As winter comes rolling in, you may notice your HG packed skin care routine just isn't cutting it.  What if I told you that you could winterize your skin care regimen with a few small tweaks to your current routine?  It's easy!

Skin Care for Cold Weather

What is the best way to take care of that dry winter skin?

1.  Cut Down on Morning Cleansing

Say No to Foam.

You wake up in each morning with your face feeling soft from your evening routine the night before.  Don't strip that all away by over washing.  Embrace it!  It is winter after all.  Dry skin folks often recommend to simply rinse your face with warm water instead.  However, since I have combination / oily skin, I use a small drop of foaming cleanser and massage it onto my sufficiently wet face (I splash my face at least 20 times beforehand).  It is just enough to "slosh off" the occlusive, sweat, and oils from the night before.  Instead of the cleanser looking foamy on your face, should leave a milky residue instead.  Rinse that milky stuff off with warm water.  You will notice that your skin still feels nourished, but also clean and ready for the next step in your skincare routine.

2.  Start with Damp Skin

One of the biggest things that has helped the dry areas around my mouth is starting my routine while my skin is still damp - right after cleansing.  You want to lock that moisture in and not dry it away.  It really makes a big difference and will also help with the next step!

3.  Take Your Time

You should really be doing this regardless of the season, but in order to get the most out of your skin care products you need to really massage them in for maximum effectiveness.  Think of it as restoring an old dry leather boot :).  When it's cold out, take more time massaging your serums, essences, toners, and creams into your skin (pretty much all of your hydrating products).  You might want to consider using a little more as well.

I remember chatting with a friend while she started her evening skin care routine.  Imagine the horror I felt when I saw her pour an essence into the palm of her hand, dip her finger into it and then dab it all over her face.  I had to say something.  I shrieked like a banshee "WHAT. ARE. YOU. DOING?!" This isn't finger painting, son.  After explaining that the products should be massaged in to get the most out of them, I went home.   A few days later she came to me and said her skin never felt better!  So the moral of the story is:  Don't just use your finger tips, but your entire hand!  Don't scrub, vigorously rub, or pull your skin.  Be gentle, but make sure it gets all up in there.  Not only will it feel great, but will also help protect your skin from the cold.

4.  Wear an Occlusive During the Day

Using an Occlusive can be a game changer.  I use Petroleum Jelly (Vaseline is the name brand).

Yes this even applies to oily skinned ones!  You can get a straight up occlusive like Vaseline (petroleum jelly), or use a moisturizer with occlusive properties.  According to this reddit thread, here are a few recommended products to achieve this:

• Aquaphor
• Benton Snail Bee Steam Cream
• Dr. Jart+ Ceramidin Cream
• Etude House Honey Cera Cream
• Vaseline

The application amount may vary depending on your skin type.  For my combination / oily skin, I apply a very thin layer of Vaseline as the second to last step of my winter skin care routine (the last step being sunblock).  This creates a barrier to lock in the hydrating skin care products I applied in the previous routine steps, as well as shield my skin from the elements.  Vaseline doesn't make my skin more oily, but can be sticky if you apply too much.  You may have to experiment with the amount in order to get a result that you are comfortable with.  My skin feels noticeably softer since I started doing this.

5.  Switch to a Heavy Duty Evening Moisturizer

Pamper your skin in the evening with a moisturizer that has a bit more gusto!  CeraVe in the tub comes to mind with it's sweet sweet ceramides.  Massage it in really well and then follow with an occlusive.  Make sure your moisturizer is water based for maximum hydration.  You can also choose to beef up your current moisturizer by adding a few drops of squalane to help prevent moisture loss.  The Ordinary has a 100% Plant-Derived Squalane for less than $10.

Note:  Never combine ingredients within the packaging.  Always do it in your hand for each use.  For example, don't dump squalane into your moisturizer tub.  Place the amount of moisturizer you are going to use in your hand and then add the squalane before applying.  Skin care products are carefully formulated to balance the appropriate amount of preservatives to the other ingredients within.  Don't offset that balance with your Frankenstein mixture, or you'll end up with your very own mold farm!

6.  Lip Care

Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask is a good way to treat dry winter lips.

One of the worst things about the cold is dry, cracked lips.  It's painful!  One product that I often see highly recommended on the kbeauty forums is Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask.  This mask seems to bring those sore lips back from the brink.  It's simple - apply a generous amount before bed and wipe it away in the morning.  Maybe try a small amount for daytime use as well if it is that cold.

7.  Don't Forget Your Neck and Hands!

Winter weather is harsh on your face, but you shouldn't ignore your neck and hands!  Try to extend your skin care routine down to your neck, rubbing the excess onto your hands.  Sometimes when I use an eye mask, I'll pour the remaining product from the pouch onto my arms, neck, and hands and massage it in.  Why waste it?  You don't want a soft supple grape face on an old raisin body, do you?

8.  Other Thoughts

If you live in a place that experiences extreme cold weather, please keep in mind that everything that touches your face should always be clean.  This should go without saying, but if you wrap a scarf around your face - make sure you wash it regularly.  That tuque of yours?  It touches your forehead.  Keep that clean too.  Maybe buy a few more so you always have clean scarves and hats on hand.  Just be mindful of what touches your face so you can have happy, healthy skin!