Keeping your Skin Healthy This Winter

During the colder seasons our skin tends to be drier and more dehydrated. Low humidity, colder temperatures, strong winds, colds & flus and heating systems make it difficult for our skin to maintain moisture – and the lack of moisture is typically the root cause of seasonal dry skin in the winter.

Switching up our skincare routine for the winter season can help our skin’s hydration level, making it feel healthier and more radiant.

Here are some tips and advice to keep your skin hydrated and glowing!

Skincare advice

Advice for your skin

Avoid your face with your hands

Every time you touch your face, your hands transmit oil, germs, and dirt to your face. Try to avoid touching your skin at any time during the day. Avoid squeezing, popping, or removing pimples can leave permanent scarring to your skin.

Keep protected from the sun

Wear sunscreen daily, even when it isn’t sunny! Our skin can be damaged by UV rays all around the year. Sunscreen is one of the single most important things you can do for your skin. When applied correctly, sunscreen protects your skin against the sun’s harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays, which cause sunburn, skin cancer, and premature skin aging, like wrinkles and age spots. 

Wash your Face

Every morning, before going to bed, and after working up a sweat, wash your face. When you wash your face you get rid of the dirt and bacteria that accumulated on it through a period of time. 

Quit smoking

Smoking can harm more than just your heart and lungs; it can also harm your skin. Smoking can stress skin cells and lead your blood vessels to shrink. Over time, the places where blood vessels provide blood to our skin decrease, which can cause premature aging, more wrinkles, and a delay in the skin’s ability to heal.

Tips for your Skin

1. Keep hydrated

Drink plenty of water. Dry indoor heat increases the amount of water we lose through our skin each day. Our skin will become drier and often more sensitive with the onset of colder weather and central heating. Make sure you keep hydrated during the day!

2. Limit caffeine intake

Caffeine can dehydrate your body even more, so it’s best to minimise our intake. Swap your coffee for green tea which also has great antioxidant effects!

3. Gentle Cleansing

If your skin feels tight after washing the cleanser you are using may have disrupted your skin barrier. Our skin should feel calm and hydrated after washing, Switching to a moisturising cleanser can help hydrate parched skin and support the skin’s barrier. It’s important we keep up with our cleansing routine  as it helps to wash away the dead skin cells, without leaving the skin feeling tight or dry.

Some our favourites are:

CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser

Aveeno Moisturizing Oat Oil

Clarins Gentle Foaming Hydrating Cleanser

4. Soothing Moisturizer

Introducing a slightly thicker or richer moisturiser for the winter months can help hydrate, lock in moisture and help strengthen, calm and soothe our skin. It’s also best to moisturise just after showering or washing to help lock in the hydration.

Look for skin repairing ingredients like ceramides, glycerin and hyaluronic acid. 

Leading skincare brands including La Roche Posay, Bioderma, CeraVe and Aveeno all have great choices for Sensitive skin!

5. Avoid alcohol

Alcohol can increase inflammation in our skin and worsen many skin diseases, such as psoriasis, eczema and rosacea. Alcohol has a dehydrating effect on our body in general and also disturbs sleep which is important for skin regeneration and general skin health.

Product Recommendations

La Roche Posay Cicaplast

La Roche Posay Cicaplast Baume is a hypoallergenic, antibacterial, multi-purpose repairing balm that soothes, protects and repairs the most sensitive and delicate skin. It immediately helps soothe irritated skin and accelerate the skin’s natural repair process, helps protect broken skin from infection and provides a healthy healing environment to prevent long-term scarring.

Cerave Moisturising Cream

Developed with dermatologists, the rich formula of the CeraVe Moisturising Cream helps to protect the skin’s natural barrier with three essential ceramides and MVE technology to provide daily instant and long-lasting hydration. Hyaluronic Acid helps to retain the skin’s natural moisture.  It can be used on the face & body.

Aveeno Skin Relief

Formulated with a Prebiotic triple oat complex* (Oat Flour + Oat Extract + Oat Oil) and shea butter. The formula is clinically proven to moisturise, soothe and protect very dry irritable skin. The formula helps to improve the balance of the skin’s natural microbiome. It gives you more resilient and healthy-looking skin from day 1. It is clinically proven to moisturise skin for up to 24 hours and contains prebiotic triple oat complex.

Clarins Hydra Essential Rich Cream

Clarins Hydra Essential Rich Cream 50ml is a moisture quenching cream for very dry skin that hydrates and promotes radiant, deeply comfortable skin. For women looking for a rich texture to nourish their dry skin. This balm, enriched with hyaluronic acid, organic leaf of life extract and organic shea butter, intensely moisturises and plumps the skin while nourishing it. At the heart of its formula, the Hyaluronic Power Complex developed by Clarins Laboratories helps boost the skin’s natural self-hydration mechanisms and preserve its moisture reserves.

Dermalogica Intensive Moisture

Nourish your skin 10 layers deep in 3 steps! Your skin’s barrier lipids are critical for keeping dryness out and moisture in, but these lipids get depleted with age and environmental stress, and stripped away by harsh cleansers.

This trio is perfect for dry skin, helping preserve barrier lipids and adds even more lipids to lock in moisture for a healthy-looking glow. Use morning and night to nourish and restore moisture to dry skin.