As the weather changes, our skin may have a hard time adapting to the cool and dry air.
Without proper hydration, your skin can become dull, itchy, tight, and inflamed. Long term, this has less than ideal consequences: Improper hydration can lead to premature aging, developing things like sagging and wrinkles.
So, what can you do to help?
Here’s the good news: It’s quite easy to keep your skin hydrated, especially if you do so via multiple avenues. Here, are the best and most effective ways to keep your skin hydrated:
Exfoliate weekly
Exfoliating too often can strip the skin on your face of its natural oils and lead to breakouts. Too much scrubbing may also cause your skin to become irritated. So, during the winter, exfoliating your face once a week is the best for most skin types.
I like a combination of chemical exfoliators and enzymes in my weekly skincare routine. My favorite is Winter Warming Enzyme Mask from Osmosis.
Holistically formulated with apple and lactic acid to gently exfoliate, supports skin vitality, brightens, and improves radiance in the skin.
Use a gentle cleanser
One reason your skin may be feeling dry is that your cleanser is too stripping of your natural oils. It’s natural to want an effective cleanser to help you remove makeup, excess oil, or daily debris, but often we can go a bit overboard—the result is dried-out skin post-wash. I recommend using a creamy, less foamy cleanser that does not strip the skin. My favorites are Cleanse, the gentle cleanser, or Purify, the enzymatic cleanser, both of them from Osmosis, providing a gentle daily exfoliation with citrus enzymes and essential oils for a smooth, radiant finish.
If you have really dry skin, you may even consider skipping a wash entirely come morning (this is totally fine, and you can just splash your face with water before applying your daily toners and serums.
However, you should never skip the cleansing in your night routine. You need to wash your face so gunk doesn’t sit in your pores causing free radical damage
Use a heavier moisturizer
Emollients are a class of hydrators that work to restore the skin barrier function, by soothing the skin and filling in the micro-cracks in the epidermis with lipids. If you don’t think that you need to focus on your barrier health, think again: a compromised skin barrier leads to inflammation, premature aging, photodamage, and even skin cancer.
Be confident to switch from your light moisturizer to a heavier one, for an extra boost of hydration. Quench from Osmosis contains high amounts of hyaluronic acid, organic shea butter, and jojoba seed oil to provide various lipids that restore the epidermal barrier. It also contains advanced peptides to aid in skin rejuvenation.
Add nourishing facial oil
Adding facial oil or a balm in the last step of your skincare routine, especially in the evening, will help to trap in all the hydrators below it. Oils do not have hydrating properties inherently (as they do not contain water), but when used over water-based products, they amplify the other hydrators as they protect them from evaporation.
My daily solution to prevent the dehydration is Nourishing, the avocado oil from Osmosis, which boosts the skin’s plumpness and improves the elastic feel to restore a youthful glow.
Keep using SPF
Just because the clouds are out, does NOT mean you are immune to sun damage. The bad news is that UVA rays can penetrate windows and clouds, and cause indirect damage to DNA and premature aging. So no matter what, never skip this step.
As probably you know already I love PROTECT SPF 30 BROAD SPECTRUM SUNSCREEN, from Osmosis.
This non-nano, coated, zinc-oxide-based sunscreen offers sheer, long-lasting coverage. It’s great for all Fitzpatrick’s, ages, and skin types. Zinc Oxide has the best broad-spectrum coverage of all currently available sunscreens. Whether you are planning on going out in the sun or going to the office, you’ll be protected and look fabulous with this sheer, lightly hydrating formula.
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I saved the best for last!
Now is the perfect time to come in and have a consultation with your favorite medical esthetician to asses and resolve any skin issues or even just relax, and offer yourself a glowing, beautiful skin for the New Year!
