Want hydrated, dewy and beautifully bronzed skin all through the winter months? Don’t let the combination of days spent indoors and a heated home or office dry you out and leave you fading. Below is our top 6 winter skin care tips to get you glowing all year long.
1. Exfoliate away
Noticing a pattern of dry skin in winter? You’re not alone. Whether it’s the constantly running heater, thicker coverage of clothing or harsher elements we face during our outdoor walks, taking some extra time to care for your skin in winter is a must. And the best place to start? Exfoliation. What is exfoliation? Exfoliation is the removal of dead skin cells from the outer layer of your skin. Some people choose to use a chemical exfoliant to do this, while the naturalists often tend to go for something a little less harsh and more gentle on the body like a scrub or mitt. Whatever you choose, the aim is to get rid of the old and make way for the regeneration of new, healthy skin cells.
At Sontse, we are all about skin health, so for us, formulating the Crystal Clear Face & Body Scrub was all about using safe, non-toxic ingredients to create a manual exfoliator that when rubbed on the skin, helps shed away dead skin whilst also nourishing the body.
2. Moisturise daily (the right way!)
Dry skin during winter doesn’t have to be a thing. If you’ve tried to be militant in moisturising your skin, only to then fall prey to the belief that maybe dry, flaky skin is just inevitable in the colder months – listen up.
You may be moisturising wrong!
Contrary to popular belief, a moisturiser doesn’t actually ‘inject’ moisture into the skin. It’s not how it works. Just ask the experts over at Loreal Paris. Just a quick read of their Skin Care Essentials guide and you’ll soon realise that moisturisers are in fact designed to ‘lock in moisture’ of already dampened skin (Andavolgyi, 2023).
So, if you’re reading this and realising you’ve had your latest Mecca buy all wrong, here’s your loud and clear sign to change how you’re doing things.
Before applying ANY moisturiser you must first cleanse as normal, then use a wet or moist face towel to dampen the skin. Without waiting too long, from here, lock in all that moisture using your moisturiser of choice. It’s simple, but no doubt, you are going to see a huge improvement just by adding in that one, necessary step.
Need a Sontse recommendation on the kind of moisturiser that we love over here? In our eyes, the Salt & Stone Black Rose & Oud Body Lotion can do no wrong. We love this brand for their strong commitment to connect to the natural world, combining active ingredients with skin science for a sensorial experience that soothes and restores.
It’s a great way to lock in moisture and prolong your tan, making it a top pick for those who care about their start-to-finish, winter skin care routine.
3. Add a nourishing self tanner
Ok, this is where you could take two steps forward and three steps back. If you’re adding a self tanner to your skincare winter regime, you must… we repeat, must go for a clean, skin-loving brand. Not all tanners are created equal.
At Sontse, we’re particularly passionate about self-tanning, so much so, that we don’t just prescribe it for the cold, blistering, winter months, but as a preventative to sun damage for the hot, summer months. So if missing out on a year-round glow is definitely a no-no, do your research and discover the right brand for you. Need a little checklist to help? Go for a sunless tanner that is:
- Australian-made and owned
- Violet-based for a natural-looking tan
- Paraben and sulfate-free
- Vegan, Cruelty-free and 100% PETA certified
- Toxic Free, Allergy Certified and Made Safe as certified by Safe Cosmetics Australia
- Sustainably packaged in recyclable and biodegradable PET Plastic and FSC-sourced paper
Wondering if there’s a self-tanner that will tick all these boxes? Check out our recommended self-tanning mousse here.
After all, what you purchase says a lot about what you value, so why not make sure you go for a brand that looks after your skin, and the planet and supports local business?
4. Use SPF even in winter
Now proper skin care in winter actually isn’t too different from what you may be accustomed to doing in winter.
And although on cloudy days, it may be tempting to skip the SPF and go straight to applying your makeup, we know, as skin and sun safety ambassadors, it’s our role to present you with the facts.
According to SunDoctors (n.d.),
‘Whenever the UV index rating is 3 or higher, you should practise sun protection.’
Furthermore, they state,
“Every state has the potential to reach a UV index of 3 in winter, with some being much higher. Therefore, any sun exposure should be seen to using proper strategies to protect yourself from the sun’s UV rays.” (SunDoctors, n.d.)
SunDoctors is an organisation dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of skin cancer with streamlined, doctor-led processes and excellent facilities and equipment. Following the advice of professionals like these is what can help us as a nation see the horrifying effects of poor sun safety reduced.
5. Add a skin-barrier-building face mask to your winter skin care routine
Winter care for skin can of course be as minimal or targeted as you need, and as many of us do tend to spend more days hiding away in the winter months, booking in some of those more intensive microdermabrasion or skin-peeling treatments, or even DIY-ing some skin-barrier-building face masks could be timely.
The Synergie Skin HyDrolock is a stunning product our Sontse girls tend to use in the wintertime to really give their skin a hydration boost. The best part is this can be used daily, to lock in moisture, allow the skin to stay supple and begin its redemptive work.
6. Think holistically: eat healthy and hydrate regularly!
And that brings us to number 6 of our winter skin tips. And this one is perhaps the easiest to implement right away.
Your skin health can often be a reflection of other internal and external factors that are impacting your body. This is where diet, exercise and hydration are key.
Regularly consuming the recommended amount of fresh, wholefoods that are minimally processed will help ensure your body is receiving enough nutrients to perform it’s normal bodily functions properly. Exercise and hydration will also help to flush out toxins, and keep your lymphatic system working properly… all factors that affect the complexion and health of our skin. (Halley, 2023).
Hopefully, by now, it’s super clear: the best skin tips in winter don’t have to be complex… they’re actually quite simple, but consistency is key. If you choose to give these winter skin care tips a go, be sure to reach out to us on Instagram and let us know which tip impacted you the most! In the meantime, if you want to swap out some of your current products with a cleaner, more skin-friendly collection, head to our sunless tanning online store.
References
Andavolgyi, R. (2023, June 28). How to Apply Moisturizer - L'Oréal Paris. Loreal Paris. Retrieved June 10, 2024, from https://www.lorealparisusa.com/beauty-magazine/skin-care/skin-care-essentials/moisturizer-dos-and-donts
Halley, J. (2023, December 15). The Lymphatic System and Skin Health. The Skin Studios. Retrieved June 10, 2024, from https://theskinstudios.com.au/the-lymphatic-system-and-skin-health/
SunDoctors. (n.d.). You Can Get Sunburned in Australia's Winter Season - Here's Why. SunDoctors. Retrieved June 10, 2024, from https://sundoctors.com.au/blog/can-you-get-sunburned-in-winter/
