How to achieve that flawless, radiant skin in winters?

No amount of makeup in this world can help your skin glow and radiate as much as an internally healthy and nourished skin does. Dermatologists, the world over, emphasize the need of following a disciplined skincare routine to keep your skin looking supple and nourished from within, at all times. Winter season, with its harsh chilly winds, is particularly demanding on the skin and calls for some extra care. If not looked after properly, your skin can dry up and lose all its natural glow and radiance to those invading winter chills.

With our fast-paced lifestyles and scarcity of personal time, it gets really difficult to pay close attention to our skincare daily. But with the right amount of knowledge, effective skincare products, and a little effort, flawless, radiant skin is much easier to achieve than it seems.

How does cold weather help in achieving radiant skin?

Winter season might be the harshest on our skin and hair, but if looked after well, it can also give us the best results for our hair and skin regime. You might not know, but our hair grows the fastest in winters. Though the tresses need more care and nourishment, the growth rate is the fastest in this season. So, if you are looking to grow your mane and flaunt a longer length, the winter season is the best time.

Even for the skin, if supplemented with proper hydration and replenishment, the winter season offers the best time for the skin cells to exfoliate, unclog, and heal. Cold weather improves the circulation of blood in both our body and face. This reduces any inflammation or even pigmentation. Better blood circulation also means reduced puffiness under the eyes. Those chilly winters also make your blood vessels more responsive and hence, the final effect is those rose-tinted blushed cheeks. No need to apply that blush every time you need to go out. The winter season will take care of keeping your skin looking radiantly healthy and glowing and also adding color to your cheeks. The improved and cleaner air quality in the winter season also contributes much to keep your skin looking healthy, fresh, and clean. Just like the air around! (devoid of any pollution).

Just like cold water, cooler weather also works on tightening your skin pores and making your skin look more flawless and refined. The cool air in winters works as a natural astringent and toner for your skin. The sweat and the sun in the summers increase the secretion of sebum leading to more clogging of pores and accumulation of dirt, grease, and sebum. This leads to more acne on the skin. In winters, with the tightening of pores, the sebum content is considerably reduced and hence the skin is devoid of that dreaded acne. This is also the reason we call winters the best time to flaunt flawless, glowing skin!

 

How to keep your skin glowing and radiant in winters?

There are a few steps that are indispensable to achieving that naturally glowing skin in winters. We list down a few important self-care steps that you must include in your daily routine to sail well through the harsh winter season.

1. Eat Well – The first and foremost is your diet. What goes into your system, shows instinctively on your face. Though this holds true for the entire year, winters are a little more demanding in this respect. Eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables to meet up with the Vitamin and Mineral needs of your body. Nuts and seeds are heavily laden with proteins, healthy fats, magnesium, fiber, and Vitamin E; all very crucial for healthy-looking skin. Increase your intake of healthy juices and vegetable soups to keep your skin hydrated and nourished from within.
2. Enhance your Skincare ritual – If there were three products that you were using in the summers and monsoons, upgrade that to 6 steps skincare ritual in the winter season. Even the products that you use are markedly different. The hydration and thickness quotients of the winter skincare are far higher than their counterparts in summers.
3. Sleep well – Winters are nature’s way of telling your body to switch to a little hibernation mode. The days are shorter and nights are longer for a reason. Rest well and let your mind and body recuperate well. All the benefits of alleviating your stress levels and hyperactivity are visible in your improved skin condition. They say that an afternoon nap of 15-20 minutes lends a miraculous glow to your skin.
   
   

Include these skincare products to achieve that radiant skin glow in winters

Winter skincare is drastically different from how we look after our skin in summers. We can still do with just adhering to the basic CTM ritual in the summers. But winters call for a more extensive and multi-step skincare ritual. You cannot just stick to toner and a moisturizer to get that perfect, flawless, clear radiant skin in winters. Include all these products in both your morning and ‘before sleep’ skincare routine (except for the sunscreen) and witness the change for yourself. The products have been listed in the order of their use, starting with the cleanser first.

1. Cleanser – to pull out the impurities and sebum from your skin and clean the oil glands.
2. Skin Exfoliator -An exfoliator or a scrub helps to exfoliate your skin of the dead cells and the undesired debris that accumulates on the upper layer of the skin
   over a period of time. This step can be done once or twice a week, suiting your skin condition.
3. Toner or Astringent – to unclog your pores and tighten them. This step also helps in better absorption of the moisturizer.
4. Serum – A serum is usually lighter in weight than the moisturizer. It gets absorbed easily into the skin. There are different serum types addressing specific skin concerns like skin brightening, pigmentation, boosting hydration, and fighting visible signs of ageing. Use a very nourishing, hydrating serum for winters so that it provides that extra nourishment needed for this dry season.
5. Moisturizer – A winter moisturizer shall be in no way similar to your summer moisturizer. In summers, suiting your skin type, a lightweight, water or gel-based moisturizer or a lotion shall serve the purpose of hydrating your skin. But in winters, this would be completely insufficient. It would just leave your skin looking dry and thirsty for more nourishment. Always remember, the more you hydrate your skin and its layers, the more your skin will glow. Ideally, opt for a creambased moisturized that infused with loads of nutrients, and enriching oils. You can replace your day cream with a Night Repair cream at night so that it also repairs your skin cells and you wake up with that fresh, rejuvenated skin in the morning.
6. Facial Oil – This is one additional skincare product to be used in winters and the kind of effect that it brings to your skin is undeniable. Post the application of moisturizer, massage some Facial oil into your skin. The massage also helps with the circulation of blood to the upper layers and your skin glows with the richness of all the natural and wholesome ingredients present in the oil. For your night routine, opt for a thicker layer of oil as all the repair and replenishment of the damaged skin cells happen while you are asleep!
7. Sun Block – Winter sun is just as damaging as the summer sun. Whether spending time indoors or outdoors, never skip applying a generous coat of your sunblock. Direct sunlight in the winter might feel all warm and soothing, but it can wreak just as much havoc to your skin as the harsh summer sun. If your sunscreen feels heavy and greasy, opt for a matte sunblock with higher SPF.
   
   

Avoid these common mistakes to retain your radiant skin in winters

‘Good skin comes to those who work for it.’ Staying disciplined to a strict skincare routine does reap its benefits and those benefits are very much visible and noticeable. But if you are not careful of some other common mistakes, you might strain all the hard work done. So be cautious of not committing these mistakes and you would certainly be blessed with acne-free, clear, glass-like radiant skin in winters!

1. Never sleep with your makeup on – This is a no-brainer and holds true for any season of the year. Never sleep with your makeup on. Makeup while sleeping can do some irreparable and irreversible damage to your skin. So, ensure that your skin is free from even the minutest particle of makeup before you go to bed.
2. Drink lots of water – A lot of people do not feel as thirsty in winters as they do in summers. But make a conscious effort of consuming at least 8-10 glasses of water even if there is snow falling outside. Water leads to hydrating your body from within and the same is reflective on your skin. A water-deprived system can lead to itchy, flaky, dry skin in winters.
3. Never wash your face with hot/lukewarm water – Cold water tightens your pores and also firms your facial skin. Washing your face with hot water will loosen your skin and lead to the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, and smile lines around your face and eyes, much before the age. Hot water also causes a lot of dryness and patchiness on the skin.
4. Do not skip your night time skin routine – No matter how cold it is, or how lazy you might be feeling after enjoying all the scrumptious winter food, never miss your night-time skincare routine. It actually does more good to your skin in the long run than even the morning skincare. Your skin is growing younger while you are sleeping. Do not deprive it of all the supplements it needs for this.