Can Being Angry Or In Love Affect Your Skin?

Can being angry or in love affect your skin? And how can we combat it if it does? With the modelling skills of singer-songwriter Izzy Bizu, Cassie Steer investigates.

- Cassie Steer, photos by Jeff Boudreau

You know those adorable animated characters from Pixar’s Inside Out? (For those of you who didn’t bag a spare child as an excuse to see it, it’s about the five emotions – joy, anger, fear, sadness and disgust – who live inside the head of an 11-year-old girl). Now, imagine them wreaking havoc on your face. If you don’t believe us, here’s the science bit. ‘There’s undoubtedly a strong link between our emotions and our complexion,’ says Kiehl’s consulting dermatological expert, Dr Adam Geyer. ‘The skin is actually a barometer for people’s internal state, and within days of emotional upheaval it can show signs of fluid shifts, increased inflammation and changes in oil production. This is all tied to the complex way that our emotional state impacts on our hormones.’ 

Who knew our skin was so, well, high maintenance? If you speak to psychologists such as Dr Linda Papadopoulos, who has devoted a whole book (Psychodermatology) to the subject, it all makes sense. ‘The skin and nervous system are developed out of the same matter back in the womb,’ she says. ‘So that’s why our emotions sometimes manifest on the skin – we blush when we’re shy and sweat when we’re anxious. And thanks to the latest research, we’re beginning to acknowledge that how we feel and think affects our biochemistry.’