Winter Skin Care: 8 Tips to consider in your skin care routine for winter

Winter is here and with the cold weather, the skin tends to become more tense and dry due to the reduction of skin gland secretion and loss of moisture. The skin in this condition is more prone to wrinkle formation. To prevent this, it is important to take good care of your skin in winter. How do we do it and what are the beauty and skincare tips for the winter?

Tip 1: Gentle cleansing

We all know that cleansing is a very important step in skin care. Especially due to the polluted air outside, the dust, and the makeup that one is wearing every day, the skin is not able to breath properly throughout the day. If cleansing is not done properly, oil and dirt will be accumulated in the pores, making the skin more prone to acne, blackheads and other skin problems. As the skin is prone to dryness and peeling in the winter, when it comes to choosing cleansing products for the winter, a mild cleanser is gentler for the skin, especially for allergic skin and dry skin. It is better to avoid cleansing product that contains high alkaline ingredients as it makes sensitive skin becomes more and more sensitive.

Tip 2: Changing skincare products with the seasons and take care of the season transition

A lot of us use the same set of skincare product for all seasons, overlooking the fact that our skin changes with the seasons. Our skin becomes sensitive and dry in the winter. As such, summer skin care products are far from enough to provide the needed moisture in the winter. Winter is the time to hydrate and moisturize the skin! 

The type of skincare products that we choose should follow the season. From winter to spring, skin care products should be transitioned from the rich moisturizing type to the refreshing moisturizing type. However, when changing skincare products during the season transition, do not change the whole skincare set altogether, but change them gradually starting from one or two products to give your skin a transition period.

Tip 3: Face creams are essential for winter skincare

Lotion-based moisturisers are suitable for spring, summer and autumn, but winter is basically the season for face cream. It's understandable that face cream is easy to get greasy and even smother acne on the skin in the summer. But in winter, face cream is essential especially during the night, when skin repair is at its best, it helps to restore the loss moisture. After the skin toning step, face cream will give you a layer of complete nourishment and protection to keep your skin boosted with hydration. When choosing a face cream, choose one that is light and easy to absorb and avoid the heavy type.

Tip 4: Anti-ageing eye care

In winter, the skin around the eyes becomes dry and wrinkle-prone, but a lot of us ignore the maintenance of the skin around the eyes in winter. In fact, the skin around the eyes is only 1/3 to 1/5 the thickness of the facial skin, and the lack of support from fat, elastic fibres and collagen structure on the skin, making the possibility of fine lines greater. This coupled with eye movement, expression, external dryness, sun exposure factors, reducing the collagen synthesis rate, weakening the elastic cell activity, thinning or breaking elastic fibres. This leads to a reduction in skin elasticity and dermal ageing, ultimately resulting in wrinkles under the eyes and around the eyes. Therefore, eye skin care is even more important in winter!

An easy way to provide extra care to the skin around the eyes is by applying eye cream. In the winter, it is recommended to choose a hydration-based eye cream. This coupled with eye massage, can promote absorption, which makes the skin around the eyes more hydrated.

Tip 5: Don't bite if your lips are peeling

It is very common for dry lips to peel and even bleed in winter. A very simple trick is to use a lip balm to thickly coat your lips every night before you go to bed. After a few nights, you will notice your lips repairing itself quickly. 

Tip 6: Don't ignore sun protection in winter

Skin is more sensitive to UV rays in winter than in summer, so sun protection is an even more important skincare routine in winter. Winter and spring are the seasons of the year when global ozone levels are at their lowest. Without the ozone layer, UVA (ultraviolet long wave), which accounts for more than 95% of the sun's rays, penetrates the clouds with impunity, regardless of whether it is cloudy or sunny. The UVA can even penetrate into the room and into the dermis of the skin, destroying collagen and elastic fibres and causing premature ageing to the skin, resulting in wrinkles and discolouration.

Tip 7: Don’t shower too frequently

Itchy skin during winter is a common problem for many people. Once entering winter, the skin is easy to itch, which could be very uncomfortable. This is all caused by the dryness of the skin. To solve this problem, don’t shower too frequently in winter, and choose a mild type body wash. After shower, promptly lather your skin with body lotion or body oil.

Tip 8: Sleeping Mask

Winter masks are essential, and sleeping masks are the most sought-after new generation of masks. It can be used alone, but also overlayed with a nighttime face cream. After a full night of repair and moisture from the sleeping mask, the skin becomes delicate and smooth the next day. Although sleeping masks have an important role in winter, a lot of them are not made for everyday use, 3-4 times a week is considered ideal.