What to Do About Dry and Itchy Facial Skin in Winter?
As the northeast monsoon arrives, is your skin sounding the alarm with tightness, flaking, and itching that keeps you awake at night? “Winter xerosis” or commonly known as “winter itch” is a nightmare for many people. This article will help you fully understand the underlying causes and provide a complete plan from daily prevention to effective treatment, so you can easily say goodbye to dryness and itching.
Table of Content
Five Key Causes of Winter Skin Itchiness
Understanding the causes is the first step toward solving the problem. Winter dryness and itchiness are not caused by a single factor but a combination of environmental and physiological changes:
1. Sudden drop in humidity
Cold air contains less moisture. Combined with indoor heating, humidity decreases further, accelerating moisture loss from the skin.
2. Reduced sebum production
Low temperatures slow down the activity of sebaceous and sweat glands. The natural lipid barrier becomes thinner, reducing the skin’s ability to lock in moisture.
3. Incorrect cleansing habits
Using overly harsh body washes or bathing with excessively hot water can strip away essential lipids, worsening dryness.
4. Slower blood circulation
Cold weather weakens peripheral circulation, reducing the nutrients and oxygen delivered to the skin and impairing its ability to repair itself.
5. Age and skin type factors
Older adults, individuals with atopic dermatitis, or naturally dry skin have weaker skin barrier function and face greater challenges during winter.
How to Prevent Winter Itchiness
Instead of waiting for the itching to flare up, prevention is key. Following these guidelines can help maintain stable and comfortable skin:
Gentle cleansing
Water temperature: Use warm water close to body temperature (around 37 to 40°C) and limit showers to 10 to 15 minutes.
Cleansing products: Choose neutral or mildly acidic, soap free cleansers. Opt for products with moisturizing and repairing functions.
Golden hydration window: within 3 minutes after bathing
Right after showering, the stratum corneum is full of moisture. Applying a moisturizer immediately helps lock water deep into the skin for far better results.
Increase environmental humidity
Using a humidifier in the bedroom or office to maintain humidity at 50 to 60 percent is one of the most effective ways to relieve dryness and itchiness.
Wear soft clothing
Avoid letting wool or rough fabrics directly touch your skin. Wear a layer of soft cotton clothing underneath to reduce friction and irritation.
Recommended creams for relieving winter skin itchiness
When your skin feels uncomfortable in winter, choosing skincare products with the right ingredients is essential.
Hydrating Cleanser
In addition to removing make up and impurities while hydrating dry skin, this advanced formulation added with Vitamin C and Citrus Extracts, it further protects skin tissues from inflammation, irregular pigmentation and blemishes that revolves concerns such as sensitive skin, irregular pigmentation and inflammation, dull skin. This comforting cleansing cream integrates the benefits of plants' essences to help soothe and restore moisture for clean and radiant skin.
Ultra Facial Toner
Soothing floral water revives and rehydrates skin by softening pores to allow fine ingredients to penetrate through skin.
Rich Soothing Eye Cream
Rich Soothing Eye Cream rehydrates and soothes tired and puffy eyes. Concentrated plant extracts help smooth eye and anti-aging.
Rejuvenating Facial Serum
This firming concentrated Rejuvenating Facial Serum is infused with the highest potency actives (Hyaluronic Acid, Sodium PCA, Heptapeptide-8, Tocopherol) that defy aging by reducing wrinkles and lines, this serum is designed with carriers that allow these actives to be diffused into the inner skin.
Hydro-Moisturiser
Say good bye to dry, dull skin, Hydro-moisturiser helps skin to restore its natural moisture and elasticity with creamy hydrating treatment. The compound of plant ingredients used restores elasticity and protects skin from dehydration.
Healing Night Cream
This potent antioxidant night cream visibly reduces appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, yet gentle on sensitive skin. Bakuchiol concentrated night cream protects skin from pollution, clarifies skin tone and helps restore firmness.
Bearberry Radiance Mask
This highly functional, all natural Radiating Treatment Mask can instantly hydrate and penetrate deeply into the skin. Kakadu Plum Fruit Extract is high in Vitamin C that delivers excellent antioxidant and healing properties. Rosa Canina Fruit is rich in Vitamin A to help reduce appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, together with Bearberry Extract that's natural source of arbutin which smoothes and boosts radiance.
When should you see a doctor?
If your winter skin itchiness comes with any of the following conditions, be sure to seek help from a professional dermatologist:
No improvement after a week of self care.
The itchiness severely affects your daily life or sleep.
Large areas of redness, cracking, pain, or oozing fluid appear, which may indicate a bacterial infection.
A doctor may prescribe topical corticosteroid creams to quickly reduce inflammation and itching, or oral antihistamines to relieve the itch.
Conclusion
Winter skin itchiness is not unsolvable. By understanding the underlying causes and adopting proper preventive habits such as gentle cleansing, timely moisturising, and keeping indoor humidity at a healthy level, along with choosing products that contain effective ingredients like ceramides, hyaluronic acid, panthenol (provitamin B5), sodium PCA, urea (5 to 10 percent), squalane (plant derived), ceramides such as ceramide NP, AP, EOP, cholesterol with fatty acids such as linoleic acid, colloidal oatmeal, and niacinamide (4 to 5 percent), you can effectively strengthen the skin barrier and ride through the winter comfortably. If symptoms worsen, remember to seek medical attention promptly so professionals can help restore your comfort and skin health.
Cindy Chu
A chemical engineer specialises in cosmetic science who is passionate about green chemicals (i.e. chemicals that are environmentally friendly) and fanatic about what goes into the products that she uses, eats, and consumes daily.
Graduated from the University of Toronto Applied Science and Chemical Engineering, she has been formulating her own skin care and personal care using naturally derived and environmental friendly ingredients. More and more of her friends and families benefited from the natural skincare regime ever since.
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