The festive season can be a stressful time for many, between high-pressure jobs, family commitments and trying to maintain an active social life. It’s important to recognise the ways that stress can impact our lives, including our hair, skin and mood, and share this information with your clients.
For example, understanding the cause of your client's hair loss can be a lengthy process, but one of the first topics you can discuss with them is their lifestyle.
Murdock London master barber Ben Vowles, says: “When stress becomes overwhelming and over a long period of time, risks for mental health problems and medical problems increase. Long-term stress increases the risk of mental health problems such as anxiety and depression, sleep issues, pain and bodily complaints such as muscle tension. Stress isn’t always obvious, but it can be detrimental on your hair, skin and mood.”
Here are three ways stress can affect your clients...
How stress can affect hair
One side effect of excess stress is patches of baldness that can appear anywhere on the body. If your client begins to these anywhere on their head or body, it’s important that they pay attention to their day-to-day responses to stress to stop the condition developing further.
How stress can affect skin
Studies have proven that excessive amounts of stress can alter hormone balance, increasing the skin’s cortisol production, which, in turn, leads to clogged pores and breakouts. Stress can also dry out your client's skin, depending on their body’s reaction to the extra cortisol produced. Because cortisol can reduce the skin’s elasticity and water retention, it's important to recommend a high-quality face moisturiser to keep it hydrated, such as Murdock London’s Daily Face Moisturiser, designed to inject some much-needed hydration back into their skin.
How stress can affect mood
Your client may be feeling normal, but if they're stressed they are likely to be more tired than usual, irritable, not as productive as they usually are and lack interest in activities they normally enjoy. December can be a busy time and people often put their needs to the bottom of that long Christmas to-do list. It takes just ten minutes to reduce stress, so clients should regularly check in with themselves, close their eyes, step outside, take deep breathes and smile. It’s amazing what a difference this can make.
Read next: How Stress and Poor Nutrition Can Affect Hair Loss.