Experts weigh-in on how to keep your skin fresh in the freezing cold. Hot baths deemed ok, while microdermabrasion gets placed on worst-idea-ever list. *This article originally appeared in the Montreal Gazette.
Here I am at my desk, fearing this keyboard will zap me again. These vicious shocks make my hair stand on end, then collapse over my face like a static-cling blanket. And the worst winter dryness problem is my skin. As I type this, my hands are cracking and my elbows sting with every brush of the armrest.
Fortunately, my face is like an oasis of moisture. I took preventive measures with monthly facials, which seem to have done the trick. The rest of me, however, has quite a ways to go. Beauty in the winter is no simple affair. Like many Montrealers, I’d love to be traipsing around at my best, but I’m not exactly sure how to go about it. As such, I’ve been speaking to experts about the in’s and out’s of winter beauty. Here’s what they had to say.
THE SKIN
“The main reason for what’s called ‘winter itch’ or ‘winter skin’ is lack of humidity,” said Wayne Carey, dermatologist at the Carey Wang Centre for Dermatology and Dermatologic Surgery in Westmount Square. “It’s a unique problem in winter climates, where relative humidity decreases as you go farther north.”
Since water in your skin naturally equalizes with the moisture in the air, dehydrated skin is usually just a temporary problem. Take a jaunt down to Florida, Carey points out, and your skin should glow again in almost a day.
However, with severe dryness indoors and out, extreme cases of flakiness can develop in only two to three days, “particularly people who are pre-disposed to it,” Carey says.
Such people include those around 50 years old and worse yet around 70 or 80 years old. Then there are people with atopic dermatitis, which he estimates occurs in 20 per cent of people of all ages. These people have ineffective lipid barriers, a regulator to keep water in and out of your skin. Without this barrier, a myriad of dysfunctions can occur: cracking, eczema or clinical cases of inflammation.
Carey recommends installing a humidifier inside the central air unit or using a portable unit. Most obviously, apply plenty of moisturizer and wear gloves when washing dishes. Harsh soaps and using too much laundry detergent should be avoided.
While reluctant to name specific moisturizing creams, he says he occasionally recommends EpiCeram (about $70) used for therapeutic measures to treat certain cases of eczema, or Cutibase Ceramyd (about $45 for a 450-gram tub). These pricey options help repair the lipid barrier. Otherwise, it’s a matter of due diligence with water-based products like Lubriderm or Avene, or whatever cream works best for you.
COSMECEUTICALS
Seeking to replenish the skin’s lipid barrier for their customers, a smattering of high performance made-in-Quebec and Canada skin care lines — IDC, Reversa, GM Collin, Jouviance, Cliniderm, Neostrata — are offering specialized products with a variety of ‘active’ anti-aging ingredients.
“Cosmeceuticals,” a hybrid word of cosmetic and pharmaceutical, typically refers to products made with peptides like Matrixyl, said to help with cell cohesion and trans-epidermal water loss; Ceramide, a known plumper (used in the Cutibase Ceramyd mentioned by Carey); hyaluronic acid, with the ability to absorb and retain water molecules; and soy extract, which is said to stimulate collagen. Plant and marine extracts, Omega 3 and 6, antioxidants, and other ingredients are featured as well. A current trend du jour with “actives†are undereye brighteners and de-puffers, including Reversa’s new Eyecare or Cliniderm’s new Eye contour anti-wrinkle cream.
While products are formulated with the help of dermatologists and subject to mini-trails, most cosmeceuticals are not typically tested in multi-year long, highly controlled clinical trials like a prescription-type pharmaceutical. For example, IDC’s Regen-16 formula, which claims 16 ‘active’ boasts a clinical study with 20 women, ages 35 to 72, using the product for 12 weeks.
Nevertheless, when used for dehydration, some people fearlessly pile them on: “G.M. Collin Nutrivital cream is great for winter sports and dry skin. But you can boost the effects if you add Lipiad (Advanced) Concentrate,” says Karen Asquith, national director of training for G.M. Collin. “Then our Ceramide daily caps are amazing for winter skin, too.”
FACIALS AND SPAS
While there’s an active approach to winter skin care, there’s something to be said for the passive approach as well. At the luxury Le Spa by Valmont in Old Montreal, the Swiss-inspired winter beauty care focuses on hydration technique tailored to each individual.
For 90 minutes, customers are wiped and cleansed, exfoliated, and massaged with a special butterfly technique. Such high performance products as collagen masks are used, but the idea is to create a clean and calm skin base so products can penetrate deeply. Then, the skin is sealed with a delicate protective film of nutrients.
“If your cellphone is ringing the whole time, the treatment might not work,” advises spa supervisor Monique Batreau. In fact, relaxation is so essential to the process that she recommends self-massages at home in between treatments.
For hydration, Batreau is not keen on using light therapy mechanisms like IPL (Intense Pulse Light), and she avoids using heavy duty exfoliants like microdermabrasion, a standard practice in many skin spas. Carey likewise points out that microdermabrasion can make winter skin conditions much worse; as for IPLs, the function is “not to hydrate,” he says.
In a more extreme fashion, the Dr. Hauschka spa on Sherbrooke St. W. does not even offer extraction services with its all-natural treatments, and uses light brushes to apply its all organic masks and creams on the customer’s face.
For some, skin care approaches can be too gentle just as it can be too active, or simply way too expensive.
A few basics on finding the right esthetician: Avoid those who recommend costly gimmicks as a replacement for a hydrating facial, particularly in winter. Choose someone who can tailor treatments and provides a relaxing atmosphere. Also, a good esthetician should suggest alternate products if you can’t afford those at the spa. Once a month or twice a season treatments should suffice. Eqlib at 2000 McGill College St., starting at $80; Spa St. James at 2190 Crescent St., starting at $125; Le Spa by Valmont at 446 Ste. Hyacinthe St., $215.
DIY BODY
When it comes to smearing on body lotion, most of us don’t rely on spa-grade products or techniques. Nevertheless, thoughtful advice is still appreciated.
“In winter people like to take very hot baths, but, sadly, it’s not a good idea,” says Marie-Pascale Garant, member of the Lush training team, who instead recommends lukewarm dips.
Carey agrees that a certain colleague of his likens baths to pouring hot water over a roast, removing all the fat. Yet he believes that with adequate moisturizing afterwards, and limiting these soaks to twice a week, the lipid barrier can be repaired.
So plunge in if you must! Just be sure to lube up after. Carey points out that basic moisturizers with mixtures of water, glycerine, and even cholesterol work as barriers to prevent dehydration, not just straight-up oils.
According to Garant, winter-friendly body creams may include almond oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, olive oil, cocoa butter and even oats, along with several other products to fortify the moisturizer (beware if you suffer from acne). Certain essential oils like lemon might actually dry out the skin.
After a bath, Lush’s Dream Cream with cocoa butter, olive oil and lavender essential oils feels far more soothing than products like Lubriderm, placebo effect or not.
MAKEUP
In the winter, a proper makeup job requires ample skin hydration, because the primary goal is to even out the complexion. Like many women, I hate that faux caked on look, but with adequate face hydration, foundations can be dabbed on lightly instead of smeared on. Once you get used to that step, press or mineral powder is recommended by Patricia Soussana at “O†Way Spa to create a flawless look. Bronzer, she says, does not even out the complexion, even though it’s a basic winter go-to product.
Then simply follow the rule of Josianne Gauthier, product manager for Guerlain Canada: In winter, opt for natural instead of darker shades, and choose a waterproof mascara. No doubt, these moves will help prevent unnecessary smudging caused by tearing from the wind. And “don’t hesitate to wear colour on your lips,” she said. For day, she recommends the Guerlain KissKiss Essence de Gloss, which also provides lipcare. In the evening, choose a lipstick colour with moisture.
Then remember to flush with blush or to call Ashlinn Cassidy at Barbarella at home spray tan service. The lightest shade available is called ‘winter glow,’ which works almost as well as that trip to Florida.