How to Combat Winter Skin: Dry, Itchy and Dehydrated
Breath that lingers in the air, rosy cheeks, cosy knitted jumpers and hot drinks. Winter is officially here, and between freezing cold air, indoor heating and lower humidity, your skin might start to feel like it needs more help.
What’s happening with my skin in winter?
Winter is sucking your skin dry!
Your skin’s barrier contains ceramides, which are essential for holding on to moisture and helping to protect the skin. These ceramides are being stripped away by the rapid and dramatic changes in temperature, as well as the reduced levels of moisture in the air.
So how do you help to support your skin’s barrier?
Support from within
Our lifestyle habits can have a huge impact on our skin, which normally take a backseat in winter anyway. We exercise less, we go outside less and we eat more comfort food. Add to this the fact that we’ve been in lockdown for what seems like forever(!) our skin is probably not feeling the love.
While you might not feel like going outside, you can change up your diet to include healthy oils and fats from oily fish, avocado, and nuts & seeds, as well as drinking plenty of water.
You can also add support through a Hyaluronic acid supplement, which helps your skin to maintain moisture.
Recommended products:
Optimise your environment
As we’ve seen, small changes in the environment can affect your skin. However, we’re all mindful of the importance of getting out and exercising for the benefit of both body and mind.
What you can do is to limit your exposure to heat. For instance, if you’re sat right next to a radiator all day at work or home, consider having it on only in intervals. Invest in a humidifier to put moisture back into the air, which will prevent it being drawn out of your skin.
Tweak your routine
You don’t need a complete overhaul when it comes to your routine. Usually, paying attention to how your skin is feeling and tweaking your routine accordingly will help your skin feel more hydrated.
If after cleansing, your skin has been feeling tight, then you should swap to something more moisturising, like a cleansing lotion or cream cleanser opposed to a foaming cleanser.
A little bit of a helping hand with exfoliation can be beneficial in the form of a lactic acid, but no scrubs though please! Your skin might be a little bit sluggish if you’ve got dead skin sitting on top of it, and exfoliating will restore that glow.
Give a little bit of extra support to your skin’s barrier with an anti-pollution mist, which will help shield your skin from harmful pollutants and prevent the stripping away of essential moisture.
Hero ingredients to look out for include hyaluronic acid and ceramides. These both help to lock moisture into the skin, leaving your skin feeling rejuvenated.
Recommended products:
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Book A Skin Consultation
We believe that an in-depth analysis of your skin is the cornerstone of a successful skincare programme and there is no better way to do that face-to-face so we can see your skin and recommend the right products to achieve your skincare goals.
However, we understand not everyone can easily visit our clinic so you can book a face-to-face or an Online Video Consultation with our skincare expert Katherine Taylor at a time to suit you by clicking the Book Now button below.
Online consultations can be done via Zoom, Facetime or WhatsApp and once you’ve booked Katherine will be in touch to give you the access details.
We do take a £10 deposit to book face-to-face or online consultations but this is fully redeemable against product orders.
I hope to see you soon!
Katherine x
