You Don’t Have to Live with Dry Itchy Skin in Winter
Skin is often regarded as a thing of beauty; women make attempts to care for it using countless topical products such as creams, toners, moisture gels, oils, detoxifying masks, exfoliating scrubs, 
etc. Then, they apply foundation and powder along with applying various colors on their cheeks, lips and eyes. Men will also purchase moisturizers, toners, scrubs, shave gels, after shaves and even tinted concealors and makeup to help improve the look of their skin. However, for both men and women, healthy looking naked skin has a natural glow that shows off balanced natural tones and doesn’t appear oily, dry, discolored or uneven. Many factors contribute to the overall health and look of skin, including our diet, genetics, the topical products we use and even the seasons of the year. For instance, during the summer months, increased perspiration often results in oily skin, and now as winter approaches, men and women alike are often fighting dryer skin, and it can be a difficult battle at times.
The first thing to consider when seeking healthier skin is that your skin is not just your face—it happens to be the largest organ of your body, so while a great emphasis from product manufacturers is on giving you more stuff to put on your face—your skin covers the majority of your entire body and all of it deserves your care and attention. And, when it comes to dry skin, you will often find dry patches in different areas of your body most susceptible to dryness such as around your nose and cheeks, chin, elbows, knees, feet and hands and don’t forget chapped, rough, splitting or peeling lips. However, it’s important to take notice of all of your skin because sometimes a dry patch will appear behind your ears, around your scalp, even on your arms, legs and torso. Accurately identifying all of your problem areas is important to help determine the best form of treatment and to ensure that you treat all areas that need the extra attention.
Knowing how to identify dry skin is important. You’ll notice certain symptoms such as flaking skin, a rough or hard patch of skin, crusted skin, cracked skin, peeling skin or even just a red irritated spot of skin. You may have less severe symptoms of dry skin, also, such as a slight dry texture, dull skin that shows a lack of glow or luster—all of these are symptoms of dry skin. While dry skin can be troublesome in any climate, under any conditions and during any season, the winter months seem to be particularly rough on dry skin. From the cold drying air outside to the dry heat we use to warm our rooms and keeping ourselves bundled up in warm clothes not exposing our skin to as much fresh air and also the fact that sometimes we neglect to drink as much water as we would normally do when the temperature is warmer or skip some topical moisturizing rituals as we think it’s not as important with our skin all covered up.
Here are some tips to help keep your skin moist and healthy through the winter months:
- Drink ample amounts of water and hydrating liquids such as unsweetened herbal teas. Feel free to flavor your water or herbal tea with fresh fruit such as pineapple, lemons, oranges and strawberries. You can even infuse fresh water with cucumber, mint or ginger. Drinking 6-10 glasses of fresh water per day (more if you have been participating in significant physical activity) is critical to hydrating your skin from the inside out.
- Take supplements and/or maintain a diet rich in Omega 3 Fatty Acids. Foods rich in these healthy fats include oily fish such as salmon, tuna, mackerel, sardines and anchovies. Also nuts, seeds and other fatty vegetables such as avocados contain healthy fats that are wonderful for your skin.
- Use natural topical cleansers, exfoliants and organic moisturizers or even coconut oil, seeded grapes, egg whites, clay and avocado.
- To treat areas that are especially dry, clean the area thoroughly then moisten with water. Next, apply unfiltered coconut oil directly to the area and cover: for hands—cover with gloves, for feet—cover with socks, for elbows and knees—cover with a bandage, for areas on arms, legs and torso—cover with a patch.
- To help dry, chapped lips, use warm water and scrub loose skin off with a washcloth, then while still moist apply coconut oil or an organic lip balm.