Does your
SKIN
have the
Winter Time Blues?
It's February...that time of the year when Winter seems to draaag on and we wonder if the elusive sun will ever shine again, or if we will ever see those little green buds appear on the trees ensuring that spring is in fact coming. We tend to find ourselves dreaming of vacations to places looking something like this...
Not only does our head and heart seem to be effected by the dragging on of winter, but our SKIN can also get the blues! Does your skin seem to be crying out for relief from the winter time blues? While we may not be able to wish winter into exiting any faster, we can help cure those SKIN winter time blues! Three easy steps will get your skin back on track and turn that frown upside down!
1. Avoidance
Sometimes the most important thing you can do is not something you do at all, but something you don't do!
Avoid long hot showers- As tempting as it may be to turn that dial all the way up until the water is scalding, it is one of the worst things you can do for your skin! Those scalding temps can strip the skin of it's natural oils, leaving you feeling as dry as a desert. Stick to a warm shower instead of a hot one. If you are feeling particularly chilled to the bone and need a little thawing, look to a nice steamy bath. Add a little something extra, such as olive oil, to the water to add some of that natural moisture back into your skin. Or, try some coconut oil and drift off into that daydream again...
Avoid over-cleansing and over-exfoliating. In the summer months foaming cleansers with added exfoliants are excellent (depending on your skin type), but even the oiliest skin can get dry in the winter from over-cleansing and over-exfoliating. This doesn't mean that you necessarily must completely cut out using exfoliating products, such as ones containing Alpha Hydroxyacids, but it does mean that you may want to cool it just a little bit. Instead of using these products daily, or twice daily, try going to to every other day, or every two days. Try using a moisturizing non-foamy cleanser during the off days. This will give your skin a break and help your natural oils to replenish giving skin back some moisture!
2. Moisturize Moisturize Moisturize
Finding a good moisturizer that you like is the number one essential step to surviving the winter. Even you oily-skinned folks out there must use a moisturizer on your skin in the winter time. The best time to apply your moisturizer is when the skin is still a little damp so that the water can really get locked-in to your skin and hydrate properly. So, apply your moisturizer right after cleansing for best results. And don't forget the rest of your skin! We focus on the face the most, but your body and especially your hands need a little attention too! Never use the same moisturizer you use on your body on your face or vice versa. The skin on your face is completely different from the skin on the rest of your body, and therefore needs to be treated differently, and with a little more attention. And obviously you don't want to waste that goodness on the rest of your body!
3. Protection
Last but not least, don't forget to PROTECT that skin!
Protect your skin from the SUN. Even though the sun doesn't seem to shine quite as brightly in the winter months and you aren't spending as much time basking in it, it is still very important you wear some form of sunscreen every. single. day. Even walking from your house to your car and back again exposes your skin to some rays and those rays can be damaging causing premature aging and skin cancer. We recommend using at least an SPF of 15 for the best protection. Physical sunscreen, containing ingredients such as zinc oxide and titanium dioxide are the best. At Spa on the Green we offer two options for sunscreen, Solar Defense, a physical sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or Solar Defense-E, the same sunscreen with a moisturizer added to it.
Protect your skin from extreme cold and extreme wind. This one is kind of a no-brainer, going outside in those extreme temps, especially when the wind is howling away will only add to the problem, so avoidance is best. But, if the snow slopes are calling you, just make sure to cover up as much of that precious skin as possible to avoid the dreaded wind burn! If you hit the slopes too hard and forget your protective face mask stop by Spa on the Green to pick up some of our BrookskinMD Rosaluxe Hydrating Balm, a special moisturizer that contains Hydrocortisone for added relief.
