Winter Beauty: Glow with the Snow
Posted on November 17, 2008 by
The following is a guest post by Julie Gabriel, author of The Green Beauty Guide.
Winter is the season to be slow, calm and well-nourished. No wonder holistic nutritionists prescribe a heavier, more calorific diet that includes boiled, baked, and generally oilier foods to help us cope with colder environment. Same with beauty. Your winter skincare routine should consist of warming, rich, oilier beauty products that will protect skin and hair from frosty, harsh winds outside and the drying warmth of central heating inside. Everything you put on your face in winter should be either calming and soothing or nourishing and preserving moisture.
Let’s begin with cleansing. Winter is the ideal time to adopt double cleansing technique which includes cleansing with cleansing oil followed by a milky or foaming cleanser of your choice. If you have dry, sensitive skin that is prone to rosacea or eczema, oils should become your only cleansers during the colder months. No need to buy a separate cleansing oil to use on your face: any lightweight oil such as grape seed or organic rice bran oil would do just fine, and you can use it to seal in the moisture all over your body and hair. Simply pour a few drops of oil into your palm, warm it up a little and gently massage your face with the oil, concentrating on eyes and lips, anywhere where you wear your makeup. Splash your face with warm water to rinse off some of the oil and soak up the remaining oil with a clean face towel. Massage the oil into your hands and body every day to lock in moisture and keep your skin naturally hydrated. I use organic grape seed oil infused with organic vanilla pods and blended with some pomegranate and neem oils for extra protection from winter skin itchiness.
Toners are excellent additions to your beauty routine, but astringent toners may dry out your skin even more. Try organic flower distillate such as chamomile, lavender, or calendula which are suitable for most skin conditions. If you are prone to acne, choose witch hazel distillate which is less irritating than alcohol extract. Plant distillates, also known as flower hydrosols, are less expensive than regular toners and they contain more plant extract per bottle delivering more bang for your organic buck. The best way to apply a toner is from a spray bottle so that you don’t waste it in a cotton ball. Alternatively, spray some toner on your clean palms and press your hands firmly against your face, avoiding pulling your skin. I have not bought a conventional toner for at least three years now. Instead, I blend organic rose and chamomile distillates which I buy online.
Top the flower water of your choice with a face oil. A thin layer of face oil should go under your moisturizer or you can wear it alone. There’s a silly notion that you should not wear a moisturizer if the weather is well below zero because, some experts claim, the water on your face will freeze and damage your skin. Well, if these “experts” had any basic knowledge of physics, they would understand that since the normal temperature of a living human being is 36.6OC, the frost should be at least -36 OC to freeze the water on human skin. If you are not planning to conquer Everest any time soon, feel free to moisturize your face with a rich, nurturing moisturizer that contains lots of natural oils and waxes, not pore-clogging petrochemicals such as mineral oil and petrolatum. My ultimate winter moisturizer is Skin Food by Weleda and vitamin E oil from a local health food store for delicate skin around eyes.
Your winter beauty routine should be the rich and nourishing. Consider your cleansers, toners, and moisturizers a comfort food for your face. Avoid irritating plant extracts, penetration enhancers, and heavily scented skincare. Your skin and hair need rest and protection to survive the winter and meet the spring in all their naturally glowing glory.
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Julie Gabriel, holistic nutritionist, green mom and author of THE GREEN BEAUTY GUIDE: Your Essential Resource to Organic and Natural Skincare, Hair Care, Makeup and Fragrances (HCI 2008).
I have very sensitive and easily-irritated skin. I really cannot imagine putting oil on my skin. I break out so easily that it seems so unlikely that this would be a good thing.
wow, thanks for this super informative post! good luck with your book.
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Hi Nicole! I’ve actually been reading a lot about cleaning with oil lately and am really intrigued. It’s actually supposed to be especially helpful for sensitive skin, because it doesn’t dry or irritate the same way that conventional soaps can. I haven’t tried it yet, other than using cold cream when I was younger (that’s kind of the same theory, I think), but I can’t wait to. Here’s a great info piece on it - http://beauty-treatments.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_oil_cleansing_method
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Thanks so much for this post. I developed rosacea a year ago and have very very pink cheeks and dry dry skin–a new for me. So, I only wash with water and use oils every day to keep the dryness away. Will definitely be looking into some of your recommendations. Thanks!
I have never heard of doing this before! I have fairly dry skin in the winter time, so maybe I”ll give this a shot!
I’ve recently gotten really dry skin so I’m going to look into this further.
I’ve used oils for cleansing for a while now and LOVE it. Grapeseed is very light and does not cause problems for most people (like buildup or acne). Yay homemade cleansers and products!
Rachel, I am very glad for you. Actually, cleansing oils are wonderfully inexpensive and green to the boot. You can REDUCE by using a regular organic grapeseed or jojoba oil as a cleanser (it’s cheaper anyway than most conventional cleansers), you can REUSE the oil to massage into your cuticles or dry splitting hair, and you can RECYCLE your existing hair conditioners, face scrubs and masks - simply add a half-teaspoon oil of your choice to turn them into nourishing beauty treatments for winter.
Hurray for oils!
I am definitely going to have to look into this. With winter coming up I am sure to have dry, itchy skin.
[...] write another post later this afternoon. But I wanted to tell you that I washed my face with grapeseed oil last night, and goodness! It worked so well. Seems so counterintuitive to clean dirt and oil [...]
Wow, I never thought of using so much moisture on my oily skin, but I’m willing to give it a try.
I hear you on the staying moisturized. This season is the worst for me with dry, cracked skin!
[...] reading Allie’s Answer’s blog for about a month now and was especially inspired by a couple of posts that talked about natural skincare. I was especially interested in the guest post by Julie [...]
[...] 17, 2008 by Allie I’ve been using grapeseed oil to wash my face for a few weeks now, as per Julie’s post, and figured I’d give you an [...]