How to Protect Your Skin from Harsh Weather
It’s that time of year, Minted Beauties: time for cozy blankets, warm drinks—and lots of wind and cold!
When Jack Frost creeps into your neighborhood, it’s time to shift your skincare routine. Colder temperatures and stronger winds mean we need to be extra careful about moisturizing, being gentle with our skin, and continuing to protect against sun damage.
Moisturizing
We’ve talked about how great hyaluronic acid is for hydration. A ¼ teaspoon of hyaluronic acid can hold 1 ½ gallons of water. When used in a skin cream or serum, it pulls water back into the skin to keep it hydrated and flexible.
Because hyaluronic acid is so successful at both increasing skin hydration and decreasing the visibility of wrinkles, we’ve got plenty of options for incorporating it into your skincare routine. The Mint & Needle HA Hydrator and Youth Serum both contain hyaluronic acid and work perfectly as a pair—plus: they can both be used as primers for the Hydrating UV Defense product. For daytime application and sun protection, check out Hydrating UV Defense. And for maximum hydration combined with anti-aging treatment, try Vitamin CE with Ferulic Acid.
It’s best to apply moisturizers when the skin is still damp, like after a shower. But you should make sure to apply one at least once in the morning before you leave the house and once in the evening before you go to bed.
On cold, blustery days, you may want to bring some with you! Consider keeping a double of your moisturizers in your car or purse, or pumping some into a travel bottle (Pssst! We happen to have a travel-size HA Hydrator and Youth Serum; check them out here.)
Be Gentle
It’s always important to keep our skin clean and clear with cleansers and exfoliators. However, during harsh weather months, it’s also crucial to make sure your cleansers don’t work against all your moisturizing.
Most products for clear skin can be a little drying. Keep an eye out for cleansers that contain no alcohol, like our Gentle Cleanser.
For exfoliating, cut back on the frequency of your routine a bit—daily exfoliation in cold weather can be a recipe for extremely dry skin. Look for exfoliators that include lactic acid, which will moisturize the skin simultaneously. Check out our Mini Peel Pads and our Exfoliating Scrub for some good examples. (Note: This exfoliator does not require daily use.)
To further protect your skin, minimize the use of drying ingredients like glycolic acid, salicylic acid, and retinol. Some amount of these ingredients may be necessary to your skincare routine to keep your skin healthy and clear, but when it’s extra dry and windy out there, you may find it’s helpful to reduce your retinol amount used, or perhaps switch from applying it daily to 3 days on, 1 day off (or try our Retinol Gentle.)
Finally, an easy one: avoid hot water! When showering or washing your face, warm water—just a bit warmer than room temperature—is the way to go for winter.
Sun Protection
During cold months, we may feel like we barely get any sun exposure—but UV rays are sneaky. Even on completely overcast days, the sun’s rays that cause skin damage and premature aging still shine on us.
So, make sure to keep up your sunscreen routine! Apply a sunscreen of at least 35 SPF, like our Oil-Free UV Defense, each morning after you apply your moisturizer. If two steps are too many for some mornings, consider a moisturizing sunscreen like our Hydrating UV Defense, which works perfectly for our Minted Beauties who have sensitive skin during the winter time (and try switching from your Chemical SPF to our Hydrating UV Defense).
Especially at high altitudes, you may need to reapply sunscreen throughout the day. And before things get chapped, you can’t go wrong with an SPF lip balm to protect your lips as well.
Though it can be tempting, try to avoid tanning beds and artificial sun lamps. These cause just as much damage as the sun’s UV rays—sometimes more, since the light is more concentrated!
Instead, to recreate the positive effects of sunshine, consider adding a Vitamin D supplement to your daily routine. Our skin uses Vitamin D to help with cell growth and repair, but our bodies typically produce insufficient Vitamin D during darker months. Our ISDIN Sunsidin Supplement would be a great place to start!
With the right protection, you’ll emerge from cold and windy weather with healthy, hydrated skin. In the meantime, you’ll find us curled up with some hot cocoa and our favorite moisturizers!
