Show of hands: who is experiencing dry winter skin?
When I picked up my son from preschool yesterday, his teacher remarked on just how dry all the kids are recently. My son has an angry patch on his cheek, and some of his classmates raced up to show me their crusty hands and elbows. They were a living, breathing commercial for moisturizer.
I am also suffering from dry winter skin. It really bites. It’s probably my least favorite part of winter. Yes, the cold gets old, and I’m no fan of driving in the snow, but the dry winter skin is my constant battle from November through March. My kids and I have a particularly annoying struggle with dry winter skin because we all unfortunately deal with eczema.
Because I have had eczema for nearly 4 decades and kids with eczema for 4 years, I have found strategies to relieve the worst of the dry skin that comes with the season. These strategies are not confined to dealing with eczema, they work to help your run of the mill dry winter skin too. For the most part, all of my tips to relieve dry winter skin work for both adults and kids, but there are a few kid-specific tips or modifications for a few of them. I’ll highlight these strategies for the pint-sized among us as we go.
How to relieve dry winter skin?
1. Lukewarm showers/baths
We are pulling the band-aid right off and starting with a doozy. If you want to minimize your dry, itchy winter skin, you cannot take a hot shower or bath. I’m not suggesting you take an ice-cold shower or take a nightly polar plunge in your tub, but lukewarm water is your skin’s friend. I understand that this is not what you want to hear when it’s cold outside, but hot water will further dry out your fragile winter skin. The National Eczema Association backs me up here.
Kid Tip
If you’re concerned that your kids won’t tolerate a bath that’s on the cooler side, use a soap-free bubble bath. I’ll talk next about why it’s important that it’s soap-free, but I have found that kids LOVE bubbles and are willing to tolerate just about anything if you add bubbles.
2. Soap-free cleansers
Soap is so harsh on your skin! Instead, use one of the plethora of soap-free gentle cleansers available on the market to wash yourself and your kids. Most of the big brands have introduced great options. For adults, I like the options from Dove, CeraVe, and VaniCream. For kids, my favorite is Aquaphor Baby Wash. If you or your kids have eczema, make sure you pick a fragrance-free option. Even “natural” fragrances like essential oils can be extremely irritating to eczema-prone skin.
3. Pat to dry
For the love of all that is holy, do not rub your skin to dry it! Gently pat your skin dry whenever you get it wet (out of the shower or bath, your hands after you wash them, etc.). This will retain the moisture in your skin rather than stripping the skin.
Kid Tip
Patting to dry can be challenging for active kiddos. It definitely takes a bit longer to dry your kids when you’re patting rather than rubbing. I have found that a hooded towel works great to encourage the patting method. Hooded towels are all the rage for babies, but they make them for toddlers and bigger kids too. We use the Pottery Barn Kids hooded beach towels for bath towels and they are fabulous. They come in really fun patterns, and you can have them embroidered with your kids’ names. A fun way to get your kids on board with helping their skin!
4. Moisturizer
Moisturize! Moisturize! Moisturize! It is most important to moisturize immediately after you get out of the bath or shower. This locks in the water from the bath or shower and sets you up for success. Depending on the day and your specific skin, you may have to full-body moisturize another time or two throughout the day, but play this by ear. My favorites are the Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream and the Walmart brand synonym for this same cream along with anything by Eucerin. These same body creams work well for the kids too!
Don’t forget to moisturize your face! Even if you have oily skin on your face, it still needs moisture on the surface to prevent that dry, itchy, flaky disaster than can be winter skin. My hands-down favorite day time face moisturizer is VaniCream Daily Facial Moisturizer. It’s creamy enough to make my face feel supple and happy but doesn’t feel greasy. It’s a winner! If you want something a little lighter-weight, the Aveeno Calm + Restore Oat Gel Moisturizer is a good option.
5. Overnight treatments
It’s so important to use your overnights to help heal and protect your skin. There are so many treatments you can do and techniques you can employ, but I like to keep it simple. After I wash my face (and lightly pat it dry), I apply a nourishing serum topped with a thick night cream. I then add an occlusive layer to my lips (I choose Aquaphor, but you can go with Vaseline or anything else petroleum jelly-based) and I work a blob of my body cream into my hands.
Kid Tip
My kids will not tolerate the full routine that I follow for myself. We keep it much simpler for them. A little face cream on the face and some Aquaphor on the lips is about all they will allow, but a little bit is better than nothing!
6. Hand cream everywhere
Stash a tube of hand cream everywhere. I have hand cream at every sink in my house (to apply after I wash my hands), on my desk, on my nightstand, in my purse, in my diaper bag, in my car, and in my husband’s car. My hands are most affected by the drier weather, so hand cream is my most effective tool to relieve my dry winter skin. I pick hand creams that are fragrance-free and on the thicker side. My current favorites are VaniCream Moisturizing Cream in a small tube and Neutrogena’s Norwegian Formula Hand Cream. But whatever hand cream you will use consistently is the best hand cream.
7. Oatmeal baths
When my skin gets really bad in the winter, the only thing that really gets it back on track is a soak in an oatmeal bath. This entails drawing a lukewarm bath with a packet of Aveeno Soothing Bath Treatment and sitting in it for 15-20 minutes. It is more important than ever to pat dry when you get out of an oatmeal bath. Pressing the residual colloidal oatmeal into the skin really helps with itch relief.
Kid Tip
Oatmeal baths also work wonders for bad diaper rash. I can lather on all the diaper cream in the world, but the diaper rash doesn’t ever really go away until we dump the 1-year-old in an oatmeal bath.
8. Humidifiers
We are lucky enough to have a whole-house humidifier attached to our furnace. This helps, but we still run humidifiers overnight in everyone’s bedroom. I notice a marked difference in our skin when I forget to run the room-specific humidifiers. If anyone has asthma or congestion due to a winter cold, humidifiers also work wonders to help you breathe while you sleep.
9. Keep the heat low
Running the heating in your home, office, and car is a big contributor to the dry winter skin we all detest. To limit the damage, run your heating as low as you can tolerate. I keep my heat set at 66 during the day while I’m working and the kids are at school and bump it up to 68 when they get home. Sure, we may need a sweatshirt, but it’s worth it to save our skin. My husband may not agree with this statement, but he largely complies with my strict thermostat rules.
10. Hydrate
This may seem obvious, but it’s easy to forget. Drink water! If you are hydrated from within, it’s easier for your skin to stay hydrated. If you don’t already have a trendy water bottle of your choice, find one you like and cart it around with you everywhere. I have my eye on one of the fun Owala FreeSip water bottles, but I haven’t yet pulled the trigger. What color should I get?
I wish you all luck in finding relief for your dry winter skin. Go forth and moisturize!