Our Favorite Products and Habits to Keep Your Skin Healthy in the Winter

When it comes to keeping your skin healthy and moisturized in the winter, the task is never easy. Especially for those in the midwest – the harsh winter winds and temperatures can easily damage our hands, feet, lips, and more. It seems we’re always looking for the next best thing to ease the pain of cracked skin on fingers and heels. We know it can be a daunting task to try new products to test what works best continuously, so we’ve come up with a simple guide to the best products and habits to keep your skin healthy and moisturized all winter long. 

Face and Lips 

For some, keeping that summer glow is the most important thing to bring into winter. It’s easy to feel over-moisturized and soft as a baby all summer long as you lather on sunscreen and face location. But when it comes to the winter month, we are not as lucky. For many people, their faces are their main concern in the winter, with dry skin and lips. Chapstick sales are through the roof in winter for this exact reason. We recommend some products and tips to keep your face baby soft, and your lips are not chapped all winter. 

• Moisturize immediately after washing: According to healthline.com, “Any time you wash your face, hands, or body, you strip your skin of its natural oils. Since these oils help to lock in moisture, it’s vital to replace them. That’s why it’s important to use a moisturizer any time you wash your skin, especially in winter.”
• Use overnight treatments: when your skin can’t seem to catch back up to its usual moisture level, using overnight therapies can help restore moisture and lock it in. “By applying an emollient to your skin overnight, your skin will have the time it needs to absorb the treatment and for the emollient to replenish your skin with the moisture and oils it needs”. 
• Apply chapstick as needed, make sure it is providing moisture and not taking it away.
• Use a humidifier: “Humidifiers help to add moisture back into the air, which can be especially helpful when indoor heating is cranking up in the winter months. Having more moisture in the air can help act as a natural moisturizing agent which, in turn, may prevent and relieve skin dryness.” 

Moisturizers we recommend for winter

• Cetaphil – one of the most trusted and recommended brands by dermatologists. Cetaphil is explicitly formulated for dry and irritated skin, making it the perfect winter moisturizer. 
• CaraVe Night Cream – Another well-known and revered brand, CeraVe has a night cream that works wonders for your face, and according to arizonaderm.com, it “uses hyaluronic acid and ceramides to refresh the look of dry, dull, and tired skin.”
• Burts Bees – you know it, you love it. The highest-rated chapstick around, don’t leave your house without it. 

Hands and Feet

Just as important as your face and lips, keeping your hands and feet moisturized all winter is not easy. For those whose knuckles and heels crack, it’s not only annoying but can be painful as well. Tons of brands claim to be the answer to your prayers for aiding your winter dryness, but here are a few products and tips we know to be useful and true. 

Medicalnewstoday.com gives these tips as the best ways to prevent cracked hands and feet in the winter – 

• using warm rather than hot water
• closing the door of the bathroom to lock in moisture
• limiting time in the shower to a maximum of 10 minutes
• washing with a small quantity of a gentle fragrance-free cleanser
• drying the skin by blotting, not rubbing
• applying moisturizer immediately after blotting

Pair these practices with some good products below to get a head start on locking in moisture all winter long. 

• Aveeno Hand cream – Made it on Forbes list of best hand creams, Aveeno is a “dermatologist-recommended formula from […] designed to soothe and soften hands for a full 24-hours — even through all of the hand-washing and cold air dryness — utilizing the natural healing of oatmeal to help restore skin’s normal pH, and protection of the skin’s moisture barrier.
• L’Occitane Shea Butter Foot Cream – the perks of this cream are many, “Not only does the concentrated formula mean a hefty dose of hydration for your skin, but it also means a little goes a long way. Take a dime-sized amount (really!) and warm it up between your hands before smoothing it on from your ankles to your toes. While many rich formulas can send you sliding across the floor, this one sinks right in.” 
• O’Keefe’s Hand and Foot Cream – for extremely dry and cracked hands and feet, O’keefe’s is a lifesaver. A thick balm, this can be used daily to restore moisture. They also have creams for ‘working hands’ and are a well-known and reputable brand for bringing moisture to their customers in need. 

Hair Moisturizing

You may not think you need to moisturize your hair during the winter, but surprisingly, it can get more dried out than your hands and feet combined- you just can’t see it! Harsh winter winds dry your hair out immensely, and to keep your hair’s integrity and health, using moisturizing shampoos and conditioners is a must. Here are the product lines we carry that are essential for making it through a cold winter. 

1. Aveda Damage Remedy Restructuring Conditioner with Damage Remedy Restructuring Shampoo: the name says all you need to know: prevent damage and revitalize hair with this incredible remedy of hair products. 

Moroccan oil: getting a Moroccan oil treatment or using some of the incredible products from their line not only leaves hair naturally smooth and shiny but also improves its actual condition to make it stronger with each use. Check out our page of curated hair products here.