V-day during the COVID era: self-care
By: Carolina Malis
How to cope with V-dayduring the COVID era: self-care
Let’s face it, whether we do or don’t have a partner to share V-Day with, after the year we’ve been through we all deserve to treat ourselves to some extra love.
In the past, being single on Valentine’s Day was seen as a tragedy, but nowadays cupid’s day has turned into a day about love more than just couples and relationships, and that’s why no matter how or whom you spend it with, you can make a special occasion out of it.
With all the pressures we currently carry over our shoulders because of COVID, this upcoming V-Day will be a special one in many ways. For starters, most of the celebrations will happen at-home, which can be more challenging for some but at the same time, it will make this love-focused day a much-personalized one than we’ve ever seen before.
Over here, we’re pros at taking care andpampering ourselves all year round, and this week in particular we make it amust to build up the ultimate self-care occasion, why yes, we deserve it. Now,self-care looks very different for each person: some will take joy from callinga dear friend or family member, others from treating themselves to a nice meal,buying flowers, cook or bake for themselves or their loved one, a bubble bathsession, getting themselves some bling, drinking or sharing a bottle of wine,or even doing that thing they love that they’re ex just couldn’t stand, but nomatter where you stand on the spectrum, the final goal is to do something thatYOU love or makes you feel loved.
As you can imagine, over here at Neogen we’rebig fans of pampering ourselves with skincare, and while we have dozens offavorites we simply can’t live without, this week we shine the light over ourProbiotics line. Not only is it aesthetically pleasing for the occasion butit’s also a way of taking care of our skin now with a focus on the future. Aswe’ve always highlighted, skincare is about the products and ingredients youuse, yes, but also about preventing. Throughout history, some agents in thebeauty marketing realm have put out this idea that skincare is there to fixyour skin issues when the best thing we can do to actually protect our skin isprevent the issues from ever showing up, and when they do, we treat them sothey don't cause long-run damage, and that’s where our Probiotics line entersthe chat.
Our body is home to trillions of microorganisms, and believe it or not, over 1000 species of them live in our skin. We’re used to hearing the word “bacteria'' and thinking about something bad, dirty, and dangerous, but just as everything else in the world, there are good and bad agents. The bacteria in our skin promotes its health, reinforces the natural barrier against the bad bacteria, balances our skin pH levels, and can even help us prevent skin cancer.
But both our skincare routine and our lifestyle habits can cause damage and strip our skin of these healthy bacteria, which leads to a weak and harmed natural bacterial ecosystem. Here’s when we start struggling with stressed and dry skin or issues like breakouts, eczema, rosacea flares, and psoriasis.
Probiotics aremicroorganisms that are similar to the naturally occurring bacteria in our gut,and they facilitate numerous health functions, from serotonin production anddigestion to increasing resistance to illness and infection, so the more good-bacteriawe keep in our system, the more likely we are to prevent the bad bacteria fromtaking over and causing problems.
When applied topicallythese Probiotics can boots the healing powers of our skin’s good bugs, actingas a protective shield against bad bacteria, dialing down inflammation,preventing our skin from aging prematurely, or, for those struggling with acne,creating an optimal environment for the good bacteria to take over the badbacteria clogging your pores or causing zits and breakouts. swinging thebalance in your favor against zit-causing bacteria.
Our Probiotics lineharnesses the power of Probiotics and Prebiotics - AKA the probiotics fuel- to its utmost potential by creating aproprietary blend dubbed SuperProbiotics™, which features ingredients such as:
● Bifidobacterium – a powerful form of probiotics that aids sensitiveskin by increasing its resistance to physical and chemical aggressors
● Streptococcus Thermophilus – which increases the natural productionof ceramides in the skin, bolstering barrier function and impedingtransepidermal water loss
● Lactobacillus – a gentleantimicrobial that also calms, balances, and hydrates the skin.
Together, theseingredients form the ultimate self-care compound, meant to heal and restore theskin’s status quo in which it can protect itself in order to stay healthy,glowing, smooth, and youthful for longer.
In a nutshell, probioticsdo for our skin what we look forward to doing for ourselves this Valentine’sDay: protect it, nourish it and keep it safe from any external factors lookingto disturb its balance.