When the cooler weather sets it, often times our skin takes a beating. The cold, dry air, along with harsh wind, as well as indoor heating, can leave skin dry, chapped, and irritated. Your skin is your body's largest organ. It helps protect you against the environment and plays a major role in your appearance. Wintertime is the perfect time to rejuvenate and pamper your skin through proper cleaning, moisturizing and use of sunscreen. Healthy winter skincare can help prevent skin-related problems, such as dry or rough skin, deep wrinkles, liver or brown spots, and skin cancer.
While keeping skin looking it's best during the winter months can be a challenge, the suggestions below will help maintain your goal of healthy, youthful and vibrant skin.
- Use Lukewarm Water. No matter how cold it is in the morning, resist the urge to turn up the heat in your shower. Water itself upsets the balance of the skin and has a drying effect, and using hot water dries skin even more. Limit your time in the shower and apply a moisturizer within 3 minutes of washing to seal in hydration.
- Exfoliate. It is important to exfoliate in order to rid the surface of your skin from dead and dry skin cells, which can cause your skin to have a dull and dry appearance. Gentle salt and sugar scrubs for the body smooth away rough spots. Cream defoliants and non-abrasive scrubs containing natural exfoliating properties are better for more sensitive skin on the face. Be careful not to scrub too hard - this will irritate the skin and may cause inflammation or broken capillaries.
- Moisturize. Moisturizers are essential for proper hydration of the skin. The moisturizer that's best for you and the frequency with which you need to moisturize depends on your skin type, your age and whether you have specific conditions such as acne or wrinkles. During the daytime, use a moisturizer with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 30 to help protect your skin from damaging ultraviolet rays, which can cause wrinkles, dark spots, rough skin and skin cancer. Dry skin during the winter is also due to lower relative humidity, with a combination of cold air outside and dry heat indoors. By humidifying indoor air, especially while you sleep, you can greatly reduce dry skin and open nasal passages, so consider purchasing a humidifier.
- Hydrate. It is important to hydrate your skin from the inside as well as the outside. Although you might not be as thirsty during winter months, it is still important to drink plenty of water to rid your body of toxins and maintain a healthy outer glow.
- Use Sunscreen. Most of us protect our skin from damaging UV rays during the hot summer months, but many people forget to do so in the winter. Even in cloudy, cold weather, it's necessary to use a good SPF daily on exposed skin. Even in winter, skin can become blotchy, leathery and wrinkled from continued sun exposure. Overexposure to the sun also increases the risk of skin cancer. Remember to use sunscreen generously throughout the winter.
To optimize your winter skin care regimen, Naficy Plastic Surgery & Rejuvenation Center is offering Fotofacial treatments during the month of November for only $395 for your first facial treatment (regularly $500). Fotofacials are excellent for jump-starting tired post-summer skin, and eradicating the appearance of facial flushing, rosacea, redness, broken capillaries, age/liver spots, freckles, minor sun damage, fine lines and pores. Call our office at 425-450-0880 to schedule a complimentary consultation to find out what Fotofacial treatments can do to rejuvenate your skin.
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