How your thinking can help your skincare routine

Have you ever bought a new car and all of a sudden you see the same model of car everywhere? 

 

This is your reticular activating system (RAS) at work, the part of the brain that plays a critical role in determining what you pay attention to and ultimately perceive.

 

The RAS is a small network of cells located in the brainstem that acts as a filter for information. Your brain is constantly bombarded with information and the RAS helps sort through that information and determine what is important. However your thoughts play a role in determining what you deem important. For example if you are looking for a specific item in a crowded room, your brain will focus on finding that item and filter out other distractions. This is known as confirmation bias. In other words, your brain will start to find what it thinks you want to see (like the car that you bought).

 

So how can this have anything to do with your skin?

When I first started using Herbal Face Food's The Cure X serum (for areas you want extra healing power), I put it on a pigmentation spot on the side of my face and on my forehead lines, simple. However a week later I noticed that I was applying the serum to more than just those two areas. In fact I had started to see an "issue" with almost my whole face. Why? My RAS had kicked in and it was finding spots and areas I hadn't even considered an issue because it thought that's what I wanted.

Any adult skin, but especially my age bracket, has pores, pigment, capillaries, lines, uneven colour. There is no such thing as flawless skin, and while there is nothing wrong with wanting to improve something, trying to get perfection is only going to leave you feeling unhappy with yourself or self conscious or both. What you want to aim for is healthy skin, happy mind. 

 

So what can you do? 

Become aware of your self talk when you look in the mirror, most of the time it is subconscious... I look tired, I look old are common ones

Start the habit of saying something nice to yourself when you are cleansing/moisturising, keep it simple, even enjoying the colour of your eyes. The more you do this the more it will become a natural habit and any stress that comes from seeing your image in a mirror or photo will disappear, you will feel more confident in yourself, more positive and your skin will start to look better.

Start taking notice of this in other areas of your life. If you are a having a 'bad' day your RAS will keep finding things to support this, so start to look for 'good'. This is one of the reasons practicing gratitude works so well. 

 

Here's some suggestions;

I love and accept all parts of myself

My skin is looking good

My skin is feeling good/soft

Good on me for looking after myself

Good on me for making good skincare choices

I love the feel of this on my skin

Simply high five yourself in the mirror if you are challenged for time or words