Dry, flaky and irritated skin after this winter? Cold temperatures may have damage the outermost protective layer of your skin, exposing facial skin to irritants and bacteria. Don’t make the mistake of over scrubbing, over cleaning and over treating! Check on this great article by Huffpost Style> and learn how to give a fresh start to your skin this spring.
With spring bringing a mix of warmer winds and sunnier days, taking care of our skin begins with understanding the changes it goes through each season.
“The average person needs to be educated on how their skin works, what customized routine will work best for their skin type and condition and the products that maintain results from professional treatments,” says education manager for Dermalogica and the International Dermal Institute, Holly Sherrard. To start, Sherrard suggests looking at the sunscreens, lotions and cleansers in your bathroom cabinets and making sure they’re suitable for spring. Next you should keep applying SPF. “Ideally we should keep wearing the same amount of sunscreen year-round, however most consumers tend to decrease or stop using SPF in the winter,” she says. She also recommends sticking to products with hydrating components. If you’re still dealing with chapped lips, a dry scalp or flaky skin, exfoliation and hydration are the keys to smoothing everything out.
Here are 10 spring-friendly changes you should make to your skin right now.
1. Know Your Skin
Before you can help your skin, you have to understand it. “The average person needs to be educated on how their skin works, what customized routine will work best for their skin type and condition and the products that maintain results,” skin expert Holly Sherrard says. She recommends talking to a skincare professional.
2. Layer Up With Sunscreen
The beauty rule is, “as long as there’s daylight, you need sunscreen,” says Robin White, director of international education and global press of Philosophy. If you skipped out on using an SPF moisturizer on your skin during the winter months, spring is the season to get back on track.
3. Exfoliate Your Skin
Even though skin exfoliation should be done throughout the year, spring is the season to give our skin the attention it deserves. “Dry body brushing can help to decrease dry skin and flakiness. Application of body oils will keep skin conditioned and smooth,” says Sherrard.
4. Changes With Makeup
Detox your beauty bag this spring. After you organize your makeup collection and get rid of unwanted junk, consider replacing outdated and old makeup with spring classics: a new shade of foundation, a bronzer and a new moisturizer with SPF.
5. Balance Your Oils
Our skin changes with the seasons and tends to produce more oils during spring. “Professional skin therapists can recommend appropriate product changes according to what the skin needs are at that time,” says Sherrard.
6. Protective Lip Balm
Our lips also go through changes from winter to spring. If you’re experiencing dry or chapped lips, Sherrard suggests using protective lip balms with hydrating components.
7. Try A Face Mask
Give you skin some pampering. Here is a recipe for a oatmeal face mask from Webmd.com: mix oatmeal with boiling water according to package instructions; let cool; apply to skin; let rest for 15 minutes; rinse well with warm water.
8. Haircare 101
Over the winter, your hair can also develop damage through dry scalp, split ends and overall dry strands. For the spring, try moisturizing conditioners or oils to smooth hair and remove dryness.
9. Moisturize
It may also be time to switch up your lotions. “No matter how much oil skin produces, everyone must wear a moisturizer. Use oil-free mattifying moisturizers for oily skin or creamier versions with shea butter for dry skin,” Sherrard says.
10. Use a Toner
A toner is a product which is used to remove any oiliness from the skin. It can be called an astringent, it can be called a tonic, or it can be called a toner. It shouldn’t be, ideally, containing any alcohol, which will dry the skin. Even an oily skin doesn’t need alcohol. It makes it too dehydrated. The toner should be applied on a damp cotton ball, wiped over the skin to lift off and remove any oiliness, any traces of cleanser which are left behind, any minute amounts of makeup which the cleanser hasn’t properly removed, or dust and dirt from the atmosphere.