Tackling dry skin in the winter.

Painful dry skin pulling you down this winter?

Let’s talk about how to fix that.

Harsh elements always wreck havoc on our skin, and it’s up to us to fix it. Although the best way to fix something is to prevent it, I do have some magical ways to help fix it and reverse the damage.

Prevention.

Best ways to prevent dry skin are to keep it covered, and unexposed to the elements, use a good moisturizer for your skin type, and most importantly, to stay hydrated and well rested.

A lot of the time we look for quick external fixes to our problems, when really most of them lie within. Staying hydrated will, shocker, keep your skin hydrated too. Rest will allow skin time to repair itself and regenerate new cells while shedding the old ones.

Besides making sure your catching your zzz’s and drinking plenty of water, you should aim to keep covered when your outdoors. This will maintain a barrier from the harsh elements and your precious skin. Hats, scarves, jackets, boots, all that good stuff. For areas like your face that you can’t fully cover, you should be moisturizing daily. Reapplying moisturizer after being exposed to the elements is a good idea as well.

Choose a moisturizer that is good for your skin type and make sure it’s non-comedogenic, meaning it won’t clog your pores. Dryer or more mature skin types should aim for a moisturizer with some type of acid in it, like an AHA (Alpha Hydroxy Acid) or hyaluronic acid. While acne prone or oily skin should aim for a moisturizer with a BHA, or rather a beta hydroxy acid such as salicylic acid. You’ll want to make sure your moisturizer has SPF in it as well, or you should follow up your moisturizer with a sunscreen that’s made for the face as well.

Fixes

Wash your face or skin daily. Make sure to cut back on exfoliating to once a week, every other day, or whatever helps you more depending on your current exfoliation routine. You can exfoliate with your AHAs like glycolic acid or your BHAs like salicylic acid, but make sure your follow up with a moisturizer.

To wash your face use a gentle, alcohol-free, non-foaming cleanser. Healing ingredients such as ureas, ceramides, fatty acids and glycerol (also known as glycerin) or products containing stearic acid or linoleic acid can help repair your skin. Avoid products that contain sodium lauryl sulfate, which is drying. You’ll then want to apply any topical face medications (if any) you use while your skin is still slightly wet/damp. Follow up with your moisturizer, and then SPF.

For the face and neck, you might want to use a cream. Choose something that's easy to apply and leaves no visible residue. If you are acne-prone, avoid products on your face that contain petroleum jelly, cocoa butter or coconut oil, as these form an occlusive barrier on your skin can make acne worse. If you have very oily skin you can even try just using a sunscreen instead of a moisturizer. For mature/dry skin, using products that contain antioxidants or alpha hydroxy acid might help prevent scaly, flaky skin.

For non-facial skin you can use thicker oil containing products that last much longer on the skin. These products are often refered to as body butters and are usually oil based. If you don’t want to feel greasy all day, you can always apply before bedtime. Application is best right after the shower while skin is still damp and your pores are open.

Speaking of showers, limit your shower time. Avoiding long showers or baths will help reduce the amount of natural oils lost that are on your skin. Limit bathing to no more than once a day and no longer than 10-15 minutes. Also make sure to use warm, not hot, water.

Using a humidifer indoors is also a good idea to help keep air in the house moist, especially if your like me and like the house to be toasty all the time. Using any heat source can dry out the air and could be making your skin even drier. Using a humidier will not only help the air maintain some moisture and help your skin stay hydrated, but it might even help you breathe better.