Skin is an organ that is very much alive and charged with many important duties. Seasonal changes do affect your skin, and during this topsy-turvy weather, your skin works hard to adapt. In this article, we’ll discuss 12 instant glowing tips for you to try during the winter months.
Your face and body skin needs, change significantly over the winter period. When winter arrives, you’ll experience many of the following symptoms.
- Dehydration
- Increased sensitivity especially on the cheek area
- Itchy skin
- Accelerated aging lines
- Dull skin
- Fine rash or thirsty skin
- Eczema sufferers are probably at their worst
Humidity levels fall off in winter months, the drier the air, the greater the moisture it sucks from your skin. So you’re more likely to experience flakiness and dryness during the winter months especially if you are prone to eczema and other skin conditions.
When the temperature falls, your skin will produce 10 percent less oil for each degree drop in temperature. So this will leave your skin drier and tighter. The dryness of your skin aggravates itchiness called the “winter itch.” If you’re living in an area surrounded by building construction, you are inhaling polluted air which is responsible for destroying your skin’s natural response.
During the winter months most probably you’ll be using central heating in your house. The heated air inside causes low humidity. It leads to water evaporation from your skin. Dryness irritates, cracking, flaking and leaves your skin with lackluster parched appearance.
Going from the cold outdoors into the balmy centrally-heated buildings and vice-versa can take a toll on your complexion. This process causes the capillaries on your face contract and expands rapidly leading to broken veins and skin redness.
Reasons For Skin Darkening In Winter
Sun’s rays, lack of hydration, nutrition and blood circulation all these factors affect your melanin adversely and can make your skin dull and dark.
- Woolen clothes: These are the most important things during the winters. There are many types of woolens, some are of high quality and skin friendly, whereas some are rough and prickly to wear. Using bad quality woolens can result in skin darkening. The coarse threads present in this wool can hurt your skin and make them rough,
- Using hot water during winters leads to skin discoloration.
- Feasting on junk and fatty foods lead to dark skin.
- The unhealthy daily schedule can affect your skin in winter.
- Regular addiction to cigarettes and smoking can make your skin dark.
Instant Glowing tips
Use Lukewarm Water
When the temperature plummets, a hot bath or shower is super enticing. It’s especially true if you’ve spent the day outdoors in the cold. Sorry to rain on your parade, but try to resist your temptation for the sake of your complexion. Hot showers and baths can dissolve the protective barrier in your skin, which will eventually lead to dryness.
Hot showers can inflame your skin causing redness, itching and even peeling similar to a sunburn. It disrupts your skin’s natural balance of moisture robbing you of fats, natural oils, and proteins that keep your skin healthy. Dry skin increases your chances of infection and leads to an overproduction of oil to compensate for the lack of moisture.
Cooler or lukewarm showers keeps your skin hydrated and help your hair stay long and shiny. Spending less time in water not only benefits your skin but reduces the amount of water wasted. It’s good for your skin to step out of the tub before your skin appears wrinkled like a prune.
Cleanse
Cleansing your skin removes, dirt, oil, and other unwanted debris. Throughout the day your skin is continually covered with pollutants, bacteria, viruses, and old dead skin cells. Cleansing removes these and gives your skin a fresh look. Cleansing helps anti-aging products to work properly, helps maintain proper pore size, encourages proper skin hydration and prevents the production of excess oils.
Cleanse your skin but don’t overdo it. If you cleanse your skin too much, it will remove the skin’s natural moisturizers. It’s enough if you wash your face, feet, hands and between the folds of your skin once in a day. You can rinse your arms, trunk, and legs daily, but it is not necessary to use soap or cleanser on these areas daily during winter months.
Soaps can be drying on your skin. They strip away your natural oil barrier. Some soaps contain harmful chemicals that you apply directly to your body before it washes away into the water supply. Using a mild, fragrance-free non-soap cleanser, or moisturizing shower gel is best for your skin during winters. Selecting a cleanser with a balanced PH will help maintain your skin’s natural balance.
Moisturize Daily
The dry and breezy weather of the winter can cause the evaporation of your skin’s moisture. So the skin becomes dry and dull looking. When the temperature outside is freezing, your skin’s pores considerably shrink which causes heat to accumulate in your skin, resulting in an “oily” and “loaded” skin. Without proper skin care measures, this condition leads to an outbreak of redness, rashes, and even acne.
Moisturizing protects your skin against the dehydrating effects of winter. Your skin not only needs more moisture but moisture right after your wash. Applying moisture to damp skin, helps seal dampness into your skin. Select moisturizers that contain humectants. These substances attract water to your skin and improve its hydration.
If you have normal skin, use products with a cream base because your skin can toil them without becoming oily. If you have parched dry skin, use a rich oil-based cream. The greater the oil content, the better the absorption through your skin’s barrier to hydrate skin tissue. For your face use a healing ointment such as Aquaphor. If you have oily skin, use a moisturizer that is greaseless and lightweight.
Protect
It’s good if you wear gloves and scarves to protect skin from cold winds, rain, and snow. Though it’s true that UV levels are low in winter, you should not forget to wear your sunscreen because 90 percent of visible aging is due to sun damage. And it doesn’t happen all in summer.
Your pigments cells get stimulated not only by sun’s bright UV rays but also by the lower amounts of ambient and infrared light emitted by your computer screen, or overhead lamps. So it becomes essential to wear sunblock even in winter.
Dr. Marsha Gordon, St. Ives Consulting Dermatologist says to Beauty News NYC that a minimum SPF 15 is good for winter. Look for products that feel good on your skin so you can use it every day. Go in for broad spectrum UVA and UVB lotion. Avoid extreme cold because it can cause skin disorders or frostbite in some people.
Humidify
Dry air pulls the water from your skin which leads to all kinds of problems such as dryness, dullness, flaking and accelerated aging. The heating systems dry out the air. So consider installing a humidifier in your house particularly in your bedroom to put moisture back into the air.
If you run a humidifier every night in the winter, it will ease itchy dry skin, and you’ll be able to breathe in fresh, moist air more efficiently. The fresh air oxygenates and boosts your circulation resulting in glowing skin. A humidifier keeps your indoor plants healthy which in turn enhances the oxygen levels in your home. Humidifiers do more good than bad if you clean them properly. So be sure to clean the unit and change the water according to the manufacturer’s instructions to reduce mold and fungi.
Drink
You tend to drink less water during winter because hot drinks like cocoa and tea feel good for the cold weather. But do remember the fact that your skin needs hydration from the inside out. Water helps your skin to be fresh, young and glowing. It acts as a natural remedy and protects your body from many diseases. Water contributes to removing toxic material from your body through urine and stool. If impurities are excreted out of your body efficiently, then production of fresh blood increases which results in the bright and radiant skin. Warm water with lemon can be refreshing and hydrating at the same time.
Exfoliate
Exfoliating helps to remove the buildup of dead skin cells and improves your skin’s appearance. The American Academy of Dermatology says exfoliation improves the effectiveness of topical skin treatments. These products can penetrate deeper into your skin once the uppermost layer is removed. Long-term benefits of exfoliation include increased collagen production, resulting in the younger looking skin. Exfoliating body washes are best for winter months because it allows moisture to seep through your skin boosting hydration levels.
Diet
Fruits and vegetables are a treasure trove of vitamins and minerals. Smoothies and fresh fruit and vegetable juices increase nutrient content that is directly absorbed into the bloodstream to keep you hydrated. Foods rich in vitamin A and C increases your immunity and boosts collagen production.
Sprouts are called “live foods” because they are rich in concentrated nutrients. Sprouts contain enzymes that help in better digestion and absorption of proteins critical to maintaining skin texture. Some superfoods to make your skin radiant during winter includes olive oil, grapefruit, avocado, carrots, broccoli, almonds, spinach, green tea, salmon and dark chocolate.
Beauty Products
Beauty experts advise you to use a single family of skin care products that are designed and formed and to work together. If you buy different skin care products, they might contain the same ingredients thus making them redundant.
Your skin needs a little help for strengthening and glow building so use moisture filled retinol formula. To provide a subtle touch of color and illumination ditch your bronzer and use power packed liquid foundation. Your skin will thank you come spring.
During the cold weather, your skin responds by slowing down cell turnover, which is bad news for radiance. Your smart move to maintain a light-catching surface is to apply lightweight facial oil which protects and soothes irritation.
Your lips could get chapped due to cold weather, so plump up your chapped pucker with a waxy cherry balm. While applying eyeshadows, first mist your brush with water before dipping into a dry powder, doing so gets rid of the chalky effect. Follow the same trick with your powder blush when you apply it onto your cheek.
Enhance your complexion by dabbing a shimmery cream highlighter onto cheekbones, inner corner of the eyes and brow bones. To draw out warmer tones in darker skin opt for gold shades. If you’re fair, pink tones will impart a natural glow.
Exercise
Breathing exercises are good to de-stress your body they rejuvenate your mind and improve circulation. Practice headstand or Shirshasana to increase the radiance of your skin. A headstand enables the blood to flow towards your face giving a flush of pink to your cheeks and radiant skin.
Massaging your face is a fantastic exercise for glowing skin. Practice yoga because it tones your body and adds a glow to your skin. Get a good cardio workout because it opens the tiny arteries in your skin, which empowers more blood to reach the skin’s surface and deliver nutrients.
Use DIY masks
DIY face masks are super simple to prepare at home, and they are packed with a multitude of natural beauty benefits to help revitalize your skin. Try avocado-honey, banana-honey, strawberry-yogurt, chocolate-heavy cream-honey and exfoliating honey-cinnamon –baking soda combinations for your DIY face masks. You can also try hydrating ingredients, like aloe, olive oil, and jojoba oil. The general thumb rule is to mix what you like to combine, form a paste leave on your skin for 10-30 minutes for lasting hydration.
Antioxidants for Skin Radiance
Antioxidants neutralize free radicals and encourage your cells “fix-it” enzymes to repair the damage. They work to smooth your wrinkles, adds radiance, calms inflammation, and fade spots. The primary antioxidants are vitamin C, vitamin E, Coenzyme Q10, Alpha Lipoic Acid, Dimethylaminoethanol, carotenoids, and flavonoids.
You can brighten your skin by eating antioxidant-rich foods and also by topically applying them. A bottle packed with antioxidants protects your skin from environmental pollutants and enhances its radiance. Antioxidants boost your collagen production and moisturize your skin deeply. They are super useful in facial serums, cleansers, and moisturizers.
Conclusion
During winter your skin has to confront wind, cold and temperature changes between heated homes and to freezing outdoors. So your skin’s metabolism decreases, circulation slows down, and cell renewal is reduced. As a result, the skin loses its healthy glow. We hope that if you religiously follow all the instant glowing tips that we’ve discussed, you will enjoy a soft, supple and radiant skin even during the winter months.
