From adolescents to mature adults, winter weather can have adverse effects on your skin regardless of your age or skin type. Fortunately, there are plenty of things you can do to prevent winter skin damage, restore natural moisture and elasticity, and enhance skin tone. For glowing skin that lasts all season long, take the following winter skin care advice into consideration!
Cold Weather Means More Heat For Skin
Although the cold weather is in fact, cold, quite the opposite effect is a common cause of dry and irritable skin in the winter. When it is cold outside, we tend to do more things to warm ourselves up. This includes taking hotter showers (possibly more frequently), using heating pads and heated blankets, leaving space heaters and furnaces on longer, sitting by the fireplace more often, and so on.
All this added heat causes skin to lose more natural oils, which it cannot restore efficiently enough. This can lead to dry, tight, flaky, irritable skin. In more serious cases, skin can become chapped, much like lips, which is another area that requires additional care in the winter.
Treating Winter Skin Damage
The remedy for this is to up your moisturizer regime. In the winter months, switch to a stronger, thicker moisturizer that provides long-lasting comfort and protection. You can even consider OTC dermological-grade creams, such as Eucerin, Aquaphor, Gold Bonds, or Cetaphil. These are advanced-repair healing ointments available at your local pharmacy or convenient store.
When you begin a winter skin regiment, it is important that you follow through and maintain a consistent schedule. Apply your choice of healing ointment every morning and evening (and as needed throughout the day) on all dry and affected areas, as well as, elbows, knees, knuckles, heels, and toes. Do not skip even one day, or you may feel the effects of dry skin coming back.
Be Sure to Also Get Plenty of These 3 Things:
Get Plenty of Water! Water Hydrates skin and keeps its plump, fresh, and bright.
Get Plenty of Sleep! Sleep is good, and quite necessary, for the whole body.
Get Plenty of Vitamin D! Your skin tone is brightened and enhanced with a touch of Vitamin D.
Vitamin D is great for the skin. Not only does it make your skin look brighter and healthier, it gives you more confidence when you have a natural-looking, subtle glow. So how do you get a great glow in the winter without sun? Just visit a local tanning salon for instant Vitamin D re-fuels! Tanning beds provide your weekly recommended dose of Vitamin D, so you can feel great and look great at the same time!