Your Skin and Your Cycle

Does your fave lotion suddenly feel funky? Do your legs feel like sandpaper? Are you oily and dry? (Why is being a woman so hard?!)

You shouldn’t be surprised to find out that it’s your hormones at work again! And just like your mood and energy levels, your skin changes throughout your cycle.

Think about how your mood flip-flops over the month. Turns out the exact same thing happens to your skin due to changes in your hormones which cause things like oily skin, breakouts and inflammation.

But here’s the Guud news: if you understand your cycle, you can prep your skin for that time of the month and help combat out of whack hormones.

Here’s how to pamper your skin at each stage of your cycle:

❣️ Menstrual Phase

In the lead up to your period, two hormones (progesterone and estrogen) take a nose dive. If your estrogen is low, it will make your skin feel extra dry. To combat your face skin feeling like the Sahara Desert, grab some of your fave lotion and slather that on twice a day. Also, make sure you drink plenty of water to hydrate from the inside.

✨ Follicular Phase

Estrogen starts to pick back up in this phase and that’s good news because it means better moisture balance. But don’t be so fast to ditch your moisturizing habits. You need to continue drinking plenty of water to keep your skin hydrated. If you’re sick of plain old H2O, try adding some lemon or grapefruit to mix it up. The extra vitamin C can also help give you a healthy glow. It’s a win-win!

🌟 Ovulation Phase

If people say you’re glowing, trust them. They mean it! During this phase, your skin is at its best. Your skin will be looking more moisturized with a healthy sheen. Feeling extra fabulous? You might even consider using less or no makeup in this phase!

💁‍♀️ Luteal Phase

Progesterone ramps up in this phase, and it makes your skin produce sebum. What's the big deal, you ask? Well, too much sebum can clog your pores and give you spots. Ugh, we know!

Washing your face morning and night will definitely help, and make sure you get some zinc in your diet to maintain healthy skin. 

This will help keep the sebum at bay. If you can’t get zinc naturally through food, try a supplement.

Three key questions for glowing skin 

 🥦 Am I eating right? 

Coffee, chemicals, lack of sleep, the pill, and stress strip your body of important nutrients that keep your hormones healthy and ensure clean skin.

Excessive drinking of alcohol and eating sugars also cause the liver to work overtime. Your liver needs sufficient nutrients to detoxify your body. 

Studies have revealed that good gut health gives you radiant skin. If your gut is inflamed, your skin might be too. So, love your gut and watch your skin glow!

🏃 Do I Exercise to relax?

Research has shown that when you work out at a high intensity for more than 45 minutes, your cortisol levels start to increase. High cortisol imbalances insulin and progesterone levels, and this can lead to skin issues. Choose wisely when you want to exercise. If you feel you don’t have enough energy for an intense workout, choose for yoga or stretching instead and don’t force yourself, but exercise for relaxing. If you want to add variation to your workout scheme, we recommend you to work out according to the different phases of your cycle.

🤩 Do I treat my skin from within? 

By better understanding your menstrual cycle, you can make better decisions on how to care for your skin with the right natural skincare. At Guud Woman we believe it’s also important to take care of your skin from the inside. For this, you can take a quality supplement that contains ingredients linked to health claims and have proven to support your skin. 

• Zinc and selenium: these minerals are not only good for your skin but also maintain healthy hair and nails. your hair and nails. 
• Copper contributes to normal skin pigmentation.
• Arctium lappa is a powerful herb that helps maintain radiant skin.

Have questions on how to take care of your skin? Chat with us. We can help you or take the quiz and find out what’s Guud for you!