How self-care affects mental health

Self-care is an important aspect of physical health and one of the key factors in maintaining emotional stability. Of course, taking care of the body requires a comprehensive approach - taking care of the skin, hair, and nails, proper nutrition, physical activity, meditation, and rest. The leading beauty trend in recent years is to maintain naturalness. Therefore, hardware procedures, massage, and other services aimed at health are attracting more and more attention. It is these procedures that have a pronounced positive effect on psychological comfort.

• It increases self-confidence. When we take care of our bodies and are satisfied with our reflection in the mirror, our self-esteem grows. It becomes easier to deal with daily worries, communicate with people, and make decisions more quickly.
• It raises the mood. Self-care triggers a range of positive emotions that improves your mood and reduces background feelings of anxiety and depression.
• Helps to cope with everyday stress. Any self-care procedure has a therapeutic effect on the nervous system, helps to maintain inner balance and control over emotions. In a beauty salon, we disconnect from all worries and belong only to ourselves for a while. The brain perceives this as a full-fledged rest, calms down, and directs attention to caring for the body. The acquired sense of inner peace makes it easier to deal with stressful situations and increases emotional resilience. If done regularly, it becomes an additional tool in coping with daily anxieties.
• Develops concentration, discipline, and improves productivity. When we take care of our body and learn to relax, we can better cope with our tasks and responsibilities. We feel more lively and energetic, which allows us to work much more efficiently and achieve the necessary results. Also, following a beauty routine makes us more structured and disciplined. We visit certain procedures in the salon according to the schedule, and home care also needs to be performed regularly. This helps us become more focused and learn to plan better.
• Helps establish a close connection with one's body, love it as a whole and accept oneself. Almost every woman is dissatisfied with something in herself. Regular care for our body, such as facial skincare, hair removal, massage, and other procedures, helps us "hear" our body, love it, and learn to understand its needs. Beauty procedures form the right message in our brain: "I love myself and take care of my body.

Taking care of our bodies has a "feedback loop" effect. This means that the brain and the skin are in constant communication, so controlling our emotions can be part of the solution to skin problems! When we experience stress and anxiety, the body assumes that it is in danger and produces the hormone cortisol. It increases blood sugar levels and slows down functions that the body considers non-essential in emergency situations.

The stress hormone increases sweat and sebum production, which clogs pores and causes pimples, and also suppresses the immune system, so it cannot adequately fight inflammation and bacteria. This can lead to outbreaks, rashes, infections, irritation, and skin disorders.

Cortisol also depletes collagen and elastin production, so skin cells do not renew and regenerate properly, leading to the appearance of wrinkles. It's a vicious cycle: psychological stressors can contribute to skin deterioration, and environmental stressors through the skin can trigger negative emotional reactions. That's why the time you devote to taking care of yourself is valuable because it allows you to switch off and be in a state of complete relaxation – both physical and mental.

Taking care of your body is very useful for maintaining inner harmony. But there is an important nuance: do not perceive it as "defect therapy". Do not cultivate beliefs such as "I'm afraid of aging", "I can't wait to get rid of these terrible breakouts", etc. The right reason to visit a cosmetologist is "taking care of myself is very pleasant", "I will give myself the care of qualified professionals", "I enjoy my body", "I love pampering and delighting my skin". With the right attitude, any of your beauty rituals will definitely be beneficial.