5 Ways to Avoid Dry Skin this Winter

Drink Water

This is important for any time of year, not just the winter. But as temperatures get drier and humidity levels decrease, your body loses more moisture than normal. It’s important to hydrate with water and other foods like fruits to provide your body with the nutrients and vitamins it needs. You may seem less motivated to drink water in the winter since it’s less hot outside and you are probably sweating less, but don’t let that stop you. Set reminders on your phone to go off every hour to remind yourself to drink water and stay hydrated. Your skin will thank you later!

Moisturize Like There’s No End

Drinking water and eating the right foods is a great step to hydrating the inside of your body, but you also need to moisturize the outside, too! Choose lotions and creams with ingredients like shea butter, aloe vera, and cocoa butter. These are all called occlusive ingredients, meaning they are products included in lotions which provide a protective seal over the body to keep the skin from losing complete hydration in different environments. If your product contains any sort of sealant, wax, mineral oils, or petroleum (like vaseline), they can be considered an occlusive product. Using products like this will help to keep your skin shielded from the cold, winter air,

Avoid Long, Hot Showers

As tempting as a scalding, hot shower may sound in the dead of December, avoid that at all costs! Hot water acts the same way as hot, dry air – it sucks all the moisture out of your skin leaving your body and skin parched and in desperate need of some moisture. Of course, remember the importance of moisturizing properly after any winter shower, warm or cold. But remember, moisturizing itself won’t do any good unless you use the right shower temperatures, as well! Don’t think that avoiding a hot shower means you have to shower in ice water in the dead of winter. Simply shower in lukewarm temperatures and avoid staying in for longer than 20 or so minutes. 

Continue Using Sunscreen

Just because the heat has died down is no excuse to stop treating your skin like it’s summer. This does mean you might have to stack on moisturizers, but on top of all of that, add your daily layer of sunscreen, too! The sun and its harmful UV rays are still more than present in the winter time, and it’s important to wear daily protection against it regardless of the dropping temperatures outside. Not to mention, sunscreen has also shown to heal acne scars and decrease wrinkles, so maybe that might motivate you to keep smothering on that sunscreen every winter.

Try a Humidifier 

Another tip that worked for me is to invest in a humidifier for the winter months. A humidifier will bring back the warm, moist, and humid air your house may be lacking when the heater is cranked up too high. A good humidifier allows for moist air to circulate throughout your room when you’re inside to help bring some moisture back to your skin. The best way to go about this is to refill the humidifier every night and allow it to run each night while you sleep to wake up with rejuvenated, moisturized skin. Some of the higher quality humidifiers only require you to refill the water once-twice a week! Check out some great humidifiers in this NY Times article.

Wear Loose, Comfortable Fabrics

The last, most important tip to allow your skin to breathe during the winter is to avoid wearing tight, itchy, and uncomfortable fabrics. The winter time is the best time to bundle up and layer in different fabrics and materials, but choose them wisely. Opt for cotton fabrics versus itchy sweaters or polyesters that might make you itch or cause your skin to feel uncomfortable. Keeping warm is important, but do so in loose layers to allow your skin to breathe and avoid dry, chafing skin!

Remember 

Dry skin in the winter time is inevitable, but following a few of these above tips will help to lessen the severity of how dry your skin gets. Some people are more fortunate than others, and are prone to less dry skin. If you tend to be prone to dry, sensitive skin, following each and every one of these above tips religiously will allow for your skin to be soft, supple, and moisturized all winter long!