Pic credit: Maria
Skin, nails, hands, lips - everything gets dry and flaky in winter, but here’s how you can keep - or get - glowing now. Layer up your skincare (like your winter clothes) and beat the cold.
Glowing skin
Summer-lite skincare products aren’t built for winter, but you can top up your existing products and layer to build up more cold-weather resistance. A little bronzer on the cheeks and forehead gives a glow to all skin tones too.
Add… a hydrating mist to spritz on before your skincare products and throughout the day if your skin is feeling tight or looking tired. Try the Skin Vitality Vitalizing Alpine Micro Mist to quench dry skin and give it a boost of radiance. Keep it in your handbag, car or desk for a revitalising lift for skin and mind – it smells like fresh mountain air.
Don’t skip… exfoliant – use it two to three times per week to blitz dry and flaky skin. By buffing the dry areas and dead skin cells, your skincare products can work more effectively. You’ll get a gorgeous polished glow and by regularly exfoliating your skin, your base or foundation will look more even and luminous.
Add… Extra nourishment to your face and neck at night time. Apply a rich moisturiser or balm, over your usual serum to seal in moisture. Also use Mavala’s award-winning balm as a mask – apply an even layer over your face and leave for ten minutes.
Swap… foaming cleanser for rich cream cleanser. Foaming cleanser is great in the summer but it can be too stripping for winter-dry skin. Creamy or balm cleansers soothe skin while dissolving dirt and makeup – use a soft washcloth for gentle exfoliation at the same time.
Naturally nourished nails
Cuticles, nails and hands seem to be allergic to winter – they all get super dry, even to the point of being sore. Avoid getting hang nails with a cuticle oil before bed – massage a drop into each cuticle, then treat dry skin to a rich hand cream like Mava+ Extreme Care for Hands. It works in two ways - to nourish and moisturise dry skin, but it also forms a protective film to help hands stay moisturised for longer giving more recovery time to ultra-dry hands. Rub some on dry elbows too.
Pic credit: Emma Jackson
Conditioned lips
Like hands, lips get chapped and dry out in winter – even if you’re not living in a particularly freezing climate. The thin skin of your lips tends to dry out more quickly than skin on other parts of your body thanks to less oil glands. Mask wearing doesn’t help the situation as the fabric can rub and dry out lips too. Lip balm to the rescue – treat and protect your lips with Mavala’s Lip Balm SPF 15 (always useful year round), also available in four sheer shades.
Dust off dull skin
All skin tones suffer with looking greyish in winter – mostly due to dull, dry skin. You can turn around the look and feel of your skin (and make it look more youthful in the process) in a matter of days with two easy steps with your shower:
Use a body brush to improve circulation and skin tone. Yes, you’ve read it a million times, but for good reason – it works. Lightly brushing your body with a natural bristle brush, from feet to shoulders smooths skin, gets your circulation going (assisting with bringing a revitalised glow to your skin) and buffs the dry skin off. Failing this, use a body scrub and move in the same direction from feet to shoulders, hands to heart.
Post shower, dry off just a little – with skin slightly damp, massage in a rich body lotion or oil, paying attention to those areas that really suffer with dryness like feet, knees, elbows, shins, the backs of your thighs and backs of arms.
Pic credit: Jocelyn Petroni
