5 FAVORITES: WINTER SKINCARE
In winter, skin becomes more prone to dryness and irritation due to cold temperatures and low humidity. Here are some tips to keep skin looking its best when there's a chill in the air... or even major wind chill.
La Mer Revitalizing Hydrating Serum
Cold air is also dry air, and so hydration (meaning adding water to the skin) is key to winter skincare. One of the ways to help hydrating products work best in the winter is to place a humidifier near your bed so that they can bind water to the skin overnight. Similarly, seal off your bathroom door while showering or bathing and apply your skincare in the steamy air to harness the humidity. This serum uses new technology to deliver small beads of hydration into the skin effectively with a light texture that layers well with other products, and soothes dry skin with La Mer's proprietary complex of seawater minerals.
Natura Bissé Diamond Extreme Oil
One of the best ways to transition your skincare into the winter if you don't want to revamp your products entirely with the change of season is to mix oil into your cream or lotion moisturizer to make it more nourishing. Blending in a few drops of this lightweight mix of chia, carrot, calendula, and amaranth oils from Spain will make any moisturizer more winter-appropriate. This can also be applied as a serum layered under your moisturizer, or patted on dry areas midday if skin becomes chapped from the cold.
Caudalie Divine Body Oil
This French blend of grape, sesame, hibiscus, and argan oils with a lovely warm scent can be applied to body, cuticles, and even hair. Clinical studies comparing vegetable-based oils to mineral oil (as is found in baby oil) show that vegetable oils are more effective moisturizers for eczema-prone skin, so if your skin is persistently dry or itchy look for vegetable oils on the ingredient list. Apply body moisturizer while skin is still damp from the shower to trap water next to the skin for best results, and you can use this as a body oil or cocktail it by mixing it into body cream.
La Mer The Body Crème
A good rule when shopping for body treatments for dry winter skin is to pass by any products in a pump, and to go straight for those packaged in a tube or a jar. This is because, in order to pass through a pump, lotions will have a high water content to thin the formula which makes them generally insufficiently rich in oil to soothe really dry skin. The formulation of this pudding-textured cream was inspired by in-spa seaweed wrap treatments that leave skin deeply hydrated and moisturized and has earned a loyal following for calming even super dry skin.
Caudalie Premier Cru The Elixir
Harsh weather isn't incompatible with active skincare ingredients, but skin can be sensitized by overly aggressive products in harsh weather. In particular, avoid serums containing alcohol since these can dehydrate the skin at a time of year when skin is already prone to dryness from the low humidity in the air. Also, serums with heavy silicones (apply them to the back of your hand and see if water beads up) will form a film that prevents optimal absorption of moisturizer that you layer on top. This fast absorbing oil-based serum incorporates antioxidants viniferine, resveratrol, and grapeseed polyphenols which defend against free radical damage from UV exposure and pollution.