As compiled by Reader’s Digest, Daily Mail and Prevention magazine, discover the secrets to help keep your skin looking and feeling moisturised and rejuvenated all winter long.
1- Exfoliate less
Despite popular belief, Dr Frances Jang, a Vancouver-based dermatologist at Skinworks, suggests that we should resist the urge to scrub away flaky, dead skin cells when the temperature drops. “The skin is a little more sensitive in winter,” she says. “If you’re using a hand-held exfoliator like a harsh face loofah, or retinols, I would caution people, don’t overdo it.” Dr. Jang says these exfoliating tools can make dry skin worse in the winter especially when they’re used too often.
2- Choose showers over baths
A long, steamy soak in the tub will dehydrate your skin, leaving it completely parched and itchy. In the winter, choose a shower instead of a bath. Dr Alexa Fleckenstein, author of HEALTH 20, recommends brief showers with lukewarm water. “Do it just once a day — and not too hot or long,” she says. Just like a lengthy spell in the bath, a prolonged, hot shower can zap the moisture from your skin. Make it quick and avoid the itch.
3- Change how you use soap
Antibacterial soaps can be especially harsh on skin during the winter. “I usually recommend going to a milder, glycerin soap,” says Dr Jang. She also suggests that people with troublesome skin generally give showering with soap a miss during winter. “You don’t really need it except in dirty areas like under the arms, the groin and the feet,” she says. Natural soaps without fragrances or additives are the way to go.
4- Turn down the heat
Jacking up the heat either at a bonfire or a portable heater you have by your side on a cold night may keep you toasty, but it’s also doing a number on your skin. Dry, hot air contributes to dry, prickly skin. Turn off the heaters and avoid prolonged contact with fire to help keep your skin from dehydrating. If you put on a cardigan or a pair of slippers, you’ll stay warm in the Pakistani winter climate and save money too.
5- Avoid Wool
Itchy clothing makes dry skin worse. “Wool is problematic. It will aggravate the itching in potentially dry skin,” says Dr Jang. “If you want to wear wool, put a layer of cotton clothing underneath. You don’t want wool to touch the skin directly.” If you’ve got a favourite wool sweater that you must wear but it makes you scratchy, all you need to do is soften it up by washing it with glycerin or vinegar.
6- Use petroleum jelly
With troublesome skin, Canadian dermatologist Dr Richard Thomas asks his patients suffering from chronic dry skin to create an inexpensive winter skin solution. The concoction is 25 per cent water combined with petroleum jelly. “Before bed, take a quick shower, then slather a layer of this mixture all over. Change into your pyjamas, so you don’t smear it all over your sheets,” recommends Thomas.
In the morning, you’ll awake to soft skin. Try this routine for two consecutive nights. “It gets the job done when nothing else works,” says Dr. Jang.
7- Use skin masks
Hydrating masks are a great way to help keep your skin hydrated in winter. Once or twice a week, apply a face mask that is made with shea butter or nourishing essential oils like almond oil. These ingredients are known for their long-lasting moisturising qualities and can help your skin withstand the harsh winter weather. You can also make your own hydrating skin mask by combining an egg yolk with two teaspoons of olive oil. Apply it, leave it on your skin for about 10 minutes and rinse off.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 24th, 2014.
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