Do's and Don'ts for Dry Skin

Winter is here which means flaky, cracking skin is right around the corner. Low humidity and bitter cold winds demolish our skin's moisture. This cold season, amp up your skin care routine to keep your skin looking radiant.

Dry skin can be frustrating and painful. Irritated, scratchy skin can make anyone feel uncomfortable all winter long. Prevent suffering from dry, sensitive skin this season by combining the right active ingredients to lock in moisture. Lucky for you, I created a list of ingredient do's and don'ts to rehydrate your dry skin.

Stock up on Oils

Our skin produces sebum, a hydrating oil to lock in moisture to prevent dry skin. For some, your natural secretion of sebum doesn't stand a chance against brutal winters. Dry skin is a direct result from lack of oil in our pores, making oil based products your best friend this season. The best facial cleanser to use is an oil based cleanser with moisturizing ingredients. Cleansers are important to include in your winter skin care routine to remove dirt and dead skin cells from your pores to make room for added moisture. The youth to the people superfood cleanser is gentle on dry skin and is filled with ingredients like vitamins E, C and K. This brand is vegan, cruelty-free and excludes harmful ingredients like parabens from their products.

Hyaluronic acid is the holy grail ingredient for any dry skin product. The oil is found in many moisturizers and cleansers because of its power to draw in moisture. Hyaluronic acid relieves your skin of that tight and irritated feeling while reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Better looking and hydrated skin without irritation? Win-Win

Squalane is a natural oil, derived from olives, effective at sealing moisture and preventing it from escaping. Don't worry about break outs this season. This ingredient reflects our natural squalene oil, working together to increase our skins hydration without irritation or clogging pores.

Our skin loses vitamin E during the winter so adding a retinol serum to your night time skin care routine is essential. It may feel like your cracked, dry skin can't handle anti-aging products during the winter but retinol increases hydration and prevents aging skin. Vitamin E helps sooth irritated skin and promotes elasticity.

Lactic Acid is a chemical exfoliant anyone with dry skin should use year-round. Commonly found in toners or serums, lactic acid is a gentle exfoliator known for removing dead skin cells from our pores. Exfoliating scrubs are going to rip and tear your skin apart in the winter. Replace your facial scrub this season with lactic acid to prevent additional damage to your skin.

Products for oily skin are designed to reduce oil creation. Avoid using products for oily skin when your skin is flaky and tight. Ingredients like salicylic acid, alcohol, and benzoyl peroxide will dry out your skin even more.

Do:

• Oil Cleansers

• Hyaluronic Acid

• Lactic Acid

• Retinol

• Squalane

• Moisturizing Creams

Don't:

• Facial Scrubs

• Water or Gel based products

• Fragrances

• Parabens

• Salicylic acid

• Alcohol

• Products for oily skin