Keep your skin healthy and glowing during winter using oil, sunscreen and avoid hot water baths
Cold days of winter…for some of us they bring a rosy glow to the cheeks. But for a lot of us, the picture is not quite so rosy. Bleeding, chapped lips, cracked, painful, dry heels, and an uncomfortable tightening of the face – this is the stark reality.
To begin with, if you have serious skin problems, then it is best to take advice from your skin specialist on how to do deal with the problem during winter. But for most of us, these tips will suffice to bring on that winter radiance.
Oil is well
As the season changes, so should your moisturizer. While water-based creams work fine in the summer, your skin needs its dose of oils in the winter. Find an “ointment” moisturizer that’s oil-based rather than water-based as the oil will create a protective layer on the skin that retains more moisture than a cream or lotion. Settle for non clogging skin oils like avocado, almond, primrose etc. These work wonderfully on the skin. Richfeel Almond Massage Cream is enriched with the goodness of almonds and is specially formulated for under nourished and dry skin.
Don’t forget the sunscreen
Yes!! Even if it is winter, it doesn’t mean that the sun will go away, of course unless you are on the other end of the Arctic circle and will have six months of night. The sun can still damage your skin if you are going to be staying out.
Be hands on smart
The skin on your hands is thinner than on most parts of the body and has fewer oil glands. This can lead to itchiness and cracking in winter. Wear gloves when you go outside; if you need to wear wool to keep your hands warm, slip on a thin cotton glove first, to avoid any irritation the wool might cause.
Drink to your skin
Not alcohol, but the good old reliable H20. The best element invented for all creatures, we often undermine the importance of water. Hydration is not only important in summer, but in winter too, our skin dries up more than ever. A regular sip of water will prevent your skin supple, glowing and free from drying.
Say no to hot baths
It may be snowing outside but that is not a reason to scald your skin with boiling hot or steaming water. The extreme heat from the water can actually break down the lipid barriers of the skin leading to a loss of oil and moisture. It is, therefore, recommended that you have a bath with lukewarm water, adding a drop or two of the oils mentioned above.
A few things like kajal, lip gloss etc. are daily essentials. Are these harmful?
Lipstick contains aluminum which may cause long term anemia and even glucose intolerance. Eye shadow, mascara, kajal and other forms of eye makeup can harm the eyes of the user very badly and can result in thinning of eyelashes and also cause eye infections.
Can you suggest a few beauty products that can be used daily?
Any chemical make-up can cause harm with prolonged use. Instead, there is a trend all over the world of making your own lipsticks, glosses etc. using natural products like coconut oil, beetroot juice, strawberry juice etc.
If shampoos, conditioners and shower gels are harmful, then what is the correct way of using these products?
A mild product like Richfeel Scalp Cleanser is perfect for daily use. It contains no colour and no perfume. When you are choosing a product which you want to use everyday make sure that it is natural and does not contain chemicals.
Apoorva Shah is India’s first certified Trichologist and has founded the Richfeel Trichology Centre. He can be contacted at 1800 200 5677. You can also log on to www.richfeel.com to know more about Richfeel.