Winter Skin Saviour

Hey guys, how was your Christmas? Did anyone have a white winter wonderland?

Anyhoos, I don't know about you, but I for one am suffering from that nasty winter complexion, you know the one; flaky, dry skin, especially around the nose, dull complexion (until you go crazy on the blush/bronzer), chapped hands and lips... sexy it isn't!
The harsh wintery environment combined with central heating is a cocktail that's gonna unleash complete mayhem on your skin. So, what to do?

The confusing, crazy shift between bitter cold outdoors (your skin circulation is sluggish) and warm central heated indoors is enough to stress your skin right out, usually it's more a shock which is why the capillaries on your face are likely to widen or break resulting in dry, red skin.

Hot tip - if you have your central heating on, stick a glass/pan of water next to the radiator to humidify the air and turn it down at night as your skin is busy restoring itself whilst you're sleeping.

My beauty regime & products changes consistently according to the season - sounds wacky but it's actually better this way... imagine switching your wardrobe according to the season, and implementing one as you would for your skin. You wouldn't use a heavy moisturizing cream that you normally use in winter in summer would you?

On these cold wintery days & night's it's tempting & rather comforting to use hot water to wash your face or soak your bod, but stop, right now!!! The high temp is going to zap your skins natural protective oils.

I also thought using a body exfoliator regularly was going to get rid of any dry or flaky skin, nuh uh beauty queens... apparently excessive exfoliation damages the skins protective barrier. According to celeb facialist Sarah Chapman, "the trick is to restore and rebalance your skin, exfoliating once or twice a week is enough and always use a nourishing mask afterward to help replenish your skin's moisture levels".

Key things to remember:

• Bump up your beauty regime now and use a more emollient protective face moisturizer.(something that contains Vitamin E or glycerin helps lock in moisture)
  
• If you're going to load up the make-up on a daily basis, make sure you use a good alcohol free cleanser/toner, which isn't going to dry your skin out. I love Clarins 'One step cleanser' (with orange extract) & also Ponds' Cold Cream - très old school, no?
• On those really dry face days, I also use a Vitamin C serum to complement my moisturizer. Oh and let's not forget the odd supplements here. I always go for the Seven Seas 'Cod liver oil with Evening Primrose oil'... but don't forget to tuck into a bit of salmon, mackerel, tuna, nuts, and seeds too!
• At night, I use a much heavier cream, actually I've just bought the L'Oreal Youth Code Night Cream and it makes my skin feel ultra silky after I've put it on and in the morning my skin feels soft, perfect.
  
• The bod: I love Soap & Glory's 'Flake Away' scrub (also available at Target USA) - smells incredible, super affordable and has the perfect kind to skin ingredients - peach seed, shea butter and fine sugar granules. Yuuuum!
  
• I always moisturize immediately after a bath/shower to lock in moisture. I use anything from body butters (Palmers) to Vichy's Nutri extra replenishing body cream.
• Sanctuary's Body Moisture spray is my all year round product - it smells amazing, the price, even better and for these wintery days or if you're preserving a tan, this is the one!
  

There's one thing I never stop wearing all year round and that's a moisturizer with an SPF. It's always sunny here, despite the cold, my skin is always protected.
As for my hands... they don't deserve the rough treatment they've had lately, but I try to protect them immediately after washing them and apply Neutrogena's hand cream or Nivea (the one in the round blue tub) and do this all over again & wear gloves to bed... lovely soft hands the next day...

I feel ultra pale now that it's winter and I'm usually not one for wearing founation, but recently I've been reaching out for a little miracle in a bottle, known as Garnier's BB cream. I had no idea BB (Blemish Balm) creams were such a huge deal but they're an all-in-one superstar cream, doing the job of a sunscreen, moisturizer, primer & foundation. I swear my skin looks like it's been getting some photoshop treatment...

What are your fail safe go-to products for the winter? I love hearing about different products & regimes! Are you all prepped for NYE? Dress, shoes, bag, perfect skin?

More hot tips on Winter skin care here.

Images via Fashion Gone Rogue.
1: Bambi Northwood-Blyth by Stephen Ward for Russh
2: Source unknown - via Pinterest
3: Amanda Seyfried by Marcus Ohlsson for Marie Claire US Dec 2011
4. Hannah Holman by Dean Podmore for Remix