Tips to ensure your skin looks moist and radiant in winter

Caring for your skin is vital.

When you look good, you feel good. But, when your skin looks dry or flaky, it can influence how you feel about yourself. 

Skin Care Therapist Bonolo Shuping says the first step in ensuring that you give your skin the best treatment in winter is understanding your skin type. 

“During winter you get people’s faces that look flaky and dry and sometimes it is because of dry skin,” says Bonolo. 

However, she says sometimes it might be because you have dehydrated skin. 

“There is a difference between dry skin and dehydrated skin,” says Bonolo. She adds that most people don’t understand the difference.

“Dry skin is a skin type. You are born with it. You can’t change it. It is skin that lacks oil. So, even though you can’t change it, you can treat it. However, dehydrated skin is just a skin that lacks water,” says the expert. 

“Your skin lacking water doesn’t always mean you don’t drink enough water. It might be that the product you are using lacks water. So, you might be drinking enough water, but the products you are using might be lacking water,” she adds. 

Bonolo says using the right products during the winter season is crucial to having good-looking, healthy skin. 

READ: Expert tips on how to have great skin

“To treat dry skin, some people tend to use a lot of oil, a lot of cream, but it won’t do much. What is important is a good serum and a good cleanser, because it balances the hydration in your skin,” says Bonolo. 

The key is getting a good cleanser that consists of salicylic. “Salicylic helps to shrink the pores. It basically does what a toner would do, should you decide not to use a toner,” says Bonolo. 

She also warns against using toners that have a “lot of alcohol”. She says it is best to use a conditioner. 

“Serums would differ according to our different skin types. I would suggest people use serums that have Hyaluronic Acid. Hyaluronic Acid is good water that nourishes your skin. It gives you a radiant look because it keeps the moisture in between the layers of your skin.”  

Bonolo says you can use the serum twice a day. 

When it comes to the cream, Bonolo says: “If you have dry or dehydrated skin, you can go for cream cleanser, because it leaves your skin feeling smooth.”

She adds that rejuvenating oils are also important because they work on your skin while you sleep at night.

Using face creams that are heavy might cause more damage to your skin, especially if you are already using serum, cleanser, and toners. 

Bonolo says people should rather go for moderate face creams. 

“The moderate face cream will be able to stay longer on your skin and hydrate your skin throughout the day, and when you sleep at night, go for a good rejuvenating oil or a good hydrating mask or a good face night cream. With dehydrated skin, drink water. When you are drinking water, but you see your skin is still feeling dry, try to check your products.”

Apart from all these tips, Bonolo says it is still important to get your skin checked by a professional.

“Go to a Skincare Therapist to get a proper check-up because it might be something totally different, like a lot of people don’t know the difference between dry skin and dehydrated skin.”

She says face mapping will be done to find the root of the problem. 

Image courtesy of iStock/ @fizkes