The winter season, which is right upon us, can easily be synonymous with coziness. Everything – from the weather to the longer nights spent in the warmth of fuzzy blankets to all those bowls of steaming soups and hot cakes – screams snuggly. Not to mention the string of holidays that dot the season all over.
In between decorating your home for Diwali and Christmas, choosing costumes for Halloween, and planning road trips on New Year’s Eve, you wouldn’t want to worry about your darkened, drying lips. Or slight fishnets on your feet, more lines around the ankles, or dull, almost dark skin.
But skincare is a tedious process, and in this fast lifestyle, who has the time? Well, if you really care about the health of your skin, you must make some. If you can exercise for the fitness of your body, eat well for health, and meditate for the mind, doesn’t your skin also deserve some respect?
That being said, we’re here to make choosing skincare easier for you as cozy winter approaches. Add these dry skin remedies – most probably already available at your home – to your daily to-do list right now to get soft, plump, and nourished skin in the holiday season!
Bring Home an Aloe Vera plant Today!
That is, if you don’t have one already. Aloe Vera has been proven to have endless benefits for our bodies, right from our scalp to foot ulcers.
While Aloe Vera might have a long list of pros, let’s focus on the one that can rescue your dry skin. Water makes 99% of Aloe Vera gel, while the remaining 1% contains vitamins, enzymes, minerals, and amino acids.
And because the lack of hydration is the prime cause of dry skin during winters, Aloe Vera gel makes the perfect dry skin remedy!
We usually recommend our readers to prefer aloe vera fresh from the plant and apply it topically on the dryer areas of your skin. In this case, you wouldn’t need to rinse it off later.
For those of you who might be wary of using raw aloe vera, you can also opt for high-quality moisturizers and gels with little-to-no added ingredients.
Use Honey to get Softer Lips!
Did you know that honey would’ve been the perfect lip balm if it wasn’t sticky? Because that’s true! Honey is a natural humectant – a moisture-retaining substance that’s the hero ingredient in most lip balms and moisturizers.
In that sense, honey is a perfect natural lip protector all year long. But what makes it one of the leading natural dry skin remedies is its anti-inflammatory quality, which works like a charm on dry or irritated lips.
Fun Fact: Besides honey, butter, and ghee are also great natural home remedies for dry lips. You can apply a thin layer of honey directly on your lips overnight and wash it off the next morning. Super easy.
How to use Honey on your skin?
The good news about using honey on your dry lips is that you don’t need much.
If you’re doing an overnight lip mask, simply pour a pinch of honey on your index finger and apply it evenly on your lips. Be aware not to roll over in your sleep, though!
On the other hand, if you’re running low on time or want to perk your lips up right before a party or celebration, a thicker honey lip mask can make it work in 15-20 minutes.
For better results, you can also mix a couple of drops of olive or coconut oil. Once you apply it, you can wipe it off with a damp cloth or cotton pad after 15 minutes.
A Glass of Milk a day Keeps Dryness Away.
As we’ve already suggested in the introduction, dry skin isn’t all about appearance; it’s more about your skin’s health. And as nourishment comes from within, you must include dry skin remedies that work from the inside into your routine. Milk is the perfect example of that.
Just like honey, milk is also anti-inflammatory in nature. But it also has more to offer. The lactic acid found in milk has also displayed exfoliating qualities. When applied to your skin, it can get rid of dead cells effectively!
In addition to that, milk is also rich in a certain fatty acid – phospholipid – which has the ability to repair our skin barrier (among its other qualities).
And while all that suggests that applying milk on your face can treat dry skin like a miracle, we’d also recommend you add it to your daily diet.
Using milk in a face mask is easy because there are tons of options. Here’s a list of all the ingredients that go well as a hydrating face mask:
- Honey
- Oatmeal
- Turmeric
- Banana
All you need to do is mix any of them with milk, and apply the paste on damp skin. Let it dry for no more than 20 minutes, and wash it off with lukewarm water.
Lastly, don’t forget to apply toner right away and top it off with a moisturizer.
Keep Petroleum Jelly handy.
It might not surprise anyone to find out that Petroleum jelly has a surprisingly strong barrier-creating property whenever you apply it to your skin. It also heals skin around fingernails and toenails, elbows, knees, and heels.
Do you use makeup and are exhausted from scrubbing your face with your cleanser? Use petroleum jelly! It will ensure the stubborn makeup is removed in the first go, without scrubbing away your skin’s moisture.
You can use this mineral oil on your hands, feet, elbows, knees, nails, lips, eyebrows, and eyelashes. Of course, it’s also used on your whole face, but many people find the aftermath way too oily.
Did you know? If you’ve recently gotten a tattoo, applying petroleum jelly to it can make it heal much faster by locking the layer of moisture surrounding it.
A Bottle of Coconut Oil on your Bedside.
As long as we’re on the subject of natural full-body moisturizers, we certainly can’t leave out coconut oil.
It is no surprise that coconut oil is the most commonly used hair oil in our country (even more so in South India). But what many of you might not know is that this oil can serve the dryness of your skin just as well.
Due to its light texture, coconut oil is absorbed into our skin easily and penetrates into its deeper layers. It is also rich in fatty acids – Lauric Acid in particular – which improves our skin’s ability to lock in moisture and stay hydrated for longer hours.
When it comes to using coconut oil on your body, there’s no such trick you need to follow, except for one – Always apply it on damp skin. The best time to do so is right after you shower.
Pour some coconut oil into your palm, spread it evenly across all fingers, and rub it gently on your arms, legs, and other body parts.
Did you know? If you want to try other oils for keeping your body moisturized, both Sesame and Sunflower oils are excellent dry skin remedies!
Drink Green Tea Daily (and to beat dry skin).
When looking for a healthy tea, nine out of ten people opt for green tea. And indeed, this tea has a wide range of health benefits to offer. But our concern today is much narrower: what qualifies it as one of the dry skin remedies?
To begin with, green tea contains polyphenols that have been proven to promote collagen production in our skin. In simpler terms, it leaves our skin appearing plump and hydrated.
Now, let’s talk about green tea’s hero ingredient: Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG). It is this unique antioxidant that you can attribute to most of green tea’s health benefits.
In addition to supporting weight loss and providing protection against heart & brain diseases, EGCG displays strong anti-inflammatory properties that treat skin inflammation effectively.
Using Green Tea on your Skin.
It goes without saying that you can reap the maximum benefit of green tea by drinking a cup a day. But as far as its topical application is concerned, here are a few tricks you must try this winter.
Green tea as a toner:
Using green tea as a toner is fairly simple. Just brew a cup of green, let it sit until it cools down, and then fill it up in a spray bottle. Your toner is ready to use!
Green tea ice cubes:
Puffiness and redness are two annoying companions of dry skin you’re more likely to meet on winter mornings. Green tea ice cubes are a perfect way to bid them goodbye.
Just fill your ice tray with green tea and put it back in the freezer. The next morning, pick a cube out and move it gently around your face for 2-3 minutes.
If your under eyes are more sensitive to puffiness, give them extra attention in the process.
Green tea in face masks:
With all its antioxidants, green makes the perfect base for any face mask you might want to use in the winter.
Our favorite ingredients to blend with it are yogurt and honey. If you happen to have essential oils (preferably tea tree or Vitamin E oil) at your disposal, add a few drops to the mask as well.
Once it’s ready, apply it evenly on your face and neck, let it sit for 20 minutes, rinse off, and pat dry your skin. Applying a moisturizer afterward is a must-do.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is there a home remedy for the dry skin around my eyes?
This might come as news to some of you, but the area surrounding your eyes has thinner, more sensitive skin than the rest of your face.
It also possesses fewer oil glands, elastic fibers, and collagen, which makes it more vulnerable to dryness. That’s why it’s not uncommon for people to struggle with dryness in this area, even during summer.
The home remedies ideal for dry eyes include green tea backs, aloe vera, and cucumber slices. Putting these over your eyes can improve the hydration of your undereye skin and make them look plumper.
It’s also a healthy practice to wear sunglasses when stepping out in harsh, sunny, or windy weather.
Why does my skin feel dry even during the summer?
There’s no rule stating that you can dry skin only during winter. Yes, the chilly winds of winter months do tend to strip away your skin’s moisture. But you can’t deny that multiple other factors that can do the same, even in hot summers.
Here are some common possibilities as to why you might suffer dry skin in the sunny season:
- Staying in an air-conditioned environment (home or office) for too long.
- Excessive sweating, especially when outdoors.
- Taking steamy, hot showers.
- Swimming in chlorinated pools.
- Sun damage.
To protect your skin from these, add SPF to your daily skincare, take cooler showers, hydrate yourself, and invest in a humidifier.
If, despite taking all the precautions, you still encounter dryness, take it as a sign to go see a Dermatologist.
Don’t Let the Dryness Crawl Back!
If you think skincare is a lot of work during the summer, try caring for your skin during winter. Putting on moisturizers under layers and protecting your face against the harsh, chilly weather – no easy task.
That’s precisely why it’s always better to start before time. The dry skin remedies we’ve suggested above might seem like a lot of work at first glance. But once you start including them in your daily routine, you’ll notice that it takes less than an hour collectively. Surely, you can make that time for your self-care.
This winter, let’s take a pledge to look after the skin – the first thing people see about us.
Start simple, sticking to the natural remedies that are available right at home. Then keep using them consistently to have skin that looks practically unbothered by the weather!