Winter skincare: how to avoid dry skin in winter
Winter is a charming season, full of allure and magic. With its cold temperatures and intense weather, it offers a unique and unforgettable beauty. However, for the skin, it can turn out to be a less happy period: with the cold, wind and dry air, the skin - especially that of the face and hands - can become irritated and chapped, losing radiance and beauty. That's why it's necessary to adjust one's beauty routine to prevent the onset of dry skin in winter.
Let's discover together what the skin needs during this period and how to provide it with proper winter skincare.
What the skin needs in winter: hydration!
In winter, the skin has to face tough conditions: cold, wind and dry air outside, combined with the temperature fluctuations due to moving into heated indoor environments, can quickly deplete the skin's moisture, leaving it dry, irritated and sometimes cracked.
Indeed, the cold and temperature changes weaken the hydrolipidic film, made up of water and sebum, reducing its ability to maintain optimal skin moisture levels.
To counteract these effects, it's crucial to provide the skin with extra hydration and more intense protection. Effective winter skincare should therefore include products that not only restore lost moisture but also help to strengthen the skin barrier.
What ingredients to choose to hydrate and nourish dry skin in winter
If the skin is more prone to dryness with the cold, it's important to choose skincare products that are emollient and nourishing, that hydrate and help maintain healthy and velvety skin. An effective routine can include creams, oils, masks and emollients that have the most suitable and specific active ingredients for the need.
Some of the components that are essential in winter skincare to prevent dry skin include:
- Hyaluronic acid: one of the main components of the skin's connective tissue, it helps to retain water and counteract skin aging by acting on wrinkles and expression lines.
- Shea butter: a natural emollient rich in nutrients with notable toning and antioxidant properties, particularly effective on dry skin, to which it provides radiance and well-being.
- Coconut oil: its fatty and oily consistency helps to nourish the skin and maintain hydration.
- Olive oil: supports the skin's protection from external aggressions and prevents dehydration thanks to the presence of vitamins A and E.
- Cocoa butter: rich in fatty acids that penetrate beyond the skin surface, promoting its health and softness.
- Glycerin: a moisture attractor that helps keep the skin hydrated and soft.
- Ceramides: strengthen the skin barrier and prevent moisture loss.
- Sweet almond oil: an excellent moisturizer, rich in vitamins E and A, that nourishes and softens the skin, making it ideal for sensitive or dry skin.
Finally, we cannot exclude thermal water from the list, which can bring significant benefits to the skin, as it is rich in minerals and trace elements that give it soothing and moisturizing properties.
Thermae Il Tempio della Salute products also contain, in addition to hydrating ingredients like sweet almond oil and hyaluronic acid, the fossil water of Salsomaggiore which, in particular, is rich in sodium chloride, bromine and iodine, elements that have decongestant, anti-inflammatory and stimulating properties. Moreover, it contains calcium, magnesium and potassium, which are essential for dry and sensitive skin, in addition to manganese and zinc, which promote cell regeneration.
Winter Skincare to avoid dry skin
During winter, to keep the skin soft and radiant despite the harsh weather, it's important to adopt a specific winter skincare routine that can adapt to the needs the skin faces during this season, preventing the onset of dryness and irritation.
Here are the essential steps for winter skincare.
1. Gentle Cleansing
For your winter beauty routine, start with a cleansing that is gentle yet effective. Choose creamy or oily cleansers that remove impurities and traces of pollution while preserving the skin's natural oils. This step is crucial in the morning to keep the hydrolipidic barrier intact, protecting the skin from external aggressions and preventing dryness.
During this period, you can try our Olea cleansing and makeup-removing oil or the Gemina silky face butter for an immediately cleaner, brighter and softer face.
2. Exfoliation with Gommage
After cleansing, it's essential to perform a gentle exfoliation a couple of times a week. Use a gommage, which has a more delicate action compared to a scrub, leaves the skin smooth and radiant and also improves the absorption of subsequent treatments, such as serums and creams.
You can try our Pumilia gommage or, alternatively, the Adamante exfoliating mousse, with its gentle yet decisive action, reshapes cellular turnover, exfoliates and restores freshness and vitality to the skin tissue.
3. Application of Soothing Toner
Toner is the next step in your winter skincare routine.
A good toner helps to rebalance the skin's pH after cleansing, calming any redness or irritation and preparing the skin to better absorb subsequent treatments. Opt for alcohol-free formulas, enriched with soothing ingredients like rose water or aloe vera, the latter also contained in our gentle Fiordaliso toner.
4. Application of Nourishing Serum
Serum is a key product for any winter routine. Choose concentrated formulas with antioxidants, which not only deeply nourish the skin but also protect it from environmental aggressions, such as cold and pollution. Apply our rebalancing Serum before the moisturizing cream for deeply hydrated skin that lasts.
5. Moisturizing
Moisturizing cream is the heart of your winter routine. Choose a richer formula than the one you use in summer, with hydrating ingredients like hyaluronic acid, emollients like shea butter and nourishing oils like argan oil. These ingredients help to seal moisture into the skin, nourishing it and protecting it from dryness and cold.
Pay attention to the eye contour as well, using specific moisturizers like our gentle Aquagen cream, along with hand creams and lip balms, which are parts of the body more subject to the harsh winter climate.
6. Extra Hydrating treatment
Incorporating moisturizing masks into your weekly routine, such as our Ra and Idrata masks, or nourishing oils is a great way to give your skin an extra boost of hydration and nourishment. Using these products once or twice a week can make a big difference, especially for drier or more stressed areas.
7. Application of sun protection or night cream
Finally, if it's a morning skincare routine, choose a sunscreen with an adequate UV protection factor, even in winter.
For an evening skincare routine, conclude with repairing and renewing night creams - like our Nocturna - containing retinol, peptides or alpha hydroxy acids, to promote cell renewal and improve skin texture during the night's rest.
To avoid dry winter skin, the right habits are needed in addition to cosmetics
For winter skincare to be effective, the choice of the best products for the skin must be accompanied by the use of warm clothing and a proper diet. Also, keeping the home temperature around 20°C can help, ideally using air humidifiers to limit thermal fluctuations that cause vasoconstriction and skin redness as much as possible.
Finally, one should avoid overly hot showers and baths, as they contribute to stripping the skin of its natural protective barrier, which can lead to moisture loss and make it drier.
With these simple measures, it's possible to help the skin protect itself from the consequences of winter cold and maintain its beauty and radiance.
Don't let the cold put your skin to the test: pamper your skin with thermal water-based cosmetics.
