Winter weather gives me dull, dry and itchy skin. It also leaves me itching for Spring. I have a few tips and tricks that will help you beat the winter blues. Don’t worry Spring is around the corner.
Shower Time
Long hot showers or baths may seem ideal when the weather is dreary but do damage to your skin. Try to keep the showers short and use lukewarm water. Skipping shaving everyday will also help against dry skin. Shaving everyday will lead to itchy and flakey skin. Try to go every other day or I go as long as I can stand it. You can also use a moisturizing shave cream but make sure it does not contain alcohol which will dry out your skin. When toweling off after a shower pat don’t rub yourself dry. Put lotion on right after showering will help the lotion absorb into skin and leave you silky soft.
Exfoliation
It is good to exfoliate your face your skin at least once week. You will get off the dead skin and leave you skin soft. It will also help your moisturizer absorb better, and besides who wants a flakey face. There are great exfoliating scrubs out there, but you can also make your own. For the face I use lemon and sugar to exfoliate. For a hydrating mask I use oatmeal and honey or yogurt and honey. Another homemade scrub this time for the lips is salt and olive oil. You can also use your toothbrush and exfoliate that way.
Exfoliation is also good for your whole body. You can buy body wash with exfoliating beads or exfolating scrubs for the whole body. Just make sure they are free of alcohol. What I use is my homemade body scrub. I just take sugar and baby oil. It leaves my skin soft but not too greasy, but be careful the baby oil in the shower makes it slippery.
Facial Care
Just because the skin is hiding in the clouds doesn’t mean you should skip the SPF. The sun rays will still find a way to get to your skin. SPF will help you in the long run..trust me.
For my dry skin I only wash my face once a day. I wash it at night to take off all my makeup and in the morning I don’t wash it I just add my moisturizer and do my makeup like normal. Washing it more will strip my skin of its natural oil. When it comes to face wash avoid alcohol which will strip your skin of its natural oil.
Don’t forget to drink your 8 glasses of water a day. Alcohol and caffeine will dehydrate your body so drink in moderation.
beautyspectacles 
Great homemade remedies! I’m going to give them a try
Let us know how it goes.
This book is somewhat enlightening — it includes thorough dictionaries of both beneficial and potentially toxic cosmetic ingredients — but the writer seems to be schizophrenic or to have not thoroughly researched the topic, which, as a journalist myself, is highly concerning. I was disappointed with her recommendations of products by Avalon Organics, JASON Naturals, Stella McCartney CARE, and Kiss My Face. These lines are hardly superior and were, in fact, sued by Dr. Bronner’s last year for deceptively using the word “organic” and containing petro ingredients. However, the writer later retracted her recommendation of the Kiss My Face brand on her blog.
The retractions continue. She recommends bismuth oxychloride-containing powders by Bare Escentuals in the book (which I was shocked to read) but later says on her blog that bismuth oxychloride can “irritate sensitive skin like mad.” Half the people who’ve used BE and developed red, itchy skin can tell you this. She spends an entire page on avoiding toners with alcohol (duh), then recommends an alcohol- and witch hazel-based toner by Dr. Hauschka.
Speaking of Dr. Hauschka, Ms. Gabriel recommends nearly every Hauschka product made. (By the book’s end, one suspects her of having too-close relations with the company.) I respect Dr. Hauschka’s biodynamic farming practices, but they use a high percentage of alcohol as preservative. Combined with their heavy plant oils (like peanut oil), their pricey products are infamous for breaking people out in milia on their cheeks and forehead. There are far better organic lines these days. A soap-based shampoo by Aubrey Organics that Ms. Gabriel raved about left my hair like tangled straw.
The book is packed with DIY recipes that require impractical and expensive ingredients, like rose oil, elderflower water, and dried calendula blossoms. What full-time working woman with a kid has the time or money? And tips like “shampoo your hair with plain egg”? Seriously? How would that cut oil and grime?
UPDATE: In addition to her questionable expertise, the writer has begun using her blog to bash other organic skincare lines hoping, most likely, of selling her own organic skincare line. There are now vitriolic retractions on Juice Beauty (certified organic, solar-powered facilities), Jurlique (biodynamic) and L’Uvalla (a new line at Whole Foods). It’s highly suspicious that she would attack these brands while gushing about Bare Escentuals’ mediocre and conventionally farmed skincare line. Not to mention, this is the same Bare Escentuals that’s being sued in California for making false and misleading statements about its sales. Where are Ms. Gabriel’s allegiances and what is her agenda?