Winter has just hit Texas hard and by hard I mean it's sitting consistently in the 40's and 50's, which is nothing in comparison to those dealing with single digits and to that I am so sorry. With this unbearable weather my skin has taken a hit as well.
Working at Ulta has given me a lot of opportunity to spend money on things that I don't need; BUT with the recent sale on bath products I picked up some things that I wanted to try because my skin has just been extra dry and itchy with this dry winter air.
Now I am going to try and give a little list of things to do to make sure you're taking care of your skin.
First, which seems like the obvious is moisturizing: face and body. Moisturizing at least once all over every day has definitely helped with the dry and itchy skin. As far as facial moisturizers go, all I can say is that you need to use one. Everyone has different skin types and what works for me may not work for you. I am currently using Philosophy's Hope in a Jar and that has absolutely saved my skin this winter. It is very heavy and may not be good for oily or acne prone skin. My advice in this area is to try things out and find out what works and what doesn't. For those that struggle with acne I would not use a moisturizer that is geared toward helping with that because it contains Benzyl Peroxide and that will dry out your skin which is what we are trying to avoid. I have been LOVING the Hempz triple moisture lotion.
Most of you probably posses the strength not to buy a $28 dollar lotion and to that I say I am jealous because I lack that restraint. My next go to is St. Ives 24 Hour Deep Restoring Lotion. It smells clean and fresh and leaves skin very moisturized.
Another important part is doing a light exfoliation no more than two or three times a week just to get rid of that dry skin on top and bring out newer and healthier skin underneath. This is good for the face and your entire body. For the face, Neutrogena Naturals has a great and gentle scrub that is safe for daily use but if your skin isn't used to consistent exfoliation I would stick to the two to three times a week at first.
As far as the body, I have been using the Tree Hut sugar scrubs. They come in various scents and they all smell great. They aren't too harsh on the skin and they leave you feeling super soft.
Last thing is just to drink water. "Hydrated skin is happy skin." I'm not even going to claim that one, I got that line from Hannah Montana.
Hopefully this was helpful. It was my first shot at this thing so feedback is much appreciated.