Six winter skincare tips to keep your skin glowing
Winter weather wreaks havoc with our skin, making it dry and decreasing our skin’s natural protection. So here are six of my top tips for keeping your skin glowing in the cold and wet months.
- Avoid hot showers and baths. Even when that seems like heaven, hot water strips our skin of natural protecting oils, so keep the water temperature down.
- Cleansing can be the most damaging thing we do to our skin so avoid harsh cleansers and cleanse your face at night only to remove accumulated impurities and make-up. It’s also good to avoid to soap on your face as the acidity of soap can wreck our skin’s protective barrier. If you have “squeaky clean” skin that tells you you've probably overdone it. I have always cleaned my face with an oil, like sweet almond oil or our Blam Blam Balm. A splash of warm water alone is perfect for the morning.
- Don't exfoliate too much, and especially avoid those harsh gloves. A lovely way to exfoliate gently is with a pink clay mask. It cleans and softens the face.
- Moisturisation is key. In winter our skin loses lots of moisture from the top layers thanks to evaporation in windy conditions or sitting in rooms that are artificially heated. An oil-rich moisturiser high in humectants will hydrate your skin from the top by locking in water while also drawing up moisture from lower in the skin layers where there is plenty.
- Use a face oil. Face oils are great for dry skin. And in winter our skin is drier than usual. I like to use my face oil over the top of my moisturiser to further lock in moisture and for the softening and restorative benefits.
- Use an SPF sunscreen. So many of us skip this step in winter but the most harmful of the sun’s UV rays, the ones that cause premature aging skin, are still beaming in through winter.
Your winter skincare essentials
