How to sing your way to glowing, youthful skin

The benefits of singing to feel good have long been documented but did you know that singing can be effective in promoting younger looking and more glowing skin?

Research shows that singing along to your favourite tracks is not only the perfect mood booster but is also great for your skin. Just five minutes of singing a day could combat signs of ageing and here’s why;

A natural glow

An increase in dopamine elevates our mood and when we’re happier we glow. When listening to our favourite track we give ourselves a shot of this ‘feel-good’ neurotransmitter. When this happens, not only are the muscles in the face lifted but the skin radiates.

Tone the face

It was found that singing each day for 30 days resulted in an improvement in facial muscle tone and helped to counterbalance aging effects. Singing helps to increase blood flow to the skin and exercise the mouth, tongue and throat.

Singing is anti-ageing

Higher levels of stress hormones affect the quality of collagen, reducing elasticity and therefore increasing the appearance of fine lines and the skin’s ability to ‘bounce back’.

An increase in hormones like adrenaline has been linked to excessive aging. Numerous studies show these hormones reduce when singing for fun (as opposed to performing, which can be stressful).

Goodbye acne

Stress can be a primary cause of acne but sufferers can get into a feedback loop – stress causes acne and acne causes stress.

It is really important to break the cycle, so do it by singing your favourite songs regularly.

Duration is key

It is important that you sing for a certain length of time for optimum effect. Make sure you sing for at least five minutes to feel the uplifting benefits.

If you are feeling particularly down, then choose a few favourite tunes that add up to around 14 minutes to get a maximum sonic vitamin boost.

Perfect sing along playlist

The study also revealed the three most important ingredients in music that may help improve the skin.These are lyrics (to boost mood, increase dopamine, reduce stress), driving rhythm (to boost mood and increase oxygen flow), and breathing (to reduce stress and increase oxygen).

The following playlist of top 10 songs was chosen with these criteria in mind and can be found here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5n7I8vn3dY7eWSpj2QB7Fc?si=NL5Q1H0zQQOPggRdKqOMCw

1 Pharrell Williams – Happy (lyrics)2 Queen – Don’t Stop Me Now (lyrics)3 Kylie Minogue - Spinning Around (lyrics)4 Rag and Bone Man – Giant (lyrics)5 Blinding Lights - The Weekend (rhythm)6 Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars – Uptown Funk (rhythm)7 Wham! - Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go (rhythm)8 Whitney Houston – I Wanna Dance With Somebody (breathing)9 Gloria Gaynor – I Will Survive (breathing)10 Robbie Williams – Angels (breathing)

Swedish skincare company FOREO joined forces with The British Academy of Sound Therapy to carry out the study on the effects of singing out loud on your skin.

A company spokesperson said: “The great news is that singing is officially good for your face, and who doesn’t love a good sing along?

“We wanted to make this accessible to all so the report provides everyone with the tools to design their perfect playlist for younger looking and more glowing skin."