Heated Air & Dry Skin in Winter.
In winter, pale complexion and reddened skin replace the healthy “summer glow”. This is due to the combination of cold and heated air, which is harmful to the skin. With these tricks you can counteract.
The cold months are the final enemy of tender, rosy skin that you have worked hard to achieve over the summer months, with countless tips on Instagram on how to care for your skin for that special “Glow”. In the winter months, even the strongest filter on social media would not help. Because these months are a challenge not only for women with an affinity for beauty, but also for otherwise very robust male skin when it comes to providing the complexion with the right moisture. After all, it’s no secret that a rich cream helps against this unpleasant feeling of tension when you have to walk – often only for a few minutes – through the cold winter weather and cannot dig your face even deeper into your scarf. However, the problem is not just the temperature alone, but the contrast between the cold outside and the heated inside. Two skin experts give tips on how to care for your skin in winter and why it makes sense to also adjust your cleansing and sun protection.
Why is the skin more stressed by heated air?
“As pleasant as a warm flat is for us, it means pure stress for the skin”, explains Elena Helfenbein, head of treatment conception at Babor. “On the one hand, the change between cold outside temperature and warm living space is a strain. On the other hand, the air humidity in heated rooms is very low. The skin becomes more sensitive because the so-called hydro-lipid mantle of the skin, which acts like a natural protective coat, gets out of balance due to the lack of moisture. The skin can become dry or even slightly flaky and tends to irritate and redden,” Helfenbein says about the signs that indicate that the skin care used so far is no longer adequate in winter.
Which active ingredients should one look for in a cream for the cold season?
“Now products that strengthen the hydro-lipid mantle are in demand. These could be creams with valuable lipids and ceramides”, says Helfenbein. Skin expert Dr. Barbara Sturm has developed a cream that is not only effective against the cold in everyday life but also against more extreme conditions on the ski slopes. “Valuable, rich lipids from shea butter, jojoba oil and sunflower extract strengthen the skin’s barrier function,” explains the Düsseldorf doctor. To make the skin look plump even in winter, ingredients that keep the skin supple for longer are also recommended, such as glycerine, sorbitol, allantoin and various forms of algae.
Does it always have to be a new, special cream?
No. Because even if the skin tends to become dry in winter, not every skin immediately becomes problem skin and needs the richest cream, as Helfenbein explains: “Of course, frosty temperatures can change the current skin condition, for example, dry skin becomes even drier and with combination skin the dry areas become even more pronounced. But the different, genetically determined skin types do not change with outside temperatures”. In order to make the usual care more rich, it is often sufficient to use a serum in addition to the cream and apply it with a few drops under the face cream.
Do I also have to change my cleansing as soon as the cool season starts?
“I always recommend a mild cleansing that does not additionally dry out the skin”, says the skin expert. Gentle but effective peelings are recommended to remove the superficially dried cells so that the products can penetrate the skin and work better. These help to draw water from the environment into the skin to keep it soft and supple. Use alcohol-free toners containing moisturizers to lock in moisture and prepare the skin for treatment. The toner should be applied within 60 seconds of cleansing to prevent evaporation of the moisture anchored in the skin, followed by serum and moisturiser.
Should I avoid make-up if my skin suffers from dryness caused by heated air?
“Today there are Liquid Foundations that have beautiful skin care properties. You do not have to do without them. Especially if you have adjusted the care”, says Helfenbein. If the cream is rich enough as a base before applying the foundation, then the make-up will not settle into the dryness wrinkles that can occur more frequently in the winter months.
If you use a cold cream, do you still need sun protection?
The Biotulin dermatologist recommends applying a lotion with SPF 30 in addition to the cold cream. This protects the skin from sunburn. In addition, the combination of UVA and UVB filters also acts as an anti-aging care. “The light-textured face serum protects against wrinkles and other visible signs of premature skin ageing, such as sun spots and skin discolouration caused by UV rays”.
