It’s that time of year again! Although we love the holidays here at Starwest Botanicals, many of us suffer from dry skin during the winter. Here are some tips to help your skin during the dry months.
Steps to Prevent Dry Skin
1. Avoid caffeine, smoking, and alcohol. They act as diuretics and will dry you out.
2. Increase your water intake. Drink at least 8 glasses (8 oz) of pure water a day to keep your body and skin properly hydrated. If you’re an athlete you need to drink even more water!
Adding oils to your bathwater after a brief soak can help prevent dry skin.
3. Add oils to your bath. Add a tablespoon of almond oil, jojoba oil, olive oil or hazelnut oil to your bath water after you’ve soaked for about 5 minutes.
4. Protect your skin from the elments. Wind, sun, heat, cold, and dry airplane and office air can cause or worsen dry skin. Apply a moisturizer before exposing your skin to these conditions.
5. Limit hot water contact. Avoid long, super-hot showers and bath. While a super-hot bath may feel great in these cold winter months, hot water dehydrates the skin. However, short, warm showers and baths are beneficial to dry skin. Also, limit washing your face to once a day, typically right before you go to bed. When you wake up, apply a bit of herbal facial splash, or spritz your face (and body as needed) with an aromatic hydrosol.
6. Increase essential fatty acids (EFAs) in your diet. Eat more cold-water fish, walnuts, flax seeds, and omega-3 eggs to help replace moisture in dry hair and skin. Consider adding evening primrose oil and omega-3 fish oil pills to your diet.
7. Use humidifiers. They work very well in restoring humidity to your dry home or office.
8. Use only gentle cleansers. Avoid cleansers such as deodorant soaps and harsh abrasives. Use a moisturizing soap or a gentle, grain-based cleanser.
How to Treat Dry Skin
1. Try a non-petroleum jelly product
2. Perform these treatments up to 3 times per week:
Exfoliate: This should always bee the first step toward healing dry skin. Dead skin cells can, over time, build up and become unresponsive to treatment. In order for moisturizer to do its job, you must first get rid of dead skin.
Moisturize: After exfoliation, you’re ready to moisturize. Apply your favorite moisturizer to your face and body. A good habit to is to do this before bed and then slip into your favorite pajamas and go to bed. Your skin should be amazingly soft and smooth when you awake.
