Although the wintertime season brings holiday spirit it also brings its own share of skin care challenges. Skin naturally dries out when people leave the cold outdoors and retreat inside to a heated room. It doesn’t take long, though, to see how skin can turn dry in no time at all.

Below are some tips to help make this winter transition easier and keep skin looking good from head to toe.

Showering and Bathing:

Although the temptation will be there to turn up the heat, bring the water temperature down to warm. The hotter the water is the more moisture is removed from the skin.

When it comes to choosing a washing formula, stay away from standard soaps. These products will dry out the skin, too. Virgin olive oil is a wonderful ingredient in soaps especially if it’s packed with vitamins which nourishes the skin and leaves it silky smooth.

Body Moisturizer:

After bathing, leave the skin slightly damp for a body moisturizer. That extra dampness will actually penetrate more moisture into the skin. Different products are found in butters, creams, lotions, oils and ointments. They act as a wonderful barrier against dry skin. In the wintertime, butters are an excellent choice. Above all, never use a body moisturizer for face care because it can trigger a sensitivity reaction.

There are many wonderful ingredients in a body moisturizer but the most sterling of them include:

• Cocoa Butter
• Coconut Oil
• Jojoba oil
• Aloe Vera
• Nut Extracts
• Shea Butter

And don’t forget to apply the moisturizer to hands, feet and toes to ward off dryness and cracking.

Facial Moisturizer:

A moisturizer for the face should hydrate while providing antioxidant benefits to keep the skin looking young. Look for a peptide formula which halts trans-epidermal water loss. Other wonderful formulas are coffee berry and pro-niacin.

Treating Chapped Lips:

Generally, it takes a week to treat chapped lips. But never lick those dry lips because it will worsen matters. Instead, find a lip balm that has no petroleum-derived products. Look for balms and conditioners with the following formulas:

• Aloe Vera
• Coconut Oil
• Shea butter

In The Home:

When setting your thermostat, try not to keep it too warm. The heat can actually cause skin dryness, too. Another tip before bedtime is to turn on a humidifier near the bed. This little machine can actually hydrate the skin. Remember to check its water levels a few times a week.

Also avoid using detergents that have fragrant formulas. These ingredients may irritate and dry out the skin.

Treating wintertime skin really doesn’t take much of a time commitment to restore it to a more luminous and youthful glow.