The heat kicked on last week. Now your face feels a size too small by 3 p.m., your foundation is clinging to places you did not know existed, and your shins could sand a table.
Winter does that. The fix is not a shelf of new products.
Dermatologists keep repeating the same few changes, and most of them cost nothing.
1. Do not start over
The urge in November is to throw out everything and buy a new routine. Two Mount Sinai dermatologists, Helen He and Nicholas Brownstone, make the opposite case on the health system’s podcast, The Vitals. Cold air pulls water out of skin faster, they explain, and the fats that hold skin cells together, like mortar between bricks, take the hit. The answer is to protect that barrier and keep a steady routine going.
2. Trade your lotion for a cream
This is the one swap worth making. The American Academy of Dermatology’s advice, as PhillyVoice reported, is a cream or ointment instead of a lotion in dry months. Look for glycerin, hyaluronic acid, shea butter or petrolatum on the label.
North Texas dermatologist Ramya Kollipara told D Magazine she times the switch to the first cold snap and goes back to something lighter in spring.
3. Shorter, cooler showers
The long, hot shower is the best part of a cold morning and the worst thing for dry skin. The same guidance says 5 to 10 minutes in lukewarm water. Pat dry instead of rubbing, and put moisturizer on while your skin is still damp.
4. Ease up on retinol, but do not quit
If your retinol suddenly stings, it may be the season, not the product. Kollipara’s advice is to pull back: use it every other night, switch to a gentler one, or take a month or two off until spring.
5. Keep wearing sunscreen
Gray skies do not cancel it. Harvard dermatologist Arianne Shadi Kourosh told Good Morning America she recommends SPF 30 or higher every day of winter, and prefers mineral formulas with zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. The routine she recommends is three steps: a gentle cleanser, an antioxidant serum, then moisturizer, with sunscreen on top in the morning.
6. Put a humidifier by the bed
Indoor heat dries the air you sleep in for eight hours. The dermatology guidance is a cool-mist humidifier in the bedroom and the thermostat a notch lower than you would like.
7. Try slugging two nights a week
Slugging is the TikTok name for something dermatologists have done for decades: sealing in moisture overnight with a thin layer of ointment. Dermatologist Heather Rogers explains the method on her blog. Wash, leave your face a little damp, apply moisturizer, then a pea-sized amount of ointment over the top.
Start with two or three nights a week, and use a pillowcase you do not love. She says to skip it if your skin is oily or breaks out easily, and not to layer it over retinoids or acids.
When it is more than dry skin
Penn Medicine dermatologist Susan Taylor’s rule of thumb, from the same PhillyVoice report, is one week. If these steps bring no relief, or the itching is breaking skin or keeping you up, see a dermatologist.
For everyone else, the plan is small: a thicker cream, a cooler shower and a humidifier humming by the bed. Your 3 p.m. face will notice.
Experts: Helen He and Nicholas Brownstone, dermatologists, Mount Sinai Health System; Arianne Shadi Kourosh, board-certified dermatologist, Harvard Medical School; Ramya Kollipara, cosmetic dermatologist, Westlake Dermatology; Heather Rogers, MD, double board-certified dermatologist; Susan Taylor, dermatologist, Penn Medicine
This article is general information, not medical advice. Lead photo: Sora Shimazaki / Pexels.
