Winter Skincare Survival Kit Essentials

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Winter skincare essentials

It’s cold, I’m cold, and I’m so very over this winter. We kicked off winter with a bang as Norovirus ran rampant through the Chicagoland area right before Christmas — Brian and Stormy snagged it from the nursing home and brought it back on Christmas Eve Eve. So we spent Christmas just the three of us, and a 22-pound prime rib roast that had to be divided and frozen instead of cooked and consumed.

Into the depths of winter we dove, with below freezing into below zero and brr, MFers, brr.

It’s taken me years to get my winter warmth/skincare/cozies in the most perfect routine, but I think I’ve finally nailed it. Want to skip all the talky talky typey typey and just buy some stuff? I combined all of the winter skincare plus products available on Amazon into a single idea list on my storefront.

Winter Skincare for Highly Sensitive Skin

My skin is so sensitive, that I crack, break, and bleed — and my eczema flares up — at the slightest hint of low humidity. These are my essentials and go-tos for winter bliss…or as much bliss as can be expected when the temps are dropping.

Cold-Weather Facial Skincare Products

Face Wash Honestly, I’m not too precious about this. I’ve been using a Darya Hope face wash that came in my FabFitFun box a while back (and I can’t even find a link to it at a regular store). But I’ve never been good about a face skincare routine, and my face is pretty chill about that. I only wash my face when I wear makeup (rarely) or in the shower when I’m going to do the rest of the routine.

Toner Again, I’m not precious, but I’ve been enjoying my experience with Good Molecules Brightening Toner, which is inexpensive and seems to do its job without wreaking havoc on my skin. I still only do this about 3-4 days a week (I shower about every other day, and that’s when I run the whole skincare routine).

Eye Gel I used to totally dig on a Mary Kay eye product, but this Good Molecules Yerba Mate Wake Up Eye Gel is under $6 and works like a dream.

Moisturizer Good Molecules Lightweight Moisturizer is my current choice here, as well, for the price and the lightness, and the fact that my skin doesn’t get angry wearing it — this is basically my only requirement.

Cold-Weather Lip Essentials

Lip Balm I love a scented lip balm, and my current go-to is Delight Naturals Lemon Pound Cake (which smells exactly like it sounds). They sent me a complimentary sample, and now it’s on my must-buy list.

Lanolin This is gonna sound crazy, but when you have lips that crack and peel as badly as mine do, you sometimes need the big guns. Mark this off as one of the secrets of motherhood that everyone should know about. I don’t go to bed without applying a thin layer of lanolin on my lips. I’ve found Medela Purelan, labeled as a nipple cream (and feels more like an ointment), is my favorite so far.

Lip Mask Before I went all-in on lanolin, I discovered Seraphine Botanicals Lip Mask, which I absolutely adore. I don’t use it every night (weekly works well for me), but it’s another great treatment for super soft lips.

Cold-Weather Body Care Routine

Moisturizer I found Naturium Bio-Lipid Moisturizer when I was Googling for the best body moisturizer. No idea where it was recommended, but I’ve been using it for two years and haven’t looked back.

Vitamin E Oil My yoga-therapist (yes, and I love her) recommended massaging my entire body with vitamin E oil after I get out of the shower — and also repeatedly praising my body parts as I slathered them with oil, “Good body. Good ankle. Good toe. Good knee…” Sounds a little woo woo, but I kind of love it for me (a person who will chronically tell you I have a bad back, bad ankle, etc.

Cold-Weather Hand Maintenance

Nightly Moisturizer Right now, I’m using a combo of Naturium (see above) blended with vitamin E oil. I just squeeze a little of each into my hand and smoosh it all together before I coat my hands every night before bed.

Hand Cream After a flare up, when my hands are out of control (usually when winter is just beginning or I’ve failed to stick to the routine) or when it’s just really dry in my house, I lather on the eczema-specific hand cream. I really like Eucerin, because it’s relatively inexpensive and works well but anything with colloidal oatmeal seems helpful. And if they’re really bad, I’ll also use the lanolin at night.

Gloves I may leave the house without a coat unless we’re in double digits below zero, but I sure as hell never forget the gloves. If I’m outside, I’ve got gloves protecting my hands. I’ve always been a huge fan of Isotoners, and I love these touchscreen gloves.

Winter Foot Care

Urea Cream This is my best kept foot care secret. A podiatrist recommended urea cream to help with my oh-so-calloused heels and toes, and it’s seriously kept my tootsies in check in the winter (and summer, and everything in between). I use it after I shower.

Foot File Even urea cream can’t get all of the callous, so I lean on a high-quality foot file. I’ve been using Barefoot Scientist Smooth Things Over for years, and it’s by far, my favorite.

Cozy Socks: When I’m out and about, I’ve found Muk Luk heat retaining socks to be the bees knees when I need to keep warm.

Cozy (or Fun) Slippers I cannot stress the importance of warm feet enough. But also, I have to call out the most whimsical slippers I’ve owned since Oprah strutted on stage in her Bugs Bunny slippers and I asked for the Tasmanian Devil version of her favorite things for Christmas 1996 (even then I knew I was chaos personified). For Christmas THIS year, Brian got me Cheshire Cat Happy Feet slippers, and I’m obsessed.

 

Winter skincare essentials checklist

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