The Regimen

Should You Moisturize More in Winter?

Woman touching her face

 

It’s winter, and your skin is craving moisture. That doesn’t mean you should grab the biggest bottle of lotion you can find. Though you may be tempted to cocoon your skin in creamy hydration when the weather turns cold and dry, slow your moisture-seeking roll. There’s more to supple, dewy skin than you might think. Let’s make sure you’re getting it right. 

 

Is your skin dry, or just a little dehydrated?

Both hydration (water) and moisture (oil) are essential to retain elasticity and to keep skin looking smooth and supple. Your skin can be lacking both moisture and hydration, or just one of the two. Not every skin needs moisturizing, but every skin needs hydration. 

Sebum is nature’s emollient. If your skin is normally oily but feels dry in the winter, your skin is dehydrated. You might need some additional moisture, but you want to be careful about the type you use—nothing greasy or heavy, which can be occlusive and pore-clogging.

Totaloe Calming and Hydrating Gel is perfect for keeping skin hydrated, supple, and smooth without adding oil. In addition to all its healing and soothing properties, aloe is among nature’s most efficient humectants, meaning it draws water from the atmosphere into the skin and retains it. It’s combined here with barrier-boosting niacinamide, sea algae extract, and green tea extract.  

Skin that is ordinarily dry, will be dryer in winter when cold air and dry indoor heating are pulling water from the skin, leaving it dehydrated. For your skin, additional moisture is essential.

Marine Skin Nourishing Cream is an intensely nourishing blend of antioxidants and bioactive marine minerals, amino acids, sea proteins, and grape seed oil to replenish and restore suppleness and elasticity. We love its luxurious, yet light feel. It’s creamy and moisture-rich without being heavy.

For dry skin that also tends to get inflamed from the cold weather, Allantoin Sedating & Hydrating Lotion will bring it back into alignment. This lightweight cream formula blends anti-inflammatory allantoin with aloe, grape seed oil, zinc peptides, and oat protein for a calming moisture infusion with an antioxidant, barrier-supporting boost.

  

It’s not enough just to moisturize.

It may sound counter-intuitive, but to keep skin optimally moisturized, you have to keep skin optimally exfoliated. Dead skin cells act as a barrier to moisture, and lack of moisture causes skin cells to die more rapidly than in more hydrated skin. So, the more cellular debris builds up, the drier your skin becomes. If you simply slather moisture on top of dry skin without exfoliating, you’re essentially just creating a sludge of dead skin cells and emollients. Not ideal for achieving your glowiest skin.

That ever-growing layer of dead skin cells also blocks actives in your products from delivering their beneficial ingredients. Clear the cellular debris to allow in all the good stuff that makes your skin look radiant, supple, and hydrated.

Start by adding Vivant’s biodegradable Buffing Grains to your favorite Vivant Cleanser a few times a week to get some mild physical exfoliation. The second step in your regimen, your toner, also helps to loosen and remove dead cells. For dry winter skin, Vivant’s Skin Nourishing Toner is a hydrating blend of acids and antioxidants, including rosehip extract to help loosen and lift cellular debris and enhance the permeability of your corrective serum. If your skin is oily or acne-prone, 3% Mandelic Acid 3-In-1 Toner is a good choice for mild exfoliation that aids hydration. 

Our choice for a winter serum to aid in both accelerating cell-turnover and increasing moisture and elasticity is Derm-A-Renew. This hybrid blend of vitamin A and peptides boosts cell metabolism and collagen production while reducing redness and stimulating the production of the skin’s natural moisture factor, hyaluronic acid.

 

Can a mask be moisturizing?

Absolutely. A mask removes dead, dull, dry cells creating the perfect conditions for introducing nutrients and moisture. Choose a mask that contains humectant and hydrating ingredients like Vivant’s Algae Soft Mask with sea algae extract, whole leaf aloe, and allantoin. Use it once or twice a week to keep skin supple and refined. For an added hydration boost, apply Totaloe Calming & Hydrating Gel under the mask.

 

Eyes need moisture too.

The skin around your eyes is thinner and more prone to dehydration, which can cause fine lines to appear more visible. To keep the delicate eye area plump and hydrated, use Wink Eye Rejuvenation Cream morning and night. Antioxidant vitamin A, peptides, and caffeine get a lipid-restoring boost from grapeseed oil in this high-performance formula.

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