Why your skin is dry and itchy in winter
Your wardrobe isn’t the only thing that transforms in the winter months: your skin changes too.
From flakiness, to chapped lips, and dry and itchy facial skin, it can be hard (and sometimes painful) to deal with. So why does this happen when the sun goes into hibernation? It’s not you – the causes for this sudden change in skin are actually environmental.
How your skin becomes dry in winter
In winter the humidity drops simply because warm air can hold more water than cold air… which means the air becomes drier in cooler months. This affects your skin because the arid air pulls fluid and moisture away from it, leaving it stripped of the natural oil that normally protects your skin from moisture loss. This is amplified by the increase in gusty winds, which can also be moisture-stripping leaving the skin dry, itchy and often irritated.
When we’re inside, we often don’t help our skin either. Overcompensating for the cold by blasting the heat, or taking excessively long, hot showers has the same oil and moisture stripping effect as the air does outside. All this makes it more compromised, and more likely for skin to become dry, itchy and irritated when we step back out again.
How to treat dry, itchy skin
It’s not all doom and gloom on the skin front – there are plenty of things you can do to help it maintain moisture.
- Resist the urge to take long, hot showers. We know that seems like a cruel joke after a long, hard day, but hot showers aren’t doing your skin any favours. Opt for a warm shower instead.
- Stay hydrated. There’s a reason celebrities all say that drinking water is their secret to good skin – because keeping hydrated is vital for skin health. In winter we know you may not feel like your eight glasses a day, so try infusing warm water with lemon instead to make it slightly more interesting.
- Choose your soap wisely. Soaps often contain drying agents (like sulphates) that can create more irritation to already dry skin. If your preference is to wash with soap, choose mild, sulphate and paraben-free varieties with no artificial fragrance (another known drying agent). Or instead, try a gentle body wash like The Goat Skincare body wash which is non-drying and infused with pure goat’s milk for extra moisture.
- Exfoliate weekly. Regular exfoliation sloughs off dead skin cells to help make way for fresh new ones. And the new ones are better able to absorb the moisturiser. Which bring us to the last point…
- Moisturise, daily. Daily body moisturising is a good idea all year round, but even more so in winter when your skin is dry and dehydrated. The best moisturiser for dry skin is one that is paraben, and artificial fragrance-free with nourishing, moisturising ingredients like The Goat Skincare moisturising lotion. Apply it daily (or more!) after your shower when it can be best absorbed in your skin. Not only will this replenish the moisture, but it will also help to strengthen the skin’s protective barrier so that it can better fight against the winter blues.
Fight dry, itchy
skin with
The Goat Skincare Soap Bar
with Manuka Honey
