A young man leans into the camera, “you wish clear skin like this?”, he asks the viewer, “Imma inform you the primary thing you gotta do…” His secret isn’t a recent product, painful treatment or expensive face tool. The truth is, it costs nothing in any respect. The user, @itsbhart, is one among the lots of of individuals on TikTok who imagine within the powers of manifestation and meditation to realize clearer skin.

Under the hashtag #manifestingclearskin (which has over 6.9 million views) there may be an entire array of videos explaining how you’ll be able to change your skin using just the facility of your mind. Some recommend repeating affirmations – “I even have beautiful glowing skin” – while others suggest visualising yourself along with your dream skin. Manifesting itself has questionable scientific credentials, but often what these users are tapping into – especially those who advocate meditation or breathwork – is psychodermatology. 

Psychodermatology is an emerging field of study that treats the skin using psychological techniques to deal with the brain-skin connection. It recognises techniques reminiscent of meditation, mindfulness and therapy for soothing the skin from the within out. “Most individuals don’t realise the impact of psychological health on the skin,” says Dr Alia Ahmed, a consultant dermatologist who specialises in psychodermatology. “Psychodermatology empowers patients to recognise and manage this similtaneously treating their skin condition.” 

Dr Ahmed sees patients for skin conditions reminiscent of eczema and pimples, those affected by the psychological impacts of lowered self-esteem and anxiety attributable to skin conditions, in addition to patients with skin problems rooted in psychiatric or psychological distress, reminiscent of skin picking. The mind-skin connection can most evidently be seen through reactions like blushing, when mental embarrassment shows up physically in your skin. But feelings of emotional distress may also result in the discharge of cortisol, the stress hormone, which may wreak havoc on the skin.

“Cortisol is thought to affect the immune system (making the skin less capable of defend itself), drive allergic responses, delay healing and disrupt the skin’s natural barrier,” Dr Ahmed explains. Temporary symptoms like itching or flushing could be brought on by cortisol, but in the long term the body may also enter a “everlasting ‘stress-response’ state, which may aggravate existing skin problems through a poor natural immune response and ongoing inflammation.”

Psychodermatology takes a holistic approach to skincare, by trying to the basis of problematic skin quite than simply attempting to improve the symptoms. Practising mindfulness, meditation, breathwork and even searching for therapy may help to alleviate stress and anxiety, lower cortisol levels and potentially help your skin. A recent study by the University of Edinburgh found that every one schools of meditative practice, from mindfulness to transcendental and zen meditation, helped lower cortisol levels, particularly for those going through a stressful time of their lives. It’s no wonder that a 2014 study into psychodermatology found that amongst patients who accomplished psychodermatology therapies, 94 per cent reported reduced stress, 92 per cent reported increased confidence, and 90 per cent reported that they understood their skin condition higher.

The beauty of techniques like meditation and breathwork is that it offers an answer that doesn’t require you to purchase anything. They’re completely free and accessible to everyone. Nevertheless, that hasn’t stopped the industry from attempting to get in on the mind-skin connection motion. An increasing variety of skincare brands have begun incorporating stress relief into their lines. Murad skincare has an app that sends out every day affirmations from Dr Murad himself (“allow the unique you to blossom”), whilst Alicia Keys’ skincare line, Keys Soulcare, offers a number of rituals that incorporate certain mixtures of products (including candles and face rollers) with setting intentions, affirmations and “shifting consciousness” to aid you “master self-care”. 

Stress relief and ritual are vital elements of Cosmoss, Kate Moss’ recent wellness and skincare line too. Separated into “dawn, day and dusk”, a thrice-daily skincare routine (with accompanying day and nighttime teas) is recommended to assuage the body and soul, providing a way of inner peace and bringing emotional balance. “When Kate began being more in harmony together with her health, she found rituals were really helpful,” says Victoria Young, Kate Moss’ personal homoeopath who consults on the brand. “It removes the emotion from the choice; you choose it is an element of your morning and also you construct it into your day.”

Considering skincare from a more holistic standpoint and practising self-care is rarely a foul thing, but psychodermatology is about utilising practices like therapy and meditation, not only lighting a candle or drinking tea. While brands like Cosmoss, Murad and Keys Soulcare are a step in the precise direction, encouraging consumers to contemplate mind-skin connection and a more 360 approach to skincare, they’re still floating the concept that achieving inner calm requires a bank card. 

One brand doing things just a little in another way is Wild Source, a spread of skincare that also offers free guided meditations on its website, for purchasers and non-customers alike. The brand began in 2017, when founder Kate Roath found herself burnt out with a foul eczema flare-up and made an oath to herself to commit to doing ten minutes of meditation a day. “I’d cleanse my face, put my oil on and meditate,” she says. The brand new habit immediately made her feel calmer and more focused, but to her surprise there was one other profit too: her skin cleared up and her eczema calmed down.

“Stress affects every organ in our body however the skin is the one which we see. So we get stressed, have a flare-up, get much more stressed in regards to the flare-up and fall right into a vicious cycle,” says Roath. She decided to include meditation into her company and make it tangible for purchasers by “stacking it onto their existing skincare routine and almost packaging it as one other skincare product.” The concept is to coach people on psychodermatology and the mental tools they’ve at their fingertips, to make use of alongside the brand’s purchasable products.

In an age of ten-step skincare routines, skincare fridges and a seemingly countless supply of recent celebrity skincare lines, the science behind psychodermatology offers something rare in the wonder industry – skincare that doesn’t require you to purchase anything. While brands are increasingly incorporating mind-skin connection into their product offerings, the acts of meditation and mindfulness to cut back stress within the mind and body could be done without cost – doing each your bank balance and the planet a favour.