For the past two weeks, I've been thinking and thinking and really thinking about a cute, quirky title for the post I knew I'd be writing soon on how to avoid the Winter dry-out.
After going through iteration after iteration, playing with word couplings, coming up with fun-to-say alliterative combinations and running through the potential plays on words using various forms of cold-weather onomatopoeia, I decided enough was enough and that this post, with or without a quirky title, needed to be published. And by the looks of it, Ms. Flaky von Dryington, my sage advice on this subject couldn't have come at a more critical time.
So, in a very sobering, straightforward fashion, here are 10 tips I strongly recommend you follow to avoid the Winter flakes.
The skin flakes. Get it?
(clearing throat)
Without further ado...
1. Take warm (not hot) showers and baths
2. Use a lotion-infused or gel-based soap like this
3. Reduce body exfoliation to at most once per week
4. Pat yourself dry with a plush towel, don't wipe dry with a rough-textured one
5. As always, moisturize from head-to-toe immediately out of the shower
6. Swap your regular body lotion for a more intense formula like this or this
7. Keep travel-size bottles of this more intense formula in your desk at work and in every handbag you regularly use (NEVER scratch -- just rub some into your skin to relieve the itch)
8. Increase your full-body moisturizing regiment from two to three times a day (I tend to apply before work, when I return home and just before bed)
9. Slip on something made of a natural, soft-to-the-touch material that will act as a barrier between your skin and the nubby wool of your turtleneck or the rough texture of your jeans
10. If your skin is still dry after following tips 1-9, don't be too proud to see a dermatologist for a more medically informed perspective on the situation. We all go at one point or another.
After going through iteration after iteration, playing with word couplings, coming up with fun-to-say alliterative combinations and running through the potential plays on words using various forms of cold-weather onomatopoeia, I decided enough was enough and that this post, with or without a quirky title, needed to be published. And by the looks of it, Ms. Flaky von Dryington, my sage advice on this subject couldn't have come at a more critical time.
So, in a very sobering, straightforward fashion, here are 10 tips I strongly recommend you follow to avoid the Winter flakes.
The skin flakes. Get it?
(clearing throat)
Without further ado...
1. Take warm (not hot) showers and baths
2. Use a lotion-infused or gel-based soap like this
3. Reduce body exfoliation to at most once per week
4. Pat yourself dry with a plush towel, don't wipe dry with a rough-textured one
5. As always, moisturize from head-to-toe immediately out of the shower
6. Swap your regular body lotion for a more intense formula like this or this
7. Keep travel-size bottles of this more intense formula in your desk at work and in every handbag you regularly use (NEVER scratch -- just rub some into your skin to relieve the itch)
8. Increase your full-body moisturizing regiment from two to three times a day (I tend to apply before work, when I return home and just before bed)
9. Slip on something made of a natural, soft-to-the-touch material that will act as a barrier between your skin and the nubby wool of your turtleneck or the rough texture of your jeans
10. If your skin is still dry after following tips 1-9, don't be too proud to see a dermatologist for a more medically informed perspective on the situation. We all go at one point or another.
15 comments:
There are downsides, believe me, to being Mediterranean. But one upside is that my skin is my less prone to dryness that your average white girl. Something to add to my list of things to give thanks for...
I never thought about tips #1/#4 -- good advice!
All great tips! I think I'll start adding another lotion application to the routine today. Nothing like a few days off from work to restart your good grooming habits.
Per No. 9, could you be a lambchop and recommend a basic tissue-T-like mock turtleneck thingy for under itchy wool sweaters with turtlenecks? At a "Since I don't (yet)" price point please. Kthanx.
I use the Aveeno soap you recommended year round and even travel with it, because I can feel the difference if I use a regular bar even once!
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No.1 is such a good idea, but I don't think I could bring myself to do it everyday. My boyfriend keeps the thermostat so low, and the shower is the one place I can go to and be as warm and toasty as I want!
You lotion three times a day??? Wow, I feel like such an underachiever with my one measly application. But then again that's why your skin looks like it does in your profile pic and mine looks dry and pasty.
this is such a ridiculous post. skin gets dry in the Winter. so what? we're still the same person and the people in our lives don't treat us any differently because of it. instead of wasting all that time and money enhancing your lotioning routine, why not do something more meaningful like volunteer/donate at/to your local homeless shelter?
Timely post.
I'm finding my skin is drier than ever this year. Body butters aren't helping either...so maybe I should take your advice and go see a dermatologist. I've been avoiding it as it seems to be such a whiny, self-indulgent complaint...:)
Uh, how much time does it take you to turn down the temp of your shower, and apply some lotion? My winter lotion costs the same as my summer lotion. I don't really think a homeless shelter is going to appreciate the extra 37 seconds and 0 cents.
Also, I care, as dry skin is itchy and painful. Who the heck said anything about judging anyone? Someone is so grasping at straws here.
Happy Thanksgiving, Jo! I chopped off 8 inches of hair a few days ago and am still adjusting but you give me faith I'll come to adore it :)
alexandra-
if insurance covers it, why not? that's always been my view on it. if I ever get more than two pimples in the span of a week, you best believe I'm on the phone making an appointment with my DC dermo.
nothing ruins a woman's confidence like bad skin. I really believe that.
teek-
Thank you. I agree 100%.
Happy Thanksgiving to you, too! I'm so pleased I contributed in some small way to your decision to chop off eight inches of hair! The adjustment period is short -- it'll all be worth it the day you start having to take off your headphones multiple times a day to say "thank you" to all the people on the street who stop you and marvel at it :-)
best,
J
all good advice. i switched my winter moisturizing regime a couple of weeks back, and i'm hoping to avoid all flakes. the anonymous complainer doesn't seem to realize that dry skin isn't just a vanity issue; it's awfully uncomfortable to be itchy all winter.
All really good advice, but I have one thing... As an esthetician I recommend exfoliating 2 times a week in the winter because it takes off the dead dry cells that suck up the lotion and allows the lotion to penetrate the newer cells a lot better. Exfoliating also stimulates natural hydrators in the skin. Just use a gentle scrub with essential oils in it, there is one from SPA752 that is so emollient I don't even use lotion afterwards...not even in the dead of winter.
I really enjoy the hand drawings on the ASJiNE blog!
I've been doing most of these for the past three days, and I already see a HUGE difference in the appearance of my skin. I'm so glad I stumbled across your blog last week - my skin is too!
p.s. love the Aveeno bar!
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