The holidays are a great time to enjoy the company of friends and family, indulge in delicious foods and splurge on a dream vacation. That said, the festive season can also have a tremendous effect on the skin—and not in a good way. We share all the ways the holidays can wreak havoc on your complexion, plus some of the best holiday skin care tips to get you through, ahead.
1. Lack of sleep deprives your skin the chance to repair itself.
Between food prep and party hosting, getting a good night’s sleep around the holidays can be quite the challenge. Dr. Robert S. Rosenberg, board-certified sleep medicine physician and author of Sleep Soundly Every Night, Feel Fantastic Every Day, clarifies what happens when our bodies are asleep. “Our brains have a system—the lymphatic system—that flushes out neurotoxins. This is turned on mainly during sleep,” he explains.
But it’s not just that. According to him, our brains also produce body-repairing hormones when we sleep, such as growth hormones, which are necessary for tissue repair and cell regeneration, as well as myelin, the sheath that surrounds and insulates the nerves. Constantly depriving yourself of sleep also causes an elevation of cortisol, putting your body in a constant state of stress. As the body’s largest organ, skin is usually where the first signs of damage appear, and we’re not just talking about dark circles and eye bags. Read more
