how to tweak your skin care routine for winter

Now that winter is nearly here, we’re going to have a lot more of those below-freezing days. And while it’s fine to resolve NEVER to leave your house for three months, there simply will be moments when you’re outside and your skin is cracking and blistering from the wind and the cold. Here’s how to offer your skin protection for those moments.

1. Moisturize

Cracks in the skin can lead to inflammation and loss of hydration. Time to up your moisturizer game. Go for something heavier-duty to wear on your face after you shower, throughout the day. Also use a facial cleanser and blemish cream that don’t exfoliate or foam, since during the winter skin irritation increases naturally.

2. Protect

A good everyday sunscreen is the way to make sure UVA rays—which penetrate through windows and clouds—cannot reach your skin. These rays make you age, so if you take care during the winter to keep skin healthy and glowing you will thank yourself in ten years when those wrinkles around your eyes aren’t so deep. Oh, and don’t forget the backs of your hands! Nothing is a telltale sign of old age like this oft-forgotten area.

3. Clean

If your skin is prone to acne, winter is a time to lighten those exfoliators and limit intense pimple treatments. To get a cleansing effect while still making sure your skin isn’t taking a beating, use a facial cleanser with salicylic acid and add a gentle skin brush every other day to dust off those old skin cells. And remember that if you’re afraid to moisturize, don’t be—skin hydration is different from sebum production, the oil that leads to acne. Especially during winter it’s important to moisturize, since dried-out oily skin will overcompensate and naturally produce more sebum. Use a gentle lotion, preferably one with hyaluronic acid.