Winter often spells disaster for your skin. It looks rough and chapped, feels tight and drawn. What should be one of your greatest assets becomes one of your biggest beauty blunders. You have to take extra care of your skin during this season. To help protect your skin follow these tips to stay baby soft even during the harshest winter elements.
Buy quality moisturizers. You will need two separate moisturizers: one for your entire body, and one for your face. But choose your oils with care because not all oils are appropriate for the face. Products that contain avocado oil, mineral oil, primrose oil, jojoba oil or almond oil are referred to as “non-clogging of the pores.” These oils are best because they most closely resemble your skin’s own natural oil and replenish lost oils without clogging pores or blemishing skin. Shea oil/butter is controversial, because it can clog facial pores. According to WebMD, “Many lotions labeled as “night creams” are oil-based.”
Splurge Body Cream: Crème de la Mer’s The Body Crème $130/jar (Winner of the Allure 2007 and 2008 Best Beauty Award as “Top Splurge”)
Splurge Face Cream: Laura Mercier Oil-Free tinted moisturizer w/ SPF 20 $40
Save Body Cream: Vaseline Intensive Rescue Locking Lotion $6.29
Save Face Cream: Cetaphil oil-free moisturizer $8.29
Add Exfoliation and hydrating mask to your beauty routine. To uncover healthy skin, you must buff the dry dead cells away. Exfoliate on a weekly or semi-weekly basis. Moisturizer is much more effective on properly exfoliated skin. It’s best to scrub skin when it’s dry, apply scrub to dry skin before you turn on the water (mix with lotion if it’s not moist enough). Massage the scrub in for a good five minutes for best results. Another factor in winter skin is the seasonal dip in the production of lipids (skin oils that seal in moisture). A simple way to replenish this loss is with hydrating masks.
Splurge Exfoliation Scrub: Dr. Brandt’s Microdermabrasion $75/jar
Splurge Hydrating Mask: Nars Aqua Gel Hydrator $76
Save Exfoliation Scrub/Hydrating Mask: Two-in-One Sephora Brand Exfoliator and Hydrating Mask $12
Pucker Up! Don’t forget those lips. Licking your lips will not moisturize them and instead will help dry
them out. Lips retain less moisture than other parts of the body, so they tend to dry out more quickly.
Splurge: Murad Energizing Pomegranate Lip Protector w/ SPF 15 $16.50/tube
Save: Vaseline Petroleum Jelly $4/jar
Avoid Steamy Hot Showers. Sure, soaking in a burning-hot bath feels great after frolicking out in the cold. But the intense heat of a hot shower or bath actually robs skin of moisture. The same rule applies to hand-washing. If your skin turns red, the water is simply too hot.
Hook Up the Humidifier. Furnaces rob air of moisture, leaving very little humidity in the air. The benefits of humidifiers include: helps relieve cold symptoms by making the air you breathe moist, relieves and prevents dry, scratchy skin and lips, and it also reduces nosebleeds.
(Story by Stephanie Sarto)
