Some slow-tempo songs can help create a calming, relaxing atmosphere for your daily skincare routine. Photo: AFP
Now more than ever, natural beauty – and especially radiant skin – is the order of the day. But you need to be relaxed to look your best.
With this in mind, a new study suggests that music could offer a helping hand in the quest for perfect skin.
Stress can have harmful effects on the skin. The hormones it releases increase sebum production, contributing to the onset of blemishes and accelerating skin ageing.
Stress also alters the skin's complexion and barrier function, causing tightness, irritation and itching.
Everything suggests that our skin suffers when we're anxious, so it's important to combat its effects if you want your skin to look its best.
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And that's where music might come in. A large number of studies have shown that music can have anxiety-busting effects. It may even reduce the subjective feeling of stress, by stimulating reward circuits.
Certain slow-tempo melodies have a greater effect on the mind than others, making them potential allies in the quest for immaculate skin.
With this in mind, experts from the Beauty Pie brand set out to determine which songs might be most beneficial to our skin.
To do so, they analysed 1.4 million tracks hosted on Spotify, paying particular attention to those featuring on playlists containing, among other keywords, the terms "skincare", "calm" and "wellness."
The result is a ranking of the 25 "most relaxing" tracks to listen to during your skincare routine.
SZA, a relaxing artiste
Top of the list comes Ariana Grande's Moonlight. This ballad, which features on the singer's third album, Dangerous Woman, has a very slow rhythm.
Dr Michael Bonshor, professor of music psychology at the University of Sheffield (UK), claims that its soothing effect results from its tempo.
"Ariana’s Moonlight has 102 beats per minute if we listen for the four beats in a bar. However, if we focus on the stronger first and third beats in the bar, we ‘feel’ the music pace as two slow beats in every bar, giving us a restful 51 bpm," he said in a statement.
SZA's Good Days and Frank Ocean's Pink + White take second and third place, respectively. R'n'B star Frank Ocean also appears in eleventh place, thanks to his introspective track Lost.
But the artiste dominating the list of most relaxing songs is none other than SZA. The American rapper alone occupies three different spots: second, fourth (with Kill Bill) and nineteenth (with Normal Girl).
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Most of the musicians in this top 25 have made their name in recent years, with the exception of Norah Jones.
The American singer launched her career in 2002 with the release of her debut album, Come Away With Me. But the song that earns her eighth place in this list of relaxing songs, Sunrise, comes from her second album, Feels Like Home.
According to Dr Bonshor, this track is particularly relaxing.
"The repetitive melody evident in [Norah Jones'] Sunrise, paired with soothing lyrics and steady rhythmic patterns, makes it a tune you can easily lean into," the expert says. – AFP Relaxnews
