When it comes to keeping skin smooth, soft and healthy, winter's cold winds and snow might seem to be the enemies. But the weather inside is actually a greater foe.
In winter, we spend more time in heated buildings, and the dry indoor air robs your skin of moisture, causing dry, red skin, chapped lips, and rough hands. To avoid suffering with dry, itchy skin this winter, skin-care professionals urge you to add moisture to the air and keep moisture in your skin by protecting it from the elements.
"In Pittsburgh, we go from hot, humid summers to dry winters," says Suzan Obagi, a physician and assistant professor of dermatology for University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She also is director of the Cosmetic Surgery and Skin Health Center in Wexford.
Obagi suggests you install a humidifier to increase the moisture in your home. But you also need to change your hygiene habits when winter hits.
She says to avoid long, excessively hot baths or showers, which can hurt your skin's ability to retain moisture. "Take a quick, warm shower and pat dry. Immediately, put a moisturizing cream or ointment over the face and body," she says. "This helps trap water in the skin."
She recommends thicker creams instead of lotions; lotions have higher water content and can actually dry the skin as they evaporate.
Soap, particularly harsh, antibacterial soaps, also will dry out your skin, "so keep soap to the areas that need it" or wash with cleansers or oils, she says. The rest of your body will stay clean with water alone.
Geri Mataya, owner of Spa Uptown, Chatham Center, encourages adding moisture internally, by drinking six to eight glasses of water a day. "After a bath, use a loofa or washcloth to rub off or exfoliate dry skin. Then moisturize with olive oil or another essential oil on hands and feet," she says.
"Keep your skin covered outdoors, and use heavy creams before and after you are outside," Mataya says.
Your lips need to be coated with Vaseline or lip balm, before they get chapped. "Many people wait until it's too late," Mataya says. "And don't lick your lips when you are outside."
Your lip balm doesn't need to be raspberry flavored -- artificial colors and scents can be irritating -- but it should contain sunscreen and provide a moisture barrier between you and the cold.
In fact, sunscreen should be applied to any exposed skin surfaces, summer and winter. The ultraviolet A rays of the sun -- which cause aging -- continue year round, according to physician's assistant Christopher Foti of Bikowski Skin Care Center, Sewickley. "They can cause pre-cancerous skin damage. Use an SPF of 15 or higher," Foti says.
While skiers certainly are susceptible, all children and adults should be protected when outdoors. "You may think it's just a few minutes, but sun damage is cumulative over many years," he says.
Women might be more concerned about the cosmetic effects of dry skin, but men, especially those who work outdoors in the winter, also suffer from cracked and sore hands.
"Skin has no gender," says Rose van Hemert Chvasta, president of Skin Care Chvasta Intl., a skin-care salon in Moon Township. "Skin health is not just about staying pretty; you want to prevent drying and cracking to keep hands and feet healthy."
Just as dentists show patients how to care for their teeth, Chvasta teaches her clients how to cleanse, nourish and hydrate their skin.
A skin-care analysis will reveal any deficiencies, and professional skin-care products will help regulate the skin's pH, heal, protect and moisturize. "The skin is the soul of the body. It is the outer capsule that reveals the health within," Chvasta says.
"Try to avoid cleansers and lotions that just lay on the skin like plastic wrap," she says. "You want to nourish it with products that carry nutrients to a deeper level of living cells."
She recommends moisturizing with natural, essential oils -- any oil that comes from a fruit, flower, plant, root or bark -- not animal or petroleum-based products. "Avoid anything with alcohol, fragrance, flavors, dyes or mineral oil."
Many local spas have licensed estheticians -- skin-care specialists -- who will evaluate your skin type and recommend a daily maintenance routine. They also offer facials, body wraps, manicures or pedicures to get dry skin back into shape. Most facials will include a cleansing, steam treatment, masque, hydration and massage.
The ancient Romans and many contemporary Europeans get these benefits from mineral baths and the fresh sea air. Like them, Chvasta uses the 92 minerals and trace elements in seawater to improve skin and overall health. Skin Care Chvasta offers various treatments, including Thalasso therapy, which uses fresh, filtered seawater to revitalize the skin with magnesium, calcium, sodium, potassium and phosphorus.
"If your skin is damaged by winter weather, reduce washing to once a day," Chvasta says. "And see a skin-care professional to get back on track."
However, anyone with severe dry skin, chronic skin damage, rashes or peeling should see a doctor or dermatologist. "Chronic dryness could be a skin condition, like eczema, and should be treated by a professional," says Dr. Jennifer Lewis, Assistant Professor of Medicine and an internist at Allegheny General Hospital.
"Dry hands or lips that crack and bleed could get infected," she says. "So you want to maintain your moisture barrier -- use lotion every time you wash your hands."
"Stick to a mild skin cleanser," Foti says. "As we age, the top layer of our skin, the stratum corneum, loses its ability to retain moisture. So you should soak the skin for five to 10 minutes and then seal in the water with creams and moisturizers."
So bundle up when the cold winds blow. Keeping skin healthy in winter is a matter of keeping the moisture in and the weather out.
| Tips for great winter skin |
Feeding your skin
Cosmetic products are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, so manufacturers that claim their products give you "younger-looking skin" never have to justify their claims. Skin creams and lotions with essentially the same ingredients vary widely in price -- whether bought at the cosmetic counter, a fancy spa or the supermarket.
Most dermatologists suggest you avoid expensive potions and use a simple oil-based cream or lotion to protect and moisturize the skin.
Rose van Hemert Chvasta, president of Skin Care Chvasta Intl., a skin-care salon in Moon Township, teaches her clients how to nourish their skin from the inside out. She came to the United States from the Netherlands in 1986.
"The biggest mistake people here make is washing with soap," she says. "The residue it leaves behind damages the pH balance of the skin."
Like your lawn, healthy skin is neither too alkaline nor too acidic, but has the right pH balance.
