What S.A.D. Means For Your Skin
During the short days and long nights of winter, the lack of sunlight might be leaving our skin feeling dry and our mood feeling low. The cold temperatures keep us indoors with the dry heat on, which ultimately leads to a lack of humidity in the air and less sunlight on our faces. This can be the cause of dry skin, and for others, Seasonal Affective Disorder as well.
S.A.D. effects about 16.5 million adults in the US, and lack of sun exposure is the #1 cause linked to it. We hate those winter blues, so we've got a few ways for you to uplift your skin and your spirits while spending some quality self care time keeping warm!
L.E.D. THERAPY
Spending so much time indoors leads to a lack of necessary sun exposure. Luckily science has found a way to compensate. L.E.D., or Light Stimulating Diodes, Therapy is a well-proven way to mimic sunlight and help treat S.A.D.
At Sacred, we offer L.E.D Therapy as a service, as an add-on for many services, and/or for purchase as a hand-held Lightstim L.E.D. device!
Bonus- the L.E.D. devices we use also fight wrinkles and acne! Two Light + Sheet Masque Bundle.
humidify
Cold winter air lacks humidity and so do our heated homes, which can lead to dry, itchy skin. The first step in combating this is making sure you put some of that much needed moisture back into the air. If you don't have a humidifier we've got some great DIY humidifier ideas...
Place pots or ceramic bowls of water on or next to your heaters. The water will heat up and evaporate in to the air.
Same principal but heat a pot of water on your stove.
Fill a pretty vase with water and place it in the window under direct sunlight.
Grab a glass of water, a sponge or small towel, and a small fan. By placing 1/2 the towel or sponge in to the water it'll act as a wick and pull the water from the glass. Having the fan on low set up behind the glass will blow the moist air in to the room.
mindfulness exercise
According to the physiology of smiling, when we smile it sends a signal to our brain triggering our rewards system and releasing endorphins—in turn, increasing our "happy hormones.” So when we smile, it makes our brain feel happy much in the same way that when we feel happy, we smile.
So we say- let's all smile more! Want an easy way to start? Get in a comfortable position and fire up this 10 minute smiling meditation with Amrit Sandhu, whose voice alone makes us smile: