Winter skin

As we transition from fall to winter, we all should take care to avoid some of the most common uncomfortable skin issues:  dry winter skin – especially on your face and hands.

Changing seasons

If you live in a part of the country that doesn’t see much in the way of changing seasons, you may not have to deal with this.  For those that do transition from warm to cool to frigid, though, you battle winter skin every year.  It is actually very hard on our skin – extremely dry, cracked, and red hands or wind-blown and red facial skin.

For those that experience this, it’s important to be proactive because winter air is typically very dry.  The cold winds can dry your face and hands before you know it.  Remember that air is usually just as dry indoors as outside.

How to get rid of really dry skin on your face?

Following are some steps to follow to keep your skin feeling hydrated.

Steps to follow:

1. When washing your face in the morning, use warm water and a mild soap.
2. Pat dry and use a clean towel.
3. Apply your favorite moisturizer immediately afterwards.  You want to be sure your skin is just towel dry and slightly damp so that the moisturizer can be absorbed well.
4. Repeat before you go to bed and ensure you remove all make-up.

How to get rid of really dry hands?

The other common winter hazard is cracked, sore hands.  If your hands are dry and cracked and bleeding, ouch!  I know how that feels.  All too often we find the backs of our hands red, dry and cracked – not to mention sore!  Just as with your face, be sure to keep your hands clean and liberally apply your favorite moisturizer to the affected areas.  Do this as often as possible until the irritation subsides.

Be sure to wear gloves or mittens outdoors, which helps hold in the natural skin moisture and will keep them as healthy as can be.  You might also consider this little trick for winter skin…

Another great trick to add to your bedtime routine is the following:

1. When you’re ready to go to bed and after you’ve washed and patted your hands dry (to where they’re still slightly damp), apply your moisturizer.
2. Then, slip on some cotton gloves and sleep with them.  (You can also use a pair of socks to keep the moisture / humidity in.)
3. In the morning, it will be like a miracle!  Your hands will have transformed overnight almost.
4. Do this for several days to really get the effect.

This is what I do when my hands have just gone too far.  It really does the trick.

What’s next

Then, it’s time to start exfoliating again.  When your skin is still quite sensitive from being really dry, you shouldn’t exfoliate.  Once you get it to where it’s not so sensitive (yet still might be dry), you can start exfoliating again – but only one time a week.  Try the Nutt So Ruff Face Scrub for Dry skin.  It’s great for your face or your hands (or the rest of your body, for that matter).

You will start to notice that your skin feels better once you get the dead skin off.  The goal is to get to the point where you can do this.  When your skin is sensitive, you don’t want to exfoliate it but as soon as you get your skin to where it needs to be, exfoliation is very important and can be really effective at getting your skin to look and feel its best.

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