Essential winter beauty products

Oh baby it’s cold outside… And that means that your soft and supple summer skin because a dried out mask, your hands start to crack and your legs become so dry and flaky that you itch 24/7. I don’t know about you, but I’ve definitely been noticing a change in my skin, body and handcare needs these past few weeks. I have a few tried and true products that help battle the winter cold.

Essential winter beauty products

Be it against chapped lips, dried out cuticles or to combat those itchy legs, the key to any winter beauty routine is moisture. Because moisture is what your skin lacks, that’s what you have to put back in. But before you can do that, your skin may need a little bit of extra help too. So I change up my skincare routine, add in scrubs and extra moisturizer and just hope this will soon be over.

1.) Skincare

Origins Ginzing energy-boosting moisturizer
La Roche-Posay Hydraphase UV Intense Riche
Embryolisse Lait-Crème Concentré

My face gets a lot drier when it gets cold. Since my skin is already naturally dehydrated, I always get more and more milia around my face come November. I found that using a thicker face cream OVER a lightweight moisturizer does the trick for me. While my summer routine only requires one day cream and I’m out the door, in winter I am all about layering my skincare. I like to start of with a thin layer of the Origins Ginzing Moisturizer and let that sink in. The next step is to add a hydrating daycream. I still need to write a full review of the La Roche Posay Hydraphase cream, but I love this stuff. This winter I’m set on trying out the Embryolisse cream to see if I might like that even better than either one of these.

2.) Lips

Toothbrush for lip scrub
NUXE Rève de Miel lip balm
Sorefix cold sore lip balm

My lips are the first area I struggle with. They easily get chapped and dry out. And to top things off, when that happens, my lips are prone to getting cold sores as well. So I come prepared. First I scrub my lips with an old toothbrush to get rid of any dry flakes. Then I love using a thick lip balm. For the day I love the Burt’s Bees honey lipbalm (not pictured), but for the night time I’ve been switching to the NUXE Rève de Miel lip balm, which is amazeballs. It is definitely a product worthy of its cult status. Lastly, to fix the aforementioned cold sore problems, I have been loving Sorefix. It is great at preventing an outbreak, yet it is clear and moisturizes your lips. I keep a tube next to my bed and my purse so it’s with my at all times.

3.) Hands

Soap & Glory Endless Glove 2-in-1 Moisture Mask & Hand Cream

I like taking good care of my hand and nails. I am not too much into the continuously rubbing hand cream in my hands process. I do try to use a rich cream and something on my cuticles every night before I go to bed. This is part of my regular nail care routine, but in winter time I like to use a richer cream. I mostly opt for the good old body butter, but I found this Endless Glove hand mask by Soap & Glory in London and thought it looked interesting. I’m about to break this baby open to give it a try.

4.) Bodycare

The Body Shop Vanilla Bliss Body Polish
The Body Shop Shea Butter Body Scrub

My bodycare process is the part where I make the biggest changes come winter time. Where I never use scrubs in summer, during winter I love giving my skin a good scrub. It gets rid of dead skin cells and I find it helps my blood circulation which helps with my skin looking better and not feeling as dry. Not sure if that’s true, but that is my personal experience. I am not a big fan of super abrasive scrubs. I like mine gentle and moisturizing. So I go the Vanilla scented scrub from The Body Shop’s Christmas line (they have it again this year) or the Shea Butter one. The latter smells great, scrubs nicely and is super creamy.

The Body Shop Shea Shower Cream
Lush Dreamwash Shower Smoothie

My second change up is my shower gels. In fact, I try to stray away from shower gels and opt for shower creams or smoothies. They are creamier and more nourishing for your skin. Plus these scents are super wintery as well. The Shea scent is one of my favorite winter smells and the Lush smoothie also smelled divine. With these products you almost feel like you don’t need to add on any body moisturizer afterwards. So I am not consistent with that, but I do have a few I like.

The Body Shop Honey Mania Body Butter
Nivea Cream (blue tin)

Like I said above, I’m not the biggest fan of body moisturizer. At least not for using them all over my body. I hate having to wait for it to settle into my skin before I get dressed. As a result my PJ pants just smell for days after and I hate that. Plus I also do not love the feel of body moisturizer all over. I do like using them for targeted areas that are notoriously dry. For me it’s mainly my elbows and my feet. I love the Honey body butter (that smell! that texture!) for my feet and I use the Nivea standard blue tin cream for any dry patches caused from being outside in the cold for too long. Old fashioned as it may be, this cream works the best when it’s cold and windy at the same time. I even use this on my face if need be.

What are your essential winter skin and body care items?