Winter skin care: Keep your skin in top shape through the cold, dry winter

 

 The harsh cold climate and dry indoor air during winter can leave skin in less-than-ideal shape. Use these tips for winter skin care so you can keep your skin healthy moisturized and looking good all season long.

Winter skin care tips

Caring for skin during winter takes just a little extra time and effort because the conditions are rather extreme for our tender protective barrier. Skin gets exposed to the elements: cold air whipping wind sun reflecting off snow. Low humidity is common in colder climates stealing moisture from skin every second of every day. And indoors it's blasted with dry heat.

It's no wonder our skin often ends up dry flaky and itchy. And once dryness starts skin can more easily crack and bleed.A woman in a winter coat and hat.

These tips will help you prevent that uncomfortable unsightly result and keep your skin healthy and happy through the winter months.

Keep the moisture you have. The natural oils your skin produces also help protect it and keep it healthy. It's a good idea to avoid long baths and showers and you shouldn't wash your body too frequently either. When you do use warm not hot water. After bathing or showering pat dry and moisturize your damp skin.
Add moisture to your home. To counter the drying effects of indoor heat the i would suggests running a humidifier. You can use a portable or tabletop model or one that integrates with your existing heating system. Moisture in the air will be absorbed by your skin.
Add moisture from the inside out. Increasing your water intake will help hydrate your skin.
Don't forget sunscreen. Just because it's cold outside doesn't mean the sun isn't affecting your skin . The sun reflecting off snow means UV rays are hitting you from additional angles.

Moisturize your skin thoroughly. Switch to an oil-based moisturizer in the winter; your skin will appreciate it. Consider overnight deep moisturizer treatments which can help particularly dry areas like hands feet elbows knees and lips. Cover with cotton gloves and socks to hold the moisture in all night long.
Switch your cleanser. It's a good idea to trade in your current body wash for a more moisturizing hydrating cleanser in winter particularly if your usual choice contains drying ingredients like glycolic or salicylic acid. Tone and moisturize within 30 seconds of finishing cleansing to avoid further dehydration.

Take extra care. Winter skin is more fragile so if you have a skin condition like eczema or psoriasis be sure to avoid any irritants or allergens that you know flare your condition.

 

 1. Take a tablespoon of fresh aloe vera gel and add a few drops of fresh lemon juice. Mix it well and apply it on your dry and patchy skin. This helps soothe your skin and restore its health!

2. Cut a cucumber in half and then grind it to make some pulp. Mix 2 teaspoons of honey with it and make a paste. Apply this on your irritated or red skin to soothe it. Cucumber is known to have a soothing impact on your skin and both the ingredients hydrate and moisturize your skin. 

 

3. Make face mask from honey and cinnamon to cleanse your skin and moisturise it. Mix 2 tablespoons of honey with one teaspoon of cinnamon powder and make a smooth paste for your skin. Leave in on for 20 minutes and then rinse with warm water.

 

4. You can also use some milk for your skin. Mix 4 tablespoons of milk or 2 tablespoons of milk powder with one tablespoon of honey and half tablespoon of turmeric powder. Add some water if needed and make a paste and avoid lumps. Apply a thin layer on your face and then let it sit for 20 to 25 minutes and rinse with lukewarm water.

 

5. Papaya is rich in antioxidants and hydrates and soothes your skin. Take some papaya and crush it to make some pulp and mix it with a tablespoon of honey. Mix it well and make a paste. Apply it on your face and neck and let it sit for up to 20 minutes and wash it off with warm water.

Maintain Healthy Nails and Cuticles at Home

 

As we all do our part to help flatten the curve, nail salon appointments are on hold indefinitely. As a result, you might have some questions about maintaining healthy nails and cuticles right about now—like how to perform an at-home manicure without the mess, or how to remove a gel or dip manicure without damaging your nails. If that’s the case, we’ve got you covered.

Here are some basic tips to help you maintain healthy nails and cuticles right now (and some tips to keep them looking pretty, while you’re at it).

How do I keep my nails and cuticles healthy?
First up, no cutting your cuticles or pushing them back. Keep them moisturized, but otherwise leave them alone.

How to strengthen nails

1. Moisturize your nails
Moisturizing is a well-known secret to healthy skin, but it’s often overlooked in nail care. While dry, brittle nails can be the result of many factors, they’re ultimately a cry for moisture, so consider proper moisture the foundation of your nail care routine. When applying hand lotion, give your nails a little extra attention. There are plenty of moisturizing nail products on the market, but applying moisturizer is really only half the battle—there’s more to strong nails than a fancy cream or serum.

2. Leave your cuticles alone
It’s common practice to cut, push back, or try to get rid of cuticles altogether, but cuticles are not the enemy. In fact, the cuticle is “the nail’s natural protective seal,” Messing with your cuticles can do far more harm than good—even if a nail technician is the one doing the handiwork. A compromised cuticle can leave the nails vulnerable and at risk of infection.

Michele Green, MD, a cosmetic dermatologist, agrees that poorly kept cuticles can have a domino effect. “When your cuticles get dry or injured it can injure the nail bed and affect the way your nails grow out,” Dr. Green says. She recommends moisturizing the cuticles with cream or cuticle oil to help protect and strengthen your nails.

3. Avoid contact with water
Don’t stop washing your hands or shower with gloves on, but do pay attention to ways you can reduce the time your nails spend in contact with water, because excessive water contact can weaken nail structure. (Wet hair is especially vulnerable, and the same caution-when-wet approach you take to handling wet locks can apply to nail care, too.) For example, consider wearing gloves while doing the dishes or other wet work.

You know how soft and bendy nails get after a long bath? Consider this: “The nail is like a sponge. It is 1,000 times more absorptive of water than the skin, for example, and so water can easily diffuse into the nail,” .Excessive water exposure can put significant strain on delicate nail cells (called onychocytes), which can lead to brittleness, peeling, and breakage, she says.



4. Be gentle
The best nail care is gentle care,digging under your nails. “Sometimes people take the pointy end of a nail file and they dig underneath their nails to get the dirt out,” You don’t want to do that, because it can separate the nail plate from the underlying bed, and then you can develop a bacterial fungal infection.”

For similar reasons, you should resist the urge to use your nails as replacement tools—no matter how convenient it may be.
5. Treat your nails like you treat your hair
It’s the new golden rule. Hair and nails are both composed of keratin proteins, so it makes sense that many of the same rules for treatment apply. both hair and nails can become dehydrated and damaged from over-processing. Frequent polish removal, gels, and acrylics do to nails what dyes, chemicals, and heat application do to hair. Just as hydration can help repair hair issues such as frizz and split ends, it can help improve dry and brittle nails. There’s no nail care equivalent to second-day hair, but operating as though there are hard and fast rules for how to wash, care for, and use your nails can help keep them in the same good shape as your hair.

Winter Lip Care 101: How To Get Soft, Hydrated Lips While It's Cold Out

 

There are factors outside and inside your body that leads to dry lips. Here are a few ways to prevent that from happening:

Drink Water: Among the many benefits of drinking water, is that hydration leads to healthier and less chapped lips.

Don’t Lick Your lips: Although this seems like an easy way to make your lips appear less dry, licking your lips is a terrible idea. Once the saliva dries, it actually takes away moisture from your skin. So, reach for a lip balm instead.

Use Indoor Humidifiers: These devices are great at providing the moisture of your skin and lips crave. You should turn them on at night so your skin can replenish as you sleep.

Don’t Bite or Peel Flaky Skin: Your lips have delicate skin; picking at it can make them bleed or hurt, slowing their healing and leading to more irritation.

Benefits of Using Lip Balms

Lip balms are great ways to take care of the health of your lips. Here are a few of the benefits they provide:

Your Skin Will Heal Faster

Your lip’s skin is thinner than the skin around it. If you suffer from dry or chapped lips, use a lip balm that ensures that accounts for hydration and healing. This would be great for lips that are bleeding due to extreme dryness.

If you’ve experienced peeling or cracked lips, you know that they aren’t the most desirable sight. It can often be embarrassing to have chapped lips. Particularly during the winters, dry lips can also be a nuisance and really affect your facial appearance. So, using a lip balm can really help. Your dry lips will appear supple and retain moisture with the use of a lip balm. If you moisturize your lips daily, you are bound to retain a youthful and beautiful look.

Many lip balms these days have SPF in them. This means they will not only protect your lips from dryness but also from the harmful rays of the sun.

Although there are countless choices of lip balms in the market today, you should look for ones that specifically address the problems your lips are facing. We have mentioned two lip balms that tackle issues you might be concerned about – aging and lip damage. These balms are bound to leave you feeling better about your appearance and make you worry less about the health of your lips.

 

 Exfoliate

Gentle exfoliation may help in removing dead skin. Try this very effective home remedies that may help exfoliate your lips and bring back the natural softness

Using honey and sugar (prefer brown sugar) scrub is recommended for dry and chapped lips. They are rich in antioxidants and can be also used as a lip balm for protection from UV rays.

How to use: Mix honey and sugar in 1:2 ratio and Scrub it gently over your lips for 5 to 10 minutes, and then rinse it off with lukewarm water.

Winter can wreak havoc on your skin’s health!

 

Do you really need to change your skincare routine during the winter season? Yes, you do! Here’s the best advice from a dermatologist.

The winter season is the worst time for our skin, especially if you suffer from dryness. During this time of the year, the cold air steals moisture from your skin, causing it to become dry, itchy, and irritable. Under such circumstances, most women are confused if they can maintain their smooth and glowing skin. If you are also in this dilemma, we will solve this problem for you. 

Here are some tips to transition your skincare routine for winters:

1. Use a moisturising cleanser

As the temperature plummets, humidity levels also drop, and our skin loses its moisture to the dry air around us. So, during the winter season, switch to a moisturising cleanser that can help to hydrate parched skin, and support the skin’s barrier to help protect the skin from the damaging effects of the cold weather. This also helps to wash away the dead skin cells, without leaving the skin feeling tight or dry.

 

2. Cleanse your skin

The key to keeping skin clean and free of accumulated dirt is cleansing twice a day, both in the morning and at night. Dr Rana says, “The skin’s natural cell turnover process creates debris on the upper layers that need to be removed before applying any other products. That’s because they can affect the efficacy of future key ingredients that penetrate into the skin. Cleansing also increases the blood flow, and aids elimination of toxins. So, don’t rush it.”

3. Hyaluronic acid

Exposure to the harsh and chilly winds during the winter season can lead to dry skin. So, hydrate your skin always, and use hyaluronic acid for amazing results.

4. Add retinol to your skincare routine

“Retinol is great to plump and smoothen the skin. It should always be followed up with a good SPF. It increases cell turnover, regulates oil flow, and improves the appearance of pigmentation,”.

 
5. Use sunscreen as a shield in skincare

“The biggest mistake you can make is not wearing SPF during the winter season,”. Our skin can be damaged by UV rays all around the year. Use a mineral-based SPF for its lightness, breathability, ocean-friendliness, and ease of use.

6. Use a mask to protect skin

Humidity levels and low temperature during the winter season can sometimes cause many skin problems. So, always use a mask that includes clay and seaweed extract, which can help draw out impurities, calm spots, and exfoliate your skin.

skincare
Homemade face packs can leave your skin nourished. 

7. Vitamin C is a winner for skincare

Add vitamin C to your skincare regime. Vitamin C works effectively during the winter season, and helps combat SPF rays that aren’t fully blocked by sunscreen. “It is also good for skin pigmentation, which helps to boost collagen production, resulting in a brighter complexion.”
8. Take care of lips and under-eye skin

Use a lip moisturizer and eye cream.
9. Body butter for skincare

To keep your skin’s protective barrier hydrated during the winter season, indulge in creamy body butter with must-have winter skin ingredients like strengthening shea and cocoa oils.
10. Follow a nutritious diet

It is always important to complement a winter skin routine with a nutritious and seasonal diet, along with your skincare regime. During this season, eat lots of squashes like butternut and pumpkin that are rich in beta-carotene. This helps to aid cell renewal, regulates skin function, and promotes collagen production



 

Winter is Coming... Is Your Skin Ready?

 

 

The winter air increases dryness, flaking, chaffing and redness on your skin. The cold air will be here before you know it. There is no better time to get started on your winter skin regiment. Here are some tips to consider:

Invest in an oil-based moisturizer. These contain vitamins E & C and the oil creates a protective layer on the skin that retains more moisture than a cream or lotion. Many “night creams” are oil based. Be sure to avoid alcohol-based and water-based products, as they tend to dry our your skin.

Not all oils are appropriate for your face. Look for “non clogging” oils and always be sure that the oils in the product are healthy ones.

Use lukewarm water to bathe and avoid frequent long hot showers/baths. Hot water strips natural oils and causes skin to lose moisture.

Wear gloves to decrease skin exposure and dryness. The skin on your hands is thin and has few oil glands. It’s harder to keep your hands moist, especially in the winter weather.

Invest in a humidifier. They add extra moisture in the air and prevent your skin from drying out. Specifically use them at night, since skin dries out more during sleep than during the day. Placing several small humidifiers throughout your home can help disperse moisture evenly.

Grab the lotion after washing. Ointments, creams, and lotions work by trapping existing moisture in your skin. Always apply a moisturizer within a few minutes of drying off after a shower or bath and washing your face or hands.

Maintain a healthy diet and drink a lot of water. Include omega-3 fatty acids in your diet to keep skin healthy. Drinking a lot of water keeps you hydrated from the inside out.

Protect your lips. Choose and wear a lip balm that feels good on your lips. Use moisturizing lip balms that contain sunscreen and apply liberally throughout the day.

Use sunscreen. Although you can’t feel the warmth of the sun in the winter, its UVA and UVB rays are still very strong. The winter sun combined with snow glare can damage your skin. Try a broad-spectrum sunscreen to any exposed areas about 30 minutes before going outside.

Exfoliate at least twice a week to get rid of dry skin. Dry skin builds up and when you moisturize, you are re-hydrating dead skin. Exfoliating eliminates the dead skin cells and keeps the top layer of your skin as fresh and absorbent as possible.

Use the right body wash. Avoid scented body washes and go for fragrance-free moisturizing bars instead.

 Drink lots of water.

When it’s cold outside we often forget to drink enough water throughout the day, but this is just when low humidity is most likely to strip our poor skin of its moisture. Remember to sip slowly through the day rather than gulp and to use a reusable bottle

 Choose a cleanser carefully.

Many high street cleansers actually contain harsh chemicals which can be damaging rather than nourishing. Ingredients such as alcohol and any added fragrances won’t do any favors for dry, cracked skin, as they strip away natural oils.