THIS IS
YOUR SKIN
ON STRESS
To understand the stress-skin connection, it helps to acknowledge that stress isn’t only mental, it’s physical. Whenever a client arrives for one of her famous facials, esthetician Georgia Louise almost immediately can gauge their level of calm—or, more commonly, lack thereof. “I can see it when they walk in,” she says. “When I put my hands on someone, I can feel their stress in seconds,” she says.
Fortunately, there’s a silver lining to that cloud: Modifying your skin care regimen can help restore a sense of calm. (To your skin, anyway.) “During times of stress, your skin is sensitized and inflammation is up,” Louise says. “That’s when you need to take it a little easier.” That means swapping harsh, aggressive treatments (such as intensive peels or strong retinoids) for gentle, more nurturing options that encourage skin to heal. “When your skin isn’t in a happy state, it won’t respond well to products with more active ingredients,” she explains. “The key is to get your skin stabilized and healthy and then go back to your usual routine.” For clients in this situation, she recommends her own Hollywood EGF Serum to help calm and renew.