As Winter comes in, it brings with it an array of skin stressors and woes. The colder months bring new concerns for our skin, and thus we must adjust to maintain our healthy, glowing complexion. 

In the colder, drier months, our skin's natural moisture barrier dries out, making it more susceptible to damage. Maintaining skin hydration ensures our complexions are better protected against the cold, dry air, as well as indoor dry heat that come in the winter. 

To keep you glowing in the colder months, here are our tips to staying radiant: 

Try Skin Cocktailing 

Skin Cocktailing is taking the idea that different parts of your skin have different skin types. This would be that your complexion needs different products for different areas- if you have  incredibly dry areas around your eyes or mouth but also oilier areas, apply a hydrating mask or extra hydrating serums, oils and balms in just those areas that need it for added moisture.

Keep Cracked Lips Hydrated and Repaired

Not all lip balms are created equally, so look for lip balm formulas that contain ingredients like ceramides, hemp seed oil, castor seed oil, and shea butter. A great trick is to take a little oil over your lip balm for an extra seal. if you have chapped or cracked lips, avoid ingredients like camphor, eucalyptus, mint/citrus flavors, lanolin, salicylic acid, phenol/phenyl and octinoxate. 

Wear SPF 

Despite perhaps not feeling the heat from the sun, its UV damage is still present, and so using sunscreen is a vital step to protect your skin from becoming sensitized to cold or wind damage. Look for broad spectrum SPF sunscreen, as these types protect against both UVA and UVB rays. Consider a lip balm that also is formulated with sunscreen, or press on a little of your sunscreen after applying lipbalm. 

In the summer you may opt for a lighter gel-based sunscreen, and for the winter, try a more luxurious, richer cream-like formula.

Use Serums and Products with Hyaluronic Acid, Vitamin C, Niacinamide & Vitamin E

These ingredients all increase hydration, skin repair and moisture retention. Our Active Rejuvenation Oasis Serum contains all of these ingredients, and is a one-step to add brightness, hydration and tighter skin each day. 

Add In A Rich Moisturizer

In colder months, our skin is prone to loosing moisture more rapidly, weakening the moisture barrier. Reinforcing your skins moisture barrier is vital. We can do this by adding a rich moisturizer with hydrating and softening ingredients. Look for ingredients like hyaluronic acid, shea butter, ceramides, and botanical oils.

Use Facial Oils to Seal In Your Skincare

Facial Oils are a magnificent addition to any skin ritual. They work to allow your skins natural moisture barrier to seal in its earlier steps of your skin ritual and get more out of them. Our Bedouin Elixir Facial Oil is rich in naturally occurring antioxidants and softening botanicals that soothe and enable your complexion to retain its moisture, whilst fighting the oxidative stress of free radicals. Look for ingredients like argan, sea buckthorn, prickly pear seed and moroccan chamomile, aka blue tansy, to soothe and protect dry skin.

Exfoliate Wisely

Exfoliation is an essential part of any skin ritual, as it promotes a brighter complexion, removing dead skin cells, leaving you with a healthy, radiant complexion. During the winter months, it is important to be gentle with your exfoliation routine. Over exfoliation can lead to increased dryness, sensitivity, flaking or even cracked skin (also known as a damaged moisture barrier). Adjust your exfoliation to once or twice a week, and opt for a more gentle exfoliation product. This may mean switching from a physical exfoliant to a chemical exfoliant at a lower percentage. Physical exfoliants are usually grain based, whereby they scrub the dead skin cells away, however chemical exfoliants (like a lactic, AHA, BHA or glycolic acid) break down cells that then you swipe off with a cotton pad or cleanser. With chemical exfoliants you can see the strength, so opt for lower strength value or a formula with hydrating ingredients, and be sure to follow with plenty of skin hydration after!

Use a humidifier and water filter

These are my two top, most vital, most underrated skin game changers. Using unpurified water to cleanse your skin can irritate and dry it out. I've seen endless cases of chicken-skin, impurities that wont budge, dullness, flaky dry skin, dermatitis, you name it, that have magically vanished with both a humidifier and shower/faucet water filter. Using a humidifier is also absolutely imperative in the drier months to give your skin the added moisture that it needs. 

There are an array of filter and humidifier choices out there. As far as a filter for washing your face, the FilterBaby system is by far the most superior.

Their filter is #1 recommended by Dermatologists and designed to get to the root cause of your skin issues. It removes 95% of chlorine, 60% of Turbidity (mud, rust, micro-contaminants), and 95% of micro-plastics, and not only that it corrects the water hardness. 85% of tap water is too hard. Hard water can have hard metals or excess elements that can clog your pores and irritate your skin. The FilterBaby 2.0 system handles that so easily for you. The system was clinically tested and found to improve skin hydration in just two weeks, which of course, I recommend year round.

Use lukewarm water to wash your face

Using hot water to wash our faces will irritate it and dry it out. Opt for washing your face out of the shower and with lukewarm water so as not to sensitize it.

Hydrate from within

Drinking plenty of water is vital year round, and even more in the drier, colder months when our skin is being weathered by the air. Adding electrolytes to your water is also a great way to let your body help make use of the water you drink. 

 

Hope it helps!

With radiance,

Omayma