Winter in New York can be a challenge: avoiding getting splashed with grey slush; trying not to slip on icy sidewalks; trying to match your clothing to the cold outside and desert temperatures of your office (if you’re back in the office yet); and that’s not even mentioning this dumb, enduring virus.
Your skin has an especially hard time during winter in the city. So, in these two blogs of November, let’s get into why this is so, and what you can do about it. Let’s break our two Romeo & Juliette blogs into five reasons and fixes each.
- The weather
Did you just utter, “uh duh?” Of course, the winter weather is a culprit behind your dry winter skin. Without the usual New York humidity, the air is cold and dry, so water evaporates more quickly from your skin, making it feel dry and tight, and looking flaky. Winter skin loses 25 percent of its ability to hold moisture.
Protect your skin by wearing protective clothing, including gloves and scarves. Apply moisturizing lotion that contains ingredients like glycerin that help hold moisture in your skin.
- Indoor heating
Another “duh!” Dry indoor heat dries out everything, not just your skin. It chaps your lips, dries out your mucous membranes causing nose bleeds, and dries your throat.
Try and turn down your heat, so it’s not an oven indoors. And add a humidifier, which can replace the moisture being sucked out by the indoor heat.
- Long hot showers and baths
Your psyche may like the idea of a long, really hot bath, but your skin’s not a fan. The combination of the hot water and soaking can strip your skin of its protective oils.
Limit time in a bath to 10 minutes and try and keep the temperature at warm not hot.
- Don’t forget the body
It’s easy to forget about putting lotion on our body during winter, as it’s covered up most of the time. It’s just as important to apply body lotion to your arms and legs in winter. Otherwise, get ready for some itching.
Apply a rich body lotion after showering to lock in moisture. Apply again before bed. Again, look for glycerin in the ingredients.
- Mucho hand washing
We all wash our hands more in the winter to avoid the germs your sick co-worker is bringing to the office. That’s even more the case in this COVID-19 world. Hand sanitizers also have high concentrations of alcohol and they dry your skin. This can lead to dry, cracked skin that can even bleed. Ouch.
You could carry your own moisturizing liquid hand soap, but that could seem almost OCD to many people. At least have a hand cream in your purse or nearby in your office to put on your hands after washing them for the 20th time of the day!
OK, that’s our first five causes and tips for dry winter skin. In our second blog, we’ll hit five more. November, of course, is also a great time to start getting rid of that unwanted hair. You’ll need multiple sessions at Romeo & Juliette Laser Hair Removal to get rid of the amount of hair you seek permanently. Call us at (212) 750-2000 to set up your first appointment.
