Everything you need to know about Winter skin

April 28, 2023

Baby it’s cold outside …

Winter is right around the corner, so this is everything you need to know about ‘winter skin’.

First, let’s look at HUMIDITY .. you know the feeling of getting off the plane in Darwin or Bali and you get that rush of hot, sticky humid air?

Well, your skin prefers humid air to dry air. YES, that’s why the Balinese look so young!!

Your skin typically likes humidity of around 60%.

In winter the outside air drops to around 25-35% and inside even with heating, it is around 30-40%.

Sorry ladies, winter actually ages us!

These conditions can compromise skin health triggering xerosis (dry skin) or other skin conditions such as,

eczema,
discoloration,
patchiness,
redness,
sensitivity,
and a bumpy texture.

In winter your skin finds it difficult to maintain proper moisture which leads to inflammation and a poor skin barrier. I talk about skin barrier health all the time because it is the foundation to the building blocks that make up all the layers of our skin. A healthy skin barrier means you’re less likely to encounter (at all, or less severely) the above problems.

Sebum is also affected during winter; sebum helps the skin stay properly moist and supple UNLESS there is too much which will cause the cells to stick together. In dryer conditions the skin will produce more sebum (like when oily skin is just dehydrated skin) which results in possibly more breakouts.

Lastly, our dead skin cells in winter are not being shed as quickly due to skin thickening which will result in dry and dull looking skin.