I don’t know if you are anything like me – but winter can leave me somewhat negligent in the facial art department. What care I, when my life is somewhat Vampire Chic – leaving the house when it’s dark and returning when it is well….dark.
Furthermore, despite my best intentions – my skin tends to take a course of its own, preferring the ‘dehydrated, dull and dead’ look reflective of the gothic genre.
You could say in winter I look classically ill.
While it is easy to sit snugly with my pigmented, scaly (and hairy) skin type – for the sake of my mirror and those around me,
Here are 4 not to do’s to keep your skin glowing all winter:
- Hot Baths – nothing is more comforting than a long relaxing bubble bath – but hot water dries your skin. To complicate the whole bathing process even more, the steam from the hot water actually opens your pores, encouraging your skins natural oils and moisture to escape. And strike three for bubble baths is the detergent present in most commercial body washes and foaming products. Instead opt for bath oils that won’t strip your skin and consider moisturising afterward with a nourishing lotion or quality body oil like Trilogy Aromatic Body Oil or Bio Oil. Bio Oil in particular is fabulous on dry pigmented winter skin.
- Exfoliating your Skin – while tempting to remove your dry scaly skin – exfoliating only exacerbates the problem. Rather than scrubbing irritated skin, opt for creamy facial cleansers and washes, which dissolve dirt and oils rather than stripping your face clean off. We love EVOHE cream cleanser – 100% organic, Australian owned, no synthetic ingredients and Palm Oil Free!
- Don’t ditch the sunscreen – the sun is the sun, regardless of the season. Try using a tinted moisturiser with added sun protection. This way you can ditch your powder, which tends to highlight your fine lines and wrinkles. A product that circulates our office is KORA Organics Tinted Day Cream; it smells divine and does the trick! Given that powder prevents light reflection, and youthful skin reflects light, it makes even more sense to ditch the powder as a tactical anti-aging move.
- Cranking up the heater – as soon as you turn the heat on indoors, your skin starts to dry out as the dry air causes your skin to lose more moisture. If you aren’t interested in investing in a humidifier, consider taking a leaf out of grandmas book – leaving some water in the bath, a pot of water on the stove or even wet towels (if you don’t made a bit of shaggy chic) near the heater to try and bring some balance back to the air are all ways you can ensure the air around you isn’t as dry as the Sahara Desert.
