Ah winter, you fickle friend. We love you for giving us an excuse to bundle up on the couch with some hot chocolate (or wine) and shamelessly Netflix binge. We love you for your fashion—for the felt hats, and the never ending options of boots and jumpers. But we also hate you for the havoc you play on our skin.
As if the months of the harsh summer sun aren’t enough, you now come at us with face-stinging wind and cold. Our hard earned tans disappear, and our skin begins to flake like we’re some sort of human-snake hybrid thing.
We’ve taken it upon ourselves to curate a list of tips and tricks so that you, our dear readers, are fully prepared to be able to indulge guilt free in the greatness of winter (and by that we mean shamelessly Netflix binging... whilst looking fab.)
Tip 1: Banish The Snake Skin
We’ve all been there: that moment when we take off our jeans in the middle of winter, look at our pasty white legs, and feel like all of a sudden we’ve got scales. Then we start to wonder if we’re doing a reverse Ariel from the Little Mermaid... Our best winter skin tip for those shedding legs is to exfoliate those flakes away! Use a hand mitt or a brush, or a scrub—but either way, exfoliate as if it’s your last day on earth.
Tip 2: Soak Up All The Moisture
Now that you’ve banished the scaley outer lining that has suddenly appeared out of nowhere, you need to prevent it from happening again. Or try to, anyway. As the temperature dips, and we begin to abuse our internal heating, water evaporates from our skin (and that still happens when it rains, believe it or not). So here's your three word winter slogan: moisturise, moisturise, moisturise! In the shower or out, lather it up baby, because you’ll need it.
Tip 3: Ditch Those Dry Lips
You’re trying to apply your favourite lipstick—while longingly wishing it was a Kylie Jenner Lip Kit—when you hit a road bump. Your lips are a flaky nightmare, and that beautiful colour that you’re trying to apply just looks like a hot mess. One of our personal favourite ways to fix lips that are flakier than puff pastry, is a quick DIY scrub mixture of sugar and honey. Mix them up together, rub it on your lips with your finger, and watch the flakes disappear. It's also wise to invest in a good quality lip balm so that next time you whip out your lippy, it’ll be smooth sailing all the way.
Tip 4: Go Coconuts For Oil
Coconut oil seems to be the holy grail for health foodies at the moment—yet, it has got more benefits than just having a high smoke point and giving your food delicious flavour. It’s also amazing for dry hair! The coconut oil relaxes the hair follicles, boosts growth, and restores more moisture than a moisturising shampoo can dream of. Food safe coconut oil also works in your hair, so you'll also be saving mullah by having a multi-use product in your cupboard. Warm some coconut oil in your palms and massage it into your scalp or your ends—wherever your hair needs a little boost. Cover your hair with a shower cap and leave on for 20-60 minutes, then wash out. Disclaimer: you’ll most likely need to do multiple shampoos to get all the oil out, but the glossy, shiny, smooth hair afterwards is worth the sore arms from all that shampooing...
Tip 5: Save Water
Admit it, there’s nothing better than a long, steaming hot shower on a cold day. As much as we love the indulgence, our guilty pleasure is actually damaging more than just our diminishing water supplies. That extra hot water strips the skin of its natural protective oils—which as we know, are already in short supply in winter. So save water and save your skin—and lower your bills all in one go!
Tip 6: Treat Yo Hands
I know that a lot of us are partial to a mani here and there, and often our nails are the only parts that we really pay all that much attention to. Don’t forget to keep your cuticles in tip top condition with a good quality cuticle oil. It’ll help extend the life of your mani, as well as deliver immaculate nail beds. The rest of your hands are equally as important during winter, and deserve to be indulged. A handbag sized hand cream can become your saving grace—say goodbye to leathery hands forever!
Written by Aimee Bricker. Image credit: pinmakeuptips.com