5-Step Guide To Keeping Your Skin Healthy This Winter

The winter months are typically a tough time for many when it comes to keeping your skin looking and feeling hydrated and healthy. Cold weather, harsh winds, and indoor heating are all various factors that can contribute to severely drying out your skin leaving it feeling sensitive, irritated and tight, and in turn, impact the overall appearance of your complexion.

During winter, dry skin is increasingly evident even if you’re already making the conscious effort to follow a skin care routine. Dermatologists explain that as the air gets cooler, the body tries to hold heat closer to vital organs such as the heart, lungs and brain. This causes the outer layer of skin to become dry and dull, resulting in common problems such as skin flaking, peeling and irritation.

Thankfully, there are many steps you can follow to combat winter dryness and maintain healthy and hydrated skin.

Avoid Taking Long Hot Showers
While winter may seem like the perfect time to indulge in a hot, steamy shower or bath, it can have a negative impact on your skin. Hot showers can dry out and irritate your skin, accentuating fine lines and often making certain skin conditions such as eczema worse by causing you to itch. They can also lead to a dull, lacklustre complexion due to the lack of hydration in your skin. Try having lukewarm showers where possible – and apply moisturiser afterwards.

Update Your Skincare Regime
To combat the negative effects winter can have on your complexion, update your skincare routine to include products that are tailored to protecting your skin and keeping it hydrated and moisturised.

Try swapping your usual face wash for a cream, oil or milk based cleanser alternative, as a gel or foam cleanser can tend to be overly stripping and further dry out your skin. Regular exfoliation 2-3 times a week should also be a top priority to help remove build up of dead skin cells. Consider also changing your normal face moisturiser for something that is richer and contains more hydrating ingredients such as hyaluronic acid, glycerin, coconut oil and cocoa butter.

Hydrate From The Inside Out
Keeping your skin hydrated doesn’t just stop at your moisturiser and drinking plenty of water – what you eat everyday is also incredibly important and will impact the appearance of your skin. Foods that have a higher water content can be just as hydrating for your body (and skin) as drinking H2O! Try adding a variety of water-dense fruits and veggies to your diet such as berries, watermelon, cucumbers, celery and lettuce to reap the hydrating benefits. Eating an abundance of fresh foods that are high in fatty acids and vitamins such as Omega 3s and Vitamin E will also further help your skin to retain moisture and strengthen its protective barrier. Look for fatty fish such as salmon, tuna and trout, almonds, avocado, sweet potato and olive oil to add to your meals everyday.

Get Moving
Regular exercise is one of the most important elements to maintaining healthy skin. By increasing your blood flow, exercise helps to nourish your skin cells with oxygen, hormones and essential nutrients, as well as help to carry away waste products from your skin cells such as free radicals. Further to this, regular sweat sessions will help to flush toxins from your skin and contribute to its overall radiance, hydration and vitality.

Invest In Laser Skin Revitalisation Treatments

Whilst these are just a few simple steps you can follow to ensure you’re taking care of your skin throughout winter, you can achieve optimal skin health and a radiant complexion by incorporating regular PicoSure treatments to your routine. Laser treatments like PicoSure are a fantastic way to boost the skin’s natural healing processes and cell turnover, which contributes to your skin’s density, radiance, and ability to retain moisture. As the world’s first, fast and effective picosecond technology, PicoSure utilises targeted powerful energy to deeply penetrate the skin and stimulate the production of new elastin and collagen.

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