This winter has been harsh on my skin, and to be honest I haven’t been that kind to it either. Lack of energy, paired with the cold meant laziness, heaters, hot showers and dry air was the order of the day. Also, is it just me, or is moisturising during winter the worst activity ever? I just want to pull on my warm onesie, soft skin be damned. Although I can’t say I was that bad, I still moisturised at least every second day and most of the time it was every day, but still my skin was not happy. But I found a simple and affordable remedy for dry itchy skin to undo all the bad that has been done, and I can’t believe I didn’t think of it earlier!
The worst affected areas were my shins, they were constantly itchy and bordering on scaly, gross I know. But as much as I tried a new body butter or a new body oil, nothing seemed to help. There was immediate relief, but nothing long lasting, and after a couple of hours the itch returned.
That is when it clicked… It took a while I know, let’s blame the weather… There is no point in throwing a new body butter or body oil at the top layer of skin, since it is not getting through all the dead skin cells to where it truly needs to be. So, that night I took a dry body sponge, gave my skin a good scrub and then moisturised. And Voila! No more itchy skin! My face still gets the usual pampering in winter, but I tend to forget to exfoliate my body, scrap that, I don’t forget, it’s just too cold to bother… But I have learnt my lesson.
So, as much as you would like to buy the most luxurious and expensive body moisturisers, remember to exfoliate first, or it will all be just a big waste of time and money. I am loving the Palmer’s Moisturising Body Oil recently, it smells of chocolate and is very nourishing without being greasy. It says lightly scented, but I don’t find it light at all, so if you are sensitive to heavy scents, then perhaps try the Lipidol After Shower Oil which hardly has a scent.
Remember my Winter Skincare post, well clearly I left out a very important product! Exfoliaters don’t need to be expensive either, you can use a body brush or a dry body sponge. Another option is a body scrub, one of my favourites is the Fennel Mango Sugar Body Scrub from Dischem, it is moisturising, smells amazing and is affordable! You can also DIY using sugar and olive oil or lemon juice to make a paste and then scrub away, just rinse well or you might feel sticky and attract some bees. The Body Shop also has some yummy scented scrubs, and if you want a bit of a gentler scrub, the Moya Hand & Foot Scrub is a creamy gentle scrub that gets the job done without being too abrasive.
Below are a couple of my favourite facial exfoliaters in case your face needs some TLC too:
SknLogic Exfoliate Enzymatic, The Body Shop Vitamin C Microdermabrasion, *Herbalife SKIN Instant Reveal Berry Scrub, *Sorbet Salon Skin Daily Skin Polish Powder and Balm Balm Hibiscus Face Mask.
Remember everytime you exfoliate your face you should be applying a mask, or at the very least a nourishing serum.
Moral of the story: exfoliating is an important part of your skincare routine all year round!
Thanks for reading, and I hope you haven’t made the same mistake I have. *Slap on wrist
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I moisturise after taking a warm bath ……
but I also need to exfoliate ….
I have a body scrub but too lazy to use it during the colder months. ☔?
Me too! But I’ve been using a brush in the shower to Exfoliate.
Hi Azraa, same situation here, the cold and laziness can be a big problem!Itchy dry ‘crocodile’skin. .specially on my back/waist was unbearable!
I’ve started using a DIY filter coffee and cinnamon scrub with an extra moisturising body cream wash..like an all in one and that works for me.I also moisturise right away after towel drying 🙂 overall winter still my favourite season!
I hate winter, haha! Exfoliating has made such a difference and I’ve been loving body oils too.