My skin has always tended to be on the dry side, but during the winter when the humidity levels drop and the thermostats are turned up, it goes to a whole new level. These days when I change my clothes after work it looks like I dropped a container of baby powder on the inside of my black pants, as they are dusty white from all the skin that has flaked off during the day. Or when I wear a skirt and pull my tights up…when they snap back on my leg, a cloud of dry skin billows into the air. To help settle the dust, I sometimes put on lotion in the morning, but I have never really made it a priority. I just budget for the spike in my dry cleaning bills, and deal with the tight, dry feeling. I also figured that no one will even notice my skin, as I am usually all bundled up to protect from the cold.
Well, that is what I thought until one morning when I was getting ready to go to the gym and I snagged my dry-fit tank top on my rough dry hand and actually put a run in it. If that weren’t enough, as I was searching for a new shirt, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror when I was not as “covered up.” The contrast between my black capri pants and my pale ashy legs was so severe that it looked like I was wearing white knee-highs. My legs were so bright that there was no way that no one would not notice. Instead of looking like I was going to fight the battle of the bulge, I looked like a patriot heading to fight in the revolutionary war…I was just missing my 3-corner hat and buckles on my sneakers.
To get out the door and not miss my class, I quickly changed into a new tank top and a pair of longer workout pants, but I knew that I had reached the point where I couldn’t just “get by” anymore. I needed to do some research to figure out how to really combat my dry skin… here’s what I found on WebMD (my primary care physician).
Stop Taking Long Hot Showers Intense heat of a hot shower or bath can strip your skin of its protective oils, which leads to a loss of moisture and looking scaly like an alligator. I certainly have the alligator part down; I am just not sure I can give up my long hot shower. The thought alone is what gets me out of bed and into the shower in the first place, especially when it’s cold outside. When I have the time, I stay in the shower until I run out of hot water, just slowly spinning like a rotisserie chicken, trying to keep all of my sides evenly warm. But now knowing that my shower habits are probably one of the main causes of my issue, I needed to figure something out. Solution: Nivea In-Shower Body Lotion. Where have you been all my life??? Not only does it smooth my scales, it also gives me a reason to stay in the shower just a little longer.
Moisturize More Find a lotion that is oil-based, rather than water-based, as the oil will create a protective layer on your skin that will lock in more moisture than a cream or lotion. On those days when I shave my legs, the In-Shower Lotion just isn’t enough. I have tried using more lotion when I get out of the shower, in addition to my extra moisturizing shaving cream and a 5-blade razor (with a moisturizing strip!) to no avail. I guess if I want an effective lotion then I’ll have to stop shopping in my tween-aged daughter’s room, where she keeps her dozens of unopened bottles of eau de whore lotion that she insists on buying every time she passes a Bath & Body Works. Solution: evanhealy Sweet Blossom Hydrating Body Oil Unlike other body oils that I have tried that just sit on top of my skin, leaving it slick and shiny as if I was heading to Sea World to impress my favorite mammal, this one (found at Whole Foods) just vanishes into my skin, sealing in the moisture, even leaving a bit of a healthy glow.
Peel Your Oranges, Not Your Face If your facial skin is uncomfortably dry, avoid using harsh peels, masks, and alcohol-based toners or astringents. I always associate winter with navel oranges – the kind with the really thick skin and a bellybutton on top. Not only are they deliciously juicy and sweet, but they are the only kind of orange that I have been able to successfully peel the skin off in one piece. A small victory for sure, but a fun challenge when you’re making lunches for your kids at 6 o’clock in the morning. Almost as satisfying as the orange is when I do a face peel and am able to get the entire mask off in one piece. As I hold the expressionless mask up to the light to see all the gunk that was just stuffed in my pores like a pimento in an olive, apparently I am also looking at all the vital oil that my skin needs to keep from drying out. Solution: Dermaclear Micro Milk Peel On a recent trip to Sephora I was turned onto this new product, as I was describing my skin issues to the heavily made-up salesman that greeted me at the door. He promised me that it would gently exfoliate my skin as it swept away the dry patches, leaving my face soft and radiant. While I wouldn’t necessarily buy eye makeup from him, I was willing to take a risk on his skin care recommendation, as I could not find one pore on his face. So glad I did – this stuff is amazing!
Cut Back on Hand Sanitizers Calling all germaphobes and tweens alike…those palm sized anti-bacterial PocketBac sanitizers are wreaking havoc on your hands! The skin on our hands is thinner than most parts of our bodies and has fewer oil glands. Apparently using products with a high concentration of alcohol, such as these cute little bottles of sanitizer with catchy names like Beautiful Day and A Thousand Wishes, actually strips what little oil we have in our hands, leaving them itchy and cracked. While I appreciate that my daughter likes to collect these PocketBacs the same way I used to collected stickers when I was her age, I can assure you that there is nothing beautiful, nor would I ever wish (even if I had a thousand wishes) for dry, cracked, bleeding knuckles…even if they were germ-free and smell like a spring garden. Solution: While I am not a big hand sanitizer person, Clean Anti-Bacterial Moisturizing Hand Cream was recommended to me by a good friend as I was researching this post. She said it feels more like a hand lotion, but it’s fast absorbing, so no greasy, sticky feeling. Looking up the product online I found that instead of using alcohol to kill off the germs, they developed their own SafetyDerm technology that “veils your hands like invisible germ-killing gloves.”
Get a Humidifier I have a baseboard heater right next to my side of the bed, so I often wake up feeling like I fell asleep with my head out the window of a moving vehicle. You know the feeling – barely able to close your mouth when you wake up in the morning because your lips are so chapped, throat is bone dry and your tongue feels like sandpaper as you lick the roof of your mouth trying to get your glands to secrete saliva. Humidifiers pour moisture in the air, which helps prevent your skin (and mouth) from drying out.
Hopefully now that you have read this, your fireplace will be the only place where you will find ashes this winter season.