{"id":256385,"date":"2025-07-04T08:00:18","date_gmt":"2025-07-03T22:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.russh.com\/?p=256385"},"modified":"2025-07-04T07:50:42","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T21:50:42","slug":"how-skincare-can-help-you-destress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.russh.com\/how-skincare-can-help-you-destress\/","title":{"rendered":"How skincare became my de-stressing ritual"},"content":{"rendered":"

As someone who had severe acne<\/a> in my formative years, the importance of a skincare routine<\/a> was realised sooner than most. Growing up, I watched my mother wash her face every morning, slap on moisturiser (literally slap \u2013 with two hands, all over. I\u2019ve always been a skeptic but she\u2019s in her early 50s and her skin is excellent) and SPF50+ sunscreen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When I started breaking out at the age of 10, my mother and I took to the supermarket skincare aisle, stocking up on Clean and Clear \u2018morning burst\u2019 cleanser (yes, the one with the allusive beads), T.N. Dickinson\u2019s witch hazel and QV moisturiser. Tea tree oil was all the rage back then \u2013 every night before bed, I would dab tea tree oil on my acne, the smell simultaneously invigorating and nauseating.<\/p>\n

To no one\u2019s surprise, none of these products did much for my skin. My parents, befuddled by the ineffectiveness of their unresearched Woolworths products, turned to Chinese medicine and acupuncture for answers. I drank bitter potions steeped with various white roots and medicinal-scented barks every morning and on the weekend, I laid on squeaky plastic beds with thin needles sticking out of my torso. After months of these routines, we gave up on treating my acne. My parents hoped it was a hormonal phase that would eventually pass.<\/p>\n

“My emotional attachment to the products, the science and the ritual of it all grew stronger with each purchase.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Luckily, this was the case. Despite the gradual reversal of several years of red, scabby pimples (courtesy of oral contraceptive Microgynon30), I still committed to my skincare. It was driven by a quasi-superstitious fear that if I stopped washing my face for one day, all the spots would return immediately.<\/p>\n

At the end of high school, I invested my own money into upgrading my routine \u2013 bottles of BHA and AHA, chemical peel (specifically the red, viscous The Ordinary peel that was technically banned in Australia) and hyaluronic acid. I consumed content from various dermatologists and skincare influencers, treating the information as if it was a case study and I was the subject. My emotional attachment to the products, the science and the ritual of it all grew stronger with each purchase. No wonder the global skincare industry is worth $120bn.<\/p>\n

“On the rare occasion I feel stressed, my routine becomes more experimental. Some people bake when they\u2019re stressed… but when I\u2019m under the pump, my face goes through the wringer.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

At the risk of self-pathologising, my best guess is that my personal hyper-consumerist and hyper-fixative behaviour was a coping mechanism for years of not being in control of my face and body \u2013 use this, wear this, drink this, lie here, sleep more, don\u2019t touch your face.<\/p>\n

These days, I am loyal to only four products (La Roche Posay Effaclar Purifying Cleanser, Kiehl\u2019s Ultra Facial Cream<\/a>, Kiehl\u2019s Retinol Serum and Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Face Lotion Sunscreen). On the rare occasion I feel stressed, my routine becomes more experimental. Some people bake when they\u2019re stressed (is it the self hatred-fuelled precise measuring or the fact that one can indulge in 25 hot, fresh shortbreads as a distraction?), but when I\u2019m under the pump, my face goes through the wringer: a \u201cdeep\u201d cleanse (an extra minute or two than usual) followed by a clay mask (for that weird tight feeling when it dries), a half-assed attempt at squeezing out my blackheads, a random toner (I don\u2019t use toner but have amassed a collection of samples) and my trusty Kiehl\u2019s retinol and cream (an obvious answer).<\/p>\n

I relish in touching my face, staring into my pores and plucking my eyebrows \u2013 especially if I have a writing deadline. This routine isn\u2019t for clearer or more beautiful skin but makes me feel more in control and physically real. Is it a healthy mechanism? That much is unclear but at least I\u2019m not using Clean and Clear anymore.<\/p>\n\n