Winter Dry Skin: Natural Cure Tips (PHOTOS)

From Earth911's Mary Mazzoni:

Frizzy hair, dry skin and chapped lips are just a few of the joys of winter.

But why spend big bucks on chemical-laden beauty fixes when you can whip up your own using all-natural ingredients? Check out these five beauty cures that you can make yourself, and show Old Man Winter who's boss.

List and captions courtesy of Earth911.

Comments

[janedoe31]

09:18 AM on 01/20/2012

for the face I recommend Webbers Vitamin E...you can find it in the first aid section of your pharmacy. Just a little (you only need a dab) goes a long way and it's under $10.00... Vaseline for the lips before you go to bed.

[mckenzie4d]

11:52 AM on 01/09/2012

@Keri Wheelwright: If your dry skin is a result of eczema, oils and creams will only treat the symptom - not the cause. The cause of eczema is yeast overgrowth in the intestines and the only way to get rid of the eczema is to get rid of the overgrowth.

I wrote a free eBook outlining what to look for in a good eczema solution (www.eczema-hometreatment.info) and why topical solutions don't work. I also agree with @blurredmolly who said "drink more water"; hydrating your body with water is the same as running a humidifier :)

[Keri Wheelwright]

06:50 PM on 12/11/2011

Best oil by far: Hawaiian Kukui Oil. Natural, non-comedogenic, hypo-allergenic, healing, great for dry skin, eczema and psoriasis and takes the red out of sunburn and prevents peeling (still a worry if you're a skier.) I found mine in Hawaii, and now order it from oilsofaloha.com. I mix it with sugar and lavender oil for and in-shower scrub: awesome. Also, my house is full of houseplants, and a humidifier is always running. I hate dry winter skin!!!

[rjaxone]

12:00 AM on 12/07/2011

..And if these steps don't work, add some lettice and you've created a relatively decent salad. Enjoy...

[inkongirl]

08:33 AM on 12/06/2011

olive oil, applied after a shower. you smell a bit like a salad but it makes your skin really soft.

[Yam716]

04:20 PM on 12/06/2011

Love EVOO!

I use it in my whipped shea butter creams I use on my skin and hair.
http://www.lillian-mae.com/kitchen-chemist/natural-hair-essentials-olive-oil/

[vetxcl]

07:37 PM on 12/05/2011

Use a humidifier. Use a dermolytic cream (mildly acidic, like amonium lactate) at night and a heavier cream during the day (something like hydrocerin.) Also use a scrub on your skin during the winter(can make one out of olice oil and salt or purchase a sugar scrub.) I'd also recommend using a full spectrum light during the winter as well. Increasing water intake does seem to help as well.

[nuggett]

11:07 PM on 12/05/2011

are those ingredients in a particular brand that you prefer?

[Stephanie Golding]

06:31 PM on 12/05/2011

I use coconut oil for everything - just about the most useful thing i have in my arsenal for winter. Besides being a great replacement for butter or other oils for cooking, it's wonderful for dry skin spots, frizzy hair (I use this to tame fly-aways, as well as a deep conditioner,) chapped lips, even for the inside of my nose when it gets dry. It sinks in fairly quickly, and the scent isn't as overpowering as you'd think. Definitely a must have for anyone looking to protect their skin (and noses) from dry winter air.

[Yam716]

04:21 PM on 12/06/2011

Loooooooooooooove Coconut oil!

[John02050]

06:18 PM on 12/05/2011

Most of the ingredients claimed to be "$5 or less" are actually much more than $5. And there's no need to use so many ingredients with similar properties.

Like in the dry-cracked skin recipie; there's no need for both cocoa butter and coconut oil. One or the other will work fine.

[blurredmolly]

02:23 PM on 12/05/2011

drink more water

[Fromageball]

02:20 PM on 12/05/2011

Great tips and recipes. Has anyone with straight/fine hair ever tried the olive oil treatment? I'm scared to...

[camelias and sweet tea]

09:04 AM on 12/06/2011

Be scared, be very scared, will just make fine hair an oily mess just like Argon oil does. Even a tiny bit weighs down fine hair.

[LastAngryWoman]

12:46 AM on 12/07/2011

I wouldn't bother. I have lived with super fine hair for fifty years. It is what it is.
The only time I've ever experienced "perfect" hair in terms of sheen, softness, and lightness was when I would stay at the cottage and we bathed in the lake. Well, first a sauna...then we'd run into the lake. My hair was never happier. I wish you could bottle that.

[BellaTerra66]

05:03 AM on 12/05/2011

Coconut oil works great for skin and hair. Put it in your face, hands and arms about an hour before you go to bed, and it should be all absorbed by the time you hit the sack. If not, just wipe off the excess with a paper towel. It will not stain your sheets. This a great, inexpensive, easy solution. As for hair -- put it in the hair for a couple of hours and then wash out with a gentle shampoo. MUCH easier than trying to wash olive oil out of hair. And coconut oil is better too.

[Anne zhou]

02:24 AM on 12/05/2011

dry skin may also be the consequence of and/or associated with an endogenous insufficiency in the production of sebum by the sebaceous glands.

http://www.000health.com/

[CASnyder]

12:16 AM on 12/05/2011

Another helpful hint - its not necessary to scrub the driest parts of your skin with soap when you shower in the winter months, as it strips all the natural skin oils away, and then you have to apply lotion over your whole body to compensate. After all, the soapy water from your shampooed hair runs over your whole body anyways, so its not like you aren't using soap & water all over, its just that you are being kinder and not scouring the skin so it can retain some of its own moisture better.

[CASnyder]

11:59 PM on 12/04/2011

I'll probably stick with the jar of home-made comfrey burn salve I have - though its comfrey instead of aloe, the other ingredients are much the same, and its lasted years, not just a couple of weeks, and still works.

[hattie54]

11:36 PM on 12/04/2011

Kinda hard to find someone to rub lotion on your dry back,if you live alone.I don't live alone but I do like hot baths with half a cup of white vinegar and half cup of baking soda.It really helps my dry skin and cleans the tub too.

[MuckyPup]

03:00 PM on 12/06/2011

Is there nothing baking soda and vinegar cannot do?! :) Just curious, because I might give it a shot, how does it help your dry skin?

[hattie54]

03:13 PM on 12/06/2011

It has helped me and I have pretty dry skin,esp in the winter time.Try it and see how you feel later?I have a nice garden sized tub and I pour in half a cup of each.I did try the 1 cup of each in the bath but can't remember if it worked better or not?Read that Cleopatra swore by the white vinegar in her bath as it helped with her aching back.A plumber told me years ago to pour in half cup of each into each drain in the house and don't use those sinks.Go back a few hrs later and pour in a big pot of boiling water.This will keep your sinks from clogging up.

[Yam716]

04:23 PM on 12/06/2011

You can actually add oil to your bath water! Soft, moisturized skin, BUT you will need to clean out the tub ;)

[hattie54]

04:42 PM on 12/06/2011

I hate oil in the tub!!! My older daughter used my tub once when home and yikes,I about fell when trying to climb in!!