A skin for all seasons: keeping your glow on during the party season.

Can you safeguard your skin during the party season?

Too much alcohol, too much food, too much stress, too much sugar, too much sun. Just too much of everything. Whether you live south of the equator or yours is a chilly white Christmas with too much time in front of the fire. All will take their toll on your skin.

As fun as the season can be, you’re likely to activate more free radicals and glycation than your body normally would. The lipid barrier of your skin begins to show signs of stress due to all those late nights, alcohol, and maybe a bit of neglect in your usual skincare routine.

After all, who cleanses their skin after a night on the tiles? Right? Well, I do, but maybe I’m alone on this. I know, I’m a fanatic about it. Waking up with Panda eyes? That’s not who I am. Haha.

All this Christmas cheer can leave you with dryness, dehydration and breakouts you were not planning on, and pigmentation which strangely appears darker, caused by too much heat from the sun (even when you are wearing sunscreen), or the heat response from sitting in front of a cosy fire sipping eggnog. All this heat stimulates the enzymes that make any pigmented cells darker and more visible (the heat, not the egg nog).

What’s going on?

Glad you asked. When we burn the candle at both ends and eat too much of the wrong things like sugar and processed foods, the glucose derived from the foods we eat, providing energy to every cell in our body, can become sticky. It’s known as Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs). When it happens, the glucose molecules stick to protein cells like collagen and elastin, bringing about cross-linking, which causes premature wrinkling. 

Of course, it’s a normal process, but when you overdo it, your body gets overloaded with these sticky cells, and they become a little dysfunctional.  

Once Christmas and the new year celebrations are over, most of us commit to detox. But what can be done to prevent some damage to our skin?

Making it through unscathed.

It’s an excellent idea to increase your vitamin intake, especially a liposomal vitamin C supplement to quench free radicals. Drink plenty of pure water and ensure you’re exercising; even a 30-minute stroll on most days will help. And, if possible, try to keep your sugar intake to a moderate amount. You might like these sugar-free recipes for some inspiration. 

But what about your skincare routine? There are things you can do to keep your skin glowing and cope a little better right through the party season. 

Getting your skin ready.

If you want your skin to look amazing over this happy, cheerful and celebratory time, even if it feels a little stressful, now is the time to take a few simple actions to ensure your skin is glowing through to the new year. 

I’ll have a Lactic acid peel once a week for the next three weeks, followed by a multivitamin infusion using low-frequency sonophoresis (ultrasound technology). If you want to do this at home, Environ’s Electrosonic DF Mobile Device is perfect.

I’ll also increase the amount of Vitamin C in my diet and daily skincare routine.

I always have some form of vitamin C in my routine. At this time of year, I’m adding something extra to give my skin a boost that doesn’t just stimulate my collagen but protects my lipid barrier from both the external assault of the environment and the internal assault that IS going to take place.

I’ll opt for Tri-Peptide Avance Elixir, which provides my skin with specialised peptides and botanical root extracts to protect my skin. If my skin feels very stressed or dehydrated, I’ll add Environ’s Antioxidant Gel to my usual moisturiser. A cooling and soothing gel to minimise the impact of too many roaming free radicals and the sticky problem of advanced glycation end products (AGEs).

And, to improve my skin’s overall health, I can’t go past my beloved Omnilux LED Face Mask three nights a week.