Dry skin in winter is due to the lack of humidity in the air.  Dry air equates to dry skin as the skins water content quickly evaporates into the atmosphere.  On a windy winters day, this action is multiplied and just a few steps can really ease the discomfort.

 

If you find yourself suffering from dry, flakey skin on the face or body, or painful itchy lips, read ahead as there is a solution to working with winter rather than against it.

 

Tips for soft, supple skin this winter;

 

1. Ensure you’re drinking an adequate amount of water. It can be tempting to overdo the hot coffees, teas and chai in winter, although remember, as delicious as they are, they’re diuretics and will dehydrate you. To balance things up, you need to stick to your two litres of water in winter as you might in summer. There are some gorgeous flask or infuser options to carry herbal tea, hot water with lemon, or just hot water with you. Chinese medicine advises you to stay away from cold drinks and food. A Chinese friend told me warm water cleanses the digestive system. Although I’m not an expert, one thing is for certain, there is no harm in treating your digestive system to warm, purifying and cleansing water and nourishing your skin at the same time.

 

2. Keep up with the oily, omega 3 rich foods such as avocados, oily fish, seeds and nuts. Find ways to include omega 3 rich ingredients in your meals. Some great winter staples are sautéed brown rice with mackerel, egg, a little chilly, or a rich green soup with generous amounts of olive oil, seeds and nuts, even think of pan fried salmon and leave the skin on to maximize your omega 3 intake. Click below for a delicious recipe from Shan Cooper at My Food Religion who has shared one of her favourite Omega3 rich dishes, Smoked Oyster Pate.. 

 

3. Avoid hot showers. As effective as hot, soapy water is in removing grease from surfaces or dishes, so too does it remove the skins natural oils. A hot shower is a real treat on a cold winters morning, although the removal of the skins natural oil can create a PH imbalance. The skins natural oil provides protection against the elements and bacteria. It’s also good to remember, most of us living in urban areas are not really that dirty and there’s plenty of evidence to suggest over-washing with foamy sulphate based soaps add to existing dry skin problems or can even create them.

 

4. Use Face Oil, Body Oil and Moisturise regularly and adequately throughout the day. This is our favourite tip and for this reason we saved it for last. Try the Vatea approach of Organic Luxury that is living close to nature in a beautiful way. You don’t need to spend huge amounts of money; just be clever in the way you spend it. As a gorgeous home can be created on a tight budget with creativity and ingenuity, a fantastic skin care routine can be followed with the same approach; creativity and ingenuity. Vatea’s Pure Body Oil has been described by blogger @spaceofbeauty as the most cost-effective treatment for the skin, from top to toe and we can’t agree more. Use Vatea Pure Body Oil on the face, two to three times per week, while applying it liberally on the body.  Use our Soothing Oil Wash in the shower rather than a harsh sulphate based soap, and follow with our Beautiful Body Moisturiser as luxurious treat to the skin and senses.

5. Dry lips on a winter’s day can be irritating and painful after a few days. The most common response to dry lips is to lick your lips in order to relieve any irritation, although by doing this, you’re actually exasperating the problem as the saliva quickly evaporates all moisture. Secondly your lips don’t actually contain any oil glands so they’re already prone to dryness and chaffing. Vatea Love Lip Balm contains 90% Certified Organic Ingredients and will not cause any further pain with use. My sister was suffering from dry lips that had started to bleed and she couldn’t believe how effective Love Lip Balm is.  The secret is to apply a little of the balm regularly and consistently over 1 – 3 days to see the immediate benefits.

 

To nourish your dry skin this winter, we have created limited-edition Vatea Dry Skin Boxes for both Children and Adults. Please click below to see more.