The winter breeze has rolled in and while you’re wrapping up in blankets and sipping warm drinks, your skin is whispering a quiet “help.”
That strange tight feeling? The sudden dullness? Those pesky flakes that weren’t there yesterday? Ohh, Yes, winter has entered the chat.
But pause a second and ask yourself: Is your skincare routine winter-ready?
Cold months challenge your skin in sneaky ways, pulling moisture away and dulling your natural radiance.
So before dryness settles in and your radiance goes into hibernation, let’s talk about why skincare in winter is necessary for healthy skin.
Importance of Skin Care in Winter
During winter, skin care becomes especially important for several scientifically proven reasons. Cold air holds less moisture, so the environment naturally becomes drier.
When we take long, hot showers or baths- our skin’s natural oils (which act as a protective barrier) get stripped away, leading to even more dryness.
Indoor heating also plays a big role. Heaters reduce indoor humidity levels, pulling moisture out of the skin and making it feel tight, flaky, and irritated. The problem worsens when harsh soaps, body gels, or vigorous towel-rubbing damage the skin barrier further.
After the onset of skin dryness in winter, different people experience some or all of the following issues in varying intensities:
- Redness
- Irritation
- Itching
- Stinging
- Cracks
- Discomfort on touch
- Rough patches
- Flaking
To prevent and cure these problems, we should do regular dry skin care in winter.
A Must-Have Winter Skin Care Routine
If you want to have an effective skin care routine during the winter season, make sure you follow the winter skin care tips listed below:
1. Moisturising
Moisturisers are an important part of the winter skin care routine. They help in the retention of moisture in the skin and provide nourishment. Always remember to moisturise after every shower and before going to bed.
While choosing a moisturiser for skin care in winter, select the one that contains ingredients like cocoa butter and wheat germ. Cocoa butter keeps the skin soft by providing nourishment and retention of moisture. Wheat germ oil is rich in vitamin E, which prevents skin dryness.
2. Lip Balm
Chilly, dry winds in winter make the lips dry and chapped, making it essential to have a winter skin care routine on a daily basis. When we cover them with face masks, this problem worsens. For soft lips, use a lip balm as often as you need to. While selecting a lip balm, choose the one that contains herbs and oils like cocoa butter, sal butter, carrot seed oil, or coconut oil. These ingredients do a great job of moisturising the lips.
3. Water Intake
Skin dryness in winter increases because we feel less thirsty during this season when compared to summer. So our consumption of water drops significantly. Doctors recommend we take 8-12 glasses of water every day. If drinking water is an issue, you can hydrate yourself by drinking more fluids like soups, coconut water, herbal teas, etc. for skin care in winter.
4. Balanced Diet
A balanced diet with lots of fruits and vegetables provides the body with all the nutrients that it needs to stay healthy during winter. In particular, those food items that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins A, C, and E help in keeping the skin healthy and well-moisturised.
Winter Skin Care Routine for Dry Skin
Apart from the essential winter skin care routine above, follow these tips below for dry skin care in winter. It will go a long way in making you look and feel better this winter.
1. Use Mild bath Soaps
During winter, switch over to mild soaps. They let the body keep its natural oils. Stay away from deodorant and perfumed soaps, as they make the skin drier.
2. Use Lukewarm Water for Bathing
Lukewarm water is better than hot water for baths in winter. The higher the temperature of the bathwater, the greater its tendency to remove moisture and cause skin irritation. So, always have your bath with lukewarm water in winter.
3. Maintain Humidity
If you have a home heating system, keep a humidifier set to 60%. It will counteract the moisture-stripping effect of the home heater, and will help you treat dehydrated skin.
Winter Skin Care Routine for Oily Skin
Many people believe that oily skin is easier to manage during winter, as the dry air removes the excess oils. But this is not really true. While the sebaceous glands of oily skins keep producing excess oils, the harsh winter affects everyone. That’s why a winter care for oily skin is as important as a winter skin care routine for dry skin.
1. Moisturise Your Skin
Moisturising is one of the dry skin remedies crucial both in the morning and at night, with water-based moisturisers, preferably those with built-in sunscreen. This will keep your skin healthy and soft. Avoid oil-based moisturisers, as they clog pores in oily skins.
2. Use a Gentle Cleanser
Choose a mild gel or foam cleanser that removes excess oil without stripping your skin’s natural moisture. Over-cleansing can cause rebound oiliness.
3. Don’t Skip Sunscreen
Yes, even in winter! UV rays still penetrate clouds and can cause dark spots and premature aging. Use a non-comedogenic, matte-finish sunscreen.
Best Skin Care in Winter Home Remedies
For skin care in winter, home remedies are often more effective than industrially manufactured products. They are much safer too and free of side effects, apart from being cost-friendly and easily available. Some of these natural ingredients to add to your winter skin care routine are as follow:
- Water: Upping your intake of water helps in keeping the skin well-hydrated and prevents skin dryness in winter.
- Curd or yoghurt: Curd is rich in lactic acid, which helps in the hydration of the skin. When you mix other ingredients into it, such as honey, and apply it to your face, you get amazing results.
- Raw milk: Like curd, raw milk is a wonderful skin toner because of its rich content of antioxidants and lactic acid. It helps in hydration and gives a healthy glow to your skin. The effectiveness of raw milk multiplies manifold when you add other ingredients and churn them together into a paste. These ingredients include bananas, honey, cucumber, aloe vera, egg whites, almond oil, etc.
- Bananas: A banana face pack helps in relieving dryness. You can add other natural ingredients to your winter skin care schedule if you wish. You can also rub the inside part of banana peels on your face.
- Cucumber: Because of its rich water content, cucumber is one of the most effective remedies for skin care in winter. It is good for all skin types. You can eat it or apply it to your face.
- Aloe vera: This is a much-talked-about and widely used product in the winter skin care routine. Aloe vera gel is non-greasy and a wonderful skin moisturiser. It prevents many skin disorders such as acne.
- Eggs and honey face pack: Eggs and honey are one of the oldest winter skin care remedies. They work as natural moisturisers.
- Almond oil: Almond oil gives your skin the nourishment it needs to be healthy, helping you get rid of skin dryness in winter. For best results, always rub it on your face at night and wash it off the following morning.
Conclusion
The harsh impact of winter on our skin is not in our control. But doing something to prevent it is. By following a regular winter skin care routine, our skin can remain healthy and soft in winters too. Following some useful tips on winter skin care will do wonders for our skin. Wherever possible, try home remedies and do not compromise on your water intake.
Winter skin care is important for all skin types, dry, normal, and oily. No one should ignore it.
