Dry Winter Skin? These 10 Products Can Help

By: Tajiya Holland

Are you wondering why your skincare products are not working anymore? They are, and they will, but not for the dry cold air of winter. And to top it off, the artificial heat blasting throughout indoor spaces is not helping your skin. Patches of roughness, dryness, and cracks can be present from your scalp to your heels. Dealing with these skin issues can be brutal and rushing to change your routine is overwhelming. Before we get to product recommendations, let’s discuss the ingredients that can help soothe dry, winter skin.

Key ingredients to look for:

Hyaluronic acid naturally occurs in the body and is a humectant that draws moisture in.
Ceramides are the fatty acids in your skin that help restore and maintain moisture and hydration. They form part of the barrier to prevent transepidermal water loss.
Glycerin is a humectant that secures moisture within the cells to stay hydrated and soothe inflammation.
Shea Butter is an emollient that the skin absorbs, retains moisture, and smooths the surface.
Vitamin E protects the skin from the drying effects of free radicals and boosts moisture levels. This vitamin can be present in different sources, such as almond oil or avocados.

A few tips when applying these products are to do so on damp skin, use them overnight, and adjust when need be. While all these products may not suit all skin conditions, see what best serves your needs. They all pack what is needed to keep skin feeling and looking healthy during this season.

Product recommendations to soothe dry, winter skin:

Briogeo Scalp Revival Hydration Mask

Have an itch and flake-free scalp with this mask. It’s formulated with binchotan charcoal, coconut, tea tree, and peppermint oil. Together these ingredients detoxify and purify the scalp to decrease irritation and increase hydration. As a bonus, 98% of this mask naturally derives from plants.

Photo: Briogeo

La Roche-Posay Toleriane Hydrating Facial Cleanser

Are you annoyed with the tight and stripped feeling after washing your face? Avoid that entirely with this cleanser. This soap-free formula cleanses the skin of impurities and makeup but maintains the natural moisture barrier. This is due to the prebiotic thermal spring water, niacinamide, and ceramide-3 within.

Photo: La Roche-Posay

Origins Drink Up Overnight Hydration Mask

Want to wake up with moisturized skin? Massage this mask into your skin at bedtime to revile nourished skin in the morning. It contains top-tier moisturizing ingredients such as avocado, glacier water, urea, hyaluronic acid, and more. There is no need for rinsing, and hydrated skin for 72 hours follows.

Photo: Origins

Kiehl’s Ultra Face Cream

Increase your skin hydration, strengthen the barrier, and improve dryness with this cream. Its key ingredients, squalane, glycerin, and glacial glycoprotein, your skin will retain moisture for 24 hours. It has a silky, lightweight consistency that effortlessly spreads and absorbs into the skin.

Photo: Kiehl’s

Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask

Wake up with the perfect pout after using this mask. Licking your lips never solves the dryness issue. After a few nights of continuous usage, your lips will no longer be chapped and cracked but soft and supple. Key ingredients in this bestseller are hyaluronic acid, Vitamin C, and antioxidants from a blend of berries.

Photo: Laneige

L’Occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream

Keep forgetting to wear your gloves? Soothe your dry hands with this omega-rich cream. Enriched with shea butter creates a creamy formula that quickly absorbs into the skin. Your hands are left smooth and silky without the uncomfortable greasy effect.

Photo: Sephora

Eucerin Skin Calming Body Wash

Your skin has already been through enough with the harsh weather; calm it with this soap-free wash. It’s an oil that produces a light lather but leaves no residue behind. The soybean and castor oils are omega and lipid-rich soothing any dry or itchy feelings. Step out of the shower with the softest skin.

Photo: Eucerin

Fresh Brown Sugar Body Polish

You can be rid of dead skin while moisturizing new reviled skin with this physical exfoliant. Brown sugar gently buffs away dry, dull skin, in addition to a humectant that seals in moisture. There are added benefits to brown sugar, such as vitamin b and a softer texture vs. white sugar. The blend of oils such as primrose, jojoba, sweet almond, and apricot kernel nourish and moisturize the skin.

Photo: Fresh

First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream

Feel immediate relief from dehydrated skin with this cream. It’s nourishing to relieve dryness and even eczema. The star ingredients are colloidal oatmeal, shea butter, allantoin, and ceramide-3. Together these alleviate itching and irritation caused by skin conditions, moisturize and protect the skin barrier, and maintain calmness. It also contains licorice root, feverfew, and white tea extracts to stave off environmental aggressors. Size up to use this from head to toe.

Photo: First Aid Beauty

Baby Foot Exfoliation Peel

Transform your cracked heels into feeling like a baby’s bottom with this peel. This treatment takes an hour, your feet will not look the prettiest for a few days, but after a week or so, your feet will look brand new. The peel gently removes all the dead skin layer by layer. It contains fruit acids that penetrate and exfoliate, revealing soft skin underneath.

Photo: Baby Foot