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Winter is arguably the best season for everything from fashion to vacation time, but for your skin? Not so much. Freezing temperatures outside and dry, heater air inside do not bode well for those of us prone to flaky skin. Your lips and cuticles start splitting and you can just feel you face getting dehydrated if you wait even a few minutes to moisturize in the morning. While stocking up on lotion is one solution, there are a few far more effective ways to make sure your skin stays happy once the temperature starts to drop. We got the real deal from skin care experts about what your skin needs to survive.
The Winter Skin Situation: Dry Flakes
Most of the time those flakes you’re finding in your hair are just dandruff (a true dry-scalp condition expresses itself as tightness and usually happens only to people with eczema). But thanks to indoor heating, your dry scalp can get even drier in the winter, meaning it starts overcompensating by producing oil. “This can disrupt its natural barrier and allow yeast to overgrow, causing itching and flaking,” explains Melissa Piliang, M.D., a dermatologist specializing in scalp care at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.
Your Scalp Salvation
Skip the dry shampoo and wash your hair a little more regularly to remove the oil yeast feeds on. Try alternating between a sulfate-free shampoo and an antifungal formula containing either zinc pyrithione (the active ingredient in Head & Shoulders, $4.99). If nothing changes in two weeks, see a dermatologist for a prescription cortisone shampoo to help treat any inflammation and itching.
The Winter Skin Situation: Chapped Lips
Your lips need just as much care as the rest of your face come winter time. There are so many factors that contribute to chapped lips—all that cold air whipping around in combination with any lipstick you might be wearing can definitely dry them out and make them flaky or, worse, cracked. We’ve all been there; it’s super painful.
Your Lip Lifesaver
Moisturize your lips regularly with a lip balm like Carmex Comfort Care Lip Balm in Mixed Berry ($1.99). “Look for ingredients like colloidal oatmeal and cold-pressed antioxidant-rich fruit seed oil that help rejuvenate lips by providing long-lasting moisture,” Keith Edgett, vice president of research and development at Carmex, says. It’s also helpful to wear a scarf whenever you’re stepping out in the cold and to drink plenty of water to make sure your skin stays as hydrated as possible.
The Winter Skin Situation: Dark Spots
Yes, sunspots can pop up, even in the winter. (You should always be wearing SPF.) But this season is actually a good time to help them fade. “It’s best to treat the spots when you’re not going to be spending time outdoors, which just adds to the problem,” says Patricia Farris, M.D., a dermatologist in New Orleans. Her in-office miracle worker is the Fraxel, a series of three fractional laser treatments that erase sunspots, broken capillaries, and crinkly skin without much downtime.
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Your Laserless Fix
To tackle mild UV damage at home, start using retinol pads (try Peter Thomas Roth Retinol Fusion PM Overnight Resurfacing Pads, $52) two or three times a week to exfoliate your skin and help cell turnover. And remember: Load on the sunscreen following any retinol products since they make the skin extra sun-sensitive.
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The Winter Skin Situation: Arm Bumps
Those chicken-skin-like tracks on the backs of your biceps are probably not pimples, so stop picking at them. The most common reason they pop up is actually thanks to a genetic condition known as keratosis pilaris (KP). It’s a buildup of keratin protein within the hair follicles, making those raised bumps.
Your Exfoliating Answer
Your inclination may be to attack these bumps with a grainy scrub, but the best way to treat them is with a chemical exfoliant, specifically a moisturizer containing 12 percent lactic acid, like AmLactin. Not only does the exfoliating acid smooth skin; it’s also a hydrating humectant that helps increase the skin’s production of healing ceramides, says Vivian Bucay, M.D., a San Antonio, Texas, dermatologist. While KP bumps are typically flesh-color, some come with accompanying redness. You can quiet the inflammation by layering a one-percent hydrocortisone cream under your chemical exfoliant.
The Winter Skin Situation: Rough and Scaly Patches
Because your elbows and knees have fewer oil glands and a slower cell turnover rate, dead skin builds up faster, meaning those areas are extra prone to dryness. To really penetrate and hydrate, apply a cream rich in urea (a humectant, that attracts water and softens skin) like Eucerin Professional Repair Extremely Dry Skin Lotion ($9.99) twice every day.
Your Smooth Solution
According to Heather Woolery-Lloyd, M.D., a Miami dermatologist, these zones also experience more friction just from all the clothes rubbing, leg crossing, and elbow resting you do all day. “This can stir up inflammation, causing hyperpigmentation, or dark spots, especially in skin of color,” she says. To calm and even out your skin, try a moisturizer like Glytone Exfoliating Body Lotion which has 17.5 percent glycolic acid to help rough areas. For more stubborn patches, dermatologists may prescribe a bleaching cream or inject a shot of cortisone: “The hyperpigmentation is usually due to thickening of the skin,” explains Dr. Woolery-Lloyd, “and the steroid works by lightening the area and thinning it out.”
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The Winter Skin Situation: Parched Hands and Nails
You wash your hands a dozen times to make sure you don’t get sick. You’re wearing gloves to keep your hands from going numb. And you keep getting gel manicures because you have a million parties to go to. All smart moves, but they’re having a negative effect on your fingers. “We see this a ton—soaking hands in acetone every week or two does real damage,” says Dr. Woolery-Lloyd, who recommends doubling up on hand cream to counteract the loss of moisture thanks to the extra winter damage.
Your Hydrating Defense
First, smooth on a hand cream packed with ceramides like (CeraVe Therapeutic Hand Cream, $6.59, is a dermatologist favorite). “They form a platelike barrier to really protect the skin,” Dr. Woolery-Lloyd says. Then follow it up with a heavy cream like Aquaphor ($6.29) at night to really lock in the moisture.
The Winter Skin Situation: Razor Bumps and Ingrown Hairs
No matter the time of year, shaving always comes with nicking risks, but consider dragging a blade over skin that is too dry or, worse, cracked. Dry skin makes it that much more inevitable and painful. Not to mention it lets bacteria in your skin, giving rise to razor bumps.
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Your Irritation Prevention
To reduce the possibility of bumps and ingrowns, Dr. Bucay advises using a gentle scrub (try The Body Shop Almond Milk & Honey Gently Exfoliating Cream Scrub, $24) before shaving, then use a moisturizing shave gel like Aveeno Positively Smooth ($3.97). Once your legs are baby soft, slather on that body lotion.
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The Winter Skin Situation: Rough Heels
Sure, no one is looking at your feet because you’re probably wearing boots right now. And that’s a great excuse to skip your monthly pedicure. But it also means your heels may start feeling like sandpaper pretty soon. And those cracks you get in the really rough places? They do not feel good.
Your Pedicure Replacement
For calluses and hardened heels, Marcela Correa, a medical pedicurist in New York City, suggests soaking your feet in warm water spiked with Johnson’s Foot Soap Powder, then rubbing on a urea-enriched cream. Once skin is moisturized, buff your heels with a medium-grit foot file, like Amopé Pedi Perfect Electronic Foot File to get baby-soft feet.
Topicswinter skin caredry skindandruffwinter beauty trendschapped lips