Avoid Christmas skin havoc with Eavanna’s top tips

Top Irish skin expert and celebrity facialist, Eavanna Breen, offers her top tips on how to get your skin successfully through the indulgent festive season without the dreaded annual Christmas skin havoc.

The festive season is finally here and the associated Christmas indulgences have officially started. The combination of the colder weather, parties, alcohol and rich food means that our skin often suffers every December and January: appearing dull looking, tired and often with more severe reactions.

"I get a lot of clients coming to me with concerns over how their skin reacts to the indulgence enjoyed over the Christmas season. All the extra delicious food, sweet treats and alcohol can play havoc on our skin. This coupled with the drastically colder season, our skin tries to cope the best way it can which may result in congested, tired and dull looking skin," Irish celebrity Skin therapist Eavanna Breen says.

Whilst we may worry about how our skin will cope this coming festive season, she adds:"I understand how frustrating it can be, especially at Christmas time, when we want to feel and look our best for the celebrations, but the important thing is not to fret, there are lots of steps we can take to help our skin cope better at Christmas time".

Here are some of Eavanna’s top tips to get our skin successfully through the festive season unscathed:

1. Cleansing

One of the leading causes of dull skin is not cleansing properly. Your skin produces sebum throughout the day and if this is not cleaned off properly then debris and pollutants from the day can bind to your skin and cause your skin to become congested, which in turn attracts bacteria, leading to breakouts and inflammation. Using an oil based cleanser will bind to the oil on your skin and remove it gently without irritating your skin further. Once you have cleansed properly the rest of your skincare will penetrate more effectively. From all of my never ending research, I know that the best oil based cleanser on the market is the Skinmade Clear and Care cleansing oil. The 100% natural and ‘body’s own ingredients’ used have been meticulously chosen to give you the best possible nourishing benefits and cleansing results.

2. Sleep

Make an effort to get more sleep. Your skin has its own circadian rhythm where it performs certain functions at certain times throughout the night. If you do not get a full night’s sleep you may well be missing out on the opportunity for your skin to renew and repair itself.

If you have been drinking alcohol try to stop drinking at least an hour before you go to bed and avoid eating a heavy meal too close to bedtime, to help achieve a restful night’s sleep.

3. Exfoliating

Exfoliating your skin on a weekly basis will help to speed up the turnover of dead skin and encourage new cells to come to the surface faster. This will give your skin a brighter more even texture, allowing your skincare to work more efficiently and make up to sit better. It is important though not to be overzealous with exfoliator, as it can strip the precious lipid barrier that is there to protect our skin. Try to avoid exfoliators that are harsh on your skin

4. Venus Freeze

The Venus Freeze treatment is one of the most effective ways to achieve radiant looking skin in the shortest time possible. Venus Freeze is a non-invasive and pain-free solution for wrinkle reduction and skin tightening for the face, neck and body. It’s suitable for both male and females and of all skin types. You often see noticeable results after the first session and the great thing about Venus Freeze is that it’s completely painless, risk free and requires zero downtime after the treatment. This particular treatment gives you that ‘Cinderella effect’ making it the perfect pre-event treatment.

5. Mesotherapy

Mesotherapy is a non-invasive, non-surgical technique that uses micro-injections with a cocktail of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and hyaluronic acid that help to nourish and regenerate the skin, right into the mesodermal layer (middle layer) of the skin.

This technique allows this cocktail of skin goodness to get right where it needs to be, something topical application of products can't do. Mesotherapy helps to; reduce lines and wrinkles, tighten the skin, lighten skin pigmentation, increase skin hydration, and improve skin tone. Skin Expert Eavanna Breen offers the treatment in her Dublin 2 skincare clinic, prices starting from €150.

Eavanna Breen and the Akina Beauty Clinic team are available for daily skin treatments and consultations.

During all consultations, the expert team will carry out a thorough analysis of your skin, including an artificial-intelligence led ‘skin read’, discuss any concerns you might have and set you on course to secure your best possible skin health and complexion.

Eavanna Breen is the founder and Senior Skin Therapist of Akina Beauty and Laser Clinic in Dublin 2. After training in Coogan Bergin college, Eavanna has now been at the forefront of the Irish Beauty and Skin industry for 28 years.

In that time, she has worked on more than 10,000 different faces, continuously having a true desire to help each client achieve their individual skin goals.

Training through the years with skincare houses such as Darphin, Dermalogica, Environ, Dr Daneillo, Skinmade and AlumierMD has given Eavanna a unique insight into how different skincare brands and techniques approach varying skin types and conditions.

Irish celebrities such as Greg O’Shea, Erica Cody, Holly Carpenter, Samantha Mumba, Tara O’Farell, Thalia Heffernan and many more solely trust their skin with Eavanna Breen.