We were asked by technology experts at FOREO to understand whether singing can be good for your skin and if so, how?
We’ve known about the benefits of singing for health and wellbeing for decades – this is something we teach our students during our Voice Therapy courses. FOREO asked us to conduct a research project to investigate whether the chemicals released during singing could also benefit our skin.
Our research showed that singing along to your favourite tracks is not only the perfect mood booster, but it could also help improve your skin, in fact just five minutes of singing a day could slow the aging process and give your skin a health glow – here’s why:
Singing boosts Dopamine – the “feel good” factor
Singing increases our Dopamine levels which in turn elevates our mood. Every time we experience chills or goose-bumps when listening to our favourite track we are giving ourselves a shot of this ‘feel-good’ neurotransmitter.
Singing for a natural face lift
Research showed that 30 days of singing each day resulted in an improvement in facial muscle tone and helped to counterbalance aging effects. Singing also helps increase blood flow to the skin.
Singing to make your skin look younger
Increased levels of stress hormones such as Cortisol affect the quality of collagen in your skin, reducing elasticity and increasing the appearance of fine lines and the skin’s ability to ‘bounce back’. There have been numerous studies that show that singing reduces Cortisol.
Singing to reduce acne
As well as affecting collagen, high levels of the stress hormones Cortisol and Adrenaline have been linked to acne. Singing significantly reduces both of these hormones.
It is important that you sing for a certain length of time for optimum effect. To help improve mood-state choose songs that give you goose-bumps and aim to sing for at least 5 minutes. If you are feeling particularly down, then choose a few of your favourite tracks that add up to around 14 minutes to get the maximum sonic vitamin boost! If you are stressed aim to sing for 20 minutes and better still, form a Zoom Karaoke group with your friends. Group singing for fun reduces Cortisol even more effectively.
The singalong playlist by Foreo & The British Academy of Sound Therapy
Three of the most important ingredients in music that may help improve the skin are lyrics (to boost mood, increase Dopamine, reduce stress), driving rhythm (to boost mood and increase oxygen flow) and sustained breathing (to reduce stress). The following playlist of top 10 songs were chosen with these criteria in mind and can be found below.
Feedback from FOREO
FOREO UK recently teamed up with the British Academy of Sound Therapy to investigate the ways in which singing for just 5 minutes each day could improve your skin. The British Academy were a true delight to work with. The research and insights they compiled not only exceeded our expectations but also guided our approach to be as seamless as possible – it was also delivered ahead of deadline! They truly are experts in their field. We would highly recommend and refer anyone looking for unparalleled expertise around sound therapy to the British Academy, without hesitation. – FOREO Team