Warming Winter Skin Treats

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Warming Winter Skin Treats

Fancy wrapping your skin in hot chocolate or maybe the thought of un-knotting tired muscles in a moisturising yet opulently bubbly bath tub is more your thing. Whatever takes your fancy one thing is for sure, winter skin needs extra-special love and attention!


Unlike summer when we are footloose and fancy free winter can see us kiss goodbye to our largest organ for months at a time, locking it into doubled up socks and boots, jumpers and sweatpants in a bid to beat the winter chill. While this does serve us well in the warmth department our skin is left looking dull, lifeless and maybe even a little itchy!

I am not convinced that excessive clothing is good for skin, especially when that clothing is synthetic, thick and worn for long periods of time but as it is essential we have to adapt our skin care routine to cope with this time spent coddled up wool and darkness.

We often use the expression 'breathable' when talking about fabrics and day-wear cosmetics but how often have we stopped to think about what the skin actually does?

Skin doesn't breathe in the same way that our lungs allow us to but that doesn't stop us aspiring to skin care that feels breathable, light and comforting! For skin, 'breathing' actually refers to the way it interacts with the environment, exchanging moisture and salts, eliminating waste and in one case manufacturing vitamins (vitamin D)!It does all of this in order to hold up its side of the homeostasis bargain (homeostasis = standing still or the work that the body does to control its inner environment and maintain health) and keep us safe and intact! As our insides sit at a toasty 37°C it makes sense that the further the outside temperature deviates from this (either up or down) the harder our body has to work to stay happy and in winter that means staying warm.

So what can we add to our skin care routine to support our skin though this cold and frosty journey?

  1. Barrier Protection - Lips

    One of the first things that fail's us once the cooler winds arrive is the skins protective barrier and the place that we notice this first is our lips!

    The skin on our lips is at a huge disadvantage here as it doesn't have the ability to produce oils like the rest of our skin.Usually our lips are naturally moistened and protected by the saliva in our mouths (licking our lips isn't just a hunger thing) but when we do this in winter those newly wetted lips are quickly attacked by cutting winds that not only evaporate that water but also 'burn' the lips as they pass. For some lucky folk all this means is that they end up sporting a slightly flushed and plumped smile while others languish in cold-sore and chapped lipped agony - not great when paired with a steaming hot bowl of pumpkin soup!

    The best winter lip-balms contain essential fatty acids, occlusive waxes and butters plus a slightly anti-microbial essential oil (only a light dusting, not too much as you don't want to irritate)
     
    • Shea Butter - great for forming an occlusive barrier on the skin to prevent wind burn.
    • Cocoa Butter - a smoother, waxier butter which when blended with shea gives a longer-lasting protective film.
    • Macadamia Seed Oil - light feeling oil rich in skin-simular fatty acids for gentle protection
    • Beeswax - to give structure to your lip balms but also to help form a water-resistant barrier on the lips.
    • Candellilla Wax - great binding agents for pulling different waxes together. This results in a longer-lasting film for extra-protection. It will also increase the gloss on lip balms for a glamorous finish!
    • Avocado Oil - vitamins A, B, D and E to help boost the skin from within and keep it working at an optimal level.
    • Evening Primrose Oil - Essential Fatty Acids for barrier repair.
    • Hempseed Oil - Omega fatty acids for barrier repair.
    • Jojoba - good for skin barrier repair and very light and comfortable.
    • Flaxseed Oil - Good source of Vitamin E and gamma linoleic acids for long-term health and skin repair.
       
  2. Barrier Protection - Skin
    A cost-effective way to move from summer to winter skin care is to give your light-weight summer moisturiser base a boost with the help of some soft butters and high-potency oils.

    Our unscented moisturiser base is perfect for customising, we recommend adding 7g of olive butter plus 3g Hempseed Oil to 90g of base for an extra-rich day-cream. For those looking for a little more luxury add up to 1g of your favourite calming essential oil blend or alternatively go for between 1-5g of liquid extract to up the vitamin level of your winter cream.
     
  3. Comfort - Stop that dry itch!
    Even those who usually have oily skin can come un-stuck in the winter and end up sporting skin that looks dull and feels like sand paper! The best way to deal with this is to slather on your barrier protection in the day and treat yourself to a spa-from-home experience at night. Try this:
     
    • Turn down the temperature in your bath tub to a more skin-friendly 37-40°C and then add some softening minerals - try either our dead sea salts, Epsom salts or one of our read-made blends. These leave the skin softer and gently help to exfoliate away dead skin cells.
       
    • Blooming bath oils are favourites of ours as they turn milky when added to water where they deliver a rich and soothing moisture layer to dry skin. They can be quite simple to make - here is a quick recipe to get you started - all you have to do is weigh, gently mix then enjoy! As there is no water in this mix, no preservative is required.
Blooming Bath Oil - a Warming Winter Skin Treat  Recipe
Blooming Bath Oil - a Warming Winter Skin Treat  
Ingredients  Volume
Flaxseed Oil 50 g
Jojoba Oil 18 g
Avocado Oil 10 g
Polysorbate 85 20 g
Vitamin E Natural 1 g
Essential oils of your choice 0.7 g
Alpha Bisabolol
This is a fantastic anti-irritant and soothing agent.
0.3 g

 

The polysorbate 85 helps bring the oils and water (in your bath) together to give the milky finish. Without this the oils will just float on top of the bath and not stick so well to the skin.This will also make the bath very hard to clean once you have finished!

Hopefully with a little bit of help that super-soft and healthy summer skin can re-emerge next spring looking smooth, clear and ready to party! All it takes is a little bit of tender loving care and copious amounts of moisturiser.

Amanda Foxon-Hill

15 April 2013

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