The cold and dry winter weather conditions can take a toll on your skin. You may experience dry, flaky skin during the winter season.
Harsh winter winds and low humidity levels can cause your skin to lose its moisture. As a result, you can notice your skin getting itchy and flaky.
There is no denying that skin dryness can be extremely uncomfortable, but there's a way to manage it. The key is to follow winter skin care tips.
To lock in your skin's moisture, you can use the right moisturizing products and ingredients. Furthermore, you may indulge in winter season facials and spa treatments to maintain your skin's glow during the cold winter months.
According to your skin type, you may create a winter skincare routine that works best for you. Given the numerous skincare properties, it can be challenging to formulate the ideal skincare routine for winter.
This blog will provide skin care tips for winter that you can use to nourish and hydrate your skin. Additionally, you will also learn what to avoid while following a skincare routine in winter.
Without further ado, prepare your skin for the winter with helpful skincare tips!
How Does Winter Affect Skin?
Most people notice a change in the texture of their skin in winter. Skin irritation and rashes are quite common concerns in the winter.
And why does it happen in the winter? It is due to the lack of moisture in the air and the frequent use of heaters. As your skin gets exposed to arid winter weather, the moisture content in your skin evaporates, leaving it dry and itchy.
Besides itchy skin, the cold temperatures of winter can trigger or worsen conditions such as eczema, hives, and Raynaud's phenomenon.
As your skin is constantly exposed to harsh and dry winter conditions, it will damage the protective layer of your skin. The damage to your skin's protective layer will weaken the capacity to retain moisture. That, in turn, will cause such skin conditions.
The trick is to keep your skin hydrated and moisturized. How to achieve that?
Well, you can swear by reliable skin care tips for winter. From using hydrating cleansers to rich moisturizers and emollients, there are various products you can add to your skincare routine.
Step-by-Step Skin Care Tips for Winter
The tips for winter skin care aim to provide the skin with nourishment and hydration. It ensures that your skin can retain moisture in the arid winter conditions.
Below are the step-by-step skin care tips for winter:
One of the obvious winter skin care tips is to cleanse your skin. In the winter, cleansing is vital to remove accumulated dirt from the skin.
As temperatures drop, the moisture in the air decreases, making harsh soaps and cleansers in winter particularly damaging to your skin's natural oils.
To maintain the oil balance of your skin, you should use gentle soaps and cleansers. Such soaps and cleansers will have hydrating properties that will keep your skin soft and plump.
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Remove Dead Skin Cells with Mild Exfoliants
The accumulation of dead skin cells occurs more rapidly during the winter season. However, frequent exfoliation can cause skin irritation.
Exfoliate your skin once or maybe twice a week to remove dead skin cells and maintain your skin's texture. If you're looking for homemade skin care tips for winter, combine honey and lemon to create a gentle exfoliant.
While the acidic properties of lemon will remove dirt from your skin, honey will retain moisture in your skin.
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Hydrate Your Skin with a Toner
It is likely to lose hydration after an exfoliation session. To regain hydration, use a toner. Many people tend to skip using toners, but this is a crucial step in your winter skincare routine.
For the winter season, opt for hydrating toners that contain ingredients such as glycerin and hyaluronic acid.
Using hydrating toners is one of the most effective winter care tips for dry skin. The presence of such ingredients will lock moisture and maintain the pH balance of your skin. As a result, your skin will be immune to winter's dry weather conditions.
Serums feature concentrated ingredients that focus on specific skin concerns. For winter, use a serum that provides maximum hydration to your skin.
You can opt for serums that have hyaluronic acid, Vitamin E, and glycerine components. These elements work to boost hydration in your skin.
As a result, you can experience your skin being refreshed amidst cold winters.
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Protect the Natural Barrier of Your Skin with Moisturizers
After applying a hydrating serum, the next step in your winter skincare routine is offering nourishment. It is one of the crucial skin care tips for dry skin in winter.
The external weather conditions will worsen your dry skin. Hence, choose a nourishing and deeply moisturizing emollient.
Even for people with oily skin, avoiding moisturizers can cause the skin to produce more oil. It, in turn, can lead to breakouts and rashes. To prevent your face from becoming greasy, opt for water-based or gel-based moisturizers.
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Shield Your Skin from Sun Damage with an SPF
You can't ignore SPF even in the winter season because UV rays exist in cold weather conditions. Snow reflects 80% of UV rays that can damage your skin's protective layer.
It thus becomes crucial to apply broad-spectrum sunscreens in the winter season. To shield the protective layer of your skin from the dangers of UV rays, you can use sunscreens with SPF 30 or more.
Additionally, to keep your skin hydrated, consider using sunscreens that contain nourishing agents such as ceramides and hyaluronic acid.
Best Skin Care Routine for Winter
Following a skincare routine can help fight different seasonal concerns. For the winter season, the problems include freezing temperatures, low humidity levels, and persistent dry air.
Due to such conditions, your skin tends to lose moisture and become flaky and rough. By incorporating the best skin care tips in winter, you can restore moisture and promote hydration in your skin.
Let's explore the skincare routine that will work for you in winter.
It can be tedious to retain the natural oils of your skin during winter. Using harsh soaps and cleansers can easily strip away the natural oils. It is thus a wise tip to use gentle cleansers in the winter season.
A gentle and hydrating cleanser will clean your skin without making it dry. You can look for cleansers that have ingredients like glycerine and ceramides. These ingredients help restore the skin's natural barrier and retain moisture, making it look radiant and supple.
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Moisturize Your Skin After Cleansing
When it comes to following winter season skin care tips, timing is everything. For instance, after cleansing your skin in winter, consider moisturizing it immediately.
While your skin is still damp, apply a rich moisturizer to lock in the moisture. Opt for moisturizers that help retain water in your skin. A hyaluronic-rich moisturizer is the ideal choice for this purpose.
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Limit Hot Baths or Showers
It feels right to take a hot bath on chilly winter nights. However, hot water strips the natural oils from your skin, leaving it dry and itchy. To prevent skin dryness, bathe in lukewarm water for 10-15 minutes.
After your lukewarm water bathing session, use a towel to pat your skin dry. Apply moisturizer immediately after the process.
Even in low temperatures, sunscreens are a must! The purpose of a sunscreen is to protect your skin's natural barrier from harmful UV rays.
In the winter, the UV rays can penetrate through clouds and reflect off snow. Hence, you should also use sunscreen in the winter months.
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Consider Gentle Exfoliation
Exfoliation focuses on removing dead skin cells and unclogging pores. The accumulated dirt on your skin in the winter can make it look dull. To restore your skin's glow and texture, you should use a gentle exfoliant.
In the winter, use a gentle exfoliant once or twice a week to help maintain smooth skin. As a result, it will allow moisture to penetrate through your skin, making it look soft and glowing.
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Use a Humidifier When You're Indoors
Using a humidifier is one of the simplest ways to prevent skin dryness in the winter season. Indoor heating systems decrease humidity levels, which can cause dry skin.
A humidifier helps add moisture back to the air, thereby maintaining the hydration of your skin in cold temperatures. Install a humidifier in a room where you spend most of your time to retain moisture.
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Take Extra Care to Hydrate Your Skin
Harsh and cold winters can strip off the natural oils of your skin. As your skin becomes dry, you may notice dryness and irritation that can lead to rashes and breakouts.
To prevent that from happening, you take time to hydrate your skin. Keeping your skin hydrated is one of the essential natural skin care tips for winter. Using skincare ingredients and products that retain water in your skin helps make it look hydrated and rejuvenated.
What to Avoid in the Winter?
The above-mentioned winter skin care tips will help you brave the adversity of the season. Follow these tips to revive the original glow and texture of your skin.
While it is essential to know what skincare regimen to follow in winter, it is equally important to know what to avoid in the winter season.
Therefore, when winter approaches, ensure to avoid the following pointers:
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Using Harsh Scrubs in the Winter Season
It is a strict no, especially for people with dry skin. Chilly winds and low humidity in winter can exacerbate dry skin. In such a condition, using harsh scrubs can cause skin concerns like irritation and rashes.
Instead, use gentle scrubs that feel soft on the skin. Scrubs that contain hydrating agents, such as glycerin, ceramides, and hyaluronic acid, can work wonders for dry skin. These cleansers can restore skin hydration, giving it a beautiful glow.
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Taking Long, Hot Baths or Showers
It may seem a relaxing idea to take a prolonged hot shower/bath or sit in the sauna. However, prolonged exposure to intense heat can weaken your skin's natural barrier. As a result, you may lose moisture from your skin, making it appear rough and itchy.
For winter dry skin care, consider taking showers or baths in lukewarm water. Bathing or showering in lukewarm water for 10-15 minutes can help remove accumulated dirt from your skin. Additionally, it will keep your skin healthy and fresh.
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Using Skincare Products that Have Drying Ingredients
Various skincare products contain drying ingredients, many of which people are unaware of. These include eucalyptus, denatured alcohol, essential oils, menthol, starches, and clay.
Before you use a skincare product in winter, check the ingredients. Try to avoid using such products as they will make your skin dry and flaky. Instead, use products that have nourishing properties, such as glycerin and hyaluronic acid.
Winter Skincare Tips By Dermatologists
The cold and dry air of winter can compromise your skin, leaving it itchy and flaky. However, there are several ways you can protect your skin from the adversities of the winter season.
To keep your skin smooth and supple even in harsh weather conditions, follow the winter skin care tips recommended by dermatologists.
The following are winter skincare tips by dermatologists to keep your skin happy and healthy.
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Opt for hydrating cleansers: Any cleanser that focuses on deep cleaning strips your skin of its natural oils. The dry winter climate, anyway, leaves your skin arid. Therefore, it is essential to use gentle and hydrating cleansers for your skin.
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Never skip on your sunscreen: Indeed, the UV rays of the sun are not as intense in winter as they are in the summer season. However, their existence is very much there in the winter season. In the winter, the rays reflect through snow and clouds and can cause sunburns. It is thus essential that you never step out without applying sunscreen.
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Drink plenty of water: In addition to using rich moisturizers, it is necessary to hydrate your skin from the inside out. With low humidity levels in the air, your skin loses hydration. To restore that, you should drink plenty of water. Try to have at least eight glasses of water every day. Additionally, include water-rich foods like cucumbers and oranges in your diet to stay hydrated.
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Do Lip Care: Chapped lips are a common concern in the winter season. To lock in your lip's moisture, you can use a hydrating lip balm.
How Can Spa Care for Winter Skin?
Besides the perfect skincare routine for winter, you can indulge in spa treatments. A long spa session helps rejuvenate and revitalize your skin during the arid winter months.
From facials to body treatments and nail care, there are various spa treatments tailored for the winter season.
Facials are a crucial part of any spa treatment. As winter approaches, consider getting a facial that promotes skin hydration.
As winter facial skin care tips, you can book a Hydra Facial Signature session. It is a traditional hydra facial treatment that removes dead skin cells to restore your skin's texture.
After removing the dead skin cells, the beautician will use hydrating serums and moisturizers to lock in the moisture in the cold, dry winters.
A body spa treatment in the winter season is an ideal way to relax. Exposure to cold temperatures can restrict the blood flow to your skin tissues. To ease them, a relaxing body spa treatment can be beneficial.
The beautician will use mild scrubs to remove dirt and dead skin cells from your body. After that, they will perform a massage to ease tension in your skin tissues. To massage your body, the professional may use hydrating creams and moisturizers to enhance the experience.
A body spa for winter is not only the best way to achieve relaxation but also a great way to restore your skin's radiance and glow.
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Keeps Your Hands and Feet Soft
The biting temperatures can dry up your hands and feet. As a result, you may experience roughness in your hands and cracked heels.
To keep your hands and feet soft and moisturized, consider scheduling a manicure and pedicure session.
A manicure is a spa treatment for your fingernails and hands. To brave the cold winters, a manicure session can be pretty practical. From gentle exfoliation to massage with butter cream, the manicure feels heavenly in the winter season.
Now for your feet, consider getting a winter-special pedicure. The process is also somewhat similar to manicures, except that it focuses on your toes and legs.
Follow a Winter Skincare Routine For Soft & Supple Skin
Just as you follow summer skin care tips, it is equally essential to follow skin care tips for winter. A proper skincare routine in winter can help you withstand the impact of cold weather conditions.
From using hydrating cleansers to deep-nourishing moisturizers, there are various skincare products available to help retain your skin's hydration. Additionally, it is essential to know what to avoid in cold weather conditions to maintain your skin's texture and glow.
Regardless of sticking to a winter skincare regimen, consider seeking spa services specifically designed to address winter concerns.
At On The Side Day Spa, we have designed a range of facials, body treatments, and nail care services to address your seasonal skin care concerns for every skin types. As the winter season approaches, you can choose our skincare services that focus on hydration and rejuvenation.
Our skilled beauticians use hydrating scrubs, serums, and moisturizers to lock in your skin's moisture, a crucial factor during the winter season. Besides, our spa services will help you maintain smooth and supple skin.
Dive into our wide range of beauty services and make the most of the cold winters!