Skincare Routine For Winter Season To Achieve Healthier, Brighter Skin

The winter season is the time of the year when cold, dry air sucks all the moisture from your skin, leaving it dry, rough, and itchy. Extreme dryness and low humidity can lead to skin sensitivity, blemishes, wrinkles, eczema, psoriasis, and other skin conditions. Maintaining a smooth glowing skin during the winter season is a challenge for many. The cleansers, moisturizers and creams that worked in summers might not work in winters. So, you need a skincare routine that works well during the winter season.

According to many skin specialists and board-certified dermatologists, using gentle cleansers and rich moisturizers can keep your skin hydrated and well-nourished. Adding winter skin-care products such as oils, emollients, and creams to your beauty routine can keep your skin healthy and soft during the cold temperatures. These products can lock in moisture and add an extra level of hydration.

When your skin becomes dry and dehydrated and lacks moisturizer, it’s time to switch to a new skincare routine to prevent dryness and maintain soft skin during the winter season, here are some effective skincare tips you should follow to make your skin healthy and soft in winter.

Use Milk Cleanser

Cleansing is important during the winter season as the cold weather keeps the skin excessively dry and flaky. During the winter season, our skin produces less oil than normal, making it dry. The regular face cleansing is one of the most important steps of the winter skincare regimen. Using milk as a cleanser is a great idea that can remove all the dirt and impurities from your face and make it feel hydrated. Using a milk cleanser will make your skin feel soft and fresh.

Exfoliate Your Skin

Believe it or not, winter is the best time to exfoliate. Knowing how to exfoliate during the winter season will help you keep your skin softer and smoother. Say goodbye to dry, flaky skin cells and exfoliate your skin. You have to be very careful and do gentle exfoliation as during the winter months your skin is already dry. Excessive or harsh exfoliation can disrupt the outer layer, leading to more dryness and irritation.

Gentle exfoliation can be done with a cleanser containing AHAs, BHAs, hyaluronic acid, glycolic acid. It is advised to exfoliate at least twice a week to soothe and hydrate your skin. Fortunately, there are many exfoliators available that you can try during the winter months to achieve smoother and brighter looking skin.

Add Vitamin C To Your Winter Skincare Regimen

There is no denying the fact that vitamin C possesses miraculous properties and gives your skin a much-needed glow during the cooler months. Vitamin C is a healthy choice for achieving a brighter, well-protected and firmer skin. It is a perfect skincare ingredient for winters as it has collagen stimulating properties and protects your skin.

According to many skin care specialists, vitamin C serum can protect your skin from UV damage and act as an immune booster. It possesses antioxidant properties and blocks free radical damage caused due to sun exposure. Several studies suggest that vitamin C prevents the development of skin cancer.

Furthermore, vitamin C can retain moisture and leave your skin well-nourished and hydrated. So, you should add vitamin C to your winter skincare routine and make the most out of its skin brightening properties.

Apply Winter Face Masks

Winters can get your skin cracking, hydrating and nourishing face masks is the key to restoring your skin glow. To keep your skin hydrated and moisturized, you can apply a face mask, especially designed for the winter season. You can easily make a winter face mask by ingredients easily available in your kitchen. Applying a winter face mask can naturally hydrate and moisturize your skin.

For instance, you can combine two amazing moisturizing and therapeutic ingredients – coconut oil and shea butter. Combining 1 tsp of shea butter and 1 tbsp of coconut oil and gently massaging it into your skin will make your skin look radiant throughout the winter months.

You can try different ingredients to make winter face masks and add them to your skincare routine.

  • Honey and rosewater
  • Coconut water
  • Carrot and honey
  • Banana and butter
  • Strawberries
  • Olive oil and cocoa butter
  • Honey and milk cream
  • Papaya and raw milk
  • Avocado and olive oil
  • Rice flour and honey

Drink Plenty Of Water

When the cold weather hits, water evaporates from your body easily, leaving your skin looking dull, rough, and itchy. Keeping your skin hydrated during the drier winter months will help you achieve smooth and healthy skin. Drink at least 8 – 10 glasses of water a day to keep your skin hydrated.

According to a study, drinking an extra few ounces of water is beneficial for your skin, makes you look younger, and less prone to fine lines and wrinkles. However, many dermatologists believe that just drinking water doesn’t hydrate and moisturize your skin. You need to follow a skincare regimen and healthy hydration practices to maintain hydration and improve your skin from the inside out.

Take Care Of Your Hands

Chapped and cracked hands are common during winters. Low humidity and cold, dry air leave our skin dehydrated. Our hands are washed and dried unlimited times during a day, making it too hard to keep your hands soft and smooth. You can keep your hands soft this winter by following a hand care routine. Use antibacterial hand wash to wash your hands. Gently exfoliate your hands at least twice a week with a body scrub to remove the old dead skin cells.

Avoid directly exposing your hands to the UV light and wear sunscreen on your face and hands. Moisturize your hands from time to time to balance the moisture levels. Use a hand cream, balm, or body lotion to keep your hands moisturized. You can use olive oil, almond oil and sesame seed oil to moisturize and soften your hands.

Don’t Forget Your Feet

Feet are one of the most overlooked organs as they are covered by socks and shoes during the winter. It is important to pay attention to your feet during the cold weather season and avoid major skin concerns. Cracked heels are the most common foot problems during the winter season. As the natural oil production decreases your skin becomes thinner and prone to extreme dryness, resulting in heel fissures.

Protecting your feet during the winter season is critically important to maintain your feet health. Keep your feet clean as fungus grows in a warm and moist environment. Dry weather can create cracked heels, itching, red patches, blisters and in some cases bleeding. Deep heel fissures may lead to bacterial and fungal infections. Applying a moisturizer or foot cream every time you wash your feet is a good skin care tip to keep your feet healthy, especially during the winter months.

Add Hyaluronic Acid To Your Skincare Routine

Hyaluronic acid is one of the most amazing anti-aging ingredients that is famous for its unique property of retaining water. It keeps your skin hydrated and moisturized, prevents development of fine lines and wrinkles. It acts as an antioxidant agent that can keep the skin looking young, radiant, and glowing. During the winter season, you can apply a moisturizer containing hyaluronic acid to lock in hydration and moisture and give you a healthier skin.

Use Retinol This Winter

According to many dermatologists, adding retinol to your winter skincare routine is the best decision to keep your skin younger looking and glowing. Retinol or vitamin A is a must-have ingredient of your skincare routine that nearly every dermatologist, cosmetic surgeon and aesthetician recommend. It is referred to as a miraculous anti-aging agent that increases collagen production, cell turnover and improves skin appearance.

Maintain A Healthy Diet

Eating a healthy and nutrition-rich diet is important to improve your overall skin health. An unhealthy diet can have a bad impact on your metabolism, cause weight gain and serious skin problems. According to a study conducted by a medical school, diet has a great impact on your health and aging of skin. There are many nutritious foods that are good for your skin health and can easily be added to your skincare routine.  Here is a list of the best foods for your skin.

  • Fatty fish (salmon, herring, mackerel)
  • Avocados
  • Strawberries
  • Raspberries
  • Cherries
  • Walnuts
  • Sunflower seeds
  • Sweet potatoes
  • Red bell peppers
  • Broccoli
  • Tomatoes
  • Soy
  • Red grapes

Supply healthy nutrients to nourish your skin to achieve glowing skin. Optimize your nutrition plan by adding vegetables, healthy fats, fruits, and nuts for healthy skin cell development. Make sure to add these healthy foods to your diet to get all the essential nutrients required to protect and keep your skin younger looking healthy and strong.

Take Care Of Your Lips

Dry, chapped lips are one of the most common skin problems during the winter season. Many board-certified dermatologists strongly recommend taking extra care of your lips, especially during the winter season. Basically, dry air and the lack of humidity are responsible for chapped, dry lips. It is strongly advised to keep your lips moisturized to protect them from cold weather.

Use non-irritating lip balms that are fragrance free and hypoallergenic to moisturize your lips. Castor seed oil, shea butter, petroleum jelly are a few best ingredients to heal chapped lips. Apply a lip moisturizer several times of the day.

Sun protection is also needed for your lips; so, it is better to choose a lip balm with SPF 30 before going outdoors. Stay hydrated to avoid chapped lips. Don’t lick and pick at your lips, as it can make them more chapped. Keep a lip balm with you and moisturize it from time to time to prevent your skin chapping.

Exercise Daily

Several studies have been conducted to identify the relation between exercise and healthy skin. Many studies have shown that performing physical activities can give you a younger-looking skin. Besides following a stellar skincare routine, it is also important to follow a healthy diet plan and exercise routine to improve your skin health and appearance.

Doing physical activity will increase the blood flow to the skin, which nourishes skin cells and promotes effective cellular repair and replacement. Increased blood flow can remove toxins from the skin and keep the skin healthy and younger looking. Exercise can flush the pores, fight pimples and help improve acne.

According to research, performing thirty minutes of aerobic exercises can prevent the signs of aging and keep your skin looking young. It’s no surprise that exercise can naturally release stress by lowering stress hormones, adrenaline and cortisol and increasing feel-good hormones, endorphins. When stress levels are controlled, it will decrease the chances of skin conditions like acne, eczema, psoriasis and rosacea.

Final Thoughts

As the cooler months set in, it’s the right time to reset your skincare routine to ensure healthy and lustrous skin. Hopefully, these winter skincare tips will help you maintain a healthy skin during the winter months.

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