• Back to index
• Subscribe

Dry Skin Can Take the Fun out of Winter

09/14/2007

With the cold, blustery winds of winter just around the corner, many of us are going to be looking for skin care solutions to soothe our dry, red cheeks. The best treatments for wintery skin problems are natural: Products containing heavy chemicals tend to dry the skin and worsen the problem. Thousands of doctors now recommend a shielding lotion for dry skin care, but there are also things you can do to prevent the seasonal damage and, contrary as it may seem, one of them is staying dry.

Sometimes staying dry is not that easy to do – especially when the cold wind combines with rain or snow, or when playing winter sports. It’s a real problem for kids, who tend to take advantage of winter by getting every bit of snow they can in their boots and mittens.

Why is staying dry so important? When your skin gets wet and the water then evaporates, some of the natural oils go with it. To make matters worse, dry air tends to leach water from wherever it can, including your skin. This process happens continuously on a wet winter day: the snow wets the skin and the dry air evaporates the moisture, then you get wet again, and it evaporates again - over and over.

Pretty soon those natural oils are pretty much stripped and your skin is very dry and very vulnerable. Add household chemicals, pollution, or dry skin care solutions with chemical ingredients that in themselves cause dry skin, and you’ve set yourself up for an entire season of dry, red cheeks.

How can you offset winter weather problems?

• Although it’s tempting to jump into a hot bath or shower as soon as you come in from the cold, it’s best to hold bathing and showering to a minimum. And make sure the water isn’t very hot.
• Don’t use harsh cleansers, soaps or skin care products.
• If you’re involved in winter sports, keep your hands and feet dry by changing wet socks and gloves a few times during the day.
• Use a shielding lotion.

How will a shielding lotion help? A good shielding lotion bonds with the skin to form an outer protective layer which, unlike other dry skin care products, does not wash off in water. So, when you’re hit with the wet snow and dry, cold air, your skin stays protected.

Snow is one of nature’s most beautiful visual gifts, but what it does to your skin is another story. With the few hints above, you can enjoy it without worrying about dry skin care, and flakey, red cheeks that last the entire season.

Technorati Tags: dry skin care, dry skin, skin care, shielding lotion

Social Bookmark This BlinkList del.icio.us Digg it Furl ma.gnolia Netvouz Newsvine RawSugar reddit Shadows Simpy Spurl Yahoo MyWeb

• Back to index