Have you noticed your acne flaring up when stress levels rise? Learn more how to prevent this!

One of the most common questions we get is “does stress cause acne?” We are gathered here today to talk about exactly that.   Is stress acne even a thing? Can you do anything about? Does stress make acne worse?  This is a topic there is so much confusion about, but we want to clear things up (pun intended!) We’re going to talk about how stress leads to acne, as well as what anti-acne ingredients you can incorporate into your skincare routine to keep you all clear. We also want to touch on how adjusting your diet can do wonders for your skin, and last but certainly not least, our soothing face oil serum,  Most Wanted, which we like to call “the face oil for people who can’t use face oil” which has hundreds of reviews on how it cleared people’s skin! Spoiler, clean skin care products are an easy solution to reducing stress acne! All together these four topics should help in significantly reducing stress acne, as well as acne in general. So let’s jump right into it!

First things first, let’s chat about how stress can lead to acne. We’ve all heard about the many studies in which college students have significantly more flare-ups during exams, the most high-stress period of the year. There isn’t much research about how stress exactly worsens acne, besides the fact that cells that produce sebum also have stress hormone receptors. Sebum is the stuff that clogs your pores or hair follicles and usually leads to painful pimples. When you’re stressed you produce more sebum, which will often lead to an increase in acne. So in a way, yes stress can cause acne. To make matters worse, you are more likely to pick at your skin and touch your face when you are stressed, which means your skin is getting inflamed, and most likely getting dirt particles stuck in its pores. There is also the never ending cycle of getting a pimple, covering it up with makeup, which leads to keeping your skin clogged instead of clean, which equals more pimples over time.  These are just a few of the suggested reasons to answer the question “does stress cause acne” and since there is very little conclusive evidence is available, we think it’s better to focus on the solution!  A few ways to manage stress and keep acne at bay are to make sure you get enough sleep (go for the eight hours everyone is always talking about!), maintain a healthy diet (more on that later!), get regular exercise, and to practice mindful breathing or take a few minutes a day to do yoga or meditation.  

Let’s talk about anti-acne ingredients to look for when shopping for products that will help your skin. We’ve talked about this before, but the more moisture the better! Basically the more moisturized your skin feels, the less pore-clogging sebum it produces, and bye bye pimples! Some sebum production is necessary and good for your skin, as it is a completely normal bodily mechanism, but it’s when your skin feels stripped and produces too much that it becomes clogging to pores and hair follicles.  Here are some of the best moisturizing and skin clearing ingredients you should look for in your skincare products:

Jojoba Seed Oil:

It’s rich in antioxidants, and skin healing properties to soothe, reduce redness, and repair.  Jojoba oil naturally softens and smooths your complexion.  Since it acts similarly to our skin’s oil, it helps balance out the skin for anyone who has either too much or too little oil.  It’s also rich in vitamin E, which is a potent antioxidant that defends the skin against oxidative damage (aka signs of aging).  Finally, Jojoba oil is amazing for acne-prone skin.  The vitamins found within it soothe the skin (especially if you have sensitive skin!), and since it’s non-comedogenic it will never clog your pores.

Marula Oil: 

A deeply moisturizing oil rich in critical antioxidants and omega 6 and 9 which nurture the skin.  Marula oil is amazing for both its anti-aging functions and its ability to help heal damaged skin, including spots and blemishes. Though it is on the comedogenic scale, we use a very small amount of it in Most Wanted Radiant Facial Oil, just enough so you can get the moisturizing natural goodness!

Rosehip Oil: 

Repairs skin damage by restoring elasticity and collagen, giving the skin a rejuvenated look and feel. It brightens and evens the skin, regenerates and heals blemishes, and helps with skin elasticity and collagen production.  The reason Rosehip oil is beneficial for acne is that it contains linoleic acid, retinoids, and is rich in fatty lipids and ascorbic acid. 

Evening Primrose Oil: 

Promotes a healthy, clear, rejuvenated complexion by addressing roughness, wrinkles, redness, dryness, and irritation.  Evening Primrose Oil helps reduce acne by balancing the body’s ratio of omega-6 and omega-3 essential fatty acids.  It also contains high quantities of Linoleic acid, which reinforces the skin barrier, preserves skin elasticity, prevents skin infections, and regulates sebum production.  

Hemp Derived Broad Spectrum CBD: 

Most Wanted contains 500mg of Broad Spectrum CBD.  Our highly potent Broad Spectrum CBD not only calms, soothes and balances skin with anti-inflammatory properties, but is also extracted in the cleanest possible way.  At The Feelist, we pride ourselves in using the highest quality organic hemp and a subcritical CO2 extraction method.  The result is the most clean and safe form of CBD that preserves the effective, superpower properties of the plant.  CBD is the non-intoxicating component of the hemp plant.  Numerous studies have shown that CBD has amazing anti-inflammatory benefits when applied to the skin.  

A few other amazing ingredients that are sure to keep your skin clear are benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid, alpha-hydroxy acids, retinol, tea tree oil, and sulfur.  The reason these are so great are because of their antibacterial properties, which when used over time will assist in getting rid of acne-causing bacteria.  Kill them with kindness!

The next important thing to consider when asking the question “does stress cause acne” is how your diet may affect your stress levels as well as your acne.  There are so many fads and diets that promise to clear your skin and cleanse your system, but the real answer is quite simple.  By maintaining a healthy diet you keep your body from having to constantly detoxify itself (which is an exhausting process and results in acne - also known as purging!).  Leafy greens, healthy fats, and fruits are the way to go.  Giving your body the minerals it truly needs will result in skin so clear it will give any product a run for its money! Let’s get into some guaranteed skin-changing foods.  First things first, whatever it is, it HAS to be unprocessed.  Whole grains, legumes, and lots of vegetables. Spinach, kale, arugula are all excellent choices. Foods containing zinc, Vitamin A and E, omega-3’s, and antioxidants will be doing the best at this.  Hint: blueberries are extremely high in antioxidants! In terms of good fats, go for pumpkin seeds, cashews, lentils, quinoa, and fish like salmon and mackerel.   Giving your body what it truly needs will not only allow it to function much better and therefore handle stress better; but will discontinue purging through the skin.  There are also several studies that show a low-glycemic (low sugar) diet can prevent acne.  Processed sugars are the absolute worst for your skin and we highly recommend staying away if you are looking to improve your skin.

Last but not least, as we touched upon earlier when talking about the best ingredients to look for in acne-fighting products, we have to mention Most Wanted, our face oil serum also known as “the face oil for people who can’t use face oil”.  It’s a common misconception that facial oil should not be the product of choice for people with acne prone skin.  We want to debunk this myth, and explain all the reasons why facial oil can actually soothe your acne prone skin.  Acne is often caused by the overproduction of oil, which usually happens when you are using drying products on your skin.  These oils are produced naturally by your skin for protection, but unfortunately can become a breeding ground for pore clogging bacteria.  So moisturizing your skin properly can actually help reduce the amount of oil your skin produces, and therefore leave your pores less clogged and acne-free.  In this article we’re not only going to cover how you can pick the best oil for acne prone skin, but also the right way to apply a facial oil, and the best times to use facial oils for your acne prone skin.  Hopefully this article can help shed some light on the benefits of using a facial oil, especially Most Wanted Radiant Facial oil, the oil we developed specifically for acne prone skin.  The most important thing when choosing the best oil for acne prone skin is to know what to look for in terms of ingredients.  There are a number of ingredients that are going to give you the best results and lucky for you we combined them all! Most facial oils are blends of other oils, and the first thing to look out for is that none of the oils in the blend are comedogenic.  Comedogenic oils are oils that clog your pores, causing the eruption of comedones (aka pimples!)  Unfortunately not all brands do their research when it comes to what is best for your skin.  Luckily, when we developed Most Wanted, it was our number one priority to make sure this would be the best face oil for acne prone skin.  We searched far and wide for the absolute best ingredients that are sourced in the very best and cleanest way.  Our ingredients are not only researched with extreme caution, but we actually crowdsourced them, seeking answers from aestheticians, dermatologists and YOU to create the perfect all-natural blend of luxurious, high-performing oils that you wanted most. We’re going to give you a quick cheat sheet of ingredients that are extremely beneficial for acne prone skin, and yes, Most Wanted is made up of all of these!

We hope this article shed some light on the question”does stress cause acne?” and what exactly you can do to prevent that from happening!  Of course, if you have further questions, we are extremely happy to chat and answer whatever questions you may have.  We are always available if you want to email orders@thefeelist.com. We hope to have shed some light on why CBD is not just a trend, but a powerful botanical ingredient that is here to stay.