The holidays bring out some of the best and some of the worst things. On the one hand, you having the spirit of giving, extra family time, and a season of gratitude. On the other hand, you have to-do lists, delayed flights, and tight budgets.

When we stress, our bodies often have a physical response. You may lose sleep or become irritable, or you may see the changes in the form of deeper wrinkles and increased blemishes.

If you’re dealing with the latter, this is the post for you. Stress-related breakouts are incredibly common, especially this time of the year—which is especially annoying when you want glowing skin in all your holiday photos!

When it comes to stress blemishes, there are a few easy steps you can take toward helping them heal faster and prevent more from forming.

Don’t let stress interrupt your skin care routine
We get it—stress and daily responsibilities don’t go well together. If your stress is causing you to forego your nightly cleansing or your morning treatment products, your skin will show the changes to your routine.

Instead of dropping your healthy skin care routine altogether, try simplifying it for a few weeks until the stressful period passes. Skip the weekly face mask (unless it helps you relax!) and pare down your daily routine to the minimum cleansing/treatment/moisture ritual that constitutes the foundation of any healthy skin care routine.

When the stressful timeframe passes, you can seamlessly return to your more thorough skin care routine without having major skin recovery to go through.

Watch what you eat
Stress can bring out some pretty unhealthy habits. One of the most common is stress eating, which may appear in the form of over-eating, unhealthy food choices, or both!

Both of these poor eating habits may contribute to breakouts, but unhealthy food choices are particularly harsh when it comes to your skin. Research shows that foods high in sugar, dairy, or fat may increase one’s risk of breakouts.

Good examples of these foods include chocolate, sugary drinks, french fries, pizza…you know, all the things you crave when you’re stressed! Not to mention all the holiday food that’s floating around.

If you’re struggling to eat well while stressed during the holidays, you’re not alone. Rather than cutting yourself off from all comfort food, opt for healthier options like dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate, once-weekly fries instead of a daily drive-thru, and special holiday treats only while celebrating with others!

Sleep well
Stress can majorly impact sleep patterns, and poor sleep will then impact the health of your entire body—including your skin.

Getting a good night’s sleep is major when it comes to skin health and breakouts. Your body’s main healing process occurs while you’re asleep, which is essential to healing those breakouts and preventing more from showing up!

Ways to improve sleep during a stressful period include mindfulness meditation, shutting screens off an hour or two before bed, and keeping a notepad handy to write down your worrisome thoughts so you remember them at a more appropriate time.

Add a blemish skin care product to your routine
While this may seem to contradict an earlier tip about simplifying your skin care routine, it’s a worthwhile contradiction.

If you don’t normally break out, you may not have a go-to blemish product on hand, so when you’re stressing yourself into blemishes, you may need to add one into your routine!

Most people opt for a spot treatment that can be used as needed, but if you’re really struggling, you may want to swap out some of your normal products for formulas created especially for problem skin.

Keeping these simple skin care tips in mind will help you prevent and combat stress-related blemish this holiday season!