Honest Question: Do You Really Need To Switch Up Your Skincare Routine In Winter?

Did you know, some of your favorite comfort foods are doing your skin no favors? Like, no favors at all.

Let’s get one thing straight: when it comes to what you eat, a bar of chocolate here and a cheeseburger there is totally a-OK. What is it they say? Everything in moderation, right? And we agree. As long as you eat healthily for the most part and allow yourself treats when you want them you’re likely to be just fine.

However, when your meal and snack selections start to not only mess with your weight but also screw up your skin, it may be time to take a look at your diet choices. Because chocolate can’t give you acne, but it can definitely trigger your breakouts.

Whatever your comfort food weakness, read on for the biggest skin offenders that might be worth cutting back on. Of course, unless you have some kind of intolerance or a serious allergy, there’s no need to eliminate them entirely. Just know that if you want your skin to be its absolute best self, the old adage could not be more true – you are what you eat…

1. Cakes, Candy & Other Sweet Treats

OK, let’s start with arguably the biggest offender of them all: sugar. With zero nutritional value, sugar is the absolute devil when it comes to the health of your skin. How so? Well, in simple terms, sugar is an inflammatory which not only speeds up the rate at which your skin ages, but can trigger acne breakouts as well as flare-ups in existing skin conditions like rosacea, psoriasis and eczema.

Research also shows that excess sugar leads to the accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs), which are harmful compounds produced by the skin through a process called glycation. AGEs are no fun at all as they not only attack your skin cells but they do a real number on important proteins such as collagen and elastin, causing them to stiffen, weaken and perform poorly. All this manifests itself at the surface of your skin in the form of fine lines, wrinkles, dryness, sagging, dullness and, well, you get the picture.

More often than not, sugar cravings are simply the result of habit because sweet ‘treats’ make you feel happy and uplifted by releasing the ‘feel good’ hormone, dopamine, into your system. Refined white sugar and corn syrup are the real bad boys in this picture so avoid these as much as possible, swapping them out for things like honey or natural sugars found in fruit to get your sweet fix.

2. White Carbs

There is little better than tucking into a chunk of warm, crusty white bread or a pile of spaghetti carbonara of a cold, wintry evening. However, these sit under the refined carbs umbrella. And, note to self, in this case ‘refined’ is most definitely not a positive.

Refined carbs like white bread, pasta and rice are basically carbohydrates that have been processed and therefore stripped of the vitamins, minerals and fiber that make complex carbs so much better for your health and skin. This manufacturing process makes refined carbs easier to digest and offers an instant source of energy. Which may sound great, but this burst of energy is very short-lived (making you want to eat more) and causes a quick rise in blood sugar.

And there we have it: that skin-ruining thing called sugar rises again, which leads to AGEs, inflammation and friends.

Complex carbs are way better than the refined stuff so try to include more oatmeal, sweet potatoes and fruit and veggies in your diet. Less of the white stuff, yes?

3. Salty Snacks

Sure, sugar is seriously bad news. But salt is just as bad where your skin is concerned. You see, salt promotes dehydration, weakening your skin’s barrier function and killing its chances of remaining soft, supple and strong. What’s more, your favorite salty chips or nuts can contain up to 170mg of salt. Eesh!

Truth is, most salt contains around 40 percent sodium. Sodium draws essential moisture from the skin’s cells into the bloodstream in a bid to balance out fluids. This is important business and helps your body to function properly. But too much sodium in your diet puts this clever balancing act out of whack, pulling excess moisture from the cells and resulting in dehydrated skin that can be itchy, puffy, irritated and flaky-looking.

There’s more. When the skin starts to become dry and dehydrated, it produces more oil to compensate for its lack of moisture. And this can be a killer on your skin if you’re prone to breakouts, blocking up your pores and triggering acne before you can say ‘pass the salt!’

It’s important to remember, however, that salt is crucial for your health so don’t avoid it completely. Just try to use less when cooking and give lower sodium savory snacks like unsalted nuts, crackers or veggie chips a go.

4. The Processed Meat Gang

Processed meats like bacon, sausages, salami and deli meats are all super-high in salt. So… see above. They also contain a ton of saturated fat and are often packed with preservatives called nitrites to preserve them and help them last longer. Fair enough. Actually, what if we told you that nitrites assist in the breakdown of collagen and elastin? Not so fair enough, after all.

Reminder: collagen and elastin are important proteins that work hard to keep your skin firm, strong and supple. As skin ages it loses vital collagen and elastin which is why it’s important to do everything you can to preserve them for as long as possible. Quality sleep, kick-ass sun protection, topical antioxidants, you know the score. But if you undo all this hard work by overloading your diet with collagen and elastin-killing preservatives like nitrites. Well, you can say goodbye to youthful-looking skin and hello there, premature aging.

5. Fried Food

It’s estimated that over a quarter of Americans consume fried food from fast food restaurants every single day. Scary right?

Fried foods like burgers, fries, hot dogs and chicken not only raise your bad cholesterol and lower your good cholesterol, but they also increase the number of AGEs in your skin. Remember AGEs ⬆️? Yes, they’re truly the bad guys in this picture. Fried foods, however, produce a whole different kind of AGE to sugar in that they’re not created inside your body, but form within the food when it's cooked at such extreme, dry temperatures.

Studies have shown that dry heat (basically any kind of heat that doesn’t include water) may increase the amount of AGEs in food by up to 100 times. Baking, broiling, roasting and barbecuing all cause AGEs to form in certain high fat/high protein foods (especially red meat), but frying is undoubtedly the worst. Get this: fried bacon contains around ten times the number of AGEs as microwaved bacon. We’re not going to get too technical on you but no, microwaving isn’t a form of dry heat cooking. It’s complicated. Just trust us on that one.

The moral of the story is if you’re worried that your diet is aging you up too fast, think about what you eat and get some balance in your life with more fresh fruit and veggies, unprocessed foods, white meat, fish and legumes.

A great skincare routine can also help to keep your collagen levels in check so why not try our awesome Longevity range which encourages healthy, rather than premature skin aging.

We like that.

Do you feel like your already-supersized-pores are growing by the minute? They're not. But it might feel like they are...

Pores are the foundation of healthy skin. Of course, collagen makes your skin strong, supple and plump. And yes, elastin gives it that all-important bouncebackability. But without pores, your skin would be a dry, shrivelled up shadow of its former self. Not to mention the fact that your entire body would lose its ability to regulate its own body temperature.

As a quick reminder, pores are tiny, microscopic openings found at the surface of your skin right at the top of your hair follicles and sweat glands. They exist to allow important liquids (as well as other particles and gases) to pass through the surface of your skin. The human body has two types of pores: sweat pores which help regulate body temperature; and oil-producing pores that are found at the top of your hair follicles where they release sebum to moisturize and lubricate the surface of the skin. The good thing about sweat pores is that they’re so small you can’t see them making them of very little concern in the grand scheme of things.

Oil-producing pores, on the other hand, are just so annoyingly visible. So why?

What Determines The Size Of Your Pores?

Like your height, skin tone and color of your hair, the size of your pores is largely shaped by genetics. This means that yes, you can blame your parents, and yes, the size of your pores is pretty much fixed.

Of course, this is great news if you have almost invisible pores. Not so much if yours feel like they take over your entire face. But let’s get one thing straight: no matter how enlarged you believe your pores are when you study them in the mirror, they’re rarely as bad as you think. Because the truth is, nobody else scrutinizes your skin on the same level as do you.

Do Pores Get Bigger Over Time?

Yes and no. The size of your pores never really changes on a physiological level. So yes, all those half-truths about being able to ‘shrink’ your pores with alcohol-heavy toners or freezing cold water is a bit of a con. But there’s a little bit of truth in there because while the actual size of your pores doesn’t alter, their walls can stretch and expand, making them appear more pronounced.

Penny drops.

What Causes Pores To Stretch With Age?

Many things happen to your skin throughout your life that can cause the walls of your pores to become damaged and loose. Of course, regular aging plays the most obvious role as your collagen levels naturally decrease over time. Sadly, there’s not a huge amount you can do about your biological clock (there’s those genes doing their worst again!) but there are many other factors of which you can control that contribute to the rate at which your pores become slack. 

Sun Damage

Gosh, the sun gets blamed for a lot of skin issues. But we don’t apologize for that because it really is one of the worst things for the condition of your skin. UV radiation breaks down important proteins like collagen and elastin thanks to a build-up of free radicals. This weakens the collagen fibers that give your skin its structure, thus allowing the walls of your pores to become slack, weak and kind of baggy-looking. AKA more visible!

Picking Your Skin

If you have a tendency to pick or squeeze your skin, this not only irritates your skin as a whole, but it can seriously mess with the collagen and elastin fibers that keep your skin firm and supple. Scarring is the most obvious possibility from picking your skin, but you pores will also suffer as a consequence.

Excess Sebum

After puberty sebum production usually levels out to a somewhat more ‘normal’ rate. However, things can get messy again during significant hormonal changes in your life. Menstruation, pregnancy, the menopause, all of these periods in your life cause your hormones to become unbalanced and your sebum levels to fluctuate. And when sebum production increases it fills up your pores causing them to expand, stretch and appear bigger.

Slow Cell Turnover

When you’re in your 20s each skin cell has a life cycle of around 28 days in which time it is formed at the lower levels, moves up to the surface and then sheds. As with most biological functions, however, cell turnover slows down as you mature, causing dead cells to hang around longer than necessary at the surface of your skin. Like excess sebum, these dead cells have nowhere else to go but to clog up your pores. And clogged pores = saggy, enlarged-looking pores.

Bad Makeup Choices

Certain foundations and face cosmetics that contain heavy oils and thick butters can also block your pores, causing them to expand and become more noticeable. Make sure you scan the labels of your favorite makeup formulations to ensure they’re non-comedogenic. Non-comedogenic means they’re way less likely to block your pores (comedone is the fancy term for pore, if you didn’t know).

The Best Ways To Keep Your Pores Tight

After reading the above you can probably guess what you need to do to avoid your pores becoming damaged and saggy. But we’ll lay it out for you anyway, just to drive the point home!

1. First up, wear sunscreen. This is the best thing you can do to conserve the collagen you’ve already got while ensuring you’re still making quality fresh stuff. Apply SPF 30 Mineral Sunscreen with Vitamin C every morning as par for the course, and do your skin even more of a solid by doubling up your protection with an antioxidant serum underneath sunscreen. Niacinamide is a very good ingredient for smoother, more resilient skin so try our Niacinamide (B3) Facial Serum.

2. Don’t pick your skin. Pimples or no pimples. Nothing good can come of this.

3. Balance sebum by gently cleansing and lightly moisturizing your skin come what may. It’s super important to keep your skin clean morning and night so that oils don’t build up at the surface. We love Tea Tree Super Cleanser+ which harnesses the power of tea tree oil to clarify the skin without leaving it feeling parched. Just remember, it’s equally as vital to follow with moisturizer so your skin doesn’t think it’s dry and overcompensate with more oil than you started with!

4. Exfoliate to boost cellular turnover. But don’t overdo it. Listen to your skin and exfoliate just once or twice a week if that’s all it needs. Our Vitamin C Gentle Face Scrub (which just won an industry award may we add!) is a fantastic way to keep your skin bright, clean and dead skin cell-free. Plus, it’s kind to your skin. Which is super important, at any age.

5. Finally, don't underestimate the powers of retinol. Retinol is an incredible way to boost collagen AND encourage healthy cellular turnover. That's great news for your pores. And for controlling acne. And for reducing the appearance of wrinkles. And... well, you get the picture. Try our classic Retinol Facial Serum once or twice a week to begin with, building up to nightly as your skin acclimates.