Winter Skincare Guide© Getty Images

Winter Not Treating Your Skin Right? This Guide Will Help

Reisha Shetty
Junior Digital Writer

As the warm summer breeze starts to turn chilly, it’s time to bring out those warm clothes as well as skincare products that can keep your drying skin happy. During the Winter months, your skin tends to be sensitive and irritated due to dryness, which is mainly caused by the lack of moisture in the air. So, to protect your skin from the intense cold, it’s time to make some much-needed changes to your skincare routine with products that will make sure your skin is happy, nourished, and glowing.

Winter Skincare routine©Getty Images

Why Does Our Skin Dry Up During The Winter?

During Winter, the air tends to be a lot drier since the humidity levels are a lot lower in comparison to Summer. The dry indoor heat as well as the harsh chilled breeze can take away all the moisture from your skin, leaving it looking dull and feeling irritated. During this season, it’s essential to make sure that your skin receives a good amount of moisture and hydration to make up for everything that was lost.

How To Avoid Extra Dryness

Moisturise

The first step is to moisturise and repair your skin’s damaged barrier. Unlike other seasons, Winters call for you to make a switch to a slightly heavier moisturiser that will make sure that your skin is moisturised for a longer period of time.

Hydrate

We often tend to forget to meet our daily water intake goals during Winter since we don’t tend to sweat as much. Sadly, this directly affects our skin and makes it drier than usual. To take care of your skin this season, it’s important to drink lots of water and provide your skin with a good amount of hydration.

Invest In A Humidifier

This will be the best time to invest in a humidifier because it helps bring back the moisture in the air while also rehydrating your skin.

The Ultimate Daytime Winter Skincare Routine

Step 1: Hydrating Yet Gentle Cleanser

Start your day with a gentle yet moisturising cleanser that cleans your skin from within also restoring moisture.

Step 2: Hydrating Mist

To add an additional layer of hydration to your skin, spritz a face mist right after using a cleanser.

Step 3: (Option 1) Vitamin C

Only once your skin has dried, apply your go-to Vitamin C serum because it helps in boosting the production of collagen and aids cell turnover in your skin, making it look healthy and radiant.

Step 3: (Option 2) Hyaluronic Acid

If Vitamin C is not the one for you, Hyaluronic Acid is the key to adding some extra hydration to your skin. You can make a moisture sandwich by immediately applying hyaluronic acid after using a hydrating mist and following it up with a moisturiser while your skin is still damp.

Step 4: Moisturiser

It is essential to go for a moisturiser that is not too heavy on the skin but also provides a sufficient amount of moisture since your skin tends to lose all of its moisture through the course of the day. Or, a handy tip would be to keep a moisturiser in your bag and keep reapplying it at regular intervals.

Step 5: Sunscreen

Even during Winter, sun protection is a must! Sun exposure can cause pigmentation, ageing, reduction in collagen and skin cancer, so it’s very important to protect your skin at all times. Sunscreens can also help in healing acne scars and pigmentation.

Sunscreens©Getty Images

The Ultimate Nighttime Winter Skincare Routine

Step 1: Oil Cleanser

Wash off all your day’s worth of dirt from your face with an oil cleanser. An oil-based cleanser helps to not just clean your skin from deep within but it also does that without your stripping your skin off moisture.

Step 2: Water-Based Cleanser

Follow it up with a gentle water-based cleanser to remove any remaining residue from your skin. The double cleansing method is great for anyone who has oily or acne-prone skin.

Step 3: Retinoid (Optional)

It is important to not be afraid of using retinoids during Winter because they speed up the process of skin cell turnover, reverse UV damage and pigmentation due to excess sun exposure. You can use a retinoid every alternate day and follow it up with a rich moisturiser.

Step 4: Moisturiser

For the nighttime, it’s always better to go for a slightly richer and more moisturising cream since our skin tends to lose moisture during the night. Opting for a sleeping face mask or just a really creamy moisturiser will help lock in the moisture for longer.

Step 5: Face Oil

In these cold months, it’s a good idea to add some more moisture and lock it all in. You can do this by patting a few drops of your favourite hydrating face oil on your skin and leaving it on. It’ll create a protective layer over your skin to ensure you don’t lose any moisture while you sleep and wake up with hydrated, healthy skin.

Step 6: Lip Mask

We often tend to forget how brutal our lips get during the Winter season. So, before going to bed, apply a rich lip sleeping masking to provide your lips with some much-needed nourishment and care.

Winter Skincare Tip For Every Skin Type

Dry Skin

Winter is that time of the year your skin dreads the most. So, it’s time to give it all the attention it deserves with some hydration and moisturisation. During the daytime, try opting for sunscreens and moisturisers that are slightly heavier in texture, so that your skin is moisturised for longer. While applying your moisturiser, try applying it on damp skin to bring in more hydration. Finally, don’t forget to hydrate yourself from the inside by having ample water.

Oily Skin

Since your skin already produces excess sebum, it’s important to not add more products that are heavier in texture since they can make your skin more oily. This can cause your pores to clog and lead to breakouts. So, stick to water-based cleansers and moisturises that offer hydration but aren’t heavy on the skin. You may even benefit from adding some Hyaluronic Acid to your routine since it’s moisturising and light on the skin.

Combination Skin

When you have the best of both worlds, it gets a little complicated to keep both sides happy. For Winter, include a gentle scrub once a week so it can help reduce dullness, clean your pores, and help keep acne at bay. Also, make sure you opt for a gentle cleanser that doesn’t completely strip off the sebum from your skin.

Acne-Prone Skin

For everyone who has irritated, acne-prone skin, make sure you follow your cleanser, moisturiser and sunscreen routine every day. If you’re having more breakouts during Winter, use Salicylic Acid instead of Benzoyl Peroxide as it can help decrease inflammation as well as reduce the size of your pores.

Young woman applying facial mask.©Getty Images

Common Mistakes To Avoid This Winter

Having Hot Showers

Even though the weather outside is quite chilly, having a steaming hot shower every day can cause more damage than you think. Hot water tends to strip away your skin’s natural oils, leaving your skin feeling dryer than usual while also causing inflammation. Make sure to have a bath in lukewarm water, with just a few seconds of warm water to beat the cold.

Not Wearing Sunscreen

We often tend to skip out on applying sunscreen whenever the sky is not sunny, but this is probably the worst thing you can do to your skin. Even during Winter, the sun tends to cause sun damage to exposed skin.

Not Using Hydrating Moisturisers

Winter brings in a lot of dryness that makes your skin feel irritated. So, it is important to make a switch from your lightweight moisturiser to a much heavier and hydrating moisturiser when the weather starts getting colder.

Not Using A Lip Balm

The second the wind starts to get cooler, you need to keep a hydrating chapstick or a lip balm with you at all times since it’ll make sure that your lips don’t get dry, which can often cause pain and discomfort.

Applying lip balm in the snow©Getty Images

Winter Skincare Products You Must Stock Up On

Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask

Laneige Cica Sleeping Mask

Laneige Cream Skin Refiner

Biore UV Aqua Rich Sunscreen

Glossier Balm Dotcom

The Body Shop Avocado Body Butter

The Body Shop Avocado Body Butter©The Body Shop

St.Botanica Moroccan Argan Oil Day Cream with SPF 30

Moroccan Argan Oil Day Cream©St.Botanica

Moroccanoil Hand Cream

D’you Eyes & Shine Reusable Eye Patches

F.A.Q

Q1. How often can we exfoliate our skin during the winter?

A: As our skin is more on the drier side during the Winter, it is best to use a physical or chemical exfoliant only once or twice a week. Over-exfoliating can make your skin irritated and sensitive and might take longer to heal due to the weather.

Q2. How can we transition from our summer skincare routine to the winter skincare routine?

A: When making the transition from your summer to winter skincare, it is important to start with your moisturiser and cleanser. From using your everyday summer-friendly, gentle and lightweight skincare products switch to slightly more moisturising products that can give your skin enough nourishment as the weather starts to change. Once your skin feels good, start layering your products well and make sure that none of the products have drying qualities in them.