The holiday season is typically not a fun time for your skin.
Stress breaks it out, cold weather dries it out, and all those snacks, sweets, and alcoholic beverages drain the radiance away.
You can do your best to eat well, reduce stress, and protect your skin from the weather, but some things are beyond your control. To help you and your skin survive this holiday season intact and healthy, check out our survival guide below.
1. Pamper Your Lips
Your lips, more than any other skin on your face, suffer in the colder weather. The skin is thin and loses moisture quickly. Use scarves to keep your lips protected when you go outdoors, and always carry a moisturizing balm with you and apply as needed.
It’s easier to prevent dryness than to correct it, so use a quality product. Balms that contain petrolatum ingredients can result in drier lips through the holidays, so choose those with butters and beeswax. Our Restorative Skin Balm doubles nicely as a lip balm.
2. Mask Away the Stress
If you tend to respond to holiday stress with increased breakouts, step up your use of clay and charcoal masks. These help absorb excess oil and deep clean pores without the roughness of nut-based scrubs.
If your skin dries out during this time of year, use more moisturizing masks. These should contain nourishing ingredients that hydrate as they sit on your skin. Leave on for at least 10 minutes before rinsing off, but don’t let it dry out.
If you suffer from acne, you may want to alternate the oil-absorbing with the moisturizing masks. Your face still needs moisture!
3. Pull Out the Pillow Spray
Sleep is critical for healthy skin—it’s when your skin works to repair itself. If you don’t get the recommended 7-8 hours per night, your skin will suffer and may start to look older.
It’s not always easy to get to sleep during the holiday season, particularly if you have a million plans running through your mind. Try a lavender or other type of pillow spray. These products are popular now, and most contain essential oils known to help encourage relaxation. Simply spritz a little over your pillow, allow to dry, then rest as usual.
4. Control Sugar Cravings
The holidays are full of sweet treats, and most are hard to resist. If you overdo on the sugar intake, though, you may damage your skin. Excess sugar can lead to glycation—when sugar binds with proteins, DNA, or lipids, resulting in the formation of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs).
AGEs affect the skin’s ability to produce collagen, interfering with repair processes and potentially resulting in more visible lines and wrinkles.
To control sugar cravings, try eating more fruit (berries are great), drinking more water, getting enough sleep (sleep deprivation encourages cravings), and eating more protein. You don’t have to deprive yourself, but keep servings in moderation. Remember that many alcoholic drinks are full of sugar.
5. Pencil in Some Relaxation
All that stress is horrible for your skin. Not only might it cause excess oil and breakouts, but it can also disrupt the skin’s natural barrier, leading to irritated and dehydrated skin.
Sometimes the only way to be sure you get some time to relax is to schedule it in. Try taking a regular hot bath, making an appointment for a massage or pedicure, taking a walk, or listening to some calming music. Exercise is also a great stress-reliever.
6. Use a Great Moisturizer
No matter what your skin type, you need a quality moisturizer during the holiday season to combat harsh-weather-induced dryness and help your skin battle everything it’s facing.
Always read labels. Those products that are full of petrolatum, mineral oil, alcohols, and other chemicals aren’t going to give you the results you want. Choose a quality product with natural oils, triglycerides, plant-based extracts, and butters (like shea and cocoa) to keep your skin looking its best no matter what.
(Can we suggest our Calming Moisture and Body Repair Lotion?)
7. Make Sure You’re Packing
If you’re traveling this holiday, make sure you take your moisturizing spray with you. Traveling is stressful and nearly always drying for the skin. Airport and airplane air dries you out, and going from one climate to another can also result in dryness and dullness.
We recommend our Rescue + Relief Spray because it’s full of nourishing ingredients. It also doubles well as a toner, helping you to pack light.
How do you take care of your skin over the holiday season?
