Winterize Your Skin!

I don’t know about you guys, but these past few days of being on house arrest due to the blizzard has dried my skin out terribly. The combination of freezing temperatures, snow shoveling, wind, and indoor heat has wreaked havoc on my face, hands, and feet. (Not to mention the inability to go out and get a pedicure) All I know is that I need to winterize my skin! Here are some easy tips for keeping your skin in it's best winter shape -moisturized, supple, and looking younger:

1. Keep anything that can evaporate your skins moisture away from your skin. Hot showers and your car heater are the culprits here. Warm your car before you get in it and avoid those luxurious hot showers (I am double guilty in this category!!) Use a hydrating cleanser; one that adds water - not strips your skin like soap and water. Gel or cream based cleansers work best.

2. A humidifier can keep water in the air which diminishes the water that evaporates from your skin. Be sure to use a humidifier that evaporates into the air and doesn't just mist water into it – and keep it clean! Here are some tips for choosing the right vaporizer or humidifier: humidifier query The bonus? Less stat-icky hair and dry cracked noses : )

3. Invest in a series of glycolic acid peels. These peels are called the “anti-aging” peels as they force the skin to regenerate closer to the 28-32 day cycle it uses to turnover and also forces the skin to regenerate more hyralaunic acid, responsible for your skin holding on to water in your skin. Additionally, by exfoliating off some of the plaque of dead skin, your moisturizer will be able to absorb better into your skin holding water for longer, better performance from the product. Viso Bello offers glycolic acid peels (VB glycolic acid peels) and for weekly maintenance I offer the Glytone mini-peel gel – Allure magazine’s 2011 award winner for best peel. http://www.allure.com/beauty/glytone

4. Invest in dermaplaning or a microdermabrasion facial to break down the topical dead skin plaque on the surface of your skin - so you will get better penetration from anything you put on the skin to increase hydration such as a mask or heavier moisturizer. Remember, that top layer of old dry skin impedes your products' ability to penetrate and do its job. Similar to dermaplaning or microderm, I love the hydrafacial, it’s exfoliating-yet it uses water to rehydrate while doing so. Here’s a link to a recent episode of “The Doctors” in which they demonstrate this fantastic facial: Hydrafacial (hint: these can also be found at VB Day Spa)

5. If you spend a lot of time outdoors, such as skiing, snowboarding, or more recently - shoveling; make sure to coat your skin with a petroleum jelly product that will act as an occlusive layer on the surface of your skin - preventing it from losing more water in the cold harsh air. Cold cream is a wonderful product (thanks Nana for your advice so long ago!) for those afflicted with dry skin. And while I don’t recommend it’s use for those with oily skin, cold cream can certainly serve it’s purpose as a big gun of moisturizers. Eucerin or aquaphor will do the trick also but I personally don't love the smell or how they rub off onto everything.

6. Always, always, always wear at least a 30 SPF everyday to keep your skin protected from UV radiation damage that speeds up the aging process. Don't just put it on if you are going to be skiing or doing winter sports - put it on every day. This should be a staple in your moisturizer or your foundation.  Even in winter you are exposed to the sun; if it is daylight out, no matter, clouds, snow, sleet, etc. you are exposed to UV radiation. Use an SPF that is also hydrating to give you another layer of hydrating protection. And wear sunglasses to protect those eyes-especially in the bright reflective snow! Hint: They will not only protect your eyes but it will stop you from squinting and wrinkling up those crows feet ; )

(This Article was found and partially plagiarized here – follow the link for more tips!)

Hope this helps!

Charis