- Winter weather affects your skin in several ways.
- Dry skin is the most common result of seasonal weathering.
- Cold weather air lacks humidity and dries up natural oils in your skin, causing it to lose moisture.
- This leads to rough, cracked skin that can feel tight and uncomfortable.
- Winter weather not only irritates healthy skin but also can make current skin problems worse.
- Do not worry. All such problems can be kept away by taking a little care of your skin
during this season.
Understanding about windburn:
- Wind can cause unpleasant skin condition known as windburn.
- As the sunburn, windburn can leave you skin red, raw and blistered.
- So try to protect your skin from windburn by following these tips.
MOISTURIZE MORE:
- Choose oil based moisturizer rather than water based.
- Oil based moisturizers will create protective layer on skin that retains more moisture
than a cream or lotions.
- Apply to your face as well as body and at least thrice a day, especially before going to bed.
SHIELD YOUR LIPS:
- Use as a good petroleum jelly as a weather shield for your lips.(OR)
- Use a lip balm with at least SPF 15 and preferably one with antiseptic agents to aid in healing.
- Some lip balm products are made with tea tree oil which helps to heal painful cracks.
- At times, butter can also be used to get extra softness and to cure chapped lips.
BEFORE BATH:
- Apply and massage any essential oil of your choice either it is coconut or
olive oil to your face, hands ,legs and rest of your body before having a shower.
- If time permits heat oil and apply.
- After shower, use a light moisturizer/sunscreen as winter sun is not any less harsh.
LIMIT USING SOAP TO MILD CLEANSER.
- Winter dryness is caused due to loss of moisture from skin during winter.
- If you wash your face with soap, it can strip essential oils you need.
- If you are using soap then use a creamy one which will supplement extra suppleness
to your skin or use any mild cleanser.
THEN WHAT TO USE INSTEAD OF SOAP??
- To clean your skin, make use of green gram paste instead of soap.
- Its regular use would leave you soft and supple skin.
PRODUCTS TO BE USED DURING WINTER:
- Use products containing shea butter, petrolatum, mineral oil, tea tree oil or glycerin.
CUCUMBER JUICE:
- Apply cucumber juice on affected area for 10 minutes every day.
- It contains lots of water which helps to hydrate your skin.
YOGURT, HONEY AND LIME:
- Curd makes for an excellent skin hydrant which helps to soothe your dry and itchy skin.
- Mix required amount of yogurt, tablespoon of honey and few drops of lime and mix it well.
- Apply this mixture to your skin and leave it around 20 minutes.
AVOID USING TOO HOT WATER:
- The intense heat of hot shower actually breaks down the lipid barriers in the skin which can lead
to a loss of moisture and also lessens skin’s natural oils.
- So, it’s better to use luke warm water.
- To retain lost moisture, add few drops of oil to the water that would be used in bathing.
APPLY OLIVE OIL/ ANY VITAMIN E OIL:
- The fats present in the olive oil have a similar composition to the fat cells present in the skin.
- The vitamin E in it helps the skin fight free radicals which are generally responsible for bad skin.
- Applying olive oil over dry skin will also reduce the dryness of the skin.
HOW TO TREAT YOUR LEGS AND HANDS:
- To treat your legs, add a few oil drops in the water and soak your legs in the water.
- For hands, use rubber gloves while exposing them to water.
- Always cover your nails by applying base coat on them.
LIMIT MASKS AND PEELS TO CLEANSING MILK OR MILD CLEANSER:
- If your facial skin is uncomfortably dry, avoid using harsh peels, masks and alcohol-based toners
or astringents all of which can strip vital oil from your skin.
- Instead, find a cleansing milk or mild foaming cleanser, a toner with no alcohol, and masks that
are deeply hydrating rather than clay-based which tends to draw moisture out of the face.
- Try to use them a little less often during this winter season.
AVOID WET GLOVES AND SOCKS:
- Wet gloves and socks can irritate your skin and cause itching, cracking, sores etc.
APPLY SUNSCREEN:
- Sunscreen is not only for summer.
- Winter sun combined with snow glare can still damage your skin.
- Try to apply sunscreen about 30 minutes before going outside and reapply frequently if you stay
outside for a long time.
AVOID SKIN PRODUCTS THAT DRY OUT YOUR SKIN:
- Avoid skin care products that contain ingredients that dry out your skin.
- Such ingredients to be avoided would be fragrance oil, alcohol and other harsh
un-natural ingredients.
USE OF SANDALWOOD:
- Peeling skin can also be caused by bacteria present on the skin.
- It has anti-microbial properties and can kill bacteria in the skin.
- Use sandalwood soap or apply sandalwood paste to your skin to get rid of peeling skin.
STAY HYDRATED:
- Continue to drink lots of water to provide necessary hydration to your skin.
APPLY HONEY:
- Honey has antioxidant, anti-microbial properties and also contains fructose, water, oil, glucose
and enzymes which acts as natural skin moisturizers.
- Massage your face with honey and leave it for about 20 minutes.
- There is nothing better that your skin can ask for.
OATS WITH EGG YOLK:
- Take one egg yolk and some oats in it and make it into fine paste.
- Apply it on your face and leave it for 20 minutes and wash with cold water.
- This will provide moisturizer to your face.
APPLY COLD MILK:
- Applying cold milk with the help of cotton ball over the skin is also effective and gives relief
from the irritation of skin.
MUSTARD OIL WITH SESAME AND OLIVE OIL:
- Take equal parts of olive, mustard and sesame oil and mix them.
- Use this mixture of oils over the body and massage gently till the time the oils gets absorbed
into the body.
HONEY AND MILK:
- Add some honey in required amount of milk and stir it until you get a thick substance.
- Apply this mixture to your skin and leave for 15-20 minutes.
VITAMIN A FOOD SOURCES:
- Vitamin A is needed to avoid getting winter dryness.
- Hence include vegetables and fruits that are rich source of vitamin A.
YOGURT, HONEY AND EGG YOLK:
- Take on egg yolk and add required amount of yogurt and honey and mix it.
- Apply it over your skin and leave it around 20 minutes.
- This will reduce dryness of your skin and make your skin soft.
RAW MILK WITH ROSE WATER/ LIME:
- Keep aside 3-4 tablespoons of raw milk before you use it for boiling.
- Add few drops of rose water/lime to raw milk.
- Apply it all over your body and leave it for 15-20 minutes and wash with cold water.
- Do this daily, your skin will feel baby soft.
APPLY ALOE VERA:
- Aloe vera is super good for your skin; it will not only moisturize your skin it will also protect
your skin form protective layer that will keep impurities entering your skin.
- Squeeze gel from piece of aloe and apply onto your face, hands, legs.
- Leave it on your face based on your time, no problem if you leave for long hours also.
- Although aloe is good skin hydrant, it can leave your skin tight. So you might have to apply
some moisturizer.
GLYCERIN WITH LEMON:
- Glycerin helps absorb and retain moisture.
- Mix a tablespoon of glycerin with few drops of lime and massage onto your skin.
- Leave it for 15-20 minutes and wash with cold water.
COCONUT MILK:
- Coconut milk not only reduces skin dryness, but also helps to reduce dark spots and blemishes.
- Rub it on your face and body and leave it overnight.