Winter Skincare 101 – Is it Really Necessary?

Protecting your body from the cold means a lot more than just bundling up. Did you know that your skin care needs change in the winter? In fact, for many people, the winter exposes your skin to the most desert-like conditions you’ll ever face. Why? Because the heating you use in your home, and the heating used in other buildings you’ll visit through the season, sucks up humidity from the air. In the winter, you live in lower-humidity environments than most deserts in the world! That means that your skin is dying for moisture, among other things.  Let’s gather some winter skin care tips for all skin types.

We put together this guide that covers everything you need to know about winter skin care. We’ll start with what you need to change in the winter and discuss everything from your skin type to the various parts of your body. If you’ve been baffled by winter skin needs before, here’s your complete guide to turning it around from here on.

Do I Need to Change My Winter Skincare Routine?

Yes, absolutely. We’ll talk more in-depth about winter skin care tips for specific skin types below, but there are three main things that need to change about a skin care routine no matter your skin type in the winter:

• More moisture! Everyone needs thicker moisturizers in the winter to combat the harshness of indoor heating and dryer weather. The skin’s barrier can crack and become inflamed without extra protection during the winter.
• Gentler cleansers are also important. Using a cleanser that is harsh, such as exfoliators and foaming cleansers can increase the dryness that you’re already fighting.
• Ditching anything with alcohol, sulfates, and fragrances is also important this time of year. These ingredients dry out the skin and cause irritation at the best of times. In the winter, you are asking for flaky, dull skin.

Doing just those three things to your skin care routine will help your skin combat winter dryness. But there’s one more very important thing for any winter skin care routine: SPF.

SPF in the Winter

Even if you aren’t getting outside much, and even if the days are overcast, SPF is extremely important in the winter. Why? Because all that snow reflects the sunlight back up from the ground – meaning you’re getting twice the sun exposure. Even if the sunlight is weak, you’re still getting those UV rays from both directions. You can in fact get sunburnt in the winter, and you can damage your skin by not wearing SPF in the cold weather.

As with everything else, you’ll want to choose an SPF that won’t dry you out. Stay away from sunscreens with fragrances. Choose a light sunscreen designed to go under your makeup, such as a makeup primer with built-in SPF for the best protection.

Winter Skin Care Tips for All Skin Types

No matter what type of skin you have, there are several things that you can do during the winter to take better care of your skin:

Don’t think that needing thicker moisturizer means you have to slather it on. Applying even layers, letting them set, and applying them often, is a better routine than applying a ton once a day.

Use actual creams or lotions rather than just facial oils. Facial oils don’t actually penetrate the skin, so they aren’t moisturizing. They are meant to help add a protective layer though, so use them with your moisturizer for the best results.

Use a humidifier in your home and in your office if you can. The more moisture you can put back into the environment around you, the less your skin has to suffer.

Don’t take long, hot showers. This dries out your skin even more in the winter. Keep your showers and baths shorter and use slightly cooler water.

Don’t exfoliate as often. That seems counter-intuitive if your skin is flaky, but exfoliating more weakens your skin’s natural barrier, and makes it even more prone to dryness due to the weather. Use a gentle cleanser with a wash cloth for some basic exfoliation, but skip harsher products and peels.

Eat more fish or take an omega-3 supplement. This helps the skin retain moisture.

Avoid sugar and starch, as well as alcohol and coffee. Those are things that we indulge in during colder weather, but they can make dry skin, eczema, rosacea, and acne worse. Drink more water to help your body get back some of the hydration it is missing in the winter.

Do indulge in those homemade masks with yogurt, avocado, bananas, honey, and aloe. These help add some hydration back into your skin, and they feel luxurious.

Following these standard winter skin care tips will help you keep your skin in better condition through the winter, but if you want to really ace winter skin care, you need to consider your skin type.

Winter Skin Care Tips for Oily Skin

If you’re used to being able to skip moisturizer in the summer because you have oily skin, think again in the winter. Oily skin still needs a light, oil-free lotion in the winter to keep it protected against the harsh weather and environments. You can find a moisturizer that combines sunscreen to reduce the number of potentially pore-clogging layers that you need to wear.

Winter Skin Care Tips for Dry Skin

If your skin is already dry, winter will be your most challenging time of the year. You’ll need to double down on hydration with a cream or oil-based cleanser to prevent even more moisture loss. It’s a good idea to look for a moisturizer that has protecting ingredients like hyaluronic acid or petrolatum, which trap moisture and add extra hydration. Also, skip out on foam cleansers, which dry skin out during the best of times. It will also be more important for you to hydrate at night so that your skin gets a constant regimen of extra hydration.

Related: Dry Skin Defined

Winter Skin Care Tips for Combination Skin

If you tend to regulate oil on your combination skin with harsher cleansers during the summer months, now is the time to give your skin a break. Switch to a cream cleanser that is gentler and doesn’t strip the skin of essential hydration. Stick with oil-free moisturizers except at night – use a night oil to help treat the dry areas and fight excessive oil production.

Winter Skin Care Tips for Acneic Skin

Those with acne-prone skin often focus on exfoliation to keep the skin clear, but winter means your skin needs gentler handling. It’s also a good time to give your skin a break from all the harsh acne-targeting chemicals you may use. Switch to a milder acne product, or pair your acid cleanser with a gentler cleansing brush for milder exfoliation. Get an oil-free moisturizer that includes hyaluronic acid for as much hydration as you can get, and don’t skip it throughout the day.

Winter Skin Care Tips for Aging Skin

If you use retinoids and antioxidants to keep your skin looking young and healthy, you can continue to do so in the winter – but you need to pair it with extra moisture to act as a barrier against the harsh environments. You are also more susceptible to damage from UV rays when you’re using these powerful agents on your skin, so you need to ensure that you are using a very good SPF. Try a moisturizer with built-in SPF to save time.

Winter Skin Care Tips for Lips

The skin of your lips is the most sensitive part of your body, and they can chap easily in the dry weather. Lips have no oil glands for moisturizing themselves, so they rely on you to add moisture as often as possible. In normal conditions, drinking liquids, licking your lips, and using a lip balm are all ways that we keep our lips hydrated. But in the winter, this may not be enough. Here are some tips for winter lip care:

• Cover them as often as you can with a scarf when you are in windy conditions.
• Drink more water. Your lips do get hydration from what you drink, so be sure you’re getting in those eight glasses!
• Take more vitamin B. This supplement can help hydration overall, but especially in the lip area.
• Quit smoking, if you do. This causes lip chapping.
• Use a natural lip balm made with things like beeswax, almond oil, shea butter, jojoba oil, aloe vera, or other natural ingredients. These are much more likely to help hydrate your lips than chemicals.
• The exception to this is glycerin, which offers long-lasting moisturizing, and is present in most lip balms.
• Try not to lick your lips too often. If you’ve ever had badly chapped lips, you’ll know that the urge to lick them is impossible to avoid, but it dries them out more.

Related: Want Kissable Lips? Use Our Lip Treatment Kit

Winter Skin Care Tips for Hands

If you’ve noticed that your cuticles get much drier in the winter, you are not alone. Our hands often get the worst of the winter weather with as much as we use them, and they could use some extra TLC during this time. Here are some tips for keeping your hands soft and supple during the winter:

• Always wear gloves when you go outside. This is the easiest way to protect your hands from the elements.
• Avoid exposing your hands to harsh cleaning agents during the winter. Wear rubber gloves when you clean your house.
• Keep hand cream around you at all times and use it any time you think about it. During the winter, you can’t over-moisturize your hands. Moisturize every time you get your hands wet.
• Use a deep moisturizer at night, such as petroleum jelly. Simply cover your hands in it, and then add a pair of thin cotton gloves to prevent the moisturizer from getting all over your bed.
• Use milder soaps when bathing. Just like your face, your hands need babying during the winter months.
• Don’t forget to put sunscreen on your hands! This area of your body can burn just as much as your face.

Winter Skin Care Tips for Feet

Your feet are another area of your body that tend to dry out in the winter. Many people even develop deep, painful cracks in the heels where dead, dry skin builds up during the season. Here are some ways to keep your feet looking and feeling great during the colder months:

• Always apply a thick foot cream to your feet after getting them wet, to help trap moisture in the skin.
• Always protect your feet with warm footwear in the winter. Wearing socks keeps your feet protected from harsh winter weather, so don’t skip them in the name of fashion.
• Add vitamin E oil to your nightly routine. Rub this into your feet to moisturize the skin and repair any damage. You can also add more vitamin E to your diet for better skin from the inside out.
• Give your feet regular attention during the winter. Ramp up your usual grooming routine with oil massages before bed. Put on clean socks after the oil massage to keep the oil on your skin rather than on your sheets.
• Try a gentle exfoliation routine for rough patches with brown sugar, olive oil, honey, and lemon juice.

Winter Skin Care Don’ts

We’ve mentioned a few don’ts already, such as skipping long, hot showers, and cutting back on exfoliation in the winter. But here are just a couple of other things to avoid during this season for perfect skin:

• Don’t wear pajamas made of synthetic material, because it can irritate your already sensitive skin. Go for cotton or cotton flannel.
• Don’t try to cover up your dry skin with makeup; that will just make it worse. And if you do wear makeup, blend more gently with a beauty blender sponge to avoid rubbing foundation into dry patches.
• Don’t use products with sulfates, which are designed to get rid of oil in the skin. Not only can this dry out the skin, it can also exacerbate oily skin.

Love Your Skin This Winter

Loving your skin year-round can be a challenge, but it’s not impossible. Once you put your new and improved winter skin care routine into effect, you’ll see that it doesn’t take much more time or effort to maintain great skin all year long.

Related: The Relationship Between Diet and Skin Health

More Great Resources on Winter Skin Care Tips:

Homemade Beauty Tips for Winter

12 TIPS TO KEEP SKIN SOFT AND GLOWING IN WINTER

13 Effective Home Remedies For Winter Skin Care