Winter Care Tips: Here’s How To Take Care Of Your Hair And Skin This Season

What does winter brings for hair and skin?

• Pale and dry
• Dehydrated and flaky
• Sensitive
• Wrinkled under eyes
• Chapped lips
• Dry frizzy hair
• Prone to breakage
• Dandruff at its peak

Winter special care
Go overboard with moisturizing: Apply your creamy moisturizer after cleansing your face off all the dead skin and grime as they can act as a barrier against the cream soaking into the skin. Apply moisturizer on damp skin. This not only spreads and hydrates better, but also seals the water on the skin.
Bear the burn: Every patient who comes to me in winter tells me, ‘Doc, my skin is so sensitive that any cream that I apply burns my skin,’ and so they don’t apply any cream at all. What causes the burning is dry and chapped skin, and by not applying cream, they worsen the situation. Even if it burns, don’t worry. Apply the cream and let it be. What you could do is spray a mist liberally and apply the cream on top before the effect of the mist dries off. Take plenty of warm fluid intake and healthy amounts of oils in the diet.
Look after your eyes and lips: They lack oil glands and the skin is thin, therefore it dries out and gets wrinkled and chapped. If on any night you do not feel up to skincare, a must-do is eye and lip cream. Since chapping can be a painful condition, give your lips some extra TLC (tender love and care). Exfoliate your lips gently with your finger, then apply a good cold cream, ghee, or lip balm with beeswax. Avoid smacking and licking your lips, as it only aggravates the dryness.
Hands and feet need love: Please make sure the same care that you take with your face is extended to your body as well; especially the exposed parts. Generally, go for short bath with warm and not too hot water. Hot water bath is tempting but it also leads to skin’s drying. Do not step into a room with heaters immediately after a shower. Pat dry but before that, apply plenty of moisturizer on the damp body. A good but gentle exfoliation and oil indulgence helps. Post oil massage, do not overuse soap. Try a moisturizing body wash instead. Even a 5-minute pre-shower oil massaged on to the body helps in a big way.
Winter must dos

Move from a foamy face wash to a creamy one and cleanse your face not more than three times a day.

• Change liquid remover to a creamy one
• Apply plenty of under eye and lip cream
• Switch from shower gels to shower oils
• Pre bath indulgence with a five minute oil massage
• Oil hair overnight
• Plenty of moisturizer
• Avoid scrubs
• Hydrate
• Use sunscreen

Winter No-No

• Long, hot baths
• Avoiding sunscreen
• Skipping shampoo
• Petroleum jelly on your lips
• Licking or smacking your lips