There was a time when I joined the work-from-office crowd for a very short-lived internship. There were a lot of reasons behind my premature resignation, but I also noticed the turmoil my face went through during those nine hours, plus another three hours of total travel time. By the time I got back, what looked back at me in the mirror was unrecognisable.
My smile lines would become more prominent, my skin would feel oilier and dirtier, my mascara and kajal would barely be holding on and my under-eyes would look darker. I brought this concern up with my regular office-going friends, and they echoed the same. “My skin looks as tired as I feel after work. After all the travelling, dust, pollution, air-conditioning and constant sitting at work, the strain is clearly visible on my skin by the end of the day,” shares Dhuwni Suri, 23, operations manager. Misery loves company, so I did feel a tad bit better knowing I wasn’t the sole victim.
It was then that I was introduced to the concept of “office air” through one of my fellow victims. “Whenever I’d video call my parents after work, they’d immediately ask me to apply some moisturiser on that parched face of mine. How do I tell them I’m already on my fifth round of the day?” adds Anne Lisa Augustine, 22, AI client innovation professional. “I didn’t know ‘office air’ was a thing until recently, when a few videos popped up on my feed and it all started making sense.”
What is the office-air theory?
Office-air theory is a viral social media trend describing how dry, air-conditioned indoor environments can strip moisture from your skin and hair, making your face look drier, duller and just tired.
Is this theory true?
The internet can make you believe in vampires and mermaids if you spend enough time on it. So, a theory about how office air makes your skin look bad doesn’t exactly sound implausible, considering so many people seem to experience some version of it. “It’s not a medical term, but from a dermatology perspective, there is some science behind the phenomenon,” adds Dr Aanchal Panth, dermatologist. “The biggest factor is often low humidity from air-conditioning or heating. Dry air increases the tendency of water to escape through the outermost layer of the skin, a process measured as transepidermal water loss (TEWL). Increased water loss can leave your skin less hydrated, making it feel tight, rough and sensitive, which in turn makes your fine lines temporarily look more noticeable.” I heaved a sigh of relief at ‘temporarily’.
“Then there are the lifestyle factors that come with office work,” adds Dr Shailya Gupta, MBBS, MD, dermatologist. “Long periods of sitting, stress, irregular meals or hydration and prolonged screen exposure. Although screen exposure itself is often blamed for everything from pigmentation to premature ageing, I wouldn’t overstate this.”
Dr Panth shares the same belief: “Prolonged screen focus reduces blink rate, drying the periorbital area and making your eyes look tired, thus worsening your dark circles and puffy eyes.” So, when my friend Suri added to my rant, saying, “I also think the constant exposure to bright screens and lights affects the way my face looks,” she wasn’t entirely wrong, although I did greet the theory with a certain level of derision.
What should you do now?
There are ways you can combat your office-air face. Suri, in an understandable rush to get back home, isn’t very consistent with her clocking-out skincare routine. My other two friends, however, have been experimenting. “I started applying more moisturiser; I think applying more can help. I’m yet to see a difference though,” confesses Nautiyal. Augustine has found a few additions that help. “I make sure to take long showers after I’m back. I also recently got into the combination of hyaluronic acid and vitamin B5 (panthenol) for hydration and face masks for a little refreshment and mood boosting,” she shares.
