Winter Must-Haves: How I Save My Skin

I've never been a fan of winter until I learned to love the sound of falling rain years ago in Cape Town. Since living in Pretoria I have a love-hate relationship with winter: there's no rain and it's boring. Some winters it isn't even cold enough to really wear a coat, can you imagine that? Anyway, the only constant in this is: my skin hates winter. My legs get dry and scaly, the back of my hands start to itch and hurt, and certain parts of my face decide to keep things interesting by being a combination of oily, red, dry, and itchy. That being said, I feel like I was prepared for winter this time round. I did have to experiment with some things, but I feel like I've found my winter groove and who knows, maybe these products will work for you too.

For the Face

As far as skincare goes, now is not the time to change your routine drastically. I did that one winter by changing my entire skincare routine in one go and boy, was I sorry! My skin responded by being red, itchy, angry, and dry and it took weeks to get it back to normal again. I use the Skin Creamery Facial Hydrating Oil (I wrote about it here) in the evenings before putting on my moisturiser, or sometimes I just use it on its own. I've found that my skin loves facial oils, but that following it up with a nighttime moisturiser is sometimes too heavy for my skin. I put two-three drops of the facial oil in the palm of my hand, mix it with a few drops of water, and pat it into my skin. It smells really delicious, which is always a bonus. I use the Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel (I wrote about it here) every morning after applying a serum and I will use it most nights instead of a nighttime moisturiser. The consistency is really thin and it sinks into the skin effortlessly. As for pampering, I love sheet masks and these from Sorbet are affordable and work a treat. The hydrating one is especially nice in winter. If I'm not using a sheet mask I'll use one of my other hydrating masks and this one from Avène (the Soothing Moisture Mask) is great. The consistency is light and it feels more like a moisturing lotion than a mask. I apply it and then basically just leave it on, maybe tissuing the excess off before ruining my pillow cases.

For the Body

I recently read a couple of blog posts about the new offerings from Eucerin and when I heard about the Replenishing Body Wash which contains 5% Urea, I knew I had to try it. My husband hates applying anything remotely to do with body lotion, so I thought that this might solve the lizard-leg problem. After using it twice or so I could feel a difference in my skin and even the husband noted that his arms feel less dry than it used to. It doesn't contain perfume, soap, or colourants and is marketed for the "very dry rough skin" people amongst us. This stuff isn't cheap, but I'm only planning on buying it in winter from now on, so it's only one bottle per year. It comes in a pump bottle and the 600 ml should last you all through winter.

I'm extremely bad with applying body lotion, especially in winter. I dread getting out of a nice hot shower only to get cold again before putting on my clothes. When I do get the urge to moisturise, this Oh So Heavenly Beauty Secrets Moroccan Argan Oil body cream is fantastic. It's a thick cream and it smells delicious. I can't really describe the smell, but next time you're in Clicks, do yourself a favour and give it a sniff. It does require a bit of elbow grease to rub in, but you're left with soft and satin-ny skin that smells amazing.

For the Hands

I've gone through countless hand creams and I've actually thought about doing a post on my go-to ones. Sometimes I find a hand cream that is amazing and halfway through the tube, it's suddenly not amazing anymore. I loved the Palmer's Raw Shea hand cream but I'm struggling to find it at our local Dischem. I'm also not too fond of the new Dove hand cream as it contains dimethicone which makes my hands weirdly slippery and siliconey. Currently I'm loving the new Nivea Anti-Age Care Q10 cream which contains Q10 and UV filters to protect and restore your hands. I love the pocket-friendly size and the pocket-friendly price, but what I love most is the way it sinks into my hands without being sticky or slippery.

For the Lips

Elizabeth Arden's Eight Hour Cream is a staple in my beauty stash and it always will be (you can read about its many uses here). I use this on anything from lips to cracked cuticles to eyebrows and it's pretty amazing. In my opinion there is nothing that a tube of this stuff can't fix! I am also loving Blistex Lip Relief Cream that was featured in my monthly favourites post (you can read it here), but I forgot to include it in the photo.

These products help me to survive winter. I didn't include haircare as I just use my normal shampoo and conditioner (I always have two shampoos and two conditioners on rotation so that my hair doesn't get too used to it) and then I'll use a mask about twice a week.

What are your winter savers? Let me know in the comments section.

Until next time!

Hildegarde

xoxo