When it gets cold, humidity levels drop. The wind can chap your skin when you’re outdoors. When you’re inside, the dry heat from central heating can leave normally healthy skin feeling dehydrated. Plus, the sebaceous glands get sluggish in colder weather, exacerbating it further. We curated a list of winter skincare essentials to help you keep your skin healthy and glowing throughout the year!

Winter skincare routine for dry skin

It’ll likely feel drier, flakier and tight as the temps dip. You might notice your skin feeling less elastic than before, with flaky patches that won’t get moisturized or smoothed down. Your skin might feel more sensitive too, because your skin barrier may get compromised. It then lacks the ability to hold onto oil and water, which makes it itchy. All that scratching can cause rashes, inflammation and irritation-induced hyperpigmentation. Here’s what you can change in your routine to ensure you’re staying glossy, glowing, and dewy even when it’s winter.

1) Cleanse carefully

You’ll want to ensure you use a non-stripping cleanser that removes makeup, sunscreen, and dirt while maintaining the acid mantle. If you’re double cleansing, make sure to use an oil cleanser first. Then use a creamy or gel-like face wash to gently but thoroughly clean. You can also use a hydrating face wash to cleanse your face .

 2) Use a mild exfoliator

 You’ll want to exfoliate too. It’s key to use a mild exfoliator to remove dead and dry cells from the skin’s surface. This will improve cell turnover and enable serums and oils to actually penetrate and absorb into the skin. This is the best tool to combat dryness induced-dullness.

3) Make use of oils! 

A winter skincare essential for dry skin is facial oil. While this can be derived from other products too, a non-comedogenic facial oil, when added to your night routine may help keep your face hydrated through the day and restore its glow. Not only do they hydrate and nourish, but facial oils such as squalane and marula oil also have great anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits.

4) Layer well

Start with a damp face, and use a humectant like glycerin or hyaluronic acid to absorb the moisture and lock it into the skin. Then, use a lightweight cream or a ceramide moisturizer that’ll act like an emollient that’ll smooth down dry skin cells and create a supple canvas. You’ll have to include ingredients like ceramides and fatty acids to settle into the cracks and build up the mortar that’ll let you store water and oil in the skin. 

Winter skincare routine for oily skin

If your skin is oily, you may find that it is more oily than usual in the winter. The dry air will strip your skin of its natural oil. To counteract, the sebaceous glands will kick into high gear, overproducing sebum in an attempt to keep the skin soft and supple. It might be dehydrated at the same time though, which will mean that your skin is oily but overly shiny, with visible pores and regular zit outbreaks. Here’s how you can balance the oil and water in your skin to find a happy balanced medium.

1) Use a gentle cleanser

The knee-jerk reaction would be to use mattifying products that’ll get rid of the oil immediately, but that may cause more oiliness due to compensation. It is better to use a hydrating cleanser that’ll balance and soothe rather than dry it out. Look at face washes with hydrating ingredients such as sodium hyaluronate. 

2) Exfoliating is important too

AHA’s are water-soluble chemicals that slough off dead skin cells on the surface of the skin, making them a choice for rebalancing oil production.

3) Choose a water-based moisturizer

Instead of using thick, heavy moisturizers, it is better to use a light, water-based serum first. Look to ingredients like snail mucin, glycerin, and squalane, which will lock in moisture and improve the plumpness of your skin. The Foxtale ceramide moisturizer is a water-based moisturizer that is easy to use for oily skin.

4) Apply oils

Because some lightweight ones like açaí and jojoba oil actually have the same composition to the ceramides that protect our skin. These balance, hydrate and protect the skin with clogging pores. You can also apply them to parts of your face that tend to get more dry and flaky than those that get greasy.

Winter skincare routine for acne-prone skin 

When you add in the use of drying anti-acne products and prescription medications into the mix, already dried-out skin can feel even drier, itchier and red during the wintertime. If you’re looking to keep your skin hydrated and balanced while keeping your acne routine as it is, here’s what to try now.

1) Switch products accordingly 

Keep the active ingredients to spot treatments or specific serums that you really need. For example, if you’re using a salicylic acid toner, keep that going. But switch your foaming cleanser for a soothing gel or cream texture that’ll hydrate before you strip it.

2) Include moisturizer

Apply your toner, spot treatment or lotion onto your skin. Then wait a couple of minutes before you moisturize your skin. Don’t think you can skip it now. Try a non-comedogenic and lightweight moisturizer that’ll improve your skin barrier without getting in the way of your anti-acne regimen.

3) Maintain hydration

Spot treat areas with acne, but be gentler with the rest of your skin and maintain hydration!

4) Exfoliate your skin 

If dry, peeling flakes remain on the skin’s surface, they can actually clog pores and worsen acne. Try to use a chemical exfoliator that’ll dissolve these pieces and give you a clear canvas to work with. 

FAQs

1) What helps glowing skin in winter? 

One approach to achieving glowing skin is by moisturizing and hydrating the skin as well as using a humidifier. 

2) What is the best for the face in winter?

In the winter, using a quality moisturizer or cream is crucial. To keep the skin moisturized, conditioned, soft, healed, and healthy, you must apply an ultra-hydrating moisturizer on your face. 

3) Is Vitamin C good for dry skin in winter?

Vitamin C serums offer dry, dull skin a variety of advantages. A high-quality serum also builds a barrier that helps stop the symptoms of dry skin from reappearing, in addition to hydrating the skin to lessen symptoms like redness and itching.

4) Which serum is good for winter?

Serum helps in hydrating the skin and allows it to breathe more, making it the ideal choice for winter. Use Foxtale’s brightening Vitamin C serum and hydrating Hyaluronic acid serum that is the perfect way to give the best moisturizing and anti-aging benefits to protect against dry winter air! 

There’s nothing more annoying than an ill-timed zit, especially before a big first date or important meeting. And when it pops up, you’ll do anything to make it gone. 

What is a breakout?

A breakout refers to non-inflammatory spots like blackheads and whiteheads (open and closed comedones) and inflammatory ones, like papules, pustules and deeper cysts. They have a similar life cycle, but might stop at different stages or stay in phases for longer or shorter periods. It really starts a few days before it actually shows up on the skin. Usually, a blackhead or whitehead gets infected due to hardened sebum, dead skin cells and bacteria that all percolate into the pore. 

When your skin feels red or you feel a slight bump under the skin…

This is the first step. The sebaceous glands have ramped up oil production, and they’re clumping up and mixing with dead skin cells and bacteria. If you want to try to stop it from coming to the surface at all (which is what we all want to do!) wash your face with a salicylic acid spiked cleanser to ensure that any external bacteria or makeup doesn’t make it worse. Then, reach for a cube of ice or an ice roller and apply it to the area for 5-10 minutes as often as you can throughout the day. Cold temps reduce inflammation, by constricting the blood vessels and soothing down any swelling. Then, target bacteria by applying a benzoyl peroxide spot treatment—it degrades and releases oxygen, which kills p.acnes in the area.

When it gets to a bump on the surface of the skin with a white tip…

If the inflammation is too much, you may not have been able to stop it in its tracks. White blood cells rush to the area to break down the bacteria, which transforms the papule into the pustule, which is filled with pus. It might feel red and hot, and may hurt too. This kind of breakout is difficult to cover with makeup too, so you’ll want to get rid of it ASAP, but don’t pop! Popping makes it worse, pushing bacteria deep into the pores and making acne worse in the long run. Instead, use a spot treatment and layer all the acne-fighting heavyweights for the best results.

Apply a salicylic acid based serum or cream, which is able to remove excess oil from the skin surface and improve dead cell breakdown. Then, apply a thin layer of benzoyl peroxide to nix bacteria, and smooth hydrocortisone to the area to reduce redness and inflammation. 

When it’s painful, hard and under the surface…

A blind pimple can be really painful, and in this case, a warm compress is a good pick. The heat can open up pores, which draws the pimple closer to the skin’s surface and creates a head. The formation of this head enables the sebum, dead skin cells and bacteria to exit. A hydrocolloid patch will also help protect it at this step—it’ll soak up all the excess pus on the surface while creating a moist, clean environment for healing. Plus, it’ll stop you from popping too.

When it scabs up…

As the infection heals, the inflammation may start to go down. The area may feel itchy and uncomfortable, but this is good. It means that the red, pustular skin is being replaced by new, healthy skin, and exfoliation is in process. At this point, it is best to moisturize and protect the skin—ingredients like ceramides, hyaluronic acid, fatty acids and niacinamide are a good idea. 

Coco Chanel once said, “Nature gives you the face you have at twenty. Life shapes the face you have at thirty. But at fifty you get the face you deserve.” In your 20s, there’s a lot you can do to safeguard the skin you have, and ensure that it’s healthy, balanced and primed for when you get older. By the time you’re 25, collagen (which keeps the skin resilient and lifted) and elastin (which gives skin flexibility) decrease. Sounds scary? Here’s what you can do to fight acne, preventatively anti-age and protect your skin when you’re in your 20s.

1. Double cleanse, always

You’re likely wearing a lot of makeup, going out all the time and working long hours in your 20s, so cleansing your face well and keeping that habit on lock as you get older is important. Things such as sleeping with makeup products on or not cleansing after a long day outdoors cause dirt and grime to seep so far in that it can really harm your skin. Dirt that is not cleared thoroughly is dirt that is accumulated! Cleanse first using a double cleanse friendly cleanser or makeup remover, and then rinse again using a cream, gel or foam-based cleanser.

2. Ensure that you’re exfoliating

Old skin cells accumulate on the surface and don’t reflect light as well as new ones, causing the skin to look dry, dull and patchy. This pile-up, when mixed with sweat, oil and makeup, can clog the pores and lead to breakouts. Regular exfoliation 2-3 times a week, with scrubs or acid-based products can help get rid of them, improving turnover and making the skin look fresher and younger.

3. Wear Sunscreen – Daily!

Studies show that sun damage seems to be responsible for 80-90% of noticeable symptoms of aging in the skin on the face. A lack of sun protection in your 20s will show up as wrinkles, fine lines and dark spots in your 30s. You may be applying sunscreen when you go to the beach or play a sport, but you actually need to slather it on every single day. Even if you’re just working from your bed. It is best to spend your early 20s shopping around to find the perfect sunscreen. It has to be one that you can wear under makeup, reapply and comfortably wear everyday. Then, you can build up that habit until it is second nature.

4. Start using an eye cream

Yes, really. The most common concerns for the skin around your eyes in your 20s, are dark circles. These can be thanks to a lack of sleep, a busy lifestyle, odd work hours and even genetics, for some. Plus, the eye area ages 10 years faster than the rest of the face. You can thank the collagen and elastin in the area constantly being broken down every time you squint, blink or smile. Wearing eye make up like mascara and liner and scrubbing it off can also tug at the delicate area. It is best to smooth on a moisturizing peptide-rich eye cream. Look for ingredients like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin K, Vitamin C, caffeine, peptides and glycerin.

5. Try retinoids to boost collagen levels

You might not see the effects of collagen breakdown now, but you’ll want to salvage everything you’ve got. Loss of structural proteins lead to thinned skin, fine lines and poor wound healing, so it is important to stop its loss. To do so, use a topical retinoid, which has been proven to stimulate collagen production in the deep layers of the skin. This ingredient also helps facilitate cell turnover and improves skin tone and texture, making it a must-have to fight all possible signs of future ageing and dullness.

6. Get treatments from a licensed specialist

Since you can still experiment, this is a great time to figure out which in-office treatments work for you from licensed professionals like estheticians or dermatologists. Try chemical peels, resurfacing peels and microneedling, which will all promote collagen formation in the skin. If you have acne, dermatologist intervention is key to prevent further dark marks, scars and irritation.

7. Treat your acne with care

If you’re struggling with bouts of acne, figure out a good way to get it sorted out before it spirals, or leaves dark marks and pigmentation behind. Products with salicylic, glycolic, alpha hydroxy or beta hydroxy acids will help exfoliate dead skin cells, unclogging pores to prevent future breakouts. Since your skin is still balancing itself out, it is best not to over-dry your skin. Use a targeted treatment with benzoyl peroxide or a pimple patch, which will draw out congestion and soothe the skin without overdoing it on the clear areas.

While sooner is better, it’s never too late to find a cosmetics store near you and get started!