COLD WEATHER SKIN TIPS

 

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As it starts to get frosty here in the UK, I thought I'd share a few tips to protect your skin against cold weather...

TRAP IN HYDRATION (OCCLUDE)

As we crank the central heating up, we aren't doing our skin any favours! Our skin naturally loses moisture overnight via a process called transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and heated homes during winter can exacerbate this further so you wake up in the morning with dry, tight, tender-feeling skin. Whilst piling on hydrating products feels good in the moment; it's really important to trap in that hydration so your skin benefits from it overnight and you can wake up in the morning with that moisture retained in your skin. For that, you need an occlusive product. These 'sealing' ingredients include silicones and waxes and are often found balm products.

Why not try... La Roche-Posay's Cicaplast B5+ Baume | £18.90 | full review

This skin balm is formulated with the active component of the soothing cica botanical extract, zinc as an anti-inflammatory for irritated skin, nourishing shea butter, calming and hydrating panthenol, and then - to seal the hydrating deal - dimethicone. 

USE A RICHER MOISTURISER

This is a pretty obvious one but I wanted to share the ingredients to look out for that will nourish your skin and ensure it stays hydrated all day, as well as supporting your skin barrier function so things don't become dry and irritated. I have pretty dry skin as it is, but every winter I like to beef things up and ensure I'm using plenty of fatty ingredients in my routine. Look out for ingredients such as ceramides, squalane and (if you're very dry) also shea butter. Ceramides are a component of your skin's lipid barrier (along with cholesterol and fatty acids) and you can top them up topically with your skincare products, which in turn encourages your skin to produce more of its own. This keeps things moisturised and balanced, even in challenging environmental conditions. Squalane is a plant-based, skin-similar ingredient usually derived from olives or sugar cane, and it's a great gentle way to replenish lost oils in your skin. And shea butter is one of the most robust nourishing butters we can apply to our skin to give it that soft, happy, nourished feeling. 

Why not try... Kate Somerville's DeliKate Recovery Cream* | £69 | full review

I replace and empty a tub of this moisturiser every single winter, because it's my perfect cold weather warrior; honestly, I can use this during the day when I need to as well, but it also makes a great night cream. It's formulated with amazing ingredients to set your skin up for the hot / cold extremes of central heating and winter weather. It's packed with ceramides, shea butter, ginger extract to reduce inflammation, occlusives and healing peptides. It's a great big hug for your face!

EXFOLIATE GENTLY

I tend to focus a little more on exfoliation during the winter; during summer, I really only need to reach for a toner or serum a couple of times a week for my skin to be happy. In the winter, I definitely get more visible dryness and notice my skin is duller and so I want to boost up the cell turnover and keep things smooth, glowing and flake-free. However, my skin is a little more prone to sensitivity in the winter, so I like to go for gentle chemical exfoliants with some hydrating properties, such as lactic acid or PHAs. These offer smoother skin without disrupting my barrier when used 3 times a week during winter.

Why not try... Medik8's Press & Glow PHA Tonic* | £28 | full review

This is a wonderful gentle PHA toner that gently smooths my skin with a gentle-but-effective 5.5% concentration that's paired with soothing aloe. It helps keep my skin refreshed without being at all harsh or irritating. 

TRY SHOWER MASKING

In general, for your skin, you are meant to only take lukewarm showers so you don't dry out your skin. UK winters can be pretty cold and miserable, so I personally will not allow a nice warm shower in the morning to be sacrificed! One thing you can do to prevent the hot, steamy environment from drying out your skin is to apply a moisturising face mask or balm before your shower. This helps to trap in hydration and protect the skin from the temperature changes whilst you shower. You can then rinse off the mask afterwards and have lovely, hydrated, soft skin afterwards! It's a great 'two birds, one stone' situation.

Why not try... Dr Sam Bunting's Flawless Revival Mask* | £34 | full review

This is a wonderful creamy face mask that's a great way to pack in a bit of hydration and ensure your winter skin stays nice and soft. It's formulated with niacinamide (which boosts ceramide production in the skin), shea butter, squalane and the humentants (water magnets) glycerin and hyaluronic acid. Basically, all the good stuff to replenish dry, lacklustre skin!

DON'T FORGET YOUR BODY!

If you - like me - have a dry skin condition: body care is never an afterthought! But if your body skin is typically fine without much attention in the summer; winter is the time to consider upping your game. There are a few issues you might come up against in winter; obviously dry skin is one of them, but also that ashy 'mask' of dead skin cells gathering on its surface can be uncomfortable and unsightly and I personally get KP (keratosis pilaris) flare-ups, where those little red bumps on the arms and legs get extra itchy and dry. So, you want to ensure you're both moisturising and exfoliating the skin; a body cream that can do both, used every other night before bed is a great way to streamline your body care routine if you don't to faff around with too many steps. Look for exfoliants like lactic acid, urea, PHAs and salicylic acid paired with nourishing ingredients like shea butter and ceramides.

Why not try... Aveeno's Skin Renewal Soothing Cream* | £14.99 | full review

This creamy lotion brings together fatty ingredients, gently-exfoliating PHAs, calming oat and nourishing shea butter to moisturise body skin and help to clear dead skin cells that might be clogging things up and causing irritation or a dry layer of skin.

How do you keep your skin healthy and happy in cold weather?

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