Our Top Winter Skin Tips 2021

Winter is a tricky time for skin and just for people in general. The nights draw in quicker, and we get fewer sunny hours during the day. Winter also brings with it colder weather which causes all kinds of issues for the skin. 

Do you have a specific skincare routine for the winter months? If not, we’re here to help. We’ll take you through some of the science behind winter skin care and let you in on some tips that can keep your skin feeling healthy and looking glowy during the grey months of the year. 

This blog post will be focused on those living in the UK. If you are based elsewhere, you’ll have to reverse engineer these tips to make them fit the landscape and temperature where you live. In the UK, we’re usually saved from the drier, cold weather. Being an island keeps the outside air humid, so we don’t tend to get the cutting cold wind that dries out our skin. If you’ve spent anytime further east into Europe or Scandinavia during the winter months, you’ll know the difference that we’re talking about! 

So, humid but cold weather with grey skies, dark mornings/nights and irritating hazy rain. Those are the hallmarks of a British winter that we’re all familiar with. 

What do you need to do to keep your skin in a good state?

Cold/dry weather vs cold/humid weather

First up, colder weather means that our heating slowly comes on. Even though the outside stays humid, indoor heating works to dry skin out the same way as cold/dry weather outside does. Heating the air with radiators or air conditioning is a difficult transition for the skin. You might notice that your lips begin to chap or skin disorders that had disappeared during the summer come back full force, especially on your face. Psoriasis commonly flares up during the winter; if you notice this – hop over to this blog post for more detailed tips!

It’s no fun keeping the heating off during the winter, so that’s not a great option, but you can opt for keeping the house at a lower temperature that doesn’t irritate the skin; you could opt for a humidifier which helps to keep the air a little wetter or, up the ante with your skincare routine. 

Becoming a vampire by lack of sunlight

As you are probably already aware, it’s getting darker earlier and earlier. One of the problems with human bodies is that we need sunlight for many different body processes. One of the most obvious, which you might already be aware of, is vitamin deficiencies. Many people in the world deal with vitamin d deficiencies, which is often due to the lack of sunlight. This usually comes about from spending a lot of time indoors (way more likely during the winter) and low levels of vitamin nutrients in food. Although vitamin D doesn’t directly impact the skin, deficiencies have been linked to depression and physical health issues that can indirectly affect the skin. 

The other side of this sun coin is UV rays. We can still get skin damage from the sun during the winter – even if you haven’t seen the sun for what feels like 40 years. In the northern hemisphere, we are pointed away from the sun, so the damage is less impactful than during the summer, but you still need to protect yourself to an extent. 

So, it would help if you had sunlight for vitamin absorption through the skin, but you also need to protect your skin from the sunlights damaging rays. It’s a bit of a catch 22 that still isn’t entirely resolved by the scientific community. Here is what we suggest. 

It’s unlikely that you’re going to be outside in the winter months for hours without any layers on, which means your vitamin intake will be lower anyway, so you can use supplements from October through to the end of February/March to keep the vitamin levels up. When you’re outside, make sure that you add a layer of SPF to the skin that’s not covered up and re-apply if you will be out and about all day. 

As the cold closes in, you might be tempted to change your meals around a little bit; comfort food, anyone? But this can sometimes mean that we reduce the number of fruits, veggies, oily fish, and meat. The vitamins from these foods are essential for our skin’s well-being, so make sure that instead of switching foods out for more comforting alternatives, you eat all the delicious foods and keep a good variety of fruits, vegetables, and protein sources included. 

Vitamins are notoriously tricky to get in through the skin. Unless something powerful like UV rays are penetrating the layers and depositing it. Rubbing vitamin moisturisers and other beauty products might have a vanity based impact on the skin, but the vitamins will have a tough time diving through the multiple layers of skin to reach your bloodstream. The best option if you’re not getting enough vitamins/minerals are supplements. We mentioned supplements higher in this post, and they are a great way of substituting when you can’t get the vitamins in via your meals, we carry Advanced Nutrition Programme at the salon!

Hydrate your body, hydrate your skin.

When it’s hot out, we lose a lot of water through sweat. You’ll find that you need to drink a lot of water to feel hydrated. But what happens in the winter? 

For the most part, you still need the same amount of water. Our bodies require water to function at maximum capacity, and one of the benefits is keeping your skin looking and feeling like a 10/10. Don’t scrimp on the amount of water that you’re drinking. If you don’t fancy drinking pints of cold water, you can drink hot water or add some low/no caffeine teas into it to make it taste more appetising. As we discussed, the weather outside might stay quite humid, but indoors you’ve got the heating wicking away at your skin – if you aren’t replenishing the water, you’ll start to feel it. Keep up with your hydration goals, don’t forget the water. 

Changes to the bodies processes during the winter. 

When the season changes, you’ll likely see changes in your body, whether it’s your moods, physical issues or just a lack of motivation. Some of these changes include changes in the light (impacting your circadian rhythm), leaving you feeling more sluggish or low energy. Our bodies also have to work harder in the winter to keep us warm – during the summer, the heat from the sun often helps us naturally stay at our core temperature – during the winter, our bodies have to put a lot of effort into keeping us warm. Our bodies expend energy to keep us warm, which leaves other, “less important” jobs such as skin maintenance to the side. Because of this, we have to anticipate the winter months and make sure we are looking after our skin as best as we can. 

Replenishing your skin with the correct vitamins is important to skin health. Using topical products such as our AVST Moisturisers, C-Quence Moisturiser and Defence Creme or our Vitamin A,C,E Oil will replenish your skin with the vitamins it loses during the day. Vitamin A,C,E and antioxidants are pivotal in skin health. These products will get into the deeper layers of your skin, helping you to maintain good skin health. In the winter months skin boosters are also very effective as out skin becomes dry. Great boosters would be our Super Moisturiser, Avance Elixir or our newest addition to the Environ family Youth Serience Night Serum. We can guide you in salon of which product will be most suitable for your skin.

We mentioned supplements higher in this post, and they are a great way of substituting when you can’t get the vitamins in via your meals, we carry Advanced Nutrition Programme at the salon or you can make your purchase online using that link!

Give us a ring on 01628 298040 if you’d like to discuss your winter skincare routine at our Maidenhead salon. We look forward to hearing from you.