Managing Dry Winter Skin

Dryness, Acne & the Winter Blues...

It's particularly challenging to manage acne during the winter months.  The outdoor cold coupled with dry heat from homes, businesses and cars cause moisture loss and skin becomes tight and dry.  This dryness stimulates the oil glands to produce more oil.  The excess oils subsequently accumulate and solidify in the pores, mixing with dead cells on the surface to form waxy plugs.  Add bacteria and you've got blackheads! 

An acne breakout can take the form of blackheads, pustules, cysts or any combination of those.  It can negatively impact a person's life by lowering their self-esteem and changing the way they are perceived by others because of their altered appearance.  But you can battle winter dryness and the acne associated with it by following a simple skin care routine and changing some basic lifestyle behaviors.

Daily cleansing and hydration is crucial in winter months.  Look for products without major irritants like fragrance, alcohol, lanolin, dyes and propylene glycol.  Use an exfoliating cleanser that's gentle but effective. Wash and rinse your skin in cool water, not hot, because hot water tends to dehydrate skin even more.  If you are using a topical prescription, you might want to try a gentle cleanser without exfolients and use a tonic with ingredients like multi-fruit acids, zinc and non-alcoholic witch hazel after cleansing. 

Hydration is the most important part of your winter regimen.  Use a water based moisturizer with hyaluronic acid (they should be the first and second ingredients listed to ensure high concentrations of both) and apply a thin film dail in the AM and PM to keep skin healthy and hydrated.  An enzyme mask used once or twice a week is a gentle way to lift dead cells and dried surface skin without dehydrating or irritating the skin underneath.

Other tips for battling winter dryness and acne:

• Use a humidifier to keep moisture in the air of your bedroom
• drink 8-10 glasses of water a day, every day
• Don't rub skin and avoid tight turtlenecks and scarves, because friction causes pimples
• Keep hair out of your face
• Wipe your cell phone often to remove oils and bacteria
• Don't use topical or oral steroids since its known to aggravate acne
• Eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, especially ones that have zinc

If you do get a pimple:

• apply a dot of pure tea tree oil on pimples or pustules to kill the bad bacteria but not the good
• Dont touch the affected areas unless your hands are clean
• Don't squeeze the skin beneath!

Don't let winter dryness and acne get you down, follow a winter regimen like the one above to keep your skin healthy and hydrated.  If you are not already using it, dermHA's enzyme mask is a perfect addition to your winter skin care regimen.  Go to http://www.dermha.com/ to learn more about our other hydrating products. 

Stay Beautiful,
Millie

Staying Beautiful: Behind the Scenes with Angie

Conquering Common Skin Challenges

Taking care of my mind, body and spirit is important to me, I know that they are all connected and I make a daily effort to nurture all three. Having a mother who is a skin care expert has made it easier to take care of my body and skin because she shares her wealth of expertise and knowledge with me. I have been using hyaluronic acid (HA) products since I was 17 years old, knowing how incredibly beneficial HA is to beautiful skin. However, she also taught me that skin care is an ongoing commitment and knowledge, without effort, could not give me my desired results.

My skin care challenges are sensitive skin, adult acne and hyperpigmentation that results from breakouts, leaving dark marks on my face. But I do not let problem skin keep me from being beautiful! As Director of Production for dermHA, I have amassed a lot of knowledge about key ingredients that help a variety of skin challenges and I utilize that knowledge and our companies products to take care of my skin. Read below to learn how I manage my skin care challenges, my routine, combined with healthy diet and exercise, keep me feeling and looking beautiful...

Washing my face morning and night is a must and is always followed by dermHA Eye & Neck Creme. I use to think eye and neck creme was unnecessary until I attended esthetics school and learned that the skin under our eyes, neck and chest is thinner, dryer, and does not have as many oil glands as the rest of our skin. It gets dehydrated and starts to wrinkle, darken and age faster than other areas of our skin. Just imagine a grape that dehydrates and turns into a raisin! Eye creme has more lipids (fatty oils) to compensate for the lack of oil glands in the eye and neck area and helps hold the moisture in those dryer areas. Using eye creme can help lighten the appearance of darkness and minimize any wrinkles that have already appeared, but its best to start using an eye creme as a preventative tool before wrinkles occur!

In the morning:

I cleanse with our dermHA Rejuvenating Cleanser because it leaves my skin feeling clean and fresh. I love the green tea in it because it helps fight the free radicals that cause skin to age, and at age 36...well...

Then I apply a layer of dermHA Hyaluronic Moisture Serum to my freshly cleansed skin because it is like giving my skin a green tea cocktail to nourish and moisturize my skin. I have an oily t-zone and because the Hyaluronic Moisture Serum has the highest amount of hyaluronic acid of our products, I am hydrating my skin with the water it thirst for, instead of a lot of oils and waxes that would add to my oiliness and clog my pores.

Next I mix my foundation and sunscreen with a dab of dermHA HA Therapy Plus to help protect my skin from the damaging rays of the sun while giving it a natural glow. The HA Therapy Plus is beneficial to my acne prone skin because it contains Tamanu Oil, an ingredient that helps relieve irritations, inflammation and has the ability to help heal cuts and wounds and prevent infection.

In the evening:

I use the dermHA Cleansing Lotion to remove my make-up, then follow with the dermHA Acne Cleanser. the Acne Cleanser has salicylic acid which neutralizes bacteria and helps unclog pores. It has the ability to penetrate pores to exfoliate the dead skin cells, keep the pores from clogging, and prevents the breakout of acne.

Next I apply a thin layer of dermHA Lactic Acid Exfoliating Serum to accelerate cell turnover. By exfoliating the top layers of skin I help to lighten dark marks on my face until they eventually disappear. I follow with the dermHA Eye & Neck Creme and my dermHA Hyaluronic Moisture Serum.

My favorite skin care tips are: drink water and use an eye creme! Dehydration is the lack of water and expedites the aging process. In order for our skin to be healthy, we must keep it hydrated inside and out. We can do this by drinking enough water and applying moisturizers that contain and can deliver water to skin cells.

It may seem like a lot, but once you get into the habit and see the results you desire, it will become second nature. I haven't let labels like 'sensitive skin' and 'adult acne' keep me from having healthy, hydrated skin and feeling beautiful!


Wishing you happiness, peace and beauty in the New Year,
Angie


Angie is a co-owner and Director of Productions for dermHA. She is also the mother of a beautiful son and very involved in community activities and with her church family. To order any of the dermHA products that Angie highlighted above, just click on the product name. For more information about dermHA skin care products go to http://www.dermha.com For a free phone skin consultation, call 610-269-7009 to speak to one of our skin care specialists.