Winter skincare is a hard and time taking process for any woman. However, if you know how a wintry environment affects your skin, then winter is much more than that. Dr Surajit Gorai, Associate Professor and Consultant Dermatologist, Apollo Multispecialty Hospital, Kolkata explains a skincare routine with THIP Media. Readers can access the whole video in the following link down below:
Q. What skincare issues do women face during the winter season?
The wintertime environment gets cooler and less humid. The moisture in the environment goes down and that impacts a lot on human skin, especially women. Because in women the skin might be a bit tender so that’s why women’s skin might get impacted a bit more. Due to low moisture skin becomes dry and due to dryness, there are a lot of skin changes that are not found in summer seasons. Also, keep it in mind that the summer skin routine is not completely applicable for the winter season.
Q. What should be the skincare for dry skin in winters?
Three things are very common in skincare: cleansing, toning and moisturising (CTM). In the name of a glowing skin, women tend to clean their skin with a lot of active salicylic acid, glycolic acids etc. So, due to cleaning with these acids in the summer season, skin can tolerate it and skin can adapt to it, showing some radiance or some beautiful skin. But if you use active acids in the winter season, the already dry skin becomes drier. And due to more dryness, the sensitive areas of the face, like the periorbital areas around the eyes, the areas that are just behind, beside the nose, perioral region, those regions become dry. And sometimes there might be eczematous changes, such as itching, scaling, oozing of fluid, and that might lead to secondary bacterial infection.
The first thing to be remembered is not to clean very harshly during the winter season. If your skin is dry, or even if it is not dry, reduce your cleansing time. Next is the scrubbing habit, try to reduce it to maybe once a month. Use a very gentle cleanser. There are a lot of gentle cleansers in the market, you can use them. If you are using it three, four times, then try to clean it once or twice a day for cleansing. Toning doesn’t help that much, and it is not that harmful so you can continue that. The most important part of winter is moisturisation and applying it as much as possible. Use it frequently and your skin should always be wet. Even if you don’t follow any other routine, washing the skin with normal water and using moisturiser is a must.
Q. How does the application of SPF contribute to winter skin care?
When the skin is dry in winter, it is also prone to have various kinds of trauma. Such as the cold weather, the sun rays or UV radiation, the pollution, the bacteria, the fungus, all can impact your skin very easily if the skin is very dry. So, the first thing is to have to control your dryness with a moisturiser. Then to prevent sun damage, apply sunscreen 20 to 30 minutes before you are going out. Otherwise, there might be some sort of white cast, or some sort of sweating and the sunscreen might go into your skin and irritate your skin. While applying the cream, don’t rub it too much. Just put it on the surface of your face very gently and allow it to stay there for 20 minutes so that it gets absorbed and doesn’t look very whitish in your skin.
Q. How to deal winter induced skin challenges? Are there any professional skincare treatments available?
Yes, there are. But again, I will say start with a moisturiser, then a sunscreen. Then if you are going out for a long time, take physical sun protection, like an umbrella, a mask, sunglasses and a hat. This kind of things might help you to get protected from harmful rays of sun and also the physical protection in terms of the clothing. If you’re in the winter sun, then try to cover your face with a mask or some covering so it will not affect, it will not get affected by pollutants.
If you are having dry skin and with issues (ichthyosis or atopic dermatitis or other eczematous conditions), this might need professional help. All those conditions might get aggravated during winter, and with oral medications, topical medications we can provide systematic treatment. Nowadays, skin boosters inside your skin can maintain your hydration level to a great extent. In the winter season, hydrated skin is the aim. So, a skin booster may be a great treatment for your winter skin care when there are no other conditions like eczema or atopic dermatitis.
Q. Do ghee and oil play a role in promoting skin health?
As part of winter skincare routine, you can equip your plate with coloured vegetables, and salad in the morning. So that might benefit you. But too much fat, like ghee, butter, whatever, or too much of sugar harms your skin. So, better not to take them in excess.
Q. Are there any holistic home remedies for women skincare?
As part of home remedies, the two factors, reduction of your cleansing, switching to a proper soft cleanser. Second is the moisturiser (an oil based thick moisturiser, more of an ointment). Hyaluronic acid can increase your skin hydration to a great extent. Definitely, that can be applied, but with a coverage of thick moisturiser. Because hyaluronic acid is a hygroscopic substance, that means it can absorb water from inside your skin as well as from the environment. If you don’t put a moisturiser on top of it, it will absorb the skin moisture. So, that might paradoxically dry your skin. So, apply with a moisturiser, with a thick moisturiser. Also, some patients don’t clean their face. It is also a bad habit not to clean, but not in a rapid frequency. For home remedies, use lactic acid (dahi). Use a pack of curd and besan, apply it for 20 minutes and twice a month. Again, apply a moisturiser and sunscreen, this helps you to exfoliate the skin.
But if your skin is dry, eczema, acne, rosacea or facing some sort of conditions, don’t use home remedies, because that might strip off your moisture level. Be cautious, consult a dermatologist.
Q. Can you suggest some practical tips for the summer skincare routine?
You can adopt some strong cleansers if your skin is a bit oily, you can go with salicylic acid-based cleansers. Likewise, if your skin is a bit acne prone, you can use salicylic acid cleansers and glycolic acid-based cleansers. Those you can continue to use if you have used it before, twice a day. So, in the morning use that salicylic acid-based cleanser. In the evening, use your gentle moisture gentle cleanser. Don’t skip your sunscreen.
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