Wintertime can be harsh, especially on our skin, and Sandra DiPietro, manager at True Balance says the most common winter skin concerns she hears from clients are dry skin and enhanced fine lines and wrinkles.
But sticking to a skin care routine and making some small additions can help you, and your skin skate smoothly through another Alberta winter.
“Fine lines will be more apparent in the wintertime because your skin is not as juicy and not as plump as it is in the summertime,” DiPietro says. “So I think it’s just a matter of keeping up with your skincare routine. If you don’t do it every day, it’s not going to do its job.”
A daily skin care routine includes cleansing, which she recommends twice daily.
“Cleansing is definitely important because that’s removing that dirt, bacteria and oil that’s been sitting there all day and allowing your moisturizers to work the best way they can.”
Another daily must-do is applying sunblock – year round. DiPietro recommends a minimum of SPF 30. Sunblock comes in lotion form, but brands like Colour Science offer an SPF powder that comes in a refillable brush for convenience.
“Instead of putting a cream product on,” DiPietro says. “All you do is just put on your regular moisturizers and serums on, and then you can just use it as a powder and it’s an actual sun protection.”
Skin very often can use a moisture boost in the winter and DiPietro says that a vitamin C serum is an excellent product to add to your winter skin care regime. It is a natural antioxidant that not only hydrates, but also helps to protect skin.
“It oxidizes the skin, helps prevent future sun damage, can treat age spots and could help with environmental pollution in the air,” she says. “So it kind of acts like an invisible block on the skin.”
Cleansing, moisturizing and applying sunblock are daily essentials for healthy skin, but there are extra treatments that can help keep skin supple in the chilly months. DiPietro says microdermabrasion, chemical peels and exfoliation can remove the upper layer of dead skin tissue and help prevent dryness.
“Basically what happens is when someone’s very dry, they have all this dry skin tissue and dry flakes when they put the moisturizer on, all it’s doing is absorbing into those dry flakes and it’s not actually helping anything, it’s just feeling nice temporarily,” DiPietro says. “So when somebody actually does a mild exfoliation or even a mild chemical peel, microdermabrasion with no down time, those things can actually assist in better penetration for their moisturizers and their serums.”
When it comes to choosing skin care products, DiPietro says it’s important to find what is right for you.
“There’s a million products out there,” she says. “It doesn’t mean that everything is good for everybody, so you have to find what works for your specific skin type.”
