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Let it Snow, Don’t Let it Dry: Hair and Skin Tips for Winter

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Chapel Hill chapter.

We all know summer’s beauty rules. Wear primer under foundation and use extra sunscreen; don’t smother your face in powder and always keep those oil blotting sheets handy. But when the weather changes, so should your beauty routine. Lower temperatures and acerbic wind take quite a toll on your skin–especially joints, hands and face. Follow these tips, and your skin will stay fresh all winter long!

1.       Use a heavier facial moisturizer.
In the summer heat – especially in the sweltering humidity of Chapel Hill – light moisturizers were great. But as it gets cooler, your skin needs more nutrition or it’ll become dry and produce more oil or, even worse, grow flaky. If you’re used to using a gel moisturizer, try a lotion like Clinique’s Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion ($13 for 1.7 oz., clinique.com). You may also want to consider using a heavier night cream to replenish the moisture your skin loses during the day (just make sure to exfoliate before applying heavy cream so you’re not pushing dirt, sweat and oil into your pores).

2.      Try a lip exfoliant.
You exfoliate and moisturize the rest of your skin, so show your lips some love! We love this Emulsion Lip Exfoliant from Smashbox ($18, sephora.com) because it’s made with peppermint and is edible in case you accidentally get some in your mouth. But any face wash or homemade scrub will work, as long as you don’t swallow any of it! And of course, you should follow with a lip balm or salve.

3.      Moisturize your body.
So you’ve got your face and lips covered, but you’re starting to notice a few bumps on your back, and your skin’s a bit itchy – if your face can dry out, the rest of your skin can, too! Try using a lotion with alpha hydroxy acids like Booth’s 4-in-1 multi-action body lotion ($9.99, Ulta) when you get out of the shower to avoid dryness and potential body acne.

4.      Try the “Vaseline hands” trick.
Okay, I made that term up, but I’ve been doing Vaseline hands since high school and a lot of people notice how soft and young my hands are. I put Vaseline on my hands and put them in socks and sleep like that. It feels a little gross, but overnight, your skin will absorb the petroleum jelly and your hands will feel amazing in the morning.

5.      Reuse that new body lotion – on your hair!
I read this tip in Teen Vogue when I was 13, and I still swear by it today! Lotion tames flyaways without weighing down your hair like gels do, and it makes your hair super soft! Just rub a quarter-sized amount on after blow-drying and your hair will be silky smooth.

What winter beauty tips do you swear by? Have you tried any of these tips? Let us know in the comments section!

Sources:
http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P42915&categoryId=C11727&shouldPaginate=true
http://www.clinique.com/product/1687/5223/Skincare/Moisturizers/Dramatically-Different-Moisturizing-Lotion/index.tmpl
http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/productDetail.jsp?skuId=2156403&productId=xlsImpprod600142&navAction=push&navCount=1&subdoc=9topratedbathbody

Meghan is a senior at UNC-Chapel Hill studying classics and English. She has interned at Girls' Life and Parenting magazines and was a Collegiate Correspondent with USA TODAY in Spring 2012. Meghan loves all things entertainment related and plans to move to New York and work for a national magazine after graduating in May 2013.