How regular sex can improve your skin

Just like any physical exercise, sex helps improve blood circulation, which gives you that immediate glow. Sex is also a natural stress-reliever, which can help combat stress-related breakouts and auto-immune skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis. It also increases collagen production and improves our own psychological well-being, which in turn plays a big part in how we view ourselves

With the increase of blood circulation increases the flow of oxygen to a lot of our organs, including the skin. If you ever look in the mirror after doing the deed and realise that your skin has a natural highlighter, it’s because the extra pumping of blood is what gives you that post-sex glow. The increase of blood flow also helps you achieve naturally fuller lips. As the blood rushes to your ~erogenous~ zones, it makes them slightly more plump. So ditch the lip filler and just have more sex!

If you feel relaxed after reaching the big O, you’re not alone. As sex is a natural (and fun) stress reliever, it has a great impact on our mood, but it also has lesser-known benefits than just making us feel good. If you've read anything about skin, you would know that stress and high cortisol can cause wrinkles and stress-related breakouts, as well as skin conditions such as eczema, rosacea and psoriasis. Sex also releases oxytocin, which is what makes you sleepy and relaxed post-coitus. Oxytocin can have a significant impact on your quality of sleep. While we sleep is when our cells do a lot of work. It is said that between 10pm and 4am is the peak time for cell renewal. A better sleep means that your body has the time to focus on renewing cells and restoring energy, which gives you a more fresh and energised look in the morning. To keep it simple: More sex = less stress = better sleep = clearer skin.

You’ve heard all the reasons why collagen is good for you, it acts like a building block for your skin, giving you youthful supple skin. Like me, you’ve probably been a victim of the scare tactics of all these beauty gurus telling you that collagen production drastically slows down after 25 years of age (if you haven’t been personally victimised by this, you are now, and if I have to suffer, so do you). But in truth, although collagen production does slow down, it doesn’t mean it’s impossible to increase it naturally. As we get older, we tend to have more stress and more cortisol. Cortisol actually destroys our collagen, so the more stressed you are, the more likely your skin will show it. If you want to think of it in simpler terms let’s imagine Pacman. Your skin is Pacman, cortisol are the little ghosts trying to get you, and collagen is the coins. If you have 3 ghosts on the board, the less chance you have of getting the coins. The same goes with collagen. The more stressed you are, the harder it is to increase your collagen production. Now if you reduce the amount of ghosts (cortisol), you will have more time to get more coins on the board! As mentioned before, sex actually reduces the cortisol levels in our system. In fact, there’s evidence that the estrogen released during an orgasm actually boosts your collagen levels.

I’ve mentioned her before, but she deserves another honorary mention, oxytocin is really the best thing to come out of having sex. The hormone, also known as the feel-good hormone, makes you feel just that, good. It increases your self love and allows you to see yourself in a positive way. This could be due to the fact you just got laid, or the fact that you just needed a nudge to realise that you’re actually a hottie with a body and you deserve to feel confident and sexy in your own skin.

Obviously skin care isn’t a one size fits all, so you might be thinking to yourself “I’ve had sex every day for a week and I am still breaking out”. Firstly, lucky you for getting that much action! Secondly, trust the process. Just like with most things in life, change doesn’t happen overnight. We aren’t saying that sex will magically transform your skin, but paired with your regular skin care routine, you might notice results better than you had imagined! If you find yourself breaking out more, that’s ok too. Sex is just another form of exercise, and in between sweating and the change in hormones, our bodies take time to adjust to it, and that includes our skin!