Keeping our skin healthy in the winter months can be tricky here in Colorado. The cold, dry air and wind can leave our skin feeling dry, itchy, and dull. Luckily, there are many ways to combat the causes of dry winter skin and keep your skin smooth and supple all season long.
Filaggrin, one of the most important proteins in our skin for keeping the barrier function and natural moisturizing factors, decreases during the winter months. It also decreases with age and hormone changes. This, combined with the dry cold weather, low humidity and indoor heating that dehydrates our skin, leads to dryness and worsening of skin conditions for many people. We may not be able to do anything about the weather conditions or our heating, but we can do something to help protect our skin from the different environmental factors that it is facing.
First of all: When it comes to your face and other areas of concern, stop using soap. Soap is full of stripping agents that severely dry the skin. Instead use a cream cleanser for the body and an oil cleanser for the first cleans of your face. Even if you are acne prone, oil cleanser and facial oils are beneficial in the winter: they clean out clogged pores, keep moisture in and bacteria out. They rejuvenate your skin’s natural barrier, prevent serums from evaporating easily and reduce fine lines and wrinkles.
The next item to think about is the moisturizer you are using. Some over-the-counter moisturizers still have alcohol in them and therefore are not doing what we need them to do. Often if a product has a nice perfume smell it will also have alcohol or other ingredients that we should avoid. For our body lotions Cuel, or Eucerin are good products and contain a good amount of lipids that help to heal and protect from the elements. For facial moisturizer we need to move from our summer moisturizer that is often a light moisturizer or even a gel and move to a cream. Light moisturizers are fine in summer months, but they will not give you the protections that you need in these harsh winter months. Facial oils, as previously stated, are also wonderful to use in conjunction with your moisturizer. SkinMedica, SkinCeutical, and Eminence all have top of the line products that are also medical grade.
Hyaluronic Acid is all the rave in skin care, and if you are purchasing the right ones they are highly beneficial for your skin. Hyaluronic Acid is very good at retaining water. It helps skin stretch and flex, it reduces fine lines and wrinkles and can help with the appearance of scars. It is already produced throughout our body and the skin is one of the most Hyaluronic Acid rich areas. You get what you pay for – therefore you need to make sure that you are getting a good quality Hyaluronic Acid. Some do not have the correct “driving ingredient” to drive it into your skin instead of it staying on the surface of your skin. SkinMedica, SkinCeuticals, and Eminence have amazing Hyaluronic Acid.
Lastly, do not take very hot showers as they can strip your skin. Immediately apply lotions or moisturizers after towel drying. Have a humidifier in your home and at work if you are able. Drink water. And then more water…and then more water! And here in sunny Colorado, don’t forget the sunscreen.
Leigh-Anne Hughes is a Master Medical Aesthetician and Laser Technician at the MRH Alpine Women’s Centre Clinic & Med Spa. You can find more information online at MontroseHealth.com/MedSpa or by calling (970) 497-5891.