Ok it is true—I have been MIA for a little while. Rest assured I am back now.
Truth is I have been working on a massive project about which I cannot yet tell you, yet. Very soon though I will be writing about an amazing new concept store that is opening in Canada. Oh no I have already said too much! Stay tuned to this blog to learn more in the coming weeks.
All that said many Yummy Mummies have been emailing me (and remember you can email all your beauty related questions directly to me at www.danielthompsonbeauty.com or by leaving comments here) asking for tips to help their skin during this bleak and dry period called a Canadian winter.
On Staurday night I was walking to a friend's place for some drinks and I was reminded that when the mercury drops below 0 how quickly the skin suffers. By the time I walked the 10 minutes from my place to his my skin was frozen and completely dehydrated. Being inside was of little help. The dryness from the heat only made the problem worse. By the time I got home and remoistruized my skin was red, irritated and actually falking. And this was just one outing on a cold January night. Luckily I had a few tricks up my sleeve to repair my skin right away.
So for all of you who want solutions to the havoc winter weather causes on your skin:
1. Moisturize - yes this is obvious but there is a simple trick to making any moisturizer work more effectively. Apply your moisturizer to slighlty damp skin—either right out of the shower or when it is still slightly wet from washing. This speeds the transdermal migration of the moisturizer and increases water intake.
2. Reduce washing - stop washing the skin twice per day. Go down to once a day (at night only). Excessive washing will cause lipids to deplete and increase surface dehydration. Also use warm water to wash not hot. The hotter the water the more quickly the skin will dry out.
3. Exfoliate - but no more than once per week. Either use a moistruzer with a built-in exfoliateor (like AHA's) or manually exfoliate. By removing the surface keratinized skin all treatment products will work more effectively.
4. NMF replacement - natural moistruizing factors are produced by the skin to impede dehydration. Unfortunately they also deplete very quickly in cold weather. Using any NMF based oil will quickly restore these important lipids and create a smooth, radiant complexion. And no you don't need some expensive mask or serum to achieve this. Simple virgin olive oil will do the trick. A small amount applied directly to the skin before bed will restore the NMF levels almost immediately.
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