Happy Relationships, Happy Skin

Understanding the Link Between Relationships and Skin Health

Positive Relationships and Your Skin

Positive relationships don’t just lift our mood - they can support our skin health too.

Connection, laughter, and emotional support help lower stress hormones like cortisol and boost ‘feel-good’ chemicals such as oxytocin, which promote skin healing and balance.

Strong social bonds - with family, friends, or partners - are an important part of overall wellbeing, emotional resilience, and, indirectly, healthier skin.

How This Can Show on Your Skin

Healthy, supportive relationships may contribute to:

• Reduced Stress: Lower cortisol can mean fewer breakouts, less inflammation, and a calmer complexion.

• Better Sleep: Positive emotional support improves sleep quality, allowing skin to repair and regenerate.

• Healthier Habits: Supportive people encourage better self-care routines and consistency.

• Enhanced Immunity: Emotional wellbeing strengthens the immune system, helping the skin fight infection and inflammation.

On the other hand, toxic or stressful relationships can raise stress levels, which may worsen conditions such as acne, eczema, psoriasis, or rosacea.

Tips for Building Healthy Relationships (and Healthier Skin)

• Prioritise Connection: Spend quality time with loved ones and share meaningful conversations.

• Practice Gratitude: Appreciation strengthens emotional bonds.

• Set Boundaries: Protect your emotional energy by limiting time spent around toxic influences.

• Laugh Often: Laughter reduces stress and boosts endorphins - your skin will thank you!

• Communicate Openly: Honest, kind communication reduces tension and builds stronger relationships.

• Support Self-Care: Encourage self-care in yourself and those you care about — it’s contagious!

The Science Behind It

Research shows that chronic stress can trigger or worsen many skin conditions, including eczema, acne, psoriasis, and rosacea.

Supportive relationships act as a protective buffer, helping to lower stress levels and support both emotional and skin health.

In a 2020 survey by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Skin, 98% of people with skin conditions reported that their emotional and psychological wellbeing was affected -

highlighting how deeply connected our mental and skin health truly are.

While healthy relationships alone cannot prevent skin conditions, they are an important part of nurturing emotional wellbeing and overall resilience.

Need Extra Support?

Nurturing healthy relationships is an important part of overall well-being - and it can support your skin health too.

If you’re navigating relationship challenges, a counsellor or relationship coach can provide guidance and support.

Is There Public National Guidance on the Effect of Relationships on Skin Health?

Not really. While some NHS-affiliated trusts and research bodies acknowledge the link, such as Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, which explores how communication and intimacy affect conditions like hidradenitis suppurativa, this is far from widespread. The BRISC study (University of Manchester) and work by Oxford University Hospitals have also examined how skin conditions impact confidence, self-image, and relationships, particularly among young people.

But what about the rest of us?
There is currently no public-facing guidance that frames skin health as a benefit of positive relationships. While emerging evidence, and common sense, suggests strong social bonds support wellbeing, this hasn’t yet been translated into national messaging or everyday advice.

The Skin Well™ believes this matters. Because when skin is left out of the positive relationships conversation, the public is left without the full picture.

Trusted Sources (Not a Complete Catalogue)

Here are a few UK-based resources that explore the relationship between emotional wellbeing, connection, and skin health. While national guidance remains limited, these examples highlight growing recognition:

• Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust – Hidradenitis Suppurativa: Communication and Relationships
  Offers advice on maintaining intimacy and communication for people living with HS, recognising the condition’s emotional and relational impact.
  guysandstthomas.nhs.uk – Hidradenitis Support

• BRISC Study – University of Manchester
  A research initiative focused on building resilience in young people with skin conditions, particularly around relationships, confidence, and mental wellbeing.
  BRISC Study Summary – HRA

• Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – Adolescent Skin and Sexual Health Study
  A UK-based clinical study exploring how chronic skin conditions affect sexual health and quality of life in adolescents.
  Study listing on CenterWatch

• Healthtalk – Psoriasis and Self-Esteem
  Personal accounts of how living with a skin condition like psoriasis can affect confidence, self-image, and relationships.
  healthtalk.org – Psoriasis and Confidence