Wellness Wire: Winter-proof Your Skin

Holidays are a time of comfort, indulgence and surrounding ourselves with family and friends. This time of year also leaves us with flaky, dry skin from freezing temperatures and low humidity. Managing your skin in the colder months is much more demanding than it is during the summer.

In order to prevent skin-damage and embarrassing dryness, read on.

• Be sure to add humidity to your home, whether this is through a humidifier or another device. This will add moisture to your skin to prevent dryness. The heat that is blasting in your house during winter dries your skin out.

• Even during the winter months, the sun is able to cause damage to our skin. Choose an oil-based moisturizer with SPF 15 or 30 to prevent the sun from damaging and drying out the skin. The oil-based moisturizer will seal water to the skin, allowing moisture to be preserved.

• While showering, limit yourself to ten minutes. Although showering in the hot water feels good during the winter, the extra hot water may dry your skin out more.

• When we bathe, our natural oil is stripped from our skin, causing dryness. Because there isn’t excessive moisture in the air during the winter like there is with the summer, decrease the amount of times you wash your face per day. In fact, those with normal skin may want to wash their face every other day. Also try to limit how often you use peels, masks or any facial regimen. The excessive use of these may never allow your face to regain the natural oil back, causing it to become even drier.

• Moisturize often. After showers or washing your hands, be sure to moisturize. Get facial and body moisturizers to keep your skin from drying out.

• Considering fish oil pills may be beneficial for your health, as the omega-3 soothes super dry skin. Fish oils make skin, hair and nails healthier. During the winter months, our skin may need this extra boost to stay healthy and glowing.

Follow these simple tips to save your skin during the upcoming winter months. Protect yourself when you go outside, and remember to moisturize!

How do you winter-proof your skin?

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