We're more than halfway through winter, but if you're anything like us, your skin may be reaching peak dryness. Thanks to cold temperatures, dry indoor heat and the dehydrating effects of the long, hot showers that warm us up, we're actually up against a sizable adversary during these winter months.
"In winter, humidity is always lower in the cold air, and when it gets breezy, that dry air wicks moisture out of the skin even quicker than normal. Then we go inside to get warm, and the heat on inside dries us out too. We can't win: so we try getting in a hot, steamy shower to get a little moisture, and don't realize that the water itself actually takes water out of us by osmosis," explains Dr. Jessica Krant, a board-certified dermatologist and Assistant Clinical Professor of Dermatology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center. "Not only that, the heat and water strip our natural moisturizing oils out of our skin. Then we get out of the shower, and that last bit of dampness evaporating away dries us out even more."
So what can you do? We asked the experts to find out:
