How To Switch Up Your Skin Care Routine For Cold Weather

The colder months can be brutal on our skin. Between freezing temps outside and heaters blasting inside, our skin can have a hard time adjusting to the elements! It’s tempting to simply pile on extra moisturizer at this point in the season, but there are other ways you should switch up your skincare routine for this time of year. 

Incorporate new products:

I’m guilty of being the girl who pretty much keeps to her facial skincare routine year round, but as time goes by I’ve begun to see the benefits of tiny tweaks when the seasons change. If you’re not a gal who is into a complete seasonal beauty overhaul, try adding in a few “superhero” products that tackle specific issues.

You won’t find a makeup artist in the world without a tube of Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream tucked away in her bag! It’s known to calm, protect, and hydrate even the driest chapped skin. (Bonus tip: Swipe a tiny dab through your brows for control and polish.)

For the driest of skin, Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Deep Moisture Balm does the trick—and hydrates for 24 hours! If you don’t need something quite that rich, take a small amount and mix it into your normal moisturizer for a hydration cocktail.

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate,Hydrate:

Toting a water bottle all summer is easy to remember because we’re usually hot, but keeping up your water intake is just as important in the colder months. Even when we don’t feel ourselves sweating, our body is losing water. Can you see your breath when you’re outside in the cold? That’s respiratory fluid loss and it’s one of the major ways our bodies dehydrate in the cold. We know that dehydrated skin can look scaly and dull but you can help combat your skin’s water withdrawals by refilling that water glass and finding a cute humidifier to add to your nightstand. Humidifiers keep moisture in the air, helping ensure you wake up with soft and supple skin.

Take a whole body approach:

Our faces tend to get a lot of love in the skincare department, but taking a whole body approach to skincare is essential during the changing seasons! We love stocking our nightstands with these winter favorites to remind us to make skincare part of our nighttime routine.

• Lips need a lot of care in chilly weather and nighttime is a great opportunity to heal them and moisturize deeply. Lip masks (like Bite Agave and or Philosophy Kiss Me Tonight) work all evening so you wake up with super soft lips.
• Make skincare a little more luxurious by adding moisturizing socks or gloves while you sleep. The Borgheses are probably best left for a night in, but now you can find a lot of cute moisturizing socks that are subtle and won’t tip off your bedmate that it's a beauty treatment!
• Exfoliating and moisturizing applies to our bodies, too! In the shower, lather up with a gentle sugar scrub and finish with a rich hydrating body cream to combat the tight dry feeling that sometimes happens with after shower skin. We’re telling ourselves that stocking up on a pumpkin latte scent is actually virtuous because pumpkin has vitamin C that is good for our skin.

Take care from the inside out:

We often want to hibernate in cold weather, and sometimes that comes along with comfort food (and thus lots of added calories). While it’s most definitely all about balance, nutrition habits can easily slip in the winter as we’re swapping out salads for Santa’s cookies.

Where you can, remember to work in skin super foods like salmon, olive oil, and leafy greens that offer key vitamins and the fatty acids—what we need to keep our complexion supple. 

Don't exclude SPF:

One of the best tips to take care of your skin when the weather turns? Keep up the parts of your summer routine that are essential year round! Cold weather can trick us into thinking we don’t need to apply sunscreen regularly. Winter sunburns (maybe from a ski adventure!) can add up to serious chapping, and according to the Skin Cancer Foundation, engaging in winter sports at high elevations increases your risk of overexposure to dangerous UV rays. To protect skin year round, find a product you can work into your beauty routine without having to think too hard about it. 

• The Armani Maestro UV Skin Defense Primer with SPF 50 does double duty prepping skin for makeup; it also has one of the highest SPF content we’ve seen in a beauty product without the awful white undertone.
• For light SPF with rich hydration, Laura Mercier Flawless Skin Moisturizer manages to hydrate and protect in one easy step!
• For under $10, you can’t beat Simple Protecting Light Moisturizer with SPF 15, and those with sensitive skin will love it for its lack of perfume or dye.

Try to manage stress:

With the changing seasons seems to come endless cocktail parties and holiday events, which can sometimes leave us with little down time for ourselves! When we’re stressed, our bodies release a hormone called cortisol, which may increase oil production and lead to acne. Stressed skin can do funny things, from breaking out to just looking a little muddy. If your skin is one of the first places stress shows up (my hand is raised high ladies!) be sure the next few months include some mini-spa days at home or whatever personal hobby winds you down.