For those of you new to the world of extreme winter cold and suffering from dry skin, here’s some tips for you from someone who lives in a dry, cold place with sensitive skin:
The ideal would be humidifying your house, but most of us don’t (or can’t) do that, so here are some quick fixes -
Soap is the enemy. Only use soap when you have to (washing your hands, armpits, etc.) Soap hasn’t touched my facial skin in decades; I would claw my skin off my bones if I used soap on my face in winter. I also use Dove fragrance-free moisturizer on my face - it’s very light, and doesn’t make it burn or itch.
Aveeno body wash in the shower. Warm showers, not hot ones. And shower as seldom as you can stand it - every other day during the cold periods is not a bad idea. Leave your skin’s natural oils alone during the cold spells.
Heavy-duty hand lotion as required. I use Herbacin Kamille plus Silicone glycerine hand cream.
Vaseline. I lube up my lips and hands before I go to sleep, and they are soft and moisturized in the morning. And that’s regular vaseline, not the medicated stuff. The medicated stuff makes my lips burn like a thousand suns.
Wow. I REALLY appreciate this advice. I have eczema, and it was totally under control until this cold snap hit. Now my shoulders look and feel sunburned and my whole body is in agony. Seriously. Thank youl
I can empathize - I have dry, sensitive skin with only a very few patches of eczema, but I am very well acquainted with “It’s so dry it itches, but when I scratch it, it bleeds, but IT’S SO FREAKIN’ ITCHY…”
Oh, I forgot the obvious advice for dry skin - drink tons of water. Sleep well. Eat healthy. Reduce stress.
My skin is doing some occasional burning lately. I know that if I was smart, I’d stop taking daily hot baths, but it’s just not worth it! So instead I’m layering more, to protect my skin from the wind, and being diligent about moisturizer.
However, I admit with embarrassment that I brought my dry skin troubles on myself. A couple of weeks ago I was at home in Florida, the weather was nice, and I was dutifully applying my Retin A according to the dermatologist’s instructions. Then I went on a trip to Denver, where it was very cold! I wore sunscreen outdoors and stopped using the Retin A, but still got windburned. When I got home to Florida, the weather had gotten a lot colder, but I figured I better get back on my skincare regimen. I used the Retin A one time…and my poor fried skin just started cracking and sizzling! Now my face is all stiff and looks like it’s covered in white beard stubble. The kids are fascinated.
I love, love, love my Burt’s Bees Coconut Foot Creme. Also Burt’s Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Creme. I also use A & D ointment for various trouble spots. We have a humidifier, and it really helps.
When I lived in Las Vegas, some of the locals advised putting petroleum jelly (Vaseline) inside the nostrils. It did help some.
Unbelievable. :::scritch scritch:::: There is a reason that in 4 years I have only 1900 or so posts to my name. Most ::::scritch scritch scritch:::: days when I think of a question to ask, someone comes along and answers it without my asking. I love this place! ::::::scritch scritch::::: Featherlou, I was thinking of posting this morning on this topic as I caked Aveeno body lotion on my dry aching skin. My skin itches ::::scritch scritch scritch:::: like I’ve been rolling naked in fiberglass insulation. Arrrrrgh!!! ::::scritch scritch dig dig scritch scritch::::
I guess I’ll have to break down and limit full body showers to every other day. I’m so anal about showering but it’s killing my skin and I’m using a mild oatmeal soap even. ::::scritch::::
My cuticles are so dry, cracked and peeling that I had a nightmare last night that weasels were biting my fingertips. I slather Eucerin on them, but it’s only good for a few hours and then the drying process begins again. D’you think that Burt’s Bees lemon cuticle butter would be any better?
I had been using Burt’s Bees beeswax lip balm, but the edges of my upper lip have started chapping and cracking and the strong spearmint essence in the balm burns the cracks too much. I’ve had to revert to Chapstick.
Yep, Aveeno body wash is terrific for winter use. My husband, who has horrifically dry skin, loves it. I use it when I start getting that 24-hour-a-day itching and it works wonders. When things get too bad, that Aveeno oatmeal bath powder works even better.
Olive oil is another good one but obviously it’s not cheap. I use it on my hands sometimes. It’s like heaven.
One thing I use on my hands sometimes before bed is Crisco. It’s cheap and works great. My mom’s manicurist recommended it to her.
Another great remedy although it’s greasy is Bag Balm. I love that stuff. I use it on my hands, elbows, knees and even as a lip balm.
I’ve always used vitamin E oil or a vaseline/cocoa butter based cream to treat dry cuticles. I wash my hands a LOT, so I need to coat them up with something a bit stronger than just regular lotion. Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream works well, but is a bit much sometimes. The Body Shop has a Hemp line of products that are super moisturizing but not as greasy as the vaseline based stuff.
The right out of the shower thing works for me - but I use baby oil instead of lotion. It glides nicely and you don’t need as much as you would for a full body rub down of lotion.
It keeps the itchiness away for me for *most * of the day for me, so I’m a big fan!
The only downside is that one has to let it dry naturally, no toweling it off, so one must walk around naked, glistening and smelling like lavendar baby oil every morning.
Being that I have broken up with my girlfriend, I have no one to rub lotion on those hard to reach areas of my back. Anybody know of any device to apply lotion in such a manner, sort of a lotion-loofah, if you will? Do they exit? If not, someone should invent one.
I just learned something new this winter. I read it on MSN or something like that. It said to dry your hands thoroughly (until they’re bone-dry) to avoid chapped hands. Every winter, my hands would get chapped and bleed. Ever since I’ve been drying my hands thoroughly, they’ve been doing a LOT better. And when they do chap, I put some neosporin on the split under a band-aid at night and it generally heals in a day or two. I haven’t even had to put lotion on my hands and they still seem so much better.
The drying the hands things takes a long time, though. It can take up to 2-5 minutes to dry your hands bone-dry. So after I wash my hands, I take my towel with me to whatever I’m doing next and keep drying. It’s worth it to me to avoid the cracking and bleeding.
Here’s one style applicator. I haven’t used this exact type…I got a folding one at Wal-Mart for $2 that has a foam pad, but it seems to soak up the lotion too much…but it still works. Google “lotion applicator” for more choices.
It’s less greasy (and somewhat lighter) han regular petroleum jelly, but that also means it absorbs more quickly, so the “I can’t touch anything yet” stage passes really quickly. . I think it works as well as the Neutrogena Norwegian Fisherman’s Formula (or whatever it’s called – I haven’t bought that stuff in years since I discovered creamy petroleum jelly).