by Sherrell Dorsey of Organicbeautyvixen.com
While the beautiful wonders of winter can mean hot cocoa by the fireplace and lots of great dinners with your loved ones, it can also be the best time to take pride in pampering your skin. With harsh weather on the loose and your favorite pair of boots covering up your feet, it can also be a great time to get a little lazy. But don’t settle for dry, rough or brittle skin.
Kick your beauty game up a notch and take special care with four ways you can fight winter weather and keep your skin radiant even in the cold.
- Exfoliate – Just because you’re covered up, it doesn’t mean you’re supposed to get lax on your exfoliation game. Keep your hands, feet and legs super soft with a brown sugar and olive oil scrub during your daily shower.
- Night Time Loving – Take your shower before bed and lay on the body butter or coconut oil nice and thick. Strap on your socks, a long pair of pajama pants and even a clean pair of manicure gloves to seal in the moisture for soft hands, feet and legs over night.
- Fish Oil –Chocked full with Omega-3s, taking a daily fish oil supplement can help keep your skin supple with a natural, radiant glow that will make your skin look like it’s been on vacation. My favorite is Nordic Naturals.
- Masquerade – Treat your face to spa time at home with kitchen remedies. Tighten pores, reduce the appearance of wrinkles and pamper your skin with an egg white mask. Once a week mix up your egg white mask, add some essential oil like lavender or your favorite scent and spread evenly with a makeup or mask brush. Leave on your mask for five to ten minutes to tighten on your face, rinse off with cool water and moisturize with a natural oil like almond and olive.
What do you do to keep your skin soft, beautiful and radiant during the winter time?
Sherrell Dorsey is a natural beauty expert, writer, speaker and advocate of health, wellness and sustainability in communities of color. In addition to creating OrganicBeautyVixen.com, Sherrell writes beauty articles for Tyra Banks’s beauty and fashion site TypeF.com, Jones Magazine, MySalonScoop.com and Posh Beauty. Follow Sherrell on twitter at www.twitter.com/organicvixen and connect with her on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/
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CN Says:
My routine doesn’t change much from season to season. I’ve learned that for my sensitive skin, less is more. I simply wash with water… just water and moisturize with Cetaphil Daily Facial Moisturizer (spf 15). That’s it. Whenever I add extra steps I get pimples or fine bumps.
Yes! To get rid of the dryness during winters pumping up is really necessary with the best skin care essentials and the coconut oil. I share some great tips for African American beauty on my blog, visit anytime http://indigoferabeauty.blogspot.com/2010/04/ask-expert-radiobeauty-at_26.html
If you have Oily-acne prone skin and follow the Routine at the end of this article, you'd have an unclean Face covered in acne. **Deep pore cleansing with mild-gentle cleanser-NOT SOAP (customized for your skin type/condition), Exfoliation, Toning and using Moisturizers (for your skintype with SPF 15-25 (in addition to a Nutritious diet and water Intake) is essential in preventing acne. Too much can worsen your condition but so can not doing enough. LISTEN TO YOUR SKIN. FOLLOW WHAT WORKS FOR YOU. What works for some will not work for all.
While some have found that Washing the face twice a day in warm salty water works for them; often times Washing with just water can also strip your skin of its natural oils and cause it to produce excess oils, often making your acne and/or Oily Skin worse.
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Baking Soda a tooth brush once every 3 days
Queen Helene's Apricot Scrub daily
Witch Hazel after each wash
Alba moisturizer
If you have dry skin ladies, or eczema like I do, stay away from baby oil gel. My dermatologist told me this recently. I stick to coco butter and I'm going to start using olive oil on my body and hair. Also my once a week "spa at home" treatment is using an aspirin mask. Crush about 6 and mix with peroxide. Leave on for no longer than 20 mins and rinse with cool water. It's AMAZING!
I usually use Lubriderm fragrance free lotion on my face. I just recently started adding castor oil, because the air in colorado gets super dry in the wintertime.
Thanks for the post. I love using brown sugar and oil to exfoliate, egg whites and honey to tighten the pores and shea butter I use all year around for softness. Love it!
Thanks TMS for the cleanse recipe! I'll definitely be trying it.
LM, Dove soap and a prescription drug called Retin-A have worked wonders for me. I also use Clinique's Acne Solutions Clarifying Lotion (it's really a toner) weekly. It sweeps off all the dead skin cells, and the salicylic acid in it has lightened my dart spots.
Great tips for pumping up the winter skin care routine. I'd also like to add that what worked in the summer doesn't necessarily work in the winter. Our skin tends to change with the seasons and just as you change your hair products to keep moisture levels in check, the same should be done for your skin. Hence, lotions are not as effective as whipped body butters, creams and balms.
*celery*
A great cleanse from the inside out is to juice carrots, cucumber, apples and celerey and it taste great to boot!
I don't even use soap to wash my body or face, just water. Last winter I used a homemade shea butter mix to soften my skin from hot showers in a cold, arid climate. I think this winter I'll need that mix again.
the only thing I do for my body which stays the same from season to season is put on lotion as soon as I'm done showering and drying off. The lotion I use is Vaseline's Renewal. I just purchased some so called "Vitamin E" cream without reading the ingredients first. Turns out Mineral Oil is the second ingredient, water is the first, glycerin is the sixth, and Vitamin E is the eigth. It has different oils in it towards the bottom of the list. I've decided to use it to sort of "seal in" my Renewal lotion. Anyway, this routine keeps my skin and even feet pretty soft. I've been trying to find something that helps my acne for years. My acne has improved but it's left behind hyperpigmentation..dont really know what to do about that
I cleanse with Cetaphil (I have sensitive skin too). Moisturize with shea butter and steam my face with a hot rag after applying the shea butter. Milk and honey baths and different soaps from SLeek Soap (check them out on facebook)Moisturize with sesame oil (the generic kind) seal with shea butter while still damp.
Coconut oil is wonderful for my whole body. I've been using it on my body but just started applying it to my face and I love it. Vaseline work wonders for my feet…say goodbye to crusty heels.