Heaters, hot showers, biting winds – your skin takes a battering during the colder months, which means it may look quite different too. A winter skin care change-up is required. Often skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis, dry and chapped lips and acne flare up when the days get shorter, and it can feel like a beauty sucker punch after the glowy gorgeous skin you flaunted last summer.
Unfortunately, that skincare routine you had nailed down won’t be serving you so well now that the weather’s turned. Lightweight serums and moisturisers are out; time to bring in creamy cleansers, face oils and rich, nourishing creams – as well as hydrating, vitamin infused facials and treatments perfect to repair the sun’s damage and shore up your skin against the winter, um, damage.
Cut down on shower time and temperature
While winter weather might sound like the optimal time for a long, hot bath, try to resist the urge. Prolonged contact with hot water can strip the skin of its natural moisture, leaving you even drier than you were before. Take brief lukewarm showers once per day, and immediately afterwards, while your skin is damp, apply rich moisturisers to lock in hydration. You should use enough to leave the skin feeling well hydrated, which means you may need to apply more than you do in summer months.
Switch from lotion-based moisturiser to a cream
The cardinal rule of winter skincare is keeping skin hydrated. A lighter lotion may have been enough to satisfy your skin in summer, but that’s not an extended guarantee into colder weather. Humectants (such as hyaluronic acid and glycerin) are low molecular weight substances that extract water from the air and into the skin. Emollients usually come in the form of creams and lotions that help in skin barrier function. And occlusives are oils and waxes that form a layer on the skin and physically block water from escaping. A great skincare routine involves all three, leading us to…
Layer your skincare
Think of your skincare application like outerwear for your skin: Just like you need to layer your clothing to keep your body warm in the cooler months, your skin needs the same to prevent overdrying. A good rule of thumb is to layer lightest to heaviest (serums first, facial oils second, moisturiser third). Some hot ingredients you should look out for in the cold are ceramides, hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, bakuchiol and botanical oils. When used in conjunction, they can soothe inflammation, restore hydration and strengthen the skin barrier. And don’t forget the SPF, which yes, you do need during winter.
Repair sun damage
The absolute best time to address any pigmentation and sun damage is now, nailing those sunspots, freckles and melasma moustache before our supersonic sun has the chance to dial them back up. Cosmelan Depigmenting is a professional depigmentation method which has an intensive corrective effect on skin hyperpigmentation whilst regulating the overproduction of melanin in the melanocytes, inhibiting, and controlling the appearance of new dark spots. As it’s a peel treatment, your skin is extra sensitive to sunlight, which means slathering on the SPF50, and staying out of the sun – much easier to do this time of year than when the pool and pina colada crew are calling.
Get some light
Omnilux light therapy is a two-trick pony. Not only does all that delicious light plump and rehydrates tired, knackered skin, studies show red light can also help you sleep. The lack of natural light (shorter days, longer nights) in the winter means our circadian rhythms become out of whack, and we tend to need more, good quality sleep.
Use a sleep mask
Not that we needed any excuse to apply a face mask, but if you haven’t started yet, winter is the best time to do it. The world of skincare masks is pretty extensive, but don’t sleep—or do—on overnight masks. Designed to be the final step of your nighttime skin regimen, overnight masks help lock in all those serums, creams, and oils that were applied before.
Studies show that sleep is the most important time for cell reparation, and nightly regimens help skin restore, repair and rejuvenate from daily damage. Hydropeptide Hydro-Lock Sleep Mask blankets the contours of skin with a layer of intense, restorative hydration. Luxe ingredients like HydrO18 activated water, licorice root and royal jelly peptides go to work restoring balance and radiance to the skin while you sleep. Perfect for dry, dehydrated, dull skin – basically all of us right now.
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