A Winter’s Tale

No good artist works on a flawed canvas, and your skin is no exception. Fiona Hicks goes beneath the surface and discusses skin philosophy

Every summer (optimistic as that may be in England), we are compounded with advice telling us how to keep our skin radiant rather than ruddy throughout the warmer months. Just as you expect to take a little extra care when it’s warmer, your skin needs even more tlc when the temperatures drop. You wouldn’t stay on a sun bed for hours on end, and neither could you sit in a freezer and expect to walk away unscathed. Just look at rosy-cheeked winter worker, Father Christmas: jolly he is, but pretty he ain’t. Luckily, there are a few simple and easy steps you can take to ensure that you skin stays at its luminous best during the upcoming icy weeks.

The combination of the outside cold and the humidity-zapping central heating results in extreme drying out for the skin. Your skin, as amazing and multi-functional as it may be, cannot always cope from going to one extreme to the other, and this can lead to irritation, redness and the occasional dry patch. Jennifer Lopez one said that the secret to her infamous glow was to drink lots of water, and moisturize moisturize moisturize. This I believe entirely (after all, there is still plenty of time for drinking water and moisturizing in between hours of yoga and meticulous fake tan application). Moisturizing throughout the winter weeks is an absolute must. During the day it can act as a barrier – a sort of protective shield – against the cold temperatures. Just because it’s winter, and the sun has seemed to disappear from all sight, don’t forget to ensure your moisturizer has a good SPF: Oil of Olay Complete Care Daily UV Fluid, with an SPF 15, is ideal for virtually all skin types. Olay have even brought out a tinted version, so you can maintain your summer sunkissed look all throughout the festive period. Believe it or not, those pesky, damaging UV rays are still bouncing around, and probably reflecting off the snow! Applying a good moisturizer at night can also help to ensure that your skin stays nicely hydrated. Even those with oilier skin types can afford to use a slightly thicker cream, though avoid applying too much to the T-zone as this can lead to clogging of the pores. If you’re feeling brave you could even try a facial oil, such as The Sanctuary Radiance Boosting Facial Oil (£13.65, from Boots). These are predominantly aimed at dryer, maturer skins so they really work hard to rehydrate: nine times out of ten the texture of your skin is visibly improved by the morning.

If you do get slight patches of dryness (despite moisturizing religiously, obviously), the best way to solve the situation is to exfoliate. A good way to do this is to incorporate it into your daily cleansing routine. Eve Lom, one of London’s top facialists, maintains that cleansing is the most important part of a skincare routine. You don’t tend to condition your hair if it hasn’t been properly shampooed first. It is the same for skin: moisturizing is wonderful, but it cannot work fully if the skin is not suitably prepared. Using any wash off cleanser with a creamy consistency – foaming cleansers tend to be a little too harsh during the winter, even for oily skins – slowly massage your face. Applying gentle pressure, really take time to massage the product in for one or two minutes – it should feel like a mini-facial! Once the product has been absorbed, take a muslin cloth or flannel and swish it in warm water. With gentle but firm circular movements, use the cloth to wipe off the product, and all the make up/dirt that comes with it! Finish by splashing your face with cold water to rinse and taughten the skin. Josephine Fairley and Sarah Stacey, co-authors of the immensely successful ‘The 21st Century Beauty Bible’, maintain that this daily, light exfoliation with a cloth is more than enough to keep the skin bright and soft. Liz Earle’s Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser (around £12, from www.lizearle.co.uk), a certified cult product within beauty circles, is the perfect product for this. The rich and creamy cleanser leaves the skin perfectly clean but not tight, and the muslin cloth which comes with it has just the right amount of abrasiveness. If, however, you still prefer the satisfaction of a good scrub, there are a number of good exfoliators available. Vitamin E Exfoliator (£7.50, from The Body Shop) has a great consistency: the exfoliating particles are small so that they don’t irritate, but they do a lovely job of smoothing the skin. Be wary of exfoliators with large and scratchy grains – these can be too harsh for sensitive skins and end up doing more harm than good. Incidentally, if following cleansing and exfoliating you are used to the step of toning, it might be an idea to give this a miss during winter. The alcohol in toners strip the skins of oils and can further contribute to dryness. Use a simple floral water instead to freshen the skin, or save time and money and give it a miss altogether. Save the alcohol for those Christmas parties!

Once you have the art of cleansing, exfoliating and moisturizing down to perfection, it might be worth focusing a little extra attention of two particularly delicate areas of the face: the eyes and lips. The skin under the eyes and on the lips is some of the thinnest and most fragile on the body, so would benefit from even the smallest amount of care. When moisturizing your face, you can simply focus a little extra product on the area under the eyes, and even over the eyelids. This is normally sufficient to keep the skin supple and healthy, but if you like you can apply a cooling gel which will help to calm puffiness after late nights! Chapped lips are a common complaint in winter (it is normally at this time of year that we begin to understand why Eskimos kiss with their noses) but this too can be avoided. Wear a good lip balm every time you step out the house (and inside if you like – there is nothing more kissable than cherry chapsticked lips, as Katy Perry will attest) to protect your lips against the elements. In the cold you can often have the temptation to lick your lips, but try to avoid this as it will inevitably make them drier. If your lips do start to crack, take an old toothbrush and gently slew away the dead skin – this acts as an exfoliator and returns them to their smooth and soft best. Again, apply lip balm to shield them from further flakiness: Vaseline is a great and inexpensive option, or if you really want to treat yourself, try Elizabeth Arden’s Eight Hour Cream Lip Protectant Stick (around £15, from Boots). This luxury balm glides on easily and comes in the form of a lipstick, so you don’t even have to remove your hands from your gloves to apply it!

For the Boys

It is also important for the boys to step up the old skincare routine, or even start one, during the winter period. Whether a splash-of-water-and-go kind of guy, of a fully-fledged metrosexual, there are plenty of products around designed specifically for men. Incorporating just a couple of these into your standard hygiene routine will soon have you rivalling your girlfriend in the skin-softness stakes.

Men can often find that shaving feels harsher on the skin during winter. Scraping the very top layer of skin on a regular basis can of course lead to sensitivity, and this is heightened by the cold. Rough stubble may be sexy, but rough, crusty skin is not. Just as a creamy cleanser is preferable, it might be an idea to switch to a shaving cream instead of a foam or gel. These hydrate and soothe the skin, and can actually give a closer shave as they also work to soften the hair shaft. The Body Shop has recently brought out the ‘Maca Root’ range – a variety of products aimed exclusively at men. If promises of firmer and clearer skin aren’t enough to tempt, legend has it that the Peruvian maca root enhances both libido and stamina during sex. Definitely a reason to slather it on! The Maca Root Shave Cream (£8) is especially good: it is enriched with nut oil to help the razor to glide more easily, and aloe vera to calm the skin after the friction of shaving. Men may also find that pre-exfoliation can lead to a closer shave. You should still we wary of exfoliators which are too scratchy, but in general, you can afford to use ones which are a little coarser. St Ives Apricot Scrub (£4.29, from Superdrug) is a good, and passably manly one to start with. This old favourite will also help keep sandpapery skin at bay.

No skincare routine is complete without a moisturizer, and it is no different for men. Living in an age where every chisel-jawed actor seems to be endorsing some highly beautifying yet awfully masculine product, there are plenty to choose from. The Nivea for Men range is long-standing and simple but effective – just make sure you choose a face cream with an SPF. Massage it in every morning, and with protected and perfectly plump skin, you’re free to get on with the day’s manly activities.