares of acne, especially a type called perioral dermatitis, which tends to happen typically around the mouth and in the areas around the nose,” said board-certified Dr. Seemal Desai, an assistant professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
Dr. Whitney Bowe on how to prevent mask-induced acne