Less time spent smoking and drinking in the pub, and more time sat at home baking bread and doing yoga videos on YouTube should technically mean better skin, right? Not necessarily. If your skin has seen better days, despite the boost of free time that you’ve no doubt found yourself with lately, you’re not alone. If you’re anything like this (usually cosmetically diligent) writer, any semblance of a grooming routine you had before you were required to spend most of your free time inside your house has gone entirely to pot.

The reasons can be pinned on many things (a proclivity for foregoing a morning shower for favour of a lie-in now that you don’t have to show yourself in an office is just one). But there’s a tell-tale sign that stands out: stress. “Let’s not forget that we’re all under a lot of stress and we’re out of our routine right now,” explains Dr Yannis Alexandrides, the Harley Street cosmetic surgeon and founder of hyper-pioneering skincare brand 111SKIN. “Because of the changes that we’re going through, and stress is one of the factors that affects skin a lot. If you’re feeling that at the moment, it’s not surprising,” he explains.

Still, there is plenty you can do to remedy the situation, so whether you’re breaking out, feeling particularly ashy or missing the glow you were planning on getting from your now-cancelled summer holiday, here are a few things you can do.

“[Stress] increases hormones that create dehydration and that has an immediate effect on the skin,” explains Dr Alexandrides. “It’s a good time to do things that take a little longer, using nourishing facial masks for instance. When we have a hectic lifestyle we don’t have the time to do things like this, but it’s much easier to do that right now.”

In other words, if your skin is dry, flaky or ashy, that’s totally normal. But because you have no excuse not to wrap your face in a moisturising sheet mask at least once a week, try La Mer’s Hydrating Facial sheet masks – they’re made of cotton; soaked in avocado oil, marine algae and the brand’s famous “miracle broth”. Leave the mask on for around 10 minutes, stick on some relaxing music and emerge a new man.

To incorporate more hydration into your daily routine, look for products that contain hyaluronic acid (this helps to quickly infuse the skin with moisture). 111SKIN’s boosters are great for this; the brand’s Aqua Booster contains plenty of the aforementioned hyaluronic acid and is oil-free, helping the skin maintain a healthy, nourished and lasting glow.

As well as making skin dry, stress can also cause acne flare ups and breakouts. Stress hormones can increase sebum production, which in turn can lead to blocked pores and inflammation. So, if you’ve found yourself a little spottier than normal recently, it’s little surprise. Thankfully, being that whiteheads and blackheads are a scourge for most people at some point, the skincare market is awash with things to treat them. Still, you’ll want to tread with caution: avoid anything over-perfumed that will make already-sensitive skin worse, as well as scrubs, which, while they may feel satisfying, can irritate skin and make acne worse.

111SKIN’s Anti-Blemish Bio-Cellulose Mask is a hero spot-fighting product; it can be split into two, depending on which half of your face the spots are hitting you the hardest. It also works to calm skin and relieve it from the inflammation and oil caused by excess sebum. Shiny T-zone and an unsightly zit here or there? This one’s for you.

If you’re in need of something even more targeted, you’ll want to call in the zit-killer. No, really. ZitSticka’s KILLA is a revolutionary product that you apply to your spots to treat them as quickly as possible. Each “patch” contains self-dissolving microdarts that include a host of zit-fighting ingredients that will gently alleviate spots, leave skin looking clear and soothed.

While taking the time to care for your skin with a sheet mask and combatting your spots with up-to-the-minute products is a sensible thing to do, addressing the stress itself will do more for your skin than you’d think. Insomnia is on the rise thanks to sleeping routines going out of the window, and our skin is one of the most obvious indicators that we’re not getting enough sleep (sleep affects everything from collagen production and wound-healing to eczema).

To go some way to remedying problems sleeping that may have arisen recently, try setting aside even just 10 minutes each day to meditate and focus on your breathing (the Headspace app is a good place to start). It’ll take some commitment, but after a few weeks you’ll be surprised at the difference it makes, and the knock-on effects it will have on stressed-out skin.

Use anatomē’s Essential Oil Elixirs to help centre your mind while meditating and continue to apply at points throughout the day – because you’ll begin to associate it with meditating, it’ll remind you to relax.