How To Care For Your Skin During The Winter Season

The cold air during winter could prove disastrous on your skin. Cold dry air makes the skin dry, irritated and chapped. To take care of your skin, try using a cleanser that is designed for dry or sensitive skin. But remember to use it only once a day. Use a circular motion when you massage your face. The circular motion improves the circulation of blood on your face, so that skin looks healthy. If you are using a tretinoin product, try to be careful because sunscreen and tretinoin do not mix well. You could end up getting sunburn. If your skin is sensitive, you might need to minimize the use of products such as alpha-hydroxy acids. These types of products only make dry and irritated skin much worse.

Even when it's winter, the sun could still damage your skin. Do not forget to rub sunscreen all over yourself. Putting on makeup or a moisturizer with SPF 15 on your face during the whole winter is guaranteed to protect you from the sun. You wear sunscreen too if you decide to go skiing. Likewise if you decide to go on a cruise, wear a good deal of sunscreen the same way you would be doing during the summer season. For your lips, apply lip balm or lipstick that contains sunscreen.

Hot showers and especially long ones tend to remove natural moisturizing lipids from your skin. An alternative would be a short, warm shower. After your shower, pat your skin until it is almost dry and then you can apply moisturizer on your skin. For your hands and heels, and for areas that have dry, cracked skin, use a lotion that is super-emollient.

In choosing a moisturizer, pick on that contains the most oil. A moisturizer that has more oil usually has greater efficacy in combating loss of moisture. Moisturizers derived from ointment are the ones usually with most oil constituent. This is because ointments are composed of 80% oil and only 20% water. A water-in-oil solution acts on the skin by forming a protective layer. Thus, it is more effective in giving moisture than most creams and lotions.

If you have eczema, its dryness and itching usually get worse with dry air. Hence, in order to counter the dryness, use a humidifier. The humidifying system will bring back moisture in the air. There are expensive as well as cheap humidifiers. Depending on your budget, you can buy a humidifier at a local drug store. Two or three humidifiers strategically placed in the house should be ample help to moisturize the air.

If you experience minor bleeding and dryness in the nose, try using a moisturizer to soothe the affected area. Your dermatologist could prescribe you a mild steroid cream or other treatment if you have severe dry skin, winter itch, or eczema. This should bring your skin back in good condition.