Are You Making These Winter Skincare Mistakes?
Combatting seasonal dryness and flakiness is more than upping your moisturizer game. With the environment’s general cooperation out of our hands, it’s up to us to encourage our skin’s hydration! Read on to make sure you’re avoiding these common winter dry-skin mistakes.
Your cleanser is too harsh
Oil based cleansers are your best friend during the winter. Unlike their foamy, soapy counterparts, oil-based cleansers do not strip your skin of its good oils and hydrators. Oil cleansers like the DHC Deep Cleansing Oil are actually attracted to other oils and can cut through any makeup, sunscreen or toxins on your skin, leaving it both clean and moisturized. Try only washing your face at night before bed—and don’t reapply a cleanser in the morning, just rinse with water.
Your water is too hot
Extreme temperatures are a no-no for your skin. Hot, steamy showers, especially in the winter, can strip it of its natural oils, sapping the moisture from your skin and leaving it dry and lackluster. Err on the side of caution and find yourself a temperature somewhere in the middle.
Your moisturizer isn’t powerful enough
Simple lotions likely aren’t doing the trick during the winter. A thicker night or daytime cream is just what the doctor ordered—look for ingredients like ceramides, which are skin-repairing and fill in the cracks between skin cells to help it heal itself. The SkinCeuticals Triple Lipid Restore (available at Majewski Plastic Surgery & Spa) is not only an anti-aging cream, but it also restores essential skin lipids with ceramides, natural cholesterol and fatty acids to potently nourish!
You’re not getting the most out of your moisturizer
When do you apply your skincare? If you’re not applying right when you get out of the shower (or when your skin is still damp!), you’re not making the most of its ability! “You have [approximately] a one-minute window before moisture starts to evaporate. Skin cells are like fish and need water to live,” Renee Rouleau, celebrity aesthetician, told Spotlyte. Use a hyaluronic acid serum, like our favorite, SkinMedica HA5 Rejuvenating Hydrator. When applying, leave a little water on your face before rubbing it in. The water-loving compounds in the serum will moisturize more deeply this way.
You’re dehydrated
Water doesn’t just replenish your body, it fully restores your skin! Set a goal of drinking two full glasses of water when you wake up, before you go to bed and before every meal.
Keeping your skin hydrated during the winter months is critical to its health. Make sure you’re not making any of the above skincare mistakes, and in the meantime, let us help! Schedule an in-spa treatment (like our popular Oxygen Facial!) at Majewski Plastic Surgery & Spa. Scheduling regular, medical grade facials offers plenty of benefits, including erasing discoloration and scarring, reversing signs of aging and aiding in the absorption of skincare products. Especially during the winter, facials can do wonders for a more youthful looking and feeling complexion.