Winter poses unique challenges for our skin with our skin is exposed to various extrinsic stressors such as temperature fluctuations, hotter showers, extra clothing layers, low humidity, and artificial heat often laden with toxins. These factors can compromise our skin barrier, leading to dehydration, scaliness, and skin sensitivities. Increasing your intake of healthy fats and omega oils and investing in an air humidifier and/or purifier is an idea. Antioxidant-rich skincare products are also ideal in winter for defending the skin against environmental toxins and oxidative damage.
As the seasons change, so should our skin routines, think of it like a winter skin wardrobe. It is super important to prioritise maintaining a strong skin barrier to prepare for the colder months, and it’s never too late to make the switch if you haven’t already – we still have a few more months of cold weather ahead. Focusing a little more on your evening skincare routine before sleep is well worth the extra time, as this is when your skin undergoes its best repair and restoration.
So here are my Winter Skin Tips
- Gentle cleansing. As a rule, if your skin feels tight after washing, it is likely that the cleanser you are using is too stripping and has disrupted your skin barrier.
- For drier or more sensitive skin types, cleansing with a cream or oil-based cleanser can help maintain skin balance. This is a wonderful time to feel the comforting benefits of a skin softening, makeup and sunscreen-digesting cleansing balm or oil if you are not already a convert. I am crazy for an oil cleanser as a pre-cleanse.
- When selecting skincare products, look for radiance-enhancing ingredients like my go-to winter serum Vitamin C. Medik8’s Vitamin C’s in varying strengths of C will give lacklustre winter skin the vitamin boost it needs and is my absolute favourite professional brand of C’s. Combating sun damage, strengthening, helping with even skin tone, and brightening – it does not get better than that.
- Serums with hyaluronic acid can help boost hydration and protect your skin from environmental damage. If you are working in artificial heating or cranking it up at home, it is likely you’re suffering from dehydration – enter sB5 for that much-needed skin drink. These ingredients come in different forms depending on your lifestyle; you may wish to include a sheet mask once a week or use a daily hydrating serum in the morning to combat trans epidermal moisture loss throughout the day.
- Winter is a fabulous time to experiment with Face Oils, regardless of your skin type. Face oils soothe and nourish the skin, lock in moisture, and bolster the skin barrier. Not to forget they are packed full of skin healing and free radical-fighting essential fatty acids (EFAs) such as Omega and Linoleic acids. Either apply a few drops neat on warm skin after cleansing or create richer moisturizing by adding a few precious drops into your moisturizer. Ensure you extend the application to your neck and décolletage in sweeping strokes.
- My favourite winter oil and an absolute “must-have” is Biologi’s cold-pressed Blackberry Seed Oil, with its divine pure smell and skin-absorbing texture. Packed with skin-loving vitamins and bioflavonoids that strengthen the skin (amazing for hypersensitive, dry, fragile/broken capillary sufferers), soothing and revitalizing as it absorbs. It’s Australian made too and a super accessible price point.
- Incorporating professional skin treatments during the winter months can provide deeper skin care. Consider booking a facial every four weeks rather than the recommended six during winter to promote skin cell turnover. Skin often gets sluggish leading to dullness, dryness, and congestion in winter with skin cell turnover slowing down due to said extrinsic factors.
- Elevate body care by targeting common areas of dryness, such as the legs, back, and top of arms. Address conditions like keratosis pilaris with gentle exfoliation using a Japanese bathhouse loofah paired with a soap and sulfate-free body wash. For those dealing with dry skin and eczema, consider trying our Aleppo Soap free body bar – crafted with olive oil and pure laurel leaf oil used for centuries on infants and for treating sensitive skin. I discovered its wonderful benefits at a French market in 2000, and it’s been a daily essential ever since.
- And yes, you still need SPF, even in winter. While UVB levels may decrease during the colder months, UVA (known as the aging rays) can still penetrate through clouds and lead to sun damage.
- Your lips are particularly prone to dryness in winter. Keep them nourished and barrier-protected with a lip balm with ingredients like shea butter, urea, and vitamin E. Apply mineral oil-free lip balm regularly to prevent chapping and cracking. For an at-home lip treatment, try my lip scrub recipe to gently exfoliate and remove dead skin cells. I love a kitchen cupboard beauty hack – simply mix a little pure honey (I use Manuka), olive oil, and cinnamon together – it works, and it is edible too 😊
- Snuggle up in the Studio and indulge in a vitamin-infused Luminosity Facial or a Bespoke Facial 75min which includes a deeply relaxing Thermal alginate mask. Winter is also the best season to invest in a course of skin-targeted peels while the sun’s intensity is reduced.
If you are uncertain, you can always book a complimentary winter wardrobe skin consultation to explore the best products and treatments for you. Simply quote “Winterskin” to redeem this offer.
Keep warm
Jane x
