Marina | February 5, 2014 | Beauty |

Winter has been much colder these days and that’s probably causing your skin to dry up. Dry skin isn’t a pretty sight at all. No one wants to see dry skin and definitely no one wants to have dry skin. There are quite a few things that can cause dry skin like bathing and showering too frequently, using harsh soap and using the wrong skin care products but the most popular causes of dry skin are actually external factors like cold weather, low humidity and central heating – all of which we experience during cold days like these. Here are some winter beauty tips for dry skin that you can try out.

• Moisturize more as you age – you can’t stop yourself from growing older but you can stop your skin from aging by moisturizing. Of course, we all know that we all have different skin types and that each skin type’s need vary from one to the other but if there’s one common thing about each skin type, it is that we all need to moisturize regularly. As you age, your skin’s production of natural oils depletes thus making your skin drier and drier. Make sure to up the amount of the moisturizer you use and to do it more frequently, too, to avoid dry skin.

• Moisturize after each shower – the best time to apply moisturizer all over your body is right after a shower when your skin is still a bit damp. This is because when your skin is damp, your pores are still open and applying moisturizer during this time will help lock in the moisture which results to softer skin all day. After stepping out of the shower, pat yourself down, don’t rub yourself dry. Then, apply a generous amount of moisturizer on your face and on your body.

• Turn the temp down – a heater provides great warmth and comfort indoors when it’s freezing cold outside but having the temp too high up can also make your skin dry as the heat can suck up the moisture from your skin. Cozy up in thick winter lounging clothes and turn the temperature down a little bit to save your skin from drying up. Also, do not bathe with scalding hot water as this will dry out your skin instead of moisturize it.

• Don’t lick your lips – tempting as it may be, try not to lick your lips when you feel them drying out or when you notice them starting to chafe. You may think that licking your lips can help moisturize them but it’s actually the opposite of that: it just dries them out even more. This is because our saliva contains enzymes that draw moisture out of the lips. Instead of licking them, swipe on your favorite lip balm. Do this as often as you can to keep your pucker pretty and juicy.

• Ditch alcohol-based skin care products – at least for the mean time, try not to use any product on your skin that is labeled ‘alcohol based’. They may have worked wonders for your pre-winter but now that your skin is drying up because of the weather, it would be best to ditch them and replace them with those that are labeled ‘moisturizing’ or ‘milk based’ or even ‘oil based’ instead.