Taking care of your skin in the hot summer months is a routine most of us are familiar with - sunscreen, hats and a good refreshing shower to rinse away all the sweat and sunscreens at the end of the day, and repeat. 

The return of our dear friend, the winter season, is altogether a different game when it comes to protecting skin. Calgary skin experiences wildly different weather conditions throughout the year and it benefits from a few basic tweaks in your routines. Here’s some easy changes you can make as the temperatures drop to help protect your skin and keep it healthy and happy and not red and chapped. 

Tip 1 - Hydrate Inside and Out

Keep drinking water to hydrate from the inside out and consider using a skincare product that delivers water directly to your skin such as a hydrating toner or mist (I Dew Hydrating Face Mist is a great option here). Products containing Hyaluronic Acid and Glycerin are popular choices to look for as these key ingredients will help to trap water in your skin keeping it plump and juicy. 

Tip 2 - Lock it in with Heavier Moisturisers

Let’s use a sandwich analogy here - your skin is one piece of the bread, the layer of hydration as discussed in tip 1 is the ‘filling’ and then you seal the whole thing in with a layer of moisturiser on top, ie the other piece of bread. Moisturisers excel at trapping moisture on the skin, so if skin is dry and you simply apply an oily layer on top, it’s not going to do a whole lot for your skin, you need that hydration element somewhere in the mix. Similarly, the best time to put moisturisers on your entire body is when you’re fresh from the shower, you want to lock all that delicious water into your skin!

Tip 3 - Try to Not Blast Yourself Directly in the Face

Winter comes along with lots of forced air heating, it’s everywhere! While we should all be super grateful for the cosy wonderfulness that is heating when it’s cold outside, that doesn’t mean it’s doing skin any favours. Be conscious of what skin is directly exposed when around hot air vents such as in the car or standing around heat lamps or fires. 

And it’s not just the forced air heating, it’s also winds blowing straight from the coldest places on earth. when you’re going to be outdoors for extended periods of time and it is seriously cold and windy, cover up your face, protect that beautiful skin! Scarves, face masks, high collared coats, gloves, mitts, whatever it takes. 

Tip 4 - Protect Your Skin’s Natural Barrier

If you’ve ever lost the natural protective barrier on your skin, it sucks. Skin gets tight, red, itchy and eventually raw if it’s not resolved. This loss of barrier can happen when using products that are too strong for the skin, or perhaps it’s just a change of products that your skin doesn’t respond well to such as a new laundry detergent. Or maybe you’ve been travelling and exposed to radically different climates and skin just kind of goes haywire (this always seems to happen to me, ugh). Either way, watch out for this and do whatever you can to avoid it, especially in the winter months when skin is already a little more fragile. Wash in warm or cooler water, not piping hot steamy water. Really hot water can remove the protective oils that are naturally on skin and hair. If you think this may be happening to your skin pull back from the products you’ve been using and see if that helps to clear any issues up then slowly re-introduce them one-by-one. If you’re travelling and know this is a common issue for you, bring as many of your familiar “safe” products from home as you can, don’t gamble on the hotel or local products as tempting as they may be!

Good luck this upcoming winter season! We all love a good rosy glow on the cheeks from a brisk walk in a winter wonderland.