Instead, building a winter-specific routine is about enhancement. Winter’s biggest impacts include: reduced environmental humidity, less circulation, and a decrease in sweating. This means that, in general, the skin is losing hydration throughout the day, compared to spring or summer conditions.
Dry skin’s manifestation easily goes unnoticed until it is suddenly too visible to be ignored. Redness, irritated cracks, flaking, dead skin near the fingertips, and aggravated itching are signs of skin that is parched—and has been for some time.
In reality, how your skin is doing is a combo of what’s going on inside and out. During the winter, you need to modify your approach to keep looking and feeling fresh until spring. Here are 5 tips to help you keep feeling good all winter.
When it comes to the skin, subtle differences do matter. Is your skin dry? Dehydrated? Do these terms just both refer to thirst? Will drinking water help? To get to a happy balance in your skin, and have steady results, it’s important to diagnose the problem right.
As the edges of your cuticles dry up, its surface may feel scratchy and irritated. Sensitivities flare up. Your cheeks may look warm and flushed, but also feel raw and rough to the touch.
When the skin barrier isn’t functioning properly, you might notice more itching, rough patches, sensitivity, discolouration, dryness and scaly skin, and frequent bacterial, fungal or viral infections.
Usually, we start from the point of care—soothing symptoms, dealing with itching, and pressing on with life as best as possible. But when dealing with eczema long-term, prevention becomes necessary to your overall strategy. Successful prevention means knowing what’s coming next.
There’s a few different reasons why your eczema might be flaking, and it can be good news or bad news. One thing to remember, regardless of whether the peeling is a good sign or a bad sign, is to avoid scratching. It’s tempting to rub that itch away!