Wintertime is a little bit drier for most everybody. With our heaters on, it takes a lot of the humidity out of the air, and I see a lot more people coming into my treatment room complaining of their skin feeling really dry, itchy, and irritated.
One of the big culprits that can cause skin to be even drier in the winter is the type of cleanser that you're using.
Cleansers are designed to remove things from your skin. They're designed to bind to oil and sweat and dirt and remove it from your skin. So, you need to be careful about what cleanser you choose and base it off of how much oil your skin typically is producing at this current time.
Sometimes you may need to switch up your cleanser in the wintertime because your skin may have less oil to work with.
For example, a foaming cleanser is going to take the most oil out of your skin. Anything that foams is going to take the most oil out of your skin, be it a makeup remover or cleanser. So, if you're really dry, you definitely want to stay away from any foaming cleansers.
The next one that doesn't take quite as much oil from your skin is a milk cleanser. Milk cleansers won't foam at all and are going to be a little bit thinner, so still taking a little bit of oil from your skin, but not a lot. My Sea Buckthorn Milk Cleanser is an excellent example of a thin milk cleanser that is safe for even sensitive skin.
If you need a little bit of extra exfoliation, for instance if you tend to get a little bit of dead skin build up, especially when your skin is dry and dehydrated it can be more difficult for the dead skin to slough off, you can get a milk cleanser that has a bead in it. My Citrus & Jojoba Exfoliating Cleanser has little jojoba beads in it that gives you a little bit of extra and gentle exfoliation.
When you're cleansing your skin, it'll rub some of that the dead skin off.
If you're on the seriously dry and dehydrated side, you can use a cream cleanser. This is going to be a heavy cleanser that keeps its shape if you put it in your hand turn your hand upside down, whereas with the milk cleanser it will fall off towards gravity. This one is going to impart oil in your skin. My Rosehip Creme Cleanser is one that imparts kokum butter, which is a skin loving butter that does not clog pores.
A lot of people have issues with that feeling of having oil on their skin when they're done cleansing it, but you should have oil on your skin. If you don't have oil on your skin, your skin cannot protect itself and your barrier will be compromised. It's won't be able to keep out pathogens as well. It's not going to keep in water very well either, so your skin will become dehydrated faster.
if you are suddenly experiencing dry, itchy skin, a great first step to correcting it is checking out your cleanser. If you need any additional help or any advice on what your particular skin type needs feel free to book an Enlightenment Facial where we can do a deep dive!
Let your radiance shine!
