Winter isn’t a wonderland for sensitive skin. As temperatures plummet and central heating surges at home, or you are planning a winter sports holidays in the mountains, you can find yourself with super sensitive dry winter skin, tight ruddy red skin with acne or itchy dry eyelids and dry flaky brows or in many cases a combinatiion of several of these syptoms.
Our normal skin care saviours may be doing more harm than good while in the depths of wintry weather leaving skin spottier, more sensitive, tighter, drier and redder than ever.
Dermatologist Dr Eva Melegh runs us through some of the most common winter skincare mistakes and what’s best for your skin to help weather these harsh winter conditions.
1. Reaching for Richer Creams
Mistake
This is a classic mistake so many people make during the winter months, especially when away on winter sports holidays like skiing. As we start to feel skin become drier it’s tempting to get pulled into the alure of much richer creams to try and counteract the dryness.
However, if you suffer from dry, sensitive skin or red skin such as rosacea or dry skin conditions such as eczema or psoriasis, the worst thing you can do at a time when your skin is particularly vulnerable is to test-run richer products with multiple heavier ingredients as these are likely to over-burden sensitive skin and may trigger a flare up, especially if the products contain alcohol, lanolin or perfumes or multiple preservatives.
Winter Skin Fix
The best thing during the winter months or while away on winter sports holidays to look for lighter serums that you can layer under your normal skincare products for additional moisturisation.
Layering a serum under your moisturiser and night cream can offer your skin additional moisturisation without over burdening it. However, if you suffer from a sensitive skin condition or your skin has become problematic in the cold weather it’s important to select a serum that more specfically addresses your skin’s state.
Try Kalme TeQ Serum for red, dry tight skin prone to rosacea, redness and tightness, which contains anti-redness ingredients and natural prebiotics made from blue agave that help repair skin barrier function as well as being more hydrating than hyaluronic acid.
For very dry or atopic skin try Hydrosil Turmeric Butter & Milk Salve, an easy absorbable non-sticky salve that contains a natural plant steroid and anti-inflammatory turmeric plus hydrating hypoallergenic donkey milk that is advantageous for atopic skin and is light enough to be worn under day creams, SPF’s and concealers or night creams
2. Over Exfoliating
Mistake
As the temperature plunges you can find skin becoming more inflamed and spottier due to weakened skin barrier function.
It’s tempting when you see signs of acne starting to appear to start exfoliating more to try and scrub away the problem.
This is one of the worst things you can do during the depths of winter as your skin is likely to already be drier than normal and additional exfoliation can make things worse leaving you with ever drier and more sensitive skin.
Winter Skin Fix
The best thing to do in winter if you suffer from rosacea or dry and sensitive skin is to actually hold up on the exfoliation for a bit or at least reduce it to only a few times a week maximum. Its probably best to avoid it altogether on skiing holidays.
When you do exfoliate, make sure to use an exfoliating product that offers particularly gentle and natural exfoliation with skin barrier repairing ingredients and has no harsh exfoliating factors in it.
Try Clarol Silver and Birch Exfoliating Wash which uses natural birch bark to gently exfoliate skin (birch bark contains a natural equivalent to salicylic acid) and also contains Microsilver™ which had a duel advantage to red spotty winter skin as it supports the growth of good skin bacteria which is crucial for repairing skin barrier function to keep moisture locked in while being repellent to bad skin bacteria that can lead to pimples and break outs.
3. Washing With Water
Mistake
Winter complexions often appear blotchier and spottier. Its common to feel the urge to wash your face more often with water when complexions start to look more eruptive, but this is a huge mistake during the winter months.
Water is actually a very caustic substance for sensitive skin, especially hard water and most tap water contains chlorine., which can be aggravating to sensitive skin. Washing the skin with water draws moisture away from the skin as it dries so can leave sensitive and blotchy winter skin feeling drier and tighter than before washing.
Winter Skin Fix
In winter its more advantageous to clean and cleanse the skin without using water at all. A mild and moisturising water-free cream cleanser will help skin to retain moisture while gently cleaning away dirt and make up. Try Kalme Water-Free Cream Cleanser which is designed for very sensitive skin prone to redness and dryness.
4. Skipping Your SPF
Mistake
You’d be forgiven for forgetting about SPF’s when you haven’t seen the sun in weeks or when you do it feels like its much weaker than summer sun, but when the weather turns freezing cold and there’s snow around or you are away on winter sport holidays, SPF’s are perhaps more crucial than ever.
UV light penetrates through low lying cloud and if there is snow on the ground it reflects UV light off it and can actually intensify UV rays.
Winter Skin Fix
Wear a daily SPF of at least 20 for normal day wear at home and increase to SPF50 while on ski holidays and make sure your SPF contains moisturising ingredients. As an added bonus you can look for SPF’s that cancel out the redness of winter ruddy skin and adjust to your skin tone which is likely to be more changeable and blotchier in winter conditions.
Try Kalme Chameleon Concealer SPF20 with anti-redness and moisturising ingredients with advanced tone-matching technology for coverage and protection of dry, red and sensitive skin.
5. Using a heavier eye product
Mistake
The skin around the eyes is particularly vulnerable to dry, cold conditions as well as dehydration from higher heating at night or higher altitudes. This delicate area can start to feel dry and irritated, both on the eyelids, around the crow’s feet area and in the brows, especially if you sometimes suffer from eye eczema or blepharitis.
It can be logical to think about switching to a thicker more intensive eye product to try and counter the dryness. However, this can often lead to irritation and puffiness as if the skin around the eyes is already prone to sensitivity and inflammation then a heavier eye product can add to the puffiness. Some people even resort to products like Vasaline for dryness around the eyes and in the brows, which can exacerbate puffiness and inflammation while not addressing the underlying irritation.
Winter Skin Fix
The main issue with the skin around the eyes during cold wintry conditions is the itchiness and discomfort as the skin is more sensitive as opposed to being simply drier. Products that can deal with this are the solution to the problem rather than trying to use products that only address dryness.
Try Hydrosil Dry Eye Gel, which is a lightweight gel that can be worn under day creams, cosmetics and night eye products that contains a natural plant steroid to immediately help calm down irritation and inflammation in skin around the eyes and on the eyelids. The same range also makes a brow serum, Hydrosil HydroBrow, with the same ingredient to relieve irritation plus a natural skin prebiotic to repair and replenish brow barrier function to quiclky prevent and relieve flakiness and itching.
