Winter is a time for cozy sweaters, warm drinks, and festive cheer. But for your skin, the drop in temperature and low humidity can cause a range of issues—from dryness and flakiness to redness and irritation. Cold weather can strip the skin of its natural moisture, leaving it feeling tight and uncomfortable.
If you’re looking to keep your skin looking healthy and hydrated all season long, this winter skincare guide will help you maintain your glow, no matter how cold it gets outside.
How does winter affect your skin?
Common symptoms of winter skin include:
1. Switch to a richer moisturizer
One of the most important steps in winter skincare is keeping your skin moisturized. Cold air and indoor heating can leave skin parched, so it’s essential to switch to a richer, more emollient moisturizer.
Look for products with:
Tips:
2. Use a humidifier
Indoor heating systems, while necessary in winter, can drastically reduce the humidity in the air, leading to dry, flaky skin. To combat this, consider using a humidifier in your home or bedroom. A humidifier adds moisture back into the air, which can help prevent your skin from becoming too dry.
Benefits:
3. Gently Exfoliate
Exfoliating is essential to remove dead skin cells, but you should be extra gentle in winter. Harsh exfoliants can irritate the skin and strip away moisture, so it’s best to switch to a gentler exfoliant. Look for products with mild exfoliating agents like lactic acid or fruit enzymes, AHA or BHA. Our The Gentle Renewing is a great choice because in addition to cleaning, when left in contact with the skin it has an exfoliating action due to the presence of 5 AHAs derived from fruits.
How to exfoliate in Winter:
4. Protect your skin from the elements
Winter weather can be harsh, with wind, cold temperatures, and even snow or rain. These elements can cause damage to your skin, especially to exposed areas like your face, hands, and lips.
Key protection steps:
5. Avoid hot showers and baths
While it’s tempting to soak in a hot bath or take a long, steamy shower during the winter months, hot water can strip the skin of its natural oils, leading to dryness and irritation.
Tips:
6. Hydrate from the Inside
Winter can dehydrate you just as much as it dehydrates your skin. The cold air and indoor heating can leave you feeling parched, but dehydration can have a serious impact on your skin’s health, making it appear dull and lackluster.
Hydration Tips:
7. Adjust your skincare routine
Your skincare routine may need to change slightly in winter to account for the change in temperature and environmental factors. If you’re using products that are too harsh or drying, consider switching to gentler alternatives.
Consider:
8. Don’t skip sunscreen
Many people think they don’t need sunscreen in winter, but UV rays are just as damaging in the colder months. Snow, ice, and even cloudy skies can reflect UV radiation, increasing your exposure.
Sunscreen Tips:
9. Consider adding a face mask
Winter is a great time to indulge in hydrating face masks, which can provide an extra boost of moisture to your skin. Look for masks that contain ingredients like hialuronic acid, panthenol, aloe, or hydrating oils.
Types of Masks to Try:
Conclusion
Winter skincare is all about keeping your skin hydrated, protected, and nourished. By switching to richer moisturizers, avoiding harsh products, and protecting your skin from the elements, you can keep your complexion glowing throughout the cold months. Don’t forget to stay hydrated from the inside out and to continue using sunscreen—even when the weather is chilly! By making a few simple adjustments, you can enjoy smooth, healthy skin all season long.
Maybe you’ve stayed away from facial oils because you have oily skin, or perhaps you think that your skin is properly nourished. Facial oil, however, is not a skin care product reserved solely for dry skin—practically anyone can use a facial oil as a beneficial part of their skin care routine.
Ancient Egyptians, including Cleopatra, kept their skin vibrant and flawless by using facial oils. And this (very) old-school beauty secret is making a pretty big comeback right now.
A facial oil is typically a blend of several different plant-based oils, essential oils and botanical extracts, chosen for their specific skincare benefits.
This essential comes in handy to lock in hydration, to soften, nourish, and balance skin for a healthy-looking glow. The oil-based formula of facial oils is also more effective at nourishing the skin at a deeper level than a water-based moisturizer.
Facial oils are high in natural, skin-identical ingredients that are respectful of your skin’s biology while also being highly effective.
Now, are you ready to explore the wonders of this buzzy skin care product? Follow along for the reasons to use and fall in love with facial oils.
Facial oils may be that missing step in your beauty routine to set you on the path towards a dazzling complexion. Because a healthy skin already contains oil, and the blend of the right oils can be its best friend.
They can help to heal, repair, and create a breathable, protective barrier on the skin’s surface.
Face oils are considered a type of emollient, which means they help strengthen the outer layer of your skin — the stratum corneum.
The skin barrier is made up of lipids that help seal the moisture into your skin. By using oils you will add lipids that cement this protective wall and will fortify and strengthen our own natural skin barrier.
Facial oils have antioxidant properties that work wonders for the skin, by protecting it from free radicals and prevent some of its negative skin effects, like loss of elasticity and photoaging, damaging and prematurely aging skin.
Our skin naturally produces oils and lipids, which help prevent water loss to keep it hydrated and elastic. Facial oils are specially tailored to work with your natural skin oils to help keep your skin balanced: when you feed your skin the oil it was craving in the first place, it can begin to balance out your natural oil production. Facial oils can balance oily skin and control excess oil production.
Facial oils prevent water loss while keeping skin plump. Facial oils are also rich in antioxidants that also boost collagen production and strengthen skin elasticity.
Facial oils protect skin from TEWL – transepidermal water loss.
When you apply oil on your face after your moisturizer, it seals in all of the hydrating ingredients, making your skin more likely to hold onto that added hydration and also preventing water loss from the skin itself.
Beyond helping to seal in hydration, face oils can provide nourishment of their own, as well. Plant-based oils are filled with essential fatty acids (EFAs), vitamins, and antioxidants that provide nutrition directly to the skin.
A combination of nutrition and hydration provided by facial oil can really take your skin to the next level, giving it a healthy glow.
Clogged pores can lead to pimples, blackheads, whiteheads and to cause or worsen any type of acne, etc. Facial oils are formulated with non-comedogenic oils that will not clog your pores.
As a facial oil lover myself, the first product I formulated was The Dream Glow: a rich and powerful rejuvenating night oil serum, formulated with Bakuchiol, noble oils such as camellia japonica seed, tigernuts, rosehip and enriched with pure essential oils produced in the Azores that give the oil a unique aroma and I am sure it will do wonders for your skin as it did for mine.
The keystone of any good skincare routine is cleansing.
A good cleanser gently removes excess sebum, dead skin cells, dirt, pollution and makeup and leaves your skin ready for the next steps in your skincare routine.
Washing your face doesn’t need to be complicated, but it’s important to know that there’s a right way to cleanse and the result with any cleanser should be the same: smooth, soft, refreshed skin and never dry, tight, irritated, reddened or dull.
All skin types should use a gentle cleanser that should also not be greasy and clog pores.
Following are our step-by-step instructions for an effective skin cleansing:
Either if you’re using a water-soluble cleanser with a gel, cream, foam or lotion texture—by far the most common types of face wash or if have dry skin and you’re using a thicker, cold cream–style cleanser, cleansing balm, or cleansing oil, the steps to clean your skin are similar.
These liquid cleansers are, in many ways, similar to water-based makeup removers that contain mild surfactants. “Micelles” are minute structures that have to do with how surfactants (that is, the cleansing ingredients) combine with water; it is a way to formulate a cleanser that interacts with oils and debris to wash them away. Micellar technology is effective, but other than ease of use, this type of cleanser doesn’t have a strong edge over others. Here’s how to use micellar water:
What about removing eye makeup? Most types of cleansers do a great job of removing light eye makeup (eyeshadow, pencil liner, regular mascara), but if you use long-wearing, waterproof formulas, it is better to use a proper eye makeup remover.
While it can be helpful in some situations, the double cleansing method is not necessary for everyone. It depends primarily on your skin type and the type of makeup you wear.
Choosing the right texture for your skin type offers the best chance of achieving the results you want.
Read on to find out which texture is right for your skin type.
If you don’t know your skin type, you can follow our guideline to find it.
It is important to properly cleanse your skin, even if you have normal skin. This ensures an effective skincare regimen and makes your skin benefit more from the ingredients.
A lotion texture or foams are best for normal skin.
Combination skin needs a cleanser that is powerful for the oily parts of your skin, but also is gentle on the dry areas. Makeup should be completely removed, impurities cleansed and the balance of your skin returned more to normal.
A gel texture or foams is best for combination skin.
The aim for an oily skin cleansing it to cleanse oily skin and remove all excess sebum without irritating the skin. This way you ensure that your skin is prepared for all other products and prevent breakouts.
A gel cleanser or light foam is best for oily skin types.
If you already have dry skin, you do not want your facial cleanser to dry out your skin even more. With cleaners specifically formulated for dry skin, you can be sure that you
get clean skin that feels comfortable, and also leaves the natural barrier of your skin intact.
Choose a creamy texture, oil or a cleansing balm to nourish and hydrate dry skin.
After cleansing your skin needs a range of products that will help prevent moisture loss, calm sensitive skin and keep your skin’s barrier function healthy.
Learn how to create your basic skincare routine.
The most common system to classify skin type is according to the water content and sebum secretion of the skin. There are four main skin types:
There are also other classifications, according to the skin state that can go from sensitive, dehydrated to wrinkled.
One way to determine your skin type is to examine your bare skin. Follow these simple steps to determine which type of skin you have
Keep reading my notes to discover more about each skin type.
Normal skin refers to well-balanced skin that is neither too oily nor too dry. Oil production and other factors that affect the health of the skin are within normal ranges. Typically, normal skin:
If you have a normal skin type – lucky you! However, it doesn’t mean you won’t ever experience a little dryness, oilliness or the occasional pimple.
Plus, normal skin types still experience sun damage and other skin concerns due to environmental aggressors or lifestyle choice.
Combination skin, which is the most common skin type, is characterized by a mix of oily and dry skin in different parts of the face.
People with combination skin usually:
This type of skin needs slightly different care in different areas.
People with oily skin experience heightened sebum production. You have oily skin if:
Normally genetic but can also be triggered by a change in hormones, through the use of medication and stress.
Dry skin produces less oil than normal skin that helps it retain moisture and protect against environmental factors.
As a result, dry skin:
Dry skin may be caused or made worse by:
The skin’s balance will also depend on other factors, such as: period of the menstrual cycle, climate, seasons, diet, stress, sleep and other habits. Therefore, skin type may vary over time!
Baumann, Leslie. (2008). Understanding and Treating Various Skin Types: The Baumann Skin Type Indicator. Dermatologic clinics. 26. 359-73, vi. 10.1016/j.det.2008.03.007.
Baumann, Leslie. (2006). The Skin Type Solution. Random House Publishing Group: New York, NY, USA, 2007
Oliveira, R.; Ferreira, J.; Azevedo, L.F.; Almeida, I.F. An Overview of Methods to Characterize Skin Type: Focus on Visual Rating Scales and Self-Report Instruments. Cosmetics 2023, 10, 14. https://doi.org/10.3390/cosmetics10010014
Saiwaeo S, Arwatchananukul S, Mungmai L, Preedalikit W, Aunsri N. Human skin type classification using image processing and deep learning approaches. Heliyon. 2023 Oct 23;9(11):e21176. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21176. PMID: 38027689; PMCID: PMC10656243.
Youn, S.W.; Kim, S.J.; Hwang, I.A.; Park, K.C. Evaluation of facial skin type by sebum secretion: Discrepancies between subjective descriptions and sebum secretion. Skin Res. Technol. 2002, 8, 168–172.
Either if you´re looking to start a skincare routine or if you’re looking to keep it simple and basic, these notes are for you.
I recommend an essential skincare routine that consists of four steps, each designed to treat the core needs of any skin type—the minimum your skin needs to keep it healthy and protected day and night:
Use my simple guide to select an Essential Skincare Routine based on what works best for you and your specific skin concerns, step by step.
Cleansing is the first essential step for any skincare routine. Cleansers remove dirt, excess sebum and makeup from your skin. When your skin is clean, it allows the other products you use to work even better.
For effective skin cleansing, you should clean your skin morning and evening.
Double cleansing has become quite popular recently, where you use an oil-based cleanser to break down any makeup on your skin followed by foam or gel cleanser. I recommend this step for the days you use makeup.
Squeaky clean skin? Contrary to popular opinion, you don’t need to feel that squeaky feeling for your skin to be clean. That squeaky feeling is just the soap stripping all your natural oils off your skin and it might cause your skin to get irritation and inflammation.
Read on to know more about an effective cleansing routine.
If you’re looking to amp up your skin care routine with a product that offers a bigger, more powerful dose of active ingredients, the next great step is to treat your skin with a face serum.
Face serums can add moisture and high concentrations of beneficial active ingredients to your skin and are designed to nourish, protect and treat specific skin concerns.
When it comes to choosing a skin serum, it’s important to recognize there are different types of serums, as well as specific ingredients to look for based on your goals or skin concerns. In general, face serums fall into the following categories:
Moisturizers improves skin hydration and increases stratum corneum water content by directly providing water to the skin from their water phase and increasing occlusion to reduce trans-epidermal water loss, it also provides a soothing protective film and protects skin from friction. Moisturizing everyday can reduce the chance of developing extreme dryness or oiliness. Both extremes are harmful for skin and cause common skin conditions.
Finding the right moisturizer for your skin type is an incredibly important step in your skincare. More specifically, finding the right formula is key: it needs to hydrate and restore your skin efficiently without leaving it feeling greasy or heavy.
The final step of your daytime routine is application of a moisturizer followed with SPF – 30 or higher and broad Spectrum for UV light.
Some moisturizers already have SPF. If yours do, skip step n.4. If your day moisturizer does not have SPF, you must apply on top of it.
SPF moisturizers keep your skin shielded from sun damage which is the No. 1 cause of wrinkles, skin cancer, brown spots, and other signs of aging.
In the evening, as the last step in your evening skincare routine, you should choose a specific moisturizer for night care.
A night cream should provide more than simple hydration. Moisturizers (cream, lotion, gel, or liquid texture) loaded with antioxidants and skin-repairing ingredients improve your skin’s healthy functioning and keep it feeling smooth, soft and looking younger.
If your morning moisturizer does not contain SPF factor, do not forget to apply sun protection before you leave home.
We can’t stress enough how important this step is, because SPF is the single most important treatment for your skin with massive benefits, and it’s not just for the summer months. The more sun protection you use and sooner, the better and healthier your skin will look and feel for longer. The powerful UVA and UVB rays of the sun result in aging, fine lines, wrinkles, dark spots, and of course, skin cancer, which is why wearing daily protection is key.
Make sure you look for a sunscreen with SPF 30 or higher, with 5-star UVA rating. Choose a sunscreen based on your skin type, your climate, and the intensity of your sun exposure.
The protector’s protection factor is closely linked to the formation of a protective film/layer of the protector on the skin. The sunscreen is not absorbed, that is, it must be left last so that none of the other products that come later can disrupt/undo this film formation and harm protection.
Your skin type determines which product textures are best suited for you. Read more to discover your skin type.
