Winter is a great time for snuggling by a fire, having snowball fights, and singing carols, but it also comes with freezing temperatures, dry air, and harsh winds. All these things can take a toll on your skin, leaving it dry, flaky, and looking bad. Don’t let winter take a toll on you; get started now to keep your skin looking healthy all the way to summer.
The most important step for keeping your skin moisturized is to drink plenty of water. Creams and lotions are great, but they can only do so much. If your cells aren’t properly hydrated, they will not only be rough and dry but can also become red, bloated, and simply unhealthy looking. If you get enough water to drink, your skin will stay more moist and your body will stay more healthy.
We all know using moisturizers during the winter is important to keep your skin from drying out. They not only provide hydration – they also form a protective barrier to help your skin hold moisture in. But when choosing which product to buy, remember that all moisturizers are not created equal. Choose moisturizers that contain nutrients like vitamin A, D, and E that will nourish your skin and help it retain more moisture.
The reason your skin gets so dry during the winter is mainly because the air around it is so dry. The drier the air, the more water you lose from your skin. While you can’t make the air more humid outside, you can control the water level inside. Setting up a humidifier in your home and office will help your skin stay soft and supple all year round.
While you can’t use a humidifier outside, you can protect your skin from the dry air by covering it up. While you might think you don’t need to bundle up for a short walk outside, putting on a coat, gloves, and a scarf will help keep your skin hydrated. If you’re going to be outside for longer periods of time, you can protect yourself more by putting on lotion before you cover up.
Another offender for drying out your skin is soap. As the cold and flu season revs up, we’re much more likely to wash our hands and use harsh antibacterial soaps that suck the moisture from our hands and the rest of the body. To keep moisture in, find moisturizing hand soap and use moisturizing cleansers as opposed to soap for the rest of your body. Just like lotions, look for soaps with added vitamins to help stop your skin from drying out.
Just because it’s cold and dry in the winter, doesn’t mean you have to deal with itchy and embarrassing dry skin. Just take these few extra steps to keep it looking and feeling great all year round.
