If you’re finding the cold makes your skin itchy, dry or uncomfortable, you’ll need an effective strategy for dealing with it. In this blog, we'll look at four key strategies for winter skin.
Skin gets dry in the winter because it’s more likely to lose water to the air, a process known as trans-epidermal water loss. Low temperature, low humidity environments suck moisture from the skin, leaving it flaky, sensitive, and often really itchy as well. And a drier epidermis is more fragile and less resilient than a well-hydrated one, which can lead in turn to more irritation, more moisture loss and yet more damaged skin. And so the cycle goes on...
Here's our top four tips to keep skin happy, healthy, and well-hydrated in winter.
1. Create a barrier to stop skin drying out
In colder months, the skin can lose moisture in centrally heated environments as well outside in the cold, dry air - if you've got sensitive skin, you can probably feel the dehydrating effects of radiators or the wind almost immediately.
The trick to stopping moisture loss in its tracks is a really effective barrier balm! That's because covering skin with a fine layer of oil-based balm or salve provides a protective physical barrier which prevents moisture from evaporating into the air.
We’re not talking about any old cream here: very dry skin needs something extra, and the best option is a thick, oil-based emollient, rather than a water-based cream. Think of your balm as a waterproof plaster or raincoat over the skin. The higher the oil content, the more effective the barrier will be, so choose a balm, salve, or ointment rather than a water-based cream.
2. Protect skin from irritants
The protective barrier created by an effective balm has another function: it keeps all those pesky allergens and irritants out! Dust, mould spores, pet hair, perfume, detergents, mud, household cleaners etc. can all set off an inflammatory reaction when they enter the bloodstream. If you’ve got eczema, this could easily turn into a flare, and lead to itching, scratching and skin damage. An effective oil-based barrier applied over dry skin skin can reduce itching significantly, allowing skin cells to get on with the job of regeneration, and reducing further damage.
3. Feed your skin
A really good natural emollient can go one step further to to support dry skin in winter, if it contains key elements vital to the ongoing process of skin cell regeneration. Vitamins, antioxidants, essential fatty acids etc. all play a part in helping the skin rebuild and repair the daily damage that occurs when it gets dry or damaged. Think of it as a topical supplement for the skin - its daily dose of vitamins!
4. Keep things simple
Most skincare and toiletries contain perfumes and preservatives, as well as scent-maskers and other ingredients included to keep the products fresh and free from microbial growth. The downside of these additions to a formulation is that many of them can be irritating to sensitive skin, triggering an inflammatory reaction that will show up as itchiness, raised bumps, dry areas or rashes.
If your skin gets more sensitive in winter, it's worth spending some time identifying your own unique triggers and avoiding them as far as possible! Check out your shower gel, shampoo, creams and makeup for possible irritants, and choose simple formulations instead.
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Balmonds Skin Salvation ticks all four boxes! It's the perfect, unscented, super nutritious, protective winter skincare hero, and it can play a key part in preventing skin damage through the colder months.
Recommended products:
Balmonds Skin Salvation
with hemp and beeswax