Beauty Talk : Combating Winter Dryness

Hello All!!

It's no secret. This winter has been rough! So today, instead of simply complaining about the weather that is driving us all batty, I will give you some tips on how I deal with the inevitable dryness the winter brings to our life. (Especially for those of you used to a milder winter.)

1. Water.

Duh. As obvious as it sounds, when we're cold the last thing we are thinking about is water, but it is still just as important to drink as much as you can. For me, I know herbal tea helps me get my intake everyday. That way you're not over-caffeinated and you're warming yourself up with a nice hot drink. However you need to get it into your system, just make sure you drink up.

2. Exfoliate

Once the dry skin is there you've got to get rid of it. There are two ways I do this. The first is my dry brush.

I'm sure you've seen people around the blogosphere talking about the wonderful benefits of dry brushing. So you should definitely try it for that. It's also GREAT for getting rid of dead skin. The second way to rid yourself is of course a scrub. My absolute hands down favorite of all time is the Lush Ocean Salt scrub. Its amazing. I've written about it a few times. There are also some wonderful one's made by Bath and Body Works. The Orange Ginger is my favorite! If you're in a DIY mood there are plenty of recipes on pinterest using plain old sugar and oils around your home.

3. Don't be afraid of oils!

I received a vial of this, as a gift when I purchases my clarisonic.

After I wash and moisturize my face I put a few drops on top to help seal in moisture. Sometimes after I wash my face at night I'll put a layer of coconut oil on my face. When I wake up my skin feels so smooth and soft. I will say that I am prone to getting breakouts here and there from hormones and stress, and the oils don't negatively affect my skin at all. As always you should experiment to find what works best for you, but definitely try it out. Coconut oil is not just for your face. You can slather that coconut goodness all over your body. It's an amazing natural moisturizer.

I personally love to use it on my hair as a deep conditioner or just as a moisturizer. Of course I have curly 'ethnic' hair, so my straight haired readers will need to rinse it out. If you leave it in like I do, you'll end up a hot stringy mess.

4. Deep Condition

If coconut oil isn't your thing, then add some much needed moisture back to your hair with good old fashioned deep conditioner. My current favorite is this one!

Also a good leave in conditioner goes a long way!

5. No Poo....or Less Poo

Since it's been colder I've been using a cleansing conditioner. I use a clarifying shampoo once every few washes too because I'm still pretty attached to the clean feeling of lather, but once my clarifying poo is all gone I'm going to experiment with one with no sulfates.

6. Moisturize

This is another duh, but don't forget to moisturize. Put on your face moisturizer. Get some shea butter and slather your footsies up. (Then put on some socks to help lock it in.)

Keep some hand cream at your desk and put it on throughout the day. Grab some cuticle oil and put a few drops on your nails at night and give yourself a quick hand massage.

7. Don't overheat!

Don't use too much hot water. Limit your use of heat styling tools. The gentler you are on your body, face and hair, the better it will be able to weather...well, the weather.

These are my tips. Do you guys have any good ones?