Hydration is one of the most crucial steps you can take to maintain healthy skin during the cooler months. While it’s important year-round, winter takes a particular toll on your skin’s moisture levels.
Dermatologist Jennifer Baron, MD, and her team in San Jose, California, can not only advise you about hydration, but we also have our own line of skin care products to help you look your best. We’re also here with advice, including these five tips to keep your skin hydrated this winter.
When your skin is dry, moisturizing at any time might be a good idea. However, in the winter, washing can strip protective oils that you can ill afford to lose. Moisturizing directly after any skin-washing event can help replenish a layer of protection against further moisture loss.
Keep bottles of moisturizer handy everywhere you may need them, including bathroom, bedroom, or travel sizes when you’re on the go.
Ultraviolet (UV) light happens all the time, whenever the sun is out. Sunny days, cloudy days, and everything in between. While UV levels can be lower in the winter months, you still require sunscreen protection because UV exposure accumulates over your lifetime.
Moisturizing sunscreens can save steps; alternatively, apply the sunscreen over your moisturizer if you have a favorite product. Resist the temptation to skip sunscreen through the shorter days of winter.
Discuss with Dr. Baron potential adjustments that can enhance your winter routine. Thicker, cream-based moisturizers may work better for you, or milder cleansers may protect your skin from irritation.
Once dryness and irritation set in, you need to heal first, so back off on scented products or those with alcohol until your skin recovers. Exfoliation is another skin care practice for which you may want to ease up on its aggressive nature through the winter.
As good as a hot bath feels on a cold day, that extra heat can be working against you. Use water that’s close to your natural body temperature rather than over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Natural body oils tend to strip away more easily as water temperatures rise. Winter is all about protecting the skin's oil barrier.
Has it only been 10 minutes since you last received advice to drink more water? Sorry to add another one, but the urgency pays dividends.
Water is life, in so many ways. For every product applied to your skin, only water comes up through your skin. Make water intake a habit for your entire body.
Contact Jennifer Baron, MD, for a personal skin care consultation to stay healthy, hydrated, and looking your best, all winter long. Call or click to schedule your visit now.
