Winter is quickly approaching and with this season skin issues seem to rise, especially in areas with extreme cold and snowy weather. Honestly most people think that the ones who suffer in this season are the ones who regularly suffer from dry skin but even those with oily skin are not safe from winter’s skin drying wrath. Thankfully though you don’t need to go out and invest in a whole new skin routine to get through winter, you will just need to make some adjustments to make sure your skin continues to thrive through this drying time.
Why is winter so Harsh on Our Skin?
During this time of year the air literally becomes drier and there is less moisture in the air. This lack of humidity unfortunately means your skin will start to struggle to obtain moisture from its surroundings and retain it; getting moisture from the environment is actually an essential component for healthy skin. This dry air is not only outdoors either. In winter time most of us crank up the thermostat in our homes to keep them nice and toasty. However the air flow created by your home heating system also tends to be very drying to your skin because it also lacks moisture. Being consistently surrounded by all this dry air all the time can cause our skin to freak out and overreact in a sense.
Identifying if You Are Suffering From Dry or Oily Skin
If you are one of those people who seem to have what feels like seasonal oily skin during these colder months it’s probably because your skin is actually dry and not truly oily. During this time your skin will become tight, flaky, red and sometimes itchy all over. When this happens your skin will basically go in to a system overhaul and start trying to produce more of its own natural oils. This overproduction can create excess oil, leaving our skin feeling oily in areas or even cause blemishes. Now even though you may want to go out and grab new toners and cleansers that will help slow this down you may need to actually look into making these adjustments to fight off dry itchy winter skin.
Now if you’re dealing with oily skin in the areas of the T-zone on your face, you probably truly do have oily skin. Your T-zone is the area of your face that has the most secreting oil glands and it is made up of your forehead, nose and chin. When you have oily skin in these areas your pores may be visibly larger as compared to the other areas of your face and this area may also look extra shiny or greasy looking.
How to Adjust Your Skin Care Routine to Combat Oily Skin during the Winter Time
Like we said before during the winter you only need to make adjustments to your skin care routine not completely change it.
- Cleansing: You can probably stick to your current cleanser and hopefully it’s a mild cleanser; you don’t want to use anything harsh because it can breakdown your skin barrier and cause your skin to become dry and irritated.
- Toning: You may want to swap out your toner for something gentler, like a water based toner or an AHA or BHA acid. These types of products help with oil control but also help with moisture.
- Moisturizing: You will want to stick with something that is non pore clogging, lightweight, and has a balanced water to oil ratio. If you choose anything that heavy, rich, or oily it can actually clog your pores and you can end up with breakouts. If you do need to look for a new moisturizer you can check out how Skin MD works and see if a shielding lotion is the best option for you and your skin.
The Bottom Line
Everyone’s skin is different; there isn’t necessarily a clear wrong or right way to treat it because our skin’s needs may vary from day to day and oily skin will vary from person to person. The best thing you can do is to create a balanced skin care routine, research your products and know that it may take time to see the results you’re looking for.
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