Surviving Winter: Skin Care Tips for Perfect Skin

The changing seasons don’t just influence how the environment behaves. The dropping temperatures and darker days have an impact on our skin as well. Winter especially, is a time of transition; your skin recovering from the summer’s and fall’s possible damage and getting ready for the harsher, colder climate of winter. Winter is the time to give your skin some much needed rest and re-energise it. To ensure you survive the rest of Autumn & winter and come out with a healthier looking skin, follow the below tips.

Swap the gels to creamy cleansers

One of the major changes your skin experiences during fall is extra dryness. Even if it tends to be on the oilier side, the dryer weather is likely to leave it more like a combination skin rather than purely oily or dry. To ensure you add a gentler touch to your daily care routine, swap the gel-based face cleanser to a creamy cleanser such as Alpha-H Liquid Gold Resurfacing Cleansing Cream, Lanolips Lano Face Base Gel Cream Cleanser, La Roche-posay Effaclar H Cleansing Cream and Swisse Sweet Almond Cream Cleanser.

Exfoliate in the right way

If you’ve enjoyed your summer to the fullest, your skin has most likely experienced plenty of sun, chlorine and salty seawater. But it’s now time to exfoliate and get rid of the dead skin cells for good. You need to exfoliate your body, including face, with an appropriate exfoliator. The best pick is an oil-based scrub, as it removes damaged skin cells while moisturising the tissue. Consider picking one of the following products:

• For body: Garnier Beauty Oil Scrub
• For face:
  • Dry: Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant
  • Combination: Jurlique Daily Exfoliating Cream
  • Oily: Garnier Pure 3 in 1 Wash, Scrub & Mask

The above are available from retailers such as Priceline, Adore Beauty and Sephora. You should also consider investing into a good cleansing brush.

Ditch the lotion

You can also enhance your skincare regime by swapping the lotion with a cream-based moisturiser. Creams are better at locking in moisture because they create an oily barrier between the skin and the dry outside air. This reduces water loss and guarantees a long-term protection. The best picks for winter 2019 include Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cream and The Body Shops E-Vitamin range.

Pay extra attention to your hands and lips

Your skin requires extra attention during winter, especially in the most sensitive areas such as your hands and lips. It is often thinner and regular washing of your hands can leave your hands much dried during the season. You should pick a special moisturising cream, such as Skin Doctors Younger Hands. If you find yourself washing your hands a lot, you should also invest into a moisturising hand wash. In terms of your lip care, we recommend getting a good moisturising lip exfoliator like Lanolips Lemonaid Lip Aid and using moisturising lipstick. Check out Bobbi Brown’s range of lipsticks.

Don’t forget to protect from the sun

Even though your skin is not necessarily getting as much sun as during the summer months, winter shouldn’t be the time to ditch the sun protection. Sun rays are still harmful to your skin and you want to protect your skin, especially if you are spending a lot of time outdoors. So, make sure your moisturiser or foundation has at least SPF 15 before heading out.

We love Invisible Zinc Sheer Defence Facial Moisturiser, Skinstitut Age Defence SPF50+ and Avène Day Protector Tinted BB Cream SPF30+.

Sleeping in silk

You should also consider treating your skin with a touch of silk. Silk is not a man made material, but a hypoallergenic product that has actual health benefits for your skin. According to studies, silk pillowcases can reduce redness and dryness, as well as prevent your skin breaking out. So, aside from shopping for a few face care products, you might also want to sneak in to Bed, Bath and Table and purchase a few silk pillowcases.

If you apply the above tips to your winter regimen, you’ll enjoy a healthier looking skin. The recommended products are tried and tested, but don’t be afraid to shop for something else that falls within the requirements mentioned above.