I don't do a lot of beauty posts. Frankly, I feel like there are plenty of beauty blogs out there already. But I feel pretty good about my routine this winter. My skin has been dewy and soft which, for a lady of my advanced years (cough, cough), is no bad thing. So I felt I ought to share for the sake of humanity, or skin-anity, or whatever.
Winter is always pretty rough on my skin. I tend to lean dry anyway, but it gets worse in the colder months.
So, what do I do to combat it?
1. No Soap
Not an option for everyone, but I'm not a particularly sweaty person, I don't break out easily, and I don't get very dirty in my day job (AKA sitting around typing) so I really don't have to use soap. Instead I use Alba's Hawaiian Coconut Milk Facial Wash $8.50 on both my face and body. It doesn't sud like a regular soap and it is very gentle.
2. Face Exfoliation
Once a week I use Alba's Pineapple Enzyme Facial Scrub $8. It's one of the most gentle I've found. This helps get the dry skin off, an leaves my face feeling soft but doesn't scrape the way some exfoliation scrubs do.
3. Body Exfoliation
I've talked before about my love of Giovanni's Hot Chocolate Sugar Scrub $27, but in winter I've taken to opting for something more intense: Pure Fiji's Coconut Sugar Rub $35. Frankly it's pretty darn amazing and my new favorite thing. I haven't had dry skin this winter and I think it's mostly because I've been using this.
Downside? Well, the sucker sure ain't cheap. And because it is quite oily it does kinda coat the shower a bit. It's hard to get out of the container (they provide a little scoop but it's still a chore).
Upside? Everything smells grand. It is REALLY good at its job. And because it's sugar based, you can use it directly after you shave without stinging, which I recommend.
4. Face Cream
For daytime, I use Neutrogena's Rapid Wrinkle Repair Serum $18. It works as a good base under makeup and/or sun screen, or on its own if you don't intend to go out. I only use the tiniest bit, so it lasts forever.
I also use Eucerin Q10 Anti-Wrinkle Sensitive Skin Creme $8.50 on my neck, cuticles, elbows and other super dry spots. I bought it for my face, but found it a little too thick for that, so this is an alternate.
For daytime, I also use a tiny amount of Olay Total Effects Anti-Aging Eye Treatment $15.30 (Tinted) around the eyes. It brightens things up a bit, and is not so much makeup I need to bring out the big guns to get it off before bed.
5. Body Cream
Pure Fiji's scrub does such a good job I don't need to slather on the cream after a shower the way I used to. I find a nice layer of Aloe Vera Gel $20 is sufficient. (I'm not married to this brand, whatever you find will likely be good so long as it's almost totally aloe.) If I require something more intense I use pure Shea Butter $15.
So there you have it: my winter skin survival routine. I talk more about my gout out favorite skin care products in this blog post.
If you have your own routine down but want to experiment, I always recommend introducing changes one at a time. Switch everything all at once and your skin is likely to freak out. Want to try only one thing on the list? Go for Pure Fiji's Coconut Sugar Rub $35.
This is NOT a sponsored post. I don't do those. However the links are to Amazon where I have an associate's code, so if you follow that's where they lead. If your choose to buy I get a tiny percent, your price will not change because of this. I appreciate your custom.
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