Wellness Wednesday: How to Keep Your Skin Hydrated During the Dry Winter Period
Winter is fast approaching and for many motorists, this means setting the air con to a toasty, if not high temperature! While that might keep you snug as you chug along in peak traffic, a combination of the heat in the car and the dry air outside of it requires a change in skincare routine if you want to maintain your sexy glow.
The best route for natural beauty and healthy skin is to take care of what you have and while that may sound incredulously simple, the reality is that we often forget that our skin takes a beating from the environment daily.
To maintain healthy skin all year round, it is important to understand that different seasons present different challenges for one’s skin; and the burning issue (excuse the pun), for the winter season is how to keep your skin hydrated. Your skin will inevitably start peeling and cracking as the air becomes drier the colder it becomes, but fear not because there is a relatively easy fix.
You can stay cute and glamorous all year round by following these tips
– Rynah Qhaba, Founder of Sunflower Cosmetics
Here are some of our favorite beauty tips for keeping your skin fresh, healthy, and hydrated while driving this winter:
- Drink a glass of warm water first thing in the morning to help keep your face from becoming puffy. Yes, water can be boring so we recommend adding lemon, cucumber, or mint to zhoosh it up. Having a fun water bottle is a great way to remind yourself to stay hydrated.
- Moderate the amount of time you are exposed to the air-con. In most instances, the vents of the aircon are aimed at your face which presents both a positive and a negative effect. The positive is that you’ll get nice and warm but the negative is that the warm air sucks up moisture, leaving your face hot but dry.
- Wash and steam your face every day; ideally exfoliate at least 1-3 times per week. Exfoliating helps remove dead skin cells, dirt, oil,and any leftover productsand make-up from your skin.
- Apply a mask 1-3 times per week to give your skin some extra TLC. We cannot over emphasis this step as it is the key to keeping your skin hydrated for the long term. We highly recommend using an oil-based product which contains high levels of avocado or honey as both these ingredients are naturally loaded with Vitamin C and E. Vitamins C and E not only hydrate the skin but also offer protection and nourishment from the harsh winter elements.
- Increasing your intake of Vitamin C also hydrates the skin so don’t forget to take your vitamins religiously.
- Even though the sun isn’t as harsh in winter as it can be in summer, you can still cause considerable damage to your skin by not protecting it from ultraviolet (UV) rays. UV rays cause skin cancer and if that isn’t bad enough it causes your skin to age faster than it should, contributing to unsightly wrinkles. We recommend that you continue to apply sunscreen lotion all through winter to keep your skin as beautiful as possible.
Regardless of weather conditions, you can stay cute and glamorous; and by following our tips, your skin will look radiant all year round.
Rynah Qhaba, born in Qwa Qwa, Rynah is a businesswoman and founder of Sunflower Cosmetics, an emerging organics brand.
She has been inexplicably obsessed with the colour yellow since her first Christmas, which pretty much sums up the name and corporate identity of her brand. And if branding her business yellow wasn’t enough, you should see the colour of her car!
Unsurprisingly, Rynah is all about a gluten-free lifestyle but has also known to devour anything covered with a healthy quality cheese.
When she’s not at work at a salon in Northern Johannesburg experimenting with make-up looks and natural products, Rynah can be found operating either the projector or sound desk at her church.
Emphatically passionate about giving back, Rynah is a Director of an NGO called A Million Reasons To Do and is part the Monontsha Community Group where her focus is aimed at contributing to the eradication of unemployment in Qwa Qwa.