by Megan Minnick, Purchasing Director
There’s no escaping it. Winter in the upper Midwest means dry skin—in all its itchy, rough, cracking, flaky, and uncomfortable glory.
As a Wisconsin native, I’ve experienced my share of dry skin. The vast majority of the moisturizers I’ve tried seem to help for a few minutes but don’t really do much in the long term. The lotion evaporates quickly, leaving my skin just as dry and uncomfortable as it was to start with. So what’s the secret to keeping skin hydrated in the winter? I sat down with our General Merchandise Category Manager Sara Berg to get some answers. Here’s what I learned!
Why is Our Skin Drier in the Winter?
Weather. Cold winter temperatures leave very little water in the air to replenish our skin’s natural moisture. The frigid winds of a Wisconsin winter make this drying effect even worse.
Dry Heat. Who doesn’t love to curl up next to a fireplace or a heater on a cold winter day? Turns out your skin doesn’t. To counteract winter cold, we tend to crank up the heat indoors, and all that dry heat sucks even more moisture out of our skin.
Hot Water. A long, hot, shower can do wonders to take the chill out of a cold day, but just like the dry heat from a fireplace or furnace, very hot water can be damaging and drying to our skin.
How do Moisturizers Work?
In order to get to the bottom of the problem of dry skin and choose a moisturizer that’s right for you, it’s helpful to first understand how moisturizers work. Most moisturizers include a mixture of these three types of ingredients:
Emollients. When our skin dries out, it becomes damaged, resulting in rough patches, cracking, and general discomfort. Emollients are substances that fill in the cracks and work to smooth, soften, and heal.
In natural bodycare products, emollients are generally plant-derived oils such as coconut oil, palm oil, sweet almond oil, avocado oil, argan oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, and olive oil. Some emollients like borage oil, evening primrose oil, and rosehip seed oil also contain antioxidants and vitamins that help protect and heal skin that has been damaged due to dryness or other factors.
Occlusives. Occlusives create a physical barrier on top of your skin, locking in the water and keeping your skin moist and hydrated. When looking to alleviate dry winter skin, it’s imperative to seek out products that contain ingredients with occlusive properties, because otherwise any moisture quickly evaporates into the air, leaving your skin just as dry as it started.
Petroleum Jelly is a well known occlusive. For those of us looking to avoid synthetic and petroleum-based products, beeswax, shea butter, cocoa butter, jojoba, and lanolin are all very effective and natural occlusives.
Humectants. Emollients do a great job of smoothing and softening and occlusives hold moisture in, but neither actually adds moisture back into your skin. This is the job of the humectants—”water-loving” substances that actively draw in moisture from their surroundings. When applied, humectants attract water to the upper layer of your skin, either from the air or from the lower levels of your dermis.
Conventional moisturizers often use synthetic, petroleum-based humectants such as propylene glycol and butylene glycol. We prefer humectants derived naturally from plants such as glycerine, aloe vera, seaweed, and honey.
It’s important that humectant ingredients be paired with occlusives. Without the barrier provided by the occlusive, the water that’s drawn up from the deeper levels of your skin by the humectant just evaporates, leaving you with drier skin than when you started.
Which are the Best Products for Dry Skin?
Balms & Lotion Bars. These are the thickest, densest moisturizers, typically containing a high amount of occlusive ingredients. Because they create a thick barrier between your skin and the dry winter air, balms and lotion bars are some of the best products for combating dry winter skin—but they also tend to be heavy and greasy, and by design, they don’t soak in very quickly since they’re really only working as long as they’re present on the top of your skin. For these reasons, many people prefer to use them only at night.
We recommend Booda Butter, Badger Balm, and lotion bars from Moon Valley Organics, and LuSa Organics.
Creams. Creams are thicker than lotions, but not quite as thick and greasy as balms or lotion bars. They tend to have a good balance of occlusive ingredients, emollients, and humectants.
We recommend the Seaweed Bath Company Body Cream and ShiKai Borage Therapy Hand Cream.
Lotions. For daytime, frequent application, lotions are usually a good bet. They tend to be thinner than balms or creams, feel lighter and “silkier,” and contain a higher proportion of emollients. Because they contain less occlusive ingredients, lotions can seem to “evaporate” from your skin quickly and must be applied frequently.
Some of our favorite moisturizing lotions include Alaffia EveryDay Shea Body Lotion and ShiKai Borage Therapy Lotion.
Tips for Preventing Winter Dry Skin
While there’s no avoiding dry winter skin, there are some things you can do to help minimize the problem.
Bathing and showering.
Apply a moisturizer right away after bathing, when your pores are open and your skin is well-hydrated. Make sure the product you use includes a good amount of occlusive ingredients to prevent moisture from evaporating.
Keep baths and showers short (10 minutes or fewer) and use lukewarm water instead of hot water.
Avoid harsh soaps.
Pat dry with a soft towel rather than vigorously rubbing your skin.
Stay hydrated.
In winter, there’s not a whole lot of moisture in the air for those humectant ingredients to pull water from, so make sure you have a good reserve of water in your lower dermis by staying hydrated.
Use a humidifier.
Wear gloves and cover as much skin as you can when going outside to protect it from the harsh winter cold.
Avoid sitting in the direct dry heat from a fireplace or heater.