Your Top 3 Winter Skin Problems, Solved!

Cold weather has been known to take a toll on the skin. Sometimes your skincare rituals need to take an overhaul too to accommodate the sudden drops in temperature. If you find yourself waking up to more skin problems than usual, you’re not alone. Men and women everywhere are more prone to allergies, dry flaky patches and even acne every winter. If these problems sound familiar to you, read on for a run down of the most common winter skin problem, and how to solve them.

1. Dry Flaky Patches

What’s Happening?

Chilly winds and indoor heating have sapped the moisture off your skin leaving it parched. You now have peeling skin in patches, and since skin is thinnest on the face, your T-zone looks dull and flaky as well.

How to solve it:

Since dry patches are caused by a loss in moisture, make sure you moisturize every chance you get. Switch to an extra rich body wash, such as Dove Beauty Wash, and opt for luxurious body butters instead of the usual lotion.

Other culprits of dry skin would also be excess indoor heating, and prolonged hot showers. To combat the drying effect of these, invest in a humidifier for the home and shorten your morning showers. Ease up on over cleansing the face as well, since this would strip it of natural oils.

If your skin contuse to flake and shows signs of swelling and rashes, have your doctor check for eczema, a sever dryness of skin that can only be cured through oral or topical steroids.

2. Red Irritated Skin

What’s happening?

While slight redness that come and go sporadically due to chilly temperatures can be ignored, the more persistent kind is often a symptom of skin inflammation. Winter causes red scaly patches or shiny red skin with pimples that seem to never disappear.

How to solve it:

Your irritated skin might just be caused by allergies, so try switching to unscented hypoallergenic products to see if it helps resolve your issues. If redness and blotchiness remains, it might be time to consult your dermatologist.

Psoriasis and Rosacea are two skin conditions that are aggravated by cold weather. With the former, large red scaly patches often appears on skin, most especially in one’s extremities. Since psoriasis is chronic in nature it’s easier to treat with early detection. Dermatologists usually recommend medical creams. In rare cases phototherapy might be recommended to manage the skin condition for good.

Rosacea on the other hand is a common skin condition that just happens to rear its ugly head once winter rolls around. It’s characterized by extreme redness with occasional pimples and rough skin. While it’s harmless by nature, it’s also very noticeable. A lot of topical drugstore creams can alleviate it’s physical symptoms very well.

3. Acne

What’s Happening?

If you think you’ve said a permanent goodbye to acne problems when you reached your 20’s, you might be wrong. Cold weather is notorious for causing sudden breakouts. Pores become blocked by excess oil and dead skin cells causing pimples to appear. Stress from all night holiday parties, binge drinking and fatty Christmas foods can also contribute to the worsening state of your skin.

How to solve it:

While freezing temperatures may not be to blame for your breakouts, it definitely contributes by fostering an environment where bacteria on skin can thrive. Switch to an oil cleanser such as Shu Uemura’s cleasing oil. It gently removes grime from your face without stripping it of natural moistures.

Don’t be so hasty with those drying gels that worked so well during your teens, adult skin doesn’t react the same way to those harsh chemicals anymore. Opt for topical treatments that contain chemicals less potent than the familiar Benzoyl Peroxide.

While you’re at it, keep your partying in check too. Allow for enough snooze and healthy exercise in between your holiday fetes. After all, maintaining flawless skin is a must if you want to be the belle of the ball in those parties.