Journal

I have never been one to have smooth, clear skin –– and I have accepted my fate! But that wasn’t the case a few years ago. Growing up with teen acne and then hormonal acne in my mid-20s, I always wondered what it was like to have that donut glazed skin. Back then I eventually came around to realizing what triggered the various spells of breakouts I used to encounter –– other than my very obvious party crazy hormones, I blamed it on the food I ate, my oily skin, and of course the joys of living in a pollution heavy tropical city. However, it didn’t strike me that it could also be due to mental health. It’s a vicious cycle, isn’t it? Acne induced a sense of insecurity, stress, and anxiety, which in turn resulted in more acne that ate a chunk of my life. See, it’s a vicious cycle.

There is a very distinct correlation between your mental health and skin health. Whether it’s stress, anxiety, OCD, or depression, how you feel within often shows up on your skin too. Looking back, suffering from acne all those years created a disturbance in my self-image. And obviously, instead of taking a more inside-out approach, I decided to slather on each and every home remedy, spot treatment, and face mask available to mankind. The result? A massive dent in my bank account and a skin condition that automatically went into snooze mode the moment I started to take care of my mental well-being and self-image.

IN THIS BLOG

01. THE CONNECTION - MIND & SKIN

02. THE SOLUTION - PSYCHO DERMATOLOGY

03. THE SCIENCE BEHIND

04. HOW NOURISHING SLEEP OIL WORK?

The connection

Did you know that when an embryo is developing, the brain and skin are formed from the same group of cells? Think about it! When you blush or get embarrassed, doesn’t your skin physically mirror your thoughts? This literally means that your brain also requires the same kind of TLC treatment you often give your skin.

Other than the physiological connection, stress and anxiety also triggers your sympathetic nervous system to produce cortisol and adrenaline. This interferes with the immune system and your body’s ability to heal itself. Which means all those lesions, flare ups, and inflammations won’t go away even with the world’s most perfect skincare routine. A few skin conditions that impact your mental health include acne, eczema, rosacea, and psoriasis.

The solution

Working towards a safer future for mental health, psycho-dermatology works on the principle of combining the two fields of study. While dermatology looks after your skin at the surface level with the right kind of lifestyle choices, skincare products, and diet, psychology takes care of your skin by treating the mind. This way you’re able to achieve a more holistic approach to your skin condition. If you experience body image issues, anxiety, depression, that all stem from your condition, psycho-dermatology treats it from the inside out.

Along with seeking professional help, there are various everyday tools that can stop the hamster wheel from turning. Keep away from anything that provokes you to lower your self-image. Start following body positive accounts on social media –– however, limit the scrolling. Make time for yourself every day –– meditate, exercise, or just do a few minutes of yoga. Your goal? Heal yourself from within, while also giving your skincare routine equal importance.

While these issues appear to be at the surface level, they’re actually skin deep and therefore need to be thrown in the spotlight more often. I know that this all-round approach would have definitely saved me a whirlwind of trauma.

AMINU’s Nourishing Sleep Oil works on the concept of psycho-dermatology and incorporates this very mind-skin connection.

The science behind it

Our bodies constantly self-regulate to maintain a balance. The Endo-Cannabinoid System (ECS) regulates many basic biological processes with direct involvement in pain control, mood, learning and memory, stress response, reproduction, fertility and pregnancy, food intake and energy balance, immune response, and also regulates our integumentary system a.ka. our skin.  

The ECS receives and analyses information via cannabinoid receptors that are present all over our bodies including the skin. Think of them as the gatekeepers of the system that read, translate, and transmit external information to it.

Normally the human body produces its own endocannabinoids which bind with the cannabinoid receptors to signal the ECS system to trigger the release of digestive hormones or sleep and so on. However, there are times when the body fails to produce natural endocannabinoids due to mental stress, fatigue among other factors – this imbalance leads to digestion issues, mood and sleep disruptions, and even skin conditions such as acne, dermatitis, psoriasis, premature or accelerated ageing, and seborrhea.

How does the Nourishing Sleep Oil work?

Our cannabinoid receptors also respond well to natural cannabinoids from plants, similar to the endocannabinoids created naturally by our bodies. Aminu’s Nourishing Sleep Oil is formulated with a complex mix of seed oils, chamomile, calendula, and Amazonian oils - it increases the secretion of endorphins that make you feel calm and relaxed and promote skin healing. When applied topically it can help treat a minimum of 13 common skin issues such as acne, inflammation, oxidation, hydration, excess oil production.

Tatiana Dias’ skincare journey began all thanks to her long-standing battle with acne. Then on, she learnt to be comfortable in her own skin, yet give it all the TLC possible — and that’s what started her serious love affair with beauty writing. She’s written for magazines such as Femina, ELLE India, and Vogue India.