Winter brings with itself the season of merriment, party, and dryness. As humidity descends drastically on the scale, our skin takes the hardest hit. We are robbed of our youthful glow, and patches of dry flakiness invade our skin. Thankfully, there are quite a few ingredients you could incorporate into your skincare to revive that glossy sheen even during the bone-chilling months of winter.
- Shea Butter
The fat extracted from the kernels of the African Shea tree is known as Shea Butter. At its rawest stage, the buttery fat is usually a shade of creamy white and spreads effortlessly.
It is packed with essential fatty acids like linoleic, oleic, stearic, and palmitic acids. Once absorbed into the skin, these fatty acids aid in healing and building a healthy skin barrier that holds moisture in your skin; thus, leaving your skin plump, moisturized, and glowing.
Shea butter is also a rich source of phytosterols, which have potent anti-inflammatory properties. This could help with skin irritations triggered by dryness while conditioning the skin at the same time.
Tips:
- Find lotions and moisturizers with shea butter as one of their key ingredients.
- You can buy a jar of this goodness (choose “raw” & “cold-pressed”) and mix it with oils of your choice to make a DIY balm that will leave your skin softer than ever.
- Jojoba oil
Our skin secretes a complex waxy, oily substance called sebum, to keep it moisturized. However, our sebaceous glands often fail to keep up with the dry winter, which accelerates trans-epidermal water loss. Resultantly, we are left with dry, dehydrated skin.
Jojoba oil is a very liquidy wax that mimics our natural sebum and forms an occlusive layer on top of our skin. So, when applied topically it stops our skin from losing moisture while its rich antioxidant content scavenges on the damaging free radicals.
Tips:
- Apply a moisturizer immediately after taking a shower, then seal the deal with a layer of jojoba oil on top.
- Ceramides
Ceramides are lipids that are naturally found in our skin. These clusters of long-chain fatty acids help the epidermis to create its barrier that keeps moisture locked within the skin while protecting it from external environmental stressors.
Although they constitute over 50% of our epidermis, their repository can deplete over time. This is when supplementing our skin with a little extra dose of this ingredient can bring drastic improvements.
Tips:
- A diet rich in good fats like rice, sweet potatoes, and soy does help in enhancing the natural reserve of ceramides within our skin.
- A moisturizing cream or serum with a combination of different ceramides can be very beneficial for maintaining hydration levels as well as the overall health of the skin.
So, now that you know about these holy grail ingredients that can keep your skin soft and supple, it is time to search for the perfect products formulated with these ingredients.
[Images Credit: food.ndtv.com/beauty, and goodhousekeeping.com/beauty]
