Winter Proof Your Skin
Dry winter air can wreak havoc on our skin! But there are things you can do to protect your skin from the harsh elements. Here are some of my favorite skin care tips and products for beating winter at its game.
Watch Your Water
1) Stay hydrated! You know you need to drink more water, but did you know that staying internally hydrated improves your skin? Bonus points for drinking water that contains added electrolytes and antioxidants like Pure Inventions Water Infusion Drops.
2) Use cool or warm water to wash. Hot water dehydrates your skin, impairing your barrier and leaving your skin red and sensitive. It will also lead to transepidermal water loss (TEWL) which is hydration lost through the skin because of barrier impairment.
Note: Often people think their skin is super oily, but it is actually the hydration that is seeping out. Overly dry skin can also lead to more breakouts and accelerated aging because of inflammation.
3) Don’t allow the shower jets to directly hit your face! It can dehydrate the skin and the pressure can actually damage and burst facial capillaries. Just splash the water directly from your hands.
4) Clean teeth and hair before cleansing. Brush your teeth and wash and condition your hair before cleansing your skin so that all of the residue from the toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner are washed away.
Your Cleanser Matters
Especially in winter, use a gentle, non-barrier stripping cleanser. But what does that actually mean? There are hundreds of cleansers claiming to be gentle! Below are links to some of my favorites. There are ones for every skin type!
Gentle Cleansers:
Roccoco Botanicals Ruby Crystal Cleanser
Roccoco Botanicals Soothing Cleansing Oil
Forget Beauty Energized Uplifting Cleanser
Never Forget the Sunscreen!
Often people think they don’t need to use SPF in the winter because they don’t feel the heat from the sun. But aging UVA is just as intense and damaging in the winter, sometimes more so. UVA can reflect off the surface of snow to hit you from both below and above! Be sure you are covered!
Don’t Overwork Your Skin
In winter, it is best to avoid skin peels, treatments like microdermabrasion and all excessive exfoliation. When you peel the skin and exfoliate the barrier you are taking away the lipid bilayer where the nutritional health of the skin is stored. In dry air, you can actually be putting your barrier at risk. Instead, use a gentle enzyme or a polish like Hale and Hush Refine Polish that actually helps to repair the barrier.
Nighttime Skincare
As we age, our body’s ability to produce lipids declines. This increases inflammation. So while we sleep is a really good time to repair skin! Here are three overnight options to give your skin a moisture boost!
For Dry, Non-Acneic Skin
I love the Forget Beauty 3 Layers of Hydration Kit for those who don’t have acne prone skin. The Forget Beauty Nurtured Replenishing Oil is not acne safe but is liquid gold! It gives much needed lipid support to the middle layer of skin.
For Dry, Acneic Skin
If you have acneic skin then you can use the Forget Beauty Awakened Hydrating Serum which nourishes deep into the dermal layer of the skin and bathes the collagen in hydration. The other product that is acne safe is the Forget Beauty Immersed Nourishing Moisturizer which protects the skin from environmental factors and gives much needed hydration.
For Sensitive Skin
If your skin is already red and sensitive, then I love the mixture of Hale and Hush Hydrate Gel combined with their Relief Bio-Powder as a mask, or better yet, sleep in it overnight to calm, soothe and reduce redness and inflammation.
For All Skin Types
At night, you can also layer on the Hydrating Mask from Roccoco Botanicals over the top of your moisturizer a couple times a week or even Roccoco Botanicals CPR over your moisturizer a couple times a week for a super boost of hydration!
Daytime Support
1) Give yourself a winter sandwich by layering Roccoco’s Ceramide Booster, then your favorite moisturizer followed by Roccoco’s Peptide Serum. This seals all the hydration in and won’t allow it to escape. The peptide serum protects from cold, wind and acts like a primer for your makeup! Score! A twofer!
2) You can give your skin additional hydration support throughout the day by spritzing your skin with Hale & Hush's Mist Me or Hydrating Essence. You should be using one of these morning and night right after cleansing your skin, but these can also be used throughout the day. Use them after putting on your makeup to “set” it. They will also give your skin a gorgeous glow!
Don’t Forget the Rest of Your Body!
Just like our facial skin, we need to be using a body cleanser that isn’t full of surfactants to dry out your skin. My favorites are from Pure Anada.
As soon as I step out of the shower I spray my whole body with Mist Me and then apply Roccoco’s CPR to gain 72 hours of sustained hydration from the pomegranate sterols.
This is perfect to protect from getting dry, red and cracked winter hands. I always have the mini CPR handy (😂 excuse the pun) in my hand bag and constantly apply it to my hands during the rough winter months.
