Laura Henshaw’s selfie highlights reality of changing skin
Aussie fitness star Laura Henshaw has been applauded for sharing several “honest” selfies which showcase a change to her “normal” skin.
If you have been experiencing what has been dubbed “iso face” then you’re not alone.
Laura Henshaw, fitness star and co-founder of the popular wellness app Keep It Cleaner (KIC) shared with her 285,000 Instagram followers the affects of what she calls a “mini iso break out”.
“I know I shared a few months ago how my skin had changed during this time but I wanted to share again to remind you that it actually changes all the time and that is completely OK,” the 27-year-old captioned two selfies that showed red spots on her face.
Her post resinated with more than 11,000 fans who liked the images, prompting them to share their own “iso skin” experiences.
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“This is so me right now – and since the start of 2020!” one follower wrote.
“Always beautiful. Love how you are so real and honest,” said another.
“My skin has done the exact thing,” a third commented.
“Same! My skin has completely broken out this week but I’m holding out hope that it will come back around,” a fourth person said, while others added their skin too is “horrible” at the moment.
In early April, Henshaw, who co-founded KIC with bestie and fellow model Stephanie Claire Smith, was inundated with comments after she shared several similar snaps about the situation of her skin due to isolation.
“I just shared on my story about how much my skin has been breaking out throughout this time at home and I just got hundreds and hundreds of messages within 10 minutes about how this is happening to a lot of us,” she said at the time.
“I’ve had breakouts around my mouth (and they are the deep painful pimples around here), chin and my hair line and lots of under the skin pimples on my face.”
Henshaw felt the need to share the images “in case anyone was feeling down about their skin”.
“It’s happening to a lot of us and it is completely OK,” she wrote in the April post.
“I am lucky to be safe inside and I know they will leave me eventually when things go back to normal.
“P.s I just want to preface that I am so lucky with my skin and I know my breakouts aren’t big — but this is a change from my normal skin.”
In May, her bestie Steph also shared make-up free snaps revealing how “iso skin” had her looking like a “vampire sunk teeth into my chin”.
She discovered that using tea tree oil helped with the healing.
According to Australian dermatologist Davin Lim, there’s two reasons that could be leading to “lockdown skin” — diet and stress.
“Believe it or not acne can worsen with certain types of food like oily, greasy and processed food and sugary foods as well as dairy like yoghurt and ice cream can flare up skin,” Dr Lim explained in a YouTube video.
He said being indoors away from active light make acne worse.
“That’s why when you go on a sunny holiday the light itself make acne worse. Light contains different wave lengths — it’s not the UV spectrum because this can be blocked using sunscreen, however visible light itself kills acne.
“Dermatologists know that — we have been using light for many years known as photo therapy — light that is both blue and red in colour.”
it activates chemicals
He explained that stress is another contributing factor.
Dr Irene Prantalos, founder of Salubre Skin Clinic, agrees, telling Body & Soul that when we stress, “we release stress hormones that increase testosterone which leads to increased oily skin”.
“This blocks the pores and causes more acne breakouts.”
Pharmacist and founder of QED Skincare Shoshana Eisner recommends to drink plenty of water, enjoy a balance of fresh fruits and vegetables, indulge in sugar free treats and meditate daily.
“This in itself will help you manage emotions and help you enjoy more mindfulness in such crazy times. This will also help you feel tired so you can get an early night’s sleep,” she told Body & Soul.
She also recommends a green clay masque to help combat breakouts.