12 Smart Skin Care Changes & Products for Winter

Optimize your beauty routine to counteract the harsh effects cold weather can have on your skin

As temperatures continue to drop, it’s time to start thinking about your skin-care routine and making some smart and important changes to keep up with the ever-evolving seasons. To help us compile this list of advice, we consulted experts from Scentuals, Joyride Vancouver, Fable Naturals, BIODERMA and La Biosthetique Canada—each of which is fabulous in its own right.

Scentuals is 100 per cent natural and made from organic ingredients, as well as vegan and free of paraben, sulphate and gluten.

Offering a wide selection of Canadian-made, plant-based bath and body products, from mineral bath salts to essential beauty oil, Joyride’s goodies will have you covered from head to toe.

Fable Naturals is truly skin care with a conscience: not only do they create their line of skin-care products by hand in Vancouver, but they use fair-trade certified and organic ingredients.

A pioneer since the 1970s, BIODERMA has acquired unique expertise by placing biology at the service of dermatology.

Lastly, with European roots and an exceptional product line, La Biosthetique’s cutting-edge skin care secrets are a cut above the rest.

Click through for 11 skin care changes to make this winter, plus some products we love. 

Don’t Forget About Sun Protection

Renounce the notion that you only need to worry about the sun in the summer: just because it’s winter doesn’t mean you should leave the house without your sunscreen. The Skin Girls, who specialize in celebrity skin-care treatments, recommend using the same amount of SPF as in the summer and getting certain effective treatments that will correct sun damage, wrinkles and scarring.

Change Up Your Cleanser

Clearing away dirt and debris allows your skin to breathe and better absorb your skin care products. Switch in the wintertime to a milky/creamy cleanser like Scentuals Anti-Aging cleanser that allows your skin to breathe without stripping your skin of its oil, which causes skin irritations. Foaming or soap-based formulas, which we use during the summer, can be too harsh on winter skin. La Biosthetique’s Clair de Teint Doux is a super-gentle cleanser that nourishes the skin, while leaving it hydrated and smooth.

For an instant refresher, use BIODERMA’s dermatological wipes for sensitive skin, mid-day. Their soft texture respects your skin’s balance and they’re enhanced with soothing ingredients, so they’re gentle enough to use multiple times throughout your day without leaving your skin dry or irritated. Plus, these biodegradable wipes are environmentally friendly, paraben free, hypoallergenic and come in a narrow, sleek packaging that makes them easy to throw into your purse or workout bag. 

Exfoliate

Exfoliating your skin is as important in the wintertime as in every other season. Use a milder, but effective, exfoliant in the colder seasons to wipe away dead skin cells and encourage a brighter complexion, such as La Biosthetique’s Lotion Desincrustante. It is a liquid exfoliant, based on acids that cleanse pores deeply, and leaves the skin super fresh and clean, encouraging cell turnover.

Use Serums

The skin is more prone to damage in the harsh winter weather. A hydrating oil serum made of floral and argan oil is a necessity to provide additional moisture and antioxidants deep into the skin. Try Scentuals Anti-Aging Serum. Another one that is easy to incorporate into your skin care routine—after cleansing, exfoliating and toning—is the vitamin serum. I can’t live without it and The Skin Girls also highly recommend using a daily vitamin serum. I recommend Obagi Vitamin-C serum that not only moisturizes and increases skin hydration, but also stimulates collagen production and lightens and brightens the skin. Now you can maintain your summer glow all winter long!

Moisturize

Adjust your moisturizer to the cold: use a richer moisturizer to provide the skin with extra nourishment. A lot of women think it should be used at nighttime, but I think it has to suit your lifestyle. If you spend a lot of time outside, then you should use the richer formula during the day to give you better protection like the Scentfree Repair Cream from Scentuals. If you have an office job and spend the majority of your time inside, then use a lighter cream during the day and a richer cream at bedtime. The point is: use one! La Biosthetique’s Traitement Régénérant gives you intense night care with protection against cell degeneration due to sun exposure. It also stabilizes the skin’s barrier layer. I also love using La Capsule, an oil serum, which makes the skin exceptionally silky and improves firmness and elasticity, protecting the skin from moisture loss and cell damage.

Don’t Forget About Your Lips

No lipstick looks good on dry, chapped lips, so keep a lip treatment close to your nightstand. There are a few options that I recommend: La Biosthetique’s Traitement Lèvres is perfect for sensitive, dry, chapped lips. Shea butter and wild mango seed oil nourishes the lips and marine extracts provide hydration up to six hours.

Another good lip balm to try—that’s all natural, made with hemp oil, beeswax, sunflower oil, olive oil, sweet almond oil, apricot kernel oil and vitamin E—is the Mettrum Originals Lip Balm in Peppermint Vanilla (also available in Lime, Watermelon and Natural scents).

Wind-chapped lips are pretty painful, so butter them up with some delicious Scentuals Vanilla Tangerine 100 Per Cent Natural Lip Conditioner.

And of course, one of my all-time favourites—which I’ve been using for years and is sure to withstand the elements—is Blistex Medicated Lip Ointment. It’s a steal at only $5! Apply it before bedtime or throughout the day.

Pamper Your Hands & Feet

Just like you pamper your face with the best care, your hands are your calling card and also deserve special attention. They often reveal our true age, so luckily it’s easy to pamper them and improve their appearance. First, cleanse your hands of all the day’s stresses and bacteria with a hand soap that will cleanse and condition, keeping your mitts super soft. Try Joyride’s Hand Soap, which is made with a combination of Ylang Ylang and Patchouli oils.

Have a richer hand cream with you and re-apply after every hand wash. La Biosthetique’s Traitement Mains supplies lasting moisture, provides even pigmentation for those who are prone to age spots and embraces your hands like a protective conditioning glove without leaving them feeling oily.

And make sure not to forget about your feet: load up on vitamins from olive and avocado oils—all from Scentuals silky smooth hand and body lotions. 

Care for Your Décolleté

The skin on the décolleté is particularly thin and fragile. There are fewer sebaceous glands here than in the rest of the body. Consequently, this region of the body is more prone to dryness and is also more sensitive to external factors, which add up in the wintertime with wearing scarves and sweaters. Why can’t I just use my facial moisturizer, you ask? Because the skin around our chest is seven times thinner then our facial skin and therefore needs special care!

Now is the perfect time to take care of your décolleté and get it ready for the summer because who doesn’t want to dream of those hot summer days while sitting in the cold? La Biosthetique’s Traitement Décolleté is a firming cream-gel which reduces visible fine lines and improves the skin’s structure and elasticity—leaving the skin much better protected against mechanical stress. Another option is Scentuals Vanilla Body Mist that not only moisturizes, but also douses you in a warm, sweet scent. 

Buff Your Body

This sugar and sea salt scrub from Joyride will leave your skin feeling smooth, polished and ready to take on the cold. It’s soft enough to use on your face and packs enough punch to buff your body.

After scrubbing, incorporate a balm into your skin care routine this winter. Fable Natural’s everything balm moisturizes and protects from head to toe. They’ve added infused calendula oil to make it even more soothing. Running late? You can use it on everything from parched lips, dry elbows and chapped hands, to flyaway hair and cracked heels! It’s rich in moisturizing oils—including fair-trade certified olive oil from Palestine and cocoa butter from Peru—and also contains beeswax to protect and nourish your skin. It’s the perfect size for travelling or keeping in your purse, and this deceivingly small tin goes a long way. Just remember: you only need to use a little at a time!

Apply Hemp Oil

Apply hemp oil as a moisturizing oil after a shower or bath. Hemp oil contains essential fatty acids (omega-6 and omega-3), which help healthy cell production and good skin health. Hemp oil is also rich in GLA (gamma-linolenic acid), which contains anti-inflammatory properties.

Get a Glow & Treat Yourself

Just no tanning beds: opt for a spray tan instead. I recommend Cocoa Tanning Studio, where they use an organic natural solution, or try Cindy Leyland Tanning, who will come to you. Worried you overindulged in sun bathing or tanning beds over the summer? The Skin Girls treat and correct sun damage, wrinkles and scarring with their very effective Fractional Resurfacing Treatment. If all else fails, a few shots of Botox should do the trick and they know just how to keep your dirty little skin secrets.

Although it can be the “most wonderful time of the year,” the upcoming holidays can also be a very stressful time for some. Treat the winter blues with a De-Stress Aromatherapy Roll-On from Scentuals. Its blend of essential oils will calm your nerves and revive your mind.