Winter Skincare Woes No More
By LISA TEP – Owner Sesen Spa
It happens every year. The moment you turn the heat on at home. Your skin takes a slow, but determined path towards uncomfortable. The colder and harsher climate can leave your skin less able to protect itself, resulting in a compromised barrier. When my clients come in for their winter quarterly facials, the most common concerns include dryness, irritation and sensitivity. A few key seasonal changes to your daily skincare regimen will help restore and rebalance your skin’s health.
Top 3 Tips for Weathering Winter Skin
Cleansing
Make sure your cleanser is great at cleansing, but not so much that it’s stripping your skin. The winter months are a good time to switch to a milky cleanser, which are generally milder and can be more moisturizing. Better yet, now is THE perfect time to cleanse with an oil. Yes, cleansing with an oil can be a gamer changer! Oil attracts oil – it’s simple chemistry. The oil cleanser is going to draw out impurities like a magnet. I like to follow with a milky cleanser (2nd cleanse) for that extra clean feel.
Exfoliating
“I don’t know why my skin is so dry, I lather on moisturizer but that just doesn’t seem to help” – sound familiar? Save that moisturizer for newer, fresher skin and in order to reach that skin, you need to exfoliate the outer most layer of dead skin. Avoid harsh exfoliants; instead, choose milder options – alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) are perfect. I love overnight masks because they’re super effective but gentle because they usually have a creamy or encapsulated and time released formulation.
Moisturizing
A hydrating focused moisturizer (moisturizers have different ingredients that are focused on varying results) formulated with a heavier consistency should provide the added support your skin needs during the colder months. If you use a water-based moisturizer, consider adding a few drops of facial oil to amp up the hydration effect.
Don’t Forget Hands & Feet During the Winter
I’m always amazed at how many clients tell me they “don’t get pedicures in the winter”. I usually ask them if they stop walking in the winter too. Just like the skin on your face and body are impacted by the colder climate, so is the skin on your hands and feet. Just because your toes are not visible in summer sandals, doesn’t mean you should ignore proper foot care.
Manicures
Pivoting to a more specialized manicure treatment may be necessary to alleviate dry, cracked skin on your hands. Ditch the water and rely, instead, on a dry e-file method for cuticle detailing. Consider a manicure that incorporates serious skincare techniques – exfoliating peel, hydrating serum infusion and LED light therapy. It’s like a “facial for your hands”.
Keep a rich and emollient hand cream nearby at all times. Cuticle oil is a must – use it all day, every day. Pro tip: use an exfoliating hand cleanser to routinely shed that outer layer of dead skin cells.
Pedicures
Proper foot care should happen all year round. Period. Not just in the summer. All. Year. Round. Winter is the perfect time to elevate your foot care. Ditch the communal buffing blocks that are so common in most pedicure services and opt for intensive exfoliation (using specialized e-file pedicure bits) to effectively address dry skin, corns, calluses, cracks and fissures. Follow that with foot buffing (again, using a specialized e-file pedicure bit) that pushes a hydrating mask into deeper layers of skin.
The skin on your feet is unique and, as such, requires specialized care. Your foot care products should incorporate humectants and emollients for deep hydration, but should not leave your feet feeling greasy (to avoid slips and falls).
Just a few tweaks and your winter skincare woes can be a thing of the past.
