Disclaimer: This page contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.
Topics
Photo: Wix
How does cold weather impact the skin?
Cold weather can impact the skin directly and indirectly.
Cold weather itself tends to be drier with lower humidity. This strips away natural oils from your skin. I tell my patients to not think of their skin as smooth like a wall- it’s more like a cobblestone street. Cold weather tends to break apart the mortar that holds the bricks (our skin cells) together. This makes them more susceptible to irritation and sensitivities from the environment.
Indirectly, heating and hot showers can also serve to dry out the skin even more.
As our skin loses its natural oils and hydration in colder months, we need to replace these with hydrating products. During summer months, there is more humidity in the air which makes it less necessary to apply products with this added moisture. In fact, some people may find using these in the summer may make their skin feel greasy or oily.
What about makeup products that have acne treatments in them?
If you think about the cobblestone street analogy- if the mortar between the bricks is dissolving then we need to fill in those areas with the right products!
This is so important because as many people note, using the wrong products could result in clogged pores or acne. Using more anti-acne products will only dry your skin out further. Before you know it, you find yourself in a vicious cycle of treating dry skin with hydration potentially triggering acne then drying out the acne, and then looking for more hydration and repeating again and again!
Are there any words to look for on products for winter skin?
An important word to find on your products is ‘non-comedogenic’. This means non-pore clogging. This word isn’t perfect. To make this claim, testing is performed over 21 days with cyanoacrylate biopsies before and after counting the number of open comedones (blackheads) before and after the use of the product. If there is no increase then it’s labeled noncomedogenic. This testing does not consider closed comedones or whiteheads, pus bumps, or inflammation.
Consider oil-free products to prevent acne flares when looking for added moisture.
Hyaluronate or Hyaluronic Acid is often found in some hydrating makeup products as they draw moisture to the skin.
Squalene is another hydrating ingredient that is a very effective emollient.
What about serums during the winter?
Many people think of serums when they are looking for added hydration. It is really important to understand what serums are and how they work before turning to these products.
Serums are lightweight products that do not have the thickness or greasiness of a cream or lotion. Creams or lotions are heavier because they are designed to adhere to the skin to help maintain hydration.
Serums usually have other active ingredients in them designed to address a particular concern. For example, discoloration and anti-aging are the most common. These active ingredients are more concentrated and will therefore be a bit more potent.
Because these active ingredients are so concentrated they can be a bit more irritating for some skin types depending on the active ingredients.
Most who consider serums will use particular products to address specific concerns. Most often these are used on the face because the products are much costlier and can be cost-inhibitive to use on larger surface areas like the body.
Serums can be used alone for oily skin feel as the lightweight feel of these products may be preferred. However, applying a serum first and a traditional moisturizer on top this can help make the serum more effective and reduce any associated irritation.
What is the most common target for serums?
Many serums are targeting one of the most frustrating cosmetic concerns- tissue paper-like wrinkling of the skin. They often contain peptides and alpha hydroxy acids with claims to firm and tighten the skin. These are ideally used with a moisturizer as most people that complain of these concerns rarely complain about oily skin in these areas- it’s usually excessively dry!
There are also serums that target excessively dry skin without leaving behind a greasy feel. These are the ones I like the most because one of the biggest barriers to using moisturizers in the first place is how greasy they can feel. These body serums have concentrated hydrating ingredients that are not irritating. It’s true that it will make them even more potent to use with a moisturizer in the winter. In these cases, when it comes to makeup- it may be worth using a serum, or moisturizer, and opting for facial powders instead of full-coverage foundations to avoid excessively drying out the skin.
Comments