Have you felt stressed this year? Joking aside, stress is a very real issue with many health ramifications, one of which is your skin’s health.

Dermatologists agree that the skin reflects inner health, and that includes mental health. There is a strong brain-skin connection that causes the skin to experience inflammation, premature skin aging, and blemish flare-ups in times of increased stress.

Stress releases cortisol, which is responsible for the fight-or-flight response we all know. Cortisol also leads to inflammation and a suppression of the immune system. Those results may not be on a major level, but lots of cortisol spikes over time can make a big impact on your overall health, including that of your skin.

If you already suffer from a chronic skin condition like rosacea, eczema, or psoriasis, you’re also likely to see flare-ups of those conditions during and after stress. What’s worse is that once you realize a flare-up is occurring, stress levels further rise due to the actual flare-up, causing an awful catch-22.

The answer? Reducing stress, and caring for stressed skin with specialized skin care products.

The way to care for stressed skin is to reinforce and protect the skin’s lipid layer, otherwise known as the skin barrier. When skin is stressed, it becomes less resilient, and less able to protect itself against external aggressors. All of this leads to a risk of damage, as well as reduced hydration levels.

ATOPALM MLE was designed to do exactly that. Under a microscope, MLE (Multi-Lamellar Emulsion) is an exact replica of the skin’s natural lipid layer structure. When you apply MLE Korean skin care products to your skin, your skin recognizes it as its own barrier, and uses the MLE to reinforce, support, and protect your skin.

MLE also helps skin keep moisture levels healthy. It protects natural moisture, as well as the moisture provided by your daily lotions or creams. Keeping moisture levels healthy further supports the skin’s barrier, and helps keep inflammation at bay, which is ideal since stress also increases inflammation.

Your stressed skin care regimen should include lots of MLE, lots of anti-inflammatory ingredients, and lots of calming and soothing ingredients. Think of your anti-stress skin care routine as the same one you would provide to your mind—something to calm, something to heal, and something to protect.

The last step in helping stressed skin? Reduce overall stress levels! While that’s easier said than done, the best way to deal with a problem is to get to the root, and the root of stressed skin is obviously stress itself.

Seek help from friends and loved ones if you’re feeling overwhelmed, or ask yourself what you can take off your plate. A good way to reduce your stress load is to do a version of physical decluttering, where you might choose items to keep, donate, or throw away.

Are there stresses in your life you can delegate to someone else? Are there stresses you can logically decide to “throw away” and forget about completely? What you have left are the things you must keep, but you can further itemize those into things you need to deal with today, this week, or at any point in the future.

Once you reduce stress levels, you’ll find that your symptoms of stressed skin start to go away as well. Continue your skin care for stressed skin routine, though, as reinforcing your skin’s barrier and calming inflammation are two skin care steps that should have a permanent place in your self-care regimen.