Beauty Expert Donna Fay runs down a few tips on how to keep your skin healthy and beautiful all winter long.
Bundle up.
The cold weather this time of year brings about a much lower level of humidity. This low humidity is what will cause your skin to dry and crack from your lips, face, hands, down to your feet. Cracked/broken skin can lead to infection. Make sure you are covered up as much as possible before stepping out into the cold. Exposed skin takes a lot of damage, especially when the wind picks up; your fingers, hands, and toes are more susceptible to windburn and frostbite.
Ditch products that dry your skin.
Do you know the products in your current skin care regimen are stripping skin of precious moisture? During this time of year it’s wise to skip the at-home peels, toners, or clay masks that contain alcohol. If your skin feels stripped after cleansing, switch to using it only at night. In the morning, simply rinse your face and apply a moisturizer.
Put your moisturizer to work.
Moisturizing is probably one of the most essential and easiest-to-follow steps in your skin care routine. We recommend applying a moisturizer after a shower. One that has a bit of a heavier cream consistency as the need for moisturizer is greater in winter than in summer due to the amount of damage cold weather does to our skin.
Protect your lips.
Our lips are naturally dry due to the fact that they lack oil glands. In the winter our lips can become cracked and painfully dry. What makes them worse is when we lick our lips. Saliva quickly evaporates, leaving your lips drier than before. Make sure you keep a lip balm on hand to help keep prevent your lips from chapping.
Mind the temperature inside.
You won’t be able to fight off blustery days outside, but you are able to create a skin-friendly environment in your home or office. Abrupt temperature changes like freezing outdoor weather lead to cranking up the thermostat inside, which can severely dehydrate the skin. To help with this, try using a humidifier to help put some moisture in the air. If you don’t have a humidifier, try putting some water into a bowl in the room where heated air is circulating; when it evaporates, it will put moisture back into the air.
Don’t skip the SPF.
This may seem a bit odd, especially during the winter months when the last thing we think about is the sun, but the sun can still do a lot of damage to your skin. UV rays are still prevalent in the winter as they are in the summer. The sun also reflects light off the snow at a much greater intensity.