With the winter months also comes all of the uncomfortable dry and itchy skin. Rather than having to deal with it for the next couple of months, you can be proactive and use these tips to stay properly moisturized throughout the winter.
- Get more house plants. This is great advice for anyone throughout the country experiencing a dry winter, whether it's in the wintry Midwest or the desert out west. With the dryness to the air, the best solution can either be investing in a humidifier or including more house plants that can level out the dryness in the air.
- Use lotion with salicylic acid. Exfoliate and get rid of dead skin cells while also softening your skin by using lotions or scrubs with salicylic acid. This will help skin remain soft throughout the winter as well as prevent breakouts.
- Use alcohol-free hand sanitizers. While it is also prime time for flu and cold season, the alcohol found in hand sanitizers is one of the biggest ways your hands will remain dry, itchy, and uncomfortable as well. Instead, stick with an alcohol-free sanitizer in the colder months.
- Use scrubs and lotions with honey. Natural moisturizing scrubs and lotions that include honey are perfect for those rough and dry spots on your feet, elbows, and elsewhere that becomes highly problematic during the winter.
- Buff and scrub feet at night. Right before bed; make it a nightly ritual to use a pumice stone or other type of exfoliate on your feet in order to get rid of dry and cracked skin. Then, you can follow up with lotion and put on a pair of socks to lock in the moisture from the lotion while you sleep. Your feet won't be dry and scaly come morning.
- Take shorter showers in the winter. It might not seem like the best advice, especially when a longer shower with warm water sounds better than a quick or lukewarm one during the winter, but the heat of the water will dry out your skin faster and for longer periods of time.