3 Upgrades to Your Winter Routine

TLDR: Use our smart ingredient analyzer to understand what your moisturizer really does.

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Help Me Understand

If your skin is on either side of the extremes, we’ve colour-coded important takeaways for acne-prone, oily skin, and inflamed, sensitive dry skin.

Winter SOS.

I’m in Toronto, where indoor humidity easily hits 20-30% RH, and for the record, the Sahara desert averages at 25% RH.

Aside from the dry air blown at me from heating systems, the outside cold freezes whatever water molecules that are left in the air. For the sake of my skin, I dug through research and summarized 3 things we should all change for winter skincare:

1. Apply moisturizers on a wet face and be more ingredient-cautious

2. Use oils - I promise, you won’t break out

3. Still not enough? Overnight masks, humidifiers, line-dry laundry

One - How to Pick and Use Moisturizers

Moisturizers are a combination of 3 things [1] [2]:

1. Humectants:

   🧲 a magnet that grabs onto water molecules that come close

2. Emollients:

   🧱 a building block to fill the gaps in the skin

3. Occlusives:

   🛡️ a shield of thin, protective layer of oil that forbids water from leaving

Especially for people with dry skin, moisturizers should be applied on a wet, damp face.

Why? Because the water magnet not only pulls from the air but also from within your skin. This will irritate people whose skin’s deeper layer is already dry, so there needs to be plenty of external water molecules for the humectants to work with when it’s applied. (Drinking water “refreshes” how much water is internally available for the skin).

Also, because the shield needs to have water on the inside when it seals things in. Occlusives slow down the rate of water leaving the skin, so the more water there is in the beginning, the better.

This also goes for people taking acne medicines and finding their skin tight and dry.

For untreated acne-prone skin, occlusive can trigger breakouts, so spot-treat dry areas and avoid thicker texture (which you’re probably already doing).

Oil skin caretakers also need to be more conscious of occlusive ingredients.

Example ingredients:

1. 🧲 Humectants: glycerol, hyaluronic acid

2. 🧱 Emollients: vitamin E, ceramides, natural oils

3. 🛡️ Occlusives: mineral oil, silicones, vaseline

Two - The 3, 6, 9 of Face Oils

Face oil can function as emollients and occlusives, with extra benefits depending on your skin type [3] [4]:

1. (Omega-3) Inflamed skin needs anti-inflammatory fatty acids. Face oils like rosehip, chia seed, blueberry seeds and blackberry seeds are great for calming down red noses and cheeks. For people with eczema or psoriasis, add an extra step of face oil after toner, before moisturizer.

2. (Omega-6) Acne-prone skin needs unsaturated fatty acids because these are quickly well-absorbed into the skin, instead of forming a greasy film that triggers breakouts. I know it’s scary, but cosmetic-use oils with grapeseed and marigold will work wonders, keeping oily skin hydrated through the winter.

3. (Omega-9) Dry skin to normal skin should be protected with high contents of oleic acids that forms a film. Because it’s a type of monosaturated fatty acid, it penetrates very slowly into the skin, protecting it against water loss like occlusives in moisturizers.

Three - Additional Steps

Nighttime is the best time for repair.

Overnight masks or sleeping masks work like a weighted blanket, locking in water molecules as we can’t drink water to supplement the skin from within, when we sleep.

As an ultra-rich version of moisturizers, overnight masks also use the 3-ingredients for moisturizers, so you can choose the best combination of 🧲 humectants, 🧱 emollients, and 🛡️ occlusives based on your skin type.

For barrier repair, follow (yet another) rule of 3:

1. Hydrate on a wet face with ingredients like glycerin, hyaluronic acid, niacinamide

2. Barrier repair with what the outer skin is made of: phytosphingosine and ceramides

3. Sooth the inflammation with oat, “cica-” (also centella), and zinc oxide

Don’t underestimate the power of your surroundings. Humidifiers or simply placing bowls of water in heated rooms can replenish the air's moisture. Remember to clean properly and dry between runs to avoid mold and problems with respiratory systems.

PS: Our favourite is the suggestion of leaving laundry to air-dry indoors.

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