Winter Skin care tips

For many people, the cold clear days of winter bring more than just a rosy glow to the cheeks. They also bring uncomfortable dryness to the skin of the face, hands, and feet. For some people, the problem is worse than just a general tight, dry feeling: They get skin so dry it results in flaking, cracking, even eczema (in which the skin becomes inflamed).

"As soon as you turn the heat on indoors, the skin starts to dry out," Bonnie LaPlante, an esthetician with the Canyon Ranch resort in Lenox, Mass., tells WebMD. "It doesn't matter if you heat your home using oil, wood, or electricity. The skin gets dry."

1. Seek a Specialist

If you go to your local drugstore, you'll be hard put to find a salesperson who can give you good advice. That's why going to an esthetician or dermatologist even once is a good investment. Such a specialist can analyze your skin type, troubleshoot your current skin care regimen, and give you advice on the skin care products you should be using.

But that doesn't mean you'll be stuck buying high-end products. "Inexpensive products work just as well as high-end ones," says David Voron, MD, a dermatologist in Arcadia, Calif. "In fact, the extra price you pay for the expensive stuff is often just for packaging and marketing. What's most important is how your skin responds to the product -- and how you like its feel, not how much money you paid for it."

2. Moisturize More

You may have found a moisturizer that works just fine in spring and summer.  But as weather conditions change, so, too, should your skin care routine.  Find an "ointment" moisturizer that's oil-based, rather than water-based, as the oil will create a protective layer on the skin that retains more moisture than a cream or lotion. (Hint: Many lotions labeled as "night creams" are oil-based.)

But choose your oils with care because not all oils are appropriate for the face. Instead, look for "nonclogging" oils, like avocado oil, mineral oil, primrose oil, or almond oil. Shea oil -- or butter -- is controversial, because it can clog facial pores. And vegetable shortening, LaPlante says, is a really bad idea. "It would just sit on the skin," she says. "And it would be really greasy."

You can also look for lotions containing "humectants," a class of substances (including glycerine, sorbitol, and alpha-hydroxy acids) that attract moisture to your skin.

3. Slather on the Sunscreen

No, sunscreen isn't just for summertime. Winter sun -- combined with snow glare -- can still damage your skin. Try applying a broad-spectrum sunscreen to your face and your hands (if they're exposed) about 30 minutes before going outside. Reapply frequently if you stay outside a long time.

4. Give Your Hands a Hand

The skin on your hands is thinner than on most parts of the body and has fewer oil glands. That means it's harder to keep your hands moist, especially in cold, dry weather. This can lead to itchiness and cracking. Wear gloves when you go outside; if you need to wear wool to keep your hands warm, slip on a thin cotton glove first, to avoid any irritation the wool might cause.

5. Avoid Wet Gloves and Socks

Wet socks and gloves can irritate your skin and cause itching, cracking, sores, or even a flare-up of eczema.

6. Hook Up the Humidifier

Central heating systems (as well as space heaters) blast hot dry air throughout our homes and offices. Humidifiers get more moisture in the air, which helps prevent your skin from drying out. Place several small humidifiers throughout your home; they help disperse the moisture more evenly.

7. Hydrate for Your Health, Not for Your Skin

If you've heard it once, you've heard it a thousand times: Drinking water helps your skin stay young looking. In fact, it's a myth. Water is good for your overall health and "the skin of someone who is severely dehydrated will benefit from fluids. But the average person's skin does not reflect the amount of water being drunk," Kenneth Bielinski, MD, a dermatologist in Oak Lawn, Ill., tells WebMD "It's a very common misconception."

LaPlante agrees. "I see clients at the spa who drink their 10 to 12 glasses of water a day and still have superdry skin. It just doesn't do that much."

8. Grease Up Your Feet

Yes, those minty foot lotions are lovely in the hot summer months, but during the winter, your feet need stronger stuff. Try finding lotions that contain petroleum jelly or glycerine instead. And use exfoliants to get the dead skin off periodically; that helps any moisturizers you use to sink in faster and deeper.

9. Pace the Peels

If your facial skin is uncomfortably dry, avoid using harsh peels, masks, and alcohol-based toners or astringents, all of which can strip vital oil from your skin. Instead, find a cleansing milk or mild foaming cleanser, a toner with no alcohol, and masks that are "deeply hydrating," rather than clay-based, which tends to draw moisture out of the face. And use them a little less often.

10. Ban Superhot Baths

Sure, soaking in a burning-hot bath feels great after frolicking out in the cold. But the intense heat of a hot shower or bath actually breaks down the lipid barriers in the skin, which can lead to a loss of moisture. "You're better off with just warm water," LaPlante advises, "and staying in the water a shorter amount of time."

A lukewarm bath with oatmeal or baking soda, can help relieve skin that is so dry it has become itchy, Bielinski notes. So, too, can periodically reapplying your moisturizer. If those techniques don't work, go see a dermatologist. "You may need a prescription lotion to combat the dry skin," Bielinski says. "Or you may have a condition that isn't simply dry skin and that requires different treatment."

Hair Care

Maintaining your hair is relatively easy with the right kind of steps. Hair is made of protein, so keeping a healthy diet and good hygiene is an essential part of maintaining luscious locks. At the same time, here are some other tips about hair care, and what you can do at home to get unbelievably beautiful hair.

Wash hair sparingly with a good-quality shampoo. Many people insist that washing hair too often can leave hair dried out, leeched of its natural oils, and damage your hair. Shoot to shampoo your hair at most every other day. Some people wash their hair only twice a week.

• Try shampoos that do not contain sulfates or parabens. Sulfates are the chemicals that make shampoos lather up. Parabens are preservatives that cause irritation and eye problems after prolonged use. Both of these chemicals aren't healthy for you or the environment so try to use shampoos with natural cleansers.
• Choose a shampoo that suits your hair type. Don't just go for any old shampoo; go for the shampoo that works for you!
• Curly or coarse hair probably wants frizz-minimizing and softening shampoo.
• Straight or oily hair probably wants a gentle shampoo designed for daily washing.
• Colored or treated hair probably needs a shampoo that's fortified with extracts or amino acids, because treating your hair is essentially damaging it.
• Dry hair probably needs shampoos with glycerin and collagen to help restore some moisture into the hair.

Use conditioner depending on your hair type, length, and treatment damage.A good rule of thumb is to condition every time you shampoo your hair, although very processed or dyed hair probably needs a little more love than natural hair.

• Deep condition once a week. Use a store-bought product, or venture out on your own and try a homemade solution.
• Follow these steps for conditioning your hair properly based on hair type:
  
  • For fine hair: If you have very limp hair, try a botanical oil treatment before you shampoo. Use lavender or tea-tree oil, for example, and work it under your cuticles before shampooing. Wash shampoo away and apply conditioner from the mid-shaft down to the end. Leave in for a minute before washing
  • For medium to thick hair, use a moisturizer with natural hydrators. Keep your conditioner light. Apply conditioner all over your head and let stay for 2-3 minutes.
• Be careful about using products with too much protein. Too much protein can leave your hair feeling desiccated and brittle. While protein is the building block of healthy hair, use conditioners that come with balanced ingredients.
• Frizz-control serum can be used in small quantities to tame frizzes. Make sure you do not use too much, and wash once a week with a deep-cleanse shampoo to avoid build-up, which will leave hair looking dull and flaky.

Don't brush your hair too much. Brushing your hair stimulates the follicles which promotes growth, but brushing too much too often, will cause damage to your hair strands that results in frizz and split ends.

Let hair dry naturally. After you get out of the shower, wrap your hair in a cotton T-Shirt. Towls are made of fabric that is very rough and damaging to your hair, causing frizziness and split ends. Avoid brushing hair while wet, as it makes the hair brittle and weak. Only use a wide tooth comb to brush out tangles while hair is wet. '.

• Try not to use a blow-drier. Healthy hair does not respond well to heat. Hair can sustain heat damage easily, especially from blow-driers. If you have to use a blow-drier, dry your hair using the lowest-temperature setting and limit usage to once a week.
• If you shower before you sleep overnight, put your hair up in a bun and let it air-dry overnight. Your hair should be dry in the morning.

Trim your hair regularly. The best way to get rid of split ends is to...do it yourself! Take some hair shears and attack the split ends about 1/4 inch above the splitting. Many women with perfect hair never have split ends because they make it a priority to get their hair trimmed, or trim it themselves, every 6-8 weeks.

Treat or dye your hair sparingly, if at all. Dyeing and treating your hair can take a lot out of it. People who opt for au naturel often don't experience the same problem with dry, damaged, or over-processed hair.

• If you do dye your hair, try it every once in a while. Take a break from dyeing and give your hair a little breather. It should respond favorably.

Style your hair naturally, minimizing styling damage. Styling by itself won't overly damage your hair, but repeated stylings multiple times per week put some serious strain on hair.

• Avoid perming, crimping, straightening, curling, and bleaching or repeatedly coloring hair if at all possible. So you want to go out on Saturday night and need your hair straightened. That's fine. Just make it an occasional treat, not a permanent thing.
• Don't use rubber bands to pull back or otherwise style hair. Rubber bands will encourage your hair to get snagged, ripping it out of the follicle.
• Try not to use hairstyles that tightly pin or pull the hair back. Styles such as cornrows or tight ponytails can cause damage at the roots, or put stress on the follicles.
• Instead, experiment with up-dos: a simple ponytail or chignon looks clean and requires very few hair products. You could also just keep your hair down and wear a headband

Eat healthy and give your hair the right amount of vitamins. Since hair is made of proteins, make sure that you eat a balanced diet rich in lean protein, whole grains, fruits and vegetables. A healthy diet will ensure better-looking, better-feeling hair.

• Make sure you get plenty of vitamin C (strengthens hair), iron (helps transport oxygen to blood vessels), zinc (grows and repairs tissue), and omega-3 fatty acids (grows healthy hair).
• Give your hair some time to show new brilliance. What you eat will not have an immediate difference on the hair you already have, but it will help with hair that is newly growing.