How To Turn Stressed Skin Into Your Best Skin

No idea why you’re getting an influx of acne right now? Many lifestyle habits can trigger your breakouts ­­­­­– and sometimes they’re found in the most unsuspecting places.

As you know, acne is caused by one thing and one thing alone: an excess of sebum that causes your pores to become blocked with oil, dead skin cells, bacteria and other impurities. Eating too much chocolate doesn’t give you pimples. Neither does moisturizer. Sure, they can trigger breakouts if you’re genetically susceptible to them, but acne isn’t caused by uncleanliness, a poor diet or crummy skincare routine. It’s caused by blocked pores. End of.

OK, so this begs the question: why bother trying to cure them if your breakouts are totally out of your control? Well, here’s the thing. You can’t change your genes, that’s for certain. However, what you can do is keep acne-triggering factors under control to help lessen the blow. Sleeping well, reducing emotional stress and eating a healthy, well-balanced diet; all these things are important for maintaining balanced sebum and therefore reducing the likelihood of you breaking out week after week.

But there are also some less obvious reasons why you face might be suffering with regular breakouts. So if you’ve already dispensed with things like smoking, poor cleansing and too much exfoliation, but you’re still getting pimples on the reg, it might be time to look at some of the more unexpected areas of your life.

On that note, read on for five slightly more unusual causes for your breakouts.

1. Your Pillowcase

Getting enough beauty sleep is crucial for the health of your skin, but if you’re sleeping on a dirty pillowcase for a solid eight hours every night dirt and bacteria is inevitably going to build up and irritate your pores. This is especially true if you sleep on a synthetic pillowcase because man-made fibers don’t absorb sweat as effectively as natural fibres like cotton or linen.

The answer? Go natural all the way, for starters. Also, cleanse and moisturize your skin before bed to reduce the amount of grime getting on your pillowcase. Tea Tree Super Cleanser+ is a great acne-fighting cleanser that balances and clarifies your pores. Follow this with Retinol Moisturizer to lightly hydrate and moisturize your skin while boosting cellular turnover to keep your pores free of dead skin cells.

Finally, wash your pillowcase every three or four days. And ditto, your face towel. Old, dirty towels that are used by the whole family for drying their hands and who-knows-what-else are another breeding ground for germs and bacteria. Do you really want to be swiping this all over your freshly cleansed skin? Thought not. So, invest in a couple of cotton face towels for you and you alone and wash them every other day.

2. Your Makeup & Hair Products

Your skincare routine might be spot on, but what about your makeup and hair products? Rich hair conditioners, for example, are notorious for containing heavy ingredients like cocoa butter and coconut oil which, granted, are incredible for moisturizing your precious locks, but are not so great for acne-prone skin. Of course, we know you’re not smothering your face with conditioner but still, it can settle on your face when you rinse your hair so always cleanse your skin after, never before conditioning.

Makeup can similarly clog up your pores, especially if you use formulations that contain oil. So don’t do that. Instead, look out for noncomedogenic products (this means they’re less likely to block pores) and use powder rather than liquid formulations whenever possible.

3. Your Workout Routine

Do you love to get a good sweat on when you’re working out? High fives to you. However, allow all that sweat and grime to sit on your skin and your pores are going to clog up quicker than your instructor can say ‘hit the floor for ten push-ups.’

Cleanse your skin thoroughly and swiftly after exercising (the longer you leave your skin doused in sweat and grimy workout gear, the more bacteria is likely to breed), and always use a mild but effective cleanser that helps to detoxify your skin without drying it out. Our Charcoal Clarifying Cleanser is a goodie as it harnesses the powers of coconut-derived activated charcoal which destroys skin-smothering impurities to offer a deep, gently purifying clean every time.

4. Your Winter Cover-Ups

Any fabric that rubs against your skin can lead to unwanted issues in the long-term. Remember how face masks were causing ‘maskne’ back in the pandemic? This was all due to friction from the mask combining with the obvious culprits of sweat, dirt, oil, bacteria and humidity which caused dryness, irritation and pimples.

Thankfully, for most of us, the days of having to wear a mask 24/7 are over. However, if you spend a lot of time outdoors in the winter and like to wrap yourself up in woollen hats and thick, heavy scarves, these can cause similar problems, trapping sweat and increasing friction around your chin, jaw, neck and forehead.

To help reduce breakouts caused by beanies, scarves (and even turtleneck sweaters), avoid synthetic fabrics and launder your winter cover-ups regularly. Weekly, at least.

5. Your Laundry Detergent

Speaking of laundry, your choice of detergent is also imperative. Just like your beauty routine, certain ingredients in your laundry detergent can be super irritating – especially if you have extremely sensitive or acne-prone skin. Fragrance, for example, can be a real Debbie Downer, as can harsh dyes, essentials oils, strong surfactants and preservatives.

To reduce the likelihood of your laundry detergent triggering those pesky breakouts, first up, choose liquid over powder detergents. Why? Because these leave behind less residue on your clothes and fabrics (who knew?!). Also, never use more detergent than is recommended on the label, avoid fabric softeners and try double rinsing your laundry after washing to remove as much residue as possible.

One wish: to enjoy the tight, gravity-defying skin of 20 years ago. Sadly, it’s not going to happen, so the next best thing? Skincare ingredients that boost collagen and help your skin appear subtly firmer and just a tad more lifted.

Let’s get one thing straight: skincare cannot perform miracles. We’d love to be able to tell you that our new Caffeine Facial Serum can give you the skin of someone 30 years your junior or that our Vitamin C Gentle Face Scrub will eradicate every single one of your much-loathed dark spots after just one use. But we’d be lying. Skincare is awesome, absolutely. And yes, it can 100 percent help to subtly improve the appearance of acne breakouts, wrinkles and aging skin. But it has its limits. And knowing that your favorite moisturizer or prized facial serum can only do so much is crucial. Otherwise, you will always be disappointed. And that’s not what we want for you.

OK, so now this bombshell is out of the way and you understand that skincare ingredients aren’t going to give you an instant facelift or smooth out your laughter lines like fillers or Botox, here’s what they can do.

Choose the right formulation, crafted with thoughtful, clinically-proven ingredients, and skincare can very much improve the look, feel and health of your skin. And if you’ve ever woken up after trying a new serum for the first time, only to be greeted in the mirror by visibly brighter skin, you’ll know exactly what we’re talking about.

So, which ingredients should you pin your hopes on if you’re specifically looking to lift and firm sagging skin? Well, skin starts to go south because of dwindling collagen supplies so boosting collagen production is your first and best bet. Bearing in mind everything we’ve just said about managing expectations, therefore, here are five topical favorites we believe are the most effective for encouraging healthy collagen and helping you on the road to firmer, more toned skin.

1. Peptides

Without blinding you with science, peptides are chemical compounds made from amino acids. They’re very similar to proteins, but where proteins are large molecules made up of long chains of amino acids, peptides are their baby cousins, containing much shorter chains. Why is this of interest? Because due to their similarity, peptides have the smart ability of being able to penetrate the skin where they work like little messengers, signaling for your cells to produce more proteins. And which protein is most abundant in your skin? Yes, you got it, collagen.

In simple terms, applying topical peptides encourages your cells to keep on producing collagen (and elastin, for that matter), thus helping to counteract the skin’s inevitable loss of this vital protein and staving off all that comes with it ­– namely wrinkles, lines and sagging skin.

Try: Firming Collagen Day Lotion which contains vegan collagen peptides, amongst other skincare powerhouses like ceramides, green algae, vitamin E and aloe.

2. Retinol

When it comes to boosting your skin’s supply of healthy collagen very few topical ingredients trump retinol. Ask your derm or any skincare expert and we bet 1,000 bucks they will agree. So, what makes it so darn good? Well, it’s been studied for decades and it never fails to deliver the same skin-regenerating results. You see, retinol has an innate ability to communicate with your skin at a deep cellular level to encourage a speedier production of collagen and elastin in a bid to heal and strengthen your skin. Simple as. Well, it’s not that simple, but that’s all you really need to know.

Of course, retinol isn’t for everyone – it’s so good, it can be a tad irritating for some skin types – but if you used it slowly and carefully, always patch testing it first, you’ll find it can be a fantastic way to help keep your skin firm and youthful-looking for years to come.

Try: Retinol Facial Serum which has been formulated with hyaluronic acid and vitamin E, helping it to be as gentle on your skin as possible.

3. Bakuchiol

If retinol isn’t for you but you’re looking for something that does almost the exact same thing and offers very similar results, allow us to introduce you to bakuchiol.

One of the newest ingredients to the skincare world (but an absolute keeper unlike other ridiculous ingredients that are all fluff and no function), bakuchiol is nature’s best alternative to retinol. How so? Because it works just like its long-running counterpart, stimulating collagen synthesis and accelerating cellular turnover at a deep, below-the-surface level.

Bakuchiol is extracted from the seeds and leaves of the babchi plant and has been used for centuries in Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine. The reason it’s gained such momentum in Western skincare recently is that, granted, it's very similar to retinol, but more importantly it comes with way fewer unwanted side effects. Of course, its gentle nature means it works more slowly but if you sensitive skin and have patience, bakuchiol is a great choice for fighting the visible signs of aging –including sagging skin but certainly not stopping there!

Try: Rejuvenating Longevity Serum which combines bakuchiol with antioxidant-rich lingonberry stem cells and snow algae.

4. Vitamin C

If you don’t know by now how awesome vitamin C is then we’ve been doing something wrong! In our minds, this antioxidant wonder kid can do no wrong.

Like retinol, vitamin C is one of the most trusted and clinically-proven ingredients in the entire world of skincare. It’s known mainly for providing brightening benefits but never forget what an excellent antioxidant it is, offering the absolute best in environmental protection by neutralizing free radicals before they get a chance to destroy collagen – and believe us, that is exactly what free radicals will do if you don’t get in there first.

But it's not just vitamin C's antioxidant prowess that’s crucial for preventing collagen and elastin breakdown. Its highly acidic nature also works hard to boost your collagen and elastin levels. So there’s that.

Try: Vitamin C Deep Hydration Night Cream which gives your skin a delicious overnight boost of protective vitamin C, along with skin-loving botanical oils like jojoba, rosehip and evening primrose.

5. MSM

Sure, we’re all about vitamin C for president here at TruSkin, but another of our skin-firming favorites comes in the form of methylsulfonylmethane, or MSM to friends like you.

Very well tolerated by even the most sensitive of skin types, MSM is a naturally-occurring form of sulfur. And if you didn’t know, sulfur is one of the most important elements in the human body, often touted as the ‘beauty’ or ‘healing’ mineral.

What does that mean for sagging skin? Yeah, we’re getting to that. And the answer is simple: MSM plays a key role in the production and composition of collagen and keratin. Its anti-inflammatory qualities also help decrease damage to the skin caused by lifestyle aggressors like stress, lack of sleep and a sugar or carb-heavy diet. Oh, and as an extra sidenote, MSM also boosts the body’s production of glutathione which is one of your most important, naturally-occurring antioxidants. Take that free radicals!

Try: Vitamin C Super Serum+ which partners MSM with its bestie, vitamin C. Why do they love each other so? Because vitamin C helps the skin readily absorb MSM, thus doubling up their combined collagen-boosting effects.

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.

Heard about retinol sandwiching but clueless about what it is or whether you should be getting on that train immediately? Here’s what we know…

Retinol offers an incredible solution to many skin woes. Hate your monthly breakouts? Try retinol. Worried about wrinkles catching up on you way too quickly? Retinol’s your guy. It’s true, retinol is the gold standard in skincare ingredients – just ask your dermatologist; we’d put a lot of money on them being in complete agreement.

But retinol isn’t all moonlight and roses. In fact, many people find that it’s pretty devilish on their skin, causing all sorts of irritating side effects that, frankly, make it not worth the hassle. You know the score, think redness, itching, flaky skin and extreme dryness.

This is why you’ll see countless blog posts and viral videos about how best to make retinol work for your skin type without causing all the bad stuff. Spoiler alert: if you choose the right formulation and apply it slowly and carefully, most skin types can totally appreciate the benefits retinol has to offer.

Reckon you’ve tried all the tricks but still can’t get on with retinol on a regular basis? Then you have options. The first is to try bakuchiol which is a natural and far gentler alternative to retinol. We’re huge advocates of this just-as-awesome ingredient as it works in a similar way to retinol, encouraging cell turnover and accelerating collagen production. In fact, we love it so much that we based an entire collection of healthy aging formulations around it. Check out the range here.

The other options is to try retinol sandwiching, a ‘trend’ that #BeautyTok is all over, but one which, in fact, has been around for many years…

What Is Retinol Sandwiching?

Retinol usually comes in the form of a serum which is applied to cleansed skin before moisturizer. Retinol sandwiching, however, switches things up. Don’t worry though, it’s nothing too tricky but is a very easy technique. You simply apply moisturizer before your retinol serum, then another layer afterwards, creating the proverbial sandwich effect with the retinol being your filling and moisturizer the bread.

Why Is Retinol Sandwiching A Thing?

As skincare ingredients go, retinol is arguably the best but, as we previously mentioned, its benefits are often outnumbered by its downsides – especially if you have particularly sensitive skin. Of course, introducing it slowly into your skincare routine is a great way to reduce the risks of unwanted side effects because this allows your skin to acclimate to such a potent powerhouse.  

And there are many other ways to help you reduce irritation. One of which is the retinol sandwich.

Not to be taken literally (please don’t smother retinol serum over your favorite sourdough – like, ever), retinol sandwiching is particularly good for dry skin but can be a useful tool for reducing all kinds of irritation and sensitivities.

Why is the retinol sandwich so good for the skin? Well, it creates a kind of buffering effect, adding a layer of product between your skin and the retinol which helps to slow down its absorption and reduce its potency. Not to mention the added moisturization as an extra bonus. All this means that you’ll likely be able to use your retinol serum more frequently.

Does Sandwiching Make Retinol Less Effective?

Yes. Most moisturizers contain oils and water which kind of ‘dilute’ the retinol, making it weaker and less effective. But if you’re choosing to make yourself a retinol sandwich, you’re probably doing so because you have sensitive skin and want to reduce the irritation it may potentially cause. So making it weaker is kind of the point, right?

Is Retinol Sandwiching Right For Your Skin Type?

Honestly? That’s a question only you can answer. The truth is, if you use it wisely, most retinol formulas can be successfully built into your skincare routine without the sandwich method. That being said, nobody knows your skin better than you, so if you feel it may help you to enjoy the benefits of retinol, there’s no harm in trying.

All we can say is that if you want to give it a go, make sure to choose the right moisturizer for the job. Here’s a quick checklist for you.

✅ Go for a lightweight lotion. This will be better than a rich, heavy cream because it will at least allow a little of the retinol to get through to the surface of your skin.

❎ Avoid moisturizer that contains potent, active ingredients. Certain ingredients may react with the retinol and actually increase your chances of redness and irritation.

✅ Look out for gentle hydrating ingredients. Things like hyaluronic acid, glycerin and aloe vera are your friends here.

Other Tips For Making Retinol Work For You

1. Always Patch Test Retinol First

Yes, patch testing is boring and certainly not for the impatient, but it’s important and a great way to know whether a certain ingredient is going to be the right match for your skin. Patch test any new retinol product on a discreet area of your skin first. Then leave it for 48 hours to check for adverse reactions before using it as recommended.

2. Use It On Dry Skin

Many ingredients play well on damp skin but moisture can increase the absorption of retinol, simultaneously increasing the chances of irritation. Better to be safe by applying it to skin that's dry.

3. Go Slow And Go Steady

We’re all about the 1-2-3 retinol rule. When starting out, apply your product once a week only, for one week. Then apply it twice a week for two weeks and finally, go for three times a week for three weeks. This helps your skin build tolerance and allows you to eventually be able to apply it every night.

4. Apply Sunscreen Every Morning

Don’t let damaging UV radiation screw up all that fresh new skin retinol is helping to bring to the surface. Generously apply SPF 30 Mineral Sunscreen every morning as the final step in your routine. 

But you knew that. Didn't you? DIDN'T YOU?