Winter brings holidays, building snowmen, sledding, hot chocolate, sitting by a fireplace, and the dreaded “winter itch”. Winter itch (dry skin) can not only be annoying but it can also be painful for some. We need to take extra special care of our skin in the winter to avoid this.
The first step is to educate ourselves. Having a daughter with eczema and being a cosmetologist, I have researched this thoroughly and I want to share everything I know with you.
Dry skin is caused by;
- lack of water
- taking hot showers
- having the heat on in the house
- using a deodorant soap or cleanser
To help prevent winter itch;
- Leave a pan or glass of water out in your house to add moisture in the air
- Use a humidifier
- Drink lots of water to hydrate from the inside out
- Use a moisturizing cleanser, such as bath butter by Touch’d which is made with sweet almond oil
- Take lukewarm showers not lasting more than 15 minutes
- Apply a moisturizer immediately after shower, while the skin is still wet
- Do not scratch your skin if itchy, this causes more damage. Place a cool cloth on the itchy area to sooth the itch
- Use Touch’d organic sugar scrub 2-3 times per week. The sugar will gently exfoliate dead skin cells while the medicinal oils penetrate into the skin to help the healing process, as well as, adding much needed moisture. (Of course I’m bias with this)
In the winter the air is dry, evaporating the moisture on our skin. The hotter the shower, the more water we take out of our skin. When we turn the heat on in the house, it drys out the air around us and the water from our skin evaporates easily, leaving our skin dry.
Do you have another tip? Please tell me!
Thanks for the great tips. I have horrible dry skin in the winter.
The hardest thing is not to take hot showers!
I LOVE sugar scrubs! They are just so decadent!
When I get Touch’d up and running I’ll need to remember to have you review it!
I can always use great tips like these during the harsh winter!
Heidi
Glad I can help!
Thanks for the tips. My 5-year old has had terrible eczema since she was an infant, and last winter even got an infection from scratching so much. Yuck! I stopped using fabric softener a long time ago and stick mostly to laundry detergents that are hypo-allergenic/free of colors and scents.
It’s so terrible when our children have to go through that! That’s what got me started with my line. I was fortunate to have a cosmetology background.
Last night, I took off my black shirt, and saw just how dry my skin was! i did a sea salt scrub this morning. Whew. thanks for the tips. I’m counting the days until spring!
Scrubs really do work when used right. The other tips really help too but all are not easy to do but should be done.
Love these tips. I do not take hot showers just because I don’t like hot water. My biggest problem is keeping my fluid intake up.
Love the tips I can always use tips
For the cracks you get on your finger tips,I use chapstick.
Great tip Tara
This is so helpful! Did you know that there’s a medical condition that causes dry skin too? It’s called Sjogren’s Syndrome and I have it. These tips are gonna get me started back on track with my dry, flaky skin.
Connie Good luck – I know all these and have a hard time with the showers but it’s a must do.
Thanks for the great tips! For me, the hardest one is avoiding long, hot showers.
I agree- that’s mine too!
I LOVE the Touch’d Sugar Scrubs and my mom recently told me she’s been using pure olive oil at night and her hands have never been better in the winter!
I know you’re one of my biggest fans xoxo- Olive oil is wonderful! Maybe we should send mom some Touch’d
My son suffers from really dry winter skin. It’s so hard to tell a kid not to scratch!
Jess- email me, I’d like to know how old he is- I created Touch’d for my daughter when she was young
The glass of water in the room is a new one for me. I’ll try it. Goodness knows this dry Colorado home can use it. I’ll have to give Touch’d a try. Love sweet almond oil. Thanks.
I’ve found that if the water isn’t enough to put moisture in the air, a humidifier works great! and yes you have to try Touch’d!