One of the first things to understand when it comes to beauty and skin care is that not many people have the so-called ‘normal’ skin. Most people’s skin is prone either to be dry or oily and many people also have to deal with common skin conditions such as eczema or psoriasis or even just ordinary flakiness and redness.
Winter is one of the worst times for skin care, especially if you tend to have dry skin. During the winter months, because of low temperatures, lack of humidity and artificial heating, dry skin can become even drier and itchy. The good news is that you can take steps to reduce the signs of winter stress on your skin. Beauty products help – of course! – but you can also care for your skin without them.
The four tips below give both.
1. Don’t wash too often
During winter, don’t wash your face more than twice a day. The combination of water with everyday soap or cleanser – unless it is specially formulated for the face and dry skin – can make it worse.
Beauty product: Try a dual-action foaming gel that removes daily dirty and make-up and also cleanses. These generally contain glycolic acid, amino acids and green tea which are believed to be good for the skin.
2. Don’t linger in the bath
This may be one of the great pleasures of winter, but soaking in a long, hot bath is terrible for skin! If you must have a bath – and I agree it’s a great feeling after doing a lot of exercise – make it shorter and not-so-hot.
Beauty product: Only once or twice a week try a moisturising scrub to gently exfoliate the skin. There are some very good micro-exfoliant scrubs that cleanse, exfoliate and refresh all at once.
3. Look after your hands
When I was a girl, there was a saying that you could always tell the age of people by their hands – so look after them. The more you wash you hands with soap, the drier they’ll get. Sometimes you have to use soap and water, but sometimes it’s also feasible to use one of the anti-bacterial cleansers as an alternative.
Beauty product: A good hand cream is essential. Try one with a blend of natural oils that help replenish moisture and improve skin tone.
4. Give yourself a treatment
If possible, you shouldn’t have your bathroom heated in winter. By all means, have the towel rail and floor heated, but try to avoid the room being heated. This might sound Spartan, but it’s not really. The moisture from a shower (or a short bath!) is good for your skin and the room can be comfortably heated through the towel rail, underfloor heating and the shower or bath.
After washing, gently pat yourself dry with a soft towel. Don’t rub!
Beauty product: Use an intensive balm and gently smooth it into the skin. This not only helps dry skin, but will help limit water loss and improve the surface of the skin. You don’t have to spend a fortune on this. It’s possible to buy a good balm that will do the job from the supermarket from any of the well-known brands.
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