How To Restore Dry Skin
Now that we’re coming out of our winter hibernation, it’s time to dust off winter and restore dry skin and glow. Low humidity indoors and out, regular use of heaters, bucket loads of hand sanitizer, over-cleansing, and scrubbing have contributed to a lot of dry skin in need of TLC.
Here are a few fun facts about skin. It is the largest organ of the body, with a total area of about 20 square feet and has 3 layers. “The top layer is the epidermis, the skin’s main protective barrier and the level where drying occurs. It consists of stacked layers of cells that are constantly in transition as younger, living cells rise from the lower part of the epidermis and eventually die and fall off after reaching the surface. This continuous cycle completely renews the skin about once a month.” Source: Harvard Health Publishing Harvard Medical School
Restore dry skin as it naturally goes through its renewal cycle by:
- Showering or bathing in warm water instead of super hot water and for no more than 10 minutes.
- Dry brush gently or exfoliate your skin before a shower to dust off the dry skin. I like to do this a couple of times a week. Those are the days I’m not running late for school drop-off.
- Use no tox natural soaps and cleansers as part of your skincare routine so that they can be easily absorbed instead of sitting on the surface of the skin.
- Be kind to your skin, and don’t over-scrub, brush or rub with a towel.
- Moisturize every day.
- And drink water. Use this formula by nutritionist Rhianonn Lambert to determine what the best amount is for you: As a general rule, you can use this simple calculation. Water (in litres) to drink a day = Your Weight (in Kg) multiplied by 0.033. For example, if you are 60kg, you should drink about 2 litres of water every single day. At 90kg, you’ll around about 3 litres of water. All you need to do is multiply 0.033 by your weight in Kg. Also, take into account how active you are.
These are small changes we can make to our routine to help restore dry skin. Time and motivation may be obstacles, so choose the ones that work for you. Start dusting off the winter skin, and get ready for summer!
