How is skin affected by love?

It's Valentine's Day and love is in the air, but can this powerful emotion really affect our skin? According to research by psychologists and biochemists, it can.  

Dermoi's chief scientific officer, Eve Casha, has teamed up with existential psychologist Angelika Grechnaya, MSc, PhD and Dennis Relojo-Howell PhD, founder of Psychreg and researcher in clinical psychology at the University of Edinburgh to find out how love impacts our complexions.  

"According to a 2006-study on the fMRI of couples in love, romantic love is primarily a motivation system, rather than an emotion, that can be similar to what we experience during addiction”, explains Relojo-Howell. “There are several hormones and neurotransmitters that are involved or are being released when we are in love. These are oxytocin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. Oxytocin, which is also called the ‘love hormone', is responsible for feelings of attachment and intimacy."

“When falling in love our body experiences stress-related symptoms such as increased heartbeat, bowel functions, sweating, dizziness”, says Grechnaya. “Moreover, our brain gets flooded with hormones leading to strong emotional responses. This reaction is known as fight or flight” - our response to stress. This increases the level of cortisol, adrenaline and noradrenaline in our bodies.” 

Explaining how this impacts skin Casha adds, "Hormonal responses involving oxytocin, dopamine, and norepinephrine tend to have positive effects on the skin and are associated with increased microcirculation, anti-inflammatory responses, and repair of the skin barrier. 

 “These responses boost skin health and have anti-ageing effects.  However, hormonal responses involving cortisol, adrenaline, and noradrenalin, tend to have more negative impacts on the skin as they increase inflammation, disrupt the skin barrier, and can impair wound healing.  They can also increase skin sebum production and contribute to breakouts."