Top 5 tips for your best Winter skin!
Top 5 tips for your best Winter Skin!
Believe it or not, I actually really love winter time! Despite my forever freezing fingertips and toes, I enjoy the freshness of the air, the frost in the early hours of the morning and sipping hot herbal tea in my favourite mug.
My skin however, does not exactly enjoy is as much.
Although our skin is the largest organ of our body, it is only a millimeter thick. It serves many beneficial properties, acting as the body’s first barrier of defence. It also acts as the body’s natural thermostat - regulating temperature through the contraction of blood vessels.
In winter, humidity levels drop off, which wrecks havoc on our precious skin and it’s moisture levels; thus provoking flakiness and dry patches - which often result in irritation.
Another contributing factor to this dryness can be caused by the lack of moisture when exposed to central heating devices! The great thing about winter is that it’s easier to escape the cold by cranking up the heater, or sitting sung in front of a warm fire, however we are unaware of the condition it puts our skin in.
I’d also like to note - UV Rays are more harmful in winter!
If we are lucky enough here on the Mornington Peninsula to experience a peak of sunshine, that glare of the sunlight from beyond the clouds is just as, if not more, damaging to our skin.
So how can you maintain your skin’s integrity through winter? Here are my top five tips!
1. Understand Your Moisture!
Lotions and moisturisers are designed to lock existing moisture and hydration in the skin. While hydration is what makes our skin soft, it wont stay that way if there is no lipids protecting that hydration from evaporating, we call this ‘Trans Epidermal Water Loss’ (TEWL for short).
The one product we would recommend as a must-have during winter is Lotion N. It’s like a one-stop shop bursting with restorative lipids.
2. Stay Hydrated!
We all know it, and we all hear it so often, drinking water is essential for retaining hydration in the body and the skin. Sometimes we’re often unsure as to how much water we should be consuming on a daily basis, so here I’ll give you a basic maths equation to calculate the amount of water you should consume daily. Your body weight x 0.003 =…
Eg) 60 x 0.03 =1.8 litre of water.
Another great tip is to drink less caffeinated drinks. However if you do have a coffee or two during the day then I’d recommend having a glass of water right afterwards.
3. Feed your skin, from the inside - out!
Feeding your skin from the inside is just as important as using topical skin products. Some great tips I have learned over the years from health experts have been to eat seasonal fruits and vegetables, preferably organic when possible, obtain a high quality essential fatty acid supplement like our Bestow Beauty Plus oil - rich in flax oil, safflower oil, coconut oil, black current seed oil and evening primrose oil. These are all organic and cold pressed, extra virgin and unrefined. In one table spoon, these oils provide the body with all essential Omega 3’s and 6’s. EFA’s are essential for creating a healthy skin barrier, providing better quality sebum and reducing inflammation. We are often educated in taking fish oil supplements as a form of getting those omegas in, however, even tho they still provide quality EFA’s for inflammation they only provide one type of omega.
4. Prevent skin build up!
The skin naturally exfoliates itself, however if we are dealing with barrier impairment this desquamation process can be compromised and cause build up skin cells. Congestion in skin can be an example of this. When our skin is congested the follicle is blocked with sticky sebum and skin cells that have gone through their life cycle, resulting in a bumpy texture. Weekly or fortnightly Enzyme Peel treatments can assist with these blockages by loosening and removing non living cells. An enzymes roll is to penetrate between comedome plugs and the follicular wall and partially dissolve the sebaceous and cornoid mixture. (see our Treatment Menu Online for more info on Enzyme Peel Treatments). Exfoliation at home is just as important! Dermaviduals Peeling Cream (more of a polishing cream really) has gentle jojoba beads that when effectively massaged into the skin will assist in lifting those non living cells and leaving the skin feeling fresh and smooth.
My favourite natural body exfoliating treatment is Dry Brushing! Ensuring I have clean dry skin, free of product, I use a soft round bamboo bristle brush to remove the build up of skin. The process is simple, just gently brush in circular upward motions to remove the build up, before having a warm shower. I highly recommend applying Dermaviduals Body Lotion to moisturize afterwards.
5. Wear an SPF30+ daily!
I know you might be thinking, “ whats the point in wearing sunscreen in winter?”
UV levels are actually not related to heat and protecting your skin from UV damage is an all year round commitment! The two UV perpetrators - UVB, is actually lessened by clouds and winter. The other, UVA, is very much present year-round.
Simply explained UV rays:
UVA: Ultraviolet A rays, also called "long wave" rays, can penetrate the skin much deeper than UVB rays, and are responsible for signs of ageing (like dark spots and wrinkles). They also can initiate skin cancers.
UVB: Ultraviolet B rays, or "shortwave" rays, don’t’ penetrate the skin as deeply. They are what causes redness and sunburns.
Dermaviduals SPF30+ provides about 98.7% protection from UV radiation. It also provides additional hydration for the skin, reducing the affects of accelerating TEWL. This is why it is so important to wear SPF even during Winter!
By SJM Skin Therapist Jessica Chapman.
To learn more or book in for an advanced skin analysis to discover how you can improve your winter skin, please contact us on 03 5916 1123 or email us at info@sjmskinaesthetics.com.au